Latvians take to the water for distanced concerts


Issued on: 15/08/2021 

The concerts are called LAIVA -- a play on the English word "live" and the Latvian for "on a boat". Gints Ivuskans AFP


Riga (AFP)

Latvians are taking to the country's waterways for a socially distanced musical experience this summer, boarding kayaks, dinghies and motor yachts to enjoy some music -- even if unvaccinated.

At a concert on Juglas Lake near the Latvian capital Riga on Saturday, hundreds of boats could be seen bobbing to rock, folk and heavy metal.

"The idea... is so great," said Vladimirs Kravchenko, a heavy metal fan who has been attending hard rock festivals since the 1990s.

Organisers said there were around 1,500 people on the water, and 3,500 more watching from the shore. Gints Ivuskans AFP

"I hope festivals on lakes like this will continue even after the virus is over," Kravchenko said.

Organisers said there were around 1,500 people on the water, and 3,500 more watching from the shore.

The stage was located on the shore and two floating bars in the lake sold beer and cocktails.

Members of the Latvian folk/pagan metal band Skyforger performed during the festival Gints Ivuskans AFP

Only people with Covid-19 vaccinations were allowed to attend the concert on the shore while the lake was also open to those without a vaccine.

"This is simply a brilliant idea for how to hold a festival and ensure social distancing for the unvaccinated at the same time," Anna Berzina, who was rowing a kayak with her husband, told AFP.

The Baltic state has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the European Union -- around 43 percent.

The stage was located on the shore and two floating bars in the lake sold beer and cocktails. Gints Ivuskans AFP

The government has imposed restrictions for unvaccinated people in a bid to encourage more Latvians to get vaccinated -- including threatening soldiers with dismissal if they do not get the jab.

For live events, the rule is that there must be two separate zones for vaccinated and unvaccinated spectators, creating a headache for organisers.

Saturday's concert was the second in a series designed by Dagamba, a classical and rock music crossover band, which came up with the idea of lake concerts during last year's lockdowns.

The festival included rock, folk and heavy metal music Gints Ivuskans AFP

The concerts are called LAIVA -- a play on the English word "live" and the Latvian for "on a boat".

At the concert, the sight of the flotilla in front of him inspired Peteris Kvetkovskis, the frontman of black and folk metal band Skyforger.

Only people with Covid-19 vaccinations were allowed to attend the concert on the shore while the lake was also open to those without a vaccine. Gints Ivuskans AFP

"Seeing so many boats in front of us, we will play a song about a Viking raid being launched," he told the audience from the stage, before launching into the number called "To the Northern Shores".

© 2021 AFP

Thousands join convoy protests against Thai PM

Issued on: 15/08/2021 

Protesters in cars and on bikes massed in Bangkok's central shopping district

 Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

Bangkok (AFP)

Thousands of protesters in cars and on bikes massed in Bangkok's central shopping district Sunday, one of several mobile rallies across Thailand demanding Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha resign over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The kingdom is grappling with its worst outbreak so far, registering record numbers of daily infections each week as hospitals struggle to cope. In total, it has reported more than 907,000 cases and 7,551 deaths from Covid-19.

A sluggish vaccine roll-out -- coupled with financial woes from weeks-long restrictions on businesses -- has fanned anger at Prayut's administration.

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Protesters flashed the three-finger salute of resistance Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

Sparked by concerns about public gatherings spreading the virus, protesters have in recent weeks turned to organising massive car convoys at major intersections -- thus clogging up Bangkok's already traffic-choked streets.

Thousands turned up in their cars and motorbikes Sunday in at least three rallies across the Thai capital -- with the largest near Bangkok's gleaming shopping malls, empty in recent weeks.

"The time is up for Prayut. The government has shown clearly they will not take responsibility for any loss," shouted Nattawut Saikuar, a politician long associated with former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The anti-government movement first gained momentum last July Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

Protesters -- who were joined by saffron-robed monks and an LGBTQ contingent carrying rainbow-coloured umbrellas -- flashed the three-finger salute of resistance.

More so-called "car mobs" were also planned in the beach city of Pattaya just two hours from Bangkok, as well as in the northern cultural hub of Chiang Mai.

Nattawut Saikuar said the government 'will not take responsibility' for the fallout from the pandemic Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

The anti-government movement first gained momentum last July.

At its peak, it drew tens of thousands to street rallies, demanding the resignation of Prayut -- a former army chief who came to power via a 2014 coup.

But attendances have waned this year, as the public stayed away due to Covid-19 fears.

