INTER-IMPERIALIST RIVALRIES

Japan ramps up aid to Africa to weaken China's grip on continent

Tokyo has announced an ambitious multibillion-dollar program of economic assistance to Africa, in a bid to counter Beijing's growing economic and political influence.

The Tokyo International Conference on African Development was held in Tunisia this year

Japan is ramping up its aid and economic assistance to African nations, with Tokyo recently promising $30 billion (€30.24 billion) to help develop the continent over the next three years. 

The financial commitment was unveiled at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which was hosted by the Japanese government in Tunisia over two days in late August.

First organized in 1993, TICAD has traditionally been held in Japan but this year moved to the North African country due to concerns about the COVID pandemic.  

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivered the opening speech from Tokyo, where he was recovering from a bout of the virus, emphasizing to delegates that Japan intends to use its wealth to invest in Africa's human capital and foster high-quality and sustainable development across the continent.  

Even though Kishida did not comment on China or Russia, it is clear that Tokyo's latest economic assistance is designed to push back against growing Chinese and Russian influence in the region.  

How is China affecting Japan's Africa policy?

In recent years, Japanese diplomats in African nations have been busy warning their host governments of the potential pitfalls of accepting what appears on the surface to be generous economic assistance from Beijing.

At the TICAD conference, Japan promised $30 billion to help develop Africa over the next three years

Critics say that the Chinese aid on offer too often takes the form of huge loans for grand infrastructure projects, including commercial ports, strategic airfields, railways, bridges and highways. They argue that when the recipient nations fall behind in their debt repayments, state-run Chinese companies could be quick to step in to take over control of the assets. 

Japan and other nations are particularly concerned about strategically-located facilities with potential dual uses coming under Beijing's control, such as the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka. The government in Colombo borrowed $1 billion from China 20 years ago to build the facility.

But when the project became economically unviable and Sri Lanka could not repay the loan, it agreed to give China a controlling equity stake in the port and a 99-year lease for operating it.

However, Beijing rejects accusations it is pursuing such "debt-trap diplomacy," and alleges that it's a narrative promoted by some in the West to tarnish China's global image.

In August, Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, slammed the Chinese debt trap claims, saying that Western officials and media are seeking to drive a wedge between China and other developing nations by leveling such allegations, state-run tabloid the Global Times reported.

As Beijing tries to boost its trade and investment ties with Africa, pledging $40 billion in financing to the continent in 2021, Tokyo is increasingly worried about China's increasing sway in the region.

"The biggest reason behind Japan's aid is obviously China," said Akitoshi Miyashita, a professor of international relations at Tokyo International University. "Kishida is very concerned that Japan — and other developed nations — are falling behind Beijing when it comes to appealing to governments in Africa." 

There is similar concern about Russia's influence in Africa as well. "Russia is courting China, India and a number of countries in Africa to express their support for its actions in Ukraine, so clearly there is a strong political motivation for Japan to do more in Africa," Miyashita pointed out. 

Why is Japan deeply concerned?

Stephen Nagy, an associate professor of international relations at Tokyo's International Christian University, concurred that Japan is "deeply concerned" about China's growing influence in Africa.

But he stressed that the concern was partly driven by its own trade worries. 

"China has been extremely proactive in the Republic of the Congo and other countries with large deposits of the rare earth minerals that are critical to modern technology," he said.

"Japan is working hard to make sure that China does not obtain a monopoly on those resources, which would cause serious problems for Japanese companies."

Tokyo's aim is to create a broad-based coalition of nations that share its calls for a rules-based international order, free and open ocean trading routes and a commitment to joint development.

Japan fears China does not share the same goals and wants to reshape the international order in a way that suits Beijing's interests.

"China is becoming very powerful and politically influential and they use their overseas investments and assistance to further that ambition," said Haruko Noguchi, a professor of health economics at Waseda University. "But Japan thinks and acts very differently." 

What's the difference between Chinese and Japanese aid?

Noguchi has served as an adviser to the Japanese government on aid to African countries, including to schools in Burkina Faso.

"The program there was to create a greater community in schools, to involve parents and other people in these villages, and we were able to determine that this helped children's health and academic outcomes," she said.

"Empowerment has a very positive impact on children's well-being." 

It is this sort of assistance that Japan is likely to focus its efforts on, she said, rather than the construction of airports and port infrastructure.  

"We see the future of Africa in the empowerment of its people and the development of their human capital," she said. "And yes, that might mean that Japanese companies miss out on huge construction projects, but I hope that in the future, a child who has benefited from our aid might rise to a leadership role in these countries. And that is when Japanese aid will pay off."

