THE LAST  CITY STATE 

Triad tour shines light on Singapore's gangland past

PRIMITIVE ACCUMULATION OF CAPITAL

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 
Now known for its clockwork orderliness and having one of the world's lowest crime rates, Singapore was once a gritty port plagued by rival mobsters Roslan RAHMAN AFP
4 min
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Singapore (AFP)

A reformed gang member points out what were once opium dens and brothels on a tour of Singapore's financial district that explores the squeaky-clean Asian business hub's seedy criminal past.

Now known for its clockwork orderliness and having one of the world's lowest crime rates, the city-state was once a gritty port plagued by rival mobsters.

"This was the headquarters of the biggest gang in Singapore," says tour guide Bruce Mathieu, gesturing at a quiet street now housing restaurants, a hair salon and brightly-coloured murals.


He recalled wandering the area as a child during the 1970s, among street food vendors pushing carts, gambling halls, and the distinctive smell of opium wafting down to the street from illicit upper-floor dens.

Singapore's gangland history traces its roots to so-called "secret societies" formed by Chinese immigrants when they flocked to work in Singapore after it became a key British trading post in the 1800s.

The massive influx from China swelled the city's population, and their descendants now form the bulk of its citizens.#photo1

The groups played an important role by providing the army of newcomers with a social network, help finding jobs -- and protection.

"When secret societies, or triads, first started locally in the 1800s, it was more for survival than anything else," said Mathieu, a Singaporean whose mother is from the city-state but whose father is of French descent.

Chinese immigrants had to join secret societies to avoid "getting bullied, getting robbed, getting killed", he added.

The societies were a "prominent feature of life" for the Chinese immigrants, but they also became associated with human trafficking, prostitution, kidnappings, the opium trade, and waves of violent riots, said Jean Abshire, author of "The History of Singapore".

Despite their description, they were far from secret and drew huge followings -- at the end of 1889 they had around 68,000 members, according to a history published by the National Heritage Board.

- Life of crime -

In the following decades, crackdowns and new laws -- including one that in 1958 gave authorities the power to detain suspected criminals without trial -- cleaned up the city and diminished the gangs' influence.

Since Singapore's independence in 1965, it has undergone a dramatic transformation into a wealthy society and leading financial hub.

Remnants of the gangs live on and criminal cases are still regularly linked to them -- but nowhere near the scale of the past.#photo2

Besides sharing historical tidbits, Mathieu candidly recounts his life of crime and drug addiction in the hope it will keep others from making the same mistakes.

The ex-gang member has spent about 20 years in prison for drug possession, robbery, assault, stabbing, theft and forgery.

Corporal punishment is still used to punish some offences in Singapore, and Mathieu also endured 21 strokes of the cane for his crimes.

- 'Machete on my neck' -

Members of the tour gasped as the 51-year-old recalled his first gang fight at the age of 12 -- after his friend was stabbed, he ran over to try to stop the bleeding with his t-shirt.

He shied away from specifics about his former gang's activities, but vividly described his initiation ritual to the group.

"I'm kneeling down, there's a guy with a machete on my neck. At any point in time, if I get nervous and recite (a loyalty oath) wrongly... I kid you not, the machete would be brought down."

During his last stint in prison, which ended five years ago, the pain of being separated from his young daughter motivated him to quit drugs and leave his gang.

He now works as a motivational speaker and helps lead the popular "Triad Trails" tour to fight stereotypes about ex-offenders, an initiative partly organised by a non-profit group supporting former inmates.

"My favourite thing is actually the conversation with Bruce," said Gabriel Neo, a 31-year-old banker on the tour.

"How he managed to pick himself up from the lowest point of his life... is a very valuable lesson that I can learn from."

© 2021 AFP

Xi says no more 'bullying' China at celebration for centenary of Communist Party

FROM WAR COMMUNISM TO STALINISM THEN STATE CAPITALISM

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 04:27

Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen on a giant screen as he delivers a speech at the event marking the 100th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China, on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China July 1, 2021. © REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

President Xi Jinping hailed China's "irreversible" course from humiliated colony to great power at the centenary celebrations for the Chinese Communist Party on Thursday, in a speech reaching deep into history to remind patriots at home and rivals abroad of his nation's -- and his own -- ascendancy.

Speaking above the giant portrait of Mao Zedong, which dominates Tiananmen Square, from the podium where the famous chairman proclaimed the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xi said the "era of China being bullied is gone forever" praising the party for uplifting incomes and restoring national pride.

Drawing a line from the subjugation of the Opium Wars to the struggle to establish a socialist revolution in China, Xi said the party has brought about "national rejuvenation" lifting tens of millions from poverty and "altered the landscape of world development."

Xi, wearing a 'Mao-style' jacket, added the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical course" and vowed to continue to build a "world-class" military to defend national interests.

In the summer of 1921 Mao and a clutch of Marxist-Leninist thinkers in Shanghai founded the party which has since morphed into one of the world's most powerful political organisations.

It now counts around 95 million members, garnered over a century of war, famine and turmoil, and more recently a surge to superpower status butting up against western rivals, led by the US.

In a ceremony of pomp and patriotism, thousands of singers, backed by a marching band, belted out stirring choruses including "We Are the Heirs of Communism" and "Without the Communist Party there would be no New China" as maskless invitees cheered and waved flags in a packed Tiananmen Square.

A fly-by of helicopters in formation spelling '100' -- a giant hammer and sickle flag trailing -- and a 100-gun salute followed, while young communists in unison pledged allegiance to the party.

Power, popularity and purges

Xi, whose speech braided the economic miracle of China with the longevity of the party, has cemented his eight-year rule through a personality cult, ending term limits and declining to anoint a successor.

He has purged rivals and crushed dissent -- from Uyghur Muslims and online critics to pro-democracy protests on Hong Kong's streets.

The party has pivoted to new challenges; using tech to renew its appeal for younger generations -- 12.55 million members are now aged 30 or younger -- while giving a communist finish to a consumer economy decorated by billionaire entrepreneurs.

On Beijing's streets, praise for the party was effusive from those willing to speak to foreign media.

"We should thank the party and the motherland," said Li Luhao, 19, a student at Beihang University performing in the celebration.

A man surnamed Wang, 42, said: "When I was a child there was a blackout for one hour every night and electricity shortages."

"Now the streets are full of light. Food, clothes, education, traffic are all better."

Xi has presented a defiant face to overseas rivals led by the US, revving up nationalist sentiment, batting back criticism of his government's actions in Hong Kong, towards Taiwan and the treatment of the Uyghurs.

"The Chinese people will never allow any foreign forces to bully, oppress, or enslave us," Xi said in his speech to great applause.

"Whoever wants to do so will face bloodshed in front of a Great Wall of steel built by more than 1.4 billion Chinese people."

Party time?

In its 100th year, the party has delivered a selective version of history through films, 'Red' tourism campaigns and books, which dance over the mass violence of the Cultural Revolution, famines and the Tiananmen Square student crackdown.

Instead, it has driven attention to China's rebound from Covid-19, which first emerged in the central city of Wuhan, but has been virtually extinguished inside the country.

But reminders linger of the risks to stability.

Thursday also marks the 24th anniversary of the handover of former British colony Hong Kong to China, a date once met with mass demonstrations against Beijing.

One year ago, China imposed a draconian national security law on the city in response to huge -- often violent -- protests.

