U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that China should not hold talks on important global matters such as the climate crisis “hostage,” after Beijing cut off contacts with Washington in retaliation for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan earlier this week. 

Blinken spoke in an online news conference with his Philippines counterpart in Manila after meeting newly elected President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other top officials, as relations between Washington and Beijing plummeted to their worst level in years. 

Pelosi’s trip to the self-governed island outraged China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory to be annexed by force if necessary. China on Thursday launched military exercises off Taiwan’s coasts and on Friday cut off contacts with the U.S. on vital issues, including military matters and crucial climate cooperation, as punishment for Pelosi’s visit. 

“We should not hold hostage cooperation on matters of global concern because of differences between our two countries,” Blinken said. “Others are rightly expecting us to continue to work on issues that matter to the lives and livelihood of their people as well as our own.” 

He cited cooperation on climate change as a key area where China shut down contact that “doesn’t punish the United States — it punishes the world.” 

“The world’s largest carbon emitter is now refusing to engage on combatting the climate crisis,” Blinken said, adding that China’s firing of ballistic missiles that landed in waters surrounding Taiwan was a dangerous and destabilizing action. 

“What happens to the Taiwan Strait affects the entire region. In many ways it affects the entire world because the Strait, like the South China Sea, is a critical waterway,” he said, noting that nearly half the global container fleet and nearly 90% of the world’s largest ships transit through the waterway. 

China stopped “military-to-military channels, which are vital for avoiding miscommunication and avoiding crisis, but also cooperation on transnational crimes and counter-narcotics, which help keep people in the United States, China and beyond, safe,” he said. 

Despite China’s actions, Blinken said he told his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on Friday in Cambodia, where they attended an annual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, that the U.S. did not want to escalate the situation. 

“We seek to de-escalate those tensions and we think dialogues are a very important element of that,” he said, adding the U.S. would “keep our channels of communication with China open with the intent of avoiding escalation to the misunderstanding or miscommunication.” 

Blinken is the highest-ranking American official to visit the Philippines since Marcos Jr. took office on June 30 following a landslide election victory. In his brief meeting with Blinken, Marcos Jr. mentioned he was surprised by the turn of events related to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan this week. 

“It just demonstrated it — how the intensity of that conflict has been,” Marcos Jr. said based on a transcript released by the presidential palace. 

“This just demonstrates how volatile the international diplomatic scene is not only in the region,” he added. 

Marcos Jr. praised the vital relationship between Manila and Washington, which are treaty allies, and U.S. assistance to the Philippines over the years. 

Blinken reiterated Washington’s commitment to the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines and “to working with you on shared challenges.” 

Blinken told journalists he also discussed with Marcos Jr. strengthening democracy and U.S. commitment to work with the Philippines to defend the rule of law, protect human rights, freedom of expression and safeguard civil society groups, “which are critical to our alliance.” 

Describing the Philippines as “an irreplaceable friend,” he said he reiterated to the president that an armed attack on Filipino forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea “will invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments.” 

Blinken arrived Friday night in Manila after attending the ASEAN meetings in Cambodia, where he was joined by his Chinese and Russian counterparts. 

ASEAN foreign ministers called for “maximum restraint” as China mounted war drills around Taiwan and moved against the U.S., fearing the situation “could destabilize the region and eventually could lead to miscalculation, serious confrontation, open conflicts and unpredictable consequences among major powers.” 

In Manila, Blinken was also scheduled to visit a vaccination clinic and meet groups helping fight coronavirus outbreaks and then go to a clean energy fair and meet U.S. Embassy staff before flying out Saturday night. 

Shortly before Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, as speculation rose that her aircraft might stop over briefly at the former U.S. Clark Air Force Base north of Manila for refueling, Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian said in a TV interview he hoped “the Philippine side will strictly abide by the one-China principle and handle all Taiwan-related issues with prudence to ensure sound and steady development of China-Philippines relations.” 

Huang’s remarks drew a sharp rebuke from opposition Philippines Senator Risa Hontiveros, who said “the ambassador shouldn’t pontificate on such policies, especially considering that his country stubbornly and steadfastly refuses to recognize a decision rendered by an international arbitral court and ignores and flouts international law in the West Philippine Sea when it suits her interest.” 

Hontiveros was referring to a 2016 arbitration ruling on a Philippine complaint that invalidated China’s vast territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. She used the Philippine name for the disputed waters. 

