Zombies: Ranks of world’s most debt-hobbled companies are soaring, and not all will survive



Shoppers enter exit a Bed Bath & Beyond store Monday, May 29, 2023, in Glendale, Colo. The big-box chain is staging store closing sales at its 360 locations after filing for bankruptcy in late April 2023. An Associated Press analysis found the number of publicly-traded “zombie” companies — those so laden with debt they’re struggling to pay even the interest on their loans — has soared to nearly 7,000 around the world, including 2,000 in the United States. 

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)


Shoppers enter a Bed Bath & Beyond store Monday, May 29, 2023, in Glendale, Colo. An Associated Press analysis found the number of publicly-traded “zombie” companies — those so laden with debt they’re struggling to pay even the interest on their loans — has soared to nearly 7,000 around the world, including 2,000 in the United States.

 (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)


Signage is outside the Bed Bath & Beyond corporate headquarters building in Union, N.J., on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. An Associated Press analysis found the number of publicly-traded “zombie” companies — those so laden with debt they’re struggling to pay even the interest on their loans — has soared to nearly 7,000 around the world, including 2,000 in the United States.

 (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

The rain comes down from the roof at the Old Trafford stadium at the end of the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Arsenal, in Manchester, England, Sunday, May 12, 2024. An Associated Press analysis found the number of publicly-traded “zombie” companies — those so laden with debt they’re struggling to pay even the interest on their loans — has soared to nearly 7,000 around the world, including 2,000 in the United States. 

(AP Photo/Dave Thompson, File)


BY BERNARD CONDON
 June 7, 2024Share

NEW YORK (AP) — They are called zombies, companies so laden with debt that they are just stumbling by on the brink of survival, barely able to pay even the interest on their loans and often just a bad business hit away from dying off for good.

An Associated Press analysis found their numbers have soared to nearly 7,000 publicly traded companies around the world — 2,000 in the United States alone — whiplashed by years of piling up cheap debt followed by stubborn inflation that has pushed borrowing costs to decade highs.

And now many of these mostly small and mid-sized walking wounded could soon be facing their day of reckoning, with due dates looming on hundreds of billions of dollars of loans they may not be able to pay back.

“They’re going to get crushed,” Valens Securities Managing Director Robert Spivey said of the weakest zombies.

Added Miami investor Mark Spitznagel, who famously bet against stocks before the last two crashes: “The clock is ticking.”

Zombies are commonly defined as companies that have failed to make enough money from operations in the past three years to pay even the interest on their loans. AP’s analysis found their ranks in raw numbers have jumped over the past decade by a third or more in Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the U.S., including companies that run Carnival Cruise Line, JetBlue Airways, Wayfair, Peloton, Italy’s Telecom Italia and British soccer giant Manchester United.


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Takeaways from AP analysis on the rise of world’s debt-laden ‘zombie’ companies


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To be sure, the number of companies, in general, has increased over the past decade, making comparisons difficult, but even limiting the analysis to companies that existed a decade ago, zombies have jumped nearly 30%.

They include utilities, food producers, tech companies, owners of hospitals and nursing home chains whose weak finances hobbled their responses in the pandemic, and real estate firms struggling with half-empty office buildings in the heart of major cities.

As the number of zombies has grown, so too has the potential damage if they are forced to file for bankruptcy or close their doors permanently. Companies in the AP’s analysis employ at least 130 million people in a dozen countries.

Already, the number of U.S. companies going bankrupt has hit a 14-year high, a surge expected in a recession, not an expansion. Corporate bankruptcies have also recently hit highs of nearly a decade or more in Canada, the U.K., France and Spain.

Some experts say zombies may be able to avoid layoffs, selloffs of business units or collapse if central banks cut interest rates, which the European Central Bank began doing this week, though scattered defaults and bankruptcies could still drag on the economy. Others think the pandemic inflated the ranks of zombies and the impact is temporary.

“Revenue went down, or didn’t grow as much as projected, but that doesn’t mean they are all about to go bust,” said Martin Fridson, CEO of research firm FridsonVision High Yield Strategy.

For its part, Wall Street isn’t panicking. Investors have been buying stock of some zombies and their “junk bonds,” loans rating agencies deem most at risk of default. While that may help zombies raise cash in the short term, investors pouring money into these securities and pushing up their prices could eventually face heavy losses.

“We have people gambling in the public markets at an unprecedented level,” said David Trainer, head of New Constructs, an investment research group that tracks the cash drain on zombies. “They don’t see risk.”

WARNING SIGNS

Credit rating agencies and economists warned about the dangers of companies piling on debt for years as interest rates fell but got a big push when central banks around the world cut benchmark rates to near zero in the 2009 financial crisis and then again in the 2020-21 pandemic.

It was a giant, unprecedented experiment designed to spark a borrowing binge that would help avert a worldwide depression. It also created what some economists saw as a credit bubble that spread far beyond zombies, with low rates that also enticed heavy borrowing by governments, consumers and bigger, healthier companies.

The difference for many zombies is they lack deep cash reserves, and the interest they pay on many of their loans is variable, not fixed, so higher rates are hurting them right now. Most dangerously, zombie debt was often not used to expand, hire or invest in technology, but on buying back their own stock.

These so-called repurchases allow companies to “retire” shares, or take them off the market, a way to make up for new shares often created to boost the pay and retention packages for CEOs and other top executives.

But too many stock buybacks can drain cash from a business, which is what happened at Bed Bath & Beyond. The retail chain that once operated 1,500 stores struggled for years with a troubled transition to digital sales and other problems, but its heavy borrowing and decision to spend $7 billion in a decade on buybacks played a key role in its downfall.

Those buybacks came amid big paydays for top management, which Bed Bath & Beyond said in regulatory filings were intended to align with financial performance. Pay for just three top executives topped $140 million, according to executive data firm Equilar, even as its stock sunk from $80 to zero. Tens of thousands of workers in all 50 states lost their jobs as the chain spiraled to its bankruptcy filing last year.

Companies had a chance to cut their debt after then-President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul slashed corporate rates and allowed repatriation of profits overseas. But most of the windfall was spent on buybacks instead. Over the next two years, U.S. companies spent a record $1.3 trillion repurchasing and retiring their own stock, a 50% jump from the prior two years.

SmileDirectClub went from spending a little over $1 million a year on buying its own stock before the tax cut to spending $780 million as it boosted pay packages of top executives. One former CEO got $20 million in just four years. Stock in the heavily indebted teeth-straightening company plunged before it went out of business last year and put 2,700 people out of work.

“I was like, ‘How did this ever happen?’” said George Pettigrew, who held a tech job at the company’s Nashville, Tennessee, headquarters. ”I was shocked at the amount of the debt.”

Another zombie, JetBlue, suffered problems felt by many airlines, including the lingering impact of lost business during the pandemic. But it also was hurt by the decision to double its debt in the past decade and purchase hundreds of millions of dollars of its own stock. As interest costs soared and profits evaporated, that stock has dropped by two-thirds, and JetBlue has not made enough in pre-tax earnings to pay $717 million in interest over four straight years.

