International current affairs magazine for news & views to bridge the global divide

November 2016

volume 10 No11

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Action needed in Marrakech COP22

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northsouth
Group Publisher

The Lord Newall, DL

Editor-in-Chief

editorial

Ali Bahaijoub
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Franklin Adesegha
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Business Editor

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Asia Editor

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Travel & Tourism Editor

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Art & Entertainment Editor

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MIDDLE EAST Correspendent

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In September, China and the

United States, the worlds two
largest
emitters,formally
joinedthe accord Paris Agreement
on climate change, and with
Indiasratificationjust two days
earlier, the Agreements entry
into force is now scheduled for
4 November, but still a bit more
effort is needed before the COP22
conference in Marrakech, Morocco,
begins on 7 November.
The ratification of the Paris
Agreement
would
spur
the
transformation to a low-carbon,
high-opportunity, climate-resilient
economy needed to keep global
temperature increase well below
the agreed 2 degrees Celsius mark.
the UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon recalled that one of the two
requirements that will allow the
Paris Agreement to enter into force
first has already been achieved
with 63 country ratifications and
that the second one, 55 per cent
of greenhouse gas emissions,
accounted for currently 52.11 per
cent.
Negotiators from more than 170
countries in mid-October reached
a legally binding accord to
counterclimate changeby cutting
the worldwide use of a powerful
planet-warming chemical used in
air-conditioners and refrigerators.
The talks in Kigali, the capital of
Rwanda, did not draw the same
spotlight as the climate change
accord forged in Paris last year.
But the outcome could have an

equal or even greater impact on

efforts to slow the heating of the
planet.
US President Barack Obama called
the deal an ambitious and farreaching solution to this looming
crisis.
While
the
Paris
agreement
included pledges by nearly every
country to cut emissions of heattrapping carbon dioxide from the
fossil fuels that power vehicles,
electric plants and factories,
the new Kigali deal has a single
target: chemical coolants called
hydrofluorocarbons,
or
HFCs,
used in air-conditioners and
refrigerators.
HFCs are just a small percentage
of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere, but they function as
a sort of supercharged greenhouse
gas, with 1,000 times the heattrapping
potency
of
carbon
dioxide.
The European Parliament approval
of the Paris Agreement ratification,
in the presence of European
Commission President Jean-Claude
Juncker, the UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon and the President
of COP 21 Sgolne Royal (cover
photo), was the last hurdle to be
cleared for the political process for
the European Union to ratify the
Agreement.
The ratification of the global
climate deal is a step that is set to
enable the most sweeping accord
to combatpollution to come into
force less than a year after it was
signed in Paris. The challenge now
for everyone concerned is to turn
commitments into action on the
ground and the Marrakech call for
action is the perfect platform for it.

Ali Bahaijoub, Editor

contents

news & views to bridge the global divide

37
31
41

35
47

02 Editorial
03 News and Briefs
13 Over the Top

Cover story

48

37

49

32 Trump loves Sisi

50 Environment

33 Torture, starvation,

deprivation: life inside

IS prisons in Libya

51 Innovations

16 COP22 should meet the target

35 The public spat between

17 Vast majority of world 6.76

36 What JASTA will mean

62 Arts & Entertainment

18 Rich and poor nations reach

37 Is Ethiopia unravelling?

19 What is climate change?

22 Global impact of climate change
24 Half of marine life wiped out

64 Travel & Tourism

39 T he economic disaster

to implement Paris
Agreement

billion people live with excessive

air pollution, UN report
landmark deal in Kigali

in just 40 years, says WWF

24 Stage set for COP22

in Marrakech

Nigerias president
and his wife

for US-Saudi relations

behind Afghanistans
mounting human crisis

41 US
 must help pull Yemen
back from total collapse

26 Key dates
28 Climate change risk to

42 P owerful states at risk of war

29 The Paris Agreement

46 A
 lgeria: the new migrant

one in six species

features

30 Zuma in the dock after

withdrawal from ICC

31 P rivate sector benefits from

US insatiable demand for
drone war intelligence

43 T he problem with aid convoys

staging post for Europe

47 E gypt boat disaster shines

light on new migration trend

49 Twist and turns in US

presidential race

52 Business Briefs

66 Science News
68 Motoring
70 Book Reviews
72 ICT
76 Sports
78 Life & Style

northsouth

November 2016

&brefs

news

3.5 million Americans lifted of poverty in 2015

In 2015, 3.5 million Americans were
able to breach the poverty line as an
economic recovery hit a tipping point.
The nations official poverty rate
in 2015 was 13.5 per cent, with 43.1
million people in poverty, 3.5 million
fewer than in 2014. The 1.2 percentage
point decrease in the poverty rate
from 2014 to 2015 represents the
largest annual percentage point drop
in poverty since 1999.
The percentage of people without
health insurance coverage for the
entire 2015 calendar year was 9.1
per cent, down from 10.4 per cent
in 2014. The number of people
without health insurance declined
to 29.0 million from 33.0 million
over the period. These findings are
contained in two reports: Income and
Poverty in the United States: 2015
and Health Insurance Coverage in

the United States: 2015. The Current

Population Survey Annual Social and
Economic Supplement was conducted
nationwide and collected information
about income and health insurance
coverage during the 2015 calendar
year. The Current Population Survey,
sponsored jointly by the U.S. Census
Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, is conducted every month
and is the primary source of labor
force statistics for the U.S. population;
it is used to calculate the monthly
unemployment
rate
estimates.
Supplements are added in most
months; the Annual Social and
Economic Supplement questionnaire
is designed to give annual, national
estimates of income, poverty and
health insurance numbers and
rates. F

The United States has put artificial

intelligence at the center of its
defense strategy, with weapons
that can identify targets and make
decisions.
The small drone, with its six
whirring rotors, swept past the
replica of a Middle Eastern village
and closed in on a mosque-like
structure, its camera scanning for
targets.
No humans were remotely piloting
the drone, which was nothing more
than a machine that could be bought
on Amazon. But armed with advanced
artificial intelligence software, it had
been transformed into a robot that
could find and identify the half-dozen

men carrying replicas of AK-47s

around the village and pretending to
be insurgents.
As the drone descended slightly,
a purple rectangle flickered on a
video feed that was being relayed
to engineers monitoring the test.
The drone had locked onto a man
obscured in the shadows, a display
of hunting prowess that offered an
eerie preview of how the Pentagon
plans to transform warfare.
Almost unnoticed outside defense
circles, the Pentagon has put
artificial intelligence at the center
of its strategy to maintain the
United States position as the worlds
dominant military power. F

The Pentagons robots that

could kill on their own

November 2016

Malaria teamwork
spells danger for
humans

Getting infected by two malaria

species can improve conditions
for the second species, making
the disease more dangerous and
persistent than lone infections, a
mouse study shows. Being infected
with both Plasmodium falciparum
and Plasmodium vivax can provide
this second parasite species with
more of the resources it needs to
prosper. This is because P. falciparum
attacks red blood cells of all ages but
when the blood regenerates it offers
more subsistence for P. vivax, which
prefers to attack young red blood
cells, the researchers say.
Our findings challenge ideas
that one species will outcompete the
other, says coauthor Sarah Reece,
a biologist at the University of
Edinburgh in the United Kingdom.
This explains why infections
involving two parasite species
can pose a greater health risk to
patients. The study showed that
mice infected with a rodent malaria
species analagous to P. falciparum
saw millions of their red blood cells
destroyed by the parasite. When
they were also infected with a rodent
malaria species analagous to P.
vivax while the blood cells were still
regenerating, the second parasite
attacked the body longer and more
aggressively than it would have
done on its own, leading to severe
symptoms. The study, published
in Ecology Letters, suggests that
resources in the body can have a
larger impact than immune response
on how different parasite species
interact, Reece says. Malaria infected
around 214 million people in 2015,
and killed just under half a million.

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Fake news: Pentagon paid British firm $500m

for top secret Iraq propaganda
The Pentagon gave a controversial
British PR firm over half a billion
dollars to run a top secret propaganda
programme in Iraq, the Bureau of
Investigative Journalism can reveal.
Bell Pottingers output included
short TV segments made in the style
of Arabic news networks and fake
insurgent videos which could be used
to track the people who watched them,
according to a former employee.
The agencys staff worked alongside
high-ranking US military officers
in their Baghdad Camp Victory
headquarters as the insurgency
raged outside.
Bell Pottingers former chairman
Lord Tim Bell confirmed to the
Sunday Times, which worked with
the Bureau on this story, that his firm
had worked on a covert military
operation covered by various secrecy
agreements.
Bell Pottinger reported to the
Pentagon, the CIA and the National
Security Council on its work in
Iraq, he said. Bell, one of Britains
most successful public relations
executives, is credited with honing
Margaret Thatchers steely image
and helping the Conservative party
win three elections. The agency he
co-founded has had a roster of clients
including repressive regimes and
Asma al-Assad, the wife of the Syrian
president. In the first media interview
any Bell Pottinger employee has
given about the work for the US
military in Iraq, video editor Martin
Wells who no longer works for the
company told the Bureau his time
in Camp Victory was shocking, eyeopening, life-changing.
The firms output was signed off by
former General David Petraeus then
commander of the coalition forces in
Iraq and on occasion by the White
House, Wells said.
Bell Pottinger produced reams
of material for the Pentagon, some
of it going far beyond standard

communications work.
The Bureau traced the firms Iraq
work through US army contracting
censuses,
federal
procurement
transaction records and reports by
the Department of Defense (DoD)
Inspector General, as well as Bell
Pottingers corporate filings and
specialist publications on military
propaganda. We interviewed half a
dozen former officials and contractors
involved in information operations in
Iraq.
There were three types of media
operations commonly used in Iraq at
the time, said a military contractor
familiar with Bell Pottingers work
there. White is attributed, it says
who produced it on the label, the
contractor said. Grey is unattributed
and black is falsely attributed. These
types of black ops, used for tracking
who is watching a certain thing, were
a pretty standard part of the industry
toolkit.
Bell Pottinger changed ownership
after a management buyout in
2012 and its current structure has
no connections with the unit that
operated in Iraq, which closed in
2011. It is understood the key people
who worked in that unit deny any
involvement with tracking software
as described by Wells.
Bell Pottingers work in Iraq was
a huge media operation which cost
over a hundred million dollars a year
on average. A document unearthed
by the Bureau shows the company
was employing almost 300 British
and Iraqi staff at one point.
The London-based PR agency was
brought into Iraq soon after the
US invasion. In March 2004 it was
tasked by the countrys temporary
administration with the promotion
of democratic elections a highprofile activity which it trumpeted
in its annual report.
The firm soon switched to less
high-profile activities, however. The

Bureau has identified transactions

worth $540 million between the
Pentagon
and
Bell
Pottinger
for information operations and
psychological operations on a series
of contracts issued from May 2007 to
December 2011. A similar contract at
around the same annual rate $120
million was in force in 2006, we
have been told.
The bulk of the money was for costs
such as production and distribution,
Lord Bell told the Sunday Times, but
the firm would have made around
15 million a year in fees.
Martin Wells, the ex-employee,
told the Bureau he had no idea what
he was getting into when he was
interviewed for the Bell Pottinger job
in May 2006.
He had been working as a freelance
video editor and got a call from his
agency suggesting he go to London
for an interview for a potential new
gig. Youll be doing new stuff thatll
be coming out of the Middle East, he
was told.
I
thought
That
sounds
interesting, Wells recalled. So I go
along and go into this building, get
escorted up to the sixth floor in a lift,
come out and theres guards up there.
I thought what on earth is going on
here? And it turns out it was a Navy
post, basically. So from what I could
work out it was a media intelligence
gathering unit.
After a brief chat Wells asked when
he would find out about the job, and
was surprised by the response.
Youve already got it, he was told.
Weve already done our background
checks into you.
He would be flying out on Monday,
Wells learned. It was Friday
afternoon. He asked where he would
be going and got a surprising answer:
Baghdad.
So I literally had 48 hours to
gather everything I needed to live in
a desert, Wells said. F

November 2016

&brefs

news

UNICEF says 75,000 children could die in Nigeria hunger crisis

Famine-like conditions in the former
stronghold of Boko Haram militants
in northeast Nigeria could kill
75,000 children over the next year
if they do not receive aid, the United
Nations childrens agency said.
Some 15,000 people have been
killed and more than two million
displaced during a seven-year
insurgency by the Islamist militant
group that has been pushed back
to its stronghold in the northeasts
vast Sambisa forest in the last few
months.
The U.N. has called for military

escorts for aid workers trying to

reach areas affected by the crisis,
which has been exacerbated by
soaring food prices and scarce
reserves from the last harvest.
The 75,000 is from the three
states Borno, Yobe and Adamawa,
said UNICEF spokesman Patrick
Rose, in an emailed response to
questions, referring to the number
of children in those areas who could
die over the next year.
The agency has said 400,000
children aged under five would suffer
from severe acute malnutrition in

those states, which have been worst

hit by the insurgency, and more
than four million people faced severe
food shortages in the region.
UNICEF also said it had increased
the sum sought in its humanitarian
appeal
to
help
malnourished
children in the region, where food
supplies are close to running out, to
$115 million - more than double the
previous amount of $55 million.
It said it had so far received just
$28 million, which it said presents
a serious obstacle to UNICEFs scale
up plan. F

China developing new strategic bomber UAE residents throw

China is to build a new strategic
bomber aircraft to enhance the
countrys
long-range
strike
capabilities,
national
media
reported. The news was announced
by the commander of the Peoples
Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF),
General Ma Xiaotian, who said that
the new aircraft was in development
and will be fielded sometime in
the future, according to the China
Daily. No further details were
disclosed.
The PLAAF currently fields
approximately 120 XAC Hongzhaji
(H)-6 bombers. Essentially an
upgraded version of the 1960s-era
Soviet Tupolev Tu-16 Badger, the
H-6 is powered by two Russian

November 2016

Soloviev D-30KP-2 turbofan engines

and can carry a bomb/missile load
of up to 9,000 kg in an internal
weapons bay or on six underwing
hardpoints out to a combat radius
of 3,500 km (for the latest H-6K
variant).
In terms of Chinas technical
expertise in the field of aeronautics,
while great advances have been
made over recent years (culminating
in the rolling out of a number of
indigenous types, including the J-20
and J-31 fighters, and Y-20 airlifter),
it still falls short in the development
of engines in particular. That the
country has recognised this shortfall
in its expertise, and is working hard
to bridge the knowledge gap with
all of the resources it
is able to bring to bear,
indicates that it will
not be too long before
its domestic aerospace
industry has caught up
with those of the Uk,
France, Russia and the
United States. F

away $4 billion in
food every year

UAE residents have been urged to

cook smaller meals to cut down
on $4 billion (AED14.69 billion)
of wasted food dumped at landfill
sites every year.
More than three million tonnes
of food is wasted every year,
according to Habiba Al Marashi,
Emirates Environmental Group
founder and chairperson.
In 2014, total food imports into
the country were $100 billion.
That is set to rise to $400 billion in
2020, said Al Marashi at an event
on sustainable consumption.
One-third of all food produced
for human consumption is thrown
away every year, reported Gulf
News. About $680 billion in
food waste is landfilled yearly in
industrial countries with a further
$310 billion in food wasted in
developing countries.
We need to stand up and take
our responsibility very seriously,
said Al Marashi.

 news & views to bridge the global divide

China tops US in supercomputers

A new supercomputer in Chinathe
first made with processors designed
and made in the Peoples Republic
has been ranked the worlds most
powerful system by far. The news
comes as China tops the US for the
first time in both the number and
performance of systems on the latest
Top500 list.
The Sunway TaihuLight at the
National Supercomputing Center in
Wuxi hit 93 petaflops/second on the
Linpack benchmark and a theoretical
peak performance of 125.4 Pflop/s.
It uses 40,960 Sunway SW26010
processors designed by the Shanghai
High Performance IC Design Center.
Chinas Tianhe-2 already held
the title of the worlds fastest
supercomputer for the last three
years, but it was built using Intel
processors and an interconnect chip
designed in China.
The Sunway TaihuLight is
almost three times as fast and three
times as efficient as the [Tianhe-2] it
displaces in the number one spot,
said Jack Dongarra, a computer
science professor at University of
Tennessee and co-author of the twice
yearly Top500 list. The system is
five times faster than the top ranked
US supercomputer, the Titan, a Cray
XK7 system at Oak Ridge National
Laboratory that hits 17.59 pflops/s,
making it #3 in the world.
For comparison, the next large
acquisition of a supercomputer for
the U.S. Department of Energy which
is expected to be approximately 200
Pflops/s will not be until 2017 with

production beginning in 2018, wrote

Dongarra in an 18-page report on the
Sunway system.
Dongarra sounded a note of both
praise for China and alarm for US
technologists in his conclusion of the
report:
The Sunway TaihuLight system
demonstrates
the
significant
progress that China has made in
designing and manufacturing largescale computation systemsThe fact
that there are sizeable applications
and Gordon Bell [award] contender
applications running on the system
is impressive and shows that the
system is capable of running real
applications and not just a stunt
machine.
In
2001
there
were
no
supercomputers listed on the Top500
in China. Today China has 167 systems
on the list compared to 165 systems in
the US. This is the first time the US
has lost the leadIt is clear that they
are on a path which will take them to
an exascale computer by 2020, well
ahead of the US plans for reaching
exascale by 2023.
The latest rankings are the result
of Chinas focused spending on
supercomputing over the last three
to five years while spending in the US
slumped, said Horst Simon, deputy
director of the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory and another
co-author of the Top500 list. The
good news is the US is getting back
in the game with projects such as
the National Strategic Computing
Initiative, he said. F

London introducing fast walking lane

banned for mobile phones
An insurance company, Direct Line,
is putting in a fast walking lane near
Londons Waterloo station where cell
phone use is banned. People using
their mobile phones are getting in
the way of others who just want
to get to their destination without
being hampered by phone users. F

Sick of police violence

in USA, black woman
paints herself white
A black woman has filmed
herself painting her body white
as a protest against the recent
police shootings in the United
States.
Tashala Dangel Geyer, who is
from Daytona Beach, Florida,
according to reports, filmed
the 40-minute Facebook Live
segment in her home. Snippets
have since been uploaded to
YouTube and Instagram.
During the clip, Geyer paints
most of her body brilliant
white using materials from
Home Depot, while satirically
advising other black people to
do the same to ensure their own
safety. This is the best shit
I ever could have thought of,
its saving my life, she says at
the start of one clip. The Lord
woke me up and sent me this
sign, she adds.
If you want to survive, go
white, she says later in the
video, a clip of which was also
posted to Instagram.

Morocco
revamps worlds
oldest university

The Moroccan city of Fez is home to

the oldest university in the world.
Al-Qarawiyyin has stood for
centuries as one of the most
prestigious centres of science and
technology.
But over the years, it has fallen
into disrepair. Experts have now
been called in and a facelift is under
way sponsored by King Mohammed
VI. For more information see
Aljazeera
report:
http://www.
arabianbusiness.com/videos/videomorocco-revamps-world-s-oldestuniversity-649914.html F

November 2016

&brefs

news

Some 385 million children live

in extreme poverty, study
Children are more than twice as
likely as adults to live in extreme
poverty, with nearly 385 million
children worldwide experiencing that
condition, according to a new analysis
from the World Bank Group and
the United Nations Childrens Fund
(UNICEF).
Children are not only more likely
to be living in extreme poverty; the
effects of poverty are most damaging
to children [...] and the youngest
children are the worst off of all,
because the deprivations they suffer
affect the development of their bodies
and their minds, said UNICEF
Executive Director Anthony Lake in a
news release.
It is shocking that half of all
children in sub-Saharan Africa and
one in five children in developing
countries are growing up in extreme
poverty. This not only limits their
futures, it drags down their societies,
he added.
The report, titled Ending Extreme
Poverty: A Focus on Children, finds
that in 2013, 19.5 per cent of children
in developing countries were living
in households that survived on an
average of $1.90 a day or less per
person, compared to just 9.2 per cent
of adults. Globally, almost 385 million
children were living in extreme
poverty. The youngest children are
the most at risk with more than
one-fifth of children under the age of
five in the developing world living in

November 2016

extremely poor households.

The new analysis came on the
heels of the release of the World Bank
Groups new flagship study, Poverty
and Shared Prosperity 2016: Taking
on Inequality, which found that some
767 million people globally were living
on less than $1.90 per day in 2013,
half of them under the age of 18.
The sheer number of children
in extreme poverty points to a real
need to invest specifically in the early
years in services such as pre-natal
care for pregnant mothers, early
childhood development programs,
quality schooling, clean water, good
sanitation, and universal health
care, said Ana Revenga, the Senior
Director responsible for poverty
and equity issues at the World Bank
Group. Improving these services,
and ensuring that todays children
can access quality job opportunities
when the time comes, is the only way
to break the cycle of intergenerational
poverty that is so widespread today,
she added. The global estimate of
extreme child poverty is based on
data from 89 countries, representing
83 per cent of the developing worlds
population.
Highest rates of extreme poverty
found in Sub-Saharan Africa & South
Asia Sub-Saharan Africa has both
the highest rates of children living
in extreme poverty at just under 50
per cent, and the largest share of the
worlds extremely poor children, at
just over 50 per cent. South Asia has
the second highest share at nearly
36 per cent with over 30 per cent
of extremely poor children living in
India alone. More than four out of five
children in extreme poverty live in
rural areas. F

Article 50 will be
triggered before
end of March 2017
Article 50, the official signal that
Britain will leave the European
Union (EU), will be invoked by the
end of March 2017, Prime Minister
Theresa May said last month.
It will trigger the start of
negotiations with Europe on
matters such as trade and free
movement of people and will give
the country two years to agree
terms of leaving the union.
That means it would be wrapped
up by March 2019, before European
Parliamentary elections expected
later in that year.
Negotiating with Europe can
not begin until Article 50 of the
Lisbon Treaty is invoked and the
confirmation of a timetable will be
welcome news to business as it will
provide more certainty.
However,
former
business
minister Anna Soubry raised
concerns over starting the process
so soon, saying: We need to
know our red lines going into this
process. Triggering Brexit as
early as March really concerns me.
It troubles me hugely, because we
won have had the French elections,
we wont have had the German
elections and it is going to take a
lot of time and effort to disentangle
ourselves and get the right deal,
she said, speaking on ITVs Peston
on Sunday show.
British Chambers of Commerce
Director General Adam Marshall
said: For most businesses, getting
Brexit right is far more important
than doing it quickly. Now that the
Prime Minister has set a timetable,
the government must demonstrate
to business that it has a clear and
coherent strategy to defend the UKs
economic and business interests in
the negotiations that lie ahead.
Setting a date for starting
withdrawal comes after it was
confirmed that a new bill will be
introduced in Parliament next year
to repeal EU laws.

 news & views to bridge the global divide

UN admits it is helpless with Syria bombing

Russia
and
Syria
faced
a
growing chorus of international
condemnation over their actions in
Aleppo, but UN officials conceded
there was little they could do
beyond shaming the two countries
for what they are increasingly
calling war crimes.
UN humanitarian chief Stephen
OBrien told the Security Council
that with the Syrian armys
encirclement, eastern Aleppo has
descended into the merciless abyss
of humanitarian catastrophe, with
275,000 additional Syrians now
being besieged.
Besiegement its not a weapon of
war, it is a flagrant, unjustifiable
breech of the law - law which the
besieging parties have signed up
to, OBrien said.
Even if not today, one day
there will be no hiding place for

the individuals and institutions

callously, cynically perpetrating
these war crimes.
He said the total number of
besieged people in Syria had
climbed to 861,200 up from 586,000
just weeks ago.
OBrien said both the Syrian
government, which has encircled
eastern Aleppo, and the rebels
mounting attacks from inside the
city were to blame for the situation.
He also rapped the council for its
inaction.
The only remaining deterrent
it seems is that there will be real
accountability in the court of world
opinion and disgust, goodness
knows nothing else seems to be
working to stop this deliberate and
gratuitous carnage of lives lost,
OBrien added.
Attempts to take action at the UN

Bulgaria becomes the latest European

country to ban niqab
Bulgaria has become the latest
European country to ban the face
veil, after parliament approved
legislation outlawing the garment in
public.
It joins a small number of EU
countries to ban the veil as debate
rages across Europe about religious
freedoms and womens rights.
The law bans wearing in public
clothing that partially or completely
covers the face, referring to the
burqa or the more common niqab.
Infringements carry fines of 200
leva (103 euros, $114), rising to
1,500 leva for repeated offences.
Bulgarias mostly centuries-old
Muslim community, dating back to
conversions during Ottoman times,
makes up around 13 percent of the
population, mostly in the Turkish
minority.
Muslim women in Bulgaria have
generally worn just a simple scarf to
cover their hair.
But recently there has been a
small rise in the number of women

wearing the niqab among some

ultra-conservative Muslims in the
Roma commununity.
The often impoverished and
marginalised Roma make up just
under 10 percent of Bulgarias
population, around a third of whom
are Muslim. Several Bulgarian towns
had already banned the niqab at local
level.
The legislation was approved
despite opposition from the MDL
Turkish minority party which
accused the other parties of sowing
religious intolerance.
France and Belgium have both
banned the burqa or niqab and
Switzerlands lower house this week
narrowly approved a draft bill on a
nationwide ban.
In August Germanys interior
minister came out in favour of a
partial ban.
France was also this summer
embroiled in a row over bans on the
burkini, a full-body Islamic swimsuit,
in resorts around the Riviera. F

to end Syrias civil war, now in its

sixth year, have repeatedly failed
because Russia, Syrias close ally,
is one of the Security Councils five
veto wielding members.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon also
implicitly accused Syria and Russia
of committing war crimes. Without
naming countries, Ban said those
using
ever
more
destructive
weapons know exactly what they
are doing - they know they are
committing war crimes.
The
Syrian
government
announced the offensive to retake
rebel-held eastern Aleppo, and
the only countries carrying out
airstrikes are Syria and Russia.
Syrias UN Ambassador Bashar
Jaafari denied his government was
behind the bombings of civilians
and aid convoys and blamed
terrorists. F

Russias latest
missile can destroy
Texas in one hit
Russias latest missile the Satan
2 can hold 10 tons of nuclear
warheads and has enough power
to level France or Texas with one
hit. It is an answer to US global
strike system.

November 2016

&brefs

news

Private contractors fighting Pentagons

online war against Islamic State
The Pentagon has hired private
contractors to produce propaganda
combatting Islamic States lies
and deception on social media,
according to the Bureau of
investigative journalism.
A Department of Defence official
confirmed the digital warfare
tactics in response to revelations
by the Bureau that a British PR
firm had been paid $540 million
by the US military to produce
infomercials fake news in Iraq.
Bell Pottinger a company which
has attracted controversy in the
past for representing repressive
regimes also made fake al Qaeda
propaganda DVDs that were
encoded to track whoever watched
them when they went online,
according to a former employee.
The official did not detail what
kind of material companies were
producing for the Pentagon today,
saying only that the robust
online program operated using
truthful information directed
toward regional audiences to
combat ISILs (Islamic States) lies
and deception.
The
effort
grew
out
of
information
operations
to
counter al Qaeda and Taliban
online propaganda, he said,
and harnesses the professional
talents and expertise of both
military members and contractors

November 2016

working together.
Martin Wells, a video editor
who worked on Bell Pottingers
project in Baghdad during 20068, told the Bureau he had made
news segments made to look as
if they were produced by Arabic
television networks. He also said
he produced fake al Qaeda films
recorded onto CDs embedded with
code which linked to a Google
Analytics account once the films
were opened with the media
streaming application RealPlayer.
This provided the Pentagon with a
list of IP addresses where the CDs
had been played.
The
Pentagon
would
not
comment on whether it was using
similar tactics against Islamic
State. PR guru Lord Tim Bell, who
chaired Bell Pottinger at the time
of the Iraq contract, said he was
proud of the work the firm did
there.
We did a lot to help resolve the
situation, he told the Sunday
Times,
which
worked
with
the Bureau on the story. Not
enough. We did not stop the mess
which emerged, but it was part
of the American propaganda
machinery.
Bell
Pottinger
changed
ownership after a management
buyout in 2012 and its current
structure has no connections with
the unit Wells worked for, which
closed in 2011.
Both jihadi groups and the
media have evolved drastically
since Bell Pottinger were working
on the Pentagon programme in
Iraq, a contract which lasted from
at least 2006 to 2011. F

No words left to describe

suffering of children in
Aleppo UNICEF
Children in Aleppo are trapped in a
living nightmare, a senior official
of the United Nations Childrens
Fund (UNICEF) said, stressing yet
again, the direness of the situation,
particularly for the children, in
Syrias war-ravaged Aleppo. The
children of Aleppo are trapped in
a living nightmare, said UNICEF
Deputy Executive Director Justin
Forsyth in a news release issued by
the UN agency. There are no words
left to describe the suffering they
are experiencing, he added.
According to UNICEF, At least 96
children have been killed and 223
have been injured in eastern Aleppo
since Friday.
The UN agency further said that
the health system in eastern Aleppo
is crumbling with just 30 or so
doctors left, hardly any equipment
or emergency medicine to treat the
injured, and an ever increasing
number of trauma cases. The UN
agency added that according to
doctors on the ground, children
with low chances of survival are
too often left to die due to limited
capacity and supplies.
Nothing can justify such
assaults on children and such
total disregard for human life. The
suffering and the shock among
children is definitely the worst
we have seen, underscored Mr.
Forsyth in the statement.
Earlier this week, speaking at an
emergency session of the Security
Council, UN Special Envoy for Syria
Staffan de Mistura strongly appealed
to the Councils membership
particularly permanent members
Russia and the United States
to rescue the recently collapsed
cessation of hostilities, help end the
bloodshed and enable urgent aid
into the iconic city, where, overall,
some two million people remain
trapped under a de facto siege.

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Modernizing sub-Saharan Africas farming Emaars Tower to be

systems can boost livelihoods FAO
safest supertalls in
With Africa set to play an evergrowing role in feeding the worlds
bourgeoning population, the United
Nations Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) stressed that the
sub-Saharan region needs modern,
efficient and above all mechanized
and environmentally sound farming
system to meet global demand and
transform the lives and economies of
millions of rural families.
A new FAO report reveals for
example, that farm mechanization
can facilitate increased output
of higher value products while
eliminating the drudgery associated
with
human
muscle-powered
agricultural production. Improved
livelihoods for small farmers means
increased access to input supply
chains and integration in modern
food systems, resulting in improved
incomes, numerous and renewed
business opportunities, among other
gains.
Moreover,
agricultural
mechanization in its broadest
sense can contribute significantly
to the sustainable development of
food systems globally, as it has the
potential to render post-harvest,
processing and marketing activities
and functions more efficient, effective
and environmentally friendly, said
FAO Assistant Director-General Ren
Wang, head of the Agriculture and
Consumer Protection Department in
a news release on the report.
The
agencys
Agricultural
mechanization: A key input for
sub-Saharan African Smallholders
report underlines that agricultural
mechanization in the twenty-first
century should be environmentally
compatible, economically viable,
affordable, adapted to local conditions
and, in view of current developments
in weather patterns, climate-smart.
Mechanization covers all levels
of
farming
and
processing
technologies, from simple and basic

hand tools to more sophisticated and

motorized equipment, it goes on to
explain, adding that it extends far
beyond ploughing and can contribute
to productivity gains and new jobs
in the post-harvest, processing and
marketing stages of local and global
food systems.
As things stand, two-thirds of the
power used to prepare sub-Saharan
African land for farming is provided
by human muscle. Comparable rates
are 30 percent for South Asia and
even lower for Latin America.
There is no doubt that the
application of farm power to
appropriate tools, implements and
machines is an essential agricultural
input in sub-Saharan Africa with
the potential to transform the lives
and economies of millions of rural
families, said Mr. Wang.
Overall,
FAO
stresses
that
the
opportunity
provided
by
mechanization must be guided in
a way that meets small farmers
needs and that does not require a
Green-Revolution type of approach
with high levels of agrochemical
inputs and destructive ploughing
operations that threaten soil health
and fertility.
According to FAO expert and key
author of the report Josef Kienzle,
mechanization allows smallholders
both to intensify and expand
agricultural production as well as
enabling some family members to
seek off-farm jobs and incomes.
As
rural
African
youths
increasingly migrate to urban
centres, the region may face labour
shortages along with increasing
demand for food to be sent to the
cities. Mechanization can help the
often elderly or female farmers
who remain in rural areas to keep
up with higher output needs,
thus contributing to increased
food security and climate change
mitigation. F

the world

Emaar has said The Tower at

Dubai Creek Harbour will be the
worlds tallest skyscraper when it is
completed in 2020.
The projects architect Micael
Calatrava also revealed to Arabian
Business that The Towers design
includes a sway, but that the
motion would be unnoticable to
visitors. The Tower is to be built in
the heart of the six-square-kilometre
Dubai Creek Harbour development
under construction by Emaar and
would compete against Kingdom
Tower, a 1km structure still under
construction in Saudi Arabia. The
828-metre Burj Khalifa, currently
the tallest building in the world, was
designed to resist winds of up to 150
kilometres per hour by swaying in
movements similar to a tree, to help
reduce stress on the structure. The
design of Burj Khalifa includes
three wings around a central core
in the shape of Y, which forms a
circle, stopping at various heights to
produce a series of ledges rising on
the sides of the building. Calatrava,
son of Santiago Calatrava Valls, the
project architect, said the tower will
be completed before Dubai hosts the
Expo 2020 event.
When asked if the tower will be
100 metres higher than Burj Khalifa
or more, he said: That is what has
been announced. Yes, it will be 100
metres taller than Burj Khalifa. In
June, Emaar Properties Chairman
Mohammed Alabbar had told CNN
that the tower would be 100 metres
taller than Burj Khalifa, while in
April he said would cost $1 billion.

