JAMMU, INDIA — Indian authorities have arrested two former top elected officials of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir under a controversial law that allows authorities to imprison someone for up to two years without trial, officials said Friday.

Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah were arrested as their 6-month-old detention ended Thursday, a top civil administrator and top police officers said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.

Mufti and Abdullah were among thousands of people detained when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist-led government stripped Jammu and Kashmir of semi-autonomy and statehood, downgrading them into two federal territories last August.

Since, they had been held under house arrest under a preventive custody law that allows authorities to detain people who might commit offenses for up to six months.

Past statements cited

On Thursday, Modi gave an indication of their arrest when he said in Parliament that the two leaders had in the past made statements that could incite unrest in the region.

Modi cited Mehbooba Mufti accusing India of cheating Kashmir last summer. He said Omar Abdullah had remarked that ending Kashmir’s autonomy would cause an earthquake that would separate Kashmir from India, though there is no indication Abdullah made any such statement.

“Some people here complain some leaders have been incarcerated. Mehbooba Mufti said, ‘Kashmir made a mistake by joining India.’ Are you justifying such kind of speech?” Modi said in Parliament.

Pro-India politicians

Omar Abdullah’s father, Farooq Abdullah, was the first pro-India politician arrested under the Public Safety Act, under which rights activists say more than 20,000 Kashmiris have been detained in the last two decades. They are considered pro-India as they never supported Muslim-majority Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan.

They are the top leaders of the National Conference, the party that has governed the Indian-controlled Kashmir for decades since India and Pakistan won independence from British colonialists in 1947 and soon began fighting over control over Kashmir, a Himalayan region spread over both countries. Farooq Abdullah, also a former top elected official of Jammu and Kashmir, is an 82-year-old member of India’s Parliament.

Mufti, 60, heads the People’s Democratic Party, which was a coalition partner of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in the region for nearly two years after the 2016 state elections. Mufti headed the coalition government.

Two former state lawmakers and party leaders, Ali Mohammed Sagar of the NC and Sartaj Madani of the PDP, also were detained under the controversial Public Security Act on Wednesday.

‘Lawless law’

Amnesty International has called the Public Safety Act a “lawless law,” and rights groups say India has used it to stifle dissent and circumvent the criminal justice system, undermining accountability, transparency and respect for human rights.

On Friday, the main opposition Congress party slammed the government’s decision.

“Shocked and devastated by the cruel invocation of the Public Safety Act against Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and others,” said P. Chidambaram, a top party leader.

“Detention without charges is the worst abomination in a democracy. When unjust laws are passed or unjust laws are invoked, what option do the people have than to protest peacefully?” Chidambaram tweeted.
 

…

From: MeNeedIt

Women are slowly moving into Afghanistan’s male-dominated restaurant industry. And one entirely women-run restaurant in central Afghanistan’s Bamyan province is attracting food lovers from the region. VOA’s Zafar Bamyani gives us a taste of the restaurant in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard

…

From: MeNeedIt

Germs are everywhere. How can you reduce the risk of viral infection? Here are some simple steps you can take to protect yourself.

…

From: MeNeedIt

Human rights groups have strongly criticized Italy for extending a deal with Libya that facilitates the return of migrants to detention centers, where these migrants say torture and rape are commonplace. The European Union has sent hundreds of millions of dollars to Libya to boost its coastguard capabilities and clamp down on human smuggling – but critics say the money is ending up with criminal gangs. More from Henry Ridgwell

…

From: MeNeedIt

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani laid foundation stone Thursday for building a key transmission line linking Central Asia and South Asia under a four-nation electricity generation project, known as CASA-1000.

The $1.2 billion plan aims to bring some 300 megawatts (MW) annually of much-needed electricity to Afghanistan and 1,000 MW to Pakistan from surplus generation in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The project is being financed by multilateral development banks, the United States and other countries.

Afghan officials said diplomats from the participating nations also were present at the groundbreaking site, east of the capital, Kabul.  

Ghani was quoted as saying the CASA-1000 project would go a long way toward promoting connectivity, energy cooperation and prosperity in all of the countries involved.  

