The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • China opposes UK sanctions against firms over Russia

    China opposes UK sanctions against firms over Russia

    China yesterday voiced firm opposition to the United Kingdom’s decision to sanction five Chinese firms over the so-called Russian involvement.

    In spite of China’s representations and the sound development momentum of China-UK economic and trade relations, the UK insisted on listing Chinese companies in the latest round of sanctions against Russia.

    Such move would have a negative impact on the bilateral economic and trade relations, said a spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Commerce.

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    UK’s unilateral sanctions have no basis in international law and no mandate from the United Nations, which is a typical act of “long-arm jurisdiction,” said the spokesperson.

    “China urges the British side to bear in mind the overall interests of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, immediately correct its erroneous practices, and unconditionally cease the inclusion of Chinese enterprises on its sanctions list.

    “China will safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises resolutely,” the spokesperson said.

  • Israel violates use of precision bombs in Gaza war, says UN

    Israel violates use of precision bombs in Gaza war, says UN

    Israel has not been paying sufficient attention to the protection of civilians when using precision-guided bombs during the Gaza war, the UN Human Rights Office said yesterday.

    “The requirement to select means and methods of warfare that avoid or at the very least minimise to every extent civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel’s bombing campaign.”

    Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in Geneva that his office has investigated six Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip between October 9 and December 2.

    It assumes that bombs of the types GBU-31, GBU-32 and GBU-39 were used, which can penetrate concrete and destroy several floors of a building.

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    They were used to attack residential buildings, a school, a refugee camp and a market, the office said.

    At least 218 people had been killed.

    In an attack presumably with nine GBU-31 bombs on December 2, the destruction affected an area with a diameter of 130 metres, the UN agency said.

    It noted that it had destroyed 15 residential buildings and damaged 14 others.

    The section of international humanitarian law governing combat situations states that civilian facilities must be spared as much as possible during attacks.

  • Ramaphosa inaugurated, vows to fight inequality

    Ramaphosa inaugurated, vows to fight inequality

    Leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), Cyril Ramaphosa, yesterday took oath as the nation’s president for the next five years at Pretoria, the administrative capital.
    Ramaphosa, 71, was re-elected as South African president by the National Assembly on June 14 with 283 votes against the other nominee, Julius Malema from the Economic Freedom Fighters, who received 44 votes.
    South Africa has begun a “new era Ramaphosa announced as he was sworn in for a second full term in office.
    Ramaphosa hailed this government during his inauguration speech, but also warned that unless it addressed deep inequalities, the country could become unstable.
    “Through the ballots that they have cast, the people of South Africa have made plain their expectation that the leaders of our country should work together,” President Ramaphosa, 71, said solemnly.
    “They have directed their representatives to put aside animosity and dissent, to abandon narrow interests, and to pursue together only that which benefits the nation.”
    South African dignitaries and African heads of states were invited to the inauguration.
    They included the leaders of Nigeria, Angola, Zimbabwe, Congo-Brazzaville, and Eswatini, and gathered in the Nelson Mandela Amphitheatre outside the Union Building in Pretoria.
    A huge crowd of supporters formed outside the official seat of government, waving national flags.
    Under a sharp blue winter sky, the Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, administered the oath of office.
    “I swear I will be faithful to the Republic of South Africa… I will obey, observe and uphold the constitution and all other laws of the republic,” the president said.
    A band then played the national anthem. The rendition was followed by a 21-gun salute and a fly-past by army helicopters.

