China’s Huawei to launch ‘milestone’ smartphone with homegrown OS


By AFP
November 26, 2024

Chinese tech giant Huawei will on Tuesday launch its first smartphone equipped with a homegrown operating system - Copyright AFP STR, STR, STR

Peter Catterall and Luna Lin

Chinese tech giant Huawei will on Tuesday launch its first smartphone equipped with a fully homegrown operating system, a key test in the firm’s fight to challenge the dominance of Western juggernauts.

Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android are currently used in the vast majority of mobile phones, but Huawei is looking to change that with its newest Mate 70 devices, which run on the company’s own HarmonyOS Next.

The launch caps a major turnaround in the fortunes of Huawei, which saw its wings clipped by gruelling US sanctions in recent years but which has since bounced back with soaring sales.

“The search for a viable, scaleable mobile operating system largely free of Western company control has been a lengthy one in China,” Paul Triolo, a Partner for China and Technology Policy Lead at consulting firm Albright Stonebridge Group, told AFP.

But the new smartphone — also powered by an advanced domestically produced chip — shows Chinese tech firms can “persevere”, he said.

The Mate 70 is set to be unveiled at a company launch event on Tuesday afternoon at its Shenzhen headquarters.

Over three million have been pre-ordered, according to Huawei’s online shopping platform, though that does not require them to be purchased.

The risks are high — unlike a previous iteration, based on Android’s open-source code, HarmonyOS Next requires a complete rewiring of all apps on the smartphones it powers.

“HarmonyOS Next is the first home-grown operating system, a milestone for China to move away from reliance on Western technologies for software with performance improvement,” Gary Ng, a senior economist at Natixis, told AFP.

But, “while Chinese firms may be willing to allocate resources to contribute to Huawei’s ecosystem, there are challenges to whether HarmonyOS Next can offer the same number of apps and functionalities to global consumers”, Ng said.

– ‘High expectations’ –

Huawei found itself at the centre of an intense tech rivalry between Beijing and Washington, with US officials warning its equipment could be used to spy on behalf of Chinese authorities — allegations they deny.

Since 2019, US sanctions have cut Huawei off from global supply chains for technology and US-made components, a move that initially hammered its production of smartphones.

That fight is only set to intensify under US President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised huge tariffs on Chinese imports in response to what he says are Beijing’s unfair trade practices.

“Rather than Huawei inspiring the tech industry as a whole, it is the self-reliance trend of the Chinese tech industry that has made Huawei’s progress possible,” Toby Zhu, a senior analyst at technology research firm Canalys, told AFP.

The success of Huawei’s new generation of smartphone products will be a key gauge of whether that drive has worked, said Zhu.

“This generation of products cannot afford to miss the mark because everyone has high expectations for them,” he added.

Huawei was once China’s largest domestic smartphone maker before it became embroiled in a tech war between Washington and Beijing.

The company shipped more than 10.8 million smartphone units in the third quarter — capturing just 16 percent of the Chinese market, according to a recent Canalys report.

And it’s unclear whether developers overseas will be willing to spend the money needed to build a completely new version of their apps for the latest smartphones, Rich Bishop, co-founder and CEO of AppInChina, a publisher of international software in China, told AFP.

One third-party agency in China quoted a price of two million yuan ($275,500) to custom-fit a foreign app for HarmonyOS Next, he said.

To convince them, “Huawei needs to continuously improve the software, provide better support for developers, and convince the developer community that it is committed to the long-term development of the Harmony ecosystem”, said Triolo.

More or less: Erratic nature of UK’s electric vehicle charging network


By Dr. Tim Sandle
November 26, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

General Motors' Cadillar Lyriq is built in Spring Hill, Tennessee in a plant that can produce either conventional or electrical vehicles, depending on demand - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File SCOTT OLSON

Lower populated areas in the UK areas are outpacing London in electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, according to data compiled during October 2024. This extends to areas traditionally overlooked in tech advancements, like Wokingham and Vale of Glamorgan. Globally, electric car sales neared 14 million in 2023, 95% of which were in China, Europe and the U.S.

