PAKISTAN

Eight killed in heavy rains in Balochistan, Karakoram Highway bridge swept away

Saleem Shahid | Faiza Ilyas | Nisar Ahmad Khan Published August 13, 2022 

UPPER KOHISTAN: This photo provided by the local administration shows construction equipment and other machinery submerged by water from the overflowing Ichar Nullah, on Friday.—Dawn
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KARACHI/MANSEHRA/QUETTA: At least eight people were killed in the fresh spell of heavy rains and flash floods in different areas of Balochistan, traffic between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan was suspended for the second time this month after flash floods swept away a bridge, while the Met department on Friday forecast thunderstorms with a few “heavy” to “very heavy” falls and occasional strong winds in several parts of Sindh in the next two days.

“The well-marked low-pressure area over the northeast Arabian Sea has intensified into an intense low-pressure area (depression) with a maximum wind speed of 50-55 kilometres per hour,” a Met department advisory said but added that none of the coastal areas was under threat at present.

“The system is located around latitude 22.6N and longitude 66.4E, at a distance of about 260km south/southeast of Karachi and 280km from Thatta. This weather system is likely to move in northwest direction initially and then westwards,” it said.

Chief Meteorologist Dr Sardar Sarfaraz told Dawn the system was unlikely to turn into a cyclone as prevailing monsoon conditions did not support its formation and the depression would likely advance into its next stage, called deep depression, before dying out.

Thunderstorms likely in several areas of Sindh, including Karachi; Balochistan battered by flash floods, two dams breached

The department has forecast thunderstorms with a few heavy to very heavy falls and occasional strong winds in Tharparkar, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Badin, Tando Muhammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Hyderabad, Matiari, Thatta, Sujawal, Sanghar, Shaheed Benazir­abad, Naushahro Feroze, Khairpur, Sukkur, Larkana, Ghotki, Kashmore, Shikar­pur, Jacobabad, Dadu, Jamshoro and Kambar Shahdadkot districts and Karachi division until Aug 14 with occasional gaps.

Dr Sarfaraz said the low-pressure area over India’s Rajasthan state has weakened, which would help the current pattern of isolated heavy to very heavy falls in Sindh continue.

“Sea conditions would remain very rough during the next three days. Fishermen in Sindh are advised not to venture in the open sea till Aug 14 and those in Balochistan should also remain extra cautious during the forecast period,” the advisory said.

Rainfall is also likely to intensify in Balochistan’s north-eastern and southern districts and may trigger flash floods in Dadu, Jamshoro and Kambar Shahdadkot districts and downstream.

Besides, heavy rains over Khuz­dar, Lasbela and Hub districts and over the Kirthar mountain range may create extra pressure on Hub and Thaddo dams and downstream areas.

Heavy falls may create waterlogging and urban flooding in low-lying areas during the forecast period.

Bridge washed away in Kohistan

Traffic between Khyber Pakhtun­khwa and Gilgit-Baltistan was suspended for the second time this month on Friday after a temporary steel bridge installed at the Karakoram Highway (KKH) was swept away by flash flood in the Ichar nullah area of Upper Kohistan.

“We installed a Bailey bridge some three days ago at Ichar nullah, but it was swept away in the flash floods which brought heavy boulders, rocks and eroded lands, suspending traffic between KP and GB,” Mohammad Asif, the deputy commissioner of Upper Kohistan, told reporters.

He said that traffic en route to GB and KP had been diverted to the Mansehra-Naran-Jalkhad road.

The working sites of the Dasu hydropower projects were also inundated in the floods, which also swept away machinery, including shovels.

120 houses destroyed

In Balochistan, at least eight people, including a child, were killed in the fresh spell of heavy rains and flash floods in different areas and amid reports of the breach of Machka and another dam in Qila Abdullah, while hundreds of houses were washed away in Qila Saifullah district.

Of those who lost their lives, three were killed in the Killi Khali neighbourhood located on the outskirts of Quetta where heavy rains collapsed the walls of two houses. Another death was reported in Chaman district.

Four of the deceased were swept away in flash floods that hit Qila Abdullah district late on Friday night, said Munir Ahmad Kakar, the district’s deputy commissioner. They were among the 15 who were on a tractor trolley when it was washed away. The rest of the people remained missing.

Officials said traffic between Quetta and Karachi was once again suspended as the linking highway had been damaged in different areas of Lasbela district.

In Qila Saifullah district, around 120 houses were swept away by hill torrents on Thursday night, Zakaullah Durrani, the assistant commissioner of Muslim Bagh, told Dawn, adding that 200 houses were also damaged in other localities.

Rains also continue to batter Pishin, Chaman, Qila Abdullah, Ziarat, Harnai, Duki, Sanjavi, Loralai, Fort Minro, Barkhan, Zhob and Sherani areas.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2022

High salinity found in European river after fish die-off



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Volunteers recover dead fish from the water of the German-Polish border river Oder in Lebus, eastern Germanny, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. Poland’s environment minister says laboratory tests following a mass dying off of fish detected high levels of salinity but no mercury in waters of Central Europe’s Oder River. (Patrick Pleul/dpa via AP)


WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Laboratory tests following a mass dying off of fish detected high levels of salinity but no mercury in waters of Central Europe’s Oder River, Poland’s environment minister said Saturday.

Anna Moskwa, the minister of climate and environment, said analyses of river samples taken in both Poland and Germany revealed the elevated salt levels. Comprehensive toxicology studies are still underway in Poland, she said.

