Study details how Trump unleashed 'outright slaughter' of wolves in Wisconsin

#STOPWOLFHUNTING

Common Dreams
July 06, 2021


FILE PHOTO: Service. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Handout via Reuters/File Photo

A new study published Monday estimates Wisconsin lost as much as a third of its gray wolf population after the Trump administration stripped federal protections for the animals and the state allowed for a public wolf hunt widely decried as being "divorced from science and ethical norms."

The February hunt, panned (pdf) by wildlife advocates as "an outright slaughter," killed 218 wolves—already far past the quota the state had set. But over 100 additional wolf deaths were the result of "cryptic poaching," University of Wisconsin–Madison environmental studies scientists found, referring to illegal killings in which hunters hide evidence of their activities.

The majority of those surplus deaths, the researchers estimate, occurred after the Trump administration announced on November 3, 2020 the lifting of endangered species protections for gray wolves in the lower 48 states. That shift became effective in January 2021.?

According to the study, published in the journal Peerj, between 98 and 105 wolves died since November 2020 "that would have been alive had delisting not occurred."

An optimistic scenario puts the state wolf numbers for April 2021 at between 695 and 751 wolves. That's down from at least 1,034 wolves last year, representing a decrease of 27–33% in one year.

That decline, the researchers said, is at clear odds with Wisconsin's stated goal of the hunt "to allow for a sustainable harvest that neither increases nor decreases the state's wolf population."

"Although the [Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources] is aiming for a stable population, we estimate the population actually dropped significantly," said co-author Adrian Treves, a professor in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and director of the Carnivore Coexistence Lab at UW–Madison, in a statement.

Cancellation of the state's next hunt, set for November, could allow for the wolf population to rebound in one or two years. Standing in the way of that is Wisconsin's mandate for a wolf hunt in the absence of federal protections, and kill allowances set on shaky scientific ground, according to the researchers.

"Quite simply put, post-delisting, too many wolves are being killed and there is absolutely no justification for it."

Also troublesome is the fact that the state didn't mandate the collection of wolf carcasses for assessing data of wolf ages or detection of alpha females.

Co-author Francisco Santiago-Ávila said the results suggest the lifting of federal protections gave a subtle green light for more killings.

"During these periods, we see an effect on poaching, both reported and cryptic," he said. "Those wolves disappear and you never find them again."

"Additional deaths are caused simply by the policy signal," he said, "and the wolf hunt adds to that."

Citing "the importance of predators in restoring ecosystem health and function," the researchers offer recommendations including, at the federal level, a "protected non-game" classification for wolves. At the state level, authorities "should prove themselves capable of reducing poaching to a stringent minimum for a 5-year post-delisting monitoring period," the study said.

Wildlife advocates have already expressed concern that the wolf population hit seen in Wisconsin could be a harbinger of the fate of wolves in other states unless the Biden administration quickly restores federal protections for the iconic animals.

According to Samantha Bruegger, wildlife coexistence campaigner at WildEarth Guardians, "Quite simply put, post-delisting, too many wolves are being killed and there is absolutely no justification for it. No scientific justification. No ethical justification. No public safety justification. No economic justification."

WildEarth Guardians is among a handful of conservation organizations last month that released guides for laypeople as well as state agency wildlife policymakers to show how to best prioritize "wolf stewardship and a broader vision for conserving species in the face of global climate change and mass extinctions."

"New wolf plans informed by science and ethics are needed now more than ever, as the disastrous winter wolf hunt in Wisconsin showed," said Amaroq Weiss, senior West Coast wolf advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, expressing optimism the guides could be tools for "a more hopeful course in states' stewardship of these beloved animals."

THE NAZI'S LOVED BELARUS
Belarus leader: Jews caused the world ‘to kneel’ before them

LIKE THEY LOVED UKRAINE & ESTONIA
Authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko laments ‘Holocaust of the Belarusian people’ during Nazi occupation of country in WWII

By TOI STAFF

Today, 

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a wreath-laying ceremony at Mound of Glory war memorial marking Independence Day, on the outskirts of the capital Minsk, Belarus, on July 3, 2021. (Maxim Guchek/BelTA Pool Photo via AP)


Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has claimed that Jews caused the world “to kneel” to them.

The authoritarian leader made the remarks in a speech Saturday for Belarusian independence day, which marks Soviet forces’ liberation of the capital Minsk from the Nazis in 1944.

