Big Tech crackdown looms as EU, UK ready new rules

BY KELVIN CHAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS - 04/25/23 

A worker helps set up the Google booth before CES International, in Las Vegas, USA, on Jan. 4, 2020. TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon and other Big Tech companies are facing rising pressure from European authorities as London and Brussels advanced new rules on Tuesday April 25, 2023, to curb the power of digital companies. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

LONDON (AP) — TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Amazon are facing rising pressure from European authorities as London and Brussels advanced new rules Tuesday to curb the power of digital companies.

They’re among those on a list of the 19 biggest online platforms and search engines that the European Union’s executive arm said must meet extra obligations for cleaning up illegal content and disinformation and keeping users safe under the 27-nation bloc’s landmark digital rules that take effect later this year.

The U.K. government, meanwhile, unveiled draft legislation that would give regulators more power to protect consumers from online scams and fake reviews and boost digital competition.

The updates help solidify Europe’s reputation as the global leader in efforts to rein in the power of social media companies and other digital platforms.

TikTok will allow European Commission officials to carry out a “stress test” of its systems to ensure they comply with the Digital Services Act, Commissioner Thierry Breton said in an online briefing.

He proposed the idea to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew when they met in Brussels earlier this year.

“I’m happy that they came back to us saying they are interested,” Breton said, but added that he’s waiting for Chew to provide a date. TikTok did not reply to a request for comment.

Twitter had agreed earlier to a stress test, and Breton said he and his team will travel to the company’s headquarters in San Francisco at the end of June to carry out the voluntary mock exercise. Breton didn’t detail what the test would entail.

Starting Aug. 25, the biggest online platforms will have to give European users more control by making it easier to report illegal content like hate speech and providing more information on why their systems recommend certain content.

There are guardrails for content generated by artificial intelligence like deepfake videos and synthetic images, which will have to be clearly labeled when they come up in search results, Breton said.

Platforms will have to “completely redesign” their systems to ensure high a level of privacy and safety for children, including verifying users’ ages, Breton said.

Big Tech companies also will have to revamp their systems to “prevent algorithmic amplification of disinformation,” he said, saying he was particularly concerned about Facebook’s content moderation systems ahead of September elections in Slovakia.

“Now that Facebook has been designated as a very large online platform, Meta needs to carefully investigate its system and fix it where needed ASAP,” he said.

Facebook’s parent company said it supports the EU’s new Digital Services Act.

“We take significant steps to combat the spread of harmful content on Facebook and Instagram across the EU,” Meta said while pointing out its efforts on content moderation and media literacy in Slovakia. “While we do this all year round, we recognise it’s particularly important during elections and times of crisis, such as the ongoing war in Ukraine.”

Violations could result in fines worth up to 6% of a company’s annual global revenue — amounting to billions of dollars — or even a ban on operating in the EU.

The European Commission’s list of very large online platforms is limited to those with at least 45 million users in Europe, which includes Google’s Search, Play, Maps, Shopping and YouTube services; Amazon Marketplace; Apple’s App Store; Microsoft’s Bing and LinkedIn; Meta’s Facebook and Instagram; plus Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, Wikipedia, Booking.com, China’s Alibaba Aliexpress and German ecommerce company Zalando.

Breton said more platforms could be added, and the commission is analyzing “four to five” others that it will decide on in coming weeks.

In Britain, the government’s Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers bill proposed Tuesday would give watchdogs more teeth to counter the dominance of tech companies, backed by the threat of fines worth up to 10% of their annual revenue.

Under the proposals, online platforms and search engines could be required to give rivals access to their data or be more transparent about how their app stores and marketplaces work.

The rules would make it illegal to hire someone to write a fake review or allow the posting of online consumer reviews “without taking reasonable steps” to verify they’re genuine. They also would make it easier for consumers get out of online subscriptions.

The new rules, which still need go through the legislative process and secure parliamentary approval, would apply only to companies with 25 million pounds ($31 billion) in global revenue or 1 billion pounds in U.K. revenue.

'Impossible To Keep Track': Spain's Gamble On Green Hydrogen

By Valentin BONTEMPS

April 25, 2023
The Barron's Daily

Madrid wants to ramp up production of emissions-free fuel like green hydrogen

Valentin BONTEMPS

Major green energy projects are sprouting up across Spain as it seeks to position itself as a future green energy leader -- but experts have urged caution over costs and demand uncertainty.

Spanish firms are ramping up production of emissions-free fuel and ploughing investment into green energy projects, despite fears over the high price of production.

"Everything is going very fast," said Miguel Angel Fernandez, technical director at the Spanish National Hydrogen Centre, a public research centre based in central Spain.

"There are so many projects, it is impossible to keep track of them all."

Most hydrogen is currently produced using polluting fossil fuels but so-called "green hydrogen" is made entirely using renewable energy such as wind, solar and hydropower.

While fossil fuels emit harmful greenhouse gases when they burn, hydrogen only emits water vapour.

Madrid launched a 1.5-billion-euro ($1.7-billion) plan in in 2021 to support green hydrogen projects, using a European Union Covid recovery fund.

Spain is now home to 20 percent of the world's green hydrogen projects -- second only to the United States.

Last year Spanish energy giant Iberdrola started operating what it says is the largest green hydrogen plant for industrial use in Europe, in the former mining town of Puertollano.

The plant uses 100 megawatts of solar panels to produce green hydrogen, which is stored in huge white storage tanks.

The initial goal is for it to provide 10 percent of the energy needed by a neighbouring factory belonging to fertiliser maker Fertiberia.

This will prevent the release of 48,000 tonnes of planet-warming carbon dioxide per year according to Iberdrola.

If the pilot project works, Iberdrola will launch a "much more important second phase" to meet 100 percent of the fertiliser plant's energy needs, said Javier Plaza, head of Iberdrola's green hydrogen division.

Rival Spanish energy firms such as Cepsa and Repsol have in recent months launched similar projects.

In Spain's sunny southern Andalusia region, three billion euros is being invested to create a "green hydrogen valley" where two large factories will produce 300,000 tonnes of green hydrogen per year from 2027.

In the northern region of Asturias 15 solar power parks will be built by 2030 to enable the annual production of 330,000 tonnes of green hydrogen.


So-called 'green hydrogen' is made entirely using renewable energy such as wind, solar and hydropower

DANIEL MUNOZ

Rafael Cossent, research associate professor in energy economics at Madrid's Comillas Pontifical University, said there was an "effervescence" in the sector putting Spain in a leading role in green hydrogen production.

