Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia talks over Nile dam fail

The two-day talks in Kinshasa between Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia over the Renaissance dam ended without a breakthrough

The latest round of talks between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has ended with no progress made.

Delegations from the three countries met in an attempt to break a deadlock in negotiations over Ethiopia’s massive dam on the Nile river, a project Addis Ababa says is key to its economic development and power generation.

The negotiations, held in Kinshasa, DR Congo, concluded Tuesday without a deal being reached, according to a communique released after they finished.

Egypt’s foreign ministry said the talks failed after Ethiopia rejected a Sudanese proposal to include international mediators in talks.

Spokesman Ahmed Hafez said Ethiopia rejected the United States, European Union, the United Nations and the African Union playing a role in overseeing the negotiations.

“This position reveals once again Ethiopia’s lack of political will to negotiate in good faith,” Egypt’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

Sudan’s foreign minister said Ethiopia’s unilateral moves over the dam were a clear violation of international law.

“Without a new approach to negotiations, there becomes space for Ethiopia to impose a fait accompli and put all the peoples of the region in grave danger,” Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi told reporters.

Ethiopian officials made no immediate comment.

The GERD, whose planned capacity of 6,500 megawatts will make it the biggest dam in Africa, has been a source of tension since its first stone was laid in April 2011.

Ethiopia says the dam project is key to its economic development and power generation for its population of 110 million people.

But Egypt fears the dam will imperil its supplies of Nile water, while Sudan is concerned about the dam’s safety and water flows through its own dams and water stations.

Last week, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said there would be “inconceivable instability in the region” if Egypt’s water supplies were affected by the dam.

Major sticking point

Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, said the objective of the talks was to come up with a road map for negotiations to continue before Ethiopia fills the dam for a second time.

“Sudan and Egypt on one side want the mediation to expand to include the United States, the United Nations, and the European Union – who are right now holding the role of observers – rather than the mediators.”

However, she continued, the major sticking point is that Ethiopia wants the GERD talks to be led solely by the African Union.

“Ethiopia also said that Egypt and Sudan came up with points that were not part of the agenda, such as postponing the filling of the GERD until a deal is reached,” she added.

Ethiopia announced the second filling will take place in July and is set to store 13.5 billion cubic metres of water.

“That’s three times more than the amount of water that was stored in the GERD in the first filling last year, which had impacted water stations and some farms along the Nile and affected the water supplies of five million people in the country,” Morgan said.

Allam Ahmed, founding president of the World Association of Sustainable Development, told Al Jazeera that a country or bloc that has not been involved in past negotiations and is seen as independent – such as possibly the US, Canada, or China – will likely have to play a mediating role to move the talks forward.

“The conflict will continue to escalate and I think there will have to be an intervention at a higher level,” he said.

He said that none of the parties is seriously considering destroying the dam, but that independent technical expert need to scrutinise the data on the dam held by Ethiopia in order to address the concerns.

“The outstanding issues could be resolved quickly if we can have a transparent technical evaluation of the dam – that is the key point.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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EU chiefs raise ‘deep worries’ over rights in Turkey with Erdogan

EU says it wants better ties with Ankara as top officials meet with Turkey’s president, but human rights the ‘priority’.

EU chiefs raise ‘deep worries’ over rights in Turkey with Erdogan

The European Union’s top two officials expressed “deep worries” about human rights in Turkey while voicing hope for stronger ties during their first meeting in a year with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Tuesday’s discussions in the capital, Ankara, came on the heels of Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention, which combats violence against women, and the launch of a formal attempt to shut down the country’s main pro-Kurdish party.

“The rule of law and respect of fundamental rights are core values of the European Union and we shared with President Erdogan our deep worries on the latest developments with Turkey in this respect,” European Council President Charles Michel said after nearly three hours of talks with Erdogan.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, meanwhile, said human rights issues were a “crucial” element for better Turkey-EU ties as Ankara and Brussels eye possible warming of relations in the wake of conciliatory moves from both sides in recent weeks.