“The Jews succeeded in causing the entire world to kneel to them and no one will dare raise a voice and deny the Holocaust,” Lukashenko said, quoted by Israel’s Kan public broadcaster.

According to a separate translation Monday by the Ynet news site, Lukashenko said, “The Jews succeeded in proving to everyone that they went through the Holocaust and the entire world kneels before them.”

Referring to Nazi German actions during the occupation of the Eastern European territory during World War II, Lukashenko said there had been a “Holocaust of the Belarusian people.”

“We are so tolerant, so good, we did not want to offend anyone and we have thus come to being insulted,” he said, according to Ynet.

Kan had a different translation of that remark, which it quoted as coming immediately following Lukashenko’s remarks on Jews.

“On the other hand, the Belarusians, a tolerant nation, allowed their faces to be spit on,” he was reported as saying.

A senior adviser to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled Belarus last year after challenging Lukashenko in a presidential election widely seen as rigged, slammed the Belarusian leader for the comments.

“Lukashenko is demonstrating his incivility, pathological lies and overt antisemitism. This man is trying to nurture in Belarus all the evil that the world is fighting against in the 21st century,” Franak Viacorka told Kan.

The publication of Lukashenko’s comments came after President Reuven Rivlin sent a letter Saturday to congratulate him on Belarus’s national day, apparently becoming one of the few Western heads of state to congratulate the Belarusian leader, who is widely seen as a dictator.

Rivlin’s office said in response to social media criticism that the letter was sent in accordance with Foreign Ministry protocol for the national day of any country that Israel has diplomatic ties with.

Belarus has been shaken by protests fueled by Lukashenko’s reelection to a sixth term in an August 2020 election that was widely seen as rigged. Authorities responded to the demonstrations with a massive crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested and thousands beaten by police.

Lukashenko, who has ruled the ex-Soviet nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for 27 years, has repeatedly accused the West of fomenting the protests and harboring plots to oust him.

On Friday, Lukashenko claimed his government thwarted a series of purported Western-backed plots, following a set of new bruising sanctions the EU slapped on Belarus over an incident last month in which fighter planes forced a passenger jet to land in the country to arrest a dissident journalist.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 Director Spike Lee tells Cannes Black people still 'hunted down like animals'

Director Spike Lee on Tuesday denounced the state of race relations in the United States three decades after he first shook audiences in Cannes with films on bigotry and violence, drawing parallels with the 2020 killing of George Floyd.

Lee, the first Black person to head up the jury at the Cannes Film Festival, said little had progressed since 'Do The Right Thing' premiered on the French Riviera in 1989 - a Brooklyn-based tale of spiralling racial tensions and police brutality with a startling resonance now.

"When you see brother Eric Garner, when you see king George Floyd, murdered, lynched... you would think, you would hope that thirty-some  years later Black people would stop being hunted down like animals," Lee told a news conference in Cannes, where the world's biggest cinema showcase is due to kick off.

A judge sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to 22-1/2 years in prison in June for Floyd's murder during an arrest in May 2020.

Video of Chauvin kneeling on the neck of the handcuffed Floyd for more than nine minutes caused outrage around the world, and the verdict was widely seen as a landmark rebuke of the disproportionate use of police force against Black Americans.

Eric Garner was killed in a deadly chokehold by a white police officer during a 2014 arrest. His dying words, "I can't breathe" became a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Lee's darkly funny 'Do The Right Thing' - in which tempers fray and led to a deadly outcome over the course of boiling hot day in Brooklyn - outraged some critics when it was first released, with some claiming it would encourage riots.--Reuters

#ABOLISHSECONDAMENDMENT

Fourth Of July Weekend Saw Highest Number Of Mass Shootings Than Any Other Weekend In 2021

Robert Hart
Forbes Staff
Business
I cover breaking news.

At least 150 people across the U.S. were killed by gun violence in more than 400 shootings over the Fourth of July weekend, according to data collated by the Gun Violence Archive, an uptick that puts 2021 on track to continue, and exceed, the violent surge that made 2020 the deadliest year of gun violence in decades.

U.S. flags on the grounds of the Washington Monument at half-staff 

following a mass shooting. GETTY IMAGES

KEY FACTS


There were 14 mass shootings–defined by the Gun Violence Archive as when four or more people (excluding the shooter) are shot or killed–over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, more than any other weekend this year.


There have been 336 mass shootings this year, 20 of which occurred in July, roughly two every day this year.


In total, there were more than 400 shootings and at least 150 deaths from gun violence over the holiday weekend, though these figures may change as data over the 72-hour period from Friday to Sunday is updated.



