Hezbollah Strikes Metulla, Kills Israeli Soldier; Pummels HQs, Sites

By Al Mayadeen English

23 Jun 2024 18:19

Israeli media admit to one serious injury in the Ayelet HaShahar drone attack

The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah launched operations against Israeli targets on Sunday, as the Israeli aggression on Lebanese border towns and assassinations continue.

Opening up their operations today, Hezbollah's freedom fighters launched an aerial attack with a one-way drone targeting the headquarters of the Sahel Battalion in the Beit Hillel Barracks. The gatherings and residential areas of officers and soldiers were directly impacted, leaving them dead or wounded.

In their second attack for the day, Hezbollah fighters also launched an aerial attack with a swarm of one-way drones on the headquarters of the newly established 91st Division in Ayelet HaShahar (northeast of Safed), targeting the gatherings and residential areas of Israeli officers and soldiers, leaving them dead or injured, as the target was directly impacted.

Both operations were carried out in support of the steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and their valiant resistance and in response to the assassination in the town of al-Khiara yesterday. 

Israeli media admitted that a Hezbollah drone fell in Ayelet HaShahar (northeast of Safed), confirming that it hit the soldiers’ residence and that a soldier sustained serious injuries.

Also on the Ayelet HaShahar attack, Israeli media said it is an embodiment of the danger Hezbollah’s drones pose. 

Later, at 5:15 pm, Hezbollah freedom fighters targeted the al-Ramtha site in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Chouba hills with rocket artillery, achieving a direct hit. 

10 minutes later, the al-Semmaqa site in the occupied Lebanese hills of Kfar Chouba came under attack with artillery rockets by Hezbollah fighters who achieved a direct hit.

Hezbollah fighters also attacked the Roueissat al-Qarn site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms, at 7:10 pm, with rocket artillery weapons. A direct impact was achieved in this attack.

Hezbollah released footage from the operation whereby its fighters targeted a building in which Israeli enemy soldiers are stationed in the Metulla settlement in northern occupied Palestine.

Later on Sunday night, Islamic Resistance fighters hit an Israeli military vehicle with multiple anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), after carefully monitoring the movements of Israeli forces deployed in and out of the Metulla military site. 

Hezbollah anti-armor forces ambushed the vehicle as it made its way to the site, destroying the vehicle and killing and injuring its crew members.

Israeli media outlets reported that one soldier was killed in the ambush while another six were injured. Media outlets added that barrages of mortar shells hit the site as occupation forces attempted to evacuate the casualties to hospitals. 

The incident was described as "complicated", a commonly used phrase by Israeli media outlets when several military casualties fall as a result of the Resistance's attacks. 

Hezbollah lists potential strategic Israeli targets in case of war

Late last night, the Military Media of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah released a video showing vital Israeli targets only known to the occupation's security apparatus, suggesting that these sites will be targeted in case of a war against Lebanon.

The video included snippets of Hezbollah's Secretary-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's latest speech, in which he warned the Israeli occupation that the Resistance would fight with no restraints or limits if war were imposed on Lebanon. 

"Israel" will regret waging war on Lebanon, he said. 

The HaKirya complex, which includes the headquarters of the Ministry of Security, the General Staff, and many of the senior military staff leaders, was also shown. 

This comes only a few days following the Hoopoe mission, during which Hezbollah gathered footage showing its reconnaissance drones flying over swathes of occupied Palestinian land, including Kiryat Shmona, Nahariya, Safad, Karmiel, Afula, all the way to Haifa and its port.

10 South African Parties Agree to Form National Unity Government

By Al Mayadeen English

23 Jun 2024 20:14

The 10 parties in question have earned 70% of the vote in the 2024 elections, according to an ANC statement.

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) party announced Sunday that 10 political parties in the country have agreed to establish a government of national unity.

In an X post, the party wrote it was "pleased to welcome the 10 founding political parties to the Government of National Unity as follows: ANC, PA [Patriotic Alliance], DA [Democratic Alliance], IFP [Inkatha Freedom Party], GOOD, PAC [Pan Africanist Congress of Azania], FF+ [Freedom Front Plus], UDM [United Democratic Movement], Rise Mzansi and Al Jamah."

The 10 parties earned 70% of the vote in the 2024 elections, according to a joint statement released by the ANC on X.

The parties have begun discussions to construct executive governmental entities, and the outcomes will be disclosed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the coming days, according to the statement.

Earlier in June, the ANC, which lost its legislative majority in previous elections, and the opposition DA party agreed to establish a government of national unity, according to DA leader John Steenhuisen.

The results of South Africa's general elections, conducted on May 29, were released on June 2. The ANC won 159 of the country's 400 national parliament seats. The Democratic Alliance party came in second with 87 seats.

The uMkhonto WeSizwe Party (MK Party) finished third in terms of seats, securing 58 seats in the national legislature. Prior to the elections, the MK Party, led by former South African President Jacob Zuma, and at least 20 other parties accused the electoral commission of vote-rigging.

Reelected South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was inaugurated on Wednesday, pledging to uphold and enforce the republic's fundamental and other laws.

Ramaphosa was reelected for a second term by lawmakers, following a historic coalition agreement between his African National Congress (ANC) of the late Nelson Mandela and the Democratic Alliance (DA), setting aside their long-standing rivalry.

Ramaphosa secured the late Friday vote with 283 votes, defeating Julius Malema, leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), who received 44 votes.

Although leading opposition parties such as MK Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have their roots in the ANC, the parties have starkly set themselves apart due to past in-party disputes that led to the formation of MK and EFF. 

Historically, the ANC, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, and the DA have been rivals, with the DA leading the opposition from 1999 until the 2024 elections. On the other hand, the ANC, coming out of the South African revolution led by Nelson Mandela, has held a near majority position in the South African National Assembly since 1994. 

However, this year, the ANC suffered a resounding setback of 71 seats in the National Congress, forcing it to form a coalition government with the DA. 

South Africa’s New Government Brings Political Opponents Together in Government of National Unity

BY GERALD IMRAY

1:21 AM EDT, June 22, 2024

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — In a country where racial segregation was once brutally enforced, South Africa’s new coalition government has brought a Black president and a white opposition leader together in an image of unity.

Yet the power-sharing agreement sealed a week ago between President Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress party and the Democratic Alliance, one of South Africa’s few white-led parties, has unwittingly renewed some racial rifts.

Many Black South Africans have expressed discomfort with a white-led party being back in power, even in a coalition. The country is haunted by the apartheid system of white minority rule that ended 30 years ago but is still felt by millions among the Black majority who were ruthlessly oppressed by a white government and remain affected by unresolved issues of poverty and inequality.

South Africa is now faced with the likelihood of seeing more white people in senior government positions than ever since apartheid ended. White people make up around 7% of the country’s population of 62 million.

The ANC liberated South Africa from apartheid in 1994 under Nelson Mandela, the country’s first Black president. Its three-decade political dominance ended in the landmark May 29 election, forcing it to form a coalition. The DA, with its roots in liberal white parties that stood against apartheid, won the second largest share of votes.

Both have promoted their coming together in a multi-party coalition as a new unity desperately needed in a country with vast socioeconomic problems.

But history lingers. The DA suspended one of its white lawmakers Thursday, days after being sworn into Parliament, over racist slurs he made in a social media video more than a decade ago. Renaldo Gouws — reportedly a student in his 20s at the time — used an especially offensive term for Black people that was infamous during apartheid and is now considered hate speech.

Gouws faces disciplinary action from his party, and the South African Human Rights Commission said it will take him to court. The DA, which previously fended off allegations of favoring whites, is again under scrutiny.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions, an important political ally of the ANC, asserted that Gouws’ outburst was symptomatic of a DA that is “soft on racists.” The DA “needs to reflect on and address this if it wants to be accepted as a partner in the government of national unity by ordinary South Africans,” it said.

DA leader John Steenhuisen denied in a television interview that his party is dedicated only to white interests, saying it wouldn’t have won the second largest share of votes in a Black majority country if it was. The DA has Black and white lawmakers and supporters, but its only Black leader left the party in 2019, questioning its commitment to Black South Africans.