Wokingham alone has registered an increase in private EV ownership (n=185). Meanwhile, Vale of Glamorgan’s 85.19 percent increase in total charging stations is a testament to its proactive approach to infrastructure development.

The top ten areas are:Wokingham
Dumfries & Galloway
Stirling
Bedford
Vale of Glamorgan
Argyll and Bute
Ceredigion
Falkirk
Midlothian
Wrexham

However, enabling works highlight a divided nation. While some regions boast more than 30 percent growth in charging infrastructure, others are not keeping up, showing a divide that could shape future transport policies.

The bottom areas of the UK are:Darlington
Thurrock
North Somerset
Slough
Peterborough
Halton
Middlesbrough
Hartlepool
Torbay

This review comes from junction21chauffeurs.co.uk and it is designed to provide insights into the UK’s shift towards electric vehicles.

Areas with increases in total 50KW charging stations:Dumfries & Galloway: 94.44% increase from 18 to 35.
Wrexham: 75% increase from 16 to 28.
Falkirk: 63.64% increase from 9 to 18
Hartlepool: 60% increase from 5 to 8.
Argyll and Bute: 55.56% increase from 18 to 28.

Areas with decreases or slow progress in total 50KW charging stations:Vale of Glamorgan: -15% decrease from 20 to 17.
North Somerset: -8% decrease from 25 to 23.
Stirling: 3.7% decrease from 27 to 28.
Peterborough: 6.25% decrease from 16 to 17.
Wokingham: 11.84% decrease from 76 to 85.

These findings challenge existing narratives, revealing a complex landscape of EV adoption that spans beyond urban centres. The UK’s electric vehicle ambitions now hinges on a race against time – can the charging network expand fast enough to support the wave of new EVs hitting the roads?

Volkswagen says to sell operations in China’s Xinjiang


By AFP
November 27, 2024

VW has long come under scrutiny over its factory in the city of Urumqi - Copyright AFP/File Tobias SCHWARZ

German car giant Volkswagen said Wednesday it would sell its operations in China’s Xinjiang region, where Beijing has been accused of widespread human rights abuses including forced labour.

The firm will sell its factory in Xinjiang’s capital Urumqi as well as a test track in Turpan to a Chinese company, a spokesperson said in a press release.

Rights campaigners have for years accused Beijing of a crackdown against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, including through forced labour and detention camps.

The northwestern region is home to several factories that supply multinational companies, including big-name Western brands.

VW has long come under scrutiny over its factory in the city of Urumqi, which opened in 2013 and in which it has a stake via its partner SAIC.

And this year, Germany’s Handelsblatt financial daily reported that forced labour may have been used to build VW’s test track in Turpan in 2019.

VW said it had seen no evidence of human rights violations in connection with the project but vowed to investigate any new information that came to light.

Its operations will be sold to Chinese firm Shanghai Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (SMVIC), the car giant said Wednesday.

– Forced labour allegations –

Beijing stands accused of incarcerating over one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a network of detention facilities across Xinjiang.

Campaigners and Uyghurs overseas have said an array of abuses take place inside the facilities, including torture, forced labour, forced sterilisation and political indoctrination.

A UN report in 2022 detailed “credible” evidence of torture, forced medical treatment and sexual or gender-based violence — as well as forced labour — in the region.

But it stopped short of labelling Beijing’s actions a “genocide”, as the United States and some Western lawmakers have done.

Calls had grown louder for VW to reconsider its business activities in Xinjiang after German chemicals giant BASF announced this year that it would accelerate its exit from two joint ventures there.

An external audit commissioned by VW last year found no evidence of forced labour among the plant’s 197 employees.

But the consultancy that wrote the report acknowledged “the challenges in collecting data” for audits in China.

The Turpan test track was not part of the audit.

In response to the VW forced labour report, China urged companies not to be “blinded by lies” about its rights record in Xinjiang.

Beijing denies allegations of abuse and insists its actions in Xinjiang have helped to combat extremism and enhance development.

Vietnamese EV maker Vinfast reports $550 million Q3 loss


By AFP
November 27, 2024

A Vinfast electric car travels down a street in Hanoi - Copyright AFP Nhac NGUYEN

Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast reported a net loss of $550 million for the third quarter, less than the same period last year as the firm recorded an uptick in sales.