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

China scraps tariffs and steps up the

charm offensive in Africa

China has removed tariffs on 98% of goods imported from nine of Africa's poorest countries. The move benefits China's image, but has little economic impact; experts say.



China wants to increase the import of agricultural products from Africa

China has removed tariffs on 98% of taxable items originating from nine of Africa's least-developed nations.

The new tariff policy, which came into force on September 1, applies to agricultural and mineral imports from the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Guinea, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, and Togo.

Several Asian countries have also been included in the scheme.

It follows Chinese President Xi Jinping's announcement at the China-Africa summit in November 2021 that steps would be taken to increase the import of agricultural products from Africa.

Xi said at the time that the aim was to boost these imports from the continent to $300 (€302 billion) over the next three years, eventually reaching $300 billion a year by 2035.

Africa, which still primarily exports raw materials toChina, only accounts for a small part of China's total imports.

In 2020, food and agriculture sales to China from African countries reached $161 billion, making up 2.6% of China's total imports.
African nations keep accumulating debt

Mozambican economist Joao Mosca from the NGO Rural Environment Observatory (OMR) believes the new tariff scheme will have "practically no effect on Mozambique's economy."

He went on to explain that his country still relies on imported foodstuffs and will continue to do so for a very long time, with no capacity to export in a meaningful way.

China is Mozambique's principal individual creditor and its third-most important trading partner. But trade is largely a one-way street, to the detriment of Mozambique's overall balance of payments. The elimination of trade tariffs will not help reduce Maputo's deficits or ease its debt, explained Mosca.

But Beijing has shown a growing interest in Mozambique's commodities. Recently, China partnered with South Korea for joint natural gas exploration in the Rovuma Basin in Cabo Delgado province, which is now set to start production in 2024.

Observers see the agreement, which was signed in August, as a sign that China may want to enter the international race for Mozambican gas at full tilt.
China needs Africa's commodities

"China has become very dependent on African energy and minerals, including cobalt and coal, which are needed for high technology," said Chenshen Yen, an expert in African politics at Taiwan's National Chengchi University.

"I believe that this measure will also help China acquire more raw materials and make it easier for African minerals to enter China," he added.

China has shown increased interest in Mozambique's natural gas

Harry Verhoeven, a senior researcher at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, told DW that scrapping tariffs on mineral exports from Africa to China will do little to further encourage already massive flows from the continent to East Asia.

"They will, in most cases, just make it cheaper for Chinese importers to do so," he said.

Verhoeven does see a potential gain for the poorest African countries when it comes to manufactured goods, however.

"Some evidence suggests that China's lowering of tariffs has encouraged a diversification of exports from African states," he said.

Africa's agriculture has economic potential

A bet on agriculture could benefit both sides in future trade relations. China is, after all, the world's biggest food importer and the agricultural sector is the biggest employer and driver of economic activity on the African continent. 60% of the world's uncultivated arable land is in Africa.

China has been criticized for the debts caused by its infrastructure projects in Africa

"In a very long-term perspective, China is interested in reserving land for food production in the entire African Indian Ocean area, from Mozambique to the Horn of Africa," researcher Mosca said.

With a growing population to feed and a plan to focus on high-tech industries — as well as finding new markets for its products — China has a genuine interest in Africa's development.
China as an alternative choice

Mosca relayed a story, however, in which a former Chinese president told a Mozambican prime minister that Beijing "is set on industrializing Africa in the next 100 years." That includes exporting highly polluting industries — for which China is now under permanent scrutiny, the expert warned.

In the short term, though, the measures announced by Beijing must be seen in the context of geopolitical positioning.

This is especially true in light of the war in Ukraine, which has placed many African states in a position of conflicting loyalties. This is something that China is seeking to capitalize on, Mosca believes.

"China is saying: 'Look, there is an alternative to your age-old, traditional dependency on European countries and the US," he said.

William Young contributed to this article.

SIERRA LEONE: BLACK JOHNSON BEACH TO BECOME FISHING HARBOR UNDER CHINA DEAL

Construction or conservation?

The government of Sierra Leone is planning to build a fishing harbor off the village of Black Johnson. Some 252 acres of land in Whale Bay has been earmarked for the project. But residents and environmentalists are up in arms: They fear eviction and pollution in the area where fish breed.

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Edited by: Ineke Mules

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UK PM rules out windfall tax to fund energy price freeze

Issued on: 07/09/2022 -

Liz Truss on Wednesday faced her first parliamentary grilling as British Prime Minister, ruling out a windfall tax to fund any freeze on energy bills to offset huge rises in the cost of gas and electricity. Truss, who formally took over from Boris Johnson on Tuesday, said she would spell out her plans on Thursday for an economic support package to forestall a growing crisis in the months ahead. FRANCE 24's Bénédicte Paviot reports from London.

