Blue Economy Must Benefit Fishing Communities in Global South, Says WorldFish Chief

By Neena Bhandarit |

Dr Essam Yassin Mohammed, Director General of WorldFish.

SYDNEY, Jun 7 2024 (IPS) - The Global South is crucial for ensuring aquatic food security to feed the growing world population. It is imperative that blue economy initiatives benefit fishing communities in developing and small island nations, which are facing disproportionate impacts of climate change, says Dr Essam Yassin Mohammed, Director General of WorldFish, an international non-profit research organization based in Penang, Malaysia.

“More than three billion people depend on aquatic foods as their main source of protein and micronutrients, and nearly 800 million people rely on fishing for their livelihood. The Global South produces a significant portion of the world’s aquatic food and 95 percent of the fishing workforce comes from these regions,” notes Mohammed, who is also CGIAR’s Senior Director of Aquatic Food Systems.

Growing up in Eritrea’s capital, Asmara, situated on a highland plateau 2325 meters above sea level, Mohammed learned the value of food early in life. The country had recently gained independence from Ethiopia in 1991, and young children like him were motivated to contribute to the nation’s food security.

“Eritrea, a coastal country by the Red Sea, had abundant fish and marine resources. We believed these resources would be critical in making the country food secure so some of us decided to study marine biology and fishery science,” he adds.

While working for Eritrea’s Ministry of Fisheries, he was tasked with enhancing fish consumption amongst the Highlanders, who traditionally had no connection with the sea. He then realized that driving behavioral change in people’s diets, while considering cultural food preferences, is far more complex. To meet this challenging task and to better understand the interaction between humans and the ecosystem, he decided to train as a development economist.

“Integrating fisheries science with economics has profoundly shifted my viewpoint and deepened my comprehension of the intricate interplay within socio-ecological systems. This has defined my career, and I have never looked back,”  says Mohammed, who is committed to improving fisheries and aquaculture amidst the challenges of climate change, habitat degradation, and aquatic animal diseases.

Shifting ocean currents and warming waters are having a significant impact on fish stocks and coastal infrastructure, inundating lands and altering marine ecosystems, which is affecting the productivity of some fish species and forcing them to migrate to more optimal environments.

He says, “While large-scale commercial fishing vessels can still pursue and catch these fish say 20 km away, it is technically and financially prohibitive for small-scale operators with small boats to do so. This is where climate change becomes a social justice issue, impacting coastal communities’ access to food and causing loss of livelihoods and cultural identity.”

“At WorldFish, we are going beyond helping communities become climate resilient by creating viable livelihood opportunities, which include development of climate-resilient fish strains, adoption of sustainable aquaculture practices and assisting governments strengthen their fisheries policies, for fishing and fish farming-dependent communities to thrive under a changing climate,” he adds.

WorldFish research is helping prevent aquatic animal diseases, which cause an estimated global annual loss of over USD 6 billion, by ensuring that the food being produced is safe for human consumption.

“One of the critical aspects of fish farming is that once fish are exposed to a disease, the entire stock can perish.

We are democratizing fish health diagnosis with Lab in a Backpack initiative. It’s a compact digital tool that enables fish farmers to quickly diagnose the disease, contact service providers for treatment advice, and also learn how to deal with anti-microbial-resistant  diseases,” he explains.

The initiative is helping fish farmers build their capacity for the best biosecurity management practices by integrating the One Health approach, which prioritizes the health of fish, the environment, and people.

Besides diseases, plastic pollution in the ocean poses a significant threat to marine life and ecosystems. In November 2024, governments will meet for the final round of UN negotiations for a global treaty to end plastic pollution.

Mohammed says, “Once plastics enter the ocean, they are there to stay indefinitely. We have seen many instances of plastics harming marine life—straws stuck in the nostrils of turtles or dolphins—and now traces of microplastics have been found in fish tissues. It means those microplastics are being ingested by human beings, impacting their health too.”

“We need a legally binding treaty to mitigate plastic pollution. There is a global consensus now, but this needs to be followed by action on minimizing and eliminating plastic use and establishing a robust waste management system,” he adds.

Mohammed warns that many developed countries are prioritizing short-term economic gains at the cost of long-term sustainability and conservation of the global marine ecosystem. “We need to perceive the natural capital—marine life, oceans, and water bodies as economic infrastructure; and reinvest in them to ensure they continue to provide for us in the future,” he asserts.

According to the World Bank, blue economy is the “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of the ocean ecosystem.”

Currently, investments in blue economy initiatives are not percolating down to developing countries. WorldFish research reveals that from 2017 to 2021, USD 5.9 billion allocated to blue economy initiatives was concentrated mainly in Europe and Central Asia, and 35 percent of examined projects had potential risks for creating or exacerbating social inequities.

“Blue economy investments must benefit developing countries and small island nations. Those who are farthest behind must be able to benefit the most,” Mohammed tells IPS.

The total fisheries and aquaculture production (excluding algae) is expected to reach over 200 million metric tons in 2030, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

“Small-scale operators in the Global South supply up to 50 percent of aquatic food consumed globally. Ensuring that investments in the blue economy benefit these communities is essential for achieving shared prosperity and addressing climate change impacts on food security,” says Mohammed.