Major cities bore the brunt of this violence, with 26 fatalities in New York and 14 in Chicago.


The figures also include four children who were shot in Virginia Friday and eight people who were hospitalized in a shooting near a car wash in Fort Worth, Texas.

KEY BACKGROUND

Records on mass shootings in the U.S. are patchy as the FBI does not track them and there is no agreed upon definition (the FBI does track mass murders, though this misses a great deal of gun violence). The Gun Violence Archive has been tracking shootings since 2013 and shown a broad upward trend in the number of people killed each day. 2020 was one of the deadliest years in decades, with nearly 20,000 killed by gun violence. An additional 24,000 people that year died by suicide with a gun. Crime declined, overall, during the pandemic, though gun violence and homicides bucked this trend. Experts have suggested increased civil unrest, interrupted court and police operations and deepening inequalities as possible contributing factors. Gun sales also spiked during the pandemic, including some 300,000 people who may have bought them without background checks.

BIG NUMBER

10,318. That’s how many have died by gun violence in 2021 so far, according to the Gun Violence Archive. 154 of these were children aged between 0 and 11 and 629 of these teens aged between 12 and 17. Calculations based on CDC data suggest there are an additional 12,342 deaths by suicide with a gun this year.

 
CRUCIAL QUOTE

President Joe Biden set out plans to tackle gun violence in late June, with a key focus on trafficking in regions like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. "We are announcing a major crackdown on the... flow of guns used to commit violent crimes," he said."It is zero tolerance for those who willfully violate key existing laws and regulations." A ban on assault weapons and background checks are also on the agenda.

 
#AMERICANGUNFETISH


FURTHER READING

Shootings never stopped during the pandemic: 2020 was the deadliest gun violence year in decades (Washington Post)

More Than One Mass Shooting Per Day Has Occurred In 2021 (Forbes)

Shootings And Gun Deaths Continue To Rise At Alarming Rate In Large U.S. Cities (Forbes)

Robert Hart
I am a London-based reporter for Forbes covering breaking news. Previously, I have worked as a reporter for a specialist legal publication covering big data and as a freelance journalist and policy analyst covering science, tech and health. I have a master’s degree in Biological Natural Sciences and a master’s degree in the History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge. Follow me on Twitter @theroberthart 

OPINION
No woman should be forced to endure an IUD

IUDs are invasive and risky. Britney Spears’ conservatorship highlights how women are expected to bear those risks.

Koraly Dimitriadis 

6 Jul 2021

AL JAZEERA

#FreeBritney activists protest at Los Angeles Grand Park during a conservatorship hearing for Britney Spears on June 23, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Spears is expected to address the court remotely. Spears was placed in a conservatorship managed by her father, Jamie Spears, and a lawyer, which controls her assets and business dealings, following her involuntary hospitalization for mental care in 2008 [Rich Fury/Getty Images]


Last month, the world listened as Britney Spears, the American singer and pop star, described in detail to a court her experience of being subjected to a conservatorship controlled by her father, James Parnell Spears. When Spears had a very public breakdown in 2007 it seemed appropriate her father take control to safeguard her estate. Over a decade later, however, her testimony raised hairs on my arms as I listened to her blow-by-blow account of an arrangement she calls “abusive”.

In a chilling scene reminiscent of something from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Spears revealed that she has been refused permission to remove an intra-uterine contraceptive device (IUD) which stops her getting pregnant. It is unclear whether Spears consented to have the IUD inserted, or how long she has had it, but one thing is clear. Under this conservatorship she apparently has no say on whether it remains.
KEEP READING‘I want my life back’ Britney Spears tells US judgeGender inequality: The economic effect of the pandemic on womenBreathing lessons: A survivor’s guide to long COVIDHow much of pandemic childcare burden fell on women vs men?

Her revelation triggered memories of my own experience with an IUD and reminded me of how angry I am that women are just expected to embrace these invasive devices – in many cases inserted without any sort of pain relief (as Caitlin Moran so elegantly explained in her Times column). I would like to know where the IUD-male-equivalent is? It seems that, just like Britney’s father, patriarchy prefers us sterile at the expense of our health, at their pleasure – essentially, controlling our bodies.

The West is quick to judge the enforcing of sterilisation and contraception on women in other cultures – such as that of the Uighurs by the Chinese government – but in the US, the so-called “land of the free”, a woman of Spears’ stature and fame is being denied agency over her own body.

