Niger PM: US Threats Led to Rupture of Ties

By Al Mayadeen English

14 May 2024 15:07

The Washington Post cites Niger's prime minister as saying that relations with the US significantly deteriorated due to US officials' attempt to dictate Niger's foreign partnership choices.

The United States' tone and behavior toward Nigerien officials was the primary reason for the collapse of its relations with Niger, after a senior US official threatened the country's authority during recent last-attempt negotiations regarding the presence of American forces, Niger's Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine revealed in an exclusive interview with The Washington Post.

Zeine confirmed that ties with the US significantly deteriorated due to US officials' attempt to dictate Niger's foreign partnership choices, in addition to failing to provide adequate justification for the stationing of US forces in the country, which is now slated to end in the coming months.

A first set of about 100 Russian advisors arrived in Niger on April 10 along with air defense systems after talks between military ruler General Abdourahamane Tiani and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian advisors are now staying at a Nigerien air base near the Niamey airport, which also houses over 1,000 US troops who were deployed in 2012 under the excuse of fighting terrorism in Africa's Western Sahel.

'Lack of respect'

Following a military coup last year led by Tiani that ousted the Western-backed President Bazoum, the US suspended security agreements and assistance with Niger.

"The Americans stayed on our soil, doing nothing while the terrorists killed people and burned towns," the premier said. "It is not a sign of friendship to come on our soil but let the terrorists attack us. We have seen what the United States will do to defend its allies, because we have seen Ukraine and Israel."

Citing US officials, the newspaper reported that the withdrawal of the US troops marks a notable setback for US President Joe Biden's administration.

Zeine expressed that the leaders of Niger's new government were puzzled by Washington's decision to suspend military assistance while simultaneously insisting on maintaining troops in the country, all without providing justification for their ongoing presence.

He noted a stark contrast in the US' reaction to Niger's coup, compared to other countries like Russia, Turkey, and the UAE, which welcomed the new leaders of Niger "with open arms".

He noted a stark contrast in the US' reaction to Niger's coup compared to other countries like Russia, Turkey, and the UAE, which have welcomed the new leaders of Niger "with open arms."

US threatened Niger not to engage with Iran, Russia

The prime minister pointed out that the Nigerien government was particularly offended by comments made by Molly Phee, the State Department's senior official for African affairs, during her visit to the capital Niamey in March.

He said that Phee had warned the country's officials against engaging with Iran and Russia in manners that Washington found objectionable if Niger wished to maintain its security ties with the United States. Additionally, Zeine said that Phee had threatened sanctions if Niger proceeded with a uranium deal with Iran.

"When she finished, I said, ‘Madame, I am going to summarize in two points what you have said...First, you have come here to threaten us in our country. That is unacceptable. And you have come here to tell us with whom we can have relationships, which is also unacceptable. And you have done it all with a condescending tone and a lack of respect."

An unnamed official said in response to the prime minister's statement, "The message to the CNSP [Niger's leadership] in March was a coordinated US government position, delivered in a professional manner, in response to valid concerns about developments in Niger. The CNSP was presented with a choice, not an ultimatum, about whether they wished to continue their partnership with us, respectful of our democratic values and national security interests."

The official added, "In the coming months, we will work with the CNSP to draw down US forces in an orderly fashion and ultimately reposition them elsewhere, consistent with U.S. security interests."

Imagine it happening in the US

Elsewhere in the interview, Zeine recalled his efforts to discuss the relationship between the two countries, stating that his attempts to arrange meetings with officials in Washington were declined for several months.

He said that Salifou Modi, a former army chief now serving as vice president, drafted a new status-of-forces agreement to govern the presence of American troops, but it was rejected. Still, he said, Nigerien officials had remained hopeful that the US might provide more assistance to respond to terrorist attacks.

Following the coup, Niger's new government expelled some 1,500 French soldiers stationed in the country, but left open the possibility for US forces to stay.

When Phee arrived in Niger in December, Zeine recalled showing her photographs of Nigeriens displaying American flags during protests against France, Niger's former colonial power. Despite protesters setting fires and vandalizing the French Embassy, he pointed out that they did not target the US Embassy.

"Nigeriens were saying, ‘Americans are our friends, they will help us this time to annihilate the terrorists,’" the prime minister said. "But there was radio silence." He added that his country would have dismissed help from other countries had the US responded to requests for more support, including for jets, drones, and air defense systems.

Speaking in an earlier interview, Phee said that US officials "made the choice as stark and clear" as much as possible during the December meeting with Niger's leadership. She added that the officials said that US support would "remain suspended until Niger set a timeline for restoring democracy."

When Phee came back to Niamey earlier this year, "I asked Modi if he knew how many Americans were in the country and what they were doing exactly," Zeine said. "He said 'No'". The prime minister said that he then turned to Phee and posed the question, "Can you imagine the same thing happening in the United States?"

In front of cameras

He explained that this visit marked a significant shift, largely due to Phee's hour-long opening remarks. She accused the Nigerien government of striking a deal to sell uranium mined in Niger to Iran, which could potentially use it for its nuclear program.

Zeine said that these allegations are not only untrue but also that "absolutely nothing" was signed during his visit to Tehran in January. If an agreement had been signed, "it would have not been under the table … but in front of cameras."

He likened the United States' actions to those of George W. Bush's administration before the Iraq invasion, citing subsequently debunked intelligence that claimed Saddam Hussein's regime had attempted to procure uranium from Niger for a nuclear weapons program.

Despite Niger's insistence on the departure of US military personnel, Zeine emphasized that his government desires to maintain economic and diplomatic ties with the United States, asserting that "no Nigerien sees the United States as an adversary."

He conveyed to Phee and Campbell that Niger would prefer American investors over soldiers. "If American investors come, we will give them what they need," he recounted informing the State Department officials.

"We have uranium. We have oil. We have lithium. Come and invest. That's all we ask."

Baku Rejects French Accusations of Meddling in New Caledonia Protests

By Al Mayadeen English

16 May 2024 15:56

Azerbaijan promptly refutes the claim made by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin that the country is escalating tensions between France and New Caledonia.

France leveled on Thursday accusations against Azerbaijan, alleging "interference" in the political affairs of its Pacific territory, New Caledonia, where violent protests erupted in recent days.

Azerbaijan promptly refuted the claim made by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin accusing the country of escalating tensions between France and the oil-rich Caspian Sea nation.

The unrest in New Caledonia, situated as a French territory between Australia and Fiji, was reportedly triggered by proposed changes to voting laws that independence supporters argue unfairly target the indigenous Kanak community. 

"This isn't a fantasy. It's a reality," Darmanin said, as quoted by France 2 TV when asked if Azerbaijan, China, and Russia were meddling in New Caledonia.

"I regret that some of the Caledonian pro-independence leaders have made a deal with Azerbaijan. It's indisputable," he claimed.

However, he stressed, "Even if there are attempts at interference... France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better."

In response, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ayhan Hajizadeh said, "We completely reject the baseless accusations." 

"We refute any connection between the leaders of the struggle for freedom in Caledonia and Azerbaijan," he further stressed.

France deploys troops in New Caledonia as protests leave four dead

France dispatched on Wednesday troops to defend ports and the international airport in its Pacific territory of New Caledonia following two nights of violent-turned protests that resulted in four fatalities and hundreds of injuries.

The unrest erupted after France's national assembly approved contentious changes to voting rolls, which indigenous Kanak leaders argue will undermine their voting rights.

Despite the implementation of security forces and a nighttime curfew, the violence has persisted, marking the most significant upheaval in New Caledonia since the 1980s.

Reports claim widespread looting of shops and arson attacks on public buildings, resulting in numerous casualties, including around 100 police and gendarmes.

