THANKS TO BREXIT A HISTORIC WIN
Sinn Fein hails 'new era' as it wins Northern Ireland vote












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Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill, left, and party leader Mary Lou McDonald take a selfie at Medow Bank election count centre on Saturday, May, 7, 2022, in Magherafelt , Northern Ireland. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)

SYLVIA HUI and PETER MORRISON
Sat, May 7, 2022,

BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — The Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein, which seeks unification with Ireland, hailed a “new era” Saturday for Northern Ireland as it captured the largest number of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time in a historic win.

With almost all votes counted from Thursday's local U.K. election, Sinn Fein secured 27 of the Assembly’s 90 seats. The Democratic Unionist Party, which has dominated Northern Ireland’s legislature for two decades, captured 24 seats. The victory means Sinn Fein is entitled to the post of first minister in Belfast — a first for an Irish nationalist party since Northern Ireland was founded as a Protestant-majority state in 1921.

The centrist Alliance Party, which doesn’t identify as either nationalist or unionist, also saw a huge surge in support and was set to become the other big winner in the vote, claiming 17 seats.

The victory is a major milestone for Sinn Fein, which has long been linked to the Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group that used bombs and bullets to try to take Northern Ireland out of U.K. rule during decades of violence involving Irish republican militants, Protestant Loyalist paramilitaries and the U.K. army and police.

“Today ushers in a new era,” Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill said shortly before the final results were announced. “Irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds, my commitment is to make politics work."

O'Neill stressed that it was imperative for Northern Ireland's divided politicians to come together next week to form an Executive — the devolved government of Northern Ireland. If none can be formed within six months, the administration will collapse, triggering a new election and more uncertainty.

There is “space in this state for everyone, all of us together,” O’Neill said. “There is an urgency to restore an Executive and start putting money back in people’s pockets, to start to fix the health service. The people can’t wait.”

While the Sinn Fein win signals a historic shift that shows diminishing support for unionist parties, it’s far from clear what happens next because of Northern Ireland's complicated power-sharing politics and ongoing tussles over post-Brexit arrangements.

Under a mandatory power-sharing system created by the 1998 peace agreement that ended decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict, the jobs of first minister and deputy first minister are split between the biggest unionist party and the largest nationalist one. Both posts must be filled for a government to function, but the Democratic Unionist Party has suggested it might not serve under a Sinn Fein first minister.

The DUP has also said it will refuse to join a new government unless there are major changes to post-Brexit border arrangements known as the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Those post-Brexit rules, which took effect after Britain left the European Union, have imposed customs and border checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. The arrangement was designed to keep an open border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland, a key pillar of the peace process.

But the rules angered many unionists, who maintain that the new checks have created a barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. that undermines their British identity. In February, the DUP’s Paul Givan resigned as first minister in protest against the arrangements, triggering a a fresh political crisis in Northern Ireland.

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said he will announce next week whether he will return to the government.

“We will consider what we need to do now to get the action that is required from the government. I will be making my decision clear on all of that early next week,” he told the BBC.

The U.K.'s Secretary for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, said he will meet with all party leaders in the coming days and urge them to get back to the business of government quickly.

Voters have delivered a clear message that “they want a fully functioning devolved government in Northern Ireland, they want the issues around the Protocol addressed, and that they want politics to work better,” Lewis said.

Saturday's results bring Sinn Fein's ultimate goal of a united Ireland a step closer, although the party kept unification out of the spotlight this year during a campaign dominated by the skyrocketing cost of living.

O’Neill has said there would be no constitutional change on Irish unification until voters decide on it. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald indicated Friday that planning for any unity referendum could come within the next five years.

Polling expert John Curtice, a professor of political science at the University of Strathclyde, said Northern Ireland's power shift is a legacy of Brexit.

“The unionist vote has fragmented because of the divisions within the community over whether or not the Northern Ireland Protocol is something that can be amended satisfactorily or whether it needs to be scrapped,” he wrote on the BBC website.

Persuading the DUP to join a new government and pressing the EU to agree to major changes in post-Brexit arrangements will pose a headache for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Curtice added. Johnson's own Conservative party lost at least 450 seats in Thursday's local election.

Britain’s Conservative government says the Brexit customs arrangements cannot work without unionist support in Northern Ireland. Johnson has threatened to unilaterally suspend the Brexit rules if the EU refuses to change them

Hui reported from London.

EXPLAINER: What's next for N. Ireland after Sinn Fein wins?
 

Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill, right, and party leader Mary Lou McDonald after Sinn Fein topped the poll at the Medow Bank election count centre on Saturday, May, 7, 2022, in Magherafelt , Northern Ireland. 

AP Photo/Peter Morrison

JILL LAWLESS
Sat, May 7, 2022, 12:53 PM·4 min read


LONDON (AP) — The election of Sinn Fein as the biggest party in Northern Ireland’s Assembly is a historic moment -- the first time an Irish nationalist party, rather than a British unionist one, has topped the voting.

