WORLD NEWS FLASH
UNITED STATES
The Justice Department announced April 23 that it has settled 139 administrative claims arising from allegations of sexual abuse committed by former physician and USA Gymnastics official Lawrence Gerard Nassar.
Over the course of nearly two decades and ending in 2016 when he was arrested by the State of Michigan, Nassar sexually abused hundreds of victims under the guise of performing medical treatments. These settlements will resolve administrative claims against the United States alleging that the FBI failed to conduct an adequate investigation of Nassar’s conduct. In July 2021, the Department’s Office of the Inspector General issued a report critical of certain aspects of the FBI’s response to, and investigation of, allegations against Nassar.
“For decades, Lawrence Nassar abused his position, betraying the trust of those under his care and medical supervision while skirting accountability,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. “These allegations should have been taken seriously from the outset. While these settlements won’t undo the harm Nassar inflicted, our hope is that they will help give the victims of his crimes some of the critical support they need to continue healing.”
The settlement agreements, which have been approved by the Department, resolve 139 claims for a total of $138.7 million to be distributed to claimants.
REMEMBERING THE OKC BOMBING
The Justice Department issued the following statement from Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in recognition of the 29th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing, which took place on April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma:
“Twenty-nine years after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, we continue to remember the 168 people, including 19 children, who were stolen from their loved ones, as well as the hundreds who were injured and forever changed. We continue to mourn alongside the families and the entire Oklahoma City community devastated by the attack.
“On this day, twenty-nine years ago, I watched in horror from my desk at the Justice Department as reports came in that there had been an explosion at the Murrah building in Oklahoma City. My colleagues and I gathered in front of a TV in my office and saw our first glimpse of the aftermath of the horrific attack. Forty-eight hours later, I traveled to Oklahoma to represent the United States in the first court hearing of the perpetrator, Timothy McVeigh.
“I will never forget the devastation that was inflicted on the entire Oklahoma City community. I will also never forget the extraordinary grace and love the community demonstrated in the face of that horrific tragedy. The Justice Department will never forget those who were lost, and we remained committed to working to prevent and disrupt such horrific attacks before they can occur.
“That means continuing to counter the threat that both foreign and domestic terrorism pose to our country as we grapple with a heightened global threat environment.
“It means continuing to hold accountable those who target Americans who serve the public with threats and acts of violence.
“And it means doing this work without ever losing sight of our responsibility to protect the civil rights of everyone in our country.
“As we mark 29 years since April 19, 1995, we renew our commitment to remembering what happened, to honoring those we lost, and to doing everything in our power to prevent future tragedies.”
MASS SHOOTING UPDATE
Information recent as of 4-23-2024 at 12 p.m.
2024 Mass Shooting Stats: (Source: Mass Shooting Tracker – https://www.massshootingtracker.site/data/?year=2024)
Total Mass Shootings: 154
Total Dead: 227
Total Wounded: 563
Shootings Per Day: 1.35
Days Reached in Year 2024 as of April 23: 114
WORLD
CLIMATE CHANGE CONCERNS
Climate change shocks caused record levels of disruption and misery for millions in Europe in 2023 with widespread flooding and severe heatwaves – a new normal which countries must adapt to as a priority, the UN weather agency said on April 22.
New data published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed fears that 2023 was “the joint warmest or second warmest year on record” in Europe.
In practical terms, this led to a record number of days with “extreme heat stress” across Europe, “an increasing trend” in the number of “strong heat stress” days on the continent and an “extended summer” from June to September, marked by heatwaves, wildfires, droughts and flooding.
“2023 was the joint warmest or second warmest year on record depending on the dataset,” WMO said. “Heat-related mortality has increased by around 30 per cent in the past 20 years, and heat-related deaths are estimated to have increased in 94 per cent of the European regions monitored.”
A precise estimate of heat-related deaths is not yet available for 2023, but WMO noted that between 55,000 and 72,000 people died in heatwaves in 2003, 2010 and 2022.
The findings in the WMO’s 2023 European State of the Climate report reflect increasing wider climate change shocks globally, but they are particularly significant because the continent is the fastest warming, WMO said.
“The climate crisis is the biggest challenge of our generation,” said Celeste Saulo, WMO Secretary-General. “The cost of climate action may seem high, but the cost of inaction is much higher. As this report shows, we need to leverage science to provide solutions for the good of society.”
Researchers who tracked back a decade found that members of the public and some health providers also had “a low-risk perception” of the dangers of heat exhaustion. To counter this, early warning systems including the WMO’s Regional Climate Centre’s Climate Watch are designed to raise awareness of impending extreme weather events and encourage preparedness.
According to the UN agency, land temperatures in Europe were above average for 11 months of the year in 2023, including the warmest September on record.
Rainfall was also seven per cent higher than average, WMO’s weather report found, with European rivers flowing at record levels in December and “exceptionally high” flow in almost a quarter of the river network.
This meant that during 2023, “high” flood thresholds were crossed in one third of the European river network while close to one in seven exceeded “severe” flood thresholds.
MIDDLE EAST
US BLOCKS PALESTINE FROM JOINING UN
The Security Council rejected Palestine’s request for UN membership on Thursday, with the United States casting a veto.
In a vote of 12 in favor to one against, with two abstentions, the Council did not adopt a draft resolution that would have recommended the General Assembly to hold a vote with the broader UN membership to allow Palestine to join as a full UN Member State.
