Category Archives: Government Oppression

For more than four decades, Kokor Mekranotire has watched with dismay as outsiders have laid waste to ever-larger swaths of his Kayap homeland. Loggers, gold miners, farmers, and land grabbers have streamed illegally into and around the Indigenous territory, a 40,000-square-mile expanse of forest the size of South Korea. The patch of forest where Mekranotire used to collect Brazil nuts a dense canopy of deep golden-brown trees standing almost 100 feet tall was stripped. Stands of cumaru trees, a Brazilian teak, were felled to make decks, cabinetry, and flooring. Loggers have repeatedly entered Kayap land, removed what was in their way, and taken the rest to make a profit.

Those trees never should have been touched, says Mekranotire, now 49 and working for the Kabu Institute, a nonprofit that helps protect Kayap land and develop sustainable businesses among its people, including Brazil nut cultivation. We had to fight to hold onto our land and let more trees grow.

Outsiders started arriving in droves in the 1970s with the opening of the federal BR-163 highway, which stretches 1,320 miles from Cuiab in south-central Brazil to Santarm in the heart of the Amazon. BR-163 parallels Kayap land and was fully paved by 2020, spurring a boom in soybean farming, with the highway providing easy access for millions of tons of the commodity crop to reach Brazilian ports.

The paving also provided much easier outside access to two important Kayap reserves, Menkragnoti and Ba, measuring more than 18,000 square miles and 6,000 square miles, respectively. Illegal loggers and miners who used to arrive in a trickle, Mekranotire says, started gushing in. The kuben [white men] already had a lot of experience; they knew exactly what they were doing, he says. But not all of our leaders did. They told us the highway wouldnt affect us. It was a lie.

Now, as Brazils nationalist President Jair Bolsonaro continues his push to legalize a broad range of economic and extractive activities on Indigenous land, plans are underway for a railway to help transport soybeans from the regions burgeoning number of farms. And even though the Kayap are one of the strongest and best-known Indigenous groups in the Brazilian Amazon they have led the fight for Indigenous rights for 40 years Bolsonaros anti-Indigenous policies are posing a significant threat.

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Were fighting a war, says Doto Takakire, who also works at the Kabu Institute. A war against politicians who want to destroy us and our land.

Located on a plateau in central Brazil, far south of the Amazon River and in the states of Mato Grosso and Par, Kayap land is the largest tract of Indigenous territory in Brazil and the largest swath of relatively pristine forest in the Amazons southeast, a region known as the arc of deforestation. Despite continuing incursions the Kayap lost 3 million acres of land on their eastern border to logging, mining, and other development in the 1980s and 1990s the groups territory retains remarkable biodiversity, with jaguars, giant otters, harpy eagles, abundant fish populations, and vast forest areas.

Kokor Mekranotire of the Menkragnoti Velho village on the Menkragnoti reserve.

Numbering only 9,400 people, the Kayap live in villages on the Xingu River and its tributaries. The men fish and hunt animals such as tapir, capuchin monkeys, peccary, and deer. Women raise children, tend extensive gardens, and make trips into the forest to collect Brazil nuts, cumaru, aa berries, and other fruits.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the Kayap made international headlines as they moved to obtain legal rights to their traditional lands. Led by Chief Raoni Metuktire, who would eventually be nominated for the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize, they were joined by musician Sting in their fight to protect the Amazon rainforest, spawning nonprofits like the Rainforest Fund. Other groups, such as Conservation International, have helped the Kayap defend their territories, providing boats, radios, and aerial surveillance data so the Kayap can patrol their 1,250 miles of border.

If there were no more Kayap territory, then there would definitely be no more forest at all, says Renata Pinheiro, senior manager for Indigenous people and social policies at Conservation International Brasil. Theyre on the agricultural frontier.

The Kayaps fight has been part of a larger movement to demand Indigenous land rights in Brazil following centuries of oppression. The implementation of Brazils Constitution in 1988, including article 231, which outlines those rights as well as the federal governments responsibility to demarcate and protect the land, gave them recourse. It didnt, however, mean that those theoretical protections would always work in practice.

Left: Kayap women carry bundles of leaves to a village ceremony. Right: Kayap men in a traditional ceremony.

In the decades to come, all Indigenous land Brazil has 305 Indigenous groups would continue to come under threat, whether or not the groups had already completed the slow process of demarcation and official government recognition. Illegal mining, logging, fishing, and land theft, as well as the construction of highways, railways, and hydroelectric dams, have continued to impinge upon Indigenous territories.

The Yanomami, who live in the Amazon rainforest bordering Venezuela, are still in a longstanding fight to remove more than 20,000 illegal miners from their land, which is rich in gold. In Mato Grosso do Sul a state that encompasses the tropical savanna known as the Cerrado and the worlds largest tropical wetland, called the Pantanal the Guarani Kaiow are trying to take back land lost to ever-advancing farming, facing violent attacks and the burning of their prayer houses. And the Kambiw, Patax, and Patax H-H-He in the state of Minas Gerais, who lost their land in the 2019 Brumadinho dam disaster, continue to confront land grabbers trying to take over their new territory.

The construction of the BR-163 highway was part of the National Integration Plan implemented by Brazils military dictatorship a project designed to bring Indigenous groups under government control, occupy the Amazon, and take over the land. Anything and anyone in the way would be removed.

Kayap land ravaged by illegal gold mining.

By the time the highway opened in 1976, many Kayap had succumbed to outbreaks of disease brought to the region by outsiders, and just 20 percent of the Kayap living on what would become the Ba reserve survived. They no longer had access to the Jamanxim River and lost 1,158 square miles of land to wildcat miners, loggers, and squatters, which they agreed to give up in exchange for what would be an empty promise to put an end to invasions of their territory.

With their land placed under federal protection the Ba reserve in 2008 and the Menkragnoti reserve in 1993 the Kayap thought the threats would subside. But they havent. Deforestation has continued to threaten both reserves, as more and more trees are felled closer to their borders. According to the Kabu Institute, the deforestation on non-Indigenous land surrounding the Menkragnoti and Ba reserves almost tripled in 18 years, jumping from 4,450 square miles in 2000 to more than 12,580 square miles in 2018.

Land grabbers: The growing assault on Brazils Indigenous areas. Read more.

And deforestation on Indigenous land itself illegal in Brazil under federal law hasnt stopped. A recent study from the research institute, Imazon, showed that almost 67,000 acres of forest in the state of Par were lost to unauthorized logging between August 2019 and July 2020. Of that total, 390 acres were on the Ba reserve. According to Dalton Cardoso, an Imazon researcher, the south of Par, where Kayap land is located, contains abundant old-growth wood, prized by illegal loggers. The regions ever-expanding network of highways, he says, has also given loggers access to areas that were previously unreachable.

It has emboldened them, too. Doto Takakire is from the Ba reserve. Because of his work with the Kabu Institute, he often travels back and forth between his home in the forest and Novo Progresso, a nearby town that sits on the BR-163. Infamous for being at the center of August 2019s Fire Day when a group of farmers and ranchers got together to set a series of coordinated fires in the forest in support of Bolsonaro and his promise to open the Amazon to more development the town is a staging point for men working in extractive industries.

It is also where some of them put pressure on the Kayap.

Last year, Takakire says he was approached several times by loggers in town. Because of his ability to speak to Indigenous people living in Ba and Menkragnoti, the loggers thought he could convince the Kayap to give them permission to work on their land. Knowing it was rich in prized ip wood, or Brazilian walnut, they offered Takakire $10,000 Brazilian reais ($2,000) for his trouble. When he said no, they upped it to $20,000 Brazilian reais ($4,000). Again, he refused.

I defend my peoples interests, Takakire says. If we stop, who will fight for us? Nobody.

In August 2020, the Kayap set up a blockade across the section of the BR-163 that runs through Novo Progresso. Wearing headdresses and painted faces, they demanded improvements in health care, the removal of illegal miners from their territories, and, most of all, to be consulted about plans to build a railway next to their land.

Doto Takakire at his desk at the Kabu Institute in Novo Progresso.

Known as the Ferrogro, the railway would run 580 miles between Sinop, in Mato Grosso state, and Itaituba, in Par, an important port city for the flow of agricultural commodities in the Amazon. The railroads main objective: to transport soy.

Soy production in Brazil is soaring, reaching an estimated 134 million tons last year and making the country the worlds third-largest soy producer. A study published last year noted that soy was responsible for 10 percent of deforestation across South America in the last 20 years, and that the most rapid expansion occurred in the Brazilian Amazon, where soybean area increased more than tenfold.

The Kayap living on the Ba and Menkragnoti reserves dont need to see these numbers to know that soy is taking over the region. The constant flow of trucks carrying soybeans on highway BR-163 makes it obvious, as do the farms that line the road. Bepdjo Mekragnotire, chief of the Ba village, located on the Kayaps Ba reserve, knows that the proposed railroad will bring more soy farmers close to Kayap land.

