New species of extinct turtle found in Amazon, named for Stephen King character

A sea turtle swims over corals on Moore Reef in Gunggandji Sea Country off the coast of Queensland in eastern Australia on Nov. 13, 2022. The Great Barrier Reef, battered but not broken by climate change impacts, is inspiring hope

By Brad Matthews - 

The Washington Times - 

Saturday, March 16, 2024


A newly discovered species of extinct, fossilized freshwater turtle discovered in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil was named for Maturin, a character from the works of novelist Stephen King.

The fossil was given the scientific name Peltocephalus maturin by a multinational team of researchers. Maturin is a giant cosmic turtle featured in Stephen King’s novel “It” as well as his “Dark Tower” series in which it’s credited with the creation of the universe.

The turtle dated to the late Pleistocene geological era 40,000 to 9,000 years ago, meaning it lived alongside people, per a release from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tubingen in Germany.

“Age inferences pinpoint Peltocephalus maturin as the latest giant freshwater turtle, inhabiting the Amazonian rainforest on the fringe of human arrival,” the researchers wrote in their introduction to their study about the turtle, published in the British journal Biology Letters.

Researchers believe Peltocephalus maturin was one of the largest freshwater turtles on record. While the current largest species have carapaces no longer than 55 inches, the fossil turtle’s shell is estimated to have been 70 inches long.

Lead author Gabriel Ferreira, a paleontologist at the University of Tubingen, told CBS News, “What would our ancestors have thought if they really saw such a giant alive? Would they be afraid of it? Would they hunt it for food or worship it? Or both?”


The study connects the extinction of Peltocephalus maturin to the period’s loss of other large animals, such as the wooly mammoth and saber-toothed tiger, caused in part by humans hunting them too much.

“Human predilection for giant turtles, for example, has been linked to body size decline in tortoises … and the overexploitation of island species leading to their extinction is well documented,” the study’s authors wrote.

Compared to His Soviet Predecessors, Putin Relies on Fear-Driven Self-Censorship than on Formal Controls, Golosov Says

Compared to His Soviet Predecessors, Putin Relies on Fear-Driven Self-Censorship than on Formal Controls, Golosov Says

             Staunton, Mar. 12 – Censorship in the Russian Federation now is very different from that in the last decades of Soviet power, Grigory Golosov says. Then, the authorities relied on a ramified system of censors and censorship agencies to ensure control. Now, the Kremlin relies more on self-censorship and thus takes action to make fear the primary motivating factor. 

             “The Soviet model was quite repressive,” the St. Petersburg political scientist says; “but it did not expect people to censor themselves to the extent that doing so is what is now expected in contemporary Russia” (polit.ru/articles/konspekty/grigoriy-golosov-o-samotsenzure-v-sssr-i-seychas/).

             On the one hand, that means that those who write or speak publicly must interpret what the authorities want, sometimes not controlling their words as much as the powers that be would like but sometimes controlling them even more than the denizens of the Kremlin in fact are ready to demand.

             And it also means that anyone who does violate what the authorities want is at risk of losing his or her job, since almost all positions are either government or government-influenced, or facing criminal sanctions, including being sent to the camps, dangers far greater than most who did offend the censors faced in Soviet times.

For First Time Ever,’ a Kremlin Leader has Announced a Policy Explicitly Focused on Demographic Collapse of the Ethnic Russian Core of the Country, Baburin Says

            Staunton, Mar. 12 – In his address to the Federal Assembly, Vladimir Putin did something remarkable that is only beginning to be noticed, Vyacheslav Baburin says. He announced a policy to invest in the revival of birthrates in the ethnic Russian core of the country that has been on the brink of dying out.

            This is “the first time” a Kremlin leader has done that, the Moscow State University geographer says. In the past, apparently fearful of looking overly pro-Russian, Kremlin leaders, including Putin, have put forward demographic policies that at least in principle were universal in their pretensions (kp.ru/daily/27578/4902687/).

But in his remarks, Putin declared that he will invest 75 billion rubles (750 million US dollars) in the coming years to boost the birthrate in regions where birthrates are now the lowest. These regions, Baburin points out, are precisely the predominantly ethnic Russian oblasts of central and northwestern Russia. 

There are many reasons why these predominantly ethnic Russian regions are in trouble demographically: greater urbanization and the death of villages, war losses and their echo, and a history of government policy of taking money from these regions to finance projects on the periphery of the country and abroad.

Whether Putin’s proposed policy can work, given the inertia of demographic developments, and even whether it will be fully funded, given his spending on the war in Ukraine, are very much open questions. But what he has done is nonetheless remarkable, the geographer continues.

Putin has shown that the problem of the demographic collapse of the ethnic Russian center of the country is now so severe that he is prepared to address it as an issue in and of itself, something ethnic Russians are likely to celebrate and non-Russians are likely to view as yet more evidence of the Kremlin leader’s hostility toward them.

Both of those views will have an impact on Russian politics in the coming years, possibly a greater impact than any of the other issues that are now attracting far more attention.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Ford to pay $365 million in US tariff fraud case for vans imported from Turkey

ByTurkish Minute
March 12, 2024


American auto giant Ford has agreed to pay $365 million to settle a civil suit linked to the alleged disguising of imported cargo vans from Turkey as lower-tariff passenger vehicles, Agence France-Presse reported, citing US authorities on Monday.

Ford, which denies wrongdoing, is accused of using the scheme from 2009 to 2013 to avoid paying higher duties on Transit Connect utility vehicles imported from Turkey by declaring them as passenger vehicles, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Ford installed “sham rear seats and other temporary features to make the vans appear to be passenger vehicles,” the Justice Department alleged.

In fact, the “temporary rear seats were never intended to be, and never were, used to carry passengers,” according to the statement. Once through customs, Ford allegedly stripped the fake seating out, returning the vehicle to its “original identity as a two-seat cargo van.”

The alleged scam allowed Ford to pay import duties of only 2.5 percent, as opposed to the 25 percent tariff imposed on cargo vehicles. The Justice Department said that nearly 163,000 Transit Connects were imported from Turkey during the period.

Ford fought the case in courts for years, arguing that the rear seats were genuine.

The settlement states that Ford does not admit liability but that the two sides reached an agreement “to avoid the delay, uncertainty, inconvenience, and expense of protracted litigation.”

The $365 million payment includes nearly $184 million for restitution of unpaid customs duties and the rest is penalties, the settlement said.

Turkey in ‘serious breach’ of ECHR, rule of law by not releasing Kavala: Council of Europe

ByTurkish Minute
March 15, 2024

The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has declared Turkey in “serious breach” of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and rule of law principles due to the continued detention of Osman Kavala.

The statement came after a review of Turkey’s compliance with European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments on the cases of Kavala and Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirtaş during its 1,492nd meeting held from March 12 to 14.

