This content originally appeared on Human Rights Watch and was authored by Human Rights Watch.
This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by The Real News Network.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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We’re joined by award-winning Cherokee writer and journalist Rebecca Nagle, whose new book, By the Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land, has just been released. By taking a look at the more than a century-long fight for tribal sovereignty in eastern Oklahoma, Nagle investigates the development and future of tribal law since the beginning of colonial relations between Indigenous peoples and European settlers, from the Trail of Tears to the “war on terror.” “A lot of times we treat Native American history like this distant chapter and the legal terrain it created as some sort of siloed backwater of American law, but actually it’s foundational,” she says.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Read RFA coverage of this story in Burmese.
Thousands of people have fled from fighting between ethnic minority guerrillas and Myanmar junta troops that entered a fifth day on Thursday, and at least 10 civilians have been killed, residents told Radio Free Asia.
The autonomy-seeking Kachin Independence Army, or KIA, and allied militias loyal to a shadow civilian administration, have made significant gains in Myanmar’s northernmost Kachin state since launching an offensive in March.
The insurgents have forced junta troops in the resource-rich region on the border with China into dwindling areas of control, mirroring setbacks elsewhere in Myanmar for the military that seized power in a 2021 coup.
A resident of Hpakant township, a major jade-producing region, said at least 10 civilians were killed in crossfire between insurgents and the military in Hseng Taung village since the anti-junta forces surrounded it and launched an attack on Sunday.
“People died after being hit by both heavy and small weapons. There are a lot of wounded,” said the resident who declined to be identified for safety reasons.
“Many, many houses have been destroyed. Bullets were raining down.”
Junta airstikes also sparked major fires in the town, witnesses said.
Most of those killed were men, he said, adding that a peace activist named Yup Zau Hkawng, who was wounded in shelling on Monday.
By Thursday, the KIA-led attackers had seized and burned down the Hseng Taung police station, sources close to an anti-junta People’s Defense Force, or PDF, allied with the KIA told RFA.
RFA telephoned Kachin state’s junta spokesperson, Moe Min Thein, for comment but he did not respond by the time of publication and a telecommunications outage in the area made it difficult to check accounts of the fighting.
About 60 soldiers were at the police station when the attack was launched, said another resident, who also asked to remain anonymous.
“The Hseng Taung police station was captured but fighting has been going on after they set it on fire,” he said. “Some junta soldiers are dead, others were caught alive, and the rest were able to flee.”
KIA fighters had sealed off all roads in and out of the village, said the KIA spokesman, Col. Naw Bu.
Residents said about 10,000 people had fled from the village over the five days of fighting, many seeking refuge in Nam Hmaw, Hseng Awng and Hpakant towns.
The KIA and allied forces control most roads in and out of Hpakant town and have captured all but five junta bases in the township, anti-junta forces say.
RELATED STORIES
Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar
Myanmar rebels capture last junta base in township on Chinese border
China fires into Myanmar after junta airstrike on border, group says
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Burmese.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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New York, September 11, 2024—A coalition of three international press freedom organizations on Wednesday called for a swift and impartial trial after fugitive ex-governor Joel T. Reyes surrendered to authorities in connection with the 2011 murder of Philippine broadcast journalist Gerry Ortega.
“This is long overdue. Former governor Joel T. Reyes has evaded justice for more than 13 years, there must be a swift and impartial trial now without any further delay,” said the coalition, consisting of Free Press Unlimited (FPU), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in a statement.
“We hope this new development brings justice a step closer for the Ortega family and call on the Philippine authorities to do everything they can to ensure justice is delivered for this senseless murder. The international community will be watching the trial closely, as the Ortega murder is emblematic of the entrenched impunity in media killings in the Philippines.”
Ortega, an environmental journalist based on the island of Palawan in the Philippines, reported on corruption within the administration of ex-Palawan governor Reyes before he was murdered in 2011. Reyes had been in hiding despite an arrest warrant issued against him in 2023.
