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As the death toll from Russia's war on Ukraine continued to grow, particularly in key cities like Mariupol, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for "an immediate humanitarian cease-fire to allow for progress in serious political negotiations" on a peace agreement.
"A cessation of hostilities... will save lives, prevent suffering, and protect civilians."
"Since the beginning of the Russian invasion one month ago, the war has led to the senseless loss of thousands of lives; the displacement of ten million people, mainly women and children; the systematic destruction of essential infrastructure; and skyrocketing food and energy prices worldwide," he told reporters outside the U.N. Security Council. "This must stop."
Guterres noted efforts by various U.N. agencies to provide aid--including "food, shelter, blankets, medicine, bottled water, and hygiene supplies"--to affected Ukrainians.
"Our agencies and partners are procuring vital supplies and setting up pipelines for delivery throughout Ukraine in the coming weeks. But let's be clear, the solution to this humanitarian tragedy is not humanitarian. It is political," he continued. "A cessation of hostilities will allow essential humanitarian aid to be delivered and enable civilians to move around safely. It will save lives, prevent suffering, and protect civilians."
Guterres has asked Martin Griffiths, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, to "explore with the parties involved the possible agreements and arrangements for a humanitarian cease-fire."
\u201cLet\u2019s be clear. The solution to this humanitarian tragedy is not humanitarian. It is political - @antonioguterres' full remarks to the media on Ukraine this morning: https://t.co/ILeq0bmjX5\u201d— UN Spokesperson (@UN Spokesperson) 1648481296
In addition to providing relief to Ukrainians, the U.N. leader said, "I hope a cease-fire will also help to address the global consequences of this war, which risk compounding the deep hunger crisis in many developing countries that already lack fiscal space to invest in their recovery from the pandemic, and now face soaring food and energy costs."
"I strongly appeal to the parties to this conflict, and to the international community as a whole, to work with us for peace in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and across the world," added Guterres.
The U.N. chief's comments came a day before in-person talks between Kyiv and Moscow are set to resume in Turkey and as the mayor of Mariupol--a besieged Ukrainian port city--said nearly 5,000 residents, including 210 children, have been killed since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
Related Content
So far the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has only officially recorded 2,975 civilian casualties--1,151 deaths and 1,824 injuries--but "believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration."
Specifically, the OHCHR said Monday, casualty figures are still being corroborated from Mariupol and Volnovakha (Donetsk region), Izium (Kharkiv region), Popasna and Rubizhne (Luhansk region), and Trostianets (Sumy region), where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties."
\u201c\u2757\ufe0fMayor of #Mariupol: 5,000 residents, including 210 children, died in 27 days of the siege, 170,000 remain in the city\n \n140,000 residents managed to leave the city before the blockade, another 150,000 managed to be evacuated after the start of the blockade.\u201d— NEXTA (@NEXTA) 1648480148
Russia's ongoing assault of Mariupol has made it difficult for civilians to evacuate. As many as 1,300 people were believed to have sought safety in a city theater that was bombed on March 16.
The Mariupol City Council said last week that according to eyewitnesses, "about 300 people died in the Drama Theater... as a result of a bombing by Russian aircraft," and that "there cannot and never will be an explanation for this inhuman cruelty."
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As the death toll from Russia's war on Ukraine continued to grow, particularly in key cities like Mariupol, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for "an immediate humanitarian cease-fire to allow for progress in serious political negotiations" on a peace agreement.
"A cessation of hostilities... will save lives, prevent suffering, and protect civilians."
"Since the beginning of the Russian invasion one month ago, the war has led to the senseless loss of thousands of lives; the displacement of ten million people, mainly women and children; the systematic destruction of essential infrastructure; and skyrocketing food and energy prices worldwide," he told reporters outside the U.N. Security Council. "This must stop."
Guterres noted efforts by various U.N. agencies to provide aid--including "food, shelter, blankets, medicine, bottled water, and hygiene supplies"--to affected Ukrainians.
"Our agencies and partners are procuring vital supplies and setting up pipelines for delivery throughout Ukraine in the coming weeks. But let's be clear, the solution to this humanitarian tragedy is not humanitarian. It is political," he continued. "A cessation of hostilities will allow essential humanitarian aid to be delivered and enable civilians to move around safely. It will save lives, prevent suffering, and protect civilians."
