Millions of Europeans will receive Russian gas through Nord Stream 2 ‘in near future,’ Moscow says, calling for end to ‘obstacles’
(10 Sep, 2021) The vast Nord Stream 2 pipeline will soon be pumping supplies from the gas fields of Siberia to consumers in Western Europe now that construction has been complete, despite American efforts to block the project, Moscow has said.
In a statement posted to her Telegram channel, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the timing was now being decided by regulators in Germany, where the underwater link terminates. “We expect that millions of European consumers in the near future will be able to receive Russian gas along the shortest, most economical and environmentally friendly route,” she said.
According to her, a campaign of sanctions put in place by Washington, designed to sink the European infrastructure project, have now failed. “It’s time to stop creating obstacles to this important project. It’s time to agree on reasonable, mutually beneficial parameters for the operation of the pipeline,” the diplomat added.
(Source: RT Russian News Agency)
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Like Afghanistan, Russia’s completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline further evidence that US can no longer bend the world to its will
(9 Sep, 2021) By Paul Robinson, a professor at the University of Ottawa. He writes about Russian and Soviet history, military history and military ethics, and is the author of the Irrussianality blog
“This project, I believe, will never deliver gas.” So said leading US Senator Ted Cruz last December, leading the charge in Washington for sanctions against the Russian-financed pipeline. But, as the saying goes, never say never.
According to Cruz, speaking at an event hosted by the pro-NATO lobby group the Atlantic Council, American sanctions would sink the project. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Robinson backed him up, insisting he was confident it would never be completed.
That confidence looked rather misplaced, when the underwater gas link between Russia and Germany was completed. The job is now done.
In short, it shouldn’t be long before Nord Stream 2 is up and running. Given that the United States has spent the best part of a decade attempting to prevent this, this outcome is something of a humiliation for the Americans. Coming after Washington’s ignominious withdrawal from Afghanistan, it’s a sign of the US’s declining ability to bend the world to its will.
The idea of building Nord Stream 2 arose as a means of providing Germany with a secure supply of natural gas. For environmental reasons, Berlin has been eliminating its capacity to generate electricity using coal and nuclear power. To replace these sources, it needs natural gas. European production of the fuel, however, is falling, as reserves in the North Sea are being depleted. Germany therefore needed to look elsewhere for supplies.
Russia was the obvious choice. The two countries are relatively close to one another and already connected by a pipeline: Nord Stream 1. Russian gas is also cheaper than that brought in by ship in the form of liquified natural gas (LNG) from countries such as the US. Building a second Nord Stream pipeline made sense both from a German perspective and a Russian one, as it guaranteed Moscow a market for its product.
In 2015, the Russian gas company Gazprom and various other European partners, such as Royal Dutch Shell, signed an agreement to build Nord Stream 2. Work began in 2018. Right from the start, however, the project ran into resistance from other countries.(Source: RT Russian News Agency)
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Russian minister Yevgeny Zinichev dies during training exercises in the Arctic
By Anna Chernova, CNN
Updated 1221 GMT (2021 HKT) September 8, 2021
Moscow (CNN)Russian Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev has died in an accident during training exercises in the Arctic, Russian state media RIA Novosti reported, citing the ministry.
Zinichev, aged 55, was trying to save someone’s life when the incident in the Russian city of Norilsk occurred.
“The Russian Emergencies Ministry informs with regret that Yevgeny Zinichev died tragically in the line of duty while attending interdepartmental exercises to protect the Arctic zone from emergencies, saving a person’s life,” the ministry said, according to the state outlet.
No other immediate details about the circumstances around Zinichev’s death were immediately provided by the ministry.
Zinichev was in the Arctic to oversee large-scale exercises, according to an official ministry statement published prior to his death.
As part of the visit, Zinichev joined local officials to inspect the construction progress of a new fire station in Norilsk, which is set to open at the end of the year. The minister also personally supervised the implementation of training tasks for emergency response by the units.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his “deep condolences” to Zinichev’s family and friends, the Kremlin said in a statement.(Source: CNN News)
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US Spent $21 Trillion on War and Militarization Since 9/11
BY| Lindsay Koshgarian, OtherWords | September 11, 2021
wenty years have now passed since 9/11.
The 20 years since those terrible attacks have been marked by endless wars, harsh immigration crackdowns, and expanded federal law enforcement powers that have cost us our privacy and targeted entire communities based on nothing more than race, religion, or ethnicity.
Those policies have also come at a tremendous monetary cost and a dangerous neglect of domestic investment.
In a new report I co-authored with my colleagues at the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, we found that the federal government has spent $21 trillion on war and militarization both inside the U.S. and around the world over the past 20 years. That’s roughly the size of the entire U.S. economy.
Even while politicians have written blank checks for militarism year after year, they’ve said we can’t afford to address our most urgent issues. No wonder these past 20 years have been rough on U.S. families and communities.
After strong growth from 1970 to 2000, household incomes have stagnated for 20 years as Americans struggled through two recessions in the years leading up to the pandemic. As pandemic eviction moratoriums end, millions are at risk of homelessness.
Our public health systems have also been chronically underfunded, leaving the U.S. helpless to enact the testing, tracing, and quarantining that helped other countries limit the pandemic’s damage. Over 650,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 the equivalent of a 9/11 every day for over seven months. The opioid epidemic claims another 50,000 lives a year.
Meanwhile extreme weather events like wildfires, hurricanes, and floods have grown in frequency over the past 20 years. The U.S. hasn’t invested nearly enough in either renewable energy or climate resiliency to deal with the increasing effects climate change has on our communities.
In the face of all this suffering, it’s clear that $21 trillion in spending hasn’t made us any safer.
Instead, the human costs have been staggering. Around the world, the forever wars have cost 900,000 lives and left 38 million homeless and as the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan has shown us, they were a massive failure.
Our militarized spending has helped deport 5 million people over the past 20 years, often taking parents from their children. The majority of those deported hadn’t committed any crime except for being here.
And it has paid for the government to listen in on our phone calls and target communities for harassment and surveillance without any evidence of crime or wrongdoing, eroding the civil liberties of all Americans.
Fortunately, there’s a silver lining: We’ve found that for just a fraction of what we’ve spent on militarization these last 20 years, we could start to make life much better.
For $4.5 trillion, we could build a renewable, upgraded energy grid for the whole country. For $2.3 trillion, we could create 5 million $15-an-hour jobs with benefits for 10 years. For just $25 billion, we could vaccinate low-income countries against COVID-19, saving lives and stopping the march of new and more threatening virus variants.
We could do all that and more for less than half of what we’ve spent on wars and militarization in the last 20 years. With communities across the country in dire need of investment, the case for avoiding more pointless, deadly wars couldn’t be clearer.
The best time for those investments would have been during the past 20 years. The next best time is now.
(Source: Truthout)
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Taliban discovers cache of Soviet-made BALLISTIC MISSILES in Panjshir Valley
(15 Sep, 2021 )
Taliban militants have found several old Soviet-made ballistic missiles in the Panjshir Valley while securing the region and defeating local resistance forces. However, the missiles appear to be in an inoperable condition.