Writing on Twitter, Moskwa said test results transmitted from Germany had so far not shown a high presence of mercury.

The Oder River runs from the Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and along the border between Poland and Germany before flowing into the Baltic Sea. Some German media had reported that the river could be poisoned with mercury.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Friday that “huge amounts of chemical waste” were probably dumped intentionally into his country’s second-longest river, causing environmental damage so severe it would take years for the waterway to recover.

On Saturday, Morawiecki vowed to do everything possible to limit the environmental devastation. Poland’s interior minister said a reward of 1 million zlotys ($200,000) would be paid to anyone who helps track down those responsible for polluting the river.

Authorities in the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania warned people not to fish or use water from the Szczecin lagoon as the river’s contaminated water was expected to reach the estuary area Saturday evening.

“The extent of the fish die-off is shocking. This is a blow to the Oder as a waterway of great ecological value, from which it will presumably not recover for a long time,” Alex Vogel, the environment minister for Germany’s Brandenburg state, along which the river runs.

The head of Polish waters, Poland’s national water management authority, said Thursday that 10 tons of dead fish had been removed from the river. Hundreds of volunteers were working to help collect dead fish along the German side.

German laboratories said they detected “atypical” levels of “salts” that could be linked to the die-offs but wouldn’t explain them on their own.

Morawiecki acknowledged that some public officials were “sluggish” in reacting after huge numbers of dead fish were first seen floating and washing ashore.

Two Polish officials were dismissed for what Morawiecki described as tardiness in their response. “If I come to the conclusion that there was a serious breach of duties, further consequences will be drawn,” the prime minister said.

“For me, however, the most important thing is to deal with this ecological disaster as soon as possible, because nature is our common heritage. It is a national good,” Morawiecki said.

His comments were echoed by Schwedt Mayor Annekathrin Hoppe, whose German town is located next to Lower Oder Valley National Park. She called the contamination of the river “an environmental catastrophe of unprecedented scale” for the region.

Spiegel: EU and US very annoyed by Ankara's behavior

12.08.2022

Since the European Union has shown hostility toward Moscow, Erdogan has claimed the role of mediator in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. The EU and the US are very annoyed by Ankara's behavior, according to a Spiegel article translated by Inosmi.

"In the Ukraine conflict, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has chosen to play the role of peacemaker. But in his own country he is rapidly losing support. Isn't the Turkish president overestimating his capabilities?

They say geography is destiny. Few regions of the world have more of this than Turkey. Part of the country is in Europe, part is in Asia, and the Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara.

Turkish politicians have always used the country's special geostrategic position to their advantage. But no one has succeeded more than the country's current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan rules a country of 84 million inhabitants, but behaves as if he is a representative of a superpower. Whether in Ukrainian, Syrian or Libyan affairs, Ankara does not stand aside in many international conflicts.

This was especially evident in the grain deal that Ukraine and Russia struck two weeks ago, brokered by the UN and Turkey. At the signing of the agreement, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres outdid himself in praising the Turkish president. Indeed, grain will now once again be transported by ship from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea to countries otherwise threatened by famine.

In the Ukrainian conflict, Erdogan has a dual role: he is one of the few heads of state and government who maintains close contact with both Kiev and Moscow.

At the beginning of the war, many observers believed that pendulum diplomacy could hurt Turkey. But Erdogan made it the core of his policy anyway. Therefore, the Turkish president is so far one of the few winners on the Ukrainian battlefields.

A few months ago, Turkey was something of an outcast in international politics. With his numerous provocative actions, Erdogan turned against himself not only his colleagues in the Middle East, but also in Europe and the United States. Now the whole world suddenly wants to communicate with him. Most recently, NATO went to the lengths of his government to refuse to block Sweden and Finland from joining the alliance. The danger for Turkey is that Erdogan, as has often happened in the past, may overreach.

When mass protests in 2011 swept away many pro-Western and anti-Western dictatorships in the Arab world, Erdoğan and his then chief foreign policy strategist, Ahmet Davutoğlu, thought they could fill the resulting vacuum. According to their visions, Turkey was to become the leading power in the region. Experts called Turkey's new ambitions neo-Ottomanism. But neo-Ottomanism led to Turkey's isolation, from which it is now slowly being freed.

That the Turkish president may be overestimating his capabilities even in the current military crisis in Eastern Europe was revealed during his meeting with Vladimir Putin last Friday in Sochi. Erdogan showed his closeness to the Russian dictator. They both stated that they will cooperate more closely in the economic sphere and that Turkey will pay part of its gas bill in rubles.

Only years ago, Erdogan turned NATO against him by purchasing Russian missile defense systems. Moreover, the simmering conflict between Turkey and Greece over gas fields in the Aegean Sea continues. This Tuesday, a Turkish ship carrying a drilling rig is scheduled to sail into the disputed waters again. Western officials have threatened the Turkish government, via the Financial Times, with penalties if the Turks help Russia circumvent sanctions.

In the conflict in Ukraine, Erdogan is trying to play the role of mediator. But he sometimes seems like a double agent to his NATO partners, which could be a problem for the Turkish president. As much as he tries to demonstrate his independence in foreign policy, his own country is in deep crisis.

