Tuesday, August 4, 2015
UN Chief Praises Obama's Climate Proposal
When the leaders of the United States and United Nations meet, there is seemingly no limit to the number of pressing issues that are up for discussion. President Barack Obama acknowledged the demands on the United Nations have never been greater when he welcomed U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the White House for talks Tuesday.
Obama said the “urgency of a world response” to the threat of climate change topped the list of issues during their talks, which came a day after he unveiled a plan tosharply cut the carbon pollution produced by American power plants.
The president's call to cut carbon emissions by 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030 is opposed by major U.S. industry groups as too costly and illegal. Republicans in Congress vowed to fight the tougher power plant standards, saying they would hurt coal-mining states.
Sitting next to Ban in the Oval Office, Obama said he highlighted U.S. work on renewable energy and meeting “aggressive” targets in preparation for the U.N. climate conference in Paris later this year.
He said he encouraged the secretary-general “to continue to work with us to press those countries who have not yet put forward bold, aggressive plans to do so. Because we need Paris to be a success, and the world has to step up in a concerted way on behalf of our children and future generations.”
Ban commended Obama’s strong commitment to climate change from his first day in office, noting his “visionary and bold” announcement Monday.
“This Clean Power Plan powers economies and generates jobs. And also it can generate huge dividends here at home in the U.S. economy,” Ban said, turning to Obama. “And I am sure this will impact a lot of countries. And I really appreciate your personal engagement, starting with China, Brazil and India and many others.”
Syria, Yemen, Libya
Conflicts in the Middle East were also a focus of the talks between Obama and Ban, with the two leaders sharing “deep concerns” about the humanitarian situation in Syria. Obama noted the need to “stop the killing and arrive at a realistic, political process that can lead to a stabilizing of the country.”
But diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving Syria's political conflict have stalled. The United States leads an anti-Islamic State coalition conducting airstrikes in Syria, and recently welcomed Turkey's adoption of a military role in Syria.
Ban said the United Nations is trying to expedite humanitarian assistance to the war-torn nation.
The secretary-general also made a plea to member states for generous humanitarian assistance in Yemen, where he said 80 percent of the population, or more than 21 million people, is in need of urgent help. Ban said both leaders reinforced the need for a political, not military, solution in that country.
And in Libya, Obama noted some “modest progress” in bringing together the many factions that have created great difficulty in governance and “created a vacuum that is causing everything from to an outflow of refugees to the safe havens for organizations like ISIL,” an acronym used for the Islamic State group.
Both leaders also discussed the situation in South Sudan, with the secretary-general praising the president’s efforts to stop the violence. He noted Obama’s recent trip to Ethiopia, where the president convened a meeting with regional leaders on South Sudan.
Obama said hope regarding South Sudan’s recognition as a country had been squandered by President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar. He said the goal is to have an agreement in place by August 17 to stop the bloodshed and move forward with an inclusive government.
“If they miss that target, then I think it is our view that it’s going to be necessary for us to move forward with a different plan and recognize that those leaders are incapable of creating the peace that is required,” Obama said.
President Obama Turns 54: Michelle Obama Wishes Her 'Favorite Dance Partner' a Happy Birthday on Twitter
Barack Obama turned 54 on Tuesday and all of Twitter is celebrating – including his First Lady Michelle Obama and his presidential predecessor Bill Clinton.
@FLOTUS sent her "loving husband" (and "favorite dance partner") a sweetTweet to ring in his special day, including the above shot of the couple hitting the dance floor at the 2013 Inaugural Ball.
She captioned the photo, "Happy birthday to a loving husband, wonderful father and my favorite dance partner. 54 looks good on you, @POTUS! -mo."
Keep up with Michelle Obama in the pages of PEOPLE Magazine by subscribing now.
Michelle, wearing a stunning red dress by Jason Wu, is beaming at her husband in the picture – but she might not be so happy when she sees Clinton's birthday message to Barack.
The 42nd president sent the 44th president this little birthday joke on Twitter:
So much for the First Lady's healthy eating campaigns! But at least the president can work it off with his sweet dance moves:
So much for the First Lady's healthy eating campaigns! But at least the president can work it off with his sweet dance moves:
A dreadful wakeup call for Turkey
The attack in Suruç is a dreadful wakeup call for Turkey. It’s a shame that this call comes at the expense of so many lives, most of them young people - 24 of which were university students. Looking at the picture of these idealistic young girls and boys, who only wanted to take aid and friendship to Kobane and comparing them to the pictures of rabid militants from radical Islamic groups like the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), one has to be totally blind not to see who provides hope and promise for a modern Turkey that is respected internationally.
