Gujarat – Ahmedabad Police forced the father of a deceased man to book an FIR against his own son for hitting two cows and dying while speedily riding bike.
Sanjay Patel, 28, passed away due to brain hemorrhaged last September while he was normally riding his bike on Ahmedabad highway. Instead of consoling the family, Ahmedabad Police have forced the father of Patel to file a case against his own son under section 279 of Indian Penal Code, which means “death due to rash driving”, but in this case the one who drove rashly died, no matter stray cows caused the man to bump into them and die.
Patel, a resident of Kalol, worked at a car dealership. The accident occurred near Chharodi on SG Road. The traffic department’s deputy commissioner of police (administration), Tejas Patel, said: “Across the 14 traffic police stations in the city, not a single case has been registered under provisions of accidental death.” He said so far only FIRs under various sections of road accidents have been registered.
Sanjay Patel’s father, Mahesh, told media that he was called by A-Traffic Police for interrogation and to file a case against his own son.
“I was told to sign the FIR which said that my son was responsible for his own death because he was speeding,” Mahesh Patel said.
“The stray cows suddenly appeared on the road and my son did not have any time to react. Isn’t it strange that instead of punishing cattle owners who let their animals stray, my dead son was blamed?”, he argued.
Zayd’s confidence in his ability to design complex technological projects, he said, stemmed from his parents’ early introduction of tech into his education.
A 10-year-old Saudi-based Syrian boy, Zayd Nashed, has been crowned the Middle East regional winner of the 2018 “Micro:bit Global Challenge” for his entry “Doctor Robot,” a device for helping young asthma sufferers living in dusty regions like the Arabian Peninsula.
Established in 2015, the challenge, run by the UK-based Micro:bit Education Foundation and partnered with UNICEF, accepted hundreds of entries from across the world this year, from children aged 8-12, designed to help achieve 17 “global goals” the foundation has prioritized to improve the world by 2030.
They include the alleviation of global hunger and poverty, action on climate change, and the production of affordable, sustainable clean energy.
The 2018 winners were announced in January, with Zayd joining children from Europe, North and Latin America, Africa and the Far East as winners, with their successful entries doing everything from improving posture to cleaning polluted rivers.
Zayd’s confidence in his ability to design complex technological projects, he said, stemmed from his parents’ early introduction of tech into his education.
“First, I started with simple coding — my parents introduced me to (children’s coding programs) Tynker and Scratch, so I started going through tutorials and having lessons until I felt that I was ready to move on to electronics. It was difficult for me at first, but then I got used to it, and loved it. It’s OK to be nervous — nothing happens without mistakes.”
His enthusiasm for robotics led him to enter the London-based competition.
“One of the world’s problems is ‘health and well-being’ and I knew that many people in the Eastern Province (of Saudi Arabia) suffer from asthma, so I though ‘why don’t I help?’ I decided to make my entry, ‘Doctor Robot,’ help asthma patients, by being a friend and giving them medicine on time,” he explained.
“The three important factors were the touch, distance and weather. The robot can sense the amount of dust in the atmosphere, and also tell their kid if there’s a dust storm coming.
“The distance makes the robot more interactive as a friend — kids will get bored if the robot only gives them medicine, so I wanted to make ‘Doctor Robot’ their friend as well — make it move its eyebrows, make expressions and laugh, or be sad if the kid has an asthma attack or it can sense dust in its environment.
“Finally, when the kid touches the robot’s touch sensor, it will understand that something is going on, or that the kid can’t breathe very well, and will show a ‘danger’ warning on its electronic screen. The patient will then open the medicine box in the robot to receive treatment.”
Being easy to use and fun for children, the robot also has a remote control that makes it move, and a clock equipped with an alarm to attract the attention of parents and carers in the event of an emergency.
Family Project
Zayd’s parents, Eyad and Razan, both work in information technology. “We kept finding stories about children who were creating robots online, so we looked into how we could help Zayd do the same,” Eyad said. “We drafted a simple curriculum for Zayd, to plan his progress week by week.”
Zayd’s mother Razan, a computer science specialist, felt it important they should have a family tech project. “It is important that parents try to stimulate their children’s interests, and work together as families to build a community of thinkers,” she said. “It pays off when you find that your children’s social and cognitive skills are evolving every day.”
