Austrian leader proposes enshrining the use of cash in his country’s constitution


Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer briefs the media during a meeting with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Vienna, Austria, on Jan. 26, 2023. Austria’s leader is proposing to enshrine in the country’s constitution a right to use cash, which remains more popular in the Alpine nation than in many other places. Nehammer said in a statement on Friday Aug. 4, 2023 that “more and more people are concerned that cash could be restricted as a means of payment in Austria.” 

(AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, File)

BY GEIR MOULSON
August 4, 2023

BERLIN (AP) — Austria’s leader is proposing to enshrine in the country’s constitution a right to use cash, which remains more popular in the Alpine nation than in many other places.

Chancellor Karl Nehammer said in a statement on Friday that “more and more people are concerned that cash could be restricted as a means of payment in Austria.” His office said that the “uncertainty” is fueled by contradictory information and reports.

“People in Austria have a right to cash,” Nehammer said.

While payments by card and electronic methods have become increasingly dominant in many European countries, Austria and neighboring Germany remain relatively attached to cash. The government says 47 billion euros ($51 billion) per year are withdrawn from ATMs in Austria, a country of about 9.1 million people.

Protecting cash against supposed threats has been a demand of the far-right opposition Freedom Party, which has led polls in Austria in recent months. The country’s next election is due in 2024.

Asked in an interview with the Austria Press Agency whether it wasn’t populist to run after the Freedom Party on the issue, the conservative Nehammer replied that the party stands for “beating the drum a lot without actually doing anything for this.”

The chancellor’s proposal, according to his office, involves a “constitutional protection of cash as a means of payment,” ensuring that people can still pay with cash, and securing a “basic supply” of cash in cooperation with Austria’s central bank. Austria is one of 20 countries that are part of the euro area.

Nehammer said he has instructed Finance Minister Magnus Brunner to work on the proposal and plans to hold a round table with the ministries concerned, finance industry representatives and the central bank in September

“Everyone should have the opportunity to decide freely how and with what he wants to pay,” he said. “That can be by card, by transfer, perhaps in future also with the digital euro, but also with cash. This freedom to choose must and will remain.”

Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl accused Nehammer of stealing his party’s ideas and argued that the chancellor’s “suddenly discovered love of cash” was meant only “to secure his political survival.”

The biggest opposition party in the current parliament, the center-left Social Democrats, has called for at least one ATM in every municipality and accused Nehammer of “pure populism.”

“Even if we write the word ‘cash’ into the constitution 100 times, there won’t be a single ATM more in Austria,” said the head of its parliamentary group, Philip Kucher.

Tax the Rich

We’re living in a cost of greed crisis.

https://left.eu/

July 13, 2023

Tax justice is a critical issue that demands EU action now more than ever, as staggering inflation, driven by obscene corporate profits, further increases inequality across Europe.

Its high time to get serious about taxing the rich and supporting working people. That’s why The Left put a “Tax the rich” debate on the agenda of the European Parliament plenary session.

Over recent years, it has become easier for multinational corporations and wealthy individuals to exploit loopholes and engage in aggressive tax planning, resulting in billions in lost revenue for public coffers, hindering their ability to invest in areas like education, healthcare, public transport, and climate action.

We must make sure that those who have more contribute more to the societies and working people that enabled their prosperity.

It is time for the EU to prioritize tax justice as a core pillar of its agenda, working towards a future where all individuals and corporations contribute their fair share to the common good – a crucial step towards ending current destructive, immoral levels of inequality.

UK

Capita swings to a loss as outsourcer faces £25m cyber attack costs

Costs relating to cyber attack to be £20-£25m, up from forecasts of £15-£20m

 
Some data was 'exfiltrated'; probe into cyber attack 'close to an end'

 
Capita made a £67.9m pre-tax loss for the six months to the end of June

By CAMILLA CANOCCHI
 4 August 2023

Capita shares slumped after the outsourcing group swung to a first-half loss and said March's cyber attack would cost it more than previously expected.

The group, which has £6.5billion of public sector contracts including with the NHS, expects to incur costs of £20million to £25million as a result of the attack that left staff unable to access IT systems and disrupted services.

The figure is higher than the £15-£20million it had estimated in May and comprises 'specialist professional fees, recovery and remediation costs, and investment to reinforce Capita's cyber security environment'.

Cyber attack: Capita confirmed that some data was 'exfiltrated' following the incident

A charge of £21.8million relating to the accident was recognised in its first half, contributing to Capita swinging to a £67.9million pre-tax loss for the six months to the end of June, from £100,000 profit a year earlier.

The loss was also driven by business exits and a goodwill impairment, the group said. Revenues slipped 3 per cent to £1.48billion.

Capita shares fell 12 per cent to 23.60p in morning trading on Friday. They have lost around 22 per cent of their value over the last 12 months.

The company confirmed that some data was 'exfiltrated' following the cyber incident, but from less than 0.1 per cent of its servers, adding that its probe was close to completion.

