France Reveals New African Strategy
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to deliver an address Monday revealing France’s new African strategy.
Later in the week, the French leader travels to Gabon, Angola, the Republic of Congo and Congo.
Macron’s visit to Africa comes as many nations there have expressed an anti-France sentiment that has included street protests in some West and North African countries.
France is also finding that its long economic ties with Africa are starting to fray as Russia, China and Turkey make inroads.
In addition, Mali has replaced the French troops stationed there with Russian military contractors, something France would not like to see replicated.
The French leader will also attend a forest-themed climate summit in Gabon.
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Wooden Migrant Ship Splinters Apart, Killing at Least 59
Italian officials say at least 59 migrants died when the wooden boat they were in began splintering apart in heavy seas Sunday off the Italian coast. At least 12 of the dead are children.
Some bodies washed ashore at a resort in the Calabria region.
At least 80 people, including those rescued by emergency workers and others who were able to swim ashore after the boat disintegrated, survived the wreck, officials said.
Photos show big chunks of the vessel on the beach near the town of Steccato di Cutro, and pieces of wood and other debris all along the shore.
“It’s an enormous tragedy,” Crotone Mayor Vincenzo said.
One of the men from the ship was taken into custody by Italian authorities on suspected trafficking charges.
Survivors estimate that between 150 to 200 people were onboard the vessel that began its journey a few days ago from Turkey. Many of the migrants were from Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Pope Francis said Sunday, “I pray for each of them, for the missing and the other migrants who survived.”
Francis also said he also was praying for the rescuers “and for those who give welcome” to the migrants.
Italy has been overwhelmed with migrants who are coming from Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and other places.
Italy has asked other European Union countries to step up and take in some of the migrants, many of whom are not looking to stay in Italy, but instead are focused on traveling elsewhere in Europe to find work and/or reunite with family members.
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Sending Warm Socks to Ukraine’s Soldiers: US Teenager Finds His Mission
Yulian Dlaboha is U.S. a high school student whose mother is an immigrant from Ukraine and whose father is of Ukrainian heritage. After Russia invaded Ukraine, Yulian wanted to help, so he started collecting warm socks for Ukrainian soldiers. Nina Vishneva has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera: Vladimir Badikov.
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Biden Administration Won’t Send F-16 Fighter Jets to Ukraine, for Now
At least for now, the United States is declining to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. But as VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports, there are some lawmakers in Congress who plan to push the White House to change its position. Video editor: Marcus Harton.
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Elite Russian Forces Said to Suffer Losses in Ukraine
An elite Russian infantry force has suffered significant losses in Ukraine, the British Defense Ministry said Sunday.
The ministry said in an intelligence update that imagery from the Vuhledar section of Donetsk oblast shows “concentrated Russian vehicle losses,” with the vehicles probably from Russia’s 155th Naval Infantry Brigade.
The ministry said the Naval Infantry “has been tasked with some of the toughest tactical missions in the war and has suffered extremely high casualties.”
The ministry update, posted on Twitter, said the capability of Naval Infantry brigades has “almost certainly been significantly degraded” because its units have been replenished with “inexperienced mobilized personnel.”
The European Union agreed Saturday to impose new sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The restrictions “are directed at military and political decision-makers, companies supporting or working within the Russian military industry, and commanders in the Wagner Group,” the EU’s presidency said in a statement.
The 10th round of EU sanctions targets about 120 individuals and entities, including those involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children, those who spread disinformation, Iranians involved in sending drones to Russia and members and supporters of the Wagner Group mercenaries, including its activities in Africa.
The sanctions restrict exports of the electronic components used in Russian weapons, including missiles, drones and helicopters, and bans some rare earth minerals, electronic circuits and thermal cameras, the statement said.
The EU sanctions also prohibit transactions with three more Russian banks and lists 96 more entities, including seven from Iran that provide Russia with military drones used in attacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy applauded the sanctions and said in his nightly video address that Ukraine is working to extend sanctions to Russia’s nuclear sector “and all those involved in the missile program and the nuclear blackmail of the terrorist state.”
Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Tatyana Moskalkova, who is included in the sanctions, said listing her “violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all other international legal acts concerning human rights.”
Earlier Saturday, in its intelligence update, the British Defense Ministry said Russia has likely depleted its supply of Iranian one-way-attack uncrewed aerial vehicles.
The ministry said there have not been any reports of the vehicles being used in Ukraine “since around” Feb. 15, while at least 24 were reported downed between late January and early February.
“Scores were destroyed in the first few days of the year,” the ministry said.
Ukrainian and Western officials have said that Western sanctions are hampering Russia’s ability to replenish its stocks of guided weapons that rely on imported microchips.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, responding to that report, said Moscow has increased military production “by tens of times” at some factories and was closely studying weapons fired into Russian-held areas from the Ukrainian side in an effort to gain an advantage.
