 |
| Mr Afryie Akoto, Minister of Agriculture |
By
James Biney
Many
farmers in the Northern Region are crying out for fertilizer to enable them
participate actively in the Governments Food for Jobs programme.
They
claim that they have not had access to fertilizer since the Government
announced that it was subsidizing it to the tune of 50 per cent.
The
farmers complained bitterly at a stakeholders meeting in Tamale addressed by
the Regional Minister, Mr. Salifu Saeed and attended by Metropolitan and
District Chief Executives.
The
Chief Executives said they had not received the fertilisers and other inputs
for the Food for Jobs Programmes in their areas.
Dr.
Nurah Gyiele, Minister of State at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture
expressed surprise at the development.
Mr.
Mohammed Adam Nashiru, President of the Peasant Farmers Association alleged
that subsidized tractors were being sold to non-farmers to the detriment of
farmers.
He
said some politicians and businessmen are those who are benefiting from the
subsidies for agricultural inputs announced by the government.
“We
the farmers are still suffering and some of our political leaders are even
refusing to see us” he said.
The
MMDCEs feared that the Food for Jobs Programme could fail if the fertilizer and
seeds do not get to the farmers in good time.
Mr.
Saeed pleaded with the MMDCEs to do all in their power to ensure that the
fertilisers and seeds got to the farmers quickly.
Editorial
FERTILISER SHORTAGE
The
Insight is seriously worried about reports that fertilizers and other
agricultural inputs are not getting to farmers.
This
is likely to seriously affect the implementation of the Governments Food for
Jobs Programme to the detriment of all Ghanaians.
We
are even more worried about reports that subsidized tractors are not getting to
farmers but businessmen and politicians.
In
our view Ghana cannot continue to rely on others for its food and we wish that
all the bottlenecks in the implementation of the Food for Jobs Programme would
be removed.
The
farmers need the fertilisers and other agricultural inputs on time and the
Government must not fail them.
Please
act now to save the farmers and Ghana!
Local
News:
JB
TO ROCK NATIONAL THEATRE
 |
| J. B Back Again |
By
Gifty Agyemang
J.
B Back Again, the reggae star is set to rock the national theatre in Accra on
Friday, July 14, 2017.
J.
B. who regularly plays at “Monday Grove” at the freedom Centre in Accra says he
wants to put up a splendid performance.
He
is currently rehearsing with the freedom Centre Band for the big event which
has been dubbed “African Voices for Palestine”.
In
an interview with The Insight, J. B. said all true reggae musicians identify
with suffering people and stand up for justice everywhere.
“This
is why I will join this concert which is designed to highlight the plight of
the people of Palestine living under Israeli colonial occupation.
“All
of us want Palestine to be free and we want the war in Palestine to end so that
Israelis too can enjoy peace”, he said.
More
than 25 top musical artists have confirmed their participation in the concert
sponsored by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (Ghana).
It
is expected that musicians from all over Africa will feature in the event which
will be covered in full by Pan African Television.
 |
| Bessa Simons |
So
far 17 media houses have joined the long line of media sponsors for the event.
They
include, Citi FM, Atinka Fm, Radio Gold, Metro TV, Pan African Television,
Kantanka TV, ZTV, The Insight, The Daily Guide, Crusading Guide, Peace FM, The
Dispatch and the Daily Post.
Organisers
say that they are inviting all former Heads of State, all Members of
Parliament, Members of Diplomatic Corps, Ministers of State, Chiefs, leaders of
political parties, youth and students groups as well as the gender movement.
The
organisation of such musical concerts around the world contributed
significantly to ending apartheid rule in South Africa.
A
similar concert in Zimbabwe by Bob Marley and the Wailers heralded the end of
racist rule.
The
concert was initiated by Amandzeba, the music maestro.
Africa:
“I am the Nile”,
Pusch Commey
After
the death of the Heinemann’s African Writers Series that published the work of
some of Africa’s great writers such as Chinua Achebe, Ayi Kwei Armah, Ngugi wa
Thiongo and many others, a new imprint of African writers series has risen from
the ashes. Called the Real African Writers (RAW) Children’s Series, it is the
baby of the South African-based Real African Publishers, which last year
published the Tastes from Nelson Mandela’s Kitchen.
The
new series will officially be launched on 4 June in Accra, Ghana, and
subsequently in Johannesburg, Lusaka, Lagos, Addis Ababa, London and New York.