New UK PM Truss wants more oil and gas extraction from the North Sea



Issued on: 07/09/2022 - 
Video by: FRANCE 24

Britain's new prime minister, Liz Truss, said on Wednesday she wanted to see more extraction of oil and gas from the North Sea and more investment in nuclear power. Speaking at her first prime minister's question time in parliament, Truss said she wanted to find ways to address rising energy costs for businesses.

• No 10 hinted that the ban on fracking will be lifted this week. During the leadership contest Truss said: “I support exploring fracking in parts of the United Kingdom where that can be done”. Asked if the fracking ban would be lifted this week, the press secretary would not comment on the announcement tomorrow, but he said Truss made her views clear during the campaing. This is from LBC’s Ben Kentish.

 

PMQs - verdict from Twitter commentariat

13:59

And this is what other journalists and commentors are saying about PMQs. Mostly people were just glad to hear the two main party leaders have a proper argument about policy.

From my colleague Rafael Behr on PMQs.

From Global’s Lewis Goodall

From my colleague Nesrine Malik

From the New Statesman’s George Eaton

From Global’s Jon Sopel

From my colleague John Crace

From Sky’s Sophy Ridge

From the Sun’s Harry Cole

From the Mirror’s Kevin Maguire

From the FT’s Robert Shrimsley

PMQs - snap verdict

13:50

Every former prime minister says that taking PMQs is the most scary ordeal of the week and, even after 10 years in post, people like Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair regarded it as one of the ultimate challenges of the job – an encounter when a few wrong words could spell disaster. For any new prime minister, the first question is, are they up to it? And Liz Truss clearly is. She looked like a prime minister, she performed reasonably well, and she even managed a decent joke (on Labour leaders and north London – see 12.20pm.) It was not a triumph, but it was not a catastrophe either, and on day one that is a bonus.

Truss also marks a very welcome change from Boris Johnson, in that (for the most part) she was willing to answer questions, and engage in an argument about policy and ideas. This, of course, is what is meant to happen. But for the last three years we have been governed by a prime minister much more interested in politics as performance and entertainment, and so it is refreshing to tilt back to ideas.

But that is where the whole encounter was less positive for Truss. She won the Conservative leadership contest on a low-tax, small-state agenda that put her well to the right of any Tory leader for a generation. Truss has always been a libertarian (it’s why she joined the Liberal Democrats at university), but during the summer it was never entirely clear to what extent she was just pandering to her party’s cruder, Thatcherite instincts. But now we know; it’s worse than that (to quote an old Westminster joke) – she really does believe it.

Starmer exposed this clearly with questions that illuminated what may become the key dividing line in British politics. Truss has already shifted on to Labour territory by conceding the need for a price cap of some sort on energy bills. But while Labour is proposing to fund this through a windfall tax, Truss is resisting this and today she dug in firmly on this point, declaring categorically that a windfall tax would be wrong. Starmer said this was prioritising the interests of an industry making £170bn in profits and that as a result she was going for “more borrowing than is needed”, with taxpayers paying the price for years to come.

Maybe you can win a general election on this sort of purist, ideological Laffer curve worship? But it seems extremely unlikely. Tories like Rishi Sunak believe the claim that tax cuts alone will always promote growth is nonsense, and even figures in the energy industry are finding it hard to justify their excessive profits. Starmer did not put on a particularly flashy performance, but he sounded much closer to where the public opinion is on these issues and ultimately that is what matters.

Truss also had no convincing answer to the question posed to her by several MPs: how could people trust her to sort out the nation’s problems when she had been in government for the past 10 years? (Boris Johnson did not have this problem, because he was out of parliament for most of the David Cameron era, and he resigned from Theresa May’s government.) Starmer summed this all up in his final question. He told Truss:

The prime minister claims to be breaking orthodoxy but the reality is she’s reheating George Osborne’s failed corporation tax plans - protecting oil and gas profits and forcing working people to pay the bill.

She’s the fourth Tory prime minister in six years - the face at the top may change but the story remains the same.

There’s nothing new about the Tory fantasy of trickle-down economics, nothing new about this Tory prime minister who nodded through every decision that got us into this mess and now says how terrible it is, and can’t she see there’s nothing new about a Tory prime minister who when asked: who pays? says: ‘It’s you, the working people of Britain’?”

