PEOPLES DAILY, thursday September 12, 2019
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world news
N international_peoplesdailyng@yahoo.com
China, Nigeria cooperation will deepen with every generation -Qzn
By Ochiaka Ugwu
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he flourishing China, Nigeria friendship will deepen with every generation, Counselor of the Policy Planning Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of People’s Republic of China, Mr. Qzn Hong has said. Qzn made this known in Abuja Tuesday while speaking on a seminar with the theme, “The Development and Achievements of China in 70 years and opportunities for Nigeria-China Cooperation in the New Era” organized by Centre for China Studies (CCS) in commemoration of China’s 70 years of independence. His words’ “The China, Nigeria friendship will continue to develop and deepen with every generation. My experience is relevant to this meeting and its topic. I have been engaged in economic work for a long time and worked as county magistrate and economic assistant to a governor before working in ethnic minority region twice in XinJinag. “I have participated in top level design and grassroots practice of Belt & Road Initiative (BRI). If you like, I would like to share
some interesting experiences and ideas. It is my honour and dream to be here. “My father and my mother worked in Nigeria from 1993 to 1996. In friendship, cooperation they promoted the highest ChinaNigeria cooperation project which was the National Railway Reform. Unfortunately, I studied in Russia and it was difficult to find chance to come here and I am so excited to be here. “My parents built the road between China and Nigeria in the past. Today, I build bridge. I am from the Policy Planning Department of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. One of my department’s duties was to promote international cooperation and build bridge between exchanges” he said. Also speaking, former Senate Committee Chairman of Foreign Debt, Mr. Shehu Sani noted that China-Africa relations have been long saying the influence of China in the economic affairs of Africa is an open secret. Sani said that China greatly contributed in libration struggle in Africa by providing the framework for our independence. “There is presence of China in all
John Bolton’s firing won’t end the confusion over US foreign policy
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nyone hoping that John Bolton getting fired by the Trump administration would end the confusion over American foreign policy is likely to be disappointed. Bolton, the erstwhile national security adviser, was a rare constant in President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. He read the details. He opined. He threatened. He had some quite scary ideas, many of which were utterly contrary to that of his employer -- something you would have thought could have come up in the original job interview. But this is not Stephen Hadley replacing Condoleezza Rice during the George W. Bush era, which heralded a shift to consolidation of wars. Nor is it like the move from Tom Donilon to Susan Rice in the Barack Obama years, heralding a bid to reduce America’s global footprint. Bolton advised, in the end, over confusion. And he leaves befuddlement in his wake. (Incidentally, Bush and Obama had a total of 5 national security advisers over 16 years, while Trump is looking for his fourth). It was not hard to know where
Bolton stood on Iran. He stood menacingly with a big stick. Yet Trump blanched at airstrikes in retaliation for an unmanned drone’s destruction, and seemed to be moving towards negotiation. Still, there is no public let up in the US’ maximum-pressure campaign that has led to it accusing Iran of possible Iranian covert nuclear development and bids to pay off tanker captains. Tehran has been able to sit back and let what was the White House’s strategy combust. Given Trump’s ability to swing wildly between topics, Iran surely must still fear a sudden flare-up. French bids to compensate Iran for sticking to parts of the nuclear deal have stalled. And if Trump seeks an ultimate deal -- perhaps through a personal meeting -- the consequences of that will surely elude him before November next year. He tried a similar cold-thenhot embrace with North Korea, threatening fire and fury before suddenly rewarding Kim Jong Un with a face-to-face meeting just inside North Korea itself. Yet the strategy, as it was, has stalled.
John Bolton at the White House last year.
From L-R: Mr. Qzn Hong (Standing), Former Nigeria Minister of Women Affaris, Zainab Maina, Senator Shehu Sani, Ambassador Sarki Muktar and Representative of Nigerian Foreign Ministry and Head of China Desk, Mr. Abdulhamid Adamu during the event.
aspect of our life, in our homes and in even in our environment”. The former Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Zainab Maina said China has contributed greatly in educating our people and played great role in women development and empowerment with the famous Beijing Declaration. She said the struggle for gender equality and women liberation started in China. Maina however, appealed to Chinese authority to do more in empowering women in Nigeria. The Director, Center for China Studies (CCS), Mr. Charles Onunaiju noted that China has contributed immensely in lifting many people out of poverty and has turned confrontation to cooperation that is beneficial to Africa.
