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Month: October 2018
WHO: Air Pollution a Health Risk for Children
The World Health Organization says air pollution kills hundreds of thousands of children every year and puts the physical health and neurological development of hundreds of millions of other youngsters at serious risk. The WHO is issuing a report titled “Air pollution and child health: Prescribing clean air” on the eve of the U.N. agency’s first-ever Global Conference on Air pollution and Health.
The World Health Organization reports more than 90 percent, or nearly 2 billion children under the age of 15, breathe toxic air every day. The WHO says debilitating problems associated with air pollution begin at conception and continue until adolescence.
The report notes pregnant women exposed to polluted air are likely to give birth prematurely and have low-weight babies. A WHO scientist and expert on air pollution, Marie Noel Brune Drisse, warns that many babies will have neurodevelopment problems, resulting in lower IQs.
“The fact is that air pollution is stunting our brains, even before we are born,” said Drisse. “The fact that it is leading to diseases that we may not be able to see immediately but look at much later in life like adult diseases. Our lung function and our respiratory systems are being altered during our development.”
Drisse says this can lead to chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, as well as certain types of cancers later in life. In 2016, the report estimated that 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air. It said the heaviest toll is paid by children in low- and middle-income countries. The report found that the highest death rates among children between the ages of 5 and 14 from both ambient and household air pollution occur in the African region.
The report says switching to clean cooking and heating fuels and technologies could save the lives of many children. It says other measures for reducing the toxic impact of air pollution include moving away from fossil fuels.
The report recommends the use of cleaner, renewable energy sources, less dependence on private cars in favor of public transportation, and better waste management systems. WHO officials say the benefits from implementing such measures will be felt almost immediately.
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Cameroon’s Opposition Moves to Safe, Holy Ground for Anti-Biya Protests
Security forces in Cameroon have been cracking down on street rallies protesting the October 7 re-election of President Paul Biya. To avoid beatings and arrest, protesters have taken their message to safer, even holy grounds such as schools and churches.
Opposition protesters sang on Monday in front of the University of Yaounde in the capital of Cameroon.
The lyrics say that opposition leader Maurice Kamto won the October 7 presidential election and that longtime President Paul Biya should hand over power.
A massive deployment of police stopped the protesters from singing on the campus itself.
Twenty-six-year-old teacher Boniface Onana says they will continue demonstrating against Biya’s re-election.
He says Biya should know that the time he was ruling Cameroon with an iron fist, using divide and conquer tactics, is over. Onana says Cameroonians should know that a new nation with a new leader has been born and he will do everything possible to pass on the message.
Police say they detained four of the protesters and are investigating others who ran onto the university grounds disguised as students.
Opposition supporters are seeking safe areas to protest as Cameroon security forces have been cracking down on street rallies since the election.
Tens of protesters on Sunday entered the Our Lady of Victories Cathedral in Yaoundé, interrupting a service to sing that Biya should hand over power.
Sosthene Lipot is the information officer for Kamto’s Cameroon Renaissance Movement party. He says they took their protests to the university and the church because of the crackdown.
He says the military should know that Biya has not even won wars he declared on two fronts — against Boko Haram and against separatists fighting for the creation of an English-speaking state — yet he is sending his military to attack innocent people who are simply protesting for their rights.
Archbishop Jean Mbarga condemned the protesters who entered the church, calling it a desecration of a religious body.
He says the Yaoundé archdiocese is scandalized at the disrespect that some politicians have shown towards the church. He says the church is apolitical and should never be used for any political activity, reason why he totally condemns such acts that are instilling doubts in the minds of Christians as to the neutrality of the Catholic church.
The Roman Catholic church in Cameroon has issued conflicting comments on the presidential election. Mbarga on Sunday saluted Biya as the winner, while the head of the national Catholic bishops conference expressed suspicion at the official results.
Officials said Biya won the election with 71 percent of the vote. Kamtos, his main challenger, received 14 percent.
Opposition parties accused Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party of massive electoral fraud.
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Gabon Leader Has Stroke, Sources Say, Govt Says it’s Fatigue
Gabon’s President Ali Bongo was hospitalized last week in Saudi Arabia after suffering a stroke, two sources told Reuters, while Gabonese authorities said he was admitted only because of fatigue.
Bongo on Monday was still under observation at the King Faisal hospital in Riyadh where he was taken on Oct. 24. A medical and a diplomatic source both told Reuters that the president suffered a stroke.
Government spokesman Ike Ngouoni denied this and said that Bongo instead had “severe fatigue” after months of strenuous work.
The president was in Saudi Arabia to attend the Future Investment Initiative conference where he was scheduled to speak alongside other African leaders.
Bongo, whose family has ruled the central African oil producer for nearly a half century, has been president since succeeding his father Omar in 2009.
He narrowly won re-election in 2016 in a poll that the opposition claimed was marred by fraud. Mass protests broke out, during which the national parliament was gutted by fire.
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Zimbabwe Opposition Party ‘Installs’ Chamisa as President
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Nelson Chamisa on Saturday “installed” the 40-year-old lawyer as president of Zimbabwe, two months after President Emmerson Mnangagwa was declared by the Constitutional Court as winner of the country’s July 30 presidential election.
MDC vice president Morgen Komichi declared Chamisa “duly bestowed as a president of Zimbabwe” before a packed sports stadium in Harare’s Highfield high density suburb where the party was holding its 19th anniversary.
The move infuriated the ruling Zanu PF party, which described Chamisa’s inauguration as treasonous, noting that Mnangagwa was the democratically-elected president of Zimbabwe. In a unanimous ruling in August, nine judges of the Constitutional Court led by Chief Justice Malaba said Chamisa failed to prove allegations of electoral fraud in the presidential election.
Section 94 of Zimbabwe’s Constitution stipulates that elected officials assume office when they take, before the Chief Justice or the next most senior judge available, the oaths of president and vice-president on the ninth day after they are declared to be elected; or in the event of a challenge to the validity of their election, within 48 hours after the Constitutional Court has declared them to be the winners. Mnangagwa was inaugurated in line with these provisions of the Constitution.
But MDC chairperson Thabitha Khumalo said Chamisa’s installation was done by the party, making him the people’s president. “… The people of Zimbabwe have spoken and have sworn in their president who is Advocate Nelson Chamisa to be the president of Zimbabwe and the people (who attended the party rally) at Gwanzura Stadium declared him as duly elected president of the Republic of Zimbabwe.”
Khumalo said Chamisa is not expected to occupy the presidential palace, Zimbabwe House. “What the world must know is that our state house is not a house where Mnangagwa and where (former president Robert) Mugabe was staying and where Mnangagwa is. Our state house is in the streets, our state house is in the people.”
She said the party will mobilize Zimbabweans for mass protests to claim the presidency from Mnangagwa and his ruling party after conducting a nationwide consultation process.