'There was minimal operational impact to the majority of our clients and their customers during the incident,' it told shareholders.

The business also said it was making continued progress on its lengthy turnaround plan and left its expectations for the full-year unchanged.

It signed a new contract with the Student Loans Company in July worth £250million and was the preferred bidder for a £565million contract with the Department for Work and Pensions, which it expects to sign in the second half.

The update comes days after chief executive Jon Lewis said he will retire next year.

On Friday, the outgoing boss said: 'I am pleased with the good progress we continued to make at Capita during the first half of the year as we accelerate our financial performance.

'Our strategy, focused on two core, growing markets, is working.

'We have delivered increased adjusted revenue growth for the fourth successive reporting period, improving profitability, winning an increasing amount of work with new clients, and remain on track to deliver on our full-year expectations.

'Our strong client relationships, long-term contracts, increasingly competitive and digitised solutions, engaged colleagues and reputation for delivery mean we have a resilient business, well positioned for further growth.'

British Airways workers to get 13% pay rise

Published

IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS

Around 24,000 staff at British Airways will get a pay rise worth more than 13% over 18 months from September, the Unite union has said.

Workers will also get a one-off payment of £1,000, but pilots and management are excluded from the deal, it said.

The deal, after months of negotiations, eases the threat of disruption as demand for air travel soars.

Workers are pushing for higher pay in a number of sectors as inflation continues to be high.

The pace of general price rises in the UK has been persistently high.

Inflation, while it has declined a little, is still running at 7.9%, well above the Bank of England's target of 2%.

Unite's pay negotiations were focused on easing the effects of inflation on workers.

The union said the deal also reversed pay cuts from 2020.

The "sizable pay increase" came after "detailed negotiations", Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.

It comes as the aviation industry enters one of it's busiest months for travel in the year, with families booked to go away during the school summer holidays in the UK.

Airlines are keen not to repeat the chaos seen last summer at airports as the sector grappled with a surge in demand following the pandemic.

Since then there have been further challenges, as walkouts across the industry have triggered delays in flight schedules.

Strikes by air traffic controllers in France have added to airspace congestion across the continent forcing budget carriers like Ryanair and EasyJet to cancel thousands of flights.

More recently, British Airways was able to dodge disruption after a wave of industrial action by ground handlers was called off.

It marks a turnaround for the airline which cut more than 10,000 employees during the pandemic.

British Airways has since taken on thousands more staff as demand for travel approaches 2019 levels.

Last week, IAG, the company that owns British Airways, said it made record half-year profits of £1.1bn, helped by higher fares and a continued rebound in travel.

British Airways declined to comment on the pay deal.

LESSONS LEARNED OF LESSONS OBSERVED: THE U.S. NAVY’S RELATIONSHIP WITH MINE WARFARE

TOM WESTER AND JOE MANCINI
AUGUST 4, 2023



Of the 19 U.S. ships sunk or severely damaged since 1945, 15 were victims of mines, and yet mine warfare is carelessly neglected while U.S. allies, partners, and adversaries continue to expand their programs’ capability and capacity. During the initial weeks of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine hardened its defenses by laying mines in littoral waters. While the mines helped prevent Russia from mounting an amphibious assault, since then, both military and civilian vessels have struck mines resulting in major disruptions to an important sea line of communication and threatening maritime operations. More than 18 months later, Russia continues to lay mines in the Black Sea. While they lack the pageantry of munitions like hypersonic missiles, a year and a half into the conflict in the Black Sea, mines have again demonstrated that they are a lethal cornerstone of sea power. The question the U.S. military must ask now is, is it simply observing these events, or is it learning from them?

The Taiwanese government is scrutinizing every aspect of the conflict in Ukraine and absorbing these “lessons learned” by bolstering their mine laying and mine countermeasure exercises. At the same time, the U.S. military’s mine warfare capabilities have deteriorated. Legacy platforms, such as the Avenger Class Mine Countermeasure Ships and MH-53 helicopters, have reached obsolescence and the Navy has struggled to employ disruptive technologies or innovative ideas to compensate for these gaps. U.S. Navy leadership should consider recent events as both a warning and a call to action.

Given the challenges of mine warfare, it is critical that the Department of Defense rapidly reconstitute mine countermeasure and mining capabilities. The department should do so by leveraging emerging technologies, embracing rapid experimentation and integration, as well as bolstering relationships with allies, partners, and the engineering community. These recommendations can help mitigate existing mine warfare capability gaps as well as address challenges the U.S. Navy might face in a future conflict.

A Humble Challenger

Mines may not be flashy, but as an array of actors have recently reaffirmed, minelaying is relatively easy and incredibly effective. One major reason for this efficacy is that mine countermeasure is very difficult. The ocean is an extremely challenging environment, and outsized effects like corrosion, background noise, false sonar contacts, and a host of other factors complicate efforts. Furthermore, successful mine countermeasure operations require specialized, expensive equipment and extremely capable operators. Thus, mine countermeasure efforts are exceptionally demanding, taking weeks, months, or years, and requiring persistence that is difficult to achieve without reliable, globally deployable, and highly capable assets.

