GENEVA: The United Nations on Monday condemned the “unacceptable” level of violence becoming commonplace against humanitarian workers, a record 280 of whom were killed worldwide in 2023.
And it warned that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is potentially fueling even higher numbers of such deaths this year.
“The normalization of violence against aid workers and the lack of accountability are unacceptable, unconscionable and enormously harmful for aid operations everywhere,” Joyce Msuya, acting director of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said in a statement on World Humanitarian Day.
“With 280 aid workers killed in 33 countries last year, 2023 marked the deadliest year on record for the global humanitarian community,” a 137 percent increase over 2022, when 118 aid workers died, OCHA said in the statement.
It cited the Aid Worker Security Database which has tracked such figures back to 1997.
The UN said more than half of the deaths in 2023, or 163, were aid workers killed in Gaza during the first three months of the war between Israel and Hamas, mainly in air strikes.
South Sudan, wracked by civil strife, and Sudan, where a war between two rival generals has been raging since April 2023, are the next deadliest conflicts for humanitarians, with 34 and 25 deaths respectively.
Also in the top 10 are Israel and Syria, with seven deaths each; Ethiopia and Ukraine, with six deaths each; Somalia at five fatalities; and four deaths both in Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In all the conflicts, most of the deaths are among local staff.
Despite 2023’s “outrageously high number” of aid worker fatalities, OCHA said 2024 “may be on track for an even deadlier outcome.”
As of August 9, 176 aid workers have been killed worldwide, according to the Aid Worker Security Database.
Since October, when Hamas-led militants launched a deadly raid into Israel, triggering the war, more than 280 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, the majority of them employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, according to OCHA.
Against this backdrop, the leaders of multiple humanitarian organizations were to send a letter Monday to UN member states calling for the international community “to end attacks on civilians, protect all aid workers, and hold perpetrators to account.”
Each year the United Nations marks World Humanitarian Day on August 19, the anniversary of the 2003 attack on its Baghdad headquarters.
The bombing killed 22 people including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN special representative to Iraq, and injured some 150 local and foreign aid workers.
UN warns of ‘unacceptable’ level of violence against aid workers
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UN warns of ‘unacceptable’ level of violence against aid workers
- Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is potentially fueling even higher numbers of such deaths this year: UN
- More than half of the deaths in 2023, or 163, were aid workers killed in Gaza
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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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.”
