Many unable to access eVisas to prove right to be in UK, Home Office admits

Diane Taylor
Sun 1 December 2024 

THE GUARDIAN

The Home Office is switching to a digital immigration system at the end of this month.

Photograph: Guy Corbishley/Alamy


The Home Office has admitted that many people who have the right to live and work in the UK cannot access their eVisas and provide proof that they are allowed to be in the country.

Human rights campaigners have said problems with accessing eVisas could lead to a scandal involving hundreds of thousands of people. Those affected are allowed to be in the UK but cannot show their right to work or rent a home.

At the end of this month the Home Office is transferring to a digital immigration system, and most physical documentation proving the right to remain in the UK, such as biometric residence permits, will expire.


The Guardian has learned that some of a particularly large group of migrants have not been able to obtain eVisas even though they have applied for them and have a right to receive them.

Hundreds of thousands of people are on a particularly harsh Home Office visa known as the 10-year route, where they have to pay large sums of money to renew.

Many people on that route are people of colour who are on low incomes. There are delays of about a year for those in that group each time they renew their visas, and they are granted “3C leave” while they wait, allowing them to work or rent properties.

But many who have applied for eVisas while waiting for their visas to be renewed have hit a wall when they make the application online. Although one screen states that a person has their eVisa, an error message appears when trying to open it. It states: “We cannot show you proof of your status. This might be because your status is not ready to view in this service yet.”

The Home Office said in response there were alternative ways to provide proof when people’s eVisas failed to work. But the Guardian was told by some people struggling to access their eVisas that some employers and estate agents were reluctant to accept any other evidence, and this hampered their ability to find work or a place to live.

Nick Beales, the head of campaigning at Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London, said the problems with eVisas could lead to a Windrush-style scandal.

He said: “In June, the high court ruled that the government’s failure to provide people on 3C leave digital proof of status was unlawful. The new government though has refused to implement this ruling, suggesting that like their predecessors they have learned nothing from the Windrush scandal and remain committed to preserving the hostile environment.

“With the visa system going digital in one month, it is critical that everyone with immigration status can immediately access eVisas. Otherwise, it is certain that in 2025 tens of thousands of people on 3C leave will be wrongly suspended from work, deprived of disability benefits and denied other basic services.”

Home Office sources told the Guardian that because the digital visa system had been developed incrementally, some people who made their applications before their digital record status was created did not have digital 3C leave.

The department insists that having a digital-only immigration status will make things more secure, but many people claim they have been unable to access the eVisas.

Others who have obtained them may not be able to access their digital account online because of a lack of internet access or technical glitches in the system. The eVisa updates online and there is no QR code to download.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The rights of all individuals can still be proven for those who are unable to view their immigration status online, through a range of channels by which a person’s entitlement to employment, study and other benefits can be confirmed. As we transition to a digital system, increasing numbers of people with 3C leave will be able to view and prove their immigration status online.”

UK

Kurdish protest rages against repression in London

The protest came after police raided the Kurdish Community Centre (KCC) in Haringey, north London

On the Kurdish solidarity protest in London (Picture: Guy Smallman)

By Arthur Townend
Sunday 01 December 2024   

SOCIALIST WORKER  Issue 2933

Up to 2,000 people raged outside Downing Street in London on Sunday over the British state’s repression of Kurdish people.

Police raided the Kurdish Community Centre (KCC) in north London and arrested seven people across the capital last week. The KCC remains barricaded.

“We are seeking refuge from systematic oppression in Turkey,” a Kurdish protester told the rally. Our language, our culture, our political identity were oppressed. We faced persecution simply for existing.

KKC became a lifeline for many of us—to support one another and contribute meaningfully to our society. But now the British government appears to prioritise its ties with the Turkish regime.

“The scale of this operation is deeply troubling. Police patrol our streets, and homes have been littered with leaflets vilifying our whole community.

“Stand with us to demand the reopening of KCC, the release of all our friends and the end of the criminalisation of our community.”

Police arrested the seven Kurds under counter-terrorism charges for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“Why are you terrorising Kurds? Why are you criminalising Kurds—when you all know Kurds will never be a threat to the public here,” said a protester.

Slamming Labour, he said, “The Labour Party should know that the Kurds’ support for Labour will not continue.”

Charlie Kimber from the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) also slammed the “hypocrisy” of the British government while addressing the rally. “Who are the terrorists?” he asked. “Turkish president Erdogan is the terrorist. Binyamin Netanyahu is the terrorist. And yet our Labour government attacks those who fight back against oppression.


The Kurds—a history of agony

“The arrival of the Labour government has seen not an end to the attacks on protesters, but an acceleration. It is crucial that all of us unite. We must demand that instead of doing this favour for Erdan, the British government must break all links with the Turkish regime.”

As the demonstration marched towards Downing Street, it stopped outside Scotland Yard—and raged against the police. One protester told Socialist Worker, “This is the response from our community. We won’t take this repression.

“The prisoners need to be released, and the police need to leave us alone. Our community is being targeted—but we have done nothing wrong, nothing but demand our freedom.”

The British state is doing Erdogan’s and the Turkish state’s dirty work.

Kurds call for end to ‘attacks’ after police terror probe

Several hundred demonstrators marched through central London.


Protesters gathered in Trafalgar Square (James Manning/PA)
PA Wire

George Lithgow

13 hours ago

Kurdish protesters have gathered in central London in response to the arrest of seven people said to be associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party.

Known as the PKK, the group is outlawed by the UK Government.

Several hundred demonstrators gathered, some holding placards with “stop the attacks on Kurds” and “hands off our community centre” written on them.

The protesters march through London (James Manning/PA)
PA Wire

The protesters – many wearing face coverings – blew whistles, chanted and played music as they made their way through the streets.