With all but two of the assembly's seats filled Saturday, Sinn Fein has won with 27 seats out of 90. The Democratic Unionist Party, which had been the largest for two decades, has 24 seats and the Alliance Party, which defines itself as neither nationalist nor unionist, has 17.

WHY IS THIS A BIG DEAL?

The outcome is hugely symbolic. A party that aims to unite Northern Ireland with the neighboring Republic of Ireland has a mandate to take the reins in a state established a century ago as a Protestant-majority region within the United Kingdom.


It’s a major milestone for a party long linked to the Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group that used bombs, bullets and violence to try to take Northern Ireland out of U.K. rule during decades of unrest. More than 3,500 people died in 30 years of violence involving Irish republican militants, Protestant Loyalist paramilitaries and the U.K. army and police.

A 1998 peace accord ended large-scale violence and Northern Ireland now has a government that splits power between British unionists and Irish nationalists. The arrangement has often been unstable, but has endured.

WILL SINN FEIN NOW GOVERN NORTHERN IRELAND?

The result gives Sinn Fein the right to hold the post of first minister in Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government, with the DUP taking the deputy first minister role.

But it’s unlikely a government will be set up smoothly soon.

Under Northern Ireland’s delicate power-sharing system, the posts of first minister and deputy first minister have equal status, and both posts must be filled for a government to be formed.

While Sinn Fein is ready to nominate its Northern Ireland leader Michelle O’Neill as first minister, the DUP says it will not follow suit unless there are major changes to post-Brexit border arrangements that it says are undermining Northern Ireland’s place in the U.K.

WHAT DOES BREXIT HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

Britain’s decision in 2016 to leave the European Union and its borderless free-trade zone has complicated Northern Ireland’s position. It is the only part of the U.K. that has a border with an EU nation. Keeping that border open to the free flow of people and goods is a key pillar of the peace process.

So instead, the post-Brexit rules have imposed customs and border checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. -- a border in the Irish Sea, rather than on the island of Ireland.

Unionists say the new checks have created a barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. that undermines their British identity. The largest unionist party, the DUP, is demanding the arrangements, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, are scrapped.

Britain’s Conservative government says the arrangements cannot work without unionist support, and is pressing the EU to agree to major changes. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has threatened to unilaterally suspend the rules if the bloc refuses.

But the U.K.-EU negotiations have reached an impasse, with the bloc accusing Johnson of refusing to implement rules he agreed to in a legally binding treaty.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The Northern Ireland Assembly must meet within eight days so the newly elected legislators can take their seats. Assembly members will then choose a Speaker, followed by the nomination of ministers, starting with the first and deputy first ministers.

If, as seems likely, no executive can be formed because the DUP refuses, ministers from the previous government will stay in power and basic governance can continue — though ministers are barred from making major or controversial decisions.

If there is still no executive after 24 weeks, a new election must be held.

IS IRISH REUNIFICATION LIKELY?

Irish unity did not play a big role in this year's Northern Ireland election campaign, which was dominated by more immediate worries, especially a cost-of-living crisis driven by the soaring costs of food and fuel.

But it remains Sinn Fein’s goal, and party leader Mary Lou McDonald says a referendum in Northern Ireland could be held within a “five-year framework.”

The 1998 Good Friday peace deal stated that Irish reunification can occur if referendums support it in both Northern Ireland and the republic.

In Northern Ireland, such a vote would have to be called by the British government, “if at any time it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland.”

There are no set rules for deciding when that threshold has been met.

Complicating the picture is the fact that Northern Ireland’s identity is in flux, with a growing number of people -- especially the young -- identifying as neither unionist nor nationalist. That is reflected in the strong showing of the centrist Alliance Party. There are growing calls for the power-sharing rules to be changed to reflect the move beyond Northern Ireland's traditional religious and political divide.

Sinn Fein calls for united Ireland debate after historic election win




Sat, May 7, 2022
By Amanda Ferguson

BELFAST (Reuters) -Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), hailed its first victory in a Northern Ireland Assembly election as a "defining moment" for the British-controlled region and called for a debate on a united Ireland.

Sinn Fein was ahead of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) by 27 to 24 seats with two left to declare, making it the first Irish nationalist party to become the largest in the devolved assembly.

"Today represents a very significant moment of change. It's a defining moment in our politics and for our people," said the head of Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, whose party secured 29% of first-preference votes to the DUP's 21.3%.

She said there should now be an "honest debate" around the party's goal of unifying the territory with the Republic of Ireland.

The victory will not change the region's status, as the referendum required to leave the United Kingdom is at the discretion of the British government and likely years away.

But the symbolic importance is huge, ending a century of domination by pro-British parties, supported predominantly by the region's Protestant population.