“Human rights issues are non-negotiable, they have absolute priority … we were very clear on that,” von der Leyen said.

“I am deeply worried about the fact that Turkey withdrew from the Istanbul Convention. This is about protecting women and protecting children against violence and this is clearly the wrong signal right now,” she added.

“Turkey must respect international human rights rules and standards, to which by the way the country has committed itself as a founding member of the Council of Europe.”

Erdogan did not address reporters but his office issued a statement reaffirming Turkey’s position that it wanted the EU “to take concrete steps to support a positive agenda”.

“The final objective of Turkey’s EU process is full membership,” Erdogan’s office said in reference to accession talks that have been frozen over the past decade.

Migration cooperation

Turkey is formally a candidate for EU membership, but its bid to join the 27-nation bloc has been at a standstill.

In recent weeks, Erdogan has taken conciliatory steps aimed at bolstering ties with Brussels and EU leaders have agreed to increase trade and improve cooperation with Turkey on migration issues.

Those moves came after a flare-up of tensions last year over Turkey’s decision to stop deterring migrants and refugees from crossing its border into Greece, as well as over the dispatch of Turkish research ships into waters claimed by Greece and Cyprus.

Von der Leyen said on Tuesday that the European Commission will soon make a proposal of support to Turkey over funding for migrants and refugees, adding that Europe wants “much better relations” with Ankara but that it is “still early”.

She added that Ankara’s adherence to a 2016 migration agreement – which calls for Turkey to prevent refugees and migrants from trying to reach Europe in exchange for refugee aid and other conditions – would be a “major show of goodwill”.

Von der Leyen said the commission will soon make a proposal that reflects principles including better opportunities for migrants and refugees and a Turkish commitment to prevent irregular departures.

“I am very much committed to ensuring the continuity of European funding,” she added.

EU leaders said last month that the bloc was ready “to engage with Turkey in a phased, proportionate and reversible manner to enhance cooperation in a number of areas of common interest”.

The leaders tasked the EU’s executive commission with trying to build on the 2016 EU-Turkey deal, which massively reduced the number of asylum seekers arriving on the Greek islands, which lie close to Turkey’s western coast.

Under the agreement, the EU offered Ankara six billion euros ($7.1bn) to help the estimated four million Syrian refugees currently living in Turkey, and other incentives to prevent people from leaving Turkey to go to Europe.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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Conflict and COVID driving record hunger in DR Congo, warns UN

UN agencies say DRC has the highest number of people requiring urgent food security assistance in the world.

A record 27.3 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are facing acute hunger, one-third of the violence-wracked Central African country’s population, largely because of conflict and the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations has warned.

The DRC is “home to the highest number of people in urgent need of food security assistance in the world,” the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization said on Tuesday in a joint statement, describing the scale of the crisis as “staggering”.

Besides conflict and the coronavirus pandemic, the number also rose because the latest analysis covered more people than previous ones.

“For the first time ever we were able to analyse the vast majority of the population, and this has helped us to come closer to the true picture of the staggering scale of food insecurity in the DRC,” Peter Musoko, WFP’s representative in the country, said.

“This country should be able to feed its population and export a surplus. We cannot have children going to bed hungry and families skipping meals for an entire day,” he said.

The WFP said it needed $662m this year to avoid plunging millions of people in desperate need of aid further into hunger.

Of the 27.3 million going hungry, about 6.7 million people were in the “emergency” phase, which is the last one before the famine, an analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) found.

Effect of conflict

The worst-hit areas were in the eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tanganyika, as well as the central Kasai province, all of which have been affected by conflict.

People forced by fighting to flee their homes have returned to find their crops destroyed.

“Some have been surviving by eating only taro, a root that grows wild, or only cassava leaves boiled in water,” the statement said.

