China's military development

need not 'prove its innocence' 

to the US and the West

Source

Global Times

Editor

Wang Xinjuan

Time

2022-03-07

China's defense budget for 2022 is set at 1.45 trillion yuan (about $229 billion), up 7.1 percent from one year earlier, according to a report on the draft of central and local budgets for 2022 submitted to the National People's Congress. Some American and Western media seem to have been holding their breath for a long time to get the facts twisted, claiming that this is the fastest growth rate in three years, exceeding the GDP growth target, signaling "continuing robust military spending" and "challenging the US armed forces' dominance in the Indo-Pacific region."

It is clear that these interpretations are very good at "permutations" and argue in whichever way that can prove that "China's threat is getting bigger." However, it is unlikely to be convincing if it is far-fetched.

Since 2016, China's military budget growth has remained between 6.6 and 8.1 percent, with an average growth rate of about 7.2 percent over seven years, to which this year's increase is very close. The reason why some Western media come up with a "three-year" time frame is purely because the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019 brought about socioeconomic fluctuations, which naturally affected various expenditures, including defense spending. As a result, the increase in China's defense budget in 2020 fell to a 32-year low, which, however, was an "unusual" situation.

China, as a large country with a population of 1.4 billion, has been quite restrained in developing its military power. Over the years, China's military spending growth has generally been pegged to GDP growth and has remained below 1.5 percent of GDP. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Sweden, the miliary spending growth of some of the major military spenders in 2020 is 3.7 percent for the US, 8.4 percent for Saudi Arabia, 2.9 percent for India, 2.2 percent for the UK and 4.3 percent for Russia. When it comes to percentage, China's defense spending is obviously not big, and it is even less if you want to count per capita spending. But the US and Western media never make such comparisons. They set the public opinion trap of asking China to constantly "prove its innocence."

China has never been a militaristic country, and its defense policy has always been defensive. China's restraint has actually created a peace dividend for the Asia-Pacific region. Over the years, Asia has become the fastest growing region in the world, thanks in large part to a peaceful and stable environment, to which China's insistence on peaceful means to resolve disputes has contributed greatly. As we have seen, the attitude of neighboring countries toward China's defense development is in fact mostly moderate. But the most vitriolic accusations and vicious smears come from the US, which has stirred up the most conflicts in the region and accounts for about 40 percent of total global defense spending.

Such accusations are based on a distorted defense concept. Several days ago, US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said that President Biden's next budget request must include at least 5 percent increase in defense spending above inflation. Some analysts believe that the US defense budget for fiscal year 2023 will top the $800 billion mark, which is equivalent to the total of more than 100 countries in the world. The US military spending is already very high, but it has fallen into a vicious circle of "the more it spends on military, the more anxious it feels, and the more anxious it feels, the more it spends on military.''

Under Washington's leadership, a few staunch US allies are also upgrading military equipment. For example, Japan and Australia have significantly raised military spending in recent years. Australia even plans to boost its defense spending by 40 percent over the next 10 years. It must be said that Washington has provided the world a negative lesson on how to understand national defense development.

Whether a country is safe depends on a series of complex factors, such as whether its strategic environment faces major challenges, whether its internal politics can keep cohesion and economic and social development are stable. It is by no means the simple logic of "the higher the military spending, the more secure a country is." In this regard, the whole Chinese society has a rather high level of strategic sobriety.

In the 2022 draft budget report released on Saturday, while the national defense budget grows 7.1 percent, the budget for other two key areas of education, and science and technology increase by 10.6 percent and 7.2 percent. The government work report still focuses on economic growth and people's livelihood issues, ranging from tax cut, employment to government services, technological innovation, and rural development as well as environmental protection. "Concentrating on doing our own thing well" is China's development logic.

It is conceivable that along with the continuous expansion of China's economy, China's national defense development in the future will still keep its established pace and will not be swayed by the noises of the US and the West. We will not passively "go with the flow," nor will we engage in hot-headed "strategic rash advancement." Development of China's military prowess is a comprehensive manifestation of national strategic progress and steadiness and China's troops are troops of might, civilization and peace and are a positive force that safeguard regional and global peace and stability.

 SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY 

Leader of South Korea's ruling party attacked ahead of presidential election

07 March 2022 - BY HYONHEE SHIN

Monday's attack on Song Young-gil, leader of the Democrats and Lee's election campaign, was yet another twist in a race overshadowed by scandals, smear tactics and gaffes.
Image: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

The chief of South Korea's ruling party was admitted to hospital on Monday after being hit on the head by a stranger while campaigning for this week's presidential election, in which early voting has been marred by some lapses

A tight race between Lee Jae-myung of the ruling Democratic Party and Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative main opposition People Power Party was reflected in a record turnout of nearly 37% in two days of absentee voting that ended on Saturday.

Monday's attack on Song Young-gil, leader of the Democrats and Lee's election campaign, was yet another twist in a race overshadowed by scandals, smear tactics and gaffes.

Song was struck on the head with a small hammer-like tool, wielded by a man wearing a traditional robe who approached him from behind, a video uploaded to YouTube by a Democrat campaigner showed.

Reuters could not independently verify the images, but party officials said Song was in stable condition and the man, subdued by officials, was handed to police.

“Violence harms democracy, it can never be accepted,” the party's presidential candidate, Lee, told another rally in the southeastern port city of Busan, and wished Song a rapid recovery.

The incident came as poll officials scrambled to revamp plans after early voting procedures were blighted by long waits outside poll stations for coronavirus sufferers, while other voters received ballots already marked.

As daily Covid-19 infections hover near unprecedented levels above 200,000 and more than 1 million receive treatment at home, parliament passed a legislative amendment to ease in-person voting by such patients.

But chaos erupted at many polling places during Saturday's special early voting for infected voters, spurring repeated apologies from the National Election Commission (NEC) for failing to ensure a stable and orderly process.

“All the problems resulted from our failure at thorough preparations, and we are fully responsible for falling short,” it said in a statement.

There was no sign of foul play, it added, but officials held an emergency meeting on Monday to tighten procedures ahead of the wider vote.

President Moon Jae-in expressed regret on Sunday, asking the NEC to fully explain the errors and guarantee all people's right to vote, his spokesperson said.

The chaos represented a blow for South Korea, tarnishing its 35-year democratic history of tight and relatively transparent management of elections, and a mostly successful fight on Covid-19.

Instead of letting voters directly cast ballots, some election workers collected and carried them in a shopping bag or wooden bucket to place in ballot boxes, the NEC said.

Some voters received ballot-papers that had already been used, while others had to wait in long queues in the cold, with at least one reported to have fainted.

Opposition candidate Yoon's campaign criticised the NEC, saying, “An elementary classroom election could not be sloppier,” and urged its chairwoman, Noh Jeong-hee, to step down.

Lee's party dismissed the opposition's demand for Noh's resignation but demanded steps to avert more confusion.

About 44 million South Koreans are eligible to vote for a successor to Moon, who is legally barred from re-election at a time of growing frustration over skyrocketing home prices, polarised politics and graft scandals.

Reuters

 The Palestinian Arab stance on the Ukraine war

Not wishing to anger either Russian President Vladimir Putin or the Biden administration, the P.A. and Hamas have so far refrained from taking official positions on Ukraine.

Yoni Ben Menachem
06.03.22

Abbas and Fatah leadership in RamallahFlash 90

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) While many on the Palestinian Arab street openly identify with the people of Ukraine after Russia’s military invasion of that country, the Palestinian Arab leadership is still unsure what position to adopt.

Palestinian intellectuals believe the Palestinians must adopt a prudent position that upholds the tenets of international law; calls to resolve conflicts peacefully through dialogue and not by military force; and upholds the right of peoples to self-determination as a principle that cannot be compromised.

At the same time, the Palestinians are well aware that Ukrainian President Zelensky is a Jew. In their view, he is also a Zionist who backed the American recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s united capital, as well as Israel’s “Guardian of the Walls Operation” in Gaza in May 2021.

There are also Palestinians in the territories who welcome the Russian army’s invasion of Ukraine in the hope that it will lead to a new world order in which U.S. power and hegemony will decline. They want to see the United States, Israel’s strong ally, weakened. According to their logic, that would inevitably lead to Israel’s weakening as well.

However, just as Israel is painstakingly deliberating its positions and policy, trying to tread a fine line and avoid unnecessary statements on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Palestinian Authority is being particularly circumspect. The P.A. chairman wants to avoid causing trouble with the Biden administration by failing to condemn Russia, which could jeopardize the reopening of PLO offices in Washington and the transfer of the American consulate to eastern Jerusalem. On the other hand, Abbas has long-standing ties with Moscow; some years ago, he even claimed he had served as a KGB agent while earning his doctorate in Moscow.

