The new policy platform on the Harris campaign’s website comes 50 days after Biden exited the race.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign just released a new page on its website titled, “Issues,” which includes a 23-point policy platform that comes following weeks of criticism over its absence. 

Pressure has been building on the Harris campaign to put up a policy platform on its website, similar to how former President Donald Trump and others have done in the past. Upon its release this week, however, the platform was met with even more criticism over a lack of specifics.

In particular, one conservative immigration hawk took issue with the policy platform’s failure to clarify Harris’ stance on border wall funding, and whether she still views illegal border crossings as a civil enforcement issue — or rather, a criminal one.

“The Harris campaign finally has an ‘Issues’ page, but — on immigration, at least — there’s no there, there,” Mark Krikorian, the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital. “She doesn’t say if she’d build more border barriers. She doesn’t say whether she still wants to decriminalize border-jumping. The statement just repeats the vacuous nonsense about the ‘bipartisan’ Senate border bill, which was drafted by the Biden-Harris DHS to codify its unlawful schemes to import more illegal aliens.”

Despite indicating a potential Harris-Walz administration would “bring back the bipartisan border security bill,” the new online policy platform did not indicate where Harris stands on funding additional border wall construction. Republicans have pointed to Harris’ public support for the failed bipartisan border bill as evidence she now backs a border wall after once calling it a “medieval vanity project.” 

But Harris campaign officials have said the border bill did not include any new money for border wall construction — it just extended the timeline to spend funds appropriated during Trump’s last year as president. The bill, however, has limits to ensure the money is spent on border barriers.

“Americans should believe Harris’ prior statements and current policies as Vice President,” Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told Fox News Digital in a statement Tuesday. “She has previously stated numerous times that she opposes a border wall. And on day one of the Biden-Harris Administration, they halted construction of the border wall system.”

Meanwhile, while running for president in 2019, Harris indicated during a nationally televised debate that she would not go after illegal border crossings. In a segment on ABC’s “The View,” she reiterated her stance in a riff with the late-Sen. John McCain’s daughter, Meghan. 

“I would not make it a crime punishable by jail,” Harris said. “It should be a civil enforcement issue but not a criminal enforcement issue.”

“Harris repeatedly said during her CNN interview that her values have not changed,” Ries highlighted in her statement to Fox News Digital. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on the criticism from Krikorian and others about a lack of specifics in its new online policy platform, but did not receive a response.

Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt called the new policy platform “a late-night, half-ass, wish list of policies.” 

“If Kamala really wanted to lower costs and secure the border — why did she cast the tie-breaking vote to cause inflation and support the war on our energy industry, and why is she allowing an invasion of illegal immigrants through our southern border as we speak?”

Not long after the Harris campaign’s “Issues” page was added to its website, social media users pointed out that the new web page contained metadata with language urging voters to reelect President Joe Biden, according to The New Republic. The Biden language was quickly removed, but not before leaving the impression that the Harris campaign copied and pasted from Biden’s documents, the outlet reported.

Source

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As the first MEP from Gozo, where you also served as a local councillor in Nadur, you certainly have a lot to say about themes related to Gozo. How do you feel that your experience in local politics and as a Gozitan has impacted your European work?

It helps me understand the specific circumstances of smaller islands, which face additional challenges when compared to main islands like Malta.

Gozo faces double insularity and the fact that I am Gozitan helps me prioritise equity in connectivity. I understand first-hand what it means to use the ferry on a regular basis and I know that those, including residents, businesses and SMEs, based in islands like Gozo face disproportionate challenges to simply get along with their everyday life and business. These realities are why I often speak so passionately about the importance of a coherent policy for islands at the European level. My experience as a local councillor of my hometown, Nadur, for seven years, was truly formative as it helped me understand the importance of politics on the regional and local level. This helped me bring politics closer to the people and place it on a more direct level. My experience in the Local Council in fact serves me very well in my work on the Committee for Regional Affairs, which is dominated by discussion on the importance of the local level and Cohesion Policy and funds. Cohesion policy works in such a manner that it allows a degree of flexibility when carrying out projects on a local and regional level: the Gozo Citadel, for example, was restored using these funds.

We need to continue working so that our local councils and local authorities, which tend to have limited funding and human resources, get the help they need to effectively implement the green and digital transition. This is something I strive towards in my work, such as recently with the Interoperable Europe Act, where I pushed for more resources to local authorities with the aim of ensuring better public services.

Speaking of Gozo, we know that earlier this month you participated in the General Assembly of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR), which was held in Saint Malo in France. Gozo is part of this conference. What can you tell us about this?

It brings me satisfaction to see Gozo represented at the CPMR, which is a conference that brings together different maritime and peripheral regions from around Europe.

I was present for two parts of the Conference. Firstly, I joined a session of the Islands Commission and discussed the next steps towards recognising islands specificities, including insularity, following the work done and the Report on Islands and Cohesion Policy which I negotiated on behalf of the Socialists during this legislature.

I then participated in the Annual General Assembly session, which was held on the 50^th anniversary of CPMR. There I emphasised the importance of cutting the red tape required for access to funding opportunities. Many funds exist, however, the reality is that small local actors do not always have the knowledge and capacity to manoeuvre through the necessary procedures to access them.

