Month: March 2023

Strong Storm Freddy Set to Hit Mozambique Again 

Posted on by SeeAF

Tropical Storm Freddy was on track to hit the coast of southern Africa again early Saturday, after killing at least 27 people in Mozambique and Madagascar since it first made landfall last month. 

One of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, Freddy may also have broken the record for the longest-lasting tropical cyclone, according to the World Meteorological Organization, which said the current record is held by a 31-day hurricane in 1994. 

Freddy was named on February 6, 33 days ago.  

More than 171,000 people were affected when the cyclone swept through southern Mozambique two weeks ago, bringing heavy rains and floods that damaged crops and destroyed houses, according to U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA. 

OCHA on Friday put Freddy’s latest death toll at 27, 10 in Mozambique and 17 in Madagascar. 

As many as 565,000 people could be at risk in Mozambique this time around in Zambezia, Tete, Sofala and Nampula provinces, with Zambezia expected to be the hardest hit, according to the country’s national disaster management agency. 

Its central region director, Nelson Ludovico, said the agency was preparing for the storm’s landfall in the early hours of Saturday and had moved people to makeshift shelters. 

“It’s a slow-moving cyclone. This is bad news in terms of rainfall because it means it’s hovering quite close to the coast and it’s picking up more moisture, so the rainfall will be heavier,” Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization, told reporters in Geneva. 

The storm is likely to cause extreme rainfall over large parts of Mozambique as well as northeastern Zimbabwe, southeast Zambia and Malawi, she said. 

Around the world, climate change is making hurricanes wetter, windier and more intense, scientists say. Oceans absorb much of the heat from greenhouse gas emissions, and when warm seawater evaporates its heat energy is transferred to the atmosphere, fueling stronger storms. 

Freddy has set a record for the highest accumulated cyclone energy, a measure of the storm’s strength over time, of any Southern Hemisphere storm in history, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  

The storm has generated about as much accumulated cyclone energy on its own as an average North Atlantic hurricane season, Nullis said. 

“World record or not, Freddy will remain in any case an exceptional phenomenon for the history of the southwest Indian Ocean on many aspects: longevity, distance covered, remarkable maximum intensity, accumulated cyclone energy amount, [and] impact on inhabited lands,” said Sebastien Langlade, a cyclone forecaster at the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre in La Reunion, in a statement from the WMO. 
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BBC Pulls Soccer Host After Migration Comments

Posted on by SeeEU

Former England soccer captain Gary Lineker has been taken off the air by the BBC after his comments on Britain’s migration policy sparked a furious spat between the government and the corporation’s highest-paid presenter.

Lineker was told there has to be an agreement on his use of social media before he can return, the BBC said on Friday.

BBC Director General Tim Davie said it had taken “proportionate action.”

The dispute overshadowed a migration deal struck between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron, with the BBC accused of bowing to political pressure.

On Tuesday, Britain announced details of a new law stating that migrants arriving in small boats across the English Channel would be prevented from claiming asylum and deported either back to their homeland or to so-called safe third countries.

It drew criticism from opposition parties, charities and the United Nations’ refugee agency for its impact on refugees.

Lineker, who has previously hosted refugees in his home, retweeted a post featuring a video of Interior Minister Suella Braverman talking about the law, with the comment “Good heavens, this is beyond awful.”

Challenged by a respondent, he said: “This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?”

Lineker faced a backlash to his comments, which were criticized by Sunak’s spokeswoman as “not acceptable,” but said he would “continue to try and speak up for those poor souls that have no voice.”

The BBC said after talks with Lineker and his team that it had decided he would step back from presenting its flagship “Match of the Day (MOTD)” soccer highlights program “until we’ve got an agreed and clear position on his use of social media.”

After four of the show’s regular pundits, former England players Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Jermaine Jenas and Micah Richards, said they did not wish to appear on the program without Lineker, the BBC said Saturday’s edition would “focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry.”

“Gary Lineker off air is an assault on free speech in the face of political pressure,” the opposition Labour Party said, calling for the BBC to rethink its decision.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the BBC’s move “indefensible.”

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: “Individual cases are a matter for the BBC.”

Lineker has hosted “MOTD” for more than 20 years, and the charismatic 62-year-old has never been afraid to voice his opinions about political issues.

But the BBC said it considered his recent social media activity to be a breach of its guidelines.

“We have never said that Gary should be an opinion-free zone, or that he can’t have a view on issues that matter to him, but we have said that he should keep well away from taking sides on party political issues or political controversies,” it added.

The BBC, funded by what is in effect a $192 (159 pounds) annual “license fee” tax on all television-watching households, has a central presence in British cultural life. It says it is committed to being politically impartial.

Last year the BBC’s complaints unit ruled Lineker had failed to meet editorial standards on impartiality when he sent a tweet asking whether the governing Conservative Party would give back money from Russian donors.

BBC Chair Richard Sharp is under pressure for failing to declare his involvement in facilitating a loan for former Prime Minister Boris Johnson shortly before he was appointed to the role. His appointment, made on the recommendation of the government, is now being reviewed by Britain’s public appointments watchdog.
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France, Britain Strike Migration Deal

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Britain will pay France around 480 million pounds ($577 million) over three years to try to stop migrants traveling in small boats across the English Channel as the two allies took a major step Friday to end years of bickering in the post-Brexit era.

At a summit designed to rebuild ties, French President Emmanuel Macron greeted British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with smiles and mutual backslapping before they agreed to work more closely together.

Describing it as a “moment to reconnect,” Macron said at a joint news conference that relations had been strained by Britain’s departure from the European Union.

Sunak said the time had come for a new relationship, an “entente renewed,” a reference to the Entente Cordiale of the early 20th century that had smoothed over diplomatic relations between the European powerhouses.

“If we are honest the relationship between our two countries has had its challenges in recent years,” Sunak said. “Today we have taken cooperation to an unprecedented level.”

The two agreed to move forward on nuclear energy cooperation, reaffirmed their backing for Ukraine and vowed to strengthen inter-operability of their military forces, including through the development of future missiles and air defense systems.

But for Sunak, migration was the focus as he looked to tout the deal as another achievement after agreeing to new terms with Brussels on Northern Ireland in February.

In office since October, he has made stopping small boats a priority after the number of migrants arriving on the south coast of England soared to more than 45,000 last year, up 500% in the last two years.

He has proposed new legislation to bar those arriving in small boats from claiming asylum, but for this he needs France’s cooperation to intercept the boats and break the people-trafficking rings behind the flow of arrivals from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and others.

As part of the new deal, Britain will help fund a detention center in France while Paris will deploy more French personnel and enhanced technology to patrol its beaches. Officers from both countries will also look to work with countries along the routes favored by people traffickers.

A British official said London was contributing 30 million euros over three years for the detention center, with the official adding that detained migrants would be sent back to their home countries if they were safe, or to the last country they transited through if their home countries were unsafe.

Firming ties from energy to Ukraine

“We will develop operational needs and will reinforce coordination,” Macron said, while adding that to go further and address the issue of whether migrants could be returned to France would require agreement across the whole bloc.