On the Pixax and other rivers that are key arteries through Kayap territory, warriors have recently been confronting gold miners illegally entering Indigenous land on makeshift rafts. The widespread, ad-hoc mining, which uses mercury to separate gold from other minerals, has already contaminated numerous rivers, like the Curu, where the Kayap once fished, collected drinking water, and bathed. According to a 2018 federal investigation into illegal mining, fish samples collected in the Curu and Ba rivers showed levels of mercury well above what is recommended by the World Health Organization and the Brazilian health regulatory agency, ANVISA.

Left: An illegal mining raft that entered the Pixax River before being ejected by Kayap warriors. Right: Fish caught in the Ba river. A federal investigation found that fish from the Ba contained high levels of mercury, which is used in mining.

No epidemiological studies of mercury have been done among the Kayap people, but their concerns increased when a study by the scientific institution Fiocruz and WWF Brazil showed that 100 percent of the members of the neighboring Munduruku Indigenous group were contaminated with mercury, 60 percent at levels above what is considered safe. Contamination among riverside villagers jumped to 90 percent.

Weve had some babies born with developmental problems, says Bepdjo Mekragnotire. We wonder if its the mercury, but we just dont know yet.

Mining is illegal on Kayap territory, but legal on adjacent land, with the requirement that the Kayap are consulted regarding possible environmental and health effects. Nevertheless, mining is rampant where the Kayap live, occasionally with the involvement of some Kayap. Rich in gold, the entire region has attracted everything from the smallest wildcat operations to some of the biggest mining giants, including Serabi Gold, a company headquartered in the UK that owns and operates two gold mining complexes in the region, including one next to Kayap land.

Bekwyitexo Kayap, chief of Pukany village, holds a basket of beaded bracelets that she and other Kayap women make and sell.

Ever since Jair Bolsonaro campaigned for president in 2018, vowing to open up Indigenous land to mining and end federal recognition of Indigenous territories, the Kayap have been feeling the pressure. Since then, the president has repeated his promises several times, saying two months after his election, I will not demarcate one more square centimeter of Indigenous land.

In 2020, he pushed a bill to regulate the exploitation of resources on Indigenous reserves legislation widely seen as further opening Indigenous territories to development. Brazils lower house of Congress voted this month to flag the bill as urgent, and it is expected to go to a vote in April. In February, Bolsonaro, who is up for reelection this year, signed a decree meant to encourage small-scale and artisanal mining. The government has denied this includes illegal mining, but environmentalists are concerned it could spur more unlawful mining in the Amazon.

An Amazon defender stands up for her land and her people. Read more.

When I was young, I feared that the white men who came to our village were there to kill us and to take what was valuable from our land, says Bekwyitexo Kayap, chief of the Pukany village on the Menkragnoti reserve. Now, I know that theyve come to kill us in a different way. Now, I fear theyll do it by taking our land.

See the rest here:

For the Kayap, a Long Battle to Save Their Amazon Homeland - Yale Environment 360

Almost every day offers more evidence of how American fascism is becoming a reality. We now know for certain that Donald Trump and his coup cabal attempted to overthrow American democracy on Jan. 6, 2021. The coup continues as Republicans and their agents are attacking America's multiracial democracy in dozens of states, seeking to make it impossible for Black and brown Americans and other Democratic Party constituents to have their votes counted fairly.

Rep. Mo Brooks of Alabama, a former Trump ally, said last week that, well after the events of Jan. 6, 2021, Trump continued his seditious attempts to pressure members of Congress to overturn the results of the 2020 election.Trump himself, along with acolytes such as Michael Flynn and Steve Bannon, continue to threaten and incite political violence against those deemed to be the enemy.At arally last Saturday in Georgia, for instance, Trump continued to threaten violence against members of the media, calling them "animals."

As Salon's Igor Derysh reported last week, Trump's followers have been allegedly been going door-to-door in Black and brown communities in Colorado, engaging in acts of voter intimidation and harassment that echo the Jim Crow era of white supremacist terror and violence.

RELATED:MAGA purge: Jan. 6 organizer labels former ally Rep. Mo Brooks as "LOSER" and "piece of crap"

As shown by the vile attacks on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the antisemitic QAnon conspiracy theory has made major inroads into the so-called mainstream of the Republican Party. Federal and local law enforcement agencies continue to disrupt right-wing terror plots across the United States.

The rising neofascist tide is global: Some white supremacists and other right-wing extremists see the war in Ukraine as an opportunity to gain combat experience they can later use in their battle against multiracial democracy and pluralistic society in the U.S. and other Western nations. Experts on political violence, fascism and other forms of political extremism continue to sound the alarm about the perilous moment now facing the United States, where democracy is teetering on the edge of collapse. Their warnings have been largely ignored by the country's political elites and the public more generally.

Barbara Walter is a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, and one of the world's leading experts on civil wars, political violence and terrorism. She is also a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has consulted for the State Department, the Department of Defense, the UN and the World Bank. Her essays and other commentaries have been featured at CNN, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. Walter's new book is "How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them."

In this conversation, Walter warns that the American people and their leaders have been blinded by a type of "status quo bias" that prevents them from responding properly to the democracy crisis and the danger of widespread political violence. She argues that privilege and a lack of historical experience with oppression have combined to create a state of willful myopia and denial for most white Americans about the existential peril the country now faces.

Walter draws upon some of the darkest moments in human history, such as the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust, to explain why so many (white) Americans will likely remain in denial about the country's descent into civil war and other massive violence, even as the carnage is imminent or already happening around them. She warns that many people will comply, or perhaps collaborate, with the right-wing extremists who are committing worsening acts of terror and political violence.

Walter does hold out some hope, however, and offers potential solutions to help mitigate this crisis, including new restrictions on the way social media platforms circulate and amplify politically extreme content.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Donald Trump continues to threaten political violence against his "enemies" if he is punished for his crimes. Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon and other right-wing propagandists are also threatening political violence on a near-daily basis across the right-wing media echo chamber. The FBI and law enforcement continue to uncover potential right-wing terrorist plots. Why are so few people taking these dangers of right-wing violence seriously?

I believe it is human nature for people to not want to believe that they and their fellow citizens are capable of such things. Many people want to live in a world of wishful thinking where life is going to continue to go on in the same way that it always has.

If it is sunny today and you go to work and afterwards you have drinks with friends and then there is the weekend when you get to watch football and it's like that today, your bias is that it's always going to be that way.

People are status-quo biased. They truly believe that the way things are today is the way that things are going to be forever. As a result, many people do not see the warning signs. What is so amazing is that throughout history, violent extremists are often very public about their intentions, what their goals are and what strategy they're going to pursue to achieve those goals. Hitler is perhaps the best example. He wrote and published "Mein Kampf," laying out exactly what he intended to do. If you look at neo-Nazis and other white supremacists here in the United States and elsewhere, they have a book called "The Siege" which details exactly what their plans and intentions are.

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The bible of the alt-right is a book called "The Turner Diaries." It lays out exactly how they intend to start a second civil war in the United States. "The Turner Diaries" includes an attack on the U.S. Capitol, and in that book a working gallows is erected outside the Capitol where they're going to bring "traitors" out for trial and then kill them. They're not hiding what they intend to do, and yet throughout history, the people who are at risk have not taken those messages, warnings and manifestos seriously.

In societies at risk for widespread political violence, is it common for the public and its leaders to be in a state of denial? For people to just ignore the obvious threats or say it is all just hyperbole?

As a social scientist, the example I would start with would be the Jews across Europe prior to the Holocaust because there is a very interesting variation in how Jews responded by country. There is also a noteworthy variation in terms of how Jews responded to the perceived threat of persecution and how communists and socialists responded.

In terms of the Jews in Europe, it was German Jews who had their heads in the sand the most and refused to see the disaster that was about to hit them. They actually could read "Mein Kampf." Many Polish Jews and Romanian Jews saw what was coming and tried to take action by fleeing Europe. The German Jews, less so. Why was this?

The German Jews were highly educated. They were cosmopolitan, they were the most assimilated. They were the most vested in the status quo. They were not living in ghettos, and they had not experienced pogroms until more recently. Therefore, many German Jews believed that they were going to be relatively untouched or that they had a vested interest in the society.

The German Jews were more likely to be caught by surprise, whereas if you are a Jewish person living in Poland, you've been ghettoized your whole existence, you've been the target of violence, you already know what the state is capable of. You know what your fellow citizens are capable of. You've seen the evidence of that. Such violence does not take you by surprise.

I think a similar dynamic is happening here in the United States. The American people as a whole have not witnessed the horrible things that human beings can do to each other because they have not been the target of such violence except, of course, for African-Americans and other people of color who do see the approaching violence and disaster. Many white Americans do not want to see it. They do not want to hear the metaphorical train that is coming at them because they have not been targets of such violence as a group.