When an IUD was suggested to me many years ago as a remedy for my stomach problems and painful periods, the doctors said it was generally safe, but that it carried a small chance of complications, such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). The emphasis was on its safety, not on its risk. I was handed a glossy pamphlet with a picture of a couple embracing on the cover. It was an alluring image, which seemed to be offering the solution to my womanly problems – freedom from my periods and the freedom to have sex without the worry of pregnancy. I was young, naïve and impressionable. I just assumed PID was easily treatable should it occur.

For three years, the IUD ticked like a time bomb inside my uterus until I ended up in hospital, unable to walk properly, talk much or be touched because of the pain – it was as if my entire body had been shut down. I did not know it at the time, but I had developed PID. Five years on, I still have PID – inflammation in my uterus that still has not healed.


The stats show that more than 10 percent of women experience infection from IUDs and that up to 5 percent contract PID. But the problem with IUDs is that sometimes there is no way of knowing if they are doing damage until it is too late. My symptom was bleeding but that is a normal side effect of IUDs. My GP was not concerned when I presented to her. She prescribed hormones to settle it. I was sexually active so I had her do some swabs. She said I had some mild bacteria that would clear on its own. I asked if I needed to see a gynaecologist. She said it was not necessary.

A vagina is self-cleaning. It is a delicate ecosystem that balances out bacteria to protect itself from sexually transmitted infections. Some bacteria that gets passed through sex is more harmful than others. Some clears up on its own. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is an overgrowth of vaginal bacteria. IUDs can double the risk of BV because an IUD is a foreign object that alters the natural balance of the vagina. Without treatment, BV can lead to PID. Several studies have reported an increased risk of PID in IUD users – a three to ninefold increase compared with non-IUD users – but it is more prevalent in young women with many sexual partners.

When I got sick I felt ashamed, as if I had caused my illness. After years of reflection I do not think I should have felt this guilt. This is the system that patriarchy has set up for women, to punish us for our bodies, to make us feel ashamed for our pleasure, washing its hands of any accountability. Despite the risks, IUDs are being handed out to young girls as a solution to unplanned teenage parenthood. Many of these young girls risk permanent infertility if they develop PID.

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – heralded as a feminist – is giving away IUDs for free, ignoring the thousands of women who have joined IUD Facebook support groups to share their terrible experiences. I believe the risks of an IUD should have been put on the front of that pamphlet I was handed – in red, bold font in the same way cigarettes have a photo of cancer on the packet.

Women must endure pain and shut up about it. You are considered a stronger woman if you endure a drug-free labour, for example. You are a stronger woman if you do not have health issues, if you have a perfect body and a smile all the time.


When I presented my ailment to my GP, I was dismissed. When I presented it to the hospital emergency department, nobody checked my uterus even when I told them I had an IUD.


Instead, they checked me into a pain management hospital for fibromyalgia. They had me doing therapy in a chlorinated pool while the infection pumped through my body, damaging my lymph nodes. It was only when I started bleeding more heavily that they called a gynaecologist. He took one look and asked me to cough while he pulled the IUD out.

I was prescribed antibiotics to clear the infection. But even after that, when my body started changing shape and expanding in unexplainable ways, I was again ignored and told by my new GP that it was my age, that it was weight gain. When I travelled overseas and my body blew up like a balloon after flying, the GP there just said it was fluid retained during the flight and that it would settle. I continued to travel without compression stockings, which I now know was a danger to my health, because when I returned home my GP referred me to a vascular surgeon who diagnosed lymphedema – damage to my lymph nodes caused by the infection from the IUD. My lymphatic fluid was not draining properly.

I now have to wear compression stockings daily and need manual lymphatic drainage. My periods are even more painful than before. While I may have learned to manage my conditions, and I am a “stronger woman” for all that I have endured, a part of me remains bitter and angry that I was not told more clearly about the risks of IUDs. To think that any woman is being forced to have an IUD, like Spears, is horrifying. It is a clear infringement on human rights.

In 2018, I interviewed Dr Lesley Hoggart, associate head at the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care at the Open University in the UK. She told me that she believes more research needs to be done into the IUD. Has my experience been captured in the research? Have the experiences of the thousands of women in Facebook groups been captured? Or are we still being ignored – swept away – just like Spears’ voice is in danger of being by the courts?

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.



Koraly Dimitriadis is a Cypriot-Australian writer, poet and actor.

