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Coronavirus; Afghanistan-Pakistan

Border Closed

11 ANDSF Killed in Attack on Ghor Checkpoint

Dozens of Patients Including One with Coronavirus Flee

Hospital in Herat

AGO Records Above 40,000 Corruption, Criminal Cases

Coronavirus Threatening 40,000 Prisoners in Afghanistan, Warns Taliban

KABUL - The Pakistan-Afghani-stan border at Torkham has been closed for 15 days from today, aimed to prevent the spread of cor-onavirus, the News reported.According to the report, Pakistan issued a notification, urging the Af-ghan and Pakistani citizens to cross the Torkham border before it was closed for all kinds of movement.Around 50,000 Afghan citizens, including women, children and truckers reached the Torkham border to enter Afghanistan. The Afghan side of the Torkham bor-der was also over-crowded with Pakistani nationals who wanted to enter Pakistan.Meanwhile, the import and export

GHOR - At least 11 security force members were killed in a Taliban attack on a checkpoint in Shahrak district of Ghor province on Sun-day night, said district governor Mohammad Kabiri.The attack took place on the Her-at-Ghor highway and the fighting “lasted for several hours,” ac-

HERAT - As many as 38 patients fled hospital in western Herat province on Monday, including one who tested positive for coro-navirus, local officials said.Provincial health director, Abdul Hakim Tamana, said that the inci-dent happened as angry patients attacked health workers and left the hospital through its gate de-spite police presence there.He said that those who fled in-cluding 36 men and two women. The person who was suffering from coronavirus was from Dai-kundi.The official said that 17 patients were still in the hospital.Provincial police spokesman, Ab-

KABUL - The Attorney General Office (AGO) said on Monday it registered more than 40,000 cases, including corruption and crimi-nal, during the outgoing solar year.The AGO annual accountabil-ity report released on Monday showed in total 41,026 cases in-cluding 21,492 criminal, nearly 5,000 drug related cases and over 2,000 cases of violence against women and children were re-corded during the period.In addition, 4,000 cases were linked to internal and external security, 3,000 military crimes, 1,600 were linked with adminis-trative corruption, 691 to human trafficking and 186 were related to election crimes.According to the report, one sec-

KABUL - The Taliban group has warned that the coronavirus is threatening at least 40,000 pris-oners across Afghanistan as the group called on international health and rights organizations to seriously consider the condition of prisons in Afghanistan.The group issued a statement, expressing concerns regarding the lack of cleanliness and health facilities in prisons, warning that the spread of coronavirus spread in Afghan jails could result into a major humanitarian disaster.The statement further added that the Afghan government would be responsible in the event of disas-ter in Afghan jails.This comes as Taliban group is awaiting the release of at least 5,000 prisoners from Afghan jails

between the countries would re-main suspended during the two weeks of the border closure.The officials, however, said emer-gency patients coming from Af-ghanistan could enter Pakistan. The Pakistani authorities set up quarantine centers at Torkham border town and in Landikotal, the report said.Pakistan asked its citizens to re-main at homes and avoid move-ment, the report added.Earlier this month, Uzbekistan closed its border – Afghanistan–Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge – with Afghanistan amid fears of coronavirus spreading to the coun-try. (ATN)

cording to Kabiri.“More than 20 Taliban were also killed in the clash,” he said, add-ing that the Taliban “torched two humvees and stole a third.”Neither the Taliban nor govern-ment security officials have com-mented on the attack. (TOLO NEWS)

dul Ahad Wali Zada, however, rejected fleeing of patients from the hospital, saying some were discharged following consulta-tion with doctors.Afghanistan has confirmed 21 cases of coronavirus in the coun-try, 12 of which are in Herat. (1TV NEWS)

retary, three generals, seven colo-nels, 10 election commissioners, two governors, one mayor and three provincial council members have been indicted in serious cor-

following the signing of a peace deal with the United States late last month.The Afghan government howev-er opposed the release of all 5,000

ruption cases.It added 291 administrative cor-ruption cases sent to civil and military institutions in which some ...( More on P4)...(1)

prisoners and President Moham-mad Ashraf Ghani issued a de-cree earlier this week stating that the government would condition-ally ...( More on P4)...(2)

KABUL − All seven members of the South Asian Association for Regional Coopera-tion (Saarc) held a video conference in a bid to combat the novel coronavirus.Those who attended the conference were the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasi-na, Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tsher-ing, Maldives President Ibrahim Mo-hamed Solih, Nepal Prime Minister KP

KABUL - Afghanistan’s House of Representatives expressed con-cerns about disagreements be-tween President Ghani and Dr Ab-dullah Abdullah over presidential elections and offered to mediate between the two sides.The extraordinary meeting of the Afghan House of Representatives was held Sunday with officials from the Ministries of Foreign Af-fairs, Immigration, and Public Health. The meeting discussed the fight against coronavirus outbreak and the resolution of disputes be-tween President Ghani and Dr. Abdullah.Ali Akbar Jamshidi, MP from Di-kundi province, said that electoral controversies between Dr Abdul-lah and President Ghani have dis-appointed the people.He called for the House of Repre-sentatives to form an influential 5-member delegation to enter talks between the presidential palace and Sapidar to end the political

stalemate.“As long as the electoral controver-sies and internal tensions persist, there would be no development in the peace process and inter-Afghan talks,” Jamshidi added.The members of the House of Rep-resentatives also opposed the par-liament shutdown, stressing that the “political corona” is more dan-gerous than the coronavirus itself.Ferozudding Feroz, the Minister of Public Health said at the meeting that “the country’s parliament can be a contagious source and should be closed for at least a month to prevent the coronavirus outbreak.According to the MPs, however, the parliament shutdown will scare the people more than any-thing else.The MPs also noted that the threat of the coronavirus in Afghanistan is not serious and that with the clo-sure of the parliament, there will be a huge panic among the citizens. (DID PRESS)

Sharma Oli, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Pakistan’s minister of state for health Zafar Mirza.India pledged $10 million toward a Covid-19 emergency fund and said it was putting to-gether a rapid response team of doctors and specialists for South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) nations as part of an initiative led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Afghan re-elect-ed president referred to challenges stem-ming from Afghanistan’s open border with Iran, where the outbreak has been severe, and suggested that the Shanghai Coopera-tion Organization (SCO) mechanism be used to help deal with the matter.It comes as the total number of confirmed infections in Afghanistan stands at 21 as per the government data. (TKG)

SAARC Leaders Hold Video Conference on COVID-19

Parliament Offers Mediation Between President Ghani,

Dr Abdullah, Opposed Shutdown

Main PageMarch 17, 20202

KABUL - Government servants aged between 58 and 65 years were allowed on Monday to work from home for three weeks from today.

Afghanistan’s Independent Ad-ministrative Reform and Civil Service Commission (IARCSC) said the measure was aimed to contain the spread of COVID-19

In a statement, the commission also allowed women civil serv-ants, who are pregnant, to work from home for a period of two weeks.

Government servants, who have recently returned from corona-virus-hit countries, to take two-week annual leave they are enti-tled to. (Pajhwok)

United States Special Representative for Af-ghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-

founder of the Taliban and head of their political of-fice in Qatar, signed peace agreement on February 29 in the Qatar’s capital, Doha, after their teams held 10 rounds of negotiations within the past 18 months. The peace deal includes four general issues: (1) The Taliban group guarantees that terrorist networks will not use Afghanistan to wage attacks against the United States and its allies. (2) The United States and its allies will withdraw all their troops from the five bases in Afghanistan. (3) Talks between the Af-ghan government and the Taliban group will start as the deal says, “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will start intra-Af-ghan negotiations with Afghan sides on March 10, 2020”. Before the start of talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, the Afghan govern-ment, based on the deal, should release five thou-sand (5,000) prisoners of the Taliban. On its part, the Taliban will release one thousand (1,000) prisoners of the Afghan government. (4) A permanent and comprehensive ceasefire will be discussed between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Shortcomings in the US-Taliban Peace Agreement:Generally, the Afghan government and ordinary people are apprehensive about the US-Taliban peace agreement and do not welcome it for the fol-lowing reasons:(1) The Afghan government is not mentioned in the deal as a “government” but as “other side” al-though Afghanistan held its final round of presiden-tial election on 28 September 2019 and announced its result on 18 February 2020 declaring Mohammad Ashraf Ghani as the president, who secured 50.64 percent of the vote. (2) The United States could not persuade the Taliban to declare a comprehensive ceasefire, which the deal states it as an agenda in the intra-Afghan dialogue. (3) The issues of “women’s rights” and “free-doms” are not mentioned in the US-Taliban peace deal. (4) The Afghan government was sidelined and had no role in the US-Taliban agreement. Escalating Violence after the US-Taliban Deal: Before the peace agreement was signed between the Taliban and the United States, the Taliban had de-clared a week-long “reduction in violence”, but af-ter the agreement, the Taliban leadership called on their fighters to resume their attacks against Afghan security forces. As a result, dozens of Afghan sol-diers were killed and wounded in restive provinces. After the Taliban’s escalating militancy, President Ghani said his government had not pledged to re-lease the Taliban’s 5,000 prisoners, as stated in the

