Saturday, July 24, 2021

UN Security Council slams Turkish plan to reopen disputed Cyprus resort

Issued on: 23/07/2021 -

People on a beach inside an area fenced off by the Turkish military since 1974 in the abandoned coastal area of Varosha, in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus, October 8, 2020. © Harun Ucar, REUTERS

Text by:NEWS WIRES

The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned a plan by Turkish and Turkish Cypriot leaders to partially reopen the abandoned resort of Varosha and called for an immediate reversal of the decision.

Turkish Cypriots, backed by Ankara, said on Tuesday that part of Varosha - now a military zone and an area touted in the past to be returned to rival Greek Cypriots - would come under civilian control, and be open for potential resettlement.

"The Security Council calls for the immediate reversal of this course of action and the reversal of all steps taken on Varosha since October 2020," the 15-member body said in a statement on Friday.

The move by the Turkish Cypriots triggered an angry reaction from Cyprus's internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government, and a chorus of disapproval from Western powers, led by the United States which called the move "unacceptable."

Turkey has shrugged off the criticism.

"The Security Council underscores the need to avoid any further unilateral actions not in accordance with its resolutions and that could raise tensions on the island and harm prospects for a settlement," the council said.

Cyprus had appealed to the Security Council on Wednesday over the decision by Turkish Cypriot authorities.

Turkey's foreign ministry rejected the council's statement and statements by some countries, saying they were based on unfounded claims, inconsistent with the realities on Cyprus.

"These statements are based on Greek-Greek Cypriot black propaganda and groundless claims," the statement said.

It said Varosha was part of the territory of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is only recognized by Ankara, and that it had not been opened to settlement.

All TRNC decisions respect property rights and are in full compliance with international law, it added.

The east Mediterranean island was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a Greek-inspired coup. Peace efforts have repeatedly failed.

An estimated 17,000 Greek Cypriot residents of Varosha fled the advance of Turkish troops in August 1974. It has remained empty ever since, sealed off with barbed wire and no-entry signs. U.N. resolutions have called for the area to be turned over to administration by the international body.

"The Security Council stresses the importance of full respect and implementation of its resolutions, including the transfer of Varosha to U.N. administration," it said on Friday.

Under the terms of a 2004 U.N. reunification blueprint, Varosha was one of the areas which would have been returned to its inhabitants under Greek Cypriot administration. The plan, which detailed reunification under a complex power-sharing agreement, was rejected in a referendum by Greek Cypriots.

(REUTERS)

UNSC condemns plan to reopen Northern Cyprus resort Varosha

UN Security Council calls for ‘immediate reversal’ of decision by Turkey and Turkish Cypriots to reopen part of Varohsa.

In this file photo from October 2020, people walk on a beach inside an area fenced off by the Turkish military in the abandoned coastal area of Varosha [File: Harun Ucar/Reuters]

23 Jul 2021

The UN Security Council has condemned the decision by Turkey and Turkish Cypriots to reopen a residential section of an abandoned suburb and called for “the immediate reversal” of this unilateral action, warning that it could raise tensions on the divided Mediterranean island.

A presidential statement approved by all 15 council members at an open meeting on Friday reiterated that any attempt to settle any part of the Varosha suburb “by people other than its inhabitants is inadmissible”.
KEEP READINGCyprus appeals to UN Security Council over Varosha reopening Turkey says Cyprus town of Varosha to reopen amid Greek objection Cyprus talks can only resume on a ‘two-state’ basis, Erdogan says

“The Security Council calls for the immediate reversal of this course of action and the reversal of all steps taken on Varosha since October 2020,” the 15-member body said in a statement on Friday.

The statement’s adoption followed a closed-door briefing to the council Wednesday by the outgoing UN special representative that focused on Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar’s announcement Tuesday that a 3.5 square-kilometre (1.35 square-mile) section of Varosha would revert from military to civilian control.

He made it ahead of a military parade attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to commemorate the 47th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

On a trip to the north of divided Nicosia on Tuesday, Erdogan declared that a half-century of UN efforts had failed and that there should be “two peoples and two states with equal status”.

The United States voiced concern that his remarks would have a “chilling effect” on UN-led efforts for a solution in Cyprus.

“The Security Council underscores the need to avoid any further unilateral actions not in accordance with its resolutions and that could raise tensions on the island and harm prospects for a settlement,” the council said.

People spend time at the seaside in the fenced-off area of Varosha in Famagusta town in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) of the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus [File: Iakovos Hatzistavrou/AFP]

Ankara shrugs off condemnation

Turkey’s foreign ministry rejected the council’s statement and statements by some countries, saying they were based on unfounded claims, inconsistent with the realities on Cyprus.

“These statements are based on Greek-Greek Cypriot black propaganda and groundless claims,” the statement said.