Militia violence has persisted in DR Congo for decades, particularly in the eastern borderlands with Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, despite the official end to a civil war in 2003.

“The recurring conflicts in eastern DRC and the suffering they bring remain of great concern. Social and political stability is essential to strengthen food security and boost the resilience of vulnerable populations,” Aristide Ongone Obame, FAO representative in DRC, said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Ghana: Teenagers who allegedly killed 10-year-old for rituals remanded into police custody

The Awutu Ofankor District Court has remanded two boys who allegedly killed a 10-year-old into police custody.

The suspects, Felix Nyarko, 16, and Nicholas Kiki, 18, are alleged to have gruesomely murdered Ishmael Mensah with the intention of using his body parts for rituals.

According to one of the suspects, the spiritualist, whom they had discovered through national television agreed to help them become instant billionaires by demanding a human being and a sum of ¢5,000.

On April 3, the suspects were apprehended after residents of Kasoa Lamptey notified the Police of the sad incident surrounding the death of Ishmael.

According to the residents, the two admitted that they killed Ishmael Mensah by hitting a club against his neck.

This was after luring him into an uncompleted building under the guise of selling him a video game at Lamptey, a suburb of Kasoa in the Central Region.

On Tuesday, the case was heard at the Awutu Ofaakor District Court where the judge, Rosemond Vera Ocloo, remanded them into police custody.

They have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The two are scheduled to reappear before the court on April 20, 2021.

Investigators are also on a manhunt for the spiritualist who promised the duo riches in exchange for the body parts.

The remains of Ishmael Mensah have been deposited at the Police Hospital Mortuary for autopsy while the Kasoa Divisional Police Command continues to investigate the matter.

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In Serbia, COVID vaccine supply outweighs demand amid mistrust

Serbia has procured enough vaccines for its population but as conspiracy theories fester, many remain hesitant over taking the shots.

With the third-highest rate of inoculations in Europe, Serbia is viewed as something of a Balkan success.

But the country has been struggling to find people to vaccinate.

Under Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Serbia has procured enough vaccines to inoculate its population of seven million, but supply is outpacing demand amid vaccine hesitancy.

Vucic announced in early March that Serbia had nearly 15 million vaccines, but by March 25, Serbian authorities told reporters that just 1.3 million people had been vaccinated.

Last weekend, thousands of foreigners from the region crossed borders to get free jabs in Serbia. In three days more than 22,000 foreigners were inoculated.

It was a pragmatic move.

As Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said later, between 20,000 and 25,000 of the AstraZeneca vaccines in the supplies were due to expire at the beginning of April.

But some criticised the development, including the United Against Covid group, an initiative formed by physicians in Serbia.

In a statement, the association wrote: “The priority should be to organise a campaign for the vaccination of its own population – which does not exist.”

The group also called for the government to tackle vaccine hesitancy, saying it should “systematically fight against the mindless anti-vaccination stances in government-controlled media”.

Skepticism about the vaccines on offer in Serbia was so high that in early March, Vucic begged people to sign up for inoculations in a televised address.

“I beg you, get the vaccine. We have [vaccines] and we will have vaccines,” Vucic said, noting that uptake rates were as low as 9.5 percent in some areas.

Serbian epidemiologist Zoran Radovanovic told Al Jazeera that while Serbia’s procurement of vaccines has strengthened the leaders’ ratings, less attention has been paid to encouraging people to accept the shots.

“We have a populist government who thinks it’s more important not to lose votes [than to secure the health of its population],” Radovanovic said.

“That’s why contradictory messages are spread from pro-regime media since access is allowed for both vaxxers and anti-vaxxers.”

Conspiracy theories

According to some analysts, Serbians have the highest rate of distrust towards vaccines and the highest number of so-called anti-vax movements in the region.

In February, United Against Covid filed a criminal complaint against Serbian pulmonologist Branimir Nestorovic for violating the medical code of ethics.

