'Aliens are coming': Alberta RCMP 911 dispatchers fielding calls about UFO sightings

A blinding flash of light, something unidentified overhead or aliens at the door. Somewhere the truth is out there.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Canadians appear to be seeing more "out there" while scanning the night skies in increasing numbers. The COVID-19 pandemic has people spending more time outdoors, which has led to a growing interest in astronomy and unusual calls to RCMP 911 dispatchers.

The Alberta centres received nearly 900,000 calls last year, and it's the unusual ones — not requiring police, fire or EMS to be sent out — that tend to stand out in the minds of the 160 dispatchers.

"There were definitely some themes about unusual UFO sightings and satellites," said Tracy Duval, acting operations manager in Red Deer, Alta.

"We were getting a lot of calls with the SpaceX satellite launches. They're a very specific pattern in the sky, they're not hitting the ground, and we can just explain very quickly to people that there are actual satellites in there."

SpaceX is a U.S. aerospace company founded by business magnate Elon Musk.

Duval said there are some people who are convinced that aliens have already landed and are trying to break into their homes.

"It makes you chuckle (and) you say, 'No, I'm pretty sure you're all right'. People do think that," she said.

"We have situations where people are (saying) ... 'No, it's legit. The aliens are coming.' Sometimes it's making sure that they don't actually have someone breaking into their house when they're mistaking it for some extraterrestrial kind of experience."

Evan Davis of Shellbrook, Sask., had his own close encounter while driving to work early in the morning in late February.



Gallery: NASA's best pictures of 2020 (Espresso)


"It was just kind of twilight. The sun was coming up behind me and all of a sudden there was a flash. And then there was this big, huge fireball and it was leaving a lit trail that stayed for a second or two behind it as it fell," Davis said.

"It's something I won't forget. It was spectacular and the whole thing lasted about six or seven seconds total. It lit up the whole sky and then it was gone."

A comet fragment burning up in the Earth's atmosphere did light up the early-morning sky over Alberta and Saskatchewan in February.

Winnipeg-based Ufology Research released a survey in March that indicated sightings of UFOs across Canada — levitating discs, erratic lights and floating triangular objects — increased by 46 per cent in 2020.

The centre's Chris Rutkowski said the total of 1,243 sightings is one of the highest recorded in a single year.

A longtime astronomer suggests people are simply watching the night sky more during the pandemic.

"It's been a real resurgence in astronomy," said Ron Waldron, president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada in Saskatoon, who noted telescopes are in short supply.

"People are suddenly noticing the night sky. They haven't taken the time to notice it before, so what astronomers have been watching for years, and know exactly what it is, people are now looking up and saying, 'I don't know what that is, so it must be a UFO.'"

Waldron said more satellites are being launched "much to the bane of astronomers" and are visible to the human eye. So is the International Space Station on a clear night.

"(People) aren't necessarily able to interpret what they're seeing. There are no more unidentified flying objects up there during the pandemic than there were before."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2021.

— Follow @BillGraveland on Twitter

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

'Archaic' government rules restricting Indigenous communities' control over elections: study

Bobby Hristova 

CBC MAY 2,2021

© Shutterstock 

A new study shows online voting could boost Indigenous democracy in their communities.

A new study highlights how the federal government's "archaic" policies are hurting Indigenous communities' democracy.

The eight-year project by McMaster University and Brock University shows Indian Band Election Regulations, Indian Referendum Regulations and First Nations Elections Act Regulations don't let some communities decide how they want to run their own elections and referendums.

"First Nations, Inuit, Métis people are urging the government ... to be responsive," Chelsea Gabel, the Indigenous Canada research chair, and a McMaster associate professor said.

Gabel is Métis from Rivers, Manitoba. She teamed up with Nicole Goodman, a chancellor's chair for research excellence and a Brock associate professor and to lead the study.

Together, they collaborated with First Nations: Tsuut'ina Nation, Wasauksing First Nation and Nipissing First Nation to come up with their findings.

The study, which began in 2013, found Indigenous communities liked online voting as a way to get more people to cast ballots both on and off the reserves.

The findings also suggest online voting improves governance, makes elections more accessible and would do a better job at representing the whole community.
Dozens of Indigenous communities restricted

"The red flags we came across were that not all communities had the ability to choose their voting method or use online voting if they wanted to," Goodman said.

Goodman said 143 communities are bound by the Indian Act and 75 are restricted by the First Nations Elections Act.

Gabel said she was surprised by how many communities were using online voting and how many wanted to but couldn't.

