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Opinion: The Era of Vaccine Diplomacy Is Here

The coronavirus threat is global. So is the remedy.

It is only natural that the American government and the American people have focused on getting coronavirus vaccines to as many of its people as possible, with the most vulnerable first in line. But as the pace of domestic vaccination accelerates, two facts are worth bearing in mind.

One is that the pandemic will not be vanquished anywhere until it is vanquished everywhere. Several known coronavirus variants are making their way around the world, and epidemiologists know more will evolve so long as the virus continues to spread, potentially challenging the efficacy of existing vaccines. South Africa, for example, halted use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine when it showed “disappointing” results against a new, more contagious variant of the virus that has made landfall in the United States.

The second fact is that while more than 45 million Americans, nearly 14 percent of the U.S. population, have received at least one dose of vaccine, and most high-income countries have launched their own vaccination programs, the Think Global Health project of the Council on Foreign Relations estimates that only 7 percent of low-income countries had vaccinated anyone at all as of Feb. 18.

That is a yawning gap. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, has correctly described it as “another brick in the wall of inequality between the world’s haves and have-nots.”

The good news is that the gap is finally being addressed. Last week, a cargo plane landed in Ghana with 600,000 doses of vaccine developed in Britain and manufactured in India, the start of a program to deliver at least 1.3 billion shots to 92 low- and middle-income countries this year through Covax, an international effort backed by the World Health Organization.

The effort has had a rocky start. Under the Trump administration, the United States pulled out of the W.H.O. altogether, and along with other wealthy nations it grabbed what vaccine it could for itself. But the Biden administration has moved quickly to rejoin the W.H.O. and has pledged $4 billion to the global vaccination drive. President Emmanuel Macron of France has further suggested that instead of money, wealthy countries should donate vaccine doses to African governments, sparing Covax the need to compete for existing supplies.

All this is just a start. The 600,000 doses that arrived in Ghana are barely enough to inoculate 1 percent of its population, and Covax will need a lot more money and help. While conquering the virus is the obvious and primary reason for the United States to pitch in, there is also this: It is very much in America’s national interest not to cede a critical “soft power” advantage to autocratic rivals like Russia or China.

Poor countries will remember who came to their assistance, and when. Moscow and Beijing saw an opportunity early on, sending masks and protective gear to hard-hit countries last spring. Now, with low- and middle-income countries clamoring for vaccines, countries from Serbia and Algeria to Brazil and Egypt are getting doses from China and Russia. Serbia, in fact, is ahead of most countries in the European Union in the percentage of its population that has been vaccinated, in part because it’s one of the few countries where both Russian and Chinese vaccines are already available.

China has made sharing its homegrown vaccines a centerpiece of its “Belt and Road Initiative,” a global strategy to invest in more than 70 countries and international organizations. Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy has had its glitches, most notably the lack of verified information about the efficacy of its vaccines, but for many poor countries, China’s vaccines are far better than nothing. Recently, for example, China announced it would donate 300,000 doses to Egypt. Russia claims it has orders for its Sputnik V vaccine from about 20 countries — including America’s southern neighbor, Mexico, which has contracted to receive 7.4 million doses between February and April. After a bout of Covid-19 in late January, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico reported that he had received a warm phone call from President Vladimir Putin of Russia and that he had invited Mr. Putin to visit Mexico. At about the same time, the president and vice president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, both received their first jabs of Sputnik V.

India, among the world’s largest producers of generic medicines, has also moved to develop its own vaccines and to ship them abroad, in part as a counter to China’s outreach. Though India has a population of more than 1.3 billion, it has already sent 3.2 million free doses to neighboring countries and has contracted with a host of governments around the world to supply vaccines. One reason India can do this is that it’s producing more vaccines than it can currently distribute domestically. The U.A.E., which is vaccinating its residents faster than any country except Israel, has also begun donating Chinese-made Sinopharm to countries where it has strategic or commercial interests.

Vaccine diplomacy has drawbacks. Dr. Ghebreyesus of the W.H.O. has complained that too many countries and vaccine manufacturers are focused on making bilateral or selective deals, which pushes the poorest countries to the side. That is the advantage of the W.H.O.’s Covax initiative, and the Biden administration has made a good start in supporting it.

President Biden has assured Americans that most will be vaccinated by the end of summer. He should also assure them that it is very much in their interest, for reasons of morality, common sense and national interest, to be at the forefront of the global war against that vicious little spiked blob.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/28/opinion/covid-vaccine-global.html

Video - Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addresses media at the residence of Moulana Fazalur Rahman

#senatevote​ سینٹ ووٹ فیصلہ، کیا ہو گا اور کیا ہو سکتا ہے؟

Analysis: #Pakistan - By-election surprises

Shehryar Warraich

ECP annuls Daska by-election, orders re-polling on March 18.

Citing reports of polling-day violence and massive rigging in the NA-75, Daska, by-election, the Election Commission of Pakistan has ordered re-polling in the constituency.

By-elections for three National Assembly and four Provincial Assembly seats were held in the country on February19.

The elections and their results highlight the reality that local politics have overwhelmed the narratives supported by the government and opposition parties.The by-elections have sprung two upsets. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl (JUIF) both lost seats, in Nowshera and Kurram, respectively, that they had won in 2018.However, the violence-riddled NA-75 election remained the talk of the town. The media reported that five polling stations situated in Daska city remained closed for at least five hours; another five were operational for only 30 minutes. Video clips aired by Geo News and other channels clearly showed people involved in firing and physical clashes. The police were unable to stop them and maintain order.

“In our country, the history of by-elections shows that local administrations have always facilitated pro-government candidates, allowing them to commit some illegal acts,” political analyst Suhail Warraich says.

The disappearance of the presiding officers of the 23 polling stations and their apparent involvement in rigging, as a press release of the ECP states, has added another disappointing episode to the litany.All these 23 polling stations are situated in the constituency of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) MPA Baoo Muhammad Rizwan. The PML-Q is a coalition partner of the PTI in the Punjab and at the Centre.

In Daska city, the PML-N has maintained a strong hold. This claim is backed by the results of the last three general elections. “The firing in the air and scuffles in several parts of the city appeared to be a part of a plan to sabotage the peaceful atmosphere and deter voters,” Sialkot-based journalist Umer tells The News on Sunday.

“The presiding officers stopped the polling as soon as they heard the shots being fired outside. On every occasion, the shooting went on for a couple of hours. As a result, voters in Daska city, a PML-N stronghold, were unable to cast their votes. In every Provincial Assembly or National Assembly election held in the area since 2008, PML-N candidates have received a majority of votes,” Umer adds. PTI’s NA-75 candidate Ali Asjad Malhi had won the general election in 2002. “Malhi looked desperate to make an impression on his party leadership by winning the election…by any means,” Warraich says. Prime Minister Imran Khan has been stressing that most of the opposition parties and their leaders are out-and-out corrupt. Talking about the electoral process, he and his party have always pleaded for free and fair elections. However, Warraich believes that the incidents occurring during NA-75 polls and afterwards have “damaged PTI’s political image”.

“The NA-75 by-election has put a huge question mark on the capacity of civil administration to hold upcoming local government elections as well as general elections in a peaceful way. Therefore, the strong yet due role of the ECP in identifying those involved in illegal practices in this by-election can only help address these apprehensions,” he adds.

For its part, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has won two Provincial Assembly and one National Assembly seats in Sindh. PML-N has secured a Provincial Assembly seat each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Punjab. The JUI-F has retained its Provincial Assembly seat in Pishin, Balochistan, but lost its National Assembly seat in Kurram to the PTI. The by-election results show an increase in PPP’s votes on all seats in Sindh and a considerable decrease in the votes polled by the PTI and its allies. However, the PTI has secured more votes in Kurram, Daska and Wazirabad than in the previous election. However, it has lost a seat in Nowshera that it had won in 2018. Both PML-N and JUI-F have secured more votes than in the general elections. Despite being in the government, the PTI and its allies have won only one of the seven seats. This does not support Prime Minister Imran Khan’s suggestion from his days in opposition that sitting provincial governments tend to win by-elections. The current trend, especially in the KP, Balochistan and the Punjab is different.

“The NA-75 by-election has put a huge question mark on the capacity of civil administration to hold upcoming local government elections as well as general elections in a peaceful way. Therefore, only the strong role of the ECP in identifying all elements involved in illegal practices in this by-election can help put these apprehensions aside,” says analyst Suhail Warraich. The 11-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is claiming that voters have rejected the PTI-led coalition and vindicated their narrative against the government.

Nevertheless, in PK-63 Nowshera, some other factors too have played a role in bringing about the defeat of the PTI candidate. “The rift between former KP irrigation minister Liaqat Khattak and his brother Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak; PDM parties’ support to the PML-N candidate, inflation and unemployment,” Nowshera-based journalist Mushtaq Paracha says. According to media reports, Liaqat Khattak wanted the party ticket for his son, Ahad Khattak. When his request was rejected, he set up the Nowshera Kalan Tehreek that supported the PML-N candidate, Ikhtiar Wali, in the by-election against his own party.

