Biden urged to 'reverse course' on Gaza by 80 Muslim American groups

Letter to President Joe Biden accuses the US leader of risking his presidential legacy and America's reputation by enabling "Netanyahu government's genocide" in besieged Gaza.



REUTERS

Israel has killed nearly 33,000 Palestinians and wounded 75,300 so far in the blockaded enclave amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities. / Photo: Reuters

Eighty Muslim, Palestinian and allied groups have sent a letter to US President Joe Biden to object to his decisions to transfer additional weapons to Israel and "falsely" certify that the Israeli government's brutal war on besieged Gaza complies with US law.

"Your administration is publicly discouraging Israel from launching a full-scale invasion of Rafah unless there is a plan to somehow protect civilians, but that caveat is essentially a green light for Israel to ethnically cleanse Rafah and then reduce the city to rubble like it has done elsewhere," the organisations wrote in the letter on Wednesday.

The Biden administration refuses to take "any concrete action" to force Israel to stop starving and bombing the civilian population, it said.

"The decisions to flout US law by falsely certifying Israel's compliance and ship more weapons to the [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu government represent the latest examples of this pattern."

"The American people do not want a change in rhetoric. The American people want a concrete change in policy," it added.

The letter came one day after the White House was forced to scale back plans for a Ramadan iftar after Muslim American leaders declined to attend.

Dozens of Muslim American community members and their allies braved rain, wind and frigid temperatures on Tuesday to stage a fast-breaking protest outside the White House and demand the president call for an immediate permanent ceasefire to halt the bloodshed in the besieged Gaza.

'We urge you to listen to voices of reason'

The groups urged Biden in the letter to recognise that Israel's actions in Gaza violate US law and to suspend the transfer of all weapons to Israel.

They also asked Biden to use American leverage to secure an "immediate, permanent" ceasefire, the "unimpeded" opening of all land crossings for humanitarian aid, the release of all captives and political prisoners, and to pursue a "just and lasting peace through an end to the Israeli occupation and apartheid policies."

"We urge you to listen to voices of reason and morality inside and outside of the administration."

"Risking your presidential legacy and the reputation of our nation around the world to enable the Netanyahu government's genocide has been a disastrous decision. We implore you to reverse course before thousands more die," they added.

Following Hamaz blitz on October 7 last year, Israel has killed nearly 33,000 Palestinians and wounded 75,300 so far in the blockaded enclave amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to do more to prevent starvation crisis in Gaza. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said recently there were reasonable grounds to believe Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Albanese also addressed allegations that Hamas fighters used rape during their attack on Israel, saying there was an absence of convincing evidence to support the claims.

"What I am very disturbed by was the weaponisation of anything that happened on 7 of October," she said. "Personally, I have not received information. I have read reports that had been written, and I didn't find any convincing evidence."

SOURCE: AA

Palestinian American doctor walks out of White House meeting over handling of Gaza war

BY ALEX GANGITANO - 04/03/24  THE HILL

Demonstrators rally in support of Palestinians, Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington,. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian American doctor, said he walked out of a meeting at the White House on Tuesday evening over President Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza.

Ahmad, an emergency medicine physician who worked in Gaza in January, said he showed up to a stakeholder meeting at the White House, which was set up in place of a Ramadan celebration. Attendees insisted there shouldn’t be any food at the meeting, he added.

“It made no sense for us to sort of break bread while talking about a famine taking place,” he told CNN host Kaitlan Collins. “We had shown up and the president and the vice president, the national security adviser are in the room, and there was very brief comments by the president saying he wants to hear from us and he wants to listen to us.”

Ahmad said he spoke first in the meeting and then walked out. He told Collins he was the only Palestinian in the room.

“Our heart is broken for what’s been taking place over the last six months, and that the rhetoric that has been coming out of the Biden administration, that’s been coming out of the White House, it’s frustrated a lot of people, especially people who are Palestinian Americans, Muslim Americans, Arab Americans,” he said. “We are not satisfied with what has taken place, there has been no concrete steps.”

“I was able to share that with the president and let him know that out of respect for my community, out of respect for all of the people who have suffered and who have been killed in the process, I need to walk out of the meeting,” Ahmad continued. “And I want to walk out with decision-makers and let them know what it feels like for somebody to say something and then walk away from them and not hear them out, not hear their response.”

When asked for Biden’s response to his walk out, the doctor replied, “He actually said that he understood, and I walked away.”

Biden hosted a meeting with Muslim community leaders to discuss issues of importance to the community Tuesday, a White House official told The Hill. After the meeting, to honor Ramadan, the White House hosted “a small breaking of the fast, prayer, and Iftar with a number of senior Muslim Admin officials.”

