The US war on reproductive rights should concern women everywhere
In the United States, women’s reproductive rights, gained through half a century of feminist struggle, are rapidly being replaced with reproductive wrongs. In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade – the landmark 1973 ruling that gave women the constitutional right to abortion. Since then, in 28 states access to abortion has been restricted depending on gestational age, with bans ranging from six weeks to more than 24 weeks. Abortion is almost completely banned with limited exceptions in another 14 states. In Idaho, for example, abortion is allowed only in cases of rape or incest that have been reported to police, or where necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman. A similar ban is in force in Indiana, while in Kentucky and Louisiana, it is banned except in the case of a medical emergency or if the pregnancy is “medically futile”. There are also efforts to establish not only the rights of foetuses but even those of embryos frozen in labs as superior to the rights of women. Just last month, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos have the same rights as children under state law. The perplexing decision was issued in relation to a “wrongful death” claim made by three couples whose frozen embryos were accidentally destroyed at a fertility clinic. Judges, citing verses from the Bible, ruled that a 1872 state law called “the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act” that allows for parents of deceased children to seek punitive damages where “the death of a minor child is caused by the wrongful act, omission, or negligence of any person” could be applied to “all unborn children, regardless of their location”. The ruling will have overreaching implications on the legality in the state of in vitro fertilisation (IVF), which is problematic in itself as it feeds the surrogacy trade. More importantly, however, this ruling has wide-reaching implications for women’s bodily autonomy. It implies that any man who impregnates a woman – even through rape – could sue that woman under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act for seeking an abortion at any point in gestation. This blatant war on women’s reproductive rights and bodily anatomy in the US should concern not only Americans but also feminists in Europe, and especially those of us in the UK. This is not only because we should expose and challenge threats to women’s rights wherever they appear, but also because the cultural norms and political perspectives gaining traction in the US will have a significant effect on British politics, and consequently rights and wellbeing of British women and girls. Indeed, in the past few decades, as the anti-abortion movement started to make legal and political gains in the US, we have started to witness a similar trend in the UK. Since 2015, the Pro-life All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) has been working to dial back abortion rights across the UK. For the past four years, the country’s leading anti-abortion charity, Right To Life UK, has served as the Secretariat of this cross-party group. In 2021, as feminists were campaigning to fully decriminalise abortion, this same charity ran adverts calling on supporters to prevent Parliament from introducing “extreme” laws that would “introduce abortion, for any reason, up to birth”. Since October 2022, Maria Caulfield, the Conservative MP for Lewes, has been serving as the Parliamentary undersecretary of state for women, as well as for mental health and women’s health strategy. Caulfield supports cutting the abortion time limit and voted against buffer zones outside abortion clinics. She is vice chair of the Pro-Life APPG, and has voted against legalising abortion in Northern Ireland. The very fact that such an open and proud opponent of abortion rights was appointed minister for women is horrifying in and of itself, because it communicates the government’s sympathy towards efforts to restrict British women’s rights and freedoms. Caulfield has called the UK’s 1967 Abortion Act, which legalised abortion in Great Britain on certain grounds by registered practitioners, “one of the most liberal abortion laws in the world”. But this is untrue; Britain has some of the most draconian abortion laws in the world, and is still sending women to prison over “illegal” abortions. Indeed, as recently as in June 2023, a woman in Britain was sentenced to 28 months in prison for having an abortion after the legal limit of 24 weeks gestation during a COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Following an appeal, her sentence was reduced to 14 months and suspended – but the case was a clear warning to all women that this could also happen to them. Feminist campaigners are now demanding an overhaul of the out-of-date laws the 44-year-old mother of three was sentenced under. These laws date back to the1861 Offences Against the Person Act, under which all abortions were criminalised – except those undertaken to save the mother’s life, a caveat introduced in 1929. The 1967 Abortion Act