“To British people and Metropolitan Police, hands off Kurds,” one man said.


Their march followed a pre-arranged route from Trafalgar Square to Whitehall.


The Metropolitan Police have warned attendees that expressing support for the proscribed group is a criminal offence.

At one point, officers moved in and circled a male protester, but appeared to just take his details rather than arrest him.

The PKK wants an independent Kurdish state in south-east Turkey, and has been banned in the UK since 2001.

Police speak to a man (James Manning/PA)
PA Wire

Last week, seven people were arrested in London on suspicion of terrorism offences linked to it.

Searches took place at the Kurdish community centre in Haringey, north London, among other locations.

A protest took place on Thursday evening in the vicinity of Green Lanes and Stanhope Gardens, close to the community centre.

The Met said a man was arrested on suspicion of expressing support for a proscribed terrorist organisation related to chanting during the protest.

London is busier than usual this weekend as protests clash with Black Friday shopping and Winter Wonderland festivities.

Chief Superintendent Joe McDonald, who is leading the policing operation, said: “We understand the strength of feeling from the Kurdish community and want to take this opportunity to remind anyone taking part in the march that the PKK is proscribed by the UK Government and expressing support for them is a criminal offence.”

Kurdish protesters demonstrate in London following seven arrests over PKK links

MORNING STAR
Sunday, December 1, 2024

HUNDREDS of Kurdish protesters demonstrated in central London today in response to the arrest of seven people said to be associated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Many wore face coverings, blew whistles, chanted and played music as they made their way through the streets following a pre-arranged route from Trafalgar Square to Whitehall.

Others held placards with “stop the attacks on Kurds” and “hands off our community centre” written on them.

“To British people and Metropolitan Police, hands off Kurds,” one man said.

The Met have warned attendees that expressing support for the proscribed group is a criminal offence.

The PKK wants an independent Kurdish state in south-east Turkey, and has been banned in Britain since 2001.

Last week, seven people were arrested in London on suspicion of terrorism offences linked to it.

Searches took place at the Kurdish community centre in Haringey, north London, among other locations, with a protest taking place on Thursday near the centre.

The Met said a man was arrested on suspicion of expressing support for a proscribed terrorist organisation related to chanting during the protest.

Why Russia Vetoed a Recent UN Ceasefire Resolution for Sudan

IT'S A GUNRUNNER STATE

Damilola Banjo
• December 1, 2024
PASS BLUE

A screen grab from a UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs video in a refugee camp in Chad for Sudanese escaping the war in their country, Nov. 30, 2024.

 Russia vetoed a Security Council draft resolution in mid-November that could have brought desperately needed relief and protections for the millions of civilians contending with the relentless violence in their country.

Sudan approached Russia recently to help it block a British-backed United Nations Security Council draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in the civil war across the North African country because it was dissatisfied with the text. Sudan officials also took personal offense from the process itself, PassBlue has found.

A source close to the negotiations over the text told PassBlue that some members of the Sudanese government, led by Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, were aggrieved that Britain, the penholder on the Sudan file in the Security Council, did not consult Sudan’s foreign office and that the suggestions made by the Sudanese envoy at the UN were rejected in the final draft.

The draft, supported by 14 of the 15 Council members, was vetoed on Nov. 18 by Russia, surprising diplomats in the chamber. In its explanation, Russia said the resolution wrongly assumed the responsibility of the government of Sudan for protecting Sudanese citizens.



Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia’s top deputy permanent representative to the UN, said that only the Sudanese government has the right and responsibility to work with the UN on how it wants the conflict resolved. Russia also accused Britain, a former colonizer of Sudan, of meddling in the country’s affairs. The meeting was chaired by David Lammy, the UK’s foreign minister, who called the veto a “disgrace.”

Polyanskiy later posted on X, formerly Twitter, “Shame on you, the UK, also for claiming that the Sudanese government supports the draft which was clearly debunked at the meeting by the representative of this country.”

The Sudanese acting foreign minister, Ali Youssef Ahmed Al-Sharif, thanked Russia for blocking the resolution. He praised Russia for supporting Sudan’s sovereignty and its “right to preserve their national institution and defend their people.”

“Protecting civilians is the most important duty of states, and it does not need to be imposed on us by external forces according to visions that do not take into account our reality and needs,” he posted on X in Arabic.

According to a source who asked to remain anonymous, the foreign minister, who is new to the post, was also offended that he had not been invited by the UK to take part in the Council session on Nov. 18, especially because his British counterpart was leading it.

Russia’s embassy to Sudan is based in Port Sudan, apparently next door to the foreign ministry building. Russia is reportedly investing in the African country’s gold mines. Sudan’s ambassador to Russia also reportedly thanked the country for vetoing the draft resolution.

The Sudanese government is opposed to any intervention from the UN, such as a peacekeeping force, as well as any broad international effort that recognizes the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — the opposition — as an equal party in the war or that inadvertently legitimizes the militia. Instead, the government, known as the Transitional Sovereign Council, wants the RSF to be labeled as a terrorist organization.

The failed resolution drafted by the UK and Sierra Leone requested Secretary-General António Guterres to develop a compliance mechanism to carry out the Jeddah Declaration commitments, which the Sudanese government opposed. Sudan’s envoy to the UN, Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith, said it would accept only a solution led by the Sudanese government.

“The narrative currently adopted that this war is between two parties is one of the reasons we have not reached an agreement,” Al-Harith told Council members after the vote on Nov. 18. “We must take into account the specificity of the conflict and the efforts by the country’s concerns in peacebuilding.”

