SARAJEVO: Winter is here and coal is burning, enveloping the Balkans in a toxic smog and turning its cities into some of the most polluted on the planet.
As hundreds of nations gather in Poland for the UN’s COP24 climate summit this week, residents in this corner of Europe are wondering when their governments will do anything to address an annual plague that is killing thousands.
The pollution levels reached alarming heights in early December.
On Tuesday, the Macedonian capital Skopje was ranked the third most polluted city in the world, while Sarajevo was fifth, according to the monitor AirVisual.
Pristina, the capital of Kosovo which relies on two coal-fired plants for more than 95 percent of its electricity, was not far behind.
“In three decades of teaching, I have never seen so many children cough and get sick,” said Vesna Delevska, a 56-year-old teacher in Skopje.
“On the worst days, many parents don’t even send their children to school,” she told AFP, describing the conditions as “unbearable.”
Lignite-fired power plants across the region, many of which are old and pollute heavily, plus the burning of coal to warm individual homes, pump the air with toxins.
In Skopje and Sarajevo, a ring of mountains helps trap the hazardous air in valleys where residents live, shrouding them in a grey fog.
An October UN report said fossil fuel emissions must be slashed by half in the next 12 years to limit global temperature rises.
But Balkan governments are bucking the European trend by boosting their investment coal, with plans to build new power plants across the region.
The effects are plain to see. Five Balkan cities with coal or lignite-based industries are among Europe’s top ten most polluted cities, according to a 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) report.
They include Tuzla (Bosnia), Pljevlja (Montenegro), Skopje, Tetovo and Bitola (Macedonia).
The only ones benefiting from the pollution are those selling air purifiers, which one vendor in Macedonia’s capital said are flying off the shelves “like hot cakes.”
“People are emptying their wallets to breathe clean air,” said Vanco, who runs a store in Skopje and declined to give his last name.
An air purifier costs about 400 euros ($450) — close to the average monthly salary in Macedonia and several of its Balkan neighbors.
But residents are digging into their savings, “even borrowing to buy the purifiers,” said Vanco. “Especially families with children,” he added.
The economic and human costs are high in a poor region with little extra cash to spare.
According to a WHO study, pollution cost the Western Balkans countries more than $55 billion in 2010.
It also caused more than 36,000 premature deaths that year across the region, which is home to 23 million people — a proportion six times higher than in a country like France.
Since then, there have been no major efforts to curb pollution.
This winter the Macedonian Ministry of Health has announced the distribution of masks to 43,000 chronically ill people.
But Jane Dimeski, an activist with the citizen group “STOP air pollution,” sees it as a “short-term response...more than a serious fight against pollution.”
In Bosnia, the hazardous air shaves “44,000 years of life” off the country’s population every year, according to a 2018 UN report.
It costs the poor nation nearly a fifth of its GDP through lost work and school days, plus health expenses and fuel costs, the UN said.
Fuad Prnjavorac, a 69-year-old Sarajevo resident who suffers from asthma, tries to escape the city for cleaner air on Mount Trebivic, which overlooks the capital.
From that view, the city was completely obscured by the dense grey smog this week.
“It’s terrible in town at this time of year, impossible to breathe,” he told AFP.
In early December, the air had an average of 320 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particles, with peaks above 400.
Anes Podic, who runs as Bosnian environmental organization Eko-Akcija, blames the government for ignoring the problem.
“Someone has judged that the lungs of Sarajevo residents are five times more resistant than those of Paris,” she said with sarcasm at a recent press conference, referring to how French authorities set 80 micrograms per cubic meter of fine particles as their alert level.
“When the problem appears, as it does every year, authorities ignore it at first, then seem to work on it, and finally, their only measure is to wait for a gust of wind,” she added.
In the Balkans, winter cheer is darkened by a toxic smog
In the Balkans, winter cheer is darkened by a toxic smog
- Five Balkan cities with coal or lignite-based industries are among Europe's top ten most polluted cities
- The pollution levels reached alarming heights in early December
Hundreds of Afghans seeking US resettlement arrive in Philippines for visa processing
- Group of around 300 Afghan nationals, comprising mostly children, arrived from Kabul on Monday
- Under Philippines’ rules, they can stay in the country for no more than 59 days
MANILA: Hundreds of Afghan nationals arrived in the Philippines on Monday to process special immigrant visas for their resettlement in the US, as part of an agreement between Manila and Washington.
