UN expert warns of ‘severe’ crackdown on climate protestors in UK
Last year, British police were granted anti-protest powers following years of disruptive demonstrations by environmental activists. A UN expert has warned that environmental activists face a “severe crackdown” in the United Kingdom and that peaceful protestors are the targets of “toxic discourse”. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders Michel Forst said he had received “extremely worrying information” about “an increasingly severe crackdown” during a recent visit to the UK. “Regressive laws” were being used to give environmental and climate activists severe penalties, “including in relation to the exercise of the right to peaceful protest,” he warned in a statement on Tuesday. “The right to protest is a basic human right. It is also an essential part of a healthy democracy,” he added. Forst is an independent expert appointed under the UN’s Aarhus Convention, which provides for justice in environmental matters. The UK is a signatory of the convention. Activists of ‘Just Stop Oil’ glue their hands to the wall after throwing soup at Van Gogh’s painting, Sunflowers, at the National Gallery in London, UK, October 14, 2022 [File: Just Stop Oil/Handout via Reuters] Last year, British police were granted anti-protest powers by the government following years of disruptive demonstrations by environmental activists. But Forst said now peaceful protestors were being persecuted for the criminal offence of “public nuisance”, which is punishable by up to 10 years jail time. Last month, a peaceful climate protestor who took part in a slow march for about 30 minutes was sentenced to six months in prison. The expert stressed that before the arrival of these “regressive” laws “it had been almost unheard of since the 1930s for members of the public to be imprisoned for peaceful protest in the UK”. He added that it was impossible to understand that some judges had barred “environmental defenders from explaining to the jury their motivation” for protesting “or from mentioning climate change at all”. Forst also slammed the British government’s harsh bail conditions on environmental protestors. He said, “Environmental defenders may be on bail for up to two years from the date of arrest to their eventual criminal trial.” He pointed out that severe bail conditions could adversely affect personal lives and mental health. Forst warned that environmental activists were frequently publicly condemned in British media and by politicians, placing them at heightened risk of threats, abuse and physical attacks. This “toxic discourse”, he said, “may also be used by the state as justification for adopting increasingly severe and draconian measures against environmental defenders”. Adblock test (Why?)
Columbia Uni bars people accused of spraying pro-Palestine protesters
The US institution says it has banned attackers responsible for spraying a hazardous chemical on pro-Palestine rally. Columbia University has barred several individuals accused of spraying pro-Palestine protesters with a foul-smelling chemical during a demonstration, the New York-based institution has said. In a statement sent via email to Columbia students and faculty members on Monday night, interim provost Dennis A Mitchell said the alleged perpetrators had been banned from campus following “what appears to have been serious crimes, possibly hate crimes”. “The University received additional information Sunday night. As a result, the alleged perpetrators identified to the University were immediately banned from campus while the law enforcement investigation proceeds,” Mitchell wrote, according to the US media outlet Rolling Stone. Mitchell said the university condemned “in the strongest possible terms any threats or acts of violence” directed towards its community and described the incident as “deeply troubling”. Columbia has asked anyone in possession of photos, videos or any other evidence of the event to present it to the police department. The university did not clarify whether those banned were students, or how many individuals were involved. The Columbia Spectator, a student newspaper, reported that the protesters were attacked during a “divestment now” rally on the steps of Low Library on Friday. At least three students required medical attention while others reported physical symptoms such as burning eyes, headaches, and nausea. A police spokesman told The New York Times that no arrests had been made. According to 18-year-old freshman student Maryam Iqbal, interviewed by Rolling Stone, peaceful protesters were sprayed by at least two men with a foul-smelling liquid. Another student, Layla Saliba, a 24-year-old Palestinian American, said the two men called some of the protesters “terrorists.” She added that they were “especially aggressive” towards students holding up signs saying “Jews for cease-fire”, calling them “self-hating Jews.” Saliba told the American magazine that she kept vomiting and could still smell the odour on herself after a dozen showers. Tensions have surged at some American universities since the Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7 and Israel responded with a declaration of war. Members of Jewish anti-Zionist organisation Jewish Voice for Peace have reported being spat on and witnessing harassment on campus for their views. Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), said a speaking arrangement had been cancelled by the US university twice due to the lack of “security approvals”. The Ivy League institution in November suspended student groups Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace for allegedly violating school policies for “threatening rhetoric and intimidation”. Adblock test (Why?)
