Nurturing South Africa’s future professionals – The Mail & Guardian

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Nurturing South Africa’s future professionals – The Mail & Guardian

SPONSORED

The Professional Provident Society (PPS) Foundation demonstrated the power of nurturing the potential of the next wave of economically empowered young professionals in its 2019 annual report, its second since inception in 2016. In particular, this addressed the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 goal to improve the quality of education, skills development and innovation that will ultimately enable future professionals to realise their full potential.

The outcomes of the Foundation’s strategic focus were achieved by contributing and improving access to tertiary education through funding of bursaries and refurbishment of learning facilities, but by also addressing the social issues of tertiary students beyond the lecture room. These included tackling food insecurities within the student community, the enhancement of learning and experiences for students, and empowerment of young talent on the cusp of entering the job market after graduation through the LEAP (Learned, Engaged, Accelerated, Professionals) work-readiness programme.

In 2019, the PPS Foundation achieved its target of funding 60 students across various universities and institutes of technology through its bursary programme.

“The selection of candidates who are awarded the bursary was based on their history of academic excellence and merit, with the group comprising students pursuing qualifications from an eclectic mix of faculties and specialised fields. Most of the beneficiaries who receive comprehensive funding were those in STEM-related fields that complement the national agenda and socioeconomic context of South Africa,” says Masenyane Molefe, Executive Trustee of the PPS Foundation.

For the first time, through stringent financial planning, the PPS Foundation was able to wipe out the historical debt of eight beneficiaries who were burdened by outstanding fees that predated their PPS Foundation bursaries, thus allowing them to fully focus on their studies.

During the year, the PPS Foundation also supported public universities and universities of technology with work-study programmes and other development initiatives in a bid to address the challenges that impact teaching and learning experiences.

“The PPS Foundation’s effort to improve access to quality tertiary education has grown from strength to strength over the past three years. Our greatest obligation is to continue creating and maintaining the partnerships that enable our work to be done successfully in educating South Africa’s future professionals. Since the inception of the foundation, over 250 students have benefited from the bursary programme and 12 institutions and organisations have benefited from the university support programme, and we can only hope to do more in years to come,” says Molefe.

Looking beyond the funding initiative, every student needs to be fully prepared to face the reality of work in order to become a South African business leader. In 2019, 25 graduates who were placed in various positions within businesses successfully completed their tenure as part of the 12-month long Graduate Internship Development Programme. The programme was a priceless opportunity for the selected graduates to be embedded in a professional working environment and acclimate to the expectations of the world beyond their university walls.

Preparing for the world of work

More than 1 000 students from various academic institutions have been provided with skills and tools through the LEAP work-readiness programme. The programme is extremely useful for students entering the job market, because it raises awareness about the importance of personal branding through self-reflection. Students who completed the programme were able to master their first job interviews due to skills gained in communication and presentation skills, CV and interview preparation, understanding what their strengths and weaknesses are and, most importantly, what their career motives are. 

Engaging closely with the student community and academic institutions, the PPS Foundation saw the need for more than financial aid for studies and the refurbishment of learning facilities. In partnership with non-profit company Rise Against Hunger Africa, the Foundation spearheaded a food drive to fight food insecurity on campuses across the country. This entailed packaging over 100 000 nutritious meals for thousands of underprivileged students as part of the Employee Volunteerism and University Support Programme.

In 2019, PPS Insurance (PPS) partnered with the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Institute in an effort to nurture future leaders using the Africanised concept of leadership. About 60 young leaders were part of this insightful programme and were encouraged to continue to solve problems in their communities.

PPS is a significant contributor to the PPS Foundation, which is a public benefit organisation that relies on attracting and broadening its base of donors; it is proud to also be a beneficiary of the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet Programme.  “We encourage members and beneficiaries of the Foundation’s programme to pass the baton of excellence and empowerment to those who have followed in the trail they blazed,” concludes Molefe.

Commenting on the PPS Foundation’s performance, Izak Smit, Chief Executive Officer of PPS, says: “We are inspired by the achievements of the PPS Foundation over the past three years. As a company that embraces the ethos of mutuality, we do not have shareholders; we have members from across the spectrum of professions and economic sectors.  We care about the professional community. We care about the positive impact that this special community can make on the world around us. We also care about the future of this community, and we’re adding to our ranks new talented members who are beneficiaries of PPS Foundation’s efforts.”