The scaled-down iftar dinner came after several people who were invited to the event declined, CNN reported. In 2023, the White House hosted nearly 350 people for a reception celebrating Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.

Biden has faced protests for months of his handling of the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, and last week was interrupted at two campaign stops — one in Raleigh, N.C., and one in New York City, when he was alongside former Presidents Obama and Clinton for a major donor event.

Democrats are fearful that the war in Gaza is turning into a majority political liability for Biden and other candidates as Americans are increasingly disapproving of Israel’s actions. 

The administration is considering selling Israel up to 50 new F-15 fighter jets, 30 AIM-120 advanced medium range air-to-air missile, as well as Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, The Hill confirmed.

And, earlier this week, seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen were killed in a strike that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu took responsibility for, adding to anger about the situation from Biden critics.

White House shows no indication of restricting weapons for Israel

April 03, 2024 9:12 PM
By Patsy Widakuswara

Israeli soldiers move on the top of a tank near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, March 21, 2024. U.S. weapons sales to Israel are under increased scrutiny amid outrage over the deaths of more than 33,000 people in Gaza.

WASHINGTON —

U.S. weapons sales to Israel have been under increased scrutiny amid outrage over the reported deaths of tens of thousands of people in Gaza since the start of the war, including seven aid workers killed in an Israeli airstrike this week.

President Joe Biden said in a statement on Tuesday that he was "outraged and heartbroken" by the deaths, his latest stern rebuke of Israel's war conduct.

Israel said the strike was "unintentional" and promised an investigation.

On Wednesday, Biden ignored questions about whether he would put conditions on U.S. military aid. His aides suggest the administration is unlikely to do so, citing U.S. support for Israel's right to defend itself against the "still viable threat" from Hamas.

The administration will wait for results of Israel's investigation, National Security Council communications adviser John Kirby told reporters Wednesday. "I'm not going to get ahead of decisions that haven't been made yet," he said.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres accused Israel of targeting the group's food convoy "systematically, car by car." He said he had established clear communication with the Israeli military about his aid workers' movements.

Andres is a celebrity chef who is well-known in Washington. That and the fact that the victims included U.S.-Canadian citizen Jacob Flickinger has added a new level of outrage, including among lawmakers of Biden's own Democratic Party, and renewed demands that the president condition military aid to Israel.

"Israel has killed more than 200 aid workers in 6 months. That's not an accident. No more aid for Netanyahu's war machine," Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders said in a social media post Tuesday.

Weapons transfer

Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. aid, nearly $4 billion a year, most of it in the form of military assistance.

Under U.S. law, the administration must notify Congress of weapons transfers to Israel that are worth more than $25 million.

In December, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken approved two emergency weapons transfers to Israel, bypassing the congressional review requirement for foreign military sales.

Since the October 7 Hamas attack, two additional transfers have been made public, said Josh Paul, former director at the State Department agency that handles weapons transfers, who resigned in October in protest over the U.S.'s "continued lethal assistance to Israel."

Those two were made under the direct commercial sales process and Congress was notified, Paul told VOA. "But with less visibility, because there is less information that is provided to the public on direct commercial sales," he said.

In addition to the four that were made public, since October 7 more than 100 arms transfers to Israel have taken place without informing Congress, mainly because the packages were structured to fall below the notification threshold, according to reporting by The Washington Post, which VOA confirmed with a Department of Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ari Tolany, director of security assistance, arms trade and technology at the Center for International Policy, said the moves amount to a "deliberate dodge of transparency" by the administration.

"When they are publicly saying that Israel needs to take more steps to protect civilians but privately pushing through hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of weapons, there's really no credibility," she told VOA.

The Biden administration refuses to use the most significant source of leverage it has, she said, which is "the massive amount of arms provided to Israel."

The Post reported that the transfers included billions of dollars in bombs and fighter jets in recent weeks, even as the administration publicly criticized Israel's intention for a ground invasion of Rafah, where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians seek safety.

Unconditional support

Since Harry Truman recognized Israel minutes after its founding in 1948, American presidents have supported the country.

Almost all have done so unconditionally, with the exception of President George H.W. Bush, who in 1991 gave Israel an ultimatum to freeze settlements on Palestinian land in exchange for $10 billion in loan guarantees.

That approach worked. But not all agree that restricting aid will effect change.

