UN envoy tells Myanmar general: End violence, seek democracy


 United Nations special envoy Noeleen Heyzer, left, and Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin  WAR CRIMINAL

shake hands Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Heyzer, who is making her first mission to the strife-torn Southeast Asian country, met Wednesday with the head of its military-installed government, state television announced. (Myanmar True News Information Team via AP)More


GRANT PECK and EDITH M. LEDERER
Wed, August 17, 2022 

BANGKOK (AP) — The U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, met Wednesday with the head of its military-installed government and called on him to urgently halt all violence, support a political path back to civilian rule and democracy, and allow the country’s imprisoned former leader Aung San Suu Kyi to return home and to meet with her.

On her first mission to the strife-torn country, Heyzer also reiterated Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ extreme concern about Myanmar’s humanitarian, security, economic and political crisis and reiterated the U.N. chief’s call for the release of all political prisoners. She also urged Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing to impose a moratorium on future executions, following the recent executions of four political activists that drew worldwide condemnation.

Heyzer’s statement on her two-day visit was released as she left the country, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said, and she was not able to meet Suu Kyi but hopes they will meet in the future.

Haq said Heyzer and the general had “a good discussion” and the U.N. will see whether her key demands will be carried out. He said the U.N. will “continue to push on those points.”

Going forward, Heyzer’s statement said she and general Hlaing “agreed to engage in frank conversations, focusing on the need for inclusive solutions to a peaceful and democratic Myanmar, reflective of the will of the people.”

State-run MRTV television said Heyzer and Min Aung Hlaing exchanged views on promoting trust and cooperation between Myanmar and the United Nations. It did not provide any details on the talks in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyitaw.

Heyzer’s statement said that in the meeting with the general and his senior advisers she communicated pragmatic steps the military must take to de-escalate conflict and reduce the suffering of the Myanmar people. It called the meeting “part of broader efforts by the United Nations to urgently support an effective and peaceful Myanmar-led political pathway to return to civilian rule based on the will and the needs of the people.”

Myanmar has been wracked by violent unrest since the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February last year. The army’s takeover prevented Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party from beginning a second term in office.

The takeover was met with massive public opposition, which has since turned into armed resistance that some U.N. experts, including Heyzer’s predecessor, Christine Schraner Burgener, have characterized as civil war. Critics of the military have accused it of carrying out widespread human rights abuses to crush opposition to its rule.

Much of the international community, including Myanmar’s fellow members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have expressed frustration at the hard line the generals have taken in resisting reform. Myanmar’s military rulers agreed to a five-point ASEAN plan in April 2021 to restore peace and stability to the country, including an immediate halt to violence and a dialogue among all parties. But the military has made little effort to implement the plan.

An earlier statement from Heyzer’s office said she called for “immediate and specific de-escalation steps including ending aerial bombing and the burning of civilian houses and infrastructure.”

Heyzer stressed in the statement as she left Myanmar that “U.N. engagement does not in any way confer legitimacy” on the military government.

“The people of Myanmar have the right to democracy and self-determination free from fear and want, which will only be possible by the good will and efforts of all stakeholders in an inclusive process,” she said.

Heyzer said she urged general Hlaing to implement the U.N. secretary-general’s appeal. She said she also conveyed a request from the Australian government to release Australian economist Sean Turnell, who served as an adviser to Suu Kyi and is being tried with her on a charge of violating Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act.

Suu Kyi is being held in prison in Naypyitaw. She has been prosecuted in a string of criminal cases widely seen as politically motivated by the ruling military. The government has refused to allow her to meet with any outsiders, including a special envoy from ASEAN.

“I’m deeply concerned about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s health and well-being in her current situation, and request that she can return home soon,” Heyzer said. “I want to have an opportunity to meet with her as soon as possible, both because I care about her personally and I believe she is a critical stakeholder for my dialogue with all parties concerned.”

Her statement also expressed deep concern about civilians displaced from their homes and called on all parties to facilitate the immediate and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to all people and to protect and empower women.

In her meeting with the general, the statement said, “she highlighted her continued resolve to act in a bridging rule and leverage her convening power to address the protection needs and suffering of the most vulnerable and to end the conflict.”

Heyzer also told the general she plans to consult the government ahead of her visit to Bangladesh later this month where she plans to visit camps for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazaar. They host about one million Rohingya and others forcibly displaced from Myanmar, the statement said.

Muslim Rohingya face widespread discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where most are denied citizenship and many other rights. More than 700,000 fled to Bangladesh starting in late August 2017 when the Myanmar military launched a “clearance operation” against them following attacks by a rebel group. The safety situation in Myanmar has worsened following last year’s military takeover.

Heyzer’s statement said she highlighted Myanmar’s responsibility for “conducive conditions” for the Rohingya to return, saying their rights and well-being “are integral to the future of a peaceful and prosperous Myanmar.”

The National Unity Government, the main opposition organization which views itself as a legitimate government of Myanmar, issued a statement after Heyzer arrived Tuesday, saying her visit must be aimed at ending the military’s violence and her talks must reflect the voice of the Myanmar people.

“The special envoy’s visit must be directed at ending the junta’s violence, its weaponization of aid, its persecution of political prisoners, and its impunity. Intensified efforts must also target the multiple junta-induced crises destabilizing the region’s peace and security. Anything short of this would be an appeasement of war criminals,” it said. “Mrs. Heyzer’s consultations must include Myanmar’s ethnic resistance organizations and civil society, and amplify the voices of Myanmar people.”

___

Lederer reported from the United Nations

Myanmar junta hits back at ASEAN after being barred from meetings


 Myanmar's military junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun speaks during the information ministry's press conference in Naypyitaw

Wed, August 17, 2022 

(Reuters) -Myanmar's military leadership on Wednesday lashed out at the ASEAN grouping of Southeast Asian countries for excluding its generals from regional gatherings, accusing it of caving to "external pressure".

Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have heaped condemnation on Myanmar's junta, which they say has failed to make concrete progress on a peace plan agreed with the 10-nation bloc last year, including engaging with opponents and a cessation of hostilities.

Myanmar's military seized power from an elected government in a coup last year, and has since then crushed dissent with lethal force. Most recently, the junta has been criticised for executing political activists and imprisoning Aung San Suu Kyi, the symbol of Myanmar's opposition and democracy movement. [L4N2Z70W5]

ASEAN has barred Myanmar's generals from attending regional meetings, and some members said last month it would be forced to rethink the way forward unless the junta demonstrates progress on the peace plan.

The junta has declined offers to send non-political representatives instead to ASEAN meetings.

"If a seat representing a country is vacant, then it should not be labelled an ASEAN summit," junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said at a routine news conference on Wednesday, adding that Myanmar was working on implementing the peace plan.