IPS UN Bureau Report

WATER IS LIFE NOT FOR $ALE

EU WATER FINANCE AND PPPs  

Public Private Partnerships and the financial sustainability of the Mediterranean water sector

June 7, 2024

“We are proud to present the report of the First UfM Annual Conference on Water Investment and Financing. In the process of developing the UfM Financial Strategy for Water, we heard from our partners that a regional platform was very much needed to facilitate dialogue and peer learning on this crucial topic among all stakeholders. We promptly reacted to that demand, with an ambitious vision, and launched what we hoped could soon become an important feature in the calendar of the water and financing sectors in our region.”

Download

Public Private Partnerships and the financial sustainability of the Mediterranean water sector

WATER, THE WEFE NEXUS AND FINANCE  – Applying a Water-Energy-Food-Environment nexus approach to water finance and investments

June 7, 2024

This publication describes a policy agenda for applying the Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) nexus approach to water finance and investments. It presents the conclusions and recommendations of the 4th Conference on Water Finance and Investment co-organised on 30th-31st October 2023 in Cairo (Egypt) by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), European Union (EU) Delegation in Egypt, and the African Development Bank, in partnership with the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources, and with financial support from Sweden. The first conference took place in Rome (Italy) in December 2019 and, after a pause due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, subsequent conferences have taken place annually since 2021 in Cairo (Egypt) in the framework of Cairo Water Week.

Download

Applying a Water-Energy-Food-Environment nexus approach to water finance and investments

SPACE TOO

War and Mir: Russia cannot back up its nuclear space race threats

7 June 2024
Maxim Starchak
Research Fellow at the Centre for International and Defence Policy, Queen’s University, Canada

On May 22, Pentagon spokesperson Patrick Ryder stated publicly that it was “likely” Russia had launched an anti-satellite weapon into low-Earth orbit. The development came just a month after Russia blocked a U.S.-Japanese resolution in the UN Security Council on the non-deployment of nuclear weapons in space. Since Moscow has traditionally opposed the militarization of space, the U.S. took Russia’s veto as a possible cover-up. According to Maxim Starchak, a research fellow at the Center for International and Defense Policy at Queen’s University (Canada), the Kremlin has every incentive to engage in such behavior. However, the resources available to Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, are so limited that the veiled threats are more likely aimed at affecting negotiations than at waging war in the cosmos.

No country on Earth can compete with the space-based capabilities of the United States military. America’s constellation of satellites allows for the integration of combat intelligence, communications, and navigation systems, enabling Washington’s land, sea, and air forces to coordinate operations among themselves.The U.S. possesses approximately 240 military satellites, while Russia has just over 100, and in terms of the total number of satellites, the gap is colossal: 5180 against 180.

The massive imbalance is easily explained by the difference in production capabilities between the two countries. While the U.S. can build approximately 3,000 spacecraft a year, Russia can only produce 40.

The U.S. possesses approximately 240 military satellites for various purposes, while Russia has just over 100

In addition, the U.S. can use commercial and civilian satellites as part of its military operations, and satellite imagery from American private companies has been a great help for Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression.
Why the Russian-Chinese treaty against weapons in space does not work

Russian nuclear doctrine considers the creation and deployment of missile defense and strike systems in space to be a threat, as Moscow fears that Washington could use its superiority in outer space to launch an unstoppable attack on Russia's strategic forces.

To combat this threat, in 2008 Russia and China submitted a proposal to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva: a draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects (PPWT). At the time, the two countries could not rival America’s financial and technical capabilities, meaning that a blanket ban on weapons in space represented their only opportunity to limit U.S. military superiority in that domain.

Putting forward the diplomatic initiative to ban space-based weapons systems, Russia nevertheless asserted that the development of terrestrial anti-satellite systems should not be outlawed. In other words, Russia and China sought both to limit the presence of U.S. military systems in space and to continue developing their on-the-ground anti-space systems. The proposal was unrealistic, of course.

The draft treaty had other shortcomings as well, including its vague definition of what should be considered a “weapon,” especially given the abundance of space-based systems used for military navigation, communication, monitoring, and command and control. In addition, the draft did not provide for the verification of the treaty’s implementation. As a result, the initiative was not given serious consideration.

Russia and China attempted to revive PPWT deliberations by presenting an updated draft in 2014, but they found no support from the United States. Later discussions have led only to the parties exchanging political commitments not to place weapons in space first, while also voicing calls for transparency.

In the meantime, China began to actively develop its space program, outpacing Russia in all core parameters and becoming second only to the U.S. In the future, the Chinese program is set to include more advanced navigation, communication, and reconnaissance systems that can support military operations from space. Since China cannot deploy these systems without also taking measures to ensure their security against attack, the value of PPWT for Beijing is declining.

China began to actively develop its space program, outpacing Russia in all core parameters and becoming second only to the U.S.

Obsolete Russian satellites

Although Russia has several space-based military systems that support the operations of its armed forces, none of them are operating at full capacity. The country has no radar imaging satellites, and only a limited number of photo satellites, with some of them expired. The Russian data relay satellite network, which can transmit images from reconnaissance satellites during the long periods when they are not in sight of ground stations, is also limited.

No wonder Dmitry Rogozin, then the head of Roscosmos, used outdated satellite images when making veiled threats against NATO in advance of the alliance’s 2022 summit in Madrid. One day before the opening of the event, the Roscosmos Telegram channel published a collection of images showing “the summit site and those very ‘decision-making centers’ supporting Ukrainian nationalists.” The images were labeled as if they had been taken recently by a Russian “Resurs-P” satellite; however, all of Russia’s “Resurs-P” satellites were out of commission at the time.