The
first books to come out of the RAW children’s fiction series are
multi-cultural, inspirational, and very pan-African oriented. For example,
there is the 100 Great African Kings and Queens that chronicles the
amazing journey of Africa’s great kings and queens of yore. Making the cut in
this first of 10 volumes is the magnificent Queen of Sheba from Ethiopia; the
inimitable last Pharaoh of Egypt, Cleopatra IV; and the irrepressible Hannibal
Barca of Tunisia. Not to be left out is Emperor Mansa Musa of Mali, the richest
man who ever lived.
So,
why kings and queens? The answer, according to the author, Pusch Commey (who
doubles as New African’s correspondent in South Africa): “They were
representatives of civilisations. They open a window into African and world
history. The educational value is phenomenal.”
Pusch
Commey is a Ghanaian-born lawyer based in South Africa. He is an award-winning
writer/journalist and associate editor of New African. He has written
several journal articles and covered South Africa since 1999. To Pusch Commey,
Cleopatra, born 69BC, was a phenomenon. “A brilliant mathematician and
businesswoman” he writes in the book, “Cleopatra understood the world better
than most rulers of her time.”
When
the Romans ruled the known world, Cleopatra went to the palace of Emperor
Julius Caeser, rolled in a Persian carpet, and had it presented to him by her
servants. When the carpet was unfolded, out tumbled Cleopatra.
Caeser was so charmed by the gesture that he invited Cleopatra to live in his palace, had children with her, planned to marry her contrary to the laws of Rome, and abandoned his plans to invade Egypt.
When
Caeser was murdered in 44BC, Cleopatra went to meet the new ruler, Mark
Anthony, with silver oars, purple sails and Nereid handmaids, with her erotes
fanning her. She was dressed as the goddess of love, Aphrodite. Mark Anthony
went crazy over Cleopatra and divorced his second wife, Octavia, the sister of
his co-ruler Octavius Caeser, in favour of Cleopatra. She declared “I am the
Nile”.
Then
there was Hannibal. The untold story of his epic exploits against the Roman
Empire was the African Numidian Horsemen, the skilled javelin throwing
mercenaries from Numidia, present day Algeria. When Hannibal crossed the
impossible Swiss Alps and traumatised the Roman Empire from 218BC, it was with
the indispensable assistance of the Horsemen. The Roman general, Scipio Africanus,
counter-attacked and defeated Hannibal in the third Punic War at Zama, then
paid for, and enlisted the horsemen. Their intervention was the decisive
factor. Scipio subsequently earned the nickname “The Roman Hannibal”.
When
Hannibal was asked why he wanted to destroy the Romans, his response was: “I do
not wish to destroy the Romans, I am only contesting for glory and empire.”
Hannibal’s fascinating story is equally matched by the “richest man who ever
lived”, Emperor Mansa Musa of Mali. It has been calculated that if he were
alive today, he would be worth 400 billion US dollars. In his time “all roads
to wisdom led to the African city of Timbuktu”, which was recently thrashed by
rebels retreating from northern Mali, with French and Malian troops in pursuit.
According
to the book, 100 Great African Kings and Queens, when Mansa Musa went on a
pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324AD, he carried so much gold and spent it so lavishly
that the price of gold fell for 10 years. The famous manuscripts of Timbuktu,
which cover all areas of world knowledge, were written during his reign. The
whole African continent is well represented in volume one of 100 Great
African Kings and Queens, with interesting stories of Queen Nzinga
of Angola, Queen Yaa Asantewaa of Ghana, Queen Amina of Nigeria, Emperor
Menelik II of Ethiopia, King Shaka ka Sezangakhona of South Africa (who
famously said “Never leave an enemy behind”), and the pyramid king of the
world, Khufu of Egypt. RAW will also launch three other intriguing fictional
titles: Tofi’s Fire Dance, Tofi and the Rainbow Fish, and Sea Never Dry.
Of the three, the most compelling for children is perhaps the adaptation of Sea
Never Dry, for four to eight-year-olds.
The
cover blurb says it all: “Tofi (a Zulu) meets Nii from the Gold Coast.
She teaches Nii how to milk cows. Nii teaches her how to fish in the sea. One
day, the rains fail to fall, there is no grass, the cows die. However like true
love, sea never dry.” It is a real pan-African adventure/love story. The first
offerings of the Real African Writers Series (which plans to add various other
writers in a competition, with handsome prizes and an offer to publish the
winners) are available through an author search in all the major online
bookshops. Print copies are distributed in South Africa and Ghana, and
currently available on demand globally.
Source:
New African Magazine|| Advocate James Pusch Commey
Humans Are the Most
Destructive Species on Earth
By Pratap Antony
First
published in April 2016
We
humans have been in existence for less than 1% of life on Earth – In the short
time of our existence, we have impacted everything; every part of our small
blue planet. Our home!