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    The ANC, which has governed since the end of the racist system of apartheid in 1994, lost its majority for the first time after the 29 May election produced no outright winner.
    The party got 40% of the vote, a drop of 17 percentage points, and it lost 70 seats in parliament.
    Under the South African Constitution, once elected as president by the National Assembly, the president-elect must assume office within five days.
    In the general elections on May 29, the ANC secured 159 out of the 400 seats in the National Assembly.
    This is the first time the ANC is falling below the 50 per cent needed to maintain its 30-year-old outright majority in the lower house of parliament.
    A weakened Ramaphosa pledged that his new multi-party government would work to improve basic living conditions for all citizens as he was sworn.
    Ramaphosa’s ANC will share power with five other parties after it was humbled in a May 29 election, losing its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years of democracy.
    The voters “have been unequivocal in expressing their disappointment and disapproval of our performance in some areas where we have failed them,” Ramaphosa said at his inauguration ceremony in the capital Pretoria.
    He said the voters wanted everyone to have enough food, decent homes, clean water, affordable and uninterrupted electricity supply, well-maintained roads, good care for the sick and elderly, quality schools, and other basic services.
    “Today, I stand before you as your humble servant to say we have heard you,” he said.
    “In this moment we must choose to move forward, to close the distances between South Africans and to build a more equal society.”
    The ANC remains the largest party after the election, followed by the pro-business Democratic Alliance, a critic of the ANC’s record in office, which has agreed to join the new government.
    While investors have welcomed the inclusion of the DA, which wants to boost growth through structural reforms and prudent fiscal policies, analysts say sharp ideological divisions between the parties could destabilise the government.
    Just before the election, Ramaphosa signed into law a National Health Insurance bill that the DA says could collapse a creaking health system. It was unclear what would happen to that law under the new government.
    The DA advocates scrapping the ANC’s flagship Black economic empowerment programme, saying it hasn’t worked — a highly contentious topic in a nation grappling with huge inequalities, some inherited from apartheid.
    Ramaphosa has yet to announce his new government, to be negotiated with members of the new alliance.
    A former liberation movement, the ANC came to power under Nelson Mandela’s leadership in the 1994 elections which marked the end of apartheid and had long been unbeatable.
    However, it lost its shine after presiding over years of decline.
    Weary of high levels of poverty and unemployment, rampant crime, rolling power cuts, and corruption in party ranks, voters punished the ANC, which lost millions of votes on May 29 compared with the previous election in 2019.
    “Our society remains deeply unequal and highly polarised,” Ramaphosa said.
    “We are divided between those who have jobs and those who do not work, between those who have the means to build and enjoy a comfortable life and those who do not.”
    African heads of state and dignitaries from as far afield as Cuba, a historical friend of the ANC, gathered outside the Union Buildings in Pretoria, the seat of the South African government, to bear witness to Ramaphosa’s inauguration.
    A ceremony full of military pomp and pageantry began with inter-faith prayers by Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, and traditional African religious leaders, reflecting the country’s diversity.
    Military helicopters flew past in blazing sunshine, trailing South African flags, to cheers from the audience.
    The former trade unionist and business tycoon first became president in 2018 when his predecessor, Zuma, was forced to resign because of corruption allegations. Zuma has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

  • Ammunition depot explosion kills nine, wounds 46 in Chad

    Ammunition depot explosion kills nine, wounds 46 in Chad

    Nine people were killed and more than 40 injured when a fire set off explosions at a military ammunition depot in Chad’s capital, an official said yesterday.

    Government spokesperson Abderaman Koulamallah said 46 people were being treated for various injuries after the explosions jolted residents from their sleep late Tuesday in the Goudji district of the capital, N’Djamena. The situation has been brought under control, Koulamallah said.

    The explosions lit up the sky as thick smoke covered the clouds in the West African nation, setting off frantic efforts to extinguish the fire as residents fled their homes for safety.

    The cause of the fire was not immediately clear, and President Mahamat Deby Itno said an investigation would be conducted.

    “Peace to the souls of the victims, sincere condolences to the bereaved families and quick recovery to the injured,” Deby said on Facebook. He later visited the scene of the accident as well as hospitals where the injured were being treated.

    People living in the area panicked, thinking the explosion was an armed attack, resident Oumar Mahamat said.

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     “A fire broke out in a military ammunition warehouse located in Goudji, causing major explosions.

    “We urge the population to remain calm,’’ the Chadian government spokesman and foreign minister, said on social media.

    The exact cause of the explosions remained unclear at the time of the report.

  • Russia, North Korea sign mutual defence pact

    Russia, North Korea sign mutual defence pact

    Russian President Vladimir Putin and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, have signed a pact that includes a clause requiring the countries to come to each other’s aid if either is attacked.

    The inclusion of a mutual defence clause in their comprehensive strategic partnership, which Kim described as an “alliance”, will add to the west’s alarm over growing economic and military ties between North Korea and Russia. The deal was finalised yesterday after hours of talks in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. It is Putin’s second summit with Kim in nine months.

     “The comprehensive partnership agreement signed today provides, among other things, for mutual assistance in the event of aggression against one of the parties to this agreement,” Putin was quoted as saying by the Russian state news agency, Tass, as he made his first visit to North Korea in 24 years.

