Soaring petrol prices in Cuba are a cause of great concern for Havana residents

The price of petrol in Cuba has risen by 500% since Friday. The ruling Communist Party says it has introduced this measure as part of a major stabilisation plan to get the Cuban economy back on its feet. But after years of facing a deepening economic crisis, Cubans fear that that they will not be able to withstand this latest blow. FRANCE 24's Ed Augustin reports from Havana, Cuba.

Issued on: 03/03/2024 

By: Ed AUGUSTIN

Long queues of cars have been part of the scenery in Cuba for several years. Motorists literally spend whole days waiting to fill up their vehicles with petrol. "These lines have become the norm, it's tedious. We spend hours in line to fill up just 40 litres of fuel," explains a motorist.

In response to a severe cash crisis, the Cuban government on Friday introduced a 500 percent fuel price hike, a measure that was put in place a month later than initially planned.

Cuba is "importing most of its oil at world market prices and selling it very much less. And so that's costing the government, they've got a huge fiscal deficit", says economist Emily Morris.

This sudden increase in the cost of petrol is a great source of anxiety for Cubans

Before March 1, petrol in Cuba cost 10 euro cents per litre – one of the lowest prices in the world. But this still seemed expensive to Cubans, whose wages have not kept pace with inflation in recent years.

In the short term, this measure risks accelerating inflation. In a country where the average wage is barely 16 US dollars a month, the end of hardship seems a long way off for Cubans, as malnutrition also continues to rise

01:59 The 500% rise in petrol prices in Cuba is worrying the population. 

© France 24

ECOCIDE

Cleanup, investigation continue after Norfolk Southern train derailment in Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania

4 of 30

A train derailed in the area of Riverside Drive in Lower Saucon Township on Saturday morning, March 2, 2024, sending several cars into the Lehigh River. (Rich Rolen/Special to The Morning Call)

By LEIF GREISS | lgreiss@mcall.com | The Morning Call
March 4, 2024 

Investigation and cleanup continued Sunday following the Saturday morning collision and derailment involving three Norfolk Southern trains in Lower Saucon Township.

Members of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board were still on site investigating early Sunday afternoon, according to the NTSB. The NTSB team will be on site for several more days, conducting interviews with crew members and obtaining other information that will assist in determining the cause of the accident.

However, it released the site to Norfolk Southern, which is responsible for the cleanup, late Sunday afternoon. Norfolk Southern has crews and contractors at the derailment site handling cleanup and working to restore the track, according to a statement from the company.

The three-train collision and derailment occurred around 7:15 a.m. Saturday along Riverside Drive.

NTSB’s preliminary investigation indicated an eastbound train hit a train stopped on the same track. The wreckage from the striking train spilled onto an adjacent track and was hit by a westbound train.

An unknown number of cars derailed and two of the trains fell into the Lehigh River. No injuries to train crews or anyone else were reported.

An unknown quantity of diesel fuel and a small quantity of polypropylene pellets also spilled into the Lehigh River. Containment booms were deployed, and according to Norfolk Southern, will remain in place until any residual sheen has been removed. Riverside Drive remains closed while work continues.

In an update late Sunday afternoon, NTSB said its investigation team began reviewing data from the locomotive event recorders and downloaded data from the wayside signals. Data has been sent to NTSB headquarters in Washington for further analysis.

According to an NTSB statement, the next update will not come until the board releases its preliminary report in three weeks. But it could be 12-24 months until NTSB publishes its final report, which will contain a probable cause and any contributing factors NTSB determines led to the crash.

Though no official cause has been established, investment and railway workers groups have spoken out about who and what they believe is responsible for the derailment — poor management by Norfolk Southern.

On Saturday, Ancora Holdings Group, an investors group in Ohio, called for the leadership of Norfolk Southern, specifically CEO Alan Shaw, to be terminated.

In a news release, Ancora said, though it is obligated to pursue optimal returns for its clients, nothing should be prioritized over the well-being of people and communities. But it is becoming increasingly common that Norfolk Southern trains are involved in derailments and tragic events, such as the train derailment in February 2023 in East Palestine, Ohio.

Ancora’s release also states Norfolk Southern has spread misinformation about the company’s safety commitments to regulators and the public.

“An incident like this, which is drawing national news coverage and resulting in more embarrassment for the railroad, should put an end to the board’s unsustainable efforts to save a tainted CEO with no long-term future,” the statement said.

Paul Pokrowka, the state legislative director of Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation Union, which represents workers in the railroad industry, said Norfolk Southern and other rail companies have placed railway workers under crushing working conditions. By doing so, he said, they created unsafe conditions for workers and communities.

Pokrowka, a licensed engineer, has three decades of experience in the railroad industry.

He said there used to be five or six workers on a train, but now most trains are run by no more than two crew members, who he said are more likely than not worn out from being on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He said positive train controls, which are systems designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments and accidents in work zones, are the justification for the staff cuts, but events like Saturday’s derailment are proof that these systems are not reliable.

At the same time, he said, workers who try to report safety concerns face retaliation.

“It’s a six-figure job that nobody wants. It only requires a high school diploma; think about that,” Pokrowka said.

Pokrowka called on Pennsylvania’s legislators to pass legislation stalled in the state House since June 2023 that would prohibit blocking crossings and place limits on the length of freight or work trains. It would also authorize collective bargaining representatives to monitor safety practices and operations for safe staffing levels for trains. Representatives would be able to impose penalties for violations.

