President Joe Biden to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with Irish PM

 The cultural celebration has been observed by the Irish as a holiday for more than 1,000 years.

President Joe Biden and Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar will attend a series of Saint Patrick’s Day events celebrating strong United States-Irish links.

The Irish leader’s White House visit on Friday is a cherished annual tradition. That has never been more true than under Biden, who frequently trumpets his family roots in Ireland and sprinkles quotes from Irish poems through his speeches.

Varadkar’s day will start with breakfast at Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence with “eggs Saint Patrick” on the menu, according to the White House. Varadkar and Biden will then have lunch at the US Capitol, hosted by the Republican Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy.

“Ireland and the United States are forever bound together by our people and our passion. Everything between us runs deep,” Biden said.

At the White House, Varadkar – known as the taoiseach – will then present Biden with the traditional shamrock – a sprig of clover representing Ireland. Entertaining the revellers will be Irish pop star Niall Horan, a former member of mega-boy band One Direction, now a singer-songwriter.

The White House is even dyeing its South Lawn fountain green.

The cultural celebration has been observed by the Irish as a holiday for more than 1,000 years.

There will be weightier issues on the table, however. Biden says he will visit Ireland and the British north soon – possibly to mark the 25th anniversary of the US-brokered Good Friday Agreement, which ended the violent unrest known as the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The Biden administration watched closely as Britain, Ireland, the European Union and leaders of the British province of Northern Ireland hashed out a compromise – the Windsor Framework – on how to manage cross-border trade now that Britain is out of the EU, which includes Ireland.

Biden and Varadkar will stress their “support for the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement as we approach its 25th anniversary and welcome the recent agreement between the UK and EU on the Windsor Framework as an important step in preserving the agreement’s peace dividend”, the White House said.

Some 32 million Americans – almost 10 percent – claim ancestral roots in Ireland. Given the long history, the fates of the island country and the troubled northern province play outsized roles in US politics.

Biden on Monday said he intends to visit both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

If the post-Brexit trade arrangement does get full backing from rival forces in Northern Ireland, that could pave the way for restarting a local power-sharing agreement between pro-British loyalists and the nationalist parties, which want to break away and reunite the province with the Republic of Ireland.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

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ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin on war crime allegations

 Judges at the International Criminal Court accuse Russian president of being responsible for war crimes committed during Ukraine invasion.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

The Hague-based court said in a statement on Friday Putin “is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”

It also issued a warrant for the arrest for Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, the commissioner for children’s rights in the office of the president of the Russian federation on similar allegations.

There was no immediate comment by Russia following the ICC’s move on Friday.

Russia denies committing atrocities since it invaded Ukraine in February last year.

The warrants came a day after a United Nations-backed inquiry accused Russia of committing wide-ranging war crimes in Ukraine, including the forced deportations of children in areas it controls.

More to follow …

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Ugandan Pilgrims Warned Against Drinking ‘Holy Water’

 Ugandan Catholic pilgrims visiting the popular Namugongo Martyrs Shrine in central region have been cautioned against drinking water from the so-called holy well.

Church authorities say the water can be used for other scripture purposes such as making the sign of the cross, but it is not fit for consumption.

Uganda Episcopal Conference secretary general, John Kauta, on Thursday said although faithful who collect the water claim spiritual healing, health experts have advised church leaders that the water is unclean and unsafe.

“The water in Namugongo is distilled, but it is not safe to drink. This is also because it runs from many places. People can take it and use it for signs, but don’t drink it,” Mr Kauta told state-run New Vision website.

Mr Kauta said the church will in future set up more taps at the well for easier access due to the high demand for the water.

Pilgrims have started arriving at the Namugongo shrine for this year’s Martyrs’ Day celebrations in June.

The annual event pays homage to the 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican martyrs who were executed for their faith on the orders of Kabaka Mwanga of Buganda between 1885 and 1887.

Source: BBC

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Malawi’s president appeals for immediate aid after Cyclone Freddy

 In an interview , Lazarus Chakwera calls for international help after Cyclone Freddy strikes twice, killing more than 300 people and displacing hundreds of thousands.

President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi has appealed to the international community to send urgent help to the southern African nation, which has been ravaged by storms that have killed more than 300 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more.

“We need immediate help,” he told Al Jazeera on Thursday from outside a camp in Blantyre, Malawi’s commercial capital and one of the areas hardest hit. “We need helicopters now that [the storms have] cleared off somewhat so that we can airlift some foodstuffs and other equipment.”

Tropical Cyclone Freddy hit the coast of southern Africa for a second time over the weekend, causing devastation in Malawi and its neighbour Mozambique. At least 326 people have been confirmed dead in Malawi, bringing the overall number of fatalities across the region to more than 400 since February.

Chakwera, who declared 14 days of mourning and pledged $1.5m in assistance, has now called for more aid, saying the country’s capacity to provide relief is limited.

“Climate change is real, and what we are having to see is devastation,” the president said. “Thirteen months, three devastating cyclones. We are trying to do the best we can to pull ourselves by [our] bootstraps.”

As climate change causes warmer oceans, heat energy from the water’s surface is fuelling stronger storms. Freddy broke the world record for most accumulated cyclone energy, a measure based on a storm’s wind strength over its lifetime. Meteorologists say it might break two more records.

Chakwera said recovering from such a storm cannot happen without international help. “What is happening to us can happen to anyone, anywhere,” he said. “Let the world come in and help Malawi because we cannot afford to be going backwards instead of forward in terms of all the provisions that Malawians need.”