The Turkish economy is on the verge of collapse; inflation has recently officially reached nearly 80 percent. Experts believe that real inflation is twice as high. Part of the Turkish middle class is threatened with impoverishment. In such an environment, Turkish companies are more dependent than ever on strong ties with the EU states, which account for more than half of their trade turnover.

So by flirting with Putin, Erdoğan is risking a lot. His popularity is at its lowest point in his presidency less than a year before the election, a factor that must be exploited. His self-confident behavior on the world stage may appeal to nationalist voters, but most Turkish citizens are primarily interested in improving the economy, which requires Western investment. In one poll, most people cited the country's economic situation as the decisive factor in the elections. Foreign policy was left far behind on the list of priorities.

Taliban broke multiple pledges on human rights since taking over Afghanistan, says rights group

New York [US], August 11 (ANI): The Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday said the Taliban have broken multiple pledges to respect human rights and women's rights since taking over Afghanistan a year ago.

After capturing Kabul in August last year, the Islamic authorities have imposed severe restrictions on women's and girls' rights, suppressed the media, and arbitrarily detained, tortured, and summarily executed critics and perceived opponents, among other abuses.

The New York-based rights group in its report said Taliban human rights abuses have brought widespread condemnation and imperilled international efforts to address the country's dire humanitarian situation.

The economy has collapsed, largely because governments have cut foreign assistance and restricted international economic transactions. More than 90 per cent of Afghans have been food insecure for almost a year, causing millions of children to suffer from acute malnutrition and threatening serious long-term health problems.

"The Afghan people are living a human rights nightmare, victims of both Taliban cruelty and international apathy," said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at HRW. "Afghanistan's future will remain bleak unless foreign governments engage more actively with Taliban authorities while pressuring them vigorously on their rights record."Since taking power, the Taliban have imposed rules that comprehensively prevent women and girls from exercising their most fundamental rights to expression, movement, and education, and affect their other basic rights to life, livelihood, health care, food, and water.

They have prohibited women from traveling or going to their workplace without a male family member accompanying them - an impossible requirement for almost all families - and barred them from many jobs. Moreover, the Taliban have denied almost all girls access to secondary school.

According to HRW, the Taliban's horrendous human rights record and their unwillingness to meaningfully engage with international financial institutions have furthered their isolation.

They argue that foreign governments should ease restrictions on the country's banking sector to facilitate legitimate economic activity and humanitarian aid, but the Taliban also need to curtail rights abuses and hold those responsible for abuses to account.

"The Taliban should urgently reverse their horrifying and misogynistic decision to bar girls and women from secondary school," Abbasi said. "This would send a message that the Taliban are willing to reconsider their most egregious actions."Aside from the rights situation, the humanitarian crisis in the country is reaching an alarming level. Almost 20 million people - half the population - are suffering either level-3 "crisis" or level-4 "emergency" levels of food insecurity under the assessment system of the World Food Programme (WFP).

Overall, Afghans have been suffering from some form of food insecurity since last August, skipping meals or whole days of eating and engaging in extreme coping mechanisms to pay for food, including sending children to work.

The impact of the economic crisis on women and girls is especially severe, as women and girls have increasing difficulties accessing assistance and health care.

 (ANI)

Senior Taliban cleric Rahimullah Haqqani, brother killed in Kabul suicide blast

Agencies Published August 12, 2022

Rahimullah Haqqani

KABUL: A senior Taliban cleric known for his fiery speeches against the militant Islamic State (IS) group and support for female education, was killed in a suicide blast at his madressah in the Afghan capital on Thursday.

Rahimullah Haqqani, who had recently spoken publicly in favour of girls being allowed to attend school, had survived at least two previous assassination attempts — including one in Pakistan in October 2020.

“The madrassa of Sheikh Rahimullah was targeted today and as a result he and one of his brothers were martyred,” Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran told AFP, adding that three others were wounded in the blast.

Government spokesman Bilal Karimi confirmed Haqqani’s death “in an attack carried out by a cowardly enemy”, but did not offer further details.

Haqqani backed girls’ right to attend school; IS claims responsibility for attack

Despite sharing the same name, the cleric was not related to Afghanistan’s Haqqani militant group network.

Hours later, IS claimed the attack on its telegram channels, saying the bomber had detonated his explosive vest inside the cleric’s office.

However, Reuters claimed the attacker detonated explosives “hidden in a plastic artificial leg”, quoting officials and Taliban sources.

Four Taliban sources told Reuters the attacker was someone who had previously lost his leg and had hidden the explosives in a plastic artificial leg.

“We are investigating who this ... person was and who had brought him to this important place to enter the personal office of Sheikh Rahimullah Haqqani. It’s a very huge loss for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” said one senior Taliban official of the interior ministry.

Haqqani was one of the most “prominent advocates for the Taliban and one of the biggest of them who incited to fight” IS, jihadist monitoring group SITE said, translating a statement from IS.

Taliban sources said that although he held no official position, Haqqani was an influential figure who had taught many of the group’s members over the years.

Scores of Taliban officials took to social media to express their condolences.

“You have fulfilled your responsibility. Destiny cannot be prevented, but the Muslim community has been orphaned,” tweeted Mobin Khan, a former spokesman for the Kabul police.

Haqqani was known for angry speeches against IS, that has claimed several attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power in August last year.

In recent months, Haqq­ani also backed the right of girls to attend school.

“There is no justification in Sharia to say female education is not allowed. No justification at all,” he told the BBC in an interview in May.

