Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers whistleblower, passes away at 92

DANIEL Ellsberg, the whistleblower who leaked the “Pentagon Papers” about the Vietnam War – changing public perceptions of the conflict – died on Friday, his family announced. He was 92.

Ellsberg was a military analyst when he released thousands of documents to US media in 1971 that revealed successive United States administrations had lied to the public about the Vietnam war.

The 7,000 classified pages determined that, contrary to the public assertions of US government officials, the conflict was unwinnable.

The leak was recounted in the 2017 Hollywood thriller “The Post,” which detailed the nail-biting behind-the-scenes story of the papers’ publication.

Ellsberg announced in March that doctors had told him on February 17 that he had

Biden royally baffles audience with ‘God save the queen, man’

JOE Biden on Friday left Americans scratching their heads with an off-the-cuff remark that was, well, royally unusual for a US president: “God save the queen, man!”

What he meant, which queen he was referring to, and why he threw in what sounded like the traditional patriotic British cry, no one could immediately tell.

Queen Elizabeth II, whom Biden met, died in September 2022 and was replaced by a king – her son Charles.

Biden had just completed an impassioned speech at the National Safer Communities Summit in Connecticut on getting Congress to toughen gun ownership laws when he made the remark from the stage.

The pool journalist responsible for following the president all day on his travels couldn’t help. He messaged the worldwide group of outlets receiving pool reports: “Several of you have asked me why he might have said that. I have no idea.”

That the president tacked on a classic downto-earth Bidenism – man – didn’t help either.

Later, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton somewhat cleared up the mystery, telling reporters that Biden had been “commenting to someone in the crowd.” AFP terminal pancreatic cancer and only around six months to live.

“He was not in pain, and was surrounded by loving family,” his wife and children said in a statement announcing his death.

They highlighted that his last months had been well spent despite his illness.

“He was thrilled to be able to give up the salt-free diet his doctor had him on for five years,” they said.

“Hot chocolate, croissants, cake, poppyseed bagels, and lox gave him extra pleasure in these final months.

“He also enjoyed re-watching his favorite movies, including several viewings of his all-time favorite, ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” added his wife Patricia, sons Robert and Michael, and daughter Mary.

The New York Times initially published excerpts of the Pentagon Papers until the administration of President Richard Nixon obtained a court injunction barring the newspaper from continuing to do so on national security grounds. The Washington Post then took up the mantle. Ellsberg was charged under America’s Espionage Act but the case ended in a mistrial in 1973 after illegal evidence gathering by the government came to light.

Announcing his diagnosis on March 3, Ellsberg reflected on his history-changing actions.

“When I copied the Pentagon Papers in 1969, I had every reason to think I would be spending the rest of my life behind bars,” he wrote.

“It was a fate I would gladly have accepted if it meant hastening the end of the Vietnam War, unlikely as that seemed (and was). AFP

It said the situation in Darfur, already scarred by a two-decade warthat left hundreds of thousands dead and more than two million displaced, was especially concerning.

“The situation in West and Central Darfur, in particular, is characterised by active fighting, severe insecurity and looting of humanitarian supplies and facilities,” UNICEF said.

Daglo’s RSF have their origins in the Janjaweed militias which former strongman Omar al-Bashir unleashed on ethnic minorities in the regionin 2003, drawing charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Its paramilitaries have been accused of carrying out the Wednesday killing of West Darfur state governor Khamis Abdullah Abakar hours after he made remarks critical of the paramilitaries in a telephone interview with a Saudi TV channel. The RSF has denied any responsibility.

The United Nations said “compelling eyewitness accounts attribute this act to Arab militias and the RSF,” while the Darfur Lawyers Association condemned the act of “barbarism, brutality and cruelty.”

“All those responsible for this killing must be held to account including those who bear command responsibility,” Jeremy Laurence, spokesman for the UN rights office, told reporters in Geneva. AFP

Inbrief

25 killed in attack on Uganda school

TWENTY-FIVE people have died in a “terrorist attack” on a school in western Uganda by fighters from the Islamic State-aligned Allied Democratic Forces militia, the national police spokesman said Saturday.

“So far 25 bodies have been recovered from the school and transferred to Bwera Hospital,” Fred Enanga said of the overnight attack that occurred near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Enanga said the ADF, which is based in eastern DR Congo, attacked a secondary school near Bwera where “a dormitory was burnt and food store looted.”

“Also recovered are eight victims, who remain in critical condition at Bwera hospital,” he said.

The army and police units were pursuing the attackers in the direction of Virunga National Park, which lies over the border in DR Congo where the ADF is based.

Originally insurgents in Uganda, the ADF gained a foothold in eastern DRC in the 1990s and have since been accused of killing thousands of civilians. AFP

‘Premature for any talks with Myanmar’

SINGAPORE Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Friday that conditions were not yet right for ASEAN to open high-level talks with Myanmar on the country’s political situation.

“We believe it would be premature to reengage with the junta at a summit level or even at a foreign minister level,” Balakrishnan said when asked about a news report that Thailand’s military-controlled caretaker government had proposed talks.

Speaking in a joint press conference in Washington with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Balakrishnan said the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations had recently reaffirmed their stance.

“We condemned the coup, and the ongoing violence against civilians, the instability in the country, the setback to national reconciliation, and the enormous impact on the economy,” he said of the 2021 military takeover in Myanmar.

“Unfortunately, it’s now more than two years. We haven’t seen any signs of improvement,” Balakrishnan said.

The Irrawaddy, a Myanmar-focused news website operated in Thailand, said that Thailand’s foreign ministry proposed in a recent letter to host an informal ministerial meeting of some ASEAN members with Myanmar on Monday to relaunch engagement.

Balakrishnan did not reject all engagement with the Myanmar junta. AFP

THE heritage town of Dupax del Sur in Nueva Ecija, home to the oldest church in the province, the San Vicente Ferrer Church, now has a fine dining destination which gains popularity as a perfect travel destination for foodies with a sense of wanderlust.