Wednesday, September 2, 2020
Polio could get worse in Pakistan, despite victory in Africa, as cases rise again in last two haunts
Ben Farmer
Polio in Pakistan could get significantly worse this year even as the world is celebrating the eradication of the virus from Africa, according to independent experts monitoring the worldwide vaccination campaign.
Modeling suggests the country could suffer hundreds of cases in 2020, and the crippling virus is now claiming victims in areas once considered clear of the scourge.
The coronavirus pandemic struck the nation of more than 220m just as health officials were trying to overhaul the national effort after a grim 2019 which had already seen cases soar.
The monitoring board set up to check progress by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) last year declared efforts in both Pakistan and Afghanistan were in crisis in the face of security threats, public suspicion and mismanagement, and political infighting.
The latest report from the board, led by Sir Liam Donaldson, a former Chief Medical Officer of England, said Pakistan appeared willing to turn the program around but was running out of time.
“If that does not happen in the next six months, if those changes do not get rolling, the wheels will come off the Pakistan bus,” their report warns.
“The situation for polio programme leadership at all levels could not be one of higher pressure.”
A three-decade-long worldwide campaign to stamp out poliovirus has come tantalisingly close to ending a disease which caused 350,000 cases per year in the late 1980s.
Yet despite the recent victory in Africa, cases are again rising in its last two haunts – Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan saw 12 cases in 2018, and 145 last year. Moreover there have been other outbreaks linked to mutated strains from vaccine.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan swathes of are beyond the reach of polio teams because of Taliban edicts banning door-to-door visits.
The monitoring board said the vision of a polio-free world currently seemed “a distant pinpoint of light”. The polio programme is in “dire straits,” the board's five members warned.
Too many people had believed that the job was almost done last year, leading to complacency amid a “jaw-dropping” slump in performance.
“The phrase now being used to encourage everyone is: 'The last mile is always the most difficult'. The polio programme is too forgiving of itself,” the board said.https://news.yahoo.com/polio-could-worse-pakistan-despite-125939907.html
Spurned by allies, Saudi rethinks checkbook diplomacy
Anuj Chopra
As plummeting demand has sapped its oil revenues, the kingdom is rethinking old alliances From Pakistan to Lebanon, Saudi Arabia is scaling back its famed chequebook diplomacy, a longstanding policy of splashing petro-dollars in exchange for influence, which observers say has yielded few tangible gains.
For decades, the wealthy kingdom funnelled billions in aid to its allies -- and to its enemies' enemies -- in a bid to bolster its position as an Arab powerhouse and leader of the Muslim world.
But as plummeting demand has sapped its oil revenues, the kingdom is rethinking old alliances that Saudi observers say have swallowed their cash while offering little in return, at a time when its quest for regional supremacy is increasingly challenged by rivals Iran, Turkey and Qatar.
A swathe of regional countries, from Jordan and Lebanon to Egypt, Palestine and Pakistan, have been the top recipients of Saudi aid over the past decade, said Middle East expert Yasmine Farouk.
"The dual economic impact of the coronavirus and low oil prices, however, may lead Saudi Arabia to restructure and rationalise its aid," said Farouk, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The kingdom has contributed billions to Lebanon's post-civil war reconstruction, but it has voiced frustration over its failure to rein in Hezbollah, a powerful group backed by its arch-enemy Iran.
"Saudi Arabia will not continue to pay Hezbollah's bills, and the Lebanese have to shoulder their responsibilities towards their country," Saudi columnist Khalid al-Sulaiman wrote recently for the pro-government Okaz newspaper.
"It is no longer possible for Saudi Arabia to continue paying billions to Lebanon in the morning and receive insults at night.
"This situation is no longer compatible with the new Saudi foreign policy, as Saudi money does not fall from the sky or grow in the desert."
- 'Party is over' -
Saudi Arabia also appears frustrated with Pakistan after the longstanding ally pushed Riyadh to take a firm stand on the disputed region of Kashmir and threatened to take the issue to other Muslim forums.
Such a threat is particularly disconcerting for Saudi Arabia, which is home to Islam's holiest sites and views itself as the leader of the Muslim world.
The kingdom recently recalled $1 billion of a $3 billion loan from cash-strapped Pakistan, and an expired multi-billion dollar oil credit facility to Islamabad has not been renewed, a diplomatic source told AFP.
"Pakistani elites have a bad habit of taking Saudi support for granted, given what Saudi has done for Pakistan over the decades," tweeted Ali Shihabi, a Saudi author and analyst.
"Well the party is over, and Pakistan needs to deliver value to this relationship. It's no longer a free lunch or a one-way street."
Riyadh's ties with Pakistan have historically been "very warm" but the relationship has been lopsided, said Saudi prince Talal bin Mohammad al-Faisal. "It (has) only benefited one side in 'real world' terms," he tweeted.
"That side is Pakistan."
- 'Take their money' -
Pakistan and Egypt, another ally which has received billions in aid, rebuffed calls for ground troops to support the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen against Iran-linked Huthi rebels.Further stirring consternation in Riyadh, a leaked 2015 audio recording showed Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi allegedly mocking Gulf powers including Saudi Arabia, saying they were rolling in money "like rice".That sentiment was echoed in 2018 by US President Donald Trump when he hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office and held up a chart listing military hardware sales worth billions to Riyadh."Take their money," Trump told NBC News the following year, justifying backing the kingdom's rulers after journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder sparked global uproar.