Militants found the missile cache lying on the bank of the Panjshir River, footage that has surfaced online shows. The Panjshir Valley was taken over by the Taliban last week following a short-lived conflict with local forces.
Video shot by the militants shows around 10 Luna-M (NATO reporting name FROG-7) short-range and 10 R-17 Elbrus (NATO reporting name Scud B) medium-range ballistic missiles.
The weapons have been apparently stored at the location for a long time, with the stash visible on satellite imagery. The munitions appear to be heavily weathered, with their body paint partially peeled off, the video shows.
A handful of warheads likely for FROG-7 missiles can also be seen lying around. These have seemingly been kept in transport containers and appear to be in better condition. It is not immediately clear whether the missiles are fueled, though given their storage conditions the munitions are unlikely to be operational.
Originally developed back in 1960s, Scud B is a medium-range ballistic missile, capable of delivering various warheads including nuclear ones to up to 300km. FROG-7 is a tactical short-range missile, with a maximum range of up to 70 km.
The ballistic missiles were supplied by the Soviet Union to the socialist Afghan government in 1980s. After its collapse in early 1990s, the munitions ended up in the hands of various armed groups, including the Panjshir Valley resistance forces led by the late Ahmad Shah Massoud.
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(RT Russian News)
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War with Russia & China would ‘destroy world’ & America must find ways to make peace with its Eastern rivals, top US general warns
(14 Sep, 2021)
With global nuclear stockpiles growing and countries upgrading their warheads and rockets, there is an almost unprecedented need to de-escalate tensions and avert atomic armageddon, one of America’s most senior officers has said.
Speaking at a meeting hosted by Washington think-tank The Brookings Institution, Vice Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General John E. Hyten warned of the risks if conflicts spiral out of control, and expressed hope that cooler heads can prevail. “We never fought the Soviet Union,” he said. “As for the great powers, our goal is to never go to war with China and Russia.”
According to Hyten, such an event would “destroy the world and the global economy. It will be bad for everyone, and we have to ensure that we do not go down that path.” However, the general went on, previous deals between Moscow and NATO after the fall of the USSR concluded “Russia was not a threat any more.” At the same time, however, he alleges that the Russians were “modernizing their entire nuclear arsenal.” This, he says, was because “I think they were worried about the US.”
Progress has been made in delivering improved relations between the two countries, Hyten argued, but it was still a long way from total stability.
However, he said that Washington is increasingly worried about the lack of similar steps with China, a country he alleges is undergoing “unprecedented nuclear modernization that is now becoming public… you see hundreds and hundreds of fixed silos.”
“And by the way, there’s no limits on what China can put in those silos,” the top Pentagon official warned. “We’re limited with Russia to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads, so we have to decide where we want to put those submarines, ICBMs… that puts a limit on what we have. China, there’s no limit… you have to ask yourself, why are they building that enormous, enormous nuclear capability?”
In December, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov warned that it was Washington, not Moscow, that was increasing the risk of fatal escalations by stationing nuclear weapons on foreign soil in Europe.
Ryabkov said the Kremlin “hopes that the United States will stop ‘sharing’ nuclear weapons with its allies, and stop deploying nuclear weapons in countries that do not possess such weapons… Obviously, this leads to destabilization; in addition, new risks appear.”
At the same time, his comments struck the same note as Hyten’s, saying that “a nuclear war cannot be won… Russia is ready to cooperate in reversing this state of affairs.”(Source: RT Russian TV)
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North Korea fires TWO ‘unidentified projectiles’ days after testing long-range cruise missile
(15 Sep, 2021) Pyongyang has fired two unidentified projectiles from its east coast into the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Japanese Coast Guard.
The projectiles, alleged to be ballistic missiles, appear to have landed outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, according to the coast guard. Neither Japanese authorities, nor the South Korean military, have shared additional details about the suspected launch.
The reported launches come not long after North Korean state media stated the country had successfully tested a new long-range cruise missile, which reportedly traveled some 1,500km (930 miles) before hitting a target in Pyongyang’s territorial waters.
The move was denounced by Washington, with the Pentagon saying it proved North Korea is a threat to “its neighbors and the international community,” while Japanese officials also noted they were “concerned” over the reports.
Within one day of the earlier launch, US, South Korean and Japanese envoys met to discuss Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, with the head of the US delegation, Sung Kim, stating that “recent developments in the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] are a reminder of the importance of close communication and cooperation from the three countries,” apparently referring to missile test.
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France warns Mali against Russian Wagner mercenary deal
Deal could push relations between France and Mali to breaking point, and underscore growing Russia influence in region.
(14 Sep 2021)
French Defence Minister Florence Parly has warned Mali against a deal with Russian private security group Wagner amid claims the country’s military government is close to hiring 1,000 mercenaries.
Two French sources told the AFP news agency that the Malian government was nearing a deal with the controversial Russian firm, which would underline Moscow’s growing influence in the region.
“If the Malian authorities entered into a contract with Wagner, it would be extremely worrying and contradictory, incoherent with everything that we have done for years and we intend to do to support the countries of the Sahel region,” Parly told a parliamentary commission.
Earlier, a spokesperson for the Malian defence ministry did not deny the discussions, which were first reported by the Reuters news agency.
“Mali intends to diversify its relationships in the medium term to ensure the security of the country,” the spokesperson told AFP. “We haven’t signed anything with Wagner, but we are talking with everyone.”
Four sources told Reuters that the Wagner Group would be paid about six billion CFA francs ($10.8m) a month for its services, and that the mercenaries’ presence would jeopardise Mali’s funding from the international partners and allied training missions that have helped rebuild Mali’s army.
France sent troops to Mali in 2013 after fighters overran the north of the country.
Since then, Paris has deployed thousands of troops to the wider Sahel region where they carry out operations alongside local forces against fighters linked to al-Qaeda and the ISIL (ISIS) group.
Relations between France and Mali have deteriorated since a coup in August 2020 removed President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
In recent years, Russian paramilitaries, “security instructors”, companies and advisors have grown increasingly influential in the war-torn Central African Republic (CAR), whose relations with France have also nosedived.
Forces from Wagner are also reported to be present in various countries elsewhere in Africa, including in Libya in support of renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, in Sudan and in Mozambique.SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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Anti-Vaccine Activist Who Said ‘There’s No Epidemic’ Dies of COVID
BY KHALEDA RAHMAN ON September 14, 2021| Source: Newsweek
A prominent Israeli anti-vaccine activist has reportedly died of COVID-19.
Hai Shaulian, 57, died at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon morning, according to The Jerusalem Post.
His death came after he posted a final message to his Facebook followers, informing them that his condition was “extremely critical.”
Alongside a photo of himself on a ventilator, he wrote: “Dear friends. My situation is extremely critical.”
Shaulian added that he was “in a very serious condition” and “unable to talk.”
