Category: General

A top U.S. general emphasized “very robust” military assistance to Egypt as he flew into Cairo Wednesday in the wake of a decision by President Joe Biden’s administration to cut $130 million in military aid to the country over human rights concerns.

The rare U.S. censure of a geostrategic ally that controls the Suez Canal followed Egypt’s failure to address specific human rights-related conditions, which have never been publicly detailed by Washington. Activists have said those U.S. conditions included the release of people seen as political prisoners.

General Frank McKenzie, who as head of U.S. Central Command is the top American military commander in the Middle East region, underscored rights concerns in comments to reporters shortly before landing. McKenzie also stressed that the cut in military assistance announced on January 28 did not represent a large part of the $1.3 billion allocated by the United States for Egypt.

“Compared to the amount of other money that’s in play, it’s a very small amount. But I think it’s intended to be a signal,” McKenzie said. “We still have a very robust weapons program with Egypt, and we’re still very heavily engaged with them.”

McKenzie, who is the most senior U.S. official to visit Cairo since Washington announced the aid cut, does not plan to shy away from America’s human rights concerns in talks with Egypt.

“At the [military] level, we need to be honest with each other about factors that can influence the relationship. Clearly that’s a factor that can influence the relationship,” McKenzie said.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a former Army chief, has been criticized for crushing dissent since coming to power after leading the 2013 ouster of elected President Mohamed Morsi of the now-banned Islamist party, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Sissi and his supporters have said security measures were necessary to stabilize the country. Authorities have recently published a lengthy rights strategy, appointed a national human rights council and lifted a state of emergency in place since 2017, though critics have rejected these steps as cosmetic.

U.S. officials have said the American relationship with Egypt is complex. The most-populous Arab country is a vital ally and key voice in the Arab world. U.S. military officials have long stressed Egypt’s role expediting the passage of U.S. warships through the Suez Canal and granting overflight for American military aircraft.

Rights groups welcomed the Biden administration’s announcement of the aid cut. But some saw it as just a slap on the wrist since it closely followed U.S. approval of an arms package worth more than $2.5 billion for air defense radars and C-130 Super Hercules planes.

Despite deep ties to the U.S. military, Egypt has moved to diversify its sources of arms after then-U.S. President Barack Obama in 2013 froze delivery of some military aid to Egypt after Morsi’s overthrow.

Egypt’s imports of arms from Russia, France, Germany and Italy have surged, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Any major arms purchase from Russia could trigger U.S. sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, known as CAATSA, U.S. officials have said.

“My message will be the inherent superiority of U.S. [weapons] systems and our desire to maintain a close partnership with Egypt, which would necessarily be affected if they executed large weapons sales with Russia,” McKenzie said.

Source: Voice of America

The U.N. human rights office says it fears heightened tension between Hema herders and Lendu farmers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo may erupt into more violence following last week’s deadly attacks.

At least 62 internally displaced members of the Hema ethnic community were killed and 38 injured when their camp was attacked by an armed group last week. Fighters from CODECO, the Cooperative for the Development of Congo, staged a night-time raid on the Plaine Savo IDP camp in DR Congo’s Ituri province.

The attack, which took place February 1, is only the latest in a string of devastating assaults on IDP sites by CODECO, which is mainly composed of Lendu farmers.

U.N. human rights spokeswoman Liz Throssel says all the victims in the camp of 24,000 people were either shot or attacked with machetes and knives.

“It is already on vulnerable people. It is IDPs. It is people who are in camps. So, of course it is creating fears, tension. It is leading to people fleeing from the violence. Following deadly attacks last week and further attempts over the weekend, there is significant risk that other IDP sites could be attacked as well,” Throssel said.

U.N. officials note ethnic tensions between the Hema and Lendu communities have existed for years. Last year, the U.N. agency documented 10 attacks on IDP sites in Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces. In all, it says at least 106 people were killed, 16 injured and some seven women subjected to sexual violence.

The human rights agency is calling on DRC authorities to immediately strengthen the protection of civilians in the troubled areas. It says they must ensure the safety and security of people who have sought refuge from violent inter-ethnic attacks in IDP camps.