The measure has seen more than 64 activists charged, anti-China slogans criminalised and even the closure of a critical newspaper as the law sinks the once freewheeling city into what Amnesty International calls a "human rights emergency".

Police have denied requests for demonstrations in the city, although several pro-democracy groups have vowed to defy a 10,000-strong police presence on the streets.

"The CCP can go to hell," a Hong Konger who gave his name only as Ken told AFP.

"Anything that's worthwhile, they destroy."

(AFP)

Doves and fighter jets: China's Communists mark their centenary

Issued on: 01/07/2021 -

In China's immense Tiananmen Square, tens of thousands of handpicked spectators cheered, sang, and waved flags WANG Zhao AFP

Beijing (AFP)

As a red flag bearing the sickle and hammer cut through the early-morning Beijing sky, the message was clear: as it marks its centenary, the Communist Party is determined that only it will continue to rule China.

In the capital's immense Tiananmen Square, tens of thousands of handpicked spectators cheered, sang, and waved flags.

To mark the 100th anniversary ceremony of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the crowd was bussed in throughout the night to pass through rigorous security and health checks.


Organisers were leaving nothing to chance to disrupt a triumphant show of success for the ruling party, beefing up security across the city and carefully coordinating the neatly choreographed crowd.

"I didn't sleep last night," said 19-year-old Li Luhao, a university student taking part in the celebrations, explaining he had been preparing throughout the night.

"I'm also rather excited... after all, participating in such an activity is an honour."

After the flag procession, helicopters formed the number "100" in the sky, followed by fighter planes and an acrobatic patrol that left a multicoloured trail in the skies over the Chinese capital.#photo1

The event was a chance for the CCP to display its achievements since its founding in secret in July 1921 in Shanghai -- skipping over the tens of millions of victims of the regime, including the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in the same square three decades earlier.

There was no military parade -- often expected in China on grand occasions -- but there was a flag-raising ceremony, a 100-gun salute, and promises to build the country's army into a world-class military force.

As Chinese President Xi Jinping took to the podium, he pledged China will never again allow itself to be oppressed by other nations.

Instead he reiterated that the strength of the party was needed for the "great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" -- including the reunification with Taiwan, the self-ruled island which China sees as part of its own territory, and "stability" in the southern financial hub of Hong Kong.

"No one should underestimate the Chinese people's determination, firm will, and strong ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Xi said.#photo2

The crowd, oblivious to the first spots of drizzle, took to their feet to clap and roar approval, under Chairman Mao's portrait.

Flanked by high-ranking officials, Xi was dressed in the same grey 'Mao suit' as the country's first leader, and name-checked a number of other Communist leaders.

"Long live the great, glorious and righteous Communist Party of China! Long live the great, glorious and heroic Chinese people!" he said as he wrapped up the speech, before the band played socialist anthem "The Internationale" and 100,000 white doves were released into the sky.

A 25-year-old Party member, who refused to say his name, told AFP he was thrilled to have been part of the ceremony.

"It's a great honour for me to live in such an era," he said.

'Gone to hell': The battle to save Europe's oldest lake

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 

Lake Ohrid formed more than 1.3 million years ago and is home to dozens of unique species Robert ATANASOVSKI AFP

Ohrid (Republic of North Macedonia) (AFP)

Dimitar Pendoski marches to the end of a rickety walkway, skips around sunbathing youngsters and sweeps back a tarpaulin protecting his empty lakeside restaurant, recently closed by officials under pressure from UNESCO.

North Macedonia's government is scrambling to enforce environmental protection rules and shut down places like Pendoski's self-built restaurant, to save Lake Ohrid from being placed on the UN culture agency's list of endangered world heritage sites.

"This way, everybody loses -- the employees, the local economy, and of course the tourists because they have no place to go on the beach," Pendoski tells AFP, a point hotly contested by environmentalists.

Thanks to its unique animal and plant life, prehistoric ruins and Byzantine churches, Lake Ohrid and its surroundings have enjoyed four decades as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Only a few dozen places around the world have won the status for both their nature and their culture, a source of prestige for Lake Ohrid -- and a major bonus in marketing the area to tourists.

But the UN body has said the Ohrid region will be put on the "in danger" list during a high-level meeting later in July because of concerns over uncontrolled urbanisation and pollution.

Unless North Macedonia can perform diplomatic miracles, the lake will be cited along with such marvels as Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

Ohrid city mayor Konstantin Georgieski is at the centre of a tangle of local and national government bodies tasked with addressing the problems.

His mission is complicated by the international dimension -- part of the lake is in Albania, and their officials are also taking part in discussions with UNESCO.

But Georgieski is not panicking.

"It is not going to mean the end of the world," he says of the UNESCO's decision, pointing out that the heritage status does not bring any funding.

"After 30 years of negligence, it's normal that they (UNESCO) are losing patience."

- 'Cancer of the lake' -

UNESCO first added the Macedonian side of the lake to its world heritage list in 1979, expanding the entry to include the Albanian side only in 2019.

During the time of Yugoslavia, Ohrid was a sleepy settlement known mostly for its hospitals and as a training post for sports teams.

After Macedonia's secession and Yugoslavia's chaotic disintegration in the 1990s, however, tourist developments began expanding along the lakeshore.#photo1

Esplanades, five-storey hotels, restaurants and bars have sprung up -- and with them came apartment blocks amounting to a satellite of the old town.

Entrepreneurs exploited legal loopholes to build on protected land, often without even connecting to the sewerage system.

UNESCO estimates one third of buildings in the wider Ohrid region pump waste directly into the lake.

"Everything has gone to hell," says Nikola Paskali, an archaeologist who has spent two decades diving on the lake.

Sometimes he searches for Bronze Age relics but sometimes he hunts out junk -- TVs, toilets and even a full-size bathtub are among the items he has pulled from the deep.

"Litter is the cancer of the lake," he says, accusing the government of doing little to protect biodiversity in a lake that formed more than 1.3 million years ago and is home to dozens of unique species.

UNESCO has highlighted problems from illegal buildings, logging and fish farms, to river diversions and haphazard road construction.#photo2

Much of this is underpinned by the region's desire to become a centre for tourism.

"If we started now, it would take years and years to repair the damage we have done," says Katarina Vasileska from grassroots environmental group SOS Ohrid.

- 'This is not Ibiza' -

But cleaning up the lake comes with risks.

Mayor Georgieski recently ordered the destruction of several structures built over the lake that served as makeshift nightclubs and restaurants.

"It's difficult to destroy someone's property in a small town like ours," he says. "I'm a personal enemy of these people now."

But he reflects that business owners need to change their mindset, adding: "This is not Ibiza."

Georgieski envisages a town that welcomes sustainable levels of tourists attracted by culture and nature rather than partying.

But UNESCO said in its most recent report that restoration work had damaged the "authenticity" of some churches, and that the unique wood-beamed buildings of the old town were at risk from uncontrolled development.#photo3

Restaurateur Pendoski does not disagree with UNESCO or the mayor, but he claims he was closed down despite having received all the necessary permits.

"We all share the goal of having more guests while protecting the lake and nature, but there has to be some local economic development," he says.

Environmentalists argue, however, that pitting economic development against ecological concerns is a false debate.

"We have to keep the lake clean because otherwise we will lose everything, we will lose tourism," says diver Paskali.

