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  • Europe To Use Frozen Russian Profits To Buy Arms For Ukraine

    Russians have begun a second day of voting in a presidential election that has seen sporadic protests as some, defying threats of stiff prison sentences, showed their anger over a process set up to hand Vladimir Putin another six years of rule.

    By midday of March 16, Russian police had opened at least 15 criminal probes into incidents of vandalism in polling stations, independent media reported.

    More than one-third of Russia’s 110 million eligible voters cast ballots in person and online on the first day of the country’s three-day presidential election, the Central Election Commission (TsIK) said after polls closed on March 15 in the country’s westernmost region of Kaliningrad.

    Balloting started up again on March 16 in the Far East of Russia and will continue in all 11 time zones of the country, as well as the occupied Crimean Peninsula and four other Ukrainian regions that Moscow partially controls and baselessly claims are part of Russia.

    Putin is poised to win and extend his rule by six more years after any serious opponents were barred from running against him amid a brutal crackdown on dissent and the independent media.

    The ruthless crackdown that has crippled independent media and human rights groups began before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine was launched, but has been ratcheted up since.

    Almost exactly one month before the polls opened, Putin’s most vocal critic, opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, died in an isolated Arctic prison amid suspicious circumstances as he served sentences seen as politically motivated.

    Some Russians expressed their anger over Putin’s authoritarian rule on March 15, vandalizing ballot boxes with a green antiseptic dye known as “zelyonka” and other liquids.

    Among them was a 43-year-old member of the local election commission in the Lenin district of Izhevsk city, the Interior Ministry said on March 16.

    The official was detained by police after she attempted to spill zelyonka into a touchscreen voting machine, the ministry said. Police didn’t release the woman’s name, but said she was a member of the Communist Party.

    Similar incidents were reported in at least nine cities, including St. Petersburg, Sochi, and Volgograd, while at least four voters burned their ballots in polling stations.

    In Moscow, police arrested a woman who burned her ballot inside a voting booth in the city’s polling station N1527 on March 15, Russian news agencies reported, citing election officials in the Russian capital.

    The news outlet Sota reported that that woman burned a ballot with “Bring back my husband” handwritten on it, and posted video purportedly showing the incident.

    There also was one report of a firebombing at a polling station in Moscow, while In Russia’s second-largest city, St. Petersburg, a 21-year-old woman was detained after she threw a Molotov cocktail at an entrance of a local school that houses two polling stations.

    “It’s the first time I’ve see something like this — or at least [such attacks] have not been so spectacular before,” Roman Udot, an election analyst and a board member of the independent election monitor Golos, told RFE/RL.

    “The state launched a war against [the election process] and this is the very striking harvest it gets in return. People resent these elections as a result and have started using them for completely different purposes [than voting].”

    Russia’s ruling United Russia party claimed on March 16 that it was facing a widespread denial-of-service attack — a form of cyberattack that snarls internet use — against its online presence. The party said it had suspended nonessential services to repel the attack.

    Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers proposed amendments to the Criminal Code to toughen punishments for those who try to disrupt elections “by arson and other dangerous means.” Under the current law, such actions are punishable by five years in prison, and the lawmakers proposed to extend it to up to eight years in prison.

    No Serious Challengers

    Before his death, Navalny had hoped to use the vote to demonstrate the public’s discontent with both the war and Putin’s iron-fisted rule.

    He called on voters to cast their ballot at 12 p.m. on March 17, naming the action “Noon Against Putin.” HIs wife and others have since continued to call for the protest to be carried out.

    Viral images of long lines forming at this time would indicate the size of the opposition and undermine the landslide result the Kremlin is expected to concoct.

    Putin, 71, who has been president or prime minister for nearly 25 years, is running against three low-profile politicians — Liberal Democratic Party leader Leonid Slutsky, State Duma deputy speaker Vladislav Davankov of the New People party, and State Duma lawmaker Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party — whose policy positions are hardly distinguishable from Putin’s.

    Boris Nadezhdin, a 60-year-old anti-war politician, was rejected last month by the TsIK because of what it called invalid support signatures on his application to be registered as a candidate. He appealed, but the TsIk’s decision was upheld by Russia’s Supreme Court.

    “Would like to congratulate Vladimir Putin on his landslide victory in the elections starting today,” European Council President Charles Michel wrote in a sarcastic post on X, formerly Twitter, on March 15.

    “No opposition. No freedom. No choice.”

    Ukraine and many Western governments have condemned Russia for holding the vote in regions it occupies parts of, calling the move illegal.

    UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres added his voice to the criticism on March 15, saying he “condemns the efforts of the Russian Federation to hold its presidential elections in areas of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation.”

    His spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, added that the “attempted illegal annexation” of those regions has “no validity” under international law.

    Many observers say Putin warded off even the faintest of challengers to ensure a large margin of victory that he can point to as evidence that Russians back the war in Ukraine and his handling of it.

