The Bangladesh Today (20-02-2018)

INTERNATIONAL
TUESdAy, FEBRUARy 20, 2018
7
The president of the Maldives asked Parliament on Monday to extend the state of emergency that has helped
him reinforce his power, as political turmoil continued to churn in the Indian Ocean nation. Photo : AP
Maldives president seeks extension
to state of emergency
MALE :The president of the Maldives
asked Parliament on Monday
to extend the state of emergency
that has helped him reinforce his
power, as political turmoil continued
to churn in the Indian Ocean
nation, reports UNB.
The 85-member Parliament was
expected to vote on the proposal later
Monday, one day before the current
state of emergency expires.
President Yameen Abdul Gayoom
declared the emergency after the
Supreme Court ordered the release
of a group of his imprisoned political
opponents, who had been convicted
in widely criticized trials. Yameen
asked Parliament to extend the state
of emergency by two weeks.
Under the emergency law, Yameen
had two Supreme Court judges
17 killed in garbage
dump collapse in
Mozambique
JOHANNESBURG :
Mozambican media say at
least 17 people died when
heavy rains triggered the
partial collapse of a huge
mound of garbage in
Mozambique's capital,
Maputo, reports UNB.
Radio Mocambique
reported Monday that rescue
workers believe more
bodies could be buried in
the debris at the Hulene
garbage dump.
It said five houses were
buried in the disaster and
that some families in the
area have fled their homes
for fear of another collapse.
2 Americans,
2 Ukrainians
arrested in Serbia
over drone
BELGRADE : Two U.S.
and two Ukrainian citizens
have been arrested in Serbia
for trying to photograph
the military security
headquarters in downtown
Belgrade with a
drone, reports UNB.
A Serbian state TV
report Monday did not
identify the four or give
details, saying only that
the two Ukrainians are
women and that they are
all in police custody.
Another American was
arrested in Serbia earlier
this month for possession
of an unmarked gun. Progovernment
media alleged
that he was a former Navy
SEAL and had planned the
assassination of unidentified
Serbian officials.
Serbian President Aleksandar
Vucic on Sunday
mentioned the arrest of a
"group" of foreigners, but
added that their case is
"nothing especially serious."
The arrest took place
amid a mounting anti-
Western media campaign
in Serbia and increasing
Russian influence.
arrested, accusing them of corruption.
Later, the remaining three
judges annulled the order to release
Yameen's opponents.
On Sunday, the judges also
delayed their earlier order to reinstate
12 pro-opposition lawmakers
who were expelled after siding with
the opposition. Yameen's party
would have lost a majority in Parliament
had they been allowed to sit.
Yameen's half brother and former
dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
was also arrested after the emergency
decree, accused of conspiring
with the opposition to overthrow the
government.
Maldives became a multiparty
democracy in 2008 after decades of
Gayoom's autocratic rule. But
Yameen has rolled back much of the
Israel hits militant site in Gaza
after renewed rocket fire
country's democratic gains and freedoms
after being elected to power in
2013.
The country's traditional political
alliances have been upended in
recent years. Gayoom, now an opposition
leader, is allied with exiled
former President Mohamed
Nasheed, who unseated him in the
2008 elections.
Nasheed, Yameen's most prominent
rival, is among the politicians
ordered freed by the Supreme Court.
Maldives is an archipelago of more
than 1,000 islands. More than onethird
of its 400,000 citizens live in
Male, the crowded capital city.
Tourism dominates the economy,
with wealthy foreigners flown
directly to hyper-expensive resort
islands.
Gorsuch deciding vote in key
labor union funding case
WASHINGTON : America's union leaders
are about to find out if they were right to
fiercely oppose Neil Gorsuch's nomination to
the Supreme Court as a pivotal, potentially
devastating vote against organized labor,
reports UNB.
The newest justice holds the deciding vote in
a case to be argued Feb. 26 that could affect
the financial viability of unions that are major
supporters of Democratic candidates and
causes. The unions represent more than 5 million
government workers in 24 states and the
District of Columbia who could be affected by
the outcome. The other eight justices split 4 to
4 when the issue was last at the court in 2016.
The court is being asked to jettison a 41-
year-old ruling that allows states to require
government employees who don't want to be
union members to pay for their share of
activities the union undertakes on behalf of
all workers, not just its members. These socalled
fair share fees cover the costs of collective
bargaining and grievance procedures to
deal with workplace complaints.
Employees who don't join the union do not
have to pay for the unions' political activities.
Conservative anti-union interests are backing
an Illinois government employee who says
that being forced to pay anything at all violates
his First Amendment speech rights.
"I'm not against unions," said the employee,
65-year-old Mark Janus, who is represented
by American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees Council
31. "I don't oppose the right of workers to
organize. But the right to say no to unions is
just as important as the right to say yes." He
said he opposes his union's fight for wage
and benefit increases when the state is "in
pretty terrible financial condition right now."
