Turkey has no intention of seizing Syrian Kurdish territory, Erdogan says

Posted on August 19, 2022 by Editorial Staff in Kurdistan

ISTANBUL,— Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey does not intend to seize any Syrian territory despite stepping up its attacks against Kurdish forces in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava).

Erdogan’s comments came days after a Turkish air strikes on a Syrian border post run by regime forces reportedly killed 17 fighters.

A war monitor confirmed that both Kurdish fighters manning Syrian border posts and regime forces were killed in Turkish airstrikes.

The official Syrian news agency said three government soldiers died.

Turkey said it was responding to a strike on its own positions along the border that killed two soldiers.

The exchange of fire marked one of the largest escalations since Ankara and Damascus traded attacks in 2020.

Erdogan appeared to try and calm the tensions in comments to reporters on board his return flight from his first wartime visit to Ukraine.

“We do not have eyes on the territory of Syria because the people of Syria are our brothers,” Turkish media quoted Erdogan as saying.

“The regime must be aware of this.”

Erdogan has for several months threatened to launch new military offensive against Kurdish fighters in Syrian Kurdistan, the Kurdish region in northern Syria, which include the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which were an essential component of an international coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group.

Erdogan’s visit to Ukraine came two weeks after he flew to Sochi for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin that also covered Syria.

Putin’s support was instrumental in helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad survive an 11-year conflict against rebel groups backed in part by Turkey.

Erdogan said he told Putin that he wanted to cooperate more closely with Russia in northern Syrian regions where Ankara has been targeting Kurds it views as “terrorists”.

“We are in contact with Russia on every step that we take in Syria,” Erdogan said.

Reproachment with Assad?

The border clash came with fears mounting that Turkey may be preparing to launch its fourth cross-border offensive against Kurdish forces since 2016.

Erdogan accuses the Kurdish fighters in Syrian Kurdistan — allied with the United States against Islamic State jihadists — as outlawed militants with links to groups waging a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state.

He repeated his catchphrase on Friday that Turkish forces could strike Syrian Kurds “suddenly one night”.

But he also hinted that Turkey may be open to a possible reproachment with Assad after fiercely opposing his regime.

“There should be no resentment in politics,” Erdogan was quoted as saying.

He pointed out that Turkey had made up with its one-time rivals Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in the past few years.

“We need to secure further steps with Syria,” he said without fully explaining what those might involve.

Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu sparked protests in northern Syrian regions under Ankara’s control last week by calling for a “reconciliation” between rebel groups it backs and Assad.

He also revealed last year holding his first brief meeting with a Syrian foreign minister since 2011.

“You should always be at peace,” Erdogan said on Friday. “You should have the opportunity to meet at any time.”

Ankara has conducted three incursions into northern Syria since 2016, seizing hundreds of kilometers of Kurdish land and pushing some 30 km deep into the country, in operations targeting mainly the U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG militia.

In 2016, the Turkish troops entered the Kurdish northern Syria in an area some 100 km east of Afrin to stop the Kurdish YPG forces from extending areas under their control and connecting Syrian Kurdistan’s Kobani and Hasaka in the east with Afrin canton in the west.

In January 2018, Turkish military forces backed pro-Ankara Syrian mercenary fighters to clear the YPG from its northwestern enclave of Afrin. In March 2018, the operation was completed with the capture of the Kurdish city of Afrin. The flags of Turkey and Syrian rebel groups were raised in the Kurdish Afrin city and a statue of a Kurdish hero Kawa, a symbol of resistance against oppressors for all Kurds worldwide, was torn down.

In 2019, an incursion into Syrian Kurdistan against the YPG drew widespread international condemnation, prompting Finland, Sweden and others to restrict arms sales to Turkey.

Rights groups and displaced Kurdish families have accused Ankara-backed Syrian Islamic mercenary fighters of executions, home confiscations and looting in that border strip.

The worldwide-respected PYD-led Autonomous Administration in Syrian Kurdistan has a secular decentralized self-rule, where equality between men and women, direct democracy, and environmental responsibility are emphasized.

In 2013, the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party PYD — the political branch of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) — has established three autonomous Cantons of Jazeera, Kobani and Afrin and a Kurdish government across Syrian Kurdistan in 2013. On March 17, 2016, Kurdish and Arab authorities announced the creation of a “federal region” made up of those semi-autonomous regions in Syrian Kurdistan. Turkey on January 20, 2018 launched an operation against the YPG in the Kurdish canton of Afrin and on March 18, the Turkish troops supporting Syrian Islamic mercenary fighters drove the YPG out of Afrin city.

On September 6, 2018, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria was proclaimed in Ain Issa. Since then, the Autonomous Administration has been responsible for implementing the model of democratic confederalism in the municipalities and regions in North-East Syria.

The Kurdish Democratic Union Party PYD and its powerful military wing YPG/YPJ, considered the most effective fighting force against IS in Syria and U.S. has provided them with arms. The YPG, which is the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces SDF forces, has seized swathes of Syria from Islamic State.