Reacting to Chamisa’s installation, Joseph Tshuma, Zanu PF Central Committee member, said Chamisa’s installation was treasonous and designed to provoke the ruling party.
“Besides being treasonous, their act has actually displayed and proved to the world which party does not uphold the rule of law and the constitution of the country made by the people of Zimbabwe … So, what they have done really is to show themselves for what they really are … people that don’t obey the law, people that don’t respect the constitution of Zimbabwe, people that are frivolous, they don’t take anything seriously at all.”
“How dare they play with the people of Zimbabwe? How dare they make us look like we are stupid and don’t think?” Tshuma said.
He said Mnangagwa won the election and was duly elected president of Zimbabwe by the Constitutional Court. “There is not even a single poll observer who said our president did not win the election … These guys must not hold Zimbabwe at ransom as if they now own Zimbabwe.”
According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, Mnangagwa garnered over 50.6% of the votes cast in the presidential election.
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Shoppers May Face Hard Choices Again on Health Marketplaces
Insurance shoppers likely will have several choices for individual health coverage this fall. The bad news? There’s no guarantee they will cover certain doctors or prescriptions.
Health insurers have stopped fleeing the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces and they’ve toned down premium hikes that gouged consumers in recent years. Some are even dropping prices for 2019. But the market will still be far from ideal for many customers when open enrollment starts Thursday.
Much of the insurance left on the marketplaces limits patients to narrow networks of hospitals or doctors and provides no coverage outside those networks.
Plus these plans can still be unaffordable for people who don’t receive help from the ACA’s income-based tax credits, and they often require patients to pay several thousand dollars toward their care before most coverage starts.
“People understand that things are kind of screwed up,” said Chicago-area broker Robert Slayton. “My objective is to give them what reality is, to give them options. Their job is to choose what may work.”
The ACA expanded coverage to millions of Americans when it established state-based marketplaces where people can buy a plan if they don’t get insurance through work or qualify for government programs like Medicaid. But the expansion has been rough.
Several insurers pulled back from these markets after being swamped with higher-than-expected costs. Many that remained jacked up prices or started limiting the hospitals and doctors included in their coverage networks.
Those narrow networks give insurers leverage to negotiate better rates that can lead to lower coverage prices, and the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. has found that the quality of their hospitals is comparable to broader networks.
Plans with narrow networks will cover necessary specialists like cardiologists, but they often exclude out-of-state care providers or academic medical centers, which tend to be more expensive.
They can pose problems for patients who have more than one physician or want to keep a doctor covered under a previous plan.
Jodi Smith Lemacks is nervous about changing or losing her job because that could mean cutting off her 15-year-old son Joshua from heart specialists he’s seen his entire life. The Richmond, Virginia, resident said she looked last year for options on the ACA’s marketplace to trim the coverage bill she pays through work.
She didn’t find any plans that would cover his current doctors, including some at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who treat his congenital heart disease.
“The issue with kids like Joshua is, it really matters, it’s life or death where you go,” she said.
Plans with some form of a limited network made up more than half of the choices offered for 2017 on the ACA’s marketplaces, according to the latest numbers from McKinsey. That coverage was particularly common in the price range where most consumers shop, which is within 10 percent of the lowest-priced plan.
These plans grew more common from 2014 to 2017, especially in cities where insurers could choose between competing hospital networks. But that trend has since stabilized, said McKinsey’s Jim Oatman.
Even so, brokers aren’t expecting narrow networks to go away. In some markets like St. Louis, they were the only option shoppers had among 10 plan choices for this year.
The narrow networks are grouped by hospital systems, and broker Kelly Rector has several customers who see doctors in different systems. She advises them to pick their coverage based on which doctor is most important and drop the others for in-network options.
Plans with narrow networks can make it harder to simply get to the doctor, especially if it’s a specialist.
Wichita Falls, Texas, residents with individual coverage have to drive nearly two hours to see an in-network neurologist, insurance agent Kelly Fristoe said. That can be stunning to customers who buy an individual plan after having coverage through work, which tends to come with wider networks.
“They don’t like it,” Fristoe said. “They’re forced to make a change, and they have to go establish themselves with a new specialist.”
Debbie Dean lives 15 minutes from a suburban Chicago hospital, but she’ll have to travel about an hour to an in-network location if she wants surgery on her injured shoulder. Dean couldn’t find affordable coverage that included the nearby hospital when she bought her 2018 plan.
Instead, she settled on insurance that comes with a $6,000 annual deductible she has to pay before most coverage starts. That, plus the travel distance, keeps her from seeking help.
“I’m grateful that I have coverage, but it’s really cruddy coverage,” she said. “I sit here with my shoulder killing me every day.”
Narrow-network plans with their lower prices can be good for shoppers who aren’t tied to a doctor and just want protection from big medical bills, said Paul Rooney, a vice president with the online insurance broker eHealth.
“They’re younger and they’re healthier and they’re thinking, ‘I’m going to get this coverage in case I hurt my knee playing basketball,’” he said.
But it can be tough for consumers when shopping to know if there’s a decent selection of doctors nearby until they need one.
People who “have the most to lose from having a narrow-network plan are those who have something unexpected happen to them,” said Daniel Polsky, a University of Pennsylvania economist.
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2 US Pro-Democracy Groups Say Zimbabwe’s July Election Failed to Meet International Standards
U.S. pro-democracy groups, the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), say Zimbabwe has not yet established a democratic culture in which parties are treated equitably and citizens can cast their vote freely.
In a joint statement, the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) observer group to Zimbabwe’s July 2018 elections said the country had shown “substantive, incremental improvements” from its previous “flawed elections” that were characterized by violence.
A co-director of the two U.S. pro-democracy groups’ election observer mission, Jessica Keegan, said her groups noticed a public commitment to credible elections through a more open political climate, welcoming of international observers, and a fresh biometric voters roll.
“But unfortunately they were insufficient to instill broad confidence among the populace that the election met international standards, particularly given Zimbabwe’s history of irregular elections and electoral violence,” said Keegan. “Extraordinary measures needed to be taken to overcome that past. Unfortunately these elections did not quite meet the mark. There were other issues that raised serious concerns; such as reports of intimidation, violence and the misuse of state resources and the tragic event of August 1st where civilians died because of use of excessive force.”
The observer groups offered 20 recommendations to Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government to ensure the country’s future elections are credible.
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission spokesman Qhubani Moyo was asked for comment on the election observer mission report.
“I do not know I have not read it,” said Moyo. “I am not even going to read it. I am not even focusing on these things. I am doing my family and reading. I am not reading it, not soon. Maybe you can try chairperson.”
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Chairperson Priscilla Chigumba could not be reached for comment about the report. The two groups’ observer team was led by former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and former Interim President of the Central African Republic Catherine Samba-Panza.