The research also comes after the government needed to put measures in place to allow Indigenous communities to cancel and postpone their elections amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jennifer Predie, was the lands manager for Wasauksing First Nation during the study. She said the project allowed the community — for the first time ever — to use online voting for the ratification of its land code. Land codes allow reserves to manage laws, processes and procedures to manage lands and resources outside of the Indian Act.

She said more people voted with the online option, especially those living off the reserve.

"I think right now we wouldn't be able to pass any land codes without the use of electronic voting," she said.

Predie, like the researchers, said the government's current rules are "very archaic" and changes are "long overdue."

"It's not enough for people to have a voice," she said.

Report has 8 recommendations for government

The report has eight recommendations including:


Changing current regulations to allow First Nations to choose how they want to vote for elections and referendums.


Boosting designated core government funding to support switching voting methods.


Supporting the development of a National Centre of Excellence or expansion of the First Nations Digital Democracy Project.


More responsiveness and support from the federal government for Indigenous elections and voting.


Creating a security framework for online voting.


Working with community-owned service providers to improve Internet connectivity and digital literacy in First Nations.


More community-engaged research on online voting, and for Indigenous communities and technology.

The researchers are calling on Indigenous Services Canada and the Minister of Indigenous Services to follow through with the recommendations, particularly the first one.

"This is about giving Indigenous communities self-determination and having control over their own elections and voting methods," Gabel said.

Action needed to end anti-Black racism in public service: advocates

OTTAWA — The federal government must address anti-Black racism in the public service by implementing timely changes to staffing processes and effective training programs for public servants, not by long-term promises, advocates say.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Liberals pledged in the 2021 budget to make changes to the Public Service Employment Act that aim to promote a more diverse and inclusive workforce and to spend $285 million over five years to collect disaggregated data that will help in understanding the experiences of people of colour in Canada.

Nicholas Marcus Thompson, one of 12 current and former Black federal workers who filed in December a proposed class-action lawsuit in Federal Court against the government, said their action is one of the reasons that the government made these promises.

He said it shouldn't take the government five years to collect disaggregated data to understand the underrepresentation of Black workers in the upper echelons of the public service and to take down barriers they face.

"The time frame is very long and Black workers continue to suffer and show up to work injured every day," he said.

"There's a lot of mental health issues associated with the discrimination, the systemic discrimination, that Black workers have faced and continue to face — a lot of racial trauma that Black workers are facing."

The plaintiffs are alleging systemic discrimination in how the federal government has hired and promoted thousands of public servants for nearly half a century.

"There's a glass ceiling at the bottom of the public service for Black workers, and the top of the public service is reserved for white folks," he said.

None of the allegations has been tested in court. The plaintiffs are waiting for a certification hearing scheduled for June.

Treasury Board spokesperson Martin Potvin said it's premature to comment on the lawsuit, but the government will consider all options, including alternative dispute resolution, as it seeks to address the concerns raised.

The national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada said anti-Black racism in the federal public service is widespread.

Chris Aylward said there's limited opportunities for career growth or advancement due to systemic exclusion of Black employees.

"Canada's public service represents itself as merit-based, inclusive and non-partisan but ongoing systemic discrimination and racism basically show that this is not the reality," he said.

"There's no doubt in my mind about that and it's not specific to any one department or agency. I think it's government-wide."

He said the current data collected by the government only allow people to self-identify as visible minorities, so it's not clear how many Black employees are working in each level of the public service.

"We believe (the disaggregated data) is crucial to understanding the disparities for specific marginalized communities in Canada, and in particular the Black community," he said.

Potvin of the Treasury Board said more work is needed to eliminate bias, barriers and discrimination in the public service.

"We must take deliberate and continual steps to remove systemic discrimination from our institutions and from our culture," Potvin said in a statement.

Norma Domey, executive vice-president of the Professional Institute of Public Service of Canada, said she is the first Black executive in her institute's 100-year history.

"It's heavy on me to try to push the envelope for our folks and push diversity, and it just makes my job harder," she said.

Domey said staffing process in the public service is not transparent, and there's limited recourse provided to candidates that makes it very difficult for them to challenge the system.

She said non-advertised appointments have dramatically increased to 60 per cent in 2020 compared to 29 per cent of all appointments in 2016.

Black employees fear retaliation if they challenge the process, she said.

"It's the excessive use of non-advertised processes that add to the exclusion to the (marginalized) groups and given the demographics and the biases of hiring managers, it ends up being a huge disadvantage to folks like ourselves," she said.