The Kurdish forces expelled the Islamic State from its last patch of territory in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz in March 2019. An estimated 12,000 suspected IS members are still held in Kurdish prisons since 2019.

So far over 11,000 Kurdish male and female fighters had been killed in five years of war to eliminate the Islamic State “caliphate” that once covered an area the size of Great Britain in Syria and Iraq.

Copyright © 2022, respective author or news agency, Ekurd.net | AFP | Agencies

Joe Biden’s response to Omar Sindi’s letter regarding Turkey’s military operations in Iraqi Kurdistan

Posted on August 4, 2022 by Omar Sindi 

NEW YORK,— A letter from the US President Joe Biden in response Omar Sindi’s letter in regard of Turkish deforestation in Iraqi Kurdistan.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Washington
July 20, 2022

Mr. Omar Sindi Annandale, Virginia

Dear Mr. Sindi,

Thank you for writing to me about U.S. foreign policy. I appreciate the time you took to write, and I welcome the opportunity to respond.

The challenges facing our world today demonstrate how interconnected we are and how the fates of all people are bound up together. The outbreak of a virus overseas can cause profound grief and suffering at home. Conflict a continent away can create unrest that endangers our own security. Economic downturns abroad can mean lost jobs and shuttered businesses in towns across America. Global climate change is already worsening hurricanes in the Gulf, floods in the heartland, and wildfires in the West. No country can solve these problems alone, and America cannot afford to be absent from the world stage. Investing in strengthening our leadership abroad is also an investment in bolstering our security and prosperity at home.

As President, I am determined to repair our alliances, renew our leadership in international institutions, reclaim our credibility, and equip the American middle class to succeed in a global economy. I strongly believe that our Nation is better positioned than any other to lead in the 21st century and to be the greatest force for good in the world. Under my Administration, American political and economic leadership will be rooted in our most cherished values: defending freedom, championing opportunity, upholding universal rights, respecting the rule of law, and treating every person with dignity.

We have returned diplomacy to the center of our foreign policy and are committed to meeting today’s global challenges from a position of strength, working in close cooperation with our allies and partners. I also want to be clear that I will never hesitate to defend the American people or our vital interests, including through the use of force when necessary. We will always stand with our friends around the world to protect our values and to advance peace, security, and prosperity for all.

I appreciate you sharing your views with me, and I will keep your perspective on these important issues in mind as we work to meet the challenges of our time. May God bless America, and may God protect our troops, our diplomats, our development experts, and all those serving in harm’s way.

Sincerely,

Joe Biden.

Omar Sindi, a senior writer, analyst and columnist for Ekurd.net, Washington, United State

Iranian Kurdish PDKI, KDPI parties reunite after 16 years split

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Editorial Staff 

HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan region,— The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party – Iran (KDP-I) on Sunday announced their reunification after they split nearly 16 years ago, calling the reunion “a new stage” in their opposition to the Iranian state.

“Today, the Democratic Party is ending an unpleasant period in its history by regaining its unity,” read a joint statement from both parties, adding that the reunion “will be the beginning of a new stage in the struggle of this party against the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran and against any centrist mentality that denies Iran’s multi-ethnicity and the national rights of different components in Iran.”

The PDKI is a Kurdish opposition party that has waged an on-and-off armed war against the Iranian government since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The party split following its 13th congress in 2006, but the PDKI and KDPI have been engaged in several rounds of unification talks over the years.

The statement said that the reunion has been one of the “legitimate demands and sacred wishes” of the people of Iran’s western Kurdish region (Rojhelat), adding that senior members of both sides have never dismissed the idea of reunification, but have considered it “a goal” and not just “a possibility”.

Going forward, the party’s organizations and bodies will reunite and resume under the name of the PDKI and through the “guidance of a common leadership” and “bilateral agreements,” the statement highlighted.

The PDKI was founded in Rojhelat’s Mahabad by Kurdish leader Qazi Muhammad in 1946 under the name of the Democratic Party.

In the 1980s, it fought alongside other Kurdish parties in a war against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Crops (IRGC) and other security forces in Iran’s Kurdish region when larger opposition eventually forced them out. Since that decade, they have been based in the Kurdistan Region prompting Iran to shell areas in the Region in what it says are efforts to target the group.

The reunification of both parties comes after a rights organization recently reported that Iran has stationed a large number of troops, armed with heavy weaponry, on the border areas between Iran and the Kurdistan Region, in an attempt to “infiltrate” the Region’s borders.

Kurdish armed groups, such as PJAK, Komala and KDPI have been in conflict with the Iranian government for decades, and are seeking greater autonomy in Iranian Kurdistan. These armed Kurdish groups are widely spread across the 60-kilometer border with neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Ever since its emergence in 1979 the Islamic regime imposed discriminatory rules and laws against the Kurds in all social, political and economic fields.

