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Defense relationship part of US-Iraq talks in Washington next week, US official says

Defense relationship part of US-Iraq talks in Washington next week, US official says
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani (R) speaks next to US Major General Joel “J.B.” Vowell during a meeting with top-ranking officials of the Iraqi armed forces and of the US-led coalition as part of the first round of talks on the future of American and other foreign troops in the country, in Baghdad, on January 27, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 12 April 2024
Reuters
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Defense relationship part of US-Iraq talks in Washington next week, US official says

Defense relationship part of US-Iraq talks in Washington next week, US official says
  • Washington and Baghdad began talks in January to reassess the US-led military coalition presence there
Updated 12 April 2024
Reuters
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WASHINGTON: The security and defense relationship between the US and Iraq will be an important part of talks when Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani visits Washington next week but is not the primary focus of the visit, a senior State Department official said on Thursday.
The official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said the emphasis of Sudani’s visit would be economic ties, even as Washington and Baghdad are in talks over ending the US-led military coalition in the country.
US forces and Shiite Muslim armed groups have engaged in tit-for-tat attacks in recent months amid regional conflict linked to Israel’s war in Gaza, leading to Sudani in January announcing his intention to end the US military presence.
The senior State Department official said the defense and security relationship will be part of the discussions during Sudani’s visit, when he will meet both with President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin as well as Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“(It is) likely to be a very important part of our – of the discussion,” the official said. “It is not the primary focus of the visit ... but it is almost certainly going to come up.”
The visit’s focus will instead be the economy and issues including education, environment and US support for development, the official said, without providing details.
“We’re going to have a full range of discussions about our relationship and where it’s going,” the official said.
The US invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein and withdrew in 2011, only for troops to return in 2014 to help fight Islamic State (IS) after the extremist Sunni Muslim militant group overran large parts of the country.
Washington and Baghdad began talks in January to reassess the US-led military coalition presence there.
The official said those talks were likely to lead to a second joint security cooperation dialogue later this year.

Topics: US-Iraq talks Mohammed Shia al-Sudani Washington

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Norway wealth fund divests from Israel’s Bezeq over services to West Bank settlements

Updated 30 sec ago
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Norway wealth fund divests from Israel’s Bezeq over services to West Bank settlements

Norway wealth fund divests from Israel’s Bezeq over services to West Bank settlements
Updated 30 sec ago
OSLO/JERUSALEM: Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has sold all its shares in Israel’s Bezeq as it provides telecoms services to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The decision, announced late on Tuesday, comes after the fund’s ethics watchdog, the Council on Ethics, adopted a new, tougher interpretation of ethics standards for businesses that aid Israel’s operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The $1.8-trillion fund has been an international leader in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment field. It owns 1.5 percent of the world’s listed shares across 8,700 companies, and its size gives it influence.
It is the latest decision by a European financial entity to cut back links to Israeli companies or those with ties to the country, as pressure mounts from foreign governments to end the war in Gaza.
Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecoms group, declined to comment.
“The company, through its physical presence and provision of telecom services to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, is helping to facilitate the maintenance and expansion of these settlements, which are illegal under international law,” the sovereign wealth fund’s watchdog said in its recommendation to divest.
“By doing so the company is itself contributing to the violation of international law.”
The watchdog said it noted that the company had said it was providing telecoms services to Palestinian areas in the West Bank, but that did not outweigh the fact that it was also providing services to Israeli settlements.
The watchdog makes recommendations to the board of the Norwegian central bank, which has the final say on divestments.
The advice on Bezeq was the first recommendation to divest since the watchdog toughened its policy in August. More decisions are expected.
The fund has now sold all its stock in the company.
Before that, it had cut its stake during the first half of 2024, owning 0.76 percent of the company’s shares valued at $23.7 million at the end of June, down from a holding of 2.2 percent at the start of the year, fund data showed.
Sources close to the company said the divestment’s impact was “negligible” as it amounted to 0.7 percent of the shares and that the decision was clearly a “political decision.”
They said Bezeq was allowed to provide telecoms services to Jewish settlements in Area C under the 1994 Oslo Accords — which also called for the Palestinian Authority to set up their own telecoms network to Palestinian areas.
“Bezeq is operating according to the Oslo agreements so it’s a political decision,” said one source. “Of all the companies to choose from (to divest), Bezeq should have been the last.”
Norway in May recognized Palestine as a state, alongside Spain and Ireland.
Norway served as a facilitator in the 1992-1993 talks between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization that led to the Oslo Accords in 1993. Area C, which comprises about 60 percent of the West Bank, is under full Israeli control and contains most Israeli settlements.
The Council on Ethics said it was aware of this but that “the situation in the area has developed in the opposite direction to that presumed by the Oslo Accords.”
“The settlements are constantly being expanded, Palestinians are constantly being driven from their homes and land areas are de facto being annexed,” it told Reuters, citing its recommendation. “Qualified discrimination and violent abuse of the Palestinian population in Area C is also taking place.”
The fund watchdog’s new definition of ethical breaches is partly based on an International Court of Justice finding in July that “the occupation itself, Israel’s settlement policy and the way Israel uses the natural resources in the areas are in conflict with international law,” according to a Aug. 30 letter it addressed to the finance ministry.
Since the Gaza war began in October 2023, the council had been investigating whether more companies fall outside its permitted investment guidelines.
Before the announcement to divest, the fund had divested from nine companies operating in the West Bank.
Their operations include building roads and homes in Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank and providing surveillance systems for an Israeli wall around the West Bank.