William Messenger, the National Right to
Work Legal Defense Foundation lawyer who
is representing Janus at the Supreme Court,
said everything the union does, including its
bargaining with the state, is political and
employees should not be forced to pay for it.
The issue might have been settled in Janus'
favor two years ago. In January 2016, the
court heard an identical complaint from California
teachers and appeared to be ready to
decide that states have no right to compel
workers to pay money to unions.
But less than a month later, Justice Antonin
Scalia died and the court soon after announced
its tie, in effect a win for the unions. The onesentence
opinion did not identify how each justice
voted, but the court appeared split between
its conservatives and liberals, the same breakdown
seen in two other recent cases about public
sector unions.
Those unions cheered President Barack
Obama's Supreme Court nomination of
Judge Merrick Garland to fill the court's
vacancy. But the Senate took no action on
Garland's nomination, President Donald
Trump won the election and the union opponents
rushed new cases to the court to challenge
the union fee arrangement.
Union sentiment about Gorsuch was
unvarnished when he was nominated and
confirmed. "In Neil Gorsuch, Trump has
nominated an extremist judge intent on
overturning basic, well-established
Supreme Court precedents," American
Federation of Teachers president Randi
Weingarten said.
JERUSALEM : The Israeli military on Monday
said it struck an underground militant
infrastructure site in Gaza in response to
rocket fire toward Israel, reports UNB.
The airstrikes came amid days of renewed
tensions and violence along the Gaza border.
The military has struck various targets in
Gaza in recent days and killed two Palestinians
who tried to infiltrate Israel after a militant
bomb on the border wounded four
Israeli soldiers.
Israel holds Gaza's militant Hamas rulers
responsible for all attacks emanating from
the territory, regardless of who carries them
out. There were no immediate reports of
casualties from the strike on the underground
site. The border area has been generally
quiet since a 50-day war between Israel
and Hamas in 2014. But it has seen an
increase in violence since President Donald
Trump's announcement in December recognizing
Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
European Commission spokeswoman
Maja Kocijancic said the escalating violence
was of "real concern."
In a statement, she called rocket fire at
Israel "unacceptable" and said the European
Union acknowledges Israel's "legitimate
security concerns." Nonetheless, she
expressed hope the situation does not further
escalate and called on all parties to "act
with restraint."
Israel successfully
tests advanced
missile defense
system
JERUSALEM : Israel says it
has successfully tested the
country's advanced missile
defense system capable of
defending against ballistic
missile threats outside the
atmosphere, reports UNB.
The Defense Ministry says
Monday's successful mission
test of the Arrow-3
interceptor is "a major milestone"
in Israel's ability to
defend itself "against current
and future threats in the
region." Two previous tests
of the system were recently
called off.
Arrow-3 is part of the multi-layered
system Israel is
developing to defend against
both short- and mid-range
rockets fired from the Gaza
Strip and Lebanon, as well
as Iran's long-range missiles.
It includes Iron Dome,
David's Sling, and the
Arrow-2 systems.
It was developed by Israel
Aerospace Industries and
U.S. aviation giant Boeing,
and became operational in
January 2017. Israel has
already deployed Arrow to
counter Syrian missiles.
Pope backs down, OKs
resignation of divisive
Nigerian bishop
VATICAN CITY : Pope Francis
has backed down and
accepted the resignation of
Nigerian bishop who had
been rejected for years by
the priests of his Ahiara diocese,
reports UNB.
The announcement Monday
came after Francis in
June issued a harsh ultimatum
to Ahiaran priests that
they would lose their jobs if
they didn't obey him and
accept Bishop Peter
Okpaleke as their bishop.
It wasn't clear how many
of them obeyed and pledged
in writing to accept
Okpaleke. But on Monday,
the Vatican announced that
Okpaleke was resigning and
that Francis had named
Monsignor Lucius Iwejuru
Ugorji as Ahiara's temporary
administrator.
3 troops killed in
anti-militant
operation in Sinai
CAIRO : Egypt's military
says three troops, including
an officer, were killed in
restive Sinai in fighting with
militants, reports UNB.
They are the first casualties
Egypt has announced
from an offensive Cairo
launched on Feb. 9.
Military spokesman
Tamer al-Rifai said Monday
that two other officers and a
conscript were wounded in
the fighting, part of the
sweep aiming to end a yearslong
insurgency by Islamic
militants.
He says four militants
were also killed.
The operation covers
north and central Sinai and
parts of Egypt's Nile Delta
and the Western Desert,
along the porous border
with Libya. It involves land,
sea and air forces, and the
army claims to have
destroyed hundreds of targets
and killed dozens of
fighters.
