Eight Missing After New Bunker Vessel Collides with Chinese Fishing Boat

Bunker vessel Pearl Kenzo was involved in a collision with a Chinese fishing boat (Jinglu Shipbuilding)

PUBLISHED JAN 1, 2024 4:56 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

Chinese authorities are investigating an accident between a new Singapore-registered bunker vessel that had just completed construction in China and a fishing boat. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore released the details after it received information from the China Maritime Safety Administration.

According to the reports, the accident took place a week ago on December 26 when the new bunker tanker was making its way from Chenghan Jiao in Northern China to Zhoushan. The vessel was built for Consort Bunkers which has operations in both Singapore and Zhoushan. It is unclear from the reports if the tanker may have been on her delivery run from the shipyard to her home base in China or if the plans called for her to proceed to Singapore.

The 7,999 dwt tanker Pearl Kenzo was built for Consort as part of the bunker company’s expansion effort. The new vessel is 377 feet (115 meters) in length with a reported top speed of 12 knots. She was underway on December 26 when shortly after midnight she collided with a Chinese-flagged fishing vessel Suiyupu 0183.

The China Maritime Safety Administration organized a search and rescue mission. They informed the MPA that the fishing boat had sunk and eight crewmembers were missing. The crew of the bunker vessel was reported uninjured.

The vessel had just completed construction earlier in the month at Jinglu Shipbuilding. The naming and handover ceremony took place on December 18. The shipyard highlighted the ship has unique capabilities with a special coating for its tanks that gives it extra versatility in its cargo operations. It can load up to 9,000 cubic meters and also adopts a double-hull structure for its tanks for increased safety and environmental security. It was apparently traveling without cargo at the time of the collision and there are no reports of environmental spills from the accident.

The Chinese officials are reporting that after the accident the bunker vessel has remained anchored at Shidao in northern China while the investigation is underway.

 

China Slams Philippines' Continued Use of Supply Convoys

China Coast Guard cutter applies water cannon to a Philippine supply boat near Second Thomas Shoal, Dec. 10 (PCG)

PUBLISHED DEC 28, 2023 5:49 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

The Chinese government is displeased with the Philippines' insistence on conducting patrol and resupply operations within the Philippine exclusive economic zone, People's Liberation Army spokesman Wu Qian said Thursday. It is also unhappy with the French Navy's plans to hold a joint drill with Philippines and India in the same region. 

The Philippine Coast Guard's resupply runs to Second Thomas Shoal typically involve tense standoffs with Chinese paramilitary forces and the China Coast Guard. Beijing has repeatedly ordered Manila to withdraw from a garrison on the reef, but Philippine forces have held out thanks to the risky convoy operations. 

In previous confrontations, the larger and more numerous Chinese vessels have used aggressive maneuvering, water cannons, acoustic devices (LRAD) and laser target illuminators to deter Philippine supply boats. Near-collisions and light contact have occurred. 

China claims ownership of the Spratly Islands and surrounding waters, including areas within the Philippine exclusive economic zone, like Second Thomas Shoal. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague dismissed Chinese assertions of sovereignty over Philippine waters, but China has ignored the ruling. The PLA has accused Manila of "provoking" confrontation with China by operating Philippine convoys within the Philippine EEZ. 

Asked about the recent confrontations at a press conference Thursday, PLA Senior Colonel Wu Qian blamed Manila for Chinese paramilitary operations in Philippine waters. 

"The Philippines insisted on sending a ship to intrude into the waters adjacent to China's Ren'ai Jiao [Second Thomas Shoal], and also rammed the Chinese coast guard ship in a provocative manner, causing a collision, which is very dangerous and unprofessional," said Qian. "The China Coast Guard has taken necessary measures to regulate it in accordance with the law, which is completely reasonable and lawful."

He claimed that reports that the China Coast Guard had used LRAD and laser systems were "completely out of nowhere," and that the convoys - which have recently begun carrying members of the press - were all for show. 

"In my opinion, what kind of humanitarian transportation [convoy] is this, this is completely 'touching porcelain', it is a show," he said. ("Touching porcelain" is a Chinese idiom referring to a common street-level scam: a con artist carries a porcelain vase into traffic and pretends to get hit by a car, dropping the vase and then extorting the driver for cash "compensation.")