Reyes’ surrender came after a successful legal bid to have his trial transferred to a court in Quezon City, near the capital Manila. The Ortega family had wanted the trial to stay in Palawan, but a Philippine court recently rejected the family’s legal plea. No date has been fixed for the start of the Reyes trial in Quezon City.
The three press freedom groups, who together form the ‘A Safer World for the Truth’ initiative, met with the Philippine authorities in Manila earlier this year to present new leads that could lead to the arrest of Reyes. The coalition has investigated the Ortega case since 2020 which showed damning evidence of Reyes’ role in the journalist’s murder. Since 1992, 96 journalists have been killed in connection with their work in the Philippines.
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Spokespeople are available for interviews in English:
Free Press Unlimited (Amsterdam): Jos Bartman bartman@freepressunlimited.org
Committee to Protect Journalists (Frankfurt/New York): Beh Lih Yi, lbeh@cpj.org; press@cpj.org
Reporters Without Borders (Taipei/Paris): Aleksandra Bielakowska, abielakowska@rsf.org
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A Safer World For The Truth is a collaboration between Free Press Unlimited (FPU), Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). We investigate murders through a series of cold case investigations to push for justice on the national level, and we organize the People’s Tribunal on the Murder of Journalists to put a spotlight on states’ obligation to protect journalists and to investigate all attacks against them. To learn more about the project, visit our website https://www.saferworldforthetruth.com/.
Please see A Safer World for the Truth report about Gerry Ortega’s case published in 2022.
About the partners:
Free Press Unlimited (FPU): Free Press Unlimited is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Free Press Unlimited helps local journalists in conflict areas to provide their audience with independent news and reliable information. The information that people need to survive and give shape to their own future. – freepressunlimited.org
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ): The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide. Based in New York, we defend the right of journalists to report the news safely and without fear of reprisal. – cpj.org
Reporters Without Borders – known internationally as Reporters sans frontières (RSF) – is an international non-profit organisation at the forefront of the defence and promotion of freedom of information. RSF acts globally for the freedom, pluralism, and independence of journalism and defends those who embody those ideals. Recognised as a public interest organisation in France since 1995, RSF has consultative status with the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF). Founded in 1985 and headquartered in Paris, RSF has 13 country sections and bureaus, including a bureau in Taipei and section in Berlin, and a network of correspondents in more than 130 countries. – rsf.org
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Comprehensive coverage of the day’s news with a focus on war and peace; social, environmental and economic justice.
The post The Pacifica Evening News, Weekdays – September 11, 2024 appeared first on KPFA.
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This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by The Real News Network.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Tuesday night’s debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris focused heavily on immigration, with the Republican nominee attacking the current administration for not closing the border, and spreading xenophobic and racist conspiracy theories about asylum seekers. “Donald Trump resorted to the same deranged and despicable rhetoric that is meant to divide people. From his very first answer, he was demonizing immigrants,” says journalist Jean Guerrero, who has written extensively about immigration, including the book Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda. Guerrero says that while Harris “was able to project strength on the border” and undermine Trump on his “signature issue,” she did not do enough to challenge the narrative about immigrants bringing crime and disorder to the country. “I wish that she had countered him on immigration in a more sustained way.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Convicted felon Donald Trump relies on a well-worn GOP playbook to scare their voters to the polls: stir up moral panic over LGBTQ people. Moms for Liberty—well-funded by shadowy right-wing interests—are out there banning books and promoting anti-trans, anti-gay laws straight from Viktor Orban’s Hungary and Putin’s Russia. We might inadvertently feed into their culture war hysteria if we don’t step back and see how their disinformation machine works.
As Erin Reed points out in her essential guide to our times “Erin in the Morning,” trans care is under attack in half of the country. Meanwhile, the far right stirs up fear, demonizing trans people, especially trans children and their families, just like Karl Rove did with gay marriage in 2004, to secure a second term for war criminal George W. Bush. But trans people have always existed. They’re part of human history, brutally erased by colonial powers, according to a must-read report from ABC News in our show notes below.