As a member of Serbia’s coronavirus crisis staff group, he had spread falsehoods about the infection “continuously and persistently” to the public via the media, said the association.

He had called the coronavirus “silly” – meaning not dangerous, and claimed that people under 40 could not be infected.

In a May 2020 with a newspaper, he called on Serbians, except seniors, to step out into the streets to get infected, claiming the epidemic will end by June 15.

According to a report in December by the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group, a third of the European population believes in COVID conspiracy theories.

In the Western Balkans, more than 75 percent of citizens believe in one or several of six false theories, which often spread on the internet in the form of fake news with dramatic warnings of vaccination dangers.

“They find a particularly fertile ground in our environment, where general mistrust and xenophobia are widespread,” Radovanovic said.

“It’s easy to manipulate a nation which has been deceived for three decades and no longer trusts anyone. Doubt is the natural state of things [here]. Unfortunately, distrust in the government has spread to all authorities including physicians, who earlier have traditionally enjoyed general respect.”

Molecular biologist of the Milan-based European Institute of Oncology Marija Mihailovic said campaigns should be launched to encourage uptake.

“Everyone should get a call, not just from one political party, but from all political parties,” Mihailovic said.

“The most sensitive generation is the one born before the technological boom … it’s unrealistic to expect that these people will sign up for the vaccines themselves,” she said, adding that the provision of at-home vaccinations may also boost rates.

Mihailovic added that some people do not understand the intricacies of vaccine approvals.“The EMA (European Medicines Agency), which issues EU vaccine permits, comments on the safety and efficacy of the vaccine only when the manufacturer applies for the EU market,” Mihailovic said.

“Therefore, the current absence of EU permits for some vaccines has nothing to do with their effectiveness or safety, but simply reflects the fact that these vaccines have not applied for the EU market. These are political and economic issues rather than medical, and I think that’s something we have not talked about at all.”

Meanwhile, coronavirus cases continue to rise in Serbia.

The World Health Organization warned in late March that Serbia has the fifth-highest number of cases in Europe per 100,000 people.

Radovanovic said hospitals are full and health workers are exhausted, adding that it was only now that the millionth citizen has received the two doses of the vaccine.

With just 15 percent of the total population fully vaccinated, this was “not enough to seriously affect the frequency of infection”.

Immunization of 70 percent of the population is needed to achieve herd immunity, according to many experts.

Radovanovic said it was also important to note that along with hesitancy, mild lockdown measures – “among the weakest in Europe” – have also contributed to the growing caseload.

“Until [recently, cafes and restaurants] were working at full speed and ski resorts were working undisturbed the whole time.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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Firmer footing: IMF boosts economic outlook, warns of divergence

The IMF’s chief economist urged governments to continue fiscal support and ensure that vaccines are available to all.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday upgraded its global growth projections, forecasting a 6 percent rebound in the world economy in 2021 and 4.4 percent in 2022, while also warning that recoveries are at risk of diverging dangerously.

“The pandemic is yet to be defeated, and virus cases are accelerating in many countries,” IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath said at a virtual conference introducing the April 2021 World Economic Outlook.

The IMF and World Bank kicked off their annual spring meetings on Tuesday.

The global economy contracted by 3.3 percent in 2020 after countries – rich, poor, big and small – implemented draconian restrictions and lockdowns to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Now, the IMF forecasts a better year for global economic growth mainly driven by a sizable recovery in the United States, where the IMF estimates the economy will grow 6.4 percent this year.

The eurozone is also seen rebounding this year albeit at a slower pace of 4.4 percent, while China’s economy is projected to grow by 8.4 percent.

But the risk of deep economic scarring remains high for economies with slower vaccine roll-outs, limited policy support and those reliant on tourism, Gopinath warned.

The average annual loss in per capita gross domestic product (GDP) over 2020 to 2024 is projected to be 5.7 percent in low-income countries, and 4.7 percent in emerging markets. The losses in advanced economies are expected to be smaller, at 2.3 percent.