Bright Up
But passionate family members are not always to be found, and even then, are often not enough to create a generation of tech-literate youngsters. Bright Up, founded by Mohammed Yaqoub, is a creativity hub and a tech-focused space in Alkhobar that offers a range of activities for both kids and adults who are keen to learn.
It was the assistance provided by Bright Up that supported Zayd in the development of his robot. “The Bright Up team gave me ideas on how to make the robot, how it could move, how much battery it needed, and much more!”
Eyad added: “We pitched ‘Doctor Robot’ and the Micro:bit Global Challenge to Bright Up, and they made a great effort in backing Zayd until he won. They were a great help as mentors for Zayd.”
The young designer is not stopping at the creation of one robot, though. Zayd has big plans for the future, and said that when he leaves school, he wants to be a technology scientist, is planning to use the internet to learn about as much as he can in the field of tech design (including using a special computer designed for programming, called “Raspberry Pi”) and wants to enter many more global technology competitions.
Maybe it’s something in the gazpacho or paella, as Spain just surpassed Italy to become the world’s healthiest country.
That’s according to the 2019 edition of the Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, which ranks 169 economies according to factors that contribute to overall health. Spain placed sixth in the previous gauge, published in 2017.
Four additional European nations were among the top 10 in 2019: Iceland (third place), Switzerland (fifth), Sweden (sixth) and Norway (ninth). Japan was the healthiest Asian nation, jumping three places from the 2017 survey into fourth and replacing Singapore, which dropped to eighth. Australia and Israel rounded out the top 10 at seventh and 10th place.
Healthiest Countries in the World
Bloomberg Global Health Index scores for 169 countries, with the top 10 plus U.S. highlighted
The index grades nations based on variables including life expectancy while imposing penalties on risks such as tobacco use and obesity. It also takes into consideration environmental factors including access to clean water and sanitation.
Spain has the highest life expectancy at birth among European Union nations, and trails only Japan and Switzerland globally, United Nations data show. Spain by 2040 is forecast to have the highest lifespan, at almost 86 years, followed by Japan, Singapore and Switzerland, according to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
“Primary care is essentially provided by public providers, specialized family doctors and staff nurses, who provide preventive services to children, women and elderly patients, and acute and chronic care,” according to the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies 2018 review of Spain, noting a decline the past decade in cardiovascular diseases and deaths from cancer.
Eating Habits
Researchers say eating habits may provide clues to health levels enjoyed by Spain and Italy, as a “Mediterranean diet, supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts, had a lower rate of major cardiovascular events than those assigned to a reduced-fat diet,” according to a study led by the University of Navarra Medical School.
Meanwhile in North America, Canada’s 16th-place ranking far surpassed the U.S. and Mexico, both of which dropped slightly to 35th and 53rd. Life expectancy in the U.S. has been trending lower due to deaths from drug overdoses and suicides.
Cuba placed five spots above the U.S., making it the only nation not classified as “high income” by the World Bank to be ranked that high. One reason for the island nation’s success may be its emphasis on preventative care over the U.S. focus on diagnosing and treating illness, the American Bar Association Health Law Section said in a report last year after vising Cuba.
South Korea improved seven spots to 17th while China, home to 1.4 billion people, rose three places to 52nd. Life expectancy in China is on track to surpass the U.S. by 2040, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.
Sub-Saharan economies accounted for 27 of the 30 unhealthiest nations in the ranking. Haiti, Afghanistan and Yemen were the others. Mauritius was the healthiest in Sub-Sahara, placing 74th globally as it had the lowest death rate by communicable diseases in a region still marred by infectious mortality.
Methodology
Bloomberg evaluated health variables and risks ranging from those of behavioral nature to environmental characteristics. Final index only included nations with at least 0.3 million population and sufficient data. 169 WHO states met the criteria to be included.
A free Iran. So that the people of Iran can have their country back. We want to see a democratic Iran. A non-monarchy, non-mullah dictatorship.
The #FreeIranWithMaryamRajavi campaign is gaining grounds by the day and amidst the Warsaw Summit on peace and stability in the Middle East, the voices of the Iranian revolution are being heard loud and clear.
Earlier, the dictatorial regime had announced it will stay away from the US-Polish Summit in Warsaw, raising eyebrows over Iran’s role in the instability of the war-torn region.
Despite repeated efforts from the United States, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other important regional players to resolve the ongoing conflict, Tehran is constantly doing something to make the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) February 13, 2019
The Summit started earlier today and as everyone expected, the freedom movement for Iran is visible right from the get-go.