It said Varosha was part of the territory of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which is only recognised by Ankara, and that it had not been opened to settlement.

All TRNC decisions respect property rights and are in full compliance with international law, it added.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded in response to an abortive coup engineered by the then military in Athens that aimed to unite the island with Greece.

An estimated 17,000 Greek Cypriot residents of Varosha fled the advance of Turkish troops in 1974. It has remained empty ever since, sealed off with barbed wire and no-entry signs. UN resolutions have called for the area to be turned over to administration by the international body.

“The Security Council stresses the importance of full respect and implementation of its resolutions, including the transfer of Varosha to UN administration,” the council said on Friday.

Under the terms of a 2004 UN reunification blueprint, Varosha was one of the areas which would have been returned to its inhabitants under Greek Cypriot administration.

The plan, which detailed reunification under a complex power-sharing agreement, was rejected in a referendum by Greek Cypriots.

THE WEAPON OF DAVID AGAINST THE IDF GOLIATH

Clashes erupt in flashpoint West Bank village, injuring 140 Palestinians
Issued on: 23/07/2021 -

A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to hurl rocks at Israeli forces during confrontaions in Beita in the West Bank on July 23, 2021.

More than 140 Palestinians were hurt Friday in clashes with Israeli troops in the flashpoint West Bank village of Beita, medics said, during protests against an illegal Israeli settlement outpost.

The Israeli army said two soldiers were also "lightly injured" in the violence.

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in Beita, located in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to protest against the nearby outpost of Eviatar, an AFP correspondent said.

The area has seen regular demonstrations against settlement expansion on Palestinian land.

The Israeli army said that "over the last several hours, a riot was instigated in the area of Givat Eviatar outpost, south of Nablus".

"Hundreds of Palestinians hurled rocks at IDF (army) troops, who responded with riot dispersal means," it said in a statement, adding that the two "lightly injured" soldiers were taken to hospital.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 146 Palestinians were hurt during the clashes, including nine by live fire, 34 by rubber-coated bullets and 87 by tear gas.

Jewish settlers set up the Eviatar outpost in early May, building rudimentary concrete homes and shacks in a matter of weeks.

The construction came in defiance of both international and Israeli law, and sparked fierce protests from Palestinians who insisted it was being built on their land.

But following a deal struck with nationalist Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's new government, the settlers left the outpost on July 2, while the structures they had built were to remain under army guard.

Israel's defence ministry said it would study the area to assess whether it could, under Israeli law, be declared state land.

Should that happen, Israel could then authorise a religious school to be built at Eviatar, with residences for its staff and students.

Around 475,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

(AFP)

Over 140 Palestinians hurt in clashes with Israel troops: medics

Issued on: 23/07/2021 -

Palestinian protesters help a man who was wounded during clashes with the Israeli army in the village of Beita in the occupied West Bank JAAFAR ASHTIYEH AFP

Beita (Palestinian Territories) (AFP)

More than 140 Palestinians were hurt Friday in clashes with Israeli troops in the flashpoint West Bank village of Beita, medics said, during protests against an illegal Israeli settlement outpost.

The Israeli army said two soldiers were also "lightly injured" in the violence.

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in Beita, located in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, to protest against the nearby outpost of Eviatar, an AFP correspondent said.

The area has seen regular demonstrations against settlement expansion on Palestinian land.

The Israeli army said that "over the last several hours, a riot was instigated in the area of Givat Eviatar outpost, south of Nablus".

"Hundreds of Palestinians hurled rocks at IDF (army) troops, who responded with riot dispersal means," it said in a statement, adding that the two "lightly injured" soldiers were taken to hospital.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said 146 Palestinians were hurt during the clashes, including nine by live fire, 34 by rubber-coated bullets and 87 by tear gas.

Jewish settlers set up the Eviatar outpost in early May, building rudimentary concrete homes and shacks in a matter of weeks.

The construction came in defiance of both international and Israeli law, and sparked fierce protests from Palestinians who insisted it was being built on their land.

But following a deal struck with nationalist Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's new government, the settlers left the outpost on July 2, while the structures they had built were to remain under army guard.

Israel's defence ministry said it would study the area to assess whether it could, under Israeli law, be declared state land.

Should that happen, Israel could then authorise a religious school to be built at Eviatar, with residences for its staff and students.

Around 475,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

© 2021 AFP

In Cuba, families fret over loved ones held after historic protests

Issued on: 23/07/2021 -

NON VIOLENT ARREST BY COMAPARISON WITH LAST SUMMER POLICE RIOTS IN PORTLAND & SEATTLE

Hundreds in Cuba were arrested for protesting and many now face charges of contempt, public disorder, vandalism and propagation of the coronavirus epidemic for allegedly marching without face masks YAMIL LAGE AFP/File

Havana (AFP)

Manuel Diaz is among several people detained for nearly two weeks since joining unprecedented anti-government protests in Cuba. His family is worried.

