Doctors say claim that China's 1st Omicron case came from Canada isn't based on science

Catharine Tunney 

Doctors say an allegation out of Beijing that China's first Omicron case may be linked to mail received from Toronto should be treated with deep skepticism.

Chinese health authorities said earlier Monday that a case of Omicron in Beijing may have spread from a package received from Canada. They urged citizens to stop ordering parcels from abroad as the opening of the Winter Olympics approaches.

"I find this to be, let's say, an extraordinary view," Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told a news conference Monday.

"Certainly [it's] not in accordance with what we have done both internationally and domestically."

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, said health officials "cannot rule out the possibility" that the patient was infected by goods from overseas carrying the virus.

The centre claims the package in question was routed through the U.S. before arriving in Hong Kong and then its final destination in Beijing.

But medical experts say the theory that such a shipment could spread the virus contradicts what recent studies say about COVID-19's ability to survive on surfaces.

"I don't think any of that's based on science," said Dr. Anna Banerji, an associate professor of pediatrics and infectious disease at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

She said the airborne Omicron variant "would never survive" on an envelope shipped across the world.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says the virus is primarily transmitted through the air.

"While mail may be contaminated, the risk of COVID-19 infection when handling paper mail or cardboard packages, including international mail, is extremely low," it said in an emailed statement.

"We know that the virus is most frequently transmitted when people are in close contact with others who are infected with the virus (either with or without symptoms)."

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say studies show an "inability to detect viable virus within minutes to hours" on porous surfaces, like paper.

An April 2020 study published in The Lancet journal concluded that "no infectious virus could be recovered from printing and tissue papers after a three-hour incubation."

Epidemiologist Dr. Donald Vinh, a professor with McGill University's division of experimental medicine, said the chance of such a package actually infecting someone is "very, very low."

"Is it believable or likely or probable that this has happened? And the answer is no," he said.

Olympics drawing near

China's claim comes as it tries to clamp down on cases ahead of the Winter Games, set to open in Beijing on Feb. 4.

The Chinese government has introduced strict pandemic control measures — including frequent lockdowns, universal masking and mass testing — in a bid to drive new transmissions to zero. On Monday, the country announced it won't be selling Olympics tickets to the general public due to concerns about the virus.

Colin Robertson, a former Canadian diplomat and now vice-president and fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said he thinks China is getting an excuse ready in case there's an outbreak during the Olympics.

"If things were to go badly, then they can suggest it came from the outside and not from within China because they've made every effort to try and contain, taking a zero tolerance approach, completely shutting down cities up to now," he said.

Guy St-Jacques, a former Canadian ambassador to China, said he expects to see more finger-pointing if there are outbreaks during the Olympics.

"It is easy for China to blame Canada as there is no way to investigate the issue to say if it is true and if so, did the virus amount really constitute a threat?" he said.

"As China has more and more difficulty with its zero-COVID policy, it will blame foreigners for its predicament."

© Andy Wong/AP Workers wearing face masks to help protect from the coronavirus set up a decoration for the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022.

The claim about the Canadian parcel comes at a time of heightened tensions between Ottawa and Beijing following China's imprisonment of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor for nearly three years — an apparent act of retaliation for the RCMP's arrest of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on a U.S. extradition warrant.

Late last month, China's foreign ministry warned that Beijing's relations with Canada stand "at a crossroads."

Robertson said he thinks the Chinese government would like to open up the relationship again.

"But they're dealing with — in the case of Canada and most western countries — public opinion which has shifted dramatically over the last couple of years and is now highly suspicious of the Chinese, particularly around its human rights record," he said.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole called the news reports out of China "comical."

"Stories like this remind us that from the beginning of the pandemic, some of the news and reporting out of China could not be trusted," he said.

 Omicron In China: China Postal Service Orders Disinfection Of All International Mailhttps://www.news18.com/news/world/omicron-in-china-china-postal-service-orders-disinfection-of-all-international-mail-4670441.html

IOC disputes Citizen Lab's security concerns about Chinese Olympics app

Controversy has swirled around China's MY2022 Olympics app due to privacy and security vulnerabilities.


Written by Jonathan Greig, Staff Writer
on January 18, 2022 | 

Citizen Lab

The International Olympic Committee has defended China's MY2022 Olympics app following a report from Citizen Lab that found serious privacy issues with the platform.