The communist state’s first homegrown car manufacturer is aiming to compete with global EV giants such as Tesla.

VinFast shares have fluctuated wildly since debuting on the Nasdaq in August 2023, at one point soaring to a market value bigger than Ford and General Motors before lurching downward.

Late Tuesday, VinFast said its third-quarter net loss was down 14.8 percent compared with last year’s July-September period, according to its unaudited financial results.

The company said it delivered almost 22,000 vehicles in the quarter, an on-year increase of 115 percent.

Revenue for the quarter stood at $511 million, an on-year jump of 49 percent.

“We expect to finish 2024 on a strong note and meet our 80,000 vehicle delivery target,” VinFast chairwoman Thuy Le said in a statement.

VinFast last year reported a net loss of $2.39 billion, up 14.7 percent from 2022.

With 173 showrooms globally, the company is trying to crack markets in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, the United States and Canada.

The company is scheduled to open factories in Subang, Indonesia and in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu next year.

Earlier this month, CEO Pham Nhat Vuong and parent group Vingroup said they would inject $3.5 billion in new funding into the company.

The goal is to achieve the break-even point by the end of 2026.

Vuong, Vietnam’s richest person, was appointed CEO of VinFast earlier this year. He is also chairman of parent firm Vingroup.

Stalled engines? Driverless routes and roboshuttles


By Dr. Tim Sandle
November 27, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Waymo plans to have its self-driving taxis on the road soon in two more US cities as it cautiously expands operations 

- Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP MARIO TAMA

How close are we to true driverless vehicles being made available to consumers? The big buzz subject in the automotive world from a decade ago may have slowed; yet there continue to be significant developments in this area. With current developments, automation can vary from level 0 to level 5 within the automotive industry, from sole reliance on driver control, all the way to completely driverless vehicles.

There is also considerable investment. The latest report “Roboshuttles and Autonomous Buses 2024-2044” predicts that the global sales revenue of roboshuttles and autonomous buses is to exceed US$67 billion by 2044.

The report predicts that roboshuttles and autonomous buses will likely strive for level 5 operation as a long-term goal, although at present they are currently aiming for level 4, where driverless operation can take place within specific areas.

Unlike most buses, roboshuttles are designed to be small, with not-too-large capacities, making them suitable to deploy in higher numbers within small areas.

Operating under level 4 driving conditions, these vehicles are driverless and efficient, accommodating up to 22 passengers. Despite being smaller than a minibus, the extra room allowed by having no driver means their 4–6-meter length can hold a greater capacity.

Commercialization, however, is proving tricky for roboshuttles, with many being deployed on trial but struggling to go any further towards mainstream acceptance.

Consequently, IDTechEx reports a decline in the number of players from over 25 to just 12 since 2020, with most companies still in the early stages of development in 2023.

Autonomous buses – mini, midi, and city

Mini, midi, and city buses are among the various types of autonomous buses. These are higher capacity of buses compared to roboshuttles, at around 100 passengers per city bus.

The large number of investments required for autonomous buses to become mainstream is indicated by the limited number of players within the market. The regulatory challenges faced by companies, alongside the increased challenges and slow progress of level 4 systems in larger buses, are also factors slowing down commercialization.

There are some successes, such as the autonomous night bus project in South Korea, where a shortage of taxis might otherwise cause transportation concerns, again highlighting a real-world application for these buses.

Going forwards, the development of autonomous buses and roboshuttles is likely to continue somewhat slowly due to a lack of funding and regulatory challenges.

Is remote working good for the environment?


ByDr. Tim Sandle
November 26, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Remote working / home working, using a laptop. — Image by © Tim Sandle

Does the post-COVID rise in remote working correlate with an improvement to the environment? This is not a straightforward question to answer, and it depends on the parameters considered. On one hand, remote work eliminates daily commutes, leading to a reduction in transportation emissions; on the other hand, it also increases home energy use and alters lifestyle habits. Assessments also depend on situational factors like home building and local infrastructure.

