Friday, March 29, 2024

PETRO PLUNDER
Fragile South Sudan risks turmoil over oil disruption: experts

Juba (AFP) – Oil-dependent South Sudan is at risk of economic and political turmoil over the shutdown of a key pipeline in its war-torn neighbour, Sudan, experts have warned.


Issued on: 29/03/2024 
South Sudan became independent in 2011 
AFTER A LONG CIVIL WAR
© Sophie RAMIS / AFP/File


Analysts voiced deep concern at the loss of crucial oil revenue in one of the poorest countries on the planet, and the possibility it may force South Sudan's first ever elections to be delayed once again.

In a letter dated March 16, Sudan's energy minister declared force majeure over a "major rupture" on the pipeline that ships crude from South Sudan to the Red Sea city of Port Sudan for export.


It said the rupture occurred in February in a "military operations area" in Sudan, where conflict has been raging since April last year.

Boutros Magaya, head of a South Sudanese parliamentary sub-committee on petroleum, warned of the "grave implications" of the shutdown on people's livelihoods and security and that the country faced an "imminent economic crisis".

"With the loss of the majority of our national income, we face the grim prospect of a humanitarian disaster, political instability and security unrest (in) our already fragile state," he said in a statement on Tuesday.
'Significant losses'

Despite its oil riches, the world's youngest nation has struggled to find its footing since independence from Sudan in 2011, battling ethnic violence, chronic instability, poverty and natural disasters.

About nine million of its 12.4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to UN figures.

Petroleum exports accounted for about 90 percent of South Sudan's national income and Magaya warned that it could lose at least $100 million a month without the oil sales.

"This will result in significant losses of income, increase in market prices, fuel shortages, prolonged power outages, disruptions in transportation, and other essential services that are vital for the well-being of our citizens."

South Sudan's ruling elite are accused by the UN of massive plundering of public coffers and resources, with the country ranked 177th out of 180 on Transparency International's corruption index.

When South Sudan became independent, it took over about three-quarters of the oil reserves of the old Sudan, while Khartoum retained control of all pipeline and export facilities.


According to the bp Statistical Review of World Energy, South Sudan produced 153,000 barrels per day in 2021, while Sudan's output was 64,000 bpd.
Salaries unpaid

Sudan has been at war since April 2023 when fighting erupted between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The conflict has killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee -- including about 500,000 to South Sudan -- and pushed the country to the brink of famine.

The government in Juba, which has been involved in efforts to end the Sudan conflict, has not commented publicly on the force majeure declaration.

Boboya James Edimond, executive director of Juba-based think tank the Institute for Social Policy and Research, said oil sales have been financing 95 percent of government operations.

Even when the oil was flowing, he said the government has not been able to pay civil servant salaries for months.

"And if the oil is not going to be flowing, there will be a collapse of the government which might force citizens to go for protest and the military is likely to join," he warned.

Akol Maduok, head of the economics department at the University of Juba, said bluntly that the situation was "not good" for the average South Sudanese.

"The situation will worsen in the next two or three months because the central bank might run short of foreign reserves and it will not be able to supply hard currency into the market."

Andrew Smith, senior Africa analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, said the hit to government finances caused by the damaged pipeline meant it was "highly likely" the election scheduled for December will be delayed.

"Juba appealed for more financing for the polls from the international community in early February, before the pipeline was damaged," he said in a note to AFP.

"Any funds it receives to plug oil revenue shortfalls will now likely be directed towards placating the political elite, not election preparations which were already under resourced."

© 2024 AFP
UPDATE
Impact of Baltimore port closure on global supply chains

Paris (AFP) – The bridge collapse that closed the Port of Baltimore has raised concerns about the disaster's potential impact on the global supply chain.



Issued on: 29/03/2024 -
Cranes have been deployed to unblock the port of Baltimore 
© CHIP SOMODEVILLA / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Authorities have warned that extensive work is needed before the major port can reopen following Tuesday's catastrophic cargo ship collision, which has blocked the harbour's entrance.

Here is a look at what it could mean for global trade:


A major car terminal


Baltimore is among the top 20 ports in the United States by tonnage and number of containers handled, according to the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Last year, it handled a record 1.1 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU) of containers -- a measure of volume for shipping containers.

Container imports via Baltimore amounted to 2.1 percent of the total for all US ports, according to Allianz Trade.