The ambassador accused the international community of imposing a solution on Sudan through “pressure and cohesion.” Yet, one African diplomat in the Council told PassBlue that although negotiations on the draft text had been tough, Sudan signed off on it theoretically. (Al-Harith said he had “no comment on the veto” for this story.)

James Kariuki, Britain’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, told the General Assembly on Nov. 26 that the draft resolution respected the “sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Sudan.”

“We engaged extensively and listened carefully to the views of the Sudanese Mission when developing the text,” he said. “Nothing in the text compromised the sovereignty of Sudan.”

The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023. It has been sustained by a steady flow of arms from third-party nations, leading some analysts and humanitarians to now call it a proxy war. In an exclusive interview with PassBlue in June, Al-Harith said the war would end if the United Arab Emirates (UAE) stopped sending weapons to the RSF, but Abu Dhabi is not the only third-party country fingered in the prolonged war. (UAE denies supplying weapons.)

Nevertheless, reports that include satellite imagery have documented flights from the UAE delivering weapons to RSF-controlled areas in Sudan and neighboring Chad. The New York Times reported that some shipments have allegedly been disguised as medical aid.

Iran, Egypt and Russia have also been fingered for international interference. Iran has been providing military support to the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF. Evidence includes repeated flights of Iranian aircraft into Port Sudan, now General Burhan’s base, offloading drones and large crates suspected to contain munitions. Egypt has also backed the SAF, using ground routes to transport supplies across their shared border.

The continuous supply of weapons has intensified the conflict, rendering mediation efforts useless. Nathaniel Raymond, the executive director of the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab, said that each time one supply line is disrupted, another emerges, ensuring that both SAF and RSF remain equipped for prolonged warfare.

“It’s time the Security Council name those who have kept the war going,” Raymond said.

Satellite imagery from researchers at the Yale lab, he said, showed a troubling increase in logistical abilities for receiving and deploying weapons in Sudan. Despite international awareness of these activities, enforcement mechanisms to stop arms transfers remain weak.

Damilola Banjo is a staff reporter for PassBlue who has covered a wide range of topics, from Africa-centered stories to gender equality to UN peacekeeping and US-UN relations. She also oversees video production for PassBlue. She was a Dag Hammarskjold fellow in 2023 and a Pulitzer Center postgraduate fellow in 2021. She was named the 2020 Nigeria Investigative Journalist of the Year by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism and was part of the BBC Africa team that produced the Emmy nominated documentary, “Sex for Grades.” In addition, she worked for WFAE, an NPR affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina. Banjo has a master’s of science degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a B.A. in communications and language arts from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Exclusive

EDF set to extend life of UK nuclear plants as Government replacement plans falter

Power plants in Hartlepool, East Lothian and Heysham are set to have their lifespan extended before the end of the year

Heysham 1 was due to close in March this year, had been extended until 2026 by EDF and has now been further extended beyond that date (Photo: Getty)

By Ben Gartside
Senior Reporter
December 1, 2024  

iNEWS

Energy giant EDF is set to be given regulatory approval to extend the lifespan of four nuclear power plants across the country amid delays to replacement projects, The i Paper can reveal.

It is the second time EDF has asked to extend the lifespan of the plants in Hartlepool and East Lothian, as well as two in Heysham, despite safety concerns at at least two of the sites.

The decision by the Office for Nuclear Regulation is set to be announced before the end of the year. However, The i Paper understands that all four are set to be approved.

The scale of delays to the Government’s nuclear projects including Sizewell C and the Small Modular Reactor Programme, due to Brexit and rampant inflation, was revealed earlier this year.

It threatened to derail Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s plan to decarbonise the energy grid by 2030 before Labour even entered Downing Street.

The National Energy System Operator has raised doubts over the Government’s ability to deliver on its net zero grid commitments in just five years’ time.

The extension of the four power plants is likely to keep the grid cleaner in the coming years, while new nuclear projects await launch.

Heysham 1 and Hartlepool had been due to close in March this year, but were extended until 2026 by EDF in 2023. They have now been extended beyond 2026.

Heysham 2 and Torness nuclear power stations are currently due to close in 2028, but are set to be extended under the plans.

Torness, near Edinburgh, had its lifespan reduced by two years in 2021 due to cracking in the bricks, according to an Office for Nuclear Regulation report.

It has been reported that any extension to the Torness plant would have been conditional on EDF proving its ability to keep operating beyond 2028.

Meanwhile, a recent steam leak at Heysham 1 could have seriously injured staff according to an Office for Nuclear Regulation report, after a valve controlling stream from the reactor failed.

A number of safety notices have been given this year to EDF by the nuclear regulator, which some in the industry claim is a sign of the ageing power plants.

An industry source said that some of the reactors had already been “extended pretty far”, and that more issues would be likely.

Why does the Government want to use nuclear power?

Extending the lifespans of the four EDF plants will provide the grid with some much-needed baseload power – the minimum amount of electricity required during the course of the day. Nuclear provided around 7.8 per cent of the national grid’s electricity supply on Sunday.

Unlike fossil fuels, nuclear power stations do not produce greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide or methane during their operation, although the construction of new plants is costly and does generate a low level of emissions through the manufacturing of materials needed like steel.

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “The extension of any nuclear power station is a decision for the operator and the independent regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation, based on safety and commercial considerations.

“EDF’s ambition is to further extend the lives of four generating nuclear power stations, subject to inspections and regulatory approvals, and a decision will be taken by the end of 2024.”

An EDF spokesperson said: “A decision will only be made after a rigorous review of all the technical factors involved in running these stations and future operation will always be subject to regular inspections and oversight from the independent regulator, the ONR.”

A spokesperson for the Office for Nuclear Regulation, said it would “constructively work with EDF should it have ambitions to extend the lifetime of any of its power stations” but added it “would not allow any facility to operate unless we are satisfied that it is safe to do so”.