Water discovered for first time on planet that may be habitable
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n a tantalising first, scientists have discovered water at a planet outside our solar system that has temperatures suitable for life. London researchers announced today they’ve found water vapour in the atmosphere of a planet 110 lightyears away. This so-called Super
Earth is the right distance from its star to conceivably harbour life. The University College London scientists say it’s the only exoplanet known so far to have both water and temperatures needed for life, making it a prime candidate for potential life. But they caution it’s not another
Earth. It’s twice the size of Earth with eight times the mass, and its star is unlike our sun. No one knows if water’s flowing on the surface. Lead author Angelos Tsiaras says it could help determine, “Is the Earth unique?”
Water found for first time on potentially habitable planet if we are alone in the Universe,” Dr Waldmann said. “Within the next 10 years, we will know whether there are chemicals that are due to life in those atmospheres.” Many giant planets have been found orbiting very close to ESA’s Ariel mission in 2028 could help their stars confirm the presence of life on other worlds The team behind the discovery looked stronomers have for the first time discovered water in the through the planets discovered by the atmosphere of a planet orbiting Hubble Space Telescope between 2016 within the habitable zone of a distant and 2017. The researchers determined some of the chemicals in their star. The finding makes the world - which atmosphere by studying the changes is called K2-18b - a plausible candidate to the starlight as the planets orbited their suns. The light filtered through the in the search for alien life. Within 10 years, new space planets’ atmospheres was subtly altered telescopes might be able to determine by the composition of the atmosphere. Only K2-18b revealed the molecular whether K2-18b’s atmosphere contains gases that could be produced by living signature of water, which is a vital ingredient for life on Earth. Computer organisms. Details were published in the modelling of the data suggested that up to 50% of its atmosphere could be water. scientific journal Nature Astronomy. The new planet is just over twice the The lead scientist, Prof Giovanna size of Earth and has a temperature cool Tinetti of University College London (UCL) described the discovery as “mind enough to have liquid water, between zero and 40C. blowing”. Dr Angelos Tsiaras, a member of the “This is the first time that we UCL team, said that finding water in the have detected water on a planet in the habitable zone around a star where the atmosphere of a potentially habitable temperature is potentially compatible exoplanet was “incredibly exciting”. He said: “It brings us closer to with the presence of life,” she said. answering the fundamental question: Is The habitable zone is the region around a star where temperatures are the Earth unique?” Long haul sufficiently benign for water to exist in One difficulty with this approach, liquid form on the surface of a planet. though, is that astronomers can’t agree on K2-18b is 111 light-years - about 650 million million miles - from Earth, too which gases would constitute evidence of far to send a probe. So the only option is life. That might be more of a longer haul. It is likely to require a survey of to wait for the next generation of space the chemical composition of, perhaps, telescopes to be launched in the 2020s and to look for gasses in the planet’s hundreds of worlds and an understanding atmosphere that could only be produced of how they are created and evolve, by living organisms, according to UCL’s according to Prof Tinetti. “The Earth really stands out in our Dr Ingo Waldmann. “This is one of the biggest questions own Solar System. It has oxygen, water in science and we have always wondered and ozone. But if we find all that around
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PEOPLES DAILY, thursday September 12, 2019
a planet around a distant star we have to be cautious about saying that it supports life,” she said. “This is why we need to understand not just a handful of planets in the galaxy but hundreds of them. And what we hope is that the habitable planets will stand out, that we will see a big difference between the planets that are habitable and the ones that are not.” ESA’s Ariel mission in 2028 could help confirm the presence of life on other worlds Dr Beth Biller at Edinburgh University’s Institute of Astronomy said she believed that evidence of life on a planet around a distant star would eventually be discovered. “That would be a paradigm shift for all of humanity,” she told BBC News. “It’s not going to be ET phoning home, necessarily - more likely microbes or some other simple life. Even so (when it happens) it’s going to be huge”. The prospective launch of Nasa’s much delayed James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in 2021, and the European Space Agency’s Ariel mission seven years later, will enable astronomers to study in detail the atmospheres of the varied worlds that have been detected so far. Water has been detected on other planets but they have been either too big or too hot to support life. Cooler smaller planets are much harder to detect. The team at UCL was able to do this by developing algorithms capable of teasing out the chemical composition of the atmospheres of potentially habitable worlds K2-18b was discovered in 2015 and is one of hundreds of super-Earths - planets with a mass between Earth and Neptune - found by Nasa’s Kepler spacecraft. Nasa’s Tess mission is expected to detect hundreds more in coming years. The research was funded by the European Research Council and the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, which is part of the UK Research and Innovation agency (UKRI). Follow Pallab on Twitter
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Ethiopian satirical TV show ‘cancelled over political content’
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reators of a popular political satire in Ethiopia have said the television show is ending its three-year run on stateaffiliated Fana TV after attempts were made to put pressure on them to change the content. The 30-minute show, called Min Litazez, often took on current political events and poked fun at senior figures. Behailu Wassie, the show’s cocreator, told the BBC that recently many advertisers had not wanted to be associated with it because of the political issues it raised. According to a local news outlet, Wazema, one sponsor was arrested and detained for more than 15 days. Fana TV denied allegations of intimidation. It said the show was
on a break. Min Litazez, which means “How May I help You?”, is set in a small coffee shop. It takes a comical look at the everyday interactions of the shop’s employees and customers. Its obvious references to the news of the day made it popular among viewers. The fact that Min Litazez was aired on Fana V, a station often linked with the governing coalition, was seen by many as a demonstration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s tolerance to criticism. In a previous interview with the BBC, Fana said Min Litazez brought in big advertising revenues.
Six African nations sign up to post-Brexit UK trade deal
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he UK has signed an economic partnership agreement with the Southern African Customs Union, and Mozambique, which the British government says will allow business to keep trading freely after the UK leaves the European Union, which is currently due to happen on 31 October. It allows businesses to continue to trade on preferential terms with South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Eswatini and Mozambique. South Africa’s Trade Minister Ebrahim Patel said the deal would give the southern African
states a soft landing in case of a no-deal Brexit. The UK trades with the region on the basis of deals made with the EU. UK Trade Minister Liz Truss said: “This is a major milestone as the UK prepares to become an independent trading nation once again, and we are helping businesses get ready to trade with the most exciting markets around the world.” The UK is one of South Africa’s largest trading partners, with bilateral trade valued at about $9.5bn (£7.7bn) in 2018.
South Sudan rivals agree on unity government
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outh Sudan President Salva Kiir and former rebel leader Riek Machar have agreed to form a transitional government. The information minister said the new administration would be in place by midNovember. The two leaders have been holding their first face-to-face
talks in months in South Sudan’s capital, Juba. They signed a peace agreement last year to end a civil war in which thousands died. The government says it lacks the funds for a key part of the deal involving the integration of former rebels into the national army.
Zambians urged to cut down on maize meal staple food
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ambia’s Vice-President Inonge Wina has advised Zambians to switch to what she says are more nutritious foods as opposed to relying on the staple food maize meal - known here as nshima. Nshima is served with almost every meal in Zambia. Severe hunger has been reported in certain parts of the country following last year’s poor rainfall. There have been calls to declare the situation a national disaster, a move the government opposes. But the vice-president has said foods such as millet, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and cassava have
numerous health benefits, reports the state-owned Zambia Daily Mail. “The gradual shift from predominantly maize-based meals is good for the nation as more nutritious foods will have space at our tables,” Ms Wina said in a statement issued on Tuesday by her office. “The switch to more nutritious foods is one of the low-cost and effective ways of addressing stunting and malnutrition in the country. “It will also act as an assurance of food security at domestic and community levels,” Ms Wina said.
Mugabe’s body arrived from Singapore where he died on Friday aged 95, after nearly four decades in power
Mugabe’s body arrives home to divided Zimbabwe, burial dispute
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he body of Zimbabwe’s expresident, Robert Mugabe, arrived home on Wednesday to an honour guard in a country divided over the legacy of a former liberation hero whose 37-year rule was marked by repression and economic ruin. Mugabe, a guerrilla leader who rose to power after Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain and governed until he was ousted by the military in 2017, died on Friday in Singapore, aged 95. His health deteriorated after he was toppled by former loyalists in November 2017, ending an increasingly iron-fisted rule that left the country mired in financial crisis. Always divisive, Mugabe’s final resting place is still in dispute, with his family and President Emmerson Mnangagwa apparently split over where the former leader’s body will be buried on Sunday. Around two thousand supporters, family members and government officials were on the tarmac at Harare airport to welcome Mugabe’s remains as they arrived from Singapore. Soldiers stood guard along a red carpet as military officers walked solemnly alongside the coffin drapped in the green, gold, black and red national flag. Mugabe’s wife, Grace, wearing a black veil, sat with Mnangagwa as a military band played a gospel song. “The light which led to independence is no more, but his works, his ideology will continue to guide this nation,” Mnangagwa said. Mugabe died on a medical trip to Singapore, where he had been travelling regularly for treatment. A delegation including a vice president headed flew to Singapore to bring him home. Around two thousand
supporters, family members and government officials were on the tarmac at Harare airport to welcome Mugabe’s remains The body was later taken to Mugabe’s Harare villa, known as the Blue Roof for its blue pagodastyle structure, where family and supporters gathered to mourn. “He was the father to all of us, so I came to pay my last respects,” said Francis Matongwa, 16, who came with his mother. Mugabe’s body will be laid out for the public in Rufaro stadium on Thursday, before heading to his homestead Zvimba for a wake. Chinese President Xi Jinping, former Cuban leader Raul Castro and a dozen African presidents, including South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, are among those expected to attend Mugabe’s state funeral on Saturday in Harare, Zimbabwe’s presidency said. - Burial dispute Even after his body arrived home, though, Mugabe’s final burial place was still far from clear. His relatives and Mnangagwa’s government are apparently at odds over whether it would be at his family home in Zvimba, northwest of Harare, or at a shrine for liberation heroes in the capital. Protests erupted in 2017 after Mugabe was believed by many to be trying to position his wife Grace to succeed him Some family members are still bitter over his ouster, and the role his former ally Mnangagwa played. Mugabe fired Mnangagwa in 2017, in what many believed was an attempt to position his wife Grace to succeed him. Zimbabweans took to the streets in protest and the army finally forced Mugabe to resign. “If they really felt that Grace had overstepped the boundaries, they should have dealt with the issue
with respect,” his aunt Josephine Jaricha told AFP. “They stabbed him in the back. Robert is at peace now.” Relatives have said that in line with native Shona customs, traditional chiefs from Zvimba will have a final say on where the former leader will be buried. “If it has been decided by the chiefs, they have not told me,” the ex-president’s nephew Leo Mugabe told AFP. “The family and the chiefs will make the decisions.” - From hero to tyrant Zimbabweans have been divided over how to mourn a former leader once hailed as a liberation hero but who later brutally repressed his opponents At home, Zimbabweans have been divided over how to mourn a man once hailed for ridding the former British colony Rhodesia of white-minority rule but who later purged his foes in a campaign of massacres and executions known as the Gukurahundi. His increasingly tyrannical leadership and economic mismanagement prompted millions to flee a country crippled by hyper-inflation and shortages of food, drugs and fuel. Following his death, Mnangagwa announced Mugabe had been declared a “national hero”, flags flew at half mast across Harare and news of his passing was splashed across newspaper front pages. Yet Harare residents at the time appeared largely unconcerned, with shops remaining open and people going about their daily errands. On Thursday and Friday the body will lie in state at Rufaro Stadium in Mbare township in Harare for the public to pay their final respects. Officials plan to bus people in from the provinces to attend.