AN ELECTION DOES NOT A DEMOCRACY MAKE 

Tunisia's electoral body dismisses court ruling that reinstated presidential candidates

Tunisia's electoral commission rejected on Monday an administrative court ruling that had reinstated three presidential election candidates, leaving just two challengers to face incumbent leader Kais Saied in next month's vote.

Issued on: 02/09/2024 - 

A demonstrator carries a banner during a protest in Tunis demanding the reinstatement of three prominent candidates in the upcoming presidential race, on September 2, 2024. © Jihed Abidellaoui, Reuters

Tunisia's electoral authority on Monday announced it had approved three presidential candidates for the October 6 election, including incumbemt President Kais Saied, dismissing three other would-be candidates despite court rulings allowing them to run.

The three dismissed candidates had last week won appeals at the Administrative Court against a decision from the High Independent Authority for Elections (ISIE) disqualifying them from running.

The authority had said they had not obtained enough of the endorsements required to run for the top post. They were among 14 hopefuls whose bids for the race were rejected.

On Monday, the ISIE said its initial list was "definitive and not subject to appeal".

It said it was maintaining the same list announced on August 10 because "the administrative court did not officially communicate its decisions within the 48-hour deadline according to the law".

As it stands, former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui and businessman Ayachi Zammel are set to challenge Saied, the election's frontrunner.

Zammel was however arrested earlier Monday on charges of lying about details of his campaign, according to his team.

Zammel is the only approved candidate to be arrested, but he joins a list of presidential hopefuls who have been imprisoned or are facing prosecution.

Saied was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021.

On Saturday, a petition signed by prominent Tunisians and civil society groups urged that rejected candidates be allowed to stand in the October election.

Among the rejected candidates are Imed Daimi, an adviser to former president Moncef Marzouki, former minister Mondher Zenaidi and opposition party leader Abdellatif Mekki.

The petition said the administrative court's rulings on appeals "are enforceable and cannot be contested by any means whatsoever".

It called on the ISIE to "respect the law and avoid any practice that could undermine the transparency and integrity of the electoral process".

Tunisia election body ignores court in presidential vote

Tunis (AFP) – Tunisia's electoral board said Monday it approved three candidates for an October 6 presidential election, ignoring court rulings that had granted appeals by three other hopefuls who had been rejected.


Issued on: 02/09/2024 -

Tunisia's President Kais Saied pictured on December 24, 2023 

© FETHI BELAID / AFP

The three dismissed candidates were among 14 potential contenders to be turned down by the electoral board, ISIE, last month for not obtaining enough endorsements to challenge President Kais Saied.

Last week, the three hopefuls unexpectedly won appeals at the administrative court against ISIE's decision, in a verdict the court called "definitive".

But on Monday, ISIE chief Farouk Bouasker said the board's initial list of candidates was also "definitive" and "not subject to appeal".

Bouasker said the ISIE was maintaining the initial list because "the administrative court did not officially communicate its decisions within a 48-hour deadline, as per the law".

Saied, the incumbent and election frontrunner, was democratically elected in 2019 but orchestrated a sweeping power grab in 2021 and has since ruled by decree.

Former parliamentarian Zouhair Maghzaoui and businessman Ayachi Zammel are now his only challengers in next month's poll.

Isabelle Werenfels, a political scientist at the Germany-based SWP institute, told AFP that ISIE's decision "has practically decided the outcome of the vote".
'Clear path ahead'

She also said that "part of the justice system under Saied's influence will obstruct the campaigns" of challengers Maghzaoui and Zammel.

On Monday, Zammel was arrested on charges of forging ballot endorsements and was later placed in police custody for 48 hours, members of his campaign said.

His arrest came a month after the treasurer of his Azimoun party was arrested on similar charges.

Several would-be candidates were accused of forging such signatures and barred from running for office.

Hatem Nafti, a political commentator and author of a forthcoming book on Saied's authoritarian rule, said the incumbent "now has a clear path ahead of him".

"The candidates who could have hindered Saied have just been eliminated," he told AFP, adding that ISIE's decision "has proved that there is no longer any rule of law".

"We now have a candidate from within the regime," he said of Maghzaoui, who supported Saied's 2021 power grab, "and another one in prison since this morning".

Zammel is the only approved candidate to have been arrested, but he joins a list of would-be hopefuls who have been imprisoned or are facing prosecution.

Prior to Zammel's arrest, Human Rights Watch said Tunisian authorities "have prosecuted, convicted or imprisoned at least eight prospective candidates" for the October vote.

The North African country under Saied was "gearing up for a presidential election amid increased repression of dissent and free speech, without crucial checks and balances on President Saied's power", HRW added.