Leak reveals UK lawyers, Israeli government planned ‘special unit’ to counter human rights reporting. Here’s what we know.

Leaked documents show the extent of collaboration between the pro-Israel legal advocacy group and the Israeli government, in their attempt to “counter” the work of human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

By Anas Ambri 

 December 1, 2024 

MONDOWEISS

The Embassy of Israel in London, England


On 10 August 2017, pro-Israel advocacy group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) approached the Embassy of Israel in London with a “pitch for business”: a proposal to setup “a rapid response unit to correct false narratives” regarding Israel.

According to the proposal, human rights organizations “such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty, routinely publish material condemning Israeli government policy [in Palestine] as disproportionate and discriminatory”.

To counter this, Steven Kay QC and Joshua Kern from London’s 9 Bedford Row International (9BRI) were offering to work with UKLFI “as a response unit to counter” such reports, in order to “develop content capable of responding” to them, at a “granular, detailed, or item by item level”.

This proposal, as well as emails from UKLFI to officials within the Israeli Ministry of Justice, are part of a trove of documents leaked in a hack by a group that calls itself “Anonymous for Justice”. The dataset has since been published by the non-profit journalist collective Distributed Denial of Secrets.

The documents show the level of coordination between UKLFI and the different organs of the Israeli government, despite recent denials by UKLFI of any links.

As part of the proposal, barristers from 9BRI worked with UKLFI to submit briefs to the International Criminal Court (ICC), challenging its jurisdiction over crimes committed in Palestine.

The leaked documents show how legal advisors from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and top officials from the Ministry of Justice, provided detailed input to be incorporated into the submissions made by 9BRI’s barristers.

This attempt in providing a counternarrative on Israel’s policies in occupied Palestine, which the ICJ recently ruled as apartheid, has been called an attempt to “muddy the waters” by at least one pro-Palestininan international law expert.

When reached for comment, UKLFI’s Chief Executive Jonathan Turner stated that UKLFI is “an independent association with no organisational relationship with the Israeli government”. “From time to time we correspond with some Israeli officials, as anyone would expect given the aims of our association,” he added.

Joshua Kern from 9BRI told Mondoweiss that “9BRi has no relationship, as a Chambers, with the Israeli government.”

Kern explained that, as part of their role as counsel, barristers from 9BRI “provide legal advice, produce reports, and make filings before international criminal courts and tribunals. As part of that work, counsel liaise with relevant stakeholders.”

Mondoweiss also contacted the Israeli Embassy in London, and the ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs for comment. No reply was received at time of publication.
UKLFI & GC4I

The idea of establishing a “response unit” in the UK seems to have been first formulated by UK Lawyers for Israel in preparation for the 2014 meeting of the Global Coalition for Israel (GC4I), the leaked documents show.

Mondoweiss previously wrote about the GC4I, a partnership between the Israeli government and pro-Israel NGOs launched in 2010 to counter the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Its 2014 gathering – the first outside Israel – happened in London.

In preparation for the meeting, the Department of International Affairs within the Israeli Office of the State Attorney sent a survey to a number of organisations in the Coalition, asking them to list out what they viewed as the biggest challenges they were facing from the BDS movement.

The organisations, which included UKLFI, were part of the Legal Working Group at the 2014 GC4I event. The group was tasked with “presenting creative solutions for combating delegitimization of Israel in the national and international legal sphere”, according to the draft letter sent to the participants.

Jonathan Turner, then UKLFI’s Chairman, stated that one of the key legal challenges from BDS in the UK was the “propaganda against Israel delivered through student unions, charities, church groups, sometimes schools”.

According to him, this challenge could be addressed using “legal tools” through the “establishment of a permanent organisation to provide legal support” vis-a-vis the challenges he identified.

Such a permanent body would be constituted of volunteer pro-Israel lawyers and “one full-time organiser, who should be a young lawyer or law graduate”. “Estimated cost £50,000 [per annum],” the recommendation stated.

It is not clear if the recommendation was taken up by the GC4I’s Legal Working Group though. A summary document, circulated a month after the GC4I 2014 meeting, does not include Turner’s suggestion.
Enter 9 Bedford Row International

Three years after the GC4I meeting, members of the barristers’ chambers 9 Bedford Row International (9BRI) shared with Jonathan Turner a work proposal “to further Israel’s interests within the field of international criminal law (ICL) and transnational criminal law”. The entire text of the proposal was among the documents recently leaked from the Israeli Ministry of Justice

.

Part of the “pitch for business” sent by members of 9BRI to UKLFI, and later shared with senior members of the Israeli ministry of Justice.

The proposal suggested the establishment of “a rapid response unit to correct false narratives articulated by NGOs and intergovernmental organisations” regarding Israel’s discriminatory and disproportionate policies in Palestine.

According to the proposal, the “corpus of material capable of being deployed in international litigation against Israel and/or its citizens at the ICC” was growing.

Such corpus included Human Rights Watch’s 2017 report on “50 years of Occupation Abuses”, and the British Institute of International and Comparative Law’s 2008 report on the Palestine Question, according to the proposal.


“There is an identifiable pattern whereby such reports, when unanswered, form a canon of material which is utilised to build an evidential case against defendants at The Hague [where the ICJ and ICC sit],” the document stated.

The aim was then to set up such a unit to counter the narrative developing from the increased scrutiny into Israel’s discriminatory policies arising from its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

The proposal was shared with senior officials in the Israeli ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs, including Dr. Roy Schöndorf, Israel’s Deputy Attorney General for International Law at the time, and Dr. Gilad Noam, his replacement at that post since June 2022.

