UK
Backlash from over 50s may force government to delay increase in state pension age to 68 until after election

BY:CITY A.M. REPORTER
Jeremy Hunt (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Plans to increase the state pension age to 68 have been delayed, according to reports.

Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride is expected to address MPs in the Commons on Thursday, when he is expected to update them on the latest statutory review on the pension age.

According to reports in the i and the Daily Express newspapers, Mr Stride will confirm that the Government will move to delay an increase to the pension age, amid falling life expectancy rates.


The state pension age is due to rise due to 68 from 2044, but reports earlier this year suggested ministers wanted to bring that forward – potentially as early as 2035.

It follows reports and speculation in recent weeks that the plan to bring forward the rise could be pushed back until after the next general election, in part due to concerns about a backlash from middle-aged voters.

A DWP spokesperson said: “The Government is required by law to regularly review the State Pension age and the next review will be published by May 7.”
State pension age and falling life expectancy

Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at AJ Bell, said: “Given we have literally seen rioting on the streets in France in response to a proposed rise in the state pension age, it comes as no surprise that the UK government has backed away from the idea of accelerating a planned rise in the UK state pension age to 68.

“The decision will come as a huge relief to people in their late 40s and early 50s who could potentially have been forced to wait an extra 12 months to receive their state pension as a result.

“Increasing the state pension age faster now would also arguably have been unfair, as average life expectancy has actually fallen recently, while forecasts of future life expectancy improvements have also been significantly scaled back. Given improving life expectancy is one of the primary justifications for raising the state pension age, accelerating the planned rise to age 68 when life expectancy has dipped would be an extremely tough sell, to put it mildly.

“However, this might not be the end of the story, with the government expected to say it will push any decision beyond the election. If life expectancy growth returns by then, the next administration will likely be left grappling with this thorny issue once again.”

Press Association – Dominic McGrath

Man offers Burger King crown to King Charles in Germany. Here's how UK monarch reacted

King Charles arrived in Germany on Wednesday for his reign's first overseas visit. Little did he know that he would be in for a surprise coronation.

India Today World Desk
New Delhi,

UPDATED: Mar 30, 2023 

King Charles greeting an onlooker in Germany. (AFP)

Britain's King Charles, during his maiden international trip since succeeding to the monarch's throne, was in for a surprise coronation when a royal fan offered him a Burger King crown made of paper.

While greeting spectators who came out to see him and Queen Camilla in Berlin, 74-year-old Charles turned down the crown that plenty of onlookers had donned in the crowd on the streets.

Videos of the funny exchange were shared widely on Twitter. As seen in one clip, the British King was shaking hands with well-wishers when a man offered to give him a Burger King crown. "This is for you if you want it," the royal fan said with a smile, to which, King Charles replied with a smile, "No, I am alright."

Charles declined the paper crown with the American fast-food chain's name printed on it and moved ahead to greet others. The man who had offered the paper crown, however, did not lower his morale and laughed instead.




King Charles arrived in Germany on Wednesday for his reign's first overseas visit and was given a ceremonial welcome by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Frau Elke Budenbender at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.

Highlighting the "generosity of spirit of the German people", the British monarch paid tribute to the nation's hospitality in hosting more than one million Ukrainian refugees.

The longest-serving member of the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, breathed her last on September 9, 2022. A prince at the time, Charles acceded to the British throne shortly after.

--- ENDS ---

Top court rules in Iran-US frozen assets case

The International Court of Justice rules on disputes between United Nations member states

 - Olaf KRAAK

by Charlotte VAN OUWERKERK
March 30, 2023 — The Hague (AFP)


The International Court of Justice will deliver its verdict Thursday on Iran's bid to unblock nearly $2 billion in assets frozen by the United States over alleged terror attacks.

Tehran dragged its arch-foe to the UN's top tribunal in 2016 after the US Supreme Court ruled the assets should be paid to survivors and relatives of attacks blamed on the Islamic Republic.

The judgement at the Hague-based ICJ comes amid tensions over recent US strikes on Iran-linked groups in Syria, plus Tehran's nuclear programme and its support for Russia's war in Ukraine.

Judges at the court, which was set up after World War II to rule on disputes between UN member states, will begin reading out their decision at 3 pm (1300 GMT).

