Wednesday, October 15, 2014
WHITE HOUSE READOUT: HOMELAND SECURITY ASSISTANT MEETS WITH NEW YOUR CITY OFFICIALS
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
October 14, 2014
Readout of Lisa Monaco’s Meeting with New York City Officials
The Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Lisa Monaco, met at the White House this afternoon with New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton to discuss strengthening federal, state, and local coordination on counterterrorism issues as well as the U.S. government’s response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. On counterterrorism, they reviewed threat streams overseas associated with al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and the Khorasan Group, and discussed measures to take to better protect the U.S. homeland from potential threats posed by these groups as well as homegrown violent extremists. They specifically noted the threat from foreign fighters, including Western passport-holders, and the comprehensive, whole-of-government strategy to counter it. On Ebola, they reviewed the status of additional airport screening measures that were implemented at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport on Saturday and that will be rolled out later this week at Newark and other domestic airports. They also reviewed ongoing efforts to prepare hospitals and healthcare workers nationwide, including in New York City, to identify and treat Ebola patients safely and effectively.
RECENT U.S. NAVY PHOTOS TAKEN IN PERSIAN GULF
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
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| The amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island pulls alongside the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf, Oct. 10, 2014. The George H.W. Bush is supporting maritime security operations, strike operations in Iraq and Syria as directed, and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Juan D. Guerra. |
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| An F/A-18C Hornet attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 15 launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Persian Gulf, Oct. 10, 2014. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Joshua Card. |
WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET ON ASSISTANCE TO NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT TO FIGHT BOKO HARAM
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
October 14, 2014
FACT SHEET: U.S. Efforts to Assist the Nigerian Government in its Fight against Boko Haram
In April 2014, the world was horrified to learn that the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram had abducted approximately 270 girls from their school in Chibok, Nigeria. In the six months since, some girls have been reunited with their families, but most remain in captivity, and Boko Haram has continued to terrorize the region. This year alone, the group has abducted hundreds of men, women, girls and boys and killed 3,000 people in Nigeria. President Obama has directed that the U.S. government do everything it can to help the Nigerian government find and free the abducted girls and, more broadly, to combat Boko Haram in partnership with Nigeria, its neighbors, and other allies. This support takes many forms but the goal is singular: to dismantle this murderous group.
Advisory Support to the Nigerian Government
The United States is assisting the Nigerian government to undertake more concerted, effective, and responsible actions to ensure the safe return of those kidnapped by Boko Haram, including through on-the-ground technical assistance and expanded intelligence sharing.
Multi-Disciplinary Team
In May, the United States dispatched a multi-disciplinary team to Abuja to advise the Nigerians on how to secure the safe return of those kidnapped, encourage a comprehensive approach to address insecurity, and establish a capacity to respond more effectively in the future. These officials provide guidance to the Nigerian government on conducting a comprehensive response to Boko Haram that protects civilian populations and respects human rights.
The team includes civilian and humanitarian experts, U.S. military personnel, law enforcement advisors and investigators as well experts in hostage negotiations, strategic communications, civilian security, and intelligence. The team continues to facilitate and coordinate information sharing and the provision of assistance for survivors and their families.
Expanded Intelligence Sharing
The U.S. government also has provided the Nigerian government with Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) to aid Nigeria’s efforts to locate the missing girls.
Sanctions Against Boko Haram
In recent years, we have helped isolate Boko Haram’s leaders by leveraging our own authority to designate them as terrorists and by encouraging the United Nations to do so as well.
In June 2012, the State Department designated Boko Haram’s top commanders as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224. In June 2013, the State Department added Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram’s official leader, to our Rewards for Justice Program and offered up to $7 million for information leading to his capture.
In November 2013, the State Department designated Boko Haram and Ansaru, a splinter faction, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended, and as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under section 1(b) of Executive Order 13224. This designation empowers U.S. law enforcement and the Treasury Department to pursue these violent extremist organizations.
The United States worked closely with Nigeria to pursue terrorist designations at the UN Security Council for Boko Haram, which were approved and took effect on May 22, 2014. These designations prohibit arms sales, freeze assets, restrict movement, and encourage regional cooperation.
Continued Engagement to Counter Boko Haram
The United States is committed to supporting efforts by Nigeria and its neighbors to combat the threat of Boko Haram more effectively and in a manner that respects human rights through a variety of assistance programs designed to advance regional cooperation, bolster rule of law, and strengthen security institutions.
President Obama announced Nigeria’s participation in the Security Governance Initiative (SGI) during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in August. SGI is a new Presidential initiative in which the United States and Nigeria will work to improve security sector institution capacity to protect civilians and confront challenges and threats, with integrity and accountability. To support a longer term focus, SGI involves multi-year funding commitments of increased U.S. support and requires sustained, high-level leadership and commitment by partner countries to pursue policies in support of the agreed upon goals.
Nigeria is a partner in the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership, a U.S. government effort to enhance regional security sector capacity to counter violent extremism, improve country and regional border and customs systems, strengthen financial controls, and build law enforcement and security sector capacity.
The State and Defense Departments are launching a $40 million Global Security Contingency Fund for Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria to counter Boko Haram. The program will provide technical expertise, training, and equipment to the four countries to develop institutional and tactical capabilities to enhance their respective efforts to counter Boko Haram, and to lay the groundwork for increased cross-border cooperation to counter Boko Haram.
We work closely with other international partners, including the United Kingdom, France, and Canada, to enable information-sharing, alignment, and coordination on international strategies and programs to counter such threats in the region.
Support to Populations Affected by Boko Haram
Boko Haram is inflicting untold hardship on the people of Nigeria, with repercussions for men, women, girls, and boys throughout northeast Nigeria. The United States provides assistance to affected populations, including support to health, water, and sanitation services; the delivery of emergency relief supplies; and protection services, including psycho-social support for survivors of Boko Haram violence. The United States further invests in helping Nigeria to build security and increase opportunity in northeast Nigeria, including through education programs for girls and boys; maternal and child health services; and programs to strengthen democracy and governance and counter violent extremism by engaging leaders across society, including women.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provides trauma counselling to survivors and their families, including those directly affected by the Chibok abduction, through a $4.5 million, five-year (2010-15) program. USAID also recently completed its third training for psycho-social support teams based in Borno--the locus of Boko Haram's violence. The role of these social workers, health care providers, and other community members is to sensitize communities to prevent stigma against abductees when they return, and to provide psycho-social first aid to girls and their families.
USAID is starting two new programs that will address critical educational needs for both girls and boys in northern Nigeria. A $20-30 million crisis response program will provide basic education to internally displaced persons and others affected by the violence in the northeast. In addition, a flagship five-year, $120 million program will strengthen education systems so that they can provide greater access and improve reading among primary school children.
