Tag: U.S.

U.S. government announces reopening of its embassy in Kiev

The U.S. government has reopened its embassy in Kiev, Ukraine, the State Department in Washington announced on Wednesday.

The embassy had closed its doors shortly before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in late February

“As we take this momentous step, we have put forward additional measures to increase the safety of our colleagues who are returning to Kyiv and have enhanced our security measures and protocols,” a statement said, using an alternative spelling for the Ukrainian capital.

The war continued to cause death, destruction and displacement every day, the statement added, but stressed that the U.S remained “committed to confronting the challenges ahead.”

May 18, 2022
U.S. launches conflict monitor for Russian war on Ukraine

The U. S. has established a new conflict monitoring body which will be used to build legal cases against Russia for crimes committed during its war on Ukraine.

“The Conflict Observatory will ensure that crimes committed by Russia’s forces are documented and perpetrators are held accountable,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said as he announced the creation of the body.

He said the programme will capture, analyse, and make publicly available open-source information and evidence of atrocities, human rights abuses and harm to civilian infrastructure, including Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

“The reports will be posted on ConflictObservatory.org.”
The spokesperson said the observatory was a collaboration between scientists and the private sector.

He said goal is to contribute to eventual prosecutions in Ukraine’s domestic courts, courts in third-party countries, U.S. courts and other tribunals.
It will also provide information refuting Russian disinformation campaigns.

The program is a collaboration with geographic information systems company Esri, Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab, the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative and PlanetScape Ai, the State Department said, adding that future funding will come from the European Democratic Resilience Initiative.

May 18, 2022
U.S. issues strong warning ahead of Nigeria’s 2023 election

The United States of America says it will impose visa restrictions on anyone who promotes violence as Nigeria holds its general elections in 2023.

America’s Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Mr Michael Gonzales, handed out the warning at an international conference with the theme: “United States Policy and Nigeria’s National Decisions in the 2023 Elections”, held at Johns Hopkins University, United States.

The conference, which held at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington DC , virtually, brought together Nigerian and American policy communities to discuss issues around the 2023 general elections.

It was organised by policy research center – Nextier Nigeria, in partnership with SAIS at Johns Hopkins University; the School of International Service at the American University: and the Centre for Peace, Democracy and Development at the University of Massachusetts.

Gonzales said the United States government “will continue to use our messaging, as well as other diplomatic channels at our disposal, including visa restrictions, where warranted, to dissuade those who may be tempted to use violence to undermine Nigeria’s democratic process.”

According to him, the U.S. government remains committed to working with Nigeria to uphold its conventions toward ensuring a peaceful power transition in 2023.

The conference, moderated by Dr Ndubuisi Nwokolo, a Partner at Nextier and Honorary Research Fellow, School of Government and Society, University of Birmingham, U.K.), among other global scholars, therefore, stated that Nigeria should maintain existing political conventions that guaranteed peace.

Other event moderators at the conference were Dr Carl LeVan, (Professor, School of International Service, American University and Chair, Comparative and Regional Studies), and Dr. Darren Kew (Professor of Conflict Resolution, University of Massachusetts, Boston and Executive Director of Centre for Peace, Democracy and Development).

Patrick Okigbo, Nextier’s Founding Partner, clarified that the reason for hosting the conference in the United States was to elevate the election issues and conversations to the international stage.

He reiterated the need for Nigeria’s international partners to assist in upholding her democratic process, even as he pointed out that ‘’democracy is not an end state but a project that requires continuous nurturing.’’

Okigbo said: “Insecurity in Nigeria and recent occurrences in West Africa and Sahel regions should cause Nigeria’s elite to use the 2023 elections to douse the tensions and set the country on a growth path.’’

He further cautioned that the failure to address the issues raised at the conference could have devastating consequences, whilst attention to the recommendations could yield a bountiful harvest.

Other panelists highlighted the insecurity risks and the need to manage the 2023 elections properly, in addition to other points raised at the conference.

