US Woman who Led ISIS Battalion Gets 20 Years in Prison

World

November 2nd, 6:45am

Asharq A-Awsat

Allison Fluke-Ekren. AFP

An American woman who joined ISIS in Syria, leading an all-female military battalion, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a US court Tuesday. Allison Fluke-Ekren, 42, who grew up on a farm in Kansas, was given the maximum possible sentence by US District Judge Leonie Brinkema after pleading guilty to terror charges in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. "You're obviously a very intelligent woman," Brinkema told Fluke-Ekren, rejecting her claims that she was manipulated by her Turkish-born second husband. "There's no question that you were providing material support to a terrorist organization," the judge said. For more than eight years, Fluke-Ekren was engaged in a "terrorism crime spree" across war zones in Libya, Iraq, and Syria, including training other women and young girls to undertake attacks for the ISIS, US Attorney Raj Parekh said. Fluke-Ekren adopted the nom de guerre Umm Mohammed al-Amriki and "in effect became the empress of ISIS," Parekh said. "She brainwashed young girls and trained them to kill." Her sentencing included dramatic remarks to the judge by one of her daughters. Leyla Ekren, who was married off to an ISIS militant in Syria when she was just 13 years old, said her mother was motivated by a "lust for control and power." "I want people to see what kind of person she was," her daughter said. "She abandoned me in Raqqa with my rapist," she said in a reference to her ISIS fighter-husband. At one point prosecutors played audio recordings of telephone conversations between Fluke-Ekren and her daughter taped by the FBI. Her daughter, who was in the public gallery, plugged her ears with her fingers as the tapes were played aloud. In a written statement to the court, her son Gabriel, who like his sister waived anonymity, said his mother is a "monster without love for her children, without an excuse for her actions." "She has the blood, pain, and suffering of all of her children on her hands," he said. Fluke-Ekren, who was wearing a dark green prison jacket and black headscarf, addressed the court and asked the judge for a "compassionate sentence" of just two years in prison. "I deeply regret my choices," she told the judge. "To anyone who has been hurt by my actions I ask forgiveness."

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3964871/us-woman-who-led-isis-battalion-gets-20-years-prison

