Biden tells African leaders US is ‘all in’ on the continent

Biden, who is pitching the US as a reliable partner to promote democratic elections and push critical health and energy growth, told the crowd the $55 billion in committed investments over the next three years. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Updated 15 December 2022
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Biden tells African leaders US is ‘all in’ on the continent

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden told dozens of African leaders gathered in Washington that the United States is “all in on Africa’s future,” laying out billions in promised government funding and private investment Wednesday to help the growing continent in health, infrastructure, business and technology.
“The US is committed to supporting every aspect of Africa’s growth,” Biden told the leaders and others in a big conference hall, presenting his vision at the three-day US-Africa Leaders Summit of how the US can be a critical catalyst.
Biden, who is pitching the US as a reliable partner to promote democratic elections and push critical health and energy growth, told the crowd the $55 billion in committed investments over the next three years — announced on Monday — was “just the beginning.”
He announced more than $15 billion in private trade and investment commitments and partnerships.
“There’s so much more we can do together and that we will do together,” Biden said.
The president after his speech spent some time with leaders, including Moroccan Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch, watching Morocco’s World Cup match with France. Morocco lost but made history as the first African team to advance to the tournament’s semifinal round.
The United States has fallen well behind China in investment in sub-Saharan Africa, which has become a key battleground in an increasingly fraught competition between the major powers. The White House insists this week’s gathering is more a listening session with African leaders than an effort to counter Beijing’s influence, but the president’s central foreign policy tenet looms over all: America is in an era-defining battle to prove democracies can out-deliver autocracies.
That message was clear in Wednesday’s events. In his speech, Biden spoke of how the US would help in modernizing technology across the continent, providing clean energy, moving women’s equality forward through business opportunities, bringing clean drinking water to communities and better funding health care. First lady Jill Biden’s office also laid out $300 million for cancer prevention, screening, treatment and research in Africa.
On Wednesday Biden also held a smaller meeting at the White House with the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Liberia, Madagascar, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Thursday is to be dedicated to high-level discussions among leaders; Biden will open the day with a session on partnering with the African Union’s strategic vision for the continent.
The president and first lady were hosting a White House dinner for all the leaders and their spouses Wednesday night. Gladys Knight and the St. Augustine Gospel Choir of Washington, D.C., were to perform, and the food done by Mashama Bailey, the executive chef of The Grey, a Southern cooking spot in Savannah, Georgia.
Jill Biden hosted a program for spouses Wednesday morning at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, where she told the crowd “my hope is that the way we make each other feel will last beyond this summit.”
The summit is the largest international gathering in Washington since before the start of the pandemic. Roads all around the city center were blocked off, and motorcades zoomed by gridlocked traffic elsewhere, ferrying some of the 49 invited heads of state and other leaders.
Many leaders of the continent’s 54 nations often feel they’ve been given short shrift by leading economies. But the continent remains crucial to global powers because of its rapidly growing population, significant natural resources and sizable voting bloc in the United Nations. Africa also remains of great strategic importance as the US recalibrates its foreign policy with greater focus on China — the nation the Biden administration sees as the United States’ most significant economic and military adversary.
But Biden invited several leaders who have questionable records on human rights, and democracy loomed large.
Equatorial Guinea was invited despite the State Department stating “serious doubts” about last month’s election in the tiny Central African nation. Opposition parties “made credible allegations of significant election-related irregularities, including documented instances of fraud, intimidation, and coercion,” according to the department. Election officials reported that President Teodoro Obiang’s ruling party won nearly 95 percent of the vote.
Zimbabwe, which has faced years of US and Western sanctions, also was invited.
Tunisian President Kais Saied, who has been criticized by the United States for democratic backsliding, used an appearance before reporters with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday to offer a stout defense of actions he has taken, including suspending the parliament and firing judges.
“The country was on the brink of civil war all over the country, so I had no other alternative but to save the Tunisian nation from undertaking any nasty action,” Saied said.
Biden made no mention of China in his remarks, and White House officials rejected the notion that the summit was in part about countering China’s influence.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the administration is “refusing to put a gun” to Africa’s head and make it choose between US and China. At the same time, he said “there’s nothing inconsistent about calling a fact a fact and shedding light on what is increasingly obvious to our African partners about China’s malign influence on the continent.”
Still, the summit-related activity got a rise out of China. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the US should “respect the will of the African people and take concrete actions to help Africa’s development, instead of unremittingly smearing and attacking other countries.”
Wang said at a briefing Wednesday that it is the “common responsibility of the international community to support Africa’s development.” But he added: “Africa is not an arena for great power confrontation or a target for arbitrary pressure by certain countries or individuals.”
Biden has promised US support for a permanent Group of 20 seat for the African Union, and the appointment of a special representative to implement summit commitments.
In addition to China, talks also spotlighted what the US has sees as malevolent Russian action on the continent.
The administration argued in its sub-Saharan strategy published earlier this year that Russia, the preeminent arms dealer in Africa, views the continent as a permissive environment for Kremlin-connected oligarchs and private military companies to focus on fomenting instability for their own strategic and financial benefit.
During an appearance with Blinken on Wednesday, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo expressed alarm about the presence of mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group in Burkina Faso directly north of Ghana. This follows a similar deployment of Wagner forces in Burkina Faso’s immediate neighbor Mali.
“Today, Russian mercenaries are on our northern border,” said Akufo-Addo, adding that he believed Burkinabe authorities had given the Wagner Group control of a mine for payment and that the country’s prime minister had recently visited Moscow.