Among these points were the issue of faltering political developments as they concerned elitism and Nigeria’s progress, as it was observed that since 1999, the Nigerian elite had found a way to maintain a modicum of stability for elections and “eventually share the dividends of the election outcomes.”

In his contribution, retired Brig.-Gen. Saleh Bala, observed that “security challenges in Nigeria are true, present and tangible but what is consistent is the lurking shadow of elite interests and how they serve their interests.”

On insecurity threats to Nigeria’s democracy, the conference found that poor management of the elections, especially the rotational presidency convention, could threaten Nigeria’s democracy against the backdrop of pervasive insecurity, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, rise of self-help groups, and increased secessionist agitations in southern Nigeria.

Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development, Ms. Idayat Hassan, noted that ‘political parties during the Anambra governorship election cycle could not campaign due to insecurity’, and that worse scenarios could happen in 2023.

Hassan asserted that “the zoning of the presidency to the south, particularly the Southeast, will give the region a sense of belonging in Nigeria.”

May 17, 2022
Biden approves redeployment of U.S. troops to Somalia

U.S. President Joe Biden has approved a plan to redeploy U.S. troops to the eastern African country of Somalia to counter the extremist group al-Shabab, according to the White House.

Drawn from forces already deployed in Africa, less than 500 U.S. troops will be repositioned in Somalia to constitute “a small, persistent U.S. military presence” in the country, a senior administration official said during a briefing with reporters.

The official was speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

The administration’s move reversed former President Donald Trump’s order made in the waning days of his administration to pull out all of the approximately 750 U.S. military personnel from Somalia.

U.S. troops have been serving their duties in the war-torn country on a rotational basis since Biden took office, a dynamic the administration now considers insufficient in addressing terrorist threats posed to Americans in the region.

“Al-Shabab has taken advantage of Somali instability and fractious politics to become, as I indicated, al-Qaeda’s largest and wealthiest global affiliate.

“We have seen regrettably, clear evidence of al-Shabab’s intent and capability to target Americans in the region,” the official said on the call with reporters.

The official said Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops in Somalia had created “unnecessary and elevated risks” to U.S. troops entering or exiting the country, arguing that the redeployment is “a step that rationalises what was essentially an irrational argument.”

May 17, 2022
Africa’s key to peace and stability? A ‘mighty private sector’ – Elumelu

Tony Elumelu, one of Africa’s leading investors and philanthropists, recently brought his message to USIP: For Africa, a strong private sector, spurred by entrepreneurs, is critical to advancing peace, stability and development. While promoting business formation is no substitute for strengthening Africa’s weak infrastructure, governance and institutions, neither are challenging business conditions a reason to delay unleashing the entrepreneurial energies of African youth, Elumelu said.

In line with that vision, Elumelu, whose foundation trains, supports and provides seed capital to would-be entrepreneurs, called for a “reimagined” U.S. relationship with Africa. Washington needs to shift its focus from aid that inevitably encourages dependency to support for institutions that help empower a burgeoning population through businesses and the jobs they support, Elumelu said.

“Entrepreneurship, peace and conflict are linked one way or the other” said Elumelu, the chairman of the United Bank of Africa, one of the continent’s leading financial services groups. Young people who are engaged in bettering their own lives and their communities will reject the lures of extremism and crime, he said at an event co-hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Heritage Foundation.

“The private sector makes innumerable contributions to securing peace,” Lise Grande, USIP’s president and CEO, said in introducing Elumelu. It provides jobs and economic opportunities, promotes education, advances institutions that protect the rule of law, and helps to address the social pressures that lead to extremism and democratic backsliding, Grande said. Those pressures include a soaring population, observed the Heritage Foundation’s Joshua Meservey: 60 percent of Africans are younger than 25 and by 2035 the continent’s working class will likely be larger than China’s or India’s.

“By necessity, peace and security are in a symbiotic and simultaneous relationship with greater economic growth and investment,” Dana Banks, the U.S. National Security Council’s senior director for Africa, who appeared with Elumelu, added later.