All attendees of the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing need to download and use the app, but Citizen Lab released a report on Monday that said a "simple but devastating flaw" allows the encryption protecting users' voice audio and file transfers to be "trivially sidestepped."

According to Citizen Lab, passport details, demographic information, and medical/travel history in health customs forms are also vulnerable. Server responses can be spoofed, allowing an attacker to display fake instructions to users, according to the report.

The MY2022 app also allows users to report "politically sensitive" content and includes a censorship keyword list involving topics like Xinjiang and Tibet.

Citizen Lab noted that the app may violate Google's Unwanted Software Policy, Apple's App Store guidelines, and China's own laws and national standards pertaining to privacy protection. Google and Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

The report caused widespread outrage, since the thousands of people at the games will have no choice but to download the app if they want to represent their country.

In comments to ZDNet, the International Olympic Committee defended the app and downplayed the severity of the issues discovered by Citizen Lab.

A spokesperson justified the app's security holes by saying that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, "special measures" needed to be put in place to "protect the participants of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and the Chinese people."

"Therefore, a closed loop management system has been implemented... The 'My2022' app supports the function for health monitoring. It is designed to keep Games-related personnel safe within the closed loop environment," the IOC said.

The IOC also defended the app by saying it received approval from the Google Play store and the App Store.

While robust passwords help you secure your valuable online accounts, hardware-based two-factor authentication takes that security to the next level.

"The user is in control over what the 'My2022' app can access on their device. They can change the settings already while installing the app or at any point afterwards. It is not compulsory to install 'My 2022' on cell phones, as accredited personnel can log on to the health monitoring system on the web page instead," the IOC claimed.

"The IOC has conducted independent third-party assessments on the application from two cyber-security testing organizations. These reports confirmed that there are no critical vulnerabilities."

Ron Deibert, director of Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, told ZDNet that the IOC's comments do not address the serious security vulnerabilities the organization discovered and reported.

"To date, the app vendor has not either. In fact, the app vendor has not responded at all to our vulnerability disclosure, and the latest version of the app, unfortunately, still includes the vulnerabilities," Deibert noted.

"The IOC has a responsibility to ensure user privacy and security is protected for any applications and systems used during the Olympic Games. The IOC's comments suggest that rather than taking that responsibility seriously, they are in fact hoping to minimize the risks."

DW was the first to report on the vulnerabilities, and many news outlets noted that the US, UK, Australia, and Germany have urged their citizens to leave all of their personal devices and laptops at home over concerns that they will be hacked or monitored by the Chinese government both during the games and once they go home. The Dutch Olympic Committee has already banned its citizens from bringing their devices to the games.

Some experts said the vulnerabilities would also give criminal hackers a way to steal sensitive personal information. The Beijing 2022 organizing committee, however, told USA Today that personal information collected by Beijing 2022 "will not be disclosed unless the disclosure is necessary."

"Information of accredited media representatives will only be used for purposes related to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games," the Beijing 2022 organizing committee said.

The games begin on February 4.

Toronto lab finds security vulnerabilities, censorship framework in Olympic app


TORONTO — Researchers at a Toronto-based tech laboratory have uncovered security vulnerabilities and censorship frameworks in an app all 2022 Beijing Olympics attendees must use.

The Citizen Lab, a research institute at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy that studies spyware, found a "simple but devastating" flaw in the MY2022 app that makes audio files, health and customs forms transmitting passport details, and medical and travel history vulnerable to hackers.

Researcher Jeffrey Knockel found MY2022 does not validate some SSL certificates, digital infrastructure that uses encryption to secure apps and ensures no unauthorized people can access information as it is transmitted.

This failure to validate means the app can be deceived into connecting with malicious hosts it mistakes as being trusted, allowing information the app transmits to servers to be intercepted and attackers to display fake instructions to users.

"The worst case scenario is that someone is intercepting all the traffic and recording all the passport details, all the medical details," said Knockel, a research associate, who investigated the app after a journalist curious about its security functions approached him.

Olympic organizers have required all games attendees, including athletes, spectators and media members, to download and start using the MY2022 app for submitting health and customs information like COVID-19 test results and vaccination status at least 14 days ahead of their arrival in China.