“We are not just expanding production, but also introducing the latest technologies, perfecting them literally ‘on the march,'” he said in an article published Saturday in National Defense magazine.
“It was funny to hear the Kyiv fantasists reasoning that ‘missiles ran out’ in Russia or ‘production stopped.’”
During the G-20 summit in Bangaluru, India, on Saturday, finance chiefs of the world’s largest economies condemned Moscow for its war on Ukraine, with only China and Russia not signing a joint statement.
With no consensus, India, which holds the G-20 presidency this year, said in what is called a “chair’s summary” that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed that it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy.”
Stating that it is essential to uphold international law, the summary said that “the use of or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. The peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue are vital. Today’s era must not be of war.”
The declaration noted that references to the war were “agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China.”
On Friday, a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House announced that the Pentagon would commit $2 billion more in military assistance to Ukraine’s defense against Russia. The package includes additional ammunition for HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, 155 mm artillery rounds, munitions for laser-guided rocket systems, and funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment of equipment. U.S. President Joe Biden reasserted his vow that “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia.”
Zelenskyy has been pressing the U.S. and allies for fighter jets, but White House officials have said they are not the weaponry that Ukrainians need in the near term.
“There is no basis on which there is a rationale, according to our military now, to provide F-16s,” Biden said. “I am ruling it out for now,” he said during an ABC News interview Friday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to support Ukraine’s infrastructure. Blinken said the State Department in coordination with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Treasury Department are offering $10 billion in assistance, including budgetary support to Ukraine and additional energy assistance to support Ukrainians suffering from Russia’s attacks.
The Treasury Department said it is sanctioning Russia’s metals and mining sector among others. The action, taken in coordination with the G-7 leading industrial nations, seeks to punish 250 people and firms, puts financial blocks on banks, arms dealers and technology companies tied to weapons production, and goes after alleged sanctions evaders in countries from the United Arab Emirates to Switzerland.
VOA’s Anjana Pasricha contributed to this story from New Delhi.
The Associated Press and Reuters provided some information for this report.
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Migrant Bodies Wash Ashore in Italy
At least 30 people have died following the shipwreck of a migrant vessel off the eastern coast of Italy’s Calabria region.
Some of the bodies washed ashore Sunday at a seaside resort in the province of Crotone, while other bodies remained in the water as emergency workers searched for survivors.
The Adnkronos news agency reports the ship was carrying 100 people from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan and 50 people have been rescued.
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Spain: Patient Does Not Have Marburg Disease
A man in Spain who was suspected of having the deadly Marburg disease tested negative Saturday and does not have the virus, the health ministry said.
Health authorities in Valencia earlier said they had detected the country’s first suspected case of the infectious disease that has led to the quarantining of more than 200 people in Equatorial Guinea.
The 34-year-old man, who had recently been in Equatorial Guinea, had been given the all-clear but would be tested again in the coming weeks, officials said.
He had been transferred from a private hospital to an isolation unit at the Hospital La Fe in Valencia while tests were being conducted, the Valencian regional health authorities said.
Three health staff who are treating the man were also isolated as a precautionary measure, authorities said.
Marburg virus can have a fatality rate of up to 88%, according to the World Health Organization. There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments approved to treat it.
Equatorial Guinea quarantined more than 200 people and restricted movement February 13 in its Kie-Ntem province, where the hemorrhagic fever was first detected.
The small central African country has so far reported nine deaths as well as 16 suspected cases of the disease, with symptoms including fever, fatigue, blood-stained vomit and diarrhea, according to the WHO.
Cameroonian authorities detected two suspected cases of Marburg disease February 13 in Olamze, a commune on the border with Equatorial Guinea, the public health delegate for the region, Robert Mathurin Bidjang, said February 14.
Cameroon had restricted movement along the border to try to avoid contagion.
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G20 Meeting: Germany Regrets China’s Position on Ukraine War
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said Saturday it was “regrettable” that China had blocked a Group of 20 communique to condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“But for me it was more important that all the others adhered to a clear position of international law, multilateralism and the end of the war,” he said.
Lindner was speaking to reporters after a meeting of finance leaders from the world’s major economies in Bengaluru.
He said that he was cautiously optimistic that there could be progress this year on debt restructuring for highly indebted countries.
China is one of the largest creditors to poor nations in Africa and Asia.
“There was a cautious signal from China,” Lindner said.
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EU Slaps New Sanctions on Russia
The European Union agreed Saturday to impose new sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. The EU said in a statement the new sanctions “are directed at military and political decision-makers, companies supporting or working within the Russian military industry, and commanders in the Wagner Group.”
The EU sanctions also prohibit transactions with three more Russian banks and hit Iran, restricting exports by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of drones used in attacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
The new measures announced Saturday were adopted after much internal disagreement over their exact makeup and made public one day after the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — the intended target date.
In its intelligence update Saturday, the British Defense Ministry said Russia has likely depleted its supply of Iranian one-way-attack uncrewed aerial vehicles or OWA-UAVs.
