Biden has given no indication that he intends to exit the race, and his campaign has flatly dismissed the suggestion. But that has done little to silence critics who are openly questioning whether Biden is the right person to take on Donald Trump, a figure the president – and his party – view as a grave threat to American democracy.

In the unlikely scenario Biden decides not to run, the most obvious choice to replace him would be his 59-year-old vice president and running mate, Kamala Harris. But it would not be automatic – and other candidates would likely challenge Harris, who has suffered her own low approval ratings, for the nomination.

Already some Democrats are looking past the vice-president at other possible contenders – Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Illinois governor JB Pritzker, California governor Gavin Newsom and Maryland governor Wes Moore.

It’s a sign that Democrats have yet to fully embrace Harris as Biden’s heir apparent.

“To even discuss Biden stepping down while COMPLETELY IGNORING THE VP … is a serious look into how we see the importance, capacity and seriousness of women of color,” writer Tanzina Vega, said on X.

Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, is the highest-ranking female elected official in US history and the first Black and first Asian American to serve as vice president.

Democrats, traumatized by Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016, rallied behind Biden in 2020 over a younger, more diverse and progressive field of candidates that included Harris. As a candidate, Biden promised to be a “bridge” to the next generation of Democratic leaders, which many interpreted as commitment to serve one-term and before passing the baton to Harris.

But when the time came to make a decision, Biden argued that he was still the Democrat best-positioned to beat Trump.

For the past three and a half years, Harris’s barrier-breaking vice-presidency has divided Democrats. Negative press, some of it self-inflicted, compounded by sexist and racist attacks, and a challenging policy portfolio weighed on public perception of the former California senator. Nearly 50% of voters have an unfavorable view of Harris, according to 538’s polling average, compared with the roughly 40% who view her favorably, figures that are comparable with Biden’s.

Despite a rocky start to her tenure, Harris has eased into the role, especially since becoming the administration’s leading voice on abortion rights. On Monday, Harris marked two years since the second anniversary of the US supreme court decision that overturned Roe v Wade with a fiery warning that Trump would not hesitate to further restrict women’s reproductive rights in a second-term.

Nodding to her background as a prosecutor, the vice president declared: “In the case of the stealing of reproductive freedom from the women of America, Donald Trump is guilty.”

Harris’s clear defense of abortion rights, by far Democrats’ strongest issue, stands in stark contrast to Biden. During Thursday’s debate, Biden fumbled an attack on Trump over Republican bans on the procedure, pivoting bizarrely to immigration and raising the case of a young woman murdered in Georgia.

Moments after Biden finished the debate, it was Harris who came to his defense first in a pair of interviews. On CNN and MSNBC, Harris spun his performance, saying voters must look at the last three-and-a-half years of accomplishments and not just at the 90-minute debate. Harris conceded that Biden had a “slow start” but insisted he finished “strong.”

“I’m talking about the choice for November,” she said on CNN. “I’m talking about one of the most important elections in our collective lifetime.”

In a sharp back-and-forth, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper pressed Harris about calls for Biden to step aside.

“I’m not going to spend all night with you talking about the last 90 minutes when I’ve been watching the last three-and-a-half years of performance,” she said, emphasizing his legislative and executive achievements he’s pulled in his first-term.

At a rally in Las Vegas the following day, Harris doubled down on her support.

“In the Oval Office, negotiating bipartisan deals, I see him in the situation room keeping our country safe,” she said, adding that the election would not be decided by “one night in June”.

The Atlanta debate was the first of the election cycle, with a second scheduled in September. The Biden campaign has agreed to a vice-presidential debate between Harris and Trump’s eventual running mate, but the terms have not yet been to confirmed.

In a hypothetical matchup against Trump, Harris performed roughly on par with Biden, trailing the former president by six points in a February Times/Siena poll. Biden trailed Trump by five points in the same poll. Meanwhile, the poll found Harris ran stronger than Biden with Black voters, though worse with Hispanic voters and men.