"What they want is for us to meet and talk with the terrorists," he said, using the junta's label for pro-democracy movements that have taken up arms against the military.

He said ASEAN was violating its own policy of non-interference in a country's sovereign affairs while facing "external pressure", but did not elaborate.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cambodia, which is currently chairing ASEAN, did not address the accusation.

Ministry spokesperson Chum Sounry said ASEAN was "hopeful that the situation in Myanmar can be greatly improved, so that it can return as an indispensable member of our united ASEAN family again."

Several western countries including the United States and Britain have imposed sanctions on Myanmar's junta over the coup.

(Reporting by Reuters staff; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by John Geddie)

Myanmar's Suu Kyi testifies in her official secrets case


 Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi waits to address judges of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, Dec. 11, 2019. Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi has testified in a prison courtroom in the capital Naypyitaw for the first time in her official secrets case. Suu Kyi, who has been detained since her government was ousted last year by the military, is being tried with Australian economist Sean Turnell and three former Cabinet members on the same charge, which is punishable by up to 14 years in prison. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

GRANT PECK
Thu, August 18, 2022

BANGKOK (AP) — Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi testified Thursday in a prison courtroom in the capital for the first time in her official secrets case, a legal official said.

Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the military ousted her government last year, is being tried in Naypyitaw with Australian economist Sean Turnell and three former Cabinet members on the same charge, which is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Suu Kyi denied all the accusations in the case against her and pleaded not guilty, said the legal official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release information.

Sean Turnell, an economist at Sydney’s Macquarie University, was an adviser to Suu Kyi.

The colonial-era secrets statute criminalizes the possession, collection, recording, publishing or sharing of state information that is “directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy.”

The exact details of the alleged offense in the case have not been made public, though Myanmar state television, citing government statements, said last year that Turnell had access to “secret state financial information” and had tried to flee the country.

Suu Kyi was sentenced Monday to six years in prison on four corruption charges.

She earlier was sentenced to 11 years in prison after being convicted on charges of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, sedition and another a corruption charge, bringing her total prison term to 17 years. Trials on several other charges are ongoing.

Suu Kyi’s supporters and independent analysts say the charges are politically motivated and are an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the military’s seizure of power while keeping her from returning to politics.

Details of Thursday's proceedings were not available because Suu Kyi's lawyers have been banned by a gag order since last year from revealing information about her trials, all of which are closed to the media and the public.

The legal official said Suu Kyi appeared to be in good health.

Another co-defendant, former Union Minister Kyaw Win, is scheduled to testify next week.

Turnell testified last week, also denying the accusations against him. He and Suu Kyi are both being held in the prison where the trial is being conducted in a special courtroom.

Suu Kyi is also being tried there on an election fraud charge, which is punishable by up to three years in prison, and seven counts of corruption which each carry a maximum sentence of 15 years and a fine.

The army’s takeover last year was met with nationwide peaceful protests. After security forces unleashed lethal force against the protesters, some opponents of military rule turned to armed resistance in many areas.

The Rohingyas are being wiped out in slow motion


THE ECONOMIST
Thu, August 18, 2022 

On a vacant patch of land in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state along the western flank of Myanmar, grass grows long under the hot sun. A house once stood on this plot, though all trace of it is long gone. Mohammed, a 36-year-old Rohingya man, grew up in that house and lived there until 2012, when he and his family were forced to flee by a band of ethnic Rakhines wielding sticks and torches. That summer mobs of Rakhine villagers and Burmese soldiers razed Rohingya villages and killed hundreds of people belonging to the long-persecuted Muslim minority group. Some 140,000 Rohingyas were displaced in the melee and herded into camps, where they have remained ever since.

The pogrom of 2012 laid the groundwork for a bigger bout of bloodshed five years later. In 2017 Burmese security forces launched a campaign of mass killing, rape and arson in northern Rakhine, in what the un has branded as genocide. Nearly 750,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh, where they live in the world’s biggest refugee camp (see map).


In the decade since the rampage of 2012 and the five years since the genocide of 2017, the Rohingyas have been subject to conditions designed to drain the life from the ethnic group, according to the un. Crossing over into Bangladesh afforded some respite, at first. Yet the Bangladeshi government has long since begun to view the refugees as a burden. Violence in the camps is rampant, with much of it committed by the Bangladeshi security forces. No matter which side of the border Rohingyas find themselves today, their experience is the same: hunger and misery surrounded by barbed wire.

The Burmese army, which has run Myanmar for most of the past 50 years, began persecuting Rohingyas decades ago. It first attempted to drive them off their land in 1978, using the now familiar tools of murder, arson and rape. Its high command considers them Bangladeshi interlopers, with no claim to Burmese citizenship—as do many other Burmese. It enshrined that view in law 40 years ago, turning the Rohingyas into the world’s largest community of stateless people.

It was not until 2012, however, that the government began to herd Rohingyas into camps. This segregation, in addition to the imposition of a matrix of repressive laws, which include restrictions on marriage and having children, amount to a system of apartheid, according to Human Rights Watch (hrw), an advocacy group. After the genocide of 2017, this vice tightened.

Today about a fifth of the Rohingyas who remain in Myanmar live in what Fortify Rights, a pressure group, calls “modern concentration camps”. One unfortunate resident, Hla Maung, lives cheek by jowl with 11 relatives in one of the cramped shelters into which families are crowded. These structures were originally designed to last two years. Many have been badly damaged by monsoons and flooding over the past decade. In April some 28,000 Rohingyas were living in shelters deemed by the un to be structurally unsound. Because international aid agencies must apply to travel to the camps two weeks in advance, they cannot always repair shelters right away. “Living conditions are, by design, squalid,” observed hrw in a recent report.

Harsh restrictions on movement make life harder still. More than three-quarters of displaced Rohingyas cannot leave their camps at all, according to a survey conducted in 2015 by the Centre for Diversity and National Harmony, a Burmese ngo. The rest may travel, but only to a Rohingya ghetto in Sittwe or to Sittwe General Hospital, the sole facility in the state that provides specialised treatment. Medical referrals are granted only for emergencies and even then getting the necessary travel authorisation can take days. Access to health care in the camps is limited. In the more remote ones, doctors visit for just a couple of hours once or twice a week. Rates of disease and child mortality are higher in the camps than elsewhere in the state, according to the International Rescue Committee, an aid organisation.

Those who can leave the camps must get a “village departure certificate” which costs up to 5,000 kyat ($3.45). Sometimes security forces demand travellers present an identity card proving their citizenship, which most Rohingyas lack. All Rohingyas must pass through numerous checkpoints manned by soldiers who demand bribes, and to leave they must often also pay for a “security escort”, which costs up to 20,000 kyat. These restrictions prevent Rohingyas from working, making it difficult for them to supplement the cash or food aid they receive from ngos, which residents say is insufficient for their daily needs.

