It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, August 29, 2024
Climate change linked to increased risk of salmonella
By Dennis Thompson, HealthDay News Climate change will increase people's risk of salmonella poisoning from contaminated food, a new study warns. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News
Climate change will increase people's risk of salmonella poisoning from contaminated food, a new study warns.
Increased humidity will make it more likely that leafy greens like lettuce will suffer from bacterial diseases, such as leaf spot, researchers reported Thursday in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
In turn, those bacterial diseases can help salmonella survive in leafy greens, increasing the risk of food-borne illness in humans, they said.
"The impact of increased humidity on healthy plants also supported salmonella's survival on plants, which would make climate change a food safety issue," said researcher Jeri Barak, a professor of plant pathology with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"Controlling plant disease such as bacterial leaf spot of lettuce is also important for food safety," Barak said in a journal news release. "Climate change will increase the risk of foodborne illness from consumption of raw produce."
Salmonella sickens 1.2 million people in the United States every year, researchers said in background notes. Fresh produce is the most common route of infection, as salmonella survives on many crops and persists in soil for extended periods of time.
In lab experiments, researchers varied when leafy greens were exposed to a bacteria that causes leaf spot or the salmonella bacteria. High humidity enhanced the ability of salmonella to rapidly grow in lettuce, researchers found.
Humidity also promoted leaf spot, which further enhanced salmonella's ability to survive and spread in romaine lettuce, results show.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on salmonella.
French museum invites naturism exhibit visitors to disrobe
The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations, or Mucem, in Marseille, France, is inviting members of the public to visit its Naturist Paradises exhibit in the nude on pre-scheduled dates held once a month.
Aug. 29 (UPI) -- A French museum announced members of the public are being invited to view its exhibit on naturism while wearing nothing but a pair of shoes.
Marseille's Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations, or Mucem, said nude patrons are being welcomed to peruse the Naturist Paradises exhibit in the nude on designated dates once a month, during a time the facility would normally be closed. Advertisement
The nude museum visits are being organized in partnership with the French Naturist Federation, or FFN.
Naturist Paradises features hundreds of pieces of art from naturist communities, including paintings, sculptures, photographs and films.
"It was only natural for the Mucem, a social museum based in Marseilles, a Mediterranean city around which several major naturist centers have sprung up, to explore this singular and unifying social phenomenon that is naturism, (or rather naturisms, because there are different types)," the museum's website states.
FFN official Eric Stefanut said the museum's nude visitors will still be required to wear shoes inside the exhibit.
The Naturist Paradises exhibit at the museum runs through Dec. 9. The next nude tour is scheduled for Sept. 3.
4 days after Arizona bank worker died, her body discovered in work cubicle
" It's really heartbreaking and I'm thinking, 'What if I were just sitting there? No one would check on me?"
Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Arizona bank employee Denise Prudhomme, 60, died at work and her body wasn't discovered in her work cubicle until four days later.
Police in Tempe, Ariz., said Thursday there was no evidence of foul play.
Police said she scanned into work for her Wells Fargo job on Aug.16. Security at the building found her dead Aug. 20.
Wells Fargo said in a statement, "We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our colleague at our Tempe office. Our thoughts and prayers are with their family and loved ones during this difficult time. Counselors, through our Employee Assistance Consulting service, are available to support our employees. We are fully cooperating with the Tempe Police Department in their investigation and will direct all further questions to them."
The investigation into circumstances of her death is ongoing, but it is not yet clear how she could have gone unnoticed for days.
NBC News reported that an anonymous Wells Fargo employee told KPNX that a co-worker found Prudhomme dead at her desk while walking around the building. Several workers in the building had smelled a foul odor but thought it was bad plumbing.
A worker quoted anonymously told Tempe's 12 News, " It's really heartbreaking and I'm thinking, 'What if I were just sitting there? No one would check on me?"
Wells Fargo workers said the building has around-the-clock security and Prudhomme should have been found sooner.
"That's the scary part," a Wells Fargo employee told 12 News That's the uneasy part. It's negligence in some part."
Israeli archeologists unearth rare, 2,700-year-old stone seal near Temple Mount
Archeologist Rom Navot of the Israel Antiquities Authority holds a rare black stone seal, approximately 2,700 years old, from the Kingdom of Judah in the First Temple Period, discovered during excavations near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Thursday.
Photo by Debbie Hill/UPI |
Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Israeli antiquities researchers announced Thursday they have unearthed a rare and significant stone seal from the First Temple Period of about 2,700 years ago.
The seal, which bears a name inscribed in paleo-Hebrew script and a winged demon, or "genie" figure, was discovered in the Davidson Archaeological Garden near the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Israel Antiquities Authority said in a statement obtained by UPI. "The seal, made of black stone, is one of the most beautiful ever discovered in excavations in ancient Jerusalem, and is executed at the highest artistic level," said excavation directors Dr. Yuval Baruch and Navot Rom.