"The emotive issue of providing for a country's means for their own defense can sometimes trigger different responses in different theaters. It's just been a sort of inexact tool for the U.S in the past," said Grant Rumley, a senior fellow specializing in military and security affairs at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"I think that's internalized within this administration right now," he told VOA. "That, coupled with the president's long-standing commitment to Israel, is why you haven't seen any real steps taken on this route."

There is also the fear that putting conditions on aid may send the wrong signal to Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies, increasing the prospects of opening a second front to the conflict at Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

In March, to meet the Biden administration's requirement set out in February, Israel provided assurances that American weapons are used in accordance with international and humanitarian law, which the administration accepted.

Those assurances are "not credible," said Human Rights Watch and Oxfam. The rights groups submitted examples of what they call Israeli violations of international humanitarian law, including "deprivation of services critical to the survival of the civilian population, and arbitrary denial and restrictions of humanitarian aid."

Eighty Muslim and Arab American organizations sent a similar letter to Biden on Wednesday, objecting to his "administration's decisions to falsely declare that Israel's war on Gaza complies with U.S. legal requirements and authorize the continued transfer of U.S.-manufactured weapons."

The groups cited the attacks on the World Central Kitchen aid workers as the latest example of Israel's violation of the laws of war.

In Pictures

Taiwan rocked by most powerful quake in 25 years

The earthquake was the strongest since one of magnitude 7.6 struck in September 1999, killing about 2,400 people.

A damaged building in Hualien, after a major earthquake hit Taiwan's east.

 [CNA via AFP]
Published On 3 Apr 2024

Taiwan’s strongest earthquake in 25 years has rocked the island during the morning rush hour, damaging buildings and highways and causing the deaths of four people.

Taiwan’s national fire agency said four people died in Hualien County and at least 57 were injured in the quake that struck just before 8am (00:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

Train services were suspended across the island of 23 million people, as were subway services in Taipei, where a newly constructed above-ground line partially separated.

Traffic along the east coast was at a virtual standstill, with landslides and falling debris hitting tunnels and highways in the mountainous region, causing damage to vehicles.

Despite the quake striking at the height of the morning rush hour, the initial panic faded quickly on the island, which is regularly rocked by tremors and prepares for them with drills at schools and notices issued via public media and mobile phones.

Taiwan’s worst quake in recent years struck on September 21, 1999, with a magnitude of 7.6, causing 2,400 deaths, injuring about 100,000 and destroying thousands of buildings.

Taiwan’s earthquake monitoring agency gave the magnitude as 7.2 while the United States Geological Survey put it at 7.4. It struck about 18 kilometres (11.1 miles) south-southwest of Hualien and was about 35 kilometres (21 miles) deep. Multiple aftershocks followed, and the USGS said one of the subsequent quakes was magnitude 6.5 and 11.8 kilometres (7 miles) deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more surface damage.

A damaged apartment in New Taipei City. [Fabian Hamacher/Reuters]
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A man reacts after a brick wall in his house collapsed, in Taipei. [CNA via AFP]
At least 26 buildings have collapsed, more than half in Hualien. [CNA via AFP]
Damaged buildings in Xindian district of New Taipei City. [CNA via AFP]
Rescuers helping a man from a damaged building in New Taipei City. [CNA via AFP]
Emergency workers assisting a man trapped in a damaged building, in New Taipei City. [CNA via AFP]
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Firefighters work at the site where a building collapsed following the earthquake, in Hualien. [Taiwan National Fire Agency/Handout via Reuters]
A sign showing a subway train suspension following the earthquake, in a subway station in Taipei. [Daniel Ceng/EPA]

New sonar images show mangled heap of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge at bottom of river

By Katherine Donlevy

NY POST
Published April 3, 2024

The mangled remnants of the Francis Scott Key Bridge can be seen lying at the bottom of the Patapsco River in new sonar images released on Tuesday.

The once-iconic bridge appears unrecognizable in the 3D renderings as it sits shrouded in the dark waters of the channel.

“These 3D images show the sheer magnitude of the very difficult and challenging salvage operation ahead,” the US Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District said.

The 3D images will be used by divers to navigate the mangled disaster zone.

twitter/USACEBaltimore

Taken by the US Navy’s Naval Sea System Command’s primary sonar tool called CODA Octopus, the images will be used to create maps to help divers navigate the chaotic scene, where visibility is limited to just one or two feet.

Several feet of mud and soot were dislodged from the river floor last week when the Dali container truck smashed into the bridge, causing it to crumble and plunging at least eight construction workers into the water.

The Army compared the cloudy conditions to “driving through a heavy snowfall at night with high-beam headlights on.”