Political analyst Angelo Fick said the DA does have a “sense of whiteness” in the eyes of many South Africans and has created that by being “utterly disinterested in speaking to the concerns about race from Black South Africans.”

Shortly before Gouws’ case, racially charged language came from another direction when the MK Party of former President Jacob Zuma — once an ANC leader — called Ramaphosa a “house negro” for entering into the agreement with the DA. Zuma’s party also referred to white DA chairperson Helen Zille as Ramaphosa’s “slave master.”

The MK Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters — the third and fourth biggest parties in Parliament — have refused to join what the ANC calls a government of national unity open to all. They said the fundamental reason is the DA, which they say is committed only to the well-being of South Africa’s white minority.

“We do not agree to this marriage of convenience to consolidate the white monopoly power over the economy,” EFF leader Julius Malema said.

Malema has sometimes provoked racial tensions in demanding change, once saying, “We are not calling for the slaughtering of white people, at least for now,” and that South Africa’s “white man has been too comfortable for too long.”

He now says his party is not against white people but against a perceived “white privilege” that leaves 64% of Black people in poverty compared with 1% of white people, according to a 2021 report by the South African Human Rights Commission.

Malema represents a new opposition to the ANC by many Black South Africans frustrated over the race-based inequality that’s evident after 30 years of freedom. White people generally live in posh neighborhoods. Millions of Black people live in impoverished townships on the outskirts.

That frustration led many voters to give up on the ANC. The concerns about teaming up with the DA could weaken the party even further.

In his inauguration speech Wednesday, Ramaphosa recognized the “toxic” divisions that remain decades after Mandela preached racial reconciliation. “Our society remains deeply unequal and highly polarized,” Ramaphosa said.

The ANC is trying to use the coalition as a kind of reboot of Mandela’s ideals.

“To us, it doesn’t matter whether the cat is black or white,” ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said of the agreement with the DA. Mandela had used the phrase to signal he was open to all races serving in South Africa’s government.

“Fundamentally,” Mbalula said, “the question is how do we move the country forward.”

Probe Begins into Police Conduct During Kenya’s Anti-government Protests

Protesters returned to the streets of Kenya’s capital on Thursday to protest against proposed tax hikes in a finance bill that is due to be tabled in parliament. Clashes between police and the protesters took place as tear gas was used to disperse the crowds.

BY EVELYNE MUSAMBI

6:48 AM EDT, June 21, 2024

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An investigation began Friday in Kenya into police conduct during protests against a government plan to impose new taxes, according to the country’s police watchdog.

The chairperson of Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority, Anne Makori, lauded protesters for demonstrating peacefully and urged police to exercise restraint while noting the killing of a protester and injuries sustained by demonstrators and police officers.

Thousands of protesters had on Thursday marched in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi and other major cities and towns across the country, demanding that legislators reject a finance bill that has imposed new taxes on Kenyans.

The mother of the young man who was shot and killed during the protests told journalists her son was coming from work when tear gas was hurled in his direction and police fired at fleeing protesters.

Gillian Munyao said her 29-year-old son, Rex, was with some friends when he fell after being hit in his left leg.

“His friend noticed he had fallen and went to check on him only to find him bleeding heavily. He asked a passerby to help them and police who were walking towards them declined to help them,” she told journalists outside City Mortuary, where her son’s body is lying.

The Kenya Red Cross Society said Thursday that 39 people were injured, 8 of them being in critical condition.

A joint statement by the Law Society of Kenya, Kenya Medical Association, Defenders Coalition, Independent Medical Legal Unit and Amnesty International said that at least 200 people were injured during the protests.

The International Commission of Jurists asked the Independent Policing Oversight Authority Thursday to probe incidents of police violence during the protests.

“We reiterate the use of live bullets against protesters is disproportionate and unlawful,” ICJ Chairperson Protas Saende said.

Police are yet to comment about the killing and injuries sustained during the protests, but a statement from the Inspector General Japhet Koome said that officers would “neither condone nor approve efforts by demonstrators to occupy critical government infrastructure”.

Demonstrators who tried to access parliament buildings where the finance bill debate was taking place on Thursday were met with water cannons, tear-gas canisters, and rubber or live bullets.

The finance bill — which proposes new medical insurance levies, taxes on vegetable oil and an additional fuel levy — has sailed through the second reading with a final vote expected next week. The government amended some contested proposals that included a value-added tax on bread — which was earlier zero-rated — and an eco-levy on goods that would have affected the prices of sanitary towels and diapers.

Ivory Coast Sets Up Mobile Enrollment for a Health Coverage Program Criticized Over Glitches

Ivory Coast is one of a handful countries in West Africa that offers an universal health coverage programme for its citizens, but less than half the population has enrolled in the first five years. The universal health coverage, known locally by its French acronym CMU, is meant to cover 70% of people’s healthcare costs for 1,000 West African CFA francs ($1.65). The mobile enrolment centres sign up individuals and families and print cards onsite, so recipients can start receiving care immediately at hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies nationwide

BY HILAIRE ZON

4:04 AM EDT, June 22, 2024

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Health authorities in Ivory Coast launched mobile enrollment centers for the country’s universal health coverage program, which has been criticized since its 2019 inception over difficulties accessing benefits.

Ivory Coast is one of a handful countries in West Africa that offers a universal health program. But, five years in, less than half its citizens have enrolled. Known locally by its French acronym CMU, the program is meant to cover 70% of citizens’ health care costs for a monthly charge of 1,000 West African CFA francs, or about $1.65.

However, many participants who have managed to enroll have reported glitches, including that vouchers given at hospitals that are supposed to provide them with medicine are later not accepted at pharmacies — requiring patients to pay out of pocket.

The mobile enrollment centers being rolled out at markets and remote neighborhoods are meant to allow Ivorians to sign up for the program and provide them with cards on site so they can immediately start receiving care at hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies around the country.

From 2019 until this year, only 13 million people, or 40% of the population, were able to enroll. 

The country’s Health Minister, Pierre Dimba, said the mobile centers are aimed at reaching people who have been unable to sign up for reasons including that they work long hours.

“We used the method which worked well when we did the COVID-19 vaccination, which was to go to these people in the markets, in remote neighborhoods, to get them signed up,” he said.

Resident Bruno Agnissan already has a CMU card, but he came to an Abidjan mobile enrollment center in search of information about how to successfully use it.

He said that while his son was being treated for malaria at a hospital, the facility ran out of medicine. He was given a voucher and told find the medicine at a local pharmacy.

“When we went to the pharmacy and I presented the voucher, the pharmacy said that no, this is only for civil servants, that it won’t work for us individuals,” Agnissan said. “I went to all the pharmacies, and it didn’t work.”

Ultimately, he had to pay for the medicine out of his own pocket, he said.

Samuel Touffet, another local resident who came to the mobile center to get updated on coverage under the program, echoed Agnissan’s concerns.

“There are so many pharmacies where if we go with the card, it doesn’t work. So we want to know, where are the pharmacies where we can go and use the card?” he said. “Also, when we go to the hospital with the card, they say it doesn’t work. So we don’t know what this card is even worth.”

Resident Martin Abou, who came to enroll himself and his family for the first time, was hopeful. “You never know. We don’t know what tomorrow has in store for us,” he said.

Dimba, the health minister, said that he hoped the program becomes a basic insurance that covers every Ivorian citizen, with private insurance used only as a supplement.

He added that he the goal was to have 20 million Ivorians enrolled by the end of the year.

Namibian Court Overturns and Declares Unconstitutional a Law Criminalizing Consensual Relations Between Men

BY SONJA SMITH

1:26 PM EDT, June 21, 2024

WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) — A court in Namibia on Friday overturned and declared unconstitutional a colonial-era law criminalizing gay sex between men in a victory for LGBTQ campaigners in the southern African nation.