US-Taliban agreement, adding that it “cannot be a prerequisite for talks”. Reaction over US Post-deal Attacks on Taliban:After the US conducted drone attack on the Tali-ban fighters in Helmand province, Russia called it against the US-Taliban deal, however, the US side said that it was allowed to act in defense of the Af-ghan security forces. (1) Moscow Reacts to US military attacks: Russian Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan, Director of the Second Asian Department at the Russian and For-eign Ministry Zamir Kabulov reacted against the US airstrike on the Taliban fighters saying that it was a violation of the US-Taliban peace deal. Kabulov is cited as saying, “This is a treaty viola-tion, because both the US and the Taliban entered into legally binding commitments not to attack. The Taliban did not attack the Americans or other foreign forces. If the US did that, they violated the agreement blatantly.” (2) US Justifies the Attack: After the Taliban fight-ers resumed their attacks against Afghan security forces, the US carried out first airstrikes against the Taliban militants in Helmand province of Afghani-stan. Calling the Taliban “warriors” US President Donald Trump said it would be hard for the Taliban leader-ship to persuade its fighters to stop violence. Trump also talked to Mullah Abdul Ghani on the phone for 35 minutes, after the peace deal. Moreover, US Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said, during a press conference on Thursday night that violence of the last couple of days were “unaccept-able” adding that “the US would continue to push the peace process forward. He mentioned the need to discuss the prisoner releases and said that US en-voy Zalmay Khalilzad was in Kabul at the moment, to move things along.” Pompeo is cited as saying, “We are going to do everything we can to assist the Afghan people at saving Afghan lives, taking down violence in Af-ghanistan and the region while making sure every moment that we protect the homeland.” He added, “We know that the road ahead will be difficult. We expected it. We were right. The up-surge in violence in parts of Afghanistan over the last couple days is unacceptable. In no uncertain terms violence must be reduced immediately for the peace process to move forward.”Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the document allowed Washington to defend the Afghan forces. Political Analyses:A source, who talked on the condition of anonym-ity, said peace talks would be meaningless if there was no ceasefire. He said that the US-Taliban deal was granting legitimacy to the Taliban group, which damaged Afghanistan’s reputation at national and

international levels. Several issues should be con-sidered: First military option should be adopted to deal with the Taliban as the Sri Lankan government dismantled its hostile group. Second, political dia-logue and the demands of war victims should not be disregarded. He, who also attended peace talks in Doha, said the Afghan government should design its roadmap and call on the Taliban group to declare ceasefire. He maintained that disagreement between the govern-ment organ, as President and CEO do not have simi-lar stance, is a great obstacle before the intra-Afghan dialogue. Reiterating the government’s firm stance, he said that Afghans rarely respect jihadi leaders illustrat-ing that Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, former jihadi lead-er and religious figure, secured only seven percent of the votes in 2009 presidential election. (Personal Interview) A political analyst, who also wished to remain anon-ymous, said that the peace process is party-oriented, instead of being people-centered. That is, political factions pursue the protection of their own powers in the talks and people are sidelined. He said that the US-Taliban talks were not transparent and clear as they were held behind closed doors. Peace talks are unlikely to succeed unless people are on board. (Personal Interview) A third source, privy to the issue, said the govern-ment should form a great national consensus on the peace and change it into “a great social and political discourse” and launch the peace discourse with pri-vate sectors, the media, women, civil society insti-tutions and other segments of the society. He said, “If the government could not form a vast national support, it would not be able to succeed in the peace talks.” He went on to say that regional and global countries were also involved in the war. Thus, Af-ghanistan’s diplomatic machinery should be as ac-tive as to put impact on the approach of regional and global states in terms of peace. “Powerful and influential countries naturally follow their strate-gic interests in the region. They should also find a positive approach in terms of peace in Afghanistan. In such a case, we can reach sustainable peace,” he continued. (Personal Interview) The deal should have stated that the Taliban group would respect the rights and freedoms of women, said Fawzia Koofi, a former parliamentarian and prominent women’s rights activist, who partici-pated in informal meetings with the Taliban for two times in Moscow. Koofi said that the US-Taliban deal had been a “start for another process” which would be prolonged and rocky. She said that issues like “republicanism” and “Islamic Emirate” and the fundamental rights of citizens would be very controversial in the intra-Afghan dialogue.

According to her, the Taliban negotiators in Qatar and other foreign states are highly different to their rank-and-file in Afghanistan. She said that it would be hard for the Taliban leadership to persuade their fighters over the equal rights of men and women. (Personal Interview) In a commentary titled “Lasting peace in Afghani-stan now relies on the Taliban standing by its word. This has many Afghans concerned” Niamatullah Ibrahimi, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin Uni-versity, said, “Many seasoned observers, including prominent American politicians and former diplo-mats and military leaders, are concerned the agree-ment concedes too much to the Taliban without re-quiring it to make any substantive commitments to ensure a genuine peace process.” He added, “The deal has completely sidelined the Afghan government and civil society and does not provide any explicit references, much less guaran-tees, for the protection of human rights in Afghani-stan, especially for women and minority groups who were suppressed and persecuted by the Tali-ban.”Meanwhile, Scott Ritter, a former US Marine Corps intelligence officer, said, “The Trump adminis-tration, anxious to be able to claim that it fulfilled its campaign pledge to end war in Afghanistan, pressed for a signed peace deal, leaving it to the Af-ghan government and the Taliban to hammer out the details.”A political analyst said the Taliban, who negotiated with Khalilzad within 18 months, had had direct and indirect consultations with Pakistan and Qatar and their veteran diplomats. He adds that the Tali-ban’s negotiating team had the technical support and strong consultation of Pakistani, or maybe also Qatari, military and intelligence experts. He added that the Taliban reiterate negotiating with political leaders, instead of the government, per-haps seeking to undermine the Afghan government through political oppositions, weaken and reduce Afghan security forces on the basis of Pakistan’s de-mands, seize the power, impose their demands on political leaders about the government’s setup, and finally marginalize the same negotiators through re-viving their discord, which will necessarily ensure the Taliban and Pakistan’s winning. Saying that the US forces would not draw down to zero in the 14 months being prescribed in the US-Taliban deal, Ahmadi, the commander of Afghani-stan’s elite commandos unit, is quoted as saying, “A quick, complete American withdrawal would be a move similar to the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, after which Afghanistan collapsed into years of bloody civil war.” He also showed his concern about the lack of a provision in the agreement to leave behind a group of US counterterrorism force in the country. ...To be Continued

KABUL - The government says it is working with ICRC on provid-ing medical services to inmates in Bagram and Pul-i-Charkhi prisons.National Security Council (NSC) spokesman Javed Faisal tweeted on Monday they were working with the global humanitarian body on assessing the condition of pris-oners.He said the problem of inmates could not be resolved with medi-cal treatment alone. Their issues could be better addressed by Tali-ban’s cooperation with the peace process, he added.Faisal’s remarks come after the Taliban expressed concern over