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British Soccer Club Owner’s Helicopter Crashes
The helicopter of a British soccer club owner has crashed outside a stadium moments after taking off.
Police have not confirmed if Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, owner of Leicester City of Britain’s Premier League, was on board when the aircraft went down in the parking lot near King Power Stadium after a Saturday night match.
Video footage from the scene showed balls of flames engulfing the wreckage.
“Leicestershire Police, East Midlands Ambulance Service and Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service all responded to the incident last night and enquiries continue at the scene today [Sunday 28 October], led by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch [AAIB]. These enquiries are expected to continue over the coming days,” said a local police statement.
British media reports have said the 60-year-old Thai owner and a group of others had boarded the helicopter.
The Leicester City soccer club said it was assisting police with a “major incident.”
Leicester is about 143 kilometers north of London.
your ad hereDRC Health Ministry: Children Dying of Ebola at Unprecedented Rate
Children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are dying from Ebola at an unprecedented rate due largely to poor sanitary practices at clinics run by traditional healers, the health ministry said on Sunday.
The impact on children has been felt acutely in the city of Beni, which has emerged as the outbreak’s new epicenter. Of 120 confirmed Ebola cases in Beni, at least 30 are under 10-years-old, and 27 of them have died, according to health ministry data.
Many children affected by an unrelated malaria outbreak near Beni are thought to have contracted Ebola at clinics run by traditional healers who have also treated Ebola patients, said Jessica Ilunga, a spokeswoman for the health ministry.
“There is an abnormally high number of children who have contracted and died of Ebola in Beni. Normally, in every Ebola epidemic, children are not as affected,” Ilunga told Reuters.
“Traditional healers use the same tools to treat everyone. And the child who has entered a traditional healer’s clinic with malaria comes out with Ebola and dies several days later,” she said.
The rate of new cases in eastern Congo has accelerated in recent weeks. An emergency World Health Organization committee said earlier this month that the outbreak was likely to worsen significantly unless the response was stepped up.
The health ministry reported nine new confirmed cases late on Saturday — seven in Beni and two in the city of Butembo — the biggest one-day day jump since the outbreak was declared on Aug. 1.
The hemorrhagic fever is believed to have killed 168 people and infected another 98 in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, where attacks by armed groups and community resistance to health officials have complicated the response.
Congo has suffered 10 Ebola outbreaks since the virus was discovered near its eponymous Ebola River in 1976. The current one now ranks third in terms of number of confirmed cases.
your ad hereTurkey Strikes Kurdish Positions in Northern Syria
The Turkish army struck Kurdish targets in northern Syria east of the Euphrates River on Sunday.
Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency said that artillery strikes hit positions belonging to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, in Zor Moghar.
The village in northern Aleppo’s countryside is across the Euphrates that separates Turkey-backed Syrian opposition forces and the YPG, which Turkey considers a terror organization linked to an insurgency within its own borders.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Kurdish Hawar news agency also reported the shelling, saying Turkish artillery targeted other villages east of the Euphrates as well. Hawar said there were no reports of casualties.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly warned of expanding military operations along the Syrian border to clear it of “terror.”
The Observatory said the rare shelling in the villages near Kobani, a stronghold of the Kurdish fighters, came while Kurdish fighters were on high alert following Turkish threats.
The United States backs the Kurdish fighters who combat the Islamic State group in Syria. That support has driven a wedge between the two NATO allies.
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New CAR Court Seen as Milestone in Fight Against Impunity
The U.N. Human Rights Office welcomes the establishment of the Special Criminal Court in the Central African Republic, calling it a milestone in the fight against impunity.
Over the past six years, war between the mainly Muslim Seleka rebels and Christian anti-Balaka has killed thousands. It has displaced about one quarter of Central African Republic’s population of 4.6 million both internally and as refugees. Violence and gross human rights violations are rampant throughout the country.
The U.N. human rights office sees the establishment of the Special Criminal Court as a huge step toward ending decades of recurring violence and abuse in the country. Spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, told VOA it is hoped prosecutions by the court will help break the cycle of impunity, which has plunged the country into one conflict after another.
“The establishment of this court, which its mandate is also to ensure that its proceedings are carried out in a very public way, which should send a message to the perpetrators of human rights violations in the Central African Republic that this will no longer be tolerated. In addition, the International Criminal Court is also engaged on the Central African Republic. So, both courts will be working concurrently,” she said.
This so-called hybrid court is composed of 13 judges from the CAR and 12 international judges. It will investigate and prosecute serious crimes, in particular the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed in the country since January 1, 2003.
The pattern of granting blanket amnesties throughout its history has allowed impunity to thrive in CAR at the expense of the rule of law. The United Nations says the court aims to support a durable reconciliation process and bring justice to the victims. It says these actions might finally succeed in bringing peace and stability to the country.
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Pope Francis Grieves for Jewish Victims in Pittsburgh
Pope Francis is grieving with Pittsburgh’s Jewish community following the massacre at a synagogue there, denouncing the “inhuman act of violence” and praying for an end to the “flames of hatred” that fueled it.
Francis led prayers for Pittsburgh on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, a day after a gunman who had expressed hatred of Jews opened fire in the synagogue during Sabbath services, killing 11 people.
Francis prayed for the dead, the injured and their families. He says “all of us are wounded by this inhuman act of violence.” He prayed for God “to help us to extinguish the flames of hatred that develop in our societies.”
Francis has frequently spoken out against religiously inspired violence and has denounced the easy availability of guns, calling arms manufacturers the “merchants of death.”
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US Official to Migrant Caravan: ‘Do not Come’ to US
U.S. Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen had a blunt message Sunday to a migrant caravan slowing moving north through Mexico toward the United States: “Do not come.”
She told Fox News, “There’s a right and legal way to enter this country,” by filing U.S. asylum claims while they are in Mexico. “This is about the rule of law.”
Nielsen said, “We have a crisis on the border,” with U.S. officials apprehending 1,500 to 1,700 migrants a day as they cross into the United States.
She offered her assessment as Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters traveling with him on a trip to Prague that Pentagon officials are working out details on the the deployment of several hundred troops to the southern U.S. border.
On Friday, the Pentagon approved a request by the Department of Homeland Security to send the troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in what is described as a support role. A statement said personnel will support the border patrol with planning assistance, medical teams and the construction of temporary housing, along with other support duties.
They will join more than 2,000 members of the National Guard already deployed to the area who are providing support for border patrol agents.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is reported to be considering a new executive order aimed at blocking asylum seekers and immigrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
News reports quoting unnamed administration officials say authorities are weighing a range of administrative and legal actions on grounds of national security to restrict the ability of migrants to seek asylum.
Although no decision has reportedly been made yet, immigration attorneys told VOA the move would be quickly challenged in court.