This is partly due to Spain's abundant sun and wind power capabilities, he added.

The Spanish Hydrogen Association estimates there are currently 50 green hydrogen projects under development in the country.

Spain could potentially produce enough green hydrogen to cover its own needs and export to northern Europe, the association argues.

A major drawback for green hydrogen, however, has been the high cost of producing it.

While the price of the renewable energy used to make it has come down due to technological advances, green hydrogen has still not proven itself to be economically viable.

Massive use of green hydrogen will also require "complex transformations" by vehicles and industrial plants which make future demand for the fuel uncertain, said Cossent.


The government is counting on a planned underwater pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille, dubbed H2Med

MIGUEL RIOPA

A green hydrogen economy will need a robust transportation infrastructure to transport it -- which Spain is currently lacking.

The government is counting on a planned underwater pipeline between Barcelona and Marseille, dubbed H2Med, which is expected to transport some two million metric tonnes of hydrogen annually.

Hydrogen is difficult to contain without leakage however, making it challenging to store and transport, so delays to the pipeline are widely expected.

But the giants of the green hydrogen market are undeterred.


Iberdrola's Plaza said it is important to get into green hydrogen early because "whoever starts first has the advantage".

"We are talking about a long-term race," he added.

© Agence France-Presse

Spanish industry kicks off EU green hydrogen race

By JENNIFER O'MAHONY

April 15, 2023

A worker walks inside an ammonium nitrate warehouse at the Fertiberia industrial complex in Puertollano, central Spain, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. Spanish energy company Iberdrola and fertilizer manufacturer Fertiberia partnered to create the first zero-carbon plant nutrients in the world. The fertilizer will one day be scattered onto malt barley, which will then be used to make Heineken's first "green malt" beverage. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

PUERTOLLANO, Spain (AP) — In Spain, the dream of an emissions-free future for heavy industry starts with a rugged Castilian hillside covered in solar panels, and ends with an ice-cold beer. When the beer will be available, and how much it will cost, depends on an intervening rollout of green hydrogen.

This Mediterranean nation wants to become the European leader in hydrogen produced exclusively from renewable energy. With plenty of sunshine and wind and wide-open countryside to host those power sources, Spain’s ambition is to export the gas to the rest of the continent.

Green hydrogen is created when renewable energy sources power an electrical current that runs through water, separating its hydrogen and oxygen molecules through electrolysis. The result does not produce planet-warming carbon dioxide, but less than 0.1% of global hydrogen production is currently created this way.

As the global price of solar power continues to fall, Spain is betting that it can rapidly build a new supply chain for sectors of the economy that require hydrogen for industrial processes, and which have been harder to wean off fossil fuels.

The Iberdrola green hydrogen plant sits in Puertollano, central Spain,

 Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Critics of Spain’s ambitions have warned there isn’t enough renewable energy capacity to produce green hydrogen that can replace natural gas and coal in the making of petrochemicals, steel and agricultural products.

But supporters are relying on the country’s plans for a head start to implant themselves in the nascent green hydrogen economy. The International Energy Agency estimated in December that Spain would account for half of Europe’s growth in dedicated renewable capacity for hydrogen production

“The sense of urgency is that everyone seems to be racing to be the first to export green hydrogen,” said Alejandro Núñez-Jiménez, an expert in green hydrogen policy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. “Once you build energy infrastructure, it’s going to be there for decades. So it’s really a game where the first one might lock in the situation for many years,”

A glimpse of the potential for green hydrogen can be seen in Puertollano, a former mining town now home to a large industrial park where Spanish energy company Iberdrola and fertilizer manufacturer Fertiberia have partnered to create the first zero-carbon plant nutrients in the world. The fertilizer will one day be scattered onto malt barley, which will then be used to make Heineken’s first “green malt” beverage.

Etienne Strijp, president of Heineken Spain, emphasized the difficulty of stripping carbon out of agricultural processing “Being carbon neutral throughout our value chain represents an enormous challenge,” he said at the announcement of the company’s plan to produce green malt.

The green hydrogen plant in Puertollano, Europe’s largest functioning facility, is currently in a pilot phase. Iberdrola owns the 100 megawatts’ worth of solar panels that power electrolyzers to separate water from hydrogen. Huge hydrogen storage tanks then feed pipes that take the gas direct to Fertiberia, where it is used to make ammonia, the foundational chemical in nitrogen fertilizers.

Synthetic fertilizers are a highly polluting product. A recent study found that fertilizers emit the equivalent of 2.6 gigatons of carbon per year, or more than global aviation and shipping combined. One-third of those emissions come from the production of fertilizers in plants like Fertiberia’s.

Hydrogen storage tanks are visible at the Iberdrola green hydrogen plant in Puertollano, central Spain, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

“We have green hydrogen for these difficult-to-abate sectors, so that we can achieve the goal of a totally decarbonized economy,” Javier Plaza de Agustín, who manages Iberdrola’s green hydrogen arm, said.

The plant has the capacity to reduce Fertiberia’s emissions by 10%, but most of the fertilizer firm’s hydrogen is still drawn from natural gas, creating so-called “gray” hydrogen. The company plans to be 100% carbon neutral by 2035.

In these early days, the challenges for Spain’s green hydrogen players are several.

The first is cost. Javier Goñi, Fertiberia’s CEO, said green hydrogen technology is not yet delivering a cost-effective final product.

Spanish firms are pushing for EU subsidies to match the recent announcement of $750 million for research and development of hydrogen projects in the United States. They argue the subsidies are essential to grow the market so economies of scale make zero-carbon products cost-competitive.

“Right now, we are at such an early stage that we need that help from the public authorities to cover the funding gap,” Plaza de Agustín said. “Without a framework (it) is difficult to invest in a plant and facility for 20, 25 years without knowing what’s going to happen.”

The European Union’s executive commission has proposed that the 27-nation EU produce 10 million metric tons of renewable hydrogen by 2030 and to import 10 million metric tons more. Last month, the European Commission announced measures to create an intra-EU hydrogen market and to assess infrastructure needs.

But the second problem is the EU’s promise of ramped-up supply with little consideration for where the demand really lies, argued Núñez-Jiménez, the hydrogen expert.

