THIRD WORLD USA

Nowhere in US can minimum wage afford a ‘fair market rent’ 2-bedroom home; Florida among worst states for affordability


CAROLINE GLENN ORLANDO SENTINEL
JULY 15, 2021 

For the second year in a row, a group studying the chasm between declining wages and soaring rents found that nowhere in the U.S. can a minimum-wage worker afford a two-bedroom apartment at the fair market rent.

In its signature Out of Reach report released this week, the National Low Income Housing Coalition determined that a full-time hourly worker would need to earn $24.90 an hour, more than three times the $7.25 federal minimum wage, in order to afford a $1,295-a-month rental home. That’s the average “fair market rent” in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“It keeps telling the same story,” said Anne Ray, manager of the data clearinghouse at the University of Florida’s Shimberg Center for Housing Studies. “Housing costs have really just come unhinged from wages for a lot of jobs and a lot of common jobs like retail, hospitality, customer service, in some early career teaching, pre-school, in part child care.

“Somehow things are to the point where even though there’s that huge demand for relatively low-cost housing, the units aren’t getting produced.”

According to the report, Florida is one of the states where the gap between the minimum wage and what’s actually necessary to afford modest housing is widest.

The state minimum wage is $8.56, equivalent to $17,804 a year and, after Amendment 2 was passed last November, will increase to $10 in September. But to be able to afford a two-bedroom unit at the $1,290 fair market rent, you’d need to make $24.82 an hour, which amounts to $51,619 for a yearly salary.

Put another way, a minimum-wage worker would have to work 115 hours a week.

“This report affirms the sad truth, what we already know about Florida’s housing crisis: The average person is priced out of the market,” said Sen. Victor Torres, who was elected to the Legislature in 2012 and represents Osceola County and parts of Orange County. “When it comes to rents, they’re $1,300, $1,400, $1,500 a month depending on if you need a two-bedroom or a three-bedroom. It’s just not fair.”

Ray said it’s an issue that affects most of Orlando’s workforce, half of which makes below $17.59 an hour, according to data from NLIHC and the state that the Shimberg Center uses to analyze Central Florida’s rental market. Professions in tourism, including cashiers, retail workers, restaurant cooks and servers, make far less than the necessary wage that NLIHC calculated, and even other jobs such as firefighters, electricians, auto mechanics, hairdressers, social workers and constructions laborers largely do not make enough to afford reasonably priced housing on their own.

For someone in Florida working a full-time job making $17.59, the most they could afford to pay in rent without spending more than 30% of their income — how the feds and most housing experts define “affordable” — is $915 a month.

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“For people who can work, one full-time job should be enough,” the NLIHC contested in its report.

But the affordable housing shortage doesn’t just affect working families. Florida’s seniors who are on fixed income also struggle.

In the Orlando metropolitan area, Ray said there are about 240,850 people who get Social Security retirement benefits. The average benefits are between $1,341 and $1,559 per month, meaning they’d have to find a two-bedroom rental for $402 to $468 a month in order to avoid spending more than 30% of their income on rent. Otherwise, a one-bedroom “fair market rent” apartment would eat up as much as 75% of their Social Security.

The result is a state with millions of households, of various ages and income levels, that spend a big portion of their pay on rent, making it more difficult to save, handle an unexpected expense or break into homeownership. The Shimberg Center has found that 1.4 million renter households spend at least 30% of their yearly income on rent, and of those, 938,957 pay even more.

During the pandemic, when droves of workers were suddenly laid off or furloughed, that had devastating effects. With no income and not much savings, paying rent simply became impossible, and despite eviction moratoriums and rental assistance programs set up to help, thousands of people were evicted while the coronavirus was spreading.

As the report points out, most new rental housing that gets built is for high-income renters to balance out high development costs and landlords can “virtually never, without state or federal subsidies” afford to rent out their units at a price that the lowest-income renters can afford.

That’s led to a shrinking supply of affordable homes — for renters and buyers.

In Florida, for instance, over the past 20 years nearly 200,000 rental units priced under $1,000 per month have disappeared as landlords increased rents, while at the same time about 1 million units priced above $1,000 were added, according to the Shimberg Center. The Orlando Regional Realtor Association has also seen the inventory of entry-level homes recede to record lows.

In 2019, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings convened a Housing For All task force made up of homebuilders, Realtors and leaders from the region’s theme parks, labor unions, charities and hospitals that devised a 10-year-plan to inject $160 million into housing projects and build 30,000 new places to live, but few would be for extremely low-income rents. About a third of the units that could be created would be for households that make between $26,000 and $83,000 a year, and two-thirds would be for those who make between $83,000 and $97,000.