Meanwhile, pictures have circulated all over social media showing French men targeting Kanak protesters with firearms.

While New Caledonia has twice rejected independence in referenda, support for sovereignty remains strong among the indigenous Kanak population.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for renewed political dialogue amid the crisis. However, the government has imposed a state of emergency, effective Thursday, to restore order, with troops deployed to secure key infrastructure.

Simultaneously, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the deployment of additional security measures, including a ban on TikTok.

The government's primary objective is to quell unrest and facilitate dialogue, he stated.

Under the state of emergency, authorities are empowered to enforce travel restrictions, house arrests, and conduct searches.

In response to the unrest, nearly 1,800 law enforcement officers have been mobilized, with an additional 500 reinforcements expected.

Macron canceled a scheduled trip to convene an emergency meeting and address the situation in New Caledonia.

Russian Forces Take Village of Rabotyne, Annihilate 1,200 Ukrainian Soldiers in 24 Hours

Russian Defence Ministry: Rabotyne taken

15.05.2024 14:52

Incidents

The Russian forces have taken the village of Rabotyne (spelled the Russian way as Rabotino) in the Zaporizhzhia direction of hostilities, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

The small village of Rabotyne in the Pologovsky district of the Zaporizhzhia region was one of the goals of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the summer and autumn of last year. Russian and Ukrainian forces have been fighting for the village during the recent several months, but neither side has been able to take full control of it.

The military department also reported that units of the Sever (North) group of the Russian forces took two more settlements in the Kharkiv region. It goes about the villages of Glubokoe and Lukyantsy north of Liptsy.

The military department also reported massive attacks on the positions of four Ukrainian brigades in the areas of the settlements of Zhuravka, Granov, Liptsy and Volchansk. Three counterattacks were repelled in areas of Glubokoe and Staritsa.

As for other directions of hostilities, the following changes have occurred there over the past 24 hours:

units of the Zapad (West) group attacked positions of three brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in areas of the settlements of Petropavlovka, Stelmakhovka, Nadiya, ten counterattacks were repelled in areas of Makeyevka and Novoegorovka;

units of the Yug (South) group attacked positions of eight brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in areas of the settlements of Kalinina, Razdolovka, Kleshcheevka, Nevelskoye, Krasnogorovka, Georgievka, Belogorovka;

units of the Center group attacked positions of four brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Novgorodskoye, Mayorsk, Semenovka, Umanskoye. Six counterattacks were repelled in areas of the settlements of Solovyevo, Ocheretino, Netailovo, Keramik;

units of the Vostok (East) group attacked positions of three brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in areas of the settlements of Staromayorskoye, Urozhainoye, Vodyanoye;

units of the Dnepr group attacked positions of three brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in areas of the settlements of Malaya Tokmachka, Nikopol, and Zolotaya Balka.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost more than 1,200 people over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defence ministry said. The Russian forces also annihilated three tanks, a Vampire MLRS combat vehicle, a Grad MLRS combat vehicle, and three Gvozdika self-propelled guns. In addition, Russian air defence systems shot down a MiG-29 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force.

See more at https://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/159599-rabotyne/

Slovakia’s PM in 'Very Serious' Condition, President-elect Says

Peter Pellegrini added that "the next few hours and days" will be decisive for Robert Fico, who is staying at a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica

Slovak President-Elect Peter Pellegrini AP Photo/Petr David Josek

© AP Photo/Petr David Josek

BRATISLAVA, May 16. /TASS/. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in very serious condition after an assassination attempt, Slovak President-Elect Peter Pellegrini said after visiting him in a hospital.

"The condition of Prime Minister Robert Fico is assessed as very serious. He was on the verge of death. I was only allowed to talk to him for a few minutes," Pellegrini told reporters.

He said "the next few hours and days" will be decisive for the prime minister, who is staying at a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica.

According to Pellegrini, the conversation was of private nature.

"Robert Fico, after saying a few phrases, felt very tired," the president-elect said.

The official called for the unification of a society amid divisions over political views. Never before in Slovakia's history, he said, had a red line been crossed by an assassination attempt on a democratically elected politician.

Pellegrini and incumbent President Zuzana Caputova plan to meet with leaders of all parties and political groups in the coming days.

"It should be noted that competition [between political forces] will take place only within a democratic framework and hatred will not be spread in any way. In this case, we will not witness such tragedies," the president-elect said.

Shooting of Slovak PM Sounds the Alarm for Increasing Political Violence in Europe

By Global Times

May 16, 2024 10:21 PM

A man is detained on the site where Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and wounded in Handlova, Slovakia, on May 15, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

The shooting of Slovakia's prime minister sends a grim signal of political and social fragmentation, violence and extremism in Europe.

On Wednesday, Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and injured after an away-from-home government meeting in the country's Trencin region. According to media reports, Fico has been out of surgery and is in stable condition. The local media also revealed that the suspect was a 71-year-old man, who was an author of three collections of poetry and a member of the Slovak Society of Writers. 

"This assassination (attempt) was politically motivated and the perpetrator's decision was born closely after the presidential election," said Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok.

The prime minister is known for his ability to reinvent his political career in the face of major setbacks. Last October, Fico and his Smer-SD party won Slovakia's parliamentary election after campaigning on a pro-Russian and anti-American message, marking the start of his fourth term as Slovakia's prime minister. He has consistently advocated for peace between Russia and Ukraine, and promised to stop sending weapons to Ukraine, to block Kiev's potential NATO membership and to oppose sanctions on Russia. When discussing the situation in Ukraine, he emphasized, "We share the same opinion with China on the impossibility of solving the conflict in Ukraine by military means and we support all meaningful peace plans that will not be phantasmagories but will be based on reality." This stance positioned him outside the European mainstream. He has become the target of criticism by the opposition party and liberal media.

In a video widely circulated on Slovak media purporting to feature the suspect, the man expressed disagreement with the Slovak government's policies. Some foreign media outlets also believe that the root of the attack lies in Slovakia's "bitter divides."

As geopolitical tensions, the rise of right-wing forces, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict intensify, the shooting of Fico reveals not only chaos within Slovakia but also rising political violence and social turmoil across Europe. According to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, with the European Parliament elections and multiple state elections in Germany approaching in June, recent violent acts have primarily targeted politically active individuals seeking election or re-election. Hatred and contempt for politicians are no longer marginalized phenomena but have increasingly permeated society. In 2023, German police recorded 2,790 attacks on politicians, roughly double the number recorded in 2019.

Currently, political and social crises across Europe are compounding, with contradictions intertwining. Politically, dissatisfaction among the populace with governments and ruling parties is escalating, allowing extremist forces to rise, and leading to polarization in Europe, accompanied by a clear trend of violence.

Rome wasn't built in a day. Europe's overall economic decline, the impact of immigration crises on social welfare systems and the cultural clashes resulting from religious differences have given rise to a plethora of chaos in Europe. "For Europe, this is an era of compounded crises in political, economic and social contradictions. Europe is now at a critical juncture between reform and clinging to the past," Zhao Junjie, a research fellow at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

After Fico was shot, many politicians expressed shock at the incident. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, "Violence must have no place in European politics." The sound of gunfire shows that addressing political violence has become a major challenge for Europe as a whole. Extreme sentiments pervade Europe, with many feeling uneasy due to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, climate crises and economic uncertainties. More and more people are unwilling to engage in political dialogue, and the democratic consensus of maintaining political objectivity rather than personal attacks is gradually disappearing.

Upsetting signs are on the rise in European politics. The assassination attempt against Fico sounds the alarm for increasing political violence in Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated, "There can be no justification for this monstrous crime." The chaos in European politics and society is worthy of serious consideration.