Guterres has asked Martin Griffiths, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, to "explore with the parties involved the possible agreements and arrangements for a humanitarian cease-fire."
\u201cLet\u2019s be clear. The solution to this humanitarian tragedy is not humanitarian. It is political - @antonioguterres' full remarks to the media on Ukraine this morning: https://t.co/ILeq0bmjX5\u201d— UN Spokesperson (@UN Spokesperson) 1648481296
In addition to providing relief to Ukrainians, the U.N. leader said, "I hope a cease-fire will also help to address the global consequences of this war, which risk compounding the deep hunger crisis in many developing countries that already lack fiscal space to invest in their recovery from the pandemic, and now face soaring food and energy costs."
"I strongly appeal to the parties to this conflict, and to the international community as a whole, to work with us for peace in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and across the world," added Guterres.
The U.N. chief's comments came a day before in-person talks between Kyiv and Moscow are set to resume in Turkey and as the mayor of Mariupol--a besieged Ukrainian port city--said nearly 5,000 residents, including 210 children, have been killed since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
Related Content
So far the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has only officially recorded 2,975 civilian casualties--1,151 deaths and 1,824 injuries--but "believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration."
Specifically, the OHCHR said Monday, casualty figures are still being corroborated from Mariupol and Volnovakha (Donetsk region), Izium (Kharkiv region), Popasna and Rubizhne (Luhansk region), and Trostianets (Sumy region), where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties."
\u201c\u2757\ufe0fMayor of #Mariupol: 5,000 residents, including 210 children, died in 27 days of the siege, 170,000 remain in the city\n \n140,000 residents managed to leave the city before the blockade, another 150,000 managed to be evacuated after the start of the blockade.\u201d— NEXTA (@NEXTA) 1648480148
Russia's ongoing assault of Mariupol has made it difficult for civilians to evacuate. As many as 1,300 people were believed to have sought safety in a city theater that was bombed on March 16.
The Mariupol City Council said last week that according to eyewitnesses, "about 300 people died in the Drama Theater... as a result of a bombing by Russian aircraft," and that "there cannot and never will be an explanation for this inhuman cruelty."
As the death toll from Russia's war on Ukraine continued to grow, particularly in key cities like Mariupol, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for "an immediate humanitarian cease-fire to allow for progress in serious political negotiations" on a peace agreement.
"A cessation of hostilities... will save lives, prevent suffering, and protect civilians."
"Since the beginning of the Russian invasion one month ago, the war has led to the senseless loss of thousands of lives; the displacement of ten million people, mainly women and children; the systematic destruction of essential infrastructure; and skyrocketing food and energy prices worldwide," he told reporters outside the U.N. Security Council. "This must stop."
Guterres noted efforts by various U.N. agencies to provide aid--including "food, shelter, blankets, medicine, bottled water, and hygiene supplies"--to affected Ukrainians.
"Our agencies and partners are procuring vital supplies and setting up pipelines for delivery throughout Ukraine in the coming weeks. But let's be clear, the solution to this humanitarian tragedy is not humanitarian. It is political," he continued. "A cessation of hostilities will allow essential humanitarian aid to be delivered and enable civilians to move around safely. It will save lives, prevent suffering, and protect civilians."
Guterres has asked Martin Griffiths, the U.N. under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, to "explore with the parties involved the possible agreements and arrangements for a humanitarian cease-fire."
\u201cLet\u2019s be clear. The solution to this humanitarian tragedy is not humanitarian. It is political - @antonioguterres' full remarks to the media on Ukraine this morning: https://t.co/ILeq0bmjX5\u201d— UN Spokesperson (@UN Spokesperson) 1648481296
In addition to providing relief to Ukrainians, the U.N. leader said, "I hope a cease-fire will also help to address the global consequences of this war, which risk compounding the deep hunger crisis in many developing countries that already lack fiscal space to invest in their recovery from the pandemic, and now face soaring food and energy costs."
"I strongly appeal to the parties to this conflict, and to the international community as a whole, to work with us for peace in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and across the world," added Guterres.
The U.N. chief's comments came a day before in-person talks between Kyiv and Moscow are set to resume in Turkey and as the mayor of Mariupol--a besieged Ukrainian port city--said nearly 5,000 residents, including 210 children, have been killed since the Russian invasion began on February 24.
