Colombia hopes for peace, reforms under new president

Gustavo Petro's new government has big plans; peace is said to be the key to reforms. On a visit to Bogota, Germany's Development Minister Svenja Schulze promised to support the peace process.

Svenja Schulze (second from the left) met with women activists in Bogota

Eulalia Luango is one of the many victims of Colombia's brutal civil war: She can't stop her tears when she talks about her two missing sons. Wilmer was 14 at the time, and Robinson was a year older. "Since 2009 I have been on a path of suffering because I didn't know why and how they took them," says Luango. "A mother's deepest wish is to hold the remains of her children in her hands and to give them a dignified burial." Visibly moved, Germany's Development Minister Svenja Schulze asks Luango how she finds the strength to get through it all and keep fighting.

Bogota is the development chief's first stop on her trip to Latin America. She takes a lot of time to speak with and listen to the victims, in order to understand where Colombia is in the peace process.

A bloody civil war lasting more than half a century lies behind Colombia. The crimes committed are nearly unimaginable: over 450,000 dead, another 121,000 disappeared, almost eight million displaced, and thousands more child soldiers were forcibly recruited.

COLOMBIA: 5 YEARS AFTER FARC DEAL, PEACE REMAINS ELUSIVE
From ragged rebellion to military might
In the mid-20th century, Colombia saw a raging battle between different political camps. Left-wing rebel groups founded independent republics in remote areas, which were gradually taken over by government forces. Two of the leaders of the "Republica de Marquetalia" escaped, however. In 1966, Manuel Marulanda and Jacobo Arenas (left) founded the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC.
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Can reconciliation succeed?

"The most important thing for Colombia now is reconciliation," Francisco de Roux tells Svenja Schulze. The 79-year-old Jesuit priest is a figurehead for peace. Many people in Colombia see him as a saint, because of the attention he has paid to the war's victims. As President of the Truth Commission, de Roux processed the facts of the armed conflict and presented the horrific results to Colombians.

He rides up to his early-morning appointment with the German minister on a small bike. For four long years, the Truth Commission has spoken to victims and perpetrators, conducting more than 30,000 interviews across the country.

De Roux and the Truth Commission presented their findings at a June press conference in Bogota

"Germany was one of the most important international supporters of the truth commission," says de Roux. "It stands for a system of trust, peace, and justice." Now he hopes that Germany will continue to support the reconciliation process. Even though Colombian society is divided, the vast majority of Colombians support peace, says the Jesuit: "Colombia is in a moment of hope."

Petro government has ambitious goals

That hope is also shared by Colombia's newly sworn-in president. Gustavo Petro is the first left-wing president of the traditionally conservative country. He has promised the Colombians peace and wants to implement the recommendations for structural reforms presented by Father de Roux's Truth Commission.

Petro has promised reforms in almost every political area: land reform, tax reform, health care reform, ecological restructuring of the economy, and reform of the police and military. The president also wants to take up the fight against poverty in a country where 40% of the population lives below the poverty line and where incomes are extremely unequally distributed.

"This government came into office with a vision and raised great expectations. Noticeable improvements must now be made quickly," says Stefan Peters, director of Capaz, a German-Colombian peace institute based in Bogota. If the promised reforms stall, he says, there is a risk that there will be violent protests from the disappointed electorate.

Germany to continue support

"Development policy is an essential part of security policy," said Schulze after her talks. She underlined that development police must prioritize human security and peaceful society in the truest sense of the word, and said that the new Petro government marks a turning point in Colombian history.

And yet: the bloody conflict smolders on and on, despite the historic 2016 peace deal with the FARC guerrillas. "Social activists, human rights activists, trade unionists, and journalists still live very dangerous lives. The drug economy is flourishing, entire regions are in the hands of armed actors and are out of state control," says Peters.

Luango continues to lobby for those who went missing during Colombia's decades of conflict, including her own two sons

The women who search for their missing relatives also report experiencing violence and attempts at intimidation when they fight for their rights and against being forgotten. "Don't forget us fighting women!" Eulalia Luango told the development minister. Svenja Schulze promises: "Germany will continue to support Colombia in the peace process. We will not leave you alone."

This article was originally written in German.

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 India sacks 3 officers for misfiring missile into Pakistan

India's air force says the three officers deviated from procedures, leading to an "accidental firing" of a cruise missile into Pakistan's Punjab province.