A Rise to Power

Elumelu cites his own story as a hopeful example of what African entrepreneurs can achieve and the impact they can have. Born to a modest family in Jos Plateau, Nigeria, Elumelu began his working life as a copy machine salesman after university. He says a lucky break landed him his first job in banking, where he worked his way into the executive ranks. In 1997, he led a small group of investors to acquire a distressed bank that he turned around to profitability and in 2005 he led one of the largest bank mergers in sub-Saharan Africa, buying the United Bank of Africa, where he remains chairman. He is also chairman of Transcorp, one of Nigeria’s biggest employers and capital investors. In 2010, he formed the family investment firm Heirs Holdings, whose portfolio companies include oil, power generation and hospitality businesses.

Also in 2010, Elumelu founded the Tony Elumelu Foundation to spur entrepreneurship across the continent. Committing $100 million over 10 years to the project, the foundation has offered training to more than 15,000 entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries, drawing from hundreds of thousands of applicants to the program. Upon completion, each receives a $5,000 grant that Elumelu said is aimed to fund proof of concept for their plan. The foundation seeks to scale its dispersion of knowledge on business formation through the TEF Connect digital network, which links over a million African entrepreneurs. The foundation has partnerships with the European Commission, the United Nations, Red Cross and other development agencies.

Across Africa, governments too often see the private sector as a competitor, which abets instability, he said. Leaders must understand that only the private sector — particularly small and medium-scale enterprises — can catalyze economic growth by creating jobs. At the same time, the “enabling environment” of government-involved infrastructure demands massive investment. Investors, however, are reluctant to finance or build projects in countries plagued by theft, insecurity and corruption, he said, so a “mighty private sector” will place increased demands on political leaders to improve their countries’ governance.

A Strategy for the U.S.

Asked what the United States can do to improve Africa’s governance, Elumelu replied that “people are beginning to wonder if the U.S. is still there for Africa because of the foray into Africa by other world powers.”

Yet America remains admired and respected, he said. A critical step would be to make sure aid makes it past the “last mile” to its intended recipients and purposes; another would be supporting institutional infrastructure that helps address sustainability; and U.S. policymakers and financial institutions should impress on African leaders how their own political goals and private sector success are linked. Overall, there needs to be a “reimagining of what Africa needs” — a necessity demonstrated by a dangerous level of youth unemployment that is not improving, Elumelu said. The recent string of coups across Africa should serve as a “wake-up call” for the urgency of addressing the social and economic conditions that lead to political instability, he said.

Dana Banks, the National Security Council’s senior director for Africa, who appeared with Elumelu, said the administration is “looking at how we can partner and how we can support entrepreneurs on the continent,” for now primarily through Prosper Africa.

Begun under the Trump administration and relaunched by President Biden in July, Prosper Africa brings together services and resources from across the U.S. government to support U.S. investment in Africa, as well as bolstering trade between the United States and the continent. Added recently to the “toolkits” available through Prosper Africa, are ties with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the U.S. African Development Foundation, that are expected to provide additional credit facilities to African startups, Banks said. USIP recently noted the role of the DFC in promoting stability in coup-plagued West Africa.

Elumelu pointed to a partnership with Google as a good example of the relationships that can promote entrepreneurship among young Africans. The tech giant has committed a team to expand the training capacity of the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s digital network, which already includes about a million active and aspiring entrepreneurs. As the foundation’s program can only accept up to 2,000 students from 350,000 applicants, Google is helping develop a training platform with unlimited reach keyed to African conditions.

“That digital partnership is such critical support for Africa,” Elumelu said. “Our internet connectivity? Not so great. Available bandwidth? Not so great. Yet this young African is connected to the rest of the world. And that is an area we know we need to focus on.”

USIP

May 7, 2022
U.S. surpasses 1m COVID-19 deaths

The U.S. on Wednesday surpassed one million COVID-19 deaths, according to data compiled by American broadcast television network, NBC News.