Additionally, mining is associated with an extremely low barrier to entry paired with a high return on investment, making it attractive to a wide variety of actors. As incidents including mine strikes of USS Princeton and USS Tripoli and the U.S. Navy’s failure to protect motor vessel Bridgeton during Operation Earnest Will in the Persian Gulf underscore, even advanced warships are vulnerable. Recent attacks on Saudi Arabian shipping further demonstrate the effectiveness of using even old and poorly laid mines. In a future conflict, U.S. naval forces and objectives will again be threatened by mines; thus, the Navy must not let the lessons of past events be merely observed.

Mining’s tactical, operational, and strategic impacts on major operations and (potentially entire) force movements are obvious, but the fact that a few old, inexpensive, poorly made, or even ad-hoc mines could cripple world trade is not universally understood. Mining is fully capable of stopping shipping traffic through key choke points, thereby lengthening global economic trade routes and achieving — for minimal cost — an effect nearly unmatched by other warfare areas. These vulnerabilities are brought into sharp relief as the advent of highly capable and advanced stealth mines, paired with ease of use, has led both partners and adversaries to implement “porcupine strategies.” This type of strategy will likely only increase the proliferation of mines, intensifying the need for the Department of Defense to develop an enduring advantage in mine warfare.

A Neglected Warfare Area

As the threats and consequences become more significant, the state of U.S. mine warfare capability lags, exposing significant gaps and increasing risk to naval forces. It is no surprise that U.S. Navy Avenger-class mine countermeasure ships are long past their expiration dates, being held together largely due to their dedicated and persevering crews. Only 8 remain, and all are due to decommission by 2027. They are set to be replaced by the Littoral Combat Ship as the surface mine countermeasure platform. Yet, in their current state, the Littoral Combat Ship mine countermeasures mission packages will struggle to replace the Avengers as a viable, full detect-to-engage capability. While promising initiatives are underway, the Littoral Combat Ships must be equipped to operate under a more expansive set of environmental conditions and mission parameters, and crews must achieve operational proficiency, both of which are likely years away. Additionally, where the number of surface combatants can change regional force balance and strategic decision-making, it will likely be difficult for leadership to dedicate many Littoral Combat Ships to full-time mine countermeasure operations when they are capable of performing other duties.

Airborne mine countermeasures capability mirrors the Avenger’s plight. The 45-year-old MH-53 helicopter received scant funding over the past decade, and after retiring Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 14 earlier this year only two operational squadrons remain. Like Avengers, they require constant care and unparalleled dedication to remain operational. As a stop-gap, this capability is transitioning to the MH-60 helicopter whose airborne mine neutralization system achieved initial operational capability in 2016 and which conducted a successful live-fire event in August 2022. However, the MH-60 is too underpowered to tow the associated sonar, requiring another asset to detect and classify mines before the MH-60 can neutralize it. Compounding this challenge, the MH-60’s airborne laser mine detection system is reliably able to detect mines only in clear water, near the surface. Thus, though a step in the right direction, the MH-60 still falls short.

The Navy’s explosive ordinance disposal’s expeditionary mine countermeasure capability, however, provides some promise for the future. Over the last decade, these companies developed a full detect-to-engage capability, pairing clearance divers, unmanned systems, and small surface craft with skilled operators and mission analysis personnel. Challenges remain, but their ability to exploit mines and operate from a variety of platforms, as demonstrated by USS Sioux City’s 2022 deployment with a detachment, is promising.

While hope exists for mine countermeasures, the state of U.S. mining capabilities is alarming. Disturbing deficiencies in material readiness and inventory compounded by aging technology have rendered the U.S. mine arsenal nearly useless on the modern battlefield. The core technology of both Quickstrikes and Submarine Launched Mobile Mines is approximately 50 years old, and while several initiatives were set to bolster their potency, an apparent indifference paired with underfunding hinders progress, solutions, and innovation. For example, robust programs targeting both wing kits and propelled means of standoff mine delivery have stalled since the late 2010s.