Norfolk Southern did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Why Europe’s ambitious Green Deal hinges on farmers

|
Yves Herman/ReutersView caption

By Ned Temko Columnist
February 29, 2024|LONDON

The growl of diesel-powered tractors, the stench of burning tires, manure sprayed at police. This week, in the normally staid Belgian capital of Brussels, months of protests by farmers across the 27-nation European Union became something much closer to a farmers rebellion.

And at its heart is a policy challenge with much wider, international implications: How can governments stem the rapid overheating of our planet, and build more environmentally sustainable economies, in a way that is politically sustainable as well?

For while the farmers’ grievances vary from country to country, their protests have been eagerly embraced by right-wing populist parties. The parties are taking aim at the EU’s ambitious European Green Deal, designed to make Europe the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050.

WHY WE WROTE THIS

Farmer protests in Europe pose a global question: How can governments make the shift to environmental sustainability politically sustainable?

With far-right groups already expected to make major gains in June’s elections for the European Parliament (that take place every five years), EU leaders have responded to the protests by beating a hasty retreat on a range of climate measures affecting agriculture.

Both France and Germany have shelved policies that would increase the price farmers pay for diesel fuel. The EU’s executive commission has backed away from Green Deal constraints on the use of inorganic fertilizers and some pesticides.

EU leaders still say they are determined to find longer-term arrangements that address farmers’ concerns while maintaining their commitment to their green economic agenda.
Recommended


How, and whether, they succeed will be closely watched by the rest of the world.

Lisi Niesner/ReutersView caption

The EU does have one major reason to feel confident. Opinion surveys show that most European citizens by far rank climate change as a serious problem, and 88% say they’re on board with the EU’s 2050 carbon-neutral target.

Many of the farmers themselves are concerned by the effects of global warming. High on the list of protesters’ grievances in Greece, for instance, has been the lack of adequate, timely compensation for last year’s devastating wildfires and flooding there.

But if EU countries are going to meet their targets, they cannot avoid the kind of measures their leaders have now hurriedly sheathed: reductions in the use carbon fuels such as diesel, and in the emission of hydrogen pollutants and methane from fertilizers and dairy farming.

Agriculture accounts for only about 1.5% of the EU economy, but it accounts for 10% of the bloc’s emission of the greenhouse gases that fuel global warming.

And while a shift to more sustainable agriculture is likely to require government money, getting that money could prove to be the easiest part

One key question will be where that money is spent.

European farmers already get huge EU subsidies; they amount to nearly one-third of the bloc’s central budget. But most of that by far goes to a relatively small number of large farming businesses. Smaller farmers are left feeling economically squeezed.

That has been especially true in the past few years, when the war in Ukraine has caused fuel and fertilizer price hikes, while farming families have also had to deal with the general increase in consumer prices.

Farmers in Poland, especially, but other wheat producers in Europe, too, have also seen their earnings fall as a result of the EU’s decision to allow tariff-free sales of Ukrainian grain. That helps explain many of the protesters’ call for Brussels to abandon a potential new free trade deal with farmers in South America, seen as likely to drive down the price of their own crops.

But there’s an even tougher challenge, of which money is just one part, that has made the political message of the Green Deal’s populist critics so alluring

It is the need to address the sense of dislocation felt by farmers who are being made to change the way they work and live to facilitate a climate transition being promoted by urban politicians who are far less affected and far better placed financially to adapt.

This has been an especially important catalyst for the protests in Germany, powerfully symbolized by the dangling of farmers’ empty work boots from streetlights and signposts – expressing a sense of loss eloquently described by one local writer late last month.

Jolted by the protests into reassessing their approach, European leaders will have to acknowledge that mood. One obvious option under discussion would focus emission-reduction efforts on the large-scale farming enterprises best able to cope with the transition, while giving more flexibility, and direct support, to smaller farmers.

But the EU will now be keenly aware of the need for more careful management of the changes being required of other parts of its economy if it is going to make the Green Deal work, from the coal mines of Poland to the automakers of Italy.

And while climate change experts will be rooting for the EU to succeed, they are alarmed by its leaders’ scurrying retreat in the face of the farmer protests.

They are worried that this smells of political panic, and that it will encourage opponents of climate action to try to block, or at least whittle down, other key aspects of the Green Deal.

As one Belgian environmentalist, reacting to the Brussels street clashes this week, quipped, maybe “we should get tractors.”

Europe Succumbs to the Farmers’ Revolution


Najib Saab
Secretary-General of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) and editor-in-chief of Environment and Development magazine


Sunday - 3 March 2024

Finally, Europe has succumbed to the farmers’ revolution, with the European Parliament elections around the corner. The main motivation for this turnaround by the European Commission was not to put an end to the throwing of cow dung and burning fodder at the doors of the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels, but rather the fear of the expansion of the extreme right. Before being elected to a second term next week, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen withdrew a draft law to reduce the use of chemical pesticides by half before 2030, while pledging to continue consultations on the matter.

In doing so, she spared the European Parliament embarrassment and facilitated her own re-election process. In the wake of farmers’ demonstrations and the smoke of protest fires in more than one capital, the European Parliament approved earlier this week a watered-down version of the Nature Restoration law, which requires the rehabilitation of 20 percent of natural sites and ecosystems, turning them into protected areas before the end of the current decade.

Both reducing chemical pesticides and reclaiming nature were an essential element of the agricultural section of the Green Deal, which was launched by the European Union in 2019. The agricultural strategy in the Deal aims at building a carbon-neutral agricultural sector by 2050, and to make agriculture and food production more environmentally friendly at all stages, under the farm-to-fork slogan, while protecting ecosystems and preserving biodiversity.

