AMERICAN PROTESTANT COMPASSION
Court ruling leaves migrants in limbo at Mexican-US border




Like other shelters in Reynosa, Senda de Vida is overflowing with asylum seekers left in limbo by a US health rule imposed at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic

 (AFP/PEDRO PARDO)

Samir Tounsi
Sat, May 21, 2022

Asylum seekers in the dusty, violence-plagued Mexican border city of Reynosa were back to playing an uncertain waiting game Saturday, their dreams of entering the United States frustrated anew by a health rule imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"They say they're going to open the border today. Do you think that's true?" asked Michelle, a 26-year-old Haitian who had come to the pedestrian bridge crossing the Rio Grande hoping for good news.

She was left disappointed, however.

A federal judge ruled Friday that the rule known as Title 42 -- meant to stem the spread of Covid, it can effectively prevent anyone without a visa from entering the United States, even to claim asylum -- must remain in effect.

Using social media, migrants in Reynosa have followed the legal showdown between the White House, which wants to lift the rule, and Republican governors of more than 20 states, who argue that relaxing it would spur a huge and inadequately controlled influx of migrants.

On Friday, Judge Robert Summerhays issued an injunction siding with those Republican-led states in support of the rule, first imposed under President Donald Trump.

"The Plaintiff States contend that the Termination Order will result in a surge of border crossings, and that this surge will result in an increase in illegal immigrants residing in the states," the ruling said.

"The court finds that the plaintiff states have satisfied each of the requirements for a preliminary injunction."

The White House said it would abide by the ruling, but that the Department of Justice would appeal.

"The authority to set public health policy nationally should rest with the Centers for Disease Control, not with a single district court," a statement said.

- Uncertainty, confusion -

Reynosa, across the border from the Texan city of McAllen, lies in one of Mexico's most violent regions and has been shaken by turf wars between rival drug cartels in recent years.

Last year the medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that migrants deported to Reynosa under Title 42 were at risk of kidnapping and violence.

Those stranded in the Mexican city face a host of additional concerns, including housing, healthcare, food and their children's well-being.

Lifting Title 42 would have a sting in the tail. Migrants deported to Mexico under its terms can now try to enter the United States as many times as they want. But if deported to their home country, they would face another long and potentially dangerous journey back to the border.

"If they lift it (Title 42), the United States will deport more people. It's better for us that they extend it," said Sarah Jimenez, from the Dominican Republic, who is traveling with her Haitian husband.

"There's a lot of uncertainty and little official information," said Anayeli Flores, an aid worker with MSF. "People are confused.

Meantime, migrants keep flowing into Reynosa.

In early May, the authorities moved nearly 2,000 of them, including women and children, out of a square in the city center where they had camped for months.

Some sleep on the streets, while the more fortunate rent apartments for 1,500 to 2,000 pesos a month ($75 to $100).

"My wife wanted to go home. Not me, because as soon as you cross the river, it's glory -- the dream of many, not just me," said a Honduran migrant.

Pastor Hector Silva runs a shelter, but it is now out of room, and with migrants continuing to arrive, frustration levels are growing.

"You have to do your part, too," he told a group of migrants.

"You have to go find a job, you have to find a home for your wife, to protect your child from the sun."

st-dr/bbk

Algeria: ​​Authorities must end their assault on civic space and fundamental freedoms

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
20 May 2022
Working Together

People hold signs with portraits of activists held in jail, during an anti-government demonstration, in Algiers, Algeria, 7 May 2021,

 RYAD KRAMDI/AFP via Getty Images

Rights groups launch an online campaign to draw attention to how authorities have increasingly attempted to stifle dissenting voices and independent civil society.

This statement was originally published on cihrs.org on 19 May 2022.

A year ago, Algerian authorities shut down the “Hirak” pro-democracy protests in most of the country. Since then, the number of unfounded terrorism prosecutions has soared, problematic amendments to the Penal Code were adopted, legal actions were initiated against civil society organisations and opposition political parties, and the crackdown on human rights defenders and the media has intensified, while authorities have continued to obstruct independent unions’ registration and activity.

#NotACrime is an online campaign aiming to draw attention to the ways in which Algerian authorities have increasingly attempted to stifle dissenting voices and independent civil society. Launched by 38 Algerian, regional and international organisations, the campaign will be conducted between 19-28 May on the organisations’ respective social media accounts.

The campaign calls on Algerian authorities to end their repression of human rights, immediately and unconditionally release those detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights and allow everyone to freely enjoy their rights. Those suspected of responsibility for grave human rights violations should be brought to justice in fair trials, and the authorities should provide access to justice and effective remedies for victims. The campaign calls on all individuals, organisations and relevant parties to contribute in collectively demanding an end to the criminalisation of the exercise of fundamental freedoms in Algeria, using the #NotACrime hashtag.

