Trump's nominee to be UN envoy says UNRWA needs to be defunded and dismantled
'We can have a conversation on who and what can take up those humanitarian roles, but it certainly should not be UNRWA,' Mike Waltz said during a hearing in front of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
UN rapporteur calls for global action to stop ‘genocide' in Gaza
BOGOTA: The United Nations' special rapporteur for Gaza and the West Bank said Tuesday that it's time for nations around the world to take concrete actions to stop what she called the 'genocide' in Gaza. Francesca Albanese spoke to delegates from 30 countries meeting in Colombia's capital to discuss the Israel-Hamas war and ways that nations can try to stop Israel's military offensive in the territory. Many of the participating nations have described the violence as genocide against the Palestinians. 'Each state must immediately review and suspend all ties with the State of Israel ... and ensure its private sector does the same,' Albanese said. 'The Israeli economy is structured to sustain the occupation that has now turned genocidal.' The two-day conference organized by the governments of Colombia and South Africa is being attended mostly by developing nations, although the governments of Spain, Ireland and China have also sent delegates. Israel has adamantly rejected genocide allegations and called them 'antisemitic' and 'blood libel.' Analysts say it's not clear whether the conference's participating countries have enough leverage over Israel to force it to change its policies in Gaza, where more than 58,000 people have been killed in Israeli military operations following a deadly Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. 'The United States has so far failed to influence Israel's behavior … so it is naive to think that this group of countries can have any influence over (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's behavior or on the government of Israel,' said Sandra Borda, a professor of international relations at Bogota's Los Andes University. She said, however, that the conference will enable some nations of the Global South to clarify their position toward the conflict and have their voices heard. The conference is co-chaired by the governments of South Africa and Colombia, which last year suspended coal exports to Israeli power plants, and includes the participation of members of The Hague Group, a coalition of eight nations that earlier this year pledged to cut military ties with Israel and to comply with an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Netanyahu. For decades, South Africa's ruling African National Congress party has compared Israel's policies in Gaza and the West Bank with its own history of oppression under the harsh apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Blacks to 'homelands' before ending in 1994. South Africa's current argument is rooted in the sentiment that Palestinians have been oppressed in their homeland as Black South Africans were under apartheid. The gathering comes as the European Union weighs various measures against Israel that include a ban on imports from Israeli settlements, an arms embargo and individual sanctions against Israeli officials, who are found to be blocking a peaceful solution to the conflict. Colombia's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Mauricio Jaramillo said Monday that the nations participating in the Bogota meeting, which also include Qatar and Turkiye, will be discussing diplomatic and judicial measures that can be taken to put more pressure on Israel to cease its attacks. The Colombian official described Israel's conduct in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as an affront to the international order. 'This is not just about Palestine' Jaramillo said in a press conference. 'It is about defending international law… and the right to self determination.'
Al Arabiya
3 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
America's only rare earth producer gets a boost from Apple and Pentagon agreements
MP Materials, which runs the only American rare earths mine, announced a new $500 million agreement with tech giant Apple on Tuesday to produce more of the powerful magnets used in iPhones, as well as other high-tech products like electric vehicles. This news comes on the heels of last week's announcement that the US Defense Department agreed to invest $400 million in shares of the Las Vegas-based company. That will make the government the largest shareholder in MP Materials and help increase magnet production. Despite their name, the 17 rare earth elements aren't actually rare, but it's hard to find them in a high enough concentration to make a mine worth the investment. They are important ingredients in everything from smartphones and submarines to EVs and fighter jets, and it's those military applications that have made rare earths a key concern in ongoing US trade talks. That's because China dominates the market and imposed new limits on exports after President Donald Trump announced his widespread tariffs. When shipments dried up, the two sides sat down in London. The agreement with Apple will allow MP Materials to further expand its new factory in Texas to use recycled materials to produce the magnets that make iPhones vibrate. The company expects to start producing magnets for GM's electric vehicles later this year, and this agreement will let it start producing magnets for Apple in 2027. The Apple agreement represents a tenth of the company's pledge to invest $500 billion domestically during the Trump administration. And although the deal will provide a significant boost for MP Materials, the agreement with the Defense Department may be even more meaningful. Neha Mukherjee, a rare earths analyst with Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said in a research note that the Pentagon's 10-year promise to guarantee a minimum price for the key elements of neodymium and praseodymium will guarantee stable revenue for MP Minerals and protect it from potential price cuts by Chinese producers that are subsidized by their government. 'This is the kind of long-term commitment needed to reshape global rare earth supply chains,' Mukherjee said. Trump has made it a priority to try to reduce American reliance on China for rare earths. His administration is both helping MP Materials and trying to encourage the development of new mines that would take years to come to fruition. China has agreed to issue some permits for rare earth exports, but not for military uses, and much uncertainty remains about their supply. The fear is that the trade war between the world's two biggest economies could lead to a critical shortage of rare earth elements that could disrupt production of a variety of products. MP Materials can't satisfy all of the US demand from its Mountain Pass mine in California's Mojave Desert. The deals by MP Materials come as Beijing and Washington have agreed to walk back on their non-tariff measures: China is to grant export permits for rare earth magnets to the US, and the US is easing export controls on chip design software and jet engines. The truce is intended to ease tensions and prevent any catastrophic fall-off in bilateral relations, but is unlikely to address fundamental differences as both governments take steps to reduce dependency on each other.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Rohingya on the edge of a precipice