Domey said her institution was initially consulted on possible changes to the Public Service Employment Act, but it's still unclear what changes to the act the government is considering.

"We're hoping there's going to be some progress on this whole staffing process, and the revamp of the Public Service Employment Act," she said.

Potvin of the Treasury Board said information about the changes the government will propose to the act will be made available once legislation has been introduced in Parliament.

Thompson said the government should create a separate category for Black workers under the Employment Equity Act in order to guarantee better representation in the public service.

He said Black people are currently considered a part of the visible minority group.

"What we've seen is that they've consistently picked one or two groups from the entire visible minority category, (so) they meet (the requirements of) the Employment Equity Act," he said.

Aylward of the Public Service Alliance of Canada also said federal departments meet the act requirements by hiring non-Black people of colour.

"They say 'Oh, we're on target. We've met our quota,' kind of thing. And that's simply not right," he said.

He said a complete review of the Public Service Employment Act and the Employment Equity Act has to happen at the same time.

Domey said there also is a need for more bias-awareness training in the public service.

"People don't even recognize when they're being racist, so there's something wrong with that picture," she said.

She said the training courses need to be ongoing and entrenched into the public servants' day-to-day activities.

"I hope it's not just, 'Oh, I've done my presentation. I'm the champion for diversity. Now, I can tick off that box and get my bonus.' "

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2021.

------

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press

Proud Boys Canada dissolves itself, says it was never a 'white supremacy' group ROFLMAO


TORONTO (Reuters) - Proud Boys Canada, a far-right group that Ottawa named as a terrorist entity earlier this year, has dissolved itself, saying it has done nothing wrong, according to a statement by the organization on Sunday.

In February, Canada said the group posed an active security threat and played a "pivotal role" in the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol in January by supporters of then-President Donald Trump. U.S. authorities have charged several members of the Proud Boys in connection with the Jan. 6 assault.

"The truth is, we were never terrorists or a white supremacy group," the statement posted by the administrator of the official Proud Boys channel on Telegram said.

"We are electricians, carpenters, financial advisors, mechanics, etc. More than that, we are fathers, brothers, uncles and sons," it added.

Founded in 2016, the Proud Boys began as an organization protesting political correctness and perceived constraints on masculinity in the United States and Canada, and grew into a group that embraced street fighting.



Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said in February that the domestic intelligence forces had become increasingly worried about the group.

(Reporting by Denny Thomas; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Alberta government suspends spring sitting; NDP calls decision ‘cowardly’

Slav Kornik 

GLOBAL NEWS

2/5/20

Government House Leader Jason Nixon has announced the suspension of the spring session of the legislative assembly for at least two weeks due to rising COVID-19 cases in the province.

© Eric Beck/Global News The Alberta legislature on Aug. 26, 2020.

In a statement released Sunday, Nixon's office said the suspension is an effort to prevent further spread of the virus, not due to confirmed cases among MLAs or staff.

"With COVID-19 continuing to spread across Alberta, the government has determined that having MLAs return to Edmonton from all over the province after constituency week is no longer prudent," Nixon said in the statement. "Suspending proceedings is the right thing to do as case counts increase."

READ MORE: Alberta passes legislation allowing for 3-hour paid leave so workers can get COVID-19 vaccine

The office said the decision was made after consultation with the official opposition Sunday. But in a statement, the NDP called the decision "cowardly" and accused Premier Jason Kenney of "fleeing" the legislature while public health measures such as paid sick leave have not been enacted.

"The first item on the agenda for Monday must be an emergency debate on Jason Kenney's failing pandemic response," NDP Leader Rachel Notley said.

"Alberta workers need paid sick leave, families need a Learn From Home Fund to support students online, our variant testing system needs immediate improvement, and our existing public health measures must be enforced. All this work is being left undone because Jason Kenney is afraid of public scrutiny."

The NDP also noted that legislature members are now being kept home for their safety while some students must still go to school. Front-line staff at restaurant patios and stores, the official opposition added, also have to report for duty as those businesses are not shuttered.

"Alberta needs real leadership at this moment of crisis, but instead Jason Kenney is abandoning his post," Notley said in the statement.

"I can't help but remember his boastful rhetoric this time last year, invoking the memories of the British parliament remaining in session through the (German bombing) Blitz,'' she added.

"The suggestion that the legislature cannot sit while servers are still working on patios and people are still crowding into malls is absurd. Now more than ever, Jason Kenney needs to show up to work."

The tentative return date is May 17, and Nixon said the house can be reconvened earlier if an emergency arises.

