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Mail & Guardian
5 hours ago
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
US Congress should ask questions about the Ivanhoe Atlantic Deal
Iron ore mine in West Africa. The Liberty Corridor railroad provides a mechanism for Ivanhoe Atlantic to get that ore to market on favourable terms. Photo: File On the eve of the Those questions will not only force consideration of favouritism in US commercial diplomacy. They will demand evaluations of the conduct of US ambassadors, a senior adviser to the US president and a reported candidate for US assistant secretary of state for African affairs. There are concerns that the US government has endorsed a commercial project that will benefit Chinese and South African individuals and entities who undermine US national security and foreign policy interests according to the America First Foreign Policy Agenda endorsed by the Trump administration. What is the Liberty Corridor? The Liberty Corridor is a heavy duty railroad that will connect the Nimba District of Guinea with a new deepwater port in Didia, Liberia. The corridor will be developed on top of the existing Yekepa-Buchanan Railway Corridor. Its development will promote regional economic integration in West Africa and allow Ivanhoe Atlantic to export iron ore from its Kon Kweni Iron Ore Project through Liberia. The Liberty Corridor is opposed by a Luxembourg-based multinational steel and mining company ArcelorMittal (AML). Back in 2005, AML entered into a Mineral Development Agreement with the Guinea government. One of the provisions of that agreement granted AML a monopoly over the Yekepa-Buchanan Railway. Since then, AML has invested a The Liberty Corridor has been championed by The Liberty Corridor could prove to be a game-changer for Ivanhoe Atlantic and the US mining sector. There are other undeveloped mineral deposits in the Southern Guinean Highlands. One is the Simandou Iron Ore Mine. It is estimated to have The Liberty Corridor is seen as a valuable alternative to the Trans-Guinean Corridor for the Kon Kweni Iron Ore Project. Industry experts suggest that Ivanhoe Atlantic would have struggled to ever realise the full potential of the Nimba Iron Ore Mine if mining financier Robert Friedland had chosen to stand and fight with Rio Tinto, Winning Consortium Simandou and the government of Guinea for fair and open access to the Trans-Guinean Corridor. Ivanhoe Atlantic simply did not have enough leverage to achieve a desired outcome. The Liberty Corridor has been publicly endorsed by the US government. The US embassy in Monrovia publicly declared that the US government What are the Issues for the US Congress? The Liberty Corridor raises a number of issues that the US Congress may want to consider. Two of the most important involve the appearance of favouritism and insufficient due diligence in US commercial diplomacy. With respect to favouritism, private claims have been made that the letter of intent was signed between the Guma Africa Group and the Liberian government only on the eve of the White House visit through coercive actions undertaken by the US government behind the scenes. According to people with knowledge of the negotiations, that diplomatic intervention was spearheaded by the US ambassador to Liberia, Mark Toner, with the support of senior Africa bureau official Troy Fitrell and senior Africa adviser to the US president, Massad Boulos. Those unattributable remarks demand critical scrutiny from the US Congress. If true, then US commercial advocacy not only favoured one company Ivanhoe Atlantic) over at least one another (AML). It favoured a company whose With respect to insufficient due diligence, private claims have been made that the US government failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that the Liberty Corridor fully aligned with US national security and foreign policy interests prior to endorsing the deal. Those allegations revolve around the claim that the project will benefit Chinese and South African individuals and entities who apparently undermine US national security and foreign policy interests as set forth in the America First Foreign Policy Agenda embraced by the Trump administration: People's Republic of China: Through Ivanhoe Capital, there is an indirect South Africa: Through Guma Africa Group, there is a direct association between Ivanhoe Atlantic and South African Robert Gumede, who has reportedly been accused of major corruption. Among other things, the South African Special Investigating Unit recently sought to recoup more than The Liberty Corridor therefore begs important questions for the American people: With respect to favouritism, one has to wonder whether the US government actually coerced the government of Liberia into signing the letter of intent with Ivanhoe Atlantic? Did Boulos, Fitrell, and Toner have any conflicts of interest that may have improperly influenced US commercial diplomacy (for example, business connections; post-retirement employment interests)? Did ambassador Pham ever make improper use of government connections and private information that was gained during his time in office for personal gain in the private sector? With respect to insufficient