The rejected candidates whose appeals were granted are Imed Daimi, an adviser to former president Moncef Marzouki, former minister Mondher Zenaidi and opposition party leader Abdellatif Mekki.

Zenaidi's campaign staff said Monday they would again appeal ISIE's decision with the administrative court.

In a Facebook post, they said ISIE "showed that it is no longer independent".

On Saturday, a petition signed by prominent Tunisians and civil society groups urged that rejected candidates be allowed to stand in the election.

The petition said the administrative court's rulings on appeals "are enforceable and cannot be contested by any means whatsoever".
'Pure formality'

It also called on ISIE to "respect the law and avoid any practice that could undermine the transparency and integrity of the electoral process".

But ISIE's announcement Monday of the official list of candidates dashed such hopes.

Activists and political figures gathered near the ISIE offices to protest against the electoral board's final list.

"Today, ISIE decides whatever it wants and even goes beyond the rulings of the highest judicial authority," said Rim Mahjoub, leader of the Afek Tounes party, referring to the administrative court.

Houssem Hami, coordinator of the Soumoud centre-left political coalition, said that with only three candidates "the election will become a pure formality, without much excitement for Tunisians".

For Werenfels, however, the conflict between ISIE and the administrative court showed "there are elite struggles behind the scenes among proponents and opponents of Saied".

"This could be positive for what remains of democracy," she said. "But it is also problematic if not dangerous."

"The president could become more authoritarian if he feels he is being challenged."

© 2024 AFP

Tunisia Police Arrest Presidential Candidate as Pre-Election Tension Rises

Asharq Al Awsat
2 September 2024 

AD ـ 28 Safar 1446 AH

Tunisian police arrested presidential candidate Ayachi Zammel on Monday, a member of his campaign told Reuters.
The electoral commission is preparing to announce on Monday the final list of accepted candidates for the presidential elections scheduled for Oct. 6.
Mahdi Abdel Jawad said police had arrested Zammel at his home at about 3:00 a.m. on suspicion of falsifying popular endorsements.
Last week, the Administrative Court, the highest judicial body that adjudicates electoral disputes, reinstated three prominent candidates, Mondher Znaidi, AbdelLatif Mekki and Imed Daimi, to the election race after the electoral commission had rejected their candidacy filing.
They joined accepted candidates Ayachi Zammel, Zouhair Maghzaoui and Kais Saied, the current president.
However, electoral commission head Farouk Bouasker said the commission would study the Administrative Court’s decision and other judicial decisions against candidates before issuing the final list.

UK govt announces partial suspension of arms exports to Israel

A PARTIAL VICTORY

By AFP
September 2, 2024


A Palestinian man who returned to Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip to check on his home sits atop items salvaged amid the devastation - Copyright AFP Eyad BABA

Britain said Monday it would suspend some arms exports to Israel, citing a “clear risk” that they could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.

Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant said he was “deeply disheartened” to hear of the sanctions but rights groups said the suspensions did not go far enough.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament that the UK would suspend 30 out of 350 arms exports licences following a review by his department into Israel’s conduct of its war against Hamas militants.

He said the partial ban covered items “which could be used in the current conflict in Gaza”, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones.

The ban does not include parts for Israel’s advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets, Lammy added.

Lammy announced a review looking at the arms sales shortly after Labour swept to power in a landslide general election victory over the Conservatives in early July.

“It is with regret that… the assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that for certain UK arms exports to Israel, there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law,” he told lawmakers.

He stressed that the suspension was “not a determination of innocence or guilt” and that the situation would be kept under review.

“We have not and could not arbitrate on whether or not Israel has breached international humanitarian law,” Lammy said, adding that Britain is “not an international court”.

Lammy restated Britain’s support for Israel to defend itself and stressed the suspension would not have a “material impact on Israel’s security”.

– ‘Bad decision’ –

Britain’s centre-left Labour government has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and for the speeding up of aid deliveries into Gaza, since taking power on July 5.


Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the partial suspension in parliament – Copyright PRU/AFP –

It has largely followed the same approach to the conflict as the previous Conservative government, with Lammy and other ministers at pains to demand Hamas release the hostages seized in its October 7 attacks as part of any ceasefire.

Some commentators have suggested however that Labour, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer — a former human rights lawyer — may take a tougher long-term stance towards Israel and how it conducts its military operations.

Last week, the UK foreign ministry said it was “deeply” concerned by an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank, urging it to “exercise restraint” and adhere to international law.

Amnesty International’s UK chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said the government’s decision was a belated acceptance of “the very clear and disturbing evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza”.

But he and other rights groups said it did not go far enough, and called the exemption for F-35 components “a catastrophically bad decision” as the jets were being used “extensively” in Gaza.