Biden’s age has long been an electoral challenge. But his shaky debate performance shocked even his staunchest supporters. At a rally on Friday, Biden acknowledged his stumbles, but insisted he was still the best candidate to defeat Trump.

“I know I’m not a young man, to state the obvious,” he said at a post-debate rally in North Carolina. “I know I don’t walk as easy as I used to, I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to, but I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth.”

But mounting concerns about Biden’s mental acuity have drawn even greater scrutiny of Harris, particularly from the right. Republicans have sought to make Harris a boogyman, with Nikki Haley warning during the GOP primary a vote for Biden was a vote for “a President Harris”.

With the convention scheduled for mid-August in Chicago, and the formal nomination process to take place virtually at some point before that to meet an Ohio ballot deadline, many Democrats have said there is not enough time to replace Biden at the top of the ticket.

Former South Carolina lawmaker and Democratic commentator Bakari Sellers, who endorsed Harris in the 2020 primary, said wishing for an alternative to emerge at this stage was futile.

“You’re not nominating Gretch or Gavin or Wes over Kamala. Stop it,” he wrote on X, adding: “Choice is Trump, Biden or couch. I choose Joe.”

Posted by: Christian Fellows; Source: TheGuardian

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Internship 1: Americas Section Human Rights Internship

• Job Opening ID: 233933
• Category and Level: Internship, I-1
• Duty Station: Geneva
• Expected Duration: 3 months

• APPLY

Join the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva and become an advocate for human rights across the Americas region. As an intern, you will assist in researching and analyzing human rights issues, preparing reports, and supporting key initiatives aimed at promoting and protecting human rights for all. This internship offers a dynamic environment where you can make a tangible impact while honing your skills and knowledge in human rights advocacy.

Qualifications and Skills:
Applicants should be enrolled in or have completed a degree program in relevant fields such as law, international relations, or political science. Fluency in English and Spanish is required, with knowledge of French being desirable. This internship provides a unique opportunity to work alongside experts in the field and gain firsthand experience in the world of human rights diplomacy.

Internship 2: Public Administration Internship

• Job Opening ID: 233957
• Category and Level: Internship, I-1
• Duty Station: New York
• Expected Duration: 2-6 months
• APPLY

Embark on a journey of discovery with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York. As a Public Administration intern, you will delve into research areas such as sustainable development, digital government, and public service delivery. Your responsibilities may include assisting with conferences and meetings, conducting research, and preparing analytical documents. This internship offers a unique opportunity to gain practical experience in the field of public administration and contribute to global initiatives for sustainable development.

Qualifications and Skills:
Applicants should be enrolled in or have completed a graduate school program or the final year of a first university degree program. Proficiency in standard software applications such as MS Word, MS PowerPoint, and MS Teams is required, with the ability to design surveys and polls being desirable. This internship provides a platform for aspiring public administrators to apply their academic knowledge to real-world challenges and make a meaningful impact on global development efforts.

Empower Your Career: Internship Opportunities in Human Rights and Public Administration Await You

Apply Now:
Don’t miss out on these incredible internship opportunities with the United Nations. Take the first step towards a rewarding career by applying today. The deadline for applications is May 12, 2024, for the Americas Section Human Rights Internship and May 16, 2024, for the Public Administration Internship.

Note:
Interns are responsible for their travel, accommodation, and living expenses. The United Nations does not charge any fees at any stage of the recruitment process.

Unlock your potential and become a catalyst for change on the global stage. Apply now and join us in our mission to build a better future for all.

37 UN Internships released in the last 7 days – Apply Now!

Source: Joinunitednations.com

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Biden and Trump won their respective primaries in California, Virginia, North Carolina, Maine, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Colorado and Minnesota.

The two candidates sparred in statements and speeches after polls closed. While Biden warned that Trump was “determined to destroy democracy”, Trump leaned heavily into nativist rhetoric about migrants, falsely claiming US cities are “being overrun by migrant crime”.