RELATED:GOP's violent rhetoric keeps getting worse and almost nobody is paying attention

White Americans as a group tend not to believe the warnings by Black and brown people and others who see what is happening. Because they haven't had the direct experience, the hard evidence, of such things being true. I also believe that's because white Americans have a vested interest in the system. They really want to believe that the system is OK, and if they just keep their heads down and just weather this storm, everything's going to be OK.

How do people reconcile their wishes and dreams, or their delusions, with the obvious facts?

Trump and Flynn are preaching violence. You can quote them on it. If you read what they are saying, it is shocking. Yet few people seem to know about it. If I were to show what Trump and Flynn are saying, their actual words, to the average American, they would say, "You're making that up, it can't be true." Thus we have a situation where these things are happening, but the information is not being shared with the general public, or if they are hearing what is happening then it is being distorted or not fully represented in a way that leaves most Americans ignorant of what is really going on.

Historically, the side that wants to do these horrible things and put themselves in a position of power, to lead a dictatorship or start a "race war" or commit acts of genocide for example, to kill all the Jews in Europe will spend a lot of time investing in propaganda because they understand that if they can control the narrative they can control the average citizen. That is exactly what is happening now in the United States. Experts and other people like us see the warning signs because we're paying attention and we're reading widely. Most Americans are not.

At one of Trump's recent rallies, he told his followers to be ready to die to defeat "critical race theory." Michael Flynn recently told his audience he wanted them to "charge machine gun nests" in service to their cause. How do you fit these examples within your model of a second civil war or other massive violence in the United States?

One of the challenges that violent extremists have is how to expand their base of support. If they don't expand their support base, they just remain fringe movements forever. One way is to provoke a harsh government response. Let's say that there are peaceful protests, but then there are provocateurs there who try to get the police to open fire or to bash a few heads. Violence entrepreneurs will use those actions as evidence that the police or the government or the opposition are evil and intent on crushing them.

That tactic is often successful in radicalizing at least some portion of average citizens. It pushes them towards the extremists. Donald Trump is what I would describe as an "ethnic entrepreneur." He and his loyalists want to regain power. He is an autocrat. Trump has no interest in ruling democratically. But Trump is not going to get that power back without the support of the average white American. This means that Donald Trump has to convince them somehow that his is a worthy cause to defend.

How many people, in terms of a whole population, does such a movement need to take over society and impose its will on the public?

There is not much data on that question. Research suggests that perhaps 3% of the population is necessary to challenge whatever leader or group is in power. That is a quite small percentage, but if there is 3% of the American population out in the streets in a sustained way, it is actually enormous. You do not need a lot of people to start a civil war that's going to be incredibly costly to the country as a whole. All they would need are a few militia groups who are effective at targeting infrastructure and shutting down the economy.

What has the response been to your book and its warnings about a second civil war or right-wing insurgency in America?

To my great surprise, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. People are reading the book. I didn't think that was going to happen. I didn't think Americans would want to read about the possibility of a civil war or read a book that is terrifying. And they did, in large numbers. But the second response has really been that 90% of the emails I get are people thanking me. They're grateful. They have been worried about what they're seeing and feeling in the country. The most grateful emails I get are from people who live in rural areas, who thank me for shedding light on this problem.

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There are people who say I am being an alarmist and that somehow I am making a second American civil war more likely by talking about it. The reality is that we know that violent extremists on the far right have been growing significantly, especially since 2008. You can read what their plans are. You can see that many of them are stockpiling weapons and going through maneuvers and training for war. These right-wing groups were sending some of their members to Ukraine, prior to the Russian invasion, to gain combat experience. We know that these right-wing extremists are actively recruiting from former members of the military because they want individuals with combat experience.

What these right-wing extremists want more than anything else is for the rest of the American people to ignore them, because that way they can grow their numbers, get more training, and when they're ready to act they'll have the element of surprise on their side. These right-wing extremists are a relatively small, weak group. Any militias in the United States are going to be small relative to the U.S. military. They need the element of surprise. I wish that it were true that if we did not talk about this threat, it would go away. That is simply not the case.

I see a situation where the right wing is already engaging in acts of lethal violence and is mobilizing for widespread violence. It is a one-way battle at this point. Liberals, progressives and other pro-democracy Americans are doing little, if anything, to defend their country against the threat. I fear that once they realize what the neofascists and right-wing extremists are preparing to do, it will be too late.

In the CIA's manual on insurgencies there are three stages. The United States is in the second stage. The CIA calls it the "incipient conflict stage," and it is marked by discrete acts of violence. Timothy McVeigh's attack in Oklahoma City was probably the very earliest instance. Here is what the CIA manual says, almost verbatim: "The insurgents' goal is to broadcast their mission to the world, build support and provoke a government overreaction to their violence so that more moderate citizens become radicalized and join the movement."

The second stage is when the government becomes aware of the groups behind these attacks, but according to the CIA, the violence is often dismissed as the work of bandits, criminals or terrorists. What is so dangerous about the second stage is that citizens, politicians and law enforcement usually miss it. They don't connect the dots, they don't see that the movement is growing and that this is a precursor to open insurgency. Instead, these attacks are dismissed as idiosyncratic or the result of crazy people who have no connection to a larger movement. That's exactly where we are today.

When you and other experts use the term "civil war," how is it defined?

Experts use it as a type of umbrella term. Underneath that umbrella are all sorts of different forms of violence that can happen within a country. Civil wars mean violence that's fought by a domestic group within a country that targets the government for political purposes. It becomes a civil war or a major civil war if it kills a thousand people during the course of the war.

Civil war can take different forms. There are social revolutions, such as the Russian Revolution or Mao's revolution in China. Social revolution is the most destructive type of civil war. It's a civil war where the rebels want complete political, economic and social change.There can also be a violent coup that kills a thousand people and is contained to a capital city. There is everything in between.

What we tend to see frequently in countries with powerful militaries are insurgencies. These tend to be more decentralized and usually fought by multiple militias and paramilitary groups. These militias have political goals, but their methods are very different. They don't want to engage the military directly for the most part, don't want to target soldiers, because if they engage the U.S. military, for example, they're going to lose. They instead use unconventional methods, like guerrilla warfare, hit-and-run attacks, domestic terrorism, where they're targeting the soft underbelly of a society, such as civilian infrastructure. In the United States we are not going to see a civil war like we saw in the 1860s.

What do we know about the public mood and emotion in a society that is about to experience a civil war or other mass violence?

The groups that tend to start these civil wars and insurgencies are driven by resentment. As such, the groups who decide that violence is a justifiable means to try to create political and social change are those that are losing status and have a deep sense of resentment towards other groups who are perceived as rising or doing better. These are the "sons of the soil" groups.

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It is that resentment that motivates their leaders. Average citizens are motivated by a different emotion to follow such leaders. That emotion is fear, which is an incredible motivator for average citizens to pick up a gun and start fighting.Ethnic entrepreneurs, violence entrepreneurs those individuals who want to start a civil war to catapult themselves to power understand the power of fear. What they do is create propaganda and circulate it among average citizens. They tell them that their lives are under threat.

In a given society, and most certainly here in the United States, most members of the general public, white Americans and privileged people in particular, are fence-sitters. They may know that something is deeply wrong in the country, but they will do nothing about it. What does that oft-discussed "silent majority" actually do when a society starts to fall apart and people are killing each other?

Such people are going to hold on to hope as long as they can. They're going to plug their ears and cover their eyes and engage in wishful thinking as long as they can. And then, when something happens and they're forced to choose sides, their base instinct is to survive and to do whatever they need to do to survive.

If there is a paramilitary group that is putting up roadblocks on their street, if there's a group of people wearing all black with no insignias controlling a roadblock in a neighborhood with machine guns, the average person is going to do whatever those people want them to do. Survival drives behavior. Those fence-sitters are going to hope they're not going to become the targets of the violence.

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Not all the far-right groups are white supremacists, but many of them are.What they want is for the United States to become a white "ethnostate," or at the very least for certain states like Michigan to become white ethnostates. These white supremacists understand that if they don't shoot at white people, then many white people are probably just going to keep their heads down and not do anything. It's exactly what happened in places like Germany, where if you see that the Germans are targeting Jews, you do everything possible to make sure that you aren't identified as a Jew. I believe that the average human who is trying to survive will do a whole lot of ugly things to keep themselves alive.

How do we prepare the American people for this civil war or insurgency or other such right-wing violence? Will it be a series of escalating events? Isolated acts of violence? Something spectacular, like 9/11?

Their ideal scenario is to coordinate, so that on a given day there would be multiple attacks. As I see it, it would almost feel like 9/11, where you wake up in the morning and you're watching TV and you know that something has happened and everything seems chaotic. You're not really sure who's in charge or what type of threat this is and what you should do about it.