For the roughly 300,000-350,000 Rohingyas who have not been herded into camps, conditions are still dire. They, too, are rarely granted permission to get treatment at Sittwe General Hospital. And though they continue to live in their own homes, a mesh of restrictions hems them in as well. They are not allowed to leave their districts without authorisation. Security checkpoints strewn throughout their villages are manned by soldiers who enforce curfews (from 6pm to 6am) and rules limiting gatherings in public areas to no more than five people. Violations of these rules lead to beatings or detention.

These conditions appear calculated to bring about the “slow death” of the Rohingyas, says the un. Their numbers in Myanmar have dropped precipitously. Before 2017 the country was home to as many as 1.3m Rohingyas. (No reliable numbers exist as they were not included in the last census in 2014, the first in 30 years.) Now the population is closer to 600,000. Most fled to Bangladesh. But many are likely to have died because of the grim living conditions.

There are dismaying parallels between the experiences of Rohingyas in Rakhine state and those in the refugee camps of Bangladesh. At first refugees could work in surrounding towns, recalls Hakim Ullah, who has lived in the refugee settlement in Cox’s Bazar district since 2017. Now they need permission to leave the camps. Shops and schools in the camps were demolished earlier this year by the Bangladeshi authorities, who have banned paid work and private education. “The refugee camps have become detention camps”, says Rahamat Ullah, a Rohingya civil-rights activist who lives in Cox’s Bazar.

Nor have refugees traded freedom for safety. Militant groups and criminal gangs operating in the camps regularly commit murders, kidnappings and robberies. Bangladesh’s security forces do much of the terrorising themselves, according to reports from human-rights groups. The Armed Police Battalion, the specialist unit responsible for security in the camps, acts “with impunity”, says Ashraf Zaman of the Asian Human Rights Commission, a pressure group based in Thailand. The battalion has reportedly beaten children and raped women. The Bangladeshi forces are so brutal, that they remind Mr Hakim Ullah of the Burmese army. (Bangladeshi authorities did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Economist.)

As long as the Burmese army is in power, little about the Rohingyas’ condition is likely to change. “Life in the camps is worse than prison,” says Mohammed, who now lives in a camp outside Sittwe. At least prisoners know the length of their sentence. Rohingyas do not know if they will ever be released. Even if they are, many would have no home to return to. The authorities long ago bulldozed the ruins of houses like Mohammed’s, and sold the land to developers—making it easier to remove every last trace of the group.

© 2022 The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved.

From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/08/18/the-rohingyas-are-being-wiped-out-in-slow-motion

BJP PURGES MUSLIMS
India backtracks on support for Rohingya refugees, will deport them


A Rohingya refugee family rests in a temporary shelter after a fire destroyed a Rohingya refugee camp on Saturday night, in New Delhi


Wed, August 17, 2022 
By Krishna N. Das

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's home ministry said on Wednesday that Rohingya refugees in the capital New Delhi would be held at a detention centre and then deported, contradicting a minister's earlier statement promising flats and security to members of the Muslim minority.

Hardeep Singh Puri, federal minister for housing and urban affairs, had earlier on Wednesday outlined new provisions for the Rohingya, signalling a potential change in the government's critical stance towards the refugee group from Myanmar. Rohingya refugees would be allotted flats in western Delhi's Bakkarwala area, provided basic amenities and round-the-clock police protection, Puri had said on Twitter.

But, just hours after Puri's tweets, the federal home ministry said in a statement that "Rohingya illegal foreigners https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1852521" would remain at a locality in the city's southern reaches as authorities worked to deport them.

"Illegal foreigners are to be kept in the detention centre till their deportation as per law," the home ministry said in a statement.

"The Government of Delhi has not declared the present location as a detention centre. They have been directed to do the same immediately."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has previously tried to repatriate members of the Rohingya, who are a minority community in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled from persecution and waves of violence in their homeland over the years, mainly to Bangladesh. (https://reut.rs/3PvPvBo)

As of early this year, around 1,100 Rohingya lived in Delhi and another 17,000 elsewhere in India, working mainly as manual labourers, hawkers and rickshaw pullers, according to estimates from Rohingya rights activist Ali Johar.

He said some 2,000 Rohingya had left for Bangladesh this year, amid fears of being deported.

"Most of the Rohingya in Delhi now live in rented accommodation, where they feel safe, or in settlements," said Johar, 27, who moved to India a decade ago and lives with his family.

Speaking to Reuters before the home ministry's statement, Johar underlined fears among the community, which has faced the ire of some Indian right-wing Hindu groups, that the new facilities could be used to corral the Rohingya.

"If it turns out to be a detention camp, that will be a nightmare for us," he said.

(Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Additional reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Bernadette Baum)

Bangladesh PM tells UN that Myanmar must take Rohingya back

 

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina greets the gathering during an interaction with journalists after official election results gave her a third straight term, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dec. 31, 2018. Hasina on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, told a visiting U.N. official that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees must go back to their ancestral home in Myanmar from crowded camps in neighboring Bangladesh.


JULHAS ALAM
Wed, August 17, 2022 

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh's leader told a visiting U.N. official on Wednesday that hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority Rohingya refugees living in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh must return home to Myanmar, where they had fled waves of violent persecution.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the comment to U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka. Bachelet arrived on Sunday and visited Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar district near the border with Myanmar.

“The Rohingya are nationals of Myanmar and they have to be taken back,” Hasina was quoted as saying by her press secretary, Ihsanul Karim.

Muslim Rohingya face widespread discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where most are denied citizenship and many other rights. More than 700,000 fled to Bangladesh starting in late August 2017 when the Myanmar military launched a “clearance operation” against them following attacks by a rebel group. The safety situation in Myanmar has worsened following a military takeover last year.

Currently, Bangladesh is hosting more than 1 million Rohingya refugees.

The refugees will mark the fifth anniversary of their latest influx in Bangladesh amid botched attempts to send them home. Earlier this month, Bangladesh sought cooperation from China in repatriating Rohingya to Myanmar during a visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi. China had brokered a November 2017 agreement with Myanmar aimed at sending them back.

Hasina and several Cabinet ministers earlier expressed frustration over what they called Myanmar's inaction in taking them back under the agreement. The U.N. and Bangladesh authorities have tried at least twice to began repatriations, but the refugees refused to go, citing safety concerns in Myanmar.

When Bachelet visited the camps on Wednesday, refugees urged the U.N. to help improve safety inside Myanmar so they can return.

