AMMAN: Hundreds of Jordanians demonstrated in the capital Amman for a third consecutive day on Saturday against price hikes and an income tax draft law driven by IMF recommendations to slash its public debt.
Protests have gripped the country since Wednesday, when hundreds flooded the streets of Amman and demonstrated in other cities at the call of trade unions, to demand the fall of the government.
Last week the government adopted an income tax draft law, yet to be approved by parliament, aimed at widening the country's tax base and reaping 300 million dinars ($420 million, 360 million euros) for the treasury each year.
It is the latest in a series of economic reforms since Amman secured a $723-million three-year credit line from the International Monetary Fund in 2016.
The loan, intended to support economic and financial reforms, has the long term objective of reducing Jordan's public debt from about 94 percent of GDP to 77 percent by 2021.
"This will be accomplished through reforms to bolster economic growth and gradual fiscal consolidation," the IMF says on its website.
Prices have steadily risen in recent years in Jordan, a country of 9.5 million which is burdered by poverty and unemployment, since January.
On Thursday, the government announced it would raise fuel and electricity prices from Friday, sparking protests across the country. It later froze its decision under orders from King Abdullah II.
But Friday night, hundreds of protesters were back on the streets outside the prime minister's office in Amman, calling for the government to fall, AFP reporters said.
Some demonstrators blocked roads with their cars, while others held signs reading: "The people of Jordan will not kneel".
Protests hit in several other cities, including Irbid and Jarash in the north, Zarqa in the east, and the southern city of Maan, which was rocked by deadly riots in the late 1980s over rising food prices.
Police said some demonstrators overnight "attacked" law enforcement agents and "tried to attack public and private property".
They warned they would resort to force if necessary.
Under the proposed new law, anyone with an annual income of 8,000 dinars or above would have to pay income tax, while businesses would face steep tax increases. Evaders would be heavily fined.
A majority of deputies -- 78 out of 130 MPs -- issued a statememt Friday saying they would vote against the draft legislation.
They said the income tax law does not serve the economic and social interests of the people.
Trade union representatives were due to meet on Saturday with Prime Minister Hani Mulki to demand that he revoke the bill or face further protests, said the president of the country's trade union federation, Ali Obus.
Jordan protests snowball over price hikes, income tax draft law
Jordan protests snowball over price hikes, income tax draft law
KSrelief distribute food aid as Muslims start Eid celebrations
- The program is part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts, represented by KSrelief, to strengthen food security in Yemen
RIYADH: The Saudi aid agency KSrelief has distributed nearly 1,600 food baskets across Yemen, benefiting more than 11,000 people, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.
The aid was sent to the districts of Al-Mawasit, Al-Ma’afer and Ash Shamayatayn in Taiz, as well as Al-Hawtah district in Lahij, and Al-Ghaydah district in Al-Mahra Governorate on Sunday.
The program is part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts, represented by KSrelief, to strengthen food security in Yemen.
Also in Yemen KSrelief launched a project on Sunday to distribute adahi meat in Aden Governorate.
The meat of 300 sacrificial animals was distributed on the first day of Eid Al-Adha, in Al-Mansoura city, benefiting 2,800 people who are vulnerable, disabled, displaced and those with chronic diseases.
The project aims to distribute the meat of 2,330 adahi animals to 32,620 families in the governorates of Aden, Marib, Hadhramaut, Al-Mahrah, and Lahij.
KSrelief also distributed 25 tonnes of dates sent to Kazakhstan as a gift.
The aid was handed over in Astana on Sunday by the Saudi ambassador to Kazakhstan, Faisal bin Hanif Al-Qahtani, to the deputy head of the religious administration of the Muslims of Kazakhstan in the presence of a team from KSrelief.
NATO in talks to put nuclear weapons on standby, Stoltenberg tells UK’s Telegraph
- Jens Stoltenberg tells paper there are live consultations between members to use transparency around its nuclear arsenal as a deterrent
- ‘Transparency helps to communicate the direct message that we, of course, are a nuclear alliance’
LONDON: NATO is in talks to deploy more nuclear weapons, taking them out of storage and placing them on standby, in the face of a growing threat from Russia and China, the head of the alliance said on Monday.
Jens Stoltenberg told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper that there were live consultations between members to use transparency around its nuclear arsenal as a deterrent.
