guyanatimesgy.com
thursDAY, september 4, 2014
15
Around the world
5 women named to Japan’s Al Qaeda announces India wing, renews loyalty to Taliban Chief Cabinet, tying past high
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l Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahri on Wednesday announced the formation of an Indian branch of his militant group he said would spread Islamic rule and “raise the flag of jihad” across the subcontinent. In a 55-minute video posted online, Zawahri also renewed a longstanding vow of loyalty to Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar, in an apparent snub to the Islamic State armed group challenging al Qaeda for leadership
of transnational Islamist militancy. Zawahri described the formation of “Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent” as a glad tidings for Muslims “in Burma, Bangladesh, Assam, Gujurat, Ahmedabad, and Kashmir” and said the new wing would rescue Muslims there from injustice and oppression. Counter-terrorism experts say al Qaeda’s aging leaders are struggling to compete for recruits with Islamic State, which has
galvanized young followers around the world by carving out tracts of territory across the Iraq-Syria border. Islamic State leader Abu Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi calls himself a “caliph” or head of state and has demanded the loyalty of all Muslims. The group fell out with Zawahri in 2013 over its expansion into Syria, where Baghdadi’s followers have carried out beheadings, crucifixions, and mass executions. (Excerpt from MSN)
France halts warship delivery to Russia Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, centre bottom, and his new Cabinet members, Trade Minister Yuko Obuchi, bottom left, Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi, right bottom, Minister in charge of Promoting Women Haruko Arimura, centre, Minister in charge of Japanese Abducted by North Korea Eriko Yamatani, middle right, Justice Minister Midori Matsushima, top right, pose for the photo session of new Cabinet members following the first Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s official residence in Tokyo Wednesday, September 3
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apan’s Prime Minister picked five women for his Cabinet on Wednesday, matching the past record and sending the strongest message yet about his determination to change deep-seated views on gender and revive the economy by getting women on board as workers and leaders. Japan has a vast pool of talented, well-educated women, but they are far under-represented in positions of power in Government and corporations. Women make up 10 per cent of Parliament and just 3.9 per cent of board members of listed Japanese companies, versus 12 per cent at US corporations and 18 per cent in France. Women here have long
complained about the obstacles to getting taken seriously at work, receiving equal pay for equal work and finding child care or helpful spouses. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated Wednesday that a key part of his “Abenomics” growth strategy is making greater use of women and promoting them to leadership posts – a campaign dubbed “womenomics,” a term he has embraced. Abe has set a goal of having women in 30 per cent of leadership positions in both the private and public sectors by 2020. “Realising a society where women can shine is a challenge our Cabinet has undertaken,” he said dur-
Second American Doctor diagnosed with Ebola identified as Rick Sacra
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he second American Doctor to contract Ebola while serving a humanitarian mission in Liberia has been identified as Rick Sacra, a 51-year-old family physician from Massachusetts. Sacra returned to Liberia about a month ago after two other American missionaries were diagnosed with Ebola, said Bruce Johnson, president of the international missionary group SIM USA, at a press conference in North Carolina on Wednesday. Sacra is being treated by doctors and staff at the hospital where, until just days ago, he helped deliver babies. Johnson said it is not yet clear how Sacra contracted the disease as he was not working in the hospital’s Ebola isolation unit. The doctor immediately quarantined himself in the hospital’s isolation ward after showing symptoms of Ebola, Johnson said. When asked if Sacra was going to be flown back to the US for treatment, as two other Americans were, Johnson said all options are under consideration but the focus is on his care in Liberia. Dr Bruce Ribner, head of infectious disease unit at Emory University hospital in Atlanta where the two infected missionaries were treated, told NBC’s Today show that he does not know if Sacra will be flown to the US for treatment. “I know there have been discussions that this person will be coming back to the United States,” he said. (Excerpt from The Guardian)
ing a news conference. “I look forward to the wind of change these women will bring.” Having five women in the Cabinet, which currently has 18 members, is extremely rare for Japan. It matches the highest number set back in 2001 under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Abe’s previous Cabinet, dissolved earlier in the day, had two female ministers. Although ministerial positions are in some ways ceremonial in Japan, where government affairs are largely run by professional bureaucrats, expanding the presence of women in a place as high profile as the Cabinet is a step toward sexual equality. (Excerpt from MSN)
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rance has suspended the delivery of the first of two Mistral-class warships to Russia “until November” after fierce criticism from its allies given the crisis in Ukraine. Paris agreed in 2011 to build and sell the two advanced helicopter assault ships to Russia for a total of 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion), with the first scheduled for delivery in October or November and the second in 2015. French leaders had refused to back down on a sale seen as crucial to a country suffering from stagnant growth and record unemployment, despite widespread condemnation due to Russia’s alleged involvement in the Ukraine crisis. Kiev accuses Russia of fomenting the rebellion in Ukraine’s east, a charge that Moscow denies. “The President of the
The Vladivostok was due to be delivered to Russia by late October (souce: bbc.com)
Republic declared that, despite the prospect of a ceasefire, the conditions for France to deliver the first warship are not to date in place,” Francois Hollande’s office announced on Wednesday, on the eve of a major NATO summit in Wales. The statement came
just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a plan to end the four-month war in the former Soviet republic, calling on pro-Kremlin rebels and government forces to cease fire and agree to the broad terms of a truce. (Excerpt from Al
Jazeera)
Ebola death toll passes Sex abuse church elder McConaghy 1900, says WHO ‘too fat for jail’
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The outbreak has brought cases to five countries in West Africa
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he World Health Organisation (WHO) says more than 1900 people have now died in West Africa’s Ebola outbreak. WHO head Margaret Chan said there were 3500 confirmed or probable cases in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. “The outbreaks are racing ahead of the control efforts in these countries,” she said. On Thursday the WHO is holding a meeting to examine the most promising treatments and to discuss how to fast track their testing and production. Disease control experts, medical researchers, officials from affected countries, and specialists in medical ethics will all be
represented at the meeting in Geneva. The WHO has previously warned that more than 20,000 people could be infected before the outbreak of the virus is brought under control. Ms Chan described the outbreak as “the largest and most severe and most complex we have ever seen”. “No one, even outbreak responders with experience dating back to 1976, to 1995, people that were directly involved with those outbreaks, none of them have ever seen anything like it,” she said. Forty per cent of the deaths have occurred in three weeks leading up to September 3, the WHO says. (Excerpt from BBC News)
66-year-old church elder convicted of indecently assaulting a child will not be sent to jail because his obesity means his health is “precarious”. John William McConaghy, from Urbal Road, Dervock, County Antrim, was found guilty of indecent assault. Judge David Smyth at Antrim Crown Court suspended a two-and-a-half year term. He said McConaghy’s lack of mobility, ulcerated legs and need for frequent dressings amounted to “wholly exceptional circumstances”. The jail term was suspended for three years and a £10,000 fine was also imposed. During a 10day trial in October McConaghy’s victim, who is now 44, said she was indecently assaulted from the age of around 10 until she was 18. She said that she was assaulted so often it became “the norm”. She said McConaghey’s abuse “petered out” as she reached adulthood and struck back at him, scratching his face as she fought him off. Speaking after the sentencing the woman said was “not happy” he was freed, but nevertheless understood the reason why. “I am happy with the sentence he got, I think that was a fair sentence, but I am not happy with the suspension of it, but I understand the reason for it on medical grounds.” She added that she was glad she had pursued the case against him, “because everybody now knows, church elder or not, what he is”. (Excerpt
from BBC News)