So, what’s the antidote to the far-right’s moral panic? Call it out for what it is. Protect trans kids. Push back against oligarchs. Remember, this is about basic human rights. As highlighted in Abi Maxwell’s poignant memoir One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman: A Mother’s Story, love and dignity for trans children are crucial to building safer, more compassionate communities for everyone.
Maxwell’s story focuses on her daughter, Greta, a courageous little girl who, from a very young age, understood she was a girl, even though she was born a boy. The confusion wasn’t Greta’s—it was the adults around her, including teachers and parents in their small New Hampshire town, who struggled to accept her identity. Maxwell recounts their family’s painful journey through relentless bullying and institutional barriers, a journey that mirrors the challenges faced by countless other trans families in America today.
Maxwell’s memoir isn’t just a heart-wrenching tale of a mother fighting for her child; it’s also a stark reminder of how disinformation and fearmongering, often driven by far-right extremists, are weaponized to divide us. As we’ve seen with the rise of groups like Moms for Liberty, the attacks on LGBTQ+ rights—particularly against trans children—are often orchestrated by powerful interests looking to distract and manipulate voters.
In our interview with Maxwell, she sheds light on the far-right’s disinformation playbook and shares insights on how we can rise above it. It’s time to move beyond the hate and fear and build a society that values love, acceptance, and the dignity of all people, no matter their gender identity. Let’s start by protecting some of the most vulnerable among us: our trans kids.
The song you heard in this week’s show is “Doors Are Opening” by The Society of Rockets. Check out their brilliant work here! http://societyofrockets.org/
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Ready to engage in meaningful discussions and connect with like-minded individuals? Join our new weekly political salon every Monday at 4 PM ET via Zoom! This space is designed for you to share frustrations, ask burning questions, seek support, and actively contribute to conversations that help shape Gaslit Nation. Whether you’re a seasoned political junkie or just starting to find your voice, everyone is welcome.
Our goal is to build coalitions and foster collective healing during these challenging times. Thank you to everyone who made our first salon a success! We’re excited to continue these crucial discussions every Monday through the election, starting again on September 16 at 4 PM ET.
For those who can’t make it live, don’t worry—each session is recorded and shared exclusively on Patreon. If these salons resonate with you, there’s a chance they’ll extend beyond the election.
Want to be part of this powerful community? Support us at the Truth-Teller level or higher on Patreon at patreon.com/Gaslit, and you’ll find the Zoom link every Monday afternoon. Let’s come together, share ideas, and create change!
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Big Announcement! Andrea will be in Ft. Myers, Florida the last weekend of September to get out the vote and attend a fundraiser screening of Mr. Jones. Join us at one of these events in Florida:
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Canvassing Party! Saturday, September 28 9am – 12pm EDT https://www.mobilize.us/leecountydec/event/680718/?force_banner=true&share_context=event_details&share_medium=copy_link
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Mr. Jones Fundraiser Screening! https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mrjones?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR14pGkNMdGz5RkaU6eut5X8lpt5vFnPuPCjMJNkpVW06H4G0lBSCLE2ptM_aem_A0ooWTpEnmq0t133eeQuxw
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Phonebank Party! Sunday, September 29 2 – 5pm EDT https://www.mobilize.us/leecountydec/event/680625/?force_banner=true&share_context=event_details&share_medium=copy_link
On September 16 at 7:00 PM ET: If you’re in NYC, join our in-person live taping with at the Ukrainian Institute of America in NYC. Celebrate the release of In the Shadow of Stalin, the graphic novel adaptation of my film Mr. Jones, directed by Agnieszka Holland. Gaslit Nation Patreon supporters get in free – so message us on Patreon to be added to the guest list. I will be joined by the journalist Terrell Starr, to talk about his latest trip to Ukraine.