Stable Devt of China-Russia Ties Beneficial to World Peace, Prosperity: Global Times Editorial

By Global Times

May 17, 2024 12:04 AM

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet the press on May 16 in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

On May 16, Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is in China on a state visit, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The two heads of state jointly met the press, signed and issued the Joint Statement of the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation on Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era in the Context of the 75th Anniversary of China-Russia Diplomatic Relations (hereinafter referred to as the "Statement"). Under the strategic guidance of the two leaders, China and Russia have consistently developed their bilateral relations based on the principles of non-alignment, non-confrontation, and not targeting any third party, setting an example of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between major powers. This not only aligns with the fundamental interests of both countries and their peoples but also contributes to regional and global peace, stability, and prosperity.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia. Summarizing the notable progress in China-Russia relations over the past 75 years, President Xi said that it is attributable to the two countries' commitment to five principles. First, China and Russia are committed to mutual respect as the fundamental principle of relations, and always render support for each other's core interests. Second, China and Russia are committed to win-win cooperation as the driving force of relations, and work to foster a new paradigm of mutual benefit. Third, China and Russia are committed to lasting friendship as the foundation of relations, and carry forward the torch of Sino-Russian friendship. Fourth, China and Russia are committed to strategic coordination as an underpinning of relations, and steer global governance in the right direction. Fifth, China and Russia are committed to fairness and justice as the purpose of relations, and dedicated to the political settlement of hotspots. These "five principles" set an exemplary model for relations between neighboring major powers and will continue to guide China-Russia relations toward new successes.

The relationship between China and Russia, two major powers, is unique in the history of modern international relations. The two countries are not military-political allies, but rather represent a new model of major power relations characterized by non-alignment, non-confrontation, and not targeting any third country. The development of their relationship has its own internal logic and driving force. It is not a threat to any country, nor is it subject to any interference or discord sown by any third party. This is a summary of the extraordinary 75-year development history of China-Russia relations. Both countries respect each other's national sovereignty, security, and development interests, as well as their own chosen development path, which is the "secret" to why their relationship has become a model for the development of partnerships between major powers and neighboring countries. As President Xi said, this is not only the correct way for China and Russia to get along, but also the direction that major-country relations should strive for in the 21st century.

The close cooperation between China and Russia is a driving force for stability in the international landscape. This year, Russia assumes the rotating presidency of the BRICS countries, and China will also take over the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization within the year. The two countries work together to promote regional stability and development, strengthen the alignment between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Eurasian Economic Union, and jointly promote cooperation among the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BRICS mechanism, and countries in the Global South. Both countries uphold multilateralism, oppose hegemony and unilateralism in international organizations such as the United Nations and the G20, effectively promoting the democratization and multipolarization of the global order, as well as firmly upholding international fairness and justice.

Currently, some countries are using "national security" as a pretext to promote deglobalization and group politics, kidnapping allies to push for "decoupling" and build "small yard, high fence." This has increased the complexity and uncertainty of regional and global security situations. As permanent members of the UN Security Council, China and Russia share similar security views and maintain effective strategic communication. They jointly oppose zero-sum games and Cold War mentality, group politics, confrontational blocs, dividing the world based on ideology and political systems, and confrontational policies and interference in other countries' internal affairs. This is a positive asset for the world. In the Statement, China and Russia propose that, given the current geopolitical context, it is necessary to explore the establishment of a sustainable security system in the Eurasian space based on the principles of equal and indivisible security, outlining a blueprint for achieving genuine regional common security.

In recent years, with Russia's focus on "turning to the East" in foreign economic cooperation, China-Russia economic and trade cooperation has developed rapidly. China has been Russia's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years, accounting for 32 percent of Russia's foreign trade. Russia became China's fourth largest trading partner in 2023. These achievements are not easy and have been achieved by both countries overcoming various external challenges and unfavorable factors, highlighting the solid foundation of the China-Russia relationship. This year also marks the "China-Russia Years of Culture." The two countries and their people have a strong driving force to enhance mutual understanding and continue lasting friendship through deepening cultural exchanges.

A mountain is formed by accumulation of soil and an ocean is formed by accumulation of water. After 75 years of solid accumulation, lasting friendship and all-round cooperation between China and Russia provide a strong impetus for the two countries to forge ahead despite wind and rain. In the future, guided by head-of-state diplomacy, the two countries, standing at a new historical starting point, will jointly promote the all-round development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era, create more benefits for their peoples and make a due contribution to global security and stability.

Xi, Putin Hold Talks, Sign Joint Statement on Deepening Ties

China, Russia have found ‘new path for major countries’

By Yang Sheng in Beijing and Zhang Weilan in Harbin

May 16, 2024 11:39 PM

Photo: Xinhua

Chinese President Xi Jinping held large-group talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is in China on a state visit, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Analysts from both countries said the visit will reinforce and further promote the bilateral strategic ties with high level mutual-trust and broad common interests. 

During the meeting, Xi again extended a warm welcome to Putin for his state visit to China. He pointed out that this is President Putin's first foreign visit after he began his new term as the president. This fully demonstrates the great importance President Putin himself and the Russian government attach to developing China-Russia relations. China highly appreciates this.

Xi said this year marks the 75th anniversary of the China-Russia diplomatic relations. It is an important milestone year in the history of China-Russia relations. Over the past 75 years, China and Russia together have found a new path for major countries and neighboring countries to treat each other with respect and pursue amity and mutually beneficial cooperation.

With the concerted efforts of the two sides, China-Russia relations have been moving forward steadily, with enhanced comprehensive strategic coordination and further cooperation on economy and trade, investment, energy, people-to-people exchanges, at the subnational level and in other fields. This has made positive contributions to maintaining global strategic stability and promoting greater democracy in international relations, Xi remarked.

Both China and Russia are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and major emerging markets. It is the shared strategic choice of both countries to deepen strategic coordination, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and follow the general historical trend of multipolarity in the world and economic globalization.

Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Thursday that China and Russia are providing back-to-back mutual support to each other amid the turbulence that the world is experiencing. He pointed out that this doesn't mean they are building an alliance to target anyone, but are providing strategic support to serve the fundamental interests of not only the two peoples but also the fairness and justice of the world, to jointly withstand hegemony and unilateralism, and promote multilateralism.

"The China-Russia strategic partnership has set an example for successful relations between major powers that can withstand the turbulence of the world, and it's also the key to maintaining the strategic balance of international relations," Li noted. 

According to TASS, Putin said at the meeting with Xi that "It is of fundamental importance that relations between Russia and China are not opportunistic and are not directed against anyone. Our cooperation in world affairs today serves as one of the main stabilizing factors in the international arena." 

More and more cooperation

According to the Xinhua News Agency, Xi and Putin on Thursday signed and issued a joint statement on deepening China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. The two leaders also attended the signing ceremony of cooperation documents in Beijing on Thursday.

Cui Heng, a scholar from the Shanghai-based China National Institute for SCO International Exchange and Judicial Cooperation, told the Global Times on Thursday that Putin has brought a massive delegation with him that includes senior officials in charge of fields such as energy, economy and finance, as well as heads of giant companies in heavy industry and mining.

"This means the cooperation documents between the two sides will cover many areas, which, it is believed, will further promote bilateral relations to a higher level," Cui noted.

Alexey Maslov, director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview recently that Russia's economy realized a 3.6 percent GDP increase in 2023, and will continue to grow this year thanks to the cooperation with China and other countries. 

"Recently, Russia invested in a lot of innovative productions, including electronics and microprocessors. Russia started to cooperate with, for example, China in electric car production and science and technology. It also started to produce much more of its own agricultural products. Right now, Russia not only produces these agricultural products by itself, but also exports these products more, for example, to China," he said.