Sunday's protests come after a week of clashes between demonstrators and police, who have increasingly used rubber bullets, water cannon and tear gas to quell the rallies.

At least three protesters were injured Friday, but authorities have defended their use of force as appropriate.

"We only use it (force) when it is necessary," National Police chief Suwat Jangyodsuk told a Sunday press conference.

© 2021 AFP

 

Asia won’t solve climate change without reform of financial markets

15 August 2021

Author: Adam Triggs, Accenture and ANU

More than US$16 trillion worldwide is currently sitting in government bonds yielding negative real returns. Meanwhile, the world needs at least US$35 trillion of sustainable investment to avoid the 1.5 degree increase in global temperatures that the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns is now imminent.

To make matters worse, the substantial environmental and economic benefits from sustainable practices like lowering carbon emissions, improving land management and other environmental good practices often go unrewarded by the financial system, even though the returns to society are high.

These paradoxes are caused by markets that are missing for the environment and natural capital.

For too long, the world has relied on directionless governments and the unreliable promises of corporate social responsibility and shareholder activism to manage the environment and natural capital and deliver the investment needed to avoid climate change. It hasn’t worked.

Luckily, there is a better way.

These missing markets are the product of deficient global financial rules, insufficient data and weak institutions. Some national governments are now beginning to struggle with these things, but what they need is international cooperation.

The weight of research shows that businesses and households that have good environmental credentials are also better borrowers. They are less likely to default on their loans and they are less likely to be late on their repayments.

In a well-functioning market where these broader social and economic benefits are properly priced, these borrowers would get lower interest rates and, when these loans were securitized and sold-on in the form of bonds, the bonds would be more favourably priced because the underlying asset is stronger and safer.

This is not what we are seeing. While there are some banks and financial institutions which are increasingly taking environmental credentials into account, we are not seeing it on the scale that the evidence would recommend, particularly in developing countries.

The regulations that inhibit sustainable investment globally are the Basel III global capital rules and national financial regulations that seek to implement them. Among other things, these rules require banks to hold high-quality assets on their balance sheets to buffer them from shocks. But the rules around the quality of these assets don’t account for the fact that environmentally friendly loans are safer than environmentally unfriendly loans. The result is that the world’s banks aren’t holding or issuing enough green debt, resulting in less sustainable investment.

It gets worse. The failure of these rules to properly price environmental risks undermines the stability of the financial system, as it means there are risks endemic in bank balance sheets and the broader financial system that we aren’t accounting for. A borrower that is forced to undertake a costly environmental clean-up, for example, could quickly find themselves in financial trouble — a shock which is then transmitted through to the lender and any financial assets that are underpinned by that original loan.

Another factor constraining sustainable investment is a lack of data. There are a range of organisations that provide ratings on the environmental credentials of firms. These data are vital for markets to price environmental risks properly. But these organisations often provide different environmental ratings for the same businesses which makes such pricing difficult.

The ability to collect high-quality data on things like land management and the environmental impact of firms has never been easier given the availability of digital and remote sensing technologies. But in countries where such technologies are unavailable and where firms are not yet providing comprehensive environmental ratings it becomes very difficult for markets to price these risks.

How do we begin to get national financial authorities to work towards a global financial regime that properly prices natural capital (reduced carbon emission, environmental sustainability)? In China, Europe and elsewhere authorities have begun actively framing national approaches to the problem, but the global nature of capital markets and environmental challenges requires a global solution.

China’s central bank governor, Yi Gang, has announced that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is co-operating with the European Union to achieve convergence of green investment taxonomies across the two markets, aiming to implement a jointly recognised classification system for business environmental credentials by the end of this year.

APEC is a platform from which to work these issues through. As a cooperation framework more than a negotiation forum it can support finding practical areas of cooperation, especially between the United States and China, and build broader consensus for mutual benefit. APEC also brings a practical, private sector-led way of getting action on climate change which supports agriculture, boosts investment and bolsters financial stability; something which can help bring more recalcitrant governments into the tent.

Sustainable investment is a practical area in which China and the United States can work together on a common priority. It is an issue PBOC has been working on for some years, it has political appeal across both sides of the isle in the United States and is something which resonates with APEC governments who prefer technology and private sector-led approaches to climate change.

One challenge is in making sure that loans are provided for the right amount of time. The economic payoffs that come from sustainable investments like improved land management can take decades to materialise. There’s a role for government to make sure that there are institutions in place to spur markets in natural capital and design those markets in the most effective way possible.

With government budgets in tatters and the threat of climate change looming ominously, boosting the role of private finance has gone from being preferable to being essential.