JetBlue said the AP’s way of screening for zombies isn’t accurate for airlines because big purchases of aircraft “are an intrinsic part of the business model” and don’t reflect an airline’s true health. The company added that it’s been shoring up its finances recently by cutting costs and putting off purchases of new planes. JetBlue also hasn’t done a major stock buyback in four years.

In some cases, borrowed cash has gone straight into the pockets of controlling shareholders and wealthy family owners.

In Britain, the Glazer family that owns much of the Premier League’s Manchester United soccer franchise loaded up the company with debt in 2005, then got the team to borrow hundreds of millions a few years later. At the same time, the family had the team pay dividends to shareholders, including $165 million to the Glazers themselves, while its stadium, the Old Trafford, fell into disrepair.

“They’ve papered over the cracks but we’ve been in decline for more than a decade,” fan lobbying group head Chris Rumfitt said after a recent downpour sent water cascading from the upper stands in what spectators dubbed “Trafford Falls.” “There have been zero investments in infrastructure.”

The Glazers, who separately own the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, recently brought in a new part owner at Manchester United who has promised to inject $300 million into the business. The stock is falling anyway, down 20% so far this year to $16.25, no higher than it was a decade ago.

Manchester United declined to comment.

Zombie collapses wouldn’t be so scary if robust spending by governments, consumers and larger, more stable companies could act as a cushion. But they also piled up debt.

The U.S. government is expected to spend $870 billion this year on interest on its debt alone, up a third in a year and more than it spends on defense. In South Korea, consumers are tapped out as credit card and other household debt hit fresh records. In the U.K., homeowners are missing payments on their mortgages at a rate not seen in years.

A real concern among investors is that too many zombies could collapse at the same time because central banks kept them on life support with low interest rates for years instead of allowing failures to sprinkle out over time, similar to the way allowing small forest fires to burn dry brush helps prevent an inferno.

“They’ve created a tinderbox,” said Spitznagel, founder of Universa Investments. “Any wildfire now threatens the entire ecosystem.”

TIME RUNNING OUT?

For the first few months of this year, hundreds of zombies refinanced their loans as lenders opened their wallets in anticipation that the Federal Reserve would start cutting in March. That new money helped stocks of more than 1,000 zombies in AP’s analysis rise 20% or more in the past six months across the dozen countries.

But many did not or could not refinance, and time is running out.

Through the summer and into September, when many investors now expect the first and only Fed cut this year, zombies will have to pay off $1.1 trillion of loans, according to AP’s analysis, two-thirds of the total due by the end of the year.

For its calculations, the AP used pre-tax, pre-interest earnings of publicly-traded companies from the database FactSet for both years it studied, 2023 and 2013. The countries selected were the biggest by gross domestic product: the U.S., China, Japan, India, Germany, the U.K., France, Canada, South Korea, Spain, Italy and Australia.

The study did not take into account cash in the bank that a company could use to pay its bills or assets it could sell to raise money. The results would also vary if other years were used due to economic conditions and interest rate policies. Still, studies by both the International Monetary Fund and the Bank for International Settlements, an organization for central banks in Switzerland, generally support AP’s findings that zombies have risen sharply.

Most of the publicly traded companies in the countries studied — 80% of 34,000 total — are not zombies. These healthier companies tend to be bigger with more cash, and many have reinvested it in higher-yielding bonds and other assets to make up for the higher interest payments now. Many also took advantage of pandemic-era low rates to refinance, pushing out repayment due dates into the future.

But the debt hasn’t gone away, and could become a problem for these companies as well if rates don’t fall over the next few years. In 2026, $586 billion in debt is coming due for the companies in the S&P 1500.

“They aren’t on anyone’s radar yet, but they are a hurricane. They could be a Category 4 or Category 5 if interest rates don’t go down,” Valens Securities’ Spivey said. “They’re going to lay people off. They’re going to have to cut costs.”

Some zombies aren’t waiting.

Telecom Italia struck a deal last year to sell its landline network but debt fears continue to push down its stock, so it has moved to put its subsea telecom unit and cell tower business up for sale, too.

Radio giant iHeartMedia, after exiting bankruptcy five years ago with less debt, is still struggling to pay what it owes by unloading real estate and radio towers. Its stock has fallen from $16.50 to $1.10 in five years.

Exercise company Peloton Interactive has laid off hundreds of workers to help pay debt that has more than quadrupled to $2.3 billion in just five years even though its pretax earnings before the new borrowing weren’t enough to pay interest. Stock that had soared to more than $170 a share during the pandemic recently closed at $3.74.

“If rates stay at this level in the near future, we’re going to see more bankruptcies,” said George Cipolloni, a fund manager at Penn Mutual Asset Management. “At some point the money comes due and they’re not going to have it. It’s game over.”
___

AP Soccer Writer James Robson contributed from Manchester, England.
___

Contact AP’s global investigative team at Investigative@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/

- A corner flag showing the logo of Manchester United is seen ahead of the English FA Cup 4th round soccer match between Manchester United and Reading at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. An Associated Press analysis found the number of publicly-traded “zombie” companies — those so laden with debt they’re struggling to pay even the interest on their loans — has soared to nearly 7,000 around the world, including 2,000 in the United States. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File)

A view of the Tim Italia headquarters (Telecom Italia Mobile), in Rozzano, near Milan, Italy, Friday, May 24, 2024. An Associated Press analysis found the number of publicly-traded “zombie” companies — those so laden with debt they’re struggling to pay even the interest on their loans — has soared to nearly 7,000 around the world, including 2,000 in the United States. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

 The tail of a JetBlue Airways Airbus A321 is shown as the plane prepares to take off from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. An Associated Press analysis found the number of publicly-traded “zombie” companies — those so laden with debt they’re struggling to pay even the interest on their loans — has soared to nearly 7,000 around the world, including 2,000 in the United States. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)


A view of the Tim Italia headquarters (Telecom Italia Mobile), in Rozzano, near Milan, Italy, Friday, May 24, 2024. An Associated Press analysis found the number of publicly-traded “zombie” companies — those so laden with debt they’re struggling to pay even the interest on their loans — has soared to nearly 7,000 around the world, including 2,000 in the United States. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Signs are outside the Bed Bath & Beyond corporate headquarters building in Union, N.J., Wednesday, June 5, 2024. An Associated Press analysis found the number of publicly-traded “zombie” companies — those so laden with debt they’re struggling to pay even the interest on their loans — has soared to nearly 7,000 around the world, including 2,000 in the United States. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Weeds grow outside the entrance of the Bed Bath & Beyond corporate headquarters building in Union, N.J., Wednesday, June 5, 2024. An Associated Press analysis found the number of publicly-traded “zombie” companies — those so laden with debt they’re struggling to pay even the interest on their loans — has soared to nearly 7,000 around the world, including 2,000 in the United States. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for ZOMBIE CAPITALISM 

From women pastors to sexual abuse to Trump, Southern Baptists have a busy few days ahead of them



An Attendee holds up a ballot during the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif., Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Thousands will gather in Indianapolis, June 11-12, 2024, for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Attendees sing during a worship service at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif., Tuesday, June 14, 2022. Thousands will gather in Indianapolis, June 11-12, 2024, for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

 (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Delegates hold up their ballots at the Southern Baptist Convention at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Thousands will gather in Indianapolis, June 11-12, 2024, for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. 