This defeat has soured the PTI’s celebrations to mark the winning of the National Assembly seat from Kurram. It also led to the expulsion of Liaqat Khattak from the provincial cabinet.

In NA-221 Tharparkar, the candidate supported by the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), the PTI and Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s Ghousia Jamait was unable to give a tough time to the PPP candidate. Qureshi had lost twice in this constituency, in 2013 and 2018 general elections, against the PPP candidate.

Journalist Farooq Soomro believes that three factors have played a role in the comfortable PPP win. “Rift between former Sindh CM Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim and PTI leadership in Tharparkar; the anti-PTI sentiment; and the development projects launched by the Sindh government that have provided jobs to locals; 172 reverse osmosis plants that supply drinking water to most of the Tharparkar district; health projects that have brought down the infant mortality rate by 40 percent, and the Mithi airport are the major elements. In addition, Bilawal Bhutto has announced plans for a university for Thar,” he says. Traditionally in Sanghar, the political tussle is between the Pakistan Muslim League Functional (PML-F) and the PPP. “However, this time the PTI fielded its candidate for PS 43 by-election. The PML-F nominally supported the PTI candidate but its local leaders Jam Maddad Ali and Imam Din Shaukeen joined the PPP prior to election,” Soomro says.

In Kurram, the PTI managed to win the seat because of its candidate. Historically, personalities with greater tribal connections have played an important role in winning any election in the area. Political researcher Majid Nizami thinks that the selection of Malik Fakhar Zaman Khan Bangash as the PTI candidate from the area won the party one more National Assembly seat.

“In Daska, the turnout surprisingly increased. This shows that the on-going political debate in the country has brought more voters to the polling stations. Moreover, the one-on-one competition between the PML-N and the PTI candidates in Daska and Wazirabad resulted in more votes being cast for both parties,” Nizami says.

Political analysts say that local electoral alliances, political groups, baradaris, tribes, and polling management have always played an important role in by-elections. The current elections should be viewed accordingly. An important aspect of this election is that all major political parties have attracted a significant number of voters. It appears that narratives of the government against the opposition and vice versa have had little impact.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/796037-by-election-surprises

Pakistan expert: Religiosity aiding spike in militancy

 

By KATHY GANNON

Militant attacks are on the rise in Pakistan amid a growing religiosity that has brought greater intolerance, prompting one expert to voice concern the country could be overwhelmed by religious extremism.

Pakistani authorities are embracing strengthening religious belief among the population to bring the country closer together. But it’s doing just the opposite, creating intolerance and opening up space for a creeping resurgence in militancy, said Mohammad Amir Rana, executive director of the independent Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies.

“Unfortunately, instead of helping to inculcate better ethics and integrity, this phenomenon is encouraging a tunnel vision” that encourages violence, intolerance and hate, he wrote recently in a local newspaper. “Religiosity has begun to define the Pakistani citizenry.”

Militant violence in Pakistan has spiked: In the past week alone, four vocational school instructors who advocated for women’s rights were traveling together when they were gunned down in a Pakistan border region. A Twitter death threat against Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai attracted an avalanche of trolls. They heaped abuse on the young champion of girls education, who survived a Pakistani Taliban bullet to the head. A couple of men on a motorcycle opened fire on a police check-post not far from the Afghan border killing a young police constable.

In recent weeks, at least a dozen military and paramilitary men have been killed in ambushes, attacks and operations against militant hideouts, mostly in the western border regions.

A military spokesman this week said the rising violence is a response to an aggressive military assault on militant hideouts in regions bordering Afghanistan and the reunification of splintered and deeply violent anti-Pakistan terrorist groups, led by the Tehreek-e-Taliban. The group is driven by a radical religious ideology that espouses violence to enforce its extreme views.

Gen. Babar Ifitkar said the reunified Pakistani Taliban have found a headquarters in eastern Afghanistan. He also accused hostile neighbor India of financing and outfitting a reunified Taliban, providing them with equipment like night vision goggles, improvised explosive devises and small weapons.

India and Pakistan routinely trade allegations that the other is using militants to undermine stability and security at home. Security analyst and fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Asfandyar Mir, said the reunification of a splintered militancy is dangerous news for Pakistan.

“The reunification of various splinters into the (Tehreek-e-Taliban) central organization is a major development, which makes the group very dangerous,” said Mir.The TTP claimed responsibility for the 2012 shooting of Yousafzai. Its former spokesman, Ehsanullah Ehsan, who mysteriously escaped Pakistan military custody to flee to the country, tweeted a promise that the Taliban would kill her if she returned home.Iftikar, in a briefing of foreign journalists this week, said Pakistani military personnel aided Ehsan’s escape, without elaborating. He said the soldiers involved had been punished and efforts were being made to return Ehsan to custody.

The government reached out to Twitter to shut down Ehsan’s account after he threatened Yousafzai, although the military and government at first suggested it was a fake account.

But Rana, the commentator, said the official silence that greeted the threatening tweet encouraged religious intolerance to echo in Pakistani society unchecked.“The problem is religiosity has very negative expression in Pakistan,” he said in an interview late Friday. “It hasn’t been utilized to promote the positive, inclusive tolerant religion.”Instead, successive Pakistani governments as well as its security establishments have exploited extreme religious ideologies to garner votes, appease political religious groups, or target enemies, he said. The 2018 general elections that brought cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan to power was mired in allegations of support from the powerful military for hard-line religious groups.

Those groups include the Tehreek-e-Labbaik party, whose single-point agenda is maintaining and propagating the country’s deeply controversial blasphemy law. That law calls for the death penalty for anyone insulting Islam and is most often used to settle disputes. It often targets minorities, mostly Shiite Muslims, who makeup up about 15% of mostly Sunni Pakistan’s 220 million people.

Mir, the analyst, said the rise in militancy has benefited from state policies that have been either supportive or ambivalent toward militancy as well as from sustained exposure of the region to violence. Most notable are the protracted war in neighboring Afghanistan and the simmering tensions between hostile neighbors India and Pakistan, two countries that possess a nuclear weapons’ arsenal.

“More than extreme religious thought, the sustained exposure of the region to political violence, the power of militant organizations in the region, state policy which is either supportive or ambivalent towards various forms of militancy ... and the influence of the politics of Afghanistan incubate militancy in the region,” he said.

Mir and Rana both pointed to the Pakistani government’s failure to draw radical thinkers away from militant organizations, as groups that seemed at least briefly to eschew a violent path have returned to violence and rejoined the TTP.

Iftikar said the military has stepped up assaults on the reunited Pakistani Taliban, pushing the militants to respond, but only targets they can manage, which are soft targets.

But Mir said the reunited militants pose a greater threat.

“With the addition of these powerful units, the TTP has major strength for operations across the former tribal areas, Swat, Baluchistan, and some in Punjab,” he said. “Taken together, they improve TTP’s ability to mount insurgent and mass-casualty attacks.”

https://apnews.com/article/world-news-pakistan-taliban-6267ae43371163a2ef19863db3077796

Pakistan is isolated and talking peace. But India knows this game too well by now

By SESHADRI CHARI

As things stand now, the US, China and Saudi Arabia are pulling in different directions with Pakistan caught in the crossfire.

This is not the first time that Pakistan is proposing a peace plan. The more than 70 years of joint history is replete with instances of doublespeak and treachery by Pakistan — peace proposals followed by ceasefires and then their subsequent violation.

But this time it was the turn of Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to sermonise on peace, saying, “Pakistan is committed to the idea of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence….”. Ironically, two days after this homily, the army and the rest of the establishment in Islamabad held the ritual of observing ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ by organising anti-India protests.

Bajwa’s short-lived peace offer should also be seen in the background of changing geopolitical realities in the region. While Pakistan was considered part of the larger Islamic coalition but a poorer cousin, recent events have resulted in a drift between Saudi Arabia and Islamabad. The relationship took a hit when in 2015, Pakistan disallowed its military from participating in the Yemen conflict much to Riyadh’s displeasure. Islamabad once again stepped on Saudi toes when Prime Minister Imran Khan walked away disrespectfully and in breach of protocol after meeting the Saudi King during the OIC summit in 2019, without waiting for the translator to interpret the words he had exchanged. In November 2020, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a statement that did not mention Kashmir in spite of Pakistan’s efforts to get the OIC to condemn India’s abrogation of Article 370. In August that same year, Imran Khan ‘accused’ the Saudi-led OIC of inaction over the Kashmir issue and plotted to convene an OIC meeting with the help of Malaysia and Saudi’s bête noire Turkey, bypassing Saudi objection. Saudi Arabia promptly asked Pakistan to repay the $1 billion loan immediately. China came to Pakistan’s rescue.