The caravan of migrants from Honduras and Guatemala, making its way north on foot, is still hundreds of kilometers away from the closest U.S. border.
The U.N. refugee agency is urging Washington to allow people fleeing persecution and violence, including those who are traveling with the Central American caravan, to request asylum on U.S. territory.
“Our position globally is that the individuals who are fleeing persecution and violence need to be given access to territory and protection including refugee status and determination procedure,” UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic told VOA. “And, if the people who are fleeing persecution and violence enter Mexico, they need to be provided access to the Mexican asylum system and those entering the United States need to be provided access to the American asylum system.”
Most of those traveling north are from Honduras. There has been no evidence to back up President Donald Trump’s claim last week that “Middle Easterners” are also with the group.
Lisa Schlein and Aline Barros contributed to this report.
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UN: Countries Must Allow People at Risk to Request Asylum
The U.N. refugee agency is urging Washington to allow people fleeing persecution and violence, including those who are traveling with the Central American caravan, to request asylum on U.S. territory.
U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed to prevent a caravan of thousands of immigrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador from entering the United States. The Pentagon has announced plans to send hundreds of troops to the border in what is described as a support role.
The U.N. refugee agency will not weigh in on whether it is legal for a country to close its borders to refugees and asylum seekers. But it says international law clearly states any person whose life may be in danger has the right to seek asylum and benefit from international protection.
UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic told VOA his agency has alerted countries along the caravan’s route that it is likely to include people in real danger.
“Our position globally is that the individuals who are fleeing persecution and violence need to be given access to territory and protection including refugee status and determination procedure. And, if the people who are fleeing persecution and violence enter Mexico, they need to be provided access to the Mexican asylum system and those entering the United States need to be provided access to the American asylum system,” he said.
Mahecic said the UNHCR is very concerned about the developing humanitarian situation along the migratory route. He said there are kidnapping and security risks in the areas where the caravan may be venturing.
He said it is urgent to stabilize the situation, to provide proper reception and to improve basic conditions for people on the move. In regard to people seeking asylum, he says their international protection needs must be properly assessed before any decision is taken on their return or deportation.
The Mexican Ministry of the Interior reports more than 1,740 asylum claims have been registered in Tapachula in the state of Chiapas.
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Cameroon Episcopal Conference: Election Marred by Fraud
The Roman Catholic church, the main religious body in Cameroon has issued conflicting comments on the conduct of the October 7 presidential election in which incumbent Paul Biya was declared the winner.
Church bells ring at Our Lady of Victories Cathedral in Yaounde, inviting Catholics to a mass to be said by metropolitan Archbishop Jean Mbarga. Mbarga says the special mass is to pray for peace in Cameroon and salute the victory of President Paul Biya in Cameroon’s October 7 presidential election.
He says people should congratulate Paul Biya for his victory especially as electoral disputes were handled in a transparent manner by the constitutional council. He says everyone should recognize Biya as the president elect, start preparing for the next election and thank God for the peace that was observed during the presidential poll.
The archbishop’s declaration that the election was transparent sharply contradicts the position of the episcopal conference of Cameroon Roman Catholic bishops of which Mbarga is a member.
Samuel Kleda, archbishop of Douala and president of the episcopal conference had criticized the election saying that the large turnout announced by the elections management body ELECAM along Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria, was particularly suspicious.
Kleda said that the fighting in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions and the Boko Haram insurgency along Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria had displaced large numbers of people and they could not vote.
Kleda says he is surprised at claims that the ruling party candidate Paul Biya scored overwhelming victories in many parts of Cameroon including the English-speaking northwest and southwest regions where they themselves said they were unable to go to campaign because of galloping insecurity.
He says petitions filed by opposition party candidates that the election were marred by massive fraud and did not even take place in several regions ought to have been taken seriously by the government because Cameroon’s unity is threatened.
Cameroon’s Roman Catholic bishops have been divided before, even though it has never been as public as it is now. When the separatist movement in the Anglophone regions became violent, Kleda condemned the government troops for brutality, while some bishops, including Mbarga, said it was legitimate defense.
An estimated 35 percent of Cameroon’s 24 million people are of the Roman Catholic faith.
On Oct. 22 incumbent Paul Biya was declared the winner with 71 percent of the vote, with his main challenger, Maurice Kamto, only receiving 14 percent.
Several opposition candidates accused Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party of massive electoral fraud to keep the 85-year-old leader in office for another seven years. Biya is Africa’s longest serving president, having entered office in 1982.
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Yazidi Mothers of Children by IS Face Heartbreaking Choices
The 26-year-old Yazidi mother faces a heartbreaking choice.
Her family is preparing to emigrate from Iraq to Australia and start a new life after the suffering the Islamic State group wreaked on their small religious minority. She is desperate to go with them, but there is also someone she can’t bear to leave behind: Her 2-year-old daughter, Maria, fathered by the IS fighter who enslaved her.
She knows her family will never allow her to bring Maria. They don’t even know the girl exists. The only relative who knows is an uncle who took the girl from her mother and put her in an orphanage in Baghdad after they were freed from captivity last year.
“My heart bursts from my chest every time I think of leaving her. She is a piece of me, but I don’t know what to do,” she said, speaking to The Associated Press at a camp in northern Iraq for displaced Yazidis.
The woman spoke on condition she be identified only as Umm Maria, or “mother of Maria,” for fear her family and community would find out.
Umm Maria’s torment points to the gaping wounds suffered by Iraq’s Yazidi religious minority at the hands of the Islamic State group. When the militants overran the Yazidis’ northern Iraqi heartland of Sinjar in 2014, they inflicted on the community an almost medieval fate. Hundreds of Yazidi men and boys were massacred, tens of thousands fled their homes, and the militants took thousands of women and girls as sex slaves, viewing them as heretics worthy of subjugation and rape.
The women were distributed among IS fighters in Iraq and Syria and over the following years were traded and sold as chattel. Many women bore children from their captors – the numbers of children are not known, but they are no doubt in the hundreds.
The Nobel Peace Prize this year put a focus on victims of sexual violence and on the Yazidis in particular, when one of the women abducted by IS, Nadia Murad, was named a co-winner of the award.
Many, though not all, of the women have returned home, as the extremist group’s “caliphate” in Iraq and Syria has been brought down. While some of them want nothing to do with babies born of rape and slavery, some, like Umm Maria, want to keep them.
But Yazidi families most often reject the children.
That is a reflection the deeply entrenched traditions followed by the Yazidi community, seeking to preserve its identity among the mainly Muslim population, many of whom for centuries viewed the ancient faith with suspicion. The Yazidis, who speak a form of Kurdish, keep their community closed off, their rituals little known.
They have always rejected mixed marriages and children fathered by non-Yazidis. In this case, the stain is even greater since the fathers were the same Sunni Muslim radicals who sought to wipe out the community. Under Iraqi law, the children are considered Muslims.