While the state of U.S. mine technology is troubling, delivery platforms represent the greatest challenge. Quickstrike mines must be air delivered, principally accomplished by Air Force B-52s and Navy F/A-18s. Yet, an offensive mining campaign using B-52s would require crews to fly low and slow. This is an unrealistic expectation during high-end conflict, and the F-35 is not slated to replace the F/A-18 for mine delivery. Additionally, while B-52s and F/A-18s maintain capability, it is unlikely that a Combatant or Fleet Commander would allow their use for mining, as competition for these airframes would severely deprioritize mine warfare. Though an ongoing initiative for a submarine-delivered mine (and possibly a future Clandestine Delivered Mine / Hammerhead delivered via the subsurface ORCA XLUUV autonomous vehicle) exists, at-sea testing is still in progress. Furthermore, achieving the initial operational capability planned for Fiscal Year 2026 seems unlikely given a recent Government Accountability Office report‘s conclusions that this urgent operational need is now “many years over schedule” and “64% over budget” due to the Navy’s failure to “require the contractor to demonstrate that it was ready to build the subs within the planned cost and schedule.” There are initiatives underway to fit nearly any surface combatant with minelaying capability, like the Danish contractor SH Defence’s containerized solution, but engagement from senior leadership is minimal. The near-term state of mining should be considered dismal at best.

Luckily, U.S. partners are rapidly surpassing our withering mining capabilities. In support of their own “porcupine strategy”, the Taiwanese Navy established the First and Second Mining Operations Squadrons including two new ships designed with automatic mining capability — cutting labor-intensive minelaying manpower. Plus, the Taiwanese military has begun mine laying training, focusing on protectively mining areas around the island. Additionally, NATO nations such as Spain, Finland, and Italy produce significantly more advanced, smart, and stealthy mines. These allied capabilities, along with some of the other U.S. allies and partners who specialize in mine warfare (like the Danish, Dutch, and Belgian navies), are extremely valued and would be critical in a NATO conflict. By focusing efforts on mine warfare, these countries efficiently and effectively leverage their smaller budgets and navies to meaningfully complement the United States’ existing capabilities, necessitating close collaboration. However, complete reliance and dependence on others’ capabilities would naturally mean that U.S. objectives would be beholden to others’ equities first. In great power conflict, potentially spanning multiple theatres, these competing interests could pose acute challenges and limit U.S. ability to address global objectives or execute time-critical operations.

Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea have advanced mine inventories 20-40 times larger than the United States. As numerous historical examples have demonstrated and the Ukraine crisis has emphasized, maintaining a robust inventory is imperative — and the fragility of that stockpile can be a key weakness. While a copious inventory is not necessarily a threat in and of itself, even a reasonably trained adversary can achieve strategic goals by laying vast minefields. Without a robust countermeasure capability, the U.S. Navy can become quickly overmatched, struggling to muster enough forces to clear critical sea lines of communication in a timely manner.

Unlike our adversaries, we lack a mine supply capable of making a sizable difference in conflict, and the deficit in capability is striking. Consider that China’s EM-56 mine is self-navigating, and Russia’s PMR-2 is rocket-propelled. These are capabilities that far outmatch reciprocal U.S. systems. Even worse, while nearly all U.S. mining is conducted by aircraft vulnerable to enemy radars and batteries, potential adversaries will use an array of platforms to lay their mines, both military and civilian, introducing gray zone complications and challenges. It quickly becomes apparent that our lack of commitment to mining has placed us squarely in a defensive posture. The bottom line is: U.S. adversaries have the advantage.

With civilian and military leaders warning of a potential future Chinese invasion of Taiwan, there should be a greater sense of urgency to reform our mine warfare capabilities. Should conflict erupt, we will find ourselves backed into a corner and commencing the fight with one hand tied behind our back as we struggle to leverage mine warfare to our advantage. We have experienced this before; let’s not let it happen again.

Getting Real and Better

Given the challenges and current state of our mine warfare enterprise, several immediate steps can and must be taken. These include enhancing partnerships with the engineering community, leveraging advances in autonomy, AI, and machine learning, bolstering international cooperation, and better leveraging existing talent within the U.S. Navy.

One of the surest ways to improve U.S. capabilities is to pair the warfighter with the engineer, focusing on rapidly developing, testing, and deploying cutting-edge technology. Home to the U.S. Navy’s mine warfare research and development organization, Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Detachment is full of extremely smart, capable, and dedicated individuals, yet can sometimes feel disjointed from the fleet. A continuous emphasis on pairing the warfighters from across the Navy’s mine warfare community with the detachment’s scientists and engineers would significantly bolster and streamline collaboration and coordination efforts to support the delivery of rapid, viable capabilities. An easy addition would be to station Warfare Tactics Instructors and/or senior enlisted mine specialists at the detachment for 12-18 months.

Further, emerging improvements in autonomy enable rapid experimentation and offer great promise — particularly in addressing the complex challenge of locating small, stealthy mines in a large, congested domain. Unmanned vehicles are already used in an array of other applications and can be augmented with an additional low-cost sensor like a small towed array and leveraged within mesh networks to increase the area covered and enhance persistence while simultaneously reducing risk to the warfighter. Enhancing these sensors by integrating machine learning and leveraging artificial intelligence can help increase the efficiency and efficacy of these operations. Even if only used to detect and classify, other assets such as MH-60S or expeditionary teams can rapidly and reliably neutralize threats. Further, the lessons learned, especially when vast amounts of data are captured by unmanned vehicles, can be leveraged and integrated into other naval platforms to increase safety and lethality fleet-wide. The mine warfare community should look to Task Force 59 in U.S. 5th Fleet as an example of how to rapidly implement these new technologies, streamline communication to senior leadership, and achieve decisive effects.