The plan also called for loosening zoning codes and offering bonuses to entice developers to the most housing-hungry neighborhoods, and also established a $3.5 million loan fund for nonprofit builders and identified dozens of lots that the county will donate to nonprofits to be redeveloped as affordable houses.

Sen. Torres said he believes the state and local governments can do more, though, including enacting rules to force builders to set aside affordable units in market-rate developments. He also criticized the decision by Senate President Wilton Simpson and House Speaker Chris Sprowls this past session to permanently siphon half of the state’s affordable housing trust fund to spend on environmental projects. The Florida Realtors Association, the largest trade association in the state, has launched a campaign to get a constitutional amendment on the 2022 ballot to restore the fund.

“The Legislature is controlled for the past 20 years by Republicans (who) have their own version of how they want to use those funds,” Torres said, adding that this year lawmakers passed a $100 billion budget. “The money is there, it just depends on the will of the government.”

But aside from building to fix the shortage, the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Biden administration is pushing for a massive expansion of housing programs for the poor, including universal rental assistance to increase the funding for housing vouchers programs, which allow people to rent from the private market while only paying a portion of the rent. The rest is offset by the housing voucher, which is administered by the local housing authority directly to the person’s landlord.

Right now, only 1 in 4 very low-income renters who are eligible for voucher programs receive one.

 

Pandemic layoffs pushed hospitality workers to leave industry

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

VANCOUVER, Wash. - The psychological toll of losing a job due to COVID-19 caused many young hotel and restaurant workers to consider changing careers, according to a Washington State University study.

In the study, the laid-off and fully furloughed hospitality employees reported being financially strained, depressed, socially isolated and panic stricken over the pandemic's effects, leading to increased intention to leave the industry all together. The intention to leave was particularly strong among women and younger workers.

"It's a warning sign for my industry that the younger generation was really hit hard," said Chun-Chu Chen, an assistant professor in WSU's School of Hospitality Business Management and lead author on the study in the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. "We've already witnessed that as the hospitality business is recovering and trying to hire more people, they cannot find the workers they want. There are many factors for that, but one may be that because of the pandemic, people think that hospitality is no longer an industry they want to work for."

Chen added that previous research has indicated that younger workers may not have as strong of a career identity as more experienced employees, making it easier for them to change careers.

Unemployment in the hospitality industry reached 37.3% in April 2020 after many lockdown measures were put in place, according to U.S. Labor Statistics. Chen heard about the impact directly from his own hospitality students who had lost jobs and decided to find out more about how other lodging and food service employees were faring during the pandemic.

For this study, Chen and coauthor WSU Professor Ming Hsiang Chen surveyed more than 600 laid-off and fully furloughed hospitality workers in June 2020. While all the workers in the study had no income at the time, furloughed workers reported somewhat less distress than those who were laid-off, a difference the authors said employers should note for the future.

"Being furloughed is not good, but it's a little bit better than being laid-off," said Chen. "One possible explanation is that if you are furloughed, you are technically still part of the organization, so you still have a sense of community, of belonging."

That feeling of being connected is important in a profession that tends to attract people who are very social, Chen said. In fact, the researchers found that social isolation was the most important factor predicting wellbeing for these workers. But it was financial strain and the perceived impact of the pandemic that predicted whether the workers were considering a career change.

The researchers found one protecting factor for unemployed or furloughed workers' wellbeing: self-efficacy, or the belief that they had personal control over their own circumstances.

However, when it came to some of Chen's unemployed hospitality students, that sense of personal control may have meant they decided to move on.

"I've seen some of my students actually looking for really good jobs in other service industries," said Chen. "I have mixed feelings about their decisions. Our students are well-equipped to thrive in most positions in the service sector. However, as much more opportunities are available right now, I would encourage them to stay in the hospitality industry."

###

Chuno, the Andean secret to making potatoes last decades

Issued on: 15/07/2021 - 

A woman stomps on potatoes to begin the dehydration process of chuno in Machacamarca, Bolivia, on June 30, 2021 AIZAR RALDES AFP


Machacamarca (Bolivia) (AFP)

It's seven o'clock in the morning on Bolivia's altiplano, and through the morning fog is visible an uneven carpet of thousands of potatoes, spread out in front of a water tank near a house.

It's a common sight at farms in Machacamarca, a small village to the south of La Paz.