I see a scenario where there are bombings in multiple state capitals, or a series of assassinations, or maybe both at the same time. Suddenly the federal government is facing a leaderless resistance. The country's leaders are trying to figure out how to respond. In the meantime, the American people are watching this all happen and wondering: What the hell's going on, who's in charge, and what should we do?

Some of these right-wing militias are going to want to capture territory in certain parts of the country and hold it. Some of them are going to pursue their own agendas. For example, I could imagine militias in Michigan saying, "We're never going to gain control of the federal government, but Michigan could be a white state we just have to convince all the nonwhites to leave. We do that by bombing their churches and targeting their stores with attacks. Eventually, the nonwhites will be forced to move south and we'll ultimately get what we want."

If the right-wing extremists are not able to coordinate their attacks, then we are just going to see a series of consistent attacks every few weeks. There will be a feeling that the country is under siege. Northern Ireland is a great example of this. The British military, as strong as it was, could not get rid of the IRA. The IRA continued to operate until the British government eventually negotiated with them.

If you had 15 minutes to brief President Biden or Attorney General Garland, what would you highlight as the first steps they should take to contain this threat?

Regulate social media. It's the easiest thing that the U.S. government can do. The five biggest tech companies are all American companies. Don't engage in censorship. Let people put whatever they want on social media, but regulate what tech companies are allowed to do in terms of their recommendation engines. Don't allow them to take the most incendiary material and push it out to the widest possible audience, because that is causing a range of really negative societal effects. These include helping to accelerate the decline of democracy, helping to grow the rise of ethnic nationalism and hate crimes and helping to make it easier to organize militias. Regulating social media would be the quickest and easiest way to reverse these negative effects.

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A new civil war? Maybe so but it won't look anything like the first one - Salon

In a video posted on Twitter, Udhaya, a folk artist, is seen explaining the horrific violence, and the casteist and transphobic slurs she faced from her partners family.

A Dalit transgender woman in Tirunelveli was critically injured after being brutally beaten up by the family of her partner, who belong to a dominant caste. The incident took place on the night of Thursday, March 24. A video shared on Twitter by trans rights activist Grace Banu shows Udhaya, a folk artist and a trans woman, talking about the violence she faced from her partners family.

They beat me up, tortured me and used abusive words. They also tried to stab me with a knife, but I managed to get hold of it and throw it away, said an injured Udhaya. She went on to state that her partners mother verbally assaulted her with casteist and transphobic slurs.

It was two years ago that he (Balanand, her partner) tied a thaali (mangalsutra) around my neck, Udhaya is seen saying in the video. She said he left her at the temple in which they were married, but his parents arrived and took her to their house on the pretext of being happy about their relationship. They even called me their daughter-in-law and asked me if I was well. But then they started to beat me up and torture me. He (Balanand) kept telling them not to hit me. He told them he was the one who tied that thaali around my neck and asked them to forgive me, Udhaya said.

Udhaya detailed the violence meted out to her by Balanands family, including by his mother and brother. She lost consciousness and was taken outside and dropped by the road, she added.

Udhaya was first admitted to the Tirunelveli Government Hospital with the help of a few transgender persons who came to her aid. She was shifted to the Nagercoil Government Hospital on March 26 because of her poor health condition, said Grace Banu. Udhaya is unable to open one of her eyes now because of the violence. She should get justice. Until then, we will not get her discharged from the hospital, she said.

The police said a case has been registered against five people Udhayas partner Balanand, his parents and two other relatives under three sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, IPC sections 506(2) (criminal intimidation), 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour a person), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), and 294(b) (sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words) at the Palavoor police station. All five of the accused are currently absconding and a special team has been formed to nab them, Tirunelveli Superintendent of Police P Saravanan told TNM.

Grace pointed out that the police had not invoked the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act initially. It was only after she got the Tirunelveli Collectorate to intervene that the FIR was altered on Monday, March 28, four days after the incident, she said. The police have, however, still not invoked the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, which is meant to provide protection to and ensure the welfare of transgender persons, she said, adding that SP Saravanan has promised to nab the culprits in two days.

However, the SP told TNM that the delay in invoking the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act was due to a lack of precedent, and that they were seeking legal opinion on the same. Once we get a clarification on this, we will definitely alter the FIR to invoke the Transgender Protection Act. As far as I know, this is the first time the Act is going to be invoked for a case like this. So it is necessary for us to get some clarification on this, SP Saravanan said.

Grace also questioned the media and activist groups. Nobody seems to be paying attention to this incident. Even Dalit groups are not willing to take it up. This is the kind of atrocity and violence that trans people have to face all the time and yet it goes completely unseen, she said. Dalit trans women are in fact the most oppressed section within the trans women community, Grace said, further pointing out that they, however, have been kept out of the Dalit movement for a long time.

When we talk about transphobia, people think it is limited to the idea of our identity as a transgender person. But in a patriarchal and casteist society, the kind of oppression that Dalit transgender people have to face is unprecedented. They are doubly oppressed. Over the past four days, I have been trying hard to bring what happened to Udhaya to the limelight. Even Dalit movements ignore this subsection of their community. Many of them know what happened, have understood the issue and offered support. But they are not ready to come to the forefront and help in our fight for Udhayas rights, said Grace.

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Dalit trans woman in TN brutally assaulted by partners family, no arrests yet - The News Minute

The futuristic megacity will have flying drone taxis, a Jurassic Parkstyle amusement park, and a giant artificial moon. The project though, aimed to repair the tarnished image of the kingdom, has earned criticism

An illustration of Neom, which will be built in Saudi Arabias Tabuk province. Image Courtesy: NEOM

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is back in the news with his ambitious project the NEOM city state.

Being built on the Red Sea in northwest Saudi Arabia, the $500 billion city-state promises to be humanitys next chapter.

Earlier this week, the prince announced that NEOM would house TROJENA, an all-year-round ski village, a nearly two-mile man-made freshwater lake and the Vault a 'vertical village within the mountain with a fusion of technology, entertainment and hospitality facilities'.

Lets take a look at what is being promised in this $500 billion city-state and why Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pushing for its construction.

All about NEOM

The new city-state is named from a combination of the Greek word for new and the Arabic term for future.

The plan for the city is to cover 10,000 square miles of Saudi Arabia's Tabuk province, near its borders with Jordan and Egypt.

A glance at the website reveals that the futuristic megacity is touted to be 33 times the size of New York City.

Initial plans for the city include flying drone taxis, a Jurassic Parkstyle amusement park, and a giant artificial moon that lights up nightly.

Reports state that the futuristic city-state is being built using artificial intelligence and clean energy sources. The planners of the city have said that they would provide bullet trains and hyperloop for transportation, but residents would be encouraged to use bicycles.

The BBC has reported that NEOM city is part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 plan to wean the country off oil the industry that made it rich.

The developers of the city also added that it would exist entirely outside the confines of the current Saudi judicial system, governed by an autonomous legal system that will be drafted up by investors.

Within NEOM, there would be Oxagon, a city floating on water spanning 7km (4.3 miles) - making it the largest floating structure in the world.

NEOM would also be home to TROJENA a mountain tourism destination, which will offer year-round outdoor skiing, a wellness resort and an interactive nature reserve, among other experiences.

According to a press release, Trojena expects to attract 700,000 visitors and 7,000 permanent residents by 2030. It was also claimed that the project would create 10,000 jobs and add 3bn riyals ($800m) to the Saudi economy.

Reason to build NEOM

Other than the obvious reason of tourism and generating money for the economy, experts note that there are other underlying reasons for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmans megacity.

Many believe that the opulent city is an attempt by the prince to repair the country's tarnished image. The Middle-Eastern nation has drawn ire over its military operations in Yemen, and also the alleged personal involvement in the killing of Washington Post journalist and Saudi government critics Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018.

The kingdom's reputation has further been tarnished owing to the crackdown on dissent in 2020.

Criticism for NEOM

One of the biggest criticisms that the Saudi prince is paying for his dream project is that the Huwaiti tribe, who resides on the land where the project is expected to come up, is being displaced.

The Guardian reports that at least 20,000 members of the tribe now face eviction due to the project, with no information about where they will live in the future.

In April 2020, tribal activist Abdul-Rahim al-Huwaiti was shot dead shortly after making videos protesting against his eviction, prompting outrage from human rights activists.

Alya Al-Huwaiti, a London-based Saudi human rights activist and dissident, and a member of the tribe, was quoted as telling Middle East Eye: "The message it sends to members of the tribe, especially, and to all the citizens of Saudi Arabia, is that the tyrant MBS is willing to commit international crimes such as forced displacement and destroy their homes and spend billions of their money for his delusional project. Its a message of anger and unprecedented oppression."