READ MORE: Alberta Health reports single-day high of 2,433 new COVID-19 cases

Video: What to expect during Alberta legislature’s spring session

The decision to suspend the spring sitting comes as Alberta struggles to manage the pandemic. On Saturday, the province reported the highest single-day total of COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, at 2,433. It was the third consecutive day the province reported more than 2,000 cases.

Alberta's active case count was at 22,504 as of Saturday, and there were 646 people in hospital with the virus, with 152 of those individuals in intensive care. Doctors are also being briefed on patient triage protocols should they be required.

READ MORE: An in-depth look at climbing cases and spread in Alberta schools

For the last 14 months, Kenney has toggled health restrictions on public gatherings and businesses, trying to save lives and keep people's livelihoods intact.

He was criticized for waiting too long to bring in new rules during the second wave at Christmas, and is now facing similar critiques during the third.

Kenney dismissed bringing in new restrictions on Monday, saying people likely wouldn't follow them anyway, but by Thursday introduced new rules on so-called COVID hot spots. He said the measures were critical to bending the curve.

Kenney dismissed criticism he was pursuing inconsistent, confusing policy, instead characterizing it as a nimble, flexible response.

Kenney's government has also been criticized for failing to enforce public health rules, particularly allowing packed congregations to meet for months at the Grace Life Church near Edmonton before shutting it down in March.

Kenney has said his government has no say in how health rules are enforced.

READ MORE: Alberta introduces targeted restrictions in ‘hot spots’ as active COVID-19 cases reach all-time high


Kenney says recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Alberta are related to socialization


On Saturday, hundreds of people flocked to a "No More Lockdowns" rodeo outside the central Alberta community of Bowden, in full defiance of the province's health regulations and with no apparent pushback from authorities

Alberta currently doesn't allow indoor social gatherings and outdoor gatherings are limited to 10 people. Stores remain open at sharply reduced capacity and restaurants can keep their patios open.

On Thursday Kenney announced new rules for high-case zones — encompassing most of Alberta's urban areas — shuttering gyms and sending home Grade 7-12 students who weren't already learning on-line.

UCP GAVE A PROVINCE WIDE NOTICE OF HOT SPOTS IN ALBERTA, PRACTICALLY EVERY CITY AND TOWN. BUT UNLIKE ONTARIO KENNEY CAN STILL SAY ALBERTA IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS

— With files from The Canadian Press

Braid: UCP shuts down legislature, faces charges of cowardice

Don Braid, Calgary Herald 

MAY 2,2021

There are many things a government with a severe crisis on its hands probably shouldn’t do. Leaving town is one of them.

© Provided by Calgary Herald Alberta Premier Jason Kenney leaves the Alberta Legislature on April 8, 2021.

In a Sunday move with no compelling logic behind it, the UCP unilaterally suspended two weeks of the legislature session , arguing that there’s a health risk.

“Having MLAs return to Edmonton from all over the province after constituency week is no longer prudent,” government house leader Jason Nixon said in a statement.

“Suspending proceedings is the right thing to do as case counts increase.”

NDP Leader Rachel Notley said the government has “gone into hiding.” She branded Premier Jason Kenney personally as “a coward.”

Perhaps the shutdown is meant to signal more severe COVID-19 measures across society, coming soon.

But only last week Kenney’s secret cabinet committee voted down a recommendation to close restaurants and patios. Would they overturn that just a few days later?

Notley also said Kenney isn’t crazy about being in the same room with his MLAs.

There may be something to that. These days, the premier seems to face two opposition legislature parties — the NDP and half of his own caucus.

But the shutdown may be pretty much what it seems, a symbolic gesture to show Albertans the seriousness of the COVID crisis.

The province has now moved into top spot in all of Canada and the U.S. for infections per 100,000 people.

Sunday’s count of new cases — 1,731 — was down from more than 2,400 the day before . But weekends are almost always lower because testing slows.

We could know by the end of this week whether COVID in Alberta is peaking or still surging. The politicians and health officials are surprised by its current power — and very nervous.

Kenney went on a Twitter tear Sunday against the people who staged an anti-masking rodeo event in Bowden.

“Not only are gatherings like this a threat to public health, they are a slap in the face to everyone who is observing the rules to keep themselves and their fellow Albertans safe,” he said.

The reason for the high COVID-19 numbers, the premier added, “is precisely because too many Albertans are ignoring the rules we currently have in place.”

Kenney was instantly reminded that patios are still open, thousand are jamming into malls, and people who openly flout the rules are scolded but seldom punished.

