Monday, December 30, 2024

Stolen Lives: Inside Russia’s Abduction of Ukrainian Children

Returned Ukrainian children in Truskavets, Ukraine. (Provided by Aksana Filipishyna)

VERONICA NEIFAKH
MEDIALINE
12/29/2024

Nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly taken to Russia or occupied territories since the war began. Experts describe Russia's efforts to erase their identities and Ukraine's struggle to bring them home.

Since the outbreak of the war in 2022, nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territories without the consent of their families, Ukrainian officials say. Independent research, including research by Yale University, suggests a policy of systemic deportation of Ukrainian youth.

The harrowing consequences of that policy became clear in January 2024, when an 18-year-old Ukrainian who had been sent to a foster family in Russia took his own life. Shortly before his death, he sent a voice message to his friends expressing his despair over the relocation.

Ukraine says these actions meet the UN’s definition of genocide and last year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.

Russia denies these allegations. Lvova-Belova has acknowledged that 730,000 Ukrainian children fled Ukraine for Russia since the start of the war but said that most of them came with their families. She said that Russia had taken about 2,000 children from Ukrainian orphanages, but she did not mention other allegations of widespread forced displacement.

Ukrainian human rights advocates who spoke to The Media Line described a harrowing, calculated effort to undermine Ukraine’s future through the use of its youngest and most vulnerable citizens. They noted that the true extent of the abductions likely surpasses the 20,000 figure.

The Fate of Ukraine’s Abducted Children

Olena Kuvaieva, a lawyer with the Strategic Litigation Center of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, traced the roots of the abducted children crisis back to at least 2014, when Ukraine raised the alarm that Russia was abducting Ukrainian children from orphanages.


Olena Kuvaieva. (Courtesy)

By 2015, Russia had launched the “trains of hope” initiative, encouraging Russian citizens to travel to occupied Ukrainian territories and adopt Ukrainian children. “Ukraine raised this issue on the international stage and appealed to the European Court of Human Rights,” Kuvaieva told The Media Line, noting that those actions were carried out under the auspices of Pavel Astakhov, then the presidential envoy for children’s rights in Russia.

Russia’s own public records reveal how the policy of child relocation has taken off since the 2022 invasion. From 2022 to mid-2023, Russian authorities openly published data on government websites detailing the arrival of Ukrainian orphans in over 70 localities across 42 regions. “The geography is vast, from border regions to deep inside Russia,” Kuvaieva said, describing a deliberate dispersion of Ukrainian children across the country.

These boys, displaying pro-Ukrainian sentiments, were to be sent to such institutions in Grozny

She cited a 2023 public event where Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Putin’s envoy Maria Lvova-Belova discussed “reeducation facilities” for Ukrainian teenagers who resisted Russian assimilation. “These boys, displaying pro-Ukrainian sentiments, were to be sent to such institutions in Grozny,” the capital city of Russia’s Chechen Republic, Kuvaieva said.

Kuvaieva noted that Ukraine had tried to clear out its state-run child care institutions on the border regions leading up to the 2022 Russian invasion to prevent children from being kidnapped.

“Most children from state institutions were successfully evacuated,” Kuvaieva said. But an estimated 4,000 children remained in orphanages, foster care, or other guardianships in areas like Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv. As Russia moved in, those regions saw widespread violence, civilian casualties, forced detentions, and abductions.

She pointed to the 2022 siege of Mariupol as another example of how Ukrainian children have been forcibly relocated. Before the siege, Mariupol’s civilian population was over 250,000, one-fifth of whom were children. The city’s infrastructure was almost entirely destroyed by relentless shelling and bombings, leaving 90% of it in ruins.

“When Russian forces entered the devastated city, they brought buses and systematically cleared out neighborhoods,” Kuvaieva said. Civilians were forced out of bomb shelters and basements under the threat of complete annihilation. “People were told they had 30 minutes before the area would be completely cleared—meaning everything that moved would be destroyed. Those seeking survival had no choice but to board the transport, which took them to so-called filtration camps in Russia,” she continued.

In those camps, families with children were held for three to five days under grueling conditions. Adults underwent a rigorous “filtration” process, and suspicions of pro-Ukrainian sentiment often led to devastating separations.

“If parents were found with pro-Ukrainian information on their phones, tattoos, or laptops—or identified as local officials, activists, or human rights defenders—they were immediately detained,” Kuvaieva said. Those parents’ children were separated from them and transferred to orphanages or health camps in Russia.

Kuvaieva said that the figure of 20,000 forcibly relocated children from across Ukraine is likely understated. “In Mariupol alone, where 51,000 children lived before the invasion, we suspect many remain unaccounted for—especially those whose families perished or whose parents were executed or detained by Russian forces,” she said.

Other children were vulnerable to forced relocation after being left with grandparents or other relatives when their parents joined the military or were taken prisoner, Kuvaieva said.

The fate of the abducted children varies—some remain in orphanages, others have been placed with foster families, and a significant number have been adopted within Russia. Research by Yale University and Ukrainian human rights groups confirms the widespread and systematic nature of these transfers.

Kuvaieva said her own research has found that the abductions take a serious mental toll on their victims, with the potential for lasting harm. “Children who spent extended periods in the Russian Federation endured significant psychological manipulation,” she said.

Abducted Ukrainian children are often forcibly humiliated, banned from speaking Ukrainian, and made to participate in singing Russian anthems. Ties to their families are cut off, including by confiscating their phones, and some are even confined to basements.

“Children faced punishment for expressing hope that Ukraine would return or for showing any positive sentiments toward their homeland,” Kuvaieva said. She added that many children reported being told by their captors that Ukraine had forgotten about them and that only Russia could offer them a future.

The harsh conditions left many children, particularly teenagers, vulnerable to suicidal thoughts. “These were children who remembered an independent, democratic Ukraine—where dignity and human rights mattered, where they could speak freely,” Kuvaieva said. She emphasized that the totalitarian environment was hard to tolerate for adults, let alone children.

“It’s no surprise that some were pushed to the brink,” she said.