The name inscribed on the stone is Hoshʼayahu, thought to be a senior administrator in the Kingdom of Judah, who likely wore the stone as an amulet around his neck and used it to sign official documents and proclamations.
The figure of the winged man demonstrates the ascendency of the Assyrian Empire over Middle East in the 9th-7th Centuries BCE while conferring onto its bearer the authority of the office, the researchers said.
"It seems that the object was made by a local craftsman -- a Judahite, who produced the amulet at the owner's request," said Israel Antiquities Authority Archaeologist and Assyriologist Filip Vukosavović. "It was prepared at a very high artistic level."
The find is "an extremely rare and unusual discovery," he added. "This is the first time that a winged 'genie' -- a protective magical figure -- has been found in Israeli and regional archaeology."
The figure of a winged man in a distinct Neo-Assyrian style is unique and very rare in the glyphic styles of the late First Temple period, scholars say.
Israeli Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu also hailed the discovery, calling it "spectacular" and noting it demonstrates how even 2,700 years ago Jerusalem had emerged as an international hub for commerce.
"It is impossible not to be moved by such an unmediated and direct encounter with a chapter of our past, a time in which the First Temple stood in all its glory," he said.
Orange lobster returned to the wild after arrival at Long Island store
An ultra-rare orange lobster that arrived in a shipment at a store on New York's Long Island was released back into the Long Island Sound. Photo courtesy of Humane Long Island/Facebook
Aug. 29 (UPI) -- An extremely rare orange lobster that arrived in a shipment at a New York store was released back into the wild by an animal advocacy group.
Humane Long Island said on social media that workers at Southampton Stop & Shop found the orange lobster among the standard brown lobsters that arrived in a recent shipment.
The store offered the crustacean to the Long Island Aquarium, but the facility declined.
The Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation learned about Pinky's situation and contacted Humane Long Island, which reached out to management at Stop & Shop.
The lobster, now named Clementine, underwent rehabilitation under the supervision of a veterinarian before being released back into the Long Island Sound.
Orange coloration is believed to occur in only one out of every 30 million lobsters. Peaches, an orange lobster being studied by researchers at the University of New England, recently hatched a clutch of 100 eggs, and some of the babies share their mother's unusual pigment.
Conspiracy, fake news, crime:
Why is Telegram controversial?
Thomas Latschan
DW
August 28, 2024
Telegram has been used by all sides in Russia, both pro-and anti-government groups. The arrest of CEO Pavel Durov in Paris has left Russia's opposition worried. But the messaging app is well known for its drawbacks.
Telegram helped enable mass demonstrations in Belarus
Image: Nadzeya Buzhan
Iran 2017-2018: Protests break out in the city of Mashhad — calling out corruption, mismanagement and rising food prices. Within days the protests spread to a dozen other cities and rural communities across the country. The government in Tehran has difficulty getting them under control.
Thailand 2020: Resistance to the military regime of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha grows at universities across the country after being started by an opposition party. The protests quickly pick up steam, eventually leading to a "state of emergency."
Belarus 2020: Presidential elections are slated to take place in a country run for decades by an autocrat. Dictator Alexander Lukashenko's announces he has won reelection in the vote. Months of mass demonstrations ensue.
Telegram has become one of the most popular messaging services in the world
Image: Fabian Sommer/dpa
Anonymous accounts, unlimited chat group sizes
All of these, as well as other protests have one thing in common: They were largely organized on Telegram.
The app also promises users an especially high level of anonymity. Though customers need to register a cellphone number when opening an account, they can submit a user name that can be used without allowing other chat group members to see that number. All of these functions make Telegram especially interesting to certain groups. Fake news, propaganda and extremism
Opposition groups living under authoritarian regimes are not the only ones interested, however. Telegram also became a go-to platform for COVID-19 deniers in 2020.
After Parler — a platform largely favored by rightwing extremists and radical populists spreading far-right content — was temporarily shut down, Telegram became their new platform of preference, with numerous fake news and disinformation campaigns popping up on it.
Telegram also attracts cyber criminals — Pavel Durov is accused, among other things, of allowing organized crime to flourish on his platform, not hindering the distribution of child pornography, and covering up crimes.
Durov's arrest led to a truly strange situation in which the Kremlin — which maintains numerous Telegram channels — is complaining just as loudly as high-ranking Russian opposition leaders. Georgia Alburov, a longtime associate of murdered Russian activist and Kremlin-critic Alexey Navalny, went so far as to say Durov's arrest represented a, "heavy blow to freedom of speech."
Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov has constantly moved his company's headquarters since leaving Russia in 2014
"You can talk to anyone you want within security circles and every one will tell you that Telegram is desperately lagging behind other platforms when it comes to content confidentiality," says Jürgen Schmidt, who heads the German IT news site heise online.