CLIMATE CHANGE BRINGS WATER WARS
Balochistan threatens to cut Karachi's water supply from Hub Dam
Balochistan government's spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani addressing a press conference in Islamabad, on June 6, 2021. — YouTube

"Sindh is supplying 42% less water to Balochistan," says Liaquat Shahwani.
Balochistan is getting only 7,000 cusecs of water from Sindh, he says.

"The Sindh government is hell-bent on turning Balochistan's land dry."

The Balochistan government on Tuesday warned that it will cut off Karachi's water supply from Hub Dam, as the provinces quarrel over water shortage.

Balochistan government's spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani, addressing a press conference in Islamabad, blamed the Sindh government for releasing less water to his province.

"Sindh is supplying 42% less water to Balochistan [...] the province is getting only 7,000 cusecs of water from Sindh," the spokesperson said.

"Chief Minister Sindh (Murad Ali Shah) had refused to provide Balochistan its due share of water," he claimed.

The spokesperson claimed that due to Sindh's "stubbornness," the province was suffering a loss of Rs75-77 billion. "The Sindh government is hell-bent on turning Balochistan's lands dry."

Shahwani claimed Sindh had not provided Balochistan with its complete share of water in the last 20 years, yet it continues to complain that Punjab has not provided 17% of its share to Sindh.

"Our due right share, according to the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), is 10,900 cusecs, including a shortfall of 30% which is 14,000 cusecs, but Sindh is providing 7,000 cusecs water," he said.

He said the Balochistan government already brought up the issue at various forums but the Sindh government "consistently denied facilitating it."

'Reservoirs received 62% less water than estimated this year'

A day earlier, Chairman Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Rao Irshad Ali Khan had said the country's reservoirs had received 62% less water than estimated this year.

The IRSA chairman made the statement during a meeting of the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Water Resources, with Nawab Yousuf Talpur in the chair.

The IRSA chairman, while briefing the committee, berated the Sindh government and said that on the one hand, it opposes constructing new dams and on the other, it demands additional water supply.

Responding to the IRSA chairman's comments, an MNA from Sindh said the province was not being provided 5,000 cusecs of water, which was reserved as its quota.

On the occasion, Punjab Minister for Irrigation Mohsin Leghari said that the issue should not be politicised. the Council of Common Interests is looking into the matter and has asked the attorney general to resolve it.

A representative of the Attorney General's Office said that the issue of water was more political than technical and should be resolved in the forum of the CCI.

The committee's chairman said that in the next meeting, the attorney general should come in person and give a briefing on the solution of the water distribution problem through IRSA's record.

Meanwhile, the committee was also informed that the country faced a 17% shortage of water supply during the Kharif season.

Ivan Krastev: Coronavirus pandemic marks the 'real beginning of the 21st century'

The Bulgarian political scientist Ivan Krastev believes that the idea of a new normal induced by the COVID-19 pandemic is not going to go away anytime soon.






DW: Mr. Krastev, it has been a full year since COVID-19 started changing the world. From your perspective, how did it change Europe?

Ivan Krastev: There was a certain way of life that you either liked or disliked, but which you took for granted. Suddenly, we realized how fragile it all was. For example, we took it for granted that we could travel anywhere we want. Then suddenly all this disappeared overnight.

It is fashionable to compare COVID-19 to a war. But recently, when I was flying back to Sofia via Vienna, I realized that, paradoxically, the pandemic is just the opposite of a war. During a war, the most crowded places are railway stations and airports because people are on the move all the time, traveling in different directions, because they're trying to escape something. And, during the pandemic, these places are the loneliest places in the world.

So the world being frozen was one of the ways in which things changed. And I believe that this idea of normality having been taken from us is going to stay with us.


Transit centers have become lonely places because of pandemic travel restrictions

On the one hand, everything is frozen, but, on the other, people all over world are now connected virtually or digitally ...

I totally agree. Eastern Europeans of my generation talk a lot about freedom and what it means. Sometimes, this feeling is very physical. For somebody of my generation, just crossing borders was one of the most physical kinds of freedom that you could experience. And then suddenly we had to rethink all this.

The moment people were locked down in their homes, we understood more clearly than ever before that we are living in a common world, because suddenly we were discussing the same issue everywhere in every single language.

And, secondly, this interconnectedness became virtual, which suddenly meant that I was equally close to a friend living on the other side of the street and to a friend on the other side of the world, because basically, when you cannot leave your home, both of them are equally distant.

What's more, we suddenly started getting interested in things that we would not normally be interested in. So closing people up in their apartments actually opened up the world for many of them, because they now understood how interconnected we are.