Qian also framed the interactions in the Philippine EEZ as a matter for Manila and Beijing to resolve on their own, without any aid from the Philippines' allies. Multiple nations have recently joined or announced plans to join Philippine forces for naval patrols, including most recently France and India. 

"The China-Philippines maritime dispute is an issue between the two countries, and no third party has any right to interfere," Qian said. 

 

Ethiopia Recognizes Somaliland in Exchange for Seaport Access

Work underway on the upgraded port of Berbera, Somaliland (DP World)

PUBLISHED JAN 1, 2024 9:45 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

The semiautonomous region of Somaliland has signed a long-anticipated port access deal with Ethiopia, angering the national government of Somalia. 

The access deal with Ethiopia is a key piece of Somaliland's plans to develop its maritime economy. Berbera, a seaport located in the territory's far west, is being redeveloped by DP World to accommodate container ships. The deal signed with Ethiopia will ensure access to Berbera, and will "pave the way to realize the aspiration of Ethiopia to secure access to the sea and diversify its access to seaport," according to the Somaliland government. 

In exchange, Ethiopia will become the first nation ever to formally recognize Somaliland as an independent country, separate from Somalia. 

The question of its independence is complex. Somalia and Somaliland have a contentious relationship. The northern province broke away from Somalia in 1991 and has been self-governing in relative peace ever since; it seeks recognition as an independent country, though it has yet to convince any established nation to agree.

Somalia's government contends that Somaliland is an inherent part of Somali territory and cannot be an independent state. Even within Somaliland, there are competing political factions promoting reunification with Somalia, as well as continued independence. 

Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmaajo, president of Somalia, said in a statement Monday that the access deal infringed on Somalia's right to control its own borders. "The agreement signed by Ethiopia with Somaliland today is a serious concern for Somalia and the whole of Africa. Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity is the anchor for regional stability and bilateral cooperation. The Somali government must respond appropriately," said Farmaajo. 

For Ethiopia, the port access deal helps to resolve a major economic and strategic problem. When Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia and closed its borders to the world in the 1990s, the Ethiopian economy was cut off from the sea, and it has been dependent on neighboring Djibouti's seaport ever since (for a price). Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has recently asserted a historical, sovereign right through Eritrean territory to access maritime trade, raising fears of renewed conflict; the deal with Somaliland may relieve some of the pressure behind that demand. 

 

Arctic LNG 2's Investors Get Nervous as American Sanctions Begin to Bite

Arctic LNG 2's first liquefaction train during delivery to the Gydan Peninsula, 2023 (Novatek)

PUBLISHED JAN 1, 2024 6:28 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Novatek's Arctic LNG 2 project is one of the most significant liquefied natural gas export developments in the world, and it promises to be a major source of revenue for the Russian state - but U.S. sanctions appear to be having an effect on its progress. The project is dependent on Western components and foreign investment, and both may be at risk.

In September, the U.S. Department of State blacklisted dozens of Russian companies in connection with the invasion of Ukraine, including some that are critical to Novatek's plans. The list includes Arctic Transshipment, a Russian shipping company that will operate two LNG floating storage units (FSUs) to support the Arctic LNG 2 project. Without the FSUs, the project's export cargoes will have a much harder time getting to market. The U.S. has also sanctioned JSC Energies, Nova Energies and Abu Dhabi-based Green Energy Solutions for providing engineering services and technology for the project.

Arctic LNG 2's first liquefaction train started up last week, and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak says that it will ship its first commissioning cargoes in the first quarter of 2024. But that may not help the project's mid-term prospects. Kommersant, a leading Russian news outlet, reports that all of the foreign shareholders in the project - TotalEnergies, CNPC, CNOOC, and a JV investment vehicle backed by Mitsui and JOGMEC - have declared a notice of force majeure on their participation in Arctic LNG 2. This means that they will not be receiving their contracted deliveries of LNG from the terminal. Novatek has also reportedly sent notices to buyers that it is declaring force majeure on deliveries. 