Adam Triggs is a Director within Accenture Strategy, a Visiting Fellow at the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy, and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Germany ‘set for biggest rise in greenhouse gases for 30 years’

Increase means country will slip back from goal of cutting emissions by 40% from 1990 levels

Environmental activists protest in Berlin in March. The report shows a significant increase in consumption of fossil fuels across building, industrial and transport sectors Photograph: Maja Hitij/Getty Images

Associated Press in Berlin
Sun 15 Aug 2021

Germany is forecast to record its biggest rise in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 this year as the economy rebounds from the pandemic-related downturn, according to a report by an environmental thinktank.

Berlin-based Agora Energiewende said the country’s emissions would probably rise by the equivalent of 47m tons of carbon dioxide.

The increase means Germany’s emissions will be about 37% lower than in 1990. It had aimed to cut emissions by 40% by 2020, and met the target last year but only due to the economic downturn.

The government recently pledged to increase efforts to combat climate change and reduce emissions to net zero by 2045.

The report draws on data from the first half of 2021 to forecast total emissions equivalent to 760-812m tons of CO2 for the full year.

It also shows a significant increase in consumption of fossil fuels across the building, industrial and transport sectors. If confirmed, the German government will be required by law to introduce urgent measures to reduce those sectoral emissions.

Agora Energiewende receives its funding from environmental groups such as the European Climate Foundation, and the German government.

Meet Adidas' Latest Star: A Hijab-wearing Surfer From Israel

Hamama Jarban, 42, a feminist icon and athlete from Jisr al-Zarqa, is appearing in a campaign aimed at marketing modest swimwear to a local traditionalist clientele


Hamama Jarban, who has opened a surfing school for young Arab Israeli women, modeling for Adidas Israel. "I hope to continue to promote the sport of surfing among Arab women."Credit: Meir Cohen @meirco



Natalie AlzZena Abo ZrkaSheren Falah Saab
HAARETZ
Aug. 15, 2021

Although Arab athletes were absent this year as in the past from Israel's delegation at the Olympic Games, there are quite a few talented sports figures in the country's Arab-Palestinian community who are fast becoming local role models. Hamama Jarban, a 42-year-old native and resident of the seaside town of Jisr al-Zarqa in northern Israel, is one of those role models – and she has now also become another sort of model as well, after being hired to star in a new Adidas Israel campaign for modest swimwear.


Jarban has been involved in professional and amateur sports for many years. The veteran fisherwoman, lifeguard, surfer and former professional soccer player studied at the Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports, but was mentioned in headlines mainly after she was recruited to search for Ayman Safiah, the internationally renowned dancer who drowned in the Mediterranean in May 2020, and whose life and death moved many people.


In the wake of her participation in the search, Jarban has become a feminist icon on social media. She's also found herself at the heart of a battle to prevent the demolition of the fishing village adjacent to Jisr al-Zarqa, which also includes her own fishing warehouse. Today Jarban continues to teach surfing to young people and works to promote Israeli Arab girls' and women’s participation in the sport.


Hamama Jarban, modeling in the new Adidas Israel campaign. "My dream is for Arab women to go places where I myself couldn’t go – to the Olympics and to other international competitions."Credit: Meir Cohen @meirco


Earlier this month a new campaign by Adidas Israel for modest swimwear appeared on social networks, as part of an international effort to publicize the collection – and Jarban was chosen to lead it.


“This is a collection designed to provide a solution for a traditional target audience," says Tomer Cohen, director of brand at the company, adding, "at Adidas Israel we have created a video that addresses the local culture and presents stories of strong women who have chosen to fulfill themselves in their own unique way. Hamama Jarban was chosen to lead this local campaign as an outstanding example of self-fulfillment.”


Hijab/hoodie designs



The campaign itself was produced by a Netanya-based advertising and PR agency named Sectors Albustani, which specializes in the Arab community. CEO Adham Hassadiyeh explains that “Hamama Jarban was chosen thanks to her personal story and her success in developing the field of surfing in the community and making it accessible to women. The campaign also promotes a healthy perception of the body. Sports are not limited to professional female models alone.”

Imagine an Arab representing Israel at the Olympics
This haredi Orthodox mom is the face of a new Adidas campaign
A ‘paradise’ is on tap outside an Israeli village, but not necessarily for the poor Arab locals

Of course Adidas is not the first or only commercial entity that's trying to sell modest swimwear locally or globally to the Muslim community, where many women refrain from wearing revealing bathing suits. Many companies now see a potential in such a clientele, which is usually excluded from the large sportswear chains. Although the modest styles are not always received enthusiastically, the big brands are continuing to introduce them. For example, in 2019 Nike launched a collection of modest swimwear featuring a hijab/hoodie, also using inspiring role models from Arab communities.