The ministry said there have not been any reports of the vehicles being used in Ukraine “since around” February 15, while at least 24 were reported downed between late January and early February.
“Scores were destroyed in the first few days of the year,” the ministry said.
Ukrainian and Western officials also have said that Western sanctions are hampering Russia’s ability to replenish its stocks of guided weapons that rely on imported microchips.
Russian official responds
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, responding to that report, said Moscow has increased military production “by tens of times” at some factories and was closely studying weapons fired into Russian-held areas from the Ukrainian side in an effort to gain an advantage.
“We are not just expanding production, but also introducing the latest technologies, perfecting them literally ‘on the march,'” he said in an article published Saturday in the National Defense magazine.
“It was funny to hear the Kyiv fantasists reasoning that ‘missiles ran out’ in Russia or ‘production stopped.’”
In a video speech Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia must be prevented “from turning Ukraine, our neighbors, and the whole of Europe, which Russian revanchism wants to reach, into concrete crumbs.”
The Ukrainian leader also pushed for more sanctions pressure on Russia after Britain, the U.S. and the European Union all announced new measures aimed at further choking off funding and support for Moscow.
Financial leaders condemn Moscow
During the G-20 summit in Bangaluru, India, on Saturday, finance chiefs of the world’s largest economies condemned Moscow for its war on Ukraine, with only China and Russia declining to sign a joint statement.
With no consensus, India, which holds the G-20 presidency this year, said in what is called a “chair’s summary” that “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed that it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy.”
Stating that it is essential to uphold international law, the summary said that “the use of or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. The peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue are vital. Today’s era must not be of war.”
The declaration noted that references to the war were “agreed to by all member countries except Russia and China.”
U.S. commits $2 billion more to Ukraine
On Friday, a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House announced that the Pentagon would commit $2 billion more in military assistance to Ukraine’s defense against Russia. The package includes additional ammunition for HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, 155 mm artillery rounds, munitions for laser-guided rocket systems, and funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment of equipment. President Joe Biden reasserted his vow that “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia.”
Zelenskyy has been pressing the U.S. and allies for fighter jets, but White House officials have said they are not the weaponry that Ukrainians need in the near term.
“There is no basis on which there is a rationale, according to our military now, to provide F-16s,” President Joe Biden said. “I am ruling it out for now,” he said during an ABC News interview Friday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to support Ukraine’s infrastructure. Blinken said the State Department in coordination with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Treasury Department are offering $10 billion in assistance, including budgetary support to Ukraine and additional energy assistance to support Ukrainians suffering from Russia’s attacks.
The Treasury Department said it is sanctioning Russia’s metals and mining sector among others. The action, taken in coordination with the G-7 leading industrial nations, seeks to punish 250 people and firms, puts financial blocks on banks, arms dealers and technology companies tied to weapons production, and goes after alleged sanctions evaders in countries from the United Arab Emirates to Switzerland.
“Our sanctions have had both short-term and long-term impact, seen acutely in Russia’s struggle to replenish its weapons and in its isolated economy,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
VOA’s Anjana Pasricha contributed to this story from New Delhi. The Associated Press and Reuters provided some information for this report.
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Thousands of Russians Flee to Thailand to Escape War
Russian tourists are fleeing to Thailand to escape the war in Ukraine or look to move to the Southeast Asian country.
Thailand has become a haven for Russian visitors who are looking to escape Moscow’s war in Ukraine that has now entered its second year.
Visitors are in Thailand but are they fleeing Russia too.
Since Thailand fully reopened its borders and dropped COVID-19 restrictions in October, Russian arrivals have made up the third-largest group of visitors, only behind Malaysia and India, according to government data.
Now thousands of Russians are looking for a new home, fearing economic woes in Russia and a military draft because of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
Thailand has long been a popular holiday destination for Russian tourists. Thailand and Russia are close trading partners and, in 2019, Russia was Thailand’s seventh-largest market for tourism. Thailand has not followed the lead of Western countries and banned Russian visitors.
Russian tourists have taken advantage of that. For the months of October, November and December, Russian arrivals into Thailand were more than 331,000, according to data released by Thailand’s Ministry of Sport and Tourism.
Thousands of those arrivals also have been investing, buying property, or renting long term in Thailand. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a war mobilization in September, so for many wealthy Russians, the sunny shores of Thailand are an easy swap for the prospect of being drafted into the Ukraine conflict.
All male citizens in Russia ages 18–27 are subject to conscription for one year of active-duty military service in the armed forces.
Russia said it had drafted at least 200,000 citizens into Russia’s armed forces since Putin ordered a partial mobilization in September.
Amin Ettayeb is a sales manager from Moscow for InDreamsPhuket, a real estate agency on the Thai holiday island of Phuket.
“Over 90% [of our clients] are Russians. In November, when it was the peak of people coming in, people were buying everything,” he told VOA.