In addition, 2,500 Palestinians are currently living in Ukraine, mostly students. On Feb. 26, 2022, P.A. Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said all of them were safe and that the P.A. was tending to their needs through the Palestinian embassy in Kyiv.

The P.A. as a whole, though, is keeping quiet. It needs Russia, but at the same time, it does not want trouble with Ukraine. It needs Russia to push the Middle East Quartet (the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia) to convene an international conference that would seek to force Israel to an international peace conference despite Israel’s and the Biden administration’s opposition.

The P.A. is trying to curtail the role of the United States which, since the Oslo accords, has traditionally been the mediator between the P.A. and Israel. Abbas is working, with Russia’s help, to divest the United States of that role, claiming that it is not an “honest broker,” and to install the Quartet as the body that will oversee the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations instead of the United States.

Hamas, Russia and Ukraine

Hamas, too, has good relations with Russia. Like the P.A., which is dominated by Fatah, it is hesitant to take a stance on the crisis in Ukraine.

In a strange incident, senior Hamas official Khaled Mashal was quoted as saying that Putin “must halt his invasion of Ukraine and the killing of civilians.” The Hamas leadership quickly denied the “fabricated” remarks. “He did not make any statement to any media outlet regarding the Ukrainian crisis,” insisted a Hamas spokesperson.

Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouk was the only Hamas official authorized to speak on the matter. On Feb. 26, Abu Marzouk tweeted: “One of the most important lessons of the Russian-Ukrainian war is that the era of America as the world’s sole bulwark has come to an end.”

The P.A. has closer ties with Moscow than with Washington. Not only Abbas, who is directly in touch with Putin and talks with him by phone whenever he needs help, but also Hussein al-Sheikh, a member of the PLO Executive Committee and a possible Abbas successor, has cultivated tight ties with the Russian leadership. Al-Sheikh is also a favorite of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who recommended that Abbas put him in charge of the negotiations with Israel in place of the late Saeb Erekat.

Last week al-Sheikh talked by phone with Mikhail Bogdanov, the Russian deputy foreign minister and special emissary to the Middle East. They discussed various topics including the situation in Ukraine and the Feb. 8 resolutions of the PLO Central Council. Al-Sheikh, however, did not divulge any details to the media about what they discussed regarding the invasion of Ukraine.

Undoubtedly, the P.A. and Hamas are much more sympathetic toward Russia than toward the United States, Israel’s closest ally. In recent years, Russia has also played the role of mediator between the different Palestinian factions, and it even hosted a dialogue of all those factions in Moscow aimed at achieving national unity.

Annually, the heads of the Palestinian factions attend diplomatic meetings in the Russian Foreign Ministry. Even Mohammed Dahlan, a bitter rival of Abbas, was hosted a few months ago in Moscow, and requested Lavrov’s help in reconciling with the P.A. chairman.

However, the Palestinians’ silence will not last long. The moment the outcome of the fighting in Ukraine becomes clearer, it is safe to assume that senior figures in the P.A. and Hamas will declare their positions. They hope a diplomatic solution will be found as soon as possible so that they can take a more expedient public stance that will not rile Russia or the United States. Ultimately, it may be that both the P.A. and Hamas will adopt a neutral and principled position that does not favor either side.

Yoni Ben Menachem, a veteran Arab affairs and diplomatic commentator for Israel Radio and Television, is a senior Middle East analyst for the Jerusalem Center. He served as director general and chief editor of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.

This article was first published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
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COLONIALIST ARCHAEOLOGY 

Jewish archaeological sites in West Bank must be preserved - Herzog

"It is important to know that Jewish history did not originate in Tel Aviv, but in Judea and Samaria. Therefore, the roots to the rights to our land are specifically in Judea and Samaria.”

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Published: MARCH 6, 2022

Joshua's altar on Mt. Ebal in Samaria.
(photo credit: TOVAH LAZAROFF)


Jewish archaeological sites in the West Bank must be preserved, President Isaac Herzog told the English-speaking community in Israel and abroad. He delivered the short virtual address during the third in a series of Judea and Samaria mega-events.