“Spain and Portugal could produce a lot of green hydrogen, and demand in Central Europe may materialize, but the connection between supply and demand does not exist yet,” he said. “Developing the infrastructure to transport that gas from the Iberian peninsula to central Europe must be a priority.”

A battery storage facility says "renewable energy storage" at the Iberdrola photovoltaic solar plant in Puertollano, central Spain, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. 

(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Hydrogen, the lightest element in the periodic table, is difficult to store and transport and is highly flammable. For this reason, Iberdrola built its hydrogen plant right next to Fertiberia’s factory, to minimize leakage. Once Iberdrola and its competitors have met Spain’s limited hydrogen needs for things like making beer, they will need to look outside its borders to keep growing.

“Everyone wants to be in hydrogen production,” said Goñi of Fertiberia. “But today, there are basically few companies and few sectors of activity that can absorb large amounts of hydrogen.”

Partnerships are key. Ammonia created at the Fertiberia plant with Iberdrola’s green hydrogen could be used to transport hydrogen in liquid form before it is reconverted into a gas.

Decarbonizing hydrogen for industry has taken on greater importance in Europe since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the world’s second-largest producer of natural gas, which powers most global hydrogen production.

Spain, France, Germany and Portugal have agreed to build a hydrogen pipeline by 2030 to transport some 2 million metric tons of hydrogen to France annually — 10% of the EU’s estimated hydrogen needs.

The Iberdrola photovoltaic solar plant is visible in Puertollano, central Spain, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

But not everyone in Spain wants a hydrogen plant on their doorstep. The use of land for renewable energy installations, and the 9:1 ratio of water to kilo of green hydrogen produced can be a tough sell for regions suffering from long-term drought.

Pere Virgili, the mayor of the northeastern seaside town of Roda de Bera, rejected an initial proposal from a Danish green hydrogen developer last year that would have covered 42 hectares (103 acres) of territory with a mix of solar panels and wind turbines to power its electrolyzers.

“It’s not that we are against renewable energy, but we can discuss at length if using that much water and land to create it is actually environmentally friendly or not,” he said, adding that the project would create just 100 jobs.

___

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___

Follow AP’s coverage of climate and environment issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Singapore executes man convicted in plot to smuggle 1 kg of cannabis

ONE PARTY CITY STATE 

NEEDS TO OUTLAW DEATH PENALTY

AND DECRIMINALISE DRUGS

NEWS WIRES
Tue, 25 April 2023 

© Vincent Thian, AP

Singapore on Wednesday executed a man convicted of drug trafficking, a representative for his family said, despite pleas from his relatives and activists for clemency.

Tangaraju Suppiah, 46, had been convicted for abetting the trafficking in 2013 of more than 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of cannabis, double the threshold for the death penalty in the city-state, which is known for its tough laws on narcotics.

Kokila Annamalai, a Singapore-based rights activist representing the family, confirmed Suppiah had been executed by hanging after the president had rejected pleas for clemency on the eve of the execution.

The Singapore government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

British billionaire Richard Branson, a well known opponent of the death penalty, had said the verdict against Suppiah did not meet standards for criminal conviction as he was not near the drugs when he was arrested.

The government in response said Branson was peddling falsehoods and disrespecting its justice system, adding that its courts spent more than three years examining the case and Branson's claim was "patently untrue".

The United Nations Office for Human Rights had also called for Singapore not to proceed with the execution and to "adopt a formal moratorium on executions for drug-related offences".

Singapore executed 11 people last year and says the death penalty is an effective deterrent against drugs and that most of its people support the policy.

(REUTERS)

Yevgeny Roizman trial: Russian opposition leader accused of criticizing army

Yevgeny Roizman is now the latest in a long line of Kremlin critics to stand 

trial. Those who've avoided heavy jail terms have been killed, narrowly 

escaped death or were exiled.

Roizman is the former mayor of Russia's fourth biggest city of Yekaterinburg. He was detained last year for his criticism of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. FRANCE 24's Peter O'Brien tells us more.

Former Opposition Mayor Roizman On Trial for 'Discrediting' Russian Army

By AFP

Former Yekaterinburg Mayor Yevgeny Roizman at the Oktyabrsky District Court.

Donat Sorokin / TASS

Yevgeny Roizman, a prominent Kremlin critic and popular former mayor, stood trial on Wednesday over accusations of “discrediting” the Russian military.

Roizman is one of just a few leading opposition figures who remain in Russia and have not been jailed. He faces up to five years in prison.

Since invading Ukraine in February last year, the Russian authorities have intensified their crackdown on domestic critics, with almost all of the Kremlin's major opponents in exile or behind bars.

In 2013, Roizman became Russia's most prominent opposition mayor, serving for five years in public office in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.

He resigned from his post after authorities moved to scrap mayoral elections, but he has been closely involved in charity work since then.

NEWS
Russian Opposition Ex-Mayor Roizman Jailed Over Social Media Post READ MORE

Until recently, Roizman appeared largely untouchable.

But in August, the authorities opened a criminal probe against him for "discrediting" the Russian army in comments he made about the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia's Justice Ministry placed him on its list of "foreign agents" back in November.

Dressed in blue jeans and a white T-shirt, Roizman pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial in Yekaterinburg Wednesday.

Roizman, who openly denounces President Vladimir Putin and the war, has said he knows he could go to prison at any moment.

The former politician has a penchant for crude language and has peppered Twitter with swear words to mock officials in Russia, much to the delight of his supporters.

Tall and sporty, Roizman first rose to prominence in the early 2000s as an anti-drugs activist fighting Russia's severe narcotics epidemic.

Roizman: Russia's maverick ex-mayor and Kremlin critic

AFP
Wed, April 26, 2023

Opposition politician Yevgeny Roizman, who went on trial on Wednesday, has been one of the last vocal critics of the Kremlin and its offensive in Ukraine to remain in Russia and not behind bars.

But it seems not for much longer.

The popular former mayor of the Urals city of Yekaterinburg risks up to five years in jail for his remarks about Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.

Since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine last year, Russia has intensified its crackdown on opposition voices.

Most prominent critics are either in jail or have fled the country.

Roizman, a tall and sporty 60-year-old, is a charismatic and sometimes controversial member of the opposition, known for his punchy tweets.

He did not hold back when speaking out against Russia's Ukraine campaign as soon as it was launched over a year ago.

"Something horrible is happening, evil is prevailing. Absolutely vile evil is suddenly prevailing before our eyes," he said in an interview with AFP last July.