Iran’s Kurdish minority live mainly in the west and north-west of the country. They experience discrimination in the enjoyment of their religious, economic and cultural rights.

Parents are banned from registering their babies with certain Kurdish names, and religious minorities that are mainly or partially Kurdish are targeted by measures designed to stigmatize and isolate them.

Kurds are also discriminated against in their access to employment, adequate housing and political rights, and so suffer entrenched poverty, which has further marginalized them.

Kurdish human rights defenders, community activists, and journalists often face arbitrary arrest and prosecution. Others – including some political activists – suffer torture, grossly unfair trials before Revolutionary Courts and, in some cases, the death penalty.

Estimate to over 12 million Kurds live in Iranian Kurdistan.

Copyright © 2022, respective author or news agency, Ekurd.net | rudaw.net | Agencies

Iranian Kurdish Komala Rebels Call for International Solidarity

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Editorial Staff 


Marcel Cartier | Exclusive to Ekurd.net

In recent weeks, attacks on Kurdistan have intensified.

Some have made international headlines, such as Turkey’s bombardment of a resort in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Zakho on July 20, which killed nine and injured thirty-three. There has also been speculation of a new Turkish military invasion of Rojava, or Syrian Kurdistan, causing concern about a possible deterioration of the security situation across the whole of the region.

However, little has been written in the western press about developments concerning the part of Kurdish soil often forgotten – that of Rojhelat, or Iranian Kurdistan. Over the past few weeks, there has been a renewed push by Iran’s clerical regime to tie the Kurdish resistance to foreign powers, namely Israel.

These accusations have come after Iran’s security institutions first reported the arrest of ten people in late July. This news happened to coincide with the ambushing of four members of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan in Urmia, a city in the West Azerbaijan province.

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry rushed to link the Kurdish rebels to an international conspiracy, proclaiming that “A network of Mossad elements, which penetrated Iran from the Kurdistan region to engage in terrorist and sabotage operations in sensitive centers in Iran… were arrested.”

Komala is a leftist organisation that dates back to 1969, originally taking its place in the resistance against the Shah. As a Kurdish component part of an Iranian-wide socialist movement, it participated enthusiastically in the 1979 revolution, and then waged a protracted struggle against the establishment of an Islamic Republic. Komala would continue to engage in combat with Ayatollah Khomenini’s forces throughout the 1980s.

However, over the past several decades, Komala has largely operated from territory inside Iraqi Kurdistan. From there, it continues to train and graduate new Peshmerga military recruits, although it claims this is for the purpose of self-defense rather than offensive warfare against the Iranian state.

When I visited Komala’s headquarters last year, they were keen to point out that although Peshmerga are often deployed on missions inside Iranian Kurdistan, these have an agitational rather than a military basis. For instance, distributing literature to Kurdish villagers is considered an important task.

Siamak Modarresi, Komala’s Deputy Secretary General, made clear that this was the case with the latest arrest of Komala members, saying “They were unarmed, without any weapons. Their mission was not of any sort of a military character. They were on the way to contact people inside Iran to organise them. These kinds of missions are very common in our party. We’ve been in touch with our people inside Iran mainly like this for decades.”

The Islamic Republic, however, presented photos of square-shaped furniture it said was captured from the Komala detainees that had guns and explosives hidden inside. They alleged that the purpose of their mission was to “bomb a sensitive defence industry centre in the country” and that the planning was coordinated by Israel’s Mossad.

The accusation that Komala is acting as a “proxy of the Zionist regime,” as Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has put it, is nothing new. According to Modarresi, these assertions go back decades to the very foundation of the Islamic Republic.

“Since their very first month as rulers of Iran, they accused all their opponents of being foreigner collaborators and agents. They have tried make such confessions by torture. In nearly all cases, the people who confessed later retracted these confessions after that after they reached a safe haven in other countries.”

The claim of Komala being an agent of foreign powers certainly has many historical parallels. In fact, alleging revolutionaries to be a “fifth column” working on behalf of an external enemy appears to be one of the oldest tricks in the political handbook.

During the Cold War era in the United States, socialists and communists were accused of having their strings pulled by the Soviet Union. Today, those who seek to criticise NATO in the west are branded as Russian agents. Even Vladimir Lenin was labelled as an agent of the German Empire rather than someone with sincere motivations rooted in the working-class struggle.

In all cases, the objective is to delegitimise the actual rationale behind the social movements or causes in question. Indeed, if Kurdish militants are nothing but pawns of Israel, there is no need to address the national oppression faced by Kurds in Iran, who suffer from disproportionate poverty and unemployment, not to mention widespread executions. In fact, the Iranian state refuses to brand Komala as anything other than “separatists,” even though even the most elementary look at their positions clearly indicates that they favour a democratic and federal Iran, not independence for the Kurdistan province. This is most clearly manifested in Komala’s participation in the Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran, which includes organisations from other oppressed components inside the country such as the Baloch, Azeri, and Ahwazi.