The app from a state-owned company called Beijing Financial Holdings Group also offers GPS navigation and text, video and audio chat functions and the ability to transfer files and provide news and weather updates.

Knockel found it's unclear with whom the app shares highly-sensitive medical information.

The Olympic playbook outlines that personal data such as biographical information and health-related data may be processed by Beijing 2022, International Olympic and Paralympic committees, Chinese authorities and “others involved in the implementation of the (COVID-19) countermeasures."

Knockel say MY2022 outlines several scenarios where it will disclose personal information without user consent, which include but are not limited to national security matters, public health incidents, and criminal investigations.

However, the app does not specify whether court orders will be required to gain access to this information and who will be eligible to receive data.

The final concern Knockel uncovered was that the app allows users to report “politically sensitive” content and found it has a censorship keyword list.

The list includes 2,442 political terms, including some linked to tensions in Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as references to Chinese government agencies. On the list are Chinese phrases translating to "Jews are pigs" and "Chinese are all dogs," Uyghur terms for "the Holy Quran" and Tibetan words referring to the Dalai Lama.

Knockel couldn't find evidence that the list was being used by the app.

"We don't know whether they intended for it to be inactive or whether they intended for it to be active, but either way, it's something that....can be enabled at the flick of a switch," said Knockel.

The Citizen Lab disclosed the concerns it found with MY2022 to organizing committees on Dec. 3, giving them 15 days to respond and 45 days to fix the issues, before it publicly disclosed the problems.

A new version of MY2022 for iOS users was released on Jan. 6, but Citizen Lab said no issues were resolved with the update. In fact, Citizen Lab said the update introduced a new "Green Health Code" feature that collects more medical data and is vulnerable to attacks because of its lack of SSL certificate validation.

Knockel recommends anyone headed to the Olympics only use the app when connected to networks they trust, like a virtual private network (VPN).

Olympic participants should also consider taking conversations and other actions that are not mandatory to complete in MY2022 to other apps with better security, he said.

"But it's tricky," he said. "Even if they are aware of the security vulnerabilities in the app, they might not have a choice."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2022.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

Opinion:

 IOC partly responsible for My 2022 APP

The extreme security gaps in the My 2022 app for the Winter Olympics in Beijing seem to indicate that the IOC has failed to live up to its duty of care for all competitors, writes DW Sports editor Stefan Nestler.


There are concerns about cybersecurity on the My 2022 app

It's no secret that authoritarian governments (and others) have a tendency to exploit security weaknesses on the internet. It's also no secret that China is a world leader in the field of electronic espionage.

So you could expect that an Olympic app developed in China and recommended for use by all foreign guests could be used not only to trace the paths of possible COVID-19 infections during the upcoming Winter Games in Beijing.
Secret text file

This makes the conclusion of IT forensics experts from the "Citizen Lab" at the University of Torontothat "My2022's security measures are wholly insufficient to prevent sensitive data from being disclosed to unauthorized third parties" all the more serious.

DW Sports editor Stefan Nestler

The IT researchers also discovered a text file with more 2,400 terms — including some that are politically sensitive in China, such as "Uyghur" or "Dalai Lama" — included in the app but not yet been activated.

This is proof of what experts have been warning about for a long time: This is not only about medical surveillance, but also about spying on the athletes, their support staff and all other Olympic guests, such as journalists — for political purposes.
Naive, negligent or complicit?

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), as the organizer of the Games, has a duty of care for all competitors. So how does this reflect on it? In the so-called "playbook" for the Beijing Games, the IOC encourages all participants to use My 2022 and assures them that the app complies with "international standards and Chinese law."

Did the IOC really assume that the app would be used exclusively to combat COVID-19? And if IT specialists investigated the app on behalf of the IOC, why didn't they discover these serious security flaws? Could they have tacitly looked the other way in order to avoid any friction with the host of the Games, which happens to be the international power China?

By also doing nothing, one can also make common cause with autocrats.

This opinion piece was translated from German.