Afghan medical training centers suspend courses for women nurses, midwives

Afghan medical training centers suspend courses for women nurses, midwives
Updated 04 December 2024
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Afghan medical training centers suspend courses for women nurses, midwives

Afghan medical training centers suspend courses for women nurses, midwives
  • WHO warns of inadequate numbers of female medics in Afghanistan, where 30% of the population lacks access to healthcare
  • Private medical institutes say classes suspended ‘until further notice’ from the Ministry of Public Health
Updated 04 December 2024
MODASER ISLAMI

Women training as medics at private institutes in Afghanistan could not attend their courses on Wednesday, saying they had been barred from classes in an apparent expansion of the bans on female education.

The rights of Afghan women have been curtailed since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan three years ago. Women and girls have been gradually barred from attending secondary school and university, undertaking most forms of paid employment, traveling without a male family member, and accessing public spaces.

Health services remained one of the few sectors where women were still employed. After the bans on university studies, those who sought to become health professionals turned to midwifery and nursing training.

Azra, 21, who along with her sister attended a course at a private medical institute in Kabul, went to class on Tuesday morning but was soon asked to leave.

“We went to our classes but about an hour later, teachers came and said we must leave before the Taliban come and force us to leave. My dream of becoming a health professional was being taken from me and I couldn’t do anything about it,” she told Arab News.

She graduated from high school three years ago and started studying law at a private university. But before she could complete her first semester, the Taliban imposed a ban on women’s higher education. Determined to become a professional despite the odds, she joined the medical institute.

“This was my last hope to get higher education,” Azra said. “I joined this institute around two and half months ago. I wish I didn’t start this at all.”

None of the Taliban authorities has issued any statement or public notification regarding the ban on nursing courses for women, but in messages to their students and teachers, some of the medical institutes have cited the Ministry of Public Health, which ordered them to suspend classes for women “until further notice.”

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health did not respond to requests for comment.

Laila, 28, who had completed eight semesters of medical studies before the Taliban banned women from universities, was taking a two-year midwifery course at a private institute in Kabul.

The new ban came just as she was about to finish her first year.

“Two days ago, we received a voice message from the institute director that the Ministry of Public Health suspended all private and public medical institutes,” she told Arab News.

“We were all very disappointed. The last door for getting professional education was being shut in our faces and we couldn’t do anything.”

The move affects not only the education sector but also the country’s fragile health system, where the number of women workers is already insufficient.

Edwin Ceniza Salvador, the WHO’s representative in Afghanistan, estimated last month that more than 33 percent of the Afghan population had no access to any health services.