At least 300 people have been arrested since the beginning of 2022 (as of 17 April) for exercising their right to free expression, peaceful assembly or association, according to Zaki Hannache, a human rights defender, though some have since been released. Arrests and sentencing of peaceful activists, independent trade unionists, journalists and human rights defenders have continued unabated, even after the protest movement was shut down. Algerians jailed for their speech have repeatedly carried out hunger strikes – El Hadi Lassouli since 3 May for instance – above all to protest their arbitrary imprisonment. According to the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH), these figures underrepresent the reality because many cases are not communicated due to fear of reprisal.

The death in detention of Hakim Debbazi on 24 April, after he was placed in pretrial detention on 22 February for social media postings, shows what is at stake when people are detained simply for exercising their human rights.

While international scrutiny has remained scarce, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, in her update to the Human Rights Council on 8 March 2022 , expressed concern over “increasing restrictions on fundamental freedoms” in Algeria and called on the government “to change course.” Ahead of the examination of Algeria’s human rights record in November by the UN Human Rights Council, within the Universal Periodic Review process, the undersigned organisations express serious concern and hold Algerian authorities responsible for the dangerous backsliding in Algeria, notably in the rights to express one’s opinion, assemble and associate peacefully, and share and access information.

The campaign will extend until the anniversary of the death of Kamel Eddine Fekhar, a human rights defender who died in detention on 28 May 2019 after a 50-day hunger strike to protest his imprisonment for expressing views critical of the government. He had been charged with undermining state security and inciting racial hatred. On 11 December 2016, a British-Algerian journalist, Mohamed Tamalt, also died in custody following a hunger strike during his imprisonment for Facebook posts deemed offensive by the authorities. Algerian authorities have failed to adequately investigate both of their deaths.

Exercising the fundamental freedoms of peaceful assembly, association and expression, and defending human rights is #NotACrime.

Signatures:

Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT-France)
Action for Change and Democracy in Algeria (ACDA)
AfricanDefenders (Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network)
Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LADDH)
Amnesty International
ARTICLE 19
Autonomous General Confederation of Workers in Algeria (CGATA, Algeria)
Autonomous National Union of Electricity and Gas Workers (SNATEG, Algeria)
Autonomous National Union of Public Administration Staff (SNAPAP, Algeria)
Burkinabè Coalition of Human Rights Defenders (CBDDH)
Burundian Coalition of Human Rights Defenders (CBDDH)
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Civil Rights Defenders (Sweden)
Collective Action-Detainees (Algeria)
Collective of the Families of the Disappeared in Algeria (CFDA)
Confederation of Trade Union Workers’ Commissions (CCOO, Spain)
DIGNITY – Danish Institute against Torture
Euro-Mediterranean Federation against Enforced Disappearances (FEMED)
Euromed Rights
Free Algeria
Front Line Defenders
General Confederation of Labour (CGT, France)
Human Rights League (LDH, France)
Human Rights Watch
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
International Labour Network of Solidarity and Struggles
International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF)
Ivorian Coalition of Human Rights Defenders (CIDDH)
Justitia Center for Legal Protection of Human Rights in Algeria
MENA Rights Group
Public Services International (PSI)
Riposte Internationale (Algeria)
Shoaa for Human Rights (Algeria)
Syndicate Union – Solidaires (France)
Tharwa N’Fadhma N’Soumer (Algeria)
Trade Union Confederation of Productive Forces (COSYFOP, Algeria)

Press Freedom and Civic Space

On this World Press Freedom Day, let’s think about our information climate, where the media fit in, and what this means for the rest of us. 

Journalists provide essential access to reliable, accessible, and accurate information that helps us all make the decisions that shape our lives – and the societies we live in. They also work to counter the scourge of disinformation that often escalates during times of crisis.

The media’s important work defending information integrity is often carried out alongside and with support from civil society organisations, and it is needed now more than ever to protect civic space from the escalating assaults on it. 

To protect civic space, we must demand press freedom.

Learn More

‘Stop Raping Us’ Screams Topless Woman As She Crashes Cannes Red Carpet To Protest Against Sexual Violence In Ukraine

The woman also appeared to have blood-red paint over her lower back and legs with the word 'SCUM' written on her back. The incident happened on the red carpet at the premiere of George Miller's 'Three Thousand Years Of Longing', starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton.

