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bharatlivenewsmedia · 2 years

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US President Joe Biden authorises transfer of multiple launch rocket systems to Ukraine

US President Joe Biden authorises transfer of multiple launch rocket systems to Ukraine The US will send Ukraine more advanced rocket systems to help it defend itself, President Biden has announced.The medium-range high mobility artillery rocket systems are part of a new $700m tranche of security assistance for Ukraine from the US that will include helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapon systems,…

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#authorises #biden #india #joe #launch #multiple #news #president #rocket #systems #transfer #ukraine

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mariacallous · 1 year

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The US right has this week been staging a clown show that has had liberals in that country and beyond pulling up a chair and breaking out the popcorn. There has been a karmic pleasure in watching the Republicans who won control of the House of Representatives struggle to complete the most basic piece of business – the election of a speaker – but it’s also been instructive, and not only to Americans. For it has confirmed the dirty little secret of that strain of rightwing populist politics that revels in what it calls disruption: it always ends in bitter factional fighting, chaos and paralysis. We in Britain should know, because Brexit has gone the exact same way.

Start with the karma that saw House Republicans gather two years to the day since they sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from one party to another: often overlooked in the anniversary recollections of 6 January 2021 is that, mere hours after rioters had stormed the US Capitol, a majority of Republican House members voted to do precisely as the rioters had demanded and overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Yet here were those same House Republicans on 6 January 2023, having prevented the smooth transfer of power from one party to another – except this time, the party they were thwarting was their own.

It should have been straightforward. Republicans won a narrow majority in the House in November, which gave them the right to put one of their number in the speaker’s chair. The trouble was, while most backed Kevin McCarthy, about 20 rebels did not. By Thursday night, they had gone through 11 rounds of voting – the most since the civil war era– without McCarthy or anyone else winning a majority. The result: deadlock.

It was a study in incompetence. A party asks the electorate to give them power; they get it and then freeze, unable to take even the first step towards using it. There’s no clear political logic to the stalemate. The rebels are devotees of Donald Trump, but McCarthy himself is a tireless Trump sycophant – patronised by the former president as “my Kevin” – who begged for and won the backing of the orange one. The pro-Trump rebels are divided among themselves: one rebuked Trump for sticking with McCarthy, while another voted to make Trump himself speaker.

It’s telling that the rebels’ demands are not on policy but on procedure, seeking rule changes or committee seats that would give them more power. Otherwise, they can’t really say what they want. They succeeded in getting metal detectors removed from the entrance to the chamber, so now people can walk on to the floor of the House carrying a gun, but apart from that, and their hunger to start investigating Democrats, including Joe Biden’s son Hunter, nothing.

All this has significance for the year ahead in US politics. For one thing, it’s yet more evidence of the diminishing strength of Trump among Republican leaders, if not yet among the party faithful. For another, if Republicans cannot make a relatively easy decision like this one, how are they going to make the tough but necessary choices that are coming – such as authorising the spending, and debt, required to keep the US government functioning?

But its meaning goes far wider. For what’s been on display this week, in especially florid form, is a strain of politics that has infected many democracies, including our own. Its key feature is its delight in disruption, in promising to upend the system. That was the thrust of the twin movements of 2016, Trump and Brexit. Both promised to sweep away the elites, the experts, the orthodoxy – whether in Washington DC or Brussels. They were new movements, but they were drawing on deep roots. Four decades ago both Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher cast themselves as radicals daring to shake off the dead hand of the government.

So we can hardly be surprised that those who railed against government should be so bad at it. They promised disruption, and that’s what they’ve delivered. In the US it was the chaos of Trump himself, and now a House of mini-Trumps that can’t tie its own shoelaces. In the UK, it looks different: we have a prime minister in Rishi Sunak whose pitch is technocratic competence. But that should not conceal two things.

First, the post-2016 Tory party delivered just as much parliamentary turmoil and intra-party division as McCarthy and co served up this week. Whether it was the Commons gridlock of the two years preceding the 2019 election or the psychodrama of the three years after it, Brexit-era Conservatism has proved every bit as unhinged as Trump-era Republicanism. When it comes to burn-it-all-down politics, the Republicans’ craziest wing are mere novices compared with a master arsonist such as Liz Truss. The US and UK are simply at different points in the cycle.