(Scott Clause/The Daily Advertiser via AP, File)

BY PETER SMITH
June 9, 2024

Thousands will gather in Indianapolis June 11-12 for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The meeting comes at a fraught time in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Messengers — as voting delegates are known — will vote on whether to establish a constitutional ban on churches with women pastors. They’ll hear a report — and get outside criticism — of their handling of sexual abuse among their clergy.

With membership in steady decline, they’ll hear a report on how an earlier effort to reverse that trend fell short. And they’ll vote for a new president from among six candidates.

Speaking of presidential candidates, an outside group is inviting attendees to a virtual speech by former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, at an off-site event. Proposed resolutions deal with topics ranging from Gaza to abortion and in vitro fertilization.


Here’s some of what’s facing the SBC:

WHAT’S THE LATEST WITH THE SEXUAL ABUSE CRISIS?

The convention has struggled to respond to sexual abuse in its churches since a 2019 report by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News, saying that roughly 380 Southern Baptist church leaders and volunteers faced allegations of sexual misconduct in the previous two decades. A subsequent consultant’s report said past leaders on the convention’s Executive Committee intimidated and mistreated survivors who sought help.

RELATED COVERAGE

Southern Baptists are poised to ban churches with women pastors. Some are urging them to reconsider

But survivors and advocates say the denomination’s actions don’t match its promises of reform.

An Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force recently concluded its work. While it has provided a curriculum for training churches on preventing and responding to abuse, it has not achieved the mandate of previous annual meetings to establish a database of offenders, which could help churches avoid hiring them.

In a recent YouTube interview with a fellow pastor, the chairman of the SBC’s Executive Committee, Philip Robertson, sought to downplay reports that there was a “systemic problem” of abuse in the denomination, which he contended were “not true.” This has been a talking point for some outside critics of SBC efforts to respond to the crisis, now voiced by at least one person in SBC leadership. Robertson also said insurers warned they wouldn’t cover the denomination if it had the database due to liability risks.

In response, the reform task force proposed having a separate nonprofit handle the list, but that has yet to materialize.

“Robertson’s remarks provide a window onto what has always been true,” said Christa Brown, a longtime advocate for fellow survivors of abuse within Southern Baptist churches, in an email. “SBC officials’ resistance to a database has always been about trying to minimize liability risks to the institution. ... And SBC officials are trying to operate this multi-billion dollar organization without taking on the inherent responsibilities that go along with it.”

In May, federal prosecutors charged Matt Queen, a former professor and administrator at an SBC-affiliated seminary in Texas with providing federal investigators with a false document. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York asserted this document, involving an alleged case of sexual abuse by a seminary student, was provided with the intent to impede their investigation into sexual abuse within the convention.

The Executive Committee says it was told the federal investigation into its own actions has been completed.

WHY WOULD THE SBC BAN CHURCHES WITH WOMEN PASTORS?

In 2000, Southern Baptists amended the Baptist Faith and Message, their statement of doctrine, to say the office of pastor is limited to men, citing Bible verses such as one forbidding “a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.” This came amid a larger rightward push in the late 20th century SBC.

The doctrinal statement is nonbinding, and the denomination can’t tell its independent churches whom to call as pastor. Some churches with women pastors left, while others stayed but kept a low profile. Still others later appointed women pastors or allowed women to serve under male leaders in associate pastoral roles, citing biblical examples of women in ministry.

At this year’s meeting, messengers will vote on whether to give final approval to amending their constitution to ban churches – by deeming them not in “friendly cooperation” – with women pastors in lead or associate roles. The denomination preliminarily approved the amendment last year. That’s when it also began expelling congregations with women pastors, such as Saddleback Church, a California megachurch, on the grounds that they don’t closely identify with the Baptist Faith and Message. The amendment would codify an explicit ban on such churches, putting them in the same category as churches that “endorse homosexual behavior,” discriminate based on ethnicity or fail to address sexual abuse.

WHY MIGHT THIS AFFECT NON-WHITE CHURCHES MORE?

The National African American Fellowship, a caucus of predominantly Black congregations within the SBC, says an amendment barring churches with women pastors could disproportionately impact its members, many with women working in assistant pastor roles. Chinese and Hispanic Baptist fellowship leaders also say their churches could be impacted because of language differences in how pastors are described.

WHO ARE SOUTHERN BAPTISTS, ANYWAY?

The Southern Baptist Convention is the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Members are overwhelmingly evangelical and conservative both in religion and politics, the continuation of a rightward shift that began in the 1980s. The denomination was founded in 1845 in defense of slavery in a schism with northern Baptists. In 1995, the mostly white denomination formally repented of its support for slavery and other racism, and it made some strides to diversify racially. It has lost some Black churches and pastors in recent years due to alleged racial insensitivity within its overwhelmingly white leadership.

HOW’S IT DOING?

Southern Baptist membership has steadily declined since 2006 and is now below 13 million, its lowest since 1976. There are also long-term declines in baptisms – the prime metric of spiritual vitality.

Alarmed by such trends, Southern Baptists in 2010 approved a seven-point plan to reenergize evangelistic efforts. A task force, evaluating how that went, reported this year that only two of the goals were met, and some were quickly forgotten.

The task force reported: “Regarding the simple question of whether or not the implementation (of the 2010 plan) reversed the decline of baptisms in the SBC, the answer is a clear and decisive, No.”

The report noted “a clear erosion of ‘trust, transparency and truth’ from within our convention which has ravaged our cooperative work.”

WHO WANTS TO LEAD THE DENOMINATION?

Six men are being nominated to succeed Bart Barber, a folksy cattle farmer and small-church pastor, as president.

The candidates include five pastors and a seminary dean. As in recent years, the contest will be among candidates with varying degrees of conservativism.

WILL THERE BE POLITICS?

Trump will speak virtually at a nearby event on Monday, the day before the annual meeting. That program includes some Southern Baptist leaders. It’s sponsored by an independent group but listed on the SBC calendar of events.

Former Vice President Mike Pence will speak Tuesday at a luncheon hosted by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, but not in the main hall, as he did in 2018.

Messengers are expected to vote on resolutions supporting Israel and blaming Hamas amid the Gaza war; recommitting to the abolition of abortion; and urging parents diagnosed with infertility to carefully consider ethical options.
___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Trump will speak to a Christian group that calls for abortion to be ‘eradicated entirely’



Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, June 6, 2024, in Phoenix. Trump on Monday, June 10, will address a Christian group that calls for abortion to be “eradicated entirely,” as the presumptive Republican nominee again takes on an issue that Democrats want to make a focus of this year’s presidential election. 

(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)

BY MICHELLE L. PRICE AND PETER SMITH
 June 9, 2024

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Donald Trump on Monday will address a Christian group that calls for abortion to be “eradicated entirely,” as the presumptive Republican nominee again takes on an issue that Democrats want to make a focus of this year’s presidential election.

