US Campus Crackdown: 500 Pro-Palestinian Protesters Arrested

Friday, 26 April 2024 7:17 PM

Police arrest pro-Palestinian students on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, on April 24, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

US police have arrested more than 500 protesters during a crackdown against pro-Palestinian protesters on university campuses across the country on Thursday.

Anti-riot police used chemical irritants and tasers against protesters, who set up camps in defiance of police warnings from Massachusetts to California, to protest against Israel's savage war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Protesters were arrested at schools including the Ohio State University, the University of Minnesota, Indiana University and Princeton University.

At Emory University in Atlanta, police clashed with protesters, including students from other Atlanta universities and area activists and arrested dozens of protesters, including faculty members.

Videos are shared on social media, showing officers using tear gas, tasers and handcuffs to detain protesters.

Emory's vice president for public safety Cheryl Elliott said in a statement that law enforcement "released chemical irritants into the ground" to disperse the crowd after protesters ignored multiple warnings.

She said 28 protesters had been arrested, including 20 members of the Emory community, "some of whom have been released."

"We are working with responding agencies to expedite the release of any Emory community members who remain in custody.”

At Emerson College in Boston, police also tore down an encampment there and arrested more than 100 demonstrators early Thursday morning.

Police detained 93 people at the University of Southern California.

And at The University of Texas at Austin, 60 protesters were arrested.

In the event, faculty members gathered at a rally and called for the school's president, Jay Hartzell, to resign after he praised law enforcement for exercising restraint against the protestors.

The latest arrests which followed others at Columbia, Yale, Brown and New York University, came as a growing number of students joined the protests after President Joe Biden approved $26 billion in war aid to Israel on Wednesday.

Across the United States, groups of students and activists are now demanding the leadership of their universities to cut financial ties with Israel, whose brutal war on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 34,300 people since early October.

Yemeni Armed Forces Strike British Oil Tanker, Shoot Down US MQ-9 Drone

Friday, 26 April 2024 11:16 PM

Britian's Marlin Luanda ship caught fire after Yemeni armed forces attacked it in January. (File photo)

The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces says it has carried out new operations against American and British targets in retaliation for their aggression on the country.

Brigadier General Yahya Saree said on Friday that Yemen’s naval forces struck a British oil tanker in the Red Sea with missiles.

Saree also said the military also shot down an American MQ-9 drone in Sa’ada province.

He added that the new operations were also a show of solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, amid the Israeli genocide there. 

“The Yemeni Armed Forces salute all the people of Yemen for their faithful response to the call of the fighter leader Sayyed Abdulmalik Badr El-Din Al-Houthi, may Allah protect him, in their unprecedented large-scale interaction in support of our oppressed brothers in the Gaza Strip, affirming support for the Armed Forces in their military operations against the ‘Israeli’ enemy and against the American-British aggression supporting it in the Red and Arabian Seas and the Indian Ocean,” Saree said.

He stressed that the Yemeni armed forces will continue operations in the Red and Arabian Seas as well as the Indian Ocean until the Western-backed Israeli genocide comes to a halt.

Since the start of the brutal campaign in Gaza, the regime has killed more than 34,300 Palestinians and injured over 77,000 others. It has cut off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

The Yemeni Armed Forces have been targeting Israeli vessels or those “associated” with the occupying regime in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea since October 7, 2023.

The regime ignited its bloody war machine in the besieged Palestinian territory on that October day in response to Operation Al-Aqsa Storm conducted by the resistance movement Hamas.

The maritime attacks have forced some of the world’s biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through one of the world’s most important maritime trade routes.

The United States and Britain have carried out fresh aggression on Yemeni soil by targeting the western province of Hudaydah.

Tankers are instead adding thousands of miles to international shipping routes by sailing around the continent of Africa rather than going through the Suez Canal.

The pro-Palestine maritime campaign has also prompted airstrikes by the US and its allies on Yemen – in violation of the Yemeni sovereignty and international law.

In consequence, Yemen’s armed forces have declared US and British vessels as legitimate targets.

Terrorist Attacks Occur in Iran, Russia Due to US Support for Terrorism — Iran’s Top Brass

According to the news agency Tasnim, when speaking about NATO eastward expansion, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani emphasized that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states should utilize the SCO potential in order to neutralize common threats

© Russian Emergencies Ministry/TASS, archive

ASTANA, April 26. /TASS/. The terrorist attacks in Russia and Iran have stemmed from the support of terrorist groups by the United States and other Western countries, Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu in Astana.

"The terrorist attacks in Russia and Iran are the result of support for terrorist groups by Western countries, especially by the United States," Ashtiani said, as quoted by the Iranian news agency Tasnim.

According to the news agency, when speaking about NATO eastward expansion, the Iranian defense minister emphasized that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states should utilize the SCO potential in order to neutralize common threats.

On the evening of March 22, a terrorist attack targeted the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk, just outside the Moscow city limits. According to the latest data, 144 people were killed and 551 suffered injuries. Eleven people, including four gunmen, have been arrested in the case of the terrorist attack. The Russian Investigative Committee said that it had established the connection between the suspected terrorists and Ukrainian nationalists.

On January 3, 2024, the largest ever terrorist attack on Iranian soil occurred in the city of Kerman during a ceremony commemorating an anniversary of the death of General Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (an elite unit of the Iranian military). The death toll from the terrorist attack was 95.

US-oriented Structures Try to Reformat Security System in Asia-Pacific Region

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu underlined that this is being done by strengthening "military-political structures such as QUAD, AUKUS and the US-Japan-Philippines triad"

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS

© Vadim Savitsky/Russian Defence Ministry Press Office/TASS

ASTANA, April 26. /TASS/. US-oriented military and political structures in the Asia-Pacific region, such as QUAD and AUKUS, are trying to transform the security system in the region into a US-centric one, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said.

"As for the Asia-Pacific region, here too we see systematic attempts to reformat the regional security system from ASEAN-centric to American-centric. This is being done by strengthening Washington-oriented military-political structures such as QUAD, AUKUS and the US-Japan-Philippines triad," Shoigu said at a meeting of SCO defense ministers in Astana.

According to the top Russian defense official, the "Taiwan factor" is being actively used to increase pressure on China.

Russia Warns US, NATO Against Harming its Security — Diplomat

Maria Zakharova stressed that "the level of nuclear risks have risen dramatically as a result of the West’s destructive policy, which is fraught with a direct military confrontation between nuclear powers"

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Russia warns the United States and NATO against taking any actions that undermine its security, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"We are sending clear and unequivocal signals to the United States and NATO warning them about potentially catastrophic consequences of their policy toward jeopardizing Russia’s security," she said.

"Regrettably, the level of nuclear risks have risen dramatically as a result of the West’s destructive policy, which is fraught with a direct military confrontation between nuclear powers," she said, adding that Russia never stops efforts to ensure nuclear deterrence.

"Apart from that, Russia regularly reviews its doctrines to assess their relevance to the current threats," Zakharova noted. "Thus, the reliability and effectiveness of nuclear deterrence in Russia are ensured at a proper level and should not be doubted."

Russian Troops Wipe Out Military Train with Western Armaments in DPR Over Past Day

Russian troops improved their tactical position and repelled eight Ukrainian army counterattacks in the Avdeyevka area over the past day, the Defense Ministry reported

© Russian Defence Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Russian troops destroyed a Ukrainian military train with Western armaments in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) over the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday.

"Operational/tactical aircraft, missile troops and artillery destroyed a military train with Western armaments and military hardware near the settlement of Udachnoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, personnel and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 67th mechanized brigade at a railway loading station near Balakleya in the Kharkov Region and struck enemy manpower and equipment in 112 areas," the ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine’s army loses 20 troops in Kupyansk area over past day

The Ukrainian army lost roughly 20 troops in battles with Russian forces in the Kupyansk area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup West units gained more advantageous positions and inflicted damage by firepower on personnel and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 3rd assault brigade near the settlement of Borovaya in the Kharkov Region. In addition, they repulsed a counterattack by an assault group of the Ukrainian army’s 408th separate rifle battalion near the settlement of Terny in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The enemy lost as many as 20 personnel and two pickup trucks," the ministry said.

