Pope Francis has apologised to Canada's native people on their homeland for the Church's role in schools where indigenous children were abused, branding forced cultural assimilation "evil" and a "disastrous error".

Speaking near the site of a former school on Monday, Francis apologised for Christian support of the "colonising mentality" of the times.

He called for a "serious investigation" of the so-called residential schools and more assistance to help survivors and descendants heal.

"With shame and unambiguously, I humbly beg forgiveness for the evil committed by so many Christians against the indigenous peoples," Francis told indigenous leaders from the First Nations, Metis and Inuit people.

The 85-year-old pope is making the week-long apology tour of Canada to fulfil a promise he made to indigenous delegations that visited him this year at the Vatican, where he made the initial apology.

'Cultural destruction and forced assimilation'

Between 1881 and 1996 more than 150,000 indigenous children were separated from their families and brought to residential schools.

Many children were starved, beaten and sexually abused in a system that Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission called "cultural genocide."

Holding up on his promise, Francis asked for forgiveness, "especially for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools."

Source: Reuters

The Biden administration has said the government will plant more than one billion trees across millions of acres of burned and dead woodlands in the US West, as officials struggle to counter the increasing toll on the nation's forests from wildfires, insects and other manifestations of the climate crisis.

"Our forests, rural communities, agriculture and economy are connected across a shared landscape and their existence is at stake," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement on Monday announcing the reforestation plan.

"Only through bold, climate-smart actions ... can we ensure their future."

Destructive fires in recent years that burned too hot for forests to regrow naturally have far outpaced the government's capacity to plant new trees. That has created a backlog of 4.1 million acres in need of replanting, officials said.

The US Agriculture Department said it will have to quadruple the number of tree seedlings produced by nurseries to get through the backlog and meet future needs.

That comes after Congress last year passed bipartisan legislation directing the Forest Service to plant 1.2 billion trees over the next decade and after President Joe Biden in April ordered the agency to make the nation's forests more resilient as the globe gets hotter.

Officials had to pursue a more piecemeal approach with incremental measures such as Monday's announcement since most of the administration's agenda on the climate crisis remains stalled due to disagreements within Congress.

To erase the backlog of decimated forest acreage, the Forest Service plans over the next couple of years to scale up work from about 60,000 acres replanted last year to about 400,000 acres annually, officials said.

Challenging year

Blazes have charred 5.6 million acres so far in the US this year, putting 2022 on track to match or exceed the record-setting 2015 fire season, when 10.1 million acres burned.

Many forests regenerate naturally after fires, but if the blazes get too intense they can leave behind barren landscapes that linger for decades before trees come back.

The Forest Service this year is spending more than $100 million on reforestation work and is expected to further increase in coming years, to as much as $260 million annually.

To prevent replanted areas from becoming similarly overgrown, practices are changing so reforested stands are less dense with trees and therefore less fire-prone, said Joe Fargione, science director for North America at the Nature Conservancy.

But challenges to the Forest Service's goal remain, from finding enough seeds to hiring enough workers to plant them, Fargione said.

Many seedlings will die before reaching maturity due to drought and insects, both of which can be exacerbated by the climate crisis.

Living trees are a major “sink” for carbon dioxide that’s driving the climate crisis when it enters the atmosphere, Fargione said. That means replacing those that die is important to keep climate change from getting even worse.

Source: AP

The United States condemned Monday in the strongest terms Burma’s regime execution of four of the country’s opposition leaders. “These reprehensible acts of violence further exemplify the regime’s complete disregard for human rights and the rule of law,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press statement. He noted that the pro-democracy activists and elected leaders Ko Jimmy, Phyo Zeya Thaw, Hla Myo Aung, and Aung Thura Zaw were executed by Burma’s military regime for the exercise of their fundamental freedoms. “Since the February 2021 coup, the regime has perpetuated violence against its own people, killing more than 2,100, displacing more than 700,000, and detaining thousands of innocent people, including members of civil society and journalists,” Blinken regretted.

