Chuck Hagel: Climate Change Is a National Security Problem

It is remarkable that French security forces are taking on the international climate change conference in Paris in the shadow of the recent attacks. Then, the city reminded the world of the threat of terrorism. Now, it offers a promise for world leaders to address another national security challenge: climate change.

The agreement in Paris is expected to feature all countries voluntarily committing to reduce their emissions, and ensuring that their commitments are transparent and verifiable.

Almost two decades ago, in the lead up to 1997’s U.N. climate negotiations in Kyoto, the late Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and I drafted a U.S. Senate resolution laying out conditions for the Senate to support an international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions: (1) that all nations must commit to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and (2) that any agreement should not cause “serious harm” to the American economy.

The resolution passed the Senate in July 1997 by a vote of 95-0.

I led the Global Climate Change Observer Group to Kyoto, a bipartisan group that included Senators John Kerry, John Chafee, Joseph Lieberman and others. There, the Clinton administration ignored the Byrd-Hagel Resolution and signed the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997. President Bill Clinton never submitted the Kyoto Protocol to the Senate for ratification.

The Kyoto Protocol did not meet the conditions of Byrd-Hagel. Today, I believe that a Paris agreement could meet these conditions, laying out a path that is more realistic, effective and economically sound, and that would help catalyze a new global energy economy.

This is why, along with a bipartisan group of other former Secretaries of Defense and State and national security leaders, I recently signed a statement urging global cooperation on climate change. The statement said we must work to address these threats as a national security imperative. The military has defined climate change as a global threat multiplier that could exacerbate instigators of conflict such as resource disputes, ethnic tensions and economic discontent. Preparing for climate change is about risk—even if we do not understand every aspect of the scientific predictions, we know that the consequences of not acting may be significant.

In 2007, I authored bipartisan legislation, along with Senators Richard Durbin, Richard Lugar, Joseph Biden, Dianne Feinstein and Kerry, that directed the intelligence community to perform a National Intelligence Estimate of the threats of climate change. When the chairman of the National Intelligence Council testified about their assessment in 2008, he stated that climate change “will have wide-ranging implications for U.S. national security interests.” Senator John Warner authored similar legislation at the time, which I supported, directing the Department of Defense to identify and act on the threats of climate change.

While I was Secretary of Defense, we prioritized preparing for climate change as a national security issue. The 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review warned that climate change was a “threat multiplier,” identifying the specific risks to security we face from a changing climate. With Arctic sea ice melting faster as a result of climate change, we developed the Department of Defense’s first-ever Arctic strategy to ensure a secure and stable region where U.S. national interests are safeguarded, the U.S. homeland is protected, and nations are working cooperatively to address challenges. I announced this new strategy at the Halifax International Security Forum in November 2013.

U.S. leadership on climate change resulted in last year’s climate agreement with China. China has made impressive commitments on climate change, committing to peak their emissions and planning to install as much clean energy as the entire U.S. electricity system. China is already a world leader in renewable energy. India and Brazil have also shown commitment to climate issues, committing to significant clean energy goals. They know action is clearly in their self-interest.

Ahead of Paris, the United States has submitted a common-sense plan that is achievable under current law. We know that American innovation and technology can grow our GDP while reducing emissions.

As my Senate resolution co-author, Sen. Byrd, wrote in an op-ed shortly before his death: “The future of American industrial power and our economic ability to compete globally depends on our ability to advance energy technology.”

Congress should play an active role in the negotiations—not by blocking the deal, but by sending a new Global Climate Change Observer Group to report on the proceedings in Paris and closely evaluate other countries’ climate plans. Strong oversight is necessary to ensure that other countries are meeting their commitments. In addition, Congress should work with the President to develop policies that will position America to lead on clean energy.

The Kyoto Protocol did not meet the Senate-passed requirements of the Byrd-Hagel resolution. The U.S. has an opportunity to help make the Paris Climate Change Agreement meet the conditions that will deserve the support of Congress and strengthen our country by bringing together a more unified global climate effort.

Chuck Hagel is a former Secretary of Defense.

US sanctions on Sudan under the spotlight

After an official week-long visit to Sudan to study the effect of sanctions placed on the country, United Nations Special Rapporteur Idriss Jazairy has concluded that the measures are harming ordinary people. 

The visit, which took place at the request of the Sudanese government, came weeks after the United States renewed its sanctions on Sudan for another year, from November 3. 

"The reality on the ground has proved that these measures do not have a negative impact on officials or on any elite group," Jazairy said in a statement after his visit. "Their full impact is on innocent citizens and on a deepening of the gap in income distribution within the Sudanese society and between provinces... This encourages the emergence of a parallel economy which was exposed to a variety of possible illegal practices."

In 1993, the US designated Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism - a distinction currently shared by just two other countries, Iran and Syria. As a result, the US imposed economic sanctions on Sudan, including certain restrictions on financial transactions.