In response Truss said there was “nothing new about a Labour leader who is calling for more tax rises” and that Starmer was just offering “the same old tax and spend”. It demonstrated that she can think on her feet, but that won’t help much if voters conclude that what Starmer is saying makes more sense.

READ ON HERE

Liz Truss accused of seeking to evade scrutiny over announcement of energy bills plan – live (msn.com)

How Bellingcat Became Russia's 'Biggest Nightmare'

By Aurelie CARABIN
09/07/22 

Christo Grozev brought journalist know-how to the Bellingcat team

Digital investigators from the Bellingcat group have spent eight years exposing the lies of the powerful and gathering evidence of their crimes - work that has a grave human cost, the organisation's chief told AFP in an interview.

Bulgarian journalist Christo Grozev said he and his colleagues received regular threats but he was driven to continue by "adrenalin" and "the feeling you can do something that law enforcement does not do".

The investigative group has been closely associated with uncovering misdeeds by Russian agents across Europe, including intelligence involvement in the poisoning of opposition figure Alexei Navalny.

"When you get stopped in the street by Russian citizens, telling you thank you for what you are doing once a day, I think that it is enough to continue," he said.

During a meeting in Paris earlier this week, he described the organisation as the "Kremlin's biggest nightmare" though he stressed to AFP that Russia was not the main focus of their work.

"Russia today produces a lot of government crime and that's why a lot of our investigations are focused on Russia," he said.

"But we equally try to pay attention to bad actors from wherever they come."

He cites investigations into the Syrian war, EU police agency Europol and others focused on Greece, Turkey, Hungary and the far right in the United States and Europe.

Bellingcat was founded in July 2014 by a British blogger, Eliot Higgins, along with a band of internet "nerds", said Grozev, who joined later and brought a wealth of journalism experience from his career in the Bulgarian media.

They used information freely available to the public -- anything from satellite images to telephone directories -- to piece together evidence of wrongdoing.

Their work on the downing of Air Malaysia flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 -- which killed 298 people and sparked global outrage -- won plaudits around the world and brought the group to the attention of the Kremlin.

The investigators pieced together photos, videos and public documents that supported the theory that the plane was shot down by a Russian missile from an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

Since then, the group has identified Russian agents responsible for poisoning opposition figure Alexei Navalny and other dissidents, exposed alleged war crimes in Ukraine and helped uncover many more scandals.

One of its main focuses right now is the war in Ukraine, where it has a two-track approach.

Grozev said one approach uses journalistic methods to debunk false information, the other is more judicial, gathering evidence of war crimes for eventual use in the courts.

The Netherlands-based platform, which takes its name from a fable in which mice join forces to hang a bell around a cat's neck, has rarely been out of the Kremlin's firing line.

Russia recently described it as a security threat and deemed it "undesirable".

One of the main lines of attack has been to accuse Bellingcat of being funded by Western governments or NGOs, particularly the US National Endowment for Democracy.

Grozev said in its early years the group took some money from American NGOs for training, but later decided to stop.

He said it had not taken any money from governments since last year and relied instead on smaller funders.

"Most of our funders are individuals who spend 100 euros to 5,000 euros," he said.

Beyond the financial constraints, Grozev pointed to the difficult legal environment.

"International law is handicapped because it assumes that governments look out for their citizens," said Grozev.

Even a tribunal like the International Criminal Court, which seeks to hold individuals to account rather than countries, has long been hobbled by disagreements over its remit and powers of investigation.

And national governments are hamstrung by the idea of national sovereignty, so if a poisoning happens on Russian territory, only Russia can investigate.


It is precisely in this legal blackhole that Bellingcat finds the greatest need.

"We investigate generally bad actors, governments who commit crimes, because we think nobody else is investigating them," said Grozev.

"There are no tribunals, no law enforcement agencies that investigate governments."

Israel acquires papyrus with Hebrew inscription from Montana


The Associated Press
Ilan Ben Zion
Publishing date: Sep 07, 2022

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has acquired a previously unknown ancient papyrus bearing a Hebrew inscription dated to around 2,700 years ago that had long been in possession of a Montana resident, the country’s antiquities authority said Wednesday.

The scrap of papyrus — scarcely larger than a postage stamp with four lines of angular script — is one of just a few from the region in the Late Iron Age, archaeologists said. The Israel Antiquities Authority said it authenticated its age using radiocarbon dating, which corresponded with the age of the text’s writing style.

Joe Uziel, director of the Judean desert scrolls unit, said the matching radiocarbon date and paleographic style makes him “very certain” that it is not a modern forgery.