The committee expressed deep concern over Kavala’s nearly six-and-a-half years of detention, despite the ECtHR’s rulings calling for his immediate release. The rulings highlighted the absence of reasonable suspicion in his arrest and pretrial detention, deemed to pursue the ulterior motive of silencing him and deterring other human rights defenders. Despite previous calls for action and an infringement proceeding launched against Turkey in February 2022, Kavala remains imprisoned.

The decisions emphasized the need for Turkey to take all necessary steps to ensure Kavala and Demirtaş‘s immediate release, including exploring judicial and other means within the Turkish legal system. Additionally, the committee urged Turkey to adopt measures ensuring the judiciary’s independence and respect for parliamentary immunity, reflecting ongoing concerns about the country’s commitment to the principles of democracy and human rights.

The committee remarkably refrained from taking immediate punitive measures against Turkey. Instead, it has opted for a path that emphasizes dialogue and cooperation, despite Turkey’s continued failure to comply with ECtHR rulings calling for the immediate release of detainees.

This approach has raised concerns among observers about the effectiveness of the council’s strategy to hold member states accountable for human rights violations and for undermining the rule of law.

Critics argue that the reliance on dialogue, as reflected in the promotion of high-level technical meetings and the push for constructive engagement, may signal a lack of resolve to confront serious human rights violations.

The committee plans to resume the examination of these cases in June and September 2024.

Ankara mayoral candidate’s assets confront Turks with the reality of AKP elite’s wealth

ByTurkish Minute
March 16, 2024
Bünyamin Tekin

The race for mayor of Turkey’s capital city has become the latest arena for showcasing the wealth amassed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) elite.

Turgut Altınok, the AKP candidate for Ankara mayor, recently disclosed his assets on X, once again bringing to public attention the vast wealth of members of a party that has long been overshadowed by allegations of corruption.

Altınok disclosed ownership of numerous plots of land, residential properties and a significant stake in a family-owned real estate company in his asset declaration. The disclosure, which includes ownership of some 60 different properties and no mention of bank accounts or movable assets, has sparked a flood of reactions on social media and from the public.

His holdings, which some described as reminiscent of a small feudal estate, have provoked reactions ranging from disbelief to outrage, highlighting the disparity between the lives of Turkey’s political elite and the general populace grappling with financial problems.

Critics as well as the man on the street are stunned by the sheer scale of the wealth. Some draw comparisons to landholdings in history that could justify dynasties, while others list countries that are smaller in area than Altınok’s possessions.

Altınok was the mayor of Ankara’s Keçiören district from 1994 to 2009 and was re-elected in 2019 after a 10-year hiatus.

The wealth of a district mayor that astonished the public gives many an indication of how much wealth is possible for the upper echelons.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s declaration of modest wealth in June did little to dispel longstanding rumors and allegations of immense wealth acquired through illegal means.

Critics have long accused the AKP under Erdoğan’s leadership of illegally amassing personal fortunes, in stark contradiction to Erdoğan’s humble proclamation in the 1990s about his possessions being limited to his wedding ring when he was a young and fiery politician of the Islamist Welfare Party.

A corruption probe in 2013, implicating Erdoğan and his inner circle, marked a turning point, with the government’s response culminating in a purge of the judiciary and law enforcement.

This pivot not only neutralized immediate threats to Erdoğan’s rule, but also laid the groundwork for an era characterized by diminished accountability and increasing accusations of cronyism and bribery.

Altınok’s disclosure brought the wider issue of the accumulation of wealth among members of Turkey’s ruling party into the limelight and showed the glaring discrepancy between the party’s original, populist image and its current embodiment of prosperity.

Opposition politicians such as Ankara’s incumbent mayor, Mansur Yavaş of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), have seized on these statements as evidence of the AKP’s departure from its founding principles, accusing it of engaging in the very acts of corruption and elitism that it once vociferously opposed.

Yavaş made his own declaration of assets in February, which appears modest by comparison and is consistent with his calls for transparency and accountability in politics. His stance that “politics should not be a means to an end of wealth” strikes a chord with a population increasingly disillusioned by the differences between their politicians’ lifestyles and their own.

The U.S. has tried to ‘fix’ Haiti before. How will this time be different?


By Widlore Mérancourt,

Amanda Coletta and

John Hudson
March 16, 2024 


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Heavily armed gangs are sowing mayhem, killing indiscriminately, breaking open prisons and blocking aid. Nearly half the country is hungry; 1 million people are starving. The country’s leader has announced plans to resign.

Haiti has been here before — several times, in fact, since the ouster of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986: Its government has fallen or been chased out, the streets have erupted, and the United States has stepped in to lead international efforts to stand up new leaders who can be seen as legitimate and will be friendly to Washington.

It has yet to work.

Haiti’s presidency has been vacant since the 2021 assassination of Jovenel Moïse. Its National Assembly has been empty since the last lawmakers’ terms expired last year. Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been unwilling or unable to bring new elections.

When Henry left the country this month to build support for a U.N. security force to restore order, the gangs rampaged, shutting down the international airport and the main seaport and attacking at least a dozen police stations. They haven’t let him back in.

Now U.S. officials see a way forward. After emergency negotiations this week between U.S., Haitian and neighboring leaders, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) announced the creation of a panel of Haitian leaders to put the country on the path to elections. Henry said he’d resign once this transitional presidential council picked an interim prime minister to succeed him.

The United States has a long history of intervening in Haiti. U.S. Marines occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. Washington initially supported the murderous and kleptocratic Duvalier dictatorship. U.S. forces invaded in 1994 to restore ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and returned in 2004 to restore order after Aristide fled to exile.

In 2011, the United States helped Michel Martelly win the presidency. The United Nations last year accused him of using “gangs [during his term] to expand his influence over neighborhoods to advance his political agenda, contributing to a legacy of insecurity, the impacts of which are still being felt today.”

This time, U.S. officials say, they’ve learned the lessons of history. They’re not imposing a government on Haiti, they insist; they’ve made a concerted effort to center Haitians in the talks.

Haitian prime minister says he’ll resign, clearing way for new government

“It’s Haitian-designed,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Wednesday. “It’s Haitian-led.”

But critics ask just how Haitian-led an agreement can be that was negotiated by foreign diplomats meeting in Jamaica while Haitians joined by Zoom. They say it was cobbled together hurriedly and lacks a long-term vision for security.

U.S. Marines in an armored vehicle patrol Port-au-Prince in March 2004 after Aristide fled to exile in the Central African Republic. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

And they say the council would simply turn the problem over to a political and business elite that in some cases is responsible for the nation’s dysfunction. Many in this squabbling, insular group have been trying and failing to achieve political consensus and stability for years.

“The idea that this ultimately should be a Haitian-driven solution is right,” said Christopher Sabatini, senior Latin America fellow at London-based Chatham House. “The question is: Which Haitians?”

