World
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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2016
Venezuela stuck in currency limbo C
ARACAS―Venezuelans lined up Thursday to deposit 100-unit banknotes before they turned worthless, but replacement bills had yet to arrive, increasing the cash chaos in the country with the world’s highest inflation.
Some frustrated customers received expiring 100-bolivar notes when they withdrew money at ATMs, then immediately had to line up again to re-deposit them. Venezuelans are stuck in currency limbo after President Nicolas Maduro ordered the 100-bolivar note -- the largest denomination, currently worth about three US cents -- removed from circulation in 72 hours. The government announced late Thursday that Venezuela’s borders with Colombia and Brazil -- closed to fight “mafias” allegedly hoarding the notes—will stay shut three more days. The Thursday deadline was supposed to coincide with the launch of a 500-bolivar bill, the first in a new series of banknotes that will eventually be issued in denominations of up to 20,000 bolivars. But with the new bills yet to arrive in the
capital Caracas by midday, Venezuelans were left facing economic chaos. “I don’t get the joke,” office worker Yarelis Carrero said. “When you withdraw cash at the ATMs, they give you 100-bolivar bills. And you can’t get the new ones inside the bank, either.” She woke up early to get rid of her expiring banknotes only to discover that the bills meant to replace them were nowhere to be found. From Friday, Venezuelans will be able to exchange 100-bolivar bills only at one of the central bank’s two headquarters buildings. Maduro, who has presided over an unraveling of Venezuela’s oil-rich economy, said the 100-bolivar note had to be killed because “mafias” were hoarding it abroad in what he called a US-backed plot to destabilize Venezuela.
In response, he sealed the borders with Colombia and Brazil, where he says much of the hoarding is happening. Now those frontiers will stay shut until Sunday. That led to pandemonium on the border, as foreigners rushed home and Venezuelans found themselves cut off from precious supplies of food, medicine and basic goods that are in desperately short supply in Venezuela. Central bank chief Nelson Merentes promised last week that “millions and millions” of new bank notes were on their way. The new bills -- which are being printed abroad -- were originally meant to circulate alongside the old ones during a transition period. But Maduro axed that plan when he issued his decree against the 100-bolivar note Sunday. AFP
Oscar winner vows to tell untold stories KARACHI―Pakistan’s double-Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy has hailed new legislation outlawing the crime of “honor killings” as a turning point in the long-battle on violence against women, as she sets her sights on conquering her country’s silver screen. The filmmaker cast a spotlight on the issue with her documentary ‘A Girl In The River: The Price of Forgiveness’ -- which bagged an Academy Award earlier this year. “It is very good in the case of honor killing we finally have a legislation that is stronger,” she says In October, Pakistan’s government passed legislation aimed at closing loopholes that allowed the perpetrators of such killings, often relatives of the victim, to walk free after they are pardoned by another member of their family. Now a pardon can only save a killer from the death penalty, but not from life imprisonment. Critics contend that loopholes in the new law remain. For instance, if a killer claims a motive other than ‘honor’ to justify their act, the blood money pardon law may still apply. There are around 1000 ‘honor’ killings per year in Pakistan, but Chinoy remains hopeful the tide is shifting, especially in the wake of wide-
spread revulsion over the murder of a social-media starlet by her brother. “It is not going to end tomorrow, but at least the process has started to send the men into jail who kill under the pretext of honor,” she tells AFP ahead of the premiere of her her new animated film “3 Bahadur” part two (Three brave warriors), which follows three children superheroes. If her pride is evident, it is unsurprising -- Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif originally announced the bill following a screening in the capital of Chinoy’s Oscar-winning film. Many observers believe the weight of international pressure was a catalyst in the government’s decision to move a bill that was initially tabled three years ago. Another turning point for Chinoy was the murder of social media starlet Qandeel Baloch -- who shot to fame for her provocative selfies and videos that were praised by fans for daring to challenge the country’s strict social norms on how women should conduct themselves. In July, Baloch was strangled by her brother who later said he had found her “intolerable” -- but the police took the rare step of making themselves “complainants” in the case so the family could not invoke the law of pardon even if they were pressured into doing so.AFP
Roberts to go on television
EVACUATION. A member of the Syrian government forces watches during an evacuation operation of Syrian rebel fighters and civilians from an opposition-held area of Aleppo towards rebel-held territory in the west of Aleppo’s province.