But China will prefer to wait and watch before advising Pakistan on further moves in the region. It is possible that it was under Chinese prodding that Imran Khan undertook his maiden visit to Iran to play matchmaker between Riyadh and Tehran. The Middle East conflicts are too serious a subject for Pakistan to resolve. The only reason Beijing would have prodded Islamabad is to play a greater role in Afghanistan and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Meanwhile, the White House under President Joe Biden might not appreciate Islamabad rushing in where angels fear to tread. It is clear that Washington wants Iran to “obey and not negotiate”. As it stands now, the US, China and Saudi Arabia are pulling in different directions with Pakistan caught in the crossfire. None of these countries can afford to lose the commercial part of the relationship with India. As for China, it would not want any escalation of the conflict between India and Pakistan that could endanger its assets and strategic calculations in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) or Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects.

With none of these countries wanting to get into the India-Pakistan conflict, it is clear that an isolated Pakistan has no choice but to return to the table for talks, at least for the time being.

Dissent in PoK, and China holding back

It is becoming an uphill task for the Pakistan Army to meet the demands of the Chinese (army and civilian alike) engaged in CPEC projects and the increasing protests in Rawalakot in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) against rising inflation. Earlier in 2019, there were protests against the Pakistan Army and local police at several areas of PoK like Muzaffarabad, Tatto Pani, Rawalakot, Poonch, Hajira, and Tatrinote, with people accusing Islamabad of illegally taking over land for CPEC projects. In September 2018, political activists from PoK held a massive protest in front of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) office to protest gross human rights violations and exploitation of water resources by Pakistan as part of the CPEC projects.

China seems to be in a tearing hurry to complete the highway project between Chitral and Chakdara, which would be connected to the existing motorway that reaches Rashakai, the nerve centre of the proposed lucrative CPEC Special Economic Zone. More importantly, these projects are linked to the westbound highway linking the Karakoram Highway from Gilgit Baltistan to Chitral district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that straddles the Wakhan Corridor, which borders Afghanistan, China, and Tajikistan. About 12 km from the corridor, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has reportedly stationed troops at a dedicated military base in Tajikistan and has been conducting regular joint patrols and counterterrorism operations with Afghan security forces to prevent infiltration by militant Uygur groups.

All this irritates the local population and has strong repercussions on political parties that have to tackle people’s ire.

Little wonder then that, every time an election approaches, the political class sets about to make two promises. First is the resolve to send the army back to the barracks. Although this has never happened, the army top brass seems to allow the political parties to have temporary hallucinations about such a possibility. The second promise they make is to undertake efforts to mend fences with India and begin a long life of peace and tranquility. During the 2018 parliamentary election, all the prospective prime ministerial candidates — Imran Khan, Bilawal Bhutto and Shahbaz Sharif — declared their pious intentions to improve relations with India if elected. Ostensibly, such promises must be finding resonance with the masses encouraging them to vote for the right candidate who can engage with New Delhi for peace efforts.

Terms like ‘composite dialogue’, ‘comprehensive dialogue’ and ‘discussing all issues including Kashmir’ have been mentioned at every possible instance on international platforms. While Pakistan unfailingly raises the issue of Kashmir in every peace talk, India repeats the mantra of ‘talks and terror cannot go together’.

India’s brush with various ‘peace’ plans

Successive prime ministers of India have come across peace proposals from Pakistan and also witnessed the brutal terror attacks unleashed by the so-called non-State actors there.

The current phase of composite dialogue between Pakistan and India, which evolved into what is generally referred to as the peace process, began in January 2004 after the summit meeting between then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and then Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf. The meeting was touted as one that helped thaw the post-Kargil bitter relations between the two countries. But Islamabad did very little to reign in its non-State actors or prevent use of territory under its control to be used as terror launch pads.

In 2006, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said, “We can make borders irrelevant.” But soon after that, another series of terror attacks took place. Again, after Narendra Modi became the prime minister in 2014, the peace process received a new lease of life, only to disappear in the aftermaths of Uri (2016) and Pulwama (2019).

It is unfortunate that peace proposals from the political institutions in Islamabad have never met with success because they do not have the support of the army establishment, which has assumed a significant role in the country’s political ecosystem. Even more unfortunate is the reality that every serious peace proposal has been followed up by some terror attack or aggression by the army and the so-called non-State actors, most of them patronised by the country’s intelligence wing, ISI. It is doubtful if the all-powerful Pakistan military would really appreciate the two countries deciding to live in peace and bury the hatchet. Pakistan has three power centres; the army, the clergy, and the political establishment, which can be said to be the weakest of the three. The people and the civil society seemingly play little to no role in the decision-making process or overall functioning of the country. One can come across a number of anecdotal evidence highlighting the aspirations and hopes of peace nurtured by the people of Pakistan since the tragic Partition.

Pakistan is a perennial concern for India and one of the biggest impediments to peace and progress in the region. New Delhi must keep all the options for peace talks open but never lower its guard lest it is caught unawares again with yet another terror attack.

https://theprint.in/opinion/pakistan-is-isolated-and-talking-peace-but-india-knows-this-game-too-well-by-now/607747/

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FDA Approves Johnson & Johnson Single-Dose Vaccine For COVID-19

By Sarah Ruiz-Grossman

The government regulator approved a third vaccine to battle the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. — and it’s the only one so far to require just one dose.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine for emergency use on Saturday, the third such vaccine available for use in the U.S. and the first to require only a single dose.

After a panel of experts met Friday and voted to recommend the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for COVID-19, the FDA approved the drug for use by Americans ages 18 and older the following day.

An FDA analysis of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine released Wednesday found that it was safe and effective. A study reported that the vaccine protected against COVID-19 at a rate of about 66% against symptomatic cases and 85% against severe cases. After 28 days following vaccination, there were zero cases of hospitalizations or deaths.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are given in two doses, were found to be about 95% effective at preventing symptomatic cases. It’s worth noting that Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine study was conducted after more contagious virus variants were circulating, unlike Pfizer and Moderna’s studies.

“It’s important for people to not think that one vaccine is better than another,” expert panelist Dr. Cody Meissner, director of pediatric infectious disease at Tufts Medical Center, said Friday. “Hopefully [the CDC] will emphasize that there is no preference for one vaccine over another. All vaccines work with what appears to be equal efficacy and equal safety.”

Dr. Arnold Monto, a professor of epidemiology at University of Michigan School of Public Health, echoed the sentiment: “In this environment, whatever you can get, get.”

Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine can be stored in a normal freezer or refrigerator, making it easier to transport and distribute. Moderna’s vaccine needs to be stored at super-cold temperatures. Pfizer recently reported that its vaccine could be stored in normal freezers and now awaits an update to its FDA guidelines.

So far, more than 47 million people in the U.S. have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC has recommended that states make people over age 65 eligible for the vaccine, as well as front-line workers such as educators, food industry workers and public transportation employees.

While daily cases and deaths have dropped significantly since their peak in December and January, the U.S. hit the horrific COVID-19 milestone this week of more than 500,000 deaths since the pandemic began.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fda-approves-johnson-johnson-vaccine-coronavirus_n_60345febc5b673b19b6ac018

#NayaDaur - Hamza Released | Maryam Speech | Palwasha Khan Home

اسقاطِ حمل کے بڑھتے واقعات کی ذمہ دار صرف عورتیں؟

   

سمیرا راجپوت

پاکستانی قانون کے مطابق اگر اسقاطِ حمل کے دوران خاتون کی موت واقع ہو جائے تو ڈاکٹر یا دائی پر قتلِ عمد کی دفعہ لگا کر اسے سزائے موت بھی دی جا سکتی ہے۔

واقعہ کچھ یوں ہے کہ لاہور سے تعلق رکھنے والی 28 سالہ رابعہ خاندان کی بڑی بیٹی تھیں اور بہن بھائیوں کی ذمہ داری ان پر تھی۔ بچپن میں ہی والدہ دنیا سے رخصت ہوئیں تو تائی نے ان کی دیکھ  بھال کی۔

رابعہ کے ایک بوائے فرینڈ تھے، جن کے ساتھ وہ تین برس سے شادی کے خواب سجائے بیٹھی تھیں۔ اسی دوران وہ حاملہ ہوئیں اور بقول رابعہ کے بوائے فرینڈ اعجاز کے، دونوں نے مل کر اسقاط حمل کروانے کا فیصلہ کیا جس کے لیے انہوں نے ایک پرائیویٹ کلینک کا انتخاب کیا۔

کلینک نے ان سے 15 ہزار روپے لیے اور عمل شروع کر دیا، لیکن دوران عمل رابعہ کی حالت بگڑی اور انہیں لاہور کے ایک ہسپتال لے جانے کا مشورہ دیا گیا لیکن وہ راستے میں ہی زندگی کی بازی ہار گئیں۔