Three Indian air force officers have been dismissed for accidentally launching a missile toward Pakistan. Pictured is a supersonic missile launched from Wheeler Island in the eastern Indian state of Odisha during a test.

India's air force on Tuesday dismissed three officers for accidentally firing a cruise missile into neighboring Pakistan.

The air force in a statement said a formal inquiry found that "deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile" into Pakistan.

"These three officers have primarily been held responsible for the incident. Their services have been terminated by the Central Govt with immediate effect," the statement said.

The BrahMos cruise missile was fired from India on March 9. It landed in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, roughly 125 kilometers (78 miles) inside Pakistani territory, damaging a wall in a residential area. No casualties or injuries were reported.

Pakistani officials demanded an explanation from New Delhi and called the launch a "flagrant violation" of the country's airspace.

Two days after the launch, India's defense ministry acknowledged the mistake, saying that the firing was caused by a "technical malfunction" during routine maintenance. The ministry called the incident "deeply regrettable."

Islamabad sent a letter to the UN Security Council regarding the missile

Tensions between Pakistan and India

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since the two country's independence from the British Empire in 1947. Both Islamabad and New Delhi lay claim to the entire territory of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir.

In 2019, Pakistan's air force shot down an Indian aircraft in a Pakistani-administered area of Kashmir and captured a pilot, who was later released. Earlier, an Indian warplane carried out an airstrike allegedly targeting militants in the town of Balakot in Pakistan's northwestern region of Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The town lies immediately west of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

sdi/rt (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)

 Germans use up their savings to face inflation: report

The outlook on the German economy is becoming bleaker, as private households are forced to use up their savings to combat soaring consumer prices.

With no end in sight to the increase of consumer prices, Germans are forced to empty their pockets (symbolic image)

Inflation has taken a toll on the savings accumulated by Germans during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by the Munich-based Ifo Institute said on Tuesday. 

Ifo economic research head Timo Wollmershäuser said that German citizens had saved around an additional 70 billion Euro (69.5 billion USD) between April 2020 and March 2021 compared to normal circumstances. 

But, the trend has now reversed, with bank balance sheets showing that consumers are using up their savings since the end of last year to an extent that they were "almost completely eliminated by the end of the first quarter of 2022," Wollmershäuser added. 

"In the second quarter, this development continued at an almost unchanged pace," he said, highlighting that inflation is likely to have been a major catalyst.

Consumer prices are soaring in Germany without an end in sight, indicating that "private consumption will unfortunately fail to act as an economic engine in Germany over the rest of the year," the economist said.

While consumption still expanded strongly in the first months of the year, despite high inflation, "since the middle of the year, many leading indicators have been showing a clear dampening effect," he concluded. 

High inflation, rising interest rates and economic uncertainty contributed to the German economy's contraction in August by the most since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. 

According to the economist Phil Smith (S&P), the data "paint a bleak picture of the German economy." 

Increasingly negative impact on real wages 

In the first half of the year, union-negotiated wages did not rise nearly as fast as consumer prices. A trade union study by the Hans Böckler Foundation claims this may not change in the foreseeable future. 

According to their analysis, union-negotiated wages rose by an average of 2.9% in Germany. With consumer prices rising much faster simultaneously, a real wage loss of 3.6% persisted.

The average wage increase of 2.9% in Germany is still largely linked to union agreements that were concluded in 2021 before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Most of them lie at 2.5%. More recent deals brought employees an average of 4.5%, but these still lagged behind inflation. 

los/jcg (dpa, Reuters) 

Artists perform as people gather to protest against the loosening of logging rules by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government to meet increased demand for firewood amid a surge in gas and electricity prices, in Budapest, Hungary, 

August 17, 2022. 

REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

Kenyans sue UK government for colonial land theft

A group in the tea-growing Kericho region is seeking redress from Britain. The land taken from them is now owned by multinational corporations.

Multinational corporations continue to make massive profits from

 tea plantations on stolen land

A group of Kenyans has filed a suit against the British government at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). They are seeking an investigation and eventual compensation for land stolen under colonial rule.

The ECHR is not a European Union body, and the UK is party to it.

"The UK government has ducked and dived, and sadly avoided every possible avenue of redress. We have no choice but to proceed to court for our clients so that history can be righted," said lawyer Joel Kimutai Bosek, who is representing the group in Kenya's western Kericho region.

UN: Kenyans' human rights were violated

Much of the land taken in Kericho is now home to tea plantations that make foreign corporations millions every year, as Kenya is the world's leading black tea exporter by volume. 