It boggles the mind therefore to think that the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government could have in anyway, directly or indirectly, given passage to or turned a blind eye to the activities of groups like ISIL or al-Nusra in the hope that they would expedite the downfall of Bashar al-Assad and his regime in Syria. This is not the sort of thing responsible governments do.
The U.S., Pakistan and Saudi Arabia aided the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan in the 1970s and 1980s, in a bid to undermine the Soviet Union, and succeeded to an extent, but just look at what they ultimately spawned for themselves. There are tomes that have been written about this. The Taliban, al-Qaeda, and 9/11 are all the products of that era. Daily Cumhuriyet’s headline commentary on the Suruç attack on July 21 carried a very apt title when it quoted a Turkish saying: “Feed the crow so it can turn around and poke your eye out.”
It is equally mind boggling that the AKP, with help from President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, should have provided grist to the mill, which claims that the Syrian Kurds are somehow more dangerous for Turkey than ISIL. The time has come for the AKP to not only act more decisively together with Turkey’s allies against real and immediate threats to the country, but also to stop politicking in thinly veiled bid to promote its Islamist ideological worldview.
Religion has to be sent back to the private domain where it belongs. In other words, it is time for Turkey to return to its secular mode of governance for the sake of the country as a whole, rather than trying to promote an agenda which less than half the population supports. Erdoğan himself told the Egyptian satellite channel Dream TV in 2010 that secularism is not irreligion.
“Secularism is definitely not atheism. I recommend a secular constitution for Egypt,” he said, after the country’s dictator Hosni Mubarak was toppled. “I, as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, am a Muslim and not secular. But I am the prime minister of a secular country. In a secular country, people have the freedom to be religious or not,” he said (For the original Turkish story: http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/planet/18735423.asp).
Wise words but he did not stand behind them. He went on to say that he wanted to see a religious youth emerge in Turkey. Well, it is clear that a portion of the Islamic youth he desires to see in this country is not just religious but also deeply vengeful, carrying no respect for human life.
Turkey was always a predominantly conservative and religious country – not unlike the U.S. - even when it adopted a secular form of government. This is why such remarks from Erdoğan always made people think that he was after more than he was claiming. But using politics to impose religious values on society as a whole has not brought any advantages to Turkey, which is a heterogeneous country when it comes to creeds.
The June 7 elections have given the AKP a chance to change tack and work for the better of the country as a whole. A grand coalition with the Republican People’s Party (CHP) is a historic opportunity in this respect that should not be wasted for the sake of promoting the religious worldview. Suruç should act as a wakeup call in this respect. It remains to be seen if the AKP will use this opportunity or squander it.
Yemen health system in state of collapse: MSF
A humanitarian organization has warned that the health system in war-stricken Yemen is close to collapsing under Saudi raids.
Thierry Goffeau, the coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) or Doctors Without Borders in Yemen's southern city of Aden, issued the warning on Tuesday after a 10-week mission to Yemen.
“The population is faced with food shortages, the health system is in a state of collapse. I have never seen such a level of violence,” Goffeau said.
Meanwhile, Laurent Sury, the MSF's head of emergencies, said transportation has been totally disrupted by Saudi Arabia's continuing air raids.
“Women needing a Caesarian die because they cannot get to a hospital in time,” Sury said, adding, “It is very difficult to get access to the population and for the population to access hospitals as a result of the bombardments and the fighting.”
The MSF's head of emergencies went on to say that as many as 20,000 people had been treated for injuries in the country with only half of them having received treatment.
He further noted that the MSF's clinics in the port city of Aden alone “receive nearly 350 new patients per week.”
The warning by the MSF comes as Saudi Arabia continues to pound areas across Yemen.
The Al Saud regime launched its military aggression against Yemen – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to Hadi, an ally of Riyadh.
According to UN figures, the Saudi war has killed nearly 1,900 civilians since late March. However, local sources have given a much higher death toll.
http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/08/04/423277/Yemen-MSF-Saudi-Aden-
Use of Russian troops in Syria is out of question — Kremlin spokesman
The use of Russian troops in the Syrian conflict has never been even discussed, [Syrian President Bashar] Assad has never asked for that, Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
"No, this issue [sending of Russian troops to Syria] has never been discussed in any way. This issue is out of the agenda," he told journalists.
When asked whether Syrian President Bashar Assad had ever asked Russia to send its troops to his country, Peskov said, "No, this issue has never been raised."