While the number of applications for asylum in the United Kingdom hit a 20-year high of nearly 75,000 in 2022, it was still below the European Union average. And many EU members are themselves at odds over how to handle migrants, and whether they should be returned to the first EU country they arrived in.

The meeting was the first summit of Europe’s two biggest military and nuclear powers – both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – in five years.

Ties between the two counties have been strained by Brexit, and were particularly difficult during the British premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, with Truss at one point declining to say whether Macron was a “friend or foe.”

Sunak and Macron struck up a personal rapport at the COP27 summit in Egypt in November during their first face-to-face meeting, two weeks after Sunak became prime minister, with their warm relationship labeled “Le Bromance” in British newspapers.

The two former investment bankers, who offered each other Rugby Union shirts ahead of a crunch Six Nations match in London on Saturday, were accompanied by seven ministers on each side in Paris and met business leaders from both countries to deepen their economic relationship.

Energy partnerships

British energy supplier Octopus Energy said after the summit that it would invest 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in the French green energy market over the next two years, while the countries signed two energy partnerships, emphasizing nuclear power as a secure source of low-carbon energy.

“France and the U.K. are working together so that never again can the likes of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin weaponize our energy security,” Sunak said.

With the war in Ukraine, it was also an opportunity for two of Kyiv’s biggest backers to reaffirm their support.

Both leaders emphasized that for now it was imperative to ramp up military support for Ukraine and train its forces to give it an edge on the battlefield and put it in the best position for the day when talks to end the war begin.

“The priority is [the] military,” Macron said.
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US Lifts COVID Test Requirement for Chinese Travelers

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A requirement that travelers to the U.S. from China present a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flights expired Friday after more than two months as cases in China have fallen.

The restrictions were put in place December 28 and took effect January 5 amid a surge in infections in China after the nation sharply eased pandemic restrictions and as U.S. health officials expressed concerns that their Chinese counterparts were not being truthful to the world about the true number of infections and deaths. The requirement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expired for flights leaving after 3 p.m. Eastern time Friday.

When the restriction was imposed, U.S. officials also said it was necessary to protect U.S. citizens and communities because there was a lack of transparency from the Chinese government about the size of the surge or the variants that were circulating within China.

The rules imposed in January require travelers to the U.S. from China, Hong Kong and Macau to take a COVID-19 test no more than two days before travel and provide a negative test before boarding their flight. The testing applies to anyone 2 years and older, including U.S. citizens.

China saw infections and deaths surge after it eased back from its “zero COVID” strategy in early December after rare public protests of the policy that confined millions of people to their homes and sparked demands for President Xi Jinping to resign.

But as China eased its strict rules, infections and deaths surged, and parts of the country for weeks saw their hospitals overwhelmed by infected patients looking for help. Still, the Chinese government has been slow to release data on the number of deaths and infections.

The U.S. decision to lift restrictions comes at a moment when U.S.-China relations are strained. U.S. President Joe Biden ordered a Chinese spy balloon shot down last month after it traversed the continental United States. The Biden administration has also publicized U.S. intelligence findings that raise concern Beijing is considering providing Russia weaponry for its ongoing war on Ukraine.
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US Lawmaker Blasts China on Human Rights in Front of Embassy

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The Republican chairman of a special House committee targeting China called Beijing’s government “bloodthirsty” and “power hungry” on Friday at a rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington. 

Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin attended a rally to commemorate the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against China’s rule. The gathering took place on what is known as Tibetan National Uprising Day and came as tensions between the U.S. and China continue to escalate. 

Speaking to members of the Tibetan community, Gallagher said he wanted to recognize their courage in fighting for their freedom and culture. He described Tibetans as victims of a “cultural genocide” by the Chinese Communist Party. 

“They’ve not changed one bit,” Gallagher said. “The CCP is still a threat, still duplicitous, still power hungry, still bloodthirsty.” 

Tibet is governed as an autonomous region in western China, with authorities maintaining tight control over Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, and harassing and punishing Tibetans suspected of being followers of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who after the failed uprising would flee across the Himalayas to India. 

China has claimed Tibet as part of its territory for centuries and argues it has improved living conditions and reduced poverty in the region. It says the U.S. and its allies falsely accuse Beijing of violating Tibetans’ human rights. 

Tibetans say they were essentially independent before the People’s Liberation Army fought its way into Tibet in 1950. China has built a sprawling network of police stations and extrajudicial detention centers for rebellious monks and nuns — measures that Beijing mimicked in Xinjiang province against Uyghurs. 

Gallagher said that prioritizing human rights early on in the new committee’s work is a way of communicating to Americans that the Chinese Communist Party is not just a distant threat. 

“Increasingly, we see the CCP trying to undermine our own sovereignty, whether it’s through a Chinese spy balloon or a CCP-controlled algorithm that an American teenager uses, or fentanyl precursors from China ultimately killing 70,000 Americans a year,” Gallagher said. 

One of the questions arising from lawmakers’ increasingly harsh criticism of China is whether it will make relations between the two countries worse. Earlier this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned in unusually stark terms about the consequences of U.S.-China friction. 

“If the United States does not hit the brake, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing and there surely will be conflict and confrontation,” Qin said in his first news conference since taking up his post last year. 

Gallagher stressed that no one wants a war with China over Taiwan or any other issue, but said there has been a shift in thinking in Washington that the policy of economic engagement with the country has failed. 

“I think recognizing CCP aggression for what it is and taking sensible steps to combat that aggression is the best path to deterring that aggression over the long term,” Gallagher told The Associated Press after the rally. “I think the best path towards preventing an escalation is a strategy of strength, of communicating we will not be bullied.” 

Taking steps to curb China is one of the few ideas that generates bipartisan support in Congress. The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party held its first hearing last month. China responded by demanding its members “discard their ideological bias and zero-sum Cold War mentality.” 

Gallagher met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries earlier this week to discuss the committee’s future work. 

“Congress is going to disagree about a lot over the next year, but they want this to be an area where we try and identify that bipartisan center of gravity,” Gallagher said.
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NASA’s Artemis Moon Missions Promise Diverse Crews

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By launching an unmanned capsule into space, sending it around the moon and bringing it back to Earth in November, NASA demonstrated how it will once again transport astronauts to the lunar surface — a core goal of the Artemis program.

What remains to be seen is who will crew the first trips.

“Everybody in the astronaut office has the background, the basic training and the qualifications to go do that mission, so everyone is hoping that their name gets called,” astronaut Stan Love told VOA during an interview at Kennedy Space Center ahead of the Artemis 1 launch.

Love is among those being considered for a spot. Artemis 2, a manned mission to orbit but not land on the moon, could launch as early as 2024. Love said the Artemis crews will look different than those of the Apollo program during the 1960s and 1970s.

“We are going to broaden our demographics, so it won’t just be white guys landing on the moon.”

“We make our boss’ jobs actually challenging, we make his job hard because he’s got to pick some of us,” says astronaut Victor Glover, who could make history as the first person of color to reach the moon.

The crew for Artemis 2 will be announced April 3, according to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who said the team will include three NASA astronauts and one member of the Canadian Space Agency.

“I think all of us are ready, trained and capable of making this mission a success,” Glover told VOA. “Just to be where we are now and be a part of this team is an honor.”