Its location deep within the Chesapeake Bay make it a "second-tier American port," said Paul Tourret, director of French maritime industry institute ISEMAR.

The port hosts transatlantic traffic, including small ships from northern Europe and the Mediterranean as well as some shipping lines from the Indian Ocean, Tourret said.

But it is a key hub for the auto industry.

Its private and public terminals handled 847,158 autos and light trucks last year, more than any other US port for the 13th year in a row, according to Maryland state figures.

It also ranked first for farm and construction machinery, as well as imported sugar and gypsum, and second for coal exports.

Alternative routes


German auto giants Volkswagen and BMW said their operations were not affected as the locations of their facilities were still accessible to ships.

US rival Ford said it had found alternative routes.

But the terminal for Mercedes-Benz is no longer reachable by sea as it is located behind the collapsed bridge.

The company told German media it is looking into alternative routes.

"The blockade of the Port of Baltimore will have little impact on trade between the USA and Europe," Patrick Lepperhoff, principal at Inverto consultancy, wrote in a note.

"In the last quarter of 2023, around 260,000 standard containers were loaded and unloaded at the port.

This volume can be diverted to the neighbouring ports" such as New York and Norfolk, Virginia, he wrote said.

Coal and cobalt impact


The port closure is expected to primarily impact US exports of coal and imports of cobalt, according to ratings agency S&P Global.

Access to coal export terminals of CSX Curtis Bay and Consol Marine Terminal has been blocked, it said.

The accident is expected to disrupt coal exports from Baltimore for 10 to 15 days but market participants suggested it would have "limited pricing impacts amid well-stocked markets", S&P added.

Coal exports from Baltimore jumped to 28 million short tons in 2023, mainly due to growing demand from Asia, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

"Even before the port's closure, we were expecting much slower growth in total US coal exports in 2024, of just one percent," the EIA said.

"The interruption in operations in Baltimore may affect the volume of exports this year," it added.

Baltimore's cobalt stocks were already under pressure due to strong demand for the mineral, a key component for electric car batteries and high-tech devices.

Yemeni rebel attacks on ships in the Red Sea have also caused delays as shipping companies have had to divert vessels to the longer and costlier route around southern Africa.

While the bridge incident will have "little to no impact" on US refined oil products, shipping fuel supplies "could tighten" on the Atlantic Coast as vessels refuel outside Baltimore, S&P said.

© 2024 AFP
Situation in chaos-wracked Haiti is 'cataclysmic', says UN

Issued on: 29/03/2024

The situation in chaos-wracked Haiti is "cataclysmic", with more than 1,500 people killed by gang violence so far this year and more weapons pouring into the country, the UN said Thursday. In a fresh report, the United Nations rights office detailed how "corruption, impunity and poor governance, compounded by increasing levels of gang violence (had) eroded the rule of law and brought state institutions... close to collapse".

01:50 Video by:  Liza KAMINOV

French parliament condemns 1961 Paris massacre of Algerians


Issued on: 29/03/2024 - 


01:23  Video by: Emerald MAXWELL

The French parliament's lower house on Thursday approved a resolution condemning as "bloody and murderous repression" the killing by Paris police of dozens of Algerians in a crackdown on a 1961 protest to support Algerian independence. In recent years France has made a series of efforts to come to terms with its colonial past in Algeria.

En.wikipedia.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_massacre_of_1961

22 hours ago ... "Paris massacre" redirects here. For other incidents, including the Charlie Hebdo attack and the November 2015 attacks, see Paris attacks (disambiguation...


Bbc.com

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58927939

Oct 16, 2021 ... How a massacre of Algerians in Paris was covered up · Getty Images The words "Here we drown Algerians" are seen on the embankment of · Gett...

Webdoc.france24.com

https://webdoc.france24.com/october-17-1961-massacre-algerians-paris-france-police-history

Police, politicians and the media covered up this massacre. It was the “most violent” repression of a protest in Western Europe's postwar history, noted British ...

Marxists.org

https://www.marxists.org/history/algeria/1961/oct-17-1961.htm

Maurice Papon who, as Prefect personally supervised the events of October 17, and who, in order to justify the massacre, insisted that Algerians fired on the ...