The U.N. said in a statement that the refugees described “their grievances, their pains” to Bachelet.

“When our rights are respected, we can have our livelihoods again, and we can have land, and we can feel that we are part of the country,” it quoted refugees as telling her.

Bachelet emphasized the importance of ensuring that safe and sustainable conditions exist and that any returns be conducted in a voluntary and dignified way, it said.

“The U.N. is doing the best we can to support them. We’ll continue doing that,” she said. “But we also need to deal with the profound roots of the problem. We need to deal with that and ensure that they can go back to Myanmar -– when there are conditions for safety and voluntary return.”

In March, the United States said the oppression of Rohingya in Myanmar amounts to genocide after authorities confirmed accounts of mass atrocities against civilians by Myanmar’s military in a widespread and systematic campaign against the ethnic minority.

Canada minister: Not safe yet for Syrian refugees to go home

Canadian Minister of International Development Harjit Sajjan, listens to an official from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), during his visit to Makassed primary health care center, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. Sajjan said Syria is not safe yet for millions of refugees to start returning home and those who fled their homes did so only because they had to. He also said , he also said that Lebanon should work to reach a deal with the International Monetary Fund to start getting the small nation out its worst economic crisis in its modern history. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

BASSEM MROUE
Wed, August 17, 2022 

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria is not safe yet for millions of refugees to start going back home, a Canadian minister cautioned during a visit to Lebanon on Wednesday. He spoke days after Lebanese officials announced a plan to start returning 15,000 Syrian refugees to their war-shattered country every month.

The remarks by Harjit Sajjan, Canada's minister of international development, followed his tour of the region that also took him to Jordan, where he visited Syrian refugees living in tent settlements.

More than 5 million Syrians fled their country when the conflict began 11 years ago, with most of them now living in neighboring countries Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon, which has taken in 1 million Syrians, is facing an economic meltdown and unprecedented financial crisis — and is eager to see the refugees return.

On Monday, Syria’s Minister of Local Administration Hussein Makhlouf said Syrian refugees in Lebanon can start returning home, pledging they will get all the help they need from authorities.

However, the U.N. refugee agency and rights groups oppose involuntary repatriation to Syria, saying the practice risks endangering the returning refugees. Human rights groups have said that some Syrian refugees who returned home were detained.

Sajjan echoed those concerns Wednesday.

“It is very, very important to make sure that there is an absolute safe environment where they can return to,” Sajjan said in an interview with The Associated Press. “Clearly, right now, based on our assessments Syria is not a safe place for people to return.”

“These are very proud people, who want to go back home. They don’t want to live in these conditions,” Sajjan said, adding that any return will have to be a “voluntary situation.”

Over the past few years, Canada has resettled tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, some of them from Lebanon and Jordan. Sajjan, a former defense minister and ex-member of the military who served in Afghanistan said he saw first-hand the effects and “horrors of war, which pushes people out."

“No one wants to leave their homes, but they have to,” he added.

He said Canada will continue to look at ways, with multinational partners, to provide the appropriate direct support for the Lebanese people and “the vulnerable Syrian refugees as well.”

The calls for the return of Syrian refugees have increased in Lebanon since its economic downturn began in late 2019, leaving three-quarters of Lebanese living in poverty. For Syrians, living conditions have become much worse.

Sajjan said that during his talks with Lebanese leaders, he urged them “to move as quickly as possible" to reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a bailout program.

He stress that IMF's demands on Lebanon are “all legitimate things that are being asked for, given how the economic crisis has unfolded.”

Ahead of any deal with IMF, Lebanon still has to draft legislation on combatting money laundering and a law on capital controls.

Lebanon's crisis was further exacerbated by the massive August 2020 explosion in Beirut's port that killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and caused billions of dollars in damages.

Sajjan expressed hopes that the investigation into the explosion would resume soon. The domestic investigation has been stalled since December, due to legal challenges raised by some politicians against the judge leading the probe after he had filed charges against them.

“I think the impact of the explosion ... has shocked the world," Sajjan said. “We are hopeful that the current investigation can move forward in a transparent way."

H2
Green Hydrogen Is Gaining Traction Across The Globe


Editor OilPrice.com
Thu, August 18, 2022 

Green hydrogen operations are expanding even further as governments pump millions into the development of the sector. While the rise of green hydrogen production across Europe has been well documented, some European countries are investing even more heavily in the industry, as other projects are popping up in more unexpected regions, such as Latin America and Africa. With several governments and major energy companies backing green hydrogen development, it is likely to become a major renewable energy source worldwide.

Green hydrogen has been hailed as a major new clean energy source with the potential to replace natural gas, as well as being used in hydrogen vehicles – in competition with electric car batteries. Although the cost of green hydrogen production is much higher than alternative renewable energies, experts expect greater investment in research and development, as well as the expansion of hydrogen plants, will make the technology much cheaper and more efficient over time, much in the same way as seen in the solar and wind power sectors.

Green hydrogen is produced using renewable electricity to power an electrolyzer and than splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. The gas is then burned to produce power and emits only water vapor and warm air, making it carbon-free. This contrasts with grey hydrogen production, which is powered by natural gas.

Europe and the Middle East have already significantly expanded their green hydrogen market positions following major investments in the industry. The two regions are battling for the top spot as global demand for the renewable energy source increases. In Europe, we’re seeing even more investment in the sector than initially expected, with Spain announcing a €50 million green hydrogen plant in Puertollano and the U.K. promoting a £150 million plant at the port of Felixstowe.

This month, ScottishPower announced plans to construct a major green hydrogen facility in Felixstowe, in the south of England, to power trains, trucks and ships. The plant is expected to produce 100 MW of energy, to power approximately 1,300 hydrogen trucks starting in 2026. The project comes as petrol and diesel prices in the U.K. are soaring, leading to an increase in demand for alternatives. The company expects to receive financial support from the U.K.’s Net Zero Hydrogen Fund for the project, which could cost anywhere between $122 million and $183 million.

But now projects are cropping up in more unexpected places. Countries across both Africa and Latin America have announced investments in green hydrogen this year, as emerging powers work to achieve their position in the global hydrogen market. With the global hydrogen market expected to achieve $1 trillion a year by 2050, everyone wants a piece of the action.

Related: Gas-To-Oil Switch May Not Be A Huge Catalyst For EU Crude Demand

One unexpected place that is developing its green hydrogen capabilities is Brazil. This week, The National Institute of Clean Energies (INEL) in Brazil announced it was establishing a new green hydrogen secretariat(SHV). Head of the SHV Luiz Piauhylino Filho hopes to support Brazil’s low-cost, clean energy sector through the development of the country’s green hydrogen operations.

