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TUESDAY

Hamdok: Positive American Response on Removing Sudan’s Name from Terrorism List

News Report

No Date to Resume Study Is Determined: Al-TahirBy: Ahmed Ibrahim

Khartoum - The ministry of education’s undersec-retary, Dr. Al-Tahir Hassan Al-Tahir, discloses that no specific date for the resumption of study is deter-mined, affirming that all rumors that circulate about the matter are just unfounded and incorrect.He concluded his talk to confirm that all the days lost due postponement of the study, will be compensated and the courses of the syllabus will be finished as scheduled.

“Dignity Dollar” Initiative LaunchedBy: Zuleikha Abdul Raziq

Khartoum- A group of Sudanese expatriate activists has launched “the Dignity Dollar Initiative” in re-sponse to a call by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to make available a sum of $8 billion to revive the Sudanese economy.The activists called on the prime minister to open a special account for the expatriates in order to deposit their contributions in dollars in order to provide the required amount so that the government does not have to request foreign aid.This has found a wide response by the Sudanese in the diaspora countries, calling for depositing by each expatriate a sum of $500 refundable to provide $8 bil-lion.Social networking sites have been active in urging the Sudanese expatriates to responding to this call.

Back to the International Community

By: Al-Sammani Awadalla

Khartoum- Prime Minister Dr. Abdalla Hamdok has af-firmed that he has already held talks with American offi-cials on removing the name of Sudan form Washington’s list of states sponsoring terrorism, describing their response as positive.Hamdok said in an interview with the American Associated Press news agency that ending the isolation status of the Sudan and cutting military spending greatly are basic pre-

requisite for rescuing the deteriorated Sudanese economy, pointing out that the military spending consumed 80% of the budget of the state.Hamdok stressed that removing the name of Sudan from the US list of states sponsoring terrorism is a key for everything that they can do for Sudan, affirming that democratic Sudan is not a threat to any person in the world, stressing his com-mitment to work with the military men in good partnership.The Prime Minister explained that removing the name of Sudan from the list of states sponsoring terrorism would

open the door for foreign investments in the country and en-able the Sudan to receive financial rescue package from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.He said his objective is the economic stability and well-managed currency, transparency and the opportunities for foreign in-vestors.Hamdok indicated that realization of peace in the country would enable it to allocate great rates from the budget to the issues of development, health, education, infrastructure and economic recovery.

By: Muawad Mustafa Rashid

A US expert familiar with the Sudan has said he sees no reason why the international community continues to penalize the country, given the robust uprising that put an end to a dictatorship and ush-ered in a government that need help to be able to steer the coun-try away from terrorism, funda-mentalism and poverty.The former Special Envoy to the Sudan Scott Gration, 68, said he believes that if the current gov-ernment, with the huge popular backing it enjoys, continues to show the world that it wants to lead Sudan to become a better nation, be considerate for its own

people, and works to distance Sudan from falling back into be-ing a hub for terror-ism then the inter-national community would have no choice but to scrap the name of the Sudan from that awful list.It is apparent that the return of Sudan to the international commu-nity to deal with all the countries in the globe became imminent.This could be recognized from the statements of Prime Minister Dr. Abdalla Hamdok in which he affirmed that he had been talking with the United States to remove

Sudan from its list of state spon-sors of terrorism - a designation which has left Khartoum isolated from most of the international fi-nancial system since 1993.Needless to say that Hamdok knows very well the appropriate

approaches to the international community as he worked in several international organiza-tions in various fields; hence he knows how to deal with the in-ternational family.We assume that during the tran-sitional period Washington will reconsider its stances in dealing with Khartoum, and that is be-cause our Prime Minister knows how to deal with the US dossiers along with Washington decision-makers.The exchanged interests will be the earmark of the up-coming stage through adapting balanced foreign policy without taking the side of any regional or international axes as this will make the countries to trust Sudan.

President Afwerki to Visit KhartoumBy: SMC

Khartoum- Eritrean Ambassa-dor in Khartoum Ibrahim Idris has announced a forthcom-ing visit to Sudan by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in the coming days, during which he will hold talks with Chairman of the Sovereign Council 1st. Lt. Gen. Abdul-Fattah Al-Burhan dealing with bilateral relations.Idriss told SMC that President Afwerki was unable to attend the signing ceremony due to his agenda, noting that the vis-it will be very close, stressing that Al-Burhan and Afwerki agreed to open the border be-tween the two countries and facilitate the movement of citizens and trade.Idris said his country wel-comes the agreement reached between the Sudanese parties and the formation of the Sov-ereign Council, hoping that the transformation would ful-fill the desires of the Sudanese people.

Sudan Indonesia Open New Economic Chapter, Says AmbassadorBy: Mohamed Abdalla

Bali- Indonesia-The deputy head of Sudan Diplomatic Mis-sion to Indonesia, Ambassador Osama Mohammed Yassin has stated exclusively to Sudan Vision, that Sudan Indonesia economic ties will witness a development after the formation of Sudan government.The ambassador said “Sudan Indonesia trade exchange vol-ume has been minimized recently, due to the political insta-bility in Sudan” the ambassador also told that media brief on the recent political development was conducted in Sudan embassy in Jakarta to inform Indonesian media institution what is going on.The ambassador Osama has facilitated the mission of Sudan delegation who participated in Indonesia Africa Infrastruc-ture Dialogue 2019 which was convened in Bali from 20-21st of the current August.“I expect a new phase will begin in the career of trade rela-tions between the two countries” said Osama who partici-

pated in the bilateral meetings on the sideline of dialogue which included both Sudan and Indonesia business-men and investors, to discuss the in-vestment opportunities.Sudan delegation headed by the direc-tor general of Arab and Asian bureau and representatives of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation (Khartoum State), Sudan Diplomatic Mission in Jakarta, Sudanese Contractors association, Sudan Indonesian Friendship Associ-ation, Division chief, East and South-ern Africa, Councils of International Peoples’ Friendship, Chairman of the board of directors of Top Geer and the representative of Im-port Export.It is to be noted that Sudan Indonesia relations back to early 1950s,

The relationship between Indonesia and Su-dan has been established for a long time and both have very close cultural and religious as well as historical ties since the era of colo-nialism with the presence of Sudanese cleric Sheikh Ahmad Sourkaty in 1911.This relationship was strengthened by the ex-istence of preferential treatment from Presi-dent Soekarno to the Sudanese delegation at the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, which took place only eight months before the proclamation of Sudanese independence (January 1, 1956).In addition, Indonesia is the first country to give recognition of Sudan’s independence. Officially, Indonesia-Sudan relations and co-

operation began in 1960.A number of collaborations are being explored between Ja-karta and Khartoum, including student exchanges, tourism and oil and gas (oil and gas).

Sovereign Council Settles Controversy over Granting Luxury Cars to Its MembersBy: Khalda Elias

Khartoum - The sovereign council settled yesterday, controversy over granting its members “Infiniti” luxury cars.The Information Office of the Sovereign Council Member, Mohammed Al-Faki Suleiman denied what was circulated by

some local media about granting members of the Sovereign Council a number of lux-ury cars brand “Infiniti,” pointing out that the cars mentioned belong to the Presiden-cy, and owned by the state, and used in of-ficial ceremonies and that members of the Sovereign Council will not use these cars, and this matter will be discussed in the fu-

ture on how to use these surplus assets in support of the state budget, and consistent with the goals of the revolution, adding, “Some media reported that the Presidency is moving to hire hotels for the members of the Sovereign Council until the com-pletion of maintenance operations for the houses allocated for them, we confirm that

this news is not true, and that this was not discussed in any of the meetings, which is rejected in principle, and we do not accept that, as representatives of the people in the presidency and we confirm that all mem-bers of the Council of civilians, still reside in the homes of their families”.

EU Ambassadors Express Readiness to Work with New GovernmentBy: Zuleikha/ Najat

Khartoum- The Ambassadors of the European Union to Khartoum have affirmed at a meeting with Prime Minister Dr. Abdalla Hamdok their readiness to work with Sudan’s new govern-ment and support the country’s reform process.The British ambassador in Khartoum, Mr. Ir-fan Siddiq, said that Prime Minister, Dr. Ab-dalla Hamdok, has a clear vision and priorities for Sudan, and the UK is committed to sup-porting his government to make the transition a success, achieve stability, prosperity and in-ternational normalization in Sudan.The Ambassador of the Netherlands to Khar-

toum, Karen Boven, on her part, expressed congratulations to Dr. Hamdok for his ap-pointment as Prime Minister, saying that the European Union ambassadors discussed with the Prime Minister the many challenges facing Sudan and how we can support Sudan in the coming years and we look forward to working with him.The meeting included a delegation of EU dip-lomats from France, Germany, Italy, the Neth-erlands, Romania and the United Kingdom.In a separate context, Prime Minister Dr. Ham-dok has got acquainted with the most impor-tant files handled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Sudan’s position on region-

al issues and its role in establishing regional peace.Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ambassador Omar Dahab said in a press statement after his meeting with the Prime Minister that the meeting touched on the main issues concern-ing the interaction of Sudan with the interna-tional community in light of the facts brought about by the Revolution and the prospects of a new diplomatic future for the Sudanese foreign relations. Ambassador Dahab pointed out that the meet-ing underscored the steps to be taken on the current and future issues of the Sudanese di-plomacy.

Sovereign Council Member: We Found Huge Funds to be Announced within DaysAl-Ahdath News

Khartoum - Mohammed Al-Faki, a member of the Council of Sovereign-ty, said that there are “unclear provi-sions in the constitutional document, which bears more than one explana-tion, creating some discrepancies.He said they found huge money to be announced within days.Al-Faki added, in an interview with the Saudi newspaper “Asharq Al-Awsat”, “So we agreed, despite the existence of provisions emphasizing the right of FFC in the appointment of the chief justice and attorney gen-eral, to adopt the debate to reach con-sensus, and we hope to speed up the formation of the Legislative Council,

revealing “the accumulation of files on the table of the Council, and ur-gent tasks to be carried out until the formation of the government, next week.”The deliberation on the appointment of the chief justice and the attorney general, will be within the names nominated by the FFC, and we will reach agreement on them,” Faki said.Concerning the urgent economic measures, Al-Faki said, “The de-tailed economic measures will be discussed by the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister, but there are two files the Sovereign Council is concerned with, improving the eco-nomic situation and declaring war on corruption.

Experts: Restructure of Security Service was Fulfillment to Military Men’s PledgesHOME2

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Economist Calls for Subjecting Decisions to Scientific Methodology before Implementation By: SUNA

Khartoum – The economist Dr. Abdul-Azim Al-Muhal has called for the necessity of prioritizing the basic decisions on addressing poverty, educa-tion and health issues, stressing the importance of subjecting them to a scientific methodology and to study of experts and specialists before implementa-tion. He called, in a statement to (SUNA), for the importance of taking advantage of the global experi-ences for the promotion of the Sudanese economy, pointing out that the decision to free education and health requires knowledge of the budgets allocated to implement them. Dr. Al-Muhal stressed that the major problem of the previous government was the taking of decisions without a methodology, pointing out that Sudan is now facing economic crises including the lack of fuel, medicine and bread, attributing that to the fail-ure of the Ministry of Finance to cover the subsidies. He pointed to the inability of localities in the states to cover free health and education benefits a matter that led to poor services.

EDITORIAL

Sudan Embassy in Abuja: Agreement Needs Genuine Support

The Pan African Youth Union (PYU) extends our warm congratulations to the people of Sudan on behalf of African Youth on the suc-cessfully signing an agreement of a transition government.We congratulate all citizens and actors that walked the long path to this very historic mo-mentWe recognize the struggles of the many young people towards the strive for democracy and freedom, history will remember you as gallant men and women who rose up for their Nation when it was most needed.“We the people are the rightful masters of both congress and the courts, not to overthrow the constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the constitution”- Abraham Lincoln“You never change things by fighting the ex-isting reality. To change something, build a

new model that makes the existing model ob-solete”- Buckminster Fuller. We encourage the Sovereign Council of the Republic of Sudan to recognize the strug-gle for freedom and de-liver a new Sudan that respects citizen voices, Open, Democratic and above all governed by the Rule of Law.We encourage the youth to be active players within the transition process and honor the civic responsibilities. We need to rise above mediocrity and constructively contribute to

the nation building process.We congratulate the Prime Minister Dr. Abdal-lah Hamdouk on his appointment, we also en-

courage him to lead an inclusive, transparent and open transitional process.The youth are the real heroes of the revolution and we call on the sovereign council and the Prime Minister to include them in the forma-tion of the transitional government.We further call for the constitution of repre-sentative transitional government to reflect the diversity of Sudan especially women and youth.“To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there”- Kofi AnnanGod bless Sudan and make her great and Strong.

SIGNEDPAN AFRICAN YOUTH UNION

Congratulation to the people of Sudan for the tenacity and resilience in the strive for democracy and freedom

By: SUNA Khartoum –Sudan Embassy to Abuja, Nige-ria, has called on the international communi-ty to support the historical agreement which was signed between the Forces of Freedom and Change and the Transitional Military Council, indicating that this agreement needs genuine support to be implemented.The embassy said in a statement, a copy of which was received by SUNA that Sudan looks forward to the restoration of its natu-ral position in the African Union, the Or-ganization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League, the Non-Aligned Movement, the United Nations and the regional and interna-tional organizations as well as to strengthen cooperation relations with brotherly and friendly countries.The Embassy affirmed the thanks and appreciation of the Sudanese people the African Union, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and their envoys, Professor Mohamed El Hassan Lebatt, and Ambassa-dor Mahmoud Dirir, for the dedication, patience and their use to their diplomatic expertise to make a suc-cess the negotiations.The statement stated that the signed political agree-

ment and constitutional document were related to the structures and features of the transitional power that will last to two years and three months and will be fol-lowed by general elections.The embassy asserted that the agreement signed by the Transitional military Council and the Forces of Free-dom and Change has come in response to the demand of the Sudanese people for freedom, peace, justice and democracy.

By: SUNA

Khartoum - Head of Abyei Youth Union (AYU) Abyei Kowal has urged the Transitional Government (TG) that the two percent of oil revenues allocated for Din-ka Ngok in Peace Agreement to go for development in Abyei. He said this would make the indigenous in the area

feel like as part of Sudan. He said in statement to SUNA that the majority of Abyei sons determined that they were Sudanese.Kowal, categorically ignored allegations that Abyei belonged to South Sudan. He called upon formation of state government in Abyei and argued the importance of the returning of “Abyei Area” to its old good days of coexistence and peace.

SUNA

Khartoum -Chairman of Sudan Scholars Commis-sion has called for review of the constitutional docu-ment adopted by the two parties of the agreement, the transitional military council and forces of freedom and change as a constitution for interim period.

Chairman of the Commission, Professor Mohamed Osman Salih added in a statement to SUNA that the document was in pace with the ambition and look-ing forward to reforming government affairs and it voided any indications to Arabic language , the lan-guage of Koran, as official language of the country and Islamic Sharia as source of legislation as well as forming unelected legislative council.

Calls for Re-Considering the Constitutional Document

AYU Urges TG Allocates 2% of Oil Revenues for Development

PRESS STATEMENT

Experts: Restructure of Security Service was Fulfillment to Military Men’s Pledges

By: SUNA Khartoum -Political expert, Dr Nagi Ali Al-Bashir underlined that restructuring of national intelligence and security service, changing its name to general intelligence service and dismantling the service op-erations unit could not be done without honoring of military men, top of them are Lt, Gen. Abdul-Fattah Al-Burhan and Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Himei-dti who sided with the revolution, to their pledges and responding to desire of the revolutionaries to re-structure the security service. Dr Nagi added that the service director, Gen. Abuba-kar Dambalab made huge efforts and has clear un-derstanding of requirements of the stage required that the security service functions change into gather and analyze information and protect the national secu-rity, disclosing that the advanced step of restructuring represented in dismantling the operations unit made its elements to opt joining Rapid Support Forces(RSF ), military intelligence or retirement . He stressed that the security service was one of the security and military apparatuses whose commanders

sided options of Sudanese people’s options and pro-tection of revolutionaries . In the same context , political expert and university lecturer, Dr Osama Saeed indicated to early siding the RSF commander , Lt. Gen. Himeidti to the sit-in before the military HQs and how the RSF surrounded the protesters and protected them from all campaigns staged by supporters of the former regime to dis-perse the sit-in.Dr Osama said that Lt. Gen. Himeidti in collabora-tion with his other military companions promised the revolutionaries from the onset to restructure the se-curity service and not dissolve it and now ,he further added, they honored their commitments by disman-tling the operations unit, noting that the general in-telligence service would remain vigilant in protecting the revolution goals and executing its agenda. He stated that the military establishment and secu-rity apparatus are the genuine guardians of the transi-tional period and that their commanders are standing alongside the political forces for pulling safely Su-dan into horizons of democracy, freedom and justice.