U.S. and other officials reject criticism that the agreement was drawn up in a backroom with little Haitian input. A senior State Department official told The Washington Post that at least 39 Haitian stakeholders participated in the Jamaica talks. A Jamaican official put the number at 66.

“It’s not one meeting at which things were agreed behind closed doors,” Kamina Johnson Smith, Jamaica’s foreign minister, told reporters this week.

More than two centuries of subjugation and exploitation by larger powers helped transform Haiti from the economic powerhouse of the Caribbean to the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. That history weighs heavily on the Biden administration.

Georges Michel, a Haitian historian, warned of the long history of the international community and the United States seeking to “impose their will — whether openly or discreetly.”


“The history of Haiti is replete with foreign actors trying to shape the outcomes and decisions around the leadership of Haiti,” a senior State Department official said. “And what they’ve said is that it’s vital that there be Haitian ownership of the political process and the way forward.” The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the diplomatically and politically sensitive situation.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, as Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness gets up from his chair, at a Kingston, Jamaica, meeting this week of the Caribbean Community to discuss Haiti. (Collin Reid/AP)

It’s difficult to overstate the severity of the crises in Haiti, a country where the legacies of colonialism include corruption, endemic poverty and warlordism. Gangs control 80 percent of Port-au-Prince, the capital; they’ve killed thousands with impunity and driven hundreds of thousands more from their homes.

The country’s democratic institutions have been hollowed out. The few hospitals operating in Port-au-Prince are full. Schools are closed and businesses are shuttered; Haitians mostly stay home.

“The challenge that lies ahead is gigantic,” said Romain Le Cour, a senior expert with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. “You have to rebuild almost every institution from the ashes.”

As leader resigns, Haitian politicians rush to form new government

The council is to include seven voting members nominated by civil society, private-sector and political groups, including allies of the deeply unpopular Henry. There’s to be one nonvoting member each from the private sector and the faith community.

The panel is to make decisions by majority vote. Le Cour, for one, is skeptical it can work.

“We have to be realistic about the fact that building a transitional council with seven members — in some cases belonging to parties or currents that are antagonistic — and making them work together, align with common interests and advance toward a comprehensive and transparent and cohesive political solution is going to be a significant challenge,” he said.

U.S. officials reject claims that the council’s reliance on elite members of the business or political community poses a significant problem.

“Whether these are elites or whether or not these are people who have been active and known faces in Haitian politics or society for quite some time, I would note that those are the people that Haitians are turning to when they are trying to reach an agreement on who will represent them in this council,” the State Department official said. “This is not the group that will govern Haiti indefinitely as a group.”

Haitians shot dead in street and there’s no one to take the corpses away

There are signs already that standing up the council won’t be easy. U.S. officials said Tuesday that they expected members would be appointed in the next 24 to 48 hours. But by the end of the week, the council had yet to materialize, underscoring the deal’s fragility.

Moïse Jean Charles, a former senator and presidential candidate, told reporters here Wednesday that his Pitit Desalin party, which initially agreed to the proposal and was granted a voting spot on the council, had decided to “reject” it. He said he would not work with Henry’s allies.

“Like it or not,” he said, “we are going to install our own presidential council.”

His three-member council would include Guy Philippe, who led the 2004 rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Philippe has support from some gangs, but is barred from the negotiators’ transitional council on at least two grounds: He pleaded guilty to U.S. charges of money laundering and conspiracy, and he has publicly opposed the U.N. security mission.

Most of the negotiators’ council has been named, but a couple of seats remained unfilled, Blinken told reporters during a visit to Austria on Friday.

“This is never going to be smooth and never going to be linear,” Blinken said.

The delay in forming a council is evidence of a rigorous and inclusive process, the State Department official said.

“If this had been simply an edict from the international community … it’d be decided by them,” the official said.

‘Collective rapes’ surge as weapon in Haiti’s gang war

The United States would like to see the process move along faster, the official said, but Americans should appreciate how long it can take to forge political consensus, the official said.

“It’s being hashed out by Haitians right now, and yeah, they have differences,” the official said. “But imagine trying to come up with a similar institution in the United States if you’re talking to stakeholders in our country, to form a presidential council and you have people on one end of our spectrum and people on another end of our spectrum, trying to find a way forward in an agreement. It’s complicated.”

The Caricom plan won’t be effective unless there are serious efforts to build state capacity, Sabatini said. In the past, he said, the international community has focused on getting Haiti to elections no matter their circumstances.

“That’s dangerously facile,” Sabatini said.


Coletta reported from Toronto and Hudson from Washington. Michael Birnbaum in Vienna contributed to this report

By Widlore MérancourtWidlore Mérancourt is a Haitian reporter and editor-in-chief of AyiboPost, a renowned online news organization. He has covered major news events in Haiti for The Washington Post, including the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Twitter

By Amanda ColettaAmanda Coletta is a Toronto-based correspondent who covers Canada and the Caribbean for The Washington Post. She previously worked in London, first at the Economist and then the Wall Street Journal. Twitter

By John HudsonJohn Hudson is a reporter at The Washington Post covering the State Department and national security. He was part of the team that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for coverage of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He has reported from dozens of countries, including Ukraine, China, Afghanistan, India and Belarus. Twitter

Gangs force nearly half of all Haitians to seek humanitarian aid as agencies unable to operate

EVENS SANON AND DÁNICA COTO
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A man eats a meal and a child covers his face after both received containers of free food at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on March 14, 2024.

ODELYN JOSEPH/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A crowd of about 100 people tried to shove through a metal gate in Haiti’s capital as a guard with a baton pushed them back, threatening to hit them. Undeterred, children and adults alike, some of them carrying babies, kept elbowing each other trying to enter.

“Let us in! We’re hungry!” they shouted on a recent afternoon.

They were trying to get into a makeshift shelter in an abandoned school. Inside, workers dipped ladles into buckets filled with soup that they poured into foam containers stuffed with rice to distribute to Haitians who have lost homes to gang violence.

About 1.4 million Haitians are on the verge of famine, and more than 4 million require food aid, sometimes eating only once a day or nothing at all, aid groups say.

“Haiti is facing a protractive and mass hunger,” Jean-Martin Bauer, Haiti director for the United Nations’ World Food Program, told The Associated Press. He noted that Croix-des-Bouquets, in the eastern part of Haiti’s capital, “has malnutrition rates comparable with any war zone in the world.”

Officials are trying to rush food, water and medical supplies to makeshift shelters and other places as gang violence suffocates lives across Port-au-Prince and beyond, with many trapped in their homes.

Only a few aid organizations have been able to restart since Feb. 29, when gangs began attacking key institutions, burning police stations, shutting down the main international airport with gunfire and storming two prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

Background: Roots of crisis in Haiti stretch back to old alliances between politicians and gangs

The violence forced Prime Minister Ariel Henry to announce early Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional council is created, but gangs demanding his ouster have continued their attacks in several communities.