Poor quality control, race for profits behind Boeing’s troubles
When an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 made an emergency landing in Portland on January 5 following a door plug blowing out shortly after departure, alarm bells began to ring. For Boeing, this was another incident on its 737 MAX series and one that it simply could not afford to happen. Across the last half-decade, the trust in the manufacturer from the flying public has dropped significantly. Boeing’s gap in market share with rival European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, a direct competitor, has widened considerably following fewer orders and deliveries per year. Boeing’s current position has been attributed to several factors, including poor quality control, a race to secure profits and more. Analysts and former employees that Al Jazeera spoke to pinned the decline on the company’s culture, which has created a schism between management and employees on the factory floor for some time – the 737-9 crisis being only the latest symptom of the continuing problem. The Alaska Airlines flight Flight AS1282, with service between Portland and Ontario, departed on January 5 like any other scheduled flight. However, shortly after departure, the aircraft, a 737-9 from the MAX family, suffered a pressurisation issue from the rear mid-cabin exit door plug separating. The aircraft departed Portland at 17:06:59 and reached a maximum altitude of 16,325 feet (4,976 metres) per Flightrdar24 data at 17:13:41, with a descent beginning shortly after. All on board the aircraft escaped safely, with minor injuries that were cleared by medical examiners. Dr William Bensinger, an aviation medical examiner, told The Seattle Times that had this happened at cruising altitude, more than double the altitude of when the blowout occurred, the results might have been dramatically different. That night, Alaska Airlines temporarily grounded its fleet of 65 737-9s, calling it a precautionary move. The next day the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) that ensured 171 737-9s across multiple airlines with plug doors were grounded for inspections and possible maintenance. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has launched an investigation to determine why an exit door that is meant to be locked in place was able to blow out. The fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX, which was forced to make an emergency landing with a gap in the fuselage, is seen during its investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Portland, Oregon [File: NTSB/Handout via Reuters] Loose bolts uncovered With the EAD issued, airline technicians began preliminary checks on their parked 737-9s. Highlighting that it was not exclusively an Alaska Airlines problem, Alaska Airlines was the second airline to identify loose bolts in the inspection. Hours before, United Airlines became the first to identify loose bolts, discovering them on up to five 737-9s, according to the Air Current. The two airlines identifying quality issues dealt a new blow to Boeing. Boeing’s CEO, Dave Calhoun, acknowledged mistakes made by the manufacturer and identified the incident as a “quality escape” when speaking to CNBC. Calhoun noted that this describes what was found in inspections, with the loose bolts and other issues being “something that escaped from the manufacturing process.” Following Caloun’s comments, the FAA launched a formal investigation into Boeing’s production practices and said it would look “to determine if Boeing failed to ensure completed products confirmed to its approved design and were in a condition for safe operation in compliance with FAA regulations”. Boeing is legally required to meet the safety standards laid out to them, and the FAA has expressed concerns about whether these are met on several occasions even before the January 5 incident. On January 13, Alaska Airlines announced its quality and audit team will do a thorough review of Boeing’s quality and control systems. Alaska remains the only airline to announce a formal review of Boeing’s internal processes. Inside Boeing, a culture change National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators examine the fuselage plug area of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 Boeing 737-9 MAX, which was jettisoned [File: NTSB/Handout via Reuters] Internally, upper management across the last decade has prioritised delivering aircraft to customers as soon as possible. These targets, laid out by senior executives at Boeing, were deemed unrealistic by those working on the aircraft. As a result, employees felt pressured to meet deadlines that were not possible without corners being cut. Per a now-retired Boeing employee, who declined to be named and who worked with the 737 MAX and was on the floor, the immense pressure affected staff morale and work quality. Overtime was a regular occurrence across all teams to get the planes in the air as soon as possible. On several occasions, the former employee worked 10-12-hour days across a multi-year period in the mid to late 2010s, longer than the typical timeframe for his role of up to eight hours. These overtime shifts were followed by lengthy weekend shifts occurring for month-long periods. Before the latest quality lapses were identified, Boeing, in December 2023, requested the inspection of 737 MAX aircraft for potential loose bolts in the rudder control system. This followed an unnamed international operator reporting loose bolts during scheduled maintenance and Boeing discovering an improperly tightened nut on an undelivered jet in the same month. Quality issues also appeared in August 2023 when Boeing found an issue involving Spirit AeroSystems, one of its key suppliers. These quality drops were traced back to holes on the aft pressure bulkhead that were improperly drilled, as reported by The Air Current. Boeing’s drop in quality has been attributed to several factors. For the 737 MAX, a race to compete with Airbus and their A320neo saw this aircraft launched on a fuselage that analysts argued had reached its limitations. A culture already on the downturn only increased as the disconnect between staff on the floor and in the offices grew. Those building the aircraft and other similar roles, such as detailing, believed that senior executives lacked understanding of the importance and time associated with their work. This lack of understanding was often attributed
Israel’s rising use of drone strikes in the occupied West Bank
NewsFeed “It’s illegal, and the world should be holding Israel to account.” Israel’s increase in the use of drone warfare in the occupied West Bank is being condemned by lawyers and rights activists. Al Jazeera spoke to lawyer Diana Buttu about the concerns raised and what can be done to hold Israel accountable. Published On 23 Jan 202423 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
How is the US presidential election shaping up?