The number – equivalent to the population of San Jose, California, the 10th largest city in the U.S. – was reached at stunning speed, 27 months after the country confirmed its first case of the virus.

“Each of those people touched hundreds of other people.

“It’s an exponential number of other people that are walking around with a small hole in their heart,” said Diana Ordonez, whose husband, Juan Ordonez, died in April 2020 at age 40.

While deaths from COVID-19 have slowed in recent weeks, about 360 people have still been dying every day.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to decline but omicron sub-variants are driving an increase in the Americas and Africa.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday recommended travellers continue to wear masks in airplanes, trains and airports despite a judge’s April 18 order declaring the 14-month-old transportation mask mandate unlawful.

The CDC said it based its recommendation on current COVID-19 conditions and spread as well as the protective value of masks.

The Justice Department in April filed a notice it would appeal the ruling and it had until May 31 to do so.

But the government has made no effort to seek immediate court action to reinstate the mandate.

The mask mandate had been due to expire on Tuesday just before midnight unless the CDC sought an extension of a Transportation Security Administration directive.

A CDC spokeswoman said, “As a result of a court order, the mask order is no longer in effect and is not being enforced.”

At a Senate hearing Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, cast doubt on the idea that the administration wanted to reimpose the mask mandate.

“The appeal concerns whether the CDC has the authority to (require masks) in this pandemic or in any pandemic, which is completely distinct from whether a mask mandate ought to be applied any given day,” Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg said he agreed that based on conditions on April 13, when the mandate was extended for 15 days, that it should have been allowed to expire but said it was a CDC decision.

Hours after the April 18 ruling, the Biden administration said it would no longer enforce the mask mandate, which prompted airlines to let passengers end wearing masks mid-flight.

May 5, 2022
U.S. Supreme Court moves to overturn landmark abortion ruling as protesters storm streets

Anti-abortion activists and pro-abortion rights supporters took to the streets of Washington on Tuesday after news that the U.S. Supreme Court may overturn the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling which legalized abortion nationwide.

A leaked initial draft majority opinion suggests the court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, Politico reported on Monday.

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the authenticity of the draft opinion.

The Supreme Court and the White House declined to comment.

Within hours of the news, anti-abortion activists chanting “hey, hey, ho, ho, Roe v. Wade has got to go” and abortion rights supporters shouting “abortion is healthcare” were facing off outside the court.

Abortion is one of the most divisive issues in U.S. politics and has been for nearly a half century.

A 2021 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 59 per cent of U.S. adults believed it should be legal in all or most cases, while 39 per cent thought it should be illegal in most or all cases.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the draft opinion which is dated Feb. 10, according to Politico, which posted a copy online.

Based on Alito’s opinion, the court would find that the Roe v. Wade decision that allowed abortions performed before a fetus would be viable outside the womb – between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy – was wrongly decided because the U.S. Constitution makes no specific mention of abortion rights.

“Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each state from regulating or prohibiting abortion,” Alito said, according to the leaked document.

The unprecedented leak sent shock waves through the U.S., not least because the court prides itself on keeping its internal deliberations secret and leaks are extremely uncommon.

The news stunned abortion providers.

On Monday night, Andrea Gallegos, executive administrator at Tulsa Women’s Clinic in Oklahoma, had just finished calling some 25 patients scheduled for abortions on Tuesday to tell them that their appointments would need to be canceled because of a soon to be enacted Oklahoma law modeled on a highly restrictive Texas abortion ban.

“I can’t say that I’m surprised.

“Now all these other conservative states like Oklahoma are passing the exact same legislation that Texas did.

“I have to say I became less optimistic and way more scared for what the future of Roe looks like,” she said.

The ruling would be the court’s most sweeping since former President Donald Trump succeeded in naming three justices to the court, cementing a 6-3 conservative majority.

“The Republican-appointed Justices’ reported votes to overturn Roe v. Wade would go down as an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history,” said U.S. House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer – both Democrats.