Roizman's weapon of choice was his Twitter account, where he posted hundreds of short satirical messages peppered with Russian swear words, as he denounced the Kremlin's actions and state media.

"It's short and brutal anti-propaganda," he told AFP, saying he was inspired by works of French Renaissance writer Francois Rabelais known for his gallows humour.

While he has not been in police custody ahead of the trial, Roizman has been banned from using the internet and giving interviews, ending his Twitter campaign.

The charge against him is for "discrediting" the Russian army under legislation criminalising criticism of the Ukraine offensive.

- 'No fear' -

Born to a Jewish engineer father and a Russian childcare worker mother, he served a prison sentence in his youth for theft.

In the 1990s, he became an entrepreneur when Yekaterinburg was an epicentre of gang warfare.

In 1999, he launched a campaign to fight drug use. The group was accused of stigmatising drug addicts and forcing them into withdrawal by force.

Rights activists have questioned the centre's methods, which included handcuffing addicts to their beds and forcing heroin users to go cold turkey.

Its supporters however have reported a drop in drug-related deaths since the foundation was set up.

Roizman was a lawmaker between 2003 and 2007. In 2013, he snatched the mayoral seat from under the Kremlin's nose, becoming Russia's highest-profile opposition mayor.

In 2018, Russia abolished direct mayoral elections and Roizman resigned.

Determined to remain independent, Roizman did not officially join opposition parties or movements.

But he actively supported Alexei Navalny, who narrowly survived a poisoning attack in 2021 and was later jailed.

Roizman remained popular in his native Yekaterinburg, which observers say has shielded him from prosecution.

As many opposition figures and activists either fled or were forced into exile, Roizman said he would never leave the country where he was born.

Fellow opposition politician Ilya Yashin was recently sentenced to eight and a half years for discrediting the army and Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza was jailed for 25 years on charges including treason.

But Roizman has told AFP that he knew that he could be arrested at any moment.

"I have no illusions. But I also have no fear."

France lets aged African army veterans finally 'go home'

Lucie Peytermann
Wed, April 26, 2023 


Three suitcases sit piled on top of one another in 95-year-old Yoro Diao's cramped studio apartment outside Paris.

After nearly 20 years of living thousands of miles from his family so he could claim his French army pension, the old soldier is finally being allowed to return to live in his native Senegal.

"It's a victory," the decorated veteran told AFP as he prepared to fly back on Friday with eight other former soldiers aged 85 to 96. "We're going home to live with our grandchildren."

"I'm going to live and eat well. I'll walk around the village. It's paradise over there," he added, a smile lighting up his thin face.

Hundreds of thousands of African soldiers fought for their colonial master France in the two world wars and against independence movements in Indochina and Algeria.

But until this year, surviving veterans among the so-called "Senegalese Infantrymen" had to live in France for half the year or lose their pension.

In January, the French state dropped the condition, saying they could return home for good and continue receiving their monthly allowance of 950 euros ($1,000).

It would also pay for the flight and move of any veterans wishing to leave.

- 'Neglected' -

In his small room in the Paris suburb of Bondy, Diao pulled a fourth suitcase from beneath his bed.

From it he drew out pictures of his family in Senegal, men he fought with in Algeria and Southeast Asia, and the day in 2017 when he was awarded France's highest honour, the Legion d'Honneur.

Then "President (Francois) Hollande was supposed to hand it to me, but he was busy, so it was a prefect instead," he said wryly.

As he packed, Diao left himself written reminders dotted around the room.

In the frenzy of preparations, his passport, which was in the pocket of one of his jackets, was shipped in a container by mistake, and he had to obtain a second emergency document.

Some 37 retired colonial soldiers like Diao still live in France, according to the Association for the Memory and History of Senegalese Infantrymen.

Its head, Aissata Seck, said the nine returning to Senegal on Friday was the culmination of a decade-long campaign for their rights.

"They were long neglected," said Seck, 43, whose late grandfather was also a colonial soldier.

- 'Given back their dignity' -

When she first met Diao and his comrades 10 years ago, many lived alone in tiny hostel rooms sharing a communal bathroom, effectively stuck far from home yet unable to bring their families to France on their meagre income.

Their pensions were increased to adjust for inflation for the first time in almost five decades in 2006.

"I was shocked that all these old men who had contributed to our freedom couldn't even become French," she said.

Only after years of lobbying were the foreign veterans finally granted French nationality in 2017 by Hollande.

President Emmanuel Macron's government then lifted the six-month residency condition for their pension in January.

Finally, "they have been given back their dignity," Seck said.

The government's decision came after a film starring French actor Omar Sy -- best known abroad for Netflix series "Lupin" -- helped shine light on the plight of France's forgotten colonial troops.

In "Father and Soldier", Sy plays a Senegalese father who joins the French army during World War I to keep an eye on his son after he is forced into uniform.

- 'I lost a lot of friends' -

Diao said he gave his youth to France. He spent three years fighting in the Indochina war that raged from 1946 to 1954 in Vietnam.

"It was terrible... I was the head medic, in charge of the stretcher bearers, carrying the wounded under enemy fire," he said.

"I lost a lot of friends."

He was then deployed to Algeria for two years during another bitter war for independence from France.

After all those sacrifices, being forced to spend six months in France every year has been tough.

He was in France when his wife of 40 years died.

"I lost her just like that, without being there... It was painful," he said quietly.

Before she died, he flew twice to Senegal in the same year to look after her.

Because he broke the six-month rule, the French government slapped him with a huge fine.

Ever since it has deducted 66 euros ($72) from his monthly stipend. He still owes some 13,000 euros ($14,000) to the French state.

Diao said the French government's waiver has been a long time coming -- too late for some veterans who are now too frail to make the journey home.

But for those who still can, "it's better late than never," he said.

lp/ah/sjw/fg

ABORTION IS A HUMAN RIGHT

Harris pushes abortion as key issue in 2024 US campaign

Camille CAMDESSUS
Tue, April 25, 2023 


The same day US President Joe Biden announced his re-election bid, his vice president put forth abortion as a key issue in their 2024 campaign.

"I trust the women of America," said Kamala Harris, speaking at Howard University, in Washington, before a crowd chanting "four more years."

"We are living in a moment in time where so many of our hard-earned freedoms are under attack," said Harris, accusing her Republican opponents of wanting to outlaw abortion nationwide.

"We cannot sleep on this," Harris said. "There is too much at stake."