ICJ rulings are binding and cannot be appealed but have no enforcement powers. Countries can however complain to the UN Security Council if another state fails to obey a judgement.

Iran alleged that the assets were frozen by the United States illegally, and says it needs them at a time of economic difficulties due to nuclear sanctions against Tehran.

The US Supreme Court ruled seven years ago that the assets -- $1.75 billion belonging to Iran's Central Bank plus some from Iranian firms -- should be used to compensate victims of terror attacks.

These included the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut, which killed 299 people including 241 US soldiers, and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia which killed 19 people.

- 'Unclean hands' -

But Iran denies being responsible for the attacks.

It says the US freeze breaches a "Treaty of Amity" signed by Tehran and Washington in 1955 -- long before the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the pro-US shah and severed ties with the United States.

Washington has previously tried unsuccessfully to get the lawsuit thrown out, with its lawyers alleging that Iran had "unclean hands" -- a reference to Tehran's alleged backing of terrorist groups.

The US also formally withdrew from the Treaty of Amity in 2018 after the ICJ, in a separate case, ordered Washington to lift nuclear-related sanctions on humanitarian goods for Iran.

The ICJ judgement in the frozen assets case comes against a backdrop of growing tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Tehran recently condemned US air strikes on Iran-linked forces in Syria that reportedly killed 19 people, which Washington said it carried out following a deadly drone attack on US forces on Thursday.

US President Joe Biden said after ordering the strikes that his country "does not seek conflict with Iran".

Talks have meanwhile long been deadlocked on reviving a landmark 2015 multinational accord on Iran's nuclear activity. Iran denies wanting to acquire atomic weapons.

The United States under then-president Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018 and reinstated sanctions.

Washington has also expressed concerns over Iranian military aid for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Bolsonaro returns to Brazil, complicating life for Lula


Marcelo SILVA DE SOUSA
Wed, March 29, 2023 


Three months after leaving for the United States in the final hours of his term, Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro is returning home Thursday to reenter politics -- complicating life for his successor and nemesis, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

The far-right ex-army captain, who skipped town two days before Lula's inauguration on January 1, is due to arrive back in Brasilia on a commercial flight from Orlando, Florida at 7:10 am (1010 GMT).

It is a high-stakes bet for the former president, who is facing legal trouble on various fronts in Brazil -- notably for his alleged role in inciting supporters who rioted through the halls of power on January 8 in a failed bid to oust Lula, the veteran leftist who beat him in a divisive election in October.


It threatens to be a tense day in Brasilia, where authorities vowed to block supporters from holding a huge welcome rally at the airport.

Bolsonaro, 68, is set to start a new job next week as honorary president of his Liberal Party (PL), earning 41,600 reais (around $8,000) a month.

The ex-president (2019-2022), who recently rented a house in a gated community in Brasilia, has said he plans to criss-cross Brazil "doing politics" and "upholding the banner of conservatism."

But "I'm not going to lead any opposition," Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil as he prepared to board his flight.

"I'm going to participate with my party as someone with experience."

- Return of the 'Messiah' -

Authorities in Brasilia urged Bolsonaro supporters not to rally at the airport, saying police would be out in force to keep traffic flowing smoothly.

The Liberal Party appeared ready to keep the arrival low-key, saying Bolsonaro would travel from the airport to party headquarters, where his wife, Michelle, party president Valdemar Costa Neto and "other authorities" would be waiting to greet him in a closed-door event.

But hardline Bolsonaro backers have plans of their own.

There are viral calls on social media for supporters to flood the airport to welcome the man they call "Messiah" -- or "Messias," Bolsonaro's middle name.

Some supporters are planning to hold one of the ex-president's trademark motorcycle rallies, vowing: "Brasilia will come to a halt."

"Let's pave the way for Bolsonaro's return to the presidency," YouTube star-turned-Congressman Gustavo Gayer said in a video, calling for a massive turnout.

"Bolsonaro is the face of the right in Brazil," supporter Cassia Christina told AFP in Rio de Janeiro.

"His name revived the right wing and patriotism in this country," said the 32-year-old vendor.

The homecoming could reenergize the opposition, which has been weakened by Bolsonaro's self-imposed exile and the widespread backlash to the violence and destruction of the January 8 riots, when supporters trashed the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court.