Three judges in the High Court in the capital, Windhoek, said in a joint ruling that the law that banned “sodomy” and “unnatural sexual offenses” between men and dated back to the time when Namibia was ruled by apartheid-era South Africa was unfair discrimination and should be removed.

Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990.

The case against the government was brought by a gay Namibian man, Friedel Dausab, in 2022. There are no laws criminalizing sexual activity between women.

Dausab argued that the law was a legacy of Namibia’s colonial history and was aimed at punishing and excluding gay men. He said in his court papers that although people were rarely prosecuted under the law, it stigmatized and marginalized same-sex couples “by outlawing the most private and intimate expressions of their love and identity.” The government opposed Dausab’s case.

The United Nations’ HIV/AIDS agency said the ruling “marks a significant victory for equality and human rights for all Namibians and will help protect the health of everyone.” The law had “perpetuated an environment of discrimination and fear, often hindering access to essential healthcare services” for members of the LGBTQ community, UNAIDS regional director for southern and East Africa, Anne Githuku-Shongwe said.

Amnesty International also welcomed the decision and said that Namibia had experienced a fierce anti-LQBTQ “backlash” in the past year after a 2023 Supreme Court decision that recognized same-sex unions between Namibian citizens performed in other countries.

In Africa, 31 countries criminalized same-sex sexual activity at the start of this year, according to Amnesty. That includes Uganda’s harsh new anti-gay law that was passed last year and allows for the death sentence in some cases.

Zimbabwe’s Gay and Lesbian Association said it was heartened that the Namibian ruling had upheld the principles of equality and called on its own government to overturn laws that criminalize same-sex relationships.

Niger is Relying on a China-backed Oil Pipeline as a Lifeline

BY CHINEDU ASADU

1:02 AM EDT, June 23, 2024

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A China-backed pipeline that would make Niger an oil-exporting country is being threatened by an internal security crisis and a diplomatic dispute with neighoring Benin, both as a result of last year’s coup that toppled the West African nation’s imperialist-backed government.

The 1,930-kilometer (1,200-mile) pipeline runs from Niger’s Chinese-built Agadem oil field to the port of Cotonou in Benin. It was designed to help the oil-rich but landlocked Niger achieve an almost fivefold increase in oil production through a $400 million deal signed in April with China’s state-run national petroleum company.

But it has been stalled by several challenges, including the diplomatic disagreement with Benin that led to the pipeline’s closure last week. There also has been an attack this week by a so-called "Patriotic Liberation Front" rebel group, which claimed to have disabled a part of the pipeline and is threatening more attacks if the $400 million deal with China isn’t canceled.

The group, led by Salah Mahmoud, a former rebel leader, took up arms after Niger’s junta came to power, posing further security threats to the country, which is already struggling with a deadly security crisis.

Analysts say the crises could further hurt Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries which funds most of its budget with now-withheld external support in the aftermath of the coup.

Niger currently has a local refining capacity of only 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) for local demands while the pipeline is to export up to 90,000 barrels daily — a feat officials and analysts have said would help the country shore up its revenue and emerge from the coup sanctions that had isolated it from regional neighbors and hurt its economy and people.

“It is a completely messy situation and the only way for a resolution is if both administrations directly engage and resolve issues,” said Ryan Cummings, director of Africa-focused security consulting company Signal Risk.

One major concern is how the stalled pipeline operation might impact Niger’s overall economic growth. The World Bank had projected that the West African nation’s economy would rebound and grow the fastest in Africa this year at a rate of 6.9%, with oil exports as a key boost.

The diplomatic tensions with Benin date back to July when Niger’s president, Mohamed Bazoum, was deposed in a coup, resulting in West African neighbors closing their borders with Niger, and in the formation of the so-called local liberation group now threatening more attacks on the oil project.

Benin, alongside other neighbors, has reopened its border with Niger, but Nigerien officials have refused to open theirs, accusing Benin of hosting French troops that pose a threat to the country after Niger severed military ties with France. That has led Benin’s president, Patrice Talon, to make the oil exportation through its port conditional on the reopening of the border.

Both countries are losing out economically, with Benin also being deprived of millions of dollars in transit fees. Observers say the impasse is worsening regional tensions since the coup, which came after a string of other military takeovers. It has pitched Niger against the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, which usually mediates on such issues.

With Niger tilting towards Russia in its diplomatic shift and Benin aligned with France and the West African bloc, China has tried to step in and resolve the impasse and benefit from its investment in the project.

But even Beijing’s efforts, which resulted in the first lifting of oil from the Agadem field in May, collapsed as the diplomatic spat escalated further.

Benin this week convicted and imprisoned three of five Nigerien oil workers it recently arrested at the Beninise port after they crossed from the border and were accused of “use of falsified computer data.” Their arrests prompted Niger to shut the pipeline last week, with a senior government official alleging that their oil is being “stolen by other people.”

A big concern for Niger’s military government at this stage is “whether they have the requisite fiscal capacity to keep paying for public services” following the coup, which has made it unable to meet some of its financial obligations such as debt repayment and infrastructural funding, Cummings said.

The anti-western government in Niger “definitely have to be more cautious in handling the financial position of the country” amid the ongoing crises, he said.

___

Virgile Ahissou contributed to this report from Cotonou, Benin.

Floods in Mostly Arid Niger Kill 21 People as Rainy Season Just Gets Started

BY DALATOU MAMANE

12:49 PM EDT, June 21, 2024

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Floods in mostly arid Niger have killed 21 people and affected more than 6,000 others during just the first few weeks of the African country’s rainy season that runs through September, a government official said.

Thirteen people were killed when their homes collapsed and eight died by drowning following heavy rains, Col. Boubacar Bak, the director-general of civil protection, said on national TV on Thursday evening.

From the Maradi region of south-central Niger, 35-year-old resident Ali Abdou told The Associated Press by phone that heavy rains destroyed houses in his community. “It is only the first rain of the season and our houses are already down,” Abdou said.

The rainy season, which lasts from June to September, regularly claims many lives in Niger, including in desert areas.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that floods and heavy rains hitting the country in recent years are due to climate change. Last year, 52 people died and 176,000 were affected by floods in Niger, the Interior Ministry said.

Niger’s population already struggles with periodic droughts and heat waves during the dry season.

The Maradi region has been most affected by the floods so far this year, accounting for 14 of the 21 deaths, Col. Bako said during his televised announcement.

Niger’s capital, Niamey, and its two million inhabitants, usually hit by deadly floods, have been spared so far.

But in a suburb of Niamey, the mud-brick house of resident Maiga Harouna, 56, collapsed during the torrential rain. “We desperately need help from the government before the second rain arrives,” Harouna said.

The government has not yet announced any plans for relocating people who lost homes due to the floods.

It Was Meant to be a Christian Utopia. Now This Nigerian Community is Helpless Against Rising Seas

The coastal community of Ayetoro in Nigeria was nicknamed “Happy City” when it was founded decades ago. But the lives of its current residents are far from happy. Their community is slowly being submerged by the Atlantic Ocean, with households displaced and businesses lost to the waves.

BY TAIWO ADEBAYO AND DAN AKPOYI

2:25 AM EDT, June 23, 2024

AYETORO, Nigeria (AP) — The coastal Nigerian community of Ayetoro was founded decades ago and nicknamed “Happy City,” meant to be a Christian utopia that would be sinless and classless. But now its remaining residents can do little against the rising sea.

Buildings have sunk into the Atlantic Ocean, an increasingly common image along the vulnerable West African coast. Old timber pokes from the waves like rotten teeth. Shattered foundations line the shore. Waves break against abandoned electrical poles.

For years, low-lying nations have warned the world about the existential threat of rising seas. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, struggles to respond. Some plans to address shoreline protection, even for Ayetoro, have come to nothing in a nation where corruption and mismanagement is widespread.

Prayers against the rising sea are “on the lips of everybody” in the church every Sunday, according to youth leader Thompson Akingboye. But they know the solution will require far more.

Even the church has been relocated away from the sea, twice. “The present location is now also threatened, with the sea just 30 meters (98 feet) away,” Akingboye said.