We
have been around for only 200,000 years – Archaeologists have calculated that
humans originated about 200,000 years ago in the Middle Palaeolithic period in
southern Africa, and migrated out of Africa around 70,000 years ago and began
colonizing the entire planet. We spread to Eurasia around 40,000 years ago
(there is no geologic boundary between Europe and Asia – so they are combined
as Eurasia.) and Oceania (roughly Australia to Fiji), and reached the Americas
just 14,500 years ago.
Humans
are a member of a species of bipedal primates. We walk upright. We also have
opposable thumbs so we can grip ‘things’. We have, what we think of as a highly
developed brain. And so, we have called ourselves ‘homo sapiens’. In Latin,
“Homo” means “man” and “Sapiens” means “wise”. Wise Men.
Dinosaurs
existed for 135 million years – It is estimated that dinosaurs were the
dominant terrestrial vertebrates for 135 million years, from 231.4 million
years ago till around 65 million years ago.
Dinosaurs
lived for a greater time on the planet than man. Scientists explain the
extinction of dinosaurs with one or two hypotheses – that the extinction was
due to an extraterrestrial impact, such as an asteroid or comet, or, a massive
bout of volcanism.
We
humans though, have been around for a comparatively short while, yet we are
making ourselves extinct due to our own activities.
In
our short existence, we have impacted every corner of the world with smog, with
acid rain; by breaking-up habitats and causing extinctions.
We
have taken the route to deforestation to make more room for ourselves. And,
through sheer cruelty and indiscriminate killing, we have disturbed the
ecological balance of nature. Birds and animals are dying and gradually getting
extinct. Seasons and the soil have been changed harmfully. We are waging
ecocide to garner greater power to ourselves. We are cruel without remorse and
we hold nature, environmental issues, truth and justice in contempt. We will
soon be wiping ourselves out due to man-made climate changes and devastation of
food and water supply. And, we also wage war with each other. We are killing
ourselves.
Our
excuse – Cleansing, development and progress – The irony of it all is we justify
our destructive tendencies as intervention and manipulation – for cleansing,
development and progress. And we do this because we suffer from a delusion that
sees us as being separate; we think that we live in a higher plane than
everything else. But trees, birds, animals and men are all inseparable parts of
nature.
“Any
intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It
takes a touch of genius -and a lot of courage to move in the opposite
direction.”
~
E.F. Schumacher
We
humans are part of the same ecosystem. Each creature on this planet has a
reason for its existence and is as important to life on earth as we (humans)
think we are.
We
are dependent on nature. Nature is not dependent on us. When we destroy an
ecosystem, we are destroying life that depends on that ecosystem. Humans and
nature are powerfully linked and co-evolving. All living things in an ecosystem
depend on all the other things – living and non-living – i.e. organisms
interact with their inorganic surroundings for continued survival, to form a
self-regulating, complex system that contributes to maintaining the conditions
for life on the planet. All the actions and reactions that take place and
affect one part of an ecosystem, affect the whole ecosystem in some way or the
other.
We
are only one small part of the web of life, yet we, in this short time of our
existence have treated our planet so shoddily and with such a callous contempt
that we have irreversibly damaged our planet and shortened our own existence on
the planet.
When
nature cannot defend itself there will be a backlash. Nature cannot resist our
wiles and will eventually succumb to our destructive tendencies. When forests
are mined for minerals and other resources and laid bare of all their
biodiversity, desertification will take place. Lakes, rivers and water
resources will dry up.
There
is no wisdom in man killing what sustains man … and with it, humankind!
The
backlash will not be nature fighting back! But, of nature as we know it, dying
out!
Homo
Sapiens… Wise Men. Not at all!? Our wisdom is highly disputable. Dinosaurs were
considered unintelligent, due to the small size of their brain compared to
their body size. They existed for 135 million years. They didn’t kill
themselves. But, man is destroying mankind.
Our
planet is not in danger. Humans are in danger. From ourselves. Humankind is on
the road to extinguish ourselves. Sooner rather than later. The future for all
of us is bleak. The planet will continue as it has for the 99% of the time
before man, it will adjust and continue. Perhaps with other life forms, other
vegetation, other landscapes.
The
earlier we learn to curb our innate inclination to be brutal, to pollute and to
annihilate, and the earlier we will learn to live with compassion and in
peaceful co-existence with ourselves and with nature, the better it is for us
and our continued existence.