legalised abortions with an authorised provider, but this was a mere amendment to the 1861 act, which was never repealed. Thus, the deliberate termination of a pregnancy remains illegal in the UK unless certain conditions are met. The Abortion Act originally allowed terminations up to 28 weeks, though this was reduced to 24 weeks, the point after which the foetus is accepted as viable outside the womb, in 1991. Today, a woman in the UK may be allowed to abort after 24 weeks only if her life is at risk, or the child she is carrying would be born with a severe disability. Crimes under the Offences Against The Person Act carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. Prosecutions are rare, but according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act in England and Wales, 67 women were tried for “procuring an illegal abortion” between 2012 and 2022. While the overturning of Roe v Wade did not directly affect UK abortion law, it certainly emboldened anti-choice campaigners, many of whom have joined forces with their US counterparts
At least three killed in suicide bombing in Afghan city of Kandahar
At least 12 others wounded in blast that targeted a group of people waiting outside a bank in city centre. At least three people have been killed and 12 others wounded in a suicide bombing in front of a bank in Afghanistan’s Kandahar city, according to local police and officials. The ISIL (ISIS) group claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack on its Telegram channel. The explosion at around 8:00am (03:30 GMT) targeted a group of people waiting outside the New Kabul Bank branch in central Kandahar city. Local police and Taliban officials said three people were killed and 12 were wounded. A source at a major hospital in the southern city said the toll was much higher, the AFP news agency reported. “Mirwais Hospital has received 20 people killed since this morning from the explosion,” the source told AFP on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal for speaking to the media. Inamullah Samangani, director of information and culture of Kandahar province, said the bank was busy with people collecting their salaries when the explosion went off. “Commonly our compatriots gather there to collect their salaries,” he said, adding that the “victims were civilians”. One of the victims, Khalil Ahmad, a father of eight in his 40s, had gone to the bank to get his salary, his nephew said at his funeral later Thursday. “He was just an ordinary, simple guy; he used to work as a painter,” Mohammad Shafiq Saraaj said, as Ahmad’s relatives gathered around his body wrapped in a white cloth for burial. “Such incidents used to happen under the previous government … and now it is happening as well,” Saraaj said. “We beg for security to be properly maintained in the country and especially in crowded places, and that our nation be saved from this kind of tragedy.” ‘Under control’ In the aftermath of the explosion, Taliban authorities surrounded the area outside the bank and did not allow media workers to approach the site. Samangani said on Thursday morning that “the situation is under control” at one of the city’s hospitals where the wounded were transported, denying there was an urgent need for blood donations as had been circulated on social media. “There is no such issue, and the wounded people are not in serious condition; they have superficial injuries,” he said in a message to journalists. Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada lives in Kandahar, the second-largest city in the country. The number of bomb blasts and suicide attacks in Afghanistan has markedly declined since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, ousting the United States-backed government. However, a number of armed groups – including the regional chapter of ISIL – remain a threat. Several explosions have been reported around Afghanistan since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on March 11, but few have been confirmed by Taliban officials. The US Charge d’Affaires for Afghanistan, Karen Decker, condemned “all acts of terror” in a post on X, offering condolences to the families of the victims. “Afghans should be able to observe Ramadan peacefully & without fear,” she said. The regional chapter of ISIL has a history of targeting Shia Muslims who it considers heretics, but is also a rival of the Taliban. Adblock test (Why?)
Why has Vietnam’s president resigned after just a year?
Vo Van Thuong is the latest high-profile figure to resign amid a corruption crackdown. Vietnam’s president has resigned after only a year in office. Vo Van Thuong is the latest high-profile figure to resign amid a corruption crackdown in a country important to both China and the West. So, why has he gone? And what are the international implications? Presenter: Rob Matheson Guests: Hai Hong Nguyen – Senior lecturer at VinUniversity in Hanoi Carlyle Thayer – Professor emeritus at the University of New South Wales – Canberra Nguyen Khac Giang – Visiting Fellow at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, a think tank in Singapore Adblock test (Why?)