November 2016

10

from North-South Books

Guy Arnold is an internationally acclaimed author, a
journalist and a lecturer in international affairs specialising
in Africa and relations between the developed and the
developing worlds (North and South). After spending
decades in the African continent acquiring a vast experience
on the politics and international relations, he has written
over fifty books on African and international affairs
including Kenyatta and the Politics of Kenya; Modern Nigeria; Modern Kenya;
Aid in Africa; The last Bunker (South Africa); South Africa: Crossing the
Rubicon; The New South Africa; Historical Dictionary of Civil Wars in Africa;
Africa: a Modern History (19602000); Political and Economic Encyclopaedia of
Africa; The Maverick State: Gaddafi and the New World Order; Morocco in the
21st Century; Migration: Changing the World; and America and Britain: Was
There Ever A Special Relationship?

Guy Arnold

Historical, regional and international

dimensions

He has also written a number of books on the North and South countries,
prominent among them are: The End of the Third World; Wars in the Third
World Since 1945; World Government by Stealth (United Nations);
Mercenaries: The Scourge of the Third World; World strategic Highways;
The international Drugs Trade; Historical Dictionary of the Non-Aligned
movement and the Third World. His most recent book is America and Britain:
Was There Ever A Special Relationship?
This Encyclopaedia is an essential informative reading for those interested in
contemporary African affairs.

Dr Ali Bahaijoub

ali Bahaijoub

Dr Ali Bahaijoub is Editor-in-Chief of North-South Publications. A former

lecturer, writer and journalist, he has written numerous studies and feature
articles on Africa, Europe and the Middle East and comments on various
international issues for the BBC, CNN, France24 and other global networks.

ISBN 978-0-9563070-4-0

W
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9 780956 307040

Encyclopaedia of Africa
Guy Arnold
edited by Ali Bahaijoub

Encyclopaedia of Africa

WeSTeRN SaHaRa cONflicT:

WeSTeRN SaHaRa
cONflicT:

Guy Arnold

ali Bahaijoub

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City Business Centre
Unit 17
Lower Road
London SE16 2XB,
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 2072 523000
email:
northsouthbooks@aol.com
to order a copy visit:
www.northsouthpublications.com

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 news & views to bridge the global divide

over

e
top!
h
t

Womans inappropriate funeral selfie

A young woman has come under
fire on social media after she
posted a selfie - taken at her
grandfathers funeral with the
coffin in the background
At a first glance, the picture is
just another glamorous young
woman taking yet another
selfie to document another day
in her life.
If you look more closely youll
notice theres something in the
background - and she certainly
isnt alone in the frame.
And the snap has in fact earned
her the nickname LadyFuneral.
Dressed in black and with a sober
expression on her face, Francesca
Fierros Palomino took the candid
snap at her grandfathers funeral.
And you can see him too, as the
coffin is in the background. F

Wife begs husband for female lover

A
polyamorous
threesome
comprised of two women and one
man are planning to make their
love official - with a three-way
wedding. DeAnna Rivas, 27 had
to plead with her husband Manny,
28, before he would allow 20-yearold Melissa James to join their
household.

Now she is part of the family looking after the couples children
as well as fulfilling their sexual
desires.
The trio share a king-size bed
and all three plan to marry each
other in the future - although the
marriage would not be legal in
their home state of Florida, USA.
Now Melissa - known as MJ takes care of the couples children,
Vaneza, seven, and Gabriel, four,
while DeAnna and Manny work
- and the parents insist MJ is as
much of a mum to the youngsters
as they are.
DeAnna, a shop assistant, said:
Before we found MJ I was so

Tenant uses
bath as toilet
Revolting images have been
released showing a home where
the tenant used his bath as a toilet
and left rotten food and rubbish
strewn everywhere.
Doors were damaged and the
toilet was overflowing with waste
in the home of David Fyles in
Ormskirk,
West
Lancashire,
England.
The 49-year-old tenant was
evicted after a court was shown
the images and the property was
repossessed by the council.
The three-bed property was
described by a court officer as the
worst living conditions he had
seen in 30 years, according to the
Liverpool Echo.
The court also heard the
tenant had breached his tenancy
agreement by failing to pay rent
on time and failing to use fixtures
and fittings appropriately.
A money order to pay back
rent arrears of 938.64 was also
granted.

miserable, I felt like there was a

hole in my life that only another
woman could fill. When I first
told Manny he said it felt like
a betrayal and he was really
offended that I wanted to be with
someone else. It took me four
years to convince him but now
we have MJ in our lives and the
children love having two mums we couldnt be happier. F

November 2016

12

Girl has 80 worms removed from ear

A four-year-old girl has had 80

worms removed from her ear after
an insect attracted to foul smells
and dirty conditions entered the
orifice. Radhika Mandloi, from
a small village in Dhar, Madhya
Pradesh, in central India, had
started to suffer extreme pain and
itching in her left ear.
At first, her parents thought she

was over reacting. But when she

started crying continuously they
eventually took her to MY Hospital in
Indore on October 8. Dr Raj Kumar
Mundra, head of the ear, nose and
throat department at the hospital,
gave her a thorough examination
and was shocked to find an insect
called Genus Chrysomya inside her
ear, which had laid nearly 80 eggs.
Dr Mundra said: I was very shocked
to see so many eggs. This type of
bug is attracted to foul smells and
extremely unhygienic conditions.
And as the ears and nose are areas
most vulnerable and open they enter
and lay eggs. Weve had previous
cases where theyve had two or
three eggs but this is the first time
weve seen anyone with such a huge
amount. F

Finding a wife in Ethiopia

Images from southern Ethiopia
capture the moments members of
the Suri tribe take part in a fighting
ritual, at a time when their way of
life is under threat.
Warriors are seen taking part in
the Donga, or stick fight, which
has traditionally been a way men
impress women and find a wife.
They fight with little or no clothing,
and the violent clashes sometimes

result in death. Battles usually take

place between Suri villages, which
can consist of between 40 and 2,500
people. They are usually held after
the rains, and there are often 20
to 30 fighters on each side, with
tribesmen taking it in turns to fight
one-on-one. Referees enforce a code
of conduct - it is against the rules to
hit someone while they are on the
floor. F

Bodybuilder with
23-inch biceps
A bodybuilder inspired by the
Incredible Hulk is risking his life
by injecting oil into his arms in a
bid to make his muscles bigger.
Beefcake Valdir Segatos huge
biceps measure a staggering
23 inches as a result of painful
synthol injections. The 48-yearolds arms have doubled in
size from 12in after he began
injecting the potentially lethal
oil substance five years ago - and
now he wants to get even bigger.
Valdir, from Sao Paulo, Brazil,
is inspired by the physiques of
Arnold Schwarzenegger and the
Hulk and is proud to be known
locally as He-Man and the
monster in the street. Valdir,
a construction worker, said:
This is a dream come true that I
searched for and conquered. You
look at your body and see that
its growing and youre going to
want more. They call me Hulk,
Schwarzenegger and He-Man all
the time and I like that.

Daredevil Romanian
in 840ft-high stunt
Flaviu Cernescu from Romania
performs tricks while riding a
unicycle around the rim of an 840fthigh chimney. Footage which he
uploaded also shows him juggling
oranges as he circles the Targu Jiu
stack, one of the countrys tallest
structures. F

14

November 2016

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Pumpkin weighs same as horse

A giant pumpkin that weighs the
same as four baby elephants is being
donated to feed 1,000 homeless

Priests marry frogs

to induce rain

Hundreds of guests attended a twohour Hindu ceremony as priests

marry two frogs in a drought-struck
Indian village in a bid to make it
rain. The frogs were showered
with flowers during a feast for the
newlyweds. They say ritual pleases
rain god Barun. As yet, the gesture
has not brought monsoons to Rondo
village, in Indians Assam district.
The frogs will be kept as pets until
rain kicks in. F

people. Ray and Sarah Armstrongs

winter squash tips the scales at a
whopping 372kg (820lbs) - roughly
the same as a horse. Its so big it
had to be transported in a horsebox
from their home in South Clifton,
Nottingham, England, before being
loaded into the citys Lenton Centre
with a forklift truck. After taking
second prize at a national giant
pumpkin competition the couple
decided to give their gigantic grow
away to feed the homeless in soups.
Ray, 50, a textiles business owner,
who lives with GP wife Sarah, 35,
said: We heard other giant pumpkin
growers donate theirs to the local
zoo, where elephants smash them up
and eat them. F

Car-mad pensioner
spends 50, 000 on
number plate

Mike
Oyston,
of
Greater
Manchester, England, snapped up
the registration 5 UV for 51,000,
the entire tax-free lump sum of his
pension pot. I think it is worth twice
that, said the 64-year-old, insisting
it will be in high demand from SUV
owners. But he is yet to tell his wife
he spent a quarter of his pension at
the DVLA auction. F

Moustache
madness
Put down the razor, hide away
those clippers, and trouble the
barber no more.
Its that time of year again,
the particularly hair-raising
one. November is no more.
The month now heralds
Movember,
and
11
years
after it was first launched to
raise money and awareness
for mens health in 2003, its
effects in the United Kingdom
can be spotted up and down the
high street, in bars, schools,
offices, and trains. Suddenly
men begin to look different
and a toyboy becomes harder
to spot.
The annual event, No Shave
November, is for perfectly
ordinary men to brave the
task of growing a moustache
and raising money for charity
fighting
prostate
cancer,
testicular and mental health
issues such as despression.

Sink-top toilets
A pub in London has built a toilet
with a sink on top of the cistern. The
cupboard-sized lavatory is squeezed
into a winding, 18th century
building. The boozer, the newly
opened Islington Town House in
London, had two small toilets on the

first floor, very deprived of room in

which you might manaouvre. There
simply wasnt anywhere for a sink
to go, so the pub made use of some
innovative engineering. You can
now buy the loos in the UKif youve
also got limited space to play with. F
November 2016

15

cover story

COP22 should meet the target

to implement Paris Agreement

he European Union approved

the ratification of the global
climate deal, a step that is set to
enable the most sweeping accord to
combatpollution to come into force
less than a year after it was signed in
Paris last December.
The European Parliament voted
last month to endorse the unionlevel approval of the accord during
a plenary session in Strasbourg,
France, and the blocs governments
rubber-stamped the decision several
hours later. The EU aims to deposit
its ratification document at the
United Nations, making the climate
deals enactment criteria fulfilled.
That would pave the way for the Paris
agreement to take effect 30 days later,
in time for the first meeting of parties
to occur at this years UN climatechange conference starting on 7
November in Marrakech, Morocco.
The EU, which wants to lead the
global fight against climate change,
has come under increasing pressure
to ratify the Paris deal after US
President Barack Obama and Chinese
President Xi Jinping ratified it on
3 September. India approved the
agreement on 2 October and New
Zealand followed suit, taking the

number of countries that have joined

the agreement to 63. Together, those
nations are responsible for 52.11
per cent of global greenhouse-gas
emissions. The Paris Agreement
needs to be ratified by at least 55
parties accounting for 55 per cent of
global emissions to enter into force.
The EUs 28 nations account together
for 12 per cent and the seven member
states that already ratified the
agreement domestically cover 4.57
per cent, enough to meet the 55 per
cent requirement.
The ratification at the union level
approved by the EU Parliament
enables the bloc to join the Paris
agreement before the remaining
member nations finalise their
domestic approval procedures.
Under the global accord reached
in December 2015 in Paris,
more than 190 nations agreed
to work toward capping global
temperatureincreasessince
preindustrial times to 2 degrees Celsius
(3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The EU
aims to reduce the heat-trapping
gases by at least 40 per cent in 2030
compared with 1990 levels.
We have the policies and tools
to meet our targets, steer the
global clean energy transition and
modernize our economy, said EU
Climate and Energy Commissioner
Miguel Arias Canete. The world is
moving and Europe is in the drivers
seat, confident and proud of leading
the work to tackle climate change.
The ratification of the Paris
Agreement
by
the
European
parliament paves the way for the
worlds first global agreement. It was
President
of COP21 Sgolne Royal with

President of COP22 Salaheddine Mezouar

16

November 2016

northsouth

approved with 610 votes in favour, 38

against and with 31 abstentions.
The Paris deal has raced through
the UN ratification process in doublequick time. It took eight years to
get the previousKyoto Protocol
agreed and that was nowhere near
as comprehensive. As renewable
energy is plummeting in cost, so
the burden faced by nations turning
away from fossil fuels is not so
great. However, critics and skeptics
believe that the targets set in Paris
for curbing emissions are not tough
enough. Coal-fired power stations
are still being built at a rapid pace
in developing countries, even as rich
nations turn away from the energy
source into renewable energy.
The Paris agreement aims to shift
the world economy away from fossil
fuels in an effort to limit floods,
powerful
hurricanes,
droughts
and rising sea levels. It sets an aim
ideally for a maximum rise in global
temperatures of 1.5C. But scientists
have warned that action has been
delayed for so long that there is now
a need to develop ways of actually
sucking CO2 out of the air.
Although the Paris agreement
was welcomed worldwide, COP22 in
Marrakech should meet the soughtafter ratification required to enforce
the global deal.
Nonetheless, it
is no time for world leaders to be
complacent and action should be
taken sooner rather than later because
people across the world are facing
killer floods, powerful typhoons, and
water shortage so what matters most
is action now and urgently. 

Ali Bahaijoub

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Vast majority of world 6.76 billion people

live with excessive air pollution, UN report
With some 6.5 million people dying
annually from air pollution and 92
per cent of the worlds population
living in places where levels exceed
recommended limits, the United
Nations today rolled out its most
detailed profile of the scourge ever
in a bid to slash the deadly toll.
Fast action to tackle air pollution
cant come soon enough, top UN
World Health Organization (WHO)
environmental
official
Maria
Neirasaidof the new air quality
model, which includesinteractive
mapsmaps that highlight areas
within countries exceeding WHO
limits. The worlds population
reached 7.35 billion last year,
according to UN figures
Solutions exist with sustainable
transport in cities, solid waste
management, access to clean
household fuels and cook-stoves,
as well as renewable energies and
industrial emissions reductions,
Dr. Neira added.
Nearly 90 per cent of the deaths
occur in low- and middle-income
countries, with nearly two out of
three occurring in the South-east
Asia and Western Pacific regions.
Air pollution continues take a toll
on the health of the most vulnerable
populations women, children and
the older adults, WHOs Assistant
Director General Flavia Bustreo
said. For people to be healthy, they
must breathe clean air from their
first breath to their last, she added.
Major sources of air pollution
include
inefficient
modes
of
transport, household fuel and
waste burning, coal-fired power
plants, and industrial activities.
But not all air pollution originates
from human activity. For example,
air quality can also be influenced by
dust storms, particularly in regions
close to deserts.
The new WHO model shows

countries where the air pollution

danger spots are, and provides a
baseline for monitoring progress in
combatting it, Dr. Bustreo said.
Developed in collaboration with
the University of Bath, United
Kingdom, it represents WHOs
most detailed outdoor air pollutionrelated health data ever, based
on satellite measurements, air
transport models and ground
station monitors for more than
3,000 locations, both rural and
urban.
Some three million deaths a year
are linked to exposure to outdoor
air pollution. Indoor air pollution
can be just as deadly. In 2012, an
estimated 6.5 million deaths (11.6
per cent of all global deaths) were
associated with indoor and outdoor
air pollution together.
Ninety-four per cent of the deaths
are due to non-communicable
diseases notably cardiovascular
diseases,
stroke,
chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease
and lung cancer. Air pollution
also increases the risks for acute
respiratory infections.
This new model is a big step

forward
towards
even
more
confident estimates of the huge
global burden of more than six
million deaths one in nine of total
global deaths from exposure to
indoor and outdoor air pollution,
said Dr. Neira, who is WHO
Director, Department of Public
Health, Environmental and Social
Determinants of Health.
WHOs Ambient Air quality
guidelines limit annual mean
exposure to particulate matter
with a diametre of less than 2.5
micrometres (PM2.5), such as
sulfate, nitrates and black carbon,
which penetrate deep into the lungs
and cardiovascular system, posing
the greatest health risks.
The Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) of the2030 Agenda,
adopted at a UN summit last year,
call for substantially reducing the
number of deaths and illnesses
from air pollution. In May WHO
issued a new road map for
accelerated action with local health
sectors increasing monitoring and
assuming a greater leadership role
in national policies affecting air
pollution.

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November 2016

17

Rich and poor nations reach landmark deal in Kigali

egotiators from more than

170 countries last month
reached a legally binding accord to
counterclimate changeby cutting
the worldwide use of a powerful
planet-warming chemical used in
air-conditioners and refrigerators.
The talks in Kigali, the capital
of Rwanda, did not draw the same
spotlight as the climate change
agreement adopted in Paris in
December 2015. But the outcome
could have an equal or even greater
impact on efforts to slow the heating
of the planet.
While the Paris agreement
included pledges by nearly every
country to cut emissions of heattrapping carbon dioxide from the
fossil fuels that power vehicles,
electric
plants
and
factories,
the new Kigali deal has a single
target: chemical coolants called
hydrofluorocarbons,
or
HFCs,
used
in
air-conditioners
and
refrigerators.
The Kigali deal was seven years
in the making, and is a compromise
between rich nations and poorer,
hotter ones, including some where
rising incomes are just starting
to bring air-conditioners within
reach. Wealthier nations will freeze
production of HFCs more quickly
than poorer countries, though some
nations, including those in Africa,
elected to phase the chemicals out
more rapidly than required, citing
the grave threats they face from

climate change.
Worldwide use of HFCs has soared
in the past decade as rapidly growing
countries such as China and India
adopted air-conditioning in homes,
offices and cars. But HFC gases are
thousands of times more destructive
to the climate than carbon dioxide,
and scientists say their growing use
threatens to undermine the Paris
accord, agreed last year by 195
countries.
The deal will make little
difference to rich countries. The
EU had already started to phase out
HFCs and since 2011 had banned
their use in cars. Many global food
and drink companies Coca Cola,
Pepsico and Unilever among them
have already started to replace
fluorinated gases with climatefriendly and natural refrigerants,
which are more energy-efficient
and can save money.
The new agreement is welcomed by
many chemical and manufacturing
companies because it gives them
green kudos and market advantage
over inferior products made in poor
countries.
While the Paris agreement pledges
are broad and also voluntary, often
vague and dependent on the political
will of future world leaders, the
Kigali deal includes specific targets
and timetables to replace HFCs with
more planet-friendly alternatives,
trade sanctions, and an agreement
by rich countries to help finance the

transition of poor countries into the

costlier replacement products and
the adoption of renewable energy.
Given the heat-trapping power
of HFCs, scientists say the Kigali
agreement will stave off an increase
of atmospheric temperatures of
nearly one degree Fahrenheit. This
is understood to be a major step
toward averting an atmospheric
temperature increase of 3.6 degrees
Fahrenheit, the point at which
many experts think the world will
be locked into a future of rising
sea levels, severe droughts and
flooding, widespread food and
water shortages, and more powerful
hurricanes.
Over all, the Kigali deal is
expected to lead to the reduction of
the equivalent of 70 billion tons of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
about two times the carbon
pollution produced annually by the
entire world.
The Kigali accord is an amendment
to the Montreal Protocol, the
landmark 1987 pact designed to
close the hole in the ozone layer by
banning ozone-depleting coolants
called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs.
That means the Kigali amendment
maintains the legal force of a treaty
and makes it mandatory for all who
ratified it.
Chemical companies responded to
the 1987 agreement by developing
HFCs, which do not harm the
ozone layer but do trap heat in the
atmosphere.
The Kigali agreement came about
in part because the US President
Barack Obama sought to build a
legacy of tackling climate change
and elevated the obscure effort to
amend the Montreal Protocol to a
top White House priority. The final
agreement is also consistent with
the presidents efforts to push his
climate change agenda while using
creative ways to bypass a hostile
Congress.
Kigali
conference


18

November 2016

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 news & views to bridge the global divide

The Kigali amendment adds
momentum to a series of new global
climate change agreements. The
Paris agreement entered into legal
force this month, and governments
from 190 countries adopted a deal
to curb planet-warming emissions
from the aviation industry.
More
than
100
developing
countries will start taking action
from 2024, a date that has sparked
concern from some groups that the
changes will be implemented too
slowly. A small group of countries,
including India, Pakistan and some
Gulf states, pushed for and secured
a later start 2028 on the grounds
that their economies need time to
grow. But that is three years earlier

than India, the worlds third-worst

polluter, had first proposed.
The result was achieved thanks
to several factors: an ambitious
scheme to give countries different
time scales in which to phase out
HFCs; major chemical and food
companies accepting change; the
determination of US secretary of
stateJohn Kerryto agree a plan
before the presidential election; and
developing countries agreeing to
invest heavily in new technologies.
Rich countries, including the
US, Japan and Europe, will start
phasing out synthetic HFCs in 2019,
China in 2024, and India and less
ambitious countries in 2028. The deal
reflects countries differing levels

of development. Because nearly all

HFCs are made by a handful of giant
western chemical companies and
are used in air-conditioning units
and cooling systems made and sold
in rich countries, it was relatively
easy for their governments to put
pressure on a single global industry.
Alternatives such as hydrocarbons,
ammonia and CO2are widely
available, safe, approved and on the
market.
The deal keeps the Paris
agreement
on
track
to
be
widely implemented at the COP
22 Conference in Marrakech,
Morocco, in November and is a
vital step towards reducing global
emissions. 
Ali Bahaijoub

What is climate change?

n December 2015, officials from across the world

gathered in Paris, France, to try to hammer out a deal
to tackle global warming.
CO2 and other greenhouse gases are the driving forces
behind manmade climate change and the sharp rise in
global temperatures.
The planets climate has constantly been changing
over geological time. The global average temperature
today is about 15C, though geological evidence suggests
it has been much higher and lower in the past.
However, the current period of warming is occurring
more rapidly than many past events. Scientists are
concerned that the natural fluctuation, or variability,
is being overtaken by a rapid human-induced warming
that has serious implications for the stability of the
planets climate.
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) were widely recognised
as powerful greenhouse gases many years ago, and
though governments deliberately missed the chance to
eliminate them in 1987 , they agreed in the Montreal
Protocol to phase out CFCs and protect the ozone layer.
The ozone hole is slowly recovering, and HFCs are now
seen as just a small part of the climate change problem.

What is the greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect refers to the way the Earths
atmosphere traps some of the energy from the Sun.
Solar energy radiating back out to space from the
Earths surface is absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse
gases and re-emitted in all directions.
The energy that radiates back down to the planet heats

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November 2016

19

both the lower atmosphere and the

surface. Without this effect, the
Earth would be about 30C colder,
making our planet hostile to life.
Scientists believe we are adding
to the natural greenhouse effect
with gases released from industry
and
agriculture
(known
as
emissions), trapping more energy
and increasing the temperature.
This is commonly referred to as
global warming or climate change.
The most important of these
greenhouse gases in terms of its
contribution to warming is water
vapour, but concentrations show
little change and it persists in the
atmosphere for only a few days.
On the other hand, carbon dioxide
(CO2) persists for much longer
(it would take hundreds of years
for it to return to pre-industrial
levels). In addition, there is only so
much CO2 that can be soaked up
by natural reservoirs such as the
oceans.
Most man-made emissions of CO2
are through the burning of fossil
fuels, as well as through cutting
down carbon-absorbing forests.
Other greenhouse gases such as
methane and nitrous oxide are also
released through human activities,
but their overall abundance is small
compared with carbon dioxide.
Since the industrial revolution
began in 1750, CO2 levels have risen
by more than 30% and methane

20

November 2016

levels have risen more than 140%.

The concentration of CO2 in the
atmosphere is now higher than at
any time in at least 800,000 years.

What is the evidence

for warming?

Temperature records going back

to the late 19th Century show that
the average temperature of the
Earths surface has increased by
about 0.8C (1.4F) in the last 100
years. About 0.6C (1.0F) of this
warming occurred in the last three
decades.
Satellite data shows an average
increase in global sea levels of some
3mm per year in recent decades. A
large proportion of the change in
sea level is accounted for by the
thermal expansion of seawater. As
seawater warms up, the molecules
become
less
densely
packed,
causing an increase in the volume
of the ocean.
But the melting of mountain
glaciers and the retreat of polar
ice sheets are also important
contributors. Most glaciers in
temperate regions of the world
and along the Antarctic Peninsula
are in retreat. Since 1979, satellite
records show a dramatic decline in
Arctic sea-ice extent, at an annual
rate of 4% per decade. In 2012,
the ice extent reached a record
minimum that was 50% lower than
the 1979-2000 average.

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The Greenland Ice Sheet has

experienced record melting in
recent years; if the entire 2.8
million cu km sheet were to melt, it
would raise sea levels by 6m.
Satellite data shows the West
Antarctic Ice Sheet is also losing
mass, and a recent study indicated
that East Antarctica, which had
displayed no clear warming or
cooling trend, may also have started
to lose mass in the last few years.
But scientists are not expecting
dramatic changes. In some places,
mass may actually increase as
warming temperatures drive the
production of more snows.
The effects of a changing climate
can also be seen in vegetation
and land animals. These include
earlier flowering and fruiting
times for plants and changes in the
territories (or ranges) occupied by
animals.

What about the pause?

In the last few years, there has
been a lot of talk about a pause in
global warming. Commentators
argued that since 1998, there had
been no significant global warming
despite ever increasing amounts
of carbon dioxide being emitted.
Scientists have tried to explain this
in a number of ways.
These include:
- variations in the Suns energy
output
- a decline in atmospheric water
vapour
- greater storage of heat by the
oceans.
But so far, there is no general
consensus
on
the
precise
mechanism behind the pause.
Skeptics highlight the pause
as an example of the fallibility of
predictions based on computer
climate models. On the other hand,
climate scientists point out that the
hiatus occurs in just one component
of the climate system - the global
mean surface temperature - and

 news & views to bridge the global divide

that other indicators, such as

melting ice and changes to plant
and animal life, demonstrate that
the Earth has continued to warm.
In fact, a study published in
Science journalin June 2015
doubted there had been a warming
hiatus in the first place.

How much will

temperatures rise in
future?

In its 2013 assessment, the

Intergovernmental
Panel
on
Climate Change (IPCC) forecast a
range of possible scenarios based
on computer modelling. But most
simulations indicate that global
surface temperature change by the
end of the 21st Century is likely to
exceed 1.5C, relative to 1850.
A threshold of 2C is generally
regarded as the gateway to
dangerous warming.
Even if we cut greenhouse
gas emissions dramatically now,
scientists say the effects will
continue because parts of the
climate system, particularly large
bodies of water and ice, can take
hundreds of years to respond to
changes in temperature. It also
takes greenhouse gases decades to
be removed from the atmosphere.

How will climate

change affect us?
The scale of potential impacts
is uncertain. The changes could
drive
freshwater
shortages,
bring sweeping changes in food
production conditions, and increase
the number of deaths from floods,
storms, heat waves and droughts.
This is because climate change is
expected to increase the frequency
of extreme weather events - though
linking any single event to global
warming is complicated.
Scientists forecast more rainfall
overall, but say the risk of drought
in inland areas during hot summers
will increase. More flooding is
expected from storms and rising
sea levels. There are, however,
likely to be very strong regional
variations in these patterns.
Poorer countries, which are least
equipped to deal with rapid change,
could suffer the most.
Plant and animal extinctions
are predicted as habitats change
faster than species can adapt, and
the World Health Organization
(WHO) has warned that the health
of millions could be threatened by
increases in malaria, water-borne
disease and malnutrition.

As an increased amount of CO2

is released into the atmosphere,
there is increased uptake of CO2
by the oceans, and this leads to
them becoming more acidic. This
ongoing process of acidification
could pose major problems for the
worlds coral reefs, as the changes
in chemistry prevent corals from
forming a calcified skeleton, which
is essential for their survival.
Computer models are used to
study the dynamics of the Earths
climate and make projections
about future temperature change.
But these climate models differ on
climate sensitivity - the amount
of warming or cooling that occurs
as a particular factor, such as CO2.
goes up or down.
Models also differ in the way that
they express climate feedbacks.
Global warming will cause
some changes that look likely to
create further heating, such as
the release of large quantities of
the greenhouse gas methane as
permafrost (permanently frozen
soil found mainly in the Arctic)
melts. This is known as a positive
climate feedback.
But negative feedbacks exist that
could offset warming. Various
reservoirs on Earth absorb CO2
as part of the carbon cycle - the
process through which carbon is
exchanged between, for example,
the oceans and the land.

The question is: how

will these balance out?
UN climate conference in Paris
30 November - 11 December 2015.
COP 21 - the 21st session of the
Conference of the Parties - saw more
than 190 nations gather in Paris
to discuss a possible new global
agreement on climate change,
aimed at reducing greenhouse gas
emissions to avoid the threat of
dangerous warming due to human
activities.

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21

Global impact of climate change

Climate change affects all regions of the world from melting ice shields to extreme heat
waves and droughts, writes Franklin Adesegha.

n some regions the sea is rising

and rainfall is more common
leading to floods which decrease
water quality. Southern and central
Europe are seeing more frequent heat
waves, forest fires and droughts. The
Mediterranean is becoming drier,
making it even more vulnerable to
drought and wildfires. Northern
Europe is getting significantly wetter,
and winter floods could become
common. Many poor developing
countries are among the most
affected. People there often depend
heavily on the natural environment
and they have the least resources to
cope with the changing climate.
There has been an increase in the
number of heat-related deaths in some
regions and a decrease in cold-related
deaths in others. Changes are also
occurring in the distribution of some
water-borne illnesses and disease
vectors. Damage to property and
infrastructure and to human health
imposes heavy costs on society and
the economy. Between 1980 and 2011
floods affected more than 5.5 million
people and caused direct economic
losses of more than 90 billion.
Sectors that rely strongly on certain
temperatures and precipitation levels
such as agriculture, forestry, energy
and tourism are particularly affected.
Experts say these impacts will
intensify in the coming decades if
unchecked. The potential future
effects of global climate change
include more frequent wildfires,
longer periods of drought in some

22

November 2016

regions and an increase in the

number, duration and intensity
of tropical storms. Global climate
change has already had effects on the
environment. Glaciers have shrunk,
ice on rivers and lakes is breaking
up earlier, plant and animal ranges
have shifted and trees are flowering
sooner.
Taken as a whole, the range of
published evidence indicates that the
net damage costs of climate change
are likely to be significant and to
increase over time.
Scientists are confident that global
temperatures will continue to rise
for decades to come, largely due to
greenhouse gases produced by human
activities. The Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
which comprises more than 1,300
scientists from all over the world,
forecasts a temperature rise of 2.5
to 10 degrees Fahrenheit over the
next century. According to the IPCC,
the extent of climate change impact
on individual regions will vary over
time and with the ability of different
societal and environmental systems
to mitigate or adapt to change.
The IPCC predicts that increases
in global mean temperature of less
than 1.8 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit
(1 to 3 degrees Celsius) above 1990
levels will produce beneficial impacts
in some regions and harmful ones in
others. Net annual costs will increase
over time as global temperatures
increase.
In December 2015, a positive
new global climate agreement was
reached at the COP21 conference in
Paris. Over 195 countries signed up
to the deal, agreeing the need to keep
global temperature rise well below
2C, and try to keep it below 1.5C.
Governments have promised to help
tackle global warming by limiting
greenhouse gas emissions. This
will mean phasing out fossil fuels,
moving to renewable energy and

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protecting forests. The agreement

includes continued support to help
vulnerable developing countries
deal with the damaging impacts of
climate change.
Only last month, a total of 170
countries at a meeting in the
Rwandan capital Kigali, successfully
negotiated
an
amendment
to
the
Montreal
protocol
treaty
agreeing to eliminate 90 percent
of
hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs)
and take 0.5c out of future global
warming. The final agreement caps
and reduces the use of HFCs in a
gradual process beginning in 2019.
More than 100 developing countries
will start taking action from 2024,
a date that has sparked concern
from some groups that the changes
will be implemented too slowly. A
small group of countries, including
India, Pakistan and some Gulf states,
pushed for and secured a later start
2028 on the grounds that their
economies need time to grow. That
is three years earlier than India, the
worlds third-worst polluter, had first
proposed.
Rich countries, including the US,
Japan and Europe, will start phasing
out synthetic HFCs in 2019, China in
2024, and India and less ambitious
countries in 2028. The deal reflects
countries
differing
levels
of
development. Because nearly all
HFCs are made by a handful of giant
western chemical companies and are
used in air-conditioning units and
cooling systems made and sold in rich
countries, it was relatively easy for
their governments to put pressure on
a single global industry. Alternatives
such as hydrocarbons, ammonia
and CO2 are widely available, safe,
approved and on the market.
Countries, especially the wealthy
ones, should set a good example by
implementing the Paris and Kigali
agreements and work towards 100
per cent clean energy by 2050.