Published: May 21, 2022
By Analiza Pathak

A protestor wearing body paint that reads "Stop Raping Us" in the color of the Ukrainian is removed from the red carpet at the premiere of the film 'Three Thousand Years of Longing' at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France. (AP)

Cannes 2022: A woman protesting sexual violence in Ukraine was removed from the Cannes Film Festival red carpet during the world premiere of George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing.” Video footage from the carpet saw a woman trying to crash the event while screaming at the top of her lungs. The unidentified woman tore off her clothes during the film’s red carpet procession to reveal the message “Stop raping us” written across her torso next to the blue and yellow colors of the Ukraine flag. Red was also painted on her legs and groin. While she yelled “Don’t rape us!” security quickly encircled her and took her off the red carpet. The topless woman had the word “scum” written on her lower back.

FEMEN.INFO

Also Read - Cannes 2022 Controversy: Woman Goes Topless to Protest Against Sexual Violence in Ukraine

The radical feminist activist organisation Scum posted on Twitter, “This activist exposed the war rapes and sexual torture committed on Ukrainian women by Russian soldiers” and shared the video of the topless woman at Cannes 2022. 

While the incident received numerous reactions online, netizens were confused as to how the woman managed to pass the security checks and run on the red carpet. As per Variety, entering the Cannes’ Lumiere theatre in the Palais requires multiple security checks with many guards positioned at the gate. As the attendees walk in, they have to get through more security checks including a metal detector after which they are finally allowed to enter the theatre.

Since the beginning of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, there have been numerous reports of Russian soldiers raping Ukrainian civilians.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has often been in the spotlight at this year’s Cannes festival, which is screening several films from Ukrainian filmmakers. The festival barred Russians with ties to the Kremlin from attending.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a surprise address Tuesday to open the festival.

Activist Removed From Cannes Red Carpet Following Naked Protest Against Sexual Violence In Ukraine


By Andreas Wiseman
May 20, 2022

EDS NOTE: NUDITY - A protestor wearing body paint that reads "Stop Raping Us" in the color of the Ukrainian flag appears at the premiere of the film 'Three Thousand Years of Longing' at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Friday, May 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)AP

An activist protesting sexual violence against women in Ukraine has been removed tonight from the Cannes red carpet for George Miller’s Three Thousand Years Of Longing.

The naked and screaming woman had paint daubed on her body in the colours of the Ukrainian flag and the words ‘Stop Raping Us’ across her chest and stomach. She had the word ‘SCUM’ written on her back.

There is mounting evidence of summary executions, rape and torture carried out by Russian forces in Ukraine.

The French activist group SCUM has just posted an explanation on Twitter.

SCUM was a radical feminist manifesto published in the 1960s. However, the above Twitter handle only came into existence last month.

The SCUM Manifesto is essential radical feminist reading.

https://twitter.com/RadicalWitch2/status/1494304385001795584

The SCUM Manifesto is essential radical feminist reading. 17 Feb 2022 ...

The dramatic episode took place as the red carpet unfolded for the night’s big premiere: George Miller’s Three Thousand Years Of Longing, starring Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton. The director and stars were in attendance.

It is understood the woman took to the carpet then hastily removed her clothes and began screaming before she was swiftly removed by security.

The festival has taken place amid much discussion about the conflict in Ukraine. Official Russian delegations and journalists from Putin-supporting papers are not welcome at the event but the festival did yesterday debut a movie backed by sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.

Cannes is no stranger to red carpet protests. In 2018, 82 women protested gender inequality in the film industry in front of the Palais. A few days later there was also an anti-racism protest on the carpet.

'Armageddon Time,' portrait of white privilege, stirs Cannes


Anne Hathaway, from left, director James Gray, and Jeremy Strong pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Armageddon Time' at the 75th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, May 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Jake Coyle
The Associated Press
Published May 21, 2022

CANNES, FRANCE -

When the Cannes Film Festival audience stood to applaud James Gray's richly observed autobiographical drama "Armageddon Time," about the director's own 1980s childhood in Queens, Gray's voice quivered as he addressed the crowd.

"It's my story, in a way," said Gray. "And you guys shared it with me."

"It took every last bit of control not to burst out into tears," Gray said, still recovering the next day in Cannes. "It's been a really strange journey making the film and my father died two months ago of COVID. The whole process has been fraught and filled with emotion."

"Armageddon Time," starring Anthony Hopkins, Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong, has stirred Cannes like no other American film at the festival this year. Gray's movie, which Focus Features will distribute in the U.S. later this year, has been received as a tender triumph for the New York filmmaker of "The Immigrant" and "Ad Astra" not just for his detailed excavation of his childhood but for how the film reexamines his own white privilege growing up -- how race and money can tip the scales in the formative years of young people.