Earlier this year, the Brazilian chemical company Unigel commenced construction of the country’s first green hydrogen plant in Bahia, in north-eastern Brazil, at a cost of $120 million. It is expected to be the world's largest integrated green hydrogen and ammonia plant upon completion. Unigel hopes to achieve an output of 10,000 tonnes a year of green hydrogen and 60,000 tonnes a year of green ammonia with operations starting in 2023.

Another South American giant looking to break into the renewable hydrogen market is Chile. The country is already well-known for its green energy production, making it well-suited to green hydrogen production. The government has already announced a goal of 5 GW of installed electrolysis capacity by 2025 and aims to produce the most cost-efficient green hydrogen by the end of the decade. As demand for green hydrogen begins to increase in Europe and Asia, it is encouraging several Latin American countries to start developing their hydrogen capabilities to get ahead of the competition in the region as the industry grows.

As well as Latin America, interest in the green hydrogen industry is also rising across the African region. Last year, the Namibian government announced an aim to export three million tonnes a year of green hydrogen to Europe with investment coming from its post-pandemic economic recovery scheme. Namibia is hoping to produce some of the world’s cheapest green hydrogen at $1.55 to $2.07 per kilogramme.

However, Namibia’s green hydrogen industry is still in its nascent stage, with limited electricity access for much of the country’s population. But the significant potential to develop Namibia’s wind and solar resources, coupled with large areas of uninhabited, state-owned land, make the country highly attractive for the development of a major renewable energy sector, which will likely include green hydrogen.

As green energy operations continue to expand across regions with existing production capabilities, we are seeing more new developments appear in unexpected parts of the world. Several Latin American and African countries have shown their interest in the development of their green hydrogen industries as demand for the renewable energy source continues to expand across Europe and Asia.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

Reversing oil and gas rules threatens the health of Permian families



Kayley Shoup
Thu, August 18, 2022 a

New Mexico’s groundbreaking rules to improve air quality by limiting air pollution from the oil and gas industry just took effect this month and already the Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico (IPANM) has launched a legal attack against them.

Make no mistake – this legal wrangling and foot dragging from IPANM is not only bad for our air, it also wastes time and money that producers should be using to cut pollution. It is also a direct threat to the health of families in the Permian Basin because it could allow oil and gas operators to walk away from their responsibility to clean up after themselves and reduce the impacts on their workers, neighboring communities and all New Mexicans.

When the American Lung Association’s 2021 State of the Air Report gave failing grades for ozone pollution to New Mexico’s Eddy, Lea and San Juan Counties, it was a wake-up call about the need for strong state regulations to tackle air pollution from the oil and gas industry. With the leadership of Governor Lujan Grisham, the state Environment Department responded by developing nation-leading ozone precursor rules with the input of the oil and gas industry and New Mexicans from across the state. Major operators, including Occidental Petroleum support the state’s approach, again highlighting how far out of the mainstream IPANM is on this issue.

Air pollution is especially concerning in a state like New Mexico with high rates of respiratory illness. Ozone acts like a sunburn to the lungs, and can cause breathing issues, asthma attacks, respiratory and cardiovascular attacks.

Oil and gas operations are a significant source of ozone-forming VOCs as well as methane emissions from venting, flaring and leaks. Well site toxins can worsen respiratory diseases and trigger asthma attacks, and smog can also worsen emphysema and impact the cardiovascular system. Methane is one of the key drivers of climate change – a powerful greenhouse gas that is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term.

Eddy County is one of only two rural counties among the top 25 most polluted for ozone in the nation, underscoring the critical need for strong oil and gas rules. New Mexico took an important step forward last year to hold the oil and gas industry accountable for its waste and pollution when the state instituted a ban on routine venting and flaring, and then followed up that action by requiring all operators to find and fix leaks – without exceptions.

Governor Lujan Grisham understood the public health imperative of reducing oil and gas emissions when she committed to enacting air and methane pollution rules. The final rules allow no exemptions to leak detection and repair requirements and protect those living closest to development with requirements for more frequent inspections to find and fix leaks. IPANM’s lawsuit attempts to reverse those protections and would impact air quality and the health of New Mexicans.

More than 130,000 New Mexicans live within a half-mile of oil and gas development, including communities of color that face disproportionate impacts from climate change and pollution. Across the state rural communities, tribal communities, children and the elderly are especially at risk for adverse health impacts of oil and gas pollution.

IPANM’s legal maneuvers show an insulting disregard for communities like ours that are closest to oil and gas well sites where families experience the greatest impacts of operations. New Mexicans should not accept failing grades when it comes to protecting the state’s air, and the courts should reject this blatant attempt by the industry to dodge accountability for its waste and pollution.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Reversing oil and gas rules threatens the health of Permian families

DON'T BLAME US
OPEC chief says blame policymakers, lawmakers for oil price rises

A sticker reads crude oil on the side of a storage tank in the Permian Basin

Thu, August 18, 2022 
By Rowena Edwards, Maha El Dahan and Alex Lawler

LONDON (Reuters) -Policymakers, lawmakers and insufficient oil and gas sector investments are to blame for high energy prices, not OPEC, the producer group's new Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais told Reuters on Thursday.

A lack of investment in the oil and gas sector following a price slump sparked by COVID-19 has significantly reduced OPEC's spare production capacity and limited the group's ability to respond quickly to further potential supply disruption.

The price of Brent crude came close to an all-time high of $147 a barrel in March, after Russia's ordering of troops into Ukraine exacerbated supply concerns. While prices have since declined, they are still painfully high for consumers and businesses globally.

"Don't blame OPEC, blame your own policymakers and lawmakers, because OPEC and the producing countries have been pushing time and time against for investing in oil (and gas)," Al Ghais, who took office on Aug. 1, said in an online interview.

Oil and gas investment is up 10% from last year but remains well below 2019 levels, the International Energy Agency said last month, adding that some of the immediate shortfalls in Russian exports needed to be met by production elsewhere.

The OPEC official also pointed the finger at a lack of investment in the downstream sector, adding that OPEC members had increased refining capacity to balance the decline in Europe and the United States.

"We are not saying that the world will live on fossil fuels forever ... but by saying we're not going to invest in fossil fuels ... you have to move from point A to point B overnight," Al Ghais said.

OPEC exists to ensure the world gets enough oil, but "it's going to be very challenging and very difficult if there is no buy-in into the importance of investing," he said, adding that he hopes "investors, financial institutions, policymakers as well globally seriously take this matter (to) heart and take it into their plans for the future."

RELATIVELY OPTIMISTIC

Oil has tumbled since March and Brent hit a six-month low below $92 a barrel this week.