He added: “All the religious books have stated female education is permissible and obligatory, because, for example, if a woman gets sick, in an Islamic environment like Afghanistan or Pakistan, and needs treatment, it’s much better if she’s treated by a female doctor.”

Since seizing power, the Taliban have imposed harsh restrictions on girls and women. They have not allo­wed secondary schools for girls to reopen in most parts of the country.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2022

Afghan cleric’s killing

Editorial Published August 13, 2022

THAT a suicide bomber belonging to the self-styled Islamic State group managed to target a senior Taliban cleric in Kabul should send alarm bells ringing, specifically regarding the terrorist outfit’s reach and capabilities. Rahimullah Haqqani, the cleric in question — who is not a part of the powerful Haqqani Network — was targeted in a suicide blast inside his madressah. The late Haqqani was a staunch critic of IS and, by the Taliban’s standards at least, relatively liberal as he advocated for the cause of girls’ education. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have lamented the targeting of the senior cleric, blaming “a cowardly enemy” for the hit and calling the killing “a huge loss for the Islamic Emirate”. Reportedly, Haqqani had also been targeted earlier by IS, including an attack in Pakistan in 2020. If IS militants can strike someone so high in the current Afghan hierarchy, they are capable of striking anywhere, and Afghanistan’s de facto rulers need to come up with a plan of action to root out the terrorist group from their soil.

The warning signs regarding IS’s existence in Afghanistan had been present even before the Taliban took Kabul last year. The terrorist group has staged regular attacks, targeting Afghanistan’s Shia community, as well as the country’s tiny Sikh minority. Earlier this month, the Taliban claimed to have neutralised an IS cell that was apparently planning to carry out attacks during Muharram-related activities. The fact is that the Khorasan chapter of the terrorist franchise is one of its deadliest and most well-organised units. While IS’s reign of terror in its erstwhile Middle Eastern heartland may be over, it has found fertile ground to regroup in Afghanistan. As per a recent UN report, IS seeks to use Afghanistan as a launching pad to revive its vision of a ‘great caliphate’. Needless to say, any progress on this front would spell trouble for neighbouring states, as well as the international community. Primarily, the Afghan Taliban need to do more to liberate all their territory from IS control. Regional states — which face a direct threat from the IS presence — should also help the Taliban achieve this goal while the US and Western states need to chip in if they are serious about counterterrorism efforts. The Taliban may be difficult partners, but IS poses a much bigger threat to regional security, which is why Afghanistan’s rulers, as well as foreign states, must work together to neutralise the outfit.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2022

PTI hires firm to ‘improve image’ in US

Anwar Iqbal Published August 13, 2022

• Documents reveal party to pay firm $25,000 per month

• Fawad says firm engaged to communicate party’s viewpoint in US media

WASHINGTON: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) US chapter has hired a public relations firm to improve its image in the United States, where it has been portrayed as anti-America since April, when party chairman and former premier Imran Khan accused Washington of backing efforts to overthrow his government through a no-confidence motion.

Following his ouster in April, Mr Khan and his party have been running a systematic campaign on the narrative that the US backed “local abettors” to topple his government through a conspiracy, and install an administration of its choice.

However, this latest move suggests that the party is looking to carry out damage control following its leader’s campaign, vilifying the US to win over popular support in Pakistan.

“This is an agreement between a PR firm, not a lobbyist, and a group of US citizens,” Sajjad Burki, the PTI chairman’s focal person for the US, told Dawn. “We are not lobbying for PTI Pakistan, and certainly not within the US administration.”

The agreement, signed on Aug 1 between David Fenton of Fenton/Arlook and attorney for PTI USA Salman Ravala became effective on Aug 9. It points out that PTI USA “is not supervised, owned, or controlled by any foreign political party, but will in certain instances be directed by a foreign political party in Pakistan”.

The PTI USA will pay the firm $25,000 per month, “collected from PTI supporters who are legal US residents”, Atif Khan, another PTI official, in Dallas, Texas, told Dawn.

The documents filed on Aug 9 showed the party had engaged Fenton/Arlock LLC to support the PTI’s “goals for good relations with the United States and the Pakistani diaspora in the US”.

The documents appear to lend credence to reports that the party was trying to mend its ties with the Biden administration after relentlessly accusing it of backing efforts to overthrow the PTI government through a “conspiracy”, which includes backing the Pakistan Democratic Movement that is in power in Islamabad.

Under the agreement, the New York-based PTI USA is the principal client of the PR firm, which has been hired for six months to manage the party’s public and media relations.

The same firm has previously represented the Pakistan embassy in the US for a brief period while the PTI was in power. Former prime minister Imran Khan also had dinner at Fenton’s in 2019 when he visited New York to attend the UN General Assembly session.

Both agreements – with the PTI USA and the embassy – are available on an official US website as public documents. The documents have been made public under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act, on a website controlled by the Unit of Counterintelligence and Exports Control in the US National Security Division, which falls under the Department of Justice.

A document filed on March 26 shows the firm had been contracted to work for the embassy from March 21 to Sept 20, 2022. But an embassy official told Dawn the contract was cancelled in May after the ouster of the PTI government.

Under the agreement, the firm was providing public relations services to the embassy, which included distributing information to and briefing journalists; placing articles and broadcasts in the respective media; arranging interviews with representatives and supporters of Pakistan; advising on social media efforts; and other such PR services.

For this, the firm was charging $30,000 a month, plus expenses.