“When
we respect the environment, then nature will be good to us. When our hearts are
good, then the sky will be good to us. The trees are like our mother and
father, they feed us, nourish us, and provide us with everything; the fruit,
leaves, the branches, the trunk. They give us food and satisfy many of our
needs. So we spread the Dharma (truth) of protecting ourselves and protecting
our environment, which is the Dharma of the Buddha. When we accept that we are
part of a great human family—that every being has the nature of Buddha—then we
will sit, talk, make peace. I pray that this realization will spread throughout
our troubled world and bring humankind and the earth to its fullest flowering.
I pray that all of us will realize peace in this lifetime and save all beings
from suffering”. Maha Ghosananda (1929 – 2007) revered Cambodian Buddhist
monk – known as the Gandhi of Cambodia Pratap Antony, Passive
activist/Active pacifist writer on ecology and environment, compassion and
humanity, dogs, social justice, music and dance.
Life
on Earth is dying
By Robert J. Burrowes
On
the day that you read this article, 200 species of life on Earth (plants,
birds, animals, fish, amphibians, insects, reptiles) will cease to exist.
Tomorrow, another 200 species will vanish forever.
The
human onslaught to destroy life on Earth is unprecedented in Earth’s history.
Planet Earth is now experiencing its sixth mass extinction event and Homo
sapiens is the cause. Moreover, this mass extinction event is accelerating and
is so comprehensive in its impact that the piecemeal measures being taken by
the United Nations, international agencies and governments constitute a
tokenism that is breathtaking in the extreme.
And
it is no longer the case that mainly ‘invisible’ species are vanishing: those
insects, amphibians and small animals about which you had never even heard,
assuming they have been identified and given a name by humans.
You
and I are on the brink of driving to extinction some of the most iconic species
alive today. For a photo gallery of threatened species, some of which are
‘critically endangered’, see ‘World’s wildlife being pushed to the edge by
humans – in pictures’.
If
you want to read more about some aspects of the extinction threat, you can do
so in these recent reports: ‘World Wildlife Crime Report:
Trafficking in protected species’ and ‘2016 Living Planet Report’ which includes
these words: ‘The main statistic from the report … shows a 58% decline between
1970 and 2012. This means that, on average, animal populations are roughly half
the size they were 42 years ago.’
And
if you want to read just one aspect of what is happening in the world’s oceans,
this recent UN report will give you something to ponder: ‘New UN report finds marine
debris harming more than 800 species, costing countries millions’.
Of
course, some of what is happening is related to the ongoing climate catastrophe
and there isn’t any good news on that front. See ‘What’s Happening in the Arctic is
Astonishing’.
But
not everything that is going badly wrong is well known either. Did you know
that we are destroying the Earth’s soil? See ‘Only 60 Years of Farming Left If
Soil Degradation Continues’.
And
did you realise that even nitrogen is now a huge problem too? See ‘Scientists shine a spotlight
on the overlooked menace of nitrogen’.
Of
course, military violence has devastating consequences on the Earth’s
ecosystems too, destroying land, water and atmosphere (not to mention killing
human beings) in the fight over resources. You will get no joy from the article
‘Iraq’s oil inferno – government inaction in the face
of eco-terrorism’ or
the website of the Toxic Remnants of War Project.
But
every single aspect of military spending is ultimately used to destroy. It has
no other function.
While
2.5 billion human beings do not have enough to eat. See ‘One in three people suffers
malnutrition at global cost of $3.5 trillion a year’
As
you read all this, you might say ‘Not me’! But you are wrong. You don’t have to
be an impoverished African driven to killing elephants for their tusks so that
you can survive yourself. You don’t have to be a farmer who is destroying the
soil with synthetic poisons. You don’t have to be a soldier who kills and
destroys or a person who works for a corporation that, one way to another,
forces peasants off their land.
You
just have to be an ‘ordinary’ person who pays your military taxes and consumes
more than your share of world resources while participating without challenge
in the global system of violence and exploitation managed by the global elite.
‘Why
is this?’ you might ask.
This
is because the primary driver of the human-induced mass extinction is not such
things as some people hunting a particular lifeform to extinction, horrendous
though this is. In fact, just two things drive most species over the edge: our
systematic destruction of land habitat – forests, grasslands, wetlands,
peatlands, mangroves… – in our endless effort to capture more of the Earth’s
wild places for human use (whether it be residential, commercial, mining,
farming or military) and our destruction of waterways and the ocean habitat by
dumping into them radioactive contaminants, carbon dioxide, a multitude of
poisons and chemical pollutants, and even plastic.