Whatever the reasons for the legislature shutdown, public health in the building itself can’t be a major one.

Nixon said there are no cases among legislature staff or MLAs. Chamber meetings are held with masking rules and plenty of space between MLAs.

Many meetings were already being done remotely without cancelling sittings in the legislature itself. Cabinet and committee meetings will be entirely virtual as well.

Normally, a decision like this would require an adjournment motion and a vote in the house. But the UCP earlier brought in changes to standing orders to allow a unilateral, vote-free shutdown

.  

© Ian Kucerak/Postmedia The Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on Nov. 5, 2020.

Responding to the shutdown, the Opposition laid on rhetoric that’s extreme even for these divisive times.

Notley said “the NDP adamantly opposes Jason Kenney’s cowardly decision to flee the legislature while critical public health measures such as paid sick leave have not been enacted, and the government’s larger response flounders.

“The premier has now run and gone into hiding. He’s a coward.

“He’s running from his own caucus. This is a government in complete meltdown — you can’t have them in the same room together.”

Now, they won’t even be in the same legislature together.

But will Albertans in general be upset because the daily shouting match ceases for two weeks?

Maybe not. Solutions are what matter today.

The UCP is scrambling to find some, with striking lack of success.

Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald

dbraid@postmedia.com

Twitter: @DonBraid

Facebook: Don Braid Politics

Green gold: Avocado farming on the rise in Africa

In East Africa and Nigeria, avocado farmers want to enter the insatiable export market. Environmental concerns cast a shadow over the crop in other parts of the world. What will African farmers do differently?

Smallholder farming holds the promise of more sustainable avocado production in East Africa and Nigeria

Baker Ssengendo's vision for the future of Uganda starts with an avocado seedling. "The avocado tree has a lifespan of about 50 years. The life expectancy of an average Ugandan is about 60 years. A tree can benefit them their entire life," he told DW.

Ssengendo works on the 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of Musubi Farm in Nansana, central Uganda ­— the largest Hass avocado farm in the country. "By working in avocado farming, I am fulfilling my life dream. We want to lift our communities out of poverty."

Due to high global demand, the avocado has become a lucrative export product. Its consumption per capita increased by 406% between 1990 and 2017 in the US alone.

The so-called green gold is rapidly gaining popularity on the African continent. Both Nigeria and Uganda aim to drastically increase their avocado production and become top exporters in the next decade. Kenya is already among the global top 10. Export revenues in the East African country surged by a third between 2019 and 2020. Farmers are hailing the crop as an antidote to poverty in rural areas.

Uganda is aiming to become a top global avocado exporter

But the sought-after fruit has been making negative headlines around the world. Water shortages and the destruction of biodiversity have been linked to its production. The environmental issues have cast a dark shadow over the commercial farming of avocados in Latin America's top exporting countries, such as Mexico and Chile.

But African avocado farming is promising a brighter future, according to both farmers and scientists. Due to an emphasis on smallholders and beneficial rain patterns, the crop's production is expected to be less environmentally harmful than on the American continent.

Avocados the new oil?

"Avocado is actually a godsend because farmers can use it as an alternative to coffee farming," Sammy Carsan, agroforestry scientist at the World Agroforestry Center in Nairobi, told DW.

In recent years, fierce competition between large retailers has driven down coffee prices. In 2019, coffee farmers' earnings dropped to their lowest in 13 years. Now, hopes are high for avocado to fill the income gap.

According to The Guardian newspaper in Nigeria, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo called the fruit "the new oil of Nigeria" during a meeting with members of the Avocado Society of Nigeria (ASN) late last year. The politician-turned-avocado-enthusiast is the largest stakeholder in the society and owns 20 hectares of Hass avocado farming land himself — the avocado variety most commonly used for exports.

Listen to audio 10:15 Living Planet: Avocados — a not-so-super food after all?

"He gave us the mandate of making the country Africa's largest avocado exporter by 2030," Adeniyi Sola Bunmi, executive director of ASN, told DW. Currently, there are only 120 Hass avocado farmers in Nigeria. ASN is training smallholders wishing to switch to the crop and provides them with Hass seedlings.

In Uganda, the Agriculture Ministry recently partnered with Musubi Farm, hoping to start commercial export next year. Musubi is already employing 1,000 people from the local community. "We are also financially supporting a local school and are providing land for a local police force in order to deal with crime in the community. Avocados can transform our community," said Ssengendo, the director of communications.
Promise of smallholder farming

Large-scale commercial avocado farming is at the core of environmental issues, such as soil degradation, in Latin America. However, in East Africa and Nigeria, smallholders are at the center of a more sustainable avocado farming approach.