The situation could change if political winds shift in Washington: CNPC, CNOOC and Japanese buyers have launched a process to ask for a sanctions exemption for Arctic LNG 2 deliveries. In the meantime, though, there are signs that the investors are restless. Japanese industrial conglomerate Mitsui, one of the foreign project partners in Arctic LNG 2, has reportedly withdrawn its staff from Russia.

The declaration of force majeure threatens the project's financing arrangements, according to Kommersant. Construction loans require contracted volumes as an underlying guaranteed revenue stream, and it is unclear whether Novatek has already locked down all of its $10 billion in needed loans. Inflation has also increased the project cost by nearly 20 percent, and if outside investors are unwilling to help carry the extra expense, Novatek will have to pick up the cost in another manner.  

Part of the problem is the withdrawal of foreign suppliers and contractors from Russia. Baker Hughes, Saipem, Boskalis, Technip and Linde have all quit, and Novatek has had to attempt to replace these blue-chip oil and gas engineering firms with less well-known alternatives. 

Novatek also faces problems in securing adequate tonnage to carry its exports to market. The firm needs specialized icebreaking LNG carriers to transit the icy waters of the Northern Sea Route, and these vessels exist nowhere else. It has 21 of these high-spec ships on order, but sanctions have delayed their construction. Russian yard Zvezda holds the contract for 15 of them, but has had to delay production by more than a year because of sanctions-induced supply chain problems. The new sanctions on Arctic Transshipment, the FSU operator, exacerbates this problem.

Nigel Kennedy: Orchestral pop songs are a crime against music

Craig Simpson

THE TELEGRAPH
Sun, 31 December 2023

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra held a concert this month featuring music by acts including Ed Sheeran and Robbie Williams - facebook

Classical orchestras who resort to performing pop hits are committing a “crime against music”, according to Nigel Kennedy.

The violinist has himself dabbled with crossovers into popular music by covering both Jimi Hendrix and The Doors but has grown suspicious by what he says are more recent attempts by instrumentalists to “be groovy”.

He claimed classical ensembles turning their talents to more mainstream records marked a “desperate” effort to attract a broader audience, which he said resulted in a “crime against music”.


The remarks come after numerous Proms concerts included interpretations of pop songs, and amid recent tours focussing on orchestral covers of chart hits.

Kennedy, 67, said of pop crossovers: “I see it as desperation. It’s trying to be groovy and it makes it even less so.

“These orchestras playing Chemical Brothers, to have an orchestra turning it into namby music with no sense of rhythm, I mean, come on.

“It’s just a crime against music. These cats should be sent to Siberia and do it there.”

Pop star Ella Eyre performed at a Late Night Prom in 2015

 - Bridgeman Images/Chris Christodoulou

In 2015, the BBC Proms broke new ground by scheduling an Ibiza Prom, hosted by DJ Pete Tong, which boasted orchestral versions of club tracks by acts including Daft Punk, Faithless and Fatboy Slim.

The idea has proven popular, and the Royal Albert Hall now regularly hosts “Ministry of Sound Classical” events in which an orchestra adapts club tracks.

In its 2023 event, the 50-piece London Concert Orchestra performed electro tunes by the Chemical Brothers.

Crossovers have extended beyond the club scene, and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra has toured “Symphonic Pops” concerts which feature classical renditions of songs by Beyoncé, Adele, and the Spice Girls.

In 2023, Ken Bruce, the former BBC Radio 2 presenter, hosted a series of classical concerts performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra which offered orchestra versions of chart toppers, including tracks by Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Take That, Ed Sheeran, and Tom Jones.

The violinist has himself been seen as a disruptor in classical music - BBC

Alistair Mackie, the Scottish ensemble’s chief executive, said that the orchestra was attempting to “blur some of the lines between our classical core and our film and pop offerings”, as part of a drive to “build our audiences across the divides”.

He explained in April: “The big battle at the moment within the whole orchestral industry is to cross-fertilise these audience sectors.”

However, this cross-fertilisation of classical and pop music has been met with suspicion by Kennedy, despite his own past experimentation and reputation as an anti-establishment figure in classical music.

The musician has said what was experimental in his day is now the reigning orthodoxy, claiming that his pop crossovers were a “rebellion against the status quo” as opposed to “the young cats now being acquiescent” with a new status quo.

