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Colombia peace talks with ELN rebels set to resume amid tensions

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Colombia peace talks with ELN rebels set to resume amid tensions

Bogota, Colombia – Peace talks between the Colombian authorities and the most important remaining insurgent group within the South American nation, the Nationwide Liberation Military (ELN), are to renew this week in Mexico Metropolis.

Whereas left-wing President Gustavo Petro’s administration has expressed optimism over the renewed negotiations, tensions between Bogota and the ELN have grown for the reason that final spherical of talks resulted in December in Caracas, Venezuela.

The Colombian authorities was compelled to backtrack on a New 12 months’s Eve announcement {that a} truce had been reached after the ELN denied that any such settlement existed. As a substitute, the rebels stated a ceasefire “was merely a proposal to be thought of”.

Now, because the second spherical of talks is to start on Monday within the Mexican capital, specialists have questioned how the federal government’s obvious misstep will have an effect on the prospect of ending many years of armed battle in Colombia and the way dependable any potential ceasefires might be going ahead.

”Expectations in affected communities had been sky-high after [last year’s] elections,” which introduced Petro to energy, stated Kyle Johnson, co-founder of the Battle Responses Basis, which research armed battle and peacebuilding in Colombia.

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“However now we’re beginning to see doubt,” he advised Al Jazeera. “Residents in militarised battle areas ask, ‘If there’s a ceasefire, why are there nonetheless troopers and tanks in my group?”

‘Whole peace’

Violence in Colombia has risen lately, significantly in rural areas, regardless of a 2016 peace accord that noticed members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) insurgent group lay down their weapons after many years of battle.

Petro, a former insurgent fighter who took workplace in August, promised on the marketing campaign path to maneuver away from the militarised methods of earlier Colombian administrations, which appeared to have solely exacerbated the violence.

He additionally pledged to interact all prison teams in direct negotiations with the aim of reaching disarmament agreements, a plan he calls “complete peace”.

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The federal government stated this month that it has reached casual ceasefires with 4 armed teams: the Gaitanista Self-Defence Forces, which the state calls “Clan del Golfo”; two FARC dissident teams that rejected the 2016 peace deal, Segunda Marquetalia and Estado Mayor; and a paramilitary group on the Caribbean coast known as the Self-Defence Conquistadors of the Sierra Nevada.

However heading into the brand new spherical of talks between Bogota and the ELN, which is believed to have 3,000 to five,000 members, latest statements have mirrored ongoing tensions between the 2 sides.

“It appears that evidently ‘complete peace’ is being compromised by different enterprise,” Antonio Garcia, a high-ranking ELN commander, stated in a series of tweets on February 6. “The peace course of can’t be used as an ‘umbrella’ for different points,” he stated, referring to authorities ceasefire declarations that the ELN has described as motivated by political ambitions.

“The federal government has not been in tune with what was agreed to on the [negotiating] desk,” Garcia stated.

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‘Formidable’ negotiations

The insurgent chief additionally rejected the federal government’s classification of the ELN as an organised armed group, which places it in the identical class because the non-political, narco-trafficking teams which can be additionally negotiating long-term peace offers with Bogota.

Otty Patino, the Colombian authorities’s chief negotiator, responded to the criticism at a information convention the following day, saying Garcia had “not understood the importance of what complete peace is”.

“There are totally different procedures for the totally different [armed groups] and the ELN,” Patino stated.

Consultants say the feedback illustrate the pitfalls that Bogota faces in holding simultaneous talks with a number of armed teams, lots of whom are in open battle with each other.

“A few of that is simply posturing forward of [the next round of] peace talks,” Carlos Velandia, a former ELN commander who now acts as an adviser to the Petro administration, advised Al Jazeera.

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“The ELN has been very clear from the start that they need to negotiate their very own peace accord. They don’t need to be lumped into agreements with different teams,” Velandia stated.

He added, nevertheless, that “hiccups had been inevitable in such a posh and impressive negotiation course of”.

Questions stay

The 4 armed teams that Colombia stated it has reached casual ceasefires with have confirmed in public statements {that a} short-term armistice is in place, however no written agreements have been signed.

Below these truces, the armed teams have agreed to not battle the Colombian safety forces, however they haven’t promised to cease preventing each other.