Biden also saw an unusual loss – in American Samoa. In the US territory, little known candidate Jason Palmer garnered 51 votes to Biden’s 40.

In the Republican primary, 874 of 2,429 total delegates were up for grabs, and the winning candidate will ultimately need 1,215 delegates to capture the nomination. Nikki Haley won the Republican primary in Vermont – her second victory of 2024. Her campaign declined to signal next steps amid mounting pressure from within her own party to step out of the race.

A Hitler-quoting candidate, Mark Robinson, won the North Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary. He’ll will face Democrat Josh Stein in what is expected to be a heavily contested race in November.

In the Democratic contest, 1,421 delegates, representing roughly a third of all delegates, were up for grabs on Super Tuesday, and Joe Biden will need 1,968 delegates to officially win the nomination.

In California, centrist Democrat Adam Schiff and Republican ex-baseball player Steve Garvey advanced in the open primary for US Senate. Garvey, who was initially seen as a long-shot candidate, was boosted by Schiff, whose ads focused on the Republican rather than fellow Democratic challengers Katie Porter and Barbara Lee.

Source: theguardian & cbsnews; compiled here by: Christian Fellows

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Recorded in the midst of a tense situation, the video showcases individuals harmonizing in a collective act of worship, standing resolute in their determination to protect themselves. This blending of self-defense with spiritual expression serves as a powerful testament to the complexity of human responses in the face of crisis.

The unique way in which these Israelis navigate the complexities of conflict underscores the impact of faith. The melodic affirmation of their beliefs not only provides comfort to those involved but also symbolizes a collective resilience that transcends the immediate challenges posed by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

As the video continues to circulate, it sparks discussions about the diverse ways individuals draw strength during times of adversity in conflict zones. Faith emerges as a unifying force, offering a sense of purpose and connection even in the face of danger.

In a historical reflection, the Raid on Entebbe in 1976 stands as a defining moment in Israeli history. As contemporary events unfold, the Hebrew verse “Hine ma tov u’ma nayim, shevet achim gam yachad” echoes through time, becoming an anthem of unity and hope.

As Israeli forces face unprecedented challenges, the soldiers find strength in the timeless words of Psalm 133:1. “Hine Ma Tov,” translating to “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity,” becomes a source of inspiration, symbolizing the resilience and determination of the Israeli people in the face of adversity during both historical and contemporary conflicts.

Decades later, the Raid on Entebbe remains a testament to the indomitable human spirit and the power of unity, offering a historical perspective on the strength derived from communal bonds. As the world reflects on these instances, the unique blend of self-defense and spiritual expression sheds light on the intricate ways people cope with adversity during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Author: Christian Fellow

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This Sunday we will stand together, an imam and a rabbi, at the vigil Building Bridges, Together for Humanity. We will stand alongside religious, civic and political leaders from different faiths and parties and with bereaved families scarred by the Israel-Hamas conflict.

With us will be representatives of the Parents Circle – Families Forum, a grassroots organization of more than 600 bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families working together for a shared future of justice, peace and hope for everyone. Their leadership and their bravery humbles us. But so does their insight. Robi Damelin, whose son was killed in the conflict, said this week: “As bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families we urge you not to import our conflict into your society and create further hatred. As families who have lost loved ones we refuse to give in to vengeance and retribution. Instead, we choose to work side by side in partnership to build a better future for everyone.”

In our work as an imam and a rabbi we have each stood alongside grieving parents, witnessed in heartfelt silence countless tears, and endeavoured to bring whatever comfort human kindness and faith in God can offer.

We have seen the misery and anguish the death of loved ones brings in the ordinary days of peacetime. This is all the more terrible amid the uncertainty, fear and terror of war. We are deeply distressed by the horror being suffered, even as we write, by so many civilians in both Israel and Palestine.