About PPS

PPS boasts in excess of 150 000 members who enjoy access to a comprehensive suite of financial and healthcare products that are specifically tailored to meet the needs of graduate professionals.

PPS is the largest South African company of its kind, exclusively for graduate professionals, that embraces an ethos of mutuality, which means that it exists solely for the benefit of its members. Thus, PPS members with qualifying products from PPS Insurance, PPS Investments and Profmed share in the profits of PPS Insurance, PPS Investments and PPS Healthcare Administrators via annual allocations to the unique PPS Profit-Share Account.

PPS membership provides access to the following tried, tested and trusted products and services: PPS Life Insurance, PPS Short-Term Insurance, PPS Financial Advisory, PPS Investments and Profmed Medical Scheme. PPS is an authorised financial service provider.

Visit www.pps.co.za for more information.



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Rohingya Boat Off Thailand Has Been at Sea Four Months: Malaysian Official

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Rohingya Boat Off Thailand Has Been at Sea Four Months: Malaysian Official

A boat carrying hundreds of Rohingya that has been at sea four months is currently off southern Thailand and has been blocked from entering Malaysia’s waters multiple times, a senior Malaysian maritime official said Wednesday.

The Rohingya on board the boat have been supplied with food and fuel by syndicates from Thailand and Myanmar, the chief of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.

“The boat carrying about 300 people is in Koh Adang island (waters). We believe that the vessel departed from Cox’s Bazar in February together with the one that successfully landed,” said Mohd Zubil Mat Som, the MMEA director-general, referring to a boat towed ashore at Langkawi, an island in northern Malaysia, on Monday.

The second vessel “made many attempts to enter Malaysian waters previously but failed because it was detected by our patrols,” he said.

A Thai naval official denied that any Rohingya boats were present in Thai waters in the Andaman Sea off Koh Adang, an island near the border with Malaysia.

“Based on ship and helicopter patrolling, I don’t see any reports that we spotted (Rohingya boats). We saw none,” a Navy officer told BenarNews on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media directly.

Malaysian officials, for their part, have insisted that no unauthorized boats would be allowed to enter Malaysian territory. The boat that reached Langkawi was brought to shore only after dozens of its passengers jumped overboard and began swimming toward the island. Officials later reported that the boat’s engine had been “sabotaged.”

70 percent cannot walk

The Malaysian coast guard chief confirmed that both Rohingya boats had sailed from Cox’s Bazar, a district in southeastern Bangladesh where close to 1 million Rohingya refugees from nearby Rakhine state in Myanmar have been sheltering at sprawling refugee camps.

“The syndicates provided food and gas for the vessels. No vessel can last in the sea for four months without aid,” Mohd Zubil said.

Authorities have begun screening the 269 Rohingya who were on board the boat that landed on June 8, including for the coronavirus, the MMEA head said.

He noted that 70 percent of them could not walk properly because they had been sitting and squatting for months aboard the boat.

On Wednesday, officials with the U.N.’s refugee agency said they were still trying to access the 269 Rohingya who have been held at a detention center on Langkawi since Monday.

“At this early stage, UNHCR has no first-hand information about the group, and is therefore unable to confirm their origin or provide information about their situation,” a spokesperson in Kuala Lumpur for the U.N. agency said in response to questions from BenarNews.

“UNHCR has sought immediate access to this group of arrivals in order to assess their protection needs and has offered to support, together with its partners, the Government of Malaysia by providing immediate humanitarian assistance and protection services in line with international standards,” the official said.

The U.N. also commended Malaysia for its “positive humanitarian action” through allowing the boat to land at Langkawi – the first time in more than two months that Malaysian authorities permitted a boatload of Rohingya refugees to enter territorial waters after the country sealed its borders to guard against the further spread of COVID-19.

“Allowing for the timely and safe disembarkation of refugees and asylum-seekers is a critical and life-saving act, consistent with international norms for the protection of asylum-seekers and persons at risk at sea including the principle of non-refoulement,” UNHCR said.

‘Malaysia should send the Rohingyas to Myanmar’

A day earlier, Malaysian Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaacob said that Malaysia would send the boat’s passengers back to Bangladesh if it was determined that their trip began in Cox’s Bazar.