Speaking on the BBC’s This Cultural Life, he added that the push for broader audiences had created a divide between populist and elitist wings in the classical music world, saying: “I think it’s been splintered now into the ones who are even more reactionary, they’re in their little ivory tower even more so. They’ve gone up another floor and they’re much more separate from the rest of us.

“And then there’s these other desperate attempts to popularise classical music, as we all call it. Like having Gustav Holst’s Planets played with pictures of Jupiter on it or something.

“I mean how inane is that? What’s great about Gustav Holst is you don’t need pictures to envision it and we can use our own brains and have our own feelings in our private world and relate to the music each one in our own way.”

CANCEL CULTURE REDO

Cerne Abbas Giant’s manhood restored to cheese


Telegraph reporters
Sun, 31 December 2023 

The Oxford Cheese Company confirmed that the giant has been returned to his former glory - BNPS

A cheese company accused of castrating the Cerne Abbas Giant has reinstated the figure’s manhood following a row.

In June, the Oxford Cheese Company was criticised for featuring the giant on its Cerne Abbas Man vintage cheddar – minus the figure’s oversized phallus.

But customers who have recently purchased the Dorset-inspired product have spotted the giant’s manhood once again featured on the cheese’s packaging.


Ivan Kirby, an Oxfordshire resident, purchased the cheese from a shop in Yarnton, near Oxford, after being amused by the change in packaging.

He said that the change was a “victory for common sense”.

He added: “I think it’s splendid that they’ve seen sense and truly made their vintage cheddar full strength.”

At 180ft, the giant is Britain’s largest, and possibly best-known, chalk hill figure.

Various theories abound about the club-wielding giant and his mysteriously large appendage.

Many believe that the carving is an ancient fertility symbol, while others say it depicts the Greco-Roman hero Hercules.

In June, the cheesemaker was criticised when the giant appeared minus his genitals - BNPS

Vic Irvine, the head brewer at Cerne Abbas Brewery, previously accused the cheesemakers of “emasculating” the giant.

“I think the cheese manufacturers are terrible rotters for taking our giant and taking his penis off him,” he said earlier this year.

Mr Irvine said that he was pleased to see the giant’s phallus back on the packaging but hit out at the company for using the image without making cheese in the village of Cerne Abbas.

He said: “It’s obviously nice to see our giant restored to his former glory after being emasculated so disrespectfully.

“However the original ‘cheddar’ wasn’t even made in the Somerset parish with the famous gorge and then for the mystery substance to be marketed by a cheesemonger of Oxford smacks of desperation.

“We are proud of our Dorset heritage and we can see the giant from our brewery and more importantly he can see us.

“We love our village and we love our giant.

“We brew beer with barley grown in the Cerne Valley and harvest our own hops that we grow up the side of the brewery in September as we firmly believe that local is best.”

A spokesman for the Oxford Cheese Company confirmed that the giant’s manhood had now been returned to the cover of the cheese.

‘There was a connection right away’: the women’s jail training greyhounds for adoption

RESCUE DOGS RESCUE HUMANS

Benita Kolovos
Mon, 1 January 2024 

Photograph: Penny Stephens/The Guardian

Much like every dog owner, Linda* thinks hers is the best. She says two-year-old Sherre has the “cutest” wide-set brown eyes, “chillest personality” and is “full of affection”.

“She’s very loving and sweet-natured,” Linda gushes, as Sherre nudges her way on to her lap for a cuddle.

But Linda is unlike other dog owners. For one, she is in prison. And Sherre – a retired racing greyhound – is her 14th dog in about 12 months.


The duo will only be together for a short time, as part of a program that prepares Sherre for adoption and Linda for life after incarceration.

“I remember after my first dog left, I was so upset, I didn’t want another,” Linda says. “But then I met the next one and there was a connection right away.

“I just love watching the dogs grow and seeing how much it changes the girls’ time here as well.”

Since 2009, prisoners at Tarrengower, a 78-bed minimum-security facility 130km north of Melbourne for women nearing the end of their sentence, have helped hundreds of greyhounds settle into new lives.