Bauer and other officials said that the gangs are blocking distribution routes and paralyzing the main port, and that WFP’s warehouse is running out of grains, beans and vegetable oil as it continues to deliver meals.

“We have supplies for weeks. I’m saying weeks, not months,” Bauer said. “That has me terrified.”

Inside the makeshift shelter at the school, things were a bit more orderly, with scores of people standing in line for food. More than 3,700 shelter residents compete for a place to sleep and share a hole in the ground for a toilet.

Marie Lourdes Geneus, a 45-year-old street vendor and mother of seven children, said that gangs chased her family out of three different homes before they ended up at the shelter.

“If you look around, there are a lot of desperate people who look like me, who had a life and lost it,” she said. “It’s a horrible life I’m living. I made a lot of effort in life and look where I end up, trying to survive.”

She said she occasionally ventures out to sell beans to buy extra food for her children – who sometimes eat only once a day – but ends up being chased by armed men, spilling her goods on the ground as she runs.

Erigeunes Jeffrand, 54, said that he used to make a living selling up to four wheelbarrow-loads of sugar cane a day, but that gangs recently chased him and his four children out of their neighbourhood.

“My home was completely destroyed and robbed,” he said. “They took everything I have. And now, they’re not even letting me work.”

He sent his two youngest children to live with relatives in Haiti’s more quiet countryside, while the two eldest live with him at the shelter.

“Can you believe I had a home?” he said. “I was making ends meet. But now, I’m just depending on what people provide me to eat. This is not a life.”

More than 200 gangs are believed to operate in Haiti, with nearly two dozen concentrated in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. They now control 80 per cent of the capital and are vying for more territory.

Scores of people have died in the most recent attacks, and more than 15,000 have been left homeless.

The situation has prevented aid groups like Food for the Hungry from operating at a time when their help is needed the most.

“We’re stuck, with no cash and no capacity to move out what we have in our warehouse,” said Boby Sander, the organization’s Haiti director. “It’s catastrophic.”

Food for the Hungry operates a cash-based program that helps about 25,000 families a year by sending them money, but he said that the ongoing looting and attacks on banks have crippled the system.

“Since Feb. 29, we have not been able to do anything at all,” he said.

On a recent morning, the fragrance of cooking rice drew a group of adults and teenage boys to a sidewalk near a building where aid workers prepared meals to distribute to shelters elsewhere in the city.

“Can you help me get a plate of food? We haven’t had anything to eat today yet,” they asked people going in and out of the building. But their pleas went unanswered. The food was destined for the shelter at the school.

“We know it’s not a lot,” said Jean Emmanuel Joseph, who oversees food distribution for the Center for Peasant Organization and Community Action. “It’s too bad we don’t have the possibility to give them more.”

At the shelter, some adults and children tried to get back in line for a second serving.

“You already had a plate,” they were told. “Let others get one.”

Shelter resident Jethro Antoine, 55, said the food is meant only for residents, but there’s little that can be done about outsiders who squeeze in.

“If you go and complain about it, you’re going to become the enemy, you might even be killed for that,” he said.

The U.S. Agency for International Development said that around 5.5 million people in Haiti – nearly half the population – need humanitarian aid, and pledged $25-million in addition to the $33-million announced earlier this week.

The WFP’s Bauer said the humanitarian appeal for Haiti this year is less than 3 per cent funded, with the UN agency needing $95-million in the next six months.

“Conflict and hunger in Haiti are moving hand-in-hand,” he said. “I’m frightened about where we’re going.”

Inside Haiti’s descent into anarchy — what life is like under the rule of a gangster named Barbecue

By Phoebe Hosier and Brad Ryan

Pierre Ricot is one of hundreds of thousands who have been displaced amid spiralling gang violence in Haiti.(Supplied: Amina Umar)

As Yousaf al-Omari shows us through the blackened rubble of one of Haiti's many razed homes, he warns us there are questions he can't safely answer.

"There is some things we cannot say right now," he says.

"There is gangsters around us now."

Yousaf, a volunteer charity worker, is translating for Pierre Ricot, a sound engineer who lives in the Caribbean nation's besieged capital, Port-au-Prince.

The men are giving us a tour via video call through what remains of Pierre's home.

It was torched by gangsters while Pierre was at work last week, they tell us. His wife and three of their children were home at the time but managed to escape.

The car he relies on as a taxi — his second job — was also set alight.

"Everything he was working hard to make, to build — in one day, in one minute, he loses everything," Yousaf says.

Mr Ricot stands in the rubble of his home after it was torched by gangs with his wife and children inside.(Supplied: Amina Umar)

Gang violence was already rampant in Haiti but it exploded in late February while the unelected and unpopular prime minister, Ariel Henry, was overseas.

Gangs hell-bent on overthrowing him set fire to buildings and cars and stormed prisons, freeing more than 4,000 inmates.

"Now every prisoner [who escaped] rejoined the gangster group," Yousaf says. "Now every gangster group [has] become more stronger."

Henry has stepped down, and Port-au-Prince is now largely under gang control.

"Every day, I see bad things," Yousaf says.

"I saw people die in front of me by hunger, I saw people die by thirst, I saw the gangsters killing people and burn[ing] their body."
The streets of Port-au-Prince resemble something of a hellscape under gang control.(Reuters: Ralph Tedy Erol/file)

After we speak, Yousaf films the area around him. He sends us videos showing the charred remains of a body and stray dogs sniffing about in the rubble. Mounds of tyres burn nearby. Plumes of toxic smoke descend over the desolate streets.

It's a snapshot of a nation that's been plunged into anarchy.

According to the UN, more than 360,000 Haitians have now been displaced by gang violence — half of them children. And 1.4 million people are on the brink of famine.
Violent protests erupted against the now ousted prime minister and his government.(Reuters: Ralph Tedy Erol/file)

"We've had plenty of really significant crises … [but] this is really the most acute crisis in modern times," says Robert Fatton, a Haitian American and professor of government and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia.

"You have no government, virtually all institutions have collapsed and the formation of a new government is a very complicated business.

"And you have increasingly powerful armed men that may ultimately be the arbiter of what happens next, which is very bad news for the country."
A lawless island with no leader

Hundreds of thousands of Haitians have been displaced by recent gang violence.(Reuters: Ralph Tedy Erol )

Haiti hasn't had an elected president since 2021. In July of that year, then-president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated by armed men in his home in the middle of the night.

A group of ambassadors later selected Ariel Henry to become the nation's interim prime minister.

The de facto leader promised to hold elections, but they were never held — his administration citing instability as a major obstacle.

Decades of political turmoil have fanned the flames of civil unrest, fuelled by anger over corruption and foreign interference.
Questions over Ariel Henry's political legitemacy have fuelled protests in the Haitian capital.(Reuters: Ricardo Arduengo)

Amid the power vacuum, gangs have flourished. The terror unleashed on residents has become increasingly violent. Kidnappings are common.