The Philippines agreed last July to temporarily host a US visa-processing center for a limited number of Afghan nationals who had worked for American forces in Afghanistan and were left behind during their chaotic withdrawal from the country in 2021.
A group of about 300 Afghan nationals arrived from Kabul on Monday and were issued “the appropriate Philippine entry visa,” said Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza.
“All applicants completed extensive security vetting by Philippine national security agencies,” Daza added
“As part of its agreement with the Philippines, the US government is supporting all necessary services for those SIV applicants temporarily in the Philippines, including food, housing, medical care, security and transportation to complete visa processing.”
The applicants were also vetted by US security agencies and had undergone medical screening prior to their arrival.
The group of Afghans will stay at a billet facility operated by the US State Department’s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts and are only permitted to leave for their embassy consular interviews
Under the Philippines’ rules, they can stay in the country for no longer than 59 days.
The Philippines was chosen as a location for the visa processing as the US Embassy in Manila is “one of the largest” and “has the capacity to process them efficiently and smoothly without having to sacrifice the normal operations,” a Philippine official said.
The Afghan nationals who are processing their visas in the Philippines comprised mostly children and “will be the only group” under the agreement between Manila and Washington, a US State Department official told Arab News, speaking on condition of anonymity.
More than 160,000 Afghans sought resettlement when the Taliban took over Afghanistan as international forces withdrew from the country in 2021 — two decades after the US invaded it.
Thousands of others are in third countries awaiting visa processing. Many of them had worked for the US government.
South Korea’s Yoon set to avoid arrest by warrant deadline
- Anti-graft investigators sought an extension to the warrant that expires at the end of Monday
- The anti-graft officials have sought more time and help because of the difficulties they have faced
SEOUL: Impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol appeared set to evade arrest ahead of a Monday night deadline after anti-graft investigators asked for more time to enforce a warrant.
The former star prosecutor has defiantly refused questioning three times over a bungled martial law decree last month and remained holed up in his residence surrounded by hundreds of guards preventing his arrest.
Anti-graft investigators sought an extension to the warrant that expires at the end of Monday (1500 GMT) and asked for support from the police, which said the force would help and may arrest anyone shielding Yoon.
“The validity of the warrant expires today. We plan to request an extension from the court today,” said CIO deputy director Lee Jae-seung, whose authority has been refuted by Yoon’s lawyers.
The request was officially filed on Monday evening and an extension can be granted all the way up to the midnight deadline. If the warrant expires, investigators can apply for another one.
The anti-graft officials have sought more time and help because of the difficulties they have faced, including being met by hundreds of security forces when they entered Yoon’s presidential compound on Friday.
“We will consider the option of arresting any personnel from the Presidential Security Service during the execution of the second warrant,” a police official said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The country’s opposition Democratic Party has also called for the dissolution of the security service protecting the impeached president.
If authorities detain Yoon, who has already been suspended from duty by lawmakers, he will become the first sitting president in South Korean history to be arrested.
But they would only have 48 hours to either request another arrest warrant, in order to keep him in detention, or be forced to release him.
While officials have been unable to get to Yoon, the joint investigation team has gone after top military officials behind the martial law plan.
The prosecution’s martial law special investigation unit on Monday indicted Defense Intelligence Commander Moon Sang-ho on charges of playing an integral role in an insurrection and abuse of power.
Yoon would face prison or, at worst, the death penalty if convicted for insurrection over briefly suspending civilian rule and plunging South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.
But both he and his supporters have remained defiant.
“We will protect the Presidential Security Service till midnight,” said Kim Soo-yong, 62, one of the protest organizers.
“If they get another warrant, we will come again.”
Early Monday dozens of Yoon’s lawmakers from the People Power Party turned up in front of his presidential residence and police blocked roads.
“I’ve been here longer than the CIO now. It doesn’t make sense why they can’t do it. They need to arrest him immediately,” said anti-Yoon protest organizer Kim Ah-young, in her 30s.
The initial warrant was issued on the grounds that Yoon has refused to emerge for questioning over his martial law decree.
His lawyers have repeatedly said the warrant is “unlawful” and “illegal,” pledging to take further legal action against it.
The vibrant East Asian democracy will find itself in uncharted territory either way — its sitting president will have been arrested, or he would have evaded court-ordered detention.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul early Monday, and did not meet Yoon but held a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul.
He praised Seoul’s democratic resilience but his focus was shifted away from domestic politics when North Korea fired what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile into the sea as he met Cho.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has slated January 14 for the start of Yoon’s impeachment trial, which if he does not attend would continue in his absence.