Thousands of people have left. Of those who remain, Stephen Tunlese can only gaze from a distance at the remnants of his clothing shop.

Tunlese said he lost an investment of eight million naira, or the equivalent of $5,500, to the sea. Now he adapts to a watery future. He repairs canoes.

“I will stay in Ayetoro because this is my father’s land, this is heritage land,” he said.

The Mahin mud coast where the community is slipping away has lost more than 10 square kilometers, or nearly 60% of its land, to the ocean in the past three decades.

Researchers studying satellite imagery of Nigeria’s coast say a number of things are contributing to Ayetoro’s disappearance.

Underwater oil drilling is one reason, according to marine geologist Olusegun Dada, a professor at the Federal University of Technology in Akure who has studied years of satellite imagery. As resources are extracted, the ground can sink.

But he and colleagues note other reasons, including the deforestation of mangroves that help anchor the earth and the erosion caused by ocean waves.

“When we started coming to this community, then we used to have fresh water,” Dada said. Today, the freshwater ecosystem is transforming into a salty, marine one.

The transformation is enormously costly in Nigeria. The World Bank in a 2020 report estimated the cost of coastal degradation in three other coastal Nigerian states — nearby Lagos, Delta and Cross River — at $9.7 billion, or more than 2% of the country’s GDP. It looked at erosion, flooding, mangrove loss and pollution, and noted the high rate of urbanization.

And yet dramatic images of coastal communities slipping away only capture Nigeria’s attention from time to time, as when the annual flooding occurs — another effect of climate change.

But Ayetoro residents can’t turn away.

“Ayetoro was like a paradise, a city where everyone lived joyfully, happily,” said Arowolo Mofeoluwa, a retired civil servant.

She estimated that two-thirds of the community has been slowly swept under the waves, along with some residents’ multiple attempts to rebuild.

“This is the third house we are living in, and there are some living in the fourth house now, and we do not have enough space for ourselves again. Four or five people living in a small room, you can just imagine how painful it is,” Mofeoluwa said.

“If you look where the sea is now, that is the end of the former Ayetoro.”

For the community’s traditional leader and head of the local church, Oluwambe Ojagbohunmi, the pain is not only in the loss of land but also “what we are losing in our socio-cultural and religious identity.”

Some residents say even burial grounds have been washed away.

Early this year, the Ondo state government announced a commitment to finding “lasting solutions” to the threat to Ayetoro. But residents said that’s been vowed in the past.

It might be too late for efforts to be effective, Dada said. For years, he has hoped for an environmental survey to be carried out to better understand what’s causing the community’s disappearance. But that’s been in vain.

The Niger Delta Development Commission, a government body meant in part to address environmental and other issues caused by oil exploration, didn’t respond to questions from The Associated Press about efforts to protect the community’s shoreline.

The commission’s website lists a shoreline protection project in Ayetoro. A photo shows a sign marking the feat with the motto, “Determined to make a difference!”

The project was awarded two decades ago. Project status: “Ongoing.”

Residents say nothing ever started.

“Help will come one day, we believe,” youth leader Akingboye said.

TAIWO ADEBAYO

Adebayo covers business and climate change and how they intersect with communities in Africa. He is based in Nigeria.

EU Operation Aspides in Dire Need of More Ships to Confront Yemen

Two western naval missions in support of Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza have failed to deter Yemen from launching attacks against commercial vessels linked to Israeli ports

JUN 21, 2024

The commander of Operation Aspides, Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis, says that the EU fleet deployed in the Red Sea to protect Israeli trade interests against Yemeni attacks “needs to more than double in size.”

“We don’t have that many assets, and the whole area we have to cover is enormous,” Gryparis told Bloomberg during an interview on Wednesday. “I am pressing all the member states to provide more assets.”

The Greek officer traveled to Brussels this week to make this plea. In his chat with the US financial publication, he also said that the air raid campaign launched by the US and UK against Yemen is “not contributing to the solution.”

“We don’t believe that hitting the Houthis might solve the problem,” he said. “Some other countries tried similar actions some years ago, and some other countries still do, and we see that it is not contributing to the solution to the problem.”

According to Gryparis, only four frigates have been at his command since February, when Operation Aspides was launched under a defensive mandate. However, the number dropped to three in April when France withdrew the FREMM Alsace frigate from the area, citing the “unexpected threat level.” 

As a result, the Greek commander says Operation Aspides is confined “to a small part of the southern Red Sea, near the Bab al-Mandab Strait between Yemen and Djibouti.”

“There are daily about 40 or 50 ships going up and down the strait so it needs a significant amount of ships to be able to provide this close protection,” he said. “There are cases where we are not able to provide this close protection but we try and cope with the volume.”

The mandate of Operation Aspides ends in February 2025, although Gryparis told Bloomberg he expects it to be extended.

The latest comments from Gryparis come less than a week after the Wall Street Journal reported that Washington's own naval campaign in support of Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is “unsustainable.”

“Their supply of weapons from Iran is cheap and highly sustainable, but ours is expensive, our supply chains are crunched, and our logistics tails are long,” said Emily Harding of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “We are playing whack-a-mole, and they are playing a long game.”

The Yemeni armed forces have targeted Israeli-linked ships passing through the Red Sea since November in support of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza and to demand an end to the genocide. In recent months, Sanaa expanded this campaign to include US and UK-linked ships and began targetting vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

Safeguarding Sovereignty: Yemen’s Massive Spy Ring Bust

Sanaa’s strategic takedown of a major US–Israeli spy network signifies a historic milestone in Yemen’s battle for autonomy, dismantling decades of foreign espionage and subversion to keep Yemen weak.

Khalil Nasrallah

JUN 20, 2024

(Photo Credit: The Cradle)

On 10 June, Sanaa announced it had achieved a “strategic intelligence breakthrough” by uncovering one of the largest US–Israeli spy networks in Yemen.

This effort, spanning years, succeeded in deciphering the “code” of the US intelligence spy network, leading to the arrest of its members, the unveiling of their methods, the tasks they completed, their objectives, and their recruitment processes.

Earlier this month, Major General Abdul Hakim al-Khaiwani, head of the Security and Intelligence Service in the Yemeni capital, revealed the dismantling of the US–Israeli spy network whose tasks had impacted various aspects of the state militarily, economically, and socially. 

Crucially, most of the spy network’s members concealed their activities under “the cover of international organizations and UN agencies.” Yemeni officials claimed the group was linked to the CIA and had been carrying out espionage activities in the country for years, initially through the US embassy before Washington suspended its operations in February 2015.

As proof, Khaiwani said the network possessed modern spy equipment and was in contact with US intelligence officers. 

Arrests reveal scale of espionage network

Confidential sources confirm to The Cradle that Yemeni security services began arresting network members between late 2021 and early 2022 and say the actual number of detainees is significantly higher than the 10 individuals whose confessions were broadcast on Yemeni media outlets.

The confessions ready for broadcast lasted two hundred hours, while many more are being prepared for broadcast and put before Yemeni and international public opinion.

The Cradle’s information suggests that the timing of Yemen’s spy ring announcement, the details leaked about the espionage missions, and the 10 confessions aired widely are influenced by two main factors. 

The first is technical, related to the completion of arrest procedures, the extraction of confessions, and the identification of all those involved. The second factor is related to the ongoing military confrontation with the US and Israel over their brutal war waged on the Gaza Strip.

Spies systematically undermined Yemen’s sovereignty

The Yemeni security services have revealed that the foreign espionage network engaged in a wide range of activities over the decades, leading to a significant breach of the state and perpetuating Yemen’s weakness at multiple levels. 

According to official statements, these activities include uncovering the funding sources for military entities and conducting intelligence activities targeting Yemen’s military capabilities. They monitored military movements and strategic capabilities of Yemeni forces, providing coordinates to the US and Israel. 

Additionally, they supplied hostile intelligence services with critical information on various formal and informal sectors.