A trio of rights groups took the Dutch government to court this year over its supply of parts for the jets.

“We need to see a complete halt — with no loopholes, including for components for F-35s supplied to the USA for onward export to the Israeli military — to all UK arms transfers to Israel,” Deshmukh added.

The UK government has faced legal action from rights groups about its export of arms and military components to Israel.

Britain’s strategic licensing criteria states that weapons should not be exported when there is a clear risk they could be used in international humanitarian law violations.

That led to claims that the government was ignoring its own rules in the Gaza conflict

UK suspends some arms exports to Israel over risk of international law breach

Britain will immediately suspend 30 of its 350 arms export licences with Israel because there is a risk such equipment might be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law, UK Foreign Minister David Lammy announced on Monday, in a move rights groups said did not go far enough.

Issued on: 02/09/2024 - 

Protesters call for a ban on arms exports to Israel outside the House of Parliament in London on April 17, 2024. © Justin Tallis, Reuters


Britain said Monday it would suspend some arms exports to Israel, citing a "clear risk" that they could be used in a serious breach of international humanitarian law.

Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant said he was "deeply disheartened" to hear of the sanctions but rights groups said the suspensions did not go far enough.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy told parliament that the UK would suspend 30 out of 350 arms exports licences following a review by his department into Israel's conduct of its war against Hamas militants.

He said the partial ban covered items "which could be used in the current conflict in Gaza", including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones.

The ban does not include parts for Israel's advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets, Lammy added.

Lammy announced a review looking at the arms sales shortly after Labour swept to power in a landslide general election victory over the Conservatives in early July.

"It is with regret that... the assessment I have received leaves me unable to conclude anything other than that for certain UK arms exports to Israel, there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law," he told lawmakers.

He stressed that the suspension was "not a determination of innocence or guilt" and that the situation would be kept under review.

"We have not and could not arbitrate on whether or not Israel has breached international humanitarian law," Lammy said, adding that Britain is "not an international court".

Lammy restated Britain's support for Israel to defend itself and stressed the suspension would not have a "material impact on Israel's security".

'Bad decision'

Britain's centre-left Labour government has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and for the speeding up of aid deliveries into Gaza, since taking power on July 5.

It has largely followed the same approach to the conflict as the previous Conservative government, with Lammy and other ministers at pains to demand Hamas release the hostages seized in its October 7 attacks as part of any ceasefire.

Some commentators have suggested however that Labour, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer – a former human rights lawyer – may take a tougher long-term stance towards Israel and how it conducts its military operations.

Read moreFrance under pressure to suspend military sales to Israel as war in Gaza grinds on

Last week, the UK foreign ministry said it was "deeply" concerned by an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank, urging it to "exercise restraint" and adhere to international law.

Amnesty International's UK chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said the government's decision was a belated acceptance of "the very clear and disturbing evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza".

But he and other rights groups said it did not go far enough, and called the exemption for F-35 components "a catastrophically bad decision" as the jets were being used "extensively" in Gaza.

A trio of rights groups took the Dutch government to court this year over its supply of parts for the jets.


"We need to see a complete halt – with no loopholes, including for components for F-35s supplied to the USA for onward export to the Israeli military – to all UK arms transfers to Israel," Deshmukh added.

The UK government has faced legal action from rights groups about its export of arms and military components to Israel.

Britain's strategic licensing criteria states that weapons should not be exported when there is a clear risk they could be used in international humanitarian law violations.

That led to claims that the government was ignoring its own rules in the Gaza conflict.

(AFP)

'Devotion to security can kill': 'Contradiction between return of hostages and destruction of Hamas'

Issued on: 02/09/2024 

Video by:Nadia MASSIH

Israeli protesters took to the streets for a second day and the largest trade union launched a general strike to press the government to reach a deal to return hostages still held by Hamas, after six more captives were found dead in Gaza. The strike disrupted transport and medical services in several Israeli districts and many shops and businesses were closed after the head of the Histadrut union, which represents hundreds of thousands of workers, called a national stoppage. The recovery at the weekend of the six hostages, who authorities said were shot dead between just 48-72 hours before being found by Israeli forces, triggered a wave of grief and fury in Israel, prompting at least half a million people to take to the streets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, demanding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reach a ceasefire agreement with Palestinian militant group Hamas to bring the remaining 101 hostages home. As Israelis take their anger to the streets to demand a Gaza hostage deal, FRANCE 24's Nadia Massih is joined by Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg. "Israel has defined two goals for this war: the destruction of Hamas and the return of the hostages," explains Mr. Goldberg. "For the past eleven months, we have perpetuated, we have encouraged the lie that those two goals are commensurate, and perhaps even complimentary." And now, Mr. Goldberg asserts, the "preventable" deaths of the 6 hostages that has shocked the nation has "snapped that connection: Israelis now realize there's a contradiction between the return of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas. We are still unable, as a collective, as a people, to call for an end to the war. We are very much attached to the notion of security." And now Israelis are discovering a cruel, even ruthless, irony in the notion of security and pursuing national defense at all costs: "This devotion to security can actually kill us."

