Month: August 2022

Swiss Re: Natural Disaster Losses Hit $72 bn in First Half 2022

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Total economic losses caused by natural disasters hit an estimated $72 billion in the first half of 2022, fueled by storms and floods, Swiss reinsurance giant Swiss Re estimated Tuesday.

Though the figure is lower than the $91 billion estimate for the first six months of 2021, it is close to the 10-year average of $74 billion, and the weight is shifting towards weather-induced catastrophes.

“The effects of climate change are evident in increasingly extreme weather events, such as the unprecedented floods in Australia and South Africa,” said Martin Bertogg, Swiss Re’s head of catastrophe perils.

The Zurich-based group, which acts as an insurer for insurers, said the losses were also propelled by winter storms in Europe as well as heavy thunderstorms on the continent and in the United States.

So-called secondary natural disasters like floods and storms — as opposed to major disasters such as earthquakes — are happening more frequently, the reinsurer said.

“This confirms the trend we have observed over the last five years: that secondary perils are driving insured losses in every corner of the world,” Bertogg said.

“Unlike hurricanes or earthquakes, these perils are ubiquitous and exacerbated by rapid urbanisation in particularly vulnerable areas,” he said.

“Given the scale of the devastation across the globe, secondary perils require the same disciplined risk assessment as primary perils such as hurricanes.”

Swiss Re said floods in India, China and Bangladesh confirm the growing loss potential from flooding in urban areas.

Man-made catastrophes such as industrial accidents added on a further $3 billion of economic losses to the $72 billion from natural disasters, taking the total to $75 billion — which is down on the $95 billion total for the first half of 2021.

Insured losses at $38 bn 

Total insured losses stood at $38 billion: $3 billion worth of man-made disasters and $35 billion worth of natural catastrophes — up 22 percent on the 10-year average, said the Swiss reinsurer, warning of the effects of climate change.

February’s storms in Europe cost insurers $3.5 billion, according to Swiss Re estimates.

Australia’s floods in February and March set a new record for insured flood losses in the country at so far close to $3.5 billion — one of the costliest natural catastrophes ever in the country.

Severe weather and hailstorms in France in the first six months of the year have so far caused an estimated four billion euros ($4.1 billion) of insured market losses.

The Swiss group also mentioned the summer heatwaves in Europe, which resulted in fires and drought-related damage, without providing estimates at this stage.

A warming climate is likely to exacerbate droughts and thereby the likelihood of wildfires, causing greater damage where urban sprawl grows into the countryside, Swiss Re said.

“Climate change is one of the biggest risks our society and the global economy is facing,” said the group’s chief economist Jerome Jean Haegeli.

“With 75 percent of all natural catastrophes still uninsured, we see large protection gaps globally exacerbated by today’s cost-of-living crisis.”
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Pelosi Set to Visit Taiwan, Defying China

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A U.S. congressional delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to arrive late Tuesday in Taiwan, defying warnings by China, which has threatened a military response to the visit.  

Pelosi will arrive around 10:30 p.m. local time, according to Taiwanese media reports. She is expected to meet Wednesday with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and other senior lawmakers.  

For weeks, media have speculated whether Pelosi, a prominent China critic, would go ahead with the Taiwan stop.  

China has warned the visit would be an unacceptable violation of what it sees as its sovereignty over the self-ruled island.  

Zhao Lijian, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, on Monday warned the country’s military will not “sit idly by” but will take “strong countermeasures to uphold China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” 

Planes, ships on the move

Early Tuesday, several Chinese warplanes and warships neared the median line in the Taiwan Strait, according to an unnamed source quoted by the Reuters news agency.  

The source said the Chinese aircraft conducted “very provocative” tactical moves of briefly “touching” the unofficial dividing line and circling back to the other side of the strait. Taiwan dispatched aircraft to monitor the situation, Reuters added.  

White House officials on Monday refused to confirm Pelosi’s visit but urged China to refrain from any military provocations.

“There is no reason for Beijing to turn a potential visit consistent with long-standing U.S. policy into some sort of crisis conflict or use it as a pretext to increase aggressive military activity in or around the Taiwan Strait,” said John Kirby, a White House National Security Council official.

Kirby expressed concern China could respond by firing missiles around Taiwan, conducting large-scale military exercises, or sending a large number of planes across the median line. China could also pursue “spurious legal claims,” such as asserting that the Taiwan Strait is not an international waterway, he said.

Split after civil war

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war, with the defeated nationalist forces fleeing to Taiwan and setting up a government that later grew into a vibrant democracy.  

Since then, China’s Communist Party has vowed to take Taiwan, using force if necessary, even though the island has never been ruled by the Communist Party. 

The United States formally cut official relations with Taiwan in 1979 when it switched diplomatic recognition to China. However, the United States continued to maintain unofficial relations with Taiwan and supplies it with defensive weapons as mandated by the U.S. Congress.   

For decades, that balancing act helped preserve cross-strait peace, but in recent years Chinese leaders have grown concerned Washington may be shifting toward more explicit support for Taiwan.  

On three occasions, United States President Joe Biden has indicated the U.S. would defend Taiwan militarily if China invaded.  

Though U.S. officials deny there has been any change in policy, Biden’s comments differed from that of many of his predecessors, who employed a tactic of “strategic ambiguity” when it comes to Taiwan’s defense.  

In this context, Pelosi’s visit appears even more concerning to China, according to Amanda Hsiao, a senior Taiwan-based analyst at the International Crisis Group.  

“We’ve seen very clear messages coming out of Beijing that China intends on responding forcefully if the visit goes through. And I think those signals should be taken quite seriously,” Hsiao told VOA.  