Usually, when such a contract is cancelled, the hiring party is required to pay the entire amount specified in the agreement.

A US lawyer, who requested not to be identified because he was not involved in the case, told Dawn that “there’s nothing illegal in either agreement. Foreign governments and parties often hire PR persons and lobbyists in the US. It’s not unusual”.

The lawyer also said the amount mentioned in the two documents – $25,000 and $30,000 per month – “are peanuts. Other embassies and organisations pay much more”.

Under its agreement with the PTI USA, “Fenton/Arlook shall provide public relations services, including but not limited to distributing information to and briefing journalists, placing articles and broadcasts, arranging interviews with representatives or supporters of PTI, advising on social media efforts and other such public relations services”.

Until recently, the PTI USA publicly promoted Mr Khan’s claim that a US State Department official had threatened to topple his government in a lunch meeting with the then Pakistani ambassador Asad Majeed Khan.

But since last month, the party has been trying to rebuild its ties with the US, and it is alleged that recently the PTI chairman held a video call with US Ambassador in Islamabad Donald Blome.

‘Seeking pardon from US’

Meanwhile, the ruling PML-N was quick to avail the opportunity to take on PTI chief Khan over the ‘hypocrisy’.

“I have never had any doubts that Imran Khan has a hundred faces. What he poses and professes is a smoke screen. Behind this smoke screen is the face of an egomaniac, narcissist & selfish person. He is now begging the USA by all means whether by sending emissaries or engaging lobbyists,” federal minister Ahsan Iqbal said in a tweet on Friday.

Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman also urged the PTI to tender an unconditional apology for what she called misleading the nation through its fake and concocted narrative to target its political rivals.

At a media briefing in Islamabad, she said the PTI had quietly hired an American lobbying firm to improve its ties, perception in the US and enhance its advertisements.

“You have repeatedly perpetrated propaganda against the US and befooled the nation under your fake narrative,” the minister stressed. “What kind of hypocrisy is this that the entire nation was engulfed in hoax propaganda and this party secretly hired a lobbyist firm to improve its projection in the US?”

She also questioned the claims of some PTI leaders that the agreement was meant for the PTI’s advertisement in the American media, saying: “Why do you need advertisements in the US?”

In the same breath, Ms Rehman also claimed that during the recent visit of the US ambassador to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI had held talks with him, and Imran Khan allegedly secretly spoke to him too.

“You are not going to improve Pakistan’s image rather your own party’s in the US. Who is imported now, as you have been accusing all other political parties of being foreign assisted?” she remarked.

However, in his party’s defence, former PTI minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted in response to a journalist’s tweet that he had asked for an Urdu translation of the agreement “so that some incompetent journalists and ministers understand that it’s not a lobbyist firm, but a media relations firm that the PTI USA has engaged to put its point across in the media. It’s the job of these firms to develop a relationship between the media and the party”.

Zulqernain Tahir in Lahore and Jamal Shahid in Islamabad also contributed to this report.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2022

Nigeria: How Female Athletes Are Driving Nigeria to Global Successes

13 AUGUST 2022

Daily Trust (Abuja)

By David Ngobua

Millions of Nigerian sports enthusiasts are presently in a joyous mood following the historic outing of Team Nigeria at the just concluded 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

Represented by 94 athletes in seven events, namely weightlifting, power-lifting, boxing, para-table tennis, athletics, boxing and table tennis, Team Nigeria produced their best ever performance in the games as they scooped an unprecedented 12 gold, 9 silver and 14 bronze for a total of 35 medals, finishing seventh out of 42 countries that participated in the games.

Apart from the fact that Nigeria emerged the best African country at the multi-sports events in which she made her debut in 1950 in Auckland with a bronze medal, Team Nigeria broke and set four Commonwealth Games records and one world record in Birmingham.

The most intriguing and fascinating thing about Team Nigeria's success story in England is that all the 12 gold medals that earned the country her enviable rating were won by female athletes in wrestling, weightlifting and athletic events.

Team Nigeria's best performance in Commonwealth Games was in 2014 in Glasgow Scotland, where the country amassed a total of 11gold, 8 silver and 14 gold medals with the female athletes led by Blessing Okagbare contributing nine gold medals.

It is, therefore, easy to understand why Nigerian sports fans are so ecstatic about the performance of the contingent to the 2022 Commonwealth Games, especially the outstanding performances of their female athletes.

The heroic deeds of the female athletes may come as a surprise to some Nigerians, but a former director-general of the defunct National Sports Commission (NSC), Alhassan Yakmut, said he was not surprised by the feats achieved by the young women.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Trust Saturday, the former Nigerian international volleyball player said, "Personally, the superlative performances of Team Nigeria's women didn't come to me as a surprise. It has been the trend in the past 25 years. Our best performances in international competitions have been limited to the women.

"I, therefore, agree with the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, who said the performance of Nigerian women in Birmingham was a proof of how much women could contribute to the image and development of the country

"Now, the events are 50-50 for male and female athletes. Therefore, it is the male gender that we must revive for podium performances," Yakmut said.

However, as Nigerians continue to feast on the heart-warming performances of Team Nigeria in Birmingham, there are divergent opinions, with some attributing the success to individual brilliance of the athletes, who defied all the odds against them to win the laurels.

Considering the fact that Nigerian athletes are oftentimes starved of the necessary motivation before and during international competitions, such views can't be said to be unfounded.