IN BRIEF No deal between Abe, Putin TOKYO―Russia and Japan on Friday signaled there was no resolution after a two-day summit to a decades-long territorial dispute that has blocked them from achieving a peace treaty to formally end World War II hostilities. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks in Abe’s ancestral hometown and in Tokyo in the latest attempt to secure a deal since Japan and the former Soviet Union began discussions in 1956. “It would be naive to think we can solve this problem in an hour,” Putin said at a joint press conference with Abe. “But it is undoubtedly necessary to look for a solution.” Abe concurred, but said the effort would continue. “Concluding a peace treaty that has not been concluded in more than 70 years is not easy,” he said. “I think we as the two leaders were able to show our sincere determination toward signing a peace treaty, although there lies a difficult path ahead.” The Soviet Union seized four islands off Japan’s northern coast in 1945 in the closing days of the war. The dispute over the islands, known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, has prevented the two sides from fully putting the conflict behind them. AFP
All eyes onTrump over Mars PARIS―The year 2016 has seen a rekindling of the human desire to conquer Mars, with public and private interests openly vying to take the first step on the Red Planet, possibly with a stopover on the Moon. Space-faring nations are mostly united in viewing Mars as the next frontier with many still pooling their money and expertise to make the dream a reality, despite souring relations between them. But the election of Donald Trump -- with inevitable impacts on science policy, budgets and diplomatic relations -- has cast doubts on the future of space exploration. Space bosses and investors are waiting on tenterhooks for the US president-elect to spell out his plans for NASA -- and to see whether the future will be one of cooperation or competition. On the campaign trail in the space industry state of Florida, Trump said in October he wanted to “free Nasa from the restriction of serving primarily as a logistics agency for low-orbit activity”. He did not go into details, but low-orbit programs include the International Space Station (ISS), the Hubble Space Telescope and Earth-observation satellites. Among them are NASA science orbiters for climate monitoring, a program Trump has also threatened to stifle. He told crowds in Sanford that NASA’s core mission will be space exploration, and promised: “America will lead the way into the stars”. AFP
LOS ANGELES―Hollywood actress Julia Roberts is the latest star planning to head to the small screen, reports said Thursday. Roberts will play the lead in a series based on the recently released novel “Today Will Be Different” by the US author Maria Semple, according to entertainment news site The Hollywood Reporter. The book centers on the artist Eleanor Flood who wakes up one morning only to embark on a day filled with unexpected twists. Semple will write the television adaptation of her novel, and is also slated to serve as one of the show’s executive producers. “I’m giddy that Eleanor Flood will be brought to life by Julia Roberts,” Semple told The Hollywood Reporter. “This will be a fun ride!” The 49-year-old Roberts -- who recently starred in the Jodie Foster-directed thriller “Money Monster” alongside George Clooney -- last worked in television while costarring in the 2014 HBO movie “The Normal Heart.” She also had previous guest appearances on shows including “Murphy Brown” and “Law and Order.” Roberts became an international star in 1990 for her lead role in the movie “Pretty Woman.” She is only the latest in a string of Hollywood stars to make the jump to television. Meryl Streep, for example, is reportedly looking to produce and act in a TV adaptation of the novel “The Nix,” and Julianne Moore and Robert de Niro are to star in an Amazon series. AFP
Mexico scrambles to save smallest porpoise MEXICO CITY―Mexican authorities and scientists are scrambling to save the world’s smallest porpoise, the vaquita marina, from extinction, capturing illegal “ghost” fishing nets while hoping to make specimens reproduce in captivity. The environment ministry said Thursday that the navy, conservation groups and fishermen removed 103 nets between October 10 and December 7 in the upper Gulf of California. The vaquita’s population has dropped under 60 despite the government’s deployment of navy ships in April 2015 to prevent illegal fishing with nets that accidentally ensnare the porpoise. Three drones joined the campaign in July,
armed with high-resolution cameras to spot illegal activities in the Gulf area also known as the Sea of Cortez. The vaquita has died in gillnets used to illegally catch a large fish known as the totoaba, which is also endangered. Fishermen capture the totoaba for its swim bladder, which is dried and sold to smugglers, who then ship them to China, where it can for tens of thousands of dollars on the black market and is eaten in soup. Of the 103 nets removed during 21 days, 24 were between 80 and 500 meters long and meant to catch totoaba, shark and other fish. A local fishing organization, the World Wild-
life Fund, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and the navy participated in the removal of ghost nets in an area covering 11,814 kilometers (7,340 miles). “The goal of this ambitious program, which the authorities plan to continue in an uninterrupted manner, is to eliminate abandoned fishing nets and prevent the vaquita marina from being accidentally trapped in them,” the environment ministry said. The porpoise’s population dropped from 200 in 2012 to fewer than 100 in 2014 and some 60 in late 2015, according to the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA), a global group of scientists. AFP
PROTEST. Demonstrators clash with police during a protest in front of the National Congress in Brasilia on December 13, 2016.
Brazil’s Senate approved Tuesday a 20-year freeze on government spending billed as the centerpiece of austerity reforms aimed at restoring economic health to the troubled Latin American giant. AFP