CRACKS IN THE REGIME
Israeli defense minister calls for halt to judicial overhaul





Demonstrators block a highway during a protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, March 25, 2023. 

(AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)


ISABEL DEBRE
Sat, March 25, 2023

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's defense minister became the first ally in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition to break ranks on Saturday as he called for an immediate halt to the far-right government's contentious plan to overhaul the country's judiciary.

In a televised address, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant expressed concern over the turmoil within Israel's military that he said posed a threat to the country's security. Citing the need for dialogue with the opposition, Gallant asked that Netanyahu’s coalition wait until after Parliament reconvenes from its holiday break next month before pushing ahead with its divisive plan to weaken the Supreme Court.

“For the sake of Israel’s security, for the sake of our sons and daughters, the legislative process must be stopped at this time,” Gallant, a top official in Netanyahu's Likud party, said.

The government's plan to increase its control over the judiciary has sparked the largest protest movement in Israeli history and triggered a grave national crisis, including even warnings from the president of civil war.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets as they have every week since the start of the year — in many cases bringing parts of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to a standstill. It has also raised the hackles of Israel's closest allies, testing its ties with the United States.

Police unleashed water cannons on masses of protesters who whistled and waved Israeli flags as they marched down Ayalon highway in Tel Aviv on Saturday night. “Shame! Shame!” they chanted in Hebrew. As the protesters advanced, officers on horseback violently rammed into the crowds. “Haven't the Jewish people suffered enough?” read one protester's sign.

The judicial proposal has drawn intensifying criticism from across Israeli society — including from former prime ministers and defense officials, high-tech business leaders, Israel’s attorney general and American Jews.

In recent weeks, discontent over the overhaul has even surged from within Israel's army — the country’s most popular and respected institution, which has historically been an apolitical unifier. A growing number of Israeli reservists have threatened to withdraw from voluntary duty in the past weeks, posing a broad challenge to Netanyahu as he defiantly plows ahead with the judicial changes while on trial for corruption.

“The events taking place in Israeli society do not spare the Israel Defense Forces — from all sides, feelings of anger, pain and disappointment arise, with an intensity I have never encountered before,” Gallant said. “I see how the source of our strength is being eroded.”

In security-minded Israel, the unrest has prompted concern about the Israeli military's stability as it maintains its 55-year-old occupation of the West Bank and faces threats from Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group and from its archenemy Iran.

Violence both in Israel and the occupied West Bank has escalated over the past few weeks to heights unseen in years. On Saturday, a Palestinian shot and wounded two Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank town of Hawara, the site of a violent settler rampage last month.

“This is a clear, immediate and tangible danger to the security of the state,” he said, referring to the judicial plans. “I will not take part in this.”

Gallant stopped short of saying what, if anything, he would do if Netanyahu ignored his plea. But his strong statement of concern for the polarized nation marked the first crack in Netanyahu’s coalition, the most right-wing and religiously conservative government in Israeli history.

Despite mounting dissent, the government passed a key part of the overhaul on Thursday, approving legislation that would protect the Israeli leader from being deemed unfit to rule because of his trial and claims of a conflict of interest. Critics say the law is tailor-made for Netanyahu and encourages corruption.

That day, Gallant met with Netanyahu, reportedly to voice concerns that protests by Israeli reservists and other security forces were hurting Israel’s international image and power of deterrence. After the meeting, Netanyahu nonetheless announced that he would become directly involved in the overhaul, declaring his hands “untied."

Israel's attorney general issued a sharp rebuke on Friday, warning that Netanyahu had broken the law by announcing his direct involvement in the overhaul while facing criminal charges — a stern statement that raised the specter of a constitutional crisis.

Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals involving wealthy associates and powerful media moguls. He denies wrongdoing and dismisses critics who say he could find an escape route from the charges through the legal overhaul his government is advancing.

Supporters of the judicial overhaul — which includes plans to increase the coalition's control over judicial appointments and diminish the Supreme Court's ability to strike down laws passed by Parliament — say it will restore power to elected legislators and make the courts less interventionist. Critics say the move upends Israel’s system of checks and balances and pushes it toward autocracy.

In spite of the backlash, Netanyahu has dismissed offers for a compromise, including from Israel's mainly ceremonial president earlier this month.

“For the sake of our security, for the sake of our unity, it is our duty to return to the arena of dialogue,” Gallant said.

___

Associated Press writer Sam McNeil in Tel Aviv, Israel contributed to this report.

'What can we do?': Millions in African countries need power

"Coal is going to outlive many of us.”
 