"Our plan is to have 75% of avocados produced by smallholder farmers and 25% by our farm," Ssengendo said of his vision for Uganda. In neighboring Kenya, smallholders are already spearheading avocado production, with most avocado farmers only owning about 2 hectares of land, according to Carsan.

Small farms mean less strain on the environment, Ruben Sommaruga, professor of limnology, or inland aquatic ecosystems, at the University of Innsbruck, told DW. "Large industrial production always implies a large use of pesticides. That is usually not the case with smallholder farmers, who can control their small number of trees more easily."

In smallholder settings, the crop is often complemented with other farming enterprises, such as maize and bean crops, planted for subsistence. According to Samson Ogbole, a sustainable farmer in Nigeria, mixing avocado trees with agroforestry systems can curtail negative environmental effects. "Planting crops like legumes around the tree crops helps replenish the soil."

Avocados for rainy days

According to the Water Footprint Network, it takes 2,000 liters of water (528 gallons), or 10 full bathtubs, to grow just one kilo of avocados. Planting the fruit has been linked to water shortages in Chile, for example, where farming has affected water availability for human consumption.

But the water consumption of the crop shouldn't be removed from its local context, according to Sommaruga. "It's always a matter of how much and what kind of water you have in the countries where you grow the trees."

In Uganda and Nigeria, avocado farms are mainly located in areas with beneficial rain patterns, according to Sommaruga.

Watch video 02:21 Ugandan farmers reap avocado demand

"The central and southern part of Nigeria receives relatively high precipitation. The south of Uganda does as well. In Kenya, much of the avocado farming is done north of Nairobi, where mountains retain most of the rain," said Sommaruga.

Frequent rainfall means farmers do not have to rely on irrigation systems, which artificially apply water to the soil. "In smallholder settings, avocado is produced on a rain-fed basis with few irrigation systems," Carsan said about avocado farmers in Kenya.

For now, avocado production has not been linked to water shortages across African farmlands. But, as Sommaruga points out, the rain patterns that avocado farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are benefitting from today are expected to decrease in the future due to climate change.

Bunmi from the Avocado Society of Nigeria has also been farming avocados on his land, hoping to export to Ukraine and the United Kingdom in five years. "Regarding water, I don't see any problem in the next 20 years. But maybe as time goes on," Bunmi said.

WIRECARD THE GERMAN ENRON

Opinion: Wirecard fraud shows it's time to regulate the regulators

Germany's Wirecard debacle is just one example of a scandal that could have been avoided if those in charge of oversight had actually done their job, says Kate Ferguson.


The Wirecard collapse is the most recent example of oversight failure in Germany

What would you do if you were confident you could get away with it? Perhaps you'd rob a bank, or have a wild affair. Or maybe you'd subsist on nothing but candy floss for the rest of your life.

The chances are you won't, though. The risk of being arrested, destroying your marriage or becoming a diabetic are simply too high.

For most of us, the question is destined to remain hypothetical. After all, life has taught us that bad behavior does not generally go unpunished.
Generally doesn't mean always

There are notable exceptions to the rule, though. In recent years, three major scandals in Germany have provided pleasingly concrete answers to the question.

First, there's Volkswagen, which flouted environmental tests by installing cheat devices in up to 11 million vehicles. Then there's the young German reporter named Claas Relotius who forged a successful journalism career by fabricating stories or elements of his stories. Finally, there's Wirecard, the payment company that built its business on €1.9 billion ($2.3 billion) of assets that did not exist.

In all cases, the deception was richly rewarded. In Volkswagen's 2014 annual report, the carmaker boasted about receiving numerous awards for environmental protection. Meanwhile, Relotius was winning prestigious prizes for his reporting, and Wirecard rose to become the tech darling of Germany's financial world.
Supported by many

Approval came from especially high places. The year before the emissions scandal broke, Autotest, the influential magazine for car buyers, and Ökotrend, an environmental research institute, named two Volkswagen passenger cars "the most environmentally friendly vehicles" across all classes. Relotius was named CNN Journalist of the Year, and went on to receive the European Press Prize and the German Reporter Award no less than four times. Meanwhile, Wirecard was receiving approbation from the highest political ranks, including from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who advocated for the company during a trip to China in 2019.

The lies continued unabated for years. Fact-checkers at Der Spiegel, widely considered to be the pinnacle of German journalism, did not uncover Relotius' fictions. EY, one of the largest accountancy firms in the world and responsible for auditing Wirecard, gave the company a clean bill of health. Germany's financial regulator, BaFin, continued to offer the company its firmest backing.