Commenting on the statement by Russian airborne troops commander Vladimir Shamanov who said that Russian paratroopers were ready to go to Syria if they were ordered to, the Kremlin spokesman said, "There ought to be no doubts that Russian airborne troops will fulfill any order from their commander-in-chief."
Earlier on Tuesday, Shamanov told journalists that Russia’s airborne troops were ready to assist Syria in countering terrorists, if such a task is set by Russia’s leaders. "Of course we will execute the order set forth by the country’s leadership, if there is a task at hand," Shamanov said, in response to a Syrian reporter’s question about the readiness of the Russian airborne troops to render assistance to Syria’s government in its battle against terrorism.
Peskov also said that the use of Russian military aircraft in Syria is out of question at the moment. "This issue is not looked at now," he said. "I have no other information."
Putin to Turkey Envoy: Tell Erdogan He Can Go to Hell along with ISIL Terrorists
The AWD news website quoted Moscow Times as reporting that the Russian president purportedly went into a long diatribe criticizing the Turkish foreign policy and its malevolent role in Syria, Iraq and Yemen by supporting Saudi-backed al-Qaeda terrorists, which escalated the conversation with the Turkish ambassador to a fierce polemic.
Also the Republican news website said that according to the leaked information obtained by the Moscow Times, the meeting between Putin and Turkish ambassador was imbued with intense mutual resentment where Yardim repudiated all Russian accusations, laying blame on Russia for Syria's bitter and protracted civil war.
"Tell your dictator president he can go to hell along with his ISIL terrorist and I shall make Syria to nothing but a 'Big Stalingrad', for Erdoğan and his Saudi allies are no vicious than Adolf Hitler," replied Vladimir Putin in the 2-hour closed door meeting with Turkish emissary.
"How hypocrite is your president as he advocates democracy and lambasts the military coup d'état in Egypt," added Putin, "And he simultaneously condones all terrorist activities aimed to overthrow Syrian president."
The Russian president continued by saying that his country won't abandon Syrian legitimate administration and will cooperate with its allies, namely Iran and China, to find a political solution to Syria's interminable civil war which descended the 23-million Arab nation to an utter ethnic and religious anarchy.
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?fromval=1&cid=22&frid=22&eid=224398
Pakistani Christian refugees face ordeal in Thailand
Pakistani Christians escaping to Thailand from persecution in their native country are not receiving the protection they so desperately need as they face poverty, arrest and possible deportation.
Thousands of Pakistani Christians have fled their homes due the country’s reported mistreatment of religious minorities. Fleeing to Southeast Asian countries due to how cheap and easy it is to maintain a tourist visa, these Christians soon discover they are not to be treated well in their new home either.
Because Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, and does not have a formal national asylum framework, the Pakistani Christians are not treated as refugees or asylum seekers but as illegal immigrants. Often, Thailand will not grant asylum status to those declared genuine refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
“The poor can’t and don’t escape but the middle and upper classes flee to Thailand,” said Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, who has issued an appeal and a petition calling for help for the refugees. “[Back in Pakistan] they are doctors, lawyers, professors, politicians.”
“Pakistan’s blasphemy law has been used in a way to target religious minorities,” said Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch in a separate interview. “There has been violence perpetrated against people accused of blasphemy. When facing that kind of persecution, many have no choice but to leave.”
Those fleeing Pakistan face tough roads. They are often stopped by border guards when suspected of being Christians even with a legal visa or plane tickets. Many are not allowed to cross the border until they have paid a bribe or a fine. When Raymond John and his family crossed the border, they had to pay the guards 112,000 Pakistani rupees ($1100).
“We refused twice and they would not let us pass but on the third time we finally paid,” John said.
In European countries and the United States, it can be an arduous and expensive process to apply for a tourist visa. Although easy to obtain one from Thailand, the Pakistanis’ stay is anything but easy. Upon arrival, the refugees realize they cannot attain citizenship and cannot buy property. Even if a Pakistani marries a Thai citizen, they are not granted legal citizenship and their status is returned to refugee upon their spouse’s death.
Farrukh Saif, head of the Farrukh Saif Foundation dedicated to helping persecuted Pakistani Christian refugees, has criticized the delay of the UNHCR to classify the Christians who have fled to Thailand as refugees, saying it affects the livelihood of those seeking asylum.
“According to a mandate, in 90 days they have to determine the status of these people as refugees, but in reality it can take four to five years,” he said. “If a minor, a child, cannot go to school for four to five years, what is his future? A whole generation of Pakistani Christians in Bangkok is being destroyed.”