On September 17 at 12:00 PM ET: Join our virtual live taping with investigative journalist Stephanie Baker, author of Punishing Putin: Inside the Global Economic War to Bring Down Russia. Her book has been highly praised by Bill Browder, the advocate behind the Magnitsky Act to combat Russian corruption.
On September 18 at 4:00 PM ET: Join our virtual live taping with the one and only Politics Girl, Leigh McGowan, author of A Return to Common Sense: How to Fix America Before We Really Blow It.
On September 24 at 12:00 PM ET: Join our virtual live taping with David Pepper, author of Saving Democracy. Join us as David discusses his new art project based on Project 2025.
All of those events, becoming a member of our Victory chat, bonus shows, all shows ad free, and more, come with your subscription on Patreon.com/Gaslit! Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you!
Have you RSVP’ed to our next phonebank with Indivisible on Thursday September 17th? https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/628701/
Show Notes:
Moms For Liberty founder ‘thankful’ for Trump’s school transgender surgery lie https://www.advocate.com/politics/moms-for-liberty-thankful-for-trump-school-trans-lie#toggle-gdpr
‘Moral Values’ Carried Bush, Rove Says https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/10/politics/campaign/moral-values-carried-bush-rove-says.html
Phonebank this Wednesday to Help Recruit Volunteers for PA! https://www.mobilize.us/promotethevotepa/event/625107/?referring_vol=6541965&rname=Adam×lot=4272695&referring_participation=29899746&referring_data_signature=v1-5c6750b7e6617377&share_medium=native_share&share_context=signup-form-modal
Satanism and The Rolling Stones: 50 Years of ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/rolling-stones-sympathy-for-the-devil-mick-jagger-anniversary-satanism-a8668551.html
How ‘Will & Grace’ Had a Real-Life Political Impact on Marriage Equality https://www.thewrap.com/will-grace-real-life-political-impact-marriage-equality/
Moms For Liberty Founder “Thankful” For Trump’s School Trans Surgery Lie The former president has repeated a claim that schools are giving sex change operations to students and sending them home another gender. https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/moms-for-liberty-founder-thankful
Trans people have ‘been around for forever,’ historians say Cultures around the world have long embraced alternative gender identities. https://abcnews.go.com/US/transgender-gender-diverse-people-world/story?id=98017443
This content originally appeared on Gaslit Nation and was authored by Andrea Chalupa.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Read RFA’s coverage of this topic in Uyghur.
Recently, a China-based New Zealander who’s a columnist for the Shanghai Daily generated a stir when he declared on X that “Uyghur” — referring to the 12 million-strong ethnic group living in northwestern China — should be spelled in English without an “h.”
Andy Boreham, who has a history of using his social media platforms to propagate Beijing’s political messages, says the word should be spelled “Uygur,” per a Chinese government directive back in 2012.
This upset linguists and Uyghur advocates alike, who said the alternative spelling was incorrect, ignored Uyghurs’ preference and played into Beijing’s attempts to divide the Uyghur people.
Boreham, whose Chinese name is An Boran, said that the use of “Uyghur” with an “h” would be banned on all social media platforms or websites published in China. “The central government has ordered it, so it must be followed,” he wrote in the Sept. 6 post.
Who are the Uyghurs?
The Uyghurs are a Turkic, mostly Muslim ethnic group living in what is today the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of northwestern China — which Uyghurs prefer to call East Turkestan.
They trace their roots in the region back centuries. The term “Uyghur” first appears on inscriptions on standing stones in present-day Mongolia dated to the 7th century.
Internet personality Andy Boreham, from a screenshot from his Youtube channel. (@reportsonchina via Youtube) 
In recent decades, the Uyghurs have been subjected to oppression and human rights abuses by the Chinese government that the United States and other Western governments have labeled a genocide.