Unlike messaging services such as WhatsApp or Signal, content on Telegram is not encrypted end-to-end, that is along the entire path between one user's phone and another's.
"Telegram is a little unclear sometimes in communicating that," as Schmidt told DW. "They talk about encrypting all messages but they only mean encrypted on the path between the device and the server. Once they are on the server they are decrypted in plain text form."
'A privacy nightmare'
Although it is in fact possible to change settings to enable end-to-end data encryption, it isn't very easy — it also does not work for every type of chat.
"Principally, that means everything that is written on the app is stored on Telegram's servers, where Durov and his team have full access," said Schmidt, who described the app as a "privacy nightmare" in one of his articles.
It is not known, however, where those servers are actually located — therefore it is also unknown just who has access to the information stored on them. Telegram has not made the location of its servers public.
But why is Telegram so popular with so many anti-authoritarian protest movements?
"There's no technical explanation," says Schmidt, who suggests a different motivation: "Unlike most other messaging services, Telegram does not have a US background — where many still think that 'evil' NSA operatives are involved."
Instead, the company is run by a Russian "who also gained credibility by leaving the country in order to avoid pressure from the regime there." Constantly moving company headquarters
Peculiar as well is the fact that Durov never seems to keep his company in one place for very long. After leaving Russia he first moved Telegram to Berlin, then London and Singapore before settling in Dubai.
"Of course," says tech expert Schmidt, "one can speculate that he is moving to avoid law enforcement. To date, Telegram's Dubai address has been looked on favorably by platform users, giving Durov more credibility because he can no longer be easily pursued by German or US officials."
That, too, says Schmidt, has serious consequences for users. "They have no way to gain recourse with Telegram."
The online platform was designed with that fact in mind. "You could see that positively if you were being targeted by criminal prosecutors for instance, but it would have drawbacks for someone who has fallen prey to online fraudsters."
The IT expert's final call: "Personally, I would cut a wide berth around Telegram when it comes to anything remotely confidential."
This article was translated from German by Jon Shelton
Why Telegram chief's arrest raises 'red flags' for tech bosses
Paris (AFP) – Now that France has charged Telegram's founder with failing to stop illegal activity on his platform, other tech bosses may have reason to weigh the wisdom of jetting into Europe themselves.
Russia-born Pavel Durov is accused of "complicity" in running an online platform that allowed illicit transactions, child sex abuse images and other illegal content.
French lawyers told AFP it was "unprecedented" for an individual to be held criminally liable for what users chose to do on a tech platform.
Chat apps like Telegram -- which boasts having more than 900 million users -- were almost certainly hosting illegal content whether the bosses knew it or not, experts told AFP.
"It's clear that if they take this case against Pavel Durov all the way, any other platform could be threatened with the same thing," lawyer Guillaume Martine told AFP.
However, the idea of X owner Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, whose Meta group includes Facebook and WhatsApp, being arrested in Europe remained beyond the realms of likelihood.
"I would be very surprised if any EU member state, including France, arrested Elon Musk under similar charges," Jan Penfrat of the European Digital Rights (EDRi) advocacy group told AFP.
"But then again, I was also surprised that they arrested Durov." 'Limited cooperation'
Although comparing these platforms is superficially appealing -- like its competitors, Telegram is not based in France, and Durov is an ally of Musk -- there are key differences.
For one, Durov is a French citizen, making him a much likelier target in France.
But also, although Musk trumpets an extreme free-speech position, he generally complies with government takedown orders on X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter.
Telegram, however, refuses on principle.
"It's true that Telegram is characterised by extremely limited cooperation, if any at all," said digital rights lawyer Alexandre Lazaregue.
"They don't respond to letters, they don't respond to summonses, they don't even have legal representation in court... Whereas Facebook, Twitter, etc still have well-known lawyers in Paris."
And Penfrat said comparisons with services like Signal or WhatsApp were also misleading as they are encrypted by default -- unlike Telegram.
"So Signal and WhatsApp can say: 'We're cooperating, we just don't have the information,'" he said.
"But Telegram says: 'Well, we could give you all that information because it's in plain text on our servers, but we're not going to, sorry.'" 'Red flags'
The particular position of Durov and Telegram suggests other tech bosses do not have anything immediately to worry about.
But Penfrat said he was concerned that the move against Telegram could be used as a precedent to go after other encrypted services.
Law enforcement agencies across the world have long argued they need access to encrypted messages to stop criminal activity.
But services like WhatsApp and Signal have pushed back, saying the only way to do that would be to outlaw encryption.
"It does raise a lot of red flags to see these charges, which seem random and also are just not very convincing," said Penfrat, suggesting it was like trying to blame a knife-maker for a stabbing.