China has dismissed that ruling, which was welcomed by the U.S. and Western allies, as a sham and continues to defy it. 

 
…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken Saturday met with new Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to reaffirm ties with America’s oldest treaty ally in Asia amid rising tensions in the “volatile” region.

Blinken said America’s relationship with the Philippines is “extraordinary” and assured the Philippines of its readiness to work with Southeast Asian nation in areas of defense, climate change and controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blinken, the highest U.S. official to visit the Philippines since Marcos clinched a landslide victory in May, reaffirmed America’s commitment to its 1951 defense pact with the Philippines.

“We’re committed to the Mutual Defense Treaty. We’re committed to working with you on shared challenges,” he told Marcos in brief remarks.

Welcoming Blinken at the presidential palace, Marcos said the top U.S. diplomat’s visit was timely, as he expressed concern over increasing tensions between China and Taiwan over the recent visit of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the self-governing island.

“I did not think it raised the intensity; it just demonstrated how the intensity of the conflict has been,” Marcos told Blinken before their private meeting.

China launched retaliatory measures against Taiwan over Pelosi’s visit, conducting live-fire exercises. Taiwan is the Philippines’ closest neighbor and is a home to thousands of Philippine migrant workers.

At home, though, the Philippines is dealing with Beijing’s increasing militarization and encroachment in part of the South China Sea that is claimed by the Philippines, where Chinese coast guard and militia vessels constantly harass Philippine fishermen and shadow research boats.

“Our relationship is quite extraordinary because it is really founded in friendship, it’s forged as well in partnership, and it’s strengthened by the fact that it’s an alliance as well,” Blinken told Marcos.

Evolution of treaty

Marcos said the Philippines treaty alliance with the U.S. is a “constant evolution.”

“I hope that we will continue to evolve that relationship in the face of all the changes that we have been seeing and the changes that are between our bilateral relationship with the United States,” he said.

The Philippines is an important and strategic U.S. ally in Southeast Asia as it faces stiff competition with China’s power around the world.

Blinken’s visit is the latest U.S. effort to woo the Philippines after relations soured during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, whose pivot to China led to empty promises of infrastructure and investment from Beijing.

In 2020, Duterte initially ordered the abrogation of the U.S.-Philippine Visiting Forces Agreement, an integral component of the treaty that allows U.S. soldiers on Philippine soil for routine visits. Duterte ordered its reinstatement a year later.

Dialogue with China

Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo, in a dialogue with Blinken, reiterated Philippines’ call on China and the U.S. to defuse the tension in the region.

“The Philippines continues, of course, to look at big powers, to help calm the waters and keep peace,” Manalo told Blinken in a separate virtual meeting.

“We can ill afford any further escalation of tensions in the region, because we are already facing a number of challenges getting our economy back to work, especially because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.
…

As part of a push toward a green energy future for America, the Biden administration has unveiled plans to develop the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico’s first offshore wind farms. Though still in their infancy, the initiatives could one day generate enough electricity to power more than 3 million homes, according to federal projections.

“Of course it’s something we’re excited about,” Jason Ryan, senior media relations manager at American Clean Power, told VOA. “The leasing plan shows the energy transition needs to take place and it needs to take place rapidly.”

Turbocharging a domestic offshore wind energy sector has become a central component of President Joe Biden’s strategy to fight climate change. Unlike burning oil, natural gas or coal, wind-generated electricity produces zero carbon emissions.

But the United States still has a long way to go. While land-based wind energy production has grown rapidly in recent years, offshore wind farms remain a rarity. Only two small wind farms are operational – on the country’s Atlantic Coast in Rhode Island and Virginia. A larger farm was approved for Massachusetts last year and several “wind energy areas” are in various stages of consideration along America’s West Coast.

Supporters of the administration’s announcement hope developing wind energy infrastructure on parts of the proposed 283,000-hectare area in the Gulf will provide a much-needed boost to the industry while serving America’s growing energy needs. According to a 2020 study by the National Renewable Energy Lab, wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico could generate as much as 508 gigawatts of electricity a year, which is twice what U.S. Gulf states consume.

Others, meanwhile, strike a cautionary note.

