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Video Report - #China announces huge retaliatory tariffs on products from US

#YemenWar - 5.2 million children at famine risk in Yemen: charity

More than five million children are at risk of famine in Yemen as the ongoing war causes food and fuel prices to soar across the country, charity Save the Children warned Wednesday.

Disruption to supplies coming through the embattled Red Sea port of Hodeida could "cause starvation on an unprecedented scale," the British based NGO said in a new report.

Save the Children said an extra one million children now risk falling into famine as prices of food and transportation rise, bringing the total to 5.2 million.

Any type of closure at the port "would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in immediate danger while pushing millions more into famine," it added.

Impoverished Yemen has been mired in deadly conflict between Shiite Huthi rebels and troops loyal to President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi since 2014.

A Saudi-led alliance intervened in 2015 in a bid to bolster the president, accusing Iran of backing the Huthis, but nearly 10,000 people have since been killed.

Deadly clashes resumed around the Huthi-held port city of Hodeida following the collapse of talks in Geneva earlier this month.

"Millions of children don't know when or if their next meal will come," said Helle Thorning-Schmidt, CEO of Save the Children International.

"In one hospital I visited in north Yemen, the babies were too weak to cry, their bodies exhausted by hunger.

"This war risks killing an entire generation of Yemen's children who face multiple threats, from bombs to hunger to preventable diseases like cholera," she added.

The United Nations has warned that any major fighting in Hodeida could halt food distributions to eight million Yemenis dependent on them for survival.

Saudi Arabia and its allies accuse the Huthi rebels of smuggling arms from Iran through Hodeida and has imposed a partial blockade on the port.

The Huthis and Iran both deny the charges.

https://www.france24.com/en/20180919-52-million-children-famine-risk-yemen-charity

SAUDI FORCES ATTACK MOHARRAM AZADARI TENTS IN SHIA MAJORITY QATIF REGION

Reports coming out of Saudi Arabia say the regime’s troops have attacked tents set up in the Shia-populated Qatif region in preparation for the mourning rituals during the lunar month of Muharram in which Shia Muslims commemorate the great Martyrs of Karbala and Imam Hussain (AS).

Since the beginning of Muharram on Tuesday, Saudi forces have torn down at least 20 tents in Qatif, activists said on online social media networks.
They have also been removing Shia signs under the pretext of ridding the region of what they call “visual pollution.”
Social media users shared photos of the aftermath of the Saudi raids.
Shia Muslims observe Muharram, which marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Imam of Shia Muslims and the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Imam Hussein and his 72 companions, were martyred in the Battle of Karbala by the army of the tyrant of the time, the Umayyad caliph, Yazid I, in 680 AD.
Qatif, situated in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, has witnessed anti-regime protests since 2011, with demonstrators demanding free speech, release of political prisoners, and an end to economic and religious discrimination.
Riyadh has suppressed pro-democracy rallies, but they have intensified since January 2016 when Saudi Arabia executed respected Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr.

http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/saudi-arab/item/35616-saudi-forces-attack-moharram-azadari-tents-in-shia-majority-qatif-region

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#Pakistan - Provinces have objections on construction of Kala Bagh Dam: Bilawal Bhutto

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto said that provinces have objections over the construction of Kala Bagh Dam.

 After joint session of Parliament he informed that provinces have objections on the construction of Kala Bagh Dam.

http://www.thesindhtimes.com/pak/provinces-objections-construction-kala-bagh-dam-bilawal-bhutto/

#Pakistan - #PPP rejects gas price hike

Former Leader of Opposition in Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman, expressed her concern on the floor of the House over the government’s decision to increase natural gas prices by 143%, saying, “This is a dangerous decision coming from a party who themselves opposed gas price hikes in the past. Considering how this will affect not only key industries but more importantly, the masses, I find it difficult to understand how the government felt like it could blatantly bypass the Parliament on a decision of this scale while both Houses were in session.” 

The Senator said, “The issue regarding how unsustainable the gas prices were has been brought up in past committees but PTI refused to listen. PTI was consistent in lashing out against the exact same move they pulled only a day before the mini-budget. Gas is a basic requirement and changing its price will have effects far and beyond. This is not a decision that the government can spring on its people overnight.” “The PPP rejects this move. The government must work towards providing relief to the people, not the opposite. 

A price hike this high cannot be done on a trial and error basis. Has the government reviewed their decision thoroughly? Have they considered the consequences and do they have a follow-through policy? If so, we demand that it be presented in Parliament,” the Vice-President PPPP added. “This is a cumulative result of incompetency across the board. We cannot afford to attempt solving a serious problem with an equally problematic solution. I hope that the government starts to respect the Parliament and its mandate going forward. Only then will we be able to frame policies that will have maximum positive outcome for the people and for our severely crippled economy,” concluded Rehman.

http://www.thesindhtimes.com/pak/ppp-rejects-gas-price-hike/

Pakistan's Imran Khan skirts issue of Afghan refugees' citizenship, Imran has a reputation for retracting his words

Memphis Barker

After political backlash prime minister appears to row back on passports for child refugees.