"This is how we make chuno," says Prudencia Huanca, 52, referring to a traditional dehydration practice which allows potatoes to be eaten decades after they are dug up -- without losing their nutritional properties.

Huanca and her husband Egberto Mamani, 56, produce chuno from the potatoes they grow on a small piece of land about an hour from the capital.

Chuno comes from the indigenous Aymara word ch'unu. It is also practiced in Peru, but its origins are uncertain.

Before the pandemic, this farming couple worked in tourism in La Paz, but that work dried up when restrictions to halt the spread of Covid-19 were imposed.

So they returned to their home village to take up a family tradition.

"I still have my parents' chuno. They died more than 20 years ago but (the chuno) remains preserved," said Mamani.

- Frost -

Archeologist Jedu Sagarnaga believes this conservation method was developed "probably during the Formative Period" from around 2,000 to 200 BC.

It may be even older, as 2017 tests on chuno dug up in Peru showed it was more than 5,000 years old.

As the sun rises and fog dissipates in Machacamarca, Huanca and Mamani spread at least 10 different potato varieties over sacks on the ground.#photo1

It has been a tough growing season for them.

"The frost wiped out everything," complains Mamani.

If temperatures drop to below zero before winter arrives, the potatoes die before they are ready to be harvested.

Before deciding which potatoes to conserve for the long-term, the couple first pick out some for immediate consumption or to use as seeds for the following spring.

- Mummification process -

Once potatoes for chuno have been chosen, the couple lugs them down a hill to the field where they are left for three days to freeze overnight and dry out during the day.

That way they dehydrate and shrink -- the key to longevity.

But even after three days, some water still remains in the potatoes. So Huanca and Mamani wash their feet in a bowl and then take turns stomping on them, much like winemakers crushing grapes.

It's a communal activity, and neighbors come over to help, chatting in their Aymara language.

Some stomp on the chuno while others peel potatoes.#photo2

The next step sees the potatoes returned to the field for about two weeks, enough time for the so-called "mummification" process to be completed.

The chuno process takes three weeks in total, after which the potatoes have become dark brown or even black.

Another chuno variety, called tunta, preserve the potatoes' white color.

These are left in permeable plastic bags in a river or lake, sheltered from the sun, for 20-30 days.

- Substance over flavor -

"The secret for good chuno is that it has to be a gritty and sweet potato," said Huanca. She says she learned the technique from her great-great-grandparents.

Chuno is cultivated in June and July, during the southern hemisphere winter when temperatures drop low enough -- -5 degrees Celsius (23 Fahrenheit) -- for the potatoes to freeze in the open air.

The altiplano lies at 3,900-meters altitude, where daytime and nighttime conditions contrast sharply, allowing nature to perform a process that requires industrial freeze-drying in lower-lying lands.

This technique shrinks the potato to a fifth of its original size, making it easier to store and transport, while also creating resistance to insect infestations.

Chuno is kept in a dry place until it is ready to eat, when it is soaked for a few hours and then boiled for five minutes.

In an inhospitable region where the window for cultivating the land is short, residents are able to eat chuno all year round.

It can be served in a variety of styles, but is usually eaten as a snack during long work hours in the fields.

Huanca and Mamani lay their table ready for lunch: chicken with plantain and potatoes roasted in a clay oven, and some 10-year-old chuno.

Soft, brown and bitter, Mamani is not a fan of the taste, but he values substance over flavor.

"We make chuno so we're never lacking food," he says.

© 2021 AFP

 

Spain's Wild West: The Tabernas Desert

Andalusia is home to the driest region in Europe. It not only boasts a breathtaking landscape, but has also long been a popular backdrop for Western movies. Find out more in part 19 of our series "Extreme Places."

    

The sun burns down mercilessly from the sky, even in the early morning hours, as the sandy ground gets as hot as glowing coals. A horse and cart clatter on by, then a cowboy approaches from the distance on his horse and the saloon doors creak in the dry desert wind.

No, this is not the Wild West. This is not even the US. We are in fact in the south of Spain, more precisely, in Andalusia.

Barren beauty: Large parts of the Tabernas desert are characterized by rugged sandstone hills.

The Tabernas Desert begins around 30 kilometres north of Almería. The area, which is strictly speaking only a semi-desert, extends over 280 square kilometres (28,000 hectares=. The sun shines for more than 3,000 hours a year in this region. In the summer months, temperatures can easily climb to 35 – 40 degrees Celsius (95 – 104 Fahrenheit), and it is rare for more than 250 millimetres of rain to fall around here – during the entire year.