Hsiao expects a “significant increase” in Chinese military activities around Taiwan during and after Pelosi’s visit. China has already flown a record high number of warplanes around Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone in recent months. 

It would be the highest-level U.S. visit to Taiwan since 1997, when former House Speaker Newt Gingrich led a congressional delegation there.  

In an interview with VOA’s Mandarin Service, Gingrich expressed support for Pelosi’s trip, which he said will likely only amount to “an irritation” to U.S.-China ties. “I think this is at one level a lot of noise about nothing,” Gingrich said.  

But many analysts warn that China has grown much more powerful and bold since the late 1990s, when Gingrich visited.  

“I think the China we’re dealing with now, under [President] Xi Jinping, is more assertive, more ambitious, and more concerned, I think, with appearing weak in these sorts of moments,” Hsiao said. 

Another factor: an upcoming Communist Party Congress, where Xi is expected to secure a controversial third term as China’s top leader. It’s unclear, though, how the meeting will affect China’s response. 

“They would still prefer to have a relatively stable external environment while they’re undergoing this key transition,” Hsiao said. “But on the other hand, because it is on the eve of the 20th Party Congress, the leadership is under some pressure to demonstrate that it won’t be taken advantage of.”  

In Taiwan, a large portion of residents are relieved that Pelosi appears to be moving ahead with the visit, which they believe shows U.S. commitment to preserving peace in the Taiwan Strait, according to William Yang, a Taipei-based journalist and president of the Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club. 

“But I think on the other hand, there is a group of Taiwanese people who are very suspicious about the intention and the purpose and the effect of the visits,” he said. “A lot of them are questioning whether this is actually going to accelerate the pace of angering China, pushing China to take a more unwise and unreasonable action against Taiwan – especially with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
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Al-Qaida Succession Plan Being Put to Test

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The death of al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a U.S. airstrike is likely to test the terror group’s resolve and coherence – and possibly strain long-crafted succession plans – just as it was seemingly positioned to be the world’s preeminent jihadist threat.    

Recent intelligence assessments had warned al-Qaida appeared to be benefiting from a period of relative stability within its leadership and that the group was taking advantage of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, with al-Qaida leadership communicating more freely than in the past.    

“The international context is favorable to al-Qaida,” a United Nations report said last month, further warning al-Qaida “may ultimately become a greater source of directed threat” than its rival, Islamic State.  

Only some former counterterrorism officials and analysts warn that although al-Qaida also used its new-found freedom in Afghanistan to solidify its hierarchy and line of succession, there are serious questions about how-well those plans can be put in motion, given geographical concerns and the growing influence of the terror group’s African affiliates.  

“This is challenging for al-Qaida,” a former Western counterterrorism official told VOA, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss recent intelligence assessments.  

In particular, the official cited concerns echoed by a number of intelligence agencies worldwide about the status of Zawahiri’s longtime heir apparent, Saif al-Adel.  

Al-Qaida and Iran  

“He’s in Iran … do the Iranians let him leave?” the former official asked. “It’s sort of tough to be the leader of al-Qaida while stuck in a gilded cage.”    

Al-Qaida’s number three, Abd al-Rahman al-Maghrebi, the terror group’s general manager and the head of its media operations, is also believed to be in Iran, along with several lower-ranking al-Qaida officials.  

And it is not just al-Adel and al-Maghrebi.    

The proliferation of al-Qaida officials in Tehran once prompted former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to accuse Iran of becoming al-Qaida’s new operational headquarters.

Other U.S. intelligence and diplomatic officials, however, have been more cautious in their assessments, describing the relationship between Tehran and al-Qaida as one of convenience, and often transactional in nature.  

In any case, some analysts see the connection to Iran as a problem.  

“It does create dilemmas,” said Aaron Zelin, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who specializes in jihadism. “[There are] questions of legitimacy or of Iranian influence.”  

Rise of African affiliates  

So too, there are potential challenges should al-Qaida turn to those next in line to replace Zawahiri: Yazid Mebrak with al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Ahmed Diriye with al-Qaida’s Somali affiliate al-Shabab.

“That would be also unprecedented where the senior leadership would move from the historical sanctuary of the Afghanistan-Pakistan region to different parts of Africa,” Zelin told VOA.     

“Many of those groups, while paying lip service to sort of the global fight, have historically mainly focused on their local insurgencies or regional conflicts than on anything related to the West,” he said.  

Yet despite a long-standing local or regional focus, the African affiliates have been growing in power and influence.  

Over the last couple of years, intelligence shared by U.N. member states warned that AQIM had becomes a logistics hub for al-Qaida affiliates in Mali while also finding ways to supply, and possibly influence, other militant groups.    

Al-Shabab’s rise has been even more pronounced, with one U.N. member state warning that it has morphed from affiliate to benefactor, providing al-Qaida’s core leadership with financial support.  

A new caliphate?  

At the same time, U.S. military and intelligence officials warn al-Qaida’s Somali affiliate is growing more ambitious, with a growing appetite for territory and for taking on Western targets.  

“I think it is likely that Africa will be the home of the next emirate-style experiment on al-Qaida’s part … based on the prevalence of strong militant movements in Africa along with weak states and frustrated populations that are open to a range of alternatives,” Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a counterterrorism analyst and CEO of the threat analysis firm Valens Global, recently told VOA.  

Still, Gartenstein-Ross, speaking prior to the death of al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, said a stronger, more prominent African affiliate would not have to be home to al-Qaida’s core leadership.  

“Al-Qaida’s system of guidance is not a traditional command and control system,” he said. “Its ideal tends to be centralization of strategy with decentralization of the action.”  

