UN chief calls for ‘courage’ ahead of Summit of the Future
By AFP
September 12, 2024
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Thursday for world leaders to show greater “vision” and “courage” in their approach to the future, as a crunch summit on the threats and opportunities of the coming years nears.
In 2021, Guterres conceived the Summit of the Future, which on September 22 will see all 193 UN member nations seek to adopt a pact on what lays ahead, as a prelude to the annual General Assembly, which brings together world leaders.
Despite intense negotiations, the last version of the draft text published in August has been panned by observers as badly lacking in ambition.
“My appeal is for you to push hard for the deepest reforms and most meaningful actions possible. We need maximum ambition during these final days of negotiation,” Guterres said Thursday in a video statement issued to coincide with a virtual event 10 days ahead of the summit.
“We have no effective global response to new and even existential threats,” he said highlighting the challenges posed by climate change, as well as artificial intelligence being developed in an “ethical and legal vacuum.”
He flagged nuclear threats, the perils of populism, raging conflict and geopolitical divisions.
“Our institutions cannot keep up, because they were designed for another era and another world. The Security Council is stuck in a time warp — the international financial architecture is outdated and ineffective — and we are simply not equipped to take on a wide range of emerging issues,” he said.
“I call on Member States to act swiftly, with vision, courage, solidarity and a spirit of compromise” to get the three draft agreements over the finish line.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany, which along with Namibia is facilitating the negotiations, said there was at least some good news.
“An overwhelming majority of countries in the world agree on the goals that humanity should be striving for: We want a world that is safe, peaceful, just, equal, inclusive, sustainable and prosperous,” he said.
“The Pact offers us the chance to change the narrative of division, polarization and uncertainty. It offers us the chance to show the world that cooperation still yields results. That multilateralism is alive,” he added, while acknowledging the hurdles to reaching agreement.
The text under discussion contains around 60 “actions” on everything from the importance of multilateralism to respect for the UN Charter and peacekeeping.
It also emphasizes the need for reform of international financial institutions and the UN Security Council, as well as the fight against climate change, the importance of disarmament and the development of artificial intelligence.
Friday, September 13, 2024
Ireland launches EU privacy probe into Google AI development
By AFP
September 12, 2024
An Irish regulator helping to police European Union data privacy on Thursday launched an investigation into Google’s artificial intelligence development.
The inquiry comes as the EU and other major regulators around the world crack down on big tech over a raft of issues including competition, disinformation and taxation.
The EU has also adopted the world’s first sweeping rules to govern AI, which came into force in August.
“The Data Protection Commission today announced that it has commenced a cross-border statutory inquiry into Google Ireland,” where the US tech giant has its European headquarters.
The probe will look into the “development of its foundational AI model”, the DPC said in a statement.
The rise of AI has fuelled excitement about its potential, with chatbots that show humanlike ability to answer questions to generate everything from essays to recipes and computer codes.
But the emergence of AI has also sparked concerns about the technology taking jobs away from people and even posing an existential threat to humanity.
The Irish regulator said that its inquiry “concerns the question of whether Google has complied with any obligations that it may have had to undertake” under the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
This would have been “prior to engaging in the processing of the personal data” of EU citizens related to the development of Google’s foundational AI Model, Pathways Language Model 2 (PaLM 2).
“We take seriously our obligations under the GDPR and will work constructively with the DPC to answer their questions,” a Google spokesperson said in response.
The Dublin-based watchdog said that “a data protection impact assessment, where required, is of crucial importance in ensuring that the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals are adequately considered and protected when processing of personal data is likely to result in a high risk”.
“This statutory inquiry forms part of the wider efforts of the DPC” and other EU regulators overseeing “personal data of EU/EEA data subjects in the development of AI models and systems,” it added.
Google describes PalM2 as a “next generation language model with improved multilingual, reasoning and coding capabilities”.
– Tech crackdown –
The EU has sought to rein in big tech firms.
Companies will have to comply with the bloc’s new AI regulation by 2026, though rules covering AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT will apply 12 months after the law enters into force.
The DPC’s announcement comes two days after the European Commission scored two major legal victories in separate cases that left Apple and Google owing billions of euros.
Putting an end to a long-running legal battle, the European Court of Justice ruled that the iPhone maker must pay 13 billion euros ($14.3 billion) in back-taxes to Ireland — home to the European headquarters of Apple, Meta, TikTok and X thanks to its low tax regime.
The court also upheld a 2.4-billion-euro fine against Google, one of a string of high-profile EU competition cases targeting the group.
The court dismissed an appeal by Google against the 2017 fine, slapped on the search engine for abusing its dominant position by favouring its own comparison shopping service.
In the United States, meanwhile, Google has this week faced the start of a major antitrust trial, with the government accusing it of unfairly dominating online advertising and stifling competition.
By AFP
September 12, 2024
An Irish regulator helping to police European Union data privacy on Thursday launched an investigation into Google’s artificial intelligence development.
The inquiry comes as the EU and other major regulators around the world crack down on big tech over a raft of issues including competition, disinformation and taxation.
The EU has also adopted the world’s first sweeping rules to govern AI, which came into force in August.
“The Data Protection Commission today announced that it has commenced a cross-border statutory inquiry into Google Ireland,” where the US tech giant has its European headquarters.