As recovery efforts continue, divers will rely on detailed verbal directions from operators in vessels who are viewing the real-time CODA imagery.

The renderings were taken by the US Navy’s Naval Sea System Command’s primary sonar tool called CODA Octopus.

twitter/USACEBaltimore

US Army Corps of Engineers Col. Estee Pinchasin said the underwater conditions are “extremely unforgiving” for divers.

“The magnitude of this is enormous,” she said.

Crews are in the process of removing the heaps of steel and concrete at the site of the collapse, where authorities believe the bodies of four of the eight victims are still trapped.

The visibility around the wreckage is just one or two feet.

The bodies of two construction workers with Brawner Builders were pulled from a red pick-up truck submerged 25 feet below the surface near the middle span of the bridge one day after the disaster.

Two people — a state inspector and a contractor from an engineering firm — were rescued shortly after, one of whom was seriously injured and the other who refused treatment.

All eight victims were part of the construction crew working to repair potholes on the bridge when the cargo ship Dali lost power in the early hours of March 26, shortly after leaving Baltimore on its way to Sri Lanka.

US Army Corps of Engineers Col. Estee Pinchasin said the underwater conditions are “extremely unforgiving” for divers.

The ship issued a mayday alert, allowing just enough time for police to stop traffic.

The owners of the ship, Synergy and Grace Ocean, filed a court petition Monday seeking to limit their legal liability, a routine but important procedure for cases litigated under US maritime law. A federal court in Maryland will ultimately decide who is responsible and how much they owe.

With Post Wires

Biden honors Martin Luther King Jr. on 56th anniversary of his assassination

BY SARAH FORTINSKY - 04/04/24 - THE HILL

Andrew Harnik, Associated Press

President Biden is seen after meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in the Cross Hall of the White House, Feb. 12, 2024, in Washington.

President Biden marked the 56th year since the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. with a statement paying tribute to King’s legacy and warning against the reemergence of political violence.

“Fifty-six years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his last breath in the cause to redeem the soul of our nation,” Biden said in a statement Thursday, calling King one of his “political heroes.”

“But then, an extremist – armed with a rifle in his hands and fueled by the poison of white supremacy in his heart – shot and killed a great American who loved his country so deeply to make it better – even greater – even when it didn’t always love him back,” Biden said. “Dr. King and generations of foot soldiers known and unknown embody a patriotism that continues to inspire generations of Americans, including me.”

Biden warned against the reemergence of political violence, saying it should be condemned universally and taught extensively to ensure it never repeats.

“But on this day, and in this time, we all do well to remember another essential lesson about Dr. King’s life and legacy. All Americans – regardless of party or background – should be able to reject political violence and hate-fueled violence in any form,” Biden said. “We must condemn it, not condone it. We must confront it, not whitewash it. As we do, we must teach history and make history, not erase history. We must choose community over chaos.”

Concerns about political violence have grown in recent years, in particular since the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that resulted in multiple fatalities.

In a December poll, 83 percent of Americans said they were concerned about political violence. On Wednesday, a new poll revealed that more than 20 percent of Americans said they thought violence may be necessary to secure political objectives in 2024.

Biden also noted the influence King has had on his own life, noting that after King’s assassination, Biden left a prestigious law firm and became a public servant.

“Since then, I’ve seen the push and pull and progress and setback on everything he stood for from voting rights to jobs and justice for all Americans,” Biden said. “I’ve had the greatest honor to serve as Vice President to the first Black President and now President with the first woman Vice President, as we carry forward his vision of a beloved community.”

Wisconsin governor signs bill requiring schools to teach Asian American history 

BY TARA SUTER - 04/04/24 - THE HILL

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers addresses a joint session of the state Legislature in the Assembly chambers during the governor’s State of the State speech at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis., Feb. 15, 2022. (AP Photo/Andy Manis, File)

The Wisconsin governor has signed a bill requiring K-12 schools to teach Asian American history, according to a press release from the governor’s office.

The bill, which Gov. Tony Evers (D) signed Thursday, also requires schools to teach Hmong American history, per the release. In the release, Evers said that “[t]he Hmong and Asian American communities are a critical part of our state’s history, culture, economy, and our future.”

“It’s important that we celebrate our shared histories and honor the people who help make Wisconsin the state it is today,” Evers continued in the release. 

“I’ve been proud to sign several key pieces of bipartisan legislation into law to recognize the contributions Hmong and Asian American folks have made to our state and our country, and this bill builds upon those efforts, ensuring the histories and stories of Hmong and Asian American communities are part of state curriculum for future generations,” Evers continued.