“I have no oxygen and can’t stabilize,” he continued. “It took me about an hour to figure out who I am. Where am I and what am I doing here. Lack of oxygen is a terrible thing.”
He added that he believed he would recover “with God’s help.”
Despite his dire situation, Shaulian urged his followers to “keep fighting” against Israel’s “Green Pass” scheme that registers who has been fully inoculated against COVID, if they have presumed immunity after contracting the disease, or tested negative in the previous 24 hours.
“It has nothing to do with the coronavirus,” he wrote. “It has nothing to do with vaccines. It has to do with coercion.”
When Shaulian fell ill last week, he claimed that police had tried to poison him after he was arrested during a protest against the Green Pass.
“I’m telling you, this is an attempt to wipe me out and if something happens to me know that’s exactly what happened,” he said in a social media video, according to The Times of Israel.
He previously called on his followers not to get vaccinated against COVID-19. “There is no epidemicthe vaccine is unnecessary and dangerous,” he was quoted in The Post.
Israel’s Green Pass was brought back over the summer along with other restrictions as the country’s government sought to combat a fourth wave of coronavirus infections driven by the highly contagious Delta variant.
Last month, Israel announced that anyone over 3 would have to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test before entering many outdoor spaces.
Israel implemented a rapid campaign to vaccinate its population in December last year. So far, 61 percent of the country’s population is fully vaccinated.
The country has also embarked on a vaccine booster campaign, offering third jabs to anyone over 30 as of late August.
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Between Missile Launches, China Ally North Korea Lashes Out at U.S. Over Taiwan
BY TOM O’CONNOR | 15-9-2021
In the interim period between launching two sets of missiles over the past several days, North Korea lashed out at the United States over its increasingly intimate ties with Taiwan, which is claimed by China.
Two days after announcing weekend launches of a “new type long-range cruise missiles,” North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency published an article featuring an article by an analyst criticizing the U.S. for stirring trouble with China as a result of diplomatic and military moves perceived as defying Washington and Beijing’s precarious yet formative understanding on the status of the island-based Taipei government.
Kim Myong Chol, who has been cited in lieu of officials in previous commentaries in strictly state-run outlets, recalled President Joe Biden’s relaxing of travel and political restrictions with Taiwan in April, a trip by U.S. senators to the island in June, the landing of U.S. military planes there in July and last month’s latest arms package from the Pentagon to Taipei.
Kim Yong Chol also remarked on speculation that the Biden administration would extend an invite to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to attend a virtual conference among democratic nations in December, and balked at the U.S. bringing up the subject of Taiwan in meetings with Asia-Pacific allies South Korea and Japan and across Europe.
“The aim sought by the U.S. through its attachment to the sensitive Taiwan issue is to use it as a means for putting pressure on China so as to deter China from making growth, disintegrate the country and stamp out its socialist system in the end,” Kim Yong Chol wrote, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
“Preventing division of the country and achieving its unification is an issue pertaining to the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of China and, therefore, no one is entitled to intervene in it,” he added.
Kim Yong Chol went on to accuse the U.S. of seeking to further its extend its global hegemony into the region, and lauded China’s response.
“The U.S. moves clearly prove the nature of the American empire that is leaving no means untried in a bid to attain its sordid purpose,” he wrote. “Now China is strongly standing against the U.S. moves designed at the permanent division of the country.”
But North Korean officials have repeatedly said the U.S. must first drop its longstanding “hostile policy” toward the country before Pyongyang answers the phone.(Source: News Desk)
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Three Eyes… against China? Biden says US & UK to help Australia build ‘conventionally armed’ NUCLEAR submarines
(15 Sep, 2021) The US, UK and Australia have announced a new military initiative, dedicated to a “free and open Indo-Pacific.” The first step of the alliance that appears aimed against China is to provide Canberra with nuclear submarines.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison joined US President Joe Biden in a virtual three-way announcement of what Biden called the “new phase of trilateral security cooperation” between the old allies.
The future of the three countries and even the world “depends on the free and open Indo-Pacific enduring and flourishing in the decades ahead,” Biden said, adding that AUKUS would be about making sure each nation has “most modern capabilities we need.”
The first concrete step in expanding and maintaining “aging military capabilities and critical technologies” would be providing Australia with nuclear-powered but “conventionally armed” submarines, Biden said.
“Only a handful of countries possess nuclear-powered submarines, and it is a momentous decision for any nation to acquire this formidable capability,” said Johnson “But Australia is one of our oldest friends, a kindred nation, and a fellow democracy, and a natural partner in this enterprise.”
Nuclear submarines are currently operated by only six countries China, France, India, Russia, the US and the UK who also possess atomic weapons. If and when the AUKUS project delivers results, it would make Australia the first country in the world with nuclear-powered subs but not weapons.
Biden said the project would begin with an 18-month “consultation period” between the militaries of the three countries, and involve the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure “full compliance” with their obligations under the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
While the US president did not mention China, all the talk about the “Indo-Pacific” made it clear who the new and improved alliance was aimed against. The UK recently joined the US in sending warships on “freedom of navigation” operations in the South China Sea, a vital maritime trade route where Beijing has claimed a series of islands and reefs.
Asked to comment on the announcement, Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said countries “should not build exclusionary blocs targeting or harming the interests of third parties. In particular, they should shake off their Cold-War mentality and ideological prejudice.”
Washington actually renamed its Pacific Command (PACOM) into “Indo-Pacific” in 2018, in a bid to court India’s cooperation in containing China. Biden also mentioned France a NATO ally as having a substantial presence in the region.
The introduction video preceding the announcement touted AUKUS as an alliance of “maritime democracies” united by their “democracy, resilience, innovations and diversity” in working “for the good of the world.”(Source: RT NEWS)
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Australia to build eight nuclear-powered submarines under new Indo-Pacific pact
By Kirsty Needham (Asia Pacific)
SYDNEY, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Australia will build eight nuclear-powered submarines under a new Indo-Pacific security partnership with the United States and Britain that analysts say will likely rile China, which will see the pact as an attempt to contain it.
Australia will be only the second country after Britain in 1958 to be given access to U.S. nuclear technology to build nuclear-powered submarines. L1N2QH2X7
“Our world is becoming more complex, especially here in our region, the Indo-Pacific,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“To meet these challenges, to help deliver the security and stability our region needs, we must now take our partnership to a new level.”
In announcing the new security group, the leaders of the United States, Australia and Britain did not mention China, but Washington and its allies are seeking to push back against its growing power and influence, particularly its military buildup, pressure on Taiwan and deployments in the contested South China Sea.
China’s U.S. embassy said that countries “should not build exclusionary blocs targeting or harming the interests of third parties”.
“In particular, they should shake off their Cold-War mentality and ideological prejudice,” it said.
The trilateral pact, including access to U.S. nuclear submarine technology, will be seen in Beijing as a threat, said Asia Society Policy Institute senior fellow Richard Maude.