The Biden administration has made the bet that abortion can be used as a hot issue to mobilize its base ahead of the 2024 election, as was the case in the midterm elections in November.

After the Supreme Court axed the nationwide right to abortion last year, Democrats -- especially young people -- turned out to the polls in numbers. While Republicans regained control of the House of Representatives, the "red wave" of Republican dominance projected in that election was largely dented.

Since the Court's decision, multiple states that have held referendums on abortion have voted to protect it -- including conservative ones.

And according to polls, a majority of Americans think abortion should be legal.

- 'On the ballot' -

Shirts distributed at the Howard rally, which was organized around abortion access, staked out the Democrats' framing of the issue, emblazoned with the phrase "Abortion is on the ballot."

Stephanie Nash, head of the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund in Virginia, grabbed one, promising to "continue the fight."

She said she was excited to see Harris, a fellow Black woman and the first to serve as vice president, "use her platform to speak up and speak out."

"It makes a difference"

Republicans, despite claiming victory in the Supreme Court ruling, have since struggled to stake out their party's definitive position on abortion. Strict bans enacted in some conservative states have some Republicans wanting to adopt more moderate positions, while others want to hold firm on near or total bans -- the same bans that fire up Democratic voters.

- Biden's stance -

"I've been looking forward to seeing her!" 19-year-old student Naudia Thurman said of Harris, adding that she hoped abortion would be a dominant political issue in the 2024 campaign.

"I think it would also be important if Biden was here," the psychology major added. In her opinion, women are often forced to take the lead on the issue in US politics.

Biden, a devout Roman Catholic, has staunchly defended abortion rights as they've come under pressure from the right.

Also on the agenda for the Biden-Harris ticket: Pitching their economic message to middle-class Americans, a key demographic the Republicans will also fight over.

Both parties will have plenty of time to do so, given the United States' uniquely long campaign season: The election is more than 550 days away.

cjc-nro/bfm

The big history of Albania's tiny Koran

Briseida MEMA
Tue, April 25, 2023 



The ritual is always the same. Mario Prushi carefully washes his hands and face before kissing and pressing one of the world's smallest Korans to his forehead.

For generations, the postage stamp-sized book has been passed down in his family -- surviving wars and one of the world's most fanatical "godless regimes".

Scholars say it is one of the smallest Korans on record, with the minuscule holy book held inside a silver case blackened with age.

"We have kept it from generation to generation with absolute dedication," Prushi, 45, told AFP at his home in Tirana.

Just two centimetres (0.7 inches) wide and one centimetre thick, the book almost disappears in the palm of Prushi's hand, and it can only be read with a small magnifying glass embedded in its case.

The Koran is difficult to date in the absence of scientific analysis, but according to Elton Karaj -- a researcher in Koranic studies at Beder University in Tirana -- the 900-page copy has been around since at least the 19th century.

"This Koran was printed in a very small format, one of the smallest in the world. From its appearance, its publication dates back to the end of the 19th century. It is an extraordinary work, very valuable. It is fortunate that this copy is in Albania," said Karaj.

- Miraculously preserved -

But its size is not the only remarkable thing about the Koran. It is also responsible for converting the Prushi family from Catholicism to Islam.

"My great-great-grandparents were digging the ground for a new house in the Djakovica region of Kosovo when they found the perfectly preserved body of a man buried there," said Prushi.

"The Koran was found intact laying over his heart."

The family took the discovery as a divine sign and embraced Islam.

His grandfather, an officer in the army of Albania's King Zog in the 1930s, knew Arabic and would invite friends to his home every night to read verses from it.

Years later, under the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha -- who completely banned all forms of religion and sent all practicing believers to prison -- the book survived in part because it could be so easily hidden.

"Someone had notified the secret police that we had a Koran in our house, but it was so small that my father managed to hide it. The agents moved heaven and earth without finding it," said Prushi.

- 'Blessings' -

Following the incident, Prushi's father Skender decided to entrust it to friends in neighbouring Kosovo after smuggling it across the border hidden in a lorry full of coal.

He only recovered it only after the war in Kosovo in 1999, where it was buried during to save it from the fighting.

Prushi then inherited the Koran shortly before his father's death in 2012.

"This little book carries so many stories, blessings and miracles. It is very dear to me," said Prushi.

"Every time I touch it, I am moved," his wife Blerina told AFP.

"When something goes wrong or when our daughter is sick, we feel reassured, we know that the Koran will protect us, it is a real talisman," she added.

The family has received numerous offers to buy it, including from museums.

"I never think of selling it," said Prushi. "This Koran belongs to our family and it will always stay with us."

bme-ev/ds/fg

Anime luminary Maruyama warns Japan's top spot at risk


Tomohiro OSAKI
Tue, April 25, 2023 


Japan's powerhouse anime business risks being overtaken by rising Chinese competition because a tilt towards commercialism has stifled creativity, industry heavyweight Masao Maruyama has warned.

Maruyama, a protege of manga great Osamu Tezuka, said he fears Japan is losing its edge.

"In Japan, people are no longer trained in animation," he told AFP in an interview.

"The only reason China hasn't quite caught up with Japan yet is because of a bunch of restrictions imposed on free expression there," he said.

"If more freedom is unleashed, Japan will be overtaken in no time."


Maruyama doesn't draw or direct, but he has clout that few in Japan's anime industry can match because of the breadth of the behind-the-scenes roles he has played -- from studio founder and recruiter to fixer.

The 81-year-old acknowledged his career was in its twilight, and Maruyama was far from optimistic as he prepared to leave behind an industry he helped shape.

He fears Japan is so hell-bent on cranking out money-spinning genres, such as those starring "kawaii" cute female characters, that its anime "doesn't necessarily outshine" America's Disney or France's arthouse productions in terms of creativity.

He warned that occasional successes from this prolific approach have distracted Japan from systematically fostering next-generation talent, even as China invests aggressively in young animators.

- 'God of manga' -

Maruyama has risen from a protege of the late Tezuka, the "God of manga" known for the pioneering cartoon series "Astro Boy", to a force behind some of Japan's most acclaimed anime directors, overseeing three animation studios along the way.

It was partly a desire to keep Tezuka's works alive that convinced Maruyama to take on his current project "Pluto", adapted from a manga with an "Astro Boy" arc.

The upcoming series for Netflix, of which he is executive producer, is steeped in themes such as war and discrimination that some feel are particularly relevant today.