Activist Vasileska also points out that receiving permits is not a green light for pollution.

"You may employ 30 people," she says, "but you pollute the lake for 50,000."

© 2021 AFP

Afghans who worked for France get a chance at asylum – and spark an exodus



Issued on: 30/06/2021 

Armed men at a gathering to announce their support for Afghan security forces and the anti-Taliban fight on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, June 23, 2021.

 © REUTERS
Text by: Bahar MAKOOI


Anxiety is mounting in Afghanistan ahead of the September 11, 2021, withdrawal of US troops and as a fresh Taliban offensive makes sweeping territorial gains. A French foreign ministry initiative to grant asylum to Afghans who worked for French governmental and non-governmental organisations has sparked an exodus – as well as criticisms for sending the wrong signal at a critical time.

The French NGO Afrane was founded shortly after the 1979 Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and, for more than 40 years, the organisation has worked on the ground, providing Afghans access to education.

But today, officials and volunteers at Afrane (Amitié franco-afghane, or Franco-Afghan friendship) are anxious about their operations in Afghanistan.

"The situation in Afghanistan has become extremely worrying," said the NGO's vice-president, Étienne Gille. "The departure of Afrane’s Afghan staff is imminent."

In a matter of a few weeks, the NGO lost almost all of its 23 Afghan employees, who are about to leave the country under a French foreign ministry operation that enables Afghans who have worked for France and their families to obtain asylum.


The vast operation, launched in early May, concerns around 600 Afghans. Afrane’s employees and their families account for around 80 of the overall figure.

Just months before President Joe Biden’s September 11 deadline for a US troop pullout, the Taliban have intensified their offensives on the ground.

The Islamist movement is now present in almost every province and is encircling several major cities in what looks like a repeat of their 1990s takeover and the establishment of a draconian Islamist regime. More than 50 of the country’s 370 districts have fallen into Taliban hands since Biden announced the withdrawal of US troops in May, according to the UN.

The Taliban’s recent blistering assault on the strategic northern city of Kunduz and the fall of districts surrounding the city, effectively laying siege to the provincial capital, has underscored Afghanistan’s grave security concerns.

“Most districts that have been taken surround provincial capitals, suggesting that the Taliban are positioning themselves to try and take these capitals once foreign forces are fully withdrawn,” UN special envoy for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons told the Security Council last week.

Operations shut, European allies displeased

The Taliban’s lightning offensive is causing anguish among Afghans who have worked with French NGOs on projects across the country. The foreign ministry’s offer for Afghans who have worked for France to obtain asylum has sparked an exodus.

If the project is completed by mid-July, only French staff will remain at the embassy in Kabul and its satellites across the country will be virtually closed as they will not be able to function, according to a report in the French daily Le Monde.

While the operation displays France’s commitment to Afghans who have worked on French governmental and non-governmental projects, it also risks being perceived by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government as a sign that Paris has concluded the government in Kabul will not be able to face the pressure of the Taliban and that the Islamists' eventual victory is certain, noted Le Monde.

Some of France’s European partners have also expressed their embarrassment over a decision they consider “precipitous and uncoordinated”, Le Monde noted. The German embassy in Kabul, for instance, considers itself bound by cooperation agreements that France has also signed. Berlin intends to continue its activities on the ground, a German diplomat who declined to be named told the newspaper, noting, "We do not cooperate with a regime, but with a country.”

‘Unilateral decision’ contrary to ‘Afghanistan’s interests’

The French initiative has also drawn criticism from NGOs on the ground.

In early June, an umbrella group of French NGOs, COFA (Collective of French NGOs in Afghanistan) – of which Afrane is a member – wrote a letter to French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian denouncing a “unilateral decision that is contrary to Afghanistan’s interests”.

Gille is among the NGO officials who believe the massive exodus of Afghans who have worked with the French plays into the Taliban’s narrative and amounts to abandoning the country.

Afrane has built a substantial network of Afghan teachers since the 2001 US-led mission in Afghanistan, supporting 48 schools with 96,000 students spread over four provinces. A number of maths, science and local language teachers were enrolled in a teachers’ training programme, and the mass exodus jeopardises the organisation’s activities.

"This is an unprecedented situation for us, which reveals the population’s anguish. We understand that our employees want to take advantage of this opportunity, presented by France as a 'now or never' offer," explained Gille.

But he also mourned the country’s loss of skilled human capital: "Afghanistan will lose peaceful and open-minded people. At the moment, the most educated are looking to leave, the intellectual core of the country is being drained and this risks impoverishing Afghanistan."

Despite these setbacks, Afrane plans to stay in Afghanistan and to recruit and train new teachers in order to resume its educational activities with Afghan students as soon as possible.

"We are determined to continue our projects as long as the situation allows it, because it is our very essence, as humanitarians, to act when conditions are difficult – and I would even say especially when conditions are difficult," Gille insisted.

‘Expect a very difficult period’

The Taliban’s resurgence risks plunging Afghanistan into a brutal civil war, one which criminal gangs and Islamic State (IS) group affiliates could exploit to kidnap foreigners.

At Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the situation on the ground is "reassessed on a daily basis, as it has been for the past 40 years of our presence in Afghanistan", said a press officer.

The NGO has paid a heavy human price for its Afghan operations in recent years. In 2015, a US air strike hit an MSF hospital in Kunduz, killing 42 people including 14 staffers. Last year, an attack on an MSF maternity hospital in Kabul’s Shiite-dominated Dasht-e-Barchi district killed at least 16 patients. Following the attack, MSF withdrew from Dasht-e-Barchi, the NGO's last operation in the Afghan capital.

"These tragic events show that MSF's presence in Afghanistan as a humanitarian medical actor with the population cannot be taken for granted,” noted Emmanuel Tronc, who led MSF missions in Afghanistan from 1997 to 2016.

"With the departure of the Americans, we must expect a very difficult period."

The recent fighting in Kunduz province has forced MSF to reduce its team in the provincial capital. "After the 2015 bombing, the hospital is being rebuilt in Kunduz, a whole part of it has already been opened for patients,” explained Sarah Chateau, MSF’s Afghanistan programme manager.

But about 20 expatriate staff and their Afghan colleagues have been "placed in hibernation" due to the security situation. "We were surprised by the intensity of the bombing in Kunduz. We are in the process of setting up a team specialised in emergencies, with a surgeon and an anesthetist,” said Chateau.

MSF is currently preparing for emergency care response scenarios, readying its medical teams to treat the wounded.

Meanwhile, the number of Afghans fleeing their country is increasing, particularly towards the Iranian border, according to Chateau. "Our MSF colleagues in Iran have been summoned by the Iranian authorities, who have noted the arrival of 12,000 to 20,000 Afghans in a few weeks in Iran. They are expecting an influx and are talking about 50,000 to 150,000 migrants who could arrive soon."

This article has been translated from the original in French.

THE LIZARD KING
50 years after his death, Paris remembers Jim Morrison


Issued on: 01/07/2021
Jim Morrison's grave is notoriously difficult to find, a deliberate decision of the family who feared a deluge of fans Philippe LOPEZ AFP/File

Paris (AFP)

He occupies a small, tucked-away corner of a Paris cemetery, but many thousands still seek it out: half a century since his death, Jim Morrison remains a fabled presence in the City of Light.

The death of The Doors' frontman on July 3, 1971 was one of the key signs that the optimism of the 1960s was coming to a grim end.