The former president is scheduled to speak virtually at an event hosted by The Danbury Institute, which is meeting in Indianapolis in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. The Danbury Institute, an association of churches, Christians and organizations, says on its website that it believes “that the greatest atrocity facing our generation today is the practice of abortion” and it “must be ended.”

“We will not rest until it is eradicated entirely,” the group said.

Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the overturning of a federally guaranteed right to abortion — having nominated three of the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade — but has resisted supporting a national abortion ban and says he wants to leave the issue to the states.

Both the Southern Baptists whom Trump will address Monday and Republicans at large are split on abortion politics, with some calling for immediate, complete abortion bans and others more open to incremental tactics. Polls over the last several years have found a majority of Americans support some access to abortion, and abortion-rights groups have won several statewide votes since Roe was overturned, including in conservative-led states like Kansas and Ohio.

Like the GOP, the Southern Baptist Convention has moved steadily to the right since the 1980s, and its members were in the vanguard of the wider religious movement that strongly supported Republican presidents from Ronald Reagan to Trump. The Conservative Baptist Network, one of the event’s sponsors, wants to move the conservative denomination even further to the right.

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Although they criticized President Bill Clinton’s sexual behavior in the 1990s, Southern Baptists and other evangelicals have supported Trump. That has continued despite allegations of sexual misconduct, multiple divorces and now his conviction on 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex. Trump will give his address on the same day he appears virtually for a required pre-sentencing interview with New York probation officers.

Many Southern Baptists say they see him as the only alternative to a Democratic agenda they abhor.

H. Sharayah Colter, spokesperson for The Danbury Institute, said in a statement that the presidential race was a “binary choice” and said Trump has “demonstrated a willingness to protect the value of life even when politically unpopular.”

And Albert Mohler, longtime president of the denomination’s flagship seminary and once an outspoken Clinton critic, wrote a column after Trump’s conviction attacking Democrats for supporting transgender rights.

“Say what you will about Donald Trump and his sex scandals, he doesn’t confuse male and female,” wrote Mohler, who is a listed speaker for Monday’s event, along with others from the denomination’s right flank.

Trump has said he would not sign a national abortion ban and in an interview on the Fox News Channel last week, when commenting on the way some states are enshrining abortion rights and others are restricting them, said that “the people are deciding and in many ways, it’s a beautiful thing to watch.”

For over a year until he announced his position this spring, Trump had backed away from endorsing any specific national limit on abortion, unlike many other Republicans who eventually ended their presidential campaigns. Trump has repeatedly said the issue can be politically tricky and suggested he would “negotiate” a policy that would include exceptions for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.

Democrats and President Joe Biden’s campaign have tried to tie Trump to the most conservative state-level bans on abortion as well as a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that would have restricted access to in vitro fertilization and other fertility procedures that are broadly popular.

“Four more years of Donald Trump means empowering organizations like the Danbury Institute who want to ban abortion nationally and punish women who have abortions,” said Sarafina Chitika, a spokesperson for Biden’s campaign. “Trump brags that he is responsible for overturning Roe, he thinks the extreme state bans happening now because of him are ‘working very brilliantly,’ and if he’s given the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban. These are the stakes this November.”

When asked about his appearance before the Danbury Institute, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Trump “has been very clear: he supports the rights of states to determine the laws on this issue and supports the three exceptions for rape, incest, and life of the mother.”

Leavitt also said, “President Trump is committed to addressing groups with diverse opinions on all of the issues, as evidenced by his recent speech at the Libertarian Convention, his meetings with the unions, and his efforts to campaign in diverse neighborhoods across the country.”
___

Price reported from New York.
MICHELLE L. PRICE
Price is a national political reporter for The Associated Press. She is based in New York.
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Anthrax case in Texas linked to butchering lamb that died unexpectedly

A Texas rancher caught the anthrax germ after butchering and consuming meat from a lamb that had died unexpectedly on his ranch. 

Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News

By Ernie Mundell, 

HealthDay News
JUNE 7, 2024 / 

Anthrax disease in humans is rare and when it does occur, it's usually during hot, dry summers.

That's why the case of a Texas rancher who developed anthrax in January of this year piqued the interest of investigators at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The rancher, who survived his ordeal, caught the anthrax germ after butchering and consuming meat from a lamb that had died unexpectedly on his ranch, reported a team led by CDC investigator Cari Beesley.

The take-home message from this case: "Processing animals that die suddenly from unknown causes should be avoided, irrespective of the season," the researchers advised.

The case began with the rancher first consulting his doctor on New Year's Day about infected skin wounds that were found to be resistant to treatment with standard antibiotics.

By Jan. 4, the man arrived at a hospital with fever, a high white blood cell count, a scabrous lesion on his right wrist and a swollen right arm complete with "blistered lesions."

Based on those symptoms, doctors suspected anthrax, which can be a risk for folks working with livestock. The man was transferred to a second hospital, where more intensive testing could be done.

Swabs of the infected wounds tested positive for B. anthracis DNA, the CDC team reported.

After extensive treatment with antibiotics the illness resolved; the patient was discharged from the hospital on Jan. 12.

Further investigation pinpointed a recently deceased lamb as the probable source of the man's infection.

"On December 24, 2023, he had butchered a lamb that had died suddenly on his ranch, located in a Texas county adjacent to a region with enzootic [found in animals] anthrax, known as the 'Anthrax Triangle,'" Beesley's team reported Thursday in the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The lamb had appeared healthy shortly before its unexpected death, the CDC noted.

"The patient and another person seasoned and cooked the meat; the well-cooked meat was then consumed at a meal with three other persons," the investigators said, but only the man who butchered the lamb became ill.

That suggests direct contact between the deceased animal and the man's skin as the mode of transmission. In this case and prior human anthrax cases recorded in the same area of Texas, "the patients reported direct skin exposure to animal carcasses, emphasizing the importance of avoiding processing carcasses of animals that unexpectedly die of unknown causes in this region regardless of the season," the investigators said.

Tests of leftover cooked and frozen meat from the lamb did not show up as positive for the anthrax germ.

However, "the infecting bacteria possibly were inactivated when the meat was cooked at high temperatures," the researchers said.

In any case, "there is no safe way to prepare meat for human consumption from an animal that has died of anthrax," they added.

Anthrax outbreaks such as these can be avoided, Beesley and her team noted.

"Routine anthrax vaccination of animals is needed in this geographic region with known enzootic anthrax," they said.

More information

Find out more on anthrax at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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AUSTRALIA

U.S. consulate in Sydney vandalized with pro-Palestine graffiti

June 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. consulate in North Sydney was vandalized overnight, according to police who are investigating.

The New South Wales Police Force told UPI that officers were called at about 3 a.m. Monday to the building on Miller Street after an unidentified person damaged nine windows with a hammer.

Police said graffiti was also painted on the door.

Images of the damaged building circulating online show windowpanes of the consulate pierced and splintered but intact and the Great Seal of the United States on the front doors spray-painted over with red inverted triangles, a symbol used by pro-Palestinian protesters.