Maruyama is unapologetic about his view that he is "the most authentic inheritor of Tezuka's DNA", from his blithe ignorance of budgets to an uncompromising work ethic that he says borders on "selfish".

Like Tezuka, "I flip-flop all the time, saying something totally different from what I said a day before", Maruyama said with a chuckle.

"But creating works is all about challenging yourself to do something new, regardless of what you said in the past. That makes you selfish in a way, and it's a trait I've inherited in its pure form."

Maruyama has helped bring to life hundreds of anime shows and films in his nearly 60-year career, including boxing saga "Ashita no Joe", critically acclaimed "Ninja Scroll" and award-winning "In This Corner of the World".

He is content to play second fiddle to directors, and is known for handling everything from pitching projects and raising funds to hand-picking animators.

- 'Cook and clean toilets' -

His deep involvement in productions earned him a reputation as a shadow shogun, but eventually he began stepping into the limelight.

His strategy was to use his credentials to promote and vouch for directors he felt deserved attention, animation history researcher Masahiro Haraguchi said.

From Mamoru Hosoda ("The Girl Who Leapt Through Time") to Satoshi Kon ("Perfect Blue") and Sunao Katabuchi ("In This Corner of the World"), many of Japan's top-notch anime directors saw their careers take off after working under Maruyama, Haraguchi said.

"Maruyama's magic was to team up with these directors and cause their transmogrification," he said.

Maruyama, however, jokes that all he does is "cook and clean toilets".

"I have no special skills," he said.

"I don't steer the directors but I just follow them and their talent."

His work ethic is legendary and is seen in the names of his three studios Madhouse, MAPPA and M2, which he says all start with 'M' for a reason.

"It means I'm masochistic," he said, breaking into a wide grin.

"The more challenging, painful and excruciating the project is, the more motivated I become."

Maruyama said he is determined to remain active "as long as my body and mind permit".

But that doesn't mean he is oblivious to his mortality.

He organised a flamboyant living funeral for himself last year, painting his face white to appear as a ghost to the amusement of his friends and colleagues.

"I thought then: 'well, I've had a good life'."

tmo/sah/pbt/dva

Hit Japan anime genre offers escape, second chances

Tomohiro OSAKI
Tue, April 25, 2023 


Getting hit by a truck doesn't sound like anyone's favourite fantasy, but it's an idea central to an escapist type of Japanese anime exploding in popularity.

"Isekai" or "alternative world" anime covers a broad range of storylines in which a character is transported into a new life.

But one form of isekai often starts with a bang: a struggling protagonist, sometimes depicted as a loser, dies a violent death but is reincarnated as a hero with unique powers.

It's found new popularity in Japan and beyond, with US speciality streaming service Crunchyroll reporting "great appetite" for the genre that includes titles like "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime".

"We've seen very strong performance of these titles worldwide," Asa Suehira, chief content officer for Crunchyroll, told AFP.

In 2021, five of the top 10 most-watched Japanese anime on China's video platform Bilibili featured isekai storylines.

And the genre is so popular that "isekaied" even features in the online lexicon guide Urban Dictionary, defined as "the act of being run over by a truck and reborn".

Experts and fans alike say the genre taps into the pent-up frustrations of people who feel undervalued and dissatisfied with modern life.

While traditional anime franchises tend to showcase heroes navigating hostile worlds, isekai focuses instead on a chance at a do-over of life.

"The prevailing mindset in isekai is that 'I'm better off just being transported into a world where I can excel'," Satoshi Arima, an editor with publishing giant Kadokawa, told AFP.

- Living vicariously -

Over the years, the publishing house has released a plethora of isekai-themed light novels, many of which have then inspired manga and anime adaptations.

The current iteration of isekai began to take off around 2012, and the rise of platforms from Crunchyroll to Netflix has helped make them a mainstay among today's anime fans.

Arima said a core audience for Kadokawa's novels is "salarymen" -- Japanese office workers -- in their 30s and 40s.

They may be dreaming of "just switching to jobs that recognise them better," in defiance of Japan's ingrained lifetime employment system, he said.

"Since this kind of way of living is not always possible, they might be fulfilling that desire vicariously through these novels."

The escapism has broad appeal, though, and is increasingly winning over female fans who recognise themselves in previously underappreciated heroines "living their lives the way they want to", he added.

Popular series include "Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation" -- the tale of a 34-year-old "jobless male virgin" who is hit by a truck and reincarnated as an infant with magical powers.

At this year's AnimeJapan convention, a long line of mostly male fans of the series formed at a booth promoting the show and other works.

"Japan isn't at its best anymore, so stories like this make me think people might be looking for ways to vent their stress and escape," one fan, 50-year-old Shinya Yamada, told AFP.

- 'Free from regrets' -

Such escapism "serves a therapeutic purpose, although I think it's kind of sad," Yamada said.

Still, isekai's popularity appears to be growing in Japan and abroad.

A search on a major manga-curating site turns up more than 4,000 works with "isekai" in their titles.

Over the years, the genre has spawned so many works it risked being "overcrowded", Suehira said, but the subgenres it has generated have helped keep it fresh.

While some isekai narratives start with protagonists escaping their current lives by dying, others are transported into alternate universes in a less violent fashion.

Some iterations see heroes put through gruelling battles for survival featuring outlandish transfigurations into a spider monster or slime.

The increasingly popular "slow life" isekai, however, showcases characters whose new life is stress-free and tranquil.

The variety means that isekai can tap into a broad fanbase -- from those fantasising about a more leisurely lifestyle to those imagining a bit more excitement, said Suehira.

The genre offers a fresh start, "free from the regrets or mistakes every person experiences in life".

tmo/sah/dva

Fly me to the Moon: Firms lining up lunar landings


Sara HUSSEIN
Tue, April 25, 2023


Japan's ispace on Wednesday became the latest company to try, and fail, at a historic bid to put a private lunar lander on the Moon.

Only Russia, the United States and China have made the 384,000-kilometre (239,000-mile) journey and landed safely on the Moon's surface.

Here are some of the companies who have made the journey, or plan missions soon:

- SpaceIL -

In February 2019, the 585-kilogram Beresheet lander launched from Earth on a Falcon 9 rocket belonging to Elon Musk's SpaceX company.

The lander was a joint project between Israeli non-profit SpaceIL and state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries.