The social activists and oppressed Iranians have had enough of the dictatorship by Ayatollah Khomeini, saying that it is high time for a change of regime.
The protests are taking place in Warsaw and the entire world is witnessing the chants of the oppressed Iranians.
Former national football player, Bahram Mavadat also participated in the demonstrations which took place outside the main stadium in Warsaw, calling for the world leaders to take strict action against the regime and ensure its removal at the earliest.
Iran Resistance supporters marched in Warsaw to show their solidarity with the downtrodden Iranians, urging the world leaders to ensure a democratic republic in Iran by overthrowing Mullahs at the earliest.
The rally gathered hundreds of supporters from across the globe to march before the summit which was to be attended by top officials from more than 60 countries.
While the US-led summit is expected to address a wide range of military and security-related issues in the Middle East however, Iran’s constant involvement in the Middle East’s instability and violating the nuclear deal has made it an elephant in the room which is the major reason why it decided not to attend the two-day event which started earlier today.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani set the tone for the day when he addressed the protestors from the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) before the start of the summit. He said:
“Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism in the world. We should not be doing business with a regime that supports terror”.
The Warsaw Summit should be focused on how we change Iran. How do we change their behavior against their people? The last two Free Iran conferences I attended, the regime tried to bomb them; the last one was in Paris.
We believe the alternative to this regime is Madam Maryam Rajavi, and this organization, the MEK, is at the core of that movement.
We want to see a non-nuclear Iran. A free Iran. So that the people of Iran can have their country back. We want to see a democratic Iran. A non-monarchy, non-mullah dictatorship.”
Abu Dhabi – Orgnization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has invited Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as a Guest of Honor for the opening planery of OIC meeting next month in Abu Dhabi.
UAE’s foreign minister Shaykh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan sent an invitation to India to be “guest of honor” to adress the opening plenary of the OIC conference and India accepted the invitation happily.
First time as Guest of Honour!
EAM @SushmaSwaraj will attend 46th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation as ‘Guest of Honour’ to attend the Inaugural Plenary at the invitation of UAE Foreign Minister. https://t.co/CgYRBbEfp2 1/2
OIC is a powerful grouping of Muslim majority Nations, and India will be guest of honor to attend the 46th foreign ministers’ conclave to be held on March 1 and 2.
Despite OIC favors Pakistan over Kashmir issue, but India’s presence at OIC will be crucial to smoothen the ties between the two rival nations.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has called the invitation as “welcome recognition” of the presence of 185 Million Muslims in India and their contribution towards the pluralistic ethos, and to represent India’s contribution to the Arab/Islamic world.
“We see this invitation as the desire of the enlightened leadership of the UAE to go beyond our rapidly growing close bilateral ties and forge a true multifaceted partnership at the multilateral and international level,” the MEA said in a release.
“We see this invitation as a milestone in our comprehensive strategic partnership with the UAE. We also see this invitation as a welcome recognition of the presence of 185 million Muslims in India and of their contribution to its pluralistic ethos, and of India’s contribution to the Islamic world,” it said.
OIC was established to preserve the Islamic social and economic values, to promote solidarity amongst all the Muslim states, to increase cooperation in social, economic, cultural, scientific, and political areas, and to uphold international peace and security. Also to held each other in advancing education, particularly in the fields of science and technology.
The e-visa slashes this to four steps: Apply online for a visa with valid documents, pay the fee online with a debit or credit card, receive e-visa by email, travel to India with a print out of the e-visa.
New Delhi – India’s diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia are working on making electronic visas available for Saudi nationals as soon as possible, following last week’s decision to add the Kingdom to the list of countries eligible for an e-visa.
India has also decided to scrap the biometric visa system for Saudis.
It is hoped that these two steps will increase the number of Saudi visitors, and India’s diplomatic missions are working on making the e-visa available as soon as possible.
“We are waiting on guidelines from the Indian Embassy in Riyadh,” a consulate official in Jeddah told Arab News.
The e-visa will allow Saudi travelers to get the permit online, without intermediaries or agents. India has granted the e-visa facility for more than 150 countries and territories, and the latest addition is Saudi Arabia.
“It is really a decision coming late,” P. Ram Mohan, a senior Bangalore-based journalist, told Arab News. “India has warm relations with Saudi Arabia and about three million Indian expats live there.”
