World

If you’ve heard of Maldives, a South Asian country southwest of Sri Lanka in the Arabian Sea, you may know it as an island paradise. But severe political crisis erupted there Feb. 5 when President Yameen Abdul Gayoom of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) declared a state of emergency.

Security forces stormed the Supreme Court and arrested two of its five sitting judges, and sealed parliament, arresting two members of the opposition. As his term comes to a close, Gayoom is cracking down on the opposition. Numerous opposition leaders are in jail and others fear arrest, as he attempts to continue ruling as a strongman, despite court opposition.

Can Maldives have free and fair elections in November? How are China and India involved? Will the international community intervene? Here are five things you need to know.

How did this all begin?

The crisis began in 2012 when loyalists of former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom forced Mohamed Nasheed — the first democratically elected president of Maldives — to resign and sentenced him to 13 years in prison on terrorism charges. In 2009, Nasheed made an international splash when he held the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting, with all attendees in scuba gear, to illustrate the dangers of climate change to the low-lying island state. At that year’s Copenhagen summit, he pledged to make Maldives the world’s first carbon-neutral state.

Maumoon Gayoom is Yameen Gayoom’s half brother and founder of the PPM, and he ruled Maldives with an iron fist for 30 years. Nasheed claims that he was forced to resign at gunpoint in a military coup. The U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found his detention to be in violation of international law. In 2013, Yameen Gayoom assumed power with his half brother’s support after an election fraught with delays and irregularities.

Since 2016, Nasheed has sought political asylum in Britain. He was in Sri Lanka during the recent ruling, when the Supreme Court vacated his conviction, which would allow him to return. He has said he will run for office in November. In the event that he cannot run, Nasheed has said that he will back an opposition candidate.

How does the Supreme Court’s ruling threaten Yameen Gayoom’s power?

The arrests come after the Supreme Court ruled that two of the president’s actions were unconstitutional. First, it ruled unanimously that Gayoom had wrongly imprisoned nine high-profile opposition figures and that they must be released. Those include retired Col. Mohamed Nazim, a former defense minister, who many Maldivians believe was framed, and Ahmed Adeeb, Gayoom’s former vice president. The court found that prosecutors and judges were forced to conduct “politically motivated” investigations.

In these most recent arrests, the government also took into custody 80-year-old Maumoon Gayoom, who has been running his own PPM faction after being stripped of the leadership position in 2016. In March 2017, he joined the opposition coalition in an effort to restore democracy and ensure free and fair elections.

Second, the court ruled that Yameen Gayoom had wrongly removed 12 legislators from their seats in November when they defected from the ruling party. The court order restored these seats, which would have cost him his parliamentary majority.

Maldives’s entire opposition is now united in a coalition dedicated to removing the younger Gayoom — in no small part because of his strongman behavior. Since the Supreme Court’s ruling, Gayoom has fired two police chiefs after police said they would uphold the court’s orders. Now, his administration claims that it stormed the Supreme Court to avert a coup.

What does the state of emergency do?

The 15-day state of emergency grants all powers to the president. It allows security forces to detain individuals and limits the reach of parliament and the Supreme Court. Numerous constitutional rights have been suspended, including parliament’s authority to remove the president, the Supreme Court’s ability to determine disputes related to impeachment, and the Criminal Procedure Code. Normally, parliament can legally impeach the president or the court could issue a warrant for his arrest if he commits crimes or violates the constitution. But the state of emergency prevents the president from being forcibly removed and gives him the authority to keep opposition leaders imprisoned.

What implications does this have for the November elections?

Maldives’s parliament has been sealed by the army, though its opening was scheduled for Feb. 5. Although the emergency lasts only 15 days, it could be extended. It also gives Gayoom time to replace the judges.

The Supreme Court’s three remaining judges have reversed the court’s original ruling so that the convictions against nine opposition leaders hold. They have said that anyone criticizing its decision will be in contempt of court. Nasheed risks arrest if he returns. The 12 legislators the Supreme Court had restored to parliament still theoretically have their seats, but this may not last. Nor does it matter, while parliament is sealed.

Will the international community intervene?

Nasheed has asked that India lead an international effort to enforce the original court orders. However, the Indian government appears reluctant to send in its military. What’s more, Maldives’s once-strong relationship with India has been strained by China’s increasing economic influence.

In December, China and Maldives signed a free-trade agreement despite the opposition’s disapproval. The 1,000-page document passed in parliament with less than an hour of discussion. China has invested in numerous infrastructure projects, such as the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge between the international airport and Male, the capital of Maldives, and a 1,000-apartment housing project. There are rumors that China may eventually pursue a naval base in Maldives, following its first overseas base in Djibouti. Not surprisingly, China is opposed to Indian intervention.