The DUP, a leading proponent of Britain's exit from the European Union, saw support undermined in part due to its role in post-Brexit talks between London and Brussels that resulted in trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

'HISTORIC RESULT'

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who is also leading a campaign to secede from the United Kingdom, was among the first to congratulate Sinn Fein in a Twitter post that hailed a "truly historic result."

While the largest party has the right to put forward a candidate for First Minister of Northern Ireland's compulsory power-sharing government, disagreements with the DUP mean such an appointment could be months away.

Asked by a journalist if she expected to become the region's first Irish nationalist First Minister, O'Neill said: "The people have spoken."

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said his party would not join the government unless the protocol governing Northern Ireland's trade with the rest of the UK following its exit from the European Union was totally overhauled.

The DUP's campaign focused on a promise to scrap what it calls a border in the Irish Sea.

Donaldson said he would see what British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says on the topic in a speech next week before deciding his next move.

The British government's minister for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis in a statement called on the parties to form an executive as soon as possible.

ALL-IRELAND ASPIRATIONS

Sinn Fein was long shunned by the political establishment on both sides of the Irish border for its links to Irish Republican Army violence during three decades of fighting over Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom that ended with a 1998 peace deal.

Since then it has reinvented itself to become the most popular party in the Republic of Ireland, where it has carved out a successful base by campaigning on everyday issues such as the cost of living and healthcare.

It followed a similar path in the Northern Irish elections, where it focused on economic concerns rather than Irish unity to appeal to middle-ground voters.

The election follows demographic trends that have long indicated that pro-British Protestant parties would eventually be eclipsed by predominantly Catholic Irish nationalist parties who favour uniting the north with the Republic of Ireland.

All unionist candidates combined secured slightly more votes than all nationalists in Thursday's election.

The cross-community Alliance Party scored its strongest ever result with 17 seats as it bids to establish itself as a third pillar of the political system.

(Writing by Conor Humphries; editing by Clelia Oziel and Frank Jack Daniel)

Growing African mangrove forests aim to combat climate woes

WANJOHI KABUKURU
Fri, May 6, 2022

MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — In a bid to protect coastal communities from climate change and encourage investment, African nations are increasingly turning to mangrove restoration projects, with Mozambique becoming the latest addition to the growing list of countries with large scale mangrove initiatives.

Mozambique follows efforts across the continent — including in Kenya, Madagascar, Gambia and Senegal — and is touted as the world’s largest coastal or marine ecosystem carbon storage project. Known as blue carbon, carbon captured by these ecosystems can sequester, or remove, carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at a faster rate than forests, despite being smaller in size.

Mozambique’s mangrove restoration project — announced in February alongside its UAE-based partner Blue Forest Solutions — hopes to turn 185,000 hectares (457,100 acres) in the central Zambezia and southern Sofala provinces into a forest which could capture up to 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide, according to project leaders.

“Blue carbon can be utilized not only to sequester tons of carbon dioxide but to also improve the lives of coastal communities,” Vahid Fotuhi, the Chief Executive officer of Blue Forest, told the Associated Press. “There are around one million hectares of mangroves forests in Africa. Collectively they're able to sequester more carbon dioxide than the total annual emissions of a country like Croatia or Bolivia.” He added these projects would create green jobs and promote biodiversity.

Africa’s major mangrove forests have been decimated in recent decades due to logging, fish farming, coastal development, and pollution, leading to increased blue carbon emissions and greater exposure of vulnerable coastal communities to flooding and other threats to livelihood.

But the continent's growing attention on mangrove restoration can be attributed in part to the successful Mikoko Pamoja project, initiated in 2013 in Kenya's Gazi Bay, which protected 117 hectares (289 acres) of mangrove forest and replanted 4,000 trees annually, spurring other countries to also address their damaged coastal land and recreate its success.

Mikoko Pamoja, Swahili for ‘mangroves together’, centered its efforts around protecting the small communities in Gazi and Makongeni villages from coastal erosion, loss of fish and climate change. It was dubbed the "world’s first blue carbon project” and earned the community of just 6,000 global fame, accolades, carbon cash and greater living standards.

“Mikoko Pamoja has led to development of projects in the community, including installation of water,” Iddi Bomani, the village chairperson of the Gazi community, said. “Everyone has water available in their houses."

"It especially leads to improved livelihoods through job creation when done by communities,” Laitani Suleiman, a committee member of the Mikoko Pamoja, added.

Several other projects have come to fruition since. In Senegal, 79 million replanted mangrove trees are projected to store 500,000 tons of carbon over the next 20 years. Neighboring Gambia launched its own reforestation effort in 2017, with Madagascar following suit with its own preservation project two years later. Egypt is planning its mangrove restoration project ahead of hosting the United Nations climate conference in November this year.

