Saturday 5, July -2025 {HMC}  A team of inspectors from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog have left Iran, following Tehran’s decision to suspend cooperation with the organisation after the 12-day conflict with Israel and the United States.

In a statement posted on X on Friday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its employees would return to its headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi stressed “the crucial importance” of holding talks with Iran to resume its monitoring and verification work as soon as possible, the post added.

Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from Tehran, said it was not clear what proportion of the IAEA staff left the country.

“Based on the language used, it is not clear if all or some of them left Iran, but we understand that some of them are still here,” he said.

“What we know is that they did not fly out; this departure happened through land into Armenia yesterday or the day before,” he added.

“And then they went to Vienna,” Serdar said, adding that the development has started an era of “nuclear ambiguity” in Iran.

The inspectors stayed in the Iranian capital throughout the recent fighting, which started on June 13 when Israel attacked Iranian military sites and killed a number of the country’s most senior commanders, top scientists, and civilians.

The US later became involved in the conflict, dropping bunker-buster bombs on nuclear facilities in Iran, in a mission the Trump administration claimed had significantly set back the country’s nuclear programme.

Distrust of IAEA
In the aftermath of the US and Israeli aerial attacks, Iran, which has said it is still committed to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), made painfully clear its burgeoning distrust of the IAEA.

Since the start of the conflict, Iranian officials have sharply criticised the IAEA not only for failing to condemn the Israeli and US strikes, but also for passing a resolution on June 12 accusing Tehran of non-compliance with its nuclear obligations, the day before Israel attacked.

On Wednesday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered the country to cut ties with the nuclear watchdog. A bill to suspend cooperation had already been passed in the Iranian parliament and approved by the country’s Guardian Council.

Guardian Council spokesperson Hadi Tahan Nazif said the decision had been taken for the “full respect for the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

The bill itself says the suspension “will remain in effect until certain conditions are met, including the guaranteed security of nuclear facilities and scientists”, according to Iranian state television.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi summarily dismissed Grossi’s request to visit nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the US.

“Grossi’s insistence on visiting the bombed sites under the pretext of safeguards is meaningless and possibly even malign in intent,” Araghchi said, adding that “Iran reserves the right to take any steps in defence of its interests, its people and its sovereignty.”

The US Department of State spokesperson Tammy Bruce called Iran’s decision to suspend cooperation with the IAEA “unacceptable”, urging Tehran “to reverse course and choose a path of peace and prosperity”.

“Iran cannot and will not have a nuclear weapon,” she reiterated.

Tehran denies wanting to produce a nuclear bomb, reiterating for years that its nuclear programme is for civilian use only. Neither US intelligence nor Grossi said they had found any proof Tehran was building a nuclear weapon.

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

Saturday 5, July -2025 {HMC}Banners and bandanas at the ready, young Kenyans faced one final job before taking to the streets last week to mark the death of more than 60 fellow protesters in anti-government demos a year ago.

Write their own eulogies – just in case.

“I didn’t care if I died. We have no life as it is. There are no jobs, the cost of living is high, and Kenyans are really struggling,” said Wilson, a jobless 19-year-old from Nairobi.

“We have a government that isn’t listening to its people.”

Wilson was among the many who took to social media to post their own obituaries before masking up and joining thousands marching in Nairobi, fearing police might well open fire again.

They did – and at least 19 died, with hundreds more injured in June 25’s commemorations of the deadly anti-tax protests.

“We knew what was at stake. Over the past year, the government has tried to silence us and we have seen how protesters have been killed,” Wilson, who did not want to give his surname, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Wilson used his TikTok farewell to thank his parents for all they had done, explaining how he had no choice but to protest – whatever the cost – in pursuit of a better life for all Kenyans.

Popular anger in the East African nation has been fuelled by increasing frustration with President William Ruto, elected in 2022 after campaigning as a champion of low-income “hustlers”.

Despite crafting a reputation as a global statesman, at home Ruto is dubbed ‘Zakayo’ – a Swahili name for a greedy biblical tax collector – by Kenyans frustrated with rich politicians flaunting their wealth while their own living standards fall.

Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen denied the police had used excessive force last week and instead accused demonstrators of attempting to overthrow the government, dismissing the groundswell as “terrorism disguised as dissent”.

But there is little sign the protests will die down, with more already scheduled for next week.

‘SAME MONKEYS, DIFFERENT FOREST’
Last year’s protests, led by Gen Z and millennial Kenyans, led to the withdrawal of a controversial finance bill that raised a raft of taxes. They were also followed by a crackdown on people voicing dissent, both in person and online.

It was the crackdown that helped fuel last week’s protests with many demonstrators chanting slogans like “Ruto must go” and “End police brutality now” as they marched through Nairobi.