High tension power lines pass through Makoko slum in Lagos, Nigeria, Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022. From Zimbabwe, where many must work at night because i t's the only time there is power, to Nigeria where collapses of the grid are frequent, the reliable supply of electricity remains elusive across Africa. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba/File)

 

South Africa Transition From Coal

The land is ploughed under electrical pylons leading from a coal-powered electricity generating plant east of Johannesburg, on Nov. 17, 2022. The electricity shortages that plague many of Africa's 54 countries are a serious drain on the continent's economic growth. In recent years South Africa's power generation has become so inadequate that the continent's most developed economy must cope with rolling power blackouts of eight to 10 hours per day. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

 

 A coal truck, right, passes the coal-powered Duvha power station, near Emalahleni (formerly Witbank) east of Johannesburg, on Nov. 17, 2022. The electricity shortages that plague many of Africa's 54 countries are a serious drain on the continent's economic growth. In recent years South Africa's power generation has become so inadequate that the continent's most developed economy must cope with rolling power blackouts of eight to 10 hours per day. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell, File)

Chicken farmer Herman du Preez stands among thousands of his chickens in an electricity dependent run at his Frangipani farm near Lichtenburg Thursday March 23, 2023. In January some 40,000 thousands of his broiler chickens died when electricity failed causing the death of the livestock.

 (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

MOGOMOTSI MAGOME
Sat, March 25, 2023 

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — From Zimbabwe, where many must work at night because it's the only time there is power, to Nigeria where collapses of the grid are frequent, the reliable supply of electricity remains elusive across Africa.

The electricity shortages that plague many of Africa's 54 countries are a serious drain on the continent’s economic growth, energy experts warn.

In recent years South Africa's power generation has become so inadequate that the continent's most developed economy must cope with rolling power blackouts of eight to 10 hours per day.

Africa's sprawling cities have erratic supplies of electricity but large swaths of the continent's rural areas have no power at all. In 2021, 43% of Africans — about 600 million people — lacked access to electricity with 590 million of them in sub‐Saharan Africa, according to the International Energy Agency.

Investments of nearly $20 billion are required annually to achieve universal electrification across sub-Saharan Africa, according to World Bank estimates. Of that figure nearly $10 billion is needed annually bring power and keep it on in West and Central Africa.

There are many reasons for Africa's dire delivery of electricity including ageing infrastructure, lack of government oversight and a shortage of skills to maintain the national grids, according to Andrew Lawrence, an energy expert at the Witwatersrand University Business School in Johannesburg.

A historical problem is that many colonial regimes built electrical systems largely reserved for the minority white population and which excluded large parts of the Black population.

Today many African countries rely on state-owned power utilities.

Much attention has focused in the past two years on the Western-funded “Just Energy Transition,” in which France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union are offering funds to help poorer countries move from highly polluting coal-fired power generation to renewable, environmentally-friendly sources of power. Africa as a region should be among the major beneficiaries in order to expand electricity access on the continent and improve the struggling power grids, said Lawrence.

“The transition should target rural access and place at the forefront the electrification of the continent as a whole. This is something that is technically possible,” he said.

The Western powers vowed to make $8.5 billion available to help South Africa move away from its coal-fired power plants, which produce 80% of the country's power.

As a result of its dependence upon coal, South Africa is among the top 20 highest emitters of planet-warming greenhouse gases in the world and accounts for nearly a third of all of Africa’s emissions, according to experts.

South Africa's plan to move away from coal, however, is hampered by its pressing need to produce as much power as possible each day.

The East African nation of Uganda for years has also grappled with power cuts despite massive investment in electricity generation.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has grappled with an inadequate power supply for many years, generating just 4,000 megawatts though the population of more than 210 million people needs 30,000 megawatts, say experts. The oil-rich but energy-poor West African nation has ramped up investments in the power sector but endemic corruption and mismanagement have resulted in little gains.

In Zimbabwe, electricity shortages that have plagued the country for years have worsened as the state authority that manages Kariba, the country’s biggest dam, has limited power generation due to low water levels.

Successive droughts have reduced Lake Kariba's level so much that the Kariba South Hydro Power Station, which provides Zimbabwe with about 70% of its electricity, is currently producing just 300 megawatts, far less than its capacity of 1,050 megawatts.

Zimbabwe's coal-fired power stations that also provide some electricity have become unreliable due to aging infrastructure marked by frequent breakdowns. The country’s solar potential is yet to be fully developed to meaningfully augment supply.

This means that Harare barber Omar Chienda never knows when he'll have the power needed to run his electric clippers.

“What can we do? We just have to wait until electricity is back but most of the time it comes back at night," said Chienda, a 39-year-old father of three. "That means I can’t work, my family goes hungry.”

In Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja, restaurant owner Favour Ben, 29, said she spends a large part of her monthly budget on electricity bills and on petrol for her generator, but adds that she gets only an average of 7 hours of power daily.

“It has been very difficult, especially after paying your electricity bill and they don’t give you light." said Ben. "Most times, I prepare customers’ orders but if there is no light (power for a refrigerator), it turns bad the next day (and) I have lost money for that.”

Businesses in Nigeria suffer an annual loss of $29 billion as a result of unreliable electricity, the World Bank said, with providers of essential services often struggling to keep their operations afloat on generators.

As delegates gathered in Cape Town this month to discuss Africa’s energy challenges, there was a resounding sentiment that drawn-out power shortages on the continent had to be addressed urgently. There was some hope that the Western-funded “Just Energy Transition” would create some opportunities, but many remained skeptical.

