Algerian President Approves Budget with Gaping Deficit
Business
Asharq Al-Awsat
Tebboune returned to Algeria on Tuesday after a two-month absence in Germany, where he received treatment for Covid-19, just in time to sign off on the 2021 budget. (AFP)
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Thursday approved a 2021 budget which foresees a deficit of around 14 percent of GDP, the presidency said, as the oil-dependent country grapples with economic woes. Algeria's economy has been clobbered by tumbling crude prices, a liquidity crisis, inflation, and the coronavirus pandemic which has brought many economic sectors to a standstill. Africa's third biggest oil producer has also faced negative growth, with the International Monetary Fund forecasting that its economy will shrink 5.2 percent this year and that it will have one of the region's highest budget deficits. Oil and gas represent around 90 percent of Algeria's total exports, and it uses the resulting revenues to subsidise fuel, water, health care, housing and basic goods. Earlier this year Tebboune acknowledged the economy's "vulnerability" due to its failure for decades to diversify its oil dependent economy. The budget Tebboune approved on Thursday, after it was passed by the two chambers of parliament, forecasts a deficit of 2,700 trillion dinars (around $20.4 billion, 17.6 billion euros), or 14 percent of GDP. Furthermore, its hard currency reserves have dropped from more than 162 billion euros in 2014 to less than 57 billion euros late last year. Tebboune has already ruled out seeking loans from the IMF or other international financial agencies, but pledge to launch an economic recovery plan. The president returned to Algeria on Tuesday after a two-month absence in Germany, where he received treatment for Covid-19, just in time to sign off on the 2021 budget. Algeria has recorded just shy of 100,000 cases of the novel coronavirus and 2,756 deaths.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2714006/algerian-president-approves-budget-gaping-deficit
BTS Wraps up Record-Breaking Year with New Year's Eve Online Concert
Entertainment
Asharq Al-Awsat
BTS. (AFP)
Global K-Pop sensation BTS celebrated New Year’s Eve with an online concert on Thursday along with other K-pop groups from its management agency Big Hit Entertainment and fans from around the world. Halsey, Lauv and Steve Aoki, who have all collaborated with BTS in recent years, joined on a special stage by connecting remotely. Seven-member BTS also took part in a short online fan meeting, reading messages and playing a game, which fans could toggle to among multiple screens. “I hope you wrap up the end of the year well, and I’d like to see you in person soon,” Suga said. The concert, at Goyang, northwest of Seoul, was originally scheduled to be held simultaneously online and offline, but in-person attendance was canceled due to a new wave of COVID-19 infections in South Korea. With the concert, BTS wraps up a record-breaking year with three No.1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and becoming the first K-pop group to ever receive a Grammy Award nomination.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2714001/bts-wraps-record-breaking-year-new-years-eve-online-concert
Man United's Cavani Banned for 3 Games for Offensive Post
Sports
Asharq Al-Awsat
Edinson Cavani. (AP)
Manchester United striker Edinson Cavani was banned for three games by the English Football Association on Thursday after using a Spanish term for Black people which he said was intended as an affectionate greeting. Cavani has also been fined 100,000 pounds ($136,500) and ordered to complete face-to-face education after admitting to breaching the FA's rules. The FA said the comment was “insulting, abusive, improper and brought the game into disrepute” and also was an “aggravated breach” because it “included reference, whether express or implied, to color and/or race and/or ethnic origin.” The message was posted by the Uruguayan on Instagram after he scored twice in United’s 3-2 victory at Southampton in October in the Premier League. “While it is clear that context and intent are key factors, we note that the independent regulatory Commission was required to impose a minimum three game suspension," United said in a statement. “The club trusts that the independent Regulatory Commission will make it clear in its written reasons that Edinson Cavani is not a racist, nor was there any racist intent in relation to his post.” The former Paris Saint-Germain player, who joined United as a free agent in October, has already issued an apology. “Edinson Cavani wasn’t aware that his words could have been misconstrued and he sincerely apologized for the post and to anyone who was offended,” United said. “Despite his honest belief that he was simply sending an affectionate thank you in response to a congratulatory message from a close friend, he chose not to contest the charge out of respect for, and solidarity with, The FA and the fight against racism in football.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713996/man-uniteds-cavani-banned-3-games-offensive-post
Yemeni PM Accuses Houthis, Iran of Deadly Aden Airport Blast
Arab World
Asharq Al-Awsat
A security personnel member reacts during an attack on Aden airport moments after a plane landed carrying a newly formed cabinet, in Aden, Yemen December 30, 2020. (Reuters)
Yemen’s prime minister renewed accusations on Thursday that the Houthi militias and Iran were responsible for the deadly explosion at the airport in the southern Yemeni city of Aden the previous day that killed at least 25 people and wounded 110. The explosion took place as Cabinet members were disembarking from a plane that had landed in Aden just minutes earlier on Wednesday. AP footage from the scene showed many ministers rushing back inside the plane or running down the stairs, seeking shelter. None of the Cabinet members were hurt. Hours after the blast, the country's legitimate government said the Iran-backed Houthis had fired four ballistic missiles at the airport. “Preliminary investigations indicate that Houthi militias stand behind this crime,” Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed said as the newly reshuffled Cabinet convened for the first time in Aden. “Intelligence also indicates that some Iranian experts were prepping for such an operation over the last few months,” Saeed said Thursday. Officials later on Wednesday reported a second explosion, close to a palace in the city where the Cabinet members were taken to following the airport attack. The Saudi-led coalition later shot down a bomb-laden drone that attempted to target the palace, according to Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV channel. The newly formed Cabinet was set to meet for the first time since its formation in line with the Riyadh Agreement. “We were supposed to begin by discussing the government program but this is an extraordinary meeting due to yesterday's cowardly and treacherous attack,” Saeed said, and asked his ministers to stand up silently for a moment to mourn the victims of the explosion. Saeed also urged Western powers not to remain content with just condemning the attack but also to hold the perpetrators accountable. “The international community is still debating whether to designate Houthis as a terrorist group," he said. “However, things are clear for us in Yemen. The actions of these militias prove they are a terrorist group.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713991/yemeni-pm-accuses-houthis-iran-deadly-aden-airport-blast
