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November
France and Britain seek answers while trading blame after migrant tragedy
Written by Nur Yasmin
France and Britain sought answers on Thursday on how to deter migrants from trying to cross the sea separating them after 27 people died making the attempt in an inflatable dinghy, the worst accident of its kind in the Channel on record.
President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Boris Johnson had differing views over who was to blame for the tragedy. read more
In a phone call with Johnson on Wednesday night, Macron emphasised the shared responsibility the two governments carried. Johnson said Britain had had difficulty persuading the French to tackle the problem in the correct way.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex was due to hold a crisis meeting on Thursday morning, as authorities announced that a fifth suspected people smuggler had been arrested in connection with the disaster.
British Interior Minister Priti Patel said she would be having talks with her French counterpart Gerald Darmanin, who said Britain, Belgium and Germany needed to do more to help France tackle the illegal migrants and human trafficking.
"It's an international problem," Darmanin told RTL radio.
Britain said the drownings highlighted how the efforts of French police to patrol their beaches and secure their northern border were inadequate.
"We have had difficulty persuading some of our partners, particularly the French, to do things in a way that we think the situation deserves," Johnson said on Wednesday.
He repeated an offer to have joint British-French patrols of the northern French coast near Calais, from where Britain can be seen on a clear day and from where most migrants launch their bid to reach England's shores.
Paris has previously resisted such calls. London has in the past threatened to cut financial support for France's border policing if it fails to stem the flow.
The number of migrants attempting to cross the Channel, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, has jumped in recent months after the British and French governments clamped down on other forms of illegal entry, such as hiding in the backs of trucks crossing from ports in France.
Darmanin accused London of "bad immigration management".
Regaining control of Britain's borders was a totem for Brexit campaigners ahead of the 2016 referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.
Reuters witnessed one group of migrants emerging from the sand dunes near Wimereux, near Calais, before piling into an inflatable dinghy. The same group was seen landing hours later in Dungeness, southern England, having safely crossed the 30 km stretch of water. (reuters)
November
Death of S.Korean dictator leaves brutal legacy unresolved
Written by Nur Yasmin
The death this week of South Korea's last military dictator, Chun Doo-hwan, marks the end of a divisive chapter in the country's modern history but leaves survivors of his regime's violence no closer to reconciliation or resolution.
Chun died on Tuesday at the age of 90.
Hundreds of people are estimated to have died or gone missing when the South Korean government violently put down the Gwangju uprising by pro-democracy protesters in May 1980, when Chun was the de facto leader of the country after leading a military coup.
Years after the massacre, many details remain unconfirmed, including who gave the orders for troops to open fire on protesters. Many victims remain unidentified.
A lack of contrition and cooperation by former members of the regime, including Chun, has hampered efforts to find the full truth, victims said.
"I'm very worried that a lot of truth will be hidden with Chun Doo-hwan's death," said 57-year-old Kim Young-man, who still carries a scar on his head from where a police officer struck him with a baton.
Kim holds out hope that former members of the regime will come forward to shine light on the bloody crackdown, but like many other victims, was disheartened that Chun died without showing significant remorse.
Months after leaving office in 1988 amid growing calls for democracy, Chun offered a formal apology for abuses during his leadership, including Gwangju.
But later he appeared to walk back some of that contrition, prompting victims to doubt the sincerity of that apology as he embraced a defiant and defensive stance to the end.
"Chun Doo-hwan was not the type of person to apologise," Kim said. "Yet if he had apologised, I think there would have been a possibility that Gwangju citizens who have been heartbroken for 41 years feel a little better."
In 1996 Chun was sentenced to death on charges of corruption and treason, but the sentence was reduced to life in prison and later commuted.
More recently he was involved in other legal disputes, including being found guilty in 2020 of defaming a priest who claimed to have witnessed the Gwangju crackdown.
On Wednesday, a day after Chun's death, a group of 70 Gwangju survivors, including Kim, filed a lawsuit against the government seeking compensation for emotional damage.
Some victims have received compensation for their loss of work, but other claims for compensation for emotional and psychological trauma faced legal barriers until a Supreme Court ruling in September, said Lee Ki-bong, an official at the May 18 Memorial Foundation who works with the families.
A group of victims rallied on Thursday outside the hospital where Chun's body was taken, holding signs telling him to "go to hell". They condemned some of Chun's former aides who call the uprising a plot inspired by North Korean communists.
