A smoking ban in all Malaysian eateries is sparking controversy particularly now that it’s being enforced. The ban officially began a year ago, but violators started being penalized only recently. Dave Grunebaum has the story.
From: MeNeedIt
Category: Ads
Advertising and marketing. Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers
Air Force 2019 Suicides Surge to Highest in 3 Decades
Suicides in the active-duty Air Force surged last year to the highest total in at least three decades, even as the other military services saw their numbers stabilize or decline, according to officials and unpublished preliminary data.
The reasons for the Air Force increase are not fully understood, coming after years of effort by all of the military services to counter a problem that seems to defy solution and that parallels increases in suicide in the U.S. civilian population.
84 Air Force suicides
According to preliminary figures, the Air Force had 84 suicides among active-duty members last year, up from 60 the year before. The jump followed five years of relative stability, with the service’s yearly totals fluctuating between 60 and 64. Official figures won’t be published until later this year and could vary slightly from preliminary data.
Air Force officials, who confirmed the 2019 total, said they knew of no higher number in recent years. Data and studies previously published by the Pentagon and Air Force show that 64 suicides in 2015 had been the highest total for the Air Force in this century. A 2009 Air Force study said suicides between 1990 and 2004 averaged 42 a year and never exceeded 62.
“Suicide is a difficult national problem without easily identifiable solutions that has the full attention of leadership,” Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly, the Air Force’s deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel and services, said in a statement. He said the Air Force is focused on immediate, midterm and long-range solutions to a problem faced throughout the military.
Suicide risk factors are often thought to include stress related to deployment to combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. But a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2013 concluded, based on an assessment of current and former military personnel over a seven-year period, that combat experience and other deployment-related factors were not associated with increased risk of suicide. Instead the study’s results pointed to numerous other factors, including being male, engaging in heavy or binge drinking, and bipolar disorder.
Suicides across the services
Although only the Air Force saw a major increase last year, all the services have struggled with higher suicides since about 2005-2006, which coincided with a cycle of exceptionally stressful deployments to Iraq for the Army and Marine Corps. The Pentagon encourages service members and veterans in need of help to contact the Military Crisis Line.
The Navy last year saw its active-duty suicides rise by four, to 72, and the Marine Corps total dropped by 10, to 47. All the 2019 numbers include confirmed and suspected suicides and are subject to revision based on further medical review. It is not uncommon for a service’s total to get adjusted up or down after further review, but any changes are slight.
The Army declined to reveal its 2019 preliminary total, but The Associated Press determined it was little changed from the previous year’s 139. The Army’s figure is typically the highest in the military because it is by far the biggest service, with about 480,000 soldiers on active duty this year, compared with about 332,000 in the Air Force.
The Air Force in the mid-1990s pioneered a suicide prevention program that was seen as effective, and at various times since the U.S. became entangled in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan the other services have seen troubling increases in their suicide numbers. The Marine Corps, for example, saw its numbers jump from 37 to 57 between 2016 and 2018.
Progress sought
Maj. Craig W. Thomas, a Marine Corps spokesman, said the Marines want further progress after recording 10 fewer active-duty suicides last year. He said unit leaders are encouraged to speak openly with their Marines about stress, mental wellness and suicide.
“When leaders and mental health programs and resources acknowledge that ‘everybody struggles with life, trauma, shame, guilt and uncertainty,’ it helps make asking for assistance more acceptable,” Thomas said.
Last year, the Air Force went public with its concerns as it saw its suicide numbers rising. Last summer, Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, ordered a “resilience tactical pause” across the force to foster open discussion within the service about suicide prevention. In a July 31 letter, he wrote: “Hopeful to hopeless. What is going on? It is our job to find out.”
Answers are elusive, but the Air Force says the Goldfein “pause” jump-started an effort to promote “connectedness” among airmen.
The military, whose population is generally younger and more fit than America as a whole, is quick to note that suicide is a problem throughout society. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 1999 through 2017, the nation’s suicide rates increased for both men and women, with bigger percentage increases occurring after 2006.
From: MeNeedIt
WHO: Too Early to Tell if Spread of Coronavirus Has Peaked
In just one day, the number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in China grew by almost 4,000 and the death toll climbed by nearly 75. As the virus continued to spread Thursday, the World Health Organization said it’s still too early to tell if the virus outbreak has peaked, even though on Wednesday the overall number of new cases dropped for the first time. VOA correspondent Mariama Diallo has more
From: MeNeedIt
Macron Seeks Leading Role in Post-Brexit EU Nuclear Strategy
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday advocated a more coordinated European Union defense strategy in which France, the bloc’s only post-Brexit nuclear power, and its arsenal would hold a central role.
Addressing military officers graduating in Paris, Macron set out his country’s nuclear strategy in a bid to show leadership one week after nuclear-armed Britain officially exited the EU.
Macron highlighted how France sees its nuclear weapons as a deterrent against attacks from belligerent foes, though he conceded France’s nuclear might is diminished after its military scaled down its arsenal to under 300 nuclear weapons.
But the speech aimed to project strength, as Macron refused to sign any treaty at this stage to further reduce the French arsenal, announced an increase in military spending and positioned himself as the driving force for a united EU, using France’s military clout to make his point. Macron also touted the French military’s role in spots such as Africa’s Sahel, where he has just pledged an additional 600 troops to fight extremists.
The central idea in the keynote speech, however, was that of a boosted Europe-wide role for the French nuclear arsenal in a more coordinated European defense policy.
Macron said it the strategy would prevent Europe “confining itself to a spectator role” in an environment dominated by Russia, the United States and China.
“Europeans must collectively realize that, in the absence of a legal framework, they could quickly find themselves exposed to the resumption of a conventional, even nuclear, arms race on their soil,” Macron warned.
His remarks come at a time when NATO allies, who would ordinarily look to the United States for help in a nuclear standoff, worry about Washington’s retreat from the multilateral stage. This could create new tensions within NATO, where Macron ruffled feathers last year by saying the lack of U.S. leadership is causing the “brain death” of the military alliance.
Last year, Russia and the US pulled out of the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, dating from the era of the Soviet Union, and each blamed the other for its failure. Evoking the tearing-up of the INF treaty, Macron said he wanted the Europeans to propose their own “international arms control agenda together.”
Friday’s speech was part of Macron’s long-running push for a stronger European defense, as U.S. President Donald Trump has pulled away from European allies and admonished them to pay more for their own protection.
Macron explained his vision as “an offer of dialogue” and “service” to Europeans to assert their autonomy “in defense and arms control.”
From: MeNeedIt
India Arrests Kashmiri Leaders Under Public Safety Act
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 Enter Afghanistan’s Male Dominated Restaurant Industry
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
Italy ‘Complicit In Abuse’ Of Migrants Over Libya Deal, Say Human Rights Groups
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 Leader Inaugurates Construction of Key Regional Energy Project
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
Annual Virginia Ice Sculpture Festival Attracts Carvers From All Over US
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
Travel Ban, Face Masks in US Seen as Symptoms of Fear of Coronavirus
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