Among the biggest critics of efforts to have countries like South Africa to transition quickly from the use of coal to cleaner energy is South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe.

He is among those advocating that Africa use all sources available to it to produce adequate power for the continent, including natural gas, solar, wind, hydropower and especially coal.

“Coal will be with us for many years to come. Those who see it as corruption or a road to whatever, they are going to be disappointed for many, many years," said Mantashe. "Coal is going to outlive many of us.”

___

AP journalists Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria; Farai Mutsaka in Harare, Zimbabwe; and Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda, contributed.

It’s easier for Christians to give up chocolate at Lent than repent the sin of racism | Opinion

Kate Murphy
Sun, March 26, 2023 

In my faith tradition, we are deep in the middle of a sacred season called Lent. It’s a 40 day period of repentance, fasting and penitence. It’s meant to produce a renewed and deepened faith in Jesus. But repentance and penitence have been hard sells for quite some time, most of us settle for observing Lent by giving up chocolate or cutting back on social media, that’s if we don’t skip it all together.

The contemporary American church prefers to believe that following Jesus is a one-and-done decision that can never be undone. But, in the words of Rev. Esau McCaulley, “life is long and zeal fades” and Lent is a recurring invitation to recommit to God and his kingdom. Each year, our church calendar asks us to stop and seriously consider why we are Christians, or if, indeed, we still are.

Recently, I attended a gathering of clergy activists committed to the belief that safe and dignified housing is a basic human right. The presenter shared that Charlotte has a deficit of 35,000 affordable housing units. The vast majority of people shut out of the housing market here are Black or people of color.

The speaker traced the disparity back to the racist distribution of GI Bill benefits after World War II. White soldiers who served their country got mortgage loans, college scholarships and an express pass into the middle class. Black soldiers got sent to the back of the bus and told to use separate water fountains. By design, the GI Bill excluded Black veterans and people of color. The speaker invited us to pause for a moment and imagine how different our community would look today if GI benefits had been administered justly and fairly. I invite you to do the same. What if?

Chattel slavery, genocide of indigenous people, Jim Crow, red-lining, disenfranchisement from government benefits, the prison industrial complex, I understand how these practices were designed and still work to systematically steal, kill and destroy Black Americans and people of color. I think most white Americans do know the facts (though the next generation might not if some legislators have their way). What we don’t know is what to do with them.

We flounder in denial and defensiveness, fear, shame, guilt and what-about-isms that lead to a collective performative response of a shrug. But the Christian faith offers a response that is redemptive and transformative: repentance.

The witness of scripture is clear: sin is real and it is often collective. Read the prophets. You won’t find condemnations of individuals who harmed other individuals. The prophets cry out against the nation, the collective people who tolerated a culture that defrauded the poor, exploited the weak, excluded foreigners and justified injustice.

The prophets name the evil masquerading as civic religion and then they call the people to a repentance — to turn away from the evil practices they’ve condoned and turn back to the holy ways of justice, mercy and peace.

The only way to move forward with healing and hope is to name the tragedy of our evil choices and to imagine the lost opportunities and grieve them. Knowing isn’t enough. There must be an intentional time of mourning and counting the cost. Only then can we meaningfully and collectively turn away from the sin of white supremacy and choose a new way of neighbor love.

The prophet Isaiah describes the kind of repentance that pleases God, “is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?”

We resist Lent. It is painful to grieve our sinfulness. It’s more comfortable and efficient to skip repentance and forgive ourselves in Jesus’ name. Maybe we can be forgiven by God for sins we don’t repent, but we can’t be freed of them. Until we count the cost of the old ways, we won’t have the desire for something different.

For generations, Black Americans and people of color have been grieving the violence of white supremacy and calling for a new way. It is long past time for white Americans to join them. It’s easier for American Christians to give up chocolate than to sincerely repent the sin of racism, but that kind of fast won’t transform anything. Maybe that’s the point.

Kate Murphy is pastor at The Grove Presbyterian Church in Charlotte.

India summons Canada High Commissioner, concerned over Sikh protesters


Amritpal Singh leaves the Golden Temple along with his supporters, in Amritsar

Reuters
Sun, March 26, 2023 at 12:36 AM MDT·2 min read

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India summoned Canada's High Commissioner on Sunday to "convey strong concern" over Sikh protesters in Canada and how they were allowed to breach the security of India's diplomatic mission and consulates.

According to Canadian media reports, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Indian consulate in Vancouver on Saturday over demands for an independent Sikh state, a simmering issue for decades recently triggered again.

Canada has the highest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab in India.

"It is expected that the Canadian government will take all steps which are required to ensure the safety of our diplomats and security of our diplomatic premises so that they are able to fulfil their normal diplomatic functions," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The statement follows Indian police on March 21 launching a hunt for Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, who has revived talk of an independent Sikh homeland and stoked fears of a return to violence that killed tens of thousands of people in 1980s and early 1990s.

Police have accused Singh and his supporters of attempted murder, obstruction of law enforcement and creating disharmony and said he had been on the run since last week when officers tried to block his motorcade and arrest him.