He dismissed the regime’s sham trials and executions as blatant attempts to extinguish democracy. “These actions will never suppress the spirit of the brave people of Burma,” the US top diplomat added. He assured that the United States joined the people of Burma in their pursuit of freedom and democracy and called on the regime to respect the democratic aspirations of the people “who have shown they do not want to live one more day under the tyranny of military rule”.

The European Union on Monday strongly condemned the executions of three prominent democracy activists and an ex-Member of Parliament in Myanmar and expressed its sincere condolences to the bereaved families and friends of the victims.
“These politically motivated executions represent yet another step towards the complete dismantling of the rule of law and a further blatant violation of human rights in Myanmar,” said EU High Representative Josep Borrell in a Declaration on behalf of the 27-member European bloc.

“The executions are reprehensible acts that show that the military authorities have no respect for the life or dignity of the very people they are supposed to protect. “They will only exacerbate the polarization, violence and dramatic humanitarian situation in Myanmar,” warned the EU Declaration.

It stressed that the EU stands unequivocally with the people of Myanmar and their aspirations for freedom, and urged the military regime to end all acts of violence without further delay. Further, the EU called for the unconditional and immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained, as well as to return to a democratic path. (KUNA)

More than 1,000 migrants arrived in Italy within a few hours as hundreds of others, rescued by humanitarian groups' boats, were waiting for a port to receive them, authorities said on Sunday.

The influx is not unusual in summer months but it comes as Italy is preparing for early elections that could bring the hard right to power.

Between January 1 and July 22, 34,000 people arrived in Italy by sea, compared with 25,500 during the same period in 2021 and 10,900 in 2020, Italy's Interior Ministry said.

More than 600 people trying to cross the Mediterranean on a drifting fishing boat were rescued on Saturday by a merchant ship and coast guards off Calabria, at the southern tip of Italy.

They were taken to several ports in Sicily.

The authorities also recovered five bodies of migrants who had died in so far undetermined circumstances.

"The Mediterranean is becoming the biggest cemetery of the desperate," Sicily regional President Nello Musumeci said.

On the island of Lampedusa, about 522 people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, among other countries, arrived from the late hours of Saturday in 15 boats from Tunisia and Libya.

The island's reception centre has been overwhelmed, Italian media reported.

With a capacity of 250 to 300 people, it is now hosting 1,200, according to the Ansa news agency.

The latest arrivals on Lampedusa came by ships carrying dozens, even hundreds of people, and by small inflatable boats, La Sicilia daily reported.

Four Tunisians, including a woman, ran aground during the night on the beach of Cala Pisana after crossing the stretch of sea separating Tunisia and the Italian island.

At the same time, coast guards intercepted a 13-metre ship that had left the north-western Libyan city of Zawiya with 123 people from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt and Sudan.

Charities continued to recover hundreds of migrants in distress in the Mediterranean.

SeaWatch reported that it had carried out four rescue operations on Saturday.

"On board SeaWatch3, we have 428 people, including women and children, a woman nine months pregnant and a patient with severe burns," it said on its Twitter account.

Ocean Viking, run by the non-government organisation SOS Mediterranean, said it carried out two rescue operations on Sunday.

First, it recovered 87 people, including 57 unaccompanied minors, who were crammed on to "an overcrowded inflatable boat in distress in international waters off Libya".

Then 108 people, including many women and children, were found in similar conditions.

The NGO said "195 people are now being cared for aboard the Ocean Viking".

Libyan rescuers save 17 migrants at sea

The Central Mediterranean migration route is the most dangerous in the world.

The International Organisation for Migration estimates that 990 people have died and disappeared since the start of the year.

The latest inflow of migrants comes at a politically sensitive time in Italy.

Reformist Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned last week after being toppled by parties in his national unity government.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has dissolved parliament and set September 25 for new elections to be held.

But Mr Draghi's coalition could be replaced by a government dominated by the eurosceptic Brothers of Italy party and the pro-Russian, anti-immigration League.

Together, the two parties are polling at almost 40 per cent of the vote.