Second, even with Sunak in charge, and though painted in less vivid colours, Brexit-era Toryism is just as paralysed as its sister movement in the US. The five-point plan unveiled in the PM’s new year address consisted mostly of the basics of state administration – growing the economy, managing inflation – rather than anything amounting to a political programme.

And that’s chiefly because his party, like the Republicans, cannot agree among themselves. Consider how much Sunak has had to drop, under pressure from assorted rebels. Whether it was reform of the planning system, the manifesto commitment to build 300,000 new houses a year or the perennial pledge to grasp the nettle of social care, Sunak has had to back away from tasks that are essential for the wellbeing of the country. True, he has avoided the farcical scenes that played out this week on Capitol Hill, but that’s only because he has preferred to preserve the veneer of unity than to force a whole slew of issues. The result is a prime minister who cannot propose much more than extra maths lessons lest he lose the fractious, restive coalition that keeps him in office.

None of this is coincidence. It’s in the nature of the rightwing populist project, in Britain, the US and across the globe. Brexit is the exemplar, a mission that worked with great potency as a campaign, as a slogan, but which could never translate into governing, because it was never about governing. It was about disrupting life, not organising it – or even acknowledging the trade-offs required to organise it. It offered the poetry of destruction, not the prose of competence.

The Conservatives are several stages further down this road than the Republicans, perhaps because their power has been uninterrupted throughout. But in both cases, and others, the shift is unmistakable. Once parties of the right saw themselves as the obvious custodians of state authority: the natural party of government. Now they are happier shaking their fists at those they insist are really in charge. They are becoming the natural party of opposition.

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fatehbaz · 1 year

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Within a timespan of just a couple of weeks, in March and April 2023, the United States presidential administration and its homeland security leaders have announced significant crackdowns on refugees and asylum seekers at both its northern and southern peripheries. These policy changes have been described by scholars, lawyers, doctors, and other advocates as “terrifying’, “dangerous”, “deadly”, and “inhumane”.

In the final days of March 2023, following the US president’s visit to Canada, the US and Canada have announced a major change to the Safe Third Country Agreement policy. Scholars have described the rule change as one that will effectively deny refugee or asylum status to many people crossing the border along the entire continent, from Atlantic to Pacific. Meanwhile, in early April 2023, a trilateral statement/agreement was announced by the leaders of the US, Colombia, and Panama, as the nations describe their intent to discourage refugee travel through the notoriously horrific Darien Gap,

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About the US-Canada border. Excerpt:

Others have not survived. On March 31 [2023], two families perished at the Quebec-US border, including an infant and a three-year-old. [...] Why aren’t people going to official ports of entry? The answer is that the law, specifically the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between the US and Canada, deters people from using official border entry points because they will be turned away and denied the opportunity to make a refugee claim. Canada has acknowledged these crossings by erecting pop-up border stations like one at Roxham Road, facilitating the movement of migrants. Quebec’s premier and main opposition leader have called for this makeshift port of entry to be shut down. And now, as part of US President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Canada, the two countries have decided to do just that, under a renegotiated STCA that came into effect starting midnight on Friday, March 24 [2023]. Now anyone crossing any point of the Canada-US land border to make a refugee claim will be turned away. They will not be able to make a refugee claim and will be sent back to the US side of the border. Until now, this agreement only applied at official land ports of entry which pushed people seeking asylum to cross at unofficial points [...]. The newly expanded STCA now applies across the entire Canada-US land border, including areas between official ports of entry and certain bodies of water. Anyone making an asylum claim within 14 days of crossing without authorisation or valid immigration status will be brought back to a US port of entry and excluded from being able to make a claim in Canada. [...] Advocates argued that the agreement not only infringes migrants’ rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but also violates Canada’s international legal obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention [...].

Text by: Jamie Liew, Petra Molnar, and Julie Young. “The new US-Canada border deal is inhumane - and deadly.” Al Jazeera. 19 April 2023. Liew is a lawyer and associate professor at University of Ottawa. Molnar is associate director of the Refugee Law Lab. Young is Canada Research Chair in Critical Border Studies at University of Lethbridge.