Russia’s space launch crisis further complicates its situation. Maintaining even limited constellations of spacecraft requires multiple launches, but Russia has carried out only 15-26 launches per year for the past eight years, far fewer than the United States or China. In 2023 alone, the U.S. had 109 successful launches, China had 66, and Russia had 19.

In 2023 alone, the U.S. had 109 successful launches, China had 66, and Russia had 19

Another major constraint is weak ground infrastructure. Although Moscow can put a group of military satellites into orbit, not all Russian military complexes can receive the signals they send back. Russia's space capabilities are generally poorly incorporated into its armed forces' command structure, making it difficult for Russian troops to benefit from them. Commanders have no understanding of how to leverage space-based assets and no technical or organizational prerequisites for their use. In addition, Russia’s shortage of satellites is compounded by the fact that its spacecraft are capable of staying in orbit for only half as long as their American counterparts, according to expert estimates.

In light of the above, Russia has a greater motivation to shoot down enemy satellites that the U.S. — or even China — does. That is precisely why Moscow is developing anti-satellite weapons, and why Washington is right to fear them. Proposals from Russian political and military experts only suggest a desire for further escalation.

Soviet-era innovations

In March 2018, less than three weeks before Russia’s presidential election, Vladimir Putin addressed the country’s Federal Assembly. After more than an hour of largely forgettable domestic policy talk, the topic shifted to defense, and the videos soon began: largely computer generated demonstrations of the supposedly groundbreaking Burevestnik cruise missile and Poseidon nuclear torpedo. However, the development of both projects began in Soviet times, and the same is true of Russia's space-based nuclear weapons.

In Washington, as part of a recent hearing before Congress, Pentagon representatives expressed concern about nuclear weapons and the potential for a nuclear explosion to be set off in Earth’s orbit. U.S. media sources familiar with the intelligence behind the statement clarified that the matter at hand concerns a nuclear weapon — and not a nuclear facility, as was previously thought. We still do not know what kind of weapon it may be, but in order to get a better idea of the range of possibilities it is instructive to examine two Soviet programs, the SK-1000 and the SP-2000, developed in the 1980s as a response to the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative (a.k.a. “Star Wars”).

The SK-1000 aimed to create a space-based missile defense echelon using satellites to engage a target orbiting Earth or a target descending from orbit into the atmosphere. This was to be accomplished by creating a sort of ballistic silo rocket that would first launch satellites into space, then use them to defeat enemy vehicles.

Russia is currently known to have a similar anti-satellite program called Burevestnik (not to be confused with the missile of the same name). As in the Soviet Union, the program creates maneuvering interceptor nanosatellites that are launched into orbit by a special rocket. Presumably, the purpose of Burevestnik satellites is to attack vehicles both in low-Earth and geostationary orbit.

The specific technology of engagement is unknown, but the construction of the satellites provides for the use of both a conventional explosive charge and a nuclear warhead.

Another Soviet-era space project of note is the air-based anti-satellite complex Kontakt, which comprised MiG-31D aircraft and 79M6 Kontakt missiles and was intended to shoot down enemy vehicles in low-Earth orbit. The project was closed in the 1990s before being resuscitated in 2009, and while its initial design provided for the use of a kinetic interceptor, there are no technical limitations that would prevent the system from using a nuclear payload.

The dangers of nuclear weapons in space

The main problem with nuclear weapons in space is that a nuclear explosion there would have indiscriminate and long-lasting effects. Some satellites could be damaged in the direct explosion. Others would suffer damage from the electromagnetic pulse of the explosion, as the vast majority of satellites are vulnerable to electromagnetic pulses and radiation.

The explosion would immediately leave behind an environment with high radiation levels, causing unprotected satellites in the affected orbit to lose functionality more quickly than normal. Such an explosion would affect all military, civilian, and commercial satellites operated by governments and companies around the world.

A nuclear explosion in space would affect all military, civilian, and commercial satellites

Two years ago, Russia’s then Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said his country was developing kinetic and directed energy weapons. Although he provided no specifics, he may have been referring to kinetic interceptors for satellites in orbit, or to nuclear directed-energy weapons.

Nuclear directed-energy weapons use a nuclear explosion to power the active medium of a laser, thereby turning it into a generator of electromagnetic radiation that disables the radio-electronic and optical elements of spacecraft. A directed-energy weapon is considered to be more practical in space than a nuclear warhead because it could be aimed more precisely, affecting onboard computers or blinding satellites without causing indiscriminate damage.

Some experts have speculated that the Russian laser system Peresvet, which has been put on combat standby duty, could be using the energy of a nuclear explosion to blind optical reconnaissance satellites. This hypothesis is yet to be confirmed, but Russia has possessed designs for such weapons since the 1950s.





In addition to the nuclear option, the state-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti has written, Russia's Zevs space tug can also disable satellites.



The Zevs (“Zeus”) nuclear space tug

More bark than bite

And yet, whether the Russian military-industrial complex is capable of delivering such weapons remains a major question. Despite large budget expenditures, its capabilities remain limited. Roscosmos has long suffered from low profitability, accumulated debts, and mounting losses. After Russia’s limited invasion of Ukraine in 2014, the U.S. imposed sanctions against certain Roscosmos enterprises. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many of Russia’s international partners withdrew from what international contracts remained. As a result, limited access to Western technology, components, and financing brought additional costs to Roscosmos enterprises and caused them to postpone the fulfillment of their obligations.