The network infiltrated state authorities to influence decision-makers and advance decisions and laws favorable to its agenda. It worked to cultivate important Yemeni personalities, coordinating visits to the US to influence and recruit them. 

Among those recruited were economists and owners of oil and commercial companies, who were linked to American and Israeli intelligence. 

In the agriculture sector, the network sought to undermine national productivity and increase import dependence by recruiting spies in the Ministry of Agriculture, sabotaging research bodies and seed propagation centers, and implementing detrimental development programs. It even introduced pests and toxic pesticides, subsidized unsustainable seed varieties, created livestock epidemics through fatal vaccine programs, and degraded soil quality with harmful chemical fertilizers.

In the health sector, the spy ring implemented projects and programs that contributed to spreading diseases and epidemics across various Yemeni governorates. 

It also carried out other destructive plans that negatively impacted the educational process, separating education from development.

The tasks carried out by the network were found to date back decades, highlighting the extensive penetration of state powers and a systematic foreign effort to weaken Yemen economically, politically, and socially. Those goals align with the broader geopolitical objectives of Yemeni adversaries Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the US.

Under the guise of humanitarian aid 

The magnitude of Sanaa’s intelligence breakthrough was reflected in UN and western statements, most notably by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who called Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi to discuss the arrests of “UN and diplomatic staff,” according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry. 

Traditionally, US contact with the Omanis has been related to seeking mediation with the Yemeni authorities in Sanaa.

Railing against the west’s exploitation of humanitarian work to facilitate espionage, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a member of the Supreme Political Council, made explicitly clear: 

We have no position against UN organization employees, but we condemn the US for employing its spies under the guise of humanitarian and diplomatic work ... We are ready to hand over the evidence and documents to a third party that rejects the violation of countries’ sovereignty with such espionage acts, and the US statements in this regard are a denial of evident facts, like denying the sun in broad daylight.

Yemen has endured a decade of severe aggression, including a nine-year US-backed war waged by its regional allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE, economic and financial blockades, the deprivation of vital national resources such as oil, and attacks on its central bank. 

Despite these hardships, Yemeni security services have uncovered and dismantled various espionage, sabotage, and sedition networks over the years. These efforts have contributed to maintaining currency stability in Sanaa-controlled areas of the country – unlike in territories occupied by foreign forces and their proxies – and have initiated programs such as the “agricultural jihad” to mitigate food shortages caused by foreign design.

Working towards a stronger Yemen

Sanaa can counter the effects of western espionage infiltration by taking further measures to conceal its military industries, addressing and reversing state deficiencies, particularly in the vital agricultural sector, enhancing educational curricula, strengthening the domestic health sector, and engaging cautiously with international organizations, including the UN and foreign NGOs.

There is little doubt that the arrest of the current espionage network, building on previous security successes, marks a significant turning point for Yemen. It serves as a catalyst for upcoming stages, impacting both the ongoing regional military confrontation and the broader Yemeni crisis. 

Sanaa acknowledges that the confrontation with the US and its allies is ongoing and irreversible, particularly as it seeks to rectify the weaknesses and remnants of Yemen’s pre-revolutionary government. 

The decades-long tenure of the late president Ali Abdullah Saleh opened Yemen’s floodgates to western intelligence agencies and operatives, stripping it of its sovereign agency by reducing it to Saudi Arabia’s backyard and plunging it into poverty despite the nation’s abundant resources.

The dismantling of this spy network is just one aspect of Sanaa’s efforts to safeguard the state and society from infiltration, enabling it to persist in its waterways confrontation against US and UK aggressors and Israel-destined shipping vessels.

These efforts have allowed Sanaa to play a significant regional role – recognized by both allies and adversaries today – most vividly in Yemen’s bold intervention in the Gaza war in support of the Palestinian resistance. 

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.

Palestinian Resistance Shells Occupation Forces Across Gaza

By Al Mayadeen English

Sirens went off in the Gaza Envelope on Saturday morning, as Resistance fighters continue to confront Israeli occupation forces.

Palestinian Resistance fighters shelled Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Envelope and within the Gaza Strip on Saturday, as part of their continued confrontation of the invasion. 

Al-Mujahideen Brigades fighters launched a salvo of rockets toward Israeli occupation forces, positioned in the Netsarim Axis, which splits the northern Gaza Strip from the rest of the besieged territory.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad's (PIJ) al-Quds Brigades' Rocket Force attacked occupation forces in the same area with another salvo of rockets on Friday. 

The Netsarim Axis has been transformed into a strategic operational area for occupation forces, who are utilizing it for on-field command and control purposes. The area also allows occupation forces to impose their forceful displacement of Palestinians from the north, while also serving as a position to launch attacks into Gaza's towns and neighborhoods. 

Further south in Rafah, al-Quds Brigades fighters fired mortar shells at occupation forces positioned near the Rafah border crossing, dealing direct hits to several targets, specifically soldiers in the area. 

The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine's (DFLP) National Resistance Brigades also targeted an Israeli armored personnel carrier (APC) with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) in al-Sultan neighborhood. 

Warning sirens also went off at around 10:30 am (local time) in Kibbutz Sufa, an Israeli settlement to the east of Rafah. The settlement hosts an important Israeli military site which has been utilized as a logistics point by occupation forces during the invasion of Rafah. 

Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades also released footage of an ambush it set up for Israeli occupation forces in al-Shaboura camp in the Rafah refugee camp at an earlier time. 

The group also said that it fired mortar shells at occupation forces in the Yibna refugee camp in Rafah. 

Hezbollah's Operations in Support of Palestine Persist

By Al Mayadeen English

Hezbollah's rockets lit several fires in the Israeli Metulla settlement, as the Resistance continues to confront Israeli forces in support of Palestine.

The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah launched multiple operations against Israeli targets on Saturday, as the occupation shells Lebanese border towns with illegal weapons.

Hezbollah's fighters responded to an Israeli aggression on the border town of Meis al-Jabal by attacking a building, repurposed by Israeli occupation forces for military use, in the Menara settlement. 

Later the Resistance announced that its fighters responded to yet another attack on a Lebanese town, this time Khiam, by firing multiple shells at buildings used by occupation forces in the Metula settlement. 

As a result, multiple fires broke out in the settlement which lies on the Palestinian-Lebanese border. 

Farther east, the Resistance conducted two simultaneous attacks on Israeli occupation sites in Israeli-occupied Lebanese territories, namely the Shebaa Farms and the Kfar Chouba Hills. 

In the first attack, Resistance fighters targeted the Zibdine military site by firing unspecified "rocket weapons" at the Israeli base in the occupied Shebaa Farms. 

In the second attack, Resistance fighters attacked al-Ramtha military site in the occupied Kfar Chouba Hills. 

Both attacks were conducted at 5:15 pm (local time) on Saturday. 

On the other hand, the Israeli occupation shelled multiple Lebanese border towns, including Kfar Kila, Khiam, al-Jibine, Aalma al-Shaab, Kfar Hamam, and Houla. Both explosive shells and illegal white phosphorus munitions were used in attacks on Lebanese towns. 

Israeli warplanes also raided Kfar Kila, Ramiyah, Khalat Wardeh, and Yaroun on Saturday. 

A strike in the Western Bekaa hit a vehicle in the town of Khyara. The attack resulted in the martyrdom of Ayman Hashem Ghotma, a commander of the Islamic Group Resistance movement's Fajr Force. 

Niger Annuls French Operating License at Major Uranium Mine

By Al Mayadeen English

21 Jun 2024 12:23

The Niger government has previously warned that Orano's license would be revoked if development work at the Imouraren mine did not commence by June 19.

Niger has revoked the operating license of French nuclear fuel producer Orano at one of the world's largest uranium mines, the company announced on Thursday in a decision that underscores the growing tensions between France and Niger's junta.

Orano reported its exclusion from the Imouraren mine in northern Niger, which holds an estimated 200,000 tons of uranium, crucial for nuclear power and weapons.

Mining at Imouraren was scheduled to start in 2015 but was halted due to the global uranium price collapse following the 2011 Japanese nuclear disaster.