Since 2017, an estimated 1.8 million have been herded into concentration camps, and thousands have been imprisoned. China says the facilities are job training sites to provide skills and alleviate poverty, and that most of the camps have been shut down.
Why is this alternative spelling a big deal to Uyghurs?
Members of the mostly Muslim ethnic group overwhelmingly prefer the spelling “Uyghur” because it more closely approximates the proper orthography and pronunciation in their native language.
To propose another spelling is disrespectful — and promotes division within the Uyghur community, they say.
“A white colonialist who works for another colonial empire is trying to tell us Uyghurs how to write and read our own national name. Who does he think he is?” said Dilnur Reyhan, president of the Paris-based European Uyghur Institute.
Boreham’s assertion may seem small, but it employs a familiar tactic from the Chinese government’s playbook — to sow division, said Ilshat Hassan Kokbore, vice chairman at the World Uyghur Congress.
By trying to get some Uyghurs to embrace the spelling “Uygur” without the “h,” China wants to create a version of Uyghurs who are members of the big China family, he said, separate from other Uyghurs.
This approach aligns with China’s long-standing political slogan: “Break their roots, break their connections, and break their origin,” he said.
An official document issued by the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region government declares how the word ‘Uyghur’ should be spelled. (RFA) Similarly, China has also replaced “Tibet” in official documents with “Xizang.”
Hassan said that having two spellings would cause confusion in online searches and could hinder access to important information.
“The risk is that we could lose parts of Uyghur history, literature, traditions, and even the ongoing Uyghur genocide in these searches,” he said.
How has this name been rendered over time?
“Uyghur” contains sounds that aren’t easily rendered in English. When spoken, it sounds closer to “oy-gher” than “wee-ger,” as most Westerners enunciate it.
One early original source in English for the history of the region, British explorer T. D. Forsyth’s “Report of a Mission to Yarkand in 1873,” refers to the “Uighur” people. Other early spellings include “Ouighour” and “Ouigour,” derived from French and German scholars’ renderings.
What is the basis for Boreham’s assertion?
Previously, China had included an “h” in the English spelling. An official directive issued on Oct. 11, 2006, from the Committee for the Language and Writing of the People’s Republic of China used “Uyghur.”
But on May 15, 2012, the China Daily, the English-language newspaper owned by the Chinese Communist Party, reported that the word had been officially standardized as “Uygur.”
Since then, official Chinese websites, including those of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region People’s Government and Chinese embassies in the United States and Europe, have used the “Uygur” spelling.
What do experts say?
Scholars and experts on the region rejected the latest call for a spelling change.
The word “Uyghur” is one of the most commonly used terms in Turkology in the Western world, and it is also used to refer to the script known today as Old Uyghur, they say.
Similar terms, like “Afghanistan” or “Mughal Empire” are often rendered with “gh” in Western languages because the “gh” sound does not exist in English. This is why Boreham’s suggestion to remove the “h” from the English form of “Uyghur” has been widely criticized.
Timothy Grose, a professor of China studies who is an expert in ethnicity and ethnic policy in China at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana, said Boreham’s dictum was “completely wrong.”
“The sound here is closer to ‘gh,’ so it is most accurately expressed with that spelling,” he said.
“It neglects that Uyghurs themselves have their own culture and their own language, and it is really the duty and obligation of others to see this language and culture for its itself and on its own terms,” he said.
Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Kurban Niyaz for RFA Uyghur.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by The Real News Network.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Real News Network and was authored by The Real News Network.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on VICE News and was authored by VICE News.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Human Rights Watch and was authored by Human Rights Watch.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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Hello, and welcome back to State of Emergency. My name is Zoya Teirstein. There is quite a bit of research on the politics of disasters and how extreme weather shapes voter behavior. We’ve cited some of it in this newsletter. Today, you’ll hear about that research through a different lens: from a researcher whose career, and life, was turned upside down by one of the deadliest disasters in American history.