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Landmark deal for worlds biggest

marine reserve in Antarctica

he
worlds
largest
marine
reserve aimed at protecting the
pristine wilderness of Antarctica
will be created after a momentous
agreement was finally reached late
last month, with Russia dropping its
long-held opposition.
The deal, sealed by the Conservation
of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
(CCAMLR) at an annual meeting
in Hobart, Australia, after years of
negotiations, will see a massive US and
New Zealand-backed marine protected
area established in the Ross Sea.
It will cover more than 1.55 million
square kilometres (600,000 square
miles), the size of Britain, Germany
and France combined, of which 1.12
million square kilometres will be a no
fishing zone.
This marine protected area (MPA)
in Antarcticas Ross Sea will come
into force in December 2017 and will
limit, or entirely prohibit, certain
activities in order to meet specific
conservation,
habitat
protection,
ecosystem monitoring and fisheries
management objectives. Seventy-two
per cent of the MPA will be a notake zone, which forbids all fishing,
while other sections will permit
some harvesting of fish and krill for
scientific research.
The proposal required some
changes in order to gain the unanimous
support of all 25 CCAMLR members
and the final agreement balances
marine protection, sustainable fishing
and science interests, New Zealand
Foreign Minister Murray McCully
said.
Moscow was the last government
opposing the move, due to concerns
over fishing rights, after China offered
its support last year.
But time ran out to reach agreement
on a second proposed protected area on
the meetings agenda -- the Australia
and France-led East Antarctica
sanctuary covering another one
million square kilometre zone.
Both reserve proposals have been on
the table since 2012 with CCAMLR,

a treaty tasked with overseeing

conservation
and
sustainable
exploitation of the Antarctic Ocean,
also known as the Southern Ocean.
Consensus is needed from all 24
member countries and the European
Union.
A third German-proposed plan is
also in the works to protect the Weddell
Sea, which extends from the southeast
of South America over an area of some
2.8 million square kilometres.
The Ross Sea is one of the last intact
marine ecosystems in the world, home
to penguins, seals, Antarctic toothfish,
and whales. It is also considered
critical for scientists to study how
marine ecosystems function and to
understand the impacts of climate
change on the ocean.
For the first time, countries have
put aside their differences to protect
a large area of the Southern Ocean
and international waters, said
Mike Walker, project director of the
Antarctic Ocean Alliance, calling the
outcome momentous.
The agreement culminates years
of pressure by conservationists,
including a campaign by the global
civic movement Avaaz which was
kickstarted by Hollywood superstar
Leonardo DiCaprio and supported
by over two million signatures from
across the world.
Theres massive momentum in
the world right now to protect our
oceans, said Avaaz campaign director
Luis Morago. The Ross Sea is just the
start.
CCAMLRs Scientific Committee
first endorsed the scientific basis for
proposals for the Ross Sea region put
forward by the USA and New Zealand
in 2011. It invited the Commission to
consider the proposals and provide
guidance on how they could be
progressed. Each year from 2012
to 2015 the proposal was refined in
terms of the scientific data to support
the proposal as well as the specific
details such as exact location of the
boundaries of the MPA. Details of

implementation of the MPA will be

negotiated through the development of
a specific monitoring and assessment
plan. The delegations of New Zealand
and the USA will facilitate this process.
This years decision to establish
a Ross Sea MPA follows CCAMLRs
establishment, in 2009, of the worlds
first high-seas MPA, the South Orkney
Islands southern shelf MPA, a region
covering 94 000 km2in the south
Atlantic.
MPAs aim to provide protection to
marine species, biodiversity, habitat,
foraging and nursery areas, as well
as to preserve historical and cultural
sites. MPAs can assist in rebuilding
fish stocks, supporting ecosystem
processes, monitoring ecosystem
change and sustaining biological
diversity.
Areas closed to fishing, or in which
fishing activities are restricted, can
be used by scientists to compare
with areas that are open to fishing.
This enables scientists to research
the relative impacts of fishing and
other changes, such as those arising
from climate change. This can help
our understanding of the range of
variables affecting the overall status
and health of marine ecosystems.
With Headquarters in Hobart,
Australia, CCAMLR was established
by an international treaty in 1982
with the main objective to conserve
Antarctic marine life while providing
for rational use, Its 25 Members and a
further 11 countries have signed the
Convention. .
Ali Bahaijoub

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23

Half of marine life wiped out in just 40 years, says WWF

Populations of marine mammals,

birds, reptiles and fish have halved in
the last four decades, environmental
NGO the Worldwide Wildlife Fund
(WWF) warned.
The Geneva-based conservation
group said in its Living Blue Planet
Report that over-fishing, pollution
and climate change had significantly
shrunk the size of commercial fish
stocks between 1970 and 2010.
According to the WWF, species
essential to the global food supply
were among the hardest hit. One
family of fish, that includes tuna and
mackerel, had for instance declined
74 per cent during the 40-year
period, it found.
In the space of a single generation,
human
activity
has
severely
damaged the ocean by catching fish
faster than they can reproduce while
also destroying their nurseries,
Marco Lambertini, head of WWF
International, said in the report.
Overfishing,
destruction
of
marine habitats and climate change
have dire consequences for the entire
human population, with the poorest
communities that rely on the sea

getting hit fastest and hardest,

he warned. Profound changes are
needed to ensure abundant ocean life
for future generations.
Corals may vanish by 2050
The declines do not only affect
fish, according to the report, which
warns of a steep decline in coral
reefs, coastal mangrove forests and
seagrasses that support fish species.
More than one third of fish tracked
for the study rely on coral reefs and
some 850 million people around
the world depend on them for their
livelihoods.
A previous report from the group
showed that half of all corals have
already vanished, and they are
all expected to be gone by 2050 if
temperatures continue to rise at the
same rate.
WWFs analysis tracked 5,829
populations of 1,234 species nearly
twice as many as in its past studies,
giving a clearer, more troubling
picture of ocean health.
One in four species of both sharks
and rays is facing extinction, largely
due to overfishing, the report said.
WWF called on global leaders

to ensure that ocean recovery and

coastal habitat health figure high on
the list of priorities when the United
Nations Sustainable Development
Goals for the next 15 years are
formally approved later this month.
We must take this opportunity
to support the ocean and reverse
the damage while we still can,
Lambertini said.

No time to waste
While highlighting the severity
of the crisis, WWF stressed that the
ocean is a renewable resource and
that marine life can be restored if
the human population lives within
sustainable limits.
The report called for the amount
of ocean area worldwide that is
currently protected (3.4 percent) to
be tripled by 2020.
Among its other recommendations
was a call for consumers and sellers
of fish products to increasingly
demand stock from companies that
follow
internationally-recognised
best practices.
A further suggestion was that
funds specifically allocated to
restore marine life would be repaid
with future profits from the fishing
industry.
The pace of change in the ocean
tells us theres no time to waste,
Lambertini said. These changes are
happening in our lifetime. We can
and we must correct course now.

Alan Brown

Stage set for COP22 in Marrakech

he
Pre-COP
Ministerial
Meeting in Marrakech came
to a close in October after two
days of closed-door plenary
sessions on final preparations
for the 22nd Session of the
Conference of the Parties to
the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(COP22), the 12th Session of the

24

November 2016

Conference of the Parties serving

as the Meeting of the Parties to
the Kyoto Protocol (CMP12), and
the 1st Session of the Conference
of the Parties serving as the
Meeting of the Parties to the
Paris Agreement (CMA1) to take
place in Marrakech, Morocco,
from 7-18 November.
The meeting was chaired by

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Salahdeddine Mezouar, Moroccan

Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Cooperation and COP22 President,
Segolene Royal, French Minister
of Environment of and COP21
President andPatricia Espinosa,
UNFCCC Executive Secretary.
The
Pre-COP
assembled
delegations from more than 70
countries to achieve a common

 news & views to bridge the global divide

understanding of the state of

negotiations ahead of COP22. The
main areas of discussion covered
the early entry into force of the
Paris Agreement scheduled for
November 4 and the holding of
the firstmeeting of the Parties
to the Agreement (CMA1) on
November 15 during COP22.
The joint high-level segment
of the COP, CMP and CMA would
be convened immediately after
the CMA1 opening, where all
Parties will make their national
statements. The presence of
King Mohammed VI of Morocco,
the UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon and Heads of State and
Government on that occasion will
amplify the historic significance
of the moment.
In
addition,
participants
addressed the implementation
of the Paris Agreement, the
development of its rulebook,
finance for climate adaptation
and mitigation in developing
countries including a $100 billion
dollar per year roadmap proposal
made by donor countries for
climate finance by 2020, the issue
of Loss and Damage as per the
Warsaw Mechanism, capacitybuilding initiatives such as the
Paris Committee on Capacity
Building, the Capacity Building
Initiative
for
Transparency
and the NDC Partnership to
strengthen and help countries

implement
their
Nationally
Determined Contributions(NFCs)
to the global response to climate
change. COP22 will include the
Marrakech Call for Action, to
be made during the high-level
segment featuringHeads of State
and Governmenton November
15.
The plenary sessions were
rounded up by a discussion
on the Global Climate Action
Agenda led by the Moroccan
and French High-Level Climate
Champions, Hakima El Haite
Moroccan
minister
delegate
in charge of environment and
Laurence
Tubiana
Frances
Special Representative for the
2015 Paris Climate Conference.
A series of thematic days
(agriculture & food security,
cities, energy, forests, business,
oceans, transport, water, gender)
focusing on accelerating and
mobilizing climate action by
non-state Party actors including
businesses, cities, sub-national
governments and NGOs, will be
held during COP22 with Gender
Day on November 15, the Womens
Leader Summit, November 16 and
the High-Level event on November
17 featuring the presentation of
the Global Climate Action Agenda
report.
The
Moroccan
Presidency
intends to take stock during the
conference with civil society and

chart a common climate agenda.

A joint statement was made at
the conclusion of the 23rd BASIC
Ministerial Meeting on Climate
Change that emphasised the
importance of the Marrakesh
Climate Change Conference as
an important step in the process
of implementation of the Paris
Agreement
and
as
another
milestone to accelerate pre-2020
implementation.
The Ministers welcomed the
entry into force of the Paris
Agreement on November 4 and
the holding of the 1st meeting
of the Parties to the Agreement
(CMA1) in Marrakech during
COP22. They reiterated in their
joint statement, that developed
countries
should
provide
financial resources, technology
development and transfer and
capacity-building
support
to
developing countries for their
effective
implementation
and
ambitious actions under the Paris
Agreement. They also expressed
their hope that the terms of
reference for the Paris Committee
on Capacity-Building, agreed
by all Parties at the May 2016
session of the UNFCCC in Bonn,
will be adopted at COP22.
Participants
atthe
PreCOP
Ministerial
meeting
will return to Marrakech for
COP22 from 7-18 November.

Ali Bahaijoub

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November 2016

25

Key dates
T

he
COP
stands
for
the
Conference of the Parties. It is
the supreme decision-making body
of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), opened for signature in
1992 during the Earth Summit in
Rio de Janeiro and later entered into
force in 1994.
Through this instrument, the
United Nations has equipped itself
with an action framework to fight
global warming.
After its entry into force in
1994, the UNFCCC Secretariat was
established in Geneva. It was then
relocated to Bonn in 1995 following
the First Conference of the Parties
(COP1) in Berlin. Since then, there
have been twenty-one COPs, with
the most recent one organized in
Paris last December. The next one,
COP22 is scheduled to take place
in Marrakech, Morocco, from 7- 18
November 2016.
The COP was created and put in
place in order to structure the efforts
of the Parties to the Convention
as theyaddress climate change.
The COP meets annually to review
and assess the implementation of
the UNFCCC and any other legal
instruments the body adopts with
the goal of reducing greenhouse
gas emissions and fighting climate

change. These annual UN climate

change conferences are commonly
referred to as COP.
The main objective of the
Framework Convention and its
related legal instruments are
to stabilize the concentration
of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere at a level that would
prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate
system. The term anthropogenic
refers to the effects caused by
human activity.
The Convention stipulates,Parties
should protect the climate system
for the benefit of present and future
generations on the basis of equity
and in accordance with their common
but differentiated responsibilities
and respective capabilities.
According to the UNFCCC, certain
countries are particularly vulnerable
to the effects of climate change. For
example, Small Island Developing
States (SIDS), low-lying coastal
areas, arid or semi-arid zones and
developing countries with fragile
mountainous
ecosystems.These
areas are subject to extreme weather
events such as floods, droughts and
desertification, etc.
During
the
COP,
member
States, who have common but
differentiated responsibilities, strive

to reach agreements on reducing

greenhouse gas emissions caused
by human activity, assess the
evolution of their commitments
and review the implementation of
the Framework Convention and
other legal instruments that the
COP adopts. Typically a series of
negotiating sessions are carried out
beforehand in order to optimize the
agenda and discussions.
As of today there are 197 Parties
to the Convention (196 States and
the European Union) including
Palestine who joined in March 2016.
1979
The first World Climate Conference
was held in Geneva, Switzerland
and the World Climate Research
Programme was launched by the
World Meteorological Organization
(WMO),
the
United
Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP)
and the International Council of
Scientific Unions (ICSU).
1988
The IPCC (Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change) was
created to assess at regular intervals
the state of science-based knowledge
and the consequences of climate
change. The IPCC reports serve as a
basis for the decision-makers to the
UNFCCC.
1990
The First IPCC report confirmed
the existence of global warming and
made public that human activity is
responsible for the phenomenon.
This report was the basis for the
elaboration of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC).
1992
The UNFCCC was opened for
signature at the Earth Summit
in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It
officially recognized human activity
as responsible for climate change.
It sought to take the necessary
measures to reduce global warming.
UN
chief Ban Ki-Moon with King

Mohamed VI of Morocco host of COP22

26

November 2016

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 news & views to bridge the global divide

At the same time, the Convention
to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
and the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD) were opened for
signature.
1994
The UNFCCC entered into force.
1995
Negotiations were started to
strengthen the instruments to
address climate change at the First
Conference of the Parties (COP1) in
Berlin.
1996
The UNFCCC Secretariat was
established to support the work of
the Convention.
1997
The Kyoto Protocol was formally
adopted at COP3. It sets, for the first
time, quantified commitments for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions
(GHG) for developed countries. The
first compliance period is 20082012.
2001
The IPCC Third report was
published. The Bonn Agreements,
based on the Buenos Aires Plan of
Action for 1998 were adopted.
The Marrakesh Accords were
adopted at COP7 in Morocco. They
detailed the rules for implementing
the Kyoto Protocol.
2005
The Kyoto Protocol entered into
force. It contains legally binding
measures for developed countries.
The COP was coupled with the
meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto
Protocol, called CMP. The Conference
of Parties of Montreal was also the
first meeting of the Parties to the
Kyoto Protocol, COP11/CMP1.
2006
The Nairobi Programme of Action
on Adaptation was accepted.
2007
The Bali Roadmap (COP13),
established a calendar of negotiations
for a new international agreement
to succeed the Kyoto Protocol in
2012 and to be adopted in 2009. The
fourth IPCC report was published.

2009
The common goal of holding global
warming below 2 C was approved
at COP15 / CMP5 in Copenhagen,
but no new international agreement
was signed. Developed countries also
committed to mobilize $100 billion
per year by 2020 for developing
countries to address climate change.
2010
The Cancun Agreements were
drafted and accepted at COP16.
They emphasized the need to reduce
emissions so that the increase in
global temperature should not
exceed 2 degrees Celsius. The Green
Climate Fund was also created.
2011
Durban Platform for Enhanced
Action (ADP) was drafted and adopted
at COP17. The Parties agreed to a
second compliance period, starting
in 2012, and to be extended five to
eight years. The Durban Platform
was mandated to reach a legal
agreement or instrument having
the force of law. Its adoption was
planned for 2015 (Paris Agreement)
and its implementation starting in
2020.
2012
The Doha conference (COP18)
confirmed a second commitment
period of the Kyoto Protocol (20132020) and concluded with the Call
of Doha.
The United Nations Conference
on
Sustainable
Development,
known as Rio + 20 or the Earth
Summit, was held in Brazil. It
was the continuation of the first
conference held in 1992. Despite
differences among parties, the
process to elaborate the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) was
launched.
2013
COP19 was held in Poland and
concluded
with
the
Warsaw
mechanism. During the 19th
Conference of Parties progress was
made on issues related to financing
the fight against climate change,
particularly as it relates to the most

vulnerable countries.
2014
The UN Climate Summit was held
in New York on the margins of the
UN General Assembly and aimed
to promote the announcements
of voluntary contributions from
countries to reduce greenhouse
gases (GHG) ahead of COP21.
COP20 concluded with the Lima
Call for Action on Climate and
outlined the national contributions
that each country would have to
communicate in preparation for the
Paris Agreement.
September 2015
The United Nations Summit
on Sustainable Development was
held in New York and launched
the 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). One of these goals
is dedicated to the fight against
climate change.
September 20, 2015
Morocco and France launched
the Call of Tangier for united and
strong climate action.
December 12, 2015
The Paris Agreement was adopted
unanimously at COP21 in France.
This first binding global agreement
aims to limit global warming to
below 2 C.
March 2016
Palestine becomes member of the
UNFCCC, thus joining 196 other
Parties (countries + European
Union) in the fight against global
warming.
April 22, 2016
Signing of the Paris Agreement in
New York at the United Nations: 177
countries sign the agreement. The
ratification processes should take 1
year.
October 2016
Negotiators from more than
170 countries last month reached
a legally binding accord to
counterclimate changeby cutting
the worldwide use of a powerful
planet-warming chemical used in
air-conditioners and refrigerators.

Ali Bahaijoub

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27

Climate change risk to one in six species

ne in six species on the planet

could face extinction if nothing
is done to tackle climate change,
analysis suggests.
If carbon emissions continue on
their current path - and temperatures
rise by 4 degrees - 16% of animals
and plants will be lost, according to
a review of evidence.
The study, published inScience,
shows risks are highest in South
America,
Australia
and
New
Zealand. Previous estimates range
from 0 to 54%.
Dr Mark Urban of the University of
Connecticut, US, analysed data from
131 scientific studies on the risk of

extinction from climate change.

He found that the rate of
biodiversity loss is likely to speed
up with each degree Celsius rise in
temperature.
If future temperatures rise by
2 degrees compared with preindustrial times, global extinction
risk will rise from 2.8% today to
5.2%.
But under the scenario where
global warming continues on its
current path, 16% of species (one in
six) face extinction.
"If the world does not come
together and control greenhouse
gas emissions and we allow the
Earth to warm considerably we will
face a potential loss of one in six
species," saidDr Urban.
"Many species will be able to shift
their ranges and keep up with
climate change whereas others will
not either because their habitat has
disappeared or because they can't
reach their habitat anymore."
Unique habitats
Higher extinction risks are
predicted for Australia, New
Zealand and South America, where
there are many species adapted

to live in habitats not found

elsewhere.
Commenting on the research, Prof
John J Wiens of the University of
Arizona, said the global extinction
risk from climate change might
be even higher than 16%, as the
majority of studies analysed were
from Europe and North America,
where extinction risks are lower.
"In South America, the extinction
risk was estimated to be 23%," he
said.
"Unfortunately,
this
higher
number might better reflect the
number of species that might go
extinct due to climate change
globally, if we consider how the
world's species are distributed."
Dr Mike Barrett, Director of
Science and Policy at WWF-UK,
said the findings echoed its Living
Planet Report, which found that
populations of vertebrate species
have halved since 1970.
"This report looks forward
and finds that many species are
threatened with extinction if we
fail to tackle climate change."
Helen Briggs BBC Environment
Correspondent

The Paris Agreement

Documentation

At the Paris climate conference

(COP21) in December 2015, 195
countries adopted the first-ever
universal, legally binding global
climate deal.
The agreement sets out a global
action plan to put the world on track
to avoid dangerous climate change
by limiting global warming to well
below 2C.
The agreement is due to enter into
force in 2020.

Key elements
The Paris Agreement is a bridge
between todays policies and climate-

28

November 2016

neutrality before the end of the

century.

Mitigation: reducing
emissions
Governments agreed a long-term
goal of keeping the increase in global
average temperature towell below
2Cabove pre-industrial levels; to aim
to limit the increase to1.5C, since
this would significantly reduce risks
and the impacts of climate change; on
the need forglobal emissions to peak
as soon as possible, recognising that
this will take longer for developing
countries;
to undertakerapid reductions

northsouth

thereafterin accordance with the

best available science.
Before and during the Paris
conference, countries submitted
comprehensivenational
climate
action plans(INDCs). These are not
yet enough to keep global warming
below 2C, but the agreement traces
the way to achieving this target.
Transparency and global stocktake
Governments agreed to come
together every 5 years toset more
ambitious targetsas required by
science; reportto each other and the
public on how well they are doing
to implement their targets; track
progress towards the long-term goal

 news & views to bridge the global divide

through a robusttransparency and

accountability system.

Adaptation
Governments
agreed
to
strengthen
societies
ability
todeal with the impactsof climate
change; provide continued and
enhanced internationalsupportfor
adaptationto developing countries.

Loss and damage

The agreement also recognises the
importance of averting, minimising
and addressingloss and damage
associated with the adverse effects
of climate change; acknowledges
the need tocooperateand enhance
theunderstanding,
action
and
supportin different areas such as
early warning systems, emergency
preparedness and risk insurance.
Role of cities, regions and local
authorities
The agreement recognises the
role ofnon-Party stakeholdersin
addressing
climate
change,
including cities, other subnational
authorities, civil society, the private
sector and others.
They are invited to
scale up their efforts and support
actions toreduce emissions;
build
resilienceand
decrease
vulnerability to the adverse effects of

climate change;
uphold and promote regional and
internationalcooperation.

Support
The EU and other developed
countries will continue tosupport
climate actionto reduce emissions
and build resilience to climate change
impactsin developing countries.
Other countries are encouraged to
provide or continue to provide such
support voluntarily.
Developed countries intend to
continue their existingcollective
goalto mobilise USD 100 billion per
year by 2020 and extend this until
2025. A new and higher goal will be
set for after this period.

Lima-Paris Action Agenda

This initiative of the Peruvian and
French COP Presidencies brought
countries, cities, businesses and
civil society members together
toaccelerate cooperative climate
actionin support of the new
agreement.
Examples of major announcements
Paris Pledge for Action
EUs role
The EU has been at the forefront
of international efforts towards a
global climate deal.
Following limited participation in

the Kyoto Protocol and the lack of

agreement in Copenhagen in 2009,
the EU has been building a broad
coalition of developed and developing
countries in favour of high ambition
that shaped the successful outcome
of the Paris conference.
The EU was the first major
economy tosubmit its intended
contributionto the new agreement
in March 2015. It is already taking
steps to implement its target to
reduce emissions byat least 40% by
2030.
EU Climate Action at COP21
(Storify)
How the EU helped build the
ambition coalition (Storify)
Action areas at EU & international
level

Next steps
The
agreement
opened
for
signature for one year on 22 April
2016.
The agreement will enter into
force after 55 countries that account
for at least 55% of global emissions
have deposited their instruments of
ratification.
For the full text of the Paris
Agreement on climate change,
visit: http://unfccc.int/files/essential_
background/convention/application/
pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf

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November 2016

29

features

Zuma in the dock after withdrawal from ICC

ast month, Burundi announced

it would withdraw from the
International Criminal Court (ICC),
making it the first country to do
so. It was immediately followed by
South Africas Presidents Jacob
Zumas decision to deliver a notice to
the United Nations to do the same.
The notification of withdrawal
does not affect the case and
South Africa cannot avoid its
responsibilities under domestic and
international law by withdrawing
from the Statute.
The decision is particularly
disturbing as it comes only one
week after Burundi adopted a law in
Parliament on withdrawal from the
ICC.
Burundis
President
Pierre
Nkurunziza has controversially
clung to power in a reign of fear
and seeming impunity; plunging
the country into an ever-deepening
political crisis that has been
triggered alarm bells among human
rights defenders.
In its pursuit to also withdraw from
the ICC, South Africa has chosen a
strange bedfellow in Burundi. South
Africas stature as a supporter of
human rights is at stake and most

importantly that of President Zuma.

As the decision comes at a time
when domestically, the rule of law
is already under severe strain given
recent decisions, internal politics
and growing allegations of rampant
corruption.
South Africas decision to withdraw
was not approved by Parliament.
Legally, ratifying a treaty has to be
adopted by Parliamentary processes
and revoked by the legislature. This
is undoubtedly a political move by
Pretoria pending the outcome of
the upcoming Constitutional Court
hearing in November on Sudans
president Omar al-Bashirs visit
to South Africa in June 2015 to
attend the African Union Summit in
Sandton.
The North Gauteng High Court
and Supreme Court of South Africa
ruled that South Africa was under
an international law obligation to
arrest al-Bashir, who is wanted
by the ICC for alleged war crimes
against humanity and genocide
committed in Darfur.
South Africas sudden notice to
withdraw from the ICC is deeply
disappointing. In making this move,
the country is betraying millions

of victims of the gravest human

rights violations and undermining
the international justice system,
said Netsanet Belay, Amnesty
Internationals
Research
and
Advocacy Director for Africa.
South African parliament must
urgently convene to reconsider the
governments decision to withdraw
from the Rome Statute, the founding
instrument of the International
Criminal Court, according to
Amnesty International.
South Africas support for the
ICC, after the country suffered
through decades of apartheid, was
an important step towards creating
rights respecting societies around
the world, said Amnesty in a press
release.
South Africa and other African
states have expressed concern over
the interpretation of the Rome
Statute. Most notable the fact that
heads of state ought to be immune
from prosecution at the ICC and
should enjoy immunity wherever
they travel.
Pretorias withdrawal from the ICC
would not only inflict a damaging
blow to international criminal
justice, but would also mean that
South Africa is turning its back on
hopes to bring about the reform at the
ICC that African States so ardently
and urgently want to see. African
leaders argue that the ICC should
not be a court of first resort; and
ideally prosecution for international
criminal justice cases should take
place first and foremost in national
courts. But this can prove to be
difficult to implement; especially
when powerful political figures are
accused of war crimes. International
mechanisms are necessary to deliver
Burundi
President Nkurunziza (L) and

South African President Zuma

30

November 2016

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 news & views to bridge the global divide

justice when national courts are not
able to do so. This is why regional
and international courts like the ICC
are crucial.
The question is whether parliament
is going to debate the issue and come
up with a compromise solution or
Zumas influence and political clout
has infiltrated the legislative and
will have the last word.
The government of Gambia
also decided to withdraw from
the ICC, accusing the world body
of ignoring the war crimes of
Western nations and seeking only
to prosecute Africans. The decision
by the tiny West African nation,
whose president, Yahya Jammeh,
has called on the court to investigate
African migrant deaths on the
Mediterranean, comes just days after

South Africa said it was quitting The

Hague-based tribunal. The statement
from Gambia, whose citizens make
up a disproportionately high
proportion of the African migrant
flow to Europe, said it had sought
to bring the European Union before
the ICC over the deaths of migrants
but received no response.
There
are
many
Western
countries, at least 30, that have
committed heinous war crimes
against
independent
sovereign
states and their citizens since the
creation of the ICC and not a single
Western war criminal has been
indicted, it said.
The ICCs current chief prosecutor,
Fatou Bensouda, is Gambian and
was as an adviser to Jammeh in the
early years of his rule after he seized

power in a coup in 1994. She later

served as justice minister.
It is not the first time Jammeh has
pulled his country - a popular beach
destination for European tourists out of an international institution.
In 2013, he withdrew Gambia from
the Commonwealth, the 54-member
grouping including Britain and
most of its former colonies, branding
it a neo-colonial institution.
Rights groups accuse Jammeh
of cracking down on political
opponents as he eyes a December
election, where he will seek his fifth
term after he scrapped term limits.
The ICC has had to fight off
allegations of pursuing a neocolonial agenda in Africa, where all
but one of its 10 investigations have
been based. 
Ali Bahaijoub

Private sector benefits from US insatiable

demand for drone war intelligence

ome months ago, an imagery

analyst was sitting in his
curtained cubicle at Hurlburt Field
airbase in Florida watching footage
transmitted from a drone above
one of the battlefields in the War
on Terror. If he thought the images
showed someone doing anything
suspicious, or holding a weapon, he
had to type it in to a chat channel
seen by the pilots controlling the
drones missiles.
Once an observation has been fed
in to the chat, he later explained, its
hard to revise it it influences the
whole mindset of the people with
their hands on the triggers.
As a screener anything you say is
going to be interpreted in the most
hostile way, he said, speaking with
the careful deliberation of someone
used to their words carrying
consequences.
He and the other imagery analysts
in the airbase were working
gruelling 12-hour shifts: even to
take a bathroom break they had to
persuade a colleague to step in and

watch the computer screen for them.

They couldnt let their concentration
or judgement lapse for a second. If a
spade was misidentified as a weapon,
an innocent man could get killed.
The position I took is that every
call I make is a gamble, and Im
betting their life, he said. That is a
motivation to play as safely as I can,
because I dont want someone who
wasnt a bad guy to get killed.
In spite of his vital role in military
operations, the analyst was not
wearing a uniform. In fact, he was
not working for the Department of
Defense, or indeed any branch of the
US government.
He was working for one of a
cluster of companies that have made
money supplying imagery analysts
to the US militarys war on terror.
The Bureau of Investigative
Journalisms
award-winning
drones team has spent six months
exploring this intersection of
corporate interests and global
surveillance systems. Drawing on
interviews with a dozen military

insiders (including former generals,

drone operators and imagery
analysts),
contractsobtained
under the Freedom of Information
Act, scores ofcontractor CVs
publicly available on everyday
job sites such as LinkedIn,and
the analysis of millions of federal
procurement records, theBureau
has identified ten private sector
companiesoperating at the heart of
the USssurveillance and targeting
networks.
The ISR revolution

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31

Intelligence, Surveillance and

Reconnaissance, or ISR as it is
known in military jargon, has
become central to American warfare
in recent years.
US counterterrorism operations
such as the May 16special forces
raid on Islamic State commander
Abu Sayyaf are critically dependent
on the video captured by drones and
other aircraft.
Analystssitting thousands of
miles away can tell a team on the
ground the exact height of ladder
they need to scale a building, or
alert them to approaching militants.
They can also establish a pattern of
life, and what constitutes unusual
movement in a particular place.
The aircraft are flown by pilots
and operators from bases in the US,
whilst the imagery analysts poring
through the video they transmit are
mostly housed in clusters of analysis
centres part of a warfighting
structure spreading from Virginia to
Germany known as the Distributed
Common Ground System.
Remotely Piloted Aircraft, as the
US military prefers to call drones,
are more often associated with
firing missilesatthe tribal areas
of Pakistan and Yemen than with
gathering intelligence.

But it is their intelligence

capabilities particularly the ability
to collect and transmit video footage
in close to real time that have
revolutionised warfare.
In Kosovo the intelligence we
would get was typically a photo,
normally black and white, often
from a plane that took it the day
before, Lt Colonel David Haworth,
director of combat operations at
the USs Combined Air Operations
Center in Qatar told the Bureau.
Its like being able to talk on a can
and a string before, and now I have
a smartphone.
The number of daily drone combat
air patrols (CAPs) that is, the
ability to observe a particular spot
for 24 hours went up from five in
2004 to 65 in 2014 as demand for
the intelligence they offered soared
in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Colonel Jim Cluff, the commander
of the drone squadrons at Nevadas
Creech Air Force Base, said the
recent campaign against Islamic
State has fuelled a new surge in
demand.
Were seeing just an insatiable
demand signal, hesaid. You
cannot get enough ISR capability to
meet all the warfighters needs.
Meeting this demand is not

simply a question of having enough

aircraft. By 2010, according to a
presentation by David Deptula, a
now retired three star general who
was asked to oversee the Air Forces
rapidly evolving ISR expansion
in 2006, the average Predator or
Reaper CAP required 10 pilots and
30 video analysts.
Were drowning in data, he told
the Bureau.
Growth industry
The military has always used
the private sector to help operate
its drone programmes;according
to defence writer Richard Whittle,
General Atomics, the manufacturer
of the Predator, even supplied some
of the pilots for the aircrafts first
sorties.
The defence industrys supply
ofequipment to drone operations is
well known, but the private sectors
role in providing a workforce has
been harder to pin down. Through
extensive research, the Bureau has
traced the contracting historiesof
eight
companies
which
have
provided the Pentagon with imagery
analysts in the past five years (the
CIAs transactions remain classified).
Two more companies have been
linked to the imagery analysis
effort.