The slide reflects fears of economic slowdown and masks physical market fundamentals, Al Ghais said as he took a relatively optimistic view on the outlook for 2023 as the world tackles rising inflation.

"There is a lot of fear," he said. "There is a lot of speculation and anxiety, and that's what's predominantly driving the drop in prices."

"Whereas in the physical market we see things much differently. Demand is still robust. We still feel very bullish on demand and very optimistic on demand for the rest of this year."

"The fears about China are really taken out of proportion in my view," said Al Ghais, who worked in China for four years earlier in his career. "China is a phenomenal place of economic growth still."

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, plus Russia and other allies, known as OPEC+, has unwound record oil-output cuts made in 2020 at the height of the pandemic and in September is raising output by 100,000 barrels per day.

Ahead of the next meeting which OPEC+ holds on Sept. 5, Al Ghais said it was premature to say what it will decide, although he was positive about the outlook for next year.

"I want to be very clear about it - we could cut production if necessary, we could add production if necessary."

"It all depends on how things unfold. But we are still optimistic, as I said. We do see a slowdown in 2023 in demand growth, but it should not be worse than what we've had historically."

"Yes, I am relatively optimistic," he added of the 2023 outlook. "I think the world is dealing with the economic pressures of inflation in a very good way."

OPEC+ began to restrain supply in 2017 to tackle a supply glut that built up in 2014-2016, and OPEC is keen to ensure Russia remains part of the OPEC+ oil production deal after 2022, Al Ghais said.

"We would love to extend the deal with Russia and the other non-OPEC producers," he said.

"This is a long-term relationship that encompasses broader and more comprehensive forms of communication and cooperation between 23 countries. It's not just in terms of production adjustment."

(Reporting by Rowena Edwards, Alex Lawler, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Maha El Dahan and Olesya Astakhova; Editing by David Evans and David Holmes)

US Scientists say new climate law is likely to reduce warming


 Employees of NY State Solar, a residential and commercial photovoltaic systems company, install an array of solar panels on a roof, Aug. 11, 2022, in the Long Island hamlet of Massapequa, N.Y. Massive incentives for clean energy in the U.S. law signed Tuesday, Aug. 16, by President Joe Biden should reduce future global warming “not a lot, but not insignificantly either,” according to a climate scientist who led an independent analysis of the climate package. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

SETH BORENSTEIN
Tue, August 16, 2022 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Massive incentives for clean energy in the U.S. law signed Tuesday by President Joe Biden should reduce future global warming “not a lot, but not insignificantly either,” according to a climate scientist who led an independent analysis of the package.

Even with nearly $375 billion in tax credits and other financial enticements for renewable energy in the law, the United States still isn’t doing its share to help the world stay within another few tenths of a degree of warming, a new analysis by Climate Action Tracker says. The group of scientists examines and rates each country’s climate goals and actions. It still rates American action as “insufficient" but hailed some progress.

“This is the biggest thing to happen to the U.S. on climate policy,” said Bill Hare, the Australia-based director of Climate Analytics which puts out the tracker. “When you think back over the last decades, you know, not wanting to be impolite, there’s a lot of talk, but not much action.”

This is action, he said. Not as much as Europe, and Americans still spew twice as much heat-trapping gases per person as Europeans, Hare said. The U.S. has also put more heat-trapping gas into the air over time than any other nation.

Before the law, Climate Action Tracker calculated that if every other nation made efforts similar to those of the U.S., it would lead to a world with catastrophic warming — 5.4 to 7.2 degrees (3 to 4 degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial times. Now in the best case scenario, which Hare said is reasonable and likely, U.S. actions, if mimicked, would lead to only 3.6 degrees (2 degrees Celsius) of warming. If things don’t work quite as optimistically as Hare thinks, it would be 5.4 degrees (3 degrees Celsius) of warming, the analysis said.

Even that best case scenario falls short of the overarching internationally accepted goal of limiting warming to 2.7 degrees warming (1.5 degrees Celsius) since pre-industrial times. And the world has already warmed 2 degrees (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the mid-19th century.

Other nations “who we know have been holding back on coming forward with more ambitious policies and targets” are now more likely to take action in a “significant spillover effect globally,” Hare said. He said officials from Chile and a few Southeast Asian countries, which he would not name, told him this summer that they were waiting for U.S. action first.

And China “won’t say this out loud, but I think will see the U.S. move as something they need to match,” Hare said.

Scientists at the Climate Action Tracker calculated that without any other new climate policies, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions in 2030 will shrink to 26% to 42% below 2005 levels, which is still short of the country’s goal of cutting emissions in half. Analysts at the think tank Rhodium Group calculated pollution cuts of 31% to 44% from the new law.

Other analysts and scientists said the Climate Action Tracker numbers makes sense.

“The contributions from the U.S. to greenhouse gas emissions are huge,” said Princeton University climate scientist Gabriel Vecchi. “So reducing that is definitely going to have a global impact.”

Samantha Gross, director of climate and energy at the Brookings Institution, called the new law a down payment on U.S. emission reductions.

“Now that this is done, the U.S. can celebrate a little, then focus on implementation and what needs to happen next,” Gross said.

The Inflation Reduction Act is a start, but carbon emissions need to be cut far more

Susan Nugent
Wed, August 17, 2022 

When a pipe breaks in the bathroom, do I spend a lot of time figuring out if I can afford to pay for the repair? The longer I wait, the more damage there is to floors, cupboards and closet doors, for starters.

Our global climate pipes have been broken a long, long time. We’ve spent decades deciding if the damage is bad enough to bother repairing the pipes. The damage to the planet has increased through all those years.

Our seas are rising, wildfires are spreading, heat records are breaking and droughts are destroying crops. The U.S. has spent over $50 billion on flood disasters, NPR News recently reported. The Kentucky floods destroyed homes and killed dozens in a matter of days.

Mud covers most all the roads Aug. 4 in the small Eastern Kentucky town of Neon. Mayor Susan Polis has called the area home for 65 years and says she's never seen flooding to this level.

Recently, Congress took action to call a plumber. At this point, scientists don’t know how much the plumber can save.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change called for a 50% reduction in fossil fuel use by 2030. But that goal will unlikely be met. The Inflation Reduction Act, recently signed into law by President Joe Biden, instead aims to lower carbon emissions only 40% by 2030.

A Sun article recently stated that the fossil fuel industry is “blamed” for increased carbon in the atmosphere. Beyond merely placing blame, scientists present data proving the fossil fuel industry’s responsibility for the increase in carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

If we don’t bring fossil fuel use to a halt, the problems caused by increased atmospheric carbon dioxide continue. Heat, drought, floods, wildfires and hurricanes will not be slowed until the industry stops emitting carbon dioxide. Even then, ridding our air of excess emissions will require time.