The probe will look into the “development of its foundational AI model”, the DPC said in a statement.
The rise of AI has fuelled excitement about its potential, with chatbots that show humanlike ability to answer questions to generate everything from essays to recipes and computer codes.
But the emergence of AI has also sparked concerns about the technology taking jobs away from people and even posing an existential threat to humanity.
The Irish regulator said that its inquiry “concerns the question of whether Google has complied with any obligations that it may have had to undertake” under the EU’s strict General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
This would have been “prior to engaging in the processing of the personal data” of EU citizens related to the development of Google’s foundational AI Model, Pathways Language Model 2 (PaLM 2).
“We take seriously our obligations under the GDPR and will work constructively with the DPC to answer their questions,” a Google spokesperson said in response.
The Dublin-based watchdog said that “a data protection impact assessment, where required, is of crucial importance in ensuring that the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals are adequately considered and protected when processing of personal data is likely to result in a high risk”.
“This statutory inquiry forms part of the wider efforts of the DPC” and other EU regulators overseeing “personal data of EU/EEA data subjects in the development of AI models and systems,” it added.
Google describes PalM2 as a “next generation language model with improved multilingual, reasoning and coding capabilities”.
– Tech crackdown –
The EU has sought to rein in big tech firms.
Companies will have to comply with the bloc’s new AI regulation by 2026, though rules covering AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT will apply 12 months after the law enters into force.
The DPC’s announcement comes two days after the European Commission scored two major legal victories in separate cases that left Apple and Google owing billions of euros.
Putting an end to a long-running legal battle, the European Court of Justice ruled that the iPhone maker must pay 13 billion euros ($14.3 billion) in back-taxes to Ireland — home to the European headquarters of Apple, Meta, TikTok and X thanks to its low tax regime.
The court also upheld a 2.4-billion-euro fine against Google, one of a string of high-profile EU competition cases targeting the group.
The court dismissed an appeal by Google against the 2017 fine, slapped on the search engine for abusing its dominant position by favouring its own comparison shopping service.
In the United States, meanwhile, Google has this week faced the start of a major antitrust trial, with the government accusing it of unfairly dominating online advertising and stifling competition.
Musk slams Australia as ‘fascists’ over anti-misinformation bill aimed at social platforms
POT CALLING KETTLE BLACK
Elon Musk has slammed Australia as "fascists" in response to proposed laws aimed at fining social media platforms for failing to curb misinformation. The "combating misinformation" bill, introduced Thursday, grants authorities powers to fine tech giants up to five percent of annual turnover. Musk's comment came via his platform X.
Issued on: 13/09/2024 -
Tech mogul Elon Musk has attacked the Australian government over proposed laws that would fine social media giants for failing to stem the spread of misinformation. © Sergei Gapon, AFP
By:NEWS WIRES
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Tech mogul Elon Musk has likened the Australian government to "fascists", attacking proposed laws that would fine social media giants for failing to stem the spread of misinformation.
Australia introduced a "combating misinformation" bill on Thursday, which includes sweeping powers to fine tech giants up to five percent of their yearly turnover for breaching online safety obligations.
"Fascists," posted Musk in a one-word reply on social platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which he owns.
Musk's salvo threatened to rekindle his long-running spat with the Australian government.
The country's online watchdog took Musk's company to court earlier this year, alleging it had failed to remove "extremely violent" videos that showed a Sydney preacher being stabbed.
But it abruptly dropped its attempt to force a global takedown order on X after Musk scored a legal victory in a preliminary hearing, a move he celebrated as a free speech triumph.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant -- a former Twitter employee -- has said Musk's takeover coincided with a rise in "toxicity and hate" on the platform.
Musk has also been butting heads in Brazil, where a judge has effectively suspended X after it ignored a series of court directives.
Australia has been at the forefront of global efforts to regulate social media platforms.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled plans earlier this week to ban children from social media until they are at least 14 years old.
(AFP)
Elon Musk has slammed Australia as "fascists" in response to proposed laws aimed at fining social media platforms for failing to curb misinformation. The "combating misinformation" bill, introduced Thursday, grants authorities powers to fine tech giants up to five percent of annual turnover. Musk's comment came via his platform X.
Issued on: 13/09/2024 -
Tech mogul Elon Musk has attacked the Australian government over proposed laws that would fine social media giants for failing to stem the spread of misinformation. © Sergei Gapon, AFPBy:NEWS WIRES
Advertising
Tech mogul Elon Musk has likened the Australian government to "fascists", attacking proposed laws that would fine social media giants for failing to stem the spread of misinformation.
Australia introduced a "combating misinformation" bill on Thursday, which includes sweeping powers to fine tech giants up to five percent of their yearly turnover for breaching online safety obligations.
"Fascists," posted Musk in a one-word reply on social platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which he owns.
Musk's salvo threatened to rekindle his long-running spat with the Australian government.
The country's online watchdog took Musk's company to court earlier this year, alleging it had failed to remove "extremely violent" videos that showed a Sydney preacher being stabbed.
But it abruptly dropped its attempt to force a global takedown order on X after Musk scored a legal victory in a preliminary hearing, a move he celebrated as a free speech triumph.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant -- a former Twitter employee -- has said Musk's takeover coincided with a rise in "toxicity and hate" on the platform.