“Much of the Jewish People’s history in this land is rooted in the hills and valleys of Judea and Samaria,” Herzog said.

“Here our Patriarchs and Matriarchs lived and were laid to rest. Here Joshua led the Sons and Daughters of Israel, Bnei Yisrael, into the land; King David began his rule; our prophets spread their teachings, which we teach today, and every Shabbat; and Jewish rebels—from the Maccabees to Bar Kochva—fought for what they believed in,” he explained.

“Beyond any political dispute we should all agree to protect the integrity of Jewish historical and archaeological sites throughout the Land of Israel, as well as the historical sites belonging to other religions and cultures which have left their stamp on this region throughout the ages,” he explained.

“This is not just a Jewish or Israeli issue, but an issue of protecting the heritage of all humanity in the Holy Land,” Herzog said.

Shomron National Park (Sebastia). (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

He also took a moment to speak of Israel’s status as both the Jewish national homeland and a democracy “built on equality and religious freedom.”

It is also important, he said, to work for a future of peace, cooperation and dialogue particularly through the Abraham Accords, under whose rubric Israel normalized ties with four of its Arab neighbors.

His statement to the group was among a number of strong statements Herzog has made in support of the Jewish and Israeli connection to the West Bank, including his visit to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

The mega-events have been sponsored by the Yesha Council, My Israel and the Zionist Organization of America.

The first event focused on the need for Israeli sovereignty in Area C of the West Bank, the second on the issue of illegal Palestinian building and the third on the need to preserve the Jewish archaeological heritage in that area, also known as the biblical heartland.

The Yesha Council and right-wing organizations have long campaigned for the preservation of biblical archaeology in the West Bank, warning that the Palestinian Authority was usurping and destroying the ancient Jewish heritage in that region.

Among the examples the speakers at the event later gave was Sebastia, the capital of the northern kingdom of ancient Israel, as well as a burial cave for priests from the Second Temple near Jericho.

Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz said that “more than 80% of the ancient historical sites” in Judea and Samaria have been damaged.

ZOA Israel director Dan Illouz said that “it is important to know that Jewish history did not originate in Tel Aviv, but in Judea and Samaria. Therefore, the roots to the rights to our land are specifically in Judea and Samaria.”

It is “this fact that our enemies try to uproot when they destroy the archaeological treasures in Judea and Samaria. Yes, they know exactly what they are doing. Our enemies want to disconnect the Land of Israel from Jewish history in order to claim that we are a colonial power that came to a foreign land.”

Illouz said that “it is time for the free world to unite against those who destroy history,” he said.

“When ISIS destroyed archaeological sites the whole world went crazy and justifiably so,” he said. “On this subject there is no difference between ISIS and the Palestinians,” he added.

Economist: Russian-Ukrainian War Will Affect Northern and Eastern Syria

Monday March 7th, 2022 by AL-ETIHAD MEDIA (Pro-opposition website)

The economic consequences of the Russian-Ukrainian War will be felt all around Syria, according to Etihad Media.

Men sit by a produce stall at a market in the centre of Syria's northern city of Raqa. (Photo by Delil Souleiman / AFP)

The Russian invasion of Ukraine since its beginning on February 24th has affected global economic movement, oil prices, and other basic products worldwide. The regions of northern and eastern Syria will not be isolated from these repercussions, economist Khurshid Alika told Etihad Media. 

According to JP Morgan’s forecasts, oil prices could reach 185 $ at the end of 2022 if Russian supply disruptions continue, with 66% of Russian oil struggling to find buyers. 

In addition, oil prices jump 7% above $118 per barrel due to the Russian-Ukrainian war, and Saudi Arabia is raising the price of Arab Light Crude to Asia. 

Read Also: Syrians Rush to Hoard Goods, Syrian Pound Collapse Raises Prices Drastically

“This undoubtedly means that the situation in northern and eastern Syria will be directly affected,” said a member of the Kurdish-Syrian Economists Association, referring to recent economic reports that the war in Ukraine could add 3% to global inflation this year, wiping out trillions of global GDP by 2023. 

Affected sectors 

“Humanitarian aid from donors and actors in Syrian affairs will be diverted to Ukraine, and the issues of Syria’s reconstruction and the political solution will be almost entirely halted due to the lack of direct communication between America and Russia, the main actors in the Syrian issue,” Alika told Etihad Media.