I also emphasised that these funds should continue helping in better reflecting the realities of different regions, helping them address their challenges and reaping opportunities.

We saw Cohesion Policy funding severely stretched in recent years due to crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war. While it’s good that what is urgent is tackled and that these funds help address immediate threats thanks to their flexibility, we cannot continue hollowing out cohesion funds to the detriment of the programme’s primary aim of supporting the long-term development of regions.

Connectivity is another topic, which I spoke strongly about. The reality is that without enhanced connectivity options, these regions, particularly disadvantaged ones like our islands that are recognised as so in the Union’s Treaty, inequalities will persist. Connectivity is a matter of fundamental freedoms as well as social justice and for that reason I certainly look forward to continue my work in this sector.

The Regional Development Strategy for Gozo was published last September: what are your thoughts on this strategy?

The Strategy is an essential guidance for policymakers and stakeholders on the key principles they ought to keep front and centre when defining Gozo’ medium- to long-term vision.

I recently had a meeting with the Gozo Regional Development Association, following the launching of the strategy after a broad consultation. I was very happy to have seen a number of important policy priorities which I have also been working on at EU level reflected in the document. 

For example, there are references to sustainable tourism and the importance of skills, including with regards to culture and Gozitan gastronomy. Right now, there is also a wider discussion happening at national level about skills cards and training courses applying for hospitality workers including third country nationals.

Then there were also other important elements referred to in the strategy, such as ensuring that our infrastructure is more climate resilient, as well as aspects related to decarbonisation and Gozo’s sustainable development – key aspects on which there is general agreement upon in order to preserve our island’s unique characteristics, including the green belts between our villages.

That’s why the perspective of Gozo as an island of villages is so important, especially in terms of recognising uniqueness and the need for tailormade policies that cater for the Gozo’s specific needs and characteristics, different from the main island’s ones.

At the same time, I believe that sustainable development should also increase the livability of a place, even making it more aesthetically pleasant, contributing to the residents’ quality of life. In this regard, I was pleased that the Labour government announced a budgetary measure worth €58 million in European funds to be used for better sustainable urban development in Gozo.

During my discussions with the GRDA, I made a point about additionally prioritising Gozo’s digital development: owing to its small size, Gozo can be a test bed for digital solutions, which once successful can then be replicated on a larger scale across the country. I believe that projects such as the international collaboration with offices at the Gozo Innovation Hub developing a conversational chatbot in the Maltese language show our potential in innovating capacity and digital solutions.

Apart from the digital field, we should also focus on other opportunities that smallness and insularity bring with them, such as the ones emanating from the blue economy. Although there are plenty of EU funds catering for the blue economy, what we need to address first is awareness and investment gaps.

This strategy also mentions tourism, a sector which we know you work on directly at the European Parliament. Some days ago you also took part in the World Tourism Market in London and the Mediterranean Tourism Forum held in our country. Can you explain more about your work and how you look at Gozo and the tourism sector?

It was an honour for me to be present at this annual event in London, where representatives from Malta and Gozo, through VisitMalta and VisitGozo together with Maltese and Gozitan entrepreneurs, came together to showcast our tourist and hospitality offerings.

I was positively impressed by the diversity of stands from around the world, as their presence allowed me to observe and learn from what other countries and continents are offering. In this regard, I also was also proud that, when it comes to tourism, Gozo is a strong player and has an important role to play when it comes to niche tourism within the context of the environmental and digital transition.

This is an aspect which we frequently debate in the Tourism Taskforce at the European Parliament, which I am a member of.  There are studies which show that tourists’ behaviour is changing, with some of them becoming more eco-conscious, looking for travel choices which offer a more eco-friendly experience while also incorporating certain digital solutions.

As part of my contribution to the World Travel Market, I took part in a panel discussion focusing on travel after Brexit, a cornerstone for our country, which has strong touristic ties with the UK. Whilst the impacts of this severing change are well visible, as a European Union and as a country, we must look forward to continue collaborating with Britain in order to find mutually favourable conditions and solutions that will facilitate the travel experience in between both ends.

At the same time, we also have many UK nationals living in Gozo. This should be an incentive to build on the common past, values and experiences to make the transition as smooth as possible and to define a  sustainable future in our relationships. The challenges exist as there is no free movement anymore, but it’s up to us to negotiate bilaterally in order to strengthen travel and tourism.

As we reach the end of your first mandate within the European Parliament, what was the most important moment for you as someone born and raised in Gozo? What work do you think needs to be done to make sure that the interests of people from islands like Gozo, which face additional challenges such as double insularity, are safeguarded?

First of all, an important role I hold, that of Vice President of the Intergroup of Islands and Coastal Regions within the European Parliament, as well as of member of the Committee on Regional Development, give me the opportunity to work on strengthened policies for our European islands and regions, whilst forging cooperation with a number of relevant organisations and institutions active in this field.

I was also the S&D negotiator for the Islands and Cohesion Policy Report, that finally recognises, in a comprehensive manner, the challenges and opportunities which our islands face. This report identified the need for specific policies which recognise the realities of insularity and the necessity for impact assessments that take into account island’s particularities at the beginning of the legislative process through embedding the concept of islands’ mainstreaming.

These are principles that guided my work from the beginning of the mandate,  particularly during the negotiations on the Fit for 55 package. For instance, my work on the Fuel EU Maritime law resulted in additional flexibilities for islands like Gozo, which are mandatorily dependant on transport by sea, and which thanks to amendments I pushed forward, have been given more time to comply with obligations relating to the sustainable maritime fuels transition.

However, there is much more to be done when it comes to streamlining insularity in the transport and trade sector: the Mobility Package which the European Union legislated on is a perfect example. As the only Maltese MEP in the Transport Committee, I was at the forefront of proposing amendments to the proposed law and then voted against the final unbalanced text. There is now a number of EU member states, including Malta, which have opened a case before the European Court of Justice, arguing that these new rules discriminate against, and do not take into account the realities of, certain states like our island Member State, not to mention it being counterproductive when it comes to emissions and the fundamental freedoms.

Also, there are now ongoing discussions on the EU’s Emissions Trading System – an upcoming tax on ship emissions, which is creating challenging realities for ports like the Malta Freeport. As a member of the Transport Committee I have been putting pressure for the situation to be addressed in a timely and effective manner, otherwise EU-Mediterranean ports like ours risk seeing important maritime activity move to North African ports instead – to the detriment of our economy, consumer prices and the environment itself, with emissions and port activity being simply transferred!

When it comes to island policies  there is still a lot to be done, particularly in relation to the aviation and maritime sectors, as well as the Islands Pact we are pushing forward at EU level. Enhanced connectivity was my commitment from my first day as an MEP and it remains something which I will continue working on with the same intensity within the European Parliament and beyond.

Source : Independent

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The yen suffered its biggest daily fall against the dollar since April on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan made only modest changes to its policy of holding down government bond yields.

The Japanese currency fell 1.7 per cent against the dollar to ¥151.60, its weakest level since October last year, and close to the point at which the central bank last intervened by spending a record ¥6.35tn ($43bn) to push the yen back up.

Some investors had suspected the BoJ would take a more definitive step towards closing the gap between borrowing costs in the US and Japan by abandoning its yield curve control altogether, as the yen tests multi-decade lows and inflation has persisted above the central bank’s target for the past 18 months.

Instead, officials changed the 1 per cent limit on 10-year Japanese bond yields from a hard cap to a “reference point”. “The fact that the yen weakened by more than a percentage point is the market telling you that they still think the Bank of Japan is behind the curve,” said Ella Hoxha, head of fixed income at Newton Investment Management. “That’s fair because inflation is much higher than their 2 per cent target and they are the last central bank standing in terms of very loose policy.”

Analysts predict Japanese officials are poised to intervene and support the currency again if the currency continues to weaken to a 32-year low, estimating it might step in at levels between ¥152 and ¥155. “They are probably quite comfortable with where Japanese government bond yields are and relying on intervention to prevent the yen getting out of control,” said Chris Turner, head of global markets at ING.

The central bank maintained its policy rate at minus 0.1 per cent, the world’s only negative interest rate. But it significantly increased its inflation forecast, saying it expected 2.8 per cent core inflation in the 2024 fiscal year, instead of its previous forecast of 1.9 per cent. 

Analysts say the fall in the currency puts the BoJ in a bind, as it pushes up the cost of imported goods, when officials are focused on achieving domestically driven inflation for maintaining a 2 per cent target rate.

The yen has been the worst performing major currency this year, falling by over 13 per cent against the dollar, fuelled by the yawning gap between US and Japanese borrowing costs.  Intervention on its own would be unlikely durably to support the sliding yen — that would depend more on a switch in US monetary policy that pulls down the dollar or on a push higher in Japanese interest rates.

But that too brings potential risks. “They are trying to support the currency while not being seen as tightening,” said Eva Sun-Wai, fund manager at M&G Investments. “If they let yields run much higher when they have so much debt they run the risk of not being able to refinance at higher levels of interest.”  However, investors think it is inevitable that the BoJ will normalise policy as the economy remains buoyant and inflation remains persistently above target. Sun-Wai said that her worry is that the longer policymakers leave it to tighten, the tougher they will have to be. 

The normalisation of policy in Japan could have major ramifications for international bond markets, as Japanese investors own trillions of dollars of overseas debt following years of hunting for higher yields elsewhere.  

“Under Governor [Kazuo] Ueda’s leadership, the BoJ is moving to a more pragmatic approach,” said Iain Stealey, international CIO for fixed income at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “We expect the BoJ to take a more active approach from here, potentially ending negative interest rates . . . as early as spring next year.”

Source : Financial Times

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine needs to get used to the fact that the country’s policies are bringing it closer to the moment when the Ukrainian flag will be hoisted alongside the flags of other EU member states in Brussels.

Quote: “Ukraine has walked a very long path – from a point where many didn’t believe in the possibility of our alignment with the European Union during a full-scale war, to achieving the status of a candidate country at record speed and fulfilling the necessary prerequisites for opening negotiations.

This is proof, time and time again, that Ukraine can accomplish significant achievements when we work in a united and confident manner, in the interests of our independence and of all Ukrainians…

All of us in Ukraine now need to get used to the fact that our domestic policy is a policy of European integration, and that is what is bringing us closer to the moment when the Ukrainian flag will be flying in Brussels alongside the flags of all the other EU member states.”

Details: Zelenskyy added that his team is doing everything possible to be ready for full accession to the European Union and to adapt all institutions and standards to European rules.

Source : Yahoo

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Climate change poses severe and multiple threats to Nigeria’s current and future development and should be taken more seriously by the Nigerian government and other critical stakeholders, a new report by Agora Policy, an Abuja-based think tank, has said.   

• “It is evident that climate change is not a marginal or peripheral issue that the government and the people of Nigeria can take lightly,” says the report titled “Climate Change and Socio-Economic Development in Nigeria,” which was released today in Abuja and was produced with the support of the MacArthur Foundation.  

The report acknowledges and details a plethora of climate-related initiatives, including policies, programmes and projects and even the 2021 climate change law put in place or undertaken by successive Nigerian governments but it claims that the potentials of these initiatives and interventions are undercut by the absence of commensurate action, lack of synergy and inadequate funding.  

According to the 84-page report, Nigeria, despite her relatively low emission profile, is already bearing the brunt of the effects of changes in climatic conditions and of adverse weather events but that the tolls could be significantly higher. 

Unless urgent and bold actions are taken, the report adds, Nigeria risks becoming one of the worst-affected countries by climate change, with grave implications for the country’s currently fragile economic, social and human development indicators.   

• “Climate change is compounding poverty challenges in Nigeria and impeding the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals,” adds the report. 
• “Climate change is already increasing hunger, poverty, disease-burden, migration, conflict and insecurity in Nigeria. It is damaging infrastructure, changing Nigeria’s coastlines, fueling desertification, producing water scarcity, facilitating erosion and resulting in the loss of revenue for states and the national government.” 

The report states that as at 2020 Nigeria losses at least $100 billion annually to the effects of climate change and the country may lose trillions of dollars in manufacturing, construction and oil and gas assets likely to become stranded as the world gravitates to a green economy.  

• “Nigeria risks becoming a stranded country,” the report asserts. “Climate change has the potential to further jeopardize Nigeria’s economic development and alter its geographical, social and political trajectory for decades.” 

The report highlights the different channels through which adverse effects of climate change could worsen in Nigeria and further compound the country’s developmental challenges.

Some of the highlighted areas include: projected 2.9- and 5.7-degree Celsius rise in temperature across different ecological zones in the country; increased occurrence of floods, droughts, erosion and rising sea levels; the likelihood that 75% of the delta could be lost; and further adverse effects on agricultural yields, food security, health burdens, water and energy sufficiency, peace and security, and adequacy and longevity of critical infrastructure.  

However, the report also identifies opportunities for Nigeria to address climate change while supporting economic growth and resilience.  

• “Climate change offers opportunities for economic competitiveness, energy security, and sustainable development,” states the report.
• “There are many climate-led opportunities that Nigeria can explore to enable rapid economic growth, create jobs for a rapidly growing youthful and urbanizing population, and address high levels of abject poverty and inequality through a just transition.” 

Urging Nigeria to consciously pursue a climate-compatible development agenda, the report recommended the following strategies to the country: investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency, promoting climate-smart agriculture, embracing green manufacturing, harnessing natural resources for adaptation, and enhancing disaster risk reduction systems. 

• “Leveraging climate action to pursue economic development in Nigeria is not only a viable but an essential strategy,” says the report.  
• “The global transition from a high-carbon economy to a low-carbon economy is already well underway and will produce winners and losers across the world.
• Whether Nigeria will swim or sink in the face of the transition will depend on its willingness to take urgent action now and re-align its national development strategies towards a low-carbon economic future.
• To transform climate change from a significant threat into an opportunity requires deliberate planning supported by immediate, bold and courageous action.” 

Other prescriptions made by the report for Nigeria include: strengthening national climate change framework; mainstreaming climate change into the country’s development process; building a climate-resilient and competitive economy; boosting adaptive capacities of communities in different ecological zones in the country; incentivizing investment in low-carbon industries; increasing public awareness about climate change; advocating for a fair and just energy transition; and pursuing a collaborative approach to low-carbon development.  

• “It is our hope that this report will further raise the policy profile of climate change issues in Nigeria and trigger the necessary actions on what is clearly an existential issue for our country,” says Waziri Adio, the founder of Agora Policy.
• “Climate change did not feature as a major issue in the 2023 general election, despite the significant challenges and opportunities it presents to the country.
• It has also not featured as a major priority of the new administration. This needs to change, and urgently too.”  

The release of the report will be followed by a policy conversation in Abuja on 22 November 2023, with the theme: “Nigeria, Climate Change and the Green Economy.”

The event will be organized with partners as part of the buildup to COP28 starting in UAE later this month.  

The report was put together by a team of four renowned experts: Professor Chukwumerije Okereke, director of the Centre for Climate and Development at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State; Professor Emmanuel Oladipo, a leading specialist on sustainable development, environment and climate change; Ms. Ifeoma Malo, co-founder of Clean Technology Hub and a development and governance expert; and Dr. Fola Aina, a development, peace and security expert.   

Produced with the support of the MacArthur Foundation, the report is the fifth policy paper commissioned by Agora Policy to contribute to national debate before, during and after the landmark 2023 elections in Nigeria. The other four reports focused on the state of the economy, security, gender and social inclusion, and transparency and accountability. 

Source : Naira Metrics

The post Agora Policy: Climate Change Poses Grave Risks to Nigeria, Deserves Greater Attention appeared first on Policy Print.

People in Moore and Hoke counties say they’re planning on protesting at Sandhills Community College on Saturday morning. They’re concerned the college has abruptly stopped posting banners that had been used in the past to celebrate diversity.

Normally at this time of year, Matthew Dial of Pinehurst says the banners on the light poles at Sandhills Community College are replaced with banners celebrating Native American Heritage Month.

“I always looked forward to seeing those banners on campus for Native American Heritage Month, and knowing that my heritage matters that the institution recognized that,” Dial said.

But after five years, Dial said that the new tradition has come to an end. Meeting minutes from June show the college’s board of trustees changed policies to restrict the kinds of banners and flags that can be posted on campus. SCC policy says the banners must promote education, athletics, or its performing arts programs. Now people on campus say they’ve noticed other traditional banners celebrating diversity like ones for Pride Month and Hispanic Heritage Month haven’t been posted in recent months since either.

“I don’t like that. Everybody should be created equal and I love these months where it’s National Heritage Month–especially Native Americans. I’m Native American. So, it would be nice to see that at colleges,” Katie Rogers said, a Sandhills Community College alumna.

“There’s never been an open discussion as to why it was necessary for these banners to be removed,” Dial said.

Dial said he is organizing a protest Saturday at 10 AM by the college’s student center to draw awareness and demand action. Meanwhile, the college president Dr. Alexander Stewart says that while those cultural flags are no longer being posted up front because of the new policy, the college will still celebrate its diversity.

“They’re will be educational programs and I believe the college has reached out to the Lumbee tribe to take part in that and so there is a schedule of activities from throughout the month,” he said.

ABC11 is still waiting for a response from the college’s board of trustees on why the changes were made.

Source : abc 11

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The significant attack on Israel launched by Hamas on Saturday—dubbed “Al-Aqsa Storm” by the Palestinian militant group—is an indictment of the policies pursued by both the governments of Israel and the United States. Unrest caused by the domestic debate over judicial reform in Israel may have compromised the country’s deterrence. And US policies aimed at de-escalating tensions with Iran did nothing to halt Tehran’s coordination with Hamas, likely including support for its attack against Israel.

The drivers of the attack and the failure to deter it are manifold. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s proxy and partner network—comprised of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)—perhaps perceived Israel as weakening from within. Unrest over Israeli judicial reforms this summer—during which reservists threatened to refuse to serve—likely reinforced Tehran’s impression that the Jewish state is collapsing. This may have in part prompted all these groups to push the envelope in recent months—in Lebanon, the West Bank, and Gaza—to realize the Iranian supreme leader’s ambition to surround Israel in a “ring of fire.”

Coordination among Iran and its allies

There was significant coordination among Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas, and PIJ throughout September 2023. Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah hosted Saleh al-Arouri, the deputy head of the Hamas politburo, and Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the secretary-general of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, on September 2. This meeting coincided with a visit from Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to Lebanon. The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, Esmail Ghaani, also reportedly visited Lebanon in September. Late last month, al-Arouri, Nikhalah, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s Deputy Secretary General Jamil Mazhar also met, announcing their intention to escalate conflict with Israel. They issued a statement dubbing Israeli settlers’ demands a “declaration of war against the Palestinian people.” They also criticized the normalization process that has been underway between Israel and Saudi Arabia, calling it “a clear betrayal of the blood of the martyrs and the Arab people.”

This dialogue continued in Tehran, which hosted representatives of its Axis of Resistance factions during an International Islamic Unity Conference held October 1–3. Osama Hamdan, Hamas’s representative in Lebanon and a member of its politburo, was in Iran for the conference, as was Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general. The Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke at the conference, prophesying that Israel is dying; that the Palestinian cause “is the main issue of the Islamic world”; and warning those countries considering establishing diplomatic relations with the Jewish state that “they are betting on a losing horse.” 

Iran has been seeking to create a mutual defense pact among its proxies and partners. On Sunday, Hezbollah already shelled and rocketed Israeli positions in a show of support for Hamas and a nod to the IRGC’s ambition to establish a NATO-like formation among the Axis of Resistance. Whether this expands into a more significant northern front as Israel prepares to crush Hamas in Gaza in the coming days and weeks will be important to watch and a test of the IRGC’s eagerness to escalate. Hamas has also been moving closer to the orbit of Iran and Hezbollah. In September, Iran International TV, a Persian-language news channel headquartered in London, exposed a network led by Saeed Izadi, the head of the IRGC’s Quds Force’s Palestinian Division, which smuggled arms from Iran to Lebanon for Hamas. 

Failures of deterrence

US policy has also played a role in the current escalation. The Biden administration has been engaged in implementing a series of understandings with Tehran to keep the Iran file off the president’s desk ahead of his campaign for reelection. The publicly reported components of these informal agreements include Iran refraining from targeting US forces in Iraq and Syria, as well as steps for Tehran to slow down its accumulation of 60 percent enriched uranium and refrain from advancing its nuclear program above that level. This is apparently in exchange for Washington turning a blind eye to Iran’s illicit exports of oil to customers such as China in contravention of US sanctions.

US officials, such as National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, have been championing this record, saying on September 29 that the White House hoped to “depressurize, deescalate, and ultimately integrate the region.” He went on to state that “the Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades now.” Given this weekend’s attack on Israel, such assessments appear fanciful. Tehran and its partners are demonstrating they can simultaneously escalate in theaters which are not covered by its informal understandings with the United States even as it deescalates in others. These are adjustments in tactics, not changes in fundamental strategy by the IRGC and its militia network. Washington’s refusal to more strictly enforce sanctions against Iran misses an opportunity to further curtail Iran’s funding for its regional allies such as Hamas.

Since Hamas attacked Israel on Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the administration has “not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack.” But Iranian involvement is not binary. Tehran, through its patronage of Hamas, has created the conditions for this moment and at the very least likely had foreknowledge of and endorsed the attack. In fact, Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad told the BBC that the group had direct backing from the Islamic Republic. The US government should not shy away from holding both the attacker and its patron responsible. It will be the only way to alter the calculus in Tehran to make the costs of such support outweigh the benefits. Piecemeal sanctions alone will not do the job.

The intelligence failures leading to what many Israelis are calling their 9/11 will be examined in the weeks ahead. Local grievances in Israel and the Palestinian territories have certainly brought about the current moment and should not be understated. But both Israel and the United States should also engage in deep introspection at the policy level over their failure to deter Hamas’s brutal attack. 

Source : Atlantic Council

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Only a third of countries include sexual and reproductive health in their national plans to tackle the climate crisis, the UN has warned.

Of the 119 countries that have published plans, only 38 include access to contraception, maternal and newborn health services and just 15 make any reference to violence against women, according to a report published by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and Queen Mary University of London on Tuesday.

The report is the first to examine whether climate plans refer to sexual and reproductive health.

It calls on more countries to recognise the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis on women and girls, and for more action.

Rising temperatures have been linked to poorer maternal health and complications during pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes. Extreme heat has been associated with triggering earlier deliveries and an increase in stillbirths.

The report said the climate crisis exacerbated existing inequalities. In east and southern Africa, for example, tropical cyclones have damaged health facilities, disrupting access to maternal health services and helping spread waterborne diseases such as cholera.

Hurricanes and droughts increase the risks of gender-based violence and child marriage, it added, as families under stress are less able to support daughters and seek to marry them off.

Angela Baschieri, an adviser on population and development for UNFPA and one of the report’s authors, said: “If we look at the plan of action for women and girls, national plans show there is more work that could be done.

“We know climate change disproportionately affects women and is not gender neutral so there is a need to address those gaps and impacts.”

The report highlighted the countries that are taking action. Paraguay, Seychelles and Benin have specified the need to build climate-resilient health systems allowing women to give birth safely and access health services.

Nine countries, including El Salvador, Sierra Leone and Guinea, have included policies or interventions to address gender-based violence.

Only Dominica has mentioned the need for contraception, despite evidence of disruptions to family-planning services during climate-related disasters.

Vietnam is the only country to acknowledge that child marriage occurs more often during times of crises as families seek to reduce their economic burden (for example, marriages of girls aged 11 to 14 increased by half in Bangladesh in years with a heatwave lasting a month).

“Climate is setting us back on the fight to gender equality. Our point would be to make sure that climate policy recognises the differential impact on women and takes it into account in the design of policy,” said Baschieri.

Source : The Guardian

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The prospect of a US government shutdown grows more likely with each passing day as lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to extend funding past a critical deadline at the end of the month.

Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle are hoping to pass a short-term funding extension to keep the lights on and avert a shutdown. But it’s not at all clear that plan will succeed amid deep divisions over spending between the two parties and policy disagreements over issues such as aid to Ukraine.

Here’s what to know if the government shuts down and what’s driving the current state of play:

How a government shutdown could be triggered

Government funding expires at the end of the day on Saturday, September 30 when the clock strikes midnight and it becomes October 1, which marks the start of the new fiscal year. (As shorthand, the deadline is commonly described as September 30 at midnight.)

If Congress fails to pass legislation to renew funding by that deadline, then the federal government will shut down at midnight. Since that would take place over the weekend, the full effects of a shutdown wouldn’t be seen until the start of the work week on Monday.

What could happen during a shutdown

In the event of a shutdown, many government operations would come to a halt, but some services deemed “essential” would continue.

Federal agencies have contingency plans that serve as a roadmap for what will continue and what will stop. The White House Office of Management and Budget will formally initiate the process of preparing for a shutdown on Friday, sending a communication to agencies reminding them to review and update shutdown plans.

Government operations and services that continue during a shutdown are activities deemed necessary to protect public safety and national security or considered critical for other reasons. Examples of services that have continued during past shutdowns include border protection, federal law enforcement and air traffic control.

Federal employees whose work is deemed “non-essential” would be put on furlough, which means that they would not work and would not receive pay during the shutdown. Employees whose jobs are deemed “essential” would continue to work, but they too would not be paid during the shutdown.

Once a shutdown is over, federal employees who were required to work and those who were furloughed will receive backpay.

In the past, backpay for furloughed employees was not guaranteed, though Congress could and did act to ensure those workers were compensated for lost wages once a shutdown ended. Now, however, backpay for furloughed workers is automatically guaranteed as a result of legislation led by Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, that was enacted in 2019. Employees deemed “essential” and required to work were already guaranteed backpay after a shutdown prior to the passage of that legislation.

And federal employees aren’t the only ones who can feel the effects of a shutdown.

During past shutdowns, national parks have become a major focal point of attention. Although National Park Service sites across the country have been closed during previous government shutdowns, many remained open but severely understaffed under the Trump administration during a shutdown in 2019. Some park sites operated for weeks without park service-provided visitor services such as restrooms, trash collection, facilities or road maintenance.

The last federal government shutdown was the longest in more than 40 years

There have been 20 gaps in federal funding since 1976. Most have occurred under a divided government — when the White House, House and Senate are not controlled by a singular party — like the current breakdown in DC.

“If you’re a government worker, it’s highly disruptive – whether you’re not going to work or whether you are,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. “If you’re somebody who wants to use one of the services that you can’t get access to … it’s highly disruptive. But for many people … all the things that they are expecting and used to seeing of government are still happening and the inconveniences and the kind of wasted time and wasted resources aren’t things that they see and feel directly.”

Why the US could be headed for a shutdown

There is a deep divide between the House and Senate right now over the effort to reach consensus on and pass full-year spending legislation as House conservative hardliners push for deep spending cuts and controversial policy add-ons that Democrats as well as some Republicans have rejected as too extreme.

With the funding deadline looming, top lawmakers from both parties hope to pass a short-term funding extension known on Capitol Hill as a continuing resolution or CR for short. These short-term measures are frequently used as a stopgap solution to avert a shutdown and buy more time to try to reach a broader full-year funding deal.

It’s not clear, however, whether there will be enough consensus to pass even a short-term funding bill out of both chambers before the end of the month as House conservatives rail against the possibility of a stopgap bill and have threatened to vote against one while demanding major policy concessions that have no chance of passing the Senate.

A fight over aid to Ukraine could also take center stage and further complicate efforts to pass a short-term bill.

Senate Democrats and Republicans strongly support additional aid to Ukraine, which could be included as part of a stopgap bill, but many House Republicans are reluctant to continue sending aid and do not want to see that attached to a short-term funding bill.

What has the White House said about a shutdown?

The White House issued a stark warning this week that a shutdown could threaten crucial federal programs.

In its warning, the White House estimated 10,000 children would lose access to Head Start programs across the country as the Department of Health and Human Services is prevented from awarding grants during a shutdown, while air traffic controllers and TSA officers would have to work without pay, threatening travel delays across the country. A shutdown would also delay food safety inspections under the Food and Drug Administration.

“These consequences are real and avoidable – but only if House Republicans stop playing political games with peoples’ lives and catering to the ideological demands of their most extreme, far-right members,” the White House said.

Source : CNN

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In our introductory remarks, we revisited the “European Union is in the Arctic” statement from the EU’s 2021 Joint Communication on A stronger EU engagement for a peaceful, sustainable and prosperous Arctic. If the EU is indeed in the Arctic, how have various Arctic stake- and rights-holders – from Member States to Indigenous communities – perceived the Union’s Arctic engagement over the past 15 years? With our Series on the European Union’s Arctic Policy – From a Stakeholder Perspective, we wanted to contribute to a better understanding of the EU’s Arcticness by exploring the interlinkages between the EU’s Arctic policy and actions, and the views, ideas and approaches of EU Member States and other stake- and rights-holders.

A policy in the constant process of making

As of today, there seems to appear to be an ongoing perception that the EU’s Arctic policy continues to be troubled by fragmentation and a lack of comprehensive knowledge basis for decision-making among European policy-makers. This does not necessarily refer to the policy itself but rather to the broader spectrum of EU legislative and funding initiatives that affect the Arctic regions on a broader level. The EU has certainly made much progress in that respect over the past 15 years, regularly commissioning reports supporting its policymaking, engaging stake- and right-holders and the research community in programming development and territorial cooperation funding and in science prioritization. One proposal in our series aimed at further addressing these policy-making challenges to introduce greater systems thinking and apply related analytical tools towards designing a more coherent EU presence in the Arctic. Some contributors also proposed to engage with Arctic Indigenous Peoples in a long-term process of co-production of knowledge that underlies EU Arctic policy-making.

Engaging Arctic Indigenous Peoples

The interactions with Indigenous Peoples and especially the Sámi have been in fact one of the features of the EU’s Arctic policy for over a decade. The position of the Sámi in the EU’s policy-making both in general and specifically in the context of the Arctic policy is, however, a peculiar one. The EU has developed a comprehensive approach to Indigenous Peoples’ rights and interests in its development cooperation with the Global South. This comprehensive approach, however, is not reflected in the EU’s internal actions and policies.

At present, one of the greatest challenges for the EU-Sami relations is the pursuit of low carbon transition, which requires the expansion of renewable energy production and increased extraction of critical minerals. Within Europe, northern Fennoscandia is likely to be one of the focus areas for these developments. The expansion of these green industries can contribute to regional development but also affects the traditional livelihoods of the Sámi and other forms of land use in the region. The EU is not responsible for permitting processes and local economic planning, but drives developments via its policies and funding. EU institutions could therefore contribute to establishing a framework for green growth that respects the rights of Indigenous Peoples and advances genuine participatory processes, including the possibility to abandon projects that cannot be reconciled with critical values and human rights. Here, authors proposed that the EU’s internal policy on Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including the principle of free, prior and informed consent has to be a part of the solution.

Supporting or competing with Member States?

Ever since the Commission’s first Communication on Arctic matters from 2008, various Member States – both Arctic and non-Arctic – have also presented, articulated and communicated their Arctic ideas. Our series revealed that while there is an interest by some Member States for a stronger role at the EU level in selected areas (research programmes and funding, sustainable regional development, and fisheries), discrepancies nevertheless remain between the Union’s Arctic policy itself and the various regional approaches by regionally-interested Member States.

From a Finnish perspective, the EU should adopt a more elaborate and targeted approach towards Finland and the European Arctic if the Union wants to effectively address the complex challenges posed by the Arctic environment, mitigate potential risks and externalities, and enhance its preparedness for geopolitical developments. This is especially salient due to Finland’s political setting as Russia’s Arctic neighbor, which was affected by the war on Ukraine, the changed geopolitical situation in northern Europe, as well as by the fallout of crumbling Russia-West relations on the Finnish economy and on cross-border interactions. This means, among others, adjusting investment priorities, repurposing funding programmes, and considering the Finnish-Russian frontier from the perspective of the EU and Europe as a whole, including in carrying out strategic foresight efforts.

Science diplomacy and the role of scientific advice in Arctic policymaking was key to our Series’ contribution on Italian Arctic dilemmas. Here, the author suggested that if Italy aims to pursue its goals in the Arctic in unisono with the European Union, the country needs to adjust its environmental goals for the region, or better justify its regional position in terms of the future use of Arctic resources.

The Estonian policy towards the Arctic is in the process of elaboration and the country eyes involvement in the work of the Arctic Council, although the war in Ukraine has removed the opportunities for accepting new observers far into the future. The distinct feature of Estonia’s approach to the EU’s Arctic engagement is the emphasis on the possible EU Arctic policy contributions to enhancing political and environmental security of Europe and Baltic region in relation to the developments taking place in the Arctic.

Dealing with the Russian Federation

The relationship with Russia has always played a central role in the EU’s thinking about the Arctic (albeit not necessarily emphasized prominently in the Union’s Arctic policy statements), even if cooperation venues have been limited when compared to interactions with other Arctic states and stakeholders across the European Arctic. Currently, even these relatively limited cooperation venues have collapsed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As such, Russian partners have been shut out of the Northern Dimension and the EU’s cross-border projects. However, the Arctic can still be seen as one of those policy areas where Russia and the EU could start to work together again, if and when the war in Ukraine and mutual sanctions arrive at some kind of resolution.

What’s next on the EU’s Arctic agenda?

In the coming years, the EU’s presence and activities in the Arctic, as well as its related engagement with Arctic policy-makers, stake- and rights-holders can be expected to be driven by several factors. First, the ongoing war in Ukraine will affect Arctic cooperation and the economic and political developments in the region. While the Arctic Council work has resumed in a very limited format (with the capability of this format to deliver any concrete outputs being unknown), Russia has just recently left the Barents Euro-Arctic Council. Formal scientific cooperation remains all but frozen. The accession of Finland and soon possibly Sweden to NATO and the stronger involvement of the EU in defense policy is bound to create additional challenges for future cooperation. A second factor concerns the question of the progression of European Green Deal policies on the Union’s Arctic engagement. Increased focus on green transition investments can easily fuel tensions linked to renewable energy and mining industries, affecting various Arctic actors’ perceptions of the EU as a regional stakeholder. Third, after the 2024 European Parliament elections, we will see a new political set-up in EUrope, with a new European Commission potentially adopting a different list of priorities. As such, the EU is also bracing for a possible new wave of populist resurgence in several Member States, with hard to forecast implications for the EU’s presence in the Arctic in the long-term. In addition, the 2024 US presidential elections and the federal elections in Canada (taking place the latest in October 2025) may affect the EU’s relations with the two key Arctic partners as well. Fourth, it is difficult to envisage that EU Member States become opposed to the EU’s Arctic engagement or the EU’s investments in Arctic objectives. However, the level of investment will be affected by the more general discussions and Member States governments’ positions on the EU’s budget and programmes. The discussion – which has already started – on the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework after 2027 will show whether a European Union that is facing multiple crises, can retain its current level of interest and involvement in Arctic affairs. Finally, the 2021 Joint Communication highlighted the need for the EU to develop stronger strategic foresight related to Arctic developments, especially in relation to the high pace of climate change in the region. Considering the discussed multiple drivers and the high level of uncertainty, the ability and willingness to engage and take account of such strategic foresight has become more important than ever before.

Source : The Arctic Institute

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