France’s most powerful nuclear reactor finally comes on stream

Updated 7 sec ago
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France’s most powerful nuclear reactor finally comes on stream

  • The Flamanville 3 European Pressurized Reactor in Normandy started providing electricity to French homes on Saturday
  • Launch is welcome news for the heavily indebted state-owned energy company EDF after multiple problems extended construction to 17 years
PARIS: France on Saturday connected its most powerful nuclear power reactor to the national electricity grid in what leaders hailed as a landmark moment despite years of delays, budget overruns and technical setbacks.
The Flamanville 3 European Pressurized Reactor in Normandy started providing electricity to French homes at 11:48 a.m. (1048 GMT) Saturday, the EDF power company’s CEO Luc Remont said in a statement.
“Great moment for the country,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on social network LinkedIn, calling it “one of the world’s most powerful nuclear reactors.”
“Re-industrializing to produce low-carbon energy is French-style ecology,” he added. “It strengthens our competitiveness and protects the climate.”
The French-developed European Pressurised Reactor project, launched in 1992, was designed to relaunch nuclear power in Europe after the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe in Soviet Ukraine, and is touted as offering more efficient power output and better safety.
The EPR, a new generation pressurized water reactor, is the fourth to be finished anywhere in the world. Similar design reactors in China and Finland came online ahead of it.
The launch is welcome news for the heavily indebted state-owned energy company EDF after multiple problems extended construction to 17 years and caused massive budget overruns.
Remont of EDF called the event “historic.”
“The last time a reactor started up in France was 25 years ago at Civaux 2,” he said, referring to the Civaux power plant in southwestern France.
The connection was initially scheduled to take place Friday.
It is the most powerful reactor in the country at 1,600 MW. Ultimately, it should supply electricity to upwards of two million homes.
The connection to the grid “will be marked by different power levels through to the summer of 2025” in a months-long testing phase, the company has said.
EDF said that starting up a reactor was “a long and complex operation.”
The plant will be shut down for a complete inspection lasting at least 250 days, probably in the spring of 2026, the company added.
Construction of the Flamanville reactor began in 2007 and was beset by numerous problems.
The start-up comes 12 years behind schedule after a plethora of technical setbacks which saw the cost of the project soar to an estimated 13.2 billion euros ($13.76 billion), four times the initial 3.3 billion euro estimate.
The start-up began on September 3, but had to be interrupted the following day due to an “automatic shutdown.” It resumed a few days later.
Generation has been gradually increased to allow the reactor to be connected to the electricity network.
Nuclear power accounts for around three-fifths of French electricity output and the country boasts one of the globe’s largest nuclear power programs.
That is in stark contrast to neighboring Germany, which exited nuclear power last year by shutting down the last three of its reactors.
“This morning marks the culmination of a titanic effort that has finally paid off,” Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the outgoing minister for ecological transition, said on X.
“We are drawing all the lessons from this to make a success of the nuclear revival that we decided on with the President of the Republic.”
Macron has decided to ramp up nuclear power to bolster French energy sustainability by ordering six new-generation reactors and laying options for eight more, that could cost tens of billions of euros.
In 2022, he called for a “renaissance” for the country’s nuclear industry to transition away from fossil fuels.
“What we have to build today is the renaissance of the French nuclear industry because it’s the right moment, because it’s the right thing for our nation, because everything is in place,” Macron said at the time.

Pickup truck driver killed by police after driving through Texas mall and injuring 5

Updated 51 min 58 sec ago
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Pickup truck driver killed by police after driving through Texas mall and injuring 5

  • The truck crashed into the department store in Killeen, 109 kilometers north of the state capital Austin
  • Emergency medical services transported four victims to area hospitals and another traveled to a hospital separately