Today, the Lizard King lies in the Pere-Lachaise cemetery at the eastern end of the city.


Even with Google Maps, it can be tricky to find -- a deliberate decision of the family who rightly feared a deluge of fans.

"It's a cemetery that he particularly loved. He often came walking here," says rock critic and Doors aficionado Sophie Rosemont.

"He would have wanted to be buried next to Oscar Wilde," she said, referring to the other famous tenant of the cemetery, but the spot would have been too prominent.

The grave's seclusion has not prevented millions from paying their respects over the decades -- the photo of another rock legend, Patti Smith, posing here is itself iconic.

Its headstone is protected by barriers that will no doubt be under threat again this week.

- 'Didn't die here' -

Morrison's last home was an apartment on the third floor of 17 rue Beautreillis in the bohemian district of the Marais.

It was owned by model Elizabeth "Zozo" Lariviere, and Morrison moved there with his girlfriend Pamela Courson, hoping to escape the madness of his fame in the United States and dedicate himself to writing.

He would survive just three months in Paris.

The official version is that he died in his bath tub of cardiac arrest, aged 27.

But on the facade of his old building, someone has left a note: "Jim Morrison didn't die here" -- a sign that another story has long been making the rounds.

Journalist Sam Bernett has investigated the case over the years, and argues that the rock legend overdosed in the toilets of a nightclub, the Rock'n'Roll Circus, that he helped run.

"His face was grey, his eyes closed, there was blood under his nose and a white foam around his slightly open mouth and in his beard, he was not breathing," Bernett writes in "The End: Jim Morrison".

Singer and sixties icon Marianne Faithfull backed that story in an interview with Mojo magazine, saying the fatal dose came from dealer-to-the-stars Jean de Breteuil, whom she was dating at the time.

- 'Friends of Jim' -

The club at 57 rue de Seine -- long gone -- "was a fairly crazy place", says Rosemont.

"It was frequented by intellectuals, hippies, little thugs, big thugs, bourgeois folks, stars like Mick Jagger...."

As she is speaking at the site to AFP, an American introduces himself.

Pete has been coming here regularly since 1991 around the anniversary of Morrison's death, holding meetings with other "friends of Jim in cafes around Pere-Lachaise".

Other stops on the pilgrimage might include Place des Vosges and the book kiosks that line the Seine where Morrison liked to wander, trying to stay as anonymous as possible.

And also the famous English-language bookshop Shakespeare and Company.

"It's a place that Morrison very quickly became attached to. He didn't speak very good French, even if he loved Rimbaud, Beaudelaire, Mallarme a lot," says Rosemont.

This brought him regularly into the Left Bank, near the home of his friend, the film-maker Agnes Varda, and Cafe La Palette where he liked to drink, and where a few glasses will no doubt be raised to his name on Saturday.

© 2021 AFP

DISASTER CAPITALI$M

Dead Children found beneath collapsed Florida building as death toll rises

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 

Rescue personnel continue the search and rescue operation for survivors at the site of a partially collapsed residential building in Surfside, near Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. June 30, 2021. © REUTERS/Marco Bello

Six more bodies have been found in the shattered ruins of a collapsed Miami-area condominium tower in the past 24 hours, the mayor of Miami-Dade County said on Wednesday, bringing the confirmed death toll to 18 nearly a week after the building fell.

Nobody has been pulled alive from the mounds of pulverised concrete, splintered lumber and twisted metal since the early hours of the disaster in the oceanfront town of Surfside, adjacent to Miami Beach.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told a news conference 147 people remained missing and feared trapped in the ruins of the Champlain Towers South condo. She said two of the 18 confirmed fatalities were children, aged 10 and 4.

"The loss of children is too great to bear," Levine Cava said. "Our community, our nation and the world all are mourning with these families who have lost loved ones."

Officials have said they still harbour hope of finding survivors. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said in an interview he had promised families that rescue crews were "not leaving anyone behind" as teams dig deeper into the rubble.

"We've not gotten to the bottom. We don't know what's down there," he said. "We're not going to guess. We're not going to make a life-or-death decision to arbitrarily stop searching for people who may be alive in that rubble."

He said every day the mound of wreckage is visibly shrinking, indicating progress.

Two teams of dogs were helping to scour the pile - one trained to sniff out survivors, the other to detect cadavers.

Investigators have not concluded what caused nearly half of the 40-year-old high-rise to crumple into a heap as residents slept in the early hours of last Thursday.

But in 2018, the engineering firm Morabito Consultants prepared a report ahead of a building safety recertification process, finding structural deficiencies in the 12-floor, 136-unit complex that are now the focus of inquiries.

As recently as April, the condo association's president warned residents in a letter that severe concrete damage identified by the engineer around the base of the building had since grown "significantly worse."

On Wednesday, the relatives of a missing resident, Harold Rosenberg, filed a lawsuit in Florida's 11th Circuit Court against the Champlain Towers South Condominium Association Inc; Morabito Consultants Inc; and SD Architects P.A., a firm the lawsuit says was retained by the association to repair the building.

The lawsuit says the defendants "ignored obvious and shocking warning signs and indications that a catastrophe was imminent" and sought unspecified damages to be paid to the estate of Rosenberg, presumed dead, for negligence.

"Given the location of his residence, Harold Rosenberg is likely located at the very bottom of the mountain of rubble that search-and-rescue personnel have only begun to chip away at," the lawsuit said. "Hope is dwindling by the day."

The architect's firm could not be immediately reached for comment.

Brett Marcy, a spokesman for Morabito, said in a statement that the firm's 2018 report "offered detailed findings and recommendations regarding extensive and necessary structural repairs for the condo building."

Both Marcy and Maria Stagliano, a spokesperson for the condo association, said in separate statements that they could not comment on claims made in pending litigation but were working with investigators to understand why the building collapsed.

(REUTERS)

Murder of the Dead by Amadeo Bordiga 1951

Haitian journalist, activist killed in suspected revenge attacks in Haiti

Issued on: 01/07/2021 -

Haitians demonstrate on December 10, 2020, in Port-au-Prince, on the occasion of International Human Rights Day, demanding their right to life in the face of an upsurge in kidnappings perpetrated by gangs. © AFP - Valerie Baeriswyl

At least 15 people, including a journalist and an opposition activist, were killed in Haiti in overnight violence suspected to be revenge attacks after the death of a police officer, officials said Wednesday.

Photographs of reporter Diego Charles lying dead on the ground and of political activist Antoinette Duclair dead in her car circulated on Haitian social media.

"In reaction to the assassination of Guerby Geffrard (the police officer killed), his allies concocted this morning's shootings which resulted in the death of 15 peaceful citizens," national police chief Leon Charles told a press conference.

Charles said an investigation into the violence in the capital Port-au-Prince had been opened "to trace all the perpetrators and co-perpetrators of the crimes committed."

Geffrard, spokesperson for a police union that is in open conflict with the police force, was shot hours before the shooting spree in the same city district.

Charles' statements sparked criticism from journalists and civil rights organisations, who doubt their truth.

"To come out and simply say, 'We know the double murder of Diego Charles and Antoinette Duclair came from this union,' we think that is acting with great haste and above all great casualness," said Marie Rosy August Ducena of the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights, a non-governmental organisation.

Locals angered by the violence protested by dumping flaming tires in the road.