Then, in 1997, former US President Bill Clinton issued an executive order that imposed a comprehensive trade embargo on Sudan and froze its government's assets in the US. In 2006, Clinton's successor, George W Bush, issued another executive order targeting those involved in the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

Alden Young, an assistant professor of history and Africana Studies at Drexel University in the US, said that the sanctions imposed during the Clinton administration, and Bush's declaration that the world was divided between allies of the US and its enemies, has made the Sudan "supportive of US foreign policy in Africa - from counterterrorism to support of US allies in the region, such as Saudi Arabia".

He added that the Sudanese government's "desire to reduce the government and society's isolation may even have encouraged the NCP [Sudan's ruling party] and its supporters to allow the partition of Sudan into Sudan and South Sudan. However, it is doubtful if sanctions alone have been able to force the government in Khartoum to do things that the regime did not want to do."

The sanctions absolutely serve the purpose of pressuring the government into changing some of its policies. Mastoor Ahmed Mohammed, Sudanese Congress Party

The US has exempted some Sudanese groups from the sanctions, especially those that work in agriculture, health education, publishing, and personal hardware and software products.

Sudanese children hold a banner reading 'Lift the injustice' during a protest against US sanctions in Khartoum last month [EPA]

Al Jazeera was not able to reach the public affairs and political and economic section of the US embassy in Khartoum for comment, despite repeated attempts.

Recently, a charity organisation named Sadagaat was granted a special license from the US treasury department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to receive money transfers directly from the US. The move surprised some in Sudan because Sadagaat is a charity with Islamic roots, and operates internationally as well as in Sudan.

"The OFAC license allows for the transfer of $50,000 for specific approved projects," said Mohammed Abd Alrahman, a spokesperson for the organisation, which has been active since 2002. Sadagaat provides food and medical aid to vulnerable members of society, and runs a home taking care of abandoned infants born out of wedlock.

Despite occasional exemptions, though, "the large portion of the sanctions remains in place, and it affects citizens as well", said Khalid Saad, editor-in-chief of Ilaf, a weekly newspaper that focuses on economic issues. "The Sudanese economy is hugely dependent on the service sector that is affected by the sanctions."

Saad said the sanctions have also forced many Sudanese to open bank accounts in nearby countries in order to make money transfers. For example, he noted that Western Union forbids the transfer of money by Sudanese nationals to non-Sudanese nationals, unless the latter is a spouse or a supervising academic professor.

Yassir Mahdi is one of those affected by the restrictions. "My late father worked for the IATA [International Air Transport Association], and in order to receive his pension, which is transferred from Montreal, we had to set up a bank account in Dubai," Mahdi said.

Rabie Abd Alaatie, a member of the NCP's leadership office, said the sanctions have also affected Sudan's imports. "The foreign currency reserve is very scarce due to the sanctions. This affects the importation of goods, sometimes vital commodities such as wheat," he explained.

"The comprehensive trade embargo is the set of measures which are affecting the lives of the Sudanese citizens. They have so far not been able to serve the purpose of modifying the policies of the government of Sudan, but have for sure affected many regular people's ability to conduct business, transfer money, and go about regular everyday life activities," Abd Alaatie said.

He also blames sanctions for the national airline's decline. "Spare parts for aircraft cannot be bought," said Abd Alaatie, adding that they also force Sudanese passengers to pay higher airfares.

However, some opposition groups have a different take on the sanctions' effects. Mastoor Ahmed Mohammed of the Sudanese Congress Party said that although sanctions have made monetary transactions more difficult, "the sanctions absolutely serve the purpose of pressuring the government into changing some of its policies, and if lifted, the government and companies owned by the government … will benefit more than any regular citizen".

Although Young agrees that the sanctions have succeeded in altering Sudan's regional and international policies, he said they have also "imposed very heavy costs on the ordinary citizens of Sudan, particularly the middle classes in Khartoum, by denying them the ability to make international banking transactions and significantly raising the transaction costs of performing ordinary economic transactions as part of the international economy".

Chinese president to head to Africa

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Some immigration signs at Zimbabwe's main international airport are in Chinese, a sign of China's deep economic inroads in Africa, which Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit this week.

Xi arrives Tuesday in Zimbabwe before heading on Wednesday to South Africa. There, he will attend a forum on cooperation between Africa and China, whose investment on the continent has soared in the past decade. Zimbabwe, whose economy is faltering, would like to get a bigger piece of it.

China's overall trade with Africa topped $200 billion last year but has slowed over the past two years as the weakening Chinese economy demands fewer of the continent's oil, copper and other raw materials.

Chinese-built roads, bridges and power installations are found across Africa, often paid for in resources or through loans from China that must eventually be repaid.

Along with those looming debts, some African nations have expressed anger over Chinese companies' use of Chinese workers and other practices that fail to benefit local economies.

Inexpensive Chinese goods have long been popular in Africa, and in the last decade Chinese merchants have started eliminating the middle man and setting up retail outlets of their own, much to local merchants' chagrin. In 2011, riots in the Ugandan capital of Kampala largely targeted the city's foreign merchants.