UNHCR’s Field Media Officer for Thailand, Vivian Tan, said that by nature, refugee status determination (RSD) is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
“In many urban settings, the demand for RSD exceeds processing capacities. In Bangkok, UNHCR has been working to speed up processing times,” she said.
Refugees would agree that the process has been anything but speedy. Sunny Gil arrived in Thailand in August 2013 and was given an appointment with the UNHCR for an interview in May 2015 to be assigned refugee status. When the time came for the interview, however, it was postponed for a year.
“It is silly - the excuses that they give for postponing the interviews. It is such a big organization and they should be able to help us,” he said.
Additionally, because these Pakistanis do not have refugee status, they are not allowed to work and therefore have no legal income. They often make their money doing illegal jobs or begging and seeking charity from churches.
“We want to work and we want to earn and support our families on our own,” said Cyril Lamran of the Christian Asylum Seekers Association of Thailand and a refugee himself. “But they’re not giving us the opportunity for us to earn and not providing us basic human rights.”
Tourist visas last up to two months after which they can only be renewed if the applicant is working. Because, however, the Pakistani Christians are treated as illegal immigrants and are unable to work, their visas cannot be extended making them subject to arrest and detention at any point in time.
In March, upwards of 400 Pakistani Christian refugees were reported to have been arrested. Homes were raided by the Thai immigration police and the arrestees were taken to be held at the central jail or the Immigration Detention Center (IDC) in the capital of Bangkok.
Former inmates speak of horrendous conditions including cramped cells, inadequate nutrition and children being incarcerated with adults. In the central jail, the men are bound in shackles and forced to stand in the hot sun. In the IDC, up to 200 people can be packed in a room meant for 100 leaving very little space to properly sleep. Many have since been released for up to a year until they get a proper visa, otherwise they face being put back in the IDC or being deported back to Pakistan.
While Gil said he could perhaps see why people were being sent to the IDC (his own sister-in-law was held in central jail and the IDC for one month), he could not understand the need to send refugees to the former.
“The central jail is for criminals, not asylum seekers, but they put us in jail like we are criminals,” he said. “Even though they are not signatory, there is something called human rights.”
Other concerns also plague these families. The refugees do not have the money to cover medical costs and multiple families often are forced to share a single room because they cannot afford the rent.
Currently, there are an estimated 4500 Pakistani Christian refugees living in Thailand and while they wait for help, activists stress the dire need for action to be taken, requesting the international community to hasten the determination process of the UNHCR.
“The UNHCR is the mother of human rights but they’re essentially denying human rights,” John said. “The West has to know the persecution the Christians face in Pakistan and in Thailand. Who will speak for us when those who speak will speak for the government?”
Asia Bibi's lawyer blames Pakistani government for failure
By Carey Lodge
The Pakistani government has failed to uphold numerous legal requirements in the case against Asia Bibi, her lawyer has said.
Sentenced to death for blasphemy in 2010, Bibi has lived on death row ever since. She denies charges levelled at her by former colleagues that she insulted the Prophet Muhammad, and last month hopes were raised that she may walk free after the Supreme Court of Pakistan temporarily suspended her execution.
Her lawyer, Saiful Malook, took over her case in October 2014. He claims that Pakistani officials have been influenced by religious hardliners who want Bibi, a Christian, to be killed for her alleged crime.
"The authorities must put aside religious sentiments and verify the facts, first. However, they are subject to the influence of religious fundamentalists and do not stop the militants from attacking those accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad, or setting fire to their homes," he told Asia News.
"Blasphemy is within the hudud (crimes against God), but none of the judges asked if the State in person or an authorized officer have filed a complaint of blasphemy against Asia. Sharia (Islamic law) says that the accused must confess their crime and all testimonies verified before the trial. All these requirements have been ignored".
Malook is a Muslim, and has been targeted by religious fundamentalists for working on behalf of Bibi. Two prominent politicians, governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer and Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, were assassinated in 2011 after defending Bibi. Malook said that he has had to be very careful in order to avoid the same fate.
"I have asked reporters not to take pictures. I am the father of three daughters. Special security agencies have taught me how to avoid threats when handling similar cases," he said.
"People, even judges, say I am crazy to have taken over this case. They say I am the enemy of my daughters, handshakes became rarer. I was a proud Vice President of the High Court, but now my acquaintances shake their heads. Religious parties hold grudges against me. "
Malook insists that the charges against Asia Bibi are entirely false. Human rights groups say Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws are frequently misused by extremists, and false charges brought against Christians in order to settle personal scores or to seize property or businesses. Bibi is the first woman to be sentenced to death for blasphemy in the country, however.