More from Susan Nugent:

Prepare for a huge migration to Alachua County, other impacts of climate change

Take control of our future by transitioning to clean energy

Climate change produces positive and negative images in Florida, around the world

The Inflation Reduction Act tries to reduce emissions by providing incentives for us to buy electric vehicles and to make our homes more energy efficient. Given that transportation accounts for 27% of our greenhouse gases, tackling the reduction of emissions from cars and pickups starts to address the carbon dioxide source.

Another way to look at the potential reductions is to look at a household’s carbon footprint. Most households contribute over 60% of their greenhouse gases in transportation and housing. The Inflation Reduction Act attempts to reduce greenhouse gases by making the switch to clean energy attractive.

The act gives responsibility to the consumer for reducing greenhouse gases rather than addressing the fossil fuel industry’s responsibility. Negotiations with Sen. Joe Manchin resulted in many concessions that benefit the fossil fuel industry. Large areas of land, including much in Alaska, will open for purchase and drilling, when we need to decrease both.

An oil transit pipeline runs across the tundra to a flow station at the Prudhoe Bay oil field on Alaska’s North Slope.

Consumers have seen the switch of responsibility in other areas related to greenhouse gases. For example, instead of requiring a reduction in production of plastics in the industry, the consumer is urged not to buy plastic.

Passing the burden of blame to the consumer does not prompt industry to create or to provide alternatives. They continue to sell plastic goods without viable options for consumers. But even though they won’t accept responsibility, we must act.

Placing the burden on the consumer to change a lifestyle often leaves the consumer wondering what difference one purchase will really make. If I cover my food with plastic wrap rather than find an appropriately sized container with a top, will that really make a difference? Requiring reduction of fossil fuel use would be a much quicker and more efficient method of cleaning our air.

Until the United States can face the fact that we do have a climate crisis and our government realizes it must stop pussyfooting around the fossil fuel industry, then consumers must change long-held habits. Only by refusing to support the industry’s petroleum-based products will we make change happen.

A friend recently shared his Gainesville Regional Utilities bill with me. It had finally reached the point his bill was higher than he wanted to pay. He immediately started to call solar companies. The difference in cost between increased bills and solar panels will quickly be actualized.

My own estimated time for reaching the point where I receive my solar energy “for free” was seven years. But with fuel costs doubling, my time will halve.

So we, consumers, remain ultimately responsible despite the easier alternative. With a commitment to moving away from fossil fuels, and with determination not to support the fossil fuel industry, we can make a difference.

The Inflation Reduction Act aims for 40% reduction by 2030. That goal must be the minimum goal for all of us. Let’s help the plumber and make full use of the act’s incentives.

Susan Nugent

Susan Nugent is a Climate Reality Project leader from Gainesville.
Join the conversation

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Susan Nugent: Inflation Reduction Act just start of cutting emissions

WASTE OF FOOD
Ethanol could get boost from carbon capture credits in Biden climate law


 Ethanol biodiesel fuel is shown being pumped into a vehicle at a gas station in Nevada, Iowa


By Leah Douglas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A major expansion in tax credits for companies that capture and store carbon emissions under U.S. President Joe Biden's new climate law could be a boon to the ethanol industry as it seeks to meet its mid-century climate goals.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Biden signed on Tuesday significantly expands tax credits for industrial projects that capture emissions of carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for climate change, and either store it underground or use it as a building block for other products.

The industry hopes to use carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, aided by a network of carbon transport pipelines across the Midwest, to reach a goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The technology could help ethanol makers position their product as a green fuel against the backdrop of transit electrification.

Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of ethanol trade group the Renewable Fuels Association, said the IRA is “the most significant federal commitment to low-carbon biofuels since the Renewable Fuel Standard was expanded 15 years ago.”

The IRA allows companies that own and operate CCS equipment to collect as much as $85 per ton, up from $50, of captured carbon that is stored underground, and $60 per ton, up from $35, of captured carbon that is used in other manufacturing processes or for oil recovery.

One set of projects that could benefit from the expanded credits are a network of pipelines proposed in the Midwest to capture and transport ethanol plant emissions.

Three companies - Summit Carbon Solutions, a subsidiary of Iowa-based Summit Agricultural Group; Wolf Carbon Solutions, an affiliate of Alberta-based Wolf Midstream; and Navigator CO2 Ventures, a subsidiary of Texas-based Navigator Energy Services - hope to run more than 3,600 miles (5,800 km) of pipeline from ethanol plants across six states to underground storage sites.

The projects could capture as much as 39 million tons of carbon annually, according to the company websites, potentially making them eligible for more than $3.3 billion in tax credits.

In statements to Reuters, the three companies cheered the IRA and its inclusion of the expanded credits.

The pipelines are in varying stages of the permitting process in each state. Widespread dissent among landowners along the proposed pipeline routes could present an obstacle to the projects as they proceed.

Ethanol production lends itself well to carbon capture projects because the manufacturing process emits a pure stream of carbon dioxide, said Jessie Stolark, public policy and member relations manager at the Carbon Capture Coalition.

“They have been the first mover in a lot of ways,” Stolark said.

(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Timothy Gardner and Matthew Lewis)

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant 

urges world to prevent nuclear disaster

that will make Chornobyl pale in 

comparison

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO – THURSDAY, 18 AUGUST 2022, 

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) staff are urging the world to prevent a nuclear disaster at the plant. The consequences of it might be worse than those of the Chornobyl disaster or the one at the Fukushima power plant in Japan.

Source: Statement by the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant staff

Quote: "We believe that collective intelligence and good will can make the cannons go quiet and prevent an irreversible disaster from occurring. The consequences of such a disaster can be far worse than those of the Chornobyl and Fukushima tragedies.

The world’s nuclear sector has no emergency plans for ensuring the security of nuclear facilities when they become the grounds for military actions."

Details: The ZNPP staff note that over the past five months, "countless legal norms, principles and safety regulations have been violated" in the realm of "peaceful use of atomic energy". They stress that the Zaporizhzhia NPP has essentially become "the target of relentless military attacks" in the past two weeks.

"Our planet is too small to believe that there will be a place where one could hide in the aftermath of a large-scale nuclear disaster," the statement signed by the ZNPP staff reads.

However, the statement does not outline any concrete steps that the world community could take. Moreover, it does not name the aggressor country, Russia, responsible for the possible nuclear disaster.

Background:

• On 18 August, Russian military command threatened to stop the operation of Europe’s largest Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

• In addition, the Russian Defence Ministry announced a large-scale provocation could occur at the ZNPP during the visit of UN Secretary-General António Guterres to Ukraine on 19 August.

