Putin orders ceasefire in Ukraine over Orthodox Christmas – Kremlin
FRIDAY, JANUARY 06, 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (05 January) ordered a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over Orthodox Christmas, the first major truce of the more than 10-month-long war that has killed tens of thousands and devastated swathes of Ukraine.
Putin ordered the ceasefire to begin on Jan. 6, the Kremlin said. Many Orthodox Christians, including those living in Russia and Ukraine, celebrate Christmas on Jan. 6-7.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow called earlier on Thursday for both sides of the war in Ukraine to observe a Christmas truce.
“Taking into account the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation to introduce a ceasefire regime along the entire line of contact of the parties in Ukraine from 12.00 on January 6, 2023 to 24.00 on January 7, 2023,” Putin said in the order.
Ukraine spurned Putin’s offer for a 36-hour ceasefire over Orthodox Christmas, saying there would be no truce until Russia withdraws its invading forces from occupied land.
Russia’s Orthodox Church observes Christmas on January 7. Ukraine’s main Orthodox Church has rejected the authority of the Moscow patriarch, and many Ukrainian believers have shifted their calendar, celebrating Christmas on December 25 as in the West.
Mexico arrests Ovidio Guzman, son of ‘El Chapo,’ city engulfed by violence
FRIDAY, JANUARY 06, 2023
Mexican drug cartel leader Ovidio Guzman, a son of jailed kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was arrested, unleashing a violent backlash by gang gunmen on Thursday that shut the airport in the city of Culiacan as authorities told residents to stay indoors.
Burned vehicles were scattered on the streets, blocking roads while heavily armed law enforcement patrolled in pickup trucks.
Defence Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval told a news conference that security forces had captured the 32-year-old senior member of the Sinaloa Cartel. The arrest comes three years after an attempt to detain him ended in humiliation for the government.
Ovidio was now being held in the capital Mexico City, Sandoval said.
Ovidio, who has become a key figure in the cartel since the arrest of his father, was briefly detained in 2019 but was quickly released to end violent retribution in Culiacan from his gang. The incident was an embarrassing setback for the government of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
His latest capture comes before a North American leaders’ summit in Mexico City next week, which U.S. President Joe Biden will attend and at which security issues are on the agenda.
The United States had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Ovidio.
It is not yet clear whether Ovidio will be extradited to the United States like his father, who is serving a life sentence at Colorado’s Supermax, the most secure U.S. federal prison.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, 65, was convicted in New York in 2019 of trafficking billions of dollars of drugs to the United States and conspiring to murder enemies.
Taiwan shipping giant Evergreen gives up to 52 months’ pay as year-end bonuses
THURSDAY, JANUARY 05, 2023
Taiwanese shipping giant Evergreen Marine has rewarded employees with massive year-end bonuses worth between 10 and 52 months of salary each, after posting bumper 2022 profits.
Local media outlets reported how most of the company’s junior workers with a monthly salary of NT$40,000 ( 44,274 baht ) took home a bonus worth NT$2 million ( 2,212,550 baht ) each last weekend, which is equivalent to more than four years’ pay.
The 2022 payout is even higher than the 40-month bonus that the company paid in 2021, which had set a record at the time for the highest year-end bonus ever paid by a listed Taiwanese company.
Thanks to the rebound of global container shipping lines following pandemic lockdowns, as well as soaring shipping prices, the company reported a net profit of NT$304.35 billion ( 336.84 billion baht ) for the first three quarters of 2022. The 2022 financial year earnings are expected to be released in March.
“The company had good earnings and lots of surplus cash. As it is not aggressively expanding its business operations, it gave some of that cash in the form of bonuses to reward employees, which I think is very reasonable,” said Professor Chiou Jiunn-rong, an economics expert from the National Central University in Taiwan.
Evergreen Marine did not immediately respond to The Straits Times’ request for comment, though it previously told local reporters that workers were compensated based on their performance.
While its employees celebrated, workers in some of its parent company Evergreen Group’s other divisions, particularly the airline business, were not too pleased, as they reportedly received much smaller bonuses.
The difference in payout caused airport ground staff working for Evergreen Airline Services (EGAS) – an Eva Air affiliate – to go on strike over the New Year weekend, which led to minor flight delays affecting 4,000 travellers at Taoyuan Airport in Taipei.
The ground staff were reportedly given one month’s salary as a bonus, while other Eva Air workers were given bonuses worth up to three months’ wages. On Jan 1 and 2, around a third of the company’s 300-odd ground crew walked out in protest, according to the Liberty Times newspaper.
The company called in temporary workers to make up for the shortage, while some of its executives, including EGAS chairman Chen Yo-yu, were photographed handling luggage and clearing cabins.
Airport ground operations returned to normal on Jan 3, though there are now concerns that staff may go on strike again during the typically busy Chinese New Year week later in January.
