World News Roundup

ARAB TIMES, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2015

16INTERNATIONAL

Subcontinent

Kashmiri villagers shout pro-freedom slogans as they carry the body of truck conductor killed in a petrol bomb attack in Anantnag on Oct 19. (AFP)

Protests in Indian Kashmir after trucker’s deathAuthorities imposed a curfew in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday afterprotests over the death of a driverattacked by far-right extremistsangered by rumours of cow slaughter,a flashpoint issue for religious tensionsin the Hindu-majority country.

Schools and businesses shut and

universities cancelled exams as hun-dreds of police and paramilitary forcespatrolled the streets of the mainlyMuslim region a day after 19-year-oldZahid Rasool Bhat died of injuriessustained in the October 9 attack.

News of Bhat’s death on Sundayignited anger in Indian Kashmir, where

protesters threw rocks and clashedwith government forces who fired teargas canisters to disperse them.

“We have imposed restrictions onpublic movement in many areas toavoid loss of life,” a senior police officertold AFP on condition of anonymity.

Bhat had been in hospital since his

truck was firebombed by Hinduactivists angered by reports that aban on slaughtering cows was beingflouted in the Muslim-majority region.

Two dead cows had been discov-ered in a stream near the area wherehis truck was attacked, althoughthere was no evidence he was

involved and forensic tests laterrevealed that the cows had died ofpoisoning.

His death comes at a time ofheightened tensions over the con-sumption of beef in India after thelynching of a Muslim man wronglyaccused of eating beef. (AFP)

In this Oct 13, 2015 photo, PushplataSharma (left), mother of TejaswiSharma, a 34-year-old software engi-neer, talks to her son who is recover-ing from a very fatal stage of dengueat Holy Family hospital in New Delhi,

India. (AP)

Janjua Sharif

Aussie threatened over tattoo:Right-wing activists threatened to “skin”an Australian visitor who had a tattoo of aHindu goddess on his leg, police saidMonday, adding they were looking for theculprits.

Matthew Gordon was at a restaurant inthe southern city of Bangalore with hisgirlfriend on Saturday when around adozen activists from the ruling Hindunationalist Bharatiya Janata Party beganharassing the couple.

They said a tattoo of the fertility god-dess Yellama on his shin offended theirreligious sentiments, and ordered him toremove it.

Bangalore deputy police commissionerSandeep Patil said Gordon told officers atthe station that the men had threatened toskin his leg if he did not. (AFP)

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Teen’s death sets off protests: Ageneral strike and curfew shut Indian-con-trolled Kashmir on Monday following thedeath of a Muslim teenager attacked by aHindu mob over rumors of cows beingslaughtered.

Hindus consider cows to be sacred, andslaughtering the animals is banned inmost Indian states.

Businesses, schools and shopsremained shut due to the strike called byanti-India separatists and traders todenounce the killing. State authoritiescanceled all university and college exami-nations on Monday fearing protests.

Thousands of people who attended ZahidRasool’s funeral in Botengo village insouthern Kashmir shouted anti-Indian slo-gans demanding freedom from Indian rule.

Rasool and another truck driver wereset ablaze by a mob after their vehiclestopped in the Hindu-dominatedUdhampur neighborhood. A third personin the truck escaped unhurt. The injuredwere flown to New Delhi for treatment,but Rasool died from his burns onSunday. (AP)

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BJP officials rebuked: The head ofIndia’s ruling Hindu nationalists has repri-manded some of the party’s senior figuresfor their controversial reaction to thelynching of a Muslim accused of eatingbeef, reports said Monday.

Amit Shah, president of the BharatiyaJanata Party, imposed a “gag order” onthe officials following accusations thatPrime Minister Narendra Modi had failedto distance himself from their comments,the reports said.

The group included the chief minister ofthe northern state of Haryana, Manohar LalKhattar, who was quoted last week as say-ing that India’s minority Muslims shouldstop eating beef out of respect to Hindus.

