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Davos 2019 Day 3: Middle East high on agenda as global leaders address WEF

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Around 3,000 political and business leaders are attending the Davos forum. (Reuters)
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Updated 25 January 2019
Arab News
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Davos 2019 Day 3: Middle East high on agenda as global leaders address WEF

  • The third day of panels is taking place in Switzerland
  • Future of Saudi Arabia on the agenda
Updated 25 January 2019
Arab News

DAVOS: The third day of panels and addresses is taking place in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday. Follow Arab News' live coverage below...

17.05 —  Jacek Czaputowicz also said that the JCPOA has had a positive impact and the US decided to withdraw from it. He added that the Iran issue would be discussed in Warsaw at the upcoming meeting in February. 

16.55 — ​  Poland fears Russian aggressive policy, and it wants more US deployment said Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacek Czaputowicz. 

16.49 — ​“NATO is the strongest military alliance in the world and is an alliance of values,” the German Federal Minister of Defence Ursula von der Leyen said. 

16.45 — Europe and the US are of common values, and the transatlantic alliance is repairable said former US Secretary of State John Kerry.

16.40 — “Our message to the US is that NATO is improving, and European allies are stepping up,” said the Secretary-General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg. 

 

16.30 — Speakers discuss whether the transatlantic rift set to widen.

15.12 — “We have a consumer driven economy and consumers don’t have money in their pockets,” the Secretary-Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) Elizabeth H. Shuler said.

15.10  — Rubenstein said that US President Donald Trump communicates in ways that are different to the way presidents have communicated in the past, and that tweeting is a “very effective way to get your message out.” He added that Trump will get blamed more than he will like if the shutdown doesn't end soon. 

15.05  — The US has not had a Shutdown for this long. If the situation is not resolved soon, “this will really impair the economy of the US,” Co-Founder and Co-Executive Chairman of the Carlyle Group David M. Rubenstein said.

 

15.00 — The future of America’s place in the world economic system is discussed.

14.56 —  On his relationship with US President Donald Trump, Ghani said that Trump is engaging and that their relationship is excellent. 

14.45 — Afghanistan wants engagement with Pakistan and Afghanistan wants a removal of the shadow of violence, Ghani commented. 

14.40 — The long term course for the country should be democratic, said Ghani. Afghanistan is most suited to democratic governments, and “our culture is one of equality,” he added. 

14.35 — ​Afghanistan is turning a corner and Afghan women now have a voice of their own, the President of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said.

14.30 — ​The President of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has a conversation with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.

 

14.28 — Speaking earlier in a special address, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, appealed for dialogue to stop Venezuela's political crisis spiralling out of control. He also warned that the world is "losing the race" against climate change and that the relationship between the three most important global powers, Russia, the US and China, "has never been as dysfunctional as it is today."

13.20 —  We hope that the chief executive of Dubai-based Majid Al Futtaim (MAF) Alain Bejjani packed his snow shoes (read Frank Kane’s interview with him here)

12.53 — We want to build a story of hope in the Arab world and we want to be a role model, said the Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri. 

12.52 — Saudi Arabia's oil business is the best in the world and the Kingdom is fully committed to the Paris Agreement, Al-Tuwaijri said.  

12.49 — Talking about Saudi Arabia’s relationship with India, Al-Tuwaijri said that what will prevail is “credibility and sustainabilty”, and that the Kingdom has a great relationship with India.

12.45 — ​Saudi Arabia celebrated two Japanese banks opening in the Kingdom, the Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri said. 

12.40 — ​Arab countries have been a reliable source of oil supply despite the conflicts in the region, the Chairman of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Sanjiv Singh said. 

12.35 — Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi are partnering with India in a huge oil refinery project, the Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Sanjiv Singh said. 

12.26 — The Middle East as a power house can look at investment opportunities in Asia, the Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri said. He added that the Kingdom has identified 50 opportunities in South Korea. 

12.10 — Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi are partnering with India in a huge oil refinery project, the Chairman of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Sanjiv Singh said at the forum.