According to his lawyer, 59-year-old Diaz needs two or three witnesses to testify that his protest had been peaceful if he wishes to qualify for bail ahead of his trial.

Diaz, who works in a bakery, had joined a rally on July 11 in his town of Bauta, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of Havana.

In an apparently spontaneous outburst of anti-government sentiment, thousands took to the streets on July 11 in some 40 cities and towns chanting "Freedom!" and "Down with the dictatorship!"

Hundreds were arrested for their efforts and many now face charges of contempt, public disorder, vandalism and propagation of the coronavirus epidemic for allegedly marching without face masks.

"For now, nobody has testified and Manuel is still in pre-trial detention," his brother Roberto told AFP by telephone from Miami, where he lives.

"He is in the prison of Caimito (western Cuba), and we are desperate."

- #SOSCuba -

Almost two weeks after the biggest protests since the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959, the communist government has yet to announce the number of people detained.

Independent observers and activists have published lists with at least 600 names on them.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet last week expressed concern at claims that individuals were being held incommunicado, and that the whereabouts of some were unknown.

She added that "all those detained for exercising their rights must be promptly released."#photo1

The rallies came as the country endures its worst economic crisis in 30 years, with chronic shortages of electricity, food and medicine and an uptick in the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the majority of those detained had been released after paying a fine, or placed under house arrest.

He denied there were any minors among those held or that anyone had gone missing.

On a Facebook group called "Desaparecidos (Missing) #SOSCuba," Roberto Diaz made an urgent appeal for anyone who could vouch for his brother's peaceful conduct during the demonstrations.

"Is there anyone who can help us, please?" he implored.

Similar messages have proliferated on Facebook and Twitter.

- 'Devastated' -

Claudia Salazar is seeking the freedom of her husband, Yarian Sierra, who she wrote "is the victim of an unjust process... because he thinks differently."

Photo and video operator Anyelo Troya, 25, arrested with his camera near the seat of parliament in Havana, has been sentenced to a year in prison for "public disorder," according to his family.

He shot the video clip for the rap song "Patria y Vida" ("Fatherland and Life") which has become a refrain for protesters and government critics.

The title is a play on the famous "Fatherland or Death" coined by the late Castro in 1960, with the new song serving as a no-holds-barred critique of the six-decade-old communist government.

Troya appeared before a court Wednesday with 12 other protesters, his family said.

"We were not told of the trial beforehand," said his brother, Yuri, adding their parents were "devastated."

They heard of the appearance when they tried to visit Anyelo at the police station.#photo2

"We ran to the court with a lawyer we had hired, but when we arrived, it was already over," said Yuri.

"What happened to the right (of my son) to a transparent trial?" Troya's mother, Raisa Gonzales, asked on Facebook. The family will lodge an appeal.

Others still behind bars include dissidents Jose Daniel Ferrer and Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara.

Alcantara is one of the leaders of the San Isidro protest movement formed in 2018 to demand greater freedom of speech in the island nation.

On Tuesday, the San Isidro Movement said he had been transferred to a high security prison some 60 kilometers from Havana.

© 2021 AFP

#UBI #GUARNTEEDANNUALINCOME

Free money for all? Mayors hope local tests bring big change

FREE HARDLY IT'S THE SURPLUS VALUE WE CREATE

By SARA BURNETT

1 of 4
FILE - In this April 19, 2021 file photo, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, right, talks with Michael Tubbs, founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, after holding his annual State of the City address from the Griffith Observatory, in Los Angeles. In experiments across the country, dozens of cities and counties, some using money from the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package approved in March, and the state of California are giving some low-income residents a guaranteed income of $500 to $1,000 each month to do with as they please, and tracking what happens. (Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool File)

By triggering $1,400 stimulus checks for millions of people and expanding the child tax credit for many families, the pandemic offered a clear takeaway for some officials: That putting tax dollars in people’s pockets is achievable and can be a lifeline to those struggling to get by.

Now a growing number of mayors and other leaders say they want to determine for sure whether programs like these are the best way to reduce poverty, lessen inequality and get people working.

In experiments across the country, dozens of cities and counties — some using money from the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package approved in March — and the state of California are giving some low-income residents a guaranteed income of $500 to $1,000 each month to do with as they please, and tracking what happens. A coalition known as Mayors for a Guaranteed Income plans to use the data — collected alongside a University of Pennsylvania-based research center — to lobby the White House and Congress for a federal guaranteed income or, for starters, to make the new $300 per month child tax credit that’s set to expire after this year permanent.