    With reporting by Reuters and AP


    This content originally appeared on News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and was authored by News – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • North Korea forces residents to buy photos of recent satellite rocket launch

    North Korea is forcing its citizens to buy large decorative photos depicting a recent rocket launch to display in their homes as a sign of patriotism. But the people are pushing back, saying the launches and the photos themselves are a waste of money that could be better spent on feeding the people, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.

    “On Jan. 28, each neighborhood-watch unit distributed decorative photos to each household which show scenes from the satellite launch,” a resident of the northeastern province of  North Hamgyong, who requested anonymity for personal safety, told RFA Korean. “Residents who refused to receive the photo were forced to take them, saying it was an order from the Party.”

    The vinyl-coated photo placards depict the night-time rocket launch of the country’s first military reconnaissance satellite, the Manrikyong-1, which was successfully launched into orbit in November, after failed launches in May and August, said a resident of the northeastern province of Ryanggang. 

    It’s rather large for a photo, 29 centimeters (11 inches) long and 19 centimeters (7.5 inches) wide, and is being sold for 1,500 won (18 US cents), a resident from the northern province of Ryanggang said.  In the past, the government gave away more items for free to its people, but now it is struggling financially.

    This is the first time that the government is distributing photos of satellite and missile launches. 

    The North Hamgyong resident said that people are complaining that they have seen enough news about the satellite in state-run TV and newspapers, and that posting them in their homes seems excessive. 

    “But the head of the neighborhood watch unit threatened the residents, saying ‘If the Party orders you to post them at home, you will follow the order at all costs,’” he said.

    The war-like images on the placards also rubbed some residents the wrong way, the resident said.

    “They dislike seeing missile launches because they believe that every time a missile or satellite is launched, several years’ worth of food for the people is thrown into the sky,” he said. “Launching missiles or satellites is an action that increases hunger among residents.” 

    For some of the poorer residents, the photos are expensive,” the North Hamgyong resident said.

    “People would refuse them even if they were offered money to take the placards, but the authorities are going door to door asking us to pay for them,” he said. “Poor residents do not have even 1,000 won (12 cents). Some people are explicitly saying that they would rather receive food than satellite launch photos.”

    People are not thinking about rockets, though, the Ryanggang resident said. 

    “For residents who urgently need to make a living, the military situation between North and South Korea must take a backseat,” he said.“No matter how much the Party emphasizes the military standoff and instills a warlike atmosphere, most people show no response or interest.”

    Translated by Claire S. Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Kim Jieun for RFA Korean.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses”


    This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by ProPublica.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Thailand to buy power from Mekong River dams in Laos

    Laos is set to sign agreements with Thailand to sell electricity from three dams being built on the Mekong River, despite opposition to the projects’ construction voiced by villagers and NGOs, according to Lao and Thai sources.

    The agreements between the two countries name the Luang Prabang Dam, Pak Beng Dam and Pak Lay Dam, all in northern Laos, as the power sources, sources say.

    “All of these projects are moving forward,” an official of the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines told RFA on Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “The dam developers are ready to begin construction of those dams as soon as the power purchase agreements are signed.”

    The agreements between Laos and Thailand are scheduled to be signed in May this year, according to a March 15 report in the Bangkok Post.

    Developers of the Pak Beng Dam are now making changes to the dam’s design, however, and the Lao government has not yet finished a Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) required for the Luang Prabang Dam by UNESCO, RFA’s ministry source said.

    Developers will provide missing or incomplete documents if work on any project is delayed, the official said. “And the Thai side will then decide when and which dam will enter their market.”

    Speaking to RFA this week, Lao villagers and NGO representatives in Thailand reiterated their opposition to the proposed dams, pointing to negative effects on the region’s ecosystem and the planned displacement of thousands of villagers living downstream.

    “People here are opposed to the dams, especially the large dams, said one villager living in Oudomxay province’s Pak Beng district near the site of the planned Pak Beng Dam. “They don’t want the dams because they are the ones who will be affected.

    “However, here in Laos they just discuss their opposition among themselves and not with the authorities,” the villager said, speaking like RFA’s other sources in Laos on condition of anonymity.

    “There will be too many damaging impacts,” agreed a villager living near the Luang Prabang Dam site in Luang Prabang province’s Chomphet district. “Most villagers here don’t want this dam to be built, because the Mekong River is the main source of food for their families. If this dam is built, all our fish will disappear.”

    Hannarong Yaowalerd, chairman of the Foundation for Sustainable Water Management in Thailand, said that Thailand should wait for more studies to be completed before signing deals allowing the proposed dams to begin operations.

    “The Pak Beng Dam needs to be technically improved,” he said. “And as for the Luang Prabang Dam, the most concerning issue now is the impact it may have on Luang Prabang Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We don’t need to sign the agreements now.”

    The Thai government is now pushing for the agreements to be signed because it wants to satisfy the interests of the dams’ developers, Yaowalerd said.

    ‘Not listening to concerns’

    A representative of the Love Chiang Khong Group, a Thai NGO in Chiang Rai province bordering Laos, meanwhile said the Thai government is refusing to listen to the concerns of Thai people likely to be affected by the dams.