For Komala, there is concern that Iran is gearing up for what it will present as retribution against the party. Modarresi says this is something he is certain of, although “how and to what extent remains to be seen in the future.” Iran has also said that it will hold others accountable, including the Iraqi Kurdish administration that hosts Komala. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber Force warned on July 28th that “punishing the aggressors is on the agenda, because the redlines of Iran’s national security were crossed, planned by Mossad, executed by terrorist groups based in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, and aided by the Iraqi Kurdistan leadership.”

Iran has executed several Komala members, as well as those accused of membership, in recent years. In one fairly high-profile case in 2018, the Iranian authorities hung Ramin Hossein Panahi, even after an international outcry that presented his case as littered with human rights abuses from the time of his arrest the previous year.

During these difficult times, what Modarresi considers to be vital is the solidarity of progressive people across the world. “They can do a lot,” he says. “They can contact the human rights authorities and demand that they support the Kurds of Iran – and especially that they are able to access the arrested and prevent them from being tortured, so that there can be a fair trial for them.”

Despite the ongoing threats, the Komala Party seems largely undeterred by the latest accusations that have been leveled at them, posting new photos on numerous social media accounts of the latest graduation ceremony of Peshmerga recruits at their headquarters.

As Modarresi puts it, “We are very popular among people. Komala has found roots more and more especially among the young people. This is perhaps one of the reasons for the regime’s sensitivity and attitude towards us.”

Marcel Cartier is an American hip-hop artist, journalist, filmmaker, writer, and political commentator based in Germany. He has reported on Kurdish nationalism and recording the experiences of anti-ISIS fighters belonging to the YPG and YPJ militias during the Rojava–Islamist conflict. His first book Serkeftin became one of the first major accounts by an English-speaking journalist to gain access to the civil structures created by Kurdish militants in Rojava. You can follow him on Twitter @Cartier_Marcel.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Ekurd.net or its editors.

Copyright © 2022 Ekurd.net. All rights reserved

Vodafone to sell Hungarian arm in £1.5bn deal

August Graham
Mon, August 22, 2022 

(PA) (PA Archive)

Vodafone has said it plans to sell its Hungarian arm in a £1.5 billion deal with a domestic company.

The telecommunications giant said it had “entered into heads of terms” – similar to a letter of intent – for the deal.

It would see Hungarian company 4iG take over Vodafone Hungary.

4iG will pay 715 billion Hungarian forints (£1.5 billion), which is 9.1 times its Ebitdaal (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, after leases) for the last financial year.

Bosses said the deal fits well with the hopes of the Hungarian government to create a large locally owned telecommunications giant.

After the purchase, 4iG will be the second biggest mobile and fixed communications company in Hungary.

Vodafone chief executive Nick Read said: “The Hungarian government has a clear strategy to build a Hungarian-owned national champion in the ICT (information and communications technology) sector.

“This combination with 4iG will allow Vodafone Hungary, which has a proud history of success and innovation in the country, to play a major role in the future growth and development of the sector as a much stronger scaled and fully converged operator.

“The combined entity will increase competition and have greater access to investment to further the digitalisation of Hungary.”

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: “It is clear the Hungary government is keen to build its own national telecoms champion with Vodafone prepared to take the cash in exchange for the spin-off.

“In November last year Vodafone’s CEO Nick Read said he was pursuing consolidation in Europe.

“Now the telecoms giant can focus more of its attention on Germany instead, a market it considers to be the most attractive on the continent.

“There is also M&A (mergers and acquisitions) potential for Vodafone in the UK amid recent reports that it considered a merger with Three’s UK division.

“Vodafone’s share price has been in long-term decline, halving since the peak in January 2018, but it still offers an attractive dividend yield.”

Nation branding: how Ukraine turned advertising into a weapon

Kyiv is the first to launch an official nation branding campaign in the midst of war

22 AUG 2022


A woman walks past large ‘Bravery is Ukrainian brand’ adverts in central Kyiv
Oleksii Chumachenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Nadia Kaneva, an associate professor at the University of Denver, on Ukraine’s ​communication strategy to keep the world focused on its fight against Russia.

When a preview of Vogue’s October 2022 cover story on Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska hit Twitter last month, reactions on social media were swift and polarised. Some critics said that a photo shoot by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz for a fashion magazine was a “bad idea” and glamorised war.

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Others lauded the magazine and Ukraine’s first lady for bringing awareness to the suffering of Ukrainians, five months after Russia first invaded its neighbouring country.

In the cover photo, 44-year-old Zelenska wears a cream-coloured blouse with rolled up sleeves, black trousers and flats. She sits on the stairs of the Ukrainian Parliament, leaning forward with hands intertwined between her knees. Her makeup is minimal, her hair casually tossed as she looks directly at the camera. Within hours Ukrainian women started using the hashtag #sitlikeagirl to share photos of themselves in the same pose as a show of solidarity.