Therefore, the debate as to whether or not the Federal Ministry of Sports should take credit for the good outing of Team Nigeria in Birmingham has continued unabated.

But the ministry under Sunday Dare is also convinced that it was instrumental to the 35 podium appearances of Team Nigeria in England. Of course, there are enough evidences to collaborate the claims by the ministry.

Ministry's role in the success story

Team Nigeria's performance in Birmingham can't be separated from the Adopt-An-Athlete initiative launched by the sports minister on December 2019 at the Lagos Civic Centre. This step was taken by the minister after discoveries were made that the root cause of the challenges athletes faced, which had impeded their performances at continental and global competitions, was lack of funding and scholarships.

Interestingly, substantial solutions to the above mentioned problems hitherto faced by athletes were found as soon as the initiative started in earnest.

At the moment, some home-based athletes receive as much as $10,000, paid directly into their accounts and managed solely by them. This takes care of their coaches, kits, nutrition and health insurance. And based on higher overhead, foreign-based athletes earn as much as $20,000.

To sustain this initiative, some states like Delta, Edo, Ogun, Lagos and Bayelsa, as well as corporate organisations like Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, UBA, Access Bank, adopted most of the athletes.

Interestingly, most of the athletes who won medals in Birmingham are among the 38 beneficiaries of the Adopt-An-Athlete initiative of the sports minister.

In addition, the ministry ensured that Team Nigeria didn't go to England for jamboree as it was the practice in the past. Thus, Nigeria went to Birmingham with only 94 athletes, who featured in only 9 sports where the country is ranked amongst the top 50 in the world. It was a deliberate decision to feature athletes in events where Nigeria also has comparative advantage.

Unlike before, reward for victorious athletes was instant, as it is said that even before most of them competed in their games, they had their allowances available.

While gold medalists received as much as $5,000, silver medalists got $3,000. Bronze medalists receive $2,000. Cash rewards were also given to the coaches. These and other available incentives, no doubt, motivated the athletes to put in their best.

Future of sports in Nigeria is with women - Ibrahim Galadima

Overwhelmed by the outstanding performances of Team Nigeria's female athletes in Birmingham, one of Nigeria's most respected sports administrators and patron of the Nigeria Olympics Committee (NOC), Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, has concluded that the future of sports in Africa's most populous country lies with women.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Trust Saturday, the chairman of the Kano State Sports Commission said, "Every Nigerian is elated at what happened in Birmingham. It is long we had such an outstanding performance. The performance of the young women is an indication that the future of Nigerian sports is with women.

"I hope and pray that we sustain the tempo. Managing success has been one of our major problems in sports. We have to keep a close watch on the victorious athletes as we prepare for the 2024 Olympic Games in France. We have to maintain the standard we have set.

He, however, expressed dissatisfaction with Team Nigeria's preparations before the games as he also attributed much of the success story to individual efforts of the athletes.

"We didn't prepare adequately because even when it was close to the games, most of the athletes were not in closed camp. This has always been our problem. So most of what we were able to do show that there was individual brilliance and resilience on the part of the athletes.

Galadima, however, gave the Sports Ministry a pat on the back for paying more attention to athletes' motivation by instantly rewarding winners with cash prizes.

"I am also impressed with the response from the ministry in terms of giving them winning bonuses almost immediately. I think that also spurred the athletes to do better.

"It shows that the ministry is becoming aware that motivation is key to success," the former president of the then Nigeria Football Association said.

How Birmingham success can be sustained - Tijani Yusuf, Alhassan Yakmut

Meanwhile, two foremost Nigerian sports administrators, Dr Tijani Yusuf and a former director-general of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Alhassan Yakmut, in exclusive interviews with Daily Trust Saturday, called on the Ministry of Sports to sustain the momentum by taking sports development to the grassroots, where they believe more Tobi Amusans and Ese Brumes are waiting to be unearthed.

Dr Yusuf, who is a senior lecturer in the Department of Physical and Health Education, Bayero University, Kano, said the success of Team Nigeria in Birmingham was not an accidental.

He reiterated that the achievement in Birmingham was a result of hard work, scientific planning and developmental programmes that put the athletes in top shape for podium finishes.

Yusuf also commended the victorious female athletes for upstaging American and Jamaican rivals, even in events they (Americans) had dominated for decades.

The former secretary-general of the then Nigeria Football Association said, "If you look at things holistically, the women who made Nigeria proud did so in those areas that were dominated by Jamaicans and Americans.

"For instance, the 4x100m women's relay team has broken the African record and set a new one so others will have to do more in order to either equal or surpass their record in Birmingham."

The university don also said that to avoid what had become the bane of the female senior national team, the Super Falcons, there should be plans for the future, even as the country is still celebrating.

"We have to begin to prepare for the future. Talents abound in Nigeria. They are only waiting to be discovered. I want to appreciate the minister for some of his innovations in sports. He has done what Napoleon couldn't do. I congratulate him and those who made the success possible," Yusuf said.

Yakmut also lauded Team Nigeria, saying hope has been greatly rekindled by their superlative performances, especially the female athletes in Birmingham.

Furthermore, he painted a bright future for Nigeria in sports as he expressed happiness and satisfaction with the average age of the athletes.

"I think that in the history of this country, there is no better time that sports have healed it of so many problems than now. There is the problem of disunity, insecurity, poverty, inflation and so on. These are global challenges, anyway.

"The performances at the Commonwealth Games have rekindled the hope of Nigerians in their country and the younger generation.