Indian police also opened an investigation last week into a protest at its High Commission in London, where protesters with "Khalistan" banners took an Indian flag down from a first-floor balcony of the High Commission to denounce recent police action in India's Punjab state. India summoned the top British diplomat in New Delhi last Sunday seeking an explanation.

Khalistan is the name of an independent Sikh homeland that some members of that community aspire to, both at home in India and in countries where Sikhs have settled.

(Reporting by M. Sriram, editing by YP Rajesh and Michael Perry)

Opinion: 18-year-olds to Chuck Edwards: We demand action on climate change, gun violence


By Ellsworth Sullivan
Sun, March 26, 2023

Ellsworth Sullivan

As an 18-year-old, it feels as though the world is at your fingertips, and the future is bright, bold and new. Or, rather, as an 18-year-old, that is how the world should feel. Unfortunately, for many people my age, it feels as though life is slipping through our fingertips.

The impacts of gun violence and climate change are at the forefront of young people's minds. Though we did not create this mess, young people are held responsible for cleaning it up. With little power to actively reform legislation, our most powerful tool for change is our voice. It is necessary that those of older generations, especially those in positions of power, represent the voices of young people. Unfortunately, the confidence we seek in our elected representatives remains unfulfilled. On issues such as sensible gun control and climate change policies, Congressman Chuck Edwards appears not to be representing my generation at all.

When Edwards introduced his “Chat with Chuck” event in January, my school’s Environmental Club promptly scheduled a meeting. We began the meeting with the following question: “As a high schooler and soon to be college student, I am worried about my safety on campus. We believe that stricter background checks must be mandatory, the minimum age to purchase firearms must be raised, and nobody should have access to automatic or semi-automatic weapons. How do you plan to address the steep rise of gun violence in the United States?”

To this question, Edwards essentially replied, “Nothing. We’re good. I will protect the rights of Americans to purchase guns. I am a firearms dealer myself, and I will not compromise with Democrats. Period.” Furthermore, Edwards argued that, at this time, background checks and regulations required to purchase firearms in the United States are sufficient. If current legislation is effective, how do we explain the staggering rise in preventable gun violence?

In 2022 alone, we had a total of 647 mass shootings in the United States and, according to the non-profit Gun Violence Archive, more than 6,000 children and teens were injured or killed in shootings, a record high. Only three months into the year, it looks like we could break that record. This is unacceptable.

On the topic of climate change, we asked Edwards: “How do you plan to increase the use of sustainable energy sources that do not cause environmental degradation and worsen the impacts of climate change?”

To this question, Edwards stumbled through a twisting explanation of how human energy sources have changed through the centuries, how “they” used to record 79.9 degrees as 79 degrees, so the rise in temperatures we see today could be data errors (they are not). He repeatedly stated that we’ve only seen a 1-degree temperature rise, anyway, so the Earth is not at a great risk.

Here are the actual facts on warming, from NOAA: “The roughly 2-degree Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) increase in global average surface temperature that has occurred since the pre-industrial era (1880-1900) might seem small, but it means a significant increase in accumulated heat. That extra heat is driving regional and seasonal temperature extremes, reducing snow cover and sea ice, and intensifying heavy rainfall.” That is to say, the rise in global temperature since the pre-industrial era is not, as Edwards claims, negligible.

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In fact, according to En-ROADS, a global climate change simulator, if we continue to operate with a business-as-usual mindset, the Earth is projected to experience a 6.4-degree Fahrenheit (3.6 degrees Celsius) increase in temperature by the year 2100, well above the 1.5-degree Celsius benchmark of irreparable damage. If we wait for young people to have the power to take large-scale, legislative action, it will be too late.

Climate change is real and it is happening now. It is not an issue of politics. Edwards must know that young people, regardless of party affiliation, are distressed about climate change. A 2019 survey by trusted-Republican consultant and pollster Frank Luntz found that nearly 60% of Republicans under 40 years old are concerned about climate change.

When Edwards is gone, when all of today’s politicians are gone, my generation will remain. If we do not take action now, we will be stranded in an unrecognizable world beyond repair.

Please help young people by taking action: write to Congress, attend demonstrations, and educate yourself about the state of gun violence and climate change today. Our voices are stronger together.

Ellsworth Sullivan is a high school senior in Asheville.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Climate change, gun violence concern young people in Asheville

WE ARE LASER FOCUSED ON ISIS, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN

Additional attacks on American bases in Syria Friday after US retaliatory airstrikes on Iranian-backed groups

US military carries out airstrikes in Syria after drone kills American contractor


LUIS MARTINEZ and MATT SEYLER
Fri, March 24, 2023 

A U.S. official told ABC News that there were two new attacks late Friday on two U.S. facilities in Deir ez-Zor Province in eastern Syria after another one earlier in the day and a drone attack on Thursday that prompted retaliatory U.S. airstrikes that targeted Iranian-backed militias believed responsible.

Both attacks late Friday happened about the same time, the official said. One involved three drones targeting one facility and the other involved five rockets fired at a separate facility, according to the official, who said one American service member was wounded and was in stable condition.