Vogue’s profile of Zelenska, headlined “A Portrait of Bravery” and written by journalist Rachel Donadio, fits into a larger communication strategy, mounted by Ukraine’s government, that’s intended to keep the world focused on the country’s fight against Russian aggression. As part of that effort, Ukraine also initiated a nation branding campaign in April with the tagline “Bravery. To be Ukraine.”

As a communications scholar, I have studied how former communist countries like Ukraine have used marketing strategies to burnish their international reputations over the past two decades – a practice known as nation branding.

Ukraine, however, is the first country to launch an official nation branding campaign in the midst of war. For the first time, brand communication is a key part of a country’s response to a military invasion.

Nation branding and the end of communism

The idea that nations can be branded emerged at the beginning of the 21st century. This kind of work uses advertising, public relations and marketing techniques to boost countries’ international reputations. Campaigns are often timed to coincide with major sporting, cultural or political events – like the Olympics.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, formerly communist Eastern European countries were particularly eager to rebrand themselves and get an updated international image.

When Estonian musicians won the international singing competition Eurovision in 2001, Estonia became the first post-Soviet country to hold this prize. Subsequently, the country’s government hired an international advertising company to design a modern national brand for Estonia as it prepared to host Eurovision the following year.

Research has shown, however, that former communist countries’ nation branding efforts were not meant just for international consumption. They also provided a new way to talk about national identities at home, and re-imagine national values and goals, via marketing terms.

But until 2022, no country had used nation branding to fight a war.

‘Bravery is our brand’

Executives from the Ukrainian advertising agency Banda first pitched the idea for Ukraine’s Bravery Campaign to the government shortly after Russia invaded in February 2022. Based in Kyiv and Los Angeles, the agency had already worked before the war on government-sponsored campaigns, marketing Ukraine as a tourism and investment destination.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy endorsed the wartime branding campaign and publicly announced its launch on 7 April 2022, in a video address. “Bravery is our brand,” he stated. “This is what it means to be us. To be Ukrainians. To be brave.”

In the following months, Banda produced numerous messages in formats ranging from billboards, posters and online videos, to social media posts, T-shirts and stickers. A campaign website offers downloadable logos and photographs and asks visitors to share the message of bravery and donate to Ukraine.

Some billboards feature images of courageous, ordinary Ukrainians and soldiers. Other billboards are emblazoned with bold slogans in the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag. They urge audiences to “Be brave like Ukraine” and say that “Bravery lives forever.”

Inside Ukraine, the campaign’s messages appear on everything from juice bottles to 500 billboards in 21 cities. The campaign is also running in the US, United Kingdom, Canada and 17 countries in Europe, including Germany, Spain and Sweden, according to AdAge.

This massive communication effort is happening at a minimal cost to Ukraine. Banda is donating its services, and the Ukrainian government pays only for production costs. Media space, including high-profile billboards in Times Square and other major cities, was donated by several global media companies.

Branding as a weapon of war

Banda’s co-founder, Pavel Vrzheshch, has said the campaign aims to strengthen Ukrainians’ morale as they continue to fight Russia. But the focus on bravery is also about Ukraine’s future, he says.

“The whole world admires the Ukrainian bravery now, we must consolidate this notion and have it represent Ukraine forever,” Vrzheshch said in a media interview.

At its core, the campaign attempts to transform an intangible value, like bravery, into an asset that can be converted into real military, economic and moral support. In other words, it aims to cultivate positive public opinion in the West that will support further aid to Ukraine in order to help fight the war.

This way of using brand communication in a war is unprecedented in at least three ways.

First, rather than relying only on diplomatic channels to seek international support, Ukraine is harnessing popular media and social media networks to speak directly to citizens of other countries. It gives ordinary people around the world a chance to show solidarity through donations or by sharing campaign messages and pressuring their government to support Ukraine.

A formal brand campaign also allows Ukraine to extend the visibility of the war beyond news coverage. As the conflict continues, it is likely to fade from news headlines in international media. But billboards, social media posts and the strategic use of entertainment publications like Vogue can keep it in front of audiences.

Finally, the best brand messages connect with consumers by inviting them to imagine better versions of themselves. Famous ad slogans like Nike’s “Just do it” or Apple’s “Think different” illustrate this idea. So does Ukraine’s call to people around the world to “Be brave like Ukraine.”

It is notoriously difficult to measure the effectiveness of nation branding campaigns, as brand consultants point out. The process is costly and time-consuming, and results are often contested.

The direct impact of the Brave Campaign may not be clear for months to come. It is also not clear how long its message will continue to resonate. But it is clear that Ukraine is transforming nation branding into a new propaganda weapon, adapted for the age of consumer culture and constant media stimulation.