The surge in interest in these so-called free money pilot programs shows how quickly the concept of just handing out cash, no strings attached, has shifted from far-fetched idea to serious policy proposal, even as critics blast the programs as unaffordable or discouraging people from going to work. Supporters say it’s all due to COVID-19, which cost millions of people their jobs and prompted the federal government under both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden to cut checks to rescue the economy — relief that was hugely popular politically.

“The pandemic showed us what is possible,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, whose latest budget included a $24 million guaranteed income program to give 2,000 poor families $1,000 per month. “We’re now going to be a pretty potent lobby to get the child tax credit permanent.”

The American Rescue Plan, which Biden signed in March, increased the child tax credit for one year to $3,600 annually for children under 6 and $3,000 for ages 6 to 17, with the first six months of the credit advanced via monthly payments that started this month. Last year the credit was $2,000 per child, and only families that owed income taxes to the government could receive it. That excluded low-income families and those who generally have no income to report.

Biden is pushing to extend the credit through 2025, and ultimately make it permanent. Republicans argue doing so would create a disincentive for people to work, and lead to more poverty — an argument similar to what critics say about the guaranteed income programs. No Republicans voted in favor of the American Rescue Plan, which they said was too expensive and not focused specifically enough on COVID-19′s health and economic crises.

Former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, who started Mayors for a Guaranteed Income in June 2020, launched a guaranteed income program using private funds in his Northern California city in 2019. An independent study found full-time employment for participants grew in the first year of the program more quickly than it did for those not receiving cash, a finding Tubbs argues contradicts conservative arguments against them. Some recipients were able to complete classes or training and get full-time jobs that provided more economic stability than cobbling together gig employment.

Mayors for a Guaranteed Income started with 11 founding mayors and now has more than 50. Two dozen pilot programs have been approved, from Los Angeles County — the most populous county in the U.S. — to a county in upstate New York and the cities of Wausau, Wisconsin, and Gainesville, Florida.

Last week, California lawmakers approved a state-funded guaranteed income plan with a unanimous vote that showed bipartisan support. It will provide monthly payments to qualifying pregnant people and young adults who recently left foster care.

Some pilot programs have been funded privately — Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has donated over $15 million to MGI. Other places, like Minneapolis, are using federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan.

Matt Zwolinski, director of the Center for Ethics, Economics and Public Policy at the University of San Diego, has studied guaranteed income policy for over a decade and says the increased interest is remarkable.

But he says there’s a flaw in using the pilot projects as a “proof of concept.” Most are for one to two years and give money to a narrow slice of the population that knows the cash will eventually stop, so participants may be more likely to seek fulltime employment during that period than if they knew the cash was permanent.

Zwolinski also questions whether people in the U.S. are willing to support a national program that gives money to people who could work but aren’t doing so.

“That really rubs a lot of people the wrong way,” he said.

Even in the smaller pilots there have been hiccups. In many cases, waivers are needed to ensure the new income doesn’t make recipients ineligible for other benefits they receive.

Wausau, Wisconsin, Mayor Katie Rosenberg said that snag has delayed the city’s program from getting up and running.

“I don’t want to hurt people,” Rosenberg said.

Gary, Indiana, started its pilot program in April, providing $500 per month to 125 households for one year. Burgess Peoples, the pilot’s executive director, said recipients receive “wraparound services,” including help with finding jobs. Already it’s making a difference, she said.

Two women used their first checks to pay what they owed for college tuition, allowing them to keep working toward their degrees. One man got his car repaired so he could get to work without paying for a Lyft ride.

Peoples hopes more local experiments will pressure the federal government to change the way it assists poor people.

“That way they can get help the way they need it,” she said, “not just the way the government thinks it should be.”

GUARNTEED ANNUAL INCOME DAUPHIN MANITOBA 1974

A Canadian City Once Eliminated Poverty And Nearly ...

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/12/23/mincome-in-dauphin-manitoba_n...

2014-12-23 · Between 1974 and 1979, residents of a small Manitoba city were selected to be subjects in a project that ensured basic annual incomes for everyone. …

Author: Zi-Ann Lum

Estimated Reading Time: 8 mins

Canada’s forgotten universal basic income experiment - BBC ...

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200624-canadas-forgotten...

2020-06-24 · Once it was implemented in the area, it had real results: over the four years that the program ended up running in the 1970s, an average family in Dauphin was guaranteed an annual income of …

Guaranteed Annual Income: Canada Tried It. 30 Years Later ...

https://affordablehousingaction.org/the-town-with-no-poverty-the...

2020-07-21 · The uncertainties and job loss associated with COVID-19 has raised once again this decades-old contentious idea that has had little or no practical trials. But many years ago, Canada tried a community-wide Guaranteed Annual Income experiment in Dauphin, Manitoba. In 1974 the economic and political climate was ripe for the start of a trial.

