Home Blog Page 1971

Israel, PA Discuss Potential Aid To Ramallah Amid Fears Of Economic Collapse

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government has been in talks with the Palestinian Authority to send hundreds of millions of shekels to Ramallah amid the latter’s growing budget crisis, sources in Jerusalem and Ramallah told The Times of Israel.

A tentative agreement for an Israeli financial package worth NIS 800 million ($247 million) to the PA has been formulated, an Israeli official said on Friday, with another official familiar with the matter describing the deal as “practically done.”

There had been plans to announce the package before Bennett’s trip this week to Washington, where the Biden administration is looking for Israel to act on rhetoric in favor of “deescalating the conflict” with the Palestinians and to advance measures that strengthen the PA. However, the financial package was not finalized in time for that.

Senior PA official Ahmad Majdalani confirmed that talks on financial support were ongoing between the two sides. He said the funds would not be a loan, rather an advance on tax revenues Israel collects on Ramallah’s behalf.

“There’s discussion around an advance on what we are owed, not a loan,” Majdalani said.

Both the Israeli and Palestinian Authority finance ministries could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Palestinian Authority has found itself in a difficult position in recent months. Hamas, its key rival, has been growing in popularity since the terror group’s 11-day battle with Israel in May.

The death of Palestinian Authority critic Nizar Banat in late June while in the custody of PA security forces increased the domestic turmoil. Following Banat’s death, rare protests erupted calling for PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s resignation. Some of the rallies were violently suppressed by PA forces, who beat demonstrators and arrested dozens more, drawing international criticism.

Kabul Airport Attack Death Toll Rises As Evacuation Flights Resume

The death toll from Thursday’s attacks on Kabul airport rose to at least 108, including 95 Afghans and 13 US troops, officials said Friday, as evacuation flights from the country resumed.

Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to the airport, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover.

The US general overseeing the evacuation said the attacks would not stop the United States from evacuating Americans and others, and flights out were continuing. General Kenneth McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said there was a large amount of security at the airport, and alternate routes were being used to get evacuees in. About 5,000 people were awaiting flights on the airfield, McKenzie said.

The blasts came hours after Western officials warned of a major attack, urging people to leave the airport. But that advice went largely unheeded by Afghans desperate to escape the country in the last few days of an American-led evacuation before the US officially ends its 20-year presence on August 31.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the killings on its Amaq news channel. The IS affiliate in Afghanistan is far more radical than the Taliban, who recently took control of the country in a lightning blitz. The Taliban were not believed to have been involved in the attacks and condemned the blasts, in which it said 28 of its fighters were killed.

In an emotional speech from the White House, US President Joe Biden said the latest bloodshed would not drive the US out of Afghanistan earlier than scheduled, and that he had instructed the US military to develop plans to strike IS.

German Chancellor Merkel To Take Final Stock At Africa-Summit In Berlin

African leaders will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Africa-Summit in Berlin. The conference — Merkel’s final with Africa — is to take stock of results from an economic drive to boost investment in Africa.

Officially, the event is called the “Compact with Africa Conference.” But in reality, an era is coming to an end this Friday when German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets a good dozen African heads of state, some of whom will be tuned in virtually. The conference would mark an era in which Africa played a greater role in German politics than before.

The most visible sign: the Compact-with-Africa initiative, the prestige project of the German G20 presidency. Private investments of a completely new magnitude were to flow to Africa as a result. But, above all, the German government wanted to inspire German companies to invest in Africa with a whole package of support measures.

The summit in Berlin is, therefore, an event for taking stock. From the German side, the results look positive. “Yes, more German companies are active in Africa, especially more small and medium-sized businesses. We saw significant growth in 2018 and 2019, before the Corona pandemic,” Christoph Kannengiesser, chief executive of the Africa Association of German Business, told DW.

African leaders are also likely to have kind words as they bid farewell to Merkel. But there is not much left of the enthusiasm about the “Merkel Plan” — as Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara dubbed it at the start of 2017.

New Appointment: AU Names Olusegun Obasanjo High Representative For Horn Of Africa

0

The African Union (AU) has appointed Nigeria’s former president Olusegun Obasanjo as its high representative for the Horn of Africa’s region.

“This decision is part of the African Union’s drive to promote peace, security, stability and political dialogue all over the Horn of Africa region,” Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AU Commission, said in a statement on Thursday.

“Specifically, the High Representative will intensify engagements with all relevant political actors and stakeholders in the region towards entrenching durable peace and stability within the Horn of Africa.”

The Chairperson of the AU Commission highly appreciated Obasanjo for accepting what the AU said was for “this strategic political assignment in the collective interest of the continental bloc.”

“The former Nigerian leader brings with him very rich political experience, and impeccable credentials of keen commitment to the lofty ideals of Pan-Africanism and regional integration and cooperation, as well as a deep knowledge of the current situation in the Horn of Africa,” the statement said.