CCTV footage obtained by police shows a person wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt carrying what is believed to be a small sledgehammer, NSW Police told UPI.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned the incident while calling on the public for "respectful political debate and discourse."

"It's not the Australian way," he said during a press conference in Canberra Monday. "We should be able to have views -- including on issues which are difficult."

"Measures, such as painting the U.S. consulate, do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is, of course, a crime to damage property," he added.

Premier Chris Minns of New South Wales called the attack "reprehensible."

"Even if there's disagreement about events taking place overseas, no one wants to see violence or malicious damage in NSW," he said.

"I think it's reprehensible. It's an indication of a kind of coarsening of the public debate that no one needs in Australia," he continued. "This kind of behavior will be investigated and punished by NSW police."

The incident is the second time in months that the facility was vandalized. "Free Gaza" was spray painted on the consulate in April. The U.S. consulate in Melbourne was also similarly vandalized late last month.

The vandalism comes amid Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

Though the relationship between the United States and Israel has been strained over the war, Washington has come under mounting criticism over its support of the Middle Eastern country.

Israel illegally uses white phosphorous in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch says


White phosphorous munitions are blown up by United Nations workers and Hamas sappers in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in March 2010. Israel was accused of heavily using white phosphorous in that war with Hamas as well. 

File Photo by Mohammed Saber/EPA

June 9 (UPI) -- The Israeli military is illegally using airburst white phosphorus munitions as it attacks Lebanon, putting civilians in its northern neighbor at risk, according to Human Rights Watch.

The human rights organization said in a report Wednesday that it has verified that Israel illegally used airburst munitions over populated residential areas in five municipalities.

The report counted the use of white phosphorous munitions in at least 17 municipalities across south Lebanon since October 2023.

"Israel's use of airburst white phosphorus munitions in populated areas indiscriminately harms civilians and has led many to leave their homes," said researcher Ramzi Kaiss in a statement. "Israel forces should immediately stop using white phosphorus munitions in populated areas, especially when less-harmful alternatives are readily available."

White phosphorus is a highly incendiary substance used in warfare for creating smoke screens, marking targets, and as an anti-personnel weapon. Upon exposure to oxygen, it ignites and produces dense white smoke, causing severe burns upon contact with skin.

The use of white phosphorous can cause severe burns that are difficult to treat, inhalation injuries, bone and muscle damage and systemic toxicity that can lead to organ failure.

At least 173 people have been injured by white phosphorous since October, Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health said. And more than 92,600 people have been displaced.

Amnesty International has similarly documented the illegal use of white phosphorous by the Israeli military. It previously called on one such attack on the town of Dhayra to be investigated as a war crime.

Human Rights Watch noted that Israel, unlike Lebanon, is not party to Protocol III of the Convention on Conventional Weapons -- what it called "the only legally binding instrument dedicated specifically to incendiary weapons."

"Stronger international standards against the use of white phosphorus are needed to ensure these weapons do not continue to endanger civilians," Kaiss said. "Israel's recent use of white phosphorus in Lebanon should motivate other countries to take immediate action toward this goal."

Wyoming Mountain highway collapses in landslide


A huge chunk of highway in Wyoming that connects Jackson to nearby communities gave way in a landslide. 

Photo courtesy of Wyoming Department of Transportation/Facebook

June 9 (UPI) -- A huge chunk of twisting mountain highway in Wyoming that connects Jackson with nearby communities gave way in a massive landslide Saturday, leaving a huge chasm in one of the main arteries to neighboring Idaho.

Footage from an aerial drone shows a section of the pavement completely gone and the Teton Pass road hobbled by deep cracks. Portions of the guardrail along the mountain pass road were twisted, connected only at one end, and dangling in a chasm created when the road gave way.

Dangerous conditions had prompted transportation officials to close the highway when it became clear on Thursday that danger was imminent before the landslide. No casualties were reported.

"... crews, along with contract crews from Evans Construction, were working in the area to construct a detour around the damage, but the landslide continued to move, taking out the whole road. No crews were hurt in the process, and no equipment was damaged," the Wyoming Department of Transportation said in a statement.

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The section of state Highway 22 that crumbled and collapsed is closed indefinitely, the department said. The Idaho Transportation Department is assisting Wyoming crews.

"WYDOT is now reviewing a long-term solution and repairs, and more information on planning efforts will be available soon," the statement said.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said in a Facebook post that showed video of the slide that state geologists and engineers are on-site to conduct an assessment and develop a long-term solution to rebuild the roadway.

"I recognize the impacts this closure has to Teton County residents, regional commuters and the local economy, and we are in direct communication with local officials," he said in his post.

Travelers can still reach the Jackson area, but the detour adds at least an hour to the trip, according to the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce.

Germany sees dramatic rise in domestic violence

Peter Hille

DW

June 8, 2024

Every day, 700 people in Germany experience violence at the hands of their partners or family members. Two thirds of the victims are women.

Domestic violence: Men tend to be perpetrators, women tend to be victims

 Fabian Sommer/dpa/picture alliance

Most people consider their home a safe place, but it is often there that violence occurs. Last year, German police registered more than 256,000 acts of violence in which the suspected perpetrators were family members, partners, or ex-partners. That is a 7% increase from the year before.

"The victims are predominantly women. And in three out of four cases, the suspects are men," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser at the presentation of the latest figures in Berlin on Friday.

It is particularly alarming that 155women were killed by their partners or ex-partners last year. According to the Vice President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, Martina Link, the rise is partly connected to the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic and their aftermath.

No room in the women's shelter

"I expected this increase in numbers," said Stefanie Knaab, a 33-year-old activist who experienced four years of humiliation and sexual and physical violence at the hands of her partner. Today, she fights for other victims rights as a member of the "Gewaltfrei in die Zukunft" association (Violence-Free Into the Future).

"The numbers have been rising for years. And every year we are shocked anew, but still nothing really changes. That makes me very sick to my stomach," Knaab told DW.

Stefanie Knaab encourages women to break out of violence

Image: Natalia Bronny

Germany is lagging behind in support for victims seeking protection. Currently, around 7,000 women and children live in women's shelters, but an estimated 14,000 additional places are required to offer protection to all those in need.

"This is shocking and sad," says Knaab. "It can't go on like this. In view of the rising numbers, we absolutely need more places in women's shelters, and more protection. If one in two women is turned away, where are they supposed to go?"

"We hear from our women's shelters that they have to turn women away every day," said Sibylle Schreiber, managing director of the association "Frauenhauskoordinierung" (Women's Shelter Coordination). "Protection doesn't come for free."

Germany's Family Ministry estimates that €1.6 billion ($1.73 billion), rather than the current €300 million, should be invested to effectively help the victims of domestic violence in Germany.
Enforceable right to protection

"We are actually seeing a lot of positive signals right now," says Schreiber, referring in particular to the government's plans to introduce a Violence Assistance Act, which stipulates that every woman who seeks protection will receive it. The draft law proposes an enforceable "right to protection and legal advice" — free of charge. This would force the federal and state governments' hands, but currently they are still arguing about financing.