One academic study has identified that people who work remotely all the time produce less than half the greenhouse gas emissions of office workers – a finding that requires permanent home working in order for the data to support the environmental argument.

Some measures are sufficiently clear, such as transportation. Using this metric coupled with fuel consumption, a survey, from Coworking Magazine (who will have some interest in this topic) has looked at major conurbations in the U.S. to produce groupings of cities that experience the biggest impact on their environment thanks to remote and hybrid work.

The document reveals the top three large cities with the biggest environmental impact to be:Baltimore, MD (198% WFH growth) – 4% drop in commute time; 7% improvement in air quality; 26.9% drop in carbon footprint; 3.4% reduction in gas consumption; 3.8% reduction in electricity consumption.
Washington, D.C. (279% WFH growth) – 1% drop in commute time; 5% improvement in air quality; 23.3% drop in carbon footprint; 13.5% reduction in electricity consumption.
San Jose, CA (288% WFH growth) – 7% drop in commute time; 8.3% drop in carbon footprint; 5.9% reduction in gas consumption; 0.9% reduction in electricity consumption.

Dropping the population down, the report further identifies the top three mid-sized cities with the biggest environmental impact:Newark, NJ (188% WFH growth) – 6% drop in commute time; 6% improvement in air quality; 8.3% drop in carbon footprint; 4.6% reduction in gas consumption; 0.9% reduction in electricity consumption.
Oakland, CA (203% WFH growth) – 6% drop in commute time; 8.3% drop in carbon footprint; 5.9% reduction in gas consumption; 0.9% reduction in electricity consumption.
Irvine, CA (175% WFH growth) – 5% drop in commute time; 8.3% drop in carbon footprint; 5.9% reduction in gas consumption; 0.9% reduction in electricity consumption.

At the lowest end of the scale, the top three small cities with the biggest environmental impact were found to be:Columbia, MD (256% WFH growth) – 2% drop in commute time; 7% improvement in air quality; 26.9% drop in carbon footprint; 3.4% reduction in gas consumption; 3.8% reduction in electricity consumption.
Quincy, MA (421% WFH growth) – 7% drop in commute time; 9.9% drop in carbon footprint; 5.1% reduction in gas consumption; 3.8% reduction in electricity consumption.
Simi Valley, CA (133% WFH growth) – 8% drop in commute time; 8.3% drop in carbon footprint; 5.9% reduction in gas consumption; 0.9% reduction in electricity consumption.

The results are of interest, although how the data connects is not straightforward since remote work is not zero carbon and the environmental impact of hybrid work is not linear.

FAMILIA POLITICKS

Philippine VP denies assassination plot against Marcos

By AFP
November 26, 2024

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said the government's plot accusations amounted to 'farce' - Copyright AFP JAM STA ROSA

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday denied she was plotting to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, saying her comments that sparked a government probe only reflected “consternation” with her one-time ally.

The country’s justice department on Monday called Duterte the “self-confessed mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the president and issued a subpoena demanding she appear at a formal inquiry.

The move followed Duterte telling reporters she had instructed one of her security team members to kill Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos and cousin Martin Romualdez if an alleged plot to assassinate her was successful.

But Duterte appeared to walk those comments back Tuesday, describing them as an expression of “consternation” at the Marcos administration’s “failure to serve the Filipinos while it masterfully persecutes political enemies”.

She also said the government’s plot accusations amounted to “farce”.

“Common sense should be enough for us to understand and accept that a supposed conditional act of revenge does not constitute an active threat. This is a plan without flesh,” Duterte said in a statement.

“I am confident that an honest scrutiny would easily expose this narrative (of a supposed plot to kill Marcos) to be farce, imagined, or nothing at all.”



– ‘Active threat’ –



The Marcos-Duterte alliance that swept to power in 2022 has collapsed spectacularly in the lead-up to next year’s mid-term elections, with both sides trading allegations of drug addiction.

In the expletive-laced press conference on Saturday, Duterte had named the Marcos couple and Romualdez as targets, saying she had told a security team member: “If I die, don’t stop until you have killed them.”

Hours later, the presidential palace said it was treating the comments as an “active threat”.

Duterte, daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, was Marcos’ running mate in a presidential election that saw their ticket win in a landslide.