The official said that two of the three drones that targeted one U.S. facility were shot down, but one drone made it through. There were no injuries in that attack.

The official said that five rockets were fired at another U.S. facility where the American service member was wounded. That individual is in stable condition, the official said, and that a damage assessment of the facility was still underway.

 In this Dec. 8, 2021, file photo, American soldiers drive a Bradley fighting vehicle during a joint exercise with Syrian Democratic Forces at the countryside of Deir Ezzor in northeastern Syria. (Baderkhan Ahmad/AP, FILE)

MORE: 4 US service members wounded in helicopter raid that killed IS leader in Syria

The two bases attacked on Friday night were Green Village and Mission Support Site Conoco, both located in the eastern Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor.

It was the second attack on the base at Green Village on Friday. Earlier in the day, rocket fire was aimed at the base but did not strike any buildings or cause any casualties.

A Pentagon spokesman on Friday said the first attack on Green Village did not cause any damage and there were no injuries.

"On the morning of March 24th, at approximately 8:05 am local time, 10 rockets targeted coalition forces at the Green Village in northeast Syria," said a statement from U.S. Central Command.

"The attack resulted in no injuries to US or coalition personnel and no damage to equipment or facilities," it added. “One of the rockets missed the facility by almost five kilometers, striking a civilian house, causing significant damage and causing minor injuries to two women and two children.”

Friday’s three attacks, of which there have been about 80 since the start of 2021, come a day after the U.S. military conducted retaliatory airstrikes in eastern Syria on Thursday against the Iranian-backed groups after a one-way explosive drone attack targeting a U.S. base in the region killed a U.S. contractor and injured six others, including five U.S. service members, the Pentagon said.

"Earlier today, a U.S. contractor was killed and five U.S. service members and one additional U.S. contractor were wounded after a one-way unmanned aerial vehicle struck a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time," the Pentagon said in a statement.

Two of the wounded service members were treated on site, while the other four Americans were medically evacuated to coalition medical facilities in Iraq, officials said. A U.S. official confirmed to ABC News that both contractors were American.

U.S. intelligence assessed that the one-way attack drone that struck the base on Thursday was Iranian in origin, according to the statement. Iran has used such drones in the past in attacks on Saudi Arabia and in Yemen, but this drone technology has become more noticeable after it provided hundreds of Shahed drones to Russia that have been used in attacks against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure targets.

Earlier on Thursday, Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla, who as the commander of U.S. Central Command is the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, told Congress that there have been 78 such attacks since the beginning of 2021.

"At the direction of President [Joe] Biden, I authorized U.S. Central Command forces to conduct precision airstrikes tonight in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)," Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in the statement, issued late Thursday.

"The airstrikes were conducted in response today's attack, as well as a series of recent attacks against Coalition forces in Syria by groups affiliated with the IRGC," he added.

A U.S. official told ABC News that the airstrikes were carried out by two U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter aircraft as part of a response approved by President Joe Biden earlier on Thursday. Another U.S. official indicated that the two targets hit in the airstrikes were affiliated with Iranian-backed groups and housed drones and vehicles.

Biden was enroute to Ottawa, Canada, when he approved the airstrikes presented by the Pentagon and the U.S. intelligence community as response options to the drone attack, White House spokesman John Kirby said during an appearance on CNN.

"He made the decision very, very shortly in that discussion to authorize the strikes against these particular targets," Kirby said. "We're going to work to protect our people and our facilities as best we can. It's a dangerous environment."

"We are not seeking a conflict with Iran," said Kirby. "We've been very clear with the Iranians and with our partners about how serious the mission that we're doing in Syria is and how we're going to protect that mission."

"Iran should not be involved in supporting these attacks on our facilities or on our people, we've made that very very clear," said Kirby.

At a news conference with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday afternoon, before the reports of even more attacks, Biden said, "make no mistake, the United States does not -- does not, emphasize -- seek conflict with Iran but be prepared for us to act forcefully protect our people. That's exactly what happened last night."

The U.S. has about 900 troops in eastern Syria providing assistance to Syrian Kurdish forces in preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State.

In recent months, some of the bases have been the target of drone attacks that had, in most instances, not led to injuries or physical damage. Iranian-backed groups in Syria are believed to have been responsible for these attacks.

"These precision strikes are intended to protect and defend U.S. personnel. The United States took proportionate and deliberate action intended to limit the risk of escalation and minimize casualties," the Pentagon statement read.

"As President Biden has made clear, we will take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing," Austin said. "No group will strike our troops with impunity."

"Our thoughts are with the family and colleagues of the contractor who was killed and with those who were wounded in the attack earlier today," the defense secretary added.

In a statement, U.S. Central Command leader Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla said, in part, that the U.S. "will always take all necessary measures to defend our people and will always respond at a time and place of our choosing. We are postured for scalable options in the face of any additional Iranian attacks."

"Our troops remain in Syria to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS, which benefits the security and stability of not only Syria, but the entire region," he added.