Calls grow for tougher stance on femicide in Germany  02:33

https://p.dw.com/p/4gnGl

Federalism in Germany — the division of powers between the 16 state governments and the federal government — is an obstacle, explains Schreiber. "It can happen that a woman can't stay in Berlin, for example, because her abusive partner could quickly find her. Then she simply has to move further away, to another state. And then there may be problems as to who pays what."

The draft law would guarantee that "persons affected by violence can turn to any institution regardless of where they live."

Schreiber, Knaab and many other women's activists are keen to see the draft law come into effect soon. They would also like to see a comprehensive strategy against domestic violence, as outlined in the Istanbul Conventionagainst violence against women, which Germany has also signed.

Germany could also learn from the experiences of other countries, says Knaab. "Spain is a global pioneer in the fight against gender-based violence in partnerships." In 2004, a law was passed there to ensure that "in every town, no matter how small, there is a counseling center, there is a women's shelter. There are special police units and special courts that are sensitized."

"We need to eliminate misogynistic narratives, and we need to do so fundamentally," says therapist Christina Diamantis, who works with people who have suffered in toxic relationships and from domestic abuse. She says often victims are dismissed as "the hysterical woman," whose accounts no one believes and who is then labeled as mentally ill.

Diamantis is also a victim of violence. "I was raped, I was isolated, I was financially exploited, I was psychologically beaten down. Devaluation, humiliation, abuse — every day," she recalls. Seven years ago, she managed to break out. Since then, she has been counseling women with similar experiences.

Therapist Christina Diamantis points to behavioral patterns in toxic relationships

Image: Privat

"Toxic relationships, or relationships in which violence predominates and which also end in violence — in the worst case, femicide — usually follow the same script," says Diamantis. "It begins with the so-called 'love-bombing phase' in which the woman is showered with attention and love. Only then gradually and subtly does the abuse and violence begin. This is often followed by a separation, after which the woman is wooed again and drawn back into the relationship. This is the common thread running through the stories of the hundreds, perhaps thousands of women I have worked with," says Diamantis.

Breaking out via app

"My story was the same as that of many other victims," confirms Stefanie Knaab. "Violence doesn't occur 365 days a year. There are different phases. Sometimes the perpetrator is totally loving and caring, and then the next day he's not." Back then, she started writing letters to herself in which she documented the violence. "At one point I read through these letters and realized that there was a pattern and that I had to get out."

Today, Knaab wants to help people who are trapped in violent relationships, and has launched an app that allows women to use it as a diary to document assaults on their smartphone in a way that will stand up as evidence in court. The app also contains contact details for places to find help.

The app is currently available to women in Berlin and Lower Saxony. Other states are to follow. This is one of the initiatives aimed at stopping the number of incidents of domestic violence from continuing to rise in Germany.

This article was originally written in German.

U.$. HEAD HUNTING

Reports: Russian physicists being denied entry to US

Daniil Sotnikov

DW

June 8, 2024

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the US government attempted to make it easier for Russian scientists to enter the United States. But there are reports that it has actually become more difficult.

It has become more difficult for Russians to obtain US visas in the past two years

Dionis11930/Pond5 Images/IMAGO


When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, about 9,000 Russian scientists signed an open letter against the war of aggression. Since then, Russian authorities have stepped up their repression of scientists in the country. Physicists in particular have been targeted, and many have been imprisoned on charges of treason after taking part in international conferences or publishing articles in foreign journals.

For many who signed the open letter — who then became the target for the secret services — the best solution was to leave Russia if they had not done so already.

White House campaign to attract Russian scientists

Within weeks of Moscow's invasion, the White House launched a campaign to make it easier for Russian scientists to enter the US. It proposed to Congress that visa requirements should be relaxed, and work permits issued more quickly. The idea was to attract scientists and undermine the Kremlin's "potential for innovation" in warfare.

However, the initiative may have failed because of opposition from Republicans in Congress. A Russian scientist told DW on condition of anonymity that he had been informed of this by colleagues at leading US universities.

Though there are no official statistics to back this up, numerous reports indicate it has become almost impossible for Russian physicists to enter the US over the past two years.

Germany: Russians are fleeing mobilization  02:05null

New hurdles for obtaining a visa

Mikhail Feigelman, a physicist at the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, located in the town of Chernogolovka near Moscow, is a case in point. He traveled to Poland in spring 2022, applied for a visa at the US consulate in Warsaw, presenting an invitation from his daughter who was already living in the US. Like almost all scientists in similar situations, he was asked to send in some of his publications, a procedure he was familiar with, as he had done followed it for years. He had always received a visa within a few weeks. Not this time.

"I was informed after seven months that my visa had been refused. I was told that I had not proven that I would leave the US in time," he said. In the past, he said, he had only ever been questioned about his scientific work. "I had never been asked for proof of return to Russia," he told DW.

There appear to be several similar cases, though it is difficult to verify them because most of those involved want to remain anonymous. One young scientist reportedly accepted an invitation from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena after completing his graduate studies in Russia in the summer of 2022. He and his wife both applied for visas. The response came two years later: His application had been refused and hers granted.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 2019

Alexander Astafyev/Russian Government Press Office/TASS/IMAGO

Risk of scientific espionage

Another one of Feigelman's colleagues, who has been working in Germany for more than 15 years, was apparently refused a visa for the US on the grounds that there was a risk of scientific espionage.

Another problem is the sanctions against Russia, the colleague said. The US has imposed sanctions on more than 200 Russian universities. Several physics departments and institutes are affected because they might be involved in military research, according to the US government.

Users of the Russian travel website Forum Vinskogo have reported that the US was still issuing visas for Russian scientists working for institutes involved with the military industry in 2018. However, since 2022 more and more visa applications have been rejected, with the applicants often told that their employer is subject to US sanctions. Many users say that they have been asked in interviews at the US consulate whether they were aware of the sanctions and that proceedings often drag on for months, even years.

More Russian applications rejected than before

US State Department figures reflect this development: Almost 40% of visa applications from Russians were rejected in 2023, up from 26% the year before. Before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the figure oscillated between 15% and 17%. In response to a DW enquiry, the State Department said that it could not determine whether scientists were more affected than others.

The US State Department said it did not know whether scientists were more affected than other Russians applying for visas

 Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images

Some Russian physicists have argued that the problems are not being caused deliberately but are due to the fact that the authorities are overburdened. Mr Smirnov (not his real name), who has been travelling to the US for over 10 years for work, said that he and his wife had applied for visas, for private or business reasons, in December 2023. He said his wife had received hers very quickly, while he was still waiting for an answer. "This is not directed against us," he said, however. "It's just the slow bureaucracy machine."

In some cases when renowned US scientists have stood up for their Russian colleagues, the procedure has been accelerated. A doctoral student at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology was offered a place by a top US university at the beginning of 2022. He applied for a visa and waited in vain for six months. When Russia declared a partial mobilization in September 2022, some of his European colleagues asked a famous US Nobel prize winner (who also did not want to be named) for help. The student was informed the next day that his visa was ready.