She remains his constitutional successor should he be unable to finish his six-year term.

But she is currently facing an investigation in the House of Representatives, led by Romualdez, over her alleged misuse of millions of dollars’ worth of government funds.

Both Romualdez and Duterte are widely expected to run for president in 2028.

Duterte stepped down as education secretary in June as relations between the two families reached a breaking point.

In October, the vice president said she felt “used” after teaming with Marcos for the 2022 poll.

Months earlier, her father had accused Marcos of being a “drug addict”, with the president the next day claiming his predecessor’s health was failing due to long-term use of the powerful opioid fentanyl.

The vice president told reporters Tuesday: “I agree with the assumption that he (Marcos) is a drug addict”.

Neither have provided evidence for their allegations.

Brazil’s top court takes on regulation of social media


By AFP
November 27, 2024

Elon Musk's X social media platform had a run in with Brazil's Supreme Court this year, and lost - Copyright AFP/File Mauro PIMENTEL

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Wednesday started examining four cases that turn on how far social media should be regulated, and what responsibilities platforms have in cracking down on illegal content.

The judicial review comes a month after the same court forced Elon Musk’s X platform to obey rulings aimed at battling online disinformation.

That issue has taken on heat in recent days in Brazil, with federal police accusing far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro and allied officials of using social media disinformation as part of a 2022 “coup” plot against Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, then the country’s president-elect.

The alleged plot involved using online posts to undermine public trust in the electoral system to justify Bolsonaro holding onto the presidency after Lula defeated him at the polls. Bolsonaro says he is innocent.

The Supreme Court’s deliberations in the cases are not expected to be concluded until sometime next year.

One key point it is looking at is whether social media platforms can be fined for illegal content posted by users.

Another is whether the platforms should themselves be required to monitor and remove any illegal content without a prior court order to do so.

The court’s rulings will become precedents that will have to be applied generally to all social media platforms operating in Brazil.

Brazil — many of whose 216 million inhabitants are heavy users of WhatsApp and Facebook — does not have legislation in that area.

Global social media networks, however, already have to abide by laws in the EU against illegal online content, under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which could guide them in terms of Brazilian compliance.

One of the Brazilian Supreme Court’s judges, Alexandre de Moraes, in August ordered Musk’s X be blocked across the country for failing to comply with a series of court orders against online disinformation.

On October 9, the platform was allowed to resume activities after paying around $5 million in fines and deactivating the accounts of several Bolsonaro supporters accused of spreading disinformation and online hate speech.

The court’s presiding judge, Luis Roberto Barroso, told AFP that “digital platforms… open paths to disinformation, hate, deliberate lies and conspiracy theories.”

He added: “In the whole democratic world there are debates about protecting free speech without permitting everyone to fall into a pit of incivility.”

He pointed to the European Union’s DSA as a form of regulation “that seeks a point of ideal equilibrium”.

Brazil, in his opinion, should carve out its own regulation “with a minimum of government intervention where it comes to freedom of thought, while preventing increased criminality and inciting violence.”

‘It felt like I was invisible’: Melissa Barrera on the aftermath of taking a stand for Gaza


The actor, who was fired from the Scream franchise for calling out Netanyahu, recalled experiencing times when she felt her life had ended.

Images Staff
27 Nov, 2024
DAWN

Melissa Barrera is opening up about the darkest year of her life after facing a major career setback for taking a stand for Gaza. In a candid interview with The Independent, the actor shared her journey of self-discovery following her firing from the Scream franchise.

A year ago, Barrera became known as a staunch advocate for Palestine. She actively called out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his regime’s atrocities in Gaza.

“Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp,” she wrote in an Instagram story in October 2023. “This is genocide and ethnic cleansing.” In another post, she talked about the struggle to find news stories on Palestinian suffering. “Western media only shows the other side. Why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself. We don’t need more hate. No Islamophobia. No antisemitism,” she wrote.

Spyglass, the studio behind the latest Scream films, immediately dropped Barrera from the franchise. “We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech,” the company said in a statement following her removal.

Barrera released her own statement, saying she condemned “antisemitism and Islamophobia,” and hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people. “I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism.”

