News
U.S Pushes for Regime Change Over Gold in Nicaragua
The Biden administration is increasing pressure on the President of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, after he imposed a ban on Americans doing business in the country’s US$1bn gold industry.
Ortega’s actions result from an executive order signed by President Joe Biden on Monday in an attempt by the United States to hold the President of Nicaragua accountable for his alleged attacks on human rights and democracy in Central America as his continued security cooperation with Russia.
Previous penalties targeted Ortega, his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, and members of their family and personal circle. But none of these initiatives have weakened Ortega’s grip on power.
Despite global outrage over President Daniel Ortega’s tyranny, Nicaragua’s gold mining industry is expected to hit a key milestone next year, with exports expected to reach $1 billion.
The new executive order expands on a Trump-era edict that declared Ortega’s hijacking of democratic principles, undermining the rule of law, and using political violence against opponents to threaten U.S. national security.
Nicaragua’s gold industry and Americans
With the Treasury Department’s concurrent suspension of Nicaragua’s General Directorate of Mines, the ruling effectively makes doing business with Nicaragua’s gold industry illegal for Americans.
It’s the first time the United States has designated a specific sector of the economy as potentially off-limits, and it could be expanded in the future to cover other industries seen to fill the government’s coffers.
The executive order also prepared the way for the United States to restrict investment and trade with Nicaragua, a move reminiscent of the severe embargo imposed by the United States in the 1980s following the country’s terrible civil war.
“The Ortega-Murillo regime’s ongoing attacks on democratic actors and members of civil society, as well as the illegal incarceration of political prisoners,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.
“We have the ability and will utilize every weapon at our disposal to deny the Ortega-Murillo government the resources it needs to dismantle democratic institutions.”
Murillo did not specifically reference the extended U.S. sanctions in her daily statements to official media on Monday, but she did say that Nicaraguans are “defenders of national sovereignty.”
She also read a letter from Ortega congratulating China President Xi Jinping on his re-election as leader of the ruling Communist Party on Sunday, in which Ortega questioned the West’s “aggressive imperial aspirations.”
Nicaraguans flooding Over US Border
Monday’s action might herald the start of a fresh offensive aimed at the broader economy, which the Biden administration has been hesitant to embrace for fear of exacerbating the country’s problems and sparking more migration.
U.S. border officials encountered Nicaraguans over 164,000 times at the southwest border during the fiscal year that ended in September, more than tripling the previous year’s total.
Simultaneously, frustrations in Washington have grown over Nicaragua’s business elites’ mainly muted response to Ortega’s crackdown.
The Biden administration’s targeting of the gold industry might deprive Ortega’s government of one of its most important funding sources. Gold was the country’s greatest export in 2020, and the country, which is currently Central America’s top producer of gold, plans to increase output in the next five years.
According to the Central Bank of Nicaragua, the country exported a record 348,532 ounces of gold in 2021, and the country’s mining organization anticipates exports of 500,000 ounces in 2023.
Condor Gold, whose CEO, Mark Child, featured in a photo with Nicaragua’s president in a September presentation for investors made by the U.K.-based company, is one of the foreign investors active in the country.
“He is entirely supportive of the concept,” Child said during a 90-minute discussion with Ortega in March. “That meeting… effectively offers a big green light for project finance construction and considerably de-risks the project.”
Canadian-US Gold Mines in Nicaragua
Condor, listed in Toronto and London, has permission to build and manage three open pit mines, the most advanced of which is thought to contain 602,000 ounces of gold worth approximately $900 million at current rates.
Condor is partly held by a corporation run by an American mining engineer who has worked in the country for decades.
Condor shares were up 2 cents, or 3.8%, following the announcement in the United States. Calibre Gold Mining Corp, a Toronto-listed junior mining company with interests in Nicaragua, had its share price fall 17 cents, or 17%.
The Vancouver-based company has numerous mining sites in Nicaragua that are estimated to hold 2.9 million ounces of gold.
As part of Monday’s steps, the Treasury Department blocked Reinaldo Lenin Cerna’s assets in the United States, describing him as a close aide to Ortega. According to the Treasury Department, Cerna was the head of state security during Ortega’s first administration and reportedly assisted in the death of former dictator Anastasio Somoza’s chief of security.
Furthermore, the State Department will revoke the visas of more than 500 Nicaraguans and their family members who either work for the Ortega government or help formulate, implement, and benefit from policies that undermine democracy in the country, according to U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the action.
Previously, it froze the assets of the defence minister and other members of the security services linked to the closure of more than 1,000 nongovernmental groups in the United States.
The Biden administration had already sanctioned the state-owned mining business. It also reallocated the country’s sugar quota, removing a vital annual U.S. dollar subsidy worth millions.
Nicaraguans fled their country in 2018, first to neighbouring Costa Rica, after Ortega brutally suppressed major public protests.
Then, before the 2021 presidential elections, security forces began collecting major opposition figures, including seven possible opponents to Ortega. Without a credible opposition, Ortega cruised to a fourth consecutive five-year term, and Nicaraguans fled in greater numbers.
Source: Bnamericas, The Associated Press, VOR News
The new head of the Army has stated that Britain must be prepared to fight a war within three years.
Gen Sir Roland Walker has issued a warning about a variety of risks in what he calls a “increasingly volatile” environment.
However, he stated that war was not inevitable and that the Army had “just enough time” to prepare to prevent conflict.
He stated that the Army’s fighting capacity would be doubled by 2027 and tripled by the end of the decade.
Gen Walker warned that the Britain was under threat from a “axis of upheaval” in his first speech as Prime Minister on Tuesday.