Maslov said, "What Russia really needs right now is much more new technologies. And in this area, we have a lot of problems, including the lack of highly qualified personnel. And that's why Russia started to develop its Far Eastern region, where Russia established new centers for technological development."

The eighth China-Russia Expo is set to take place from May 16 to 21 in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, which borders Russia's Far East region. Trade between the two countries will see new impetus after Putin's China visit, said businesspeople from the two countries.

Vice President of the Russian Export Center Alexey Solodov told the Global Times on Thursday at the expo, "The Chinese market is definitely our largest market. I would say it's the most friendly and a very important one for us. We are doing our best to show that these products are very nice and cost-effective."

President Putin's visit to China will no doubt inject more vitality into bilateral trade cooperation. The foundation of our bilateral trade cooperation is our friendship and I'm sure after this Expo, ties between Russia and China will be stronger, he said.

"I'm confident that the trade cooperation between the two countries will be strengthened," Solodov said.

On international affairs

Xi and Putin jointly met the press in Beijing on Thursday. Xi said to the press that with Russia chairing BRICS this year and China taking over the chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization later this year, the two sides will support each other's chairmanship, build a high-quality partnership that is more comprehensive, close, practical and inclusive, and build the unity and strength of the Global South.

China and Russia are committed to fairness and justice as the purpose of relations, and dedicated to the political settlement of hotspots. Cold War mentality still exists, and unilateralism, hegemonism, bloc confrontation and power politics threaten world peace and the security of all countries. The two presidents are of the view that it is urgent to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. UN resolutions must be earnestly implemented and the question of Palestine must be solved on the basis of the two-State solution, Xi said.

The Chinese president said that the two sides believe that a political settlement is the right way forward for the Ukraine crisis. China's position on this issue is consistent and clear, including observing the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, respecting the legitimate security concerns of all parties, and building a new security architecture that is balanced, effective and sustainable. China hopes that peace and stability will return to the European continent at an early date, and stands ready to play a constructive role to this end.

US House Committee Advances Bill to Restrict Chinese Biotech Firms, Exacerbating Tensions

By Ma Jingjing

May 16, 2024 11:30 PM

China US Illustration: Liu Rui

A US House of Representatives committee on Wednesday local time voted to advance Biosecure Act that would prohibit US federal agencies from contracting with China's BGI, Wuxi AppTec and other biotech companies under the excuse of "national security." This is the latest move of the Biden administration's heightened suppression of China's normal economic, trade and technological activities.

Chinese observers said the biotech legislation targeting Chinese companies, along with US' new tariffs imposed on Chinese electric vehicles and advanced batteries, is part of the Biden administration's political show aimed at winning voters in an election year. US President Joe Biden and his administration will likely intensify crackdown on Chinese companies before the election, even at the risk of harming more US consumers and economic health.

However, they said the US' hysterical crackdown on China will neither make China surrender nor impede China's development, rather it will harm US companies in international competition and hinder technological progress.

Intensifying crackdown

The US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on Wednesday approved the Biosecure Act, which must get through the US House and Senate before Biden could sign it into a law, Reuters reported.

The targeted Chinese companies expressed strong opposition to the US' proposed legislation which is based on false and misleading allegations.

"As public records show, the Biosecure Act is advocated by a US company, to eliminate competition and strengthen its monopoly in the DNA sequencing market. BGI Group is disappointed to see the US legislative process being abused by the company which the US government itself has accused of holding an unlawful monopoly," BGI Group told the Global Times on Thursday.

BGI places the highest priority on privacy and strictly follows international and local data protection regulations. Statements alleging BGI is controlled by the Chinese government or military are false, the company stressed.

WuXi AppTec said the company "has not posed, does not pose, and will not pose a security risk to the US or any other country," according to a filing with the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd on Thursday. The company reiterated that it does not have a human genomics business or collect human genomic data in the US, China or elsewhere.

Since the beginning of 2024, the Biden administration has expanded its crackdown on Chinese companies to sectors including biotechnology, new energy and shipbuilding, which are part of a political show to win voters for the presidential election, Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Take the newly announced tariffs on $18 billion worth of Chinese imports for example. The volume is not that big compared with tariffs imposed on hundreds of billions of Chinese goods amid China-US trade war, but by doing so, the Biden administration wants to show that they could come up with a stronger hard-line policy against China, according to Gao.

On Wednesday, US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that her department plans to announce proposed rules on Chinese connected vehicles this autumn, citing so-called "national security" risks to Americans' data, Reuters said in another report.

China firmly opposes and lodges solemn representations over the further increase of additional tariffs on some Chinese goods by the US, and will take resolute measures to safeguard its own rights and interests, He Yadong, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce, reiterated at a regular press conference on Thursday.

US' protectionism doomed

Unilateral and protectionist actions aimed at China by the US expose the loss of confidence and composure on the part of the US and are doomed to fail, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The US' unscrupulous suppression of China does not help address domestic problems in the US, but only results in a greater disruption of the normal operation of the international industrial and supply chains, Wang said, adding that the US' move will not deter China's development and rejuvenation.

Economic bullying and technological blockades have actually accelerated China's innovation. China's chip-making capability is catching up, artificial intelligence is gaining traction, and sectors like aerospace and electric vehicles are developing very fast, Li Yong, a senior research fellow at the China Association of International Trade, told the Global Times on Thursday.

The US' unilateral moves will only backfire, as they will likely raise market prices, burden consumers, and hinder global cooperation and innovation in the industry, Li said.

"A series of hegemonic and bullying practices against China underlies the US' double-dealing face," he said. While the US touts its open economy and free trade, its unilateral and protectionist actions are against its words. Biden promises that the US does not seek to decouple from China and hinder China's development, but its practices tell another story, Li said.

Despite US' growing erraticism and paranoia to fragment the world by ideological differences, it is becoming increasingly hard to decouple from China, Li said.

Putin Says Russians, Chinese 'Brothers Forever'

The audience, listening first to the Russian speech and then to the Chinese translation, applauded the Russian president's words

© Sergey Bobylev/POOL/TASS

BEIJING, May 16. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has characterized relations between Moscow and Beijing quoting a 1940s song. Speaking ahead of a concert dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and China and the start of the Cross-Cultural Years, he expressed confidence in the brotherly interaction between the two countries.

"The event is dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. There is a famous song from that time, it was created 75 years ago, but is often sung today: there is a quite famous line in it: 'Russian and Chinese are brothers forever'," Putin said.

"I am sure that we will continue to strengthen the fraternal spirit of the harmonious Russian-Chinese partnership," the Russian president emphasized.

The audience, listening first to the Russian speech and then to the Chinese translation, applauded the Russian president's words both times.

Ethiopia Protests US Ambassador’s Speech After He Calls for Release of Political Prisoners

BY EVELYNE MUSAMBI

4:01 PM EDT, May 16, 2024

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia lodged a complaint Thursday over statements by the U.S. ambassador after he said the release of political prisoners could help the country engage in a productive dialogue and that detaining critics won’t resolve the country’s issues.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that Ambassador Ervin Massinga’s speech on policy and human rights contained “allegations” and “unsolicited advice,” and that it would work with the Embassy to correct the “errors and inconsistencies” in his statement.

“The statement is ill advised and contains uniformed assertions. It is contrary to the historic and friendly relations between Ethiopia and the United States,” the ministry wrote.

Massinga had said in his speech that detaining critics would not resolve Ethiopia’s outstanding issues and that “the political dialogue the Ethiopians need could be helped by releasing key political figures.”

He urged the government and rebel groups to agree to dialogue and that “the country has far more to gain through peace than on the battlefield.”

Federal forces in Ethiopia are engaging in fighting with several rebel groups in its regions as well as ethnic-related insurgencies, which have led to deaths and the displacement of people. Human rights groups have accused federal soldiers of rights abuses in regions like Amhara, where rebel groups are based.