“All sectors will be affected to varying degrees,” he said. He noted that “the decline in agricultural production, the dependence on importing wheat in the region instead of exporting it, and the depletion of livestock due to the lack of fodder, will lead to an increase in the import bill as the Syrian currency continues to fall against the foreign exchange currencies.” 

“Global food prices reached a record high in February and jumped by 24.1% on an annual basis, primarily vegetable oils and dairy products,” said Alika, based on FAO statements. 

“The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks the world’s most traded food products, averaged 140.7 points in February, compared to 135.4 in January,” he said.

 

This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.

What Biden can offer Putin in exchange for peace in Ukraine

The leader of the West will need to make a notable concession to Russia without giving away the store

RAGHIDA DERGHAM

Russia’s is not the only leadership that finds itself in a bind more than a week since the Ukraine war began. Leaders in the West, particularly US President Joe Biden, are struggling to find a way to resolve a crisis that has the potential of spreading beyond Ukraine’s borders into the rest of Europe.

Moscow finds itself in a corner for chiefly two reasons: Ukraine’s forces have robustly defended much of their territory against the Russian military; and western governments have imposed a range of crippling sanctions on the Russian economy in a rare show of unity.

However, the euphoria felt across Europe and North America over these early victories has been replaced, to some extent, by two concerns. One, Russian forces have made inroads into Ukraine, particularly in the south, and two, Moscow has ordered Russia’s military to put its deterrence forces – which include nuclear weapons – on “special alert”. The announcement doesn’t mean that it intends to use its nukes, but western governments have viewed it to be an escalatory step.

The situation, therefore, requires thinking outside the box on the part of the world leaders – and, given America’s position as a superpower, the only leader with the tools to bring about a shift is Mr Biden.

Any attempt on Biden’s part to reach out to Putin will be an act of courage and not weakness

The Biden administration needs to understand that, by engaging in brinkmanship with Moscow, it risks pushing Russia further into a corner that could prove costly for the whole world. The objective should not be to teach its leadership a lesson, but to come up with creative ideas that may appear simple and might even give the wrong impression to the rest of the international community, yet could prevent a larger-scale war.

Any attempt on Mr Biden’s part to reach out to Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks will be an act of courage and not weakness. In fact, the US President should consider inviting Mr Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to an emergency summit that could also involve the leaders of Germany and France. Mr Biden might get critised for it, with some suggesting that this amounts to rewarding Russia for launching its war against Ukraine in the first place. There will be fears that it could further embolden Kremlin.

However, such an invitation could avert a conflict that is much more devastating and widespread than it currently is. Indeed, talks could provide the blueprint necessary to de-escalate the crisis, the off-ramp the Russian leadership may need and, most importantly, the means to pull the world back from the brink.

We no longer live in an era of “conventional” warfare. An information war is under way in Ukraine, so is a cyber-war. And there’s always the danger of their spilling into Europe and the US. But what’s more frightening is the threat of the war going nuclear – not necessarily culminating in the dropping of atom bombs but the use of nuclear warheads or ballistic missiles.


US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin acted responsibly when he cancelled scheduled nuclear missile tests in order to send Russia a message that it did not want to provoke Moscow or further escalate tensions. Mr Austin also explained the Biden administration’s rationale for not giving in to Kyiv’s demand that Nato set up a no-fly zone in Ukraine, as this would effectively mean the US-led western security alliance’s involvement in the war.

The danger of a European war is, of course, real because of either strategic compulsions or accidents on the ground. Moscow could also be angered if Nato member states continue provide weapons to Ukraine – particularly if they send convoys into Ukraine, rather than offloading them at, say, the border with Poland, which is a Nato member.

But the messaging from Washington is clear: Nato does not seek to engage in an armed conflict with Russia.

One way for the Biden administration to de-escalate the crisis could be to remove some of the sanctions the West recently imposed on Russia. While this alone won’t be sufficient to end the crisis, tactical steps will amount to important gestures of goodwill towards Moscow. Ultimately though, the broader settlement will have to include a guarantee of Ukrainian neutrality.

This conflict began with Russia’s demand that Ukraine, once a part of the Russian empire and, along with Russia, a part of the Soviet Union, not join Nato – an anti-Soviet, Cold War-era security alliance. Perhaps a Nato guarantee to keep Ukraine out of its umbrella in perpetuity would be the necessary step towards moving it from under the Russian yoke. There needs to be an acknowledgement that Ukraine cannot and should not be used as a pawn in the broader West-Russia conflict.