SANTIAGO - A Chilean student who became a lightning rod for broad social unrest after police shot him in the face during a dem-onstration has said President Se-bastian Pinera will never regain the trust of citizens and should step down.Gustavo Gatica, 22, a psychology student at a Santiago university, said Pinera, a conservative billion-aire two years into a second term in office, squandered an early win-dow to engage with demonstra-tors’ complaints of social inequal-

the possible spread of the corona-virus among the prisoners.Zabihullah Mujahid, the move-ment’s spokesman, said the num-ber of prisoners was high. If the in-mates were infected by COVID-19, it would be a humanitarian disas-ter, he warned.Earlier, Javed Faisal told Pajhwok the government had proposed a mechanism for the peace process to move forward.The insurgents would have to work with the government to find a solution, get their prisoners re-leased and push the peace process forward, the official said. (Pajh-wok)

ity and elitism when unrest began in October.Instead, Gatica told Reuters in his first interview since he lost his sight in November, Pinera had said Chile was “at war” with those perpetrating violence and failed to rein in rights abuses by police.“This unrest could have broken out at any moment because poli-ticians had no idea what people were feeling, they lived in a bub-ble,” he said.“The difference is that Pinera de-clared ...( More on P4)...(8)

Govt Allows Civil Servants to Work from Home

The Contours of The US-Taliban Peace Agreement and Intra-Afghan Dialogue (Part1)

21 Cases of COVID-19 in Afghanistan: Health Ministry

Health Situation of Prisoners Being Monitored: NSC Blinded Chilean Student Says Protests Won’t End Until

President Steps Down

HERAT - Five new positive coronavirus cases have been re-ported in Afghanistan, bringing the total to 21, the Health Minis-try said on Monday.The five new cases include two in Herat, two in Logar and one in Badghis province.263 samples were tested, out of which 21 were positive, accord-ing to the ministry.On Sunday, the minister of ref-ugees and repatriation, Sayed

Husain Alemi Balkhi, said that at least 10 Afghan refugees have been killed due to the new coro-navirus infection in Iran, but added that there isn’t an exact figure about the number of the refugees who are infected with COVID-19.The minister said that at least 15,000 Afghan refugees are re-turning to Afghanistan from Iran on a daily basis.The ...( More on P4)...(7)

By: Hujjatullah Zia

News

In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Kind

March 17, 2020

Concerns Grow over Women’s

Rights and Liberties

With the likely return of the Taliban militants, af-ter reaching a peace agreement with their US interlocutors and the Afghan government, and

potential for radicalism, concerns over the violation of women’s rights and liberties increase. It appears that the Taliban are not willing to change their mindset towards women. The potential for radicalism in the country will contribute to the Taliban’s misogynistic worldview. Recently, Maw-lavi Mujibur Rahman, a religious cleric in Herat prov-ince, made provocative comments regarding women. He has reportedly established a center for “Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice”, which was also prevalent during the Taliban regime, and held a press conference to defend his view and banned the partici-pation of female journalists in the conference. Although his comments were criticized by MPs, local officials, and youths, it shows a potential for radicalism in the country. Afghanistan has a constitution, which entails the rights and freedoms of women. All individuals, without excep-tion, have to practice upon the provisions of law and stop interfering in people’s private issues through estab-lishing center for Propagation of Virtue and the Preven-tion of Vice. It is believed that Afghans will accept peace talks in the frame of national law and constitution and the Taliban’s fundamental mindset is not acceptable to them at all. If the Taliban are genuine in the peace talks, they have to respect the “red line” of Afghan nation and state, which includes the rights and liberties of women, constitutional principles, and democratic values. Since the US and Taliban group are close to reaching a deal, according to the Taliban officials, the group should not overstep its demands. In other words, if the Taliban bargain over higher prices at the negotiating table with the Afghan government, after reaching a deal with the US side, the talks will reach a cul-de-sac. The Taliban should understand the vulnerability and fragility of the talks in the current sensitive juncture. It should be noted that the Afghan government will sup-port the public red line and the constitutional principles. I pointed out in my commentaries that Afghan Consti-tution is based on the Islamic values and endorsed by Afghan religious clerics. In short, Afghan elders, clergy, Jihadi leaders, and officials participated in the approval of the constitution. Meanwhile, it is based on Afghan social norms and cultural values, as it gave legal bases to Afghans tribal assembly, Loya Jirga. Moreover, the constitution during former Afghan King Zahir Shah also contributed much to the approval of the post-Taliban constitution. Gender discrimination, simply for physical and biologi-cal differences, is neither legal nor logical. Women are allowed on the basis of both religious tenets and consti-tutional principles to engage in social, political, cultural, and economic activities the same as their male counter-parts. Restricting women’s activities in the community on the grounds of their sex will not be only injustice but also create major roadblocks before the country’s social, economic, and political development. Afghans will support the peace talks which lead to the integration of the Taliban members in the government, disbanding of the group, disarming its fighters, and safe-guarding Afghanistan’s democratic gains. The Taliban still hold out their radical mindset since they are not ready for bringing their women to the negotiat-ing table. If the Taliban have moderated their mindset, as they once claimed, they should provide seats for their women at the table to have their say. Besides supporting the public demands and women’s constitutional rights and liberties, the government should undermine the potential for radicalism and treat them on the basis of law. Radical figures should not be allowed to issue fatwa contrary to the constitution or moderate mindset or establish a center beyond the law. Meanwhile, the country’s religious clerics and Ulema Council have to raise their voice about irresponsible comments of their religious counterparts and highlight religious tenets to the public through moderate prism. Since Afghan people, mainly women, suffered severely in the result of radical fatwas of religious figures through-out the history and are still the victim of radical practices of the Taliban fighters, they support moderate ideas.

Chairman / Editor-in-Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Vice Chairman / Exec. Editor: Moh. Sakhi Rezaie

Email: outlookafghanistan@gmail.comPhone: 0093 (799) 005019/777-005019

www.outlookafghanistan.net

In the Afghanistan context, you may have you noticed that people who have a lot of compassion and social intelligence in their use of their per-sonal power, often surprisingly begin misusing their power when they

get into professional positions of trust and authority. Have you ever thought that, it is because Afghans are eager of unconditional power or it is, as Af-ghans do not use power in the right way? Why is it that there is so much mis-use and abuse of power in this specific geographical point? Question that rises for the public more than anything does in these days. It would be help-ful if the situation illustrate through an example. For instance, when he / or she is an ordinary citizen always complains and accuse that the public office holders do not take decisions solely in terms of the national interest, they do the work in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends! However, when he/ or she get the position, then knowingly disrespect the rules and regulations, break the laws, cross the public opinions, and ignore the public rights. Act in impulsive fashion and fail to understand other peo-ple’s feelings and desires. Rely on stereotypes when judging others, and pay less attention to the characteristics that define those other people as individu-als. Judge others’ attitudes, interests, and needs less accurately. Always act on his/or her own whims, desires, and impulses. Most of the time interrupt others, to speak out of turn, and to fail to look at others who are speaking and change to a character similar to ‘anti- national interests.’Therefore, power is a hot issue in Afghansiatn. To know more, first it is im-portant to identify the meaning/or the definitions of the word power. Here are all the possible meanings of the word power. Power in dictionary: right to command: rule: authority: influence: ability: capacity of suffering: a ruler: a divinity. Power in mind-set of Gandhi, “Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment.” Moreover, in political science some politics say power means “control of man over man.” So, based on the cited definitions, the reason that humankind eager for pow-er is to control others behavior, ideology, and economic growth. Controlling is the key word among all the meanings. As outcome, power is worthy and sometimes immoral, but mostly unethical. Mainly it depends on how to use it.The right use of power is a dynamic, inspiring and relational approach to the ethical use of professional and personal power to promote well-being for all and to have an ethical society. In other words, the right use of power is to protect the country national interest. In developed and prospered countries, power has been the most crucial means for achieving national interests. That is why every nation wants to attain, maintain and utilize power. (https://www.politicalscienceview.com/concept-of-power-in-political-science/) In Afghansiatn context, the understanding is different. Afghans do not use power as it must be used, they abuse of power so much and for this motive the total history of the country is power fighting. Here, people use power for getting personal interest; it means all the rela-tionship of political parties is defined on the bases of personal interest rather than national interest. Personal interest prejudice an individual’s ability to

The views and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authers and do not reflect the views or opinions of the Daily Outlook Afghanistan.