An Adidas campaign starring Hamama Jarban

The new campaign starring Jarban was shot in her hometown. “It was important to me for the pictures to be taken in Jisr. In the place where I grew up. I wanted everyone to get to know the village," she says. Among others, she models an outfit for Adidas that includes a hijab, although she doesn’t wear one on a daily basis.

“I took this step out of identification with women who wear hijab whom I've met on the beach, and I recognized their unease in this situation,” she continues.

“I wanted to send the message to everyone that even in modest dress women can swim in the sea. In modest clothes that suit their lifestyle. My participation in this campaign as a Palestinian woman serves as a statement to women that nothing can stop them. I’m a strong woman, I was raised to be strong, to pave my own way when I can.

"My parents supported me as a child in my decision to play soccer. At first I played with my brothers and later I played with a group of women in Hadera and from there I also made the Israeli women’s team.”

Afterward, Jarban she transferred to a Palestinian team: “My dream was to play with my own people, I felt a desire to give of myself to this team. It was a formative experience for me. Thanks to soccer I learned how to empower women around me.”



The Jisr al-Zarqa fishing area from the air.Credit: Ofer Vaknin

After her soccer career and sports studies at Wingate, Jarban and her brother opened the first school in the Israeli Arab community for surfing, which is now attended by children and young adults from all over the country.


“I always aspired to excellence in sports,” she says. “It’s a field that requires self-discipline and persistence. Unfortunately I grew up in a large family, and in the shadow of poverty, and I knew that my path would be more difficult than for others. Still, I was able to bring extreme sports activity, such as surfing, to the awareness of the younger generation in the Arab community.


“Girls and young women come to me from distant places, and for me that reflects another accomplishment as part of my efforts to develop this field," she adds. "I hope to continue to promote the sport of surfing among Arab women. My dream is for them to go places where I myself couldn’t go – to the Olympics and to other international competitions.”


Natalie Alz, Zena Abo Zrka and Sheren Falah Saab are participating in the Haaretz 21 initiative to promote voices and stories from Arab society in Israel

Drug, Alcohol Deaths Hit Record High After UK Government Cuts Funding for Treatment Services

TEHRAN (FNA)- Deaths from drug and alcohol misuse hit a record high following sharp cuts to treatment services across the UK, according to a report.


An analysis by the House of Commons Library found that more than £100 million less was being spent per year on services between 2016-17 and 2019-20, The Independent reproted.

In a record high, more than 11,000 people died from drug and alcohol-related diseases in England and Wales in 2020.

In the years leading up to the peak, services were cut by 15 percent, with sharper slashes to local council areas in particular.

The Commons Library figures show that just 10 councils have been able to find the cash to increase resources for drug and alcohol misuse.

Meanwhile, in four local authorities – South Tyneside, Wiltshire, Staffordshire, and Medway – cuts of more than 40 percent were made to drug and alcohol misuse services.

“Years of Tory cuts to vital public health services have seen sickness increase and health inequalities widen,” Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said.

“It’s unacceptable for public health services that tackle alcohol and drug addiction to be left so weakened because of deep cuts when we know that they can cause huge harm and death," he continued, adding, “We need a new settlement for public health services, a clear target to reduce inequalities and action to minimise harm and help prevent so many dying from addiction.”

In total, spending on services fell from £762mln in 2016-17 to £690mln in 2019-20.

Government figures show that in 2020 a record number of 7,423 people in England and Wales died from diseases that were a direct consequence of alcohol with a further 4,561 people dying from causes related to drug poisoning.

A government spokesperson said, “Any death due to substance misuse is a tragedy."

“We are investing £148mln to tackle the root causes of drug misuse including £80mln for treatment and recovery – the largest investment in the drug treatment system for 15 years – as well as tightening controls on dangerous substances and we will bring forward an ambitious drug strategy later this year," the spokesperson continued.

“On top of that, we are backing local authorities, who know their communities best, with over £3.3bln in 2021-2022 to spend on public health services, including drug and alcohol treatment,” the spokesperson added.