A piece of Hollywood in Europe

As a result, there are not many animals or plants to be found. But that is precisely the great potential of the region. With its barren landscape, it has already served many directors as a backdrop for various adventure films. Around 500 movies have been made in Tabernas.

Texas or Spain? The Tabernas desert has been transformed into many a different region on screen.

 

In fact, Arnold Schwarzenegger transformed into Conan the Barbarian here, while Harrison Ford became Indiana Jones. Even part of the classic desert film Lawrence of Arabia was filmed in this Spanish province.

But generally speaking, when the cameras roll the Tabernas Desert most often transforms into the Wild West. Charles Bronson and Henry Fonda fought out a duel here for Sergio Leone’s cult Western Once Upon a Time in the West. Clint Eastwood got into several shoot-outs with bad guys for A Fistful of Dollars, and Pierre Brice stood in front of the camera in the Tabernas Desert for the German TV production, Winnetous Rückkehr (Winnetou's Return).

Wild West Experience

Elaborate sets were built for many of these productions, and at one point, there were 14 such Western cities scattered across the area. Three of these structures are still standing today, and if there is no film production taking place, they are open to visitors. This way, tourists then get to enjoy the opportunity to feel like they're in the Wild West too – albeit in the middle of Europe.

And that's exactly what attracted DW reporter Hendrik Welling there when he visited the Tabernas Desert for the series "Europe to the Maxx" for DW's lifestyle and culture magazine "Euromaxx." 

In the western town of "Fort Bravo" he slipped into the role of a real cowboy and even fought a duel with a villain – played by one of the local showmen. Experience his cinematic performance and a whole lot more in our video.

Service tips:

Address: Tabernas Desert, Almería Province, 04200 Spain

Getting there: From Almería, you can reach Tabernas by car in half an hour.

Our special tip:Visit the movie backdrop town of Fort Bravo (daily 9am – 7.30pm), which still serves as a film location today. Visitors can experience stuntmen performing daily Western shows.

The accompanying book

Europe at its most extreme: The series "Europe to the Maxx" on DW's lifestyle and culture magazine Euromaxx brings Europe's superlative experiences to life — from extraordinary architecture to spectacular landscapes to unique cultural phenomena. Accompanying the series, the book 111 Extreme Places in Europe That You Shouldn't Miss was published in cooperation with Emons Verlag. It is an alternative travel guide, both informative and entertaining, for avid travelers, fans of Europe and anyone who likes to show off with unusual pub quiz trivia. Full of guaranteed record breakers!

DW RECOMMENDS

Amnesty condemns 'complicity' of European states in Libya migrant 'horror'

Amnesty said it found new evidence of "harrowing violations, including sexual violence, against men, women and children" living in Libyan detention camps after being returned from the Mediterranean.

The rights group said people in Libyan camps were subjected to torture, sexual violence, and forced labor

Amnesty International on Thursday condemned "the ongoing complicity of European states" for cooperating with authorities responsible for “horrific violations” committed against migrants returned to Libya after attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

In a report that focused on migrants returned to detention camps in Libya in 2020 and 2021, the international rights organization said it found new evidence of "harrowing violations, including sexual violence, against men, women and children."

The report was compiled after interviews with 53 refugees and migrants between the ages of 14 and 50. Originally from several countries, including Nigeria, Somalia and Syria, the interviewees were mostly still in Libya.

Watch video 03:19 Europe: Sea rescue in the Mediterranean

Sexual assault for basic necessities

A woman told Amnesty that camp guards say, "Maybe you want fresh water and beds...let me have sex with you, so I can free you." She was one of many who said guards at the detention centers raped women in exchange for their release or basic necessities like clean water.

There were also cases in which pregnant women were raped by guards, men were humiliated by being forced to only wear their underwear, and many others, including boys, were groped and violated.

The detention camps were recently placed under the control of the Libyan Interior Ministry but worsening conditions have led to calls for their closure.
All with Europe's financial backing

The European Union and Italy have, for years, financed and trained coast guards to stop migrants and refugees from crossing the Mediterranean to Europe. About 15,000 people were intercepted by these coast guards at sea and returned to Libya, just in the first half of this year.

Amnesty said some 6,100 people were moved to camps by the end of June.

Watch video 03:28 Germany, UN host peace talks on Libya: Jürgen Hardt (CDU/CSU) speaks to DW

Despite a UN-backed peace plan in place to maintain a truce between Libya's warring factions, armed groups hold significant power on the ground, making it dangerous for refugees and migrants.

The international right groups urged Europe to "suspend cooperation on migration and border control with Libya."