12.00 — This session will discuss relationships between the Middle East and Asia. Speakers include the Saudi Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri, the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Finance Fuad Hussein, the Group Chairman and CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and the Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd Sanjiv Singh.

 

 

10.45 — Ghannouchi told the forum that Arabs need more freedom as they “don't have enough of it.” He added that opportunities need to be created for the youth, and called upon bussiness leaders to invest in Arab countries.  

10.15  — The leader of the Tunisian Ennahda Party Rached Ghannouchi said that he thinks that there are universal standards for democracy and freedom. He added that the Arab world has reached a boiling point, and “needs reform.”

10.00  — Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Al-Safadi told the forum that Arab countries are looking at an “Arab role that will bring the Syrian crisis to an end.” He added that they needed to play a major role in making Syria immune to conflicting international agendas. 

9:45 — The Middle East security outlook is being discussed — check out the live video below. Speakers include Ayman Al-Safadi, Jordan’s minister of foreign affairs and expatriates; Mohamed Ali Alhakim, Iraq’s minister of foreign affairs; Rached Ghannouchi, leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda Party; and Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum.

 

8:15 — Saudi Arabia’s ambitious reform plans were discussed in an early Davos panel, with speakers including Minister of Finance Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri, and Saudi Stock Exchange Chairperson Sarah Al-Suhaimi.

 

 

 

 

8:00 — Good morning from a chilly Davos. The Middle East is a key theme at the forum today, with an early morning discussion on the future of Saudi Arabia, the region's security outlook set to come under the microscope, and a discussion with Omar Al Razzaz, Prime Minister of Jordan. Keep up to date with our live blog.

Topics: Davos 2019

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House Republicans launch investigation into federal funding for universities amid campus protests

Updated 15 sec ago
AP
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House Republicans launch investigation into federal funding for universities amid campus protests

  • Nationwide, campus protesters have called for their institutions to cut financial ties to Israel
Updated 15 sec ago
AP

WASHINGTON: House Republicans on Tuesday announced an investigation into the federal funding for universities where students have protested the Israel-Hamas war, broadening a campaign that has placed heavy scrutiny on how presidents at the nation’s most prestigious colleges have dealt with reports of antisemitism on campus.
Several House committees will be tasked with a wide probe that ultimately threatens to withhold federal research grants and other government support to the universities, placing another pressure point on campus administrators who are struggling to manage pro-Palestinian encampments, allegations of discrimination against Jewish students and questions of how they are integrating free speech and campus safety.
The House investigation follows several recent high-profile hearings that precipitated the resignations of presidents at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania. And House Republicans promised more scrutiny, saying they were calling on the administrators of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan to testify next month.
“We will not allow antisemitism to thrive on campus, and we will hold these universities accountable for their failure to protect Jewish students on campus,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson at a news conference.
Nationwide, campus protesters have called for their institutions to cut financial ties to Israel and decried how thousands of civilians in Gaza have been killed by Israel following the deadly attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Some organizers have called for Hamas to violently seize Israeli territory and derided Zionism. Jewish students, meanwhile, have reported being targeted and say campus administrators have not done enough to protect them.
After Johnson visited Columbia last week with several other top House Republicans, he said “the anti-Jewish hatred was appalling.”
Republicans are also turning to the issue at a time when election season is fully underway and leadership needs a cause that unites them and divides Democrats. The House GOP’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden has fallen flat and the Republican conference is smarting after a series of important bills left GOP lawmakers deeply divided. Democrats have feuded internally at times over the Israel-Hamas war and how campus administrators have handled the protests.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said in a floor speech Tuesday that it was “unacceptable when Jewish students are targeted for being Jewish, when protests exhibit verbal abuse, systemic intimidation, or glorification of the murderous and hateful Hamas or the violence of October 7th.”
Rep. Pete Aguilar, the No. 3 House Democrat, at a news conference Tuesday said that it was important for colleges “to ensure that everybody has an ability to protest and to make their voice heard but they have a responsibility to honor the safety of individuals.”
“For many of Jewish descent, they do not feel safe, and that is a real issue,” he said, but added that he wanted to allow university administrators to act before Congress stepped in.
But the Republican speaker promised to use “all the tools available” to push the universities. Johnson was joined by chairs for six committees with jurisdiction over a wide range of government programs, including National Science Foundation grants, health research grants, visas for international students and the tax code for nonprofit universities.
Without Democratic support in the divided Congress, it is not clear what legislative punishments House Republicans could actually implement. Any bills from the House would be unlikely to advance in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
But so far, the House hearings with university presidents have produced viral moments and given Republicans high-profile opportunities to denounce campuses as hotbeds of antisemitism. In December, the presidents of Ivy League universities struggled to answer pointed questions about whether “calling for the genocide of Jews” would violate each university’s code of conduct.
Rep. Elize Stefanik, the New York Republican who posed the question in the December hearing, said it became the highest-viewed congressional hearing in history. She also cast the campaign against antisemitism as part of a broader conservative push against what they say is overt liberal bias at elite American universities.
“Enough is enough,” she said. “It is time to restore law and order, academic integrity and moral decency to America’s higher education institutions.”
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is also requesting that the administrators of Yale, UCLA and the University of Michigan appear at a hearing on May 23 that focuses on how they handled the recent protests.
“As Republican leaders, we have a clear message for mealy-mouthed, spineless leaders: Congress will not tolerate your dereliction of duty to your Jewish students,” said the committee chair, North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx.
At a hearing of the committee earlier this month, Columbia University’s president took a firm stance against antisemitism. But at the same time, a protest was underway on Columbia’s campus that would soon set off others like it nationwide. The university began suspending students this week in an attempt to clear the protest encampment on campus.
The university is also facing federal legal complaints. A class-action lawsuit on behalf of Jewish students alleges Columbia breached its contract by failing to maintain a safe learning environment.
Meanwhile, a legal group representing pro-Palestinian students is urging the US Department of Education’s civil rights office to investigate whether Columbia’s treatment of the protesting students violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell called on university administrators to “take charge.”
“On campus, protect Jewish community members. Clear the encampments. Let students go to class and take their exams. And allow graduations to proceed,” he said.