In the pandemic, "suddenly, we realized how fragile it all was," Krastev says

There is the third effect on Europe, too: I took part in a big survey conducted by European Council on Foreign Relations before the adoption of the recovery plan. Back then people said that they were disappointed by the initial reaction of the EU. Spaniards and Italians were particularly bitter, but the major conclusions that people drew from this crisis was that we need more European consolidation.

One of the reasons for the paradox — people wanted more Europe even when they believed Europe didn't perform at the start of the crisis — is that Europeans were suddenly seeing the world with different eyes.

Six months ago, you wrote a book about the pandemic's impact on life in the European Union. What has changed since then?

When it comes to the push for European integration, this was a radical breakthrough. However, there was also a great loss — and I find this the very interesting psychological part of the crisis. We had the first lockdown. Then came the summer and we had the expectation that the worst was probably over. Nevertheless, the scientists went on warning us that it's not over.

Social effects of coronavirus

Then came the second lockdown and it became clear — at least from what I see in Austria and Bulgaria — that people were not willing to follow some of the governments' decisions. Basically, people were exhausted and some believed that the government was overreacting. Now, at least when it comes to vaccines and vaccinations, I find the level of mistrust we see in society is really starting to be self-defeating.

So you see more mistrust around Europe. Do you think this has anything to do with the conspiracy theories that are floating around?

Yes. Absolutely. We're hearing a lot of them. And you know, where I live, you can really see all kinds of conspiracy theories and all kinds of mistrust in the scientific community and the government. When the crisis started, I not only hoped, but also expected, that trust in the experts would increase a lot because, after all, when it comes to individuals' health, when it comes to relatives and friends, people are much more ready to trust doctors and experts than, say, on matters of foreign policy.

In places like Germany, the majority is basically following the advice. But in other countries — not only Eastern European countries: Look at France — you can see that the level of mistrust in any type of opinion from an expert is such that some people are willing to believe the wildest conspiracy theories.

Is this threatening democracy in the European Union?

It is because trust is very important in a democracy. Where I come from, trusting governments all the time is not a good thing. Mistrusting the government is very important. But mistrust in the government should be based on a certain type of argument and a certain type of a rationale that empowers people.

What bothers me most about the level of mistrust that has been growing during this crisis is that people really start to mistrust the government and try to play on fears without basically being ready to suggest anything. For example,the opposition to the vaccine. This is a mistrust that paralyzes any kind of collective action.

It is interesting that nationalists and populists are not profiting from the current situation. A few months ago, many thought that politicians like Donald Trump and Viktor Orban might even grow stronger as a result of the crisis. But, in fact, the opposite has happened. Why?

This is certainly true. I would argue that populism is not rooted in fear, it is rooted in anxiety. This is a very diffuse kind of fear and people respond by looking for somebody to represent their anxiety. But then comes a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic, and they look for politicians who can take responsibility and solve problems.

And, in this respect, the populists didn't offer anything. Certainly, many of these strongman leaders who try to pretend they're in control don't like this crisis because to a certain extent, crises like these need leaders who have the capacity to cooperate with society.

So what can democracies do to persuade people?

Liberal democracies should show that the collective interest is the priority. People have the right to dissent. But they should be ready to bear the consequences of doing so. For example, I don't see anything abnormal in, for example, airlines deciding that they want to be sure that the people boarding their planes have been vaccinated, because this is protecting others.

Does the strength of democracy constitute a risk in these circumstances?

There is a real risk. And this risk comes in what I hope will be the last stage of this crisis, namely how to organize vaccination. We have here a classical clash, which is typical for any liberal democracy, between individual rights and public interest. For example, I, as an individual, have the right to say I don't want to be vaccinated. This is my personal decision for reasons that could be very different from other people's. Or I can decide I have the right to choose the vaccines that I want to use.

At the same time, in order for society to go back to normality, you need the critical number of vaccinated people. And this is something that, in my view, is critically important today.

Thousands of Germans protested pandemic measures in Berlin

So how we are going to regulate the clash between individual rights and returning to normality — bearing in mind that, every month the crisis is prolonged, it comes with a very high economic cost: The pressure to do something about the economy will grow.

Europe cannot allow itself to be the last to recover from this crisis, and socio-economic differences are going to be of critical importance.

What challenges will the EU project face in 2021? And how can we confront them?