At moments like this it is easy for that pain to spill over into anger and for that anger to blind us to the plight of others. We too feel deep ties of loyalty to our respective faiths and communities. But we also feel the bond of universal humanity that unites us. We share the belief that every person is of infinite value and that every life is an entire, unique and irreplaceable world. Therefore, we are resolved to pray and work together for a future that brings dignity, security, enduring peace and hope to everyone.

As spiritual leaders in the UK, we are witnesses to the shocking rise in attacks on Jews and Muslims in this country. Many in our communities feel isolated, surrounded by walls of silence, harassed and afraid. Sadly, this applies in many schools, universities and workplaces, as well as on the streets of London and other cities. Such division and hostility only exacerbate our traumas.

Alongside civil and political leaders of all faiths and none, we are determined to do our utmost not to bring the conflict in the Middle East into this country. Rather, we are united in our commitment to upholding the values of respect, inclusion and the honoring and celebration of diversity that form the basis of our shared society.

We do not have to see eye to eye in order to treat one another with decency and consideration. We do not have to agree with each other for us to acknowledge each other’s hurt. We do not need to hold identical views to reach out and take responsibility for one another’s safety and wellbeing.

Amid the anger and anguish of these cruel times, we call instead for compassion, understanding and love. We know the difference that ordinary acts of kindness and decency can make.

That is why we call on you to stand with us and join the vigil on Sunday if you can. But even if you are unable to, we ask you to take your own small steps to bring us together. That can be as simple as reaching out to someone you disagree with or acknowledging someone else’s pain.

Despite, perhaps even within, the very trauma of the current situation, we seek to find opportunity. We see in this moment a key time to recognise each other’s anguish, express our solidarity in the face of suffering, and work alongside one another for a more compassionate world.

• Imam Monawar Hussain is the Muslim tutor at Eton College, Windsor. Jonathan Wittenberg is rabbi of New North London Synagogue

Source: The Guardian

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Earlier this week, Hamas’s armed wing announced that Shiri, Kfir and Ariel had been killed in an Israeli bombing before the now-lapsed truce went into effect — a claim Israel’s military has said it is investigating, but has yet to confirm.

Combat between Israel and Hamas resumed in the Gaza Strip Friday morning after an agreement could not be reached on prolonging the seven-day pause in fighting.

Under the terms of the temporary truce, Hamas had returned scores of Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of more than 200 Palestinian prisoners.

“Throughout the night, indirect negotiations unfolded to extend the truce,” the Palestinian militant group said in a statement Friday.

“Hamas also offered to transfer the Bibas family’s bodies and release their father for their burial, along with two Zionist detainees,” it added.

Israeli authorities “remained unresponsive”, it said.

The Israeli prime minister’s office meanwhile told AFP “Israel will not address propaganda-based reports coming from Hamas”.

As of Thursday, reports of the deaths of the three Bibas family members remained unconfirmed, according to army spokesman Daniel Hagari.

The army has previously said “Hamas is wholly responsible for the security of all hostages”.

Government spokesman Eylon Levy on Friday blamed Hamas for the collapse of the truce, accusing it of “having failed to provide a list of more hostages for release”.

He said Hamas was still holding 137 hostages taken on October 7, including the Bibas family.

The family were among the roughly 240 hostages dragged back to Gaza after militants streamed into Israel in an attack that left 1,200 people dead, most of them civilians, according to Israeli officials.

Israel’s ensuing war against the group has killed more than 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run government in Gaza.

© 2023 AFP

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Residents of Vermont, still suffering from an onslaught of dangerous weather in recent days, are preparing for another round of severe storms in the area beginning as early as Thursday night.

Historic flooding in the state has damaged thousands of homes, businesses and roads, and has left some residents stranded. One death was confirmed by the state department of health, a 63-year-old man who drowned in his home. More than 200 rescues and 100 evacuations have taken place as a result of the extreme storms.