Topics: House Republicans US campus protests US House Speaker Mike Johnson

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US newspapers sue OpenAI for copyright infringement over AI training

OpenAI logo is seen near computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 8, 2024. (REUTERS)
Updated 11 min 47 sec ago
Reuters
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US newspapers sue OpenAI for copyright infringement over AI training

  • The newspaper cases are among several potential landmark lawsuits brought by copyright owners against tech companies over the data used to train their generative AI systems
Updated 11 min 47 sec ago
Reuters

WASHINGTON: A group of newspapers, including the New York Daily News and Chicago Tribune, sued Microsoft and OpenAI in New York federal court on Tuesday, accusing them of misusing reporters' work to train their generative artificial-intelligence systems.
The eight newspapers, owned by hedge fund Alden Global Capital's MediaNews Group, said in the lawsuit that the companies unlawfully copied millions of their articles to train AI products, including Microsoft's Copilot and OpenAI's ChatGPT.
The complaint follows similar ongoing lawsuits against Microsoft and OpenAI, which has received billions in financial backing from Microsoft, brought by the New York Times and news outlets The Intercept, Raw Story and AlterNet.
An OpenAI spokesperson said on Tuesday that the company takes "great care in our products and design process to support news organizations." A spokesperson for Microsoft declined to comment on the complaint.
The newspaper cases are among several potential landmark lawsuits brought by copyright owners against tech companies over the data used to train their generative AI systems.
A lawyer for the MediaNews publications, Steven Lieberman, told Reuters that OpenAI owed its runaway success to the works of others. The defendants know they have to pay for computers, chips, and employee salaries, but "think somehow they can get away with taking content" without permission or payment, he said.
The lawsuit said Microsoft and OpenAI's systems reproduce the newspapers' copyrighted content "verbatim" when prompted. It said ChatGPT also "hallucinates" articles attributed to the newspapers that harm their reputations, including a fake Denver Post article touting smoking as an asthma cure and a bogus Chicago Tribune recommendation for an infant lounger that was recalled after being linked to child deaths.
The plaintiffs also include the Orlando Sentinel, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, San Jose Mercury News, Orange County Register and Twin Cities Pioneer Press. They asked the court for unspecified monetary damages and an order blocking any further infringement.