Trump loves Sisi

He is a fantastic guy said Republican
presidential nominee Donald Trump,
after a short meeting with Egyptian
President
Abdel-Fattah
al-Sisi
during the United Nations General
Assembly (UNGA) address in New
York in September. He took control
of Egypt. And he really took control
of it, Trump said referring to Sisis
highly controversial military coup
detat in July 2013, ousting the first
democratically elected government
and leader in the countrys history.
If Trump loves military dictators,
then the world will be the worse
for wear if, God forbid, he becomes

32

November 2016

president of the most powerful

country in the world.
The current Egyptian President
by default, whose authoritarian
ways critics say have surpassed
those of his former boss President
Hosni Mubarak,is a classic example
of a strongman that virulent Islam/
Muslim bashers in the United States
like Trump and al. tend to admire.
Sisis insistence that radical Islam is
a problem, a term and phenomenon
he believes more and more Muslims
should acknowledge, is music to
the ears of the likes of Trump and
his followers, who have relentlessly

northsouth

criticised the current US President

Barack Obamas administration for
refusing to use the word.
Furthermore, Sisi has called for
reform in Islam citing the ambiguous
prospect as a remedy for the terrorism
plaguing the Muslim world, a call
that greatly resonates with the US
far right, who have long identified
Islam asincompatible with American
values.
Ultra-Conservative
outlets
like
Breitbart (whose chairman left the
outlet to become Trumps campaign
CEO) praised Sisis call for reform
last year calling it historic and

 news & views to bridge the global divide

US Republican presidential nominee
Trump (L) and Egyptian President Sisi (R)

unprecedented,
adding
that
more than ever in the war against
extremism, the words of President
Sisi should be elevated and backed up
by the Western world.
When it comes to discussion
surrounding radicalism and Islam,
far right politicians in the US strike
a similar toneto the Egyptians
presidents rhetoric.
Sisis takeover triggered a period of
mass incarceration and arrest of all
those who sought to criticise his coup
for doing away with Egypts first
democratically elected government.
Thirteen new prisons have been
built in Egypt since the military coup
in July 2013, according to a report by
localrights groupArabic Network
for Human Rights Information
(ANHRI). The increase in the
number of prisons means a rise in
the deprivation of freedom ANHRI
said. The report also claims that
an additional three prisons are still
under construction. This increase
in prison numbers brings the total
number of detention centres in Egypt
to 504, a figure that dwarfs the 43
that existed prior to the overthrow
of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
This expanded system will give Egypt
the ability to add even more prisoners
to its current prison population of
around 106,000, ofwhom close to
60,000 are political prisoners. Nearly
1,000 people were killed at Rabaa
Square on 14th August 2013 in a
single day, as the military rampaged

through a peaceful sit-in against the

overthrow of a democratically elected
president.
Sisi named six new provincial
governors in September, five of whom
held senior positions in homeland
security and the military prior to their
new roles. The move is likely to further
strengthen the influence of Egypts
armed forces in politics, and in turn
the position of Egypts general-turned
president. It also reverses moves made
by Egypts ousted president Mohamed
Morsi, who appointed civilians - some
of whom were members of the Muslim
Brotherhood - as provincial governors.
Morsi had gone against a decades-long
trend of military men taking leading
roles in Egypts provinces.
Of the newly-filled positions, three
were previously held by civilians. As
it now stands, only eight of Egypts 27
provincial governors come from civilian
backgrounds. The new appointees
include former army officer and
Transport Minister Atef Abdel Hamid
as governor of Cairo. The position of
governor of Egypts capital had been
vacant for six months. Along with the

six governors who were named, former

major general Mohamed Ali el-Sheikh
was also sworn in to his new role as
supply minister.
Since leading the coup to overthrow
Morsi in 2013, Sisi has reasserted the
dominance of Egypts army in politics,
after its power briefly came under
threat during Mohamad Morsis shortlived tenure.
Egypts military has long been held
in high esteem among the countrys
population. However the revolution that
took place in January 2011 marked the
changing tide of popular opinion against
the militarys firm control over politics.
Prior to this, all of Egypts presidents,
including Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar
Sadat and Hosni Mubarak came from
military backgrounds.
A former editor of Egypts largest
state-run newspaper describedthe
current state of affairs as a continuation
of the regime created by the 1952 coupturned-revolution by Nassers Free
Officers. A regime, he said, that does
not believe in accountability, democracy,
or inclusive governance. 

Ali Bahaijoub

Torture, starvation, deprivation: life

inside IS prisons in Libya

During a months-long investigation, Tom Westcott tracked down and spoke to those held in
so-called Islamic States secret prisons.
I have been subjected to immense
misery for about nine months for no
fault of mine, a desperate prisoner
wrote to his so-called Islamic State
captors in the Libyan town of Sirte.
I am sure you are merciful. Please
show some mercy and release me

from prison especially because I

have been very sick and weak.
Written in English by a foreign
national held captive behind the
bricked-up windows of a secret IS
prison, the desperate missive signed
Dr Muhammad and dated April 2016

detailed ongoing neglect despite

the writers conversion to Islam after
just one month of incarceration.
I became so sick that I am not
able to sit or stand for ten minutes
continuously. I am standing up only
for my prayers, he wrote, pleading

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November 2016

33

for medication to treat several longterm health conditions.

the letter, discovered in a secret
prison in a sirte suburb liberated
by Libyan forces battling against
Is, gave a chilling indication of
the treatment of prisoners by the
extremist group, which claimed
Muammar
Gaddafis
former
hometown as its north African
stronghold for more than a year.
scores of Libyans and foreigners
remain unaccounted for in sirte,
where fighting is ongoing and
where local people believe Is held
captives in a network of at least
seven secret and official prisons.
tales of torture
Libyan
civilians
formerly
incarcerated by Is in sirte who
either escaped, were freed by the
advancing Libyan forces, or were
released after completing their
sentences told IrIn they were
kept in inhumane conditions:
routinely deprived of food and water
and often subjected to torture and
mistreatment.
seraj, 34, arrested for having
smoking paraphernalia in his
car, was held for days in solitary
confinement without water or food.
they would put a plastic jug of
water in front of me but, with my
hands tied behind my back, it was
impossible to find a way to drink
from it, he said. Eventually, I
would knock over the jug and the

34

November 2016

water would spill out across the

ground. And that was when the
tears would run down my face.
seraj said he pleaded with his Is
captors for water, saying he would
die without. one just stared down
at me and said: you are already
dead.
As fighting intensified in sirtes
700 district the location of the
secret prison serajs Is captors
fled, taking an unknown number
of prisoners with them but leaving
him and three other Libyan inmates
locked in individual cells. Close
to death, they were rescued by
the advancing Libyan troops and
immediately rushed to intensive
care in the capital, tripoli. serajs
wrists still bear the scars from
spending days with his arms tightly
bound behind his back with plastic
cable ties.
Children and pregnant women
Mohammed, 42, said beatings and
torture started immediately after his
arrest at an Is checkpoint, where
pro-government videos were found
on his mobile phone. Me and my
friend suffered a lot. they hit us,
used a taser on us and electrocuted
me on my inner thighs, he said.
he was held in a secret prison
concealed in the walls of a luxury
villa, before being transferred to
an official Is prison underneath
sirtes courthouse. still blindfolded
from the journey between prisons,

northsouth

Mohammed and three other Libyan

prisoners were thrown down the
stairs into a subterranean cell only
illuminated by one tiny window in
the ceiling.
In adjacent underground cells were
eight women two Filipina nurses
who had been working at sirtes
Ibn sina hospital and six Ethiopian
women who, having been arrested
because they were Christians, had
been held for three months. three
of the women were heavily pregnant
and two had children, Mohammed
said. the Ethiopian women were
transferred into his cell, after raw
sewage started leaking into theirs.
one woman had a two-year
old child who was starving, said
Mohammed. the Is guards had
given us some terrible food rice
that was maybe two days old and
smelled so bad we couldnt eat it. But
when that little boy saw the rice, he
ate it all.
From bad to worse
Another former prisoner, 32-yearold Jamal, said that although the
food had been adequate at the
beginning of his three-month prison
term for sedition, the quality and
quantity of meals rapidly decreased
as fighting intensified around sirte
and the food became inedible.
he was held in the hisbah an
Is police unit where two large
rooms were used to hold multiple
prisoners premises that have
since been liberated by the Libyan
forces. Jamal said one room was
reserved for Libyan prisoners and
the other for foreign prisoners.
Piles of mattresses suggested that
at least 30 prisoners had been held
there and that they had shared basic
and limited toilet facilities. Boards
marked with instructions in both
English and Arabic indicated that
Is forced their strict doctrines on all
prisoners, both Libyan and foreign.
the only former prisoner IrIn
spoke to who had been tried and
handed a jail term by Is, Jamal was

 news & views to bridge the global divide

released into an active conflict zone

at the end of his sentence. He spent
two days creeping through fierce
fighting on the front lines to gain
his freedom.
Mohammed never stood trial
and, he said, nor had most of the
other prisoners he met. As the
sewage problem worsened, leaking
into further underground cells, he
and his cellmates were transferred
to another, larger cell.
It was a large cell in complete
darkness and, when IS opened
the door, the prisoners inside all
surged towards the door, thinking
it could mean there was food,
water, or even freedom coming,
Mohammed said. There were 29
people held in that cell, mostly
Libyans, and five foreigners.
The prisoners

The foreigner prisoners included

three seamen, believed to be from
eastern Europe, who were seized
by IS months earlier after their
vessel foundered off the Libyan
coast, forcing them to come ashore
in a lifeboat. The other two foreign
prisoners were an Indian doctor,
who had been held for almost a
year, and an Egyptian man who
had been beaten with such violence
and frequency by IS that he had
gone insane, Mohammed said.
The remaining 24 men in
Mohammeds cell were Libyans,
from different parts of the country,
some of whom were former
military personnel who were
still incarcerated despite having
been forced to repent and pledge
allegiance to IS.
Local people say there are more

prisons and more prisoners but we

dont know where or how many,
said Seraj. If you kept asking
about prisons, there was a risk
that IS would take you prisoner, so
we tried to learn about them from
casual chatting and we found out
there were three official prisons
and at least four secret prisons.
During the liberation of Sirte
districts, Libyan forces have so
far released six foreign nationals
three North Korean medics, two
Indian teachers, and a Palestinian
doctor as well as some 13
Libyans, all of whom were held
in secret prisons or under house
arrest.
As fighting continues in Sirte,
local people estimate that some 100
Libyans and up to 20 foreigners
remain unaccounted for.

The public spat between Nigerias

president and his wife

For criticising her husbands choice of cabinet ministers, Nigerias first lady was swiftly
reminded of her political inexperience and place in the kitchen by none other than the president
himself, writes Franklin Adesegha

peaking to reporters on a visit to

Germany, President Muhammadu
Buhari said: I dont know which
party my wife belongs to, but she
belongs to my kitchen and my living
room and the other room. Standing
next to German Chancellor Angela
Merkel who looked taken aback,
president Buhari said that having run
for president three times and having
succeeded at the fourth attempt, he
could claim superior knowledge over
her.
Aisha Buhari had suggested in a
recent interview with the BBC Housa
service that she might not back her
husbands re-election in 2019 if he did
not shake up his government. She said
most of those in senior ministerial posts
did not share her husbands values or
the ruling party vision, reinforcing
accusations that Buharis government
has been hijacked. However, there
is also talk that Aisha fell out with

her husband after her candidates

for presidential posts were spurned.
The president does not know 45 out
of 50 the people he appointed and I
dont know them either, despite being
his wife of 27 years, she said. Some
people are sitting down in their homes
folding their arms only for them to be
called to come and head an agency or
a ministerial position, his wife said.
While Aishas decision to go public

may have come as a shock to many, it

also shows the level of discontent with
the presidents leadership. Buharis
remarks on the kitchen and the other
room have been met with outrage
on social media where he has been
severely criticised for his thoughts on
the role of women. While officials tried
to dismiss the presidents remarks as a
joke, Buhari has reiterated his position
saying his wifes most important duty

President Buhari and wife Aisha

northsouth

November 2016

35

was to look after him and the home

even if shes working.
In Nigeria, as in many African
countries, the society is maledominated and leadership is not
generally associated with women.
For instance, no woman has ever
been elected governor in any of
Nigerias 36 states which makes the
election of a female vice president
or president highly unlikely in the
foreseeable future. Unicef statistics
also reveal that Nigeria is home to
the largest number of child brides
in Africa, with 23 million girls and
women having been married in
childhood.
Elected last year on a promise

to fight corruption and revamp

the economy, President Buharis
popularity is beginning to slide
following a massive devaluation
of the currency as the economy
falters. It is not known if there will
be a further devaluation after the
European Union (EU) advised the
Nigerian government to devalue the
Naira as part of efforts to tackle the
economic recession. Currently, 1 US
Dollar = 317.550 Nigerian Naira
while 1 British Pound = 386.550
Nigerian Naira. Fillippo Amato, EU
Head of Trade and Economics said
the recession was due to a number
of factors, including the fall in oil
prices and resurgence of militancy

in the Niger Delta. To come out of

recession, the country has to take
brave decisions, regardless of how
unpopular they may be such as fully
and effectively devaluing the Naira.
Amato said devaluing the Naira is a
measure, which will finally reassure
investors and attract new capitals
to the country.
Apart
from
the
economic
gloom, discontent with Buharis
presidential appointments is also on
the increase. And now, his wife has
joined his growing army of critics.
Will Buhari be re-elected in 2019?
He has less than three years to turn
things around if he is to stand any
chance.

What JASTA will mean for US-Saudi relations

he overwhelming vote in
Congress to override President
Obamas veto of the Justice Against
Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA)
bill will haunt US-Saudi relations for
years. It is a reflection of the growing
weakness of Americas oldest alliance
in the Middle East that goes well
beyond 9/11. The biggest loser will
be the next president of the United
States who will inherit a poisoned
partnership, which she will need to
help manage the regions chaos and
to fight terror.
Congress passed JASTA despite two
congressionally-mandated independent
investigations in 2004 and 2015 that
concluded that the Saudi government
had no role in al-Qaidas plot to attack
America on September 11, 2001. The
9/11 Commission in 2004 examined
the possible Saudi role in the plot
closely and concluded there was

no evidence to support the claims

that the Saudi government or Saudi
officials were involved in the attacks.
No Saudi official was involved in the
planning or execution of Osama bin
Ladens mass murder. The staff report
of the commission that investigated
the attacks funding, which was
released separately, concluded despite
persistent public speculation, there is
no evidence the Saudis funded it.
There is a second report that has
gotten far too little attention in the
JASTA debate. In 2014, Congress
mandated that the Federal Bureau
of Investigation conduct a special
review of how it had implemented the
recommendations of the 9/11 report.
The FBI was also asked to review
if there was any new evidence not
available to the 9/11 commission that
would change its findings concerning
the perpetrators of the attack and
their supporters, if any, in foreign
governments.
The FBI set up a commission to do so.
Three outside experts agreed to head the
commission: former AttorneyGeneral
EdMesse, former Congressman Tim
Roemer, and Georgetown University
Professor Bruce Hoffman,one of
the foremost experts on terrorism
in the country. The FBI gave the

commission full access to its records

and to its employees. The commission
also reviewed documents captured
from al-Qaida since9/11including
material found in bin Ladens hideout
in Abbottabad Pakistan in May 2011
to see if they shed any new light. They
also had access to the information
acquired from al-Qaida detainees.
The
FBI
commission
report
was published last yearand is
available online. It found that no
new information obtained since
the 2004 9/11 Commission report
would change the 9/11 Commissions
finding regarding responsibilities
for the 9/11 attacks.The 2015 FBI
commission specifically looked at
some of the accusations about alleged
Saudi involvement and found them
not credible. After reviewing the
material from Abbottabad and from
Guantanamo, it concludes: none of
this evidence identifies any additional
participants in the planning or
carrying out of the 9/11 attacks beyond
those identified in the 9/11 Commission
report. Indeed, the new material
available in the last decade since the
2004 report does strengthen and
enhance the case against the existing
plotters identified by the commission
in 2004. 
Bruce Riedel

Saudi
King Salman (L) and President Obama


36

November 2016

northsouth

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Is Ethiopia unravelling?

ust 50 kilometres south of

the Ethiopian capital, in the
picturesque volcanic lake town of
Bishoftu, more than 100 people lay
dead.
About two million ethnic Oromo
had turned up to celebrate a
traditional cultural festival. But a
deadly stampede ensued after police
fired tear gas at protesters who were
chanting anti-government slogans
and throwing stones and bottles.
Ethiopia is going through its most
widespread and sustained protests
since the ruling Ethiopia Peoples
Revolutionary Democratic Front
came to power in 1991. Its testing the
leaderships grip, and its big idea of
a developmental state the implied
bargain in which the government
delivers economic growth, in
exchange for acquiescence over its
authoritarianism.
Although
there
has
been
significant economic growth over
the past two decades, it has not
kept pace with a youth bulge,
rising unemployment and growing
inequality. The bargain seems to be
fraying in the face of increasingly
obvious
public
corruption,
disaffection with the suffocation of
civil liberties, and localised misrule
at the state level.
When Ethiopian marathon runner
Feyisa Lilesa celebrated at the finish
line in the Rio Olympics by crossing
his forearms above his head, the
symbol of the opposition movement,
he drew attention to the months of
government crackdowns on protest.
Since November 2015, that has
cost upwards of 600 lives, according
to human rights groups.
The oppressed stay silent but
eventually you reach a critical mass
and then it boils over, said Yilikal
Getenet, chairman of the opposition
Blue Party. Hundreds have been
killed but they keep protesting. They
go to protests knowing the risks. So
what does that tell you?

Discontent spreads
The Oromo are the countrys
largest ethnic group, constituting
35 percent of the countrys nearly
100 million population. They have
historically
felt
short-changed
by successive regimes in Addis
Ababa, and, initially, the unrest was
confined to the Oromia Region.
But then in August, similar
grassroots protest broke out among
the Amhara, Ethiopias second
largest ethnic group, starting in the
ancient city of Gondar. For the first
time, the government seemed to be
on the ropes.
This movement, fundamentally,
involves the peasants in the
countryside, said human rights
lawyer
Abebe
Hailu.
This
government came into being with
the support of the rural poor. Now
it is the rural poor that is against
them this is the irony.
Addis Ababa, the hub of political
power and the engine of Ethiopias
economy, has remained relatively
cocooned. But there is undoubtedly
a degree of uncertainty lurking
among the sparkly new malls and
rushing traffic.
Activist alliance?
Its hard to say how closely the
Amhara and Oromo activists are
cooperating; but they are releasing
joint press releases, mounting
joint
demonstrations
outsides

embassies abroad, and both groups

are expressing solidarity with their
counterparts.
The immediate causes of the two
sets of protests were different but
they have the same demands: deliver
the right leadership, said Yilikal,
the opposition party chairman.
That was why, when the Amhara
protested in Gondar, they carried
posters calling for an imprisoned
Oromo leader to be freed. Activists
from either side are releasing
messages to stand together.
Merera Gudina, chairman of
another opposition party, the Oromo
Federalist Congress, believes the
ruling EPRDFs political project
of ethnic federalism could be
unravelling.
Whats
happening
is
a
combination
of
everything:
historical
marginalisation
and
present marginalisation, he told
IRIN. Its a revolt against minority
rule and its policies.
The EPRDFs federal constitution
was meant to accommodate the
countrys
impressive
diversity
of more than 80 ethnic groups,
providing
for
shared
and
decentralised power.
But the EPRDF is seen as
controlled by the Tigrayan Peoples
Liberation Front, which waged a
successful guerrilla war against
the 14-year military dictatorship of
Haile Mariam Mengistu.

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November 2016

37

Tigrayans form only about six

percent of the population but have
a key role in government, business,
and especially the security forces
to the chagrin of those that are
locked out.
Alienation
The TPLF has trapped itself by
ethnicising political life without
accepting real autonomy for every
regional state, explained Robert
Wiren, a French journalist who
specialises on the Horn of Africa.
It is an open secret that behind
each regional state leader there
is a kind of unofficial political
supervisor,
he
said.
Since
Ethiopias economic growth is due
to a centralised-driven process, a
lot of non-Tigray people suspect the
Tigray elite to be the only beneficiary
of the economic boom.
This style of governance has
alienated
the
Amhara,
who
historically provided the emperors
that ruled the country. The Oromo
feel they have always been excluded,
first by the Amhara, and then by the
Tigrayans, a reality that could limit
the strength of the new opposition
alliance.
The towering figure of Meles
Zenawi, who ruled Ethiopia from
1991 until his death in office in 2012,
wasnt blind to such frictions. He
chose as his successor Hailemariam
Desalegn, who hails from a minority
southern ethnic group.
While proving himself an able
technocrat, Hailemariam hasnt
been able to restrain Ethiopias
competing elements and balance its
fragile ethnic politics.
But he hasnt been shy of speaking
out, warning that issues facing the
regime are a matter of life or death,
and criticising party members for
using public authority for personal
gain at all levels.
And he appears willing to make
concessions. In the wake of the initial
Oromo protests, the government

38

November 2016

shelved the ostensible cause: a plan

to expand Addis Ababa into the
surrounding Oromia countryside.
This unprecedented government
compromisewas praised by many.
Obviously, the government has to
maintain law and order. Thats the
point of a government. But you have
to balance things: on the one hand
law and order, but on the other you
have to deliver genuine solutions
to peoples demands, noted Lidetu
Ayele, founder of the opposition
Ethiopia Democratic Party.
If you balance that, you can really
handle the situation. Otherwise, if
you always pretend and play the
same old political game, it cannot
take you anywhere.
But the government doesnt appear
willing to go to the extent of opening
a dialogue with the opposition. All
we have are our principles and
public support we have no power to
negotiate with them on anything,
said Yilikal.
Do opposition parties have a plan?
But the civilian opposition as
opposed to the armed insurgents
the government still battles is
also criticised for not matching
the volume of its anti-government
rhetoric
with
effective
policy
alternatives.
During Ethiopias now infamous
2005 national election, opposition
parties won a significant number of
seats, but some refused to take them
due to accusations of vote rigging
that denied them outright victory.
While
many
acknowledge
vote rigging occurred, others
lament how that boycott proved
catastrophic. Today the opposition
remains divided, apparently unable
or unwilling to coalesce into a single
effective voice.
What does the Ethiopian public
want? Firstly, peace; secondly
stability;
thirdly
prosperity,
suggested one Addis Ababa-based
foreign analyst.

northsouth

In most cases, the Ethiopian

opposition have conflated opposition
with opposite, he added. When
asked for details of the programme
for achieving those three needs, they
revert to type and complain about
how difficult it is to be opposition
instead of answering the questions.
Reform
There are two types of opposition:
those involved in armed struggle
and then theres legal representation
like us, but the problem is the
EPRDF puts all opposition in the
same basket, said Merera, of the
OFC.
If its not willing to open political
space for moderate forces, how can
we do anything?
Its argued, however, that much of
the inability of opposition parties to
gain traction and effectively engage
with the EPRDF has more to do with
their funding.
Nearly all of opposition political
party funds come from the diaspora,
and the diaspora are not going to
pay for an opposition that cosies up
to the EPRDF, the analyst said.
The
EPRDFs
revolutionary
democracy ideology is seen as
fundamentally
anti-democratic.
What is needed, observers say, is
reform. That would include releasing
all political prisoners, unshackling
the media, allowing freedom of
expression, and reforming key
institutions such as the judicial
system.
A sterner test will be ensuring the
fairness of the next local elections in
2018 and national elections in 2020.
The government has started talking
about reforms. But for a country with
a millennia of centralised, autocratic
rule first under its emperors and then
its military leaders thats much easier
said than done. People need to be calm
and patient, said Abebe, the human
rights lawyer. And we need acceptance
by the government about making real
reforms. 
James Jeffrey

 news & views to bridge the global divide

The economic disaster behind

Afghanistans mounting human crisis

Donors and Afghan state agencies must urgently tackle an economic crisis building up since
2014, when foreign troops started leaving and political instability worsened. The starting
point must be a socio-economic assessment of just how big the problems are, argues Crisis
Group.

s Afghanistans international
donors meet in Brussels in a
summit co-hosted by the European
Union and the Kabul government on
4-5 October, Afghanistans rapidly
deteriorating economy must be
their central concern. Before this
and an escalating humanitarian
crisis merge to reach a dangerous
critical mass, all must agree on
several
priorities

alongside
renewed efforts to bring peace and
political stability: realistic planning
based on a thorough new socioeconomic assessment, currently
absent; adequate aid and support
for state policy implementation,
especially to help an alarming rise
in numbers of displaced and people
without shelter; halting repatriation
of Afghan refugees, especially from
Europe and Pakistan; and boosting
investment and above all job creation
in the country.
Afghanistans impressive average
annual growth of nine per cent from
2002-2013 has declined rapidly since
2014. According to the World Banks
World
Development
Indicators,
annual GDP growth fell from 14.4
per cent in 2012 to 2 percent in 2013,
and 1.3 and 1.5 per cent in 2014
and 2015 respectively. This drastic
economic decline is mainly the
result of the post-2014 international
military drawdown and the year of
intensified political instability that
followed the 2014 election. Foreign
troops once brought hundreds of
millions of dollars into the Afghan
economy, and their departure from
800 bases, large and small, deprives
the country of what was after 2002
its largest single source of revenue.
By one estimate, more than 200,000
Afghans have now lost jobs in
logistics, security, and other sectors

of a war-driven economy.
Heightened security concerns,
political
uncertainty
and
the
erosion of the rule of law since
2014 have added to a devastating
loss of confidence by consumers,
producers and investors. Pervasive
fears of a political meltdown have
led to a surge in capital flight,
with both wealthy and middle-class
Afghans moving assets to the Gulf
States, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and
Central Asia. Afghanistans human
capital shrank too, especially
among the urban middle class that
had emerged after 2001 to play a
stabilising role in Afghan politics.
Hundreds of thousands of Afghans,
mostly young and educated, left the
country in 2014 and 2015, often to
seek refugee status in Europe.
This sudden economic reversal
has considerable political, security
and social implications. Rising
unemployment and widespread
poverty is already widening the
legitimacy gap between the National
Unity Government (NUG) and the
Afghan public, and expanding
the reservoir of grievances that
insurgents as well as hardline ethnic
and regional players could further
exploit. Unfortunately, it is not the
NUGs only pressing problem.

An underestimated humanitarian
crisis
The economic crisis may have been
predictable, but its impact remains
poorly understood and insufficiently
reflected in strategic thinking and
policies about the countrys future.
The most revealing indication of
such gross underestimation of
the situation is the absence of any
current, reliable socio-economic
data. Three years after the economic
reversal began, neither the NUG
nor the international community
have conducted any substantial
assessment of the impact of the
collapse of the war economy on the
Afghan people and state.
The available figures show that
the most vulnerable segments of
the population are bearing the
brunt of the burden. According to
the Afghanistan Living Conditions
Survey, the unemployment rate
rose from 9.3 per cent in 2011-12
to 24 per cent in 2014. During the
same period, the number of people
who were not engaged in gainful
employment increased from 26.5
per cent to 39.3 per cent of the
labour force; among women, the
rate increased from 42.4 per cent to
49.8 per cent. Those who manage
to find work have to provide for

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November 2016

39

a large number of dependents,

with 47 per cent of the population
under the age of fifteen. Although
no such figures are available for
2015 and 2016, anecdotal evidence
makes it abundantly clear that these
negative trends are worsening.
With Afghanistans estimated 32.5
million people growing by perhaps
three per cent annually, adding
half a million people to the work
force every year, the decline in
employment opportunities can only
worsen.
Even without reliable Afghan
government statistics for 2015
and 2016, the trends indicated
by anecdotal evidence and UN
figures point to a silently evolving,
increasingly alarming humanitarian
crisis. According to UNHCR, the
total numbers of people of concern,
including
Internally
Displaced
Persons (IDPs), refugees and
returnees, nearly doubled between
2013 and 2015, rising from 985,197
to 1.77 million people. UNOCHA
estimates that 265,141 more were
displaced from their homes in 31 of
34 provinces between 1 January and
15 September 2016.
On top of this has come an
unprecedented
rise
in
recent
months in the return of registered
and unregistered refugees from
Pakistan, averaging 5,000 people
daily in early September. Combined
with the new internally displaced,
an alarming one million (57 per
cent of whom are children) could be
on the move just as winter sets in
between September and December
2016. All will require urgent food
assistance, health, shelter and other
essential services. This spike in the
numbers of IDPs and returnees
will increase the percentage of
the population facing seasonal or
permanent food insecurity beyond
the current estimate of 40 per cent,
and will further strain already
meagre economic and employment
opportunities and public services.

40

November 2016

As Budgets Shrink
The
decline
in
economic
opportunities
has
long-term
consequences for overall political
stability. Over the past three years,
state institutions have become by far
the largest source of employment
and providers of essential public
services, but available economic
resources are shrinking fast.
Reductions in donor assistance
and international contracts are
increasing the fragility of the post2001 political order, which is largely
based on networks of patron-client
relations in which powerful political
players have become dependent on
the continuous flow of international
largesse. As international military
spending and contracts shrink,
these networks will rely even more
on the proceeds of the informal
economy
including
corruption,
criminality, the opium trade and
the illegal exploitation of resources
such as mines.
The
NUGs
inability
or
unwillingness to respond to these
challenges has profound implications
for both its legitimacy and the future
of the post-Taliban political order. In
the Asia Foundations 2015 Survey
of the Afghan People, citizens who
believed the country was going in
the right direction declined to 37 per
cent from 55 percent in 2014. After
insecurity, worsening economic
conditions were cited as the main
reason for such pessimism. While
the NUG inherited problems that
were already mounting before it
was formed in September 2014,
the Afghan public increasingly
links the worsening economy with
the governments policies and/
or inability to perform. While the
NUG has prioritised the economy
in its policy reform agenda, popular
expectations created by such rhetoric
have yet to be matched by a track
record in forging or implementing
reforms, let alone actual economic
benefits. Aside from some major

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infrastructure projects such as

energy transit routes, which depend
on good security and may take years
to make a tangible impact on the
economy, the NUG has done little
to respond to immediate asks such
as job creation or the protection of
the private sector against rising
criminality and insecurity.
The potential gains of some of
the governments most important
infrastructure projects, including
CASA 1000, which aims to carry
power from Central Asia to South
Asia, are threatened not just by
insurgent violence but also by
increased social and political discord
over the distribution of national
resources. For instance, in mid2016 a persistent, predominantly
Hazara
Enlightenment
protest
movement emerged to oppose the
governments decision to change the
route of another power transmission
line bringing electricity from
Turkmenistan
to
Afghanistan,
from a route passing through the
Hazara-majority Bamiyan province
to one running through the Salang
Pass. Absent transparency and
accountability, such policy decisions
could further escalate ethnic
tensions.
The governments ability to
implement economic reforms is
hampered by internal political
gridlock,
bureaucratic
hurdles
and pervasive corruption. Capacity
constraints in most government
ministries continue to adversely
affect the execution of development
projects. Payments are delayed to
private sector contractors, suppliers
and even the states own personnel.
As of September 2016, nine months
into the current Afghan fiscal year,
the NUG has spent only 30 per
cent of a $2.5 billion development
budget. This slow pace in spending
and execution is depriving a cashstarved economy of much-needed
funds.
Despite its many weaknesses

 news & views to bridge the global divide

and shortcomings, the NUG has

succeeded in maintaining a degree
of macro-economic stability and
addressing the budgetary shortfalls
it encountered in 2014. It has also
raised domestic revenues above
targets set by the International
Monetary Fund. However, the
newAfghanistan National Peace
and Development Framework, 2017
to 2021is based on an unproven
assumption that the three-year
economic decline has been stemmed
and that over the next five years the
economy will grow by an average
of five per cent. Domestic revenue
mobilisation is in fact a poor
indicator of the economys overall
health, and the current effort to
raise more money runs the risk of

further shrinking an already fragile

and struggling formal tax base.
While taxation rates remain low
in comparison to other countries
in the region, there is a widening
mismatch
between
what
the
government demands in terms
of revenue and the services it
offers. Meanwhile the costs of
doing business are increasing, and
rising violence and weakening
government control is exposing an
already shrinking private sector
to extortion and other acts of
criminality, including kidnapping
for ransom. Those responsible may
be the Taliban, urban criminal
networks or a range of other actors,
some with links to the state.
Despite a rise in revenue

collection in 2015, the U.S. Special

Inspector General for Afghanistan
Reconstruction (SIGAR) estimated
that over half of the countrys
customs revenues were lost to
graft that year. Public sector
appointments, including critical
security sector positions, are
often casualties of infighting and
nepotism. All this indicates the
complicity of powerful political
networks at the highest levels of
government, costs the state and
Afghan people hundreds of millions
of dollars in revenues, and curtails
the delivery of even basic services.
Astonishingly, corruption within
the security sector extends to the
sale of military hardware and
ammunition to insurgents.