Musk has also been butting heads in Brazil, where a judge has effectively suspended X after it ignored a series of court directives.
Australia has been at the forefront of global efforts to regulate social media platforms.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese unveiled plans earlier this week to ban children from social media until they are at least 14 years old.
(AFP)
CHINA PEACEMAKER
Beijing (AFP) – Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun said Friday that "negotiation" was the only solution to conflicts such as the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, as he addressed a global gathering of military officials in Beijing.
Issued on: 13/09/2024
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun spoke to delegates in Beijing at the Xiangshan Forum © ADEK BERRY / AFP
Scores of delegates are in Beijing for the Xiangshan Forum, dubbed China's answer to the annual Shangri-La meeting in Singapore.
It is hosting more than 500 representatives from over 90 countries and organisations across three days, according to state media.
Dong told the opening ceremony: "To resolve hotspot issues such as the crisis in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, promoting peace and negotiation is the only way out."
"There is no winner in war and conflict, and confrontation leads nowhere," Dong said.
"The more acute the conflict, the more we cannot give up dialogue and consultation. The end of any conflict is reconciliation," he added, calling on all countries to promote "peaceful development and inclusive governance".
More official speeches are expected on Friday, and top military representatives from Russia, Pakistan, Singapore, Iran, Germany and others will participate in roundtable talks.
Topics for discussion at the forum include US-China relations, security in Europe and Asia, and the challenges of defence in a multipolar world.
Dong in his speech urged against "the proliferation of national security concepts" to ensure "new technologies can better benefit the whole mankind" -- a likely reference to the United States' efforts to block Beijing's access to advanced technology.
"At a time of high global security risks and increased instability and unpredictability, the responsibility for building the defence and security capacity of all countries is enormous," Dong said.
Beijing, he added, "is willing to work with all parties to strengthen strategic alignment, deepen defence consultations, discuss the signing of bilateral and multilateral agreements on defence cooperation".
Flashpoints
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Chase is attending the forum, just a few days after top Washington and Beijing commanders held their first talks.
Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of self-ruled Taiwan and China's increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions.
But they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control.
A key flashpoint is the South China Sea, where Chinese vessels have engaged in a series of high-profile confrontations with Philippine ships in recent months.
China claims almost all of the economically vital body of water despite competing claims from other countries and an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
On Thursday, senior military official Lieutenant General He Lei told journalists at the forum that China would "crush" any foreign incursion into its sovereign territory including in the South China Sea.
© 2024 AFP
Scores of delegates are in Beijing for the Xiangshan Forum, dubbed China's answer to the annual Shangri-La meeting in Singapore.
It is hosting more than 500 representatives from over 90 countries and organisations across three days, according to state media.
Dong told the opening ceremony: "To resolve hotspot issues such as the crisis in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, promoting peace and negotiation is the only way out."
"There is no winner in war and conflict, and confrontation leads nowhere," Dong said.
"The more acute the conflict, the more we cannot give up dialogue and consultation. The end of any conflict is reconciliation," he added, calling on all countries to promote "peaceful development and inclusive governance".
More official speeches are expected on Friday, and top military representatives from Russia, Pakistan, Singapore, Iran, Germany and others will participate in roundtable talks.
Topics for discussion at the forum include US-China relations, security in Europe and Asia, and the challenges of defence in a multipolar world.
Dong in his speech urged against "the proliferation of national security concepts" to ensure "new technologies can better benefit the whole mankind" -- a likely reference to the United States' efforts to block Beijing's access to advanced technology.
"At a time of high global security risks and increased instability and unpredictability, the responsibility for building the defence and security capacity of all countries is enormous," Dong said.
Beijing, he added, "is willing to work with all parties to strengthen strategic alignment, deepen defence consultations, discuss the signing of bilateral and multilateral agreements on defence cooperation".
Flashpoints
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Chase is attending the forum, just a few days after top Washington and Beijing commanders held their first talks.
Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of self-ruled Taiwan and China's increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions.
But they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control.
A key flashpoint is the South China Sea, where Chinese vessels have engaged in a series of high-profile confrontations with Philippine ships in recent months.
China claims almost all of the economically vital body of water despite competing claims from other countries and an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
On Thursday, senior military official Lieutenant General He Lei told journalists at the forum that China would "crush" any foreign incursion into its sovereign territory including in the South China Sea.
© 2024 AFP
Another rare Javan rhino calf spotted at Indonesia park
Jakarta (AFP) – A new Javan rhino calf has been spotted in an Indonesian national park, the facility's head said Friday, further boosting hopes for one of the world's most endangered mammals after two other sightings this year.
Issued on: 13/09/2024 -
Jakarta (AFP) – A new Javan rhino calf has been spotted in an Indonesian national park, the facility's head said Friday, further boosting hopes for one of the world's most endangered mammals after two other sightings this year.
Issued on: 13/09/2024 -
Javan rhinos have folds of loose skin giving them the appearance of wearing armour plating
© HANDOUT / MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTRY REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA/AFP
The female calf, believed to be between three and five months old, was spotted in camera trap footage taken in May at Java's Ujung Kulon National Park, a find only made public Thursday by Indonesia's environment and forestry ministry.
The mammal named Iris was seen walking with her mother, said Ardi Andono, head of the park.