Paul Graff (Banks Repeta) is a sixth-grader modelled after the 53-year-old Gray in a middle-class Jewish family. At school, Paul's friend Johnny (Jaylin Webb) is a Black kid with fewer advantages, who's treated differently than Paul. When Paul's family elects to send him to a private school, the gap only grows. Connections to today's inequities aren't hard to decipher. At the private school, Jessica Chastain makes a cameo as Maryanne Trump, sister to Donald and an assistant U.S. attorney.

For Gray, "Armageddon Time" is period film about now, and a coming home after two far-flung films in the Amazon-set "The Lost City of Z" and the space adventure "Ad Astra."

------

AP: When did "Armageddon Time" start formulating in your head?

GRAY: I was at an art exhibit in Los Angeles five years ago. Painted on the wall it said: "History and myth begin in the microcosm of the personal." I had made this film before this where I went into space. It was a very difficult movie to make and a very difficult movie to complete. The end result was not fully mine. That was a very sad experience for me. I wanted to try to rediscover my love for the medium and why I wanted [to] do it in the first place. I said, "Screw it, I'll make the most personal film I can."

AP: You've called 1980 one of the most pivotal years in American history. Is that because of the election of Reagan?

GRAY: People don't remember that he campaigned in Philadelphia, Mississippi, which is where Goodman, Schwerner and Cheney were killed by the Klan. And he started talking about states rights. He knew exactly what he was doing. I understand he didn't come out and say the N-word. He didn't come out and be Trump completely. But that was his purpose. I feel like that was planting the seeds for a kind of corporatist, me-first, top-down, frankly rooted in racism idea of American capitalism that hasn't left us fully since. When you propose a system which is all about money, it has the basis of oppression built into it. It didn't start with slavery. It started with the Indigenous people who were basically vaporized. We're very good at genocide.

AP: These aren't the normal inward-looking themes of memoir films.


GRAY: All of this is about what the actual economic structure of the country is. I felt that that would have power in a context that's very small, which is a kid's transfer from a public school to a private school and how we all do our part to (expletive) things up. In other words, "I'm going to make this ethical compromise now. I'm going to contribute to ethical compromise just a little bit."

AP: Were you thinking any of this when you were living through it as a kid?

GRAY: When I was a kid I never thought about the levels of capitalism, how if someone is up there, that means somebody's gotta be down there. I knew 48 kids in a class, something's wrong. But here's the thing: Why is it not a source of utter rage in our country that public education in our country is financed by local property taxes? They should be burning down state legislatures because of that. The system makes itself very happy by basically saying: Let's make a superhero movie but put a trans person in it. That's fine. That's excellent, whatever. But that doesn't solve the problem. You have to look at the system itself and understand that it is based on the brutal oppression of one group to survive.

AP: Your film received an enthusiastic reception here in Cannes. Have you thought about how it will be received stateside?

GRAY: I'm sure there will be people who hate the movie. But as an American, I feel a particular sense of loss that we as filmmakers are not as willing to confront the ideas of class. One of the most amazing things about what Francis Ford Coppola did in that movie is how it presents such a vivid picture of the rot of capitalism. Look at "Jaws." That mayor will keep the beaches open no matter what.

AP: Were the Trumps actually involved in your private school experience?

GRAY: They sure were. If I had my high school yearbook, I would show you the board of trustees which had Frederick Christ Trump in the picture. He would walk the halls of the school. His daughter (Maryanne) gave a speech to the school which I had my brother recount the best he could and then I recalled the best I could and we compared notes. They were very similar.

AP: You're a filmmaker considered a classicist devoted to a personal kind of filmmaking for the big screen. Do you ever feel like one of a dwindling breed?

GRAY: It's my obligation to continue trying to do the work that I'm doing. Not out of ego or any feeling of "I'm the best" or anything but because the type of cinema that I like, I'd like to think there's at least somebody out there that likes it, too. And who is speaking for them? The question is: Are you going to pursue with passion what it is you dream about, what you hope for? Or are you going to give in? I'd love to be richer or more powerful or whatever. But if it's not to be, I'm OK with that. I'd rather just pursue my dreams.

It's Marx vs Reagan as Swedish rollercoaster hits Cannes film fest


What's my position in this hierarchy?' Ostlund wonders 

Jurgen HECKER
Sat, May 21, 2022, 1:25 PM·4 min read

Swedish cult director Ruben Ostlund wowed the Cannes Film Festival with a rollercoaster movie about glamour, class, silly money and human nature on Saturday, involving the drunken delivery of quotes by Karl Marx and Ronald Reagan, and stomach-churning scenes of mass sea sickness.

Five years after winning the Palme d'Or top prize with "The Square", Ostlund is back with "Triangle of Sadness", a large-canvas movie initially about two models that quickly broadens out to include the super-rich and their eccentricities.