Backing down was not solely aimed at defusing the explosion sparked by street protests against the rise in fuel prices, the strict environmental measures that some considered extremely burdensome and obstructive to the economy, and cheap imported agricultural products that compete with local production. This turnaround, in essence, is an expression of growing concern about the further rise of the far right before the European elections next June.

In fact, right-wing extremist parties, that question the feasibility of European Union policies, to the extent of demanding exit from the EU in some extreme cases, are advancing today in 8 of the 27 member states. It is natural for EU enthusiasts to consider this a terrifying development, made possible due to the right’s exploitation of the pressure caused by the influx of immigrants on the economy and local communities, and the impact of high inflation rates on daily life. Populist rhetoric and right-wing party agendas focused on holding national authorities, and EU bodies in general, responsible. This found welcoming ears, especially with millions of immigrants and asylum seekers spreading beyond major cities, to become a majority in some small towns, thus threatening their social fabric.

The Farmers’ Revolution reached its peak with the emergence of the Farmer-Citizen movement in the Netherlands, which began with protests against the use of ammonia in fertilizers, which is the major cause of nitrogen emissions, one of the most powerful greenhouse gases. The protest movement soon turned into a major political force, winning many seats in local councils and parliament, and allying itself with extremist right-wing parties, while expanding to more countries, not the least of which were France and Germany. Here we can understand the cause of alarm, for farmers who historically supported Christian Democrats and centrist parties, which makes their shift to the extreme right a real threat to reverse the traditional balance. Further complicating matters, the majority of the farmers’ movement supporters started switching alliances from their independent groups to populist parties, instead of returning to the centrist parties, in which they had lost confidence.

The roots of the problem go back to short-sighted policies pursued by governments over the past few decades, as they encouraged the establishment of large farms and the expansion of some products, including livestock, supported by financing facilities, with a focus on export. It is noteworthy that the vast areas allocated for growing fodder necessary for the production of meat, most of which is intended for export, have replaced essential crops consumed by humans, such as wheat and potatoes, forcing countries that historically produced these crops to import them for local consumption. When the same government coalitions later instituted policies that imposed restrictions on some products, farmers viewed this as a coup that put their investments at risk.
Appeasing the farmers may put a temporary stop to roadblocks and the burning of piles of straw and fodder outside government headquarters, as well as at the doors of the European Union headquarters itself in Brussels, but the problem will not end there. What is required are realistic compromises that preserve the rights of people and nature, combined with far-sighted policies that do not change according to prevailing circumstances.
In contrast to backtracking on environmental policies, which amounted to surrender, scientific achievements did not stop. The European Space Agency chose the advanced Dutch Tango satellite system to monitor emissions of greenhouse gases from their sources, especially methane and carbon dioxide. This is a system capable of measuring emissions from power plants, coal mines, oil and gas fields, factories, farms, landfills, all the way down to home chimneys, with unprecedented precision. Its use will allow for monitoring compliance with regulations and standards governing emissions, with the aim of giving support and exemptions or imposing penalties according to the results, as well as reducing fraud.
This innovative system was developed in cooperation between universities, and scientific research centers alongside industries, with the support of the ministries of economy, climate, and education. Drawing on artificial intelligence technologies, it will be possible to use the system to predict air quality and climate change, thus helping to take proactive measures, based on the collection, correlation, and analysis of accurate satellite data.
In thriving societies, science does not stop when politics fail. What is required is for scientists to communicate the results of their research clearly to all segments of society, so that government officials and people in general, including farmers, know the risks, caveats, and alternatives, in order to be able to set public policies on a scientific basis. Only a dialogue that balances scientific facts, economic realities, and people’s lives, is capable of coming up with balanced and positive compromises that are not subject to populism.

Tough Economy: IAG Cargo Yearly Revenue Drops By Nearly 30%

BYANDREW CRIDER

IAG had also reported £2.3 billion in overall profit.

SUMMARY

IAG saw a 30% drop in cargo revenue in 2023 due to increased passenger services and belly space availability.

Despite the drop, IAG's cargo volume increased by 17% with British Airways leading in revenue at £757 million.

IAG attributes revenue drop to COVID-related disruptions in logistics industry and notes potential recovery in Asia-Pacific sector.

International Airways Group (IAG) reported almost a 30% drop in cargo revenue for 2023 in its year-end financial reporting earlier this week. The drop in cargo revenue for the airline consortium is the latest result that is in line with many other airlines for what was a tumultuous year for the cargo industry.

Originally released on February 29th, when the airline also announced major leadership changes, the airline group’s year-end result included many positive aspects, including a 22.6% capacity growth on transatlantic capacity and a doubling of total profits to £2.3 billion. IAG does not have any freighter aircraft and operates cargo services with belly capacity on its passenger airlines.

IAG, for its part, is partially owned by Qatar Airways. Its member airlines include British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, LEVEL, and Vueling. Of these, British Airways brought in most of the cargo revenue for 2023, accounting for £757 million, followed by Iberia with £236 million, and Aer Lingus at £47 million.



Photo: Mikel Dabbah | Shutterstock

While its passenger services grew with great success in 2023, IAG also saw an increase in the amount of cargo flown. In 2023, IAG’s Cargo Tonne Kilometers (CTK), or the weight carried per kilometer distance of the flight, increased by more than 17% from 3.9 billion tonnes in 2022 to 4.6 billion tonnes in 2023.

Despite carrying more cargo in weight in 2023, the revenue per CTK dropped nearly 40%. In its year-end report, the airline group noted that it had previously benefited from large disruptions in the logistics industry in 2022, stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. These disruptions limited the ability for cargo to move in 2021 and 2022 due to limits in cargo capacity from the lack of passenger flights.