During Thursday's House Armed Services Committee hearing focused on the Middle East and Africa, Kurilla was asked by Nebraska Rep. Don Bacon about the frequency of Iranian proxy attacks on U.S. forces.

There have been 78 such attacks since the beginning of 2021, according to Kurilla.

"It is periodic. We see periods where they will do more," he said

"So what Iran does to hide its hand is they use Iranian proxies -- that's under UAVs or rockets -- to be able to attack our forces in Iraq or Syria," Kurilla added.

ABC News analyst Mick Mulroy, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and retired CIA officer, said the U.S. "must strike back at the Iranian forces in Syria responsible for these attacks to such an extent that they know the consequences of killing and injuring Americans will not be worth the costs."

Tsegay is from Tigray

'I didn't speak to them for 18 months' - Gudaf Tsegay on becoming world champion during Ethiopia's civil war

Celestine Karoney - BBC Sport Africa
Fri, March 24, 2023 

Gudaf Tsegay was proud to carry the Ethiopian flag in Eugene after winning World Championship gold in the 5000m, but her family could not share in the moment because of the country's civil war

Ethiopia's Gudaf Tsegay's world title in the 5,000m is the biggest achievement of her decade-long career, but as she stood on the podium to receive her gold medal last July she was going through a personal crisis.

The 25-year-old had not spoken to her parents and siblings for months.

Tsegay is from Tigray, a region in northern Ethiopia that was the epicentre of the country's recent civil war between November 2020 and November 2022, with government troops battling Tigrayan forces fighting for independence.

The conflict claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, making it one of the deadliest of the 21st century.

As it began, the roads to Tigray were closed and a government-enforced communication blackout shut down telephone and internet services.

"Not being able to talk to a father and brothers who had been advising you to strive and achieve more success every day is very difficult. It is even hard to explain," Tsegay told BBC Sport Africa.

"I didn't talk to them for 18 months."

The two-year civil war in Ethiopia claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, making it one of the deadliest conflicts of the 21st century

The struggle for success on the track

Despite the separation and anxiety, Tsegay continued training in the country's capital Addis Ababa with her husband, who is also her coach, Hiluf Yihdego - her pillar of strength during a difficult period.

"He is my husband at home and coach in the field. He helped me a lot when I was sad, he was right by my side," says Tsegay.

Their hard work paid off in last year's major competitions. On top of the outdoor world title claimed in Eugene, Oregon, she also claimed a first indoor world title in the 1500m.

Tsegay wins 5000m world title for Ethiopia

"I am successful because I worked hard despite all the challenges. I celebrated my achievements with my husband and friends."

"For an athlete to consider oneself successful it is to win the Olympics and World Championships - that was my dream and I achieved it."

After crossing the finish line to claim her world title in Eugene, Tsegay was hoisted into the air by a man who had invaded the track carrying a red and yellow flag, a symbol of the Tigray region.

Protestors with Tigrayan flags invaded the Hayward Field track in Eugene after Tsegay won the 5,000m title at last year's World Championships

He was part of a group that marched around the venue, Hayward Field, after the race in a bid to raise awareness of the war.

That was in the United States - but the conflict had come to Tsegay's own doorstep.
Terror in the night

Late one night in December 2021, Tsegay and her husband were woken from their sleep by government forces who took Yihdego away.

More than a year on, she tearfully recalls the terror from that night.

"It was a very painful experience because I never thought this would happen as I am an athlete. We only know sport, not politics.

"I cried the whole night. I was worried they would come back to take me whenever there was a knock on the door."

Unable to focus properly, in February 2022 the indoor specialist cancelled a race in France, one that had been earmarked for something special.

"I was getting ready to run a world record and I was in good form," Tsegay explains.

Yihdego was released after a day but he says it was a frightening experience as soldiers claimed he was 'junta', a term used by government forces for Tigrayan fighters and anyone working with them.

"Twenty soldiers came to my house in the middle of the night," he told BBC Sport Africa.

"They accused me of supporting the Tigray People's Liberation Front, sending Tigrayan athletes abroad, and storing dollars at home.

"They searched my house; it seems easy to speak about it now but it was challenging."

The couple say they are glad the ordeal is behind them.

Gudaf Tsegay says that Hiluf Yihdego is her 'husband at home and coach in the field', so his arrest linked to the civil war eventually forced Tsegay to cancel a planned world record attempt

Wait goes on despite peace deal

In November last year a peace deal was signed in South Africa between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan fighters.

As communications were restored, Tsegay was finally able to reach her family to share her joy from a successful season.

"After the peace agreement my family called and expressed their happiness," she says.

"It would have been great if my parents had seen me and been with me. They told me later they watched the race and cried."

Tsegay has now visited Tigray, travelling there in January when the Ethiopian Athletics Federation arranged for athletes to go to Mekelle, the region's capital city.

Tsegay got to see her friends - but sadly not her family.

"I knew I wasn't going to meet my family because it was a sudden trip," she explains.

"My family is in rural areas, I couldn't tell them where and when I was going in advance, but visiting my home area and meeting my friends was very good."
An Olympic dream

Tsegay hopes she will see her family in person soon, even as she prepares for a busy outdoor season, with May's Diamond League meet in Doha expected to be her first port of call.