“I won’t go into operational details about how many nuclear warheads should be operational and which should be stored, but we need to consult on these issues. That’s exactly what we’re doing,” he told the paper.
“Transparency helps to communicate the direct message that we, of course, are a nuclear alliance.”
“NATO’s aim is, of course, a world without nuclear weapons, but as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will remain a nuclear alliance, because a world where Russia, China and North Korea have nuclear weapons, and NATO does not, is a more dangerous world.”
Stoltenberg said last week that nuclear weapons were NATO’s “ultimate security guarantee” and a means to preserve peace.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that Moscow could use nuclear weapons to defend itself in extreme circumstances. It accuses the US and its European allies of pushing the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation by giving Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons, some of which are being used against Russian territory.
NATO, which has taken on a greater role in coordinating arms supplies to Kyiv, rarely talks about weapons publicly, although it is known that the US has deployed nuclear bombs to several locations in Europe.
On Eid Al-Adha, animal accessories are all the rage
- Animal traders decorate bulls, lambs and goats to make them stand out and fetch higher prices
- Customers buy animals, then purchase anklets, bells and colorful collars from decoration stalls
ISLAMABAD: Ashraf Khan picked up a colorful anklet and showed it to a customer from a range of collars, beads, bells and other ornaments at his stall of animal accessories at the Sangjani cattle market on the outskirts of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.
The 33-year-old, who sets up a makeshift stall at the market every year, said the demand for animal accessories went up just as the demand for animals and their prices surged ahead of the major Islamic festival, marked by devout Muslims by slaughtering animals and sharing the meat with family and the poor.
Khan, who has been selling animal accessories for the last several years, said his clients not only included members of the public, but also traders who wanted to adorn their cows, sheep and bulls before putting them up for sale in order to better attract customers and fetch higher prices.
“We receive goats, lambs and bulls [at our decoration stall],” Ashraf said. “It takes Rs1,000 to Rs1,500 ($3-5) to decorate a goat with different types of materials. Decorating bulls ranges from Rs2,000 to Rs2,500 ($7-8).”
The 33-year-old sources ornaments from Islamabad’s twin city of Rawalpindi and sets up his stall in the Sangjani capital market a week before Eid.
“The price tag depends on the number and quality of items,” Khan said.
Naik Muhammad, who brought 50 lambs to sell at Sangjani market, said a lamb cost him around Rs25,000 ($90) this year and he was looking to sell it for between Rs85,000 to Rs95,000 ($305-$341).
“The purpose of decoration is that customers like them more and the rates get better,” Muhammad said. “When customers like the animal then we can ask rates of our choice.”
Alamgir Khan, a fruit vendor in Islamabad, purchased a lamb for Rs77,500 ($278) after haggling with sellers for around three hours and brought it to Khan’s stall to buy accessories for decoration.
“We have spent some money on its decoration to make it look beautiful and then the children at home will see it and be happy, and that is a rewarding thing,” Alamgir told Arab News. “This is an animal for sacrifice, it should be adorned.”
Nicole Scherzinger shows off Lebanese gown at Tony Awards
DUBAI: US singer Nicole Scherzinger attended the 2024 Tony Awards in New York on Sunday in a gown by Lebanese designer Nicolas Jebran.
The pink-hued gown featured a sheer, embellished skirt, with rouching on the hips. Stylist Emily Evans finished off the look with -Cicada and Maison H jewelry.
Scherzinger — slated to star in a “Sunset Boulevard” revival on Broadway — sang the “In Memoriam” section, the Associated Press reported.
She sang “What I Did for Love” as the names of late Broadway heavyweights appeared, including playwright Christopher Durang and actors Alan Arkin,Glenda Jackson, Louis Gossett Jr., and Treat Williams.
“The Outsiders,” a gritty adaptation of the classic young adult novel, won the Tony Award for best new musical. The win meant Angelina Jolie, a producer, landed her first Tony, too.
“Stereophonic,” the play about a Fleetwood Mac-like band recording an album over a turbulent and life-changing year, won best new play and had the night's most total awards at five. It was written by David Adjmi, with songs by former Arcade Fire member Will Butler.
Two special guests electrified the crowd — Jay-Z and Hillary Rodham Clinton. The latter, a producer of a musical about suffragettes, presented “Suffs.”
“I have stood on a lot of stages, but this is very special,” Clinton said. “I know a little bit about how hard it is to make change.”