"This is positive news for the wider community that the Javan rhino is still sustainable," Ardi told AFP Friday.
The park official said Iris, the third calf identified this year, was found after authorities deployed more than 100 camera traps across the national park in February.
"We always use the assumption that every location has the same potential... to obtain the rhinos' photos," said Ardi.
He said two more calves were spotted earlier this year at the park, which is the only habitat left for the critically endangered animal.
After years of population decline, authorities believe there are 82 Javan rhinos left inside the 120,000-hectare sanctuary of lush rainforest and freshwater streams.
The rhinos, which have folds of loose skin giving them the appearance of wearing armour plating, once numbered in the thousands across Southeast Asia but have been hard hit by rampant poaching and human encroachment.
Activists have disputed official figures after authorities recently uncovered a poaching gang that claimed to have killed 26 rhinos since 2018.
© 2024 AFP
The female calf, believed to be between three and five months old, was spotted in camera trap footage taken in May at Java's Ujung Kulon National Park, a find only made public Thursday by Indonesia's environment and forestry ministry.
The mammal named Iris was seen walking with her mother, said Ardi Andono, head of the park.
"This is positive news for the wider community that the Javan rhino is still sustainable," Ardi told AFP Friday.
The park official said Iris, the third calf identified this year, was found after authorities deployed more than 100 camera traps across the national park in February.
"We always use the assumption that every location has the same potential... to obtain the rhinos' photos," said Ardi.
He said two more calves were spotted earlier this year at the park, which is the only habitat left for the critically endangered animal.
After years of population decline, authorities believe there are 82 Javan rhinos left inside the 120,000-hectare sanctuary of lush rainforest and freshwater streams.
The rhinos, which have folds of loose skin giving them the appearance of wearing armour plating, once numbered in the thousands across Southeast Asia but have been hard hit by rampant poaching and human encroachment.
Activists have disputed official figures after authorities recently uncovered a poaching gang that claimed to have killed 26 rhinos since 2018.
© 2024 AFP
North Korea reveals images of uranium enrichment facility for the first time
North Korea released images of its uranium enrichment facility on Friday, showing leader Kim Jong Un touring the site. Kim called for an increase in centrifuges to boost the country's nuclear arsenal for "self-defence," state media reported.
Issued on: 13/09/2024 -
By: NEWS WIRES
North Korea released images of its uranium enrichment facility for the first time on Friday, showing leader Kim Jong Un touring it as he called for more centrifuges to boost his nuclear arsenal.
The country, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 and is under rafts of UN sanctions for its banned weapons programmes, has never publicly disclosed details of its uranium enrichment facility.
Such facilities produce highly enriched uranium -- which is needed to produce nuclear warheads -- by spinning the original material in centrifuges at high speeds.
Kim toured the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the "production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials," the official Korean Central News Agency reported, without giving the location of the facility or the date of the visit.
Kim "stressed the need to further augment the number of centrifuges in order to exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defence," state media reported, publishing images of Kim inspecting rows of centrifuges.
Kim "acquainted himself with the production of nuclear warheads and current nuclear materials," the report said.
The North Korean leader was briefed about the facility "dynamically producing nuclear materials by studying, developing and introducing all the system elements including centrifugal separators," KCNA said.
Kim urged the facility to "push forward the introduction of a new-type centrifuge... so as to further strengthen the foundation for producing weapon-grade nuclear materials".
Kim also "stressed the need to set a higher long-term goal in producing nuclear materials necessary", added KCNA.
North Korea's nuclear weapons programmes are banned by UN sanctions, but the country has long flouted the restrictions, thanks in part to support from allies Russia and China.
Experts said the sudden public disclosure of the North's uranium enrichment facility could be intended to impact the US presidential election in November.
The images are "a message to the next administration that it will be impossible to denuclearise North Korea", Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.
"It is also a message demanding other countries to acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear state," he added.
It is unlikely that the disclosure will be quickly followed by another nuclear test, he said.
Pyongyang last month said a record downpour in late July had killed an unspecified number of people, flooded dwellings and submerged swathes of farmland in its northern regions near China.
38 North, a North Korean analysis programme run by the Stimson Centre think-tank, reported on Wednesday that North Korea's main nuclear test site had been damaged by floodwaters.
North Korea's main nuclear test site "is in very bad condition. All roads and railways have been lost due to rain damage, and the ground is very weakened," Hong added.
Relations between North and South Korea are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North recently announcing the deployment of 250 ballistic missile launchers to its southern border.
The North has also been bombarding the South with trash-carrying balloons, including a five-day straight blitz last week.
On Thursday, Seoul said the North had fired multiple short range ballistic missiles into waters east of the Korean peninsula.
But KCNA said in a separate dispatch Friday that this had been a test of a "new-type 600mm multiple rocket launcher" which was overseen by Kim.
(AFP)
North Korea released images of its uranium enrichment facility on Friday, showing leader Kim Jong Un touring the site. Kim called for an increase in centrifuges to boost the country's nuclear arsenal for "self-defence," state media reported.
Issued on: 13/09/2024 -
This undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on September 13, 2024 shows the country’s leader Kim Jong Un (front) inspecting the Nuclear Weapons Institute. © AFP
By: NEWS WIRES
North Korea released images of its uranium enrichment facility for the first time on Friday, showing leader Kim Jong Un touring it as he called for more centrifuges to boost his nuclear arsenal.