"Today, some of the world's most prosperous tea companies, like Unilever, Williamson Tea, Finlay's and Lipton, occupy and farm these lands and continue to use them to generate considerable profits," the plaintiffs said in a statement.

The United Nations has said more than half a million Kenyans from the Kericho area suffered gross violations of human rights, including unlawful killings and displacement, during British colonial rule, which ended in 1963.

Many continue to suffer economic consequences from the theft of their land, the United Nations has also said.

The British government has rarely apologized or offered redress for crimes committed by its colonial forces. However, in 2013, it agreed on a multimillion dollar compensation settlement for Kenyans tortured by British soldiers during an uprising that occured shortly before the end of colonial rule.

UK officials have yet to comment on the lawsuit.

es/rt (AFP, Reuters)

Sudan: After Darfur visit, ICC prosecutor urges UN to seek justice

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, gave the first ever Security Council briefing from within a country where the court is pursuing justice. Darfur is a region of western Sudan.

UN says 300,000 were killed in the Sudanese government's scorched-earth campaign against the people of Darfur

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has urged the UN Security Council to do more to deliver justice for the people of Darfur in a landmark address on Tuesday.

The UN says that 300,000 people were killed and two and a half million fled their homes during the ethnic conflict that began in 2003. Former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will be tried for genocide after he backed mostly-Arab militias with a scorched earth policy against Darfur's ethnic minority.

The ICC's Karim Khan recently visited the region in person and met with internally displaced people. He said the people of Darfur "are tired of promises."

"The simple truth is that the nightmare for thousands of Darfuris has not ended,'' he said in a virtual briefing from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Karim Khan recently visited Darfur himself

"And that nightmare of their experiences in large part continues because meaningful justice and accountability has not been felt in the manner that is required, or in my respectful view was anticipated by the council in 2005."

He called for the Security Council to hold a session on Sudan, adding that if members heard directly from those still living in Darfur's internally-displaced people camps, it would "reawaken our commitment to humanity."

Setbacks with the new government

Khan's Tuesday briefing was the first time an ICC prosecutor addressed the Security Council while in a country where the court is pursing justice.

Al-Bashir, who was Sudan's president at the time of the Darfur conflict, has remained in prison after he was overthrown in 2019 by military leaders who eventually ushered in civilian elections.

However, another military coup last October has been "a backwards step from the strong period of cooperation" in recent years, Khan said in a report circulated to the Security Council.

"The insecurity that persists following the events of October 25, 2021, also continues to cause disruption to investigative activity," the report added.

Members of Sudan's former government under Omar al-Bashir will be tried for crimes against humanity in Darfur

First trial underway

The first ICC trial to do with the atrocities in Darfur kicked off in April in The Hague. The defendant was Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, who was a leader in the Arab Janjaweed militia. He pleaded innocent to all 31 charges of war crimes.

Meanwhile, al-Bashir faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity from his time as president.

Two of his top officials at the time, former interior minister Abdel-Rahim Muhammad Hussein and former security chief Ahmed Haroun, have also been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ICC.

All three remain in custody in Khartoum.

zc/jsi (AP, AFP)

Ethiopia: Tigray rebels accuse government forces of new, large offensive

Rebels in Tigray said the government in Addis Ababa has launched a "large-scale offensive." The claims could not be independently verified as the Tigray region is under a communications blackout.

The war between Ethiopian government forces and Tigrayan rebels pushed parts of Tigray towards famine conditions

Rebels in the Tigray region of Ethiopia accused the central government in Addis Ababa and militias aligned with them of launching what it termed a "large-scale offensive" Wednesday.

The government in Addis Ababa did not immediately respond to the claims by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). It was not possible to independently verify the claims made by the TPLF due to the information blackout in that part of the country.

The "large-scale offensive" would put an end to a months-old cease-fire that had held a fragile peace in the country.

What is known about the 'large-scale offensive'?

Getachew Reda, a TPLF spokesman, told the AFP news agency, "They launched the offensive early this morning around 5:00 a.m. local time (0200 GMT). We are defending our positions."

On Twitter, Reda said the "large-scale offensive" had been launched "against our positions in the southern front," and accused Ethiopia's army, special forces and Amharic militias from the neighboring region of being responsible for the incursion.

Residents and Reda said the fighting broke out near the town of Kobo.

A farmer in the region told Reuters news agency, "I am hearing sound of heavy weapons starting from this morning."