Fast-Tracked Russian Citizenship for Ukrainian Children

Kuvaieva detailed how Russia systematically altered its citizenship laws since May 2022 in order to facilitate the integration of Ukrainian children. The most recent changes, effective January 4, 2024, allow almost any adult to apply for citizenship on behalf of a child from occupied Ukrainian territories, she said.

“This adult could be a hospital director, a school principal, the head of an orphanage, or even a temporary guardian,” Kuvaieva said. The individual merely needs to state that the child is unaccompanied and has no established connection with relatives.

“Of course, no one attempts to establish such connections or inform Ukraine about the child’s whereabouts,” Kuvaieva noted, adding that the child’s opinion is also not taken into account in the process.


This policy isn’t just about assimilation; it’s a calculated effort to erase Ukrainian identity

After the Ukrainian child is recognized as unaccompanied, Russia replaces the child’s birth certificate and makes the child eligible for adoption. “The system is designed to close the loop and make these children untraceable,” Kuvaieva said. “This policy isn’t just about assimilation; it’s a calculated effort to erase Ukrainian identity.”

Kuvaieva described the policy of child abduction as “another facet of a systematic strategy to strip Ukraine of its future by targeting its children.” “Children represent the future and hope of any nation. By erasing Ukrainian identity among these children, Russia seeks to weaken Ukraine’s future,” she said.

She added that Russia is also hoping to benefit demographically from the introduction of Ukrainian children, who are seen as “intelligent, curious, and industrious.”

The Challenges of Returning Ukraine’s Abducted Children

Ukraine wants to rescue abducted children, but so far, it hasn’t managed to do so in any large-scale way, Kuvaieva said.

“The full procedure envisioned by the Geneva Conventions has not been implemented, and this leaves us with slow progress on bringing these children back home,” she explained.

Under the Geneva Conventions, both Ukraine and Russia are obligated to create national information bureaus to document civilians displaced by war, including children. “Ukraine compiles lists of those we seek to locate and believe were unlawfully taken, while Russia is required to maintain a registry of individuals it has transferred or detained in occupied territories,” Kuvaieva said.

Ukraine’s registry, established in 2022, gathers information from sources including families, law enforcement officers, orphanage directors, and other officials.

According to the Geneva Conventions, both Ukraine and Russia were required to identify at least four trusted states to act as mediators in negotiations about returning displaced civilians. “Ideally, if both sides agreed on a mediator country, intermediary bodies would form under its auspices, potentially involving organizations like the International Red Cross or the UN,” Kuvaieva said. But this process has not been realized.

Instead, the fate of Ukraine’s children rests with various isolated efforts. “What we see are small-scale or individual cases of family reunifications, rather than the systematic return of orphans or children deprived of parental care,” Kuvaieva said.

Most cases of returned children involve families separated during the invasion, such as children who were sent to stay with grandparents in Kherson when their mother was working in Kyiv. “Very few children have been retrieved from deep within Russia—these are not hundreds but merely dozens,” Kuvaieva explained.

Aksana Filipishyna, an analyst with the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, highlighted the involvement of international mediators in facilitating the return of abducted Ukrainian children. “Countries like Qatar, the Vatican, and South Africa have expressed willingness to assist, with Qatar already achieving some success,” she explained. But for now, the efforts of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union have resulted in the return of just 210 children.


Returned Ukrainian children in Truskavets, Ukraine. (Provided by Aksana Filipishyna)

“Children from Mariupol, for example, were first taken to Donetsk and later moved to Moscow suburbs. Parents and guardians began reaching out to us, but retrieving children is extremely difficult,” she said.


Even mothers must gather extensive documentation to prove parental rights. Grandmothers, if the parents are deceased, are often forced to apply for guardianship under Russian law, which is absurd.

In many cases, legal hurdles arise. “Even mothers must gather extensive documentation to prove parental rights. Grandmothers, if the parents are deceased, are often forced to apply for guardianship under Russian law, which is absurd,” Filipishyna added. Getting a child back to Ukraine is even more difficult if a child had no legal guardian in Ukraine or if their documents were confiscated.

Rescuing abducted children is even more challenging when the children have been taken to Russian-occupied territories. “Occupied territories are harder to access due to military equipment and numerous checkpoints,” Filipishyna said, noting that many children fear prolonged interrogations at border crossings.

She emphasized the need for streamlined international mechanisms, as the current system places significant barriers on families trying to reunite. “It’s an incredibly challenging process that leaves many children in legal limbo, unable to return home,” she said.

For the few children who manage to return to Ukraine, vast challenges remain. These children, who sometimes have no parents to return to, undergo a careful reintegration process involving long-term psychological support upon their return to Ukraine.


Returned Ukrainian children in Truskavets, Ukraine. (Provided by Aksana Filipishyna)

Filipishyna recounted the story of one boy who was left stranded at a Russian hospital after his parents were killed during their escape from occupied territory. In another case, a 12-year-old girl was coerced into accepting Russian citizenship and witnessed the rape and murder of a childhood friend by a Russian soldier.

Even those children who don’t experience violence are deeply psychologically affected by the abduction and by having to give up their sense of being Ukrainian. “They return deeply scarred, needing to unlearn the falsehoods forced upon them and rebuild their identities,” Filipishyna said.
Born from necessity: A new Russian self propelled howitzer

December 30, 2024

The Russian army introduced a new self propelled artillery system to the Ukrainian battlefields.


Mystery SPG (Photo: mil.in.ua)

Ukrainian journal Mil.in.ua speculates that it is based on the Uraltranshmash 2S43 Malva wheeled SPG, that is basically a rear mounted 152mm A64 gun from the MSTA-S out in the open.


2S43 Malva


The new system has an independently rotating turret, but still an open turret. The layout is much closer to the Titan-Barrikady A-222 Bereg 130mm coastal artillery SPG, which has also seen combat in the Ukrainian southern front. A-222 Bereg isn’t a viable candidate for further production, as its non-standard caliber limits the available ammunition stocks and isn’t currently being produced in Russia.