The news broke a little more than six months before the midterm elections that will determine if Democrats hold their razor-thin majorities in the U.S. Congress for the next two years of President Joe Biden’s term in office.

The decision appeared based on an oral argument in December on Mississippi’s bid to revive its ban on abortion starting at 15 weeks of pregnancy, a law blocked by lower courts.

The report said a court majority was inclined to uphold Mississippi’s abortion ban and that there could be five votes to overturn Roe.

An official ruling is expected sometime before the end of June.

Four of the other Republican-appointed justices – Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett – voted with Alito in the conference held among the justices, the report added.

After an initial vote among the justices following an oral argument, one is assigned the majority opinion and writes a draft. It is then circulated among the justices.

At times, in between the initial vote and the ruling being released, the vote alignment can change.

A ruling is only final when it is published by the court.

The Roe v. Wade decision recognised that the right to personal privacy under the U.S. Constitution protects a woman’s ability to terminate her pregnancy.

Christian conservatives and many Republican officeholders have long sought to overturn it.

If Roe is overturned, abortion is likely to remain legal in liberal states.

More than a dozen states currently have laws protecting abortion rights.

Numerous Republican-led states have passed various abortion restrictions in defiance of the Roe precedent in recent years.

Republicans could try to enact a nationwide abortion ban, while Democrats could also seek to protect abortion rights at the national level.

Democrats said the draft opinion underscores the importance of this year’s elections, in which they are seeking to maintain control of the House and Senate.

Republican lawmakers criticised the leak, suggesting it was an attempt to inappropriately pressure the court into changing course.

The anti-abortion group the Susan B. Anthony List welcomed the news.

“If Roe is indeed overturned, our job will be to build consensus for the strongest protections possible for unborn children and women in every legislature,” said its president, Marjorie Dannenfelser, in a statement.

May 3, 2022
U.S. confirms 1st human case of H5 bird flu

The United States has confirmed the first known human case of H5 bird flu in a person in the western state of Colorado.

The U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement that the person who tested positive for avian influenza A (H5) virus was involved in the culling of poultry presumed to have had H5N1 bird flu.

The patient reported fatigue for a few days as the only symptom and had since recovered.

According to the CDC, the patient is being isolated and treated with the influenza antiviral drug oseltamivir.

“This case does not change the human risk assessment for the general public, which CDC considers to be low,’’ the agency said.

CDC had been monitoring for illness among people exposed to H5N1 virus-infected birds since these outbreaks were detected in U.S. wild birds and poultry in late 2021.

To date, H5N1 viruses have been found in U.S. commercial and backyard birds in 29 states and in wild birds in 34 states, according to the CDC.

The agency has tracked the health of more than 2,500 people with exposure to H5N1 virus-infected birds and this is the only human case that has been found to date.

It is the second human case worldwide associated with this specific group of H5 viruses that are currently predominant.

The first case was reported in Britain in December 2021.

April 29, 2022
War: Russia warns U.S. against sending more arms to Ukraine

Russia on Monday warned U.S. against sending more arms to Ukraine.

The country’s ambassador to Washington warned that large Western deliveries of weapons were inflaming the conflict and would lead to more losses.

Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine has killed thousands of people, displaced millions more and raised fears of a wider confrontation between Russia and the U.S., by far the world’s two biggest nuclear powers.

The U.S. has ruled out sending its own or NATO forces to Ukraine but Washington and its European allies have supplied weapons to Kyiv such as drones, Howitzer heavy artillery, anti-aircraft Stinger and anti-tank Javelin missiles.

Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., said such arms deliveries were aimed at weakening Russia but that they were escalating the conflict in Ukraine, while undermining efforts to reach some sort of peace agreement.

“What the Americans are doing is pouring oil on the flames.”

“I see only an attempt to raise the stakes, to aggravate the situation, to see more losses,” Antonov told the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Antonov, who has served as ambassador to Washington since 2017, said an official diplomatic note had been sent to Washington expressing Russia’s concerns, and that no reply had been given.