People who live in the capital's sprawling Cite Soleil slum are routinely raped, beaten and killed.

Now more than 8,400 people are estimated to have been victims of gang violence in Haiti last year, according to the UN Security Council.

This includes murder, kidnappings and injuries — an increase of 122 per cent on 2022.
The rise of a notorious gangster

Professor Fatton painted a picture of a vast and deeply rooted gang landscape home to some 200 groups.

At the top of them sits Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier — the former elite police officer who leads an alliance of several gangs known as the G9.

Asked about his nickname, Barbecue claims he got it after his mother's famous grilled chicken. But his opponents claim it alludes to his penchant for setting his victims on fire — an accusation he denies.

Violent mobster Jimmy "Barbecue" Cherizier leads the G9 gang alliance.(Reuters: Ralph Tedy Erol/File Photo)

The 47-year-old is the most high-profile face of the nation's recent unrest and has been an outspoken critic of Henry.

"He considers himself Che Guevara sometimes, [Fidel] Castro other times, then Martin Luther King, [Nelson] Mandela," Professor Fatton said.

"He presents himself as a revolutionary, as the guy who's going to change Haiti."

In a seven-minute voice recording circulated on WhatsApp, the mobster threatened the politicians appointed to join a "transitional council", which is set to replace the prime minister under a deal brokered with Caribbean nations, the US and Canada.

Once formed, the council will appoint another de facto prime minister and prepare for a future presidential election.

"You have taken the country where it is today. You have no idea what will happen," Barbecue told the politicians.


"I'll know if your kids are in Haiti, if your wives are in Haiti … if your husbands are in Haiti. If you're going to run the country, all your family ought to be there."

Another gang leader thought to be more powerful but less visible than Barbecue is Johnson André, also known as Izo.

Weapons and wealth on display in a music video featuring Johnson "Izo" André on YouTube.(Supplied: YouTube)

The 26-year-old is known for the brutal violence he inflicts on those he perceives to have targeted his members and the rap videos he posts to social media.

Professor Fatton said the mass prison break that happened this month, which triggered a state of emergency, was made possible with the help of drone surveillance provided by Izo's gang.

The Mawozo gang is yet another key group. It is believed to have been behind the 2021 abduction of 17 American and Canadian missionaries from an orphanage in Port-au-Prince.


"These gangs are not something that came out of the blue — they were nurtured. They were financed by powerful interests in Haiti, businessmen, politicians, et cetera," Professor Fatton said.

"What's more alarming is that at one point, there was warfare between the different gangs … but for the last 10 days the gangs have federated, they've united," he said.

Now a coalition of dangerous armed groups control 80 per cent of the nation's capital and are independently funded by the proceeds of arms and drug trafficking, kidnappings and extortion.

"They control the main arteries from the southern part of Haiti to the capital city … so every major convoy of gas, which is essential for the functioning of the city have to go through territories controlled by the gangs."
Brokering a deal with gangsters

Security concerns have plunged the Caribbean nation further into the depths of a humanitarian crisis. Roadblocks have led to shortages of food and fuel, while water is unable to be distributed.

The World Food Bank estimates 44 per cent of the population faces critical food insecurity.

Hospitals are deserted as medical staff are unable to get to work without risking their lives.

Haitian women carry containers to collect water after a state of emergency was declared.(Reuters: Ralph Tedy Erol)

Médecins Sans Frontières runs seven emergency health facilities across Haiti but even their operation has at times been forced to close.

The organisation's lead Samora Chalmers said an attack on one of its ambulances this year left staff traumatised after unidentified men killed one of their patients.

"We had to close for two months to really talk to the community, to make sure that we can function in security, and … to make sure they won't harm us," she said.

"We have this guarantee, for now."

Samora Chalmers says a deadly attack stopped MSF's emergency medical care earlier this year.(Supplied: Médecins Sans Frontières)

Ms Chalmers estimates her organisation will run out of some critical medicines within two weeks. Blood supplies are also running low.

Meanwhile, women and girls as young as 12 are suffering systemic sexual violence in areas controlled by gangs, according to the UN.

Ms Chalmers has seen this firsthand. She says her organisation has seen more than 4,000 women seeking help for rape and sexual assault in the past three months alone.
Finding homegrown solutions

Now a transitional council, backed by the US and Caribbean nations, is in the process of being established.

Once it's formed in the coming days, it will vote to appoint the future de facto prime minister of Haiti and prepare the nation for a future presidential election.

The council is made up of nine members, seven of which have voting powers. These include foreign representatives and local Haitian political parties.

The US, which is one of the voting members, has chosen career diplomat Dennis Hankins to represent America on the council.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to Jamaica for an emergency meeting with Caribbean nations.(Reuters: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/file)

It comes as an international security mission, to be led by Kenya, is set to be deployed to restore order to Haiti once a new government is in place.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the council and security force were "a work in progress" but were moving forward.

"This is never going to be smooth and never going to be linear," he said on Friday, as the US announced a further $33 million in humanitarian aid.

Professor Fatton isn't convinced the answer lies in more foreign intervention: "Haitians want Haitian solutions to Haitian problems," he said.

"I don't know how you extricate the country from the current crisis. If I knew I would tell you. But I have a very bleak view of the future."

On the ground in the besieged Caribbean capital, many cling to hope for what's left of their country.

"One day Haiti will be nice," Yousaf said.

"Because Haiti was not like this … [and] because the people of Haiti are good people."

Crisis in Haiti comes after decades of turmoil: A chronology


By Bryan Pietsch
March 16, 2024 

Chaos in Haiti has reached new heights in recent weeks.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he would step down amid growing violence and a humanitarian crisis. Armed gangs, whose power has surged in the vacuum left by the still-unsolved assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, have overrun much of the Caribbean country, leaving it on the brink of collapse.

But social and political turmoil are no anomaly in Haiti, which has fought through waves of upheaval since its founding.

The first nation forged by a rebellion of enslaved people, Haiti in the 19th century struggled for decades under debt to France, coerced into paying reparations to former enslavers. The indemnity was an economic drain on the country, which remains impoverished even today. The United States invaded Haiti in the early 20th century, imposing a system of forced labor.

In the past 40 years, an era that began with a popular uprising that ended decades of dictatorship, the country has been beset by compounding crises — coups, violence, economic hardship and natural disasters, atop a history of botched or repressive interventions, imperialism and international exploitation.

Here’s a chronology of key events in Haiti’s modern political history, leading up to the ongoing crisis.

1. 1986: ‘Baby Doc’ flees to France

Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier was the only son of François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, the physician who was elected president of Haiti in 1957. Initially supported by the United States, Papa Doc held on to office for years, stealing millions of dollars in public money and international aid, while ruling through sham elections and fear.