Lawyer Martine said it was "extremely dangerous" to try to hold Telegram accountable for the actions of its users, likening it to prosecuting Europcar for renting a vehicle to a drug trafficker.
Lazaregue concluded that the charges against Durov were pushing the legal definition of "complicity" to breaking point.
"To be convicted of complicity, you still need to be aware that a crime is happening and intend to participate in it," he said.
The man with four passports: Durov's international network
Paris (AFP) – The arrest and charging by France of Telegram founder Pavel Durov has thrown a spotlight on the international connections of a man with at least four passports and high-level contacts but who has also aroused the attention of security agencies around the world.
Born in 1984 under the USSR into a family of academics in Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, Durov spent his childhood in Italy before his family returned to Russia when the Soviet Union fell.
He stopped living in Russia a decade ago as he set up the Telegram messenger, picking up the citizenship of the Caribbean archipelago of Saint Kitts and Nevis as he sought a base.
Finally basing his company in Dubai, he was given Emirati citizenship in 2021 and in the same year, via a special procedure that remains shrouded in secrecy, French nationality.
Here AFP looks at Durov's key relationships with world powers.
Russia
Durov says he left Russia in 2014, accusing Kremlin allies of seizing ownership of his first social network, the Russian-language VKontakte, after he refused to hand over data of users involved in 2011-2012 protests in Russia and then 2013-2014 demonstrations in Ukraine.
He was regarded by many at the time as a dissident. The Russian authorities in later years sought to block Telegram but unsuccessfully, and the app is seen as a key tool for the military in the invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to US right-wing talk show host Tucker Carlson in an interview in April, Durov said only people with "very limited knowledge of where Telegram came from" could claim it was an instrument of the Russian government.
But Moscow has in no way disowned Durov during his current legal problems, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warning France against turning the case into "political persecution".
According to the Vazhnye Istorii news site, citing leaked border data, his departure from Russia was anything but an abrupt exile and he visited the country more than 50 times between 2015 and 2021.
France
Media have repeatedly noted that Durov's reception when he was arrested on arrival at Paris Le Bourget airport Saturday was in stark contrast to previous visits.
Le Monde newspaper reported Wednesday that Durov had met President Emmanuel Macron on several occasions prior to receiving French nationality in 2021, via a special procedure reserved for those deemed to have made a special contribution to France.
A source close to the case, who asked not to be named, told AFP on Thursday that after his arrest Durov requested that French telecoms tycoon Xavier Niel, chairman and founder of the Iliad mobile operator and seen as close to Macron, be informed of his arrest.
Durov has said his name in his French passport is written as Paul du Rove, a humorous French translation. His personal Telegram channel is called "Du Rove's Channel".
Another source close to the investigation said Durov had emphasised his links to the French head of state during questioning.
Both Pavel Durov and his elder brother Nikolai, a lower-profile figure seen as the mathematical brain behind Telegram, have been wanted by France since March this year. United Arab Emirates
Durov says he chose to base Telegram in Dubai after finding the UAE offered a far better business climate than European cities, allowing the company to hire the best people, enjoy a tax-efficient regime and the city's infrastructure.
"We tried several places. We first went to Berlin... We tried London, Singapore. San Francisco. You name it -- we have been everywhere," Durov told Carlson.
"The bureaucratic hurdles were too difficult to overcome," whereas the UAE "turned out to be a great place", he said, lauding the state as "a neutral place... not aligned geopolitically".
The United States
There is no indication Durov ever sought US citizenship but his interview with Carlson threw up some interesting -- if unconfirmed -- insights about his relationship with the country.
He said that at one point he thought San Francisco "would be the place for us" but he was then attacked by "three big guys" who tried to grab his phone while he was tweeting about meeting then Twitter chief Jack Dorsey.
Durov claimed to have come out the better in the altercation. "There was a short fight and a bit of blood involved."
He also said US security agencies gave him "too much attention" whenever he visited, complaining that two FBI agents would always meet him at the airport asking questions.
Telegram chief Durov released on €5 million bail, forbidden to leave France
Russian-born Telegram boss Pavel Durov was released on bail after being placed under formal investigation by French authorities following his arrest as part of a probe related to illegal content carried on his messaging app. Durov was freed after paying a €5 million deposit and instructed not to leave France. The Kremlin, which is closely watching the case, emphasised his status as a Russian citizen and warned against "political persecution".
Telegram chief Pavel Durov was spending Thursday out on bail after four days of detention in France, banned from leaving the country as he faces a possible trial related to illegal content carried on his messaging app.
Russian-born Durov, dressed in black and wearing dark glasses, walked briskly out of the Paris court house late Wednesday into a waiting car after being charged but allowed to go free under judicial supervision.