And
do you know what drives this destruction of land and water habitats? Your
demand for consumer products, all of which are produced by using land and water
habitats, and the resources derived from them, often far from where you live.
The most basic products, such as food and clothing, are produced on
agricultural land, sometimes created by destroying rainforests, or taken from
the ocean (where overfishing has savagely depleted global fish stocks). But in
using these resources, we have ignored the needs of the land, oceans and the
waterways for adequate regenerative inputs and recovery time.
We
also participate, almost invariably without question or challenge, in the
inequitable distribution of resources that compels some impoverished people to
take desperate measures to survive through such means as farming marginal land
or killing endangered wildlife.
So
don’t sit back waiting for some miracle by the United Nations, international
agencies or governments to solve this problem. It cannot happen for the simple
reason that these organizations are all taking action within the existing
paradigm that prioritizes corporate profit and military violence over human
equity and ecological sustainability.
Despite
any rhetoric to the contrary, they are encouraging overconsumption by
industrialized populations and facilitating the inequitable distribution of
income and wealth precisely because this benefits those who control these
organizations, agencies and governments: the insane corporate elites who are
devoid of the capacity to see any value beyond the ‘bottom line’. See ‘The Global Elite is Insane’.
If
you want action on the greatest challenge human beings have ever faced – to
avert our own extinction by learning to live in harmony with our biosphere and
equity with our fellow humans – then I encourage you to take personal
responsibility.
If
you do, you need to act. At the simplest level, you can make some difficult but
valuable personal choices. Like becoming a vegan or vegetarian, buying/growing
organic/biodynamic food, and resolutely refusing to use any form of poison or
to drive a car or take an airline flight.
But
if you want to take an integrated approach, the most powerful way you can do
this is to systematically reduce your own personal consumption while increasing
your self-reliance. Anita McKone and I have mapped out a fifteen-year strategy
for doing this in ‘The Flame Tree Project to Save Life
on Earth’.
You
might also consider signing the online pledge of ‘The People’s Charter to Create a
Nonviolent World’
which obviously includes nonviolence towards our fellow species.
One
of the hidden tragedies of modern human existence is that we have been
terrorized into believing that we are not personally responsible. See ‘The Delusion “I Am Not
Responsible”‘.
For
a fuller explanation, see ‘Why Violence?’ and ‘Fearless Psychology and Fearful
Psychology: Principles and Practice’.
It
isn’t true but few people feel powerful enough to make a difference.
And
every time you decide to do nothing and to leave it to someone else, you
demonstrate why no-one else should do anything either.
Extinction
beckons. What will you do?
Robert
J. Burrowes has a lifetime commitment to understanding and ending human
violence. He has done extensive research since 1966 in an effort to understand
why human beings are violent and has been a nonviolent activist since 1981. He
is the author of ‘Why Violence?‘http://tinyurl.com/whyviolence His email address is flametree@riseup.net
The Secrets of Long
Life and Anti-Aging: The Passing of Emma Morano at 117 Years Old
By Dr. Binoy Kampmark
The
novelist Anthony Powell spoke of old age as penalisation for a crime
one had not committed. Obviously, not being biblically inclined in that sense,
the antics of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden were discounted.
Through
the histories on the subject of aging, mythologies have accumulated as eager
moss crossing moist rock. These have assumed something of a pop status,
with prime ministers showering the long-aged character with certificates and
awards, deeming old age a matter of state-wide celebration. Simple facts of
nature and biology, this goes to show, can be moralised and sanctified.
The
suggestion from the late Emma Morano, who recently passed at a venerable
117 years, being, supposedly, the only confirmed and recorded centurion
remaining from 1899, was one of humble egg consumption. The diet was simple,
though eventually, losing one’s teeth helped to move one away from more complex
solids.
Morano’s
death caused the usual springs to come into play: diet was discussed; forms of
lifestyle were considered; anti-aging mechanisms were poured over and devoured.
The modern class of wizardry – nutritionists – were eager to make their views
felt. The life-style blogosphere lit up with starry-eyed wonder.
With
each year of her birthday for a good stretch, Morano would be asked the same
questions by harrying journalists and researchers who had converted her into an
object of research and good copy. These would be relayed with bovine loyalty to
consumers eager to clean out their fridges and cupboards for the next novel
diet.
Even
with that regularity, the number of eggs consumed in this lack lustre diet
would either change, or be misreported (sometimes three, sometimes two). Last
year, The Independent noted, after Morano had been declared by the
Guinness World Records as the oldest person in the world, that her diet
comprised “two eggs a day, and that’s it. And cookies. But I do not eat much because
I have no teeth.”