Zawahiri’s legacy    

Late Monday, a senior U.S. administration official said Zawahiri’s death deals al-Qaida “a significant blow … and will degrade the group’s ability to operate including against the U.S. homeland.”  

But some analysts and former officials are wary.  

“The loss of Zawahiri is not the end of al-Qaida,” Katherine Zimmerman, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told VOA via text.  

“As uninspiring as his diatribes were to many, he successfully led the organization beyond the death of its founder, Osama bin Laden, and the challenge from the Islamic State,” she said. “He and senior al-Qaida leaders have already planned for his death, and many capable individuals are ready to take the lead.”    

Other analysts argue that al-Qaida, while decentralized and reliant on affiliates, is still stronger now than ever before.

There are those, though, who disagree.  

“There is a case against him which says he wasn’t a very inspiring leader, he wasn’t a very dynamic leader,” the former Western counterterrorism official told VOA, sounding a note of caution.  

“If you subscribe to the theory that Zawahiri was not an effective leader, then you have the possibility of a more inspiring leader taking over,” the official said.
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US Kills al-Qaida Leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan

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Biden says “justice has been delivered” after US unmanned vehicle kills al-Qaida leader, in Afghanistan
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NYC Mayor Adams Declares State of Emergency over Monkeypox

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New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency Monday over the spread of monkeypox.

“This order will bolster our existing efforts to educate, vaccinate, test, and treat as many New Yorkers as possible and ensure a whole-of-government response to this outbreak,” Adams said in a statement released with the executive order.

The order allows Adams to suspend local laws and temporarily impose new rules to control the spread of the outbreak.

Similarly, Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state disaster emergency last Friday. She previously announced that over the next four to six weeks, the federal government would distribute 110,000 vaccine doses to the state in addition to the 60,000 already distributed.

As of Monday, New York City has reported 1,472 cases, according to monkeypox data on the NYC Health website. Most cases worldwide have affected men who have sex with men.

In an announcement Saturday declaring a public health emergency in the city, Adams and Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan estimated that about 150,000 New Yorkers may be at risk of monkeypox infection.

Cases are continuing to rise across the country. New York currently has the highest number of recorded monkeypox cases among the 50 states, followed by California with 799 cases as of Friday, the CDC reports. San Francisco Mayor London Breed declared a state of emergency on Thursday.

Though California has distributed more than 25,000 vaccine doses, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a KTVU-TV interview last week that the state is “not even close to where we need to be.”

The rapid spread of monkeypox worldwide has sparked alarm over the past few months. Since May, more than 22,000 cases have been reported in 80 countries, despite the virus naturally occurring only in Central and West Africa.

The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency over monkeypox on July 23.
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US Kills Al-Qaida Leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, Sources Say

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The United States conducted a rare counterterrorism operation over the weekend against a “significant” al-Qaida target in Afghanistan, a senior U.S. official said Monday. 

 

“The operation was successful and there were no civilian casualties,” the official said without giving further details.  

 

Sources said the strike killed top al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who was deputy to the terror group’s founder, Osama bin Laden, when they orchestrated the September 2001 attacks against the U.S. out of their sanctuary in Afghanistan. 

 

The confirmation came more than an hour after the Taliban rulers in Kabul said a missile attack on Sunday against a residential compound in the Afghan capital was the work of an American drone.  

WATCH: Biden to Deliver Remarks on Counterterrorism Operation

“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly condemns this attack on whatever the pretext,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, using the official name for the Taliban government.  

 

He denounced the strike as a “blatant violation of international principles and the Doha agreement.” 

 

Mujahid referred to the 2020 pact his group had signed with the U.S., which led to the withdrawal of all American and allied troops from Afghanistan last August, after almost 20 years of war with the Taliban.  

 

The Islamist insurgent group took control of Afghanistan on August 15 as the U.S.-led foreign troops withdrew and the Western-backed government in Kabul as well as its security forces collapsed in the face of the stunning nationwide Taliban assault.  

 

The U.S.-led military coalition invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 and dislodged the then-Taliban government in Kabul to punish it for harboring the al-Qaida terror network. Bin Laden and al-Zawahiri escaped the international military action. U.S. special forces later located and killed bin Laden deep inside neighboring Pakistan in May 2011. 

The U.S.-Taliban agreement also required the Islamist group not to allow any terrorist organization, including al-Qaida, to pose a threat to the security of the United States and other countries from the Afghan soil.  

 

But recent United Nations assessments suggested that al-Qaida, boosted by leadership stability and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, appears to be positioning itself to once again be seen as the world’s preeminent terror group and as the greatest long-term threat to the West. 

 

Intelligence shared by United Nations member states and published in a new report earlier this month found al-Qaida was enjoying a degree of freedom under Taliban rule, allowing its leadership to communicate more often and more easily with affiliates and followers. The report further concluded that al-Qaida leader al-Zawahiri, long rumored to be in ill health or dying, was “alive and communicating freely.” 

 

The U.N. report similarly cautions that while al-Qaida may be better positioned, it is likely to refrain from launching external attacks in order to not embarrass Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and because the al-Qaida core still lacks “an external operational capability.”

Jeff Seldin, VOA’s national security correspondent, contributed to this report. 
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At UN, Review of Nuclear Controls in Tense World Underway

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The U.N. secretary-general warned Monday at the start of a nuclear non-proliferation conference that the risks of more nuclear weapons is growing as guardrails to prevent escalation are weakening.

“Today, humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation,” Antonio Guterres told the opening of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference.

He warned that there are crises with nuclear undertones from the Middle East to the Korean Peninsula, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

He said there are nearly 13,000 nuclear weapons stockpiled around the world.

“States are seeking false security in stockpiling and spending hundreds of billions of dollars on doomsday weapons that have no place on our planet,” he said. Noting that people are in danger of forgetting the lessons of World War II.