Events turn their world upside down, creating an unexpected reshuffle of power structures.

"I think human beings are very sensitive to hierarchies. Every day is about: what is my position in this hierarchy?" Ostlund told AFP in an interview.

At one level, the movie can be read as a critique of capitalism and its excesses, he said. In a key scene in the movie a luxury yacht's captain -- played by US star Woody Harrelson -- and a Russian billionaire, both drunk, trade quotes by philosopher Karl Marx and hardcore capitalist Ronald Reagan, the late US president. "Reagan was funnier," Ostlund concluded.

- 'Brought up by a communist' -

Ostlund, 48, said his Swedish upbringing during the Cold War years had been instrumental to his world view.

"I was brought up by a mother who still calls herself a communist," he said. "I grew up in the Cold War. There were two conflicting ideologies: Capitalism and communism.

"I thought a little bit that this was over. But it's almost like now, with Russia invading Ukraine, all of the sudden we're talking about east and west again."

While describing himself as a "socialist who believes in a strong state and a mixed economy", Ostlund said he never wanted to paint rich people as evil although "they should stop bullshitting and pay taxes".

"I didn't want to portray any of the rich people as mean. I wanted to understand their behaviour," the director said. But he added: "Capitalism is so good at exploiting all our needs and all our fears, where we live, our food, and makes money out of our creativity and everything we do."

English actor Harris Dickinson, who stars as male model Carl who forms a couple with influencer Yaya -- played by South African Charlbi Dean -- said Ostlund's movie was ultimately about what makes people tick.

"The film is provocative," said Dickinson. "It's an astute focus on our behaviour and our beliefs and our morality. It's all about human nature rather than politics."

Dean said human behaviour, like that seen in some of the film's scenes, is often dictated by circumstances and not pre-conceived ideas.

"We often tell ourselves 'I would never do that'. But if you're in a similar situation, wouldn't you behave in the same way?", she asked.

- 'Little bit of a dilemma' -

Despite their jetsetting lifestyle and perfect looks, both characters are plagued by insecurities. Carl gets jealous easily, and Yaya thinks she may have to become "somebody's trophy wife" once her modelling days are over.

"In the industry you have a short career," said Dean who herself is both an actress and a model.

"It starts very young, but by the time you're 22, it starts to decline, unless you're lucky. So as a model you often wonder what's next," she said.

Ostlund said he delights in the awkwardness of Swedish social norms which inspired many of his movie scenes.

"In Sweden, we're ashamed in social situations," Ostlund said. "I love it when the expectation of how we should behave puts us in a little bit of a dilemma."

A restaurant scene in the movie leading to a big fight over who should pay the bill was inspired by Ostlund's own, similar, experience with his future wife at a restaurant in Cannes. "And I'm married to her now."

Among the 21 films vying for the coveted Palme are two other Scandinavian entries: "Boy from Heaven", by Sweden's Tarik Saleh and Danish-Iranian Ali Abbasi's "Holy Spider".

Both Abbasi's and Saleh's films draw heavily on their immigrant backgrounds.

Abbasi left Tehran for Sweden in 2002, while Saleh was born in Stockholm to a Swedish mother and Egyptian father.

The Palme d'Or will be awarded on May 28.

jh/dlc/pvh

The Decline of Diplomacy

by Edward Alvarez Posted onMay 21, 2022

ANTIWAR.COM

It takes enormous courage to protest a war, but when is it ever relevant to do so? There is a crisis in American democracy, yet there is no appetite to protest the decline of diplomacy. Many people believe Russia can’t be reasoned with and any chance for a negotiation is only a dream. Nobody should make a deal with the devil, they say. Americans have been led to believe that the heartbreaking war in Ukraine is beyond diplomacy.

And if there is no more time for talking, where then are we headed? Perhaps our distaste for dissent will weaken America, which was founded on the strength and value of American opinions. Differences of opinion are essential for a functioning democracy, this is the backbone of the first amendment. America’s diversity depends on its multitude of voices, which have never been more important. Dialogue is the practice of democracy.

World history continuously tells the story of peace and power, as progress is gained and lost throughout time. Bertrand Russell was once asked what message he would give to future generations. He suggested the necessity of tolerance, humans must learn to live together.

Intolerance has existed not just in recent history, but as a driving force behind all wars. In the face of global insecurity, only the strengthening of democracy through reason and discussion, has the potential to prevent tyranny. For freedom and equality to exist, disparate voices must be heard. Why then has criticism of the war been so readily dismissed as anti-American?

