Month: June 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin is making a rare foreign trip to North Korea, a visit intended to further cement ties with an old ally that supports Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

North Korean media reported on Monday that Putin would visit North Korea on June 18-19.

Ahead of Putin’s visit, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised the expanding ties between Moscow and Pyongyang in a June 12 message congratulating Russia on its National Day, describing the countries’ “unbreakable relationship of comrades-in-arms.”

Kim traveled to Russia’s Far East in September to meet Putin and visit several military sites, sparking Western concerns about an arms alliance between the two. Russian and North Korean officials said that boosting defense ties between the two countries was discussed during the visit but they didn’t disclose any specific steps.

Russia and North Korea are locked in separate confrontations with the United States — Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and North Korea over its advancing nuclear program.

Both North Korea and Russia have denied allegations of arms transfers, which would be a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.

In March, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Wonsik said North Korea had already shipped about 7,000 containers filled with munitions and other military equipment to Russia. In return, Shin said that North Korea had received more than 9,000 Russian containers likely filled with aid.

Russia is only interested in a cooperation with North Korea while there is ongoing military action in Ukraine, Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University, said.

“The strategic value of North Korea, in case the phase of active hostilities in Ukraine ends, is most likely not so great.” he added.

“At the stage of the military conflict (in Ukraine) there will be quite active interaction on issues of simple arms trade. The North Koreans will try to get some kind of military-technical assistance and military technology. I think no one will be particularly willing to give them these technologies,” Lankov said.

Putin’s trip to North Korea marks his second visit to the country.

Putin first visited Pyongyang in July 2000, months after his first election when he met with Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, who ruled the country then.

Moscow has said it “highly appreciates” Pyongyang’s support for Russia’s military action in Ukraine and mentioned its “close and fruitful cooperation” at the United Nations and other international organizations.

Russia, together with China, has repeatedly blocked the U.S. and its partners’ attempts to impose fresh U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its barrage of banned ballistic missile tests.

In March, a Russian veto at the United Nations ended monitoring of U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program, prompting Western accusations that Moscow is seeking to avoid scrutiny as it allegedly violates the sanctions to buy weapons from Pyongyang for use in Ukraine.

Earlier this year, Putin sent Kim a high-end Aurus Senat limousine, which he had shown to the North Korean leader when they met for a summit in September. Observers said the shipment violated a U.N. resolution aimed at pressuring the North to give up its nuclear weapons program by banning the supply of luxury items to North Korea

France is gearing up security measures ahead of its unprecedented opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics next month.

Cpt Sandy of theff French Army told the AP that Fennec helicopters will be patrolling the city and protecting airspace on the day.

The wildly ambitious July 26 ceremony is proving to be a gargantuan security challenge.

On the day of the eagerly-awaited event, around 200 Olympic delegations will join the parade on more than 80 boats. They will make the journey from east to west, along a six-kilometer (3.7-mile) route which has become a major talking point — for its audacity as a unique open-air event and for its exposure to potential danger.

Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said in April that the parade route will be inside a high-security zone described as an “anti-terrorism perimeter.” He said it will include the first row of buildings along the route.

Anyone who wants to enter the zone in the eight days before the ceremony and on July 26 itself will need to pre-register online and will “systematically” be subjected to the background security checks known in France as an “administrative investigation,” Nunez said.

The French government also decided that tourists won’t be given free access to watch the opening ceremony because of security concerns. Access will be invitation-only instead.

Security concerns led French President Emmanuel Macron to say in mid-April that the ceremony could shift to Stade de France if the threat level was too high. But French authorities said Monday events will go on for the big day as originally planned, with no alternatives being prepared at this stage.

There will be a final rehearsal, involving the full armada of boats, before the opening ceremony — one which is expected to bring 100 world leaders to the city’s embankments, where more than 300,000 people will watch.

“We will give our heart and souls to make it a great success for the French people,” France’s Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said Monday. “They deserve it.”

More than 200 protesters have been arrested in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, in ongoing protests against proposed tax hikes in a finance bill that is due to be tabled in parliament.

Civil society groups say that despite the arrests, demonstrations and a planned sit-down outside the parliament buildings will continue.

Nairobi Police Commander Adamson Bungei on Tuesday said no group had been granted permission to protest in the capital. The right to peaceful protests is guaranteed in Kenya’s constitution but organizers are required to notify the police beforehand. Police generally give a go-ahead unless there are security concerns.

