What’s the impact of Niger cutting military ties with the US?
Niger was a crucial Western ally before a coup happened there last July. Niger has cut military ties with the United States – a setback from what was once a crucial ally in West Africa. It follows other leaders in the Sahel in forging closer ties with Russia, after taking power in military coups. So, what impact will this have on the region? Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra Guests: Idayat Hassan – Non-resident senior associate at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Abuja Alexis Akwagyiram – Managing editor at Semafor Africa in London Kabir Adamu – Security and intelligence specialist focusing on West Africa and the Sahel region, based in Abuja Adblock test (Why?)
Israel asks ICJ not to order new measures over looming famine in Gaza
Israel asks the UN court to reject South Africa’s request for more emergency orders in the Gaza genocide case. Israel has asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) not to issue emergency orders for it to step up humanitarian aid to Gaza to address a looming famine, dismissing South Africa’s request to do so as “morally repugnant”. In a legal filing to the top United Nations court, made public on Monday, Israel said it “has real concern for the humanitarian situation and innocent lives, as demonstrated by the actions it has and is taking” in Gaza. Lawyers for Israel denied allegations of deliberately causing humanitarian suffering in the besieged enclave, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and hunger is rising. They said South Africa’s repeated requests for additional measures are an abuse of procedures. The filing said South Africa’s accusations in its request for new measures, filed March 6, are “wholly unfounded in fact and law, morally repugnant, and represent an abuse both of the Genocide Convention and of the court itself”. The new exchange between the parties is part of South Africa’s ongoing case accusing Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel In January, the ICJ, also known as the World Court, ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel described the genocide allegation as baseless. Relief agencies said essential aid to Gaza’s 2.3 million people is being severely restricted. ‘Man-made’ looming famine Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza since October 7 and has also prevented much-needed fuel from entering. ICJ emergency measures serve as temporary injunctions meant to keep a situation from deteriorating before the court in The Hague can hear the full case, a process that usually takes several years. Israel’s response was published on the day the UN’s World Food Programme said “famine is imminent” in northern Gaza. The agency said 70 percent of its remaining population is experiencing catastrophic hunger and a further escalation of Israel’s assault could push about half of Gaza’s total population to the brink of starvation. The more than five-month offensive has killed nearly 32,000 people in the strip, according to health officials in Gaza. Another 1,139 people died in southern Israel in Hamas attacks on October 7, after which Israel launched its war on Gaza. At least 20 people have died from malnutrition and starvation in Gaza since Israel began its assault, Palestinian authorities said. The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Monday said the impending famine in Gaza was “entirely man-made” as “starvation is used as a weapon of war”. “Trucks are stopped. People are dying while the land crossings are artificially closed,” he said. South Africa’s request to the ICJ is the second time Pretoria has asked the court for additional measures. Its first request to pressure Israel to halt an offensive against the southern Gaza city of Rafah in February was denied. Adblock test (Why?)
Gaza has become the ‘greatest open-air graveyard’
NewsFeed The EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell says that Gaza has become a ‘graveyard for the many of the most important principles of humanitarian law’, at a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels. Published On 18 Mar 202418 Mar 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
No evidence of brain injury in people suffering ‘Havana Syndrome’: US study
US research agency finds no ‘biological abnormalities’ in US officials reporting incidents, but says symptoms are real. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States has found no evidence that government employees reporting symptoms of the “Havana Syndrome” suffer from “biological abnormalities”, including brain injury. In a statement announcing its study on Monday, the US medical research agency stressed that, despite its findings, the unexplained ailments “are very real”. First reported in the Cuban capital Havana in 2016, the syndrome results in vertigo, headaches, cognitive dysfunction and ear-ringing. Since then, US foreign service and intelligence personnel have reported enduring such symptoms across the world. “Using advanced imaging techniques and in-depth clinical assessments, a research team at the National Institutes of Health found no significant evidence of MRI-detectable brain injury, nor differences in most clinical measures compared to controls, among a group of federal employees who experienced anomalous health incidents (AHIs),” the NIH said in a statement on Monday. The study compared test results and MRI imaging between healthy volunteers and more than 80 US government employees and their relatives who are experiencing “anomalous health incidents”. “The researchers were unable to identify a consistent set of imaging