Fireworks Explode over Empty Streets as 2020 Slinks Away into History
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
Fireworks explode over the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge during downsized New Year's Eve celebrations during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Australia. (Reuters)
Blue and gold fireworks soared into the sky above the Sydney Opera House as they do every New Year’s Eve, but the harbor below was a deserted ghost town, a fittingly creepy send-off for a year that will not be missed. No light show was to illuminate Beijing from the top of the TV tower. The lions of London’s Trafalgar Square were barricaded off, as was Red Square in Moscow and Madrid’s Puerta del Sol. In Rome, crowds would not assemble in St Peter’s, the Pope would lead no Mass, and revelers would not make their yearly dive into the Tiber. Good riddance, 2020. Hello, 2021. Some cities planned, like Sydney, to launch fireworks over empty streets. Others, such as London and Singapore, just called their displays off. Paris, Rome and Istanbul were under curfew. The New Year’s Eve countdown ball was set to drop on Broadway. But in place of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers jammed shoulder-to-shoulder in Times Square, the audience would be a pre-selected group of nurses, doctors and other key workers, their families kept six feet apart in socially distanced pens. With more than 1.7 million people dead and 82 million infected around the globe since last New Year’s Eve - yet hope that new vaccines can help tame the pandemic - the year ended unlike any other in memory. Angela Merkel, in her 16th New Year’s Eve address as German chancellor, said as much. “I think I am not exaggerating when I say: never in the last 15 years have we found the old year so heavy. And never have we, despite all the worries and some skepticism, looked forward to the new one with so much hope.” Germany banned the sale of fireworks to discourage crowds. Berlin police would “punish violators consistently”, authorities said. Safety a priority In the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the pandemic originated a year ago, thousands were expected to gather at landmarks across the city center to count down to 2021. Some said they were being cautious, but not particularly worried. “Safety is the priority,” said Wuhan resident Wang Xuemei, 23, a teacher. In Australia, where Sydney’s fireworks annually serve as the world’s first big visual display of the new year, gatherings were banned and internal borders shut. Most people were barred from Sydney’s downtown. “What a hell of a year it’s been,” said Gladys Berejiklian, premier of New South Wales state, which includes Sydney. “Hopefully 2021 will be easier on all of us.” The virus did not stop North Korea from staging its celebration in Pyongyang. State media showed revelers in face masks filling the main square for a concert and fireworks. But in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, where Spaniards typically count down to midnight by stuffing grapes into their mouths at each clock strike, police dragged barriers to keep people out. Jose Angel Balsa, a 61-year-old retiree, said he would spend the evening “with family, just the four of us at home, holding lots of video calls and hoping for this to end as soon as possible.” In Britain, under ever tighter restrictions to fight a new, more contagious variant of the virus, official billboards instruct the public to “see in the New Year safely at home”. Italy’s bars and restaurants were closed, and a curfew imposed for 10 pm. Pope Francis cancelled plans to lead New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day services because of a flare-up of his sciatica, the Vatican said. At “A la Ville de Rodez”, an upmarket delicatessen in Paris, manager Brice Tapon sent customers home with packages of foie gras, truffles and pate for groups of two or three. Rules forbid more than six adults to gather around the dinner table. One of the customers, Anne Caplin, said she would “stuff myself with foie gras and all this food.” “And I’ll stay home.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713971/fireworks-explode-over-empty-streets-2020-slinks-away-history
Egypt’s Cabinet Allows GASC to Co-Found Shareholding Shipping Company
Business
Asharq Al-Awsat
A woman wearing a protective face mask, amid concerns over the coronavirus, walks next to a wall painted with colors of the Egypt's flag in Cairo, Egypt April 26, 2020. (Reuters)
Egypt’s cabinet said on Thursday it agreed a draft bill to allow the state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) to co-found a shareholding shipping company to transport commodities in and out of the country. The company, to be known as Atlantic Pacific Company for Shipping and Trade, will focus on the marine shipping of commodities within Egypt and abroad, and will own commercial shipping vessels. GASC tenders frequently for vegetable oils and wheat, of which it is the world’s largest buyer. Shipping offers are presented in the tender, and many are often awarded to the state-owned National Navigation Company.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713961/egypt%E2%80%99s-cabinet-allows-gasc-co-found-shareholding-shipping-company
Iran Execution of Man Convicted of Murder When 16 Draws UN Condemnation
Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat
In this March 31, 2020, file photo, Iran's national flag waves as Milad telecommunications tower and other buildings are seen in Tehran, Iran. (AP)
Iran executed a man on Thursday who had been convicted of murder 12 years ago when he was 16, a Western rights group said, drawing condemnation from the UN rights office which said it was prohibited under international law. There was no report of the execution on Iran’s media and judiciary officials could not be reached for comment on Thursday, the start of the weekend in the country. “This is the fourth confirmed execution of a child offender in Iran in 2020. The execution of child offenders is categorically prohibited under international law and Iran is under the obligation to abide by this prohibition,” the UN human rights office said in a statement. “UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet strongly condemns the killing of Mohammad Hassan Rezaiee. We are also dismayed that this execution took place despite interventions ...with the Government of Iran on this issue,” the statement said. Amnesty International said on Twitter that Rezaiee had been convicted based allegedly on forced confessions and had spent 12 years on death row. Persons convicted of crimes as juveniles have been executed regularly since the establishment of the republic in 1979. Under Iran’s laws, the age for adulthood is determined by puberty, 15 for boys and nine for girls, but a judge is expected to determine the maturity of the defendant in capital punishment cases. When there is a discrepancy between domestic law and international legal obligations, Iranian authorities have turned to domestic law.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713951/iran-execution-man-convicted-murder-when-16-draws-un-condemnation
2021, The year that Iran Reaches Top News Headlines
Opinion
Camelia Entekhabifard
Camelia Entekhabifard - Editor-in-chief of the Independent Persian.