In the spring of 2005, Daniel Aldrich was finishing his doctorate in Japanese energy politics at Harvard University. That summer, he moved to Louisiana with his wife and two young children, renting a house in New Orleans to begin his first-ever job in academia at Tulane University. The campus was abuzz in late August as students moved into their dormitories and teachers prepared for the first day of classes. The last Monday of that month was supposed to be Aldrich’s first day of teaching. He never made it to campus. Hurricane Katrina hit southeast Louisiana as a Category 4 storm the morning of August 29, 2005, leading to more than 1,500 deaths in three Southern states and causing $300 billion in damages.
The front of Daniel Aldrich’s rented house, located eight blocks from Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, after it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Courtesy of Daniel AldrichTwelve feet of water turned Aldrich’s house, eight blocks from Lake Pontchartrain, into a swamp, destroying everything he owned, including his car. The Aldriches evacuated to Texas first, then moved back to Boston. They didn’t go back to New Orleans for months, until that January. “That’s when we saw the on-the-ground horrors,” Aldrich said. On the walk from his house uptown to Tulane, little springs of water would shoot up out of the ground every few steps. The weight of the floodwater had crushed the city’s underground infrastructure. Finding a doctor was next to impossible. Grocery stores weren’t stocked. Abandoned boats blocked the streets. They didn’t last more than half a year. Aldrich got a job in Massachusetts, and the family went north again. In Boston, Aldrich’s children were tested for lead, a city requirement. Levels of the toxic metal in their blood had tripled while they were in New Orleans, where floodwater and post-hurricane demolition had sent the lead in the paint coating many of the houses in the city swirling into the environment.
“Hurricane Katrina destroyed my home, my car, and everything that I owned. For me, it certainly changed my perspective.”
— Disaster researcher Daniel AldrichKatrina marked a turning point in Aldrich’s life, and in his professional trajectory. He would spend the next two and a half decades researching the politics of disasters and disaster resilience, writing three books on the subject and becoming one of America’s foremost disaster resilience experts. And he would soon find that epochal disasters like Katrina are radicalizing — often representing an individual’s first interactions with the federal government. That experience, his research has found, can end up dictating political preferences and voter behavior.
Most importantly, Aldrich learned that survivors tend to become more civically engaged post-disaster: They run for office, start community groups, and show up at town meetings. Aldrich, used to sitting outside of the research he was conducting, realized that he had become a data point himself. “Hurricane Katrina destroyed my home, my car, and everything that I owned,” he said. “For me, it certainly changed my perspective.”
Read my full conversation with Aldrich here.
Follow the money
Researchers in Japan analyzed the effects of disaster relief on the electoral outcomes of incumbent parties. Decades of data revealed that electoral goods doled out in response to extreme weather events before elections can lead to statistically significant electoral gains for the party in power. We’re talking a bump of a few percentage points — 2.8 and 5.4 points for Japan’s lower and upper legislative chambers, respectively — but in my conversation with Aldrich, he pointed out that because just a third of eligible voters typically turn out to vote, a change of 2 to 5 percent is “a pretty big deal.”
What we’re reading
As PA chooses the next president, its unions are choosing clean energy: A coalition of trade unions have launched a new advocacy group, Union Energy, to ensure that Pennsylvania’s workers get a “just transition” to a fossil-fuel-free economy. My colleague Gautema Mehta reports on unions in the state, which is the nation’s second-largest producer and exporter of fuels for energy.
Read more1 in 4 homeowners financially unprepared for the costs of extreme weather: As major insurance companies pull back coverage in flood- and fire-prone areas, a survey conducted by Bankrate, a financial services company, finds that 26 percent of homeowners fear they can’t afford the costs of climate-driven disasters. Another 15 percent of the 1,300 homeowners surveyed said they would go into debt just covering the deductible on their insurance policies.