The Niger government had previously vowed to review mining concessions and warned that Orano's license would be revoked if development work did not commence by June 19.

"Orano takes note of the decision by the Niger authorities to withdraw from its subsidiary Imouraren SA its licence to work the deposit," the company confirmed in a statement.

It said that the revocation occurred despite its recent resumption of "activities" at the site, in accordance with government directives.

Orano expressed its willingness to maintain "open all channels of communication with the Niger authorities on this subject, while reserving the right to contest the decision to withdraw the mining licence in the national or international courts."

The company noted that the mine infrastructure had reopened on June 4, with dozens of people involved "to make progress with the work," adding that the Imouraren mine is expected to eventually create jobs for 800 people, including subcontractors.

Orano has operated in Niger since 1971. While a uranium mine at Arkokan closed in 2021, the company continues to run another uranium mine in the northern region of Arlit, despite facing what it calls "logistical" challenges.

According to data from the atomic organization Euratom, in 2022, Niger supplied about a quarter of the natural uranium used in European nuclear power plants.

Kazakhstan is Europe's primary supplier, followed by Niger and then Canada.

It is noteworthy that Niger's junta, which took power in July last year, has ordered French troops to withdraw from the country, as anti-French sentiment is running high in some former colonies over the French forces' failure in combatting terrorist insurgencies.

In early June, Bloomberg reported that uranium assets in Niger held by Orano may be taken over by Russia.

Russia’s state nuclear company, Rosatom, has contacted Niger’s military-led authorities about acquiring the assets in an effort to challenge the West, as per an informed anonymous source in Moscow.

Rebels Sabotage Key Oil Pipeline in Niger as Message to Government

By Al Mayadeen English

The pipeline is necessary for landlocked Niger to export crude from Seme-Kpodji, Benin's Atlantic port.

Niger's military rulers have confirmed that an oil pipeline carrying crude oil to neighboring Benin was sabotaged after a rebel movement seeking the release of the country's ousted president claimed responsibility for the attack.

Public television Tele Sahel reported on Friday that on the night of June 16-17, "malicious individuals sabotaged part of the pipeline in the Tesker department."

The governor of Zinder region, Colonel Issoufou Labo, who went to the scene of the attack, said, "We have already gathered information and clues on the alleged perpetrators" and "all those who contributed will be arrested and judged in accordance with their terrorist act."

"We know which group is the author of the act (which it has also) claimed," indicated public prosecutor Ousmane Baydo.

On Monday, the rebel Patriotic Liberation Front (FPL), which is fighting for the release of ousted president Mohamed Bazoum, said it had targeted the pipeline as a message to Niger's military generals.

The FPL was created in August 2023 after the overthrow of Bazoum in a military coup on July 26. Since then, he has been held at the presidential palace in the capital Niamey.

Mahamoud Sallah, the head of the FPL, has demanded the release of the democratically-elected Bazoum and threatened to attack oil installations.

He has also urged the pipeline's operators, the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation and WAPCO, to stop funding Niger's junta.

According to Tele Sahel, the attack damaged the pipeline and caused a crude oil leak. Images from the scene showed an oil spill that extended more than 370 meters (1,200 feet) into the bush.

The pipeline is necessary for landlocked Niger to export crude from Seme-Kpodji, Benin's Atlantic port.

The Nigerien army announced that six soldiers serving as a security detail were killed on June 12 in the first-ever attack on the pipeline by "armed bandits" in the south.

This comes a week after Niger's top court revoked the immunity of Bazoum on Friday, opening the door for a possible trial.

"The court orders the lifting of Mohamed Bazoum's immunity," said Abdou Dan Galadima, president of the court, created in November by Niger's new military government. 

Nigerien authorities accused Bazoum of treason, financing terrorism, and plotting to undermine the state.

African Union Supports Somalia's Call to Adjust Troop Withdrawal

By Al Mayadeen English

Somalia's government recently requested a revised withdrawal plan, proposing a more gradual reduction to ensure security continuity.

The African Union (AU) on Saturday expressed support for Somalia's plea to slow down the withdrawal of troops engaged in combating Islamist militants.

The decision comes amidst ongoing challenges posed by the insurgency led by Al-Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group, against Somalia's central government in Mogadishu for over 17 years.

Originally mandated by UN resolutions to completely withdraw by December 31, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was set to begin the third phase of troop reductions, with 4,000 soldiers out of a total of 13,500 scheduled to depart by the end of June.

However, Somalia's government recently requested a revised withdrawal plan, proposing a more gradual reduction to ensure security continuity.

In response to Somalia's appeal, the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) issued a statement on Thursday expressing strong support for a phased approach to the drawdown.

The revised plan would see 2,000 troops leaving in June and the remaining 2,000 withdrawing by September, aiming to maintain stability amid ongoing security challenges.

AMISOM, primarily funded by the European Union and mandated by both the AU and the UN Security Council, has been pivotal in supporting Somalia's efforts, alongside US airstrikes and local militia alliances, to combat Al-Shabaab.

Despite these efforts, the insurgents claimed territorial gains earlier this year, underscoring the persistent threat they pose.

Looking ahead, the AU has called for the establishment of a new AU-led mission for Somalia post-AMISOM, contingent upon UN authorization.

This initiative aims to provide continued security support beyond AMISOM's withdrawal, emphasizing the need for clear benchmarks and timelines in transitioning to the new mission.

AMISOM, comprising troops from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda, initially drove Al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu in 2011 but the group continues to maintain a significant presence in rural areas, perpetuating attacks on various targets in Somalia and neighboring countries, including Kenya.

In a recent tragic incident, Al-Shabaab targeted Somali soldiers with a roadside bomb in southern Somalia, resulting in the deaths of six soldiers, including a senior military commander. 

US Prepared to Back 'Israel' in Full-scale War with Hezbollah: CNN

By Al Mayadeen English

A senior administration official tells CNN that US officials emphasized that the Biden administration would provide "Israel" with the necessary security assistance.

Senior US officials assured a delegation of top Israeli officials visiting Washington this week that the Biden administration is fully prepared to support its ally in case of a full-scale war with Hezbollah, CNN reported, citing a senior administration official.

The Biden administration has consistently claimed that it wants to avoid a war between "Israel" and Hezbollah, advocating for diplomatic de-escalation. This week, US envoy Amos Hochstein was sent to the region in an attempt to supposedly help ease tensions.

The media outlet noted that top Israeli officials, including Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and "National Security" Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi, held meetings with Biden administration officials such as National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and White House Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk.

Sources revealed that the Israeli and American officials discussed various topics, including the situation along the border with Lebanon, Iran, and ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations.

The senior administration official mentioned that US officials emphasized that the Biden administration would provide "Israel" with the necessary security assistance, but noted that American troops would not be deployed on the ground.

The official indicated that in this week's meetings, US and Israeli officials discussed potential strategies to reduce tensions along the Blue Line separating southern Lebanon and northern occupied Palestine, including discussions on returning displaced Israeli settlers and Lebanese citizens to their homes.

The talks coincided with Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's public accusations that the US was withholding weapons and ammunition from "Israel", leading to a tense exchange between Israeli and US officials.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned that "the possibility of invading al-Jalil remains on the table" should the confrontation with "Israel" escalate on the borders with northern occupied Palestine.

"The enemy knows it must expect us on land, in the air, and at sea, and if war is imposed, the Resistance will fight without constraints, rules, or limits," he made it clear during the memorial service for senior Hezbollah commander Sami Taleb Abdallah and his companions, who were martyred days earlier in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.

A day before, the Military Media of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah published footage showing its reconnaissance drones flying over swathes of occupied Palestinian land, including Kiryat Shmona, Nahariya, Safad, Karmiel, Afula, all the way to Haifa and its port.

Titled "This is what the Hoopoe came back with," the nine-minute-and-a-half video captured footage and exposed sensitive Israeli sites. Hezbollah indicated that the video was only the first episode of more yet to come, highlighting that the drones bypassed Israeli air defenses and returned to Lebanese airspace undetected.

