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South Korea urges formal end to Korea War

By
IFP Media Wire
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South Korea's President Moon Jae-in speaks at the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 21, 2021. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/Pool

“Today, I once again urge the international community to mobilize its strengths for the end-of-war declaration on the Korean Peninsula and propose that three parties of the two Koreas and the U.S., or four parties of the two Koreas, the U.S. and China, come together and declare that the war on the Korean Peninsula is over,” Moon said in his address to the 76th session of the U.N. General Assembly.

“When the parties involved in the Korean War stand together and proclaim an end to the war, I believe we can make irreversible progress in denuclearization and usher in an era of complete peace,” he added.

The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Moon has pushed for a formal declaration to end the Korean War throughout his presidency, including in his speech at the U.N. last year. Tuesday’s speech marked Moon’s last to the U.N. as president, with his term set to end early next year.

U.S. President Joe Biden also touched on “the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula” in an address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. He stressed “concrete progress toward an available plan with tangible commitments” that would “increase stability on the peninsula and in the region, as well as improve the lives of the people in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”.

Noting that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the two Koreas joining the U.N., Moon told the General Assembly that the joint accession and acknowledgment of two separate nations was “never meant to perpetuate the division.”

He added that a path to reconciliation and unification can be reached through inter-Korean and international cooperation.

“I expect that the international community, together with Korea, remains always ready and willing to reach out to North Korea in a cooperative spirit,” Moon said.

Moon also called once again for the reunion of families separated by the Korean War, stressing that these separated families are “already advanced in age”. Pyongyang has been unresponsive to Seoul’s repeated efforts to organize family reunions, including by videoconference, since the last such meeting in Aug. 2018.

Moon’s speech in support of a peace process comes amid increased inter-Korean tensions following the North and South’s respective missile tests last week, which highlighted the continuing arms race on the Korean Peninsula.

While North Korea has given a cold shoulder to international outreach to engagement since the failed Hanoi summit between then-U.S. President Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, Seoul and Washington have continued to seek to resume denuclearization dialogue with Pyongyang, while also offering to provide humanitarian assistance.

Source: NK News

COVID deadliest pandemic in US history

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed that of the 1918 flu pandemic, according to a tracker from Johns Hopkins University, highlighting the extraordinary damage incurred by the current virus.

The U.S. has passed 675,000 deaths, the estimated toll from the 1918 pandemic, which for a century had been the worst pandemic to hit the country.

Deaths from COVID-19 are also far from over. The U.S. is averaging about 2,000 more deaths from the virus every day.

Those deaths are overwhelmingly among the unvaccinated, though, highlighting that the continuing toll of COVID-19 is now largely preventable now that vaccines are widely available in the U.S. In 1918, there was no vaccine to help stop the flu pandemic.

Still, the U.S. population was far smaller a century ago, meaning that the death rate from the 1918 pandemic is still higher than for COVID-19.

E. Thomas Ewing, a Virginia Tech history professor, wrote in Health Affairs earlier this year that the death rate from the 1918 pandemic was about six in every 1,000 people, given the U.S. population at the time of around 100 million.

The death rate from COVID-19 in the U.S. is about two in every 1,000 people.

A disproportionate share of COVID-19 deaths are also in the United States. Worldwide, the 1918 flu killed far more people than COVID-19 has so far, at about 50 million compared to about 5 million.

Ewing also wrote that the prolonged toll of COVID-19 has not reflected well on the response.

Many of the deaths in 1918 came in a “sudden escalation” in October of that year, “within weeks of the first cases and deaths”, he said.

“The fact that deaths surged at the end of 2020, nine months after the pandemic reached the United States, with the highest daily death tolls in early January 2021, is perhaps the most discouraging comparison to the historical record,” Ewing continued, adding, “We ignored the lessons of 1918, and then we disregarded warnings issued in the first months of this pandemic.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), deaths from the coronavirus pandemic are projected to increase in the coming weeks, and the 700,000 death mark could be hit before 2022.

Source: USA Today

Ukrainian president’s aide survives assassination attempt

By
IFP Media Wire
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Ukrainian police have begun a manhunt after a group of unknown assailants opened fire on a car carrying a top advisor to Zelensky, leaving his driver hospitalized and in critical condition.

In a statement released by Kiev’s Ministry of Internal Affairs on Wednesday, officials said that “today, at around 10:00am, the car carrying the first assistant to the President, Sergey Shefir, was fired upon near the village of Lisnyky”, just on the outskirts of the capital.

“More than ten bullets hit the car, and the driver was injured”, it added.

A police operation is now underway to attempt to track down the perpetrators.

A source told local news site Strana that the assailants “shot at Shefir, and the driver was hit by three bullets. He is now in a serious condition in intensive care. Shefir himself escaped injury”.

The top advisor had previously worked as a scriptwriter and producer in Zelensky’s media business, Kvartal 95, and had not previously worked in politics before the former on-screen comedian’s meteoric rise to take his country’s top job.

Zelensky is currently in New York, holding a series of meetings with foreign officials and participating in the 76th meeting of the UN General Assembly. He has not yet issued a statement on the incident.

Ukraine has seen a number of purported political murders in recent weeks. Last month, Vitaly Shishov, a Belarusian political dissident, was found hanged after going missing while out running. The head of a pressure group that aims to pile pressure on the government in his native country, his colleagues insist he was murdered by Belarus’ intelligence services for his activism.

Later in August, the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Krivoy Rog, a committed opponent of Zelensky’s party, was found dead after having reportedly shot himself. However, colleagues and internet cyber-sleuths have claimed foul play was involved, insisting that the evidence he took his own life had been manufactured, pointing to inconsistencies in CCTV footage.

Shefir is not aware of the reasons for attacking him, but believes that the attack was aimed at frightening the country’s “top echelons of power”.

Zelensky has promised a “strong response” to the assassination attempt on Shefir. He also stressed that this incident will not affect the course of his fight with influential financial groups in his country.

Sources: RT, TASS

Iran Covid deaths continue downward trend

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Meanwhile, 17,433 more people tested positive for Covid-19 since Tuesday.

Iran’s Covid kill count now stands at 118,191 while the total caseload is 5,477,229. Iranian healthcare workers have stepped up their fight against the potentially deadly disease over the past few weeks.

There has been a huge rise in the number of vaccination places across the country. And people are getting their jabs round the clock countrywide.

Meanwhile, all people over 18 can get inoculated.

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi on Tuesday said the government is going to partially or wholly lift some Covid-related restrictions like traveling or nighttime driving bans in the next two weeks.

Officials also say the entire population will be vaccinated in a few months.

Report: 2021 heading for worst US gun violence year in decades

By
IFP Media Wire
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According to the Gun Violence Archive, from January 1 to September 15, a total of 14,516 people died from gun violence in the US.

It’s 1,300 more than during the same period in 2020, a 9% increase.

Mass shootings are also on the rise. Through September 15, there have been 498 mass shootings across the US, or an average of about 1.92 per day.

It’s 15% higher than last year, when there were a total of 611, a rate of 1.67 per day, according to data from the GVA.

As gun violence continues to increase, so too have gun sales and ammunition shortages. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s executive orders focused on expanding regulation on certain types of firearms continue to run through the rule-making process.

Last year, Americans bought a record number of 23 million firearms – up 65% from 2019, according to Small Arms Analytics (SAAF). The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates that among those purchasing guns in 2020, 8.4 million of them were new gun owners.

At the beginning of 2021, gun sales continued to spike, with 2.2 million firearms sold in January, according to SAAF. While gun purchases began to decrease in most of the preceding months compared to 2020 levels, the number of purchases remains higher than previous years.

Whether over manufacturing disruptions due to COVID-19, the influx of new gun owners, panic purchasing, the increase of hunters or a myriad of other factors, ammunition has been in short supply since 2020. Even police departments have issued warnings for ammo to be reserved.

Source: CNN

Erdogan calls for political solution to Syria crisis

By
IFP Media Wire
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Erdogan added the humanitarian drama in Syria has unfolded over the course of an entire decade before the eyes of the world.

“We need to show a stronger will to find a political solution to the problem, based on United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254, and in a way that will meet the expectations of the Syrian people,” the president noted.

The longstanding crisis has caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people and the displacement of millions others since 2011, he stated.

Turkey cannot shoulder the burden of a new migration wave, Erdogan said, amid an increasing number of immigrants fleeing the Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

Concerns have risen over a possible spike in migrants from Afghanistan due to the United States’ pullout from that country after two decades and the following surge of Taliban attacks.

The Taliban have rapidly retaken control of the country and acted quickly to fill in the power vacuum left by the withdrawal of the U.S. The Taliban’s rule, however, has caused many Afghans to flee the country in fear of prosecution by the militant group.

Speaking about the deepening crisis in Afghanistan, Erdogan blamed the west for imposing solutions that ignored reality.

“We have tragically witnessed once again in Afghanistan how solutions that ignore reality and collide with the social fabric of the people ultimately fail. The Afghan people have been forced to face alone the consequences of instability that has been ongoing for more than 40 years,” he stated, adding that Turkey would continue to do the best it can to aid Afghan people in their time of need.

But the president said Turkey would not bear the responsibility of another migration wave.

“As a country that has saved human dignity in Syria, we neither have the means nor the patience to face another migration wave,” Erdogan added.

Noting that Turkey is hosting more than 1 million refugees in addition to Syrians, Erdogan noted world powers have to assume their own responsibilities in solving the migrant crisis.

 

Sources: Anadolu News Agency, Daily Sabah

Moscow says Washington failed to discredit Russia’s electoral system

By
IFP Media Wire
-

“Despite the unprecedented number of cyberattacks on the Russian Central Election Commission [CEC], half of which were recorded from the US territory, and despite US Internet platforms’ overt interference in preparations for the elections, our enemies failed to discredit the Russian electoral system and they will never manage to do it,” Zakharova added at a briefing.

Russia held legislative elections on 17-19 September. The State Duma is elected for a five-year term under a mixed electoral system — 225 lawmakers are elected on party lists, and another 225 on single-mandate constituencies in one round.

According to the official results, five parties have managed to make it into the Russian parliament, these are United Russia, the Communist Party, A Just Russia, the Liberal Democrats, and New People.

The United Russia Party has won the elections for the State Duma (the lower house of parliament), gaining 49.83 percent of the vote. The Communist Party comes second with 18.93 percent, the Liberal Democratic Party is in third place with 7.55 percent. A Just Russia – for Truth party secured 7.46 percent, and New People got 5.32 percent.

Fresh tensions have erupted between Moscow and Washington after Russia accused the United States of being behind cyberattacks during last week’s parliamentary elections.

The Russian Embassy in the United States slammed as ungrounded earlier accusations of the US Department of State on allegedly ‘non-transparent’ parliamentary elections in Russia, TASS reported.

“We have taken note of the groundless accusations of the US Department of State on the alleged ‘non-free and non-transparent’ elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, which took place on September 17-19,” the Russian diplomatic mission in the United States said in a statement on its FaceBook account.

“In this regard, we emphasize: the expression of the will of the people took place in full compliance with the provisions of domestic legislation and the norms of international law,” the statement reads.

“Any claims to the contrary are unacceptable. Any irregularities did not have impact on the overall course of the voting and cannot affect the results of the election campaign,” the statement added.

The Russian Embassy to the United States also stated that it was now waiting for the United States’ authorities to come up with detailed explanations regarding reported cyber-attacks, which came from the American territory during the parliamentary elections in Russia.

“At the same time, we note that during the recent elections, the Central Election Commission of Russia faced an unprecedented number of cyber-attacks,” the statement said, adding that “50% of them were detected to be conducted precisely from the territory of the United States”.

“The purpose of these hacks is to discredit our electoral system,” according to the Russian diplomatic mission.

“We would like to receive detailed explanations of this case from the American side,” it announced.

 

Sources: RIA Novosti, TASS

UN deeply concerned about US deportation of Haitians

By
IFP Media Wire
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The White House has faced a torrent of criticism after the US started sending planeloads full of Haitian nationals back to their crisis-wracked country over the weekend.

The crisis intensified after pictures and videos appeared to show riders swinging their reins to threaten migrants and push them back toward the Rio Grande river.

The head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR Filippo Grandi said he was “shocked by images of the deplorable conditions beneath the concrete highway overpass in Del Rio, Texas, where more than 14,000 Haitians had gathered after arduous journeys”.

He also lashed out at the US government’s Title 42 policy, which was brought in by the previous administration of former President Donald Trump to stop most arrivals at the southern border on the grounds that migrants could spread COVID-19.

“The summary, mass expulsions of individuals currently under way under the Title 42 authority, without screening for protection needs, is inconsistent with international norms and may constitute refoulement,” Grandi announced in a statement.

“Refoulement” – returning asylum seekers to places where they risk persecution and threats to their life – is illegal under international law. Earlier in the day, the UN human rights and refugee agencies joined up to criticise the deportations.

“We are seriously concerned by the fact that it appears that there has not been any individual assessment in the (Haiti) cases,” human rights office spokesman Marta Hurtado told reporters in Geneva.

This, she added, indicated that “maybe some of these people have not received the protection that they needed”.

UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo stressed that seeking asylum is “a fundamental human right”.

“We are calling for this right to be respected,” the official stated.

The deportation of Haitian migrants had been temporarily suspended by Washington after a devastating earthquake hit the Caribbean nation last month.

But those deportations have resumed, with pressure for fast action after more than 15,000 Haitians crossed into the US in recent days from Mexico and found themselves stranded for days in Texas under a bridge spanning the Rio Grande river.

Mantoo reiterated UNHCR’s opposition to the Title 42 policy, and the agency’s call on countries since the start of the pandemic to continue ensuring “access to asylum for those whose lives really depend on it”.

“There are ways to manage public health considerations… but to also ensure the right to seek asylum,” she continued.

Meanwhile, the UNHCR hailed the administration of US President Joe Biden for its announcement that it will double the number of refugees it will accept in the next fiscal year to 125,000, amid rising pressure from people fleeing Afghanistan and other countries.

Large numbers of Haitian asylum-seekers who’ve arrived in the US in recent weeks are being released into the country, officials told The Associated Press, after the Biden administration pledged to step up deportation flights.

Haitian refugees have been released on a “very, very large scale” over the last week, one US official with “direct knowledge” of the situation told The AP, suggesting the number could be in the thousands. Another official who declined to be named confirmed that many of the migrants were being processed under immigration laws and had not been placed on expulsion flights back to Haiti, contrary to the administration’s claims.

Some have been given notices to appear at an immigration office within 60 days, the first official added, noting that this process was quicker than ordering an appearance at immigration court, and suggesting it highlighted a sense of urgency among US officials.

 

Sources: AP, AFP

Iranian FM: Iran won’t be intimidated over JCPOA

By
IFP Editorial Staff
-

Hossein Amirabdollahian made the comment in a Tuesday meeting with the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrel on the sidelines of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Amirabdollahian added that what matters is the action of other signatories to the nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, and not their words.

He also said the new administration in Tehran will not accept the unconstructive behavior of the United States regarding the issue nor will it keep Iran waiting for empty promises.

Amirabdollahian also said US President Joe Biden’s words and actions are poles apart and he criticizes his predecessor’s policies on Tehran but in practice, he pursues the same policies.

The Iranian foreign minister said the US is mistaken if it thinks pressures on Iran will pay off, noting that the Iranian people have proved they firmly respond to threats. Borrel also said the nuclear deal’s success is very important for the whole world and that nobody will benefit if it collapses.

Qatar urges world engagement with Taliban

By
IFP Media Wire
-

Speaking at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Tuesday, the emir stressed the significance of the continued support of the international community to the Afghan people “at this critical stage, and to separate between humanitarian aid and political differences”.

“It’s also important to continue dialogue with the Taliban,” he added, noting, “Boycotting them would only lead to polarisation and reactions, whereas dialogue could be fruitful.”

Qatar, which hosted talks between the United States and the Taliban that culminated in the 2020 agreement to withdraw US-led NATO forces, as well as hold subsequent intra-Afghan peace talks – has become a key broker in Afghanistan.

Since the US pullout last month, Qatar has helped evacuate both foreigners and Afghans, engaged the new Taliban rulers and supported operations at the Kabul airport, with Qatar Airways aircraft making several trips to the capital in order to fly in aid and ferry out passport holders.

Sheikh Tamim said his country has spared no effort to evacuate thousands of people from Afghanistan as a “humanitarian duty” following the Taliban’s takeover, and stressed that it will continue, in coordination with its partners, to do everything it can to “preserve the tangible gains” made in Doha.

“We are pleased that Doha is the capital of international multilateral action in our region,” he said, adding that Qatar is looking forward to opening the United Nations House in Doha in the near future.

More than 100 heads of state or government are attending the UNGA sessions in person, although the size of delegations is smaller due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Touching on the 50th anniversary of Qatar’s membership to the UN, Sheikh Tamim went on to say he considered Qatar’s reliance on international institutions a “strategic bet”, noting that the relations between Doha and those institutions have been characterised by close cooperation during the past five decades.

The emir addressed a number of issues in his speech, ranging from the coronavirus pandemic, cybersecurity, and the conflicts in the region, including, Yemen, Libya and Syria.

He also spoke of the centrality of the Palestine question in the Middle East region, urging the international community to take responsibility for a just and peaceful settlement of the Palestinian cause.

Source: Al-Jazeera

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