The projects have sparked a clamor for the sale of carbon credits, a type of permit that allows for a certain amount of emissions as remuneration for forest restoration or other carbon offset projects. Gabon was offered a recent pay package of $17 million through the Central African Forest Initiative due to its protection efforts, but complaints persist on the low prices offered to African governments.

“Africa remains excluded from a lot of financing available under climate change," Jean Paul Adam, head of the climate division at the Economic Commission for Africa, said, adding that a lack of financing means nations on the continent are unable to build up their resilience to climate change.

He added that “nature-based solutions and advocating for a fair development price of carbon” would propel the African economy.

And the benefits of reforestation can be significant, according to Coral Reef Alliance's Marissa Stein.

“Restoring and protecting our marine habitats plays a key role in maintaining the health of our planet,” she said, adding that mangroves alone store up to four times more carbon per hectare than tropical rainforests. The Global Mangroves Alliance also estimates that mangroves reduce damages and flood risk for 15 million people and can prevent over $65 billion of property damage each year.

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

 FREE PALETINE!

Palestinians facing eviction by Israel vow to stay on land


















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Palestinian Issa Abu Eram takes his flock of sheep out for the afternoon graze, in the West Bank Beduin community of Jinba, Masafer Yatta, Friday, May 6, 2022. Israel's Supreme Court has upheld a long-standing expulsion order against eight Palestinian hamlets in the occupied West Bank, potentially leaving at least 1,000 people homeless.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

IMAD ISSEID
Fri, May 6, 2022,

JINBA, West Bank (AP) — Everything here is makeshift, a result of decades of uncertainty. Homes are made from tin and plastic sheets, water is trucked in and power is obtained from batteries or a few solar panels.

The lives of thousands of Palestinians in a cluster of Bedouin communities in the southern West Bank have been on hold for more than four decades, ever since the land they cultivated and lived on was declared a military firing and training zone by Israel.

Since that decision in early 1981, residents of the Masafer Yatta region have weathered demolitions, property seizures, restrictions, disruptions of food and water supplies as well as the lingering threat of expulsion.

That threat grew significantly this week after Israel’s Supreme Court upheld a long-standing expulsion order against eight of the 12 Palestinian hamlets forming Masafer Yatta — potentially leaving at least 1,000 people homeless.

On Friday, some residents said they are determined to stay on the land.

The verdict came after a more than two-decade-long legal struggle by Palestinians to remain in their homes. Israel has argued that the residents only use the area for seasonal agriculture and that they had been offered a compromise that would have given them occasional access to the land.

The Palestinians say that if implemented, the ruling opens the way for the eviction of all the 12 communities that have a population of 4,000 people, mostly Bedouins who rely on animal herding and a traditional form of desert agriculture.

The residents of Jinba, one of the hamlets, said Friday that they have opposed any compromise because they have lived in the area long before Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war.

Issa Abu Eram was born in a cave in the rugged mountainous terrain 48 years ago and has endured a tough life because building is banned here.

In the winter, he and his family members live in a cave. In the summer, they stay in caravans near the cave. His goats are a source of income, and on Friday, he had laid out dozens of balls of hardened goat milk yogurt on the roof of a shack to dry.

He said his children grew up with the threat of expulsion hanging over them. They are attending a makeshift school in Jinba, with the oldest son now in 12th grade.

“He did not live in any other place except Jinba. How are you going to convince him ... to live somewhere else?” he said.

The Palestinian leadership on Friday condemned the Israeli Supreme Court ruling, which was handed down on Wednesday — when most of Israel was shut down for the country's Independence Day.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said the removal order “amounts to forced displacement and ethnic cleansing, in violation of international law and relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

Also on Friday, Israel's interior minister said Israel is set to advance plans for the construction of 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank. If approved, it would be the biggest advancement of settlement plans since the Biden administration took office.

The White House is opposed to settlement growth because it further erodes the possibility of an eventual two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The West Bank has been under Israeli military rule for nearly 55 years. Masafer Yatta is in the 60% of the territory where the Palestinian Authority is prohibited from operating. The Palestinians want the West Bank to form the main part of their future state.

Jewish settlers have established outposts in the area that are not officially authorized by Israel but are protected by the military. Last fall, dozens of settlers attacked a village in the area, and a 4-year-old boy was hospitalized after being struck in the head with a stone.

For now, the families say they have only one choice left: to stay and stick to their land.

“I don’t have an alternative and they cannot remove me,” said farmer Khalid al-Jabarin, standing outside a goat shed. “The entire government of Israel can’t remove me. We will not leave ... we will not get out of here because we are the inhabitants of the land.”

Referring to West Bank settlers who came from other countries, he said: "Why would they bring a replacement from South Africa to live in the high mountains, in our land, and replace us, and remove us, why? “

___

Associated Press writer Fares Akram in Hamilton, Canada, contributed to this report.