Financial gaps led the corporation to cut its staff and seek new partners among developing countries like Algeria and Egypt. Last year, Russia's space corporation entered the borrowing market for the first time, issuing $112 million worth of bonds.

Although Vladimir Putin advertised the Burevestnik and Poseidon weapons systems way back when he was still just a three-term president, there have been no further demonstrations — let alone documented tests. Nevertheless, Putin's public statements on the possibility of placing nuclear weapons in space represent another escalatory step aimed at convincing the United States of Russia's superiority in armaments, thereby allowing the Kremlin to secure more favorable negotiation terms.

Putin's public statements on the possibility of placing nuclear weapons in space are another escalatory step

And his words have had at least some effect, as the Biden administration has already expressed its willingness to discuss with Moscow the topic of nuclear weapons in space even as Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on with no end in sight.

However, the Russian Foreign Ministry is ready to negotiate on strategic stability only if the United States changes its policy toward Moscow, stops supporting Ukraine, and agrees to discuss other areas of Russian interest, namely: NATO expansion, missile defense, and the proximity of U.S. and other alliance members' weapons to Russia's borders. In other words, the United States would have to accept the ultimatums Russia outlined in December 2021, before the full-scale invasion — an unrealistic scenario on all counts. The Kremlin understands this, of course, and is prepared to wait for as long as it takes — even if it takes generations for politicians in charge to change.

Whether we like it or not, war is coming to space



Frank Ledwidge
Former military intelligence officer, Senior Lecturer in Military Strategy and Law, University of Portsmouth

9 February 2024

With so many armed conflicts underway on Earth, the prospects of a war in space have received less attention in recent years. But that doesn’t mean preparations for a potential battle over cosmic resources have ended. The United States and China continue to develop their capacities to protect critical satellites while shooting those of their enemies out of orbit, while Russia lags further behind in third place. Most frontiers in human history have ultimately served as battlegrounds, and space — “the final frontier” — is unlikely to prove an exception.

A day without space…..

All around us, thousands of spacecraft cross the skies — so many that congestion in space is now a real problem. On a clear night you can see some of them, small starlike points of light cruising silently across the sky. These are a small fraction of the vast networks of satellites that provide a vital part of the nervous system of our civilised, connected society: all electronic financial transactions must be timestamped using the precision timing capabilities that only GPS can supply; our food and commodity supply chains are coordinated using the same technology; electronic devices, including the one on which you are reading this, would fail, as it too depends on GPS. One single day without space would be catastrophic.

And that’s just the normal, day-to-day world. From a military perspective, reconnaissance and communications (which are closely linked) are almost entirely dependent on space assets. The GPS system which underpins much of modern life was originally developed to assist precision targeting. It is still operated by the US Military and is one of the main functions of the new US Space force (founded by then-President Donald Trump in 2019). We saw in Ukraine the absolutely vital function fulfilled by Elon Musk’s Starlink system, possibly the single most important factor in Ukraine’s success up to now, as it has allowed Ukrainian units to communicate after the destruction (by cyber-attack) of their Viasat system early in the war.

Space as domain of conflict

All of this brings us to space as a battleground. NATO has considered space as the fifth ‘domain’ of combat (in addition to land, sea, air, and cyber) since 2019. In 2015, Russia renamed its air force the ‘Aerospace Force’ (VKS), and France – a major European space power – similarly renamed its air force to the ‘Air and Space Force’ in 2020. All major states are gearing up to protect their cosmic assets and to destroy those of their enemy.

Some of their preparations have been truly dangerous, with China (2007) and Russia (2021) using missiles to destroy old satellites of their own in order to demonstrate their capability to attack the satellites of others. These are called ‘direct ascent’ operations. The debris from these strikes produce clouds of debris that will remain in orbit for decades and that constitute a danger for all space-users. And should full-scale war arrive, the West’s space assets will face the threat of Chinese and Russian missiles and lasers, along with a specialized form of attack satellite that can approach and damage — or even literally take apart — enemy spacecraft. This kind of attack is called a ‘rendezvous and proximity’ operation. You can see an amusing but actually quite accurate depiction from the Netflix show “Space Force” here.

Where Russia’s relative capacity to wage war in space is declining, China’s is catching up quickly. Still, neither potential adversary is capable of posing the same level of threat to the United States that the United States is capable of posing to them. present a critical threat, but nowhere near as much a danger as the US presents to them. America is still by far the world’s most powerful space-faring nation, and it is conducting a major effort to defend and strengthen its space networks.

Taking war to the Moon

Both major space powers — the U.S. and China — have their sights set well beyond near-Earth orbit (and this is where things really move more into the realms of science fiction). Both countries are making plans for what to do on the moon, and they are also getting ready to use the space between Earth and Moon (‘cislunar’ space) as a potential theatre of conflict.

The first question is, of course, why are we spreading our conflicts to the moon? Can’t we leave the moon free of our local, petty, mass-casualty disputes? The answer to the first question is straightforward: resources. The moon is a vast repository of valuable minerals and chemicals that are very rare on Earth. These will be mined and exploited. The second question is essentially philosophical. The fact is that the moon is a frontier, and frontiers have, almost without exception in human history, become areas of chronic conflict. (Antarctica, protected by the Antarctic Treaty until 2057, offers a rare exception, but in the present international environment, there is little hope of reaching a similar legal or quasi-legal arrangement which will bind all nations.)