The papyrus, which bears the Biblical name Ishmael, was likely looted sometime in the last century from a cave in the Judean Desert, he said.

Its provenance and journey from the desert to Montana six decades ago and now to Jerusalem remain nebulous.

The antiquities authority declined to name the Montana resident but said the man’s mother obtained the artifact during a visit to Jordanian-occupied east Jerusalem in 1965 and brought it to the United States.

Numerous scroll fragments from the arid region near the Dead Sea that have emerged on the antiquities market in recent years, including several at Washington’s Museum of the Bible, have proven to be forgeries.

The antiquities authority showed the papyrus to the press at its labs in Jerusalem alongside two other ancient Hebrew fragments it holds — one found in a cave near the Dead Sea in the 1950s and a second that was seized from the antiquities black market in 2016 and believed to have been looted from a cave.

Eitan Klein, head of the Israeli antiquities’ theft prevention unit, said the Montana man’s mother may have either purchased the object from Khalil Iskander Shahin — a Bethlehem-based antiquities dealer better known as “Kando,” who traded in many of the originally discovered Dead Sea Scrolls — or may have been given the papyrus by the curator of the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.

How Shahin or the curator, both of whom have since died, obtained the papyrus remains uncertain.

The unidentified Montana man inherited the papyrus after his mother’s death. An Israeli academic noticed a photo of this previously undocumented text in a colleague’s unpublished papers and notified Klein, who tracked down the owner, the antiquities authority said.

Klein said the man was invited to Jerusalem in 2019 and the sides came to an unspecified “arrangement” whereby the papyrus was given to the Israeli authorities.

Israel unveils 'extremely rare' Iron Age papyrus note

Issued on: 07/09/2022 - AFP

An Israel Antiquities Authority conservator views under a magnifying glass the papyrus fragment at its conservation lab in Jerusalem 

MENAHEM KAHANA AFP

Jerusalem (AFP) – Israel's Antiquities Authority displayed Wednesday a rare papyrus note in ancient Hebrew dating back 2,700 years, recently brought back to Jerusalem after its chance discovery in the United States.

The letter fragment, written in the Palaeo-Hebrew used during the First Temple era, constitutes four lines beginning "To Ishmael send", with the rest of the words incomplete.

"We don’t know exactly what was being sent and to where," said Joe Uziel, director of the antiquities authority's Judaean Desert scrolls unit.

In the Iron Age, Hebrews used clay fragments to scrawl short notes and animal hide for scriptures, with papyrus reserved for official correspondence, said Eitan Klein, deputy director of the authority's antiquities theft prevention unit.

Papyruses left in the dry climate of the Judaean desert could have survived the ages, but there were only two other papyruses from the First Temple era known to researchers before the latest discovery, Klein said.#photo1

"This papyrus is unique, extremely rare," he said.

Ahituv was surprised to see in the book's draft a picture of the "To Ishmael" papyrus, which he had not been familiar with.

He contacted Klein, and with the help of Yardeni's daughter, managed to locate the US academic who had connected Yardeni to the owner of the fragment -- a man in Montana.

The owner had inherited the papyrus from his late mother, who in 1965 purchased or received it as a gift from Joseph Saad, curator of the then Palestine Archaeological Museum.

Saad had obtained it from legendary Bethlehem antiquities dealer Halil Iskander Kandu, who Klein said had most likely bought it from Bedouin who found it in a Judaean Desert cave.

Back in the United States, the woman had framed the papyrus below a picture of Saad and Kandu, and hung it in her home.#photo2

Klein invited the Montanan to visit Israel in 2019, showing him the Antiquities Authority's facilities to persuade him that the rare artefact would be preserved best there.

"He was convinced, and at the end of his visit, left the papyrus with us," Klein said, without providing further details on the man or process.

The authenticity and age of the artefact were determined using palaeographic and carbon-14 dating, Uziel said, noting researchers' apprehension about removing the papyrus from the back of the frame.

"She used adhesive glue and glued it and then framed it," he said. "Removing it will actually cause further damage to the papyrus."

To Uziel, any discovery of an artefact "is really a high," but "when we come to the written word, it's another level."

"We actually can make a much closer connection to the people living in the past," he said.

© 2022 AFP

Hong Kong judge finds five guilty over children's books


Leo Sands - BBC News
Wed, September 7, 2022

A Hong Kong judge has found five speech therapists guilty of publishing seditious children's books.

Their books - about sheep trying to hold back wolves from their village - were interpreted by authorities as having an overtly political message.

After a two-month trial a government-picked national security judge said their "seditious intention" was clear.