The family-owned real estate agency has seen a 10% purchase increase since November. Ettayeb said that for the rental market, villas that once went for less than $9,000 per month now go for more than $28,000.
“Rental is totally chaotic right now,” Ettayeb said. “Villas were 300,000 baht per month, some of them now are 1 million baht per month, but people still take it.”
Despite money not being an issue for some, Ettayeb said not all his clients are looking to stay in Thailand long term.
“Not many people want to permanently leave Russia, they just want to make sure they don’t have to go to war,” said Ettayeb. “When things go back to normal, they will most likely go back.”
Between November 1 and January 21, more than 233,000 Russians arrived in Phuket, according to data from Phuket International Airport. Last year, Russians bought nearly 40% of all condominiums sold to foreigners in Phuket, according to the Thai Real Estate Information Center, Al Jazeera reported.
Emil Saliani, originally from Ukraine, has lived in Thailand for several years. He works as a property sales agent and a development partner of Wyndham Grand and Natai Beach Resort in Phuket.
“We have a new hotel and one beachfront hotel, and we have almost 100% occupancy. Now we have more than 50% who are Russian who are staying for 10-14 days. There are no problems,” Saliani said.
He called the property investment scene a crazy “war market.”
“The project[ed] sales to the Russian market is crazy now. November, December, January was super high season, they sold more than the last 10 years. The ‘war market’ is crazy and the prices are going up by 15 to 20% in sales. The rent, some prices were going up by three or four times.”
‘It’s like a wild market’
This time last year, thousands of Russian tourists were stranded in Thailand following U.S. and other Western countries’ imposition of sanctions on Russia.
The suspension of Visa and MasterCard credit card services and the removal of Russian banks from the SWIFT financial network saw Russians without accessible funds as the Russian ruble crumbled.
Now, Russia still faces heavy sanctions as the war in Ukraine continues.
“The reason for the investment is because they want to move the money [from Russia],” said Saliani. “It’s a bad situation. They worry about the currency.”
The property market in Phuket has become so saturated that there are now unlicensed agents trying to make money, said Saliani.
“Now, anyone can be a property or rental agent, and [charge] a hundred times more,” he said. “It’s unbelievable, it’s like a wild market no one can control.”
Local news outlets in Thailand have reported that some Russian visitors also are illegally working as tour guides and taxi drivers in Phuket.
In a Facebook post this month, Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, former president of the Phuket Tourism Association, called for officials to investigate the prospect of Russians illegally working in Thailand.
Russians flock to Koh Phangan
Since Thailand reopened its borders, the island of Koh Phangan also has become popular among Russian visitors trying to escape the war.
Kimberley Baka, a life coach from South Africa who is based on the island, said it feels like there has been a “takeover” in recent months.
Aside from its famous monthly Full Moon beach parties, Koh Phangan is popular with visitors who enjoy the island’s travel community and budget-friendly prices.
Soaring rental prices are forcing people to leave, Baka said.
“We must have messaged 30 different places, most of them were booked out for a year,” said Baka. “I inquired about four houses, probably the normal value around 12,000 baht [$345] a month each. One Russian woman had subleased all four of them for an entire year and she’s charging 1,300 baht [$37] per day, so [this adds] up to around 40,000 baht [$1,150] per month [per house].”
“Thai people can’t get a good deal,” said Baka. “Many people who have called Koh Phangan home for years are leaving.”
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Turkey Expands Probe of Building Collapses, Quake Toll Tops 50,000
Turkey has arrested 184 people suspected of responsibility for the collapse of buildings in this month’s earthquakes and investigations are widening, a minister said Saturday, as anger simmers over what many see as corrupt building practices.
Overnight, the death toll from the earthquakes, the most powerful of which struck at the dead of night Feb. 6, rose to 44,128 in Turkey. That took the overall number of deaths in Turkey and neighboring Syria to more than 50,000.
More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in Turkey by the disaster, the worst in the country’s modern history.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that more than 600 people had been investigated in connection with collapsed buildings, speaking during a news conference in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, which was among 10 provinces hit by the disaster.
Those formally arrested and remanded in custody include 79 construction contractors, 74 people who bear legal responsibility for the buildings, 13 property owners and 18 people who had made alterations to buildings, he said.
Many Turks have expressed outrage at what they see as corrupt building practices and flawed urban developments.
President Tayyip Erdogan, who faces the biggest political challenge of his two-decade rule in elections scheduled to be held by June, has promised accountability.
In the province of Gaziantep, the mayor of the Nurdagi district – who is from Erdogan’s ruling AK Party – was among those arrested as part of the investigations into collapsed buildings, state broadcaster TRT Haber and other media reported.
Breaking my heart
Nearly three weeks since the disaster, there is no final death toll in Turkey and officials have not said how many bodies may still be trapped under the rubble.
A firefighter helping to clear the rubble in the hard-hit city of Antakya said body parts were being found daily.