Saudi Ambassador Extends Humanitarian Assistance to People Affected by floods SUNA

Khartoum - Ambassador of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques to Sudan, Hassan bin Ali Jaafer paid visit to areas of Wad Ramli and Jaili, in Khartoum North which were affected recent floods. Ambassador Jaafer extended considerable size of support in

form of tents, carpets food stuff and launching a health camp to meet needs of the affected people. The people of Wad Ramli and Jaili , in their part, thanked the Saudi ambassador for his visit and affirmed that the continued support extended by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Sudan show its noble stance towards Suda-nese people.

NHRC to Organize Discussion Workshop

By: SUNA Khartoum- The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) will or-ganize a workshop by the end of cur-rent August to discuss the role of the national human rights Institutions and the stakeholders’ interaction with the Universal Comprehensive Review Mechanism.The NHRC Information Department’s Director, Dr. Nagi Ali Al-Bashir, said in a statement to SUNA that the work-shop was part of the commission’s role to protect and strengthen human rights in Sudan and the implementation of the international standards.He said that the UN, Human Rights Council (UNHRC) recommendations are considered an international legal commitment that shall be implement-ed.

Dr. Al-Bashir said that the NHRC works seriously with stakeholders to implement these recommendations and to enhance the technical and pro-fessional performances to implement and strengthen all the recommenda-tions that Sudan is committed to. He indicated that workshop aims at re-alizing interactive dialogue that leads to pushing ahead a comprehensive na-tional operation to raise the efficiency of the national political: legislations and security efforts for the implemen-tation of UNHRC recommendations on a correct basis at the national level.

SUNA Forum to Host Zero Corruption Organization By: SUNA

Khartoum -Regular Press Forum of Sudan News Agency(SUNA) will host Tuesday at 12:00noon the Zero Corruption Organization to cast light on corruption in goods and services prices , size and harms of corruption and leveling new information. The forum will be addressed by Dr Yasser Mirghani, Dr Ahmed Issa Ragab and others . Invitation is directed to all media.

Health Ministry: Floods and Rains Death Toll Rises to 62By: SUNA

Khartoum - The Federal Min-istry of Health has announced that the number of victims of floods and rains that swept the country recently increased to 62 and injured 98 people.The Acting Undersecretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, Suleiman Abdul-Jabbar, said during his regular press conference, Sunday, that 17 states in the country have been affected by the floods and the heavy rains, , adding that We have the capabilities and did not reach the stage of the declaration of disaster at the global level and foreign aid.Abdul Jabar stated that the num-ber of affected localities reached 65 and 257 villages, districts and neighborhoods. He underlined that 35,850 families were af-

fected throughout Sudan. Some 3636 animals were killed and 150 public facilities were affected throughout Sudan.‘’The biggest problem is the flooding of the Nile’’ he warned.He pointed out that the most af-fected states are the White Nile State, which needs more than air-lift and support; Sennar, El Fash-er, Wadramli and Wad El Mahy area in the Blue Nile state.

3

SCIENCE

Tuesday, August 27, 2019HOMEFloods Overview on all the States:

An estimated 193,800 people have been affected by heavy rains and flash floods (2-2)

OCHA Report Edited by Alula Berhe

Red Sea State

An estimated 10,315 people have been af-fected in Tokar and Al Ageeg localities, with 1,623 homes destroyed and 440 damaged. In addition, 635 latrines, three health facilities, an education facility, and seven water fa-cilities were damaged. Approximately 3,000 people have lost livestock. The primary healthcare centre, as well as Umbarki, Tafa-teet, and Shareen areas are surrounded by water. Main needs include ES/NFIs, food and WASH services. There is a high risk of water-borne diseases due to the flood waters.

Response

HAC provided the people in need with food assistance.A temporary health clinic was established by WHO in Tokar locality and was equipped medical supplies, medicine, and medical staff.

Gaps

Health facilities need additional medicine and medical supplies, including oral rehydration salts (ORS) and intravenous (IV) fluids. ES/NFI assistance for about 80 families is pend-ing because they are inaccessible due to flood waters. 100 families taking refuge under trees need ES/NFIs. Safe drinking water Vector control spraying needs to be carried out to prevent vector borne epidemics.

North Darfur State

An estimated 11,580 people have been af-fected—including 10 deaths—in Tawilla, El Kuma, El Fasher and Kabkabiya localities, with 1,161 homes destroyed and 1,155 dam-aged. In addition, 1,500 latrines, two health facilities, three education facilities, and three water facilities were damaged. Main needs are health services including dig-nity and clean delivery kits. Additional needs include ES/NFIs, food, WASH and the open-ing of drainage systems in Tawilla. Families living in low lying areas will need to be relo-cated to higher ground. Inter-sector rapid as-sessment is ongoing in El Fasher town and the IDP camps of Abu Shouk, Al Salam and Zam-zam. Registration of people affected in Abu Shouk, Zamzam and El Salam IDP camps (El Fasher locality) will take place next week.

Response

The International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNHCR and COOPI distributed ES/NFI kits. WFP (with support from IOM) dis-tributed 15-days food rations. WASH supplies and slabs for latrines were distributed to all affected families.

Gaps

Medicines and medical supplies. More food assistance and WASH services needed in El Fasher locality. Support for vector control and water safety campaigns. Dignity kits.

South Darfur State

An estimated 7,700 people have been affected in Tullus, Ed El Fursan, East Jebel Marra, and Mershang localities, with 1,200 homes destroyed and 340 damaged. In addition, two education facilities (affecting about 450 stu-dents), eight health facilities, and 1,008 la-trines were damaged. The number of people affected in Mershang locality has not been confirmed and OCHA is following up with HAC to get more information. Main needs include ES/NFIs, food, WASH, health and ed-ucation services. In Otash IDP camp (Nyala North locality, Kalma IDP camp (Bielel lo-cality), and Rahad El Berdi town (Rahad El Berdi locality) partners will carry out assess-ments to confirm numbers of people affected and identify needs.

Response

ES/NFIs were distributed by UNHCR in Leiba (East Jabal Marra locality). WHO provided health supplies to health facilities. The Zakat chamber provided food assistance to those af-fected in Ed El Fursan locality. Latrine dis-infection has been carried out. Water quality control (UNICEF | WHO | government’s wa-ter and environmental sanitation department (WES) | Ministry of Health).WHO provided WASH assistance including water supplies for water quality management (water filters etc) and vector control supplies (fogging and spraying machines, and personal protection equipment). HAC provided 250 families with food security and livelihood assistance (FSL).

Education supplies were distributed.

Gaps

ES/NFIs to be distributed to affected people in Ed El Fursan locality.

Sennar State

An estimated 10,095 people have been affect-ed—including one death—in Singa locality, with 902 homes destroyed and 1,117 dam-aged. In addition, 100 latrines have been de-stroyed, and six education facilities damaged. Main needs include ES/NFIs, food, WASH and health services, as well as vector control activities. According to SRCS, state authori-ties are responding of the needs of people af-fected.ResponseCivil Defence provided tents, plastic sheets and empty sacks. Local authorities rehabili-tated drainage systems and opened blocked drains. SRCS provided empty sacks and water pumps to drain water stagnant water. WHO provided WASH assistance including water supplies for water quality management (water filters etc) and vector control supplies (fogging and spraying machines, and personal protection equipment).

Gaps

More supplies of medicine, food, and NFIs are needed. Vector control activities are needed.

ResponseCivil Defence provided tents, plastic sheets and empty sacks.Local authorities rehabilitated drainage sys-tems and opened blocked drains. SRCS pro-vided empty sacks and water pumps to drain water stagnant water. WHO provided WASH assistance including water supplies for water quality management (water filters etc) and vector control supplies (fogging and spray-ing machines, and personal protection equip-ment).

Gaps

More supplies of medicine, food, and NFIs are needed. Vector control activities are needed.

North Kordofan State

An estimated 19,600 people have been af-fected—including seven deaths—in Jebrat El Sheikh locality (Alandraya area), with 3,164 homes destroyed and 756 damaged. In addi-tion, 313 latrines have been damaged. Hu-manitarian partners are unable to access the area due to flood waters. In addition, the road between Jebrat El Sheikh and Rehad el Nuba is damaged/inaccessible. Main needs include ES/NFIs, food, WASH, health and reproduc-tive health services (clean delivery kits, hy-giene kits, and community midwives).

Response

WHO provided WASH assistance including water supplies for water quality management (water filters etc) and vector control supplies (fogging and spraying machines, and personal protection equipment). Reproductive health supplies (clean delivery and dignity kits) will be distributed. WFP is re-allocating stocks to ensure a rapid response to the needs of people affected by floods.Gaps More clean delivery and dignity kits are need-ed. Health facilities need emergency supplies. Some areas are inaccessible due to flood wa-ters.

El Gezira State

An estimated 11,450 people have been af-fected—including 15 deaths—in Almanagil, Greater Wad Medani, South El Gezira, El Hasaheesa, El Kamleen, East El Gezira, and Um El Qura localities, with 1,108 homes de-stroyed and 1,182 damaged. In addition, 256 latrines have been damaged and the road be-tween Barkat and El Shokaba has been dam-aged. Main needs include ES/NFIs, food, and WASH services.

Response

Local authorities distributed food to those af-fected in Almanagil locality. WASH supplies distributed. WHO provided vector control equipment (fogging and spraying machines, personal protection equipment).

Gaps

NFI and WASH supplies.River Nile StateAn estimated 3,785 people have been affect-ed—including eight deaths—in El Damar, Atbara, Berber, Abu Hamad, El Matama and Shendi localities, with 401 homes destroyed and 354 damaged. In addition, 52 latrines ware damaged. An assessment is currently ongoing.

Response

Civil Defence has provided tents, plastic sheeting and empty sacks. Draining of areas of stagnant water is ongoing.

GapsNFI and WASH supplies

West Darfur State

An estimated 5,800 people have been affected in six IDP camps in El Geneina locality (Ar-damata, AbuZar, Al Hujaj, El Riad, Krinding, and Dorti), with 1,67 homes destroyed. Verifi-cation and needs assessments are ongoing and HAC has requested partners to assist these people. Response ES/NFIs are available and will be distributed in Abu Zar IDP camp (TGH stocks); Ardamata (UNHCR stock to be distributed by IOM); Al Hujaj, El Riad; Krinding (UNHCR stocks to be distributed by SRCS); and Dorti (UNHCR stocks) IDP camps. Dignity kits will be provided to the SMoH through a project funded by the Central Emer-gency Response Fund (CERF).

Gaps WASH and vector control supplies.

Gedaref State

An estimated 14,850 people have been af-fected—including one death—with 1,196 homes destroyed and 1,774 damaged. Main needs include ES/NFIs, WASH, and health services. Gaps

ES/NFI, WASH and health services needed.Northern StateAn estimated 1,000 people have been af-fected, with 77 homes destroyed and 123 damaged. Main needs include ES/NFIs, WASH, and health services.GapsES/NFIs, WASH and health services need-ed.

East Darfur State

An estimated 200 people have been affected in Kario (Bahr el Arab locality) and Al Nimir (Assalaya locality) refugee camps in East Darfur. The reception centres in both camps have been damaged. Main needs include ES/NFI, WASH and health services.

Response

Reception centers repaired. UNHCR will provide ES/NFI replenishment to affected refugee families as needed. Refugee and host community families whose homes were damaged are currently being assessed. UN-HCR can support the host community with NFIs if requested. WHO provided additional medicine and medical supplies enough for 2,000 people for one month.

South Kordofan State

HAC is currently carrying out an assessment to determine numbers and needs.

Abyei PCA boxAn estimated 1,200 people have been affected in the Abyei area, with 250 homes destroyed. These numbers have yet to be verified. Main needs include ES/NFIs, food, WASH, health and protection services, according to assessments carried out by NGOs from South Sudan.

Response

ES/NFI stocks are available in Abyei and Agok GapsSome areas remain inaccessible due to flood waters.

4

AFRICA IN FOCUS Edited by: Alula Berhe Kidani

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

By Misheck Mutize, University of Cape Town and Sean Gossel, University of Cape Town

The rating agency Fitch recently revised the outlook on South Africa’s long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating down from “stable” to “negative”. A cred-it rating outlook indicates the potential direction of the country’s rating over the intermediate term, typically six months.Fitch pointed to the expected increase in the government debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio. This would make it more difficult to stabilise public debt. The country’s public debt has been increasing due to lower-than-projected tax revenue growth on the back of weak economic growth and the R59bn bailout for the power utility, Eskom.South Africa’s long-term foreign-currency government bonds are rated BB+ by Fitch and BB by Standard & Poor’s. This means that the government bond is classified as substantially risky. Moody’s rat-ing is Baa3, representing a moderate credit risk invest-ment grade.There is no indication that South African will soon curb its historically high and rising debt levels. Credit rating agencies have sounded the alarm about South Africa’s finances over the past five years. They have consistently called on government to stabilise the ris-ing debt-to-GDP ratio, address high unemployment and low economic growth rate, and to restructure state-owned enterprises.A lack of significant reforms led to the country be-ing downgraded to junk status by both Standard & Poor’s and Fitch in April 2017. Only Moody’s has kept South Africa one notch above junk status. But for how long?The revision by Fitch is significant. Looking at the ex-periences of some other countries in Africa as well as Brazil, the data suggests that when two of the three major ratings agencies downgrade a country to “junk”, it usually takes between six months to two years for the final agency to follow suit. Considering that both Fitch and S&P downgraded South Africa two years ago, it is likely that Moody’s will downgrade South Africa soon.

This would see South Africa’s government bond fall-

ing out of the Citigroup World Government Bond Index – a major global index that tracks investment-grade debt. All fund managers with investment grade mandates will be forced to offload South Africa’s debt. In turn this would wipe out capital inflows at a time when the country is in need of more foreign invest-ment to close its current account deficit.

What’s happened elsewhere

Circumstantial evidence from other countries that were recently downgraded to unanimous “junk status” shows that the after effects can hasten an economic crisis.In 2001, Egypt was rated “junk” by Moody’s, then downgraded to junk status by S&P in May 2002, fol-lowed by Fitch in August 2002. This was driven by a 10% of GDP budget deficit and a 58.4% of GDP gov-ernment debt. Egypt has not yet recovered its invest-ment grade rating. Instead it has slid even deeper into junk status as government debt kept rising, reaching 108% of GDP in 2017.Tunisia lost its investment grade in May 2012 by S&P followed by Fitch and Moody’s in December 2012 and February 2013. The causes were declining economic growth, rising unemployment (reaching 18.9%), wid-ening budget deficit (growing to -5.5% of GDP), and government debt of 47.7% of GDP. After the down-grade, Tunisia’s economic growth is still wallowing below 2%, unemployment remains high, the budget

deficit worsened and gov-ernment debt has risen to 71% of GDP in 2017.It can be argued that South Africa isn’t easily compa-rable to other African countries because it raises most of budget from tax and other revenues, has deep and liquid financial markets, and most of its debt is in lo-cal currency. A country like Brazil, which has similar characteristics, might offer a more useful comparison.Brazil was downgraded by Fitch in December 2015, followed by S&P in September 2015 and Moody’s in February 2016. The downgrade was driven by an eco-nomic recession of -3.8% and the government deficit rising to over 10% of GDP. After the downgrade, the country’s government debt to GDP ratio rose by 12% to 77%.The other common characteristic of these countries is that they have all signed up to arrangements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).In November 2016, Egypt received a US$12 billion loan from the IMF to support its three-year austerity-based economic reform programme, which included local currency devaluation, fuel and energy subsidy cuts and the introduction of value-added tax.In June 2013, the IMF granted Tunisia a US$1.73 bil-lion bailout and extended another loan of US$2.8 bil-lion in May 2016. This amount has not been fully dis-bursed due to lack of progress in implementing agreed austerity measures and reforms.Brazil last received an IMF bailout of US$30.4 billion between 2003 and 2005. The current political adminis-

tration has been resistant to an IMF bailout, believing that the economy will rebound once reforms are im-plemented without external support. The central bank, however, forecasts further declines in economic growth and a rise in debt to GDP ratio to 102% by 2023.