A blistering start to the year has already seen more success indoors, running the second-fastest time in the mile and coming within 0.09 seconds of the 3,000m indoor world record.

However, her main target for 2023 is defending her 5,000m title at August's World Championships in Budapest, although she is also looking further ahead to next year's Paris Olympics.

"I want to win the World Championships again," she confirms.

"I am an indoor champion, I am a world champion, but when it comes to the Olympics, I am a medallist [bronze in the 5,000m in Tokyo], not a champion.

"So I want to become one. I believe I can achieve my goal."

Mexico sanctioned for not protecting endangered porpoise


This undated file photo provided by The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows a vaquita porpoise. Mexico announced in the first week of March 2023, that it is seeking to avoid potential trade sanctions for failing to stop the near-extinction of the vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise and most endangered marine mammal. Studies estimate there may be as few as eight vaquitas remaining in the Gulf of California, the only place they exist and where they often become entangled in illegal gill nets and drown.

 (Paula Olson/NOAA via AP File) 

Associated Press
Sat, March 25, 2023 

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico acknowledged Saturday it faces sanctions from the international wildlife body known as CITES for not doing enough to protect the vaquita marina, a small porpoise that is the world’s most endangered marine mammal.

The sanctions have not yet been announced, but they could make it difficult for Mexico to export some regulated animal and plant products like crocodile or snake skins, orchids and cactuses. Commercial seafood species like shrimp would not be affected, but the ruling sets a precedent and some groups are pushing for seafood import bans.

"While no one relishes economically painful sanctions, all other efforts to prompt Mexico to save the vaquita have failed,” said Sarah Uhlemann, international program director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We hope these strong measures wake up the Mexican government.”

Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department said in a statement that CITES had ruled that Mexico’s protection plan for the vaquita was insufficient.

Studies estimate there may be as few as eight vaquitas remaining in the Gulf of California, the only place they exist and where they often become entangled in illegal gill nets and drown.

The Foreign Relations Department said CITES had ruled the protection plan “inadequate” and said the full ruling — and possible sanctions — “will be officially announced next week.”

The Department called the ruling an “unequal treatment of our country, because its did not take into account the many and exhaustive actions that have been taken.”

Mexico recently submitted a revised protection plan to CITES, after the body rejected an earlier version. Mexico's plan lists establishing “alternative fishing techniques” to gillnet fishing as one its top priorities. But in reality, the government’s protection efforts have been uneven, at best, and face often violent opposition from local fishermen.

The administration of President Andrés Manuel López has largely refused to spend money to compensate fishermen for staying out of the vaquita refuge and to stop using gill nets. The nets are set illegally to catch totoaba, a fish whose swim bladders are a delicacy in China worth thousands of dollars per pound.

The government has also sunk concrete blocks with hooks to snare illegal nets in the last bit of the Gulf — also known as the Sea of Cortes — where the vaquitas have been seen.

The activist group Sea Shepherd, which has joined the Mexican Navy in patrols to deter the fishermen and to help destroy gill nets, says the efforts have successfully reduced the gillnet fishing. But with so few vaquitas remaining, that may not be enough.

Moreover, experts say the Mexican government has not spent the money needed to train and compensate fishermen for using alternate fishing techniques such as nets or lines that won’t trap vaquitas.

“There is no alternative fishing gear” being offered, said Lorenzo Rojas, a marine biologist who has headed the international committee to save the vaquita. “The fisheries authorities have been notable for their absence,” leaving the effort to change practices up to civic groups and fishermen.

The Mexican government banned the use of gill nets in the area in 2017, with the understanding it would provide support payments and training on using less dangerous fishing methods.

CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, signed by 184 countries; it regulates trade and protection for protected species.

a resolución de la Secretaría General de la Convención Internacional sobre el Comercio de Especies Amenazadas de Fauna y Flora Silvestres (CITES) que será dada a conocer oficialmente la siguiente semana, respecto a que no considera adecuado el Plan de Acción para el combate al tráfico ilícito de totoaba, presentado por nuestro país el pasado 27 de febrero, el Gobierno de México informa que aunque considera un trato inequitativo hacia nuestro país al no tomar en cuenta el esfuerzo exhaustivo y las múltiples acciones que se han realizado, está en la disposición de discutir las observaciones y solventarlas de manera satisfactoria.

'France burns': World watches as anger at Macron's reforms grows

AFP
Fri, March 24, 2023 


The world has reacted to violent demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms with warnings, questions about the future of France's political system -- and gloating from foes.

- United Kingdom -

Influential UK business daily the Financial Times said Macron's actions increase the risk that the French "will follow Americans, Britons and Italians and vote populist: President Marine Le Pen in 2027.

"France can't go on like this. It's time to end the Fifth Republic, with its all-powerful presidency... and inaugurate a less autocratic Sixth Republic," it added.

After the announcement that King Charles III's state visit to France had been postponed, the British media dusted off its references to the French Revolution of 1789.