It comes amid a crackdown on civil liberties since 2020, when China imposed a new national security law.

Beijing has said the law is needed to bring stability to the city, but critics say it is designed to squash dissent.

The law makes it easier to prosecute protesters and reduces the city's overall autonomy, while also increasing Beijing's influence over political and legal decision-making in the city.

The group of five speech therapists, who were founding members of a union, produced cartoon e-books that some interpreted as trying to explain Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement to children.

Hong Kong police display content from one of the children's books at a press conference in July

In one of the three books a village of sheep fight back against a group of wolves who are trying to take over their settlement.

In another one, the enemy attackers are portrayed as dirty and diseased wolves.

"The seditious intention stems not merely from the words, but from the words with the proscribed effects intended to result in the mind of children," wrote Judge Kwok Wai-kin in his judgement, AFP news agency reports.

He said the books' young readers would be led to believe that Chinese authorities were coming to Hong Kong with the "wicked intentions" of ruining the lives of the city's inhabitants.

Lai Man-ling, Melody Yeung, Sidney Ng, Samuel Chan and Fong Tsz-ho, who have already spent more than a year in jail awaiting the verdict, will be sentenced in the next few days.

The group, who are aged between 25 and 28 and had pleaded not guilty, face up to two years in prison.

"In today's Hong Kong, you can go to jail for publishing children's books with drawings of wolves and sheep. These 'sedition' convictions are an absurd example of the disintegration of human rights in the city," said Gwen Lee from rights group Amnesty International.

The group was charged under a colonial-era sedition law which until recently had been rarely used by prosecutors.

Also on Wednesday, the head of Hong Kong's journalist union was arrested just weeks before he was due to leave the city to take up a fellowship at Oxford University.

Ronson Chan, 41, was taken away by police while reporting on a meeting of public housing owners - his employer Channel C said.

Police confirmed they had arrested an individual after he refused to show his ID and acted "uncooperatively".

Green groups demand loss and damage money ahead of COP27


Wed, September 7, 2022 


Hundreds of environmental groups called Wednesday for the issue of loss and damage finance to be on the formal agenda of the forthcoming COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt.

Developing nations have for years called for funding from rich polluters to help them reduce emissions while growing their economies and adapt to the impacts of global heating.

They argue that historic polluters also have a moral imperative to pay for the loss and damage -- impacts already being felt that countries cannot adapt to, such as Pakistan's devastating floods -- that their emissions are accelerating.

At the last UN climate summit, COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, countries representing six out of every seven people on the planet called for the establishment of a dedicated loss and damage "facility" that at-risk nations could instantly access to help them recover from extreme events.

That was shot down by richer nations, however. A loss and damage "dialogue" was offered as an alternative ahead of COP27, which begins in November in Sharm el-Sheikh.

More than 400 aid agencies and activist groups on Wednesday signed an open letter demanding that loss and damage finance be added to the official negotiating agenda.

They said discussions around money for impacted nations was needed "to ensure a meaningful outcome at COP27 to respond to the intensifying suffering of people facing climate and connected crises".

Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International, said that the conference's credibility was "hanging by a thread".

"The COP27 conference will be counted as a failure, if developed nations continue to ignore the demand from developing countries to establish a loss and damage finance facility to help people recover from worsening floods, wildfires and rising seas," he said.

pg/klm/jm

Brazil on edge for a bicentennial Bolsonaro has made his own

Issued on: 07/09/2022 - 

President Jair Bolsonaro calls Brazil’s bicentennial Wednesday a chance to celebrate the nation’s proud history, but critics say he has transformed what should be a day of unity into a campaign event that they fear he will use to undermine next month's election in Latin America's fourth biggest democracy. FRANCE 24's Constance Malleret reports from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

NGO, Indigenous leaders blame Bolsonaro for Amazon skyrocketing deforestation

Issued on: 07/09/2022 - 

The Brazilian Amazon recorded its worst month of August for forest fires since 2010, with an 18 percent rise from a year ago, according to official data released Thursday. All the worst August figures -- 30,900 fires in 2019, 29,307 in 2020, 28,060 in 2021 and 33,116 in 2022 -- happened during the four-year term of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who will be seeking re-election next month.

Tunisia opposition to boycott polls, slams electoral law written 'by president alone'

NEWS WIRES - 


Tunisia's main opposition alliance said Wednesday its members including the once-powerful Ennahdha party would boycott December polls to replace a parliament dissolved by President Kais Saied.


Tunisia opposition to boycott polls, slams electoral law written 'by president alone'© Fethi Belaid, AFP

The vote is set for nearly a year and a half after Saied suspended the Ennahdha-dominated assembly and sacked the government, later pushing through a constitution enshrining his one-man rule.