“China will see the suit of announcements today as further evidence of a strengthening coalition to balance its power. It will object, but its own assertive and uncompromising behaviour is driving these new alignments.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern welcomed the focus on the Indo-Pacific but said Australia’s new nuclear-powered submarines would not be allowed in its territorial waters under a long-standing nuclear free policy.
“I am pleased to see that the eye has been turned to our region from partners we work closely with. It’s a contested region and there is a role that others can play in taking an interest in our region,” Ardern said at a news conference.
Morrison said Australia would scrap a $40 billion deal with France to develop conventional submarines to replace its ageing Collins-class fleet and negotiate over 18 months with the United States and Britain to build eight nuclear powered submarines. The submarines will not carry nuclear weapons.
Nuclear-powered submarines can spend longer underwater, allowing for stealth in potential flashpoint areas with China such as the South China Sea, security analysts said.
“Beijing will certainly interpret the new subs as a shot across China’s bow,” Bates Gill, head of Asia-Pacific Security Studies at Macquarie University, told Reuters.
“Like the recently announced plan to acquire long-range anti-ship missiles, this move is intended to deter hostile maritime forces from approaching Australia. China is currently the only country that could pose that kind of threat to Australia,” Gill said.
The submarine decision “reflects growing concern in the government about China’s military build-up, future intentions in the region and willingness to use coercion”, said Maude.
The trilateral security pact could worsen Australia’s strained trade ties with its biggest export customer China but its insatiable appetite for resources may limit its punitive responses, say analysts.
China has in recent years imposed hefty tariffs and restrictions on Australian exports of items including wine, beef and barley, and outright banned coal imports to express its anger over Australia’s foreign policies.
Morrison will travel to Washington this month to meet leaders of the Quad, a group that includes India and Japan and has been criticised by China, to discuss security.
Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Writing by Michael Perry; Editing by Robert Birsel (Source: Reuters )
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Taiwan plans $9 bln boost in arms spending, warns of ‘severe threat’
By Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee
TAIPEI, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Taiwan proposed extra defence spending of T$240 billion ($8.69 billion) over the next five years, including on new missiles, as it warned of an urgent need to upgrade weapons in the face of a “severe threat” from giant neighbour China.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen has made modernising the armed forces – well-armed but dwarfed by China’s – and increasing defence spending a priority, especially as Beijing ramps up its military and diplomatic pressure against the island it claims as “sacred” Chinese territory.
The new money, which comes on top of planned military spending of T$471.7 billion for 2022, will need to be approved by parliament where Tsai’s ruling party has a large majority, meaning its passage should be smooth.
“The Chinese Communists have continued to invest heavily in national defence budgets, its military strength has grown rapidly, and it has frequently dispatched aircraft and ships to invade and harass our seas and airspace,” Taiwan’s Defence Ministry said in a statement after a weekly Cabinet meeting.
“In the face of severe threats from the enemy, the nation’s military is actively engaged in military building and preparation work, and it is urgent to obtain mature and rapid mass production weapons and equipment in a short period of time.”
Deputy Defence Minister Wang Shin-lung told reporters the new arms would all be made domestically, as Taiwan boosts its own production prowess, though the United States will probably remain an important parts and technology provider.
Taiwan has been keen to demonstrate that it can defend itself, especially amid questions about whether the United States would come to its aid if China attacked.
“Only if we ensure our security and show determination will the international community think well of us,” said Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng. “Others will only help us if we help ourselves.”
The weapons Taiwan aims to buy with the money include cruise missiles and warships, the ministry added.
Taiwan has been testing new, long-range missiles off its southern and eastern coasts, and while it has not given details, diplomats and experts have said they are likely to be able to hit targets far into China.
The additional cash will likely be well received in Washington, which has been pushing Taiwan to modernise its military to make it more mobile so it can become a “porcupine”, hard for China to attack.
Taiwan has already put into service a new class of highly agile stealth warships, which Taiwan refers to as an “aircraft carrier killer” due to its missile complement, and is developing its own submarines.
The announcement comes as Taiwan is in the middle of its annual Han Kuang military drills.
, Taiwan’s army simulated fending off an invasion, firing artillery out to sea from a beach on its southern coast.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Roger Tung and Jeanny Kao) (Source: Reuters)
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One million Nigerian children to miss school due to mass kidnappings, UNICEF says
Reuters
ABUJA, Sept 15 (Reuters) – At least one million Nigerian children could miss school this year as the new term begins amid a rise in mass school kidnappings and insecurity, the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF said
Schools have become targets for mass abductions for ransom in northern Nigeria by armed groups. Such kidnappings in Nigeria were first carried out by jihadist group Boko Haram then later its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province, but the tactic has now been adopted by criminal gangs.
So far, there has been 20 attacks on schools in Nigeria this year, with more than 1,400 children abducted and 16 dead, UNICEF said, adding that more than 200 children are still missing.
“Learners are being cut off from their education… as families and communities remain fearful of sending children back to their classrooms due to the spate of school attacks and student abductions in Nigeria,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria.
More than 37 million Nigerian children are due to start the new school year this month, UNICEF said. An estimated eight million have had to wait for more than a year for in-person learning after schools were closed due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
Insecurity also lead to school closures in Nigeria.
Several northwestern states have tried to curb the spate of abductions by banning the sale of fuel in jerry cans and the transport of firewood in trucks in order to disrupt gangs who travel by motorbike and camp in remote places.
In Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, the start of the school term has been pushed back to an unusually late date without explanation, after schools in nearby states were targeted by kidnappers seeking ransoms. (Source: Reuters)
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China vs Australia naval power: Which one is stronger?
The escalation of tensions between Australia and China amid the AUKUS crisis turned the spotlight on their naval fleets.
The US-Australia-UK defence cooperation pact has rubbed China the wrong way as the Asian power warned the trio of displaying a “Cold War” mentality and threatening peace in the Indo-Pacific region.
Upon the pact, the US and UK agreed to support Australia in developing and expanding nuclear-power submarines, a move Beijing sees as a potential trigger for accelerating nuclear arms race amongst the global powers.
”China sees this as a return to the ideologically based politics of the Cold War. And it seems the Chinese government may have a point. The AUKUS suggest that a guaranteed US and UK presence in the area, aided by Australia’s proximity, will lead to “security”.” Sarah Lieberman, Senior Lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University commented.
According to Ali Wyne, analyst at Eurasia Group, the military balance of power will be more contested with AUKUS considering geopolitical dynamics.
These recent developments sparked curiosity over naval power dynamics between China and Australia.
Chinese fleet
Having the world’s third strongest army, China tops in naval power with over 777 fleet strength.
It has approximately 350 ships including 130 major surface combatants, a 2020 Pentagon report indicated.
It also comprises 50 destroyers, 72 corvettes, 123 patrol vessels and 36 mine warfare.
The country’s submarine capacity is 79, granting China the first place in the world. The navy has developed 12 nuclear subs over the past decade and a half, according to the US Defence Department report.