The bill builds on previous state law that mandates schools instruct on “an understanding of human relations” with regards to American Indians, Black Americans, and Hispanics.

Earlier this week, Evers vetoed a bill that would’ve barred transgender student-athletes from competing on sports teams in line with their gender identity. He called the GOP legislation “hateful and discriminatory.”

“I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to codifying discrimination into state statute,” Evers said in a veto message about the bill.

“I believe this bill fails to comport with our Wisconsin values. We expect our kids to treat each other with kindness, respect, empathy, and compassion, and we should be able to expect adults to lead by example,” Evers wrote. “I urge the Republican majority to do so while fully considering the harmful consequences its efforts and actions have on our kids prior to introducing similar legislation in the future.”

Is Saudi Arabia trying to sabotage Biden?

BY LIZ PEEK, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR - 04/04/24 -THE HILL

Is Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman trying to sabotage Joe Biden’s reelection bid? It’s quite possible. The Saudi leader, known as MBS, has made clear his disdain for President Biden, and his fury over insults lobbed at him by this White House. He is a powerful force behind the current surge in oil prices, which could — if sustained — contribute to Biden’s defeat.

Oil prices are soaring — up 19 percent since the start of the year. Since they lag behind crude oil, gasoline prices have only jumped 14 percent so far. But, unless oil markets take a giant step backwards, prices at the pump will steadily increase into the summer driving season and pummel Biden’s popularity.

This happened two years ago. As gasoline prices rose to an all-time high of $5 per gallon in June 2022, Biden’s approval ratings tanked. He started the year at 43.2 percent approval and by the July 4 holiday, when millions of Americans take to the roads, he had slipped to 38.1 percent.

Why are oil prices rising? There are a number of factors, including Russia’s war against Ukraine, turbulence and fear of escalation in the Middle East and also some revival in China’s growth and demand for energy. But it is the ongoing production cuts agreed to by OPEC+, engineered in large part by Saudi Arabia, that are really lifting prices.

In recent days, OPEC+ held a ministerial meeting at which members recommitted to continuing voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day until June. The decision had been expected, but nonetheless signaled that Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s leading oil exporters, are determined to keep prices high. MBS is the key decision-maker for Saudi Arabia; by virtue of the kingdom’s unique position as “swing producer,” he is also the dominant voice within OPEC+.

For Russia, high oil prices are critical to winning its battle with Ukraine. Biden, after Putin invaded its neighbor, boasted that the U.S. and its allies were imposing draconian penalties to hold Moscow accountable. Biden said, “The totality of our sanctions and export controls is crushing the Russian economy.” He cited the sharp decline of the ruble and predicted the Moscow stock exchange would “probably collapse.”

Since that day, one month into the conflict, the ruble has rebounded 47 percent and the main Russian stock index is up 37 percent, only 25 percent below its all-time high. How has Russia managed? By teaming with the Saudis to curtail production and boost oil prices.

For the Russians, high oil prices are a matter of survival. For the Saudis, skyrocketing oil costs are essential to fulfilling the grandiose economic vision of MBS. They are also key to exacting revenge against Biden, who early on went out of his way to insult the young heir apparent. The White House indicated it intended to “recalibrate” its relationship with the Saudis, and especially with MBS, who had worked successfully with the Trump White House.

Having vowed on the campaign trail in 2019 to make Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are,” Biden initially shunned the crown prince, agreeing to speak only to his ailing father King Salman. In addition, the White House released a report accusing MBS of responsibility for the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and terminated sales of offensive weapons needed by Saudi Arabia to conduct its war in Yemen. Moreover, Biden rescinded Trump’s terror designation for the Houthis, despite the group having attacked Saudi oil infrastructure.

Worse, the Biden team attempted to revive the nuclear deal with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s bitter enemy.

Early in Biden’s presidency, the Saudis surprised oil traders by leading OPEC to not increase oil output, despite rising demand; prices jumped 4 percent. It was MBS’s first salvo, reminding Biden of the importance of the U.S.-Saudi alliance, which has been in place since 1945, and of his own ascendance.

When oil prices soared in 2022, Biden went to MBS for help, begging him to increase output. But he would not shake hands with the crown prince, offering instead a widely-mocked “fist bump.” That’s how idiotically Biden has managed this critical relationship.

In coming months we will find out just how critical the relationship is. If oil prices continue to march higher, Biden will no doubt pull out all the diplomatic stops to get OPEC+ to open the spigots. Last time, he dampened rising prices by draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; that emergency storage is down to 362,000 barrels, the lowest level since 1983. Biden cannot go there again.