Tigrai Television, a state-run regional station, reported, "Ethiopian forces along with Amhara special forces and Amhara militias started a large-scale attack around 5:00 a.m."

What does this mean for the conflict between Ethiopia and the TPLF?

The claim of a fresh offensive comes five months after the TPLF and the Ethiopian government reached a truce after more than a year of a brutal war that began in November 2020.

The Ethiopian National Defense Force had accused the TPLF on Tuesday of trying to "defame" the army with claims that Ethiopian government forces were moving against their positions or using heavy weapons to shell them.

In recent weeks, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the TPLF have traded barbs while simultaneously raising the prospects for peace talks to bring the war to an end. The two sides are unable to come to an agreement on who should lead the negotiations.

The TPLF is also demanding the restoration of basic services to the region's 6 million people prior to the start of any peace talks. Tigray has been without communications or banking services and imports of fuel are restricted which limits the amount of aid that can be brought into the region.

The war was responsible for displacing millions, creating famine conditions in parts of Tigray and the deaths of thousands of civilians.

ar/sms (AFP, Reuters)

Drought in Africa threatens millions of children — UN

As many as 40 million children are "one disease" from catastrophe as the Horn of Africa and Sahel experience the worst drought in four decades, according to UNICEF.


UNICEF said that drought and conflict were driving up water insecurity leading to high levels of water vulnerability

The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has warned that children in the Horn of Africa and Sahel regions "could die in devastating numbers unless urgent support is provided."

That's as the number of drought-stricken people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia — without access to adequate supplies of water — rose from 9.5 million to 16.2 million in the space of just five months, according to the relief agency.

"When water either isn't available or is unsafe, the risks to children multiply exponentially," UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said. "Across the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, millions of children are just one disease away from catastrophe," she added.

Twin threat of drought and conflict

UNICEF said drought and conflict in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Niger and Nigeria were driving up water insecurity, resulting in 40 million children facing high to extremely high levels of water vulnerability.

According to UNICEF's figures, 2.8 million children in the Horn of Africa and Sahel regions are already suffering from severe acute malnutrition, meaning that they are at risk of dying from waterborne diseases at a rate 11 times higher than well-nourished children.

Nearly two-thirds of children affected are under the age of 5. The organization said that as natural water sources dried up, the knock-on effect was significant increases in the price of water. In parts of Kenya prices had risen by as much as 400% while in parts of Somalia increases of up to 85% were reported.

CLIMATE CRISIS: A WORLD LACKING WATER
Famine risk on the Horn of Africa
Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are currently experiencing their worst drought in over 40 years after successive failed rainy seasons. The dry conditions have led to a severe food security issue in the region, with 22 million people at risk of starvation. More than 1 million people have been forced to leave their homes during the drought, which is expected to continue for months.
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The worst drought in decades

Climate change and extreme weather events have increased natural disasters over the past 50 years, according to the World Meteorological Organization and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

The rainy season for much of sub-Saharan Africa is April through June. Not enough rain fell during that period.

This year would be the third consecutive year where the East African and Horn of Africa regions have not received enough rain.

Although droughts are common in this region, they have become more severe. There is growing scientific evidence that climate change has exacerbated the effects of droughts.

DPA contributed to this report
Edited by: Rob Turner

China warns of 'severe' threat to harvest from worst heatwave on record

Jing Xuan TENG

Tue, August 23, 2022 

China's autumn harvest is under "severe threat" from high temperatures and drought, authorities have warned, urging action to protect crops in the face of the country's hottest summer on record.

The world's second-largest economy has been hit by record temperatures, flash floods and droughts this summer -- phenomena that scientists have warned are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change.

Southern China has recorded its longest sustained period of high temperatures and sparse rain since records began more than 60 years ago, the agriculture ministry said.

Four government departments issued a notice on Tuesday urging the conservation of "every unit of water" to protect crops.

"The rapid development of drought superimposed with high temperatures and heat damage has caused a severe threat to autumn crop production," the statement said.

China produces more than 95 percent of the rice, wheat and maize it consumes, but a reduced harvest could mean increased demand for imports in the world's most populous nation -- putting further pressure on global supply already strained by the conflict in Ukraine.

Temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) have led multiple Chinese provinces to impose power cuts, as cities struggle to cope with a surge in demand for electricity that is partly driven by people cranking up the air conditioning to cope with the heat.

The megacities of Shanghai and Chongqing have cut outdoor decorative lighting, while authorities in Sichuan province have imposed industrial power cuts after water levels dropped at key hydroelectric plants.

