Tag Archives: caribbean

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SV&G: Vincy Mas Returns in March

CNW- Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says “Vincy Mas” will return to St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ cultural calendar in March this year. But he cautioned that the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination rate would determine the festival’s size.

“It was decided clearly that we will have Carnival this year,” Gonsalves said on a radio program on Sunday. He told listeners that health authorities will ramp up their vaccination effort over the next two months, with the hope of vaccinating 70 percent of the 80,000 people who are 12 years and older.

As of Sunday, health authorities have administered 63,669 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

The country’s government paused Vincy Mas for the past two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. Gonsalves says the decision to hold the festival this year was made at Cabinet last Wednesday, after a two-hour discussion with the Carnival Development Corporation (CDC).

The people need Vincy Mas to ‘release’

He said that there are three primary functions of Carnival. Vincy Mas is a mass cultural event that showcases talent in mas, calypso, pan, and other areas and is an economic activity.

“Every society needs occasions when you have a release. It’s a catharsis. You’re doing work all the time, and you have to have something which you let off your energy; you release it. There are all sorts of events. You do that with sports. You do it with cultural events.”

Carnival, he said, is one such activity, with thousands of people involved “and those who don’t come out, enjoy it at home and increasingly, on various internet platforms. And the public sector and the private sector are very much engaged.”

Prime Minister Gonsalves noted that in addition to the pandemic, St. Vincent and the Grenadines had been affected by the explosive eruption of the La Soufriere volcano and the impact of Hurricane Elsa last year.

“It has been a difficult time for our nation. And in addition to the cultural dimension, and in addition to the economic, there is a need for some kind of collective relief. At least so we think in Cabinet. I’d be interested to hear what people think about this,” Gonsalves said. he added that the CDC’s proposal was “reasonable” and took into account the existing COVID-19 protocols and levels of vaccination.

Gonsalves ramping up a bigger COVID-19 vaccination campaign 

“So naturally, I raised the question what kind of carnival would we have if we go for 70 percent vaccination by the end of March.

“So we try and do that in February and March — we do an all-out bigger campaign than ever. This is not just a question of getting the vaccine rate up, that’s one thing, but really we need something bigger than this slimmed-down version of Carnival,” Gonsalves said, adding that linking the size of Vincy Mas to the vaccination levels is not an opportunistic move.

“This is something which is strategic, both in terms of health, and for us, as a people to have this release after this tremendous strain and pressure and part of our quest to repair — fresh hope in life and living and for us to feel better,” he said.

Prime Minister Gonsalves said that Cabinet had asked the CDC to provide data as the government might not know until April “whether we’re going to have something big, or something scaled down.”

He said some Carnival makers might begin planning, and, for example, mas bands wanting to compete in the King and Queen of the Band competition may wish to start making their costumes.

Mas bands may have skepticism, but Gonsalves is confident

He said some mas bands might be cynical about whether the government will reach the vaccination target.

“Well, I want to know, what the sums involved are if we have to provide reimbursement in whole and substantial part for work which people do in the artistic, creative field, in the months of February and March, or even into April, which they may not be able to use if the format is more constrained.

“You have to do these things simultaneously. And you have to hope that the best results come in each and every little thing that you’re doing towards this grand goal of a pretty normal Carnival,” he added.

CMC

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WORLD VIEW: US in Syria Attack, Putin Goes to China, EU Hesitant on Ukraine, China Covid Olympics, US Nurse Shortage, More

Feb 03, 2022

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The Rundown

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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. special operations forces conducted a large-scale counterterrorism raid in northwestern Syria overnight Thursday, in what the Pentagon said was a “successful mission.” “The mission was successful,” Pentagon press secretary John…Read More

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MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is heading to Beijing amid the soaring tensions over Ukraine on a trip intended to help strengthen Moscow’s ties with China and coordinate their policies in the face of Western pressure. …Read More

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SAINT-SYMPHORIEN, Belgium (AP) — Scarred by losing tens of millions of lives on their soil in two world wars, many European Union nations have been wary ever since about military spending. Now, as Russian pressure builds at the Ukrainian border, th…Read More

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BEIJING (AP) — Long before the global pandemic upended sports and the world in general, the 2022 Winter Olympics faced unsettling problems. It started with the fact that hardly anybody wanted to host them. …Read More

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MIAMI (AP) — Technology to hide a ship’s location previously available only to the world’s militaries is spreading fast through the global maritime industry as governments from Iran to Venezuela — and the rogue shipping companies they depend on to mo…Read More

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With American hospitals facing a dire shortage of nurses amid a slogging pandemic, many are looking abroad for health care workers. And it could be just in time. There’…Read More

CHICAGO (AP) — A major winter storm with millions of Americans in its path brought a mix of rain, freezing rain and snow to the central U.S. as airlines canceled thousa…Read More

Washington’s NFL team is now known as the Commanders. The new name unveiled Wednesday comes 18 months after the once-storied franchise dropped its old moniker following…Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — A wandering chicken was caught sneaking around a security area at the Pentagon, a local animal welfare organization said. The loose hen was found Mond…Read More

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Dairy Milk the Latest Shortage in Economic Blockaded Cuba

 
Leticia PINEDA

In the early days of communism in Cuba, Fidel Castro had pledged that every child under seven would have a liter of subsidized milk every day.

For some time, they did — but today, many go without.

To circumvent the US embargo against Cuba and lagging domestic production, milk has to come from the other side of the world in an obstacle race that deprives many on the island of the staple.

Regla Caridad Zayas, a 59-year-old diabetic, said the milk powder that the Cuban state supplies monthly to her and others with special dietary needs dried up months ago.

She is supposed to get a kilo of powder, which makes 10 liters (2.6 gallons) of milk, every month.

Sitting at a rickety table from which she sells coffee outside her house, Zayas said the bodegas, or subsidized food stores, no longer carry the commodity.

In the supermarket, it is also nigh impossible to find: milk has become the latest casualty in a long history of chronic food shortages in Cuba, which on Monday marks six decades of US sanctions.

And it will continue to be in short supply in Havana and four other provinces, due to a lack of “financing, boats and suppliers,” Internal Trade Minister Betsy Diaz said in October.

To find milk powder, Cuba looks all the way to New Zealand — its main supplier with 18,470 tons in 2020 — as well as Belgium (6,628 tons) and Uruguay (3,695 tons), according to specialized export and import data site Trade Map.

 

– Containers stuck –

 

Official Cuban data shows that the island produced 455 million kilograms of fresh milk in 2020, far short of what it needs.

According to the PanAmerican Dairy Federation, each person should have access to 150 liters of milk per year — some 1.6 billion liters, and about the same in kilograms, for Cuba’s 11.2 million inhabitants.

The cheapest and easiest would be to get the milk from the United States — one of the world’s largest exporters and less than 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Cuba’s coastline.

Since 2000, food products have been excluded from the US embargo on trade with Havana. But Cuba must pay cash and in advance — onerous conditions for a country in deep economic crisis, with little foreign exchange and no access to loans.

Getting products from the other side of the planet is not easy, either: more than 10,000 containers of food and other products were stuck last month in ports around the world due to pandemic supply chain issues, the government said.

For decades, revolutionary leader-turned-president Fidel Castro made a point of supplying cheap, subsidized milk to all children under the age of seven and people with chronic diseases.

His brother and successor Raul proposed in 2007 to go even further by “producing milk so that all those who want to drink a glass of milk can do it.”

But today, even the guaranteed monthly ration of three kilos of powdered milk for children is running out. For other recipients such as Zayas, there is none.

 

– Milk was ‘sacrosanct’ –

 

“Truly, everything is disappearing,” said Claudia Coronado, a 29-year-old mother of two children aged three and seven, while standing in one of Havana’s ubiquitous food queues.

“We were used to not having chicken for a month, but milk, that was always sacrosanct.”

“I have a daughter of eight, she’s no longer getting milk,” said Jenny Mora, 29, who said she often has no choice but to turn to the black market and pay exorbitant prices.

The store outside of which the two women are queuing only accepts foreign currency — itself also only available on the parallel market.

A sachet of one kilogram (two pounds) of milk powder costs $6.30 — a fortune in a country where the average monthly salary is $163.

Economist Omar Everleny Perez said that without government help, it was more profitable for farmers to sell their product on the black market.

 

– Lean cow, low yield –

 

Farmer Domingo Diaz, 79, blames the US embargo for “about 90 percent” of the milk shortage.

He blames the communist government for the rest.

Though it raised the purchase price to help producers, the government did nothing to secure access to cow feed, he said.

Undernourished, the animals produce very little.

“The milk problem affects everyone, it drives me mad, too,” said Diaz, as he tried to squeeze milk from a lean beast.

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Canadian Police Warn of Gun Violence at Vaccine Mandate Trucker Protest

By and

OTTAWA, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Police in Ottawa see signs that guns have been brought into a truckers’ protest against vaccine mandates that has paralyzed the Canadian capital, the police chief said on Wednesday, adding that calling in the military would pose major risks.

“We have had an indication around firearms coming into this jurisdiction as part of this demonstration as much as a week and a half ago,” Chief Peter Sloly told a briefing.

He said there was evidence of “a significant element from the United States in the funding and organizing” of the protest.

Dozens of truck drivers protesting about COVID-19 vaccine mandates have blocked central routes in the city for six days. Residents have been getting angrier at perceived inaction by the police, who have largely stood to one side.

The protesters say they have no intention of leaving until the government scraps the vaccine mandates.

Police have declined to end the protest, citing the risk of aggravating tensions. They say they are investigating reports of criminal offences, including hate crimes and desecration of public property, and have made three arrests so far.

“We’re looking at every single option, including military aid,” Sloly said. “Mixing them into a population in the downtown core in a highly volatile demonstration … may mitigate some risks and may create and escalate a whole bunch of other risks.”

The demonstration began as a move to force the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to drop a vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers. It has since turned into a more populist anti-Trudeau movement.

Trudeau on Monday said Canadians were disgusted by the behavior of some protesters and vowed not to be intimidated.

The inaction of police – some of whom have posed for selfies with demonstrators – contrasts with more robust action by authorities in the western province of Alberta.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Tuesday moved in on truckers blockading the U.S. border at the town of Coutts but pulled back after clashes with some drivers.

Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Mark Porter and David Gregorio

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Mexican State Security Chief a=Arrested on Torture Charges

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MEXICO CITY, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Mexican federal agents arrested on Wednesday the security chief of the central state of Aguascalientes on charges of torture, the attorney general’s office told Reuters.

The state government, which is ruled by the PAN opposition party, confirmed the arrest of Porfirio Javier Sanchez, pledging in a statement “full cooperation” with federal authorities.

The attorney general’s office gave no detail about the torture charges.

Sanchez has served as Aguascalientes’ secretary of security since 2018.

Previously, he worked in the now-defunct Federal Police and has ties to Mexico’s former Security Chief Genaro Garcia Luna, who is in detention in the United States facing charges linked to a multi-million-dollar bribery scheme allegedly designed to benefit the Sinaloa drug cartel.

Reuters did not have any information about any legal representative for Sanchez.

Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City, additional reporting by Dave Graham, writing by Laura Gottesdiener, editing by Robert Birsel

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Bob Marley’s Daughter & Grandson Open London Exhibition on Reggae Star

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LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Bob Marley’s daughter and grandson visited an exhibition that opened in London telling the life story of the late Jamaican reggae singer.

The “One Love Experience”, at London’s Saatchi Gallery for the next 10 weeks before heading on a multi-city tour, features memorabilia, photographs and personal items. These range from the original handwritten lyrics of “Turn Your Lights Down Low” to shoes Marley wore in the 1970s.

Born in 1945 in the rural Jamaican town of Nine Mile, Marley became a global superstar with hits such as “No Woman, No Cry” and “One Love”. He died of melanoma cancer in 1981 aged 36.

“The hope is to take the feeling of Bob Marley and the spirit of One Love,” said curator Jonathan Shank.

Marley’s daughter Cedella, who helped curate the exhibition, said she was pleased with the interactivity, particularly in the room dedicated to Marley’s sport interests.

“Really beautiful pictures of daddy playing football,” she said. “It’s very sensory. That was the aim and I think we have done it.”

Cedella used her visit to London to go to her father’s 1970s home at nearby Oakley Street in Chelsea, where he stayed while recording music.

“I have never been there before, so it was my first time,” she said. “Daddy used to live in that place … And I can see why because the park is just across the street, so he could play football and just go back to jamming.”

Marley’s 18-year-old grandson Saiyan said London must have been special to Marley as he chose there to get away after an assassination attempt.

“I feel like every year I just learn something new about him,” Saiyan told Reuters.

“I just want to carry his legacy, and hold it down for gramps, you know.”

Reporting by Edward Baran; Editing by Karishma Singh and Cynthia Osterman

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Havana Syndrome May Be Caused By ‘Directed Energy’

By Gordon Corera
Security correspondent

BBC

Directed energy “plausibly explains” some of the cases of the mysterious “Havana Syndrome” illness, a new US intelligence community report says.

There has been a contentious debate over whether symptoms afflicting US staff around the world were caused by some kind of device or were psychological in nature.

The latest report from a US intelligence community panel of experts says the symptoms are “genuine and compelling” and could in some cases have been caused by a concealed device.

But the panel does not look at who might be responsible.

Beginning in Havana, Cuba in 2016, US intelligence officers and diplomats began complaining of an array of unusual symptoms. At first, the claims were largely dismissed within government.

But in the last year, they have been taken more seriously with US officials encouraged to report similar symptoms. That has led to a flood of cases, numbering at least a thousand from around the world.

A January CIA study found no evidence of a widespread campaign by a foreign state and said many cases could be explained by natural causes or stress. However, it acknowledged that a small number, thought to be around two dozen, remained unexplained.

This new study examined more than 1,000 classified documents and interviewed witnesses to focus on a group of people suffering a particular set of symptoms (officials will not disclose the exact number).

They concluded that this subset of cases cannot be explained by environmental or medical conditions and could have been caused by some kind of external source or device. “We’ve learned a lot,” said one intelligence official familiar with the work of the panel.

The panel found four “core characteristics” or symptoms – including the sudden onset of sound or pressure in one ear or one side of the head; vertigo, loss of balance and ear pain and a “strong sense of locality or directionality” with no other explanations.

It examined the plausibility of five potential causes: acoustic signals, chemical and biological agents, ionizing radiation, natural and environmental factors, and radiofrequency and other electromagnetic energy and studied whether some kind of concealed device could create the reported symptoms.

The panel found that psychological or social factors could not alone explain the symptoms although they could have compounded some of the problems for those affected. It also found that they could not be explained by environmental or medical conditions.

“Several aspects of this unique neurosensory syndrome make it unlikely to be caused by a functional neurological disorder,” the panel said. That pointed towards an “external stimuli” or source, in the view of the panel.

The study found that pulsed electromagnetic energy, particularly in the radiofrequency range, “plausibly explains” the core characteristics, although it says that there remain gaps in the information.

It says that non-standard antennas could create the effects on the human body. Such a source could be concealed and require only moderate power. It could also travel through the air and through walls of buildings.

A BBC report and documentary in 2021 looked at the potential role of pulsed, directed energy or microwaves in causing the symptoms of Havana Syndrome.

There is no detail in the report of what such a device might be, nor whether the intention was to cause harm or carry out some kind of surveillance. The panel did not look at who might have been behind such activity.

A number of people within the US government believe Russia could be responsible and the issue has been raised in meetings although no conclusive evidence has been discovered to back up the assertion.

The other plausible explanation for the symptoms, the panel says, is some kind of ultrasound although this travels less easily through buildings meaning the source would need to be close to the target.

The panel makes a series of recommendations, including collecting more standardised data, but some including a section on detection technology remain classified.

A joint statement by two of the most senior officials in the US intelligence community vowed to continue the pursuit for the truth, while caring for those affected.

“We will stay at it, with continued rigour, for however long it takes,” said US Director of National Intelligence Avril D Haines and CIA Director William J Burns.

A White House spokesman told the BBC they welcomed the findings of the report.

So how significant is this new report?

This is another major twist in the long-running Havana Syndrome mystery.

The debate over the causes has been fierce and contentious. Last month’s CIA study led many to conclude that perhaps there was less sign of any hostile activity and that the causes were medical or psychological conditions.

That still may be true in the vast majority of cases.