GERMANY

COVID: Why are so many people against vaccination?

The number of people against COVID vaccines seems to rise the more people get vaccinated. 

Is it a misunderstanding? What's the basis of their argument?



COVID vaccine? No, thanks! But why?


"No, no photos and no names, please! I'd rather not be labelled as some crazy conspiracy theorist. I just don't want the vaccine!"

It's fair enough, I think. So, fine. I say we'll call them Richard and Susanne.

I met the pair in a park on the outskirts of Cologne. Richard works in the packaging industry, and Susanne works in admin at a hospital. Both are in their 50s, so I'd say they belong to one of the high-risk groups for COVID-19.

We agreed to meet because I wanted to know why they were against getting vaccinated. I, myself, have recovered from a COVID infection, and am vaccinated.

I've written a lot about the virus and its vaccines. And I've been wondering why some people don't want to get vaccinated. What are their concerns? Where do they get their information and how do they argue their case?
Doubters on the rise

"I feel that a vaccine is a huge intervention in my body. Everyone should make this decision for themselves. And just because you don't get vaccinated, it doesn't mean you're irresponsible or tired of life," says Richard, and Susanne nods in agreement.

The pair is not alone — others feel the same way. It's true that in Germany, more than a third of the population (38.9%) is fully vaccinated and more than half (56.5%) have had at least a first shot. But the rate of vaccination is slowing down.


"Just because you don't want a vaccine, it doesn't mean you're crazy [in German: 'Spinner'] or suicidal."

Richard and Susanne wouldn't say they were against vaccines as such. They got the standard vaccines when they were kids. But they say they don't trust the vaccines for COVID-19.

Their friends and acquaintances don't get it. They say they have experienced rejection and a lack of understanding.

"They think the vaccine makes them immortal. But they could still get infected, despite the vaccine," says Susanne, indignantly.
Calculated risk?

But a vaccine can lower your risk of a severe infection, I say.

"That may well be, but it's no more than a risk-benefit-analysis. You can get infected with anything, anytime, but even if it happens," says Richard, "I have a lot of colleagues and friends who've had COVID and their symptoms were either weak or it was just like a normal flu."

Susanne jumps in: "You hear these stories about severe cases and deaths in the media. That people have died either directly or indirectly because of COVID. But if you then ask how old they were, you find out they were already 87 or something. It just doesn't convince me to get a vaccine."

Germany's Federal Statistical Office (DESTASIS) says there were about 36,300 deaths from COVID-19 in the country last year.

In its most recent report, DESTASIS says that in about 30,100 cases in 2020, COVID was the cause. And in a further 6,200 cases, COVID was an accompanying disease.

Many of those who died due to a COVID infection were indeed older or elderly people. But they weren't the only ones who died.

Richard and Susanne refrain from calling the German media "Lügenpresse" or lying press. They just say they don't trust its corona coverage.

But it also has a lot to do with how you live, say Richard and Susanne: "We don't live in the city, we don't go to any clubs, and we don't hug everyone we meet. I think we can calculate our risk."
COSMO Study on vaccine willingness

People's willingness to get vaccinated in Germany is falling. In a study called COSMO, 41% of those asked said they wanted to get vaccinated. That's much lower than at the start of June when 57% of participants wanted to get vaccinated. Run by the University of Erfurt, with the Robert Koch Institute and other research bodies, the study involved 1,011 people.

Many were inclined to weigh the pros and cons, just like Richard and Susanne. They lacked trust in the vaccines or they felt they needn't bother with so many other people vaccinated.

"If you're worried about COVID, get vaccinated. But the chances of my getting infected are a lot lower now that so many other people are vaccinated," says Susanne.
Distorted images in the media?

Richard and Susanne also feel the media has exaggerated the risks of COVID-19.

"It's always the same experts and always the same opinions," says Richard.

Many COVID patients in India have had an accompanying fungal infection called Black Fungus

"Naturally, the images out of India were shocking, but can we really compare our situation with theirs? Just look at the hygiene standards there and the terrible state of their hospitals! I bet almost every disease turns into a catastrophe there. But that's not the case here," he says.

And Susanne picks up the lead: "Take all that wrangling about AstraZeneca. There were conflicting statements. Or mix-and-match vaccinations. The STIKO (Ed.: Germany's Standing Committee on Vaccination at the Robert Koch Institute) was totally against mixing vaccines at first. Now, it's okay. And vaccines for kids. In America, they tried it on a few hundred kids and based on that the FDA (Ed.: US Food and Drug Administration) decided it was okay to vaccinate all kids and young people. Some European countries see it like the US, but the STIKO thinks it's too risky. And that's 'based on science' is it?"