This is not the first time that Eva Air has found itself at the centre of controversy over low bonuses. In 2021, more than a quarter of its ground staff reportedly quit after receiving a bonus of NT$10,000 each ( 11,060 baht ) .
In Taiwan, there is always discussion online towards the end of the year over which companies will hand out the biggest bonuses.
Professor Cheng Chih-yu, a labour policy expert from National Chengchi University in Taipei, told ST bonuses are important as they potentially count heavily in an employee’s total compensation.
“Some companies choose to give low fixed monthly salaries for years and reward employees with bigger bonuses instead because it saves them money overall. If they raise monthly wages, then they would have to fork out more in the long term for workers’ insurance plans and pensions,” he said.
Despite widespread worldwide initiatives, such as those focused on ending poverty and expanding access to education, humankind continues to struggle with challenges related to education, poverty, inequality and global insecurity.
While it is true that not everyone who has access to an educational system ends up in poverty, the vast majority of today’s poor never even made it through elementary school, two out of every five individuals are illiterate, and violence is on the rise.
According to the World Bank, around 8.5% of today’s world population might be extremely poor by the end of 2022, and poverty is now falling at a relatively slower rate of barely 2% per year. Today’s population is poorer than that of the 1990s when 1.9 billion people, or 36% of the global population, lived on less than $1.90 a day back then.
There is a direct correlation between poverty and hunger in Africa. A quarter of the world’s hungry people live in Africa. Africa’s population are malnourished and more than 30% of children in Africa have growth anomalies such as stunting as a result of chronic malnutrition, making it impossible for them to benefit fully from receiving education.
Education is a great tool for breaking the cycle of poverty since it helps people of all socioeconomic backgrounds. It has the potential to aid those in need by providing them with pathways to employment, resources, and the development of employability skills that can allow them to break out of poverty.
The issues described above were the main driver to inviting a specialist in the field: On Friday, December 9, 2022, former President of Finland Her Excellency Tarja Halonen flue from Helsinki to spend an entire day with the fellows of the Executive’s Masters of International Relations and Global Politics students at the Swiss Geneva University, organized by professor Anis H. Bajrektarevic.
Sustainable development goals, their influence on the global system, and the significance of poverty eradication, education, and inequality were all central to the discussion themes. From 2000 to 2012, Her Excellency – the former President of the Republic of Finland and a pioneering female leader in the 20th century, after serving as president for a total of 12 years, her political insight and know-how are immense. She began by explaining the origins of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) as we know them now by drawing on her considerable background in multilateralism and international politics.
They evolved from their original name, the “Millennium Development Goals,” to their current form over time. However, the ironical connection was that all of these goals were compared to a home with many windows. A window that has a goal with a specific purpose.
Halonen focused on four goals; The first goal is the “elimination of poverty.” The fourth goal is “quality education.” The fifth goal is “gender equality.” Finally, the sixteenth goal is “peace, justice, and strong institutions.”
Most of her presentation focused on the first goal: why poverty is the underlying cause of most global problems and how to begin addressing it. For instance, excellent education and gender equality go hand in hand with reducing poverty since these SDGs and other SDGs are interconnected.
First, getting an education is a great approach to bettering one’s life and eradicating poverty in the long term since it increases one’s earning potential and decreases wealth disparity. This implies that persons in poverty have a more difficult time bettering their situation due to obstacles such as physical ability, religion, race, and caste. If we zoom down on more vulnerable regions, however, such as Africa, we see that 67.4% of adults from the age of 15 in 2021 have the necessary literacy skills to read and comprehend a short phrase.
In 2022, Africa has a population of little over 1.4 billion people, and its literacy rate is lower than that of a country like Russia. A total of 143.4 million individuals can read and write at a 99.69% proficiency level by the year 2021.
There is a significant gender gap in the world’s illiterate population, with women making up a disproportionate share. Some nations have nearly female literacy, such as 64% in Burkina Faso and 39% in Niger, while others, such as Afghanistan, have just around 30% of women who are literate.
However, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) continues to be a problem for women in Burkina Faso, Niger, and other nearby countries. This violence frequently occurs in societies where sexism and patriarchy are prevalent and this issue might serve as a roadblock for women, preventing them from exercising their rights.