    It was not immediately clear what form that support might take, and no details of the agreement were made public. Putin later described the pact as “defensive”, citing North Korea’s right to defend itself, Tass reported. He added that Russia would not rule out developing military-technical cooperation with North Korea.

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    Kim, speaking after the signing ceremony, called the deal the “strongest ever treaty” signed between the two countries, elevating their relationship to the “higher level of an alliance”. The pact would lead to closer political, economic and military cooperation, he said, hailing the agreement as “accelerating the creation of a new multipolar world”.

    Putin’s visit has been closely watched by the US and South Korea amid concern that growing military cooperation between the isolated, sanctions-hit states could boost the Kremlin’s war effort in Ukraine and add to tensions on the Korean peninsula.

  • U.S. soldier jailed in Russia

    U.S. soldier jailed in Russia

    A United States (U.S.) soldier detained in Russia in early May has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison by a court in Vladivostok for theft and death threats.

    According to local media reports yesterday, the court found that the man had stolen 10,000 rubles $120 from his girlfriend and threatened her.

    The defence had demanded an acquittal.

    The court’s sentence fell short of the four years and eight months in prison sought by the prosecution.

    The U.S. soldier had been detained in Pacific port city of Vladivostok.

    According to the U.S. Army, the soldier had completed his service in South Korea on April 10.

    Instead of returning to the mainland United States, he travelled to Vladivostok via China “for personal reasons.”

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    The soldier had not sought official permission for his trip from the Department of Defense, the U.S. authorities said.

    He had joined the army in 2008 and had served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

    Local media reported that the man had wanted to visit a woman in Russia with whom he allegedly had a romantic relationship.

    During an argument, he reportedly grabbed his girlfriend by the throat, which she perceived as life-threatening.

    He also stole money from her, the report said.

  • 600 Egyptian pilgrims confirmed dead in Saudi Arabia

    600 Egyptian pilgrims confirmed dead in Saudi Arabia

    No fewer than 600 Egyptian pilgrims have been confirmed dead during the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

    This is as friends and family yesterday continued to search for missing Egyptian pilgrims. An Arab diplomat said at least 600 Egyptian pilgrims died during the 2024 Hajj pilgrimage in the holy land.

    This was after Arab officials earlier reported a figure of at least 323 Egyptian deaths at the annual rituals.

    The deaths were linked to the searing heat that reached 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, June 17.

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    Even pilgrims who have official permits can be vulnerable. Houria Ahmad Abdallah Sharif, a 70-year-old Egyptian pilgrim, has been missing since Saturday. After praying on Mount Arafat, she told a friend she wanted to go to a public bathroom to clean her abaya, but she never came back.

    “We’ve searched for her from door to door and we have not found her,” said the friend, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. They added: “We know many who are still searching for their family members and relatives and they are not finding them, or if they are finding them they are finding them dead.”

  • How America treats migrant workers, by undersecretary Lee

    How America treats migrant workers, by undersecretary Lee

    Thea Lee is the deputy under secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labour and head of the Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). She speaks at a Washington Foreign Press Center briefing. United States Bureau Chief OLUKOREDE YISHAU was there. Excerpts:

    Migrant workers in America

    Recently, we rolled out MigrantWorker.gov in six new languages with expanded content and new resources. Our goal is to get valuable information into the hands of migrant workers in this country about their rights and protections under U.S. law. MigrantWorker.gov and TrabajadorMigrante.gov was originally launched in August 2023 in just two languages, English and Spanish. Now, we have rolled out six additional languages: Haitian Creole, Brazilian Portuguese, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Tagalog, and Arabic.

    ILAB promotes labor rights and social protection for workers globally. This work is integral to the department’s work to ensure good jobs for workers here in the United States. Our mandate includes protecting the rights of all workers, but particularly the most vulnerable to exploitation, who might be hesitant to come forward if their rights are violated. ILAB also works with other governments to strengthen their capacity to protect labor rights and to ensure that people have access to good jobs to remain and thrive in their home countries.

    When workers do migrate to the United States, we want to ensure they know their rights, that those rights are protected, and that U.S. employers are engaged in an ethical and fair recruitment processes. Last year, the United States signed on to the International Labor Organization’s Fair Recruitment Guidelines, and we are working with partner governments, the private sector, and migrant worker organizations to aid in its implementation. We work closely with our colleagues in the Department of Labor’s domestic agencies and with foreign embassies and consulates through the Consular Partnership Program.