Police hurled tear gas canisters at hundreds of demonstrators on Tuesday, forcing businesses to close for fear of looting temporarily.

A lawyer, Wanjohi Gachie, said he was protesting on behalf of all Kenyans who would be potentially burdened by the tax hikes.

“I’m requesting the police not to arrest or beat us because we are fighting for their rights as well,” he said.

Some major tax proposals in the bill were dropped after a Tuesday morning meeting between ruling party MPs and President William Ruto.

The chairperson of the finance committee, Kuria Kimani, said the proposal to introduce a 16% VAT tax on bread had been dropped.

Other levies that had prompted debate and have been amended include a proposed 2.5% motor vehicle annual tax that was to be placed on insurance.

A proposed tax on goods that degrade the environment will also be amended to apply only to imported goods to encourage local manufacturing.

Ruto last month defended the proposed taxes saying the country must be financially self-sustaining.

“The whole principal is that you must live within your means,” he said.

“I persuaded and I made a case to the people of Kenya that we must begin to enhance our revenue,” Ruto added.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga urged MPs to scrutinize the bill and vote to remove clauses that would burden the poor.

“It is worse than the one of 2023, an investment killer and a huge millstone around the necks of millions of poor Kenyans who must have hoped that the tears they shed over taxes last year would see the government lessen the tax burden in 2024,” he said in a statement in early June

Opposition figure Kalonzo Musyoka said weekly protests would resume if the finance bill is approved as proposed.

Legislators are due to debate the bill starting Wednesday with a vote scheduled for Monday.

Teenager, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, ran the fastest 800 metres since 2012 at the Kenyan Athletics Olympics Trials in Nairobi on Saturday, to qualify for the Paris games.

Despite almost failing to qualify for the finals after he tripped and fell during Friday’s semi-finals, he clocked a time of 1:41.70 on Saturday, making him the third-fastest man ever in the event.

“If I didn’t fall yesterday I would not have run like this today, so everything happens for a reason,” the 19-year-old said.

Only Kenya’s two-time Olympic champion, David Rudisha, and Denmark’s Wilson Kipketer have run faster times.

Rudisha holds the world record of 1:40.91 and has also run the second- and third-fastest times, followed by Kipketer with the fourth-fastest time of 1:41.11.

Emmanuel Wanyonyi produces a 1:41.70 win the 800m at the Kenyan Olympic.

David Rudisha and Wilson Kipketer have run quicker than him pic.twitter.com/6s4xm5j5nr

— Athletics Kenya (@athletics_kenya) June 15, 2024

Also qualifying for the Kenyan team on Saturday was sprinter, Ferdinand Omanyala.

He set the world-leading time of 9.79 seconds in the men’s 100 metres, appearing to have regained the form that saw him setting the African record of 9.77 during the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi in 2021.

“I feel great but I just feel like we can go faster. Today was just a confirmation of what is coming because this part of the season we did not do much,” the 28-year-old said.

Ferdinand Omanyala ran 9.79 to win the 100 meters finals at the Kenyan Olympic Trials, Mark Otieno was second in 10.12sec. Congratulations to Ferdy. pic.twitter.com/RxNwO99tAe

— Athletics Kenya (@athletics_kenya) June 15, 2024

Tanzania inaugurated its first Emergency Operation and Communication Center (EOCC) Situation Room, which is also the first national situation room to be set up under the African Union’s Africa Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Early Action System (AMHEWAS) Programme.

The event took place last week on friday and marked a milestone in the country’s journey towards building disaster resilience and was welcomed by supporters of the EOCC Situation Room, including the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), which over two years provided technical support for its establishment, in partnership with the CIMA Foundation and with generous funding from the Government of Italy, through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).

Working under the authority of the Prime Minister’s Office, the EOCC Situation Room will work to combine real-time data on current and emerging risks with data on past disasters to issue timely forecasts and bulletins. These products, through the coordination and support of the Prime Minister’s office, will aim to trigger protective actions that can save lives, protect livelihoods and safeguard economic sectors.

In a statement, Dr. Jim. J. Yonazi, Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office – Policy, Parliament and Coordination, stated, “We have launched this situation room here today, and it is going to really help Tanzania, to predict information on various kinds of disasters including flood, drought, etc. And this is very important for us to be able to plan strategies, on how we can prevent, but again if it happens, how to recover, and again how to provide more information to stakeholders on how to bring life back together.”