In an era of great power competition, leveraging the robust capabilities of others and working to better integrate our capabilities with allies and partners is critical to success. Luckily, a tremendous platform already exists in the Euro-Atlantic theater in NATO’s two standing mine countermeasure groups. They are composed of multiple NATO mine countermeasure ships and already operate and train together, epitomizing a well-trained, experienced force. Yet, there is currently zero United States participation in these groups. While this is largely due to the lack of historical deployments of Avenger Class ships and MH-53s to that area, we are missing out on an opportunity. Furthermore, the only U.S. mine countermeasure units that regularly participate in the annual Baltic Operations Exercise are expeditionary companies. Better integrating them into NATO’s standing groups is achievable today, as is integrating other U.S. platforms in the medium term. This would further enhance U.S. growth, interoperability, and capability, and could serve as a test bed for capabilities while demonstrating U.S. commitment to its NATO allies. Likewise, in the western Pacific, there is a tremendous opportunity to integrate U.S. forces with the Taiwanese navy’s mine warfare forces, similar to the United States’ significant work with the Republic of Korea Navy. Given the presence of U.S. naval assets in theater, this integration is rapidly achievable.

Another essential task is retaining and leveraging the immense talent that already exists within the Navy. The Warfare Tactics Instructor program includes experts in mine warfare but is largely leveraged for Surface Warfare Advanced Tactical Training exercises for Avengers, Littoral Combat Ships, Carrier Strike Groups, and tasks within the Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center and schoolhouses. While ensuring U.S. surface forces are reducing vulnerability and susceptibility to mines is incredibly important, these instructors can, and should, be leveraged well beyond current bounds. As mentioned, a mine warfare instructor at the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Panama City detachment providing constant tactical input from the fleet, leveraging their robust network at the development center as support, would provide tremendous value to the community. Additionally, Warfare Tactics Instructors should be key players within Program Executive Offices at Naval Sea Systems Command, as well as the acquisition pipeline and resource sponsor groups like OPNAV N95, in order to inform effective requirements development. In comparison to other warfare areas, the cadre of mine warfare professionals has historically not been as involved in such communities, yielding an opportunity for significant impact and critical feedback to senior leadership and decision-makers.

Lessons

Mines have led to U.S. losses in nearly every conflict it has been involved in. Future high return on investment campaigns could include protectively mining the Gulf of Finland/Black Sea to trap Russian ships or the approaches to landing beaches in Taiwan to deter a Chinese invasion. Mine countermeasure missions could include opening sea lines of communication and seaports of debarkation to enable critical re-supply, breaching a minefield to facilitate movement in the Persian Gulf (Strait of Hormuz) clearing the path for an amphibious assault, or conducting clearance operations to facilitate acceptable levels of risk for sub-surface assets.

By now, the U.S. military should have internalized the lesson that continual neglect will lead to a dire situation. However, the U.S. military has let naval mine warfare suffer from personnel shortfalls, equipment deterioration, capability delays, and a diminishing cadre that truly understands the domain — all while U.S. adversaries get better. This is a lesson observed, not learned. While the 2022 Navigation Plan is a comprehensive vision that outlines plans and projections to modernize the Navy in the areas of air, surface, subsurface, Naval Special Warfare, unmanned systems, AI, cyber, information, logistics, and expeditionary capabilities, there is no mention of mine warfare. The United States needs to heed past lessons or the country will find itself starting the fight in a corner.


Lieutenant Tom Wester, U.S. Navy, is a Surface Warfare Officer serving as a Battle Watch Captain at NATO’s Maritime Command in Northwood, England. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and Stanford University, where he earned his master’s focusing on technology policy. He was also a plank owner and project manager at the Defense Innovation Unit. He recently completed his division officer tours in USS Howard stationed in Yokosuka, Japan.

Lieutenant Commander Joe Mancini, U.S. Navy, is a Surface Warfare Officer and Mine Warfare Tactics Instructor serving in the technology and concepts department at Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center, Mine Countermeasure Technical Division, in San Diego, CA. He’s held at-sea and ashore mine warfare billets and collaborated with 14 Navies during exercises and real-world operations. He recently completed his department dead tours in USS Howard stationed in Yokosuka, Japan.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the policy or position of the U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, or U.S. Government.

Image: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Charles E. White

Fossil flamingo egg from the Pleistocene found in Mexico 

A view shows a part of an ancient flamingo fossil egg between 8,000 and 12,000 years old was uncovered at a busy construction at the new Felipe Angeles airport, in Zumpango, in the State of Mexico, Mexico, in this photo released and distributed on August 3, 2023 by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)/Handout via REUTERS 

– DW – 08/03/2023

An ancient flamingo fossil egg between 8,000 and 12,000 years old has been discovered at a construction site for a new airport in Mexico, officials from the Latin American country said.