When
consulted about matters of his patient’s diet, Dr. Carlo
Bava explained that Morano stayed away from meat after being told it was
carcinogenic. But nor did Morano exactly excel in the vegetables and fruit
department, consuming little of neither.
“When
I met her, she ate three eggs per day, two raw in the morning and an omelette
at noon, and chicken at dinner.”
Raging
over the carcinogenic properties of meat remains the staple of food research.
Invective is as frequent as scientific rigour. Red meat tends to fare highly in
this nutritional demonology, most notably if the targeting organisation is the
World Health Organisation. Processed food tends to get a pummeling, with
the meat variants placed under the group 1 carcinogen category.
The
slotting of various processed foods into the same onerously dangerous category
as tobacco raised eyebrows, prompting Sarah Zhang to consider going through WHO
categories as “a little dangerous to your mental health” not to mention plain
confusing.
To
each his or her own dedicated and delicious poison. For the
venerable Alabaman Sussanah Mushatt Jones, keeping away from cigarettes
and drinks in good puritanical fashion, coupled with daily bacon rations, did
the trick. (So much for that canard on bacon being bad for you, despite
the suggestion that eating two slices a day could increase your relative risk
of colorectal cancer by 18 percent.)
Jones
further insisted that, for all the munchies, “love and positive energy” were
vital.[4] Like an aged horse race, media outlets were noting how Morano
had just inched out Jones by a whisker to take the record.
The
cult of old age and longevity remains a fascination for societies who tend not
to see death as necessarily inevitable. On the website of “Tomorrowoman”, a
piece from March 2015 ventures into the usual clickbait territory: “Meet Some
Of the Oldest Women In The World – You Won’t Believe Their Secret to Living
Longer!’
Morano
heads that list with monarchical appeal, and the post by a certain Danielle
takes aim at the opposition about having that desperate, biological need for a
“hot date” or male company. The secret for Morano, then 115 years, was
consuming those three eggs on a daily basis “and avoiding men!… According to
Morano, living a husband/boyfriend-free life is the secret to living longer.”
Such
posts tend to be short on detail, but Time Magazine was happy to
reveal that Morano had been married, but kicked out her husband after the death
of her infant son in 1938. La Stampa noted a marriage of considerable
turmoil, while the New York Times detailed a proud figure who “didn’t
want to be dominated by anyone.”
The
no-men thesis was also advanced regarding the good health of Jessie
Gallan, who also passed the century mark and felt that men are “more trouble
than they’re worth”.[8] That scheme of macho and masculine avoidance was
also coupled with a diet of porridge, again a matter of routine and diligence.
Naturally,
the body of work in such a field suggests more individuality than cookie-cutter
predictability. Married couples do also suggest that death can be defied
for some time, though this, as with everything else, is a point of conjecture.
How little, then, is life susceptible to actual categorisation and the packaging
of modern health directives.
Dr.
Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge and
lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com
Iran imposes
retaliatory sanctions against US
Iran
has blasted fresh US bans over its defensive missile program, saying it will
retaliate by adding nine American individuals and corporations to its sanctions
list over their human rights violations.
In
a Thursday statement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said
the new US administration is seeking to undermine the “positive outcome” of the
2015 nuclear deal on the Iranian nuclear program by pressuring Tehran
over “baseless accusations” in others areas than its nuclear program.
Iran
“condemns the US government’s malintent in its attempts to reduce the positive
effects of the implementation of that country’s commitments under the JCPOA by
adding natural and legal individuals to the list of its transnational, unilateral
and illegal sanctions.”
He
was using an acronym to refer to the Iran deal, officially called the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
On
Wednesday, the US Department of Treasury extended sanctions relief for Iran
called for under the JCPOA. However, it imposed sanctions on two Iranian
defense officials, an Iranian company and members of a China-based network for
supporting Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Under
the JCPOA, Iran agreed to limit parts of its peaceful nuclear program in
exchange for the removal of all nuclear-related sanctions imposed by the US.
The
accord was negotiated under the administration of former US president,
Barack Obama, but his predecessor Donald Trump has called the JCPOA “the worst
deal ever.” Trump threatened to tear up the nuclear deal during his campaign
and has launched a review of its terms.
The
Foreign Ministry statement further said, the Islamic Republic considers the new
restrictive measures “unacceptable and contrary to the tenets of the
international law.”
In
response, the statement added, “nine US individuals and corporations” are added
to Iran’s sanctions list over their “confirmed role in blatant human rights
violations.”