"We should also plan to sustain the success. With the vibrant and talented youths we have, it shouldn't take us years to achieve this performance. We need good administrators, good funding, upgrading of sporting facilities, regular international exposure for the athletes and strict adherence to anti-doping regulations to thrive.

"And if you look at the average age of those who competed, it is the youngest we have ever presented. This is one area most people haven't looked at. The age bracket of our athletes is promising," he noted.

Like Yusuf, the former NSC director-general also made a passionate appeal for grassroots sports development if the success story in Birmingham is to be sustained.

"Ese Brume was discovered at a grassroots competition in Lagos when I was the Director of Grassroots Sports Development in the Federal Ministry of Sports.

"So, we have to go back to the grassroots where these talents abound. If we have sustainable programmes as some of us have always proposed, our athletes will continue to make podium appearances," he advised.

Find below a complete list of the winners and their events:

Weightlifting

Adijat Adenike Olarinoye (gold, women's 55kg)

Edidiong Joseph Umaofia (bronze, men's 67kg)

Rafiatu Folashade Lawal (gold, women's 59kg)

Slamiyat Yusuf (bronze, women's 64kg).

Taiwo Laidi (silver, women's 76kg).

Mary Taiwo Osijo (bronze, women's 87kg)

Athletics

Chioma Onyekwere (gold, women's discus throw)

Obiageri Amaechi (bronze, women's discus throw)

Favour Ofili (silver, women's 200m)

Amusan Tobi (gold, women's 100m, hurdles)

Onwuzurike Udodi Chudi, Ashe Favour Oghene Tejiri, Akintola Alaba Olukunle, Ekevwo Raymond (bronze medal, men's 4 x 100m)

Amusan Tobi, Ofili Favour, Chukwuma Rosemary, Nwokocha Nzubechi Grace, Udo Joy Gabriel Chinenye (gold, women's 4 x 100m).

Ese Brume (gold, women's long jump)

Para-athletics

Goodness Chiemere Nwachukwu (gold, women's discus throw F 42-44/61-64)

Eucharia Njideka Iyiazi (gold, women's F55 - 57, shot put)

Ugochi Constaine Alam (bronze, women's F55 - 57, shot put)

Power-lifting

Alice Folashade Oluwafemiayo (gold, women's heavyweight)

Bose Patricia Omolayo (silver, women's heavyweight)

Ikechukwu Christian Obichukwu (silver, men's heavyweight)

Innocent Nnamdi (bronze, men's lightweight)

Wrestling

Adekuoroye Odunayo (gold, women's freestyle 57kg)

Kolawole Esther (bronze, women's freestyle 62kg)

Oborodudu Blessing (gold, women's freestyle 68kg)

Genesis Mercy (gold, women's freestyle, 50kg)

Wilson Ebikewemino (silver, men's freestyle 57kg)

Hannah Reuben (silver, women's freestyle 76kg)

John Ogbonna Emmanuel (bronze, men's freestyle 74kg)

Para-table tennis

Ikpeoyi Ifechukwude Christiana (silver, women's singles classes 3-5)

Sule Nasiru (silver, men's singles classes 3-5)

Ogunkunle Isau (bronze, men's singles classes 3-5)

Obazuaye Faith (bronze, women's singles classes 6-10)

Boxing

Onyekwere Ifeanyi (bronze, men's over 92kg, super heavyweight)

Umunnake Jacinta (bronze, women's 75kg)

Ogunsemilore Cynthia (bronze, women's over 57kg-60kg, light weight)

Oshoba Elizabeth (silver, over 54kg-57kg, featherweight)

Read the original article on Daily Trust.

Enduring colonialism has made it harder to end the COVID-19 pandemic

The Conversation
12th August 2022, 



Rich countries are hoarding vaccine doses while poor countries become breeding grounds for new COVID-19 variants.

The World Health Organization's COVAX - an abbreviation for COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access - warned that "no one is safe, until everyone is safe," yet colonial attitudes are an obstacle to reining in the global pandemic.

COVID-19 has shown that global equity and inclusion are necessary to manage global crises. A major lesson from this pandemic is the need to decolonize transnational governance so that the world is better able to handle both future and current global crises and issues.

COVAX's naïve failure

COVAX has failed.

It was supposed to provide vaccinations globally and equitably as well as serve as a mechanism through which both rich and poor countries would access vaccines. More than 80 per cent of the population in rich countries is fully vaccinated, compared to less than 10 per cent of the population in poor countries.

Credible reports say that poor countries have been affected the most by the global pandemic both in terms of how deadly it has been, as well as economically.

This summer, we're seeing new pandemic waves in Europe and Asia driven by new SARS-CoV-2 variants first spotted in South Africa.

COVAX is based on lofty ideals of equity and social justice. The initiative has been necessary to moderately balance the gap between rich and poor countries that would have fared worse had it not been launched.

But COVAX has been called naïve for relying upon the good will of rich countries for funding and on their willingness to wait patiently in line for their own populations' doses.

COVAX's good intentions have had to co-exist with "might is right" politics. Rich countries made their own deals and bought large amounts of vaccine supplies before they were even available.

Vaccine nationalism turned COVAX into a broker of charity. The colonial mentality believes it's OK to cut deals with Big Pharma for vaccine doses ahead of populous poor countries, and to charitably donate to them their soon-to-expire leftovers.