Across the US, more than a third of Americans were under extreme heat advisories, watches and warnings as the heatwave baking the nation spread further into California. The sweltering conditions were expected to build on Friday and through the weekend in central and southern California, where many residents were told to prepare for the hottest weather of the year by the National Weather Service.

Highs in inland desert areas were predicted to top 120F (48.8C) during the day and remain in the 80s (above 26.6C) overnight, offering little relief. Elsewhere, officials prepared to repurpose public libraries, senior centers and police department lobbies as cooling centers, especially in desert areas.

In Vermont, as floodwaters receded, dams were holding up on Thursday and more roads reopened. But strong thunderstorms are expected to move into parts of the state by Thursday night, which could cause hail, more flash floods and even a tornado.

Transportation officials were moving equipment to areas that were considered more flood-prone to prepare for the storms as they continued to evaluate damage, including to rail lines. Amtrak and other railroad service has been suspended.

“The period we are more concerned about is Sunday because that could be more widespread and heavier, but not nearly on the scale of what we saw earlier in the week,” said Seth Kutikoff, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

Other north-eastern states have been affected by the storms, including Connecticut, where officials warned boaters and others about dangerous debris in the Connecticut River, and New Hampshire, where some roads, towns and campgrounds have seen flooding.

“We strongly encourage residents and visitors, especially campers staying at sites along rivers and streams, and campgrounds in low-lying parts, to know what to do if evacuation is needed,” said Robert Buxton, the director of the state’s homeland security and management agency.

One death in New York was blamed on the storm – a woman whose body was found after she was swept away in Fort Montgomery, a small Hudson River community about 45 miles (72km) north of New York City.

The extreme weather trend this week has not been isolated to the north-east: the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for parts of Colorado and Kansas, and issued a severe thunderstorm watch for parts of Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The agency also warned of severe thunderstorms in areas of Oklahoma, with risks of very large hail and damaging wind gusts.

Phoenix hit 110F (43C) for the 14th consecutive day on Thursday, putting it on track for a possible new record next week. The longest measured stretch of 110F-plus temperatures for the city is 18 days, recorded in 1974.

The overnight low temperature at Phoenix Sky Harbor international airport on Thursday morning was 95F (35C), which means temperatures may not be dropping far enough to allow people to recover after dark.

Forecasters said the long-duration heat wave was extremely dangerous, especially for older people, homeless residents and other vulnerable populations. The heat could persist into next week as a high-pressure dome moves west from Texas.

In California, with the state fair prepared to kick off on Friday in Sacramento, organizers were forced to cancel planned horseracing events due to concerns for animal safety.

Florida has experienced record-breaking temperatures this week, with the National Weather Service issuing alerts for southern parts of the state into late Thursday.

The onslaught of extreme weather has brought into focus the dire implications of the climate crisis, which rages on with little meaningful intervention from lawmakers, according to advocates. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration revealed in its latest monthly global climate report that this June was the hottest month globally on record, on both land and sea.

Source: The Guardian, Author: Kari Paul

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In a statement, the military said the man attempted to stab a resident in the Tene Omarim settlement and was shot by an armed civilian. It said the incident had set off an alarm and soldiers were scanning the area.

The Palestinian Health ministry confirmed the death and identified the killed man as Alaa Qissaya, 28.

Security camera footage from the site shows a Palestinian male crawling in under a gate and walking into the settlement while holding a knife. The video does not show the alleged stabbing attempt, or the man being shot.

The settlement is located near Hebron, a flashpoint city in the southern West Bank, which is a frequent site of friction between Palestinian residents and Jewish settlers.

Meanwhile, Jewish settlers attacked Palestinian farmers and torched five vehicles at the village of al-Mughayyir near the city of Ramallah, the official Palestinian news agency reported. It said five farmers were beaten and injured by the settlers. Israeli media reported that Israeli forces were sent in to bring the situation under control. There was no immediate comment from the military.

The incidents occurred as Jews were celebrating Shavuot, a festival marking the day that Jews believe the Torah was given to Moses on Mount Sinai in Egypt.