Nadia Kaneva, Associate Professor, University of Denver

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

NORTHERN CANADA

Raglan Mine preparing for ‘longer conflict’ as strike nears 3-month mark
Yesterday 


Raglan Mine is preparing for an ongoing strike at the mine to last a long time.

Work at the nickel mine, located in Nunavik, came to a halt May 27 after 630 members of the United Steelworkers union voted to strike. The union and Glencore Group, the mine’s parent company, had been trying to negotiate a new collective agreement since the end of March.

Next week the strike will enter the three-month mark.

Raglan Mine is now getting ready for winter with a lower level of production due to the absence of unionized staff, said mine spokesperson Amélie Rouleau.

“We are preparing the site and our teams for a longer conflict,” she said.

Work is underway to get the concentrator, which begins the raw nickel refining process, running at about 25 per cent of what would be its usual operation.

With that going, the mine can continue shipping products from the raw material it has available.

Raglan Mine is located in the northeast region of the Ungava Peninsula. It is the largest employer in Nunavik, with close to 1,200 workers who rotate in and out of the mine throughout the year.

Throughout the summer, talks involving a mediator have reopened and broken down. The mediator continues to be involved in negotiations.

On July 10, Glencore presented an offer to the union. Ten days later, 76.7 per cent of members voted to reject it.

In the meantime, Raglan Mine site contractors and other non-unionized employees are taking on some of the production and site maintenance work.

“It’s obviously way slower than normal, but it’s still moving, that’s the good news,” Rouleau said.

Union representative Cimon Guy, a member of its negotiating committee, said his side is not surprised that Raglan is getting ready for winter and an increase of operations without them.

“These big companies, they have contingency plans,” Guy said.

“We expected it, they’re doing their thing, and that’s totally normal.”

This month, Makivik Corp. will start sending 2022 Raglan Trust cheques to Nunavik beneficiaries. The money is contributed by the mine to Makivik.

The amount Makivik sends out through the trust cheques varies depending on profits at the mine.

According to Rouleau, the strike should not have an impact on this year’s cheques, but it might next year.

“It does have an impact for our host communities and that’s why we’ve been trying to minimize, as much as possible, the impact,” Rouleau said.

Despite negotiations seeming to be at a standstill after nearly three months, both sides still say they are hopeful about reaching a deal, and want to put this dispute behind them.

“I just hope we can get back to negotiating and we can settle this,” Guy said.

“People, at the end of the day, they just want to work. … It’s too bad this conflict is keeping back some honest workers who just want to get the job done.”

David Venn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News

Can rivers and lakes recover from drought?

Major rivers across Europe are at their lowest levels in years, and climate change will only make things worse for aquatic ecosystems. But allowing nature to take back control can help fix some of the damage.


Rivers across Europe have hit record low water levels this summer

Europe's intense summer heat waves have brought rivers across the continent to their lowest levels in years.

Major waterways like the Rhine, Danube and Po are warming and at critically low levels, threatening agriculture, commerce, drinking water and natural ecosystems. The European Drought Observatory has reported that nearly 50% of the continent is under a drought warning, with some analysts calling it in the worst in 500 years.

As we continue to burn fossil fuels that make the planet hotter, heat waves and drought are expected to become more frequent and intense. Countries will have to adapt and deal with the consequences.
What do lower water levels and higher temperatures mean for rivers and lakes?

Lower levels aren't just bad news for our well-being — they're also detrimental to the health of rivers and lakes themselves, as well as the wildlife dependent on them.

When water levels fall, living space is restricted and plant and animal populations struggle to coexist, Jose Pablo Murillo, program officer at the Stockholm International Water Institute, told DW. Water quality declines, and ecosystems are disrupted.

And variations in both temperature and levels that are outside normal limits can "quickly increase the risk of drastic changes in the conditions of river and lake ecosystems," he said.

"This damage is not only limited to the rivers, but can extend to adjacent ecosystems upstream and downstream that depend on the services that rivers provide such as drinking water, food supply, irrigation and nutrients," Murillo added.

Because warmer waters are hospitable environments for bacteria and other pollutants, drinking water risks contamination. Lower water levels, mean it's less likely those pollutants will be diluted and washed away.

"When an ecosystem is under high stress for a long period of time it becomes increasingly difficult for it to recover," added Murillo.

Harmful algae blooms

Warmer waters also disrupt the delicate balance in aquatic ecosystems.

"Temperature is crucial for aquatic ecosystems as it influences the chemistry of water," said Murillo. "As the water temperature rises, water holds less dissolved oxygen." Without that oxygen, it becomes more challenging for the local biota — aquatic plants and animals — to survive.

Some researchers have pointed to low oxygen levels as an aggravating factor in the recent mass fish die-off in the Oder River between Germany and Poland. Historically low water levels since 2018, along with high water temperatures of around 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit), mean fish in the river are stressed.

Murillo said lower oxygen levels and increased nutrient pollution can end up stimulating the growth of freshwater algae, a process called eutrophication.