Worldwide gender equality will presently take four generations. All-inclusive, 388 million ladies and young ladies are poorer than men and boys, with the lion’s share living in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Southern Asia, and the Middle East. The plague has raised the perils of GBV over the world, with 13 million additional young girls at the chance of getting to be child brides, on top of the 100 million people who are now in danger. If women are not enrolled on social equations, how can they be treated equally? Increases in sexual violence, domestic violence, early and forced marriages, manipulation, and maltreatment of girls and women are being fueled by conflict and displacement in the Sahel area. Not only in Africa but also, in different parts of the world such as Afghanistan, the international community was caught off guard by the rise of the Taliban’s actions toward women in Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s latest statement on suspending women from attending college is emblematic of their larger discriminatory practices. They have restricted the mobility of women and girls, prevented most women from participating in the labour market, and banned them from using public utilities since August 2021. Ultimately, these restrictions keep Afghan women and girls within their homes, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
As efforts to engage her efforts and activate this crucial role at the international and local levels are a priority for Her Excellency, Taria Halonen firmly recognizes the value of women’s contributions to development.
In addition, in line with the fifth goal of the sustainable development goals, women must have an all-encompassing goal of growing their participation in the labour market and maintaining their rights in the fields of health and education as part of the decision-making process. Women have an important role in bringing peace to situations of armed conflict, yet their contributions are often overlooked. The effectiveness of United Nations Peacekeeping actions and the maintenance of peace depend on the recognition and incorporation of women’s various perspectives, experiences, and abilities in all aspects of UN Peacekeeping operations.
Despite progress in the number of women in the highest levels of political leadership, the Inter-Parliamentary Union of the United Nations (IPU-UN) reports that gender inequalities persist in several areas in the year 2021.
However, following a jump of 21.3% of women occupying ministerial posts in 2021, as well as the development has stalled, with just a little increase to 21.9% in 2021. The data also shows that the number of states with no women in government has grown, defying a recent declining trend.
Amid record global military spending of $2.1 trillion, funding for women’s organizations in combat zones has declined. Presently, women only make up about 19% of peace negotiators in UN-led projects.
Halonen emphasized the significance of women’s participation in peace talks and the value of having female leaders of countries present at the negotiating table.
Halonen is one of the first in this field and is a member of the high-level advisory board of the Secretary-General on Mediation of the United Nations, therefore, from where she stands, she stressed the importance of the role of women in the peace process.
Women’s involvement in peace-building processes is more than simply achieving parity. Where, women hold just 18.9% of parliamentary seats in conflict and post-conflict countries, compared to 25.5% worldwide, a still-inadequate figure.
In order to address the root causes of conflict, it is necessary to rethink peace-building and come up with solutions that take into account the requirements of all parties involved in the conflict. The goal is to usher in an era of permanent global peace and security by dismantling the systems that sustain and promote conflict. Many of the ills from which people in war zones and poorer parts of the world suffer are easily solvable through education, which should be a basic human right.
One may say that education is the key to achieving all Seventeen Sustainable Development Goals.
Since 1960, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has ratified the Convention Against Discrimination in Education, which acknowledges the right of all students to an education. Furthermore, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights of the United Nations has recognized access to education as a human right since 1966.
In conclusion, by expanding access to high-quality education for all, SDG four has the potential to be a powerful tool in the fight against extreme poverty and for raising living standards in developing countries.
Lack of education, gender inequality, poverty, and global insecurity are the main reasons why states should invest more in education rather than military and armaments warfare.
Education should be a national priority to eliminate all causes of poverty, gender inequality, and insecurity.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela.
Sara AlDhahri
AlDhahri is an international officer at the humanitarian affairs department of the OIC. She is also, an advocate for peace, security and humanitarian development.
10-year-old boy who fell into concrete pillar in Vietnam pronounced dead
THURSDAY, JANUARY 05, 2023
10-year-old Thai Ly Hao Nam who fell into a 35-metre-deep concrete pillar in southern Dong Thap Province was pronounced dead late Wednesday afternoon, according to local authorities.
Deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Doan Tan Buu told the press that the conclusion was made after assessing the time and location of the accident, which likely caused the victim multiple injuries, in addition to the harsh conditions inside the deep pit.
Rescue workers are still trying to bring Nam’s body to ground level.
Prior to the press briefing, the boy’s father was taken to the scene of the accident.
The local authorities added that with the child confirmed dead, the rescue team’s strategy will change, focusing on bringing his body out of the pillar as soon as possible.
At noon on December 31, Nam and three other children from the same neighbourhood entered Roc Sen bridge construction site in Phu Loi Commune, Thanh Binh District to collect scrap iron. Here, Nam fell into the hollow concrete pillar which is 25cm wide and 35m deep.
Continuous efforts were made to deliver oxygen and water to sustain his life, as well as different strategies to bring him out of the pit, to no avail.
Iran frees actress Alidoosti, jailed over anti-government unrest
THURSDAY, JANUARY 05, 2023
Iran has released top Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti on bail, state media reported on Wednesday, weeks after she was detained for criticizing a crackdown on anti-government protests that have rocked the Islamic Republic for months.
Best-known for her role in “The Salesman“, which won an Academy Award in 2017, the pro-reform artist Alidoosti had supported the protests, including by posting her picture on Instagram in November without the compulsory hijab head covering, and holding up a sign which read “Woman, Life, Freedom” in Kurdish, a popular slogan in the mass protests.