A prominent opposition figure was gunned down last month after his release from prison, and a state-appointed rights group has called for an investigation into his death.

Chad’s Military Leader is Confirmed as Election Winner in the Final Tally Despite Opposition Protest

BY EDOUARD TAKADJI

2:11 PM EDT, May 16, 2024

N’DJAMENA, Chad (AP) — Chad’s constitutional council confirmed Thursday that President Mahamat Deby Itno, who seized power in 2021, was elected president in the May 6 vote and rejected an appeal by his main opponent.

Deby Itno, also known as Mahamat Idriss Deby, seized power after his father, who spent three decades in power, was killed fighting rebels in 2021. The long-delayed election came after three years of military rule. Analysts had widely expected him to win.

The final results from the election showed that Deby Itno won with 61% of the vote, while the leading opposition candidate and head of the transitional government, Prime Minister Succès Masra, lagged far behind with an 18.5% share. The council’s announcement confirmed provisional results released earlier this week.

The decision dealt a blow to Masra, who had filed an appeal with the council challenging the preliminary results which showed Deby Itno had won.

The oil-exporting country of nearly 18 million people hasn’t had a democratic transfer of power since it became independent in 1960, after decades of French colonial rule.

South Sudan Government and Rebel Groups Sign ‘Commitment’ for Peace in Ongoing Peace Talks in Kenya

BY EVELYNE MUSAMBI

2:48 PM EDT, May 16, 2024

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The government of South Sudan and rebel opposition groups on Thursday signed a “commitment declaration” for peace during high-level mediation talks in Kenya, described as key step in efforts to end the conflict in South Sudan that has long crippled its economy.

The content of the agreement was not made public during the signing ceremony, attended by diplomats and civil society groups.

The rebel opposition groups were not part of the 2018 agreement that ended South Sudan’s five-year civil war that left 400,000 people dead and millions displaced.

Kenya’s foreign office said the agreement was a “first milestone” in the ongoing talks in which warring sides pledged their commitment to end the violence and hostilities.

At the start of the high-level mediation talks launched a week ago, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir thanked his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto, for hosting the negotiations.

The talks have been dubbed Tumaini, Swahili for hope, Initiative and are led by former Kenyan army commander Lazarus Sumbeiywo.

South Sudan is due to hold elections in December but remains politically fragile, in part because the 2018 peace agreement is yet to be fully implemented and because conflict and violence continues in different parts of the country over ethnic and political differences.

As Crisis Escalates in Tunisia, Lawyers Strike Over Arrested Colleague They Say Was Tortured

BY BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA AND SAM METZ

11:35 AM EDT, May 16, 2024

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Lawyers in Tunisia took to the streets on Thursday to protest a string of recent arrests that have convulsed the country over the past week and provoked international outcry.

The demonstration in the North African country’s capital came days after two lawyers were arrested — one brusquely extracted from the bar association headquarters and the other needing to be hospitalized after sustaining injuries while being apprehended by security forces.

Both were charged with violating a cybercrime statute outlawing fake news that authorities have increasingly used to target critics.

The National Bar Association called for nationwide strikes on Monday and staged a “day of anger” on Thursday that included protests and a second day of striking.

Along with activists and civil society groups, they gathered in front of the capital’s courthourse chanting for freedom, in support of their colleagues and against what they called “a police state.”

“We demand an apology from the authorities for the enormous blunders committed,” Bar Association President Hatem Mziou said, referring to the two arrests.

“We are fighting for a democratic climate and respect for freedoms,” Mziou added, threatening further action if authorities do not change course.

Protests about civil rights have been routine since President Kais Saied froze Tunisia’s parliament, consolidated his own power and fired top ministers in July 2021. But the speed and number of arrests this week — of the lawyers as well as journalists and prominent activists — have marked a new phase in his crackdown against dissidents.

The Bar Association said in a statement that Mehdi Zaghrouba, one of the lawyers arrested, was tortured and lost consciousness after being apprehended, leaving visible injuries throughout his body.

The government denied Zaghrouba had been tortured and said that the arrest had been carried out legally and without issue.

“Claiming torture is a way of evading justice” Interior Ministry spokesperson Faker Bouzghaya told IFM radio, a station where a journalist was also arrested this week.

SAM METZ

Metz covers Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and points beyond for The Associated Press.

South Africa Braces for What May Be a Milestone Election

BY GERALD IMRAY

1:05 AM EDT, May 15, 2024

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — After 30 years of dominating South African politics, the ruling African National Congress will face its toughest election this month as most opinion polls predict it will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time.

Once admired under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, and regarded as a beacon of hope by the Black majority following the fall of apartheid in 1994, the ANC’s reputation has been battered by record levels of unemployment, widespread poverty, the collapse of some government services and more than a decade of corruption scandals, leaving voters disillusioned.

President Cyril Ramaphosa hopes the May 29 ballot will lead to his reelection. But if the ANC does lose its majority, it will force it into a coalition to form a government — also a first for the country and something that may complicate policymaking in Africa’s most advanced economy.

South Africans don’t elect their president directly, but instead vote for parties that get assigned seats in Parliament according to their share of the ballot. Lawmakers then choose the head of state.

As South Africa braces itself for the possibility of its most important change since the end of apartheid, here are the main parties and players in the election:

Ramaphosa was a senior figure in the ANC in the early 1990s and was once seen as a protege of Mandela. He left politics to become a successful businessman before returning as deputy president of South Africa in 2014. He became president in 2018 after Jacob Zuma resigned under a cloud of corruption allegations.

Ramaphosa has tried to rebuild the reputation of the ANC by cracking down on government graft. However, unemployment has risen to 32% during his presidency — the highest in the world — while he has struggled to curb poverty. An electricity crisis has led to power outages across the country of 62 million due to failures at the state-run electricity supplier. It badly damaged the economy and Ramaphosa’s reputation as someone who could fix South Africa’s problems, even if the blackouts are viewed as a result of mismanagement during the Zuma administration.

The ANC is still expected to win the largest share of votes, but if it receives less than 50% as predicted, it will need the help of coalition partners to reelect the 71-year-old Ramaphosa.

John Steenhuisen is the leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance. The centrist DA has promised to “rescue” South Africa from what it says is the corruption and mismanagement of the ANC but has never come close to winning a national election. The DA won 22% in the last general election in 2019 to the ANC’s 62%.

The DA entered a preelection agreement with smaller opposition parties, hoping their combined vote might clinch a majority and remove the ANC. But they would all have to increase their share significantly and it’s seen as unlikely.

Steenhuisen, 48, is the only white leader among South Africa’s main political parties. In a country where race is still at the forefront of the national consciousness, that has led to detractors saying the DA represents the interests of the white minority more than the 80% of South Africans who are Black.

The Economic Freedom Fighters has risen rapidly to become South Africa’s third biggest party in Parliament since it was formed in 2013 by Julius Malema, a former ANC youth leader who was expelled from the ruling party. His fiery, far-left rhetoric has made the 43-year-old South Africa’s most contentious politician but his message that the ANC has failed poor, Black South Africans has gained traction, especially with unemployed and disaffected young people.

The EFF has called for the nationalization of mines and the redistribution of land to poor Blacks. The party, which follows a Marxist ideology, says an economic inequality based on race persists decades after apartheid, with whites generally rich and Blacks still poor.

Malema and other EFF lawmakers have regularly interrupted speeches by opponents in Parliament and been involved in scuffles with security guards in the chamber, bringing a militant brand of politics to the heart of South Africa’s democracy. The EFF is a possible coalition partner for the ANC, although neither party has said if there is any agreement.

Former President Zuma added a new dimension when he announced in December that he was turning his back on the ANC he once led and returning to politics with a new party.