A-222 Bereg

Russia is also suffering extremely hard attrition on all of its artillery systems, both from the Ukrainian counter battery fires and simply by barrels wearing out. There is a limited amount of machinery in Russia that is capable of producing a decent quality artillery barrel in the 152mm range. This limits the amount of newly built SPGs like 2S35 Koalitsiya, a replacement for the MSTA-S. MSTA-S is being phased out as its chassis is a T-80 derivative, while the Koalitsiya is based on the much easier to produce T-72/T-90 chassis.


2S35 Koalitsiya-SV

Russia is also losing vast quantities of main battle tanks of all imaginable types. The combination of refurbishing the increasingly worse tanks from the deep storage facilities and the manufacture of new T-72/T-90 tanks puts a lot of strain on both MBT parts and companies capable of working with tank systems like Uraltransmash.

On the other hand Titan-Barrikady, with its wheeled vehicle production, isn't under that heavy burden. From the industrial standpoint, it would make sense that the new SPG is a simplified and army use adapted variation of the A-222 Bereg system, that is being manufactured from available components. The Bryansk Automobile Plant is capable of producing enough base vehicles for the production and by the use of the Giazint-B barrels the new SPG also sidesteps the barrel shortage.

While the new vehicle, being based off of an older towed howitzer, is a downgrade from the more automated MSTA-S, Koalitsiya and even the Malva, it has some improvements over them too.

The new SPG has a longer range than either Malva or MSTA-S. It’s faster to deploy and more flexible to use than the Malva. It also has much better drone protection and thermal signature reduction than any of the precious Russian artillery systems.

This new SPG is the best that Russia can actually produce in meaningful numbers, under the current industrial and battlefield constraints.

Video of the system can be found on Telegram.
Xiplomacy: A glimpse of Xi's global insights through 3 maxims quoted in 2024

(Xinhua)  December 30, 2024

With those maxims, Xi reaffirmed China's commitment that the country welcomes all parties to continue riding the "express train" of its development, grow together with the Chinese economy, and jointly contribute to peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation, and common prosperity.

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Throughout the year of 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended three major diplomatic events hosted in China and made four significant overseas visits, consistently calling for stronger win-win cooperation to build a better world.

Esteemed a masterly communicator, Xi incorporated into his talks, speeches and articles a string of well-known Chinese and foreign maxims, which offer a unique glimpse into his international insights and global vision.


STRATEGIC INDEPENDENCE


"A man of true moral integrity is one who is both friendly but independent, and who does not compromise his principles, and who is independent without any bias or taking sides. How unflinchingly firm he is in his strength!"

In a signed article published prior to his visit to France in May, Xi quoted the saying by ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, which was recorded in "The Doctrine of the Mean," one of the hallowed Four Books of classical Chinese philosophy.

In a conversation with one of his most faithful disciples millenniums ago, Confucius uttered those words to emphasize the importance of independence besides affability, moderation, and other virtues.

Over 2,000 years later, Confucius' teaching was echoed by French writer Romain Rolland, whose observation was also cited in Xi's article: "It is so much easier to allow oneself to be guided than it is to think for oneself. This abdication is the kernel of the mischief."

Quoting both Confucius and Rolland, the Chinese leader stressed that both China and France value independence as two major countries. French President Emmanuel Macron, for his part, has on many occasions also repeated his country's adherence to independence.

As Xi said in the article, now with the two countries standing at a new historical starting point, it is time for them to join hands to push for greater progress in bilateral relations and more benefits for the two nations and the broader world.

TRUE FRIENDS NEVER APART


The 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held in Beijing in September, marked a significant milestone in China-Africa relations.

In his toast at the welcoming banquet of the summit, Xi quoted a Chinese poem written by Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Jiuling: "True friends always feel close to each other, no matter the distance between them."

Reflecting on his heartwarming interactions with African leaders over the years, Xi commended the enduring China-Africa bond. "China-Africa friendship remains robust and is growing stronger through generations, no matter how the world changes," he said.

"The China-Africa community with a shared future is deeply rooted in our traditional friendship. Since the mid-20th century, we have been fighting shoulder to shoulder imperialism, colonialism, and hegemonism, and advancing hand in hand along the path of development, revitalization, and modernization," Xi noted.

The following day, in his keynote speech at the summit's opening ceremony, Xi referred to an African proverb: "A friend is someone you share the path with," highlighting that no country should be left behind on the journey to modernization.

During the summit, China proposed 10 partnership actions to be implemented over the next three years, and forged or elevated strategic partnerships with 30 African countries, underscoring its commitment to further deepening cooperation and friendship with Africa.

TOWARD SHARED PROSPERITY TOGETHER

"A man of virtue, while establishing himself and pursuing success, also works to help others establish themselves and succeed," Xi said at the 31st APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Lima, citing Confucius. Then he continued to quote a similar Latin American adage: "The only way to be profitably national is to be generously universal."

With those maxims, Xi reaffirmed China's commitment that the country welcomes all parties to continue riding the "express train" of its development, grow together with the Chinese economy, and jointly contribute to peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation, and common prosperity.

As he pointed out, the third plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee, held earlier this year, laid out systematic plans to advance Chinese modernization, which will not only boost China's development but provide new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.

Over the past decades since it adopted the policy of reform and opening up, China has made remarkable progress. Now as the world's second-largest economy, it has been actively working with its global partners to boost shared development.

Addressing the conference marking the 70th anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in June, Xi referred to three maxims from different cultures to urge the international community, particularly the Global South, to work together in pursuit of shared prosperity.

Besides the Latin American one he mentioned months later at the APEC meeting, a Chinese saying goes, "The benevolent treat others with love, and the wise share with others benefits," and an Arab proverb teaches, "With unity, the fire grows; without unity, the fire extinguishes."

"In the era of economic globalization," Xi stressed at the event, "what is needed is not gaps of division but bridges of communication, not iron curtains of confrontation but highways of cooperation."