The
banned US firms and individuals have directly and indirectly cooperated with
Israel in its “crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territories”
or in the regime’s “terrorist acts,” according to the statement.
They
have also supported Takfiri terrorism and crackdown on the popular movements in
the Middle East or have had effective participation in actions against Iran’s
national security, it added.
The
statement further said an updated version of the blacklist would be released
after going through legal proceedings and being approved by relevant officials.
The
United States claims that Iran’s missile tests are in breach of UN Security
Council Resolution 2231, which was adopted in July 2015 to endorse the nuclear
agreement between Iran and the P5+1 states, the US, Russia, China, France,
Britain and Germany.
Under
the resolution, Iran is “called upon” not to undertake any activity related to
missiles “designed to be capable of” delivering nuclear weapons. Iran says it
is not involved in any such missile work and has no such warheads.
The
Iranian Foreign Ministry’s statement further underlined Tehran’s resolve to
continue its missile program, arguing that it does not run counter to the
Islamic Republic’s international commitments.
‘US blind use of
bans unhelpful’
Meanwhile,
China also lodged a complaint with the United States after it imposed penalties
on Iranian and Chinese figures.
Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing followed local rules and
regulations and closely adhered to its responsibilities to the international
community.
Beijing
“is opposed to the blind use of unilateral sanctions particularly when it
damages the interests of third parties. I think the sanctions are unhelpful in
enhancing mutual trust and unhelpful for international efforts on this
issue," she told a daily news briefing.
She
further expressed hope that “the US side can on the principle of mutual respect
resolve non-proliferation issues through dialogue and communication.”
China
has close economic and diplomatic ties with Tehran, playing
an instrumental role in pushing through the landmark 2015 deal.
Who’s funding
Britain's terrorists?
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef welcomes
British Prime Minister Theresa May, April 4, 2017. © Bandar Algaloud / Reuters
An
investigation commissioned by former Prime Minister David Cameron into the
revenue streams behind jihadist groups operating in Britain may never be
published, the Home Office has admitted.
The
inquiry is thought to focus on British ally Saudi Arabia, which has repeatedly
been highlighted by European leaders as a funding source for Islamist
extremists, and may prove politically and legally sensitive, the Guardian
reports.
The
UK has close ties with Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Theresa May visited the
country earlier this year.
In
January 2016, a specialist Home Office unit was directed by Downing Street to
investigate sources of overseas funding of extremist groups in the UK. The
findings were to be shown to Cameron’s then-Home Secretary May.
Eighteen
months later, however, the Home Office told the Guardian the report had not
been completed and would not necessarily be published, calling the contents “very sensitive.”
A
decision on the future of the investigation would be taken “after the election by the next government,” a
spokesperson said.
Cameron
was urged to launch an investigation in December 2015 as part of a deal with
the Liberal Democrats in exchange for the party supporting the extension of
British airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) from Iraq
into Syria.
According
to the Guardian, Tom Brake, the Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesperson, has
written to the prime minister asking her to confirm that the investigation will
not be shelved.
“As home secretary at the time, your department was
one of those reading the report. Eighteen months later, and following two
horrific terrorist attacks by British-born citizens, that report still remains
incomplete and unpublished,” Brake wrote.
“It is no secret that Saudi Arabia in particular
provides funding to hundreds of mosques in the UK, espousing a very hard line
Wahhabist interpretation of Islam. It is often in these institutions that
British extremism takes root.”
Lib
Dem leader Tim Farron said he felt the government had not held up its side of
the bargain.
The
report must be published when it is completed, he said, even if its contents
are sensitive.
“That short-sighted approach needs to change. It is
critical that these extreme, hardline views are confronted head on, and that
those who fund them are called out publicly.
“If the Conservatives are serious about stopping
terrorism on our shores, they must stop stalling and reopen investigation into
foreign funding of violent extremism in the UK.”
Daesh Chemical War Capabilities Well-Documented
An
Iraqi outpost with US and Australian military advisers in western
Mosul was hit with an ineffective "low grade" mustard agent
by Islamic State forces on Sunday, CBS News reported.
"There
have been many reports of Islamic State and al-Qaeda chemical
capability — either from seizure from government stores or
supplied by/through Turkey," University of Pittsburgh Professor
of International Relations Michael Brenner said on Wednesday.
"Their own capability seems limited and will not grow other than by
outside help.
Brenner
said the sarin nerve gas detonation in the Syrian village of Khan
Shaykhun on April 4 was almost certainly the work of extreme
Islamists and had not been perpetrated by the Syrian government.