The community has taken a relatively progressive stance toward the mothers. In Iraq’s traditional society, rape can bring stigma on the victim. But the Yazidis’ spiritual leader, Babashekh Khirto Hadji Ismail, issued an edict in 2015 declaring women enslaved by the militants to be “pure,” with their faith intact. The declaration allowed the women to be welcomed back into Yazidi society.
But not the children.
Khidr Domary, a prominent Yazidi activist, acknowledged that the community’s insular traditions need some reform and said the leadership has shown flexibility as it tries to deal with the trauma left by IS, known by their group’s Arabic acronym, Daesh. He said mothers should be free to bring back IS-fathered children if they wish.
But “that cannot include reform to accommodate the results of Daesh crimes,” he said. Pressure from family and society against accepting the children is powerful.
“It is difficult, even for the mother, to bring a child to live in our midst when it is possible that his Daeshi father may have killed hundreds of us with his own hands, including relatives of the mother,” he said.
Umm Maria was taken captive along with other women in August 2014, when the militants stormed Sinjar, near the Syrian border. She was eventually taken to Syria as the slave of an IS fighter, whom she knew only by his alias, Abu Turab.
Abu Turab was killed in fighting in 2015. His family sold her for $1,800 to another militant, an Iraqi she identified as Ahmed Mohammed. He took her to Iraq’s Mosul, where she lived with his first wife and their children. Soon after she gave birth to Maria, he too was killed in fighting in 2015.
She was consigned to an IS “guesthouse” where wounded IS fighters received first aid or took a rest from the front lines – and used Yazidi women for sex.
As Iraqi security forces assaulted Mosul, the women at the house were moved from one neighborhood to another to escape bombardment. In the summer of 2017, as the city fell, Umm Maria escaped into government-held territory, though she was injured during the shelling.
At the hospital, an uncle persuaded Umm Maria to give them the child until she healed, promising to return Maria to her afterward.
“Had I known they planned on depositing her in an orphanage, I would have never given her,” she said.
Umm Maria has seen the child – now around 3 years old – only once since. Several months ago, she visited her at the Baghdad orphanage, spending two days with Maria.
“She did not recognize me, but I recognized her,” Umm Maria said. “How could I not? She is a piece of me.”
Many Yazidis see it as more essential than ever for the community to protect its identity at a time when it is struggling for survival. The Yazidis were estimated to number about 700,000 before 2014. Since the IS onslaught, nearly 15 percent are believed to have fled the country, mostly to the West. Nearly half of those still in the country live in camps for the displaced, scattered around northern Iraq.
About 3,000 Yazidis remain missing or in captivity. Of these, experts believe only a third may still be alive.
The Yazidis are also trying to regain their place in a country where the social fabric has been torn apart by IS. Though there were always tensions, Yazidis lived side-by-side with Muslim neighbors in a northern region that is home to many minorities, including Christians and Kurds.
Now Yazidis deeply distrust Arab Muslims, accusing them of sympathizing with IS and even sometimes joining the militants in the slaughter and enslavement of Yazidis. The community also says the central government has not done enough to get back Yazidi women. It was largely left to families to put together thousands of dollars to buy back daughters or wives, or pay smugglers to sneak them out.
“We have become so resentful of Muslims that we now tell our children not to be like Muslims when they are mean to each other,” said Abdullah Shirim, a Yazidi businessman.
Shirim is credited with rescuing dozens of Yazidi women from captivity through a network of business contacts, smugglers and bands of bounty hunters.
The community is wrestling with integrating thousands of Yazidi children affected by the war. Those whose parents are missing or dead are usually taken in by extended family, but if relatives can’t afford it, they end up in orphanages. Children snatched by IS and raised as Muslims have to be retaught the Yazidi faith. Boys forced to become child soldiers have to be led back from IS’s virulently violent training.
Amid those traumas, there is little sympathy for children fathered by militants.
Another Yazidi woman, a 21-year-old who asked to be identified only as Umm Bassam, described how when she left IS territory in Syria in August, she contacted her family and asked if she could bring home her 9-month-old son, Bassam, fathered by the IS militant who held her.
Their reply: “We cannot allow a Daeshi baby to live with us.”
Umm Bassam had been in IS captivity for several years. The IS fighter who held her – an Iraqi – took her across the border into Syria in the summer of 2017 as the militants’ rule crumbled in Iraq.
In Syria, she gave birth. She, the IS fighter and their child had to flee from town to town as the militants lost ground in Syria. Eventually, the fighter had her smuggled out to Kurdish-held territory, while he fled into the desert along with other militants.
In the Syrian Kurdish city of Qamishli, Umm Bassam ended up in a house with other freed Yazidi women, many of them also with children.
After her family’s rejection, she relented and agreed to leave Bassam with Kurdish authorities. They tried to reassure her, she said, telling her the child would be cared for in an orphanage. They said at least 100 children had been left by Yazidi women.
“I was hugging him until the moment they took him away from me,” she said. They told her, “Don’t worry, in 10 days, he won’t remember you or recognize you. We will make him forget everything.”
But Umm Bassam remembers – every detail. Her son was chubby and fair-skinned, with a beautiful face, she said. He had a mole below his armpit.
Back among her community, cut off from her son by borders, traditions and officials, she sees no choice now. She will bury it all. She’ll get married, she says. She’ll build a new family.
“I’ll make it like I never saw anything. I’ll try to forget everything and start a new life.”
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Mattis Stresses Need for ‘Transparent’ Probe into Khashoggi Killing
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says he met with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir Saturday at the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain where the secretary stressed the need for a transparent investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi earlier this month at Riyadh’s consulate in Turkey
Mattis told the security conference that the “murder of Jamal Khashoggi in a diplomatic facility must concern us all… “Failure of any nation to adhere to international norms and the rule of law undermines regional stability at a time when it is needed most.”
The defense secretary said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has already revoked some Saudi visas and “will be taking additional measures” against the responsible people.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s attorney general is scheduled to arrive in Turkey Sunday, according to an Associated Press report. Saud al-Mojeb is expected to meet with the Turkish investigators who are looking into the murder of Khashoggi.
CNN is reporting that Salah bin Jamal Khashoggi, son of the slain journalist slain, has arrived in the United States.
The dual U.S.-Saudi citizen had been banned from traveling by the Saudi government until earlier this week. The restriction on his passport was lifted following a photographed handshake with the Saudi Crown Prince and King Salman on Tuesday. .
The State Department said Secretary of State Pompeo was “pleased” at the lifting of the travel restriction. Pompeo had urged the Saudis to allow Salah Khashoggi to leave the country.
Saudi Foreign Minister Jubeir said Saturday that the media coverage about the Khashoggi case has become “hysterical.” He acknowledged that Saudi Arabia had made some mistakes, but promised the country will conduct a transparent probe into the killing.