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Zhong Wenxing)
Chinese youth flock to civil service, but slow economy puts ‘iron rice bowl’ jobs at risk
Students attending a job fair in Hefei, in eastern China's Anhui province. 
PHOTO: AFP

UPDATED Dec 30, 2024, 

BEIJING – A record 3.4 million young Chinese flocked to the civil service exam in 2024, lured by the prospect of lifetime job security and perks including subsidised housing as an economic slowdown batters the private sector and youth unemployment remains high.

Applicant numbers, which surged by more than 400,000 from 2023 and have tripled since 2014, reflect the huge demand for stability from disillusioned Gen Z Chinese and the lack of attractive options in the private sector even though local governments are struggling to pay wages due to a fiscal crisis.

Ms Klaire, a master’s student in Beijing, took the notoriously competitive exam in early December, studying for nine hours a day and spending 980 yuan (S$180) on online tutoring.

She cited social prestige and stability as major factors to why she was applying only for government or state-owned enterprise jobs. Ms Klaire has also seen colleagues get laid off during a previous tech internship.

“I only want to pass the exam and not worry about what happens next,” said the 24-year-old, withholding her surname for privacy reasons.

“Despite personally knowing civil servants who haven’t been paid for months, I still applied because I don’t wish to make lots of money.”

If she passes the exam, she will have a further interview as well as political background and physical checks, with the final outcome expected around April.

Layoffs are rare in China’s civil service, earning it the “iron rice bowl” moniker, though individuals can be dismissed for disciplinary violations.

Associate Professor Alfred Wu from the National University of Singapore said: “The current leadership has no intent of reducing the size of public sector workers, who are the backbone of regime stability.”

Most civil service openings have an age limit of 35 and offer subsidised housing and social insurance, a major attraction for graduates disillusioned by the paucity of private sector job opportunities.

Youth unemployment rates, which fell slightly in recent months, remain elevated compared with pre-pandemic figures as China’s economy struggles to recover amid a prolonged property sector crisis and frail consumption.

Many Gen Z Chinese “feel a strong sense of burnout and don’t know what is meaningful” after having their university years defined by the pandemic and China’s economic slowdown, said a Chinese sociology professor on condition of anonymity.

As the present generation of Chinese graduates have not experienced the mass state sector layoffs of the 90s, many have an idealised view of government work, he said, noting an apt summation in a social media meme: “Becoming a civil servant is the endpoint of the universe”.

But rare interviews with ten public sector employees across four Chinese provinces paint a different picture: widespread bonus reductions and pay cuts of up to 30 per cent in 2024 have prompted some to consider resigning, while local government austerity drives have led to sporadic staff cuts.

Some civil servants say they have been unpaid for months. Others survive on as little as 4,000 yuan monthly while supporting families and paying off loans. Many asked for anonymity to avoid retribution.

Despite these obvious woes, high nationwide youth unemployment has fed strong demand for civil service roles, which have surged from 2019’s 14,500 to 39,700 in 2024.

Ms Katherine Lin quit her civil service job in the southern megacity of Shenzhen in July after her 15,000 yuan salary dropped by a quarter, bonuses were scrapped and managers hinted at further downsizing.

“Some departments chose to either cut salaries by 30 per cent or fire people in response to cost-cutting policies,” she said.

At least three Shenzhen district-level bureaux were merged, and nine employees dismissed in 2024, public notices show.

In her housing bureau role, she handled an unprecedented number of migrant worker protests in December 2023, when they normally demand wages before Chinese New Year.

Another civil servant in rural Guangdong province described his salary of 4,000 yuan as “stable poverty” after monthly bonuses of 1,000 yuan stopped in June.

In Shandong, civil servants complained on social media in September about being paid only one month per quarter, part of a policy called “guarantee four (months’ salary), strive for six”.

The State Council and Shenzhen government did not reply to faxed requests for comment.

Downsizing pressure

Beijing has long-faced calls to reform its bloated state sector.

Despite repeated downsizing campaigns, China’s civil service jobs swelled from 6.9 million in 2010 to eight million currently, with at least a further 31 million public employees such as school and hospital workers who have fewer employment protections than civil servants.

Chinese provinces have quietly cut tens of thousands of public sector positions since 2020, mostly through hiring reductions and attrition.

Wage arrears are “systematic and universal across the country, and are impossible to solve substantially in the short term”, said a governance professor at an elite Chinese university on condition of anonymity, adding that this could increase corruption as officials supplement their salaries through tips and bribes, as well as increased administrative fines for citizens.

“The most pressing issue now is social stability,” the professor said. “Therefore, the lesser of two evils will cause the expansion of civil service hiring and the neglect of institutional reform.”

REUTERS


UK

'There aren't enough jobs to go round for everyone'


Sarah-May Buccieri
BBC News
30/12/2024
James Harrison
James Harrison believes the graduate job market is "overly saturated"

Law graduate James Harrison left university with high hopes of landing a role in the sector he trained for.

But reality soon sank in, as James's inbox became littered with no's from legal roles to coffee shop work.

In November seven million people watched James's video on Instagram detailing his rejection from a role as a barista.

"Nine out of 10 people I know didn't enter a role within nine months of graduating," James explained.

During his struggle to find a job, James started posting online with advice and tips about life after university.

"It went a bit crazy," James laughed.

James thought the viral video was slightly controversial and it received a mixed reaction.

"A lot of people said I shouldn't feel entitled to get a job just because I have a degree whilst a lot of other people are said they were in the same position," James said.




The 22-year-old started his law degree at The University of Lincoln in 2020 and graduated in 2023.

"It was extremely hard, I took a year out to focus on applications," he said.

Applying for roles became a daily routine; from applications, tests and video interviews, he became immersed in finding a job.

But he was getting turned down for everything.

'Overly saturated'


James believes the sparkle of degrees has faded a little and they are now "overly saturated".

"Thousands of people are leaving university with great experience and amazing grades.

"There are not enough jobs to go round for everyone."

"I'd gone through three years of a law degree and got experience at law firms," he added.