Read more10 tough climate questions for the presidential debate: Journalists at Inside Climate News have 10 climate questions for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, who are preparing for their first head-to-head debate in Pennsylvania tonight. Climate change and extreme weather rarely get airtime during presidential debates. Inside Climate has the questions climate-conscious voters wish moderators would ask the candidates.
Read moreWashington state to reconsider its landmark climate program: In 2021, Washington lawmakers passed a cap-and-invest program, modeled after California’s carbon market, aimed at reducing emissions 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. In November, voters in the Evergreen State will vote on a measure that would repeal that program. Politico reporters interviewed the Democratic state senator fighting to keep it alive.
Read moreExtreme heat strains the power grid and causes outages through LA County: Triple-digit temperatures in California are setting records and leading to grid failures throughout Los Angeles County and other parts of the state. Thousands of customers in Los Angeles and in the neighborhoods surrounding the University of Southern California lost power. Meanwhile, in Oregon, several school districts canceled classes and reassessed the efficacy of their cooling systems due to high temperatures.
Read moreThis story was originally published by Grist with the headline The disaster effect on Sep 10, 2024.
This content originally appeared on Grist and was authored by Zoya Teirstein.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The legendary actor James Earl Jones has died at the age of 93. Across a career that spanned film and stage, he won numerous acting awards and gave voice to iconic characters including Star Wars’ Darth Vader and The Lion King's Mufasa. In tribute to Jones, we play an excerpt of his reading of Frederick Douglass's speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” from a performance of Voices of a People’s History of the United States. He was introduced by the late historian Howard Zinn.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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We speak to acclaimed historian, activist and filmmaker Tariq Ali about Western governments’ support for Israel’s war on Gaza and popular protest in support of Palestine, which Ali calls the “biggest divide we’ve seen in politics almost since the Vietnam War.” He argues that this division is “challenging the very nature of democracy” and the international rule of law. Ali also shares his analysis of South Asian politics — in Pakistan, where former Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused the United States of engineering his ouster, and in Bangladesh, where a student-led uprising recently toppled the authoritarian regime of its former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Finally, we cover developments in Europe. In France, President Emmanuel Macron has appointed conservative leader Michel Barnier as prime minister, despite the electoral gains of the country’s left-wing coalition. This comes as far-right and anti-migrant sentiment spreads throughout the Global North.
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Grayzone and was authored by The Grayzone.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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The U.S. House of Representatives is aiming to introduce up to 28 bills this week that target China – touching on trade, farm ownership and electric vehicles – in what many people are calling “China Week.”
The aim, apparently, is to empower the winner of November’s presidential election to get off to a running start in Washington’s strategic rivalry with Beijing.
Speaking at a Hudson Institute event in New York in July, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said that one of his main goals was to have “a significant package of China related legislation signed into law by the end of this year.”
“We’ll build our sanctions package, punish the Chinese military firms that provide material support to Russia and Iran,” Johnson said, “and we’ll consider options to restrict outbound investments.”
It’s unclear which ones will make it to the floor of the House for debate – or if the Senate will even consider them. To become law, both houses of Congress need to approve bills by a majority of votes.
The president then needs to either sign the bill into law or veto it. A two-thirds majority of both houses is needed to override a veto.
What are the bills?
A laundry list of bills introduced to the House over 2023 and 2024 have been put forward for consideration, with the Republican leadership of the chamber saying they will aim to pass a bulk of the bills in a single package vote by suspending the normal rules for proceedings.
Some of the more prominent bills include:
- The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Certification Act, which would enable the president to close Hong Kong’s de facto consulates in the United States if the city’s government cannot prove its autonomy from Beijing.
- The Protect America’s Innovation and Economic Security from CCP Act, which would create a China-focussed unit within the Department of Justice’s national security division.
- The End Chinese Dominance of Electric Vehicles in America Act, which would prohibit electric cars with Chinese-made batteries or other components from eligibility for lucrative tax credits introduced by the Biden administration this year.