Both the U.S. and China are planning moon bases which will require energy from the moon itself, and it is very clear what the most important commodity on the moon will be – water. Scientists estimate that there are billions of tons of water embedded deep within lunar rocks. This is especially the case at parts of the lunar South Pole, and strategists already have their eyes on particular craters — especially Shackleton, which is always shaded from the sun. Vast infrastructure will be required to extract this water. It is here that China and the U.S. are likely to establish their first moon bases, and it is here where the potential for conflict may be highest.

Of course, like all bases, those on the moon will need resupplying from Earth, and those supply routes will need to be defended. America is already considering what they are calling the ‘Cislunar Highway Patrol System’ to ensure the safe passage of these resupply craft against attack by any potential enemy.

And the moon is only the beginning. The famous Astronomer Neil de Grasse Tyson once said that the first trillionaire will be made in space, and the source of their wealth will be minerals from asteroids. In other words, we stand at the brink of a new phase of space exploration: the age of space traders. It is a situation ripe with all the potential for piracy and resource-driven organized conflict that we have seen on Earth for thousands of years. Unfortunately, it looks that we will be taking our Earthly habits of war into the Cosmos.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for MOON IS A HARSH MISTRESS 

 SPACE

Boeing Starliner crew enters space station after docking

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams completed ingress onto the International Space Station shortly after docking on June 6, 2024.

Boeing Starliner's first astronaut crew welcomed aboard space station

By Joey Roulette and Steve Gorman

(Reuters) -Boeing's new Starliner capsule and an inaugural two-member NASA crew safely docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, meeting a key test in proving the vessel's flight-worthiness and sharpening Boeing's competition with Elon Musk's SpaceX.

The rendezvous was achieved despite an earlier loss of several guidance-control jet thrusters, some of them due to a helium propulsion leak, which NASA and Boeing said should not compromise the mission.

The CST-100 Starliner, with veteran astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams aboard, arrived at the orbiting platform after a flight of nearly 27 hours following its launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The reusable, gumdrop-shaped capsule, dubbed "Calypso" by its crew, was lofted into space on Wednesday atop an Atlas V rocket furnished and flown by Boeing-Lockheed Martin's United Launch Alliance joint venture.

It autonomously docked with the ISS while both were orbiting some 250 miles (400 km) over the southern Indian Ocean at 1:34 p.m. EDT (1734 GMT), as the two vehicles soared around the globe in tandem at about 17,500 miles (28,160 km) per hour.

The spacecraft's final approach to the ISS and docking, following a brief interval when Wilmore manually controlled the capsule, was shown on a NASA webcast.

"Nice to be attached to the big city in the sky," Wilmore radioed to mission control in Houston shortly after docking.

On arrival, Wilmore, 58, and Williams, 61, spent about two hours conducting a series of standard procedures, such as checking for airlock leaks and pressurizing the passage between the capsule and the ISS, before opening the entry hatches.

A live NASA video feed showed the smiling new arrivals, wearing their blue flight suits, weightlessly floating headfirst through the padded passageway, one after the other, into the station. Williams was first.

"We're just as happy as can be to be up in space," she said during a brief welcoming ceremony a short time later.

They were greeted warmly with hugs and handshakes by the outpost's current seven resident crew members: four fellow U.S. astronauts and three Russian cosmonauts.

Reuters
Boeing's new Starliner docks at the ISS

 

Astronauts welcome Starliner crew to the ISS
 Duration 0:44  View on Watch 

Plans call for Wilmore and Williams to remain aboard the station for about eight days, then depart on a return flight that will take Starliner on a fiery reentry back through Earth's atmosphere and end with a parachute and airbag-assisted landing in the U.S. Desert Southwest, a first for a crewed NASA mission.

Thursday was a busy day for the U.S. space program, as SpaceX's next-generation Starship rocket survived a fiery, hypersonic return from space and achieved a breakthrough landing demonstration in the Indian Ocean in its fourth test flight.

On Starliner's voyage to the ISS, helium leaks were detected in its propulsion system, knocking out some of the 28 thrusters used by the capsule to make precision maneuvers in space. However, the spacecraft still had enough functioning thrusters to compensate for the loss, according to NASA and Boeing. An additional thruster was disabled by mission control just before final approach.


YEARS OF TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

The Starliner launch on Wednesday followed years of technical problems, various delays and a first successful 2022 test mission to the orbital laboratory without astronauts aboard.

Last-minute glitches had nixed the Starliner's first two crewed launch attempts, including a helium leak found on the capsule's propulsion system that officials later determined was not serious enough to warrant a mechanical fix.

NASA and Boeing officials at the time pointed to a faulty seal on a thruster component that was failing to keep the helium inside.

Boeing built Starliner under contract with NASA to compete with SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, which since 2020 has been the U.S. space agency's only vehicle for sending ISS crew members to orbit from American soil. The current mission marks Starliner's first test flight with astronauts aboard, a requirement before NASA can certify the capsule for routine astronaut missions.

Selected as crew for the pivotal flight were two NASA veterans who have previously logged 500 days in space between them: Wilmore, 61, a retired Navy captain and fighter pilot, and Williams, 58, a former Navy helicopter test pilot with experience flying more than 30 different aircraft.