Critics also accuse Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of greenwashing - making grand promises about the environment to distract from reality.

But Fahad Nazer, the government spokesman, denies allegations of greenwashing and insists that Saudi Arabia is heading towards a green future.

With inputs from agencies

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Future or fantasy? All you need to know about Saudi ..w NEOM megacity, touted to be 33 times larger than NYC - Firstpost

IN the summer of 2013, I climbed Mt Elbrus, the highest mountain in Russia and in all of Europe.

The logistics of getting to the Caucasus region where it is located -- even just obtaining a visa -- was quite complicated, requiring me and my companions (we were an all-Filipino mountaineering team) to travel to Moscow, fly to a city called Mineralnye Vody, then drive over three hours to a village called Terskol before finally commencing the ascent to one of the Seven Summits of the World.

The expedition itself was very memorable: After several days of acclimatisation, our first summit bid was foiled by a snowstorm. Fortunately, a window of clear weather opened up the following day, allowing four of us including Filipino Everest climber Carina Dayondon who went on to reach all of the Seven Summits to reach the 5,642m peak.

After the climb, I spent some time in Moscow and made sure to visit its historical sites, not least of which were the Kremlin and Red Square.

Equally memorable as the climb, however, were the people we met along the way, from Anastasia, the travel agent who arranged our logistics, to Yevgeney, our Ukrainian lead guide who despite being largely emotionless throughout the climb hugged us at the summit and gave us a bottle of vodka to celebrate with afterwards.

Speaking of vodka, memorable too was the village doctor who treated one of our teammates head injury using it as a disinfectant before suturing his wound, then offering the bottle to us to drink!

As Russian President Vladimir Putin continues his invasion of Ukraine, I think of those people we met and the communities we visited. For the past two years, the Covid-19 pandemic has been painful enough for tour operators all over the world; the sudden isolation of their country would surely weigh heavily on Anastasias company, which has already sent emails offering deep discounts for future trips.

I think of Yevgeney, too, who is from Ukraine but probably still lives and works in Russia one of many people who have deep ties in both countries. The likely loss of income, and the even likelier loss of life in his community perhaps even within his family point to an unspeakable suffering shared by millions of his compatriots today.

Unfortunately, because we tend to conflate people with their governments, anybody or anything associated with Russia is now being affected by negative attitudes all over the world. Bars are shunning vodka, notwithstanding the fact that very little vodka actually comes from Russia. Some people are boycotting Russian restaurants and some restaurants are refusing to serve people from Russia.

Beyond the invasion of Ukraine, we also see this conflation in the many other conflicts past and present. For instance, at the height of the Philippines maritime tensions with China in 2016, some politicians called for a boycott of Chinese products, while other commentators wrongly questioned the loyalties of Chinese Filipinos, conflating them not just with the Chinese government but also with the citizens of China. Conversely, some Chinese netizens called for a boycott of bananas and mangoes from the Philippines, and phrases like starve the Filipinos to death circulated on Weibo.

Such actions and pronouncements are not helpful because they contribute to concretising toxic, divisive and often racist notions of nationalism. Moreover, they can lead people to think that they are the ones being targeted by other nations when wars are waged by their leaders (who, it is important to add, will only benefit from citizens who think theyre under attack and that their leaders are defending them).

Of course, this is not to stay that people cannot be complicit with their governments; even in Russia today, beyond the unholy endorsement from Russian Orthodox bishop Patriarch Kirill, there seems to be popular support for Putins war, notwithstanding courageous voices who oppose it like the jailed Alexei Navalny, Maria Ressas Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient Dmitry Muratov, and editor Marina Ovsyannikova, who boldly denounced the war on state television.

But even popular support is often a result of state disinformation and propaganda, and the primary responsibility still lies with the people who actually decide to take their countries down a path of destruction, oppression and war.

We need to direct our outrage towards the perpetrators of violence and injustice not at entire peoples who are often victims themselves of their own leaders and governments. The Philippine Inquirer/Asia News Network

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People are not their governments - The Star Online

Kate Turska is a Ukrainian New Zealander who is soon to depart New Zealand to collect her parents who have travelled more than 2000km to reach the border and escape the conflict. Video / Alex Burton

Before the war began, the pictures and videos of home came frequently.

Her new kitchen, in particular, was the source of immense pride for Kate Turska's 68-year-old mum, as technology conquered the 16,000 kilometres separating Turska's Auckland apartment and her childhood home, where her parents still lived, in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk.

Years of renovations had been stalled after pro-Russian insurgents seized and then occupied the city for 84 days in 2014, her parents' business collateral damage as residents fled bombs, shells and the loss of basic services such as power, water and internet.

"They lost their business, and they were living in a half-built house for a long time. And they finally started [again] in the last couple of years. My mum finally got her kitchen this year.

"She hadn't had a kitchen for the longest time and she was so excited, showing me videos ... she finally got to have it and she only used it for a month or two ... now it's just been left to be destroyed."

Turska's parents, Olha and Andrii, are among almost four million refugees who've left Ukraine since the country of 44m was invaded by Russia on February 24. Another 6.5m are displaced within Ukrainian borders.

After a precarious three-day journey across 2000km of their country the couple are now in the Hungarian capital Budapest, waiting to be met and brought to New Zealand by Turska under the Government's 2022 Special Ukraine Visa scheme for immediate family of Ukrainians with New Zealand citizenship or residency.

Aged 62 and 68, they'll start a new life in a country where they speak little of the language, have no friends and are completely reliant on Turska and her husband.

Her mother accepts their Sloviansk home probably won't be there in the unlikely event they ever return, Turska says.

"They don't even get to enjoy what was so much hard work to make this place a home.

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"As soon as the Russians come, if there's a whiff places are empty they'll rob and destroy ... that's what we've heard's happening in other territories, and that's what happened in 2014, my parents witnessed it."

Her father, who did all the work himself - right down to handmaking the kitchen chopping board - is more hopeful, albeit for reasons known only to himself.

"I don't know if he means it or he's just saying it to put a brave face on, but he says, 'The house will be there, we'll go back, you'll see'."

A house is "a material thing" and never trumps survival, but it still hurt to see the home she'd grown up in abandoned to its fate as her parents fled with barely more than the clothes on their backs, Turska says.

"They left everything behind. Whatever they took, they could fit in their suitcase."

It was a challenging escape.

With trains overflowing, infrequent and travelling via fighting hotspots Kharkiv and Kyiv, and buses sometimes coming under enemy fire, her parents at first weren't sure how they'd escape Sloviansk - initially not under attack, unlike neighbouring cities, Turska says.

They could hear "remote bombings", which became more frequent in the week before they left.

"There was also the constant air raid sirens, so they knew rockets were coming, but they were being stopped [by Ukrainian defences]."

Constant sirens - replaced by fear of the unknown during any lulls - made consistent sleep near impossible, and access to food and medicine became scarce as shops closed.

Her parents were also at particular risk from invading forces, as her father helped the Ukrainian Army in 2014 and was on a "Russian list" putting him at risk of being jailed, tortured or shot, and her mother now refuses to speak her first language, Russian, Turska says.

"We know how the Russians occupy towns ... and what they expect. If there's any resistance, those people disappear."

Despite everything, her parents refused her pleas to leave until assured they could come to New Zealand.

"They said, 'If we die here, we die here' but we're not going to be ... refugees in the middle of nowhere, or hiding in a [Western Ukraine] centre.

"At least this is home, we've survived 2014, hopefully we'll survive this'."

The breakthrough came when Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi announced the Special Ukraine Visa scheme for immediate family of Ukrainians with New Zealand citizenship or residency, and when a neighbour - having already fled - asked Turska's parents to bring his car west.

Her father began gathering fuel "bit by bit" before the couple queued three hours to fill the car's tank and left Sloviansk four days after Faafoi's announcement.

Queues, sometimes hours long, slowed their journey to safety, along with the challenge of finding safe routes around war zones and complying with varying curfews, Turska says.

"The first day they only made it 300km or 400km."

Unable to find a motel before curfew one night, they slept in their car.

By the time they reached the Hungarian border, news had arrived of bombing in Sloviansk, where an aunt and uncle remain.

Wider family live in Mariupol, fate unknown, the 38-year-old says.

The port city 250km south of Sloviansk has been encircled by attacking Russian forces for weeks, with the city's mayor estimating 5000 residents have been killed and 90 per cent of buildings damaged, with 40 per cent destroyed.

There's also no power, food or water, with desperate residents melting snow to drink.

Seventeen hundred kilometres west, Turska's parents are stunned by how "quiet" Budapest - population 1.7m - is, and how tired they are.

Before reaching safety, they were always trying to be brave, telling her, 'Everything's fine', Turska said before flying out of Auckland yesterday.

"[Now they say] 'We just keep sleeping'. They just can't get enough."