Thursday’s landmark development comes as relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan continue to suffer from mutual suspicions and a trust deficit. The tensions stem from allegations Islamabad provides support to the Afghan Taliban and Kabul harbors anti-Pakistan militants.

Speaking to VOA after the ceremony, Pakistani ambassador to Kabul, Zahid Nasrullah Khan, said despite mutual tensions and disagreements, his government is determined to work closely with Afghanistan on projects like the CASA-1000 to promote regional connectivity.“

We are neighbors. Our destinies are tied and we have to work together to take our countries forward, and our opportunities are also interlinked. So, we will continue to push the relationship on the positive track,” Khan stressed.  

The ambassador also underlined efforts Pakistan is making in facilitating a U.S.-led Afghan peace and political reconciliation process aimed at ending the 18-year-old war in the neighboring country.  “

There is no other choice but peace. This is the only way forward. I am sure that all parties and all important regional countries, including Pakistan, are very much committed to taking this process forward,” Khan said.

When completed, CASA-1000 would doubly benefit war-ravaged Afghanistan as a consumer and as a transit country generating revenue.   

Under the long-planned project, a transmission line more than 1,200 kilometers long connecting the four countries would be used to export of electricity to Afghanistan and Pakistan during the summer months when Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have extra capacity. The two Central Asian nations have more power generation than they can use as melting ice swells rivers that flow through their hydroelectric generators.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has overcome its energy crisis as billions of dollars in Chinese investment over the past five years have led to the construction of nine new coal-based power plants in the country. Several more also are under construction, adding thousands of megawatts of new electricity to the national grid.

Islamabad recently has asked Tajikistan to revise certain clauses in the agreement under CASA-1000 project so surplus Pakistani electricity could be exported through the same transmission line, bringing much needed energy to people in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan during the harsh winters when they typically have an energy deficit.

…

From: MeNeedIt

…

From: MeNeedIt

In Leesburg, Virginia, near Washington DC, it’s well above freezing but that has not stopped scores of artists and carvers who come each year during the winter to turn ice into magic.  Maxim Moskalkov visited the city’s annual ice festival and talked to the sculptors about their evanescent masterpieces

…

From: MeNeedIt

A travel ban on non-U.S. citizens who have been to China within the past 14 days is the latest reaction to the coronavirus outbreak as fear of the disease continues to spread. Another symptom of that fear is face masks worn in airports and in crowded places by some people in the U.S. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee reports from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where more than 13% of the student population are foreign students from China. 

…

From: MeNeedIt

Britain’s government announced Wednesday that it is considering a change in the way the BBC is funded that would hit the coffers of the nation’s public broadcaster.
    
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative administration, which is increasingly at odds with the country’s news media, said it would hold a “public consultation” on whether to decriminalize non-payment of the annual levy that funds the BBC.
    
The BBC gets most of its money from the “license fee” paid by every television-owning household, which currently stands at 154.50 pounds ($202) a year. Failing to pay can result in a fine or, in rare cases, a prison sentence.
    
The government argues that “the broadcasting landscape has changed dramatically,” with the rise of Netflix and other streaming services, triggering a decline in traditional television viewing.
    
“As we move into an increasingly digital age, with more and more channels to watch and platforms to choose from, the time has come to think carefully about how we make sure the TV licence fee remains relevant in this changing media landscape,” Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan said. “Many people consider it wrong that you can be imprisoned for not paying for your TV licence and that its enforcement punishes the vulnerable.”
    
The government noted that “decriminalization of TV license fee evasion would have an impact on BBC funding.” It is not proposing any way to make up the gap.
    
The BBC said a government-commissioned review of its funding a few years ago had “found the current system to be the fairest and most effective.”
    
The BBC is Britain’s largest media organization, producing news, sports and entertainment across multiple TV, radio and digital outlets.
    
Its size and public funding annoy private-sector rivals, who argue the broadcaster has an unfair advantage.
    
The relationship between Britain’s government and the media has become increasingly frosty since Johnson became prime minister in July. His office has restricted access for journalists to government ministers and advisers.
    
Ministers have been barred from appearing on the BBC’s flagship morning radio program, “Today,” because of its alleged anti-Conservative bias.
    