Zuma’s MK Party is not expected to challenge the top three, but it is expected to further erode the ANC’s vote just as the ruling party faces its sternest election test. The 81-year-old former leader still commands support, especially in his home KwaZulu-Natal province.

His reemergence also raised security concerns for the election after his conviction for contempt of court and prison sentence in 2021 sparked a week of rioting and looting that led to the deaths of more than 350 people in the worst violence in South Africa since the troublesome last days of apartheid.

Zuma is involved in a court battle over whether his criminal conviction prevents him from standing as a candidate for Parliament. There are concerns over unrest if he is disqualified. Even if he isn’t, his new reputation as an agitator is likely to increase tensions around a pivotal election.

Biden’s Upcoming Graduation Speech Roils Morehouse College, a Center of Black Politics and Culture

BY BILL BARROW AND MATT BROWN

12:06 AM EDT, May 16, 2024

ATLANTA (AP) — When he gives the commencement address at Morehouse College, President Joe Biden will have his most direct engagement with college students since the start of the Israel-Hamas war at a center of Black politics and culture.

Morehouse is located in Atlanta, the largest city in the swing state of Georgia, which Biden flipped from former President Donald Trump four years ago. Biden’s speech Sunday will come as he tries to make inroads with a key and symbolic constituency — young Black men — and repair the diverse coalition that elected him to the White House.

The announcement of the speech last month triggered peaceful protests and calls for the university administration to cancel over Biden’s handling of the war between Israel and Hamas. Some students at Morehouse and other historically Black campuses in Atlanta say they vociferously oppose Biden and the decision to have him speak, mirroring the tension Biden faces in many communities of color and with young voters nationally.

Morehouse President David Thomas said in an interview that the emotions around the speech made it all the more important that Biden speak.

“In many ways, these are the moments Morehouse was born for,” he said. “We need someplace in this country that can hold the tensions that threaten to divide us. If Morehouse can’t hold those tensions, then no place can.”

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The speech comes at a critical moment for Biden in his general election rematch against Trump. Biden is lagging in support among both Black voters and people under 30, groups that were key to his narrow 2020 victories in several battleground states, including Georgia.

Fifty-five percent of Black adults approved of the way Biden is handling his job as president, according to an AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll in March, a figure far below earlier in his presidency. Overall, 32% of 18- to 29-year-olds approved in the same poll.

“This is a global catastrophe in Gaza, and Joe Biden coming to pander for our votes is political blackface,” said Morehouse sophomore Anwar Karim, who urged Thomas and school trustees to rescind Biden’s invitation.

Recent scenes on American campuses reflect objections among many young voters about Israel’s assaults in Gaza. Biden has backed Israel since Hamas militants killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took hundreds of hostages on Oct. 7. That includes weapons shipments to the longstanding U.S. ally, even as Biden advocates for a cease-fire, criticizes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s tactics and the civilian death toll in Gaza surpasses 35,000 people, many of them women and children.

Many younger Black people have identified with the Palestinian cause and have at times drawn parallels between Israeli rule of the Palestinian territories and South Africa’s now-defunct apartheid system and abolished Jim Crow laws in the U.S. Israel rejects claims that its system of laws for Palestinians constitutes apartheid.

“I think that the president will do himself good if he does not duck that, especially when you think about the audience that he will be speaking to directly and to the nation,” Thomas said.

Sunday’s speech will culminate a four-day span during which Biden will concentrate on reaching Black communities. On Thursday, the White House is hosting plaintiffs from the Brown v. Board of Education case that barred legal segregation of America’s public schools. The following day, Biden will address an NAACP gathering commemorating the 70th anniversary of the landmark decision.

Former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, a longtime Biden ally who helped broker his speech at Morehouse, said he understood students’ concerns but emphasized that Biden has pressured Netanyahu and supports a two-state solution for the Israelis and Palestinians. Trump, meanwhile, has effectively abandoned that long-held U.S. position and said Israel should “finish the problem” in Gaza.

“That’s nowhere in the conversation,” Richmond said.

The debate over Biden’s speech at Morehouse reflected a fundamental tension of historically Black colleges and universities, which are both dedicated to social justice and Black advancement and run by administrators who are committed to keeping order.

“We look like a very conservative institution” sometimes, Thomas said. “On one hand, the institution has to be the stable object where we are today in the world.”

But, he added, the university’s long-term purpose is to “support our students in going out to create a better world.”

Blowback started even before Thomas publicly announced Biden was coming. Faculty sent executives a letter of concern, prompting an online town hall. Alumni gathered several hundred signatures to urge that Thomas rescind Biden’s invitation. The petition called the invitation antithetical to the pacifism Martin Luther King Jr., a Morehouse alumnus, expressed when opposing the Vietnam War.

Some students note that leaders of Morehouse and other HBCUs did not always support King and other Civil Rights activists who are venerated today. Morehouse, for instance, expelled the actor Samuel L. Jackson in 1969 after he and other students held Morehouse trustees, including King’s father, in a campus building as part of demanding curriculum changes and the appointment of more Black trustees.

Students organized two recent protests across the Atlanta University Center (AUC), a consortium of historically Black institutions in Atlanta that includes Morehouse. Chants included “Joe Biden, f— off!” and “Biden, Biden, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide,” along with expletives directed at Thomas.

“Our institution is supporting genocide, and we turn a blind eye,” said Nyla Broddie, a student at Spelman College, which is part of the AUC. Brodie argued Biden’s Israel policy should be viewed in the broader context of U.S. foreign policy and domestic police violence against Black Americans.

Thomas said he “feels very positive about graduation” and that “not one” Morehouse senior — there are about 500 at the all-male private school — has opted out of participating. “That’s not to say that the sentiments about what’s going on in Gaza don’t resonate with people in our community,” Thomas said.

Thomas met privately with students as did several trustees. The Morehouse alumni association hosted a student town hall, featuring at least one veteran of the Atlanta Student Movement, a Civil Rights-era organization.

But there was a consistent message: Uninviting the president of the United States was not an option. When students raised questions about endowment investments in Israel and U.S. defense contractors, they said they were told the relevant amounts are negligible, a few hundred thousand dollars in mutual funds.

“I think folks are excited” about Biden coming, said Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Warnock said Biden is in “a great position” to talk about student debt relief, increased federal support for HBCUs and other achievements.

HBCUs have not seen crackdowns from law enforcement like those at Columbia University in New York City and the University of California, Los Angeles. However, Morehouse and the AUC have seen peaceful demonstrations, petitions and private meetings among campus stakeholders. Xavier University, a historically Black university in Louisiana, withdrew its commencement invitation for U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, citing a desire among students “to enjoy a commencement ceremony free of disruptions.”

Whether Morehouse graduates or other students protest Biden or disrupt the ceremony remains to be seen. Student protest leaders say they are unaware of any plans to demonstrate inside during the commencement.

Thomas, Morehouse’s president, promised that forms of protest at commencement that “do not disrupt ceremonies” will not result in sanctions for any students.

But he also vowed to end the program early if disruptions grow.

“We will not — on Morehouse’s campus — create a national media moment,” he said, “where our inability to manage these tensions leads to people being taken out of a Morehouse ceremony in zip ties by law enforcement.”

A New South Africa Health Law Aims at Deep Inequality, But Critics Say They’ll Challenge It

BY MOGOMOTSI MAGOME

11:01 AM EDT, May 15, 2024

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday signed into law a bill that aims to overhaul the healthcare system to address deep inequality, but it faces legal challenges from critics.

The law introduces what is known as National Health Insurance, which will provide funds for all South Africans to access private healthcare. Currently, 80% of the population relies on strained state-run public health services while about 16% has access to private healthcare through medical aid plans.