This will require political maturity and strategic courage on Mr Biden’s part. It won’t be easy. But by seizing the initiative and reaching out to Moscow for a deal, the US President may be able to settle the debate about his perceived weakness on the world stage. More importantly, by nipping a potential pan-European war in the bud, he will have spared the West of a possibly catastrophic conflict.

Published: March 06, 2022

Raghida Dergham is the founder and executive chairwoman of the Beirut Institute and a columnist for The National

PHOTO ESSAY

Displaced Ukrainians at the Resurrection New Athos Monastery in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. AFP

Putin's media allies flipping out after being flooded with 'thousands of texts and photos' of Russian military dead: report

Tom Boggioni
March 06, 2022


According to a report from the Daily Beast's Russian media expert Julia Davis, Russian media personalities, who have been making excuses for Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, are bitterly complaining that they are being flooded with texts critical of their positions as well as upsetting photos of dead Russian soldiers supposedly killed during the invasion.

Writing that Putin's "top propagandists are most concerned about getting bombarded with text messages and losing the information war to Ukraine," than with the invasion itself, Davis provided examples of their complaints.

"On Thursday’s episode of The Evening With Vladimir Soloviev, state TV propagandist Vladimir Soloviev complained that he and editor-in-chief of RT Margarita Simonyan are being terrorized by unknown individuals, receiving endless calls and texts about Russia’s military activities in Ukraine," she wrote before quoting Soloviev complaining, “Margarita and I can show our telephones to demonstrate that we’re getting a thousand calls and texts per hour.”

RELATED: Marjorie Taylor Greene on Ukraine: ‘The people that are suffering the most are the ones that are dying’

According to Davis, "TV propagandist" Olga Skabeeva was even more excitable, exclaiming that supporters of Ukraine have been “endlessly calling everybody, everybody, all citizens of Russia, including me and [husband] Evgeny!"

The report notes that during a panel discussion Skabeeva couldn't contain herself and interrupted another guest by complaining she is enduring a "mass attack that started at 2 a.m... we started getting calls from the territory of Ukraine, two to three minutes apart, Ukrainian and Polish phone numbers calling nonstop... And then, text messages with threats to kill me and my family, and photos—endless photos—of corpses, which they say are the corpses of Russian soldiers!”

You can read more of Davis' reporting here -- subscription required.

Global death toll nears 6 million as COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year

By David Rising The Associated Press
Posted March 6, 2022 3:05 pm


The official global death toll from COVID-19 is on the verge of eclipsing 6 million — underscoring that the pandemic, now entering its third year, is far from over.

The milestone is the latest tragic reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe. The death toll, compiled by Johns Hopkins University, stood at 5,997,994 as of Sunday afternoon.

Remote Pacific islands, whose isolation had protected them for more than two years, are just now grappling with their first outbreaks and deaths, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant.

READ MORE: Long COVID: Almost a third of people report lingering symptoms, study finds

Hong Kong, which is seeing deaths soar, is testing its entire population of 7.5 million three times this month as it clings to mainland China’s “zero-COVID” strategy.

As death rates remain high in Poland, Hungary, Romania and other Eastern European countries, the region has seen more than 1 million refugees arrive from war-torn Ukraine, a country with poor vaccination coverage and high rates of cases and deaths.

And despite its wealth and vaccine availability, the United States is nearing 1 million reported deaths on its own.

Death rates worldwide are still highest among people unvaccinated against the virus, said Tikki Pang, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore’s medical school and co-Chair of the Asia Pacific Immunization Coalition.

2:15 What have been the experiences of Black British Columbians during the COVID-19 pandemic?

“This is a disease of the unvaccinated — look what is happening in Hong Kong right now, the health system is being overwhelmed,” said Pang, the former director of research policy and cooperation with the World Health Organization. “The large majority of the deaths and the severe cases are in the unvaccinated, vulnerable segment of the population.”

It took the world seven months to record its first million deaths from the virus after the pandemic began in early 2020. Four months later another million people had died, and 1 million have died every three months since, until the death toll hit 5 million at the end of October. Now it has reached 6 million — more than the populations of Berlin and Brussels combined, or the entire state of Maryland.

But despite the enormity of the figure, the world undoubtedly hit its 6 millionth death some time ago. Poor record-keeping and testing in many parts of the world has led to an undercount in coronavirus deaths, in addition to excess deaths related to the pandemic but not from actual COVID-19 infections, like people who died from preventable causes but could not receive treatment because hospitals were full.

2:02 The health impacts arising from the Ukrainian refugee crisis

Edouard Mathieu, head of data for the Our World in Data portal, said that — when countries’ excess mortality figures are studied — as many as nearly four times the reported death toll have likely died because of the pandemic.

An analysis of excess deaths by a team at The Economist estimates that the number of COVID-19 deaths is between 14 million and 23.5 million.

“Confirmed deaths represent a fraction of the true number of deaths due to COVID, mostly because of limited testing, and challenges in the attribution of the cause of death,” Mathieu told The Associated Press. “In some, mostly rich, countries that fraction is high and the official tally can be considered to be fairly accurate, but in others it is highly underestimated.”

The United States has the biggest official death toll in the world, but the numbers have been trending downward over the last month.

READ MORE: Cough, cold or COVID-19? Doctors say with symptoms overlapping, it’s impossible to tell

Lonnie Bailey lost his 17-year-old nephew, Carlos Nunez Jr., who contracted COVID-19 last April — the same month Kentucky opened his age group to vaccinations. The Louisville resident said the family is still suffering, including Carlos’ younger sibling, who had to be hospitalized himself and still has lingering symptoms. The aggressive reopening of the country has been jarring for them to witness.

“For us it is hard to let our guard down; it’s going to take a while for us to adjust,” Bailey said.

The world has seen more than 445 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, and new weekly cases have been declining recently in all regions except for the Western Pacific, which includes China, Japan and South Korea, among others, the World Health Organization reported this week.

Although the overall figures in the Pacific islands seeing their first outbreaks are small compared to larger countries, they are significant among their tiny populations and threaten to overwhelm fragile health care systems.

1:51 PHAC: Time to ease COVID-19 ‘societal disruption’

“Given what we know about COVID … it’s likely to hit them for the next year or so at least,” said Katie Greenwood, head of the Red Cross Pacific delegation.

Tonga reported its first outbreak after the virus arrived with international aid vessels following the Jan. 15 eruption of a massive volcano, followed by a tsunami. It now has several hundred cases, but — with 66% of its population fully vaccinated — it has so far reported people suffering mostly mild symptoms and no deaths.

The Solomon Islands saw the first outbreak in January and now has thousands of cases and more than 100 deaths. The actual death toll is likely much higher, with the capital’s hospital overwhelmed and many dying at home, Greenwood said.

Only 12% of Solomon Islanders are fully vaccinated, though the outbreak has provided new impetus to the country’s vaccination campaign and 29% now have at least one shot.

READ MORE: More evidence Omicron variant causes milder symptoms, WHO says

Global vaccine disparity continues, with only 6.95% of people in low-income countries fully vaccinated, compared to more than 73% in high-income nations, according to Our World in Data.

In a good sign, at the end of last month Africa surpassed Europe in the number of doses administered daily, but only about 12.5% of its population has received two shots.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is still pressing for more vaccines, though it has been a challenge. Some shipments arrive with little warning for countries’ health systems and others near the expiration date — forcing doses to be destroyed.

Eastern Europe has been particularly hard hit by the omicron variant, and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a new risk has emerged as hundreds of thousands of people flee to places like Poland on crowded trains. Health officials there have been offering free vaccinations to all refugees, but have not been making them test upon arrival or quarantine.

“This is really tragic because great stress has a very negative effect on natural immunity and increases the risk of infections,” said Anna Boron-Kaczmarska, a Polish infectious disease specialist. “They are in very high stress, being afraid for their lives, the lives of their children, they family members.”

Mexico has reported 300,000 deaths, but with little testing, a government analysis of death certificates puts the real number closer to 500,000. Still, four weeks of falling infection rates have left health officials optimistic.

In India, where the world was shocked by images of open-air pyres of bodies burned as crematoria were overwhelmed, the scars are fading as the number of new cases and deaths has slowed.