Meanwhile, Turkish state-run news says Turkey has asked for extradition of the 18 men arrested in Saudi Arabia in connection with the killing.
Saudi Foreign Minister Jubeir, however, dashed that hope Saturday when he said, “On the issue of extradition, the individuals are Saudi nationals. They are detained in Saudi Arabia and the investigation is in Saudi Arabia, and they will be prosecuted in Saudi Arabia.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Saudi Arabia Friday to disclose the location of Khashoggi’s body and the identity of the “local cooperator” who allegedly disposed of the body after Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate.
Speaking to provincial members of his AK Party in parliament, Erdogan said Ankara has more evidence related to the journalist’s murder, but he did not give any details. He also said Saudi Arabia’s chief prosecutor will visit Istanbul Sunday and will meet with Turkish officials as part of the investigation into Khashoggi’s murder.
And Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, told Turkish broadcaster Haberturk that although her fiance had been worried about visiting the consulate in Istanbul, he did not think he would be arrested or harmed in Turkey.
“He thought Turkey is a safe country and if he would be held or interrogated, this issue would be swiftly solved,” Cengiz said.
She called on those responsible for his murder to be brought to justice.
Saudi Arabia acknowledged in a statement Thursday that Khashoggi’s killing appeared to have been premeditated, on the basis of evidence supplied by Turkey.
What was left unclear was who premeditated the killing. The Saudi statement said, “The public prosecution continues its investigation with suspects… to complete the course of justice.” The Saudis fired five officials linked to the killing and have arrested 18 suspects.
International critics, including U.S. President Donald Trump, have said that the country’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, bears ultimate responsibility for the killing.
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US Authorities: Mayhem at Pittsburgh Synagogue a ‘Hate Crime’
Authorities investigating the mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that left 11 people dead are calling the mayhem a “hate crime,” saying Sunday the suspected gunman shouted anti-Semitic threats as he opened fire.
Charging documents said the suspect, Robert Gregory Bowers, armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and three handguns, wanted all Jews to die and that Jews “were committing genocide to his people,” an apparent reference to his belief that a Jewish refugee agency assisting foreign nationals entering the U.S. endangered non-Jews in America.
In a message he apparently posted online just minutes before the attack, Bowers, 46, said that the refugee agency, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, “likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t wait while my people are getting slaughtered… I’m going in.”
Scott Brady, the U.S. attorney in western Pennsylvania, told a news conference, “We are treating it as a hate crime.”
Officials said eight men and three women killed, ranging in age from 54 to 97, and six were wounded, including four police officers, before Bowers was tracked down, shot and apprehended.
Bowers was hospitalized in fair condition with multiple gunshot wounds, authorities said. He was charged with 11 counts of criminal homicide, six counts of aggravated assault and 13 counts of ethnic intimidation.
The FBI said Bowers was not previously known to law enforcement, but apparently had posted a string of anti-Semitic threats online, particularly on the Gab.com website, where conspiracy theories are common.
On top of Bowers’s page, one quote said, “jews are the children of satan,” according to screenshots of the now-suspended account released by the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks extremist views.
Police had responded to emergency calls about 9:45 a.m. Saturday morning as regular religious services were being held by three congregations at the the Tree of Life Synagogue. Witnesses said that Bowers, as he entered the synagogue, shouted, “All these Jews must die!”
Authorities said they found victims at three locations inside the synagogue, located in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. The local medical examiner, Dr. Karl Williams, said, “Lots of shots were fired, there were casings everywhere.”
The Anti-Defamation League, which has tracked hatred and violence against Jews since the 1970s, said the mayhem is “likely the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States.”
“We are devastated,” said the group’s head, Jonathan Greenblatt. “Our hearts break for the victims, their families, and the entire Jewish community.”
The White House has ordered all U.S. flags on government property to be flown at half-staff through Wednesday “as a mark of solemn respect for the victims of the terrible act of violence.”
World leaders denounced the attack, deploring it as an affront to humanity.
U.S. President Donald Trump told a political rally late Saturday, “This evil anti-Semitic attack is an assault on all of us. We must stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters to defeat anti-Semitism and vanquish the forces of hate.”
On Twitter, Trump said, “All of America is in mourning over the mass murder of Jewish Americans at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. We pray for those who perished and their loved ones, and our hearts go out to the brave police officers who sustained serious injuries. This evil Anti-Semitic attack is an assault on humanity. It will take all of us working together to extract the poison of Anti-Semitism from our world. We must unite to conquer hate.”
Former U.S. President Barack Obama said, “We grieve for the Americans murdered in Pittsburgh. All of us have to fight the rise of anti-Semitism and hateful rhetoric against those who look, love, or pray differently. And we have to stop making it so easy for those who want to harm the innocent to get their hands on a gun.”
Pope Francis at the Vatican called the massacre an “inhuman act of violence.” He prayed “to help us to extinguish the flames of hatred that develop in our societies.”
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “It is hard to overstate the horror of the murder of Jews who congregate on the Sabbath and who were murdered only because
they were Jews. On my behalf, on behalf of the government of Israel and the nation of Israel I convey our heartfelt condolences to the families that have lost dear ones. We all pray for the speedy recovery of the wounded.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the assault an act of “blind anti-Semitic hatred,” while United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a united world effort “to roll back the forces of racism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other forms of racism.”
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French FinMin: Eurozone not Prepared Enough to Face New Crisis
There is no risk of contagion from Italy’s budget crisis in the European Union but the euro zone is not prepared enough to face a new economic crisis, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told daily Le Parisien on Sunday.
The European Commission rejected Italy’s draft 2019 budget earlier this week for breaking EU rules on public spending, and asked Rome to submit a new one within three weeks or face disciplinary action.
“We do not see any contagion in Europe. The European Commission has reached out to Italy, I hope Italy will seize this hand,” he said in an interview.
“But is the eurozone sufficiently armed to face a new economic or financial crisis? My answer is no. It is urgent to do what we have proposed to our partners in order to have a solid banking union and a euro zone investment budget.”
Eurozone officials have said that Rome’s unprecedented standoff with Brussels seems certain to delay the reform process and probably dilute it for good.
Le Maire also said French banks with branches in Italy had issued corporate and household loans totaling 280 billion euros ($319 billion).
“This sum is manageable but substantial,” he said.
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Istanbul to Unveil New Airport, Seeks to be World’s Biggest
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held plenty of grand opening ceremonies in his 15 years at Turkey’s helm. On Monday he will unveil one of his prized jewels — Istanbul New Airport —
a megaproject that has been dogged by concerns about labor rights, environmental issues and Turkey’s weakening economy.
Erdogan is opening what he claims will eventually become the world’s largest air transport hub on the 95th anniversary of Turkey’s establishment as a republic. It’s a symbolic launch, as only limited flights will begin days later and a full move won’t take place until the end of the year.
Tens of thousands of workers have been scrambling to finish the airport to meet Erdogan’s Oct. 29 deadline. Protests in September over poor working conditions and dozens of construction deaths have highlighted the human cost of the project.
Istanbul New Airport, on shores of the Black Sea, will serve 90 million passengers annually in its first phase. At its completion in ten years, it will occupy nearly 19,000 acres and serve up to 200 million travelers a year with six runways. That’s almost double the traffic at world’s biggest airport currently, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson.
“This airport is going to be the most important hub between Asia and Europe,” Kadri Samsunlu, head of the 5-company consortium Istanbul Grand Airport, told reporters Thursday.
The airport’s interiors nod to Turkish and Islamic designs and its tulip-shaped air traffic control tower won the 2016 International Architecture Award. It also uses mobile applications and artificial intelligence for customers, is energy efficient and boasts a high-tech security system.
All aviation operations will move there at the end of December when Istanbul’s main international airport, named after Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, is closed down. Ataturk Airport now handles 64 million people a year. On the Asian side of the city, Sabiha Gokcen Airport handled 31 million passengers last year. It will remain open.
Erdogan is expected to announce the official name of the new airport, part of his plan to transform Turkey into a global player.
Turkish Airlines will launch its first flights out of the new airport to three local destinations: Ankara, Antalya and Izmir. It will also fly to Baku and Ercan in northern Cyprus.
Nihat Demir, head of a construction workers’ union, said the rush to meet Erdogan’s deadline has been a major cause of the accidents and deaths at the site that employs 36,000 people.
“The airport has become a cemetery,” he told The Associated Press, describing the pressure to finish as relentless and blaming long working hours for leading to “carelessness, accidents and deaths.”
The Dev-Yapi-Is union has identified 37 worker deaths at the site and claimed more than 100 dead remain unidentified.
Turkey’s Ministry of Labor has denied media reports about hundreds of airport construction deaths, saying in February that 27 workers had died at the site due to “health problems and traffic accidents.” It has not commented since then.
Airport workers in September began a strike against poor working conditions, including unpaid salaries, bedbugs, unsafe food and inadequate transport to the site. Security forces rounded up hundreds of workers and formally arrested nearly 30, among them union leaders. The company said it was working to improve conditions.
Megaprojects in northern Istanbul like the airport, the third bridge connecting Istanbul’s Asian and European shores and Erdogan’s yet-to-start plans for a man-made canal parallel to the Bosporus strait are also impacting the environment. The environmental group Northern Forests Defense said the new airport has destroyed forests, wetlands and coastal sand dunes and threatens biodiversity.
These projects are spurring additional construction of transportation networks, housing and business centers in already overpopulated Istanbul, where more than 15 million people live. Samsunlu, the airport executive, said an “airport city” for innovation and technology would also be built.
The five Turkish companies that won the $29 billion tender in 2013 under the “build-operate-transfer” model have been financing the project through capital and bank loans. IGA will operate the airport for 25 years.
Financial observers say lending has fueled much of Turkey’s growth and its construction boom, leaving the private sector with a huge $200 billion debt. With inflation and unemployment in Turkey at double digits and a national currency that has lost as much as 40 percent of its value against the dollar this year, economists say Turkey is clearly facing an economic downturn.
Despite those dark financial clouds, the airport consortium hopes the world’s growing aviation industry will generate both jobs and billions of dollars in returns.
“Istanbul New Airport will remain ambitious for growth and we will carry on mastering the challenge to be the biggest and the best. That’s our motto,” Samsunlu said.
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Spanish Rescuers Save 520 Migrants at Sea
Spain’s maritime rescue service says a baby has died despite efforts by rescuers to save it after a small boat carrying migrants sunk in the Mediterranean Sea. The death came as over 500 others were rescued.
The service says Sunday that the bottom of the rubber boat gave out, tossing 56 migrants into the water when its rescue craft reached it Saturday east of the Strait of Gibraltar. Rescue workers were able to save 55 men, women and children, but could not reanimate the baby.
In all, Spanish rescue workers saved 520 people trying to cross from North Africa to Spain on Saturday. In addition, one boat with 70 migrants arrived at the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
Over 1,960 people have died trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe this year.
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Cameroon Protesters Demand Biya Step Down
Hundreds of people, most of them youths, Saturday marched and sang in the streets of Cameroon’s economic capital city, Douala, calling for Cameroon President Paul Biya to step down immediately.
Bosco Etoundi, a 23-year-old university graduate, says protesters believe Maurice Kamto, of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement political party, who ran against Paul Biya in Cameroon’s Oct. 7 presidential election actually won. Kamto was declared runner-up, with 14 percent of the votes.
Etoundi says he wants Kamto to immediately take power because he is tired of having a president who does not provide for residents’ needs.
Etoundi says young people make up more than 70 percent of Cameroon’s population, but Biya has never involved the younger generation in decision-making. He says that after students complete their studies, they remain jobless because Biya is not creating jobs. He says a change is needed.
Protesters arrested
Cameroon police reported the arrests of more than two dozen protesters Saturday. Witnesses say some protesters were beaten and dragged through the mud.
However, Kamto’s Cameroon Renaissance Movement said 42 people, including some of its party officials, have been arrested and are being detained.
Among those arrested is Michele Ndoki, a lawyer who defended Kamto at the constitutional council, where they alleged massive fraud and ballot-stuffing in favor of Biya’s ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party.
The constitutional council rejected Kamto’s petition and Kamto, who had earlier claimed victory, announced what he called a national resistance program in regard to Biya’s inauguration ceremony in December, although no date has yet been chosen.
Ivaha Diboua, governor of the littoral region of Cameroon where Douala is located, says he will never tolerate any disorder in his administrative area and anyone who creates disorder will face police action.
Diboua says Cameroon respects people’s freedoms, but that no one should abuse the freedom by denigrating, insulting and stigmatizing others claiming that they felt cheated.
Besides Douala, minor protests were reported in the cities of Yaounde and Bafoussam but were quickly contained by police.
36 years of Biya
Biya, who has been in power for 36 years, was declared the winner of the Oct. 7 presidential poll, winning 71 percent of the vote. His runner-up, Kamto, who won 14 percent of the vote, has rejected the results.
In 2008, Biya removed term limits from the constitution, allowing him to serve indefinitely.
He is now the second-oldest president in sub-Saharan Africa. When his new term is finished, he will be 93 years old.
Kamto’s MRC party has vowed to continue with the protests until Biya steps down. In a statement Saturday, Kamto called for police to release those who have been arrested, stating that they were simply expressing their discontent at the election.