"We've had five months of a basically dismantled opposition. Now, Bolsonaro's return to Brazil looks set to unite the right," political analyst Jairo Nicolau of the Getulio Vargas Foundation told AFP.

"That could make a big difference. Lula will have to govern with a united opposition."

- Legal trouble -

But Bolsonaro faces numerous legal woes.

They include no less than five Supreme Court investigations that could potentially send him to jail -- including for allegedly inciting the January 8 riots -- and a recent scandal over allegations he tried to illegally import and keep millions of dollars' worth of jewelry given to him and his wife by Saudi Arabia in 2019.

Police summoned Bolsonaro Wednesday to give a deposition in the Saudi jewels case on April 5, officials told AFP.

He also faces 16 cases before Brazil's Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), which could strip him of his right to run for office for eight years, taking him out of the 2026 presidential race.

Bolsonaro has admitted he could face trouble.

Assessing his odds at a meeting with Brazilian business leaders in the United States earlier this month, he acknowledged he could be declared ineligible to run for office.

"But they won't send me to prison, unless there's some kind of arbitrary decision," he said.

msi/jhb/mlm/des


Bolsonaro: the Brazilian far-right's returning 'Messiah'

AFP
Wed, March 29, 2023 


Disconsolate over his "unjust" defeat in Brazil's divisive 2022 elections, Jair Bolsonaro was uncharacteristically quiet when he slipped out of Brazil in the twilight of his presidential term for a self-imposed exile in Florida.

Now, three months later, the vitriolic and polarizing far-right leader looks more like his old self as he returns home to reenter politics and resume being a thorn in the side of his successor, veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Bolsonaro, 68, appears convinced he can return to power, despite facing legal trouble on various fronts in Brazil, where his 2019-2022 presidency was marked by scandals and crises ranging from his government's widely criticized handling of Covid-19 to his unproven claims of massive fraud in the election system.


Known for a brash, divisive style that earned him the nickname "Tropical Trump," Bolsonaro, an ex-army captain-turned-congressman, surged to national prominence as a presidential candidate in 2018 by playing to voters disgusted with Brazil's economic implosion and the massive "Car Wash" corruption scandal.

When he survived a knife attack during a campaign rally that September, perpetrated by an assailant later declared mentally unfit to stand trial, it only fueled followers' belief in their "Messias," or "Messiah" -- Bolsonaro's middle name.

He went on to win the election easily -- but his aura of invincibility soon faded.

- Tough talker -

A plain-speaking populist famous for his gloves-off style, Bolsonaro has a gift for riling up the right on social media with his attacks on "communism," "gender ideology" and political correctness.

He enjoys the support of the powerful "Bibles, bullets and beef" coalition -- Evangelical Christians, security hardliners and the agribusiness industry.

But he infuriates critics, often drawing accusations of racism, sexism and homophobia.

His popularity eroded as his administration floundered through various crises -- especially the coronavirus pandemic, which has now claimed 700,000 lives in Brazil, second only to the United States.

Bolsonaro mocked face masks, social distancing and vaccines, warning the latter could "turn you into an alligator."

He also faced an international outcry over the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, which surged on his watch.

The scandals and controversies continued through the end of his term, and beyond.

After narrowly losing last October's elections, Bolsonaro refused to congratulate Lula or concede defeat, silently brooding in the presidential palace.

He left Brazil for the United States two days from the end of his term, skipping Lula's January 1 inauguration.

A week later, rampaging Bolsonaro supporters invaded the presidential palace, Congress and the Supreme Court in a failed bid to oust Lula.

As Bolsonaro returns to Brasilia on Thursday, he faces an investigation into whether he incited the riot -- one of five Supreme Court investigations that could potentially send him to prison.

He also faces investigations over a scandal that broke this month, over allegations he tried to illegally import and keep millions of dollars' worth of jewelry given to him and his wife by Saudi Arabia in 2019.

And electoral authorities are weighing 16 cases against him, including for spreading disinformation on Brazil's electronic voting system.

If they bar him from running for office, it could take him out of the 2026 presidential race.

- Master of controversy -

Born in 1955 to a Catholic family with Italian roots, Bolsonaro served as an army paratrooper before starting his political career in 1988 as a Rio de Janeiro city councilor.