The brother of a famous Haitian singer was also among the victims of the shooting.

Prime Minister Claude Joseph's office released a statement expressing his condolences.

"These horrible crimes and these reprehensible actions cannot go unpunished in a democratic society," Joseph said.

Worsening violence

Violence has been sharply on the rise in Haiti this year, with gun fights between rival groups prompting many residents of poor districts of the city to flee their homes.

"We are in a situation where human rights are being denied and life is being trivialised... We cannot continue to count bodies every day," said Ducena.

Journalists also expressed their concerns about the deaths.

"We are dismayed by this murder, which lengthens the list of journalists killed in the past three years," said Jacques Desrosiers, head of the Haitian Journalists Association.

"As they always do, judicial authorities will announce investigations that lead nowhere," said Desrosiers. "We are used to that."

In 2000, Haiti's most prominent journalist, Jean Dominique, was murdered in a case that remains unsolved to this day.

"There was no justice for Jean Dominique, as there will be none for Diego. We are left to fend for ourselves," said Assad Volcy, director of Gazette Haiti, an online news outlet for which Charles worked.

More recently, photojournalist Vladjimir Legagneur went to the now gang-plagued Martissant neighborhood of the capital on a reporting assignment in 2018 and was never heard from again.

Police have still not published the results of DNA tests performed on a body found a few days after Legagneur vanished.

Probes into the killing of two journalists in 2019 also yielded nothing.

Thousands of residents of Martissant have become refugees in their own city, living in sports centers or temporary accommodation in private homes because of the gang violence.

Undermined by insecurity and political instability, Haiti is struggling to emerge from a string of seemingly never-ending crises, which of late have resulted in a surge in kidnappings and gang violence.

(AFP)

Sudan protesters call for government to resign over harsh economic reforms

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 

Sudanese march during a demonstration in the capital Khartoum urging the government to step down on June 30, 2021. © Ashraf Shazly, AFP

Hundreds of Sudanese protesters took to the streets of major cities on Wednesday to demand the government's resignation over IMF-backed economic reforms seen as too harsh, AFP correspondents said.

"We want the fall of the regime" and "No to (IMF) policies", shouted demonstrators who massed outside the presidential palace in Khartoum.

The protests erupted a day after the International Monetary Fund approved a $2.5 billion loan and debt relief deal that will see Sudan's external debt reduced by some $50 billion.

Public discontent has mounted over the reforms that slashed subsidies on petrol and diesel, more than doubling their price.

The dozens who had gathered in Khartoum burned tyres and brandished banners that read "Bread for the poor", before they were dispersed by police who fired tear gas, an AFP correspondent reported.

In a statement later Wednesday, Sudan's interior ministry said 52 police officers were wounded in clashes with protesters in several parts of Khartoum.

Security forces also used tear gas against demonstrators who attempted to join the protests from Omdurman, the capital's twin city across the Nile.

'Blood for blood'

In Kassala, in Sudan's east, dozens of protesters demanded justice for people killed in demonstrations that toppled autocratic president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.

"Blood for blood, we will not accept compensation," some of them chanted.

Sudan has been led by a transitional civilian-military administration since August 2019.

The government has vowed to fix the country's economy, battered by decades of mismanagement, internal conflict and international sanctions under Bashir.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok praised Sudan's people for their "patience" and "endurance".

"We are on the right track," the premier said in a televised speech after the IMF announcement of the debt relief deal.

Ahead of the protests, Sudanese authorities said they arrested 79 people suspected of links to Bashir's regime for allegedly planning violence.

Wednesday's demonstrations coincide with the anniversary of an Islamist-backed military coup which brought Bashir to power more than 30 years ago.

(AFP)

ALMO DENIES RAMPANT FEMICIDE
Abused Mexican women face hard battle for justice

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 

Marisela Oliva has bruises on her arms and uses a walking frame because of abuse by her ex-partner CLAUDIO CRUZ AFP


Tlalnepantla de Baz (Mexico) (AFP)

Battered and bruised from the last beating by her ex-partner, Marisela Oliva waits alone outside a court in the Mexican capital for a hearing to decide if he will walk free.

Her only aim is to see justice served -- no easy feat in a country where 94 percent of crimes against women go unpunished, according to a government commission set up to tackle the problem.

"If the authorities release him, where will I go to protect myself? Where am I going to hide if I'm facing death threats?" said the 58-year-old, who uses a walking frame due to her injuries.

Her case is just one of thousands like it in Mexico, which has been facing a scourge of gender violence.

The government reported 423 femicides between January and May of this year, an increase of 7.1 percent from the same period of 2020, when 967 cases were recorded for the whole year.

Even getting to court was a struggle for Oliva.

Police in the central State of Mexico treated her case as a lovers' tiff and did not bother to take a full statement, she said.

It was only with the help of an activist she contacted that the wheels of justice slowly began to grind into motion.

"What's the justice system waiting for? That he kills me?" she said.

The hearing resulted in the man being kept in preventive custody.

- 'They doubt our word' -

Daniela Sanchez, a 37-year-old government worker, is seeking justice for the years of physical and psychological abuse that she said her ex-partner inflicted on her.

She feels that she is facing a wall of impunity.#photo1

"From the first moment we approach the authorities, they doubt our word and the marks on our bodies," Sanchez said.

Mexico lacks an institutional framework capable of "responding to a phenomenon as complex" as violence against women, said Fatima Gamboa, co-director of the civil organization Equis Justicia.

In most cases judicial authorities fail to identify possible situations or behavior that put women at risk, or to issue the necessary protection orders, the group's analysis suggests.

"Justice is not administered with a gender perspective," Gamboa said.

The government has launched several initiatives aimed at preventing violence against women.

They include legal centers that officials say have advised 100,000 people this year, as well as shelters for women at risk.

In Mexico City, all murders of women are initially investigated as femicides.

- 'Exhausting' -

A 34-year-old woman, who gave her name only as Gris, said the legal struggle against her ex-partner had drained all her energy.

When he was drunk he broke into the small kitchen that she had set up with other women to escape unemployment and violence.

He is accused of beating them and destroying furniture, but the response of the authorities has disappointed Gris.

The police took 45 minutes to arrive, the attacker is still free and the case was classified as domestic violence, she said.

"It's sad, exhausting. You don't eat," Gris said.

Even when violence is fatal, it can be hard for relatives to get justice.

Monica Borrego's daughter Yang Kyung Jun died aged 21 in 2014 -- killed, she believes, at the hands of a man already facing accusations of attempted femicide.

The case was initially closed as a suicide even though the body bore signs of violence.

The family had to fight to have the case reopened, resulting in the suspect recently going on trial.#photo2

She remembers one official who dismissed her as a "hysterical mother."

Two years after the death, Margarita Alanis lost her 31-year-old daughter Campira Camorlinga, a mother of two.

The two women believe the same man was behind both killings and tried to make them look like suicides.

"Campira wouldn't have been killed if he had been arrested after what he did to Yang," said Alanis, who believes the Mexican judiciary does not take femicides seriously.

© 2021 AFP

Turkey formally withdraws from treaty to prevent violence against women

Issued on: 01/07/2021

Activists during a protest against Turkey's withdrawal from an international accord designed to protect women, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 19, 2021. © Umit Bektas, Reuters


Turkey officially withdrew on Thursday from an international treaty to prevent violence against women, enacting a decision that drew condemnation from many Turks and Western allies when President Tayyip Erdogan announced it in March.