The two of them seem pretty wound up as they bat the arguments back and forth. You can tell that they have often had to deal with prejudices and critique.

"We've definitely spent more time thinking about the issues than someone who's naively taken the jab," says Susanne.


To date, the German government has said it it does not plan to introduce mandatory vaccination, or "Impfpflicht," for COVID-19
Vaccination as a job requirement

The researchers behind the COSMO study say vaccination programs in workplaces or in the education sector may improve access to vaccination. In their report, the experts write that that would make it easier to reach groups of people who are in contact with lots of other people.

When I suggest that some employers may even want to make vaccination mandatory, Susanne and Richard get pensive.

"That would be a problem," says Susanne, "because I could get vaccinated through my employer right now. Not everyone wants it, but it is conceivable that our employers might demand it. And if you refuse, they may see that as grounds to make you redundant or not extent your contract. They do that in Russia. It probably wouldn't be legal here, but it is possible."

After that, there's a moments' silence. We watch the other people in the park, who seem to be enjoying their reclaimed normal lives.
Parting words

"Stay healthy," I wish the two as we part.

They nod, a little agonized: "You too," they say. "And please don't write us up as crazies. We just feel that everyone should be able to decide for themselves whether they want a vaccine or not. This is our decision, our risk, and everyone else should just accept it."

I leave the two sitting in the park and start to wonder whether I should have tried to persuade them to change their minds. And if so, how? I wonder whether their vaccine status is in any way my business or whether they really should be allowed to decide for themselves.

What I've learnt most through our conversation is that Susanne and Richard are annoyed about confusing information in the media and one-sided reports, and that that has made them feel anxious or insecure about the situation.

But I still don't understand a lot of their arguments. And my counter arguments don't seem to have moved them much, either. It leaves me confused, with a lasting feeling of incomprehension — probably on both sides.

#KASHMIR #INDIA'S #GAZA

Why is India deploying female soldiers to Kashmir?

Female soldiers were sent to the region for the first time in May, but critics say the military still has a long way to go on gender equality.


Military officials say female soldiers can 'break the ice' during search operations that involve local women

India deployed female soldiers to the restive Indian-administered Kashmir for the first time, in a bid to improve local relations and promote gender equality within the ranks of its paramilitary.

However, the efforts have drawn widespread criticism and questions over how effective the move is, both in strengthening ties with local women and improving gender equality within the armed forces.

In May, India's Federal Home Ministry quietly shifted an armed battalion of Assam Rifles (a paramilitary force) comprising several women from the northeastern state of Manipur to Kashmir. The 34th battalion was stationed at Ganderbal, about 38 kilometers (23.6 miles) north of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir.

The female paramilitary troops were deployed at several motor vehicle checkpoints in Ganderbal, the route leading to the sensitive Ladakh region.

Soon after their arrival, the soldiers were seen frisking local women at checkpoints and trekking to different places to interact with local women and schoolgirls. They also held interactive sessions, in which the soldiers demonstrated their combat skills, and exchanged views on social issues. The female soldiers, who work together with their male counterparts, say they have an edge over male soldiers when it comes to interacting with women in the region.

"We are trying to give a sense of confidence to local women," said 24-year-old riflewoman Rupali Dhangar from the central Indian state of Maharashtra. "The aim is to encourage them to move out of their routine household work."
Addressing harassment complaints

Military officials said the introduction of female soldiers is likely to make the Indian government's anti-militancy operations in strife-torn Kashmir more effective, especially when dealing with local women during searches in residential areas.

Watch video 09:43 India-Pakistan conflict: A ticking time bomb

India's all-male force received several complaints about sexual harassment of local women in Kashmir.

"Our primary task is to ensure that women don't face any inconvenience or difficulty during the anti-militancy operations. We will try to make them feel comfortable during search operations," said riflewoman Rekha Kumari, 27, from West Bengal.

However, it remains to be seen whether the womens' involvement during the night raids and other anti-militancy operations is effective in allaying local women's fears.

Ghazala Wahab, the executive editor of Force magazine, believes that the military deployed women to the region "to address the allegations of sexual violence."

Human rights activists say the Indian military has received complaints of male soldiers making sexually lewd remarks or gestures, inappropriate groping, and even rape during the search operations in Kashmir.

"The involvement of Indian armed forces in these crimes was alarming in the 1990s, but now there has been a decrease [in such crimes] due to pressure from rights bodies," said Sabia Dar, an activist with the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP).