"These issues can reinforce each other," he said. "For example, higher concentrations of nutrients can result in algal blooms that decrease oxygen levels. This can lead to the death of biota, which increases the nutrient load, and so on."

Toxic algal blooms, seen here as billowing green clouds, have returned to Lake Erie

That's the case in Lake Erie, on the border between Canada and the United States, where agricultural nutrient runoff has seen the return of toxic algal blooms in the western basin. Both countries managed to cut algal blooms in the latter half of the 20th century by reducing runoff. But warmer lake waters have seen a recurrence of the algae over the last 20 years, especially in 2011, 2014 and 2015. This has created "dead zones" of depleted oxygen, causing many fish deaths.

Waterways choked with sediment

Parched, slow-moving rivers and shrinking lakes are also much more likely to see an increase in sedimentation. Loose sand, silt and other soil particles, which would otherwise be swept away, instead settle at the bottom.

This unnatural buildup of sediment destroys the area's natural habitat by preventing vegetation from growing and damaging food supplies for fish and other aquatic life. In the United States, for example, sediment pollution — from natural erosion and human land use — accounts for around $16 billion (€15.8 billion) in environmental damage every year, according to the country's Environmental Protection Agency.

Murillo pointed out that this sediment, while a potential problem in one area, might be vital to ecosystems in deltas and coastal wetlands further downstream.

"It can also affect the routes of fish that migrate upstream or the availability of food for wildlife that live by rivers and lakes," he said.
How can we help rivers and lakes to recover?

Scientists are clear that we must cut climate-altering emissions to address the root causes of drought and extreme heat. But even if we immediately address these challenges, the effects on our waterways will still be felt for decades to come.

There are, however, some things that can be done to give lakes and rivers a helping hand.

One way to keep rivers from overheating is to make sure they're shaded. Over the past decade, a UK initiative called Keeping Rivers Cool — launched by the Environment Agency government body — has planted more than 300,000 trees along the banks of rivers and streams across the country.

Maintaining shade is good for waterways — and fish

These trees help shade the watercourses and bring temperatures in small rivers down by an average of 2 to 4 degrees Celsius (up to 7 degrees Fahrenheit) — welcome relief for brown trout and salmon populations. One demonstration site along the Ribble River in the northwest recorded shaded areas that were up to 6 degrees cooler on hot days.

The trees also provide a habitat for native plant and animal species, prevent erosion and filter out sediment and pollution before they reach the water.
Reverting rivers to their natural state

Heavily modified rivers are less resilient to global heating and are not able to hold water in droughts and floods. Restoring their natural flow and condition is one solution. That can be achieved by removing unused dams, weirs and other barriers, allowing the water to flow freely once again.

That's a major task in Europe. According to 2020 data, the continent is home to at least 1.2 million barriers fragmenting rivers and streams.

Rewilding rivers, like the Eau Blanche in Belgium, can also benefit the surrounding ecosystem

Dam Removal Europe, a coalition of environment groups that include the World Wildlife Fund, the World Fish Migration Foundation and Rewilding Europe, recorded the removal of at least 239 barriers in 17 European countries in 2021, with Spain, France and Sweden leading the way.

It's one of many groups across the continent helping to bring rivers back to a more natural state, along with adjacent wetlands and marshes. Often, native fish and plant species are quick to reestablish themselves once barriers have been removed.

"There are many ways for us to help rivers recover. Overall, we need to reduce the stress we impose on freshwater ecosystems," said Murillo.

He added that it was essential to consider a "more holistic management of these ecosystems," one that takes into account how extensively our lakes, rivers, streams and oceans are interlinked and dependent on each other.

DROUGHT: GERMANY'S RIVERS DYING OF THIRST

A matter of draft

When fully loaded, the entire black part of a cargo ship's hull rests under the water. But this is currently not possible on many German rivers. Now, cargo ships may only be partially loaded. And if the load falls below a certain level, transport by ship is no longer worthwhile.

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Edited by: Jennifer Collins

UK inflation will hit 18% in early 2023, says leading bank Citi

Forecasts updated after 25% and 7% rally in gas and electricity prices respectively last week

Citi expects the consumer prices index to breach 18% in the first quarter of 2023, the first time since 1976. 

Photograph: Aleksander Kalka/Zuma Press/Rex/Shutterstock


Alex Lawson and Rowena Mason

Mon 22 Aug 2022 

Inflation in the UK will hit 18% early next year as consumers count the cost of the deepening energy crisis, one of the world’s biggest banks has predicted.

The US financial services group Citi said it expected the consumer prices index to breach 18% in the first quarter of 2023, while the retail prices index inflation rate would soar to 21%.

Citi’s prediction is significantly higher than previous modelling of the impact of rising costs. Earlier this month the Bank of England said it expected inflation to reach 13% by the end of the year, while the Resolution Foundation thinktank has forecast it could reach as high as 15% by early 2023.