Donald Trump is the favourite to become the Republican candidate and face Joe Biden in the presidential election. Campaigning is under way for the United States presidential election, and a repeat contest is expected between President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump. Biden is the oldest candidate in US history, and Trump is facing a series of criminal trials. So who do American voters want in the White House? And how might the world react? Presenter: Adrian Finighan Guests: Arshad Hasan – Democratic Party political strategist Leslie Vinjamuri – Director of the US and Americas Programme, Chatham House Trita Parsi – executive vice president at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft Adblock test (Why?)
Palestine enter Asian Cup 2023 knockouts with emphatic win over Hong Kong
Doha, Qatar – Palestine started their last group match of the AFC Asian Cup 2023 with their hopes of qualifying for the next round hanging by a thread, but ended it with an emphatic 3-0 win over Hong Kong and by sealing a last-16 spot. The compact Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium turned into a Palestinian den on Tuesday night as the Fedayeen roared into the knockout stage of the tournament. When the last two games of group C got under way at 6pm, Palestine were trailing Iran, who had sealed their spot as group leaders, and second-placed United Arab Emirates (UAE) on points and goal difference. Palestine’s supporters were hopeful but not entirely confident of securing a result that would bring them in contention for a last-16 spot. At full-time, they were in a state of disbelief at how their team turned their fortunes around. Some, like Linah al-Fatah, had faith in their team. “It says a lot about our determination, self-belief and faith in God [as Palestinian people] that we have bounced back in the tournament in this manner,” she told Al Jazeera after the match. According to Palestine’s captain Musab Al-Battat, it was a performance that showed the world that his team is among the best in the continent. “We wanted to deliver a message to the world that we have a right to participate in every major football tournament, and not just for the sake of participation, but to show our skills,” Al-Battats aid in his passionate post-match news conference. “We deserve to be here.” PALESTINE 🇵🇸 is in the #AsianCup2023 Round of 16 Their first ever win in the AFC Asian Cup secures them a spot in the next round #HayyaAsia pic.twitter.com/Thn5ioVGPN — AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 (@Qatar2023en) January 23, 2024 The captain said his team came into the tournament with a “clear objective” of putting a smile on the faces of their supporters. The supporters, in turn, helped the players pick themselves up after a crushing defeat in their opening match against Iran nine days ago. Their second match, against the UAE, saw an improved performance that was vociferously backed by a partisan crowd. Last week’s 1-1 draw against their regional rivals was the stepping stone in their progress and the win against Hong Kong sealed their reputation as a team that cannot be brushed aside. For their part, Hong Kong began the match brightly as their group of 500 travelling supporters made their presence felt from the one stand that they occupied. Dressed in red and carrying their banners from all the way back home, the fans arrived and settled in long before kickoff and before the local Palestinian supporters took their seats. However, once the match kicked off it was clear that their team was under pressure. FT | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong, China 0️⃣-3️⃣ Palestine 🇵🇸 Palestine produce a remarkable performance and book their place in the Round of 16!#AsianCup2023 | #HayyaAsia | #HKGvPLE pic.twitter.com/2NVO5B4Vjj — #AsianCup2023 (@afcasiancup) January 23, 2024 Palestine relentlessly attacked the Hong Kong goal with a strong forward line, and reaped the reward with three goals. Every Palestinian attack was backed with a crescendo of noise. Different groups of Palestinian fans took turns in chanting pro-Palestine slogans and calling for freedom. Their captain, Al-Battat, acknowledged the support after the match. “The thousands of fans in Qatar and the millions of displaced Palestinians around the world are our number one motivation,” he said with a steely look. His team are nearly certain to face hosts, holders and favourites Qatar in their round-of-16 tie. The prospect may be daunting but if there is one thing Palestine have shown in the 12 days of this tournament and the 109 days of the war in Gaza, they will not give up without a fight. “We have faced every challenge with determination and we are not going to stop now.” For their Gaza-born defender Mahmoud Saleh, the full-time whistle brought a gush of emotions. The number five fell to the ground and buried his face in the grass as he cried uncontrollably. When he was finally pulled up on his feet by his teammates, Saleh pulled his shirt over his face as he sobbed. Saleh is one of the few players from Gaza who are part of the current squad, and has spoken of the difficulties of playing and training while not being able to hear about his family’s safety amid the war. The win gives Saleh, Al-Battat and their teammates another chance of ensuring the Palestinian anthem is played in the stadium, the Palestinian flag is waved by thousands and the Palestinian spirit is displayed for the world to see. Adblock test (Why?)