Openly nostalgic for Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship, he was elected in 1990 to the lower house of Congress, where he served until becoming president.

He has ignited one explosive controversy after another with his remarks.

In 2011, he told Playboy magazine he would rather his sons be killed in an accident than come out as gay.

In 2014, he said a left-wing lawmaker was "not worth raping" because she was "too ugly."

In August 2020, he threatened to "pound" a journalist who asked him about allegations his wife, Michelle, 41 -- a telegenic Evangelical who has herself been touted as a potential presidential candidate -- received money from a political operative targeted in a corruption investigation.

Twice divorced, Bolsonaro has four sons -- three of them politicians -- and, in what he called a moment of "weakness," a daughter.

bur-jhb/mlm

Bolsonaro returns to Brazil for first time since election loss

Issued on: 30/03/2023 

02:04
Video by:Nicholas RUSHWORTH

Three months after leaving for the United States in the final hours of his term, Brazil's ex-president Jair Bolsonaro returned home Thursday to reenter politics, complicating life for his successor and nemesis, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The far-right ex-army captain, who skipped town two days before Lula's inauguration on January 1, arrived back in Brasilia on a commercial flight from Orlando, Florida, then headed to the headquarters of his Liberal Party (PL), flashing a thumbs-up as his motorcade pulled away. FRANCE 24's Charli James and Nicholas Rushworth explain.

Why books could help empty France's prisons


Alexandra Del Peral and Eric Randolph
Thu, March 30, 2023 


Deep in the vast La Sante prison in Paris, law student Morgane is discussing the classic novel "The Outsider" by Albert Camus with one of the prisoners.

Adama finds some of the language tricky, but said reading is a "lifeboat".

"It allows me to escape, to think of something else. I imagine the scenes in my head. It's as if I was directing a TV show," he told AFP.

Morgane is a volunteer with the charity "Lire Pour Sortir" (roughly: "Read to Get Out"), which sees reading as more than a metaphorical form of escape.

It is championing reading as a way to tackle France's overflowing prisons, currently 20 percent over capacity.

Lack of vocabulary is "the number one determining factor in social inequality," said lawyer Alexandre Duval-Stalla, who set up the charity in 2015.

"The more words you have, the better chance of a job, of inserting yourself into life," he told AFP.

A good vocabulary not only helps when speaking to judges, but can also prevent crimes in the first place, he said.

"All this aggression and impulsiveness we find with criminals comes from being unable to express themselves."

- Illiteracy -

Adama's choice of Camus is apt. The Franco-Algerian writer's own mother was illiterate, with a vocabulary of only around 400 words. It was a barrier between them, despite his lifelong devotion.

"The Outsider" also tells the story of a young man who ends up in prison facing the death sentence.

Almost a quarter of France's 72,173 prisoners are illiterate, according to government figures.

French prisons are required to have libraries, but not librarians -- who encourage reading, help detainees and organise cultural programmes.

Pressure is mounting. A new law, in force since January, scrapped automatic sentence reductions for good behaviour -- detainees must now show they have engaged with a cultural or work programme.

But lack of resources means many are unable to access the necessary programmes.

Lire Pour Sortir wants to help fill the gap and will double its volunteer network to 500 by 2024. But even then, it will still be in only 50 of France's 187 prisons.

- Perspective -

Books help perform the work that would ideally be done by psychologists if the resources existed, said Duval-Stalla.

"Criminals rarely put themselves in another person's shoes. Books allow them to live the stories of other people, and that's very important. Words give you perspective and the tools for reflection," he said.

La Sante, which was recently renovated, could provide an example.

Lire Pour Sortir runs its library and hired a professional librarian. Neat and tidy, with posters on the wall and an atmosphere of calm -- it could be the library of a small village, if not for the bars on the windows and guards at the door.

But with only 20 inmates permitted at a time, the waiting list is long. "We are victims of our own success," said its librarian Jean-Baptiste Devouassoux.

"We know what keeps people out of prison -- a job, housing, a family," said Duval-Stalla. "But also the capacity to express and understand yourself -- and that requires words."

adm-er/fg

HERE ARE A COUPLE OF SUGGESTIONS

Prisons: Universities of Crime

The Anarchist Library

https://theanarchistlibrary.org › library › petr-kropotki...

Table of Contents ; Title: Prisons: Universities of Crime ; Author: Pëtr Kropotkin ; Topic: anti-prison ; Date: October 1913 ; Source: Mother Earth (vol. VIII, No. 8).

Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist

The Anarchist Library

https://theanarchistlibrary.org › library › alexander-be...

by A Berkman · 1912 · Cited by 54 — My real name is Alexander Berkman. I went to Frick's office alone. I had no helpers. That's all I have to tell you.” “Very good, very good. Take ...

‎VII · ‎XII · ‎Chapter 7. Wingie · ‎Chapter 14. The Dip

Australian parliament approves emissions caps on big polluters

Steven TRASK
Thu, March 30, 2023 


Australia's parliament passed breakthrough climate laws targeting the nation's worst polluters on Thursday, forcing coal mines and oil refineries to curb emissions by about five percent each year.

The laws apply to 215 major industrial facilities -- each producing more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases a year -- and form the backbone of Australia's pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Experts said the laws signalled the end of Australia's bitter "climate wars" -- a decade of political brawling that has repeatedly derailed attempts to tackle the country's contribution to global warming.

With the new legislation, the country's centre-left Labor government has forecast it can stop 200 million tonnes of carbon from being pumped into the atmosphere over the next decade.

"What the parliament has done today is safeguard our climate, safeguard our economy and safeguard our future," Australia's Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen told MPs.

"What the parliament has done today is brought an end to 10 years of dysfunction and 10 years of delay."

Aluminium smelters, coal mines, oil refineries and other large polluters will be forced to cut their emissions by 4.9 percent each year.

"It's the first time greenhouse gas emissions reduction has been written into Australian law," University of New South Wales sustainability expert Tommy Wiedmann told AFP.

"That's obviously a good thing. We have a climate policy now."

In the weeks ahead of the vote, the government struck a deal on the so-called Safeguard Mechanism after engaging in high-stakes bargaining with the left-wing Greens party.

The previously sceptical Greens, whose support was needed to pass the laws, agreed to back the carbon plan after persuading the government to put a hard cap on emissions.

Greens leader Adam Bandt said the move compelled oil and gas corporations to slash their emissions "for the first time ever in law".

- Climate 'stalemate' -

Australia's economy is fuelled by mining and coal exports -- and it is among the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, per capita, in the world.

For years, Australia had the reputation of acting as a laggard on global action to stop climate change.

But a series of severe natural disasters helped convince the country's leaders to take the climate emergency seriously.

Heavy storms in 2022 caused catastrophic floods on Australia's east coast, in which more than 20 people died.

The "Black Summer" bushfires of 2019-2020 burned more than eight million hectares of native vegetation, while marine heatwaves caused mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, 2017 and 2020.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's Labor government was swept to power last year promising to change the pro-fossil fuel stance of the previous decade-old conservative government.

Although many praised the laws as a crucial first step, sustainability expert Wiedmann warned Australia could not rest on its laurels.

"It's not enough on its own to reduce emissions and avoid dangerous climate change," he said.

"The hard decisions will come in the next few years."

Murdoch University sustainability expert Martin Brueckner said the plan ended Australia's climate "stalemate", and gave a strong signal to businesses.

"It pretty much pushes climate denialists in a corner," he told AFP.

"We had a lot of market investment uncertainty over the last 10 years under the poorly defined climate policy.

"Having made that first policy step -- as small as it may be -- I think it paves the way for more progressive policies to follow."

- Biggest polluters -

Australia's mining industry has warned that the financial burden of compliance could lead to massive job losses.

"If we are not careful, some facilities in Australia will close," the Minerals Council of Australia said before the laws passed.

"Not only would that damage our economy and slash tens of thousands of regional jobs and billions in investment, it also would push the emissions reduction burden onto other nations that are less able or less willing to decarbonise."

Global mining giants Rio Tinto and BHP operate a number of mines and smelters that will be forced to make emissions cuts.

Australia's Climate Council has estimated that the 215 facilities are responsible for almost 30 percent of the country's total emissions.

sft/ser/kma

 

Fruit in crisis: Florida's orange groves buffeted by hurricane, disease

by Gerard MARTINEZ

A tractor carrying citrus drives through a farm in Arcadia, Florida, on March 14, 2023.