He thanked his lawyer and was rapidly ushered into the vehicle by a burly man appearing to be a bodyguard, video posted on social media channels showed.
Durov, 39, was charged on several counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app which now has over 900 million followers but has become increasingly controversial.
His lawyer David-Olivier Kaminski said it was “absurd” to suggest Durov could be implicated in any crime committed on the app, adding: “Telegram complies in all respects with European rules concerning digital technology.”
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned France against turning the case into “political persecution”, emphasising he is a “Russian citizen” and “we will be watching what happens next.”
Among those also voicing support for Durov is fellow tech tycoon and chief executive of X, Elon Musk, who has posted comments under the hashtag #FreePavel.
After the charges, Musk posted a meme on X of a surveillance camera attached to buildings inscribed with France’s motto, “liberty, equality, fraternity.” ‘Near total absence’
Durov was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris late Saturday and questioned in subsequent days by investigators.
01:31
He was granted conditional release on a bail of five million euros and on the condition he must report to a police station twice a week as well as remaining in France, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.
The charges concern alleged crimes involving an organised group, including “complicity in the administration of an online platform to enable an illicit transaction”.
This charge alone could see him jailed for up to 10 years and fined 500,000 euros if convicted.
Durov has also been charged with refusing to share documents demanded by authorities as well as “dissemination in an organised group of images of minors in child pornography” as well as drug trafficking, fraud and money laundering.
The Paris prosecutor said the French judicial authorities had been made aware of the “near total absence of a response” from Telegram to requests from the authorities and had first opened an investigation in February 2024.
The next step will be for the case to be sent to trial.
Separately, Durov is also being investigated on suspicion of “serious acts of violence” towards one of his children while he and an ex-partner, the boy’s mother, were in Paris, a source said. She filed a criminal complaint against Durov in Switzerland last year.
The tech mogul founded Telegram as he was in the process of quitting his native Russia a decade ago following a dispute with authorities related to ownership of his first project, the Russian-language social network VKontakte.
An enigmatic figure who rarely speaks in public, Durov is a citizen of Russia, France and the United Arab Emirates, where Telegram is based.
Forbes magazine estimates his current fortune at $15.5 billion, though he proudly promotes the virtues of an ascetic life that includes ice baths and not drinking alcohol or coffee.
Special procedure
Numerous questions have been raised about the timing and circumstances of Durov’s detention, with supporters seeing him as a freedom of speech champion while his detractors paint him as a menace who wilfully allowed Telegram to get out of control.
Le Monde newspaper reported Wednesday that Durov had met President Emmanuel Macron on several occasions prior to receiving French nationality in 2021, via a special procedure reserved for those deemed to have made a special contribution to France.
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The Wall Street Journal added that at one lunch in 2018, Macron—who along with his team was in the past an avid user of Telegram—had suggested it should be headquartered in Paris, but Durov refused.
According to a source, both Pavel Durov and his elder brother Nikolai, a lower-profile figure seen as the mathematical brain behind Telegram, have been wanted by France since March this year.
Durov’s departure from Russia was reportedly not an abrupt exile: according to the Vazhnye Istorii news site, citing leaked border data, he visited the country more than 50 times between 2015 and 2021, adding to questions about his relationship with the Russian authorities.
Meanwhile, a UAE government official said it “prioritises the welfare of its citizens” and was “in touch with the French authorities about this case.”
(AFP)
Nepal: Will new laws offer closure to war crime victims?
Swechhya Raut
DW
August 28, 2024
Nepal's long-awaited transitional justice law is aimed at addressing war crimes committed during the country's 10-year Maoist insurgency.
Both security forces and former rebels have been accused of carrying out torture, killings, rapes and forced disappearances during Nepal's civil war
Image: Narendra Shrestha/dpa/picture alliance
Thousands of people in Nepal are still waiting for justice 20 years after tens of thousands were tortured, raped, killed and forcibly disappeared during a decade-long bloody conflict between the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and government forces.
Long-delayed amendments to legislation aimed at addressing the war crimes committed during the 1996-2006 civil war are expected to finally offer justice to victims like Laxmi Khadka.
Khadka last saw her husband, Dil Bahadur, on March 13, 2004, when they were eating dinner with their three children at home in their village in Bardiya district in western Nepal.
The meal was disrupted by a group of Maoist soldiers who entered their family home and dragged Bahadur outside, claiming they needed to "discuss some things."
He never returned.
Dil Bahadur's family waited throughout the whole night and for several days, but he never returned
Image: Laxmi Khadka
Two weeks later, a local newspaper reported that the Maoist group had "eliminated" Bahadur as a suspected enemy — although no evidence supported this claim, so Khadka refused to believe that he had been killed.
"He was an ordinary man who had returned home for a few days after months of working in India," she told DW, recalling how she even went looking for her missing husband in the forests near their home.