Guterres said he would travel to Japan to attend commemorations on August 6 at Hiroshima, where the United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb 77 years ago in an effort to end that war.

Since it entered into force in 1970, the NPT has been a cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. Under it, parties are called on to prevent the spread of nuclear arms, promote disarmament as well as international cooperation on peaceful uses of nuclear power.

Guterres also urged nations to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear technology to advance development, such clean energy and medical breakthroughs.

“When used for peaceful purposes, this technology can be a great benefit to humanity,” he said.

Russian nuclear saber rattling

Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons in its war against Ukraine was condemned at the meeting by leaders, as well as several regional groups, including those from the Pacific region and Nordic countries.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that in January the five nuclear powers – Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S.—all affirmed that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.

“The very next month, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” Blinken said. “And it has engaged in reckless, dangerous nuclear saber rattling, with its president [Putin] warning that those supporting Ukraine’s self-defense “risk consequences such as you have never seen in your entire history.”

Blinken pointed to Russia’s seizure of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, saying they are now using it as a military base because they know the Ukrainians cannot fire back at their positions because they could hit a nuclear reactor.

“There is no place in our world—no place in our world—for nuclear deterrence based on coercion, intimidation or blackmail,” Blinken said. “We have to stand together in rejecting this.”

Japan’s prime minister echoed international concerns about Russia’s actions.

“The recent attacks on nuclear facilities by Russia must not be tolerated,” said Fumio Kishida.

“In attacking a country that gave up nuclear weapons, Russia is brutally violating the assurances it gave in the Budapest Memorandum,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, referring to the 1994 agreement in which Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons left on its territory after the USSR’s collapse in exchange for security guarantees.

The head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said at the start of Russia’s invasion, he laid out seven pillars of nuclear safety that must not be violated during the conflict, including on the safety and security of facilities and the personnel that work at them.

“All these seven principles have been trampled upon or violated since this tragic episode started,” Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi told the meeting.

Russia is expected to speak later in the debate.

Trouble spots

Parties to the agreement—there are 191, including the five recognized nuclear weapon states (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States)—are attending the conference, which runs until August 26 and will review implementation and ways to strengthen it.

Ahead of the conference, President Joe Biden said in a statement that the United States is committed to the NPT, its obligations as a nuclear state, and working towards a nuclear-free world. He said his administration is ready to negotiate a new arms control framework with Moscow to replace New START when it expires in 2026.

“But negotiation requires a willing partner operating in good faith,” Biden said. “And Russia’s brutal and unprovoked aggression in Ukraine has shattered peace in Europe and constitutes an attack on fundamental tenets of international order.” He said Moscow should demonstrate that it is ready to resume work on nuclear arms control with the U.S.

At the conference, Secretary Blinken said the United States keeps its nuclear arsenal—which has shrunk 90% since the end of the Cold War—as a deterrence and would use it only in “extreme circumstances” to defend its own vital interests or those of its allies and partners.

More than 133 governments and nuclear organizations will speak at the debate that started Monday and continues through Thursday.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Reza Najafi is also due to speak this week. World powers have been trying to get Iran to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA.

Britain and France, which are a part of the agreement, along with the United States, which withdrew under former U.S. President Donald Trump but is seeking a mutual return with Iran, said in a statement that Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon.

“We regret that, despite intense diplomatic efforts, Iran has yet to seize the opportunity to restore full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” they said urging Iran to return to the deal.

There was also concern about advances in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. Secretary Blinken said Pyongyang is planning its seventh illicit nuclear test.

IAEA chief Rossi said he hopes his agency’s inspectors can return to North Korea after being expelled in 2009. “Without that, there will be no trust and there will be no confidence,” Rossie said.

Absentees at the review conference include Israel, India and Pakistan. All are believed to have nuclear weapons but are not NPT signatories.

Some countries also expressed unease about China’s growing nuclear arsenal.

“China’s arsenal is growing,” Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said on behalf of Nordic countries. “We call on China to actively engage in processes on arms control as a responsible nuclear weapons state.”
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Kenyan Ministers Say Government Not Banning Facebook

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Kenyan ministers said the government has no intention of banning Facebook despite a watchdog last week accusing the social media platform of failing to stop hate speech ahead of Aug. 9 elections.

Kenya’s National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) last week gave Facebook one week to comply with regulations against ethnic hate speech or risk suspension.

The threat came after a report by rights group Global Witness said Facebook approved hate speech advertisements that promoted ethnic violence ahead of the election.

But Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi accused the NCIC of making what he termed a careless decision on the matter.

He assured the public that the platform would not be shut down.

Kenya’s Minister of Information and Technology Joe Mucheru echoed that vow to VOA in a telephone interview Monday.

He said while the issues raised were valid, they did not warrant blocking Facebook.

“That is not within our legal mandate, and we have been working with Facebook and many other platforms,” Muchera said. “Facebook for example has in this electioneering period has deleted over 37,000 inflammatory comments.”

In a statement last week, Facebook admitted having missed hate speech messages in Kenya, where national data shows an estimated 13 million users of the platform.

A spokesperson for Facebook’s parent company, Meta, blamed human and machine error for missing some inflammatory content and said they had taken steps to prevent such content.

Kenya’s cohesion commission said this year’s election had seen less in-person hate speech as it migrated from political rallies to social media.

It said the main perpetrators were followers of Kenya’s two leading presidential candidates — former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Deputy President William Ruto.
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Erdogan Seeks to Tighten Grip on Social Media Ahead of Polls

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Social media users in Turkey could face up to three years in jail for postings that authorities consider to be disinformation under proposed legislation. The move has prompted protests, with critics accusing the government of seeking to silence the last platforms that Turkish citizens have for venting their grievances. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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Biden Tests Positive Again in COVID-19 Rebound Case

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President Joe Biden again tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday but “continues to feel well,” his doctor said.