Blinken: Clear consensus for immediate, sustained ceasefire in Gaza
NewsFeed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a ceasefire is the best way to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza. He spoke in Cairo following a meeting with Arab leaders that focused on a truce deal between Israel and Hamas as well as the release of captives. Published On 21 Mar 202421 Mar 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
A Ramadan no Palestinian will ever forget
It was in the streets of Nablus, el-Bireh, and – whenever I was able to sneak past illegal checkpoints – those of occupied East Jerusalem, that I first experienced the purest form of Ramadan and recognised the true meaning and purpose of my religion. It was there that I realised Ramadan is much more than just fasting and prayer, that it is a remembrance of the strength of our faith, and a celebration of the resilience of our people. In those streets, occupied and under constant threat of aggression, but defiantly full of hope and children’s laughter, I came to appreciate the unique beauty of the sound of Adhan and the calming wisdom of being Muslim. This Ramadan, I am not at home, in Palestine. And as I break my fast at every sundown with the images and sounds of my homeland’s ongoing destruction playing out in my mind, I am devastated to think what Ramadan now looks and feels like for my beloved people. For those in Gaza, who survived more than five months of genocide, there is no food for Iftar. Israel is still blocking aid from reaching the most desperate, and people are cooking grass to have something, anything, to break their fast with. Babies and children are all malnourished, and dozens have already died from lack of food and clean water. Everyone in the besieged enclave lost someone, but they are not even provided with the time and space to breathe, mourn and process their trauma. There is no mosque left undamaged, and no safe place for collective prayer. Indeed, people of Gaza are still under constant bombardment. Even those who tried to find refuge in Rafah, that last so-called “safe zone” in the besieged enclave, are still being threatened with a ground invasion – an invasion that would undoubtedly kill and maim thousands more innocents. Sure, Ramadan has not been carefree for the people of Gaza for years – due to Israel’s relentless blockade, many parents were going without food in this holiest of months to feed their children long before the beginning of this genocide. Yet death and destruction has never been this close, and fear about the future this acute in this once beautiful land, during any Ramadan, ever. For those in the West Bank, Ramadan is nothing like it was before either. Sure, Ramadan was never a straightforward affair in the occupied territory. It always involved navigating illegal checkpoints, enduring harassment from occupation soldiers and resisting provocations. But this year, it is much, much worse. Palestinians in the West Bank are not only agonising over the genocide of their brothers and sisters in Gaza, but also trying to survive relentless attacks from settlers, police and soldiers. They wonder who among them will be the next to be arbitrarily arrested, displaced or assaulted – they wonder whether they and their loved ones will live to see another Ramadan. And for those in the diaspora, we are left practicing our faith with an undying guilt that I do not have the capacity to describe neither in English nor in Arabic. How should I break my fast when so many of my people haven’t properly eaten in months? Pray in a mosque while my people pray on rubble? Religiously, I know I must, but that does answer the questions that make my heart bleed. Ramadan after Ramadan, the Palestinian people have been tested. But the Palestinian spirit will outlive the tyranny of occupation. As I watch Gazans perform Friday prayer amidst the rubble of their society, I am reminded of what steadfastness looks like: that you can destroy one’s home or mosque, but never one’s Iman (faith). I often imagine what Ramadan would look like if Palestine were never occupied. Perhaps I would be breaking fast with the children of Gaza who are no longer here. Perhaps I would be making knafeh, my speciality, in the eastern mountains of Nablus, on land that was stolen from my grandfather, who never got to see freedom. One thing is certain, Ramadan will never be the same. Every year from now on, my prayers will not be for myself but for my martyred people who are no longer able to pray for themselves. I will be praying to absolve my guilt for not being able to do enough to save them. May God’s mercy be upon the souls of our martyrs. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel’s war on Gaza will continue, Netanyahu tells US Republican senators
Israel’s war on Gaza will continue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US Republican senators, despite mounting criticism from Democratic leaders about the growing humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Palestinian territory. Speaking to Republican senators via videolink on Wednesday, Netanyahu said his government would continue its efforts to defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to the lawmakers he addressed. “He’s going to do what he said he’s going to do. He’s going to finish it,” Senator Jim Risch said. Netanyahu’s speech came after Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s Democratic majority leader and a Jewish American, in last week’s Senate address branded the prime minister an “obstacle to peace” in the region. Schumer said Netanyahu was no longer fit to govern Israel because of his government’s “dangerous and inflammatory policies” particularly around getting aid into Gaza, as pressure mounts within the Democratic Party for the United States to discontinue its unconditional political and military support for Israel. Netanyahu has, however, retained backing in Republican circles. Republican Senator John Barrasso criticised Schumer’s comments and said: “We told [Netanyahu] Israel has every right to defend themselves and he said that’s exactly what they continue to do.” Senate Republicans heard from Prime Minister @Netanyahu today — he gave us an update on the war, hostage releases, and defeating Hamas.@POTUS and @SenSchumer are running scared of the extremists in their own party. Republicans continue to stand with the people of Israel. pic.twitter.com/ZX8DOO2Iov — Sen. John Barrasso (@SenJohnBarrasso) March 20, 2024 A spokesperson for Schumer said Netanyahu had offered to speak to the Democrats as well, but Schumer declined, saying the conversation should not be partisan. “I care deeply about Israel and its long-term future. When you make the issue partisan, you hurt the cause of helping Israel,” Schumer told reporters. ‘Mistake’ US President Joe Biden warned Netanyahu in a call this week that Israel’s stated goal to invade Rafah in southern Gaza – the last refuge in which approximately 1.5 million displaced Palestinians have sheltered – without a clear humanitarian plan would be a “mistake”. Biden also asked Netanyahu to send a team of intelligence and military officials to Washington, DC to hear concerns about a potential invasion of the city. “Gaza’s other major cities have largely been destroyed, and Israel has not presented us or the world with a plan for how or where they would safely move those civilians – let alone feed and house them and ensure access to basic things like sanitation,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Monday. “I made it clear to President Biden in our conversation, in the clearest way, that we are determined to complete the elimination of Hamas in Rafah as well,” Netanyahu said of the call in a statement on X. Rafah, on the Gaza Strip’s southernmost tip, has seen its population balloon from 300,000 to about 1.5 million people, as Israel has forcefully pushed hundreds of thousands of displaced residents fleeing bombardments in north and central Gaza since the start of the war in October. Western countries, including Israel’s European allies, have cautioned against a ground attack on Rafah, which serves as a key hub for humanitarian aid coming through the Egyptian border. Looming famine This week, United Nations experts warned of a looming famine between now and May in parts of Gaza because of an acute shortage of food and water. About 1.1 million people – half the population – were facing “catastrophic” levels of hunger as people resort to skipping meals for days on end, and as some starve to death, according to the researchers. Oxfam, a global charity, accused Israel of “deliberately” blocking the entry of critical food and medical supplies into the Strip by using bureaucracy to slow down the inflow of trucks carrying humanitarian supplies via the two Israel-controlled border crossings currently open to aid. Josep Borell, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, reiterated previous calls for Israel to lift the blockade and again accused it of using starvation as a “weapon of war”. More than 100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza in the last 24 hours. Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Thursday that at least 31,988 Palestinians have been killed and 74,188 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. Adblock test (Why?)