Shortly after Hezbollah published the video, the Israeli occupation military said that "operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were approved and validated." Senior Israeli commanders also decided to "accelerate the readiness of the forces on the ground," according to the military statement.

Leader Hails Election Race as Iran Gears Up for Presidential Polls

Saturday, 22 June 2024 11:41 AM

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei meets with the country’s judicial officials in Tehran on June 22, 2024.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has hailed televised debates among presidential candidates ahead of Iran's June 28 election, saying they give people familiarity with the opinions of the six contenders.  

The Leader made the remarks on Saturday morning in a meeting with the country’s judicial officials, after Iranians watched overnight the third of five debates planned in the days before the vote to replace President Ehrahim Raeisi who lost his life in a helicopter crash.

Ayatollah Khamenei, however, cautioned the candidates against making statements that could delight Iran's enemies.

"My advice is that these discussions that the candidates have together on TV or the statements they make either in public or individually in order to overcome the rival should not contain anything that makes our enemies happy," the Leader said.

"The words that are uttered should not please the enemy of the country, the nation and the system. This is not permissible," he said. 

"The assumption is that all the candidates love Iran and the Islamic Republic, since they want to become president in this system and to serve the people. Therefore, they should not speak in such a way that pleases the enemy."

In their third debate, the candidates presented their blueprints on the country's cultural and social issues. It followed the first held on Monday and the second staged on Thursday, which centered on economic and socio-economic issues respectively.

The Leader met the country’s judicial officials ahead of the anniversary of the martyrdom of Ayatollah Seyyed Mohammad Beheshti and his 72 companions, which has been designated as Judiciary Day in Iran.

Ayatollah Khamenei stated that the Judiciary must work in a way that the public would see it as the house of justice and the place where rights are preserved.

“The judicial system’s main purpose must be to work bravely to ensure that justice is served, without having discrimination or privileges for any figure and that is a difficult role,” he said.

He applauded the progress made in the Judiciary toward a program-based system, saying the improvement should be performed in a way that can be witnessed and sensed in the country.

The Leader referred to the issue of some detainees without a verdict as a matter that is resolved very slowly and advised the judicial authorities that it should be handled faster so that no one remains long in jail.

He also described as an unresolved problem the issue of detainment in cases of debt and said this problem should be settled as it might be not possible for the detainee to settle their debt no matter how long they stay in jail.

And finally, Ayatollah Khamenei advised the judges to make their verdicts according to internal and Islamic laws and not according to the West’s human rights doctrine.

USS Eisenhower Ordered Back to US from Red Sea Amid YAF Attacks

By Al Mayadeen English

The Eisenhower will be replaced by an aircraft carrier that would operate in the Pacific.

US officials have greenlit the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was dispatched to the Red Sea to counter the Yemeni Armed Forces' operations in support of Gaza, to return home.

The Eisenhower will be returning to Norfolk in the state of Virginia, the US Naval Institute’s news service mentioned, citing an anonymous official.

The reports added that the warship would be replaced by an aircraft carrier that would operate in the Pacific, with the closest known to be operating in Asia being the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

In early June, the spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF), Brigadier General Yahya Saree, confirmed that USS Eisenhower was subject to two attacks by the YAF within 24 hours.

Commenting on the announcement, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Sanaa government, Hussein al-Ezzi, considered the withdrawal of the Eisenhower from the Red Sea a positive sign, whether it was for maintenance or a permanent move.

On his account on X, al-Ezzi also vowed that the Roosevelt would not fare better than the Eisenhower, which has been significantly damaged, calling on the US, UK, and their allies to immediately end the militarization of the Red Sea and to change the aggressive behavior toward Arab and Muslim countries, especially Yemen.

This follows a report on Wednesday by ABC News that fatigue has begun to set in aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea.

As the carrier and its 7,000-strong crew near their ninth consecutive month at sea—the most prolonged naval engagement since World War II—questions arise about sustaining such an intense combat operation.

The carrier's deployment has already been extended twice, leading to growing fatigue among its crew.

At the Pentagon, leaders were grappling with whether to heed Navy calls to bring the carrier home or US Central Command's plea for an extended stay - hinging on the carrier's role in supporting "Israel."

A recent report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency revealed that the YAF have conducted no fewer than 175 operations on US naval vessels, coalition ships, and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November 19.

In early June, the leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned that the YAF would launch an even larger and more potent attack on the USS Eisenhower whenever possible.

It is crucial to note that the YAF has repeatedly stated that it does not intend to disrupt maritime routes for all, but instead is specifically targeting ships and vessels affiliated with the Israeli occupation or facilitating its genocide of the Palestinian people by shipping goods and equipment to the Israeli occupation. 

Cuba Joins South Africa Genocide Case Against 'Israel' as Third State

By Al Mayadeen English

Amid escalating aggression against Palestinian civilians throughout the Israeli genocide in Gaza, Cuba has decided to formally join South Africa at the ICJ.

Cuba announced that it will be joining South Africa's genocide case against "Israel" at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as a Third State, amid the occupation's escalating aggression against civilians in the Gaza Strip. 

Joining Nicaragua, Colombia, Libya, Maldives, Egypt, Ireland, Belgium, Turkey, and Chile on the list of countries formally supporting South Africa's lawsuit at the ICJ, Cuba published a statement officially announcing its decision. 

In a statement published on Friday, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its “unwavering and sustained commitment to supporting and contributing as much as possible to legitimate international efforts to put an end to the genocide committed against the Palestinian people."

The statement further affirmed that genocide, apartheid, forced displacement, and collective punishment do not belong in the modern world and must be rejected by the international community. 

Last week, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez lamented the state of indifference practiced by some toward Palestine and Gaza and warned them that history will judge those who remain indifferent to the plight of Palestinians.

Following a meeting with members of Let Cuba Live, the Cuban President posted on X: "Palestine hurts, and not doing something for its sake should hurt us every day."

"That [Palestine] is the location that defines the global struggle for justice and dignity," he added, stressing that "history will judge those who remain indifferent to the plight of Palestinians."

Concluding his post, Diaz-Canel affirmed that Cuba will remain on the side of those who do not belong to this category. 

UDM Officially Joins Government of National Unity Following Meeting With the ANC

The party previously said it was waiting for assurance that a framework would be adopted to guide the unity government.

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa on a campaign trail in Soweto on 22 April 2024. Picture: Alpha Ramushwana/ Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG - The United Democratic Movement (UDM) has officially joined the Government of National Unity (GNU) following its meeting with the African National Congress (ANC) on Friday.

The party previously said it was waiting for assurance that a framework would be adopted to guide the unity government.

UDM Leader Bantu Holomisa confirmed in a statement a few moments ago that the ANC has committed to appointing a technical committee to establish a framework.

Before its inclusion in the GNU, the party joined the Progressive Caucus in Parliament a pact of like-minded organisations in the opposition benches.

Over 200 Injured, 100 Arrested in Kenya Tax Protests Rights Groups

FRIDAY JUNE 21 2024

Demonstrators display placards during the Anti-Finance Bill protests in Nairobi on June 20, 2024. Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group

At least 200 people were injured and more than 100 arrested across Kenya in Thursday's nationwide protests against government plans to raise $2.7 billion in additional taxes, an alliance of rights groups said.

Police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters in the capital Nairobi, the five rights groups, which include Amnesty International and the Kenya Medical Association, said in a joint statement late on Thursday.

The presence of spent cartridges implied the use of live rounds, they said. One person died from a gunshot wound sustained in the Nairobi protest, the Daily Nation newspaper reported.

The Nairobi county police commander, Adamson Bungei, did not answer his phone to respond to the reported killing, injuries, and arrests.

"We commend the several thousands of protesters, many of whom are youthful, for picketing peacefully (and) exhibiting restraint and decorum despite provocation by police," the group said.

Protesters want the government to completely abandon the finance bill, saying it will choke the economy and raise the cost of living for Kenyans who are already struggling to make ends meet.