Last week some media outlets, including The Associated Press, declined to broadcast a pre-recorded address to the nation by Johnson marking Britain’s departure from the European Union because the government refused to allow independent media outlets to film or photograph the statement.
    
On Monday, the government invited selected journalists to a briefing about trade negotiations with the EU, breaking with the tradition that briefings are open to all reporters covering Parliament. The invited journalists walked out after officials refused to admit their colleagues, and the briefing was canceled.

…

From: MeNeedIt

A regional human rights organization said Tuesday that Venezuela has denied entry to a delegation that sought to review the human rights situation in the crisis-torn country.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights said the delegation would instead meet on the Colombian border with representatives of civic groups.

The delegation’s leader, Esperanza Arosemena, posted a picture and message on social media saying the group had been prevented from boarding a Copa Airlines flight to Venezuela in Panama.

She said they were informed by the airline that it “received instructions from the Venezuelan regime that we were not authorized to enter the country.”

The government of President Nicolas Maduro had previously indicated it would not authorize a visit by the commission, an autonomous body of the Organization of American States.

The OAS recognizes Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country’s legitimate president.

Maduro withdrew his government’s diplomats from the organization last year, and its seat was taken over by a representative designated by Guaido.

In a statement, the rights commission said the delegation’s visit was organized at the invitation of Gustavo Tarre, Guaido’s representative.

…

From: MeNeedIt

New Hampshire rarely takes its cues from Iowa. And this time, there aren’t clear cues anyway.

The Democratic presidential hopefuls descended on the small New England state on Tuesday, fresh off overnight flights, full of caffeine and without official results from Iowa. That didn’t stop many of them from offering some form of a victorious message — and raising the stakes on the importance of New Hampshire.

“Everything we know is extremely encouraging,” Pete Buttigieg said Tuesday after being endorsed by Jim Donchess, the mayor of Nashua. Bernie Sanders, whose campaign released its own caucus results with a claim of winning, wasn’t expected to greet voters in the state until the evening. Andrew Yang held a middle-of-the-night rally at the airport upon landing in the state, while Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden planned mid-day events.

New Hampshire had largely taken a backseat to Iowa through January, but the state is poised to take on a more important role following Iowa’s delayed, chaotic results.

“New Hampshire becomes, I think, more important because we don’t know what Iowa’s going to come out with,” said Bill Shaheen, a Democratic National Committeeman from the state who is backing Biden.

The state’s Feb. 11 contest is a primary, which is far simpler than a caucus; the election is also run by state and local governments, not the political parties, like Iowa. A primary works like a general election, with people going into the voting booth and selecting one candidate. New Hampshire uses paper ballots, with some places counting them electronically.

“Even if those systems failed, New Hampshire would still have an election and would report results at the end of the night,” Deputy Secretary of State Dave Scanlan said Tuesday morning.

The state’s political class has long liked the characterize New Hampshire as more influential than Iowa, even as Iowa has had a better track record of picking the eventual nominee in recent Democratic contests. Not since 2004 have its independent-minded voters followed Iowa’s lead in an open Democratic presidential primary.

While voters have been courted by candidates for the past year, at house parties, town halls and rallies, about half said they still hadn’t decided who to support, according to a January CNN poll, making the final week before the primary a critical opportunity for candidates to close the deal.

“You all are extremely famous in this state for folks waiting until the last five days to finally make up their minds,” former Vice President Joe Biden told supporters in January at a campaign office in Manchester, the state’s largest city, at 110,000 people.

None of the top-tier candidates had characterized winning the state as a must, though the results of Iowa may change that. While there is a perception that because Sanders hails from neighboring Vermont, and Warren from Massachusetts, they need to do well in New Hampshire, key surrogates have softened the idea that victory is necessary.

“New Hampshire’s never been a state that determines who the nominee’s going to be. The question is doing well in New Hampshire,” Kathy Sullivan, a Democratic National Committee member from New Hampshire who has endorsed Warren, said last week.

Indeed, New Hampshire is known more for humbling the front-runner than for picking the winner, at least in recent Democratic elections. In 2008, the state backed Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama, setting up a lengthy nomination battle. Eight years later, New Hampshire voters bucked Clinton for Sanders.

“We want to make up our own minds, we’re somewhat contrary,” said John Lynch, a former Democratic governor with a centrist bent who is a Biden supporter.

