Monday, January 13, 2020
U.S - New Iowa Poll Shows Tight Race, With Joe Biden Jumping Ahead
By
The poll, conducted by Monmouth University, found Mr. Biden’s top three competitors in close pursuit.
Joseph R. Biden Jr. has regained some of his strength in Iowa, but his three closest rivals for the Democratic nomination remain clustered at his heels, according to a Monmouth University poll released on Monday.
The poll, published three weeks before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation nominating contest, found the former vice president with support from 24 percent of likely Democratic caucusgoers, a bump of five percentage points since Monmouth’s most recent Iowa poll, in November.
Mr. Biden’s three closest competitors are clumped together in a statistical tie, with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont earning 18 percent support, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., 17 percent, and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts earning 15 percent. The poll had a five-point margin of error.
Mr. Sanders has leapt five points since the last Monmouth poll of the state, Mr. Buttigieg experienced a five-point drop, and Ms. Warren experienced a three-point drop.
The Monmouth poll’s results differ somewhat from those of a CNN/Des Moines Register poll released late last week that showed Mr. Sanders atop the Democratic field, with 20 percent support, though Ms. Warren and Mr. Buttigieg were in a statistical tie with him. That poll, which was taken in the days just before the Monmouth poll was conducted, found Mr. Biden at just 15 percent.
Taken together, those polls — while conflicting — affirm the general impression that this race remains competitive for each of the four leading candidates, at least in the first two nominating states. All have robust field operations in Iowa and have consistently polled in the double-digits there since early fall. And in New Hampshire, which will hold the country’s first primary just a week after the Iowa caucuses, polls suggest that all four candidates have a viable shot at winning.
The Monmouth poll of Iowa was taken from Jan. 9 to Jan. 12, and surveyed 405 likely caucusgoers. It found that a slim majority of Democratic voters still have not firmly decided on a candidate, meaning that there is still a great deal of fluidity in the state.
It was conducted before the departure of Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, who dropped out of the race on Monday and who pulled 4 percent support in the poll.Under the rules of the Iowa caucuses, many voters who support less popular candidates will have to back someone other than their top choice in the final balloting. Ms. Warren has strength in this regard: She is by far the most popular second-choice pick among voters, with 23 percent naming her as their personal runner-up, according to the poll. No candidate enjoys a higher favorability rating than Ms. Warren, who is seen positively by 73 percent of likely caucusgoers.
Still, when voters were asked to choose from among only the top four candidates, it was Mr. Sanders and Mr. Buttigieg who benefited the most. In this scenario, Mr. Biden, Mr. Buttigieg and Mr. Sanders were all bunched up in the mid-to-high 20-percent range, while Ms. Warren’s support was at 16 percent.
The Iowa Democratic electorate remains focused mostly on domestic issues, with 45 percent calling health care their top concern and another 18 percent naming either jobs or income inequality, according to the Monmouth poll.
But with President Trump embroiled in a tense standoff with Iran this month, some voters have also turned more attention to foreign policy. The share of likely caucusgoers who named international affairs as their main focus jumped by 10 points since November, to 16 percent.
Also on Monday, Quinnipiac University released a national poll that showed Mr. Biden at the top of the heap, with 25 percent support among Democratic voters nationwide, followed by Mr. Sanders at 19 percent and Ms. Warren at 16 percent. Mr. Buttigieg commanded just 8 percent nationwide. Since the primaries and caucuses take place over a series of months, the national picture is almost certain to shift as the season continues.
#PashtunTahafuzMovement - EXCLUSIVE: Massive Protest Erupts In Pakistan, Atrocities Inflicted By Pakistani Army Exposed
By Akhil Oka
On Sunday, thousands of Pakistanis gathered in Bannu city of Khyber Pakthunkhwa province demanding an end to the atrocities committed by the Pakistan Army.
On Sunday, thousands of Pakistanis gathered in Bannu city of Khyber Pakthunkhwa province demanding an end to the atrocities committed by the Pakistani Army. The rally organised by Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) also demonstrated against the Imran Khan-led government. Alleging that the Pakistani Army treated the Pashtuns as third-class citizens, the protesters also revealed that the former indulged in torture and killings.
They also pointed out the lack of development in the areas where the Pashtuns lived. On this occasion, the Pakistani government has ensured a complete media blackout of the protests besides snapping internet services in the region. Meanwhile, the local administration organized sporting events to keep the people away from the PTM protest.
What is the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement?
Occupying the north-western territory of the country, Pashtuns are the second-largest ethnic group in Pakistan, representing approximately 15.42% of the population. Despite having a huge representation in the Pakistani Army, they have consistently suffered discrimination at the hands of the authorities. The killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, a young Pashtun in Karachi on January 13, 2018, led to the advent of the PTM led by Manzoor Pashteen.