There are about a million Chinese living in Africa, mostly engaged in commercial work, according to the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Africa.

Xi's visit to Zimbabwe is his first and he'll meet President Robert Mugabe, who has been quoted by Zimbabwean state media as saying they will discuss "some of the projects and programs we want China to assist us in undertaking."

Despite the collaboration, Mugabe has expressed concern in the past, telling the Chinese in 2012 to respect Zimbabwe's investment and labor laws.

"To our Chinese friends we say, 'You don't just come, you have to respect our rules," the Zimbabwean leader said at a gathering of the ruling party.

China pumped $600 million into Zimbabwe in 2013, making it the biggest foreign investor with interests ranging from gold, diamond and platinum mining to tobacco, nickel, chrome, construction, energy and telecommunications, said Chinese ambassador Huang Ping.

Zimbabwe's economy is battered by mass company closures, high unemployment, low liquidity and foreign direct investment and food shortages. The government has been struggling to raise money to pay its workers, often shifting pay dates. Over two-thirds of Zimbabweans survive on informal trade, according to the African Development Bank.

UK Cannabis Farms Linked To 'Modern Slavery'

Cannabis plants seized during a police raid

And a report by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has linked the cultivation of the illegal plant to other crimes including money laundering, human trafficking and illegal immigration.

The study said commercial cultivation of cannabis "continues to pose a significant risk to the UK" with more than a quarter of a million plants seized every year.

Data used in the report said most of those caught commercially cultivating cannabis are white British men aged between 25 and 34.

"Reports suggest a new trend of cultivation sites being controlled by white British organised crime groups which employ Vietnamese nationals who are forced to work in cultivation," the report said.

It also found that nine out of ten cannabis farms - those with more than 25 plants - were based in residential properties.

NPCC lead on Cannabis, Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Bill Jephson said: "Tackling the criminals at the source of wholesale cannabis cultivation remains a key priority for us.

"The report highlights the links with violence, class A drugs and other serious criminality including human trafficking and modern slavery.

Guinea's ex-leader pleads guilty to smuggling

An African Union general and former transitional president of Guinea has pleaded guilty in the US to smuggling tens of thousands of dollars into the country.

Prosecutors say Sekouba Konate, 51, tried to sneak more than $64,000 (£42,400), much of it hidden in luggage, into the US on a 2013 flight from Ethiopia to Dulles International Airport. 

Gen Konate served as interim leader of Guinea during the political turmoil in the West African state in 2010, and was later appointed by the African Union as its "high representative" in efforts to establish a standby force to intervene in conflicts in Africa.

He had been due to go on trial on Tuesday in a US court. Instead, he entered a guilty plea that could result in a prison sentence of up to five years, the Associated Press news agency reports.

According to a statement he signed as part of his plea, the general called the searches improper given his status as the former president of Guinea and commanding general of the African Union forces, court documents show, Reuters reports.

U.K. Lawmakers Prepare to Vote on Air Strikes Against ISIS in Syria

Leon Neal—AFP/Getty ImagesProtesters stand behind a banner that reads "Don't Bomb Syria" during a demonstration against British military action in Syria outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Dec. 1, 2015

The U.K. Parliament is set to vote on whether the country will join an international coalition in carrying out air strikes in Syria against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), with a 10-hour debate on the issue in the House of Commons scheduled for Wednesday.

Although lawmakers are divided on whether the strikes are the right option, British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to garner the support he needs to approve them, the BBC reports.

Divisions have emerged within the opposition Labour camp, whose leader Jeremy Corbyn is against air strikes but has given his party members a free choice, the BBC says. Cameron caused controversy on Tuesday by calling Corbyn and others opposed to the motion “a bunch of terrorist sympathizers.”

British forces are already providing surveillance, tactical and logistical support to countries like the U.S., Russia and France, and have also carried out thousands of aerial raids on ISIS targets in Syria’s neighboring country Iraq.

Chris Brown Cancels Oz Tour After Visa Denied

Brown said he hoped he would be able to see his fans in the future

The cancellation was confirmed in a statement by the hip hop star's promoters but no details were given.

In the statement, Brown thanked his fans and said he remained hopeful he could tour "in the near future".

It had been widely expected that Brown would not perform for his fans Down Under after struggling to obtain the visa.

Australian immigration minister Peter Dutton said in September that his office intended to refuse Brown a visa to perform because of the singer's history of domestic violence.

A person has 28 days after a visa rejection to lodge an appeal, but it is not known if Brown did this.

New Zealand said Brown had voluntarily withdrawn his application.

"Immigration New Zealand can confirm that Chris Brown withdrew his application for a work visa to travel to New Zealand. No decision had been made on the application," a spokesperson for Immigration New Zealand told Reuters.

Brown's visa troubles stem from a conviction in 2009 for assaulting the singer, his then-girlfriend. He was sentenced to five years' probation, which was lifted in February.

Brown had been scheduled to perform shows in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane this month.