LOS ANGELES: Philanthropist Melinda French Gates announced Monday she was leaving the nonprofit foundation she established with her ex-husband Bill Gates — an organization that has become one of the most influential in the world.
The announcement from the 59-year-old French Gates comes three years after her divorce from the 68-year-old Microsoft co-founder.
Under the agreement between the former power couple, French Gates — whose resignation will take effect on June 7 — will receive $12.5 billion for use on her philanthropic efforts “on behalf of women and families.”
“After careful thought and reflection, I have decided to resign from my role as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” French Gates wrote in a statement posted on social media.
“This is a critical moment for women and girls in the US and around the world — and those fighting to protect and advance equality are in urgent need of support.”
The announcement comes in an election year in the United States when abortion is expected to play a pivotal role, as Democrats seek to exploit voter dissatisfaction with Republican efforts to restrict access to the procedure.
French Gates has long-standing links to prominent Democratic Party politicians.
“Melinda, this is so exciting,” former secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wrote on X.
“Thanks for everything you’ve already done, and I can’t wait to see all you do next. Onward!“
Bill Gates married Melinda French in 1994. The couple have three children together, but announced their divorce in 2021.
They had continued to co-chair the foundation they set up using the vast wealth acquired through the success of Microsoft.
But the break in leadership had always been a possibility.
In July 2021, the Seattle-based foundation announced that while the pair would continue to work together in the aftermath of their marital separation, the arrangement was subject to review.
“If after two years either decides they cannot continue to work together as co-chairs, French Gates will resign her position as co-chair and trustee,” a statement at the time said.
“In such a case, French Gates would receive personal resources from Gates for her philanthropic work. These resources would be completely separate from the foundation’s endowment, which would not be affected.”
With a focus on child poverty and preventable diseases, the foundation has been heavily involved in the fight against malaria and in providing toilets and sanitation in poorer parts of the world.
The foundation’s website says it has spent $53.8 billion since 2000, and claims the number of children around the world who die before their fifth birthday has halved in this time.
Bill Gates on Monday thanked his ex-wife for her “critical contributions” to the organization.
“As a co-founder and co-chair Melinda has been instrumental in shaping our strategies and initiatives, significantly impacting global health and gender equality,” he said.
“I am sorry to see Melinda leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work.”
The organization’s chief executive, Mark Suzman, said its name would change to simply the Gates Foundation.
“I truly admire Melinda, and the critical role she has played in starting the foundation and in setting our values, she has played an essential role in all that we’ve accomplished over the past 24 years,” he said in a video posted to social media.
“I will miss working with her and learning from her. I look forward to seeing her continued impact.”
Melinda Gates to leave Gates Foundation
https://arab.news/cvs2j
Melinda Gates to leave Gates Foundation
- Nonprofit organization has become one of the most influential in the world
- Melinda to receive $12.5 billion for use on her philanthropic efforts ‘on behalf of women and families’
The US is making its biggest push yet to get Israel and Hamas to halt fighting. Is it succeeding?
- The world still is waiting for signs that the ceasefire appeal begun May 31 by President Joe Biden was working
WASHINGTON: In Middle East capitals, at the UN, from the White House and beyond, the Biden administration is making its most concentrated diplomatic push of the eight-month-old war in Gaza to persuade Israeli and Hamas leaders to take a proposed deal that would bring a ceasefire and release of more hostages.
But one week into the US pressure campaign, the world still is waiting for signs that the ceasefire appeal begun May 31 by President Joe Biden was working, by moving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders toward a negotiating breakthrough.
For Israel and Hamas, the US diplomatic press has become a public test of whether either side is ready to stop fighting — at least on any terms that fall short of their professed goals, whether it’s the complete crushing of the militant group or the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
For Biden, who describes the proposal as Israeli, it’s the latest high-profile test of US leadership in trying to convince ally Israel as well as the militant group to relent in a conflict that is killing tens of thousands of people, inflaming regional tensions and absorbing much of the administration’s focus.
Here’s a look at the US-led push for a Gaza ceasefire and where it stands:
Going public
It wasn’t that the ceasefire proposal Biden outlined in a televised address from the White House a week ago was startingly new. It was that Biden laid out the terms to the world and put the full weight of the US presidency behind the appeal for both sides to take this deal.
The terms that Biden described for the first of three phases sounded much like the deal that US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators and Israel and Hamas have been haggling over for months.
There would be a six-week ceasefire in which Israeli forces pulled back from populated areas of Gaza. In exchange for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Hamas would release some women, older people and wounded among hostages it had seized in the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel that set off the war.
The proposal calls for a full release of remaining hostages and an Israeli withdrawal in later phases, although the terms are vague.
“Everyone who wants peace now must raise their voices and let the leaders know they should take this deal,” Biden said a week ago.
But by Friday, neither Israel nor Hamas had said yes. Netanyahu says the terms of the proposal aren’t as they have been described publicly and that Israel will never cease fighting until “the destruction” of Hamas’ military and leadership.
In effect, said Nimrod Novik, a former senior adviser to the late Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Biden “decided to ‘out’ Netanyahu and let the Israeli public know how serious the potential for bringing all hostages out.”