In counterbattery fire, Russian troops destroyed a 152mm D-20 howitzer, a 122mm D-30 howitzer, a 122mm Gvozdika motorized artillery system and a US-made AN/TPQ-36 counterbattery radar station in the Kupyansk direction over the past 24 hours, it specified.

Russian troops improve frontline positions in Donetsk area over past day

Russian troops improved their frontline positions in the Donetsk area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup South units improved their forward edge positions and inflicted casualties on formations of the Ukrainian army’s 5th assault, 41st mechanized, 79th air assault and 46th airmobile brigades near the settlements of Maksimilyanovka, Katerinovka, Paraskoviyevka, Chasov Yar, Stupochki, Konstantinovka and Krasnogorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

In addition, Russian troops repulsed an attack by an assault group of the Ukrainian army’s 10th separate motorized infantry battalion near the community of Nevelskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, it said.

"The enemy’s losses amounted to 430 personnel, 2 armored combat vehicles, 6 motor vehicles and a drone control post," the ministry specified.

In counterbattery fire, Russian troops destroyed a Ukrainian 152mm D-20 howitzer, a 122mm D-30 howitzer, a US-made 105mm M102 towed howitzer, two Anklav electronic warfare stations, a US-manufactured AN/TPQ-50 counterbattery radar station and four field ammunition depots, it specified.

Russian troops repel eight Ukrainian counterattacks in Avdeyevka area over past day

Russian troops improved their tactical position and repelled eight Ukrainian army counterattacks in the Avdeyevka area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup Center units improved their tactical position in active operations and inflicted casualties on manpower and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 59th motorized infantry, 23rd and 115th mechanized brigades near the settlements of Novoaleksandrovka, Karlovka, Novgorodskoye and Arkhangelskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic. In addition, they repulsed eight counterattacks by assault groups of the Ukrainian army’s 25th airborne, 68th and 71st jaeger, 142nd infantry, 24th and 100th mechanized brigades near the settlements of Novokalinovo, Shumy, Berdychi, Semyonovka, Ocheretino and Netailovo in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.

Kiev loses over 400 troops in Avdeyevka area over past day

The Ukrainian army lost more than 400 troops in battles with Russian forces in the Avdeyevka area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"The Ukrainian army lost as many as 415 personnel, an infantry fighting vehicle, 8 armored personnel carriers, 13 armored combat vehicles and 3 122mm D-30 howitzers," the ministry said.

Russian troops advance to better positions in south Donetsk area over past day

Russian troops took better positions in the south Donetsk area over the past day, the ministry reported.

"Battlegroup East units gained more advantageous sites and inflicted damage by firepower on formations of the Ukrainian army’s 58th motorized infantry brigade and 1st National Guard separate brigade near the settlement of Urozhainoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The Ukrainian army’s losses amounted to 105 personnel, 3 motor vehicles and 2 US-made 155mm M777 howitzers," the ministry said.

Russian troops strike three Ukrainian army brigades in Kherson area over past day

Russian troops inflicted casualties on three Ukrainian army brigades in the Kherson area where the enemy lost roughly 35 personnel and a British howitzer over the past day, the ministry reported.

"During the last 24-hour period, Battlegroup Dnepr units inflicted damage by firepower on personnel and equipment of the Ukrainian army’s 117th mechanized, 121st and 126th territorial defense brigades near the settlements of Novodanilovka in the Zaporozhye Region, Respublikanets and Chervony Mayak in the Kherson Region," the ministry said.

The Ukrainian army’s losses in the Kherson direction over the past 24 hours amounted to 35 personnel, 2 motor vehicles, a British-made 155mm FH70 howitzer, 3 US-manufactured 155mm M777 howitzers, a 122mm D-30 howitzer and a US-made 105mm M102 towed howitzer, it specified.

Russian air defense forces shot down 193 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 2 rockets and 3 smart bombs over the past day, the ministry reported.

"During the last 24-hour period, air defense capabilities shot down 193 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, 2 rockets of the Olkha multiple launch rocket system and 3 French-made Hammer guided aerial bombs," the ministry said.

In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 592 Ukrainian warplanes, 270 helicopters, 23,325 unmanned aerial vehicles, 509 surface-to-air missile systems, 15,856 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,274 multiple rocket launchers, 9,140 field artillery guns and mortars and 21,308 special military motor vehicles since the start of the special military operation, the ministry reported.

Ukraine’s Farm Minister is the Latest Corruption Suspect as Kyiv Aims to Undo Recent Russian Gains

BY ILLIA NOVIKOV

2:44 PM EDT, April 26, 2024

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials were assessing how they can recover battlefield momentum in the war against Russia.

Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days. However, he was released after paying 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million) in bail, a statement said.

Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau suspects Solskyi headed an organized crime group that between 2017 and 2021 unlawfully obtained land worth 291 million hryvnias ($6.85 million) and attempted to obtain other land worth 190 million hryvnias ($4.47 million).

Ukraine is trying to root out corruption and a dragnet over the past two years has seen Ukraine’s defense minister, top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials lose their jobs. That has been embarrassing as Ukraine receives tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid to help fight Russia’s army, and the European Union and NATO have demanded widespread anti-graft measures before Kyiv can realize its ambition of joining the blocs.

In Kyiv, patients were evacuated from a children’s hospital on Friday after a video circulated online saying Russia planned to attack it.

Parents lugged bags of clothes, toys and food while carrying toddlers and leading children out of Kyiv City Children’s Hospital No. 1, on the city’s outskirts. Medics helped them into a fleet of waiting ambulances to be transported to other facilities.

In the video, a security official from Russian ally Belarus alleges that military personnel were based in the hospital. Kyiv city authorities said that was “a lie and provocation.”

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said civic authorities were awaiting a security assessment before deciding when it was safe to go back to the hospital.

“We cannot risk the lives of our children,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the key international organization coordinating the delivery of weapons and other aid to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said he’d told members of the so-called Ramstein group that Ukraine needed long-range weapons, air defense weapons and artillery ammunition to reverse Russian gains on the battlefield. The Kremlin’s forces have gained an edge over Kyiv’s army in recent months as Ukraine grappled with a shortage of ammunition and troops.

“The one-to-ten ratio of our country’s artillery to the Russian army inspires Putin to fight on,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.” Our soldiers need artillery.”

Russia, despite sustaining high losses, has been taking control of small settlements as part of its effort to drive deeper into eastern Ukraine after capturing the city of Avdiivka in February, the U.K. defense ministry said Friday.

It’s been slow going for the Kremlin’s troops in eastern Ukraine and is likely to stay that way, according to the Institute for the Study of War in Washington.

However, the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar is vulnerable to Russian onslaught, including glide bombs. The powerful Soviet-era weapons, originally unguided, have been retrofitted with a navigational targeting system to obliterate targets.

“Russian forces do pose a credible threat of seizing Chasiv Yar, although they may not be able to do so rapidly,” the Washington-based think tank said late Thursday.

It added that Russian commanders are likely seeking to advance as much as possible before the arrival in the coming weeks and months of new U.S. military aid, which was held up for six months by political differences in Congress.

While help from the United States was not forthcoming, Ukraine’s European partners did not pick up the slack, according to Germany’s Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks Ukraine support.

“The European aid in recent months is nowhere near enough to fill the gap left by the lack of U.S. assistance, particularly in the area of ammunition and artillery shells,” it said in a report Thursday.

Ukraine is making a broad effort to take back the initiative in the war after more than two years of fighting. It plans to manufacture more of its own weapons in the future, and is clamping down on young people avoiding conscription, though it will take time to process and train any new recruits.