Pfizer’s RSV Vaccine Succeeds Where Others Failed

Opinion

November 2nd, 5:54am

Lisa Jarvis

Lisa Jarvis -

As parents worry over the cases of RSV filling up pediatric hospitals in the US, finally some good news: Vaccines that protect newborns from the virus could be ready in time for next year’s season. Pfizer Inc. today unveiled promising data on a maternal RSV shot that shows it lowered babies’ risk of severe infections in those vulnerable first months of life. The early data has some caveats, but should be celebrated as a significant advance in a field that has suffered decades of setbacks. It is also an important next step in Pfizer’s goal of becoming a leader in addressing RSV — a global market that according to Bloomberg Intelligence could be worth $10 billion in 2030. In Pfizer’s trial, pregnant women were given an RSV vaccine with the idea that any immunity generated would be passed onto their infants, a strategy already used for other respiratory viruses, like pertussis and the flu. The hope was that protection would last through the babies’ first six months of life, the period when they are most vulnerable to serious RSV infections. The approach seems to be largely working. The maternal RSV vaccine lowered by nearly 82% the rate of severe cases of the respiratory infection in the first three months of an infant’s life, and by roughly 69% over the first six months. But the vaccine fell short of its goal of protecting against all infections. Pfizer now plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration to approve the shot, which could in theory be ready in time for next year’s RSV season. Full details of the study have yet to be shared, but these early results are promising, says Peter Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital. During his career, Hotez has taken care of a lot of infants with RSV. “It’s a devastating illness,” especially for babies who spent time in the neonatal unit or have underlying respiratory issues, he says. “We need an RSV vaccine.” Getting to one has proven much more challenging than researchers had hoped. The field suffered a devastating setback in the 1960s, when infants who received an experimental RSV vaccine got much sicker from the virus than those who did not get the shot. It took decades to unravel the cause of that failure and design a vaccine that could overcome the flaws of the earlier shot. And even with much more insight into how to tackle the virus, pharma companies have struggled to get a shot to market: Earlier this year, a worrisome safety signal caused GSK PLC, formerly GlaxoSmithKline, to halt enrollment in a study of its maternal RSV vaccine. Given the daunting challenge, Pfizer’s success should be celebrated for making headway against a difficult virus. But it also leaves some room for other products in development. Because the vaccine didn’t hit the high bar of preventing infections, and some children continue to be vulnerable during and beyond that six-month window, a gap in protection still needs to be filled. One possible solution is an antibody therapy being developed by Sanofi SA and AstraZeneca PLC. The one-time shot is meant to protect at-risk infants throughout an entire RSV season. By contrast, an existing antibody drug called Synagis, sold by the Swiss pharma firm Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (known as SOBI), has to be given monthly. A longer-term possibility could be to develop a booster that would help extend protection beyond infancy, Hotez says. That’s a similar strategy as the one taken with the pertussis vaccine — the baby first gets protection through a vaccine given to the mother during pregnancy, then through shots during infancy. Pfizer, however, is not currently pursuing such a strategy. Even with questions over whether the parents and physicians will opt for a vaccine over an antibody, today’s data reinforces Pfizer’s aspirational leadership position in tackling the virus. The company is in a heated race with GSK to be the first to commercialize a vaccine for older adults — an equally important, and much more lucrative, market. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst John Murphy puts the adult RSV vaccine market at $7-$8 billion, or 70-80% of the overall RSV product market. Pfizer is also in the early stages of developing an antiviral for RSV that came through its April acquisition of ReViral. No matter who wins, the competition is good news for worried parents and overburdened hospitals. Bloomberg

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3964801/lisa-jarvis/pfizer%E2%80%99s-rsv-vaccine-succeeds-where-others-failed

Israeli Election Hopefuls: A Look at the Main Contenders

Features

November 1st, 9:12am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz (R), head of the new center-right "National Unity Party" or Hamahane Hamamlachti in Hebrew, and his wife Revital Gantz (L), vote at a polling station in the city of Rosh Haayin in central Israel on November 1, 2022.(AFP)

Israel's election on Tuesday, the country's fifth since 2019, largely pits familiar faces against one another in a tight race. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, now the opposition leader, is hoping to return to power and replace his main rival, interim Prime Minister Yair Lapid. The election is once again seen as a referendum on Netanyahu's fitness to rule while he faces corruption charges. One new player has burst onto the scene. Far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir has been surging in opinion polls and could be key to lifting Netanyahu to victory. Here’s a look at the main players: Benjamin Netanyahu After more than a year in the opposition, Israel's longest-serving prime minister seeks a return to power while on trial on charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. His Likud party is projected to remain the largest in the 120-seat Knesset, and he aims for a majority through support of ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist allies. Netanyahu's campaign has focused on attacking the perceived shortcomings of the government that ousted him last year, and decrying its inclusion of an Arab party. Election polls project that his Likud party and its presumed allies are hovering close to the 61-seat parliamentary majority required to form a governing coalition. Yair Lapid Israel’s caretaker prime minister took office in June after the ruling coalition he cobbled together disintegrated. He has campaigned on his government's accomplishments in its limited time in office, including the recent maritime border deal with Lebanon. Polls predict that Lapid’s Yesh Atid party will be the second-largest party, after Likud. It remains unclear whether he will once again be able to unite disparate parties and form a coalition instead of Netanyahu. Itamar Ben-Gvir The co-leader of the Religious Zionism party has a long history of anti-Arab rhetoric — including convictions for incitement and supporting a terrorist group. As a lawyer, he spent much of his career defending Jewish extremists in court. His party is ardently pro-settlement in the occupied West Bank, takes an even harsher line toward Palestinians living there and has cast doubt on the loyalty of Israel's own Palestinian minority. Many of its leaders are openly homophobic. Ben-Gvir, heir to the outlawed racist Kach party, has pledged support for Netanyahu — and has gone so far as to promise to annul the former prime minister's trial and to be put in charge of the country's police force. Religious Zionism is projected to balloon to the third-largest party in parliament, more than doubling in size since the last election and giving it a powerful voice in any Netanyahu government. In part it is buoyed by support from young ultra-Orthodox voters. Benny Gantz Israel’s defense minister joined forces with other former Netanyahu allies — including Justice Minister Gideon Saar — after the break-up of the last government. He has campaigned on the issues of national security and preventing Netanyahu from returning to power. A campaign video released Sunday said: “We must stop the shame. We must stop the threat,” referring to the possibility of Ben-Gvir becoming a cabinet minister. Gantz's Machane Mamlachti is projected to win around 10 seats in parliament, which would likely make it the fourth largest. Gantz appears to have the most crossover appeal of any of the members of the anti-Netanyahu bloc. He could become a key player in post-election coalition negotiations.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3963256/israeli-election-hopefuls-look-main-contenders