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More on the US-Canada border. Excerpt:

“The United States and Canada will work together to discourage unlawful border crossings and fully implement the updated Safe Third Country Agreement,” US President Joe Biden said during an address to the Canadian parliament in Ottawa on Friday afternoon. But human rights groups said the move will not deter refugees and asylum seekers [...] but instead will push them to take riskier routes. [...] “This is very dangerous,” said Frantz Andre, spokesperson and coordinator of [...] a Montreal-based group that provides support for asylum seekers and others without immigration status. [...] Why is this happening now? Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been under political pressure domestically to respond to an increase in crossings, particularly from conservative politicians in Quebec [...].

Text by: Jillian Kestler-D’Amour. “What the new US-Canada border deal means for asylum seekers.” Al Jazeera. 24 March 2023.

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The US, Colombia, and Panama announcement about the Darien Gap. Excerpt:

A US-backed plan to stop migrants from crossing the [...] Darién Gap will likely fail [...], migration experts have warned. The US Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday [11 April 2023] that it had brokered a deal with the Colombian and Panamanian governments to halt migrants crossing the land bridge on their journey northward to the US. The number of people traversing the lawless strip of land between Colombia and Panama has spiked to record numbers in the last two years. [...] [I]t is likely the plan would require militarisation, a scenario which Nicole Phillips, legal director of Haitian Bridge Alliance, an immigration policy non-profit, described as “terrifying”. [...] Decaying bodies of migrants are routinely found deep in the rainforest [...]. Those who survive the arduous two-week trek are at the mercy of [...] groups that frequently rob [...] vulnerable migrants. Given the risk that migrants already undergo fleeing poverty or persecution, Blaine Bookey at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies said she doubted authorities can deter them from making the trip. More likely, migrants will be pushed further underground and forced to take more dangerous routes. [...] Despite the harrowing tales of robbery [...] and death in the Darién Gap, the number of people and families making the journey surged in 2022 to record levels [...].

Text by: Luke Tyler. “‘Terrifying’: Critics decry US plan to stop migrants at Darién Gap.” The Guardian. 14 April 2023.

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Why? Excerpt:

Facing pressure from conservatives, the Biden administration is trying to cut down on irregular migration and has set its sights on the booming foot traffic through the Darién. Currently, a [...] law, Title 42, uses the pandemic as justification to prohibit asylum claims at the US-Mexico land border, requiring Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Cubans to apply formally and meet certain requirements instead. [...] [B]ut the most desperate migrants often cannot meet the requisites due to the dire conditions in the countries from which they are fleeing, said Phillips. “The thought of [the US, Panama and Colombia] further militarising in order to keep migrants out is terrifying for people’s safety.” She said it was disappointing that human rights were not mentioned even once in the trilateral statement, given the dire and growing humanitarian crisis in the Darién. Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which attends to migrants needing medical assistance when they emerge from the jungle in Panama, says it [...] is “concerned” by the possible militarisation of borders. “We have seen in other countries that it can lead to more danger, not ensuring basic services and may increase suffering,” Luis Eguiluz, head of mission for MSF Colombia and Panama, said.

Text by: Luke Tyler. “‘Terrifying’: Critics decry US plan to stop migrants at Darién Gap.” The Guardian. 14 April 2023.

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ausetkmt · 2 months

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Kenya's Haiti mission in limbo as urgency grows

A convoy of cars carrying members of a Kenyan delegation leave the premises of Haitian National Police (PNH) after meeting with the Chief of the Haitian National Police Frantz Elbe, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, August 21, 2023

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya has said its police officers will soon be in Haiti to confront rampaging gangs controlling the capital, but worsening insecurity and uncertainty about financing are casting doubt on the mission's prospects.

Kenya's government, which first pledged to lead an international security mission last July, says the coast is now clear to deploy after it signed an agreement with Haiti's government on March 1 meant to address concerns raised by a domestic judge who deemed the existing plan unlawful.

The United States and other powers are pushing for a swift deployment of Kenyan officers, seen as a prerequisite to allowing a half-dozen other African and Caribbean countries to also send security forces.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry has been unable to return to Haiti because of escalating violence since he signed the deal in Kenya. He announced overnight he would resign once a transition council and temporary replacement have been appointed.