The Jin-class nuclear subs are capable of launching ballistic missiles and are considered as ”China’s first credible, sea-based nuclear deterrent.”
Australian fleet
Ranked 19th among the 140 most powerful armies in the world, Australia placed 47th in terms of naval power.
The Australian fleet has 48 naval units which include six mine warfares, 3 destroyers and 13 patrol vessels. It has no corvettes on its fleet.
The fleet has half as many submarines as China. It does not currently have any nuclear subs.
With this number, Australia barely covers only 6 percent of China’s fleet. But, the AUKUS agreement will likely contribute to the country significantly as the US and UK will focus on finding an adequate way to deliver at least eight nuclear-powered submarines for Australia. (Source: TRT World)
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Eyeing China, Biden seeks a free & open Indo-Pacific with Quad allies
ByAFP | 25 September 2021
President Joe Biden and the leaders of Australia, India, and Japan promised to work together for a stable, open, and democratic Indo-Pacific in a veiled dig at China during their first in-person summit together.
In Biden’s latest effort to cement US leadership in the face of a rising China, the so-called Quad agreed to move ahead on a joint plan to provide Covid-19 vaccines around Asia, launched a new climate initiative and said the four nations would begin holding annual summits.
Without any explicit mention of China, the leaders of the four democracies in a joint statement said they were committed to “promoting the free, open, rules-based order, rooted in international law and undaunted by coercion.”
“We stand for the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values and territorial integrity of states,” they said.
“Free and open” has become code for expressing worry about swelling Chinese economic, diplomatic, and military presence including threats to vital international sea lanes.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, speaking as the talks opened, said that the four “liberal democracies” were working to build a “strong, stable and prosperous region.”
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the summit showed the four nations’ “common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi whose own track record on minority rights has been controversial at home hailed the Quad’s “shared democratic values.”
While the leaders carefully avoided public mention of China, Suga voiced “strong concern” during the talks about Beijing’s assertiveness at sea, its trampling of Hong Kong’s special status and its mass incarceration of the Uyghur minority, Japanese foreign ministry spokesman Tomoyuki Yoshida said.
On another key priority for Biden, the Quad leaders said the four nations would all make “ambitious” announcements at the upcoming Glasgow climate summit with an aim of bringing the warming planet to net zero emissions by 2050.
India has so far only committed to reducing its carbon intensity, not necessarily its emissions, arguing that sweeping cuts are unrealistic for an emerging economy that is not historically responsible for most of the world’s warming.
In one key area of work, the Quad leaders said they would set up a task force to work to slash emissions by 2030 in shipping, coordinating among the key ports of Los Angeles, Mumbai, Sydney and Yokohama.
No military component
India has been the most cautious about perceptions it is ganging up on China despite mounting tensions following deadly border skirmishes last year.
US officials stressed that they did not see the Quad as a military alliance even as they sought to broaden cooperation.
The United States just announced another alliance AUKUS with Australia and Britain that will include sharing of sensitive nuclear technology.
Under AUKUS, Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Although delivery is years away, the announcement sent waves around the world, angering China and separately causing a furious row with France which saw its previously negotiated contract for selling Australia conventional submarines thrown out.
Morrison called the Quad a “very practical initiative” but said it was part of building “a region that we wish to be always free from coercion.”
(Source: AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk)
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India intensifies against Muslims after Taliban return to power
ByAPP | 11 September 2021
The Hindu right-wing has unleashed a new hate campaign targeting Indian Muslim minority in reaction to the capture of power by Taliban in Afghanistan.
Muslim politicians, writers, journalists, social media influencers and everyday citizens have become the target of a new hate campaign launched by extremist groups backed by Hindutva government.
Hindutva narrative prevailed in India which projected the real image of the world’s biggest democracy to the international community.
Persecution and vilification of minorities in India have raised questions about the basic bedrock of India’s democratic credentials and its secularism.
Modi’s fascist government has created a culture of impunity for nationwide campaigns of harassment and violence against religious minorities.
The agenda of BJP-RSS regime is driven by hatred, exclusionism and majoritarianism.
BJP politician Ram Madhav called the 1921 Moplah rebellion one of the first manifestations of a “Talibani mentality” in India, and state government of Kerala was trying to “whitewash” it.
Hashtag #GoToAfghanistan began trending on Indian social media, a repeat of the #GoToPakistan campaign launched by right-wing groups who want to turn India into an ethnic Hindu state.
International experts on genocidal violence have warned that India is preparing for a “genocide” of the 200 million Muslims in India.
Muslims who counter hate or are vocal about atrocities against the community were being accused of being Taliban sympathizers, even if they condemn the group. BJP leaders and spokespersons in India called the Taliban “terrorists”.
A group of activists, journalists and Muslim intellectuals condemned both Taliban’s acts and the “euphoria” in a section of Indian Muslims” over the Taliban’s capture of power.
UP government is busy in making anti-Muslim policies, calling Deoband a terror hub. Hate attacks on India’s Muslims, including public lynchings and targeting of their businesses have become a daily affair in India.
Last year, as the coronavirus pandemic erupted, a group of Islamic missionaries, called the Tablighi Jamaat, was blamed for spreading the virus in India.
In its 2020 report, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) called India a “country of particular concern”.
Allegations of “barbarism” and atrocities against women by Muslim men were used by hindu supremacists to “reactivate hysteria” against the Taliban and continue humiliating Muslims.
(Courtesy: APP)
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Dnors pledge $1.1 billion to support a ‘collapsing’ Afghanistan
With billions of dollars of aid flows abruptly ending due to Western antipathy and distrust towards the Taliban, donors had a “moral obligation” to keep helping Afghans after a 20-year engagement.
By Reuters | 14 September 2021
Donors have pledged more than $1.1 billion to help Afghanistan, where poverty and hunger have spiralled since the Taliban took power, and foreign aid has dried up, raising the spectre of a mass exodus.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, speaking halfway through a UN conference seeking $606 million to meet Afghanistan’s most pressing needs, said it was too early to say how much had been promised in response to the appeal.
After decades of war and suffering, Afghans are facing “perhaps their most perilous hour”, he said.
“The people of Afghanistan are facing the collapse of an entire country all at once.” He said food could run out by the end of this month, and the World Food Programme said 14 million people were on the brink of starvation.
The Taliban ruled Afghanistan according to their strict interpretation of Islamic law from 1996-2001 and were toppled in an invasion led by the United States, which accused them of sheltering militants behind the Sept 11 attacks.
They swept back to power last month in a lightning advance as the last US-led Nato troops pulled out and the forces of the Western-backed government melted away.
With billions of dollars of aid flows abruptly ending due to Western antipathy and distrust towards the Taliban, donors had a “moral obligation” to keep helping Afghans after a 20-year engagement, several speakers in Geneva said.
Neighbours China and Pakistan had already offered help.
But UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, also in Geneva, underlined the Western misgivings. She accused the Taliban of breaking recent promises by once more ordering women to stay at home rather than go to work, keeping teenage girls out of school, and persecuting former opponents.