In Dhaka, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen said that his government would not take in the Rohingya who came ashore in Malaysia.

“Rohingyas are the citizens of Myanmar and Malaysia should send the Rohingyas to Myanmar instead of Bangladesh. Otherwise, they (Malaysia) can keep Rohingyas in their own country,” the foreign minister told BenarNews. Rohingya are members of a stateless minority group in Myanmar.

Meanwhile in Bangkok, human rights advocacy group Fortify Rights called on Asian countries to allow Rohingya boats to land.

“Countries in the region should urgently allow Rohingya refugees and trafficking survivors to disembark. Rohingya people are genocide survivors and need protection, not to be left to die at sea,” Putthanee Kangkun, a researcher with the group, told BenarNews on Wednesday.

The refugees from the boat should not be detained indefinitely, she said.

“We know there are more boats at sea,” she added, citing information passed on by a colleague in Bangladesh.

“We know from previous interviews from two other recent boats that Rohingya died at sea, and conditions are awful on the boats. For example deprivation of food and water,” she said.

In mid-April hundreds of Rohingya men, women and children were said to be “starving” when they were brought ashore in Cox’s Bazar after a failed attempt to reach Malaysia by sea, with witnesses saying that Malaysian authorities had turned away their boat.

During the sea crossing dozens of passengers died and their bodies were thrown overboard, people who survived the journey said.

Reported by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service.



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Indian Hotels’ Q4 consolidated profit before tax drops 69% to Rs 58.1 crore

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Indian Hotels’ Q4 consolidated profit before tax drops 69% to Rs 58.1 crore


Tata group arm Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) on Wednesday reported a consolidated profit before tax (PBT) and exceptional items of Rs 58.1 crore for the March quarter.


This is drop of 69.3 per cent year-on-year. Its consolidated net profit at Rs 76.29 crore was down 37.75 per cent. It posted a net profit (PAT) of Rs 122.56 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.



The profit would have been lower but for the jump in exceptional items including profit on sale of land, change in fair value of derivative contracts, etc.



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‘The last thing we need right now’: States, cities hemorrhage jobs

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‘The last thing we need right now’: States, cities hemorrhage jobs

“These layoffs are happening as we speak,” Murphy said. “It’s not theoretical.”

Many of these municipal and state layoffs are disproportionately affecting black Americans, adding pressure on Congress to act as protests over racism and police brutality roil the country. The public sector employs a higher proportion of black workers than other U.S. industries do, and its decline explains in part Friday’s jobs report, which showed that while the unemployment rate declined overall, it continued to tick upward for black workers.

“African Americans tend to have those kinds of jobs that are the service jobs where they’re going into work and risking their lives every single day, and then going back home and risking their families’ lives,” said Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union. The government “has historically been one of the most dependable employers of African Americans.”

“So those who are getting laid off disproportionately are African American, and they’re going to be hurt the most.”

Congress allocated $150 billion to state and local governments under the CARES Act in March, but officials were restricted in how they could spend it, permitted to use it only for coronavirus-related costs rather than to cover budget shortfalls due to a loss of tax and fee revenue. The National Governors Association, composed of both Democrats and Republicans, has for two months now been calling for an additional $500 billion in flexible aid and for a loosening of restrictions on the CARES Act funding, but lawmakers have yet to act.

House Democrats set aside at least $915 billion in state and local aid in the HEROES Act they passed in mid-May, only for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to dismiss it as a “laundry list of pet priorities.” More recently, McConnell told Fox News his chamber “may later do more” to help states by allocating aid but that he wants to wait and see how things are looking after more of them begin to open up. Some conservative lawmakers have made clear they have no interest in providing further aid, arguing that would simply reward primarily Democratic-led states that have, in their minds, mismanaged their budgets.

“We’re just seeing so much incompetence in blue state management, it’s going to be hard to make the case to any Republican that for some reason people in Utah should pay for Bill de Blasio’s incompetence,” said Stephen Moore, a conservative economist and outside adviser to the White House, referring to the mayor of New York City. He advocated instead for states to quickly reopen their doors so they can start collecting tax revenue.

In the meantime, negotiations on the Hill are essentially at a standstill.

“There’s no serious conversation happening,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), who serves on the Appropriations Committee, said of state and local aid. “There should be, but Senate Republicans are slow-walking this process.”