Storm warnings

There is growing frustration that the ongoing fraction-al battles in the governing African National Congress are hampering President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ability to make the difficult reform decisions needed to resusci-tate the South African economy and avoid a debt trap. These would include reducing the public sector wage bill, restructuring state owned enterprises (including some privatisation), and cutting state spending.This political paralysis makes the impact of an impend-ing Moody’s downgrade more apparent. Thereafter, whether or not South Africa will have to seek an IMF bailout will depend on the governing party’s ability to withstand two storms.The first is the significant social and economic instabil-ity that is likely to follow a unanimous downgrade to junk status. The second is the extent to which the gov-erning party can withstand the substantial resistance from the left against an austerity budget.If these two storms lead to even greater political dys-function and policy paralysis then, in the near future, the IMF will end up making the tough decisions for South Africa.

S. Africa is Close to ‘Junk Status’ from all Three Rating Agencies. What could Follow?

Report by Epajjar Ojulu

The latest clashes in this long-suf-fering region have led to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing to neighbouring Uganda and swelling the ranks of the displaced already in the country. The eastern Democratic Repub-lic of Congo is once again in the spotlight. This time though, it is for the gravity of the violence and its effects on its neighbour, Uganda, which is shouldering the burden of having to take care of the thou-sands of refugees fleeing from the violence in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.They form an area unlike any oth-er in DRC, Africa, or perhaps the world. While on the one hand it is blessed with enormous mineral wealth and other natural resources, on the other, it suffers from the curse of being a breeding ground for vicious conflicts. The causes range from ethnic animosity to in-surgency, and from Islamic mili-tants to sheer gangsterism. It is the only part of the country where the government in Kinshasa is unable to exert its authority.The Interahamwe, blamed for the massacre of an estimated 800,000 Rwandans in 1994 fled there, as did the Ugandan Islamist militants, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). These groups joined other local warlords to fight for control of the vast wealth there.For example, among the crimes warlord Bosco Ntaganda was found guilty of by the International Crim-inal Court in early July, were rape, sex slavery, killing innocent people and conscripting the young into his

forces.Prosecutors adduced evidence pin-ning Ntaganda, a Congolese of Rwandan origin and leader of a mi-litia, the National Congress for the Defence of the People, to unleash-ing a reign of terror against a local population in his attempt to control the vast territory’s mineral and nat-ural resources.As if man-made carnage was not enough, the outbreak of Ebola, cur-rently the world’s most dreaded and highly contagious disease, has caused more misery there. Esti-mates by the World Health Organi-sation show that the most recent Ebola epidemic, which began on 1 August 2018, had killed over 1,000 people by 3 May this year, with ef-forts to contain its spread being sty-mied by the insecurity. Some medi-cal personnel have been killed.According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kampala, the current conflict, which broke out in June this year, has killed at least 400 and displaced over 300,000 people. An-other 10,000 have fled across the border into neighbouring Uganda.The present conflict comes hardly 12 months after a similar outbreak of violence drove over 60,000 refu-gees into Uganda. The UNHCR office says Uganda is currently hosting about 360,000 Congolese refugees, bringing the total refugee population in the country to over 1.3m. Uganda’s Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, says Uganda currently needs $923m to take care of the refugees but only $150m, 17% of the funding needed, has been received from donors.Although North Kivu and Ituri are

the base of the ADF and the Inte-rahamwe, the rivalry for land be-tween the two major ethnic groups in the region, the Lendu and Hema, is the cause of the current conflict. Age-old conflict The conflict is rooted in pre-coloni-al times. According to 60-year-old Erasmo Nduliya, a Lendu teacher-refugee at Sabagoro refugee centre on the Ugandan side of Lake Al-bert, the conflict between the two communities has its roots in the an-cient Bunyoro Kitara kingdom in Uganda, whose jurisdiction at the time covered much of eastern and central Africa, including the east-ern province of the present DRC.Nduliya says the Omukama (king) of Bunyoro Kitara, called Kabale-ga, loved hunting and every year he went on a hunting expedition to the Ituri forests with an entourage of hundreds or perhaps thousands of his men, together with herds of livestock, since they were pasto-ralists.Historical accounts indicate that the Ituri region was then inhabited by the Lendu, an ethnic group of cultivators, who had earlier mi-grated from the Sudan.Towards the end of the 1800s and the beginning of 1900s, the king decided that instead of moving with his men every year for the hunting expedition, it was better that part of his entourage be per-manently stationed in the Ituri re-gion to receive him whenever he came for the annual hunt.Because of the sparse population at the time, land was abundant enough to accommodate the pasto-ralist Banyoro immigrants, known

as the Hema, as well as the Lendu. However, over the years, as the population grew, competition for land between the two communities intensified.During the time of Belgian colo-nialism, the Hema descendants of Bunyoro aristocrats got education and were employed in govern-ment, while the Lendu remained largely illiterate peasants. “The Hema, who occupy key positions in government and business, not only oppress but also dominate and despise us,” says Nduliya.The current conflict was exacer-bated by the 1973 land law, which allowed individuals to buy land re-gardless of its occupants. Because the Hema are generally wealthier than the Lendu, they bought large tracts, much of them inhabited by the Lendu. Violence has erupted whenever the Hema attempt to forcefully evict the Lendu from the land they (the Hema) claim to have bought but on which the Len-du have lived for generations. Minerals add to conflict

The conflict would not have been so explosive had it not been for the abundant precious minerals and natural resources in the area including gold, cobalt, copper, diamonds, coltan, uranium, timber and coffee.Foreign and regional actors have also been drawn into the conflict. The vestiges of King Leopold II’s policy of DRC being a personal colony have lingered on, with in-fluential people seeking personal rather than communal ownership of land.

Despite DRC gaining political in-dependence in 1960, foreign com-panies have continued to dominate the economy and to foment chaos in the region in order to control minerals and natural resources, says a 2010 report by Human Rights Watch.Both Uganda and Rwanda claim eastern DRC is a breeding ground for rebels fighting their govern-ments. Uganda says it has a le-gitimate right to pursue the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Is-lamic militant group linked to al-Qaeda and al-Shabaab.On the other hand, Rwanda says it also has the right to pursue former Interahamwe militia blamed for the 1994 genocide, who fled to the Ituri region. Uganda and Rwanda in late 1998 and early 1999 sent troops to occupy parts of North Kivu province.While there, the Uganda Peo-ple’s Defence Force (UPDF) and Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) forces parcelled out large swathes of mineral-rich land. The rivalry over control of territory led to bloody clashes between the UPDF and RPF. The two armies also took sides in the Lendu-Hema conflict and reaped gains from it. Accord-ing to a Human Rights Watch re-port of January 2001, Uganda and Rwanda, which have no significant gold mines, became major gold exporters.The UPDF and RPF withdrew in 2002 but left behind a sim-mering conflict between the two communities. As it stands, peace between the two and the region as a whole is a distant dream.

Eastern DR Congo and the People’s Plight

5 Tuesday, August 27, 2019BUSINESS BUSINESS

Briefs

British Airports to Intro-duce 3D Screening for Carry-on BagsAP

LONDON: Putting small con-tainers of liquids in plastic bags could soon be a thing of the past for airline passengers in Britain after the government announced plans Sunday to introduce 3D screening equipment for carry-on luggage at all major airports.Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said in a statement that the new technology will improve security and could also mean “an end to passengers having to use plastic bags or rationing what they take away with them.”Under current security restric-tions, passengers are not allowed containers carrying more than 100 milliliters (3.38 fluid ounces) of liquids in their carry-on lug-gage and the containers have to be in a clear plastic bag.That could come to an end under the new screening regime and passengers may also be able to keep electrical equipment such as their laptops in their cabin bags.The screeners already are being used in trials at London’s Heath-row Airport and they will pro-gressively be rolled out to other British airports by Dec. 1, 2022, the government said.Heathrow CEO John Holland Kaye says the technology “will transform the passenger experi-ence, making air travel simple, streamlined and more secure through the UK’s only hub air-port.”

Saudi Index Drops amid Global Weakness, Aldar Tumbles in Abu Dhabi

Reuters

DUBAI: Most Middle East mar-kets dropped on Sunday amid thin trading volumes, mirroring a tumble in global stocks last week and weighed down by sliding oil prices. Brent crude futures fell 58 cents on Friday, or 1%, to settle at $59.34 a barrel, while Wall Street stocks tumbled after President Donald Trump told U.S. com-panies to look at alternatives to China for manufacturing, follow-ing Chinese retaliatory tariffs on American goods. The Saudi index was the worst performer, losing 2.4%, dragged down by banks and the petro-chemical sector. The rest of the region was also in red territory, except the Egyptian and the Bah-raini exchanges, which were lit-tle changed. “We seem to be getting dragged down by international markets,” said a Dubai-based trader. “It’s a quiet day, not the good kind.” Islamic lender Alinma Bank was among the worst performers in Saudi Arabia, shedding 4%. The bank earlier this month post-ed a 12% rise in second-quarter net profit.

Indonesia Africa Infrastructure Dialogue Report by Mohamed Abdalla

(Bali-Indonesia)-Indonesia and Africa reached a new milestone of cooperation by the success-ful convening of the first ever Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF) held on 10 – 11 April 2018 in Bali, Indonesia. The forum not only reinforced the existing strong relations between Indonesia and Africa forged since the 1955 Asia-Africa Con-ference, It paved new avenues for economic cooperation. IAF resulted in concrete economic cooperation amounting to USD 586,56 million of business deals in sectors of strategic indus-tries, infrastructure, financing, mining, textile, aircraft maintenance and trade in commodities.Infrastructure was one of the most highlighted issues in the forum, as both Indonesia and Africa regards this sector as a high priority for future development. According to the Global Infra-structure Outlook from Global Infrastructure Hub, the investment needs for various infra-structure projects in Africa from 2016 to 2040 amounts to USD 6 trillion, equaling to 5.9% of GDP dedicated to infrastructure within this pe-riod. Meanwhile, Indonesia forecasted the need of USD 1.7 trillion in the same period.The Indonesian Government is committed on the infrastructure development of the country by allocating its national expenditure up to Rp. 415 trillion or USD 28 billion for infrastructure in 2019. Compared to 2015, the budget in 2019 receives an increase of 61.6%1. Reflecting on those needs and potential for cooperation, In-donesia believes that the dialogue is the right momentum

to bolster the collaboration in infrastructure development between Indonesia and Africa. Indonesia believes that the infrastructure sector is not only to boost mobility of goods and services trade, but also to encourage investments and support wide economic growth in the middle and long term. The importance of this sector can be reflected through the significant development of African infrastructure.

In seizing this momen-tum, Indonesia will or-ganize the “Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue” (IAID) on 20-21 August 2019 at the Bali Nusa Dua Con-vention Center, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, to ensure collaboration in such sector can be fur-ther strengthened and produce mutually ben-eficial results.The dialogue was at-tended by 700 partici-pants from Indonesia and all African countries in the two-day event. The Dialogue highlight-ed on the progress of co-operation and business deals signed at the IAF, April 2018 and feature the signing of business deals in infrastructure cooperation and other

strategic industries be-tween Indonesia and African countries. This dialogue has paved the way for better economic future.During the two days, panel discussions participants focused on the prominent Indonesian, African and international trade and investment policies makers as well as issues re-lated to infrastructure.

‘Floating Island’ Points to Greener TourismAFP

ABIDJAN: The seaside resort of-fers visitors a cool drink or tasty meal, a dip in a pool, a karaoke session or an overnight stay, all with a view.Nothing much new there, you may say — creature comforts like this are pretty much standard in tropical hotels.The big difference, though, is that this mini resort is also a moveable island that floats on plastic bottles.Riding on the laguna in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s economic hub, the unusual complex floats on a platform made from 700,000 dis-carded bottles and other buoyant debris.Its inventor, Frenchman Eric Becker, says his creation can help greener, more mobile tour-ism — something less harmful to seas and coastlines than traditional fixed, concrete re-sorts.His “Ile Flottante” — French for “Floating Is-land” — comprises two thatched bungalows and a restaurant, two small pools, trees and shrubs and a circular walkway, spread out over 1,000 square meters.Visitors are brought to the moored island by a boat. Water is provided by a pipe from the shore. Electricity is supplied by solar panels, backed by a generator.The island is bigger than a moored boat and handier than a jetty as it can also be taken to other locations, Becker told AFP.“It really is an artificial island that floats — you can move it.”Becker, a former computer entrepreneur, first toyed with the idea of building a catamaran.But it was when he came to Abidjan and saw the lagoon that the vision of a floating, move-able island came into his mind — and he sold everything he owned to achieve it. The first step was to forage for everything floatable — “plastic bottles, bits of polystyrene, even

beach sandals.”Bemused locals gave him the nickname of “Eric Bidon” — a word that has a subtle dual meaning of jerrycan and phoney.“We bought disused bottles off people, we foraged for them in the lagoon. After a while, we learned to follow the wind and find the places where floating rubbish accumulates,” he said.After living on his island for a number of years, Becker turned it into a hotel last year.He has around 100 customers a week, mostly curious Ivorians or ecologically friendly tour-ists.Others want a relaxing break from the bus-tling city and to use its swimming pools — taking a dip in the lagoon, fouled by industrial pollution and sewage outflows is an act for the foolhardy.“When you’re competing with major hotels, you need an original idea like a floating is-land. It’s become a tourist attraction,” said Mathurin Yao Saky, a friend who has been advising Becker on the scheme.Charles Moliere, a 28-year-old Frenchman who works in Ivory Coast for a large corpora-tion, read about the resort in a guidebook.“It’s very original, it’s a very untypical place — I’ve seen nothing like it elsewhere,” he said.“I think it’s a neat idea to give a second life to plastic like this and to make a kind of small technical breakthrough. I like this place a lot.”The island charges 15,000 CFA francs ($25) per person per day, which includes a meal and the ferry, and 60,000 CFA francs for a night.

AFP

CAPE TOWN: It’s old, doesn’t look like much and is located well out the way in an arid part of western South Africa.But the Steenkampskraal Mine may be about to become piping hot min-ing property thanks to some of the world’s highest-grade deposits of rare earth metals.“Steenkampskraal will become a very important source of rare earths for the global industry,” Trevor Blench, chairman of Steenkampskraal Hold-ings Limited, said during a recent tour.The mine, located about 350 km north of Cape Town, used to produce tho-rium, a component of nuclear fuel, in the 1950s and 60s.But now it’s been found to also have monazite ore which contains extreme-ly high grade rare earth minerals in-cluding neodymium and praseodym-ium — elements vital to cutting-edge industries.Manufacturing uses range from tinted welding goggles to in-dustrial magnets, strong alloys for aircraft engines, military hardware, hybrid cars, consumer electronic de-vices, medical equipment and even the flints in cigarette lighters.‘Tech minerals’China produces the largest share of “tech minerals,” with a domestic out-put of 120,000 tons in 2018. That’s vastly more than the US, which relies on China for about 80 percent of its rare-earth imports.But now Beijing has threatened to cut off the supply as trade frictions mount, prompting US President Don-ald Trump to give the Pentagon an ex-ecutive order to find other sources of the crucial elements.Rare earth elements are a group of 17 minerals unique for their magnetic, catalytic and electrochemical proper-ties.For the first time since 1985, China

last year became a net importer of some rare earths for its industrial needs, while the government cracked down on illegal exploration and pro-duction.Global sales of electric cars, which need the minerals, jumped by 68 percent in 2018 to 5.12 million, with China selling over a million vehicles, according to the International Energy Agency.17 - Rare earth elements are a group of 17 minerals unique for their mag-netic, catalytic and electrochemical properties.“China may, as a result of its own re-quirements, just export less and less to the rest of the world,” Blench said.Steenkampskraal Mine could just be the answer to growing demand, he suggested.“About 14 percent of this rock is rare earths. That is an extraordinarily high grade and we don’t know anything like it on the planet,” Blench said, holding a small but heavy reddish brown rock.Worldwide, many mines have around six percent or less rare earths in their ore.No mines for rare earth elements cur-rently operate in South Africa, but the government confirms the presence of yet-to-be tapped tech minerals.“South Africa is certainly on par with any other country that would lay a claim to being able to supply rare earths elements to meet this increas-ing demand,” said mineralogist Desh-enthree Chetty at Mintek, a govern-ment mineral and metallurgy research department.She added that it would be “a great deal for our country to be able to sup-ply, and we are in a position to do so, as long as those markets are favora-ble.”“We have an abundance of rocks in which rare earth elements are found,” Mosa Mabuza, CEO of the Council for GeoScience, which surveys min-eral deposits, told AFP.