In a tweet on Sunday, Matteo Salvini, leader of the League, condemned the arrival of "411 illegal migrants … in a few hours on Lampedusa".

"On September 25, Italians will be able to finally choose change: for the return of security, of courage and of border control," Mr Salvini wrote.

He has been on trial in Italy, accused of stopping a migrant boat from docking and leaving 147 people stranded at sea in dire conditions while he was immigration minister in 2019. He denies the allegations.

The next court hearings are set to take place in September./Agencies

Myanmar's junta has executed four prisoners including a former lawmaker from Aung San Suu Kyi's party, state media said, in the country's first use of capital punishment in decades.

The four, who included another prominent democracy activist, were executed for leading "brutal and inhumane terror acts", the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said on Monday.

The paper said the executions were carried out "under the prison's procedure" without saying when or how the four men were killed.

The junta has sentenced dozens of anti-coup activists to death as part of its crackdown on dissent after seizing power last year, but Myanmar had not carried out an execution for decades.

International condemnation

Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former lawmaker from Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) who was arrested in November, was sentenced to death in January for offences under anti-terrorism laws.

Prominent democracy activist Kyaw Min Yu –– better known as "Jimmy" –– received the same sentence from the military tribunal.

The two other men and sentenced to death for killing a woman they alleged was an informer for the junta in Yangon.

The junta was heavily criticised by international powers when they announced last month their intention to carry out the executions.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the junta's decision, calling it "a blatant violation to the right to life, liberty and security of person".

Junta's crackdown

Thaw had been accused of orchestrating several attacks on regime forces, including a gun attack on a commuter train in Yangon in August that killed five policemen.

A hip-hop pioneer whose subversive rhymes irked the previous junta, he was jailed in 2008 for membership in an illegal organisation and possession of foreign currency.

He was elected to parliament representing Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD in the 2015 elections, which ushered in a transition to civilian rule.

The country's military alleged voter fraud during elections in 2020 –– which the NLD won by a landslide –– as justification for its coup on February 1 last year.

Suu Kyi has been detained since then and faces a slew of charges in a junta court that could see her face a prison sentence of more than 150 years.

Kyaw Min Yu, who rose to prominence during Myanmar's 1988 student uprising against the country's previous military regime, was arrested in an overnight raid in October.

Source: AFP

The total value of tenders that have been floated in Kuwait during 2021 increased 5 times, reaching 1.849 billion dinars, compared to 303.45 million dinars at the end of 2020, while the data also showed that 2021 witnessed the awarding of about 236 tenders by 37 different government agencies, reports Al-Anba daily, quoting official sources. The detailed tender award data in 2021 showed that the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy ranked first among the government institutions in terms awarding tenders, as it acquired 21.5 contracts out of the total number of 50 contracts that were awarded, while the Ministry of Health took the second spot by about 25 contracts, representing about 10.59% of the total contracts awarded during the year.

Two entities ranked third in terms of the highest number of contracts awarded, the first of which is the Ministry of Education, and the second is the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources (PAAAFR), each of them awarding 13 contracts, while the Kuwait University ranked fourth with 11 contracts.

Ranked
Three government institutions ranked fifth — the Ministry of Works, the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training and the Directorate-General of Fire Department (DGFD) with 9 contracts for each, while the Civil Service Commission and the Kuwait Oil Company ranked sixth with 8 contracts each. As for the lowest government agencies awarding tenders according to the number, in that list were 10 institutions each of them awarding only one tender in 2021, including the Central Bank of Kuwait, the Fatwa and Legislation Department, the Audit Bureau, the Investment Promotion Authority, the Cabinet Secretariat, the National Petroleum Company and the Public Authority for Youth, the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company, the Environment Public Authority, and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.

The figures show 7 government agencies out of 37 account for 91% of the value of the tenders that were awarded in 2021, and at the is the Kuwait Oil Company, which ranked first in terms of the highest value of tenders with 1.32 billion dinars for 8 tenders, including 3 that acquired 1.16 billion dinars, including 339.7 million dinars for the supply of pipes lining, 381.58 million dinars for the North Kuwait project for drilling, transportation and processing, and 447,161 for the South Kuwait project for drilling, transportation and processing. The Ministry of Health ranked second in terms of value, with awards amounting to 110.58 million dinars, while in the third place came the Ministry of Electricity and Water, with tenders amounting to 107.23 million dinars, and the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company came in fourth place with tenders worth 68.06 million dinars, while fifth was the Ministry of Education’s tenders with a value of 31.32 million dinars, and the PAAAFR came sixth with 20.5 million dinars, while the Public Authority for Civil Information came seventh with 17.97 million dinars.

Repealed
In a related context, the Central Agency for Public Tenders called on the public contracting contractors previously classified with it in accordance with the provisions of the repealed Law No. 37 of 1964, to quickly update their data so that their classification category is re-evaluated in accordance with the Agency’s circular No. 1/2020 regarding the reorganization of the rules, procedures and standards for classifying contractors.

The General Contracting Contractors Classification Committee classifies the applicants into 4 categories, each according to its financial and technical position and previous work, those who may participate in tenders whose estimates are not less than 5 million dinars and not more than 100 million dinars, Small and Medium Enterprises who are allowed to participate in tenders whose estimates do not exceed two million dinars. The data showed that the top 3 tenders that took place in Kuwait during the past year in terms of value were concentrated in the Kuwait Oil Company, and they are as follows — 339.7 million dinars for the supply of lining tubes; 381.58 million dinars for the North Kuwait project for drilling, transportation and processing and 447.16 million dinars for the South Kuwait project for drilling, transportation and processing.

Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry welcomed Friday Russia and Ukraine signing of a UN and Turkiye-brokered agreement to resume their grain exports via the Black Sea. In a press statement, the ministry commended the deal, hoping it would enhance food security, fill the shortage in global grain supplies and help rein in grains’ price hikes. The ministry appreciated the great efforts exerted by the mediators: the United Nations and Turkiye, to reach this agreement.

It lauded Russia and Ukraine’s inking of the deal which demonstrated their eagerness to meeting the global needs of grains and averting a global food crisis. The ministry hoped the agreement would signal an important step towards a political settlement to the conflict in a way that enhance world security and stability. Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements Friday with Turkey and the United Nations clearing the way for the export of millions of tons of desperately needed Ukrainian grain – as well as some Russian grain and fertilizer – across the Black Sea. The long-sought deal ends a wartime standoff that has threatened food security around the globe. The U.N. plan will enable Ukraine – one of the world’s key breadbaskets – to export 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural goods that have been stuck in Black Sea ports due to Russia’s invasion. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres called it “a beacon of hope” for millions of hungry people who have faced huge increases in the price of food. “A deal that allows grain to leave Black Sea ports is nothing short of lifesaving for people across the world who are struggling to feed their families,” said Red Cross Director-General Robert Mardini.

He noted that over the past six months, prices for food have risen 187% in Sudan, 86% in Syria and 60% in Yemen, just to name a few countries. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov signed separate, identical deals Friday with Guterres and Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar at a ceremony in Istanbul that was witnessed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Russia and Ukraine would not sign any deal directly with each other. “Today, there is a beacon on the Black Sea,” Guterres said. “A beacon of hope, a beacon of possibility, a beacon of relief in a world that needs it more than ever.”

“You have overcome obstacles and put aside differences to pave the way for an initiative that will serve the common interests of all,” he told the envoys. Guterres described the deal as an unprecedented agreement between two parties engaged in a bloody confl ict. Erdogan hoped it would be “a new turning point that will revive hopes for peace.” Yet in Kyiv, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba sounded a more somber note. “I’m not opening a bottle of champagne because of this deal,” Kuleba told The Associated Press. “I will keep my fingers crossed that this will work, that ships will carry grain to world markets and prices will go down and people will have food to eat. But I’m very cautious because I have no trust in Russia.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy echoed Kuleba’s concerns in his nightly video address, saying, “It is clear to everyone that there may be some provocations on the part of Russia, some attempts to discredit Ukrainian and international efforts. But we trust the UN.”

The European Union and the U.K. immediately welcomed the news. “This is a critical step forward in efforts to overcome the global food insecurity caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss applauded Turkey and the U.N. for brokering the agreement. “We will be watching to ensure Russia’s actions match its words,” Truss said. “To enable a lasting return to global security and economic stability, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin must end the war and withdraw from Ukraine.”

Import
African leaders, whose countries import food and fertilizer from Ukraine and Russia, also welcomed the deal, with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa saying “it has taken much too long.” Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but Russia’s invasion of the country and naval blockade of its ports have halted shipments. Some Ukrainian grain is transported through Europe by rail, road and river, but the prices of vital commodities such as wheat and barley have soared during the war.

Although international sanctions against Russia did not target food exports, the war has disrupted shipments of Russian products because shipping and insurance companies did not want to deal with Russia. Guterres said the plan, known as the Black Sea Initiative, opens a path for significant commercial food exports from three key Ukrainian ports: Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. The agreement, obtained by the AP, says a U.N.- led joint coordination center will be set up in Istanbul staffed by officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey to run the plan, including scheduling cargo ships’ arrivals and departures. Inspectors representing all parties at the Bosporus in Turkey will search vessels entering and leaving Ukrainian ports to ensure no weapons or soldiers are on board. Under the deal, “all activities in Ukrainian territorial waters will be under authority and responsibility of Ukraine,” and the parties agree not to attack vessels and port facilities involved in the initiative.

If demining is required to make the shipping lanes safe, a minesweeper from another country could clear the approaches to Ukrainian ports. The sides will monitor the movement of ships remotely and no military ships. aircraft or drones will be allowed to approach “the maritime humanitarian corridor” closer than a distance the center sets. The agreement will remain in effect for 120 days and can be extended automatically. Guterres believes grain shipments could start “within the next two weeks,” according to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. A senior U.N. official said Ukraine needs about 10 days to prepare the ports and needs time to “identify and be clear about those safe corridors.”

The aim is to export 5 million tons of grains per month to empty Ukraine’s silos in time for this year’s harvest. Zelenskyy said nearly 20 million tons of grain will be exported initially, then some of the current harvest. Guterres first raised the critical need to restart the supply of Ukraine’s agricultural production and Russia’s grain and fertilizer to world markets in late April during meetings with Putin in Moscow and Zelenskyy in Kyiv, then proposed a deal because of fears that the war could worsen hunger for up to 181 million people. Peter Meyer, head of grain and oilseed analytics at S&P Global Platts, said the deal does not “mean that the global supply crisis is over.’’ Traders anticipated a deal for the past several weeks, he said, so its effect might already have shown up in grain prices. And the agreement only covers the 2021 crop. There’s still considerable uncertainty about Ukrainian production this year and even next, Meyer said. Before the agreements, Russian and Ukrainian officials blamed each other for the blocked grain shipments.

Moscow accused Ukraine of failing to remove sea mines at the ports, insisted on checking incoming ships for weapons and lifting restrictions on Russian grain and fertilizer exports. Ukraine argued that Russia’s port blockade and launching of missiles from the Black Sea made any safe sea shipments impossible. It sought international guarantees that the Kremlin wouldn’t use the safe corridors to attack Odesa and accused Russia of stealing grain from eastern Ukraine and deliberately setting Ukrainian fields on fire. Volodymyr Sidenko, an expert with the Kyivbased Razumkov Center think tank, said Ukraine apparently did not raise the issue of stolen grain in the negotiations. “It was part of a deal: Kyiv doesn’t raise the issue of stolen grain and Moscow doesn’t insist on checking Ukrainian ships. Kyiv and Moscow were forced to make a deal and compromise,” he said. The deal was also important for Russia’s geopolitical relations, the analyst noted. “Russia decided not to fuel a new crisis in Africa and provoke a hunger and government changes there,” Sidenko said. “The African Union had asked Putin to quickly ease the crisis with grain supplies.”