We must expect extensive and determinant developments in the domestic and international politics of Iran. The year 2020, with all its challenges, from the coronavirus pandemic and its death tolls to the global economic recession, the disputed US presidential elections to the concerns of the Iranian people about a possible major Iran-US conflict, and bloody suppression of the Iranian people by the regime, has marked a gruesome year for the world and especially for Iranians. The world will face 2021, with Covid-19 death tolls continuing to rise, despite the development of a vaccine. The disputed US presidential election will continue to be one of the top important world news until the end of January. Experts say the economic turmoil caused by the bankruptcy of global administrative and manufacturing firms and enterprises will take at least two years to recover. On the other hand, in Iran, the upcoming presidential election will be one of the most interesting and unique polls in the new country's century (1400 solar calendar). As the most influential and essential country in the Middle East (e.g., geopolitics, politico-military, population and geographical location), Iran's future elections can generate significant events in the Middle East and the world. Perhaps to the Iranian people, it no longer matters who the next president will be and voting and participating in the elections of a government that met the smallest demands of its people with bullets, batons, imprisonment and death may seem irrelevant. However, the world is very interested in this election and its outcome. For the West, Russia, China, the United States, and its neighbors, the outcome of the Iranian presidential election and its political future is crucial. While the Iranian people are anxious about having food on their tables, their security, and avoiding death by the coronavirus, the presidential election is already a hot topic among the regime's internal politicians. The United States went through fundamental and radical changes under Trump's presidency; Iran, following the 2021 elections, will also mature into a country in which the government will face the developments ahead regarding its dialogue with the West or relations with its Arab neighbors with more detailed and organized planning. After Jan. 20, when Joe Biden sets foot into the White House as the 46th president of the United States, the world will turn its eyes from the US and focus on Tehran, where troops affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards are preparing for their entry into the presidential palace in early summer. The Iranian government has shown all of its faces to the Iranian people; reformist, moderate and extremist. The only ones missing are the forces close to the Revolutionary Guards and their presence as head of the executive power. Individuals close to the Revolutionary Guards have formerly held governmental positions. However, this time the far-right is aiming for a candidate fully trusted by the IRGC and the regime's key authorities to become the next president of the republic. This decision stems from the urgency and old age of the supreme leader, Khamenei. In the case of his sudden death, the presence of an untrustworthy person as head of the executive power can change and transform the regime's essence. According to the constitution, in the event of death, dismissal or any misfortune of the supreme leader, the president can assume responsibility for the country until the Assembly of Experts' meeting. The Revolutionary Guards and the regime's traditional right-wing will not tolerate that; therefore, this election provides them the opportunity to bring in a trusted person with revolutionary and military insights. That way, if the leader dies in the next four years, the IRGC will attain a vital role in appointing the next leader or changing the constitution. That person will not necessarily be Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is much speculated to run for the presidency. Ghalibaf is in a powerful position that can provide the suitable ground to support and elect a candidate approved by the supreme leader and the IRGC; therefore, it is unlikely and unnecessary for him to resign from his post as speaker of parliament to participate in the presidential election. In the current situation, the extremist, security and military body of the country has both the chief justice (Ebrahim Raeisi) and the head of legislative power (Ghalibaf) in its palm; therefore, the only element left to complete its exercise of authority is the head of the executive power. On the other hand, there is no need for the next president to be a well-known and recognized IRGC figure. However, he will be wisely and prudently chosen so that the regime is not caught off guard again as it was during Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency. Mr. Biden is also the oldest president-elect in the history of the United States. With the controversies circling the outcome of this election, he will have limited chances to settle the dilemmas of the Middle East, and especially Iran, before the end of his four-year term. The events of this past year - the explosion in Natanz, the assassination of the defense-security official (Mohsen Fakhrizadeh), shooting down the Ukrainian airliner inside Iranian territory, the regime's coercive approach to popular protests against high prices, the disabled economy and inefficiency of the government - have confirmed how fragile and insecure the system is. People are exasperated by widespread unemployment, inflation and looting of national resources. The people of a rich country with such a glorious civilization and ancient culture are now bearing witness to the astonishing growth of their small neighboring countries who have not only improved the welfare and livelihood of their citizens but also taken great steps in terms of public and international diplomacy to de-escalate tensions and build a grand coalition in the region. The Iranian regime's behavior has caused the people to sink into more isolation, despair and widespread poverty. The theory and appointment of a president with a military background arise from concerns about internal pressures, a desperate population and the narrowing of the Iranian government's place in the international sphere. 2021 will be the year that Iran reaches the top world news. We should expect important events and developments on domestic and international scales. 2020 was the year of the United States of America, and 2021 will be Iran's.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713936/camelia-entekhabifard/2021-year-iran-reaches-top-news-headlines
ISIS Claims Responsibility for Wednesday's Syria Bus Attack
Arab World
Asharq Al-Awsat