___

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

Burkina Faso Suspends BBC and Voice of America After They Covered a Report on Mass Killings

BY JESSICA DONATI

11:15 AM EDT, April 26, 2024

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Burkina Faso suspended the BBC and Voice of America radio stations for their coverage of a report by Human Rights Watch on a mass killing of civilians carried out by the country’s armed forces.

Burkina Faso’s communication spokesperson, Tonssira Myrian Corine Sanou, said late Thursday that both radio stations would be suspended for two weeks, and warned other media networks to avoid reporting on the story.

According to the report published by Human Rights Watch on Thursday, the army killed 223 civilians, including 56 children, in villages accused of cooperating with militants. The report was widely covered by the international media, including the Associated Press.

Burkina Faso, a once-peaceful nation, has been ravaged by violence that has pitted jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group against state-backed forces. Both sides have targeted civilians caught in the middle, displacing more than 2 million people, of which over half are children. Most attacks go unpunished and unreported in a nation run by a repressive leadership that silences perceived dissidents.

Earlier in April, the AP verified accounts of a Nov. 5 army attack on another village that killed at least 70 people. The details were similar — the army blamed the villagers for cooperating with militants and massacred them, even babies.

“VOA stands by its reporting about Burkina Faso and intends to continue to fully and fairly cover activities in the country,” the network said in a news article reporting on its suspension.

The BBC didn’t respond to a request for comment.

On Friday, the United Nations called on Burkina Faso to reverse the suspension of the two international broadcasters.

“Restrictions on media freedom and civic space must stop immediately. Freedom of expression including the right of access to information is crucial in any society, and even more so in the context of the transition in Burkina Faso,” it said in a statement.

In the same statement, the U.N. said it had received additional reports that large numbers of civilians, including children, had been killed in several villages in the Yatenga and Soum provinces of northern Burkina Faso. The AP couldn’t immediately verify those reports.

More than 20,000 people have been killed in Burkina Faso since jihadi violence linked to al-Qaida and IS first hit the West African nation nine years ago, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, a U.S.-based nonprofit group.

Burkina Faso experienced two coups in 2022. Since seizing power in September 2022, the junta led by Capt. Ibrahim Traoré has promised to beat back militants. But violence has only worsened, analysts say. Around half of Burkina Faso’s territory remains outside of government control.

Frustrated with a lack of progress over years of Western military assistance, the junta has severed military ties with former colonial ruler France and turned to Russia instead for security support.

United Methodists Endorse Change that Could Give Regions More Say on LGBTQ and Other Issues

BY PETER SMITH

11:23 AM EDT, April 26, 2024

United Methodist delegates have overwhelmingly endorsed a constitutional amendment seen by advocates as a way of defusing debates over the role of LGBTQ people in the church by giving rule-making autonomy to each region of the international church.

Delegates voted 586-164 on Thursday for the “regionalization” proposal on the third day of their 11-day General Conference, the legislative body of the United Methodist Church, meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The plan would create multiple regional conferences — one for the United States and others covering areas ranging from the Philippines to Europe to Africa.

Existing regions outside the United States — known as central conferences — already have the flexibility to adapt church rules to their local contexts, but the jurisdictions in the United States do not. This constitutional change would give the U.S. church that flexibility, while defining autonomy more closely for all of the regions.

The vote total easily passed the two-thirds majority required for an amendment to the United Methodist Church’s constitution. To become official, however, it will require approval by two-thirds of total votes cast in its annual conferences, or local governing bodies.

If ratified, one effect of the change is that it could allow for the American church — where support has been growing for the ordination of LGBTQ people and for same-sex marriage — to authorize such rites, even as international churches with more conservative positions on sexuality would not.

“The big change this petition brings is really for our brothers and sisters here in the United States, where you would finally be given the right to decide things which only concern you among yourselves, the same right that we have enjoyed for a long time,” said Christine Schneider-Oesch of Switzerland, a member of the committee proposing the changes.

The measure comes during the first General Conference since one-quarter of U.S. congregations left the denomination over the past four years — most of them conservative churches reacting to the denomination’s failure to enforce rules against same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination.

Advocates hailed the proposal as a way of decolonizing a church some say is too focused on U.S. issues, though one opponent, a Zimbabwean pastor, said the details of the plan are reminiscent of colonial-era divide-and-conquer strategies.

LGBTQ issues weren’t central to the debate on Thursday, but they are expected to arise in the coming days at the General Conference. Some proposals would lift the current bans on ordaining LGBTQ people and on same-sex marriage.

“I believe that the values upon which worldwide regionalization is rooted will give renewed strength, life and vitality to the church,” said the Rev. Jonathan Ulanday of the Philippines. He said it gives autonomy while maintaining connection to the worldwide denomination, which he noted has been helpful in areas ranging from disaster relief to aiding Filipinos working abroad.

But the Rev. Forbes Matonga of Zimbabwe said the plan actually perpetuates colonial structures by creating multiple regional conferences in Africa along national lines, compared with a single one in the United States. He noted that many African national borders were created arbitrarily by European colonial mapmakers.

“It is this divide and rule,” Matonga said. “Create a region for Africans. Creates a platform for Africans so that we speak as a continent and not as small colonies.”

The Rev. Ande Emmanuel of Nigeria said he has been to multiple General Conferences and that many of the discussions are “U.S.-centric,” not relevant to African delegates. Regionalization would let each area of the church manage such issues, he said. “We are not here to control the Americans,” he said. “Neither are our brothers from America here to control us. We are trying to build a platform that is mutual. We’re trying to build an understanding that would move our church together.”

But in a small yet notable sign of fragmentation in the denomination, the General Conference also approved the departure of churches in several former Soviet countries which owed their growth in part to post-Cold War missionary work.

The conference approved the request of local conferences in parts of its Eurasia Episcopal Area — including Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan — to become independent. The departing conferences have 66 churches and 1,123 members, according to UM News.

While the reasons weren’t spelled out explicitly at the General Conference, the Russian-area churches are more conservative on matters such as LGBTQ issues.

Bishop Eduard Khegay, who leads the Eurasia area, alluded to both theological controversies and “geopolitical struggles between superpowers” in an address Thursday to the General Conference. He also thanked United Methodists for their years of help to the churches in the region and for enabling them to become independent in an orderly way.

“Sisters and brothers, I stand in gratitude for your decision,” Khegay said.

UN Warns Sudan Paramilitary Forces are Encircling a Capital in Western Darfur, Urges Against Attack

FILE - Sudanese Children suffering from malnutrition are treated at an MSF clinic in Metche Camp, Chad, near the Sudanese border, April 6, 2024. Many people here fled the fighting in Sudan's vast western region of Darfur, where attacks by the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces on ethnic African civilians have revived memories of genocide. Sudanese paramilitary forces are encircling the only capital they haven’t captured in the western Darfur region, the United Nations said Friday, April 26, warning that an attack would have “devastating consequences” for the city's 800,000 inhabitants. (AP Photo/Patricia Simon, File)

BY EDITH M. LEDERER

7:39 PM EDT, April 26, 2024

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Sudanese paramilitary forces are encircling the only capital they haven’t captured in the western Darfur region, the United Nations said Friday, warning that an attack would have “devastating consequences” for the city’s 800,000 inhabitants.

At the same time, the U.N. said, the rival Sudanese Armed Forces “appear to be positioning themselves.”

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres again called on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and government forces to refrain from fighting in the North Darfur area around its capital, El Fasher, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The year-old war in Sudan between rival generals from the paramilitary and government forces who are vying for power has sparked “a crisis of epic proportions,” U.N. political chief Rosemary DiCarlo said last Friday. It has been fueled by weapons from foreign supporters who continue to flout U.N. sanctions aimed at helping end the conflict, she said, stressing that “This is illegal, it is immoral, and it must stop.”

The U.N. humanitarian office said Friday that escalating tensions and clashes around El Fasher over the last two weeks have already resulted in the displacement of 40,000 people, as well as a number of civilian casualties.

“The security situation has effectively cut off humanitarian access to El Fasher,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs known as OCHA, said.

