Russian president confirms bid to extend term in March polls.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he will run in the 2024 presidential election, state news agency TASS reported on Friday.
Putin announced his decision to seek to extend his rule of 24 years as prime minister or president following an awards ceremony for army personnel at the Kremlin, state-run news agencies reported.
Russia’s Federation Council upper house approved on Thursday a date of March 17 for the vote. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said earlier on Friday that many people have urged Putin to run.
This is a developing story. More updates to follow.
I am Engineer Sofonie Dala, I am the founder of this platform!
As we are preparing ourselves for COP28, we are delighted to announce our new brand "Children's Art Challenge to drive the SDGs." We will unlock one sdg per day. It may not be in ascending order.
Our work targets children, youth and women around the world - the next generation of consumers and change-makers to show that sustainable living is easy, cool and fun.
Our hero today is David, he is 13 years old, he painted Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Our children are sharing their inspirational creations about how to limit climate change. We invite school-aged children to unleash their creativity and envision a sustainable future through their art. Together, let's paint a brighter tomorrow for our planet.”
Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Globally, the number of people living in extreme poverty declined from 36 per cent in 1990 to 10 per cent in 2015. But the pace of change is decelerating and the COVID-19 crisis risks reversing decades of progress in the fight against poverty. New research published by the UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research warns that the economic fallout from the global pandemic could increase global poverty by as much as half a billion people, or 8% of the total human population. This would be the first time that poverty has increased globally in thirty years, since 1990.
More than 700 million people, or 10 per cent of the world population, still live in extreme poverty today, struggling to fulfil the most basic needs like health, education, and access to water and sanitation, to name a few. The majority of people living on less than $1.90 a day live in sub-Saharan Africa. Worldwide, the poverty rate in rural areas is 17.2 per cent—more than three times higher than in urban areas.
For those who work, having a job does not guarantee a decent living. In fact, 8 per cent of employed workers and their families worldwide lived in extreme poverty in 2018. One out of five children live in extreme poverty. Ensuring social protection for all children and other vulnerable groups is critical to reduce poverty.
Targets
1.1 By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day
1.2 By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
1.3 Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable
1.4 By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance
1.5 By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters
1.A Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions
1.B Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions.
An ‘enigmatic realist’ who fled Nazi Germany, Kissinger is remembered for ending the US war in Vietnam, opening China.
New York, United States – Few Nobel Peace Prize winners are called warmongers, but the gravelly-voiced, enigmatic diplomat Henry Kissinger was.
The contradictions of Kissinger, who died on Wednesday at home in Connecticut at age 100, do not end there.
An academic who became a celebrity, Kissinger was a Jewish teenager who fled the Nazis, a self-confessed “secret swinger” who dated pin-ups, a Machiavellian adviser to United States presidents who changed the course of history and a workaholic who remained active beyond his last birthday.
The debate about whether the former US secretary of state was a brainy adviser or a merciless hawk is not likely to reach a conclusion any time soon. He served in the role under two presidents: Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, both Republicans.
Kissinger’s work on the diplomatic opening of China to the US, landmark US-Soviet arms deals and peacemaking between Israelis and Arabs are not disputed. However, his role in the Vietnam War and his support for anti-communist dictatorships, particularly in Latin America, remain divisive.
“He viewed the world from 30,000 feet, advancing broad interests and long-term goals in a way that under-appreciated the negative costs people would bear, especially those in societies that were different from the US,” Jeremi Suri, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin, told Al Jazeera.
In 2021, at the age of 98, Kissinger co-authored a book on artificial intelligence with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and MIT computer scientist Daniel Huttenlocher.
“Henry Kissinger at the age of 90 knew nothing about the digital world, although he had a lot of opinions about it,” Schmidt told podcast host Tim Ferris when the book was published.
“But he has mastered the digital world and artificial intelligence with the alacrity and speed of people who are just getting into it now,” Schmidt said. “That’s unique to him. It’s a gift.”
Kissinger’s son, David Kissinger, also noted his father’s unique longevity ahead of his centenary birthday bash, which was attended by current US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“Not only has he outlived most of his peers, eminent detractors and students, but he has also remained indefatigably active throughout his 90s,” the younger Kissinger wrote in the Washington Post in May 2023.
When questioned about Blinken’s attendance at the party, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel noted the policy “differences” between the two men. Nevertheless, he added, Blinken had had the “opportunity to engage” with the former top diplomat several times since taking office.
Kissinger’s life story has the elements of a classic US immigration success. He was born in 1923 in Furth, Germany, to devout Jewish middle-class parents. Facing a rising tide of anti-Semitism, they fled the Third Reich and settled in New York in 1938.
Kissinger served in the US Army in Germany and saw combat during the decisive and brutal Battle of the Bulge. As a native German speaker, he was assigned counter-intelligence roles and earned the Bronze Star tracking down former Gestapo officers.
He returned to the US in 1947 to start a celebrated academic career at Harvard University that led to part-time White House advisory roles under Presidents John F Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and set him on the path of his life’s work.
