BUSAN: Hundreds of flights and high-speed trains were cancelled and businesses shuttered in the South Korean port town of Busan after Tropical Storm Khanun made landfall on Thursday (Aug 10), bringing heavy rain and high winds. The storm, which battered Japan before taking a circuitous route towards the Korean peninsula, madeContinue Reading
US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland came to Niger and demanded to see the former president, currently under house arrest in the Presidential Palace. She was turned down and met with a few of the coup leaders in Niamey, Niger’s capital.
She threatened that the US would stop providing aid to the country and demanded that the coup leaders restore the former president, Mohamed Bazoum, to power.
She left empty-handed but with the threat of military action looming, coming either from the ECOWAS countries (Economic Community of West African States) or from US and French troops in Niger – or even from both.
The US trained most of the leaders of the Niger coup and maintains a force of around 1,500 troops in the country. While Niger has asked France to remove its 1,100 soldiers, France has not complied. US troops have not been ordered out of the country, although that remains a possibility if the situation deteriorates further.
Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world. Its main assets are uranium mines primarily owned by French companies.
These days Niger is also producing modest amounts of oil, around 14,000 barrels of oil a day, all of which is domestically consumed. Seventy percent of Niger’s electricity is supplied by Nigeria. Nigeria has halted the supply of electricity since the coup, according to news reports.
Niger’s main uranium mine, SOMAIR (Société des Mines de l’Aïr), gets its electrical power from a local coal-burning generator facility. Niger accounts for around 5% of world uranium production (in the form of Yellowcake).
But France is much more dependent with 20% of its uranium coming from Niger, its number two supplier. France’s top supplier is Kazakhstan. Uzbekistan is its number three supplier, just below Niger.
If Niger’s production is halted for any significant period of time, pressure will grow on other suppliers and uranium prices will likely increase. At present the French company Orano, which is the majority owner of SOMAIR, says that the mine is operating. Prices have ticked up a little but not dramatically.
At present Niger’s airspace is closed. Roadways are blocked and imports of food, medicine and other supplies also are blocked. There is increasing concern that any sustained supply halt could trigger a humanitarian crisis.
ECOWAS has threatened military intervention but not all of the 15 members of ECOWAS favor military action.
The most germane threats to Niger come from the US and French contingents in the country and the potential for either or both to be reinforced. The US contingent in Niger falls under the authority of the US African Command (AFRICOM).
Officially the US military presence is based on 10 US Code 127e, which authorizes US military special operations to be used to combat terrorism. It does not authorize US forces to play any role whatsoever in the internal governance of a host country.
This poses a major problem for Washington, since it would have to declare a national security contingency. There is no conceivable national security contingency one can think of, and US troops are not threatened.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Nuland both have stated that one of their main concerns is the possibility of Russia’s Wagner forces moving into Niger.
So far as is known, there are no Wagner forces in Niger at present, but Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner’s co-founder, who was recently active at the Russian Africa conference in St Petersburg, celebrated the coup d’état in Niger and, at least indirectly, has offered Wagner services to Niger.
Wagner currently has operations in Mali, Sudan, Central African Republic and Libya. Mali is a member of ECOWAS.
Niger’s army is one of the poorest equipped in Africa. Its air force has only two jets (Russian-made Su-25s) and a handful of helicopters. The army relies heavily on Toyota trucks with guns mounted on them, although it has some armored personnel carriers.
Jihadist groups are operating in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso in a tri-border region known as Liptako Gourma, the area adjacent to the River Niger bend between the cities of Gao (Mali) and Niamey (Niger). It includes the regions of Gao in Mali, Sahel in Burkina Faso and Tillabéry in Niger.
Some jihadist groups are linked to al-Qaeda and others to ISIS while still others remain independent operators.
There are ethnic groups, also strict Islamists, that have threatened Niger in the recent past. One group is the Fulani or Fula people. They are, generally speaking, nomadic people and cattle herders, often conflicting with settled farmers fighting over grazing areas. In Niger they represent 3.6 million people.
The other ethnic group, which has staged at least two insurrections in recent years, is the Tuareg. The Tuareg are Berber people, also nomadic. Their population is about 2.6 million.
In the past few days an important Tuareg leader, who was rehabilitated by the previous two Niger governments, Rhissa Ag Boula, has come out strongly against the coup and has been demanding the restoration of the democratically elected government.