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How these casual ceasefires will work in apply is unclear, particularly throughout the federal government’s ongoing negotiations with the ELN, which is in open battle with all however one of many 4 teams.

“The overwhelming majority of [the] preventing happens between armed teams themselves, not with the federal government,” Johnson advised Al Jazeera. “What must be negotiated is a truce between armed teams, and it isn’t clear how the federal government can legally play a job in that.”

Elizabeth Dickinson, the lead Colombia analyst on the Worldwide Disaster Group, additionally defined that whereas ceasefires are sometimes the results of months of negotiations, “these ceasefires have been known as with none protocols” to outline the phrases of engagement or enforcement. Which means “it isn’t clear how they’ll perform”, she stated.

Nonetheless, Dickinson stated, the ceasefire technique “deserves assist as your best option amongst dangerous choices”. She confused that the sample of violence has shifted for the reason that 2016 FARC peace accord and Colombia’s safety technique has largely “did not adapt, at occasions to counterproductive or lethal impact”.

However the “hazard is that armed teams use these ceasefires, which had been granted with out them having to provide any concessions in return, to strain the federal government amidst ongoing negotiations”, she stated.

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In the meantime, residents of violence-plagued areas of Colombia query whether or not the federal government’s efforts will translate into concrete adjustments on the bottom or put a cease to lethal violence between armed teams.

Andres Silva Rojas – who campaigns for sustainable farming practices amongst growers of coca, the important thing ingredient for cocaine – stated he helps peace efforts. He works in Colombia’s Catatumbo area, one of many largest coca-producing areas on the planet.

However he advised Al Jazeera {that a} ceasefire between the ELN and the federal government can be “successfully meaningless for folks in our group” as a result of state authorities don’t keep a presence within the space.

“There isn’t any authorities [presence here], so the ELN promising to not assault one thing that doesn’t exist wouldn’t symbolize any change in dynamics,” he stated.

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SZA Finally Releases Long-Delayed ‘Lana’ Album, Featuring Kendrick Lamar, Lil Yachty and Benny Blanco

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SZA Finally Releases Long-Delayed ‘Lana’ Album, Featuring Kendrick Lamar, Lil Yachty and Benny Blanco

SZA‘s long-awaited the deluxe edition of her Grammy-winning 2022 album “SOS,” which is titled “Lana,” has finally arrived. The album has been through a long series of false alarms — it seemed imminent back in February, when she released the song “Saturn” — and bears artwork similar to the insect-and-forest imagery featured during her tours last summer, but it’s finally here. Variety‘s full review of the album will appear this weekend.

The album features Kendrick Lamar on the track “30 for 30” (SZA appears on two songs on his recent “GNX” album) and production from Lil Yachty and Benny Blanco on one song each. Her collaborators on the other songs are largely “SOS” producers and writers like Michael Uzowuru, ThankGod4Cody, Rob Bisel, Carter Lang and others.

She previewed the album with a video for the song “Drive,” featuring Ben Stiller, on Thursday night. “Lana”‘s full tracklist appears below:

     1     No More Hiding – produced by Michael Uzowuru
 
      2     What Do I Do – produced by Benny Blanco, Carter Lang and ThankGod4Cody
 
      3     30 for 30 feat. Kendrick Lamar – produced by J White
 
      4     Diamond Boy (DTM) – produced by Carter, Scum, Solomonophonic, Declan and Michael Uzowuru 
 
      5     BMF – produced by Carter Lang, Blake Slatkin, Omer Fedi
 
      6     Scorsese Baby Daddy – produced by Michael Uzowuru and Tyler Johnson
 
      7     Love Me 4 Me – produced by Rob Bisel, Carter Lang and Nick Lee 
 
      8     Chill Baby – produced by Lil Yachty, Sad Pony, Cade, Calvin Dickinson, iseeyou and Julian Fried
 
      9     My Turn – produced by ThankGod4Cody, Rob Bisel
 
      10    Crybaby – produced by ThankGod4Cody, Carter Lang and Declan 
 
      11    Kitchen – produced by ThankGod4Cody
 
      12    Get Behind Me (interlude) – produced by Michael Uzowuru 
 
      13    Drive – produced by ThankGod4Cody and Billy Lemon
 
      14    Another Life – produced by Michael Uzowuru and Dylan Wiggins 
 
      15    Saturn – produced by Carter Lang, Rob Bisel, Solomonophonic and Monsune

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SZA’s forthcoming stadium tour with Kendrick Lamar presents a prime opportunity to release new material — she’s been touring behind “SOS” since it was released two years ago.