With careful budgeting, sales director Turska can afford to pay her parents way to, and then in, New Zealand.

Under the Special Ukraine Visa adult recipients can work, but any unable must rely on their sponsor for financial support, she says.

"When we talk about the [Government's] 4000 supposed visa allocations, it doesn't mean 4000 people will come. From what I know, and we speak to the community all the time, not a lot of people are applying for this visa."

About 1600 Ukrainians live in New Zealand.

Turska, who helped the Mahi for Ukraine group lobby Government for the Special Ukraine Visa is "tremendously grateful" for the initial response, but wants the scheme expanded so other Ukrainians in New Zealand - such as those on work visas - can bring in family.

A Mahi for Ukraine Givealittle page has been set up to help those currently eligible for the visa pay for flights and living costs, with the group also asking Air New Zealand to help families get to safety in New Zealand.

Turska also has a Givealittle page to send money directly to those in need, responding to requests from Ukraine-based friends and family.

"I started sending my own savings, and then started a Givealittle, and I've helped a number of hospitals, blood clinics, local defence units and animal shelters."

Turska's also been working with World Vision New Zealand, Mahi for Ukraine and others to encourage the Government to increase humanitarian support for Ukraine - currently $6m in humanitarian aid and $5m in non-lethal military assistance.

The Government needed to reflect the generosity Kiwis were already showing, World Vision New Zealand chief executive Grant Bayldon wrote this month.

Almost $1.5m has been given by the public to the joint World Vision-NZ Herald Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

The Special Ukraine Visa should be expanded to Ukrainians with New Zealand work visas and broadened to include more family members, more financial and practical help given to get family here and settled, and the refugee resettlement quota increased, Bayldon wrote.

Turska's confident more will be done.

"Once the Government engaged, they've been very responsive ... we're really trying our best to help Ukrainians who live here, and their families back in Ukraine."

She understands the temptation to look away from the horror.

"Nobody can handle so much destruction and human suffering ... but Ukraine is in the middle of Europe and these type of imperialistic agendas Russia has, they threaten the whole world's democracy.

"And in New Zealand ... Ukrainians are part of New Zealand society. We're your colleagues, your sisters and brothers, and we're affected."

Ukrainians have suffered centuries of oppression from Russia and "always wanted to be free", Turska says.

"They don't want to be like Soviet, they want to align with western values ... they don't want to watch all this corruption happening and Russia dragging us back into the 20th century."

Ukraine marks its 1991 independence from the Soviet Union every August 24, and tears during celebrations are common.

"People cry. I cry every year, because it means so much to Ukraine and Ukrainian people ... to have our own culture, our own language, and to be independent."

World Vision-NZ Herald Ukraine Crisis Appeal: worldvision.org.nz

Kate Turska's Givealittle: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/help-a-ukrainian-kiwi-to-standwithukraine-1

Advice from Mahi for Ukraine: https://en.ukraine.nz/

Mahi for Ukraine Givealittle: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/relocation-costs-for-ukrainians-fleeing-the-war

Read more here:

Russia-Ukraine war: Refugee couple leave behind newly-renovated home and are NZ-bound - New Zealand Herald

Good evening, lets start with todays top stories:

Though a Papal apology for atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples by the Catholic Church may not come until the Pope visits Canada, delegates to the Vatican today said Pope Francis received them openly.

In the morning, Pope Francis met with a Mtis delegation, and in the afternoon with an Inuit delegation, each for about an hour. On Thursday, First Nations delegates are scheduled to hold their own private meeting with the Pope, who is to hold a general audience with all three Indigenous groups on Friday.

Mtis National Council president Cassidy Caron said the Pope did not speak a lot during the Mtis meeting; he was apparently absorbed by the stories of the delegates and the residential-school survivors.

I hope that he takes the time between now and then [Friday] to translate those words from his head into his heart, said Ms. Caron, speaking with reporters after crossing St. Peters Square following the meeting.

Inuit leader Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), said he asked the Pope to intervene personally in the case of an Oblate priest, Johannes Rivoire, who was accused of sexually assaulting children in Nunavut.

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Putin doesnt appear ready for compromise in upcoming peace talks with Ukraine

A day before peace talks between Russia and Ukraine were set to resume in Turkey after more than two weeks, hopes for progress were already being lowered. A U.S. official said Russian President Vladimir Putin does not appear willing to compromise on his demands, while representatives of Ukraine warned not to expect any kind of breakthrough.

The total exodus of refugees from Ukraine now stands at 3.87 million, according to the latest tally announced Monday from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, with a deceleration noted in recent days. The mayor of Mariupol, meanwhile, says 160,000 civilians remain trapped in his city without heat or power, calling it a humanitarian crisis that can only be alleviated if the civilians are allowed to leave.

Local resident and shoemaker Gennady, who didn't give his full name, carries belongings from his destroyed house in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 28, 2022.ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO/Reuters

In Russia, the countrys leading independent newspaper suspended operations Monday after pressure from Russian authorities, a move that comes less than six months after its editor won the Nobel Peace Prize for his papers courageous reporting under difficult circumstances.

Opinion: Will Smiths slap of Chris Rock shows toxic masculinity is still alive under Hollywoods glossy sheen

Chris Rock may or may not still be feeling the sting of Will Smiths open-hand smack at the Oscars last night, but Hollywood certainly appears to be. As Johanna Schneller writes, Rocks joke about Jada Pinkett Smith was tasteless, but when Smith chose violence over words in defending his wife, he turned himself into the embodiment of toxic masculinity.

This afternoon, Smiths assault was condemned by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, which also said it was launching a review of the incident.

Canadian gymnasts call on Ottawa to launch probe into what they say is sports toxic culture

A group of more than 70 current and former elite Canadian gymnasts are calling on the federal government to investigate abusive practices and a toxic culture inside their sport.

The athletes say concerns over sexual, physical and emotional abuse have not been properly addressed by the sports governing body for several years. They want Ottawa to hold an independent investigation, with the findings and any subsequent recommendations made public.

Gymnasts who spoke to The Globe and Mail said they dont have confidence that problems reported inside Gymnastics Canada are investigated properly, fairly, and that athletes have the ability to speak up without fear of retribution.

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Lockheed Martin wins Canadian F-35 contract: The Canadian government has selected Lockheed Martin Corp., the American manufacturer of the F-35 fighter jet, as its preferred bidder in a $19-billion search for a new warplane.

Could April bring daycare relief in Ontario? In confirming his agreement to sign on to Justin Trudeaus nationwide program to reduce the average cost of child care to $10 a day, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said parents will begin to see the benefits of the deal starting next month.

Judge suggests Trump broke the law: Donald Trump engaged in a coup in search of a legal theory, U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote in a ruling that will allow a House of Representatives committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot to see e-mails to one of the former presidents lawyers.

MARKET WATCH

Wall Street closed higher today, as a sharp climb in shares of Tesla overshadowed weakness in energy and bank stocks, while Russia and Ukraine were poised to hold their first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks. A drop in the energy and materials sectors pushed Canadas main stock index slightly lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 94.65 points or 0.27 per cent to 34,955.89, the S&P 500 index climbed 32.46 points or 0.71 per cent to 4,575.52 and the Nasdaq composite added 185.60 points or 1.31 per cent to end at 14,354.90.

The S&P/TSX composite index slid 28.11 points or 0.13 per cent to 21,977.83. The loonie was trading at 79.41 U.S. cents.

Got a news tip that youd like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.

TALKING POINTS

Women and girls have the right to education and equality in Afghanistan and around the world

Sheema Khan: Denying education to women and girls is abhorrent. Forcing them to choose between their faith and their education, their participation in sports or their profession is oppression, plain and simple. In all of these instances, authorities have aimed to erase the agency of women and girls. And yet, they refuse to back down.

Canada can do great things, but the sensible centre mustnt be distracted by the fringes

Daniel Veniez and Rick Peterson: Our current political culture is a result of wedge politics, amped up on social media steroids, feeding off of division and conflict. This ultimately erodes confidence and respect for the institutions at the very heart of our democracy. It fosters small-minded thinking, timid policy and short-term tactics instead of a broad vision for our country.

LIVING BETTER

A spring classical concert round-up: The world premiere of Philip Glasss Symphony No. 13 and more

On Wednesday, Canadas National Arts Centre Orchestra arrives at Torontos Roy Thomson Hall for the world premiere of Philip Glasss Symphony No. 13, his ode to freedom of the press. Part of the thematic program Truth in our Times, the piece by the great American composer was commissioned by the NAC Orchestra as a tribute to the late Canadian-born journalist Peter Jennings.