In November the main conservative party's presidential nominee, Yoon Suk-yeol, travelled to Gwangju to apologise after appearing to excuse or praise Chun by saying many people thought the former president "was really good at politics aside from the coup and the events of May 1980."
Chun will not be given a state funeral, and officials said his treason conviction made him ineligible to be buried in a national cemetery.
"Upon Chun Doo-hwan's death, South Korean news appear to be pure emotion, disbelief at how he never apologised," tweeted Korean-American author Suki Kim.
"It's an odd thing to want an apology from a ruthless dictator, decades later, as though expecting justice by (a) universe which had allowed that dictator." (reuters)
November
A month after reopening, Thailand sees gradual tourism recovery
Written by Nur Yasmin
Thailand was among the first countries in Asia to reopen for foreign arrivals, and it is seeing a slow recovery, including new hotels touting longer stays for individual travellers.
In the first 10 months of 2021, Thailand saw 106,117 foreign tourists, a drop from 6.7 million in 2020. Before the pandemic, Thailand saw about 40 million visitors a year. read more
Hospitality firms like Asset World Corporation Pcl (AWC.BK), which opened its 19th property this month, saw the majority of its bookings come from Western countries and the Middle East.
"About 70% of total bookings came from Europe, including Germany, UK, Scandinavian countries, followed by the U.S., Middle East, and Asia," chief executive Wallapa Traisorat told Reuters, adding that domestic travel helped. "For November, we should see 30% occupancy, and in the fourth quarter we hope to see better momentum from the reopening."
Thailand, one of the region's most popular destinations, is heavily dependent on tourism. In 2019, 40 million arrivals spent 1.91 trillion baht ($57.3 billion).
Centara Hotels and Resorts (CENTEL.BK) is moving ahead with plans to open a 1.1 billion baht hotel on the island of Samui in December.
Initially the property expects most guests to be locals on longer stays, said Centara Hotels chief financial officer Gun Srisompong.
"Demand patterns have changed. Individual travellers on longer stays and 'workations' need more personalisation," Srisompong said.
Thailand expects only 200,000 foreign tourists this year, and 5 million in 2022.
Thinner crowds and discounts made for a more pleasant experience, said German tourist Markus Klarer.
"It's a good time to come back to Thailand again," Klarer said.
Despite the reopening, some businesses said COVID rules still made some things hard.
"Tourists are not fully confident and still confused with government regulations," said Chitchai Senwong, a restaurant manager in Bangkok, citing a government rule that prohibits alcohol consumption after 9 p.m. (reuters)
November
U.S. should not have any illusions about Taiwan, says China
Written by Nur Yasmin
There is no room for compromise over Taiwan and the United States should not have any illusions about this, China's Defence Ministry said on Thursday, adding that Washington had of late made a series of "provocations" on several issues.
China says the issue of Taiwan, which it claims as Chinese territory, is the most sensitive in its ties with the United States, the country that is also Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier.
Sharp differences over Taiwan persisted during a virtual meeting earlier this month between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi said that those in Taiwan who seek independence, and their supporters in the United States, were "playing with fire".
Asked at a monthly news briefing in Beijing to comment on Sino-U.S. military ties in the light to those talks, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said having a healthy and stable relationship was good for both and what the world expected.
China is willing to maintain exchanges and cooperation with the United States, he added.
"However, for a period of time, the U.S. side has said a lot of irresponsible things and done a lot of provocative things on Taiwan, the South China Sea, and close up reconnaissance by warships and aircraft," Wu said.
China has principles for the development of relations between the two militaries, which is to say its sovereignty, dignity, and core interests cannot be violated, he added.
"Especially on the Taiwan issue, China has no room for compromise, and the U.S. side should not have any illusions about this."
Democratically-rule Taiwan has denounced China for its stepped up diplomatic and military pressure to try and force the island into accepting Chinese sovereignty.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has vowed to defend the island, and says only its people can decide its future. (reuters)
November
Philippines rejects China's demand to remove grounded navy ship
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Philippines will not remove a dilapidated navy ship grounded on an atoll in the South China Sea, its defence chief said on Thursday, rejecting a demand by China after it blocked a mission to resupply the vessel's crew.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana dismissed China's assertion on Wednesday that the Philippines had committed to remove the BRP Sierra Madre, which was intentionally grounded at the Second Thomas shoal in 1999 to reinforce Manila's sovereignty claims in the Spratly archipelago.