With so many of its relationships rendered transactional, Riyadh is struggling to win respect and its once-leading role in the Muslim world is increasingly challenged by its rivals, observers say.
The Saudis are increasingly resentful of "ungrateful" allies, said Farouk.
States that have traditionally benefited from Saudi largesse, including Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine, have "already seen instances in which aid was frozen, decreased or cut off", she added.
https://news.yahoo.com/spurned-allies-saudi-rethinks-chequebook-025302937.html
Five countries block Pakistan's move to list Indians as terrorists at UN
Pakistan has failed to list two Indians as United Nations listed international terrorists under the 1267 committee of the UNSC.Five countries on Wednesday blocked the move of Pakistan to list Indians as terrorists at the United Nations (UN). Pakistan has failed to list two Indians as United Nations listed international terrorist under the 1267 committee of the UNSC. The listing was blocked by five UNSC countries--UK, USA, France, Germany and Belgium after no evidence was found to substantiate Pakistan's claim. Pakistan was keen to list Indian nationals Gobinda Patnaik, and Angara Appaji as UN terrorists. UNSC members gave Pakistan time to provide evidence but Islamabad could not provide it. A hold was put for Pakistan to come up with evidence but the country failed. India's envoy to UN TS Tirumurti tweeted, "Pakistan’s blatant attempt to politicize 1267 special procedure on terrorism by giving it a religious colour, has been thwarted by UN Security Council. We thank all those Council members who have blocked Pakistan’s designs." Earlier, it had attempted to list two other Indians-- Venumadhav Dongara and Ajoy Mistry as terrorists but the bid failed. Pakistani Foreign Ministry in a statement in June had expressed its "disappointment" for not able to list Dongar. It alleged that they were backing groups like Jamaat-ul-Ahrar etc. The move was considered a quid pro quo move by Pakistan for India able to get Masood Azhar listed as a UN terrorist in 2019. Azhar is the chief of Pakistan-based UN listed terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) responsible for Pulwama terror attack, among other attacks in India. Pakistani nationals are listed in the largest number at the UN terror list. https://zeenews.india.com/world/five-countries-block-pakistans-move-to-list-indians-as-terrorists-at-un-2307162.html
#PPP, #PML-N leadership pledges to adhere to Charter of Democracy (CoD) and invoking Constitutional options to get rid of incompetent PTI government
Leader of Opposition in National Assembly and PML-N President Mian Shahbaz Sharif arrived Bilawal House and met former President Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman PPP, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Chaudhry Ahsan Iqbal, Muhammad Zubair, Maryam Aurangzeb and other leaders also accompanied Shahbaz Sharif, while Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Farhatullah Babar, Syed Naveed Qamar, Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Syed Waqar Mehdi, Aajiz Dhamrah from PPP were also present at the meeting.Leadership of the two parties discussed the overall political situation in the country and the aftermath of the worst monsoon rains and flooding and the difficulties faced by the people besides the political situation in the country.Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that it was important for political parties take realistic measures of climate stress and the extreme weather it has unleashed all over Pakistan, including Karachi. He stated that political parties have to put their differences aside and not treat calamities as platform for political point-scoring.He said that people are looking for relief, from the collapse of governance, serial load-shedding, crippling inflation and an alarming lack of clarity about stated goals on foreign policy, rising debt, misuse of Parliament and the abuse of fundamental rights.
At the meeting, the leadership of both the parties agreed that they would work together for the supremacy of the Constitution and the Parliament, for free judiciary and free media; the protection of the democratic process and the protection of the constitutional and democratic rights of the people.
Top opposition leaders of the country were in consensus that all the constitutional options would be used to get rid of the incumbent ineligible government, as the failures and incompetence of this government have become a torment for the country and the people. Both the parties strongly condemned the current government’s actions under the garb of accountability as political revenge.A joint post-meeting press conference was addressed by Farhatullah Babar, Syed Naveed Qamar, Ahsan Iqbal, Marium Orangzaib and Aajiz Dhamrah. Naveed Qamar said that he was grateful to the Leader of the Opposition, who had come to show solidarity during the testing times.PPP and PML-N leaders said that this is not a moment to criticise but for mutual cooperation, instead. A meeting of the Rehbar Committee of the Opposition Parties would be held tomorrow, followed by an All Parties Conference (APC), added Naveed Qamar.
Ahsan Iqbal said that the Federal government should have announced a serious aid package to support the rain-hit economy in Sindh in consultation with the Provincial government. This PTI government has disrupted politics, failed the governance and destroyed the economy of the country. Farhatullah Khan Babar pointed out the media reports against the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister adding that the allegations made in it are very serious and should be investigated at the highest level. It was surprising that the government, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister himself were silent after the news came to light, he added.
Former Senator said that the issue of missing persons was becoming highly serious, whereas it started from the time of Musharraf adding that Opposition rejected a legislation piece, which was aimed at legalizing the enforced disappearances.
https://www.ppp.org.pk/pr/23679/