abnormalities that might differentiate participants with AHIs from controls,” the NIH said. The administration of US President Joe Biden had vowed to work “tirelessly” to tackle Havana Syndrome. In November 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken appointed two officials to lead the government’s response to the issue, calling it an “urgent priority” for Washington. Earlier that year, possible “Havana Syndrome” cases at the US embassy in Hanoi led to Vice President Kamala Harris delaying a visit to Vietnam by three hours. There had been early speculations that the symptoms may be caused by microwaves deliberately targeting US officials abroad. But several US intelligence agencies concluded last year that it was “very unlikely” that a foreign adversary was responsible for Havana Syndrome. Their findings were released in a report by the National Intelligence Council. Still, US officials have sought to acknowledge that those reporting symptoms are indeed suffering from ailments. Carlo Pierpaoli, a lead author on the NIH study, said lack of evidence of difference in neurological imaging between healthy individuals and those experiencing AHIs “does not exclude that an adverse event impacting the brain occurred” in people with Havana Syndrome symptoms. “It is possible that individuals with an AHI may be experiencing the results of an event that led to their symptoms, but the injury did not produce the long-term neuroimaging changes that are typically observed after severe trauma or stroke,” Pierpaoli said in a statement. “We hope these results will alleviate concerns about AHI being associated with severe neurodegenerative changes in the brain.” Adblock test (Why?)
India bank ordered to share electoral bonds data linking donors, recipients
The Supreme Court gives the government-run State Bank of India until Thursday to disclose all the information. India’s Supreme Court has ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to submit all the details of electoral bonds, including the unique codes linking donors to political parties, just a month before the country’s general election. The seven-year-old election funding system, called “electoral bonds”, allowed individuals and companies in India to donate money to political parties anonymously and without any limits. In February, the top court scrapped the opaque system, calling it “unconstitutional”. In its order on Monday, the Supreme Court gave the SBI until Thursday to provide the Election Commission of India with the unique identification numbers of the bonds, so as to allow donors to be matched with recipients. “You have to disclose all details … we must have finality to it,” Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said. Last week, the commission made public some data on donations made since April 2019 under the funding mechanism. Some of India’s biggest companies, such as Vedanta Ltd, Bharti Airtel, RPSG Group and Essel Mining, were among the top political funders over the last five years, the data showed. But last week’s data did not link donors to recipients, though it showed that nearly half of all donations were received by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will seek a rare third term in the seven-phase election that starts April 19. Corporate funding of political parties is a sensitive issue in India. Critics say the electoral bonds helped companies hide their donations to avoid any accusations of winning favours from India’s ruling BJP party. On Sunday, Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the main opposition Congress Party, addressed a rally in Mumbai where he accused Modi’s government of using electoral bonds to extort money from companies, an accusation the government has denied. Meanwhile, three industry bodies – the Confederation of Indian Industry; the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry; and the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) – sought to stop the court from making public information about who donated to which party. “Protection of anonymity is critical for preserving donors’ privacy and guarding against any adversity by any opposing political factions to whom the investment is not made by a corporate,” ASSOCHAM said. The court, however, did not hear their pleas. Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli forces launch new attack on Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital
NewsFeed The Israeli army has launched a new attack on al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, raiding and opening fire on the facility where thousands are taking shelter. Published On 18 Mar 202418 Mar 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Lebanese displaced by Israeli strikes shelter in abandoned hotel
NewsFeed Nearly twenty years after its last paying guests checked out, this abandoned hotel in southern Lebanon is now home to dozens of families displaced by Israeli attacks against Hezbollah. Published On 18 Mar 202418 Mar 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Cubans stage rare protests amid persisting economic crisis