THIS VOLCANO IN ETHIOPIA IS ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACES IN THE WORLD

Pawika Tongtavee/Shutterstock

BY SANDRA MARDENFELD/JAN. 18, 2022 

Some 93 million Americans travel abroad each year, with about 800 individuals dying on their trips from things like traffic accidents, violence, drowning, and other mishaps, according to Insider. One-third of these deaths happen on the road, including collisions that involve cars, buses, motorcycles, and pedestrians. International transportation can offer riskier challenges than the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency cites poorly maintained roads, unsafe vehicles, and speeding and unlicensed drivers as part of the problem. Traveling unfamiliar terrain also exhausts tourists, who can become disoriented and unprepared for animals or people darting unexpectedly onto the road. For those reasons, the CDC recommended that travelers wear seatbelts when in cars, and helmets on bikes and cycles.

You can also choose your destinations wisely. Many roads offer hazardous conditions you can avoid. The 800-mile Karakoram Highway (above) that sprawls between China and Pakistan, for example, may offer stellar views — earning it the informal title as the eighth world wonder — but the path is prone to disasters like landslides, avalanches, and floods. In Bolivia, the North Yungas Road, allegedly the globe's most treacherous highway, sports the nickname "Death Road." Its narrow space, just 12 feet wide, often becomes clouded with rain and fog, a deadly mix that kills 200 to 300 people yearly (From Business Insider).

Another dangerous thoroughfare lies in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia, and forces travelers to tangle with Erta Ale, an active volcano that erupts unrelentingly (per Dangerous Roads).

The Erta Ale volcano started erupting in 1967 and has not stopped since. The area around it involves a treacherous journey that includes possible encounters with landmines, terrorism, bandits, sandstorms, and kidnappers, reported Dangerous Roads. The volcano towers 2,011 feet over the passageway, which is unpaved and often obfuscated with dust. Erta Ale, aptly nicknamed "Smoking Mountain" and "Gateway to Hell," sits in the Danakil depression amid extreme heat (think temperatures around 77 to 118 degrees Fahrenheit). The road begins in Afdera, and can require six hours travel time as your pass through the lava-, rock-, and sand-laden landscape.

Why undergo such an arduous journey? Erta Ale, a basaltic shield volcano, contains a rare persistent lava lake and several pit craters, according to Volcano Discovery. It has become a popular tourist spot despite a 2012 attack that killed several tourists and scientists. In fact, Dangerous Roads recommended anyone undergoing the trip to hire one or two armed guards to accompany them since the area still contains such political instability. Ethiopia Online Visa also advised hiring a tour operator for the visit, since Erta Ale is located in a desert area far from populated areas, and to visit during the winter when the temperatures are lower, like 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Most trips should include transportation to the volcano's base and overnight camping. Sound too taxing? Watch the 2010 movie "Clash of the Titans" instead. Just fast forward to where Perseus visits the underworld and take a look (from The Earth Story).  

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/737398/this-volcano-in-ethiopia-is-one-of-the-most-dangerous-places-in-the-world/?utm_campaign=clip

Louisiana US Senate candidate Gary Chambers smokes marijuana joint in new ad

Chambers, a Black progressive activist, is running on a pro-marijuana legalization platform

Ny Magee |
Jan 18, 2022

Gary Chambers, a former candidate for Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District, is running for the U.S. Senate in Louisiana. He launched his first ad campaign on Tuesday with a video showing him smoking a cannabis blunt.

Chambers, a Black progressive activist, is running on a pro-marijuana legalization platform. The ad, titled ‘37 Seconds,’ also features a voice-over of him highlighting the statistics for non-violent drug convictions.

“Every 37 seconds someone is arrested for possession of marijuana,” Chambers, a 36-year-old, longstanding community activist in Baton Rouge, says in the video.

“States waste $3.7 billion enforcing marijuana laws every year,” Chambers continues in the ad. “Most of the people police are arresting aren’t dealers but rather people with small amounts of pot, just like me.”

The ad was directed and edited by Baton Rouge filmmaker Erwin Marionneaux and filmed in New Orleans with local resident Erick Sanchez, United Public Affairs founder, who wrote and produced the pot-smoking ad.

Also Read:
Female entrepreneurs create cannabis retail space in Los Angeles

Chambers shared the video on Twitter and explained why he smoked weed on camera.

“For too long, candidates have used the legalization of marijuana as an empty talking point in order to appeal to progressive voters,” said Chambers in a statement. “I hope this ad works to not only destigmatize the use of marijuana, but also forces a new conversation that creates the pathway to legalize this beneficial drug, and forgive those who were arrested due to outdated ideology.”