"It was dangerous, not only because of wild animals but also due to the conflict," she said.
Ten years of conflict
The brutal Maoist insurgency, led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) to overthrow the monarchy, ended in 2006 with over 13,000 people dead and around 1,300 missing.
The government of Nepal and the Maoists signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA), which cleared the way for the establishment of two transitional justice mechanisms — the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP).
The commissions were formed to address the human rights violations and crimes against humanity that were committed during the conflict, but they have faced legal challenges.
A 2015 Supreme Court ruling struck down parts of the law that established the TRC and CIEDP, "in particular because they were empowered to grant amnesties to perpetrators of serious crimes under international law," according to Human Rights Watch.
"The law was weak, making it difficult for victims, human rights activists, and civil society to coordinate effectively with the commissions," lawyer Om Prakash Aryal told DW.
He claimed that the government delayed appointing commission members, which risked the destruction of criminal evidence.
"The lawmakers included former government officials and Maoists," Aryal said.
"They blocked international intervention to ensure impunity for actions taken during the conflict."
Nepal's Supreme Court directed the government to revise certain parts of the act.
The amendment to the transitional justice act is intended to help Nepal heal some of the wounds left by the 10-year civil wa
rImage: Devendra Man Singh/AFP/Getty Images
Parliament approves amendments to transitional justice act
In July this year, the three major parties — the Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) — formed a mechanism to find common ground on the contentious provisions in the bill.
They reached a written agreement on the bill earlier this month, and on August 14, Nepal's lower house of parliament approved the long-delayed amendments to the transitional justice act.
Ram Kumar Bhandari, whose father disappeared during the conflict, sees this as a "historic achievement."
Bhandari believes new legal provisions incorporate assurances of truth, justice, and reparation but await the law's effective implementation.
"We've been entangled in the legal and political web for years. Now, we expect an emphasis on the basic needs of grassroots victims and survivors, rather than just legal aspects," he told DW.
Changes welcomed, but issues remain
Prakash Chaudhary, who was forcibly disappeared by the state for 82 days in 2002, welcomed the changes.
In 2005, Chaudhary's younger brother, who was still in school, was killed for allegedly buying instant noodles for the Maoists.
"Our family spent years waiting for justice," said Prakash. "If the new law punishes those responsible for our suffering, our long wait will have been worth it."
Relatives urged Laxmi Khadka to perform her husband's final rites, but she wasn’t ready to accept life as a widow
Image: Laxmi Khadka
However, some human rights activists and organizations have pointed out that problematic provisions remain, including the definition and classification of human rights violations.
Lawyer Om Prakash Aryal noted that the definitions are inconsistent with international human rights standards.
"They do not address issues related to child soldiers and crimes against humanity, which are mentioned in the peace agreement and the interim constitution," he said.
"How can any victim be satisfied when such issues are not addressed by the law?"
Lenin Bista, who was recruited as a Maoist soldier at age 12, shares a similar opinion: "We have been advocating for economic and psychosocial support for child soldiers. But the government continues to deny our existence even in the transitional justice law." Is compensation being prioritized over justice?
A joint statement from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists highlighted that while the law includes several positive provisions, it also has elements that could undermine its effectiveness.
"Transitional justice should not turn into yet another exercise in which victims are encouraged to accept compensation without truth and justice," the statement said.
Khadka, who struggles with the legal jargon used by leaders and organizations, awaits guidance on the next steps. Justice for her means knowing her husband's fate.
"If they prove that my husband was killed, I will perform his last rites," she said. "That will be the most painful truth, but I believe his soul will finally find peace."
Right-wing populism is rising across Europe, with Germany’s AfD possibly becoming the first far-right party to win state elections since the Nazis. However, their rise won’t bring greater happiness to their supporters.
A rally of the far-right Alternative for Germany in eastern Germany.
Image: Daniel Lakomski/IMAGO
If you were feeling unhappy, afraid or threatened by the changing reality of your life and surroundings — your neighborhood, work, grocery store — would your first instinct be to join a political party reinforcing those negative feelings?
You might if that very same party told you they — and only they — could fix things for you.
Two researchers found this when they examined voters who had turned to support the German far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
The AfD is classified as a "suspected" far-right extremist organization and is alleged to have used Nazi-era sloganeering. However, there has also been a significant bump in support over the past decade.
The rise of right-wing populism is not just a trend in Germany. Other European countries have seen similar developments.
At the 2024 UK general elections, when the Brexit Party of 2016 became Reform UK, it grew from zero to five parliamentary seats, with a 14.3% share of the total vote. Far-right populists in France and Italy can also boast successes. Right-wing voter happiness on a 'downward spiral'
The researchers, Maja Adena and Steffen Huck of the Berlin Social Science Center, were interested in AfD voters' sense of happiness, or what psychologists call subjective well-being (SWB). They wanted to discover the emotional impact of supporting a populist party.