US must help pull Yemen back from total collapse

By Jean-Marie Guhenno, President & CEO of Crisis Group

s the United States accuses

Russia of barbarism in
Syria over the targeting of a
humanitarian convoy in Aleppo,
Washington continues to support
a brutal military campaign in
Yemen that has repeatedly struck
hospitals, schools, residential areas
and civilian infrastructure, without
apparent consequence.
For 18 months, the Obama
administration has begrudgingly
supported Saudi Arabias military
intervention in Yemen while
also seeking to find a negotiated
endgame. A Saudi-led coalition
backs the internationally recognized
government, led by President Abed
Rabbo Mansour Hadi, against
Houthi rebels a Zaydi Shiite
revivalist movement turned militia
and fighters aligned with former
president Ali Abdullah Saleh.
The war in Yemen has created
one of the worst humanitarian
emergencies in the Middle East,
and that is saying a lot. More
than21 million peopleare in need

of humanitarian assistance
around 80 percent of the countrys
population. Fourteen million people
are food insecure.More than10,000
peoplehave been killed, including
approximately 4,000 civilians, with
the majority of deaths caused by
Saudi-led, U.S.-assisted coalition
airstrikes.
Now the situation is about to get
worse.
On Sept.19, President Hadi fired
Yemens central bank governor
and announced he wouldmove
the bankfrom the Houthi/Salehcontrolled capital, Sanaa, to the
governments temporary base in the

port city of Aden. The decree appears

to mark a turn toward economic
warfare aimed at strangling the
Houthi/Saleh alliance financially.
Yet ordinary Yemenis will suffer the
most.
The move appears to be ill-planned,
opening a host of uncertainties,
including the possible collapse of
the banking system and an inability
or unwillingness to pay salaries
nationally, which would accelerate
economic collapse and could tip large
parts of the country into famine.
It almost certainly will encourage
the Houthi/Saleh forces to escalate
countermeasures, including attacks

Yemen destruction

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November 2016

41

inside Saudi territory. Not least,

it will deepen the political divide
between north and south Yemen.
The Hadi governments move
to relocate the Central Bank has
already complicated any further
prospects for negotiation. And now,
as part of the latest in a tit-for-tat
escalatory cycle, the Huthi/Saleh
coaliton attacked a UAE vessel on
October 1 in the Red Sea and on
October 3 announced that they
would form a rival government.
International
economists
say
that the bank has remained largely
impartial
under
extraordinary
circumstances. But it is now
near insolvency and increasingly
politicized. The banks monthly
payments to the Houthi-controlled
defense ministry in particular have
rankled the Hadi government and
its backers. Saudi Arabia, which
has propped up Yemens economy
in the past, is no longer prepared to
put cash into a bank it sees as being
used to finance a war against it. It
seems less concerned that the banks
demise in Sanaa could precipitate
Yemens total economic collapse.
Paradoxically, Hadi issued his
decree on the heels of a push by
his international backers to revive
collapsed U.N.peace talks. On

Aug.25, U.S. Secretary of State

John F. Kerry announced that
the quad (the United States, the
United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia
and the United Arab Emirates) had
agreed with U.N.special envoy
Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed to renew
negotiations for a comprehensive
settlement
that
would
move
simultaneously along political and
security tracks to achieve a Houthi/
Saleh withdrawal from Sanaa, their
handing over of heavy weapons
to a third party and the formation
of a unity government. The plan
is a much-belated but potentially
promising intervention. It builds on
U.N. talks, and closely sequences
compromises in a way that would
give wins and the perception of
these to both parties.
In theory, the proposal could force
the Houthis, who have yet to fully
engage on security matters during
negotiations, to show their cards,
requiring them to either accept
a deal that clearly accommodates
their demands or reject it. The
response would indicate whether
or not they are willing to make
the concessions on withdrawal and
disarmament to which they had
committed in principle in the past.
Yet the initiative has languished,

and could be stillborn. None of

its supposed backers, with the
exception of Kerry, has strongly
championed it. The United Nations
has yet to officially submit a
revised road map to the two sides
incorporating its ideas. And now the
Hadi governments move to relocate
the central bank complicates any
further prospects for negotiation.
As President Obama enters the
twilight of his term and looks back
at a Middle East on fire, Yemen, the
forgotten war, offers the chance of
a diplomatic success. After a year of
military stalemate, both sides have
agreed on a range of steps that
could end the war. Closing a deal is
far from guaranteed. But, if it is to
happen at all, it requires immediate
and consistent diplomatic followup and pressure on U.S. allies,
something that has been sorely
absent thus far.
If the United States fails to get
negotiations back on track, the
next administration will inherit
yet another unwinnable war in
the Middle East one that is
making its Gulf allies less secure,
expanding
opportunities
for
al-Qaeda and cultivating antiAmerican sentiment in generations
to come.

Powerful states at risk of war

With the end of the Cold War, conflict with the likes of Russia or China by Western powers
seemed highly unlikely. Today, the growing tension between the US, Russia and China indicate
that there is a real risk of a third World War being activated, Franklin Adesegha writes

t may be triggered by a small

event or even an accident. Any of
the many Russian bomber planes
now probing NATOs borders could
collide with a British RAF Typhoon,
prompting an aerial skirmish.
With Russian jets flying near US
planes on bombing missions, and
sparring with NATO air defences
in neighbouring Turkey, the skies
over Syria have become dangerously
crowded. And talking about Syria,

42

November 2016

the conflict became exacerbated after

Islamic State (ISIS) took control of
large swathes of the country. The
emergence of ISIS and other terror
groups worldwide indicate that the
21st century World War is not a
conventional global war like World
War I and II, although it certainly
involves the deployment of military
forces around the globe. Analysts
say it has both the elements of a
conventional battlefield and an

northsouth

insurgency, but an insurgency

fought simultaneously across the
globe in multiple independent
theatres where the target of
opportunity might just as easily be
a local shopping mall or a target
half a world away. Violence may
be triggered by local militants and
the enemy can be a combatant on
the other side of the world or a
neighbour on the local metro. They
can be everywhere and they can be

 news & views to bridge the global divide

US President Obama (L), Russian President
Putin and Chinese President Xi

nowhere.
Conflict may also happen at sea,
when a Japanese or American ship
comes close to its Chinese Navy
counterpart amid the reefs in the
Pacific now being militarised as
part of Asias arms race. President
Xi Jinping has already made
the connection between military
strength and national primacy in
his Chinese dream speech, which
envisioned the concept of replacing
American as the worlds leading
power.
Cyberspace has also moved from
the realm of science fiction to being
integral to military affairs. Chineselinked hacking groups are believed
to have penetrated everything
from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
program to the personnel files of
every security clearance holder in
the US. The F-35 plane was to give
Western allies advantage on a future
battlefield a generation ahead, but
China is already preparing to export
its own J-31, which looks like the
planes twin.
The Russian use of cyber attacks
to attack communications and
commerce in Ukraine and the US
use of the Stuxnet digital weapon
to physically damage Iranian
nuclear research facilities show how
cyberwar would come with physical
costs. The very same industrial
control system software that Stuxnet
targeted, is used in everything from
London traffic lights to the British
Royal Navy warship engine rooms.

In space and cyberspace, there are

no geographic borders. Moreover,
the military and civilian networks
are intertwined, either by undersea
fibre-optic cables or domestic
telecoms networks.
During a recent visit to Italys
largest war memorial where more
than 100,000 World War I soldiers
were buried, Pope Francis said:
Humanity needs to weep and this is
the time to weep. Reflecting on the
spate of global conflicts, the Pope
likened it to a piecemeal Third
World War and condemned the arms
trade and plotters of terrorism
sowing death and destruction.
The Pope began his brief visit to
northern Italy by first praying in a
nearby separate cemetery for some
15,000 soldiers from five nations of
the Austro-Hungarian empire which
were on the losing side of the Great
War that broke out 100 years ago.
War is madness, the Pontiff
said, adding Even today, after the
second failure of another world war,
perhaps one can speak of a third
war, one fought piecemeal, with

crimes, massacres, destruction.

In the past few months, the Pope
has made repeated appeals for an
end to conflicts in Ukraine, Iraq,
Syria, Gaza and parts of Africa.
War is irrational; its only plan is to
bring destruction: it seeks to grow
by destroying, he said. Greed,
intolerance, the lust for power.
These motives underlie the decision
to go to war and they are too often
justified by an ideology , he said.
The Pope, who has often condemned
the concept of war in Gods name,
said it would be legitimate for the
international community to use
force to stop unjust aggression
by Islamic State militants who
have killed or displaced thousands
of people in Iraq and Syria, many
of them Christians. Perhaps it is
time for world leaders, especially
the powerful states, to listen to the
words of ambassadors of peace like
Pope Francis and other religious
leaders, and pull back from the
brink of a third World War. As the
saying goes, it is easier to start a
war than to end it.

The problem with aid convoys

s flames leap in the background,

a volunteer from the Syrian
White Helmets holds aloft a bag of
diapers. From the UN, he says. The
blurry video shows the aftermath of
the deadliest attack on aid workers
yet in Syria. At least 20 people died
while carrying aid in ruralAleppo,
with both the corpses of Syrian

Arab Red Crescent workers and the

detritus of the humanitarian cargo
burned or ruined.
With hopes for an end to the war
dashed time and again, much hope
has been pinned on these UN-led aid
inter-agency convoys into mostly
besieged and hard-to-reach areas,
and the recent attack has brought

them into further focus.

But are these convoys carefully
choreographed,
breathlessly
reported, and sometimes lifesaving
the best way to bring aid to a
desperate population? Are they
becoming more risky? Are they an
overhyped symptom of a politicised
aid system that has failed the people

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November 2016

43

of Syria?
Or perhaps all of the above?
Its time to ask some hard
questions about how assistance is
being delivered in Syria, and if its
really helping that much at all.
In the beginning
Emergency aid largely consists of
goods; goods travel on trucks; and
truckers tend to move in convoy.
Thats how its done.
But at the outset of the war in
2011, when all but the most astute
observers predicted Bashar alAssad would fall quickly, in the vein
of a Muammar Gaddafi or a Hosni
Mubarak, UN-led aid in Syria was
focused on Iraqi and Palestinian
refugees and there was nary an
interagency convoy in sight. Some
individual wings of the UN, namely
the World Food Programme, did
their own food deliveries.
The International Committee of
the Red Cross began to expand
operations, and the UN sometimes
gave the Syrian Arab Red Crescent
(SARC) goods to deliver.
In the spring of 2012, as the
number of displaced and needy rose
(people had started taking shelter
in Damascus public gardens), the
UN put together its first multiagency convoy in an effort to
increase efficiency and bring help
to new parts of the country.
A former UN official, then based
in Damascus and instrumental in
these first efforts, told IRIN that
even though these were only four
or five-truck convoys, just carrying
hygiene materials, they were still a
pain to get off the ground.
Even in these early days, the
whole thing was very bureaucratic,
the official said.
In the beginning, they [the
al-Assad regime] didnt want
international staff going. Then
they eventually agreed. It was a bit
of a nightmare, and a lot of wasted
time, but eventually we did it.
Despite the wrangling required,

44

November 2016

the UN official said these convoys

were useful in terms of building
trust between the SARC (seen
by many, but not this particular
official, as leaning towards the
regime) and the UN.
It sh owed the UN was not
just
expecting
the
national
organisations (like SARC) to go
and put themselves on the front
lines, the official said, adding
that international UN staff joined
the convoys in part because it
was believed they could serve as
protection for the Syrian staff.
At the time, I didnt think these
convoys would be deliberately
targeted, the official added.
An expanding (and overhyped?)
operation
Times have changed. The latest
public update from OCHA, the UNs
aid coordination body, reports 115
inter-agency convoys to besieged
or hard-to-reach areas this year,
including 32 led by UNRWA, the
UNs agency for Palestine refugees.
These high-profile convoys are
typically a few dozen trucks each.
They carry mixed cargo, including
food, household goods, hygiene and
sanitary supplies from agencies
like WFP and UNICEF. However,
medicines and surgical supplies are
frequently banned or removed by
Syrian officials.
Theyre almost always followed
by press releases and a flurry of
tweets, but despite their prominence
and publicity it turns out UN-led
inter-agency convoys, emblazoned
with logos and accompanied by
staff and 4x4s, are the exception in
the overall Syria aid response, not
the rule.
WFP
reports
that
3,000
truckloads a month (or an average
of 100 per day) are on the move as
part of their operation to supply
food to four million people across
the country.
Mercy Corps, likely the biggest
supplier of cross-border relief from

northsouth

Turkey, reports that their monthly

deliveries reach more than 600,000
people, which would amount to
hundreds more per month in
addition to WFP. Add the plethora
of other aid groups and operations
by ICRC and SARC separate from
the UN, and the numbers rise even
more.
At an absolute minimum, IRIN
estimates that 35,000 truckloads of
relief aid have been delivered around
Syria in 2016. Continuing this backof-the-envelope calculation, interagency convoys into besieged and
hard-to-reach areas, at an average
of 30 trucks each, represent less
than 10 percent of total aid shipped,
possibly much less.
As one senior UN official familiar
with the Syria operation put it: UN
aid convoys have been diminished to
symbolic (as opposed to meaningful
and sufficient) means of supporting
those in need, especially in besieged
areas.
A tool of the political process?
Its not just that the convoys are
not enough.
Accusations that the UN is
overly influenced by the al-Assad
government have plagued the aid
operation since its early days. But
theres more to the story.
These days, the humanitarian
task force negotiating convoy
movements sits in Geneva, tied
in with the International Syria
Support Group.
Aid is meant to be neutral,
impartial, and independent three
of the four guiding humanitarian
principles. Convoys that are only
allowed in during negotiated
ceasefires, or are linked to
evacuations (such as Daraya),
would struggle to approach these
ideals. On 29 September, UN aid
chief Stephen OBrien told the UN
Security Council, for example,
that
tit-for-tat,
synchronised
deliveries to Madaya and three
other towns involved in two pairs

 news & views to bridge the global divide

of choreographed sieges were
unconscionable.
A second former UN official in
Damascus told IRIN that placing
the humanitarian task force in
Geneva, as a subsidiary body of
a political forum, makes it very
clear its a fallacy to ever think
independence, neutrality and the
other [humanitarian] principles are
there.
And an analyst well placed to
comment on Syria believes that
operations like the ill-fated Aleppo
convoy are feeding humanitarian
blood, sweatand tears into the
political machine. And that blood
is almost always Syrian.
The analyst argued that crossline convoys and airdrops are
being used a substitute for political
progress. At the end of the day, the
high-profile convoys are a tiny
drop in the ocean, and have been
deliberately imbued with fake
legitimacy to compensate for a
troubled aid operation and a lack
of political or military resolve, the
source added. Everyone knows the
[aid] system is deeply damaged,
and
the
heavily
publicised
convoys represent a pretense of
accountability, to reassure donors
that we know where the aids
going.
OCHA did not reply to IRINs
requests for comment, nor did
the ICRC, which also joins these
convoys. In fact, no UN officials or
heads of other major aid agencies
agreed to speak to IRIN on the
record.
But an April statement from
major NGOs including Mercy
Corps, Care International and
many local Syrian organisations,
expresses
serious
reservations
about the politicisation of the
convoys.
To date, it is clear that the
approval for UN cross-line convoys
is thoroughly linked to political
negotiations,
the
statement
reads. We are concerned that

convoy permission is being used

as a means of enticing populations
into entering or maintaining
localised truce agreements, while
simultaneously penalising those
that will not.
Even OBrien seems to have
admitted that convoys get the
majority of the attention as part
of a strategy to focus attention on
unreachable areas, not because
theyre doing the most good.
In his Security Council address,
he said: While it is true that the UN
and its partners support millions of
people with assistance each month
through regular programming
and cross-border activities, those
who are in the most acute need are
often those who cannot be reached
through either modality. While
we focus much of the attention on
ensuring humanitarian access via
cross-line convoys, this is not to
take away from other modalities
which do most of the actual aid
delivery, but to ensure attention is
focused on the locations we cannot
otherwise reach.
You got a better idea?
The second former UN official
argued that the UN simply lacks
creativity.
Convoys are not the answer to
everything, she argued. So this
is five years and all you put on the
table is convoys. There is something
wrong. Is it a lack of imagination?
She suggested that the UN has
failed to consider other options
why not consider more cash
distributions (an aid delivery
method that is gaining popularity)
or directly funding local NGOs who
can do the job quietly, she asked?
How about paying for one or two
trucks at a time that could get in
under the radar?
Its about thinking of other
strategies, and a lot of them frankly
have to deal with finding ways to
become very, very localised, she
says. And not having teams based

in Damascus sending the convoys.

Airdrops are an oft-floated option,
but theyre difficult and costly. One
drop is 18.2 tonnes, roughly the
same as a truckload of food, and
cost as much as $250,000.
Other critics argue that the focus
on convoys downplays the need
for vital services like midwifery.
The April NGO statement says
an over-emphasis on the convoys
has detracted from other types
of assistance that are needed
just
as
urgently,
including
medical, health, water, sanitation,
education, psychosocial support,
and child protection services.
Is something better than nothing
at all?
Its not that these publicityladen convoys dont have a role to
play. They are intended to build
confidence, show common purpose
amongst UN agencies and the Red
Cross movement, and call the bluff
of slippery negotiators. Their very
deliberate visibility is intended,
in theory, as a form of insurance
against attack and to discourage
the conflict parties from reneging
on agreements.
Ultimately, the analyst reckoned,
youve got to keep trying some
aid is better than none. Thats what
it basically comes down to.
As the current UN official put it:
convoys, no matter how seemingly
meagre, are a glimmer of hope to
those waiting for the aid. [But]
when strikes on aid convoys occur,
like those in Aleppo, it wipes out
that hope along with any material
assistance.
The problem is that painting
the convoys with what the analyst
called a desperate gloss may be
distracting and preventing more
inventive aid solutions.
Its time to think outside the
UN-brandedbox. Ben Parker and
Annie Slemrod
Ben Parker was head of UN
OCHA in Damascus in 2012-13

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November 2016

45

Algeria: the new migrant staging post for Europe

By Saskia Houttuin and Eva Huson, IRIN

erwinio never feels completely

safe when he walks around
Algiers.The other day, the 27-yearold from Benin was taking an evening
stroll when he heard monkey sounds
coming from a group of laughing
teenagers. Gerwinio averted his gaze
and kept walking. He has become
used to such racist taunts. I was
called Ebola so often that I changed
it into my Facebook name, he says.
Gerwinio is one of a growing
number of sub-Saharan Africans
coming to Algeria, although exact
numbers are hard to come by. The
Algerian government claims there
are 25,000 such migrants in the
country, but local NGOs say the true
number is at least four times higher.
It is way more visible lately
that there is more sub-Saharan
migration, said Pascal Reyntjens,
mission chief for the International
Organization for Migration in
Algiers.
IOM opened its first office in the
Algerian capital earlier this year and
recorded nearly 22,000 migrants
passing through Arlit in northwest
Niger on their way to Algeria between
February and the end of September.
The figure is still only a fraction of
the 269,533 recorded making their
way from northern Niger to Libya
during the same time period, but the
number opting for Algeria is likely
to rise as neighbouring countries

46

November 2016

grapple with political turmoil.

Migrants used to find work in
Libya, but the countrys civil war
has paralysed the economy and
made it a risky prospect, even as a
launching point to Europe. And to
the south, continuing conflict and
terror attacks in Mali are creating
new refugees. For those seeking
work, refuge, or passage to Europe,
Algeria has become a promising
alternative.
EU seeks migration deal
Migration through Algeria is not
a new development. In the south, the
desert city of Tamanrasset has been a
transport hub on the trans-Saharan
trade route for centuries, linking
Algeria to places like Mali, Ghana
and northern Nigeria. But recently
there has been a change: the traffic
now moves northwards to Algerias
coastal cities.
Europe is well aware of the risk
that Algeria poses to its goal of
reducing migrant arrivals via the
Central Mediterranean, now the
main route to its external borders.
Under the Partnership Framework
with third countries adopted in June
this year, Algeria was identified as
one of 16 priority countries with
which the European Commission
wants to reach deals. In return
for various incentives, such as
development aid and trade, the EU
wants cooperation in preventing
migrants reaching
Europes shores and
in accepting back
deportees. Countries
that
refuse
to
sign on risk what
the
commission
calls
negative
incentives.
A progress report
on the Partnership
F r a m e w o r k
published
last
week focuses on

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five countries identified by the EU

as the first priorities for action
Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Ethiopia,
and Mali. Algeria is mentioned only
as a country requiring particular
attention. No further details were
provided, but a recent analysis by
strategic
forecasting
company,
Stratfor, describes the country as
one of the trickiest North African
nations with which to increase
cooperation.
Racist attacks
Many Algerians are struggling
to
adapt
to
the
changing
demographics in their cities. They
perceive the newcomers as a threat
to security, health, and the economy,
particularly following the drop in
oil prices, which has led to inflation
and growing unemployment.
Hundreds of migrants have been
wounded in clashes with Algerians
in recent years. Migrants on the
receiving end of racist slurs and
violence have little recourse.Many
health facilities wont treat those
without documents, and going to
the police could result in arrest or
worse being put on a bus back to
the southern border.
Incidents keep increasing, said
Fatma Boufenik, co-founder of the
Algeria Immigration Platform, a
collective of social workers and
experts. If this continues, the
situation will become dramatic.
The regime of President Abdelaziz
Bouteflika, who has been in power
since 1999, has not commented on
the violence against undocumented
migrants, and for civil society
groups like Boufeniks, its hard
to know what authority to turn
to. Algeria practises a politics of
silence. We even have no idea who
governs our country, she told IRIN,
referring to the fact that Bouteflika
suffered a stroke in 2013 and has
rarely appeared in public since.

 news & views to bridge the global divide

This is only temporary
Despite the threat of violence,
Algeria
continues
to
attract
migrants, but according to Lela
Beratto, a journalist who has
documented African migrants in
Algeria for years, many dont want
to stay. They remain in Algeria
only long enough to recover their
strength, save money, and prepare
for the final stage of their journey
to Europe. Thats a process that
can take months, even years, said
Beratto. When an attempt fails,
they return, work for a while, and
then they try again.
Daouda Daoud, 25, left his parents
in Cameroon just three weeks ago.
He was smuggled through the hub
of Agadez in Niger to Tamanrasset
on the back of a pick-up truck and
then took a bus to Oran, Algerias
second largest city and another
important centre for migrant
smugglers, according to the EUs
law enforcement agency, Europol.

He has already managed to find

a job as a painter and says his
employer is pleasant enough. But
that is because they can exploit us. I
dont care, this is only temporary.
Daoud is determined to reach
Germany and isnt concerned
about the possibility of indefinite
detention in Libya or even drowning
in the Mediterranean. Only those
who are scared dont survive, he
said.
Destination by default
The Algerian authorities closely
monitor the countrys more than
600 miles of coastline. Now and
then a boat manages to leave, but it
is usually caught before reaching
international waters.
To reach Europe, most migrants
pay smugglers to get them into
neighbouring Morocco, where
they try to cross into the Spanish
enclaves of Melilla or Ceuta, or to
Libya where they board smugglers

vessels bound for Italy.

Despite
the
difficulty
of
departing from Algeria, its
considered a safer place to stop
over and seek informal work
than Libya, where forced labour
and kidnapping for ransom have
become increasingly common in
the last two years.
People tell me [Libya] is very
risky right now. Ill take my
chance when things get a bit
calmer, said Daoud.
But
criss-crossing
between
North
African
countries
is
likely to become more difficult
as Europe makes migration
control increasingly central to
its foreign policy on the African
continent.
As Alexander Beck, a senior
protection officer with the UNs
refugee agency, UNHCR, in
Algiers put it: If the moving on
becomes more difficult, they are
a kind of stuck here.

Egypt boat disaster shines light on new migration trend

ust before sunrise on a warm

September
morning,
mobile
phones in the village of Green Island
on Egypts Mediterranean coast
began ringing urgently.
Our children began calling us
from the sea. They said: Save us!
This boat is going to sink, Walid elHor, a community leader in the small
fishing community, told IRIN.
At least 204 people died on 21
September when an overloaded
boat, carrying around 500 migrants
destined for Italy, capsized around
eight miles off Green Island.
Those on board included Sudanese,
Eritreans, and Somalis, but the
majority were Egyptian, and many
were locals from Green Island. The
village lies just across the Nile from
Borg Rasheed, a favourite spot used
by smugglers to transport groups
of migrants in rickety boats out to
larger vessels waiting several miles
off the coast.

They called us, their relatives,

when they arrived at the big boat,
and because we are fishermen, our
children know the sea. When they
saw the boat, they understood that it
would sink, said el-Hor.
Deadly
accidents
involving
overcrowded migrant boats are
not new; the UNs refugee agency,
UNHCR, has warned that if current
trends continue, 2016 is set to be
the deadliest year on record for
Mediterranean crossings.
But the Borg Rasheed tragedy has
put the spotlight on a trend that is
worrying local migration experts: the
increasing numbers of Egyptians,
particularly unaccompanied minors,
who are attempting the risky
crossing to Europe.
Growing trend
Prior to the Arab Spring uprisings
of 2011, Egyptian migrants seeking
to travel to Europe, like many
other African migrants, went via

smugglers operating on the Libyan

coast.
Ehab Goma*, a fisherman in his
thirties from Borg Rasheed, told IRIN
he had travelled to Libya in his midteens to work, first as a fisherman
and later as a smuggler, transporting
people to Italy.
There was little money in the
Egyptian smuggling industry back
then, he said.
Since the Egyptian revolution in
2011, the trade on Egypts coasts has
picked up. In the last three years in
particular, an increasing number

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November 2016

47

of foreign migrants and refugees

have begun to depart from Egypt,
preferring to avoid the risks of wartorn Libya.
Small towns like Borg Rasheed have
become hotspots for the smuggling
business. Goma, like many in the
town, still makes money from
the trade. Although he no longer
captains the boats, he is involved
in the storage process, whereby
migrants are hidden away in coastal
safe-houses while waiting for a place
on a boat to become available.
And it is not just foreign migrants.
In recent years, Egyptian nationals
have started to board the boats in
ever greater numbers. According to
the International Organization for
Migration, a total of 4,095 Egyptians
travelled by boat to Italy in 2014,
making them the 10th largest
national group arriving irregularly
by boat. After a small dip in 2015,
IOM figures for the first eight months
of 2016 show the numbers went back
up, with a total of 3,792 Egyptians
arriving in Italy.
Many of those on the move around
60 percent this year are teenagers
travelling alone. Under Italian
law, unlike adults, they cannot be
deported.
El-Hor, the community leader, said
the growing number of young people
leaving is inevitable given the lack of
economic opportunities in the area.
Wages are very low; a young man
here can work for 2,000 [Egyptian]
pounds ($225) a month doing two
jobs, but thats not enough to feed a
family, he said. If you have sisters
you need to marry off, what are you
going to do? he said.
Goma
agreed
that
Egypts
worsening economy is a factor. The
prices of everything are increasing
water, electricity, cigarettes. There are
some jobs in the date palm industry,
but they can barely get you 1,000
pounds ($112) a month.
The government has responded
to the growing trend of departures
with plans for a national awareness

48

November 2016

campaign and promises of further

development.
Addressing Egyptians in the
wake of the Borg Rasheed accident,
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi touted
new low-income housing projects
and upcoming industry and fishery
projects.
But locals are skeptical about the
governments efforts. The wages
from these projects are not enough to
support a family, said el-Hor.
Goma said he believes that stories
of local people successfully reaching
Europe over the past year have has
also had a major effect on young
people in the town. They hear it all
the time: Mohamed travelled, Ahmed
travelled, so-and-so travelled. And
then no one can persuade them not
to go. There are 7,000 people in Borg
Rasheed, and every one of them has a
relative in Europe.
New law targets smugglers
Egyptian
authorities
have
responded to the growing scale of
irregular migration by increasingly
intercepting boats and arresting
those on board. While Egyptians
are usually processed and released,
foreign migrants are often held for
long periods.
UNHCR noted last month that so far
in 2016 over 4,600 foreign nationals,
predominantly Sudanese, Somalis,
Eritreans and Ethiopians, have been
arrested for attempting irregular
departure from the northern coast,
which is 28 percent more than the
whole of 2015.
Among those arrested are asylum
seekers whose claims may not have
been heard, according to UNHCR.
Those not registered with the UN
agency are at risk of deportation.
There are signs of a potential shift
in the states approach however.
The government has drawn up
a new bill that would criminalise
people-smuggling for the first time
in Egyptian law, while treating
migrants as victims. In the wake of
the Borg Rasheed accident, the law is
being prioritised in parliament.

northsouth

In addition, in the last two weeks,

nine alleged smugglers involved in
the shipwreck have been arrested,
according to an interior ministry
official.
Normally when the police catch
smugglers, they just let them go soon
after. But this time, because of the media
attention, we dont know what will
happen to them, said Goma.
The potential impact of the new law,
which could see smugglers subjected to
stiff fines or prison sentences of between
six months and life, is still unclear.
Muhammad Al-Kashef, a migration
researcher for the Egyptian Initiative
for Personal Rights, said the new law
is a positive step, but that foreign
migrants may still be detained under
other legislation if they lack valid travel
documents.
The law gives the state more tools
to prevent smuggling activity, he
said. It is good that it criminalises
those who store migrants before they
are smuggled and other parts of the
smuggling network. It also allows the
government to destroy smugglers
boats.
However, we dont know whether
it will have an effect on the number of
migrants making the journey.
Locals in Borg Rasheed feel that little
is likely to change without economic
development.
Maybe the smugglers will reorganise
things, and start taking fewer people
maybe 150 per boat instead of 500,
charging higher prices, said Goma.
But nothing will stop people going.
Its not just about the money; its about a
dignified life. Even if you threaten them
with death, people will keep going.
Sitting at a cafe, he points out three
17-year-old boys from Green Island
walking down the street. This one,
Saad, was on the boat that sank, and
he survived; that one, Ahmed, his
brother was on board but survived;
and that one, Mohamed, his brother
died. They all say they still want to go
to Europe, and for sure they will go.

Hazel Haddon, IRIN
*Name has been changed

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Twist and turns in US presidential race

The timing of the revelation of a new FBI probe into the emails of US Democratic nominee
Hillary Clinton could not have come at a more embarrassing time with just 11 days before
Americans go to the polls on 8 November to elect a new president, Franklin Adesegha writes.

BI Director, James Comey, said his

bureau was looking into newly
found messages which came to light
during a separate inquiry into top
Clinton aide Huma Abedins estranged
husband,
former
congressman
Anthony Weiner. Devices belonging to
Ms Abedin and Mr Weiner were seized
in an investigation into whether he
sent sexually explicit emails to a
15-year-old girl in North Carolina.
In a swift reaction, Mrs Clinton
said: The American people deserve
to get the full and complete facts
immediately. Its imperative that the
bureau explain this issue in question,
whatever it is, without any delay. She
remarked that Mr Comey had said he
did not know the significance of the
new emails, adding: Im confident
(that) whatever they are will not
change the conclusion reached in
July. Her Republican rival Donald
Trump, however, described the FBI
investigation as the biggest political
scandal since Watergate, referring
to the 1970s scandal that engulfed
Republican President Richard Nixon.
Its everybodys hope that justice at
last can be delivered, Trump told
supporters at a rally in Iowa.
The FBI would never have reopened
this case at this time unless it were a
most egregious criminal offence.
Mr Comey said the FBI would
investigate if the newly discovered
emails contain classified information.
The FBI chief said in a letter to Congress
that investigators had discovered the
emails in connection with an unrelated
case... that appear to be pertinent to the
investigation. He said he cannot yet
assess whether or not this material
may be significant, and I cannot predict
how long it will take us to complete this
additional work.
US media reactions to the new FBI
probe are as follows:
The question will be how badly
damaged was Ms Clintons candidacy

by the 11th-hour re-eruption of a

controversy that never should have
generated so much suspicion or
accusation in the first place - Wall
Street Journal
Mrs Clintons apparent effort
to blunt scrutiny by means of that
private server has only led to far more
damaging scrutiny and suspicion,
with no end in sight, N. York Times
It would be nice if Comey could
expedite this overtime investigation:
Having it run past 8 November raises
even more complications, N.York Post
Dashed are the hopes that the
campaign could come to a conclusion
on a high note, instilling in Americans
a feeling that casting a historymaking vote for Clinton is something
more than merely a repudiation of
Donald Trump - Politicos Annie
Karnie
The FBI has already established
Mrs
Clinton
had
classified
information on a private email
server. In July, Mr Comey said
Mrs Clintons handling of sensitive
material during her 2009-13
tenure as secretary of state was
extremely careless, but cleared her
of any criminal wrongdoing. The
revelation that she handled sensitive
information while breaking federal
rules by running her own email
server out of her upstate New York
home has dogged her campaign
since last year.
As of 29 October 2016, Mrs Clinton
is five points ahead of Republican
rival Trump, according to a Real
Clear Politics average with Mrs
Clinton polling 49 per cent against
Trumps 45 per cent. Will Mrs
Clinton maintain her lead or will it
be cut or overtaken?
After demonizing the Clintons for
the past three decades, it comes as
no surprise that Republicans are
strategizing how best to impede the
Democratic nominee if she triumphs

on November 8. They did, after all,

do the same thing to her husband,
ultimately voting to impeach him in
1998. Recently, John McCain said
that Republicans will be united
against any Supreme Court nominee
that Hillary Clinton, if she were
president, would put up suggesting
that Clinton could be in for a long
four years. Some conservatives
are even calling on Republicans to
use their Constitutional powers to
block or impede all of her judicial
nominees. Senator Ted Cruz, who lost
the Republic nomination, suggested
that there is precedent for Senate
Republicans to keep the Supreme
Court short-staffed indefinitely.
One right-wing activist group,
Judicial Watch, is already advocating
for a second round of Clinton
impeachment hearings. I know this
generation of Republican leaders
is loath to exercise these tools, but
impeachment is something thats
relevant, Tom Fitton, the president
of the vehemently anti-Clinton
conservative organization, told
NBC News. They see [the oversight
process] as an opportunity in some
measure to keep their opponents
off-kilter, but they dont want to do
the substantive and principled work
to truly hold corrupt politicians,
or the administration, or anyone
accountable.
While it remains to be seen
whether the new FBI probe will cost
Clinton the presidency, Republicans
are said to be determined to turn a
second Clinton White House into a
quagmire.