“There are definite pros to the Biden administration’s announcement, especially since meaningful federal government investment is accompanying it,” said Eric Smith, associate director of Tulane University’s Energy Institute in New Orleans, “but there are cons, as well. I don’t think the public largely understands the embedded limitations of renewable energy.”

Boosting energy independence

Since the oil crisis of the 1970s, the United States has been on a quest to achieve energy independence by attempting to shrink its reliance on foreign energy sources.

This goal has proved difficult at times, a fact underscored most recently when Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and resulting international sanctions on Moscow roiled global fossil fuel markets. Dramatically higher gasoline prices that only recently have begun to recede prompted outcries from U.S. consumers.

“I would speculate that’s partly where we’re seeing this urge from the Biden administration,” Smith told VOA. “It likely has its roots in our insecurity about reliable energy supplies from international sources.”

And if the United States is looking to increase its domestic energy capacity, the Gulf of Mexico has risen to the challenge before, albeit with fossil fuels.

“The Gulf of Mexico has provided up to 15-17% of the nation’s domestic oil and gas production so there’s extensive infrastructure in place with well-developed ports and a skilled workforce,” said Ryan of American Clean Power.

That expertise has been tapped for projects reaching across the country. Several Louisiana companies involved in offshore drilling were hired to help build the nation’s first offshore wind farm off the coast of Rhode Island. Similarly, New Orleans, Louisiana, is home to America’s first private testing facility for new offshore wind turbine blade technology.

“These opportunities will only continue,” Ryan said, “and they’ll be significant as wind energy gets started and we build out our domestic supply chain.”

Pros and cons

One site being explored for a wind farm is 40 kilometers off the coast of Galveston, Texas. The other lies 90 kilometers off the coast of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

The sites are appealing because the Gulf of Mexico is known for having smaller waves and shallower waters than both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, making building the newly proposed projects potentially less costly.

Of course, the Gulf of Mexico brings challenges, as well. Recent hurricanes have passed over the very waters where the proposed wind farms would be located. A record 2020 hurricane season, for example, produced five named storms that struck Louisiana. Hurricanes Laura and Delta devastated the state’s Lake Charles area.

It’s not only the potential for storms that worries some experts. Comparative costs are also a factor.

“In Rhode Island, for example, the cost of energy from natural gas is high, and that makes wind energy appealing,” said Smith from Tulane University. “In Louisiana, the economics are different. We can produce energy from natural gas at one-fourth what it would cost us to produce energy from wind.”

Smith added, “The Rhode Island market pays 25-30 cents per kilowatt for wind energy, while Louisiana and Texas can produce a kilowatt of energy from gas for just 6 cents.”

Prioritizing the environment

While advocates of renewable energy point to coming technological advances that will lower costs, financial considerations are among several factors the Biden administration is weighing. By reentering the Paris Climate Agreement in 2021, the U.S. has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50% by 2030. Expanding the production and use of renewable energy is central to meeting that goal.

Environmental activists along the Gulf Coast, and across the country, want America to honor the commitment.

“We think these wind farms are a very good development,” Cynthia Sarthou, executive director of Healthy Gulf, told VOA. “It provides clean energy, and it does it without the risk of spills or the same level of pollution associated with offshore oil and gas development.”

But Sarthou points out, as with any form of development, particularly energy production, there are risks to a fragile ecosystem that must be considered.

“The turbines can adversely impact sea birds and migratory birds, noise during construction can be harmful to dolphins and whales, and building new infrastructure has the potential to destroy marine habitats,” she said. “This all needs to be considered so we reduce impacts.”

New energy development projects in the Gulf of Mexico invariably affect the region’s renowned seafood industry. This past week, the federal government sent representatives from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to meet with local shrimpers.

Members of the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force expressed concerns that building wind farms in the Gulf could destroy productive shrimping areas and further damage a local industry already punished by environmental disasters and foreign competition.

Task force member Rodney Olander said he and other shrimpers emerged from the meeting satisfied with what they heard from federal officials.

“If they would have come in here and said they’re building windmills on top of this productive shrimping area, we would have had a lot to say about that,” Olander said, “but instead it seems like they’re really listening to everyone. They’re looking at where we shrimp and are staying clear of that, they’re looking at where birds migrate and staying clear of that, they’re looking at where the Coast Guard wants to keep open and they’re staying clear of that — they’re balancing a lot.”

Not putting eggs in one basket

Smith said even as progress is being made, it’s important to remain realistic about the limits of renewable energies like wind power.