The Manitoba Basic Annual Income Experiment: Lessons ...

https://www.umanitoba.ca/media/Simpson_Mason_Godwin_2017.pdf · PDF file

receptive to the idea of a trial guaranteed income plan. The two governments entered discussions and reached formal agreement on the budget for a Basic Annual Income Experiment Project in June 1974

ABOUT TIME

UN adopts first resolution on vision, aims to help 1 billion

By EDITH M. LEDERER

FILE - In this Saturday, May 29, 2021 file photo, A boy undergoes an eyesight examination performed by volunteer ophthalmologists, in Nucsoara, Romania.

(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)

The U.N. General Assembly approved its first-ever resolution on vision Friday, July 23, 2021 calling on its 193 member nations to ensure access to eye care for everyone in their countries which would contribute to a global effort to help at least 1.1 billion people with vision impairment who currently lack eye services by 2030. The “Vision for Everyone” resolution, sponsored by Bangladesh, Antigua and Ireland, and co-sponsored by over 100 countries, was adopted by consensus by the world body.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly approved its first-ever resolution on vision Friday, calling on its 193 member nations to ensure access to eye care for everyone in their countries which would contribute to a global effort to help at least 1.1 billion people with vision impairment who currently lack eye services by 2030.

The “Vision for Everyone” resolution, sponsored by Bangladesh, Antigua and Ireland, and co-sponsored by over 100 countries, was adopted by consensus by the world body.

It encourages countries to institute a “whole of government approach to eye care.” And it calls on international financial institutions and donors to provide targeted financing, especially for developing countries, to address the increasing impact of vision loss on economic and social development.

According to the resolution, “at least 2 billion people are living with vision impairment or blindness and 1.1 billion people have vision impairment that could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed.”

“Global eye care needs are projected to increase substantially, with half the global population expected to be living with a vision impairment by 2050,” the resolution says.

Bangladesh’s U.N. Ambassador Rabab Fatima introduced the resolution, stressing its first-ever focus on vision, and calling it “a long overdue recognition of the central role that healthy vision plays in human life and for sustainable development.”

He said over 90% of the 1.1 billion people worldwide with vision loss live in low- and middle-income countries, adding that 55% of blind people are women and girls.

On average, the loss of sight costs the global economy “a staggering amount of $411 billion in productivity each year,” Fatima said. And access to eye care services can increase household spending per capital by 88% “and the odds of obtaining paid employment by 10%.”

While General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, they do reflect global opinion.

Fatima said it was critical for the assembly to convey the U.N.’s “unequivocal commitment to ensure proper eye care facilities for everyone, everywhere, to prevent conditions which can lead to serious and permanent damages.”

He called the resolution an “opportunity to change the lives of millions who are living in blindness or with impaired vision.”

The resolution stresses that access to eye care is essential to achieve U.N. goals for 2030 to end poverty and hunger, ensure healthy lives and quality education, and reduce inequality.

It calls on all nations to mobilize resources and support to ensure eye care for all people in their countries, in order to reach at least 1.1 billion people worldwide “who have a vision impairment and currently do not have access to the eye care services that they need” by 2030.

Hong Kong philanthropist James Chen, founder of the Clearly campaign to promote global vision who campaigned for the resolution for the past two decades, called it “a significant milestone” and “a critical preliminary step” to achieving the U.N. goals.

“The first step, now, is to ensure governments follow up on their commitment to action,” and “regard vision correction as essential healthcare, alongside other priorities like family planning and infant immunization,” he said in a statement to The Associated Press.

With that kind of engagement from governments and non-governmental organizations, “glasses are affordable, and their distribution is solvable,” and the ambitious U.N. 2030 deadline can be met, said Chen, who is chairman of the Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation.

#FREETIBET

China’s Xi visits Tibet amid rising controls over religion

IMPERIALISM THE HIGHEST STAGE OF CAPITALI$M

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In this July 22, 2021 photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping waves while visiting a public square below the Potala Palace in Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made a rare visit to Tibet as authorities tighten controls over the Himalayan region's traditional Buddhist culture, accompanied by an accelerated drive for economic development. (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP)

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made a rare visit to Tibet as authorities tighten controls over the Himalayan region’s traditional Buddhist culture, accompanied by an accelerated drive for economic development and modernized infrastructure.

State media reported Friday that Xi visited sites in the capital, Lhasa, including the Drepung Monastery, Barkhor Street and the public square at the base of the Potala Palace that was home to the Dalai Lamas, Tibet’s traditional spiritual and temporal leaders.

Xi’s visit was previously unannounced publicly and it wasn’t clear whether he had already returned to Beijing.