In addition to costing human lives, this year’s unprecedentedly severe wildfire season in Australia has destroyed an estimated 2,500 homes, killed hundreds of millions of animals, battered the economy, and placed

severe pressure on the government. Coming on the heels of the country’s hottest and driest years on record, the fires highlight the depth and com-plexity of the global challenges we face. Likewise, the COVID-19 outbreak, which started when a new coronavirus leapt from an animal to a human in China, now threatens to disrupt economic and social life around the world.For much of the twentieth century, we liked to think that every problem had a simple technological solution. Vaccines and antibiotics would keep us healthy, the Green Revolution would feed us, and economic growth would pay for our schools and hospitals. But today’s wildfires and epidemics dem-onstrate that the risks facing humanity are not so simple, and will not be managed by easy one-track solutions.Consider the current global landscape. One million species are now at risk of extinction, the disastrous effects of climate change are becoming increas-ingly apparent to all, mass movements of people are becoming more com-mon, and the world’s democracies are in the grips of partisan polarization and skepticism toward science and expertise.The big picture can be hard to discern from any one vantage point, which is why we need a new narrative that considers the challenges of today within the complexity of the entire planetary system. To that end, the international research organization Future Earth recently published Our Future On Earth 2020, which captures our evolving prospects by connecting the dots be-tween recent research findings and the developments we are already expe-riencing – from floods and water shortages to rising populism. By drawing on insights from researchers in the physical and social sciences, the report helps to explain what is driving current events and how we might move in a more sustainable direction.The report also surveys 222 scientists across 52 countries to assess 30 catego-ries of risk facing humanity and the planet. The top five risks identified by the respondents are extreme weather, the failure to mitigate and adapt to climate change, biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, food crises, and water shortages. These findings represent a meeting of minds: leaders and decision-makers who were independently surveyed by the World Econom-ic Forum in January identified the same risks as being the most urgent.Scientists surveyed by Future Earth also stress that they are most concerned with the linkages among the risk categories. There is every reason to expect that one global crisis could cascade into others. Heatwaves, for example, can accelerate water loss and food scarcity, just as biodiversity loss exacerbates climate change, and vice versa.

The Right Use of Power Result Prosperity for a Nation

Holistic Thinking for Global Threats

perform his or her duties and responsibilities objectively, as well as place themselves under any financial or other obligation to outside individuals or organization that support them in the performance of their official du-ties. Importantly when an official is carrying out public business, including making public appointments, awarding contracts, or recommending indi-viduals for rewards and benefits, instead of making choices on merit, think of his / her own team and groups as preferences. In this satiation senior, staff are not accountable for their decisions and actions to the public. In addition, they do not give reasons for their deci-sions and do not give the right information when the wider public interest clearly demands. Team working failed and the nation remained poor and back warded. Day by day social problems increase and no body feel secure. While the right use of power is the officials must not use their position in the course of their team work to gain any benefit or to further their private advantage or those of others. They expected to declare any private interests relating to their public duties and to take steps to resolve any conflicts aris-ing in a way that protects the national interests more than anything else does. Transparency and competency must considered whenever there is a recruitment. The whole administration attempt to achieve the national interests. Some other politician say, “Power is the ability to make others do what they otherwise would not do.” In this understanding, someone forces his own ideology, beliefs and thoughts on someone else and not allow them to think for themselves. For example, when a tribal leader states his opinion about a political candidate and makes everyone else in the society approve of him and refuse anyone else to belief anything but what they said. So, the leader impose his view of the issue on the rest of the communities. While imposing the specific views on others is deeply damaging the unity and it is another sense of misusing power in Afghansiatn. As the final point, how harmful misusing of power in Afghansiatn, the proven result is, nineteen years ago approaches for political stability, eco-nomic progress and sustainable governance launched in Afghanistan. At the same time, Afghan leaders with the support of international community reformed the system of previous government and election to allocate power based on popular support. The world community suggested decentraliza-tion of administrative power and authority through strengthening the provincial and district level governance, democratic process and account-ability. For the fact that long-term political solidity requires agreement on continues reforms, balance power across regions and between the central government and the provinces. Unfortunately, within all these efforts, still Afghanistan has huge problem in power shifting and radical transitions. The election crisis and the mistrust both were the old problems that still not managed well and properly in the country. Even though the tactic of power-sharing arrangement like the National Unity Government also does not work well. It is a proven result of misusing power in the state. The direct negative impact of these disorders, is the country suffers when power use in the wrong direction: Levels of violence continue to rise, civilian casualties increase, economic migrants are leaving for Europe and neighboring coun-tries, brains escape from the country and investment lost. Finally, the nation suffers, poverty and violence increase, people none prospered.

Editorial and Opinions3

By: Amy Luers Moreover, subtle links among all 30 risks cited in the survey could have ma-jor implications for future sustainability efforts. Consider the link between political populism and the spread of digital information and communica-tion technology (ICT). These phenomena have grown together, with popu-list politicians using sophisticated digital marketing techniques to reach key voter cohorts. Worse, with disinformation and propaganda flowing freely through today’s largely unregulated social-media networks, populists’ sim-plistic message of “us vs. them” has been able to travel far and wide, and en-trenched interests have been able to convince a significant share of the public to ignore the danger of climate change.But digital ICT also has the potential to do a great deal of good, from offering a megaphone to climate activists to helping companies reduce their emis-sions and empowering people to monitor and protect their local ecosystems. Looking ahead, those leading the Big Tech companies need to recognize that their business models should not be focused solely on their own bottom lines. Their powerful algorithms and platforms could be used to contribute to sustainable development.With just a decade left to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Develop-ment Goals, 2020 is a critical year. Hundreds of businesses and cities are making climate commitments and developing plans of action. At the UN Climate Change Conference this November, world leaders will try again to advance an agenda for reining in greenhouse-gas emissions. And in Octo-ber, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity will set new biodiversity targets. The Earth’s biodiversity is not just about lush Amazonian jungles and tourist-friendly African savannas. Plant and animal species are key to our own survival, not least through their contributions to medicine and ag-riculture. To feed a growing global population, we will need increasingly productive, diverse crop systems that can cope with ever more extreme cli-mate conditions.For sustainability efforts to succeed, however, we must recognize that the challenges we face are interconnected. The risks we must address cannot be managed in isolation from one another or from other political and social dynamics. Solutions to today’s health, economic, and environmental chal-lenges demand a multidisciplinary, multilateral, systems-based approach. That will require rethinking and transforming our institutions, not to men-tion our own attitudes and lifestyles.While Australia’s wildfire crisis raged far from most of us, it should be regarded globally with the same energy and focus as the coronavirus epi-demic. No country, government, society, business, or individual is an island. Ultimately, we are all facing the same threats, because we are all connected to one planet, with one future.

By: Dawlat Bakhtiari

Dawlat Bakhtiari is the newly emerging writer of the Daily Outlook Af-ghanistan. He can be reached at outlookafghanistan@gmail.com

Amy Luers, Executive Director of Future Earth, is a former Director of Cli-mate at Skoll Global

December 19, 2019March 17, 20204

ADB Provides Assistance to Combat COVID-19 in Tajikistan

Coronavirus Hits ‘Heart and Soul’ As New York, Los Angeles Bars and

Theaters Forced to Close

Israel to Swear in New Parliament Under Coronavirus Shadow

What Social Distancing? Mexican President Defies Covid-19 Concerns as He EMBRACES & SHAKES

HANDS with 1000s at Rallies

Reluctant to Close Its Borders Despite Pandemic, Germany to Crack Down on ‘Non-Essential’ Travel

DUSHANBE - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on March 16 said it has allo-cated a $100,000 grant from the ongoing Maternal and Child Health Integrated Care Project to support the Tajikistan govern-ment’s preventive and mitigation efforts against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).Press release issued by ADB says the as-sistance will finance the purchase of emer-gency medical supplies (masks, gloves, tubes, respirators, thermoscanners) and necessary diagnostics, using expeditious procurement methods.The Tajikistan Ministry of Healthcare and Social Protection of the Population request-ed ADB assistance on March 4, 2020.