Kenya's army has previously been sent to countries including Somalia, but its police officers have never been deployed in such large numbers and, for Nairobi, thorny issues remain to be worked out.

"The deteriorating security situation is likely to force a rethink in Nairobi," said Murithi Mutiga, the program director for Africa at the International Crisis Group think-tank.

"The state seems to be crumbling from within and the security situation is much worse than when Kenya offered to lead the mission."

Kenya's presidency and government did not respond to requests for comment.

One major challenge, according to diplomats with knowledge of the matter, is financing. The United States is providing the bulk of the funds for the mission, which was authorised by the U.N. Security Council in October.

The United States has pledged $300 million. However, a U.N. spokesperson said that as of Monday, less than $11 million had been deposited into the U.N.'s dedicated trust fund.

A senior U.S. State Department official said President Joe Biden's administration was working with Congress to get the money transferred.

Kenya has asked to be paid the costs of the deployment upfront, but U.N. rules require that funds it administers be used only to reimburse costs already incurred, according to a diplomat based in Nairobi and U.N. officials.

Kenya would therefore need to find a country willing to pay it directly, said the diplomat and U.N. officials who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions.

A senior U.S. official said $100 million in Defense Department funding to the mission announced on Monday would be used for logistics and equipment, and would not pass through the U.N. trust fund.

It was not clear whether that money could cover some or all of the Kenyan government's requests. Kenya has pledged 1,000 officers to a mission that experts expect to have up to 5,000 personnel.

PRE-DEPLOYMENT STAGE

Addressing reporters on Monday, Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki said Kenya was in the pre-deployment stage.

"There was a small court matter and that has been resolved," he said.

A High Court judge ruled in January that the government's plan was unlawful because there was no "reciprocal agreement" with the host country.

Although the government believes the March 1 agreement addressed the judge's misgivings, the opposition politician who spearheaded the lawsuit has vowed to launch a new challenge. He argues that the unelected Henry did not have the legal authority to enter into such an arrangement.

Meanwhile, the surging violence over the past week in Port-au-Prince, where gangs besieged the international airport and released thousands of prisoners, has deepened concerns in Kenya about the wisdom of the mission.

Opposition politicians, already critical of the mission as too dangerous and not in Kenya's national interests, have stepped up their criticism.

Opiyo Wandayi, the minority leader in the National Assembly, warned last week of immense losses. Makau Mutua, a prominent law professor, said Kenyan officers would be "sitting ducks".

Enock Alumasi Makanga, a former police officer and the national chairman of the Protective and Safety Association of Kenya, told Reuters that Kenyan police lacked the training and equipment to carry out such a mission.

"The level of criminality in Haiti is beyond what our guys can do," he told Reuters.

Kenyan officials have said that the highly-trained paramilitary officers were well prepared for the challenges.

President Ruto has said the mission is a "bigger calling to humanity" motivated by solidarity with a brother nation. Haiti requested an international force in October 2022, but foreign governments were reluctant to participate.