- The No WHO Pandemic Preparedness Treaty Without Senate Approval Act, which would require two-thirds of the Senate to approve any pandemic measures negotiated within the World Health Organization, due to fears of Chinese influence there.
- The Protecting American Agriculture from Foreign Adversaries, which would limit the ability of Chinese people and companies to purchase farmland in America, citing food security concerns.
- The DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act, which would ban funding from the Department of Homeland Security to universities and colleges that accept grants from the Chinese government.
Besides those, also apparently up for votes will be the Countering CCP Drones Act, the No Foreign Election Interference Act, the Maintaining American Superiority by Improving Export Control Transparency Act, the Economic Espionage Prevention Act, the Chinese Currency Accountability Act, and the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act.
In his speech in New York, the House speaker also flagged the possibility of a bill to close the “de minimis” loophole in U.S. trade.
Leapmotor vehicles are parked outside a showroom in Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, May 14, 2024. (Caroline Chen/AP) Critics say that the loophole enables Chinese online fashion retailers like Shein and Temu to ship clothing allegedly made with Uyghur slave labor directly to the front doors of American consumers.
However, no such legislation has yet been put on the table. A bill targeting U.S. outbound investment in China, which was also promised by Johnson in July, also does not appear to be on the agenda.
Why is it all being done in one week?
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who is a Republican from Louisiana, told Fox News that the aim was to highlight congressional action on China, which has been a focus of the current Congress.
U.S. lawmakers from across the partisan divide have zeroed in on China as a rare area of agreement in an otherwise polarized political sphere, accusing Beijing of representing a national security threat.
“We wanted to combine them all into one week so that you had a real sharp focus on the fact that we need to be aggressive in confronting the threat that China poses,” Scalise told Fox, explaining that he hoped to attract “real bipartisan support for a number of these.”
“They’re all bills that should be very bipartisan, because there are things that China is doing right now that are direct threats to our country’s national security,” he said, “and if we get strong bipartisan votes, you have a higher chance of getting through the Senate.”
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Will the bills become law?
The Republicans, who control a majority of the 435 seats in the House, have the numbers alone to pass the package of “China Week” bills on their own, but even then they will likely be joined by some like-minded Democrats in sending the bills to the Senate.
However, if all the bills are passed by the end of this week, it would leave the famously slow-moving Senate only two weeks to consider them.
More importantly, the House and the Senate also have to pass a bill to fund the government after Sept. 30, which is a day after both chambers head back into a monthslong recess ahead of the Nov. 5 elections.
A cargo ship loaded with containers berths at a port in Lianyungang, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province on August 7, 2024. (AFP) Democrats and Republicans are already split on the proposals to keep funding going through to next year, which – if history is any guide – will likely draw the majority of their focus over the next three weeks.
Still, some of the bills could eventually be shoehorned into the mammoth defense appropriations bill typically passed by Congress in December of each year – importantly, this year, after the elections.
What does China say?
As might be expected, Beijing isn’t terribly happy about being declared the focus of proceedings in the first week back of Congress.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told Radio Free Asia that the pieces of legislation proposed as part of “China Week” were all politically motivated and intended to provide lawmakers with evidence of their tough stances on China.
“If passed, it will cause serious interference to China-U.S. relations and mutually beneficial cooperation, and will inevitably damage the U.S.’s own interests, image and credibility,” Liu said in an email.
“The so-called ‘China Week’ and the China-related bills are full of Cold War thinking and zero-sum game concepts, exaggerating the ‘China threat,’ inciting strategic competition and even confrontation with China, clamoring for a ‘new Cold War’ and ‘decoupling,’” he added.
“This is new McCarthyism in the U.S. Congress, manipulating China issues and hyping up Sino-U.S. relations in the U.S. election year.”
Edited by Malcolm Foster.
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By Alex Willemyns for RFA.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on The Intercept and was authored by The Intercept.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
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This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.This post was originally published on Radio Free.