African cocoa plants run out of beans as global chocolate crisis deepens

Issued on: 29/03/2024 - 

02:00

Long the world's undisputed cocoa powerhouses accounting for over 60% of global supply, Ghana and its West African neighbour Ivory Coast are both facing catastrophic harvests this season. Expectations of shortages of cocoa beans - the raw material for chocolate - have seen New York cocoa futures more than double this year alone. They have hit fresh record highs almost daily in an unprecedented trend that shows little sign of abating.

ICYMI
Russia veto ends UN monitoring of N.Korea sanctions after arms transfer probe

Russia on Thursday blocked the renewal of a panel of UN experts monitoring international sanctions on North Korea, weeks after the body said it was investigating reports of arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.



Issued on: 29/03/2024 
Russia's Representative to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia addresses the Security Council on March 25, 2024. 
© Andrew Kelly, Reuters


The move was met with a flurry of criticism, including by South Korea's foreign ministry, which said Russia had made an "irresponsible decision" despite its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The United States called the veto by Moscow a "self-interested effort to bury the panel's reporting on its own collusion" with North Korea.

"Russia's actions today have cynically undermined international peace and security, all to advance the corrupt bargain that Moscow has struck with the DPRK," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, referring to the North by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba took to social media to call the veto "a guilty plea," amid allegations that Pyongyang is aiding Moscow in its war against Kyiv.

Moscow's veto at the Security Council does not remove the sanctions on North Korea, but spells the end for the group monitoring their implementation -- and myriad alleged violations.

The panel's mandate expires at the end of April.

North Korea has been under mounting sanctions since 2006, put in place by the UN Security Council in response to its nuclear program.

Since 2019, Russia and China have tried to persuade the Security Council to ease the sanctions, which had no expiration date.

The council has long been divided on the issue, with China's deputy ambassador Geng Shuang arguing Thursday that the sanctions "have exacerbated tensions and confrontation with a serious negative impact on the humanitarian situation."

China abstained rather than joining Russia in the veto. All other members had voted in favor of renewing the expert panel.

Russia's UN envoy Vasily Nebenzia said that without an annual review guaranteed to assess and potentially modify the sanctions, the panel was unjustified.

"The panel has continued to focus on trivial matters that are not commensurate with the problems facing the peninsula," Nebenzia said.

"Russia has called for the council to adopt a decision to hold an open and honest review of the Council sanctions... on an annual basis."

Continued tests


Additional Security Council sanctions were leveled on Pyongyang in 2016 and 2017, but the North's sanctioned nuclear and weapons development have continued.

Last week, Pyongyang tested a solid-fuel engine for a "new-type intermediate-range hypersonic missile," state media reported.

Recent cruise missile launches have prompted speculation that North Korea is testing those weapons before shipping them to Moscow for use in Ukraine.

In its latest report, issued at the beginning of March, the sanctions panel reported that North Korea "continued to flout" sanctions, including by launching ballistic missiles and breaching oil import limits.

It added that it is investigating reports of arms shipments from Pyongyang to Russia for use in Ukraine.

In August, Russia used its veto to end the mandate of a group of UN experts on Mali who charged that Moscow-linked Wagner mercenaries were involved in widespread abuses.

"We have now seen Russia use its veto to end two panels of experts due to its expanding military relationships," the United States, France, Japan, South Korea and Britain said in a joint statement.

In a separate statement, 10 Security Council members, including Britain, France and the United States, defended the sanction monitors' work.

"In the face of these repeated attempts to undermine international peace and security, the panel's work is more important now than ever before," it said.

(AFP)

Russian veto ends monitoring of UN's North Korea sanctions

Issued on: 29/03/2024 - 

00:50 Video by : FRANCE 24

Russia on Thursday blocked the renewal of a panel of UN experts monitoring international sanctions on North Korea, weeks after the body said it was investigating reports of arms transfers between Moscow and Pyongyang.





Seoul slams 'irresponsible' Russian veto ending UN North Korea sanctions monitoring


Issued on: 29/03/2024 -

01:50  Video by:  Matthew-Mary Caruchet

South Korea slammed Russia's "irresponsible" veto blocking the renewal of a panel of UN experts monitoring international sanctions on North Korea, with the vote following accusations Pyongyang is aiding Moscow in its war in Ukraine.

In Canada's Quebec, residents miffed over mining boom

Saint-Élie-de-Caxton (Canada) (AFP) – Canada's Quebec province is rich with minerals needed for everything from electric cars to cell phones, but residents living atop the potential windfall are worried their backyards will be dug up -- and they won't get a dime.


