MOSCOW: A Russian man who was killed by French police after beheading teacher Samuel Paty in Paris in October was buried in the North Caucasus republic of Chechnya, Russian media reported.
Eighteen-year-old Abdullakh Anzorov, a Russian of Chechen origin who had moved to Paris with his parents, was shot dead by French police after killing Paty, 47, in a Paris suburb.
Anzorov was spurred to act in response to a social media campaign denouncing the teacher's use of cartoons published by satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in a class on freedom of expression.
Amateur video distributed across the Telegram messaging platform showed dozens of men wearing heavy coats walking through snow, chanting and carrying a body shrouded in green cloth.
Sunday's funeral attended by some 200 people was held in the village of Shalazhi in the Urus-Martan district of Chechnya, the Caucasus Knot news website reported.
The village was closed by local security services except to local residents, while more than 60 law enforcement officers were on duty at the funeral, attended by friends and relatives, the website said.
"There are still traffic jams in neighbouring villages because of the large number of people who want to attend the funeral," a local Telegram channel said Sunday evening.
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday the Kremlin did not have any information about the burial and described Paty's killing as an act of terror.
"We are talking about a murderer, we are talking about a terrorist. His actions are absolutely condemned and are unacceptable," Peskov said.
Paty's murder sparked a torrent of outrage that prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to crack down on Islamist extremism in a country that has suffered a series of jihadist attacks since 2015 that killed more than 250 people.
Chechnya's strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov in October accused Macron of provoking Muslims and compared the French leader to a "terrorist" for speaking in defence of Paty.
French teacher's killer buried in Chechnya amid tight security
https://arab.news/mkw93
French teacher's killer buried in Chechnya amid tight security
Gates Foundation partners with KSRelief to eradicate polio, strengthen primary healthcare
RIYADH: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Saudi aid agency KSrelief have announced a joint push to eradicate polio, improve global health, and alleviate poverty.
At the World Economic Forum’s special meeting in Riyadh, Anita Zaidi, president of the foundation’s gender equality division, told Arab News: “This is a really momentous occasion for us to really expand our partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“It's the biggest contribution that a sovereign country has ever given to the polio eradication program, and it’s really a signal for how governments in the Middle East, like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries, are really stepping up to play their part in global health and development.”
Saudi Arabia will contribute $100 million to support the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, the largest multilateral development initiative in the Middle East. The fund aims to lift the poorest people out of poverty in 33 Islamic Development Bank member countries through investments to strengthen primary healthcare, eliminate preventable infectious diseases, support smallholder farming and rural agriculture, and improve basic infrastructure.
Both parties are also allocating $4 million as a relief grant in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which is profoundly affecting women and children. The grant, to be distributed through UNICEF, aims to provide health interventions and access to basic water and sanitation services.
Saudi Arabia has pledged $500 million over the next five years to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which will help to deliver vital health services and polio vaccines to underserved populations through the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
The Kingdom and the Gates Foundation have pledged $3 million and $15 million respectively over three years to support the Polio Legacy Challenge administered by the IsDB, with contributions from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar under the patronage of the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean’s subcommittee for polio eradication and outbreaks.
To implement the programmes, the Gates Foundation will establish a regional office in Riyadh — in Mohammed bin Salman Nonprofit City — in partnership with the Mohammed bin Salman Foundation to support youth engagement and effectiveness of the third sector.
The partnership between Saudi Arabia and the Gates Foundation has been in the works for several months, and as the WEF meeting for the first time since the pandemic takes place outside Davos, the urgency of announcing the cooperation became evident, Zaidi said.
The announcement also coincides with the IsDB’s 50th anniversary this week.
This new commitment from Saudi Arabia is the largest multi-year pledge by a sovereign donor to the current GPEI strategy, ensuring that essential health services are provided to hundreds of millions of children each year.
When Africa became free of wild polio in 2020, it left Pakistan and Afghanistan as the only countries where wild polio is endemic.
“There is a special relationship between these countries and Saudi Arabia, so that thought partnership and those relationships, (you ask:) how do you work with these countries? How do you partner more deeply? All of that is important for polio eradication,” Zaidi said.
The direct engagement of countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia, has helped drive the number of polio cases in those countries down from more than 300 in 2014 to 12 in 2023. The GPEI will continue to need resources until polio case numbers reach zero and the world is certified polio-free.
Global health is hugely reliant on women, who comprise 70 percent of the sector’s workforce. But women in senior roles, those who have worked on the ground to understand the eradication process of such diseases, are still lacking.