Related Content
So far the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has only officially recorded 2,975 civilian casualties--1,151 deaths and 1,824 injuries--but "believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of information from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration."
Specifically, the OHCHR said Monday, casualty figures are still being corroborated from Mariupol and Volnovakha (Donetsk region), Izium (Kharkiv region), Popasna and Rubizhne (Luhansk region), and Trostianets (Sumy region), where there are allegations of numerous civilian casualties."
\u201c\u2757\ufe0fMayor of #Mariupol: 5,000 residents, including 210 children, died in 27 days of the siege, 170,000 remain in the city\n \n140,000 residents managed to leave the city before the blockade, another 150,000 managed to be evacuated after the start of the blockade.\u201d— NEXTA (@NEXTA) 1648480148
Russia's ongoing assault of Mariupol has made it difficult for civilians to evacuate. As many as 1,300 people were believed to have sought safety in a city theater that was bombed on March 16.
The Mariupol City Council said last week that according to eyewitnesses, "about 300 people died in the Drama Theater... as a result of a bombing by Russian aircraft," and that "there cannot and never will be an explanation for this inhuman cruelty."
"When comparing natural gas and renewables for energy security, renewables generally offer greater long-term energy security due to their local availability, reduced dependence on imports, and lower vulnerability to geopolitical disruptions."
As Republican President-elect Donald Trump prepares to further accelerate already near-record liquefied natural gas exports after taking office next week, a report published Friday details how soaring U.S. foreign LNG sales are "causing price volatility and environmental and safety risks for American families in addition to granting geopolitical advantages to the Chinese government."
The report, Strategic Implications of U.S. LNG Exports, was published by the American Security Project, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, and offers a "comprehensive analysis of the impact of the natural gas export boom from the advent of fracking through the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and provides insight into how the tidal wave of U.S. exports in the global market is altering regional and domestic security environments."
According to a summary of the publication:
The United States is the world's leading producer of natural gas and largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Over the past decade, affordable U.S. LNG exports have facilitated a global shift from coal and mitigated the geopolitical risks of fossil fuel imports from Russia and the Middle East. Today, U.S. LNG plays a critical role in diversifying global energy supplies and reducing reliance on adversarial energy suppliers. However, rising global dependence on natural gas is creating new vulnerabilities, including pricing fluctuations, shipping route bottlenecks, and inherent health, safety, and environmental hazards. The U.S. also faces geopolitical challenges related to the LNG trade, including China's stockpiling and resale of cheap U.S. LNG exports to advance its renewable energy industry and expand its global influence.
"When comparing natural gas and renewables for energy security, renewables generally offer greater long-term energy security due to their local availability, reduced dependence on imports, and lower vulnerability to geopolitical disruptions," the report states.
American Security Project CEO Matthew Wallin said in a statement that "action needs to be taken to ensure Americans are insulated from global price shocks, the impacts of climate change, and new health and safety risks."
"Our country must also do more to protect its interests from geopolitical rivals like China that subsidize their growth and influence by reselling cheap U.S. LNG at higher spot prices," Wallin asserted. "U.S. LNG has often been depicted as a transition fuel, and our country must ensure that it continues working towards that transition to clean sources instead of becoming dependent on yet another vulnerable fuel source."
Critics have
warned that LNG actually hampers the transition to a green economy. LNG is mostly composed of methane, which has more than 80 times the planetary heating power of carbon dioxide during its first two decades in the atmosphere.
Despite President Joe Biden's 2024 pause on LNG export permit applications, his administration has presided over what climate campaigners have called a "staggering" LNG expansion, including Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass 2 export terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana and more than a dozen other projects. Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy acknowledged that approving more LNG exports would raise domestic energy prices, increase pollution, and exacerbate the climate crisis.
In addition to promising to roll back Biden's recent ban on offshore oil and gas drilling across more than 625 million acres of U.S. coastal territory, Trump—who has nominated a bevy of fossil fuel proponents for his Cabinet—is expected to further increase LNG production and exports.
A separate report published Friday by Friends of the Earth and Public Citizen examined 14 proposed LNG export terminals that the Trump administration is expected to fast-track, creating 510 million metric tons of climate pollution–"equivalent to the annual emissions of 135 new coal plants."
While campaigning for president, Trump vowed to "frack, frack, frack; and drill, baby, drill." This, as fossil fuel interests poured $75 million into his campaign coffers, according to The New York Times.
"This research reveals the disturbing reality of an LNG export boom under a second Trump term," Friends of the Earth senior energy campaigner Raena Garcia said in a statement referring to her group's new report. "This reality will cement higher energy prices for Americans and push the world into even more devastating climate disasters. The incoming administration is poised to haphazardly greenlight LNG exports that are clearly intended to put profit over people."
"Academics will make careers out of writing about past atrocities while ignoring the ones happening in real time," said one critic.
In what one observer decried as an "absolutely shameful" rebuff of American Historical Association members' overwhelming approval of a resolution condemning Israel's annihilation of education infrastructure in Gaza, the elected council of the nation's oldest learned society on Thursday vetoed the measure over a claimed technicality.
AHA members voted 428-88 earlier this month in favor of a resolution opposing Israeli scholasticide—defined by United Nations experts as the "systemic obliteration of education through the arrest, detention, or killing of teachers, students, and staff, and the destruction of educational infrastructure"—during the 15-month assault on the Gaza Strip.
However, the AHA's 16-member elected council voted 11-4 with one abstention to reject the measure, according to Inside Higher Ed, which noted that the panel "could have accepted the resolution or sent it to the organization's roughly 10,450 members for a vote."
While the council said in a statement that it "deplores any intentional destruction of Palestinian educational institutions, libraries, universities, and archives in Gaza," it determined that the resolution does not comply with the AHA's constitution and bylaws "because it lies outside the scope of the association's mission and purpose."
Council member and University of Oklahoma history professor Anne Hyde told Inside Higher Ed that she voted to veto the resolution "to protect the AHA's reputation as an unbiased historical actor," adding that the Gaza war "is not settled history, so we're not clear what happened or who to blame or when it began even, so it isn't something that a professional organization should be commenting on yet."
However, Van Gosse, a co-chair and founder of Historians for Peace and Democracy—the resolution's author—told the outlet that "we are extremely shocked by this decision," which "overturns the democratic decision" of members' "landslide vote."
Lake Forest College history professor Rudi Batzell said on social media: "Shame on the AHA leadership for vetoing the scholasticide in Gaza resolution. Members voted overwhelmingly to support, and the resolution was written so narrowly and so carefully to meet exactly this kind of procedural objection. Craven."
The AHA council's veto follows last week's move by the Modern Language Association executive council, as Common Dreams reported, to block members of the preeminent U.S. professional group for scholars of language and literature from voting on a resolution supporting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement for Palestinian rights.
"Israel chose not to go to war simply against Hamas, but has instead waged an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people," Sanders wrote.
With a cease-fire deal between Hamas and Israel set to go into effect as soon as Sunday, Senator Bernie Sanders released a statement Friday saying that he's please the Israeli security cabinet has signed off on the agreement, but highlighted the approved deal "is essentially the same agreement that Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu and his extremist government rejected in May of last year."
"More than 10,000 people have died since that proposal was presented, and the suffering of the hostages and innocent people in Gaza only deepened," he wrote.
On Wednesday, President Biden announced the breakthrough, saying “this is the ceasefire agreement I introduced last spring."
What's more, the independent senator from Vermont said that Americans must "grapple with our role in this dark chapter." The U.S. government, he said, "allowed this mass atrocity to continue by providing an endless supply of weapons to Netanyahu and failing to exert meaningful leverage."
The U.S. has provided Israel with at least $17.9 billion in military aid to its ally in the Middle East since October 2023, when Israel's military campaign in Gaza commenced following an attack by Hamas on Israel. In early January the State Department informed Congress of a planned $8 billion arms sale.
Local health officials in Gaza say the death toll in the enclave stands at over 46,000. However, a recently published peer-reviewed analysis estimates that Israel's assault on Gaza had actually killed 64,260 people—mostly civilian men, women, and children—have been killed between October 7, 2023 and June 30, 2024—a figure significantly higher than the official one reported by the enclave's health ministry.
Multiple human rights organizations have said that Israel's conduct in Gaza constitutes genocide or acts of genocide, and the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza. The body has also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for alleged crimes against humanity,
In his Friday remarks, Sanders called Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel "barbaric" and stated that Israel "clearly had the right to defend itself against Hamas."
However, he said, "Israel chose not to go to war simply against Hamas, but has instead waged an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people."