The US aim: “So Israel would say ‘yes’ to its own proposal,” said Novik, now the Israel fellow at the Washington-based Israel Policy Forum.
Keeping up the pressure
The Biden administration isn’t letting up in its drive to get Hamas and Israel on board.
“The US is going to do everything it can in some formulation to keep pushing this. Until there’s no place to go any more,” said Jonathan Panikoff, a former US intelligence official. He’s now the director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East program.
At the UN, US diplomats are asking the Security Council to adopt a resolution demanding a permanent ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, over Israel’s objections. Biden is sending Secretary of State Antony Blinken back to the Middle East next week for his eighth visit since the war began, a lightning tour of Middle East capitals to promote the ceasefire proposal.
CIA director Bill Burns and Biden Middle East adviser Brett McGurk also have traveled to the region to garner support for the deal and show key players how it could work.
The Group of Seven leading global economies endorsed the proposal. So have countries with hostages held by militants in Gaza. Biden, Blinken and other US officials are working the phones to rally support among Arab governments from Egypt and Qatar to Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Many allies appear to welcome the president’s initiative to get the ceasefire talks back on course after weeks of drift, Panikoff said.
The view from Israel
There’s little sign — yet — that the US efforts have been enough to change the political equation in Israel. Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have vowed to bring down the government if the Israeli prime minister accepts the proposal that Biden outlined.
Trailing in opinion polls and facing an ongoing corruption trial, Netanyahu has little incentive to risk heading to another election. Although opposition leader Yair Lapid has offered to give Netanyahu backing for a hostage deal, the two men are bitter enemies and there is little reason to think any alliance would last.
Benny Gantz, a centrist member of Netanyahu’s war Cabinet, has called a news conference for Saturday, where he is expected to address his earlier threat to resign by this weekend if Netanyahu failed to release a plan for the war and Gaza.
Netanyahu will still control a parliamentary majority if Gantz leaves. But the departure of Gantz, a former military chief and defense minister who is respected in Washington, would weaken Netanyahu’s international credibility and leave him more dependent than ever on far-right coalition partners, who believe Israel should reoccupy Gaza and oppose the ceasefire proposal.
Popular protests could be one of the few scenarios that sway Netanyahu toward a deal, Novik said. Alternatively, Novik contended, just the threat of a public denunciation by Biden could prod Netanyahu toward compromise, given the United States’ importance as an ally.
How about Hamas?
Hamas is expected to deliver a formal response in coming days to the proposal that Biden is pushing, according to what the Qataris and Egyptians, who handle the direct communications with Hamas officials in the negotiations, told US officials this week.
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told reporters this week in Beirut that Biden’s announcement was “positive” but said the group couldn’t accept any deal without Israel’s guarantee of a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, a prisoner exchange and other conditions.
While the supreme leader of Hamas and other political figures are based abroad, Hamas also must relay any proposals to Yahya Sinwar — whose opinion is paramount — and other military leaders in Gaza. They inhabit tunnels up to 100 feet (30 meters) or more underground and are believed to have surrounded themselves with foreign hostages to discourage attack.
Aquaculture overtakes wild fisheries for first time: UN report
- While wild fisheries production has stayed largely unchanged for decades, aquaculture has increased by 6.6 percent since 2020, says Food and Agriculture Organization report
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica: Aquaculture is playing an increasingly important role in meeting the world’s food needs, surpassing wild fisheries in aquatic animal production for the first time, according to a report published Friday.
With global demand for aquatic foods expected to keep growing, an increase in sustainable production is vital to ensure healthy diets, the United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organization said.
In 2022, aquaculture yielded 94.4 million tons of aquatic animal production — 51 percent of the total, and 57 percent of the production destined for human consumption, it said.
“Aquatic systems are increasingly recognized as vital for food and nutrition security,” according to the report, released as experts gathered in Costa Rica for talks on ocean conservation.
“Because of their great diversity and capacity to supply ecosystem services and sustain healthy diets, aquatic food systems represent a viable and effective solution that offers greater opportunities to improve global food security and nutrition,” it added.
While wild fisheries production has stayed largely unchanged for decades, aquaculture has increased by 6.6 percent since 2020, the report noted.
The sustainability of wild fishery resources remained a cause for concern, it added.
The proportion of marine stocks fished within biologically sustainable levels decreased to 62.3 percent in 2021, 2.3 percent lower than in 2019, the report said.
“Urgent action is needed to accelerate fishery stock conservation and rebuilding.”
With the world’s population projected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, “providing sufficient food, nutrition and livelihoods for this growing population demands significant investments,” it added.
“Aquaculture has a major role to play, particularly in Africa where its great potential is not yet realized,” the report said, noting that more than 40 percent of the world’s population cannot afford a healthy diet.
Aquatic products remain one of the most traded food commodities, generating a record $195 billion in 2022 — a 19 percent increase from pre-pandemic levels, it said.
“Despite these significant achievements, the sector still faces major challenges from climate change and disasters, water scarcity, pollution, biodiversity loss” and other man-made impacts, it added.
