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During the three-day meeting, the U.S. will announce diplomatic recognition for two Pacific islands, promise new money for infrastructure, including to improve Internet connectivity via undersea cables, and honor regional leaders at an NFL game. SOME SKIP SUMMITSolomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, who has deepened his country's ties with China, will skip the summit. The White House in 2022 said the U.S. would invest more than $810 million in expanded programs to aid the Pacific islands. She added that Pacific island countries "welcome the U.S. re-engagement with the region, but don't want geopolitical tussles to result in an escalation of militarization. "Vanuatu Prime Minister Sato Kilman will also not attend the summit, his office told Reuters.

Persons: Manasseh Sogavare, James Marape, David Kabua, Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, Joe Biden, Biden, Washington, Sogavare, Meg Keen, Sato Kilman, Kilman, Ishmael Kalsakau, David Brunnstrom, Trevor Hunnicutt, Kirsty Needham, Don Durfee, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Solomon Islands, Guinea's, Samoa's, U.S ., NFL, White, Coast Guard, Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts, Solomon, Biden, Pacific, Australia's Lowy Institute, USAID, Vanuatu, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Solomon, Papua, Marshall, U.S, WASHINGTON, Washington, Papua New Guinea, Asia, United States, Cook, Niue, Baltimore, Pacific, China, Beijing, Congress, Australia, The U.S, Vanuatu, Fiji, Kiribati, Hawaii, Palau, Micronesia, Sydney

☆ EU executive says aid payments for Somalia 'temporarily suspended'
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Ayenat Mersie//File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsUNITED NATIONS, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The European Union's executive said on Tuesday that disbursements of humanitarian aid in Somalia were "temporarily suspended" after a U.N. probe found widespread theft and misuse of support meant to avert famine. Quoting senior EU officials, Reuters reported exclusively on Monday that the European Commission had temporarily suspended funding for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Somalia because of the U.N. findings. Donors boosted funding to Somalia last year as humanitarian officials warned of a looming famine due to the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades. The U.N. humanitarian aid budget for Somalia is envisaged at 72 million euros ($77 million), of which 10 million euros ($10.68 million) are earmarked for the WFP. Three months ago the WFP and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) suspended food aid to neighboring Ethiopia in response to a widespread diversion of donations.

Persons: Ayenat, Balazs Ujvari, Gabriela Baczynska, Howard Goller Organizations: REUTERS, UNITED NATIONS, European, Reuters, European Commission, Food Programme, WFP, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, Thomson Locations: Dollow, Somalia, Muri, Mogadishu, United States, Ethiopia

☆ US, Norway to launch Africa agriculture fund, commit $70 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The United States and Norway will pledge a total of $70 million on Monday to launch a fund, reported here for the first time, to help farmers and agricultural businesses in Africa, a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spokesperson said. BY THE NUMBERSThe fund aims to reach a total of $200 million through additional contributions from donors and has the potential to benefit nearly 7.5 million people, the spokesperson said. USAID and Norway will each commit an initial $35 million. The fund has the potential to support 500 small- and medium-sized agricultural businesses, 1.5 million smallholder farmers and nearly 60,000 private sector jobs. The fund aims to spur hundreds of millions more dollars in commercial financing by reducing the risk of investing.

Persons: Mor Kabe, Zohra, Samantha Power, Power, Daphne Psaledakis, Howard Goller Organizations: REUTERS, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, of International, General Assembly, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Notto, Diama, Thies, Senegal, United States, Norway, Africa, Norwegian, Russia, China, Europe, West Africa

The second senior EU official confirmed that. A third source, also an EU official, said the Commission was "cooperating actively with WFP to resolve systemic defects" but said no aid was suspended at this stage. Last year, it contributed more than half of the $2.2 billion of funding that went to the humanitarian response there. The U.N. report did not attempt to quantify the amount of aid that was diverted but said its findings "suggest that post-delivery aid diversion in Somalia is widespread and systemic". In all, investigators collected data from 55 IDP sites in Somalia and found aid diversion in all of them, the report said.