 

Topics: OpenAI US newspapers

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UN Human Rights Chief troubled by ‘heavy-handed’ action against protesters at US colleges

Updated 30 April 2024
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UN Human Rights Chief troubled by ‘heavy-handed’ action against protesters at US colleges

  • Volker Turk says ‘freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly are fundamental to society, particularly when there is sharp disagreement on major issues’
  • Protests have taken place on campuses in several states as students demand colleges withdraw investments from businesses involved in Israel’s assault on Gaza
Updated 30 April 2024
Ephrem Kossaify

NEW YORK CITY: The UN’s high commissioner for human rights on Tuesday said he is troubled by “a series of heavy-handed steps” taken by education authorities and law enforcement officials to break up protests at college campuses in the US.
Volker Turk said: “freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly are fundamental to society, particularly when there is sharp disagreement on major issues, as there are in relation to the conflict in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel.”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have spread across college campuses in Texas, New York, Atlanta, Utah, Virginia, New Jersey, California and other parts of the US as students protest against the death toll during the war in Gaza, call for a ceasefire and demand authorities at their colleges withdraw investments from businesses involved in Israel’s military assault on Gaza.
Though largely peaceful, at some locations the protests have been dispersed or dismantled by security forces. Hundreds of students and teachers have been arrested, some of whom face charges or academic sanctions.
Turk expressed concern that some of the responses by law enforcement authorities at several colleges might have been disproportionate, and called for such actions to be scrutinized to ensure they do not exceed what is necessary “to protect the rights and freedoms of others.”
He added that all such actions must be guided by human rights law, while “allowing vibrant debate and protecting safe spaces for all.”
He reiterated that antisemitic, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian activities and speech are “totally unacceptable, deeply disturbing (and) reprehensible.” However, the conduct of protesters must be assessed and addressed individually rather than through “sweeping measures that impute to all members of a protest the unacceptable viewpoints of a few,” Turk added.
“Incitement to violence or hatred on grounds of identity or viewpoints, whether real or assumed, must be strongly repudiated. We have already seen such dangerous rhetoric can quickly lead to real violence.”

Topics: War on Gaza pro-Palestinian demonstrations US Volker Turk UN human rights

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Poland says it is probing alleged links between Orlen unit’s ex-CEO and ‘terrorist organizations’

Updated 30 April 2024
Reuters
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Poland says it is probing alleged links between Orlen unit’s ex-CEO and ‘terrorist organizations’

  • Polish website Onet had reported on Monday that the former CEO of Orlen Trading Switzerland was suspected by Orlen’s internal security unit of having had contacts with Hezbollah
  • The ex-CEO denied in an interview with Polish private radio RMF on Tuesday that he had any connections with Hezbollah
Updated 30 April 2024
Reuters

WARSAW: Poland has launched an investigation into multi-million-dollar cash losses by Polish refiner Orlen’s Swiss unit and allegations that its former CEO had ties to “terrorist organizations,” Warsaw chief prosecutor Malgorzata Adamajtys said on Tuesday.
Polish website Onet had reported on Monday that the former CEO of Orlen Trading Switzerland, referred to only as Samer A. due to local privacy laws, was suspected by Orlen’s internal security unit of having had contacts with Lebanon’s powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
Samer A., the ex-CEO of Orlen’s Swiss subsidiary OTS, denied in an interview with Polish private radio RMF on Tuesday that he had any connections with Hezbollah.
“I have been to Poland many times, I am a Polish citizen, I have a Polish passport. I am treated by the current authorities as a second-class citizen,” he said, adding that though he was currently abroad, he was not hiding from Polish law enforcement.
Asked at a press conference for details of the investigation, chief prosecutor Adamajtys said: “We are looking into all information, some of which is known to prosecutors from the press, radio and television, including on connections with terrorist organizations.”
Western countries including the US designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. The European Union classifies Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist group, but not its political wing.
Adamajtys said OTS was established as a business despite a warning by Orlen’s internal security unit not to do so. It operated, according to Adamajtys, without proper supervision, documentation and verification of contractors. She said this showed that Samer A. should not have been appointed as CEO.
“A person who makes advance payments without completion of the first tranches of certain deliveries is not a good CEO and should not be the CEO of this or any other company,” she said.
Reuters sought to contact Samer A. for comment on Adamajtys’ remarks about OTS operations, but he could not be reached. In his conversation with RMF, he denied that there had been any warning from Orlen’s internal security unit.