A realist who chided moralising
Kissinger chided colleagues for their Cold War-era moralising and called for pragmatism. A “flexible response” to communist aggression would use conventional and nuclear weapons as a deterrent rather than threats of all-out nuclear retaliation, he said.
“He built his fame by presenting, and representing, himself as the quintessential European realist lent to an immature and naive America to teach her the harsh and immutable laws of international relations,” Mario Del Pero, a historian at Paris-based Sciences Po, told Al Jazeera.
President-elect Richard Nixon made Kissinger his national security adviser in 1968. He began reshaping Washington’s foreign policy machine, bypassing the Department of State and concentrating power in the White House’s National Security Council.
In 2002, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger celebrated the 30th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s meeting with China’s Mao Zedong in 1972 to normalise US-China relations [File: China Photo/via Reuters]
“Kissinger created a model for operating the machinery of a complex democracy to make strategic choices that lacked public support but served the national interest. He was controversial, but his realpolitik has influenced two generations of policymakers,” added the University of Texas’s Suri.
His favoured “back-channel” talks paved the way for a diplomatic opening with China and detente and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) with the Soviet Union. In foreign affairs, Washington had “no permanent friends or enemies, only interests”, he once wrote.
His biggest challenge was a Vietnam War that, by 1969, was increasingly costly, deadly and unpopular. Kissinger sought “peace with honour” by opening talks with North Vietnam while using devastating bombing campaigns to improve his bargaining power.
Washington - Angolan President João Lourenço on Thursday reiterated his country’s openness to cooperate with the United States of America in various areas, particularly agriculture.
Speaking at the opening of talks with the US president Joe Biden, the Angolan president expressed his country’s openness to establish strategic partnerships in other areas of interest, such as energy, transport, space exploration and others.
The Angolan president congratulated Joe Biden for being the first US Head of State to change the paradigm of cooperation with Africa.
João Lourenço recalled that at the US-AFRICA Summit in 2022, the US president pledged to look at Africa with new eyes, investing in the construction of infrastructures necessary for the development of the continent.
The Angolan Head of State underlined that the US involvement in the Lobito Corridor and other projects in the telecommunications and clean energy sectors are the proven materialization of this commitment.
"These infrastructures will help not only Angola, but a large part of the continent," Lourenço said, adding that Thursday's meeting turns over a new page in the relations between the US and Africa.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, João Lourenço expressed satisfaction, with the meeting underlining that relations between the two countries are at a very high level and that Angola and the African continent are the ones to profit.
João Lourenço's trip to Washington comes as part of the celebrations of 30 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Angola and the US, formalized in 1993 by then US President Bill Clinton.
The formalization put an end to a phase of political tensions and indirect confrontation that began shortly after Angola became independent in 1975, as a result of the Cold War between the then USSR and the USA.
Only in 1993, during Bill Clinton's presidency, formal diplomatic relations was established, which have reached new heights in recent years, bringing the two countries and peoples closer together.
In three decades, the two states have deepened exchanges, with regular visits by authorities, businesspeople and other players, which have allowed them to share experiences in various fields.
Angola is currently the US's third largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, with oil as one of the main assets of this strategic partnership.
In addition to the oil sector, bilateral cooperation has increased in recent years, especially in the area of commercial diplomacy, which has made it possible to approve various projects.
In terms of renewable energy, for example, funding totaling 900 million US dollars was approved for projects developed by the American company Sun Africa, while in infrastructure a total of 363 million US dollars was approved this year for the American company Acro Briz to build metal bridges in 18 provinces of Angola.
The US government has said it plans to invest 250 million in the Lobito Corridor (Benguela province), and several digitization projects.
There is cooperation with the Africell company for the money digitalization, as part of a program called 'Digital Money is Better', with an investment of five million dollars.
Another ongoing investment in Angola is focused on the environment, with the US investing roughly 7.5 million in the Okavango Delta.
The two nations signed recently a memorandum of understanding in the security sector to strengthen relationships in maritime security and equipment supply.
Washington РThe President of the United States of America (USA), Joe Biden, on Thursday recognised the efforts of the Angolan Head of State, Jọo Louren̤o, towards the pacification of the Great Lakes Region.
Speaking at the opening of the conversation between the two leaders, the North American statesman thanked João Lourenço for his particular engagement in the pacification of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
João Lourenço has been designated “Champion of Peace and Reconciliation” by the African Union, due to his commitment to peace in the African continent, especially in the ambit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR).
João Lourenço has been very vocal in multilateral meetings about the need for the adoption of peaceful measures to resolve conflicts in Africa and the world.
The Angolan statesman defends dialogue as the main and just form to put an end to wars and other conflicts in the world, such as the situation in Ukraine and Palestine.
During the gathering, President Biden spoke about the various investments of the USA in Angola, particularly, but also in the world in general, having stressed that his country is committed to the African continent.
Luanda - The US ambassador to Angola Tulinabo Mushingi said Tuesday that the meeting between the Angolan Head of state João Lourenço and US President Joe Biden scheduled for November 30 is recognition of the positive results of the partnership between the two nations.
Speaking to the press in the framework of the meeting to be held in the US White House, the US diplomat said the visit demonstrate the increase of the partnership between the two states in recent 30 years, a reflection of the two leaders' recognition that the two countries can achieve even more positive results for the citizens of both countries.