 

At 52 lava fountaining eruptions and counting, Etna is poised to break Olympic records

Sun, 1 Aug 2021, 18:46

18:46 PM | BY: T

Lava fountain over 1000 m tall at Etna's New SE crater last night (image: Francesco Tomarchio / facebook)

Extremely rapid growth of the SE crater during the past months (image: Boris Behncke / facebook)

Main and eastern vent active during the eruption (image: Boris Behncke / facebook)

Cleaning up the ash fall in 10 km distance on the eastern flank (image: Franca Fulle)

Last night's lava fountaining episode paroxysm at the New SE crater came after one of the longest-so-far intervals in the recent record-breaking series of paroxysms, but certainly was also one of the most impressive and powerful ones.
At its peak lava fountains probably surpassed 1000 m in height and the duration of the lava-fountaining phase also was remarkable with about two hours.
See photo gallery!
Noteworthy was also that the eastern vent of the New SE crater had become active again during the eruption, resulting in a second lava flow towards the north (in addition to the “usual” lava flow towards SW).
Thanks to only little wind and shifting directions, multiple sectors around the southern and eastern flanks of Etna received heavy ash and lapilli fall - something this year has seen a lot of already...

Record-breaking series
The ongoing series of paroxysms at the New SE crate had started in Feb 2021, paused for several weeks after 17 events until 1 April, only to restart strongly on 19 May, entering a hectic rhythm of one eruption every few days (or sometimes less), often in sequences of near-identical intervals repeated many times. The short intervals lasted until the paroxysm during the night 8-9 July, after which the intervals have increased: the next ones occurred on 14 July, 20 July, and now 31 July-1 August 2021, which marks the 52nd event in total!
The only known series of paroxysms at Etna with a greater number occurred in 2000, when the then-much-smaller SE crater produced a total of 66 fire-fountaining phases between January and August. However, who knows where the current series is ending and whether Etna has put herself the challenge to exceed that number this time, while we have belayed Olympic Games?

New summit of Etna volcano
And once again, the New SE crater has gained probably several meters in height, now clearly forming the volcano's summit at probably 3400 or more altitude. The deposits of the recent lava fountains have drastically changed the morphology of the crater complex, building a cone, as if a miniature volcano, on top of the former saddle vent area of the SE crater.

Video of the eruption
The eruption last night was once more a great show of fire and fury, marvellously captured by photographer Francesco Tomarchio:

Links:
Francesco Tomarchio / facebook)
Boris Behncke (facebook)

Nicaraguan police raid opposition newspaper La Prensa

Only remaining print paper raided as part of ‘customs fraud and money laundering’ investigation

Police at the entrance of La Prensa office in Managua on Friday. Photograph: Jorge Torres/EPA

Associated Press in Managua
Sat 14 Aug 2021 


Nicaraguan police have raided the offices of the main opposition newspaper La Prensa.

The national police said the raid on Friday was part of an investigation into “customs fraud and money laundering”, and the newspaper’s offices remained under police custody.

The raid came a day after La Prensa suspended its print edition because the government’s customs office had withheld newsprint paper.

La Prensa, founded in 1926, has been critical of the president, Daniel Ortega, who has recently arrested dozens of opposition figures. The regime often uses money laundering, tax and other accusations to raid non-governmental and civic groups it disagrees with.


‘We are in this nightmare’: Nicaragua continues its brazen crackdown

The paper’s editor, Fabián Medina, who was in the building at the time, said via Twitter that the police “were looking for paper” used to print the daily. He said police later allowed reporters to return to their offices, but remained in the building.

La Prensa had said it would continue an online edition, but it was unclear how long it could continue to do so. La Prensa has been the country’s only newspaper with a print edition since another opposition paper, El Nuevo Diario, closed in 2019.

On Thursday, the newspaper said in an editorial that “once again the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has withheld our paper”, referring to Ortega’s wife and vice-president, Rosario Murillo. “Until they release the raw material, we cannot continue with the print edition,” the newspaper said. The move also affects the sister paper Hoy.

This is the third time the government has withheld the newspaper’s paper or ink. The paper ceased printing for about 500 days in 2018 and 2019 amid widespread protests against the regime.

The non-governmental Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights protested against the raid and demanded respect for the employees.

Nicaragua is scheduled to hold national elections on 7 November as Ortega seeks a fourth consecutive term. He placed an opposition vice-presidential candidate under house arrest last week, then released her pending the outcome of an investigation.

Over the past two months, Ortega’s government has arrested nearly three dozen opposition figures, including seven potential challengers for the presidency.

The opposition alliance, the National Coalition, said in a statement on Monday that it did not recognise the current electoral process as a way out of Nicaragua’s political crisis and urged Nicaraguans to not recognise it either.

Later that day, authorities announced the arrest of the opposition leader Mauricio Díaz Dávila, a candidate for congress and a former ambassador to Costa Rica. He had been called to the attorney general’s office as part of an investigation for alleged acts against the state.