Land grab

‘We’re not afraid’: French-Palestinian family fights for West Bank land seized by Israeli settlers

A French-Palestinian family in the Makhrour valley in the West Bank has been campaigning for years against the expropriation of their land. Israeli settlers seized the land by force at the end of July amid a drastic acceleration of settlements in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war in Gaza.

Alice Kisiya (R), whose family land was taken over by armed Israeli settlers, confronts a settler in the Makhrour area near Beit Jala in the occupied West Bank on August 22, 2024. © Hazem Bader, AFP

By: Louis CHAHUNEAU
Issued on: 02/09/2024 - 

It was a restaurant appreciated for its cuisine and friendliness in the West Bank town of Beit Jala. “The place is beautiful, the food succulent and the owners are adorable [...]. If you're passing through Beit Jala, a stop at Al Makhrour is a must,” a comment from 2015 reads on its Facebook page.

In this Catholic valley west of Bethlehem, which in 2014 became a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its its olive groves and vineyards, the Kisiya family's restaurant is nothing more than a pile of ruins topped by fences.
An image of the restaurant Al Makhrour while it was standing. © Facebook screengrab

Israeli settlers backed by the army seized the 5,000 square-metre plot on July 31 and evicted the French-Palestinian family on the grounds they did not own it. “We are being targeted because we reject the government’s Zionist policy,” said Michelle Kisiya, a 54-year-old French-Israeli woman, in a phone call with FRANCE 24.

Kisiya’s Palestinian husband, Ramzi, had inherited the land. In 2001 he opened a restaurant there with his wife and their four children. At first there was no electricity, but then solar panels solved the problem. For years, hundreds of tourists passing through Bethlehem stopped there for a salad before continuing their hike in the green valleys. The establishment was so successful that the family decided to add on a house in 2012, which was also used as a chapel for religious festivals.

Since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank began in 1967, almost 500,000 Israelis have settled amid the 3 million Palestinians living in the territory. For a long time, the Makhrour valley was untouched by uncontrolled settlements, but the trouble began in 2012 when an Israeli outpost – a settlement not authorised by the government – was built there. The Kisiya family did not have a valid building permit for their house, and their restaurant was destroyed for the first time.

A spokesman for the regional council of Gush Etzion, a cluster of Jewish settlements south of Bethlehem, told FRANCE 24 that the disputed land has belonged to a subsidiary of the Jewish National Fund since 1969. “Twenty years ago, the Kasiya [sic] family invaded it illegally,” he said.
The advancement of Israeli settlement southwest of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank. © France 24

The Kisiya family, who insist otherwise, rebuilt their restaurant before it was demolished again in 2013 and then again in 2015. In 2019 the family decided to take the case to court to have their rights heard. But in 2023, a civil court in Jerusalem validated the expropriation.

The family is far from alone: for historical reasons, most private land in the West Bank is not officially registered, which makes it easier for Israel to seize. Israel in June seized more than 1,200 hectares of land in the territory, a three-decade high.

In a bid to prevent the family’s restaurant from being rebuilt again, the Israeli army declared the site to be a “closed military zone”, which prevented anyone from entering it until Sunday. The settlers, who are supported by the army, are not worried. They know the Israeli government will soon consider the outposts built in the vicinity as legal, even though international law does not recognise them.

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who monitors illegal construction in the occupied West Bank, in late June announced the approval of five illegal settlements – some 1,270 hectares of land – in response to Norway, Ireland, Spain, Estonia and Armenia’s decisions to recognise a Palestinian state.

Israeli soldiers guard the Kisiya family’s land after it was taken over by settlers on August 22, 2024. © Hazem Bader, AFP

These settlements include the new town of Nahal Heletz in Gush Etzion, close to the Kisiya family plot.

Israel hopes to connect Jerusalem to the Gush Etzion settlements, which are home to almost 100,000 Israelis.

“First of all, it's a settlement that will block the expansion of the Palestinian village of Battir towards Jerusalem. Above all, it provides a faster link between Gush Etzion and Jerusalem,” said Yonatan Mizrachi, co-director of the Israeli NGO Peace Now, which campaigns for a two-state solution.