The initiative to ensure diversity in NASA’s Artemis program was outlined in the Biden administration’s $25 billion funding request to Congress for NASA for the fiscal year 2022, which includes the moon missions.

“Apollo had a sister, Artemis, and this is our generation, and I think this is a fantastic thing,” said Branelle Rodriguez, who works on the Orion capsule that will transport the astronauts in Artemis.

Ahead of the launch of Artemis 1, she expressed pride taking part in a historic project that will also bring the first woman to the moon.

“I think it’s important for all of us, whether it’s a man or a woman, I think it’s fantastic,” Rodriguez said. “I think as an agency, as a nation and as a world showing that we can explore as humans back to the surface of the moon is what we need to go off and show.”

Danielle Bell, a marketing and communications professor at Northwestern University’s Medill School who focuses on issues of diversity and inclusion, welcomes NASA’s initiative and said she hopes it is permanent.

“NASA has taken the step of naming the entire mission after the sister of Apollo, the Greek god, so that in and of itself is a wonderful symbol, [and a] signal when we think about diversity and inclusion,” Bell said.

“To do this once, would feel like performing,” she added. “When they are transformative and not performative, that happens when the organization lives their values from the inside out.”

Women make up one-third of the current group of 41 astronauts at NASA. Twelve are people of color. While 16 are experienced pilots, the rest are experts in fields such as geology, medicine and engineering, bringing professional diversity to the corps.

Bell said that makeup suggests that skin color or gender won’t likely drive the decision on who goes first.

“What I can appreciate about this mission, is that it’s not just about diversity, it’s not just about representation,” Bell told VOA. “It’s not diversity for diversity’s sake. It’s more meaningful, it’s more impactful. You’ve got an entire pool that is of diverse backgrounds.”

The importance of the Artemis diversity initiative is underscored for Glover whenever he participates in outreach and education efforts for NASA.

“People keep asking me, ‘Is it meaningful to you that little Black kids look up to you and say they want to be like you?’ You know what? Let’s be honest, I represent America. I’m a naval officer and I work for NASA.

“I represent America and little white kids, little Mexican kids, little Hispanic kids and little Iranian kids follow what we’re doing because this,” he said, pointing to the iconic NASA patch on his blue flight suit “is maybe one of the most recognizable symbols in the universe. I think that that’s really important and I take that very seriously.”

While Glover hopes to be picked for an upcoming Artemis mission to the moon, he said he will participate in the mammoth undertaking one way or another.

“If your name gets called or not, I’m going to be happy to still be a part of this team and help from the ground,” Glover told VOA.

“There won’t be any sense of disappointment,” said astronaut Love. “If I’m not on the rocket, I’m going to be in mission control talking to these crews. So, I will be supporting these missions no matter what my role.”
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African Ministers in Malawi Discuss Cholera Outbreaks

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The World Health Organization has called for Africa to step up the fight against cholera, which in the last year killed more than 3,000 people in 12 African countries, with more than half the victims dying in Malawi’s record outbreak. The global health body and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a two-day emergency meeting on cholera this week in Malawi with ministers from 14 African countries.

The two-day meeting ended Friday with a call for countries to take a holistic approach in improving issues of water, sanitation and health among their populations.

A closing statement said more commitment was needed on surveillance and prevention to eliminate the deadly cholera bacteria, which is spread by dirty water.

The participants also resolved that African countries need to start producing their own cholera vaccine.

Dr. Ambrose Talisuna, WHO’s regional adviser for health security in Africa, said the continent continues to face cholera outbreaks despite past commitments to eliminate the disease.

“They committed themselves in 2018 by Regional Framework for Africa but we are lagging behind, the milestones are lagging behind,” Talisuna said. “So we really want to revitalize cholera prevention and control sustainably in Africa.”

Talisuna said 12 African countries have current cholera outbreaks, totaling some 130,000 cases, with more than 51,000 in Malawi.

“This is just too much, and we don’t know how many countries will have cholera before the end of the year,” he said. “But the outbreak we see in Malawi is so far the largest and it is related to issues around climate change but also cross-border movement.”

Malawi has recorded more than half of Africa’s cholera fatalities, making it the worst outbreak the country has battled in decades.

Malawian Vice President Saulos Chilima told the delegates Friday the country is now seeing a drop in cases largely because of an anti-cholera campaign the Malawi government launched last month.

The country has also seen a drop in the fatality rate, from 3.3% in August, to 1.8% now, still above the WHO target rate of 1 percent.

Malawi’s Minister of Health, Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, confirmed that progress has been made.

“The numbers have significantly gone down,” Chiponda said. “About three weeks or two weeks ago we were having about 700 or 800 cases on a daily basis. But as of now there are about 200, sometimes 300. Even people who are dying from cholera, the numbers have gone down.”

Health rights campaigner Maziko Matemba told VOA that the involvement of WHO and the Africa CDC in the cholera fight could help the country abolish some common diseases too.

“We hope that there will be more research and surveillance in Africa, which will help and support the ending of some of these conditions which are preventable in nature,” Matemba said. “But also, it will create awareness to countries to put more resources toward health to end some of these conditions which are preventable in nature.”

Dr. Merawi Aragaw, head of emergency preparedness and response unit at Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there is a historical precedent for eliminating cholera: Europe. He said African outbreaks can be stopped if governments take a well-coordinated, collective and multi-sector approach like Europe did 150 years ago, which helped that continent virtually eliminate the waterborne disease.

Aragaw said the approach would center around improving water and sanitation infrastructures across Africa.
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Georgian Parliament Revokes Controversial ‘Foreign Agents’ Bill That Sparked Protests

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In a dramatic turn of events, Georgian lawmakers have voted to drop a controversial “foreign agents” bill just days after its first reading sparked massive protests over fears the legislation, which mirrored a similar law in Russia, and would have severely restricted dissent and the activity of civil society groups in the country and push it toward authoritarianism. 

Parliament on March 10 voted in the second reading of the draft, a day after the ruling Georgian Dream party announced it was withdrawing the proposed legislation in the face of the protests. 

Lawmakers voted 35-1 against the bill, thus canceling it. The legislation can be brought back within 30 days, but only if it contains changes. 

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Georgian capital over the legislation, and another gathering is planned for March 10, though it is likely to be more celebratory than protest. 

Police had met the demonstrators with tear gas, stun grenades, and water cannons while detaining dozens. 

Georgia’s Interior Ministry said on March 10 that all 133 people who were detained during the protests had been released. It added that almost 60 police officers were injured in clashes during the demonstrations. 

The protests began on March 7 as parliament took up the “foreign agents” legislation despite warnings from critics that the bill, which would force civil society organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to be classified as “foreign agents,” mirrors Russian legislation that has been used to stifle opposition voices and the independent media. 

Georgian Dream officials said the legislation was aimed at bringing transparency and that it needed to hold consultations to “better explain” the law’s purpose in the future. 

In Georgia, anti-Russian sentiment can often be strong. Russian troops still control around one-fifth of Georgia’s territory, most of it taken during a lightning war in 2008 that was ostensibly about breakaway efforts in two northeastern regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. 

By suddenly announcing that the bill was being “unconditionally” withdrawn, Georgian Dream deescalated the current crisis — but tensions are likely to persist over the ruling party and its opponents’ competing visions for the heavily polarized Caucasus country and its nearly 5 million residents. 