Some of the Russian scientists who were not able to go to the US to study or work because their applications for a visa were not granted have moved to the European Union instead. "My scientists friends realize now that it is almost impossible to go to the US," a former employee of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, who is now living in western Europe, told DW.

This article was originally written in Russian.

US in Gaza ceasefire push with UN vote, Mideast tour

Gaza Strip (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – The United States stepped up pressure Monday for a Gaza ceasefire with a call for a UN Security Council vote on a truce as it redeployed Washington's top diplomat to the region scarred by eight months of war.

Issued on: 10/06/2024 - 

A Palestinian looks at the debris from fighting following the hostage rescue operation by Israeli special forces in Nuseirat camp, central Gaza, on June 8, 2024 

© Bashar TALEB / AFP

Secretary of State Antony Blinken's regional tour was preceded by further bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces, with witnesses reporting overnight strikes in the centre of the strip and helicopter gunfire on ravaged Gaza City.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile faced domestic dissent, with war cabinet member Benny Gantz quitting Sunday over the premier's handling of the war.

Washington sought to bring a ceasefire closer by tabling a draft resolution at the United Nations, calling for an "immediate ceasefire with the release of hostages" between Israel and militant group Hamas.

A staunch ally of Israel, the United States has been widely criticised for having blocked several earlier UN draft resolutions calling for a halt to the fighting.

Freed Israeli hostage Noa Argamani, 26, is embraced by her father at a hospital on June 8, 2024 

© Handout / Israeli Army/AFP

A new push for a deal by President Joe Biden on May 31, separate from the UN, has so far failed to produce tangible results, while further doubts have been cast on a truce by an Israeli special forces raid to free hostages which killed scores of Palestinians on Saturday.

"People were screaming -- young and old, women and men," said Muhannad Thabet, 35, a resident of the crowded Nuseirat refugee camp area.

"Everyone wanted to flee the place, but the bombing was intense and anyone who moved was at risk of being killed due to the heavy bombardment and gunfire."

The Israeli military said the extraction team and the four rescued captives came under heavy gun and grenade fire by militants, who killed one police officer, while Israel's air force launched strikes that reduced nearby buildings to rubble.

Palestinians inspect damage to buildings following the hostage rescue raid in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 8, 2024 

© Bashar TALEB / AFP

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said 274 people were killed and 698 wounded, in what it labelled the "Nuseirat massacre", figures that could not be independently verified.

Among those were at least 64 children, 57 women and 37 elderly people, the ministry said.
'Abandon the battle'

Many Israelis shed tears of joy when they heard of the release of the four captives, all reported in good health.

Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, had been abducted from the Nova music festival during Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war.

Former army chief Benny Gantz's resignation from the war cabinet marks the first major political blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the eight-month Gaza war 

© JACK GUEZ / AFP

Pressure is mounting over Netanyahu's failure to return remaining hostages and the departure of Gantz from the war cabinet marked a major political blow.

Gantz's decision, which will not bring down the right-wing government, comes after he had issued an ultimatum to Netanyahu to present a post-war plan for Gaza by June 8.

Responding to the first major political blow to him during the conflict, Netanyahu told Gantz it was "not the time to abandon the battle".

A rescued hostage is seen on a large screen at a rally in Tel Aviv by relatives and supporters of Israelis taken captive in Gaza in the October 7 attacks 

© GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP

The four freed hostages are among only seven that Israeli forces have managed to rescue alive since Palestinian militants seized 251 in their October 7 attack.

Dozens were exchanged in a November truce for Palestinian prisoners. After Saturday's rescue operation, 116 hostages remain in Gaza, although the army says 41 of them are dead.

Israel's top diplomat rejected accusations "of war crimes" in the operation.

Israeli hostage Andrey Kozlov, 27, disembarks with soldiers from an air force CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter after his rescue from captivity in the Gaza Strip, near Tel Aviv on June 8, 2024 

© GIDEON MARKOWICZ / AFP

"We will continue to act with determination and strength, in accordance with our right to self-defence, until all of the hostages are freed and Hamas is defeated," Foreign Minister Israel Katz said.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell welcomed the hostage release and said reports "of another massacre of civilians are appalling... the bloodbath must end immediately".
Devastation, displacement

With no breakthroughs on the horizon, Blinken is set to visit Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Qatar during his eighth regional tour since the war erupted.

"The only thing standing in the way of achieving this ceasefire is Hamas. It is time for them to accept the deal," he said Saturday.

Israeli special forces swooped in to free the captives from two buildings 

© Eyad BABA / AFP

Hamas has insisted on a permanent truce and full Israeli withdrawal from all parts of Gaza -- demands that Israel has firmly rejected.

The bloodiest ever Gaza war broke out after the October 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 37,084 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the territory's health ministry.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators holding a 'red line' at a rally near the White House on June 8, 2024 

© Mandel NGAN / AFP

The war has brought widespread devastation to Gaza and displaced most of its 2.4 million inhabitants, many whom are on the brink of starvation.

Aid has arrived only sporadically by truck, airdrops and sea.

The US military said a temporary pier that had suffered storm damage late last month had been rebuilt and used on Saturday to deliver about 492 tonnes of "much needed humanitarian assistance".

burs-jd/rsc/mtp

© 2024 AFP

US calls for Security Council vote on Gaza ceasefire deal

The United States announced Sunday it has requested a UN Security Council vote on its draft resolution backing a plan for an "immediate ceasefire with the release of hostages" between Israel and Hamas.


Issued on: 10/06/2024 - 

U.S. President Joe Biden leaves the State Dining Room after announcing a proposed ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza at the White House on May 31, 2024 in Washington, DC.

 © Chip Somodevilla, AFP

Diplomatic sources said the vote is planned for Monday, but has not yet been confirmed by South Korea, which holds the Security Council presidency for the month of June.

"Today, the United States called for the Security Council to move towards a vote... supporting the proposal on the table," said Nate Evans, spokesman for the US delegation, without specifying a vote date.

"Council members should not let this opportunity pass by and must speak with one voice in support of this deal," Evans said.

The United States, a staunch ally of Israel, has been widely criticized for having blocked several UN draft resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden on May 31 launched a new push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal, separate from the United Nations.

Under the proposal, Israel would withdraw from Gaza population centers and Hamas would free hostages. The ceasefire would last an initial six weeks, with it extended as negotiators seek a permanent end to hostilities.

The United States is placing primary responsibility for accepting the proposal on Hamas, specifically calling on the Palestinian militant group to accept the document in the latest version of the draft text.

That version, which was distributed to member states on Sunday and was seen by AFP, "welcomes" the new ceasefire proposal while stating, unlike in previous versions, that Israel has already accepted.

The draft resolution "calls upon Hamas to also accept it, and urges both parties to fully implement its terms without delay and without condition."

In response to requests from several member states, the latest text clearly lays out the proposal.

This includes a first phase with an "immediate, full, and complete ceasefire," release of hostages taken by Hamas, and "exchange of Palestinian prisoners" plus "withdrawal of Israeli forces from the populated areas in Gaza."