France argues World Court has
no jurisdiction in graft case
THE HAGUE : French lawyers on Monday
urged the International Court of Justice to
throw out a case brought by Equatorial
Guinea in 2016 seeking to prevent the prosecution
in France - which has since happened
- of the African nation's vice president on
money laundering and other charges linked
to his opulent lifestyle, reports UNB.
French representative Francois Alabrune
told the Hague-based world court, the highest
judicial U.N. organ, that Equatorial
Guinea's attempt to invoke international
conventions on diplomatic relations and
organized crime as a way of giving the court
jurisdiction were "wholly artificial."
The case in The Hague is going ahead
despite the fact that a French court convicted
Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue in October
and handed him a suspended three-year
prison term for embezzling millions in public
money, which he spent on fast cars, designer
clothes, art and high-end real estate. The
French court also handed him a suspended
fine of 30 million euros ($37 million) and
ordered that all goods seized during the
investigation should remain confiscated.
Obiang Mangue, who did not attend the
Paris trial, denied the charges and his lawyer,
Emmanuel Marsigny, accused France of
meddling in Equatorial Guinea's domestic
affairs. Obiang Mangue and French prosecutors
have appealed, Alabrune told judges in
The Hague.
Equatorial Guinea's case at the International
Court of Justice, filed in 2016, argues
that Obiang Mangue has immunity from
prosecution because of his position as vice
president.
At a preliminary stage of the case in The
Hague, the world court ruled that it appeared
to have jurisdiction based on the Vienna
Convention on diplomatic relations. France's
arguments on Monday sought to convince
judges that they do not. A decision will likely
take months.
Equatorial Guinea is rich in oil and gas, but
most of the country's population still lives in
poverty.
In this Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, Vice-
President of Equatorial Guinea, speaks during the 70th session of the United
Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters. A legal battle between
France and Equatorial Guinea over the corruption prosecution of the African
nation's vice president is back before the International Court of Justice,
months after a Paris court convicted the vice president. French lawyers on
Monday Feb. 19, 2018 told judges that the court, the United Nations' highest
judicial organ, has no jurisdiction to rule in a 2016 case filed by Equatorial
Guinea which argues that Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue has immunity
from prosecution.
Photo : AP
Police arrest 5 who killed orangutan
in Borneo with air gun
JAKARTA : Four Indonesian
farmers and a 13-yearold
boy admitted they
stabbed, clubbed and shot a
critically endangered orangutan
at least 130 times with
an air gun to protect their
pineapple crop, police said
Monday, reports UNB.
Villagers spotted the
wounded orangutan in a
lake in the East Kutai district
of East Kalimantan
province on Borneo two
weeks ago. It was taken to a
clinic at an orangutan protection
center but died while
being treated.
Local police chief detective
Yuliansyah said four
male members of a family,
including the 13-year-old,
and their neighbor were
arrested last week.
"All the suspects have
told police that they shot,
stabbed and clubbed the
orangutan," said Yuliansyah,
who goes by a single
name. "They did it
because they considered
the animal to be a pest
that ruined the family's
pineapple plantation."
An X-ray showed at least
130 air gun pellets in the
great ape's body, including
more than 70 in its head,
the Center for Orangutan
Protection has said.
Its autopsy found the animal
was blinded as a result
of the shooting and also had
17 open wounds believed to
be caused by sharp objects.
Its left thigh, right chest and
left hand were bruised from
blunt object trauma.
If found guilty of violating
the National Resources
Conservation Law, the
adult suspects face up to
five years in jail and fines
of $7,400. The boy could
face half the adult punishment
at a juvenile detention
center.
Yuliansyah said the boy
will continue to attend
school while the case is
underway.
The numbers of orangutans
on Borneo and on the
Indonesian island of Sumatra,
recognized as separate
species and both classified
as critically endangered,
have fallen precipitously
since the 1970s. A new
study published last week
estimated that the population
on Borneo has dropped
by more than 100,000 since
1999.
Orangutans are a protected
species in Indonesia and
Malaysia, but deforestation
has dramatically reduced
their habitat and brought
them into contact with
farmers and plantation
workers who kill them to
protect crops and for meat.
Indonesia has lost half of
its rain forests in the last
half century in its rush to
supply the world with timber,
pulp, paper and, more
recently, palm oil.
In mid-January, an
orangutan was found
decapitated and shot more
than a dozen times with an
air gun in Central Kalimantan,
environmental news
website Mongabay reported.
Police arrested two rubber
farmers suspected in the
killing, it said.
Relatives mourn one of two Palestinian teenagers who were killed Saturday trying to infiltrate Israel,
during his funeral in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. The Israeli
military said it struck 18 targets in Gaza early on Sunday, in response to an explosive device that wounded
four Israeli soldiers, along the border with the territory.
Photo : AP