And why are our celebrities so somnambulant? They have huge audiences and countless opportunities to make their voices heard, but they all seem to support this war. Are wars ever really as simple to understand as winning or losing? They are never simple, wars grow through misunderstandings; and democracy dies without dialogue. Yet many are still convinced this war has no peaceful solutions nor should there be.

The war could end today, without an endless cost of money and lives, if we would only send our best diplomats instead of our most deadly weapons. Putin has met and spoken with many mediators from several different countries, proof that a negotiation has been possible. Besides this, the war still could have been prevented months, if not years in advance. What will ever be won from a preventable war?

Rather than ponder the causes of the conflict, we have chosen instead to pledge ourselves to a dramatic victory, no matter how long it takes. This is not the sorely needed language of de-escalation. Another issue boiling on the surface of this predicament is an irrational fear of what may happen if we do not rush to declare war on an evil we assume will engulf the world. Freedom and democracy will not be saved by unnecessary violence. Fear should not dictate our decisions, especially if our own escalations will worsen this war.

For as much as it is convenient to view the war as one-dimensional, it is important that we remember the immortal words of Heinrich Heine about the burning of books, as relevant today as they were 200 years ago. Even differences in dialect have been enough to instigate animosity in the past. America is unique for its tolerance of many different languages. A poorly understood issue at the center of the war in Ukraine is that it is also a war of languages, which is baffling because Zelensky himself speaks Russian. Diplomacy therefore is needed more desperately than we are willing to realize.

The soul of America is in the voice of its people, in our opinions. We are sadly naive to believe that pacifism is misguided or unrealistic. It seems the lack of antiwar sentiment in America is probably due to our assumptions that we are educated on this war, but since there is no reasonable discussion about de-escalation and diplomacy, we are unfortunately not educated enough.

Edward Alvarez writes from San Diego.

US top officer: US is no longer unchallenged global power

“we can feel the light breeze in the air. We can see the storm flags fluttering in the wind. We can hear in the distance the loud clap of thunder. A hard rain is about to fall.”

2022-05-21 
Shafaq News/ 

US Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, painted a grim picture of a world that is becoming more unstable, with great powers intent on changing the global order. And he told graduating cadets at the US Military Academy at West Point that they will bear the responsibility to make sure America is ready.

“The potential for significant international conflict between great powers is increasing, not decreasing,” Milley said in prepared remarks. “Whatever overmatch we enjoyed militarily for the last 70 years is closing quickly, and the United States will be, in fact, we already are challenged in every domain of warfare, space, cyber, maritime, air, and of course land.”

America, he said, is no longer the unchallenged global power.

Instead, it is being tested in Europe by Russian aggression, in Asia by China’s dramatic economic and military growth as well as North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, and in the Middle East and Africa by instability from terrorists.

Drawing a parallel with what military officials are seeing in Russia’s war on Ukraine, Milley said future warfare will be highly complex, with elusive enemies and urban warfare that requires long-range precision weapons, and new advanced technologies.

The US has already been rushing new, high-tech drones and other weapons to the Ukrainian military — in some cases equipment that was just in the early prototype phases. Weapons such as the shoulder-launched kamikaze and Switchblade drones are being used against the Russians, even as they are still evolving.

And as the war in Ukraine has shifted — from Russia’s unsuccessful battle to take Kyiv to a gritty urban battle for towns in the eastern Donbas region — so has the need for different types of weapons.

Early weeks focused on long-range precision weapons such as Stinger and Javelin missiles, but now the emphasis is on artillery, and increased shipments of howitzers.

And over the next 25 to 30 years, the fundamental character of war and its weapons will continue to change.

The US military, Milley said, can’t cling to concepts and weapons of old, but must urgently modernize and develop the force and equipment that can deter or, if needed, win in a global conflict. And the graduating officers, he said, will have to change the way US forces think, train and fight.

As the Army’s leaders of tomorrow, Milley said, the newly minted 2nd lieutenants will be fighting with robotic tanks, ships and airplanes, and relying on artificial intelligence, synthetic fuels, 3-D manufacturing and human engineering.

“It will be your generation that will carry the burden and shoulder the responsibility to maintain the peace, to contain and to prevent the outbreak of great power war,” he said.

In stark terms, Milley described what failing to prevent wars between great powers looks like.

“Consider that 26,000 US soldiers and Marines were killed in six weeks from October to November of 1918 in the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne in World War I,” said Milley. “Consider that 26,000 US troops were killed in the eight weeks from the beaches of Normandy to the fall of Paris.”

Recalling the 58,000 Americans killed in just the summer of 1944 as World War II raged, he added, “That is the human cost of great-power war. The butcher’s bill.”

Paraphrasing a Bob Dylan song, Milley said, “we can feel the light breeze in the air. We can see the storm flags fluttering in the wind. We can hear in the distance the loud clap of thunder. A hard rain is about to fall.”