The country’s unemployment rate is 32.9%, with most of the Black majority population unable to afford private healthcare. Public health facilities often have long lines and medicine shortages.

According to Ramaphosa, the aim of the National Health Insurance is to provide access to quality health care for all and integrate the health system.

“In its essence, the National Health Insurance is a commitment to eradicate the stark inequalities that have long determined who in our country receives adequate healthcare and who suffers from neglect,” he said.

Opposition parties accuse Ramaphosa of using the law as a campaign strategy by announcing it nearly two weeks before much anticipated elections.

The May 29 vote is expected to be one of the country’s most highly contested. Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress faces the possibility of receiving less than 50% of the vote for the first time since it came into power in 1994.

Concerns have also been raised about the affordability of the law and possible tax increases to fund it.

The official opposition Democratic Alliance said Wednesday it would legally challenge the new law.

Civil society group AfriForum has also announced plans to challenge the constitutionality of the law, while some business forums have described it as unworkable and unaffordable.

The Health Funders Association, an organization representing stakeholders involved in funding private healthcare, said it would take significant time before the plan comes into effect.

“There will be no immediate impact on medical scheme benefits and contributions, nor any tax changes. The HFA is well prepared to defend the rights of medical scheme members and all South Africans to choose privately funded healthcare, where necessary,” spokesman Craig Comrie said.

Others have welcomed the law.

Dr. Cedric Sihlangu, general secretary of the South African Medical Association Trade Union, said it has long advocated for reforms that “significantly improve patient care and access to health services.”

Mosque Attack in Northern Nigeria Leaves 8 People Dead

BY CHINEDU ASADU

8:31 AM EDT, May 16, 2024

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least eight worshippers were killed and 16 others injured early Wednesday morning after a man attacked a mosque with a locally made explosive in northern Nigeria’s Kano state, resulting in a fire outbreak, the police said.

The suspect, a 38-year-old local resident, confessed that he attacked the mosque in Kano’s remote Gadan village “purely in hostility following (a) prolonged family disagreement,” police spokesman Abdullahi Haruna said in a statement on Wednesday.

Eight of those injured died later in a hospital, Haruna later told local Channels Television on Thursday. Four children were among the injured worshippers, although it was not clear if any of the children died.

The incident caused panic in Kano, northern Nigeria’s largest state, where periodic religion-related unrest has occurred over the years, sometimes resulting in violence.

The suspect invaded the mosque with “a locally prepared bomb and exploded it,” local police chief Umar Sanda told reporters. “It has nothing to do with terrorism.”

Footage broadcast by the local TVC station showed charred walls and burned furniture in the mosque, the main place of worship for Gadan village in Muslim-dominated Kano state.

Local media also reported the worshippers were locked inside the mosque, making it difficult for them to escape.

“Some children ran for their lives with fire all over them. We had to put water to quench it,” Hussaini Adamu, a resident, told TVC.

The police cordoned off the scene while the injured were rushed to a hospital in the state capital.

“The disagreement (was) over sharing of inheritance of which those that (the attacker) alleged to have cheated on him were in the mosque at that moment and he did that for his voice to be heard,” the police statement said.

As Zambia Schools Take on Climate Change, One Teen is Spreading the Word in Sign Language

Students, many who are deaf or hard of hearing, from Chileshe Chepela Special School react as Bridget Chanda, center, signs for them during a climate smart technique lesson on drip irrigation outside a garden at the school in Kasama, Zambia, Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

BY TSVANGIRAYI MUKWAZHI

10:08 PM EDT, May 15, 2024

KASAMA, Zambia (AP) — Every morning, Bridget Chanda places her prosthetic legs beside her bed, pulls on her stockings and pushes the remains of her limbs into the prosthetics as best she can. After six years they no longer fit, and it’s painful to stand or walk for too long, but it doesn’t faze her much.

“I still manage somehow,” she said. “I am a girl on a mission.”

Chanda, 18, is intent on helping educate Zambia’s deaf community about climate change. As the southern African nation has suffered from more frequent extreme weather, including its current severe drought, it’s prompted the Zambian government to include more climate change education in its school curriculum.

But for that to be shared with the deaf community, it’s up to people like Chanda to help translate — and it’s a task that is more difficult because sign language doesn’t include many climate-related terms.

She’s a student at Chileshe Chepela Special School in Kasama, in northern Zambia, where many students are deaf or hard of hearing. After Chanda enrolled there in 2022, learning sign language was a way to fit in and bond with those schoolmates, even though she herself is not deaf. Around the same time, climate change was becoming a more topical issue in the country, and Chanda — who finds it puzzling that her hometown in the south near Lusaka has been wracked by drought while Kasama is looking at a bumper harvest — wanted to talk about it.

“Climate change affects our way of life,” she said. 

The country has been suffering from severe food shortages as water has grown scarce, prompting the president to declare a national emergency in February.

Chanda has served as an interpreter as climate agriculture expert Elizabeth Motale visits communities and schools to educate people on climate change. In one visit to a garden outside Chanda’s school, she signed as Motale showed students how drip irrigation gets precious water exactly where plants need it. Students smiled and laughed as they perforated a plastic bottle to dribble water onto the plants’ roots.

Chanda has even taught Motale some sign language to use when no interpreter is available.

“Bridget has been such a blessing to me,” Motale said.

Sign language isn’t recognized as an official language in Zambia, but the government has taken steps to ensure its recognition and has made it mandatory for climate change education to also be taught in sign language. But with the language lagging behind, it can be a challenge to teach new concepts.

Chanda recalls struggling to find the words to explain mulching, for example — adding organic material to soil to help trap moisture — or climate adaptation, the ways people can adjust to more extreme weather.

“It’s difficult sometimes,” said Chanda. “I sometimes have to finger-spell and when I miss a letter or two it makes it difficult for some students who are deaf.”

The Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), a pan-African movement promoting girls’ education, launched a new climate education program in schools in March, led by young women graduates. The program, in partnership with education ministries in Zambia and Zimbabwe, aims to help young people — particularly marginalized girls — build climate resilience and explore green careers.

Part of the climate education CAMFED wants to promote is practical. It runs an agriculture guide program that aims to promote climate-smart techniques, like drip irrigation that uses less water, and teaches entrepreneurship skills that may help young women launch farming businesses that use such skills.

Helena Chandwe, an enterprise manager with CAMFED, said it’s important to improve how the information is delivered to students with special needs, and that means interpreters who can deliver it correctly and with sufficient context.

Chanda hopes to join the agriculture guides program after finishing her education.

Her lower legs were amputated after she developed gangrene at age 7. Stigmatized and bullied at school in Lusaka, she eventually wound up at Chileshe, where she has found a far more welcoming environment in a place that mixes special-needs students with mainstream students.

Her prosthetic limbs don’t keep her from wheeling a friend, Juliet Nankamba, around in Juliet’s wheelchair. The two often sit next to each other in class, sharing books and taking part in class discussions and assignments. Asked about her friendship with Bridget, Juliet smiles, laughs and flashes a peace sign.

Chanda struggles to hold back tears as she describes how CAMFED has helped with her tuition and boarding fees. She was appointed head girl at the beginning of the year, and said she dreams of one day becoming an orthopedic surgeon, going far away from Zambia to make her mother proud.

As Countries Tighten Anti-gay Laws, More and More LGBTQ+ Migrants Seek Safety and Asylum in Europe

They smile, love to dance, and play with their dog Paddy in their small but cosy apartment, one hour north of Rome, finally enjoying a new life together, and the freedom to love each other and be who they are. Ella Anthony and Doris Ezuruike Chinonso crossed the Mediterranean and made it to Italy after suffering violence, fear and discrimination in Nigeria, their home country, where they were persecuted for their homosexuality. (AP video: Maria Grazia Murru and Veronica Andrea Sauchelli/Production: Maria Grazia Murru)

BY VERONICA ANDREA SAUCHELLI, MARIA GRAZIA MURRU AND GIADA ZAMPANO

3:37 AM EDT, May 16, 2024

RIETI, Italy (AP) — Ella Anthony knew it was time to leave her native Nigeria when she escaped an abusive, forced marriage only to face angry relatives who threatened to turn her in to police because she was gay.