Vernon Hollingsworth grew up in Florida among his family's orange trees, recently ravaged by a double whammy of disease and a hurricane that have sent juice prices spiraling and left farmers blinking in disbelief.

On a recent March morning, the fifth-generation farmer drove a pickup truck through the rows in his grove, pointing out the damage from Hurricane Ian last fall such as uprooted trees.

"I lost 95 to 97 percent of my crop," the 62-year-old told AFP, adding "we're going to have to rebuild, and we need help to do that."

But the hurricane is only the latest blow.

In Florida, the world's second largest producer of orange juice after Brazil, groves have been suffering from a citrus tree disease called Huanglongbing (HLB) for the last 17 years.

A bacteria spread by an insect, the Asian psyllid, causes the disease, which makes trees produce a green, bitter fruit that is unsuitable to sell, before dying within a few years.

The double crises of Ian and HLB have wreaked havoc on the industry, which is so integral to Florida's identity that the orange is even on the state license plate.

Orange production in Florida is down 60.7 percent from last season, one of the lowest figures since the 1930s, according to US Department of Agriculture estimates.

The hurricane alone caused the state's citrus sector losses of $247.1 million, among $1.03 billion to the overall agricultural economy, according to estimates from the University of Florida.

More than 32,500 people hold jobs in Florida's citrus industry, according to officials.

'Very bad need'

The situation is particularly painful for Hollingsworth, because the season was looking promising before Ian struck his 4,200 acres (1,700 hectares).

For the first time, he had begun injecting his orange trees with two bactericide treatments recently approved by US authorities for fighting HLB, which is also known as citrus greening disease.

"With the new medications I saw (the orange trees) could blossom and get bigger as it once was... This hurricane could not happen at a worse time for Florida's citrus," Hollingsworth said.

Now his groves, which employ about 50 full-time staff plus seasonal workers, are facing a dire stretch of months.

Profits from one harvest are what make it possible to produce the next, but this year Hollingsworth has almost no income: Insurance hasn't paid enough to cover the damage and each replanted tree will take four years to bear fruit, he explained.

Vernon C Hollingsworth inspects his citrus farm in Arcadia, Florida, a state that is the 

world's second largest producer of orange juice after Brazil.

"It's really difficult. I'm trying to do my best. But if we could get some help, it would be remarkable," he said, in reference to the state of Florida or federal government.

"We are really in a very bad need right now."

Marisa Zansler of the Florida Department of Citrus, which regulates the industry, said state officials are striving to help growers plant trees.

The push is key to shoring up the citrus industry, which accounts for $6.9 billion of Florida's economy and more than 32,500 jobs, said Zansler, the agency's director of economic and market outreach.

Meanwhile the price of orange juice has skyrocketed in US supermarkets and Brazil is taking advantage of the situation. The South American giant has exported 240,000 tons to the United States this season, 82 percent more than the previous season, according to official data.

In Arcadia, Hollingsworth says he is not losing hope. He is convinced that if he overcomes this slump, the future will be bright, especially given the new treatments against HLB.

Citrus plants are in plastic bags and silver foils to protect from citrus greening disease at a

 farm in Arcadia, Florida.

It is, he says, the only option.

"I'm going to stick with this," he told AFP. "I don't know how to do anything else."

© 2023 AFP

Report: Hurricane Ian farm loss could reach $1.56B

Fugitive Sikh separatist taunts Indian police in video

AFP
Thu, March 30, 2023


A firebrand fugitive Sikh separatist has posted a video taunting Indian authorities after a fruitless almost two-week manhunt involving thousands of police and internet shutdowns.

Amritpal Singh has risen to fame in recent months demanding the creation of Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland, the struggle for which sparked deadly violence in the 1980s and 1990s.

Punjab police have been hunting Singh since March 18, cutting off mobile internet in the Sikh-majority northern state of 30 million people for days, arresting more than 100 of his followers and banning gatherings of more than four people in places.
-
After reported sightings in Delhi, in the video posted on social media on Wednesday, Singh called the police operation an "attack on the Sikh community".

"I was neither afraid of arrest earlier, nor am I now. I am in high spirits. Nobody could harm me. It is the grace of God," he said.

There has been no independent verification of the video but there were few doubts that it is genuine.

The manhunt has sparked protests by Sikhs outside Indian consulates in Britain, Canada and the United States, with demonstrators smashing windows in San Francisco and reportedly vandalising a Gandhi statue in Ontario.

India has summoned top US, British and Canadian diplomats in New Delhi to complain and press for improved security at Indian missions in their countries.

Singh's video was posted on Twitter accounts based in Britain and Canada, which the social media company took down in India following government requests, reports said.

Twitter has also blocked for Indian users the accounts of several prominent Sikh Canadians who criticised the crackdown, including MP Jagmeet Singh, as well as several journalists, according to the reports.

Punjab -- which is about 58 percent Sikh and 39 percent Hindu -- was rocked by a violent separatist movement for Khalistan in the 1980s and early 1990s in which thousands of people died.

India has often complained to foreign governments about the activities of Sikh hardliners among the Indian diaspora who, it says, are trying to revive the insurgency with a massive financial push.

ja-stu/qan

IN CANADA A SIKH SPREADS JOY THROUGH BAGHRAM

Canada revs up its EV batteries manufacturing

Mathiew LEISER
Thu, 30 March 2023 


As the world accelerates toward emissions-free driving, Canada is making a big push into batteries for electric vehicles -- touting tax incentives, bountiful critical minerals and clean energy to attract multinationals.

Its efforts appear to be paying off with companies such as Volkswagen and Stellantis opening plants and more than Can$18 billion (US$13 billion) in investment attracted to the sector, which is emerging as second only to top battery manufacturer China.

This week Ottawa doubled down with the introduction of a 30 percent tax credit for new machinery and equipment used to manufacture clean technologies, and to mine or recycle cobalt, lithium, nickel and other critical minerals used in EV batteries.


"This is not just a new chapter. It's almost a new book we're writing on the automotive sector in Canada," Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said after announcing in early March that Volkswagen's first North American battery factory would be built in St. Thomas, Ontario.

The Germany-based auto giant is also the first new manufacturer to set up shop in Canada in 35 years.

Multinational automaker Stellantis and LG Energy Solution have also partnered on a new battery plant in Canada, while French tire manufacturer Michelin is expanding its local facility.

And General Motors has signed a longterm agreement with Brazilian mining giant Vale for supplies of Canadian nickel for use in EV batteries.

"Canada has gone from fifth to second in the world in terms of our battery supply chain," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau boasted, referring to the latest ranking by research firm BloombergNEF, which placed the country just behind China.

Canada owes this position in part to its "large raw material resources and mining activity," says the report.

"Making the greenest vehicles in the world is really our intention to attract more investment," said Champagne, as the West seeks to bring back manufacturing lost in past decades to China, which now controls 75 percent of the world's production of advanced lithium-ion batteries.

This handout picture provided by Sayona Quebec shows an employee in front of a lithium deposit at the company's lithium complex in La Corne, Quebec © Mathieu Dupuis / SAYONA/AFP

- Advantage Canada -

Sarah Houde, of economic development agency Propulsion Quebec, said Canada is one of the world's only countries "that has all the minerals necessary for the production of batteries."

The relative proximity of its mines to battery factories and auto assembly plants in both Canada and the United States is also a plus.

"Being close to the major US market... is a key competitive advantage," said Brett Lynch, chief executive of Australian mining company Sayona, which has just started a lithium operation in Quebec.

According to the International Energy Agency, demand for essential minerals could quadruple or even increase sixfold by 2040.

Another reason, and "probably the most important," adds Lynch, lies in the province's abundant and cheap hydroelectricity.

"Nowhere else on this planet has such plentiful, cost-effective and low-polluting green energy," he says. According to government data, 99 percent of Quebec's energy is clean.

Electric school buses are seen on the assembly line of the Lion Electric plant in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, as Canada gears up for increased EV battery manufacturing © Derrick CAKPO / AFP

- Battery recycling -

Clean energy is also the cornerstone of Ottawa's climate plan, with incentives worth about Can$80 billion aimed at spurring investments in non-emitting electricity generation, green technologies and mining over the next decade.

In particular it is pushing the recycling of electric batteries in order to create a circular supply chain.