Reflecting on that time, Barrera told the outlet, “It was the darkest and hardest year of my life, and I had to reevaluate everything. There were times when I felt like my life was over.”

For nearly 10 months after getting fired, the actor recalled how substantial job offers were scarce. While smaller roles trickled in, the overarching sentiment seemed to be that she was “desperate” for roles.

“It was quiet for, like, 10 months. I was still getting offers for small things here and there — I’m not going to lie and say there was nothing — but the message was, like, ‘Oh, she probably doesn’t have work, she’ll say yes to anything,’” Barrera explained.

“I would get [roles] that I wasn’t excited about, and I’ve never been a person that just wants to work for work’s sake. I give so much of myself to acting that if a part of me feels like it’s not worth it, I’m gonna be miserable,” she added.

The professional lull forced Barrera to reassess her personality beyond her acting career. “For the longest time, I gave myself value as a human because of my work. So when I saw it potentially ending, I was like, who even am I? And I realised that I’m so much more than just an actor — I’m a great sister, a great daughter, a great friend.”

Barrera expressed mixed emotions when reflecting on her time in the Scream franchise. “They gave me a lot in my career. I made really good friends. I have such loyal fans from those movies.” However, the firing and subsequent backlash remain a sore point. Fans also frequently bring up the controversy when they meet her, she said.

The series itself has shifted directions, with the seventh instalment starring Neve Campbell. Barrera also recalled getting sympathy for what happened to her from fans and how uncomfortable that made her, making her feel like she failed at something.

“They’re like, ‘What they did to you is so messed up, I’m so sorry that happened!’ And it’s something, I think, that’s never going to end. Because the franchise is never going to end. So while I still have so much love for [those movies], the reminders of that very sour moment make it a little bit weird,” she said.

Right after Barrera’s dismissal, Campbell agreed to return for the forthcoming Scream VII, which divided fans of the franchise. Some, out of respect for Barrera, pledged to boycott subsequent installments, while others, out of loyalty to the series’ original heroine, pledged full allegiance to Campbell.

View this post on Instagram

When asked if she had any thoughts on the divide, Barrera said, “I think there have always been Scream factions. If they want to go watch the next one? Cool. If they don’t? Also cool. You just gotta act according to how you preach. And that depends on what you value, what your morals are, and whether you can separate them from art or not. Some people can’t listen to R Kelly or Michael Jackson, or watch Woody Allen films anymore. And then there are people who don’t care.”

After months of uncertainty, Barrera is once again finding her footing in Hollywood. She is currently filming an espionage series for Peacock alongside Simu Liu, which she describes as a revitalising experience. “It felt like I was invisible, and then all of a sudden, there was a switch that made me visible again,” she shared.

This new project has helped her regain confidence. As she continues to rebuild, Barrera is focused on aligning herself with collaborators who share her values and vision. “I was stuck in the dunes for a while, and now I feel like my feet are moving, I have an oxygen tank, and I’m, like … going up.”

Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire takes effect, civilians head back to south Lebanon

Reuters | Anadolu Agenc

 November 27, 2024 

A man waves a Lebanese flag as he stands amidst the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes in Tyre, Lebanon on November 27. — Reuters

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the US and France, a rare victory for diplomacy in a region traumatised by two devastating conflicts for over a year.

At least 55 people were killed on Monday in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, bringing the death toll since October 2023 to 3,823, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

A total of 160 others were wounded over the past 24 hours, raising the number of injuries to 15,859.

In the hours leading up to the ceasefire, Israeli airstrikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut and its southern suburbs, as well as the southern and eastern provinces of the country, had intensified, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries.

While the ceasefire largely held on Wednesday morning, Israel said it identified Hezbollah operatives returning to areas near the border and had opened fire to prevent them from coming closer.

Lebanon’s army, tasked with helping ensure the ceasefire holds, said in a statement on Wednesday it was preparing to deploy to the south of the country.

The military also asked that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military, which has fought against Hezbollah on several occasions and pushed around six kilometres into Lebanese territory, withdraws.