Why is Israel sending Palestinian taxes to Norway?
On Sunday, Israel approved a plan to send taxes earmarked for Gaza to Norway instead of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Since November, taxes that would ordinarily be sent to Gaza have been frozen by the Israeli government. Under the terms of a deal reached in the 1990s, Israel collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA pending the approval of the Ministry of Finance. While the PA was ousted from the Gaza Strip in 2007, many of its public sector employees in the enclave kept their jobs and continued to be paid with transferred tax revenues. Weeks after the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, Israel took the decision to withhold payments earmarked for those employees in the Gaza Strip on the grounds that they could fall into the hands of Hamas. Now, Israel says it will instead send the frozen funds to Norway. “The frozen funds will not be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, but will remain in the hands of a third country,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement released on Sunday. Why does Israel control Palestinian tax revenue? The system by which taxes and customs duties are collected by Israel on behalf of the PA and transferred to the authority on a monthly basis was agreed in a 1994 accord. Known as the Paris Protocol, the accord was meant to manage the economic relationship between Israel and the Palestinian territories it occupied until a final peace settlement was reached between the two states. Approved in the wake of the optimism generated by the Oslo Accords, which were publicly ratified by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the White House in September 1993, this protocol was supposed to end within five years. However, 30 years later, the financial settlement continues to give the Israeli state what the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has called “a disproportionate influence on the collection of Palestinian fiscal revenue, leading to deficiencies in the structure and collection of customs duties resulting from direct and indirect importing into Palestine”. How much money is Israel withholding? The tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the PA amount to around $188m each month, and account for 64 percent of the authority’s total revenue. A large portion of this is used to pay the salaries of the estimated 150,000 PA employees working in the West Bank and Gaza, despite it having no jurisdiction over the Strip. On November 3, the Israel security cabinet voted to withhold a total of $275m in Palestinian tax revenues, including cash collected for prior months that was still with Tel Aviv. “The PA is not clear about how much of the tax revenues go to Gaza – it’s a black box,” Rabeh Morrar, director of research at the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute-MAS, told Al Jazeera. “Sometimes they say 30 percent, sometimes 40, sometimes 50.” Under terms set by Israel’s cabinet on Sunday, the monthly tax revenue previously allocated to PA staff in Gaza will instead be transferred to a Norwegian-based trust account. However, that money cannot be released by the fund to pay workers in Gaza without permission from Israel. The only member of the Israeli government to oppose plans to send the funds to Norway was far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who insisted that the initiative “does not guarantee that the money will not reach the Nazis from Gaza”. How does Israel exercise ‘disproportionate influence’ over the PA? The Israeli state has often used its control of the PA’s tax revenues as a means to blackmail and punish the authority. In January 2023, for instance, the newly-formed Israeli government – seen as the most far-right coalition government in the country’s history – decided to withhold $39m in tax revenues from the PA following the authority’s decision to ask the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to rule on the legality of Israel’s decades-long occupation. “Israeli blackmailing of our tax revenues will not stop us from continuing our political and diplomatic struggle,” said Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh at the time after Israel’s security cabinet had earlier described the PA’s ICJ move as a “decision to wage political and legal war against the State of Israel”. What effect has Israel’s withdrawal of public money had on Palestine? “The PA owes billions in internal debt to local banks, hospitals, medical companies and the private sector,” said Morrar. “There are also debts [owed], for example, for privately owned buildings rented out by the government. They have not been able to pay those back.” In 2021, the PA’s financial crisis, exacerbated by Israel’s periodic refusal to pay the PA its total tax revenue share pre-October 7, prompted it to reduce all salaries by 25 percent. Since November, when Israel decided to freeze funds earmarked for Gaza, the PA has refused to accept any money at all in protest. Against the backdrop of Israel’s continued bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians since October 7, and as a result of its decision to refuse Israel’s terms, the PA has not been able to pay employee salaries for a month and a half. While some reports have emerged that the PA may be about to relent and agree to receive partial payments from Israel, which would release some much-needed funds to many of its cash-strapped staff, the occupied West Bank remains at the mercy of Israeli diktats. Indeed, Israel suspended the work permits of some 130,000 day workers from the occupied West Bank after the war began. And a total of 355 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, including in occupied East Jerusalem, by Israeli forces and Israeli settlers since October 7. Adblock test (Why?)