The 100 metre-long (330-ft) tank landing ship was built for the U.S. Navy during World War Two.
"That ship has been there since 1999. If there was commitment it would have been removed a long time ago," Lorenzana told reporters.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Wednesday said Beijing "demands the Philippine side honour its commitment and remove its illegally grounded vessel".
The Second Thomas Shoal, 105 nautical miles (195 km) off Palawan, is the temporary home of a small contingent of military aboard the rusty ship, which is stuck on a reef.
Lorenzana accused China of "trespassing" when its coast guard interrupted a resupply mission for the troops.
China claims the majority of the South China Sea as its own, using a "nine-dash line" on maps that an international arbitration ruling in 2016 said has no legal basis.
The Second Thomas Shoal is within the Philippines' 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone, as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which China is a signatory.
"We have two documents attesting that we have sovereign rights in our EEZ while they don't, and their claims have no basis," Lorenzana said.
"China should abide by its international obligations that it is part of."
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday told a summit hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping that he "abhors" China's recent actions at the shoal. (Reuters)
November
Erdogan faces uphill bid to woo Turkey's large Alevi minority
Written by Nur Yasmin
Ali Erdem leads his Alevi community each week in a ceremony filled with symbolic ritual, music and dance, performing in a place of worship that has been thrust into political debate ahead of Turkish elections due by 2023.
As a musician plays the lute-like saz and worshippers in red sashes dance in a circle to experience union with God, Erdem recites prayers and tales of persecution that Alevis, Turkey's largest religious minority, have faced in Turkish history.
With pre-election polls showing dwindling support for his long-ruling AK Party (AKP), President Tayyip Erdogan recently sent representatives to 1,585 cemevis, the Alevi places of worship, to hear the community's long list of grievances.
Erdogan faces an uphill battle to win over a minority - 15-20% of Turkey's 84 million population - that is mostly left of centre and suspicious of the Islamist-rooted AKP's objectives after past efforts to address Alevi concerns collapsed.
Alevi groups have demanded the official recognition of cemevis, the implementation of court rulings on the issue and an end to what they say is assimilation through compulsory religious education and discrimination in public life.
"The AK Party government is trying to create its own Alevis," Erdem said before the cemevi ceremony in Istanbul.
"We were repressed for hundreds of years but never bowed down to anyone," he said, recounting a series of historical massacres of Alevis.
Alevis draw on Shi'ite Muslim, Sufi and Anatolian folk traditions, practising rituals which can put them at odds with Turkey's Sunni Muslim majority. They are associated with Shi'ite Islam because of their veneration for Ali, whom Shi'ites believe was the Prophet Mohammad's rightful successor.
In 1993, 37 people, mostly Alevi intellectuals, were killed in a hotel fire in Sivas province that occurred during a Sunni Islamist protest against the presence at an Alevi festival of a translator of Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses".
WILL FOR CHANGE?
A decade ago, Erdogan launched an undertaking to help the Alevis - only for it to collapse amid the turmoil caused by anti-government unrest focused on Istanbul's Gezi Park in 2013.
But, amid signs of diminishing AKP popularity, the issue re-emerged at a recent cabinet meeting, after which Erdogan pledged to work harder to enable all Turks "to breathe easily".
Ali Yurumez, an Alevi association representative at another Istanbul cemevi, said officials who visited the pre-fabricated building had offered to reconstruct it.
But he rejected this, saying such offers of material help suggested the government was not keen on making legal changes.
"They were thinking 'can we create a division among Alevis', with an election ahead of us. But I don't think Alevis will play along with that game," he said, sitting below photographs of the victims of the Sivas blaze.
He said Alevis had recently been targeted with expressions of hate, citing a Sunni theologian's declaration that an Alevi whose faith is contrary to Islam could not marry a Sunni woman.
However, Turkish officials said there was a real will for change in the latest overture to the Alevis.
"The president wants this issue resolved," a senior AKP official told Reuters. "The status of place of worship, which has long been demanded, may be given this time."
A senior Turkish official acknowledged the potential electoral benefit of such moves on minority rights, but denied that this was the motive for the work regarding Alevis.
"There may be an impact on votes but this work was launched years ago and was interrupted by the Gezi (Park protests)," he said. "It is unjust to see this as preparation for an election."