A prosecutors’ report for his former defense minister seen by AFP Sunday showed Yoon ignored the objections of key cabinet ministers before his failed martial law bid, evidence the court may take into account.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers.
Former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye never appeared for their impeachment trials.
Malaysia’s jailed ex-PM Najib wins appeal to seek home detention for corruption sentence
- Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009.
- Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Najib Razak on Monday won an appeal to pursue his bid to serve his remaining corruption sentence under house arrest.
In an application in April last year, Najib said he had clear information that then-King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah issued an addendum order allowing him to finish his sentence under house arrest. Najib claimed the addendum was issued during a pardons board meeting on Jan. 29 last year chaired by Sultan Abdullah that also cut his 12-year jail sentence by half and sharply reduced a fine. But the High Court tossed out his bid three months later.
The Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling on Monday, ordered the High Court to hear the merits of the case. The decision came after Najib’s lawyer produced a letter from a Pahang state palace official confirming that then-Sultan Abdullah had issued the addendum order.
“We are happy that finally Najib has got a win,” his lawyer Mohamad Shafee Abdullah said. “He is very happy and very relieved that finally they recognized some element of injustice that has been placed against him.”
The lawyer said Najib gave a thumbs-up in court when the ruling was read.
He said it was “criminal” for the government to conceal the addendum order. Shafee noted that a new High Court judge will now hear the case.
In his application, Najib accused the pardons board, home minister, attorney-general and four others of concealing the sultan’s order “in bad faith.” Sultan Abdullah hails from Najib’s hometown in Pahang. He ended his five-year reign on Jan. 30 last year under Malaysia’s unique rotating monarchy system. A new king took office a day later.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has said he had no knowledge of such an order since he wasn’t a member of the pardons board. The others named in Najib’s application have not made any public comments.
Najib, 71, served less than two years of his sentence before it was commuted by the pardons board. His sentence is now due to end on Aug. 23, 2028. He was charged and found guilty in a corruption case linked to the multibillion-dollar looting of state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The pardons board didn’t give any reason for its decision and wasn’t required to explain. But the move has prompted a public outcry over the appearance that Najib was being given special privileges compared to other prisoners.
Najib set up the 1MDB development fund shortly after he took office in 2009. Investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib’s associates through layers of bank accounts in the United States and other countries, financed Hollywood films and extravagant purchases that included hotels, a luxury yacht, art and jewelry. More than $700 million landed in Najib’s bank accounts.
Najib is still fighting graft charges in the main trial linking him directly to the scandal.
Death toll from the German Christmas market attack rises to 6
- A woman succumbed to her injuries, prosecutors said Monday
- More than 200 people were injured in the Dec. 20 attack
BERLIN: The death toll in the attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg last month has risen to six as a woman succumbed to her injuries, prosecutors said Monday.
Prosecutors in Naumburg said the 52-year-old woman died in a hospital, German news agency dpa reported. Authorities have said that the others who died were four women aged 45, 52, 67 and 75, and a 9-year-old boy.
More than 200 people were injured in the Dec. 20 attack.
Authorities have identified the suspect, who was arrested immediately after he drove a rented car through the crowded market early on a Friday evening, as a Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency.
They have said he does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. The man described himself as an ex-Muslim who was highly critical of Islam, and on social media expressed support for the far-right.
Norway PM worried by Musk involvement in politics outside US
- The German government accused Musk of trying to influence Germany’s upcoming election
- Musk spent more than $250 million to help Trump get elected
OSLO: Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday that he found it worrying that billionaire Elon Musk was involving himself in the political issues of countries outside of the United States.
Musk, a close ally of US President-elect Donald Trump, last month endorsed a German anti-immigration, anti-Islamic political party ahead of that country’s national elections in February, and recently made remarks on British politics.
“I find it worrying that a man with enormous access to social media and huge economic resources involves himself so directly in the internal affairs of other countries,” Stoere told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
“This is not the way things should be between democracies and allies,” he added.
If Musk were to involve himself in Norwegian politics, the country’s politicians should collectively distance themselves from such efforts, Stoere said.
Musk, the world’s richest person, spent more than $250 million to help Trump get elected and has been tasked by Trump to prune the federal budget as a special adviser.
The German government last week accused Musk, who owns social media platform X and is CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, of trying to influence Germany’s upcoming election with a guest opinion piece for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said Musk’s support for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was a “logical and systematic” play by the billionaire for a weak Europe that will not be able to regulate as strongly.