Read more

Palestinians fear further isolation as Israeli minister announces vast West Bank settlement plans

For the past month, Michelle Kisiya and her daughter Alice, 30, have been organising a non-violent citizens’ movement to protest against the seizure of their land. Israeli police arrested them on August 25 before releasing them a few hours later. “If I leave my land, I have nothing left in this country. If I don’t fight, the whole valley will be invaded by settlers. We're not afraid. We're not criminals,” said Michelle Kisiya, who has set up a tent a stone’s throw from the family’s land to welcome activists, journalists and supporters of her cause.

Michelle Kisiya stands next to a tent, set up in support of her family, in the Makhrour area near Beit Jala on August 26, 2024. © Mosab Shawer, AFP

The French consul in Jerusalem, Nicolas Kassianides, did not want to answer FRANCE 24's questions but he has travelled to Makhrour in recent weeks to offer his support to the Kisiya family.

“This is a French family and it is the consulate’s job to support its nationals, so I wanted to show our solidarity and our support for the steps being taken to assert their rights [...]. The Kasiya [sic] family has sent us documents proving their right to the property,” he told an AFP team on site.

Although the family’s case has reached the highest echelons of the state of Israel, it is by no means an anomaly. Expulsions of Palestinians from their land in West Bank have increased, particularly since Israel’s far-right government came to power in 2022. The situation has sharply deteriorated since Israel's invasion of Gaza in the wake of the October 7 attacks.

“They are taking advantage of the fact that the world's attention is focused on Gaza to step up their activity,” said Michelle Kisiya.

Peace Now’s Mizrachi agreed. “Since October 7, settlement activity has accelerated: new outposts are being built, thousands of Palestinians have been denied access to their land for security reasons, and there have been more declarations of state ownership of land in the West Bank this year than ever before. Settler violence has also increased significantly.”

The Israeli NGO warned in January of the record number of unauthorised settlements that had sprung up since the Gaza war began. For its part, the UN has recorded some 1,270 settler attacks and more than 620 Palestinians killed in the West Bank by either the Israeli army or settlers since October 7.

“Many Palestinians are subjected to physical violence, but the most common form of violence is damaging property or burning crops,” said Mizrachi. “All these practices existed even before October 7, but they have now become widespread.”

This article has been translated from the original in French.

Does Macron seek to exploit 'divides' within NFP to 'impose his politics on National Assembly'?


Issued on: 02/09/2024 - 

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday intensified efforts to find a new prime minister after almost two months of deadlock following inconclusive legislative elections, hosting two former presidents and two potential candidates. France has been without a permanent government since the July 7 polls, in which the left formed the largest faction in a hung parliament with Macron's centrists and the far right comprising the other major groups. Two possible candidates for prime minister -- former premier Bernard Cazeneuve from the centre left and right-wing ex-minister Xavier Bertrand -- held separate meetings with Macron. It is traditional for the French president to consult predecessors during moments of national importance, and Macron also met Monday at the Elysee presidential palace with the two surviving former presidents -- right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Francois Hollande. FRANCE 24's François Picard welcomes Dr. Andrew Smith, Historian of modern France and Lecturer in Liberal Arts at Queen Mary University of London, as Dr. Smith brings to life France's dive into uncharted political waters and illustrates the "extraordinary political coverage as these convoys arrive at the Elysee Palace." He describes the surreal scene as political theater from another era: "It seems that you've got these suitors to the king suddenly talking about "who will be given the reins of power". And one thing is ultimately clear during France's unprecedented exercise in Constitutional Democracy, remarks Dr. Smith: "Macron is trying to remind people that there is no government without the president in France."

11:34  Video by:François PICARD

Challis, the Paralympic champion first inspired by a dolphin

Paris (AFP) – Ellie Challis was first inspired to get into swimming after watching a video about a dolphin, and now the Briton is a Paralympic champion after winning the gold medal in the women's 50m backstroke S3 on Monday.


Issued on: 03/09/2024 - 

Ellie Challis won the women's 50m backstroke S3 final at the Paris Paralympics

 © François-Xavier MARIT / AFP

The 20-year-old stormed to victory in Paris' La Defense Arena, clocking a time of 53.56sec on her way to her first Paralympics gold.

She came in 4.80sec ahead of neutral athlete Zoia Shchurova in the silver medal position, with Spaniard Marta Fernandez Infante completing the podium in bronze.

"Joy, relief, happiness, a bit of everything really," said Challis after the race.

"Obviously, this is what we all dream of and this is the goal for everyone getting into elite sport.

"To accomplish that at 20, I couldn't put it into words really."

On her Paralympic debut in 2021 at the Covid-impacted Tokyo Games, Challis took silver in the same event.

Now three years on, the swimmer was roared to the gold by her family and coach, who were in the packed crowd.

"I'm just so thankful for my dad, my sisters and my coach for everything," she said.