In support of the contributions women make to peace and prosperity, USAID is promoting women in leadership and peacemaking through a series of conferences and workshops. Training exercises in Kano and Sokoto states promoted tolerance across ethnic and religious lines through engagement with influential religious, traditional, and women leaders. Women participants came out with a plan to use “naming ceremonies” (common across most Nigerian cultures) to carry out campaigns against hate speech and electoral violence. Interfaith media dialogues discussed how women and other stakeholders can prevent electoral violence in the run up to the February 2015 elections and how women can contribute to Nigeria’s political and economic progress.
USAID is launching the Nigeria Regional Transition Initiative to improve stability and strengthen democratic institutions in northeast Nigeria. The initiative will focus on building the resistance of communities vulnerable to the effects of violent extremist organizations, weak governance, and insecurity through increased positive engagement between government and communities; increased access to credible information; and support to reduce youth vulnerability to violent extremist influences.
The State Department supports efforts to facilitate dialogue between local women activists and security-sector personnel and to highlight the role of female law-enforcement officers. State also supports a Hausa-language multi-media platform which includes a free-to-air satellite TV channel designed to serve northern Nigeria. The channel highlights the rich cultural diversity of northern Nigeria while offering programming with themes that reject political violence and violent extremism. It also includes programming intended to meet the needs of mothers with young children. One show highlights as role models women who have overcome obstacles and now own their own businesses or have obtained higher education. The objective is to show that any girl can grow up to be a strong contributor to her society.
SECRETARY HAGEL ADDRESSES CLIMATE CHANGE AT CONFERENCE OF DEFENSE MINISTERS OF THE AMERICAS MEETING
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
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U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel attends the 11th Conference of the Defense Ministers of the Americas in Arequipa, Peru, Oct. 12, 2014.
DoD photo.
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Hagel to Address ‘Threat Multiplier’ of Climate Change
By John D. Banusiewicz
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 2014 – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will outline the effects of climate change on the world’s security environment and will unveil the Defense Department’s plan to meet that challenge in a speech this afternoon at the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas in Arequipa, Peru.
In a statement, Hagel noted that thinking ahead and planning for a wide range of contingencies is the Defense Department’s responsibility in providing security for the nation, and that climate change is a trend that will affect national security.
“Rising global temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, climbing sea levels and more extreme weather events will intensify the challenges of global instability, hunger, poverty, and conflict,” he said. “They will likely lead to food and water shortages, pandemic disease, disputes over refugees and resources, and destruction by natural disasters in regions across the globe.”
Potential to exacerbate many challenges
The U.S. defense strategy refers to climate change as a “threat multiplier,” the secretary said, because it has the potential to exacerbate many challenges, including infectious disease and terrorism. “We are already beginning to see some of these impacts,” he added.
A changing climate will have real impacts on the military and the way it executes its missions, Hagel said, noting that the military could be called upon more often to support civil authorities and to provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the face of more frequent and more intense natural disasters.
“Our coastal installations are vulnerable to rising sea levels and increased flooding, while droughts, wildfires and more extreme temperatures could threaten many of our training activities,” he said. “Our supply chains could be impacted, and we will need to ensure our critical equipment works under more extreme weather conditions.”
Weather always has affected military operations, and as the climate changes, the way the military executes operations may be altered or constrained, the secretary said.
Uncertainty is no excuse for delaying action
“While scientists are converging toward consensus on future climate projections, uncertainty remains. But this cannot be an excuse for delaying action,” Hagel said. “Every day, our military deals with global uncertainty. Our planners know that, as military strategist Carl von Clausewitz wrote, ‘all action must, to a certain extent, be planned in a mere twilight.’”
It is in this context, he said, that he is releasing DoD’s Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap today.
“Climate change is a long-term trend, but with wise planning and risk mitigation now, we can reduce adverse impacts downrange,” the secretary said. “Our first step in planning for these challenges is to identify the effects of climate change on the department with tangible and specific metrics, using the best available science.”
A baseline survey to assess the vulnerability of the military’s more than 7,000 bases, installations and other facilities is nearly complete, Hagel said. “In places like the Hampton Roads region in Virginia, which houses the largest concentration of U.S military sites in the world, we see recurrent flooding today, and we are beginning work to address a projected sea-level rise of 1.5 feet over the next 20 to 50 years,” he added.
Integrating climate change considerations to manage risks
Drawing on these assessments, officials are integrating climate change considerations into plans, operations and training across the Defense Department to enable managing associated risks, Hagel said.
“We are considering the impacts of climate change in our war games and defense planning scenarios, and are working with our combatant commands to address impacts in their areas of responsibility,” he said. “At home, we are studying the implications of increased demand for our National Guard in the aftermath of extreme weather events. We are also assessing impacts on our global operations -- for instance, how climate change may factor into our rebalance to the Asia-Pacific.”
Last year, Hagel noted, he released the Defense Department’s Arctic Strategy, which addresses the potential security implications of increased human activity in the Arctic, a consequence of rapidly melting sea ice.
Collaborating with relevant partners
“We are also collaborating with relevant partners on climate change challenges,” he added. “Domestically, this means working across our federal and local agencies and institutions to develop a comprehensive, whole-of-government approach to a challenge that reaches across traditional portfolios and jurisdictions. Within the U.S. government, DoD stands ready to support other agencies that will take the lead in preparing for these challenges, such as the State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
The United States also must work with other nations to share tools for assessing and managing climate change impacts and to help build their capacity to respond, Hagel said.
“Climate change is a global problem. Its impacts do not respect national borders. No nation can deal with it alone,” he added. “Today I am meeting in Peru with Western Hemisphere defense ministers to discuss how we can work together to build joint capabilities to deal with these emerging threats.
“Politics or ideology must not get in the way of sound planning,” he continued. “Our armed forces must prepare for a future with a wide spectrum of possible threats, weighing risks and probabilities to ensure that we will continue to keep our country secure. By taking a proactive, flexible approach to assessment, analysis and adaptation, the Defense Department will keep pace with a changing climate, minimize its impacts on our missions, and continue to protect our national security.”
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
HAGEL MEETS WITH WESTERN DEFENSE LEADERS
Right: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel hosts a news conference following a tour of the Compania de Jesus Church in Arequipa, Peru, during the Conference of the Defense Ministers of the Americas, Oct. 13, 2014. DoD photo by Air Force Master Sgt. Adrian Cadiz.
Hagel Meets with Western Hemisphere Defense Ministers in Peru
By Claudette Roulo
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2014 – The Conference of the Defense Ministers of the Americas, which began yesterday in Arequipa, Peru, provides a forum for the defense ministers from 34 nations to discuss their common interests.
Yesterday’s plenary session was particularly significant, Hagel told reporters, as it was an opportunity “to hear from ministers on different points of view regarding different challenges and opportunities in a more formal setting.”