The scene of an attack targeting a bus transporting regime soldiers. (Getty Images)
ISIS on Thursday claimed responsibility for a bus attack in Syria the previous day, saying it had killed 40 Syrian army soldiers and badly wounded six others. The statement was carried by the terror group’s Amaq news agency. Syrian state media said on Wednesday that 28 people had died in an attack on a bus along a main highway in the Deir Ezzor province that borders Iraq. A senior military defector in the area said on Wednesday the vehicle carried soldiers and pro-government militias who had finished their leave and were on their way back to their base in the desolate, sparsely populated area. Another source told Reuters at least 30 soldiers were killed, mostly from the Syrian army’s Fourth Brigade, which has a strong presence in the rich oil-producing province since ISIS fighters were ousted at the end of 2017. Deir Ezzor residents and intelligence sources say there has been a rise in recent months of ambushes and hit-and-run attacks by remnants of ISIS militants who hid in caves in the mainly desert region.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713916/isis-claims-responsibility-wednesdays-syria-bus-attack
Turkey to Clamp down on New Year's Parties amid Virus Curfew
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
People, wearing protective masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, walk on the Galata Bridge over the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Dec. 21, 2020. (AP)
A four-day lockdown is set to begin in Turkey at 9 pm Thursday — New Year’s Eve — in a bid to stem the spread of COVID-19, and measures against New Year’s gatherings are to be enforced. Turkey’s president has warned parties will not be allowed and law enforcement will monitor for any violations. The interior ministry said gathering would be banned “not as a preference but as a necessity” for public health. Istanbul’s governor said Thursday some 34,000 law enforcement personnel would be on duty to enforce the rules in Turkey’s most populous city. The interior ministry announced more than 208,000 officers would be working across the country and have set up thousands of control points. Tourists, who have so far been exempt from lockdowns, will also not be allowed to go to symbolic squares and avenues. Turkey's coronavirus death toll rose by 239 in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry data showed on Thursday, bringing the total number of deaths to 20,881. The number of new cases stood at 14,380 over the same period, bringing total cases since the beginning of the pandemic to 2,208,652. Turkey has among the worst infection rates in the world but official statistics show the seven-day average of daily infections has dropped to around 16,000 from above 30,000 since evening curfews and weekend lockdowns were instituted in early December.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713911/turkey-clamp-down-new-years-parties-amid-virus-curfew
Yanbu (Saudi Arabia) - Asharq Al-Awsat
Ancient quarters of Yanbu
“It was a wonderful day spent in the new corners of the ancient quarter of the city of Yanbu al-Bahr ... This is a history book, and we walked through its pages, sometimes sitting to have some coffee, too.” With these words, the delegation accompanying the tour guide ended its tour. In this region, history is wrapped with modern cloth. The ancient spirit of the place, which spans over four hundred years, is preserved. Its history is linked to the Arabian Peninsula markets and Africa, and today it is shaped by productive families and the tourism industry. Yanbu al-Bahr has regained its ancient neighbor, the “Evening Market”, for the ties between the seaports and the markets cannot be broken. The souk was redesigned and constructed the same way, with the same rustic spirit and wooden doors. In an attempt to recreate the minor details of the old market, it was revamped based on the older inhabitants’ memories and using the wood that had remained in place. In ancient cities, one should take one’s time. Everything is worth contemplating, from the wrinkles on old vendors’ faces to the hands of old women handing visitors back their change after they have made a purchase. Everyone here believes that he who brought life back to this once destroyed market, will also give them a chance to improve their lives and health and grant them blissful days. The climate in the old towns (Yanbu, Jeddah ... and others) is suitable for a half-day family trip, with a lunch or a dinner at one of the moreover seventy-year-old restaurants. Furthermore, the ban on cars gives the city serenity and renders its streets safe for children. The old markets were places to exchange loaves of wisdom, empathy, love, familiarity, and solidarity free of charge. When you are in an ancient market, do not rush to leave and do not rush to buy. Eventually, you will find free goods from the experience of patience and hope. “Historic Yanbu” is most popular during the evenings of the winter seasons. Its proximity to the sea (only meters away) gives its nights a refreshing mild breeze, a soft winter air. A cup of milk tea mixed with ginger is sufficient to warm one up and allow for the rest of the time to be spent watching and observing if one is alone or chatting if accompanied.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713716/old-neighborhoods-stroll-history
Pompeo Hails Enactment of Sudan Claims Resolution Act
Arab World
Asharq Al-Awsat
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (AP)
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hailed on Wednesday the “historic” enactment of the Sudan Claims Resolution Act. “I am comforted that we have taken a vital step toward securing compensation for many US victims of terrorism while also improving the US-Sudan relationship,” he tweeted. “With the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act on December 28, the way is clear for victims of the 1998 East African Embassy bombings, the 2000 attack on USS Cole, and the 2008 murder of USAID employee John Granville, to receive long-awaited compensation for their immeasurable losses,” he added according to a statement released by the State Department. The $335 million previously provided by Sudan and to be released to the United States from escrow is in addition to the compensation Sudan has already paid to some victims of the Cole attack as part of a private settlement. “Achieving compensation for these victims of terrorism has been a top priority of the Department. We are pleased to have been able to work with Congress on this legislation while also preserving the ability of 9/11 victims with pending claims against Sudan to continue to pursue those claims,” continued Pompeo. “The enactment of this legislation represents a fundamental change in Sudan’s relationship with not only the United States but also the entire international community. It removes a major impediment to Sudan’s full reintegration into the global economy by reducing the risk of attachment of Sudan’s assets, opening the possibility for substantially increased trade and investment,” he remarked. “This historic step is possible because of the courageous actions of the Sudanese people, who have placed their country on a path towards democracy and economic prosperity,” he stressed. “The leadership of the civilian-led Transitional Government in delivering on the demands of the people of Sudan is integral to the success of this transition.” He commended the Sudanese people “for their continued insistence on freedom, peace, and justice,” congratulating Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and the Transitional Government “for their courage in advancing both the aspirations of the people they serve and the cause of regional peace under the Abraham Accords.