In the first musical presentation, Alicia Keys appeared at a piano as the cast of her semi-autobiographical musical, “Hell’s Kitchen,” presented a medley of songs. She sang her and Jay-Z’s 2009 smash “Empire State of Mind,” joining the rapper on interior steps to wild applause, according to the Associated Press.
Later, newcomer Maleah Joi Moon won best leading actress for “Hell's Kitchen,” brushing aside a challenge from veteran Kelli O’Hara. The 21-year-old, who plays a role loosely based on Keys’ life, dedicated her award to her parents.
Jeremy Strong took home the first big award of the night. The “Succession” star landed his first Tony for his work in the revival of Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 political play “An Enemy of the People.”
“Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe cemented his stage career pivot by winning featured actor in a musical, his first trophy in five Broadway shows. He won for the revival of “Merrily We Roll Along,” the Stephen Sondheim- George Furth musical that goes backward in time.
Pakistan among big nuclear arms spenders amid swelling global tensions — studies
- Spending for 2023 by the nuclear-armed states jumped more than 33 percent from the $68.2 billion spent in 2018
- SIPRI says “we have not seen nuclear weapons playing such a prominent role in international relations since Cold War”
GENEVA: Nuclear-armed countries hiked spending on atomic weapons arsenals by a third in the past five years as they modernized their stockpiles amid growing geopolitical tensions, two reports showed on Monday.
The world’s nine nuclear-armed states jointly spent $91 billion on their arsenals last year, according to a new report from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
That report, and a separate one from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), indicated that nuclear weapons states are dramatically scaling up spending as they modernize and even deploy new nuclear-armed weapons.
“I think it is fair to say there is a nuclear arms race under way,” ICAN chief Melissa Parke told AFP.
Wilfred Wan, head of SIPRI’s weapons of mass destruction program, meanwhile warned in a statement that “we have not seen nuclear weapons playing such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War.”
SIPRI’s report showed that the total estimated number of nuclear warheads in the world actually declined somewhat to 12,121 at the start of this year, from 12,512 a year earlier.
But while some of that included older warheads scheduled to be dismantled, it said 9,585 were in stockpiles for potential use — nine more than a year earlier.
And 2,100 were kept in a state of “high operational alert” on ballistic missiles.
Nearly all of those were held by the United States and Russia, but China was for the first time believed to also have some warheads on high operational alert, SIPRI said.
“While the global total of nuclear warheads continues to fall as Cold War-era weapons are gradually dismantled, regrettably we continue to see year-on-year increases in the number of operational nuclear warheads,” SIPRI director Dan Smith said.
The spending surge reported by ICAN appeared to back that up.
The report showed that in 2023 alone, nuclear weapons spending worldwide jumped by $10.8 billion from a year earlier, with the United States accounting for 80 percent of that increase.
The US share of total spending, $51.5 billion, “is more than all the other nuclear-armed countries put together,” said ICAN.
The next biggest spender was China, at $11.8 billion, followed by Russia, spending $8.3 billion.
Britain’s spending meanwhile rose significantly for the second year in a row, swelling 17 percent to $8.1 billion.
Spending for 2023 by the nuclear-armed states — which also include France, India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea — jumped more than 33 percent from the $68.2 billion spent in 2018, when ICAN first began collecting this data, it said.
Since then, the nuclear armed states have spent an estimated total of $387 billion on the deadly weapons, the report showed.
Parke slammed “the billions of dollars being squandered on nuclear weapons” as “a profound and unacceptable misallocation of public funds.”
She highlighted that that money was more than what the World Food Programme estimates is needed to end world hunger.
“And you could plant a million trees for every minute of nuclear weapons spending,” she said.
“These numbers are obscene, and it is money that the state says is going toward weapons that... will never be used,” she said, pointing to the nuclear deterrence doctrine.
The investments are not only wasteful but also extremely dangerous, she warned.
“What happens when deterrence fails?“
Geneva-based ICAN won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its key role in drafting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which took effect in 2021.
Seventy countries have ratified it to date and more have signed it, although none of the nuclear weapons states have come on board.
“Instead of investing in Armageddon, the nine nuclear-armed states should follow the example of almost half the world’s countries and join the treaty... and make a real contribution to global security,” said Alicia Sanders-Zakre, a co-author of Monday’s ICAN report.