The program began in 2007 at Dhurringile – a minimum-security men’s prison – but it’s at Tarrengower where it has taken off. It’s expected that by April 600 dogs will have “graduated” from the program.

Related: Throw a dog a bean: how to reduce the carbon footprint of your pets

In exchange, the women receive not only companionship but also skills and qualifications that may help them gain employment when their time in custody comes to an end.

Aoife Johnston, the prison’s general manager, says she can literally see the difference it makes.

“You notice the women involved in the program, they walk around with their head held a little bit higher,” she says.

Johnston says the program is by far the most popular at the prison, with a lengthy waitlist.

“They take such pride in this program,” she says. “It’s so positive for them. It gives them the opportunity to develop skills that they wouldn’t always have the opportunity to in custody.

“The responsibility of caring for the dog is huge, because building a trusting relationship for some of these women can be a difficult thing to do. It’s amazing for their confidence.”

Sam White, the programs manager at the prison, says the women apply to be a “full-time caregiver” as they would if they were going for a job outside prison – there are resumes, job interviews and criteria.

“We take a lot of things into consideration to see whether they’d be a good fit for the program – at the top is, of course, a love of animals,” he says. “But we don’t tend to look at what they’re in here for.”

White says every six weeks or so six retired racing greyhounds arrive at the prison, where they are assigned a caregiver who teaches them basic obedience and commands.

“Things like not to jump on people or pull on their lead, to stay calm when they see another animal,” he says.

They also familiarise the dogs with life away from the racetrack – they get them used to stairs, noisy household appliances and sitting on the couch. They also ensure their coats are clean and their delicate skin is protected.

White says the women take their responsibilities incredibly seriously.

“We have a really high adoption rate,” he says. “About 90% of the dogs that come here end up getting a home right away and that’s a credit to these women.”

Victoria’s corrections minister, Enver Erdogan, says many of the women who have been part of the program have received qualifications in animal studies, which has helped them get work when they leave prison, including as dog groomers, with adoption agencies and in veterinary clinics.

“It’s great because it gives them something to put on their resume as they enter the job market,” he says.

He is not the only politician who is a fan. The Animal Justice party MP Georgie Purcell has also spruiked the benefits of the “amazing” program.

“The benefits of relationships with animals are proven to reduce recidivism and provide mental health benefits, as well as translating into real world skills,” Purcell says.

But she has concerns about the involvement of the greyhound racing industry, which funds and runs the scheme.

“It cannot be used as a scapegoat for the greyhound racing industry’s overbreeding crisis,” Purcell says.

She has called for the program to continue with the involvement of community rescue groups instead.

According to Greyhound Victoria’s 2022-23 annual report, 2,688 retired greyhounds were rehome in the financial year, the majority (1,606) by community groups.

Related: Loyal, cute and $50,000: we would do anything for our pets. But what if we can’t afford it?

It was the fifth year in a row that community groups found more new homes for racing dogs than the industry’s official adoption program. Greyhound Victoria said cost-of-living pressures had played a role “in reduced community demand for pets”.

Despite increased pressure to find homes for retired race dogs, the latest GRV report shows breeding rates are steady, with 4,000 Victorian-bred pups registered to race in 2022-23. Some 382 racing greyhounds were euthanised during the same period, a slight decrease on the previous financial year.

As for Linda, she hopes to continue working in the program until her time at Tarrengower comes to an end. Some days, she says, it’s the only thing that motivates her to get out of bed.

“My last dog, she was just a doofus. She’d get in her water bowl and just splash around. You can’t help but watch her and laugh,” she says.

“Even if I was having a really bad day, knowing that I get to go and see her and spend time with her, it makes you think life’s not so bad.”

* Name has been changed

‘Fashion can change Africa’: the pioneering designers chasing a world of opportunity


Gabriella Opara in Lagos and Caroline Kimeu in Nairobi

The Guardian
Mon, 1 January 2024

Composite: This Is Us/Alphadi

At a small fashion studio in Lagos, the designers and tailors are busy cutting clean lines through the swathes of fabric. “Cotton T-shirts were the first item we produced,” says designer Oroma Cookey-Gam, co-founder of This is Us, which makes contemporary Nigerian designs, from oversized shirts to jumpsuits and kaftans, using locally produced cotton.

