Archive September 5, 2025

Maxime Prevot, the country’s foreign minister, said the stockpile was primarily heading for sub-Saharan Africa in an interview on Friday.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) under former president Joe Biden confirmed last month that the administration intended to destroy the supplies, which are unused and had already been purchased.

According to Prevot, “We continue to vigorously advocate against such waste” through diplomatic channels, according to the AFP news agency.

It is thought that about $10 million will be invested in the stockpile. Implants and intrauterine devices, which have long been crucial to the birth control campaigns of the humanitarian community, are included.

Prevot claimed that some of the supplies had already been moved out of their previous warehouse and were being kept in poor storage conditions.

Additionally, the Belgian diplomat sparked controversy over reports that claimed the contraceptives had been shipped to France for acineration.

We have intervened to say, “OK, you are changing your policy, whether it is at the US Embassy or directly in Washington.” We regret it, but he asked that you at least let the right people receive the goods that have already been purchased.

Flanders, Belgium’s self-governing, Dutch-speaking northern region, reported to Reuters news agency that the contraceptives are currently being stored in a warehouse in Geel, a municipality in the Antwerp province.

According to the Flemish spokesperson, the region’s ban on destroying medical waste prevented the supplies from being incinerated even if they were transported to another nation.

The spokesperson continued, “We have not received any such requests to this date,” adding that the Dutch government was willing to talk with US authorities about the situation.

Since taking office in January, the Trump administration has overseen a significant overhaul of US foreign aid. That included destroying USAID and cleaving billions of dollars in humanitarian funding.

Humanitarian organizations and UN officials have been in the dark about the US’s aid cuts, leading to shortages of essential supplies used to combat hunger, stop disease, and stop unwanted pregnancy.

Following the publication of this story, Reuters withdrew it, citing an error in the publication of a union spokesperson who stated that the statement the story is based on was false. &nbsp,

The regional unit and the airline’s flight attendants have cast a vote against ratifying the airline’s wage offer.

The union made the announcement on Friday.

A tentative agreement that was reached last month and that had put an end to a crippling strike at the time showed that many of the flight attendants at Canada’s largest carrier were unhappy with the wage increases.

The cabinet in Lebanon convened for three hours on Friday, where army chief Rodolphe Haykal presented the plan. The army’s capabilities were cautioned against in the plan, which did not specify a deadline for implementation.

Following the session, Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos continued to address the government’s support for the plan, but he made no claim that the cabinet had already approved it.

According to him, the army would begin putting the plan into practice based on its logistical, material, and personnel capabilities, which might call for “additional time]and]more work.”

Morcos claimed that the plan’s details would remain secret.

Since Lebanon’s devastating war with Israel last year, which upended a long-held power balance, a national conflict has emerged in the country over Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal Movement, led the Lebanese armed group, which was adamant that it would keep its weapons, when five Shia ministers left the cabinet meeting.

According to local media, the walkout took place as Lebanon’s army chief Haykal entered the meeting and presented a strategy for disarming the group.

The disarmament debate has now caused three Hezbollah and Amal ministers to leave cabinet meetings.

Before the cabinet’s session was over, Hezbollah-aligned Labor Minister Mohammad Haidar declared that any action taken in the absence of Shia ministers would be null and void because it would be viewed as incompatible with Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned the government against confronting the organization and claimed possible street protests as a result of last month’s spectre of civil war.

Elijah Magnier, a military and political analyst, claims that Hezbollah did not “have the appetite to start a civil war.” He added that it was impossible for the Lebanese army to confront it.

Additionally, he stated to Al Jazeera, “It doesn’t want a partition of the army because the Lebanese army would not support it if it attacked Shia strongholds.”

Calls become so loud that they fail to ring.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have increased calls for Hezbollah to abandon its predominantly Sunni and Christian allies in Lebanon.

On Friday, US Senators Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen, members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released a joint statement supporting Hezbollah’s disarmament.

A free, prosperous, and secure future is what Lebanon deserves. The senators argued that releasing Lebanon from Hezbollah’s and the Iranian regime will be enough to accomplish that.

We applaud the recent approval of Lebanon’s Council of Ministers for disarming militias in Lebanon. We recognize that the government of Lebanon has made significant progress in the last year. This commitment must be fully met, including the approval of Hezbollah’s disarmament plan by the Lebanese Armed Forces.

The bipartisan statement underscores Washington’s ongoing pressure on Beirut to cut back on its influence, a demand that both the US and its international partners have for a long time.

Hezbollah has reacted, saying that discussing disarmament while Israel continues to air strike Lebanon and occupying large areas of southern territory would be a grave mistake. Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday left four people dead.