• Russian forces captured the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine. They captured the Zaporizhzhia NPP on 4 March, creating the threat of nuclear disaster. In mid-March, the Russians detonated munition at the ZNPP. In recent weeks, Russia has ramped up its attacks on the ZNPP.

• At a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, the United States indicated that for the security of the ZNPP, it is necessary to withdraw Russian troops from there, create a demilitarised zone and provide access to IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] experts. Vasiliy Nebenzia, Russia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, did not support the offer to create a demilitarised zone around the ZNPP.

• On 13 August, Russian occupying forces placed several artillery systems on the territory of the ZNPP. They used these systems to fire on the power plant, while making it seem as though the shells come from Nikopol.

Invaders announced online broadcast from Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant "for its people"


Ukrayinska Pravda

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO — THURSDAY, 18 AUGUST 2022, 16:23

The so-called "occupation authorities'' of Zaporizhzhia Oblast announced that drones will broadcast online the situation at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) on Friday.

Source: Russian propaganda agency RIA Novosti, on Telegram, citing the so-called "member of the main council of the military-civil administration of Zaporizhzhia Oblast" Vladimir Rogov in the interview with "Solovyov.Live".

Quote: "Zaporizhzhia Oblast administration promises that there will be constant filming of situation around the Zaporizhzhia NPP, made by drones, where – according to the Russian Defense Ministry – Ukrainian troops are preparing a provocation."

Updated: Later the Russian agency noted that the filming will be conducted "for the security forces" of the invaders.

Quote from Rogov: "The probability that tomorrow a provocation will be carried out against the nuclear power plant is not just much higher than average, but it is close to almost 100%.

Just yesterday, I specifically handed over drones to our guys at the nuclear power plant, so that constant filming would be conducted around the perimeter for Rosgvardiya (National Guard of the Russian Federation) and our security forces, so that later any arrival and moment could be recorded online."

Background: The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation declared that on 19 August, a "large-scale provocation of the Kyiv regime" may occur at the Zaporizhzhia NPP during the visit of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Ukraine.

In Russia, they claim that on August 19, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will launch artillery strikes on the territory of the Zaporizhzhia NPP from Nikopol, and then demonstrate the elimination of the consequences of the accident at the nuclear power plant.

Earlier, according to the media, the invaders placed artillery units at the Zaporizhzhia NPP firing on the plant and simulating strikes from Nikopol.

Background:

On 18 August, Russian military command threatened to stop the operations of Europe’s largest Zaporizhzhia NPP.


Energoatom notes that the Zaporizhzhia NPP shutdown, by the invaders, brings the script of a radiation disaster closer.

Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda!

Russia calls U.N. idea to demilitarise Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant unacceptable


An overview of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, in Ukraine

Thu, August 18, 2022 

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia's foreign ministry on Thursday rejected a proposal by U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres to demilitarise the area around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, saying it would make the facility "more vulnerable".

The plant, Europe's largest of its kind, was captured by Russia in March, shortly after President Vladimir Putin ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in what he called a "special military operation".

Fears have grown in recent weeks over its safety and the risks of a possible Fukushima-style nuclear accident after Ukraine and Russia accused each other of shelling it.

Guterres, who is currently on a visit to Ukraine, earlier this month called for the withdrawal of military personnel and equipment from the power station and for "a safe perimeter of demilitarization."

Ivan Nechayev, a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry, told a briefing on Thursday that the proposal was unacceptable to Moscow.

He accused Kyiv of organising what he called provocations and of being unable to control nationalist armed groups.

"That is the very reason that the proposals (on demilitarisation) are unacceptable," said Nechayev.

"Implementing them would make the power station even more vulnerable."

Russia says it keeps some troops at the plant to ensure its smooth running and security.

Kyiv accuses Russia of using the plant as a shield from which it shells Ukrainian targets. It also says Russia has shelled the plant; Moscow says Ukraine is the one shelling the facility.

Nechayev said a visit to the plant by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could take place in the very near future and that experts could determine for themselves who had been shelling it.

Russia, which says it has no heavy weapons at the plant, earlier on Thursday accused Kyiv and the West of planning a "provocation" there on Friday. Kyiv dismissed the accusation as cynical and untrue.

(Reporting by Reuters;Editing by Andrew Osborn)

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH
Putin slams US lawmakers' visits to Taiwan, blames US for Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine

PUTIN AIN'T CHOMSKY




Ryan General
Wed, August 17, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the United States for the continued fighting in Ukraine during an international security summit on Tuesday.

Speaking to an audience attended by military officials from Africa, Asia and Latin America, the Russian leader accused “Western globalist elites” of shifting the blame “for their own failures to Russia and China.”

Putin reiterated his previous claim that the Russian military invaded Ukraine to stop the U.S. government’s attempt of turning the country against Russia.

“They need conflicts to retain their hegemony,” Putin was quoted as saying. “That’s why they have turned the Ukrainian people into cannon fodder. The situation in Ukraine shows that the United States is trying to drag the conflict out, and it acts in exactly the same way trying to fuel conflicts in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Putin’s condemnation of Western powers comes amid a series of sanctions imposed by the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries. The sanctions, imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, targeted the country’s banks, oil refineries and military exports, among others.



Putin also referenced U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan to accuse Washington of promoting instability around the world.

“The American adventure in Taiwan wasn’t just a trip by an irresponsible politician,” Putin said. “It was part of a deliberate and conscious U.S. strategy intended to destabilize the situation and create chaos in the region and the entire world, a blatant demonstration of disrespect for another country's sovereignty and its own international obligations.”

Putin said that attempts by so-called “Western elites” to cling to the “current globalist model” are already doomed. “The era of the unipolar world order is nearing its end,” he added.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who also spoke during the conference, further alleged that in addition to the weapons that Western governments supply to Ukraine, they also aid the Ukrainian military with detailed intelligence information and instructors to teach them how to operate their weapons systems.

Shoigu denied both claims that Russia could potentially use nuclear or chemical weapons in the ongoing conflict.

While Putin’s fight against the West has earned him an ally in Chinese President Xi Jinping, a recent report suggesting that China has been stealing sensitive data from Russian defense might put their friendship to the test.

A report by Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Labs claimed that China's government-connected hacking group TA428 conducted numerous attacks on Russia's military-industrial complex.

"The attack targeted industrial plants, design bureaus and research institutes, government agencies, ministries and departments in several East European countries (Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine), as well as Afghanistan,” the report noted.

Noam Chomsky - Foundations of World Order: the UN, World Bank, IMF & Decl. Human Rights 

MIT Dec 6, 2018