Following the full session, the defense secretary held bilateral discussions with some of his counterparts, where they “were able to talk more specifically about some of the challenges that we face bilaterally, as well as multilaterally,” he said.
The Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas was created in 1995 to increase defense and security cooperation across the Western Hemisphere. The meeting serves as a venue for discussions on confidence- and security-building measures, peace support operations, civil-military relations and emerging threats such as transnational organized crime and terrorism, according to the conference’s website.
“The importance of the Western Hemisphere to the world as represented by so many different cultures and ideas and values is important to recognize at a time when the world is undergoing an extensive challenge to its present world order,” the defense secretary said.
All countries and all people deserve support in their efforts to guarantee human rights and dignity -- whether they struggle for themselves or for others -- Hagel said. “At the same time we also are mindful of some of the manmade and natural disasters and threats that face our world today,” he added.
READOUT: PRESIDENT'S MEETING ON EBOLA RESPONSE PREPAREDNESS IN U.S.
FROM: THE WHITE HOUSE
October 13, 2014
Readout of the President’s Meeting on the Domestic Preparedness and Response to EbolaThe President met this afternoon with members of his public health and national security team to receive an update on the response to the diagnosis of a second Ebola case in Dallas, Texas. The President was briefed on the status of the investigation into the apparent breach in infection control protocols at the Dallas hospital and remedial actions underway to mitigate similar breaches in the future. Secretary Burwell and Dr. Frieden described the surge in personnel and other resources to Dallas to assist in the investigation as well as other measures to heighten awareness and increase training for healthcare workers throughout the country. The President reinforced that this investigation should proceed as expeditiously as possible and that lessons learned should be integrated into future response plans and disseminated to hospitals and healthcare workers nationwide.
SECRETARY HAGEL DISCUSSES PARTNERSHIP WITH CHILEAN LEADERS
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Hagel, Chilean Leaders Discuss Deepening Partnership
By John D. Banusiewicz
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2014 – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met with government leaders in the Chilean capital of Santiago yesterday to discuss deepening the U.S. military partnership with Chile.
Hagel -- who arrived in Chile from Colombia – is on a six-day, three-nation trip to South America that will include participating in the Conference of the Defense Ministers of the Americas, which begins tomorrow in Arequipa, Peru.
In Santiago, the secretary met with President Michelle Bachelet, Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz and Defense Minister Jorge Burgos. At news conference with Burgos after the meeting, Hagel noted he had met with his Chilean counterpart in Washington earlier this year.
“That was an important time for me,” he added, “because it gave me an opportunity to get a good sense and assessment of where Chile was on many issues -- where we could further deepen our partnership, our relationship, as we face many of the same challenges that the world faces.”
As a U.S. senator, Hagel said, he supported and voted for the U.S.-Chile free trade agreement, which marks its 10th anniversary this year. “I recall, vividly, some of the debates during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee [hearings] on the issue,” he said. “It was the right thing to do for Chile and the United States, and I think the results have been very clear on that point.”
Intensifying cooperation to address big issues
His meeting with the Chilean leaders touched on a wide scope of issues, the secretary said. “We started with a particular focus on how we can intensify our defense cooperation to address these big issues,” he added. “The world is not getting any less complicated. The world is interconnected in ways that we've never seen before. That presents tremendous opportunities and advantages for strong relationships and partnerships, and good governance and law and order. But it also presents new challenges as well.”
During his meeting with the Chilean leaders, Hagel said, he noted that as Chile develops its global relationships – particularly, its partnerships in in the Asia-Pacific region – the respect it enjoys as a security exporter and for its capacity and techniques will continue to be important in helping to build defense capacities for other nations.
“As we partner together with other nations, … they will need more capacity to deal these threats, so [Chile’s] role in that has been particularly important, will continue, and we appreciate it,” he said.
As a member of the United Nations Security Council, Chile has played an important role in helping to unify the international community against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Iraq and Syria, the secretary said, and he expressed appreciation for Chile's leadership in that effort.
Chile also is supporting the global response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, he noted. “Through trilateral programs such as the Global Peace Operations initiative,” he added, “we will continue to partner with Chile and Central American nations to deepen our security cooperation.”
He and Burgos also discussed Chile's peacekeeping leadership in Haiti, Cyprus, the Middle East and South Asia, Hagel said, adding that these efforts show that Chile's interests extend far beyond the Americas.
Shared interest in Asia-Pacific peace and prosperity
As Pacific nations with large and growing economies and economic interests in Asia, the secretary said, both Chile and the United States have a shared interest in the continued peace and prosperity and stability of the Asia-Pacific region.
“This year, Chile's navy helped lead a major part of the Rim of the Pacific exercise -- it's the world’s largest maritime exercise,” he said. “This was a first for any South American nation. And as the minister and I discussed, Chile could also share some of its other model defense capabilities to help promote stability further in Asia-Pacific.”
But even as the United States and Chile expand their cooperation in other regions, both nations remain committed to continued cooperation within their own hemisphere, “because transnational security challenges -- from climate change to ungoverned spaces, as well as effective responses to natural disasters -- requires the collaboration of all nations of the Americas,” Hagel said.
Enduring value of dialogue
“In this context,” he added, “the minister and I discussed the enduring value of the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas … and the importance of those conferences and the importance of the dialogue -- the exchange of ideas and thinking.”
The secretary emphasized the continuing U.S. support for Chile's leadership among conference nations in areas such as search and rescue cooperation, noting that Chile’s expertise in that area has become a model for other countries to follow.
“We share the views that all nations of this hemisphere must approach our common security challenges in a spirit of partnership,” Hagel said. “As President Obama said here in Santiago a few years ago, ‘In the Americas today, there are no senior partners and there are no junior partners. There are only equal partners.’
“That is the spirit of the U.S.-Chilean partnership,” Hagel continued, “and I look forward to working with Minister Burgos as we continue to strengthen that partnership between our militaries, between our economies, between our governments and between our people.”
SECRETARY KERRY'S REMARKS AT GAZA DONORS CONFERENCE
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Remarks at the Gaza Donors Conference
Remarks
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Cairo, Egypt
October 12, 2014
Thank you very much, Foreign Minister Shoukry. Thank you Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Vice Prime Minister Mustafa; our co-host, Foreign Minister Brende; and our colleague Cathy Ashton, the EU High Representative. I want to particularly thank President Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry for their leadership and for their partnership in their efforts for the Palestinian Authority and to help bring all of us here today for their work with Israel on the ceasefire. And we respect and thank them also for their partnership with the United States, not just in working towards a durable ceasefire, but also in helping to pull together, and helping to pull together this massive reconstruction effort.