“It’s very difficult. You cannot tell a man to continue working if he’s lifting out a person’s arm,” said the firefighter, who declined to be identified.
Nearly 2 million people left homeless by the disaster are being housed in tents, container homes and other facilities in the region and in other parts of the country, Turkey’s disaster management authority said.
More than 335,000 tents have been erected in the quake zone and container home settlements are being established at 130 locations, while nearly 530,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas, it added.
But near Antakya, Omran Alswed, a Syrian, and his family are still living in makeshift shelters.
“Our houses are heavily damaged, so we have taken shelter here, in a garden in our neighborhood,” said Alswed.
“The biggest issue is tents. It has been 19 days and we are yet to receive a single tent. We also applied to move into a tent camp, but they said the ones nearby are full,” he said.
Turkey’s only remaining ethnic Armenian village, Vakifli, was badly hit by the quake, with 30 of its 40 stone houses heavily damaged.
“Vakifli is all we have, the only Armenian village in Turkey. It is our home. Seeing it like this is breaking my heart,” said Masis, a 67-year-old retired jeweler, who moved back to his hometown after spending 17 years in Istanbul.
Turkey and Armenia are still at odds over the 1.5 million people Armenia says were killed in 1915 by the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor to modern Turkey. Armenia says this constitutes genocide.
Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War I but contests the figures and denies it was systematic.
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UK, EU Inching Toward Northern Ireland Deal: Irish PM
Britain and the European Union are inching toward concluding talks on revising post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland and an agreement is possible, but by no means guaranteed, in the coming days, Ireland’s prime minister said Saturday.
Momentum has been building for weeks toward a deal to ease checks on trade that were introduced under the Northern Ireland Protocol – the arrangements agreed to avoid a hard border with EU member Ireland when Britain exited the EU in 2020.
Lawmakers in British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party have been told to be in parliament Monday, in a sign that a deal could be imminent.
“I think the talks on reforming the protocol are inching toward a conclusion. Certainly, the deal isn’t done yet, but I do think we are inching toward a conclusion,” Leo Varadkar told reporters.
“There is the possibility of agreement in the next few days but by no means guaranteed … There’s still a gap to be closed,” Varadkar said, adding there is ongoing engagement between the U.K. government and European Commission.
Varadkar, who played a key role when the protocol was agreed in 2019, encouraged London, Brussels and Northern Irish politicians “to go the extra mile” to help reach an agreement, saying the benefits would be “huge.”
While an agreement would mark an end to a two-year standoff between Britain and the EU, Sunak could face a battle with pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers and pro-British Northern Irish politicians to make the deal work.
Opinion polls have consistently shown a majority of Northern Irish voters – who opposed Brexit – favor the idea of the protocol, however the province’s assembly and power-sharing government have not sat for a year due to unionist opposition.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the region’s largest pro-British party, has said it will not end its boycott of the assembly unless all checks on goods bound for Northern Ireland from Britain are removed.
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UK: Russia Running Low on Iranian Drones
Russia has likely depleted its supply of Iranian one-way-attack uncrewed aerial vehicles or OWA-UAVs, the British Defense Ministry said Saturday in an intelligence update.
The ministry said there have not been any reports of the vehicles being used in Ukraine “since around” Feb. 15, while at least 24 were reported downed between late January and early February.
“Scores were destroyed in the first few days of the year,” the ministry said.
The British ministry said Ukraine will likely seek more stock of the unmanned vehicles, despite their bad track record for destroying their intended targets.
“Russia likely sees them as useful decoys which can divert Ukrainian air defenses from more effective Russian cruise missiles,” according to the ministry’s report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday Russia’s killing of so many people in Ukraine cannot go unpunished. He said he wants the Russian military and political leadership brought before the International Criminal Court.
“They must be held responsible,” Zelenskyy said. “I believe in accountability.”
On Friday, a year after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, the White House announced that the Pentagon would commit $2 billion more in military assistance to Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
The package includes additional ammunition for HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, 155 mm artillery rounds, munitions for laser-guided rocket systems, and funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment of equipment. President Joe Biden reasserted his vow that “Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to support Ukraine’s infrastructure. Blinken said the State Department in coordination with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Treasury Department are offering $10 billion in assistance, including budgetary support to Ukraine and additional energy assistance to support Ukrainians suffering from Russia’s attacks.
The State Department also marked the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Friday by sanctioning more than 60 top Russian officials, including Cabinet ministers and regional leaders, and three enterprises that run the country’s nuclear weapons program.
Additionally, the U.S. announced broader global sanctions against companies for helping Moscow evade export restrictions and access key technologies.
The Treasury Department said it is sanctioning Russia’s metals and mining sector among others. The action, taken in coordination with the G-7 leading industrial nations, seeks to punish 250 people and firms, puts financial blocks on banks, arms dealers and technology companies tied to weapons production, and goes after alleged sanctions evaders in countries from the United Arab Emirates to Switzerland.