The International Monetary Fund says, however, that the government needs to increase revenues to reduce the budget deficit and state borrowing.

Earlier this week the government softened its position a little, with President William Ruto endorsing recommendations to scrap some of the new levies, including on car ownership, bread, cooking oil and financial transactions.

Despite the widespread demonstrations, which broke out in 19 of Kenya's 47 counties, lawmakers passed the finance bill in its second reading on Thursday, moving the contested tax proposals to their next stage for approval.

Lawmakers are expected to meet on Tuesday to vote on the proposed changes to the bill, which parliament's budget committee says would blow a Ksh200 billion ($1.56 billion) hole in the 2024/25 budget, and compel the government to make spending cuts.

Somalia Asks Peacekeepers to Slow Withdrawal, Fears Islamist Resurgence

THURSDAY JUNE 20 2024

Outgoing African Union Mission in Somalia (Atmis) troops arrive at Jalalaqsi, Somalia on February 9, 2023. PHOTO | POOL

Somalia's government is seeking to slow the withdrawal of African peacekeepers and warning of a potential security vacuum, documents seen by Reuters show, with neighbouring countries fretting that resurgent al Shabaab militants could seize power.

The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (Atmis), a peacekeeping force, is committed to withdrawing by December 31, when a smaller new force is expected to replace it.

However, in a letter last month to the acting chair of the African Union Peace and Security Council the government asked to delay until September the withdrawal of half the 4,000 troops due to leave by the end of June. The letter has not been reported before.

The government had previously recommended, in a joint assessment with the AU in March, reviewed by Reuters, that the overall withdrawal timeline be adjusted "based on the actual readiness and capabilities" of Somali forces.The joint assessment, which was mandated by the U.N. Security Council, warned that a "hasty drawdown of Atmis personnel will contribute to a security vacuum".

"I've never been more concerned about the direction of my home country," said Mursal Khalif, an independent member of the defence committee in parliament.

Somalia stabilisation force: Uganda troops answer call up; anyone else?

The European Union and United States, the top funders of the AU force in Somalia, have sought to reduce the peacekeeping operation due to concerns about long-term financing and sustainability, four diplomatic sources and a senior Ugandan official said.

Negotiations about a new force have proven complicated, with the AU initially pushing for a more robust mandate than Somalia wanted, three of the diplomatic sources said. A heated political dispute could lead Ethiopia to pull out some of the most battle-hardened troops.

Somalia's presidency and prime minister's office did not respond to requests for comment.

Mohamed El-Amine Souef, AU special representative to Somalia and head of ATMIS, said there was no definitive timeline for concluding negotiations but that all parties were committed to an agreement that helps achieve sustainable peace and security.

"The AU and Somalia's government have emphasised the importance of a conditions-based drawdown to prevent any security vacuum," he told Reuters.

The Peace and Security Council is due to meet in Somalia later on Thursday to discuss the drawdown and follow-up mission.

As the drawdown proceeds, with 5,000 of around 18,500 troops leaving last year, the government has projected confidence. It has said the new force should not exceed 10,000 and should be limited to tasks like securing major population centres.

The call for a smaller force likely reflects views of nationalists who oppose a heavy foreign presence in Somalia, said Rashid Abdi, an analyst with Sahan Research, a Nairobi-based think-tank focused on the Horn of Africa.

Worried neighbours

Uganda and Kenya, which contributed troops to the departing mission, are also worried.

Henry Okello Oryem, Uganda's state minister of foreign affairs, said that despite intensive training efforts, Somali troops could not sustain a long-term military confrontation.

"We do not want to get into a situation where we are fleeing, the kind of thing that we saw in Afghanistan," he told Reuters.

Oryem said Kenya accepted the drawdown requested by the US and EU but that the concerns of countries with forces in Somalia should be heard.

Kenyan President William Ruto told reporters in Washington last month that a withdrawal that did not account for conditions on the ground would mean "the terrorists will take over Somalia."

In response to questions, an EU spokesperson said it was focused on building domestic security capacities and supported in principle a Somali government proposal for a new mission that would have a reduced size and scope.

A US State Department spokesperson said the force should be large enough to prevent a security vacuum. Washington has supported all requests submitted by the AU to the UN Security Council to modify the drawdown timeline, the spokesperson said.

In response to a question about Ethiopian forces, the spokesperson said it was critical to avoid security gaps or unnecessary expenses "incurred by swapping out existing troop contributors."

Setbacks

Two years ago, an army offensive in central Somalia initially seized large swathes of territory from al Shabaab.

In August, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed declared his intention to "eliminate" the powerful al Qaeda offshoot within five months.

But just a few days later, al Shabaab counter-attacked, retaking the town of Cowsweyne. They killed scores of soldiers and beheaded several civilians accused of supporting the army, according to a soldier, an allied militiaman and a local resident.

"This broke the hearts of Somalis but gave courage to al Shabaab," Ahmed Abdulle, the militiaman, from a clan in central Somalia, said in an interview in April.

The Somalian government has never publicly provided a death toll for the Cowsweyne battle and didn't respond to a request for a toll for this story.

"There were enough troops in Cowsweyne, over a battalion, but they were not organised well," said a soldier named Issa, who fought in the battle there last August.

Issa said car bombs had blasted through the gates of Cowsweyne army camp on the day of the attack, citing a shortage of defensive outposts to protect bases from such attacks.

Ten soldiers, militiamen from local clans and residents in areas targeted by the military campaign reported no army operations in the past two months following additional battlefield setbacks.

Reuters could not independently establish the extent of the territorial losses to al Shabaab. Somalia's National Security Adviser said on X this week that the army had held most of its gains.

The peacekeepers' withdrawal could make it more difficult to hold territory. While analysts estimate Somalia's army at around 32,000 soldiers, the government acknowledged, in the assessment with the AU, a shortage of some 11,000 trained personnel due to "high operational tempo" and "attrition".

The government has said its soldiers are capable of confronting al Shabaab with limited external support.

Somalia has defied gloomy predictions before and has expanded its security forces in recent years.

Residents of the seaside capital Mogadishu – whose ubiquitous blast walls testify to the threat of Shabaab suicide bombers and mortars - say security has improved. Once-quiet streets bustle with traffic, and upscale restaurants and supermarkets are opening.

An assessment published in April by the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy said an Afghanistan-like collapse was unlikely, helped by ongoing external support.

The United States, for instance, has about 450 troops in Somalia to train and advise local forces, and conducts regular drone attacks against suspected militants.

But the assessment's author, Paul D. Williams, a professor of international affairs at George Washington University, said the militants' estimated 7,000-12,000 fighters would nevertheless be "slightly militarily stronger" than Somali forces because of superior cohesion and force employment.

International support

Somalia's security has been underwritten by foreign resources since Ethiopia invaded in 2006, toppling an Islamist-led administration but galvanising an insurgency that has since killed tens of thousands of people.

The US has spent more than $2.5 billion on counterterrorism assistance since 2007, according to a study last year by Brown University.

That number does not include undisclosed military and intelligence spending on activities like drone strikes and deployments of American ground troops.

The EU says it has provided about $2.8 billion to Atmis and its predecessor since 2007. Turkey, Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries also provide security assistance.

But resources are under strain. The EU, which pays for most of Atmis's roughly $100 million annual budget, is shifting toward bilateral support with an eye toward reducing its overall contributions in the medium-term, four diplomatic sources said.

Two diplomats interviewed by Reuters, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private negotiations, said the U.S. and EU want to scale back peacekeeping operations because of competing spending priorities including Ukraine and Gaza and a sense Somalia should take responsibility for its own security.

Some European countries would like to see the new mission financed through assessed contributions of United Nations member states, which would increase the financial burden on the United States and China, the four diplomatic sources said.

The State Department spokesperson said the US did not believe such a system can be implemented by next year but said there was strong international consensus to support the follow-on mission. The EU didn't address questions about the financing of the replacement mission.

Financing for the new mission can only be formally addressed once Somalia and the AU agree on a proposed size and mandate.