OTS LOSSES
Orlen has said OTS was behind the loss of around $400 million linked to contracts to buy Venezuelan oil and oil products.
OTS has said it tried to benefit from a temporary window in US sanctions against Venezuela and paid cash advances to intermediaries it never worked with before. The contracts were canceled, it said, as a closure of the window was nearing, and tankers weren’t loading.
Orlen has said it is currently auditing OTS operations.
Adamajtys said Orlen also faced questions over the alleged manipulation of fuel prices to artificially low levels ahead of last year’s national election and a sale of some assets that investigators suspect were below market level.
In February, Orlen rejected an allegation of below-market asset sales from the state audit office, saying it gained as much as 9 billion zloty ($2.2 billion) in one corporate merger. The company also denied lowering fuel prices artificially.
Samer A. has been charged in a separate probe with VAT fraud between 2008-2013, a regional prosecutor in Bydgoszcz said on Monday. He was detained by police and questioned by a prosecutor in February, and released on bail, the prosecutor added.
Opposition critics said that under the previous, nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government, which lost power in that vote, Orlen had helped financed the party’s policy agenda, including taking control of some media outlets.
On Monday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he had called the country’s chief prosecutor and secret services coordinator to discuss potential links between the former CEO of Orlen, Daniel Obajtek, and Hezbollah.
Obajtek, a close associate of PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, responded on social media platform X that Tusk was “looking for scandals where there are none.”
Polish media have reported that PiS might put up Obajtek as a candidate in June’s European Parliament election.

Topics: Poland Lebanon Hezbollah ORLEN

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Forest fires raze parts of India amid heat, dry weather

Updated 30 April 2024
Reuters
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Forest fires raze parts of India amid heat, dry weather

  • As of 2021, 54.4 percent of forests in India experienced occasional fires, most of them due to man-made factors
  • These fires have picked up again this year, with 653 incidents in Uttarakhand alone, government data shows
Updated 30 April 2024
Reuters

NEW DELHI: Frequent fires are razing forests in India’s Uttarakhand state in the north and Odisha in the east amid high temperatures and long dry spells, and the blazes have been worsened by people burning the forest to collect a flower used to brew alcohol.

Data from the state-run Forest Survey of India shows that as of 2021, 54.4 percent of forests in India experienced occasional fires, most of them due to man-made factors.

“Agriculture stubble burning, misconceptions and burning of shrubs to shoo away wildlife are major reasons behind the forest fires,” Swapnil Aniruddh, a forest official in Uttarakhand, told Reuters.

After a brief respite during the previous season from November to April, forest fires have picked up again this year, with 653 incidents in Uttarakhand alone, government data shows.

Odisha’s fires have been exacerbated by people setting parts of the forest ablaze to collect Mahua flowers, which are highly sought after as they are used to brew a popular liquor.

During the current season, 10,163 fire points in Uttarakhand have been detected using the government’s imaging radiometer.

Overall, loss of significant forest cover is a big worry for India as it tries to dramatically reduce its climate-changing emissions.

Among the organizations helping to curb the fires is the Indian Air Force, which has used the aerial firefighting ‘Bambi Bucket’ technique of collecting water from a nearby lake to spray over the region.

The situation may get worse, with India’s weather department predicting more heat-wave days than normal between April and June this year, along with a longer dry spell for Uttarakhand.

Topics: India forest fires

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