ILLEGAL ZIONIST OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE

Israeli minister touts plans to approve 4,000 settler homes


APARTHEID SETTLEMENT

A general view shows the West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat, Thursday, March 10, 2022. Israel is set to advance plans for the construction of 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank, the interior minister said Friday, May 6. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)


AREEJ HAZBOUN
Fri, May 6, 2022

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is set to advance plans for the construction of 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank, the interior minister said Friday, drawing warnings of “serious consequences” from the Palestinian Authority.

If approved, it would be the biggest advancement of settlement plans since the Biden administration took office. The White House is opposed to settlement growth because it further erodes the possibility of an eventual two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, a staunch supporter of settlements, tweeted that a planning committee would convene next week to approve 4,000 homes, calling construction in the West Bank a “basic, required and obvious thing.”

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the planned approvals would have “serious consequences on the ground” in an already tense West Bank. He did not say what those consequences might be, and the Palestinian Authority has no way of halting settlement building or any other Israeli measures.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that the Civil Administration, a military body, would meet Thursday to advance 1,452 units, and that another 2,536 units would be approved by Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

The Defense Ministry referred questions to COGAT, the military body in charge of civilian affairs in the occupied West Bank. COGAT did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters that the Biden administration has been clear on West Bank settlement expansion from the outset.

“We strongly oppose the expansion of settlements which exacerbates tensions and undermines trust between the parties," she said. “Israel’s program of expanding settlements deeply damages the prospects for a two-state solution.”

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has built more than 130 settlements across the territory that are home to nearly 500,000 settlers. Nearly 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule.

Earlier this week, Israel's Supreme Court upheld an expulsion order that would force at least 1,000 Palestinians out of an arid region in the southern West Bank where they say they have been living for decades. The military declared the area a firing zone in the early 1980s.

The Palestinians want the West Bank to form the main part of their future state. They view the expansion of settlements as a major obstacle to any future peace deal because they reduce and divide up the land on which such a state would be established. Most of the international community views the settlements as illegal.

“All of these Israeli measures of demolition, eviction and settlement fall within the framework of the apartheid regime that the occupation applies to the Palestinians and their lands amid international silence,” said Abu Rdeneh, Abbas' spokesman.

Israel's current government is split between parties that oppose and support settlements. As a compromise, it has ruled out any major peace initiative or any move to formally annex parts of the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a former leader of the main settler council, is opposed to Palestinian statehood.

Israel approved the construction of 3,000 settler homes in October despite a U.S. rebuke. Authorities have, however, paused some especially controversial projects in the wake of strong U.S. opposition.

Settlement construction can only be approved after a long bureaucratic process, and it was unclear how soon construction crews would be able to break ground on the 4,000 homes if they get a green light. The process also provides the opportunity for Israeli officials to pause or delay such projects.

___

Associated Press writers Fares Akram in Hamilton, Canada, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

New White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre's Partner Also Had A Job Change Today


Sabrina Talbert

Women's Health.
Fri, May 6, 2022, 

Photo credit: Sarah Silbiger - Getty Images

There's going to be a new face running press conferences at the White House. Karine Jean-Pierre, current deputy press secretary, will be taking over from current press secretary, Jen Psaki.

She is set to become the first Black, openly gay woman to hold the position.

Women's Health has everything to know about Karine Jean-Pierre and her family.

President Biden announced Thursday that Karine Jean-Pierre will be taking over as the newest White House press secretary, replacing Jen Psaki, who is expected to leave her position next week. This move makes Jean-Pierre the first Black and first openly gay person to hold the position. Jean-Pierre currently serves as White House principal deputy press secretary under Psaki.

During the press announcement, Psaki praised Jean-Pierre, calling her a “partner of truth,” adding that "representation matters, and she will give a voice to many, but also make many dream big about what is truly possible."

"I am still processing it because, as Jen said, at the top, this is a historic moment, and it’s not lost on me," Jean-Pierre said in response to Psaki's comments. "I understand how important it is for so many people out there. So many different communities that I stand on their shoulders. It is an honor and a privilege to be behind this podium,” per CNN.

Biden also released a statement of his own saying that Jean-Pierre “not only brings the experience, talent, and integrity needed for this difficult job, but she will continue to lead the way in communicating about the work of the Biden-Harris Administration on behalf of the American people."

She was born in Martinique.

Jean-Pierre was born in Fort-de-France, Martinique, a Caribbean island just north of Barbados and St. Lucia, according to Forbes. She later immigrated with her parents to Queens, New York, where she grew up. Jean-Pierre currently lives in Washington, D.C., with her partner Suzanne Malveaux and their daughter.

Jean-Pierre graduated from the New York Institute of Technology and Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, according to the New York Times.