یہ 2021 کا دوسرا بڑا واقعہ ہے۔ اس سے پہلے ایک سی سی ٹی وی فوٹیج وائرل ہوئی جس میں دیکھا گیا کہ ایک لڑکا ایک پرائیویٹ کلینک میں اسقاط حمل کے دوران مر جانے والی لڑکی کو وہیں چھوڑ کر فرار ہوگیا۔

پاپولیشن کونسل سروے کے مطابق پاکستان میں تقریباً ہر سال 20 لاکھ سے زائد خواتین اسقاط حمل کرواتی ہیں لیکن اس میں زیادہ تعداد شادی شدہ خواتین کی ہوتی ہے۔

اگر معاشرتی رویوں کو دیکھا جائے تو خواتین یہ فیصلہ گھر کے حالات کے باعث کرتی ہیں جو بہرحال ایک جرم ہے۔ ان دو بڑے واقعات نے بہت ہی اہم مسئلے کو اجاگر کیا ہے۔

ہم لوگ نہ صرف تعلیم کی کمی کا شکار ہیں بلکہ شعور اور آگاہی کا فقدان بھی ہم لوگوں میں کثرت سے موجود ہے۔ پاکستان میں اسقاط حمل ایک قابل سزا جرم ہے۔ حمل ٹھہرنے کے 120 دن کے اندر اندر طبی ضرورت کے تحت اسقاط حمل کروایا جا سکتا ہے لیکن اس میں بھی عدالت سے اجازت لینا ضروری ہے۔

پرائیویٹ کلینک پر ایک دائی نے 15 ہزار روپے کے عوض قانون توڑا، گرل فرینڈ بوائے فرینڈ نے معاشرے کے ڈر سے قانون توڑا، دائی کو لالچ پیسوں کی تھی جسے یہ تک معلوم نہیں ہو گا کہ تعزیرات پاکستان کے تحت عورت خود اسقاط حمل کا فیصلہ نہیں کر سکتی صرف طبی بنیادوں پر ہی یہ ممکن ہے۔

لیکن جیسا کہ میں نے پہلے بیان کیا اس کے لیے عدالت سے اجازت مشروط ہے جو ایک لمبا کام ہے لہٰذا اسقاط حمل کے نتیجے میں خاتون کی مرضی شامل ہونے پر بھی اسقاط حمل کرنے والے کو تین سال قید اور مرضی نہ شامل ہونے پر پانچ سال قید ہو گی اور اگر خاتوں کی موت واقع ہو جائے تو اس پر اسقاط حمل کرنے والے پر قتلِ عمد کی دفعہ لگا کر اسے سزائے موت بھی دی جا سکے گی۔

ان سب قوانین سے کسی کو کوئی سروکار نہیں۔ لوگ دھڑلے سے قانون توڑتے ہیں کیوں کہ ایک یہی تو چیز ہے جس کا ہمیں ڈر نہیں۔

ان دونوں واقعات میں جو چیز مشترک ہے وہ یہ کہ دائی سے ایک پرائیویٹ کلینک پر اسقاط حمل کروایا گیا جو ناتجربہ کار تھی۔ دائی نے لڑکی کی حالت بگڑنے پر ہسپتال لے جانے کا کہا اور دونوں لڑکیاں راستے میں ہی زندگی کی بازی ہار گئیں۔ غور طلب بات یہ بھی ہے کہ دونوں لڑکے انہیں ہسپتال میں چھوڑ کر فرار ہو گئے۔

الزام لگانے والے ان واقعات کا قصور وار صرف اور صرف عورت کو قرار دیتے ہوئے کہتے ہیں کہ اس کی وجہ عورت کو ملنے والی ضرورت سے زیادہ آزادی ہے۔

ان لوگوں سے ہمارا سوال ہے کہ ان مردوں پر کس چیز کا اثر ہے جو پہلے تو پیار محبت کے بڑے بڑے دعوے کرتے رہے اور جب خاتون ان کے بچے کی ماں بننے والی تھی تو سب سے پہلے پیار کھڑکی سے باہر کودا اور پھر انسانیت دروازے کے راستے فرار ہو گئی۔

ان دونوں واقعات کا عورت کی آزادی سے تعلق ہو نہ ہو، لاقانونیت، معاشرتی اقدار کی کمی اور معاشرے سے ناپید ہوتی انسانیت سے ضرور ہے۔ اگر لوگوں میں ’لوگ کیا کہیں گے‘ سے زیادہ قانون کا خوف ہو گا اور قوانین پر عمل درآمد ہو گا تبھی ان واقعات میں کمی آئے گی۔

https://www.independenturdu.com/node/61011/increase-abortion-cases-pakistan 

#Pakistan - Puppet prime minister will be sent packing: Bilawal

Chairman Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday reiterated that a long march will be held after elections of the Senate and puppet prime minister will be sent home.

Addressing a public rally, Bilawal Bhutto while asking supporters to prepare for the upcoming long march said that all democratic workers from across the country will march against the government.

Bilawal Bhutto said that PPP restored 1973 constitution through 18th amendment but selected rulers want to take back rights of the public and provincial autonomy. He further said that his party laid foundation of CPEC for development of backward areas; however, incumbent government is trying to end the project by slowing down the pace of development.

Bilawal continued to list steps of the PPP government and said that during their tenure, people were provided employment opportunities, pension of senior citizens was increased by 100 percent, salary of government employee saw a jump of 150 percent but the PTI government, which came into power through rigging, created an economic crisis in the country and increased inflation in the country.

https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/590111-Puppet-prime-minister-will-be-sent-packing-Bilawal

Video - Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addresses jalsa in Kohat, KP

Video - Massive Public Gathering of Pakistan Peoples Party in Kohat.

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Video Report - US intel: Saudi Crown Prince approved Khashoggi operation

Opinion: President Biden Lets a Saudi Murderer Walk

By Nicholas Kristof

The crown prince killed my friend Jamal Khashoggi, and we do next to nothing.

The United States government publicly identified Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia as the murderer of an American resident, and then President Biden choked.

Instead of imposing sanctions on M.B.S., Biden appears ready to let the murderer walk. The weak message to other thuggish dictators considering such a murder is: Please don’t do it, but we’ll still work with you if we have to. The message to Saudi Arabia is: Go ahead and elevate M.B.S. to be the country’s next king if you must.

All this is a betrayal of my friend Jamal Khashoggi and of his values and ours. But even through the lens of realpolitik it’s a missed opportunity to help Saudi Arabia understand that its own interest lies in finding a new crown prince who isn’t reckless and doesn’t kill and dismember journalists.

What should Biden have done?

As a matter of consistency he should have imposed the same sanctions on M.B.S., including asset freezes and travel bans, that the United States imposed in 2018 on lower-level figures who carried out the murder of Khashoggi. These sanctions should also apply to the stooges and front companies that M.B.S. has used to accumulate assets around the world.

“The key message that should be sent not only to M.B.S., and others in the Saudi Court and government, but also to other would-be killers of journalists around the world, is that there is a heavy price to pay for such crimes and nowhere to hide,” Agnes Callamard, who as a United Nations official investigated Jamal’s killing, told me.

The United States should also have suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia. United States law bars military assistance to security units involved in gross human rights abuses, and that is true of security forces under M.B.S., who also serves as defense minister.

Biden reportedly feared that sanctions on M.B.S. would poison relations with Saudi Arabia. Yes, that’s a legitimate concern, and I agree that it’s often necessary to engage even rulers with blood on their hands. But in this great balancing of values and interests, the towering risk is that M.B.S., who is just 35, will become king upon the death of his aging father and rule recklessly for many years, creating chaos in the Gulf and a rupture in Saudi-American relations that would last decades.

In other words, it’s precisely because Saudi Arabia is so important that Biden should stand strong and send signals — now, while there is a window for change — that the kingdom is better off with a new crown prince who doesn’t dismember journalists.

M.B.S. is the sixth crown prince Saudi Arabia has had over the last decade, and only one of them (King Salman) rose to become king. Two died, and two were deposed. If it becomes clear that Saudi Arabia will not have a workable relationship with the West if M.B.S. becomes king, perhaps we’ll see a seventh crown prince. That’s not the U.S. dictating to Saudi Arabia, but pointing out reality.

“King Salman and any independent advisers he may still have would be well-advised to consider how unsustainable it will be for the kingdom to retain M.B.S. as crown prince,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now. “M.B.S. has proven time and again to be a liability and a danger for the kingdom, reviled and avoided by the international community.”