NEW YORK - Bars, restaurants, theaters and movie houses in New York and Los Angeles were ordered to shut down to combat the spread of the coronavirus pan-demic as central banks around the world took aggressive steps to cushion the eco-nomic impact of the disease.The U.S. Federal Reserve slashed inter-est rates, for the second time in less than two weeks, to near zero and other central banks followed suit but stock markets and the dollar continued to tumble.Europe’s main stocks markets plunged

JERUSALEM — Israel was to swear in its newly elected parliament on Monday under stringent restrictions because of the corona-virus outbreak in what was expected to be a surreal ceremony reflecting the country’s un-precedented dual crisis in politics and public health. Instead of the typical festive gather-ing of parliament’s 120 members, the new lawmakers will be staggered into the plenum in 40 rounds of three each so as to abide by the health ministry’s guidelines of limiting public gatherings to 10 people at a time. Is-rael’s largely ceremonial president Reuven

MEXICO CITY - As governments around the world urge residents to stay indoors and practice ‘social distancing’ due to the coronavirus, Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has come under fire for staging huge rallies in spite of the risks.While politicians in the neighboring US are cancelling rallies, holding crucial debates in empty halls with no audience, and ditching handshakes for elbow bumps, Obrador, also known as AMLO, has taken a drastically different approach – ramping up his public activities in-stead.Obrador, who is currently touring the southwestern Mexican state of Guerrero, could be seen shaking hands, taking selfies, hugging, and even kissing his numerous supporters during stops in the cities of Marquelia, Cruz Grande, and in the area of Costa Chica over the weekend.ALMO has made no secret of his busy schedule, posting an array of videos of his passionate interactions with his supporters on Twitter.

BERLIN - Facing the alarming spread of the corona-virus, Berlin has decided to tighten border controls, limiting “non-essential” travel with neighboring coun-tries. Germany saw a spike in Covid-19 cases, which jumped by 1,000 in one day.The move was announced by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer late Sunday. Germany will re-introduce checks on the borders with Austria, France, Switzer-land, Luxembourg, and Denmark starting Monday morning.“The spread of the coronavirus is progressing quickly and aggressively... one of the most important measures will be to cut off the chain of infection,” Seehofer stat-ed.As of Sunday, Germany has over 5,800 confirmed coro-navirus cases, including 13 deaths. The number of those infected surged by over 1,000 on Saturday.People “without a significant reason to travel,” as well as those suspected of being infected with the disease won’t be able to cross the borders. The flow of cargo and cross-border commuters, however, will not be af-fected by the restrictions. German citizens and perma-nent residents will be allowed to return to the country as well.Seehofer stressed that the travel restrictions are tempo-rary and will be reevaluated “from time to time.”Despite the coronavirus threat, Berlin has been reluc-

No COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Tajikistan as of March 15, 2020, with 1,566 people quarantined.ADB is in constant contact with the Gov-ernment of Tajikistan, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other related partners, and stands ready to provide further assistance as required, the Bank said.ADB is committed to achieving a pros-perous, inclusive, resilient, and sustain-able Asia and the Pacific, while sus-taining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region. (Asia Plus)

more than 6% in brutal opening trading [.EU] while Wall Street futures for the S&P 500 index had hit their downlimit in the first quarter-hour of Asian trade as investors rushed for safety.At an emergency meeting, the Bank of Japan further eased monetary policy by ramping up purchases of exchange-traded funds and other risky assets.Leaders of the G7 countries will hold a video conference at 10 a.m. ET on Mon-day to discuss a joint response to the(Reuters)

Rivlin will preside over the unusual event after the Israeli Knesset, or parliament, was thoroughly sprayed with disinfectant.The event, coming two weeks after national elections, will give the country a new leg-islature. But Israel still seems a long way from establishing a stable government.Rivlin on Monday formally designated opposition leader Benny Gantz the task of forming a coalition after the retired mili-tary chief secured a slim majority of rec-ommendations from incoming lawmakers. (AP News)

A video from Costa Chica shows him walking past a jubilant crowd, shaking hands and eagerly stopping for selfies. There have been 53 confirmed coronavirus cases in Mexico, with media reporting of at least one death re-sulting from the pandemic on Mexican soil. Local me-dia reported that businessman Jose Kuri succumbed to the virus after returning from a trip to the US. (RT)

tant to tighten border controls. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken out against the measure, saying it is “not an appropriate response to the chal-lenge.”Earlier this week, the coronavirus outbreak was de-clared a pandemic by the World Health Organiza-tion (WHO). The global health watchdog warned that the hotbed of the virus has seemingly shifted to Europe, where the number of new cases registered daily has already surpassed the dynamics shown by the virus in China during the initial outbreak. (RT)

Affairs to check what has happened in Iran.If the voices found to be real, the Afghan gov-ernment should not choose silence, he said, asking the international affairs commission of senate to investigate the issue with officials concerned. (Pajhwok)

(4) Herat Coronavirus ...persons while more than 10,000 people en-tered via Islam Qala Port to Herat from Iran alone.He said currently over 15,000 refugees en-tered Afghanistan from three points on bor-der with Iran.Border Ministry Secretary Barakzai also said more steps would be taken to control the out-break of coronavirus in the border areas and said facilities should be provided to all refu-gees returning to the country to control the spread of virus.Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Ha-roon Chakhansouri said power and resourc-es had been provided to concerned authori-ties in the government to stop the spread of coronavirus.He said the World Bank has provided $10 million to Afghanistan for the fight against coronavirus. He added the issuance of visas to foreigners had been restricted. (Pajhwok)

(5) Peace to Stop ...and family members in front of my eyes.”He said it was his love with the people and the country that his company Harif Limited invested huge amount in construction of townships and green houses with the hope that peace and stability would be established in the country.Harif is hopeful for peace at a time when the US and the Taliban inked a peace agreement on February 29 and according to the agree-ment, intra-Afghan talks had to kick off on March 10.The historic agreement made Harif more hopeful for peace in the country and said: “I see this step as positive one and pray to Al-lah for durable peace in the country because peace can unleash welfare and prosperity.”He termed the US-Taliban agreement as an opportunity for peace in the country and asked both sides not to allow this opportu-nity go in vain.In his message to the Taliban and govern-ment, Harif said: “Being a father who suf-fered insecurity I want to tell the conflicting parties to set aside their personal interest and consider the country’s and its people interest supreme and reconcile. The best way is that all of us should prefer unity and ignore divi-sions and personal interest. I am hopeful that we can reach peace. The Taliban and govern-ment should get united, move ahead and form a strong government.”Harif who took a tissue paper and cleaned sweat from his face said: “Peace not only

stops violence but it allows economic devel-opment.” (Pajhwok)

(6) 2 Key Roads ...he said the return of 2000 people from Paki-stan and Iran had worried people in the province.He assured that all preparations had been made to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the province.On the other hand, a doctor, wishing to go unnamed, told Pajhwok they had been lack-ing specific clothes and feared contracting the virus from positive patients. (Pajhwok)

(7) 21 Cases ...refugees minister was summoned to the Wolesi Jirga, the Lower House of Parliament, along with Public Health Minister Ferozud-din Feroz to discuss ways to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in the country.On Saturday, as coronavirus cases increase in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Public Health said it has made preparations to acquire at least 50,000 testing kits for the virus.The Afghan government has allocated $25 million for the Ministry of Public Health to respond to the virus. (TOLO NEWS)

(8) Blinded Chilean ...war, brought soldiers out, there were deaths, shootings. That’s why people remain in the streets, why there is so much violence, be-cause he remains in office.“His resignation would dial down the ten-sion.”The protests resulted in at least 31 people killed, 3,000 injured, and 30,000 detained. Prosecutors are probing allegations of abuse made by over 5,000 people against the secu-rity forces.Chile’s human rights watchdog says 445 people suffered eye injuries, primarily due to police tear gas canisters and rubber bullets. Gatica became one of two people blinded in both eyes after he was shot with rubber bul-lets on Nov. 8. (Reuters)

(9) Saudi Arabia ... Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the son of King Salman and heir to the throne, used the purge to remove people who could poten-tially pose a political threat.The royal court said last year it was winding down that campaign after 15 months, but the authorities later said they would start going after graft by ordinary government employ-ees.Nazaha tweeted on Sunday that it had ar-rested and would indict 298 people on crimes such as bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power involving a total of 379 million riyals ($101m). Among those implicated are eight defence ministry officers suspected of bribery and

(1) AGO Records ...had been addressed while 103 were being processed.The AGO report added the crimes included 27 murders and 16 violence against journal-ists.Addressing administrative corruption cases helped recovered 113 million afghanis and $42,000 were returned to the state treasury. (Pajhwok)

(2) Coronavirus ...release the prisoners in three stages with the first batch of 1,500 prisoners to be released on 14th March.On the other hand, the public health authori-ties have reported 21 positive cases of coro-navirus in Afghanistan.The Public Health Ministry said it has record-ed five new positive cases of coronavirus in three provinces of the country in the past 24 hours.Wahidullah Mayar, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health confirmed that two of the new cases have surfaced in western Herat province, bringing the total number of the positive cases to 12.The authorities have also recorded two more positive cases in central Logar province while the fifth new case has surfaced in northwest-ern Badghis province.The officials say they have so far recorded 21 positive cases of coronavirus in seven prov-inces of Afghanistan. (KHAAMA PRESS)

(3) Political Tensions ...solution to the problem.He also said that a joint team of the parlia-ment should be created to solving tensions between politicians.Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, Meshrano Jirga chairman said that politicians should give up their personal interests and agree on an inclu-sive government for the good of the country.He said that a mechanism for solving differ-ences among political leaders has been cre-ated.Muslimyar said that the election process was ended and the Independent Election Com-mission (IEC) announced one candidate as winner which was also endorsed by the in-ternational community.He said that the current political system should be kept and the republic protected by accepting each other.Talking to Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, he said that Afghanistan needed peace in current situation more than any-thing else, therefore differences should be ended for practical work for the peace pro-cess.About voices of Afghan refugees who were tortured by Iranian officials, he expressed regression and asked the Ministry of Foreign

money laundering regarding government contracts during the years 2005-2015; and 29 interior ministry officials in the Eastern Prov-ince, including three colonels, a major gen-eral and a brigadier general. (Aljazeera)

(10) Japanese ...which in Japan is carried out by hanging -- and argued that the defendant was capable of taking responsibility for the violence at the Tsukui Yamayuri-en centre, just outside Tokyo.Uematsu was impassive as the verdict was announced, looking straight ahead at the judge as he was sentenced.He wore a black suit with his hair in a long ponytail down to his waist, and was flanked by six uniformed court officers wearing sur-gical masks.Uematsu, who faced six charges including murder, reportedly said before the trial that he would not appeal any verdict, though he argued he did not deserve the death penalty.He has reportedly said he wanted to eradi-cate all disabled people in the horrifying at-tack that also left 26 people wounded.- ‘I hate you so much’ - (AFP)

(11) Qatar ...period that can be extended,” adding cargo and transit flights would be exempted from the ban.It said Qatari citizens would continue to be allowed into the country after they quaran-tine for two weeks.The announcements came after Qatar’s health ministry announced 64 new con-firmed cases of coronavirus in the tiny Gulf nation, taking its total number of cases to 401.So far 7,950 people have been tested for CO-VID-19 while four people have reportedly recovered, according to the ministry. (Al-jazeera)

(12) Nigeria ...than 100 others injured in central Nigeria when a crashed petrol tanker exploded as people gathered around to siphon fuel from it.The truck overturned close to shops as it was travelling through the village of Ahumbe in Benue state. (Aljazeera)

(13) ‘Don’t Sacrifice ...testing positive and 24 dead. But some peo-ple on the streets of Tokyo voiced concern for the fans that would pour in from abroad.Koki Miura, a 27-year-old employee at an internet company, told AFP: “To be hon-est, even if Japan overcomes this crisis, we wouldn’t receive visitors from the world. I think we’d better not hold it.”“We cannot sacrifice people’s lives for it,” added Miura, who said the Games should be postponed -- if not cancelled outright.(AFP)

(14) Kazakhstan’s ... outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - be-gan at a fish market in late December 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 6,500. Over 169,000 people have been confirmed as infected. Meanwhile, over 77,000 people have reportedly recovered.The World Health Organization (WHO) de-clared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11. (Trend)

(15) Biden ...advice of public health officials to avoid hand-shakes.Biden, the frontrunner, recounted his experi-ence as serving in President Barack Obama’s administration in dealing with the Ebola outbreak in 2014. He laid out a coronavirus plan to make testing free and widely avail-able, establish mobile sites and drive-through facilities in each state and provide more help for small businesses hurt by the resulting eco-nomic slowdown.(Aljazeera)

(16) New Coronavirus ...to halt the spread of the virus, closing schools and universities, holding sports events with-out spectators and halting flights to many countries.Turkey has also set up quarantine sites for more than 10,300 people returning from pil-grimages to Islam’s holy sites in Saudi Arabia.On Saturday, Koca expressed the govern-ment’s concern about new cases that might go undetected and called on citizens to self-quarantine for 14 days upon returning from abroad. “Passing health screening tests does not mean you don’t carry any risks,” he was quoted as saying by the Daily Sabah newspaper. (Al-jazeera)

(17) Number ...Relations, on Amendment and Addendums of the Law of Turkmenistan on Guarantee of Work for Youth, on Amendment and Adden-dums of the Law of Turkmenistan on Live-stock Breeding.Draft Law of Turkmenistan on Electronic doc-uments was the first discussed project. It can be used for entering into contracts, settlement of payments, official and unofficial correspon-dence and transfer of other information.During the discussion of the Draft Law of Turkmenistan on Ecological Information, the MPs focused on the protection of the environ-ment.Draft legal acts, which have been discussed, have been unanimously approved and ad-opted. (Trend)

(18) Number of ...ganization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pan-demic on March 11. (Trend)

International5

Neighbor News

Qatar Suspends Incoming Flights for Preliminary Two-Week Period

Number of New Laws, Legal Acts Adopted in

Turkmenistan

Number of Coronavirus Cases in Uzbekistan Increases

PM Imran to Chair Cabinet Meeting Today

Japanese Man Sentenced to Death for Murder of 19

At Care Home

‘Don’t Sacrifice Lives’: Doubts Grow in Japan Over Tokyo Olympics

Kazakhstan’s SCAT Developing Action Plan Amid

Emergency State in Kazakhstan

Almost 110,000 Coronavirus Tests Carried Out in Russia

Israel’s Ex-Army Chief Gantz Gets Shot at Forming

Government

New Coronavirus Cases in Turkey as 12 Test Positive Overnight

Death Toll Rises to 853 Over COVID-19 In Iran

Biden and Sanders Tear into Trump Over Coronavirus Response

ASHGABAT - Ninth session of the Parlia-ment of the sixth con-vocation has recently taken place, in Turk-menistan, Trend re-ports with reference to State Customs Service of Turkmenistan.Heads of some minis-tries and departments, representatives of mass media have been invit-ed to participate in the session.A number of projects were submitted for consideration:”Draft Law of Turkmeni-stan on Electronic documents,Draft Law of Turkmenistan on Ecological Information, Draft Laws on Amend-ment and Addendums of the Law of Turkmen-istan on Court, Amend-ment and Addendums of the Law of Turkmen-istan on Adalat Author-ities of Turkmenistan, Amendment and Ad-dendums of the Law of Turkmenistan on Legal Acts, on Amendment and Addendums of the

TASHKENT - Two more people were diag-nosed with coronavirus (COVID-19) in Uzbeki-stan, Trend reports re-ferring to Uzbek Health Ministry.The first case of corona-virus was recorded in Uzbekistan on March 15. The infection was discovered during the medical check-up of a woman who is an Uz-bek citizen and who returned from France. Later, the son and daughter of the woman were also detected to be infected with CO-VID-19.Moreover, another Uz-bek citizen who arrived from Istanbul in the morning of March 15 was found to be infect-

ISLAMABAD - Prime Minister Imran Khan will chair a cabinet meeting later in the day.Reports emerged that the cabinet will discuss the overall political, economic situation of the country in addition to the emergency situa-tion following the out-break of coronavirus.The meeting will re-view the implementa-tion of the decisions taken in the National Security Council (NSC) meeting on Friday.

TEHRAN - The CO-VID-19 outbreak has claimed lives of 853 people in Iran, said Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education on Mon-day.The ministry said that 14,991 cases infected with the virus have

TOKYO - Doubts are growing in Japan about the Tokyo Olympics, with growing opposi-tion to holding them as scheduled and some urging officials not to risk lives by pressing ahead during the coro-navirus emergency.Officials like Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach have repeatedly insist-

TOKYO - A Japanese man was sentenced to death on Monday for the stabbing murder of 19 disabled people at a care home, in one of the country’s worst mass killings.Satoshi Uematsu never disputed his involvement in the grisly rampage but his lawyers entered a plea of not guilty, arguing the 30-year-old was suffering a “mental disorder” linked to his use of marijuana.

MOSCOW - Some 110,000 lab tests for the new coronavirus infection Covid-19 have been car-ried out on the territory of Russia, Russian Federal Service for Health and Consumer Rights (Rospotrebnadzor) said.“As of March 15, 109,939 lab tests for the new coronavirus have been performed by Rospotrebnadzor hygiene and epidemiology centers in the regions of the Russian Federa-tion on material taken from people who ar-rived from unfavorable countries as concerns the new coronavirus infection,” the press ser-vice for Rospotrebnadzor told journalists on Monday.This number reached 94,852 tests as of Satur-day, March 14.According to the most recent information, Russia officially has 63 registered cases of coronavirus. (Interfax)

NUR SULTAN - Kazakhstan’s SCAT airlines company is de-veloping an action plan within the framework of an emer-gency state introduced in the country, the company told Trend.On March 15, 2020, Kazakh-stan’s President Kassym Jomart Tokayev signed a de-cree introducing an emergen-cy state in Kazakhstan due to coronavirus outbreak, which will be relevant from 08:00 (GMT +6) on March 16 till 08:00 on April 15, 2020.The company said that it is currently wait for official noti-fication on possible changes in the schedule from responsible authorities in order to make concrete decisions.“The company is developing a plan on the following issues: possible changes to the flights’ schedule and updated policy of re-booking and tickets re-turning,” the company said.The company added that the latest information on the issue will be published on the of-ficial website of the company and via social network.On March 13, 2020, first two cases of coronavirus infection have been detected in Kazakh-stan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany. The latest data said that the overall number of coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan is 9.The...(More on P4)...(14)

JERUSALEM - Israel’s ex-military chief Benny Gantz was nominated Monday to try to form a government but further talks were expected with his bitter rival, premier Benjamin Netan-yahu, on an emergency alliance to fight coro-navirus.Gantz, who heads the centrist Blue and White party, called for “unity” and urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to join him as Israel seeks to end a crippling political stalemate after three inconclusive elections in less than a year.“We must not have a fourth election,” Gantz said, after he was formally nominated to at-tempt to form an administration by President Reuven Rivlin.“I’ll do everything to form in as few days as possible a national, patriotic and broad gov-ernment.”Gantz, 60, won recommendations on Sunday from 61 lawmakers, a razor thin majority in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament. (AFP)

Law of Turkmenistan on Enforcement Pro-ceedings and Status of Judicial Officers, on Amendment and Ad-dendums of the Law of Turkmenistan on Fight against Legalization of Illegal Income and Fi-nancing of Terrorism, on Amendment and Addendums of the cer-tain Legal Acts of Turk-menistan, on Amend-ment and Addendums of the Customs Code of Turkmenistan, on Amendment and Ad-dendums of the Law of Turkmenistan on Standardization, on Amendment and Ad-dendums of the Law of Turkmenistan on Establishments, on Amendment and Ad-dendums of the Law of Turkmenistan on Hy-drocarbon Resources, on Amendment and Addendums of the Law of Turkmenistan on Currency Regulation and Currency Control in Foreign Economic ...(More on P4)...(17)

ed with coronavirus.According to the Health Ministry, on March 16, 2020, husband and grandson of the first patient have been con-firmed infected with COVID-19.The outbreak of corona-virus in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late Decem-ber 2019. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 6,513. Over 169,387 people have been con-firmed as infected.Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as No-vember 2019.The World Health Or...(More on P4)...(18)

The briefing on up-coming budget is also a part of the agenda, while the detailed brief-ing by the Ministry of Energy and Power is also included in the agenda.In the previous meet-ing, Prime Minister Imran Khan had ex-pressed displeasure over non-submission of a final probe report on the wheat and sug-ar crisis and gave the authorities one week to submit the report. (Pakistan Today)

been confirmed in the country, Kianush Jah-anpur, head of Public Relations and Infor-mation Center of the ministry, was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.A total of 4,996 people have recovered, Jah-anpur said. (Xinhua)

WASHINGTON - Unit-ed States Democratic presidential hopefuls Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders tore into Presi-dent Donald Trump’s handling of the corona-virus outbreak during a Democratic debate on Sunday, offering com-peting visions of leader-ship during a widening crisis that has upended the daily lives of Ameri-cans.In their first one-on-one debate, the last two Democratic contend-ers in the race to face Trump in the Novem-ber election clashed on the proper approach to the pandemic and other pressing issues, with former Vice Presi-dent Biden arguing his approach to leadership would get quick results

ANKARA - Turkey has identified 12 new cases of the coronavirus on Mon-day, bringing its total to 18, marking the highest daily rise since the coun-try announced its first case last week.Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Monday that two of the new cases were related to the first case reported in the country, while seven had trav-elled from Europe and three from the United States. On Sunday, the country’s interior

ministry announced the temporary closure of bars and nightclubs across its 81 provinces in a bit to curb the spread of the virus. Last Wednesday, Turkey became the last major economy to report an outbreak after taking what the World Health Organization (WHO) described as “vigilant” measures to delay it.The government has since ramped up measures ...(More on P4)...(16)

DOHA - Qatar has an-nounced a series of mea-sures, including the sus-pension of all incoming flights for a preliminary two-week period, as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The moves were an-nounced on Sunday fol-lowing a meeting between Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Ta-mim bin Hamad Al Thani and the Supreme Commit-tee for Crisis Management.An economic and finan-cial package will provide incentives amounting to

and Vermont Senator Sanders pushing for bigger, more fundamen-tal changes.Both candidates assailed Trump for his handling of the coronavirus out-break, saying he had contributed to growing worries by spending weeks minimising the threat before declaring a national emergency on Friday.The debate, originally

scheduled for Phoenix, took place in a Wash-ington studio with no audience, a move made to limit possible expo-sure to the virus - a sign of how deeply the cam-paign routine has been reshaped by the global pandemic.When the two men took the stage, they smiled and shared an elbow bump - abiding by the ...(More on P4)...(15)

75 billion Qatari riyals ($23bn) to help support the private business sec-tor during the outbreak.

sion was triggered when a truck hit gas bottles stacked up in a gas pro-

ed preparations should continue to light the Olympic flame on July 24.But with events from the Premier League to NBA basketball scrapped, and Japanese sport also at a stand-still, even US President Donald Trump has suggested putting the Olympics on hold.Japan has seen relative-ly few cases, with 814 ...(More on P4)...(13)

The court ruled that the former employee of the facility deserved no le-niency over the 2016 at-tack, which shocked the country.“The lives of 19 people were taken away. This is profoundly grave,” chief judge Kiyoshi Aonuma told the court.Uematsu planned the murders and had “an extreme intention to kill”, he added.Prosecutors had sought the death penalty -- ...(More on P4)...(10)

Nigeria Gas Explosion: 17 Dead, Rescue Efforts Under Way

ABUJA - Rescue efforts are ongoing in Nigeria’s commercial capital, La-gos, after a gas pipeline exploded on Sunday, re-sulting in the death of at least 17 people. A spokesman for the Na-tional Emergency Man-agement Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye, said more than 100 houses had caught fire and many people were wounded. Lorries, cars and motorbikes were also destroyed by the blast. Farinloye said the explo-

The statement from the committee included, “Stopping all incoming flights to Doha, starting

cessing plant near a pipeline in Abule-Ado area of Lagos.

Wednesday evening, which corresponds to March 18, for a 14-day ...(More on P4)...(11)

In July, at least 45 people were killed and more ...(More on P4)...(12)

March 17, 2020RIYADH - Hundreds of govern-ment officials, including military and security personnel, have been detained in Saudi Arabia on charges involving bribery and ex-ploiting public office.The announcement late on Sun-day by Saudi’s National Anti-Cor-ruption Commission (Nazaha) also said that investigators would bring charges against those cur-rently held in custody.In 2017, security forces arrested scores of princes and members of the kingdom’s political and busi-ness elite in what was billed as in an attempt to combat corruption among the higher echelons of the Saudi bureaucracy.Those arrested were locked up for weeks in the luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, where some were reportedly physically mistreated. According to experts, Crown Prince...(More on P4)...(9)

Saudi Arabia Detains Hundreds of Government Officials

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KABUL – The German Der Spiegel held an exclusive in-terview with the U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan Rec-onciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, about the peace talks and lat-est updates of agreement with Taliban.In an exclusive interview with the German Der Spiegel, the special representative of the United States for Afghanistan

reconciliation said that dealing with the Taliban, the U.S. has achieved several objectives.Asked about the achieve-ment of the U.S.-Taliban peace deal, Mr. Khalilzad said, “We achieved several United States objectives”.According to him, “…the Tali-ban have made commitments that they were not prepared to make before. These include

a break with al-Qaida; not to host or support any terrorist groups that would threaten the security of the United States and its allies; and reduc-ing violence.”The Intra-Afghan talks were set to begin 10 days after the U.S.-Taliban peace deal was signed but were postponed due to disputes over prisoners’ exchange. (TKG)

Political Tensions Harming Peace Process: Senators

Herat Coronavirus Gateway to Afghanistan: Minister

Peace to Stop Insecurity, Unleash Prosperity: Harif Nimroz Cement Importers Stage Protest, Block Road

2 Key Roads with Pakistan, Iran Closed in Paktika

KABUL - A number of Meshrano Jirga or upper house members on Sunday expressed concern over the creation of dual government and called for a joint parliament teeam to resolve political dispute between Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.Mohammad Nader Baloch, a senator, told today’s session said that millions of Afghans had either been killed or wounded over the last 18 years due to negligence of political leaders.Pointing to tensions between politicians, he said, “Our politicians have mental problems, I hope a vaccine would be found to resolve this problem and the masses survive from the current crisis.”He expressed concern about the coronavirus out-break in Afghanistan and said that current politi-cal situation of the country had diverted attention from responding to the virus spread.Mualvi Abdullah Qarlaq, another senator, said that current political situation of the country was nor acceptable for anyone and it would damage the

KABUL - Ten Afghan refugees have died of coro-navirus in Iran while Kabul has restricted the issu-ance of Afghan visa to foreigners, officials said on Sunday.The Wolesi Jirga or lower house of Parliament ar-ranged a special session to discuss the spread of Coronavirus, inviting Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz, Acting Interior Minister Masoud Andarabi, Refugees Minister Syed Hussain Alami Balkhi, Bor-der Ministry Secretary Farydon Barakzai and State Minister for Natural Disaster Najib Aqa Fahim.Referring to the hiding of positive coronavirus cases, the health minister told lawmakers: “Hid-ing cannot resolve the problem, it is a global virus and we have nothing to hide. Samples taken from suspected individuals are dispatched to labs in the capital and the Netherlands in line with an agree-ment with the WHO and the result are 99.9 percent accurate.”He termed the entry of thousands of Afghans from Iran as a real reason behind the spread of coronavi-

KABUL - A businessman whose one son was killed another kid-napped, tortured and freed after payment of ransom money con-tinues to invest in the hope that one day durable peace would be established in the country.Abdul Jalil Harif, head of the business and construction com-panies “Harif Limited Services” also serves as deputy head of Ka-bul Chamber of Commerce.He is among several other Af-ghans whose lives were affected by insecurity but they still dream for lasting peace in war-torn Af-ghanistan.Harif in his well-decorated office in Kabul exclusively talked to Pa-jhwok Afghan News on insecuri-

In the next room to his office, chil-dren were making a loud noise which disturbed in the interview. He closed the window and said these were his son Matin’s chil-dren.He said the family of his son was among thousands of Afghan fam-ilies who had met the same fate. He stressed all these pains could be cured if durable peace was es-tablished in the country.Harif repeated recalled the tragic incident of his son Matin’s kill-ing and was crying. He said he often rejected planned shifting to foreign as he believed that a day would come when peace and sta-bility would prevail in Afghani-stan.

KABUL - Some cement business-men on Monday protested against the government for not allowing them to import cement from Iran over the past two weeks.The protesting traders closed the Gumrak Road till Abresham Bridge which is zero-point on the border with Iran.Emal, a cement importer, said: “The Nimroz Customs Department has been refusing to allow trucks loaded with cement to proceed and we pay 2,500 afs to drivers for every single night,” he said.He said they would continue their protest until vehicles carrying ce-ment were not allowed to proceed.Abdul Khaliq, another importer,

SHARANA - The governor of southeastern Paktika province on Monday announced closing An-goor Adah and Qamruddin high-ways in Barmal district on the border with Pakistan to prevent the spread of coronavirus.Governor Mujib Rahman Sam-kani told a process conference in Sharana, the provincial capital, that the two transit routes were closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.He said, “The highways would re-main closed until the fears about coronavirus are addressed.”He said people in the province were deeply concerned about 2000 individuals who recently re-turned from Iran and Pakistan to the province.He said, “People are worried about these individuals that they

ty and the need for durable peace and stability in the country.Still unable to hide his pain he suffered as a result of insecurity, the businessman repeatedly said: “Happiness and development will come to our people when there is durable peace and stabil-ity in the country.”Harif, 60, was unable to control his tears.“In 2010 my young son Abdul Aziz was kidnapped and I paid $550,000 in ransom to free him. He is still unstable due to the torture he suffered in captiv-ity and in 2017 dacoits murdered my another young son Matin, 29, and stole his car, my wife could not afford the loss of our son and she died of a brain hemorrhage.”

Harif paused for a while but tears continued to shed from his eyes. “Matin carried the dream of last-ing peace in the country to the grave.”The grandfather was worried about the security of his family. “Insecurity forced me to join my office and family to have all of my children ...( More on P4)...(5)

said: “The cement contract is given to a single company and you cannot import them.” He said the protest-ers were demanding the import of cement to be allowed.Deputy Nimroz Governor Abdul Nabi Barahavi said the import of ce-ment was the right of a single com-pany and as per the law no one else could import cement. (Pajhwok)

may carry the coronavirus and therefore we have taken such preemptive measures in border areas.”Dr. Rasooli, Public Health Direc-

tor, told Pajhwok Afghan News that no positive coronavirus case had surfaced in the province so far.But ...( More on P4)...(6)

U.S. Special Envoy: ‘We Achieved Several

United States Objectives’

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ریاست مالی و اداریتهیه و تدارکاتریاست

خدمات مشورتی و غیرمشورتی مدیریت

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peace process.“Confrontation of politicians should end, otherwise the public would pay the price, I hope a joint del-egation from both houses of the parliament would be created for tackling the current crisis,” he said.Gul Ahmad Azami, another senator who expressed concern over increasing cases of coronavirus in Af-ghanistan, asked politicians to put aside their per-sonal interests and go to negotiation table with a strong position.If tensions not solved, the government and people will be isolated and militants would get stronger, he said.Pointing to Ashraf Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdul-lah, he said, “Politicians should get conscious and deal with the disease of fighting over power.”Mohammad Alam Ezdyar, first deputy chairman of Meshrano Jirga, said that creation of two gov-ernments was not on the interests of the country, asking for ...( More on P4)...(3)

rus and said in terms of infrastructure, Afghanistan has no facility to quarantine suspected individuals.Referring to the open border with Iran he said: “Other countries have closed their borders for asy-lum seekers but we cannot close our borders on our own migrants.”Feroz said technology and cash could not prevent the spread of coronavirus but still the government allocated 15 million afghanis to fight coronavirus and 10 million more afghanis were with the Minis-try of Finance for emergency control.The health minister dubbed Iran a gateway for coronavirus and added that a 100-bed hospital had been established in the province while another 100-bed hospital would be established.Refugee Minister Balkhi said that Afghan migrants were not forced to leave Iran but they returned fearing coronavirus.He asked the health minister to dispatch more fa-cilities to the border, adding that existing facilities were for 5,000 ...( More on P4)...(4)