The remarkably preserved egg from the Pleistocene period is extremely rare, say archaeologists on the team that made the find. This is the first discovery of its kind in the flamingo family. Phoenicopteridae in America, and only the second in the world, as reported on Wednesday by the National Heritage Institute of Mexico (INAH).
Pleistocene fossil

The Pleistocene geological epoch, the most recent Ice Age, began 2.6 million years ago and ended about 11,700 years ago. The flamingo egg fossil was found at a depth of 31 centimeters, amidst clay and shale, during the construction of the new Felipe Ángeles airport in the State of Mexico, said INAH archaeologists in an article published in the journal Historical Biology.

The fossil egg implies that the area was the site of a shallow lake between 8,000 and 33,000 years ago, according to Mexican scientists, and that flamingos once lived in central Mexico.--

The present American flamingo species, known for its bright pink feathers, today inhabits mainly South America, the Caribbean, the Yucatan Peninsula, and the southeastern coast of the United States.

Edited with information from Reuters and Historical Biology

India’s top court stays conviction of opposition leader for mocking the prime minister's surname

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court on Friday stayed the criminal defamation conviction of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi for mocking the prime ministers surname. His party said it would now seek to have Gandhi reinstated as a member of parliament

ndia's opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi waves to his supporters as he leaves the court, in Surat, India, Monday, April 3, 2023. India's top court on Friday stayed the criminal defamation conviction of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi for mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surname — a conviction that disqualified him from being a member of parliament. 

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court on Friday stayed the criminal defamation conviction of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi for mocking the prime ministers surname. His party said it would now seek to have Gandhi reinstated as a member of parliament

A fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his main challenger in 2024 polls, Gandhi was ousted from Parliament after his conviction by a magistrate’s court in March.

The stay by the Supreme Court means a temporary halt to the conviction while the court goes into Gandhi’s appeal in detail before issuing a final ruling.

Gandhi’s disqualification as a lawmaker also now remains in abeyance, said Live Law, an online portal for Indian legal news. Congress party leader K.C. Venugopal said the party would approach the Parliament speaker to restore his seat.

Despite its decision, the Supreme Court observed that Gandhi's comments were not in “good taste” and said that a person in public life ought to have been more careful while making public speeches.

The defamation case involved comments Gandhi made in a 2019 election speech. Gandhi asked, “Why do all thieves have Modi as their surname?” He then referred to three well-known and unrelated Modis: a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon, a cricket executive banned from the Indian Premier League and the prime minister.

The case was filed by Purnesh Modi, who is a member of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat state but is also not related to the prime minister.

Gandhi was sentenced to two years in prison but the court suspended his prison sentence in April. The conviction was upheld by the Gujarat state High Court so he filed an appeal in the country’s Supreme Court last month.

The Supreme Court said the trial judge gave the maximum sentence of two years to Gandhi. Except for the admonition to Gandhi, no other reason was given for that sentence, the court said.

Gandhi on Wednesday reiterated in an affidavit before the Supreme Court that he is not guilty of the offense of criminal defamation. He said he will not apologize for his remark and that if he wanted he could have made it much earlier.

Gandhi also said that there is no community going by the name ‘Modi’ and so he cannot be accused of defaming Modi community as a whole. People having the surname Modi may fall into different communities and castes, he said.

Purnesh Modi said in his counter affidavit that Gandhi has shown arrogance rather than being apologetic.

Ashok Sharma, The Associated Press

Israeli forces kill Palestinian teen in West Bank raid

Mahmoud Abu Saan, 18, was fatally shot by Israeli forces at point blank range, according to eyewitnesses

Mahmoud Abu Saan, 18, was killed by Israeli forces on Friday, 4 August 2023 (Social Media)

By MEE staff
Published date: 4 August 2023

Israeli forces killed an 18-year-old Palestinian during a military raid in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning.

The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, reported that the dead teenager was Mahmoud Abu Saan, killed at the Nour Shams refugee camp, east of Tulkarm.

Quoting Palestinian eyewitnesses, Wafa said that Abu Saan was shot in the head at point blank range and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

Following the Israeli raid, a local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group opened fire on Israeli forces, detonating several explosive devices.

Human rights organisations have described night raids as one of the methods used by the Israeli army to terrorise Palestinians and hammer home the idea that even their safest spaces are not off-limits for Israeli soldiers.

The raids can last for hours and sometimes turn deadly.

According to testimonies taken by rights organisations, night raids leave permanent scars on Palestinian families, traumatising children in particular, who, as a result, suffer from anxiety and sleep disorders and struggle at school.

At least 202 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire this year, including 34 children - a rate of nearly one fatality per day.