American officials sometimes say that if we don’t sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, then France or Russia will. But what Saudi Arabia gets from America is not only high-tech weaponry but, far more important, an implicit promise of defense from Iran or other countries. France and Russia can’t provide that. Some Saudis tell me that it’s a foregone conclusion that M.B.S. will become king. Maybe. But the fact that M.B.S. has detained rivals, like Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz (who is broadly admired in Saudi society) and Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, suggests that he doesn’t think it’s a done deal. “It’s not a given that if you’re crown prince, you’re going to become king,” noted Dr. Khalid Aljabri, who is currently in the United States but has close ties to senior Saudi royals, and whose father was allegedly targeted for murder by M.B.S. “Just apply the law. Sanction MBS! If they sanction MBS, the whole country would come to a standstill, and King Salman would have no choice but to remove his son, even if he doesn’t want to.”

Perhaps I’m biased because I knew Jamal. Some may think: It’s too bad about the murder, but other leaders have killed people, too. True, but M.B.S. poisons everything he touches. He kidnapped Lebanon’s prime minister. He oversaw a feud with Qatar. He caused the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen. He imprisoned women’s rights activists. He has tarnished his country’s reputation far more effectively than Iran ever could.

So, Mr. Biden, it’s not a human rights “gesture” to sanction M.B.S. Jamal was a practical man who didn’t believe in mushy gestures — but he did dream of a more democratic Arab world that would benefit Arabs and Americans alike. And by letting a murderer walk, you betray that vision.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/opinion/sunday/saudi-arabia-biden-khashoggi.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

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Video - Joint press conference of PPP and PMLN at Jati Umra.

Lahore: Bilawal Bhutto meets Maryam Nawaz, discusses political affairs

 

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto on Thursday has met Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz in Raiwind.

Both the leaders have discussed ongoing political situation in the country and strategy for upcoming Senate elections. They also deliberated upon the future agenda of their campaign against the government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). 

While talking to media after the meeting, the opposition members said that PPP leader Yousaf Raza Gillani is the joint candidate of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in Senate elections. Those supporting democracy will not vote for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), they said.

Bilawal Bhutto said that the PTI government has made lives of the people miserable in three years. The general masses are facing difficulties due to increasing inflation, he added.

Maryam Nawaz said that people from all the provinces are criticizing PTI. The opposition parties will not sit with this fake government, she clarified.

Earlier, Bilawal Bhutto said that Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) did not need undemocratic support from any institution in order to take on the PTI government.

Bilawal Bhutto said that for now, it seems that institutions are playing a neutral role in the Senate elections. “We criticize only when their character is not neutral. It is heartening to see institutions function within their boundaries”, he added.

He said that in the Charter of Democracy, our position was that the correct procedure should be adopted in the Senate elections.

The secret ballot cannot be challenged anywhere. If we want to improve the senate election process, it can only be done through parliament and dialogue.  only wants to bring laws for its own benefit, he added.

https://dunyanews.tv/en/Pakistan/589765-Bilawal-Bhutto-meet-Maryam-Nawaz-Raiwind-

سینیٹ الیکشن چوری ہونے نہیں دیں گے، بلاول بھٹو زرداری

پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری کا کہنا ہے کہ دھاندلی کرنا پی

ٹی آئی کا وتیرہ بن چکا ہے، سینیٹ الیکشن چوری ہونے نہیں دیں گے۔

 بلاول بھٹو زرداری سے پارٹی کے سینیئر رہنما و سابق وزیراعلیٰ سندھ سید قائم علی شاہ  نے  ملاقات کی، ملاقات کے دوران ملک کی سیاسی صورتحال پر تبادلہ خیال کیا گیا۔

پی پی چیئرمین نے کہا کہ سلیکٹڈ حکمرانوں نے عوام کو مہنگائی و غربت اور سیاسی مخالفین کو انتقام کا نشانہ بنانے کے علاوہ کچھ نہیں کیا۔

بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ اگر آج بھی صاف و شفاف انتخابات ہوں تو پیپلز پارٹی ملک کی سب سے بڑی جماعت بن کر ابھرے گی۔

https://jang.com.pk/news/890866 

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Biden lifts Trump-era ban blocking legal immigration to US

JULIE WATSON

President Joe Biden on Wednesday lifted a freeze on green cards issued by his predecessor during the pandemic that lawyers said was blocking most legal immigration to the United States.

Former President Donald Trump last spring halted the issuance of green cards until the end of 2020 in the name of protecting the coronavirus-wracked job market — a reason that Trump gave to achieve many of the cuts to legal immigration that had eluded him before the pandemic.

Trump on Dec. 31 extended those orders until the end of March.

Trump had deemed immigrants a “risk to the U.S. labor market” and blocked their entry to the United States in issuing Proclamation 10014 and Proclamation 10052.

Biden stated in his proclamation Wednesday that shutting the door on legal immigrants “does not advance the interests of the United States."

“To the contrary, it harms the United States, including by preventing certain family members of United States citizens and lawful permanent residents from joining their families here. It also harms industries in the United States that utilize talent from around the world," Biden stated in his proclamation.

Most immigrant visas were blocked by the orders, according to immigration lawyers.

As many as 120,000 family-based preference visas were lost largely because of the pandemic-related freeze in the 2020 budget year, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Immigrants could not bring over family members unless they were U.S. citizens applying for visas for their spouses or children under the age of 21.

It also barred entry to immigrants with employment-based visas unless they were considered beneficial to the national interest such as health care professionals.And it slammed the door on thousands of visa lottery winners who were randomly chosen from a pool of about 14 million applicants to be given green cards that would let them live permanently in the United States.The blocked visas add to a growing backlog that has reached 473,000 for family-based visas alone, said California immigration lawyer Curtis Morrison, who represented thousands of people blocked by the freeze.

“I’m thrilled for my clients who are now in a position that they can now enter the U.S.," he said. “But that backlog will take years if the administration does not take ambitious measures."

A federal judge last year issued a ruling that all but lifted Proclamation 10052 by allowing temporary foreign workers to enter the United States if their employers are members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or several other large organizations that represent much of the U.S. economy.

But Proclamation 10014 continued to block thousands of immigrants.

Immigration lawyers said they were surprised Biden did not immediately lift the freeze like he did with Trump's travel ban imposed against people from mostly Muslim-majority countries. As a result, some immigrants blocked by the travel ban found they still could not come to the United States because of the freeze. Biden's actions come only days after thousands of visa lottery winners at risk of having their visas expire won a court order that put their visas on hold by the judge in the case. Now they will be allowed to use their visas to enter the country.

The United States makes available up to 55,000 visas a year for immigrants whose nationalities are underrepresented in the U.S. population. The visas must be used within six months of being obtained.

Meanwhile, Biden has proposed legislation that would limit presidential authority to issue future bans against immigrants.

The president has not said whether there will be any redress for visa lottery winners who lost out because of the pandemic-era policies. But he is calling for the U.S. to increase the number of diversity visas available via the lottery each year from 55,000 to 80,000. ___

This story has been corrected to reflect that the name of an organization of lawyers is the American Immigration Lawyers Association, not the American Immigrant Lawyers Association, and that the number of backlogged family-based visas is 473,000, not 437,000.

https://news.yahoo.com/biden-lifts-trump-era-ban-005921180.html

Gyms with maskless users shown to be at high risk for COVID spread: Study

IVAN PEREIRA and SONY SALZMAN

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are urging people to stop ignoring face covering and social distancing rules when they hit the gym after two new studies confirmed they are strong spreader locations.

The agency released findings Wednesday on research it undertook at gyms located in Chicago and Hawaii that saw a high "attack rate" associated with outbreaks last summer.

In Hawaii, 21 people contracted the virus in July from a cycling fitness instructor who had the disease and taught classes for three days. In the Chicago location, 55 out of 81 people who attended high-intensity fitness classes during the last week of August contracted COVID-19, the studies said. The common factor in both outbreaks was the lack of mask use, according to the CDC report.

"Among 58 exercise class attendees who provided information on in-class behaviors, 44 (76%) reported infrequent mask use, including 32 of 38 (84%) attendees with COVID-19 and 12 of 20 (60%) without COVID-19," the report on the Chicago outbreak said.

The report added that the Hawaii cycling facility kept its doors and windows closed during the classes with the infected instructor, increasing the chances of transmission.

Two people were hospitalized in the Hawaii outbreak and one in Chicago, according to the report. Two of the Chicago patients visited the emergency room with COVID-19 symptoms, according to the CDC.

There were no reported deaths linked to the outbreaks, the CDC reports said.

The agency urged gym facilities to make sure they have proper ventilation standards, decrease capacity and enforce mask-wearing and social distancing rules among its patrons to prevent future incidents. If possible, patrons should stick to outdoor gym activities, the CDC said.

"This outbreak reinforces the need for combined COVID-19 prevention strategies, including universal mask use in public settings when persons are with others who do not live in the same household, especially indoors," the CDC said in its Chicago report.