Beresheet, meaning "Genesis" in Hebrew, was carrying an Israeli flag, a time capsule with Israeli historical and cultural data, and various instruments to collect data.

It was described as the world's first spacecraft built in a "non-governmental mission" and successfully reached lunar orbit about six weeks after launch.

But the $100 million mission ended in disappointment in April 2019 when the craft crashed into the lunar surface.

"We are on the Moon, but not in the way we wanted," a staffer was heard saying during a live control room broadcast.

SpaceIL plans to launch Beresheet2 in 2025.

- ispace -

Japanese start-up ispace, like SpaceIL, grew from the Google Lunar XPrize, which in 2010 offered $30 million in awards to encourage scientists and entrepreneurs to dream up low-cost Moon missions.

The prize expired without a winner, but several contestants forged ahead, seeking private funding.

The company sent its Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander into space in December and reached lunar orbit in March.

It was carrying two lunar rovers, one Japanese and one belonging to the United Arab Emirates.

It had been due to land on the lunar surface on Wednesday, but communications were lost after it began its descent and ispace later concluded it had likely crashed.

The company is already developing two further lunar missions, the first of which could launch as soon as next year.

- Intuitive Machines -

Texas-based Intuitive Machines, founded in 2013, aims to launch its Nova-C lander as soon as this June.

The lander will carry five NASA payloads, as well as cargo from private companies, and is intended to gather data on subjects like the effect of space weather on the Moon.


On board will be sculptures by American pop artist Jeff Koons called "Moon Phases" that are intended to be left permanently on the lunar surface.

It will also be equipped with an "EagleCam" that is designed to allow "the first-ever third-person picture of a spacecraft making an extraterrestrial landing" -- in other words, a lunar selfie.

- Astrobotic -

Astrobotic, another one-time Google Lunar XPrize contender, is based in the US city of Pittsburgh and is targeting a Moon landing with its Peregrine lander.

It plans to send the boxy lander -- standing 2.5 metres across and nearly two metres high -- into space on a United Launch Alliance rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Its earliest launch date is currently May 4, a conveniently symbolic date that references the famous Star Wars line: "May the force be with you."

It will be carrying a range of instruments, mementos and payloads from six countries, including a rover developed by students at Carnegie Mellon University and a plate with a copy of the first block of Bitcoin ever mined.

- Further ahead -

Both Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic are part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services -- a programme to hitch rides to the Moon with private companies.

Other participants include Firefly Aerospace, which plans a lunar landing carrying NASA payloads in 2024.

sah/kaf/cwl

Japanese Moon lander likely crashed, company says after losing contact


AFP
Issued on: 26/04/2023

Employees of "ispace" at a venue in Tokyo, Japan, April 26, 2023. 

© Kim Kyung-Hoon, Reuters

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Japanese startup ispace inc said its attempt to make the first private moon landing had failed after losing contact with its Hakuto-R Mission 1 (M1) lander, concluding it had most likely crashed on the lunar surface.

"We lost communication, so we have to assume that we could not complete the landing on the lunar surface," founder and Chief Executive Takeshi Hakamada said on a company live stream.

It was the second setback for private space development in a week after SpaceX's Starship rocket exploded spectacularly minutes after soaring off its launch pad.

A private firm has yet to succeed with a lunar landing. Only the United States, the former Soviet Union and China have soft-landed spacecraft on the moon, with attempts in recent years by India and a private Israeli company ending in failure.

Shares in ispace, which delivers payloads such as rovers to the moon and sells related data, were untraded Wednesday morning but indicated to fall by their daily limit. The stock made its debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange just two weeks ago and had doubled in value since then.

Japan's top government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno said that while the mission went unaccomplished, the country wants ispace to "keep trying" as its efforts were significant to the development of a domestic space industry.

Japan, which has set itself a goal of sending Japanese astronauts to the moon by the late 2020s, has had some recent setbacks. The national space agency last month had to destroy its new medium-lift H3 rocket upon reaching space after its second-stage engine failed to ignite. Its solid-fuel Epsilon rocket also failed after launch in October.
Brakes on a ski slope

Four months after launching from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on a SpaceX rocket, the M1 lander appeared set to autonomously touch down at about 12:40 p.m. Eastern time (1640 GMT Tuesday), with an animation based on live telemetry data showing it coming as close as 90 metres (295 feet) from the lunar surface.

By the expected touchdown time, mission control had lost contact with the lander and engineers appeared anxious over the live stream as they awaited signal confirmation of its fate which never came.

"Our engineers will continue to investigate the situation," Hakamada said. "At this moment, what I can tell you is we are very proud of the fact that we have already achieved many things during this Mission 1."

The lander completed eight out of 10 mission objectives in space that will provide valuable data for the next landing attempt in 2024, he added.

Roughly an hour before planned touchdown, the 2.3 metre-tall M1 began its landing phase, gradually tightening its orbit around the moon from 100 km (62 miles) above the surface to roughly 25 km, travelling at nearly 6,000 km/hour (3,700 mph).

At such velocity, slowing the lander to the correct speed against the moon's gravitational pull is like squeezing the brakes of a bicycle right at the edge of a ski-jumping slope, Chief Technology Officer Ryo Ujiie has said.

The craft was aiming for a landing site at the edge of Mare Frigoris in the moon's northern hemisphere where it would have deployed a two-wheeled, baseball-sized rover developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Tomy Co Ltd 7867.T and Sony Group Corp 6758.T. It also planned to deploy a four-wheeled rover dubbed Rashid from the United Arab Emirates.

The lander was carrying an experimental solid-state battery made by Niterra Co Ltd 5334.T among other devices to gauge their performance on the moon.

The mission was insured by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co, an MS&AD Insurance Group 8725.T unit, and ispace said it may receive some compensation.

(REUTERS)

Undeterred by jail, Germany's climate activists ramp up protests

AFP
Issued on: 26/04/2023 - 

The road blockades are the latest in a series of high profile protests launched by the Letzte Generation (Last Generation) activists, a controversial group that has been described by German politicians as "climate terrorists" 

© Odd ANDERSEN / AFP


Berlin (AFP) – Moritz Riedacher sat down at a busy road junction with four other climate activists in southwestern Germany earlier this year, holding up traffic for hours –- an action that landed him a jail sentence. But he remains undeterred.

This week, the 26-year-old journalism student again halted traffic, this time in Berlin where fellow activists in the group Letzte Generation (Last Generation) launched a campaign demanding stronger climate protection policies.