Dar told DW that the deployment of riflewomen is an attempt to showcase Indian armed forces as sensitive towards the rights of Kashmiri women.

During a visit to Kashmir in September 2019, women's advocacy network Women Against Sexual Violence and State Repression found that "school-going girls have to walk past army camps and are sexually harassed by the men in uniform. Often, security forces stand at the roadside with their pants unzipped and make lewd comments and gestures."

With the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in place in Kashmir, armed personnel involved in any crime cannot be prosecuted without the Indian government's consent.

Women 'help break the ice'

The female soldiers could help "to break the ice" during search operations, said Commanding Officer of the 34 Assam Rifles, Colonel RS Karakoti.

"It is easier for us when riflewomen are part of the search operations. They help us to break the ice so that the searches go unhampered," Karakoti told DW.

Watch video 02:43 Will Kashmir's young politicians bring hope to the region?

However, the military drew widespread criticism when images of female soldiers frisking local women went viral on social media.

Athar Zia, a political anthropologist with the University of Northern Colorado, said the introduction of female soldiers is akin to the "gender-washing of war crimes in Kashmir," and selling "genocide as gender justice."

"What is the riflewoman to the female political prisoners languishing in jails, to women who face grave human rights abuses and rape as a weapon of war, to women surveilled 24/7 along with their communities?" he asked.

Riflewoman Kumari, however, said the soldiers were not subjecting women to any inconveniences during the search operations. "We ensure that their rights are not violated and their feelings are not hurt," she said.

Discriminatory policies within the army

The female soldiers said that local girls now want to join them, although women are often the subject of discriminatory policies within the armed forces.

"They are giving us a good response and are eager to meet us again. Many of them want to join the Indian army," said Kumari, who joined the Assam Rifles in 2017.

Riflewoman Dhangar believes, however, that there is still a long way to go in terms of gender equality in the military.

"Gender equality is still a far-fetched dream in the Indian army, and to deal with it, we have made ourselves mentally strong," she said.

Female officers have been denied senior commanding positions, along with lifelong job and retirement security, unlike their male counterparts.

In March, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that the army's evaluation criteria for granting the benefits to women was systematically discriminatory.

Hong Kong journalist union says press freedoms 'in tatters'

Issued on: 15/07/2021 - 

The HKJA said there were 'knives hanging over journalists' heads' in Hong Kong Anthony WALLACE AFP

Hong Kong (AFP)

Hong Kong's press freedoms are "in tatters" as China remoulds the once outspoken business hub in its own authoritarian image, the city's main journalist union said Thursday, adding it feared "fake news" laws were on their way.

"The past year is definitely the worst year so far for press freedom," Ronson Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA), said as the union published its annual report.

The report referenced a cascade of events impacting the press since China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong last summer to stamp out dissent after huge and often violent democracy protests the year before.

Authors pointed to the jailing of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai and the freezing of his Apple Daily newspaper's assets -- a move which led to the Beijing-critical tabloid's closure.

More than 700 journalists their jobs while Lai and multiple Apple Daily executives are currently behind bars, charged with trying to undermine China's national security with the contents of the paper's reporting.

HKJA's report also accused authorities of turning the city's public broadcaster RTHK into "a government propaganda apparatus" by sacking critical staff and cancelling current affairs shows.

Accessing public databases was also becoming harder, the report warned, highlighting how one RTHK journalist was convicted for using vehicle license plates for an investigation into a violent attack on pro-democracy supporters by government loyalists.

The government has also sought to restrict journalists from accessing the identities of company owners on the city's registry, a move criticised by financial transparency groups.

"Suppression from the authorities is felt across different forms of media," the report warned. "Freedoms have seriously deteriorated under a repressive government."

Chan said he feared further legislation was now in the works to restrict the media.

Top officials and pro-Beijing lawmakers in Hong Kong have called for "fake news" laws, something activists fear will be used against coverage authorities dislike.

"There are already many knives hanging over journalists' heads like laws against sedition and incitement so we do not need one more named a fake news law," Chan said.

Hong Kong has plunged down an annual press freedom ranking by Reporters Without Borders, from 18th place in 2002 to 80th this year.

Mainland China languishes at 177th out of 180, above only Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea.

Multiple international media companies have regional headquarters in Hong Kong, attracted to the business-friendly regulations and free speech provisions written into the city's mini-constitution.

But many local and international outlets are questioning whether they have a future there.

