Zelenskyy calls on world to protect Ukraine grain corridor

 Ukrainian leader says humanitarian corridor needs “reliable and long-term defence”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the international community to do more to protect the grain shipping corridor used to get food out of his country.

Zelenskyy said late on Tuesday the corridor was in need of “reliable and long-term defence” even as ships continued leave Ukrainian ports thanks to Turkey and the United Nations’ brokering of a deal to allow safe passage for shipments of grain and fertiliser.

“Russia must clearly be made aware that it will receive a tough response from the world to any steps to disrupt our food exports,” Zelenskyy said in a late-night address on social media.

“At issue here clearly are the lives of tens of millions of people.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he would consider rejoining the landmark agreement subject to security guarantees from Kyiv after Moscow suspended its involvement over a drone attack in occupied Crimea.

Moscow on Saturday said it would no longer participate in the deal after accusing Kyiv of carrying out a “terrorist” attack on Russian ships in coordination with “specialists” from the United Kingdom.

Kyiv has neither denied nor accepted responsibility for the attack, while London dismissed Moscow’s accusation as an “invented story”.

Russia on Monday fired missiles at Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, in what Putin said was retaliation for the attack on its Black Sea Fleet.

Washington condemned the missile strikes, accusing Moscow of “exacerbating human suffering” by targeting electricity and water supplies.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has worsened food shortages and the cost of living crisis sweeping the world, prompting a flurry of diplomatic activity to tame spiralling prices and avert famine in developing countries.

More than 9.5 million tonnes of grain and related products have been exported under the deal brokered in July, which aims to restore exports to prewar levels of 5 million tonnes each month.

Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Tuesday that eight loaded ships were expected to travel through the corridor on Thursday.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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COP27: Nobel Prize winners demand Egypt free political prisoners

Nobel Literature laureates urge world leaders to pressure Cairo to free dissidents, including Alaa Abd el-Fattah, ahead of the COP27 summit.

More than a dozen Nobel Literature laureates have called on world leaders to pressure the COP27 International Climate Conference host, Egypt, to free the “thousands” of political prisoners languishing in the country’s prisons, including prominent jailed Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

In the letter, sent to the United Nations, the European Council, and heads of state in France, the United Kingdom, the United States and France among others, the 15 Nobel laureates urged the leaders “to use every opportunity” during the conference “to bring the voices of the unjustly imprisoned into the room”.

COP27, which is organised by the UN, will be held in the Egyptian Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh from November 6 to 18, with the aim of bringing governments together to accelerate efforts to curb the world’s climate crisis.

“We urge you to use the opportunity that is now in your hands to help those most vulnerable, not just to the rising seas, but those imprisoned and forgotten – specifically in the very country that has the privilege of hosting you,” the laureates, who include the Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, the American poet Louise Gluck, the Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah, and the British author Kazuo Ishiguro, said.

“We ask you to use your plenary address to speak the names of the imprisoned, to call for their freedom, and to invite Egypt to turn a page and become a true partner in a different future: a future that respects human life and dignity,” they added.

Egypt has cracked down on dissent ahead of COP27, with an Indian environmental activist released on Monday after he had been detained the previous day.

Public protests are effectively banned in Egypt, following a crackdown on political dissent that began with the overthrow of the country’s first democratically elected leader Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by then-army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

El-Sisi, who was elected president in 2014, says security measures were needed to stabilise Egypt. The crackdown swept up liberal activists as well as members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi died in 2019 while in government custody.

Ahead of the summit, Egyptian security forces have arrested nearly 70 people in connection with calls for protests to coincide with the gathering, according to a rights group.

By Monday, at least 67 people had been arrested in Cairo and other cities over the previous few days and had appeared in front of state security prosecution in relation to calls for protests on November 11, according to the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), a non-government organisation.

“We ask you, in your address, to bring the voices of the unjustly imprisoned into the room. Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s powerful voice for democracy is close to being extinguished,” the laureates, who are the winners of what is arguably the most prestigious award in literature, said.

Abd el-Fattah has begun a full hunger strike ahead of the climate summit, with supporters saying he will either be dead or free when world leaders convene next week.

The activist said in a letter to his family that he would start a zero-calorie hunger strike on Tuesday and stop drinking water from November 6, when global climate talks are set to kick off. For months, the influential 40-year-old blogger has been on a partial hunger strike, consuming only 100 calories a day, prompting concerns for his health.