Aside from China, the international community seems unanimous in condemning Gayoom’s regime. The U.S. National Security Council tweeted that the government must respect the rule of law, freedom of expression and democratic institutions. U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein called the recent events in Maldives an “all-out assault on democracy.” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres has urged the government of Maldives to lift the emergency order. The U.N. Security Council was expected to address the issue Thursday.

But what the international community will do remains unclear. Nasheed is urging that India send an envoy, along with its military, to free the judges and political prisoners. This will allow the arrested politicians to run for office in November. He has also asked the United States to stop all the regime leaders’ financial transactions that go through U.S. banks.

But China’s implicit support for Gayoom’s regime complicates the situation; the country holds veto power in the Security Council.

If Gayoom’s government continues to jail the opposition and control state institutions, free and fair elections remain unlikely.

Nayma Qayum is an assistant professor and chair of the Asian Studies department at Manhattanville College.

(Washington Post)

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's estranged wife, Jashodaben, survived a fatal crash on Wednesday on a national highway, police confirmed.

One of her relatives died when their vehicle collided with a truck in the western state of Rajasthan. Jashodaben, her bodyguard and the driver suffered minor injuries. Seven people were travelling in the SUV.

Police have launched an inquiry to find out what caused the accident.

Jashodaben, who does not live with Modi, married him in 1967 when he was 17 years old.

She has said in interviews that he had left her after three years, during which they spent some three months together and that they had parted amicably.

Modi publicly admitted his marriage for the first time in 2014 when he filed his nomination papers as the prime ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party which went on to win the election.

Critics have accused him of deserting his wife after he joined the Hindu nationalist organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which prizes celibacy. They say the fact that he refused to acknowledge her for so long is a telltale sign of his attitude towards women.

Source : BBC

Leaders of South Africa's governing ANC party are due to meet to decide the future of President Jacob Zuma. The National Executive Committee (NEC) is likely to ask him to step down.

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged on Sunday that the issue was causing "disunity and discord". Zuma, 75, faces a number of corruption charges after nine years in power.

"We know you want closure", Ramaphosa told a crowd marking 100 years since the birth of the country's first black president, Nelson Mandela. An NEC meeting was called off last week following direct talks between Zuma and Ramaphosa, who is the deputy president as well as the new leader of the party.

Zuma has resisted increasing pressure to quit since December, when Ramaphosa replaced him as leader of the ANC (African National Congress). Correspondents say that if the NEC agrees to recall Zuma, it would be very difficult for him to resist.

Ramaphosa has pledged to tackle the corruption that has marred Zuma's time in office. He urged South Africans to restore the values that Mr Mandela - also known as Madiba - stood for, and said those who had stolen state assets would be brought to justice.

"We must work together as Madiba taught us to push back the frontiers of poverty, unemployment and inequality," he said.

Zuma's presidency has been overshadowed by allegations of corruption.

In recent years his links to the wealthy India-born Gupta family, who are alleged to have influenced the government, have caused his popularity to plummet.Both Zuma and the Guptas deny the allegations.

 Source : BBC

The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is to attend Friday's opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games, which are being held in the South, ministers in Seoul say.

Kim Yo-jong is the youngest daughter of late leader Kim Jong-il and her role was strengthened last year when she was promoted to the politburo.

Both Koreas will march under one flag at the opening ceremony. The North's participation has been seen as a thawing of bilateral ties. However, experts say it is unlikely to have any impact on the North's nuclear ambitions.

The US believes the North is using the Olympics for propaganda purposes and is sending Vice-President Mike Pence to the opening ceremony to counter it.

"We're travelling to the Olympics to make sure that North Korea doesn't use the powerful symbolism in the backdrop of the Winter Olympics to paper over the truth about their regime," he said.

Kim Yo-jong, who shares the same mother as Kim Jong-un, will accompany the North's ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong-Nam, whose attendance was announced at the weekend.

Source : BBC

The UN chief has called "for an immediate and unconditional de-escalation of violence" after Israel launched intensive air raids on what it called Iranian bases in Syria, raising tensions in the region.

"All concerned in Syria and the region have a responsibility and must abide by international law and relevant Security Council resolutions," Antonio Guterres said in a statement on Saturday.

"The secretary-general is following closely the alarming military escalation throughout Syria and the dangerous spillover across its borders," the UN chief's spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The Israeli army on Saturday launched "large-scale" attacks inside Syria after intercepting what it said was an Iranian drone that entered occupied Golan Heights and the subsequent downing of an Israeli fighter jet by Syrian air defence forces.

The UN chief's reaction came after Russia, which intervened in support of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in 2015, said they were "seriously concerned" by the confrontation.