The opposition has often criticized Georgian Dream for being too closely aligned with Moscow, and the Kremlin’s current war against another former Soviet republic, Ukraine, has heightened those concerns. 

The introduction of the legislation prompted rebukes from several corners, including diplomats from the European Union and the United States. 

Georgia has been moving toward joining the European Union, but EU officials said the “foreign agents” law would complicate that membership path. Last year, the bloc declined to grant candidate status to Georgia, citing stalled political and judicial reforms. 

President Salome Zurabishvili has said she would veto the bill, although parliament could have overridden her veto. 

Speaking on March 10, French President Emmanuel Macron said Georgia was under pressure while expressing hope that the country could find a “path towards greater serenity” and that there is a “calming down of regional tensions.” 

“Georgia is under some heavy pressure and I hope it can find calm,” he said at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Paris. 

Macron dismissed Russian claims that protests in the Caucasus country were orchestrated by the West. 

“There is a tendency in the Kremlin, which is not new, to imagine that every public demonstration is a foreign manipulation because the fundamental belief is that there is neither public opinion nor free people,” Macron said. 

“As an old democracy, we have the right to believe the opposite.” 

Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presses. 
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Another US Hiring Surge: 311,000 Jobs Despite Fed Rate Hikes

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America’s employers added a substantial 311,000 jobs in February, fewer than January’s huge gain but enough to keep pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates aggressively to fight inflation.

The unemployment rate rose to 3.6%, from a 53-year low of 3.4%, as more Americans began searching for work but not all of them found jobs.

Friday’s report from the government made clear that the nation’s job market remains fundamentally healthy, with many employers still eager to hire. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told Congress this week that the Fed would likely ratchet up its rate hikes if signs continued to point to a robust economy and persistently high inflation. A strong job market typically leads businesses to raise pay and then pass their higher labor costs on to customers through higher prices.

February’s sizable job growth shows that so far, hiring is continuing to strengthen this year after having eased in late 2022. From October through December, the average monthly job gain was 284,000. That average has surged to 351,000 for the past three months.

Economists pointed to other data in Friday’s report that suggested that the job market, while still hot, may be better balancing employers’ need for workers and the supply of unemployed people. More people have been coming off the sidelines to seek work, a trend that makes it easier for businesses to fill the millions of jobs that remain open.

The proportion of Americans who either have a job or are looking for one has risen for three straight months to 62.5%, the highest level since COVID struck three years ago. Still, it remains below its pre-pandemic level of 63.3%.

With more potential hires to choose from, employers seem under less pressure now to dangle higher pay to attract or retain workers. Average wage growth slowed in February, rising just 0.2%, to $33.09, the smallest monthly increase in a year. Measured year over year, though, hourly pay is up 4.6%, well above the pre-pandemic trend. Even so, that’s down from average annual gains above 5% last year.

What the Fed may decide to do about interest rates when it meets later this month remains uncertain. The Fed’s decision will rest, in part, on its assessment of Friday’s jobs data and next week’s report on consumer inflation in February. Last month, the government’s report on January inflation had raised alarms by showing that consumer prices had reaccelerated on a month-to-month basis.

Ahead of the February jobs data, many economists had said they thought the Fed would announce a substantial half-point increase in its key short-term interest rate, rather than a quarter point hike as it did at its meeting in February. Friday’s more moderate hiring and wage figures, though, led some analysts to suggest that the central bank may not need to move so aggressively at this month’s meeting.

“There’s clear signs of cooling when you dig deeper into the numbers,” said Mike Skordeles, head of economics at Truist, a bank. “I think it makes the case for the Fed to say … we’ll still hike rates, but we’re not going to do” a half-point hike.

The Fed’s final determination, though, will rest heavily on Tuesday’s report on consumer prices.

“Everything now hinges on February’s CPI report,” said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics.

When the Fed tightens credit, it typically leads to higher rates on mortgages, auto loans, credit card borrowing and many business loans. Its rate hikes can cool spending and inflation, but they also raise the risk of a recession.

Even for workers who have received substantial pay raises, ongoing high inflation remains a burden. Consumer prices rose 6.4% in January compared with a year ago, driven up by the costs of food, clothing and rents, among other items.

Frustrated by wages that aren’t keeping up with inflation, Rodney Colbert, a cook at the Las Vegas convention center, joined a strike Thursday by the Culinary Workers union to demand better pay and benefits. Colbert said that his hourly pay was $4-$5 less than what cooks were paid at casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

“I’ll average approximately 28 hours a week, and that’s not enough,” Colbert said. “Just in the past two years, my rent has gone up $400, so that’s a lot.”

Nationally, nearly all of last month’s hiring occurred in mostly lower-paid services industries, with a category that includes restaurants, bars, hotels and entertainment adding 105,000 jobs, its second straight month of strong gains. Warmer-than-usual weather likely contributed to the increase. With the weather likely allowing more building projects to continue, construction companies added 24,000 jobs.

Retailers added about 50,000 jobs last month, health care providers 63,000. Local and state governments — some of them flush with cash from stimulus programs — added 46,000 jobs.

Much of that job growth reflects continuing demand from Americans who have been increasingly venturing out to shop, eat out, travel and attend entertainment events — activities that were largely restricted during the height of COVID.

“We’ve created more jobs in two years than any administration has created in the first four years,” President Joe Biden said Friday about the employment report. “It means our economic plan is working.”

Economists note, however, that the very strength of the job market is itself contributing to the high inflation that continues to pressure millions of households.

In February, in contrast to the solid hiring in the services sector, manufacturers cut 4,000 jobs. And a sector that includes technology and communications workers shed 25,000 jobs, its third straight month of losses. It is a sign that some of the announced layoffs in the economy’s tech sector are being captured in the government’s data.

Last month, the government reported a surprising burst of hiring for January — 517,000 added jobs — though that gain was revised down slightly to 504,000 in Friday’s report. The vigorous job growth for January was the first in a series of reports to point to an accelerating economy at the start of the year. Sales at retail stores and restaurants also jumped, and inflation, according to the Fed’s preferred measure, rose from December to January at the fastest pace in seven months.

The stronger data reversed a cautiously optimistic narrative that the economy was cooling modestly — just enough, perhaps, to tame inflation without triggering a deep recession. Now, the economic outlook is hazier.
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EU Wants Joint Naval Exercises Amid Growing Maritime Security Threats

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The European Union wants to hold joint naval exercises as part of plans published Friday to step up its efforts to protect critical infrastructure at sea. 

Concerns about threats to Europe’s maritime infrastructure were heightened by attacks in September on the Nord Stream pipelines, which left them spewing natural gas into the Baltic Sea. 

The EU has updated its maritime security strategy, outlining plans to hold an annual naval exercise from 2024 and coordinate member countries’ national efforts to protect gas pipelines, undersea data cables, offshore wind farms and other critical maritime infrastructure. 

EU environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius told Reuters that planning had been underway before the Nord Stream blasts, but had been strengthened in response to them. 

“After that, member states were very clear that we need to further strengthen cooperation, build capacity, ensure that our critical infrastructure is better protected,” he said. 