"The National Salvation Front has definitively decided to boycott the upcoming elections," said Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, head of the front which is made up of parties and movements opposed to Saied.

He said the move was in response to an electoral law written "by Saied alone", part of a "coup against constitutional legitimacy".

Saied's power grab was welcomed by many Tunisians tired of what they saw as a fractious and corrupt system established after the 2011 revolution.

But opposition forces say his moves, culminating in a new constitution confirmed by a widely boycotted July referendum, amount to a return to autocracy in the only democracy to have emerged from the Arab Spring.

(AFP)

Chelsea's new owners show ruthless streak in sacking Tuchel

Kieran CANNING
Wed, September 7, 2022 


Chelsea are still adjusting to life under their new regime but the ruthless sacking of manager Thomas Tuchel shows the change of ownership has not ushered in an era of patience at Stamford Bridge.

The German was well aware of the fate that befalls managers who stumble from the day he walked into the Premier League club, initially handed a contract for just 18 months despite his pedigree.

"What does it change?" said Tuchel as he was unveiled in January 2021. "If they are not happy with me, they will sack me anyway."

A hire-and-fire culture became the norm during Roman Abramovich's spectacularly successful reign, which ended in May when Todd Boehly's consortium took over.


Tuchel earned himself a two-year contract extension after winning the Champions League in May 2021, a triumph that came just four months after he inherited a squad that was under-performing under Frank Lampard.

But less than 16 months after Chelsea overcame Manchester City in Porto, and after a big-spending transfer window at Stamford Bridge, he finds himself out of a job.

Boehly's group spent a world-record £4.25 billion ($4.9 billion) to buy Chelsea in May after Russian billionaire Abramovich announced he was selling the club shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The following week Abramovich was hit with UK sanctions, with the government describing him as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

The new regime splashed out more than £200 million on a list of high-profile players including Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

And Tuchel appeared to have earned the trust of the new owners.

He pushed for the signing of Aubameyang after their time together at Borussia Dortmund and reportedly cooled Boehly's interest in Cristiano Ronaldo, who wanted to leave Manchester United.
- Erratic -

Yet, just seven games into the new season, the 49-year-old has been cut loose after damaging defeats to Leeds, Southampton and Dinamo Zagreb.

In keeping with his time at Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain, results have dipped after a bright start.

Chelsea won the Club World Cup, reached two domestic cup finals and finished in the top four of the Premier League last season despite the difficulties caused by the sanctions imposed on Abramovich, which affected the club's operations.

Yet the expected Premier League title challenge following the club-record £97-million signing of forward Romelu Lukaku never materialised.

Lukaku complained publicly of struggling to fit into Tuchel's preferred system and has been shipped back to Inter Milan on loan at huge cost to the Blues.

Reports in recent weeks suggested other attacking players were unhappy with Tuchel's methods, frustrated that they were not given the freedom to shine.

Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech have all struggled to deliver on big transfer fees, while Timo Werner returned to RB Leipzig last month.

Scoring goals has been a persistent problem and the defensive solidity that was the hallmark of Tuchel's early success at the club has been absent this season.

Tuchel can point to an untimely injury to midfielder N'Golo Kante, a loss of form for goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and the need for time for the club's new signings to bed in.

But his own behaviour had grown more erratic as the pressure increased.

He was sent off for two physical confrontations with Tottenham boss Antonio Conte in a 2-2 draw last month and lambasted his players for a "soft mentality" in losing at Southampton.

A limp 1-0 defeat on Tuesday to a Zagreb side with a strikingly poor Champions League record was the final straw.

"We are clearly not where we need to be and where we can be," said Tuchel after the match.

Boehly has made the bold call that a man who has reached two Champions League finals with two different clubs in the past three seasons was the problem.

Now the pressure is on the American to make the right hire to turn his investment into results on the pitch.

kca/jw/dmc

Tuchel fired by Chelsea in ruthless call by US ownership

By STEVE DOUGLAS

today

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Chelsea's head coach Thomas Tuchel leaves after the Champions League group E soccer match between Dinamo Zagreb and Chelsea at the Maksimir stadium in Zagreb, Croatia, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. Thomas Tuchel has been fired by Chelsea only one month into the season. The decision by Chelsea’s new ownership comes a day after the team lost to Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 in its first group match in the Champions League. Chelsea has lost two of its first six games in the Premier League. 

(AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Chelsea’s new American owners are proving to be just as ruthless as the man they replaced.