The semi-official ILNA news agency, citing her lawyer, said “Alidoosti, who was arrested on December 17, was released today on bail”, without giving further details.
Her picture, taken in front of Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, was widely shared on social media.
The protests, sparked by the death of a young Kurdish woman while in the custody of the morality police, have posed one of the biggest legitimacy challenges to the Shi’ite Muslim-ruled Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.
Since Amini’s death, protesters from all walks of life have taken to the streets, calling for the downfall of the country’s clerical rulers, with women taking off and burning their headscarves in fury across the country.
Dozens of female Iranian actresses and artists have posted pictures of themselves without the compulsory hijab, in solidarity with the demonstrations in which women have played a leading role.
Facing their worst legitimacy crisis in the past four decades, Iran’s clerical rulers have accused a coalition of “anarchists, terrorists and foreign foes” of orchestrating the protests.
The Islamic Republic has so far executed two people involved in mass protests. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group has said that at least 100 detained protesters face possible death sentences.
‘Important to make things more equitable,’ says doctor after US FDA’s abortion pill decision
THURSDAY, JANUARY 05, 2023
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will allow retail pharmacies to offer abortion pills in the United States for the first time, the agency said on Tuesday, even as more states seek to ban medication abortion.
The regulatory change will potentially expand abortion access as President Joe Biden’s administration wrestles with how best to protect abortion rights after they were sharply curtailed by the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark Roe v Wade ruling and the state bans that followed.
Pharmacies can start applying for certification to distribute the abortion pill mifepristone with one of the two companies that make it, and if successful they will be able to dispense it directly to patients upon receiving a prescription from a certified prescriber.
Abortion rights activists say the pill has a long track record of being safe and effective, with no risk of overdose or addiction. In several countries, including India and Mexico, women can buy them without a prescription to induce abortion.
Abortion bans, some targeting mifepristone, have gone into effect in more than a dozen states since the USSupreme Court overturned the constitutional right to terminate pregnancies when it scrapped the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling last year.
Women in those states could potentially travel to other states to obtain medication for abortion.
The president of the anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America, Marjorie Dannenfelser, said the latest FDA move endangers women’s safety and the lives of unborn children.
FDA records show a small mortality case number associated with mifepristone. As of June 2021, there were reports of 26 deaths linked with the pill out of 4.9 million people estimated to have taken it since it was approved in September 2000.
Retail pharmacies will have to weigh whether or not to offer the pill given the political controversy surrounding abortion and determine where they can do so.
A spokesperson for CVS Health said the drugstore chain owner was reviewing the updated REMS “drug safety program certification requirements for mifepristone to determine the requirements to dispense in states that do not restrict the dispensing of medications prescribed for elective termination of pregnancy.”
A spokesperson for Walgreens, one of the largest U.S. pharmacies, said the company was also reviewing the FDA’s regulatory change.
Gay couples in India ask Supreme Court to legalise same-sex marriage
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 04, 2023
Uday Raj Anand and Parth Mehrotra are among four gay couples who have asked India’s Supreme Court to recognise same-sex marriages, setting the stage for a legal face-off with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government which has in the past refused to legalize such marriages.
In a historic verdict in 2018, India’s top court decriminalized homosexuality by scrapping a colonial-era ban on gay sex.
Despite the 2018 ruling, members of India’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community complain about a lack of acceptance and discrimination against gay people in Indian society.
Mehrotra, the chief editor of a digital bookpublishing house ‘Juggernaut Books’ and his partner Anand, a Delhi-based businessman, have been together for 17 years and have since started a family with two children.
“It’s a natural next step for us to want to get married. And so, our plea to the court is ‘give us that right to get married’,” said Mehrotra, adding that “marriage is an institution that pervades every aspect of living.”
LGBT activists say that while 2018 ruling affirmed their constitutional rights, they are still deprived of legal backing for same-sex marriages, a basic right enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.
In the Supreme Court filings seen by Reuters, the four couples say that they are denied rights such as those linked to medical consent, pensions, adoption, or even simpler things like club memberships for couples.
Last month, a federal lawmaker from Modi’s ruling party, Sushil Modi, appealed to colleagues in the upper house of parliament to oppose legal recognition of marriage between same-sex couples.
“Same-sex marriage would cause complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws in the country… two judges cannot decide on such social issues,” he told lawmakers.
The law ministry has opposed same-sex marriages in the past and said courts should stay away from the law-making process that falls under parliament’s purview.
The Indian Supreme Court cases, which follow many lawsuits filed in lower courts where no decision was reached, will be a key test for Modi’s Hindu nationalist government and his allies.
The Supreme Court has given the government until Friday (January 6) to submit its responses.
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