According to the BBC, Pakistan has the largest number of death row inmates in the world, with more than 8,000 people currently awaiting execution. This morning, Sharqat Hussain – convicted of killing a child in 2004 – was hanged, despite international calls for his release. His lawyers say he was tortured into confessing the murder when he was just 14.
Pakistan - Systematic Deprivation of Balochistan in Federal Jobs
Adnan Aamir
A detailed study of vacancies announced by Federal Public Service commission (FPSC) hints towards systematic deprivation of Balochistan in federal jobs quota.
FPSC is an autonomous body that is constitutionally mandated to carry out recruitment on federal government vacancies for jobs of scale BS-16 and above.
Federal government jobs are distributed among four provinces of Pakistan, FATA, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) And Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) according to a prescribed Quota. Balochsitan’s quota is 6 percent in Federal jobs.
The Balochistan Point studied the newly advertised vacancies by FPSC to investigate systematic deprivation of Balochistan.
On 2nd August, FPSC announced 156 vacancies in 19 different categories. These vacancies comprise of jobs from BS-16 to BS-18 in different departments and organizations under federal control.
Following is a detailed breakup of these jobs with provincial allocation:
| Job | Merit | Punjab | Sindh (U) | Sindh (R) | KP | GB-FATA |
Balochistan
| AJK | Total |
| OMO | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||||
| APS | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||||
| Staff Nurse | 13 | 3 | 4 | 20 | |||||
| APS | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||||||
| APS | 3 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 29 |
| APS | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| APS | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| AFDC | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| AD | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Director | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Staff Nurse | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| ACAO | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||||
| DCAO | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||
| Cameraman | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Program Analyst | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| SWO | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Inspector –FIA | 8 | 36 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 61 | |
| RO | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||
| ASO | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Total | 17 | 83 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 156 |
AD = Assistant director, OMO = Ordnance Management Officer, APS = Assistant Private Secretary, AFDC = Assistant Fisheries development commissioner, ACAO = Assistant chief Administrative Officer, DCAO = Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, SWO = Social Welfare Officer, RO = Research Officer, ASO = Assistant Security Officer
Balochistan has only been allocated just 5 vacancies out of 156 advertised vacancies. As per 6 percent quota, Balochistan share should have been allocated 10 seats but actual allocation is 5 seats less than the quota.
Balochistan has been completely ignored in the allocation of important vacancies such as Inspectors for Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
Out of 61 vacancies of Inspector FIA, not a single one has been allocated for Balochistan. Even Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan have been given allocations but not Balochistan.
Screenshot of FIA jobs section of FPSC website
These inspectors, among other duties, can also act as shift In-charge at the FIA Immigration Check-points at Airports.
People of Balochistan have often complained about the treatment that they receive at Airport immigrations counters. Author is eyewitness to the discrimination that Shalwar-Kameezwearing Balochistan citizens face at FIA Immigration Check-points and Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) check points at Airports.
“We face discrimination at Airport check points because the FIA and ANF personnel consider us aliens,” Haji Badr-ud-din a frequent international traveler told The Balochistan Point. He added, “FIA officers form Balochistan, if there are any, should be posted on Airport check points of Quetta and Karachi from where we normally travel.”
Despite repeated attempts by The Balochistan Point to make contact, Secretary FSPC was not available for a comment on quota rules violation for Balochistan.
Current vacancies announcement by FPSC is not first instance of violation of Balochistan Quota. On 27th July Quetta Electricity Supply Company (QESCO) a federally controlled entity, also violated Balochsitan’s job quota in 45 vacancies that it advertised.
Out of 47 vacancies of BPS-17, not a single one was allocated for Balochistan. QESCO was asked to stop recruitment process by Chief Secretary of Balochistan after he took notice of the protests from civil society of Balochistan against violation of quota rules.
“In my capacity as a member of different Senate standing committees, I have put up questions with PIA, HEC, CDA, OGDCL, SNGPL, SSGC and other departments and asked them to explain how they are fulfilling 6 percent quota of Balochistan,” Senator Jehanzeb Jamaldini told The Balochistan Point.
Senator Jamaldini further revealed that people of other provinces possessing fake domiciles of Balochistan take jobs on what’s left of Balochsitan’s quota. “DMG officers serving as Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners have issued domicile certificates to their relatives, in huge numbers, which are used to deprive people of Balochistan form their quota in jobs,” claimed Senator Jamaldini.
In a move which was severally criticized by people of Balochistan, Last year, Federal government declined to commence recruitment on 3,692 Federal jobs reserved for Balochistan.
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