Other factors will certainly influence Biden’s standing in coming months, but oil prices could prove key as they drive inflation higher. In a recent poll, 22 percent of voters ranked inflation as their top issue; rising prices at the pump will keep the problem top of mind even if the overall inflation level continues to moderate. The same survey showed only 38 percent of voters describing the economy under Biden as good, compared to 65 percent saying it was good under Trump.

Rising oil prices will likely complicate Fed Chair Jay Powell’s expected pivot to cutting rates, which Wall Street expects. The Fed has engineered one of the most aggressive rate-hiking cycles ever, and is poised to reverse course once inflation recedes to its stated 2 percent goal. Stocks have rallied strongly in anticipation of that easing; rising oil prices could prove a speedbump.

Energy prices are volatile, so they are excluded from the data that the Fed studies for signs that inflation is under control. But if oil prices remain high for several months, they will bleed into the cost of shipping, airline tickets, plastics and innumerable other items. Powell clearly intends to follow through with his projected cuts, but has also said the Fed will be “data dependent.” Oil prices will be a critical part of the data.

And MBS could make sure those prices, and interest rates, stay “higher for longer.” That will not help Joe Biden.

Liz Peek is a former partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim & Company. 

Haiti gangs loot national library, putting historic documents at risk

Haiti's National Library was looted Wednesday by armed gangs terrorising the Caribbean nation's capital Port-au-Prince, its director told AFP, as UNESCO condemned multiple "devastating" attacks on educational and artistic institutions in the city.


Issued on: 04/04/2024 

A man looks at vehicles that were burned near his garage in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 25, 2024. © Clarens Siffroy, AFP

Haiti's National Library was looted Wednesday by armed gangs terrorising the Caribbean nation's capital Port-au-Prince, its director told AFP, as UNESCO condemned multiple "devastating" attacks on educational and artistic institutions in the city.

Library director Dangelo Neard said the history of Haiti -- the Western Hemisphere's second-oldest republic -- was being threatened.

"Our documentary collections are in danger. We have rare documents over 200 years old, with importance to our heritage, which risk being burned or damaged by bandits," he said.

"I was told that the thugs are taking away the institution's furniture. They also ransacked the building's generator."

Armed groups control most of Port-au-Prince and swaths of countryside in the absence of a functioning government and continued delays in establishing a promised transitional authority.

After several days of relative calm, attacks picked up again in several neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince from Monday.

The attack on the National Library comes after assaults last week on two universities, the Ecole Normale Superieure and the National School of Arts.

The National School of Arts "promotes the development of artists and the influence of Haitian art throughout the world," UNESCO, the UN's education, science and cultural organization, said in a statement condemning vandalism at the institution.

The Ecole Normale Superieure, meanwhile, which UNESCO said was the site of an arson, is "one of the pillars" of the country's education system, as well as the oldest training institution for teachers in the country.

"These acts of vandalism, looting and arson against the country's educational institutions have devastating consequences for the future of Haitian society," UNESCO said.

Also last week, two health care facilities and 10 pharmacies were looted, the UN's humanitarian office said Wednesday, while the remaining hospitals are facing increasing strain.

The country's embattled national police said in a statement Tuesday that they were "determined and committed to restoring order and peace."

New PM incoming?

Haiti has been rocked by a surge in violence since February, when its powerful criminal gangs teamed up to attack police stations, prisons, the airport and the seaport.

They are seeking to oust Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has been in power since the assassination of president Jovenel Moise in 2021. The country has no sitting parliament, with its last election in 2016.

The country has also been wracked for decades by poverty, natural disasters, political instability and gang violence, with Moise's assassination setting off months of spiraling insecurity even before February's clashes.

Unelected and unpopular, Henry announced March 11 he would step down as part of an internationally brokered plan to make way for a so-called transitional council.

But weeks later the council has yet to be officially formed and installed amid disagreement among the political parties and other stakeholders due to name the next prime minister -- and because of doubts over the very legality of such a council.

"We spent two and a half years with Ariel Henry who did nothing, and now in two weeks we want to do a lot of things," council member Leslie Voltaire told AFP.

He also blamed regional body CARICOM for rushing the formation of the council, though he said it would be stood up by Thursday and would elect a prime minister within a week.

(AFP)

India, grappling with election misinfo, weighs up labels and its own AI safety coalition

An Adobe-backed association wants to help organizations in the country with an AI standard

Jagmeet Singh@jagmeets13 / April 4, 2024


Image Credits: Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

India, long in the tooth when it comes to co-opting tech to persuade the public, has become a global hot spot when it comes to how AI is being used, and abused, in political discourse, and specifically the democratic process. Tech companies, who built the tools in the first place, are making trips to the country to push solutions.