Still, polling shows Sanders in the lead, with competitors like Biden and Warren trailing behind.

“It is Bernie’s to lose,” said Lou D’Allesandro, a longtime state senator who is backing Biden.

That’s despite Sanders having a late start in the state. Warren showered the state with more attention through the summer, though Sanders has dialed up his efforts since. The Sanders campaign says it has over 150 staffers in New Hampshire, which gives the senator the largest publicly announced staff in the state. Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has about 80 staffers, while the Biden campaign has more than 50, and the Warren campaign has more than 55, according to aides.

“We are confident, but we’re not taking anything for granted and we’re not slowing down,” Shannon Jackson, a longtime aide to Sanders who now works as his New Hampshire state director, said last week.

Most of the major candidates, except for Biden, ran television ads in January. New Hampshire has just one statewide television network, and many people in the southern part of the state rely on Boston stations for news. That, combined with Massachusetts voters moving into the state to take advantage of the low taxes and cheaper housing, means Warren is known to many voters in New Hampshire.

Rep. Annie Kuster, who is backing Buttigieg, cited voters independent nature — more people are registered without a party than Republicans or Democrats — and history of divided government at the state level as reasons why Buttigieg’s message and personal background can resonate.

“It’s a very fluid electorate,” she said. “They are very tuned in to the person.”

New Hampshire is richer, whiter and older than the rest of the country. But while unemployment is less than 3%, wages have stagnated over the past decade, rising far slower than nationally, according to a report from the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy. The state is dealing with an aging population, particularly in the rural North Country, that will call for a ramp up in health care and personal care jobs in the coming years. Meanwhile, New Hampshire residents have some of the highest student debt in the country. All that combines to show why a candidate like Sanders could appeal to voters in the state in 2016.

But this time around, both Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Yang are appealing to those same voters, and they spent far more time in New Hampshire than Sanders in January.

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, meanwhile, skipped Iowa entirely to focus on New Hampshire. He was holding his 47th town hall meeting on Monday night as Iowans went to the polls, and he said he’s hoping for a third place finish. That’s still a long shot, based on polls. Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has similarly emphasized New Hampshire, but doesn’t seem to be benefiting from leading a neighboring state.

Klobuchar won the endorsements of three New Hampshire newspapers, offering her a second look and added credibility in the race’s closing days.

Voters have frequently pressed on the candidates over the feasibility of Medicare for All and how the contenders intend to get their ambitious plans passed if their tenure begins with a Republican-controlled Senate. But they are quick to say that their main priority is defeating Trump.

“I have somebody I’d like to vote for, but I don’t think they can beat Trump,” 78-year-old Rita Kirk said after attending a Bennet event in January.

Joleen Little, an administrative assistant at Franklin Pierce University, said she’s an independent who is deciding between Biden, Buttigieg and Yang. As someone in “retirement age,” she cares about health care, as well as America’s place in the world. But her interest in Buttigieg and Yang reflected New Hampshire voters’ desire to see candidates up close and learn what makes them tick.

“The ambition they have,” she cited as reason for her interest. “And the comfort that’s in their voices.”

…

From: MeNeedIt

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says Iran is ready to “return to its commitments” under the 2015 nuclear deal when other parties uphold their commitments.

Rouhani’s office issued a statement Monday after his talks in Tehran with the new European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell.

Iran’s official news agency quotes Rouhani as saying that Iran will continue cooperating with international nuclear inspectors “unless we face a new situation.”

IRNA did not elaborate on what kind of situation Rouhani was talking about.

Iran has been backing away from the nuclear deal since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out in 2018 and imposed sanctions.

Britain, France, and Germany are working to keep the agreement alive.

Borrell’s trip to Tehran is part of what is called the dispute settlement mechanism under which Iran would enter negotiations to keep the deal alive and avoid taking matter to the U.N. Security Council, where the  agreement could end.

Under the 2015 deal also signed by China and Russia, Iran would curb its uranium enrichment in exchange for relief from sanctions that have wrecked its economy.

After the U.S. killed top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in January, Iran announced it is no longer bound by the limits on enrichment spelled out in the agreement.

…

From: MeNeedIt