“Data shows the wind isn’t blowing approximately 55% of the time, and the sun isn’t shining 75% of the time,” he told VOA. “Once events like ice storms in West Texas or droughts in California put stress on our energy systems, we see we can’t yet maintain a system that is 40-to-50% renewable energy. That’s why California is currently investing in new gas power infrastructure and reversing decisions to shut down their last nuclear plant — renewables are still too unreliable for our energy needs.”

Olander said, as a lifelong Louisianian, he would prefer not to see the oil industry disappear. He feels a loyalty to an industry he says has provided so many jobs in the region over the years.

“Oil has been such a big part of Louisiana and Texas for decades,” he said, “and people like to pretend wind and solar energy are going to completely replace oil. I don’t see that happening, and — to be honest with you — I hope it doesn’t happen.”

Still, he acknowledged, he’s heard more and more about renewable energy over the years. He’s trying to keep an open mind to giving the growing technology a foothold in the local economy.

“Having some wind energy to go with our oil and gas is worth trying,” he said. “They say not to put all your eggs in one basket, right?”
…

Flash flooding at Death Valley National Park triggered by heavy rainfall on Friday buried cars, forced officials to close all roads in and out the park and stranded about 1,000 people, officials said.

The park near the California-Nevada state line received at least 4.3 centimeters of rain at the Furnace Creek area, which park officials in a statement said represented “nearly an entire year’s worth of rain in one morning.” The park’s average annual rainfall is 4.8 centimeters.

About 60 vehicles were buried in debris, and about 500 visitors and 500 park workers were stranded, park officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries, and the California Department of Transportation estimated it would take four to six hours to open a road that would allow park visitors to leave.

It was the second major flooding event at the park this week. Some roads were closed Monday after they were inundated with mud and debris from flash floods that also hit western Nevada and northern Arizona hard.

The rain started around 2 a.m., said John Sirlin, a photographer for an Arizona-based adventure company who witnessed the flooding as he perched on a hillside boulder where he was trying to take pictures of lightning as the storm approached.

“It was more extreme than anything I’ve seen there,” said Sirlin, who lives in Chandler, Arizona, and has been visiting the park since 2016. He is the lead guide for Incredible Weather Adventures and said he started chasing storms in Minnesota and the high plains in the 1990s.

“I’ve never seen it to the point where entire trees and boulders were washing down. The noise from some of the rocks coming down the mountain was just incredible,” he said in a phone interview Friday afternoon.

“A lot of washes were flowing several feet deep. There are rocks probably 3 or 4 feet (1-1.2 meters) covering the road,” he said.

Sirlin said it took him about six hours to drive about 56 kilometers out of the park from near the Inn at Death Valley.

“There were at least two dozen cars that got smashed and stuck in there,” he said, adding that he didn’t see anyone injured “or any high water rescues.”

During Friday’s rainstorms, the “flood waters pushed dumpster containers into parked cars, which caused cars to collide into one another. Additionally, many facilities are flooded including hotel rooms and business offices,” the park statement said.

A water system that provides it for park residents and offices also failed after a line broke that was being repaired, the statement said.

A flash flood warning for the park and surrounding area expired at 12:45 p.m., Friday but a flood advisory remained in effect into the evening, the National Weather Service said.
…

A Texas jury on Friday ordered Infowars’ Alex Jones to pay $49.3 million in total damages to the parents of a first grader killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, which the conspiracy theorist falsely called a hoax orchestrated by the government in order to tighten U.S. gun laws.

The amount is less than the $150 million sought by Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis, whose 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, was among the 20 children and six educators killed in the deadliest classroom shooting in U.S. history. The trial is the first time Jones has been held financially liable for peddling lies about the 2012 attack in Newtown, Connecticut.

Jurors at first awarded Heslin and Lewis $4.1 million in compensatory damages, which Jones called a major victory. But in the final phase of the two-week trial, the same Austin jury came back and tacked on an additional $45.2 million in punitive damages.

Earlier this week, Jones testified that any award over $2 million would “sink us.” His company Free Speech Systems, which is Infowars’ parent company, filed for bankruptcy protection during the first week of the trial.

Punitive damages are meant to punish defendants for particularly egregious conduct, beyond monetary compensation awarded to the individuals they hurt. A high punitive award is also seen as a chance for jurors to send a wider societal message and a way to deter others from the same abhorrent conduct in the future.