Whether Ag Boula can mobilize the Tuareg isn’t yet known but if he can it could pose significant internal problems for the military junta. He heads the Council of Resistance for the Republic and supports ECOWAS military intervention.
While the US supports democratically elected governments and their leaders, it would be difficult to justify armed intervention unless a real threat to US national security could be shown to exist.
US intervention would also seriously damage US credibility in Africa and elsewhere in the world as it would be seen as just another colonialist operation against a poor nation. If it were carried out in partnership with France, it would be even worse.
Washington will have to make a decision: to line up with Blinken and Nuland, both interventionists, or to act more sensibly and let Africans sort this out for themselves.
Stephen Bryen is a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy and the Yorktown Institute. This article was originally published on Weapons and Strategy, his Substack. Asia Times is republishing it with permission.
BEIJING: Beijing on Thursday (Aug 10) said a new US policy to restrict investment in Chinese technology “severely disrupts the security of global industrial and supply chains”. An unnamed Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said President Joe Biden’s executive order “seriously deviates from the market economy and fair competition principles theContinue Reading
The opposition in the state, however, holds a contrasting view.
They said many who have left Kelantan are losing faith in the PAS government, particularly as the state grapples with challenges such as the long-standing water and sanitation crisis, poor infrastructure, and limited employment.
Led by the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which is part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s federal unity government, the opposition said it hopes Kelantanese who are living elsewhere will travel home to vote and help make a real difference.
“We hope they will consider what we’re offering and think about how things are for them now,” said Mr Zawawi Othman, BN Kelantan’s information chief.
“They need to think if they want their younger siblings, who are still in school, to go through the same challenges, leaving behind their parents and their home state – a place that’s not really moving forward.”
Nonetheless, observers said it is an uphill battle for the opposition to wrest the state from the incumbent PAS.
On the ground, anticipation and energy has continued to build from both campaigning politicians and voters, setting the stage for a decisive showdown when Kelantan goes to the ballot boxes on August 12.
SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un replaced the military’s top general and called for more preparations for the possibility of war, a boost in weapons production, and expansion of military drills, state media KCNA reported on Thursday (Aug 10). Kim made the comments at a meeting of the CentralContinue Reading
SYDNEY: Malaysia has temporarily suspended live cattle and buffalo imports from Australia, the Australian government said, days after Indonesia paused some imports after lumpy skin disease (LSD) was detected in a small number of cattle after arrival. Australia was urgently engaging with its Malaysian counterparts to lift the curbs whileContinue Reading
Getty ImagesPakistan’s parliament has been formally dissolved, but polls meant to be held within 90 days will likely be delayed.
The electoral commission says electoral boundaries must be redrawn to reflect fresh census data, a months-long process.
Last week, former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested and jailed, and then barred from politics for five years.
He had openly challenged the powerful military establishment and claimed it was “petrified” of elections.
With President Arif Alvi’s order on Wednesday to dissolve the National Assembly, a caretaker government will take charge. Outgoing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his government have been given three days to name an interim leader.
A senior Election Commission of Pakistan official told the BBC: “The elections will be held once the census is done, which will take about four months’ time. As a result, the elections may be delayed till next year.”
Mr Sharif, who warned that the country cannot progress without “national unity”, also told reporters recently that polls may not be held this year.
Some feel the election is being delayed as the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) coalition isn’t confident about winning at the polls, due to Mr Khan’s enduring popularity, as well as the effects of runaway inflation despite a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
Despite their once close relationship, Mr Khan has rattled the military like no other politician before him. Senior analyst Rasool Bakhsh Raees even reckons that the former cricket star’s detention will increase his popularity.
In May, Mr Khan’s arrest on corruption charges sparked nationwide protests that saw at least eight deaths and some 1,400 arrests, amid unprecedented attacks on military property and buildings.
The 70-year old, who is appealing his conviction on graft charges, has claimed that the military’s goal was to “eventually put me into prison and to crush my party.”
But the rule remains the same: anyone who challenges Pakistan’s military, even someone with the charisma and international stature of Mr Khan, must go. The former cricket star is simply the latest politician since the 1970s to find this out the hard way.
As former senator Afrasiab Khattak told the BBC, there are two systems of government operating in parallel. Now, “the unsanctioned, de facto force wants to take over the parliamentary process,” said Mr Khattak. “Pakistan’s military has always been powerful, but they want more powers so that their unsanctioned rule is not challenged either by politicians, activists, or journalists.”