President points finger at US after hundreds of people demonstrate against food shortages and blackouts. Rare protests have taken place in Cuba as the island nation’s economic crisis persists. President Miguel Diaz-Canel called on Monday for calm, and hit out at the United States after hundreds of people gathered in Santiago the previous day to demonstrate against power blackouts and food shortages. Social media videos showed crowds in the communist-governed country’s second-largest city chanting, “Power and food”. A wave of blackouts has recently seen power supplies cut for up to 18 hours or more in a day. That has helped jeopardise food supplies and economic activity in the cash-strapped country. Long stymied by US trade embargoes and more recently sanctions imposed during Donald Trump’s presidency, Cuba is battling its worst economic crisis in decades, caused in part by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw the flow of much-needed tourism dollars plunge. Diaz-Canel called for dialogue and “peace”. “Several people have expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation of electrical service and food distribution,” he wrote on X. “The disposition of the authorities of the party, the state and the government is to attend to the complaints of our people, listen, dialogue, explain the numerous efforts that are being carried out to improve the situation, always in an atmosphere of tranquility and peace,” he added. Varias personas han expresado su inconformidad con la situación del servicio eléctrico y la distribución de alimentos. Este contexto se intenta aprovechar por los enemigos de la Revolución, con fines desestabilizadores. — Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) March 18, 2024 The president blamed government “enemies” and “mediocre politicians and terrorists” in the US for trying to hijack the protests. The US embassy in Havana said in a post on X that it had also received reports of protests in Bayamo, Granma and other locations. It urged the government “to respect the human rights of the protesters and address the legitimate needs of the Cuban people”. The protests in Santiago were peaceful as demonstrators shouted, “Down with communism. Down with Diaz-Canal.” Videos on social media showed no signs of scuffles or arrests as the protests were watched by a large number of state security forces. However, internet services were throttled late on Sunday until early Monday, according to some reports. We’re seeing a five-hour dip in traffic to #Cuba coinciding with reports of a disruption in mobile service following protests in Santiago de Cuba earlier today. Dip in traffic begins at 19:20 UTC (3:20pm ET) and lasted until 00:30 UTC (8:30pm ET). pic.twitter.com/hXAlmwswm3 — Doug Madory (@DougMadory) March 18, 2024 Havana cracked down heavily on large protests in July 2021, the widest demonstrations seen in Cuba since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. The response was criticised by the international community. Since 1960, the US has maintained an economic embargo on Cuba, which restricts trade between the countries. For the first time, Cuba turned to the UN’s World Food Programme in February, requesting help in supplying milk to children, the organisation said. Adblock test (Why?)
The West is giving Israel weapons while discussing delivering aid to Gaza
As lawmakers across much of the West debate the extent to which Israel may be hampering the passage of lifesaving aid into Gaza, the weapons exports that underpin much of Israel’s war on the besieged enclave continue to flow. Since the war began, the volume of weapons entering Israel has increased as huge volumes of ordinance are used to flatten areas of Gaza as well as kill, maim and displace its civilian population. “On the one hand, we have this dire humanitarian need, on the other hand, we have this continual supply of weapons to the country Israel, [which is] creating that need,” Akshaya Kumar, the director of crisis advocacy at Human Rights Watch (HRW), said. International law When it comes to arming another country, international law has rules and conventions to control who arms whom and what the weapons are used for. Under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide – which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in January may plausibly be under way in Gaza – states are legally bound to prevent genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The United States declined to sign the convention until 1988. Under the terms of the internationally binding Arms Trade Treaty – to which the US is not a signatory – a country is prohibited from exporting weapons to any state it suspects might use them for “genocide, crimes against humanity… attacks directed against civilian objects or civilians protected as such”. More than 31,000 Palestinians have died due to Israel’s war on Gaza so far, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, and some 73,000 have been injured. Health facilities, also under attack and siege, ceased being able to deal with the wounded and the dying months ago. The enclave is teetering on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe. The European Union’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, told the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that Israel is using hunger as a weapon of war and manufacturing disaster by stopping aid from entering. Israel has also shot at people gathering to get what little aid is allowed in. While “Western states have recently been going to great lengths to have Israel recognise its role in creating the suffering we’re seeing in Gaza,” HRW’s Kumar said, “we’re not seeing any corresponding reduction in the flow of weapons from states such as the US, Germany and beyond”. Israel’s principal arms suppliers have focused on getting aid into Gaza to reach the Palestinians being attacked with many of the weapons they sold to Israel. US President Joe Biden used his State of the Union address this year to announce the creation of a maritime corridor by which he claims it would be possible to bypass Israel and deliver aid to Gaza. [embedded content] Reality on the ground While some countries have suspended arms exports to Israel in light of