S. African Rare Earth Mine Hopes for Boost from US-China Feud

Asian Shares Tumble as US-China Trade War Renews UncertaintyAP

TOKYO -Asian shares tumbled Monday after the latest escalation in the U.S.-China trade war renewed uncertainties about global economies, as well as questions over what President Donald Trump might say next.Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 started plummeting as soon as trading began and stood at 20,233.39 in the afternoon, down 2.3%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 1.7% to 6,414.60. South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.6% to 1,918.55. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 3.0% to 25,412.30, while the Shanghai Composite was down 1.2% at 2,863.32. Shares were also down in Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand.Stephen Innes, managing partner at Valour Markets in Singapore, compared the difficulty of assessing the volatile market situation to reading tea leaves.“Nobody understands where the president is coming from,” he said, adding that the best thing Trump can do for market stability is to “keep quiet.”“The problem that we’re faced right now is that we

are making a lot of assumptions ahead of the eco-nomic realities,” he said.The market is now dominated by fears of a portend-ing U.S. recession, although the American economy is actually holding up, and much of the U.S. econo-my is made up of consumption, Innes said. If interest rates come down, he added, consumer spending is likely to go up, working as a buffer for the economy.“What the market’s really waiting for is for them to drop interest rates,” Innes said. “Right now, we are still sitting on that uncertainty.”The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 600 points Friday after the latest escalation in the trade war between the U.S. and China rattled in-vestors. The broad sell-off sent the S&P 500 to its fourth straight weekly loss.The tumbling began after Trump responded angrily on Twitter following China’s announcement of new tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. goods. In one of his tweets he “hereby ordered” U.S. companies with op-erations in China to consider moving them to other countries — including the U.S.Trump also said he’d respond directly to the tariffs —

and after the market closed he delivered, announcing that the U.S. would increase existing tariffs on $250 billion in Chinese goods to 30% from 25%, and that new tariffs on another $300 billion of imports would be 15% instead of 10%.The ongoing trade dispute between Washington and Beijing, and especially its unpredictability, is certain to have damaging effects on Asia. The unpredictabil-ity affects the real decisions central banks make on fiscal policy and companies make on their strategies and investments, setting off ripples of uncertainty.Zhu Huani of Mizuho Bank in Singapore said that what he called Trump’s “tariff tantrum” was setting off “the sense that tariffs could continue to rise,” with the “the unpredictability of timing and extent of these trade actions risk accentuating the paralysis of business decisions and big-ticket business spend-ing.”“No matter which way you cut the cake, it is nearly impossible to construct a bullish, or even neutral sce-nario for equity markets today,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda.The tweets from Trump around 11 a.m. Friday ig-

nited a wave of selling.The S&P 500 fell 75.84 points, or 2.6%, to 2,847.11. The index is now down 4.5% for the month. It’s still up 13.6% for the year. The Dow lost 623.34 points, or 2.4%, to 25,628.90. The Dow has had five declines of 2% or more this year, with three of them coming this month. The Nasdaq gave up 239.62 points, or 3%, to 7,751.77. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks skidded 46.52 points, or 3.1%, to 1,459.49.Trump also said Friday morning that he was “order-ing” UPS, Federal Express and Amazon to block any deliveries from China of the powerful opioid drug fentanyl. The stocks of all three companies fell as traders tried to assess the possible implications.Some analysts think the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates this year.Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated last week that the central bank was prepared to cut in-terest rates but gave no clear signal on when or by how much, while suggesting that uncertainty over Trump’s trade wars have complicated the central bank’s ability to set interest rate policy.

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Tuesday, August 27, 2019

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Ahmed Hassan Omer (Hurga)Port Sudan Sad Days

TagelDien AlBalaEmail: altag2009@windowslive.com

Sovereign Council on Sunday sacked the Red Sea governor and the head of the intelligence service and declared the state of emergency in

the state, in the wake of resumption of inter-commu-nal violence that led to the killing of over 16 people.Clashes between members of the Beni Amer and Nuba tribes, which have flared up in the past, were re-ignited on Wednesday and continued into Satur-day morning.For more than a week, the capital of the Red Sea state, Port Sudan, has been witnessing bloody con-frontations between the Nuba and Beni Amer tribes in connection with past inter-communal conflicts be-tween the two tribes.Reports from the area did not mention the cause that triggered the resumption of the hostilities between the two communities as the Nuba and Beni Amer have separate neighbourhoods and there are no ap-parent reasons for the dispute.Both the Beni Amer of Eastern Sudan area and the Nuba of South Kordofan work at the port and the transportation of goods and merchandises.Last June, the local government set up a commission of investigation into similar incidents between the two tribes, following what they signed a reconcili-ation agreement.The Sovereign Council pledged to deal firmly with the military and security services once it is proven that it took the side of one of the parties.The Sudanese Professional Alliance (SPA) said in a statement that it monitored the attempts of fueling the tribal conflict among the citizens of the city, stressing that the first priorities of the transitional au-thority should be to provide safety and prevent such bloodsheds.We urge the Sovereign Council to form a high level investigation committee from the centre and to settle all loses in lives and properties that resulted from the incidents.The Council of Elders should lead serious imitative to urge the conflict parties to resort to the voice of reason and to stay away from the bloody clashes con-tinue communications and urge all the parties to the conflict to preserve the blood of the innocent people and the social fabric of the Red Sea State commu-nity.The Sovereign Council, Red Sea Government, lo-cal administrations and all civil society organization should launch initiatives, visions and approaches to allow the area return to normal.

From the 1980s and the 1990s, when large numbers of Africans, despondent from a combination of

civil wars, coups d’état, pandemics and puny economies, migrated to Western countries in large numbers, Africa has now become the subject of more positive global attention and interest. However, is this development, in which Africa has come to be regarded as the “last frontier” of the global economy- an inevitable out-come of globalization – really a cause for celebration? Will it lead to the real rise of the continent as an economic power in the mold of Asia or the West? Is Af-rica engaging the world – and globaliza-tion – on its own terms? Or are we seeing another, more-sophisticated-than-1885-Berlin scramble for Africa?The World Bank calculates that Africa received capital flows of $48.2 billion in 2011, an increase of $8 billion, and notes that “the region is increasingly be-ing recognized as an investment destina-tion”. Yet Africa’s share of world trade is a minute 3 per cent, with less than 5 per cent of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows. In 2010, the combined GDP of the 54 countries that make up the conti-nent was just barely equal to that of India, and just 100,000 individuals account for 80 per cent Africa’s GDP, while the con-tinent’s share of global poverty rose by 8 per cent between 1999 and 2008. The GDP of the entire sub-Saharan Africa, in-cluding South Africa, is equal to that of Belgium or that of metropolitan Chicago, a city in the United States. Moreover, all the electricity produced in sub-Saharan Africa, half of which is, in fact, produced by South Africa, is equivalent to that of Spain, which has 20 times fewer people than Africa.It is true that Africa’s macroeconomic context today is probably better than it has ever been, and that Africa will increas-ingly become a consumer of commodities – including its own – rather than merely

exporting them. However, this remains an opportunity, not an arrival at the desired destination. It is important to acknowl-edge the undoubtedly better trends that have emerged in the continent – and given how beaten down Africa’s image in the world had been before the advent of the last decade, one supposes that a bit of cel-ebration at this new turn of events is not completely out of place. But circumspec-tion is still required.Economic globalization has hurt Africa. The gains for African countries from opening up to international economic forces without adequate internal prepara-tion have been limited and far outweighed by the adverse impact of the continent’s engagement with economic globalization. Economic policies enunciated by the Bret-ton Woods Institutions – the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization – led to lost decades of development opportunities and outcomes. Structural adjustment and lib-eralization without the proper foundations as a core condition led to the effective de-industrialization of the continent by weak-ening the manufacturing sector, increased income inequality, and marked drops on average per capita incomes in many Af-rican countries. Trade liberalization under WTO regimes has not brought benefits. It has removed incomes from tariffs previ-ously available to African countries, and these incomes have not been replaced by effective internal resource mobilization through taxes and other methods. Never-theless, one of the paradoxes of globaliza-tion is that the phenomenon has so opened up the world and its inhabitants to each other that the prospects and opportunities for economic advancement are now al-most universal. This process, underpinned by the invention and innovation of indus-trial technology that began two hundred years ago after the industrial revolution, is not a secret. It is open to any country or region that is prepared to harness it. Per-haps the secret lies in what is beneath the surface – the full understanding of all the dimensions of that process and the prepa-ration to harness the recipe. It has noth-ing to do with the presence or absence of natural mineral endowments. If it did, Africa would have long ago become the richest continent in the world rather than

the impoverished one it has been.The India-Africa relationship goes back to thousands of years over which Indian merchants and Africa have traded. In the more contemporary past, India and Afri-can countries collaborated closely in the Non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War, and in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa.India-Africa trade is playing catch -up, projected to get to $100 billion in 2015. India is now the largest trading partner of Nigeria while India is now the largest im-porter of Nigerian crude oil. The common challenge that confronts India and Africa is their struggle against poverty. Put differently, this argument is about inclusive business. With Africa gradually emerging as a continent of pos-sibilities and opportunity in the global economy, and with India rising as a global power in the 21st century, the 2015 India-Africa Forum Summit must go beyond pomp and pageantry to set a concrete set of objectives with time frames for their achievement. Given the shared history of trade and immigration between the two, and several similarities of circumstance and challenges, this should not be too dif-ficult.The need for such specific outcomes from this summit is even stronger because Africa is the ‘last frontier’ of the global economy with which it appears every other region of the world seeks a prefer-ential relationship. Summits with African countries and their leaders are becom-ing a crowded affair. India’s third and enlarged Africa summit joins five others — those between China, United States, the European Union, Japan and Turkey individually with African countries. Since differentiation and brand uniqueness are important aspects of strategy, India as the host should adopt a well thought out val-ue proposition for a deepened economic, technological and diplomatic collabora-tion with their African guests. African countries, for their part, need to find com-mon ground on the mutual benefits they can share with India more broadly as a continent, and more specifically between each of them as different countries, with India.India-Africa relations must now pro-ceed on this foundation. The world has

changed markedly from the days of the Cold War, the Non-Aligned Movement, and the struggle against Apartheid. These were the predominant anchors of the In-dia-Africa relations of that era. Today, the economic ambitions of India and Africa, with both parts of the world experiencing marked economic growth but still con-tending with the challenge of widespread poverty among their populations, create an imperative for win-win partnership.African countries should no longer allow themselves to be pawns in a chessboard of great or rising power rivalry between India, China, the United States and other dominant global economic actors.With India and virtually all African coun-tries having discarded state-dominated “command economies” for the free mar-ket to varying degrees, the two sides will benefit much from a mutual review and sharing of experience from the trade-offs between different kinds of capitalist frameworks for economic growth and de-velopment.The path to real economic transformation in Africa, which is what the continent’s leaders seek, does not lie in the export of its raw materials and imports of finished, value-added products.The path to transformation is to develop Africa’s human capital and make manu-facturing the basis of its trade with oth-ers. India has significant capacity and experience in these areas, including the manufacture of automobiles.The India-Africa relationship should be anchored on investments by Indian firms in African countries and access to Indian markets for African multinationals, of which several exist in areas such as tel-ecommunications, cement manufactur-ing, banking, and others. Developing in-vestments in social infrastructure such as education and healthcare through online education that transfers technical skills, or well equipped hospitals in African countries to reverse the flow of “medical tourism” would be excellent areas for ex-panded collaborations.Africa and India have come a long way, and have a long path into a future in which they are both emerging and ris-ing players. The better angels, however, are in the details of how they can expand their relationship for mutual benefit.

The Path to Real India-Africa Economic Partnership

For quite long time statements issued by regional and international bod-ies on Sudan have fallen into three

categories: either expressing concerns and anxiety about what is going on in the country, or calling for restraint or resort-ing to blunt language and call for specific actions or steps to be taken.And that is why the statement issued by the UN Security Council last week was quite remarkable. It welcomed the sign-ing of the August 17 of both documents of constitutional and political declaration, commending the commitment of Suda-nese people to a civilian-led government transition and ensure effective implemen-tation of the transitional agreements.Moreover, the UNSC stressed the im-portance of resolving outstanding issues through a peaceful and inclusive dia-logue and referred to the importance of the international community providing all necessary and coordinated support during the transition period.

During the popular uprising a move to discuss the situation in Sudan was aborted through a joint Chinese-Russian efforts, given their relationship with the defunct Ingaz regime.However, following the June 3rd bloody break-up of the sit-in, the members of the UNSC called for the immediate cessation of violence against civilians and empha-sized the importance of respect for human rights and of ensuring full protection of civilians, accountability and justice. The members of the Council took note of the announcement by the Transitional Mili-tary Council to investigate the incidents.In some cases the UNSC took more radi-cal steps as it did in 2005 when it issued its famous decision 1593 that referred the Darfur file to the International Criminal Court (ICC) following a report it received by the International Commission of In-quiry on Darfur, and required Sudan to co-operate fully. It marked the first time the council had referred a situation to the ICC, and also compelled a country to co-operate with it.The other remarkable step taken by the UNSC regarding Sudan was when it decid-ed to hold its regular meeting in November 2004 in Nairobi to give negotiations going then between Sudan government and the

People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) the necessary final push to conclude the much awaited peace deal.The meeting was called for by the UNSC president then and United States represent-ative John Danforth, who was his coun-try’s anchor man in hammering out the peace deal. During that meeting, speakers called on the international community to mobilize resources to enable a swift and effective operation by the African Union on the ground and help realize a tangible peace dividend.On his part, then the UN Secretary-Gen-eral Kofi Annan told the council that he was preparing a major, multidimensional operation to help build a lasting peace in the Sudan. He added that the situation in Sudan will have an impact on the region and as such every effort must be exerted to make the peace deal a success. A donors’ conference was held in Norway, but it is the typical outcome of such gatherings, the pledged amounts fell short of the ac-tual needs, while actual dispersed money fell far more less than those originally pledged.The simple takeaway of this survey is that implementation of the constitutional and political declarations and the smooth sailing through the transitional period de-

pends ultimately on the Sudanese people. The peace deal (CPA) between Sudan government and SPLM was guaranteed by a coterie of regional and international players be it states or organizations, but overall the implementation of the CPA in the end was so dismal that it failed to achieve any of its stated goals from pre-serving unity or prevent returning to war. In fact it was worse as it helped in spark-ing the war between now two independent countries in addition to rekindling ones inside each one of them.The main difference between the current popular uprising and the two before it in 1964 and 1985 is that people are willing this time to be around and guard their rev-olution. That became clear in the strong marches calling for a civilian-led power despite the June 3rd massacre. It was also demonstrated when angry demonstra-tors besieged leaders and buildings of the Forces Freedom and Change asking for satisfactory answers to a number of hang-ing questions.That is the absolute insurance to get through an expected tumultuous interim period. More important is to turn bodies like trade unions, popular and resistance committees into a formally, institutional-ized bodies to have a standing presence.

