Latest news with #US-led
New Straits Times
38 minutes ago
- Health
- New Straits Times
Global health aid sinks to 15-year low in 'era of austerity'
PARIS: Sweeping foreign aid cuts led by the United States will cause international health funding to plummet to the lowest level in 15 years, a study said Wednesday, warning the world has entered a new "era of global health austerity." Money that provides healthcare to some of the poorest and most in-need people across the world has been dramatically slashed this year, led by the administration of US President Donald Trump. The new study published in the prestigious Lancet journal also pointed to recent steep aid cuts announced by the UK, France and Germany. After reaching an all-time high of $80 billion in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, the total amount of global health aid will sink to $39 billion this year, the US-led team of researchers estimated. That would be the lowest level since 2009. Such a dramatic change will result in the world entering a new "era of global health austerity", the authors of the study warned. Sub-Saharan African countries such as Somalia, the war-torn Democratic of Congo and Malawi will be hit worst because most of their health funding currently comes from international aid, according to the study. The funding cuts will have a major impact on the treatment and prevention of a range of diseases, including HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, it added. The US slashed its global health funding by at least 67 percent in 2025 compared to last year, according to the research. The UK cut its funding by nearly 40 percent, following by France with 33 percent and Germany with 12 percent. The researchers at the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation called for the world to urgently ramp up health aid. They also warned that nations would likely need find other sources of funding. The study was released as AIDS experts meet in Rwanda's capital Kigali for an international conference on HIV science. The US foreign aid cuts alone are estimated to result in the preventable deaths of more than 14 million people by 2030, according to a different Lancet study published earlier this month. For comparison, around 10 million soldiers were killed during World War I - AFP
Rudaw Net
5 hours ago
- Business
- Rudaw Net
Cardinal Sako urges Iraqi PM to halt ‘violations' against Christian sites in Najaf
Also in Iraq Senior KDP, PUK figures to meet Iraqi PM amid financial crisis Iraq's three presidencies condemn 'drone attacks' on Kurdistan oil fields Kurdistan Region presidency condemns drone strikes on oil fields, urges Baghdad to act Iraq signs oil deal with US firm A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, on Tuesday called on Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani to intervene and halt what he described as violations against sacred Christian sites in the southern province of Najaf. This follows reports that land belonging to historic Christian cemeteries is being considered for investment projects. In a statement, Sako Cardinal Sako cited a 'reliable source' in Najaf indicating that 'ongoing attempts are underway to convert historic Christian cemeteries into investment sites.' He highlighted two specific cemeteries under threat: the al-Manathira Cemetery, which houses 'prominent patriarchal tombs,' and the "Umm Khashm Cemetery for Christian Manathira,' both located in Najaf. Sako urgently appealed to Sudani to ensure that 'these archaeological sites are protected and fenced,' and that 'no approval is granted for private investment projects that would erase their historical and religious features.' He proposed instead that these Christian heritage sites be preserved and developed into religious and cultural tourism destinations, generating long-term economic benefits for the country. Beyond threats to their heritage, Iraq's Christian community has suffered significant decline over the past two decades. Their population has dwindled from an estimated 1.5 million before the 2003 US-led invasion to roughly 250,000 today. The mass migration of Christians was further accelerated by the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2014, when the extremist group captured large swathes of northern and central Iraq.
New York Post
6 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation victim of Hamas disinfo: report
Hamas and international aid groups, including the United Nations, have ganged up against a US-backed nonprofit, reframing its record-breaking delivery of aid to civilians in Gaza as providing 'nothing but starvation and gunfire,' according to a bombshell new report. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) — a US State Department-backed initiative conceived under the Biden administration but only implemented in the last few months — has handed out more than 75 million meals in the Gaza Strip, where a little over two million people live, since late May, according to its organizers. But its work was 'rapidly reframed in public discourse as a source of chaos, deception and complicity in violence,' says a report from the Network Contagion Research Institute, a non-partisan think tank that analyzes extremism online. 8 AP Advertisement 8 Johnnie Moore, the chair of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, said the United Nations in Gaza is acting like a 'mafia' in terms of food distribution. REUTERS The report found that within days of the first meal deliveries, GHF became the target of 'a deliberate narrative assault, driven less by verifiable facts than the demands of a competing narrative,' that relied on terror group Hamas for information and was uncritically printed by US and European media outlets. When reports of violence at and around aid sites began to surface, US media outlets, social media influencers and nonprofits published articles blaming the Israel Defense Forces and, by extention, the GHF for violence against were then amplified by masses of bots, according to the report. Advertisement The claims were often attributed to Hamas' Health Ministry, which has 'a proven and systematic history of lies, deceptions, duplicated data and exaggerations which strain credulity of any nonpartisan observer,' according to the report. NCRI's analysis found that GHF-related media coverage undermined trust in the US and shielded Hamas from any criticism of attacks, with the terrorist group experiencing a 70 percent drop in how much they were blamed for violence near aid sites. The group also found a 38 percent drop in support for US-led aid efforts in Gaza. 8 Palestinians carrying bags containing food and humanitarian aid packages from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah on June 16. AP 8 Media outlets, included Reuters and CNN, posted retractions and corrections after running stories about deaths at GHF food distribution points in the Gaza Strip. NCRI/Rutgers University Advertisement 'Instead of working together to deliver aid, the UN is acting like a mafia, all because Donald Trump put uncomfortable scrutiny on where international aid to Gaza goes,' said Johnnie Moore, Jr., an author, evangelical leader and businessman who was appointed executive chairman of GHF in June. 