Thomas Tuchel was fired by the Premier League club on Wednesday, only one month into the season and just days after Chelsea’s recently installed ownership — fronted by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly — concluded a Europe-high spending spree of nearly $300 million in the transfer window.

Chelsea was renowned for regularly changing managers in the 19-year tenure of Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who had to sell the London club after being sanctioned by the British government for what it called his enabling of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “brutal and barbaric invasion” of Ukraine.

Boehly was the face of the consortium that bought Chelsea for 2.5 billion pounds ($3.1 billion) in May and, despite having little soccer experience, quickly made himself chairman as well as interim sporting director in charge of transfers.

Not only has he overseen a record splurge on new players, Boehly has now decided Tuchel — the coach who led Chelsea to the Champions League title last year — is no longer the right person to lead the team in the new era.

The decision to fire Tuchel, who was manager for 20 months, came a day after Chelsea surprisingly lost to Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 in its first group match of the Champions League. Chelsea has also lost two of its first six games — to Leeds and Southampton — in an underwhelming start to the Premier League that has seen the team’s new signings fail to gel.

Tuchel has been a frustrated and prickly figure after matches this season. In interviews after the loss to Dinamo, he said “everything is missing” when asked to sum up Chelsea’s performance and complained that his players “lacked hunger.”

In a feisty Premier League game against Tottenham, Tuchel was sent off — along with rival manager Antonio Conte — and later fined after they went head-to-head in a post-match scuffle because Tuchel failed to let go of his grip in the traditional handshake.

“As the new ownership group reaches 100 days since taking over the club, and as it continues its hard work to take the club forward, the new owners believe it is the right time to make this transition,” Chelsea said in a statement, which also said Tuchel “will rightly have a place” in the club’s history.

After all, the 49-year-old German guided Chelsea to the Champions League title less than six months after taking over as manager in January 2021, as the replacement for Frank Lampard. Tuchel only had one full season at the helm and that saw Chelsea eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Champions League — to eventual champion Real Madrid — before finishing third in the Premier League, 19 points behind champion Manchester City.

A big reason why Chelsea faded in the second half of last season was the turbulence caused by the change of ownership and it was a wild offseason at Stamford Bridge, too, with dozens of players — including Cristiano Ronaldo — linked with a move to the London club as Boehly looked to make his presence felt in the transfer market.

Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella came in for big fees, before the final days of the transfer window saw Chelsea spend 75 million pounds ($87 million) on French center back Wesley Fofana and then bring in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona to plug a gap in its striker options.

Aubameyang cited playing under Tuchel before — at Borussia Dortmund — as a benefit of the move and was handed a debut against Dinamo. That proved to be Tuchel’s last game in charge, perhaps leaving Aubameyang’s long-term status uncertain.

That will depend who comes in to replace Tuchel. British media has already linked Graham Potter, currently manager of in-form Premier League club Brighton, and Mauricio Pochettino, with the vacancy.

Potter has no real experience of handling a squad of star players but is highly regarded for his tactical astuteness and entertaining style of play. Pochettino has experience of overseeing a locker room of egos — he was recently coach of a Paris Saint-Germain team containing Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar — and has been out of work since parting ways with the French champions in July.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

In Latest Reports, UN Watchdog Says Questions Swirl Over Iran's Nuclear Program

September 07, 2022
By RFE/RL

The IAEA says in one report that it's "not in a position to provide assurance that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful."

A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium is nearing the level where further enrichment could be enough for a nuclear bomb and that Tehran has failed to provide credible answers on the origin of uranium particles found at three undeclared sites that the UN's nuclear watchdog has been investigating for years.

An IAEA quarterly report, released on September 7, says Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched up to 60 percent has grown to 55.6 kilograms, a 12.5-kilogram increase over the past three months. If enriched further, that would be more than enough for a nuclear bomb.

The report says that means that the IAEA is "not in a position to provide assurance that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful."

A second IAEA report issued the same day raises further concerns by noting that Iran has yet to provide credible answers on the origin of uranium particles found at three undeclared sites.

"The director-general is increasingly concerned that Iran has not engaged with the agency on the outstanding safeguards issues during this reporting period and, therefore, that there has been no progress towards resolving them," the second report notes.

Iran has been increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium since the United States unilaterally pulled out of a 2015 accord between Tehran and global powers to keep Iran's nuclear program in check in exchange for relief from sanctions.

The two sides have held 16 months of indirect talks that led to the European Union making a proposal last month to restore the deal, along with the lifting of U.S. sanctions.

But in its response, Iran demanded the IAEA halt the investigation into the probe.