But President Sisi’s efforts, I think it’s fair to say, have really helped to reaffirm the pivotal role that Egypt has played in this region for so long. The same can also be said of Foreign Minister Brende and Norway, whose historic connection and commitment to these issues go back more than two decades to the Oslo Accords, and I’m personally always impressed by the deep engagement of Norway in efforts to make peace, not just here but elsewhere in the world. And of course, President Abbas, thank you for your perseverance and your partnership.
This has been a difficult few months on a difficult issue in a difficult neighborhood, and no one feels that more than the people of Gaza. This summer, as we’ve heard in some of the statistics that Secretary-General shared with us, more than half a million Gazans had to flee their homes and seek safety. Twenty thousand homes were destroyed or severely damaged, and more than a hundred thousand people remain displaced. And winter is fast approaching.
I have been to Gaza at a time like this, and I will never forget traveling to Izbet Abed Rabo in Gaza in 2009 and watching children playing in the rubble, seeing little Palestinian girls playing where just months earlier, homes and buildings had stood. The humanitarian challenge then was enormous, and shockingly, amazingly – and every speaker has mentioned we area back yet again – the humanitarian challenge is no less enormous in 2014. So the people of Gaza do need our help desperately – not tomorrow, not next week, but they need it now. And that’s why we are all gathered here.
I am proud, personally, that the people of the United States have been working to do their part. We provided $118 million in immediate humanitarian assistance at the time of the crisis, at its height, and the 84 million that we also provided to UNRWA for operations.
Today, I’m pleased to announce an additional immediate 212 million in assistance to the Palestinian people, and obviously we will have to see how things develop in the days ahead. But this immediate money will mean immediate relief and reconstruction, and this money will help meet the Palestinian Authority’s budget needs. This money will, we hope, help promote security and stability, and economic development, and it will provide for immediate distribution of food, medicine, and shelter materials for hundreds of thousands for the coming winter. And it is money that is going to help reconstruct Gaza’s damaged water and sanitation system, so that Palestinians in Gaza will have access to water that they can drink and homes that they can actually start rebuilding.
Taken together, the United States has provided more than 400 million in assistance to the Palestinians over this last year, 330 million just since this summer’s conflict began. But I will say to all of you, and I think everybody knows it: We come here with a sense of awesome responsibility and even resignation about the challenge that we face because we all know that so much more needs to be done, even though there have been encouraging steps.
I’m particularly grateful to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Special Coordinator Robert Serry for helping to broker an important agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority for an end-use monitoring mechanism. And we appreciate Israel’s cooperation in continuing to provide humanitarian access to Gaza through its crossing, which is essential if all of this is going to work.
We welcome that Israel has recently announced new measures that should allow increased trade in agricultural goods between Gaza and the West Bank, and more permits for Palestinian business leaders to enter Israel. We hope to see many more positive steps announced and implemented in the coming weeks and months. And we need to get back to the difficult work not just of reconstruction and recovery in Gaza, but of actually building Gaza’s economy for the long term and developing its institutions under the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian Authority and President Abbas must be empowered in all that we do in order to define and determine Gaza’s future. There is, simply, no other way forward, and all of us here need to help the ability of the Palestinian Authority to be able to deliver. There are many steps that we can take. We can and should see Palestinian Authority customs officials at Gaza’s borders. We can and should help the PA to expand its control in Gaza, streamline Gaza’s workforce, and continue to play a key role in the end-use monitoring mechanism for Gaza. And this is absolutely essential, because as long as there is a possibility that Hamas could fire rockets on Israeli civilians at any time, the people of Gaza will remain at risk of future conflict. And even as we work to reconstruct Gaza, we cannot lose sight of the importance of the long-term economic investment for the Palestinian economy that can create a vibrant private sector.
Shortly after I became Secretary of State, working with the Quartet and international local business leaders, we launched the Initiative for the Palestinian Economy. The IPE is a comprehensive plan for Palestinian economic growth in the billions of dollars. And this effort is not about donor projects or corporate social responsibility; we’re talking about real investment. We had McKinsey & Company come in and make analysis of every sector of the Palestinian economy and make a determination about those areas where you could actually reduce unemployment from 21 percent to 8 percent in a period of three years. We’re talking about real investment that produces real jobs and opportunities for thousands of Palestinians, and that is what is going to make the difference over the long term.
Now, we were making real progress, laying down specific projects, creating new opportunities for goods and peoples to move in and out, when tragically conflict once again replaced dialogue. But what I really want to underscore to everyone is what all of us know, but not everyone perhaps wants to confront. This is the third time in less than six years that together with the people of Gaza, we have been forced to confront a reconstruction effort. This is the third time in less than six years that we’ve seen war break out and Gaza left in rubble. This is the third time in less than six years that we’ve had to rely on a ceasefire, a temporary measure, to halt the violence.
Now, I don’t think there’s any person here who wants to come yet again to rebuild Gaza only to think that two years from now or less we’re going to be back at the same table talking about rebuilding Gaza again because the fundamental issues have not been dealt with. A ceasefire is not peace, and we’ve got to find a way to get back to the table and help people make tough choices, real choices. Choices that everybody in this room and outside of it understands have been on the table for too long. Choices about more than just a ceasefire. Because even the most durable of ceasefires is not a substitute for peace. Even the most durable of ceasefires is not a substitute of security for Israel and a state and dignity for the Palestinians.
As everyone here knows, last year the United States joined Israel and the Palestinian Authority in renewed peace negotiations towards a final status settlement. The truth that has not been talked about very much, and there are still legitimate reasons for maintaining that respect for the process, but the truth is that real and significant process was made on substantive issues. Longtime gaps were narrowed and creative ideas were actively being deployed to solve remaining differences.
So I say clearly and with deep conviction here today: The United States remains fully, totally committed to returning to the negotiations not for the sake of it, but because the goal of this conference and the future of this region demand it. There is nothing sustainable about the status quo. In the end, the underlying causes of discontent and suspicion and anger that exist in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza can only be eliminated by resolving the conflict itself. There is no way to fully satisfy the parties’ various demands, no way to bring the full measure of recovery to Gaza, without a long-term prospect for peace that builds confidence about the future. And everything else will be a Band-Aid fix, not a long-term resolution. Everything else will still regrettably fail to address the underlying discontent and suspicion in both Israel and Gaza and the West Bank. Everything else will be the prisoner of impatience that has brought us to this unacceptable and unsustainable status quo.
Make no mistake: What was compelling about a two-state solution a year ago is even more compelling today. Now, I know that in Israel as well as in Gaza and the West Bank, most people would quickly tell you today that as much as they want peace, they think it is a distant dream, something that’s just not possible now. The problem is, having said that, no one then offers an alternative that makes sense. I say it is unacceptable to want peace but then buy into an attitude that makes it inevitable that you cannot have peace. It is unacceptable to simply shrug one’s shoulders, say peace isn’t possible now, and then by doing nothing to make it possible, actually add to the greater likelihood of a downward spiral.
So I say to you clearly and with great conviction: The United States will continue to work with our partners to find a way forward. We are convinced that the needs to both parties on even the most critical issues can be met, and that with common sense, goodwill, and courage we can not only address the long-term needs of Gaza, but we can actually achieve a lasting peace between Israel, the Palestinians, and all their neighbors. We have been clear from day one about the difficulty of the challenge ahead, and we knew there would be tough times. But in the end, we all want the same things: security for the Israelis; freedom, dignity, and a state for the Palestinians; peace and prosperity for both peoples.
So this is a time for leadership. It’s a time for leaders to lead. And at a time when extremism, which offers no constructive vision for the future, is capitalizing on the vacuum, it is imperative for all of us to fill that vacuum with a prospect of peace. That’s what the people of our countries expect from us, and that’s what we must offer them – no less. So out of this conference must come not just money, but a renewed commitment from everybody to work for a peace that meets the aspirations of all – for Israelis, for Palestinians, and for all the peoples of this region. And I promise you the full commitment of President Obama, myself, and the United States of America to try to achieve that. Thank you. (Applause.)
EDUCATIONAL SERVICE COMPANY SETTLES CHARGES IT MADE UNSUPPORTED CLAIMS ABOUT PRODUCTS
FROM: U.S. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
FTC Settlement Bars WordSmart from Deceiving Parents With Unsupported Claims About its Education Products
Educational services company WordSmart Corporation and its president have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they deceptively marketed the company’s programs to the parents of school-age children in advertising that included a television infomercial featuring quiz show host Alex Trebek.
The settlement order prohibits WordSmart and David A. Kay from misrepresenting the benefits of educational goods or services, and from violating the agency’s Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR).
The FTC’s complaint alleges that the defendants targeted parents who wanted to improve their children’s performance in school or help them prepare for standardized tests, such as the SAT or ACT. They sold the programs via telemarketing and their website, charging between $15 and $300 for each program.
The defendants’ allegedly false and unsubstantiated claims included that, by using WordSmart for a total of 20 hours, students were guaranteed to improve letter grades by at least one GPA point, SAT scores by at least 200 points, ACT scores by at least four points, GRE and GMAT scores by at least 100 points, and IQ scores. They also falsely claimed they would provide a full refund within 30 days if the buyer was not satisfied.
In addition, the defendants allegedly repeatedly called consumers whose phone numbers are listed on the National Do Not Call Registry, refused to honor requests to stop calling, and failed to connect a consumer to a sales representative within two seconds after a consumer answered the phone, as required by the TSR.
The stipulated final order prohibits the defendants from misrepresenting the benefits, performance, or efficacy of their educational goods or services, including claims that the products will help students learn faster, improve reading speed, or increase grades, IQ scores, or test scores. It also bars them from misrepresenting the terms of their refund policy and violating the TSR’s Do Not Call rules.
The order imposes a $18.7 million judgment that will be suspended when the defendants have paid $147,400. The full judgment will become due immediately if they are found to have misrepresented their financial condition.
The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint and proposed stipulated final order was 5-0. The order was entered by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California on October 7, 2014.
Monday, October 13, 2014
TROPICAL STORM GONZALO: HURICANE WATCHES AND WARNINGS
FROM: NASA
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| The GOES East satellite captured a visible image of two storms in the Atlantic at 2:45 p.m. EDT, a smaller Gonzalvo east of the Leeward Islands while Fay was northeast of Bermuda. |
Image Credit: NASA/NOAA GOES Project
Gonzalo (Atlantic Ocean) Image Credit- NASA-NOAA GOES Project
Tropical Storm Gonzalo Triggered Many Warnings in Eastern Caribbean
The Eastern Caribbean islands were getting the brunt of Tropical Storm Gonzalo as the storm slowly moved through on Oct. 13. NASA's Terra satellite and NOAA's GOES-East satellite provided data on the storm. Gonzalo is the sixth named storm in the Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Season.
On Oct. 12 at 15:00 UTC (11:00 a.m. EDT), NASA's Terra satellite flew over Tropical Storm Gonzalo while it moved over the Lesser Antilles. The MODIS instrument captured a visible image of the storm that showed a concentration of strong thunderstorms around the center of circulation and in a thick band east of the center.
A visible image from NOAA's GOES-East satellite on Oct. 13 at 1145 UTC (7:45 a.m. EDT) showed Tropical Storm Fay northeast of Bermuda and Tropical Storm Gonzalo over the Lesser Antilles. Fay appeared circular, but didn't have the signature shape of a tropical storm like Gonzalo, with bands of thunderstorms spiraling into the center. The image was created by the NASA/NOAA GOES Project at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Gonzalo is over the Lesser Antilles and affecting many eastern Caribbean islands so there are many warnings and watches in effect. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) noted the following: A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra, U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Guadeloupe, Desirade, Les Saintes, and Marie Galante, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy, St. Maartin, Saba and St. Eustatius, Barbuda, Antigua, Anguilla, St. Kitts And Nevis, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra, U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
A hurricane watch means that hurricane conditions are possible within the watch area, in this case in the next 24 hours. A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area.
On Monday, Oct. 13 at 8 a.m. EDT, Tropical Storm Gonzalo had maximum sustained winds near 60 mph (95 kph). The National Hurricane Center expects strengthening during the next 48 hours and Gonzalo is forecast to become a hurricane tonight or Tuesday, Oct. 14. The center of Gonzalo was located near latitude 17.0 north and longitude 61.5 west. That's about 20 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Antigua and about 50 miles (75 km) north of Guadeloupe.
NHC said that Gonzalo is moving toward the west near 10 mph (17 kph). A turn toward the west-northwest is forecast today, followed by a turn toward the northwest by tonight. On the forecast track, the center of Gonzalo will move across the Leeward Islands today and near or over the Virgin Islands tonight.
The National Hurricane Center expects Gonzalo to intensify into a hurricane on Wednesday, Oct. 15 after having turned to the northwest. Gonzalo is then expected to move north-northeast and by pass east of Bermuda on Oct. 17.
Rob Gutro
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
SECRETARY HAGEL TALKS TO TURKISH DEFENSE MINISTER ABOUT ISIL THREAT
FROM: U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Hagel Discusses ISIL Threat With Turkish Defense Minister
DoD News, Defense Media Activity
WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2014 – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke today with Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz in a phone call that focused on the regional threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the security situation in both Iraq and Syria, Pentagon Press Secretary Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said.
“Secretary Hagel thanked Minister Yilmaz for Turkey's willingness to contribute to coalition efforts, to include hosting and conducting training for Syrian opposition members,” Kirby said in a statement summarizing the call. “He noted Turkey's expertise in this area and the responsible manner in which Turkey is handling the other challenges this struggle has placed upon the country, in terms of refugees and border security.”