Since then, the PTM organized massive rallies in major cities of Pakistan such as Lahore, Karachi, Swat, Peshawar, and Quetta seeking justice for the death of innocent Pashtuns. As the ire of the protesters was directed at the Pakistani Army, the latter started propaganda about a foreign conspiracy. Despite the opposition’s charge of massive rigging in the 2019 General Election in Pakistan, the Army was unable to prevent the election of PTM members Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir.
Attempts to crush PTM
Both the Pakistani government as well as the Army has done everything possible to crush the spirit of the PTM. For instance, parliamentarians Dawar and Wazir were arrested on charges of terrorism after a clash between PTM activists and Army troops at a security post in May 2018. They languished in jail for 4 months before being granted bail.
Apart from seeking justice for Pashtuns, the PTM leaders have also been at the forefront of the struggle for civilian supremacy. This was evident from the fact that Dawar and Wazir were the only parliamentarians to vote against the extension of Pakistani Army Chief Qamar Bajwa. On the other hand, all the mainstream parties including the opposition PML-N and PPP gave unconditional support to the extension.
China-Pakistan Naval Drills: More Than Just Symbolism
Beyond symbolism, the substance behind the latest iteration of exercises between the two countries also deserves emphasis.
Earlier in the week, the navies of China and Pakistan began their sixth bilateral naval exercise, titled Sea Guardians-2020, in the northern Arabian Sea. Such military exercises are expected to strengthen security cooperation between the two countries, who are already “iron brothers.” According to Chinese media reports, the naval drills are aimed at exploring new methods of conducting China-Pakistan joint naval drills while stepping up the capabilities to jointly addresses issues such as maritime terrorism and crime.
The exercise is also sensitive because it is taking place on India’s west coast, a critical security area from New Delhi’s perspective. Clearly, the exercise will be very important for China because it increases the PLA Navy’s familiarity and understanding of the operational conditions in this part of the Arabian Sea. Moreover, gaining greater access to the Arabian Sea through Pakistan is also likely an attractive incentive for China. If it works, it can be an alternate route for China in the event of a naval blockade by an adversary that closes the Malacca Straits choke point.
In addition, India will also have concerns because India’s Arabian Sea coast hosts several major Indian ports including Kandla, Okha, Mumbai, Nhava Sheva (Navi Mumbai), Mormugão, New Mangalore, and Kochi. For China, the Arabian Sea is also important in the context of its air and naval facility, Jiwani, close to the Gwadar Port and the Iranian Chahabar Port that is jointly developed by India and Iran.
China appears enthusiastic about undertaking these naval exercises on a regular basis. In a story about these exercises in the Chinese newspaper Global Times, Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, argues that “serializing the drills and making them a routine will further enhance China and Pakistan’s friendship and cooperation.” Similarly, Zhou Hanwen, an executive director of the exercise, stated that “the training involving submarine will boost the two navies’ combat capabilities and show a high level of strategic mutual trust.” Commenting on the exercise, China’s ambassador to Pakistan Ambassador Yao Jing said that the exercise “fully reflects the good wishes of the Chinese and Pakistani navies in jointly building a community of shared maritime destiny, and demonstrates the confidence and capability to jointly guard marine peace and security.”
The exercise that began at the Pakistan Navy Dockyard in Karachi will go on for nine days from January 6 to 14. The opening ceremony had Vice Admiral Dong Jun, general director of the Chinese side and deputy commander of PLA Southern Theater Command, and Vice Admiral Asif Khaliq, general director of the Pakistani side and commander of the Pakistani Naval Fleet deliver speeches emphasizing the importance of their joint collaboration. China has continued to reiterate that the naval drills have nothing to do with the prevailing situation in the Middle East and that it is not aimed at any third country. The PLA reportedly stated that the joint exercise will involve two sessions – “joint training in Karachi and live-fire drills in northern parts of the Arabian Sea－and will include workshops, tactical simulation, joint patrol, air and missile defense, law enforcement inspection and anti-submarine operation.”
It has also been reported that the two navies will engage in a number of training exercises including joint patrol, air-defense, joint anti-submarine, maritime live-firing, and joint marine training. The Pakistan Navy reportedly said that the overall aim of the exercise is to enhance the two navies’ technical and tactical capabilities, exchange of professional experiences against maritime threats, evolve a synergistic approach between the two sides and preserve regional maritime security. The Chinese navy’s new website navy.81.cn provides a detailed summary of the exercise, including the naval platforms that have been deployed. It is also noteworthy that the joint naval exercise is in addition the “warrior” series of exercises between the two armies and the “eagle” series exercises between the two air forces.