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China to Give Pakistan ‘Grant’ as UAE Mulls $6B in Aid
China plans to provide an unspecified financial “grant” to Pakistan while the United Arab Emirates is actively considering Islamabad’s request for a fiscal relief package of up to $6 billion to help the country deal with a looming balance-of-payments crisis, Chinese and Pakistani officials say.
News of the anticipated financial aid came days after Prime Minister Imran Khan secured more than $6 billion in immediate financial support from Pakistan’s close ally, Saudi Arabia, during an official visit to Riyadh.
Pakistan urgently needs foreign currency to shore up its depleting reserves of less than $8 billion, which is barely enough for servicing its debt and paying import bills.
Khan’s nascent government, which took office two months ago and has inherited a debt-ridden national economy, estimates the country urgently needs about $12 billion to fulfill domestic and external liabilities.
Khan is to travel to Beijing Nov. 2-5 on his first official visit to the country, where he is scheduled to meet President Xi Jinping and his Chinese counterpart.
Chinese diplomats in Islamabad have announced ahead of Khan’s visit that it will result in “good news” in terms of securing financial assistance for Pakistan.
“During the visit of the prime minister, we will provide, hopefully, a grant to the Pakistani government. Please look forward to the outcome of this visit. There will be more good news to follow,” said Deputy Chinese Ambassador Lijian Zhao, when asked whether Beijing would provide Khan financial assistance similar to the package the Saudis have pledged. He declined to speculate on the size of the grant.
Under the Saudi deal, Riyadh will deposit $3 billion in the coming days with the central State Bank of Pakistan for one year, as balance-of-payments support. Additionally, Saudi Arabia will export oil to Islamabad worth more than $3 billion on a deferred-payment basis over the next three years.
Khan’s government has rejected reports of any conditions attached to the Saudi aid package.
Federal Minister Haroon Sharif, chairman of the Board of Investment, said Saturday that the Pakistani government had formally submitted a financial request to a visiting UAE delegation similar to what Saudis have pledged. The Gulf state, he noted, is one of the biggest oil suppliers to Pakistan.
The minister told local Dunya TV the UAE delegation “positively” noted the Pakistani request and has promised to return with possible options in the next few days.
“It is expected to be a good package. I am unable to share the figures, but I think it would more or less be similar to the one Saudi Arabia has announced [for Pakistan],” said Sharif, who accompanied Khan during his visit to Saudi Arabia and will be part of the Pakistani delegation traveling to China.
IMF bailout plan
In addition to pushing friendly countries to provide fiscal relief, Khan’s government has also turned to the International Monetary Fund to seek a bailout package. Formal talks are scheduled to begin in Islamabad on Nov. 7. Pakistan has taken advantage of repeated IMF bailouts in the past several decades.
Analysts say the Saudi financial package and expected aid from both China and the UAE will most likely boost Pakistan’s negotiating position and may mean the country will require a smaller IMF arrangement.
During Khan’s visit to Beijing, officials said the two countries would sign “many agreements” to boost trade and investment ties and launch the second phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is the flagship of Xi’s global Road and Belt Initiative.
The two sides will sign a framework for launching industrial cooperation under CPEC and increasing Pakistani exports to China.
CPEC, Khan’s visit to China
The United States has persistently expressed concerns about the Chinese infrastructure and connectivity initiative, saying they are burdening partner nations like Pakistan with debt. The U.S. also criticized a lack of transparency about the terms of contracts under the infrastructure initiative and consequent effects on the economy, said Henry Ensher, acting deputy assistant secretary of state.
He acknowledged in a speech in Washington this month the importance of China-led initiative. “But that role ought to be done, ought to be played in accordance with usual rules about the transparency and accountability so that people in countries that cooperate with China can see clearly what they are signing up for,” Ensher said.
U.S. officials have already cautioned the IMF about entering into an arrangement with Pakistan, citing CPEC loans as a main factor for the country’s debt crisis and suspecting the IMF money would be used to pay back China.
Islamabad and Beijing have vehemently rejected Washington’s assertions as “misplaced” and “irrelevant.” Both countries acknowledge Chinese loans under CPEC are just over 6 percent of Pakistan’s total domestic and external debts of about $95 billion.
Since launching CPEC in 2013, China has invested $19 billion in Pakistan, building or upgrading its transportation network and power plants and putting into operation the key Arabian Sea port of Gwadar.
The mega-project is expected to bring more than $62 billion to Pakistan in Chinese investment by 2030, ultimately linking Gwadar to the landlocked western Chinese region of Xinjiang and giving Beijing the shortest secure access to international markets.
“We are building these projects totally based on mutual consultation and also mutual sharing. … Definitely, there is no private interest or unilateral interest from the Chinese side. We believe all the projects are mutually beneficial,” Yao Jing, Beijing’s ambassador to Islamabad, told reporters at the sprawling Chinese Embassy on Friday.
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Two UN Peacekeepers Killed in Mali Attacks
Two U.N. peacekeepers were killed and “several others” were wounded in two attacks in central and northern Mali on Saturday, the United Nations mission in the country said.
In a statement, the MINUSMA peacekeeping mission said Blue Helmets had “repelled a complex attack” at dawn at its base in Ber, in the Timbuktu region, launched from several trucks armed with “rocket launchers, machine guns and other explosives.”
A second attack in Konna, in the central Mopti region, involved an improvised explosive device (IED).
“According to an initial toll, two peacekeepers were killed and several others were wounded,” it said.
Most dangerous mission
The Burkina Faso army confirmed that two of its peacekeepers had been killed in the Ber attack, with five wounded.
The United Nations has deployed about 12,000 troops and police in its MINUSMA peacekeeping mission in Mali, which ranks as the most dangerous for blue helmets.
“I strongly condemn this brutal attack, which will not dent our determination to support Mali in its march towards peace,” said MINUSMA chief Mahamat Saleh Annadif in the statement, adding that attacks against peacekeepers “could constitute war crimes.”
Mali, the eighth largest country in Africa and one of the poorest in the world, has been struggling to return to stability after Islamic extremists linked to Al-Qaida jihadists took control of the north of the country in early 2012, prompting France to intervene militarily.
The extremists were routed in a French-led military operation in 2013, but large stretches of the landlocked Sahel state remain out of government control.
Ethnic groups fight
In central Mali, the situation has been made even more unstable by a resurgence of violence between ethnic groups, notably Fulani nomadic herders and Dogon farmers over access to land.
A peace deal between the government and armed groups was signed in 2015, but implementation has been slow and attacks have continued in the center and north of the country.
Mali on Thursday extended by a year a state of emergency in place since a deadly November 2015 attack on a top hotel in the capital Bamako that claimed 20 lives.
The state of emergency was set to expire at the end of this month and the Cabinet approved the extension.
It gives authorities greater powers to take measures to pre-empt attacks and accords more powers to security forces and judicial authorities, the government said.
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