Thousands were set to protest across Turkey, where a court appeal to halt the withdrawal was rejected this week.

"We will continue our struggle," Canan Gullu, president of the Federation of Turkish Women's Associations, said on Wednesday. "Turkey is shooting itself in the foot with this decision."

She said that since March, women and other vulnerable groups had been more reluctant to ask for help and less likely to receive it, with COVID-19 fuelled economic difficulties causing a dramatic increase in violence against them.

The Istanbul Convention, negotiated in Turkey's biggest city and signed in 2011, committed its signatories to prevent and prosecute domestic violence and promote equality.

Ankara's withdrawal triggered condemnation from both the United States and the European Union, and critics say it puts Turkey even further out of step with the bloc that it applied to join in 1987.

Femicide has surged in Turkey, with one monitoring group logging roughly one per day in the last five years.

More stringent implementation needed

Proponents of the convention and related legislation say more stringent implementation is needed.

But many conservatives in Turkey and in Erdogan's Islamist-rooted AK Party say the pact undermines the family structures that protect society.

Some also see the Convention as promoting homosexuality through its principle of non-discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation.

"Our country's withdrawal from the convention will not lead to any legal or practical shortcoming in the prevention of violence against women," Erdogan's office said in a statement to the administrative court on Tuesday.

This month, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic sent a letter to Turkey's interior and justice ministers expressing concern about a rise in homophobic narratives by some officials, some of which targeted the convention.

"All the measures provided for by the Istanbul Convention reinforce family foundations and links by preventing and combating the main cause of destruction of families, that is, violence," she said.

(REUTERS)

Women face period poverty as Lebanon's economic crisis deepens

Issued on: 01/07/2021 - 

A Lebanese woman inspects prices of female sanitary pads at a shop in the capital Beirut on June 23, 2021. © Jospeh Eid, AFP


With prices soaring in crisis-hit Lebanon, Sherine can no longer afford sanitary pads. So instead each month, she is forced to make her own using baby nappies or even rags.

"With all the price hikes and the frustration of not being able to manage, I'd rather stop having my period altogether," the 28-year-old told AFP, tears rolling down her cheeks.

The price of menstrual pads, the vast majority of which are imported, has risen by almost 500 percent since the start of a financial crisis the World Bank has dubbed likely one of the world's worst since the 1850s.

Packs of sanitary towels now cost between 13,000 and 35,000 Lebanese pounds -- between $8.60 and $23 at the official exchange rate -- up from just 3,000 pounds ($2) before the economic crisis.

With more than half the population living in poverty, tens of thousands of women are now on a desperate hunt for affordable alternatives.

Sherine initially turned to cheap sanitary pads that she said caused skin irritation, but even those have become too costly.

"Right now, I'm using towels and pieces of cloth," she said.

"At first, I felt defeated," the young mother told AFP, her hair tied up in a bun.

"But I chose to put my daughter first. I would rather buy her milk. As for me, I can make do."

But that has often meant repurposing some of the diapers a charity shop has given her for her toddler, cutting each in half to create two separate pads.

She said the process has been one of trial and error.

In the beginning, "I was always having to check if (blood) had leaked and stained my pants," she said.

Newspaper, toilet paper

The Lebanese pound has lost more than 90 percent of its value against the dollar on the black market since the autumn of 2019, and Lebanese earning salaries in the local currency have seen their buying power plummet.

The government has subsidised essential goods including medicine, fuel and flour to ease the blow, but has come under fire for failing to include pads on its list.

In the absence of state support, the Dawrati (My Period) initiative was launched last year to address rising period poverty in Lebanon.

The group distributes free menstrual products to women in need, including some who were once members of the fast-vanishing middle class.

"Middle-class women also need them -- like a bank employee whose salary in Lebanese pounds is no longer enough to get by," said co-founder Line Masri.

According to Dawrati, half of women suffering from period poverty are using newspaper, toilet paper or old rags instead of pads, while two-thirds of adolescent girls have no means of purchasing sanitary products.

Yet the association is struggling to keep up.

"We aren't able to meet demand... because donations have declined significantly," Masri said.

At a Beirut charity store initially set up to distribute free clothes to the needy, employee Izdihar said a growing number of women were struggling to manage their periods.

Izdihar said she even sometimes had to resort to giving baby diapers from the store to her three daughters, aged 12 to 14.

Her youngest, who started menstruating this year, was having trouble adapting.

"She's stopped leaving the house when she has her period," Izdihar said.

Syria 'all over again'

Activists are seeking to produce viable alternatives to disposable pads.

In the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, international NGO Days For Girls and local partner WingWoman Lebanon are training refugee women to stitch reusable sanitary pads out of colourful cloth.

Each includes a protective shield and absorbent liner, and can be washed and reused for up to three years.

The project already distributes them to Lebanon's most vulnerable communities, including in Syrian refugee camps.

Rima Ali, a Syrian mother of six, was among dozens learning to make the pads.

The 45-year-old, who fled the war in Syria nine years ago, said she used to buy only the cheapest pads for herself and her three daughters, but they had become prohibitively expensive.

With her family running through around six packets a month, reusable pads seemed like a much better option.

"Back in Syria, there were some rough days when we couldn't even afford to buy bread," she said. "We used to cut up material to use" instead of sanitary pads.

"I never thought we would have to relive it all over again."

Prototype flying car travels between Slovakian cities


June 30 (UPI) -- A Slovakian company took its prototype flying car for a test flight between two cities, spending a total 35 minutes in the air.

Klein Vision announced its AirCar Prototype 1 spent 35 minutes flying between the cities of Nita and Bratislava on Monday, marking the first successful intercity flight for the company.

The company said the AirCar reached a maximum cruising speed of 118 mph and the trip was about half as long as a typical drive between the two cities.

"AirCar is no longer just a proof of concept," Klein Vision co-founder Anton Zajac said in a news release. "It has turned science fiction into a reality."

The AirCar, which contains a 160 horsepower BMW engine, is designed to convert into a sports car in a button-operated process that takes about 3 minutes to complete.

The company said it is now working on the AirCar Prototype 2, which will feature a 300 horsepower engine and is expected to cruise at up to 186 mph with a range of 621 miles.

Detergent maker helps NASA explore space laundry

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir exercises in space in 2020, where doing laundry currently is impossible. Photo courtesy of NASA

ORLANDO, Fla., June 25 (UPI) -- A detergent maker and NASA are teaming up to research how astronauts could do laundry in space, especially on Deep Space missions, using minimal energy and water.

Procter & Gamble has signed a pact with NASA, known as a Space Act Agreement. Under the pact, NASA seeks laundry solutions in space, while the detergent, Tide, gains publicity and furthers product development. Both parties pay their own costs.

NASA wants to avoid shipping hundreds of pounds of clothing to astronauts, who wear them for a few days before discarding. The space agency eventually disposes of the worn clothing in a cargo spacecraft that burns up in the atmosphere, researcher Mark Sivik said in an interview.

"We can't continue to send out large quantities of garments, so we're researching ways to clean clothes more effectively," said Sivik, a staff scientist for Ohio-based Procter & Gamble. "NASA is asking, 'Are there ways to actually do laundry in space?'"

The company has taken on the project to gain knowledge and experience by testing potential new products in microgravity, Sivik said. Many firms pay NASA thousands of dollars to conduct such research in space.