Beijing last week promised $31 million worth of food and health supplies, and said it would send the first batch of 3 million coronavirus vaccines.
Pakistan sent food and medicine, and it called for Afghan assets to be frozen abroad to be released. Iran said it had dispatched an air cargo of aid.
“Past mistakes must not be repeated. The Afghan people must not be abandoned,” said Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, whose country has close relations with the Taliban and would most likely bear the brunt of an exodus of refugees.
Both China and Russia said the main burden of helping Afghanistan out of crisis should lie with Western countries.(Source: Reuters)
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Indian forces burned down 1.5 million houses in IIOJK
India was committing the worst human rights violations in IIOJK. By deploying more than one million forces, India has turned Kashmir into a prison. A referendum should be held in Kashmir in accordance with UN resolution.
ByAPP
22 September 2021ational Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser said the Indian occupied forces have so far burnt as many as 1.5 million houses in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir(IIOJK).
Addressing at International Parliamentary and Human Rights Conference on Jammu and Kashmir, he said India was committing the worst human rights violations in IIOJK.
Asad Qaiser said thousands of people were arrested every year and Senior Hurriyat Leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani passed away in Indian detention.
The speakers expressed their resolve to continue efforts to ensure the provision of the right of self-determination to innocent Kashmiris.
A referendum should be held in Kashmir in accordance with UN resolution, he said while stressing the need to resolve the Kashmir issue by a political settlement.
He urged the overseas Pakistanis to highlight the Kashmir issue at every appropriate forum. Senior Hurriyat Conference Leader Abdul Hameed Lone said that peace has been disrupted in the entire region of Kashmir.
Kashmir becomes a prison
India has completely turned Kashmir into prison by deputing over 1.5 million forces in the valley.
He said that education is ruined due to Indian atrocities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
He said that Indian forces have arrested thousands of people besides harassing women.
He said that Pakistan’s efforts regarding Kashmir were commendable and more work was needed on it.
Member National Assembly Makhdoom Zain Hussain Qureshi said that International Peace Day was being observed on September 21, but unfortunately, Indian occupied forces have imprisoned Kashmiri leaders to prevent them from observing the day.
“We will continue our efforts for granting the right of self-determination to Kashmiris,” he added. Member National Assembly Shandana Gulzar Khan said that India was committing atrocities in Kashmir and kidnapping children and demanding ransom.
She said that the ugly face of India should be exposed on social media, adding that Indians forces were abusing young boys and girls on a daily basis.
Member of Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Naureen Ibrahim said that peace day was being observed with aim of ending war and establishing peace in the world.
She said that India had been exposed as a terrorist state due to its atrocities in IIOJK. Naureen said that India’s oppression of Kashmiris has become a daily routine.
Chairman Pakistan Red Crescent, Abrar-ul-Haq said emphasized the need for a peaceful resolution of Kashmir.
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100 Chinese PLA Soldiers Breach Uttarakhand’s Barahoti, Damage Bridge in India
The PLA soldiers had damaged some infrastructure, including a bridge, after which they had retreated.
( 28 Sep 2021) By : Sentinel Digital Desk
Dehradun: As per reports from national media, over 100 Chinese troopers had managed to enter the Indian territory in Uttarakhand. Before retreating back to China, a bridge was also damaged by the Chinese troopers in Barahoti. According to sources, the Chinese troopers who belong to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had allegedly transgressed into the Indian territory by 5 kilometres through the Tunjun-La pass.
he troopers were accompanied by 55 horses and damaged the bridge before returning back. The troopers allegedly avoided conflict with the Indian soldiers and left before they could be confronted. The Chinese soldiers of the PLA reportedly hung out in Barahoti for at least 3 hours. The locals of Barahoti had first spotted the Chinese troops and reported it to the authorities. Later, a team of the Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police were sent to the site for verification of the report.
Previously, it was informed by the advisory Board of the Global Counter Terrorism Council that China has built 680 ‘Xiaokang’ along its border with India. Speaking to the media, Krishan Varma, a member of the Advisory Board to the Global Counter Terrorism Council said, “China has built around 680 Xiaokang, which they call as ‘well off’ villages on our borders with them, and Bhutan borders. These villages are inhabited by their people who come and live in and impress the local Indian population how well off they are with the Chinese government. These are intelligence operations, security operations from their side. They try to ‘turn people anti-India’. So we are training our police personnel, regarding these attempts and sensitize them on how to counter their moves.”
(Courtesy: The Sentinel Assam,) The Largest Media group of North-East India
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Does US intend to withdraw 20k troops from Saudi Arabia?
Tehran, IRNA – About one month after the United States’ military pullout from Afghanistan, there are some reports that Washington is after withdrawing thousands of its forces from Saudi Arabia, while there is no information about closure of American bases in the Arab state.
Some American media outlets have reported that President Joe Biden’s administration is getting prepared to pull out US forces from Saudi Arabia, as well.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington’s concern about rocket and drone attacks by Yemeni forces against military targets in Saudi Arabia is increasing, so the White House plans to withdraw American troops from Saudi Arabia.
According to the WSJ, the US has kicked off the withdrawal procedure of its troops, who were dispatched during former President Donald Trump’s administration to the Saudi kingdom.
Existing statistics show that the US has deployed around 20,000 forces in different ranks in Saudi Arabia, who should withdraw from the Arab country in accordance with new strategy of President Joe Biden.
Yemen News Portal (YNP) wrote that the United States’ decision to remove Patriot and TOW missile systems from Saudi Arabia enhances the speculation that the Americans are willing to pull out military forces from the Arab nation.
Associated Press reported that despite the fact that the Yemeni Ansarullah movement continues attacks on Saudi military and economic centers, the US withdrew a large part of its military equipment from Saudi Arabia in recent weeks.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin was to visit four littoral states of the Persian Gulf, including Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, and while he visited three other capitals, he missed Riyadh. Analysts believe that the cancelation happened because he did not want to respond to the Saudis’ questions about the pullout of American troops and the air defense systems from the kingdom.
John Kirby, Pentagon spokesperson, approved “the redeployment of certain air defense assets” after receiving questions from the AP, saying that the United States will abide by its deep and vast commitment to its allies in the Middle East.
espite the fact that the US showed its all-out support for certain Arab states, especially Saudi Arabia, former adviser to the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, underlined that Washington will no longer enter any war on behalf of Arab nations, so the US will not back Arab littoral states of the Persian Gulf.
Definitely, the US’s military pullout from the West Asia region will be beneficial both for the Americans to stop losing money and soldiers and the Islamic countries, who will not be killed by the Americans. The withdrawal will also prompt the Riyadh regime to stop its failed war in Yemen and allow the Yemenis to decide the future of their country
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Syrian military chief makes rare visit to Jordan
(20 Sep 2021) First discussions since the start of the 10-year war covered border security and intensifying coordination.
Syria’s defence minister visited Jordan to discuss stability on their mutual border, the first such meeting since the Syrian conflict erupted about 10 years ago when the two neighbours supported opposing factions.