More than 1,500 people were moved out of the area surrounding Chongqing on Monday after hot and dry conditions sparked multiple wildfires, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The searing heat is also drying up the critical Yangtze River, with water flow on its main trunk about 50 percent lower than the average over the last five years, state media outlet China News Service reported last week.

- 'Worst heatwave ever' -

The national meteorological service renewed its warnings for drought and high temperatures on Tuesday, calling for 11 provincial governments to activate emergency responses.

Authorities have already turned to cloud seeding -- a method to induce rainfall -- in parts of the country.

State broadcaster CCTV published footage this month showing meteorological staff shooting catalyst rockets into the sky and firefighters transporting water to farmers in need.

"This is the worst heatwave ever recorded," climate and energy expert Liu Junyan of Greenpeace East Asia told AFP.

"Climate science shows extreme heat is becoming exponentially worse," she said.

"So it's more likely that next year will have record-breaking heat."

This year's extreme weather is raising public awareness of climate change in China, with state media "now coming around to covering climate impacts" with unprecedented urgency, Liu said.

Government climate expert Zhou Bing warned over the weekend of mass displacement caused by climate change, describing extreme weather as nature's "revenge" on humanity.

China has experienced three other episodes of intense heat so far this century -- in 2003, 2013, 2017.

The gap between heatwaves is "significantly shortening", Zhou said.

tjx/oho/mca/aha

Almost two-thirds of Europe is affected by drought — EU

According to the European Commission, the current drought could be the worst "for at least 500 years." Large swaths of the continent are now in a state of drought alert or drought warning.

Due to the drought, sunflower yields in Europe in 2022 are expected to be 12% below the average of the previous five years

Nearly two-thirds of Europe is threatened by drought, according to a report by the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission's science and knowledge service.

The drought may be the worst "for at least 500 years," European Commission spokesperson Johannes Bahrke said on Tuesday.

"This is of course only a first assessment, and we need to confirm this with final data at the end of the season," Bahrke said, referring to the report, which was published on Monday.

Details of the EU report on drought

According to the report, 47% of Europe is under warning conditions, with a clear deficit of soil moisture. A further 17% is in a state of alert, in which vegetation is affected.

Scarce rain and successive heat waves that began in May have affected river discharges and water levels.

"The severe drought affecting many regions of Europe since the beginning of the year has been further expanding and worsening as of early August," the report found.

What are the consequences of the drought in Europe?

The dry conditions have already affected inland waterway transport, power generation and yields of certain crops in Europe.

Low water levels have forced shippers to reduce their loads on waterways such as the Rhine. Reduced water volumes have also adversely affected the energy sector for both hydropower generation and cooling systems of other power plants.

Summer crops have suffered, with 2022 yields for grain maize set to be 16% lower than the average of the previous five years and soybean and sunflowers yields set to fall by 15% and 12%, respectively.

"Soil moisture and vegetation stress are both severely affected," the report found, listing over a dozen countries where drought hazard has been increasing, including Germany, France and Britain. "The rest of Europe, already affected by drought, maintains stable severely dry conditions," according to the report.

Asit Biswas, visiting professor at the University of Glasgow, told DW said that the water crisis is a "crisis of management."

"We have plenty of water for everything we want," Biswas said, adding that management over the last several decades has been unsustainable.

"We have really poor management all over the world, and we're blaming it on water scarcity," he said. He argued that even with climate change and prolonged droughts and floods, better management would allow humanity to weather the crisis.

"There are some places now [where] they're losing 60% of water" due to faulty infrastructure, Biswas said.

Biswas argued that lawmakers "only get interested when there is a prolonged drought or a prolonged flood." "The moment the flood disappears, water disappears from the agenda."

Conditions will not improve in coming months

Regions where conditions are deteriorating the most are those that were already affected by drought in spring 2022 — including northern Italy, southeastern France, and some areas of Hungary and Romania — according to the report.

Researchers forecast that conditions in the western Euro-Mediterranean region are likely to be warmer and drier than normal through November.

Britain will also need to continue to manage water resources carefully over the coming weeks and months to meet its needs following the driest summer for 50 years, the National Drought Group announced on Tuesday.

According to the group, which is made up of government officials, water companies and environmental organizations, there is enough water for all essential household and business needs. Ten of the Environment Agency's 14 areas in England are now in drought status.

dh/rt (dpa, Reuters)
Date 23.08.2022