The last time UK inflation reached 18% was in 1976 when an oil supply shock ripped through the global economy and left the UK seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.

The climbing forecasts have put pressure on the Conservative leadership candidates to say how they would tackle inflation. Liz Truss released a plan to “put the West Midlands at the heart of our economic revival” on Monday night, without mentioning inflation. Rishi Sunak set out his own plans to make the UK a science superpower and to replace the Horizon research programme, from which Britain has been frozen out after Brexit. But his campaign had earlier warned that Truss’s plans for tax cuts could create an “inflation spiral”.

Labour said inflation was a global problem but “worse in the UK than elsewhere due to Conservative mismanagement over the past 12 years”.

Pat McFadden, the shadow Treasury minister, said: “With each passing day there is a new survey saying energy prices will rise even higher than expected and with them, inflation too. People simply cannot afford the rises projected to hit them in the coming months. That is why Labour has proposed freezing energy bills over the coming winter, saving households £1,000 and protecting them from rocketing prices.”

Citi is highly regarded for its economic forecasting, working with the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank on its regular “green budget” analysis.

Benjamin Nabarro, the chief UK economist at Citi, said its forecasts had been updated after a 25% and 7% rise in UK gas and electricity prices respectively last week.

Conditions in the gas market worsened on Monday in response to Russian state-owned operator Gazprom announcing unscheduled maintenance on the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline into Europe.

The price of gas for next-day delivery to the UK shot up 37% to 495p a therm at one point, the highest since March. The month-ahead gas price touched record highs, up 16% to 540p a therm.

In Europe, the gas price according to the TTF benchmark rose more than 10% to a high of €290 (£245) a megawatt hour, and in France the year-ahead electricity price surged to more than €800 a megawatt hour, up from just over €100 at the start of the year.

Citi predicts typical dual-fuel tariff energy bills will hit £3,717 in October, higher than most forecasts of between £3,500 and £3,700. Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, will announce the level of the next price cap on Friday.

The US bank predicted that the cap would rise to £4,567 in January – about £300 higher than some forecasts – before reaching £5,816 in April.

Energy bills have rocketed this year as high wholesale gas prices, in part down to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have fed through into bills.

The government is examining options to tackle the crisis, including ramping up an existing support package, which gives £400 to every household from October, and a “tariff deficit scheme” pushed by suppliers.

Bill Bullen, the chief executive of Utilita, on Monday called for the Conservative party to end its leadership contest early so that the energy crisis could be tackled immediately.

Citi said it expected at least a £300 reduction in bills as a result of an anticipated cut to VAT on household energy bills and a suspending of green levies on bills.

However, it added: “In reality, any government response to this is likely to involve substantially more fiscal firepower (around £40bn in our view).”

Citi analysts said offsetting the energy increase in full would cost £30bn, equivalent to 1.4% GDP, for the next six months. The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has presented a £29bn plan to freeze bills for six months.

Analysts at RBC said global gas traders including Shell would benefit from higher prices, as well as the power station owner Drax and the energy group SSE.

On Monday, Europe was due to receive its first cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Australia in six years, arriving at the Isle of Grain terminal in Kent. The Attalos gas tanker was poised to bring in LNG for use immediately in the UK as well as export to Europe.

Asked about the possibility of blackouts this winter, Downing Street downplayed concerns. A No 10 spokesperson said: “Households, businesses and industry can be confident they will get the electricity and gas that they need over the winter. That’s because we have one of the most reliable and diverse energy systems in the world.”

She said consumers should not panic or feel they should cut down on energy use. “These decisions, in terms of energy consumption, remain decisions for individuals. But what I’m saying is that households, businesses and industry can be confident that they will have the electricity and gas that they need.”

Abbas calls for release of all Palestinians held by Israel

August 21, 2022 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on July 05, 2022 

[Algerian Presidency/Anadolu Agency]

August 21, 2022

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for the release of all Palestinian detainees from Israeli jails, Anadolu Agency reported.

"We must continue our demand for addressing the Palestinian refugee issue and the release of all the brave detainees," Abbas said at an inauguration ceremony for two charitable projects in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

According to Palestinian figures, there are nearly 4,550 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails, including 175 minors and 27 female detainees, along with 670 detainees held under the Israeli administrative detention without charge or trial.

On Saturday, Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails threatened to stage an open-ended hunger strike to protest Israeli abuses.

For years, Palestinians jailed by Israel have used hunger strike to demand better living conditions and an end to indefinite detentions.

READ: How Israel oppresses the Palestinians

Abbas vowed that the Palestinians will not leave their occupied territories.

"We will not leave out country whatsoever the conditions are," he said.

In 1993, the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel signed the Oslo agreement, which gave Palestinians a form of civil rule, but negotiations failed to complete the agreement and lead to a Palestinian state.

Peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis collapsed in April 2014 as Tel Aviv refused to stop settlement building and release Palestinian detaines imprisoned before 1993.