The agreement, which promises to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by Israel’s invasion of Gaza last year, is touted as a major achievement for the US in the waning days of President Joe Biden’s administration.

“Force must give way to dialogue and negotiation. This has now been achieved in Lebanon, and it must happen as soon as possible in the Gaza Strip,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told franceinfo radio.

Bursts of gunfire could be heard across Lebanon’s capital Beirut after the ceasefire took effect at 0200 GMT. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was celebratory, as gunfire had also been used to alert residents who may have missed evacuation warnings issued by Israel’s military.

Later, cars and vans piled high with mattresses, suitcases and even furniture streamed through the southern port city of Tyre, which was heavily bombed in the final days before the ceasefire, heading further south.

Some cars waved Lebanese flags, others honked, and one woman could be seen flashing the victory sign with her fingers.

A Lebanese girl gestures as she arrives in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on November 27 as displaced people make their way back to their homes in the south of Lebanon after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. — AFP

Many of the villages the people were likely returning to have been destroyed. But displaced families renting out alternative housing have been under financial pressure and hoped to avoid paying another month of rent, some of them told Reuters.

Some displaced people said they were still nervous about returning.

Hussam Arrout, a father of four who said he was displaced from Beirut’s southern suburbs and was originally from the southern border village of Mays al-Jabal, said he was itching to get to his ancestral home.

“The Israelis haven’t withdrawn in full, they’re still on the edge. So we decided to wait until the army announces that we can go in. Then we’ll turn the cars on immediately and go to the village,” he said.
‘Permenant cessation’

Biden spoke at the White House on Tuesday shortly after Israel’s security cabinet approved the agreement in a 10-1 vote. He said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and that fighting would end at 4am local time (0200 GMT).

“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” Biden said. “What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again.”

Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days as Lebanon’s army takes control of territory near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there after a costly conflict, Biden said.

He said his administration was also pushing for an elusive ceasefire in Gaza and that it was possible that Saudi Arabia and Israel could normalise relations.

Hezbollah has not formally commented on the ceasefire but senior official Hassan Fadlallah told Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV that while it supported the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority, the group would emerge from the conflict stronger.

“Thousands will join the resistance … Disarming the resistance was an Israeli proposal that fell through,” said Fadlallah, who is also a member of Lebanon’s parliament.

The front page of the pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar paper featured a picture of two men carrying a Hezbollah flag in front of a partially collapsed building with the caption, “Steadfast … and victorious.”

The picture on the front page of the Al-Akhbar paper featured a picture of two men carrying a Hezbollah flag in front of a partially collapsed building.

 — Photo courtesy Al-Akhbar website


Iran, which allegedly supports Hezbollah, Palestinian group Hamas as well as the Houthi rebels from Yemen that have intervened to deter Israel from its invasion of Gaza, said it welcomed the ceasefire.

In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei welcomed the development, stressing his country’s “firm support for the Lebanese government, nation and resistance”.

He stressed the international community’s responsibility in maintaining peace and stability in the region, and in pressuring Israel to stop its aggression on Gaza, where it has killed more than 43,000 people since Oct 7, 2023.

Israel has dealt heavy blows to both Hezbollah and Hamas, killing several of their top leaders.

Lebanon’s Mikati issued a statement welcoming the deal. Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the Lebanese army would have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdrew.

Netanyahu said he was ready to implement a ceasefire but would respond forcefully to any violation by Hezbollah.

He said the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus on the alleged threat from Iran, give the army an opportunity to rest and replenish supplies, and isolate Hamas.
‘Set it back decades’

Hezbollah, which is allied to Hamas, was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict, Netanyahu added.

“We have set it back decades, eliminated … its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, neutralised thousands of fighters and obliterated years of terror infrastructure near our border,” he said.

A senior US official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said the US and France would join a mechanism with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon peacekeeping force that would work with Lebanon’s army to deter potential violations of the ceasefire. US combat forces would not be deployed, the official said.

A man sits in front of the rubble of a mosque in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on November 27, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. — AFP

In the hours leading up to the ceasefire, hostilities raged as Israel intensified its campaign of airstrikes in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, with health authorities reporting at least 18 killed.