The new appointment comes as the volatile Horn of Africa region experiences conflict and crises.

An ongoing nine-month old civil war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region has spilled over to other regions of the country.

Obasanjo’s appointment also comes as Somalia and its international partners have failed to curtail a new rise of Al-Shabaab terrorist group insurgency.

Born on March 5, 1937, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, South Western Nigeria, Obasanjo served as President of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, from 1999 to 2007.

Obasanjo has also been involved in international mediation efforts in Angola, Burundi, Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa.

In 2008, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed Obasanjo as his Special Envoy to the Great Lakes region, where he has played an integral part in mediation efforts in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

UN uncovers secret programme for Boko Haram commanders

0

A report by a United Nations (UN) independent news organisation, The New Humanitarian (formerly IRIN News), has uncovered a secret programme by the Nigerian government tagged, Suhlu, aimed at pulling top commanders of terrorist groups, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State for West African Province (ISWAP) out of the forests, rehabilitate them and provide them with a means of livelihood.

According to the UN organisation, Sulhu grew out of the behind-the-scenes attempts to free the more than 270 Chibok schoolgirls seized by Boko Haram in 2014, and is applauded by its supporters as smart warfare – a means to remove the senior jihadists from the battlefield more effectively than the orthodox military campaign.

The discovery follows intelligence agencies’ investigations into the recent surrender of over 1,200 terrorists and their families in the last three weeks, to the Nigerian government, to ascertain whether the surrender was genuine or a ploy to activate and coordinate terror sleeper cells across the country.

Nigeria jihadist surrenders spark debate over war strategy

0

Images of bedraggled jihadists and families surrendering to the military have sparked heated debate over the Nigerian army’s claims of success in its long war and the future of fighters who lay down their guns.

Scores of Boko Haram members have been shown in army images this month surrendering to soldiers in northeast Borno state, some given hand-written signs to hold asking Nigerians for forgiveness.

Nigeria’s army describes these as mass defections — the success, it says, of an intensified campaign to end a 12-year conflict that has killed around 40,000 people and displaced around two million more.

But analysts and security sources say the surrenders are probably driven more by Boko Haram’s recent losses in infighting with rival jihadists from the Islamic State West Africa Province or ISWAP.

Beach Soccer World Cup: Senegal beat Brazil to reach semi-finals

0

Senegal pulled off a surprise 5-4 win against Brazil to become the first African side ever to advance to the semi-finals of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Russia on Thursday.

Senegal went 3-1 down after 23 minutes, but fought back and made it 3-3 10 minutes later at the Luzhniki beach soccer stadium.

They then pulled ahead in the last three minutes of the match and held on despite conceding a goal in the last minute, hanging on to beat the 14-time champions in extra time.

Raoul Mendy and goalkeeper Al Seyni Ndiaye were key figures in the win by the Teranga Lions.

Senegal have been true giant-killers at this year’s event, beating first defending champions Portugal and now five-time kings Brazil – the most decorated team in the history of the competition.

Mali arrests ex-PM Maiga over fraud in presidential jet purchase deal

0

Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga, who was from 2017 to 2019 the Prime Minister of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, overthrown a year ago by a coup d’état, was jailed on Thursday in a case of alleged fraud, announced his lawyer, Kassoum Tapo.

Soumeylou Boubèye Maïga, 67, is a political heavyweight in Mali and has also served as foreign minister, defense minister and intelligence chief. He has never officially confirmed or denied his intentions to run for president.

The former head of government arrived in mid-afternoon at the Bamako prison, a prison official said.

Manchester City in talks to sign Ronaldo before transfer window closes

0

Cristiano Ronaldo is into the final year of his contract at Juventus and the Turin club are keen to sell him but want £25m for the Portugal captain; 36-year-old has told Juventus he no longer wants to play for the club, according to Sky in Italy.

Ronaldo, who is in the final year of his contract in Turin, was not in City’s plans this summer but he is an option they are considering after the Premier League champions missed out on signing England captain Harry Kane from Tottenham.

Major stumbling blocks to any potential deal are the £25m fee which Juventus are demanding for the 36-year-old forward and his £500,000 a week wages.

PARALYMPIC GAMES: Latifat Tijani picks Nigeria’s first gold medal in Tokyo

0

Tijani Latifat became the first athlete to pick Nigeria’s medal in tokyo2020, she put up a scintillating performance after her first lift of 105kg was disallowed.

The Ogun state born athlete, came back strong with burning enthusiasm to write her name in gold with her second attempt of 105kg and her third attempt was 107kg but she did that in a style with 117kg in her fourth attempt getting close to world record of 118kg to lift the first medal for team Nigeria in Tokyo.

The paralympians have always made Nigeria proud. In their last outing at the 2016 summer Olympics in Rio they ranked 17th 8 gold 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.