Earlier this year, Andy Parsons, a senior director at Adobe who oversees its involvement in the cross-industry Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI), stepped into the whirlpool when he made a trip to India to visit with media and tech organizations in the country to promote tools that can be integrated into content workflows to identify and flag AI content.

“Instead of detecting what’s fake or manipulated, we as a society, and this is an international concern, should start to declare authenticity, meaning saying if something is generated by AI that should be known to consumers,” he said in an interview.

Parsons added that some Indian companies — currently not part of a Munich AI election safety accord signed by OpenAI, Adobe, Google and Amazon in February — intended to construct a similar alliance in the country.

“Legislation is a very tricky thing. To assume that the government will legislate correctly and rapidly enough in any jurisdiction is something hard to rely on. It’s better for the government to take a very steady approach and take its time,” he said.

Detection tools are famously inconsistent, but they are a start in fixing some of the problems, or so the argument goes.

“The concept is already well understood,” he said during his Delhi trip. “I’m helping raise awareness that the tools are also ready. It’s not just an idea. This is something that’s already deployed.”


Andy Parsons, senior director at Adobe. Image Credits: Adobe


The CAI — which promotes royalty-free, open standards for identifying if digital content was generated by a machine or a human — predates the current hype around generative AI: It was founded in 2019 and now has 2,500 members, including Microsoft, Meta, and Google, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC.

Just as there is an industry growing around the business of leveraging AI to create media, there is a smaller one being created to try to course-correct some of the more nefarious applications of that.

So in February 2021, Adobe went one step further into building one of those standards itself and co-founded the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA) with ARM, BBC, Intel, Microsoft and Truepic. The coalition aims to develop an open standard, which taps the metadata of images, videos, text and other media to highlight their provenance and tell people about the file’s origins, the location and time of its generation, and whether it was altered before it reached the user. The CAI works with C2PA to promote the standard and make it available to the masses.

Now it is actively engaging with governments like India’s to widen the adoption of that standard to highlight the provenance of AI content and participate with authorities in developing guidelines for AI’s advancement.

Adobe has nothing but also everything to lose by playing an active role in this game. It’s not — yet — acquiring or building large language models (LLMs) of its own, but as the home of apps like Photoshop and Lightroom, it’s the market leader in tools for the creative community, and so not only is it building new products like Firefly to generate AI content natively, but it is also infusing legacy products with AI. If the market develops as some believe it will, AI will be a must-have in the mix if Adobe wants to stay on top. If regulators (or common sense) have their way, Adobe’s future may well be contingent on how successful it is in making sure what it sells does not contribute to the mess.


The bigger picture in India in any case is indeed a mess.

Google focused on India as a test bed for how it will bar use of its generative AI tool Gemini when it comes to election content; parties are weaponizing AI to create memes with likenesses of opponents; Meta has set up a deepfake “helpline” for WhatsApp, such is the popularity of the messaging platform in spreading AI-powered missives; and at a time when countries are sounding increasingly alarmed about AI safety and what they have to do to ensure it, we’ll have to see what the impact will be of India’s government deciding in March to relax rules on how new AI models are built, tested and deployed. It’s certainly meant to spur more AI activity, at any rate.

Using its open standard, the C2PA has developed a digital nutrition label for content called Content Credentials. The CAI members are working to deploy the digital watermark on their content to let users know its origin and whether it is AI-generated. Adobe has Content Credentials across its creative tools, including Photoshop and Lightroom. It also automatically attaches to AI content generated by Adobe’s AI model Firefly. Last year, Leica launched its camera with Content Credentials built in, and Microsoft added Content Credentials to all AI-generated images created using Bing Image Creator.



Image Credits: Content Credentials

Parsons told TechCrunch the CAI is talking with global governments on two areas: one is to help promote the standard as an international standard, and the other is to adopt it.

“In an election year, it’s especially critical for candidates, parties, incumbent offices and administrations who release material to the media and to the public all the time to make sure that it is knowable that if something is released from PM [Narendra] Modi’s office, it is actually from PM Modi’s office. There have been many incidents where that’s not the case. So, understanding that something is truly authentic for consumers, fact-checkers, platforms and intermediaries is very important,” he said.

India’s large population, vast language and demographic diversity make it challenging to curb misinformation, he added, a vote in favor of simple labels to cut through that.