Since Nigeria criminalizes same-sex relationships, Anthony fled a possible prison term and headed with her partner to Libya in 2014 and then Italy, where they both won asylum. Their claim? That they had a well-founded fear of anti-LGBTQ+ persecution back home.

While many of the hundreds of thousands of migrants who arrive in Italy from Africa and the Mideast are escaping war, conflict and poverty, an increasing number are fleeing possible prison terms and death sentences in their home countries because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, advocates say.

And despite huge obstacles to win asylum on LGBTQ+ grounds, Anthony and her partner, Doris Ezuruike Chinonso. are proof that it can be done, even if the challenges remain significant for so-called “rainbow refugees” like them.

“Certainly life here in Italy isn’t 100% what we want. But let’s say it’s 80% better than in my country,” Chinonso, 34, said with Anthony by her side at their home in Rieti, north of Rome. In Nigeria, “if you’re lucky you end up prison. If you’re not lucky, they kill you,” she said.

“Here you can live as you like,” she said.

Most European countries don’t keep statistics on the number of migrants who claim anti-LGBTQ+ persecution as a reason for seeking refugee protection under international law. But non-governmental organizations that track the phenomenon say the numbers are rising as countries pass or toughen anti-homosexuality laws — a trend being highlighted on Friday’s observance of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.

To date, more than 60 countries have anti-LGBTQ+ laws on the books, most of them in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia.

“The ultimate result is people trying to flee these countries to find safe haven elsewhere,” said Kimahli Powell, chief executive of Rainbow Railroad, which provides financial, legal and logistical support to LGBTQ+ people needing asylum assistance.

In an interview, Powell said his organization had received about 15,000 requests for assistance last year, up from some 9,500 the year before. One-tenth of those 2023 requests, or about 1,500, came from Uganda, which passed an anti-homosexuality law that year that allows the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” and up to 14 years in prison for “attempted aggravated homosexuality.”

Nigeria also criminalizes consensual same-sex relations between adults and the public display of affection between same-sex couples, as well as restricting the work of groups that advocate for gay people and their rights, according to Human Rights Watch. In regions of Nigeria where Sharia law is in force, LGBTQ+ people can face up to 14 years in prison or the death penalty.

Anthony, 37, said it was precisely the threat of prison that compelled her to leave. She said her family had sold her into marriage, but that she left the relationship because her husband repeatedly abused her. When she returned home, her brother and uncles threatened to turn her into police because she was gay. The fear and alienation drove her first to attempt suicide, and then take up a trafficker’s offer to pay for passage to Europe.

“At a certain point, I couldn’t take all these sufferings,” Anthony said through tears. “When this man told me that I should abandon the village, I immediately accepted.”

After arriving in Libya, Anthony and Chinonso paid traffickers for the risky boat trip across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy, where they both claimed asylum as a member of a group – LGBTQ+ people – who faced persecution in Nigeria. According to refugee norms, applicants for asylum can be granted international protection based on being a “member of a particular social group.”

But the process is by no means easy, straightforward or guaranteed. Privacy concerns limit the types of questions about sexual orientation that migrants can be asked during the asylum interview process. Social taboos and a reluctance to openly identify as gay or transgender mean some migrants might not volunteer the information immediately. Ignorance on the part of asylum interviewers about anti-gay laws in countries of origin can result in unsuccessful claims, according to the EU Agency for Asylum, which helps EU countries implement asylum norms.

As a result, no comprehensive data exists about how many migrants seek or win asylum in the EU on LGBTQ+ grounds. Based on estimates reported by NGOs working with would-be refugees, the numbers in individual EU countries ranged from two to three in Poland in 2016 to 500 in Finland from 2015-2017 and 80 in Italy from 2012-2017, according to a 2017 report by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights.

An EU directive grants special protection for people made vulnerable due to sexual discrimination, prescribing “special procedural guarantees” in countries that receive them. However, it doesn’t specify what those guarantees involve and implementation is uneven. As a result, LGBTQ+ asylum seekers don’t always find protected environments once in the EU.

“We’re talking about people who are unfortunately victims of a double stigma: being a migrant, and being members of the LGBTQIA+ community,” said lawyer Marina De Stradis.

Even within Italy, the options vary widely from region to region, with the better-funded north offering more services than the less-developed south. In the capital Rome, there are only 10 beds specifically designated for LGBTQ+ migrants, said Antonella Ugirashebuja, an activist with the Arcigay association.

She said the lack of special protections often impacts female migrants more negatively than male, and can be especially dangerous for lesbians.

“Lesbians leaving Africa often, or more frequently, end up in prostitution and sexual exploitation networks because they lack (economic) support from their families,” she said. “The family considers them people to be pushed away, to be rejected ... Especially in countries where this is punishable by law.”

Anthony and Chinonso consider themselves lucky: They live in a neat flat in Rieti with their dog Paddy, and dream of starting a family even if Italy doesn’t allow gay marriage.

Chinonso, who was studying medicine in Nigeria, is now a social and health worker. Anthony works at the deli counter in a Carrefour supermarket in Rome. She would have liked to have been able to continue working as a film editor, but is happy.

“It gave me the opportunity to grow,” she said.

___

AP journalist Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.

Israeli Tank Fire Mistakenly Kills 5 Troops in Gaza Strip

Thursday, 16 May 2024 11:08 AM

An Israeli army tank moves near the border with the Gaza Strip on May 15, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Five Israeli soldiers have been killed and several others injured in northern parts of the besieged Gaza Strip when Israeli tanks mistakenly fired shells at a building occupied by Israeli forces.

In a statement on Thursday, the Israeli military said the friendly fire, one of the deadliest incidents of its kind since Tel Aviv launched its ongoing genocidal war in the Palestinian territory in October, took place in Jabalia in northern Gaza, where heavy fighting is taking place between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters.

At around 7 p.m. local time on Wednesday, Israeli tanks mistakenly fired shells at a building where Israeli soldiers had occupied in the area, the military said, adding that the shelling killed five Israeli soldiers and wounded seven others, including three seriously.

The troops all served in the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion, and were part of an ultra-Orthodox company.

An initial investigation into the deaths of five Israeli soldiers reveals Israeli “tanks, located dozens of meters away, identified a weapon and fired shells" at a gathering of Israeli forces there, the statement said.

“This force had entered the northern part of Gaza and occupied buildings along a logistic route. The tanks fired two shells for unclear reasons, resulting in seven more soldiers being injured, three severely,” it further said.

The tank forces had arrived in the area in the morning, and several hours later, the paratroopers reached the area and established a post in the building, Israeli media said.

Hamas, in marking the Nakba Day, has hailed the "epic" resistance against the Israeli war machine.

The deadly incident on Wednesday evening brought to 278 the toll of slain Israeli forces since the regime’s ground aggression against Gaza, which began in late October.

Figures by the Israeli military show that at least 49 of the 278 Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza Strip lost their lives by friendly fire and in other accidents.

Israel launched the brutalities in Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas conducted the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation in the occupied Palestinian land.

Israel has killed more than 35,272 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza since the onset of the current war.

Despite the unabated campaign of bloodletting, the regime has so far fallen short of realizing its “goals”, namely defeating Hamas, releasing the captives, and causing forced displacement of the coastal sliver’s entire population to neighboring Egypt.