“Our sanctions have had both short-term and long-term impact, seen acutely in Russia’s struggle to replenish its weapons and in its isolated economy,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
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Spain Detects First Suspected Case of Marburg Disease
Spain has identified its first suspected case of Marburg disease.
The Spanish patient is a 34-year-old man who had recently traveled to the Central African nation of Equatorial Guinea. He was in a private hospital but has been transferred to an isolation unit at Hospital La Fe in Valencia for further tests, regional medical officials said.
Marburg virus disease, or MVD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “is a rare but severe hemorrhagic fever which affects both people and non-human primates … Primates [including people] can become infected with Marburg virus, and may develop serious disease with high mortality.”
Spanish health officials said Saturday that more than 200 people in Equatorial Guinea have recently been quarantined because of Marburg disease.
Earlier this month, two suspected cases of Marburg were detected in Cameroon near its border with Equatorial Guinea.
The World Health Organization says that the “highly virulent disease” can have “a fatality ratio of up to 88%” and “is in the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease.”
There are no vaccines or antiviral treatments for Marburg.
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Supporters for Ukraine March in Poland, One Year After Russian Invasion
Ukrainians and their supporters marched in Warsaw, Poland, on Friday, one year after Moscow launched its full-scale war on Ukraine. Poland is host to more than 1 million Ukrainian refugees. Lesia Bakalets has more from Warsaw.
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Turkey Begins Rebuilding for 1.5M Left Homeless by Earthquakes
Turkey has begun work to rebuild homes following this month’s devastating earthquakes, a government official said Friday, as the combined death toll in Turkey and Syria surpassed 50,000.
More than 160,000 buildings containing 520,000 apartments collapsed or were severely damaged in the Feb. 6 earthquakes that killed tens of thousands in Turkey and neighboring Syria.
The Disaster and Emergency Management Authority announced the death toll in Turkey due to earthquakes rose to 44,218 on Friday night.
With Syria’s latest announced death toll of 5,914, the combined death toll in the two countries rose to above 50,000.
Facing an election within months, President Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to rebuild homes within a year, although experts have said the authorities should put safety before speed. Some buildings that were meant to withstand tremors crumbled in the latest earthquakes.
“For several projects, tenders and contracts have been done. The process is moving very fast,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity, adding there would be no compromise on safety.
Authorities say tents have been dispatched for the many who are homeless, but people have reported trouble accessing them.
“I have eight children. We are living in a tent. There is water on top (of the tent) and the ground is damp. We are asking for more tents and they don’t give them to us,” Melek, 67, who was waiting in a line to collect aid outside a high school in the town of Hassa.
The school was being used as an aid distribution center by a group of volunteers called Interrail Turkey. One volunteer, Sumeyye Karabocek, said the shortage of tents remained the biggest problem.
Half a million new homes needed
Erdogan’s government has endured a wave of criticism over both its response to the devastation and what many Turks say were years of non-enforcement of construction quality control.
The Turkish government’s initial plan now is to build 200,000 apartments and 70,000 village houses at a cost of at least $15 billion, he said. U.S. bank J.P. Morgan estimated rebuilding houses and infrastructure will cost $25 billion.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said it estimated that the destruction has left 1.5 million people homeless, with 500,000 new homes needed.
It said it had requested $113.5 million from the $1 billion in funds appealed for by the United Nations last week, adding that it would focus this money on clearing away mountains of rubble.
The UNDP estimates that the disaster had produced between 116 million and 210 million tons of rubble, compared with 13 million tons of rubble after the earthquake in northwest Turkey in 1999.
Turkey also issued new regulations under which companies and charities can build homes and workplaces to donate to the urbanization ministry for people in need.
Many survivors have left the region of southern Turkey that was hit by the quake or have been settled in tents, container homes and other government-sponsored accommodation.
In Antakya, Saeed Sleiman Ertoglu, 56, loaded up what remained of his stock from his waterpipe shop that was not damaged.
“The glassware was very beautiful, more than usual, but then we had this (earthquake), and it all got ruined,” he said, after his home and shop survived the first tremors but not the later one. He estimated that just 5% of his merchandise survived.
“What can we do?” he said. “This is an act of God, and God’s will always bears gifts.”
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One Year Later, Somalia Still Feeling Effects of Ukraine War
One year after Russia invaded Ukraine, aid-dependent Somalia is still feeling the effects, as escalating prices for wheat and the long-running regional drought put millions at risk of starvation.
According to traders in Somalia’s main markets, the price of a local food basket has increased by 49 percent over the past 12 months. Fuel prices have nearly doubled, increasing 92 percent compared to a year ago.
Shoki Hayir, a lecturer at Mogadishu’s SIMAD University and a conflict researcher, told VOA that Russia’s war in Ukraine cut off Somalia from one of its main international food sources.