It was the latest in more than a year-long spate of violence in the West Bank. During that time, Israel has expanded near-nightly military raids throughout the area in response to an increase in Palestinian attacks.

At least 113 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem this year, with nearly half of them members of armed militant groups, according to an Associated Press tally. But stone-throwing youths and people uninvolved in violence have also been killed. The Israeli army said the number of Palestinian militants killed is much higher.

Meanwhile, Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets in those areas have killed 20 people.

Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem, along with the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians seek these territories for a future state.

Some 700,000 Israelis now live in settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Most of the international community considers these settlements illegal or obstacles to peace.

Source: independent.co.uk, Author: AP News

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In any case, it’s not like you’ve worked out what you believe, or don’t — there’s just a lot of things you’re not quite sure about. The apologetics books your youth pastor recommended (you told him you had a cousin who’s stopped going to church, and you wanted to bring them back) didn’t help; in some ways, they made things worse. But it’s not like there’s anyone you can talk to about it. And that one time you raised the subject with your dad, he shut you down pretty quick.

I suspect the above scenario will feel fairly plausible to a good few nonverts of a certain vintage, raised throughout vast swathes of America. Think of it as a less extreme, mass-market analogue of the experiences of those raised in the Mormon-majority towns of Idaho and Utah. For them, the advent of the internet was “the game-changer, right? Because before, where would you go to find that? It was never out there, it was never publicly really available.” Mark, [a] now “ethnically Mormon” New York dentist, tells me over pizza how a close relative who had moved out of state, sensing in him a kindred spirit, started emailing links to all manner of LDS history websites. Pretty soon he discovered whole online communities of peers, raised just like he had been, who were now mutually encouraging each other in their nascent post-Mormon identities.

But this was by no means only an LDS phenomenon. The internet brought unabashedly nonreligious texts, ideas, and — most importantly — acquaintances and friends into millions of Christian homes. Some people, naturally, went looking for this stuff: precisely the kinds of teens, as sketched earlier, with prior reasons to go in search. And, thanks to there already being a vibrant atheist activist presence online since well before AOL brought dial-up internet to the mainstream, there was no shortage of websites, message boards, and new friends out there to be found. 

I suspect for most users social media has a net relativizing effect.

For many others, however, it’s likely that “something they saw on the internet” — something, that is, they wouldn’t have seen had it not been for the internet — ended up sparking, or otherwise contributing to, a gradual path of nonversion.

Naturally, the kinds of online social dynamics we’re dealing with can work both ways. If it’s possible to find one’s tribe via Usenet’s “alt. atheism,” Reddit’s “r/ exmormon,” or Twitter’s “#EmptyThePews,” one can equally do so via one of the internet’s endless variety of pro-religious websites, groups, and YouTube channels. But here’s the thing. Prior to the internet, while Americans had a limitless supply of the latter’s offline equivalents, the vast majority of them had almost none of the former’s. 

Sure, they existed alright — campus secular alliances, humanist chapters in major cities — but just think how many more, and better funded, religious competitors there were. So the growth of home internet suddenly brought new nonreligious possibilities where there had been few or none before. Remember, too, that this most affected a generation with markedly less resistance to the idea of nonreligion than their Cold Warrior parents and grandparents had.

The impact of the internet is not, we might add, only evident in those who ended up falling in with the “none” crowd. There are vastly more nonreligious Millennials and Generation Zs than could possibly have been deeply involved in one or other of these groups, no matter how prevalent they are. Obviously then, they weren’t all nonverted in this way. However, there are reasons for thinking that the internet, and social media especially, might be having a subtler but much more widespread secularizing effect on American society. 