“Such losses are reversing gains in poverty reduction, with an additional 95 million people expected to have entered the ranks of the extreme poor in 2020,” Gopinath said.

Young, low-skilled workers and women remain more heavily affected by the pandemic’s economic wrath. And many of the jobs they and others lost are unlikely to return.

Still, the IMF said the worst has been avoided thanks to swift policy action worldwide including $16 trillion in fiscal support.

“Our estimates suggest last year’s severe collapse could have been three times worse, had it not been for said support,” Gopinath said, also adding that many uncertainties surround the upgraded forecast.The rosier projections for 2021 hinge significantly on successful vaccine roll-outs in developed as well as developing countries. Low-income nations will also benefit from further extending the pause on debt repayments and new allocation of the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), which will offer low-income countries a much-needed liquidity boost without incurring more debt, Gopinath said.

Once governments get COVID-19 under control, they should focus on building inclusive economies by prioritizing green infrastructure investment to help mitigate climate change and strengthening social assistance to arrest rising inequality, she said.

Financing these goals will be challenging for economies with limited fiscal space. Bridging the funding gap will require improving tax collection and eliminating wasteful expenses.

Highlighting the need to ensure adequate access to international liquidity, Gopinath urged central banks to provide clear guidance on future monetary policy actions to allow ample time to adjust to potential interest rate shifts and avoid “taper tantrums” in global markets.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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US auto group warns of chip shortage, asks government for help

The group wants the US government to allocate funds for chip makers to expand production to cater to the auto sector.

A United States auto industry group is asking for government help as it warns that the global semiconductor shortage could result in 1.28 million fewer vehicles built this year and disrupt production for another six months.

The US Commerce Department should dedicate a portion of funding in a proposed bill to expand US semiconductor production to auto sector needs, the Alliance for Auto Innovation said in written responses to a government-initiated review.

US President Joe Biden in February ordered several federal agency actions to address the chip crisis and is also seeking $37bn in funding for legislation to supercharge chip manufacturing in the US.

Some funding should “be used to build new capacity that will support the auto industry and mitigate the risks to the automotive supply chain evidenced by the current chip shortage,” the group’s Chief Executive John Bozzella wrote.

The group said the US government could specify “a particular percentage – that is reasonably based on the projected needs of the auto industry – be allocated for facilities that will support the production of auto-grade chips in some manner”.

The group represents nearly all large automakers with factories in the US including General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, Volkswagen AG, Toyota Motor Corp and Hyundai Motor Co.

Smartphones vs cars

Automakers have been hit particularly hard by the global chip shortage after many cancelled orders when auto plants were idled during the coronavirus pandemic.

When they were ready to recommence production, they found that chipmakers were busy fulfilling orders for the consumer electronics industry which as seen demand for premium devices – for work and leisure – boom as people spent more time at home.

Most automakers have been hit by the shortage. In recent announcements, Ford said last week it would cut output at seven North American assembly plants, while Kia Motors said it was cutting two days of production in Georgia.

The shortages come at a time when US auto sales surged by more than 8 percent in the first quarter, according to analysts’ estimates. The gain reflects buying as vaccination rates increase and more people return to their pre-pandemic routines. Increased confidence in the economy and worry about lower supplies of cars due to computer chip shortages also helped boost deliveries.

Big carmakers either met or easily beat a consensus forecast from analysts, most of whom projected quarterly gains due to the disastrous performance in the first quarter of last year.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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Brazilian mayor gets death threats after imposing COVID curbs

Mayor of Araraquara in Sao Paulo state says he is undeterred after imposing restrictions amid nationwide COVID-19 surge.

Brazil has become a byword for COVID-19 mismanagement, but one city is being championed as a model of how to tackle the coronavirus.

Araraquara, an industrial city of 240,000 people in Sao Paulo state, 270km (168 miles) from the administrative capital of the same name, implemented a 10-day lockdown in February, including closing supermarkets and public transport, aggressively tested citizens and detected the presence of the more infectious P1 variant early.