A total of 165 people have died in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, making 2023 one of the bloodiest years in the occupied Palestinian territories. Another 36 people were killed in the Gaza Strip.

In latest violence, 18-year-old Palestinian killed during Israeli military raid

BY JULIA FRANKEL
August 4, 2023

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli security forces killed an 18-year-old Palestinian during a military raid into the northern West Bank on Friday, Palestinian health officials said, the latest bloodshed in a monthslong surge of violence in the occupied territory.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Mahmoud Abu Saan was shot in the head by Israeli forces in the city of Tulkarem. The raid sparked fighting with residents of the camp, the local branch of Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group reported, with Israeli forces shooting tear gas, stun grenades and live fire and Palestinians hurling stones and opening fire at the soldiers.

The Israeli army said soldiers shot at Palestinians in Tulkarem who threw stones and explosives at them. Violence has spiraled in the northern West Bank with the rise of shooting attacks by Palestinian groups against Israelis and daily arrest raids by the Israeli military, and Tulkarem has emerged as a stronghold of local militants.

Palestinian media reported that three wanted residents were arrested during Friday’s raid into the town.


Israel’s Supreme Court hears case against a law protecting Netanyahu from being removed from office


Israel holds over 1,200 detainees without charge. That’s the most in 3 decades, a rights group says

The Tulkarem raid was part of an Israeli military arrest operation overnight. The army said it arrested five Palestinians in other West Bank villages, confiscating explosives and dispersing protests in the village Biddu near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

The surge in West Bank violence, which shows no signs of abating, is one of the worst between Israelis and Palestinians in nearly two decades. More than 150 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of 2023 in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

At least 26 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis so far this year.

Violence between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank intensified early last year when Israel expanded near-nightly raids into Palestinian areas in response to a spate of Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

Israel says most killed have been militants who died during military raids, but stone-throwing youths protesting army raids and innocent bystanders have also been killed.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. Palestinians seek those territories for their hoped-for independent state.

Ghana: Fetish priestess goes to son’s school to curse student who allegedly stole his phone

Francis Akhalbey

August 03, 2023

A fetish priestess in Ghana made her way to her son’s school to rain curses on a student who allegedly stole his phone. According to GhanaWeb, the fetish priestess was videoed performing the ritual at Lashibi Senior High School. The educational institution is located near the West African nation’s capital Accra.

In the video of the incident, the fetish priestess is seen walking around the school’s premises while reciting incantations. She is also seen holding a bell and what looks like a bottle.

The woman’s actions reportedly drew the attention of students as they stepped out of their classrooms to take a look at what was happening. The fetish priestess claimed the phone theft happened last Friday.

A student who recorded the incident questioned their safety. “This is Lashibi Senior High, a fetish priestess just entered the school because there is no security. The woman is saying someone stole her son’s phone,” the student said.

“It is really hard in Accra. So, are we safe in this school? You are in this school and a fetish priestess has come into the school, look at what she is doing.”

The student also said the student whose phone was stolen made the priestess come to the school to retrieve his gadget.

Amnesty International 

Global: Pledge to allow ‘peaceful assembly’ at COP28 highlights the UAE’s lack of freedoms


© Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images

NEWS

August 3, 2023

Responding to a pledge by the hosts of the COP28 climate meeting to make ‘space available for climate activists to assemble peacefully and make their voices heard’, Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:

“The fact that the hosts of this crucial climate meeting felt the need to highlight that some form of free assembly and expression will be allowed during COP28 serves only to highlight the normally restrictive human rights environment in the United Arab Emirates and the severe limits it places on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

“In the UAE, peaceful dissent through expression, association or peaceful assembly is severely restricted or criminalized, public assemblies require government approval, and dozens of critics of the government are in jail. Rather than make an exception related to this two-week meeting, the UAE should permanently do away with these restrictions, as well as the many other curbs it imposes on human rights, and make amends for previous abuses.

“It remains unclear exactly what the UAE authorities will allow, and whether a public demonstration by attendees, as has traditionally occurred in the middle weekend of COP meetings in the host city, can take place.

“At the previous COP meeting in Egypt last year the space given over to protest was wholly inadequate, and the meeting was preceded by a crackdown and arrests by security forces.

“Amnesty International believes the COP28 meeting should be completely inclusive and allow the view of all stakeholders to be freely heard. This must include allowing Emiratis and international participants to protest and criticize corporations and authorities, including the Emirati government. It remains to be seen whether the UAE’s promise is anything other than a hollow commitment.

“The agreement between the UAE and the UN establishing the legal framework for organizing and hosting of COP28 should be made public immediately. Draconian national laws will apply outside the UN venue, heightening concerns for the safety of anyone wishing to express views about climate change, the meeting or the UAE government.”

“COP28 will not bring about the ambitious action required to avert a climate catastrophe if the host state’s laws restrict freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and throttle civil society.”
Background

COP28 is scheduled to be held in Dubai between 30 November and 12 December. The COP28 Presidency and the UN organizers, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), issued a statement about the host agreement on 1 August.