James Harrison
James hopes to normalise rejection after university

Data from the ONS shows the number of graduates aged 21-30 in highly skilled jobs has fallen from 61.7% in 2022 to 60.4% in 2023.

Stephen Isherwood, joint-CEO at the Institute of Student Employers, said it had always been a challenge to land a graduate job.

Mr Isherwood said many students experienced a "wake-up call" when leaving university as course places often did not correlate to the amount of industry positions.

"The number of applications students are making means there's a lot more competition for jobs," Mr Isherwood explained.

"Most employers do not limit who can apply, which means more students can apply for jobs, which means more students will be rejected," he added.

After a 15-month job search James secured a role as a paralegal at a law firm in Hull.

He still posts on social media, in the hope of helping people who are in his position and feel "lost".

"Social media paints this picture with law where you go to university and you come out with a training contract," he said.

He advises graduates struggling to find roles to "not take rejection personally".

"Take it in your stride."



'Green' ferry emits more CO2 than old diesel ship

Calum Watson
BBC News Scotland
30/12/2024
PA Media
Glen Sannox brings greater car capacity to the Arran route but a bigger carbon footprint


The carbon footprint of a long-delayed new "green" ferry will be far larger than the 31-year-old diesel ship that usually serves the route between the Scottish mainland and the island of Arran.

An emissions analysis by CalMac has calculated MV Glen Sannox will emit 10,391 equivalent tonnes of CO2 a year compared with 7,732 for MV Caledonian Isles.

The dual-fuel ferry has more car capacity but requires larger engines which also emit methane, a greenhouse gas with a far greater global warming effect than CO2.

Ferries procurement agency CMAL, which owns the ship, said the comparison was "inaccurate" as Glen Sannox is a larger vessel.

The size of Glen Sannox is a factor in its carbon footprint, but so too is the liquified natural gas (LNG) fuel which is less climate-friendly than previously claimed.

One expert on transport emissions told BBC News that if the "upstream" carbon cost of importing LNG from Qatar is included in the emissions calculation, it might be better to run the new ship on diesel.

Prof Tristan Smith, from University College London's Energy Institute, said: "In a best case scenario there's a negligible benefit of using LNG, and at worst there would be a deterioration."

Why was Glen Sannox so hard to build?


Were Scotland's new gas-powered ferries a bad choice?


Glen Sannox is the first ferry ever built in the UK capable of running on both LNG and marine gas oil (MGO), a low-sulphur type of diesel.

At its launch in 2017, then first minister Nicola Sturgeon said it would contribute to "Scotland's world-leading climate change goals".

But the LNG technology also added complexity. The Ferguson shipyard had to overcome many engineering and regulatory challenges before the ship was delivered last month, years late and over budget.

The size of the ship also means it cannot berth at the usual mainland harbour at Ardrossan until a major redevelopment takes place.

When it enters service next month, Glen Sannox will bring a significant increase in car capacity. It can carry 127 cars compared to about 90 for Caledonian Isles.

Air pollutants, known as NOx and SOx, will be also reduced, while its power and manoeuvrability should mean fewer weather-related cancellations.

But in terms of greenhouse emissions, the CalMac analysis - seen by BBC News - reveals the benefits of the LNG technology are quite small.




Once methane emissions are factored in, the benefit of running the ship on LNG rather than MGO-only is less than 9%.

And the increased fuel consumption of the heavier ship means its overall carbon footprint is about 35% larger than Caledonian Isles, which is due to return to the Arran route in March following repairs.

Why is the ship's carbon footprint so big?


The carbon emissions have nothing to do with the design and construction of Glen Sannox by the Ferguson shipyard - the yard simply built the ship it was asked for.

Instead they are due to decisions taken by ferries procurement agency CMAL, ferry operator CalMac and Transport Scotland before the contract was put out to tender.

The old ferry, Caledonian Isles, was designed to carry 110 cars, but modern cars are so much wider, it can now only fit about 90.

Christopher Brindle

The former main Arran vessel Caledonian Isles will operate alongside Glen Sannox until the second LNG vessel Glen Rosa comes into service

Glen Sannox was specified to carry 127 modern cars, or 16 HGVs, and to have a higher top speed (although this is not necessary for Arran sailings) resulting in a far heavier ship which requires bigger engines.

When running on LNG, CO2 emissions are up to 25% lower - but this is almost entirely offset by the larger engine size and higher fuel consumption.

A second reason is methane.

The LNG fuel mostly consists of methane, a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential (GWP) 28 times more potent than CO2 over a 100-year time span.

A small proportion of methane always passes through the engines unburnt, and is released up the funnels - something known as "methane slip".

CalMac has calculated that methane slip adds the equivalent of more than 1,800 tonnes of CO2 per year.
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Glen Sannox has a huge cryogenic fuel tank in the centre of the ship which stores the LNG at minus 162C


There is also no local supply of LNG in Scotland, so the gas has to be brought up from a terminal in Kent using diesel road tankers.

This 445-mile road journey adds the equivalent of 140 tonnes of CO2 per year, compared to 19 tonnes for transporting MGO.

Ferries procurement agency CMAL, which owns Glen Sannox and its sister ship Glen Rosa, began proposing LNG as a lower emissions ferry fuel as long ago as 2012.

In a statement it said LNG was considered "the best option" at the time, and was always intended as a "transition fuel".

A CMAL spokesperson added: "Due to the difference in vessel size, propulsion power and expected sailing time, it is inaccurate to draw direct comparisons between the emissions of older vessels and MV Glen Sannox.

"The latter is a much newer vessel which is bigger and more powerful than the former, reflecting increased demand on ferry services."

Ferry operator CalMac said passenger and vehicle numbers on the Arran route had increased significantly over the past 30 years.

"More power is needed for the size of the vessel that can meet that demand, particularly carrying cars, and it should offer greater resilience against adverse weather," a spokesperson said.

"As a first in class vessel, we will learn more and more about MV Glen Sannox and her fuel consumption as we sail her."

Would it be better to run the ship on diesel?