Joint Central Command-European Command training team
The secretary also expressed his gratitude for Turkey's willingness to host a joint U.S. Central Command-European Command planning team next week, Kirby added, as the U.S. military works closely with Turkey to further develop a training regimen.
“Both leaders stressed the need to continue taking a comprehensive, strategic approach to the threat posed by ISIL and other extremist groups,” the admiral said. “Both men also agreed that the Assad regime has, through its own brutality, fostered the current crisis and has long ago surrendered any legitimacy to govern in Syria.”
Hagel and Yilmaz agreed to continue close, sustained consultations, Kirby said.
UNDER SECRETARY GOTTEMOELLER'S SPEECH TO UN ON NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
69th United Nations General Assembly First Committee General Debate
Speech
Rose Gottemoeller
Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security
New York, NY
October 7, 2014
As Delivered
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Congratulations, Ambassador Courtenay Rattray, on your election as Chair of the First Committee during its 69th session. The United States pledges to support your leadership and the work of this committee. We are sure that together we can make this a session that puts us on the right path for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference (RevCon).
As we begin our work, it is important to remember why we are here. We are, as I have said many times, travelling on a long and difficult road. We are facing obstacles – today more clearly than in years past – that slow the pace of progress. We press ahead, because we know that only by continuing our committed, serious work on reducing the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction can we achieve safety and security for generations to come.
That is what motivates and guides U.S. policy. That is the sentiment behind President Obama’s 2009 speech in Prague. That is what we sincerely hope guides the path of every nation represented here. While we have accomplished much over the past five years, we have no intention of diverting from our efforts to reduce the role and numbers of nuclear weapons, increase confidence and transparency, strengthen nonproliferation, and address compliance challenges.
Mr. Chairman, on this last point, let me stress that compliance with global agreements is an essential part of international peace and security. That is why the United States is once again sponsoring its triennial resolution on “Compliance with nonproliferation, arms limitation and disarmament agreements and commitments,” which seeks to strengthen the global consensus on this topic. We welcome maximum co-sponsorship and support, and hope that it will be adopted without a vote.
Mr. Chairman, we should view the challenges that face us today as a potent reminder that our work is more important than ever. First and foremost, we must all provide unyielding support for the cornerstone of the nonproliferation regime, the NPT.
Achieving a successful RevCon in 2015 is a priority for the United States. We encourage all parties to join with the United States to advance realistic and achievable objectives. The NPT binds nations to a common interest in preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear weapons use. The challenges to the NPT are real, but the treaty is far too important to fail or be held hostage to impractical demands or political agendas that will not command consensus.
Some question U.S. support for nuclear disarmament. This is a mistake. We remain firmly committed to Article VI of the NPT and to achieving the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons. The United States has made clear our readiness to discuss further nuclear reductions with the Russian Federation, but progress requires a willing partner and good environment.
The United States will continue to make it clear that arms control regimes and their corresponding nuclear reductions have served the world well for more than 40 years. The United States and Russia, of course, have special responsibilities to protect and preserve those regimes, as our countries still possess over 90% of the global nuclear stockpile.
A critical part of this regime is the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). The United States is deeply concerned about Russia’s violation of its obligations under this landmark treaty. We believe that the INF Treaty benefits the security of the United States, our allies, and Russia. For that reason, we urge Russia to resolve our concerns, return to compliance, and ensure the continued viability of the Treaty.
Now is the time to move forward, not back to postures reminiscent of the Cold War. Despite these challenges, the United States and Russia continue to implement the New START Treaty successfully. When we complete implementation, deployed nuclear weapons will be at their lowest levels since the 1950s. This translates to an 85% reduction to the U.S. nuclear weapon stockpile from its Cold War peak. That is indisputable progress in disarmament.
As we consider future reductions, our focus must be on responsible measures that can be trusted and verified. We will learn from our past experience – successes and disappointments – and continue to move ahead with each step building on the last. Actually, perhaps we do ourselves a disservice when we think about disarmament as a metaphorical ladder – one that must be climbed in a linear fashion. Perhaps we are better off thinking in terms of how creeks and streams connect to form rivers. Over time, those mighty rivers are irreversible; they cut through massive and seemingly impenetrable stone on the way to their final destination. In those terms, one can see how the myriad of tasks in front of us will connect to each other and steadily but surely form an irreversible path towards disarmament.
There is no way to skip to the end and forgo the hard work of preparing for the technical and political disarmament challenges that lie ahead. For example, we can all acknowledge that verification will become increasingly complex at lower numbers of nuclear weapons, while requirements for effectiveness will increase. All of us – every nation here – should be devoting ample time and energy to address this challenge right now. As a start, I recommend reviewing the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s recent research on future verification mechanisms, and encourage everyone to attend our October 14 side event on the topic.
Mr. Chairman, the United States is continuing its engagement with the P5 on the issue of disarmament. Collectively, we have created a consensus NPT Reporting Framework, first demonstrated at this year’s NPT PrepCom, and we continue to work on a P5 Glossary that will increase mutual understanding. Ongoing P5 work on critical Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) inspection techniques will help enhance that Treaty’s verification regime.
The United States is pleased that the United Kingdom will host the sixth annual P5 conference early next year. I want to stress that speed is less important than results in this process. The regular interactions and cooperation that are happening now is the foundation on which future P5 multilateral negotiations on nuclear disarmament will stand.
Patience and persistence is needed from all parties both among and beyond the P5. That is why the United States is interested in engaging non-nuclear weapon states in order to increase transparency and engagement in the disarmament process. Such collaboration can help us ensure the nearly 70-year record of non-use of nuclear weapons continues forever.
As we consider the agenda for the 2015 RevCon, it is important to focus on all three pillars of the NPT. The United States will seek a balanced review that addresses each.
Ensuring NPT safeguards are upheld and nuclear energy remains in peaceful use are no less important to disarmament as future nuclear reductions. Treaty violations should never be tolerated and demand our attention. That is because NPT pillars are mutually reinforcing and implementation of each is a shared responsibility.
Mr. Chairman, as we approach the 2015 RevCon, the United States will be focusing its efforts on a number of other issues. We will be supporting legally binding assurances against use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in the context of Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty Protocols. We were pleased to sign the Protocol to the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in May. We will continue to work with ASEAN toward signature of the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty Protocol. Bringing into force the protocols of all five regional zones is a top priority.
Along with our P5+1 partners, the United States will continue to seek concrete, verifiable steps to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful.
The United States is eager to launch negotiations on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty (FMCT) – an agreement recognized to be a vital and necessary step in multilateral nuclear disarmament. Nations that continue to block these negotiations should consider how their actions increase nuclear dangers and impede nuclear disarmament.
This year, through a resolution from this body, and under Canada’s leadership, a UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on FMCT was convened. It is our hope that the GGE and its final report will finally break this impasse and allow us to proceed with the negotiation of this important treaty.
The United States will continue to create the conditions that will help us ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Energy Ernie Moniz have both recently emphasized the need for this Treaty to finally enter into force.
While we are focused on CTBT ratification in the United States, we call on the seven other Annex 2 States to complete their ratification processes without delay. The time for action is now. The United States asks that all CTBT Signatories continue their commitment to support an effective, operational, and sustainable verification system for the Treaty. We also look forward to participating in the upcoming CTBT Integrated Field Exercise in Jordan.
Mr. Chairman, the United States is also focusing on the long-term sustainability of space. We believe irresponsible behavior in space, such as the testing or use of debris-generating ASAT systems, threatens the security, safety, economic well-being, and space science activities of all nations. We are pleased that the report from the UN GGE on Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures for outer space activities was endorsed by consensus by the United Nations General Assembly. It provides a valuable roadmap for practical, near-term solutions, such as an International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities.
On the subject of conventional arms control and disarmament, the United States recently announced that we will not use anti-personnel landmines (APL) outside the Korean Peninsula, nor will we assist, encourage, or induce anyone outside the Korean Peninsula to engage in activity prohibited by the Ottawa Convention. We will also undertake to destroy APL stockpiles not required for the defense of the Republic of Korea. The United States will continue our diligent efforts to pursue solutions that would be compliant with and ultimately allow us to join the Ottawa Convention. At the same time, we are proud to be the world’s single largest financial supporter of humanitarian mine action.
We are also pleased that the Arms Trade Treaty will enter-into-force before the end of this year. As a signatory, we are working with Mexico and other interested States in pursuit of a successful first Conference of States Parties that will lay the groundwork for a Treaty that lives up to all of our expectations.
I would like to thank all those here who aided in the effort to remove chemical weapons from Syria. Through an unprecedented collaboration of nations and international organizations, we collected, removed, and ultimately destroyed 1,300 tons of chemical weapons and precursors from Syria. Very serious issues with Syria still must be resolved, including the reports of systematic use of chlorine gas in opposition areas. The fact remains that through cooperation, the international community was able to significantly reduce the threat posed by chemical weapons in the region. The framework we developed can serve as a guide for future WMD nonproliferation cooperation.
In sum, it is not enough to have the will to pursue nonproliferation and disarmament; we have to have a way to pursue nonproliferation and disarmament. We will require all the tools we have available: diplomacy, law, science, technology, economic cooperation, and more. We will have to eschew needless arguments, vanity, and political games. We will need the courage and the tenacity to keep chipping away at this problem, day after day, month after month, year after year.
It will not be easy. Just as there is no single solution to our global fight against violent extremism, no single initiative, no matter how noble or well-intentioned, can end the threat from weapons of mass destruction by itself. In both cases, we must commit ourselves to active and engaged cooperation, and, most importantly, we must seek the cooperation and support of people outside of these walls, and outside of our capitals. The global public must both understand the significant humanitarian impacts of weapons of mass destruction and the achievable way we can reduce and then eliminate them.
We are under no illusions – we know there is disagreement on the right path ahead. Instead of focusing on what divides us, I would again ask everyone to remember why we are here and what we are charged with doing. We can and must reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction. By focusing on our mutual commitments to the NPT and other established international agreements, we can succeed.
Mr. Chairman, we must succeed and the United States is ready to do its part.
Thank you.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK TOUTS SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS IN JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK
FROM: U.S. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Export-Import Bank Small Business Success: Jamestown, N.Y.
Washington, D.C. – Dawson Metal Company is a small-business exporter based in Jamestown, N.Y., that sells custom sheet metal parts for a wide variety of original equipment manufacturers including passenger rail cars. Dawson Metal also has a division called Dawson Doors which offers high-end architectural entrance systems.
A third-generation family-owned business founded in 1946, Dawson Metal currently employs 100 people. After learning of Ex-Im Bank through a broker, Dawson purchased an export credit insurance policy in 2012 that enabled the company to expand into Canada and sustain jobs in Jamestown. Export credit insurance enables companies to increase export sales by limiting their risk of non-payment by purchasing an insurance policy, just as someone limits their risk of fire by purchasing homeowners insurance.
“Ex-Im Bank provides the financing tools needed to help support small businesses like Dawson to be successful as they vie for new contracts in new markets,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “In FY 2013 alone, Ex-Im Bank supported $1.7 billion in New York State small-business exports.”
“We could not win international business without the help of Ex-Im Bank,” said David G. Dawson, president and CEO. “We had an opportunity to manufacture passenger rail car components for a foreign company if we could offer terms of net 60 days, and we could not extend credit to the foreign company without credit insurance. The credit insurance offered by Ex-Im Bank allowed Dawson Metal to extend 60-day terms and win the contract.”
NSF ON OVERGRAZING AND THE DUNE WINDS OF AFRICA
FROM: THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Sleeping sands of the Kalahari awaken after more than 10,000 years
Overgrazing leaves desert's red dunes blowing in the African wind
October 8, 2014
Kalahari.
The name conjures an arid, almost lifeless expanse, its red, iron oxide sands stretching to the horizon and beyond.
Kgala, Tswana natives called it, the great thirst. Kgalagadi, it's also named: the waterless place.
But huge subterranean water reserves lie under the Kalahari, which covers parts of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Dragon's Breath Cave, the largest non-subglacial underground lake on Earth, is buried there.
The Kalahari was once a much wetter place, with ancient Lake Makgadikgadi covering today's Makgadikgadi Pan. The lake dried out 10,000 years ago.
Today the Kalahari's wettest areas receive 20 inches of rain each year; its driest, four to eight inches. Grasses green up in the rainy season.
After it rains, grazing animals have a field day. And therein may be the Kalahari's greatest challenge, say scientists Paolo D'Odorico of the University of Virginia and Greg Okin of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
As nomadic as the Kalahari's San Bushmen, D'Odorico and Okin move from place to place, setting up camp in game reserves, local village farms and communal lands to study the desert's dunes.
Sleeping sands awaken
The sands, last on-the-move more than 10,000 years ago, have awakened. "The dunes are active again," says D'Odorico, "and it's happened in just the last three to four decades."
The introduction of pumps to ferry water from deep under the Kalahari to its surface has provided sustenance for livestock and fostered increasing herd sizes. The boreholes allow ranchers to use arid areas once grazed only in wet years.
"The shift from traditional pastoralism to borehole-dependent ranching, however, has resulted in the degradation of the Kalahari," says D'Odorico.
Cattle-grazing has led to the takeover of grasslands by shrubs and other woody vegetation.
Between 1930 and 1990, the grazed area of the Kgalagadi district in the southern Kalahari increased from 5,019 square miles to 12,355 square miles, and the number of boreholes increased from eight in 1955 to more than 380 in 1990.
Are we trampling the life out of the Kalahari?
Without grasses to anchor the dunes in place, their sand grains are blowing in the wind.
"Vegetation stabilizes the sediments," says Okin. "Where there's enough plant cover, the wind blows on by." Once the grasses are gone, the sands start moving, their grains carried to new destinations by passing breezes.
"Many dune fields around the world have undergone alternating periods of mobilization and stabilization in response to changes in winds and rainfall," write D'Odorico and Okin in a paper published in the January 2014, issue of the Ecological Society of America journal Ecosphere.
Co-authors of the paper are Abinash Bhattachan of the University of Virginia, Kebonyethata Dintwe of UCLA, and Scott Collins of the University of New Mexico.
"In modern times, disturbances associated with land use are believed to be a dominant factor contributing to the activation of stabilized vegetated dunes in drylands," the scientists write.
"The process could lead to an activation of aeolian [wind-borne] transport in the region, with important implications for the biogeochemistry of downwind terrestrial and marine ecosystems."
Sand dune tipping point?
It's unclear, say D'Odorico and Okin, whether the Kalahari's dunes hang on the edge of a tipping point between their current state--"vegetated fixed linear dunes"--or have moved to what researchers call a degraded state, "barren and active dunes."
Dunes transform from stable to active after plant cover is reduced beyond a critical level.
"It's important to understand whether a landscape is undergoing a transition to degraded conditions," says D'Odorico, "and whether a reduction in land-use intensity might lead to the recovery of vegetation in active dune fields."
For example, in the Negev Desert along the Egypt-Israel border, the Israeli side's dunes are stabilized by vegetation; on the Egyptian side, however, the dunes are moving because overgrazing has left them barren.
Since the border was established in 1982, wood-gathering and grazing have ceased on the Israeli side. Its once-degraded dunes restabilized within two years.
In the Kalahari, dune mobilization is ongoing, especially in overgrazed areas close to boreholes and villages, D'Odorico and Okin have found.
"Understanding thresholds and tipping points is fundamental to predicting the future behavior of Earth's surface under changing environmental conditions," says Paul Cutler, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Earth Sciences, which funds the Kalahari dune research.
"This project aims to improve our understanding of the land-use practices that play a part in potentially far-reaching changes, and to sharpen predictions of atmospheric dust loading from the Southern Hemisphere."
From dust to dust: Kalahari sands reborn in the sea?
Drylands are the main sources of Earth's atmospheric dust. To date, the Northern Hemisphere has accounted for about 90 percent of global atmospheric dust emissions.
Such dust emissions from the Southern Hemisphere have been relatively low, "but reductions in vegetation cover due to land use or climate change may allow new sources like the Kalahari to emerge," says D'Odorico.
Where would all that dust--in this case, from Kalahari sands--end up?
Dust grains from the red dunes may be carried on the wind from Africa as far as the Southern Ocean. Once deposited there, their iron content could be enough to boost the productivity of marine phytoplankton, feeding new blooms of these microscopic algae and altering ocean ecosystems.
From dust to dust--or dune to plankton.
-- Cheryl Dybas, NSF
U.S. FDA APPROVES HEPATITIS C COMBINATION PILL
FROM: U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
FDA approves first combination pill to treat hepatitis C
For Immediate Release
October 10, 2014
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Harvoni (ledipasvir and sofosbuvir) to treat chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection.
Harvoni is the first combination pill approved to treat chronic HCV genotype 1 infection. It is also the first approved regimen that does not require administration with interferon or ribavirin, two FDA-approved drugs also used to treat HCV infection.
Both drugs in Harvoni interfere with the enzymes needed by HCV to multiply. Sofosbuvir is a previously approved HCV drug marketed under the brand name Sovaldi. Harvoni also contains a new drug called ledipasvir.
“With the development and approval of new treatments for hepatitis C virus, we are changing the treatment paradigm for Americans living with the disease,” said Edward Cox, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Office of Antimicrobial Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Until last year, the only available treatments for hepatitis C virus required administration with interferon and ribavirin. Now, patients and health care professionals have multiple treatment options, including a combination pill to help simplify treatment regimens.”
Harvoni is the third drug approved by the FDA in the past year to treat chronic HCV infection. The FDA approved Olysio (simeprevir) in November 2013 and Sovaldi in December 2013.
Hepatitis C is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the liver that can lead to diminished liver function or liver failure. Most people infected with HCV have no symptoms of the disease until liver damage becomes apparent, which may take decades.
Some people with chronic HCV infection develop scarring and poor liver function (cirrhosis) over many years, which can lead to complications such as bleeding, jaundice (yellowish eyes or skin), fluid accumulation in the abdomen, infections and liver cancer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 3.2 million Americans are infected with HCV, and without proper treatment, 15-30 percent of these people will go on to develop cirrhosis.
Harvoni’s efficacy was evaluated in three clinical trials enrolling 1,518 participants who had not previously received treatment for their infection (treatment-naive) or had not responded to previous treatment (treatment-experienced), including participants with cirrhosis. Participants were randomly assigned to receive Harvoni with or without ribavirin. The trials were designed to measure whether the hepatitis C virus was no longer detected in the blood at least 12 weeks after finishing treatment (sustained virologic response, or SVR), indicating that a participant’s HCV infection has been cured.
In the first trial, comprised of treatment-naive participants, 94 percent of those who received Harvoni for eight weeks and 96 percent of those who received Harvoni for 12 weeks achieved SVR. The second trial showed 99 percent of such participants with and without cirrhosis achieved SVR after 12 weeks. And in the third trial, which examined Harvoni’s efficacy in treatment-experienced participants with and without cirrhosis, 94 percent of those who received Harvoni for 12 weeks and 99 percent of those who received Harvoni for 24 weeks achieved SVR. In all trials, ribavirin did not increase response rates in the participants.
The most common side effects reported in clinical trial participants were fatigue and headache.
Harvoni is the seventh new drug with breakthrough therapy designation to receive FDA approval. The FDA can designate a drug as a breakthrough therapy at the request of the sponsor if preliminary clinical evidence indicates the drug may demonstrate a substantial improvement over available therapies for patients with serious or life-threatening diseases. Harvoni was reviewed under the FDA’s priority review program, which provides for an expedited review of drugs that treat serious conditions and, if approved, would provide significant improvement in safety or effectiveness.
Harvoni and Sovaldi are marketed by Gilead, based in Foster City, California. Olysio is marketed by Janssen Pharmaceutical based in Raritan, New Jersey.
The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.
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