People’s Guarantees

In recent weeks, the world became preoc-cupied by the eruption of crises in Asia. In a world ruled by social media, it is no

longer possible to sweep crises under the carpet of diplomatic civilities. The regular citizen is aware of the crises from the mo-ment they happen. He quickly expresses his opinion and seeks to dig up sensitive issues. In the new world, the primary parts of battles are fought on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms.This applies to the renewed crisis between South Korea and Japan that has led to the opening up of old wounds and they are many. This also applies to the new chapter of the Indian-Pakistani crisis linked to India’s re-cent measures in Kashmir. These develop-ments are added to the ongoing duel between

the world’s top two economies. The streets of Hong Kong have also become a ticking time-bomb and a strong test to the strongest Chinese president since Mao Zedong.The crises in the Middle East have not dropped from the world’s attention. The cri-sis over the Iran nuclear deal is still present at all meetings, especially after the impound-ing of oil tankers was reminiscent of hostage crises and the hefty prices that need to be paid to resolve them. The world has, how-ever, succeeded in holding its breath after concerned parties said they did not want to be dragged into a war, which would be costly and difficult to contain. Moreover, there has been a growing conviction that Iran, which can resort to destabilizing the situation in the Hormuz Strait, would not go so far as to close it. It knows that such a move will lead to the establishment of a broad international front against it that would include the Euro-pean powers that are keen on salvaging its nuclear deal.The Middle East returned to the forefront of international concern when Benjamin Netan-yahu acknowledged that Israel struck Iranian

military bases in Iraq. He said that he had ordered his military to act freely to thwart Iran’s hostile plans. He went even further by saying: “I don’t grant Iran immunity any-where. It is trying to establish bases against us everywhere. In Iran itself, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen.”Netanyahu’s frank comments about targeting Iranian military infrastructure and Popular Mobilization Forces targets in Iraq surprised many observers. They had expected Israel to remain vague over its role in the “mysterious blasts” that took place in Iraq. Furthermore, the acknowledgment could embarrass the United States, whose forces stationed in Iraq control the country’s airspace. The PMF had held the US responsible for the blasts. A day after Netanyahu’s comments, Iraqi Shiite religious authority and resident of Iran’s Qom, Kazem al-Haeri issued a fatwa that bars the continued deployment of American forces in Iraq. The edict renewed debate in Iraq that Iran may opt to retaliate to harsh American sanctions against it by at-tempting to expel US forces in Iraq, either through a parliamentary order, if possible,

or through attacks carried out by “unknown” groups.On the ground, Netanyahu’s declaration means that Iraq is officially a legitimate target of Israeli strikes that are aimed at countering Iran’s military entrenchment in the region, and which were originally limited to Syria. In reality, the Russian military presence in Syria has led to the containment of the war Israel was waging against Iran’s entrench-ment because it has led to the containment of Tehran’s response to the strikes and which were being fired from Syria. The launching of Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in Iraq has supported the claims of American-Russian consensus over Israel’s right to defend its se-curity against what it believes to be threats from Syria and Iraq.The developments have gone beyond that with Israel launching new strikes against Syria and that led to the death of Lebanese Hezbollah members. It followed this up by sending drones that crashed in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The battlefield has there-fore been expanded from Syria to Lebanon after it was expanded from Syria to Iraq.

Limits of Roles are Drawn by Fire

7 INTERVIEWS Tuesday, August 27, 2019

THURSDAY

Despite Its Resources Eastern Sudan Suffers from Poverty, Hunger and Disease; Says Bawanin

Osman Musa Bawanin, chairperson of Beja Congress for reform and Development (BCRD), and the National Salivation Forces Alliance (NSFA) one of the political leaders in eastern Sudan. Chairperson of Ashyiaab tribe (one of the tribes in the East). He opposed the ousted regime of Al Bashir who ruled Sudan for 30 years. The former regime confiscated all the properties of Bawanin

property in 1998. Sudan Vision interviewed Bawanin from his residence in the United Arab Emirates UAE to highlight the (BCRD) role in the political process regarding to the current politi-cal and economic situations in Sudan.Excerpts:

Interview by Neimat al Naiem

Q: Beja Congress for Reform and development, is an opposition party, would you please elaborate on the definition of (BCRD) in the history of the party?

A: Yes, thanks Sudan Vision for this opportunity to shed light on BCRD and the current political sit-uations in Sudan. Beja Congress is an expansion of the early first Beja Congress which was established in 1958, reform and development is the theme of the first conference of Beja Congress titled (Union, reform and development. We contin-ued on the Beja visions and demands that the congress was established for. Q: BCRD is part of the National Salivation Forces Alliance (NSFA) would you brief on the formation of the NSFA?

A: We formed the NSFA last January 2019 as combination of the armed groups in Dar-fur, Kordufan, and Blue Nile and now call for confederalism for Sudan five regions of East , North, Center, Kordofan and Darfur, according to 1956 borders , and Khartoum should be the capital of Sudan.

Q: Do you think federalism is suitable for Su-dan; it may lead to division of Sudan, your comment?

A: Confederalsim as system of rule is be-ing implemented and succeeded in many countries worldwide; there some Arab States adopted confederalism, and live in stability, se-curity and sustainable development. It will be suitable Sudan which is rich of resources in all regions.

Q: Eastern Sudan suf-fered developmen-tal gap during the governments, what is the BCRD vision to develop the East and Sudan in general?

A: Unfortunately, Eastern people had being suffering from the three pillars; the poverty, hunger and disease. Eastern Sudan was ne-glected during all last governments. Khar-toum governors accustomed to treat with the Eastern Sudan as a cheap political gain, besides neglecting to provide services, con-structing projects. All agricultural schemes and projects are de-graded and destroyed. We are still inquiring about Toker Delta, Gash agricultural scheme and other agricultural projects .The misman-agement of the central governments caused the loss of an international economic value represents a source in exporting cotton as a cash crop. In addition to neglecting of all services and the industrial projects in the East. We call from this forum particularly the mass media to visit the Easter Sudan to stand on reality on the humanitarian situations the eastern Sudan live in.

Q: You talked about poverty, hunger and disease, but the East is very rich with resourc-es, your comment?A: Yes, for sure, the Eastern Sudan is very rich with mul-ti-able resources including fertile agricultural lands ex-tend from Gedarif to Kassla states, beside Gash Delta. East is the richest region in miner-als of Gold, Oil, and agricul-ture along with its rich fishery wealth, marine tourism.

Q: Osman Bawanin, BCRD is one of the parties early op-posed the former regime,

would you please elab-orate on this?

A: Yes, we o p p o s e d the former r e g i m e early from its first

years, for many reasons such as its wrong policies and the marginalizing some areas of Sudan. Regard to the revolution and political mobilization since 19th December 2018. The first martyr was from Port Sudan, that followed by the other towns in the different states in River Nile, and others. Our membership in BCRD had patriated effective with revolutionists at streets from the different walks. Some of them are arrested till the ousted of the regime on 11th April 2019.

Q: How could you evaluate your relation with the Forces for Freedom and Change FFC?

A: We were the first who signed the agree-ment of the FFC in the presence of the lead-ers of the Sudanese Professionals Associa-tion (SPA) and the other political powers, but, after the success of the revolution we were excluded and marginalized. Our rep-resentatives weren’t involved in the different committees, beside there was any gathering represents the east in the FFC. We called for

federalism for the east and the other regions of Sudan.

Q: As you mentioned, why had you been ex-cluded, Bawanin?

A: Unfortunately, the FFC is similar to what was being practiced by the National Congress

Party (NCP) in excluding others, we have been shared the suffering, struggling, but now FFC is picking the fruits.

Q: BCRD supported the constitutional Docu-ment as one of the forces of change mobiliza-tion, did the document detailed on the rights of Beja and the East?

A: Our support to the document is according to our beliefs in the unity of Sudan, but un-fortunately we had been excluded from nego-tiation, committees, the constitutional docu-ment; we have many reservations on it. Even the two documents haven’t included any privileges to the East of Sudan or any marginal-ized disputes affected areas, it is a suspected document, it will be seen in the coming days.

Q: Dose the BCRD par-ticipates in the cabinet?

A: As I said; we have

been marginalized be-fore the ousted regime in 2019. The SPA urged us to take part in the sit-in and pro-testing in the different streets.

Q: Do you participate only at the East level or the other states?

A: We as Beja Con-gress for reform and development as part of the National Salivation Forces Alliance NSFA (armed groups), we call for federalism for all regions of Sudan and to solve the issues of displaced, refugees, return to the origins.

Q: How could BCRD see the distribution of wealth and power share, do you agree the three levels, central, states and local gov-ernments, and the self-ruling ?

A: The central rule had failed during all last governments since In-dependence. It should be replaced by a rule concerns with humans, and developing to re-sources.

Q: What is the positive and effective role expected from the eastern Sudan in develop-ment?

A: There are more than 3,000 post graduates qualified were not applied to any jobs, they are capable with the other eastern employers to lead the development process in the east. We reach to an agreement with financing bodies to provide loans of Euro 8 billion for development in the eastern Sudan, if imple-ments federalism.

Q: What are the requirements of the coming era, if you to an agreement reflecting and the showing the vision of BCRD?

A: First of all, we think that the Forces for Freedom and Change FFC should correct the mistake of excluding the National Salivation Forces Alliance N.S.F.A , and didn’t added BCRD to the FFC. Then the implementation

of confederalism in all regions of Sudan. Beja should involve in jobs and other high ranks jobs according to the required qualifi-cations.

Q: Could we succeed in rebuilding trust with the world com-

munity on Sudan to have its normal and correct seat?

A: Yes. We can do it. There will be new Sudan, not that of the past. Sudan would be capable to have soon its high and valuable seat among the great countries. Sudan and according to its geographic situation is highly appreci-ated in the world commu-nity.I call through Sudan Vision the Sudanese political powers without any ideologies and the frustrated views to unify, and to form one demanding body to fulfil the demands of the Suda-nese people and revolution, and to build

a new country with new visions to simultane-ous with the nice time.

Q: What is your message to the local, region-al and international community to treat with Sudan in the future?

A: We found great response in the surround-ings in the region and from the world commu-nity promising to open a new bright chapter. It is expected that the donners will organize a conference to assist Sudan, beside writing-off Sudan external debts.

Q: Are you optimistic that Sudan name will be removed from the list of States sponsor terrorism?

A: Yes, I’m optimistic that Sudan name will be removed from the list of States spon-sor terrorism, the former regime was being supporting terrorism was demolished to the waste of the history. Sudan is in new outlook according to democratic parliamentary sys-tem, the role of law to be implemented on all people and implementing the confederalism in all regions of Sudan, without any execu-tion or marginalization to any area.

Q: Sudan had been absent from the world community, could we success in rebuild trust with the world community and have it nor-mal and correct seat again?

A: If God wish, we hope that there will be new Sudan and we are able to rebuild this trust with the world community. Sudan is capable to have its seat among the great developed

c o u n - tries sooner .It characterized with a geo-graphical situ-ation that is highly appre-ciated among the different nations of the world. Let me call through your paper to

the Sudanese political forces to ignore ideol-ogies and quotas and the destroying thoughts. Let us unite and unify to form one demand-ing body to fulfil the demands of the revolu-tion and the Sudanese people. To build a new country with timely thoughts and visions.

Q: As you mentioned, Q: As you mentioned, why had you been ex-why had you been ex-cluded, Bawanin?cluded, Bawanin?

A: Unfortunately, the

I’m optimistic that Sudan name will be removed from the list of States sponsor

of terrorism

ation that is highly appre-ciated among the different nations of the

Sudan is capable to have its seat among the great

developed countries sooner

in jobs and other high ranks jobs according to the required qualifi-cations.

It is expected that the donors will organize a conference to

assist Sudan, beside the write-off of Sudan external debts

would you would you please elab-please elab-orate on orate on this?this?

A: Yes, we o p p o s e d the former

years, for many

we call for federalism for

all regions of Sudan and to

solve the issues of displaced,

refugees, return to their

places of origin

ISLAM IN FOCUS8 Tuesday, August 27, 2019

wahbadiyab@gmail.com Wahba Mahmoud Diyab

Surat Yusuf/Joseph – 12- Meccan – Ayats – 111Section Eight – Verses 76-88

So he (Joseph/Yusuf) began [the search] with their baggage before (he come to) the baggage of his brother. Then (at length) he brought it out of his brother’s baggage. Thus did We Plan for Joseph/Yusuf. He could not take his brother by the law of the king [as a slave], except that God willed it so. We raise/elevate to degrees (of wisdom) whom that We Willed. But over all endued with knowledge is the One, All-Knowing. (76)

اء ن وع ا م ه رج تخ يه ثم اس خاء أ بل وع م ق يته بأوع

أ بد فلك ي دين امل اه ف ذ أخ أخ ان لي ا ك ف م نا ليوس د لك ك ذ يه ك خ

أم

ل ل ذي ع وق ك اء وف ن نش ات م ع درج نرف اء اهللا إال أن يش

ليم (٧٦) ع

They [Joseph/Yusuf’s brothers] said: “If he steals, there was a brother of his [Joseph/Yusuf] -before him- who did steal”. But these (slander and defamation) things Joseph/Yusuf did keep in him, not revealing the secrets to them. He [simply, said into himself] “You are the worst vicious and malicious situated, and God is the Best-Knower of the truth of what you assert”. (77)

ي ف ف ا يوس ره أس بل ف ن ق رق أخ له م د س ق رق ف وا إن يسال ق

ا لم مب أع انا واهللا ك ر م ال أنتم ش م ق ا له ه ه ولم يبد س نف

ون (٧٧) ف تص

They said: “O’ exalted one, ruler of the land! Verily he has an aged father, old and vulner-able, who will be grieved for him, so take one of us in his place; for indeed we see you are one of the gracious and good doers [Muhsinin]. (78)

انه ك نا م د ذ أح يرا فخ با ك يخ إن له أبا ش

زيز ا الع الوا يا أيه قنني (٧٨) س

ن احمل إنا نراك م

He said: “God forbid that we take should take other than him with whom we found our prop-erty; indeed –if we did so- we should be transgressors, acting wrongfully”. (79)

ه إنا إذا ند نا ع تاع نا م د ن وج إال مذ أن نأخ

اذ اهللا ع ال م قون (٧٩) امل لظ

So now when they despaired of him and saw no hope of his yielding, they held a conference in private. The eldest/leader among them said: “Don’t you know that your father did take an oath from you in God’s name, and how –before this- you did fail in your duty with Joseph/ Yusuf? Therefore, I will not leave this land until my father permits me, or God Commands

and Decides to my favor, and He is the best to Command/to Judge”. (80)

وا لم م ألم تع يره بال ك ا ق ي

وا جن لص نه خ وا م يئس ت ا اس لم فتم رط ا ف بل م ن ق وم

ن اهللا ا م ثق و م م ليك ذ ع د أخ م ق أن أباك م اهللا ك بي أو يح

تى يأذن لي أ رض ح لن أبرح األ ف ف ي يوس فني (٨٠) م اك ير احل و خ لي وه

[The eldest/leader said]: “Return to your father and say: O’ our father! Verily, your son {Benjamin} has committed theft! We bear witness only of what we know, and could not

well-guard against the unseen”. (81)

نا د ها ش رق وم ا إن ابنك س

ولوا يا أبان ق م ف بيكوا إلى أ ع ارج

ني (٨١) ظ اف يب ح نا للغ ا ك ا وم ن لم ا ع إال مب

“And ask the –people of- village/town where we have been, and the caravan in which we retuned, and [you will find] we are indeed telling the truth”. (82)

ا وإنا يه لنا ف ب ير التي أق ا والع يه نا ف رية التي ك ل القأ واس

ون (٨٢) ادق لص

(Jacob/Ya’qub) said: “Nay, but your own selves have beguiled you to contrive a story –good enough- for you. So patience is the most fitting [for me]. May be God Will bring them [back] all to me. Truly He! Only He is All-Knowing, the All-Wise”. (83)

ى اهللا س يل ع م بر ج را فص م أم ك س م أنف لت لك و ال بل س ق

يم (٨٣) ك ليم احل و الع ا إنه ه يع م م ج تيني بهأن يأ

And he turned away from them, and said: “Alas, my grief for Joseph/Yusuf” And his eyes became white [Leukemia affection] and lost sight because of the sorrow, and he fell into suppressing and silent melancholy. (84)

ن اه م ين ت ع ف وابيض لى يوس ى ع ف ال يا أس م وق نه لى ع وتويم (٨٤) ظ و ك ه زن ف احل

They said: “By God! You never cease remembering Joseph/Joseph, until you become [agi-tated by grief] until you reach extremity of illness/weakness, or until you be of the dead”. (85)

ن ون م ا أو تك رض ون ح تى تك ف ح ر يوس ك أ تذ ت تفالوا تاهللا ق

ني (٨٥) الك اله

He said: “I only complain my distraction, anguish, and sorrow to God, and I know from God that which you don’t know…” (86)

ا ال من اهللا لم م وأع

زني إلى اهللا و بثي وح ك ا أش إمنال ق

ون (٨٦) لم تع

“O’ my sons! go and enquire about Joseph/Yusuf and his brother, and never give up of God’s Soothing Mercy; certainly no one despairs of God’s Mercy except those who disbelieve and have no faith”. (87)

ن وا م يه وال تيئس خف وأ ن يوس وا م س س تح بوا ف بني اذه

رون (٨٧) اف م الك و إال القن روح اهللا إنه ال ييئس م

روح اهللا

So when they came back and entered into [Joseph /Yusuf’s] presence; they said: “O’ exalted one! ruler of the land, distress and hard time had seized us and our family/people, we have –now- brought scanty capital, so pay us full measure and be charitable to us. Truly God Will reward the charitable”. (88)