To source the cotton, Cookey-Gam makes a monthly trip to Funtua textile mill, a factory in Katsina in the north, which is one of the few mills fully operational in the country. She then makes the three-hour journey to the Kofar Mata dye pit in Kano, the oldest pit in Nigeria, where the cloth is hand-dyed for up to eight hours into shades of indigo.

Cookey-Gam used to import cotton from Morocco and Turkey but in 2016 embarked on a year-long search to source materials in her home country. While two-thirds of African countries produce cotton, with some of the continent’s largest producers in west Africa, more than 81% of it is exported out of sub-Saharan countries, leaving little to be used locally. A recent Unesco report warned that exports were restricting the growth of the region’s textile and fashion industries, harming its economic opportunities.


“Africa is exporting something which could really create a huge industry and enormous number of jobs,” says Ernesto Ottone, Unesco’s assistant director-general for culture.

Nigeria’s textile industry, like others in Africa, took off in the 60s and 70s but declined as secondhand and foreign-made clothes poured into African markets following a wave of trade liberalisation policies. Now, businesses like This is Us face huge challenges in trying to source materials.

Ginneries – where the seeds from cotton are removed – in Nigeria deal with bulk orders so are less interested in selling to fashion startups, says Cookey-Gam. “When we first went to the mill, they didn’t take us seriously. They said they can’t work with fashion because the orders are not big enough,” she says, explaining how she partnered up with other brands to make bulk orders.



Designers are not understood by the investors and policymakers who can make African fashion take off

Alphadi, fashion designer

Global interest in African-made goods has grown in recent years, spurred on by modern depictions of the continent in culture, such as the Black Panther films, and the explosion of Afrobeats. Prominent black figures including Beyoncé, Naomi Campbell and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie have promoted creations by designers from the region and its diaspora.

Contemporary takes on African fabrics and structures in fashion have been embraced by younger people. Designer Sébastien Bazemo from Burkina Faso has helped bring the colourful fabric Kôkô Dunda back into style. And there are now more than 30 fashion weeks across the continent every year.

“It’s a season of ownership,” says entrepreneur Omoyemi Akerele who runs Lagos’s annual fashion week. “Before now, [the African fashion industry] pandered a bit to the Eurocentric gaze but in the last couple of years, creators and designers are doubling down to communicate and re-emphasise who they are in a way that’s true to themselves and the communities they represent.”

“Made in Africa” movements have prospered in recent years, especially among the continent’s growing middle class, but African creatives say their designs remain inaccessible to many on the continent due to the high costs of production and importing of basic textiles, which affects overall pricing. Clothes from This is Us cost from about 50,000 to 150,000 Nigerian naira (£50 to £150), and its main clients are Nigerian creatives and Africans in the diaspora.

Renowned Nigerien designer Alphadi (Sidahmed Seidnaly) supports calls for African governments to limit imports of textiles and ramp up production of more than just cotton. While the visibility of the continent’s fashion has grown, policy and investor support for the sector remains wanting, he says.

“The difficulty of being an African designer is not being understood by investors, buyers and policymakers, who can make African fashion take off,” he says, citing big European names in fashion. “People bet on them, and that can be the difference between making it or not in this industry.”

Despite being one of the continent’s fashion pioneers, the designer, who runs his business in Niamey, Niger’s capital, and in Ivory Coast and Morocco, says he has had to invest a lot of his own money to stay in business.

African fashion investors say that investments in individual designers are common but do not address structural issues that financiers and policymakers must deal with for the industry to flourish, such as local production capacity. Without such measures, they say, investments may lead only to short-lived success rather than sustainable businesses that can be scaled up.

Roberta Annan, founder of the Impact Fund For African Creatives (IFFAC), a body that invests in creative businesses across Africa, says: “[We need to] look at building the infrastructure and giving the capacity for designers to thrive – for them to access different textiles locally.”

IFFAC supports sustainable fashion businesses with grants and investments of up to £1.7m to build the sector. It recently bought a factory in Ghana that was previously government-owned to increase local textile manufacturing capacity. Designers say measures of this kind can be transformative.