The website for India’s Embassy in Riyadh lists the current requirements for a tourist visa for Saudis: A passport, a copy of the passport, two passport-sized photos, a completed application form, visa fee in cash, a copy of the Saudi ID card, proof of hotel accommodation in India, airline tickets, and a letter from employers or sponsors or a bank statement.
The e-visa slashes this to four steps: Apply online for a visa with valid documents, pay the fee online with a debit or credit card, receive e-visa by email, travel to India with a print out of the e-visa.
K. Surendran, tourism minister in India’s southern state of Kerala, welcomed the move to extend the e-visa to Saudi nationals and simplify travel document procedures for them as it would boost visitor numbers.
He said the state’s tourism department had been demanding the withdrawal of the biometric visa system because of its dramatic impact on tourist numbers.
“However the latest announcement will remove this major irritant,” the minister told Arab News.
The crown prince’s two-day trip yielded five memorandums of understanding in investment, tourism, housing, and information and broadcasting.
He also announced a $100 billion investment in India in areas including energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing.
A joint statement issued during the visit emphasized the importance of bilateral ties.
“India and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial and friendly relations reflecting the centuries old economic and socio-cultural ties. Close geographical proximity, civilizational links, cultural affinity, natural synergies, and vibrant people to people contacts. Common challenges and opportunities have added momentum to this robust engagement,” it said. — ARAB NEWS
Visitors to Umut’s house stumble over homemade alcohol everywhere: His second bathroom is a storeroom for wine, and beer ferments in a corner beside the television.
Istanbul – Kerem lives within walking distance of Turkey’s oldest beer factory, but he refuses to drink a drop of domestic bestsellers Efes and Bomonti.
Instead, the 29-year-old sales manager has turned his flat into a micro-brewery — joining a growing number of Turks who make their own booze to avoid soaring alcohol taxes imposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s conservative government.
“I started because the prices went up. Then it became more of a fun thing to do. But the prices going up so much was the catalyst,” said Kerem, sipping his homemade grapefruit-flavored beer.
Under Erdoğan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has its roots in political Islam, taxes on alcohol sales have skyrocketed.
Between Erdoğan’s rise to power in 2003 and January this year, the price of beer has increased by 618 percent, according to data from the Turkish Statistics Institute TUIK.
The price of rakı, an aniseed-flavored spirit popular in Turkey, increased by 725 percent. (To compare, the price of fruit juice rose by 121 percent in the same period.)
Those who do drink, the frequent tax hikes — the most recent came last month — have turned alcohol into a luxury product.
Homemade beers, wines and spirits are far cheaper to produce, however, and Turks have caught on. While alcohol sales have declined over the past few years, online forums and social media groups dedicated to home brewing and distilling have ballooned in size.
To Kerem, this comes as no surprise: “You can make a very nice bottle of beer for about one quarter of the normal price,” he said, adding that starter kits for brewing can be bought online for less than 200 lira (€43).
On a recent Saturday afternoon, it was time to bottle Kerem’s latest batch, a Weißbier-style wheat beer he had made for a friend’s wedding.
Like many home-brewers, he and his girlfriend Asli leaped at the chance to sample brews unavailable in Turkey’s limited beer scene, where Pilsner-style lagers dominate.
“I didn’t like beer at all before this. But I love this,” said Asli, opening a bottle from the grapefruit batch. “I came in right now and said I need to have a beer. That never happened before homemade beer.”
The wedding beers are an exception. Usually, Kerem hands out his beer only to close friends and the occasional client, conscious of the prejudices and social stigma attached to alcohol.
“Because this topic is a bit sensitive, I’m careful not to give it to too many people,” he said. He and Asli requested that their surnames not be published out of concern over a potential backlash.
Many Turks would perceive brewing as “subversive,” Kerem added, even though making up to 350 litres of beer and wine per year is legal.
“It won’t mean jail,” he said, “but something like that can affect reputations and business. You can never know.”
The demon drink
On top of taxes, the AKP has introduced restrictions on alcohol sales. Since 2013, shops are banned from selling booze after 10 p.m. and no alcohol may be sold within 100 meters of a mosque.
Advertising of alcohol — just like cigarettes — is prohibited, and alcohol and tobacco products are often blurred out on Turkish television.