ر لنا الض ا وأه ن س زيز م ا الع الوا يا أيه ليه ق لوا ع ا دخ لم ف ا إن اهللا

لين ق ع د يل وتص ا الك أوف لن اة ف زج ة م اع ا ببض ئن وجني (٨٨) دق تص زي امل يج

COMMENTARY:-(Verse 76)- A/The pronoun ‘he’ can only refer to Joseph. He may have been present all the time, or he may just have come up, as the supposed theft of the king’s own cup (verse 72 above) was a very serious and impor-tant affair, and the investigation required his personal supervi-sion. All that his officers did by his orders was his own act; and as the lawyers say: (who-ever does anything through another, does by himself). B/The Arabic word used here is: wi’aun, plural: au’iya, which includes bags, lockers, boxes, or any receptacles in which things are stored. Notice the appropriateness of the words used. The cup was concealed in a saddle-bag (rahl)-(verse 70 above). When it comes to searching, they must search all the baggage of every descrip-tion if the search was to be convincing and effective. C/The missing item refers to the drinking cup, which is a femi-nine noun: hence the feminine pronoun (ha=اهجرختسا) ) in Arabic. D/Let no one suppose that it was a vulgar or wicked trick, such as we –sometimes- hear in police courts, when a property is planted on innocent men to get them in trouble. On the contrary it was a de-vice or stratagem whose purpose was to show up wickedness in its true colors, to give it a chance of repentance, to bring about forgive-ness and reconciliation, to give solace to the aged father who had suffered so much, and above all, to further that larger plan for the instruction of the world, which is unfolded in Israel’s religious history. Joseph was a man of God, but he could not have carried out this plan or taken the first step –of detaining his brother- except with the will and permission of God; Whose Plan is universal and for all His creatures. E/If we examine this world’s affairs, there are all sorts of plans, and all degrees of folly and wisdom. The wicked ones plan; the foolish ones plan; the sim-ple one plan; then there are men who think themselves wise and are perhaps thought to be wise, but who are foolish, and they have their plans; and there are degrees of real and beneficent wisdom among men. God –the Universal Planner- is above all. Anything good in our wisdom is but a reflection of His wisdom, and His wisdom can even turn folly and wickedness to good.(Verse 77)- A/The hatred of the Ten Brothers for Joseph and Benjamin comes out again. They are not only ready to believe evil of Benjamin, but they carry their thoughts back to Joseph and call him a thief as well. They had injured Joseph; and by a false charge of this kind they salve their conscience. Little did they suspect that Joseph was before them under another guise, and their falsehood and treachery would soon be exposed. B/There were many secrets: (1) that he was Joseph himself; (2) that his brother Benjamin knew him; (3) that there was no guilt in Benjamin, but the whole practical joke was in further-ance of a great plan (see note (D) of verse 76); (4) that they were giving themselves away, and were unconsciously facilitating the plan, though their motives were not above-board. C/ ’Ah!’ thought Joseph: “you think that Benjamin is safely out of the way and that Joseph was got rid of long since! Would you be surprised to know that you have giv-en yourselves away, that you are now in the power of Joseph, and that Joseph is the very instrument of your exposure and (let us hope) of your repentance?!”(Verse 78)- I have translated the title of ‘Aziz here as “the exalted one” when addressed to Joseph in order that not to cause confusion with the other man –the ‘Aziz to whom Zu-laikha was married- and who is apparently no longer now in the land of the living: (see verse 30 and notes).(Verse 79)- There is a little sparring now be-tween the Ten and Joseph. They are afraid of meeting their father’s wrath, and he holds

them strictly to the bargain which they had themselves suggested.(Verse 80)-A/Kabir: may mean the eldest. But in verse 78 above Kabir is distinguished from Shaikh, and I have translated the one as ‘venerable’ and the other as ‘aged’. In Su-rat Taha 20 verse 71; Kabir obviously means ‘leader’ or ‘chief’, and has no reference to age. I therefore translated by the word ‘lead-er’, that brother among them who took the most active part in these transactions. His name is not given in the Qur’an. The eldest brother was Reuben. But according to the Biblical story the brother who had taken the most active part in this transaction was Judah –one of the elder brothers- being the fourth son after Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, and of the same mother as these. It was Ju-dah who stood surety to Jacob for Benjamin: (Gen. xliii. 8- Then Judah said to his father Israel: “let Ben-jamin go with me. I will take care of him. We have to go to Egypt to get food. If we don’t go, then we will all die, including our chil-dren. 9- I will make sure he is safe. I will be responsi-ble for him. If I don’t bring him back to you, then you can blame me forever. 10-If you had let us go before; we could already have made two trips for food). It is therefore natural that Judah –as there- offer to stay be-hind. B/The pledge he had given was to his father, and in God’s Name. Therefore he was bound both to his father, and to God. He must await his father’s orders and remain here as pledged; unless God opened out some other way. For example the Egyptian Wazir might relent; if so, he could go back with Benjamin to his father, and his pledge would be satis-fied.(Verse 81)- ‘He stole in secret and without our knowledge; how could we in this cir-cumstances prevent it?’ This may have been a good statement for the other nine brothers, but Judah was himself personally and spe-cially pledged.(Verse 82)- To vouch for the truth of the story, the nine brothers are asked by Judah to appeal to their father to enquire at the place where they stayed and the caravan with which they came, and he would find that the fact were as they stated them. The nine brothers came back and told their father as they had been instructed by Judah.(Verse 83)- A/Jacob was absolutely stunned by the story. He knew his darling little Ben-jamin too well to believe that he had commit-ted theft. He flatly refused to believe it, and called it a cock-and-bull story, which indeed it was, though not in the sense in which he reproached the nine brothers. With the eye

of faith he saw clearly the innocence of Benjamin, though he did not see every detail of what had happened. B/with the eye of faith he clung to even a larger hope. Perhaps all three of his lost sons would come back,- Joseph, Benjamin, and Judah. His faith in God was unswerving, although alas! The present facts altogether unmanned him.\(Verse 84)- The old father’s grief is indescribable; yet with what master-strokes it is described here! One sor-row brings up the memory of another and a greater one. ‘Benjamin’ is now gone! Oh but Joseph! His pretty dream of boyhood! His greatness foretold! And now how dark was the world! If he could but weep! Tears might give relief, and his red and swollen eyes might yet retain their light! But his grief was too deep for tears. His eyes lost their color, and became a dull white. The light became a mere blur, a white glimmer. Darkness seemed to cover everything. So it was in the outside world. So was it in his mind. His grief was unshared, unexpressed, and uncomplaining. Who could share it? Who could understand it? He bore his sorrow in silence. Yet his faith was undimmed, and he trimmed the lamp of patience, that sovereign virtue for those who have faith.(Verse 85)- A speech full of jealousy,

taunting malice, and lack understand-ing,- one would have driven mad any one less endowed with patience and wisdom than was Jacob the man of God. It shows that the sons were still unregenerate, though the time of their repentance and reclamation was draw-ing nigh. The cruel heartlessness of their words is particularly out of place, as Jacob bore sorrow in silence and complained to no mortal, but poured out his distraction and grief only to God, as stated in the next verse. (Verse 86)- Jacob’s plaint to God is about himself, not about God’s do-ings. He bewails the distraction of his mind and his occasional breaking out of those bounds of patience which he had set for himself.(Verse 87)- A/He knew of God’s mer-ciful and beneficent dealings with man in a way his shallow sons did not. And his perfect faith in God also told him that all would be well. He never gave up hope for Joseph, as his directions in the next verse show. They may be supposed to have been spoken after a little silence of grief and thought. That silence I have indicated in punc-tuation by three dots. B/The word is rauh/rouh, not ruh, as some translators have mistakenly construed it. Rauh/rouh includes the idea of a Mercy that

stills or calms our distracted state, and is particularly appropriate here in the mouth of Jacob. C/Jacob ignores and forgives the sting and malice in speech of his sons, and like a true man of God, still wishes them well, gives them sound advice, and send them on an errand which is to open their eyes to the wonderful ways of Providence as much as it will bring consolation to his own distressed soul. He asks them to go again in search for Joseph and Benjamin. In any case their stock of grain is again low, and they must seek its replenishment in Egypt. (Verse 88)- The nine brothers come back to Egypt according to their fa-ther’s directions. Their first care is to see the Wazir. They must tell him of their entire father’s distress and excite his pity, if perchance he might release Benjamin. They would describe the father’s special mental distress as well as the distress which was the com-mon lot of all in famine time. They had spent a great part of their capital and stock-in-trade. They would ap-peal to his charity. It might please so great a man, the absolute governor of a wealthy state. And they did so. Perhaps they mentioned their father’s touching faith, and that brought Joseph out of his shell, as in the next verse.

WORLD NEWS9 Tuesday, August 27 , 2019

The IndependentShe had wondered for years how her son died. Then the confession came on YouTube.‘Chopped into pieces,’ said a former hitman, who told a makeshift courtroom that he was obeying orders from the ex-president.Ya Mamie Ceesay, 62, watched with dry-eyed shock on her Samsung phone screen.But numbness turned to fear this month when authorities let the self-identified killer walk free until a national probe ends next year ñ a chance at amnes-ty in exchange for telling the truth.‘Iím scared to see him in the street,’ Ms Ceesay said. ‘Iím also worried someone might kill him.’Everyone knows what he did, she said, because everyone seems to be glued to Gambiaís Truth, Reconciliation and Rep-arations Commission hearings on television, Facebook, Twit-ter ñ anything that carries a live stream.What started as an investigation into the human rights abuses of Yahya Jammeh ñ the dictator who ruled Gambia for 22 years before fleeing to Equatorial Guinea in 2017 ñ has become an internet phenomenon in the seaside West African nation of roughly 2 million.Since the hearings began in January, Jammeh has been linked to the deaths of more than 70 people, including po-litical opponents, businessmen, a woman he is thought to have impregnated and a ship full of African migrants.More than 100 victims and ac-

cused perpetrators have taken the witness chair in a converted beach hotel the dictator once owned, implicating him in kid-nappings, torture and murders.The testimonies, which are ex-pected to run through next year, could build evidence against Jammeh, according to the countryís attorney general, who said the country isnít ready to prosecute the exiled leader.Gambia modelled the Truth Commission after South Afri-caís inquiry into the apartheid era and Rwandaís reckoning with its 1994 genocide. Both

undertakings offered amnesty to criminals as the countries tried to heal. Both moves sparked outrage.But unlike previous transitional justice efforts - nearly three dozen truth commissions have played out in some form across the globe since the 1980s ñ Gambiaís investigation is un-folding in the age of social me-dia.Supporters say the online fren-zy helps investigators find wit-nesses and keeps the population informed as more Africans gain access to smartphones, while

critics note it could stoke unrest or sway how suspects are pros-ecuted.‘If we do not encourage them to come forward, the victims will never know the truth of what has happened to their loved ones,’ said Ba Tambadou, Gam-biaís justice minister and attor-ney general. We do not want to arrest everyone and send the message that they are doomed either way.’Britain’s public finances worse than Gambia, Uganda and Ken-ya, because of privatisation, IMF finds Investigators will

decide next year who gets im-munity and who gets punished.‘I understand this is emotion-al,’ Mr Tambadou said, ‘but we cannot determine at this stage who bears the greatest respon-sibility for these atrocities.’Mr Tambadouís decision to release members of Jammehís former hit squad, known as the Junglers, set off a fierce debate, which is playing out in market stalls and Facebook comments.‘They are capable of doing any-thing,’ said Aja Jatta, a 26-year-old security consultant, perched on the steps of a Chinese mas-sage parlour. ‘This isnít safe.’‘Itís fair,’ said Abdoulie Ni-ange, a 35-year-old grain seller, hanging outside his concrete storefront. ‘When you get a command, you have to do your command. Obey and complain later.’Baba Galleh Jallow, executive secretary of the Truth Commis-sion, said the Internet is spark-ing a healthy conversation. An educated democracy, he said, is less likely to elect another dic-tator.‘It has enabled the widest pos-sible coverage of our work,’ he said. Mr Jallow, a former jour-nalist whom Jammeh forced into hiding, is running the project while on leave from his teaching position at La Salle University in Philadelphia, where he waited out the last years of the strongmanís reign.He wants everyone to be in-volved as the nation rebuilds, and social media facilitates easier participation. Someone with WhatsApp in a rural vil-lage, for instance, can instantly send a tip to investigators.

Jeff SungSEOUL: North Korea test-fired a new type of multiple rocket launch system late Saturday into the sea off its east coast, state media reported.It was the seventh test in a month, as ne-gotiations to scrap the Northís nuclear arsenal flounder.The Northís official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Sunday that the latest weaponsí test was on a newly developed ‘super-large multiple rocket launcher.’The countryís leader Kim Jong-un over-saw the test and called the device a ‘great weapon.’North Korea must step up its develop-ment of strategic and tactical weapons to counter the ‘ever-mounting military threats and pressure offensive of hostile forces,’ KCNA reported Kim as saying while he oversaw the testing.One of the short-range weapons has been identified as a KN-23, a mobile short-range ballistic missile based on the technology of Russiaís Iskander missile, which could hit targets across the South after evading missile intercep-tors operated by South Koreaís military. Pyongyang maintains that joint South Korea-US military drills are a provoca-tion.South Korea officials urged the North to

stop hostile acts.‘We express strong concern that the North continues to test-fire short-range projectiles despite the South Korea-US military drills ending,’ a presidential spokesman told reporters on Saturday. ‘We urge the North to halt such hostile acts that raise military tensions.’Despite worries about the Northís prov-ocations that could harm the security of South Korea where 28,500 US armed forces personnel are stationed, US Pres-

ident Donald Trump again touted his friendship with Kim.‘Kim Jong-un has been pretty straight with me, I think, and weíre going to see whatís going on, weíre going to see whatís happening,’ he told reporters in Washington before heading to the G-7 summit in France on Friday night. ‘He likes testing missiles, but we never re-stricted short-range missiles.’Trump and Kim held a surprise meet-ing in the Demilitarized Zone in June

and agreed to resume working-level denuclearization negotiations within a month, but such a meeting has yet to be held. In a further sign that nuclear dis-armament talks are barely holding to-gether, the North blamed US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for complicating the talks, calling him a ‘diehard toxin.’‘He is truly impudent enough to ut-ter such thoughtless words which only leave us disappointed and skeptical as to where we can solve any problem with such a guy,’ North Koreaís Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said on Friday in a statement carried by KCNA, referring to Pompeoís recent remarks in which he said sanctions would be kept until the North took concrete steps to bin nuclear weapons.US Special Representative Stephen Bie-gun for North Korea was in Seoul last week to discuss ways to get negotiations back on track but it is not clear if he con-tacted his North Korean counterpart.Biegunís efforts were overshadowed by South Koreaís surprising decision to sever m ilitary ties with Japan. On Thursday, the presidential Blue House announced it would pull out of an intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan, a key pillar of the US-led trilat-eral alliance in East Asia to check the influence of China and Russia.

Korea Test-fires ‘Super-large Multiple Rocket Launcher’

Australia Plans to Censor Extremist Online Content KSA, UAE form Joint Panel to Enforce Yemen Ceasefire

AFPSYDNEY: Australia plans to block websites to stop the spread of extreme content during ‘crisis events,’ the countryís prime minis-ter has said.Speaking from the G7 in Biarritz Sunday, Scott Morrison said the measures were needed in response to the deadly attack on two New Zealand mosques in March.The live-streamed murder of 51 worshippers ‘demonstrated how digital platforms and websites can be exploited to host extreme vio-lent and terrorist content,’ he said in a statement.‘That type of abhorrent material has no place in Australia, and we are doing everything we can to deny terrorists the opportunity to glorify their crimes, including tak-ing action locally and globally.’Under the measures, Australiaís eSafety Commissioner would work with companies to restrict access to domains propagating terrorist

material.A new 24/7 Crisis Coordination Center will be tasked with moni-toring terror-related incidents and extremely violent events for cen-sorship.In the wake of the Christchurch at-tack, Australia set up a task force with global tech giants like Fa-

cebook, YouTube, Amazon, Mi-crosoft and Twitter to address the spread of extremist material on-line.It is not yet clear how the measures will be enforced. Morrison has pre-viously suggested that legislation may come if technology compa-nies do not cooperate.