KILLEEN, Texas: A pickup truck driver fleeing police careened through the doors of a JCPenney store in Texas and continued through a busy mall, injuring five people before he was fatally shot by officers, authorities said.
The truck crashed into the department store in Killeen, about 68 miles (109 kilometers) north of the state capital Austin, around 5:30 p.m. Saturday and continued into the building, striking people as it went, Sgt. Bryan Washko of the Texas Department of Public Safety said in an evening news briefing.
Emergency medical services transported four victims from the mall to area hospitals and another traveled to a hospital separately. They ranged in age from 6 to 75 years old and their conditions were not immediately known, he said.
The chase began around 5 p.m. on Interstate 14 in Belton, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Killeen, after authorities received calls about an erratic driver in a black pickup, Ofelia Miramontez of the Killeen Police Department said.
The driver then pulled off the road and drove into the parking lot of the mall.
“The suspect drove through the doors and continued to drive through the JCPenney store, striking multiple people,” Washko said. “The trooper and the Killeen police officer continued on foot after this vehicle, which was driving through the store, actively running people over. He traveled several hundred yards.”
Officers from the state public safety department, Killeen and three other law enforcement agencies “engaged in gunfire to eliminate this threat,” Washko said.
One of the officers who traded gunfire with the suspect was working as a security guard at the mall and others were off duty, he said.
Washko did not have information about the suspect’s identity at the time of the briefing.
Witnesses interviewed by local news outlets outside the mall said they heard multiple gunshots and saw people fleeing through the mall.


India child marriage crackdown reaches nearly 5,000 arrests

Updated 22 December 2024
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India child marriage crackdown reaches nearly 5,000 arrests

  • India is home to more than 220 million child brides, according to the United Nations
  • The legal marriage age in India is 18 but millions of children are forced to tie the knot when they are younger

GUWAHATI, India: A crackdown on illegal child marriages in India’s northeast has resulted in nearly 5,000 arrests, after 416 people were detained in the latest police sweep, a minister said Sunday.
“We will continue to take bold steps to end this social evil,” Himanta Biswa Sarma, chief minister of Assam state, said in a statement.
“Assam continues its fight against child marriage,” he added, saying raids have been carried out overnight and that those arrested would be produced in court on Sunday.
India is home to more than 220 million child brides, according to the United Nations, but the number of child weddings has fallen dramatically this century.
Assam state had already arrested thousands in earlier abolition drives that began in February 2023, including parents of married couples and registrars who signed off on underage betrothals.
It takes the total now arrested to more than 4,800 people.
Sarma has campaigned on a platform of stamping out child marriages completely in his state by 2026.
The legal marriage age in India is 18 but millions of children are forced to tie the knot when they are younger, particularly in poorer rural areas.
Many parents marry off their children in the hope of improving their financial security.
The results can be devastating, with girls dropping out of school to cook and clean for their husbands, and suffering health problems from giving birth at a young age.
In a landmark 2017 judgment, India’s top court said that sex with an underage wife constituted rape, a ruling cheered by activists.


Russian defense ministry says it downed 42 Ukrainian drones overnight

Updated 22 December 2024
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Russian defense ministry says it downed 42 Ukrainian drones overnight

  • The heads of the Rostov and Bryansk regions said there were no casualties or damage after the latest drone attacks

MOSCOW: Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday its air defense systems destroyed 42 Ukrainian drones over five Russian regions during the night.
Twenty drones were shot down over the Oryol region, eight drones each were destroyed in the Rostov and Bryansk regions, five in the Kursk region and one over Krasnodar Krai, the ministry said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
One attack triggered a fire at a fuel infrastructure facility in the village of Stalnoi Kon, said Andrei Klychkov, the governor of Oryol.
“Fortunately, thanks to the quick response, the consequences of the attack were avoided — the fire was promptly localized and is now fully extinguished. There were no casualties or significant damage,” he said.
It was the second week in a row where fuel infrastructure facilities in Oryol have been attacked.
The heads of the Rostov and Bryansk regions said there were no casualties or damage after the latest drone attacks.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield accounts.


China says US is ‘playing with fire’ after latest military aid for Taiwan

Updated 22 December 2024
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China says US is ‘playing with fire’ after latest military aid for Taiwan

  • US President Joe Biden authorized Saturday the provision of up to $571 million for Taiwan
  • Separately, the Defense Department said Friday that $295 million in military sales had been approved

BEIJING: The Chinese government protested Sunday the latest American announcements of military sales and assistance to Taiwan, warning the United States that it is “playing with fire.”
US President Joe Biden authorized Saturday the provision of up to $571 million in Defense Department material and services and in military education and training for Taiwan. Separately, the Defense Department said Friday that $295 million in military sales had been approved.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement urged the US to stop arming Taiwan and stop what it called “dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Taiwan is a democratic island of 23 million people that the Chinese government claims as its territory and says must come under its control. US military sales and assistance aim to help Taiwan defend itself and deter China from launching an attack.
The $571 million in military assistance comes on top of Biden’s authorization of $567 million for the same purposes in late September. The military sales include $265 million for about 300 tactical radio systems and $30 million for 16 gun mounts.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the approval of the two sales, saying in a social media post on X that it reaffirmed the US government’s “commitment to our defense.”