TODAYS LONG READ

Drone footage of the coastal area of Pantai Mutiara, North Jakarta, cordoned off with dikes, with the view of Regatta condominiums.Joshua Irwandi/The Globe and Mail

How to move a capital city: An exclusive look at Indonesias plan to replace sinking, polluted Jakarta

An array of environmental problems in Indonesias current capital, Jakarta, prompted the government in 2019 to announce a plan to move the centre of government more than 1,000 kilometres away, at a cost of nearly $US35-billion. The transition to Nusantara, a newly designed forest city located in East Kalimantan, will begin as early as 2024 and construction is expected to continue up to 2045, finishing to coincide with the countrys 100th anniversary of independence.

While the expense is great, so are the consequences of staying put. Jakarta is sinking and vulnerable to floods, which have occurred nearly every year for the past two decades. Significant floods happened in 2002, 2007, 2013, 2015 and 2020, with the most recent causing an estimated loss of US$70-million. The government says 144 people have been killed in the past 20 years of floods.

But the process of building a new capital touted as a beacon of environmental responsibility is fraught with complications, from the displacement of rural populations to the damming of a nearby river and the environmentally sensitive efforts to clear industrial forest land for the city and surrounding region.

Read the visual feature by Joshua Irwandi.

Evening Update is compiled and written weekdays by an editor in The Globes live news department. If youd like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.

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Evening Update: Seeking reconciliation and healing, Indigenous delegates get an audience with the Pope - The Globe and Mail

Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation there after the Taliban takeover. Here, a law student in Kabul reports on a surprise Taliban announcement that Afghan schools above the sixth grade would continue to be closed to girls, just as they were scheduled to reopen for them. He also comments on a disconcerting surge in anti-Persian nationalism among Taliban leaders that is having a variety of negative social consequences. For privacy and security reasons, we are withholding our correspondents name. The text has only been lightly edited to respect the authors voice.

It was a dark day indeed. On Wednesday, girls in Kabul were to start school again and try to adapt to the new life under the Taliban. Many, including my own sister, went to school after seven months of being away from their fundamental right to education. A sense of joy was visible on the faces of these innocent girls, to go out again and meet their friends and teachers. But that very morning, thousands of girls were turned back and not permitted to enter their schools. Many who had gotten in were forced out of their classes after the Taliban announced at the very last minute that their schools will stay closed to girls until further notice.

My sister said: after the teachers came in to tell us to leave and informed us of the situation, girls slowly left their classes in heartbreak, and soon enough the halls were filled with wailing. Girls and their teachers wept together in grief as if someone had died.

The girls schools are kept shut, even though all the the requirements laid down by the Taliban, including the special hijab dress, female teachers, and subjects aligned with their perception of Islamic values have all been met. But still girls are refused education.

And this is not all that is going on in Afghanistan now. There is also a surge in tribal nationalism, embraced by the Taliban government. In 1998 a book entitled the Second Saqqawists told a young generation of Pathans how Persian/Farsi speakers in Afghanistan were becoming dominant and that Pathans culture and their Pashto language would be forgotten, unless they prevented that. The author also reintroduced a concept called Persianization, using it to divide the Pathans in Afghanistan between actual Pathans and those who are Persianized, speak Farsi and have been influenced by Tajiks. The author argued that although Afghan leaders had been mostly Pathan, governance was mostly performed by Pathan Persian speakers, and that their influence in art, music and socio-cultural factors was a threat to true Pathan identity.

And that is how the Afghan nationalists were born. Although the nationalists had been around for years, this book pinpointed a supposedly threat from other ethnic groups to Pathan identity, which in turn provoked young boys and narrow-minded individuals and tribal leaders to fight for that. The movement of nationalism/fascism in Afghanistan believes in tribal power, and that governance should belong to a certain group.

The phrase history is repeating itself is widely known and rarely seen in practice, but here we are seeing it verbatim from history books. Taliban are known for being Islamic fundamentalists and extremists, though that is not all. Taliban are also very deeply rooted in nationalism and fascism, believing in exclusivity of leadership and government to certain tribes. Thus, every decision that is taken in this government is filtered to whether it is aligned with their tribal interests.

Since Kabul fell in August up to the present time, there have been mild aggressions against Persian language, commonly coming from the bottom of the Talibans ranks. It is noteworthy to point out that Farsi has been in effect the governments language from the time of the old empires and kingdoms that ruled in this land through to the Anglo-Afghan wars and beyond. As a British general wrote in a letter to British officials in India, in response to a question about what language the British should prefer in running Afghanistan, he wrote Persian, as it is French of the east.

The Taliban have come out in pursuit of changing that. Now after barely more than half a year of their reign, mild aggressions have turned into polices coming directly from their leaders, such as omitting Persian text from universities names, changing the names of villages and streets from Persian and erasing Persian from government websites. In their last attempt to fight a cultural battle with oppression and guns, the Taliban has declared that celebration of Nowruz/Naw-ruz (New day) is henceforward Haram. Nowruz is the first day of the new year in the Persian calendar. This holiday has been celebrated in Afghanistan since the birth of its people. Nowruz is embedded in Persian and Zoroastrian mythology and is considered an international day, celebrated from Moscow to Kabul and Los Angeles. The day marks the rebirth of nature, and is celebrated by Christians, Muslims and Jews as well as Zoroastrian communities in every corner of the world. The Taliban have decided that because Nowruzs origin is embedded with Mithraism and Zoroastrianism, it is not permitted by Islam, though many Islamic scholars have made it clear that Nowruz is not in contrary to Islam. The obvious reason for the Taliban stance is resentment against other cultures, especially Persian culture. As beautifully put by the Greek poet, they are trying to bury us, not knowing we are seeds. And that is how our story will turn out, we will grow back stronger, in a garden where diversity is appreciated, music and art are encouraged and where, for Gods sake, girls are welcomed in schools.

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Afghanistan dispatch: 'thousands of girls were turned back and not permitted to enter their schools' - JURIST

Social and political issues have been ravaging our world since the beginning of time.

But that never stops Hollywood from giving its two cents about everything.

Whether theyre winners or presenters, A-listers have taken to the Academy Awards stage year after year, decade after decade, to voice their opinions on matters that plague the globe, hoping to enlighten the worldwide audience on whatever issue they feel so strongly about.

The prestigious Oscars podium has become a designated, glorified soapbox for the so-called Hollywood elite to chime in on controversial topics including Hollywoods gender pay gap, oppressed peoples rights and climate change all subjects that have found their spotlight on the Dolby Theatre stage.

This years star-studded ceremony set for 8 p.m. on March 27 and airing on ABC will surely be no different.

Here are just some of the stars including Oscar-winners Joaquin Phoenix, Patricia Arquette and (in absentia) Marlon Brando who took the Oscars stage by storm and told the general public how they should ponder the worlds greatest problems.

Former couple and liberal die-hards Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins had a wild moment at the 1993 show when they presented the award for Best Editing together.

During their time at the podium, Robbins, 63, said he wanted to call attention to more than 200 Haitians who were being held at Guantanamo Bay. Their crime: testing positive for the HIV virus, he declared. Sarandon, 75, then urged the US government to rectify the situation.

On their behalf, and on behalf of all the people living with HIV in this country we would like to ask our governing officials in Washington to admit that HIV is not a crime, and to admit these people into the United States, the actress said.

In an interesting twist, the left-leaning duo announced that the Best Editing award went to Joel Cox for Unforgiven, a film that won three additional Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for conservative stalwart, actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood, 91.

Frances McDormand won her second of three Best Actor Oscars in 2018 for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and drove audiences attention to Hollywoods gender pay disparity.

The 64-year-old actress implored every female nominee in the theater to stand up with her and demanded that industry execs pay attention to female actors.

We all have stories to tell and projects we need financed, she said in her speech. Dont talk to us about it at the parties tonight. Invite us into your office in a couple days, or you can come to ours, whatever suits you best, and well tell you all about them. I have two words to leave with you tonight, ladies and gentlemen: inclusion rider.'

Joaquin Phoenix, 47, has been an outspoken vegan for decades, and at the 2020 ceremony, he spoke at length depth about the distressing issues were facing, including gender equality, racism, animal rights and environmental concerns.

I think at times we feel or are made to feel that we champion different causes. But for me, I see commonality, the Joker actor said as he proceeded to go in-depth with the few minutes he had onstage. I think, whether were talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, were talking about the fight against injustice.

He went on to claim that people have become very disconnected from the natural world and, perhaps ironically, saying that many people share the belief that were the center of the universe.

We go into the natural world and we plunder it for its resources. We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable. Then we take her milk thats intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal, he droned on.

He then extolled about his extraordinary life as a Hollywood A-lister.

I think the greatest gift that its given me, and many of us in this room, is the opportunity to use our voice for the voiceless.

Native American civil rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather stepped in for Marlon Brando at the 1973 show when he refused to accept the prestigious Best Actor award for The Godfather and instead sent in Sacheen in his place to protest the mistreatment of indigenous people by Hollywood.