China has in recent years stepped up controls over Buddhist monasteries and expanded education in the Chinese rather than Tibetan language. Critics of such policies are routinely detained and can receive long prison terms, especially if they have been convicted of association with the 86-year-old Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile in India since fleeing Tibet during an abortive uprising against Chinese rule in 1959.

China doesn’t recognize the self-declared Tibetan government-in-exile based in the hillside town of Dharmsala, and accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking to separate Tibet from China.

Meanwhile, domestic tourism has expanded massively in the region during Xi’s nine years in office and new airports, rail lines and highways constructed.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said that while in Lhasa on Thursday, Xi sought to “learn about the work on ethnic and religious affairs, the conservation of the ancient city, as well as the inheritance and protection of Tibetan culture.”

A day earlier, he visited the city of city of Nyingchi to inspect ecological preservation work on the basin of the Yarlung Zangbo River, the upper course of the Brahmaputra, on which China is building a controversial dam.

He also visited a bridge and inspected a project to build a railway from southwestern China’s Sichuan province to Tibet before riding Tibet’s first electrified rail line from Nyingchi to Lhasa, which went into service last month.

Xi’s visit may be timed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the 17 Point Agreement, which firmly established Chinese control over Tibet, which many Tibetans say had been effectively independent for most of its history. The Dalai Lama says he was forced into signing the document and has since repudiated it.

It also comes amid deteriorating relations between China and India, which share a lengthy but disputed border with Tibet.

IMPERIAL CHINA IN COLONIAL TIBET

Deadly encounters last year between Indian and Chinese troops along their disputed high-altitude border dramatically altered the already fraught relationship between the nuclear-armed neighbors.

That appears to have prompted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to wish the Dalai Lama well on his birthday this month on Twitter and said he also spoke to him by phone. That was the first time Modi has publicly confirmed speaking with the Dalai Lama since becoming prime minister in 2014.

In a statement, the advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet called Xi’s visit “an indication of how high Tibet continues to figure in Chinese policy considerations.”

The way in which the visit was organized and the “complete absence of any immediate state media coverage of the visit indicate that Tibet continues to be a sensitive issue and that the Chinese authorities do not have confidence in their legitimacy among the Tibetan people,” the group based in Washington, D.C., said.

In this July 22, 2021, photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping, center, visits the Drepung Monastery near Lhasa in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has made a rare visit to Tibet as authorities tighten controls over the Himalayan region's traditional Buddhist culture, accompanied by an accelerated drive for economic development. (Xie Huanchi/Xinhua via AP)

WARNING !WARNING! WILL ROBERTSON
Residents of flood-hit German towns tell of short lead time

By FRANK JORDANS

Workers use heavy machines to tear down a damaged bridge in the flood-hit town of Ahrweiler, Germany, on Friday, July 23, 2021. With the death toll and economic damage from last week’s floods in Germany continuing to rise, questions have been raised about why systems designed to warn people of the impending disaster didn’t work. (AP Photo/Frank Jordans)

AHRWEILER, Germany (AP) — Like other residents of his town in Germany, Wolfgang Huste knew a flood was coming. What nobody told him, he says, was how bad it would be.

The 66-year-old antiquarian bookseller in Ahrweiler said the first serious warning to evacuate or move to higher floors of buildings close to the Ahr River came through loudspeaker announcements at around 8 p.m. on July 14. Huste then heard a short emergency siren blast and church bells ring, followed by silence.

“It was spooky, like in a horror film,” he said.

Huste rushed to rescue his car from an underground garage. By the time he parked it on the street, the water stood knee height. Five minutes later, safely indoors, he saw his vehicle floating down the street. He would learn later that he also lost books dating back to the early 1500s and estimates his total losses at more than 200,000 euros ($235,000)

“The warning time was far too short,” Huste said.

With the confirmed death toll from last week’s floods in Germany and neighboring countries passing 210 on Friday and the economic cost expected to run into the billions, others in Germany have asked why the emergency systems designed to warn people of the impending disaster didn’t work.

Sirens in some towns failed when the electricity was cut. In other locations, there were no sirens at all; volunteer firefighters had to go knocking on people’s doors to tell them what to do.

Huste acknowledged that few could have predicted the speed with which the water would rise. But he pointed across the valley to a building that houses Germany’s Federal Office for Civil Protection, where first responders from across the country train for possible disasters.

“In practice, as we just saw, it didn’t work, let’s say, as well as it should,” Huste said. “What the state should have done, it didn’t do. At least not until much later,” he said.

Local officials who were responsible for triggering disaster alarms in the Ahr valley on the first night of flooding have kept a low profile in the days since the deluge. At least 132 people in the Ahr valley alone.

Authorities in Rhineland-Palatinate state took charge of the disaster response in the wake of the floods, but they declined Friday to comment on what mistakes might have been made on the night disaster struck.