‘Send the message’

Attorneys for the family had urged jurors to hand down a financial punishment that would put Infowars out of business.

“You have the ability to stop this man from ever doing it again,” Wesley Ball, an attorney for the parents, told the jury. “Send the message to those who desire to do the same: Speech is free. Lies, you pay for.”

An economist hired by the plaintiffs testified that Jones and the company were worth up to $270 million, suggesting that Jones was still making money.

Bernard Pettingill, who was hired by the plaintiffs to study Jones’ net worth, said records showed that Jones had withdrawn $62 million for himself in 2021, when default judgments had been issued in lawsuits against him.

“That number represents, in my opinion, a value of a net worth,” Pettingill said. “He’s got money put in a bank account somewhere.”

The money that flows into Jones’ companies eventually funnels its way to him, said Pettingill, who added that he had testified in approximately 1,500 cases during his career.

But Jones’ lawyers said their client had already learned his lesson, and they asked for lenience. The jury’s punishment should be less than $300,000, attorney Andino Reynal said.

“You’ve already sent a message. A message for the first time to a talk show host, to all talk show hosts, that their standard of care has to change,” Reynal said.

Jones — who was in the courtroom briefly Friday but not there for the verdict — still faces two other defamation lawsuits from Sandy Hook families in Texas and Connecticut that have put his personal wealth and media empire in jeopardy.

Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families suing Jones contend that he has not only tried to hide evidence of his true wealth but also tried to hide money in various shell companies.

During his testimony, Jones was confronted with a memo from one of his business managers outlining a single day’s gross revenue of $800,000 from selling vitamin supplements and other products through his website, which would approach nearly $300 million in a year. Jones called it a record sales day.

Jones, who has portrayed the lawsuit as an attack on his First Amendment rights, conceded during the trial that the attack was “100% real” and that he was wrong to have lied about it. But Heslin and Lewis told jurors that an apology wouldn’t suffice and called on them to make Jones pay for the years of suffering he has put them and other Sandy Hook families through.

Parents’ decadelong ordeal

The parents told jurors about how they’ve endured a decade of trauma, inflicted first by the murder of their son and then what followed: gunshots fired at a home, online and phone threats, and harassment on the street by strangers. They said the threats and harassment were all fueled by Jones and the conspiracy theory he spread to his followers via his website Infowars.

A forensic psychiatrist testified that the parents suffer from “complex post-traumatic stress disorder” inflicted by ongoing trauma, similar to what might be experienced by a soldier at war or a child abuse victim.

Throughout the trial, Jones has been his typically bombastic self, talking about conspiracies on the witness stand, during impromptu press conferences and on his show. His erratic behavior is unusual by courtroom standards, and the judge has scolded him, telling him at one point: “This is not your show.”

The trial has drawn attention from outside Austin as well.

Mark Bankston, a lawyer for the Sandy Hook parents, told the court Thursday that the U.S. House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol has requested records from Jones’ phone that Jones’ attorneys had mistakenly turned over to the plaintiffs. Bankston later said he planned to comply with the committee’s request.

Last month, the Jan. 6 committee showed graphic and violent text messages and played videos of right-wing figures, including Jones, and others vowing that Jan. 6 would be the day they would fight for former President Donald Trump, who has falsely claimed that the 2020 presidential election, which he lost, was stolen from him.

The committee first subpoenaed Jones in November, demanding a deposition and documents related to his efforts to spread misinformation about the 2020 election and a rally on the day of the attack.
…

A senior U.S. official said Friday that sub-Saharan Africa is the region hardest hit by disruptions to the global food supply due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

“Food prices worldwide are 23% higher than a year ago, but they hit the hardest in sub-Saharan Africa where food consumes 40% of household budgets,” Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told an audience at the University of Ghana in Accra. “Regardless of how you feel about Russia, we all have a powerful common interest in mitigating the impact of the war on Ukraine on food security.” 

Thomas-Greenfield, who is the U.S. envoy to the United Nations and a member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet, is on a four-day tour in Africa this week, making stops in Uganda, Ghana, and Cabo Verde focused on the impact of food insecurity on the continent. 