On Sunday’s 19 Sep. 2021, meeting followed a major army offensive to retake the last rebel bastion in southern Syria, and after re-establishing control this month over Deraa, a main city south of Damascus, in a Russian-brokered deal that averted an all-out military assault led by Iranian-backed units of the army.
Jordanian army head Lieutenant-General Yousef Hunaiti met Syrian Defence Minister and Chief of Staff Ali Ayyoub over the Deraa situation and to discuss issues such as the fight against “terrorism” and drug smuggling in the area, Jordan’s army said.
“The talks are within the concern to intensify future coordination over all common issues,” a military statement said.
Syrian state TV said the visit came at the invitation of Jordan’s army commander, adding Ayyoub was accompanied by top army officers. It said the talks focused on “fighting terrorism and border control”.
The Syrian army’s pro-Iranian elite Fourth Division had for more than two months besieged the area where the first peaceful protests against authoritarian rule broke out in 2011, before security forces cracked down and unrest developed into a bloody civil war. SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero given 25-year sentence in ‘terrorism’ case
Government critic Rusesabagina was portrayed as a hero for saving lives in a Hollywood film on the 1994 genocide.
(20 Sep 2021) |
Paul Rusesabagina a one-time hotel manager portrayed as a hero in a Hollywood film about the nation’s 1994 genocide was found guilty of being part of a group responsible for “terrorist” attacks and sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Rwandan court.The case has had a high profile since Rusesabagina, 67, was arrested in August 2020 after what he described as a kidnapping from Dubai by Rwandan authorities.
He was accused of supporting an armed wing of his opposition political platform, the Rwandan Movement for Democratic Change. The group had claimed some responsibility for attacks in 2018 and 2019 in the south of the country in which nine Rwandans died.
“He founded a terrorist organisation that attacked Rwanda, he financially contributed to terrorist activities,” Justice Beatrice Mukamurenzi said of Rusesabagina.
Rwandan prosecutors had sought a life sentence the former hotelier, credited with saving over 1,200 lives during the 1994 genocide. But Mukamurenzi said the term “should be reduced to 25 years” as it was his first conviction. SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
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‘Game-changer’: China to stop funding overseas coal projects
22 Sep 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that China would no longer fund the construction of new coal-fired power projects overseas, surprising the world on climate for the second straight year at the United Nations General Assembly.
China has supported coal projects in developing countries including Indonesia and Bangladesh and has been under heavy diplomatic pressure to put an end to the financing to help the world meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement to reduce carbon emissions.3Xi’s announcement followed similar moves by South Korea and Japan earlierthis year.
“China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad,” Xi said in a pre-recorded video address at the annual UN gathering.
The pledge came hours after United States President Joe Biden announced a plan to double financial aid to poorer nations to $11.4bn by 2024 to help those countries switch to cleaner energy and cope with global warming’s worsening effects.
Although Xi’s speech was short on detail, the initiatives could provide some momentum going into COP26, the key global climate talks that are due to start in the Scottish city of Glasgow at the end of October.
“This is an absolutely seminal moment,” said Xinyue Ma, an expert on energy development finance at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center.
In the run-up to the historic 2015 Paris climate deal, a joint US-China agreement helped kick-start the successful negotiations.
The US climate envoy John Kerry quickly welcomed Xi’s announcement, calling it a “great contribution” and a good foundation for success in Glasgow. SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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United Nations: Guterres warns ‘we are on the edge of an abyss’
By Radmilla Suleymanova | 21 Sep 2021
The world has never been more threatened or more divided, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told nations of the world as he kicked off the 76th General Assembly session, urging all 193 member states to “wake up” and realise that solidarity is the only way out of disaster.“We are on the edge of an abyss,” Guterres said to an
assembly hall meeting together for the first time since last year’s suspended in-person session due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetimes.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has supersized inequalities, the climate crisis is pummeling the planet, upheavals in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Yemen have thwarted peace and a surge of misformation is polarizing people everywhere.
“Human rights are under fire. Science is under assault. And economic lifelines for the most vulnerable are coming too little and too late if they come at all,” the UN chief said.
While vaccines have been developed in record time, they are missing for far too many people.
The secretary-general sounded the alarm on global warming as well, citing a recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the vivid warning signs sweeping every continent.
“As we saw recently, not even this city the financial capital of the world is immune,” he said, referring to the deadly remnants of Hurricane Ida that ravaged New York earlier in September..
The window to keep alive the 1.5-degree-Celcius (2.7-degree F) goal of the Paris Climate Agreement is quickly closing, Guterres warned, and urged the world to commit to a 45 percent cut in emissions by 2030.SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
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United Nations: Challenges grow but not the budget to meet them
By Radmilla Suleymanova | 21 Sep 2021
New York City, the United States The United Nations’ budget is not growing but the challenges it faces are.
As it kicks off its annual high-level General Assembly session in New York City, the 193-member organisation will try to unify an international community struck by a deadly coronavirus pandemic and a lopsided global economic recovery that is only worsening the divide between the world’s haves and have-nots.
The UN has seen its share of challenges in recent years: Security Council stalemate on Syria, an unprecedented refugee and migrant crisis, a global health crisis that has yet to be reined in particularly in developing countries and crippling funding cuts under the administration of former United States President Donald Trump.
China’s contributions, which are 12 percent of the UN’s core budget, are second only to those from the US. And its influence in the organization will continue to grow under President Xi Jinping, according to Jeffrey Feltman, who served as the UN’s under-secretary-general for political affairs from 2012 to 2018.
China has in recent years expanded its reach within the UN’s development and peace and security work and has the healthy financial standing to continue to grow its international footprint. It is already one of five permanent members of the Security Council holding an all-important veto card, and is not afraid to use it on issues from Syria to Sudan.
“There is a lot of opportunity for China to step up, and just like any other large power it has its own interests to promote,” Hopmann of Johns Hopkins told Al Jazeera, adding that the UN can and should be used as a tool to manage tensions between major superpowers like the US, China and Russia.
Special political missions
Nearly one-quarter of the UN’s core budget goes to financing special political missions, which are set up in countries undergoing or emerging from conflict. The missions are mandated to oversee democratic elections and peace negotiations and help strengthen multilateral institutions.
There are currently 39 such missions, and they take up to 24 percent or $707m of this year’s resources, according to the UN.
UN special political missions can be found in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and Colombia, among other countries.
While member states regard special political missions as a crucial part of the UN’s global peace and security pillar, there is criticism among some member states that these missions have grown significantly in recent years and are eating up too much of the UN’s regular budget.
There are growing calls for a separate special political missions budget not unlike the Department of Peace Operations budget that would clearly show how funds are spent rather than having funds be tucked under the umbrella of the wider UN budget.SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
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UNGA: Qatar’s emir urges world to engage with the Taliban
In speech to the UN General Assembly, Sheikh Tamim addresses COVID-19 pandemic, cybersecurity and conflicts in the region.