'The inexcusable and irresponsible behavior of the press makes this an unbelievable scandal,' he said, adding: 'The misinformation has only increased suffering in Gaza. It's not journalism; it's activism.' NCRI analysis of X posts made between May 25 and June 11, the report found negative narratives about GHF were nearly twice as prevalent as positive ones, and posts containing the negative narratives received 116 percent more in total engagements. Viral posts topping more than 27 million views accused GHF of being a willing participant in a drug-trafficking operation, the report said. Advertisement 8 Social media posts accusing the GHF of lacing sacks of flour with Oxycodone went viral, amassing more than 27 million views. NCRI/Rutgers University The NCRI report also cited retractions made by news outlets over violence at the GHF aid sites in Gaza. The Washington Post issued a correction in June for a story featuring the headline, 'More than 30 killed by gunfire near US aide site in Gaza' in a story published on June 3. Two days later, the newspaper issued a lengthy correction on its social media sites. Earlier this month, Reuters retracted a claim that a proposal detailing plans to construct camps in Gaza came from a US-backed aid agency. The NCRI says Reuters had mixed GHF up with the similarly named Global Humanitarian Foundation. In June CNN corrected its report of a shooting near a Gaza aid site which initially claimed at least 31 Palestinians had allegedly been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, who blamed the IDF. 8 The US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was set up to prevent food aid for Gazans from being diverted by Hamas, which has made hundreds of millions selling humanitarian aid to build their military arsenal, according to reports. AP 'The report was published without obtaining a statement from the Israeli military, showing bias in the initial reporting,' the NCRI report said. The original CNN report received more than 2.4 million views on X before it was corrected, while the new version garnered 448,000 views and includes the phrase at the end, 'This story has been updated with additional developments.' MSNBC also issued a correction after it reported 60 Palestinians were killed after waiting for humanitarian aid at a GHF site and then segueing into a video about 'controversies' surrounding GHF. While the report was corrected, the video remained on the MSNBC site, according to NCRI. Advertisement NCRI also cited false reports of a Gazan pharmacist who claimed that GHF intentionally laced bags of flour with Oxycodone. 'This claim went viral on X, racking up over 25.7 million views across just 21 posts,' the NCRI report says. In May, Craig Mokhiber, a human rights lawyer and former UN official, condemned the GHF in an X post that received nearly 200,000 views. Mokhiber called GHF 'a fake humanitarian organization ' and part of Israel's propaganda efforts 'to distract attention from its genocide in Palestine and as a vehicle for blocking actual aid organizations.' Earlier this month more than 170 nonprofits, including Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders, called for the food aid distribution organization to be dismantled because they said it was putting civilians at risk. 8 The UN said that nearly 800 people were killed when they tried to access food from GHF sites in the Gaza Strip — a number that the GHF categorically denied. AP Advertisement The UN claimed earlier this week that 798 people had been killed in the vicinity of GHF distribution sites — a number the charity has categorically denied, calling it 'false and misleading' because the figures come 'directly' from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which notably does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its numbers. 'The UN's reliance and coordination with a terrorist organization to falsely smear our effort is not only disturbing but should be investigated by the international community,' Moore told The Post Tuesday. 'We stepped into a buzz saw,' Moore also claimed, adding that there has been little outrage in the international aid community over the 12 of GHF's local workers killed in Gaza since the group set up in May. 'If the UN and other humanitarian groups would collaborate with us, we could end or significantly reduce these violent incidents.' Advertisement The IDF have admitted to firing on Palestinians around the GHF aid areas if they approach their military positions. The army has also launched air attacks against Hamas targets since the end of a ceasefire on March 18. Mainstream news services have been banned from entering Gaza to report unless they are embedded with the IDF and agree to certain conditions. 8 Palestinians going through the remains of boxes to gather anything left over following the delivery of supplies by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah. REUTERS Hamas has this week killed three IDF soldiers, and claimed it 'surprises the enemy daily with innovative field tactics,' according to Al Jazeera, as the war continues. Advertisement GHF, which is also backed by Israel, was set up to deliver aid to the people of Gaza without it getting diverted to Hamas, according to their website. In May, Israel lifted a nearly three month ban on aid to the Gaza Strip, and replaced hundreds of food distribution points run by non-governmental organizations with four GHF sites. The group says it works directly with local Palestinian charities to deliver emergency aid to ensure that it reaches those who need it most and does not end up in the hands of Hamas, according to GHF's website. Hamas diverted more than $1 billion in aid from a UN agency into military spending for its war against Israel — cash that was used to finance the October 7, 2023 attack against the country, according to a federal lawsuit against past and present officials of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency. Israel has also accused the UN agency of having links to Hamas.