Biden was released from his first round of isolation after testing negative for COVID-19 last Tuesday and Wednesday. However, he tested positive again on Saturday in what White House physician Kevin O’Conner described as a “rebound” case seen in a small number of people who take the anti-viral drug Paxlovid.

O’Conner has said the president will continue the strict isolation measures and is continuing to be careful around White House staff, the Secret Service, and any other people who are in any sort of proximity to him.

Biden “will continue to conduct the business of the American people from the Executive Residence,” for the rest of his time in isolation, O’Conner said.

The president posted a video Saturday from a White House balcony with his dog, Commander. “I’m feeling fine, everything is good, but Commander and I got a little work to do,” he said.

Biden is fully vaccinated and has two booster shots, all of them Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
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Uganda Monitors DRC Border After Deadly Shooting

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Ugandan police are deploying a standby force to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after U.N. peacekeeping troops opened fire on a border post, killing two people and wounding 15, including an 8-year-old Ugandan girl.

Uganda says it has deployed a team to monitor ongoing tensions in the eastern DRC resulting from a deadly shooting involving MONUSCO soldiers.

The incident that has been described in a statement by the U.N. Special Representative Bintou Keita as unspeakable and irresponsible happened in the town of Kasindi in the DRC’S Beni territory close to Uganda.

The statement said that during the incident, soldiers from the Intervention Brigade of the MONUSCO force from Tanzania, returning from leave, opened fire at the border post for unexplained reasons and forced their way through.

Fred Enanga, the Uganda Police spokesperson, described the incident.

“So, one of the bullets strayed and hit an eight-year-old juvenile called Bira Jackline,” he said. “She’s getting treatment at Bwera hospital. The stray bullet hit her shoulder and it was retrieved. So, she’s out of danger.”  

In his statement, Bintou said the perpetrators of the shooting were identified and arrested pending the conclusions of the investigation, which has already started in collaboration with Congolese authorities.

Bintou added that contact had also been established with Tanzania so that legal proceedings can be initiated urgently with the participation of victims and witnesses.

MONUSCO, the peacekeeping mission in the DRC, was in 2010 given the mandate to carry out offensive operations. In another statement, U.N. Chief Antonio Guterres said he was saddened and outraged by the incident and demanded accountability.

With ongoing tension between DRC locals and MONUSCO, Enanga said authorities are monitoring the situation.

“We’ve been closely monitoring what happened from the other side of Bunagana and DRC,” he said. “We don’t want the violence there to affect our borderline. We have a standby team monitoring.”

Trade between DRC and Uganda slowed down since March due to the resumption of fighting between DRC government forces and M23 rebels who took over the town of Bunagana. Uganda has since March registered 41,164 asylum seekers comprising 21,235 households.
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Mali’s Government Lashes Out at Macron

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Mali’s military government has lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of having a “neo-colonial” attitude and stirring up ethnic hatred. 

The official statement was read by government spokesperson Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga on Mali’s state TV and radio station ORTM and posted to the station’s Facebook page.  

Maiga referenced statements made by French President Emmanuel Macron on the situation in Mali during Macron’s visit to Guinea-Bissau, the last stop in a tour of West Africa in which he pledged support to several countries in the fight against extremism.  

The government of the transition demands President Macron to definitively abandon his neo-colonial, paternalistic and condescending stance,” Maida said in French.  

Maiga also called Macron’s remarks, in which he deplored “systemic violence” targeting the Fulani population,” “hateful and defamatory,” saying they are “likely to arouse ethnic hatred” in Mali.  

Both the Malian and French armies have been accused of violence against the Fulani community in recent years during anti-terrorism operations. The U.N. accused France of killing 19 civilians during an airstrike on the Fulani village of Bounti, Mali in 2021, and human rights organizations have accused the Malian army of arbitrarily killing dozens of men from the Fulani ethnic group on several occasions.   

Maiga also called Macron’s remarks expressing concern over the presence of Wagner mercenaries in Mali “erroneous accusations.”  

Mali has continually denied working with mercenaries since France first launched accusations that Wagner mercenaries were present in Mali in December of last year, claiming only to work with official Russian trainers. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin denied an official Russian presence in Mali during a press conference with the French president in February.   

France announced the withdrawal of its troops from Mali this year partly over concerns that Mali is working with mercenaries, ending an almost decade-long deployment which began when France intervened after northern Mali was taken over by Islamist militants in 2012.  

In March, Human Rights Watch released a report in which several residents of Moura, Mali, attested to witnessing mercenaries committing human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings with the Malian army over a period of five days.  
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US Issues Fresh Iran Sanctions, Targets Chinese, UAE Firms

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The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on Chinese and other companies it said were used by one of Iran’s largest petrochemical brokers to sell tens of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian products to East Asia, as Washington continues to crack down on Iranian oil sales to the region.

The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement accused the designated companies of being used by Iran’s Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry Commercial Co. to facilitate the sale of Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products from Iran to East Asia.

The United States imposed sanctions four companies from Hong Kong, one from the United Arab Emirates, and one from Singapore on Monday, according to the Treasury website, the latest salvo in its stepped-up effort to enforce U.S. sanctions designed to slash Iran’s revenues from oil and petrochemicals.

The action freezes any U.S.-based assets and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. Those that engage in certain transactions with the firms also risk being hit by sanctions.