UN expert says Gaza might already be in famine
NewsFeed People are using animal feed for food in Gaza, where one UN expert says a famine could already be happening because of Israel’s war and destruction of the food system. Published On 23 Jan 202423 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Blinken hails Ivory Coast fight against armed groups on West Africa tour
The US diplomat is on a four-nation tour after months of being occupied by the Middle East crisis. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday praised the Ivory Coast for choosing a less militarised approach to security during his four-nation tour to rally African democracies as crises engulf the region. In the capital Abidjan, the top United States diplomat hailed the Ivory Coast’s stand against last year’s coup in Niger and its approach of “building security together” by investing economically to combat rebel violence in northern areas bordering Mali and Burkina Faso. “I have to applaud the approach that’s been taken by Cote d’Ivoire – working with communities, listening to communities, making sure that their security forces understand the needs, the concerns of communities,” Blinken said alongside the Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara. “I think that can serve as a very powerful model for other countries.” The Ivory Coast has not experienced a major armed attack in two years, despite being bordered by Sahel countries fighting insecurity. Blinken nonetheless promised to boost cooperation on the ground with the Ivory Coast, largely the training of security forces. He said the US would provide an additional $45m to West African nations as part of a plan to battle instability, bringing total funding under the year-old programme to nearly $300m. Ouattara, a veteran leader who has won US praise for consolidating democracy, expressed appreciation for the US assistance and voiced alarm over a spate of coups in West Africa. “Like the United States, we are very committed to democracy and justice,” he said, promising that his government would do “everything possible to improve people’s day-to-day lives.” Blinken met with Ouattara before heading to Abuja to see Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, elected last year on a platform of economic reforms. Both West African nations have largely stood by the US – as has another key partner, Kenya – despite unease in much of the continent over the Western focus on arming Ukraine and, more recently, US support for Israel’s war with Hamas. Their stance stands in contrast with another heavyweight, South Africa, which the US has accused of allowing arms shipments to Russia and which most recently annoyed Washington by bringing a genocide case against Israel before the International Court of Justice. On this trip, Blinken will visit another Southern African country – Angola, which is playing a vital role in mediation to end unrest in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. And on Monday, he stopped in Cape Verde, a long-standing partner of the US. Blinken has sought to showcase a softer side during his trip. On Monday, he attended a football match in the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations between Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea, when his hosts gifted him an Ivorian orange jersey bearing his name. Blinken, who has been occupied by the Middle East crisis, is making his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa in 10 months. On his last visit to the region, he travelled to Niger to bolster elected President Mohamed Bazoum. Four months later, the army deposed Bazoum. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia unleashes mass air strikes on Ukraine
Russian missile attacks have targeted the Ukrainian cities Kyiv and Kharkiv, killing several people, wounding dozens and damaging residential buildings, officials say. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 20 people were injured, including a 13-year-old boy. Residential infrastructure was damaged in at least four districts. In Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, four people were killed and at least 40 wounded. An entire section of a multistorey residential building was destroyed, trapping an unknown number of people. At least one person has been killed and another wounded in a Russian missile strike on Dnipropetrovsk region’s Pavlohrad city, according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. With the front line largely bogged down in eastern Ukraine, Moscow and Kyiv continue to swap air strikes. Recent Russian attacks have tried to find gaps in Ukraine’s defences, using large numbers of missiles and drones in an apparent effort to saturate air defence systems. On Sunday, Moscow-installed officials reported that Ukrainian shelling killed 27 people on the outskirts of the Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov labelled the attack a “monstrous terrorist act”. The Ukrainian military, however, denied it had anything to do with the attack. It has not been possible to verify either side’s claims. Adblock test (Why?)