The Dieselgate scandal has cost German carmaker Volkswagen dearly

Large-scale deception

In each case, the scandal was uncovered by an unlikely and relatively powerless source. Three students at the Center for Alternative Fuels Engines and Emissions in the US state of West Virginia unwittingly discovered Volkswagen's deception when they published data on nitrogen oxide emissions in two VW models. Their study had been out for a year and a half before the Dieselgate scandal broke.

DW columnist Kate Ferguson

Juan Moreno, a freelance journalist from Spain, who enjoyed nothing close to the professional standing of Relotius, sounded the alarm about the German reporter's work. At first, editors at Der Spiegel didn't believe him.

Similarly, when two journalists at the Financial Times reported on suspicious activities at Wirecard, Germany's financial regulator, BaFin, responded by filing a criminal complaint against them, accusing them of market manipulation.

The truth did eventually come out and in all three cases, and the downfall has been spectacular. Several Volkswagen executives have been charged with crimes, two have been imprisoned and the company has had to pay out tens of billions of dollars in damages.

Claas Relotius suffered a humiliating fall from grace and was stripped of his journalistic accolades. Wirecard collapsed spectacularly and is now the subject of a German parliamentary inquiry.

Acting with impunity?

Yet none of these scandals could have happened if experience had not taught each party to act with impunity.

If Volkswagen had been scrutinized instead of idolized, its cheating may have been uncovered far earlier. If editors at Der Spiegel had interrogated instead of unquestioningly revered Relotius, his lies would not have been published. If EY and BaFin had been diligent, Wirecard would not have been able to commit large-scale fraud.

In the world of business and media, the question of what you would do if you were confident you could get away with it should always remain a hypothetical one. The moment it isn't, someone isn't doing their job.

VIDEO 42:30 MINUTES Wirecard case: Tricksters and the tricked

Opinion: Quo vadis Modi?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing a double challenge to his authority. Already under fire for mishandling the COVID crisis, he must now digest a bitter political defeat that has undermined his prestige.



After the COVID crisis, Modi is facing a second blow to his Ironman image

Earlier this year, while many other countries and regions were struggling with fresh waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, India was providing vaccines for the rest of the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took credit for defeating the pandemic in his country and providing global leadership in this war against the coronavirus.

But that claim of victory has now come back to haunt Modi in the form of the unprecedented suffering of the Indian people during the country's deadly second wave. After all, the one who takes credit for victory must also take responsibility for the lo

A barrage of domestic and international criticism seems to have damaged the Teflon-like image of the "supreme leader" for the first time. Even many of his die-hard defenders have either become quiet or turned rather defensive in handling the accusations of crisis mismanagement and criminal neglect.
West Bengal was a symbolic defeat

Now Modi is facing a second blow to his Ironman image after regional election results were declared in five Indian states on Sunday — a huge political defeat for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that may prove lethal.

Mamata Banerjee is one of the toughest critics of Modi's leadership

Normally, regional polls wouldn't matter that much to the federal government. But Modi himself made it a prestige issue to defeat the firebrand chief minister in the state of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, India's only female chief minister.

Armed with unprecedented resources, the prime minister and his trusted lieutenant, Home Minister Amit Shah, regularly commuted between Delhi and Bengal to ensure an exemplary victory that would cement their control of nearly the entire country. They have even been accused of neglecting their duties for political gain during the country's critical health crisis.

Control of West Bengal had a symbolic significance for Modi: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the ideological father of his Hindu right-wing party, hailed from this state. Not only that — a successful "taming" of the usually left-leaning Bengali intellectuals would also send a clear message to rest of the country. West Bengal was the prize; the results in the other four states were no big surprise, and weren't seen as such a prestige issue by the BJP.

Now that Banerjee's government has secured an astounding election victory in West Bengal, Modi's image stands shattered for the second time within a span of just a few weeks. Banerjee was personally defeated in her constituency, but even that may not come as a consolation prize for Modi. His narrative of religious extremism and other key issues has been rejected by the overwhelming majority of Bengali voters.
For the first time, Modi looks vulnerable

Until now, setbacks like this haven't been a problem for the prime minister — he could simply disown any failures and patiently wait to highlight his next self-proclaimed achievement. The weak and fragmented opposition force could hardly challenge his authority or shake his image.