Cargo market turbulence

With passenger service reaching pre-pandemic levels in most cases and surpassing them in some, rates for cargo were dropping because of the availability of belly space. However, IAG noted that its cargo revenue had increased by 3% compared to in 2019.

The airline group also noted that the largest drop in cargo volume compared to 2019 was in the Asia-Pacific region. Recently, cargo industry experts have noted better performance in the Asia-Pacific marketplace, which could indicate the beginning of a recovery of the faltering cargo market.

Photo: Carlos Yudica | Shutterstock

IAG itself had just opened new cargo facilities at London Heathrow (LHR) and Madrid (MAD). While British Airways is IAG’s largest member, and Iberia is one of its fastest-growing airlines, these cargo facilities improved cargo yields, resulting from the rate charged for cargo, to allow IAG airlines to carry premium goods in 2022.

The sudden return to normalcy has caused a number of financial hardships for companies that expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these airlines is Florida-based Amerijet, which recently elected to park its fleet of narrowbody cargo aircraft. Western Global Airlines, meanwhile, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2023. Other cargo airlines, such as SmartLynx in Latvia, have parked some of their fleet of A321 converted freighters without being able to operate these aircraft for a customer.

However, despite the relatively poor performance of the cargo component, IAG’s business growth could be on the horizon. The airline group also reported £223 million in sales of goods and services to significant shareholders, which it marked from the purchase of cargo capacity, among other services.

Cuban President Diaz-Canel led Havana’s protest demanding a ceasefire in Gaza

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and his cabinet led a massive protest in Havana demanding ‘Hands off Rafah’ and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The protest came in response to the call for a Global Action Day for Gaza, where a 100 cities around the world showed their support. President Diaz-Canel’s attendance and the wide presence of the Cuban people emphasises the Nation’s support for the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause.

March 3, 2024 

Antalya Diplomacy Forum exposes double standards of major powers: Fidan

Serious efforts underway to reach ceasefire in Gaza before Muslim holy month of Ramadan, says Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.


Türkiye supports views that established practices of the international community regarding Gaza should now be set aside in favor of taking unilateral action, Fidan noted. / Photo: AA

Double standards of some international major powers on different issues, as well as their disregard for international law were exposed by panelists at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF), the Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan has said.

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the ADF on Sunday, which was held in southern Türkiye this weekend, Hakan Fidan said there are serious efforts underway to reach a ceasefire in Gaza before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.


Türkiye supports views that established practices of the international community regarding Gaza should now be set aside in favor of taking unilateral action, Fidan noted.


He also stated that Türkiye hopes talks for a ceasefire in Ukraine will start soon.


"A dialogue for a ceasefire (in Ukraine) should start. That doesn't mean recognising the occupation, but issues of sovereignty and ceasefire should be discussed separately," Fidan told a press conference.


Fidan also said a trip to the US is planned for next week at the invitation of Secretary of State Antony Blinken to attend a strategic mechanism meeting.



Regional and global issues


Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu told Anadolu at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum that she had a fruitful meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Bucharest at the end of January to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral relations, including economic cooperation in energy, infrastructure, and defence.


Highlighting Türkiye as a “key economic partner” for her country, Odobescu said around 18,000 Turkish companies operate in the Romanian market, with a trade volume reaching $10 billion in 2023.


She described preparations for the first high-level strategic cooperation meeting with Fidan to discuss concrete projects in both Romania and Türkiye as a “good opportunity.”


She emphasised that efforts under the trilateral initiative, which includes Türkiye, Bulgaria, and Romania, against the threat of mines in the Black Sea are another example of cooperation between them. This contributes significantly to ensuring and protecting security in the Black Sea, she added.


She emphasised that the three countries' efforts to clear mines in the Black Sea will also help Ukraine transit its cereals and agricultural products.


Odobescu expressed her delight at getting the opportunity to represent Romania at this year's Antalya Diplomacy Forum, saying the platform is ideal for exchanging perspectives on various crises and discussing regional and global issues in a challenging geopolitical environment.


Humanitarian situation in Gaza

Odobescu also voiced sadness over the humanitarian situation in Gaza amid Israel's relentless attacks.


She said the Romanian government will continue to provide humanitarian aid to civilians in the besieged Palestinian enclave, stressing the need for the implementation of humanitarian law and access to humanitarian aid in Gaza.


She stressed that civilians' lives must be protected under all circumstances.


Israel has launched a deadly offensive on Gaza following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed 30,410 people and injured 71,700 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.


The Israeli war has pushed 85 percent of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.


Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.


Multidimensional cooperation with Africa

Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met his Bangladeshi and Panamanian counterparts, Hasan Mahmud and Janaina Tewaney Mencomo, respectively, the Foreign Ministry said.

Fidan also met his counterparts from African countries and leaders of regional organisations. The officials included Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, Gobon’s Foreign Minister Regis Onanga Ndiaye, and Uganda’s Foreign Minister Odongo Jeje Abubakher, the ministry said.

He said Türkiye has developed a systematic and multidimensional cooperation model with African countries, based on principles of equal partnership and mutual respect, the sources quoted him as saying.

Emphasising that Türkiye has diplomatic missions in 44 African countries, Fidan noted that the total trade volume with the continent exceeds $40 billion, and Ankara’s direct investments in the region have surpassed $6 billion.

He argued that Africa is still an arena of struggle among "neo-colonial" powers, saying Türkiye’s support is essential in addressing the continent's security risks, as well as challenges in development, access to food, and debt.