CalMac's emissions analysis, carried out at the start of the year at the request of Scottish ministers, almost certainly underestimates the ship's carbon footprint.

The figures are based on ideal engine running conditions which minimise methane slip - and CalMac acknowledges that in real-life operations, emissions are likely to be higher.

The analysis also does not factor in so-called "blowdown" emissions of methane which occur every time the ship switches from LNG to running on MGO.

Any methane left in the engine crankcase and fuel lines is automatically flushed into the atmosphere - and CalMac has yet to establish how much will be released.

The report also only considers the carbon cost of transporting fuel from the LNG terminal in Kent - no allowance is made for "upstream emissions" involved in extracting the gas in Qatar and transporting it to the UK.


CalMac argues this is reasonable as it has no control over where the fuel is sourced.

But environmentalists and some academics argue that a fuller "well to wake" comparison of fuels would give a more realistic picture of the climate impacts.

"Upstream emissions are really important - especially if you are importing gas from Qatar or the US," said Prof Smith.

"The point of whether the upstream should or shouldn't be included is irrelevant – it's rearranging deck chairs on the deck of the Titanic at a point when we should be going to zero emissions."

How can Scotland's ferries become greener?



It is possible to run Glen Sannox on biogas, which is produced from organic waste such as manure or by-products from the whisky industry.

Since the carbon dioxide released when burning bio-methane originates in the atmosphere rather than underground, it is considered carbon neutral.

However, building such a plant in Scotland would require major capital investment and would also involve facilities for supercooling the gas to turn it into a liquid.

If a biogas facility were to be developed, one option would be to repurpose the Grangemouth oil refinery where hundreds of jobs are currently under threat.

Four more large CalMac ferries under construction in Turkey will have conventional MGO engines with some limited battery power for manoeuvring in harbour.

But they have a deeper draught (the amount of hull below the waterline) and lower cargo requirements - meaning a more fuel-efficient hull shape has been possible.

CMAL says they have also been designed with the possibility of retrofitting them for potential future fuels such as ammonia.

An alternative option would be to consider catamarans, which are far more fuel-efficient than single-hulled ships.

The chartered catamaran Alfred, which can carry 98 cars and cost only £14.5m to build, has been operating successfully on the Arran route for the past 20 months.
Christopher Brindle
Catamarans such as MV Alfred as generally more fuel-efficient than single-hulled ships

Its owner describes it as the most environmentally-friendly large ferry in Scotland because of its low fuel consumption.

CalMac believes advances in battery technology mean about 90% of its routes could potentially be serviced by all-electric ferries, rising to 100% if fast charging were available.

Prof Smith says this is the most climate-friendly option at the present time - although it would require significant upgrades to electricity infrastructure.

"Many other countries are putting battery electric vessels into routes similar to those serviced by these vessels," he said.

"And that's a solution which if charged with renewable electricity would be zero emissions at the point of operation.

"So it's a far more sustainable and viable investment in the long-run, and hopefully we will see more of those in the future."
Keir Starmer hits back after Elon Musk says ‘very few’ businesses willing to invest in UK


Tesla boss and close ally of Donald Trump, who is at the centre of rumours he could donate to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, hits out at prime minister


Kate Devlin
Whitehall Editor
Monday 30 December 2024 
Independent UK

Sir Keir Starmer has hit back at Elon Musk’s claim that “very few” businesses want to invest in Britain under Labour – pointing to billions of pounds worth of money that have come into the UK since he became prime minister.

No 10 also said the government would continue to take an “unashamedly pro-growth and pro-business approach”.

The tycoon and close ally of Donald Trump claimed on his platform X, formerly Twitter, that the “current administration” was responsible for stopping cash coming into the UK.

He was responding to a call from a Scottish politician asking Tesla, his car company, to open a gigafactory in the country.

In response, Downing Street said: “If you look at what’s happened since the election, you’ve seen £63bn of traditional investment” from an investment summit the PM held in October.

Sir Keir’s official spokesperson added: “Business investment in the third quarter this year is estimated to increase 4.5 per cent compared to this time last year. I think you’ve seen reports out today suggesting that the vast majority of UK businesses expect their turnover to increase next year, up on last year.”


They added that “the government is taking an unashamedly pro-growth and pro-business approach.”

Sir Keir had clashed with Mr Musk in August after the billionaire entrepreneur claimed in a post on X that “civil war” was "inevitable" in Britain.

Mr Musk also hit out at the prime minister, calling him #twotierkeir, using the language of a right-wing conspiracy theory, which claims different types of protesters are treated differently by the police.

Nigel Farage met Mr Musk at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion recently, amid rumours the tech billionaire is preparing to donate up to $100m to Reform UK.

The money would be by far the largest donation in British electoral history.

According to The Sunday Times, leading businessmen and Conservative Party officials believe that Mr Musk could hand over the cash as a “f*** you Starmer” payment as part of his feud with the prime minister.

The “first buddy” of Mr Trump even shared a post on X, claiming that Reform UK will win the next general election, captioning his repost with the word “Yes”.

Asked by ITV about the reports of the massive donation, Mr Musk denied he was planning to give $100m, but his response did not rule out another amount.

Asked if he was planning to give the upstart party £80m, Mr Musk – who has been appointed by Mr Trump to lead a new government efficiency commission in the US – replied “No”.

Mr Farage has previously described Mr Musk as “very supportive”.

“He thinks that if Reform do well in the UK, we can bring about the same kind of change that he intends to do with Donald Trump in America,” the party leader said.


Elon Musk takes another swipe at Starmer as he rejects Tesla plant in UK calls

Elon Musk, fresh from voicing his support for a far-right political party in Germany, claimed 'very few companies' will want to invest in the UK amid calls to set up a Tesla gigafactory in Scotland


Elon Musk is at it again 


By Dave Burke
Political Correspondent
DAILY MAIL
 30 Dec 2024


Petty Elon Musk has ruled out a new Tesla plant in the UK with another dig at Keir Starmer.