His party, Citizens for Liberty, said he was violently arrested. His ability to run for office had been cancelled by the electoral court three days earlier. The party’s president, Kitty Monterrey, whose Nicaraguan citizenship was withdrawn last week, called for his immediate release.

Nicaragua Editor Detained In Latest Move Seen To Target President's Critics

By AFP News
08/14/21 AT 8:14 PM

A top editor of Nicaraguan daily La Prensa was jailed Saturday after police raided the newspaper, making him the latest of dozens of critics of President Daniel Ortega to face arrest.

Juan Lorenzo Holmann was taken to a Managua jail, allegedly to sign documents, his cousin and fellow journalist Carlos Fernando Chamorro said on Twitter.

Hours later, police confirmed Holmann's arrest, saying in a statement that he was being investigated for customs fraud and money laundering.

They said the case was being turned over to authorities "for prosecution and to determine criminal responsibilities."

With presidential elections now three months away, Holmann's arrest brought to 33 the number of Ortega opponents in detention.

A top editor of Nicaragua's La Prensa, Juan Lorenzo Holmann, has been arrested after a raid on the paper; he is the latest critic of President Daniel Ortega to be arrested 

Photo: AFP / INTI OCON

They include La Prensa's vice president Cristiana Chamorro, whose family owns the paper. She is one of seven presidential hopefuls now being held.

Ortega, a 75-year-old former guerilla, first took office in 2007 as part of the left-wing Sandinista National Liberation Front. He is now seeking a fourth term.

His government faces sanctions from the United States and the European Union, which accuse him of humans rights violations and the repression of opposition figures.

Ortega, in turn, has accused the opposition of trying to overthrow him with US support.

Holmann's arrest came a day after he announced the suspension of the paper's print edition, blaming customs authorities for refusing to release imported newsprint, a charge the government denies.


La Prensa is continuing to provide a digital edition. It is Nicaragua's only nationally circulated newspaper.

Copyright AFP. All rights reserved.

Newspaper goes online only as Nicaragua withholds newsprint
Aug 12, 2021

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaragua’s storied La Prensa newspaper said Thursday it will suspend its print edition after the government once again withheld newsprint paper at customs.

La Prensa has long been criticial of President Daniel Ortega, who also recently arrested dozens of opposition figures. La Prensa said it will continue an online edition.

“Once again the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has withheld our paper. Until they release the raw material, we cannot continue with the print edition,” the newspaper said in an editorial, referring to Ortega's wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo. The move also affects the sister paper Hoy.

The move marks the third time the government has withheld the newspaper’s paper or ink. The paper had ceased printing for about 500 days in 2018 and 2019 amid widespread protests against the regime.

La Prensa was founded in 1926; along with Hoy it has been the country’s only newspaper with a print editions since another opposition paper, El Nuevo Diario, closed in 2019.

Nicaragua is scheduled to hold national elections Nov. 7. and Ortega is seeking a fourth consecutive term. He placed an opposition vice presidential candidate under house arrest last week, then released her pending the outcome of an investigation.

Over the past two months, Ortega’s government has arrested nearly three dozen opposition figures, including seven potential challengers for the presidency.

On Monday in Managua, the opposition alliance National Coalition, said in a statement that it did not recognize the current the electoral process as a way out of Nicaragua’s political crisis and urged Nicaraguans to not recognize it either.

Later Monday, authorities announced the arrest of opposition leader Mauricio Díaz Dávila, a candidate for congress and a former ambassador to Costa Rica. He had been called to the Attorney General’s Office on Monday as part of an investigation for alleged acts against the state.

His political party, Citizens for Liberty, said he was arrested with violence. His ability to run for office had been cancelled by the electoral court three days earlier. Party President Kitty Monterrey, whose Nicaraguan citizenship was withdrawn last week, called for his immediate release.

Murillo also announced Monday that the government had recalled its ambassadors from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Costa Rica “in reciprocity” for steps taken by those governments. She declared recent criticism from those governments as “interfering and interventionist.”

Argentina and Mexico had offered to try to mediate negotiations between the government and opposition, but that offer was rejected by Ortega. Costa Rica and Colombia had strongly condemned Ortega’s government for recent actions against the opposition.


Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. 

 

Ortega accuses and condemns La Prensa and justifies coup against press freedom

Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo during the anniversary ceremony of the Army's Naval
Force. Photo: Taken from El 19 Digital

He accuses the newspaper of "laundering money" without evidence, attacks the "priests of the devil", and says that "when the state is slandered, it is a crime"

• Octavio Enriquez
•  @cabistan

 14 August, 2021

President Daniel Ortega accused the newspaper La Prensa on Friday night, August 13, of "lending himself to laundering money and hiding the evidence," in the first statements he offered hours after the raid on the premises of Nicaragua's oldest newspaper, investigated for alleged money laundering and customs fraud.

Ortega put himself at the head of the media campaign of the pro-government television stations that justifies the assault against the newspaper founded in 1926 that stopped circulating last Thursday in its printed version after the blocking of the paper executed by the General Directorate of Customs.

"The Prosecutor General's Office and the Police arrived there and found quantities of paper. When you lie in this way, when you slander the state, that is a crime," the president said, supporting the campaign of the propaganda media, which questioned the newspaper's complaint by showing paper in the warehouses, which actually corresponds to another type used in the commercial printing press, usually for the publication of books and posters.

Ortega wondered how much of the paper that the newspaper has introduced tax-free in a year was dedicated to the newspaper and how much to do other types of business, as if it were a prosecutor.

"They have other activities. It is pure business and it is a crime," he said, anticipating a judicial conviction, during his speech at the anniversary ceremony of the Navy, in which he was accompanied by Vice President Rosario Murillo, the Army Command, and the Police Headquarters.

The raid on La Prensa

It was a long day for la Prensa newspaper, which this morning was still occupied by the police. The administrative staff was detained until Saturday morning and its manager Juan Lorenzo Holmann Chamorro was transferred at four in the morning to the Directorate of Judicial Assistance, supposedly to sign some documents, but was detained in the prisons of El Chipote.

The assault on the newspaper's offices began at 12:20 p.m. on Friday, before the police issued a statement announcing an investigation into customs fraud and money laundering.

Since the third of June, Ortega has kept under house arrest the vice president of the newspaper, the presidential candidate Cristiana Chamorro,in the investigation process for alleged money laundering opened against the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation, which supports freedom of expression and which the Executive falsely places conspiring against the stability of the country. Following the arrest of Chamorro and two former foundation workers, 29 other political and civic leaders have been arrested, including seven presidential hopefuls.

Attack on businessmen and "devil priests"

Businessmen and priests of the Catholic Church were also the target of the president's attack. The religious, who backed the population during the April 2018 crackdown, Ortega called them "priests of the devil." "Son children of the devil, they are not children of God, they are children of the devil those priests," he said.

In his speech, he said that the opponents currently being investigated by the state are the ones who were in charge of financing, organizing, seeking support from the Yankees and directing the "crimes in 2018," which his government described as a "coup d'etat."

However, reports from international organizations such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), attached to the Organization of American States, indicate that what actually happened in Nicaragua was an excessive use of force at the hands of the State, executed by the police and parapolice groups, which left at least 328 dead, more than two thousand injured and caused more than 100,000 people to go into exile. One of the regime's bloodiest attacks occurred with "Operation Clean-up," when authorities set out to violently clear the roads before July 19, 2018, where the population erected barricades to protect themselves from attack by police groups.

Ortega called "murderers" the opponents who refused, according to him, to lift the "blockades" during the national dialogue that failed, among other reasons, because of the government's failure to stop the repression. "Thisis recorded because it was broadcast live on television, because even they asked for it, when it was asked who was against the blockades being lifted, then they raised their hands, those criminals, those murderers, that's why they are terrorists," he charged.

In a hate speech, Ortega said: "Becausethey have surnames of families of abolengo, because they are from notable families and rich families, who because they have been working with bankers, bankers of rich families ... they must respond!" he added.

Against the big businessmen, with whom he maintained a solid alliance between 2009 and 2018, the president also denounced and added that it was those who benefited from his model who "buried the dagger to the fatherland."

"What wild capitalism wants is every day more money, more money at the expense of whatever it is and they cared little at that time about the economic growth that benefited them, because they wanted to swallow everything and they served as an instrument to the Yankee and made alliance with the priests, sons of the devil, and began that work of terror," he added by again mentioning the Catholic Church.

In recent days, the Archdiocese of Managua denounced that there are no conditions for the country to hold votes in reference to those scheduled for the next seven of November, in which Ortega will seek a fourth term since he was installed in the executive in 2007.

The Sandinista caudillo described as "enemies of Nicaraguans who want to work in peace" those who lend themselves "to the interests of imperialism." For him, they "simply stopped being Nicaraguans" and in a sign of their radicalization he said that "there is no longer room for amnesties."