When asked about the proposal, UKLFI’s Jonathan Turner said that “false information about Israel produced by NGOs and credulously adopted by UN bodies and officials is indeed a major problem.”

“As an association of lawyers supporting Israel, seeking truth and upholding the law, this is a matter of great and legitimate concern to us. We do what we can, with the limited resources we have, to point out some of the inaccuracies,” he added.

Steven Kay QC, who heads 9BRI, told Mondoweiss that the proposal “was within the scope of our professional competences”. “I, in particular, have been involved in many international legal trials where this [i.e. false narratives on facts and law] has been a matter of great concern,” he added.

“Ultimately,” Mr. Kay said, ”this engagement was not taken up by UKLFI”.

Nevertheless, involvement from UKLFI and 9BRI’s barristers in activities organised by the Israeli government increased starting from this point, based on the leaked material.
Public international lawfare

In February 2018, Joshua Kern attended the first edition of the Legal Network Initiative, an anti-BDS conference organised by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs in Jerusalem. UKLFI’s Jonathan Turner was also present at the conference.

According to Israel National News, attendees of the conference signed a pact “to defend Israel on every possible legal front in the face of de-legitimization and boycotts.”

An email sent to the Deputy Attorney General Schöndorf right after the conference suggests that the Ministry of Justice was aware of Mr. Kern’s engagement on a project for Anne Bayefsky, another attendee at the conference.

Mondoweiss could not determine what the project in question was. Ms. Bayefsky is an international human rights lawyer and scholar, who has been critical of the United Nations, repeatedly calling it and many of its current experts and former officials antisemitic

Part of an email thread from February 2018 between Joshua Kern, and senior officials within the Israeli Ministry of Justice, including its former and current Deputy Attorney General for International Law

In a second visit to Israel, this time in August 2018, Mr. Kern met with Dr. Noam, in preparation for legal challenges he was intending to make to the ICC.

Between March and August 2019, barristers from 9BRI submitted a total of four briefs to the ICC as Article 15 Communications, which allow any entity to submit remarks for consideration to the Court.

In one of these briefs, the barristers disputed the ICC’s jurisdiction over Palestine, arguing the Court should defer to Israel’s High Court of Justice instead. In another, they challenged the use of fact-finding reports from international bodies, including from the UN, arguing they “can neither be verified nor corroborated”.

The four briefs acknowledged UKLFI’s assistance in their preparation, and the financial support of The Lawfare Project, a US non-profit which calls itself “the world’s only international pro-Israel litigation fund”.

The briefs did not mention the extent of involvement of senior officials from the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice in their drafting, in terms of content, wording, and even length.

Asked to comment on whether this counted as a failure to acknowledge the support of the Israeli officials, Joshua Kern from 9BRI stated: “it is inaccurate and misleading to state that” there was failure.

“There was no such failure, which implies the existence of a professional duty [to acknowledge this support], in circumstances where no such duty existed,” he said.

Shortly after the submission of these briefs, pro-Palestinian international law expert Victor Kattan published his rebuttals to some of the arguments raised by 9BRI’s barristers.

Kattan dismissed the briefs on the matter of jurisdiction, calling them a way to “muddy the waters” and “an attempt to provide legitimacy to the views of the Revisionist Right that came to power in Israel in 1977, and that has never recognized the national rights of the Palestinian people to establish a state of their own in the ‘Land of Israel’.”

The ICC was also not convinced by the arguments presented by 9BRI’s barristers, and confirmed its jurisdiction over crimes committed in Palestine. Thanks to this decision, former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda was able to open an investigation into the matter in March 2021.
Lawfare to continue

Five years later, the same legal justifications were recently used by the Israeli government and pro-Israeli groups, as they attempted to challenge the request for arrest warrants issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant

.

Post by Dr. Gilad Noam on 20 September 2024 on his social media profile, suggesting that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel for its request for arrest warrants against Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Gallant

On 6 August 2024, barristers from 9BRI submitted a brief to the ICC on behalf of the Israel-based International Association of Jewish Lawyers, questioning the rationale for the arrest warrants request.

Among other things, the brief noted that “the State of Israel [is] a democratic State with a robust and well-respected system of criminal law enforcement, including multifaceted legal oversight mechanisms led by its Attorney General”.

A rebuttal for this latest brief was not needed this time.

On 21 November 2024, the ICC rejected Israel’s challenge, and ultimately issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. In its announcement, the Court stated it “found reasonable grounds to believe” that each of them bear criminal responsibility for potential war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine.

UK clarifies role in F-35 component transfers to Israel

British, Israeli & U.S. F-35s.Air

By George Allison
- December 1, 2024

The UK Government has addressed recent parliamentary questions concerning the distribution of F-35 aircraft components and their potential transfer to Israel.

Maria Eagle, Minister of State for Defence, responded to two separate queries regarding the movement of F-35 parts, highlighting the UK’s limited control over and involvement in the global logistics of the programme, which is led by the United States.

When asked about the proportion of UK-exported F-35 components ultimately received by the Israeli Government since October 2023, Maria Eagle stated:

“The global distribution of F-35 components is controlled by the US Government-led F-35 programme. The Government does not have visibility of F-35 components distributed by the programme to each F-35 nation and is unable to provide an estimate.”

This highlights the centralised nature of the F-35 programme, where logistics and distribution are managed by the US Department of Defense.

A separate question raised by Clive Lewis MP sought clarity on whether F-35 parts had been sent from RAF Marham to Israel between October 2023 and August 2024. In her response, Eagle confirmed:

“At the request of the US-led F-35 Programme, there were 14 transfers of F-35 components from RAF Marham to Israel between October 2023 and August 2024. The transferred components are the property of the US Department of Defense.”