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/gyms-maskless-users-shown-high-231207570.html

The changing of the guard in Washington has prompted change in Saudi Arabia

RASHID HUSAIN SYED

When Donald Trump was at the helm in Washington, with his son-in-law Jared Kushner serving as a senior adviser around Middle East issues, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) enjoyed near-impunity. Even after reportedly directing the brutal murder of journalist and critic Jamal Khashoggi, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia was given a clean chit by Mr. Trump’s administration. “There have been a couple of missteps,” Mr. Kushner conceded last summer, “but they’ve been a very good ally.”

But MBS can no longer expect a free ride.

The inauguration of President Joe Biden has changed the mood in Washington and in Riyadh. During a primary debate, the then-candidate underlined that he would make long-time ally Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are,” and now that Mr. Biden is in office, the pressure appears to be beginning to yield results. After all, MBS needs support from Washington for his own political survival, and he knows it well, if Riyadh’s assuaging actions over the past few weeks are any indication.

Last Wednesday, prominent Saudi women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul – a 2014 University of British Columbia French graduate – was released after 1,001 days in prison in Saudi Arabia. Despite being released, Ms. al-Hathloul remains subject to a five-year travel ban and is also under three-year probation, during which she cannot continue her activism. This is unusual timing, since just six weeks ago, Ms. al-Hathloul had been sentenced for undermining state security.

Last week, the Saudi Human Rights Commission announced that it would be commuting the death penalty of three young Saudis who were arrested as minors, reducing their sentences to 10 years in jail. The review followed a royal decree last year that individuals sentenced to death for crimes committed while minors would instead serve up to 10 years in juvenile detention centres.

One of those commuted was Ali Al-Nimr, the nephew of prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, who was executed in 2016. Ali Al-Nimr was only 17 when he was detained for participating in protests in the country’s Eastern Province. Global calls for commuting their death penalties had gone unheeded until now.

Early in February, Saudi authorities announced that it would release Bader al-Ibrahim, an epidemiologist and journalist, and Salah al-Haidar, a media commentator whose mother Aziza al-Yousef is a prominent women’s-rights campaigner; both hold U.S. citizenship. Last month, the prison term of another U.S.-Saudi activist, physician Walid al-Fitaihi, was also suspended.

Saudi officials, meanwhile, are reportedly working to overhaul the country’s unpredictable judicial system by the end of this year, partly to encourage investors long deterred by the perceived arbitrariness of the kingdom’s courts. And recently, Saudi Arabia and its allies announced that they would end their three-year boycott of Qatar, quietly dropping political demands such as ending support for the Muslim Brotherhood and closing a range of media operations, including Al-Jazeera. The decision was seen by many as an attempt by Riyadh to clear the ground for a better relationship with the Biden administration.

But some dissidents, including scholar Salman al-Odah, remain behind bars, even in solitary confinement. Dr. al-Odah was arrested hours after sending a tweet in 2017 proposing that reconciliation with Qatar was a better option than the path that the Saudi government had chosen. “He now faces the prospect of being executed on charges that include spreading corruption by calling for a constitutional monarchy, stirring public discord, incitement and ‘mocking the government’s achievements,’ ” his son Abdullah Alaoudh wrote in The Guardian.

Mr. Biden’s presidency has appeared to have made a difference, yet much work is still at hand. Numerous people are behind bars at the whim of the men in power. The disastrous war in Yemen still rages on. The Khashoggi saga is far from over. The feud with Iran needs to be re-examined and resolved peacefully. Human rights remain a contentious issue. The list goes on and on.

By simply being elected, Mr. Biden has indirectly and passively led to some changes in Saudi Arabia. Now, he needs to take on those issues more actively, and as soon as possible.

 https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-changing-of-the-guard-in-washington-has-prompted-change-in-saudi/

سینٹ ووٹ ریفرنس پر سپریم کورٹ نے رائے محفوظ کر لی Video Report

Video Report - Shibli Faraz Tells Matiullah Jan To Quit Journalism

#Pakistan - چار عورتیں ہی تو قتل ہوئی ہیں

تحریم عظیم 

مذمتی بیانات سالوں سے جاری ہوتے آ رہے ہیں، اب بھی ہو جائیں گے، عورتیں بھی سالوں سے قتل ہوتی آ رہی ہیں، اب بھی ہو رہی ہیں اور آگے بھی ہوتی رہیں گی۔ اس میں ان ہونی کیا ہے۔

شمالی وزیرستان میں کچھ روز قبل ایک غیر سرکاری ادارے سے منسلک چار عورتوں اور ان کے ساتھ موجود مرد ڈرائیور کو سرِ عام گولیاں مار کر قتل کر دیا گیا۔ یہ خواتین اس ادارے کے ساتھ دیہاڑی پر کام کر رہی تھیں اور وہ علاقے کی عورتوں کو سلائی کڑھائی، دستکاری اور پارلر کا کام سکھاتی تھیں تاکہ وہ گھر پر اپنا کوئی چھوٹا موٹا کام شروع کر سکیں اور گھر کے حالات بہتر کرنے میں اپنا کردار ادا کر سکیں۔

یہ ان کا جرم تھا جس کی پاداش میں انہیں اس بے دردی کے ساتھ قتل کر دیا گیا۔

اب آپ پوچھیں گے اس میں نئی بات کیا ہے، ہمارے ملک میں تو ایسے واقعات ہوتے رہتے ہیں؟ جی بالکل، اس میں کوئی نئی بات نہیں ہے۔ ہمارے ملک میں شاید ہی کوئی دن ایسا گزرتا ہو جب اخبارات کسی عورت کے قتل کی خبر نہ چھاپتے ہوں ورنہ آپ کسی بھی دن کا اخبار اٹھا لیں، پہلے دو صفحات میں ہی تین چار عورتوں کے قتل کی خبریں مل جائیں گی۔

قندیل بلوچ کا قتل بھی کوئی پرانی بات نہیں ہے۔ انہیں اپنے ہی سگے بھائی نے غیرت کے نام پر قتل کر دیا تھا۔ قندیل اپنی موت سے قبل بین الاقوامی میڈیا کی توجہ حاصل کر چکی تھیں۔ اس کے قتل کی خبر دنیا کے ہر بڑے نشریاتی ادارے نے چھاپی۔ دنیا بھر سے صحافی پاکستان آئے تاکہ اس کی زندگی اور قتل کے بارے میں مزید جان سکیں اور اپنے اپنے ادارے کے لیے ایک اچھی سٹوری بنا سکیں۔

ایک پاکستانی صحافی صنم مہر نے قندیل بلوچ پر ایک کتاب لکھی ہے۔ اس کتاب میں ایک جگہ وہ لکھتی ہیں کہ جب وہ تحقیق کی غرض سے اس علاقے میں پہنچیں تو ان کے مترجم نے ان سے پوچھا کہ قندیل بلوچ میں ایسی کیا خاص بات تھی جو دنیا بھر سے صحافی اس کے بارے میں جاننے کے لیے وہاں آ رہے تھے۔

 اس نے کہا کہ ان کے ہاں عورتوں کا غیرت کے نام پر قتل کرنا معمول کی بات ہے۔ وہاں کے آدمی عورتوں کو ان کی کسی لغزش کی بنیاد پر قتل کر کے ان کی نعش بوری میں ڈال کر دریا میں پھینک دیتے ہیں۔ وہ آدمی حیران تھا کہ قندیل بلوچ کے قتل میں ایسا کیا خاص بات ہے کہ پوری دنیا اس کے بارے میں بات کر رہی تھی۔ اس کا ذہن شاید عورتوں کے قتل کو ایک عام بات تصور کر چکا تھا۔

ہم بھی عورتوں پر ہونے والے تشدد کو اتنا ہی عام سمجھتے ہیں جتنا وہ آدمی سمجھ رہا تھا۔ ورنہ ہم ہر قتل پر اپنے گھر سے باہر نکلتے، حکومت سے اپنے لیے تحفظ مانگتے، پر ہم ایسا نہیں کرتے۔ مہینوں بعد کوئی واقعہ کسی نکتے کی وجہ سے ہمارا دل کھینچ لے تو کھینچ لے ورنہ اخبارات میں ہماری دلچسپی کی اور بہت خبریں ہوتی ہیں۔

ان چار عورتوں کا کیا قصور تھا؟ شاید ان کی غربت یا ان کے شوہروں کا بر سرِ روزگار نہ ہونا یا ان کا ایک این جی او کی 16 روزہ عارضی نوکری کرنے کی ہامی بھرنا یا ایک پدر شاہی معاشرے کا حصہ ہونا جہاں عورت کا کام کرنا معیوب تصور کیا جاتا ہے یا اس ملک کے اس حصے میں پیدا ہونا یا بسنا جہاں حکومت کا زور بس نام کی حد تک ہی نظر آتا ہے۔

خیر، اس میں بھی حیران ہونے والی کوئی بات نہیں۔ اس ملک میں عورتیں پیدا ہونے کی وجہ سے بھی طعنے سنتی ہیں، دھتکاری جاتی ہیں اور کچھ تو قتل بھی کر دی جاتی ہیں۔ یہ عورتیں تو پھر کچھ سال جی لیں، ایسا بہت کچھ کر سکیں جو ان سے پہلے قتل ہو جانے والی عورتیں نہ کر سکیں، گھر سے باہر بھی نکلیں، کام بھی کیا، اس علاقے کے اعتبار سے یہ کتنی بڑی بات ہے، اب اس سے آگے وہ اور کیا کر سکتی تھیں۔

ملالہ یوسفزئی لڑکیوں کی تعلیم کے حق کے لیے آواز اٹھانے کی وجہ سے طالبان کی دہشت گردی کا نشانہ بنی۔ ملالہ کو پوری دنیا نے گلے سے لگایا سوائے ہمارے۔ وہ دنیا کے لیے ہیرو ہے اور ہمارے لیے سازش۔ اسے سالوں بعد پھر سے دھمکی ملی ہے، جس کے جواب میں حکومت نے ٹوئٹر کو شکائیت تو درج کروا دی ہے پر ساتھ ہی یہ بھی کہا ہے کہ احسان اللہ احسان کے نام سے منسوب وہ اکاؤنٹ جعلی تھا۔ ادھر ملالہ کے والد ضیاالدین یوسفزئی نے واضح طور پر کہا ہے کہ ان کے قابلِ اعتماد ذرائع کے مطابق وہ ٹوئٹر اکاؤنٹ احسان اللہ احسان کا اصلی اکاؤنٹ تھا۔ ملالہ اور ان کے والد حکومت سے پوچھ رہے ہیں کہ احسان اللہ احسان گرفتار ہونے کے بعد کیسے فرار ہوا؟ جواب میں بس خاموشی ہے۔

یہی خاموشی ان عورتوں کے قتل پر بھی طاری ہے۔ ہو گئیں قتل تو ہو گئیں۔ مذمتی بیانات سالوں سے جاری ہوتے آ رہے ہیں، اب بھی ہو جائیں گے، عورتیں بھی سالوں سے قتل ہوتی آ رہی ہیں، اب بھی ہو رہی ہیں اور آگے بھی ہوتی رہیں گی۔ اس میں ان ہونی کیا ہے۔

ان کا کام ہے الیکشن میں کھڑے ہونا اور آپ کا کام ہے انہیں ووٹ دے کر پارلیمان میں لانا۔ وہ اپنا کام کر رہے ہیں، آپ اپنا کام کریں۔

https://www.independenturdu.com/node/60681 

Pakistan to stay on FATF grey list due to ‘serious deficiencies’ in checking terror financing

FATF president said Pakistan is yet to demonstrate taking action against the UN designated terrorists and their associates. Indicating status quo of being on FATF’s ‘grey list’, the global body against money laundering and terror financing on Thursday said Pakistan will continue to remain on increased monitoring list as there are “serious deficiencies” in checking terror financing and the country lacks an effective system to deal with it.

After its meeting, Marcus Pleyer, president of Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), said the deadline given to Pakistan has already expired and asked Islamabad to address their concerns “as quickly as possible”.

“To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 24 of the 27 action items. As all action plan deadlines have expired,” Pleyer said in Paris at the end of its plenary session.

There is serious deficiency on the part of Pakistan in checking terror financing and the country is yet to demonstrate taking action against the UN designated terrorists and their associates, he said.

He said Pakistan courts must give effective, decisive and proportionate punishment to those involved in terrorism, a statement which comes close on the heels of Pakistan Supreme Court acquittal of terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main accused in the 2002 murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

He said that Pakistan must complete three unfulfilled tasks and once it is completed, the FATF will verify and take a decision on its present status in the next plenary to be held in June.

https://theprint.in/world/pakistan-to-stay-on-fatf-grey-list-due-to-serious-deficiencies-in-checking-terror-financing/612005/

اسٹیبلشمنٹ بظاہر نیوٹرل لگتی ہے، بلاول بھٹو

چیئرمین پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہاہے کہ اسٹیبلشمنٹ بظاہر نیوٹرل لگتی ہے، اداروں کی غیر جانبداری کو خوش آمدید کہنا چاہئے۔

سینیٹ الیکشن کے بعد وزیراعظم کیخلاف تحریک عدم اعتماد آسکتی ہے، ہمارے ووٹ کم، حکومت کو ٹف ٹائم دینگے،پی ڈی ایم کامقصدسلیکٹڈ کوگھربھیجناہے،یوسف گیلانی کے سینیٹرانتخاب سے بحالی جمہوریت کاباب شروع ہوگا۔

بدھ کے روز لاہور میں پریس کانفرنس سے خطاب کرتے ہوئے بلاول بھٹو نے کہا کہ ڈسکہ میں حکومت کی چوری پکڑی گئی،پی ڈی ایم سینیٹ انتخابات کے بعدبھی متحدرہےگی۔

مارچ کے آخرمیں مارچ ہوگا، چیئرمین پیپلزپارٹی نے کہا کہ ہم نے اس سلیکٹڈ اور نااہل حکومت کو نہ صرف پاکستانی عوام بلکہ پوری دنیا کے سامنے بے نقاب کردیا۔ 

ہم سب نے مشترکہ طور پر پارلیمنٹ کی بالادستی کے لئے کام کیا اور کامیاب ہوئے اور اب حکومت نے ہمارے خوف سے کم ازکم اپنےارکان سے بات کرنا شروع کردی ہے جن کو وہ گذشتہ 30 ماہ سے نظرانداز کررہے تھے۔ ہم جانتے ہیں کہ ہم یہ جنگ کم ارکان کے ساتھ لڑ رہے ہیں لیکن ہم جمہوریت کی جنگ لڑ رہے ہیں۔ 

ہم حکومت کو ٹف ٹائم دے رہے ہیں اور دیتے رہیں گے، اب وقت آگیا ہے کہ اس گرتی ہوئی دیوار کو ایک بڑا دھکادیا جائے، پی ڈی ایم میں تمام جماعتیں متحد ہیں،ابھی عدم اعتماد کی بات نہیں ہو رہی ابھی ہم سینیٹ انتخابات کے مرحلے میں ہیں۔ 

ہم جمہوریت کے اصولوں پر سینیٹ کے انتخابات لڑ رہے ہیں ، اب ارکان کے پاس یوسف گیلانی کی صورت میں جمہوری آپشن ہےاب ارکان اسمبلی جمہوریت پسند کو ووٹ دیں گےیا ٹیکنوکریٹ کو فیصلہ انکا ہوگا، ہم نے ہمیشہ پارلیمنٹ کا احترام کیا ہے اور اس حکومت کو جمہوری طریقوں سے تبدیل کرنا چاہتے ہیں۔ 

ہمیں جمہوری راستے پر آگے بڑھنا ہے اور ملک کو بحرانوں سے نکا لنے میں مدد کرنا ہوگی۔اسٹیبلشمنٹ سے متعلق ایک سوال کے جواب میں ، بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ پیپلز پارٹی گذشتہ تین نسلوں سے اداروں کو نیوٹرل اور غیر سیاسی بنانے کی کوشش کر رہی ہے تاکہ وہ آئین کے مطابق اپنے ڈومین کے اندر کام کریں۔

https://jang.com.pk/news/890137 

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How Biden Will End the Trump Sugar High for Israel and Saudi Arabia

By AARON DAVID MILLER and RICHARD SOKOLSKY

After years of getting everything they wanted, the Middle East’s biggest egos will have to learn to do with less as the new president focuses on crises at home.

Elections have consequences. And nowhere are the consequences of Joe Biden’s election more worrisome than in Jerusalem and Riyadh. In the past week, the president has signaled to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—the region’s two biggest egos—that the sugar high of the Trump years is over.

Biden isn’t interested in fundamentally altering these relationships. But he is looking to rebalance the Israeli and Saudi accounts, restore Israeli and Saudi respect for U.S. interests absent during the Trump years, and signal to Bibi and MBS—who are now wondering where they stand among Biden’s priorities—that they are no longer the center of America’s world and should think very carefully before they take actions to undermine U.S. interests. Biden isn’t looking for a fight. And whether he takes tougher actions against Israel and Saudi Arabia will depend on whether they willfully ignore or undermine U.S. interests in creating greater security and stability in the region. It’s still stunning to reflect on the fact that Trump’s initial stops on his first foreign trip as president in May 2017 were to Saudi Arabia and Israel. From that point on, Trump’s presidency was a gift that just kept on giving. Never in the history of U.S. relations with either country has so much been given with so little asked for in return—and with so much bad behavior swept under the rug.