Related: Dressing Dakar: a fashion city from artisan tailoring to haute couture

“African fashion is still very young, and we need [various] elements to make things at high quality,” says Cookey-Gam. “Fashion employs a lot of people and is a tool we can harness to make a difference in people’s lives. It can change the continent.”

Ron DeSantis keeps talking about blowing up the Bahamas
Kenneth Niemeyer
Updated Mon, 1 January 2024



The Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis at a campaign event in Rochester, New Hampshire.AP Photo/Charles Krupa

Ron DeSantis keeps saying the US would "flatten" the Bahamas if it attacked Fort Lauderdale.


DeSantis' comments on the campaign trail were making a comparison to the Israel-Hamas war.


The US Embassy in Nassau said the US had a "strong mutual security relationship" with the Bahamas.

Ron DeSantis keeps saying it would be easy to blow up the Bahamas, prompting the US Embassy in Nassau to clarify that his comments do not reflect official policy.

DeSantis, a 2024 presidential candidate, took a campaign trip to New Hampshire on Saturday, where he has trailed in the polls behind Chris Christie, Nikki Haley, and former President Donald Trump, WMUR, a local ABC affiliate, reported.

The Florida governor once again said during the stop that the US would "flatten" the Bahamas if anyone were to ever fire missiles from there into his state — not that there is any indication anyone would do that — Florida Politics reported.

"If someone was firing missiles from the Bahamas into, like, Fort Lauderdale, we would never accept that," DeSantis said during a speech to supporters, according to Florida Politics. "We would flatten. Anything that happened, it would be done like literally within 12 hours, it would be done."

DeSantis' office did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider on Sunday.

He has made this claim a talking point in several of his campaign stops since early November, comparing the war between Israel and Hamas to his hypothetical situation, The Miami Times reported.

On November 13, the US Embassy in Nassau told The Nassau Guardian that it "regrets" if DeSantis' comments portrayed "anything other than a close alliance" between the Bahamas and the US.

"The Bahamas and the United States enjoy an enduring and unique partnership," the embassy said in a statement.

"The USS Leyte Gulf, a US Navy cruiser currently in the Nassau Harbour, illustrates our strong mutual security relationship," the statement added. "We have been allies and friends for 50 years and are looking forward to the next 50."

Read the original article on Business Insider

Sinn Fein Leader McDonald urges Varadkar to ensure Ireland joins legal action against Israel

Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
Sat, 30 December 2023 

The leader of Ireland’s main opposition party has said the country should join South Africa’s legal proceedings against Israel over its military offensive in Gaza.

South Africa launched a case at the United Nations’ top court on Friday, accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and asking the court to order Israel to halt its attacks.

South Africa’s submission to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleges that “acts and omissions by Israel… are genocidal in character” as they are committed with the intent “to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group”.

It also asks the Hague-based court to issue an interim order for Israel to immediately suspend its military operations in Gaza. A hearing into that request is likely in the coming days or weeks.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Israel “must be held to account” and that Irish premier Leo Varadkar “needs to act now”.

“In initiating proceedings at the International Court of Justice, South Africa has shown the leadership and solidarity that is needed from right across the international community to end Israel’s bombardment of Gaza,” Ms McDonald said.

“What is happening in Gaza is an absolute catastrophe. In full view of the world, over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, another 10,000 are missing, while two million people have been displaced.

“This is a devastation of unimaginable proportions that simply cannot be allowed to continue.

“There must be a ceasefire, there must be sanctions, and Israel must be held to account.

“The Taoiseach needs to act now on behalf of the Irish people.

“I am calling on Leo Varadkar to commit to joining South Africa in their ICJ proceedings against Israel concerning violations under the Convention on Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in relation to Palestinians in Gaza.

“Only by such actions, and by world leaders exhausting every possible avenue available, will Israel end its bombardment of Gaza, their massacre of civilians and children, and their mass displacement of an entire population.

“World leaders must speak with one voice, and ensure that Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government are held responsible for their reprehensible actions at the ICJ.”

The South African case is the first such challenge made at the court over the current war and Israel swiftly rejected the filing “with disgust”.

South Africa can bring the case under the Genocide Convention because both it and Israel are signatories to the convention.