“Maybe they’re trying to figure out what they want,” he added. “There doesn’t seem to be any consensus.”

Governors and mayors are urging Congress not to delay sending aid that is sorely needed. “The timeline is now,” said Teryn Zmuda, chief economist at the National Association of Counties.

Should layoffs continue on their current trajectory, they could lead to a dramatic cutback of essential services at a time when they are in greater demand than ever.

“You will see disaster occur if in fact there are continued layoffs in the public sector,” Saunders said, listing health, education and sanitation services as some that will see major cutbacks without additional aid.

And in many cases, the populations benefiting from those services are communities of color that the pandemic has already hit hardest.

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Cambodia’s Top Rights Body Wants Tariff-Free EU Trade, But Won’t Budge on Political Reforms

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Cambodia’s Top Rights Body Wants Tariff-Free EU Trade, But Won’t Budge on Political Reforms

Cambodia’s top human rights body said Wednesday that the country does not want to lose preferential trade status in the European Union but is unable to comply with the bloc’s requirements on rights reforms to retain those privileges, citing its status as a sovereign nation.

The EU in mid-February announced plans to suspend tariff-free access to its market under the “Everything But Arms” (EBA) scheme for around one-fifth of Cambodia’s exports, citing rollbacks on human rights—a decision that would reinstate taxes on garments and footwear beginning Aug. 12, unless it is overturned by the bloc’s governments or its parliament.

The suspension, which Prime Minister Hun Sen has shrugged off and called an attack on Cambodia’s sovereignty, will result in a loss of around U.S. $1.1 billion of the country’s annual U.S. $5.8 billion in exports to the bloc, some 75 percent of which are made up of clothing and textiles.

On Wednesday, Cambodian Human Rights Committee Deputy President and Ministry of Justice spokesman Chhin Malin told RFA’s Khmer Service that Cambodia does not want to lose EBA status and that the government is “negotiating” with the bloc to ensure it maintains full EBA status.

However, he said that Cambodia cannot fully comply with EU’s requirements, especially those related to human rights and political issues.

“Cambodia will continue to cooperate with the EU Commission to resolve the EBA issue,” he said.

“Cambodia will continue to maintain its position of implementing the law and maintain its sovereignty and will not exchange them for aid.”

Chhin Malin said that “different people have different assessments” on human rights issues in Cambodia based on their political preferences, suggesting that his government would not bow to demands over how the country should be run.

He did not provide any details on negotiations or how Cambodia might expect to sway the EU on its decision to withdraw EBA status without instituting reforms.

While the coronavirus outbreak has thrown production for Cambodia’s key garment industry into disarray, factories and workers have endured a significant economic hit amid a decline in orders from buyers in the EU anticipating a return to tariffs on some Cambodian imports when trade status is withdrawn.

Government to blame

Ath Thon, president of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, told RFA that if the government of Cambodia had positively responded the EU Commission’s recommendations during an earlier assessment period, they would not be in danger of losing trade preferences on 20 percent of its exports.

He acknowledged that Cambodia had improved some issues—such as the rights of workers, the indigenous population, and land ownership—but crucial requirements, including the status of political rights, remain unchanged.

“As a union, we want the government to resolve all of the issues recommended by the EU,” he said.

Among the reforms the EU has called for is the reinstatement of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which the Supreme Court banned in November 2017 for its role in an alleged plot to topple the government.

The move to ban the CNRP was part of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on the political opposition, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for his ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to win all 125 seats in parliament in the country’s July 2018 general election.

Am Sam Ath of the Cambodia-based human rights group Licadho told RFA that there had been little improvement of human rights or political rights since the EU announced its decision in February.

He expressed concern that if the situation in Cambodia continues to deteriorate, the country will lose EBA status on all of its exports to the EU.

“The EU has [announced plans to] partially withdraw the EBA because of the CNRP dissolution and persecution,” he said.

“Currently, we have observed that arrests have resumed. I am concerned that the EU will remove full EBA status if the government does not restore democracy and respect for human rights.”

Since the beginning of the year, nearly 20 CNRP opposition officials or activists have been arrested and thrown in prison—most without arrest warrants.

During the same period, 17 former and active CNRP officials and supporters have been the victims of assault by unidentified men, and police have yet to make any arrests in the cases.