When Jean-Claude, 19, came to power upon his father’s death in 1971, many hoped he would use a lighter hand. He chose the opposite course. He leaned heavily on his father’s shadowy Tonton Macoute — a paramilitary force named for the Haitian child-stealing boogeyman “Uncle Knapsack” — to terrorize the people into silence. Rampant corruption, violence and killings continued.

In the 1980s, as the increasingly dysfunctional country sank into economic turmoil, Baby Doc faced growing opposition at home and abroad. He fled the country in 1986 on a U.S. Air Force plane — his Louis Vuitton luggage allegedly stuffed with $120 million in cash — to exile on the French Riviera.

2. 1986 to 1990: Rapid succession

Baby Doc’s legacy persisted. Henri Namphy, a wealthy lieutenant general who had been close to Papa Doc, led a council installed after Baby Doc’s departure.

Namphy promised to bring democracy to Haiti, but his tenure was marred by more killings, including a massacre that disrupted voting. Still, Namphy kept his promise to hand over power to an elected president.

Leslie Manigat, a professor, won the 1988 election with just over 50 percent of the vote. But his administration didn’t last long: Namphy took power months later after a coup forced Manigat out.

Another coup followed that year, when another lieutenant general, Prosper Avril, declared himself president. Avril had been an associate of Baby Doc’s, and in 1990, as the specter of civil unrest loomed, he also fled on a U.S. Air Force plane.

3. 1990: Aristide appears to usher in a new era


Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a polyglot priest from the slums, was elected in 1990 with about two-thirds of the vote. Jubilant Haitians were hopeful that the charismatic leader could provide calm and prosperity for the country, although Haiti’s military and elites were skeptical of him.

His term lasted less than a year: He was pushed out by a coup. Nearly three years of military rule followed, until the United States helped return him to power in 1994.

Elections were held in 1995, and the following year, René Préval assumed the presidency in what was seen as the first peaceful transfer of power in Haiti’s history. But the quiet didn’t last long. A series of coup attempts set off another power struggle. Aristide was reelected in 2000.

Aristide’s return came with echoes of his predecessors, as he came to rely on gangs known as the chimères to snuff out dissent.

Prominent rebel leader Guy Philippe celebrates with fellow fighters in Cap-Haïtien in February 2004, the month they would overthrew Aristide. (Daniel Morel/Reuters)

4. 2004: U.N. mission seeks to stabilize Haiti

In 2004, Aristide faced an uprising seeking to oust him yet again, led by Guy Philippe, a prominent rebel leader. (He would go on to serve a prison sentence in the United States on a money-laundering conviction, before returning to Haiti late last year as something of a political wild card.)

Haiti appealed for international help to quell the unrest, and the United States, Canada, France and Chile sent in troops as the United States helped Aristide evacuate. A United Nations mission, known by the French acronym MINUSTAH, entered the country, where it remained until 2017.

The U.N. mission meant to stabilize Haiti failed to do so, and faced accusations of sexual misconduct committed by U.N. peacekeepers.

Outside the remains of Haiti's National Cathedral in Port-au-Prince on the first anniversary of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit the country on Jan. 12, 2010. People were still living in tents. (Jonathan Torgovnik/Getty Images)

5. 2010: Earthquake devastates Haiti

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010, killing more than 200,000 people. The temblor devastated the capital, Port-au-Prince, reducing much of it to ruins and leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless.

International relief efforts sought to help Haiti recover, but were criticized as slow and ineffective. Two years later, half a million people were still living in tents. U.N. troops from Nepal brought cholera to the country, setting off an outbreak that killed about 10,000 people. The United Nations in 2016 accepted responsibility for its role in the outbreak, but many Haitians say it has failed to adequately compensate those affected.

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse walks on the grounds of the National Palace after his February 2017 inauguration in Port-au-Prince. (Dieu Nalio Chery/AP)

6. 2021: President assassinated after power struggle

Jovenel Moïse was elected to a five-year term in 2016 but did not take office until the following year because of disputes over the election. That delay entitled him to stay in office beyond the scheduled end of his term, he argued, though opponents said it had ended in February 2021. He said efforts to replace him amounted to a coup attempt. The disarray led to a constitutional crisis: Moïse maintained that he was still president while opponents said Supreme Court Judge Joseph Mécène Jean-Louis was interim president.

In July 2021, armed men stormed Moïse’s Port-au-Prince home and he was fatally shot. The circumstances surrounding the killing remain unclear, with Colombian nationals, U.S. citizens and Moïse’s wife accused of involvement.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry, center, talks with former acting prime minister Claude Joseph on July 20, 2021, after being officially sworn in. The two had struggled for power after the assassination of Moïse. (Joseph Odelyn/AP)

7. 2024: Henry resigns amid gang turmoil

Two days before Moïse was assassinated, he had appointed Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon, as the next prime minister. But he had not been sworn in when Moïse was killed.

The assassination set off a power struggle between Henry and Claude Joseph, who had been serving as acting prime minister. Joseph continued to assert that he was acting prime minister.

But as international support, including that of the United States, coalesced around Henry, Joseph stepped down. The State Department said at the time that it was doing all it could “to support the formation of a unity government that is inclusive and that puts Haiti down a more united path.”

Gang violence worsened after Moïse’s assassination. In an effort to quell the chaos, Henry appealed to the international community to help restore order in Haiti. Other governments, including that of the United States, have been reluctant to intervene, however, after decades of failed foreign involvement. Kenya has said it would lead a U.N.-backed multinational police force deployed to Haiti, but has faced logistical and domestic legal obstacles in standing one up.

While Henry was in Kenya trying to further that plan, Haiti fell further into chaos. Gangs this month led a mass prison break and shut down the international airport. Amid clamor for his resignation, Henry went to Puerto Rico.

On Monday, Henry announced in a video address that he would resign once a transitional presidential council was put in place and an interim leader selected. With the country in shambles, it was not immediately clear who that person might be. If a coalition of gangs continues to strengthen its hold on Haiti, it could be the emergent leader of that bloc, Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, who determines the country’s direction.


Widlore Mérancourt, Ruby Mellen, Adam Taylor, Anthony Faiola and Stephanie Hanes contributed to this report.

Thousands of Israelis hold protests, demand hostage swap deal

Israelis protest in Tel Aviv, Haifa and Caesarea, local media reports

Rania R.a. Abushamala |16.03.2024 




JERUSALEM

Thousands of people on Saturday held protests across Israel against the current government led by Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded a hostage swap deal with Hamas.


Families of hostages in Gaza demonstrated near the Defense Ministry’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, demanding an immediate agreement for the release of hostages, according to the official Israeli Broadcasting Authority.


It reported that dozens of Israelis blocked a section of the Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv.


Thousands of Israelis gathered at Kaplan Square in Tel Aviv, demanding early elections and a hostage swap deal, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.