Chambers’ ad comes after the New Orleans City Council recently passed an ordinance prohibiting police from arresting and citing people for small amounts of marijuana.

“Why would you take the time to write the ticket if you know it’s already going to be pardoned?” said Councilwoman Helena Moreno, who sponsored the simple possession pardon ordinance. “There’s really no necessity for enforcement, in my opinion, anymore.”

A spokesperson for New Orleans Police Department said in a statement that, per the new policy, officers will “no longer issue citations for simple possession alone.”

“NOPD has revised our policy covering procedures related to simple possession of marijuana, and new general order will go into effect Sunday to comply with a new municipal ordinance,” said NOPD spokesperson Gary Scheets, in an email, per The Lens.

Chamber’s pro-cannabis ad also comes weeks after lawmakers approved licensed pharmacies to sell cannabis flowers (loose marijuana leaf) to medical marijuana users or patients with a doctor’s prescription.

Also Read:
California pot companies warn of impending industry collapse

Medical marijuana patients lined up for hours on the first Monday of the new year to purchase raw, smokable forms of cannabis. Up until that point, Louisiana had only allowed cannabis pharmacies to sell the medicine as tinctures and edible gummies.

Meanwhile, on Nov. 8, Chambers and his pro-pot stance will face off against other Democratic candidates in the non-partisan primary. GOP Sen. John Kennedy (who is supported by former President Donald Trump) was first elected to the seat in 2016 and is running for reelection, according to KLAF. The general election will happen on Dec. 10.

STATEHOOD OR INDEPENDENCE
Judge signs plan, resolves Puerto Rico bankruptcy battle
By DÁNICA COTO

FILE - A Puerto Rican flag flies on an empty beach at Ocean Park, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Thursday, May 21, 2020. Puerto Rico’s nearly five-year bankruptcy battle was resolved Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, after a federal judge signed a plan that slashes the U.S. territory’s public debt load as part of a restructuring and allows the government to start repaying creditors.  AKA VULTURE CAPITALI$TS

 (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti, File)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) —

Puerto Rico’s nearly five-year bankruptcy battle is ending after a federal judge on Tuesday signed a plan that slashes the U.S. territory’s public debt load as part of a restructuring and allows the government to start repaying creditors.

The plan marks the largest municipal debt restructuring in U.S. history and was approved following grueling bargaining efforts, heated hearings and multiple delays as the island struggles to recover from deadly hurricanes, earthquakes and a pandemic that deepened its economic crisis.

“There has never been a public restructuring like this anywhere in America or in the world,” said David Skeel, chairman of a federal control board appointed to oversee Puerto Rico’s finances that has worked with the judge on the plan.

He noted that no bankruptcy mechanisms exist for countries or U.S. states like the one Puerto Rico was granted.

“This was an astonishingly complex and large and important bankruptcy,” Skeel said, noting that the island had three times as much debt as Detroit.

Puerto Rico’s government declared in 2015 that it could not afford to pay its more than $70 billion public debt load it had accumulated through decades of mismanagement, corruption and excessive borrowing. It then filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history in 2017, a year after U.S. congress created the financial oversight and management board for Puerto Rico.

The plan that restructures the central government’s debt goes into effect March 15 and could be appealed, although Skeel expected the judge to affirm it.

The board said that the plan signed by federal judge Laura Taylor-Swain cuts Puerto Rico’s public debt by 80% and saves the island more than $50 billion in debt service payments. Board members noted the plan reduces claims against the government from $33 billion to just over $7.4 billion, with 7 cents of every taxpayer dollar going to debt service, compared with the previous 25 cents.

“This period of financial crisis is coming to an end,” said Natalie Jaresko, the board’s executive director. “We have accomplished what many thought impossible.”

The plan also avoids proposed pension cuts that had led to heated debates and created a rift between the board and Puerto Rico’s legislature and the island’s governor, which vehemently opposed them.

The plan notes that Puerto Rico has sufficient resources to pay the debt through 2034, but critics have said the government does not have the finances required to meet debt service payments and warned of more austerity measures.

Jaresko brushed away those concerns, saying that while budgets were cut, there were no layoffs or agencies shut down.

“It wasn’t austerity,” she said. “People look at the last five years and think it’s going to continue like that forever, but it doesn’t.”