Perhaps this was why two draconian laws were tabled in the National Assembly last week, in a bid to further enhance the powers of the military and intelligence agencies.
Proposed amendments to the century-old Official Secrets Act will broadly empower the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) to arrest citizens over “suspected breach of official secrets”. In addition, a new bill recommends a three-year jail term for anyone who discloses the identity of an intelligence official.
The amendments provoked a ruckus in parliament, with both the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and PML-N’s coalition partners calling the government out for passing “draconian laws in haste” and without discussion.
Senator Mushtaq Ahmed of Jamaat-e-Islami also warned that the Official Secrets Act amendment will grant intelligence agencies “extraordinary powers” of arrest and search without warrant. “This will have an impact on the human rights, individual rights and press freedom across the country.”
The Pakistani intelligence services are regularly accused of illegally detaining opposition members, politicians, activists and journalists, with human rights organisations noting the increasing number of enforced disappearances every month.
In the month of July alone, 157 more cases of enforced disappearances were reported, according to the government-led Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances.
The bills have been sent to President Alvi, a co-founder of the PTI, and must be signed by him before they can be legislated into law.
Once the winner of a six-million-baht lottery prize, Uan, whose last name is not disclosed, ended up homeless on Ratchadamnoen Avenue when her money dried up.
The 53-year-old woman told the Bangkok Post she was earlier working as a taxi driver. Ms Uan was struggling with the rising cost of living including petrol prices, and her income was not enough to pay for the taxi’s daily rent and home rental.
Fortunately, Ms Uan won the lottery, and was able to buy her former house with it. She put her grandmother’s name down as the legal owner. That move was to have nasty consequences later.
Ms Uan’s situation worsened when her grandmother fell ill. She said her grandmother was suffering from many diseases, such as cancer. The money left from buying the house was used up paying medical bills.
Before her grandmother died, she transferred rights over the house to Uan’s brother. After her death, Uan’s brother decided to sell the house, resulting in Uan losing her home and ending up on the streets.
Ms Uan added that she has been living on Ratchadamnoen Avenue — an area in Phra Nakhon district of Bangkok known to be packed with homeless people — for three months.
Ms Uan’s experience is one example of the many homeless people living on Ratchadamnoen Avenue. The Bangkok Post talked to them to find out why they are homeless and hear their response to a ban on their sleeping there.
The Phra Nakhon District Office has announced that it will no longer allow the homeless to sleep on Ratchadamnoen Avenue from September onwards.
According to the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, there were 2,499 homeless people in Thailand in 2023, 1,217 in Bangkok alone. Data also shows that 500-600 of these homeless people in the capital occupy areas in Phra Nakhon district.
Fences along Ratchadamnoen Avenue are to be put up to bar homeless people from sleeping on the road and prevent hoarders from littering.
Some believe the authorities would like to improve the city’s landscape and enforce safety for pedestrians and locals.
However, it is inevitable that some people view the regulation as a type of window dressing that will only push the homeless out of one area and into another.
Tip Sakda, 52, told the Bangkok Post that he has spent six years living as a homeless man in Phra Nakhon district, in Sake Alley on Assadang Road. He said he had conflicts with his family and decided to leave for good.
Social workers informed him about the fences which will be installed soon. They told him to move to a new place, a plan Mr Tip admitted he was not yet prepared to execute.
Mr Tip said he wants public agencies to offer homeless people a proper shelter and job opportunities. Many suffer from chronic illnesses without access to healthcare.
“In the past, some homeless men fell ill but they did not receive treatment. Some were later found dead on the streets,” Mr Tip added.
Like many other people who lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic two years ago, Pai Sontiwong, 44, said he was also laid off during that time. Lacking a stable income to afford the rent, Mr Pai had no choice but to hit the streets.
He said he usually wanders around Sanam Luang or Rattanakosin Hotel. He goes to Sake Alley every day and waits for food donations, philanthropic NGOs or individuals who help the homeless.
When asked about the fence plan for Ratchadamnoen Avenue, Mr Pai said the regulation would prove difficult for him and he is not prepared to move.