Kamal Kishore, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, said, “Today we launched the situation room in Dodoma Tanzania, this is an important milestone, the output, the synthetic outputs that will come out of this situation room will help us prepare communities on the ground to take anticipatory actions and protect lives and livelihoods .”

At the inauguration, UNDRR reconfirmed its commitment to supporting Tanzania fully operationalize the new EOCC Situation Room, in coordination with the UN system and other partners.

As part of this commitment, earlier this week, UNDRR’s Regional Office for Africa facilitated a workshop to train national officials on the use of an open-source system for real-time monitoring and forecasting of natural hazards. This tool will be utilized in the situation room to enable the issuing of advisories and bulletins to trigger early actions.

“Through the establishment of the situation room, all the warning entities like the TMA and the Ministry of Water plus the Prime Minister’s office will be sitting in the same room. So we’ll be there 24 7, and it’ll be very easy to convey the information from the warning entity to the disaster management department for easily taking measure in preparedness, to the community who will be at risk.” explained Kantamla Biseke Mafuru, Manager at Central Forecasting Office, Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA).

Countries with advanced multi-hazard early warning systems have disaster mortality rates that are six times lower than countries with no or weak systems, according to research by UNDRR. Moreover, an early warning of just 24 hours has the potential to reduce ensuing damages by 30%. Despite these benefits, only 45% of countries in Africa report the existence of such systems, according to UNDRR’s 2023 report on the Global Status of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems.

To address this gap, the UN Secretary-General launched the Early Warnings for All initiative, which supports the acceleration of regional efforts such as the African Union’s flagship AMHEWAS Programme. The Tanzanian EOCC Situation Room will be integrated into the AMHEWAS network, and support strengthening cross-border cooperation to address common hazards.

The AMHEWAS network, created through the support of the Italian Cooperation, is composed of four centres at continental and regional levels: the others are based at the African Union Commission (AUC) in Addis Ababa; the African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD) in Niamey; and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development-Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (IGAD-ICPAC) in Nairobi.

The Greek coastguard has been accused of the deaths of dozens of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, who were forced to turn back or were thrown overboard, an investigation found.

Over 40 migrants on small boats died due to the Greek coast guard’s actions, which included forcing damaged vessels to return to sea. Nine people died after being pushed into the water by coastguard officers, according to eyewitnesses from NGOs, local media, and the Turkish coastguard.

This comes days after protests in Athens marked the anniversary of a shipwreck that killed hundreds of migrants off Greece, with demonstrators demanding answers.

Up to 700 migrants from Pakistan, Syria, and Egypt were on a fishing trawler ‘Adriana’ bound for Italy from Libya when it capsized off southwestern Greece on June 14 last year. Although the Greek coastguard monitored it for hours, only 104 people were rescued, and 82 bodies were recovered.

This disaster, one of the worst in the Mediterranean, raised questions about the European Union’s efforts to control migrant flows and the Greek coast guard’s actions.

The BBC investigation found that at least 40 migrants died due to the Greek coast guard’s actions in 15 incidents between May 2020 and 2023. Migrants reported mistreatment by coastguard officers and police, including being thrown into the water after reaching land.

A Cameroonian man recounted seeing a man from the Ivory Coast drown after being thrown into the sea. A Somali migrant said Greek officers zip-tied his hands before shoving him into the water, while a Syrian man reported children drowning after being left near Turkey in damaged rafts.

Greece and Italy are popular destinations for migrants crossing the Mediterranean. Many African migrants depart from Libya, while those from the Middle East often travel from Turkey.

In 2016, Turkey agreed to stop migrants from crossing into Greece in return for €6 billion from the EU, which was later increased to €9 billion. However, in 2020, Turkey said it could no longer enforce the deal, potentially contributing to the Greek coast guard’s actions.

Meanwhile in Athens last week, survivors of the shipwreck catastrophe of last year spoke of their ordeal – and how the experience still haunts them 12 months on.

Only 104 people survived the sinking of the Adriana, a rusty metal fishing boat smuggling up to 750 migrants from Libya to Italy.

Although the vessel was clearly in bad shape, Greek officials were unable to evacuate the passengers before it sank.