The billionaire tech boss, who earlier this week threw his weight behind Germany's far-right AfD party, claimed that "very few companies" will want to invest in the UK while Mr Starmer is PM. Musk is set to hold a key role in the Donald Trump administration when the Republican returns to the White House.

Earlier this week Musk penned a piece in German newspaper Welt am Sonntag newspaper voicing his support for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The anti-immigration AfD, which has called for mass deportations, has been classified as a suspected extremism case by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency.

Responding to Musk's latest outburst, a No10 spokesman said the Government has taken an "unashamedly pro-growth and pro-business approach". The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "We look forward to working with President-elect Trump and indeed his team to progress the UK-US special relationship, and particularly the UK-US trade and investment relationship, which supports hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jobs both sides of the Atlantic, and tens of billion pounds of investment and trade."

He added: "I'm not going to kind of get into commentary on individual comments, but if you look at what's happened since the election, you've seen the £63 billion of additional investment from the Investment Summit. You've seen the Government respond to some of the businesses' key concerns in the UK, which is lack of stability, and the Government's brought back that stability, both politically and economically."


Hunger crisis could kill more people in Sudan than civil war violence – charity



Fighting in Sudan has created what the United Nations has described as one of the largest displacement crises in history (David O’Hare/Trocaire/PA)

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, 
PAToday
30/12/2024

A hunger crisis could kill more people in Sudan than bullets from its “vicious” civil war, an Irish humanitarian worker who visited the country has said.

An estimated 30 million people have been affected by malnutrition, displacement and gender-based violence that has ravaged Sudan during the conflict.


The civil war has driven an estimated 14 million people from their homes, around 30% of its population, and created what the United Nations has described as one of the largest displacement crises in history.

David O’Hare, from Irish charity Trocaire, said the scale of the need in the north African nation is the worst he has ever seen and is going “totally under the radar, unfortunately”.


David O’Hare, of Irish charity Trocaire, in Sudan, where he said a hunger crisis could kill more people than bullets from the civil war (David O’Hare/Trocaire/PA)

On a recent trip, he visited an internal displaced persons (IDP) camp in Thobo and was struck by one mother in particular, Madina.

After losing her husband and son, she and her seven children walked for six days to the camp in mid-30C heat, eating leaves and grass for food.



Her youngest boy, Murimabi, was extremely malnourished and was treated at a health centre which she said saved his life.

“I would have guessed he was three – he was nine,” Mr O’Hare, who is based in Belfast, told the PA news agency.

“Severe malnutrition over a prolonged period of time had stunted his growth. The Trocaire staff told me that his health has vastly improved since he arrived, but he still obviously has many medical issues stemming from that malnutrition.”

Sudan was plunged into conflict in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military and paramilitary leaders broke out in the capital of Khartoum and spread to Darfur and other regions.

I've worked in the humanitarian sector for nearly 20 years, and I'm still finding it hard to get my head around the scale of the crisis that I saw first-hand in SudanDavid O'Hare, Trocaire

This has badly affected a nation heavily reliant on agriculture, where people are forced to leave their land and can no longer grow their own food.

Climate change has also led to poor harvests, due to either a lack of rain or land being flooded.

Famine has been declared in five areas across the country, with a further five areas due to enter famine conditions in the coming months.


“Around 14 million people, 30% of the inhabitants of Sudan, have been forced to flee their homes,” Mr O’Hare said.

“So, to put that in context, that’s twice the population of the entire island of Ireland.

“I’ve worked in the humanitarian sector for nearly 20 years, and I’m still finding it hard to get my head around the scale of the crisis that I saw first-hand in Sudan.

“There’s roughly 48 to 50 million inhabitants, so half the population – 25 million people – are at risk of acute malnutrition. It’s absolutely horrendous.”



David Trocaire said he thought a nine-year-old boy called Murimabi whom he met in a camp in Sudan was around three years old (David O’Hare/Trocaire/PA)

Trocaire runs 15 rural health centres and 11 nutrition outreach sites in the country to help tackle hunger and health issues.

The Amdulu Health Centre was originally set up to help 12,000 people, but that number has doubled since an IDP camp opened nearby.

Mr O’Hare said head of clinic Elizabeth Philip Kori described malnutrition as “a major problem”, particularly for women and children.

In the state where the Nuba Mountains are located, South Kordofan, a million displaced people have arrived and added to its population of two million people in an already poor area.

The scale of the need is totally outstripping available resources, which is one of the reasons why our Christmas appeal is for children in conflict, including kids in Sudan
David O'Hare, Trocaire

Juma Idris Kuku, the regional director of the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association, told Mr O’Hare that in this region it is not the fighting that kills people, it is a lack of food.

“The conflict has been the driver, but that’s not what is the biggest risk to people at the moment,” he said.

Asked what it is about the crisis that makes it the worst he has seen, Mr O’Hare said: “It’s the scale that is just so vast.

“It’s when I see kids that are very obviously malnourished, they’ve got the little swollen bellies, their heads are very big. You can see obvious stunting in their growth.

“On a human level, that’s what gets me the most. It’s women and children who always seem to be the most vulnerable in these situations.”

He added: “The scale of the need is totally outstripping available resources, which is one of the reasons why our Christmas appeal is for children in conflict, including kids in Sudan.”



Mothers and children wait at a clinic in Sudan (David O’Hare/Trocaire/PA)

But he said the actions of a group of farmers in the Nuba mountains, who shared food with new arrivals to the region, had given him hope.

“They didn’t have a safety net for themselves in terms of food, and yet they still … shared what little they had with those people who were even worse off than them, who’d had to flee with nothing,” he said.

“That mutual support for someone, a stranger, but that you know they’re in a worse position than you are, and those farmers did share what little they had. That gives me hope.”
UK

State schools to receive £1.7bn from scrapping of private school VAT break


94% of children in state schools

Charlie Herbert



‘Every single penny of that money will go into our state schools’

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has promised state schools will receive “every penny” raised by scrapping the VAT break on private school fees.

From January 1, private schools will no longer be exempt from charging 20 per cent VAT on their fees.