In 2016, the European Court of Human Rights ruled Alevis were denied the right to freedom of religion and faced discrimination. Turkey's appeals court ruled in 2018 that cemevis were places of worship.
But the government has not acted on these rulings and there appeared to be diverging government views on cemevis' status. The senior AKP official said they might be designated as cultural centres, exempting them from rent and utility payments.
Such a move would fall short of Alevi demands for place of worship status, even if there were financial benefits for cemevis that rely on private donations to finance the practice of the Alevi faith in the absence of state support.
By contrast, Turkey's nearly 90,000 mosques and their staff are financed by the Diyanet, or Religious Affairs Directorate, with a budget approaching $2 billion. But Alevis repeatedly stressed financial help was not what they sought.
Erdem himself works as a minibus driver ferrying factory workers around before making his way to the cemevi, but rejected the idea of the state paying a wage to faith leaders like him.
"I would never want a salary. We would never become the men of the state or the AKP." (reuters)
November
New Zealand main opposition party ousts leader
Written by Nur Yasmin
New Zealand's National Party opposition leader Judith Collins has been dumped by the party as it grapples with instability that has helped strengthen Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's position even more after her historic election win last year.
The conservative National Party will now have to elect its fifth leader in four years after the majority ousted Collins, hours after she relieved Simon Bridges, a former party leader, from her shadow cabinet following allegations of misconduct.
"It's been a privilege to take over the leadership of (National Party) during the worst of times and to do so for 16 months," Collins said in a tweet.
"It has taken huge stamina and resolve & has been particularly difficult because of a variety of factors."
Collins was named the leader of the National Party in July 2020 just months before the general election, which Ardern's centre-left Labour Party won convincingly.
Collins said in a statement issued late Wednesday that her decision to demote Bridges "relates to comments made by (him) to a female caucus colleague at a function a number of years ago".
"I knew when I was confided in by a female colleague regarding her allegation of serious misconduct against a senior colleague, that I would likely lose the leadership by taking the matter so seriously," Collins said in the tweet on Thursday.
Deputy Shane Reti has been appointed the interim boss with the National Party expected to elect a new leader next Tuesday, the New Zealand media reported.
Ardern said the leadership change in the National Party was an internal matter for the opposition.
"We're in the middle of a global pandemic and so my focus needs to be on managing that," she was quoted as saying in a report in the New Zealand Herald. (Reuters)
November
Slovakia's COVID cases rise by record as government prepares lockdown
Written by Nur Yasmin
Slovakia reported its highest daily rise in new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, just ahead of a government meeting likely to agree a short-term lockdown to quell the world's fastest surge in infections.
Slovakia, a country of 5.5 million, has the highest per-capita infection rise in the world, according to figures from Our World in Data, as Europe becomes an epicentre of the pandemic again.
Neighbouring Austria has already locked down its population this week, for at least 10 days, to become the first to re-impose such restrictions, and Slovakia was looking at taking a similar step on Wednesday when the government meets.
Before the meeting, Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad said no alternative existed.
"If we want to be responsible, we have only one option, the rest is populism," he was quoted as saying by news server Dennik N, which earlier reported government parties had a preliminary agreement on a two-week lockdown.
A strong surge in COVID-19 cases has been seen around central and eastern Europe: the Czech Republic and Hungary also reported record daily tallies of new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
In Slovakia, which has the European Union's third-lowest vaccination rate with only 45% of the population inoculated, the surge is putting new pressure on hospitals.
The Health Ministry said the number of people hospitalised had reached a "critical point" at 3,200 and was approaching peaks of around 3,800 seen in the last wave of the pandemic. Most patients were unvaccinated. (Reuters)
November
With tensions high, Russia and Ukraine both stage military drills
Written by Nur Yasmin
Russian fighter planes and ships practiced repelling air attacks on naval bases and responding with air strikes during military drills in the Black Sea, Interfax reported on Wednesday, as neighbouring Ukraine also held combat exercises.
The drills come at a time of high tension over Ukraine, with Ukrainian and U.S. officials voicing concerns about a possible Russian attack on its southern neighbour, a suggestion the Kremlin has dismissed as false. read more
"About 10 aircraft crews and ships of the Black Sea fleet's Novorossiysk naval base... took part in this combat training event," Interfax cited Russia's Black Sea fleet as saying.