"They've helped me to get here. It's an unbelievable day, an unbelievable moment and I can't wait to share this all with them in the crowd."

Challis has now added a Paralympic gold to the world championship titles she claimed last year in Manchester, England.

But she only really developed her love for swimming when, as a child, she came across a video about a dolphin named Winter, whose tail was amputated after she got caught in a crab trap.

"I had meningitis at 16 months old and I lost all four limbs so swimming didn't just come easy," said Challis.

"It took my dad a lot of work and a lot of taking me to swimming lessons and trying to teach me himself to get me swimming.

"Then we watched this film one day and I was like, 'oh, this dolphin's like me'.

"It's a really cool story but you don't believe it's true. Then at the end it tells you it's true and it's just such an unbelievable moment.

"This animal is doing what I want to do."

Challis shared that she has even gone to the aquarium where Winter lived and met her inspiration.

"I was really lucky to be able to go over there and to visit her and to have a connection with the aquarium," she said.

"I still go back now even though she passed away.

"But with the film she still inspires me day in and day out.

"It's made a huge difference in my swimming and really inspired me to learn to swim."

© 2024 AFP

TASTY

Family keeps up Beirut dessert tradition

Beirut (Lebanon) (AFP) – At a shop nestled in a busy, crowded Beirut district, Hasan El-Makary is weighing out containers of warm, fragrant mufataka, a traditional sweet in the Lebanese capital that is rarely found in stores.


Issued on: 03/09/2024 - 

Traditional Beiruti dessert mufataka is packed into a plastic container 

© ANWAR AMRO / AFP

"I've been in this shop for 50 years, but we started specialising in mufataka 30 years ago," Makary said from the humble shop with its ageing decor and low ceiling.

A kind of rice pudding made with turmeric, tahini sesame paste, sugar and pine nuts, mufataka is traditional in Beirut but less known even outside the city.

Makary, 73, said he used to sell other sweets but as demand grew for mufataka, he abandoned the rest and now just makes the yellow pudding, together with his cousin, who is also his business partner.

"At the beginning you add turmeric, that's the main thing, then tahini, sugar and rice... we cook it slowly on fire," he said.

The rice must be soaked overnight, and Makary said he comes to the shop at 5:00 am to make the dish, which takes around four hours and requires regular stirring.

Mufataka is a rice pudding made with turmeric, tahini sesame paste, sugar and pine nuts

© ANWAR AMRO / AFP

He said his father started making mufataka despite initially believing people would not pay money for a dish that is normally prepared at home.

Plastic containers of the pudding, which is eaten with a spoon, dotted trays and tables across the shop, waiting for customers who peered through a window to place their order from the busy street outside.

Customer Iman Chehab, 55, was picking up mufataka for her mother, who used to make it herself.

"She is elderly now and she can't stir... it takes a lot of work," said Chehab, who works in human resources management.

The dish is "something traditional for us who are from Beirut", she told AFP.

Places like Makary's shop "are the old face of Beirut that we love and always want to remember", she added.

'Heritage'

A few bustling neighbourhoods away, Samir Makari, 35, is carrying on the family tradition.

At a gleaming shop also selling Arabic sweets like baklava, Makari attends to a huge copper pot of mufataka behind the counter, stirring it with a long, wooden-handled implement.

Samir Makari's family is keeping up the dessert tradition

 © ANWAR AMRO / AFP

He weighs out and mixes the sugar, tahini paste and pine nuts in a second pot, later combining it all.

Mufataka used to be made just once a year on the last Wednesday in April, with families gathering by the sea at Beirut's public beach, father and son said.

The occasion was "Job's Wednesday", a reference to the biblical figure also mentioned in the Koran and who is renowned for his patience, the younger Makari said, noting the virtue is also required for making mufataka.

On the wall of his shop, which he runs with his brother, were photos of his father and his grandfather at work.

He said he sometimes makes mufataka twice a day depending on demand, with some customers taking it outside Beirut to introduce it to those who do not know the dish.

At the original store, the elder Makary said he was happy his children had kept up the tradition.

Mufataka is part of "my heritage", he said, and the family has "taken it from generation to generation".

© 2024 AFP

India's 'Mollywood' cinema rocked by #MeToo abuse claims

New Delhi (AFP) – Terrified for her safety, Indian actress Sreelekha Mitra remembers pushing chairs and a sofa against her hotel door after she said an award-winning veteran director sexually harassed her.


Issued on: 03/09/2024 -

Indian actress Sreelekha Mitra's allegations of sexual assault against a veteran director have triggered a MeToo reckoning in the Mollywood industry 

© Arun CHANDRABOSE / AFP


Mitra waited 15 years to speak out about the incident, one of several cases exposing the dark underbelly of India's Malayalam-language "Mollywood" film industry that has won awards at Cannes.