#Kenya's Haiti mission in limbo as urgency grows #haiti #kenyan police #kenya

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swldx · 6 days

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BBC 0430 21 Apr 2024

12095Khz 0359 21 APR 2024 - BBC (UNITED KINGDOM) in ENGLISH from TALATA VOLONONDRY. SINPO = 55445. English, dead carrier s/on @0358z with ID@0359z pips and Newsroom preview. @0401z World News anchored by Chris Berrow. The US House of Representatives has passed a major package of military aid for Ukraine after a six-month hold-up in a move Volodymyr Zelensky praised for keeping “history on the right track”. Democrats waved Ukrainian flags on the floor of the House as the bill authorising $60 billion (£48.5 billion) in lethal aid to be sent from US stockpiles passed by 311 votes to 112. Joe Biden’s plan to send aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan had been held up in Congress for six months, amid opposition from Republicans who argued the war with Russia had become too expensive. One person was dead and seven missing after two Japanese military helicopters crashed after possibly colliding while out to sea, officials said. Sierra Leone authorities on Saturday burned $200,000 worth of narcotic drugs and chemicals used to manufacture the synthetic drug kush, two weeks after drug abuse was declared a national emergency. A candlelight vigil is being held for the victims of a stabbing at Bondi Junction Westfield in Sydney. Thousands of people are expected to attend the event to pay their respects to those who were injured in the attack. The vigil is a way for the community to come together in solidarity and support for the victims and their families during this difficult time. The turnout for the vigil is expected to be large, showing the strength and unity of the community in the face of tragedy. Israel will summon ambassadors of countries that voted for full Palestinian UN membership “for a protest talk” on Sunday, a foreign ministry spokesman said. It came after the Palestinian Authority said it would “reconsider” its relationship with the United States after Washington vetoed the Palestinian membership bid earlier this week. Thursday’s vote saw 12 countries on the UN Security Council back a resolution recommending full Palestinian membership and two, Britain and Switzerland, abstain. Two mayoral candidates were killed in two different parts of Mexico as the country heads to elections in June, authorities said. Center-right mayoral candidate Noe Ramos of Ciudad Mante was fatally stabbed in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, said state attorney general Irving Barrios. Authorities are searching for the suspect. Meanwhile, in the southern state of Oaxaca, another mayoral candidate Alberto Antonio Garcia, was also found dead on Friday, according to the state prosecutor. More than 46,500 voters have been called to cast ballots on Sunday in four Serb-majority municipalities in the north of Kosovo. In an unprecedented process, they will not vote to elect mayors but to dismiss them. This is the first time Kosovo has organised this type of ballot in which voters can exercise their right to dismiss the mayors of Leposavic, North Mitrovica, Zvecan and Zubin Potok that they never considered as legitimate. But on Wednesday, the Central Election Commission, CEC, announced that 33 school premises in the four municipalities will not serve as polling stations because their directors refuse to allow the votes to be held there. The Basque Country will head to the polls this Sunday for a crucial regional election that could prove to be a political headache for incumbent Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Opinion polls ahead of this weekend’s ballot show the left-wing separatist EH Bildu party, partly descended from the political wing of the now-defunct terrorist group ETA, with a narrow lead over the ruling centrist Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). @0406z "The Newsroom" begins. 250ft unterminated BoG antenna pointed E/W w/MFJ-1020C active antenna (used as a preamplifier/preselector), Etón e1XM. 250kW, beamAz 315°, bearing 63° . Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 15359KM from transmitter at Talata Volonondry. Local time: 2259.

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thehellsitenewsie · 25 days

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Israel Gaza: US weapons to Israel a sign of thaw in strained ties (BBC)

Despite a week of tensions with Israel over its conduct of the Gaza War, Washington is reported to have authorised arms transfers to its ally worth billions of dollars.

These include more than 1,800 MK84 2,000lb (900kg) bombs and 500 MK82 500lb bombs, as well as 25 F35A fighter jets, The Washington Post and Reuters news agency have said.

The larger bombs have previously been linked to air strikes in Gaza causing mass casualties.

Washington gives $3.8bn (£3bn) in annual military assistance to Israel.

But the latest package comes as the Biden administration has been raising concerns about rising civilian deaths in Gaza and humanitarian access to the territory, which the UN says is on the verge of famine.

Read more HERE

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williamchasterson · 4 months

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US House votes to authorise Biden impeachment inquiry

Republicans have yet to produce proof of wrongdoing but are seeking more authority to gather evidence. from BBC News – World https://ift.tt/kr1AHxg via IFTTT

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#BBC News - World #IFTTT

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dailyrugbytoday · 2 years

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Biden will travel to Europe next week for an extraordinary NATO meeting

New Post has been published on https://thedailyrugby.com/biden-will-travel-to-europe-next-week-for-an-extraordinary-nato-meeting/

The Daily Rugby

https://thedailyrugby.com/biden-will-travel-to-europe-next-week-for-an-extraordinary-nato-meeting/

Biden will travel to Europe next week for an extraordinary NATO meeting

As the cost of living crisis deepens, you may be assessing your regular monthly outgoings and looking for things you can cut back on. If you are lucky enough to be a homeowner, your biggest monthly expense is likely to be your mortgage.

But will your lender allow you to reduce your payments if you explain that you are struggling? And how will that affect your credit record? Similarly, if you have life insurance or a pension, can you take a break from your payments, and what will the consequences be?

Taking a break from your mortgage

According to UK Finance, the trade association for banks, mortgage lenders should offer “forbearance” to any customer who is in financial difficulty or unable to make their mortgage payments.