According to humanitarian officials, El Fasher is an important location to reach other parts of the vast Darfur region, including for aid shipments from neighboring Chad and via a northern route from Port Sudan on Sudan’s northeast coast.

“Currently, more than a dozen trucks with life-saving supplies for 122,000 people are stranded in Ad Dabbah in neighboring Northern State, as they cannot move onward to El Fasher due to insecurity and lack of guarantees for safe passage,” OCHA said.

Dujarric said the secretary-general’s personal envoy for Sudan, Ramtane Lamamra, is engaging with the rival parties to de-escalate tensions, which are reported to have dramatically escalated.

OCHA also said it’s “imperative that the parties allow safe passage for civilians to leave El Fasher for safer areas.”

Sudan plunged into chaos in mid-April 2023, when long-simmering tensions between its military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum. Fighting has spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas and the western Darfur region.

The U.N.’s DiCarlo painted a dire picture of the war’s impact — over 14,000 dead, tens of thousands wounded, looming famine with 25 million people in need of life-saving assistance, and over 8.6 million forced to flee their homes.

During the war, the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces have carried out brutal attacks in Darfur on ethnic African civilians, especially the ethnic Masalit, and have taken control of most of the vast region – with El Fasher its newest target.

Two decades ago, Darfur became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias, against populations that identify as Central or East African.

That legacy appears to have returned, with the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, saying in late January there are grounds to believe both sides may be committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.

The Rapid Support Forces were formed from Janjaweed fighters by former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled the country for three decades before being overthrown during a popular uprising in 2019. He is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and other crimes during the conflict in Darfur in the 2000s.

Yemen to Step Up Naval Operations in Indian Ocean: Sayyed al-Houthi

By Al Mayadeen English

Source: Yemeni Armed Forces - Military Media

25 Apr 2024 18:44

The leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah addresses a number of regional and international developments in a speech on Thursday.

The Yemeni Ansar Allah movement is working on reinforcing the country's reach toward the Indian Ocean, seeking to cut off the Israeli-affiliated ships from sailing on the Cape of Good Hope route or toward the Red Sea, Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi revealed on Thursday. 

The Yemeni front will remain open and the Yemeni Armed Forces' (YAF) operations in support of Palestine will continue, Sayyed al-Houthi stressed during a speech in which he addressed the latest regional developments. 

The leader of the Ansar Allah movement emphasized that the expansion of the YAF's operations into the Indian Ocean was never taken into account by American, British, and Israeli authorities, or what Sayyed al-Houthi refers to as the "Triad of Evil." 

Initially, Yemen's military began supporting the Palestinian people and their Resistance by targeting Israeli occupation forces in long-range attacks, via barrages of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and one-way attack drones. 

However, answering the directives of Sayyed al-Houthi and the calls of the people of Yemen who participated in weekly million-man marches, the YAF expanded its operations to target Israeli-affiliated ships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, a critical maritime route. This led to detrimental effects on Israeli maritime operations, nearly putting the Israeli-occupied Eilat port out of business. 

Later, following the intervention of a US-led naval coalition force in the region, the Yemeni Armed Forces expanded their operations to target hostile US and British ships in the aforementioned waterways. As the Israeli genocide of Palestinian people intensified and Israeli ships reverted to the use of the Cape of Good Hope route, which circles the African continent, to reach the eastern Midterennean, Sayyed al-Houthi announced that the YAF will begin to target Israeli ships in the Indian Ocean, essentially working to cut off the only remaining route linking the occupation to East Asia. 

YAF's operations in numbers

In his speech, Sayyed al-Houthi released the latest tally of Yemeni operations in 202 days since the war on Gaza began. 

He revealed that in the aforementioned timeframe, the YAF targeted 102 vessels of different origins and types. On average, this means that the YAF has targeted nearly 1 ship every 2 days. However, it is worth noting that the Yemeni Armed Forces launched their operations in late November of 2023, which would award them a slightly higher average than announced. 

Sayyed al-Houthi said that the American-British-led alliance failed to achieve its goal of protecting shipping lanes in the Arabian and Red seas, despite the deployment of large forces and continuous and intense monitoring operations over Yemen. 

The Resistance leader pointed to the confession of the General Director of Eilat Port, built on the usurped Palestinian village of Um al-Rashrash, Gideon Golber, who labeled the facilities at the Eilat Port as "non-functional" on March 21 this year. 

Sayyed al-Houthi also said that the operations have led to a 22% downturn in Israeli exports and a more than 40% decrease in import numbers, due to the siege imposed by Yemen on the criminal Israeli occupation. 

Concurrently, the operations have resulted in an 80% decrease in the number of US ships sailing in the Red Sea. 

Gaza is defeating 'Israel', US

On the Palestinian Resistance's ongoing battle against Israeli occupation forces, Sayyed al-Houthi said that the revival of rocket launching operations, targeting Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip, is "clear evidence of the cohesion" of Palestinian Resistance fighters and the effectiveness of their operations. 

He also pointed to the large number of equipment and personnel losses incurred by the occupation, saying that this defeat encompasses both the "Israeli enemy and its American partner."

Sayyed al-Houthi shed light on the "reverse migration" of Israeli settlers, putting the phenomenon in stark contrast with the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. 

"The contemplation of half of the Zionists of immigration and leaving Palestine reflects the existential crisis and is an admission on their part they are merely usurping occupiers," Sayyed al-Houthi emphasized. 

Hezbollah's operations are precise and effective

Sayyed al-Houthi also addressed the operations of other supporting fronts, including the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah from South Lebanon. 

He said that military activities on the Northern Front are escalating and that "Hezbollah in its crucial and direct front" is conducting operations that are "precise, purposeful, and have an (effective) impact on the Israeli enemy."

"In enemy circles, voices on the extent of the dilemma that they are experiencing in confronting Hezbollah are rising," Sayyed al-Houthi stressed. 

"Hundreds of thousands of usurping occupiers are facing a huge problem, as they fear living in northern Palestine," the Resistance leader added. 

"No Israeli means were effective in stopping the [Hezbollah] or dissuading it from continuing its major and great role in supporting the people of Palestine," Sayyed al-Houthi explained.

Sayyed al-Houthi salutes protesters in the US

"The conscious (popular) movements toward Palestine are growing and expanding," the Resistance leader said. 

He specifically pointed to the protests taking place in universities across the United States in support of Gaza. 

"American authorities are dealing with protesters against the genocide crimes in Gaza with full severity, affirming that the official behavior toward protests in American universities is [unacceptable] and disregards all [alleged] norms," Sayyed al-Houthi added. 

In this context, he stressed that American authorities "do not respect their laws, constitution, or any principles they raise and boast about, like democracy, freedom of opinion, and expression."

He also noted that Washington "cannot tolerate hearing voices from within the United States calling for an end to crimes against the Palestinian people."

With Fear and Hope, Haiti Warily Welcomes New Governing Council as Gang-ravaged Country Seeks Peace

Ariel Henry resigned Thursday as prime minister of Haiti, leaving the way clear for a new government to be formed in the Caribbean country, which has been wracked by gang violence. (April 25) (AP/ Pierre Luxama)

BY DÁNICA COTO

7:28 PM EDT, April 25, 2024

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti opened a new political chapter Thursday with the installation of a transitional council tasked to pick a new prime minister and prepare for eventual presidential elections, in hopes of quelling spiraling gang violence that has killed thousands in the Caribbean country.

Ariel Henry, the prime minister who had been locked out of the country for the past couple of months due to the violence, cleared the way for the transition by presenting his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles.

The document was released Thursday in Haiti on the same day as the new transitional council was sworn in to choose a new prime minister and Cabinet. Henry’s outgoing Cabinet chose Economy and Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as interim prime minister in the meantime. It was not immediately clear when the transitional council would name its own choice for interim prime minister.

The council was officially sworn in at the National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince early Thursday as the pop of sporadic gunfire erupted nearby, prompting some officials to look around the room. The council had been urged to seek a safer venue because gangs have launched daily attacks in the area.