Military authorities in the region have launched a preliminary investigation into the recent onslaughts. U.N. officials say the investigation must be independent, effective, and transparent, and perpetrators must be brought to justice.

Source: Voice of America

The UN children’s fund, UNICEF, warns the Horn of Africa is facing a climate-induced emergency and says the international community must act now to prevent a catastrophic loss of life and livelihoods.

The specter of the 2011 famine in Somalia hangs over the dire situation confronting millions of people in the Horn of Africa. That emergency killed 250,000 people, half of them children. Hunger and malnutrition have worsened in the region after three years of consecutive drought. But famine has not been reported in any area.

UN agencies, however, say that could rapidly change. The UN children’s fund predicts as many as 20 million people in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia will need water and food assistance in the next six months.

Mohamed Malick Fall is UNICEF Eastern and Southern African Regional Director. Speaking on a line from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, he says children will be among the biggest victims of this crisis.

Right now, nearly 5.5 million children in these four countries are threatened by acute malnutrition and an estimated 1.4 million children by severe acute malnutrition. UNICEF fears that this number will increase by 50 percent if the rains do not come in the next three months.

Three dry seasons in a row have decimated crops, led to severe water scarcity, and killed livestock. This has forced families to leave their homes in search of grazing land and water, increasing the risk of disease and severe malnutrition.

The World Food Program estimates 13 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are gripped by severe hunger. Fall says children caught in this climate emergency are missing out on meals, on school and on access to lifesaving health services.

“Families are taking extreme measures to survive and in many cases leaving their homes, which puts children on the move at particular risk. This is a crisis that requires a collective response—ensuring access to clean water, nutrition, and safe spaces for children.”

UNICEF is appealing for $123 million to provide lifesaving aid for the most vulnerable in the four countries until the end of June. It warns many children will die or end up with life-long cognitive or physical damage if the international community fails to act quickly.

Source: Voice of America

Millions of people around the world enjoy a daily cup of coffee; however, their daily caffeine fix could be under threat because climate change is killing coffee plants, putting farmers’ livelihoods at risk.

Inside the vast, steamy greenhouses at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in the leafy suburbs of west London, Aaron Davis leads the research into coffee.

“Arabica coffee, our preferred coffee, provides us with about 60% of the coffee that we drink globally. It’s a delicious coffee, it’s the one we love to drink. The other species is robusta coffee, which provides us with the other 40% of the coffee we drink – but that mainly goes into instant coffees and espresso mixes,” Davis explains.

The cultivation of arabica and robusta coffee beans accounts for millions of livelihoods across Africa, South America and Asia.

“These coffees have served us very well for many centuries, but under climate change they’re facing problems,” Davis says.

“Arabica is a cool tropical plant; it doesn’t like high temperatures. Robusta is a plant that likes even moist conditions; it likes high rainfall. And under climate change, rainfall patters are being modified, and it’s also experiencing problems. In some cases, yields are dramatically reduced because of increased temperatures or reduced rainfall. But in some cases, as we’ve seen in Ethiopia, you might get a complete harvest failure and death of the trees.”

The solution could be growing deep in the forests of West Africa. There are around 130 species of coffee plant – but not all taste good. In Sierra Leone, scientists from Kew helped to identify one candidate, stenophylla, growing in the wild.

“This is extremely heat tolerant. And is an interesting species because it matches arabica in terms of its superb taste,” Davis says.

Two other coffee species also show promise for commercial cultivation in a changing climate: liberica and eugenioides, which “has low yields and very small beans, but it has an amazing taste,” according to Davis.

Some believe the taste is far superior. At the 2021 World Barista Championship in Milan, Australia’s Hugh Kelly won third prize with his eugenioides espresso. Kelly recalled the first time he tasted it at a remote farm in Colombia. “It was a coffee like I’ve never tasted before; as I tasted it, it was unbelievably sweet … I knew that sweetness and gentle acidity were the bones for an incredible espresso,” Kelly told judges in Milan.