Riedacher, who has not yet been imprisoned pending appeals, is among the first in Germany to land a jail conviction over such protests.

"I find it really, really hard to process the verdict," he told AFP, calling the four-month sentence handed to him this month over the Heilbronn protest "disproportionate".

"It is definitely urgent" for the government to do more for climate protection, he said, pointing to the 2021 deadly flooding in southern Germany.

"We can't say let's just go on as normal. Rather, we need to cause disruptions," said Riedacher.

The controversial tactics of Letzte Generation, from hunger strikes to throwing mashed potato on paintings in museums, has resulted in the group being described by some German politicians as "climate terrorists".

Over the last year, its sit-ins on roads complete with some members being glued to the asphalt have become increasingly frequent.

In turn, more activists are landing in court.

'Coercion'

While most received fines for disrupting traffic or obstructing police work, the court in Heilbronn has raised the stakes with months-long jail sentences.

For judge Julia Schmitt, the road blockade constituted "coercion", a crime carrying up to three years' imprisonment.

Activists from the Letzte Generation group vow to bring traffic to a standstill across Berlin © John MACDOUGALL / AFP

Deputy chief of the union for German police, Heiko Teggatz, said Schmitt's ruling should be used as an example.

"That is the only signal that these idiots understand," Teggatz told the daily Welt, urging preventive detention of up to 30 days followed by expedited trials that result in heavy jail-terms.

The protesters have not drawn sympathy from Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, with even junior coalition partner the Greens opposed.

Calling the group's approach "wrong", Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens told news channel NTV that "this protest doesn't win a majority for climate protection, rather, it irritates people, divides society and in that sense, it's not a helpful contribution to climate protection".

Accusations have flown that the blockades hinder emergency services such as ambulances.

And scenes of frustrated motorists shouting at the protesters or dragging them away have accompanied much of the action.

But Riedacher argued that "at the same time, more people are showing solidarity, perhaps after being moved by these harsh rulings".

If the verdict against him is upheld, he could end up with a criminal record that could prove troublesome in the future.

But he and other protesters, many of whom are young, are unfazed.
'Pay the price'

In central Berlin last month, activist Irma Trommer was facing a judge with a similar charge of coercion.

Actress Irma Trommer is among activists facing justice for participating in street blockades © Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP

Prosecutors argue that street blockades force motorists to take certain actions -- stop moving -- against their will.

Different courts have weighed up the imperatives of the right to protest against the coercion charge, with varying outcomes.

Whatever the verdict in her case, the 26-year-old actress vowed to keep blocking traffic "because I understand that the climate crisis is now the key point on which our entire future hinges".

The activists carry out demonstrations with the full knowledge about potential consequences.

Not only do they undergo training on how to glue themselves on asphalt but are also given legal advice.

The trials themselves offer "a platform with wide reach" to bring climate concerns to the public, said Last Generation on its website.

Activist Henning Jeschke glued himself onto a table during his trial.

After he was carried out of court with the table, he halted traffic a month on again with other activists, table in tow.

Trommer's father, Stefan Diefenbach-Trommer, told AFP of his "shock" at his daughter landing in court "not because of her action but because she is being prosecuted for taking on responsibility for the future of this planet".

Like his daughter, he shrugged off the potential impact that the legal procedure could have on her livelihood.

"What's the use of a super CV or a great university degree if the world is no longer liveable?" he said.

Trommer admitted that she had been jittery on the eve of the trial, but added: "I am ready to go to jail if necessary."

"Having a criminal record is the lesser evil compared to what the climate crisis will bring. If that's the price that I have to pay, then I'll pay," she said.

© 2023 AFP

Climate protesters try to bring Berlin traffic to a halt

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER

yesterday

1 of 10
Police removes the pavement next to the hand of a climate activist during a protest against the climate policy of the German government in Berlin, Germany, Monday, April 24, 2023. German climate activists tried bringing traffic to a standstill in Berlin on Monday morning by gluing themselves to streets all over the capital. 

(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

BERLIN (AP) — German climate activists temporarily brought traffic to a standstill in some parts of Berlin on Monday by gluing themselves to streets all over the capital.

Members of the group Last Generation have repeatedly blocked roads across Germany in the past year in an effort to pressure the government to take more drastic action against climate change. On several occasions, they have glued themselves to the roads, enraging some motorists and prompting accusations of extremism from conservative politicians.

In addition to the road blocks, the activists said Monday they would also block traffic by marching very slowly through the city later in the day as they already did on Friday.

In the morning, there were more than 30 road blocks across the city, German news agency dpa reported.

“We will no longer accept that the government has no plan to stop the destruction of our livelihoods,” Last Generation said in a statement. ”We are resisting now.”

According to the Berlin police, up to 500 officers were on the streets in the city all day to prevent the blockades or end them quickly, dpa reported. A police helicopter was hovering over the city to alert colleagues on the ground about the blockades as well.

The group said last week that its members would step up their actions in the coming days and try to “peacefully bring the city to a standstill.”

The protests led to traffic jams on many of Berlin’s main roads and a city highway, as well as in some of the outer neighborhoods of the German capital.

While some people seemed to support the protesters’ fight for climate protection, others — especially angry drivers who were stuck in congested traffic — tried to pull the activists off the roads violently even though officials have warned motorists repeatedly not to engage in vigilantism against the group.

In some cases, it took more time than in the past to detach protesters from the streets because some of them used a different kind of glue this time. Instead of using oil to detach the protesters’ hands from the streets, officers had to use tools and damage the asphalt to remove the protesters.

Last Generation wants Germany to stop using all fossil fuels by 2030 and take short-term measures including the imposition of a general speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) on highways as a way of cutting transport emissions.

Government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Monday that the current German administration has done more to curb climate change than any of its predecessors.

“We are a parliamentary democracy. There are possibilities to express criticism. I have my doubts that such massive disruptions of public order and the like serve the intended purpose,” he told reporters in Berlin. “Naturally we don’t support such forms of protest.”

Asked whether Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to meet with the activists, like other politicians have and are planning to, Hebestreit said he wasn’t aware of any appointments.

“Such talks make particular sense if one wants to exchange views and not if the aim is to force through maximum demands,” he added.

Transport Minister Volker Wissing, who has rejected the demand for a speed limit, plans to meet activists on May 2. He has sharply criticized the group for its road blockades in the past.

___

Frank Jordans contributed to this report.