I believe it is extremely important for Europe as a whole to get out of the crisis in 2021 and to return to a certain level of normality. This basically means rebuilding the economy, opening the borders and moving into a post-pandemic situation.

I also believe that the way the European Union positions itself in the world in 2021 is going to be critical. In this respect, relations with the United States and China are going to be of ultimate importance.

The pandemic marks the real beginning of the 21st century.

Ivan Krastev is a political scientist and the chairman of the Center for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, Bulgaria. He is also a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, Austria.

FAKE CHARGES

6 students among 9 arrested in alleged Hong Kong bomb plot


BY ZEN SOO ASSOCIATED PRESS
JULY 06, 2021 


Confiscated evidence are displayed during a news conference as nine people were arrested over the alleged plot to plant bombs around Hong Kong, at the police headquarters in Hong Kong, Tuesday, July 6, 2021.(AP Photo/Kin Cheung) KIN CHEUNG AP

HONG KONG

Nine people, including six secondary school students, were arrested in Hong Kong on Tuesday for allegedly plotting to set off homemade bombs in courts, tunnels and trash cans as political tensions rise in the city where China is tightening its grip.

Police said they were detained on suspicion of engaging in terrorist activity under a harsh national security law that Beijing imposed a year ago as part of a crackdown on dissent in the former British colony that has long enjoyed freedoms not seen on the Chinese mainland.

Hong Kong authorities have used the law, enacted in response to anti-government protests that rocked the city in 2019, to arrest many of the city’s prominent activists. Others have fled abroad as a result.

If the allegations are true, the group appears to represent a more radical fringe of the protest movement, which has demanded broader democratic freedoms for Hong Kong just as its liberties are under threat. Police said the group was attempting to make the explosive triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, which has been widely used in bombings in Europe and elsewhere, in a makeshift laboratory in a hostel.

Police accused the group of planning to use the explosive to bomb courts, cross-harbor tunnels, railways and trash cans on the street “to maximize damage caused to the society.”

Since the 2019 anti-government protests, Hong Kong police have arrested several people over alleged bomb plots and for making TATP, including 17 detained that year in overnight raids that also seized explosives and chemicals.

Nine people between 15 and 39 years old were arrested Tuesday, according to Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah of the Hong Kong Police National Security Department.

Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said at a weekly news briefing that she hopes the members of the public will “openly condemn threats of violence.”

“They should not be wrongly influenced by the idea that ... breaking the law is in order, if you’re trying to achieve a certain cause,” she said. “They should not be influenced into thinking that they can find excuses to inflict violence.”

Authorities said they seized equipment and raw materials used to make the TATP, as well as a “trace amount” of the explosive. They said they also found operating manuals and about 80,000 Hong Kong dollars ($10,300) in cash.

Police froze about 600,000 Hong Kong dollars ($77,200) in assets that they say may be linked to the plot. Authorities said all nine planned to set off the bombs and then leave Hong Kong for good.

The arrests come as China is increasing its control over Hong Kong, despite a promise to protect the city's civil liberties for 50 years after the city’s 1997 handover from Britain. In the most glaring example of that campaign, police arrested at least seven top editors, executives and journalists of the Apple Daily newspaper, which was an outspoken pro-democracy voice, and froze its assets, forcing it to close two weeks ago.

Also Tuesday, Lam also said that an envelope of “white powder” had been sent to her office. Police said the substance was still being analyzed but that they did not believe it to be dangerous.





Police hold a news conference with confiscated evidence seen at front, the police headquarters in Hong Kong, Tuesday, July 6, 2021. Hong Kong police on Tuesday said they arrested nine people on suspicion of engaging in terrorist activity, after uncovering an attempt to make explosives and plant bombs across the city. Of the nine arrested, six are secondary school students, police said. The group were attempting to make the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP) in a homemade laboratory in a hostel. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) KIN CHEUNG AP

Woman sacked for asking if toy was racist wins employment tribunal

Marian had worked for Sainsbury's for 28 years and questioned the toy as she was changing prices


By Neil Shaw

Network Content Editor
 6 JUL 2021

Marian Cunnington


A woman who was sacked from her job of 28 years at Sainsbury's after questioning whether a cuddly toy was racist has won an employment tribunal.

Marian Cunnington, 52, was sacked after a comment she made while changing the prices of toys in her branch of Sainsbury's, reports The Mirror.

Marian told the tribunal that as she picked up a toy Bing - a character from a BBC children's cartoon, she asked: “Should we really be selling this toy? Black Lives Matter.”