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November 2016

49

 news & views to bridge the global divide

environment

Antarcticas past shows regions

vulnerability to climate change

Fresh
understanding
of
West
Antarctica has revealed how the
regions ice sheet could become
unstable in a warming world. Scientists
from Northumbria University, the
University of Edinburgh, Newcastle
University
and
the
Scottish
Universities Environmental Research
Centre, have determined how the West
Antarctic Ice Sheet reacted to a period
of warming after the coldest point of
the most recent Ice Age, some 21,000
years ago.
As the Earth warmed, the ice sheet
reached a tipping point after which
it thinned relatively quickly, losing
400m of thickness in 3,000 years,
researchers found. This caused sea
levels around the world to increase
by up to two metres. Their findings
will help scientists understand how
the region may behave under future
environmental change.
Researchers
studied
peaks
protruding through ice in the
Ellsworth Mountains on the Atlantic
coast of the continent, to determine
how the lands ice coverage has
changed since the Ice Age. Scientists
used chemical technology known
as exposure dating to calculate how
long rocks on the mountainside had
been free from ice cover. They used
their results to determine how the
height of the ice sheet had changed
over thousands of years.
They found that this sector of the
ice sheet close to the Weddell Sea
had remained covered with thick ice
long after other parts of the Earth
had begun to emerge from the Ice
Age. Heavier snowfall, caused by
warmer air, probably helped to
maintain the ice thickness. As the
seas warmed, ice at the coast began
to be lost to the oceans. Eventually, a
tipping point was reached after which
50

November 2016

the ice sheet thinned more rapidly,

retreating inland. The study was
published in Nature Communications.
It was supported by the Natural
Environment Research Council.
Professor John Woodward, of
Northumbria University, said: Ice
sheets never quite respond in the way
we would expect in a warming world
some ice sheets become unstable and
collapse, yet some grow larger due to
increased snow fall. This study helps
us understand the timing of such
responses in west Antarctica.
Dr Andrew Hein of the University
of Edinburghs School of GeoSciences,
who jointly led the study, concurred,
saying:
West
Antarctica
has
undergone complex changes since the
last Ice Age, and it quickly became
unstable similar processes may
dominate the future of the region in a
warmer world.
Cold and paleo environments
are one of Northumbrias research
specialisms in the Department of
Geography. Research involves field
based projects in cold regions across
the globe, including Antarctica, a
range of high Arctic European and
Canadian sites, New Zealand, the
Alps, Alaska and Chile.
The group applies novel techniques
to field data collection, including
ground-penetrating
radar,
new
borehole
radar
technologies,
seismics, NIR camera techniques,
meteorological
monitoring
technologies, the use of unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAV) and terrestrial
laser scanning (TLS), to address
fundamental questions in Earth
Systems
Science.
Cutting-edge
physical and numerical modelling,
remote sensing and laboratory
techniques for palaeo-environmental
work are also applied.

northsouth

Spain aims for

100% renewable
energy
Spain is aiming to provide 100%
of its energy needs using only
renewable sources, and experts
in the country believe it is an
achievable target.
The European Union has set
a target for the country to reach
20% of all power sourced through
renewable means by 2020. The
current average per day stands
at 17.4%, according to ABC News,
enough to power 29 million homes
across the region.
And a review by the International
Energy Agency last year claimed
that in 2014, Spain achieved
14.9% of their total primary
energy supply from renewable
energy, meaning a 2.5% increase
in the past two years. Spain has
experienced two peaks in the last
two years. In November 2015
they reached a night-time high
for wind energy as it was able to
provide 70% of requirements, and
for daytime records (when more
energy is consumed) the peak of
54% was reached in January 2015.
Miguel Ezepeleta, director of
Spanish wind farm firm Acciona,
told ABC News: Its incredible.
Some years ago, people would say
we would be crazy saying these
kind of things, but today its a
real situation. I think people are
going to tell me were crazy but Im
pretty sure well arrive at 100% for
one moment for sure, he added.
Spain is not the only European
country striving for renewable
energy records. Back in May,
Germany had to pay customers
to use an excess of renewably
sourced energy.

nnovatons

Camera drone

The creators of a new flying camera

say it will add more spice to
photographs and videos by giving
amateur snappers access to new
angles and shots.
The Hover Camera Passport, the
first product from Zero Zero Robotics,
is a foldable, autonomous camera
drone that weighs 242 grams, which
is a little more than half a pound.
The Federal Aviation Administration
requires owners to register vehicles
that weigh 250 grams or more. NBC
News took the Hover Camera Passport
for a spin outside San Franciscos
Ferry Building and got a lesson
on how it works from Meng Qiu
Wang, CEO and co-founder of Zero
Zero Robotics. People can do very
creative things with it because it can
replace rigs and cranes that typically
a professional film crew would have
access to. This will give you new
movements, new angles, Wang
said. The Hover Camera is controlled
by a smartphone app and can
automatically hover after the owner

Brain chip helps

paralysed man
releases it from his or her grip. It
can also be set to automatically follow
you and even circle you to create a
360-degree wraparound video. This
can create a neat effect if you want to
capture a hike or a bike ride. Wang
said the camera uses a combination of
AI, sonar, and a downward viewing
camera to position itself to get the
best possible footage of its subject.
The buzzing of the drone provoked
some unhappy barking from a nearby
dog. It also grabbed the attention of
people passing by, but no one jumped
out of the way as the Hover Camera
followed us down the boardwalk. At
$599, the Hover Camera isnt cheap,
especially for its 10-minute battery
life. However, the 4K video quality
and the autonomous shooting quality
make it a fun splurge.

How to make milk stay fresh for 63 days

Typically, pasteurization is done
one of two ways: Either using a
high-temperature,
short-time
treatment of 161F for 15 seconds,
or a low-temperature, long-time
treatment of 145F for 30 seconds.
But the new method developed by
Bruce Applegate and his colleagues
at Purdue University, in Indiana,
instead involves spraying droplets

through a heated and pressurized

chamber, exposing them to a
low-temperature,
short-time
treatment of just 162.86F for
two hundredths of a second. The
result? Shelf life of up to 63 days.
The results were published in
the journal SpringerPlus. With
the treatment, youre taking out
almost everything, Applegate said
in a press release. Whatever does
survive is at such a low level that it
takes much longer for it to multiply
to a point at which it damages the
quality of the milk. The scientists
said the new technology could
reduce milk waste and allow milk
to reach farther destinations and
last longer once it got there.

An implanted brain chip is

helping Nathan Copeland feel
his fingers for the first time in
a decade. Copeland, who lost all
feeling and movement from the
chest down after a car accident in
2004, can also feel the fingers
of a robotic arm using the chip.
He showed it off by fist-bumping
US President Barack Obama.
Lets see what you got, Obama
said after meeting Copeland at
a science event organized by
the White House in Pittsburgh.
That is unbelievable, Obama
added. Nathan is moving his
hand with his brain. Copelands
the latest patient helping test
brain interfaces being designed
by a team at the University of
Pittsburgh Medical Center. I can
feel just about every finger. Its a
really weird sensation, Copeland,
30, said in a statement released
by the university. Sometimes it
feels electrical and sometimes its
pressure, but for the most part, I
can tell most of the fingers with
definite precision, he said. It
feels like my fingers are getting
touched or pushed. Its actually
a series of chips that are helping
Copeland feel again, and control
a robotic arm with a specially
designed robotic hand with
sensors that relay electronic
impulses to Copelands brain.

northsouth

November 2016

51

busnessbrefs

Profit at the world's largest asset manager rose in last quarter

BlackRock, the world's largest
asset manager, has posted a rise
in quarterly profit, beating analyst
expectations.
The New York-based firm's
performance will be seen as a
strong sign of resilience in a weak
market for many traditional asset
managers.
Third quarter earnings came in
at $5.14 a share on $2.84 billion
in revenue, beating Thomson
Reuters consensus expectations of
about $5 a share but falling short
of predictions of $2.88 billion in
revenue.
Net income rose 3.8 per cent to

52

November 2016

$875 million.
BlackRock
attracted
a
net
$13.35 billion in long-term equity
investments. Net investment in
fixed income was $36.98 billion,
while $1.82 billion went into
alternative investments.
BlackRock ended the latest
quarter with $5.12 trillion in
assets under management, up
from $4.89 trillion in the second
quarter.
BlackRock said it had $70
billion (56bn) of total net inflows,
including $55 billion in long-term
net inflows over its third quarter.
Base fees year-over-year rose by

four per cent, driven by organic

growth and market performance,
offset by investor demands for
fixed income and cash.
The company's operating system
for investment managers Aladdin
brought in 13 per cent more
revenue year-over-year.
Traditional asset managers have
been struggling recently though
BlackRock has largely avoided
many wider sector problems.
BlackRock's shares are up some
four per cent since the beginning
of the year, while the Dow Jones
US Asset Managers Index has lost
4.4 per cent. F

 news & views to bridge the global divide

UK firms could face 122bn in

cyber security fines in 2018
Businesses across the United
Kingdom (UK) could face up to
122 billion ($150bn) in regulatory
penalties for cyber security breaches
when new EU legislation comes into
effect in 2018.
Last year, 90 per cent of large
organisations and 74 per cent of
SMEs reported suffering a security
breach, according to a government
survey. That added up to an estimated
total of 1.4bn in regulatory fines.
The PCI Security Standards
Council has warned that incoming
EU legislation will set the maximum
regulatory fines at four per cent
of global turnover, which is
considerably higher than the current
maximum of 500,000.
If cyber security breaches remain
at 2015 levels, the fines could see a
near 90-fold rise, up from 1.4 billion
to 122 billion. For larger firms,
this could mean the fines reach 70
billion, which would be more than
a 130-fold increase and the average
per organisation at 11 million.
Similarly, fines for SMEs could

see a 60-fold increase, rising to 52

billion, averaging out at 13,000 per
small business.
Jeremy
King,
international
director at the PCI Security
Standards Council, said: The new
EU legislation will be an absolute
game-changer
for
both
large
organisations and SMEs.
The regulator will be able to
impose a stratospheric rise in
penalties for security breaches,
and it remains to be seen whether
businesses facing these fines will be
able to shoulder the costs.
The EU agreed on new rules
concerning the breach of data
protection regulations at the end of
last year.
PCI Security Standards Council
says that firms need to start putting
in place procedures to counter the
cyber security threat, or risk getting
slapped with hefty regulatory fines.
They also risk the reputational
damage, business disruption and
revenue loss that arise from cyber
security breaches. F

Emerging markets are winning

the dash for cash after Brexit vote
Emerging markets are one of the big
winners from the UKs vote to leave
the EU as economies have benefitted
from an influx of foreign capital.
With bond yields crashing in the
advanced world following the shock
vote for Brexit on 23 June, Standard
and Poors (S&P) said yield-hungry
investors had flocked to more exotic
assets.
The ratings agency found that
in the week to 15 July inflows into
emerging market portfolios were are
their highest level in nearly three
years, since the Us Federal Reserve
delayed its decision to taper its
quantitative easing programme in
September 2013.

While
emerging
market
currencies and equities suffered
losses in the immediate aftermath of
the UK referendum, foreign capital
quickly returned, S&P said.
However, not all up-and-coming
economies were winners. Eastern
Europe, for instance, is seen as too
connected to the events in Europe to
benefit from anybody looking for a
new home for their cash.
Investors seem to be concerned
about Brexits possible second-round
effects on Eurozone growth and
therefore on central and eastern
European economies.
S&P added the boom in income may
prove to be short-lived, with tentative

Saudi Arabia to raise

$17.5bn in recordbreaking bond auction
Saudi Arabia is on course to
break records with its first ever
government bond sale on the
open markets. The oil giant will
raise $17.5 billion as it seeks to
accelerate its diversification away
from oil in the largest dollardenominated deal of its kind from
an emerging market economy,
according to reports.
Appetite for Saudi debt proved
high, with investors trying to buy
a total of $67 billion, ensuring
the government is able to borrow
at cheaper than expected prices.
The yield on the benchmark 10year debt being offered is 3.44
per cent, slightly more expensive
than neighbouring Qatar though
comfortably within the sub-seven
per cent pricing range which
investors determine debt to be
investment-grade.
The bond sale comes after the
government posted a budget
deficit equivalent to 15.9 per
cent of its GDP in 2015 amid the
oil price slump. This year the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF) expects the deficit to shrink
to 13 per cent after oil hit a
post-crisis low of $27 a barrel in
January.
Two-thirds of the governments
revenue comes from the sale of
oil, although this is down from
around 90 per cent before the
crisis. The price slump has also
eaten into the countrys mammoth
reserves, though they still stood
at more than $600 billion at the
end of last year.
signs influx levels were already
beginning to peter out. However, a
fresh bout of looser monetary policy
in the UK, the Eurozone and Japan
could push yields even lower in
advanced economies and sustain the
momentum. F

November 2016

53

China reports "better than

expected" economic growth

Brexit more benefit to US

than Europe, Deutsche
Bank's economist

The figures come after data on

Chinese loans earlier this week
showed the countrys debt pile was
still growing at a double-digit rate
almost twice as fast as GDP.
A number of concerns have been
raised about the state of the Chinese
banking sector and whether the
economy can cope under its high
debt burden.
The Bank for International
settlements (BIS) recently warned
high debt levels could trigger a
banking crisis in the world's second
largest economy.
Commenting on the figures, IHS
Global Insight said: Given Chinas
elevated debt levels, the government
cannot
maintain
aggressive
monetary easing to support growth.
Moreover, the gap between the
performances of state and nonstate
firms remains large. Investment by
state-owned enterprises is growing
at double-digit rates, while profits
are contracting. In contrast, capital
spending by nonstate firms is weak,
while their profit growth is more
robust. F

The US has more to gain from

the EU taking a hard stance in
the Brexit negotiations than the
European capitals do, according
to the chief economist of a major
international bank.
Speaking at a British Bankers'
Association (BBA) conference,
David Folkerts-Landau, group
chief economist and global head
of research at Deutsche Bank,
warned that, should other EU
member states try to steal London's
financial crown by pushing for
an unfavourable Brexit deal for
the City, "the net beneficiaries are
going to be the Americans...and
not Europe".
Folkerts-Landau
also
cast
doubt on "the idea that we can
take London and apportion it
across Europe". Sir Jon Cunliffe,
the Bank of England's deputy
governor with responsibility for
financial stability, said he believed
firms could turn to New York
as a better place to do business
following Brexit, while European
hubs such as Frankfurt, Paris and
Amsterdam did not pose a serious
threat to London's standing as a
financial centre.
"What we call London, I can't
see that being replicated in the
foreseeable future in one place in
the European Union," Sir John told
the House of Lords EU financial
affairs committee. He added: The
idea the ecosystem just transplants
itself is highly unlikely.

Chinas
economy
is
showing
signs of stability after the nations
government reported growth at an
annual rate of 6.7 per cent in the last
quarter.
The growth figure for the three
months to September was in line
with forecasts and at the same rate
as the previous two quarters.
The National Bureau of Statistics
of China said: The general
performance was better than
expected.
Julian
Evans-Pritchard
of
Capital Economics said in a report:
Economic activity seems to be
holding up reasonably well, with
few signs that a renewed slowdown
is just around the corner.
Last month the country reported
its weakest trade figures for six
months at a time of weak demand at
home and abroad.
Both exports and imports dropped
in the year to August, falling well
below economists' expectations and
proving the world's second largest
economy is not immune from the
global growth slowdown.

China tops US in App store spending

Apple iOS users in China spent $1.7
billion at the App Store in the third
quarter, beating US spending by 15
percent to become the largest market
in the world for iOS apps.
The spending totals, released in
a report Opens a New Window. this
week from analytics company App
Annie, reveal a large spike in the
value of App Store spending in China
this year. In the third quarter of 2015,
Chinese iOS users spent about $700
million, less than the US and Japan.
So what is prompting the Chinese to
open their wallets? Games, according
to the report. App Annie claims that
while 75 percent of App Store apps
aren't games, they account for 75
percent of the store's revenue.

54

November 2016

Entertainment was the secondlargest spending category. That

includes apps like Youku, similar to
YouTube, and Tencent Video. Much of
the spending on both entertainment
and games comes not from buying the
apps themselves (they're free in many
cases), but on in-app purchases like
subscriptions and individual movies.
The rise of Chinese entertainment
apps may be due to the fact that Apple's
shuttered Opens a New Window. its
own entertainment offerings this past
spring, including iBooks and iTunes.
The Chinese government reportedly
ordered the shutdown over censorship
concerns. Still, Apple takes a cut of all
App Store revenue, so it still benefits
from increased spending on third-

party apps.
Earlier this year, App Annie
predicted Opens a New Window. that
the global app market is expected to
grow 24 percent from $41.1 billion
in 2015 to $51 billion by the end of
2016. And by 2020, revenue across all
app stores is expected to exceed $101
billion globally. F

 news & views to bridge the global divide

AT&T to create telecom-media giant

with $85bn acquisition of Time Warner
The biggest deal in the world this
year will give AT&T control of cable
TV channels HBO and CNN, and
film studio Warner Bros.
AT&T said it agreed to buy Time
Warner for $85.4 billion (70
billion), the boldest move yet by a
telecommunications company to
acquire content to stream over its
high-speed network to attract a
growing number of online viewers.
The biggest deal in the world this
year will, if approved by regulators,
give AT&T control of cable TV
channels HBO and CNN, film studio
Warner Bros and other coveted
media assets. The tie-up will likely
face intense scrutiny by US antitrust
enforcers worried that AT&T might
try to limit distribution of Time
Warner material.
AT&T will pay $107.50 per Time
Warner share, half in cash and half
in stock, worth $85.4 billion overall,
according to a company statement.
AT&T said it expected to close the
deal by the end of 2017.
Dallas-based AT&T said the US
Department of Justice would review
the deal and that it and Time Warner
were determining which Federal
Communications
Commission
licenses, if any, would be transferred

to AT&T in the deal.

US lawmakers were already
worried about cable company
Comcast
Corp's
$30
billion
acquisition of NBC Universal,
creating an industry behemoth.
Several argued for close regulatory
scrutiny of the AT&T deal.
US Republican presidential nominee
Donald Trump said at a rally he would
block any AT&T-Time Warner deal if
he wins the November 8 election.
Trump has complained about media
coverage of his campaign, especially
by Time Warner's CNN.
Representatives of his Democratic
rival, Hillary Clinton, did not
immediately respond to a request for
comment.
AT&T, whose main wireless phone
and broadband service business is
showing signs of slowing, has already
made moves to turn itself into a media
powerhouse. It bought satellite TV
provider DirecTV last year for $48.5
billion.
It had about 142 million North
American wireless subscribers as of
June 30, and about 38 million video
subscribers through DirecTV and its
U-verse service.
New York-based Time Warner
is a major force in movies, TV and

video games. Its assets include the

HBO, CNN, TBS and TNT networks
as well as the Warner Bros film
studio, producer of Harry Potter
film franchises. The company also
owns a 10 per cent stake in video
streaming site Hulu. The HBO
network alone has more than 130
million subscribers.
The deal is the latest in the
consolidation of the telecom and
media sectors, coming on the heels of
AT&T's purchase of NBCUniversal.
AT&T's wireless rival Verizon
Communications is in the process of
buying internet company Yahoo for
about $4.8 billion.
Time Warner Chief Executive
Officer Jeff Bewkes rejected an
$80 billion offer from Twenty-First
Century Fox in 2014.
AT&T said the cash portion of the
purchase price would be financed
with new debt and cash on its balance
sheet. AT&T said it has an 18-month
commitment for an unsecured
bridge term facility for $40 billion.
AT&T currently has only $7.2
billion in cash on hand. Further
borrowing could put pressure on its
credit rating as it already had $120
billion in net debt as of June 30,
according to Moody's. F

Brexit fears prompt UKs biggest banks to prepare to leave

Britains banks will start moving out
of London before Christmas amid
fears over leaving the EU, according
to a top banking boss.
Anthony Browne, the head of the
British Bankers Association, wrote
in The Observer that Britains biggest
banks were likely to move within the
first few months of 2017, while many
smaller banks would do so in the
next few months. Their hands are
quivering over the relocate button,
he said. Banking is probably more
affected by Brexit than any other
sector of the economy. Browne said
the rhetoric coming from EU and

British politicians is hardening

and uncertainty over the deal that
will eventually be struck has left
banks thinking they have no other
option but to relocate to meet their
customers needs.
He said: Most international banks
now have project teams working out
which operations they need to move
to ensure they can continue serving
customers, the date by which this
must happen and how best to do it.
The Governments focus on
controlling freedom of movement of
people into the UK is likely to come
at the expense of Britains right to

access the single market.

Membership of the single market
- a key feature of being in the
European Union - is crucial to banks
due to what is called passporting
services. It allows UK-based banks
to sell financial services to all EU
member states unimpeded. It is also
why many US investment banks
base themselves in London.
Despite signaling a banking
exodus, Browne writes that he does
not believe the UKs finance industry
will be irreparably damaged.
He said: London will survive as a
global financial centre". F

November 2016

55

London named most powerful global city for fifth consecutive year

The United Kingdoms capital

has been named the worlds most
powerful city for the fifth year in a
row, beating the likes of New York,
Paris, and Tokyo to the top spot
though Paris is making gains
elsewhere.
The 2016 Global Power City Index,
released by Japans Mori Memorial
Foundation, ranked London as the
top city yet again, picking up on
the capitals top businesses, strong
cultural offering, and global
transport links.
The capital first soared into the
top sport in 2012 after hosting the
Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The report scored 42 major global
cities on economic performance,
research and development, culture,
accessibility, environmental and
livability.
This year London ranked top
for accessibility and cultural
interaction,
with
the
report
findings highlighting an increase
in the number of visitors and
students from abroad.
The capitals access to world class
transport links, including multiple
international airports, was also

56

November 2016

underlined as a key driver for

the growth of London as a global
business and tourism destination.
Since 2008, London and Paris
have battled for the position of
most-accessible city, and this year
London regained the title.
Last year London attracted a
record 18.6 million international
visitors, drawn by global sporting
events such as the Rugby World
Cup and blockbuster exhibitions at
its museums and galleries.
The report highlighted the
capital as Europes fastest growing
technology hub, with the number
of businesses in London increasing
by 46 per cent since 2012 now
boasting around 46,000.
London was found to be the best
place to be a business manager,
scoring
highly
for
potential
business growth and ease of doing
business.
London was also found to be well
suited for academic researchers,
coming second behind New York.
However, the capital did not do as
well in the environment or livability
categories. The most common word
or phrase to describe London was

found to be expensive. More

positively, this was closely followed
by history, Big Ben and
culture.
Paris was described as romantic
and beautiful, while Tokyo as
named as crowded and modern.
London mayor, Sadiq Khan, said
the study showed confidence in the
UK, even after the referendum vote.
This
research
shows
that
despite the recent vote to leave
the EU, London is the best place
in the world to do business, he
said. From start-ups to global
enterprises, across all industries
and sectors, the capital offers the
ideal environment for businesses to
thrive.
I am working with Londons
business community to ensure their
needs are met as we leave the EU
and that our great city maintains
its global position.
Andrew Cooke, acting chief
executive of London & Partners,
the mayors promotional company,
said: London is the worlds truly
global city. Since the Olympic
Games in 2012, London has gone
from strength-to-strength. F

 news & views to bridge the global divide

UK tech investors are incredibly

happy about Softbank's $100bn fund
Venture
capital
investors
in
London have welcomed the arrival
of the worlds biggest ever tech
investment fund and the decision
to locate it in the capital.
Softbank unveiled plans last
week to create a huge new fund for
investing in technology companies
along with the Saudi Arabian
sovereign wealth fund to the tune
of as much as $100 billion (820bn)
over the next five years.
Locating the fund in London has
been hailed as a vote of confidence
in the United kingdoms (UK)
technology sector post-Brexit.
This is a very interesting and
strong vote of confidence in the
tech sector here, said Tech London
Advocates Russ Shaw, speaking to
the BBC.
It demonstrates that regardless
of whether were here in the EU
or not , its showing some really
strong fundamental signs - its
vibrant, it's dynamic and its here
to stay."
The fund, almost unprecedented
in its size, is expected to help plug a
late stage funding gap for startups
across Europe to the benefit of both
startups and the UKs VCs.
"The injection of capital into
the market will help Europe's
ambitious entrepreneurs to fulfil
their ambitions on home turf,

rather than being constrained by

a lack of later-stage capital, said
Suranga Chandratillake, general
partner of Balderton Capital.
Hoxton Ventures Rob Kniaz
said: It's not worth their time to do
a paltry cheque under $10 million
or $20 million to be frank. So we're
delighted they can follow in later
rounds of our companies.
Softbank snapped up UK chip
maker Arm for 24.3bn over the
summer in an unexpected megadeal and is already an investor in
two of Hoxtons companies, Yieldify
and Darktrace, which is now valued
at $500 million.
That sentiment was also echoed
by Luciana Lixandru, principal at
Accel. Given the size of the fund
and its remit, its likely going to
be more about late stage global
growth investments and less about
early stage venture. As a result, its
great news for European VCs in
terms of providing another route to
exit and liquidity, she said.
Renowned
investor
with
LocalGlobal Robin Klein, who
backed Zoopla and LoveFIlm,
added: I think all round, the fact
that a global fund of this size will be
based in London is huge for London
and Europe. It is a very good
endorsement for the importance of
tech in the global economy. F

Are we on the brink of the first cyber world war?

Yahoo
recently
reported
the largest hack in history,
WikiLeaks is releasing hacked
DNC emails at an alarming rate,
and according to NBC News
the Obama administration is
contemplating an unprecedented
cyber covert action against
Russia in retaliation for alleged
Russian interference in the
American presidential election.
Are we on the brink of the

First Cyber World War? Even

if the current rhetoric just
exacerbates unofficial nationstate-backed
cyberterrorism,
there is still a significant
danger.
Are you prepared to function
offline? If not, it is time for some
serious
business
continuity
planning, a few muster drills
and, most importantly, a tactical
approach to disaster recovery. F

Samsung Galaxy Note

7 discontinuation to
cost $5.3bn
South Korean electronics giant
Samsung said it expects to take
a $3 billion (2.46bn) hit to its
operating profit over the next
two quarters because of the
discontinuation of its Galaxy Note
7 smartphone.
The announcement brings the
total losses from the debacle to
around $5.3bn.
In a market update earlier this
week, the company slashed its
estimates for the quarter to the end
of September to 5.2 trillion won
(3.8bn), dialling back on initial
estimates of 7.8 trillion won.
It
also
adjusted
revenue
estimates from 49 trillion won for
the quarter to 47 trillion.
Samsung said it will completely
ditch further production of the
device after numerous reports
worldwide that the battery was
prone to overheating and many
had exploded.
Around $18bn was wiped
from the group's value as shares
plummeted more than eight per
cent, its biggest intraday loss
since the financial crisis.
The device, which was unveiled
in August, was meant to be a
major competitor to Apple's
latest iPhone. However, Samsung
was forced to order a recall and
replacement scheme by September,
though even replacement phones
were found to be faulty.
In response, Apple has ramped
up its iPhone production from
80m units to 100m units.
The Note 7 was lauded as being
even more advanced than the
most recently available iPhones,
featuring eye-scanning technology
that moved a step beyond Apple's
use of biometrics. The Note 7 is
also waterproof to depths of five
feet, has a curved screen and is
compatible with a new VR headset.

November 2016

57

IMF urges GCC countries to 'do more' to transform economies

The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) has urged Gulf countries
to make greater progress toward
more diversified, dynamic, privatesector driven economies as a new
era of lower oil prices continues to
impact economic growth.
Latest
figures
released
by
the IMF forecasts that the Gulf
Cooperation
Council
(GCC)
region's non-oil growth will be
1.8 per cent in 2016 and 3.1 per
cent in 2017, much lower than the
7 per cent average between 2000
and 2014.
It said the slowdown was due
to the "dampening effect from
fiscal consolidations and a broader
weakening of private sector
confidence in the face of lower oil
prices".
The IMF welcomed recentlyannounced diversification plans
such as Saudi Arabia's Vision
2030 which emphasises private
sector development, commits to a
balanced budget in five years, and
envisages a partial privatization
of Aramco, the worlds largest oil
and gas company.
Oil exporters and importers
alike have started to rationalise
government spending and have
cut back on their expensive
general subsidy programs, for
petrol, electricity, gas, and water,
which have tended to benefit
mostly the rich.
Despite these improvements,
prices for these utilities are
still well below international
standards, so policymakers could
go further in reforming their
energy pricing frameworks, the
IMF said.
Some countries have also started
to find cost savings in their public
wage bills, it added.
Masood Ahmed, IMF Middle
East and Central Asia Department
director, said: These are all

58

November 2016

welcome moves and underline how

committed these countries are to
adjusting to the current difficult
economic environment.
However, he added that over the
next 12 months, and well into the
future, more needs to be done.
Ahmed added: The economic
transformations that are made
now will have the potential to
provide resilient and inclusive
growth for generations to come.
For oil exporters, this will include
relying less on oil revenues while
creating job opportunities for new
labour market entrants in the
private, rather than public, sector,
while for oil importers, this will
mean relying less on remittances.
But, for both these groups of
countries the goal must be an
economic model that depends less
on state spending and more on the
private sector.
He
added:
Oil
exporters
are facing the difficult task of
growing their economies in a
climate of lower budget revenues
and spending cuts.
Therefore, the challenge now
and into the future will be to find
alternative sources of revenues
and economic growth to maintain
the level of prosperity many of
them have become accustomed to.
Regionally across the Middle
East, North Africa, Afghanistan
and Pakistan, the IMF said the
slump in oil prices and ongoing
conflicts continue to weigh on
growth prospects.
The IMFs Regional Economic
Outlook for the Middle East and
Central Asia projects that growth
for the region this year will be a
modest three-and-a-half percent,
with little improvement expected
in 2017.
It
said
sluggish
economic
growth is hurting progress in
improving living standards.

Structural
transformations
towards more dynamic privatesector driven economies, plans for
which are being formulated in a
number of countries, are needed
to boost growth and create private
sector jobs, the report said.
The countries of the Middle
East and North Africa region are
still facing two of the worlds most
pressing economic and geopolitical
issues: the slump in oil prices and
the intensification of conflicts,
said Ahmed. To their credit, these
countries have made progress in
dealing with these challenges.
Despite staging a recovery over
recent months to reach more than
$50 a barrel, oil prices the key
driver of growth for the regions
oil exporters are projected to
remain low over the coming years.
The IMF projects prices to barely
reach $60 a barrel by 2021, far
removed from the highs of more
than $100 a barrel just two years
ago.
The report said non-oil growth
outside the GCC is likely to be
almost non-existent this year due
to the conflicts in Iraq, Libya, and
Yemen. F

Banks one of biggest

threats to the EU, says
former chancellor
Europe's banks now pose one of
the greatest threats to the future
of the European Union, a former
chancellor of the exchequer said.
Speaking at the Institute
of
Directors
(IoD)
Annual
Convention, Lord Lamont of
Lerwick remarked: "There are
many, many crises which are
potentially very dangerous for
the EU" before adding "the biggest
threat to Europe is the banking
crisis".

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Russian project detects a face

in any TV channel in real-time
One hears about Russia in terms
of its government hacking the US
election. But some canny Russian
developers have put their skills
to something more productive:
monitoring the TV appearances of
world leaders.
A team of Russian developers have
released an (AI) Artificial Intelligence
powered algorithm that tracks all
world leaders activities in all media.
Based on the information the Verso
service analyzes the impact of each
President/Prime Minister and shows
a rating for them in real-time.
Verso is an experiment to utilise
algorithms designed to rapidly
recognise faces (even blurry ones)
which were developed at Moscow
State University,
Once a second the Verso platform
takes a screenshot of a set of
monitored TC channels. All the
faces it detects are run through
the computer vision processing, to
see if there is one which matches
the person the researchers are
searching for.