    MigrantWorker.gov is a critical part of those efforts. When migrant workers cross borders for work, they also cross multiple legal, policy, and geographic jurisdictions. Understanding who does what and where they should go for help can be confusing for anyone, but particularly for migrant workers who sometimes do not speak English, likely do not understand how these systems work, and are often afraid to come forward with questions or concerns. This is why we created MigrantWorker.gov. It is a central repository of information for migrant workers. It gets them the answers to the questions they need and links them quickly to the right agency. We’ve also created short videos, meant to reach migrant workers through social media and on their phones, based on scenarios and common questions in a plain language and worker-friendly format.

    The need for translations

    Finally, we know we need to reach migrant workers in their own language, and that is why we are delighted to expand MigrantWorker.gov with six new languages. The development of these materials and the choice of languages was informed by input from migrant workers and their advocates as well as our analysis of the data. Nothing would be possible without the extensive collaboration among other Department of Labor agencies in making this possible, including the Wage and Hour Division, the Assistant Secretary for Policy, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Women’s Bureau, and the Office of Public Affairs, which have been instrumental in ensuring the effectiveness and reach of MigrantWorker.gov. We encourage you to explore MigrantWorker.gov and hope you will help us spread awareness among migrant workers and their communities about these resources.

    Risks that migrant workers face in America

    I would say it’s a pretty broad question and it depends a little bit on the circumstances under which migrant workers come to the United States – if they come legally or illegally, on a visa, if they’re working in agriculture. But we certainly have seen that even on the legal visa programs workers in agriculture sometimes can be subjected to heat stress. Maybe migrant workers in general – and I would say this is not just in the United States but around the world – tend to be a little bit vulnerable to wage theft, to unpaid overtime hours, and issues like that.

    So I think we just recognize in the United States, because we have a lot of folks who are coming who may have language challenges, who may or may not be here legally, that we want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to protect their rights. So I think that they face a lot of challenges, maybe not even all that different from the challenges that American citizens might face, but because of some of the sectors that they’re employed in, because many of them are here temporarily and are unfamiliar with the systems, they’re unfamiliar with the laws, so they might – the laws in the United States, of course, are going to be different from the labor laws in other countries.

    So we just want to make sure that we are educating migrant workers so that they know their rights and can exercise their rights. We also want to educate our own employers to make sure that they know how to recruit responsibility and how to comply with all applicable laws and standards.

    U.S. as home to a lot of workers that are not documented

    I think for the purpose of MigrantWorker.gov and the resources that we’re providing here, we want those to be available to all workers in this country. Some of them will be documented, some of them will be undocumented, but the truth is that American labor laws apply to workers, that people shouldn’t have to work long hours without pay, they should be able to exercise their rights, they should have a safe and healthy workplace, they should not be subject to violence or harassment. So for this particular website, this resource that we’re providing, what we really want to reinforce is that every worker needs to be protected, and every worker should be able to be safe and healthy at work and get paid for the hours they do, get paid legally.

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    So obviously there are different provisions, and workers who are undocumented tend to be more vulnerable. They’re more precarious, they’re more fearful of coming forward, because they fear deportation and other risks.

    Protecting workers from excessive heat

    This is something that the Labor Department is working to develop a heat standard that will be applicable, but we are in process of putting that in place. But in the meantime, we just want to make sure that both employers and workers are aware of some of the risks of heat stress, that they are certainly provided water and rest breaks and some respite from the heat if possible. So some of this is not at the level of law at this time, but it is at the level of, certainly, common sense and decency. And we are working in the Department of Labor – our Occupational Safety and Health Administration is in process of developing and getting approval for and putting through the legislative system a new heat stress standard. But in the meantime, we just want to make sure that people are taking good care and that that they’re getting protections they deserve to stay healthy, even during heat.

    Average time that an undocumented worker needs for his or her documents

    I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that off the top of my head, and I think it varies a lot. Obviously the person is asking for the average time, but I’m afraid I don’t have that. But we can – we can try to provide that to you, at least, Doris, and maybe that can be available at a later date.