The country, which conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 and is under rafts of UN sanctions for its banned weapons programmes, has never publicly disclosed details of its uranium enrichment facility.
Such facilities produce highly enriched uranium -- which is needed to produce nuclear warheads -- by spinning the original material in centrifuges at high speeds.
Kim toured the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the "production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials," the official Korean Central News Agency reported, without giving the location of the facility or the date of the visit.
Kim "stressed the need to further augment the number of centrifuges in order to exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defence," state media reported, publishing images of Kim inspecting rows of centrifuges.
Kim "acquainted himself with the production of nuclear warheads and current nuclear materials," the report said.
The North Korean leader was briefed about the facility "dynamically producing nuclear materials by studying, developing and introducing all the system elements including centrifugal separators," KCNA said.
Kim urged the facility to "push forward the introduction of a new-type centrifuge... so as to further strengthen the foundation for producing weapon-grade nuclear materials".
Kim also "stressed the need to set a higher long-term goal in producing nuclear materials necessary", added KCNA.
North Korea's nuclear weapons programmes are banned by UN sanctions, but the country has long flouted the restrictions, thanks in part to support from allies Russia and China.
Experts said the sudden public disclosure of the North's uranium enrichment facility could be intended to impact the US presidential election in November.
The images are "a message to the next administration that it will be impossible to denuclearise North Korea", Hong Min, a senior analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, told AFP.
"It is also a message demanding other countries to acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear state," he added.
It is unlikely that the disclosure will be quickly followed by another nuclear test, he said.
Pyongyang last month said a record downpour in late July had killed an unspecified number of people, flooded dwellings and submerged swathes of farmland in its northern regions near China.
38 North, a North Korean analysis programme run by the Stimson Centre think-tank, reported on Wednesday that North Korea's main nuclear test site had been damaged by floodwaters.
North Korea's main nuclear test site "is in very bad condition. All roads and railways have been lost due to rain damage, and the ground is very weakened," Hong added.
Relations between North and South Korea are at one of their lowest points in years, with the North recently announcing the deployment of 250 ballistic missile launchers to its southern border.
The North has also been bombarding the South with trash-carrying balloons, including a five-day straight blitz last week.
On Thursday, Seoul said the North had fired multiple short range ballistic missiles into waters east of the Korean peninsula.
But KCNA said in a separate dispatch Friday that this had been a test of a "new-type 600mm multiple rocket launcher" which was overseen by Kim.
(AFP)
The global gag rule and women’s abortion rights
“Supporters of women’s equality understand that equal participation in the public sphere, and for women living our lives as full human beings, involves the right for women to choose if, and when, to become mothers.”
By Liz Lawrence
In the context of the forthcoming US Presidential election, in which Republican and Democratic parties take very different positions on abortion rights and in which the Democratic presidential contestant, Kamala Harris, is taking a clear pro-choice stance.
Why birth control is essential for women’s liberation
Decades of feminist campaigning in many countries have led to a widespread understanding among feminists, socialists and labour movement activists that access to birth control is essential for women’s liberation. Many trade unions now have pro-choice policies. Debates around access to birth control, both contraception and abortion, often contain debates about the position of women in society. For conservatives who seek to restrict reproductive rights women should primarily be wives and mothers, living in a traditional patriarchal family, with other activities, such as education, employment and participation in public life, secondary to the maternal role.
Supporters of women’s equality understand that equal participation in the public sphere, and for women living our lives as full human beings, involves the right for women to choose if, and when, to become mothers. A human being cannot participate equally in education, employment, politics or any other sphere, if life might be disrupted at any moment by unplanned pregnancy, and if their participation in the public sphere is always subject to the assumption that they might leave any position they occupy at any moment on account of pregnancy and motherhood. This stigma of potential maternity was used for generations to deny women equal opportunities in the workplace.
There are questions of bodily autonomy and access to health care involved. For the anti-abortionists the woman’s body is the property of anyone other than the woman, whether it be her parents, husband or the state. Birth control is healthcare. Without access to birth control many women suffer health damage and risk to life from repeated pregnancies and childbirth.
Why birth control is essential for women’s liberation
The global gag rule is a United States Government ban on foreign NGOs which provide abortion services (including abortion advice) from receiving any US Government funding. It is also known as the Mexico City policy, because this was the venue where it was announced by the US Government at the United Nations International Conference on Population and Development.
This ban also affects NGOs which advocate for abortion law reform such as the decriminalisation of abortion. Even if any abortion-related activities are funded by the NGO from other sources, it still loses all US Government funding. The global gag rule originally ended $600 million in money for family planning services. International Planned Parenthood lost 20% of its funding. Thus, healthcare organisations were faced with a choice of either losing funding or restricting the services they provided.
The global gag rule was first introduced in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan. Since then, each successive US administration has decided either to maintain or lift the gag. This has made funding for abortion-related healthcare services a party-political issue in the USA and a matter of increasingly sharp political division. In some countries such matters can be seen as healthcare issues where there is a bipartisan or multi-party consensus, which is based on respect for the right of women to choose and on medical and scientific evidence. In the USA a change of President can almost immediately mean either the lifting or the re-imposition of the global gag rule, with Democratic Presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden all lifting the gag.