Stressing the importance of finding solutions to Africa's problems within the continent, Fidan mentioned that the 3rd Türkiye-Africa cooperation conference will be organised soon.

Fidan expressed gratitude to South Africa, which brought a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of genocide in Gaza, and to Djibouti and Comorofor raising the issue at the UN court.


The three-day Antalya Diplomacy Forum, which saw the participation of nine heads of state and government, as well as 25 foreign ministers from the African continent, concluded on Sunday.

Skittles and Tabasco sauce: Gazans reveal what's in airdropped US aid packages

In new online trend, Gazans reveal contents of airdropped US aid packages after Washington says provided 38,000 meals; if they want coffee, they'll have to snag a Jordanian aid package


Einav Halabi|

Yesterday

The United States airdropped aid into the Gaza Strip for the first time on Saturday, as global warnings of a humanitarian disaster there are growing louder. In doing so, the U.S. became the fifth country to drop aid to Gazans since the war began on October 7.
Following the aid drop, a new "unboxing" trend emerged on Palestinian social media, where Gazans reveal the contents of their aid packages.

Contents of US aid package airdropped into Gaza

A Gazan man named Hazem Saror showcased a U.S. aid package, containing four complete meals, Tabasco sauce, salt, sugar and Skittles candies for dessert. Contrastingly, Jordanian aid packages offer three meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner - along with coffee.
According to the United States Central Command, the packages were dropped over the shores of the Mediterranean Sea into the Gaza Strip by U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft to allow civilians access to essential aid. The operation was carried out in cooperation with the Royal Jordanian Air Force and the IDF, during which roughly 38,000 meals were delivered.

Dropping humanitarian aid packages over Rafah

The White House said that aid airdrops would continue with Israel's endorsement. Critics argue that truck deliveries are more effective than airdrops, but recent increases in truck looting, including a large surge on an aid truck convoy last Thursday which the Palestinians claim killed over 100 Gazas, prompted the U.S. to participate in the airdrop efforts to Gaza.
Aid workers complain that this is an ineffective measure, and the shipments that are dropped do not meet the needs of more than two million people living in Gaza.

Jeffrey Sachs says Israel has been starving the population of Gaza

Professor Jeffry Sachs of the Dir Center for Sustainable Development at Coloumbia University said that US President Biden should be able to stop the slaughter in Gaza. Sachs emphasised there will be no self control from the Israeli side should be expected. He underscored the only way to end the genocide in Gaza by saying: ‘This will stop when the United States stops providing the ammunitions to Israel.’

March 3, 2024

U.S. visit by Netanyahu’s rival Gantz signals wider cracks in Israel’s wartime leadership


By - Tia Goldenberg, Associated Press
By —Wafaa Shurafa, Associated Press
By —Samy Magdy, Associated Press

Mar 3, 2024 

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuked a top Cabinet minister arriving in Washington on Sunday for talks with U.S. officials, according to an Israeli official, signaling widening cracks within the country’s leadership nearly five months into its war with Hamas.

The trip by Benny Gantz, a centrist political rival who joined Netanyahu’s wartime Cabinet following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, comes as friction between the U.S. and Netanyahu is rising over how to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and what the postwar plan for the enclave should look like.

An official from Netanyahu’s far-right Likud party said Gantz’s trip was planned without authorization from the Israeli leader. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Netanyahu had a “tough talk” with Gantz and told him the country has “just one prime minister.”

Gantz is scheduled to meet on Monday with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and national security adviser Jake Sullivan and on Tuesday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to his National Unity Party. A second Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity said Gantz’s visit is intended to strengthen ties with the U.S., bolster support for Israel’s war and push for the release of Israeli hostages.

READ MORE: Rebuffing Biden, Netanyahu rejects idea of Palestinian sovereignty in post-war Gaza

In Egypt, talks were underway to broker a cease-fire before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins next week.

Israel did not send a delegation because it is waiting for answers from Hamas on two questions, according to a third Israeli government official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Israeli media reported that the government is waiting to learn which hostages are alive and how many Palestinian prisoners Hamas seeks in exchange for each.

All three Israeli officials spoke anonymously because they weren’t authorized to discuss the disputes with the media.

The U.S. began airdrops of aid into Gaza on Saturday, after dozens of Palestinians rushing to grab food from an Israel-organized convoy were killed last week. The airdrops circumvented an aid delivery system hobbled by Israeli restrictions, logistical issues and fighting in Gaza. Aid officials say airdrops are far less effective than deliveries by truck.

U.S. priorities in the region have increasingly been hampered by Netanyahu’s Cabinet, which is dominated by ultranationalists. Gantz’s more moderate party at times acts as a counterweight.

Netanyahu’s popularity has dropped since the war broke out, according to most opinion polls. Many Israelis hold him responsible for failing to stop the Oct. 7 cross-border raid by Hamas, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took roughly 250 people as hostages into Gaza, including women, children and older adults, according to Israeli authorities.

More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters. Around 80 percent of the population of 2.3 million have fled their homes, and U.N. agencies say hundreds of thousands are on the brink of famine.

Israelis critical of Netanyahu say his decision-making has been tainted by political considerations, a charge he denies. The criticism is particularly focused on plans for postwar Gaza. Netanyahu wants Israel to maintain open-ended security control over Gaza, with Palestinians running civilian affairs.

The U.S. wants to see progress on the creation of a Palestinian state, envisioning a revamped Palestinian leadership running Gaza with an eye toward eventual statehood.