due diligence, one has to wonder whether the Liberty Corridor is well aligned with the strategic goals of countering major corruption, mitigating the At present, the American people do not know the answers to any of those questions. That makes it difficult to make sense of the private claims and counter-claims about the deal that are swirling around Washington. The US Congress could put an end to all of this political theatre by simply holding a public hearing on the matter and setting the record straight once and for all. Of course, that raises a knock-on question: how should the White House respond if a congressional hearing was called on the matter? Assuming everything was above board with the negotiations, the White House might want to consider welcoming such oversight by the US Congress. A public hearing would not only provide the Trump administration with a platform to put to bed nasty insinuations about Boulos, Fitrell, Pham and Toner, such as those made in the recent Africa is Not a Country . It would provide the Trump administration with a platform to make the case to the American people that their approach to US commercial diplomacy is far superior to those of the Biden administration. That includes their approach to putting an end to the global stranglehold that companies linked to the Chinese Community Party have on access to critical minerals. Michael Walsh is a non-resident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
Rudaw Net
2 days ago
- Sport
- Rudaw Net
German-Kurdish football club rises to success
Also in Culture Kurdish language teacher uses puppet and play to motivate students US Congress hosts first Assyrian Martyrs' Day ceremony I don't want a celebration Sweden Kurdish magazine aims to promote Kurdish literature A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - SV Azadi, a Kurdish football club in Germany, has gained attention for its rapid rise in German football, evolving from a dream shared by friends into a team that now attracts Kurdish players from around the world through long-term goals to expand its activities. "There was no Kurdish community like this before, there was no place for Kurds to gather and get to know each other, so we founded the Azadi team. We wanted to create a home for Kurds, so they could get closer and build relationships, a place that would be special for Kurds," Azad Miran, founder and player of the SV Azadi, told Rudaw's Diaspora program that aired on Friday. Founded in 2016 by three friends in Germany, the Kurdish football team SV Azadi has risen through the ranks to reach the Verbandsliga, the sixth-tier league in the German football system. It has become a symbol of community, cultural identity, and sporting success in the diaspora. Miran emphasized that SV Azadi aims to become the 'biggest Kurdish sports team in Germany,' with goals of securing its own stadium and achieving full infrastructural independence. SV Azadi player Aland Khalil described the Kurdish team as a 'family,' saying, 'We are friends and brothers to each other, and if any of us has a problem, we all help together.' Born from the dream of three friends, SV Azadi brought together Kurdish players from all four parts of Kurdistan - Turkey, Iran, Syria, and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq - embarking on a remarkable journey of unity and success. With challenges they are facing such as verbal harassment and insults from other teams, the team's coach Niwar Jasim said, 'It's important to control yourself, be strong and not listen to them, just focus on the game.' "Our plan is to gradually start creating youth and children's teams. For our first team, I hope in the next five years we reach the Oberliga level, which is the fifth tier of the German league system," he noted.
Rudaw Net
3 days ago
- General
- Rudaw Net
Kurdish language teacher uses puppet and play to motivate students
Also in Culture US Congress hosts first Assyrian Martyrs' Day ceremony I don't want a celebration Sweden Kurdish magazine aims to promote Kurdish literature Young people showcase musicial skills in Shingal A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish language teacher in Canada is using creative educational methods to teach children their native tongue. Pari Chalabi uses a puppet named 'Jwana' to help keep students engaged. 'Children very quickly establish a connection with the puppet. In my opinion, a child learns better from another child, and when they hear something from a peer or a puppet, they absorb it faster,' she told Rudaw's Diaspora program. Like many children of immigrant families, young Kurds in the diaspora face significant challenges in preserving their native language. Chalabi's online classes focus on interactive, child-centered learning, allowing students to actively participate alongside the teacher. She says it is especially effective for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 'The old system treated the child like a soldier… The child was only a receiver and had no opportunity to ask questions or be creative,' she said. Chalabi authored the book Teaching English Alphabet and Writing for Kurdish Kids: Words and Phonetics in 2023, designed to help Kurdish-speaking children learn English.
Egypt Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- Egypt Independent
Israeli army destroys 1,000 truckloads of food and medicine for Gaza, report
The Israeli army has destroyed tens of thousands of relief supplies, including large quantities of food, intended for the residents of Gaza, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday citing Israeli military sources. The corporation indicated that the destroyed aid included 1,000 truckloads of food and medical supplies, stressing that the destruction of the humanitarian supplies was due to a defect in the aid distribution mechanism in Gaza. Joint statement by members of the US Congress emphasized the chaos and danger in delivering aid to Gaza Strip has led to the deaths of approximately 700 people, noting that the humanitarian conditions in Gaza are appalling and unacceptable. The statement added that more than 100 non-governmental organizations have warned of widespread famine across Gaza Strip, stressing that up to 75 percent of Gaza's population is facing catastrophic levels of famine following the blockade imposed by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu. The statement continued: 'The aid provided by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is insufficient to meet the needs of the population, and the Trump administration ignored congressional consultations in granting GHF US$30 million.' 'The expansion of the Israeli military operation in Gaza has put humanitarian operations at risk, and the continuation of this war without a clear end is not in Israel's national security interest.' The statement noted that, 'the absence of a practical plan for the post-war period in Gaza was a grave mistake. We call on the Trump administration to pressure Netanyahu to undertake radical reforms or close the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. We also call on the Trump administration to pressure Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.'
AllAfrica
4 days ago
- Politics
- AllAfrica
Sanchez's Huawei stance puts Spain in Trump's line of fire
The United States could soon impose severe consequences on Spain's Sanchez administration for advancing the claim that the use of Huawei technology in its storage system for Spanish judicial wiretaps does not pose a national security threat. The Trump administration and the US Congress have made it clear that they believe that it is in the US national interest to aggressively counter the use of Chinese hardware and software in and around the national security-sensitive infrastructure of the United States and its allies. That includes NATO and major non-NATO allies. The Trump administration, therefore, cannot give the Sanchez government a pass on its controversial decision to downplay the national security threats posed by Huawei technology in the Spanish defense, security and intelligence sector. That would not only give rise to inconsistency between policy and practice, but also lead to confusion and uncertainty. It would create the impression that the Trump administration is willing to accept strategic misalignment with US national security and foreign policy interests by US allies and partners. It is not. The Trump administration, therefore, needs to quickly decide how best to respond to the Sanchez administration. In Washington, one proposal that has been discussed is to impose targeted sanctions that restrict travel and freeze the assets of Spanish individuals and entities that are involved in corruption, organized crime, human rights violations and anticompetitive practices. They might include Spanish organizations far outside the defense industrial base. Examples include La Liga, the Galician Mafia and the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. Another option that has been discussed is to rein in bilateral defense, security and intelligence cooperation. That could include imposing restrictions on defense trade, relocating US military forces from Spanish military bases, suspending Spain from US intelligence sharing platforms, and/or ordering a full review of the bilateral relationship between Spain and the United States – similar to what is being discussed for South Africa. All of those options would impose heavy consequences for Spanish national security and foreign policy interests. Whatever policy pathway the Trump administration ultimately pursues, there is likely to be support within the US Congress for imposing harsh consequences on the Government of Spain. The Republican Party remains relatively united in demanding strong alignment on Chinese affairs from US allies and partners. That does not exist in the case of Spain right now, and many Republican elites are unwilling to continue to settle for the status quo. This is not the Biden era. To be clear, this is a predicament of Sanchez's own making. Since inauguration, Sanchez has been playing a high-stakes game of political poker with the Trump administration. Unfortunately, he has been using the bilateral strategic partnership as collateral in this game. At some point, both sides are going to have to show their hands. That could be disastrous for the future of US-Spain relations. Before that happens, the Sanchez administration would be wise to solicit non-partisan advice from the Spanish Ministry of Defense and National Intelligence Center. If domestic politics were taken off the table, one would have to imagine that those institutions would advise Sanchez against siding with the People's Republic of China over the United States on the matter. Michael Walsh is a non-resident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute
