Jimco, 24 May, 2024  {HMC} China warned on Friday of war over Taiwan and said it would ramp up countermeasures until “complete reunification” was achieved, as Chinese forces conducted military drills around the self-ruled island.

Warships and fighter jets encircled Taiwan on the second day of exercises that Beijing said were a test of its ability to seize the island, days after its new president was sworn in.

China’s military kicked off the two-day war games on Thursday morning, surrounding democratic Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft as it vowed the blood of “independence forces” on the island would flow.

The exercises were launched three days after Lai Ching-te took office and made an inauguration speech that China denounced as a “confession of independence.”

Beijing’s defense ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Friday that Lai “has seriously challenged the one-China principle… pushing our compatriots in Taiwan into a perilous situation of war and danger.”

“Every time ‘Taiwan independence’ provokes us, we will push our countermeasures one step further, until the complete reunification of the motherland is achieved,” he said.

The drills are part of an escalating campaign of intimidation by China in which it has carried out a series of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in recent years.

They are testing the “capability of joint seizure of power, joint strikes and control of key territories,” Li Xi, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command, said on Friday.

Fighter jets loaded with live ammunition scrambled towards targets and bombers formed formations to combine with warships to simulate “strikes against important targets,” state broadcaster CCTV reported.

China, which split with Taiwan at the end of a civil war 75 years ago, regards the island as a renegade province with which it must eventually be reunified.

The dispute has long made the Taiwan Strait one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints, and this week’s events have stoked fears that China may use military force to bring the island under mainland rule.

The United States, Taiwan’s strongest ally and military backer, “strongly” urged China on Thursday to act with restraint. The United Nations called for all sides to avoid escalation.

SOURCE VOA

Friday May 24, 2024

The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported that a merchant vessel was boarded 420 nautical miles southeast of Merca, Somalia. A resurgence in pirate activity, dormant since 2018, has been noted since late last year.

The European Union’s anti-piracy force in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea, Operation Atalanta, on Thursday flagged a possible pirate attack on the Liberian-flagged merchant vessel Basilisk off the coast of Somalia.
Somali pirates caused havoc in the waters off the east African country’s long coastline between 2008 and 2018. They had been dormant until late last year when pirate activity started to pick up again.

The EU force said in a statement that the suspected attack happened about 380 nautical miles east of the Somali capital Mogadishu while the vessel was heading north.

“One of Atalanta warships in the vicinity has been the first actor to respond. EUNAVFOR ATALANTA is taking the appropriate actions to respond,” it added.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency earlier said it had received a report of a vessel being boarded 420 nautical miles southeast of Merca, Somalia.

An unknown number of unauthorised people from two small craft were reported to have boarded the vessel, according to UKMTO.

Friday May 24, 2024

(ERGO) – Farming families in Dhardhaar village in central Somalia’s Mudug region are struggling to recover from crop losses caused by flash flooding last year that came on top of years of devastating drought.

Abdi Isse Ereg was among the local farmers who planted in September 2023 when seasonal deyr rainfall arrived, giving hope that the long four-year drought was over.

However, torrential rains began on 25 October 2023 causing floods that wiped out all the newly planted crops on Abdi’s three hectare farm.

“You can understand what it’s like for someone who had planted his crops but lost them! We can only complain to God. We had high expectations of improving our lives but it didn’t happen,” he said.

Abdi has no alternative source of income and has had to depend on his relatives in Bandiradley town, who send him small amounts of food. He said they use the little food sparingly, cooking one meal a day for the family of 13.

The maize and beans he had stored from his last harvest has all run out.

He took loans from local businessmen in Bandiradley, 70 km southwest of Galkayo, but they refused any more credit when they realised his farm had failed. He owes $2,300 and is always being reminded about his debts.

“The loan repayment is long overdue. I used to tell them my farm was almost ready for harvest. But the business people want their money and I don’t have anything in my hands,” he said.

Abdi’s five years in farming have been blighted by climatic extremes and huge losses. The 12 goats he has left are mostly young and don’t meet market standards so he can’t sell them off.

Neighbouring farmer Hassan Adan Hashi is in a similar position.

“This disaster has affected our lives. We were poor farmers and our crops were uprooted in the floods while others were submerged in rainwater. Most of our crops were destroyed,” he said.

Hassan was hoping to make $2,000 from his farm after the expected harvest in January. Two other families related to him were also counting on the farm. They helped with the farm work and were waiting to get their share of the harvest.

Hassan has turned to construction work on a site five kilometres away from his house in Bandiradley, where he makes $14 for two days work a week.

“This work is hard but it is necessary since I have a family, it is upon me to take care of my family. I get to work early in the morning and we work until 1:00 pm, but still we don’t get work every day,” he complained.

He has debts of $1,700 at local stores and his family’s store of sorghum, maize and beans has already run out.

The head of the farmers’ association in Dhardhaar, Abdirashid Mohamed Hersi, said 51 farming families in the village lost their crops in the torrential rain and flash floods that nobody had been prepared for.

Most had used up the small amounts of food they had stored from the previous harvest that was reduced by the drought.

“The problem was two-fold, on one side the people didn’t have training on to how to deal with the floods and at the same time they were too poor to invest in systems to avert the flood effects. You can imagine how much this has affected them,” he said.