"We urge all parties involved to exercise restraint and to avoid any actions that could lead to an even greater complication of the situation," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.

"We consider it necessary to unconditionally respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and other countries of the region," it added.

Source : Al Jazeera

Aftershocks continue to rattle Taiwan after a strong earthquake that killed at least four people and injured more than 200 others.

The powerful 6.4-magnitude tremor struck at 23:50 (15:50 GMT) about 20km (12 miles) off the island's east coast.

Multiple buildings across the city of Hualien have been badly damaged. More than 140 people still remain unaccounted for from one building.

Hualien, a popular tourist hub, is home to about 100,000 people.

Residents in the city of Hualien have been told to stay away from their damaged homes, and about 800 have taken shelter in community buildings because of the aftershocks.

Images from the city showed tilted structures, scattered debris and extensive damage to roads in the area.

The Yunman Cuidi building, which has residential and commercial floors, is tilting to one side after sustaining major damage. About 143 of its residents remain unaccounted for, local media said.

Rescuers on Wednesday morning were still working to reach at least five other people who are thought to be trapped in buildings including two people believed to be stuck inside the Marshal Hotel.

Among the several badly damaged buildings was a hospital, local media said.

"We were still open when [the earthquake] happened," Lin Ching-wen, who operates a restaurant near the hospital told newswire Reuters.

"I grabbed my wife and children and we ran out and tried to rescue people."

Emergency responders, including soldiers, worked through the night, rescuing about 150 people from damaged buildings, but powerful aftershocks have disrupted rescue efforts.

Source : BBC

A cutting-edge scientific analysis shows that a Briton from 10,000 years ago had dark brown skin and blue eyes.

Researchers from London's Natural History Museum extracted DNA from Cheddar Man, Britain's oldest complete skeleton, which was discovered in 1903. University College London researchers then used the subsequent genome analysis for a facial reconstruction.

It underlines the fact that the lighter skin characteristic of modern Europeans is a relatively recent phenomenon. No prehistoric Briton of this age had previously had their genome analysed.

As such, the analysis provides valuable new insights into the first people to resettle Britain after the last Ice Age. The analysis of Cheddar Man's genome - the "blueprint" for a human, contained in the nuclei of our cells - will be published in a journal, and will also feature in the upcoming Channel 4 documentary The First Brit, Secrets Of The 10,000-year-old Man.

Cheddar Man's remains had been unearthed 115 years ago in Gough's Cave, located in Somerset's Cheddar Gorge. Subsequent examination has shown that the man was short by today's standards - about 5ft 5in - and probably died in his early 20s.

The Natural History Museum researchers extracted the DNA from part of the skull near the ear known as the petrous. At first, project scientists Prof Ian Barnes and Dr Selina Brace weren't sure if they'd get any DNA at all from the remains.

But they were in luck: not only was DNA preserved, but Cheddar Man has since yielded the highest coverage (a measure of the sequencing accuracy) for a genome from this period of European prehistory - known as the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age.

They teamed up with researchers at University College London (UCL) to analyse the results, including gene variants associated with hair, eye and skin colour.

They found the Stone Age Briton had dark hair - with a small probability that it was curlier than average - blue eyes and skin that was probably dark brown or black in tone.

This combination might appear striking to us today, but it was a common appearance in western Europe during this period.

Cheddar Man's genome reveals he was closely related to other Mesolithic individuals - so-called Western Hunter-Gatherers - who have been analysed from Spain, Luxembourg and Hungary.

Source : BBC

The United Kingdom Ambassador to Maldives James Dauris on Monday claims the chief justice was quoted saying local judges are "under great pressure." 

Ambassador Dauris who tweeted the highlights of his conversation with Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed, said that the two had phone conversation in which Saeed affirmed the signatures on Supreme Court orders have not been forged.

"He told me about the great pressure judges are under," Dauris tweeted.

Dauris urged the Maldivian citizens respect and support an independent judiciary in the country. He added "it is in the fundamental interests of every Maldivian that the independence of the judiciary is respected & supported."

Supreme Court on Thursday night issued a release order for nine political leaders from jail that includes former President Mohamed Nasheed along with Jumhooree Party leader Qasim Ibrahim and former Vice President Ahmed Adeeb among others.

President Yameen on Sunday claimed the top-court order for the release of political leaders cannot be implemented accordingly as it was 'unconstitutional.'

Government inaction to implement the top-court order has come to international communities' attention. Maldives government has been advised to respect the Supreme Court order from United States, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka and even the European Union.

The mounting international and opposition pressure on the state to implement the top-court order has become exacerbating for Yameen's administration.