The EU plan sets out to increase cooperation between the EU and NATO, expand coastal patrols and improve efforts to identify threats early — such as by using EU satellite programs to detect unidentified vessels. 

The EU will also produce a risk assessment, disaster recovery plans and regional surveillance plans, according to the strategy. 

“The threat level is increasing,” Sinkevicius said.

Energy infrastructure is a particular concern, as Europe expands its offshore wind farms and its use of liquefied natural gas terminals to replace Russian pipeline gas.

The Netherlands said a Russian ship detected at an offshore wind farm in the North Sea last month was part of attempts by Moscow to gain intelligence to sabotage infrastructure.

Improved surveillance of maritime areas should also help countries monitor and respond to environmental degradation and the effects of climate change such as sea level rise.

Authorities in Sweden, Germany and Denmark are investigating the blasts on the Nord Stream pipelines, which were constructed to supply Russian gas to Europe. They have said the explosions were deliberate but have not said who might be responsible. 
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Tanzania’s Opposition Welcomes President’s Pledge to Restore Competitive Politics

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Tanzania’s opposition has welcomed President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s pledge to restore competitive politics and review the country’s constitution. The longstanding demands from the opposition were ignored by her predecessor, the late John Magufuli. 

The president made the remarks Wednesday at an opposition gathering celebrating International Women’s Day, where she was invited as the guest of honor.

Hassan said that every journey of development begins with a step, and that progress will come gradually according to the laws and guidelines set for Tanzania. She also promised that reforms for the country are here, saying a new nation will be built with competitive politics and without violence.

Since coming to power in 2021 following the sudden death of Magufuli, Hassan has been working on changing some of her predecessor’s policies, including lifting the ban on political rallies.

Magufuli’s government passed various strict laws, such as the Media Services Act to censor critics, opposition politicians, and journalists. The law resulted in the suspension of four newspapers and several online media platforms.

It was also under Magufuli’s rule that several opposition members were arrested and jailed for participating in political activities.

Devotha Minja, a member of the women’s wing of the opposition Party for Democracy and Progress, better known as CHADEMA, said she believes Hassan will give the people democratic politics that allow citizens to choose a leader who will be announced by the Electoral Commission and will be held accountable, unlike the current situation.

Tanzanian rights activists are optimistic about the future of democracy in the country.

Kumbusho Dawson, executive director of Reach Out Tanzania, a non-governmental organization that promotes civil and political rights, said this is a big step, and it shows that the president is creating an opportunity for other political parties and competitive politics. This includes allowing political rallies, he added, saying that when it comes to the issue of a new constitution, it has been a longstanding demand. Her predecessor rejected it outright, saying he was prioritizing development.

Political analyst Deus Kibamba, a lecturer at the Center for Foreign Relations in Tanzania, said the president’s comments regarding the restoration of competitive politics and constitutional review are welcome.

However, he wondered whether members of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi Party will support these moves. He said there is a trend where candidates win elections without competition, and a party that is used to swimming in such waters cannot please a president who desires genuine competition.

Meanwhile, opposition politicians and rights activists hope a level political playing field is around the corner, but expressed concerns since it’s the president’s party that created the current environment. 
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Cameroon Says Rebel Attacks Intensify to Disrupt March 12 Senate Elections

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Cameroon’s military says separatists in its North-West region have blocked roads and attacked military vehicles to disrupt Sunday’s Senate elections.  Witnesses say several bodies were seen around the destroyed vehicles.  The military has not confirmed any casualties and vowed to protect voting, despite the rebel blockade.

Cameroonian government troops exchange fire with separatist fighters in Tadu, a village in the central African state’s North-West region. 

In the audio, extracted from a video shared on social media, a man identifying himself as separatist general Viper says fighters will chase out or kill government troops deployed to protect voters in Cameroon’s March 12 senatorial election.

Cameron’s Senate, the upper house of Parliament, has 100 seats. The election will be held for 70 seats. The other 30 will be appointed by President Paul Biya.

The military confirms that the video was taken in Tadu on Thursday. The military says besides Tadu village, government troops have fought gun battles with separatist fighters in several dozen locations, including Bamenda, Ndop, Wum, Jakiri, Oku, Bambili and Sabga in the North-West region and Manfe, Menji and Tiko in the South-West region.

The government says several military vehicles have been destroyed by improvised bombs planted by separatists in the Northwest. 

Army captain and military spokesman Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo refused to comment on the number of troops killed but said about two dozen fighters have died in two weeks.

Civilians say bodies were seen around destroyed military vehicles.

Vanigansen Mochiggle is an opposition Social Democratic Front, or SDF, candidate. He says battles between Cameroon government troops and separatists are making it impossible for Senate candidates to campaign.

“The prevailing situation in the region is not propitious for an election. The conflict exacerbated,” said Vanigansen. “The separatists are all over the place. It is even very difficult for the candidates to move to their various divisional headquarters, so we have that challenge.”

A statement from the Roman Catholic Church in Kumbo and Ndop says transport buses and private vehicles are grounded and there has been no movement of people or goods in the past three days.

The government says civilians who disrespect separatist orders and move out of their homes are being abducted and tortured.

The SDF says candidates must send campaign messages through radio and TV, telephone calls and social media platforms, including WhatsApp and Facebook.

The SDF accuses Cameroon’s government of ordering the military to protect only candidates with the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement, which the government denies.

Deben Tchoffo is the governor of the Northwest region.

Tchoffo says Biya has given instructions to the military to protect all civilians and make sure the March 12 senatorial elections are hitch-free. He says separatists who are attacking government troops and civilians to disrupt the elections will be killed if they do not surrender.

Tchoffo said despite the separatist threats Cameroon will prove to the world that it is a democratic state by organizing free, fair and transparent senatorial elections.

Separatists who have vowed to disrupt the elections in English-speaking western regions launched their rebellion in 2017 after what they said was years of discrimination by the country’s French-speaking majority.

The conflict has killed more than 3,500 people and displaced more than half a million, according to the United Nations.
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US Citizen Imprisoned by Iran Implores Biden to Win His Freedom

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A U.S. citizen imprisoned by Iran on spying charges the United States rejects as baseless gave a rare interview from Tehran’s Evin prison on Thursday beseeching U.S. President Joe Biden to secure his release and that of two other American nationals.

“I implore you, sir, to put the lives and liberty of innocent Americans above all the politics involved and to just do what is necessary to end this nightmare and bring us home,” Siamak Namazi told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in a telephone interview.

Namazi, 51, was speaking on behalf of himself, Emad Shargi, 58, a businessman and U.S. citizen, and environmentalist Morad Tahbaz, 67, who has both U.S. and British nationality.

Namazi made a similar plea in a letter to Biden on Jan. 16, seven years after Iran released five U.S. citizens in a prisoner exchange that coincided with the implementation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal negotiated under U.S. President Barrack Obama.

“I remain deeply worried that the White House just doesn’t appreciate how dire our situation has become,” he said, saying he, Tahbaz and Shargi were all now held in the same place. Early in his detention, Namazi said he spent months caged in a cell, sleeping on the floor.

Namazi also called it “hurtful and upsetting” that Biden had not met his family “just to give them some words of assurance.”