“Nothing has changed in the last year. It’s the same monkeys, different forest,” said Evans, 30, masked up to protect himself from tear gas.

“We are struggling and hustling everyday. There is no future for young people in this country,” he said.

Economists said some lessons had been learnt, with the government pursuing a much more cautious tax stance in this year’s finance bill.

It dropped measures including an expansion of PAYE tax and levies on mobile phones, electric buses and solar equipment.

Ruto is under pressure to raise revenues through tax and wants to get debt below 55% of GDP in two years, as recommended by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Legislators also rejected a controversial proposal granting wide-ranging access to personal data, citing privacy concerns.

Jervin Naidoo, political economist at Oxford Economics Africa, said while the new finance measures may bring temporary relief, they fail to address the underlying economic pressures.

“Unemployment is around 13%, with youth unemployment alarmingly high at 67%. Meanwhile, about 85% of employed Kenyans remain in the informal sector, where incomes are low and irregular,” Naidoo said in a report published last week.

“Public frustration will likely persist without substantial progress in creating jobs, especially for young people, and in improving real incomes.”

BILL TO BAN PROTESTS

The government, however, does not seem to be willing to make concessions to people taking to the streets.

Murkomen said they were trying to enact “regime change”, and said police had been forced to hold back crowds who sought to approach parliament and State House, the president’s residence.

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki said church leaders, foreign diplomats and opposition politicians had encouraged them.

Members of parliament are now considering draft legislation that would make it illegal to protest near key institutions.

Such measures are unlikely to deter those Kenyans who plan a return to the streets on July 7 to mark pro-democracy protests against former ruler Daniel Arap Moi in 1990.

“It won’t be over until this government goes,” said 25-year-old student Joy, who did not want to give her surname. “We will be out on the streets again and again. They can’t kill us all.”

(Reporting by Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla; Editing by Lyndsay Griffiths. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters.)

Souce

Saturday 5, July -2025 {HMC} With just 10 days left before the mandate of the UN Integrated Office in Haiti expires, UN officials are raising alarm over the country’s deepening crisis.

They warn that without urgent action to renew and bolster the mission, particularly its support for the Kenya-led MSS force, Haiti risks total state collapse.

While Kenya seeks to project progress on the security front, UN officials describe a grim reality: gangs tightening their grip on the capital, and a peacekeeping force dangerously under-equipped to push back.

As Kenya marked a year since it first deployed police to Haiti as the lead in a Multi-National Security Support mission.

“We have a government in place, hospitals have been reopened, security of presidential palace, the international airport and sea port,” said Amb. Yabesh Monari, Deputy Permanent Representative, UN.

The United Nations Secretary-General has warned that without adequate resourcing, the mission’s impact on Haiti’s security will be not only limited, but short-lived.

“We have continued to witness a sharp erosion of state authority and the rule of law. The capital city was for all intents and purposes paralyzed by gangs and isolated as a result of the ongoing suspension of international commercial flights into the Toussaint Louverture International Airport,”said Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, UN.

“Since then, gangs have only strengthened their foothold, which now affects all communes of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area and beyond, pushing the situation closer to the brink.”

“Organized criminal groups have gained near-total control of the capital, with an estimated 90 per cent of Port-au-Prince under their grip. Despite their best efforts, the MSS and Haitian National Police have been unable to make headway in restoring state authority and, without additional security support from the international community, the outlook is bleak,” said Ghada Waly, Director-General, UNODC.

Antonio Guterres, in a letter to the Security Council in February, warned that with the MSS reliant on donors for essential equipment, many of its armoured vehicles are ill-suited for the urban environment of Port-au-Prince and a shortage of spare parts has rendered half their combat vehicles non-serviceable.

Further, a lack of adequate air support, communication systems and intelligence capabilities undermine the effectiveness of the mission and risk the lives of the officers.

“Without forward operating bases, the gangs come back,” said Amb. Yabesh Monari.

The plan was 12 forward operating bases; there are currently three. At least 2,500 officers were to be deployed; they are currently 991, with 735 from Kenya.

“We are operating at less than 30 per cent of capacity. It is imperative that this discussion lead to clear actionable guidance on the future of MSS, as such direction is essential for Kenya to make informed decisions regarding the continuation of their commitment,” said Amb. Yabesh Monari.

Kenya is operating in an increasingly complex environment.

“We are seeing a rapid growth in the number and activities of private security companies and vigilante self-defence groups,” said Miroslav Jenča.

And with the US under Donald Trump warning that it cannot continue to bear the greater fiscal burden of the mission, the clock is ticking on a UN Security Council adoption of Guterres’ proposal to have a UN support office established to provide logistical and operational support.