India has recorded more than 500,000 deaths, but experts believe its true toll is in the millions, primarily from the delta variant. Migrants from India’s vast hinterland are now returning to its megacities in search of jobs, and the streets are packed with traffic. Shopping malls have customers, albeit still masked, while schools and universities are welcoming students after a months-long gap.

In Britain, infections have fallen since an omicron-driven surge in December, but remain high. England has now lifted all restrictions, including mask mandates and the requirement that all who test positive isolate at home.

With about 250,000 reported deaths, the African continent’s smaller death toll is thought to stem from underreporting, as well as a generally younger and less mobile population.

“Africa is a big question mark for me, because it has been relatively spared from the worst so far, but it could just be a time bomb,” Pang said, noting its low vaccination rates.

In South Africa, Soweto resident Thoko Dube said she received news of the deaths of two family members on the same day in January 2021 — a month before the country received its first vaccines.

It has been difficult, but “the family is coping,” she said. “We have accepted it because it has been happening to other families.”

WATCH: Where have past variants of concern gone? – Feb 24, 2022

  

© 2022 The Associated Press

Spanish flu - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

The 1918 influenza pandemic, also known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was March 1918 in Kansas, United States, with further cases recorded in France, Germany and the United Kingdom in April. Two years later, nearly a third of the global population, or an estimated 500 million people, had been infected in four successive waves. Estimates of deaths range from 17 million to 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest pandemics in human history.'

Ukrainian airport 'completely destroyed,' says Zelensky

BY JOSEPH CHOI - 03/06/22 

A Russian missile strike "completely destroyed" an airport in the city of Vinnytsia on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

"I've just heard the report on the missile strike in Vinnytsia. Eight missiles against our city, against our peaceful Vinnytsia which has never posed a threat to Russia in any way. A brutal, cynical missile strike has completely destroyed the airport," Zelensky said in a video message on Twitter.

Vinnytsia is central city in the western half of Ukraine, with the closest international border being Moldova.

"They continue total destruction of our infrastructure, our life built by us, our parents and grandparents, generations of Ukrainians," Zelensky added of Russia's invading military.

Zelensky reiterated calls for a "humanitarian air zone" to be set up.

"We are people and it is your humanitarian duty to protect us, protect people. And you can do it," said Zelensky. "If you do not do that, if you at least do not give us aircrafts for us to be able to protect ourselves, there can be only one conclusion: You also want us to be slowly killed."

Zelensky has repeatedly called on Western leaders to create a no-fly zone over Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion. He recently repeated this request during a Zoom call with U.S. congressional lawmakers.

However, U.S. and European officials have so far said a no-fly zone is not a viable option.

On Sunday, multiple officials said creating a no-fly zone would only serve to heighten the conflict, with lawmakers including Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FLa.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) warning directly engaging with Russia would result in World War III.

CRIMINAL CYBER CAPITALI$M
Lapsus$ hackers leak Samsung source code and massive data dump from security breach

By Sofia Wyciślik-Wilson


Samsung appears to have fallen victim to a serious security breach if the leaks from data extortion group Lapsus$ are anything to go by.

Amounting to a colossal 190GB of data, the group says it has in its possession Samsung source code and other confidential company data. It is just days since the Lapsus$ claimed responsibility for a hack that resulted in data being stolen and leaked from data stolen from GPU chipmaker NVIDIA.

The attack on NVIDIA was said to be a reaction to the company limiting the crypto-mining capabilities of its chips, but details surrounding the Samsung leak are less clear. In fact, it is not even apparent whether Lapsus$ is responsible for the security breach that resulted in data being stolen from Samsung, or whether the group simply managed to acquire it.

So far, Lapsus$ has only -- as Bleeping Computer shares -- teased the data it claims to have obtained. But if the group's assertions are true, it has three archives of Samsung data including source code for security products, encryption data, and backend data.

 Among the data teased are:
source code for every Trusted Applet (TA) installed in Samsung’s TrustZone environment used for sensitive operations (e.g. hardware cryptography, binary encryption, access control)
algorithms for all biometric unlock operations
bootloader source code for all recent Samsung devices
confidential source code from Qualcomm
source code for Samsung’s activation servers
full source code for technology used for authorizing and authenticating Samsung accounts, including APIs and services

While Lapsus$ used the data obtained from NVIDIA to demand a ransom, it is not known whether this has also happened with Samsung. Samsung has not commented on the matter so far, so we only have the word of Lapsus$ to go on for now.