Since taking office in January 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden has been reluctant to sanction Chinese entities engaged in the oil and petrochemical trade with Iran due to hopes of securing an agreement to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Efforts to resurrect the deal – under which Iran had curbed its nuclear program in exchange for relief from U.S. and other sanctions – have so far failed, leading the U.S. administration to look for other ways to increase pressure on Iran.

“The United States continues to pursue the path of diplomacy to achieve a mutual return to full implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” the Treasury’s Under Secretary of for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in the statement, referring to the 2015 deal by its formal name.

“Until such time as Iran is ready to return to full implementation of its commitments, we will continue to enforce sanctions on the illicit sale of Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals.”
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Spanish Government’s Body Positivity Campaign Goes Awry

Posted on by SeeEU

The Spanish government maybe had a good idea, but the execution of the body positivity campaign has gone horribly wrong. 

The idea was to encourage women to come out and enjoy the beaches – without any worries about how they looked in their swimsuits.

But three of the five women whose photographs were used in the campaign said they had not given permission for the images to be used. 

Arte Mapache the campaign’s creator, has apologized for failing to obtain permission to use the images.  

“Given the – justified – controversy over the image rights in the illustration, I have decided that the best way to make amends for the damages that may have resulted from my actions is to share out the money I received for the work and give equal parts to the people in the poster,” the artist said.

Two of the women in the campaign’s artwork are professional models.  One has a prosthetic leg that was airbrushed out of the campaign artwork. 

Sian Green-Lord told The Guardian, “It’s one thing using my image without my permission, but it’s another thing editing my body, my body with my prosthetic leg … I don’t even know what to say but it’s beyond wrong.”

Juliet FitzPatrick, a cancer survivor, told the BBC that the face of a woman who had a mastectomy may be based on a photograph of her.  However, while the woman in the Spanish government photo has had a single mastectomy, FitzPatrick had a double mastectomy. 

She told the BBC that using her likeness without her permission “seems to be totally against” the theme of the campaign.  “For me it is about how my body has been used and represented without my permission.”

British photographer Ami Barwell who had taken photos of Fitzpatrick told the BBC that she believes Fitzpatrick’s photo was a composite of photos that she had taken of Fitzpatrick and another woman.  

Barwell told the BBC, “I think that the person who created the art has gone through my gallery and pieced them together.” 

Another model, Nyome Nicholas-Williams, who wears a gold bikini in the photo, said her image was taken from her Instagram account without her permission. 
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West African Bakers Aim to Reduce Dependence on Imported Grains 

Posted on by SeeAF

Commercial bakers from eight West Africa countries are doing what they can to reduce their dependence on foreign wheat and strengthen their nations’ food security by forming a trade association. For VOA Allison Fernandes reports from Dakar, Senegal. Carol Guensburg narrates her report.
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Pelosi Visits Singapore Amid Speculation on Taiwan Stop  

Posted on by SeeUS

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived Monday in Singapore for a two-day visit, leading a congressional delegation to Asia amid speculation the trip could include a stop in Taiwan.

Singapore’s Foreign Ministry said Pelosi would meet with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and other officials.

In a statement Sunday, Pelosi said she is leading a group of five other Democratic Party lawmakers to Asia “to reaffirm America’s strong and unshakeable commitment to our allies and friends in the region.”

She did not mention whether she will defy China by making a stop in Taiwan on the trip that has Malaysia, South Korea and Japan among the U.S. delegation’s scheduled visits.

U.S. media reports Friday suggested Pelosi was tentatively planning to stop in Taiwan. Pelosi herself has indirectly spoken about such a possibility, even though her office has not confirmed it, citing security protocols.

It would be the highest-level U.S. visit to Taiwan since 1997, when former House Speaker Newt Gingrich led a congressional delegation there.

China had repeatedly warned Pelosi’s trip would be an unacceptable violation of what it sees as its sovereignty over the self-ruled island.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war, with the defeated nationalist forces fleeing to Taiwan and setting up a government that later grew into a vibrant democracy.

Since then, China’s Communist Party has vowed to take Taiwan, using force if necessary, even though the island has never been led by the Communist Party.

Chinese leaders strongly object to U.S. shows of support for Taiwan’s government, which they see as illegitimate.

In a Thursday phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping issued a blunt warning over Taiwan, saying “those who play with fire will perish by it,” according to a Chinese government readout.

China’s foreign ministry has also vowed Beijing would “act strongly” and “take countermeasures” in response to a Pelosi visit.

White House officials said Friday they saw no evidence China’s military was preparing major action against Taiwan.

China announced Saturday it was holding “live-fire” military exercises off its coast facing Taiwan. The drills, which were set to last from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time, occurred near the Pingtan islands off Fujian province, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency. The report did not specify what type of weapons were used in the exercises.

On Sunday, a spokesman for China’s air force said Beijing has the “firm will” and “sufficient capability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The spokesman, who was quoted in state media, also said China had various fighter jets that can circle “the precious island of our motherland.”

China has flown an increasing number of warplanes through Taiwan’s self-declared air defense identification zone in recent years, greatly raising tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

In recent weeks, Chinese state media editorials have warned Chinese fighter jets could follow and intercept Pelosi’s plane.

Hu Xijin, a fiercely nationalistic commentator for the Communist Party’s Global Times, even suggested in a tweet that the Chinese military has the right to “forcibly dispel” any U.S. aircraft traveling or escorting Pelosi to Taiwan.

“If ineffective, then shoot them down,” Hu said in the tweet, which was later removed because it violated Twitter guidelines.

Despite China’s warnings, a large, bipartisan chorus of lawmakers had urged Pelosi to not back down, saying China should not be allowed to dictate where U.S. officials visit.