‘International Children's Peace Prize’ Approves Nomination of Syrian Child

Arab World

November 1st, 7:51am

London - Asharq Al-Awsat

Nasan, 13, is from the city of Afrin and has been active in many social and arts events in Syria.

The International Children's Peace Prize approved the nomination of Kurdish-Syrian child Sirin Mazlum Nasan for the year 2022, in recognition for her extraordinary efforts in supporting children amid the ongoing armed conflict in Syria. A total of 170 children in the world have been nominated for the prize. The nomination was made possible through coordination with the KidsRights Foundation and the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR). The two organizations have been coordinating for years. Nasan, 13, is from the city of Afrin and has been active in many social and arts events in Syria. Sirin regularly visits refugee camps to entertain children by playing music and drawing pictures with them. Her drawings depict the displaced children’s dreams and hope. “Stop the war. Like any other children in the world, we want Syrian kids to have basic needs and rights”, she urged in many of her Kurdish and Arabic video clips. The SNHR had nominated Syrian child Mohammed Nour Al Asmar for the International Children’s Peace Prize for the year 2021, in recognition of his exceptional efforts in raising awareness of the suffering of the Syrian community, especially its children, at the hands of the regime and its Iranian and Russian allies. In 2020, the SNHR nominated Syrian girl Enar for the prize, in recognition of her extraordinary efforts in conveying the suffering of the Syrian community, especially its children.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3963041/%E2%80%98international-childrens-peace-prize%E2%80%99-approves-nomination-syrian-child

Saudi Arabia Records More than $253 Bn in Revenues in Q3

Business

November 1st, 7:43am

Riyadh - Asharq Al-Awsat

Saudi capital, Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia announced that the country has recorded more than $253 billion increase in its general budget in the third quarter of 2022, recording a surplus of over $39.8 billion. The Saudi government revealed that oil revenues for the third quarter exceeded $61 billion, compared to $39.4 billion during the same period last year, recording a 55 percent increase. Non-oil revenues for the third quarter of this year exceeded $19 billion, compared to the same period in 2021, and amounting to $25.4 billion, corresponding to a 24 percent decrease following a decline in tax revenues on goods, services, trade, international transactions, income, profits, capital gains, and other taxes. The total oil revenues from the beginning of the year amounted to $176 billion, with a 67 percent increase compared to $105 billion during the same period last year. The total non-oil revenues until the end of Q3 reached $76.5 billion, with a decrease of four percent compared to $79.8 billion in the same period last year due to a decline in income, profits, goods, and services taxes. As for expenditures until the end of the third quarter, workers' compensation had the largest share with $100 billion, goods and services at $40 billion, non-financial assets at $24.3 billion, and other expenses amounting to $20.7 billion. The remaining expenses are divided into financing expenses, subsidies, grants, and social benefits. The Saudi general budget revealed that the state's general reserve balance reached $84.7 billion, the current account for the fiscal year 2022 was about $50.5 billion, and the public debt until the end of the last third quarter reached $250 billion. Economics Professor at the University of Jeddah, Salem Bajaja, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Saudi economy continues to grow following an increase in oil revenues and the ongoing reforms, indicating that the decline in tax revenues is due to the global economic crises that have affected all countries, including Saudi Arabia. Bajaja said that the government continues to expand the volume of expenditures on its development and economic projects, stressing that the oil sector contributed to paying the revenues and surplus of the public budget during the third quarter of this year.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3963031/saudi-arabia-records-more-253-bn-revenues-q3

Food Banks are a 'Lifesaver' as UK Feels Cost of Living Crisis

World

November 1st, 6:39am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Soaring inflation, energy and food prices have seen a surge in users at foodbanks across the UK OLI SCARFF AFP

"This absolutely has been a lifesaver to me," says Michael Cox. The 51-year-old hasn't eaten in two days and so finally resolved to visit one of Britain's growing number of food banks providing basic items to those in need. "I had no money. So I'll give it a try," said Cox who before the current cost of living crisis had never before needed to ask for help feeding himself. Hundreds of people on Monday queued in front of the food bank in Hackney in east London armed with a coupon allowing them to collect a basket of three days' worth of food. Each receives a mix of goods tailored to their needs and family size, with many of the items donated by members of the public, AFP said. Rising food and energy prices in Britain have seen inflation soar. The figure went over 10 percent in September, the highest of any G7 country, putting yet more pressure on already stretched household budgets . "Now with the cost of living crisis, people... can't pay their bills and buy food. They have to choose one. We are noticing more and more of that, unfortunately," said food bank supervisor Johan Ekelund. Sidoine Flore Feumba, a graduate nurse, who receives government benefit payments, says she could no longer afford to feed her three children and heat her home as well. "Life now is quite difficult. I'm on a universal credit, which is not quite sufficient for my own living, because inflation is rising quite quickly. "So I found that the food bank was my last option to make my ends meet," she said. - Worried about winter - Ekelund said he was worried about the arrival of the cold weather and the prospect of sky-high heating bills suddenly starting to land on people's doormats. "I'm really worried about this winter. I think it's going to be a horror show," he said. Last Saturday, the food bank in Hackney registered record numbers of people coming forward for help, with demand now roughly double that of the pre-Covid period. A new food bank -- which will open on Friday evenings and cater for those in full time work -- will open in December. The situation is something completely new, said Tanya Whitfield, Hackney food bank's head of services. A particular rise in the cost of basics was also making the situation even worse, she said. "Everyone sees pasta as a cheap option, it's no longer a cheap option," she said. The price of vegetable oil has gone up by 65 percent in a year while pasta is up 65 percent, two items the prices for which have risen the fastest according to experimental research published by the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday. Millions of Britons have been reduced to skipping meals, according to a recent poll by the consumer association Which? It said half of UK households were cutting back on the number of meals they ate, citing a survey of 3,000 people. - Eating or heating - The situation of those on benefits was precarious, with many saying they are having to choose between eating and heating. "The number of people coming and asking for food that they don't have to cook is 'shocking'," said Whitfield. "And it's frightening that those requests are going up every single week." Another consequence of the cost of living crisis is that people have less money to give to others. "At this time of the year we're normally quite busy with school and church harvest collections and donations," said Whitfield. But this year schools were preferring to skip the harvest festival collections "because so many parents are struggling and they don't want to put that added pressure on families", she said. With many families who would normally donate to food banks now forced to focus on their own needs, food bank worker Andrew Wildridge said they were just hoping for the best ahead of Christmas. "Hopefully we could get an increase in the donations," he said, adding however that the pattern since before the pandemic was for demand to double and donations to halve.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3962911/food-banks-are-lifesaver-uk-feels-cost-living-crisis

Putin Says Power Grid Strikes Were in Response to Crimea Drone Attack

World

November 1st, 5:52am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference after trilateral meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Sochi, Russia October 31, 2022. (Sputnik/Pool via Reuters)

President Vladimir Putin said Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and a decision to freeze participation in a Black Sea grain export program were responses to a drone attack on Moscow's fleet in Crimea that he blamed on Ukraine. Putin told a news conference on Monday that Ukrainian drones had used the same marine corridors that grain ships transited under the UN-brokered deal. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the attack and denies using the grain program's security corridor for military purposes. The United Nations said no grain ships were using the Black Sea route on Saturday when Russia said its vessels in Crimea were attacked. Meanwhile, on the 250th day of a war that has ground on since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian missiles rained down across the country. Explosions boomed out in Kyiv, sending black smoke into the sky. Russian forces shelled infrastructure in at least six Ukrainian regions on Monday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement on Facebook. "That's not all we could have done," Putin said at the televised news conference, indicating more action could follow. Ukrainian officials said energy infrastructure, including hydro-electric dams, was hit, knocking out power, heat and water supplies. Oleh Synehubov, the governor of the northeastern Kharkiv region, said on Telegram that about 140,000 residents were without power after the attacks, including about 50,000 residents of Kharkiv city, the second largest city in Ukraine. Ukraine's military said it had shot down 44 of 50 Russian missiles. But strikes left 80% of Kyiv without running water, authorities said. Ukrainian police said 13 people were injured in the latest attacks. For the past three weeks, Russia has attacked Ukrainian civil infrastructure using expensive long-range missiles and cheap Iranian-made "suicide drones" that fly at a target and detonate. Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said 18 targets, mostly energy infrastructure, were hit in missile and drone strikes on 10 Ukrainian regions on Monday. Wheat prices jump Moscow announced the suspension on Saturday of its role in the grain program after accusing Ukraine of using air and maritime drones to target vessels in the Bay of Sevastopol. It suggested one of the drones may have been launched from a civilian vessel chartered to export food from Ukrainian ports. "Ukraine must guarantee that there will be no threats to civilian vessels or to Russian supply vessels," Putin said on Monday, noting that under the terms of the grain deal Russia is responsible for ensuring security. Ukrainian and UN officials said 12 ships carrying grain sailed from Ukrainian ports on Monday despite Moscow's move. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country would continue implementing the program, brokered by the United Nations and Türkiye in July and aimed at easing global hunger. "We understand what we offer the world. We offer stability on the food production market," Zelenskiy told a news conference. He earlier said Moscow was "blackmailing the world with hunger". Russia denies that is its aim. The US State Department said on Monday that food prices rose because of uncertainty around the Black Sea grain deal and that Russia's suspension of its participation was having "immediate, harmful" impacts on global food security. The news that Moscow was pulling out of the deal had sent global wheat prices soaring by more than 5% on Monday morning. Nevertheless, the continued flow of grain exports from Ukrainian ports suggested a new world food crisis had been averted for now. Ukraine and Russia are both among the world's largest exporters of food. For three months, the UN-backed deal has guaranteed Ukrainian exports can reach markets, lifting a Russian de facto blockade. The ships that sailed on Monday included one hired by the UN World Food Program to bring 40,000 tons of grain to drought-hit Africa. Also on Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Moscow had completed the partial military mobilization announced by Putin in September and no further call-up notices would be issued. Putin announced Russia's first mobilization since World War Two on Sept. 21, one of a series of escalatory measures in response to Ukrainian gains on the battlefield. Defense Minister Shoigu said at the time that some 300,000 additional personnel would be drafted. But the mobilization has proceeded chaotically and thousands have fled Russia to avoid being drafted.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3962826/putin-says-power-grid-strikes-were-response-crimea-drone-attack