While her speech earned both applause and boos from the audience, she firmly stood her ground.

The reasons for [Brandos refusal] are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry excuse me and on television in movie reruns, and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee, said Littlefeather, now 75. I beg at this time that I have not intruded upon this evening and that we will, in the future, our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity.

Not long after, Clint Eastwood before presenting the Best Picture Oscar controversially quipped, I dont know if I should present this award on behalf of all the cowboys shot in all the JohnFordwesterns over the years.

Patricia Arquette, 53, spent much of her time accepting the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award forBoyhood declaring her stance on equal pay for women.

To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody elses equal rights, she stated in her speech. Its our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America.

When the drama Spotlight which chronicled how the Boston Globe exposed allegations of child molestation in the Catholic Church won Best Picture in 2016, the producers and cast made their way to the stage to accept the statuette. One producer, Michael Sugar, had a bone to pick with Pope Francis about protecting kids from sexual abuse.

This film gave a voice to survivors and this Oscar amplifies that voice, which we hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican, Sugar expressed. Pope Francis, its time to protect the children and restore the faith.

British thespian Vanessa Redgrave roared about the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums during her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress Oscar forJulia.

[Their] behavior is an insult to the stature of Jews all over the world and to their great and heroic record of struggle against fascism and oppression, said Redgrave, 85. And I salute that record, and I salute all of you, for having stood firm and dealt a final blow against that period when Nixon and McCarthy launched a worldwide witch hunt against those who tried to express in their lives and their work the truth that they believed in.

Former Vice President Al Gore hit the stage to receive the Oscar for Best Documentary for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which looked at the dangers of global warming. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gore spent his speech preaching about climate change.

My fellow Americans, people all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. Its not a political issue, its a moral issue, said Gore, 73. We have everything we need to get started with the possible exception of the will to act. Thats a renewable resource. Lets renew it.

Penn famously won the award for Best Actor for Milk, in which he portrayed slain gay activist and lawmaker Harvey Milk.

The Mystic River actor advocated for LGBTQ+ rights in his speech, urging anti-gay protesters to re-examine themselves.

Those who voted for the ban against gay marriage need to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame if they continue that way of support, Penn, now 61, said. Weve got to have equal rights for everyone. Full marriage rights were subsequently passed via the 2015 Supreme Court decision inObergefell v. Hodges.

Leonardo DiCaprio, 47, is an outspoken advocate for climate change and used his time on the 2016 Oscars stage to do just that. After he won the trophy for his role as a hunter in The Revenant, he seemingly spoke directly to world leaders to prompt them to help the environment.

We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters, but who speak for all of humanity, for the indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people out there who would be most affected by this, he said. For our childrens children, and for those people out there whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed.

Gael Garcia Bernal, 43, and Hailee Steinfeld, 25, presented Best Animated Feature in 2017 and took a shot at former President Donald Trump. The Mexican Motorcycle Diariesactor questioned the businessman and reality show host-turned-politicians idea of building a wall along the border of Mexico.

Actors are migrant workers; we travel all over the world. We built a life that cannot be divided, Bernal proclaimed. As a Mexican, as a Latin American, as a migrant worker, as a human being, Im against any form of wall that wants to separate us.

When Richard Gere a longtime friend of 86-year-old exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama got up to present the award for Best Art Direction in 93, he used his few minutes to directly address then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping about the horrendous human rights situation in China, as well as Tibet.

The 72-year-old Pretty Woman star said he hoped that something miraculous, really kind of movielike, could happen here, outlining a scenario where we could all kind of send love and truth and a kind of sanity to Deng Xiaoping right now in Beijing, that he will take his troops and take the Chinese away from Tibet and allow these people to live as free independent people again.

Gere was banned from attending the ceremony again until 2013 when his 2002 movie musical Chicago which was nominated for 12 awards, and won Best Picture, in 2003 was feted with a cast reunion at the ceremony.

We have a bonus 13th celeb for you. Matthew McConaughey, who in 2014 won Best Actor for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, and used his soapbox to support no cause in particular. He offered up a poignant if rambling speech about God, the late stage actor Charles Laughton, and his own fathers fondness for gumbo, lemon meringue pie, Miller Lite and dancing. (Watch it above.)

All right, all right, all right!

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13 times Oscar-winners used the podium as an obnoxious political soapbox - New York Post

Drive through the North End and other largely Black neighborhoods in Champaign-Urbana, and the deep-rooted poverty and extreme racial disparities jump out at you.

You will not see major supermarkets, high-end shopping centers, restaurants, government offices or large employers. You will observe numerous vacant lots, an abundance of boarded-up and substandard houses mainly rental properties and several apparently unemployed men standing on corners and lolling about in parking lots.

That Black neighborhoods in C-U are characterized by concentrated poverty is easily discernable. So, too, are the great disparities in wealth between Black and White neighborhoods. Yet the depth of Black impoverishment and the extent of the racial gaps are not as obvious. Because Black neighborhoods are secreted away in the inner city, they and their conditions are largely invisible to those traveling the regions main thoroughfares. Therefore, the extensiveness of Black folks socioeconomic deprivation is largely cloaked from the view of most C-U residents and visitors.

Well, 24/7 Wall St., a financial news and opinion company, has lifted the veil. In the words of Parliament, the quintessential funk band, they tore the roof off the sucker.

On March 1, senior editor Grant Suneson released an updated list of the worst places for Black people to live in the United States. Out of the countrys 383 metropolitan regions, C-U ranks 20th. Lets meditate on that for a moment.

24/7 Wall St. used 2019 statistical data from the U.S. Census Bureaus American Community Survey, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics to construct its rankings. Its analysts built evaluative criteria based on eight quality-of-life indicators that measure racial disparities in unemployment, poverty, high school and college education, income, homeownership, mortality, and incarceration rates between Black and White residents in each of the 383 metropolitan areas.

The statistical differences in these eight indicators between Black and White people in C-U are enormous. Race-based discrepancies in C-U far exceed those throughout the country and in the state. Nationally, Black median households earned $45,870, or just 61 percent, of the White, not Hispanic median household yearly income of $74,912. In C-U, however, White households $61,910 median income is nearly double that of Black households $31,406.

In 2019, the nationwide unemployment rate for Black people was 6.1 percent; for White people, it was 3.3 percent. In C-U, the rates were 10.9 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. In other words, while on a national level, Black folk experienced unemployment 1.8 times greater than White people, in C-U it was 2.9 times greater!

The national poverty rate for Black people in 2019 was a little more than 19 percent, compared with 10.3 percent for white people. In Illinois, Black folks poverty rate was 24.8 percent, while White peoples was 9.3 percent. However, in Champaign, during the same period, Black people had a poverty rate of 34.2 percent. Urbanas rate was slightly less than Champaigns at 33.8 percent but still much higher than the state and national averages.

Nationally, Black folks homeownership rate in 2019 was a little more than 41 percent. Meanwhile, slightly more than 73 percent of White Americans owned their homes. For a century, the homeownership gap between Black and white people ranged between 20 and 30 percentage points, but in 2019, it ballooned to 32 percentage points. Yet even the highest national racial homeownership gap pales in comparison to C-Us. At 64.7 to 24.4 percent, White folks own homes at nearly three times the rate of Black people. Moreover, its an immense 40.3-percentage-point difference!

Homeownership has tremendous ramifications for individuals and communities. It creates neighborhood stability, which translates into greater civic engagement and individual educational success.

According to the Urban Institute, youth who live in a crowded household anytime before age 19 are less likely to graduate high school and have lower educational attainment at age 25. The institute also discovered that people who experience being behind on rent, moving multiple times and being without a home also suffer greater health adversities.

Black folk in C-U experience extensive concentrated poverty and extreme racial inequalities. C-Us Black population is quite a bit worse off than the rest of the state and nation.

Black folk in the twin cities are experiencing a multigenerational crisis. Gun violence is but a visible symptom of the deeply rooted socioeconomic crises that batter and bludgeon C-Us Black communities. Alleviating the cause of systematic anti-Black racial oppression should be the priority of C-Us governmental bodies, churches, social-welfare agencies and social-movement organizations.

This will require truly innovative thinking and bold action.

Our northern neighbor Evanston offers a model. Among local reparations initiatives, Evanstons is a bright shining star. There, the city council acknowledged the citys role in historic racial oppression. It launched the Restorative Housing Program and funded it by taxing the citys cannabis retailers. The initiative aims to revitalize, preserve and stabilize African American homeownership. The program establishes a vehicle for Black folk to build intergenerational wealth.

Certainly, its underfunded, but even so, Evanston has established a potentially transformative blueprint.

Like our self-emancipated ancestors, let us follow the North Star.

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Real Talk | Lifting the veil on racial oppression in C-U - News-Gazette.com