Researchers hope Kelly’s success could be the breakthrough moment for these relatively unknown beans.

The team at the Botanic Gardens is working with farmers in Africa on cultivating the new coffees commercially. Catherine Kiwuka of the Ugandan National Agricultural Research Organization, who oversees some of the projects, says challenges still lie ahead.

“What requirements do they need? How do we boost its productivity? Instead of it being dominated by only two species, we have the opportunity to tap into the value of other coffee species.”

It’s hoped that substantial volumes of liberica coffee will be exported from Uganda to Europe this year. Researchers hope it will provide a sustainable income for farmers – and an exciting new taste for coffee drinkers.

Source: Voice of America

ANTANANARIVO— Cyclone Batsirai made landfall on Madagascar’s eastern coastline late on Saturday, with residents reporting strong winds, a power blackout and houses destroyed as the storm swept inland.

There were fears that Batsirai could compound the devastation wreaked by another cyclone, Ana, which hit the island just two weeks ago, killing 55 people.

The cyclone had average winds of about 165kph, the bulletin said.

“The winds are terrible. I’ve never experienced this. Mananjary has never experienced such a situation. The waves are very high,” Hanitra Raharisoa, a resident of Mananjary, said.

Another resident who gave only one name, Raharijaona, said the storm had knocked out the area’s power grid, felled trees and destroyed some homes.

In a bulletin earlier on Saturday, Madagascar’s weather service had said the cyclone was expected to cross the country from east to west, “remaining generally at a dangerous stage.”

The streets of the capital, Antananarivo, were quiet as many residents opted to stay indoors. Banks and some other businesses were shuttered.

At a shelter in the capital for people left homeless by Cyclone Ana, 20-year-old Faniry said early on Saturday she was too scared to venture outside as Batsirai approached.

“Cyclone Batsirai seems very strong,” she said.

Around her, women and children sat huddled together on the floor alongside their belongings.

“We are stuck here because we can’t bring our children outside because it’s cold and we are afraid of landslides. Better for us to be cautious and stay here,” Faniry said.

Ana battered the country last month, leaving at least 55 dead from landslides and collapsed buildings. The storm also left widespread flooding and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.

After ravaging Madagascar, Ana moved west, making landfall in Mozambique and continuing inland to Malawi. A total of 88 people died, including those in Madagascar.

Lalaina Randrianjatovo, a retired colonel who works as director of a rapid response unit in the ministry of population, said Batsirai’s path was likely to spare the capital but heavy rains were still expected.

“Strong rains will probably cause flooding,” he said, adding more people were expected to arrive at the Antananarivo shelter, which already houses about 1,500 people.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

WASHINGTON— US President Joe Biden has appointed the son of businessman and politician in Ghana, Paa Kwesi Nduom, to an enviable job.

Dr. Edjah Nduom will lead the fight against cancer in a “Cancer Moonshot Program,” a tweet accompanied with photos showing him with the US president said.

This appointment is in line with an honour bestowed on him.

“Dr. Edjah Nduom, son of businessman Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, has been honoured and appointed by US President Biden to lead the fight against cancer in a “Cancer Moonshot Program,” the tweet said.

In his address, Biden told Nduom how special he was to him.

“See that doctor on the end there. That’s the man who spent 18 months trying to save our son’s life. Doctor, I love you. The whole family loves you,” Biden said.

On Wednesday, Biden announced a relaunch of the “Cancer Moonshot” program started during the Obama administration.

It had a goal of ending a disease that kills more than 600,000 people a year in the US.

“We can end cancer as we know it. This is a presidential White House priority,” Biden is reported to have said.

Also, President Biden announced a campaign to get more people screened for cancer, noting that more than 9 million cancer screenings have been skipped during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Emory University School of Medicine in the US, Nduom’s clinical specialty is the surgical management of brain and spinal cord tumors. He is particularly interested in the safe resection of malignant tumors located in eloquent areas of the brain, the brainstem, and spinal cord.

Nduom is a member of the Cancer Immunology Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. He holds numerous positions in national and international medical societies.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK