The legislation targeting Moscow’s alleged malign operations on the continent should be scrapped, senior diplomat has said
The US should scrap its “Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa” bill because the legislation is at odds with international law, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said on Wednesday.
In an interview with news outlet Sputnik, Pandor stated that Washington's bill “should really be killed” because “it’s totally unwarranted.” “I think it’s an intrusion that goes against international law,” she noted, adding that South African officials have made this clear to their US counterparts.
“We even met with the drafter of the initial legislation and indicated the offense which we view with this particular proposed piece of legislation,” she said.
Pandor also vowed that South Africa would continue “to advocate for that bill to be torn up and not to proceed in any form or state.”
She also noted that the legislation had not been approved yet and is scheduled for debate in the US Senate. The bill was first introduced to the House of Representatives in late March and was passed a month later by a huge bipartisan majority.
Should the bill be signed into law, the US would have to “regularly assess the scale and scope” of Russia’s activities in Africa that undermine Washington’s objectives and interests. It would also require the US “to hold accountable” through sanctions or other restrictions, Russian and African governments and officials “who are complicit in aiding such malign influence and activities.”
South Africa has already voiced concerns about the proposed legislation. In September, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that Africans should not be “punished” for their historic non-aligned position amid the Ukraine conflict. “I think it will harm Africa and marginalize the continent,” he said at the time.
The bill has created ripples not only in South Africa but also through neighboring nations. In August, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which incorporates 16 regional countries, said that the law would make the continent “the target of unilateral and punitive measures.”
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict last February, South Africa has refused to join Western sanctions against Russia, with Ramaphosa arguing in late May that the restrictions would hurt "bystander countries.”
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday the upcoming start of ground strikes against drug cartel targets in Latin America.
He made the remarks during Christmas greetings to the military.
Trump said the United States was "now going after the land" in its fight against drug cartel targets, noting that drug trafficking by sea was down 96 percent.
The U.S. president also extended special congratulations to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, currently deployed in the Caribbean.
BEIJING (Sputnik) - China has begun operating the world's first intelligent ultra-large oil tanker powered by methanol, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.
The tanker, designed to transport crude oil, was successfully put into operation in the city of Dalian in China's northeastern coastal province of Liaoning, the report said. State-owned company Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd independently designed and built the vessel, it added.
The tanker is approximately 333 meters (1,092 feet) long and can carry around 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, the CCTV reported. Designed to produce low emissions and having intelligent control capabilities, the tanker will serve the route to the Middle East, among others, according to the report.
The vessel is powered by a dual-fuel methanol engine, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 92% compared to conventional fuel, the CCTV reported. It is equipped with an intelligent ship platform, an intelligent liquid cargo ...
A car bomb has killed a senior General Staff member, officials have confirmed
Source: The Investigative Committee
A Russian general has been killed in a car bomb blast in Moscow, the Investigative Committee has reported.
Officials identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff. According to the statement, an explosive device had been planted beneath the vehicle he was traveling in, and detonated on Monday morning in the southern part of the Russian capital.
The blast also damaged several other vehicles and seriously injured Sarvarov’s driver, media reports stated.
Russian officials said one line of investigation is an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services, noting that Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of officials and public figures.
Last December, a bomb hidden in an e-scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense ...