“We are really trying to change, to hear more women’s voices,” Zaidi said. “And that was part of the program in Pakistan where, for the first time, we surveyed the frontline health workers and asked: what is it that you face in your daily work that is keeping you from doing your best work? What ideas do you have for convincing people whose families are refusing polio vaccination? How do you best communicate the message? All of that has really led to so many better changes in the program,” she added.
One of the foundation’s key focuses is the lack of progress in women’s health, including stagnant maternal mortality rates in the past 10 years — 200,000 women die every year as a result of childbirth. The foundation funded a McKinsey report published at January’s WEF session that highlighted the economic cost of women in poor health.
“We really need to invest in training and retention of the frontline health workers around the world. But the other part is all the new ideas and the new innovations that we can get out to women,” Zaidi said.
Now there are innovations that measure postpartum blood loss, an annual single-injection iron IV for anemia, and ultrasounds facilitated by artificial intelligence awaiting investment and implementation. “These (are) really exciting things that we can now do to really bring down deaths during pregnancy and delivery,” she said.
Zaidi noted that global health intersects with other sectors and industries as the WEF becomes the backdrop for these essential correlations.
“Having a forum like WEF to really talk about these issues is key. And that’s why we launched the Global Health Alliance, a global alliance for women’s health as well, which is bringing in a lot of different types of thinkers who understand this issue to really solve it,” she said.
Pakistani PM to address closing plenary of WEF special meeting, meet Saudi ministers today
- Shehbaz Sharif met Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday and discussed bilateral ties and war in Gaza
- WEF has convened Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will address today, Monday, the closing plenary of a special meeting of the World Economic Forum being held in Riyadh and meet a number of top Saudi officials, state-run APP news agency said.
Sharif arrived in Riyadh on Saturday for the World Economic Forum’s Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development on April 28-29. The conference has convened more than 700 participants, including key stakeholders from governments and international organizations, business leaders from the World Economic Forum’s partner companies, as well as Young Global Leaders, experts and innovators.
“Sharif is scheduled to address the closing plenary of the Special Meeting of the World Economic Forum titled ‘Rejuvenating Growth,’ on the third day of his visit to the Kingdom,” APP said.
“The third-day agenda of the prime minister’s visit also consists of his meetings with Saudi ministers for trade, energy, environment and agriculture. He is also likely to meet with the Malaysian counterpart.”
On Sunday, Sharif attended a Special Dialogue and Gala Dinner hosted by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman where they discussed bilateral ties as well as regional issues including the war in Gaza.
Sharif’s meeting with the crown prince took place less than a week after a high-powered delegation, headed by Saudi Foreign Minister Minister Faisal bin Farhan, visited Pakistan to discuss investments.
“To continue the discussion, the Prime Minister said that he has brought with him a high-powered delegation to Riyadh, including key ministers responsible for investment, so that follow-up meetings could take place between relevant officials,” the Pakistani Prime Minister’s Office said.
Sharif reiterated his invitation to the Saudi crown prince for an official visit to Pakistan at his earliest convenience, the PMO added.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.
Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been closely working to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion.
Separately, Sharif met Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) co-chair Bill Gates on the sidelines of the WEF meeting on Monday, the PMO said, and discussed efforts to eradicate polio in Pakistan, one of two countries globally where the virus is still endemic. The two leaders also discussed progress on ongoing activities between Pakistan and the BMGF in immunization, nutrition, and financial inclusion, the PMO said.
Scotland’s Yousaf will resign as first minister, BBC says
LONDON: Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf will resign as early as Monday, the BBC reported, after the possibility of him winning a vote of confidence this week appeared to dwindle over the weekend.
“Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf (is) to resign as early as today, the BBC understands,” BBC News said, without citing a source.
Last week, Yousaf abruptly ended a power-sharing agreement between his Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Green Party, in the hopes that he could lead a minority government — but opposition parties have tabled a vote of no confidence.
The pro-independence SNP’s fortunes have faltered amid a funding scandal and the resignation of a party leader last year, while there has been infighting over how progressive its pitch should be as it seeks to woo back voters.
Just days ago, Yousaf said he was “quite confident” that he could win the no confidence vote called by political opponents, but by Monday, his offer of talks with other parties to try to shore up his minority government seemed to be faltering.
The leadership crisis and a second no-confidence vote against the Scottish government deepens problems faced by Yousaf’s Scottish National Party, which is losing popular support after 17 years of heading the Scottish Government.
Earlier this month, polling firm YouGov said the Labour Party had overtaken the SNP in voting intentions for a Westminster election, for the first time in a decade.
The leader of the Scottish Greens, Patrick Harvie, told BBC radio there was nothing Yousaf could say to persuade his party to support the first minister in the parliamentary confidence vote, leaving Yousaf with few options.
The vote is due to take place later this week.
A victory for Labour in Scotland in Britain’s next national election — expected later this year — would significantly bolster the party’s chances of taking power from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party.