    “They don’t care about cultural, historical or heritage sites. They also won’t care about damage to the ecosystem,” he said, also declining to be named. “The Mekong River is common property. Everyone depends on it.

    “The government’s Procedure for Notification, Prior Consultation and Agreement (PNPCA) is only ceremonial and meaningless,” he added.

    According to the website of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), a multi-nation group monitoring water flows and other conditions on the river, the Luang Prabang Dam built in Luang Prabang’s Chomphet district by Thailand’s Xayaburi Power Company and PetroVietnam Power, will cost $3 billion and displace 2,285 villagers.

    Construction of ports, a workers’ camp, power lines and water supply for the project are now complete, “and all heavy equipment has been brought in and an access road now 80 percent finished,” a Chomphet district official told RFA on Friday.

    The Pak Beng Dam, built by China Datang Overseas Investment, will cost $2.4 billion and affect 5,726 villagers, according to the MRC. An access road to the dam’s work site is now also in place, an official of Pak Beng district in Oudomxay province said.

    And the Pak Lay Dam, built in Xayaburi province by Gulf Energy Development and a Chinese state enterprise, Power China Resources Ltd., will cost $2.13 billion and affect 4,800 villagers in the province. “A road, power line, water supply and workers’ camp are now 80 percent complete, and some heavy equipment is now in place,” a district official said.

    Laos has staked its future on power generation in a controversial bid to become the “Battery of Southeast Asia,” exporting electricity from more than 50 large and small-scale dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries.

    Though the Lao government sees power generation as a way to boost the country’s economy, the projects have faced criticism because of their environmental impact, displacement of villagers and questionable arrangements.

    Reported by RFA’s Lao Service. Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Richard Finney.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Thailand agrees to buy more electricity from Laos

    Thailand has agreed in principle to buy more electricity from Laos after the two Southeast Asian neighbors signed an agreement that expands energy cooperation between the two Mekong River neighbors.

    The memorandum of understanding, signed by both countries’ respective ministers of energy March 4, promotes clean energy, and creates more opportunities to invest in Laos’ energy sector, an official of the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines told RFA’s Lao Service Monday.

    Laos has staked its future on power generation in a controversial bid to become “The Battery of Southeast Asia,” exporting electricity from more than 50 large and small-scale dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries.

    Selling the excess energy has been a problem for heavily indebted Laos, which has agreements to buy the power from the dams at a fixed rate, but sells it at market rates, which has been lower due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    Though the agreement paves the way for Thailand to purchase more power from Laos, prices still must be negotiated.

    “The next step will be for each dam developer to negotiate prices and a power purchase agreement directly with the buyer, Thailand,” the Lao energy official said on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

    The energy official also said that Laos plans to build even more dams including at least five more on the Mekong River mainstream. Though he acknowledged that selling energy from the dams has been difficult recently as neighboring countries have their own power surpluses. Thailand, however, remains Laos’ largest market.

    Laos’ state-run power company Électricité du Laos (EDL) is optimistic about the deal, an EDL official told RFA.

    “Data shows that the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand is the most reliable buyer of our power,” the EDL official said.

    Environmentalist opposition

    Thai environmental advocacy groups criticized the agreement, saying that it would promote more degradation of the Mekong River’s ecology and impact riparian communities.

     

    “It’s not fair. The Thai government claims that the economy will recover after the COVID-19 pandemic and electric vehicles will be on their way, so they are saying they will need more power. But that’s just what they claim,” Witoon Permpongsacharoen from the Mekong River Energy and Ecology Network in Thailand told RFA.

    “Laos on the other hand isn’t listening to any criticism. Its government always believes that building dams is the only way that they can develop the country, but that’s not always true,” Permpongsacharoen said.

    He pointed out that Thailand has a 41 percent surplus of power, and it doesn’t need more from Laos.

    “The Thai government made this decision only for the interest of the Thai investors. They don’t care about the environmental and social impact of this deal. They don’t care that the dams are going to make climate change worse and create more methane in our air,” he said.

    The move only helps dam developers, a member of the Love Chiang Khong Group, a Thai riparian activist organization told RFA.

    “We in this group have been aggressively opposed to all these dams. It’s clear that the investors who are going to build dams in Laos do not care about the people,” said the activist, who requested anonymity to speak freely.

    “We’re going to continue to fight against these dams and for the people, not to mention all the aquatic species and wildlife in the Mekong region,” the activist said.

    According to a report published by the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines, Laos has contracts to sell power to most of its neighbors, with Thailand on the hook for 10,500 megawatts. Laos is projected to be able to produce as high as 28,000 megawatts by 2030.

    Laos has built dozens of hydropower dams on the Mekong River and its tributaries in pursuit of its controversial economic plans.

    Though the Lao government sees power generation as a means to boost the country’s economy, the projects have faced criticism because of their environmental impact, displacement of villagers and questionable financial arrangements.

    Translated by Max Avary. Written in English by Eugene Whong.


    This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by Radio Free Asia.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.