“People are looking at a life in ruins here. Some have lost relatives, there were many dead,” said Thomas Linnertz, the state official now coordinating the disaster response. “I can understand the anger very well. But on the other hand, I have to say again: This was an event that nobody could have predicted.”

The head of Germany’s federal disaster agency BKK, Armin Schuster, acknowledged to public broadcaster ARD this week that “things didn’t work as well as they could have.”

His agency is trying to determine how many sirens were removed after the end of the Cold War, and the country plans to adopt a system known as ‘cell broadcast’ that can send alerts to all cellphones in a particular area.

In the town of Sinzig, resident Heiko Lemke recalled how firefighters came knocking on doors at 2 a.m., long after the floods had caused severe damage upriver in Ahrweiler.

Despite a flood in 2016, nobody had expected the waters of the Ahr to rise as high as they did in his community last week, Lemke said. (moved this up because otherwise, wasn’t clear what they thought wasn’t possible).

“They were evacuating people,” he said. “We were totally confused because we thought that wasn’t possible.”

Within 20 minutes the water had flooded the ground floor of his family’s house, but they decided it was too dangerous to venture out, he said.

“We wouldn’t have managed to make it around the corner,” said his wife, Daniela Lemke.

Twelve residents of a nearby assisted living facility for people with disabilities drowned in the flood.

Police are probing whether staff at the facility could have done more to save the residents, but so far there is no suggestion that authorities could face a criminal investigation for failing to issue timely warnings.

Experts say such floods will become more frequent and severe due to climate change, and countries will need to adapt, including by revising calculations about future flood risks, improving warning systems and preparing populations for similar disasters.

Now that he knows of the flood risk, Heiko Lemke hope those things happen.

“But maybe it would be even better to leave,” he said.

A woman uses a broom to sweep mud away from the entrance of a small restaurant in the flood-hit town of Ahrweiler, Germany, on Friday, July 23, 2021. With the death toll and economic damage from last week’s floods in Germany continuing to rise, questions have been raised about why systems designed to warn people of the impending disaster didn’t work. (AP Photo/Frank Jordans)

Canada vs Zimbabwe: Two divergent paths of COVID vaccination
By MARIA CHENG and FARAI MUTSAKA

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Amanda and David Wood stand as their children, twins Ruby and Lola, and Ethan sit on the porch of their family home in Toronto, Canada, on Monday, July 12, 2021. When Amanda heard that hundreds of coronavirus shots were available for teens, only one thing prevented her from racing to the vaccination site at a Toronto high school - her 13-year-old daughter’s fear of needles. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — When mother-of-three Amanda Wood heard that hundreds of coronavirus shots were available for teens, only one thing prevented her from racing to the vaccination site at a Toronto high school — her 13-year-old daughter’s fear of needles.

Wood told Lola: If you get the vaccine you’ll be able to see your friends again. You’ll be able to play sports. And enticed by the promise of resuming a normal, teen life, Lola agreed.

In Zimbabwe, more than 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) and a world away from Canada, immunity is harder to obtain.

On a recent day, Andrew Ngwenya sat outside his home in a working-class township in Harare, the capital, pondering how he could save himself and his family from COVID-19.

Ngwenya and his wife De-egma had gone to a hospital that sometimes had spare doses. Hours later, fewer than 30 people had been inoculated. The Ngwenyas, parents of four children, were sent home, still desperate for immunization.

“We are willing to have it but we can’t access it,” he said. “We need it, where can we get it?”

The stories of the Wood and Ngwenya families reflect a world starkly divided between vaccine haves and have nots, between those who can imagine a world beyond the pandemic and those who can only foresee months and perhaps years of illness and death.

In one country, early stumbles in the fight against COVID-19 were overcome thanks to money and a strong public health infrastructure. In the other, poor planning, a lack of resources and the failure of a global mechanism intended to share scarce vaccines have led to a desperate shortage of COVID-19 shots -- and oxygen tanks and protective equipment, as well.

With 70% of its adult population receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Canada has among the world’s highest vaccination rate and is now moving on to immunize children, who are at far lower risk of coronavirus complications and death.

Meanwhile, only about 9% of the population in Zimbabwe has received one dose of coronavirus vaccine amid a surge of the easier-to-spread delta variant, first seen in India. Many millions of people vulnerable to COVID-19, including the elderly and those with underlying medical problems, are struggling to get immunized as government officials introduce more restrictive measures.

Ngwenya said the crush of people trying to get vaccinated is disheartening.