Another of those to be slapped downwas the lawmaker Sakshi Maharaj whorecently demanded the introduction of anew law with a provision for death penal-ty against anyone who slaughters cows —considered sacred by Hindus.

The Hindu newspaper said that the“motormouths” had been ordered “to stopmaking controversial remarks” while TheIndian Express said Modi himself had beenannoyed that the backlash over their com-ments was proving a distraction in the ongo-ing elections in the state of Bihar. (AFP)

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Chowdhury makes death appeal:A top Bangladesh politician facing execu-tion for war crimes made a last-ditch pleafor freedom Monday, filing a petition for

deposition from several high-profile wit-nesses including a former Pakistani pre-mier.

Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, a lead-ing figure in the main oppositionBangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), wassentenced to death in 2013 for crimescommitted during Bangladesh’s 1971 war

New Pak security chiefPakistan is considering appointing aformer general from the powerful mil-itary as the country’s new securitychief, an official said Monday, a movecritics said demonstrated the army’srising grip on civilian power.

A senior security official told AFPthere was a “strong likelihood” thatrecently retired General NaseerJanjua would be appointed to thepost, presently held by the PrimeMinister’s advisor on foreign affairsSartaj Aziz.

The official, speaking on conditionof anonymity because he is notauthorised to speak to media, saidthe final decision rests with PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif, but gave noother details.

Sharif was Monday travelling tothe US for talks with PresidentBarack Obama from October 20-23.

The official said the issue hasbeen under discussion at a “veryhigh level” for some time, and localmedia has also reported Janjua wasbeing considered for the job.

Some analysts hailed the propos-al, saying it would go a long waytowards increasing coordinationbetween the civil and military leader-ship of the country.

“The government and military haverealised need for enhanced coordi-nation between civil and securityagencies to effectively deal with thesecurity issues,” said security analystTalat Masood. (AFP)

India

Health officials blamed for slow response

Delhi struggles to control dengueNEW DELHI, Oct 19, (AP): At dusk,the foggers come out to spray theirsticky-sweet clouds of diesel smokeand insecticide across the Indian cap-ital. Mothers scold their children forwearing short sleeves. Posters gluedto signposts warn about the perils ofneighborhood puddles.

Such efforts to stop mosquitoesfrom spreading dengue fever in NewDelhi have failed to keep the cityfrom its biggest outbreak in almosttwo decades: more than 10,190 regis-tered cases, including 32 deaths.Experts say it didn’t need to be thisway, and blame health officials forbeing slow on both prevention workand medical response.

They say, for example, that the Delhimunicipal government should havestarted much sooner and anticipated alonger-than-usual mosquito-breedingseason months ago, when weather fore-casters predicted this year’s monsoonwould extend beyond September.

“If they clean up in time, if theyhave those anti-mosquito, anti-larvalmeasures on time, they can containdengue,” general physician DevendraJain said in the small single room,crammed with patients, where heoperates his private practice in southDelhi.

Some officials reject the idea thatthe high numbers are a result of neg-lect, and instead say they prove thecity is simply conducting more tests.Some infections go unreported everyyear because some people withdengue fever don’t seek medical

treatment, and others visit doctorswho don’t report cases.

SurpassedHealth officials also note that while

the number of cases this year hasalmost surpassed the 1996 high of10,252, the death toll is far lower thanthe 423 who died from dengue 19years ago. There are no statistics ondengue for years before 1996.

Three weeks into October, newcases were still being reported. TheHoly Family Hospital alone said itwas still detecting about 27 cases aday on average, down from aSeptember peak of 75 cases a day.

Dengue leaves its victims exhaust-ed and in great pain, though it israrely fatal, claiming less than 1 per-cent of those infected. There is nocure; patients need rest and to bemonitored and treated for symptoms,including high fever, dehydration,skin rash, exhaustion and a low bloodplatelet count.

“It is not rocket science,” saidManish Kakkar, a researcher at thePublic Health Foundation of India, aresearch and consulting group. “Weknow what we have to do, but whathappens in India is that the publichealth measures are not adequate bothin terms of quantity and quality.”