The result: a dramatic drop in infections, hospitalizations and deaths.

“It’s undeniable that lockdown is a bitter measure and difficult to take, but it gives results,” Mayor Edinho Silva told Al Jazeera in a telephone interview.

COVID-19 deaths in the city fell to zero on both Saturday and Monday, while 30 and 26 new cases were registered on those days, respectively. The majority of the city’s hospital beds are occupied by citizens from other cities and states.

The mayor declared lockdown one day after the city registered its highest number of new cases at 248, and after coronavirus-related deaths in February had doubled from January. A month after the lockdown was implemented, there was a 39 percent drop in deaths and a 57.5 percent drop in cases.

But Silva has also received death threats online after instituting the measures, underscoring the highly politicised and volatile nature of Brazil’s COVID-19 crisis. “I’m not intimated,” he said.

“Brazil is living through a very difficult time, where hate, violence and people arming themselves is being encouraged.”

Bolsonaro rejects restrictions

Araraquara’s success comes amid soaring death tolls nationwide: more than 66,000 people died due to the coronavirus in March alone, and April is expected to be even worse.

To date, less than 10 percent of the country’s 211 million citizens have been vaccinated, and health experts are speaking out more about the need to implement lockdowns and restrictive measures.

“What Araraquara did was to follow the model that is no consensus in the whole world,” said Dr Jamal Suleiman, an infectologist at Sao Paulo’s Emilio Ribas hospital.

But Brazil’s far-right, pro-gun populist President Jair Bolsonaro continues to decry COVID-19 restrictions, maintaining that the economic downturn is worse than the disease itself.

In Araraquara, as in many other Brazilian cities, groups of local business owners and supporters of the president have rallied against restriction measures, as well. The city’s Commercial and Industrial Association mounted billboards calling for the restrictions to be lifted.

“The objective is to show authorities in a more visual way the clamour of companies and self-employed professionals,” the association’s president Jose Janone Jr told local media.

Police investigating

Silva is a member of Brazil’s left-wing Workers’ Party, long hated by Bolsonaro and his supporters. Last week, the mayor filed a police complaint after receiving death threats online, and police have opened an inquiry into one Facebook post.

“Anyone knows where Mayor Edinho Silva lives?” read the post currently under investigation, with fire, knife, coffin and skull emojis. “I just want one round with him first. After I would cut him from bottom to top,” the user continued.

Local journalists found the author of the post, a musical instrument repair shop owner, who said he had written it out of “hot-headedness”.

“I’m a family man, do you think I’m going to spend my life in jail? This was a desperate moment. We have a business, we need to work. I am not the only desperate father wanting to work and put food on the table,” he told reporters from the G1 news portal.

Silva said the city’s health secretary had also received threats.

“There is a group of business owners here that insist that these [restrictive] measures are wrong – not only because of the economic losses but because many are in fact driven by Bolsonaro’s views,” said Milton Lahuerta, a political scientist at the Araraquara campus of Sao Paulo State University.

Deadly projection

On Monday, as Araraquara registered zero COVID-19 deaths, Bolsonaro once again criticised lockdown measures.

“It is the same speech that I’ve been giving since March last year. We still have two very serious problems ahead, the virus and unemployment,” he said.

But for Silva, the president presents a false dichotomy.

“The Brazilian economy is crashing because of the instability created by the pandemic,” he said. “If we want the economy to return to growth there has to be control of the pandemic.”

Brazil has registered the second most coronavirus deaths in the world after the United States, with more than 332,000 fatalities, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

Research recently published by the University of Washington estimates that 100,000 Brazilians will die from COVID-19 in April and that Brazil’s total death toll could reach nearly 563,000 by July.

“If something isn’t done to avoid this catastrophe we will certainly hit this prediction,” said Suleiman, the infectologist.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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