In January 2017 President Trump expanded the global gag rule to cover more health areas. It had originally applied to NGOs in the family planning field, but it was extended to all international healthcare assistance and affected nearly $9 billion in healthcare funding. It thus affected areas like HIV education.
The global gag rule restricted the ability of healthcare workers to counsel clients properly and offer a full range of options or to campaign on healthcare issues. It had a chilling effect on health education and advocacy, similar to section 28 or other attempts by governments to limit sex education and advice by sexual health services. It can thus also be seen as a freedom of speech issue.
The health impact of the global gag
Maternal mortality worldwide is unacceptably high. About 287 000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth in 2020. Almost 95% of maternal deaths occurred in low and lower middle-income countries in 2020, and most could have been prevented by access to better healthcare.
Women in low-income countries have a higher lifetime risk of maternal death. A woman’s lifetime risk of maternal death is the probability that a 15-year-old woman will eventually die from a maternal cause. In high income countries, this is 1 in 5300, versus 1 in 49 in low-income countries.
For many women in the world today pregnancy is a life-threatening condition, as it was centuries ago world-wide. This means women go through pregnancy knowing it could lead to their death or permanent injury to health. This takes a toll on both physical and mental health.
Cutting funding for family planning services leads to more unplanned pregnancies, and may increase the abortion rate. Bans on abortion do not stop abortion; they just increase the likelihood that the procedure occurs under unsafe conditions, with higher rates of mortality and morbidity. The World Health Organisation estimates that 45% of abortions are unsafe.
The global gag has also impacted health education and health advocacy, including HIV/AIDS education and support for marginal and vulnerable groups, including workers in the sex industry. When funding for healthcare is cut, it is often the poorest and most vulnerable who are most affected.
How the abortion issue has been politicised
“My name is Ann Richards. I am pro-choice and I vote.” This is what Ann Richards, Democratic Governor of Texas said at the Democratic National Convention in 1992. This is a good example of how women and pro-choice activists can be galvanised by this issue, as is happening now with the Kamala Harris campaign for the US Presidency.
The Republican Party has made alliances with the Christian evangelical right, treating abortion as a key political dividing issue. Ultra-conservatives often pick an issue or two, whether abortion, homosexuality, transgender rights or sex education in schools as a focus for campaigning and as a test of political acceptability.
Right-wing Christian evangelicals and other religious fundamentalists subscribe to a theology in which salvation is linked with conformity to narrowly-defined, traditional gender roles, in which sex is only for reproduction and in which foetal life is given equal or higher status than the life of the pregnant person. Hence the woman who declines motherhood or the person who lives in a same-sex relationship or seeks to change gender cannot be accepted. This is a quest for Gilead, the dystopian society portrayed by Margaret Atwood in “The Handmaid’s Tale”.
Some Republican politicians are Christian nationalists; that is to say, they want to remove the separation of religion and the state, which was one of the major achievements of the American Revolution and to establish some version of a theocratic state. It can be hard for reasonable and liberal-minded people to appreciate just how reactionary all of this is.
Donald Trump and JD Vance use misogyny to mobilise a section of the electorate and to attack their opponents. It may fire up their base, but it will also turn off many American voters. Vance is mentioned often for his notorious remark that the US was governed by ‘childless cat ladies’ and the implication that only parents have a right to an opinion or a vote. Such views are off the wall and have sparked many amusing ripostes. Nonetheless they should not be ignored because they express both a serious level of misogyny and contempt for single people.
What happens in the US presidential election has significant implications for women’s lives and for reproductive rights and healthcare provision world-wide.
- Liz Lawrence is a former President of University and College Union (UCU).
- This article was originally published by Anti*Capitalist Resistance on 24th August 2024.
- The Labour Outlook Editorial Team may not always agree with all of the content we reproduce but are committed to giving left voices a platform to develop, debate, discuss and occasionally disagree.
Shelling kills 3 Red Cross workers in E.Ukraine
By AFP
September 12, 2024
ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric condemned the attack - Copyright AFP Daniel ROLAND
A Russian strike on Red Cross vehicles in eastern Ukraine killed three people, the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.
“Today, the occupier attacked the vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian mission in Donetsk region,” Zelensky said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed that three of its staffers had been killed when shelling hit a site of a planned frontline aid distribution in the region.
It did not say who was behind the shelling.
“I condemn attacks on Red Cross personnel in the strongest terms,”
ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement.
“It’s unconscionable that shelling would hit an aid distribution site,” he added.
“Our hearts are broken today as we mourn the loss of our colleagues and care for the injured,” she said.
“This tragedy unleashes a wave of grief all too familiar to those who have lost loved ones in armed conflict.”
The attack happened in the village of Virolyubivka, a dozen of kilometres away from the front line in Donetsk.
The ICRC said its team had been preparing to distribute wood and coal briquettes to vulnerable households to help them prepare for winter when their vehicles were hit.
Two other staff members were wounded in the attack, ICRC said, adding that the aid distribution “had not begun, and no residents were affected by the explosion”.
The ICRC did not provide any details about the staff members killed, but Ukrainian parliamentary commissioner for human rights Dmytro Lubinets said they were Ukrainian citizens.
– Vehicles ‘clearly marked’ –
There was no immediate comment from Russia, which routinely says it only hits military targets.