“It would make it look like America can be shoved around,” former House Speaker Gingrich told VOA’s Mandarin Service earlier this week. Gingrich said he supports Pelosi’s trip, which will likely only amount to “an irritation” to U.S.-China ties.

“I think this is at one level a lot of noise about nothing,” Gingrich said. “I think if she holds her ground, and if the Biden administration doesn’t act timidly and almost cowardly, I think everything will be fine.”

Taiwan is one of the most dangerous points of tension in an increasingly fraught U.S.-China relationship.

The United States formally cut official relations with Taiwan in 1979 when it switched diplomatic recognition to China. However, the United States has continued to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons as mandated by the U.S. Congress.

U.S. presidents have long used a policy of “strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan — essentially leaving their options open in the case of a Chinese invasion of the island.

However, Biden’s recent comments have raised doubts about that approach. Since taking office, Biden on three occasions has said the U.S. is committed to defending Taiwan.

Biden has been cautious, though, on the prospect of a Pelosi visit. Earlier this month, Biden said the U.S. military does not think a visit would be a good idea.

Pelosi’s possible visit comes at a sensitive moment for Xi, who is expected to use a Communist Party Congress later this year to secure a controversial third term as China’s top leader.

Observers have said Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades, may want to send a tough message on Taiwan ahead of the meeting. But he may also want to preserve stability around a sensitive political moment.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Friday there is “no reason” for increased tension with China because U.S. policy has not changed.

Kirby reiterated that Pelosi “does not need nor do we offer approval or disapproval” for travel. He added: “The speaker is entitled to travel aboard a military aircraft.”

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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Senegal Ruling Coalition Claims Early Victory in Legislative Elections

Posted on by SeeAF

A former prime minister of Senegal said in a televised address Monday that President Macky Sall’s ruling coalition has won 30 of the country’s 46 administrative departments in Sunday’s legislative elections. 

Aminata Toure said that that would give the West African country’s ruling coalition a slight majority. 

Dakar Mayor Barthelemy Dias, an opposition leader, took exception to Toure’s announcement and called for people to take to the streets Monday to protest. 

The final nationwide results of the election are not expected to be known until at least Friday.  Senegal’s hybrid election system also includes winners of the proportional representation vote and those who earn the most votes from Senegalese who live abroad. 

Senegal is considered one of the continent’s most stable democracies, but there is concern because Sall has not ruled out running for a third term in 2024, a move that would go against the country’s constitution.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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Pat Carroll, Emmy Winner and Voice of Ursula, Dies at 95

Posted on by SeeUS

Pat Carroll, a comedic television mainstay for decades, an Emmy-winner for “Caesar’s Hour” and the voice Ursula in “The Little Mermaid,” has died. She was 95. 

Her daughter Kerry Karsian, a casting agent, said Carroll died at her home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Saturday. Her other daughter Tara Karsian wrote on Instagram that they want everyone to “honor her by having a raucous laugh at absolutely anything today (and everyday forward) because besides her brilliant talent and love, she leaves my sister Kerry and I with the greatest gift of all, imbuing us with humor and the ability to laugh…even in the saddest of times.” 

Carroll was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1927. Her family relocated to Los Angeles when she was 5 years old. Her first film role came in 1948 in “Hometown Girl,” but she found her stride in television.

She won an Emmy for her work on the sketch comedy series “Caesar’s Hour” in 1956, was a regular on “Make Room for Daddy” with Danny Thomas, a guest star on “The DuPont Show with June Allyson” and a variety show regular stopping by “The Danny Kaye Show,” “The Red Skelton Show” and “The Carol Burnett Show.” 

Carroll also played one of the wicked stepsisters in the 1965 television production of “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” with Lesley Ann Warren. 

In addition, she also played one of the wicked stepsisters in the 1965 television production of “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” with Lesley Ann Warren. Plus, she won a Grammy in 1980 for the recording of her one-woman show “Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude Stein.” 

A new generation would come to know and love Carroll’s voice thanks to Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” which came out in 1989. She was not the first choice of directors Ron Clements and John Musker or the musical team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, who reportedly wanted Joan Collins or Bea Arthur to voice the sea witch. Elaine Stritch was even cast originally before Carroll got to audition. And her throaty rendition of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” would make her one of Disney’s most memorable villains. 

Carroll would often say that Ursula was one of her favorite roles. She said she saw her as an “Ex-Shakespearean actress who now sold cars.” 

“She’s a mean old thing! I think people are fascinated by mean characters,” Carroll said in an interview. “There’s a fatal kind of distraction about the horrible mean characters of the world because we don’t meet too many of them in real life. So when we have a chance, theatrically, to see one and this one, she’s a biggie, it’s kind of fascinating for us.” 

She got the chance to reprise the role in several “Little Mermaid” sequels, spinoffs and even theme park rides. 

Carroll was also the voice of Granny in the English-language dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s “My Neighbor Totoro.”
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Ukrainian Grain Shipments Resume from Odesa

Posted on by SeeEU

Grain shipments from Ukraine’s port of Odesa resumed Monday.

The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni was the first to leave port, carrying corn bound for Lebanon. In a statement, Turkey’s defense ministry said other unspecified ships also would depart Ukraine.

Turkey and the United Nations brokered an agreement with Russia and Ukraine in late July to get grain exports going again amid a global food crisis that the U.N. says has been worsened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The deal calls for safe passage of cargo ships traveling from ports in southern Ukraine through waters in the Black Sea that Russia has controlled since starting the war in late February.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the resumption of exports from Odesa.

“The day of relief for the world, especially for our friends in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, as the first Ukrainian grain leaves Odesa after months of Russian blockade,” Kuleba tweeted. “Ukraine has always been a reliable partner and will remain one should Russia respect its part of the deal.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday the departure of the first ship is “very positive.”