Addressing a crowded and sweaty room in the prime minister’s office hours later in Pétion-Ville, Boisvert said that Haiti’s crisis had gone on too long and that the country now found itself at a crossroads. The members of the transitional council stood behind him, and before him, the country’s top police and military officials as well as ambassadors and well-known politicians.

“After long months of debate ... a solution has been found,” Boisvert said. “Today is an important day in the life of our dear republic.”

He called the transitional council a “Haitian solution” and directing his remarks toward them, Boisvert wished them success, adding, “You are to lead the country to peace, to economic and social recovery, to sacred union, to participation.”

After the speeches, the soft clink of glasses echoed in the room as attendees served champagne flutes toasted with a somber “To Haiti.”

The council was installed earlier Thursday, more than a month after Caribbean leaders announced its creation following an emergency meeting to tackle Haiti’s spiraling crisis. Gunfire heard as the council was sworn in at the National Palace prompted worried looks.

The nine-member council, of which seven have voting powers, is also expected to help set the agenda of a new Cabinet. It will also appoint a provisional electoral commission, a requirement before elections can take place, and establish a national security council.

The council’s non-renewable mandate expires Feb. 7, 2026, at which date a new president is scheduled to be sworn in.

The council members are Emmanuel Vertilaire for Petit Desalin, a party led by former senator and presidential candidate Jean-Charles Moïse; Smith Augustin for EDE/RED, a party led by former Prime Minister Claude Joseph; Fritz Alphonse Jean for the Montana Accord, a group of civil society leaders, political parties and others; Leslie Voltaire for Fanmi Lavalas, the party of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide; Louis Gérald Gilles for the Dec. 21 coalition that backs former Prime Minister Ariel Henry; Edgard Leblanc Fils for the Jan. 30 Collective, which represents parties including that of former President Michel Martelly; and Laurent Saint-Cyr for the private sector.

The two non-voting seats were awarded to Frinel Joseph, a pastor, and Régine Abraham, a former World Bank and Haitian government official.

Augustin, one of the council’s voting members, said that it was unclear if the council would decide to keep Boisvert on as interim prime minister or choose another. He said it would be discussed in the coming days. “The crisis is unsustainable,” he said.

Abraham, a nonvoting member, recalled the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, explaining that “that violence had a devastating impact.”

Abraham said that gangs now controlled most of Port-au-Prince, tens of thousands of the capital’s residents have been displaced by violence and more than 900 schools in the capital have been forced to close.

“The population of Port-au-Prince has literally been taken hostage,” she said.

Gangs launched coordinated attacks that began on Feb. 29 in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas. They burned police stations and hospitals, opened fire on the main international airport that has remained closed since early March and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. Gangs also have severed access to Haiti’s biggest port.

The onslaught began while Prime Minister Henry was on an official visit to Kenya to push for a U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country.

In his resignation letter, Henry said Haiti would be reborn. “We served the nation in difficult times,” he wrote. “I sympathize with the losses and suffering endured by our compatriots during this period.”

He remains locked out of Haiti.

“Port-au-Prince is now almost completely sealed off because of air, sea and land blockades,” Catherine Russell, UNICEF’s director, said earlier this week.

The international community has urged the council to prioritize Haiti’s widespread insecurity. Even before the attacks began, gangs already controlled 80% of Port-au-Prince. More than 2,500 people were killed or injured from January to March, up by more than 50% compared with the same period last year, according to a recent U.N. report.

“It is impossible to overstate the increase in gang activity across Port-au-Prince and beyond, the deterioration of the human rights situation and the deepening of the humanitarian crisis,” María Isabel Salvador, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti, said at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Monday.

On Thursday, some Haitians said they didn’t know that the country had a new prime minister and a transitional council in place. Others warily celebrated the new leadership.

“We don’t ask for much. We just want to move about freely,” said Guismet Obaubourg, owner of a dusty convenience story who lamented that his merchandise has been stuck at the port for two months.

As for Boisvert: “I don’t know him personally, but as long as he does what he’s supposed to do, provide security to the country, that’s all that matters.”

In attendance at Boisvert’s swearing in Thursday was Dennis Hankins, the newly installed U.S. ambassador. He said Thursday’s events were an important step for Haiti.

“In crisis, the Haitians are able to do tremendous things, so we’re here to help them,” Hankins said. “We won’t be the solution, but hopefully we will be part of helping those finding the solution.”

As part of that, he said the U.S. government was working to enforce export controls on weapons, many of which have found their way to Haiti, fueling the violence.

“The fact that many of the arms that come here are from the United States is indisputable and that has a direct impact,” Hankins said. “It is something we recognize is a contributing factor to instability.”

Nearly 100,000 people have fled the capital in search of safer cities and towns since the attacks began. Tens of thousands of others left homeless after gangs torched their homes are now living in crowded, makeshift shelters across Port-au-Prince that only have one or two toilets for hundreds of residents.

At the United Nations Thursday, World Food Program Deputy Executive Director Carl Skau said Haiti is suffering from a security, political and humanitarian crisis that is causing acute food insecurity for some 5 million people, or about half the population. The U.N. defines that as “when a person’s inability to consume adequate food puts their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger.”

“The situation is dramatic,” Skau told reporters. “Devastating crisis, a massive humanitarian impact, the worst humanitarian situation in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake.”

Rachel Pierre, a 39-year-old mother of four children, living in one of the capital’s makeshift shelters, said, “Although I’m physically here, it feels like I’m dead.”

“There is no food or water. Sometimes I have nothing to give the kids,” she said as her 14-month-old suckled on her deflated breast.

Many Haitians are angry and exhausted at what their lives have become and blame gangs for their situation.

“They’re the ones who sent us here,” said Chesnel Joseph, a 46-year-old math teacher whose school closed because of the violence and who has become the shelter’s informal director. “They mistreat us. They kill us. They burn our homes.”

US to Pull Troops from Chad and Niger as the African Nations Question its Counterterrorism Role

BY TARA COPP

4:13 PM EDT, April 25, 2024

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will pull the majority of its troops from Chad and Niger as it works to restore key agreements governing what role there might be there for the American military and its counterterrorism operations, the Pentagon said Thursday.

Both African countries have been integral to the U.S. military’s efforts to counter violent extremist organizations across the Sahel region, but Niger’s ruling junta ended an agreement last month that allows U.S. troops to operate in the West African country. In recent days, neighboring Chad also has questioned whether an existing agreement covered the U.S. troops operating there.

The U.S. will relocate most of the approximately 100 forces it has deployed in Chad for now, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Thursday at a press briefing.

“As talks continue with Chadian officials, U.S. AFRICOM is currently planning to reposition some U.S. military forces from Chad, some portions of which were already scheduled to depart. This is a temporary step as part of the ongoing review of our security cooperation, which will resume after Chad’s May 6th presidential election,” Ryder said.

In Niger, the majority of the 1,000 U.S. personnel assigned there also are expected to depart, Ryder said. 

U.S. and Nigerien officials were expected to meet Thursday in Niger’s capital, Niamey, “to initiate discussions on an orderly and responsible withdrawal of U.S. forces,” the State Department said in a statement late Wednesday. Follow-up meetings between senior Pentagon and Niger officials are expected next week “to coordinate the withdrawal process in a transparent manner and with mutual respect,” Ryder said.

Called status-of-forces agreements, these deals allow the U.S. to conduct critical counterterrorism operations within both countries’ borders and have supported military partner training. The reversals have prompted concern that U.S. influence in Africa is losing ground to overtures from Russia and China.

Relations have frayed between Niger and Western countries since mutinous soldiers ousted the country’s democratically elected president in July. Niger’s junta has since told French forces to leave and turned instead to Russia for security.

Earlier this month, Russian military trainers arrived to reinforce the country’s air defenses and they brought Russian equipment, which they would train Nigeriens to use.