Arab NewsJEDDAH: Saudi Arabia and the UAE have formed a joint panel to support the cease-fire between Yemenís government and southern separatist forces in Shabwah and Abyan, Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Mon-day.The panel will ensure the implementation of the cease-fire, Arab coalition spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki said.The two states issued a joint statement by the foreign ministries, urg-ing the sides to honor the cease-fire and return the civilian headquarters in Aden of the legitimate government.The governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE con-firmed they will continue

their support, politically, militarily and through relief support to the Arab coalition in Yemen, the statement added.The separatist forces of the so-called Southern Tran-sitional Council (STC) declared last month they

were breaking away from the UN-recognized legiti-mate government of Yem-eni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, based in the southern city of Aden. Their forces seized gov-ernmental structures and military camps in Aden,

Shabwa and Abyan. Last week, they partially with-drew from strategic areas in Aden under pressure from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.STC still retain control of military sites in the prov-ince.

‘Chopped to Pieces’: Former Dictator’s Hitmen Confess to Murder and Walk Free in Gambia

Finding Homes in Ruin, Destitute Iraqis

Return to Camps

AFPAL-KHAZER/IRAQ: Her tent is bare, she is unemployed and her family relies on food dona-tions. But Nihaya Issa was forced to pick an Iraqi camp over the unlivable ruins of her native city Mosul.The northern city was freed from Daeshís grip more than two years ago, but tens of thousands of Iraqis who fled Mosul into sprawling dis-placement camps have yet to move back home. Many, like Issa, say they tried returning but were shocked by what they saw.‘When I went back to Mosul I didnít find my house. It was destroyed,’ said Issa, speaking from her stuffy tent in the Khazer camp about 30 km east of Mosul.‘I also couldnít afford renting a house, so I came back to this camp again,’ she told AFP, clapping her hands in exasperation.Dark circles have formed under her eyes, and the widow and mother of eight girls said she and her children ‘live a tough life’ in Khazer. But the 33-year-old feels she has little choice.‘We stay in the camp because of the food rations we get every 30 to 40 days,’ she admitted.Across Iraq, more than 1.6 million people remain displaced, among them nearly 300,000 from Mo-sul alone, according to the International Organi-zation for Migration (IOM).They are spread out across a handful of displace-ment camps in the broader Nineveh province that have developed into full-fledged tent cities.Amenities provided by NGOs include schools and training centers, health clinics and shops, football fields and hair salons ó all mostly una-vailable in Mosul and other towns ravaged by Daesh and the ensuing fighting.Ghazwan Hussein, 26, hails from Sinjar, a region west of Mosul that was overrun by Daesh five years ago as it waged a brutal campaign against the districtís Yazidi minority.The father of four fled the region to the Khazer camp, where he eked out a living until his son fell ill a few months ago. He sold his meager be-longings in the camp to afford the required sur-gery and tried to return to Sinjar.‘I found that my house was unlivable. It was de-molished and the area didnít have basic services,’ said Hussein, his toddler perched quietly on his lap outside their tent.‘I couldnít stay and came back to Khazer once again.’ Only a sliver of Sinjarís native population of 500,000 Yazidis has returned, with the rest saying persistent destruction, the lack of services and the tense security situation have kept them in camps. Hussein said the Iraqi government should speed up reconstruction efforts and compensate displaced citizens.‘Does it make sense to keep us in the camp with-out work for three years, as if in jail?’ he asked.‘We just eat, sleep, and live on food baskets with-out any hope the situation will improve so we can go home.’ Mosulís migration office said up to 25 families a day are leaving their destroyed homes to return to displacement camps to access better services. ‘For the past 18 months, we have also seen ëreverse migrationí back to the camps or to the Kurdish region,’ said office head Khaled Ismail. ‘The reasons for reverse displacement are varied according to the regions: It might be tied to the security situation, the familyís financial conditions or the fact that their destroyed homes are unsuitable for living.’

10 Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Ana Maria Lebada

For the first time, the 2019 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Economic Growth Report explicitly includes environmental sus-tainability considerations. Titled ëGoing for Growth 2019,í the report has an increased focus on reforms to make growth environmentally sustainable. It calls for the better use of environmental taxation, the phase out of agricultural subsidies and environmentally harm-ful tax breaks, and additional steps to reduce transport emissions, including more investment in better and low-emission public transport.Overall, the 2019 report finds slow growth, high un-certainty, and rising levels of inequality, and it urges policy makers to take action to achieve stronger, sus-tainable, and more inclusive growth. The publication underscores that economic growth is weakening at a time when ìkey forcesî such as globalization, digitaliza-tion, population aging, and environmental degradation are shaping economic developments. To address these megatrends, it recommends country-specific structural reforms that boost long-term growth, improve com-petitiveness and productivity, create jobs, and ensure a cleaner environment.However, the 2019 assessment of top structural re-form priorities in 46 OECD and non-OECD countries and their progress on key reforms finds ìa disappoint-ing pace of reforms in 2017-2018.î Education was the most common reform priority across countries.The report makes the case for improving the condi-tions for labor market inclusion of women, migrants, minorities, and older workers, as prerequisites for sus-tainable economic growth. It also underlines that in-novation policies need to support ìradical innovationî and the diffusion and adoption of new technologies. It further emphasizes that restoring a multilateral, rules-based system is crucial, especially in areas like climate change, tax evasion and profit shifting, competition, trade, and migration.Slowing growth and increasing global uncertainty should not divert policy makersí attention from longer-term objectives of improving incomes and well-being. Addressing such long-term objectives requires imple-menting key structural reforms. This chapter presents an overview of the Top 5 reform priorities and recom-mendations for OECD member and key nonmember states. Two cross-cutting themes can be identified: im-proving the equality of opportunities for workers and firms and securing the environmental sustainability of gains in growth and well-being.

More than ten years after the onset of the global finan-cial crisis, global growth is fragile. The prospects for strong and sustained improvements in living standards

in the medium term remain weaker than prior to the crisis in both advanced and emerging-market econo-mies, reflecting unfavourable demographic trends and the consequences of a decade of subdued investment and productivity growth. Uncertainty is high and pov-erty and inequality pressures loom, with many coun-tries experiencing a prolonged stagnation of incomes of the poorest and a decline in the wage share (Pak and Schwellnus, 2019). In some countries, there is a grow-ing perception that equality of opportunities and social mobility have declined. At the same time, environmen-tal pressures are rising. Economic growth and higher living standards imply evolving lifestyles, produc-tion and consumption patterns, all of which will have consequences for the environment and the resources it provides and hence the sustainability of growth and well-being.The cyclical developments should not divert atten-tion from long-term objectives and structural reforms needed to achieve them. Yet, they may affect the em-phasis in the design and implementation of reform packages. For example, where demand is particularly weak, and fiscal space permits, governments may need to do more to complement structural efforts with fiscal stimulus. Examples include investing in infrastructure, especially digital, transport and energy, enhancing peo-pleís skills, and more generally implementing policies that favour equal opportunities (OECD, 2019).

To meet these challenges, Going for Growth identi-fies the Top 5 structural reform priorities essential for achieving a high growth path, in a way that is both inclusive and sustainable. This Chapter first briefly summarises cross-country differences in productivity, employment and inequality in order to understand each countryís specific performance weaknesses. It then presents an overview of the country-specific policy re-form priorities and recommendations to address them. Chapter 2 reports on actions taken on the 2017-18 pri-orities. Chapter 3 provides details on and the results of the integration of selected dimensions of environmen-tal sustainability into the priority selection framework ñ a novelty in the 2019 Going forGrowth edition. Finally, Chapter 4 provides the coun-try specific Going for Growth Country Notes with details on reform priorities, recommendations and ac-tions taken.The global growth slowdown is largely a cyclical de-velopment. However, the slowdown and increasing un-certainty come at a time when globalisation, digitalisa-tion, demographics and environmental degradation are key forces shaping economic developments. To make the most out of these challenges policy makers need to address domestic reform priorities, with a tailor-made structural reform agenda.Such an agenda requires packaging and sequencing

policies to offset potential short-term costs, particu-larly on the most vulnerable and to build support for reforms.Going for Growth identifies Top 5 structural reform priorities to boost growth in an inclusive way in OECD member and key non-member economies. The priori-ties are selected using quantitative analysis and qualita-tive OECD expertise. For each reform priority, policy recommendations are put forward and recent reforms are reported. Going for Growth 2019 integrates green growth to account for the environmental sustainability of growth.In both advanced and emerging-market economies, the most prevalent priorities to be addressed by reforms are in the areas of skills and education and product market regulation, competition and trade and FDI openness. In emerging-market economies, the majority of labour market priorities tackle thepolicy-related causes of informality and labour market duality. In advanced economies, a significant share of labour market priorities target reducing barriers to full-time labour market participation of women, older work-ers, migrants and minorities. A more growth-friendly tax mix is a priority in many advanced economies, with emphasis on increasing the share of revenues coming from the taxation of property, consumption and envi-ronmental externalities.The provision of accessible, quality infrastructure and its efficient use are key priorities, in particular in emerging-market economies. Delivering on these pri-orities cost-efficiently will not only boost economic growth, but improve its inclusiveness and in some cases environmental performance. Securing the rule of law, fighting corruption and improving the efficiency of the judicial system are priorities in both emerging-market and selected advanced economies. Addressing them is necessary not only for growth itself, but also for the ability to successfully implement other struc-tural reforms.A large share of 2019 Going for Growth priorities can be seen as improving the equality of opportunities among current and future firms and workers. This con-cerns priorities to lower entry barriers, improve market access and ensure a more level playing field in prod-uct and service markets, education and skills policies and policies to increase the inclusiveness of the labour market.Overall, 11 countries and the European Union have priorities addressing environmental pressures among their Top 5 priorities. A large number of countries have reforms recommended to boost growth that can also re-duce pollution and environmental degradation. Never-theless, environmental sustainability remains a global concern and needs to be addressed through a combina-tion of domestic and multilateral action.

Edited by: Alula Berhe Kidani ENVIRONMENT

The Time for Reform Is Now:OECD Economic Growth Report

Addresses Environmental Sustainability

Faye Leone

A group of partners held a multi-stakeholder discussion on inclu-sive green economy, with speak-ers calling for a transformation, and even a revolution, of our economies in order to continue to prosper. The event titled, ëFair, Fast and Green: Transforma-tive Partnerships for an Inclusive Green Economy,í was organized by members of the Partnership for Inclusive Green Economies, and moderated by Jo Confino of the Huffington Post.Oliver Greenfield, Green Econ-omy Coalition (GEC) Convenor, emphasized that in order to deliver different goals, we need different ways of running our economies: ìthe only thing commensurate to the challenges we face is to trans-form our economiesî into green and inclusive ones.Guy Ryder, International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-Gen-eral, acknowledged that econom-ic transformation is easy to talk about, but ìextraordinarily difficult to do,î especially given the pres-sure of time. Ryder also reflected that only in the past ten years has it become widely understood that jobs and growth are not in conflict with planetary survival.UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) President Ola Elves-tuen echoed this idea, saying that the connection between environ-mental and social issues is much stronger now than it was even a few years ago. However, he said, there is not yet the ìwill to change at the needed scale,î despite ad-equate understanding of the cri-sis, as outlined in reports from the IPCC and IPBES. Elvestuen em-phasized that the ìworldís first big testî is coming later this year, as countries announce their increased Nationally Determined Contri-butions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement on climate change. This will show whether the world

is willing to take the leap need to cut emissions sufficiently.The UNEA President also looked forward to the upcoming meeting of the UN Convention on Bio-logical Diversity (CBD) in Kun-ming, China, in 2020, which he said must result in a framework on the loss of nature with ìsimilar strengthî to the Paris Agreement. Subsequently, the February 2021 meeting of the UNEA will assess the next steps needed to create a global economy within the bound-aries of nature.In a series of government perspec-tives, Rita Schwarzeluhr-Sutter, BMU, said Germany is working

to phase out coal mining with a ìjust transitionî approach in order to have legitimacy in the eyes of citizens. It has established a com-mission to guide the process.Elizabeth Thompson, Permanent Representative of Barbados, said that in order to achieve growth that is not carbon-driven, a gov-ernment must develop an archi-tecture to include those most af-fected by climate change (women, youth and SIDS) in the dialogue on growth. Thompson added that governments will change if youth can ìcause enough disruptionî: she encouraged youth to innovate, create new technologies, and ad-

vance new lifestyles, attitudes and behaviors.Gabriel Quijandria, Peruís environ-ment ministry, highlighted the dif-ficulty of shifting to deforestation-free commodities and agriculture. He said the government has to tell producers, ìthe way you produce palm oil is no longer the way the world wants you to produce it.îAstrid Schomaker, European Commission, spoke to govern-mentsí difficulties in transitioning away from sectors and products they have relied on. She said that just as environmental protection and economic growth are mutually reinforcing (ìthere are no jobs on

a dead planet,î she said, quoting the ILO), people must begin to see environmental policies as socially beneficial as well. They serve as an ìequalizerî by benefitting the poor, who live closest to factories and on busy streets.Schomaker said the next stage is for environmental policies to be more inclusive. She explained that data does not currently provide insight into environmental and so-cial issues in an integrated manner: the data show progress on environ-mental issues, but not ìwhether whole of population benefits, or just the rich.îInger Anderson, UN Environment

Programme (UNEP) Executive Director, said that in the next ten years, we need a full revolution of economic growth models on the scale of the industrial revolu-tion, which took 100 years. If we do not achieve this, 10% of our natural wealth on land and in the ocean will be gone. She identified as key elements: involve indus-tries (agriculture, manufacturing, banking and others); enact regula-tory frameworks to drive certain behaviors; and reverse the use of incentives, which currently favor ìthe wrong things.î She stressed that transitions must be fair in or-der to ensure ìwe donít create an underclass of people that once had those jobsî in fields that are being transformed.Also during the side event, GEC launched a compass for navigating the transition to green and inclu-sive economies. The compass in-cludes five principles (wellbeing; justice; planetary boundaries; ef-ficiency and sufficiency; and good governance), as well as ten priority actions, a pathway, and knowledge platforms for business and finance. These two new platforms are de-scribed in this SDG Knowledge Hub story.The event took place on the side-lines of the 2019 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). SDG Knowledge Hub coverage of the 2019 HLPF can be found here.The members of the Partnership for Inclusive Green Economies that organized the side event are UNEP, GIZ, the Global Green Growth In-stitute (GGGI), GEC, the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP), ILO, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Poverty-Environment Action for SDGs, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Industrial Devel-opment Organization (UNIDO), and the UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE).

Easy to Say, Difficult to Achieve: Experts Discuss Forging a Fair, Green Economy

11HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Edited by: Alula Berhe Kidani

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

World Bank Launches Sustainable Development Bond on SDGs 6 and 14

Megatrends, Future Projects Discussed at Close of 2019 ECOSOC Cycle

WB

The World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD, Aaa/AAA) today priced the first global benchmark issue of its new fiscal year 2020*. The 5-year Global Sustainable Development Bond raised CAD 1.5 billion from in-stitutional investors around the globe to finance World Bankís sustainable development lend-ing. This transaction matches the World Bankís largest CAD benchmark, issued in January 2019, the largest bond issued by an SSA (sovereigns, supranation-als, and agencies) in the Canadi-an market.BMO Capital Markets, RBC Capital Markets, and TD Securi-ties were joint lead managers for this transaction. The bond will be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.The CAD 1.5 billion offering enjoyed strong market reception from the onset, with indications of interest surpassing CAD1.1 billion overnight. The final or-derbook was oversubscribed, with final books in excess of CAD1.85 billion. The high qual-ity, diversified order book was reflected in the allocation to 47 investors globally.This Sustainable Development Bond is issued as part of a World Bank initiative to engage inves-tors on the Sustainable Develop-ment Goals (SDGs). The World Bankís goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity in a sustain-able manner are aligned with the SDGs. Increasingly, investors and other market participants are using the SDGs as a framework for investment and way to com-municate support for specific development priorities. Through this engagement, the World Bank and the joint lead managers seek to raise awareness of SDG 6, Clean Water and Sanitation, and SDG 14, Life Below Water.The World Bank, as the larg-est multilateral funder for ocean

and water projects in developing countries, is committed to work-ing with countries to ensure ac-cess to safe and clean water and for the sustainable use of ocean and marine resources. This in-cludes avoiding pollution reach-ing oceans through better waste management.Jingdong Hua, World Bank Vice President and Treasurer, said: ìWe are happy to see such a robust re-sponse from investors highlight-ing their commitment to high quality investments that support sustainable development. Fresh-water and marine ecosystems are integral to regulating climate, while also providing nutrition, jobs, and livelihoods. Through our partnership with investors we want to sharpen the focus on these challenges and highlight the essential role investors play in achieving the Sustainable De-velopment Goals.îSean Hayes, Managing Director, Head of US Syndicate at BMO Capital Markets, said: ìWorld Bank has kicked off its new fis-cal year with a splash in Canadi-an dollar markets, a Sustainable Development Bond highlight-ing water and oceans. The pre-mier international SSA issuer in CAD markets for its liquid-ity, it follows Januaryís C$1.5bn 3-year with a largest ever in the 5-year tenor. The size and spread achieved is a true testament to both the Canadian domestic and global investor following World Bank attracts.îJigme Shingsar, Managing Di-rector SSA DCM at RBC Capi-tal Markets, said: ìA spectacular return to the Canadian dollar market for World Bank who once again demonstrated the broad in-vestor appeal of Sustainable De-velopment Bonds. That the ìWa-ter and Oceansî theme for this Sustainable Development Bond aligned so well with Canada was just icing on the cake.îPaul Eustace, Managing Direc-tor, Head of EMEA Syndicate at TD Securities, said: “World Bank has demonstrated market leading

presence in the Canadian dollar market with this new sustainable development bond. This bond highlights the lending activity of World Bank to support oceans and water, a theme that resonates meaningfully with Canadian investors. We congratulate the World Bank on an exceptional beginning to their funding for the 2019-20 fiscal year.”With annual issuances between US$50-US$60 billion, World Bank bonds support the financ-ing of programs that support the SDGs. World Bank bonds are aligned with the sustainability bond guidelines published by the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA). The World Bank is also a member of the Ex-ecutive Committee of the Green Bond and Social Bond Princi-ples. A key priority for the World

Bankís capital marketsí engage-ment is building strategic part-nerships with investors to pro-mote the importance of private sector financing in sustainable development.This press release is not an offer for sale of bonds of the Interna-tional Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“IBRD”), also known in the capital markets as “World Bank”. Any offering of the bonds will be made only by means of a prospectus containing detailed information that will be made available through the joint lead managers and is subject to restrictions under the laws of several countries. Bonds may not be offered or sold except in com-pliance with all such laws.The net proceeds from the sale of the bonds are used by the World Bank to finance sustainable de-

velopment projects and programs in the World Bankís member countries without being commit-ted or earmarked for lending to, or financing of, any particular projects or programs. Returns on the bonds are not linked to the performance of any particular project or program.About the World BankThe World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and De-velopment, IBRD), rated Aaa/AAA (Moodyís/S&P), is an in-ternational organization created in 1944 and the original mem-ber of the World Bank Group. It operates as a global develop-ment cooperative owned by 189 nations. It provides its members with financing, expertise and co-ordination services so they can achieve equitable and sustain-able economic growth in their

national economies and find ef-fective solutions to pressing re-gional and global economic and environmental problems. The World Bank has two main goals: to end extreme poverty and pro-mote shared prosperity. It seeks to achieve them primarily by providing loans, risk manage-ment products, and expertise on development-related disciplines to its borrowing member govern-ment clients in middle-income countries and other creditworthy countries, and by coordinating responses to regional and global challenges. It has been issuing sustainable development bonds in the international capital mar-kets for over 70 years to fund its activities that achieve a positive impact. Information on World Bank bonds for investors is avail-able on the World Bank Treasury

Faye Leone

The UN Economic and Social Council discussed projections for the future of the SDGs, drawing on research on long-term trends and scenarios. The session marked the conclusion of the Councilís 2019 ministerial segment, which had also included the final part of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).As reported by the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Under-Secretary-General Liu Zhenmin presented megatrends from the summary of the UN Depart-ment of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Sus-tainable Development Outlook 2019, which will be launched in September 2019. Liu reported that:Implementation of the SDGs is made more chal-lenging by lower GDP growth and the looming risk of sudden deterioration of financial conditions;The global population is projected to reach 8.5 bil-lion in 2030, and while this can present a demo-graphic dividend for developing countries with a young workforce, nearly 1.8 billion are projected to face chronic unemployment risk and remain out-side the workforce;More than two million people are experiencing high water stress due to climate change; andInternational migration, which will continue to shape population dynamics, is a win-win for both origin and destination states.Cristi·n Samper, Wildlife Conservation Society, highlighted the ìtriple challengeî of protecting bio-diversity, promoting human well-being, and ad-dressing climate change. He said 30% of the solu-tions for climate change are nature-based, but are overlooked in most nationally determined contribu-tions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement on climate change. He called for 30% of ecosystems be set aside by 2030 and for the restoration of degraded areas.Highlighting increasing carbon emissions and ris-ing inequality as ìcounter-transformations,î Nebo-jöa Naki?enovi?, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), listed six focus areas as pathways to transformational change: education and health; consumption and production; deep de-carbonization; biosphere and land-use; smart cities;

and digital revolution. He called for a shift from incremental to transformational change; identifica-tion of synergies using sustainable development pathways; formulation of sustainable development roadmaps; and a focus on inter-relationships to un-cover multiple benefits and synergies.Mahmoud Mohieldin, World Bank Group, stressed: guidance for policymakers on using indicators to track progress; domestic resource mobilization, given declining foreign direct investment; and healthy competition between countries to accelerate implementation. He also stressed the importance of taxing negative outcomes like pollution.Discussing long-term trends and scenarios, mod-erator Claire Melamed, Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, drew attention to the challenges of decision-making and SDG imple-mentation in the face of uncertainty regarding solu-tionsófor instance, of the transformational benefits

or potential dangers of new technologies.Isabelle Durant, UN Conference on Trade and De-velopment (UNCTAD), called for fair trade that benefits the entire supply chain, noting that while the volume of global trade has multiplied by five times in 30 years, the benefits are distributed une-venly. In response to a question from the moderator on why we fail to act collectively and individually on climate change despite knowledge of its impacts, Durant said transformative actions are not possible when governments focus on electoral cycles.Isabelle Pypaert-Perrin, International Movement ATD Fourth World, said dialogue on inequalities must involve marginalized communities, so they can contribute to solutions for inclusive and sustain-able societies.Doreen Bogdan Martin, International Telecommuni-cation Union (ITU), said half the worldís population is not connected to the internet, and growth rates are

slowing at the bottom of the pyramid where con-nectivity is most needed for inclusion and equality. Highlighting that many lack the reading, numeracy, and technical skills needed to benefit from the in-ternet, she said it will not be possible to achieve the SDGs without connecting the worldís population.Paulette Metang, Association Camerounaise pour la Prise en charge des Personnes AgÈes, noted the anticipated rise in population of those aged 60 and over, from 962 million in 2017 to 1.4 billion by 2030. She called attention to human rights viola-tions and age prejudice, while proposing a global convention to protect the rights of the elderly.Participants called for: ìmoving with, not forî people and contextualizing solutions by taking cultural di-versity and languages into account; promoting syn-ergies between global agreements like the Sendai Framework on DRR, Paris Agreement, and the 2030 Agenda; and promoting ìvoluntary local reviews.îSumming up, Elliott Harris, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, reiterated:- the key role of equality in unlocking the potential of the other goals;- the role of demographic trends in driving inequali-ties;- the potential of climate change to exacerbate in-equalities, and the need for ìjust transitions;î- the importance of transparency, predictability, and accountability, especially in national budgets; and- the need for all voices to be heard while drafting policies.In closing remarks, Liu said the lack of data hinders progress in reaching those furthest behind, the high-level Summits in September 2019 present an oppor-tunity to focus on this issue, among others.ECOSOC President Inga Rhonda King said an in-tegrated approach that includes people in decision-making is key to ensure that no one is left behind. She summarized several emerging mega-trends discussed at the ECOSOC High-level Segment, in-cluding the debt crisis, climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. She said the international com-munity is still uncertain about how to achieve the transformational change to address these crises, and ECOSOC and HLPF are providing a platform to nurture that discussion

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Loch Ness Monster Theory ‘Remains Plausible’, Scientists Say

BRIEFAguero Reaches 400 Goals in Man City Stroll, Newcastle Stun Spurs Alaska Man Discovers 50-year-old Message in Bottle

from Russian Navy

APANCHORAGE, Alaska: A man discovered a 50-year-old letter in a bottle from the Rus-sian Navy on the shores of western Alaska.Tyler Ivanoff found the handwritten Russian letter early this month while gathering fire-wood near Shishmaref about 600 miles (966 kilometers) northwest of Anchorage, televi-sion station KTUU reported.‘I was just looking for firewood when I found the bottle,’ Tyler Ivanoff said. ‘When I found the bottle, I had to use a screwdriver to get the message out.’Ivanoff shared his discovery on Facebook where Russian speakers translated the mes-sage to be a greeting from a Cold War Rus-sian sailor dated June 20, 1969. The mes-sage included an address and a request for a response from the person who finds it.Reporters from the state-owned Russian media network, Russia-1, tracked down the original writer, Capt. Anatolii Prokofievich Botsanenko, KTUU reported.He was skeptical he wrote the note until he saw his signature on the bottom.‘There ó exactly!’ he exclaimed.The message was sent while the then 36-year-old was aboard the Sulak, Botsanenko said. Botsanenko shed tears when the Rus-sian television reporter told him the Sulak was sold for scrap in the 1990s.

AFPLondon: Sergio Aguero reached 400 career goals as the Man-chester City striker inspired the champions’ 3-1 win at Bourne-mouth, while Tottenham suf-fered a shock 1-0 defeat against Newcastle on Sunday.With Premier League leaders Liverpool off to a perfect start with three successive victories, City are already under pressure to keep pace.Pep Guardiola’s side did just that thanks to Aguero as City’s record goalscorer hit another milestone with a clinical double in the south-coast sunshine.Raheem Sterling was also on the scoresheet ó making it six goals in four games this term for the England winger ó as City’s second win of the season lifted them to within two points of Liverpool.It was a landmark day all round for City, with captain David Silva involved in all three of the goals on his 400th appearance for the club.‘We felt Bournemouth’s physi-cality, a nice three points and a big compliment to the players, a few things to improve, that’s good it’s happened when we are winning games,’ Guardiola said.‘The quality of our players in

front made the difference and we won the game.’Guardiola was less enthused by a VAR review that denied City a penalty when Jefferson Lerma appeared to trip Silva.City were last week left frus-trated during a 2-2 draw with Tottenham when a last-gasp goal from Gabriel Jesus was disal-lowed by VAR due to a conten-tious handball against Aymeric Laporte.Asked if City deserved a spot-kick, Guardiola replied in an sardonic manner: ‘No, no, no. Penalty? No.‘It was clear hands last game, clear hands. A penalty today? No, please.

‘The challenge this season will be amazing for us after winning back-to-back two titles, the chal-lenge will be great.’Meanwhile, Steve Bruce si-lenced his critics as Newcastle won at Tottenham to secure their first points under the polarizing Magpies boss.Since taking over from Rafael Benitez in the close-season, Bruce had found himself under pressure after losing his first two games, with fans doubting his credentials and former players claiming his squad were uncer-tain about his methods.But Joelinton first goal for New-castle in the 27th minute gave Bruce some breathing space for

a few days at least.Davinson Sanchez was caught playing the offside trap, allow-ing Brazilian forward Joelinton to collected Christian Atsu’s inch-perfect ball and fire home.Newcastle were helped by a poor performance from Tottenham, who have won only once in their first three games.Mauricio Pochettino’s side were frustrated by VAR after the de-cision-review system ruled not to award a penalty when Harry Kane had tumbled under a chal-lenge from Jamaal Lascelles.Tottenham playmaker Chris-tian Eriksen was only used as a substitute amid uncertainty sur-rounding his future ahead of the European transfer window shut-ting next week.In the day’s other game, Wolves forward Raul Jimenez scored a stoppage-time penalty to rescue a 1-1 draw against Burnley at Molineux.Ashley Barnes had put Burnley in front after 13 minutes with a blistering strike, giving the for-ward four goals in three games this season.But Jimenez netted from the spot in the 97th minute after the Mex-ican was tripped by Erik Pieters.Wolves have drawn all three of their league games this term.

ìWomen were the dynamo of this revolution, they canít be taken out of the picture. Otherwise there will be another revolution.î (AFP)

The 22 Arab women scientists from across the Middle East and North Africa selected for the first fellowships under the AWLA program. (Sup-plied photo)

What Price Social Media Influence?

Billionaire Duke of Westminster ‘Plans to Demolish Council Homes to Build Luxury London Flats’

which is owned by Facebook, and the compa-ny has recently started testing a design tweak that will no longer show the total number of ‘likes’ other users’ posts have received. Initial-ly launched in Canada, it also being rolled out to users in six other countries: Ireland, Italy, Japan, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.Since the advent of social media, business mar-keting has gone through an overhaul, with the focus increasingly on billions of online users.In Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, social media influencers have become one of the most important marketing tools for busi-nesses to enhance awareness of their brands. In the Arab world alone, there are about 164 million active Facebook users, in addition to more than 200 YouTube channels with over a million subscribers.

Yahoo NewsA billionaire Duke plans to demolish council homes in London and replace them with luxury flats, it has been reported.The property group run by Hugh Grosvenor, 28, the sev-enth Duke of Westminster, wants to knock down Wal-den House in Westminster and build shops and homes, which would include social housing.But 40 families in exist-ing council homes say they were only told of the plans in March, seven years after private tenants in neighbour-

ing flats, the Sunday People reported.The Duke is the worldís rich-est person under 30 with an estimated wealth of up to £10 billion.His property group, Gros-venor, currently leases Wal-den House to Westminster Council, but plans to knock it

down by 2023.The plan would affect 141 residents, eight of whom are disabled. Some residents have lived in the homes for up to 40 years. They have been told they may apply for new homes up to 12 miles away.NHS PA and resident Liza Begum, 34, who has lived at Walden House all her life, told the Sunday People: ìItís social cleansing.ìWhat do Grosvenor expect us to do? Move from a place weíve been for 30-plus years and start again? Itís ridicu-lous.’

Jennifer BellABU DHABI: In the age of the social me-dia influencer, the phenomenon and the power of ‘likes’ have been driving brands to sign up a handful of users for huge sums to reach out to the masses.A single post or a picture by an ‘influencer’ ó such as a fitness guru, beauty blogger or fashion expert ó can rake it in. In the Mid-dle East, such elite users command astro-nomical fees with their appeal to a region that is home to a digitally empowered Arab youth.But as with any lucrative business, fraud has followed.Influencer fraud, in which celebrities ac-quire fake followers to create fake per-sonas on platforms such as Instagram to inflate their fan base, is expected to cost businesses $1.3 billion (SR4.8 billion) this

year, according to research from cyberse-curity firm Cheq. The study found that at least 15 percent of all influencers’ followers were fake.‘It’s a huge waste,’ said economist Roberto Cavazos, a University of Baltimore profes-sor who conducted the analysis for Cheq, noting that his estimate is conservative.Companies worldwide spend an estimated $8.5 billion annually to persuade influenc-ers to market their products, according to Mediakix, an influencer-marketing firm.Cavazos estimates about 15 percent of the corporate dollars spent daily are lost to in-fluencer fraud.He said the phenomenon of ’vanity metrics’ explains why many marketing companies have welcomed the recent move by Insta-gram to crack down on influencer fraud. Fake accounts are banned on Instagram,

Sky NewsWe might be able to safely discount the existence of werewolves and zombies, but scientists say one mon-ster that may really live among us is the one long ru-moured to dwell in the wa-ters of Loch Ness.Researchers who have com-pleted a DNA investigation of the famous site in the Scottish Highlands have said that one theory about the fabled creature “remains plausible”, having taken 250 samples from the depths.Professor Neil Gemmell, of the University of Otago in New Zealand, led the global team, which took 250 water samples and ex-tracted enough DNA to analyse around 500 million sequences.What they sourced has been used to identify tiny genetic remnants left behind by life in the loch - from skin, scales, feathers, fur, faeces and urine - and establish a detailed list of everything living in the waters.The full findings will not be revealed until September, but the professor teased: “There have been over a thousand reported sightings of something in Loch Ness, which have driven this no-tion of a monster being in the water.“From those sight-ings there are around four main explanations about what has been seen. “Our research essentially dis-counts most of those theo-ries - however, one theory remains plausible.” Most scientists have quashed the Nessie phenomenon over the years, dismissing the be-lief that the monster might exist as the result of several hoaxes and wrongly identi-fied mundane objects.One of the most famous im-ages purporting to show the monster came from 1934.It was allegedly taken by Colonel Robert Kenneth Wilson, but was later ex-posed as a hoax by Chris Spurling, who revealed on his deathbed that he was in-volved in the staging of the photo.During a sonar search of the loch for clues in 2016, Nor-wegian tech group Kongs-berg Maritime uncovered what turned out to be a 30ft-long model of the beast.