Eagle also noted that, following the Government’s September announcement on arms exports, there have been no direct transfers of F-35 parts to Israel via RAF Marham since the licensing suspension.

Global arms sales surge 4% in 2023 amid Ukraine, Gaza wars and Asian tensions

Global arms sales rose 4.2% to $632 billion in 2023, driven by conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, and Asian tensions, SIPRI reported. Russian and Middle Eastern firms saw notable growth after recovering from 2022 supply challenges, as arms makers ramped up production to meet surging demand.


Issued on: 02/12/2024 - 
By: NEWS WIRES

This image released by the US Department of Defense shows a US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons departing Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, on February 11, 2022, for Fetesti Air Base in Romania. The US military said on February 11, 2022, it was repositioning a squadron of F-16 war planes from Germany to Romania, "to strengthen regional security" in the midst of flaring tensions with Russia over Ukraine. Without specifying how many F-16s were being moved, the command of the US Air Force in Europe said the planes would arrive Friday at the Romanian air base of Fetesti, less than 100 km (60 miles) from the Black Sea. © AFP


Sales by major arms makers were boosted last year by wars in Ukraine and Gaza and tensions in Asia, with marked increases for manufacturers based in Russia and the Middle East, a report said Monday.

Sales of arms and military services by the world's 100 largest arms companies totalled $632 billion in 2023, up 4.2 percent, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Revenues had dipped in 2022 as global weapons makers struggled to meet the increase in demand, but many of them managed to increase production last year, the authors of the report noted.

In a sign of this surge in demand, all 100 companies tracked achieved sales in excess of $1 billion last year for the first time.


"There was a marked rise in arms revenues in 2023, and this is likely to continue in 2024," Lorenzo Scarazzato, a researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production, said in a statement.

Sales from the world's top 100 arms companies "still did not fully reflect the scale of demand, and many companies have launched recruitment drives, suggesting they are optimistic about future sales," Scarazzato added.

Smaller producers have been more effective in meeting the demand linked to the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, growing tensions in East Asia and rearmament programmes in other regions, the institute said.

"A lot of them specialise in either a component of something or build systems that require one set of supply chains," allowing them to react more quickly, Nan Tian, Director of SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, told AFP.

Among the leading producers, US companies recorded a 2.5 percent increase in their sales last year and still account for half the world's arms revenues, with 41 US weapons producers in the world's top 100.

Lockheed Martin and RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies), the world's two largest arms makers, on the other hand, reported a fall in revenue of 1.6 percent and 1.3 percent respectively.

Such behemoths "often depend on complex, multi-tiered supply chains, which made them vulnerable to lingering supply chain challenges in 2023," Tian said.
Russia's Rostec surges

In Europe, home to 27 of the top 100, arms makers on average saw an increase of just 0.2 percent.

But European groups manufacturing complex weapons systems were still in the process of honouring old contracts last year, so the revenues do not reflect the influx of orders since then.

"At the same time, a number of other European producers saw their arms revenues grow substantially, driven by demand linked to the war in Ukraine, particularly for ammunition, artillery and air defence and land systems," SIPRI noted.

The figures for Russia, though incomplete, give a clear signal of an economy increasingly geared toward war.

Sales by the two Russian groups in the ranking rose by 40 percent, mainly thanks to a 49 percent increase in sales for state-owned conglomerate Rostec, according to the report.

Manufacturers in the Middle East were buoyed by the war in Ukraine and by the first months of the Israeli offensive in Gaza after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack -- and saw on average an 18 percent lift in sales.

The three Israeli manufacturers in the ranking posted record sales of $13.6 billion, up 15 percent from the year before, while the three groups based in Turkey, such as drone producer Baykar, saw their sales jump by 24 percent -- boosted by Ukraine and Turkey's investments in its defence.

In Asia, the trend toward rearmament was particularly evident in the growth in sales by the four South Korean manufacturers, with revenues rising 39 percent on average, and five Japanese firms that saw an average increase of 35 percent.

The nine Chinese producers meanwhile saw revenue increase by only 0.7 percent "amid a slowing economy," but their sales still totalled $103 billion.

(AFP)

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY

Secrets of Scotland's ancient tombs to be probed in new study

Jody Harrison
Sun 1 December 2024 

1. One of Scotland's Earliest Megalithic Monuments (Image: Gavin MacGregor, Archaeology Scotland)


They are the graves of the ancient people of Scotland, whose mysteries have been lost to the mists of time.

Great stone structures older than stonehenge, which were once the tombs of the first people to tame the land, cultivate crops and build settlements.

Called chambered cairns, or passage tombs, these crumbling relics still dot the landscape today, forgotten markers of a past so distant it is beyond even myth and legend.


But now a new study is to focus on uncovering the secrets of who built these stone structures and exactly when Scotland first began to transition into settled society and away from the hunter-gatherer tribes of man’s genesis.

Key questions will hopefully be answered in the probe, with a focus on dating exactly when they were built by examining the faintest traces left behind by their architects.

Thanks to a large bequest left to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland by the late Audrey Henshall OBE, £50,000 has been awarded to Archaeology Scotland for a new project entitled Scotland’s Earliest Megalithic Monuments.

The remains of the neolithic chambered cairn Cairn Holy II. Near Creetown, Kirkudbrightshire, Scotland. (Image: Scotstarvit) Found across western Scotland, the islands, Ireland and along the coast of Wales, these ancient monuments are similar to sites in north-west France.

Because they appear at the same time as the first evidence of farming in Scotland, experts currently believe that these monuments were built by Scotland’s first farmers somewhere between 6,300 and 5,800 years ago (c. 4300 BC to 3800 BC) at the start of the Neolithic period.