Wave of Russian missiles strikes Ukraine’s Kyiv, wounds more than 10
Some 30 cruise and ballistic missiles have been shot down over Kyiv in the first large attack on Ukraine’s capital in 44 days. Russia has launched a wave of missile strikes on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, wounding at least 13 people and damaging several buildings, according to local officials. The attack on Thursday, the first mass strike in 44 days, targeted the city with ballistic and cruise missiles, said Serhiy Popko, the head of the city’s military administration. Officials said air defences downed “about three dozen enemy missiles” but rocket fragments fell onto a kindergarten in the Sviatoshynskyi district while an apartment building and a car caught fire in other areas. A number of other residential buildings and industrial facilities were also damaged in the attack, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, while air alerts lasted for nearly three hours. An 11-year-old girl and a 38-year-old man were among the wounded, with two taken to hospital. The attack came hours after a visit by White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to Kyiv during which he promised that the United States’ support to Ukraine in the fight against Russia would continue, even as crucial aid remains stuck in Congress since late 2023. The freeze has piled more pressure on already outgunned Ukrainian troops, with services on the front lines raising the alarm about ammunition shortages and warning they could not hold out forever under current conditions. “From our perspective, we are confident we will get this done. We will get this aid to Ukraine,” Sullivan told a joint news conference on Wednesday after meeting Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak, without giving a timeline. (Al Jazeera) Also on Wednesday, a new round of aerial bombardments left civilians dead both in Ukraine and Russia. “Five people were killed by a Russia missile in Kharkiv today,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening video address. Another nine were wounded and five more were unaccounted for as search and rescue operations continued into the night, local officials said. Directly across the border from Kharkiv, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said multiple attacks had killed three people. Ukraine has also increased drone, rocket and artillery fire on the region over the last two weeks, in a wave of attacks launched in the lead-up to Russia’s presidential elections. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who cruised to victory after facing no real opposition, has pledged to restore order to the border regions. The escalation comes as Russian forces are on the offensive again after weathering Ukraine’s counteroffensive last year. Earlier this week, the Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had captured the village of Orlivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, close to the also Russian-controlled town of Avdiivka. Adblock test (Why?)