Niger plays a central role in the U.S. military’s operations in Africa’s Sahel region, a vast region south of the Sahara Desert. Washington is concerned about the spread of jihadi violence where local groups have pledged allegiance to al-Qaida and the Islamic State groups.

Niger is home to a major U.S. air base in the city of Agadez, about 920 kilometers (550 miles) from the capital, which is used for manned and unmanned surveillance flights and other operations. The U.S. also has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in training Niger’s military since beginning operations there in 2013.

Officials from the State Department, U.S. Africa Command and the Pentagon will work with Chad’s government to make the case for U.S. forces to continue operations, Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Adm. Christopher Grady said Wednesday.

Grady told The Associated Press in an interview that if both countries ultimately decide the U.S. cannot remain, the military will have to look for alternatives to run counterterrorism missions across the Sahel.

“If we are asked to leave, and after negotiations that’s the way it plays out, then we are going to have to recalculate and figure out a new way to do it,” Grady said.

The news of the departure of U.S. forces in Chad was first reported by The New York Times.

Brazilian Authorities Bury Deceased Migrants Who Drifted in African Boat to the Amazon

The bodies of nine migrants found on an African boat off the northern coast of Brazil’s Amazon region were buried Thursday with a solemn ceremony in the Para state capital of Belem.

BY JULIA DIAS CARNEIRO AND ALAN K. GUIMARÃES

10:03 PM EDT, April 25, 2024

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — The bodies of nine migrants found on an African boat off the northern coast of Brazil’s Amazon region were buried Thursday with a solemn ceremony in the Para state capital of Belem.

Fishermen off the coast of Para found the boat adrift April 13, carrying the bodies that were already decomposing. Brazilian officials later said documents found in the vessel indicated that the victims were migrants from Mali and Mauritania and that the boat had departed the latter country after Jan. 17.

Brazil’s federal police said later that the bodies were of adults or teenagers whose exact age could not be determined. Agents found two documents — an identity card from Mauritania and a register of entry in Mauritania that belonged to someone from Mali.

The deceased were buried in a secular ceremony organized by a number of groups involved in their recovery, such as the U.N. Refugee Agency, the Red Cross and the International Organization for Migration, as well as Brazilian police, navy and civil defense agencies.

A tropical rain fell as their coffins were lowered into graves dug into the earth and those present watched in respectful silence.

Their roughly 12-meter (39-foot) boat was carrying 25 raincoats and 27 mobile phones, suggesting the original number of passengers was significantly higher. This also implies that people of other nationalities may have been among the deceased, local officials have said.

Brazil’s federal police said it is unlikely they will extract any information from the phones due to the long time of oxydation they were subjected to. The force also added they had found paper notes in the boat with phone numbers from Mauritania, Mali and Congo. A kind of stove and two containers that could have carried water or fuel were also among the remains.

It was a rustic blue-and-white fiberglass boat that, when found, had neither motor, tiller nor rudder. Its canoe shape is similar to Mauritanian fishing boats often used by migrants fleeing West Africa and aiming to enter the European Union via Spain’s Canary Islands.

An Associated Press investigation published last year revealed that in 2021 at least seven boats from northwest Africa were found in the Caribbean and Brazil. All carried dead bodies, like the vessel found in Para.

So far, none of the victims have been identified. Authorities said the manner of their burial would allow for subsequent exhumations in case families of the deceased were located and wished to transfer the bodies back to their home countries.

Brazil’s criminology institute in the capital Brasilia is carrying out forensic examinations of the remains, and the Federal Police say they are in contact with Interpol and foreign organizations to provide eventual results.

This year the number of people attempting the crossing from the northwest coast of Africa to the EU has seen a 500% spike, with the majority departing from Mauritania, according to Spain’s interior ministry. But it is a dangerous route with strong Atlantic winds, and boats that go off course can stay adrift for months and be swept away to distant destinations, often leading migrants to die of dehydration and malnutrition.

The reasons pushing people toward such boats are varied and intertwined: a lack of jobs and prospects of a better life, impacts of climate change, growing insecurity and political instability, among others.

More than 14,000 African migrants have reached the Canary Islands so far this year, according to the Spanish ministry. In February, the EU and Mauritania signed a 210 million euro ($225 million) deal aimed at cracking down on people smuggling and deterring migrant boats.

With hundreds more West African migrants reported missing, families in Mauritania have set up a commission to search for loved ones, and are anxiously awaiting information from Brazil.

Bachirou Saw of Mauritania buried one of his nephews earlier this year who had died during the arduous Atlantic crossing shortly after reaching the Spanish island of El Hierro. He’s still looking for another nephew, Kadija Saw, who departed in January and is nowhere to be found. He’s following news from Brazil closely.

Saw, who also has Spanish citizenship and immigrated to Europe by plane 30 years ago when it was easier to get a visa, said he’s been trying to convince young men not to emigrate by boat. He created a WhatsApp group to alert migrants to the perils of the ocean voyage and to share information with desperate relatives, and has counted at least 1,500 missing in the last six months from Mauritania, Mali and Senegal. While most of the migrants embarking to Europe are men, there is an increasing number of women getting aboard boats, too.

“I have their ID’s on my phone,” said Saw, who receives messages every day from families looking for their loved ones. Together with others, they’ve organized trips to Morocco to look inside prisons and morgues. Moroccan authorities often intercept migrants trying to reach Spain and detain them before deporting them. But Saw’s nephew wasn’t there either. He also visited the Canary Islands to check the morgues there.

Saw’s sister is desolate. “Every day she buys credit to listen to our audios, she lives for this, she doesn’t eat, she is thin, just thinking about her son,” Saw said. And she’s not alone.

“It’s very sad, half of the villages are dancing because their sons have arrived (in Spain),” he said, “but the other half cries because they’ve lost their sons in the ocean.”

___

Carneiro reported from Rio de Janeiro. Associated Press writer Renata Brito contributed from New York.

Malaria is Still Killing People in Kenya, a Vaccine and Local Drug Production May Help

Malaria’s impact transcends societal boundaries, claiming lives across diverse demographics. (AP video/Fred Ooko, Desmond Tiro)

BY FRED OOKO AND DESMOND TIRO

3:13 AM EDT, April 25, 2024

MIGORI, Kenya (AP) — As the coffin bearing the body of Rosebella Awuor was lowered into the grave, heart-wrenching sobs from mourners filled the air. Her sister Winnie Akinyi, the guardian to Awuor’s orphaned son, fell to the ground, wailing.

It was the latest of five deaths in this family attributed to malaria. The disease is common in Kenya, and it is preventable and curable, but poverty makes it deadly for those who can’t afford treatment.

In the family’s compound in the western county of Migori, three other graves are visible, that of Awuor’s husband and their other two children who died from malaria before the age of 2.

Awuor, 31, fell ill in December and lost her five-month pregnancy before succumbing to malaria. Her 11-year-old son is the family’s only survivor.

Malaria is still a significant public health challenge in Kenya, though some progress may be coming. Parts of Kenya participated in an important pilot of the world’s first malaria vaccine, with a reported drop in deaths for children under 5. Kenya’s health ministry hasn’t said when the vaccine will be widely available.

The biggest impact is felt in regions characterized by high temperatures like Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, and places with high rainfall like the western region near Lake Victoria.

Kenya had an estimated 5 million malaria cases and over 12,000 deaths reported in 2022, according to the World Health Organization.

Most of those affected are children under 5 and pregnant women.

Kenya continues to combat malaria with traditional methods such as distributing bed nets that are treated with insecticides, spraying breeding areas, and promoting prompt diagnosis and treatment, but experts say progress against the disease with those approaches has plateaued.

Public health expert Dr. Willis Akhwale, special adviser for the Kenya End Malaria Council, said the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down distribution of drugs and treatment.

He said innovative treatment methods are needed in the wake of drug resistant cases reported in parts of Africa.

“We need to start looking at investments in new generation medicines. That should then be able to counter any resistance in (the) foreseeable future,” he said.