The change from mobile hunting-gathering to a more settled farming way of life was the point in Scotland's history where core elements of our current society began, such as a more sedentary lifestyle and substantial stone architecture.

The project will study sites suspected to be the remains of stone tombs at multiple locations over the next two years, including ones in Argyll and Bute, the Outer Hebrides and the Highlands, with additional activity in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

The structures are arguably the earliest stone-built megalithic monuments in Britain, but few have been scientifically dated to a precise time period.

The Scotland’s Earliest Megalithic Monuments project will carry out small scale excavations at a handful of sites to find material such as the remains of ancient bones or charcoal from burnt plants or nuts.

This will be analysed through radiocarbon dating, in the hope the complex web of chemicals can pinpoint how long ago the structures were made.

Audrey Henshall Image: Society of Antiquaries of ScotlandDr Helen Spencer, Head of Research at the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, said: “This was a hugely important time in Scottish prehistory, which is why it's so crucial that we address the gaps in our knowledge.

“There’s been a lot of debate about the transition from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to farming, including how much was due to migration during the Neolithic period and if any of the changes were driven by local populations who took on and adapted to this new way of life.

“If we can date and sequence the building of these tombs, we can more precisely date when these first farmers (probably from northern France) arrived and therefore the start of farming in Scotland and how fast it spread from the continent.

She added: “These results would help answer what are arguably some of the biggest questions in Scottish archaeological research.”

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Week-long archaeological dig begins at Culloden Battlefield

Local communities will have the opportunity to help uncover this chapter of Scotland’s story by getting involved with surveying and excavating the monuments.

The project also hopes to identify opportunities for enhanced management and interpretation of these internationally important sites going forward, while improving documentation for local communities and people further afield by creating photogrammetric models of the Scottish examples which will be available for free online.

Audrey Henshall was a British archaeologist known for her pioneering work on Scottish chambered cairns. Henshall left the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland a bequest of £100,000 when she passed away in 2021 to fund projects that would develop and undertake impactful research on pre-Roman archaeology in Scotland.

This is the first grant to be awarded from this legacy, and additional awards will be available in future years.

A Community dig (Image: Archaeology Scotland) Dr Simon Gilmour, Director at the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, said: “By leaving a gift in her will, Audrey Henshall made a lasting contribution to the future study of Scotland’s past, and the Society is thrilled to award this first grant to Scotland’s Earliest Megalithic Monuments.

“As their application stated, Archaeology Scotland’s project will honour, ‘through research and public engagement on Early Neolithic megalithic monuments, the legacy of Audrey Henshall and [celebrate] her major contribution to Neolithic archaeology.”

Dr Gavin MacGregor FSAScot, Director at Archaeology Scotland, added: “Archaeology Scotland are exceptionally grateful to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland for supporting the Scotland’s Earliest Megalithic Monuments project through their Audrey Henshall Legacy Fund.

“This grant will allow us to support more communities to learn about and care for Scotland’s monuments, building on our existing Adopt-a-Monument scheme.

“The results of our investigations will enable us to more widely tell stories of those who built them and together celebrate the pioneering work which Audrey championed to advance their study.”

 

When devices can read human emotions without a camera

Changes in skin conductance over time used to tell emotions apart

Tokyo Metropolitan University

 

image: 

 In the team’s experiment, participants were asked to watch videos evoking one of three emotional responses while wearing skin probes. Traces of skin conductance over time were recorded and analyzed to reveal patterns of how people respond to different emotional stimuli.

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Credit: Tokyo Metropolitan University

Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used measurements of skin conductance over time to tell emotions apart. Volunteers were shown videos depicting fearful scenes, family bonding, and humor, while their skin conductance trace was recorded. The team’s analysis showed that traces could be used to make good guesses of which emotions were being felt. Advances like this help break down an over-reliance on facial data, bringing emotionally aware technologies closer to home.

 

A new frontier is being pioneered in consumer electronics: one day, digital devices might be able to offer services depending on your emotional state. While this sounds amazing, this depends on whether devices can correctly tell what people are feeling. The most common methods depend on facial expressions: while these have had some success, such data may not always be available. This has led to researchers looking for different biological signals which could be interpreted to access emotional states, like brain wave measurements or cardiograms.

A team of scientists led by Professor Shogo Okamoto from Tokyo Metropolitan University have been using skin conductance as a doorway to human emotions. When people feel different things, the electrical properties of their skin change drastically due to perspiration, with signals showing up within one to three seconds of the original stimulus. Previous research has already shown that measurements of peak conductance, for example, can be correlated with certain emotions. In their most recent work, the team focused on the dynamics of the response i.e. how quickly the conductance trace following some stimulus reaches a peak, and how it decays back to normal.

In their experiment, volunteers were asked to wear probes on the skin and watch videos which were either scary scenes from horror movies, emotional scenes of family bonding, or funny acts performed by comedians. Importantly, each of the scenes had well-defined points at which a certain emotional stimulus was sought. Analyzing the traces, the team found many interesting and significant trends. For example, they found that the response to fear lasted the longest. This may be a biologically evolved trait, since there are benefits to perceptions of danger lasting longer. Comparing responses to humor and emotional scenes of family bonding, they found responses to family bonding seemed to increase more slowly. The emotions that were evoked were most likely a mixture of sadness and happiness, so it may be that they interfere with each other, leading to a slower change.

Importantly, the team’s statistical analysis revealed that the different numbers extracted from the dynamics of the trace could be used to discriminate the emotional state of an individual. Though they can’t yet tell the emotions apart perfectly, the data could, for example, be used to make statistically significant predictions of whether a subject was experiencing fear or feeling the warmth of a family bond. Combined with other signals, the team believe we are one step closer to devices knowing how we are feeling, with scope for a better understanding of human emotions.