A White House spokesperson said on condition of anonymity that “Iran’s unjust imprisonment and exploitation of U.S. citizens for use as political leverage is outrageous, inhumane, and contrary to international norms.

“Senior officials from both the White House and the State Department meet and consult regularly with the Namazi family, and we will continue to do so until this unacceptable detention ends,” the spokesperson added.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Heat Takes Toll as Iditarod Mushers Trek Across Alaska

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Mushers and their dogs in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race face plenty of variables in the Alaska wilderness. An unexpected one this year has been heat that is taking a toll in a sport better suited for temperatures well below zero. 

Jason Mackey said a thermometer hanging from the back of his sled hit 26.67 degrees Celsius at one point this week as he camped alongside the trail while mushers neared the halfway mark of the race. Other racers threw their game plans for the 1,609-kilometer race across Alaska out the window to deal with the heat and messy trail conditions. 

Although it’s warm, it wasn’t 26.67 degrees in interior Alaska, which would probably be a record high in July, said Brian Brettschneider, a climate scientist with the National Weather Service’s Alaska Region. Instead, when you leave a thermometer in the sun, it absorbs the solar energy, which is the reason official measurement thermometers are kept in the shade. 

But it’s still warm and sunny, and it’s having noticeable effects on people who are exposed to it, Brettschneider said. 

Last weekend, the same area was much cooler than normal, with what appeared to be ideal mushing conditions. The warmer conditions are being driven by an area of high pressure, he said.  

Many communities in the nation’s largest state hit record highs this week, from Kodiak off Alaska’s southern coast to Deadhorse, the supply town for oil companies operating on the state’s North Slope, about 2,012 kilometers away. 

Along the Iditarod race route, the community of McGrath didn’t set records but had a high Wednesday of 2.22 degree Celsius, -10 degree Celsius above normal. More telling was a low temperature of -2.78 degrees Celsius. 

“Normally it should be below zero (-17.78 degrees Celsius),” Brettschneider said. 

That warmth was evident all along the Iditarod trail Wednesday. “There’s almost no places that were below freezing along the route,” he said. 

That was not news to Mackey. “I wish the temperatures would cool down,” the musher told a television crew from the Iditarod Insider. 

It’s just not the heat that was bothersome. He said he looked down at his sled at one point and saw two mosquitoes. 

“Yeah, it’s spring,” Mackey said. 

The heat is taking its toll on Mackey’s dogs, which he called “big boys” at 36.29 kilograms. He said other teams were moving in the heat of the day, but he wasn’t willing to do that. “I mean, it zaps them,” he said of the dog team. 

Kelly Maixner, a pediatric dentist, said his dogs don’t like the heat, and he’d rather it be -28.89 degrees Celsius. 

During the race, mushers must take one 24-hour layover at a checkpoint to rest. Part of where to take that layover plays into the strategy of most every musher. 

Nic Petit took his mandatory rest early in the race, at the checkpoint in Nikolai, because the sun was out. “I like hot dogs, just not my dog as a hot dog,” said Petit, who was born in France and raised in New Mexico. 

The melting was causing issues and concerns for some mushers, especially as they made for the race’s halfway point, the ghost village of Iditarod. 

“It could be soft and punchy out there, and who knows how the hills are going into Iditarod,” Richie Diehl told the TV crew. “It could be big tussocks just like a couple of years ago, and it could be a brutal run, you know, with the rolling hills and possibly barren tundra.” Tussocks are clumps of grass. 

Rookie musher Bailey Vitello of New Hampshire was near last place Thursday, running his dogs in the rain during the day and having to deal with ice at night. 

He would rather not be behind and dealing with ripped-up trails. “The back-of-the-pack is the worst part of the trail,” he told the TV crew. 

Riley Dyche of Fairbanks took his 24-hour break before reaching Iditarod because he didn’t want to run his dogs in the heat of the day. That likely cost him either $3,000 in gold nuggets or a new smart phone, the prize given to the first musher at the halfway point. 

“I don’t think the little incentive prize — it would have been cool — but I don’t think it would have been a benefit to these guys for getting to the finish line,” he said, speaking of his dogs. 

Instead, that prize went to race leader Wade Marrs, who is originally from Alaska but now living in Wisconsin. He arrived in Iditarod about 1 a.m. Thursday. 

The good news for mushers is that as they continue west, temperatures will be more Alaska-like, highs around -12 degrees Celsius and lows below -17.78 degrees, Brettschneider said. 

The race started Sunday in Willow, just north of Anchorage. Mushers will take their dog teams over two mountain ranges, the frozen Yukon River and the Bering Sea ice to the finish line in Nome. The winner is expected sometime early next week. 

 
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British Ministry: Intervals Between Russia’s Missile Attack in Ukraine Will Likely Increase

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Following the wave of missiles strikes that Russia launched Thursday against Ukraine, the British Defense Ministry said Friday that the intervals between such strikes will likely grow.

The ministry said that Russia needs time “to stockpile a critical mass of newly produced missiles directly from industry before it can resource a strike big enough to credibly overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses.”

Russia launched the barrage of missile attacks across Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least six and leaving hundreds of thousands without heat and electricity.

It was the largest such attack on Ukraine in three weeks, with Ukrainian forces saying they shot down 34 of the 81 missiles that Russia fired, far less than the usual ratio, as well as four Iranian-made drones.

“No matter how treacherous Russia’s actions are, our state and people will not be in chains,” Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address.

He also said he met with members of Ukraine’s cultural committee to discuss “ways to strengthen the capacity of Ukrainian culture to communicate with the world to ensure support for Ukraine.”

“Diplomacy, journalism, and culture are the three areas that do the most to make the world understand our struggle and help us,” he said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the attacks were in retaliation for a recent assault on the Bryansk region of western Russia by what Moscow alleged were Ukrainian saboteurs. Ukraine has denied the claim and warned that Moscow could use the allegations to justify stepping up its own assaults.

Moscow said it hit military and industrial targets in Ukraine “as well as the energy facilities that supply them.” Nearly half of the households in the capital of Kyiv were left without heat as were many in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, where the regional governor said 15 Russian strikes hit the city.

About 150,000 households were left without power in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region. In the southern port of Odesa, emergency blackouts occurred because of damaged power lines.

Among the weapons fired were six hypersonic Kinzhal cruise missiles, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said.

Nuclear power fears

Thursday’s attack also knocked out the power supply to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest. The plant’s operator, Energoatom, said diesel generators were being used to run the plant and that there was enough fuel available to continue for 10 days. The plant was later reconnected to the electrical grid.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi called for urgent action, noting the plant’s power supply had been cut for a sixth time since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago.

“I am astonished by the complacency – what are we doing to prevent this happening? We are the IAEA; we are meant to care about nuclear safety,” Grossi said. “Each time we are rolling a dice. And if we allow this to continue time after time then one day our luck will run out.”

Important stretch

Top U.S. intelligence officials, testifying before lawmakers Thursday, cautioned that the war between Russia and Ukraine is entering a critical period.

“The next four, five, six months are going to be crucial on the battlefield to Ukraine,” CIA Director William Burns told members of the House Intelligence Committee.