Akhwale said other needs include more funding and logistical support.

“In Kenya the shortfall in terms of the need is almost $52 million, so we need to close that gap,” he said, citing health ministry data. He recommended domestic funding and private sector support amid donor fatigue with crises around the world.

Wilson Otieno has been admitted to a hospital three times for malaria and has received outpatient treatment countless times. It’s expensive for the 33-year-old accountant and father in the lakeside city of Kisumu.

Malaria is never “pocket friendly,” he said.

Some progress has been made with local manufacturing of crucial medication.

The Kenya-based Universal Corporation Limited last year received the WHO’s approval to produce an antimalarial drug known as Spaq, a combination of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine.

The approval was an important step in Africa’s capacity to make lifesaving medications, a new focus for governments and public health officials after vulnerabilities were exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Africa relies heavily on drug imports.

“It will really help in lowering the dependency for imports as we saw during the COVID era, where whatever was being imported actually had huge supply disruptions,” said Palu Dhanani, the founder and managing director of UCL.

If you don’t get the right medicine at the right time, malaria can cause unnecessary deaths, Dhanani said.

___

Tiro reported from Nairobi, Kenya. Evelyne Musambi in Nairobi contributed to this report.

Palestinian Resistance Factions: Geared Up for Rafah Invasion Scenario

By Al Mayadeen English

Palestinian factions release a joint statement warning against an Israeli invasion of Rafah.

Palestinian Resistance factions affirmed in a joint statement that the Resistance is all geared up for any plausible scenario in the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, including a ground invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city in the besieged territory. 

In a statement on Wednesday, the factions emphasized that they "will not sit idly by," as "all options (for escalation) are on the table," warning against the catastrophic and humanitarian consequences of any ground aggression on Rafah, which hosts more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians.

The Palestinian factions held US President Joe Biden's administration and Western governments fully responsible for any Israeli invasion of Rafah, as Western backing to "Israel" is ongoing despite the occupation's violation of multiple international conventions and laws.

In the same context, the factions called on the Palestinian masses in the cities of the West Bank to "rise vehemently" in protest against Israeli threats of invading Rafah.

"We call on our people to turn the West Bank into a fireball in the face of Israeli settlers and soldiers," the statement urged. 

Furthermore, the Palestinian factions affirmed that the Israeli genocidal war would not restore the defeated military of the occupation.

They also warned of "a comprehensive escalation and explosion that will affect the region and threaten its national security, especially Egyptian national security," in case an invasion into Rafah, which borders Egypt, is launched. 

On the same issue, Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas' Political Bureau, affirmed that "Washington's stance [on the issue] is deceptive" and that Palestinians "have not fallen into the trap of" the American and Israeli good cop bad cop act. 

Haniyeh stressed, in an interview for the Turkish Anadolu Agency on April 21, that "if the enemy decides to go to Rafah, our people will not raise the white flag, and the resistance is ready to defend itself."

How Columbia University is the New Face of the Intellectual Intifada

By Rachel Hamdoun

Source: Al Mayadeen English

Students of the United States, of all ethnicities and backgrounds, are bringing back the anti-war movement that was ignited during the American war on Vietnam in the 1960s. 

Students have forever been the face of the young revolution, only now being louder, fearless, and more audacious 

Universities across the United States have been witnessing an expanding movement on campuses by students protesting for Palestine against the war waged by "Israel" and supported by the US. This movement is not new - this movement is reborn with a cause brushed under the history books only to be unearthed by those living it.

Students of the United States, of all ethnicities and backgrounds, are bringing back human rights activism, which dates back to the civil rights movement in the 1960s, which influenced the anti-war movement that was ignited during the American War on Vietnam.

The Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University, which instigated the domino effect of pro-Palestine protests in universities across America, is more than just a wave of uproar against the US government's military and financial support for "Israel's" genocide in Gaza. It represents the call to action, mirroring the voice of power, which, in turn, gives voice to resistance against injustice.

However, the domino effect is sending the US government into a spiral of panic. Why?

Complex yet simply put, student activism is making a comeback, through civil disobedience and peaceful protests, to challenge the imperialist system that uses the academic institution as a tool of social control to enforce its ideologies and conceal the failures of its own history and present. 

And being "woke" is sort of the boogeyman of the government, because the term itself challenges the government and looks it dead in the eye.

'By all means necessary' and peacefully

Student demonstrations, regardless of how peaceful they are, have always been a bone for the government to pick with ever since the 1968 protests at Columbia against the war in Vietnam. Other universities like the University of Michigan and NYU followed suit, and thus the anti-war movement gained traction and the attention of the American youth. 

As of last week, the Morningside campus of Columbia has been the stage of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment where tents have been set up by students, housing posters calling for the end of the siege and genocide in Gaza encouraged by Western allies. The on-site encampment was the venue of multiple forms of protests such as teach-ins (which began in the 1960s Vietnam protests), dances, and poetry readings, while other students were seen completing assignments and painting. 

Then comes the crackdown at the hands of New York's finest, the NYPD. Picture this: America has a problem, instead of resorting to ways to solve the problem, who are they going to call? The police.

Columbia students, during their peaceful protests, have been calling for the complete divestment of the university from ties with "Israel" and the occupation's business entities. 

However, in a shocking turn of events, NYPD Chief John Chell revealed that it was the University's President Nemat "Minouche" Shafik (of Egyptian descent, by the way) who called the police after calling the demonstration a “clear and present danger.”

“To put this in perspective, the students that were arrested were peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner," he said.

Let's go back 235 years, to the formation of the US Constitution, specifically the First Amendment, which states that "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

So, rather than meeting the demands of their students, university administrations have been obeying the demands of their donors and political affiliates. To get down to the law side of things, universities could be sued for violating the First Amendment, which gives the students the natural right to express and advocate against policies by the US government freely. 

Shafik, Columbia University's President, is facing calls by students, faculty members, and even lawmakers to resign or face censure over her decision to call NYPD and arrest over 150 students for exercising their right to free speech. 

Here's the funny part of this whole shebang: The authorities, be they police or academics, have been weaponizing anti-semitism, claiming "intimidating" behavior from the students. After all, waving the anti-semitism card is a game the US is a professional at playing. 

Do you want to speak up against the rape of women in Gaza by Israeli forces? You're anti-semitic. What, you're against the blocking of aid by "Israel" into Gaza? You're anti-semitic. Did you say you're an anti-Zionist human rights advocate? I guess this also makes you anti-semitic, by US standards that is... 

Capitalist combat

In an interview for Al Mayadeen English, Maryam Iqbal, a student at Columbia's Barnard College and an organizer of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) group, stated, "I believe that as students at an American institution, we have an inherent complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people because our tuition and tax dollars are paying for it. And we have to fight with everything in us against our complicity. "

She reveals that not only was she arrested, but she was "suspended and evicted" from her housing by Columbia University.

She tells other students, "We want you to learn from our tactics and occupy buildings, occupy spaces and say I'm all eyes on that right now. I don't want people to center on Columbia because this should not only be about Columbia. It's not about us. It's about Palestine."

In the latest news, just today, Shafik imposed an ultimatum on students peacefully protesting against the Israeli genocide in Gaza: either reach an agreement with the administration to end the encampment or the school would resort to a different approach to dismantle it - by Monday midnight. Meanwhile, the University of Michigan recently announced, in light of the events, that it would permit free expression and peaceful protest during graduation in May but would stop "substantial disruption".

Basically, it's kind of set like this: you can speak on our own terms, and the "disruption" stops when we say so. 

When has intimidation and threat ever instilled fear into the minds of those who fear neither the book nor its author, neither the pen nor its holder, and neither the weapon nor its maker?

The privilege of being a student is having a voice and being the voice of those who are silenced by political agendas for cash and clout. The privilege of being a student is holding the pen as a weapon of resistance against imperialist ideologies and systemic injustice. 

The university or college campus represents the space for learning freedom, advocating for it, and therefore, using that space to educate society on it.  