Call for postponement

Chhin Malin’s comments came after the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) issued an open letter to the EU Commission and other European stakeholders last week calling for a one-year postponement to the EBA withdrawal, citing the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic that has infected 126 people in Cambodia since March, according to official statistics.

GMAC said that some 250 companies making apparel, footwear, and travel goods have been forced to suspend operations because of the outbreak, while others are operating at reduced capacity, leading to layoffs for around 130,000 workers—most of whom are women.

While there was a significant drop off in orders in the first quarter of 2020, the manufacturer’s association said that it expects a decline in sales for the three industries to fall by 50 to 60 percent, year over year, in the second quarter, putting “hundreds of thousands” at risk of job loss and “millions” under the threat of a return to poverty.

Furthermore, it warned, a return of tariffs would encourage buyers to turn their business to other producers in the region that still benefit from the EBA scheme, while undermining improvements in labor rights and working conditions Cambodia has achieved in partnership with stakeholders such as the International Labour Organization.

China trade deal

Cambodia could find some relief from any burden that comes with withdrawal of EBA status if it inks a free trade agreement with China, which the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh said in a Tuesday statement posted on its Facebook page had reached a third round of negotiations.

“The trade deal agreement to be signed between Cambodia and China will be implemented according to a consensus of the two countries’ leaders and will promote the joint destiny of Phnom Penh and Beijing,” the statement said, without providing further details.

No date has been set for the finalization and signing of the agreement, which is expected to come “later this year.”

Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce also issued a statement Tuesday detailing a teleconference between Minister Pan Sorasak and Yang Zhengwei, deputy director-general of the Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs under China’s commerce ministry.

“Negotiations focused on opening markets for products, services, investment, and economic cooperation, while boosting imports from Cambodia and attracting more investment,” the statement said, adding that the agreement is expected to boost trade between the two countries well beyond the average growth rate of 20 percent over the past three years.

Commerce ministry spokesman Seang Thai confirmed that no schedule has been set to sign the deal, adding that the two sides are “negotiating to reduce taxes for certain products.”

News of the negotiations came on the same day that Cambodia’s Ministry of Agriculture announced it had signed an agreement with China to export mangoes, which Hun Sen said in a statement posted to his Facebook account is “a good sign for farmers and investors concerned over reduced demand and low prices.”

Agricultural expert Yang Saing Koma told RFA that Cambodia’s government should be wary of signing any deals with China, particularly ones that he warned could negatively impact small and medium Cambodian enterprises and the agricultural sector.

“I welcome free trade, but we must be prudent,” he said, recommending that Cambodia ensure any such deal be “balanced.”

“We must also maintain local capacity to compete in the free market.”

Trade between Cambodia and China has steadily increased from U.S. $5.16 billion in 2016 to just over U.S. $6 billion in 2017 and U.S. $7.4 billion in 2018, according to government figures. The two countries aim to reach U.S. $10 billion in bilateral trade annually by 2023.

Reported by RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.



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NASCAR bans Confederate flag from its races

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NASCAR bans Confederate flag from its races

“The presence of the confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry,” NASCAR said. “Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special. The display of the confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties.”

The move was announced before Wednesday night’s race at Martinsville Speedway where Wallace, an Alabama native, was driving a Chevrolet with a #BlackLivesMatter paint scheme. Wallace got a shoutout on Twitter from several athletes, including NBA star LeBron James, for using the paint scheme in the race.

The flag issue has been a thorny one for NASCAR. Former chairman Brian France in 2015 tried to ban the flying of Confederate flags at race tracks, angering many fans.

NASCAR did not address how it would enforce the policy or indicate any penalties for fans who violate it by bringing the Confederate flag to the track. NASCAR has not raced with fans since the sport resumed last month amid the pandemic and was expected to have minimal fans allowed at races this month in Florida and Georgia.

Confederate flags still fly high atop infield RVs and are waved by fans in the grandstands at most tracks. NASCAR has been more open in recent times to the eradication of the Confederate flag. Several drivers — including two-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin — said they supported Wallace in his quest to rid the sport of the flag.

The predominantly white field of drivers united over the weekend for a video promoting social change. A black NASCAR official, Kirk Price, took a knee before Sunday’s race near Atlanta in what may have been a first for the series. Wallace wore a black T-shirt with the words “I Can’t Breathe” at the race.