A HARD RAINS GONNA FALL

Rep. Jim Clyburn says democracy is in 'danger of disintegrating' and the US is in 'danger of imploding'

Hannah Getahun

Majority Whip James Clyburn speaks onstage during the 2022 John Lewis Foundation Inaugural Gala at The Schuyler at Hamilton Hotel on May 17, 2022 in Washington, DC. Brian Stukes/Getty Images

Rep. Jim Clyburn said the "country is in danger of imploding" during a Washington Post interview.

He also spoke about the Buffalo shooting and said it reminded him of the 2015 Charleston shooting.

The South Carolina Democrat said the US "refuses to admit" it has a racism problem.

Rep. Jim Clyburn said that the country is under threat of "imploding" in the aftermath of the racially motivated shooting in Buffalo on Saturday.

"The country is in danger of imploding," Clyburn told The Washington Post. "Democracy is in danger of disintegrating. And I don't know why people feel that this country is insulated from the historical trends. These trends are just clear to me."

In the interview, the House majority whip was asked about his thoughts on the Buffalo shooting, in which 10 people in a predominantly Black neighborhood were killed, as well as solutions for racism in the US.

Clyburn said the recent tragedy reminded him of the Charleston, NC, shooting, in which nine people in a Black congregation were murdered. The Charleston shooter, like the Buffalo shooter, was inspired by white supremacist ideology.

"And you know it's just a mystery to me that we've become so tolerable of these kinds of incidents," Clyburn said. "It seems as if they were just supposed to happen then you go and wait for the next one to happen. And they're going to keep happening."

He also said that the country refuses to acknowledge racism, which makes it difficult to put together legislation in response to acts of hate.

In 2021, Clyburn sponsored the Enhanced Background Checks Act and co-sponsored the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in the House, both of which were blocked by the GOP.

"No problem can be solved until you first admit that the problem exists," Clyburn said. "And we still refuse to admit that we have a race problem in this country. And it's been there for over 400 years."

Palestinian teen killed in Israeli raid in occupied West Bank

Amjad al-Fayyed, 17, was killed after an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

Local media reported confrontations erupted outside Jenin’s refugee camp when Israeli forces stormed the area [File: Mohammed Ballas/AP]

Published On 21 May 202221 May 2022

Israeli troops shot and killed a teenage Palestinian boy as they raided the northern city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry and local media said.

The health ministry identified the dead teen as Amjad al-Fayyed, 17. It said an 18-year-old Palestinian was in a critical condition after being wounded by Israeli gunfire.

“A 17-year-old boy was killed and an 18-year-old was critically wounded by the Israeli occupation’s bullets during its aggression on Jenin,” the ministry said in a statement.

Local media reported confrontations erupted outside Jenin’s refugee camp when Israeli forces stormed the area, and al-Fayyed was hit by about a dozen rounds fired into the upper part of his body.

The Israeli military said Palestinian suspects fired on its soldiers and threw fire bombs at them. “The soldiers responded with live fire toward the suspects. Hits were identified,” the military said.

It was not immediately clear whether the teen killed was one of those suspects.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group described the teenager as one of its members and said he had taken part in the fighting against the Israeli soldiers. Photos circulated on social media showed him holding a rifle.

A hub of armed Palestinian groups, the Jenin area has been repeatedly raided by Israeli forces since a wave of attacks in late March, with many of the perpetrators coming from there. Operations to track down suspects and clashes with Palestinians have often turned deadly for both sides.

Relatives of 17-year-old Palestinian Amjad al-Fayed wait to see his body outside a hospital morgue in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin [Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP]

‘Thorough and transparent’ investigation

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the killing.

“We warn against the consequences of the occupation’s continued crimes against our people. We urge the international community to condemn them and hold the perpetrators accountable,” Shtayyeh said in a statement.

Immediately after the announcement of al-Fayyed’s killing, a march began in front of Ibn Sina Hospital in the city, in which mourners carried his body on their shoulders and roamed the streets.

The number of Palestinians killed in Jenin since the beginning of 2022 has reached 20.

Israel says it carries out “counterterrorism activities” to detain wanted fighters and planners of recent deadly attacks in the occupied West Bank and Israel.

On May 11, Shireen Abu Akleh, a veteran Palestinian-American journalist for Al Jazeera Media Network was killed by Israeli forces while covering an Israeli raid in Jenin. Israel accused Palestinian fighters of firing at the journalist but backtracked later.

On Thursday, the Israeli military announced it will not conduct an investigation, saying a probe that treats Israeli soldiers as suspects will lead to opposition within Israeli society.