She emphasized that before Russia invaded Ukraine, which is a major global grain and vegetable oil producer, over 190 million people were food insecure worldwide, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Well, since Russia’s unprovoked war, full-scale invasion into Ukraine, we estimate that number could rise to 230 million,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “That would mean that more than 40 million people will have become food insecure since President (Vladimir) Putin chose to invade his neighbor and steal their land. That’s more people than the entire population of Ghana.”  

While in Accra, she announced more than $127 million in new humanitarian assistance for Africa, focused on refugees and displaced persons. 

Stepped-up diplomacy 

Thomas-Greenfield is not the only U.S. official visiting the region. USAID Administrator Samantha Power was in the Horn of Africa recently, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken is headed to South Africa, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo starting Sunday. 

Russia has intensified its own efforts to strengthen ties with the continent since launching its war on Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made an official trip to four African countries earlier this month. 

Many African governments feel caught between superpowers in the conflict and have tried to remain neutral. Soon after Moscow’s February 24 invasion, the U.N. General Assembly demanded Russia end its military operations. Only one African state, Eritrea, voted against the resolution, while nearly half of the 54 others either abstained or did not vote. 

“I’ve also heard from some, that Africans don’t really want to be pressured to pick a side or take a certain position,” the U.S. ambassador acknowledged. “I understand that. None of us want to repeat the Cold War. And Africans have the right to decide their foreign policy positions, free of pressure and manipulation, free of threats.” 

She tried to dispel some Russian misinformation, particularly the Kremlin’s insistence that its food and fertilizer exports are being sanctioned by the United States and other western countries. 

“America’s sanctions do not, let me repeat, do not apply to food and fertilizer exports, period,” she said. 

Thomas-Greenfield said Moscow has disrupted its own exports, imposing quotas on nitrogen and complex fertilizers and imposing duties on its grain exports. She also laid out how Russian troops have set about sabotaging and destroying Ukraine’s agricultural sector by mining farmland, destroying equipment, and bombing grain silos. 

“The fact is, this hurts Africa,” she said. “Russia and Ukraine provide over 40% of Africa’s wheat supplies.” 

A recent deal among Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations will see Ukraine’s backlogged grain exports begin to leave through the Black Sea, while Moscow will get help in lessening the concerns global insurers and shippers have about dealing with Russian exports when they face sanctions in banking and other sectors. Wheat prices have already begun to ease in the two weeks since the deal was signed in Istanbul.  

Thomas-Greenfield urged Ghana and other African nations to improve their agriculture sectors so they can become more insulated from global shocks with more self-sufficiency, while also exploring the possibility of feeding global markets. Part of the aid package she announced includes $2.5 million for Ghana to improve its production and import of fertilizer for its farmers. 

“Now is the time, now is the time to feed the future, to transform Ghana and other African nations into breadbaskets of your own,” she urged. “The world is hungry, and your potential is unlimited. And there is not a moment to lose.”    

 
…

China’s military drills around Taiwan in response to the U.S. House speaker’s visit to the self-ruled island is a disproportionate and unjustified escalation, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.

Blinken said the United States has made it repeatedly clear to China it does not seek a crisis, adding that Washington and its allies were seriously concerned by its latest actions.

China has been conducting the largest-ever military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, including launching live missiles around the island it claims as part of its sovereign territory.  

“There is no justification for this extreme, disproportionate and escalatory military response,” Blinken told a news conference on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting, adding, “now, they’ve taken dangerous acts to a new level.”

He emphasized that the United States would not take actions to provoke a crisis, but it would continue to support regional allies and conduct standard air and maritime transit through the Taiwan Strait.

“We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” he said.

Blinken is in Cambodia meeting counterparts from Southeast Asian and 27 other countries, including China, Japan, Britain, the European Union, and India. He did not meet with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is hosting the gathering, earlier called for restraint from all sides and said there was a risk of miscalculation and conflict between major powers.

China on Friday said it would sanction U.S. House speaker Nancy Pelosi in response to her “vicious” and “provocative” actions in visiting Taiwan.

Blinken said ASEAN and other Asian officials were seriously concerned that actions by China would destabilize the entire region.

“The last thing that countries in the region want is to see differences between mainland China and Taiwan…to be resolved by force,” Blinken said after Friday’s East Asia summit.

“It is incumbent upon us and China to act responsibly. What we don’t want are efforts by any country, including China and Russia, to disrupt international peace and security,” he said.
…