ICRC highlighted that its teams “are regularly present in the Donetsk region, and our vehicles are clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem”.
“The deaths of three ICRC colleagues come amid a sharp rise in the number of humanitarians killed around the world over the last two years,” it lamented.
The UN Humanitarian mission to Ukraine said 50 workers were killed or injured in Ukraine in 2023, including 11 killed in the line of duty.
“Since the beginning of the year, this repeated pattern of attacks appears to have intensified,” the UN humanitarian coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement in February.
The ICRC urgently called in Thursday’s statement “for the respect of international humanitarian law, including by taking every precaution possible to ensure that those engaged in humanitarian activities are not targeted or caught in hostilities”.
Thursday’s strike came just days before Spoljaric is due to carry out a long-planned visit to Moscow — her second visit since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, ICRC spokesman Jason Straziuso told AFP.
She is due to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other senior government officials on “critical issues in conflicts globally, such as the respect of international humanitarian law, prisoners of war, the fate of the missing, and protections for humanitarian workers,” he said.
\
By AFP
September 12, 2024
ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric condemned the attack - Copyright AFP Daniel ROLAND
A Russian strike on Red Cross vehicles in eastern Ukraine killed three people, the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday.
“Today, the occupier attacked the vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian mission in Donetsk region,” Zelensky said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed that three of its staffers had been killed when shelling hit a site of a planned frontline aid distribution in the region.
It did not say who was behind the shelling.
“I condemn attacks on Red Cross personnel in the strongest terms,”
ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric said in a statement.
“It’s unconscionable that shelling would hit an aid distribution site,” he added.
“Our hearts are broken today as we mourn the loss of our colleagues and care for the injured,” she said.
“This tragedy unleashes a wave of grief all too familiar to those who have lost loved ones in armed conflict.”
The attack happened in the village of Virolyubivka, a dozen of kilometres away from the front line in Donetsk.
The ICRC said its team had been preparing to distribute wood and coal briquettes to vulnerable households to help them prepare for winter when their vehicles were hit.
Two other staff members were wounded in the attack, ICRC said, adding that the aid distribution “had not begun, and no residents were affected by the explosion”.
The ICRC did not provide any details about the staff members killed, but Ukrainian parliamentary commissioner for human rights Dmytro Lubinets said they were Ukrainian citizens.
– Vehicles ‘clearly marked’ –
There was no immediate comment from Russia, which routinely says it only hits military targets.
ICRC highlighted that its teams “are regularly present in the Donetsk region, and our vehicles are clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem”.
“The deaths of three ICRC colleagues come amid a sharp rise in the number of humanitarians killed around the world over the last two years,” it lamented.
The UN Humanitarian mission to Ukraine said 50 workers were killed or injured in Ukraine in 2023, including 11 killed in the line of duty.
“Since the beginning of the year, this repeated pattern of attacks appears to have intensified,” the UN humanitarian coordinator Denise Brown said in a statement in February.
The ICRC urgently called in Thursday’s statement “for the respect of international humanitarian law, including by taking every precaution possible to ensure that those engaged in humanitarian activities are not targeted or caught in hostilities”.
Thursday’s strike came just days before Spoljaric is due to carry out a long-planned visit to Moscow — her second visit since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, ICRC spokesman Jason Straziuso told AFP.
She is due to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other senior government officials on “critical issues in conflicts globally, such as the respect of international humanitarian law, prisoners of war, the fate of the missing, and protections for humanitarian workers,” he said.
\
\
Vietnam farmers lose their blooms as floods claim crops
Hanoi (AFP) – Vietnamese farmer Do Hong Yen estimates she lost tens of thousands of dollars when her valuable peach blossom crop was swamped by muddy waters in Hanoi's worst flooding in two decades.
Issued on: 13/09/2024
Hanoi (AFP) – Vietnamese farmer Do Hong Yen estimates she lost tens of thousands of dollars when her valuable peach blossom crop was swamped by muddy waters in Hanoi's worst flooding in two decades.
Issued on: 13/09/2024
Floodwaters caused by Typhoon Yagi have destroyed crops across north Vietnam © Nhac NGUYEN / AFP
More than 250,000 hectares of crops, including rice, vegetables and fruit trees, have been destroyed across typhoon-hit northern Vietnam.
Some of the steepest losses in the north of Hanoi are among farmers growing peach blossom -- which can fetch up to $400 per tree ahead of Tet, Vietnam's lunar new year celebrations.
"I lost the entire season's crop," 53-year-old Yen told AFP from a patch of high ground overlooking Phu Thuong, an area home to many nurseries, gardens and farms.
"The loss may be more than $45,000," she said.
Three other peach blossom farmers said their losses would be similarly devastating after the floodwaters reached two metres (6.5 feet) earlier this week.
"This terrible typhoon and floods have cost human lives and more," Yen said.
The trees, whose flowers are a bright, beautiful pink when they blossom, thrive in relatively dry conditions and need only moderate watering.
The crop in Hanoi has been partially submerged for more than two days and even those trees expected to survive will not bloom this season.
Food prices soar
Typhoon Yagi made landfall along Vietnam's east coast on Saturday before sweeping through Hanoi and bringing a deluge of rain.
More than 250,000 hectares of crops, including rice, vegetables and fruit trees, have been destroyed across typhoon-hit northern Vietnam.