The US State Department renewed calls for a “thorough and transparent” investigation, but stopped short of calling for an independent probe.

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Israeli forces kill Palestinian teen during clash, group says

Walid Al-Omari, Al Jazeera’s Palestine bureau chief, holds the flak jacket that Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh was wearing when she was killed during an Israeli raid in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 11, 2022. ― Reuters pic

Saturday, 21 May 2022 3:18 PM MYT

RAMALLAH, West Bank, May 21 ― Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian youth in clashes in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said.

The Israeli military said Palestinian suspects fired on its soldiers and threw fire-bombs at them. “The soldiers responded with live fire toward the suspects. Hits were identified,” the military said.

It was not immediately clear whether the teen killed was one of those suspects. The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed his death.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group described the teen as one of its members and said he had taken part in the fighting against the Israeli soldiers. Photos circulated on social media showed him holding a rifle.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the killing. “We warn against the consequences of the occupation’s continued crimes against our people. We urge the international community to condemn them and hold the perpetrators accountable,” Shtayyeh said in a statement.

Israel has stepped up its incursions in the Jenin area since late March, following a string of deadly attacks in its cities, some of which were carried out by Palestinians from Jenin, which is considered a militant stronghold.

The Palestinian Authority regularly condemns Israeli raids in Palestinian cities and villages.

The Israeli operations have often sparked clashes. At least 46 Palestinians, around a quarter of them in Jenin, have been killed by Israeli forces or armed civilians since the beginning of the year. The casualties include armed members of militant groups, lone assailants and bystanders.

On May 11, Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American and a veteran reporter for the Qatari-based Al Jazeera TV network, was shot dead in Jenin during an Israeli raid, in an incident that has drawn international concern. An Israeli soldier was killed in clashes there two days later.

The Palestinians accuse Israel of assassinating Abu Akleh and have called for an international response. Israel has denied targeting her, saying she may have been shot accidentally by a soldier or a Palestinian gunman as they exchanged fire.

Since March, Palestinians and members of Israel’s Arab minority have killed 18 people, including civilians, police officers and a security guard in Israel and West Bank. ― Reuters

WHAT TESLA CAN'T DO

Nissan and Mitsubishi unveil EV cars priced at less than $15,000

Manufacturers hope they will cater to Japan's fast-growing 'kei-car' segment

A Nissan Sakura electric vehicle (left) and a Mitsubishi eK X EV at the Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima plant in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Bloomberg

Bloomberg
May 20, 2022

Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors have unveiled two new electric mini vehicles, betting consumers will embrace a battery-powered take on the well-loved class of tiny, affordable Japanese cars.

Marking a key push into a less-served part of the EV market that could help spur wider adoption, the chiefs of the car makers took the wraps off Nissan’s Sakura and Mitsubishi’s eK X EV on Friday.

The boxy EVs are set to go on sale in Japan this summer, at a starting price of less than $15,000

 .
The interior of a Mitsubishi eK X EV. Bloomberg

Small and affordable “kei” mini vehicles are a popular means of transportation in Japan, especially among workers and families living outside major cities, where roads are narrow and public transport is sparse.

In 2020, they made up more than a third of new passenger car registrations in Japan.


“What Nissan and Mitsubishi are doing, this is the way it should be,” said Takeshi Miyao, an analyst at automotive consultancy Carnorama, referring to their alliance that also includes Renault, and which has been strained in recent years.

“This technology is going to be beneficial for the alliance.”

As Japan’s government pushes for the country to go net-zero emissions by 2050, the kei-car segment has been highlighted as one that’s especially difficult to electrify.

Industry officials have warned adding batteries to kei cars could push their prices out of traditional buyers’ reach

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A Nissan Sakura electric vehicle at the Mizushima plant in Kurashiki, Okayama prefecture, Japan. Bloomberg

The cost of buying kei EVs should eventually fall to less than 1.5 million yen ($11,700), according to Mr Miyao. Nissan and Mitsubishi’s joint models get pretty close. After subsidies, both cars start at around 1.8m yen.

While that’s on the expensive side for the category, Japanese car makers have been nudging prices higher in recent years, as they’ve added more features and safety technology.

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The vehicles developed by the car makers’ NMKV joint venture are fitted with small 20 kilowatt-hour batteries, giving them “enough cruising range to meet daily needs", Nissan chief executive Makoto Uchida said at an event in Okayama, in Chugoku region.

“I hope many customers will be able to experience the benefits electric vehicles can offer.”

Other car makers — including Honda Motor and Daihatsu Motor, a unit of Toyota Motor — are crafting plans to roll out their own electric mini models within the next few years, which could accelerate Japan’s relatively slow embrace of EVs.

Updated: May 20, 2022