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713706/pompeo-hails-enactment-sudan-claims-resolution-act
China Confirms Uighur Doctor Jailed for 'Terrorism'
World
Asharq Al-Awsat
FILE PHOTO: Ethnic Uighur women leave a center where political education lessons are held in Kashgar, in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China September 6, 2018. CHINA REUTERS/Thomas Peter
An Uighur Muslim doctor has been jailed on terrorism charges, Beijing confirmed Thursday, a day after her family told US politicians she had been sentenced to 20 years. Gulshan Abbas vanished into detention two years ago, but her relatives told a US congressional committee Wednesday that the 58-year-old had been sentenced to 20 years in prison because of activism on behalf of Uighurs. Rights groups say an estimated one million Uighurs and other Turkic minorities languish in detention camps in China's northwestern Xinjiang region in prison-like conditions. China insists they are "vocational training centers", but activists say inmates face torture and forced labor. "Gulshan Abbas has been sentenced according to the law by Chinese judicial organs for taking part in organized terrorism, aiding terrorist activities and seriously disrupting social order," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters. According to AFP, he did not give further details of her alleged crimes. "We urge US politicians to respect facts, stop fabricating lies to smear China, and stop using the Xinjiang issue to interfere in China's domestic affairs," he added. Various Western countries and organizations including the US, EU and UN have criticized China's policies in Xinjiang, most recently highlighting forced labor practices involving Uighur Muslims. That has spotlighted abuses inside the textile supply chain in particular, where cotton harvested in Xinjiang by forced or cheap labor is believed to make cheap garments for Western high streets. A retired doctor who is fluent in Mandarin, Abbas was detained in September 2018, according to testimony from her sister, Rushan Abbas, provided to the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee last year. Rushan Abbas, who is based in the US, has been outspoken in campaigning for her sister's release. "Today my family shared the devastating news we received on Christmas Day: that my sister, Dr Gulshan Abbas, was sentenced to 20 yrs in prison by the Chinese regime," tweeted Rushan Abbas on Wednesday. "Horrific as her unjust suffering is, I am thankful for the support of so many human rights allies."
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713696/china-confirms-uighur-doctor-jailed-terrorism
As the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, was warning that Pfizer, the company the produced the Covid-19 vaccine, not bearing responsibility for any side effects it may cause would leave it unaccountable if it “turned you into a crocodile,” the television station affiliated with the Lebanese president’s party was waging its own vicious campaign against the vaccine. It claimed that it is a global conspiracy orchestrated by Western governments, business people and intelligence services aimed at allowing them to impose their domination of the world. The sentiments expressed by Bolsonaro and those who run OTV, a mouthpiece for the Free Patriotic Movement, are part of a broad climate surrounding the launch of vaccination campaigns and apprehensions about them in many countries, though they are manifestations of the most extreme forms of this opposition. It is not difficult to graph the positions that vaccine skeptics from around the world have held since the beginning of the outbreak. Indeed, most of them are brought together by an initial denial of the dangers posed by the disease, followed by belittling its magnitude and then a consensus that it is a conspiracy of some kind (either Chinese, American, or orchestrated by big corporations seeking to make billions in profits and install electronic chips into patients’ brains). Now, their minds are set on the dangers of the vaccine and its side effects, with a focus on the first one to arrive at clinics and hospitals: the Pfizer vaccine, an overview of the company’s history, its ties with governments, and its aggressive promotion of its drugs. Skepticism and caution are two rights that no sane person could deny. An untested vaccine that utilizes a completely novel technology (mRNA) cannot be injected into human bodies without careful monitoring of its effectiveness and side effects. Both (efficacy and symptoms) are not easy to monitor in the short term. Most experts speak of 15 years being needed to understand the overall impact of the vaccine thoroughly. It seems that the caution that stems from an awareness of the science behind any new treatment and emphasizes the importance of following up on it and studying it deeply is one thing and submitting to superstitions and conspiracy theories is another. Critical and scientific thinking should have separated the two. But today’s tragedies have broken the barriers between scientific and superstitious thinking and elevated irrational discourse that stimulates visceral reactions to the level of absolute truth, whereby those who repudiate this discourse are seen as elitist agents of agencies and corporations that spread evil across the world who don’t care about the lives of the poor. Meanwhile, opinion polls indicate that in some countries over 50 percent of the population refuses to take the vaccine. The campaigns we see today, most of which are tantamount to pathological delirium about the vaccine, are an extension of populist deliriums, identity politics, isolationism and xenophobia. If a researcher were to put some time into tracking the positions of governments, parties and political forces, he