The UAE has a dismal human rights record. It is more than a decade since the United Arab Emirates authorities sentenced 60 members of Emirati civil society to lengthy prison terms in a mass trial. None of the individuals have been released, even though 55 of them have completed their sentence.

UK Foreign Office failed to protect Matthew Hedges from UAE torture, watchdog finds

Parliamentary Ombudsman calls on FCDO to apologise to Hedges, pay £1500, and explain how it will ensure it follows its own guidelines in similar circumstances

Matthew Hedges was jailed for life in the UAE in 2018 before he was released days later under a presidential pardon (AFP)

By Dania Akkad
Published date: 3 August 2023

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) failed to protect from torture Matthew Hedges, a British academic imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates in 2018, according to a parliamentary watchdog.

The Parliamentary Ombudsman recommended that the FCDO apologise to Hedges, compensate him with £1,500, and say within three months how it will "ensure its handling of similar circumstances is consistent with relevant guidance".

“At the end of the day, the role of the government is to protect its citizens and this was a profound failure," said the ombudman's chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath.

"The impact will run deep for Mr Hedges and he will have to live with that for the rest of his life. This must not happen again to anyone else."

Hedges, then a Durham University doctoral candidate, was detained in the UAE in May 2018, accused of spying for the British government and held in solitary confinement for more than five months.

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He says prison staff forcibly drugged him and interrogated him for up to 15 hours a day and, as a result, he signed false confessions. He was jailed for life in November 2018 but was released after a pardon five days later.

Hedges was first visited by British consular staff on 18 June 2018, over a month after his arrest, in a meeting which lasted five minutes.

A second visit, which lasted 30 minutes, took place on 30 August 2018. Hedges told the watchdog that UAE authorities told him what to say in that meeting and were present for it.
Missed signs

The ombudsman found that the FCDO, which said it lobbied for access to Hedges "over 50 times at the official level and 23 times at ministerial level", followed its consular access guidance consistently in his case.

But Foreign Office officials should have picked up on signs that Hedges had possibly been tortured and mistreated, and escalated his case to a human rights advisor for "advice, guidance and support...on international human rights standards" and "when and why it may be appropriate to intervene", the watchdog said.

The FCDO, the watchdog said, knew that Hedges was being held in solitary confinement "much of the time" and noted signs from their meetings that he was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, both of which are signs of torture and mistreatment according to FCDO guidelines.

Additionally, between 2010 and 2019, the FCDO was aware of 75 cases of allegations of torture and mistreatment within the UAE justice system made by British nationals, the report noted.

FCDO officials told the ombudsman that it was FCDO policy that it could not raise complaints or allegations of torture or mistreatment without consent, and that the advisor to whom the case would have been escalated was a contractor without security clearance to advise on Hedge's case.

But the watchdog said the FCDO's guidelines allow for torture and mistreatment allegations to be pursued without consent and noted that FCDO officials were only able to see Hedges when those he said mistreated him were present.

It also said that the advisor's security clearance should not have prevented the FCDO from seeking further human rights advice.

"We find FCDO did not act in accordance with its own guidance in light of what it noted at the 18 June and 30 August visits; in light of what [Hedges] and his wife told it, and what it knew about the UAE context, and that was maladministration," the report said.
'A warning to all British nationals'

Hedges said that while he holds the UAE responsible for his torture and abuse, he found the FCDO's conduct "one of the most shocking things to deal with during that time".

"I felt completely abandoned by them and could not believe that they were not able to understand the very clear and obvious signs of my torture," he said.

'There are serious limits to what the FCDO will actually do to help and protect you'

- Matthew Hedges

Hedges said that when he was released, then Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt promised to carry out an internal review into the handling of his detention.

"This never happened," he said. "I, therefore, had no choice but to go to the Ombudsman with a complaint."

"This is a victory for me, but it is also a warning to all British nationals that the UAE commits torture and that there are serious limits to what the FCDO will actually do to help and protect you."

An FCDO spokesperson said: “The best interests of British nationals, including those detained overseas, is at the heart of our consular work and we support their families wherever we can. We will review the Ombudsman’s findings and respond in due course.”

The UAE government has said that Hedges was convicted in a fair trial and treated in accordance with international standards while in detention.

Hedges' allegations of torture against the UAE, as well as those of another British citizen, Ali Issa Ahmad, are currently being investigated by a judge of the Specialised Judicial Unit for Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes of the Paris Tribunal.

Roslyn Rennie, accountability campaign manager with UK-based Freedom from Torture, said the ombudsman had found that the UK govenrment had "utter failed in its duty to protect us from torture".

"Torture is an abhorrent crime that is used to silence and break people. Nobody should have to live in fear or be subjected to it," Rennie said. "The UK must defend and uphold the torture ban, and make sure that those who do commit torture are not allowed to get away with it.”