Getting Starliner to this point has been a fraught process for Boeing under its $4.2 billion, fixed-priced contract with NASA, which wants the redundancy of two different U.S. rides to the ISS.


The Starliner is several years behind schedule and more than $1.5 billion over budget. Meanwhile, Boeing's commercial airplane manufacturing operations have been rocked by a series of crises involving its 737 MAX jetliners.

(Reporting by Joey Roulette in Washington and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Will Dunham and Jonathan Oatis)

Boeing's astronaut capsule arrives at the space station after thruster trouble

Marcia Dunn
The Associated Press
Updated June 6, 2024 

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. -

Boeing’s new capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday, delayed by last-minute thruster trouble that almost derailed the docking for this first test flight with astronauts.

The 260-mile-high (420-kilometre-high) linkup over the Indian Ocean culminated more than a day of continuing drama for Boeing’s astronaut flight debut carrying NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams

Boeing plans to keep Starliner at the space station for at least eight days before guiding it to a landing in the western U.S.

“Nice to be attached to the big city in the sky,” Wilmore said once the hooks between the two spacecraft were tight.

Williams entered the space station first, dancing on the way in to music. Wilmore followed, snapping his fingers. They embraced the seven space station residents.

“It was such a great welcome, a little dance party,” said Williams. “That’s the way to get things going.”

The Starliner capsule already had one small helium leak when it rocketed into orbit with two NASA astronauts Wednesday. Boeing and NASA managers were confident they could manage the propulsion system despite the problem and that more leaks were unlikely. But just hours into the flight, two more leaks cropped up and another was discovered after docking.

Later, five of the capsule's 28 thrusters went down. The astronauts managed to restart four of them, providing enough safety margin to proceed. By then, Starliner had passed up the first docking opportunity and circled the world for an extra hour alongside the station before moving in.

The thrusters problems were unrelated to the helium leaks, NASA’s commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said after the docking.

Going forward in the flight, “we have some tools in our tool kit to manage this,” Stich said.

Earlier in the day, before the thrusters malfunctioned, officials stressed that the helium leaks posed no safety issues for the astronauts or the mission.

Boeing's Starliner capsule atop an Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on a mission to the International Space Station, Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Helium is used to pressurize the fuel lines of Starliner’s thrusters, which are essential for maneuvering. Before liftoff, engineers devised a plan to work around any additional leaks in the system. A faulty rubber seal, no bigger than a shirt button, is believed responsible for the original leak.

Boeing program manager Mark Nappi said there should be plenty of helium in reserve for the trip home.

After the space shuttles retired, NASA hired Boeing and SpaceX to ferry astronauts to and from the space station. SpaceX’s taxi service began in 2020. Boeing was supposed to start around the same time, but was held up for years by safety concerns and other troubles.

Stich said none of the problems so far would require a repeat of an astronaut test flight before certifying the capsule for regular use.

Starliner spacecraft in holding pattern before docking with ISS due to helium leaks

Four of the reaction control system thrusters failed on the service module, but they were able to get two of the thrusters firing again.

UPDATED

The Financial Destruction of Palestine

RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images


Jun 7, 2024

RAJA KHALIDI

While the United States recently warned that Palestine is facing fiscal collapse, few informed observers are surprised that the Gaza war’s economic fallout has spread to the West Bank. The G7 and the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee must help the Palestinian economy tap international financial assistance like any other developing country.

RAMALLAH – Ahead of the recent G7 summit, US Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, in a rare rebuke of Israel, warned that its plans to cut off Palestinian financial institutions from the global banking system would threaten the West Bank’s economic stability. But her warning may have come too late to stop Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who seems bent on undermining the last vestiges of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) already-limited self-governance in the West Bank.

The sanctions that Smotrich wants to impose – specifically, revoking the waiver that allows Israeli banks to facilitate transactions with Palestinians without fear of legal action – are in response to Ireland, Norway, and Spain formally recognizing a Palestinian state. Ironically, the PA is on the verge of collapse, owing to Israel’s actions and the world’s inaction.

Yellen seems to understand that Smotrich’s plan to sanction the PA cannot be attributed solely to the ideological underpinnings of the most annexationist government in Israel’s history. They are also indicative of an isolated Israel doubling down on its offensive in Gaza even as global pressure to end the war intensifies. But perhaps Yellen should bring her legitimate concerns about the PA’s financial solvency to US President Joe Biden, given his staunch support for Israel, before expecting other countries to take up the cause.

While the international community has recently expressed concern about the West Bank’s looming economic catastrophe, the Palestinians living there (and elsewhere) remain fixated on the war in Gaza – already a catastrophe in every way. In fact, few informed observers have been surprised at the scale, intensity, and speed with which the war’s economic fallout has hit the West Bank and the PA, given their deep dependence on Israel for jobs, trade, and currency. This asymmetrical relationship has been forged over decades of occupation, characterized by a constant struggle for land, resources, and rights, and increasing violence by extremist Israeli settlers, who have long enjoyed impunity.

Part of the dependency dynamic involves Israel collecting and clearing customs and import taxes on behalf of the PA. So, when faced with European efforts to build momentum toward a political settlement of the crisis, Smotrich decided to seize these tax revenues, in addition to threatening new financial sanctions. Prior to the war, the PA was entitled to an average of $270 million per month in total clearance revenues – enough to cover the salaries of 147,000 civil servants, its most essential current expenditure.