Mr Pai said agencies should offer more help to the homeless. The Mirror Foundation has a programme for homeless people to sign up for job opportunities and cheap apartments; however, Mr Pai said the scope of work is still small compared to the number of homeless in Phra Nakhon district.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Admi- nistration (BMA) and its network has established two drop-in stations in Sake Alley and under Somdet Phra Pinklao Bridge (on the Phra Nakhon district side).
Officials from the BMA, National Health Security Office, Ministry Of Social Development and Human Security, Department of Social Development and Welfare and charitable foundations are based at the drop-in spots.
They offer assistance on healthcare, welfare for the elderly or people with disabilities, laundry services, bathrooms, job employment and apartments.
Reports said the BMA is also discussing bringing back emergency shelters for the homeless at a building next to Chaloem Wan Chat Bridge in Phra Nakhon district.
The project is a joint one between the BMA and Mirror Foundation to offer training and allowances to homeless people, helping them get jobs and prevent them from returning into a cycle of homelessness.
The emergency shelters would mitigate ongoing harm against homeless people where scammers trick them into opening up mule accounts, an act punishable by imprisonment.
Sittipon Chuprajong from the Mirror Foundation said some groups of men extort money from homeless people.
They also hire the homeless for 500 baht to open bank accounts or mule accounts.
Many homeless people have been arrested by police and jailed.
Mr Sittipon said these groups usually roam Ratchadamnoen Avenue and other places in Phra Nakhon district.
“The causes which force people to become homeless remain unchanged. Some lost their jobs and were unable to support their family, leading to conflicts at home making them feel like a burden to family members.
They cannot return to the workforce because of their age in many cases so have to leave the house,” he said.
The BMA, the Mirror Foundation and their network are pushing projects to offer jobs and cheap apartments for the homeless people as well as helping them gain access to state welfare.
The Move Forward Party (MFP) gave no clear answer on Wednesday as to whether it will vote for the Pheu Thai Party’s prime ministerial candidate in parliament, according to Paetongtarn Shinawatra, head of the Pheu Thai Party Family.
Pheu Thai, led by Ms Paetongtarn and other party heavyweights, including its leader Cholnan Srikaew, deputy leader Phumtham Wechayachai, and secretary-general Prasert Chantararuangthong, met the MFP for talks on Wednesday.
The Pheu Thai team walked from their office on Phetchaburi Road to the MFP’s headquarters nearby. The parties chatted for around 90 minutes.
The MFP team was led by party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, deputy leaders Sirikanya Tansakul and Pijarn Chaowapatthanawong, and secretary-general Thawatchai Tulathon.
It was the first time that Pheu Thai has reached out to the MFP for help in voting for its prime ministerial candidate, Srettha Thavisin.
Pheu Thai has two other candidates: Ms Paetongtarn and Chaikasem Nitisiri.
It has replaced the MFP as the party leading efforts to form a coalition government after Mr Pita’s bid to become prime minister failed to garner sufficient support from the Senate.
Pheu Thai has since scrapped the memorandum of understanding (MoU) it signed with the MFP and other parties regarding the formation of the next government.
That also frees it to pursue other suitors, as most parties have now vowed not to join any coalition featuring the MFP due to the latter’s stance on reforming the lese majeste law.
Parties in the previous coalition — Bhumjaithai, Palang Pracharath, United Thai and the Democrat Party — are all against amending Section 112 of the Criminal Code.
At the same time, Pheu Thai and the MFP were thought to have suffered a bitter split after Pheu Thai suggested it could no longer work with the party.
But by turning to the MFP, Pheu Thai is seen as potentially being concerned it may not be able to mobilise enough senators to vote for Mr Srettha.
Pheu Thai said if the MFP agrees to back Mr Srettha, it would not need the Senate’s vote to get its candidate through.
For a prime ministerial candidate to pull through, they must receive the support of at least 376 MPs and senators.
Emerging from yesterday’s talks, Ms Paetongtarn said the MFP gave no clear indication of whether it would support Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidate in parliament.
“I think we might have to wait a bit longer [for the answer],” she said.
Mr Pita also described Wednesday’s talks as inconclusive. He said the two parties would remain on amicable terms in parliament.
ELECTION DATE QUESTION MARK There has been speculation for months that there could be a delay to elections as the establishment grapples to stabilise the country, which is facing overlapping security, economic and political crises. Data from the latest census carried out in May was finally published at the weekendContinue Reading