The international community is sleepwalking into a catastrophe. Over the past 18 months, Bangladesh has quietly absorbed more than 150,000 new Rohingya refugees fleeing escalating violence in Myanmar. This is in addition to the nearly 1 million already stranded in Cox's Bazar and other camps, making it the largest stateless refugee population in the world. Yet the response from the international community has not been one of renewed support — it has been a retreat. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, global aid for the Rohingya is drying up. Funding for food, shelter, healthcare and education has been slashed. The World Food Programme has been forced to reduce food rations to just $3 per person per month, barely enough to survive. With donors shifting priorities to domestic defense budgets and new conflicts elsewhere, the Rohingya are once again being relegated to the margins of international concern. This erosion of support comes at a time when the humanitarian burden on Bangladesh has never been greater. Dhaka, despite facing severe economic constraints of its own, continues to admit desperate Rohingya fleeing new waves of violence and persecution. The current interim government under Mohammed Yunus has rightly refused to turn away the persecuted, a morally commendable stance, but this cannot be sustained indefinitely. Without a massive injection of resources and strategic international commitment, the entire aid infrastructure in Bangladesh risks imminent collapse. If that happens, the consequences will be catastrophic — and not just for the Rohingya. The camps in Cox's Bazar and surrounding areas are at a tipping point. Remarkably, since their mass expulsion in 2017, the Rohingya have remained overwhelmingly peaceful and orderly, a testament to their patience, discipline and continued hope that the world will eventually come to their aid. But hope is now rapidly evaporating. We are likely to eventually see the first signs of systemic breakdown in the form of unrest and riots within the camps. With families unable to feed themselves, children out of school and no future on the horizon, desperation will inevitably turn into anger. There have already been whispers of growing criminal activity, informal weapons smuggling and rising tensions between different groups inside the overcrowded settlements. Once this tinderbox is lit, it will be very difficult to contain. More worrying still is the growing attraction of extremist ideologies. The Rohingya are a people who have endured ethnic cleansing, mass rape, the destruction of their villages and years of forced displacement. They have pleaded for justice, for rights and for basic human dignity. But if the world continues to ignore their plight, they may conclude that violence is the only language to which anyone listens. Global aid is drying up. Funding for food, shelter, healthcare and education has been slashed. Dr. Azeem Ibrahim It is no secret that transnational extremist groups have tried to recruit disillusioned Rohingya youths in the past. So far, the community has resisted. But when you strip away hope, abandon education and replace aid with hunger, you create the perfect breeding ground for radicalization. We are not far from the day when some Rohingya, with nothing left to lose, may choose a darker path. And the security implications for the wider region would be severe. This is precisely why the international abandonment of the Rohingya is not only immoral but also dangerously shortsighted. It is a basic principle of conflict prevention: where desperation festers unchecked, violence will follow. There is no justification for this dereliction of duty. The Rohingya situation is not a forgotten crisis. It has been at the center of international human rights conversations for nearly a decade. In 2022, the US formally recognized the genocide against the Rohingya. Numerous UN reports have documented the atrocities. Yet, in 2025, the global community appears content to let this entire people disappear into statelessness, starvation and silence. What should happen now is clear. First, the major donors must immediately reverse the funding cuts. The argument that resources are stretched due to Ukraine, Gaza or defense buildups cannot stand when the cost of feeding a Rohingya family for a month is a fraction of what is spent on a single missile system. This is not about capability; it is about political will. Second, a coordinated diplomatic strategy must be revived. The upcoming UN Rohingya Conference presents a final opportunity to galvanize action. The conference must do more than offer platitudes. It must commit to a multilateral repatriation framework with enforceable timelines and guarantees of safety and citizenship in Rakhine State. This includes directly engaging new actors in Myanmar such as the Arakan Army and the national unity government, both of which now control large areas of territory and have signaled at least a willingness to engage on Rohingya rights. Third, regional countries must step up. They have moral, religious and strategic stakes in this crisis. They should increase their contributions to humanitarian aid and push the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to take a stronger line with Myanmar's junta. Silence is no longer neutrality. It is complicity. Finally, Bangladesh must not be left to shoulder this burden alone. Its generosity should not become its punishment. International institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, must consider direct support packages for the Bangladeshi economy tied to its hosting of refugees. Humanitarian hosting is a global public good and those who deliver it should be rewarded, not bankrupted. We are standing on the edge of a precipice. A population of more than 1 million people faces total abandonment, while new refugees continue to flee persecution with nowhere safe to go. If the camps collapse into chaos or extremism, the world will have no excuse. The warning signs are clear. The UN has raised the alarm. Bangladesh has held the line. But without urgent global action, this fragile situation will shatter. • Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is the director of special initiatives at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington, DC. X: @AzeemIbrahim