Persons: Ayenat, Balazs Ujvari, Antonio Guterres, Devex, Jessica Jennings, gatekeepers, Gabriela Baczynska, Michelle Nichols, Aaron Ross, Emma Farge, Daphne Psaledakis, Joe Bavier, Howard Goller Organizations: REUTERS, UNITED NATIONS, European Union, Food Programme, Reuters, European Commission, EU, WFP, U.N, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, European, Somali Disaster Management Office, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Dollow, Somalia, NAIROBI, GENEVA, Ethiopia, United States, Nairobi, Geneva

☆ Afghan women once worked in this popular national park. Now they’re not even allowed to visit
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Tara Subramaniam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Afghanistan’s Band-e-Amir National Park was known for having employed the country’s first-ever female park rangers. Now, women won’t even be allowed to visit, let alone work there, as the Taliban deepens its repressive rule over the country. Heather Barr, associate director of the women’s rights at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Monday that the ban shows how “the walls are closing in on women” within Afghanistan. Since re-taking control of the country in August 2021, amid the United States’ chaotic, controversial withdrawal, the Taliban has rolled back decades of progress on human rights. In Afghanistan, “there is no such thing as women’s freedom anymore,” Mahbouba Seraj, an Afghan women’s rights activist and 2023 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, said earlier this month.

Persons: CNN —, won’t, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, Heather Barr, ”, Mahbouba, they’re, Richard Bennett, Dorothy Estrada, Tanck Organizations: CNN, Amir, USAID, United Nations Development, Human Rights, UN Locations: Bamiyan, ”, Afghanistan, States, “, Afghan

☆ No clear winner in US, China contest in the Pacific
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Kirsty Needham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The United States and PNG signed a defence cooperation agreement in May. STRATEGIC CHESSBOARDThe events in Vanuatu this week highlighted the challenges Pacific nations face in seeking to benefit from both the United States and its allies, and China. The U.S. Coast Guard has yet to gain clearance to enter Vanuatu's port, as it does in other Pacific Islands, Coast Guard officials said. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare is also reluctant to accept U.S. support. The project was the largest infrastructure donation China had made to the Pacific Islands so far, Chinese ambassador Li Ming said at the ceremony.

Persons: Joe Biden, Louis Mapou, Hu'akavemeiliku Siaosi, Surangel Whipps, Kausea Natano, Samantha Power, Power, Washington, Lenora Qereqeretabua, Qereqeretabua, Ratu Jone Logavatu Kalouniwai, Denghua Zhang, Ishmael Kalsakau, Manesseh Sogavare, Sogavare, Li Ming, Kirsty Needham, Miral Organizations: U.S ., Country, New, Tonga's, Tuvalu's, United States, USAID, Pacific, Fiji Military Force, Australian National University, Vanuatu's, U.S . Coast Guard, Coast Guard, Solomon Islands, White, Solomon Islands National University, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, Federated States, SYDNEY, China, Taiwan, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, United States, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Pacific, Australia, Vanuatu's, Solomon

Their data showed mercury contamination from informal gold mining making its way into the biodiversity hotspot's mammals — from rodents to ocelots to titi monkeys. Leaders from the eight countries around the Amazon meeting in Brazil next week will discuss how to end illegal gold mining. While the scientists began testing for mercury at Los Amigos in 2021, some of the samples were gathered as early as 2018. During Reuters' visit to Los Amigos, scientists caught rodents in metal traps baited with peanut butter and snagged birds and a bat in mist nets floating through the forest. In 2021, mining arrived on Los Amigos' doorstep.