"Whoever commits a crime has to be investigated and then tried and punished in accordance with thelaw. We are already at a stage where we cannot continue to approve amnesty, because it would also be to become terrorists, criminals, there is no space, everything had its time, it had its stage," the president said.

What the international community has demanded is free elections and that Nicaragua respect its own human rights commitments, to which Ortega has responded by accusing the United States,Canada and the European Union of aggression.

Since 2018, the governments of these countries have sanctioned officials in the presidential circle, including Murillo, for violations of the rights of Nicaraguan citizens. Just on Friday, before the police operation in La Prensa, Suiza sanctioned the vice president and did the same with her son Juan Carlos Ortega Murillo and six other officials, for the aforementioned reasons.

At the end of the president's speech, Murillo denounced what he called "factories of lies and crimes," which he believes are in tune with "servility to the Yankee," and again attacked religious who "tried to deceive us all."

"What Commander Daniel called at the time the ultimatum — during the failed dialogue — that the institutions had to be handed over to the criminals. That's what they asked us and of course they lost their bet on crime," he reiterated.

The presidential couple's statements occurred at the military ceremony where Ortega mentioned the possibility of strengthening the Naval and Air Force, also recently an anniversary, "for the defense of sovereignty."

#ISTANDWITHKEN      #LOACHOVERLABOUR

Filmmaker Ken Loach says he was expelled from the Labour Party

• Pramod
 
• 15 August, 2021

FILE PHOTO: Director Ken Loach interviews supporters as Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn (not pictured) speaks at a Momentum rally outside Manchester Central on May 5, 2017 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

By: Pramod Thomas

BRITISH veteran filmmaker Ken Loach has said that he had been expelled from the Labour Party in a “purge” by leader Keir Starmer.

Loach, 85, said he had been kicked out after refusing to “disown” other far-left members who have already been ejected.

“Labour HQ finally decided I’m not fit to be a member of their party, as I will not disown those already expelled,” he tweeted.

Starmer is battling to hold his party together, with supporters of his far-left predecessor Jeremy Corbyn frequently criticising his leadership.

Corbyn’s tenure was dogged by incidents of anti-Semitism among the party’s more radical members, and Labour last month expelled four associated groups for not being “compatible” with its values.

Loach tweeted that Starmer’s “clique” would not succeed.

“I am proud to stand with the good friends and comrades victimised by the purge. There is indeed a witch hunt.

“Starmer and his clique will never lead a party of the people. We are many, they are few,” he added.

Loach has explored his socialist ideology through films including “Kes” and “I, Daniel Blake”.

Labour MP John McDonnell, shadow finance minister under Corbyn, called the move a “disgrace”.

“To expel such a fine socialist who has done so much to further the cause of socialism is a disgrace,” he tweeted.

“Ken’s films have exposed the inequalities in our society, have given us hope for change & inspired us to fight back. I send my solidarity to my friend and comrade.”

Harrowing videos capture Proud Boys' violence at anti-vaxx rally in downtown Los Angeles: reports

Bob Brigham
August 14, 2021


Screengrab.
Shocking video emerged of street fighting in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday.
TV producer Andrew Kimmell, the former head of live video at BuzzFeed News, posted videos of a stomping at an anti-vaxx, Proud Boys rally.

Extremism researcher Nick Martin located a different video of the scene that reportedly documents an attack on journalists.

One person was stabbed, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"A crowd of several hundred people, many holding American flags and signs calling for 'medical freedom,' had descended on City Hall around 2 p.m. for the planned rally," the newspaper reported. "A fight erupted on the corner of 1st and Spring streets shortly after 2:30 p.m., as counterprotesters in all black and anti-vaccine demonstrators draped in American flag garb and memorabilia bearing former President Trump's face traded punches and threw items at one another."

KPCC reporter Frank Stoltze says he was attacked.

Man is stabbed in massive brawl between Antifa and anti-vaccine protesters outside Los Angeles city hall

• A man was stabbed outside City Hall in LA when a fight broke out during anti-vaccine protest on Saturday
• Protest held to push back against recent vaccine mandates and requirements
• The Los Angeles City Council voted earlier this week to draw up an ordinance to require proof of vaccination to enter many public indoor spaces in the city 
• On Saturday, LAPD responded to scene where a man was stabbed and the victim was treated by the Los Angeles Fire Department and is expected to recover
• On Twitter video footage identified some of the participants as members of the far-right Proud Boys 
• Punches could be seen being thrown with one man left bloodied
• No arrests have been made and an LAPD investigation is ongoing

Man is stabbed in LA when fight breaks out at a protest over pushing back against vaccine mandates | Daily Mail Online