Read more: COVID-19 vaccine inequity allowed Omicron to emerge

Colonial mentality

Global capitalism as we know it emerged from a colonial world order set up for exploitation of people and lands. European countries kidnapped people from Africa and enslaved them as they dispossessed Indigenous Peoples. This created the extractive economy of today.

Racial classifications and racism have remained an enduring aspect of the modern world. Colonialism produced the initial and current gap between the rich and the poor world, and racialized the latter. When the mercantilist order of the colonial day morphed into capitalism in the 1800s, the colonial mentality that simply assumes European superiority remained.

This has been the basis for the colonial upper hand of the West and the United States in the type of transnational governance that emerged after the Second World War (the United Nations and Bretton Woods organizations, including the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank). This has also been the basis for the colonial mentality of today.

COVAX was conceived during the rich World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2020. As news of the virus emerged from China, two professional white men sipped whisky and envisioned COVAX in a Swiss ski resort bar.

Seth Berkley (CEO of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, or Gavi) and Richard Hatchett (CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI), heads of global vaccination networks, discussed pandemic scenarios. They knew the world would need a funding and distribution strategy for shots, so they started thinking about a global solution.

Hatchett wrote a white paper in March 2020 and those ideas were the basis for the creation of COVAX in April that year. All this sounds great, but colonial mentality ultimately prevented the success of their initiative. It stopped COVAX from emerging as the co-ordinator of sorely needed 21st-century solidarity.

Decolonizing crisis governance

People rarely hear the names of Berkley and Hatchett in the global public sphere. Berkley's Gavi is a global vaccine alliance that brings together the public and private sectors. Hatchett's CEPI describes itself as a "global partnership between public, private, philanthropic, and civil society organizations."

Today, these two global organizations - supported by the World Health Organization - are dealing with the enduring pandemic. But their transparency and accountability have been questionable.

Gavi designed COVAX without oversight and "with a small group of like-minded advisors, primarily Global North philanthropists, academics, and consultants," according to a Doctors Without Borders report. The perspectives of low- and middle-income countries, civil society organizations or regional disease control groups weren't considered in a meaningful way.

At the same time, pharmaceutical industry representatives have had a seat at the table of major decision-making discussions, and this has helped maintain the status quo of their intellectual property rights.

Read more: Peru's COVID-19 vaccine scandal shows the shady deals made with pharma companies

The world needs to move beyond myopic national self-interest. It has become apparent that in order to control the COVID-19 pandemic, equity and inclusion are urgently required.

Scientists anticipate there will be new pandemics along with climate change crises. This will hardly be the last global public-health emergency.

Out of self-interest, transnational governance needs to embrace true solidarity. World leaders must use a decolonialized imagination to face these coming global challenges.

Author: Monica Sanchez-Flores - Associate Professor of Sociology, Thompson Rivers University

LIKE A JAMES BOND MOVIE

Third Russian hypersonic missile scientist charged with treason

Robert Besser
10th August 2022

MOSCOW, Russia: A leading Russian scientist in the field of hypersonic flight, Dr. Alexander Shiplyuk, has been arrested on suspicion of treason, according to Russian state media.

Director of the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch, Shiplyuk is the third Russian scientist this summer to be arrested for treason.

Meanwhile, the institute's scientific director, Vasily Fomin, told the Russian news agency TASS that Shiplyuk was sent to the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center in Moscow.

On 27th June, the chief researcher of the institute, Anatoly Maslov, was also arrested on suspicion of transferring state secret data related to hypersonic missiles.

According to the institute's website, Shiplyuk heads a technology lab with unique wind tunnels purpose-built for simulating hypersonic conditions.

On 30th June, another scientist, Dmitry Kolker, a researcher at the Institute of Laser Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was arrested by the Sovetsky District Court.

Reuters reported that Kolker was detained on state treason charges for allegedly collaborating with China's security services.

Military powers in Russia, China, and the United States are working to develop hypersonic glide vehicle weapons, which are highly maneuverable and can theoretically fly at hypersonic speeds.

Russia is thought to have a hypersonic system, the Avangard, which Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed, in 2018, was "practically invulnerable" to Western air defense systems.

Domino's closes in Italy, unable to compete with local pizza

Robert Besser
13th August 2022

MILAN, Italy: Milano Today has reported that seven years after launching in the country, American pizza giant Domino's has now closed all of its stores.

The company, franchised by EPizza SpA, had failed to win over Italians, who preferred local options.

According to a document filed in a Milan court, after struggling to be profitable during two years of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, EPizza SpA filed for bankruptcy in April.

Italian food industry publication Food Service reported that the company closed all its Domino's stores on 20th July.

According to ePizza, it lost out to competition from food delivery apps, while others attributed its failure to its brazen attempt to infiltrate the motherland of pizza with American fast food.

The court filing said the Milan-based company faced "unprecedented competition" from local restaurants that started using delivery services, such as Glovo, Just Eat, and Deliveroo, during the pandemic.

In a document attached to the court filing, Domino's said that ePizza's failure last year was due to the "significantly increased level of competition in the food delivery market with both organized chains and 'mom & pop' restaurants delivering food to survive."

After COVID-19 restrictions were eased and consumers began visiting sit-down restaurants again, the company faced further troubles, the document added.

In 2015, Domino's signed a 10-year franchising agreement with ePizza, aimed at introducing a large-scale pizza delivery service to the country, which was absent at that time, the court filing stated.