This work was supported in part by an Institutional Research Grant from Tokyo Metropolitan University.

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Journal

IEEE Access

DOI

10.1109/ACCESS.2024.3481241 

Article Title

Differences in Dynamics of Skin Conductance Responses Caused by Videos Evoking Fear, Family Bonding, and Funniness

VUMC and Philips landmark emissions assessment of a radiology department published in premier industry journal

 News Release 1-Dec-2024
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

 

image: 

Diana Carver, PhD, associate professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, and principal investigator of the study.

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Credit: Vanderbilt University Medical Center

A seminal cradle-to-grave analysis of hospital-based radiology services by the Department of Radiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Royal Philips found the energy consumption from imaging equipment accounted for more than 50% of the department’s greenhouse gas emissions and shed light on areas to focus future evidence-based strategies to decarbonize.

 

The life cycle assessment (LCA) results, which have been peer-reviewed and published in Radiology, found diagnostic services generate the equivalent of nearly 1,100 gas-powered cars annually, or an estimated 4.6kt carbon dioxide equivalent.

 

Researchers looked at life cycle data (including material extraction, manufacturing, transportation and service life for products used to provide radiology services) from a 10-year period across a large radiology practice, including diagnostic radiology services used for inpatient, outpatient and emergency department visits within an adult hospital. Data did not include nuclear medicine, interventional radiology or breast imaging services.

 

Radiology services support diagnostics across all specialties. Yet, previous specialty studies examined energy use of imaging equipment, monitors and other health care processes, but not the entire suite of services within a diagnostic radiology department nor its impact across the entire lifecycle – from material extraction to end of life. Climate change, driven primarily by human-induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, poses major risks to human health. Health care contributes 8.5% of GHG emissions in the U.S.

 

“Our study is a crucial stride in understanding the overall environmental impact of radiology. Identifying a range of contributors to radiology’s carbon footprint means we can develop focused strategies to reduce emissions without compromising patient care. Our goal is to enable high-quality health care that aligns with our collective responsibility to advance sustainability,” said Diana Carver, PhD, associate professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, and principal investigator of the study.

 

Carver, John R. Scheel, MD, PhD, professor of Radiology and vice chair of Global Health in the Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, and Reed A. Omary, MD, MS, professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, along with Philips, collaborated with health care sustainability expert Cassandra Thiel, PhD, assistant professor in NYU Langone Health’s Departments of Population Health and Ophthalmology.

 

The diagnostic radiology services accounted for 4.6 kt carbon dioxide equivalent, with MR accounting for the majority of GHG emissions (48%), followed by CT (24%), X-ray and fluoroscopy (12%), general department workstation PACS and data storage (12%) and ultrasound (4%).

 

The LCA helped uncover where the cumulative GHG emissions come from and identified the following top hot spots:

• 54% from energy use of imaging equipment.
• 11% from the production of imaging equipment.
• 11% from the production and use of onsite and remote workstations and data storage.
• 10% from the production and use of linens.
• 8% from the production of disposable supplies.

 

“What stands out to me is the detail to which we can explore, and change, energy usage patterns. For example, a key finding is most of our carbon emissions with CT occurred when we were not imaging patients – during downtime. Now we can work with colleagues to reduce our per-patient waste by imaging more patients in a scheduling block. At the same time, we can collaborate with our industry partners to develop CT software and hardware upgrades to reduce energy use, thus carbon emissions, during downtime,” said Scheel.

 

The team was surprised at the emergence of both digital workstations and data storage as well as linens production and laundering as about 10% of emissions each, which underscores the opportunity for health systems and hospitals to look across their value chains for strategies to increase efficiency, said Scheel.

 

Landmark assessment powered by collaboration

Life cycle assessment methodology dates to the 1960s to study the environmental impact of products from mining or growing and harvesting raw materials to transporting, producing, installing, using and disposing of them. LCAs are used across industry sectors to establish baseline data on carbon emissions and environmental waste and analyze the impact of interventions on carbon footprints.

 

Using this, the gold standard assessment methodology produces a more accurate sustainability picture. An energy calculation of a CT scanner may show how much energy is used during an imaging exam and between patient scans; but the LCA reveals the environmental impact associated with, for example, the production of the scanner, operation use and disposal upon expiration.

 

“We are thrilled to have conducted this landmark study together with Philips. Collaborations that join academia and industry are fundamental to recognizing that climate care is health care. Joint effort works at the speed and scale necessary to mitigate the impact of the changing environment on people’s health and for future generations,” said Omary.

 

“This collaboration illustrates the importance of joining forces to tackle significant challenges such as reducing radiology’s carbon footprint while also reducing the cost of care. We can do both. Further, we've identified critical areas for improvement, including optimizing equipment usage and enhancing patient flow which can also lead to better patient care while we also increase access to that care,” said Jeff DiLullo, Chief Region Leader, Philips North America. “This study underscores the importance of driving innovation in technology to deliver better, more sustainable care. We are also helping providers to adopt other best practices like circularity to extend accessibility of care for more people. Through increased options for upgrades and refurbishment, we help customers maximize the value of their existing systems and sustainably reduce waste, all while lowering the total cost of ownership.”

 

The life cycle inventory used SimaPro 9.3.0.227 (PRé Sustainability) and the EcoInvent v3.8 database,28 one of the most comprehensive LCI databases available. Electricity consumption comes from the case location from the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council (SERC) regional power grid.

 

 

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Journal

Radiology

DOI

10.1148/radiol.240398 

Article Title

Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of a U.S. Hospital-based Radiology Practice

Article Publication Date

26-Nov-2024