The draft resolution is among the shortest in the Council’s history: “The Security Council, having examined the application of the State of Palestine for admission to the United Nations (S/2011/592), recommends to the General Assembly that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership in the United Nations.”
For a draft resolution to pass, the Council must have at least nine members in favor and none of its permanent members – China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States – using their veto power.
Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, Palestine had submitted a request to the Secretary-General on April 2, asking that a 2011 request to become a UN Member State be reconsidered.
In 2011, the Security Council considered the request but was not able to find unity in sending a recommendation to the General Assembly, which according to the UN Charter must hold a vote involving its 193 Member States.
Earlier this month, the Security Council sent the latest request to its Committee on the Admission of Member States, which met on April 8 and 11 to discuss the matter.
Palestine has been a Permanent Observer at the UN since 2012, before which it was an observer in the UN General Assembly.
Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said this marked the fifth time the United States has vetoed a Council resolution since the start of the current hostilities in Gaza.
The US “once again demonstrated what they really think of the Palestinians”, he said. “For Washington, they do not deserve to have their own State. They are only a barrier on the path towards realizing the interests of Israel.”
He said at present, an absolute majority of the global community supports Palestine’s application to become a full member of the UN.
“Today’s use of the veto by the US delegation is a hopeless attempt to stop the inevitable course of history. The results of the vote, where Washington was practically in complete isolation, speak for themselves,” he said.
US Deputy Permanent Representative Robert Wood said Council members have a special responsibility to ensure that their actions further the cause of international peace and security and are consistent with the requirements of the UN Charter.
He said the report of the Committee on the Admission of New Members reflected that there was not unanimity among members as to whether the applicant met the criteria for membership, in line with Article IV of the UN Charter.
For example, there are unresolved questions as to whether the applicant meets the criteria to be considered a State, he said.
“We have long called on the Palestinian Authority to undertake necessary reforms to help establish the attributes of readiness for statehood and note that Hamas, a terrorist organization, is currently exerting power and influence in Gaza – an integral part of the State envisioned in this resolution,” he said.
It is for these reasons, that the US voted “no”, he explained. Mr. Wood said the US continues to strongly support a two-State solution.
“This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood, but instead is an acknowledgment that it will only come from direct negotiations between the parties,” he said.
UNITED KINGDOM
HUGE INCREASE PLANNED FOR DEFENSE
On April 23, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced the biggest strengthening of the UK’s national defense in a generation, with a fully funded plan to grow the defense budget to 2.5% of GDP by 2030.
Delivering a speech alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Poland, a country at the vanguard of the continent’s defense, the Prime Minister said we are at a turning point in European security and urged allies to step up.
An axis of autocratic states like Russia, Iran and China are increasingly working together to undermine democracies and reshape the world order. They are also investing heavily in their own militaries and in cyber capabilities and in low-cost technology, like the Shahed attack drones Iran fired towards Israel last weekend.
This poses a direct threat to the lives and livelihoods of people in the UK, as well as across Europe and the wider world. The Government has already committed record investment in defense and the UK armed forces are world-leading – but the Prime Minister has said that we must take further action now to deter these growing threats.
With the announcement, UK defense spending will increase immediately and then rise steadily to reach £87 billion at the end the decade – hitting 2.5% of GDP by 2030.
The Prime Minister has set out three areas of focus for our bolstered defense budget:
- Firing up the UK defense industrial base: Investing at least an additional £10 billion over the next decade on munitions production, delivering high-quality jobs and investment across the UK and ensuring we have rapid production capacity and stockpiles of next-generation munitions.
- Modernizing Armed Forces: Radically reforming defense procurement and creating a new Defense Innovation Agency to ensure the UK is at the cutting edge of modern warfare technology, with at least 5% of the defense budget to be committed to R&D.
- Backing Ukraine’s defense: As part of this plan, the Government will commit an additional £500 million this year for the ammunition, air defense and drones Ukraine needs; the largest-ever single delivery of military equipment to Ukraine’s frontlines; and a cast-iron commitment to maintain existing levels of support to Ukraine for as long as it Is needed.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said, “In a world that is the most dangerous it has been since the end of the Cold War, we cannot be complacent. As our adversaries align, we must do more to defend our country, our interests, and our values.
“That is why today I have announced the biggest strengthening of our national defense for a generation. We will increase defense spending to a new baseline of 2.5% of GDP by 2030 – a plan that delivers an additional £75 billion for defense by the end of the decade and secures our place as by far the largest defense power in Europe.
“Today is a turning point for European security and a landmark moment in the defense of the United Kingdom. It is a generational investment in British security and British prosperity, which makes us safer at home and stronger abroad.”
This is a fully funded plan to deliver the biggest transformation of our national defense since the Cold War, moving from an aspiration to spend 2.5% by an unspecified date to a costed commitment to do so in 2030.
Defense spending will increase immediately and rise linearly – with a further £500 million for Ukraine this year and overall increase of £3 billion in the next financial year. Today’s announcement will see an additional £75 billion for defense over the next six years, with defense spending expected to reach £87 billion a year in 2030.
This sets a new standard for other major European NATO economies to follow. If all NATO countries committed at least 2.5% of their GDP to defense, our collective budget would increase by more than £140 billion.