Still pending is the debt restructuring of some government agencies, including that of the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority and the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, which holds the largest debt.

“This one is very important for the economy of Puerto Rico because if it means a rise in energy costs, it makes us less competitive,” said José Caraballo, a Puerto Rico economist and professor.

He added that the island likely would be able to access the market in three to five years to issue bonds for capital projects but warned it should avoid repeating past mistakes.

“Borrowing is playing with fire,” he said. “You need to have people who know what they’re doing. Otherwise, one can return to this disaster we call a debt crisis.”

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said that while the plan approved Tuesday is not perfect, it represents a big step for the island’s economic recovery.

“We still have a lot of work ahead of us,” he said.

José Luis Dalmau, president of Puerto Rico’s senate and a member of the main opposition party, also praised the plan and called it a transcendental step for the island’s economic recovery.

“From this moment on, a new page of fiscal responsibility, good governance and unity begins, which will lead to a more prosperous economy, a climate of job creation and greater fiscal stability,” he said.

Jaresko noted the plan has guardrails to prevent a repeat of the island’s debt crisis, including allowing long-term borrowing only for capital improvement projects. The board, known as “la junta” in Puerto Rico and reviled by many, expects to be around for at least three more years, or until Puerto Rico has four consecutive balanced budgets, Skeel said.

“We will not stay a day longer than our mandate,” Jaresko said. “It is our goal to finish what we were instructed to do by Congress.”

Jim Obergefell of landmark gay marriage case to run for Ohio legislature
By Rich Klein

Jim Obergefell, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court decision that legalized marriage in all 50 states, rides as guest of honor in the LGBT Pride parade in San Francisco in June 2015. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that led to the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States, announced Tuesday that he is running for a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives.

The landmark Supreme Court decision in Obergefell vs. Hodges was handed down in June 2015.

Obergefell, a Democrat, is running to represent the state's 89th District, which includes his hometown of Sandusky. The seat is held by Rep. D.J. Swearingen, a Republican.

"This district deserves a representative who works to make things better for everyone," Obergefell said at a news conference. "I watched the good-paying jobs my father and brothers worked at GM and Scott Paper vanish when those factories closed. I watched my family struggle in the aftermath. I remember eating the so-called government cheese. I was just a kid."

After the court decision, Obergefell founded Equality Vines, a wine label that supports organizations dedicated to "equality and civil rights for all. "

He has also spoken around the world about gay rights and same-sex marriage. In 2016, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center honored him with its Everyday Freedom Hero Award.

Britain's upper house passes bill to make misogyny a hate crime


The bill would require police to note whether hatred of a person's sex or gender motivated a particular crime, and allow judges to impose stronger penalties if such prejudice is a proven motive. File Photo by Skye McKee/UPI | License Photo


Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Britain's House of Lords passed a measure on Monday night making misogyny a hate crime in England and Wales, and sent the proposal on to the House of Commons.

The upper house voted 242 to 185 to amend the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to make misogyny a hate crime.

The move was mostly backed by Labor and Liberal Democrats in Britain, but conservative Baroness Newlove, a former victims' commissioner, led the move to make misogyny a hate crime despite opposition from her party colleagues.

"Too often when it comes to violence against women, society demands the perfect victim before we act," Newlove said, according to The Guardian.

"As a society, we have rightly taken steps to acknowledge the severity of racist and homophobic crimes, but have not yet acted on crimes driven by hatred of women."

The bill needs approval from both houses to become law, and it will return to the House of Commons once the upper house is finished working on it.

The change would require police to note whether hatred of a person's sex or gender motivated a particular crime, and allow judges to impose stronger penalties if such prejudice is a proven motive.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party leader since 2019, has opposed calls to make misogyny a hate crime.

Monday's vote also rejected other measures in the bill -- including a proposal to punish activists who lock themselves onto objects with as many as 51 weeks in prison, suspicionless stops and searches and introduction of "serious disruption prevention orders." The upper house also voted to block a proposal giving new powers to police to stop protests in England and Wales.

A RIGHT WING WOMAN IS STILL A RIGHT WINGER

EU parliament elects anti-abortion Maltese MEP as president

Roberta Metsola is first woman to lead assembly in 20 years

Roberta Metsola, the youngest ever president of the European parliament, promised to represent the parliament, rather than her own views.