The move to scrap the VAT break is expected to raise £1.5bn in 2025, whilst the Treasury predicts it will raise an extra £1.7bn a year by 2029-30.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has vowed to funnel “every single penny” raised from the policy into state schools, to ensure “every child gets the best start in life,” ITV reports.

She said: “I recognise a lot of parents work hard to be able to send their children to private schools but all parents are aspirational for their children, including the 94% of children in our state schools.”

Reeves added: “Every single penny of that money will go into our state schools to ensure every child gets the best start in life, and that is so often through being able to recruit and retain the best teachers.”

Labour has already announced an increase in the core schools budget worth £2.3bn next year.

Writing in the Mirror, the chancellor said this would “help us hire 6,500 new teachers, drive up standards and improve the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities System so that every child is given the backing to achieve and thrive.”

Critics of the scrapping of the VAT break on independent school fees have argued it will lead to more pressure on the state sector as parents who can’t afford the higher fees send their children to state schools instead.

However, Reeves said she did not expect to see an exodus of pupils moving out of independent schools into the state system.

She said: “In the last 25 years, private school fees have gone up by 75%, and yet the numbers at private schools have remained static.

“So that’s why the Office of Budget Responsibility and the Institute of Fiscal Studies think the number of children changing schools is likely to be quite low.”

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives would reverse the move if they returned to power, labelling the policy a “tax on aspiration.”

“Taxing education is wrong, it is against our principles, so yes that is the sort of thing that I can very easily say we would not do that,” she said.
After fleeing Syria, Assad's wife eyes native London for medical procedures

Asma Al-Assad has previously survived breast cancer but is now seeking treatment for leukaemia.

JERUSALEM POST
DECEMBER 30, 2024 
A view of a picture of Asma, wife of Syria's Bashar al-Assad at one of the rooms in Presidential Palace known as Qasr al-Shaab "People's Palace", after rebels seized the capital and ousted Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria December 10, 2024.(photo credit: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters)


After the expiration of her British passport, London-born Asma Al-Assad is unable to travel to the UK for cancer treatment, a Sunday report by The Sunday Times revealed.

Assad, 49, who also holds Syrian nationality, moved to Syria in 2000 and married former Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad in the same year at the age of 25.

In May 2024, the Syrian presidency announced that she had been diagnosed with leukaemia.

Asma has previously battled cancer, having recovered from breast cancer in August 2019.

The British newspaper reported that “it is unclear if ministers have proactively blocked attempts by Asma to renew her British passport when it ran out in September 2020, or whether she had allowed it to lapse.”

Due to the expiration of the British passport, the UK government reportedly can avoid considering whether to strip Assad of her citizenship. 

Syria Asma Assad and Bashar Assad vote (credit: REUTERS)

Asma Al-Assad's life-changing few months

Assad is reportedly critically ill with leukaemia, and the Telegraph previously reported that she was given a “50/50” chance of survival.

According to the report, Assad has been kept isolated and away from others in order to prevent infections or contracting other illnesses.

Sources in contact with the Assad family told the Telegraph that Asma's father, Fawaz Akhras, has been caring for his daughter in Moscow and is "heartbroken" by her condition.

After being ousted from Syria by HTS rebels, forcing her and her husband to flee to Russia, she reportedly filed for divorce from her husband, according to Turkish and Arab media reports. The decision to file came after reported dissatisfaction with her life in Moscow.
The inspiring female engineer breathing new life into Yemen’s ancient capital


30 December 2024

Harbia Al-Himiary has a special connection to Sana’a, whose war-damaged buildings she is helping to restore, as part of a UNESCO-supported initiative.


"There is a common language between me and the buildings. In every house I try to preserve. I feel that the city is grateful to me, and I am grateful to the city because it has taught me a lot”, says Yemeni engineer Harbia Al-Himiary, describing her relationship with the Yemeni capital.

Ms. Al-Himiary has been striving since childhood to achieve her dream of preserving the heritage of Sana'a, and ensuring “the continuity of our history, one of the greatest civilizations."

As a project officer in the Cultural Heritage Unit of the Historic Cities Authority in Old Sana'a, she is currently working on a UN-backed project to restore dozens of historic buildings in Sana'a and across Yemen.

UNESCO/Yemen
Harbiya al-Hamiry, a Yemeni heritage engineer who embarked on a mission to revive Yemen’s historical buildings.
‘There is no difference between a male and female engineer’

"There is no difference between a man or a woman when it comes to preserving this historic city,” she insists, stressing the respect between all members of the team, as well as the residents of the neighbourhoods in which they work. "It is true that we face challenges and difficulties but, by working as a team, we go beyond it. Now there are a number of female engineers in the project, proving every day that they are competitive in this field, all contributing to the preservation of this jewel."

On every project that she has worked on, Ms. Al-Himiary has tried to find opportunities for women and girls. “For example, when I was based in the old town of Zabid, we trained a number of girls in traditional building crafts, such as woodwork, wood decorations, stucco decorations, and carpentry. The more opportunities for training we opened up, the more we found an equal turnout of boys and girls. In some trades, girls outnumbered the boys."

UNESCO/Yemen
Harbiya al-Hamiry, a Yemeni heritage engineer walking around Old Sana'a.

When she asked one of the girls why she was training in traditional carpentry, she told Ms. Al-Humairi that, by restoring the wooden decorations in her home, she was both exercising her rights as one of the owners of the house, and preserving her, and her family’s, privacy.

"My advice to any girl is to choose the field she likes, because as long as she loves that field, she will definitely succeed in it,” declares the engineer. “With patience, diligence and perseverance, you will surely succeed in achieving the ambition you desire."

UNESCO
Heritage conservation engineer Harbia Al Himiary (middle),

UNESCO and Yemen’s heritage
The project on which Ms. Al-Himiary is working is part of an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural OrganizationOpens in new window (UNESCO).
It is funded by the European Union and implemented in cooperation with the Social Fund for Development in Yemen.
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The inspiring female engineer breathing new life into Yemen’s ancient capital