Rudaw Net
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
Iraq's three presidencies condemn ‘drone attacks' on Kurdistan oil fields
A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi presidency, premiership and parliament on Tuesday strongly condemned the recent 'drone attacks' on oil fields in the Kurdistan Region, calling them a flagrant assault on national security and stability. In a statement, the Iraqi Presidency vehemently denounced the 'terrorist attacks' on the Sarsang oil field in northern Duhok early Tuesday and the Khurmala oil field southwest of Erbil late Monday. It warned that such attacks threaten the country's 'economy and the security and safety of its citizens,' describing them as 'equivalent to targeting the state's public interests.' The presidency urged "the relevant security authorities' in Baghdad and Erbil 'to take appropriate and urgent measures to identify the perpetrators and prevent the recurrence of such terrorist attacks." Echoing the presidency's stance, Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, said on Tuesday that the assaults were carried out using drones, branding them 'criminal acts' and a 'direct threat to national interests.' He added that the Iraqi premier had 'ordered an immediate and comprehensive investigation' into the incidents, which reflect a "malicious intent aimed at creating confusion." Baghdad pledged decisive action against the perpetrators and stressed the need to protect vital infrastructure. Meanwhile, Iraqi Parliament's Second Deputy Speaker Shakhawan Abdullah condemned the 'deliberate operations' targeting oil and critical infrastructure in the Kurdistan Region. He confirmed that 'these attacks caused material and economic damages' and called on the federal government to "maintain security and identify the parties responsible." He further tasked the parliament's Security and Defense Committee with investigating the "repeated targeting incidents and breaches that are threatening the security of the [Kurdistan] Region.' Earlier on Tuesday, an explosion hit the Sarsang oil field in the Kurdistan Region's northern Duhok province, operated by the US-based HKN Energy, which holds a 62 percent stake in the field. In a statement posted to its official Facebook page, HKN Energy confirmed that 'an explosion occurred' around 7:00 am local time. 'All personnel have been safely accounted for, and no injuries have been reported,' the company said, adding that 'operations at the affected facility have been suspended until the site is secured and a full evaluation is completed.' Just a day earlier, two explosive-laden drones targeted the Khurmala oil field, southwest of Erbil, late Monday night. According to a security source speaking to Rudaw, the drones were intercepted by US-led coalition forces. No casualties were reported in that incident either. The Kurdistan Region Presidency on Tuesday strongly condemned 'the drone strikes on infrastructure and various locations within the Kurdistan Region,' urging the federal government in Baghdad to take urgent measures to prevent further attacks and bring those responsible to justice. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) natural resources ministry also denounced the incidents as 'terrorist attacks' against the Region's economic infrastructure. Drone strikes in the Kurdistan Region have increased since the outbreak of a 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran that began on June 13 and ended with a US-brokered ceasefire. While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, the Kurdistan Region's interior ministry has accused the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) of involvement - a charge dismissed by Baghdad as 'unacceptable.'
Korea Herald
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Korea Herald
Presidential office plays down defense nominee's remarks on OPCON transfer
President Lee Jae Myung's office moved to clarify the administration's position on wartime control of the country's military Tuesday, after the nominee for defense chief, Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Ahn Gyu-back, painted taking full charge of operational control as a key goal. Speaking at a National Assembly hearing on his nomination as defense minister, Ahn said retrieving wartime operational control of the South Korean military from the US-led combined forces was a goal of the Lee administration. "We are aiming to complete the transition (of wartime OPCON) within the Lee administration's term of office," Ahn said in response to a question by People Power Party Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun. The presidential office said however the idea of wartime OPCON transfer within Lee's term office of five years was Ahn's "personal view," and that no deadline has been set. Asked about the projected increase in defense spending once South Korea took full charge of wartime OPCON, Ahn replied, "It depends on the study, but I think it's around 21 trillion won." Reclaiming wartime control of the Korean military, a longtime Democratic Party agenda, was one of Lee's policy pledges as a presidential candidate, although he did not provide a specific timeline on when that might be achieved. Former President Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party had also sought to retake wartime control authority under the pretext of reducing Korea's reliance on the US for self-defense. At the hearing, Ahn drew the line on South Korea possibly developing nuclear latent capabilities. Nuclear latency is a state of having the technology and infrastructure necessary to build a nuclear weapon without necessarily owning one. Ahn also said that Seoul should always keep a wary eye on Pyongyang. "North Korea hasn't changed since the Korean War. We must always view the North with a question mark in mind, regardless of which administration is in power, but also remember that they are our fellow countrymen," he said. Ahn's remarks on Tuesday build on his interview with The Korea Herald on April 24, when he was chief special adviser to then-presidential runner Lee and already widely speculated to be his top choice for defense chief. In the interview, Ahn said that he believes South Korea should have full control of its military in peacetime and during war. Depending on the US for the country's own defense was turning South Korea's armed forces into a "mommy's boy," he said. Ahn also said in the interview that South Korea's falling out of the Non-Proliferation Treaty to cultivate nuclear capabilities was "not an option."