Among the primary concerns confronting the Britain in the next years, as noted by the general in a briefing, is an enraged Russia, which may seek vengeance on the West for helping Ukraine, regardless of who wins the war.
He stated: “It doesn’t matter how it finishes. I believe Russia will emerge from it weaker objectively – or completely – but still very, very dangerous and seeking some form of retaliation for what we have done to assist Ukraine.”
Britain’s Government Defence Review and Military Challenges
He also warned that China was determined to retake Taiwan, and Iran was likely to seek nuclear weapons.
He stated that the threats they posed may become particularly acute in the next three years, and that these countries had formed a “mutual transactional relationship” since the war in Ukraine, sharing weaponry and technology.
However, he stated that the path to conflict was not “inexorable” if the UK re-established credible land troops to assist its deterrent strategy for avoiding war.
In his speech, he described his force of slightly over 70,000 regular troops as a “medium-sized army” and made no direct call for additional resources or men.
However, he pushed the British Army to adapt swiftly, focussing on technology such as artificial intelligence and weaponry rather than numbers.
His ultimate goal is for the Army to be capable of destroying an opponent three times its size.
This would entail firing quicker and farther, he said, aided by lessons learnt from the Ukraine war.
The general’s speech at the Royal United Services Institute land warfare conference comes only one week after the government began a “root and branch” defence review to “take a fresh look” at the challenges facing the armed services.
Defence Secretary John Healey launched the assessment, describing the existing status of the armed forces as “hollowed-out” and stating that “procurement waste and neglected morale cannot continue”.
According to the most recent Ministry of Defence (MoD) numbers from April 2024, the Britain’s regular Army forces total 75,325 troops (excluding Gurkhas and volunteers).
That figure has been declining in recent years, as recruiting has failed to match retention. The previous Conservative administration lowered the planned headcount from 82,000 to 72,500 by 2025.
Members of the NATO military alliance have agreed to spend at least 2% of GDP on defence by 2024, but several countries are unlikely to fulfil this goal.
The Britain presently spends 2.3% of its GDP on defence. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has previously stated that the defence review will include a “roadmap” for increasing this to 2.5%, however he has yet to provide a date for this promise.
Source: BBC
News
Katie Ledecky Hopes For Clean Races At Paris Olympics In The Aftermath Of The Chinese Doping Scandal
PARIS — Katie Ledecky is looking for clean Olympic races. On Wednesday, Hope had pretty much reached her limit.
The American swimmer hopes to add to her six gold medals as she competes in the 400, 800, and 1,500 meters at the Paris Games. Her program starts with the heavy 400 on Saturday, featuring Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh.
Katie Ledecky | ESPN Image
Katie Ledecky Hopes For Clean Races At Paris Olympics In The Aftermath Of The Chinese Doping Scandal
The 27-year-old Katie is competing in her fourth Summer Olympics, but the first since a doping scandal involving almost two dozen Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned chemical before the Tokyo Games — yet were permitted to compete with no consequences. The controversy has raised serious worries regarding the effectiveness of anti-doping initiatives.
Katie Ledecky | Vogue Image
“I hope everyone here is going to be competing clean this week,” Ledecky claimed. “But what truly counts is, were they training cleanly? Hopefully this has been the case. Hopefully, there has been worldwide testing.”
The International Olympic Committee has expressed concern over the ongoing US investigation into possible doping by Chinese swimmers. While awarding the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City on Wednesday, the IOC urged Utah officials to do whatever they could to stop the FBI investigation.
“I think everyone’s heard what the athletes think,” Katie added. “They seek transparency. They want more answers to the remaining questions. At this point, we are here to race. We are going to race whoever is in the lane next to us.
“We are not paid to conduct the tests, so we trust those who follow their regulations. That applies both today and in the future.
Katie Ledecky | ESPN Image
Katie Ledecky Hopes For Clean Races At Paris Olympics In The Aftermath Of The Chinese Doping Scandal
SOURCE | AP
As the summer holidays begin, London may experience an official heatwave with temperatures reaching up to 29 degrees Celsius.
The Met Office predicts a long period of sunny and dry weather for London after a soggy spring and summer.
After a cloudy day on Saturday, temperatures are expected to reach 27C on Sunday, with lots of sunlight.
On Monday and Tuesday, temperatures are forecast to peak at 29 degrees Celsius. Monday is forecast to offer more sunlight, while Tuesday may see some gloomy weather.
Temperatures are expected to remain in the high 20s next week, with lows of approximately 18C.
According to the Met Office, a heatwave is “an extended period of hot weather relative to the expected conditions of the area at that time of year, which may be accompanied by high humidity.”
In the United Kingdom, a heatwave is proclaimed when daily temperatures meet or surpass a certain level for at least three consecutive days.
In London, the heatwave threshold is 28 degrees Celsius.
The Met Office reported that the UK is experiencing hotter and wetter weather on average due to climate change.
The UK experienced its warmest May and April on record this year, despite damp and dismal conditions in many areas.
According to the Met Office’s State Of The UK Climate 2023 report published on Thursday, the UK experienced historic levels of extreme weather last year.
In the United Kingdom, 2023 was the second warmest year on record, bringing storms, flooding, strong heatwaves, and rising sea levels; only 2022 was warmer.
It was 0.8°C higher than the average from 1991 to 2020, and 1.66°C higher than the 1961 to 1990 average.
However, 2023 will be a “cool year” in comparison to 2100, based on the planet’s warming trajectory.
The government’s plan to adapt to the hazards presented by climate change is currently being challenged in the High Court by campaigners who allege the Tory administration’s July 2023 National Adaptation Programme (NAP) fails to adequately address 61 concerns.
Source: The Standard
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