Her revelation was spurred by an explosive government report documenting widespread sexual harassment in an industry dominated by powerful and wealthy men who believe that an actress willing to kiss on screen would do the same in real life.

"That entire night I stayed awake," Mitra, 51, told AFP.

Mitra was invited to a gathering at the director's house, where she said he lured her into his room for a phone call with a cinematographer.

"He started playing with my hair and neck... I knew if I did not say anything then, his hand would roam around other parts of my body," she said, describing events from 2009, when she was 36.

She left and returned to her hotel.

"The intentions behind his moves were pretty clear to me... I was petrified."

Her case and close to a dozen others have triggered a MeToo reckoning in the industry, with at least 10 prominent figures accused, according to Indian media.

Kerala-based Mollywood is known for critically acclaimed movies with strong and progressive themes, a change from the big dance and song numbers of India's giant Hindi-language Bollywood in Mumbai.

The industry is prolific, producing up to 200 films a year, loved not only by southern India's 37 million Malayalam speakers, but also dubbed and streamed across the rest of India -- and abroad.

Internationally, its films have won awards, including the 1999 satire Marana Simhasanam ("Throne of Death"), winner of the Camera d'Or at Cannes.

This year's "Manjummel Boys", a survival thriller, took $29 million at the box office, the highest-grossing Malayalam movie ever and the fifth-most successful in India this year.
'Worst evil'

The industry report, released August 19, said women actors faced the widespread "worst evil" of sexual harassment.

Kerala-based Mollywood is known for critically acclaimed movies with strong and progressive themes 

© Arun CHANDRABOSE / AFP

The report was released by the Hema Committee, headed by a former high court judge, set up after a leading Malayalam actress reported she was sexually assaulted in 2017.

Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, a prominent Malayalam actor better known by his stage name Dileep, was arrested for allegedly orchestrating the assault.

He was imprisoned for three months before being released on bail. The case continues.

But the release of the report has opened discussion on the far wider issue of chronic violence against women, encouraging people like Mitra to speak out in public for the first time.

It said that women who considered speaking out about sexual assault were silenced by threats to their life, and to their families.

Award-winning actress Parvathy Thiruvothu, 36, called the investigation a "game changer" and a "historic moment".

"There was this idea that women working in the industry should feel grateful for having been given an opportunity by the men who were hiring them," said Thiruvothu, a member of the campaign group Women in Cinema Collective.
'Shaking everything'

Allegations of abuse in Indian cinema are not new.

It witnessed a wave in 2018, shortly after the 2017 MeToo movement erupted in Hollywood against disgraced US movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

But Thiruvothu called the latest allegations more than "MeToo Part Two."

"It's shaking everything," she told AFP.

"It isn't an individual-to-individual complaint anymore. It's about a systemic structure that has continued to fail women."

Since the report, several top actors have been accused.

The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists was dissolved following the resignation of its chief on "moral grounds" with some members among the accused.

Ranjith Balakrishnan, 59, chairman of the state's film academy, has also quit.

Balakrishnan, who denies any wrongdoing, was the man Mitra accused of sexual harassment.

Police have filed a case against him for outraging a woman's modesty, a non-bailable offence.

Mitra, who until the release of the report had only mentioned the incident to an industry colleague, told AFP that Balakrishnan had misused "his power".

Thiruvothu offered a message to all women in the film industry who have survived sexual assault.

"You are a skilled artist... do not listen to anyone who tells you to find another job if it is so difficult for you," she said.

"This is your industry, as much as it is anybody else's. Speak up, so that we are taking the space that is rightfully ours."

© 2024 AFP

KRIMINAL KAPITALI$M

Ex-Volkswagen CEO faces trial over 'dieselgate'

Braunschweig (Germany) (AFP) – Former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn is set to go on trial Tuesday for his role in the "dieselgate" scandal, nine years after the saga first plunged the German auto titan into crisis.


DW
Issued on: 03/09/2024 - 

Nine years after the 'dieselgate' scandal engulfed Volkswagen, former CEO Martin Winterkorn will finally go on trial for his role in what prosecutors consider a fraud conspiracy 

© Ronny Hartmann / AFP/File

VW admitted in 2015 that it had installed software to rig emissions levels in millions of vehicles worldwide, setting off one of Germany's biggest post-war industrial scandals.

Winterkorn faces charges including fraud over the use of the so-called defeat devices, which made cars appear less polluting in lab tests than they were on the road, and could be jailed for 10 years if convicted.

He resigned as head of the VW group -- whose brands range from Porsche and Audi to Skoda and Seat -- shortly after the crisis began but attempts to bring him to trial had so far failed.