Persons: Conservación Amazônica, Mrinalini Erkenswick, Erkenswick Watsa, biogeochemist Jacqueline Gerson, there's, it's, Gideon Erkenswick, Jorge Luis Mendoza Silva, Caroline Moore, Moore, Chris Sayers, Jake Spring, Gloria Dickie, Marco Aquino, Oliver Griffin, Katy Daigle, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: Los, Biological, Amigos, Reuters, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Projects International, Los Amigos, University of Colorado, REUTERS, Gold Council, USAID, Peruvian, Nature Communications, San Diego Zoo Wildlife, University of California, Thomson Locations: Peru, Peruvian, Peru's, de Dios, Madre de Dios, Brazil, Colombia, California, University of Colorado Boulder, Los Amigos, Dios, Latin America, Congo, Indonesia, University of California Los Angeles, London, Lima, Bogota

And earlier this week, Russia targeted a Ukrainian port on the Danube River near NATO ally Romania. Now, Russia’s defense ministry has warned that ships sailing to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports will be viewed as military targets. Two thirds of the wheat that left Ukraine via the Black Sea ports went to developing countries, said Power. Russian drones attacked Ukraine's port infrastructure on the Danube river, targeting Ukrainian grain stocks and destroying storage hangars, the Ukrainian Army said. “We believe its targeting might also include attacks against civilian shipping in the Black Sea.

Persons: Barbara Woodward, Moscow’s, United Nations Linda, Thomas Greenfield, “, ”, Samantha Power, Antony Blinken, António Guterres, Bulgaria –, Power, Kees Huizinga, Huizinga, ” Katherine Brucker Organizations: CNN, United Nations, NATO, European, US Agency for International Development, UN, Romania, European Commission, Aspen Security, AP, U.S . Agency for International, Biden, Ukrainian Army, Ukraine Operational Command, European Union, Organization for Security, Cooperation Locations: Ukraine, United, Russia, Odesa, Ukrainian, Turkey, Kerch, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, West, United States, Europe

The audit has not changed the U.S. Treasury's view that the bank must make reforms before the department will support disbursements from the Afghan Fund to Da Afghanistan Bank, or DAB, as the central bank is known, said a U.S. Treasury official on condition of anonymity. It also must prove that it has "adequate" controls against money-laundering and terrorism financing and install a "reputable" independent monitor, said the Treasury official. A Taliban administration spokesman and a spokesperson for the Afghan central bank did not respond to request for comment. Afghanistan remains mired in grave humanitarian and economic crises that some experts say has been worsened by U.S. restrictions hampering DAB's ability to perform key central bank functions, such as ensuring stable exchange rates and prices. Calling the audit a "preliminary assessment," the Treasury official said its "limitations" suggested that "more comprehensive third-party assessment efforts may be needed."

Persons: ”, disbursements, Shah Mehrabi, Mehrabi, Anwar ul, Haq Ahady, Jonathan Landay, Charlotte Greenfield, Don Durfee Organizations: U.S ., Afghan, Da, Da Afghanistan Bank, Treasury, Federal Reserve Bank of New, DAB, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, U.S, Afghan Fund, State Department, The State Department, Reuters, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, ISLAMABAD, U.S, Da Afghanistan, Swiss, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Afghan, Washington, United States, Afghanistan, American

☆ Hunger haunts Ethiopia's Tigray region after years of war
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

MEKELLE, Ethiopia, July 10 (Reuters) - Curled up on a hospital bed in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, an emaciated little girl struggles to breathe, as her father softly strokes her gaunt face and her mother sits crying. Her doctor says she is dying, a new victim of an acute food shortage in a region blighted by two years of war and struggling with drought. [1/9]Woldegebrial Abadi, 36, holds the hands of his severely malnourished newborn son Berhanu Woldegebrial at the Samre Hospital, in Samre, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Tiksa NegeriAid flows to Tigray resumed after the November ceasefire but were temporarily halted earlier this year. The Ethiopian government spokesperson did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on rising levels of hunger in the Tigray region or the resumption of aid flows to the area.