“Any prospect for a serious negotiation, which [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin I don’t think is ready for today, is going to depend on progress on the battlefield,” Burns said. “Therefore, I think, analytically, what’s important is to provide all the support that we possibly can, which is what the president and our Western allies are doing for the Ukrainians as they prepare for a significant offensive in the spring.”

During Senate testimony Wednesday, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said Russia’s military has been so badly damaged that it is unlikely Russian forces will be able to make any significant territorial gains for the rest of the year.

But Haines also cautioned Ukraine forces have suffered casualties as well and have been forced to draw heavily on their reserves due to what she described as a grinding war of attrition.

US outreach

Zelenskyy on Wednesday invited the top U.S. House lawmaker to visit Kyiv to see “what’s happening here” in an interview broadcast on CNN.

“Mr. [Kevin] McCarthy, he has to come here to see how we work, what’s happening here, what war caused us, which people are fighting now, who are fighting now. And then after that, make your assumptions,” Zelenskyy told the news outlet through an interpreter.

Responding to CNN, House Speaker McCarthy said, “I don’t have to go to Ukraine or Kyiv” to understand it. He said he received information in briefings and other ways.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 of last year, the United States has sent nearly $100 billion in military, economic and relief aid to Ukraine. That aid was sent when the Democratic Party controlled both chambers in Congress.

The Republican Party took control of the U.S. House after the November midterm elections. Some Republicans have expressed opposition to sending additional arms and financial aid to Ukraine.

McCarthy has said he supports Ukraine, but that House Republicans will not provide “a blank check” for additional U.S. assistance to Kyiv without closer scrutiny of how it is being spent.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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US Semiconductor Manufacturing Expected to Ramp Up With New Deal

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A global shortage of semiconductor chips in the automotive industry starting in 2020 has motivated many countries to increase their domestic manufacturing. The United States has allocated more than $50 billion to promote semiconductor production and research stateside as the global need for the chips is expected to double over the next decade. Keith Kocinski has more from New York.
Camera: Keith Kocinski and Rendy Wicaksana
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In Ghana, Basketball Used as Incentive to Stay in School

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An aid group in Ghana is using the popularity of basketball and the Basketball Africa League to help keep kids in at-risk communities in school. A program known as DUNK Grassroots offers basketball practice for students who rack up reading credits at the library. Senanu Tord reports from Jamestown, Ghana.
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Biden to Host EU Chief to Discuss China, Climate Subsidies

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U.S. President Joe Biden will meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday at the White House to discuss potential sanctions against China amid concerns that Beijing is preparing to send weapons to Russia, and Europe’s frustration over Washington’s plans to subsidize American companies under the Inflation Reduction Act.

Biden and von der Leyen also will discuss U.S.-EU coordination to combat the climate crisis through investing in clean technology based on secure supply chains, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The meeting is the latest in a flurry of high-level diplomacy with European leaders to coordinate support for Ukraine in defending itself one year after Russia’s invasion. Biden met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington last week. Last month, he traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, then to Warsaw to visit Polish President Andrzej Duda and leaders of the Bucharest Nine.

‘De-risk this dependency’

Amid the war on Ukraine, Europe is racing to end its reliance on Russia for fossil fuels by ramping up its domestic renewable energy production. To do so, it would need more access to critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and rare earth metals, the majority of which are processed by China.

“China produces 98% of Europe’s supplies of rare earths,” von der Leyen said during a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Kingston, Ontario, earlier this week. “Europe needs to de-risk this dependency.”

Von der Leyen, however, has been more cautious in joining the Biden administration in warning China not to arm Moscow in its war effort. During a news conference with Scholz in Meseberg, Germany, earlier this month, she said “no evidence so far” suggested that China was doing so and that the issue of sanctions against Beijing was a “hypothetical question.”

Discriminatory subsidy

Another key topic is the Biden administration’s plan to provide American companies with $369 billion in green subsidies and tax credits aimed at cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030 under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which the EU views as discriminatory. A special task force was set up in October to address these concerns and avoid a trans-Atlantic subsidy race.

Biden and von der Leyen are expected to begin negotiations to allow the EU to have a status similar to that of a free trade partner so that it may be exempt from an Inflation Reduction Act clause that requires a certain percentage of minerals used in manufacturing batteries to be domestically produced or come from a free trade partner.

The EU and Canada have been working toward establishing a “green alliance” to grow respective economies that are “climate-neutral, circular and resource-efficient.” Biden is expected to coordinate on the effort in his visit to Canada later this month.
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Sudan Teachers Remain on Strike Despite Government Claims of Concessions

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Sudan’s state schoolteachers have been on strike since November over low and unpaid salaries. They accuse the military government of failing to prioritize education and are calling for the civilian government to be restored. Meanwhile, Sudan’s finance minister says the government has met the teachers’ demands. Henry Wilkins reports from Khartoum, Sudan.
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New Spain Law Promotes Gender Parity in Politics and Business

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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Saturday announced a gender equality law that will require more equal representation of women and men in politics, business and other spheres of public life.

The Equal Representation Law will apply gender parity measures to electoral lists, the boards of directors of big companies, and governing boards of professional associations.

Sanchez made the announcement during a Socialist party rally ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8. It will be approved during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting before going for debate in parliament.

He said the government was “not only taking a step in favor of feminism, but in favor of Spanish society as a whole.”

It is the latest in a series of equality measures announced by the leftist coalition government. In December, lawmakers passed a transgender rights bill, as well as a pioneering law covering sexual and reproductive heath that, in a first for a European country, offered state-funded paid leave for women who suffer from painful periods.

“If they represent half of society, half of the political and economic power has to be women’s,” Sanchez said Saturday.

The Equal Representation law will require women to make up 40% of the management of any listed company with more than 250 workers and an annual turnover of 50 million euros ($53 million).

In politics, the law will require parties to offer equal numbers of male and female candidates during elections, with the aim of increasing gender parity in parliament. At the moment women make up 44% of Congress and 39% of the Senate.

It will also require professional associations to have at least 40% women on their boards, as well as juries for any awards financed with public money.
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Syria Mission Is Worth the Risk, Top US General Says After Visit

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The nearly eight-year-old U.S. deployment to Syria to combat Islamic State is still worth the risk, the top U.S. military officer said on Saturday, after an unannounced visit to a base to meet U.S. troops in the country’s northeast.

Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, flew to Syria to assess efforts to prevent a resurgence of the militant group and review safeguards for American forces against attacks, including from drones.

While Islamic State is a shadow of the group that ruled over a third of Syria and Iraq in a Caliphate declared in 2014, hundreds of fighters are still camped in desolate areas where neither the U.S.-led coalition nor the Syrian army, with support from Russia and Iranian-backed militias, exert full control.

Thousands of other Islamic State fighters are in detention facilities guarded by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, America’s key ally in the country.

American officials say that Islamic State could still regenerate into a major threat.

Asked by reporters traveling with him if he believed the Syria mission was worth the risk, Milley tied the mission to the security of the United States and its allies, saying: “If you think that that’s important, then the answer is ‘Yes.'”

“I happen to think that’s important,” Milley said.

“So, I think that an enduring defeat of ISIS and continuing to support our friends and allies in the region … I think those are important tasks that can be done.”