"It
is almost certain that this was not an [Syrian President Bashar] Assad government
attack," he stated.
The
US government would not be able to eliminate the use of chemical
weapons by Islamist forces only by using airstrikes and Tomahawk
missiles, Brenner maintained.
"Only
answer: end the war by ceasing to back the al-Qaeda led rebels and
then mediate some kind of political settlement that excludes the
Takfiris," he explained.
International
cooperation was vital to destroying the Islamic State, especially
between the United States and Russia, Brenner insisted.
"Washington
is the key — all allies will fall into place except Saudi Arabia
and [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan. Russia especially and Iran are
ready for this," he pointed out.
Islamist
groups had previously used chemical weapons and then tried to falsely accuse
the Syrian government of doing so, University of Illinois Professor
of International Law Francis Boyle said.
"I
declared this after the chemical attack in 2013: Later [US
investigative reporter] Seymour Hersh published a report in the London
Review of Books because he could not get it published anywhere in the
United States that the attack was carried out by Islamic State
with chemical agents that it got from Turkish intelligence," he
said.
Daesh
and al-Nusra Front — recently renamed into Jabhat Fateh
al-Sham — have had chemical weapons for several years, Boyle noted.
"These
groups, especially the Nusra Front had access to chemical weapons
for quite some time including chlorine bombs," he said.
Consequently,
President Donald Trump’s decision to fire 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles
at Syria on April 4 was unjustified, Boyle pointed out.
"There
is no basis in fact or international law for Trump’s attack
on Syria. This is an outright act of aggression. It has poisoned
relations between the United States and Russia. It is a very dangerous
situation right now," he said.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin has warned he anticipates another chemical attack that
could serve as another provocation, Boyle concluded.
14,000-Year
Old Village Found© REUTERS/
A
14,000-year-old settlement has been discovered in British Columbia by Canadian
researchers working in conjunction with local First Nations. This makes it one
of the oldest known settlements in North America.
The
settlement is located on Triquet Island in British Columbia's Central
Coast Regional District, and is part of the ancestral lands of the
Heiltsuk Nation. The island-dwelling Heiltsuk have inhabited Central Coast
for at least 9,000 years, and their oral tradition holds that their settlement
is even older than that.
"Heiltsuk
oral history talks of a strip of land in that area where the
excavation took place. It was a place that never froze during the ice age
and it was a place where our ancestors flocked to for survival," said
William Housty, a member of Heiltsuk Nation, to the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
"This
find is very important because it reaffirms a lot of the history that our
people have been talking about for thousands of years."
The
discovery of the settlement on Triquet Island confirms these claims.
The researchers discovered charcoal, fish hooks, fishing spears and numerous
other tools including a hand drill that could be used to light fires.
The
researchers came from The Hakai Institute with the University
of Victoria, and they dated the charcoal to be between 13,600
and 14,100 years old. To give you an idea how old that is, civilization arose
in Egypt about 5,100 years ago. The first complex civilization that
we know of (Sumer) is about 6,500 years old. Farming is about 12,500
years old.
Significantly,
this means that Triquet Island was inhabited by humans during the
previous Ice Age which ended 11,700 years ago. If this is the case then it
means the island was not heavily affected by the rise in sea levels
when the Ice Age ended and sea levels rose.
The
Hakai researchers also believe that the discovery is a clue as to how
humans made their way to the Americas, a land mass that our species is not
native to. The leading theory is that ancient humans crossed over via the
Bering Land Bridge that once connected Russia to Alaska before sea
levels rose and covered the land bridge around 11,000 years ago.
The
settlement on Triquet Island suggests that these early Americans then
colonized the west coast of Canada by boat. Previous archaeological
findings suggested that the early humans had traveled inland by foot
instead.
"The
alternative theory, which is supported by our data as well
as evidence that has come from stone tools and other carbon dating,
is people were capable of travelling by boat. From our site, it is
apparent that they were rather adept sea mammal hunters," said Hakai
Institute archaeologist Alisha Gauvreau, who led the study.
The
Heiltsuk were overjoyed by their discovery, as it could bolster their
claims of ancestral land rights. "When we do go
into negotiations, our oral history is what we go to the table
with," said Housty.
"So
now we don't just have oral history, we have this archaeological information.
It's not just an arbitrary thing that anyone's making up… We have a history
supported from Western science and archaeology."
Ancient
as the Triquet Island settlement may be, it doesn't even come close
to being the oldest site of human activity in North America.
That honor goes to the Bluefish Caves in Yukon, Canada. Animal bones
marked by human tools found in the caves have been dated
to 28,000 years ago.
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