This could take the form of an authorised payment holiday, where your lender gives you permission not to pay your mortgage for a short period, usually up to three months. Alternatively, with your lender’s permission, you may be allowed to reduce your monthly repayments.

It can be tempting to cut pension contributions when money gets tight but you are losing more than just your own contribution

These arrangements come at a cost. Any payment holiday will be noted on your credit record, which could have implications the next time you want to borrow money – you may, for example, be charged a higher interest rate. You will also be expected to pay back everything you have missed paying once you are no longer in financial difficulty. Your mortgage is likely to cost you significantly more in the long run.

Cancelling life insurance premiums

LV= allows this – but you can only benefit if your policy (for income protection, critical illness or life insurance) has been in force for a year or more, you have a good history of paying and are less than three months behind with monthly premiums. You must declare that you have suffered a significant drop in your income or that your usual earnings have stopped. The payment break will only be offered for a month at a time, for up to three months.

If you do find yourself in a position where you have to cut or stop your contributions, try to resume them as soon as you can.

For example, it says a 33-year-old with £250,000 of life cover, paying £21.86 a month, could reduce their payments to £4.17 a month for six months. However, the maximum that could be claimed during this six-month period would be only £10,000.

Cutting your pension contributions

You may also be considering reducing or stopping your pension contributions for a while. This may ease your financial pressures a little in the short-term but it will reduce your income in retirement.

Cutting £693 a year from your pension will mean £1,284 less goes into your fund. If that money manages to grow by 5% a year until you retire, the long-term cost is even greater. Hargreaves Lansdown, an investment platform, estimates that a 40-year-old basic-rate taxpayer who cuts back on their pension payments in this way – reducing their contributions by only £57.75 a month for only one year – would end up £4,569 worse off, before fees, by the age of 67.

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fatehbaz · 1 year

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Razak Iyal and Seidu Mohammed recently celebrated becoming Canadian citizens. Their stories have been intertwined since they crossed the Canada-United States border to seek asylum near Emerson, Manitoba, on Christmas eve of 2016. Their lives nearly ended on that frigid night at the side of a rural road.

The two men survived but both lost all their fingers to frostbite.

Others have not survived. On March 31 [2023], two families perished at the Quebec-US border, including an infant and a three-year-old.

Stories like Razak and Seidu’s have captured intense political and public attention in Canada.

Why aren’t people going to official ports of entry?

The answer is that the law, specifically the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between the US and Canada, deters people from using official border entry points because they will be turned away and denied the opportunity to make a refugee claim. Canada has acknowledged these crossings by erecting pop-up border stations like one at Roxham Road, facilitating the movement of migrants. Quebec’s premier and main opposition leader have called for this makeshift port of entry to be shut down. And now, as part of US President Joe Biden’s recent visit to Canada, the two countries have decided to do just that, under a renegotiated STCA that came into effect starting midnight on Friday, March 24 [2023].

Now anyone crossing any point of the Canada-US land border to make a refugee claim will be turned away.

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They will not be able to make a refugee claim and will be sent back to the US side of the border.

Until now, this agreement only applied at official land ports of entry which pushed people seeking asylum to cross at unofficial points and made the remote Roxham Road that dead-ends at the boundary line between Hemmingford, Quebec, and Champlain, New York, a legal and well-travelled option.

The newly expanded STCA now applies across the entire Canada-US land border, including areas between official ports of entry and certain bodies of water. Anyone making an asylum claim within 14 days of crossing without authorisation or valid immigration status will be brought back to a US port of entry and excluded from being able to make a claim in Canada. [...]

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Advocates argued that the agreement not only infringes migrants’ rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but also violates Canada’s international legal obligations under the 1951 Refugee Convention [...]. Rather than suspending the agreement as many refugees and their advocates have long called for, the Canadian government has instead expanded it even though its legality is in question. [...]

How many deaths and other casualties of the STCA will it take before Canada reconsiders its reliance on increasingly restrictive and short-sighted policies? For the answer is blowing in the frigid wind along the US-Canada border: the Safe Third Country Agreement offers no real safety [...].