The report was released to coincide with a meeting in San Jose of country representatives, scientists and international experts to prepare for the third UN Ocean Conference, to be held in France in 2025.
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Social Affairs Li Junhua said at the start of the talks that protecting the ocean was “not an option but an imperative.”
Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves, host of the two-day meeting, said that if the world does not act, “we as a generation would be taking away the future of humanity.”
Participants will debate issues including the capacity of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide, the need for sustainable fishing and tackling marine pollution.
Ethiopia reports two Amhara officials killed as state of emergency ends
- Ethiopia’s government has not officially ended the state of emergency declared in August 2023 and extended by parliament in February
ADDIS ABABA: Two local officials in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara state have been killed after the central government let expire a state of emergency that was declared for the conflict-wracked region last year, authorities said.
The heads of the Efrata Gidim and Kewet woreda, or districts, were killed by “extremist entities” on June 2 and 5, local officials said in separate statements.
The phrase is used by the government to refer to the Fano self-defense militia that took up arms against forces they had formerly supported in the Ahmara region a year ago.
Ethiopia’s government has not officially ended the state of emergency declared in August 2023 and extended by parliament in February.
But to remain in place the government needed to seek parliament’s approval by June 4, something it has not done.
Contacted by AFP, the office of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), an independent state-affiliated body, called for the “restoration of ordinary law enforcement, including the release of those imprisoned during the implementation of the state of emergency,” in a statement dated June 5.
The government has failed so far to end the Fano insurgency in Amhara, home to around 23 million people — the second-largest of the roughly 80 ethno-linguistic groups in the country of 120 million people, Africa’s second most populous.
An influx of refugees from war-torn Sudan and also Eritrea have also stoked tensions in the region.
Last month, the United Nations said around 1,000 refugees had fled a UN-run camp in Amhara after reports of armed robbery, shootings and alleged abductions.
bur-tfg-ayv/js/yad
Desperation rises in search for trapped Nigerian miners
- At least one person was killed and six rescued with severe injuries after the mine collapsed on Monday following torrential rains
- An engineer at the site had confirmed that 20 persons were trapped
KANO, Nigeria: Desperation rose on Friday as Nigerian rescuers worked by hand to dig out around 20 trapped miners, with fears they may not survive after four days buried in a collapsed pit.
At least one person was killed and six rescued with severe injuries after the mine collapsed on Monday following torrential rains, officials said earlier this week.
Ibrahim Audu Husseini, spokesman for the SEMA relief agency in central Niger State, told AFP on Friday that the rescue operation was proving “delicate and more difficult than expected.”
He said workers were having to use chisels and hammers to reach the trapped miners due to a lack of equipment at the site, which is in a remote district plagued by heavily armed gangs.
Husseini warned there were signs the miners may not have survived the collapse.
“The smell of the water seeping from the pit has turned foul, causing fear of the worst,” he said.
“We can’t conclude that the trapped miners are dead because no corpse has been recovered but the foul smell from the water in the pit is sending an alarm.”
The exact number of trapped miners is not clear and officials have given conflicting accounts.
On Wednesday SEMA said the number was more than 30, while on Thursday police told AFP an engineer at the site had “confirmed that 20 persons were trapped,” adding that an investigation had been launched.
SEMA spokesman Husseini said “the government doesn’t have the required equipment for digging into the pit.”
He explained that boulders had rolled down and covered the mine during the heavy rains.
Workers would usually use dynamite to break the rock apart, he said, but had ruled it out as they took the “utmost care not to endanger the lives of those trapped.”
“It is a manual and tedious process that requires patience and care,” he said.
Minerals such as gold, tantalite and lithium are mined in the area.
Shiroro is one of several districts in Niger State terrorized by bandits, who raid remote villages in northwest and central Nigeria to loot as well as kidnap residents for ransom.
Six people were kidnapped in the area on Sunday and another 20 abducted nearby on Tuesday, according to SEMA.
Last year, the Niger State government banned mining activities in Shiroro and other districts due to insecurity and safety concerns.
But artisanal miners have continued to operate, seeking to raise money for food and essentials after bandit raids displaced many from their homes and farms.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Frederiksen assaulted in central Copenhagen, man arrested
- “The Prime Minister is shocked by the incident,” her office said
- Danish Minister of Environment Magnus Heunicke said on X: “I must say that it shakes all of us who are close to her”
COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen walked away following an assault by a man in central Copenhagen on Friday and had no outward signs of harm, a local resident told Reuters.
“Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was beaten on Friday evening at Kultorvet (square, red.) in Copenhagen by a man who was subsequently arrested. The Prime Minister is shocked by the incident,” her office said in a statement without giving further detail.
Copenhagen Police and Denmark’s national security and intelligence service confirmed the incident to Reuters but declined to provide more detail.
“She seemed a little stressed,” Soren Kjergaard, who works as a barista on the square, told Reuters after seeing the prime minister being escorted away by security following the assault.
Danish Minister of Environment Magnus Heunicke said on X: “Mette is naturally shocked by the attack. I must say that it shakes all of us who are close to her.”