“Somalia had sourced more than 90% of its grains from Ukraine and Russia before the war and since it has been suffering from a shortage of food supplies in a difficult time, when thousands of people are on the verge of famine and the world largely focuses on Ukraine,” said Hayir.
Humanitarian aid has helped, but contributions are falling short, in part because Ukraine is commanding donors’ attention, said Somali economic analyst Ali Mohamed Osman.
“Somalia’s crisis hasn’t been at the top of donors’ minds since the beginning of the Ukraine war because the humanitarian attention has shifted to the greater Ukraine devastation,” Osman said. “Therefore, the impact of the severe drought that came on the heels of the COVID-19, have largely continued, pushing Somalia closer toward famine.”
Because of Somalia’s chronically shaky security, political and environmental conditions, many nations and organizations have contributed generously over the years to help the country and its people survive. But Hayir says when those donors shift their attention elsewhere, countries like Somalia suffer.
“A nation cannot fully and always be dependent on international aid,” Hayir said. “Somalis with the help of the international community need to focus more on agricultural development and to produce their food because bigger crises can always unfold elsewhere in the world and push it deep into humanitarian crisis.”
Last week, aid workers in Somalia said they were concerned about a likely reduction in humanitarian support. They said donor fatigue, compounded by multiple crises around the world that also require humanitarian support, could reduce the level of funds Somalia’s appeal received.
“The main reason why there’s a donor fatigue is because, as you can imagine, Somalia has been receiving humanitarian assistance for over three decades now and the situation has not been changing,” said Mohamed Abdi, country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The Somali government and humanitarian agencies recently appealed for $2.6 billion to assist about 7.6 million people in 2023. The appeal comes amid warnings that famine is a strong possibility if rains in the spring underperform and if humanitarian assistance is not sustained.
Abdiaziz Ahmed contributed to this report
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New EU Sanctions More Effectively Target Myanmar Junta
The latest round of EU sanctions imposed on the Myanmar junta were welcomed by advocacy groups monitoring human rights violations in the Southeast Asian country.
Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for the human rights advocacy group Justice for Myanmar, said in a statement to VOA on Thursday that the sanctions were “important in catching up with sanctions already imposed by the U.S., U.K. and Canada on arms brokers and units of the military responsible for supplying and manufacturing arms.”
In a statement released Monday, Burma Campaign UK said, “This round of sanctions is well targeted, focusing on suppliers of aviation fuel, arms brokers, military procurement entities and members of the Burmese [Myanmar] military and associated bodies.”
This sixth round of EU sanctions imposed on the junta Monday includes nine individuals and seven entities the EU says have contributed to escalating violence and human rights violations in Myanmar.
According to Justice for Myanmar, or JFM, arms brokers targeted in the latest round of sanctions include Aung Hlaing Oo, Sit Taing Aung and Kyaw Min Oo, along with the companies Dynasty International, International Gateways Group and Sky Aviator Company Limited.
JFM’s statement highlights how these Myanmar arms brokers and companies are linked to companies in the EU. For instance, “Aung Hlaing Oo and Dynasty International both have business with EU companies, and future activities will be prevented through these sanctions.”
It added, “Dynasty International brokered the supply and maintenance of G120TP aircraft from the German corporation Grob Aircraft SE.” However, “the German government stated they are not aware of the sale of Grob G120TP aircraft to the Myanmar air force,” JFM said in its statement.
The new EU sanctions also apply to an aviation fuel supplier, Asia Sun Group, which brokers the supply of jet fuel to the junta. This company “stands complicit in its [the junta’s] international crimes,” the statement reads. “This will help disrupt the supply of jet fuel to the junta, which it needs for its continued indiscriminate airstrikes.”
Additionally, JFM said, the “new designations fill major gaps in the EU’s sanctions regime, targeting key arms brokers and military institutions.”
The EU has restrictive measures on 93 individuals and 18 entities. Those who are sanctioned are subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban in EU territory.
The EU announced its first round of sanctions in March 2021, after the military coup in February of the same year that ousted the democratically elected government of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and sparked global outrage. Further targeted sanctions followed, with two rounds in 2021, and two more in 2022.
“These sanctions will take time to have an impact, which is why we need the EU to speed up the implementation of sanctions — two rounds a year is not enough,” Mark Farmaner, executive director of Burma Campaign UK, told VOA.
Additionally, “monitoring and implementation of EU sanctions is up to individual EU member states,” Farmaner said. “There is no transparency about how they monitor sanctions or action taken regarding breaches of sanctions.”
According to the statement by JFM, “the junta’s response to mass resistance has been the continued commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity, murdering over 3,000 people, arbitrarily arresting over 19,000 more, displacing 1.1 million people and carrying out indiscriminate attacks across Myanmar, enabled by the supply of funds, arms and jet fuel.”
JFM’s Maung told VOA that “the EU, U.K., U.S., Canada and Australia need to coordinate better and speed up the pace of their sanctions designations to have a meaningful impact to cut the junta’s access to arms and funds.”