Lack of gravity in space means water, clothes and soap don't behave the same as on Earth.

Since shipping water to the orbiting laboratory is expensive, water is recycled and conserved as a precious commodity, Sivik said. That would become nearly impossible on a long trip to Mars, which at a minimum is 34 million miles away.
Astronauts are required to exercise nearly two hours per day to offset the effects of microgravity on their muscles and bones, during which time their clothing gets sweaty, Sivik said.

The project will send to the space station in December a detergent that contains enzymes to break down dirt in clothes naturally -- to see how it behaves after six months in microgravity. Then, in May, a spacecraft will carry spot stain removal pens and wipes to determine their effectiveness in space.

At some point, the space agency hopes to test a washing machine in space, Sivik said.

"We've done a lot of development on the use of cold water and minimal water usage, and we're looking at using a machine that combines the washer and dryer in one unit," he said.

A laundry solution that uses less water in space could have benefits on Earth, as well, Mike Ewert, a NASA life support and thermal systems analyst, said in an email.

"Using less water in space is important for recycling reasons, and using less water on Earth is important as more areas become water stressed in the future," due to population growth and climate change, Ewert said.

Laundry machines for the surface of the moon or Mars may require only minimal alteration, while such machines may have to be drastically altered to function properly in microgravity, he said.

"A washer and dryer may be added to missions when the benefits, such as throwing away less clothing, outweigh the resources needed to clean them," Ewert said.

The crew of SpaceX's Dragon capsule Endeavour, seen in black shirts, boarded the International Space Station on April 24 boosting the population of the orbiting laboratory to 11 for the first time in years. Photo courtesy of NASA

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Robinhood to pay $70M for 'misleading' customers, systems outages

FINRA said Robinhood changed the way stocks are traded, but failed to play by the rules. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

June 30 (UPI) -- The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on Wednesday fined trading app Robinhood $57 million and ordered it to pay $12.6 million in restitution for "misleading" customers and systems outages last year.

The watchdog said Robinhood also approved trade options for customers even when it was "not appropriate" to do so.

"This action sends a clear message -- all FINRA member firms, regardless of their size or business model, must comply with the rules that govern the brokerage industry, rules which are designed to protect investors and the integrity of our markets," said Jessica Hopper, executive vice president and head of FINRA's Department of Enforcement.

"Compliance with these rules is not optional and cannot be sacrificed for the sake of innovation or a willingness to 'break things' and fix them later. The fine imposed in this matter, the highest ever levied by FINRA, reflects the scope and seriousness of Robinhood's violations, including FINRA's finding that Robinhood communicated false and misleading information to millions of its customers."

The Menlo Park, Calif.-based trading app was created in 2013 with an apparent mission to upend the status quo among U.S. trading companies. It began offering commission-free trades on its mobile app in 2015, forcing other companies to drop fees to compete.

The FINRA announcement noted outages on the Robinhood app between January 2018 and February 2021, most notably in March 2020.

"Robinhood's inability to accept or execute customer orders during these outages resulted in individual customers losing tens of thousands of dollars, and FINRA is requiring that the firm pay more than $5 million in restitution to affected customers," FINRA said.

The FINRA fines are unrelated to Robinhood's shuttering of trades earlier this year during the so-called meme stock trading involving GameStop shares.

Robinhood posted to its website Wednesday that it's made changes -- including adding more customer support and offering better information -- to its app and process.

"Our customers are at the forefront of every decision we make and we're committed to making continuous improvements so that investing can be accessible to all," the company said.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Juul agrees to pay $40M to settle accusations its ads targeted teens


As part of the settlement, Juul can only sell its products over-the-counter in North Carolina stores and must use third-party age verification systems for online sales. Photo by sarahjohnson1/Pixabay


June 28 (UPI) -- E-cigarette manufacturer Juul Labs has agreed to pay $40 million to the state of North Carolina to help mitigate vaping by underage users, according to a settlement announced Monday.

The settlement ends years of accusations by state officials that Juul, through its marketing practices, helped fuel a substantial increase in vaping among teenagers.

As part of the settlement, Juul can only sell its products over-the-counter in North Carolina stores and must use third-party age verification systems for online sales.

Also, Juul will no longer sell sweet or fruit-flavored vape pods in North Carolina -- and must send teen "mystery shoppers" to 1,000 stores each year to see if products are being sold to minors.

RELATED 'Ice' flavored e-cigarettes may increase nicotine dependence risk in vapers


"For years Juul targeted young people, including teens, with highly addictive e-cigarettes," North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said in a statement.

As part of the deal, Juul does not admit to any wrongdoing.

"We seek to continue to earn trust through action," the company said in a statement.

RELATED Study: Youth vaping down, but 1 in 5 U.S. teens still using e-cigarettes

"This settlement is another step in that direction."

The settlement to North Carolina will be paid out over six years and go toward combating youth vaping.

"We support the [state's] desire to deploy funds to generate appropriate science to support North Carolina's public health interventions to reduce underage use," Juul added.

RELATED Investigation discredits studies suggesting lower COVID-19 risk for smokers

Dozens of prosecutors have investigated Juul and its marketing practices in recent years. The Federal Trade Commission is also suing Juul after Altria, the largest U.S. tobacco company, for withdrawing its e-cigarette Mark Ten from the market in exchange for part of Juul profits.

Thirteen states, including California and New York, have filed similar suits against Juul. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce in the coming months whether Juul vaping products are a danger to public health.

Amnesty: National Security Law turning Hong Kong into 'human rights wasteland'



Hong Kong enacted the Beijing-backed National Security Law on June 30, 2020, after protests erupted in the city in 2019. File Photo by Stephen Shaver/UPI | License Photo

June 30 (UPI) -- Hong Kong's National Security Law overrides existing protections in the city against civil rights violations and has led to more than 100 arrests since it was enacted a year ago, according to Amnesty International.

"In one year, the National Security Law has put Hong Kong on a rapid path to becoming a police state and created a human rights emergency for the people living there," said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific regional director.

"From politics to culture, education to media, the law has infected every part of Hong Kong society and fomented a climate of fear that forces residents to think twice about what they say, what they tweet and how they live their lives," Mishra said.

"Ultimately, this sweeping and repressive legislation threatens to make the city a human rights wasteland increasingly resembling mainland China."

Amnesty also said the law casts a long shadow over Hong Kong's existing laws designed to safeguard civil rights.

"There is clear evidence indicating that the so-called human rights safeguards set out in the NSL are effectively useless, while the protections existing in regular Hong Kong law are also trumped by it," the group said.

Hong Kong authorities have arrested hundreds of protesters since the law went into effect. Among those arrested 118 people have been detained for security law violations, according to Amnesty International.

Press freedoms came under attack this month when local authorities ordered the shutdown of newspaper Apple Daily and the arrests of its editor and top executives.

China's foreign ministry condemned the Amnesty International report Wednesday.

Chinese spokesman Wang Wenbin said the human rights watchdog had engaged in "malicious, deliberate smears and distortion of facts."

Hong Kong society has been "brought back to the right track" because of the law, Wang said.

The security law punishes activities considered "terrorism" and "collusion with foreign forces." Advocating for Hong Kong's independence can lead to life imprisonment.