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George Floyd: Complicated life, notorious death

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George Floyd: Complicated life, notorious death

In the Houston housing projects where he grew up, George Floyd was respected as a man who spoke from hard, but hardly extraordinary, experience. He had nothing remotely like the stature he has gained in death. (June 10)

       

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Premiership Rugby players may strike over salary cap reduction

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Premiership Rugby players may strike over salary cap reduction

RPA chairman Mark Lambert: “We very much see it [a strike] in any walk of life as the last action…but it’s difficult for us to entirely rule out any options.”

Last Updated: 10/06/20 10:51pm


Harlequins prop Mark Lambert says the Rugby Players’ Association cannot rule out strike action over the salary cut reduction

Premiership players could go on strike over contractual issues arising from the reduction of next season’s salary cap by more than 20 per cent.

Premiership Rugby has confirmed clubs unanimously voted to cut the cap on senior wage bills from £6.4m to £5m from the start of the 2021-22 season, before being restored to current levels by the 2024-25 season at the latest.

The measures were taken to help clubs weather the coronavirus crisis but Rugby Players’ Association (RPA) chairman and Harlequins prop Mark Lambert says some of his members are being “strong-armed” into accepting reduced contracts as a result, and could not rule out players withdrawing their labour.

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Mark Lambert, chairman of the Rugby Players Association says players are being forced into signing deals ahead of a deadline next Thursday against their will.

Mark Lambert, chairman of the Rugby Players Association says players are being forced into signing deals ahead of a deadline next Thursday against their will.

“We don’t see that [strike action] as an optimum outcome for anyone, certainly not for players, but players are also not obliged to accept changes to their contracts,” Lambert told Sky Sports News reporter James Cole.

“The clubs require their agreement to make any changes to their salaries or terms of their contracts.

“So if they force that through without a player’s agreement, then that is a breach of contract and players need to be aware of where they stand from a legal point of view.

“It’s not our intention to move to strike action because there are obviously downsides to that for players as well.”

Lambert also pointed to a breakdown in communication between players and the league.

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James Cole reports that while Premiership clubs have clarity with a plan to restart the season on August 15, there are still many questions to be answered over the schedule

James Cole reports that while Premiership clubs have clarity with a plan to restart the season on August 15, there are still many questions to be answered over the schedule

“Our attitude has been to be very open to a collective, collaborative consultation on how to get through this [the coronavirus pandemic],” he added.

“Now players are essentially being strong-armed into signing amendments to their contracts and being made to feel they have no option but to do that, and that’s very much not the case.”

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Premiership players have already undertaken 25 per cent wage cuts during the coronavirus lockdown, and face the prospect of the reductions being made permanent under the new arrangement.

The salary cap reduction was agreed partly as a consequence of a review by Lord Myners, commissioned by Premiership Rugby, in the wake of the breaches by Saracens.

Myners’ review found the current level of the cap to be broadly unsustainable, with only one Premiership club recording a profit last season, and called for tougher sanctions for clubs breaching the limit in future.

On top of the new £5m ceiling, clubs are able to nominate two players whose salaries fall outside the total, but this will reduce to one from 2022-23.

Clubs will still be able to spend an extra £600,000 on homegrown players and have no restrictions on homegrown academy players.



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Georgia’s Primary Election Was A National Scandal

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Georgia’s Primary Election Was A National Scandal

Thousands of Georgia voters waited for up to seven hours in lines that stretched blocks during the state’s primary election on Tuesday, and many left before voting.

The state’s new voting machines did not work, because of either mechanical failure or poor training of poll workers. Many voters came to wait in line after failing to receive absentee ballots they requested to avoid the in-person threat of coronavirus. And many voters left the lines without having cast their ballots.

The worst problems were concentrated in counties and localities with higher Black populations.

Even for a state marred by a recent history of malice and incompetence in its administration of elections, Tuesday’s election was a calamity. It was neither free nor fair, critics said.

The election drew national attention as former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted that Georgia’s failure was “voter suppression.”

“Many Republicans don’t want certain people to vote,” former Attorney General Eric Holder tweeted. And L.A. Lakers star LeBron James asked whether it revealed “structurally racist” barriers to voting.

“Yesterday was completely avoidable,” said Nse Ufot, executive director for the New Georgia Project. “It was a direct attack on our democracy.”