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Text by: Jamie Liew, Petra Molnar, and Julie Young. “The new US-Canada border deal is inhumane - and deadly.” Al Jazeera. 19 April 2023. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.] Liew is a lawyer and associate professor at University of Ottawa. Molnar is associate director of the Refugee Law Lab. Young is Canada Research Chair in Critical Border Studies and assistant professor in Department of Geography and Environment at University of Lethbridge.

A summary, from elsewhere:

The deal, which the Canadian government said would come into effect early on Saturday [25 March 2023], effectively extends the so-called Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) to the entire US-Canada border. “The United States and Canada will work together to discourage unlawful border crossings and fully implement the updated Safe Third Country Agreement,” US President Joe Biden said during an address to the Canadian parliament in Ottawa on Friday afternoon. But human rights groups said the move will not deter refugees and asylum seekers [...] but instead will push them to take riskier routes. [...] “This is very dangerous,” said Frantz Andre, spokesperson and coordinator of Comite d’action des personnes sans statut, a Montreal-based group that provides support for asylum seekers and others without immigration status. [...] Why is this happening now? Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been under political pressure domestically to respond to an increase in crossings, particularly from conservative politicians in Quebec and at the federal level.

Text by: Jillian Kestler-D’Amours. “What the new US-Canada border deal means for asylum seekers.” Al Jazeera. 24 March 2023.

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brexiiton · 7 months

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US secures release of soldier Travis King, who crossed into North Korea two months ago

By Associated Press, 4:16am Sep 28, 2023

The American soldier who crossed into North Korea two months ago is in American custody, two US officials say.

One official said on Wednesday that Private Travis King was transferred to US custody in China. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss King's status ahead of the US announcement.

Earlier, North Korea said it would expel King. That announcement surprised some observers who had expected the North to drag out his detention in the hopes of squeezing concessions from Washington at a time of high tensions between the rivals.

A TV screen shows a file image of American soldier Travis King during an news program at the Seoul Railway Station in South Korea. (AP)

"US officials have secured the return of Private Travis King from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

"We appreciate the dedication of the interagency team that has worked tirelessly out of concern for Private King's wellbeing."

Officials said they did not know exactly why North Korea decided to expel King, but suspected Pyongyang determined that as a low-ranking servicemen he had no real value in terms of either leverage or information.

One official, who was not authorised to comment and requested anonymity, said the North Koreans may have decided that King, 23, was more trouble to keep than to simply release.

"We thank the government of Sweden for its diplomatic role serving at the protecting power for the United States in the DPRK and the government of the People's Republic of China for its assistance in facilitating the transit of Private King," Sullivan added.

King was flown to a US military base in South Korea before being returned to the US.

His expulsion almost certainly does not end his troubles or ensure the sort of celebratory homecoming that has accompanied the releases of other detained Americans.

He has been declared AWOL from the Army, which can mean punishment military jail, forfeiture of pay or dishonourable discharge.

In the near term, officials said their focus would be on helping King reintegrate into US society, including helping him address mental and emotional concerns, according to a senior Biden administration officials who briefed reporters on the transfer.

The soldier was in "good spirits and good health" upon his release, according to one senior administration official. He was to be taken to Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, and was expected to arrive overnight, officials said.

King is seen in the bottom left corner, wearing a black shirt and black cap, during a tour of the tightly controlled Joint Security Area. (Sarah Leslie/Reuters)

King, who had served in South Korea, ran into North Korea while on a civilian tour of a border village on July 18, becoming the first American confirmed to be detained in the North in nearly five years.

At the time he crossed the border, King was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.

After arriving on the Texas military installation, King is expected to undergo psychological assessments and debriefings.

He will also get a chance to meet with family. King's legal situation remains complicated because he willingly bolted into enemy hands, so legally he would be in military custody throughout the process.

Sweden was the chief interlocutor with North Korea on the transfer, while China helped facilitate his transfer, administration officials said.

Biden administration officials expressed gratitude for China's assistance with the transfer but underscored that Beijing did not play a meditating role in securing King's release.

The US first learned through Swedish officials earlier this month that North Korea was looking to expel King. That information accelerated the effort to release King with Sweden acting on the United States' behalf in its talks with the North, an official said.

South Korean army soldiers pass by a military guard post at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea. (AP)

On Wednesday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported that authorities had finished their questioning of King.