China free of malaria for the first time since 1940s


The World Health Organization declared Wednesday that China is malaria-free after a 70-year effort of targeted action against the disease that reportedly affected 30 million in the 1940s. File Photo by Anawat Sudchanham/Shutterstock


June 30 (UPI) -- The World Health Organization declared Wednesday that China is malaria-free after a 70-year effort of targeted action against the disease that reportedly affected 30 million Chinese residents in the 1940s.

It's the first country in the WHO Western Pacific Region to receive the award in over three decades. Forty countries and territories globally have been granted malaria-free certification from the WHO.

"China's tireless effort to achieve this important milestone demonstrates how strong political commitment and strengthening national health systems can result in eliminating a disease that once was a major public health problem," Dr. Takeshi Kasai, regional director of the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, said in a press release. "China's achievement takes us one step closer towards the vision of a malaria-free Western Pacific Region."

China started targeting the disease in the 1950s by providing antimalarial medicines for those at risk and treatment for those who contracted it. China also reduced mosquito breeding grounds and increased its use of insecticide spraying in homes.

The "523 Project" was launched in 1967, beginning research into new treatments for malaria. Over 500 scientist across 60 institutions were part of the project. In the 1970s, China discovered one of the most effect antimalarial drugs -- artemisinin.

China extensively tested insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria in the 1980s. By 1988, more than 2.4 million nets were distributed nationwide, leading to substantial reductions in malaria.

Two years later, cases plummeted to 117,000 and deaths were reduced by 95%. Within another 10 years, the number of cases fell to 5,000.

China provides basic healthcare free of charge, allowing its residents to access affordable services for the diagnosis and treatment of malaria regardless of legal or financial status.

RELATED China firm wins patent on malaria vaccine

112-year-old Puerto Rican dubbed world's oldest living man


Puerto Rican man Emilio Flores Marquez was dubbed the world's oldest living man by Guinness World Records at the age of 112 years, 326 days. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records

June 30 (UPI) -- Guinness World Records announced a new record holder for the world's oldest living man: 112-year-old Emilio Flores Marquez of Puerto Rico.

The record-keeping organization said Marquez, of Trujillo Alto, was issued a certificate as the world's oldest living man at age 112 years, 326 days.

Marquez was born Aug. 8, 1908, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. He was the second of 11 children born to his parents.

"My dad raised me with love and taught me to love everyone. He always told me and my brothers and sisters to do good, to share everything with others," Marquez said.

Marquez was married to Andrea Perez De Flores for over 75 years prior to her death in 2010. The couple had four children, two of whom are still living.

The record for oldest living man was previously held by Dumitru Comanescu, who died June 27, 2020, at age 111 years, 219 days. He had only held the record for under a month prior to his death.

Bubonic plague was killing people thousands of years earlier than known


The skull of a 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer found in Latvia in the 1800s, pictured, contains the oldest strain of the bacteria causing bubonic plague ever found. Photo by Dominik Göldner/Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology, and Prehistory

The Black Death was stalking people thousands of years earlier than previously known, new evidence reveals.

The oldest strain of Yersinia pestis -- the bacteria behind the bubonic plague that may have killed as much as half of Europe's population in the 1300s -- has been found in the remains of a 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer, researchers report.

The skeleton of the 20- to 30-year old man was unearthed in the late 1800s in a region of Latvia called Rinnukalns. But the skeleton soon vanished, only to reappear in 2011 as part of an anthropologist's collection.

A genetic analysis revealed the presence of a strain of Y. pestis that likely killed the man, even though scientists think it was less contagious and less deadly than the medieval strain.

RELATED Plague transmission rates increased from the Black Death to the Great Plague

After comparing it to other ancient strains, the researchers concluded that the strain in this hunter-gatherer is the oldest found to date.

It likely belonged to a lineage that emerged about 7,000 years ago, a few hundred years after Y. pestis split from its predecessor, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, according to the authors of the study published Tuesday in the journal Cell Reports.

"What's most astonishing is that we can push back the appearance of Y. pestis 2,000 years farther than previously published studies suggested," said senior author Ben Krause-Kyora, head of the aDNA Laboratory at the University of Kiel in Germany.

RELATED Think 2020 was bad? Historians say 536 was worst year ever to be alive

"It seems that we are really close to the origin of the bacteria," he added in a journal news release.

The researchers also found that the newly identified strain lacked the gene that enables fleas to act as vectors to spread the bacteria to and between humans. It likely took thousands of years for Y. pestis to develop all the mutations needed for flea-based transmission.

Learning more about the history of Y. pestis could provide new insight into human genetics, according to the researchers.

RELATED Study: Cancer far more common in medieval times than thought

"Different pathogens and the human genome have always evolved together. We know Y. pestis most likely killed half of the European population in a short timeframe, so it should have a big impact on the human genome," Krause-Kyora said.

"But even before that, we see major turnover in our immune genes at the end of the Neolithic Age, and it could be that we were seeing a significant change in the pathogen landscape at that time as well," he added.More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on plague.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

New beetle species found in the fossilized feces of ancient dinosaur ancestor

Scientists found several well preserved specimens of a new beetle species inside the fossilized feces of an ancient dinosaur ancestor. Photo by Qvarnström et al./Current Biology


June 30 (UPI) -- Scientists have discovered of a new beetle species preserved in fossilized feces deposited by Silesaurus opolensis, an ancient dinosaur ancestor. It's the first time scientists have found a new insect species inside a coprolite.

Researchers detailed the tiny beetle species, Triamyxa coprolithica, in a new paper, published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology.

Silesaurus opolensis lived some 230 million years ago, around the time some of the earliest dinosaur species appear in the fossil record.

The reptile was not itself a dinosaur, but a so-called dinosauriform. The slender, speedy reptile stood 7.5 feet tall and ate lots of insects, especially beetles.

The fossilized feces described in the new study, which scientists attributed to Silesaurus opolensis, featured numerous beetle parts and several intact specimens -- all representative of the same species.

The well-preserved specimens allowed scientists to compare the new beetle genus and species to more modern genera.

The analysis showed the beetles found in the coprolite belonged to a previously unknown extinct lineage of the suborder Myxophaga. Today, the new beetle's closest relatives colonize mats of algae in marshy environs.

"We were absolutely amazed by the abundance and fantastic preservation of the beetles in the coprolite fragment. In a way, we must really thank Silesaurus, which likely was the animal that helped us accumulating them," study co-author Martin Qvarnström, researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden, said in a press release.

Researchers linked the ancient fossilized feces with Silesaurus opolensis after analyzing the shape, size and contents of the coprolite. Silesaurus opolensis is one of the most well studied dinosauriforms. More than 20 specimens have been recovered from ancient deposits in Poland.

Paleontologists estimate the ancient dinosaur ancestor used its bird-like beak to rummage through the dirt in search of grubs and insects.

Because the newly named beetle species was so small, scientists suspect Silesaurus opolensis was likely targeting larger beetles species that happened to share habitat with Triamyxa coprolithica.

"I never thought that we would be able to find out what the Triassic precursor of the dinosaurs ate for dinner," study co-author Grzegorz Niedwiedzki, a palaeontologist at Uppsala University, said in the release.

Researchers said they hope the discovery will motivate other paleontologists to subject coprolites to advanced imaging and analysis.

Coprolites could help scientists reconstruct the evolution of ancient insects and provide new insights in the diets of extinction insectivores, they said.