The mission carries risk. Four U.S. troops were wounded during a helicopter raid last month when an Islamic State leader triggered an explosion.

Last month, the U.S. military shot down an Iranian-made drone in Syria that was attempting to conduct reconnaissance on a patrol base in northeastern Syria.

Three drones targeted a U.S. base in January in Syria’s al-Tanf region. The U.S. military said two of the drones were shot down while the remaining drone hit the compound, injuring two members of the Syrian Free Army forces.

U.S. officials say the the attacks are being directed by Iran-backed militia.

U.S. Army Major General Matthew McFarlane, who commands the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, described the attacks as a “distraction from our main mission.”

McFarlane cited progress against Islamic State, including through the reduction in the numbers of internally displaced people at refugee camps—a pool of people who could be recruited by Islamic State.

He also noted ongoing operations against the remnants of Islamic State.

“Our number one priority is the enduring defeat of ISIS. And we are making progress,” he said.
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Italy to Hold Cabinet Meeting in Migrant Shipwreck Area

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Italy’s government will hold a cabinet meeting near the southern seaside town where dozens of bodies washed ashore after a migrant ship broke up on rocks last month, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters in Abu Dhabi after meeting United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan to discuss migration flows among other topics, Meloni rejected accusations that her government had failed to act to prevent the incident.

She also dismissed calls from the opposition for Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi to resign.

“Frankly, they ask for the resignation of a different minister every day,” she said.

The right-wing Meloni has been criticized for not traveling to the site of the shipwreck in the southern region of Calabria, which was visited instead by President Sergio Mattarella.

Asked if she had plans to visit the area, Meloni said the government would soon hold a cabinet meeting there to discuss migration issues.

“The best thing we can do to honor the victims is to look at what can be done to avoid it happening again,” she said.

The latest shipwreck has intensified a debate on migration in Europe and Italy, where the Meloni government’s tough new laws for migrant rescue charities have drawn criticism from the United Nations and others.

Meloni has called on fellow European leaders to do more to halt illegal immigration and prevent further tragedies at sea.

“I don’t think a single day has gone by since I became prime minister in which I didn’t work on this issue … amid a generalized lack of interest on the part of others,” she said.
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Doctor in Embattled Somaliland City Says 145 Dead

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The director of a hospital in a disputed city in the Somaliland region says at least 145 people have been killed in more than two months of fighting between anti-government fighters and Somaliland security forces after local elders declared their intention to reunite with Somalia. 

Abdimajid Sugulle, with the public hospital in Las-Anod, told The Associated Press on Saturday that more than 1,080 other people have been wounded and over 100,000 families have fled the city of Las-Anod since late December. Most civilians have fled, he said.

The director accused Somaliland forces of destroying the hospital’s laboratory, blood bank and patient ward in mortar attacks. “The Somaliland forces who are positioned outside the town have been shelling civilian residents and medical facilities indiscriminately. “No single day passes without shelling and casualties,” he told the AP by phone.

Somaliland’s defense ministry has denied shelling the hospital, and the government has asserted it has a “continuous commitment” to a cease-fire it declared Feb. 10. “Indiscriminate shelling of civilians is unacceptable and must stop,” the United Nations and international partners warned last month.

Somaliland separated from Somalia three decades ago and seeks international recognition as an independent country. Somaliland and the Somali state of Puntland have disputed Las-Anod for years, but the eastern city has been under Somaliland’s control.

The U.N. mission in Somalia and the U.N. human rights office had said the violence in Las-Anod killed at least 80 people between Dec. 28 and Feb. 28 and more than 450 noncombatants were wounded, including medical personnel. The U.N. has called for respect for medical workers and unhindered humanitarian access.

The conflict in Las-Anod began when an unidentified gunman killed a popular young politician in Somaliland’s opposition party as he left a mosque. Protests followed against Somaliland officials and forces in the city.

Somaliland’s government has blamed the unrest on fighters with “anti-peace groups and terrorism” and alleged that the al-Shabab extremist group, affiliated with al-Qaida, has supported some of the attacks.
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Russian Defense Minister Visits Ukraine

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Russia’s defense minister visited Russian soldiers in Ukraine on Saturday.

The ministry said in a statement on the messaging app Telegram that Sergei Shoigu “inspected the forward command post of one of the formations of the Eastern Military District in the South Donetsk direction.”

Shoigu has been criticized for Russia’s poor performance in its war against Ukraine. In a video released Saturday, the defense minister was seen handing out medals to Russian military forces.

Meanwhile, the British Defense Ministry said Saturday that “intense fighting” is underway in and around the Ukrainian Donbas town of Bakhmut.

Victory in Bakhmut would be a stepping stone to capturing the surrounding Donbas region, an important strategic goal. Ukraine says the city has little intrinsic strategic value but notes huge losses there could determine the course of the war.

The British intelligence update on Twitter said Bakhmut is vulnerable to Russian attacks on three sides, but Ukraine is reinforcing the areas with elite units.

Two key bridges in Bakhmut have been recently destroyed in the area, the report said, “including a vital bridge connecting the city to the last main supply route from Bakhmut to the city of Chasiv Yar.”

According to the Defense Ministry, Ukrainian-held resupply routes out of the town are “increasingly limited.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address that he was engaged in meetings and negotiations with a number of entities on Friday.

The president said the main focus of his meetings has been holding Russia accountable for its actions. “We are doing everything to ensure that the International Criminal Court is successful in punishing Russian war criminals,” the Ukrainian leader said.

The United States announced Friday a new package of military aid for Ukraine that totals about $400 million, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

“This military assistance package includes more ammunition for U.S.-provided HIMARS and howitzers, which Ukraine is using so effectively to defend itself, as well as ammunition for Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Armored Vehicle Launched Bridges, demolitions munitions and equipment, and other maintenance, training and support,” he said.

The package will be funded using the presidential drawdown authority, which authorizes the president to transfer articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval during an emergency, Blinken said in announcing the aid.

The Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge is a portable, 18-meter folding metal bridge that is carried on top of a tank body. Providing that system now could help Ukrainian troops as they launch an expected spring offensive, making it easier for them to cross rivers to battle Russian forces.

Including this latest package, the U.S. has now provided more than $32 billion in military aid to Ukraine. The vehicle bridges and ammunition in the package can be delivered quickly to the front lines because they will be taken from existing Pentagon stocks.

European Union countries also are working to deliver thousands of shells to Ukraine under a $1 billion program.

Particularly significant will be the delivery of 155 mm NATO-standard howitzer rounds that are urgently needed in advance of an intense spring campaign, according to the Financial Times, citing anonymous EU officials. This ammunition, according to the FT report, is critical to keep Ukraine in a fight in which Russia fires on average an estimated four shells for every Ukrainian shell fired.

“We need as much ammunition as possible. There are many more Russians here than we have ammunition to destroy them,” Volodymyr Nazarenko, a deputy commander in the national guard of Ukraine, told Ukrainian NV Radio.

Top US justice official

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Friday to attend a conference on justice and war crimes.

The U.S. Justice Department said Garland held several meetings at the conference in the western city of Lviv to reaffirm “our determination to hold Russia accountable for crimes committed in its unjust and unprovoked invasion against its sovereign neighbor.”

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.
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