“About 67 percent of the population currently has access,” he told the Afghan news channel Tolo News, where he warned about the decreasing number of women medics. “Now, with the change that has been in place, (there) will come a time where we will run out of female midwives because the educational system has been impacted.”

Dr. Wahid Faizi, a public health practitioner in Herat, told Arab News that the lack of female health workers was already affecting Afghan society at large.

“Our health system is already facing a shortage of qualified female doctors, nurses and midwives. If girls are prevented from receiving medical education, in a few years we will have a very big problem, as the availability of female health workers will become extremely scarce. This will negatively affect access to health services for women and girls and the wider society,” he said.

“The health system will face severe challenges as women and girls are the most affected by health issues. Male doctors alone will not be able to respond to the health crisis that the country is currently experiencing. An increasing lack of female medical staff will have far-reaching implications for health service delivery in the country. We hope that doesn’t happen.”

Topics: Afghanistan Taliban World Health Organization (WHO)

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South Korean president faces impeachment after martial law U-turn

South Korean president faces impeachment after martial law U-turn
Updated 04 December 2024
Seung-ku Lee
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South Korean president faces impeachment after martial law U-turn

South Korean president faces impeachment after martial law U-turn
  • President Yoon was the first South Korean leader to invoke martial law since the 1980s
  • Thousands of people gathered in major cities to demand the president’s resignation
Updated 04 December 2024
Seung-ku Lee

SEOUL: South Korea’s president faced an impeachment motion on Wednesday following his sudden declaration of martial law — a short-lived order lifted after parliament convened overnight to reject it.

Hundreds of heavily armed troops and military helicopters encircled the National Assembly in Seoul on Tuesday night, following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s unexpected move.

To enter the building, 190 lawmakers broke the barricades and climbed fences. As they made it to the voting chamber, they unanimously rejected Yoon’s martial law order, forcing him to rescind it six hours after he made the announcement.

Yoon’s stunning declaration has plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy into a political crisis, as the main opposition party, the Democratic Party, and five others submitted a motion to impeach him.

“The declaration is illegal and constitutes a criminal act, directly violating the constitution and other laws. It is essentially a coup d’etat … The president should be held accountable,” Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Min-Seok said during a press conference in front of the parliament.

In South Korea, the president is impeached if two-thirds of the 300-member legislature vote in favor of doing so. The National Assembly has 72 hours to vote on the motion, after which the Constitutional Court has six months to confirm the impeachment.

Yoon, who won the presidency in 2022 by a margin of less than 1 percent, has been stuck in a political gridlock with the opposition — which controls the parliament — since he took office, while his approval rating in polls has fallen sharply.

He said in a televised address on Tuesday night that he had declared martial law to “protect the free Republic of Korea from the threat of North Korean communist forces” and accused the opposition of paralyzing the government with “anti-state activities.”

Tens of thousands of people in major cities took to the streets the next day to call for Yoon’s immediate resignation and arrest in scenes that bore resemblance to 2016 protests that led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye.

“There is no answer to this crisis except for Yoon to step down. How can someone declare martial law in 21st-century South Korea?” Bianca Won, a protester who joined a vigil in the Gwanghwamun area of Seoul, told Arab News.

“The government does not care about people’s livelihoods and safety,” she said. “There were troops blocking the entrance to the National Assembly. Civilians were fighting with armed troops.”

Yoon was the first South Korean president to invoke martial law since the country achieved full democracy nearly 40 years ago.

After hundreds of people died amid a crackdown on protesters before the last martial law was eventually lifted in 1981, Yoon’s move brought back bitter memories for the older generation.

“At first, when my daughter told me, I thought it was fake news. I couldn’t believe it,” Kim Hee-jung, a 50-year-old woman from the northwestern city of Suwon, told Arab News.

“It reminded me of when I was young … I was scared. I didn’t want my daughter to go through what I went through,” she said.

“Yoon’s government is doing everything wrong … His administration is an utter chaos. He just needs to step down.”

Topics: South Korea

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Women to be barred from nursing and midwifery courses in Afghanistan

Women to be barred from nursing and midwifery courses in Afghanistan
Updated 04 December 2024
AFP
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Women to be barred from nursing and midwifery courses in Afghanistan

Women to be barred from nursing and midwifery courses in Afghanistan
  • Women flocked to nursing and midwifery institutes after being barred from universities two years ago
  • Afghanistan has around 10 public, over 150 private health institutes offering two-year diplomas in 18 subjects
Updated 04 December 2024
AFP

KABUL: Senior employees at several institutions offering nursing and midwifery courses in Afghanistan on Tuesday said women would be barred from classes, following an edict by the Taliban supreme leader.
Health officials met with directors of education institutes on Monday in the capital Kabul to inform them of the ruling, an official from the public health ministry who was not authorized to speak to the media told AFP.
“There is no official letter but the directors of institutes were informed in a meeting that women and girls can’t study anymore in their institutes,” he said.
“They were not provided with any details and justification and were just told of the order of the supreme leader and were asked to implement it.”
The manager of an institute who attended the meeting and asked not to be named for fear of reprisal said dozens of managers were in attendance.
A senior employee of another center told AFP his boss had been at a separate meeting with health officials on Tuesday after confusion about the rule.
The employee said institutes had been given 10 days to hold final exams.
Some managers petitioned the ministry for clarity, while others carried on as normal in the absence of a written order.
The Taliban could not be reached for comment.
Not long after Taliban authorities swept back to power in 2021, they barred girls from education beyond secondary school as part of restrictions labelled “gender apartheid” by the United Nations.
Women students then flocked to health institutes, one of the few avenues still open to them.
They now make up the majority of students in these centers.
Afghanistan has around 10 public and more than 150 private health institutes offering two-year diplomas in 18 subjects, ranging from midwifery to anaesthesia, pharmacy and dentistry, with a total of 35,000 women students, health ministry sources said.
“What are we supposed to do with just 10 percent of our students?” one manager said.
Aysha — not her real name — a midwifery teacher at a private institute in Kabul, said she received a message from management telling her not to come to work until further notice with little explanation.
“This is a big shock for us. Psychologically, we are shaken,” the 28-year-old said.
“This was the only source of hope for the girls and women who were banned from universities.”
The United Kingdom’s charge d’affaires said he was “deeply concerned” by the reports.
“This is another affront to women’s right to education and will further restrict access to health care for Afghan women and children,” he posted on social media platform X.
The health ministry source said the ban would squeeze an already suffering health sector.
“We are already short of professional medical and para-medical staff and this would result in further shortages.”

Raids in Germany target Channel migrant smuggling ring

Raids in Germany target Channel migrant smuggling ring
Updated 04 December 2024
AFP
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Raids in Germany target Channel migrant smuggling ring

Raids in Germany target Channel migrant smuggling ring
  • The suspects, all based in Germany, organized the purchase, storage and transport of inflatable boats to smuggle migrants from beaches near the French city of Calais to Britain
Updated 04 December 2024
AFP

BERLIN: German police commandos carried out a series of pre-dawn raids Wednesday against an alleged Iraqi-Kurdish network accused of smuggling migrants to Britain.
More than 500 officers searched locations in multiple German cities in an operation coordinated with Europol and French security service, police said.
The network is accused of the “smuggling of irregular migrants from the Middle East and East Africa to France and the UK using ... low-quality inflatable boats,” German police said in a statement.
Police searched residential properties and storage facilities on the basis of search and arrest warrants issued by a French court in Lille, according to police.
The raids targeted properties in Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Grevenbroich, Bochum and other cities, including a refugee home in Essen, Germany’s Bild newspaper reported.
More than 20 French investigators and three Europol officials were assisting, police said.
The raids follow an investigation by Belgian, French and German authorities into another Iraqi-Kurdish smuggling network that led to 19 arrests earlier this year.
The suspects, all based in Germany, organized the purchase, storage and transport of inflatable boats to smuggle migrants from beaches near the French city of Calais to Britain, The Hague-based Europol said.
Migrant-smuggling via small boats has been on the rise since 2019 and two years later overtook the practice of hiding people in the back of lorries.
Last year, around 30,000 migrants and 600 boats reached Britain, according to Europol.

Topics: Germany

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