And their findings were simple: AfD supporters started unhappy and became unhappier. It's like a "downward spiral," said Adena in an email to DW.
"There is a strong self-selection of unhappy or unsatisfied individuals [turning] to AfD. They're already unhappy. However, the novelty of our study is that we show [their] happiness deteriorate[s] once they're exposed to the AfD's negative rhetoric," said Adena.
The effect was apparently strongest among new AfD supporters, those whose identity as AfD supporters was "not yet fully formed."
In their paper, published in the journal Plos One, Adena and Huck infer that "the initial decision to support a right-wing party … has the most profound negative effect on well-being."
Adena and Huck wrote that they found "causal evidence" to suggest that while new supporters may experience a positive effect because of their "taking a stance," ultimately, the negative rhetoric of "blaming elites," a common theme among populist parties, wears people down.
But there is a silver lining: "While the well-being of long-term supporters stabilizes," Adena told DW. "Those who stop supporting the AfD partly recover" and get a bit happier again.
How political psychologists measure voter happiness
Adena and Huck took data from four surveys between 2017 and 2021, sampling about 4,000 people.
Each time, the respondents were asked to measure their subjective perceptions of personal and financial well-being — how they felt about the past year and the year to come — on a scale.
This is what psychologists call internal referencing: there is no comparison with others; it's just your perception of yourself. The researchers said this would give them more precise data, but this may, in fact, be where the study comes unstuck.
"That part of the study is shaky, to be frank. I don't think you can make any kind of assessment of how you are without making social comparisons," said Fathali Moghaddam, a professor of psychology at Georgetown University's Berkely Center in Washington DC who was involved in the study.
Moghaddam said any sense of happiness or unhappiness must be discussed in relation to the threats people feel.
"And to understand populist movement[s], we have to take the larger, global context into account — the subjective [sense of] instability, the feeling that the world is unstable," said Moghaddam. "Particularly in Europe and in the United States … where white Christians are feeling the world is unstable, that they are being invaded and threatened."
That may indeed motivate one to join a populist movement. That feeling of "taking a stance" can lead to a positive sense of well-being — "I'm taking back control!" Motivating and demotivating emotions in politics
If you are truly unhappy, however, perhaps even depressed, you may be less likely to "take a stance." Those existing negative emotions combined with negative populist rhetoric is likely to be a complete turn-off for some.
"I was surprised at the angle these authors took because we know that happiness is not a driver for political action, and unhappiness is even less of a driver. Unhappy, depressed people are much more likely to turn away from politics," said Anna Kende, director of the Department of Social Psychology at ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary.
Other studies have suggested that voting for populist parties increases discontent, but, said Kende, discontent is not the same as unhappiness.
On the other hand, the issue of negative rhetoric rang true for Kende. Hungary's populist leader Viktor Orban , and his Fidesz party have been in power for 14 years. Their negative rhetoric never lets up, said Kende. "It's paradoxical because they should have solved all ‘our problems,' but that's not in their interest."
Kende said populists seldom campaign on their success, only on new threats. This can affect voters and their future voting behavior.
"The real seasoned supporters are okay with [this] not delivering, but the new ones, the less strong supporters who maybe at one point in their life feel like, 'OK, the AfD could offer me something,'" said Kende. "For them, this negative repertoire may have a stronger impact, and they may be more likely to turn away at the failure because they were not committed to the start." The far left are no better off
None of this means that voters on the left of politics are necessarily happier than those on the right.
Research out of Columbia University New York in 2023 suggested that "American adults who identify as politically liberal have long reported lower levels of happiness and psychological well-being than conservatives."
Researchers are unsure why this is, but it may be that people of any political standpoint feel unhappy if their views aren't reflected by governing institutions.
"[From our study], we are far from pinning down the mechanism, unfortunately: whether the observed deterioration in well-being is due to the negative rhetoric of the AfD or rather due to feeling marginalized and non-mainstream. We actually point to both possibilities," said Adena.
Edited by: Fred Schwaller
Primary source:
Support for a right-wing populist party and subjective well-being: Experimental and survey evidence from Germany, published by Maja Adena and Steffen Huck in PLOS ONE (June 2024) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303133
Germany: Immigrants in east wary of rising far-right AfD
The far-right AfD could become the leading party in Germany’s state elections in Saxony and Thuringia, raising concerns among many immigrants. While most are worried, some remain unafraid of the potential shift.
'The East get's it done: Summer, sun, remigration' — the AfD campaigns on an anti-immigration platform in the eastern states
Image: dts-Agentur/dpa/picture alliance
It happened again on a train the other day: When the conductor came to check train tickets, Nour Al Zoubi was the only person in her compartment who needed to show identification. The conductor threatened to call the police if she did not comply. This was a typical situation for this Syrian-born social worker, who now works as a consultant for the Thuringia Refugee Council.