(21 Sep 2021)
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani has called on world leaders to remain engaged with the Taliban in Afghanistan, as he underlined his country’s commitment to contribute to the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
Speaking at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, the emir stressed the significance of the continued support of the international community to the Afghan people “at this critical stage, and to separate between humanitarian aid and political differences”.
“It’s also important to continue dialogue with the Taliban,” he added. “Boycotting them would only lead to polarisation and reactions, whereas dialogue could be fruitful.”
Qatar, which hosted talks between the United States and the Taliban that culminated in the 2020 agreement to withdraw US-led NATO forces, as well as hold subsequent intra-Afghan peace talks has become a key broker in Afghanistan.
The emir addressed a number of issues in his speech, ranging from the coronavirus pandemic, cybersecurity, and the conflicts in the region, including, Yemen, Libya and Syria.
He also spoke of the centrality of the Palestine question in the Middle East region, urging the international community to take responsibility for a just and peaceful settlement of the Palestinian cause.
According to Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Qatar has fashioned itself into a “Geneva of the east”.
“I think the idea of Qatar being that sort of a hub has worked for Doha,” he said.
“The idea that they are also willing to be open to whatever ideas from whatever areas in the world and being more than happy to host even when it is so controversial such as hosting the Taliban or Hamas or other groups that are seen as controversial by other parties is an interesting position that Qatar has reinforced over the years.”
Bishara said that Qatar’s hosting of the biggest US airbase in the region and its close proximity to Iran could mean that Doha will act as a hub for Iranians and Americans to meet.
“Qatar could play a major role in reconciling differences between Tehran and Washington especially since it did maintain good relations with Iran while other neighbouring Arab countries severed their ties,” he said.
(SOURCE: AL JAZEERA)
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Myanmar town near India border sees exodus as thousands flee fighting
Reuters
Sept 22 (Reuters) – Most of the population of a Myanmar town near the Indian border have fled after buildings were set ablaze by artillery amid fighting between militia forces opposed to military rule and the army, according to residents and media reports.
About 10,000 people normally live in Thantlang in Chin State, but most had left to seek shelter in surrounding areas including some in India, a community leader said.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since a government led by pro-democracy veteran Aung San Suu Kyi was toppled on Feb. 1, sparking nationwide anger, strikes, protests, and the emergence of anti-junta militia.
During fighting between militia forces and the army last weekend, about 20 homes were set ablaze, with photographs on social media showing buildings engulfed in flames.
Soldiers shot dead a Christian pastor who tried to extinguish a blaze, the Myanmar Now news portal reported, although state media disputed the report.
The Global New Light of Myanmar said the death of the pastor was being investigated and that soldiers had been ambushed by about 100 “terrorists” and both sides exchanged fire.
Militia fighters had overrun an army base earlier in September and the military responded with air strikes, said Salai Thang, a community leader, who said four civilians had been killed and 15 wounded in recent weeks.
The Chin Defence Force, a militia opposed to the military, said in a statement 30 soldiers had been killed.
Reuters could not independently confirm any of the claims and a military spokesman did not answer calls seeking comment.(Source: Reuters)
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Former prime minister’s son says ‘Israel was born in sin’
Yaakov Sharett, a former intelligence officer and the son of the former prime minister of Israel, has predicted a dark future for the country.
“The State of Israel and the Zionist enterprise were born in sin,” Yaakov Sharett, the son of Moshe Sharett who was Israel’s first foreign minister and second prime minister, told Haaretz in an interview.
Sharett, 95, heavily critcised Israel’s state mentality and opposes aliyah, the migration of Jews to Israel and occupied Palestinian territories, and called for emigration from Israel.
Despite being a former member of Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet; a former volunteer of the Jewish Brigade in the British Army during World War II; and a member of the government’s liaison bureau for immigration from Eastern Europe, Sharett opposes Israel’s founding principles.
“This original sin pursues and will pursue us and hang over us. We justify it, and it has become an existential fear, which expresses itself in all sorts of ways. There is a storm beneath the surface of the water,” he added.
Sharett, who is the son of one of the men who signed the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, predicts a dark future for Israel.
“I reached my age in peace. Financially, my situation is reasonable. But I fear for the future and fate of my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
Sharett described himself as a collaborator against his will, and said: “I’m a forced collaborator with a criminal country. I’m here, I have nowhere to go. Because of my age I can’t go anywhere. And that bothers me. Every day. This recognition won’t leave me. The recognition that in the end Israel is a country occupying and abusing another people.”
His children, grandchildren and great children have already moved to New York and Sharett is happy for them.
Sharett said the conflict was created when Zionism called on Jews to move to Israel and establish a sovereign state.
“Have you seen anywhere in the world where the majority would agree to give in to a foreign invader, who says, ‘our forefathers were here,’ and demands to enter the land and take control?”
“I see in this whole transformation of the majority [Arab] to a minority and the minority [Jewish] into a majority as immoral,” he said.
According to him, Zionism has disappeared for breaking its promises, and now, Israel’s national agenda is “blood, death and violence.”
Bringing Jews living in the Soviet Union to Israel
Yaakov Sharett was born in 1927 in a Jewish community in Palestine. He attended Columbia University and Oxford University where specialised in “Sovietology,” and learned fluent Russian – which is also his father’s native language.
In the 1960s, he went to the Soviet Union to work for the Israeli Embassy in Moscow and founded and led Nativ, Israel’s identity-building program for soldiers who are immigrants but feel disconnected from their Jewish roots.
Sharett worked as “first secretary” in the embassy and liaised with Jews who had an interest in Israel and Zionism. However, he was expelled on charges of espionage.
He was invited to Riga to send a letter from a person who claimed himself as Jewish, but it was a trap.
“Two hulks jumped me, picked me up off the ground, without considering that I had diplomatic immunity,” he described the incident.
He was “caught while spying, touring various parts of the Soviet Union to establish espionage ties and distributing Zionist anti-Soviet illegal literature,” at the time, Soviet media reported.
After returning to Israel, he worked for military intelligence in the new Russian department. Now, he expresses disappointment over the Russian migration.
“The people that I so much wanted to come here turned out to be right wing and nationalist the result of years living half-assimilated and needing to hide their origin. Now they turned to the most fanatic and extreme side. I took part in bringing my enemies here. Avigdor Lieberman is a settler. Politically, he is my enemy,” he added.
On May 15, 1948, some 750,000 Palestinians were expelled into refugee camps that still exist in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon following the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
The Palestinians were to suffer further when the West Bank and Gaza fell to the Israelis during the 1967 war.
Millions of Palestinians, including those displaced with the establishment of Israel, now found themselves having to live under military occupation, as well as further Israeli expansionism in their lands.
According to Palestinian figures, roughly 640,000 Jewish settlers now live on 196 settlements (built with the Israeli government’s approval) and more than 200 settler outposts (built without its approval) across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
International law regards both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “occupied territories” and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there as illegal.(Source: TRT World )