Persons: gaunt, Tsige Shishay, Teklay Hagos, Mekelle, Abadi, Berhanu Woldegebrial, Gebrehiwot, Getachew Reda, Gebremiskel, Woldesilassie Gebremedhin, gesturing, Giulia Paravicini, Estelle Shirbon, Edmund Blair Organizations: Reuters, Food Programme, Samre, REUTERS, Tiksa, WFP, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, Disaster Risk Management, Ethiopian, Twitter, Tiksa Negeri, Thomson Locations: MEKELLE, Ethiopia, Ethiopia's, Tigray, Tigray's, Samre, Tigray Region, Tiksa Negeri, Mekelle, Nairobi

CNN —Authorities in India’s central Madhya Pradesh state have demolished a man’s home after a video that appeared to show him urinating on a member of a tribal community went viral on social media this week. While the incident captured in the video allegedly occurred a year ago, the man, identified by police as Pravesh Shukla, was arrested and charged Tuesday for the obscene act. A political flashpointIn a Twitter post Friday, the Madhya Pradesh government said the victim would receive 500,000 rupees ($6,000) in compensation and 150,000 rupees ($1,800) to help him build a house. The announcement came a day after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited the victim to apologize for what happened to him. “Ever since I saw the video of [this] incident, my heart is deeply disturbed and filled with pain,” Chouhan tweeted Thursday.

Persons: Pravesh Shukla, “, ”, Priya Singh, Narendra Modi’s, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, ” Chouhan, Chouhan, Shukla, Rahul Gandhi, Kamal Nath, ” Nath Organizations: CNN, Authorities, Police, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, United States Agency for International Development, USAID, “ Locations: India’s, Madhya Pradesh, Sidhi District, Uttar Pradesh, India, Sidhi district, ”

[1/2] Internally displaced Ethiopians queue to receive food aid in the Higlo camp for people displaced by drought in the town of Gode, Somali Region, Ethiopia, April 26, 2022. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File PhotoNAIROBI, June 19 (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Programme hopes to resume some food aid distribution in Ethiopia as soon as next month once it has received greater control over how beneficiaries are selected, a senior WFP official said on Monday. It paused food aid to the northern Tigray region in May and then to all of Ethiopia this month in response to widespread theft of donations. The WFP has been providing emergency food assistance to nearly 6 million of them. Valerie Guarnieri, WFP assistant executive director for programme and policy development, said the agency wanted to reduce the authority of local and regional government officials to decide who qualified for food aid.

Persons: Valerie Guarnieri, Guarnieri, Aaron Ross, Alison Williams Organizations: REUTERS, Tiksa, WFP, Reuters, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, Ethiopian, Thomson Locations: Gode, Somali Region, Ethiopia, NAIROBI, Tigray, States

☆ Many culprits stole food aid in north Ethiopia, investigation finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Giulia Paravicini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NAIROBI, June 15 (Reuters) - Regional and federal government officials as well as Eritrean soldiers were involved in the theft of food aid in northern Ethiopia's Tigray region, the head of an investigation by the Tigrayan authorities said on Thursday. The U.N. World Food Programme and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) paused food distribution last month in war-scarred Tigray because they said significant amounts of aid had been stolen. The two agencies then suspended food aid across all of Ethiopia last week for the same reason. An internal humanitarian memo said USAID believes food has been diverted to Ethiopian military units as part of a scheme orchestrated by federal and regional government entities. Ethiopia's army has denied its forces benefited from any stolen food aid.

Persons: General Fiseha Kidanu, Tigrai, Giulia Paravicini, Aaron Ross, Alex Richardson Organizations: Food, U.S . Agency for International Development, USAID, Ethiopian, WFP, Thomson Locations: NAIROBI, Ethiopia's Tigray, Tigray, Ethiopia

☆ US suspends food aid to Ethiopia, says it's not reaching needy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Giulia Paravicini | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/Pool/File PhotoNAIROBI, June 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said on Thursday it was suspending food aid to Ethiopia because its donations were being diverted from people in need. The USAID spokesperson said the agency intended to resume food assistance as soon as it was confident in the integrity of the system. USAID and the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) had already suspended food aid to the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray last month in response to information that large amounts of aid there were being diverted. In the 2022 fiscal year, USAID disbursed nearly $1.5 billion in humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia, most of it food aid. WFP is also investigating "systemic" food diversion across Ethiopia, according to an email sent last week by the agency's deputy director to staff in Ethiopia.