But for many years, Israel has made unilateral deductions, starting with unpaid utility and health bills owed to Israeli providers (based on government calculations). Since 2018, it has also deducted payments made to families of people whom the PA deems martyrs and to families of people imprisoned in Israel. By the end of 2023, these additional deductions amounted to around $1.2 billion. This does not include deductions for unpaid utilities, health bills, and other deductions called “net lending,” which totaled $662 million in 2023 alone.

After the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, Smotrich began deducting the amount that the PA spends on staff and pensioners in Gaza. By April 2024, these deductions, coupled with a steep decline in private consumption and imports, left the PA with under $100 million per month in “eligible” revenues, around a quarter of its monthly budget.

Smotrich has threatened to freeze the transfer of that amount and any clearance funds, while also pushing legislation to expropriate the deducted funds – which have been held in escrow accounts – to finance Israel’s war deficit. In yet another Israeli twist of the financial screws, the Bank of Israel has yet to accept the periodic exchange of accumulated stocks of Israeli shekels with Palestinian correspondent banks for foreign currency as stipulated under the Oslo Accords. This has led to panic among clients unable to deposit Israeli shekels. Meanwhile, the PA’s salary arrears have reached at least six months. And that is only part of its $8 billion public debt, which is around 60% of West Bank GDP. Hence, the PA is facing imminent fiscal collapse, with the West Bank “on the brink, risking an explosion any time,” as the normally cautious Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa recently put it.

The G7 leaders and the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, an international donor group for Palestine that met last week, must heed this warning as they consider making far-reaching decisions that could be as momentous as the war’s outcome. Moreover, policymakers should be clear-eyed on what can and cannot be done. It is absurd to demand that the PA implement reforms, build state institutions, reconstruct Gaza, and police its people while Israel simultaneously withholds its main source of finance.

In the early days of Biden’s presidency, some Palestinians, still reeling from the hostility of the Trump era and without a viable path to independence, hoped that he might push for Palestinian rights. In 2021, I proposed a US-sponsored financial New Deal for Palestine, which would reinforce the PA fiscal position, without requiring US diplomatic recognition of Palestinian statehood. The idea would be to grant Palestine formal status or reach an ad hoc arrangement at the International Monetary Fund so that it can tap international financial assistance like any other developing country, a small step towards sovereignty.

Implementing this plan is more important than ever. If the countries that have recognized Palestinian statehood – either recently or in the past – want their declaration to be more than a symbolic gesture, they must start treating Palestine as the state it will eventually become. And if the United States wants to prove that it is more than an accessory to Israel’s war, it must lift its veto on Palestine’s bid to become the state it deserves to be. The march toward Palestinian fiscal sovereignty is inevitable, but it must happen sooner rather than later.




RAJA KHALID
Writing for PS since 2021
3 Commentaries
Raja Khalidi is Director-General of the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS).

Gaza war crushes Palestinian private sector, with $19m daily losses in first four months

Total unemployment in the enclave and the occupied West Bank is expected to rise to 668,000 in 2024, ILO says

The gross domestic product of Palestinian territories is projected to decline by 16.1 per cent this year, compared with 2023, according to the International Labour Organisation. EPA


John Benny
Fareed Rahman

Jun 07,2024

The war on Gaza has dealt a major blow to the Palestinian private sector with production facing its most significant decline along with unprecedented levels of unemployment expected this year, a report has shown.

Between October 2023 and January 2024, about half of the private sector establishments in Palestinian territories – 29 per cent in the occupied West Bank and 100 per cent in the Gaza Strip – experienced either complete cessation or reduced production, the joint report by the International Labour Organisation and Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

Overall, Gaza and the West Bank incurred an estimated loss of $2.3 billion in private sector production value during the first four months of the war, or about $19 million a day, excluding losses in properties and fixed assets, the report added.

“The private sector production witnessed its most significant decline in construction, followed by industry and services and other branches,” the report said.

“The Gaza Strip experienced notably more severe deterioration compared to the West Bank, with the construction and industry in the strip nearly collapsing,” the report said.

The extensive damage caused by the Israel-Gaza conflict, now in its ninth month, and the continuing destruction of infrastructure in the narrow strip of land means it is likely to take several years for Gaza and the broader Palestinian economy to regain stability and recover.

The private sector, which makes up 66 per cent of total employment in the Palestinian territories, consists mainly of small to medium family-owned enterprises that are highly reliant on Israel for either inputs or as a market.

“Looking at the current status between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, there are a lot of worries that blockades and large-scale restrictions of movement will be out for months,” Cyril Widdershoven, an analyst at Hilltower Resource Advisors, told The National.

“Without any direct access to Israel's economy or infrastructure, the future looks very bleak.”

READ MORE

War has brought ‘complete collapse’ of Gaza’s economy

Nearly half a million jobs lost in Palestine as financing gap nears $1.2bn

Economic forecast

Based on the assumption that the war will continue until the end of August 2024, the gross domestic product in Palestinian territories is projected to decline by 16.1 per cent this year, compared with 2023, alongside an 18 per cent drop in per capita income, the ILO-PCBS report said.

If the war continues for three more months, the unemployment rate in the territories is expected to rise substantially, reaching 47.1 per cent this year, the report added.

Total unemployment is expected to hit 668,000 in 2024, an increase of 222,000 from 2023.