Before joining the White House press team, Jean-Pierre was chief of staff to Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2020 campaign. She has been in the media world for a long time, serving as a political analyst on MSNBC and NBC, and also worked on Obama's re-election campaigns. Jean-Pierre was the national spokeswoman for MoveOn.org, a federal political committee, in 2016, per BBC News.

She also speaks three languages: English, Haitian Creole, and French.

Her partner is a news correspondent.

Suzanne Malveaux currently works as a CNN correspondent, covering national and international news as well as cultural events, per CNN. Before joining the news outlet in 2002, she worked for NBC in Chicago and D.C.

Malveaux has previously covered White House news throughout the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations.

But with Jean-Pierre's new role, her partner will stop covering politics to avoid a conflict of interest. "Suzanne Malveaux will continue in her role as CNN National Correspondent covering national/international news and cultural events but will not cover politics, Capitol Hill, or the White House while Karine Jean-Pierre is serving as White House Press Secretary," CNN spokesman Matt Dornic confirmed to Women's Health.

The couple has a daughter together.

Jean-Pierre and Malveaux have a daughter named Soleil Malveaux Jean-Pierre, whom the couple adopted. Soleil is reportedly about seven years old. And while Jean-Pierre and Malveaux both have social media accounts, they seem to prefer to keep family photos private and off their platforms, per Distractify.

CAPITAL FLEES

Boeing Exits Chicago as City Wrestles With Crime, Exodus



Steve Stroth and Julie Johnsson
Thu, May 5, 2022,

(Bloomberg) -- Boeing Co.’s decision to leave Chicago is the latest blow to a U.S. city that already has seen its once-mighty economy battered by Covid-19 and crime.

The planemaker said Thursday that it will shift its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia, from Chicago, a move that would put Boeing near federal government decision-makers in Washington.

Chicago, the nation’s third-most populous city, has seen a rise in crime that prompted its richest resident, Citadel founder Ken Griffin, to say he’s likely to move his $38 billion hedge fund elsewhere. Chicago’s Magnificent Mile and State Street shopping districts, along with many restaurants in the downtown Loop, have yet to recover from the pandemic. Even the National Football League’s Bears franchise is considering an exit to the suburbs.

“Boeing’s decision to leave Illinois is incredibly disappointing -- every level of government in our state has worked to make Chicago and Illinois the perfect home for Boeing’s headquarters for the past 20 years,” U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said in a statement Thursday. “We are working together to ensure Boeing leadership both understands how harmful this move will be and does everything possible to protect Illinois’s workers and jobs.”

Chicago remains home for many big companies, including McDonald’s Corp., Aon Plc, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co., Conagra Brands Inc. and R.R. Donnelley & Co. But the city has had other recent departures. United Airlines Holdings Inc. said in December that it will move as many as 1,300 workers from its Willis Tower headquarters to Arlington Heights, a suburb about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away that also is being considered by the Chicago Bears.

Arlington is wealthier, with 2020 per-capita personal income of $100,823, or 169.4% of the national average, compared with Chicago’s Cook County at $69,935, or 117.5%, government data show. Since 2000, compounded annual growth for the Chicago metropolitan area was 2.9%, compared with 4.1% in the Washington, D.C., area.

A recurring complaint about Chicago is crime, which is up 35% so far this year compared to the same period in 2021. Though murders and shooting incidents are down, all other major categories of crime are up, including a 67% jump in thefts.

Boeing says the biggest chunk of its employees remain in Washington state -- more than 55,000 employees out of nearly 142,000. In 2018, the company estimated it had 729 employees in Illinois, where it spent $1 billion on suppliers and vendors, and donated $23.8 million to local charities that year. The company said Thursday it would “maintain a significant presence” in the city.

Boeing moved its headquarters from Seattle to a 36-story building along the Chicago River in 2001, choosing the city over Denver and Dallas as the company sought to expand beyond planemaking and to be more centrally located in the U.S.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot offered assurances that Chicago is a thriving economy that’s attracting new businesses with its diverse workforce and expansive infrastructure-network.

“Chicago is a world-class city and in the last year, 173 corporations relocated or expanded here, and 67 corporations have made that same decision since the start of 2022,” Lightfoot said in a statement on Thursday. “We have a robust pipeline of major corporate relocations and expansions, and we expect more announcements in the coming months.”

Lightfoot also announced that Bally’s Corp. will build a $1.7 billion casino and hotel complex that would generate 3,000 permanent jobs and hundreds of millions in tax revenue.

SOUTH AFRICA
World’s Biggest Hydrogen Trucks Start Work at Anglo American


Antony Sguazzin
Fri, May 6, 2022,

(Bloomberg) -- Anglo American Plc on Friday unveiled the world’s biggest green-hydrogen powered truck at a platinum mine in northeast South Africa where it aims to replace a fleet of 40 diesel-fueled vehicles that each use about a million liters of the fossil fuel a year.

The NuGen project at the Mogalakwena mine, owned by Anglo American subsidiary Anglo American Platinum Ltd., will use power from a 140 megawatt solar plant to supply hydrogen electrolyzers to split water and provide the trucks, which can carry up 315 tons of ore each, with hydrogen fuel. Engie SA has helped Anglo establish the system.

The project, expected to be fully implemented by 2026, is a first step in making eight of the company’s mines carbon neutral by 2030, according to Julian Soles, head of Technology Development, Mining & Sustainability at Anglo American. The company, which mines metals around the world ranging from iron ore and platinum to copper, has set a target of getting all of its operations to that status by 2040.

“People told us three years ago this is not going to happen, this is not a good idea. They are now beginning to take real notice,” Soles said at a presentation in the South African city of Polokwane. “The vision for us is to see this rolled out across our business and the mining industry. It’s Anglo’s choice whether to commercialize this.”

The mining company, which dominated South Africa’s economy for eight decades before moving its headquarters to London in 1999, initially approached a number of equipment manufacturers with the idea of building a hydrogen-powered truck fleet. When it was turned down it took the decision to convert its diesel fleet to use the clean fuel itself.

About “80% of our diesel consumption at our large mines is through the use of large trucks,” Soles said. “What we actually had to build was a full ecosystem. A solar photovoltaic site, an electrolyzer and a refueling system to create a zero emission haulage system.”

Anglo American’s haul truck fleet currently generates 10% to 15% of its so-called Scope 1 emissions, those generated directly from its own activities, Duncan Wanblad, Anglo American’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The use of hydrogen doesn’t emit climate-warming gases while diesel does. And with water being split to create the fuel using energy from the sun, there are no carbon emissions from its manufacturing process either.

The trucks are equipped with fuel cells that include platinum in their components. Mogalakwena is the world’s biggest open-pit platinum group metals mine.

“It’s a smart step for Anglo American, but it’s a giant leap for South Africa’ s hydrogen economy,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a speech at the mine to launch the NuGen program. “The hydrogen economy is beckoning us.”

Anglo and its global mining peers are under increasing pressure to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and improve their environmental performance. The company last year spun off its South African thermal coal assets, while rivals such as Glencore Plc have pledged to reduce their emissions.

BLOOMBERG

Mexican president slams US on tour of Central America


Thu, May 5, 2022,

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador started a five-day tour to four Central American countries and Cuba on Thursday by lashing out at the U.S. government.

López Obrador criticized American officials sharply for being quick to send billions to Ukraine, while dragging their feet on development aid to Central America.

On his first stop in neighboring Guatemala, López Obrador demanded U.S. aid to stem the poverty and joblessness that sends tens of thousands of Guatemalans north to the U.S. border. The Mexican leader had been angered that the United States rebuffed his calls to help expand his tree-planting program to Central America.

“They are different things and they shouldn't be compared categorically, but they have already approved $30 billion for the war in Ukraine, while we have been waiting since President Donald Trump, asking they donate $4 billion, and as of today, nothing, absolutely nothing,” López Obrador said.

“Honestly, it seems inexplicable,” he added. “For our part, we are going to continue to respectfully insist on the need for the United States to collaborate.”

López Obrador's pet program, known as “Planting Life,” pays farmers a monthly wage to plant and care for fruit and lumber trees on their farms.

Mexico has asked the U.S. government to help fund the program, something that so far hasn’t happened. Mexico is also touting another program that apprentices young people to companies. Critics say both programs lack accountability.

Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Marcelo Ebrard wrote in his social media accounts that meetings with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and other officials focused on development, migration and strengthening bilateral ties.

Ebrard said Mexico was starting the tree program in the Guatemalan province of Chimaltenango.

It is only be the third overseas trip in more than three years for López Obrador, who is fond of saying that the best foreign policy is good domestic policy. The tour is an opportunity for Mexico to reassert itself as a leader in Latin America and will be welcomed by some leaders under pressure from the U.S. government and others for their alleged anti-democratic tendencies.

Both geographically and metaphorically, Mexico finds itself wedged between the United States and the rest of Latin America. López Obrador has deflected criticism dating to the Trump administration that his government is doing Washington’s dirty work in trying to stop migrants before they reach the U.S. border.

López Obrador will be received in Central America, in part, as an emissary of the United States when it comes to migration policy.

The U.S. government has been trying to build consensus ahead of the June Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles to cement a regional approach to managing migration flows. In recent years large numbers of Central Americans, but also Haitians, Cubans, Venezuelans, Colombians and migrants arriving from other continents, have made their way up through the Americas.

The visit is an opportunity for López Obrador to show some independence from the United States. López Obrador has criticized the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba and he said that he told U.S. officials that no country should be excluded from the Summit of the Americas. The Biden administration has signaled that Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua would not be invited.

Giammattei, meanwhile, has been under pressure from the U.S. government for backsliding on the country’s fight against corruption — a campaign central to López Obrador’s image in Mexico.

López Obrador will continue on to El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele has faced international condemnation since imposing a state of emergency after a surge in gang killings at the end of March.

A visit from López Obrador, who prefers a “hugs not bullets” approach to security, is an opportunity to show he’s not being isolated. El Salvador’s security forces have arrested more than 24,000 suspected gang members in just over a month and human rights organizations say there have been many arbitrary arrests.

In Honduras, new President Xiomara Castro has forged a close relationship with the Biden administration. Last month, Honduras extradited former President Juan Orlando Hernández to face drug and weapons charges in the U.S. Castro is desperate to activate the economy and create jobs, so could be open to López Obrador’s proposals if there is money behind it.

The president’s agenda in Belize is less clear, but his final stop in Cuba will be the most symbolic. Cuba President Miguel Díaz-Canel visited Mexico for its independence celebrations last year.

López Obrador has largely governed as a nationalist and populist, but he has positioned himself politically as a a devoted leftist.

Japan's Okinawa urges government to reduce China tensions

MARI YAMAGUCHI
Fri, May 6, 2022

TOKYO (AP) — Japan should focus more on peaceful diplomacy with China instead of on military deterrence as tensions rise around Chinese-claimed Taiwan, the governor of the nearby southern Japanese island of Okinawa said Friday. He also urged that the burden on Okinawa of hosting a majority of the American troops in Japan be reduced.

“We are strongly alarmed,” Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki said of discussions in parliament about the possibility of a security emergency involving Taiwan, and concerns that Okinawa, 600 kilometers (370 miles) away, could become embroiled in it.

Tamaki was speaking online from the prefectural capital of Naha ahead of the 50th anniversary of Okinawa's return to Japan on May 15, 1972, 20 years after most of Japan regained independence from the U.S. occupation following World War II.

There is concern in Okinawa, with its continuing heavy U.S. military presence, over rising tensions resulting from China’s increasingly assertive military actions in the region and its rivalry with the United States. There is also worry that the Russian invasion of Ukraine might embolden Beijing.

China claims independently governed Taiwan as its own territory, and controlling the island is a key component of Beijing’s political and military thinking. In October, Chinese leader Xi Jinping reiterated that “reunification of the nation must be realized, and will definitely be realized.”

In what Beijing calls a warning to advocates of Taiwanese independence and their foreign allies, China has been staging threatening military exercises and flying fighter planes near Taiwan’s airspace, including on Feb. 24, the day Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.

“Any escalation of problems over the Taiwan Strait and the contingency of Okinawa being a target of attack must never happen or be allowed to happen,” Tamaki said.

The ongoing tension has rekindled fears among Okinawans that they may be sacrificed again by mainland Japan, as in the Battle of Okinawa that killed some 200,000 people, half of them civilians, near the end of World War II.

Japan views China’s military rise as a regional threat and has been shifting its troops to defend southwestern islands including Okinawa and its outer islands, deploying missile defense systems and other facilities, and increasing joint drills with the U.S. military and other regional partners.

On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Japan “has been taking advantage of diplomatic activities to make an issue of China, play up regional tensions and hype the so-called China threat," and that Tokyo is “looking for excuses for its military expansion.”

The U.S. has consistently expressed support for ensuring that Taiwan can defend itself, and Chinese military action against the island in the short- to medium-term is generally considered a remote possibility.

Noting that China is Japan's biggest trading partner and that Japan is China's second largest, Tamaki said their close economic ties are indispensable.

“I call for the Japanese government to always maintain calm and peaceful diplomacy and dialogue to improve its relations with China, while working toward easing U.S.-China tension,” he said.

Okinawa at the time of its reversion asked Japan to make it a peaceful island free of military bases. Today, it still hosts a majority of the approximately 50,000 U.S. troops and their military facilities in Japan, and Tamaki said that burden should be shared by all of Japan.

Because of the U.S. bases, Okinawa faces noise, pollution, aircraft accidents and crime related to American troops on a daily basis, Tamaki said.

"That excessive U.S. base burden is still unresolved 50 years after the reversion,” he said. "Okinawa's burden of the U.S. military bases is a key diplomatic and security issue that concerns all Japanese people.”

The biggest sticking point between Okinawa and Tokyo is the central government’s insistence that a U.S. Marine base in a crowded neighborhood, Futenma air station, be relocated within Okinawa instead of moving it elsewhere as demanded by many Okinawan people.

While development projects over the past five decades have helped Okinawa's economy, the average Okinawan's income remains the lowest among Japan's 47 prefectures, Tamaki said.

If land taken by the U.S. military is returned to the prefecture for other use, it would produce three times as much income for Okinawa, Tamaki said.