Persons: Antony Blinken, Sean Jones, Finance Ahmed Shide, Demeke Mekonnen, Blinken, Giulia Paravicini, Doina Chiacu, Christina Fincher, Mark Potter Organizations: Logistics Center, USAID, Ethiopian, Finance, REUTERS, Tiksa, U.S . Agency for International Development, Reuters, Resilience, Spokespeople, The State Department, Food Programme, WFP, Thomson Locations: Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, NAIROBI, United States, Tigray, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopian, Washington

☆ Air strikes hit Khartoum's outskirts as Sudan's war enters sixth week
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Smoke rises above buildings after an aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. Air strikes were reported by eyewitnesses in southern Omdurman and northern Bahri, the two cities that lie across the Nile from Khartoum, forming Sudan's "triple capital." Some of the strikes took place near the state broadcaster in Omdurman, the eyewitnesses said. The RSF is embedded in residential districts, drawing almost continual air strikes by the regular armed forces. In recent days ground fighting has flared once again in the Darfur region, in the cities of Nyala and Zalenjei.

☆ Afghanistan aid donors struggle with crackdown on women, less money
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Last month the Taliban began enforcing the ban on Afghan women working for the U.N. after stopping most women working for aid groups in December. So far the United States has given the most money to the 2023 U.N. appeal: $75 million. When asked if Gulf countries could do more to help Afghanistan, Power said: "That would be one obvious potential set of partners." The United Nations has been trying to carve out exemptions in some areas for women to deliver aid, particularly in health and education. For the year ending April 5, 2024 it has pledged nearly $180 million in aid funding for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

☆ WFP suspends food aid to Ethiopia's Tigray over reported thefts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary WFP, USAID suspend aid distributionTigray government urges rethink, says to investigateNAIROBI, May 4 (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Programme has paused food distribution in Ethiopia's war-ravaged Tigray region in response to reports that significant amounts of aid were being diverted, the agency said. Neither organisation gave details of the source of the reports and the WFP did not say who was responsible for the diversions or when they had taken place. He said he had set up a task force to investigate, calling the reported theft a crime against children, the elderly and the disabled. A spokesperson for Ethiopia's federal government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The government and Tigray forces agreed to end hostilities in November, which has allowed additional aid to reach the region and for some services to be restored.

☆ USAID pauses food assistance to Tigray region of Ethiopia
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jasper Ward | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced on Wednesday the temporary suspension of its food assistance to the Tigray region of Ethiopia. While describing the move as a "difficult decision", USAID Administrator Samantha Power said the agency recently discovered that food aid intended for people of the region, who are suffering under famine-like condition, was being diverted and sold on the local market. The agency referred the matter to its Office of the Inspector General, which launched an investigation, and sent leaders from its Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance to Ethiopia before deciding to on a temporary pause in food aid, she said. The government and Tigray forces agreed to end the hostilities in November, which has allowed additional aid to reach the region and for some services to be restored. "While food aid to the Tigray Region is paused, other vital assistance not implicated in the diversion scheme will continue, including life-saving nutritional supplements, safe drinking water, and support for agricultural activities and development," she said.

☆ Mexico president asks Biden to stop USAID funding opposition groups
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Sarah Morland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, May 3 (Reuters) - Mexico's president asked his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to stop the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from funding groups hostile to his government, according to a letter presented to journalists on Wednesday, echoing previous Mexican criticism of U.S. interventionism. The letter calls for Biden's intervention, saying the U.S. State Department in recent days announced that USAID would increase its funding toward such organizations. Mexico had in 2021 sent a similar letter asking USAID to withdraw funding allocated to non-governmental organizations critical of the government. The State Department, USAID, MCCI and Article 19 did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The State Department has said there are credible reports on restrictions on free expression and media in Mexico - the deadliest country for journalists last year.

☆ US to help journalists globally defend against legal threats
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

UNITED NATIONS, May 2 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday launched a program to defend journalists around the world from legal threats aimed at silencing critical voices, a growing tactic that top U.S. aid official Samantha Power described as "lawfare." Power, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced the Reporters Shield program at an event to mark World Press Freedom Day at the United Nations. USAID said it plans to work with Congress to provide up to $9 million for the Reporters Shield program that will be jointly managed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice. "To withstand lawfare journalists and media outlets need robust protection, they need training in how to avoid lawsuits altogether, they need resources to hire lawyers and cover legal fees," Power said. USAID said Reporters Shield will be a membership program and organizations will pay an annual fee based on factors like the outlet's location and how many stories they produce a year.

☆ U.S. confirms second American death in Sudan, seeks extended ceasefire
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - A second American has died in Sudan, the White House said on Wednesday, adding that it was helping a small number of U.S. citizens seeking to leave the country amid ongoing clashes even as overall violence appeared significantly down. "We urge both military factions" to abide by the ceasefire "and to further extend it," Kirby told reporters, adding that the violence "levels... generally appear to have gone significantly down." "The levels are down, but we want to see the levels at zero," he added. Some U.S. citizens had arrived at Port Sudan to evacuate and were being supported, and the United States was continuing to support other limited evacuation efforts, he added. USAID has deployed teams in the region and is prepared to help provide humanitarian assistance but any ceasefire would have to remain in place and be extended, Kirby told reporters.

☆ US deploying disaster-response team for Sudan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has deployed a team of disaster response experts for Sudan in the region to coordinate the humanitarian response as fighting rocks the country, USAID head Samantha Power said on Sunday. In a statement, Power said the Disaster Assistance Response Team will operate out of Kenya for the initial phase, adding that the experts are working with the international community and partners to identify priority needs and safely deliver humanitarian assistance. "The United States is mobilizing to ramp up assistance to the people of Sudan ensnared between the warring factions," Power said. "Fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan has claimed hundreds of lives, injured thousands, and yet again dashed the democratic aspirations of the Sudanese people. "All of this suffering compounds an already dire situation – one-third of Sudan’s population, nearly 16 million people, already needed humanitarian assistance to meet basic human needs before this outbreak of violence."

WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - China is "very carefully" watching how Washington and the world respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but has not yet crossed the line of providing lethal aid to Moscow, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. "The stakes in Ukraine go well beyond Ukraine. However, he said he did not believe that China has been providing lethal aid to Moscow. "As we speak today, we have not seen them cross that line," Blinken told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing, the first of four times he will testify to congressional committees this week. "The post-Cold War world is over, and there is an intense competition under way to determine what comes next," Blinken said.

An Insider review found that his company has sold to foreign governments, including a $228 million dollar contract. What Mills didn't advertise was Pacem's munitions contracts with foreign governments. The company's chief legal officer Joseph Schmitz said all of Pacem's foreign munitions sales are approved by the Department of State. Mills's influence over American military spending while having ties to a munitions company poses the potential for conflicts of interest, an ethics watchdog said. In Congress, Mills sits on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees, which oversee military spending and foreign weapons sales.

☆ World Bank board aims to pick next president by early May, U.S. nominee expected soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] A participant stands near a logo of World Bank at the International Monetary Fund - World Bank Annual Meeting 2018 in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, October 12, 2018. The bank's executive directors affirmed their commitment to an "open, merit-based and transparent selection process" for the new leader, and said countries could nominate candidates beginning Thursday through March 29. The World Bank board gave a list of criteria and relevant experience for would-be applicants, including "effective communication and diplomatic skills" and also said it "would strongly encourage women candidates to be nominated." The bank has never had a permanent woman president in its 77-year history, although current International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva served as acting president for about two months in early 2019. The United States has historically selected the president of the bank, but some developing countries and civil society groups are challenging that tradition.

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