International

Palestine exposes Western hypocrisy – Bayo Onanuga

Published

7 months ago

October 10, 2023

Palestine exposes Western hypocrisy – Bayo Onanuga

The Israeli-Gaza war has exposed Western nations for what they are: incurable hypocrites. The same people that support Ukraine in its fight to drive away Russian aggressors and occupiers, fail to see the justification for the long abused, oppressed Palestinians to also stand up and free their land from Israeli occupiers, who treat them as sub-humans. Israel this year before the outbreak of war last Saturday had killed over 200 Palestinians.

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Israel keeps defying the UN with impunity as it continues to build more homes in areas that belong to Palestine. The whole world knows before the latest eruption that Gaza is an open air prison for its two million population.

Instead of Western nations to join the reasonable call for peace and justice in the never ending conflict, they have chosen to support Israel. The greatest surprise is Ukraine, which is fighting Russia. It also supports Israel.

The West labels Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorists, the way they labelled ANC, MPLA and other African liberating groups. Dear Western nations, Hamas and Hezbollah are fighting right causes. They are fighting for freedom. They are not terror groups. Listen to them and do justice, instead of backing their oppressors. It’s time for the implementation of the 2-state solution to the perennial conflict.

Palestine exposes Western hypocrisy – Bayo Onanuga

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International

Binance runs into trouble in Canada, fined $4.38m

Published

4 mins ago

May 11, 2024

Trends Admin

Binance runs into trouble in Canada, fined $4.38m

Canada’s financial watchdog, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC), has imposed a $6 million fine on Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency platform, for breaching the nation’s laws on money laundering and terrorist financing.

The penalty, valued in Canadian dollars, translates to approximately $4.38 million USD.

In a recent statement, FINTRAC revealed that Binance failed to register as a foreign money services business and neglected to report large virtual currency transactions exceeding $10,000, as required by law.

Sarah Paquet, director and CEO of FINTRAC, emphasized the importance of upholding Canada’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regulations to safeguard the nation’s economy and citizens.

Paquet affirmed FINTRAC’s commitment to assisting businesses in understanding and fulfilling their obligations under the law while maintaining a firm stance on enforcement when necessary.

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Binance, known as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has faced regulatory scrutiny globally. Founder Changpeng Zhao recently received a four-month prison sentence in the United States for money laundering, unlicensed money transmission, and other violations related to transactions supporting terrorism, drug trafficking, and child exploitation.

In a separate case in the US, Binance agreed to a plea deal requiring the payment of over $4.3 billion in fines and restitution.

Additionally, the company is under investigation in Nigeria for alleged tax evasion, money laundering, and illicit foreign exchange rate manipulation.

Two senior Binance officials in Nigeria, Nadeem Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambaryan, faced charges related to these accusations, with Anjarwalla escaping custody in March after being arrested in February.

Binance runs into trouble in Canada, fined $4.38m

International

US says Israel may have breached international law with American weapons in Gaza

Published

7 hours ago

May 11, 2024

Trends Admin

The US has grown increasingly concerned over mounting civilian deaths in Gaza

US says Israel may have breached international law with American weapons in Gaza

The US says Israel may have used American-supplied weapons in breach of international humanitarian law in some instances during the war in Gaza.

It is “reasonable to assess” that those arms have been used in ways “inconsistent” with Israel’s obligations, says the state department.

But it added that the US did not have complete information in its assessment and that shipments could continue.

The report was submitted to Congress on Friday after a delay.

The White House-ordered review looked into how the country, along with six others engaged in conflict, has used US-supplied arms since the start of last year.

While the report was a clear rebuke of some Israeli operations in Gaza, it stopped short of definitively saying that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign had breached international law.

Israel had had to confront an “extraordinary military challenge” fighting Hamas in Gaza, it said.

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And it added that assurances it had received from Israel about adhering to the legal use of US weapons were “credible and reliable”.

The document also noted that because Hamas “uses civilian infrastructure for military purposes and civilians as human shields”, it was often “difficult to determine facts on the ground in an active war zone” of what are legitimate targets.

But it said that given Israel’s significant reliance on US-made weapons, they had probably been used “in instances inconsistent with its IHL [international humanitarian law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm”.

It added that “Israel has the knowledge, experience, and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations”, but that “results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the IDF is using them effectively in all cases”.

The report said the UN and humanitarian organisations had described Israeli efforts to mitigate civilian harm as “inconsistent, ineffective and inadequate”.

The state department found that Israel did not fully co-operate with US efforts to “maximise” humanitarian aid into Gaza in the initial months of the conflict. It said, however, that this situation had changed.

“We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance,” the report said.

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One of the contributors to the report, David Satterfield, a former US ambassador to Turkey, told the BBC that the report was the first of its kind and that the US would continue to keep Israeli actions “under review”.

“This is a conflict quite unlike any that the world has seen,” he added. “We tried to take account of all those factors in coming up with a very frank, but also credible judgement.”

The report was finally released days after US President Joe Biden publicly threatened to withhold certain bombs and artillery shells from Israel if it went ahead with an assault on Rafah, the last stronghold of Hamas in Gaza that is packed with more than a million Palestinians.

Shortly before the report’s publication, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed President Biden’s warnings that the operation in Rafah would cross a “red line” and vowed that Israel would “stand alone” if necessary.

More than 80,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday, the UN says, with Israeli tanks reportedly massed close to built-up areas amid constant bombardment.

Israeli troops took control and closed the Rafah crossing with Egypt at the start of their operation, while the UN said it was too dangerous for its staff and lorries to reach the reopened Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 252 others were taken hostage. More than 34,900 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

US says Israel may have breached international law with American weapons in Gaza

BBC

International

United States applauds Tinubu govt monetary policies

Published

23 hours ago

May 10, 2024

Trends Admin

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, State Department, Joy Basu

United States applauds Tinubu govt monetary policies

The United States government has lauded Nigeria’s monetary policies, being conducive for businesses to thrive, as well as strengthening and positioning the nation’s economy for overall growth.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, State Department, Joy Basu, made this known at a digital news conference with some selected select journalists in Abuja.

Basu said that the U.S. was committed to fostering its collaboration with Nigeria to tackle myriad pressing issues and obstacles, which Nigeria, being Africa’s largest economy, was facing.

The envoy said her country was working closely with the U.S. Treasury, the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government and African central banks towards ensuring public and private sector economic restoration, stability and prosperity across Africa.

Speaking against the backdrop of the recently concluded 16th U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Dallas, Texas, Basu said the U.S. was also working on curbing Africa’s security, infrastructure and energy challenges.

“We just came back from a meeting in Abuja, which was between the Secretaries of State and the United States is committed to being a good partner of prospect.

“We have made commitments to work on the security situation, infrastructure and energy, which is a common challenge not only in Nigeria but in some other countries in the continent.

“We have made concrete commitments to work on an enabling business environment in Nigeria and to make sure that American companies that are investing in Nigeria are having a transparent experience.

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“We are working closely with our U.S. treasury, and with the central banks of African countries, particularly Nigeria and the World Bank, to restore the economy, help the people and ensure public and private companies to thrive,” she said.

Reta Lewis, President, U.S. Export-Import Bank, in her remarks, highlighted U.S. efforts towards bolstering trade and investment across Africa, and emphasised the importance of transparency and accountability in fostering stronger U.S.-Africa partnerships.

She disclosed that the U.S. government had earmarked $900 billion for the construction of solar power plants in Africa, being the largest renewable energy project and transaction this year.

Lewis announced that Eximbank had approved over 1.6 billion dollars for the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in sub-Saharan Africa and signed MoUs with six African governments and institutions.

She added that the U.S. government signed 1.3 billion dollars MoUs with Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation and Nigeria’s Bank of Industry, saying such interventions aimed to stimulate competition and foster economic growth.

“We are prepared to work with African countries and stakeholders from these MoUs to partner and foster competition, 88.5 per cent of the transactions that Exim does on a yearly basis is in small businesses.

“We feel small businesses are going to be part of the work we do, not only in the U.S. but in Africa,” she said.

Lewis urged participating journalists to always highlight the positive strides being made by U.S. to support businesses and bolster economic growth in Africa against the backdrop of the continent’s prevailing challenges.

Also speaking, Alice Albright, CEO, Millennium Challenge Corporation, said that out of 17 billion dollars, which the U.S. had invested in Africa, about 10 billion dollars was allocated to infrastructure projects.