ISTANBUL, TURKEY: A shop keeper shows a legally produced Turkish Raki in Istanbul 03 March 2005. The deaths of nine people from bootleg liquor has sparked panic in Istanbul drinking establishments, with many bar owners blaming higher taxes on alcoholic beverages by a government with Islamist roots for the emergence of illegal liquor factories. AFP PHOTO/Mustafa Ozer (Photo credit should read MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images)
The government insists that such regulations are aimed at protecting public health and preventing minors from drinking. Many secular Turks, however, see them as measures designed to restrict their way of life.
Rakı is considered Turkey’s national drink — although Erdoğan favors the yogurt-based ayran — and a key part of the country’s food culture, but it has become unaffordable for many.
A 70cl bottle of rakı, which a table of four would typically order to accompany a meze-and-fish dinner, costs 100 Turkish lira (€21) if bought from a shop and at least 130 lira (€28) at a restaurant. As a result, rakı sales plunged by 20 percent between 2012 and 2016.
Yet at the same time, sales of counterfeit products have risen, with sometimes devastating consequences: In the past, several people have died of alcohol poisoning in Turkey after drinking bootleg rakı mixed with methanol.
Many Turks have also turned to making a homemade rakı-style drink by mixing ethyl alcohol — which is sold for half the price of rakı — with aniseed flavoring or oil.
This method has become wildly popular: In the run-up to last year’s Eid al-Adha holiday, the Turkish press reported that ethyl alcohol had sold out in many supermarkets. One Turkish drinks company told Reuters last year that ethyl alcohol sales had risen 5 to 6 percent in 2017.
Sour grapes
The Turkish government, however, is about to put a stop to this trend. New regulations coming into effect at the end of March stipulate that producers must add denatonium benzoate — the most bitter chemical substance in existance — to ethyl alcohol sold in Turkey.
“Perhaps this will make them produce real rakı from grapes,” said Umut, a 38-year-old engineer and academic living in Istanbul’s conservative Fatih district. “They’re lazy, using ethanol. Our land, Anatolia, is heaven: we have best-quality grapes.”
Visitors to Umut’s house stumble over homemade alcohol everywhere: His second bathroom is a storeroom for wine, and beer ferments in a corner beside the television. On a table in his living room balances an alembic, a traditional copper apparatus for distilling rakı.
Turkish youth drink beers near Gundogdu square in Izmir on June 8, 2013, where Turkish youth have been camping out as part of anti-government protests. Thousands of angry Turks took to the streets on June 8 to join mass anti-government protests, defying Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call to end the worst civil unrest of his decade-long rule. Erdogan, meanwhile, was meeting in Istanbul with top officials of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to discuss the crisis, and a deputy prime minister was due to make a speech later on June 8. AFP PHOTO / OZAN KOSE (Photo credit should read OZAN KOSE/AFP/Getty Images)
The alembic is the reason he does not want to be named in the press — Umut is not the academic’s real name — because unlike making beer and wine, distilling rakı at home is illegal.
Umut began producing a variety of beer one year ago, and soon tried his hand at making red wine from Turkey’s native Öküzgözü grapes. From the leftover grape skins, he makes golden-hued rakı.
To him, home production is both a shrewd financial choice and an act of protest. “Alcohol prices have increased and increased, it’s become a luxury,” he said. “But making it at home is also kind of political — I don’t want to pay that tax to the conservatives.”
As a university student in 2002, he added, he was able to buy a 70cl bottle of rakı for around eight lira (€1.70).
“If we’d bought a carload of rakı in 2002 and stored it, we could buy a house if we sold it now,” he said, laughing. “It’s the best investment in Turkey. Better than bitcoin.”
Brewers’ backlash
Like many home-brewers, Umut worries that the AKP will impose restrictions on them sooner or later. He has taught himself to make beer from barley grains, just in case the government banned the sale of beer-making kits.
Kerem, the sales manager, thinks it more likely that steep alcohol taxes will also be levied on such kits, which are currently taxed at the regular rate.
Earlier in February, the chairman of Anadolu Efes, Turkey’s largest beer producer, prompted an outcry when he appeared to suggest that the government should put higher taxes on home brewing.
“I believe the reason behind the decrease in beer sales is the surge in home-brewed beer in Turkey,” said the chairman, Tuncay Özilhan, noting that brewing equipment was cheaply available.