But this time, the crisis could come from within. The Sangh Parivar, or the parent political family of the Hindu nationalist BJP, is showing signs of impatience at the failures of the Modi-Shah leadership. The optics in recent weeks haven't been good: Apocalyptic images of Hindus being cremated in hospital yards, COVID patients who died due to lack of oxygen supply and other failures, have made the Sangh leadership uncomfortable. Public anger may prove to be much stronger and longer lasting than during Modi's demonetization drive, or any of the other controversial steps taken by his government.

If Modi starts to become a liability rather than a political asset, the Sangh political family may have to rethink its strategy. Although nobody else in the party matches Modi's charisma and popularity, for the first time the prime minister is looking vulnerable. Of course, he could fight back and regain control over the narrative, but the ground under his feet is no longer as stable as it once was.

If the opposition can use this momentum and build up a viable and serious alternative to challenge Modi in the next general election in 2024, India's political landscape could once again see a fundamental change.

Jürgen Habermas turns down UAE award over human rights concerns

Prominent German sociologist Jürgen Habermas had previously decided to accept the Sheikh Zayed Book Award, but now says it was the "wrong" decision.

FORMALLY OF THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL OF MARXIST HEGELIANS


Habermas is seen as one of the most important German thinkers of the 20th century

Prominent German sociologist and philosopher Jürgen Habermas turned down a book award from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday over concerns about human rights in the Gulf nation. The 91-year-old intellectual had previously accepted the award.

"I declared my willingness to accept this year's Sheikh Zayed Book Award. That was a wrong decision, which I correct hereby," Habermas said in a statement shared with the German Spiegel Online news website.

"I didn't sufficiently make clear to myself the very close connection of the institution, which awards these prizes in Abu Dhabi, with the existing political system there," he added.

What exactly is the award?

The award is named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who ruled Abu Dhabi for over 30 years. Zayed, who died in 2004 at 86 years old, was the first president of the UAE.

The award is given annually to individuals and publishers "whose writing and translation in the humanities objectively enriches Arab intellectual, culture, literary and social life." Habermas was given the distinction of "Cultural Personality of the Year."

Winners of the cultural personality award receive not only a medal but also a lucrative cash prize of 1 million UAE dirhams (€226,498/ $272,249)

Habermas, widely considered to be the most important German philosopher in the second half of the 20th century, is associated with the Frankfurt School of social theory. Many of his writings on philosophical issues have been translated into Arabic.
What's the human rights situation in the UAE?

The UAE has been frequently chastised for its poor human rights situation. The country's rulers tightly control the media and wield broad discretion to punish individuals if they criticize the government.

Washington think tank Freedom House characterizes the UAE as "not free," due to the significant restrictions on civil liberties.

Other human rights concerns include the UAE's exploitation of migrants from India and other countries under its kafala system. The joint Saudi-UAE offensive against Houthi rebels in Yemen has also drawn scrutiny due to the reported indiscriminate killing of civilians in one of the world's poorest countries.

wd/sms (AP, dpa)

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Habermas defined the public sphere as a virtual or imaginary community which does not necessarily exist in any identifiable space. In its ideal form, the public sphere is "made up of private people gathered together as a public and articulating the needs of society with the state" (176).

Jürgen Habermas and the Public Sphere - Media-Studies

HE WAS IN EXILE THERE

'Islamic State' military leader arrested in Turkey

An Afghan national, codenamed Basim and who allegedly led the terrorist group's military structure, has been detained in Istanbul.

IS fighters in Syria hold up the terror group's flag in August 2015

The alleged military head of the "Islamic State" (IS) terror group was arrested in Turkey, a police statement said on Sunday.

Codenamed Basim, the Afghan national has been dubbed the right-hand man of dead IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.

Basim was detained in a suburb of Istanbul and had been traveling on a fake passport, according to the police statement.

Basim had reportedly disappeared months after the terrorist group was overrun in Syria and Iraq in December 2017.

Watch video03:26 'Islamic State' revival in Syria 'a question of time': Journalist Amir Musawy

Turkish media published a photograph of a balding, bearded man in a light coat following the arrest and an earlier image, purportedly of the same person, showing a long-haired, heavily bearded man in military fatigues wielding a curved sword.

The Demiroren news agency said Basim was suspected of organizing training for IS while in Syria and Iraq, as well as serving on its decision-making council.

NTV reported that Basim was being interrogated after a joint operation by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and Istanbul's police force.

IS leader Baghdadi killed himself in October 2019 by detonating a suicide vest during a US-led raid on his hideout in Syria's northwestern Idlib province.

Turkey regularly detains IS suspects, many allegedly planning attacks in the country