Without making Israel earn U.S. favors with any concessions of its own, the Trump administration orchestrated a campaign of maximum pressure on Iran; declared Jerusalem Israel’s capital and opened an embassy there; turned a blind eye to Israel’s settlement expansion; recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights; promulgated a peace plan that all but conceded 30 percent of the West Bank to Israel before negotiations with Palestinians had even begun; downgraded U.S. diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority; drastically curtailed U.S. assistance to the Palestinian people; and perhaps most significantly, made a major effort to facilitate normalization between Israel, the Gulf states and other Arab countries.

The Saudis also got in on the action. The Trump administration gave a blank check to Riyadh to pursue its disastrous military campaign in Yemen and aided and abetted it with U.S. military assistance for Saudi operations; acquiesced in MBS’s repression at home and covered up his role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi; and lavished arms sales on the Saudis over Congress’ objections.

If Trump made Israel and Saudi Arabia top foreign policy priorities, Biden seems intent on downgrading their importance. Much has been made of the nearly one month delay in Biden calling Netanyahu; Trump’s third call was to Netanyahu, and former President Obama reached out to then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on day one. One delayed call does not a relationship make or break. But Biden was sending a message nonetheless: I’m busy with domestic recovery and the Middle East is not a top priority, he was saying. I’m pro-Israeli, but not necessarily a pro-Netanyahu president.

Biden has also set out to put some distance between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Candidate Biden issued some very strong words about the Kingdom on the campaign trail, describing it as a pariah nation on human rights and promising to end U.S. support for its catastrophic campaign in Yemen. Days after Biden’s inauguration, the administration declared an end to American support for Saudi operations in Yemen and pledged to review current arms sales to Riyadh. And in an unmistakable sign of displeasure with the reckless and ruthless Crown Prince, White House press spokesperson Jen Psaki spoke of “recalibrating” U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and indicated Biden will be speaking with his counterpart King Salman not MBS.

Biden is sending an unmistakable message: We can still be friends but it has to be with more benefits for the United States. Given my focus on domestic and other foreign policy priorities, I may not have a great deal of time to focus on your problems; don’t make it harder for the United States in the region or things between us will get complicated.

Biden’s early warning signals to Israel and Saudi Arabia don’t necessarily mean he is seriously prepared to make significant changes in either of these relationships. If the president, provoked by troublesome behavior by Jerusalem and Riyadh, decided to fundamentally alter rather than adjust these relationships, he would need to be far more assertive and bold. With Israel, the reset would likely focus on injecting real accountability for actions Israel takes on the ground toward Palestinians and some conditionality with respect to U.S. assistance should Israel ignore American expectations.

Biden would call for a comprehensive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, opposing all construction beyond the 1967 lines, including east Jerusalem, as inconsistent with international law. The U.S. would not expend effort defending Israel in the U.N. and other international organizations from actions resulting from its settlement activities. And Washington would enforce its longstanding determination that no U.S. government funds could be used to support settlement activity and establish a monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance with this requirement. Biden would also make clear that any Israeli initiative designed to annex territory would result in severe consequences, including a potential cut-off of assistance or recognition of Palestinian statehood.

Biden also has plenty of options to make life unpleasant for Saudi Arabia if it attempts to sabotage a new nuclear agreement with Iran. These include slapping sanctions on MBS and his hatchet men for their complicity in the killing of Khashoggi; permanently cutting contacts with MBS; making it clear that the United States will not stand in the way of others bringing the Saudis to the International Criminal Court for committing war crimes in Yemen; mounting a major campaign of public criticism of Saudi human rights abuses; halting all new arms sales to the Kingdom; withdrawing the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and treating the Saudis as diplomatic pariahs; upping public pressure on the Saudi government to cut way back on its carbon emissions; and twisting Saudi arms to open a dialogue with Tehran on regional security issues. It’s highly unlikely that Biden would move in these directions with either Israel or Saudi Arabia unless their behavior leaves him no alternative. The president’s overriding priority is domestic recovery; he would prefer to avoid problems that might undermine progress toward that goal. Indeed, his presidency will succeed or fail based primarily on what occurs at home, not abroad, and he has much bigger foreign policy challenges in dealing with China and Russia.

Israel is the tougher problem and whether he can get what he wants from the wily and ever-suspicious Netanyahu isn’t clear. Biden isn’t Obama; he’s more like Clinton, whose support for Israel was baked into his political DNA. Biden will be much harder for Netanyahu to attack. He will expect Bibi to refrain from an active campaign to undermine his diplomatic efforts with Iran, as Netanyahu did in 2015 by end running the Obama White House and making his case directly to Congress and mobilizing the Gulf Arab states against Iran. But Netanyahu is much weaker at home and in Washington than he was in 2015 and Biden is boxing him in on Iran, not with threats necessarily but, paradoxically, with kindness.

By coordinating and consulting with Jerusalem, he is not giving the Israeli prime minister an easy justification to openly oppose the American approach on Iran; for example, he informed Netanyahu in advance of last week’s announcement by the U.S. and Europeans about starting negotiations with Tehran, and at every turn mentions the importance of a longer and stronger agreement to address the deficiencies in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. That would include addressing extended sunset provisions in the JCPOA, as well as Israel’s concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile programs and its efforts to expand its influence in the region. If Israel cries foul, undertakes some political effort to sabotage the negotiations, or launches an unwarranted military move against Iranian assets that triggers an escalation, it will be Netanyahu who’s isolated by actions that will be seen as a blatant effort to kill the U.S. negotiating initiative.

On the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Biden’s expectations for Netanyahu are pretty low. Unlike Obama, who pressed Netanyahu on both Iran and progress toward a two-state solution with Palestinians, Biden will not make waves, knowing full well that prospects for significant progress are slim. In a nod to Netanyahu, he has praised the Abraham Accords negotiated by the Trump administration and appears willing to support the benefits the Trump administration has offered the UAE (F-35s) and Morocco (U.S. recognition of its sovereignty over Western Sahara) for concluding the agreement.

Netanyahu won’t be happy with the administration’s intention to upgrade relations with the Palestinians but won’t fight it. If there is conflict, it will be over Biden’s focus on changing the situation on the ground and restoring cooperation and some measure of trust between Israelis and Palestinians. Biden will expect Netanyahu to refrain from moving ahead with major infrastructure and high profile settlement projects, on the West Bank or Jerusalem, let alone the annexation of territory. Should Netanyahu win the upcoming elections on March 23 and form a narrow right-wing government, however, the stage could be set for a major confrontation with the administration on these issues.

Unless the Saudis attempt to scuttle a new nuclear agreement with Iran—or pursue other regional policies that are destabilizing and detrimental to U.S. interests—Biden’s actions will follow the path he’s already outlined. The dialogue with Saudi Arabia will be structured and disciplined, not left to presidential relatives who were given a blank check to kowtow to MBS’s reckless activities. Biden will continue to press Riyadh on human rights. And the anticipated release of the Intelligence Community’s report on MBS’s role in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi will provide a focal point for the administration to press for the release of Saudi dissidents. Biden will also press Saudi Arabia to do its part in ending or at least tamping down the violence in Yemen.

The administration has rightly undertaken a review of at least two arms sales to the Kingdom. Whether it will go farther or not is unclear. But it should. For years, administrations have supplied Saudi Arabia with weapons that it wants rather than weapons it needs to address the real military threats the Kingdom faces. Helping the Saudis to improve their defenses against Iranian missile attacks on critical infrastructure and cyber and terrorist attacks is perfectly appropriate and legitimate. The same cannot be said, however, for providing weapons systems that would improve Saudi capabilities to project force beyond its borders and especially against Iran. The Kingdom does not face a credible threat of a large-scale conventional attack by Iran or any other countries in the region. The world has seen the havoc the Saudis have wreaked in Yemen with advance combat aircraft and munitions, and the Saudi military was missing in action in the battles against ISIS in Iraq and Yemen. Joe Biden is no revolutionary—at home or abroad. As a cautious moderate Democrat, he’s more interested in remodeling the house than in tearing it down. And that applies to Saudi Arabia and Israel, too. Saudi Arabia isn’t a U.S. ally; but it is an important partner—at least until the rest of the world weans itself off Arab hydrocarbons and America benefits from U.S.-Saudi cooperation on counter-terrorism. And Israel, the region’s only democracy—however imperfect—is the one state in the region that shares any real coincidence of both interests and values with the U.S., and is a subject fraught with domestic political risks for any U.S. president.

After four years of one-way street relationships, Biden is right to want to inject real reciprocity and a measure of conditionality into the U.S. relationships with Israel and Saudi Arabia. He may well succeed if he simply recognizes that these two countries need America a hell of a lot more than we need them—and if he is prepared to use U.S. leverage to advance our national interests if they force his hand.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/22/how-biden-will-end-the-trump-sugar-high-for-israel-and-saudi-arabia-470911