Sukhoi fighter jets were among the planes rehearsing how to respond to enemy air attacks with training flights over Black Sea waters in cooperation with the Black Sea fleet, it said.
Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based in Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Kyiv wants Russia to hand it back.
Ukraine, which has accused Russia of massing troops nearby and says Belarus could send migrants over its borders, on Wednesday launched an operation to strengthen its frontier, including military drills for anti-tank and airborne units. (Reuters)
November
A new republic is born: Barbados celebrates ditching Britain's queen
Written by Nur Yasmin
Barbados, a former British colony, will next week ditch Queen Elizabeth as head of state, breaking its last remaining imperial bonds with Britain nearly 400 years since the first English ship arrived at the Caribbean island.
Barbados casts the removal of Elizabeth II, who is queen of Barbados and 15 other realms including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Jamaica, as a sign of confidence and a way to finally break with the demons of its colonial history.
"This is the end of the story of colonial exploitation of the mind and body," said Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, a Barbadian historian. He said this was a historic moment for Barbados, the Caribbean and all post-colonial societies.
"The people of this island have struggled, not only for freedom and justice, but to remove themselves from the tyranny of imperial and colonial authority," said Beckles, vice-chancellor of The University of the West Indies.
The birth of the republic, 55 years to the day since Barbados declared independence, finally unclasps almost all the colonial bonds that have kept the tiny island in the Lesser Antilles tied to England since an English ship claimed it for King James I in 1625.
It may also be a harbinger of a broader attempt by other former colonies to cut ties to the British monarchy as it braces for the end of Elizabeth's nearly 70-year-old reign and the future accession of Charles, who will attend the republican celebrations in Bridgetown.
Barbados's move is the first time a realm has removed the queen as head of state in nearly 30 years: Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, proclaimed itself a republic but remained in the Commonwealth, an association of mostly former British colonies which is home to 2.5 billion people.
Buckingham Palace says the issue is a matter for the people of Barbados.
SUGAR AND SLAVES
Originally populated by waves of Saladoid-Barrancoid and Kalinago migrants, Spanish slaver raids forced Amerindians to flee. Barbados was unpopulated when the English first arrived.
The English initially used white British indentured servants to toil on the plantations of tobacco, cotton, indigo and sugar, but Barbados in just a few decades would become England's first truly profitable slave society.
Barbados received 600,000 enslaved Africans between 1627 and 1833, who were put to work in the sugar plantations, earning fortunes for the English owners.
"Barbados under English colonial rules became the laboratory for plantation societies in the Caribbean," said Richard Drayton, a professor of imperial and global history at Kings College, London who lived in Barbados as a child.
"It becomes the laboratory for slave society, which is then exported to Jamaica and the Carolinas and Georgia after that."
More than 10 million Africans were shackled into the Atlantic slave trade by European nations between the 15th and 19th centuries. Those who survived the often brutal voyage, ended up toiling on plantations.
While full freedom was finally granted in 1838, the plantation owners preserved considerable economic and political power might into the 20th Century. The island gained full independence in 1966.
REPUBLICAN SEEDS
Prince Charles, the 73-year-old heir to the British throne, will travel to Barbados for the ceremonies marking the removal of his 95-year-old mother as head of state.
Barbados will remain a republic within the Commonwealth, a grouping of 54 countries across Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific that has always been a priority for Elizabeth, who heads it.
Though its name will remain simply Barbados, its removal of the queen may well sow the seeds of republicanism further across the Caribbean, according to Drayton.
"This will have consequences particularly within the English-speaking Caribbean," said Drayton, who pointed to talk of a republic in both Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
"The queen has had an enormous personal relationship to many of these countries and has shown her own commitment to the Commonwealth vision which she inherited from that imperial moment of the 1940s and 1950s, so I do think that in the wake of the queen's passing that some of these questions would become more urgent in places like Canada and Australia."
The queen has made many visits to Barbados and, according to Buckingham Palace, has had "a unique relationship with this, the most easterly of the Caribbean islands".
The republic of Barbados will be declared at a ceremony which begins late in the evening on Monday, Nov. 29 at the National Heroes Square in Bridgetown.
"The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind," Prime Minister Mia Mottley said in a 2020 speech prepared for Governor General Sandra Mason, who will replace Elizabeth as Barbados' head of state after being elected president.
"This is the ultimate statement of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of achieving." (Reuters)