US releases ‘strongest ever’ car pollution rules in push for EV transition
The new environmental regulations fall short of more ambitious goals previously set by the Biden administration. Washington, DC – The United States has released what it calls the “strongest ever” regulations for car tailpipe pollution, as the country looks to accelerate its sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Still, the rules — released on Wednesday — fall short of more ambitious goals previously set by the administration of President Joe Biden. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it projects that the regulations would lead to 30 to 56 percent of new cars being electric between 2030 and 2032. Last year, the EPA projected that EVs would amount to 60 percent of new car sales by 2030 and 67 percent by 2032. “With transportation as the largest source of US climate emissions, these strongest-ever pollution standards for cars solidify America’s leadership in building a clean transportation future and creating good-paying American jobs, all while advancing President Biden’s historic climate agenda,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement. “The standards will slash over 7 billion tons of climate pollution, improve air quality in overburdened communities, and give drivers more clean vehicle choices while saving them money.” In 2021, Biden signed an executive order setting an objective that half of US car sales in 2030 would be “zero-emissions vehicles”. Close to eight percent of new car sales in the US in 2023 were electric vehicles, according to the EPA. The car industry, however, has pushed back against the Biden administration’s efforts to tighten emissions regulations and speed up the transition to electric vehicles. Biden’s agenda has also faced opposition from Republicans, as well as questions about whether the US has adequate infrastructure, including charging stations, to accommodate a significant increase in the number of electric cars on the roads. But Democrats argue that curbing greenhouse emissions is necessary to address the climate crisis, as the planet sees some of its hottest temperatures on record. The EPA also said on Wednesday that the rules will save money in the long run. “These standards will … provide nearly $100 billion of annual net benefits to society, including $13 billion of annual public health benefits due to improved air quality, and $62 billion in reduced annual fuel costs, and maintenance and repair costs for drivers,” it said. Former President Donald Trump, who is set to face off with Biden in the general elections in November, has repeatedly criticised the Democratic incumbent over EVs. Trump stirred controversy last week when he said there would be a “bloodbath” if Biden is reelected, arguing that the Democratic president would allow Chinese EVs, built in Mexican factories, to flood the US market. He later clarified that his “bloodbath” comment was meant to indicate that the US car industry would suffer under his Democratic opponent. In January, Trump also took aim at EVs. “There’s no such thing as fair transition that destroys over 100,000 auto manufacturing jobs,” he said. But Biden has said that his policies will allow US companies to compete with the rest of the world, which is transitioning towards electric cars anyway. On Wednesday, Democratic Congressman Jerry Nadler hailed the new EPA rules as a win for “environment and public health”. “The new standards will also save consumers money through reduced fuel consumption and maintenance costs,” he wrote in a social media post. But Republican Congressman Tim Walberg slammed the regulations. “Despite consumer needs, grid & infrastructure concerns, & costs, Biden’s EPA is proceeding with its disastrous mandate”, he wrote on social media. “EVs may be a good option for some, but Americans should have the right to buy whatever car best suits their family.” Adblock test (Why?)
Fitch Ratings upgrades Qatar to third-highest on back of gas expansion
Revenues from Qatar’s LNG fields will provide budget surpluses until the 2030s, Fitch said. Fitch Ratings has upgraded Qatar to AA, its third-highest rating, on the back of revenues expected from its expanded gas fields, the agency has said. Revenues from Qatar’s liquified natural gas (LNG) fields will ensure that the country posts budget surpluses until the 2030s, Fitch said in a release on Wednesday outlining the rating rationale. The upgrade from AA- “reflects Fitch’s greater confidence that debt to GDP will remain in line with or below the ‘AA’ peer median after falling sharply in recent years,” the agency said. Fitch expects Qatar’s debt-to-GDP ratio to fall to about 47 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 and 45 percent in 2025, from a peak of 85 percent in 2020. Qatar is already one of the richest countries in the world and boasts one of the highest ratios of GDP per capita. The added revenue boost will ensure that its external balance sheet will strengthen from an already strong level, Fitch said. However, Fitch warned that the continuing war in Gaza posed a risk to Qatar’s rating even though it had so far not been directly affected. Should a sharp escalation in regional tensions lead to capital flight from banks, for instance, or cause prolonged disruptions of Qatar’s hydrocarbon and transport sectors, that would affect the latest rating, Fitch said. Qatar is one of the biggest exporters of LNG along with the United States, Australia and Russia. Asian countries led by China, Japan and South Korea have been the main market for Qatari gas, but demand has also grown from European countries since Russia’s war on Ukraine threw supplies into doubt. Qatar Energy plans to expand LNG production capacity at North Field from 77 million tonnes per year (mtpa) to 110 mtpa by end-2025, 126 mtpa by end-2027 and announced a further expansion to 142 mtpa by end-2030. The North Field is part of the world’s largest gas field, which Qatar shares with Iran, which calls its share South Pars. Competition for LNG has ramped up since the start of the war in Ukraine, with Europe, in particular, requiring a large quantity to help replace Russian pipeline gas that used to make up almost 40 percent of the continent’s imports. However, after a decade of meteoric price rise, gas prices dropped earlier this year to nearly all-time lows after adjusting for inflation. Despite that drop, all leading gas producers, including the US, Australia and Russia, want to increase output betting on further demand growth. Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli airstrike on car in Jenin kills 3
NewsFeed A security camera captures the moment an Israeli airstrike hits a car in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. The Palestine health ministry said three Palestinians were killed and one wounded. The Israeli military said two of the targets were “senior Islamic Jihad operatives” who had been planning attacks on Israel. Published On 20 Mar 202420 Mar 2024 Adblock test (Why?)