That vision is opposed by Netanyahu and the hard-liners in his government. Another top Cabinet official from Gantz’s party has questioned the handling of the war and the strategy for freeing the hostages.

Netanyahu’s government, Israel’s most conservative and religious ever, has also been rattled by a court-ordered deadline for a new bill to broaden military enlistment of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Many of them are exempted from military service so they can pursue religious studies. Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have been killed since Oct. 7, and the military is looking to fill its ranks.

Gantz has remained vague about his view of Palestinian statehood. Polls show he would earn enough support to become prime minister if a vote were held today.

A visit to the U.S., if met with progress on the hostage front, could further boost Gantz’s support.

Israel and Hamas are negotiating over a possible new cease-fire and hostage release deal. Vice President Harris said on Sunday it is now up to Hamas to agree to it. “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” Harris said.

Israelis, deeply traumatized by Hamas’ attack, have broadly backed the war effort as an act of self-defense, even as global opposition to the fighting has increased.

But a growing number are expressing their dismay with Netanyahu. Some 10,000 people protested late Saturday to call for early elections, according to Israeli media. Such protests have grown in recent weeks, but remain much smaller than last year’s demonstrations against the government’s judicial overhaul plan.

If the political rifts grow and Gantz quits the government, the floodgates will open to broader protests by a public that was already unhappy with the government when Hamas struck, said Reuven Hazan, a professor of political science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

At least 12 people were killed, including five women and two children, in an Israeli strike on Sunday that hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to an Associated Press journalist at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. And two Israeli strikes southwest of Deir al-Balah killed at least five people and destroyed an aid truck, according to witnesses and staff at the hospital.

Amid concerns about the wider regional conflict, White House senior adviser Amos Hochstein was going to Lebanon on Monday to meet officials, according to an administration official who was not authorized to comment. White House officials want Lebanese and Israeli officials to prevent tensions along their border from worsening.

Shurafa reported from Rafah, Gaza Strip and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem, and Aamer Madhani and Seung Min Kim in Washington, contributed to this report.

US VP Harris to meet Israeli war cabinet member on Monday

Updated Sat, March 2, 2024 

 U.S. Vice President Harris delivers remarks on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Dubai


By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will meet with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz at the White House on Monday as Washington seeks to reach a deal for a temporary ceasefire and increase the flow of aid to Gaza.

The talks, first reported by Reuters, are expected to span topics including reducing Palestinian civilian casualties, securing a temporary ceasefire, the release of hostages held in Gaza and increasing aid to the territory, a White House official said.

"The Vice President will express her concern over the safety of the as many as 1.5 million people in Rafah," the official said, adding that Israel also had a "right to defend itself in the face of continued Hamas terrorist threats."

A statement from Gantz confirmed that he would meet with Harris, as well as with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Republican and Democratic members of U.S. Congress.

"Minister Gantz personally updated the prime minister on his own initiative on Friday of his intention to travel, in order to coordinate the messages to be transmitted in the meetings," the statement said.

Gantz, Israel's former military chief and defense minister, is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main political rival in opinion polls. His trip to Washington risks upsetting Netanyahu, who has been subject to criticism by U.S. President Joe Biden.

In December, Biden said that Israel was losing support over its "indiscriminate" bombing of Gaza and that Netanyahu should change, exposing a rift in relations with the Israeli prime minister.

Harris and Gantz will also discuss planning for after the war ends to revitalize Gaza under the Palestinian Authority, the White House official said.

The U.S. military on Saturday carried out its first airdrop of humanitarian aid into Gaza and aid agencies warned of a growing humanitarian disaster in the Palestinian enclave as Israel pressed on with its offensive.

Plans for the U.S. airdrop were announced by Biden on Friday, a day after the deaths of Palestinians queuing for aid drew renewed attention to the humanitarian catastrophe.

Health authorities in Gaza said 118 people were killed in Thursday's incident, attributing the deaths to Israeli fire and calling it a massacre. Israel disputed those figures and said most victims were trampled or run over.

Israel launched the offensive in response to the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian militant group, in which 1,200 people were killed in Israel and another 253 abducted, according to Israeli tallies.

International pressure for a ceasefire has grown, with more than 30,000 Palestinians killed in Israel's Gaza offensive, according to Gaza health authorities, and the U.N. warning that a quarter of the population is one step away from famine.

The United States and other countries expect aid would be boosted by a temporary ceasefire, which Biden said on Friday he hoped would happen by the time of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts on March 10.

Gaza truce talks are due to resume in Cairo on Sunday, two Egyptian security sources said on Saturday, though an Israeli news outlet reported Israel would not send a delegation until it received a full list of Israeli hostages who are still alive.

The Egyptian sources said Israeli and Hamas delegations were expected to arrive in Cairo on Sunday.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalaem; Writing by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Diane Craft and Matthew Lewis)

Kamala Harris Calls for ‘Immediate Ceasefire’ in Gaza

Peter Wade

ROLLING STONE
Sun, March 3, 2024


Vice President Kamala Harris called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, calling on Hamas to accept a deal currently “on the table” and pressing Israel to allow additional aid into the area. Harris called the current conditions in Gaza “inhumane” and a “humanitarian catastrophe.” United Nations experts have warned that famine is imminent.

“Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” Harris said during remarks in Selma, Ala., to mark the anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” when police beat peaceful protesters during a 1965 civil rights march.

“People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane and our common humanity compels us to act,” Harris said. “The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses.”