Issued on: 29/03/2024 -

Residents of the Canadian town of Saint-Elie-de-Caxton are upset with an explosion in mining claims, including under their own homes 
© Genevieve Normand / AFP
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In recent months, tens of thousands of mining exploration permits have been issued in the province amid a global rush for critical and strategic minerals such as graphite, lithium, zinc, nickel and cobalt.

But under provincial mining exploration rules, subsoil in Quebec does not belong to landowners.

In Saint-Elie-de-Caxton, a town of 2,000 people about halfway between Montreal and Quebec City, residents are fed up. Signs around town proclaim "Saint-Elie, incompatible with mining activity" or "Don't Dig in my Caxton."

"We are at war, says Gilbert Guerin, spokesman for the "Don't Dig in my Caxton" committee, pointing to a map delineating exploration claims that have effectively parceled off the town for future mines.

Map showing active mining claims in Quebec, according to data from the Canadian province's ministry of natural resources and forests 
© Corin FAIFE, Jean-Michel CORNU / AFP

In Quebec, it only takes a few clicks on a website and about Can$75 (US$55) to stake a mining claim covering up to 100 hectares (250 acres) -- an opportunity open to locals and foreigners alike.

"I bought here. I thought I would be sovereign in my own home, but I came to understand that what's underground did not belong to me," says Yvan Lafontaine, surveying his property in the neighboring village of Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc from atop an observation tower he had built.

When Lafontaine learned that a company had acquired the mining rights to the subsoil beneath his land, what the nature lover calls his little "paradise," he fought back by staking 12 claims surrounding the property.

Currently, more than 350,000 claims have been registered, covering 10 percent of Quebec. The southern areas of the province -- where most of the population lives -- is the most sought after.

Yvan Lafontaine, whose estate is located on territory claimed by miners, looks at nature and the forest from the top of an observation tower that was built on his land in St-Mathieu-du-Parc, Quebec, Canada © Genevieve Normand / AFP

According to an AFP analysis of government data, the number of claims issued significantly increased from September 2022 to the end of February 2024, with about 160,000 granted -- a 140 percent increase over the previous 18-month period.
'Wild West'


For Saint-Elie resident Julie Hamelin, the mining exploration regulations in Quebec are "outdated."

St-Elie-de-Caxton resident Julie Hamelin says Canada's mining regulations are 'outdated' © Genevieve Normand / AFP

"It's something out of the Wild West, this way of staking claims," she said, urging provincial authorities to protect inhabited lands from mining.

Guerin, a former civil servant, says he is worried about the "irreversible consequences" that a mining project would have, particularly on the region's groundwater.

To try to discourage mining companies from moving in, residents of Saint-Elie-de-Caxton spent thousands of dollars to buy up more than 220 exploration claims around the village.

Faced with growing public discontent, the Quebec government has announced it intends to modernize its mining law, and insisted in an email to AFP "that no exploration can be carried out without the consent of the owner of private land."

But mining companies definitely are eyeballing Quebec's potential for resources extraction.

"There is a lot of graphite in Quebec. It could be the most important reserve in the world," says Hugues Jacquemin, chief executive of Northern Graphite.

"We absolutely must develop this sector because it is essential for the manufacture of batteries and electric vehicles," he told AFP during a visit to a mine at Lac-des-Iles, 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of Montreal.

Aerial view of the Northern Graphite mine in Lac-des-ÃŽles, Quebec, March 7, 2024 
© Sebastien ST-JEAN / AFP

Canada is seeking to develop a battery supply chain independent from China, which has until now dominated the market in these critical minerals.

The development of the electric vehicle sector is a priority for both Quebec and Canada, which boasts of being one of the only countries in the world to have all of the necessary minerals to produce batteries.

But in Saint-Elie-de-Caxton and its surrounding areas, not all citizens are on board with the official plans.

"I don't think we should go in this direction," says Hamelin. "The solution is downscaling by using what we already have."

© 2024 AFP
Humanitarian groups urge leaders to act on threat from extreme heat

Extreme heat is one of the most deadly problems from climate change even though it receives less attention than other knock-on effects like hurricanes and flooding, two of the world's leading humanitarian organisations warned Thursday.