would find that a straight line connects the views of the extremist white-right based in the United States, Hungary, Brazil and all the way to Lebanon. They had united on their positions on social and political issues before huddling together in anti-vax trenches. More glaringly, their visions for salvation - which are also one and the same - can be summed up to blaming others: refugees, foreign workers, non-governmental organizations, and shadowy forces seeking world domination, a project that begins with robbing those who hold these views of their privacy and their ethnic, civilizational and cultural superiority or forcing them into subordination to totalitarian global governance led by a handful of billionaires, whose shift from controlling the world to seeking to destroy it is not explained... In other words, these people have no solutions on their agenda; there is no way to escape crises but to evade dealing with them. Illness, like immigration, multiculturalism, individual freedoms, and openness to the world, are parts of a devilish plan prepared by “others” who meet in dark rooms and map out the fate of the people of the world who have succumbed to their fate. The peoples of the 21st century are incapable of choosing between right and wrong, between treatment and disease, between submitting to a corrupt evil clique and living with dignity. This is the backdrop against which the vaccine is being opposed, not out of necessary scientific skepticism but out of a drive to generalize their vision of the world and shape the future in accordance with that vision. A frightened world besieged by an environmental crisis, hatred for others, limited horizons and ignorance; a world where manipulating the poor and simple people are headlines for imposing a darker and more oppressive hegemony than that which they warn us about. Pharmaceuticals are not angels concerned with ending the world’s suffering, and governments will not abandon the inclinations for domination built into them, regardless of their stance on the vaccine. But fear-mongering to spread nonsense and superstition, in the final analysis, reinforces greed for quick profits and legal and popular unaccountability. Anti-vaxxers thereby serve their supposed enemies and make their prophecies fulfill themselves by drowning the world in unfalsifiable rhetoric that cannot be scrutinized and which engaging serves no purpose.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713681/hussam-itani/anti-vaxxing-self-fulfilling-prophecy
Asharq Al-Awsat
FILE PHOTO: A man watches as smoke rises after what activists said was an air strike on Atimah, Idlib province March 8, 2015. REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah/File Photo
The Syrian conflict claimed at least 6,800 people in 2020, the lowest annual death toll since it began nearly a decade ago, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday. According to figures compiled by the UK-based organization, more than 10,000 people were killed in the conflict in 2019. The deadliest year was 2014, when more than 76,000 people died, it said. The overall tally since the start of the conflict has crept up to 387,000, including 117,000 civilians. The fighting, which erupted in 2011 after the brutal repression of anti-regime protests, has largely abated in 2020 as a ceasefire held in northwestern Syria and attention turned to containing the coronavirus pandemic. Violence continues to claim lives every week, however. On Wednesday, ISIS militants ambushed soldiers in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, killing 37 of them.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713616/observatory-syria-war-killed-6800-2020
Spurs' Hammon Makes NBA History as First Woman to Lead Team
Sports
Asharq Al-Awsat
Becky Hammon. (AP)
San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon made history on Wednesday, becoming the first woman to take charge of an NBA team when she took over after head coach Gregg Popovich was ejected. Popovich received two technical fouls with 3:56 left in the second quarter of the Spurs’ eventual 121-107 defeat to the visiting Los Angeles Lakers. “I did not walk into the arena thinking I would be coaching tonight, but that’s the way things go and you roll with it, and I would have liked a different outcome,” Hammon said. “Overall, I would have loved to get a win tonight more than anything. Hammon did not know she would be put in charge if Popovich were to be ejected from a game. How did she find out? “He officially pointed at me,” Hammon said. “That was it. He said, ‘You got ‘em.’ That was it. Very Pop-like.” San Antonio trailed by 11 points at the time Popovich was tossed. “We all group together, (assistant coaches) Will Hardy, Mitch Johnson, ‘What can we do to help?’” Hammon said. “It was all about what can we do to help win. ... It was a great team effort, and they are in my ear giving me suggestions and helping with substitutions and whatnot. When Pop gets tossed, we all come together and become kind of another team.” Hammon, 43, has been an assistant coach for the Spurs since August 2014, the first woman to be paid for that job in an official, full-time capacity. She had a 16-year playing career in the WNBA, 1999-2006 with the New York Liberty and 2007-14 with the San Antonio Stars, the latter team owned by the Spurs. “Obviously it’s a big deal, a substantial moment,” Hammon said of leading the Spurs on Wednesday. “I’ve been a part of this organization. I got traded here in 2007, so I’ve been in San Antonio and part of the Spurs ... organization with the Stars and everything for 13 years. So I have a lot of time invested, and they have a lot of time invested in me in building me and getting me better.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713601/spurs-hammon-makes-nba-history-first-woman-lead-team
Asharq Al-Awsat
An airstrike is seen above Damascus. Reuters file photo
Israel's military, which rarely comments on individual strikes in Syria blamed on its forces, said Thursday it had hit about 50 targets in the country in 2020. The annual report released by the Israeli army did not provide details about the targets hit, but Israel is believed to have launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011. They have targeted regime troops, allied Iranian forces and fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah. A military spokeswoman told AFP that figures in the report were correct as of December 20. The latest strike in Syria blamed on Israel came Wednesday, when missile fire from Israel hit a military position near Damascus, Syrian news agency SANA reported, citing a military source. SANA said one Syrian soldier was killed and three others wounded. Israel's military declined to comment on the incident. Overall, Israeli warplanes flew 1,400 "operational" sorties in 2020, the report said, without elaborating. Regarding the Palestinian conflict, the report said 176 rockets were fired from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip into Israel, of which 90 fell on open ground. It said that Israeli missile defenses had intercepted 80 rockets. On Tuesday, Hamas and other armed groups staged military exercises in Gaza, including firing rockets into the sea, to mark the anniversary of the start of the 2008 conflict.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713596/israel-says-it-hit-50-syria-targets-2020
Hilaria Baldwin Attempts to Explain Herself amid Spanish Heritage Controversy
Entertainment
Asharq Al-Awsat
Hilaria and Alec Baldwin. (Getty Images)
Hilaria Baldwin has expanded on her comments about her heritage after posting an Instagram video on Sunday responding to the story that captivated the internet over the holiday break. A Twitter thread posted on Dec. 21 explained how Baldwin had spoken on and off with a Spanish accent, listed her birthplace as Mallorca, Spain, and even appeared to forget the English word for “cucumber” in a TV appearance. The celebrity yoga instructor, influencer and wife of actor Alec Baldwin told the New York Times' Kate Rosman on Wednesday: “There is not something I'm doing wrong, and I think there is a difference between hiding and creating a boundary.” Asked about why her CAA biography lists her as having been born in Mallorca when she was, in fact, born in Boston to American parents, she implied the powerful agency must have found the information on the internet and said: “I rarely at all work with CAA now. It was very disappointing.” Her bio no longer lists her place of birth. CAA declined to comment. Hilaria also told a podcast this year that “I moved here [to America] when I was 19 to go to NYU from . . . my family lives in Spain, they live in Mallorca”, adding, “I knew no pop culture.” Although the family may have holidayed there, her parents — a successful American doctor and academic respectively — only retired to Majorca in 2011. Rosman spoke with the Twitter user who uses the handle @Lenibriscoe, the name of a “Law & Order” character. The Times was willing to let her speak anonymously as she said she was afraid Alec Baldwin “would punch her” since he has been accused of several outbursts and had been required to take an anger management class. Hilaria Baldwin went by the name Hillary until some time after 2009, some of her classmates had pointed out. Her family often vacationed in Spain and her parents have retired to live there. She had been featured in Hola! and Latina magazines in which she identified as Spanish, which angered Hispanic and Latina women who pointed out why this was offensive. In the media, she has been identified as Spanish ever since she married Baldwin. Hilaria denied she had misled anyone about her ethnicity, and dug herself deeper by claiming she had always been honest about her Boston roots. She had grown up in Spain and the US, she insisted she and her family occasionally lapses into speaking Spanish. “As people are able to come out as different parts of themselves and how they identify and have people listen, I think that's extremely important,” Baldwin told the Times by way of explanation as to why she had adopted so much of Spanish culture as her own, “These are important conversations to have.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713576/hilaria-baldwin-attempts-explain-herself-amid-spanish-heritage-controversy
Premier League Says No Plans to Pause Season as COVID Rates Soar
Sports
Asharq Al-Awsat
General view of the Premier League trophy before the match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge, London, Britain, September 20, 2020. (Reuters)
The Premier League is not discussing a possible pause to the season because of surging COVID-19 infections in England, it said on Wednesday. Fulham’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur was called off hours before kickoff on Wednesday with the club reporting several positive coronavirus tests, and an outbreak at Manchester City caused their game at Everton on Monday to be called off. Several managers have suggested a pause would take the pressure off clubs, but the Premier League says it has no plans to do so. “The Premier League has not discussed pausing the season,” it said in a statement. “The League continues to have confidence in its COVID-19 protocols to enable fixtures to be played as scheduled, and these protocols continue to have the full backing of Government. “With the health of players and staff the priority, the League is also fully supportive of how clubs are implementing the protocols and rules.” Last season’s Premier League season resumed without fans in June after a three-month suspension with Operation Restart deemed a success as clubs avoided major outbreaks. But the move into winter has proved more challenging. The Premier League said on Tuesday that 18 individuals had tested positive for the new coronavirus, the most in a week this season, with bottom club Sheffield United also reporting a number of new cases.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713566/premier-league-says-no-plans-pause-season-covid-rates-soar
Nusaned Raises to $2.3Bn Expected Contribution to Saudi GDP
Business
Riyadh - Asharq Al-Awsat
Nusaned signs strategic partnerships agreements and memoranda of understanding on Wednesday. (SPA)
The Nusaned Council revealed that since its launch, it has graduated 106 investors qualified to start projects that will create 6,610 jobs and contribute more than SAR8.8 billion ($2.3 billion). The Council, an initiative launched by the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) in 2018, celebrated on Wednesday the graduation of 43 new investors at the SABIC Plastic Applications Development Center (SPADC) in Riyadh. It signed several strategic partnership agreements and memoranda of understanding to qualify and empower SMEs and create advanced commercial products. The MoUs and partnerships are also aimed at bolstering cooperation with the Saudi business community and universities in the areas of sustainability and innovation and develop training and manufacturing programs to contribute to localizing technologies and industries in the Kingdom. Under these agreements, Nusaned, in collaboration with the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monshaat), aims to bring SMEs closer to purchasing opportunities in the public and private sectors. BASF, a German multinational chemical company, will showcase its advanced technologies, products and training programs to the business and education sectors in the Home of Innovation platform. Emerson, an American multinational corporation, will present its solutions to localize many manufacturing technologies, control systems, valve assembly, pressure and temperature transducers. SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO Yousef al-Benyan said the progress in the Nusaned initiative is a qualitative leap that confirms its success in attracting and creating more opportunities by reaching a large number of local and global partners. “The outcome of these agreements and partnerships will help create jobs and raise the level of knowledge and professional qualification among locals,” he added. It will also promote the localization of advanced technologies to enable the private sector and SMEs to play an active role in the national economy, he further explained. In addition to SABIC, members of the Nusaned Council include ministries of human resources and social development, industry and mineral resources, investment, Monshaat, as well as the Local Content and Government Procurement Authority. It convenes three times annually to follow up on the progress made in efforts to stimulate local content for promising future sectors, in addition to launching partnerships and initiatives and graduating inventors of eligible projects for local investment.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2713551/nusaned-raises-23bn-expected-contribution-saudi-gdp
Asharq Al-Awsat
FILE PHOTO: The Amazon logo at the company logistics center in Boves, France, August 8, 2018. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo
Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday it would acquire podcast startup Wondery, aiming to beef up non-musical content on its Amazon Music app. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the firms were in deal talks, pegging Wondery at a valuation of more than $300 million. Amazon is relatively a late entrant to the booming podcast space, a key area of focus for Spotify Technology, which has been investing in big names in an effort to become the Netflix of audio content. Wondery, which houses popular podcasts like "Dirty John", "Dr. Death", and "Business Wars", has about 20 million monthly unique listeners, according to a Variety report. Last month, Bloomberg News reported that both Apple Inc and Sony Music Entertainment have held talks about acquiring Wondery.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2712401/amazon-acquire-wondery-podcast-push
Saudi Arabia Strongly Denounces Attack on Aden Airport
Gulf
Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Arabia expressed solidarity with the Yemeni people after the Aden airport attack. Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday strongly condemned the “treacherous” attack on Aden’s airport in Yemen, saying that it targeted not only the new government, but also the Yemeni people. In a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Foreign Ministry said the Kingdom stood by the Yemeni people and its aspirations for peace, stability and security. The attack on the airport came moments after a plane landed carrying the newly formed Yemeni cabinet. The Saudi Foreign Ministry statement said that the Yemenis “will remain steadfast in reaching their goals and regaining legitimacy.”
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2712386/saudi-arabia-strongly-denounces-attack-aden-airport
Arab Coalition Thwarts Houthi Attack on Aden’s Presidential Palace
Arab World
Asharq Al-Awsat
Arab Coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Coalition to Fight Legitimacy in Yemen said Wednesday that it downed an explosive-laden Houthi drone that attempted to target the presidential palace in Aden. Arab Coalition spokesman Col. Turki al-Malki said “the joint forces shot down and destroyed the bomb-laden drone launched by the terrorist Houthi militias to target Maasheq palace.” He said such a “desperate terrorist attempt” confirms the responsibility of the Iran-backed Houthis for the attack on Aden airport that happened moments after a plane landed carrying the newly formed Yemeni cabinet. “Such terrorist acts not only target the Yemeni government, but also the aspirations of the Yemeni people,” he said. Malki reiterated the Coalition’s support for the legitimate Yemeni government and the Yemeni people to build a state and end the Houthi coup.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2712336/arab-coalition-thwarts-houthi-attack-aden%E2%80%99s-presidential-palace
Asharq Al-Awsat
Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi speaks at a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, June 10, 2020. (Foreign Ministry)
Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said Wednesday he is leaving the Blue and White party, marking the further disintegration of the centrist party. Ashkenazi, a former military chief of staff, is joining an exodus from Blue and White ahead of March elections in which the party is expected to lose most of the 17 seats it currently holds in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament. “I have decided not to continue in Blue and White. I am taking a break and will consider my path,” Ashkenazi said in a statement. Defense Minister Benny Gantz, another former top general and the leader of Blue and White, said he respected Ashkenazi's decision. He said that as foreign minister Ashkenazi had played a key role in halting Israel's plans to annex parts of the West Bank and in normalization agreements reached in recent months with a number of Arab states. Gantz formed an emergency government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in May after three inconclusive elections in less than a year. The government was supposed to set politics aside to confront the coronavirus crisis but has been paralyzed by infighting. The Knesset dissolved last week after the government failed to pass a national budget for 2020. Israel now heads to its fourth national election since April 2019. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai announced Tuesday he was forming a new faction that already appears on track to eclipse Blue and White. He was flanked by Avi Nissenkorn, a former labor union leader who served as Israel’s justice minister, who bolted from Blue and White earlier that day. Blue and White lawmakers Assaf Zamir and Miki Haimovich jumped ship earlier this week. The crowded race also includes Gideon Saar, Netanyahu’s chief rival within the ruling Likud party, who broke away earlier this month to form a rival faction called “A New Hope.” Polling shows Netanyahu's Likud party winning the most seats but struggling to form a majority coalition because of rivalries with other right-wing factions. Blue and White is on track to see its share of seats drop into the single digits.
from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2712226/israel-fm-joins-exodus-blue-and-white-party