 Photograph: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters


Jennifer Rankin in Brussels
Tue 18 Jan 2022 13.57 GMT

A conservative Maltese lawyer who opposes abortion has been elected president of the European parliament, the first woman in 20 years to lead the assembly.

Roberta Metsola, who is celebrating her 43rd birthday on Tuesday, is the youngest-ever president of the European parliament, winning a comfortable majority to serve a two-and-a-half-year term.

A former civil servant first elected in 2013, she is the first person from Malta, the smallest member state, to lead any EU institution.

Metsola, a member of the centre-right European People’s party, had been serving as interim president after the untimely death of David Sassoli last week. Sassoli, a popular Italian Social Democrat, was due to end his term in this week’s midterm reshuffle of top jobs.

As the favourite to succeed Sassoli since her candidacy was announced last autumn, Metsola’s victory was never in doubt after the parliament’s three largest groups made a pact to support her on the eve of the vote.

She won 458 of 690 votes cast, easily beating three rivals from smaller groups: the Greens, the radical left and conservative nationalists.

The Socialists and Democrats, the second-largest group behind the EPP, threw their weight behind Metsola to gain a bigger number of 14 vice-president posts. Also joining the alliance was the centrist Renew group led by Stéphane Séjourné, ally of the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

The support of Renew was significant, as some French MEPs had voiced qualms about Metsola’s anti-abortion stance.

The former diplomat won round doubters by promising to represent the position of the parliament, rather than her personal views. “My position is that of the European parliament,” she told journalists. “And on this issue, this European parliament, on all sexual and reproductive health rights, it has been unambiguous, it has repeatedly called for these rights to be better protected.”

As vice-president of the parliament, she said, she had delivered a recent resolution condemning Poland’s anti-abortion law. “I promoted it and I presented it … That is exactly what I will do with all the positions that were taken in all this area in all the member states.”

Malta is the only EU country that completely bans abortion, a stance more hardline than Poland, which last year passed a law imposing heavy restrictions on a woman’s right to end a pregnancy. In 2015 Metsola signed a statement with other Maltese centre-right MEPs declaring “we remain categorically against abortion”. At the start of the pandemic in April 2020, she voted against a resolution on EU action on Covid-19 that described abortion as a human right.

Explaining another no vote on the same issue in 2021, she claimed in an interview with the website Lovin Malta that Malta’s right to legislate for itself on abortion had been at stake. “The report did not respect Malta’s right to legislate itself on this issue and therefore I could not support the final version of it.”

Despite misgivings, left-leaning political opponents have praised Metsola’s stance in defence of the rule of law and migrants’ rights. Speaking to MEPs, the co-leader of the Greens, Philippe Lamberts, said Metsola had “many excellent qualities”. He noted their disagreements on abortion and reproductive rights, but “many points of agreement as well”, on democracy, the rule of law and refugees.

The Belgian Green MEP urged Metsola to reform European parliament rules by introducing a system of proportional representation to end the backroom deals on carving up top posts. “It’s not a very glorious process,” he told MEPs. “Because once again … there were certain appetites that had to be satisfied and this to the detriment of smaller groups in the European parliament.”

Born in 1979, Metsola has said Malta’s accession to the EU sparked her interest in politics. The island nation joined the union in 2004, along with nine other mostly central and eastern European countries. She graduated from the elite College of Europe in Bruges, a training ground for EU officials, before going on to work for Malta’s government in Brussels and then the European Commission. A mother of four, she has described herself as part of the “Erasmus generation”, referring to the EU higher education exchange scheme.

Until now, only two women have served as European parliament president, in effect the speaker of the house. The former French minister Nicole Fontaine led the institution from 1999-2002. She was proceeded by another French woman, Simone Veil, a Holocaust survivor and celebrated minister, who led the fight to introduce abortion in France. Veil ran the parliament from 1979-1982.

Metsola said a in speech to MEPs in Strasbourg that she was standing on the shoulders of giants. The parliament mattered “to every woman in the union still fighting for their rights” she said, without mentioning the controversy over abortion.

She also referred to two journalists murdered for their investigative reporting, Daphne Caruana Galizia of Malta and Ján Kuciak of Slovakia, declaring “to the families of Daphne and Ján … your fight for truth and justice is our fight”.