Some of the steepest losses in the north of Hanoi are among farmers growing peach blossom -- which can fetch up to $400 per tree ahead of Tet, Vietnam's lunar new year celebrations.
"I lost the entire season's crop," 53-year-old Yen told AFP from a patch of high ground overlooking Phu Thuong, an area home to many nurseries, gardens and farms.
"The loss may be more than $45,000," she said.
Three other peach blossom farmers said their losses would be similarly devastating after the floodwaters reached two metres (6.5 feet) earlier this week.
"This terrible typhoon and floods have cost human lives and more," Yen said.
The trees, whose flowers are a bright, beautiful pink when they blossom, thrive in relatively dry conditions and need only moderate watering.
The crop in Hanoi has been partially submerged for more than two days and even those trees expected to survive will not bloom this season.
Food prices soar
Typhoon Yagi made landfall along Vietnam's east coast on Saturday before sweeping through Hanoi and bringing a deluge of rain.
Floods caused by Typhoon Yagi have destroyed crops, including peach blossom trees, across north Vietnam © Nhac NGUYEN / AFP
The storm uprooted 25,000 trees across the city, while thousands of people from communities along the Red River that flows through the capital were evacuated as floodwaters rose.
The damage became clear as the water began to recede in many areas of Hanoi on Thursday.
"My 500-square metre garden full of banana trees has been completely destroyed because of the typhoon and the floods," said farmer Tran Thi Ly.
Ly told AFP that her vegetable garden, where she grew onions, lettuce and herbs for markets in central Hanoi, had been wiped out.
"It has been decades since we experienced this, losing everything we invested in," Ly said.
A total of 1.5 million chickens and ducks and 2,500 pigs, buffalo and cows were also killed in the floods, the agriculture ministry said.
"The price of vegetables has increased by 50 percent or even doubled. Even then, we don't have much to choose from because of a shortage in supply," office worker Nguyen Thanh Hoa said.
Hanoi's trade department said they had asked major suppliers to transport more vegetables from the south to fill the gap.
"We all have to suffer the consequences of this disaster," Hoa said.
© 2024 AFP
The storm uprooted 25,000 trees across the city, while thousands of people from communities along the Red River that flows through the capital were evacuated as floodwaters rose.
The damage became clear as the water began to recede in many areas of Hanoi on Thursday.
"My 500-square metre garden full of banana trees has been completely destroyed because of the typhoon and the floods," said farmer Tran Thi Ly.
Ly told AFP that her vegetable garden, where she grew onions, lettuce and herbs for markets in central Hanoi, had been wiped out.
"It has been decades since we experienced this, losing everything we invested in," Ly said.
A total of 1.5 million chickens and ducks and 2,500 pigs, buffalo and cows were also killed in the floods, the agriculture ministry said.
"The price of vegetables has increased by 50 percent or even doubled. Even then, we don't have much to choose from because of a shortage in supply," office worker Nguyen Thanh Hoa said.
Hanoi's trade department said they had asked major suppliers to transport more vegetables from the south to fill the gap.
"We all have to suffer the consequences of this disaster," Hoa said.
© 2024 AFP
UKRAINIAN NATIONALIST THUGS
The Toronto International Film Festival announced Thursday it is cancelling all screenings of the documentary Russians at War due to "significant threats" to public safety. Organizers cited reports of potential risks to festival operations. Directed by Anastasia Trofimova, the film follows a Russian battalion during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. TIFF described the decision as unprecedented.
Issued on: 13/09/2024 -
People pose in front of an illuminated sign at the Toronto Film Festival, Canada, September 8, 2023. © Geoff Robins, AFP
By: NEWS WIRES
The Toronto International Film Festival said Thursday it was cancelling all upcoming screenings of controversial documentary "Russians at War" after receiving "significant threats."
"We have been made aware of significant threats to festival operations and public safety," festival organizers said in a statement, pointing to reports it received "indicating potential activity in the coming days that pose significant risk."
"This is an unprecedented move for TIFF," read the statement.
Anastasia Trofimova first presented at the Venice Film Festival "Russians at War", in which she embedded with a Russian battalion as it advanced across eastern Ukraine after Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.
It was to have its North American premiere in Toronto on Friday, followed by additional screenings on Saturday and Sunday.
Both in Venice and Toronto it has sparked outrage across Ukrainian cultural and political circles against what many consider a pro-Kremlin film that seeks to whitewash and justify Moscow's assault.
Canada's deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, earlier this week deplored its screening in Toronto, saying "there can be no moral equivalency in our understanding of this conflict."
Ukraine's state film agency also appealed to TIFF to drop the film, calling it "a dangerous tool for public opinion manipulation."
Trofimova has rejected the criticisms, telling AFP the Canada-France production is "an anti-war film" that shows "ordinary guys" who are fighting for Russia.
The soldiers depicted appear to have little idea of why they have been sent to the front, and are shown struggling to make Soviet-era weapons serviceable, with others chain-smoking cigarettes and downing shots of alcohol amid the deaths and wounds of their comrades.
Producer Sean Farnel said on X that the decision to cancel the screenings was "heartbreaking."
He blamed officials' public criticisms for having "incited the violent hate that has led to TIFF's painful decision to pause its presentation of 'Russians at War.'"
(AFP)
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