© 2021 AFP

Cuba: Government tries to placate protesters with concessions

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel took some blame for the protests and the government announced easing customs measures after demonstrations rocked the country.


President Miguel Diaz-Canel addressed the nation in a televised speech

The Cuban government on Wednesday has shown signs of concession to the unprecedented protests.

Cubans had taken to the streets to demonstrate against economic hardship marked by shortages of food, electricity and other essentials.

The government had only blamed social media and the United States for inciting the protests. But President Miguel Diaz-Canel admitted on Wednesday that failings by his government played a role in the unrest.

Shortly before the president spoke on television, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero announced relaxing some customs measures and made new promises to protesters.

Watch video02:01 Crisis-stricken Cuba sees largest protets in decades

What did Diaz-Canel say?

While the Cuban president reiterated his accusations against the United States, he also offered some self-criticism for the first time.

"We have to gain experience from the riots," he said. "We also have to carry out a critical analysis of our problems in order to act and overcome, and avoid their repetition.

"Our society is not a society that generates hatred and those people acted with hatred," Diaz-Canel said, calling for "peace, harmony among Cubans and respect."

Diaz-Canel added that Cubans must "overcome our disagreements between all of us. What we have to promote, even though we have different points of view on certain issues, is between all of us to try to find solutions."

President Miguel Diaz-Canel was on the street when thousands of Cubans protested over the weekend

What measures did Cuba announce?

Cuban citizens who go on foreign trips can bring home toiletries, food and medicine — some of the hardest products to find in Cuba — without paying customs, Marrero said.

Under Cuban law, travelers arriving here can bring up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of medicine tax-free. They can also bring in limited amounts of food and personal hygiene gear but must pay customs duties.

But starting Monday and until the end of 2021, the limits and duties are lifted, Marrero said.

The prime minister also said the government was working on improving the national electricity system.

Officials will also seek to improve the supply of medicines, Marrero said.

Meanwhile, Economy Minister Alejandro Gil announced that the government would institute long-promised rules for business owners to set up small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Watch video 04:11 Monica Rivero Cabrera: No single cause for unrest in Cuba

What is the situation in Cuba?

On Sunday, anti-government protests erupted over shortages of food and medicine and electricity outages.

Some protesters demanded a faster pace of the COVID vaccination rollout, and some called for political change in Cuba, where the Communist Party has ruled for six decades.

Security forces arrested dozens of protesters as officials accused demonstrators of looting and vandalism.

Local rights groups said more than 5,000 people, including 120 activists and journalists, have been arrested, according to reports compiled by online news site 14ymedio.

Internet outages, restrictions on social media and messaging platforms were also reported.

The COVID-19 pandemic, inefficiencies in the state-run economy and the tightening of US sanctions on the island have pushed Cuba into its worst crisis in years.

Cuba restores internet access after protests, but not social media

Issued on: 14/07/2021
Protests that broke out in Cuba on Sunday were the largest since the revolution of the 1950s and come as the country endures its worst economic crisis in 30 years

 ADALBERTO ROQUE AFP/File

Havana (AFP)

Cuban authorities restored internet access on Wednesday following three days of interruptions after unprecedented protests erupted over the weekend, AFP journalists said.

Access to social media and messaging apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter remained blocked on 3G and 4G, however.

Social media is the only way Cubans can access independent media, while messaging apps are their main means of communicating amongst themselves.

One person has died and more than 100 were arrested, including independent journalists and opposition activists, since the anti-government protests broke out in the communist-ruled island over the worst economic crisis in decades.

Web monitoring group NetBlocks reported disruptions from Monday in Cuba on major social media and communications platforms.

Cuba was quick to blame a half-century of US economic pressure for the crisis, but the downturn also comes amid strict measures against Covid-19 and an uptick in cases.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Tuesday said the United States had incited social unrest through a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #SOSCuba.

"It's true that we don't have mobile internet, but we're also lacking medicines," Rodriguez said.

"I have to tell you, Cuba will not renounce its right to self-defense."

The US on Tuesday urged Cuba to end the internet restrictions and demonstrate "respect for the voice of the people by opening all means of communication, both online and offline."

Streets in the capital Havana were calm on Wednesday, but there was a visibly larger security presence, particularly around the parliament building, where protesters shouting "Down with the dictatorship," "Freedom" and "We're hungry" gathered on Sunday.

New calls went out on social media on Tuesday for a protest outside the parliament building, which was surrounded by police vehicles.

NetBlocks said some Cubans have been able to get around the internet restrictions by using virtual private networks, or VPNs.