The Karkur intersection near the city of Haifa in the north witnessed the participation of hundreds of Israelis in a demonstration demanding the release of hostages, according to the newspaper.


Yedioth Ahronoth also noted that hundreds of protesters gathered outside Netanyahu's residence in the city of Caesarea in the north, holding banners, which read “Netanyahu, you are guilty.”


It is expected that the pace of protests across Israel will increase in the coming hours.


The families of those detained in the Gaza Strip protest almost daily to demand an agreement leading to the release of their relatives.


Qatar and Egypt, with the assistance of the US, are mediating between Israel and Hamas to reach a new cease-fire agreement in Gaza and facilitate a prisoner exchange.


Israel estimates that there are more than 125 hostages in Gaza, while it holds at least 8,800 Palestinians in its prisons, according to official sources from both sides.


A cease-fire between Hamas and Israel prevailed for a week from Nov. 24 to Dec. 1, 2023, during which there was a cessation of hostilities, prisoner exchanges, and extremely limited humanitarian aid was allowed into Gaza, mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.


Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack led by Hamas in which 1,163 people were killed.


More than 31,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and 73,546 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.


The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.


Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide, and guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.


*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala​​​​​​​

 

Demonstrations in international capitals to demand an end to Zionist- US aggression against Gaza Demonstrations in international capitals to demand an end to Zionist- US aggression against Gaza [16/March/2024] CAPITALS March 16. 2024 (Saba) - Thousands of people demonstrated in many cities and international capitals, on Saturday, to demand an end to the Zionist-American aggression against the Gaza Strip, which has been continuing since the seventh of last October. It witnessed the British capital, London, and several British cities, the French capital, Paris, the Norwegian capital, Oslo, the Austrian capital, Vienna, the Danish capital, Copenhagen, the city of Aarhus and the city of Kolding in Denmark, the Tunisian capital, the Italian city of Milan, Helsingborg in Sweden, the German capital of Berlin, and the cities of Freiburg and Ulm in Germany, massive demonstrations denouncing the Zionist-American aggression, and demanding an immediate ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian sources: Enemy police arrest 65 Palestinian workers in Jaffa [16/March/2024] RAMALLAH March 16. 2024 (Saba) - The Secretary-General of the General Federation of Palestinian Trade Unions, Shaher Saad, stated that the Zionist enemy police are launching fierce campaigns to pursue Palestinian workers inside the 1948 territories. Saad added in a statement on Saturday, that the Israeli police arrested 65 Palestinian workers during a fierce raid campaign in the center of the city of Jaffa, and 36 of them were transferred for investigation. Saad warned the public of workers, calling on them to exercise caution and caution despite the bad economic conditions they face due to their cessation of work for more than five months due to the ongoing Zionist aggression against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Najat

UK soldiers 'exposed' to toxic chemical in Iraq must get answers, Labour says

A Sky News investigation revealed that British troops who guarded the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant have suffered a range of health problems, including cancer and nosebleeds.

Michael Drummond
Foreign news reporter @MikeRDrummond
Saturday 16 March 2024 

The water treatment plant was contaminated with sodium dichromate. 

Pic: Andy Tosh

British soldiers "exposed" to a toxic chemical during the Iraq war must get answers, Labour has said.

A Sky News investigation revealed health problems including cancer among RAF troops who guarded the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant that was contaminated with sodium dichromate, a deadly toxin.

Many of them have spoken out and say they feel "betrayed" by the UK government.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) says it is willing to meet the veterans, many of whom have called for a public inquiry into who knew what, and when.

Clockwise L-R: Ben Evans, Craig Warner, Eric Page, Darren Waters, Tim Harrison, Tony Watters and Andy Tosh

Reacting to the story, Labour's shadow defence secretary John Healey called on the MoD to make good on its offer.

He said: "Labour is proud of our armed forces personnel, veterans, and their families. Theirs is the ultimate public service - and their professionalism is rightly respected across the world.

"I am pleased the MoD has said it's willing to meet with these veterans, and ministers must now make this happen. The MoD should work in good faith to ensure these veterans get answers to their important questions."

Labour says it would like to meet the Qarmat Ali veterans to better understand their situation.

Sodium dichromate. 

Pic: Ondrej Mangl

An orange powder used to prevent corrosion in pipes, sodium dichromate is a type of hexavalent chromium and a known carcinogen.

Around 100 British troops may have been exposed to the chemical at Qarmat Ali. Of the 10 veterans who have spoken to Sky News, three say they have been treated for cancer, another for a brain tumour and others for nosebleeds and rashes.

Tory MP Jeremy Quin, the chair of the influential Defence Select Committee, also reacted to the Sky News exclusive.

He said: "The stories of these veterans make for very difficult reading.

"These service personnel deserve answers and the offer of a meeting is an important first step in the right direction."

This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

Share: British troops 'exposed' to toxic chemical
Sky's foreign news reporter Michael Drummond explains.
FacebookTwitterDirect LinkClose Modal DialogBritish troops 'exposed' to toxic chemical

It comes after Lord Dannatt, former chief of the general staff, called for a "proper investigation" into what happened.

He told Sky News: "And if the health of some of these service people has been affected, then I guess there probably is a case for at least medical support, if not compensation."

An MoD spokesperson said: "We value the service of our personnel and all operations have health and safety policies in place to mitigate against risk.

"As soon as we were alerted to the possible exposure of Sodium Dichromate, an environmental survey was conducted to evaluate typical exposure at Qarmat Ali. Results showed that the levels at the time were significantly below UK government guidance levels.

"Anyone who requires medical treatment can receive it through the Defence Medical Services and other appropriate services.

"Veterans who believe they have suffered ill health due to service can apply for no-fault compensation under the War Pensions Scheme."

Welsh miners send convoys of aid to Ukraine to repay help over 1984 strike


Askold Krushelnycky reports from Pavlohrad, southeastern Ukraine, where the latest in a number of convoys of vehicles and supplies is handed over to help Kyiv's forces defend against Russia's invasion

(From left to right) Jan Michaelis, Roman Kozak, Carwyn Donovan, Mick Antoniw, Wayne Thomas and two miners from Pavlohrad in Kyiv
(Askold Krushelnycky)


It is a bond forged during the miners' strike 40 years ago.

A trio of vehicles filled with drones, military equipment and medical supplies recently arrived in Ukraine – to help them defend against Russia's invasion – from Wales because of that bond.

One of the drivers was Wayne Thomas, who experienced the strike as a young miner and now, at 63, is vice-president of the UK National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).

Six volunteers set off with two Mitsubishi SUVs and a Volkswagen “Transporter” from Pontypridd in Wales, where the donated vehicles and supplies had been gathered at a NUM property. They overnighted in Folkestone and next day went by train under the Channel to Calais and drove through France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Poland before crossing into Ukraine after four days.