Imran Khan, Pakistan’s prime minister, has appeared to drop his promise to grant citizenship to hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees living on the margins of Pakistani society.

On Sunday Khan announced that he would start work immediately to provide passports to the children of refugees born in the country. However, after a backlash from politicians and supporters of the country’s powerful military, he said on Tuesday that no decision had been made.

About 2.7 million Afghan refugees have crossed the border into Pakistan since the Soviet invasion in 1979. Without official documentation they are shut out of schools and employment. As many as 1.5 million children born to refugees in Pakistan are denied citizenship.

After a strong push-back, Khan said he had raised refugee citizenship “just to initiate a debate”. The founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which swept to power in July, has a reputation for retracting his words.

However, Khan reiterated his own desire to grant citizenship to Bengali and Afghan refugees as he addressed parliament before leaving on a trip to Saudi Arabia and asked ministers for their suggestions on the issue.

“I will keep asking what will happen to these human beings … if we don’t decide on their rights now, when will we decide?” he said.

Parliament will offer stiff resistance, though. The PTI holds a slim majority and Khan’s announcement on Sunday was condemned by politicians in Pakistan’s Sindh and Balochistan provinces, who fear the impact of enfranchising new voters.

One of Khan’s key coalition partners, the army-supporting chief minister of Balochistan, Jam Kamal, said Pakistan should not alter its policy of seeking to send refugees home. The military has long called for repatriation of Afghan refugees, blaming them for terrorist attacks.

Local journalists, whose work is often censored to avoid displeasing the armed forces, said their stories on Khan’s original speech had not been published.

Hajji Abdullah Shah, head of the Afghan refugees in Sindh, told the Guardian he was anxious about the change in tone. “We hope he will not take the light, he has shown to us, back,” he said.

Mosharraf Zaidi, a columnist, while praising the sentiment behind Khan’s original offer as “really admirable” said the reversal was due to political inexperience and it was “quite upsetting”.

The prime minister was this month criticised for a U-turn on the appointment of Atif Mian, a world-leading economist, under pressure from Islamists who objected to his Ahmadi faith.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/18/pakistan-imran-khan-afghan-begali-refugees-citizenship-passports

In Imran Khan's Pakistan, minorities live on the edge each day

• Imran Khan had made up its mind to succumb under pressure from the religious fanatics who anyway have backed PTI's campaigning across the country
• Atif's crime was that he belonged to the minority Ahmadi or Ahmadiyya community who were declared non-Muslims in 1974 by Pakistan

It is about to be close to a month since PTI leader Imran Khan took over as the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Beginning his tenure, Khan had indicated that his focus would be on governance, fighting the menace of corruption and improving the economic situation of the country which has come under increasing international pressure for terror groups flourishing on its soil.

Imran Khan repeatedly addressed the nation before and after his swearing-in ceremony portraying an image of austerity measures being adopted in the national interest and appealing to the patriotic Pakistanis to assist in the development of the nation.

While the rhetoric on development and governance continued, one expected a change of heart and narrative in Pakistan: from miseries of the people in Balochistan, Sindh, KPK and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) to a stronger focus on people-centric projects on the ground and a hope against hope for violence to decrease. Yet, behind the scenes, in slow motion, the real policy implementation of Pakistan Government was underway: from forced religious conversions to ethnic and religious minorities being subjugated by the puppet of the Pakistan Army.

In the first week of September came the first major announcement that shook the silent liberal elite inside Pakistan. Imran Khan had made up its mind to succumb under pressure from the religious fanatics who anyway have backed PTI's campaigning across the country. Atif Mian, an eminent economist was shown the door from the Economic Advisory Council of the Government.

Atif's crime was that he belonged to the minority Ahmadi or Ahmadiyya community who were declared non-Muslims in 1974 by Pakistan. The community has come under violent attacks often by the extremist Sunni groups. Several other members of the Council quit protesting the abrupt removal of Atif Mian.

In Sindh, however, there was a different game underway. Forced conversation of Hindus has been reported regularly from this part of Pakistan, yet this time there was an official sanction given to it. A 15-year-old Hindu girl, Virsha, was abducted from Tando Allahyar and sent to Pir Ayub Sehrandi by her abductors. The girl was shown as a 19-year-old and forcibly converted to Islam.

'The national media sweep aside such issues. Are these not daughters of the state. Where is civil society and activists?', asks an agitated Veengas, a journalist hailing from the Hindu community in Sindh who has been vocal about such conversations since last few years.

The incident in Sindh was followed by a similar forced conversation of a Hindu girl in Balochistan. A young Hindu girl, Kamini, daughter of Nanak Chandar, who is said to be 18 (not corroborated) was abducted and married off after the forced conversation in Kalat of Balochistan. Documents now show her name as Bibi Imaan married to Mohamad Anwar.

These cases of forced religious conversion are not isolated incidents. It has been a systematic campaign over years which is silently now getting sanction from the establishment and the military. On March 25 this year, over 500 Hindus were forcefully converted in a huge tent at Masha Allah Shadi Hal of Sindh in Hyderabad. The event was organised by a local political leader of Parvez Musharraf's party. Many of them fled to India seeking refuge.