But this panel restores the possibility of some kind of malicious activity back to the agenda by saying that, at least in a specific sub-set of cases, pulsed energy or microwaves are a plausible cause.

That will lead to the question of whether it is due to some kind of surveillance which causes harm or the use of a weapon and, if so, who might be involved.

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Argentina: Adulterated Cocaine Kills 16 in Buenos Aires

BBC- Adulterated cocaine has killed at least 16 people and left 50 in hospitals around the Buenos Aires region of Argentina, the authorities say.

Investigators believe the illegal drug was either laced with some kind of poison or “cut” with another substance.

The regional security minister called on any users who had bought cocaine in the past 24 hours to throw it away.

Reports suggest the drugs were bought in the same shantytown, and nine arrests have been made.

Investigators are awaiting the results of post-mortem examinations to compare drugs seized in raids with those consumed by the victims.

Those affected come from the Hurlingham, Tres de Febrero and San Martín districts of the capital region and were brought to local hospitals.

Outside a hospital in Hurlingham, an empty police car was attacked and damaged by people related to one of the victims, local media reported.

Cocaine (hydrochloride) is a highly addictive stimulant extracted from the leaves of coca plants and is generally snorted.

A 2019 report on drug consumption in the Americas listed Argentina as the country with the third highest rate of cocaine consumption per person after the US and Uruguay.

In San Martín, police identified four of the victims as Hernán Castro, 45, Martín López, 36, Dino Melgarejo, 33, and Fernando Yacante, whose age was not given, the Buenos Aires Times reports.

One user reportedly told police they had bought cocaine off an individual in the Puerta 8 shantytown in Tres de Febrero, and raids were launched.

Cocaine was subsequently found in similar packages to those provided by a relative of one of the people who had died.

Sergio Berni, the security minister for Buenos Aires province, said: “Every dealer that buys cocaine cuts it. Some do it with non-toxic substances such as starch. Others put hallucinogens, and if there is no form of control, those things pass.”

On this occasion, however, the drug was cut with a harmful substance as part of a “war between drug-traffickers”, he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

Authorities suspect the substance used to cut the cocaine contained a strong sedative, the agency adds.

Victims are believed to have suffered convulsions and sudden heart attacks.

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One Doplet Causes Covid, WHO Warns, UK Virus Death Spike, US Army: Get Vaxed or Get Out

Exposure to one nasal droplet enough for Covid infection – study

Trial in which volunteers were given dose of virus is first to monitor people during entire course of infection

Lateral flow test
The study suggests lateral flow tests are a reliable indicator of whether infectious virus is present. Photograph: Jon Santa Cruz/Rex/Shutterstock

Exposure to a single nasal droplet is sufficient to become infected with Covid-19, according to a landmark trial in which healthy volunteers were intentionally given a dose of the virus.

The trial, the first to have monitored people during the entire course of infection, also found that people typically develop symptoms very quickly – on average, within two days of encountering the virus – and are most infectious five days into the infection.

The study was carried out using a strain of the virus before the emergence of the Alpha, Delta and Omicron variants.

The trial’s chief investigator, Prof Christopher Chiu, of Imperial College London, said: “Our study reveals some very interesting clinical insights, particularly around the short incubation period of the virus, extremely high viral shedding from the nose, as well as the utility of lateral flow tests, with potential implications for public health.”

The findings, published on Springer Nature’s pre-print server, and which have not yet been peer-reviewed, detail the outcomes in 36 healthy, young participants with no immunity to the virus. The volunteers were monitored at a specialist unit at the Royal Free hospital in London, and experienced no severe symptoms.

Anne Héloise Dautel
‘Like sewage and rotting flesh’: Covid’s lasting impact on taste and smell

The study found that the infection first appears in the throat and that infectious virus peaks about five days into infection, by which point the nose has a much higher viral load than the throat. The study also suggested that lateral flow tests are a reassuringly reliable indicator of whether infectious virus is present. Swabbing the nose and throat makes it more likely to detect infections during the first few days, the work suggests.

“We found that overall, lateral flow tests correlate very well with the presence of infectious virus,” said Chiu. “Even though in the first day or two they may be less sensitive, if you use them correctly and repeatedly, and act on them if they read positive, this will have a major impact on interrupting viral spread.”

The study also revealed that of the 18 people who became infected, all had similar viral loads regardless of whether they developed symptoms, underlining the role of asymptomatic transmission.

Prof Wendy Barclay, the head of the department of infectious disease at Imperial College London, said: “A lot of people could be walking around shedding virus and not realising. It’s really marked with this virus.”

Intriguingly, some of those who did not meet the threshold for being infected also had very low levels of virus detectable in their noses and throats, suggesting that they may have experienced a very short-lived infection that was seen off by immune activity in the lining of the nose and throat.

The team are expected to publish further findings giving a unique window into the earliest phase of the immune response, during the first hours and days after encountering the virus.

The team say the trial paves the way for future challenge studies that could help accelerate the development of the next generation of vaccines and antiviral drugs. Phase 3 studies have become increasingly difficult to plan due to the erratic levels of transmission in the population. Challenge studies are far quicker and require far fewer participants to establish efficacy.

Prof Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, said: “Scientifically, these studies offer real advantage because the timing of exposure to the virus is always known exactly, therefore things like the interval between exposure and the profile of virus shedding can be accurately described.

“This important study has provided further key data on Covid-19 and how it spreads, which is invaluable in learning more about this novel virus, so we can fine-tune our response.”

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WHO warns nations about lifting restrictions

 

© Getty Images

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned countries against lifting their COVID-19 restrictions, saying the “virus is dangerous, and it continues to evolve before our very eyes.”

“We’re concerned that a narrative has taken hold in some countries that because of vaccines, and because of omicron’s high transmissibility and lower severity, preventing transmission is no longer possible and no longer necessary,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a media briefing on Tuesday.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. More transmission means more disease,” he continued.

Tedros said he did not believe that nations needed to return to lockdowns to curb further spread of the COVID-19 pandemic amid the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant, but he said that nations could not rely on vaccination alone to solve the pandemic.

“It’s premature for any country either to surrender or to declare victory,” he said, noting that the WHO was currently tracking four sub-lineages of the omicron variant alone.

“We call on countries to continue testing, surveillance and sequencing. We can’t fight this virus if we don’t know what it’s doing,” he said. “And we must continue to work to ensure all people have access to vaccines.”

US ARMY TO START DISMISSING UNVACCINATED SOLDIERS

The Army announced on Wednesday that will begin separating soldiers who are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Under a directive issued by Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, commanders will begin involuntary administrative separations for soldiers who have refused to be vaccinated and don’t have a pending or approved exemption request.

“Army readiness depends on Soldiers who are prepared to train, deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars,” Wormuth said in a statement. “Unvaccinated Soldiers present risk to the force and jeopardize readiness.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin mandated vaccinations for the military in late August but left it up to each service to implement its own deadlines.

The Army gave active-duty soldiers until Dec. 15 to comply with the mandate, but Reservists and Army National Guard members still have until June 30 to be fully vaccinated.

As of Wednesday, service had yet to involuntary separate any soldiers solely for refusing the vaccine.

The Army has relieved six active-duty leaders — including two battalion commanders — for not complying with the mandate. It has also issued 3,073 written reprimands to soldiers who are not in compliance.

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COVID-19 DEATHS IN BRITAIN HIGHEST IN ALMOST A YEAR

British health officials have reported the country’s highest daily COVID-19 death total in almost a year, Reuters reported.

Health officials said that on Wednesday 534 people died within a 28-day span of testing positive for COVID-19, per the wire service.

The reported deaths are the highest daily total since February 2021, according to Reuters.

According to data from the British government, 88,085 new virus cases were also recorded on Wednesday, the wire service reported.

This comes as countries around the world continue to deal with a surge of COVID-19 infections driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologized on Monday after a report on the gatherings he held on government property amid the ongoing pandemic found multiple “failures of leadership and judgment.”

 

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US Boosts Troop Numbers to NATO, Russia Condemns the Move as Destructive

The Hill- The Pentagon is deploying and repositioning over 3,000 troops to bolster Eastern European allies, the first such movement as the U.S. looks to bolster NATO’s capabilities in the region amid growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

Defense Department press secretary John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday that the agency will deploy 2,000 troops stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. to Germany and Poland “in the next few days.”

Separately, an additional 1,000 troops currently stationed in Germany will be repositioned to Romania.

“I want to be very clear about something: These are not permanent moves,” Kirby said.

“They are moves designed to respond to the current security environment. Moreover, these forces are not going to fight in Ukraine. They are going to ensure the robust defense of our NATO allies,” he continued.

News of the deployment was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Russia has amassed upward of 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine, and the Biden administration is now warning that a military incursion of Ukraine is imminent.

The Pentagon last month put 8,500 troops on high alert to deploy, largely to bolster NATO’s response force — a multinational force of about 40,000 troops that can deploy on short notice. Kirby said these troops have not been deployed and remain on high alert status.

President Biden said on Friday that he planned to send a small number of forces to Eastern Europe in the “near term,” adding that he’d send “not too many.”

However, the president has been clear that no U.S. forces will be deployed directly to Ukraine. Similarly, NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said last month that no forces from the alliance will be deployed to Kyiv.

The forces being deployed to Germany and Poland are comprised of 1,700 forces from the from the 82nd Airborne Division and 300 forces 18th Airborne Corps, according to a fact sheet released from the Pentagon.

Meanwhile, the troops being repositioned to Romania from Germany are part of an Infantry Stryker squadron, which is designed to deploy in short order. Those forces will augment more than 900 U.S. service members already in rotation in Romania.

Kirby said the troops are being sent under bilateral agreements with Poland, Germany, and Romania, and will remain under U.S command.

—Updated at 11:29 a.m.

Ukraine tensions: Russia condemns destructive US troop increase in Europe

BBC- Russia has condemned a US decision to send extra troops to Europe to support its Nato allies amid continuing fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow said it was a “destructive” step which heightened tension and reduced the scope for a political solution.

The Pentagon said 2,000 US troops would be sent from North Carolina to Poland and Germany, and a further 1,000 already in Germany would go to Romania.

Russia has some 100,000 troops near Ukraine. It denies planning to invade.

The tensions come eight years after Russia annexed Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula and backed a bloody rebellion in the eastern Donbas region.

Moscow accuses the Ukrainian government of failing to implement the Minsk agreement – an international deal to restore peace to the east, where Russian-backed rebels control swathes of territory and at least 14,000 people have been killed since 2014.

Responding to US President Joe Biden’s decision to deploy extra troops to Europe this week, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said it was a “destructive” and an “unjustified” step.

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Grushko added that it would “delight” the Ukrainian authorities, who would continue sabotaging the Minsk agreement “with impunity”.

The Pentagon earlier said the American troops being deployed would not fight in Ukraine – but would ensure the defence of Washington’s allies.

Their deployment is in addition to the 8,500 troops the Pentagon put on alert last month to be ready to deploy to Europe if needed.

“It’s important that we send a strong signal to Mr Putin and, frankly, to the world that Nato matters to the United States and it matters to our allies,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.

But on the question of alleged invasion plans by Mr Putin, he said: “We still don’t believe he’s made a decision to further invade Ukraine.”

He also said a US proposal “leaked to a European news outlet” was genuine. He appeared to be referring to a story in Spain’s El País newspaper about a US offer of talks with Russia on cutting back on nuclear weaponry and on trust-building measures in exchange for reducing tensions over Ukraine.

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Graphic showing positioning of Russian troops..
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Meanwhile, intense diplomatic efforts continued to try to find a political solution to the crisis, amid fears it could blow up to a full-scale war in Europe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Ukraine with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson by phone on Wednesday.

Mr Johnson told Mr Putin “all European democracies have a right to aspire to Nato membership”, a Downing Street statement said. Russia opposes Ukraine joining the security alliance.

Mr Putin drew attention to Nato’s reluctance to respond appropriately to Russia’s justified concerns, the Kremlin said in a statement (in Russian).

The Russian president earlier accused the US of trying to draw his country into a war in Ukraine. He said America’s goal was to use a confrontation as a pretext to impose more sanctions on Russia.

Separately, President Biden and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron “affirmed their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the White House said in a statement.

In a phone call, they reviewed “ongoing co-ordination on both diplomacy and preparations to impose swift and severe economic costs on Russia should it further invade Ukraine,” the statement said.

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