Following a row of clashes between student groups at Punjab University (PU), members of the Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT) held a sit-in outside the Vice Chancellor Dr. Zakaria Zakar’s office on Monday morning, demanding action against the rival group for sabotaging their annual festival.
‘The notion that politics can be a healthy activity serving the public interest has been almost completely displaced; for the most part, students are brought up to think that politics is something to avoid that they should focus on their studies and career, and refrain from getting involved in activities monopolised by unruly elements seeking to manipulate ordinary students for their own ends,’ writes Aasim Sajjad Akhtar for Dawn.
‘A marathon deadly siege on a major hotel in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, has ended with the killing of all gunmen who fought off security forces for 16 hours. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the heavily-guarded Intercontinental Hotel in the Bagh-e Bala which left at least 18 civilians dead and 22 wounded.
The attack comes as bad omen for Ashraf Ghani whose administration is widely criticised for not being able to provide security to the war-torn country. This is why, many times to divert public attention, fingers are pointed towards Pakistan.
‘What we learn most clearly from this attack is that despite the clarity of the US warning and the fact there are only a handful of major hotels in Kabul that could have been the target, the attack could not be prevented. The freedom of movement around the capital enjoyed by this insurgency is such that the “ring of steel” that once kept NATO officials and Afghan families safe has all but melted away,’ writes Nick Paton Walsh for CNN.
China and South Korea criticized the Trump administration on Tuesday after it announced steep tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines, following through on promises President Donald J. Trump made during his campaign to crack down on what he called unfair trade with certain countries.
The tariffs will undermine the fastest growing renewables. The current US administration is less worried about climate. Furthermore, the move can also soak the relations between US and its Pacific allies.
‘The tariff of 30% on foreign solar panels is a blow for China, the world’s biggest supplier of the products. Beijing has been widely accused of heavily subsidizing its domestic solar industry and flooding global markets with cheap panels,’ writes Jethro Mullen for CNN.
Ahead of Turkey’s bombing against the Kurdish forces, it has warned the coalition forces to stay out of the matter. ‘They warned us before they launched the aircraft that they were going to do it,’ Mattis told reporters. Turkey on Saturday began bombing the Kurdish-controlled city of Afrin along the Turkish border in northern Syria, in an attempt to drive the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, from the area.
The presence of US forces in Syria are not to prevent the resurgence of terrorist organizations but to worry the growing influence of other great powers. Turkey’s domestic politics and the challenges the country faces after the coup are the key factors that provoked an element of mistrust towards the west, particularly US. Erdagon at every cost, will resist the US effort for the formation of new Kurdish border force that can invite insurgency in Turkey.
Stripped naked, a man writhes in pain on the floor as heated plastic is dripped on his back. Other men are beaten while their kidnappers discuss ransom money. These are the scenes depicted in graphic videos that purportedly depict African refugees being abused in Libya.
Libya is taking in hundreds, and Libyan experts believe Europe is responsible for not doing enough in dealing with the massive wave of refugees. Illegal detentions are unlikely to stop, as Libya provides a jump off to Europe through Mediterranean Sea. Besides, Libyan forces have no vital interest to dedicate necessary resources to save Africans from criminals.
The distress over refugees landing in Europe has overshadowed the efforts of African countries also grappling with refugee emergencies. While European nations seek to limit the ‘economic’ refugees as opposed to asylum seekers, Ethiopia, for example, is taking in thousands of refugees from neighbouring countries.
Turkey has been in talks with the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall about the enhancements. But without an export license granted by the German Government, Rheinmetall isn’t permitted to move ahead with the contract. And thus far, Berlin has refused to approve the sizeable deal. That, after all, would contradict the more stringent approach to Turkey that Gabriel announced on July 20 last year. ‘The more sizeable requests that Turkey has made have been put on hold,’ the Foreign Minister repeated in September.
The German Government insists that it has consistently told Turkey that it would not be party to any ‘dirty deals’. In theory. But in practice, the Germans know well that Yücel’s release would come at a price. It may not be a direct tit-for-tat, such as handing over a briefcase full of money in exchange for the prisoner. But ‘ultimately, both sides will have to pave the way to an agreement,’ says one diplomat. ‘Otherwise, the train will be delayed’. Writes Matthias Gebauer and Christoph Schult for Spiegel Online.
As a part of Operation Deep Freeze, the US Navy maintained a small nuclear power plant at the McMurdo Station, Antarctica, from 1962 to 1979. McMurdo Station and the site of the former power plant is approximately 3km from Scott Base. It is possible that those stationed at either McMurdo or Scott Base may have been impacted by power plant operations.
The Operation Deep Freeze caused many environmental and health issues. ‘The problems with drinking water and environmental contamination, there were several recorded instances of crew radiation exposure, some resulting in injury. During the plant operation, 223 reports of abnormal levels of radiation were recorded. Of these cases, 14 resulted in injury and 123 resulted in exposure in the amount of 0.350 rem over a period of 7 days. This is a substantial amount of radiation when it is estimated that, one average, a typical yearly dose from background sources is 0.240 rem. The remaining 86 instances were abnormal radiation levels detected within the plant and its immediate surroundings. The conclusion was that a support member would have received a maximum dose of 0.2 to 0.6 rem to the thyroid or 0.2 to 0.5 rem to the red bone marrow per austral summer tour. The upper bound here is equivalent to a typical radiation dosage received by a person living in the US from typical background radiation and medical procedures. It is, however, recognized that there were personnel who may have been exposed to radiation outside the confines of factors and data considered in those figures that may be eligible for compensation. In addition, the estimated dose above does not include members who were part of the decommissioning procedures who may have inhaled or ingested contaminated particles’. Writes Tyler Reid for Stanford University.
‘He planned to push his “America First” agenda, which has jangled nerves among leaders fearful it will harm free trade. Measures unveiled this week to promote what his administration calls “free and fair” trade include high tariffs on foreign washing machines,’ writes Joe Murphy for Evening Standard UK.
‘In some ways, Trump’s decision to become the first American president to visit Davos since Bill Clinton did in 2000 was a predictable outcome for a man who, for decades, has sought acceptance by the rarefied world of the ultra-rich. Now, he arrives at the annual party more powerful than them, eager to take a victory lap around those who excluded him for years,’ writes Kevin Liptak and Jeff Zeleny for CNN.
‘While the President is expected to declare that the US is open for business, the protectionist-leaning President’s attendance at the annual gathering for free-trade-loving political and business elites has raised eyebrows. His decision to sign new tariffs boosting American manufacturers this week has prompted fresh concerns about his nationalist tendencies’. Writes Katherine Lucey for Real Clear Politics.