“We stressed the unacceptability of this situation when the United States of America poured weapons into Ukraine, and we demanded an end to this practice,” Antonov said.

The interview was replayed on Russian state television throughout Monday.

U.S. President, Joe Biden, pledged 800 million dollars in more weaponry for Ukraine on Thursday and said he would ask Congress for more money to help bolster support for the Ukrainian military.

President Vladimir Putin says the “special military operation” in Ukraine was necessary because the U.S. was using Ukraine to threaten Russia and Moscow, who had to defend the persecution of Russian-speaking people.

Putin said Ukraine and Russia were essentially one people, describing the war as an inevitable confrontation with the U.S., which he accused of threatening Russia by meddling in its backyard and enlarging the NATO military alliance.

Ukraine added that it was fighting an imperial-style land grab and that Putin’s claims of genocide were nonsense.

Zelenskiy has been pleading with U.S. and European leaders to supply Kyiv with heavier arms and equipment.

Putin warned in February that there would be no winners in a conflict between NATO and Russia, which had the world’s biggest arsenal of nuclear warheads.

April 25, 2022
World Bee Conference: Amb. Egopija urge investors to utilize opportunities in Nigeria

The Consul General of Nigeria in New York, Amb. Lot Egopija, has urged foreign investors to utilise the investment opportunities in Nigeria by investing in bee farming.

Egopija made the call at the closing of 2022 World Bee Conference, organised by the Nigeria-USA Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Collaborative Chambers Alliance in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.

The envoy said the country’s potential in bee farming had been estimated at over 10 billion dollars annually as against the current inflow of 4.5 million dollars.

“Nigeria has the potential of becoming the largest producer of honey and manufacturer of honey products in Africa given it huge land size and lush vegetation,’’ he told the conference in a video message.

According to him, the Government of Nigeria is currently working on a medium to long-term development agenda to transit from oil-based economy to a green economy.

He said the Government was working to transit to a green economy which food security and environmental conservation, especially through agriculture, as areas of focus.

“It is estimated that about 10 million Nigerian households consume an average of one litre of honey annually at the cost of 30 million dollars, half of which is imported.

“With the appropriate facilities and funds, large quantities of different grades of honey can be sourced locally and packaged for exports to reduce pressure on our foreign exchange for honey importation.

“As the largest economy in Africa and one of the most profitable investment destinations in the world for potential investors, business opportunities are abundant and are on the increase in Nigeria,’’ the envoy said.

According to him, Nigeria enjoys duty-free trade with ECOWAS Member countries and as the largest consumer market in West Africa.

He said the Trade and Investment Desk of the Consulate-General was readily available to guide potential investors to fully maximise the benefits of the Federal Government’s visa on arrival policy, the pioneer status incentive, and the expanded tax holiday incentives, among others.

Egopija, therefore, pledged support for foreign investors willing to utilise the investment opportunities in Nigeria by investing in bee farming.

He said the Consulate-General was committed and determined to build lasting partnerships that would stimulate, sustain and deepen USA-Nigerian economic relations.

The theme of the conference is “The Economic Impacts of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators.’’

Newsmen reports that the conference was held in preparation for the World Bee Day Celebration coming up in Spencer Ohio on Saturday May 21.

The World Bee Day is celebrated on May 20 to draw the attention of the world’s public and political decision-makers to the importance of protecting bees and other pollinators.

The goal is to strengthen measures aimed at protecting bees and other pollinators which are expected to contribute significantly to solving problems related to the global food supply and eliminate hunger in developing countries.

According to the United Nations (UN), bees and other pollinators, such as butterflies, bats, and hummingbirds are increasingly under threat from human activities.

Pollination is, however, a fundamental process for the survival of the world’s ecosystems.

Nearly 90 per cent of the world’s wild flowering plant species depend, entirely, or at least in part, on animal pollination, along with more than 75 per cent of the world’s food crops and 35 per cent of global agricultural land.

April 21, 2022