The diplomat said the US is committed to working with Angola to create more opportunities to improve the lives of the citizens of both countries.
Tulinabo Mushingi said the aim of the meeting is for the two heads of state to discuss the growth of US investment in Angola, increasing bilateral trade, strengthening cooperation for infrastructure partnership initiatives, particularly those linked to the Lobito Corridor and global investment in different sectors.
According to the diplomat, the two statesmen will also talk about Angola's leadership in peace and security initiatives at regional and world level.
According to a statement issued by the Presidency of the Republic, the two presidents will analyze bilateral cooperation in the trade, investment, climate and energy sectors, with emphasis on the development of the Lobito Corridor, which will link Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
Angola-US relations
Angola and the United States of America established formal diplomatic relations in 1993.
Angola is the US's third largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, mainly due to oil exports. The two countries cooperate in a number of areas, most notably trade, finance, energy, manufacturing, security, health and justice.
Trade between Angola and the US totaled roughly 1.4 billion US dollars by November 2019.
The Wall Street Journal has denounced the continued detention of its reporter as a ‘brazen and outrageous attack’ on free press.
Russia will keep American reporter Evan Gershkovich in custody for another two months as he awaits trial for espionage, a Moscow court has ruled, heightening concerns about the fate of the jailed journalist.
In a closed-door hearing on Tuesday, the Moscow court extended Gershkovich’s detention until January 30, an expected outcome in a country that rarely releases prisoners with serious charges ahead of trial.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Gershkovich’s employer, slammed his continued detention as a “brazen and outrageous attack” on the free press, calling for his immediate release.
“Evan has now been unjustly imprisoned for nearly 250 days, and every day is a day too long,” the newspaper said in a statement.
What are the charges?
Gershkovich, a 32-year-old Moscow correspondent for the WSJ, has been behind bars since March, when he was accused of spying in the city of Yekaterinburg, some 2,000km east of Moscow.
Russia’s Federal Security Service claims the reporter was trying to obtain secret information about a Russian arms factory, saying he was “caught red-handed”.
Gershkovich’s legal team and his supporters have dismissed the charges as baseless.
The United States has declared Gershkovich to be “wrongfully detained” and accused Russia of using him for “hostage diplomacy”.
Gershkovich is the first Western reporter to be jailed on spying charges in Russia since the Soviet era and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Gershkovich’s detention has unfolded amid heightened tensions between the United States and Russia over the war in Ukraine and his advocates say the arrest is part of Moscow’s broader crackdown on media during the war.
Gershkovich is one of few foreign journalists who continued reporting from Russia after the Kremlin launched its Ukraine offensive in February 2022.
Gershkovich’s arrest also comes after Russia exchanged several US citizens for Russian prisoners held in the US.
At least two US citizens arrested in Russia in recent years – including women’s basketball star Brittney Griner – have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the US.
Russia’s foreign ministry has said it will consider a swap for Gershkovich only after a verdict in his trial, which could last for more than a year.
The South African presidency is investigating whether parts of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech last week were written using the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT, local media report.
It follows claims online that a section of the speech delivered last week at an education forum by the president did not come from the president or his speechwriters.
The president’s spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, denied this, saying they do not use AI tools for content such as speeches.
He said that parts of the speech were written by the department of education for the president’s office, adding that they were following up regarding the source of the content.
“The use of AI to produce speeches or any other material is unacceptable, and action will be taken should these reports prove to be correct,” Mr Magwenya was quoted by The South African news outlet as saying.
A US military aircraft has crashed into the sea off the coast of southern Japan.
The wreckage of a US Osprey, which crashed with eight crew members on board, has been found along with a deployed lifeboat, Japan’s coastguard said on Wednesday.
The coastguard said it received an emergency call on Wednesday afternoon from a fishing boat near the crash site, which is off the island of Yakushima, located south of the main island of Kyushu.
“We received information at 2:47pm [05:47 GMT] today,” a coastguard spokesperson said. “We were also notified that there were eight crew members on board.”
The aircraft disappeared from radar at 2:40pm local time, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed.
According to witnesses, the left engine of the aircraft appeared to be on fire as it went down into the sea near Yakushima airport, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported. Nearby fishing boats rushed to the scene, locating three of the crew members.
A spokesperson for US forces in the region said they were still gathering information about the incident.
The CV-22 Osprey, belonging to the US Yokota airbase in Tokyo, departed from the Iwakuni US base in the Yamaguchi region on Wednesday, headed for the Kadena base in Okinawa, Ministry of Defense sources told NHK.
The hybrid aircraft, which takes off and lands like a helicopter but can rotate its propellers and cruise like an aeroplane, has a troubled history, with a string of fatal crashes over the years.
In March 2022, four Marines were killed when an Osprey crashed near a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise.
In 2017, three Marines were killed when an Osprey crashed off Australia’s north coast.
Earlier this year the US Army’s chief of staff grounded all pilots not involved in critical missions and required that they complete more training after four helicopters crashed in a matter of weeks with multiple deaths.
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