Several factories are already in place in Canada and make it possible to recycle 95 percent of the strategic metals present in a battery while using "97 percent less water than extraction and refining per ton of battery material" and polluting less, says Louie Diaz of recycling company Li-Cycle.

Canada is also hoping to tap into some of the billions of dollars announced by Washington for electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy projects.

Li-Cycle, for example, received in February US$375 million from the Pentagon.

Such investments are a reminder too that Canada will have to maintain a "sustained, accelerated pace," argues Houde, if it does not want to "get caught short of other countries."

maw/amc/mlm

Nuclear Restraint

Tanzeela Khalil
March 19, 2023

Pakistan and India have a longstanding and complex relationship marked by political, military and territorial disputes. India’s growing alliances and strategic cooperation with several countries, particularly the United States, has created imbalance of power in the South Asian region leading to increased tensions and instability vis-à-vis its nuclear neighbour Pakistan. America has been providing military arsenal to India, including advanced weapon systems and training, which increases India’s military capability as well as the risk of military conflict with Pakistan. India with a larger military has remained engaged in several military conflicts with Pakistan in the past, posing a constant threat of aggression.

The most recent Indian nuclear brinkmanship, during 2019 Pulwama-Balakot crisis, reflected a resolve at Indian side not to hesitate from escalating the conflict to a nuclear level. The Western accommodation of India’s irrational actions has given impetus to its aggressive doctrines. Pakistan, on the other hand, exercised restraint and prevented the crisis from escalating. Pakistan’s restraint, however, should not be mistaken for its inability to respond to any military aggression from India, rather it should be seen and acknowledged as responsible nuclear behavior.

Pakistan’s minimal nuclear capability provides a credible deterrent against Indian military aggression. Given India’s ever-increasing conventional and nuclear capability—thanks to unbridled simultaneous access to Western and Russian suppliers—the Pakistan must continue to maintain the credibility of its nuclear arsenal by improving the reliability of its weapons, and enhancing the survivability of its nuclear forces. Pakistan continues to maintain a robust, secure, and flexible nuclear command and control system to ensure that its nuclear weapons always remain under centralised control unlike India where nuclear capable missile systems are being “accidentally” fired.

India does not seem to be at peace with a stable nuclear deterrence with Pakistan and has always tried to create and exploit space for conventional war. India, in its desire to dominate the region, remains dismissive of the deterrent equation that has emerged over the past several decades. Indian unwillingness to be governed under a deterrent relationship is manifested in its adoption of provocative conventional doctrines like the Cold Start (CSD) and responding to Pakistan’s corrective countermeasures (Nasr) with counter-threats of revising its N-doctrine and adopting preemptive counterforce options.

If Pakistan were to give up its considered approach of restraint and responsibility and adopt an approach as aggressive as that of India, Pakistan retains several options to reciprocate the Indian nuclear-rattling. Without necessarily engaging in arms race and quantitatively improving its nuclear forces, Pakistan can counter Indian threats of preemptive counterforce targeting by moving away from its known policy of keeping the nuclear warheads and delivery systems in a de-mated form. Such a measure is likely to result in the repetition of concerns over these weapons falling into the wrong hands. However, Pakistan’s professional operationalisation of its nuclear deterrence without any known safety or security lapses should be reassuring.

As the readiness of Pakistan nuclear forces increases, adopting higher alert levels could also become a possibility, if and when the Indian threat of preemptive misadventure becomes imminent. While alert levels that dictate launch on warning protocols may not be pragmatic in the peculiar South Asian geography, launch under attack and Launch on Launch will start to appear the only viable available option for Pakistan to maintain credibility of its nuclear deterrent.

All the measures make perfect sense under the Cold War nuclear deterrence playbook. But their replication in the South Asian environment—however inevitable it becomes—could be much more dangerous than similar actions that maintained the uneasy peace during the Cold War. Imagine the March 2022 Indian “accidental firing” of Brahmos missile occurring in an environment where Pakistan maintained a Launch on Launch posture; all hell could have broken lose.

Pakistan’s restrained nuclear behavior merits Indian reciprocity rather than its continued nuclear bluster and never-ending dismissal of Pakistan’s nuclear capability. Pakistan has been unilaterally shouldering the responsibility of maintaining regional peace, which should not be taken for granted.