    Working with other countries

    We – in ILAB we try to work with other countries as well to address these issues for migrant workers. Cannot speak particularly to what offices may exist, but for example, we do closely – work closely with other countries – for example, Mexico – where they are able to provide kind of these resources for their migrant workers as well, and kind of give just a view of how we do things and kind of like guiding resources on how we address these issues for migrant workers. Like we mentioned, in the consular partnership program, we partner with other countries as well. Right now, we currently have partnerships with the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, where we provide also these resources for them.

  • ‘U.S. wants to avoid ‘greater war’ along Lebanon-Israel border’

    ‘U.S. wants to avoid ‘greater war’ along Lebanon-Israel border’

    The United States is trying to avert a greater war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein said yesterday.

    He spoke in the wake of an escalation in cross-border fire between the foes along Lebanon’s southern frontier.

    Iran-backed Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israel for the last eight months in parallel with the Gaza war.

    Last week, the group fired the largest volleys of rockets and drones of the hostilities so far at Israeli military sites, after an Israeli strike killed the most senior commander yet.

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    Hochstein, special envoy to U.S. President Joe Biden, said he had been dispatched to Lebanon immediately following a brief trip to Israel because the situation was “serious”.

    “We have seen an escalation over the last few weeks. And what President Biden wants to do is avoid a further escalation to a greater war,” Hochstein said yesterday.

    He had met the head of Lebanon’s army earlier yesterday and spoke to reporters following a meeting with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who heads the armed Amal movement, which is allied to Hezbollah and has also fired rockets on Israel.

    The U.S. and France are engaged in diplomatic efforts to secure a negotiated end to the hostilities along Lebanon’s border.

    Hezbollah says it will not halt its attacks unless there is a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

    “Whether diplomatically or militarily one way or another, we will ensure the safe and secure return of Israelis to their homes in northern Israel.

    “That is not up for negotiation. Oct. 7 cannot happen again anywhere in Israel or on any of Israel’s borders,” Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said.

  • U.S.-based Nigerians inaugurate 22 water projects in Ibadan

    U.S.-based Nigerians inaugurate 22 water projects in Ibadan

    The Ibadan Descendants’ Union (IDU), Dallas Forthworth Chapter, Texas, United States of America, at the weekend, formally opened 22 solar-powered boreholes it constructed across Ibadan, Oyo State, under the first phase of its ‘Ibadan Community Water Project’.

    The boreholes were officially declared open for public use at a ceremony that took place at Irefin Palace in Oke-Ofa, Irefin, Ibadan.

    The President-General of the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Chief Ajeniyi Ajewole, who presided over the ceremony, appealed to Ibadan indigenes in the Diaspora to come home and use their exposure, knowledge and experience to develop Nigeria.

    The Ajia Olubadan of Ibadanland and National President of the IDU-USA Inc., Chief Abiola Iyiola, was represented at the event by his deputy, Alhaja Jemilat Ajibade.

    Ajewole applauded the contributions of IDU-USA to the development of Ibadan City through its various intervention projects.

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    He said: “I appreciate the good work that the Ibadan Descendants’ Union in the United States is doing for our communities. But I am advising that they should go beyond the donation of boreholes, distribution of palliatives and things like that. It’s time for our people in the Diaspora to come home and use that knowledge, experience and the good hearts that they have been using to promote other countries to develop Nigeria.

    “The argument is always that the atmosphere is not conducive in Nigeria, but you have to challenge the atmosphere. You have to challenge what is on the ground to move the country forward.

    “If things are working well in America, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, the people there are not angels; they are not from heaven. They are human beings like us. No human theory justifies colour superiority. All our brains are made of white matter.

    “They should find it necessary in their hearts to come home to develop Nigeria. Look at the issue of electricity, for God’s sake. There can’t be any growth in the economy without electricity. Why is it impossible for us?”

    The President of IDU, Dallas Forthworth Chapter, Mr. Shola Bolomope, urged the communities hosting the projects to make judicious use of the facilities and guard against their destruction or vandalism.

    He said the idea of the water project was conceived last September during the commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the association.

    “We met and agreed that one of the major problems facing our people back home is lack of good water. Nobody expected what we saw at Sore Village in Ona Ara Local Government where the people are still drinking greenish stream water especially in the year 2024. But instead of waiting for government, which we know can’t do everything, we tried to see what we could do on our part. Our members put heads together, and the action plan started,” he said.