The move comes amid pressure from progressives in Congress and the public to halt the assault on Gaza. Since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants killed approximately 1,200 Israelis, Israel’s military has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Biden early last week said he hoped for a ceasefire agreement by Monday. This past Thursday, more than 100 Palestinians lining up for food aid were killed when Israeli forces opened fire. Biden said that day that the incident complicated ceasefire talks.

“We’re trying to work out a deal between Israel and Hamas on the hostages being returned and immediate ceasefire in Gaza for at least the next six weeks and to allow the surge of aid through the entire Gaza Strip,” the president said Friday.

Biden expressed hope that the sides could reach a deal before the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that starts on March 10. The deal under discussion, with moderation from Qatar and Egypt, would have Hamas free approximately 40 Israeli hostages — including women, female soldiers, and men over the age of 50 or men who are in serious medical condition, Axios reported.

For its part of the deal, in addition to pausing hostilities, Israel would allow Palestinians to return to the northern Gaza strip. It is unclear how many Palestinian prisoners Hamas plans to ask for in return. Israel has an estimated 7,000 Palestinians in custody in its prisons, and many are without charges, according to human rights groups. The majority have never been convicted of a crime. As many as 134 hostages are currently being held by Hamas. Another 32 are confirmed dead. Hamas has refused to release a complete list of hostages that are currently alive, which led Israel to boycott peace talks on Sunday.

“Hamas claims its wants a ceasefire. Well, there is a deal on the table. And as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal,” Harris said Sunday. “Let’s get a ceasefire. Let’s reunite the hostages with their families. And let’s provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza.”

Jayapal says Harris calling for 6-week cease-fire ‘important,’ calls to ‘back it up with policy shift’

Nick Robertson
Sun, March 3, 2024 


Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) praised Vice President Kamala Harris for pushing for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war on Sunday, but urged the Biden administration to follow through on the words amid rising pressure from Democrats.

“The VP has called for an immediate ceasefire, and urgent aid into Gaza,” Jayapal wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “This is the first time this language has been used by the administration. It is important. Now let’s back it up with policy shift.”

“Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” Harris said during remarks in Selma, Alabama, Sunday.

Harris also criticized the Israeli government, denouncing the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza and calling on the country to facilitate more aid deliveries for Palestinian civilians.

The vice president’s remarks were some of the most definitive criticisms of the Israeli government from the Biden administration, as the White House increases pressure on the country over civilian deaths.

Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, has been a leading force in urging the Biden administration to back a permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Biden has refused to push for a permanent cease-fire, but has redoubled efforts for a short-term pause amid tense negotiations.

The Israeli government agreed to the framework of a proposed six-week cease-fire on Saturday, The Associated Press reported, a sign of progress in negotiations.

President Biden announced Friday that the U.S. will airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza as negotiations continue over a temporary cease-fire. Biden added to criticism of Israel on Friday over the amount of aid allowed into the region.

“Innocent people got caught in a terrible war, unable to feed their families, and you saw the response when they tried to get aid. And we need to do more, and the United States will do more,” Biden said.

“The truth is, aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough now. It’s nowhere nearly enough. Innocent lives are on the line, and children’s lives are on the line,” he added.

The airdrops began early Saturday. Harris applauded the aid deliveries and noted that the U.S. will work to establish a sea route for aid to enter Gaza.

“The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid,” she said Sunday. “No excuses.

In blunt remarks, US VP Harris calls out Israel over "catastrophe" in Gaza

Updated Sun, March 3, 2024 


By Jeff Mason

(Reuters) -U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris bluntly called out Israel on Sunday for not doing enough to ease a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza as the Biden administration faces increasing pressure to rein in its close ally while it wages war with Hamas militants.

Harris, speaking in front of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where state troopers beat U.S. civil rights marchers nearly six decades ago, called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept a deal to release hostages in return for a 6-week cessation of hostilities.

But she directed the bulk of her comments at Israel in what appeared to be the sharpest rebuke yet by a senior leader in the U.S. government over the conditions in the coastal enclave.

"People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane and our common humanity compels us to act," Harris said at an event to commemorate the 59th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" in Alabama. "The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses," Harris said.

Her comments reflected intense frustration, if not desperation, within the U.S. government about the war, which has hurt President Joe Biden with left-leaning voters as he seeks re-election this year.

Harris said Israel must open new border crossings, not impose "unnecessary restrictions" on aid delivery, protect humanitarian personnel and convoys from becoming targets, and work to restore basic services and promote order so that "more food, water and fuel can reach those in need."

The United States carried out its first air drop of aid in Gaza on Saturday and Harris is scheduled to meet with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Monday at the White House, where she is expected to deliver a similarly direct message.

Israel boycotted Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo on Sunday after Hamas rejected its demand for a complete list naming hostages that are still alive, according to an Israeli newspaper.

"Hamas claims its wants a ceasefire. Well, there is a deal on the table. And as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal," Harris said. "Let's get a ceasefire. Let's reunite the hostages with their families. And let's provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza."

'FIGHT FOR FREEDOM IS NOT OVER'

After concluding her remarks about the Middle East, Harris, the first Black and Asian American woman to serve as No. 2 to the commander-in-chief, turned her attention to the events of Selma and the ongoing effort to address racial inequality.

"Today we know our fight for freedom is not over," she said. "Because in this moment we are witnessing a full-on attack on hard fought, hard won freedoms, starting with the freedom that unlocks all others: the freedom to vote," Harris said, citing laws in states across the country that ban ballot drop boxes, limit early voting and, in Georgia, made it illegal to give food and water to people waiting in line to vote.

At the beginning of their time in office, Biden appointed Harris to lead their administration's efforts to advance voting rights, but the effort largely fizzled without enough votes in Congress to pass new laws on the issue.