its war on Gaza, some significant suppliers remain. The US’s annual contribution of about $3.8bn to Israel’s military budget has continued, on top of which is a further $14bn for Israel the US approved in February, reportedly with an eye to preparing Israel for a “multi-front war” – which many read as opening another front against the armed group Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to the Stockholm Institute for Peace, the US provides 69 percent of Israel’s arms imports but recent confidential briefings to the US Congress, reported on by the Washington Post, suggest this may not be the full picture. A legal loophole in the US Arms Export Control Act – which governs the export and end-use of weapons shipped from the US – means only packages of a certain value need Congressional oversight, meaning “bundled packages” below that value are being slipped through regularly. So far, it was reported, about 100 arms shipments have taken place without any public record, causing an uproar among civil society groups. “With under-threshold sales and arms transfers, we have little insight into what munitions are being shipped – it’s a black hole,” Ari Tolany, the director of the Security Assistance Monitor at the US-based Center for International Policy said. “Similarly, while the Israeli government claims they can assure Biden these arms are used in compliance with IHL [international humanitarian law], evidence from Gaza shows that’s not the case.” The US maintains it is acting within the provisions of the law. Germany’s arms exports to Israel have increased too, with Berlin shipping some $350m worth of weaponry, a tenfold increase on 2022 exports, most of which was approved after the Hamas attack on Israel. Other countries, such as Australia, Canada, France and the United Kingdom, were all named in a UN report in February as maintaining their supplies. In response to a query by Al Jazeera as to the responsibility attached to arming Israel as it devastates Gaza, a US State Department spokesperson wrote that there “has been no determination that Israel has committed genocide, including in the ICJ”. In recent weeks, the UK and others are understood to have adopted a similar position over the well-reported and mounting humanitarian crisis in Gaza, maintaining business as usual while expressing concern that the weapons they continue to supply may be used in an impending assault on Rafah, where 1.4 million civilians are sheltering. [embedded content] Pushing back However, while many countries in the West continue to provide Israel with weapons, other former exporters appear alive to the legal hazards of licencing weapons to a state the ICJ has found may plausibly be committing genocide. In addition to the Antwerp police being condemned by Belgium’s Labour Party for its decision to import antiriot weapons from Israel, there are wider, longstanding bans on weapons sales to Israel. Shortly after the assault on Gaza began in October, Italy and Spain halted arms shipments to Israel, though the latter continues to provide ammunition for “display”. Belgium’s Walloon regional government, as well as the Japanese Itochu Corporation, have also announced that
Israel’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 164
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the raid on the hospital – Israel’s fourth since October – has resulted in deaths and injuries. Here’s how things stand on Monday, March 18, 2024: Fighting and humanitarian crisis Israeli forces stormed Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital, with a military spokesman claiming Hamas fighters have regrouped inside the medical facility. Gaza’s Ministry of Health said the raid on the hospital – Israel’s fourth since October – has resulted in deaths and injuries. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, some 30,000 people – including displaced civilians, wounded patients and medical staff – are trapped inside the hospital amid Israel’s onslaught. Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to go ahead with a ground assault on Rafah in Gaza after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned against it. In Gaza, 19 aid trucks arrived safely in Jabalia as the first convoys to travel from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip without incident in four months bring desperately needed aid. Israel’s air and ground campaign since October has killed more than 31,600 people, Gaza health authorities said. It has also driven most of the population from their homes, and brought people to the brink of famine, aid agencies added. Diplomacy and regional tensions The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of pro-Iran armed groups, has said it launched a drone attack at an Israeli airbase in the occupied Golan Heights. Meanwhile, the Jordanian army has announced detecting suspicious aerial movements from an unknown source along the border with Syria, according to the Reuters news agency. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Israel’s Netanyahu on Sunday against his plans for a ground offensive in Rafah, while EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed his sentiments during a visit to Cairo. Violence in the occupied West Bank The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli forces detained at least 25 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, including a woman from Gaza, a child and former prisoners. The woman from Gaza has cancer and was arrested as she was heading to Jerusalem to complete her treatment, the agency said, citing a joint statement from the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees. Adblock test (Why?)