Three military arms procurement bodies, which have been sanctioned by the U.S., Britain and Canada in December 2021, also were placed under the latest EU sanctions.
These bodies were the Myanmar Office of the Quarter Master General, the Myanmar Directorate of Defense Industries and the Myanmar Directorate of Defense Procurement.
“The EU has taken the important step of sanctioning the crony conglomerate IGE [the International Group of Entrepreneurs Co. Ltd.] in 2022, but the impact of this is reduced because the EU did not also sanction Ne Aung [the owner of the IGE] and his partners, while the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia have not sanctioned IGE at all. More action is urgently needed,” said Maung.
Ne Aung’s brother, the commander of the Myanmar navy, Moe Aung, was included in the latest round of the EU sanctions. Their father, Aung Thaung, now deceased, was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2014 for “perpetuating violence, oppression and corruption.”
Other individuals listed in the latest round of EU sanctions were Maung Maung Aye, chief of general staff for the Myanmar army, navy, and air force; Myo Myint Aung, Yangon region economic minister of the State Administration Council; Zin Min Htet, deputy minister for home affairs and chief of the Myanmar police force; Ko Ko Maung, regional military commander in Kachin state; and Myo Myint Oo, union minister for energy.
The Myanmar junta has not yet made any comments regarding the EU sanctions.
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Pakistan Walks a Diplomatic Tightrope Between Russia and Ukraine
Russia’s war in Ukraine has added to Pakistan’s woes as its import-dependent economy has suffered price shocks. One year later, Islamabad not only continues to maintain a neutral diplomatic stance on Russia, but it is also trying to deepen trade ties with Moscow to acquire cheap energy. Sarah Zaman reports on how Pakistan walks a diplomatic tightrope in this conflict. Videographer: Wajid Ali Shah, Waqar Ahmad; Video editor: Waqar Ahmed
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Differences Over Ukraine Emerge at G20 Finance Ministers Meeting
A meeting of finance officials of the Group of 20 countries, which coincided with the anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, revealed sharp differences between the world’s biggest economies on the conflict. The meeting began Friday in India’s southern city of Bengaluru.
At the opening session, U.S. Trade Secretary Janet Yellen called on G-20 countries to “redouble their efforts to support Ukraine and restrict Russia’s capacity to wage war.”
“I urge the Russian officials here at the G-20 to understand that their continued work for the Kremlin makes them complicit in [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s atrocities,” Yellen said. “They bear responsibility for the lives and livelihoods being taken in Ukraine and the harm caused globally.”
Russia’s finance minister did not attend the meeting and Moscow was represented by deputies.
Yellen also said that Russia’s “weaponization” of food and energy has not only affected Ukraine adversely, but it also has harmed the global economy.
However, India, which holds the G-20 presidency this year, stayed away from mentioning the Ukraine conflict. New Delhi has not condemned the Russian invasion publicly nor joined Western sanctions against Russia. However, it has stepped up purchases of Russian oil.
In a video address to the gathering, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the world’s leading economies to focus on the world’s “most vulnerable citizens of the world.”
Modi said the COVID-19 pandemic and “rising geo-political tensions in different parts of the world” had led to unsustainable debt levels in several countries, disruptions to global supply chains and threats to food and energy security.
“You represent the leadership of global finance and economy at a time when the world is facing serious economic difficulties,” Modi said. “It is up to you, the custodians of the leading economies and market systems, to bring back stability, confidence and growth to the global economy.”
It remains unclear if delegates in Bengaluru will reach a consensus on a joint statement that is to be issued Saturday because of differences among delegates from different countries.
India does not want the word “war” to be mentioned, instead preferring the geopolitical tension to be referred to as a “crisis” or a “challenge,” according to domestic media reports.
But countries like the U.S., Germany and Britain emphasized the need for an explicit mention of the Russian invasion.
Calling for “absolute clarity” on the anniversary at a news conference, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said, “This is a war. And this war has a cause, has one cause, and that is Russia and Vladimir Putin. That must be expressed clearly at this G-20 finance meeting.”
British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt told reporters, “In the end, unless we resolve the global security threats, there can be no progress on these other areas.”
On Thursday, Yellen told a news conference that she would like to see a “strong condemnation” of Russia’s invasion.
The G-20, which includes advanced and emerging economies, was created after the Asian financial crisis in 1999, and is seen as a forum that focuses on how to manage global economic crises.
At the two-day talks, ministers are expected to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war on poorer nations that have been adversely impacted by high food and fuel prices and are grappling with high debt.
They also will focus on issues including reform of institutions like the World Bank, debt relief for low-income countries, climate change and financial inclusion.
“Trust in international financial institutions has eroded. This is partly because they have been slow to reform themselves,” Modi said in his address.
India is hoping to use its presidency of the G-20 to bring attention to the problems faced by developing countries and emerge as the voice of what Indian officials call the “Global South.”
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