China and Pakistan have had a decades-long strategic partnership, and they have conducted many military exercises. But it does appear as if these exercises are now getting more complex and are designed for more than simply symbolic demonstration of China-Pakistan friendship. These bilateral exercises need to be seen also in the context of the recent China-Pakistan-Iran-Russia naval exercise, all of which is likely to worry India as well others such as the United States.
Top Pakistan general & Bajwa’s successor ‘forced to resign after weeks in house arrest’
SNEHESH ALEX PHILIP
Gen. Sarfraz Sattar is one of the senior Pakistan Army officers who reportedly vocally opposed the recent three-year extension for army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa.
The second-most senior Pakistan Army officer, General Sarfraz Sattar, has allegedly been forced to resign after being kept under house arrest with his family for weeks. The claim was made by Pakistan journalist Gul Bukhari on Twitter.
General Sattar was next in line to be General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s successor as army chief until his extension scuppered the former’s prospects.
Sources in the Indian security establishment told ThePrint that there was no independent confirmation of his forced resignation.
As director general of the strategic plans division, Sattar headed the operations of Pakistan’s nuclear command until November, when the charge was given to Lt Gen. Nadeem Zaki Manj. At the time, Pakistani media had reported that Sattar had retired.
A ‘vocal critic of Bajwa’s extension’
Gen. Sattar has been known to be close to Bajwa’s predecessor Gen. Raheel Sharif, and was one of the senior army officers who reportedly vocally opposed an extension for Bajwa. The latter was to retire in November but has now been given a three-year extension.
“He had a sure shot chance at becoming the chief had Bajwa not got an extension. He was groomed by Gen. Sharif to ensure that he could become the chief of army staff,” a source in the Indian establishment said.
The source added that Sattar was a “hardcore Punjabi soldier” and many saw him as the one reimposing the Punjab regiment’s dominance in the army. Gen. Bajwa, the source pointed out, was from the Baloch regiment.
“A number of campaigns were run against Gen. Bajwa to ensure he does not become chief and then to ensure he does not get an extension. This included a whisper campaign that suggested Bajwa was an Ahmadi,” a second source said.
The Ahmadis are a persecuted Islamic minority in Pakistan who are prohibited by law from recognising themselves as Muslim.
#Pakistan - #Punjab AIDS epidemic
DISTURBING reports are emerging from Punjab where there has been a surge in HIV/AIDS cases owing to the alleged mismanagement of the provincial AIDS control program, which is said to be on the verge of collapse.
The number of registered AIDS patients in the province has risen to an alarming 18,556, comprising about 50pc of the total number of registered cases across the country — 36,900.
Apparently, the provincial AIDS control program has been marred by internal rifts for quite some time, as a result of which at least four key officials resigned from their positions in November 2019. Meanwhile, the program is said to have bungled the monitoring and screening of the top five at-risk population groups in the province — injecting drug users, transgender people, male and female sex workers, and truck and bus drivers — and misreported the total number of HIV/AIDS patients in the province.
As if this was not enough, the Punjab government has also supposedly failed to obtain 100,000 rapid diagnostic kits used for screening of patients, increasing the chances of a looming HIV/AIDS epidemic in the province.
While the number of people living with HIV/AIDS is declining worldwide, in Pakistan, the figure seems to be steadily increasing. According to the 2019 UNAIDS report, HIV incidence per 1,000 people in Pakistan has risen from 0.08 in 2010 to 0.11 in 2018 — despite “massive funding” by foreign donors to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS — earning us a place among 11 countries in the world with the highest prevalence of the disease. Last year, Larkana district gained global notoriety after almost 900 people, out of whom more than 750 were children, tested positive for HIV/AIDS in the small town of Rodeo. These frequent outbreaks, however, are symptomatic of the larger malaise in the country’s healthcare and governance system, and thus reek of mismanagement and negligence by the authorities concerned. The Punjab Health Department needs to wake up and tackle this crisis head-on before the damage becomes uncontrollable.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1528035/punjab-aids-epidemic
#Pakistan #PPP - Bilawal Bhutto Zardari arrives in Madina, will perform Umrah
The PPP chairman is currently in Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari partook in the holy voyage in 2013 as well, he was accompanied by PPP leader and member of the Sindh Assembly Owais Muzaffar at the time.
It has been told that the leader of Pakistan People’s Party will offer special prayers in front of the Holy Kaaba for the security and prosperity of Pakistan during the pilgrimage.
Bilawal is being accompanied by member national assembly (MNA) Sardar Muhammad Bux Mahar.
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