Forced religious conversion is the biggest state failure. Anti-conversion law which was passed by the Sindh assembly in November 2016 was backtracked under religious pressure before it could be ratified. Pakistan's minorities are on their own', says journalist Naila Inayat questioning the state apparatus.

On the other hand, activists protesting against forced occupation in Gilgit-Baltistan have been tortured, abducted and even arrested against their fundamental rights. Yawar Abbas, an activist was arrested from Gilgit under the draconian Anti-terror law for raising voice against the establishment in Pakistan who treat them as second-class citizens. Such abductions are common not just in Gilgit but across Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and Balochistan as well where rights of common people are crushed and the rule of the military prevails even above the local administration.

With Imran Khan's take over, Rawalpindi is directly calling the shots while the world watches in disbelief. Imran Khan has conducted at least three meetings with Pakistan Army Chief General Bajwa already and was given a briefing at the ISI HQ for over eight hours recently.

The minorities in Pakistan live on the edge each day. While the Ahmadis continue to fight silently to regain their identity which was snatched by the Islamist fanatics, the Hindus, Christians and the ethnic minorities search for freedom from the clutches of Islamist fanatics and the military.

Pakistan's austerity car auction falls short, new PM Khan commutes by helicopter

Lower-than-expected sales in an auction of Pakistani government vehicles have dealt another early setback to new Prime Minister Imran Khan’s populist vow to raise quick revenues through cost-cutting, a campaign that has drawn both praise and ridicule.

The auction on Monday raised about 200 million rupees ($1.6 million), government official Mohammad Asif told local Geo TV. That is just one-tenth of the amount he had predicted, and only 61 of just over 100 vehicles were sold.

The event had been billed as part of Khan’s drive to give “the nation’s wealth to its rightful owners”. Critics say most of the measures so far are more symbolism than significant savings.

Former cricket star Khan, 65, took office last month after an election campaign in which he railed against what he denounced as corruption and waste by the two main political parties that ruled for than 50 years in between periods of military rule.

Khan promised to cut costs, including trimming motorcades of government officials and selling public land.

“It is a change of mindset,” he said in a speech on Friday. “I will be counting every single rupee I have to spend on me.”

Khan’s campaign, however, has been somewhat undercut by his near-daily helicopter commute from his home in the hills surrounding Islamabad.

Critics say the cost-cutting so far has been mostly cosmetic. “There is nothing new in the current austerity drive,” said political commentator Raza Rumi.

Auctions of aging government vehicles, for example, have taken place for years, with less publicity. Nearly three-quarters of the 101 vehicles on offer on Monday were more than 10 years old. Two were 32-year-old Toyota Corollas. And the total sales indicated little interest for the event’s showcase items - bullet-proof Mercedes estimated at about $1.5 million each.

IDEAS

The auction revenue is dwarfed by the government’s fiscal deficit, projected this year for 1.7 trillion rupees.

However, information minister, Fawad Chaudhry, said even symbolic steps were important for building national unity and small savings could add up.

“If you try to see its effect on the GDP, it is small, but in numbers, it is not small,” Chaudhry told Reuters.

Pakistan is likely to soon face painful conditions for foreign financing - possibly an International Monetary Fund bailout - to address dwindling foreign currency reserves and a ballooning current account deficit.

Still, reaction to the new government’s austerity drive has been mixed.

When Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced he would not fly first class, only business class, while abroad, many pointed out this was already the case under the previous government for most trips.Other early ideas - to cut some 500 staff from Prime Minister House and establish a six-day work week for civil servants - were shelved as unworkable.

HELICOPTER OPTICS

In particular, Khan has been mocked for taking a helicopter into Islamabad most days, after declaring he would eschew luxury perks. Information Minister Chaudhry argued that the helicopter uses less fuel than a motorcade, saying at one point it cost only 50 rupees (40 cents) per kilometer.That calculation provoked ridicule. “Why don’t you stop metro bus service and instead let people enjoy the cheap helicopter rides?” quipped a TV host.

In fact, Khan’s helicopter costs about 200,000 rupees ($1,633) per hour factoring in fuel, crew, maintenance and inspections, Syed Naseem Ahmad, president of the Society of Air Safety Investigation Pakistan told Reuters.

Optics aside, analysts say Pakistan will have to take more painful policy cuts in government spending to truly reduce the deficit. The new government on Monday did raise gas prices by 10 to 20 percent.

A further indication of a wider austerity policy is likely to come on Tuesday, when Finance Minister Asad Umar announces revisions to the budget. There were about 500 attendees at Monday’s auction and some were happy to take the vehicles off the government’s hands.

Nawab Gul bought a 2005 Toyota Altas for 1.25 million rupees ($10,000).

“They are saying the national coffers are empty. So, here, have my two cents,” Gul said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-politics-austerity/pakistans-austerity-car-auction-falls-short-new-pm-khan-commutes-by-helicopter-idUSKCN1LX1AJ