Biden has said democracy is on the ballot in the 2024 election, in which he is likely to face former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 election that Biden won.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Michelle NicholsEditing by Diane Craft)

US VP Harris rebukes Israel for Gaza 'catastrophe'

Reuters Videos
Updated Sun, March 3, 2024 

STORY: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris called out Israel on Sunday for not doing enough to ease a "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza in what appeared to be the sharpest rebuke yet by a senior leader in the U.S. government.

“People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane, and our common humanity compels us to act.”

“...and the Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses.”

Speaking in Alabama, Harris said Israel must open new border crossings and not impose "unnecessary restrictions" on aid delivery.

She also called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and urged Hamas to accept a deal to release hostages in return for a pause in fighting.

[Kamala Harris]

“And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table.”

The comments come after an aid delivery disaster last week near Gaza City in which 115 people were killed, according to Gaza health authorities.

They attribute the deaths to Israeli forces who they say fired on Palestinians as they rushed towards aid delivery trucks.

Israel disputed the death toll figure, and said most victims were trampled or run over.

Harris’ comments reflect intense frustration, if not desperation, within the U.S. government about the war, which has hurt President Joe Biden with left-leaning voters as he seeks re-election this year.

Harris is scheduled to meet with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Monday at the White House, where she is expected to deliver a similarly direct message.

Kamala Harris Calls On Hamas To Agree To Immediate 6-Week Cease-Fire

Taiyler S. Mitchell
Sun, March 3, 2024 


Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Edmund Pettus Bridge during an event to commemorate the 59th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday. SAUL LOEB AFP via Getty Images

Vice President Kamala Harris called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza as Israel’s relentless bombardment of the region pushes forward.

“The threat of Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated. And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate cease-fire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table” Harris said Sunday in Selma, Alabama. Harris made her appearance at the Edmund Pettus Bridge for a speech on the anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.”

“This will get the hostages out and a significant amount of aid in. This would allow us to build something more enduring to ensure Israel is secure and to respect the right of the Palestinian people to dignity, freedom and self-determination,” she added.

Harris’ remarks followed President Joe Biden’s recently watered-down optimism for the 6-week cease-fire, as well as his Friday approval of sending humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Earlier this week, a White House official said that the Israelis “have more or less accepted” the cease-fire proposal, which both Israel and Hamas militants would need to agree to.

Harris’ push for the cease-fire also comes days after Israel Defense Forces killed more than 100 people and injured more than 750 others who gathered outside of food aid trucks for food.

“The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses,” said Harris.

“As President Joe Biden said on Friday, the United States is committed to urgently get more lifesaving assistance, to innocent Palestinians in need. Yesterday, the Department of Defense carried out its first airdrop of humanitarian assistance. And the United States will continue these airdrops. And we will work on a new route, by sea, to deliver aid,” she added.

The current conflict most recently stems from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel where the Palestinian militant group killed 1,200 people and took approximately 250 others hostage ― but tensions between Israel and Gaza, as well as Israel’s atrocities against the people in the region, began further back. Since Oct. 7, Israel has killed more than 30,200 people and injured more than 71,000 others in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Many more are facing starvation.

“Vice President Harris’s push for a temporary cease-fire, or what the administration used to call a humanitarian pause, is half a step forward,” IfNotNow national spokesperson Eva Borgwardt said in a statement emailed to HuffPost.

IfNotNow is an organization and movement working to stop the U.S.’s support of “Israel’s apartheid system” and to ensure the welfare of all Palestinians and Israelis.

“It makes the ongoing weapons transfers to Israel that much more indefensible. True peace requires the Biden-Harris administration to halt weapons transfers, demand Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza alongside a full hostage exchange, and lay out a timetable for Israel to end its apartheid rule over Palestinians,” Borgwardt added.

Harris calls Gaza ‘humanitarian catastrophe,’ urges Israel to increase aid

Nick Robertson
Sun, March 3, 2024 


Vice President Harris pressured the Israeli government to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza on Sunday, calling the situation in the war-torn region a “humanitarian catastrophe.”

“What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating,” Harris said in a Selma, Ala., speech on Sunday. “We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal food. Women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration.”

The Biden administration has turned up criticism of Israel in recent weeks over humanitarian conditions in Gaza, especially after the killing of more than 100 civilians attempting to receive aid Thursday.

“As I have said many times, too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,” she said. “Our hearts break for the victims of that horrific tragedy and for all the innocent people in Gaza who are suffering from what is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe.”

“People in Gaza are starving,” she added. “The conditions are inhumane. And our common humanity compels us to act.”

President Biden announced Friday that the U.S. will airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza as negotiations continue over a temporary cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Biden added to criticism of Israel on Friday over the amount of aid allowed into the region.

“Innocent people got caught in a terrible war, unable to feed their families, and you saw the response when they tried to get aid. And we need to do more, and the United States will do more,” Biden said.

“The truth is, aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough now. It’s nowhere nearly enough. Innocent lives are on the line, and children’s lives are on the line,” he added.

The airdrops began early Saturday. Harris applauded the aid deliveries and noted that the U.S. will work to establish a sea route for aid to enter Gaza.

“The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid,” she said. “No excuses.”

Biden has faced growing pressure from Democrats to call for a permanent cease-fire between Israel and Hamas as the situation in Gaza worsens, and the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s attacks climbs above 30,000.

The Israeli government agreed to the framework of a proposed six-week cease-fire on Saturday, The Associated Press reported, a sign of progress in negotiations.