If Yousaf loses, parliament would have 28 days to choose a new first minister before an election is forced.
Former SNP leader John Swinney has been approached by senior party figures to become an interim first minister in the event of Yousaf being forced from office, the Times newspaper said, adding that Swinney was reluctant to step up because of personal circumstances.
Yousaf, who previously held health and justice ministerial briefs in the Scottish Government, succeeded former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon as first minister in March 2023.
She resigned last year and has since been embroiled in a party funding scandal with her husband, who was charged this month with embezzling funds. Both deny wrongdoing.
Police recover judge kidnapped last week in Pakistan’s restive northwest
- Unidentified armed men kidnapped Shakirullah Marwat near Bagwal town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday
- Police official says Marwat was recovered after police and security forces conducted joint operations in Tank, Dera Ismail Khan districts
PESHAWAR: A district and sessions judge who was kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Saturday has been recovered, a senior police official and a relative of the judge both confirmed on Monday.
Unidentified gunmen abducted Shakirullah Marwat near the dusty town of Bagwal on Saturday while he was traveling from his hometown city of Tank toward the Dera Ismail Khan district in KP. The incident alarmed Pakistan’s legal community and coincides with a resurgence of militant violence in KP and Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, following the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) termination of a fragile truce with Islamabad in Nov. 2022.
Security forces and police conducted two separate operations in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts “soon” after Marwat was abducted and killed six militants in the exchange, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Nasir Hussain Satti said.
“Police and security forces were jolted into action the moment the judge was picked up,” Satti told Arab News. “The forces choked all entry and exit points of the two restive districts, leaving no room for kidnappers to keep the judge with them. Finally, they had to set him free,” he added.
Satti said the judge had been recovered without paying ransom money. “Absolutely not, the judge was recovered without paying any ransom or making any deal with the abductors,” he said.
Farooq Khan, Marwat’s relative who is also a lawyer, confirmed the judge reached home safely on Sunday night.
“Thank God Shakirullah has reached home safely,” he told Arab News.
In a brief video message that was released on Sunday, the judge said he was kidnapped by the Pakistani Taliban and that his release was impossible if his kidnappers’ demands were not met. He was speaking from an undisclosed location and it wasn’t clear whether he was talking under duress.
“I request the federal and provincial governments, the honorable chief justice of Peshawar High Court, the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the government of Pakistan and the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to accept their (Taliban) demands and ensure my release,” Marwat had said.
Shah Fahad Ansari, a high court advocate and divisional president for the Peoples Lawyers’ Forum, said the legal fraternity appreciated the swift response by police and security forces to ensure the judge’s safe recovery.
“But we demand the authorities adopt all measures to ensure security in the province and discourage recurrence of these kinds of incidents in the future,” Ansari said.
Earlier this month, an attack in Dera Ismail Khan resulted in the death of six people, including five customs department officials, with another person wounded when gunmen targeted their vehicle.
The recent weeks have also seen attacks on police officials in KP.
Earlier this month, a policeman was shot dead in North Waziristan. In related incidents, an official from the provincial counterterrorism department and a senior cleric affiliated with the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam religious party were fatally shot in target killings in the area.
While no group has claimed responsibility for these attacks, suspicion has fallen on the TTP, whose leadership is said to be based in neighboring Afghanistan.
Ryan Reynolds named Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island ambassador
DUBAI: Unmasked as the mystery skydiving celebrity who appeared in a recent teaser campaign for the Abu Dhabi location, Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds is Yas Island’s newest “Chief Island Officer.”
The “Deadpool” actor takes up the role after US actor Jason Momoa, who in turn took over from US comedian Kevin Hart.
In the new promotional video, Reynolds is seen parachuting straight into the heart of the action amidst speeding cars on Yas Marina Circuit, missing his intended landing spot at the W Abu Dhabi.
“I've been an actor, a producer, a Welsh football club owner and I could go on. So I will …" begins Reynolds, but the rest of his speech is drowned out by the roar of F1 cars as they zoom around the circuit.
The trailer also features the actor enjoying the sights and sounds of Yas Island, as he zooms down water slides at Yas Waterworld Abu Dhabi, explores Gotham City and takes rollercoaster rides at Warner Bros. World.
"With the appointment of Ryan Reynolds as our latest chief island officer of Yas Island Abu Dhabi, we continue the tradition of excellence established by Kevin Hart and Jason Momoa. Reynolds brings his own unique blend of charisma, energy, and enthusiasm to the role, promising to elevate the Yas Island experience to even greater heights. We're thrilled to embark on this exhilarating journey with him, inviting fans worldwide to be part of the legacy," said Liam Findlay, chief executive of Miral Destinations.