“That’s a little ‘CR’ … it’s two western letters like most Adobe tools, but this indicates there’s more context to be shown,” he said.

Controversy continues to surround what the real point might be behind tech companies supporting any kind of AI safety measure: Is it really about existential concern, or just having a seat at the table to give the impression of existential concern, all the while making sure their interests get safeguarded in the process of rule making?

“It’s generally not controversial with the companies who are involved, and all the companies who signed the recent Munich accord, including Adobe, who came together, dropped competitive pressures because these ideas are something that we all need to do,” he said in defense of the work.

 

OPINION

2024: A Space Odyssey — why the galaxy needs regulating

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  The European Space Agency is also looking to advance the space sustainability agenda (Photo: ESA–Stephane Corvaja, 2016)

By LENA BJÖRKHOLM AND LISE ERARD

BRUSSELS, 26. MAR, 2024

In a complex, changing, and increasingly contested space environment, nations must adopt a more comprehensive approach to space governance. Indeed, the intersection of commercial interests, technological advancements, and national security imperatives in our orbits presents new challenges.

Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has underscored the dual nature of space technologies, which now serve both civilian and critical military purposes with increasing frequency.

The conflict has seen earth observation satellites, previously dedicated to monitoring environmental phenomena, now being employed by both Russian and Ukrainian forces for reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering in the conflict.

As a result, the protection and resilience of space-based capabilities have become critical. Countries across the world are taking note. France's recent AsterX military exercise is the latest example of the ongoing efforts to bolster space capabilities and safeguard the integrity of assets.

The European drive for regulating space

Despite an exponential increase in activities in this domain, space remains lightly regulated. In response, there is now an evident push for regional powers such as the EU to legislate and protect sovereign access to space through what could be described as a dual-track approach to safety (sustainability concerns) and security (defence-related concerns).

The EU has been reassessing its stance on space as a military domain. The 2023 Space Strategy for Security and Defence emphasises the bloc's growing reliance on space in this context.

Additionally, the first-ever European Defence Industrial Strategy (EDIS) foresees the implementation of key projects, including Space Domain Awareness, slated for completion or advancement by 2035.

In parallel, the EU is promoting a safe and sustainable use of orbital resources through its approach to Space Traffic Management. The European Space Agency (ESA) is also looking to advance the space sustainability agenda by developing its Zero Debris Charter.

These efforts are crucial but often fail to observe the critical link between promoting space safety and ensuring overall security. In the space domain, the pressing challenge of orbital congestion necessitates the recalibration of strategy.

Adapting space defence strategies

The state of the orbital environment is now utterly different than when the first outer space treaty entered into force 60 years ago. With the emergence of the New Space industry, the number of satellites orbiting earth has surged significantly, increasing from approximately 500 to 8,000 over the past twenty-five years. As a result of this trend, the amount of trackable and non-trackable debris has skyrocketed, creating a highly fragile environment for the safe conduct of all space activities.

Orbital congestion raises the risk of collisions, posing a direct threat to space systems, including defence. Despite advances in terms of space surveillance and tracking technologies, not all debris can be monitored and therefore avoided.

Furthermore, debris resulting from kinetic and other adversarial attacks contributes to the fragility of the entire orbital environment, while often being overlooked in space defence strategies. Recent Russian warnings about nuclear space weapon development highlight broader safety concerns.

The use of a nuclear weapon in orbit would result in a substantial debris cloud, rendering nearby orbits likely impractical for use. While major spacefaring nations like Russia are unlikely to jeopardise their space assets, other nations like Iran might seek to level the playing field.

Current strategies inaccurately differentiate between safety and security concerns. Therefore, the full range of threats weighing on the integrity of space assets is hardly identified under a single common strategy and is thus difficult to address.

EU-Nato cooperation

Future laws and strategies must provide a comprehensive understanding of the challenges to our sovereign access to space. With the ability to set binding requirements to regulate access to its internal market, the EU is in a unique position to foster more sustainable behaviours.

Only a few weeks away from the publication of the first-ever proposal for a European Union Space Law (EUSL), the block must acknowledge the interdependencies between space safety and security.

Moving forward and expanding on the model of French AsterX, tabletop military exercises with like-minded partners should also be encouraged. The scenarios to be developed must consider safety risks as prime threats to military operations. Moreover, facilitating information-sharing is critical to reinforcing our common security under the EU-Nato cooperation.

AUTHOR BIO

Lena Björkholm and Lise Erard are both associates at Rasmussen Global, a political consultancy founded in 2014 by the former secretary general of Nato, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author's, not those of EUobserver.