Abd el-Fattah, an outspoken dissident, rose to prominence with the 2011 pro-democracy uprisings that swept the Middle East and toppled longtime President Hosni Mubarak Egypt.

He was first sentenced in 2014 after being convicted of taking part in an unauthorised protest and allegedly assaulting a police officer. He was released in 2019 after serving a five-year term but was rearrested later that year in a crackdown that followed rare anti-government protests.

In December 2021, he was sentenced to another five-year term on charges of spreading false news. He also faces separate charges of misusing social media and joining a “terrorist” group – a reference to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, which authorities declared a “terrorist organisation” in 2013.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Angola wants to boost trade with Brazil

 Luanda – The Ambassador of Angola to Brazil, Florêncio de Almeida, defended Tuesday in Brasília the boost of bilateral trade between Angola and Brazil within the framework of mutual advantages.

The increase of trade was discussed during a meeting between the Angolan diplomat and the President of the Society of Diplomats in Brazil, Francisco Chiaratto.

 

Both officials also addressed issues related to legal, banking and investment issues, with a view to potential partnerships.

 

At the time, Ambassador Florêncio de Almeida highlighted that in previous years the flow of trade between Angola and Brazil had reached USD 1 billion.

 

“Now that the pandemic already allows greater freedom of action and movement it is time to increase the business volume in different sectors of common interest”, he expressed.

 

Angola and Brazil have excellent cooperation relations in various areas, particularly in politics, diplomacy, economics, defence, transport, culture and business.

João Lourenço and Félix Tshisekedi discuss DRC security situation

 Luanda – The evolution of the security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was the main topic of the telephone conversation on Tuesday, between the Angola and DRC Heads of State, João Lourenço and Félix Tshisekedi respectively.

 

The information was released today in the Facebook page of the Presidency of the Republic of Angola.

 

Angola chairs the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), a regional block to which the Democratic Congo belongs.

 

As the ICGLR chairman, the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, who was mandated by the African Union to mediate the conflict, has multiplied the initiatives to achieve peace.

 

The rising tension between neighbouring countries of DRC and Rwanda, both part of the Great Lakes region, took the DRC President to Angola June this year.

  

The tension between DRC and Rwanda has grown in recent months after the resumption last March of the conflicts between the DRC army and the M23 movement that according to the Kinshasa authorities is supported by the neighbouring country.

Total Energies reaffirms business in renewable energies

 Luanda – Total Energies will maintain its focus on seeking business opportunities in the renewable energy sector in the Angolan market and might extend its investments to the hydroelectric sector.

The information was given Tuesday, in Luanda, by the CEO of the Total Energies company, Patrick Pouyanné, at the end of an audience that was granted to him by the Angolan Head of state, João Lourenço.

 

Speaking to the press, Patrick Pouyanné did not rule out the possibility of the company to invest also in the hydroelectric sector, “if it is possible and feasible”.

Also in the renewable energy field, he noted that in June 2021 the multinational company that he leads signed an agreement with the Angolan authorities that resulted in the creation of a solar energy park in Huíla Province, in Lubango City.

 

He said it is an infrastructure that generates around 35 megawatts for the country's electricity grid and can still be extended to another eight megawatts.

 

In total, the CEO of Total Energies revealed, the investment is around USD 100 million.

 

“This is to show that we are not only focused on the oil and gas sector as it was our tradition, but now we are also in the energy field”, he stressed.

 

Oil and gas sector

 

Regarding the oil and gas sector, Patrick Pouyanné said that the investments made in Angola were satisfactory and noted that the company currently produced roughly 550,000 barrels of oil daily.

 

 

The figure represents almost 50 percent of Angola´s total production, estimated at 1.1 million barrels of oil daily.

 

The meeting with President João Lourenço also served to analyse the possibility of the French company providing solar power to the Angolan mining industry.

 

Among other aspects, the initiative is focused on reducing production costs in the national mining sector.

 

At the meeting, the Total Energies CEO presented to the Angolan Head of State, João Lourenço, the Total Energies´ new director for Angola, Martin Deffontaines.

 

Total Energy´s history in Angola began in 1952-1953, when it was awarded its first concession, onshore and offshore, in the Kwanza and Lower Congo basins.

 

The company is the largest oil operator in Angola. Its most productive block is 17, which is also the country's most prolific.