The Israeli military said it struck “components of Hezbollah’s financial management and systems”, including a money-exchange office. Hezbollah also kept up rocket fire into Israel in the final hours.

Annual COP-out

Mahir Ali 

Published November 27, 2024 





EVEN the low expectations that preceded the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29), which concluded in the early hours of Sunday, turned out to have been too high.

After the gavel came down in Baku on a deal proposing $300 billion in financial assistance by 2035 to developing nations struggling to decarbonise and cope in other ways with the swiftly mounting consequences of climate change, Indian representative Chandni Raina justifiably decried a “stage-managed” process that had produced “nothing more than an optical illusion”.

A week earlier, Pakistan’s former climate change minister Sherry Rehman had declared: “We’re here for life and death reasons”, demanding “internationally determined contributions” from the biggest historical contributors to global heating, and pointing out the pitfalls of leaving too much to the private sector.

Inevitably, given the timing of the conference, the malevolent spectre of Donald Trump hung over the proceedings. Even at the best of times, the US has hardly stood out as a leader in the combat against devastating climate change, with the majority of its legislators — all too many of them addicted to contributions from fossil fuel firms and lobbyists — turning pale at the prospect of a Green New Deal. But Trump and some of his closest associates are seemingly determined to pump up the volume of oil and gas extraction because all the hullabaloo about climate change is, after all, no more than a hoax.

He may well agree with Argentina’s Javier Milei, a kindred spirit from the loony right who claims to have been hailed by Trump as his “favourite president” — and who withdrew his nation’s delegation from Baku after the first three days — that the climate crisis is just a “socialist lie”.


Can humanity recover from the bungle in Baku?

What is a little more perturbing is that Azerbaijan’s leadership appears to be on more or less the same page, with President Ilham Aliyev hailing oil and gas as a “gift from God”, with no acknowledgement of the various other natural wonders that are at risk because humans insist on burning fossil fuels for energy. Besides, aren’t alternative sources of energy such as sunshine and wind equally gifts from the same source?

There’s no dearth of sunlight in Azer­bai­jan, but 90 per cent of its foreign income comes from fossil fuel exports — which in­­clude nearly 40pc of Israel’s oil imports, cur­­­rently facilitating a genocide. The quid pro quo is weapons supplies from Israel, which may well have facilitated the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Nagorno-Kara­bakh. It certainly might be worthwhile conducting such conferences in oil- and gas-producing nations genuinely interested in reducing their reliance on fossil fuels. But this year’s host appeared to be even less interested in investigating that path than last year’s previous petrostate venue.

COP28 in Dubai was presided over by the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and swarmed with oil and gas lobbyists. The conference formally acknowledged for the first time the link between fossil fuels and climate change, something that was evident decades earlier. And it did so in the face of staunch resistance from Saudi Arabia, where the crown prince’s now diminished Vision 2030 excludes any inclination towards compensating the victims of its incredibly lucrative oil boom. By all accounts, the Saudis were again desperate to achieve the same outcome at Baku. Their ploy flopped again. But does it matter?

The previous $100bn-a-year finance deal did not add up until well after its 2020 deadline. Its tripling (or doubling, if inflation is taken into account) is likely to meet the same fate. The 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold might be breached as soon as this year, amid an increase in emissions notwithstanding previous COPs, and a near-consensus that 2024 will turn out to be the hottest year on record. Climate scientists are constantly being flabbergasted by what Harold Macmillan might have designated as “events, dear boy, events”. Who knows where the world might be in 2035, by when the $300bn level is supposed to be reached. That’s only a fraction of the notionally required resources, and it may even be too late to make much of a difference with the trillions that no one seriously expects to be doled out.

It is hardly necessary to point out that the UN’s efforts to tackle the climate emergency have been ineffective. But anyone who suggests that a failing process should be abandoned must present a viable alternative. That’s not easy, short of straying into fantasy world. It’s a small mercy that COP30 will take place in Brazil, whose present government is dedicated to thwarting climate change. Perhaps putting the remarkably astute Greta Thunberg and fellow young activists from around the world in charge of working out the way forward might be the ideal option. But I must be dreaming.

mahir.dawn@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2024