“The projected unemployment rates … show that the unemployment rate for the year 2024 under the new scenario is unprecedented, exceeding by far the unemployment rate registered in the Palestinian territories at the height of the Second Intifada in 2002,” the report said.

In a recent report, the World Bank also highlighted the level of unemployment in Palestine amid the continuing war.

The multilateral lender said an estimated 200,000 jobs have been lost in the Gaza Strip, while 144,000 people are no longer employed in the occupied West Bank as a result of the escalating violence.

About 148,000 cross-border commuters from the West Bank were also denied access to the Israeli labour market due to the continuing war, pushing unemployment levels higher in the Palestinian territory, it added.

“In Gaza, the whole economy has been decimated. I don't think there's anything left standing. The Gazan economy will have to be recreated from scratch … rebuilt from the ground up literally,” Raja Khalidi, director general of the Ramallah-based Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute, told The National in an interview.

“The physical devastation, which just makes it impossible for businesses to reopen, especially the productive sector, or the services and trade … stores and supermarkets and simple services. ”

The occupied West Bank’s economy is “grinding to halt”, Mr Khalidi said, as he noted that its economy is powered by two sources of income – government salaries and Palestine workers earning in Israel.

“About 40 per cent of West Bank’s income was coming from those two sources. So, those two sources no longer exist and what can the rest of the 60 per cent of the economy do?”

Business impact

Surveys conducted jointly by the ILO and Palestinian industry bodies revealed that 98.8 per cent of enterprises in the West Bank acknowledged that they had been negatively affected by the conflict.

The businesses have encountered myriad challenges, ranging from reduced monthly sales and the loss of customers or suppliers, to decreased production capacity, supply chain disruptions and heightened transportation costs, the survey found.

“To mitigate the adverse impacts of the war, businesses implemented different measures, including reducing workforce size, hours of work and wages,” the report said.

Small and medium enterprises involved in food and trade will be under pressure from “all sides”, Mr Widdershoven said.

Future economy

The ILO-PCBS report said that Palestine’s economy needs immediate and long-term support, including financial assistance for reconstruction, business recovery support, social protection measures and income-generation initiatives.

Structural reforms are essential to reduce dependence on external factors, foster a diversified economy and ensure fair and decent wages, the report added.

A “Marshall Plan” supported by Arab countries, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank could pave the way for Palestine’s battered economy, Mr Widdershoven said.

“Maybe something could even come out of it that is much better [such as] an emerging future-proof economy, based on technology, IT, artificial intelligence or other sectors,” he said.

However, even Arab countries are not willing to take the risk of putting in cash without guarantees of a positive change, the analyst added.

In February, the UN Conference on Trade and Development estimated that tens of billions of dollars would be needed to rebuild Gaza when Israel's war against Hamas is over.

The Marshall Plan, which was officially called the European Recovery Programme, was a US programme passed in 1948 to help western Europe rebuild its economies after the devastation of the Second World War.

The plan provided billions of dollars in grants, loans and technical assistance.

Russia’s invasion has also stirred calls to muster a similar plan for Ukraine, whose economy recorded a 30 per cent decline in 2022 due to the war's disruption of businesses, infrastructure damage and a decrease in exports.

Updated: June 07, 2024,

Gaza unemployment since start of Israel’s war soars to nearly 80%: ILO

International Labour Organization says joblessness in occupied West Bank stands at almost 32 percent, resulting in a combined total of more than 50 percent.

A young Palestinian pushes a bicycle past a rubbish site at al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 5 [Eyad Baba/AFP]

Published On 7 Jun 2024

Unemployment in the Gaza Strip has hit a “staggering” 79.1 percent since Israel launched its military onslaught on the besieged and bombarded territory in October last year, according to the United Nations labour agency.

In its latest assessment of the impact of the war on employment, the International Labour Organization (ILO) also said on Friday that joblessness in the occupied West Bank, which has also been hit by the crisis, had also reached nearly 32 percent.

This brings the average unemployment rate across the occupied Palestinian territory to 50.8 percent.

The figures, however, do not include those who have exited the labour force altogether amid worsening job prospects, the ILO said, warning that the actual numbers were higher.

“This excludes Palestinians who have given up on finding a job,” said Ruba Jaradat, ILO regional director for Arab States. “The situation is much worse”.

Israeli attacks on Gaza since the start of the war have killed at least 36,654 people and wounded 83,309, with thousands more missing under the rubble and presumed dead, according to Palestinian health officials.

Israel launched its assault after Palestinian group Hamas led an attack in southern Israel on October 7 that killed about 1,140 people, according to Israeli tallies.

In the West Bank, meanwhile, the Palestinian toll in Israeli attacks over the same period includes more than 530 killed and some 5,200 wounded.
Advertisement

In terms of the economy, the real gross domestic product (GDP) has contracted by nearly 33 percent in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war, with an estimated contraction of 83.5 percent in the Gaza Strip, where about half of its 2.3 million people lived below the poverty line even before the war.

“Imagine with this very high level of unemployment, people will not be able to secure food for themselves and for their families,” Jaradat said.

“This is also impacting their health … Even if they have money, there are no hospitals that can accommodate the catastrophic situation there.”

In the West Bank, the GDP drop was 22.7 percent, the ILO data showed.

“In the occupied Palestinian territory and particularly in the West Bank, the reduction in incomes has pushed many families into severe poverty,” Jaradat said.
Advertisement

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES