Month: November 2022

 

Luanda – Angolan Head of StateJoão Lourenço on Wednesday said the latest events taking place on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda are worrying.

Speaking at the Meeting of the African Union (AU) Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government held by video-conference, the Angolan President said the tension worries the neighbouring countries and the continent.

To keep open the door of dialogue, President João Lourenço informed that he has sent to Kinshasa (DRC) and Kigali (Rwanda) the Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António.

The Angolan president added that the ambassador Téte António met with the two heads of state and that the “The situation is indeed quite tense,” stressed the Angolan statesman, who advises dialogue to lower the tension.

“The parties must dialogue,” insisted President João Lourenço, who recognised, however, that there is no environment, at this moment, for the two parties to dialogue at the level of Heads of State.

The Angolan president explained that an agreement has been reached for the DRC and Rwanda intelligence services to meet Saturday in the Angolan capital, Luanda.

“The intention is for the parties to assess, from a technical point of view, what is really happening on the ground. We are also going to meet, in Luanda, the foreign ministers of the two countries, also next Saturday, “the Angolan statesman said.

The Angolan President also expressed satisfaction with the fact that Kenya “has taken another step towards the solution to this conflict that put two brotherly countries on opposite sides.

João Lourenço called for joint efforts to put an end to the growing tension that has been verified in the last weeks between the two countries.

In his speech, the Angolan Head of State said he is aware that the Rwandan ambassador to the DRC has been expelled by the authorities in Kinshasa.

After regretting the situation, Lourenço said that the DRC is “very sorry” with what is happening in its territory, having urged the two countries to exercise maximum restraint in the measures they intend to take.

“The door for dialogue must always be open at all levels (intelligence services, military, diplomacy and the heads of state themselves),” the Angolan president said.

Angola chairs the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), a geographic bloc to which Democratic Congo belongs.

Angolan Head of State mandated by the African Union to mediate the conflict, has multiplied the initiatives to reach peace.

The rising tension between neighboring DRC and Rwanda, countries of the Great Lakes, led the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo to travel to Angola at the beginning of June.

The tension between DRC and Rwanda has grown in recent months after fighting resumed in March between the DRC’s army and the M23 movement, which according to the Kinshasa authorities is supported by the neighboring country.

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

Luanda – Angolan president João Lourenço attended Wednesday the virtual meeting of the African Union (AU) Bureau of Assembly, the President’s Press Office said in a statement.

The meeting, under the guidance of the Acting AU chairperson, the Senegalese Head of State, Macky Sall, analysed the common positions in relation to the meeting on Environment “COP 27” and the United States-Africa Summit.

The COP 27 takes place from November 6 to 18 in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt), while the United States-Africa takes place in Washington DC from December 13 to 15.

Members of the Bureau of the Assembly of the African Union discussed the positions they should take towards some issues, including about Africa’s vision in relation to the future of the planet and the model of cooperation between the continent and the United States of America, the statement said.

The statement adds that the meeting also served to discuss the theme on “Security in the Democratic Republic of Congo”.

President Lourenço provided information on the steps related to the tension on the eastern border of the DRC and the next steps to be taken.

The Acting Chairperson of the African Union, Macky Sall, in his turn, encouraged the Angolan Head of State to continue the mediation efforts so that peace and stability reign again in the relations between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the neighboring Rwanda.

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

Luanda – Petro de Luanda beat Interclube on Wednesday by 2-1 in an anticipated match of the 14th round to take the lead of the national first division football championship “Girabola2022-23″with 15 points, relegating the then leader, Wiliete to second position with 14.

Petro de Luanda’s goals were scored by Depu at minute 75 and Tiago Azulão at 83, while Calebi scored the consolation goal for Interclube at minute 42 remaining in the 5th position with 11 pts.

Petro suffered until the last minutes to secure the victory and bounce back from the 1-0 defeat against Recreativo do Libolo

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

 

Europe has warmed more than twice as much as the rest of the world over the past three decades and has experienced the greatest temperature increase of any continent, according to a report by the World Meteorological Organization.

The report on the state of the climate in Europe follows a summer of extremes. A record-breaking heat wave scorched Britain, Alpine glaciers vanished at an unprecedented rate and a long-lasting marine heat wave cooked the waters of the Mediterranean.

“Europe presents a live picture of a warming world and reminds us that even well-prepared societies are not safe from impacts of extreme weather events,” WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas said in a statement.

From 1991 to 2021, temperatures over Europe warmed at an average of 0.5 degree Celsius per decade, the report said, while the global average was just 0.2 degree C.

Last year, extreme weather events made worse by climate change — chiefly floods and storms — caused more than $50 billion worth of damage in Europe.

The reason Europe is warming faster than other continents has to do with the fact that a large part of the continent is in the sub-Arctic and Arctic — the fastest-warming region on Earth — as well as changes in climate feedbacks, scientists said.

For example, fewer clouds over Europe during the summer has meant that more sunlight and heat now reaches the continent, said Freja Vamborg, senior scientist with the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Some scientists have called Europe a “heat wave hot spot” as the number of heat waves on the continent has increased faster than in other regions because of changes in atmospheric circulation.

Although temperatures are rising, the European Union has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 31% between 1990 and 2020, the report said, and it aims to slash emissions by 55% by 2030.

On November 6, delegates will arrive in Egypt for COP27, the annual U.N. climate summit.

French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are expected to attend. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision not to attend the COP27 climate summit is being kept under review, his spokesman said Monday.

 

Source: Voice of America

 

A landmark deal to allow grain exports from Ukraine, which was back on track Wednesday after being briefly suspended, has played a crucial role in easing a global food crisis sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and signed by Moscow and Kyiv on July 22, the agreement established a protected sea corridor to allow grain shipments to resume for the first time since the fighting began in February

Here is what we know about the deal, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative:

Why was it needed?

When Russian troops attacked in late February, Moscow imposed a blockade on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, halting all agricultural exports from one of the world’s breadbaskets.

The move left 20 million metric tons of grain stranded in Ukraine’s ports, causing food prices to surge worldwide.

Before the war, up to 90% of Ukraine’s wheat, corn and sunflower exports were transported by sea, mostly from Odesa, with many developing countries relying heavily on Kyiv for grain.

Agricultural commodity prices were high before the war because of the post-COVID-19 economic recovery, but the conflict pushed the price of grains such as wheat and corn to levels unsustainable for countries dependent on their import, such as Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia.

What does the deal cover?

The deal ensures the safe export of grain, foodstuffs and fertilizers, including ammonia, from three Black Sea ports in southwestern Ukraine: Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi.

The first grain ship to leave under the U.N.-backed deal set sail on August 1.

According to U.N. figures as of November 1, a total of 9.7 million metric tons of grain and other agricultural products have been transported in the first three months of the initiative, the vast majority involving wheat and corn.

Valid for 120 days, the agreement is up for renewal on November 19 in a process that can be done automatically without further negotiations.

The U.N. says extending the deal is crucial for global food security and is pushing for it to be renewed for one year.

Although the initiative is working well, shipments are about 40-50% lower than what they were before Russia’s invasion, the U.N. says.

How does it work?

According to the U.N.’s website, the agreement establishes a safe corridor between the three Ukrainian ports and an area in Turkish waters where the vessels are inspected before being allowed to continue their journey.

To monitor the agreement, a joint command and control center was set up in Istanbul to oversee smooth operations and resolve disputes.

Known as the Joint Coordination Center (JCC), the JCC has four teams of eight inspectors — two each from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N.

These teams inspect outbound vessels carrying grain at the Turkish inspection area to ensure all merchandise is approved.

The teams also examine empty ships returning to Ukraine to ensure they are not carrying any weapons or other unauthorized goods or people.

Safe passage

The deal establishes a buffer zone of 10 nautical miles around each vessel traveling along the corridor with no military ships, equipment or drones allowed within that radius.

All ship movements logged by the JCC are transmitted to the relevant military authorities to prevent any incidents, with any violations or threats to be handled by the JCC.

At the start of the war, Ukraine mined its main Black Sea ports to head off threats of a Russian attack from the sea, but experts said it would take too long to de-mine all these areas.

The deal allows Ukrainians to guide the ships along safe routes that avoid known mine fields and into and out of its territorial waters.

Deal briefly suspended

On October 29, Russia said it was suspending its participation in the deal, accusing Ukraine of using the shipping corridor to launch a drone attack on its Black Sea fleet in Crimea’s Sevastopol port.

After a call between the Russian and Turkish defense ministers, the deal resumed operation at 0900 GMT on November 2 with Moscow saying it had received written guarantees from Kyiv ensuring the corridor would not be used for attacking Russian forces.

 

 

Source: Voice of America