"There is this kind of everyday racism," she told DW. "But after living in Gera for six years, I'm used to it — I know how to handle it."
Moving away is out of the question for Al Zoubi — even if the Alternative for Germany party (AfD), classified as right-wing extremist by Germany's domestic intelligence agency — were to win the Thuringian state election on September 1. Al Zoubi says that Thuringia is her home. She was awarded Gera's Integration Prize in 2020 for a newspaper project she founded for refugees.
After the incident with the train conductor, she received reassurance and encouragement from two older female passengers — things like that make her feel that she can stay.
Syrian-born social worker Nour Al Zoubi experiences everyday racism in Thuringia
Image: Privat
"The number of AfD voters has increased — but so has the number of Germans committed to a culture of welcoming immigrants," she said. Al Zoubi knows some people who are considering leaving Thuringia if the AfD wins, but others don't have the option.
"Not all migrants in Thuringia can. Refugees and asylum seekers are required to stay in Thuringia for three years due to restrictive residence regulations."
Growing anti-immigration sentiment
The mood toward immigrants has been increasingly harsh in Thuringia for some time. The recent knife attack in Solingen in northwestern Germany, which left three people dead, is likely to inflame sentiments even further.
For Al Zoubi, this will mean extra caution — if, for example, things heat up again, such as when AfD Thuringia leader Björn Höcke got his Gera audience to shout Nazi slogans in December 2023, or when the weekly anti-migration protest winds its way through the town's streets. How does Al Zoubi envision the state after the election if the AfD does win?
"We will experience even more racism in public spaces, then. On a higher level. Not just insults, but physical violence, too. That's what I fear. Especially after what just happened in Southport, England," she said, referring to the stabbing of three girls, which triggered riots across the UK.
Al Zoubi's gloomy view of the future is not an isolated one. In Dresden, 150 kilometers east of Gera, Ismail Davul is having similar thoughts. Davul was born in Turkey and came to Saxony to study in 2006. He has been working for Dresden's Foreigners' Council for almost 11 years. He mainly helps young migrants, but he also hears parents' concerns.
"Some people have asked me: In which direction is Saxony going?" he told DW. "What will it mean if the AfD wins? Will our living situation then change? The mood is clear: everyone is actually afraid."
Davul often hears about people who might leave Dresden should the AfD win Saxony's state election in September. He and his team reassure them by reminding them that the city council's democratic parties are fighting the shift to the right; that the situation won't change overnight; and that the Foreigners' Council and many civil society organizations are here in Dresden. But the reality is that a growing number of attacks against immigrants in this city are being reported to authorities, Davul told DW.
"In the past: an attack on an immigrant was very rare, it was an isolated incident. Back then, the media condemned such attacks much more than it does now. We hear that migrants are targets of attacks, mobbings, or are spat upon, every single day, just because of their appearance, skin color, or dialect. Sadly, this is almost commonplace on the streets today," Davul said.
Ismail Davul was born in Turkey and has been working for Dresden's Foreigners' Council for almost eleven years
Image: privat
Some have sympathies with the AfD
While many immigrants are extremely worried about AfD election victories in the states of Thuringia and Saxony, others even consider voting for the far-right party, despite its anti-immigration rhetoric and talk of "remigration" — a term coined for the plan to return immigrants to their place of origin, regardless of their citizenship status.
How can those two things coexist? Özgür Özvatan, a political sociologist at Humboldt University in Berlin, explained to DW how the AfD is targeting Erdogan supporters of Turkish origin living in Germany, and immigrants from Russia: In videos they glorify Turkish nationalism and the Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan. To reach Russian-Germans they use the narrative that they were forced to integrate without getting recognition, and are still lacking status in German society. An estimated 6 million Russian-speaking people live in Germany. The majority of them are German nationals: ethnic Germans who came from the former Soviet Union — largely from Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
Özgür Özvatan is a political sociologist with a special focus on integration and extremism
Frederic Kern/Geisler/picture alliance
The AfD's message to migrant voters is: You had to work hard for everything when you came, but now the new refugees are being given everything for free.
Özvatan explained that such messages are based on perceived truths — even if they do not stand up to fact-checking. The AfD is campaigning most heavily for the votes of young immigrants on social media like TikTok, with a lot of money and the help of immigrant influencers. Özvatan believes that is down to simple arithmetic: The AfD can only win an election if it also wins over people with an immigration background.
"The AfD has learned how to connect with specific target groups on the new social media platforms. It has understood very well that 'recommendation algorithms' enable almost contradictory positions to be simultaneously spread in this social media world. Above all, there is a structural competitive advantage for anti-democratic parties: abbreviated and false content has a higher potential for virulence."
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