This also includes the "safe and effective distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale throughout the Gaza Strip to all Palestinian civilians who need it."
Member state disagreements

According to diplomatic sources, several Security Council members indicated their reservations on two previous versions of the text, in particular Algeria which is the Arab representative on the UN Security Council, and Russia which wields a veto.

Since the unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7 against Israel and Israel's subsequent counterattack, the Security Council has struggled to speak with one voice.

Following two resolutions mainly focused on humanitarian aid, the Security Council finally at the end of March successfully demanded an "immediate ceasefire" for the duration of Ramadan, which was achieved with the United States abstaining from the vote.

Following the International Court of Justice's decision at the end of May ordering Israel to stop its offensive in Rafah, Algeria circulated a draft resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and, more specifically, a halt to the Rafah offensive.

The United States, however, said such a text was not helpful, stating that it instead favored negotiations on the ground to achieve a ceasefire.

The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,084 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

(AFP)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Is Japan's car-testing scandal the new Dieselgate?

Toyota, Mazda, Suzuki and Yamaha were found to have submitted incorrect or manipulated test data when they certified their vehicles. The revelations have echoes of the emissions scandal that rocked Volkswagen in 2015.


Toyota and others have stressed that the vehicles involved in the scandal are safe

Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

Nik Martin

DW/AFP

Toyota, the world's top-selling carmaker, halted domestic shipments of three models this week as a government testing scandal enveloped Japan's auto industry.

Along with rivals Honda, Mazda, Suzuki and Yamaha, Toyota is accused of failing to follow standardized steps when certifying new car models before they go into mass production. The firm's headquarters were raided by Transport Ministry officials on Tuesday.

The scandal has already hit sales of Japanese vehicles amid intense competition in the global auto sector. It comes just months after China overtook Japan to become the world's largest car exporter, partly due to booming sales of electric vehicles (EVs).

A similar scandal knocked Volkswagen's reputation and sales in 2015, after the German auto giant admitted that it installed illegal software that cheated emissions tests.

Dieselgate, the largest and most expensive auto disgrace in history, cost VW over $30 billion in fines and damages and had an impact on several other carmakers.

Japan's Toyota admits to safety test fraud  01:40

 

How did Japan's safety scandal unfold?

Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu was first hit by accusations of wrongdoing in December. The carmaker, best known for its compact and mini-sized vehicles, admitted to widespread manipulation of tests dating back to the late 1980s, including engine and crash performance, affecting 64 models.

Daihatsu halted all production in Japan for several months as a result of the inquiry and replaced its chief executive.

By April, Japan's Transport Ministry had verified that all Daihatsu production vehicles now met official safety standards and lifted the ban on shipments.

The Transport Ministry then ordered other automakers and parts suppliers to review test results from the previous decade and report any breaches related to the certification of their vehicles. A total of 85 companies were ordered to comply, including Toyota.
T

Toyoda: "I would like to sincerely apologize to our customers, to car fans and all stakeholders."

Image: Kenya Sumiyoshi/Jiji Press/dpa//picture alliance

How are other Japanese carmakers implicated?

Toyota has now admitted to massive cheating on certification tests for seven models sold domestically during six assessments conducted in 2014, 2015 and 2020.

The carmaker said the cheating involved the use of inadequate or outdated data in collision tests, as well as incorrect testing of airbag inflation and rear-seat damage in crashes.

In one example, collision damage was measured on one side of a model's bonnet instead of both, as required. Emissions tests also were found to have been falsified.

Some of the models found with faulty tests had already been discontinued.

Production of three models, the Corolla Fielder, Corolla Axio and Yaris Cross, has been suspended temporarily.

The issue does not affect Toyota's overseas production.

Rival Mazda this week admitted to similar irregular certification testing — notably the use of incorrect engine control software during assessments, as well as crash test violations on three discontinued models.

Production of two models, the Roadster and Mazda 2, has been paused.

Honda said it had found wrongdoing in noise and output tests over eight years on dozens of discontinued models.

Yamaha admitted falsifying data involving noise-level tests on at least three motorbike models.

How does Japan's scandal compare with Dieselgate?

Though industry insiders say the trouble facing Toyota and its Japanese rivals resembles VW's debacle nearly a decade ago, Dieselgate was much worse.

"Dieselgate was a criminal case of extreme cheating of US environmental laws," Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director of Germany's Center for Automotive Research (CAR), told DW. "In this way, the Japanese safety scandal is not comparable."

VW was found to have violated the US Clean Air Act by intentionally programming diesel engines to activate their emissions controls only during laboratory testing.

The measure caused the vehicles to meet US standards for nitrogen oxide (NOx) output when, in fact, they emitted up to 40 times more NOx during normal driving.

VW was then investigated in multiple other countries and received billion-dollar fines by governments and compensation claims from owners of the 11 million vehicles fitted with the illegal device.

Dudenhöffer noted how "carmakers often make recalls over safety issues," adding that Toyota, Mazda and Nissan were affected by another scandal a decade ago that involved airbags rupturing in crashes.

"Dieselgate certainly had an impact on Volkswagen's sales initially. But it faded fairly quickly because the vehicles are so popular," Felipe Munoz, senior analyst at the London-based auto research house JATO Dynamics, told DW.. "A year later, VW's sales were growing again."

Volkswagen and later BMW, Renault, Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Nissan were affected by the emissions-cheating scandal

Neundorf/Kirchner-Media/picture alliance

Munoz thinks that any impact on Japanese car sales will be temporary but could hurt smaller players more than Toyota.

"Toyota has a very good reputation. It's the most global car brand in the world. I don't think this scandal will have a long-lasting impact on sales," he added.

Even so, the testing cover-up is a major setback for Toyota, which gained a competitive edge for decades for producing high-quality cars and setting the standard for durability and long-term resale value.

Toyota has also benefited from a strategy of producing hybrid cars (powered by both the combustion engine and electric battery), rather than purely electric models. This has produced huge profits as many consumers are still wary of battery range anxiety and the future resale value of EVs.

The firm now risks falling behind its Chinese rivals, which have fully embraced EVs and saw their exports skyrocket by 64% last year compared with 2022.
What happens next?

Japan's Transport Ministry said it was conducting on-site inspections at Toyota's headquarters, as well as those of four other automakers.

"We will carry out on-site inspections" at each of the companies, Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito told reporters on Tuesday.

"These acts erode the trust of vehicle users and shake the very foundation of the vehicle certification system. It is extremely regrettable," he said.

The investigation could take several months, and the financial impact of the scandal is yet to be fully assessed.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi hoped that the impact would be "minimal." He added that the government would take measures to lessen the economic damage

While apologizing on Monday, Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda said some certification rules might be overly stringent, but insisted that he wasn't condoning the violations.

He said the firm might have taken shortcuts in its testing process at a time when it was developing several new models.

"We are not a perfect company. But, if we see anything wrong, we will take a step back and keep trying to correct it," Toyoda said.

Edited by: Ashutosh Pandey