Students across the US are rewriting history, just like those before them decades ago. These students are rewriting history to break free of colonial rhetoric and fight the war on Gaza through their pens and their voices. Instead of battlegrounds, they're fighting for the liberation of Gaza on their campuses. 

South Africa Calls for Investigation into Gaza Hospitals Mass Graves

By Al Mayadeen English

24 Apr 2024 17:27

Gaza's mass graves have prompted South Africa's DIRCO to call on international courts to investigate the atrocity and punish the perpetrators.

South Africa called for an investigation into mass graves discovered at multiple hospitals in the Gaza Strip, following the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces (IOF) from medical facilities they had invaded. 

The African nation, which has launched a remarkable legal case against "Israel" at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), called on the international community to urgently lead a thorough and impartial investigation into the recent discovery of mass graves in several areas across the besieged territory. 

The recent discovery of mass graves inside the Nasser Medical Complex and Gaza's largest medical facility, the al-Shifa Medical Center, prompted the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) to call for an investigation. 

"South Africa is appalled by the recent grim discovery of a mass grave containing the remains of 202 Palestinian civilians at Nasser Hospital in Gaza," the department stated.

It is worth noting that the Nasser Hospital is located in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip or 25 km away from al-Shifa Hospital, which is located in Gaza City to the north. The discovery of mass graves in both hospitals points to the involvement of multiple units of the IOF, highlighting systematic practices entrenched within the occupation's military. 

According to authorities in the Gaza Strip, some of the individuals discovered at the Nasser Medical Complex were killed during the siege imposed on the hospital, which included direct attacks and air raids on its facilities. Others were executed en mass during the Israeli raid on the medical facility.

"These grim findings call for immediate and comprehensive investigations to ensure justice and accountability," the department added.

South Africa called on the international community to act to bring the criminal Israeli regime to justice, urging the ICJ to open a comprehensive investigation into the case. 

Earlier on Monday, Gaza's Civil Defense announced earlier that 332 bodies of martyrs were recovered from the Israeli-made mass graves in Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis since the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the area. 

Among the hundreds of bodies, the Israeli forces buried in mass graves at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza was one of a decomposing body with its hands bound and clothes wrapped in medical scrubs.

Thousands of Palestinians remain missing under the rubble and in mass graves dug by occupation forces in the Gaza Strip, while the bodies of 34,262 were recovered and officially declared killed by authorities. 

Israeli occupation forces have shamelessly recorded their war crimes in the Gaza Strip, while Palestinians returning to raided areas were able to uncover the indescribable crimes of dozens of Palestinians either executed or who have had their bodies severely mutilated by the IOF.

Yet, only a few countries have taken action against the Israeli occupation for its crimes in Palestine, while the majority of the Western-led world order has continued its backing for the Israeli occupation. This has raised serious questions regarding the effectiveness and impartiality of the international legal system and the work of multiple international and humanitarian organizations, which have failed to live up to their duties in stopping the blatant genocide of Palestinians. 

Jamaica Officially Recognizes Palestine as a State

By Al Mayadeen English

24 Apr 2024 21:55

Jamaica's Foreign Minister has reported that the decision strengthened Jamaica's position toward a peaceful solution.

Jamaica has officially recognized Palestine as a state, citing long-standing concerns over "Israel's" continuing onslaught in the Gaza Strip and the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged Strip.

Jamaica's Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith verified the decision in a Wednesday statement emphasizing her country's "strong commitment" to the United Nations Charter's principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and the right to self-determination.

Smith expressed that by this recognition, “Jamaica strengthens its advocacy towards a peaceful solution," adding that the country still supports the "two-state solution" as the sole viable option to resolve this cause.

The ruling coalition made the suggestion in response to a resolution introduced by minor parties seeking for the rapid recognition of a Palestinian state.

She also stated that her administration believes that diplomatic engagement, rather than military action, is the most effective way to resolve the situation.

Smith reiterated Jamaica's support for a quick ceasefire in Gaza, improved access to humanitarian supplies, and long-term stability in the area.

Days ago, the Republic of Barbados, through its Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kerrie Symmonds, officially announced that it has "made the determination that the time is ripe for us to have a formal diplomatic recognition of the State of Palestine," becoming the 140th UN member country to do so.

Symmonds proclaimed, "How can we say we want a two-state solution if we do not recognize Palestine as a state?"

Moreover, Barbados stressed that it will maintain its relationship with "Israel" and that the most recent decision to formally recognize Palestine as a state will not affect the country's bilateral relations with Tel Aviv.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates welcomed the decision and urged nations that have not yet done so to make the decision immediately and demonstrate the international community's determination to end the Palestinian people's suffering.

US vetoes bid for Palestine's full membership status at UNSC

The United States vetoed a decision to award Palestine full membership status in the United Nations, in a meeting of the UN Security Council on Thursday, Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported. 

Washington lobbied several nations to vote against the proposal, this past week, however, its efforts failed to produce the sought-after results, as 12 nations in the UNSC voted for awarding Palestine full membership status. 

Two other nations abstained from voting, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, leaving the US stranded with only no vote in the UNSC. Being a permanent member of the UNSC, a US no-vote would nullify any proposal, even if it had garnered the full backing of all other members. France's representative in the UN said that the country backed the proposal after it was reported that Paris abstained from voting. 

US Facing Back-to-back Setbacks in Crucial Part of the World: WaPo

By Al Mayadeen English

24 Apr 2024 16:38

As the formerly colonized nations boot out their colonizers, Russia and China are welcomed to the Sahel region.

The Washington Post wrote on Wednesday that at the end of last week, the United States notified the leadership in Niger that it would honor its request to withdraw US forces from the country, adding that reports emerged indicating that authorities in Chad had sent a letter earlier this month to the US defense attaché stationed there, ordering the United States to cease activities at a base that accommodates French troops.

According to the report, the possible withdrawal of a contingent of US Special Forces stationed in Chad would represent another setback for Western hegemony in the Sahel.

In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, successive coups have toppled the governments. These coups have been accompanied by resentment toward France, the former colonial power, and a shift toward seeking support from Russia and China. That said, the report explains that the current government in Niger has decisively steered the impoverished nation away from Western influence, expelling French troops and moving toward reducing the significant US presence in the country's desert regions.

“The agreement will spell the end of a US troop presence that totaled more than 1,000 and throw into question the status of a $110 million US air base that is only six years old,” the report detailed.

'Africa is one place where the US is losing'

The report referenced the Le Monde newspaper, which outlined the events leading up to the deployment of approximately 100 African Corps officers, which had maintained a widespread and opaque presence across Africa before its dissolution late last year.

“Their official mission was to train Niger’s army, particularly in the use of a Russian-supplied anti-aircraft defense system,” the French newspaper noted, adding that “three months earlier, Niger’s PM had flown to Tehran to outline plans for closer cooperation with Iran, without providing any details of the nature of the envisioned contracts. This was a clear cause for concern for Western countries, particularly the US.”

The Wall Street Journal was more blunt in its editorial, saying, “In the new era of great power competition, Africa is one place where the US is losing.”

Chinese, Russian approval in West Africa

In the report, The Washington Post details that the country’s junta announced that a Chinese state oil company had made an advance $400 million payment for crude purchases from Niger’s Agadem field. The deal, structured with further interest payments to the Chinese company, would help Niger’s cash-strapped government reckon with mounting domestic debts, according to the report. 

Mentioned in the report, some Nigeriens were quoted in the capital of Niamey after years of overweening French interest saying, “Why is it a problem for the Americans and France that the Russians are helping us?” Abdoulaye Oussein, 51, said. “I think we’re free to make our own choices.”

The report included a new poll from Gallup that recorded strong approval for Russia and China in many parts of the Sahel. “Last year, China recorded its highest approval rating in Africa in over a decade,” Julie Ray, managing editor for world news at Gallup, said. “It picked up substantial support in countries in Western Africa — which helped nudge it ahead of the US by two percentage points.”