Marian was dismissed for gross misconduct when a colleague alleged the comment she made was racist.

But a tribunal has ruled she was dismissed unfairly and deserves compensation.

Marian told the Mirror: “I’m not a racist and I’m a really good worker. When I was summarily dismissed I was in disbelief.

“Complete shock...when you have worked for a company for that long, to have it all ripped away and leave under such circumstances.

“It was very hard but then I knew that I hadn’t said anything racist. Obviously I have made a lot of friends in my team and none of them believed I had done anything wrong.”



Bing is a rabbit from a BBC show

PERHAPS SHE THOUGHT IT WAS THE RACIST BRER RABBIT OF DISNEY'S SONG OF THE SOUTH, JUST SAYIN

Marian had previously won awards for her work at the Sainsbury’s store in Bridgnorth, Shrops.

She was carrying out price changes on June 11 last year when she spotted the Bing toy, and gave evidence to the tribunal that she felt the toy could be offensive to black people, in the same way as the Robertson’s jam mascot.

The colleague who made the formal complaint claimed she heard Marian say: “I’m offended Black Lives Matter?”.

Birmingham Employment Tribunal was told Marian was suspended from work that later the same day and later told bosses: “I was actually standing up for BLM.”

She was sacked on July 2 and an appeal against the decision was turned down.

Employment Judge Richardson said the Sainsbury’s operations manager who fired Marian “could not explain what was offensive about the words ‘I’m offended Black Lives Matter’.”

The judge said the incident happened two weeks after George Floyd was killed in America.

He said: “...it is all the more reason to take great care that proper procedures are followed thoroughly, objectively and fairly so that justice can be done.

“Given the size and resources of [Sainsbury’s], the fact that so many fundamental procedural errors were made is unacceptable... the process followed was a disservice to [Marian] and also to [Sainsbury’s] cause to being an inclusive employer.

“In summary the decision to dismiss was not well-founded and is unfair.”

Marian has now found work with Marks & Spencer.

She said: “It was literally a week after the BLM movement came out of the George Floyd murder. That’s why it was hypersensitive.

“These companies want to be seen to be doing the right thing but that was at my expense.”

The Mirror has contacted Sainsbury's for a comment

.

Jared Kushner said 'I don't give a f--- about the future of the Republican Party,' according to new book
Jake Lahut

Trump son-in-law and former White House adviser Jared Kushner. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images

Jared Kushner reportedly had a blowup with the chair of the Republican National Committee last year.
A new book from Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender details the pre-election exchange.

Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump and an ex-White House adviser, got into "an intense argument" with Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel ahead of the 2020 election, according to a new book.

"I don't give a f--- about the future of the Republican Party!'" Kushner told McDaniel in the lobby of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. This is based on an excerpt of Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender's new book, "Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost," which was published Tuesday by Fox News.

Before the Kushner blowup, the RNC had become closely intertwined with the Trump campaign during Brad Parscale's tenure.

"By 2020, the RNC wasn't merely an extension of the Trump campaign. (2020 campaign manager) Brad Parscale had effectively turned them into a full partner, and Ronna had become one of the president's closest advisers. The RNC was paying for the field staff. They were covering costs for state directors who couldn't get calls returned from campaign headquarters. Even the lease for the campaign headquarters was being paid for by the RNC," Bender writes.

Parscale was demoted as campaign manager in July 2020 in favor of Bill Stepien, a Kushner ally and top aide under former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie amid the "Bridgegate" scandal.

McDaniel held a grudge against Stepien after the two of them clashed during the 2016 Trump campaign, when she was running the Michigan GOP ahead of a crucial victory there, according to the book.

This all led to "tensions at the highest level of Trump World that finally exploded into an intense argument between Ronna and Jared inside the Trump Hotel," Bender wrote.

McDaniel was already being left out of key strategy meetings and Kushner added insult to injury when he "considered" taking over the RNC's online fundraising platform, WinRed, because he "didn't think the RNC could pull off the new operation," the excerpt says.


McDaniel told Kushner that WinRed — which had to refund $122 million in online donations from people who unknowingly exceeded the federal limit on individual contributions — could be an effective "legacy project" for the GOP, but he didn't buy it.

"Jared wasn't interested," the excerpt says. "'I don't give a f--- about the future of the Republican Party!' he told Ronna inside the hotel meeting room. 'Good to know,' Ronna shot back. 'I will be running for chair for a second term, and I will make sure you don't come anywhere near this!'"

Bender's book goes on sale July 13.