The dengue outbreak has highlight-ed India’s striking health-care inequal-ities. It is home to a $4 billion medicaltourism industry - offering everythingfrom bargain tummy tucks to experi-mental stem-cell treatments - and to

hundreds of millions of impoverishedIndians who still have no access totrained doctors or basic medicine.

When two young boys died lastmonth after their parents said theywere denied treatment at private hos-pitals, India’s Health Minister warnedthe government would yank licensesfrom any hospitals who turnedpatients away.

CanceledState-run hospitals canceled doc-

tors’ vacations, ordering them back towork. Delhi capped the cost of labtests at 600 rupees ($10) and set up 55“fever and dengue clinics” to handlethe throngs of patients crowding intohospital foyers. Just one of those clin-ics, near Jamia Millia Islamia univer-sity on the southern outskirts of NewDelhi, reported screening 800 patientsa day.

Some doctors complain that manypeople seeking medical attentiondon’t need it, and blame the media forhyping the outbreak.

“Basically there is a panic andpatients are very scared,” said Dr.Sonika Bali, the medical officer incharge at one government clinic,whose own 12-year-old daughter wasamong those infected. “We can’t haveevery patient come in and ask for ablood test. It is becoming very diffi-cult to convince patients that theirsymptoms are not that of dengue.”

Some who truly have dengue,meanwhile, wait before seeking treat-ment, worsening their symptoms.

of independence.The BNP claims the former lawmaker’s

original conviction was influenced by the

government and was politically motivated.Lawyers for Chowdhury said Monday

they had asked the Supreme Court to allow

the written testimony from eight witnesseswho claim he was living in Pakistan whenthe alleged crimes occurred. (AFP)

A Nepalese Hindu devotee waits to dress up as a deity as he prepares to par-ticipate in festivities at the Shikali Temple during celebrations for the ShikaliJatra festival in the village of Khokana, on the outskirts of Kathmandu on Oct19. Local villagers, who normally do not celebrate the country’s most famous

festival of Dashain, celebrate the Shikali Jatra each year. (AFP)

Lat/Am

Fed up with refugees complaints:When Uruguay announced last year that itwould be taking in five families fleeingSyria’s devastating civil war, residents ofthis small town pulled together and lob-bied to host one.

Then in November, locals welcomed anewly arrived Merhi Al-Shebli, his wifeand their 15 children with food and seedsto plant vegetables.People in JuanLacaze, a coastalcity of fishermen andpaper factory work-ers in southwesternUruguay, wanted todo their part to helpa country wheremore than 200,000have been killed inthe fighting.

But after monthsof the Syrians’ complaints about their liv-ing conditions and demands to be sent toanother country, many Uruguayans in thistown and elsewhere have come to see therefugees more as rude, ungrateful guests.This month the 51-year-old Al-Sheblishocked locals by dousing himself ingasoline in protest, furtheringUruguayans’ indignation and sense thatthis South American nation’s humanitari-an gesture has gone off the rails.

“I’m outraged”, said Monica Benitez,who works at a shoe store in JuanLacaze’s tiny downtown. “What they aredoing is offensive”.

The Syrians’ discontent is playing outas hundreds of thousands of their compa-triots are risking their lives to migrate toEurope and world leaders from GermanChancellor Angela Merkel to PopeFrancis have urged nations to open theirdoors to the flood. The administration ofUS President Barack Obama has pledgedto take in 10,000 Syrians over the nextyear. (AP)

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‘Brazil FM to keep job’: BrazilianPresident Dilma Rousseff sprang to thedefense of her embattled finance ministeron Sunday, saying she would not be pres-sured into sacking him.

Rousseff, fighting to save her secondterm presidency from threatened impeach-ment proceedings, said she was ignoringsuggestions by the head of her ownWorkers’ Party (PT) that Joaquim Levyshould be dismissed.

“I think the president of the PT (RuiFalcao) can have whatever opinion hewishes, but that is not the opinion of thegovernment”, Rousseff was quoted as say-ing by Brazil’s Folha newspaper during avisit to Sweden.

“If I tell you that is not the opinion ofthe government, then Levy stays”.

Further backing Levy, Rousseff said “ifhe stays, it’s because we agree with hispolicies”.

Levy is under pressure over Brazil’srecession, mounting inflation and unem-ployment and the government’s inabilityto pass new austerity measures in a hostileCongress. Some in the leftist PT opposepolicies that they say will worsen the eco-nomic situation for Brazil’s poor. (AFP)

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Scioli leads in poll: The Argentinianruling party’s candidate Daniel Scioli isprimed to win the presidential electionoutright on Oct 25, with a commandinglead over his nearest rivals, two polls pub-lished in local papers on Sunday showed.

To win outright in the first round, andavoid a runoff election, a candidate requires45 percent of valid votes or 40 percent anda 10-point lead over their nearest rival.

Scioli, a moderate Peronist from left-wing President Cristina Fernandez’s Frontfor Victory Party, is set to garner 42 per-cent of votes, according to a poll by con-sultancy Ipsos-Mora y Araujo that waspublished in daily Perfil.

His closest rival, Mauricio Macri, thecenter-right mayor of Buenos Aires city, isseen getting 28 percent of the vote in theOct 25 election, according to the poll.

Similarly, Scioli is seen obtainingaround 41 percent and Macri a little over28 percent, in a Ceop poll released innewspaper Pagina 12. (RTRS)

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Colombia, rebels reach deal: TheColombian government and leftist FARCrebels have agreed to two measures theysay will help find tens of thousands ofpeople who have disappeared during 50years of war, as the two sides take thefinal steps toward a peace deal.

The agreement, reached late Saturday,addresses a key issue at the negotiations,which reached a major breakthrough inSeptember when then two sides vowed tosign a deal by March.

Colombia’s attorney general estimates52,000 people have disappeared duringLatin America’s longest war, which haskilled some 220,000 people and displacedmillions. Victim groups say between 70,000and 100,000 people may have gone missing.

The two sides agreed to create a “spe-cialized unit to search for people who areconsidered disappeared”, according to ajoint statement. The unit, separate fromjudicial investigations, will provide fami-lies with official reports on informationobtained about their missing family mem-bers. (RTRS)

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Maduro calls for prosecution:Venezuela’s president on Sunday urged legalaction against billionaire businessmanLorenzo Mendoza over a phone call whichairs the possibility of an international bailoutfor the OPEC nation’s ailing economy.

The 50-year-old Mendoza runsVenezuela’s largest private company,Empresas Polar, and has often been castas a symbol of unscrupulous capitalism bysocialist President Nicolas Maduro andhis predecessor Hugo Chavez.

This week, state media broadcast aphone call between Mendoza and US-based Venezuelan economist RicardoHausmann in which the latter says a $40billion to $50 billion InternationalMonetary Fund package and “adjustment”plan is needed.

The Maduro government - whichblames an “economic war” by politicalfoes for Venezuela’s recession, productshortages, currency collapse and the high-est inflation in the world - has hailed theconversation as evidence Mendoza is con-spiring. (RTRS)

Pope Francis

Woman wins reprievefrom death by stoningCOLOMBO, Oct 19, (AFP): TheMaldives’ highest court has over-turned an unprecedented sentence ofdeath by stoning for a woman convict-ed of adultery, a crime in the Muslimisland nation, media said Monday.

The woman, identified by localmedia as a mother of five, was con-victed by a local judge on a remoteisland in the Maldives, a populartourist destination that has seen arise in Islamic extremism.

The Haveeru news site said thewoman had confessed to the crimeafter giving birth on the remote equa-torial islet of Gemanafushi, about 400kilometres south of the capital Male.

The Supreme Court annulled thecase on Sunday night, ruling that thejudge had failed to consider the legalas well as Islamic procedures of thenation of 340,000 Sunni Muslims, theMaldives Independent website said.