Now 77, he was supposed to stand trial in 2021 alongside four other VW executives but proceedings against him were split off and postponed due to his poor health.

However a regional court in the city of Braunschweig, close to VW's historic headquarters in Wolfsburg, announced earlier this year that proceedings against him would finally get underway this month.

Since then there have been renewed concerns about his health, with reports saying he had to undergo an operation in mid-June, and there are now fresh questions about whether he will be able to endure the long-running trial.
Buyers were 'deceived'

Winterkorn faces several charges.

He has been accused of conspiracy to commit fraud, with the allegation based on the claim that buyers of some of the group's vehicles were "deceived about their characteristics" due to the use of defeat devices, according to the court.

Volkswagen marketed its technology as 'Clean Diesel' but special devices made them appear cleaner during testing than during road use © SAUL LOEB / AFP/File

The alleged fraud relates to about nine million vehicles sold in Europe and United States, with the buyers facing financial losses running into hundreds of millions of euros, it said.

However Winterkorn has not been accused of involvement in the offence for its entire period, which was from 2006 to 2015. He was VW chief executive from 2007 until 2015.

He has also been accused of giving false testimony to a German parliamentary committee in 2017 when it was investigating the scandal.

He said that he knew of the existence of the defeat devices only in September 2015 but prosecutors claim it was earlier.

Winterkorn further faces a charge of market manipulation.

He is alleged to have "deliberately failed to inform the capital market in good time" after finding out about the emissions-rigging software, in violation of German stock market regulations.

Some 89 hearings have been scheduled through September 2025.

Winterkorn had already agreed a settlement with Volkswagen in 2021, under which he would pay the company 11 million euros ($12 million) in relation to the controversy.

Ahead of the trial, Volkswagen noted it was not party to the proceedings although it said that it would be monitoring them.

US consumer advocates have been among the most successful in getting compensation for VW owners © Mandel NGAN / AFP/File

The highest-ranking former executive to have been convicted so far in the scandal is ex-Audi CEO Rupert Stadler.

In June last year, he received a suspended sentence and a fine as part of a deal in exchange for admitting to fraud by negligence.

The fraud has already cost VW around 30 billion euros in fines, legal costs and compensation to car owners, mainly in the United States.

© 2024 AFP

Folded solution: Advancing brain-computer interfaces


ByDr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL
September 2, 2024

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical procedure involving the placement of a medical device called a neurostimulator. — Image by Hellerhoff, via Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

‘Origami-inspired’ folding electrodes could reduce surgery needed to treat brain conditions, according to a new study. This is based on data collated by a research team led by the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.

The researchers have created new ‘origami-inspired’ brain electrodes that can fold up to a fraction of their full size. This advance could significantly reduce the amount of surgery needed to treat conditions such as epilepsy, or to install brain-computer interfaces.

Measuring brain electrical activity is essential to accurately diagnose and treat conditions such as epilepsy. However, this often requires surgeons to cut out a large window in the skull (a craniotomy) to place electrodes directly onto the brain surface.

This highly invasive procedure typically entails a prolonged recovery period and poses severe infection risks.

The new study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrated that using a folding design for brain electrodes could reduce the incision area needed by about five times, without affecting functionality.

Senior author Associate Professor Christopher Proctor (Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford) explains: “This study presents a new approach to directly interfacing with large areas of the brain through a key-hole like surgery. The potential significance of this work is two-fold.”

With these benefits, Proctor states: “First, there is the promise of a less invasive diagnostic tool for epilepsy patients. Second, we envision the minimally invasive nature will enable new applications in brain machine interfaces.”

When fully expanded, the device resembles a flat, rectangular silicone wafer with 32 embedded electrodes, attached to a cable. The wafer – around 70 microns thick (about the width of a human hair)- is then folded up, accordion-like, enabling it to fit through a slit just 6mm across.

Once in position on the brain surface, a pressurised fluid-filled chamber in the wafer inflates and unfolds the device to cover an area five times larger, up to 600 square millimetres.

In comparison, applying a non-folding device of the same size would typically require cutting out an area of at least 600 square millimetres from the skull.

The researchers confirmed the device’s functionality by testing it on anaesthetised pigs, using facilities at the Universities of Cambridge and Bologna. This demonstrated that the unfolded electrodes were able to accurately detect and record brain activity.

According to the team, the device could potentially start to be used to treat human patients within a few years. Around 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, which carries a risk of premature death up to three times higher than for the general population (according to the World Health Organization).

According to the researchers, the fold-up design could also reduce the amount of surgery needed to install brain-computer interfaces, which could benefit people with disabilities as well as optimise human-computer interactions.