The other principal convoy organiser was Mick Antoniw, 69, Welsh Assembly member and Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution of the Welsh Government (Wales’s equivalent of attorney general). A former member of the British Labour Party’s national executive, Antoniw was helping to bring convoys of aid to Ukraine for the ninth time.

This trip marked £1 million pounds worth of donations - 15 vehicles plus various supplies - the group has sent to Ukraine since the full-scale war began on February 24, 2022.

Antoniw made contacts in the NUM because the firm of solicitors he belonged to before becoming a full-time politician often represented the miners’ union.

Another former miner and the “youngster” of the convoy at 35, was Carwyn Donovan, now an official of the Broadcast and Entertainments Union. The fourth driver was Jan Michaelis, 56, the technical director at the Welsh National Opera, who learned about the aid convoys from Donovan who represented the opera’s union members in negotiations while Michaelis sat on the management side of the table. The fifth was Roman Kozak, 69, who was born in Leicester, trained as a doctor at the Royal London Hospital and has lived in Canada since 1979.

Antoniw’s mother was Danish and his father, a refugee from Ukraine during the Second World War, as were both of Kozak’s parent. Both men have been interested in supporting Ukraine in various ways all their lives. Because both have been his friends from childhood, this reporter was invited to chronicle the convoy’s journey for The Independent.

Soldiers from a miners union with a vehicle donated in the Welsh convoy – near the frontline in southeastern Ukraine
( Askold Krushelnycky)

During the miners' strike of four decades ago, Ukraine was still a part of the Soviet Union and a delegation of miners, headed by an official called Mykhailo Volynets from Ukraine’s largest coal mining region in Donetsk arrived to show solidarity with British comrades.

In 1989, Volynets rallied Ukrainian miners calling for independence from the USSR and when that came in 1991 he formed the Independent Trade Union of Ukrainian Miners – which joined the broader movement for democracy sweeping his country. It played an important role in mass protests in 2004 and 2014.

Following the full-scale 2022 invasion, the Ukrainian miners reached out to the NUM for help with vehicles and other supplies for the thousands of their members who had joined the Ukrainian military to defend their country.

Thomas explained that the miners had become especially close with the Ukrainian miners.

“And so when we were asked in 2022 for assistance it was a case of not ‘should we help?’ but ‘yes, and what do you need?’ And the NUM immediately sent £20,000 to the miners in Pavlohrad,” says Thomas.

Thomas has made five wartime trips to Ukraine. “The resolve of the Ukrainian people, all the people we’ve spoken to of all ages, is amazing. Their belief that their culture and country are worth fighting for leaves an enormous impression,” he says.

He adds that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had contributed much surplus medical and (non-lethal) military kit including night vision equipment, trench cooking equipment, warm clothing, boots, helmets, body armour and medicines.

His daughter, Danielle Edwards, who has been involved with the army cadet force all her life – as a cadet and later as an instructor with the rank of major – has also helped enormously with the MoD’s goodwill.

(From left to right): Roman Kozak, Jan Michaelis, Mick Antoniw, Wayne Thomas and Carwyn Donovan in Poland en route to Ukraine
(Askold Krushelnycky)

Antoniw said individual former members of Britain’s armed forces have been among the largest donors.

Donovan said he first became aware of Ukraine through Antoniw who he had come to know when Antoniw was the miners’ union’s solicitor solicitor. He had told Antoniw to call him if he ever needed help over in Ukraine. That’s what Antoniw did one summer Monday morning in 2022 and by the next Friday Donovan says he found himself as the co-driver of a vehicle heading on the first of his trips into Ukraine.

He explains the connections that inspired the group: “First of all there’s that inexplicable bond that exists between miners whichever country, a will to help your colleagues.

He adds: “What first struck me was the Ukrainians’ sense of resolve, a sense of quiet determination, that Ukraine would not be destroyed. And Ukrainians have a sense of humour when faced with tremendous, real risks. I think that’s fairly similar to working underground.

“In all the times I’ve been out here [Ukraine], I’ve never seen anyone cry despite all the sorrow. People have told me they will cry because they’ve lost loved ones - but only after victory comes. I wish I was that strong.”

One of the other drivers, Michaelis, says he spent a lot of time visiting relatives in communist East Berlin and felt the absence of free speech and saw how his family had to be cautious about how they acted and what they said. “That gave me an understanding of what an oppressive regime can do to people from very early on in my life.”

He recognises Ukrainians face the same crackdown on freedom if they are occupied by Putin’s forces. “If Ukraine doesn’t manage to stop Russia now, Russia may well be in Poland next and if they are there they are only 20 minutes away from my hometown of Berlin. Ukraine is fighting the fight for Europe.”

Soldiers from a miners’ union with a vehicle donated in the Welsh convoy – near the frontline in southeastern Ukraine
(Askold Krushelnycky)

Kozak says that Ukrainians are living under conditions most of us can't even fathom. “I don’t think we can appreciate in the West, living in peace, the tension of an ongoing war with the risk of air attacks, bombing and shelling," he says. "It has been valuable to experience what Ukrainians are going through."

He adds: “I’m very impressed by the attitude of Ukrainians - they realise the risks but don’t allow the war to stop their lives or prevent them doing simple things, like going out for a beer and enjoying life. That spirit to keep going.”

Antoniw was born in England but fell in love with Wales and its culture when he studied law at Cardiff University.

He has worked hard to cultivate cultural links between Wales and Ukraine. Antoniw draws, as do Thomas and Donovan, comparisons between the suppression of the Welsh language and Moscow’s Russification program which threatened to eliminate the Ukrainian language.

Antoniw is proud Wales has welcomed 7,000 Ukrainian refugees, mainly women and children. Many of them have found homes in his constituency of Pontypridd. He has noticed on this trip a “gloom” among Ukrainians caused by the impasse in the US Congress that has led to a severe reduction of artillery ammunition and other supplies critical for Ukraine’s defence.

“I’ve noticed this time particularly concern but I don’t see less determination on the part of Ukrainians to carry on fighting," Antoniw says. " But the concern is to what extent can you rely on Western promises to deliver? People are being killed because promised military supplies haven’t come.”

He says he had faced criticism for spending so much time on aid for Ukraine, but responds that he uses his holiday time for the support work and “all volunteers pay for their own accommodation and food expenses so that every penny of donated money goes on aid.”

The three vehicles were handed over in Kyiv to people who in turn were driving them to military units where PRUP union miners from Pavlohrad serve.

Vitalyi Pyvovar, who picked up on of the vehicles, says some 5,000 of PRUP’s 25,000 miners are on the frontline at any time. About 400 members have been killed.

Pyvovar says: “We have had a long relationship with the Welsh miners. Many years ago they were facing hard times [because of the 1984 strike] and my father’s generation tried to help them. Now, when Ukraine is afflicted by troubles, they are helping us.”