Issued on: 29/03/2024 - 
A sign warns people of extreme heat in multiple languages on July 11, 2023, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. © AP



The year 2023 was the hottest on record, with rising temperatures affecting the most vulnerable populations in particular -- the elderly, outdoor workers and those without access to cooling systems such as air conditioners.

The Red Cross and the US Agency for International Development delivered their warnings against the "invisible killer" of extreme heat at a virtual summit, on the heels of the United States exiting its warmest-ever winter on record.

"We are calling on governments, civil societies, young people and all the stakeholders to take concrete steps around the globe to help prepare countries and communities for extreme heat," said Jagan Chapagain, secretary general for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

USAID chief Samantha Power warned that in the United States, "heat is already deadlier than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined."

"We are calling on development agencies, philanthropies and other donors to recognize the threat that extreme heat poses to humanity, and to put resources towards helping communities withstand that threat," she said.

Highlighting ongoing efforts addressing extreme temperatures, Power said USAID was supporting a program to build "heat resilient schools" in Jordan, using "passive heating and cooling systems, thermal insulation, double glazed windows and air conditioning."

Climate change's effects aren't limited to already hot places like the Middle East: in Europe, the fastest-warming continent in the world, more than 60,000 people were estimated to have died in heat waves in 2022, noted US climate envoy John Podesta.

"Climate information and services including early warnings can save lives and assets," he added. "But one-third of the world's population doesn't have access to this life-saving information."

Other efforts include those in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, where nearly a million trees have been planted since 2020.

"But we mustn't allow this conversation to let anyone off the hook when it comes to reducing emissions," Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr said.

(AFP)
'Scolded' braless passenger wants meeting with US airline boss

Los Angeles (AFP) – A woman who says she was threatened with being kicked off a US Delta Air Lines flight because she was not wearing a bra demanded a meeting with the company's top boss on Thursday over what she says is a discriminatory policy.



Issued on: 28/03/2024 - 

Lisa Archbold said she had on baggy jeans and a loose white t-shirt -- with no bra -- and claimed she was temporarily escorted off a flight by a female gate agent who demanded she cover up, even though her breasts were not visible.

"It felt like a scarlet letter was being attached to me," Archbold, 38, told reporters in Los Angeles about the January incident.

"I felt it was a spectacle aimed at punishing me for not being a woman in the way she thought I should be a woman as she scolded me outside of the plane."

Archbold, a DJ who was flying from Salt Lake City in conservative Utah to the famously liberal San Francisco, claims the Delta agent said her attire was "revealing" and "offensive" and that airline policy was not to allow passengers dressed that way to travel.

But, the agent said, if she put a jacket over her t-shirt, she would be allowed to continue her journey.


Attorney Gloria Allred said she had written to Delta on behalf of Archbold demanding a meeting with the company's president to discuss the discriminatory policy.

"Male passengers are not required to cover up their t-shirts with a shirt or a jacket," she said.

"They also do not have to wear a bra to board or remain on a plane and women should not have to wear one either.

"Last I checked, the Taliban are not in charge of Delta."

Allred said US federal rules allow airlines to remove passengers who present a safety or security risk to the plane or its passengers, but that was clearly not the case with Archbold.


"Neither her breasts nor any other woman's breasts have ever tried to take over a plane," she said.

"Breasts are not weapons of war, and it's not a crime for a woman or girl to have them.
"

Allred said there were currently no plans for a lawsuit and that all she and Archbold wanted was a meeting with Delta's president to secure assurances their policies would be updated.

In response to AFP inquiries, a spokesperson for the company said: "Earlier this year, Delta representatives contacted this customer with an apology."

© 2024 AFP
Crime & Crypto: How cryptocurrencies enable money laundering & terror funding

PRIMITIVE ACCUMULATION OF CAPITAL

Issued on: 28/03/2024 -

The case of Sam Bankman-Fried highlights how crypto-currency is being used more and more to commit crimes. The untraceable currency can be used for money laundering and even for financing terrorism. Siobhan Silke reports. Monte Francis speaks to Renato Mariotti, a former prosecutor in the US Justice Department’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Section.

08:15  Video by:  Monte FRANCIS

 

Fallen crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 25 years in prison

SHOULD BE 25 TO LIFE

Issued on: 29/03/2024 -

Crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for a massive fraud on hundreds of thousands of customers that unravelled with the collapse of FTX, once one of the world’s most popular platforms for exchanging digital currency.

01:33 Video by:Vedika BAHL