Rasmane Kabore, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Blantyre, said the most pressing issue was the lack of clean water, which could cause a cholera outbreak like the aftermath of Cyclone Anna in the country’s south last year.

In his interview with Al Jazeera, Chakwera concurred, calling for shelter, blankets and amenities that will help with water and sanitation provision to the people because we do not want another outbreak of waterborne diseases”.

Earlier on Thursday, Yusuf Nthenda, member of parliament for Mulanje West, told Al Jazeera correspondent Fahmida Miller that the community had yet to receive any aid and some of his constituents had no food to eat.

In response, the president said his government had begun providing help but some communities were inaccessible because roads have been washed away by mudslides.

But “my goal and my desire is let everyone be accounted for”, he said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

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Angola to start banning plastics in 19 months

 Luanda - The secretary of State for Environment, Abias Moma Huongo, said Thursday in Luanda that the National Plan for Banning Plastics in the country could begin in 19 months, with a budget of over 600 million kwanzas.

The minister justified the timeframe for its implementation taking into account the goal of doing a good job and benefiting from the ongoing process at international level, which intends to ban plastic pollution by the end of 2024.

 

Abias Moma Huongo made the statement at the end of the first meeting of the technical support group of the multidisciplinary work commission for the elaboration of the National Plan for the Banning of Plastics.

 

"Exactly what we want, as we draw up our plan, is to benefit from inputs from what happens internationally so that it is current and can respond to our needs", Huongo explained.

 

Huongo said that so far it is not possible for Angola to know the amount of plastics produced in the country, however the components of the plan preparation will enable us to know the volumes of the plastic produced and the main types.

 

He explained that the study will facilitate the adoption of measures to ban plastics and consequently their replacement by another product for producers, retailers and final consumers.

 

"If we want to ban it, the entrepreneur has to do something else that depends on studies, to safeguard his work and the direct and indirect jobs generated", Huongo said.

 

He then explained that despite the fact that the measure will cover the whole country, studies would be carried out  targeting 10 of the country's 18 provinces, depending on the amount of waste they produce.

 

The meeting has among several other objectives, to carry out research and studies needed to make a national diagnosis to learn the stage of pollution in which the country finds itself due to the abusive use of plastic.

Economy Ministry analyses proposals to support new PDN

 Luanda - The Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP) is analysing the proposals for plans submitted by sectors and provinces to support the new National Development Plan (PDN/2023- 2027) to further issue technical opinions on compliance, the director for Public Private Partnerships (PPP), Augusto Dembo said Thursday.

After the analysis, the MEP will issue technical opinions of conformity, in terms of structure and content of the proposals, the director said,  during the MEP usual briefing.

 

"They are preparing the Sectoral Plans (PDS) and Provincial Plans (PDP) to support the new PDN, and will then issue technical opinions on conformity", Dembo said.

 

He added that the actions are part of the National Planning System continuous elaboration process of the main instruments that will guide the future of the country.

 

Among the instruments, he added, there is the Final Balance of the 2018-2022 PDN, which is in the process of gathering information from the technical bodies of the national planning system (sectoral GEPEs and provincial GEPs).

 

The official added it includes the Long Term Strategy "Angola 2025" and its extension to the horizon 2050, which is in a process of intersectoral and public consultation.

 

The meeting aimed to develop a methodology for defining the criteria for identification and selection of PPP projects, creation of a portfolio of PPP projects and preparation of the pre-feasibility study of a project.

 

The agreement has three components, namely Support to Public Finance Reform (Ministry of Finance-MINFIN), Support to the Public Business Sector and PPP (IGAPE and MEP) and Support to Financial Sector Reform (BNA).

 

Within the scope of the General Census of Population and Housing (RGPH), to be held throughout the national territory in 2024, the National Statistics Institute held a public consultation to obtain contributions to the questionnaire to be submitted to the population.

 

The event held under the slogan "Together We Count for Angola", aimed at obtaining valuable contribution from the academia in what will be the largest statistical operation to be carried out in the country.

National Assembly votes on draft resolution to send peace forces to DRC

 Luanda - The National Assembly (AN) will discuss and vote on the draft resolution that approves the request for authorization for the President of the Republic to send military peacekeeping forces to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The session will discuss the Authorization Request from the President of the Republic, as Commander in Chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), about the sending of Military Contingent to Support Operations of the Peacekeeping Forces in the eastern region of the DRC.

 

The discussion and vote to take place during the 5th Plenary Extraordinary Meeting of the 1st Legislative Session of the 5th Legislature of the National Assembly (AN).

 

The specialized commissions of the AN approved on Wednesday the Joint Opinion Report of the referred Draft Resolution, whose legal tool  aims to ensure the process of cantonment of the military forces of the M23 group in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

 

In general, the aim of the Angolan mission will be to adopt the joint general plan for the resolution of the crisis in the east of the DRC, speed up the effective implementation of the Luanda roadmap, in coordination with the Nairobi process, for the promotion of security in the east of the DRC and the normalization of political and diplomatic relations with the Republic of Rwanda.

 

The Angolan contingent, which according to the work committees is due to remain in the DRC for 12 months, will comprise a FAA battalion and its components, as well as financial resources estimated at 11.2 billion kwanzas to be reallocated within the framework of the Defence and Security sector budget.