“Today more than half of the cost of a 50cl beer is paid in taxes. This [brewing] trend has led to a significant decline in tax income. We have shared our views about this issue with the authorities.”
The backlash was swift: Enraged beer fans promptly started a social media campaign to boycott Efes brands. Özilhan backtracked the next day, clarifying he had not suggested a tax raise and praising home-brewers for their contribution to beer culture.
Despite its growing popularity, Kerem said, homemade beer was far from widespread enough to make a dent in commercial sales — for now.
“Me and my best friend do it a lot, but all my other friends … I helped them get their kits and we did it once, but then they were too lazy and didn’t keep doing it,” he said.
“In Turkey, it’s still pretty niche. But as prices go up, more and more people are getting into it.”
Despite not mentioning the Uighurs nor being asked about them, this statement was misconstrued as a justification for genocide.
As you may have seen the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (often called MBS) has been on an investment tour of Asia. The tour kicked off to an optimistic start in Pakistan where deals worth $20 billion were signed, raising hopes for Pakistan’s struggling economy. The tour continued smoothly to Pakistan’s regional rival, India, where once again huge public support welcomed Saudi investment. With no hiccups in sight, MBS continued to China.
The anti-Saudi media kept their reporting of his ground breaking tour to a minimum. From Al Jazeera to The Wall Street Journal, nothing sensational was reported, that was until they found a misconstrued statement to twist.
The Tour
There was plenty to report. Pakistan’s populist Prime Minister Imran Khan personally drove MBS from the airport and the body language between them showed they were kindling a close friendship, dare I say “a bromance”.
At their press conference, MBS announced “consider me an ambassador of Pakistan in Saudi Arabia” and Imran Khan’s heartfelt pleas for Pakistani prisoners in Saudi were not only heard, but immediately acted upon by the Saudi government.
Saudi Arabia gave Pakistan a bail out of $3 billion last year when it was in dire need. This wasn’t the first time Saudi Arabia had single-handedly saved Pakistan’s economy, in 2008 Saudi Arabia gave Pakistan a $15 billion bail out and then another $15 billion in 2013 and then a $1.5 billion bail out in 2014.
This time Saudi was not bailing Pakistan out, instead they were looking to invest. Analysts had initially believed MBS would oversee the signing of $10 billion worth of deals but by the time dinner was served, the figure was revealed to be $20 billion!
While some worried the terrorist attack in Pulwama would cause problems, the tour instead continued smoothly to India where Indian Prime Minister Modi broke protocol to personally receive MBS at the airport.
Despite the Indian government blaming the Pulwama attack on its regional enemy Pakistan where MBS had shown such generosity, this did nothing to dampen his welcome in India.
With such positive regional news, one would imagine if Al Jazeera and the anti-Saudi media had a shred of journalistic honour, they would report this with the same valour they report anti-Saudi news.
The Context
After MBS became Crown Prince, Saudi Arabia launched a huge operation by creating the “World Center for Countering Extremist Thought”.
Here Saudi Arabia plans on eradicating extremism from its root by combating the ideology which leads to extremism.
Saudi Arabia represents conservative Sunni Islam. As such the finger is often pointed at Saudi Arabia in response to terrorist attacks for not doing enough. With the “World Center for Countering Extremist Thought” Saudi Arabia showed the world it means business against extremism.
This coupled with MBS’s recent reforms, such as allowing women to drive, reassured the world that Saudi Arabia continued to be a force for peace in the world.
On his tour of Asia, MBS stressed Saudi Arabia’s stance against terrorism in Pakistan, India and China. He showed off the achievements of “World Center for Countering Extremist Thought” and in China among many other things said that China “has the right to take anti-terrorism and anti-extremism measures to safeguard national security.”
He went on to say “Saudi Arabia respects and supports it and is willing to strengthen cooperation with China.”
And that was it. The anti-Saudi media found its moment and claimed that these words were not meant generally as they were said in India and Pakistan, but instead they claimed he was defending the genocide against the Uighurs.
Despite not mentioning the Uighurs nor being asked about them, this statement was misconstrued as a justification for genocide.
How does one make the logical leap from a general statement showing off the “World Center for Countering Extremist Thought”, into a defence of the genocide of Muslims in China?
The answer to that may lie in the fact that anti-Saudi news outlets wait around for Saudi Arabia to do anything which could be twisted into showing Saudi Arabia to be an enemy of the Muslims.
Oftentimes the news outlet is either one backed by an anti-Saudi government such as Press TV or Al Jazeera, whereas sometimes they are proponents of the extremist ideology which Saudi Arabia has been gearing up to oppose.
Dammam — Saudi armed forces and security sectors teamed up with land, maritime and air forces from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for the tenth Joint Al-Jazeera Shield Drill on Saturday.
The two-week drill was launched in the presence of commander for the exercise, Gen. Abdullah bin Saeed Al-Qahtani, and commanders of participating Gulf forces.
Al-Qahtani welcomed all participants and thanked them for their efforts in the planning and preparation of the drill.
He said that the exercises aimed to promote cooperation and exchange experience between the Saudi and GCC countries forces to improve the level of training for all forces.
The exercise sought to develop skills and use the available resources to develop concepts and promote joint work, he added.
The drill was part of a series of joint military drills between the GCC countries at various levels.
He said that the Joint Al-Jazeera Shield Drill was one of the largest exercises in the region and part of a comprehensive strategic vision by the Saudi Defense Ministry, which aims to constantly gain experience, promote security and military readiness under different circumstances to preserve security and stability in the Arab Gulf and the world.
Spokesman for the drill, Brig. Gen. Abdullah Hussein Al-Subaihi, said that it included four phases.
The first phase is the arrival of the forces via land, maritime and air entry points. The academic training phase, including conferences for all participating forces from all GCC countries, was also launched on Saturday.
The second phase is the command center drill; this exercise will train commanders to manage military operations and use simulators in virtual military operations.
The third phase consists of field training with live ammunition, and the fourth includes the closing ceremony and departure of forces. — Arab News
Arnab Goswami is known for his insane rant on fake nationalism and insulting anyone who doesn’t agree with him. But the controversial TV anchor crossed limits on Friday when he decided to insult legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. This is because Sachin, deemed as the God of cricket in India, had said that India should not pull out of the World Cup match against Pakistan in this year’s World Cup in light of the Pulwama terror attack.
Using the hashtag #ShameOnAntiNationals, Goswami launched a blistering attack on Sachin, who has been conferred with the highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna for his contribution to the game. Goswami said, “I don’t believe in any Gods. Sachin Tendulkar is 100 percent wrong. Sachin Tendulkar, if he has any sense, he should realise that he should be the first person to say that don’t play with Pakistan. (Sunil) Gavaskar should be the second person to say that don’t play with Pakistan. These people say that we need two points. Both are damn wrong. We don’t need two points. I want revenge for my martyrs. Sachin Tendulkar can take his two points and put it in the dustbin.”
Goswami implied that there was no middle ground today as anybody, who did not agree with him were anti-nationals. “In this country there are only two sides now. There are people, who are with India and people are against India. Those, who want to take the middle road, are against India because there’s no middle road.”
This prompted a panelist on his show to walk out of the show. Political analyst Sudheendra Kulkarni said that he did not agree with him. “You are calling Sachin Tendulkar anti-national. You call Sunil Gavaskar anti-national. I am ashamed of you,” Kulkarni shouted before leaving the show.
But he wasn’t the only panelist to walk out of his show because of his comments on Tendulkar. Former AAP leader Ashutosh said that Goswami should be ashamed of himself for his attack on Tendulkar and Gavaskar. Ashutosh also asked Goswami why he was not questioning ‘his boss’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi for remaining busy with documentary shooting even after learning about the terror attack.
Sensing that he may lose another guest on the show, Goswami said, “It is my fervent appeal to Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. You should be the first to say that we should not go out and play cricket with Pakistan. Because this country has given you a lot.”
Goswami said that he never called Tendulkar anti-national. One of his colleagues on the channel and known flag-bearer of the Hindutva brigade, Gaurav Arya, then launched extraordinary attack on Ashutosh calling him mentally ill among other insulting terminologies. As Ashutosh walked out, Arya shouted disparagingly, “Get out.” He clearly had Goswami’s blessings as the anchor looked the other way.
Tendulkar on Friday had said, “India has always come up trumps against Pakistan in the World Cup. Time to beat them once again. Would personally hate to give them two points and help them in the tournament.”
Tendulkar, however, said that he will support the government’s decision if it decided to boycott the match. He said, “Having said that, for me India always comes first, so whatever my country decides, I will back that decision with all my heart.”