The Daily Telegraph website prominently featured a picture of graffiti on a Parisian wall reading "Charles III, do you know the guillotine?"

- Spain -

The images of the violence made the front pages of the Spanish newspapers, with the daily El Pais running the headline "Rage takes over the streets of France".

The left-wing government in Madrid, which has passed its own pension reform, said France had seemingly overstretched in imposing its plans, while the leader of the main opposition party, Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, seemed to offer support for Macron's reform.

- Italy -

All of the major Italian newspapers carried extensive coverage of the protests in Paris and the provinces.

"France burns", read the headline of Roman daily Il Messaggero, alongside a photo of the entrance to Bordeaux's city hall in flames.

"France in the street: day of anger", wrote the Corriere della Sera, warning that "difficult days are coming".

La Stampa said that Macron's television interview had only served to "explode social anger".

Among the rare political reactions, former prime minister Matteo Renzi tweeted a message of support for Macron, writing: "There is a leader in Europe who does not look at polls but to the choices for the future, for his country and for the new generations.

"I am proud of our friendship, bravo Mr. President!"

On the streets of Rome, the response was mixed.

"The French are much tougher than the Italians. They are much more attentive to their rights. I hope they will succeed in preventing the reform", 77-year-old retiree Margherita Gaetani told AFP.

But Enrico Amendola, an 86-year-old retiree, insisted that the reforms were "fundamental for the financial balance of the State".

- Russia -

Capitalising on Macron's woes, Russian state media broadcast footage of clashes between police and demonstrators, brutal arrests and streets full of smoke from tear gas and burning objects to present the image of a country on the edge.

Other media went further, with rolling news channel Russia 24 spreading false claims that the electricity had been cut off to the police stations in Paris.

Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also waded in, drawing parallels with France's support for Ukraine.

"When is Macron going to start delivering weapons to French citizens to support democracy and the sovereignty of the country?" she said Friday in a message on her Telegram account, which was accompanied by a video showing overturned cars on a French street.

- Hungary -

Hungarian public television spoke on Thursday of a "revolutionary atmosphere" in France.

One of the main pro-government sites reported that "according to information on the ground, the situation continues to deteriorate".

- United States -

While not advising against travel to France, the US embassy urged its nationals to "avoid demonstrations" and leave the area if they find themselves close to violence.

It warned particularly against getting between demonstrators and the police.

- Morocco -

In the midst of a frosty period in relations between Rabat and Paris, newspapers and websites close to the government revelled in Macron's discomfort, highlighting unflattering reports from French and international media.

-Iran-

Leaders in Iran, where several hundred people have been killed and thousands arrested over protests in recent months, echoed the language often used against them by the West in responding to "the crackdown on protests".

"We call on the French government to respect human rights and refrain from using force against the people of their country who peacefully pursue their demands," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian tweeted in French.

bur-jwp/phz/fb

Why the French are setting fire to 

e-scooters


Nick Squires
Fri, March 24, 2023 

A firefighter works to extinguish a blaze of e-scooters during violent clashes - Kiran Ridley

French protesters have thrown e-scooters onto piles of burning rubbish during violent demonstrations against President Macron’s pension reforms.

Video footage shows protesters, many of them masked, setting fire to e-scooters, plastic wheelie bins and piles of uncollected rubbish.

Pedestrians had to cover their mouths with scarves as black smoke billowed from the burning debris and firefighters tried to extinguish the flames.

Rubbish collectors have been on strike for more than a fortnight in several French cities, meaning that huge amounts of uncollected refuse are clogging the streets.

Rubbish collectors have been on strike for more than a fortnight in several French cities - AFP

In a day of chaos on Thursday, protesters smashed shop windows and bus shelters, ransacked a McDonald’s and clashed with riot police, who fired tear gas.

More than 440 police officers were injured in the clashes, the French government said. In Paris alone, protesters lit more than 900 fires.

More than 450 people were arrested. Thursday was the most violent day since protests began in January.

E-scooters are controversial in France, as they are in many other countries.

Paris will hold a referendum on April 2 in which the city’s inhabitants will decide whether to ban the 15,000 electric scooters that are available for hire.

While some Parisians see them as a convenient and eco-friendly way of traveling around the capital, others say they are frequently dumped on pavements, tossed into the Seine and pose a danger to pedestrians.

The mayor, Anne Hidalgo, is said to be in favour of banning the fleets of rental scooters.

There were 22 scooter-related deaths in in Paris in 2021 and seven in 2020.

In Le Havre, video footage showed dock workers using a fork-lift truck to dump cars and even a caravan on top of burning piles of wooden palettes and tyres.

Groups of dockers filmed the scene on their mobile phones.

There have been nine days of strikes and demonstrations across France in protest against legislation which will raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Around a million people took to the streets on Thursday and the entrance to the town hall in Bordeaux was set on fire.

“I have difficulty in understanding and accepting this sort of vandalism,” the mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, told RTL radio on Friday.

“Why would you make a target of our communal building, of all people of Bordeaux? I can only condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”