“The queue is like 5 kilometers (about 3 miles) long. Even if you are interested in a jab you can’t stand that. Once you see the queue you won’t try again,” he said

Canada ahead in vaccinating its population

Share of people vaccinated against COVID-19

Canada

53%

17%

United States

48%

China

16%

28%

Brazil

17%

29%

Zimbabwe

South Africa

Vaccines weren’t always plentiful in Canada. With no domestic coronavirus vaccine production, the country got off to a sluggish start, with immunization rates behind those in Hungary, Greece and Chile. Canada was also the only G7 country to secure vaccines in the first round of deliveries by a U.N.-backed effort set up to distribute COVID-19 doses primarily to poor countries known as COVAX.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it had always been Canada’s intention to secure vaccines through COVAX, after investing more than $400 million in the project. The vaccines alliance, Gavi, said COVAX was also meant to provide rich countries with an “insurance policy” in case they didn’t have enough shots.

COVAX’s latest shipment to Canada — about 655,000 AstraZeneca vaccines — arrived in May, shortly after about 60 poor countries were left in the lurch when the initiative’s supplies slowed to a trickle. Bangladesh, for example, had been awaiting a COVAX delivery of about 130,000 vaccines for its Rohingya refugee population; the shots never arrived after the Indian supplier ceased exports.

Canada’s decision to secure vaccines through the U.N.-backed effort was “morally reprehensible,” said Dr. Prabhat Jha, chair of global health and epidemiology at the University of Toronto. He said Canada’s early response to COVID-19 badly misjudged the need for control measures including aggressive contact tracing and border restrictions.

“If not for Canada’s purchasing power to procure vaccines, we would be in bad shape right now,” he said.

Weeks after the COVAX vaccines arrived, more than 33,000 doses were still sitting in warehouses in Ottawa after health officials recommended Canadians get shots made by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna instead — of which they had bought tens of millions of doses.

The Wood children got the Pfizer vaccine. When Canada began immunizing children aged 12 and over, Wood, who works with children in the entertainment industry and her architect husband didn’t hesitate.

Wood said her children, who are all avid athletes, have been unable to play much hockey, soccer or rugby during repeated lockdowns. Lola has missed baking lemon loaves and chocolate chip cookies with her grandmother, who lives three blocks away.

“We felt we had to do our part to keep everyone safe, to keep the elderly safe, and to get the economy going again and the kids back to school,” she said.

In Zimbabwe, there is no expectation of a return to normal anytime soon, and things are likely to get worse -- Ngwenya worries about government threats to bar the unvaccinated from public services, including transport.

Although Zimbabwe was allocated nearly 1 million coronavirus vaccines through COVAX, none have been delivered. Its mix of purchased and donated shots — 4.2 million — consist of Chinese, Russian and Indian vaccines.

Official figures show that 4% of the country’s 15 million population are now fully immunized.

The figures make Zimbabwe a relative success in Africa, where fewer than 2% of the continent’s 1. 3 billion people have been vaccinated, according to the World Health Organization. Meanwhile, the virus is spreading to rural areas where the majority live and health facilities are shambolic.

Ngwenya is a part-time pastor with a Pentecostal church; he said he and his flock have had to rely on their faith to fight the coronavirus. But he said people would rather have vaccines first, and then prayer.

“Every man is scared of death,” he said. “People are dying and we can see people dying. This is real.”

___

Cheng reported from London. Lori Hinnant in Paris contributed to this report.

Yorkie protects 10-year-old Toronto girl from an attacking coyote

July 23 (UPI) -- A Toronto family's tiny Yorkshire terrier is being hailed as a hero after rescuing her 10-year-old owner from an attacking coyote.

Lily Kwan, 10, said she was walking Macy, her family's 6-year-old Yorkie, in the Scarborough neighborhood when a coyote started to chase them

Lily said she started to run away and had to drop the 10-pound dog's leash because Macy refused to follow.

A neighbor's home security camera recorded video as Macy turned to confront the coyote.

"She's a super brave dog, I love her so much and I just though this tiny dog could protect this huge human being, trying to fight off this huge coyote," Lily told CTV News.

Macy survived the confrontation and is being treated by a veterinarian for multiple puncture wounds from the coyote's teeth. Lily's family said Macy was transferred to intensive care when one of the wounds became infected and she developed a fever, but she is expected to make a full recovery.

The Kwan family is crowdfunding to pay for Macy's veterinary care

The virus and the asparagus - a European saga

Libero Maesano

In pandemic times, in a Europe locked up everywhere, the European Union and its neo-liberal Member States have pushed hundreds of thousands of superheroes to escape from the confinement of their homes, undertake perilous journeys in huddled planes and cars, cross borderlines, and land in labor camps where they have been sequestered in jam-packed containers and put to work in crowded fields to harvest and plant crops, paid a pittance, sunrise to sunset, ten hours a day, seven days a week. We tell the compelling saga of the Romanian seasonal workers in the German asparagus fields.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment