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Pakistan Hazara minority protests after bombing in Quetta
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PEOPLES DAILY, monday, April 15, 2019
Laleh Shahravesh back in UK after horse jibe row in Dubai A
Relatives mourned the dead outside hospital on Friday
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ozens of men, women and children from Pakistan’s minority Hazara community have held a protest in the city of Quetta demanding better security. The sit-in started hours after 24 people were killed and dozens injured in a bomb blast at a vegetable market in the southwestern city. Many victims were from the Hazara community, who are mainly Shia Muslims. The community has been frequently targeted by extremists from Pakistan’s Sunni Muslim majority. Both the Pakistani Taliban and the Sunni militant group Islamic State (IS) said they had carried out the attack. Quetta, a city in Baluchistan province that is home to more than half a million Shia Hazara, has witnessed the majority of IS attacks in Pakistan. A man disguised as a labourer detonated a bomb inside the Hazar Ganji, a fruit and vegetable market on the outskirts of Quetta, city police chief Abdul Razzaq Cheema was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. Baluchistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani condemned the attack, promising the “best possible” medical care for the injured, according to Pakistan news website Dawn. Those guilty were enemies of humanity, he said. Amnesty International’s Deputy South Asia Director, Omar Waraich, condemned the attack, saying: “This horrific loss of life is a painful reminder of the threats that Quetta’s Hazara community continues to face. “Targeted for their religion by sectarian armed groups, they have suffered many such tragedies over several years. Each time, there are promises that more will be done to protect them, and each time those promises have failed to materialise.” Who are the Hazara? • Of Mongolian and Central Asian descent • Legend has it they are descendants of Genghis Khan and his soldiers, who invaded Afghanistan in the 13th Century • Mainly practise Shia Islam, in predominantly Sunni Afghanistan and Pakistan • At least 600,000 live in Quetta, mostly migrants from Afghanistan • Quetta is also on a key Shia pilgrimage route to Iran Source: BBC
British woman who faced prison in Dubai over a jibe she posted on Facebook has embraced her daughter after landing back in the UK. Laleh Shahravesh, 55, had faced up to two years in jail after calling her ex-husband’s new wife a “horse”. Her case was settled with a AED3,000 (£625) fine on Thursday, the campaign group which represented her said. Ms Shahravesh told reporters at Heathrow airport: “I’m really, really happy to be reunited.” Her daughter Paris, 14, had pleaded with United Arab Emirates authorities to release her mother, earlier this week. The mother-of-one, from Richmond in south-west London, also thanked Radha Stirling, the chief executive of campaigners Detained in Dubai, who she said had “worked tirelessly to get me home to my daughter”. Ms Stirling said the incident was a “grave warning” to social media users over visiting Dubai, with the “vast majority” of similar cases going unheard. She told BBC News: “I think without the spotlight from the international press and the raising of awareness to the UAE authorities this would have gone on for at least six months.” Ms Shahravesh was arrested in Dubai, part of the UAE, on 10 March. She had travelled there for her Portuguese ex-husband’s funeral following his death from a heart
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he federal government has once again pledged its committed to significantly reduce and eventually eliminate the estimated 13million Nigerian children that are of school age who for various reasons are out of school. The minister of state for Education, Prof Anthony Anwukah who made this pledge during the Children Quiz Completion organised by Queen Irene Onwuka Peace Foundation, weekend, stated that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari was concerned about the children on the street because education is a human
By Maryam Abeeb, Abuja Laleh Shahravesh was arrested in Dubai when she arrived with her teenage daughter Paris for her ex-husband’s funeral attack at the age of 51. She had been married to Pedro Correia Dos Santos for 18 years. ‘You idiot’ The couple lived together in Dubai for eight months - where Mr Correia Dos Santos worked for HSBC - before Ms Shahravesh returned alone to the UK with the couple’s daughter. In 2016, she received divorce papers and discovered on Facebook that he was remarrying. Writing in Farsi on Facebook, Ms Shahravesh said: “I hope you go under the ground you idiot. Damn you. You left me for this horse.”
In another post, she wrote: “You married a horse you idiot.” Detained in Dubai said Ms Shahravesh’s ex-husband’s new wife, who lives in Dubai, had reported the comments. Under the UAE’s cyber-crime laws, a person can be jailed or fined for making defamatory statements on social media. Detained in Dubai has called on the Foreign Office to provide more explicit guidance about the risks of travelling to the UAE. Ms Stirling compared the UAE’s cyber laws to “a loaded gun pointed at the head of anyone using the internet”.
“Anyone who you might have had an argument with in the past - and maybe you don’t even know them, maybe you had a Twitter war with them - they can actually go through your social media and report you to the telecom regulation authority who could then take a police a case against you. It’s extremely risky. “The fact is almost everyone who visits Dubai is going to be in breach of those cyber laws and that means they could be subject to arrest. “That’s absolutely ridiculous for a country that wants to attract tourism.”
Korean officials had wanted economic sanctions lifted in their entirety in exchange for disabling a major nuclear site, provoking him to walk away. However, the North Koreans disputed the US account. In his most recent comments, Mr Kim said in a speech that the summit had created a “strong doubt” in him over whether the US genuinely wanted to improve relations. But he went on to say: “We are willing to give another try if the US offers to have a third summit with the right attitude and mutually acceptable terms.” He said the US “mistakenly
believe that if they pressure us to the maximum, they can subdue us” and called on them to cease “hostile” negotiating tactics. He did, however, add that his personal ties with Mr Trump remained “excellent”. The North Korean leader said he would give the US until the end of the year to make a “courageous decision” over any new summit plans. The US president responded by heaping praise on Mr Kim in tweets noting the potential for “extraordinary growth” under his leadership. Last month, Vice Foreign
Minister Choe Sun-hui accused the US of taking a “gangster-like” stance and said it had thrown away a “golden opportunity” in Hanoi. Kim Dong-yup, of Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies in South Korea, told Reuters Mr Kim’s remarks signalled he would not cling to talks with the US forever and could instead look “to diversify its diplomatic relations with other countries”. The comments come just one day after Mr Trump, at the start of talks in Washington with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, floated the possibility of further meetings with Mr Kim.
Beresheet spacecraft: ‘Technical glitch’ led to Moon crash
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Pictures of the moon taken by Beresheet as it made its descent
By Maryam Abeeb, Abuja
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FG pledges commitment on reduction of Out-of-school children right and every child has a right to education. Anwukah who was represented by his Special Assistant, Frank Ijeoma, commended the organiser of the Competition, the Founder of the Foundation, Onwuka adding that the competition will not only engage the children in healthy academic competition but also help foster social interaction among the
students. “I am confident that many enduring friendship will be generated from the singular meeting. We now live in an era of competitiveness in all spheres of human life. It is therefore very much in order that our children are exposed to competition and healthy one at that, quite early in their lives,” he said.
While congratulating the schools and students who had participated in the competition, the minister also commended the teachers who he said are often neglected when they deserve praise for being good mentors and teachers to the children. Speaking earlier in her address, Onwuka revealed that over 60 schools in FCT have participated in
the quiz adding that it was narrowed to 18 schools who participated in the grand finale. Onwuka who expressed optimism that the programme will be extended to other states in the due course revealed that the over all winner will be going home with N1m, First runner up, N500,000 while second runner up will go home with N300, 000.
WAEC frowns at candidates failure of Lit-in-English
North Korea willing to take part in talks if US has ‘right attitude’
orth Korean leader Kim Jongun has said he would take part in a third summit with Donald Trump - but only if the US brought the “right attitude”. North Korean state media reported the comments by Mr Kim on Saturday. He urged Mr Trump to pursue a deal that was “mutually acceptable.” In response the president tweeted praise of Mr Kim and welcomed the idea of a new summit. The two leaders first met in Singapore last year. However, a second summit in Hanoi in February broke down. Mr Trump said then North
education
PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, April 15, 2019
reliminary data from the Beresheet spacecraft suggests a technical glitch in one of its components caused the lander to crash on the Moon. The malfunction triggered a chain of events that eventually caused its main engine to switch off. Despite a restart, this meant that the spacecraft was unable to slow down during the final stages of its descent. The Israeli spacecraft was the first privately funded probe to attempt a soft landing on the Moon. The engineering team at SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) said that the first technical issue occurred 14km above the lunar surface.
This would have been moments after it sent a selfie of its descent. The final telemetry reading from the spacecraft revealed that 150m above the lunar surface, the spacecraft was moving at about 500km/h (300mph). At this speed a crash landing was inevitable. The Beresheet scientists have not specified the faulty component, but during the descent the spacecraft’s inertial measurement unit reset - this assesses the orientation and velocity of the probe. This early investigation does suggest that the main engine, which had been built in Britain, was not the primary source of the failure.
Robert Westcott, a senior propulsion engineer at Nammo Westcott, said: ‘It appears that a glitch, perhaps with a sensor, may have caused the on-board computer to erroneously shut down the main engine. “By the time they had reset the system and the engine successfully restarted it was too late to slow the lander down for the soft landing. “It looks like our engine performed nominally though.” The team said more tests would be carried out next week to gain a better understanding of the events. Nasa’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) may also be able to take an image of the crash site.
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he West African Examination Council (WAEC) has frowned at the continuous poor performance of candidates in Literature-in-English subject, calling on stakeholders to urgently address the situation. Thia was said by the National Examinations Committee (NEC) of (WAEC) which is the highest decision-making organ of WAEC on examination-related matters in Nigeria. The committee appealed to parents to provide recommended textbooks for the subject to enable pupils prepare for the examination adequately. The council, in a statement by the Head, Public Affairs Department, Demianus Ojijeogu, at the end of its 67th NEC meeting also stressed the need for various ministries of education to adopt the WAEC’s Chief Examiners Reports as a handbook for both teachers and students in order to improve teaching and learning in schools. The committee also took unanimous decision on all reported
cases as it affects the conduct of West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). The statement read in part, “The committee decried the decline in the performance of candidates in Literature-in-English with less than 25 per cent pass rate at Grades A1 to C6 and called on relevant stakeholders to arrest the ugly trend. “To this end, the committee
appealed to parents to provide the recommended texts for their children and ensure that they study them for the examination. “In the course of considering the various reported cases of malpractice, the committee, after diligent deliberations, approved appropriate sanctions in all established cases of malpractice, as prescribed by the rules and regulations governing the
conduct of the council’s examinations. “It approved that the entire results of candidates involved in proven cases, which attract Cancellation of Entire Results (CER) be cancelled, while subject results of those involved in proven cases which attract Cancellation of Subject Results (CSR), be similarly cancelled. “In addition, some candidates will also suffer other sanctions such
Section of school children, during the 2019 Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with queen Irene onwuka Peace foundation National quiz competition for secondary school students, recently in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-owo
VC UniAbuja tasks students on creativity By Maryam Abeeb, Abuja
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rof. Michael Adikwu, ViceChancellor, University of Abuja, has urged newly matriculated students of the institution to learn to be creative. Adikwu, said this during the 2018/2019 matriculation ceremony held in Abuja.
as barring them from sitting for the Council’s examinations for a certain number of years.”However, the results of candidates who were exonerated by the Committee will be released. They also noted that the WASSCE for private candidates, first series is gaining acceptance as more candidates registered for the 2019 diet than the maiden edition in 2018.
According to him, creativity would help the students to explore areas with potentials in their field of study. The VC who was represented by Prof. Ekundayo Stephen, Provost College of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, said creativity would also help to create jobs for others. He congratulated the students
and also advised them against practices like drug misuse, drug abuse, cultism, examination malpractice, truancy and extremism in religious or partisan politics. According to him, there are good religious and social groups registered with the Students Affairs Division which you can
always join. “There are rules and regulations in the university, which you must abide by and are contained in the students’ handbook. “You can see that the chair of this ceremony is your Dean. Don’t be afraid to approach them when in difficulty,” he added. Adikwu further said that the
university management was doing its best to overcome some of its problems like shortage of hostel accommodation, He appealed for cooperation, understanding and perseverance from the students, especially with the institution undergoing the process of rebuilding and repositioning.
NOUN unveils Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for African Studies By Maryam Abeeb, Abuja
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he National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) has unveiled its newly redesigned Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for African Studies (OOCAS). Mr Ibrahim Sheme, Director, Media and Publicity, NOUN, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja. Sheme said during the unveiling,
the Vice-Chancellor, NOUN, Prof. Abdalla Adamu, said the institution would continue to make efforts at ensuring that it remained among the topmost educational institutions engaged in cutting-edge research. The statement quoted Adamu as saying that the centre, formerly known as the Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for Good Governance, was redesigned to widen its scope to meet with happenings in the contemporary
society. It said Adamu also added that the centre was redesigned to create more avenues for more research on Africa as a whole. Adamu said the centre was open to collaboration with local and international scholars willing to dissect Africa, towards the goal of producing cutting-edge research that would showcase the African story. Prof. Stanley Ngoa, Director,
OOCAS, revealed that the centre had already swung into action, with various collaborations with research bodies within and outside the country. Ngoa said the key areas of focus for the OOCAS included African Leadership and Development, Food Security and Agricultural Research, Health in Rural Nigeria; Infant and Maternal Mortality, among others. He said those involved in the centre included former President
Olusegun Obasanjo, whom the centre was named after; veteran journalist, Mr. Ray Ekpu and a former Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman. Others are Professor Baz Dreisinger, the founder of the Prison to College Pipeline in the United States, Prof. Toyin Falola, a reputable authority on African Studies, as well as other reputable scholars in different fields of endeavour.