“Maybe the Carter Center should send monitors to monitor Georgia elections,” said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials, referencing the organization founded by former President Jimmy Carter that monitors foreign elections.

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are expected to be competitive in Georgia in the general election. The state is also in the rare position of holding races to fill two U.S. Senate seats, either one of which could decide which party holds the balance of power in that body. 



People wait in line to vote in Georgia’s primary election at Park Tavern on Tuesday.

If the problems revealed on Tuesday recur on Nov. 3, it could throw the entire country into chaos.

The state’s primary election was one of many across the country that have revealed the challenges of holding elections during a viral pandemic, which may remain an obstacle for the November general election.

As have many other states, Georgia consolidated polling places and urged voters to request an absentee ballot. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger even sent absentee ballot applications to all active voters. 

An unprecedented 1.5 million Georgians requested absentee ballots. But thousands did not receive their ballots or had other problems and instead went in person to the limited number of open polling sites. 

And Georgia experienced problems that other states have not while trying to adjust to the effects of the pandemic. At some polling sites, voting machines had not even been delivered by the time the polls were supposed to open. At others, unprepared poll workers could not turn them on. And there were too few provisional ballots for voters who suddenly learned their names had been purged from the rolls. Others discovered that they were no longer listed as U.S. citizens.

Georgia’s absentee ballot problem even affected 2018 Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. She said on Tuesday that she was forced to vote in person after her absentee ballot arrived with a defective return envelope.

“We received tons of calls from voters around the state reflecting, frankly, chaos,” said John Powers, voting rights counsel for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

Voting rights advocates said on Wednesday that their concerns about these exact problems had been relayed to Raffensperger and county election administrators prior to the election.

“We urged the secretary of state’s office to change election procedures that would have had a huge impact on yesterday’s elections,” said Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia.

Raffensperger and administrators in the counties that saw the worst problems on Tuesday ― including Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb and Fulton counties ― blamed each other for what happened.

Raffensperger announced an investigation into the election administration in Fulton and DeKalb counties. DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, meanwhile, called for an investigation into Raffensperger’s own election preparations.

“Instead of leading in this moment, the secretary of state’s office decided to use the kind of finger-pointing that cowards use,” said James Woodall, president of the Georgia NAACP.

Other advocates called for Raffensperger and county election officials to either resign or be fired.

“The secretary of state needs to resign,” Ufot said. “The director of elections for Fulton County should resign or be terminated.”

“I also think our secretary of state should resign in disgrace,” Gonzalez said.

Even before Tuesday’s debacle, Georgia was in the spotlight for its recent history of voter suppression and malicious election administration.  

Voters wait in line to vote at the Park Tavern polling place in Atlanta on Tuesday.



Voters wait in line to vote at the Park Tavern polling place in Atlanta on Tuesday.

The state closed more than 200 polling locations, mostly in Black and brown communities, after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013. That led to long lines snaking out of voting centers in Black neighborhoods.

In 2018, then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp, a Republican, used his position to purge hundreds of thousands of voters from the rolls — possibly illegally — during his successful campaign for governor against Stacey Abrams. Days before the 2018 election, he falsely accused the Democratic Party of “hacking” election information.

Kemp had previously pushed a politically motivated and failed prosecution of Black politicians on trumped-up charges of voter fraud. 

Now, the state legislature is considering legislation that opponents call “the anti-voting rights bill of 2020.”

Voting rights advocates are calling for lawmakers to oppose that bill and also for the secretary of state’s office to extend the deadline by which absentee ballots can be returned; provide prepaid postage for absentee ballot return envelopes; offer better training and adequate personal protective equipment for poll workers; and implement a new communications strategy to inform voters about absentee ballot drop boxes and polling locations, among other things.

“This cannot happen in November,” said Helen Butler, Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda executive director. “We’ve got to do those changes. We’ve got to train the poll workers better. We’ve got to ensure our election officials do their job with the proper planning they should have done. We will not tolerate the same things that happened yesterday.”



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Critics Warn of Deception as Myanmar Military Returns to Facebook After 2018 Purge

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Critics Warn of Deception as Myanmar Military Returns to Facebook After 2018 Purge

Myanmar’s military has resurfaced on Facebook nearly two years after the social media giant removed numerous army accounts for spreading hatred following a United Nations fact-finding report that accused the armed forces of war crimes for its expulsion of 740,000 Rohingya Muslims.