The latest round of teasers began a week ago, on the two-year anniversary of “SOS,” with a short video trailer that included a snippet of one of the album’s tracks. The video depicts SZA in a nature setting, pulling down her baggy camo pants to pee by a creek. She looks directly into the camera before taking a tissue out of her pocket to wipe herself up as the words “Lana” appear across the screen. She lyrics to the song go, “You know we got a real history/That’s the reason I can’t choose me/You know that dick been good to me/You make it hard for me to choose me.”

While SZA has been talking about a deluxe edition of “SOS” since that album’s release, she explained the album and its to Variety in August of last year: “[‘Lana’] is outtakes [from ‘SOS’] and new stuff, too — I added a couple of songs. It’s like a whole new project. It’s called ‘Lana’ — my name but, it’s the first tattoo that I ever got, when I was 13. It was 10 bucks a letter and I only had 40, so that that became my nickname for no reason. ‘Lana’ is really just the B-side of SOS.”

The album seemed imminent in February when she released “Saturn,” but just a few weeks later, SZA became frustrated by fans leaking songs and posted that she would be “starting ‘Lana’ from scratch” because “y’all leaked three songs from the deluxe.” She continued, “At this point, y’all can keep the throwaways and leaks. I’ll be starting ‘Lana’ from scratch. Do not ask me about it again,” adding a few minutes later, “I’ll round up the leaks y’all already got and u can have those. Seems like a fair deal. ENJOY.” That tweet was deleted shortly afterward. In a subsequent series of tweets, she said the deluxe edition of SOS will now feature “the leaks and outtakes” and “Lana” will be its own album. “Lana deserves more time and music no one’s ever heard before,” she wrote. However, she seems to have reverted to her previous plan.

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Malaysia agrees to resume 'no find, no fee' hunt for flight MH370, 10 years after plane disappeared

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Malaysia agrees to resume 'no find, no fee' hunt for flight MH370, 10 years after plane disappeared

Malaysia’s government has agreed in principle to accept a second “no find, no fee” proposal from a U.S. company to renew the hunt for flight MH370, which is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean more than 10 years ago, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said Friday.

Loke said Cabinet ministers gave the nod at their meeting last week for Texas-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity to continue the seabed search operation at a new 15,000-square-kilometer (5,800-square-mile) site in the ocean next year.

MALAYSIA ANNOUNCES RENEWED PUSH TO FIND MH370 DECADE AFTER DISAPPEARANCE: ‘SEARCH MUST GO ON’

“The proposed new search area, identified by Ocean Infinity, is based on the latest information and data analyses conducted by experts and researchers. The company’s proposal is credible,” he said in a statement.

The Boeing 777 plane vanished from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people, mostly Chinese nationals, on a flight from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing. Satellite data showed the plane deviated from its flight path to head over the southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.

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Flight officer Rayan Gharazeddine scans the water in the southern Indian Ocean off Australia from a Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C Orion during a search for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, March 22, 2014.  (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

An expensive multinational search failed to turn up any clues, although debris washed ashore on the east African coast and Indian Ocean islands. A private search in 2018 by Ocean Infinity also found nothing.

Under the new deal, Ocean Infinity will get $70 million only if significant wreckage is discovered, Loke said. He said his ministry will finalize negotiations with Ocean Infinity in early 2025. The firm has indicated that January-April is the best period for the search, he said.

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“This decision reflects the government’s commitment to continuing the search operation and providing closure for the families of MH370 passengers,” he added.

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Ocean Infinity CEO Oliver Punkett earlier this year reportedly said the the company had improved its technology since 2018. He has said the firm is working with many experts to analyze data and narrow the search area to the most likely site.

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Last-minute budget bill to prevent US government shutdown prevails in House

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Last-minute budget bill to prevent US government shutdown prevails in House

A last-minute budget bill has passed in the United States House of Representatives to keep the federal government funded and running through mid-March, averting an impending shutdown.

The continuing resolution now progresses to the Senate with only hours to spare before the shutdown is slated to take effect on Saturday at 12:01am local time (05:01 GMT).

On Friday evening, the temporary budget legislation sailed through the House with an overwhelming 366 votes in support.

Only 34 representatives, all Republican, voted against the bill. One Democrat, Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas, abstained by voting “present”.

“We are really grateful that tonight, in bipartisan fashion with overwhelming majority of votes, we passed the American Relief Act of 2025,” Mike Johnson, the House speaker, said in a news conference after the vote.

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The stopgap bill, however, omitted one key issue that had stalled recent negotiations: the debt ceiling.

Normally, Congress weighs federal spending separately from the debt ceiling, which limits how much the government can borrow.

But this week, President-elect Donald Trump scuttled an earlier bipartisan bill in part because it did not extend or abolish the debt ceiling, which he compared with a “guillotine” dangling over his incoming administration.

The debt ceiling has become a divisive issue among Republicans, some of whom feared extending or eliminating it would pave the way for unfettered government spending.

Trump, for his part, threatened to set up primary challenges for any Republican who opposed his plan. He signalled that he preferred the debt ceiling debate to happen under the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat and his erstwhile election rival.

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“Unless the Democrats terminate or substantially extend Debt Ceiling now, I will fight ‘till the end,” Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday. “This is a nasty TRAP set in place by the Radical Left Democrats! They are looking to embarrass us in June when it comes up for a Vote.”

Representative Chip Roy of Texas, one of the most outspoken Republican opponents to raising the debt ceiling, leaves a budget meeting on December 20 [J Scott Applewhite/AP Photo]

Trump’s opposition to this week’s bipartisan legislation put him at odds with Johnson, another top Republican leader. Johnson’s predecessor for the speakership, Republican Kevin McCarthy, was ousted last year in a historic vote over his role in passing a bipartisan spending bill.

After the first bipartisan bill was scuttled on Wednesday, Trump backed another version that failed in the House a day later, on Thursday. All Democrats opposed it, as well as 38 Republicans.

Friday’s bill managed to restore Democratic support after closed-door negotiations. In his remarks after the vote, Johnson tried to cast the latest spending deal as a win for Trump’s America First economic platform.

“This is America First legislation, because it allows us to be set up to deliver for the American people,” Johnson said.

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He also hinted at changes to come in January, when a new Congress is sworn in and Donald Trump takes office for a second term. When that happens, Republicans will hold majorities in both chambers of Congress.

“In January, we will make a sea change in Washington,” Johnson said. “Things are going to be very different around here. This was a necessary step to bridge the gap, to put us into that moment where we can put our fingerprints on spending for 2025.”

Like earlier bills, the temporary stopgap measure that passed on Friday contains approximately $10bn in farm aid and $100bn in disaster relief, a priority after the destruction of hurricanes like Helene and Milton.

But the sabre-rattling that had accompanied an earlier version of the bill had largely subsided by Friday night, with Trump allies like billionaire Elon Musk striking a conciliatory note.

Musk, who had decried a Wednesday version of the bill as “criminal”, praised Speaker Johnson after the vote on Friday night for streamlining the legislation.

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“The Speaker did a good job here, given the circumstances,” he wrote on his social media platform X. “It went from a bill that weighed pounds to a bill that weighed ounces.”

Democrats, meanwhile, questioned Musk’s growing influence over the Republican Party. Musk is slated to advise Trump’s incoming administration in a new role, as part of a nongovernmental, yet-to-be-established agency known as the Department of Government Efficiency.

“Obviously, the thing Donald Trump wanted, he didn’t get,” Representative Jared Moskowitz of Florida told reporters as he walked down the Capitol steps. “It looks like Elon got some of the things he wanted. So that’s interesting.”

Moskowitz credited the Democrats for giving the Republicans the majority needed to pass the bill in the House, despite internal dissent within the right-leaning party.

“The drama that went on here for the last two days didn’t need to happen,” he said. “And we literally wound up in the same place we were always going to wind up in, which was the Democrats providing the majority of the votes to keep the government home open and deliver for the American people.”

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