It said that he confessed to illegally entering the North because he harbored "ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" within the US Army and was "disillusioned about the unequal U.S. society".

It had attributed similar comments to King before, and verifying their authenticity is impossible. Some previous foreign detainees have said after their releases that declarations of guilt while in North Korean custody were made under coercion.

The White House did not address the North Korean state media reports that King fled because of his dismay about racial discrimination and inequality in the military and US society. One senior administration official said that King was "very happy" to be on his way back to the United States.

In an interview last month with the Associated Press, King's mother, Claudine Gates, said her son had reason to want to come home. She thanked the US government on Wednesday for securing her son's release.

"Ms Gates will be forever grateful to the United States Army and all its interagency partners for a job well done," Jonathan Franks, spokesperson for Gates said in a statement.

King was among about 28,000 US troops stationed in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea. US officials had expressed concern about King's well-being, citing the North's harsh treatment of some American detainees in the past.

Both Koreas ban anyone from crossing their heavily fortified shared border without special permissions. The Americans who crossed into North Korea in the past include soldiers, missionaries, human rights advocates or those simply curious about one of the world's most cloistered societies.

While King was officially declared AWOL, the Army considered, but did not declare him a deserter, which is a much more serious offence.

In many cases, someone who is AWOL for more than a month can automatically be considered a deserter, which means they intended to leave permanently.

Punishment for going AWOL or desertion can vary, and it depends in part on whether the service member voluntarily returned or was apprehended. King's turnover by the North Koreans makes that a more complicated determination.

US soldier Travis King crossed the military demarcation line from South Korea into North Korea in July during a tour. (AAP)

North Korea's decision to release King after 71 days appears relatively quick by the country's standards, especially considering the tensions between Washington and Pyongyang over the North's growing nuclear weapons and missile program and the United States' expanding military exercises with South Korea. Some had speculated that North Korea might treat King as a propaganda asset or bargaining chip.

The US has also publicly accused North Korea of providing munitions to Russia for its war with Ukraine and says that Moscow is pushing Pyongyang to provide even more military aid.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader King Jong Un met for talks in Russia's Far East earlier this month.

Biden administration officials on Wednesday downplayed any idea that the release could augur a broader shift by Kim, but reiterated that the US remains ready to engage that North with diplomatic talks.

Captive Americans have been flown to China previously. In other cases, an envoy have been sent to retrieve them.

That happened in 2017 when North Korea deported Otto Warmbier, an American college student who was in a coma at the rime of his release and later died.

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shahananasrin-blog · 9 months

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[ad_1] LONDON: Britain said on Thursday (Aug 10) it was weighing how to respond to a decision by US President Joe Biden to prohibit some tech investments in China, adding it was continuing to assess potential national security risks. Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that authorises the US Treasury secretary to prohibit or restrict US investments in Chinese entities in three sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain artificial intelligence systems. The US government has said the measures are designed to address national security risks. China said on Thursday it was gravely concerned by the move. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government said the executive order gave important clarity on the US approach: "The UK will consider these new measures closely as we continue to assess potential national security risks attached to some investments." London has recently sought to stabilise its relationship with Beijing following a period of turbulence over issues such as security rules in Hong Kong and alleged human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly set out Britain's new approach in April, saying it would seek to protect itself by limiting national security threats posed by China while engaging in areas such as trade, investment and climate change. Sunak and Biden signed a new agreement to strengthen the historical security alliance between their two countries in June, vowing to deepen economic ties in areas such as advanced technologies, clean energy and critical minerals. Official data shows that China is not a significant destination for British foreign investment, with the figure standing at £10.7 billion (US$13.6 billion) at the end of 2021, compared with £461.4 billion in the United States. British investment in Hong Kong stood at £77.6 billion. [ad_2]

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noisynutcrusade · 11 months

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Takeaways From the Spending and Debt Ceiling Deal

President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached an settlement on Saturday to boost the debt ceiling whereas imposing new restraints on federal spending. If authorised by Congress, it would finish a partisan impasse and avert a doubtlessly devastating nationwide default. The deal won’t solely resolve the high-octane dispute over debt and spending points that has gripped Washington for weeks but…

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