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said ensuring grain can reach global markets “is a humanitarian imperative.”

“The Secretary-General hopes that this will be the first of many commercial ships moving in accordance with the Initiative signed, and that this will bring much-needed stability and relief to global food security especially in the most fragile humanitarian contexts,” Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

Dujarric added that the World Food Program plans to purchase 30,000 metric tons of wheat to load and ship out of Ukraine on a U.N.-chartered vessel.

British say Russians make ‘slow progress’

Also Monday, Britain’s defense ministry said Russian forces had made only slow progress during the previous four days as they tried tactical assaults in the area northeast of Donetsk.

The British ministry said Russia is also likely shifting “a significant number of its forces” from the northern part of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine to southern Ukraine.

For several months, Russia has focused its efforts on the Donbas, which includes Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, after facing resistance on its approach to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. A reallocation of resources to the east helped Russia claim control of Luhansk in early July.

Russia’s Black Sea fleet headquarters struck

In southern Ukraine, a small explosive device carried by a makeshift drone hit the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, wounding six people, local authorities said, while Ukraine said a Russian missile attack killed one of its richest people, a grain merchant.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the drone attack in the port city of Sevastopol, which forced cancellation of ceremonies for Russia’s Navy Day holiday. But the seemingly improvised, small-scale nature of the attack raised the possibility it was the work of Ukrainian insurgents in the territory seized by Russia in 2014, The Associated Press reported.

The drone appeared to be homemade and the explosive device low powered, the Black Sea Fleet’s press service said. Sevastopol is about 170 kilometers from the Ukrainian mainland, but it is unclear where the drone began its flight.

‘Not an accident’

Elsewhere in Ukraine, the mayor of the major port city of Mykolaiv, Vitaliy Kim, said a Russian attack killed one of Ukraine’s wealthiest men, Oleksiy Vadatursky, and his wife, Raisa. Vadatursky headed a grain production and export business.

An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak, said Vadatursky was specifically targeted.

It “was not an accident, but a well-thought-out and organized premeditated murder,” Podolyak said. “Vadatursky was one of the largest farmers in the country, a key person in the region and a major employer. That the exact hit of a rocket was not just in a house, but in a specific wing, the bedroom, leaves no doubt about aiming and adjusting the strike.”

Vadatursky’s agribusiness, Nibulon, includes a fleet of ships for sending grain abroad.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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With Death of Celtics Great and Civil Rights Activist Bill Russell, World ‘Lost A Giant’

Posted on by SeeUS

Bill Russell, the cornerstone of a Boston Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA titles and a powerful voice for social justice, died Sunday at the age of 88, his family said. 

“Bill Russell, the most prolific winner in American sports history, passed away peacefully today at age 88, with his wife, Jeannine, by his side,” said a statement posted on Russell’s Twitter page. 

U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama – who awarded Russell the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011 – were among those who paid tribute to Russell’s contributions on and off the court. 

“The promise of America is that we are all created equal and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives,” Biden said in a statement. “We’ve never fully lived up to that promise, but Bill Russell made sure we never walked away from it.”

Eight titles in a row 

Russell’s 11 titles with the Celtics included eight in a row from 1959-1966. Today’s NBA Finals MVP award is named for him. 

He averaged 15.1 points and 22.5 rebounds per game for his career, building a famed rivalry with Wilt Chamberlain in the 1960s. 

Russell became the first Black coach in the NBA when he served as player-coach of the Celtics in 1966 and the first Black player inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. 

His skills revolutionized the NBA game, but Biden noted that throughout his stellar career Russell “faced the hostility and hate of racism embedded in every part of American life. Yet, he never gave up. Throughout his life, he forced us to confront hard truths. And on this day, there are generations of Americans who are reflecting on what he meant to them as someone who played for the essential truth that every person is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect.” 

Russell’s family said his “understanding of the struggle is what illuminated his life.” 

“Bill called out injustice with an unforgiving candor that he intended would disrupt the status quo, and with a powerful example that, though never his humble intention, will forever inspire teamwork, selflessness and thoughtful change.” 

Obama said the world had “lost a giant.” 

“As tall as Bill Russell stood, his legacy rises far higher – both as a player and as a person,” Obama said in a statement posted on Twitter. 

“Perhaps more than anyone else, Bill knew what it took to win and what it took to lead. On the court, he was the greatest champion in basketball history. Off of it, he was a civil rights trailblazer, marching with Dr. King and standing with Muhammad Ali,” said Obama. “For decades, Bill endured insults and vandalism, but never let it stop him from speaking up for what’s right. I learned so much from the way he played, the way he coached, and the way he lived his life.” 

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called Russell “the greatest champion in all of team sports,” but added that his accolades “only begin to tell the story of Bill’s immense impact on our league and broader society. 

“Bill stood for something much bigger than sports: the values of equality, respect and inclusion that he stamped into the DNA of our league,” Silver said. 

‘Making things better’ 

Those beliefs, more than his prowess on the court, were what inspired Magic Johnson’s love of Russell, the Lakers legend said on Sunday as he joined in an outpouring of tributes. 

“He was one of the first athletes on the front line fighting for social justice, equity, equality, and civil rights,” Johnson said. “Over the course of our friendship, he always reminded me about making things better in the Black community.” 

Current Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown remembered the franchise legend, the club saying in a statement that “Bill Russell’s DNA is woven through every element of the Celtics organization.” 

Michael Jordan, who for many inherited the mantle of greatest-ever NBA player from Russell, said Russell “paved the way and set an example for every Black player who came into the league after him, including me.”

In a sentiment echoed by former New York Knicks great Patrick Ewing, “the world has lost a legend,” said Jordan.
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