The algorithms it uses are able to

tell in milliseconds if a person is at
least a 99% match, even with blurred
or turned heads. The data it delivers
to its site is in real-time.
Spokesman
Eugene
Gordeev,
a managing partner at Russian
Ventures, says: Since we are
just experimenting with AI and
tweaking the system, some data
may not be representative and gives
only picture of relativity, that why
we called it a project Verso!
Verso is planning to make a
searchable archive of at least 100
channels, where you could see
patterns or trends, so you can have
a full overview on any topic. Of
course, it could be used to track
any kind of object or product in any
video.
Faces are just the beginning, we
will add text and voice recognition,
and of course understanding so
any video will be marked as positive/
negative, says Gordeev.
Verso has $100,000 in funding so
far but plans to raise more money. F

M&A slowdown crosses the Atlantic

ahead of US Presidential Election
Corporate deal-making across the
pond is slowing ahead of the US
Presidential Election, fresh research
has shown.
The number of mergers and
acquisitions (M&A) taking place in
North America has dropped 15 per
cent so far this year, according to
advisers Willis Towers Watson, while
Europe is on course to set a postcrisis high in terms of deal volume.
M&A activity has been under the
spotlight in the UK in the context of
the EU referendum. Before the vote,
analysts said big deals were being
put on hold, while in the shock
which followed the 23 June ballot,
it was unclear if, and how quickly,

action would return. However, a 24

billion takeover of ARM Holdings by
Japanese Softbank put paid to some
concerns and a flurry of smaller
firms have also announced IPOs in
recent weeks.
Willis Towers Watson said 47 deals
worth more than $100m (77m) had
been completed in Europe in the third
quarter, taking the year-to-date total
to 125. The most since the financial
crisis in any calendar year came in
2011, which saw 211 multi-million
deals. The group added the number
of mega deals - those worth more
than $10 billion - completed around
the world has already passed last
years total. F

UK seeking closer
ties with business to
battle cyber threat
The
United
Kingdoms
(UK)
authorities are ramping up efforts
to help British business fight the
ever-growing threat of cybercrime.
The government will seek greater
engagement with chief executives
and board level executives on cyber
security to push it higher up the
corporate agenda.
The newly opened National
Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in
London, part of multi-billion pound
government plans to invest in cyber
security in the coming years, will hire
hundreds more people who will be
charged with growing connections
with business as part of their remit.
Currently, talks between the two are
largely on an adhoc basis and focus
on companies most at risk or which
would have the most impact if they
were targeted by criminals, said
Peter Yapp, deputy director of NCSC
speaking at an event held by the
Cyber Rescue Alliance. The move is
part of wider government efforts to
fight the threat of cyber crime and
the government's official national
cyber security strategy is due to be
published in November.
Cyber security is still not a board
level matter, figures reveal, despite
the potential for data breaches and
hacks to impact a business share
price, long term reputation and
bottom lines. The Mayor of London
also plans to increase engagement
with small businesses across the
capital to better equip them with
tools to fight online threats.
From January City Hall's Digital
Security Centre will double down
on efforts to reach businesses with
the help of other bodies, including
the Met Police and City of London
Police. The government last month
took the unprecedented step of
connecting cyber security startups
with the UK spy agency GCHQ to
collaborate on fighting crime.

November 2016

59

Alibaba begins world's biggest

shopping day of the year
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba
has started the countdown to its
shopping festival Singles Day, the
worlds biggest sales event of the
year.
The
retailer
has
promised
consumers a bonanza of pop stars,
fashion shows, and virtual reality to
whip them into a spending frenzy.
The annual celebration of being
single now in to its seventh year
has already eclipsed the combined
sales of the US-inspired Cyber
Monday and Black Friday. Alibaba
has branded the day, which falls
on 11 November each year, Global
Shopping Festival, as it tries to
export the Chinese celebration to the
rest of the world.
Singles Day last year helped
Chinese retailers rake in 9.4bn over
just 24 hours. This year the digital
titan is planning to break that record
by using technology to bridge the
gap between its online and offline
stores and its global and domestic
businesses.
From today through 11 November,
consumers will discover, explore,
play,
watch,
comment,
share,
recommend and shop across our
entire ecosystem with our merchants
both online and offline, said Daniel

Zhang, chief executive of Alibaba

Group.
Leveraging
our
robust
infrastructure, global merchants have
been empowered with unprecedented
capability to seamlessly engage
and serve customers through new
technology and new environments.
Katy Perry, who has also been
signed up as the global ambassador
to the festival, will headline a finale
gala ahead of the big day on 10
November but until then there will
be a three-week parade of events
designed to drive consumer interest.
On 23 October Chinese wholesale
retailer Tmall hosted an eight-hour
fashion show in Shanghai that will
be streamed live via mobile apps that
let viewers pre-order items as they
appear on the catwalk.
The event has not been free
of scrutiny however. Alibabas
accounting
practices
for
the
event have been the subject of an
investigation by the US regulator,
after questions were raised over
whether sales from the event are
really as high as reported.
Goods are offered at discount prices
leading up to the big day but all of
the transactions only go through on
the day itself. F

Saudi Aramco IPO likely in 2018, says CEO

Amin Nasser, Chief Executive of the
Saudi oil holding Aramco, said the
company plans to invest $300 billion
over the next decade, with the focus
on gas.
Saudi Aramco feels "comfortable"
that by 2018 oil prices will have
recovered and the market conditions
will be right for what could be the
world's largest public listing, Amin

60

November 2016

Nasser said.
Speaking at the World Energy
Congress in Istanbul, Nasser said
that all markets were still being
considered for the initial public
offering (IPO) of up to 5 per cent
of Aramco. Saudi's Deputy Crown
Prince, Mohammed bin Salman,
unveiled ambitious plans earlier this
year aimed at ending the country's
"addiction" to oil and transforming
it into a global investment power.
The listing of less than 5 per cent of
state-run Aramco is a centrepiece of
that effort. F

China tops US in
App store spending

Apple iOS users in China spent

$1.7 billion at the App Store in the
third quarter, beating US spending
by 15 percent to become the largest
market in the world for iOS apps.
The spending totals, released
in a report Opens a New Window.
this week from analytics company
App Annie, reveal a large spike in
the value of App Store spending
in China this year. In the third
quarter of 2015, Chinese iOS users
spent about $700 million, less than
the US and Japan.
So what is prompting the
Chinese to open their wallets?
Games, according to the report.
App Annie claims that while 75
percent of App Store apps aren't
games, they account for 75 percent
of the store's revenue.
Entertainment was the secondlargest spending category. That
includes apps like Youku, similar
to YouTube, and Tencent Video.
Much of the spending on both
entertainment and games comes not
from buying the apps themselves
(they're free in many cases), but on
in-app purchases like subscriptions
and individual movies. The rise
of Chinese entertainment apps
may be due to the fact that Apple's
shuttered Opens a New Window. its
own entertainment offerings this
past spring, including iBooks and
iTunes. The Chinese government
reportedly ordered the shutdown
over censorship concerns. Still,
Apple takes a cut of all App Store
revenue, so it still benefits from
increased spending on third-party
apps.
Earlier this year, App Annie
predicted Opens a New Window.
that the global app market is
expected to grow 24 percent from
$41.1 billion in 2015 to $51 billion
by the end of 2016. And by 2020,
revenue across all app stores is
expected to exceed $101 billion
globally.

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Leaked government documents

reveal 75bn cost of hard Brexit
The British Prime Minister,
Theresa May, has come under fire
for regurgitating pre-referendum
economic warnings to claim
leaving the EU Customs Union
would cost the UK 75 billion
($120bn) and inflict travel chaos
across the country.
According to The Guardian, the
Prime Minister has circulated
papers to top cabinet colleagues
on her Brexit planning committee
outlining the potential mutlibillion pound cost of a hard Brexit,
as the divisions among her inner
circle continue to rumble.
Chancellor of the Exchequer
(minister of finance and economy)
Philip
Hammond,
who
has
come under attack by unnamed
senior figures for attempting to
"undermine Brexit", was forced
to deny speculation he has
threatened to quit. Separately,
leading City figures said the
government's new departments
for
international
trade
and
exiting the EU are not listening
to the needs of London's financial
sector.
The calculations, sent to May's
close-knit team of Brexit advisers,
which
includes
Hammond,
David Davis, Liam Fox and Boris
Johnson, claim the UK economy
would be 4.5 per cent smaller
by 2030 if it leaves the Customs
Union as part of any Brexit deal.
Such a hit would leave the UK
75 billion worse off.
However, the claims which are
arrived at by taking the average
assessment obtained from the
controversial work undertaken
by the Treasury before the vote,
along with pre-23 June studies
from the National Institute of
Economic and Social Research
(Niesr) and the London School of
Economics (LSE), were dismissed
by several experts.

"The idea that leaving a customs

union will cost 4.5 per cent of GDP
is farcical," Ryan Bourne, head of
public policy at the Institute of
Economic Affairs said.
"Any short-term costs would
be vastly outweighed by the
ability to extricate ourselves from
the customs unions Common
External Tariff a protectionist
wall which currently raises prices
for consumers of manufactured
and agricultural goods by around
20 per cent."
Shanker Singham, director of
economic policy at the Legatum
Institute said: "The estimate
assumes the worst.
This would be the cost of tariff
increases as we leave the customs
union and some extra admin, but
[the figure] assumes that we dont
succeed in negotiating anything
more with other countries in
the form of other free trade
agreements."
The analysis on the costs of
leaving the Customs Union also
argued the UK's infrastructure
networks
could
not
handle
the
additional
administrative
pressures needed to set up a new
fully-fledged border between the
UK and the EU.
Sam Bowman, executive director
at the Adam Smith Institute also
questioned the figures: "The prereferendum Treasury analysis
suggested full exit from the
Single Market would cost us
around six per cent of GDP so it's
quite astonishing if two-thirds of
that comes from customs checks
and rules of origin.
"It's perfectly reasonable to
use pre-referendum estimates
to calculate the cost of Brexit,
although one important factor
doesn't seem to have been factored
into those, which is Bank of
England monetary easing." F

UK's investment industry

has more assets than France,
Germany and Italy combined
Londons position as Europes
premier financial hub was laid
bare again with the latest statistics
on the United Kingdoms (UK)
dominant
fund
management
industry.
The
Investment
Association (IA), which represents
investment firms based in the UK,
found there are more assets under
management (AUM) in the UK
than France, Germany and Italy
combined, and nearly 100,000 jobs
across the country depend on the
industry.
The total size of AUM in the UK
stood at 6.1 trillion (5.3 trillion
in today's prices) at the end of
2015 - unchanged on one year
before. France, the next largest
European market, manages 3.3
trillion, while Germany comes in
at just 1.6 trillion.
The numbers also revealed the
extent to which the UK punches
above its weight in attracting
overseas clients. More than onethird of the financial products
under the stewardship of UK
outfits belonged to overseas clients
and 37 per cent of all European
stocks, shares, bonds, cash and
property were managed in the UK.
The international dominance of
London, which falls behind only
the US as a home for financial
assets, has prompted both fears
about the prospect of Brexit and
hope that London can retain its
European crown.
In the last year, the UKs
investment hub has become an
even more global entity, said IA
chief executive Chris Cummings.
The position of the City has been
brought into question in the
wake of the EU referendum and
speculation the government could
be considering a hard Brexit
option which might strip financial
services of their passporting rights.

November 2016

61

arts

&

entertanment

Highest earning dead celebrities

1. Michael Jackson - $115 million

Michael Jackson may have died
over six years ago but his legacy still
lives on. The King of Pop made $115
million this year, but how? Cirque du
Soleil in Vegas showcasing Michael
Jackson One is one of the sources of
Michael Jacksons cash flow but the
Mijac Music catalogue and music
sales also contribute.
2. Elvis Presley - $55 million
Elvis pulls in most of his money
from ticket sales at his Graceland
home. Now it may seem surprising
that this rock and roll legend could
generate that much income from
tours of his home, but it makes more
sense when you realise a regular
adult ticket will set you back $77!
3. Charles Schulz - $40 million
Snoopys creator is behind one of
the most iconic cartoon characters
of all time, and hes got a whole
gang of friends that come with him
in the Peanuts group. Schulz makes
most of his money thanks to the
licensing revenue from the comic.
Next years income is likely to be
even higher as The Peanuts Movie
is released in just a few weeks.
4. Bob Marley - $21 million
The Marley Beverage Company and
House of Marley are just two of
the companies bringing in the big

62

November 2016

bucks for reggae legend Bob Marley.

Music sales are also obviously a
huge contributor with more than
75 million albums sold so far.
5. Elizabeth Taylor - $20 million
Celebrity fragrances might not
really be that sought after any
more but White Diamonds, one of
Elizabeth Taylors perfumes, was
first released 24 years ago and
continues to be sold to this day
proving that maybe there really are
some things that never go out of
fashion.
6. Marilyn Monroe - $17 million
Marilyn Monroe is undoubtedly
still an international fashion and
film icon. In 2011, Authentic Brand
Group bought the rights to her
brand and its thanks to them that
shes still pulling in top dollar as
well as a clothing line at American
store, Macys, and a range of
lingerie.
7. John Lennon - $12 million
John Lennon was part of one of the
biggest musical acts of all time, The
Beatles, although unfortunately his
stardom was cut short when he was
shot dead in 1980. The songwriter
still gets his share of the album
sales though and is reported to take
$12 million each year.
8. Albert Einstein - $11 million
Einstein is one of the most famous
scientists in history having come
up with the general theory of
relativity. Branded mechandise and
memorabilia is the main source of
the theoretical physicists revenue
now though.
9. Paul Walker - $10.5 million
Paul Walker was just 40-years-old

when he died in 2013 in a car crash,

but his legacy still lives on thanks to
the film franchise, The Fast and the
Furious. The most recent film took
$1.5 billion and although Walker
died during filming, he still appears
in the flick.
10. Bettie Page - $10 million
Bettie Page was one of Americas
iconic pin-up girls, even gaining the
nickname Queen of Pinups thanks
to her trademark look. The model
was also one of the earliest Playmates
of the Month to feature in Playboy
magazine. Page now makes most of
her money at the hands of fashion,
clothing and lingerie lines. F

Global TV market set

to channel over $300bn
revenues by 2020
The global television market will
be worth $325 billion (250bn) in
revenues by 2020, PwC and the
Institute of Chartered Accountants
have forecast.
A report found the United
Kingdom (UK) is regarded as a TV
world leader and an exporter of
content and technical and creative
talent. According to the research,
the UKs success is driven by the
BBC, which acts as an investment
arm for creativity.
British television always
international in its outlook is
becoming even more so, with
an increasing amount of high
quality content gaining global
recognition and creative awards,
said Phil Stokes, entertainment
and media lead at PwC.

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Watch out Spotify? Amazons music

streaming service has arrived
Amazon will give Spotify and Apple
a run for their money in the world of
music streaming with the launch of
a long-rumoured streaming service.
Amazon Music Unlimited will
offer access to music for as little as
$3.99 (3.26) per month in the US
and is incorporating the service into
its Prime offering, which already
gives customers a vast array of
services such as delivery and video
streaming.
For users not signed up to Prime,
it will be priced at $9.99, exactly
that of Spotify and Apple Music.
That will go down to $7.99
for Prime subscribers, while the
$3.99 price is reserved for those
subscribing via Amazon Echo, its
smarthome speaker with AI voice
assistant.
The addition of music streaming
to Echo adds another string to its
bow in a bid to create the smart
home of the future as it faces new
competition from Google which
last week launched its own voice
activated home speaker.

The first phase of growth (in

music streaming) was driven almost
entirely by smartphones. We believe
pretty strongly that the next phase
of growth in streaming is going to
come from the home, said Amazon
Music vice president Steve Boom, in
an interview with Reuters.
But, by wrapping it up under the
Prime banner at a cheaper price, it
is just another reason for people to
sign up to the monthly subscription
service which is priced at 79 per
month in the United Kingdom (UK)
and includes a host of benefits.
It will also launch a family
subscription in the coming months,
letting a number of different users
sign up collectively for less - $14.99
for six people. That is the same as
Spotify and Apple Music.
The service is initially available in
the US only, but will roll out to the
UK, Germany and Austria by the
end of the year.
Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple
Music, Deezer and Tidal subscription
prices compared

Service

Standard
price

Family price Other price

Other price

Amazon
Music

$9.99

$14.99

$3.99
(Echo user)

Apple Music

$9.99

$14.99

Three month
free trial

Spotify

$9.99

$14.99

30 day
free trial

Deezer

$9.99

$16

30 day
free trial

Tidal

$9.99

$14.99

30 day
free trial

$19.99 (HiFi
high quality)

$7.99 (Prime
member)

Voice-control smart device

Amazon has launched its voicecontrolled Echo speaker in the UK. The
device can play music, deliver weather
reports and order online shopping
with more than three million believed
to have been sold. The Echo was

released in the US almost two years

ago but Amazon has had to adapt the
device for British consumers, training
its software to understand accents
by using the device in hundreds of
employers homes. F

Dubai opens first

happiness park
Park is equipped with a range
of workout machines that can
transform kinetic energy into
electricity.
Al Saada Park (Happiness Park)
has been opened at the Dubai
Ladies Club to promote exercise,
entertainment and sustainability
in the emirate.
The park is equipped with a
range of workout machines that
can transform kinetic energy
into electricity, while enhancing
the individuals contribution to
rational consumption through
entertainment in a healthy and
educational manner, news agency
WAM said.
Ohood Al Roumi, UAE Minister
of Happiness, said Al Saada
Park is an innovative initiative
that promotes the role of women
and works to achieve their
happiness through an activity
which combines social, physical,
entertainment and educational
elements.

Zayn Malik
scrapbook to shed
light on his past
Fans of former One Direction star
Zayn Malik may finally get to the
bottom of his shock exit from the
band, his love life and his ongoing
anxiety issues after the singer
said he wrote his intimate and raw
scrapbook himself. Fans can now
judge me on my own terms, not on
what the press or anyone else says,
he added. The book, Zayn, will be
published by Penguin Random
House on November 1. F
November 2016

63

travel

&
toursm
F

Dubai retains title of worlds busiest airport

Dubai International Airport has
been named the worlds busiest
for
international
passenger
traffic and the second busiest for
cargo, according to new figures
released by the Airports Council
International (ACI).
The 2015 ACI World Airport
Traffic report showed that DXB
serviced 77.5 million passengers
last year, up 10.7 per cent over
2014, putting it ahead of London
Heathrow and Hong Kong for
international passengers.
It also showed that Dubai
handled 2.51 million metric

64

November 2016

tonnes of freight in 2015, up

3.4 percent over 2014, putting it
second behind Hong Kong in the
international air cargo category.
Worldwide airport passenger
numbers increased 6.4 percent
in 2015 to almost 7.2 billion,
registering increases in all six
regions.
The top spot in the busiest
airports overall list for 2015
continued to belong to AtlantaHartsfield-Jackson
(ATL).
Growing 5.5 per cent year-overyear in passenger traffic to the
record-breaking total of over
100 million passengers in 2015,
Atlanta has benefitted from its
strategic location as a major
connecting hub and port of entry
into North America.
Airport traffic in emerging
markets
and
developing
economies grew faster (8.1 per
cent) than in advanced economies
(5.2 per cent) in 2015, with
emerging
markets
reaching
a 44 per cent share of global
passenger traffic.
The report also said that during

northsouth

2015, the Middle East recorded

334 million air passengers, a rise
of nearly 10 per cent over the
previous year. Asia-Pacific was
the busiest region (2.46 billion,
up 8.6 per cent over 2014).
It added that while there were
16 airports with over 40 million
passengers in 2005, this number
has more than doubled and rose
to a total of 37 airports by 2015.
On the back of a growing
middle class in key emerging
markets, the significant growth
of intercontinental hubs in AsiaPacific and the Middle East reveals
that air transports nucleus
continues to move eastward, the
report said.
The worlds top 30 airport
cities handled almost one-third of
global passenger traffic. London
remained the worlds largest
airport system with over 155
million passengers handled at six
airports. New York maintained the
second position with 123 million
passengers at three airports.
Tokyo was the third city market
with 113 million passengers. F

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Worlds best airlines for 2016 revealed

Emirates has been named the worlds
best airline for 2016, beating Qatar
Airways, Singapore Airlines and
Qantas.
The Middle Eastern Airline scooped
the top spot at prestigious Skytrax
World Airline Awards 2016. As
well as being awarded the Worlds
Best Airline 2016, Emirates was
crowned the Worlds Best Inflight
Entertainment for a record 12th
consecutive year and Best Airline in
the Middle East.
Qatar Airways was ranked number
two in the world and won other top
awards, being named the Worlds
Best Business Class, the Worlds Best
Business Class Lounge and Best
Airline Staff in the Middle East.
Third placed Singapore Airlines

achieved top success winning the

award for Best Airline in Asia, as well
as the title for the Best Business Class
Airline Seat.
Meanwhile in the budget carrier
category, Norwegian was voted the
Best Low Cost Airline in Europe for
the fourth successive year, in addition
to collecting the award for Best
Long Haul Low Cost Airline for its
expanding long haul operation.
This years Skytrax awards were
based on a total of 19.2 million
completed surveys covering 280
airlines by customers hailing from
more than 104 countries. The Skytrax
survey measures quality standards
across 41 key performance indicators
of front-line products and services in
the airline industry. F

Rohde & Schwarz has been awarded

a contract from the German Federal
Ministry of the Interior (MOI) for 300
R&S QPS200 body scanners used
primarily for airport security. The
federal police tested the technology
for months at Hannover Airport.
The three-year deal, worth an
undisclosed
amount,
includes
accessories and service support.
The MOI is implementing a
nationwide strategy to augment
checkpoint
screening
without
harming the passenger experience.
The QPS200 consists of solidstate flat panels with thousands

of small millimetre-wave (MMW)

transmitters and receivers for
automatically detecting contraband
or threat items. The technology
does not detect specific objects but
instead the software searches for
anomalies, which could denote the
presence of explosives, weapons, or
narcotics.
Scan results are presented to
the operator on a touchscreen
display in a stick-like picture, with
symbols indicating the presence of
suspicious items. Software for the
user interface can be updated to
meet future requirements. F

Germany places major order for

R&S QPS200 body scanners

Saudi Arabian
tourists spend
$21.1bn overseas
Saudi Arabia accounted for
the highest level of spending
on tourism overseas of all GCC
countries, according to statistics
from the World Bank.
Tourists from the kingdom
spent a total of $21.1 billion in
2014, the most recent figures from
the World Bank show.
Meanwhile, tourists from the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) spent
$17.7 billion; Qatar spent 12.87
billion and Kuwait spent $12.28
billion.
Tourists from Oman spent a
total of $2.3 billion overseas, and
Bahrain spent $864 million.
Saudi Arabia ranked among the
top 20 countries in the world for
overseas tourism spend, according
to the World Bank. However, the
kingdom fell behind Qatar and
the UAE when it came to revenue
from inbound tourism.
The figures showed that the UAE
earned $14 billion a year, followed
by Qatar, with $10.6 billion, and
Saudi Arabia with $9.3 billion.
Of all countries in the Arab
world, Egypt followed with $8
billion of tourism receipts, Jordan
with $5.5 billion and Tunisia with
$3 billion.

The Plane
Hotel in Manuel
Antonio,
Costa Rica,
which boasts
panoramic
views across a
glorious bay one
way, and deep
jungle the other.

northsouth

November 2016

65

science news

Chemical to delay aging

Researchers have identified a key

factor in the aging process they
say could one day lead to longer
lives. In a new study on mice and
roundworms, researchers found
that adding a chemical known as
coenzyme NAD+ postponed physical
aging and extend the subjects
lives. Its thought that these effects
will be seen in humans as well,
and could even help to prevent
illnesses such as Alzheimers and
Parkinsons disease.. The study

from the University of Copenhagens

Center for Healthy Aging and the
American National Institute of
Health examined the effects on
mice and roundworms bred with
the illness Ataxia telangiectasia
(A-T). This is a neurodegenerative
illness which hinders DNA repairs
and leads to symptoms that are
typically associated with early
aging. Adding NAD+, however, was
found to delay the aging process
of the cells and halt mitochondrial
damage.
And, it extended the subjects
lives for both the mice and worms.
According to the researchers,
the study has major implications
for human aging, and links two
leading theories DNA damage
accumulation and mitochondrial
dysfunction. F

Ageing brains struggle to

process multiple sounds
The inability to hold a conversation
because of the background noise
is seen by many as the first sign
their hearing is starting to go.
But scientists have found older
people find it harder to follow these
conversations not because they
cant hear, but simply because their
brain needs longer to process the
information. As we get older, our
brain signals change, according to a
study published today in the Journal
of Neurophysiology. According to
the new study, hearing troubles
in older people may stem from the
brain, not the ears. This occurs
because their brain needs longer
to process the information, as the
cortex, which processes speech,
works less well over time. The
result is that older people appear
less able to tune out the sound
66

November 2016

around them, as their brain cannot

compensate for the competing noise.
The researchers believe there is
an age-related imbalance between
excitatory neural processes, which
stimulate action in the brain, and
inhibitory neural processes, which
block it.
While someone may hear speech as
well as they ever did, the cortex, the
area of the brain which specialises
in processing speech, works less
well. The result is that older people
appear less able to tune out the sound
around them, as their brain cannot
compensate for the competing noise.
Researchers at the University of
Maryland discovered this by playing
three voices in unison to people aged
61 to 73, with normal hearing, and
scanning their brains for electrical
activity. F

Memory boosting
implants
The pioneering software works
to convert short-term memories
into long-term ones, overall
enhancing memory. To convert
short-term memories into longterm ones, the brain send a
pattern of electrical signals in
a unique code. The brain chip is
designed to send electrical signals
that match the existing pattern in
the brain, mimicking the natural
process of long term memory
development. Dr Theodore Berger,
who is designing the brain chips,
is a professor of biomedical
engineering at the University of
Southern California. He has spent
the past 20 years developing
various
brain
prostheses
computer implants that mimic the
electrical signals in the brain - to
study Alzheimer's disease

New hope for

cocaine addicts
Cocaine addicts could be cured by
taking a new drug which wipes our
memories responsible for cravings.
Just one hit of the experimental
cancer drug is enough, a study by
Cardiff University in the United
Kingdom has found.F

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Running after learning helps retentive memory

New research has shown that going

for a run can improve the chances of
remembering information in exams.
In the study, the researchers asked 60
men aged 16-29 to memorize a range
of information, from learning a route
on a city map to memorizing GermanTurkish word pairs. They were then
split into three groups: one group
played a violent computer game,
one went for a run and one spent
time outside. The researchers then

compared how well the people in each

group remembered the information
they were given. The results showed
that the runners performed best,
remembering more after the run
than before. Those in the control
group fared slightly worse, and the
memories of people who played the
game were significantly impaired.
The research suggests that a
student's choice of activity after a
period of learning - such as cramming
for an exam - has a direct effect on
their ability to remember information.
The researchers from the University
of Applied Sciences Upper Austria,
say students should do moderate
exercise, like running, rather than
taking part in a passive activity such
as playing computer games if they
want to make sure they remember
what they learned. F

Scientist warns over artificial intelligence

Professor Stephen Hawking has
warned that artificial intelligence
could develop a will of its own that is
in conflict with that of humanity. It
could herald dangers like powerful
autonomous weapons and ways for
the few to oppress the many, he said,
as he called for more research in the
area. But if sufficient research is done
to avoid the risks, it could help in
humanity's aims to 'finally eradicate
disease and poverty', he added. He
was speaking in Cambridge at the

launch of The Leverhulme Centre

for the Future of Intelligence, which
will explore the implications of
the rapid development of artificial
intelligence. All great achievements
of civilisation, from learning to
master fire to learning to grow food
to understanding the cosmos, were
down to human intelligence, he said.
'I believe there is no deep difference
between what can be achieved by
a biological brain and what can be
achieved by a computer. F

Nanotech bandage heals wounds in days

Egyptian
researchers
have
developed a bandage embedded with
nanoparticles for the treatment
of wounds using the anti-epilepsy
drug Phenytoin, known for its
capacity to treat skin injuries. The
bandage can heal wounds in a few
days, after just one application to
soft tissue. Wounds normally take
several days to a few weeks to heal
completely, and some may only heal
after several months or up to two
years.
Even though Phenytoin is known

for its potential to accelerate wound

healing, some of its properties limit
its effectiveness. For example, a
low percentage of the drug can be
absorbed into the blood circulation.
It also doesnt cover the entire
wounded area, which interferes
with the efficiency of healing.
To overcome these challenges, a
research team from Zewail City of
Science and Technology in Egypt,
led by Ibrahim M. El-Sherbiny, the
director of the Center for Materials
Science, embedded the drug into a

Turning mothers
into super achievers
Working mothers are often said
to be stressed and distracted
juggling everything but not
quite managing to make it work.
But a new study shows women
with children are actually more
productive than their childless
colleagues. Those with one child
already should even consider
having another, as that will make
them super-achievers. The study
says the productivity of women
does drop off by 15 to 17 per cent
when they have young children.
However, this changes when
their children get older, leaving
mothers more productive and
more so if they have more than one
child. The research, by the Federal
Reserve Bank of St Louis in the
US, examined 10,000 academic
economists across the world and
measured productivity by the work
they had published, weighted
by the quality of the publication
outlet. In its paper called
Parenthood and Productivity of
Highly Skilled Labour it suggests
that the increase resulting from
responsible
parents
with
a
stronger commitment to work
more than cancels out any decrease
in productivity caused by the
additional burden of parenthood.

bandage consisting of nanoparticles

carried on nanofibers. The team
tested the bandage, which was
developed in the laboratory, on
samples of human fibrous tissue and
on mice. The results showed that
the wounds healed completely when
using the bandage embedded with
nanoparticles coated with a layer of
lecithin as well. F

November 2016

67

motoring

Apple's driverless car plans

have totally veered off course

Apple's not-so-secret plans to create

a fleet of driverless iCars have
apparently veered off course with
the tech giant seriously dialling
back on its plans for the technology.
Project Titan, as it Is known
internally, has been Apple's worst
kept secret for the past year or
so and has been credited for its
rocketing spend on research and
development.
Now, Apple has "drastically scaled
back" on the project, according to
Bloomberg, including making job
cuts and ditching plans to build its
own car.
Instead, the world's largest
company will focus on driverless
car software systems, which it
can do in partnership with others,

rather than making the more tricky

hardware part - for now, at least.
Rivals working on driverless
cars, including Google and Uber,
have already got them on the
roads. Google's cars have already
racked up more than 300 years of
driving experience while residents
of Pittsburgh can hail a driverless
taxi. While they are ramping
up efforts, as are traditional car
makers such as Ford, the muchhyped trend is careering towards
the "trough of disillusionment"
according to analysts at Gartner.
Earlier this year, Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak said Apple
should "drop it and start over" if a
car product isn't "insanely great, as
Steve Jobs would say". F

German lawmakers vote to ban

petrol and diesel cars by 2030
German politicians have voted to
ban combustion-engine cars by
2030 in an effort to meet emissions
targets outlined in the Paris
agreement.
The Bundesrat, the federal
council of all 16 German states, has
passed a resolution to only permit
zero-emission vehicles on EU roads.
The EU will need to adopt the
resolution for it to come into effect
in 14 years, but Forbes reports that
German regulation traditionally
shapes European law.
Green party lawmaker Oliver
Krischer told Der Spiegel: If the
Paris agreement to curb climatewarming emissions is to be taken
seriously, no new combustion
engine cars should be allowed on
roads after 2030.

68

November 2016

The weekly magazine reports

that the resolution calls on the EU
Commission to review the current
practices of taxation and dues with
regard to a stimulation of emissionfree mobility.
The German car industry, which
invented the internal combustion
engine, is the fourth largest in
the world and is one of the biggest
contributors to the German economy.
Reuters reports that a switch to
sales of zero-emission cars would
put thousands of jobs at risk as
electric car manufacturing requires
a tenth of the staff needed to build
combustion-engine cars.
In June, Norwegian politicians
paved the way for an electric-only
future by voting to ban all petrol and
diesel powered cars by 2025. F

Self-driving cars
that talk and skip
red lights
Auto firm Jaguar Land Rover is
one of three car-makers set to
trial vehicles which can 'talk' to
one another, drive themselves,
skip red lights and even help
you find a parking spot. The car
manufacturers have joined with
universities and tech firms to
launch a three-year project to test
connected and automated cars in
the UK. As part of the 20 million
UK Autodrive project, Jaguar
Land Rover, Ford and Tata Motors
will begin testing vehicles with a
slew of automated safety features
next year on roads in Coventry
and Milton Keynes.

Worlds first
driverless taxis

The first-ever driverless taxis have

hit the road in Singapore. Residents
will spot the robot taxis driving
around the business district and they
will even be able to hail one of them
if they are part of the trial, with just
a tap of an app on their smartphone.
NuTonomy, a US-based startup, is
behind the technology and believes
it can have a fully autonomous
commercial robo-taxi service widely
available on the roads as soon as
2018. For now, the cars will have
engineers at the ready to take the
wheel in case of an emergency. F

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Female drivers lose their cool

faster than males, study
A new study suggests that road rage
affects women more than men, and
that females are far more likely to
lose their cool behind the wheel. The
researchers suggest that women
have an instinctive 'early warning
system' which dates back to our early
female ancestors who had a sense of
danger for threats. But this finding
contradicts previous studies, which
shows that men are predominantly
affected by road rage. The study, by
car manufacturer Hyundai, involved
1,000 UK drivers, 450 of who were also
tracked using a webcam. Participants
were 'sense tested' to see how sound,

sight, smell, touch and taste provoke

emotional responses while driving.
The results from the sense testing
were fed into a specially-created
software which gave each participant
a unique 'Driving Emotion Test' score.
The results showed that on average,
women are 12 per cent angrier than
men when behind the wheel. Patrick
Fagan, a behavioural psychologist
from
Goldsmiths
University
London who led the study, said:
'Psychologically, women score higher
than men on emotional and verbal
intelligence, and on the personality
trait of neuroticism. F

In 2015, Singapore was named

one of the 12 most technologically
advanced
countries
in
the
world. And the country's latest
project shows that it is still
at the forefront of innovative
technology. Self-driving buses
will soon begin testing in
Singapore in the hope of dealing
with the challenges posed by
its limited land and labour.