For all the attention given to online “echo chambers” deepening participants’ commitment to a shared view and collectively pushing them to ever great extremes, I suspect for most users social media has a net relativizing effect. In general, worldviews are strongest when they present themselves as “givens” and can thus be taken for granted. It’s easier to be an evangelical if everyone you know, or at least everyone whose opinions you care about, are evangelicals, too. But a person’s Facebook or Twitter feed likely includes many “friends,” or people one chooses to follow, with a whole range of positions on all manner of topics. It’s possible to police one’s network very carefully to prevent this from happening, but I’m not sure very many people are sufficiently committed to ideological purity to bother. 

In the past, our social circles were much smaller (though likely deeper), and focused largely on where we lived and worked, plus a very select few people we actively kept in touch with at further distances. These were chiefly relatives, though perhaps with a couple of old school friends or college roommates in the mix too. Now it’s common to be aware, on a daily basis, of the doings and thinkings of a diverse collection of far-flung relatives, people you barely spoke to even when you were in the same room at school together, colleagues you met once at a conference, and all manner of others, many of whom you’ve never met once in person. You probably know a good deal more about what’s going on in the lives of many of them than you do about your own next-door neighbors or co-workers (unless they’re also Facebook friends).

Given how much more willing people are to talk about religion and politics online than they are in person, you’re therefore probably exposed to all manner of different viewpoints. Sometimes, maybe one of these makes you think differently about a political policy or religious doctrine — or even if not, it makes you a little less sure about it than you used to be. Given the sheer amount of time many people tend to spend on social media platforms, it’s not hard to imagine that the cumulative effect of all this might well be to chip away at lots of hitherto unexamined convictions. And that this, combined with other factors, might help nudge a good number further along the path away from religion — and to shove a few of them down one or another shortcut to Advance Directly to Go(dlessness).

Source: bigthink.com, Author: Stephen Bullivant

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The ceremony is usually conducted with great pomp and circumstance at Parliament: red carpet, fancy suits and designer dresses, and photographers. Then the presidential guard is paraded and 21 cannons are fired to greet the arrival of the head of state. 

However, the historic building in Cape Town having been partly ravaged by an arson attack last year, the president will speak in the evening from the Town Hall.

And in an economic and social context at half-mast, calls for sobriety for the reception billed at more than 424,000 euros (8 million rand) have spread on social networks, “as a sign of solidarity with the real state of the nation.

In South Africa plagued by one of the highest unemployment rates on the planet (32.9%), a GDP growth forecast for the year of almost zero (0.3%) and families crushed by the constant rise in the price of basic commodities, anger at the power shortages have spread to the streets.

In recent weeks, demonstrations have broken out in several cities, including Johannesburg, at the call of the opposition and the unions.

– Mismanagement and corruption –

Since last year, the energy crisis has worsened in the continent’s leading industrial power, which is lagging behind in the transition to clean energy.

State-owned Eskom, plagued by years of mismanagement and endemic corruption under President Jacob Zuma (2009-2018), is unable to produce enough electricity from its ageing coal-fired power plants, which are regularly hit by blackouts.

The only remedy, for now, is scheduled load shedding several times a day, forcing the entire country to cook, wash its clothes and charge its phone at certain times only.

Businesses are losing hundreds of millions of dollars a day, according to the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), which is criticizing the government’s ineffectiveness in resolving the crisis.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) announced last week that it had given “clear instructions” and called on the government to declare a state of disaster in order to release funds.

But according to Dieter von Fintel, an economist at the University of Stellenbosch, this purely “symbolic” measure would only have the virtue of calming down an opinion that is already losing confidence, since the real problem lies in the fact that “the energy crisis is short-circuiting any attempt to revive the economy and is now a threat to social stability.

The radical left-wing EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) party has vowed to disrupt the speech of the “delinquent” president. Mired in a scandal with a whiff of dirty money, Cyril Ramaphosa escaped impeachment proceedings in December, supported by the ANC. A police investigation is still underway.

The historic party subsequently re-elected him as its leader, assuring the still-popular 70-year-old president, who remains its best asset, of a second term if the ANC wins the 2024 general election.

Source: africanews.com

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