(Mohamed Rehan, Maldives)

Bangladeshi police have clashed with thousands of protesters, as opposition leader Khaleda Zia was jailed for five years for corruption.

Zia, a former prime minister, denies misusing international funds donated to a charitable children's trust. The jail sentence may mean the 72-year-old is barred from parliamentary polls due later this year.

The case is one of dozens pending against Zia, a long-time rival of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Zia has described the charges against her as politically motivated. As she went into court, she told weeping relatives: "I will be back. Do not worry and be strong", according to the Daily Star.

The verdict was read out in a court in Dhaka after police used tear gas to disperse thousands of her supporters. Several police officers were injured in the violence, reports said.

Zia was led away to jail minutes after the verdict, bdnews24 reported. Her son Tarique Rahman was given 10 years in jail in absentia as he is in London. The same jail term was handed down to four of her aides.

The trial against Ms Zia centred around $252,000 (£182,000) intended for an orphanage trust set up when she was prime minister. She was found guilty of embezzling the funds.

Source : BBC

Security forces in the Maldives have sealed off the country's parliament and arrested two opposition legislators, amid a deepening crisis over President Abdulla Yameen's refusal to free jailed politicians.

Soldiers in riot gear surrounded the parliament building in Male on Sunday, soon after the opposition petitioned the parliament to remove the island nation's attorney general and its chief prosecutor.

Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the parliamentary leader of the opposition, accused the pair of breaking the law by failing to act on a Supreme Court verdict overturning "terrorism" convictions against nine dissidents, including exiled former President Mohamed Nasheed.

The top court's ruling has plunged the Maldives into fresh political turmoil and dealt a major blow to Yameen, who is accused of corruption, misrule and rights abuses. He denies the allegations.

 Source : Al Jazeera

One of US President Donald Trump's top aides has resigned amid abuse claims from his two ex-wives. White House staff secretary Rob Porter said "these outrageous allegations are simply false" as he announced he would step down.

The accusations were first reported in the Daily Mail and include accounts of physical and emotional abuse.

The White House would not comment on a report that Porter, 40, failed to receive security clearance.

His ex-wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby, both recounted stories of Porter's alleged misconduct.

His first spouse, Holderness, said the White House aide had been verbally and physically abusive.

Holderness, a US government analyst, said Porter had kicked her on their 2003 honeymoon in the Canary Islands.

She also alleged he punched her in the face while they were on holiday a couple of years later in Florence, Italy.

 Holderness supplied a photo of herself with a black eye to the media.

Willoughby, a motivational speaker, told the Daily Mail she was married to Porter from 2009-13. She wrote about her experiences in a blog post entitled Why I Stayed

Source : BBC

Nigel, a handsome gannet bird who lived on a desolate island off the coast of New Zealand, died suddenly this week. Wherever his soul has landed, the singles scene surely cannot be worse.

The bird was lured to Mana Island five years ago by wildlife officials who, in hopes of establishing a gannet colony there, had placed concrete gannet decoys on cliffsides and broadcast the sound of the species’ calls. Nigel accepted the invitation, arriving in 2013 as the island’s first gannet in 40 years. But none of his brethren joined him.

In the absence of a living love interest, Nigel became enamoured with one of the 80 faux birds. He built her — it? — a nest. He groomed her “chilly, concrete feathers . . . year after year after year,” the Guardian reported. He died next to her in that unrequited love nest, the vibrant orange-yellow plumage of his head contrasting, as ever, with the weathered, lemony paint of hers.

“Whether or not he was lonely, he certainly never got anything back, and that must have been [a] very strange experience,” conservation ranger Chris Bell, who also lives on the island, told the paper. “I think we all have a lot of empathy for him because he had this fairly hopeless situation.”

As he persisted in this futile courtship, Nigel accrued something of a fan base. Mana is a scientific reserve that, like other New Zealand islands, has been the focus of replanting and rodent eradication efforts. Friends of Mana Island, one of the groups that have planted trees and shrubs, said on Facebook that Nigel “won the hearts” of members and volunteers who “spent many hours over the years maintaining the concrete colony.”

Another gannet spent some time on Mana last year. Unfortunately, it was a he, dubbed Norman.

Perhaps the saddest twist to this tale is that three other gannets settled on Mana last month after conservation officials tweaked the sound system used to attract them, according to the New Zealand website ‘Stuff’. This raised the possibility of breeding. But Nigel paid them no attention.

“This just feels like the wrong ending to the story,” Bell told Stuff. “He died right at the beginning of something great.” But Nigel — whose nickname was “no mates” — will forever be remembered as the pioneer of the colony and credited with signalling to the new trio that Mana was suitable habitat, Bell said.

Source : Washington Post