Countries around the world are

encouraging the development
of such technologies, and highdensity Singapore is hoping
driverless vehicles will prompt
its residents to use more shared
vehicles and public transport.
'They say big dreams start small,
so we are collaborating with
NTU (Nanyang Technological
University) on an autonomous
bus
trial,
starting
with
two
electric
hybrid
buses,'
Singapore's transport regulator
said in a Facebook post. The Land
Transport Authority (LTA) hopes
eventually to outfit existing
buses with sensors and develop

Singapore self-driving bus

'Uber air' taxi

Airbus is working on a fleet of air
taxis to relieve urban congestion
and the firm has unveiled its first
conceptual renderings. Called
Vahana, this sleek self-flying
aircraft seats one passenger under
a canopy that retracts similar to a
motorcycle helmet visor and the
vehicle is designed to operate like
a helicopter. Project Vahana began
earlier this year and is one of the
first projects at A, the advanced
projects and partnerships outpost
of Airbus Group in Silicon Valley.
It is also believed that the air taxis
will take off and land vertically,
as there are helicopter-like struts,
and tilting wings each with four
electric motors. The team at
Vahana aims to have a full-sized
prototype in the air by the end of
2017 and a model on the market
for sale by 2020.

a self-driving system that can

effectively navigate Singapore's
traffic and climate conditions. F

Self-balancing motorbike
The motorcycle of the future is so
safe riders can cruise without a
helmet and never fall off, giving
all of the thrills with none of the
danger, according to BMW. The
German
automaker
unveiled
its Motorrad Vision Next 100, a
sleek, self-balancing prototype the
company released as part of its
100th anniversary celebrations.
The zero-emissions bike has selfbalancing wheels designed to stand
upright even at a complete stop,
stability that the company says
will allow riders to forgo riding a

helmet. A 'flexframe' extends from

the front to the rear wheel, which
means the bike can be steered
without the various joints found on
today's motorcycles. Turning the
handlebar adjusts the entire frame,
changing the direction of the bike.
The bike also rights itself while even
stationary, remaining upright when
the rider has dismounted. The rider
can interact with the bike through
a pair of data glasses, that cover the
wearer's entire field of vision. Despite
its contemporary features the bike
will not be fully autonomous, the

company said. 'Its self-balancing

system will help protect the rider at
any time,' said Edgar Heinrich, the
design director of BMW's motorcycle
division. 'Any late reaction from the
driver will trigger and the vehicle
will balance out.' F
November 2016

69

book revews

news & views to bridge the global divide

Young Generation
Awakening:
Economics, Society,
and Policy on the Eve
of the Arab Spring
Edward A. Sayre
and Tarik M. Yousef
Oxford University Press,
September 2016

Price: Hardcover 47.99,

Kindle Edition 45.59

he street protests that erupted

in Tunisia in December 2010
and spread quickly throughout the
Middle East surprised not only the
entrenched dictators of the region
but also international observers who
collectively had taken for granted
the durability of Middle Eastern
authoritarianism. Specifically, the
Arab Spring uprisings debunked the
prevailing notion that youth were
disengaged from political life by
their economic exclusion and tight
regime control of their mobilization.
Indeed, the one consistent feature
across the uprisings, whether
peaceful or violent, was the key role
played by young people.
What has remained unclear is why
youth became the vanguards of the
Arab Spring protests and why they
have not played a more prominent
role in the transitions that followed.
To
address
these
questions,
the authors in this volume use
updated data sets on demography,
employment, education, inequality,
social media and public sentiment

70

November 2016

to
examine
the
underlying
socioeconomic conditions of young
people in the Middle East at the time
of the uprisings and offer a mosaic
of analytical explanations linking
those conditions from 2009-2011 to
the revolts of 2010-2012.
The findings in the volume confirm
the inadequacy of traditional narrow
explanations rooted in demographic
profiles, economic grievances or
political exclusion in accounting
for the complex socioeconomic

northsouth

dynamics facing youth and societies

at large in the Middle East in the
period leading up to the Arab
Spring. The contributors emphasize
the
fundamental
institutional
rigidities in the regions policy space
and evaluate potential approaches
to policy reform that can promote
youth inclusion and help transform
the regions political economies in
the post Arab Spring environment of
persistent economic volatility, social
unrest and political instability. F

 news & views to bridge the global divide

book revews

No Borders:
The Politics of
Immigration
Control and
Resistance

borders! is a thread connecting a

multitude of different struggles for
the freedom to move and to stay.
But what does it mean to make this
slogan a reality?
Drawing on the authors extensive
research in Greece and Calais, as
well as a decade campaigning for
migrant rights, Natasha King
explores the different forms of
activism that have emerged in the
struggle against border controls,
and the dilemmas these activists face
in translating their principles into
practice.
Wide-ranging
and
interdisciplinary,
No
Borders
constitutes vital reading for anyone
interested in how we make radical
alternatives to the state a genuine
possibility for our times, and raises
crucial questions on the nature of
resistance. F

Natasha King
Price: 19.99

highly original and provocative

examination of no borders
politics and what this means within
current contentious debates on
migration.
From the streets of Calais to
the borders of Melilla, Evros and
the United States, the slogan No

Living by the
Gun in Chad
Marielle Debos
Zed Books, October 2016

priced 19.99 -$29.99

ow do people live in a country

that has experienced rebellions
and state-organized repressions for
decades and that is still marked
by routine forms of violence and
impunity? What do combatants
do when they are not mobilized
for war? Drawing on over ten
years of fieldwork conducted in
Chad, Marielle Debos explains how
living by the gun has become both
an acceptable form of political
expression
and
an
everyday
occupation.

Contrary to the popular association

of violence and chaos, she shows that
these fighters continue to observe
rules, frontiers, and hierarchies,
even as their allegiances shift
between rebel and government
forces, and as they drift between
Chad, Libya, Sudan, and the Central

African Republic. Going further, she

explores the role of the globalized
politico-military entrepreneurs and
highlights the long involvement of
the French military in the country.
Ultimately, the book demonstrates
that ending the war is not enough.
The issue is ending the interwar
which is maintained and reproduced
by state violence.
Combining
ethnographic
observation with in-depth theoretical
analysis, Living by the Gun in Chad
is a crucial contribution to our
understanding of the intersections
of war and peace.
It is an account by Chads foremost
experton how armed violence has
become both an ordinary form of
political struggle and a practical
occupation. The book covers the
complex trajectories of rebel leaders
and men in arms, as well as their
roles in the mode of government
that has come to dominate Chad. F

northsouth

November 2016

71

informaton & communcaton

technology

The most powerful man in tech

believes the world will become cashless

The man in charge of the biggest

company in the world and arguably
the most powerful man in technology
- Apples Tim Cook - has weighed in
with his two cents on the future of
money.
Apple may be rolling around in
cash reserves of more than $100
billion, but Cook wont be doing a
Scrooge McDuck style dive into that
pile, revealing that he believes were
heading for a cashless society.
And he wants Apple Pay to help
the world get there, he said on a visit
to Japan.
We would like to be a catalyst for
taking cash out of the system, he
told the Nikkei newspaper, adding:
We dont think the consumer
particularly likes cash.
In Europe, the number of payments
being made via mobile has tripled in
the past year, according to the latest

figures from Visas annual Digital

Payments study, with more than half
of us now paying for everyday goods
or services with the technology.
The move to mobile payments is
being fuelled by contactless cards,
beloved by Londons commuters,
acting as a gateway for other
non-cash payment methods by
normalising digital payments the
card company said.
Even Monopoly is going cash free
these days, but while Apple is helping
people go from cash to digital it faces
competition from others.
Google launched Android Pay in
the United Kingdom in May, while
Samsung plans to launch its own
mobile pay service here this autumn.
Meanwhile Barclays is going it alone
with its own app for customers to
pay via mobile.
There are plenty of companies,
including Apple, pushing us towards
ditching cash, but it might be a little
longer before the rest of the world
catches up to Sweden - the society
closest to becoming cash free and
where just two per cent of transactions
are made using notes or coins. F

What to do if you had a Yahoo account

Yahoo confirmed a data breach

affecting 500 million accounts,
including logins, names, logins,
birthdays, and security questions.
The good news is that the passwords
72

November 2016

were encrypted with a strong hash

algorithm, so they are relatively
protected for now. The bad news is,
the breach happened in late 2014, so
all that data has been kicking around
for nearly two years. What to do next
to minimise the risk:
- Change your password and your
security questions
- Use a password manager
- Use two-factor authentication
- Eliminate your security questions F

northsouth

Online giants to
snatch 450m from
news revenues
Internet giants like Facebook and
Twitter could cost the UK news
industry around 450m in annual
revenue by 2026, a new report has
suggested. Estimates by OC&C
Strategy Consultants said online
disruption has cost the industry
46 per cent of its turnover in the
last decade. OC&C said that further
cuts from British newspapers are
unlikely to be a radical enough
strategy to offset this predicted
loss in revenue, most of which will
hit the bottom line directly.

Facebook overestimated
video metrics for two years
Facebook overestimated how long
people were watching videos on its
platform by as much as 80 per cent
for two years, accoring to a new
report. The company said in a post
in its Advertiser Help Center a few
weeks ago that its statistics had not
included any views that were less
than three seconds. That inflated the
numbers to make it seem viewers
were watching videos for longer
than they were. The disclosure has
upset advertisers who purchase
video time on Facebook in part
around that metric.
Two
years
of
reporting
inflated performance numbers is
unacceptable, the ad buying agency
Publicis Media wrote in a memo to
its clients.
The metric that was affected by
Facebooks calculation is called
Average Duration of Video Viewed.
Facebook is now replacing that
statistic with a measure called
Average Watch Time. F

 news & views to bridge the global divide

Snap Spectacles, Glass for the masses

The
company
formerly known as
Snapchat surprised
the
world
last
month by unveiling
Spectacles, its first
hardware
product.
The sunglasses, which record
videos in 10-second increments,
are expected to be available for sale
sometime soon. Snap Inc., as the
company is now called, says it will
be producing the glasses in small
quantities. There are still lots of
questions about how Spectacles will
work but thanks to some new
information from the company,
we can now answer some basic

questions.
Like previous versions of videorecording eyewear, Spectacles look
like a pair of glasses. They have a
video camera with a 115-degreeangle lens positioned right next to
your eyes so every video is shot
from your point of view. But unlike a
GoPro or your smartphone camera,
you do not need to experience the
world while holding a camera in
front of your face. You simply tap
the side of your Spectacles to initiate
a 10-second video recording, and it
is automatically transferred to the
Memories section of your Snapchat
app, where you can decide to use it
or delete it at your convenience. F

You can now encrypt your

Facebook messenger chats

Your Facebook Messenger chats can

now be secure from prying eyes
with a few caveats. Facebook began
implementing end-to-end encryption
to all of its 900 million Messenger
users earlier this year, and that rollout has finished, the company told
Wired.
The privacy-centric feature is
available as secret conversations,
on the top right of Messengers new
message screen. In addition to texts
and photos, Facebook has put the
encryption layer on stickers as well,

but videos and GIFs are not included.

Furthermore, the feature does not
work for group chats, and it needs
to be turned on for each individual
conversation.
Facebook is also offering users
Snapchat-like ability to have their
messages self-destruct after a
specified duration. To get these
features, you need to ensure
Messenger app is updated on your
Android phone or iPhone. Theres no
word on what happens to Windows
Phone (or Windows 10 Mobile, as
they like to call it now) users.
Once you have enabled Secret
Conversations,
Messenger
will
encrypt conversations, preventing
any unauthorized party - including
hackers and government agencies from decoding your chats. F

Yahoo scanned customer emails for US intelligence

Yahoo last year secretly built a
custom software program to search
all of its customers incoming
emails for specific information
provided by U.S. intelligence
officials, according to Reuters. The
company complied with a classified

U.S.
government
demand,
scanning hundreds of millions of
Yahoo Mail accounts at the behest
of the National Security Agency or
FBI, said three former employees
and a fourth person apprised of the
events. F

Snap reportedly
eyes $25bn IPO
Snap Inc. (formerly Snapchat),
whose disappearing messages
are used by 150 million people
daily, is reportedly planning a $25
billion initial public offering (IPO),
making it the biggest stock market
debut on a US exchange since 2014.
The company, known as Snapchat
until recently, is planning to sell
shares to the public as early as
March, according to the Wall Street
Journal, citing several people
familiar with the matter whom
it didnt name. A spokesman for
the Venice, Calif.-based company
declined to comment on rumors
or speculation about any financing
plans. The newspaper noted that
there was no guarantee that the
sale would proceed in that time
frame. A Snap IPO will attract
considerable interest from Wall
Street since it is a unicorn - a
privately held company backed by
venture capitalists with valuations
topping $1 billion. Snap was
valued at $17.8 billion as its latest
funding round in May.

How Yahoo blew it

on security

A new report by The New York Times

reveals the extent to which Yahoo did
not really care about its users security,
instead focusing on products and new
features. Last month, Yahoo admitted
that hackers had breached its servers
in 2014, stealing the personal details
of over 500 million Yahoo users. Yahoo
executives, led by CEO Marissa Mayer,
were completely apathetic about security,
and refused to fund security initiatives,
leaving the company vulnerable to
attack. After Edward Snowden revealed
that Yahoo was an easy target for
hackers, it took the company a year to
hire a new chief information officer. This
is typically a prestigious and coveted
position at companies like Google,
Microsoft, or Facebook, and it seems that
Yahoo did not take the search seriously
enough. F

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November 2016

73

informaton & communcaton

technology

Google working on laptop/tablet

running Android-Chrome OS hybrid
Google is reportedly working on a
new Pixel laptop that will run on
the long-gestating new operating
system that merges Android and
Chrome OS. According to Android
Police and 9to5Google, the device is
known internally by the codename
Bison or Pixel 3, and will run
on whats currently being called
Andromeda when it sees release
in Q3 2017. In addition, 9to5Google
also reports that Huawei is working
on a new Nexus tablet that will also
run the new OS.
Both outlets report that the
new laptop wont be marketed as
a Chromebook. Rather, the device
is far more ambitious, serving as
a fully realized notebook running

software thats meant to rival

Windows and macOS when it comes
to productivity. The notebook will
be 10mm thick, have 12.3-inch
displays, and will convert into a
tablet mode with stylus support.
As far as features are concerned,
therell be an Intel processor, two
USB-C ports, a backlit keyboard,
and a glass trackpad with force
detection a la the new MacBooks.
As for the new Nexus tablet,
details are slimmer, but it will
reportedly have a 7-inch display
and 4GB of RAM and also run on
Andromeda. Evan Blass tweeted
earlier this month that the new
tablet was on track for the end of
the year. F

Facebook at Work launching this month

Facebook is ready to make work

as addictive as socializing. The
company is ready to launch its
enterprise communication and
collaboration network Facebook @
Work in the next few weeks on a
per seat pricing model.
Facebook believes it can keep
individual
employees
engaged
with the product, so it is betting
on a pricing plan that charges
companies per monthly active

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November 2016

user instead of charging a flat

rate per company, says Facebook
@ Work director Julien Codorniou.
TechCrunch has learned that
Facebook will announce launch
integrations or partnerships with
other SaaS tool providers including
Asana. That could make it lucrative
for Facebook to get every single
member of a company signed up,
from executives to assistants.
And if the product doesnt stick,
employers wont have to pay for
empty seats.
TechCrunch originally reported
that Facebook was building the
enterprise product back in 2014,
and it officially unveiled the first
tests at the start of 2015. Since
then, Facebooks been busy signing
up huge international customers,
like the 100,000-employee Royal
Bank of Scotland. F

northsouth

Microsoft starts
selling its HoloLens
HoloLens,
Microsofts
$3,000
mixed-reality goggles (or the
worlds
first
self-contained
holographic
computer
in
Microsofts parlance), was only
available in the U.S. and Canada so
far. Today, however, the company
announced that it will also start
selling the devices in Australia,
France, Germany, Ireland, New
Zealand and the United Kingdom.

CES in Las Vegas 4-8

January 2017
The Consumer Electronic Show (CES)
2017 will take place in Las Vegas,
Nevada, USA, from 4-8 January
2017. There will be a number of cool
new technologies on show.
Since its inception in 1996,
thousands of technology executives,
marketers, media buyers, brand
managers, policy makers, and
engineers maximize their time at
the show by interacting with the
public, industry and other interested
parties. F

 news & views to bridge the global divide

If Microsoft cant install Windows 10

on your PC, itll give you new one
As the free Windows 10 upgrade
offer nears its end on July 29,
Microsoft is pulling out all the
stops to convince users to upgrade.
Its even willing to give you a new
laptop.
As spotted by Neowin, Microsoft
retail stores are offering to install
Windows 10 on any compatible
machine for free. If the stores
technicians dont complete the
upgrade by the end of that business
day, theyll give you a free 15-inch
Dell Inspiron notebook.
The offer runs between now and
July 29.
There is, of course, plenty of fine
print. The free installation offer only
applies to a single PC thats capable
of running Windows 10 (If it isnt,
you may be eligible for a $150 credit

toward a new PC). You also need to

check in your computer by noon
for the offer to be valid. Its also
limited only to the US and Canada,
so customers of the Microsoft Store
in Sydney are out of luck.
The story behind the story:
This free PC offer is the latest in a
series of highly aggressive moves
Microsoft has made to get its users
onto Windows 10. Its deceptive,
malware-like pop-ups in Windows 7
and 8.1 effectively trick users into
installing Windows 10, whether
they want to or not. Windows 10
spiked in market share in June,
seemingly as a result of these forced
updates, but the company has since
admitted that it likely wont hit its
goal of having Windows 10 on one
billion devices by mid-2018. F

Apple adds magic touch to new MacBook Pro

Apple was due to reveal a new
McBook Pro complete with a magic
toolbar, a thin touch-screen display
at the top of the keyboard in place
of some of the keys. The toolbar was
shown in screenshots that appeared
to have been released by mistake.
According to the images and wider
reports, the touch-screen will sit
where the row of function keys
appear on a traditional keyboard.
One image suggests it will include

a fingerprint scanner and support

Apple Pay. F

Microsofts First all-in-one desktop

Microsoft announced the new
Surface Studio all-in-one desktop, an
upgraded Surface Book, and another
Windows 10 update coming this
Spring. Here are all the important
details you need to know.
Microsoft announced a new update
to
Windows
10uninspiringly
titled the Creators Update that
will add a bunch of new features
aimed at getting creative work
done, particularly involving 3D.

Specifically, the classic Windows app

Paint is getting a huge update that
includes support for 3D objects.
In their demonstration, Microsoft
useda camera app to 3D scan a sand
castle on the stage. Moments later,
they imported the model into the
new Paint 3D. They also removed
the background from a family photo
using a magic selection tool, the
result of which you can see above.
Thats photos, selections, and 3D

Uber launches
global assault on
food delivery market
Uber is making an aggressive
drive into meal delivery, backed
by a wave of staff recruitment,
with the U.S. tech heavyweight
gearing up to enter at least 22 new
countries and take on local rivals.
Reflecting
its
fierce
determination to expand beyond
its core taxi-hailing business, Uber
l launched its UberEats service
in Amsterdam last month, the
first day of trading in the Dutch
market leader Takeaway.com. And
according to current job listings on
Uber and other recruiting websites,
UberEats is advertising 150 roles
ranging from general managers
to sales staff and delivery couriers
that show it plans to enter at least
22 new countries globally in the
near future. The company already
operates in six countries.
In addition to Amsterdam
UberEats plans to launch services
in Dubai, Johannesburg and
selected areas of Tokyo as well as in
Brussels, Stockholm, Hong Kong,
Taipei, Jakarta, and Bangkok in
the coming months.
objects pulled together in a single
app that isnt Photoshop. Not too
bad for an program thats normally
associated
with
crappy
BMP
drawings.
Microsoft is also partnering with
SketchUp to create a library of 3D
models that you can import into
a ton of apps like Paint 3D and
Powerpoint. You can upload your
own objects, including creations
made in Minecraft. You can even 3D

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November 2016

75

sports

FIFA faces lawsuit over Qatar

World Cup labourer plight, report
Footballs governing body FIFA
is facing legal action over alleged
complicity in maltreatment of
workers on Qatar World Cup 2022
construction sites, according to the
UKs Guardian newspaper.
The lawsuit is due to be lodged in
the Swiss courts by the Netherlands
Trade Union Confederation (FNV)
on behalf of a Bangladeshi migrant
worker named as Nadim Sharaful
Alam. The Dutch labour union had
said it would launch legal action
against FIFA if football's governing
body does not step in to halt what
it called ''modern slavery'' in the
construction of venues for the
2022 World Cup in Qatar. A letter
sent to FIFAs new president Gianni
Infantino by lawyers acting for
Alam and FNV reportedly informs
the sports body of the draft writ
not yet filed in court, and gives
the sports body three weeks to
accept complicity and pay damages
otherwise the case will go to court.
The damages sought by Alam are
relatively modest, the newspaper
said. Still, if the action is successful

it could set a legal precedent and

open the door for thousands of
other labour ers to make similar
claims.
Qatar has come under fire from
human
rights
organisations
in recent years for alleged
maltreatment of low-income migrant
workers, including those building
the stadium and other infrastructure
for the World Cup tournament the
country is to host in 2022.
Crisis-hit FIFA, which has been
forced to defend itself over ongoing
corruption allegations that led to the
departure of former president Sepp
Blatter, has consistently argued that
does not have responsibility for wider
societal problems in countries
hosting its games.
A judge in 2014 cleared Qatar of
any wrongdoing during the FIFA
bidding process and allowed it still to
host the 2022 tournament.
The Dutch union is the latest
organisation to call for action
against poor working conditions for
labourers since Qatar was awarded
the hosting rights.

Russia fires doping

sports minister
A deputy sports minister at the
heart of the doping scandal that
led to Russia's track and field
athletes being banned from the Rio
Olympics, has been dismissed, the
government said. Yury Nagornykh
was named as a key player in an
investigation into state-sponsored
doping by the World Anti-Doping
Agency (WADA) published weeks
before the 2016 games. The report
said Nagornykh was routinely
informed about positive doping
tests and decided "who would
benefit from a cover-up and
who would not". The Russian
government website made no
mention of the doping scandal,
saying that Nagornykh had asked
to resign and his dismissal had
been signed by Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev. Nagornykh's
departure follows that of his
former boss, sports minister Vitaly
Mutko, who was given the post of
deputy prime minister overseeing
sports and the head of Russia's
Olympic Committee.

Germans under investigation over 2006 World Cup

Franz Beckenbauer is one of four
members of Germanys World
Cup organising committee facing

76

November 2016

criminal
investigation
over
allegations of malpractice in the
countrys successful bid to host
the
2006
World
Cup. The others
are former German
football association
presidents Wolfgang
Niersbach and Theo
Zwanziger,
and
former
general
secretary
Horst
Rudolf
Schmidt.

northsouth

Beckenbauer, a World Cup winner,

player and manager was president
of the committee. Swiss prosecutors
said the proceedings relate in
particular to allegations of fraud,
criminal mismanagement, money
laundering and misappropriation.
Beckenbauer, 70, was implicated
in an investigation commissioned
by the German football association
(DFB) into the alleged buying of
votes to ensure Germany staged the
World Cup.

 news & views to bridge the global divide

FIFA needs to speed up reforms, Prince Ali

Former FIFA presidential candidate

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein of Jordan
is concerned about the pace of
reform in world soccer's governing
body and says new president
Gianni Infantino has "no time to
lose" in bringing transparency to
the organization. Infantino was
elected in February with the task
of leading FIFA into calmer waters
after a series of corruption scandals
plunged the governing body into its
worst crisis. Prince Ali told Reuters
in an interview that Infantino
should focus on implementing
reforms rather than issues such
as proposals to expand the World
Cup. "I can only speculate as a new
president he first has to look at his
own administration and see what's
going on in there," he told Reuters in
Jordan, which is currently hosting
the Women's Under-17 World Cup.

The tournament is the first FIFA

organized female World Cup in the
Middle East and is considered a
significant milestone for women
in the region, long constrained by
cultural and religious conservatism.
"Everybody is looking at FIFA and
the direction it is going and again
it's critical time, there no time to
lose." Soccer's global governing
body is attempting to recover from
the worst graft scandal in its history
which has seen 42 people, including
former FIFA executive committee
members, indicted in the United
States since May last year. Criminal
investigations are also under way
in Switzerland, where FIFA has its
headquarters.
An investigation was also opened
into FIFA's decision to award the
2018 World Cup to Russia and the
2022 tournament to Qatar.

Premier League breaks spending

record for fourth year
Englands top-flight teams have
broken their summer spending
record for a fourth year in a row
having shelled out 880 million
($1.4bn) on new players, including
89 million for Paul Pogba, during
the current close season, 10
million more than they did last
season.

Deloitte, which compiled the

figures, expects clubs to break the
1bn barrier before the close of
transfer window. Manchester United
has splashed the largest single fee
but neighbours Manchester City
have been the biggest spenders,
lavishing around 180 million
($250m).

World Cup-winning
coach appointed
China manager
Marcello Lippi has been named as
coach of China's national team, the
Chinese Football Association (CFA)
said on its website.
The Italian replaced Gao Hongbo,
who resigned this month after a 2-0
defeat in Uzbekistan dealt a further
blow to the country's slim hopes of
qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
"The Chinese Football Association
decided to appoint Mr. Lippi as coach
of China's men's national team
following amicable negotiations,"
read a short statement on the
website. No details of the contract
were revealed but Lippi will be
introduced to the media at a news
conference in Beijing. The 68-yearold, who won the World Cup with
Italy in 2006, enjoyed a successful
three-year spell with Guangzhou
Evergrande, winning the Chinese
League title three times and the
Asian Champions League in 2013.
Lippi had been linked with a return
to Guangzhou but the Chinese
champions cleared the way for him
to take the national team job. He
will be China's third coach this year
after Gao and Frenchman Alain
Perrin, who was sacked in January,
as the CFA bids to fulfill the
ambition of President Xi Jinping for
the country to qualify for the World
Cup finals for a second time

England to host 2021

Rugby League World Cup

England will stage the 2021 Rugby

League World Cup after seeing off a
bid from the US and Canada, it was
announced late last month.
England
last
hosted
the
tournament in 2013, which was won
by Australia.
The Rugby League International
Federation recommended that the
US be awarded the 2025 World Cup.
The tournament has not been held
outside Australasia and Europe
since 1954.

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77

life & style

Air pollution exposure puts people

at higher risk of type 2 diabetes
Long-term exposure to air pollution
in the area where you live increases
your risk of developing Type 2
diabetes, according to new research.
Scientists at the German Centre
for Diabetes Research have been
studying the effect of pollution
particles on insulin resistance in
humans.
They found that exposure to air
pollution near your home increases
the risk of developing insulin
resistance as a pre-diabetic state of
type 2 diabetes.
Whether the disease becomes
manifest and when this occurs is
not only due to lifestyle or genetic
factors, but also due to traffic-related
air pollution, said researcher
Professor Annette Peters.
The study, which used data
from 3,000 patients, concluded
that people who already have an
impaired glucose metabolism (prediabetic individuals) are particularly
vulnerable to the effects of pollution.
The lead author of the study Dr.
Kathrin Wolf explained: In these

individuals, the association between

increases in their blood marker
levels and increases in air pollutant
concentrations
is
particularly
significant.
The study, which was reported in
the journal Diabetes, also called for
governments to review policies on
air pollution.
The authors are concerned
that although the concentration
of air pollutants present in the
study (which took place in the
city of Augsburg) falls below EU
thresholds, they are above the
guidelines set by the World Health
Organisation.
This inconsistency in values
between the EU and WHO has led
the authors to demand government
policy changes: Lowering the
threshold
for
acceptable
air
pollution levels would be a prudent
step.
Exposure to air pollution has also
been established as a risk factor
in respiratory and cardiovascular
disease.

New hope for

Parkinsons
sufferers
Australian doctors have injected
stem cells into a mans brain
in a world-first which could
revolutionise the treatment of
Parkinsons disease. The patient,
64, was the first to receive the
neural stem cells in an operation
performed by a team of 15 doctors
at Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Neurologist Dr Andrew Evans
said: The first patients operation
was a success however, we wont
know for 12 months the effects
of the stem cell implants and
if we are on the verge of a new
treatment for Parkinsons. It is
estimated that about 10 million
people
worldwide,
including
80,000 Australians, suffer from
Parkinsons, for which there is
no known cure. The onset of
the disease typically manifests
in tremors and slowness of
movement and can lead to a
variety of other symptoms.

Cannabis-based drug could help epilepsy patients

A drug derived from cannabis
could dramatically improve the
lives of people with epilepsy, new
research suggests. Scientists at
Great Ormond Street Hospital

78

November 2016

in London are currently testing

the drug, called Epidiolex, on
patients with a rare form of
epilepsy called Lennox-Gastaut
Syndrome. Patients with this
type of epilepsy can experience
up to 80 seizures per day, but
the trial has found the drug
improves symptoms in 42% of
cases, compared to 17%who
received a placebo pill.Previous
trials have already suggested
the drug could be used to treat
other forms of epilepsy. The
Great Ormond Street trial is

northsouth

part of an international study on

Epidiolex involving 200 adults
and children with epilepsy.
The drug is based on CBD,
one of the non psycho-addictive
elements of the cannabis plant.
Around 600,000 people in the
UK have epilepsy and as many
as a third are thought to be drug
resistant. Without help to limit
seizures, accessing education and
work can be difficult for those
diagnosed, but the researchers
are hopeful Epidiolex could
change this.

 news & views to bridge the global divide

It's time to take notice of the

coming health-tech revolution
A tech-enabled health-tech revolution
is well and truly in play judging by
the superb businesses on the Digital
Innovators list blazing a trail in this
area, and lives are being transformed
for the better as a result.
While lifestyle fitness apps have
been the popular entry point to
consumers managing their own
health digitally, uMotif takes this a
step further by allowing users to log
data that is then sent to their health
care providers for more personalised,
informed care. With the healthcare
industry stymied as ever by funding
hurdles which slow down the research
process, companies like uMotif open
the doors to a mind-blowing level of
data that has the potential to change
the way the industry responds to
illness and disease. When the data
suggest that you do need to see a
doctor (and a real-life appointment
is proving hard to come by) Babylon
Health continues the mobile health
experience with the offer of online
doctor consultations carried out via
your smartphone.
But the burgeoning innovations
in health-tech are not limited to
smartphones both Cambridge

Bio-Augmentation Systems and

Goshawk Communications stand
out from the crowd, with the
former inventing an implant that
uses advanced bioengineering and
monitoring technologies to act as
the "USB connector" of prosthetics to
change amputees' lives forever, and
the latter addressing a need for those
with hearing loss to communicate
and integrate more fully with
society through a software platform
that enhances the frequencies that
users cannot hear until they reach a
normal hearing level. The challenge
for these kinds of businesses is
to make their solutions widely
available to all, requiring ongoing
investment. Whether targeting
specific or widespread health
issues, health-tech innovations have
typically received less mainstream
funding and attention in Europe
than in the US. However, with a new
accelerator programme recently
launched in London specifically for
digital health startups and with
some sizeable seed funding deals
starting to hit the headlines, 2017
looks set to be the breakthrough
year for health-tech innovations.

Married for
91 years

A great-grandfather who was

married to his wife for 91 years
after an arranged marriage
in 1925 has died at the age
of 110. Karam Chand, from
Bradford, West Yorkshire, died of
natural causes on 27 September
2016Tuesday last week, six
weeks before his 111th birthday.
Last year, he and his wife Katari
- who is 103 - celebrated their
90th wedding anniversary. The
pair had got married in a Sikh
ceremony in 1925 after meeting
in India as teenagers. They
claimed their marriage was a
world record, although it was
never officially recognised in the
Guinness World Records. Their
son Paul said his father's death
had been unexpected.

Having obesity gene does not affect ability to lose weight, study
Having a gene associated with
obesity-sometimes referred to as the
fat gene - does not affect a persons
ability to lose weight, new research
has found. A study published in
the British Medical Journal found
people with the FTO gene have the
same response to diet, exercise, and
drug-based interventions as the rest
of the population. The scientists
stressed that obesity is a major public
health burden and its prevalence
is increasing worldwide. With an
estimated 2.1 billion adults now
overweight or obese, researchers
said there is an urgent need to
develop more effective strategies for
preventing and managing obesity.
In recent years there has been

debate around whether genetic

makeup makes a difference to weight.
Some experts argue that genes play a
significant role in the development of
obesity, while others say that changes
in our environment are responsible
for increasing obesity. In reality, the
extent to which genes determine the
ability to lose weight remains unclear.
For this reason,an international
team of researchers set out to test
the relation between the FTO gene
and weight loss interventions using
data from almost 10,000 participants
in eight randomised control trials.
Participants with the FTO gene were
found to be slightly heavier (0.89 kg)
than those not carrying the gene
at the start of the trials. However,

the researchers found no relation

between FTO and the ability to lose
weight. Changes in body mass index,
body weight, and waist circumference
by FTO genotype did not differ
by intervention type, intervention
length, ethnicity, sample size, sex,
or baseline body mass index and age
category. The authors acknowledged
several limitations in their analysis,
but said this is an important finding
for the development of effective weight
loss interventions in the context of
the global epidemic of obesity. They
concluded that future strategies for
managing obesity should focus
on improving lifestyle behaviours,
principally eating patterns and
physical activity."

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November 2016

79

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