The army’s reappearance on the popular platform in Myanmar, which was condemned by human rights groups, came as authorities extended until August a controversial internet shutdown in parts of conflict-affected Rakhine and Chin states, citing security reasons.

The military has opened two Burmese-language Facebook accounts called “Tatmadaw True News Information Team” and “Zaw Min Tun,” military spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun told RFA on Wednesday.

The military opened the accounts on Facebook — the most popular social media platform in the country, with 33 million users — to counter what he called misinformation and fake news, he said, adding that the army would follow Facebook’s community standards.

No agreements were made between the military and Facebook prior to the creation of the two new accounts, he said.

“Facebook is popular in Myanmar, [and] media and civil society groups release information via Facebook,” Zaw Min Tun said. “We decided to use Facebook to provide timely and accurate information related to the Tatmadaw [Myanmar military] because real and fake news are being mixed together on Facebook.”

No one at Facebook’s headquarters in California or on its Myanmar team in Singapore was available for comment on the two new military accounts.

In August 2018, Facebook removed 18 accounts and 50 pages associated with the military, including the account of defense forces chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, accused of war crimes for being the architect of a brutal military-led crackdown in 2017 that left thousands of Rohingya dead and drove hundreds of thousands of others out of the country.

At the time, Facebook had been criticized for allowing posts that spread hatred against the Rohingya, a persecuted Muslim minority in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.

The Myanmar military turned to Russian social media service VK, available in multiple languages, following Facebook’s ban on its accounts. The army also continued to maintain websites for the military chief and information team, as well as the defense forces-owned Myawaddy television network.

‘Propaganda pages’

Rights activists have raised concern over the military’s reappearance on Facebook, saying that the top brass will use the platform to try to sway public opinion as it faces international war crimes charges.

“This is more about trying to get back into the information stream that Burmese people are looking at to try to influence their opinions about what is happening in Rakhine state, Kachin state, and Shan state, and other areas where the Tatmadaw is involved in conflicts with armed insurgency groups,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, said the military has set up the two new “propaganda pages to spread lies” as it faces legal action on genocide-related charges in three international courts, including the U.N.’s International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“They are under pressure, and obviously they want to convince people in Myanmar that the evidence against them is not true,” he said. “They want to build more support for their actions.”

On Wednesday, attorneys bringing a case before the ICJ accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingyas asked a U.S. district court to order Facebook to release posts and communications of the country’s military and police, Reuters news agency reported.

Nickey Diamond, a Myanmar human rights specialist with the Southeast Asia-based NGO Fortify Rights, said the Myanmar military can issue information to the public via other means such as news conferences.

“Using Facebook to release information appears to be a move to counter news reported by the media rather than to provide accurate information,” he said.

“We can’t trust the military and its capacity to provide genuine information,” he added.

Internet shutdown extended

The Myanmar government, meanwhile, is extending the suspension of mobile data network services in eight townships in northern Rakhine state and in Paletwa township of neighboring Chin state until the beginning of August, said Soe Thein, permanent secretary of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, on Tuesday.

“Since we have imposed the internet shutdown because of a situation that can harm the public interest, as defined in the Telecommunications Law, we will reopen once we are certain that it will not harm the public interest,” he told reporters at a news conference in Naypyidaw.

“The shutdown will continue until Aug. 1,” he said. “We will lift the shutdown depending on the situation with conflicts on the ground.”

Rights groups have criticized the move, saying that the communications shutdown places civilians at risk by preventing them from accessing coronavirus information and from contacting humanitarian aid organizations amid intensified fighting between the Myanmar military and AA soldiers during the past 17 months.

The government-ordered shutdown of mobile internet traffic affects roughly 1 million people, according to HRW.

Khin Saw Wai, a lawmaker from Rathedaung township, urged the government to end the internet service block so people can use their cell phones to receive information about the COVID-19 pandemic and how to prevent its spread.

“It is not acceptable that the internet shutdown will be lifted only when the conflicts are over,” she said.

“We would like to appeal to the authorities to end the internet shutdown for the sake of the local people, so they can have access to information about COVID-19 and the latest news about the armed conflicts,” she said.

Reported by Thiha Tun, Thet Su Aung, and Nandar Chann for RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Ye Kaung Myint Maung and Nandar Chann. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin.



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