NAIROBI: The Ethiopian government on Wednesday defended a controversial deal with the breakaway Somali region of Somaliland, saying no laws have been transgressed.
The agreement — which gives landlocked Ethiopia long-sought access to the Red Sea — has been condemned by the government in Mogadishu as an “aggression” and a “blatant assault” on its sovereignty.
Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, a move not recognized internationally and staunchly opposed by Mogadishu although in reality the central government exercises little authority over the region’s affairs.
The memorandum of understanding signed in Addis Ababa on Monday gives Ethiopia a military base and access to commercial maritime services on the Red Sea.
Somaliland’s president Muse Bihi Abdi said in a statement that in exchange, Ethiopia would “formally recognize” Somaliland, a former British protectorate of about 4.5 million people.
But the Ethiopian government has not confirmed this.
In a statement on Wednesday it said the deal “includes provisions for the Ethiopian government to make an in-depth assessment toward taking a position regarding the efforts of Somaliland to gain recognition.”
The deal has infuriated the government in Mogadishu, which has vowed to defend its territory “by any legal means” and also recalled its ambassador in Ethiopia.
But the Ethiopian statement said: “No party or country will be affected by this MOU. There is no broken trust nor is there any laws that have been transgressed.”
It said that even though Somaliland has not been fully recognized, it has nevertheless signed agreements with various countries, including for port development.
“Yet there has been no murmur or complaint when this materialized,” it added.
The deal was signed several months after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his country, Africa’s second most populous, would assert its right to access the Red Sea, sparking concerns among its neighbors.
Ethiopia was cut off from the coast after Eritrea seceded and declared independence in 1993 following a three-decade war.
Addis Ababa had maintained access to a port in Eritrea until the two countries went to war in 1998-2000, and since then Ethiopia funnels most of its trade through Djibouti.
Ethiopia’s economy has been constrained by its lack of maritime access, and the Berbera port in Somaliland offers a gateway to the Red Sea and further north to the Suez Canal.
Ethiopia defends sea access deal with Somaliland
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Ethiopia defends sea access deal with Somaliland
- Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, a move not recognized internationally and staunchly opposed by Mogadishu although in reality the central government exercises little authority over the region’s affairs
Two UK mpox cases first local transmission in Europe: WHO
The WHO warned that European states should be prepared for “rapid action” to contain the latest mpox variant
LONDON: Two new cases of the mpox variant clade 1b detected in the UK are the first locally transmitted cases in Europe and the first outside Africa, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed late Monday that the two new cases were household contacts of Britain’s first case identified last week, bringing the country’s total confirmed cases to three.
The WHO warned that European states should be prepared for “rapid action” to contain the latest mpox variant, which spreads through close physical contact including sexual relations and sharing closed spaces.
The two cases are also the first to be locally transmitted outside Africa since August 2024, when the WHO declared the outbreak of the new variant an international public health emergency — its highest level of alarm.
Those affected are under specialist care and the risk to the UK population “remains low,” UKHSA said.
The original case was detected after the person traveled to several African countries on holiday and returned to the UK on October 21.
The patient developed flu-like symptoms more than 24 hours later and, on October 24, started to develop a rash that worsened in the following days.
Mpox, a viral disease related to smallpox, has two types, clade 1 and clade 2. Symptoms include fever, a skin rash or pus-filled blisters, swollen lymph nodes and body aches.
The WHO first declared an international public health emergency in 2022 over the spread of clade 2. That outbreak mostly affected gay and bisexual men in Europe and the United States.
Vaccination and awareness drives in many countries helped stem the number of worldwide cases and the WHO lifted the emergency in May 2023 after reporting 140 deaths out of around 87,400 cases.
In 2024, a two-pronged epidemic of clade 1 and clade 1b, a new strain that affects children, has spread widely in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The new strain has also been recorded in neighboring Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, with imported cases in Sweden, India, Thailand, Germany and the UK.
Trump snaps at reporter when asked about abortion: ‘Stop talking about it’
- The former president was asked twice after casting his ballot in Palm Beach
- Pressed a second time, Trump snapped at a reporter, saying “you should stop talking about it”
FLORIDA: Donald Trump is refusing to say how he voted on Florida’s abortion measure — and getting testy about it.
The former president was asked twice after casting his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday about a question that the state’s voters are considering. If approved, it would prevent state lawmakers from passing any law that penalizes, prohibits, delays or restricts abortion until fetal viability — which doctors say is sometime after 21 weeks.
If it’s rejected, the state’s restrictive six-week abortion law would stand.
The first time he was asked, Trump avoided answering. He said instead of the issue that he did “a great job bringing it back to the states.” That was a reference to the former president having appointed three conservative justices to the US Supreme Court who helped overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022.
Pressed a second time, Trump snapped at a reporter, saying “you should stop talking about it.”
Trump had previously indicated that he would back the measure — but then changed his mind and said he would vote against it.
In August, Trump said he thought Florida’s ban was a mistake, saying on Fox News Channel, “I think six weeks, you need more time.” But then he said, “at the same time, the Democrats are radical” while repeating false claims he has frequently made about late-term abortions.
In addition to Florida, voters in eight other states are deciding whether their state constitutions should guarantee a right to abortion, weighing ballot measures that are expected to spur turnout for a range of crucial races.
Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota likely would lead to undoing bans or restrictions that currently block varying levels of abortion access to more than 7 million women of childbearing age who live in those states.
Saudi Arabia has launched 22 new routes this year as part of tourism drive, ACP’s CEO says
- Kingdom has attracted 12 new airlines to date in 2024
LONDON: Saudi Arabia has launched 22 new routes from various destinations to the Kingdom this year, increasing tourist seating capacity by nearly 2 million, the CEO of the Air Connectivity Program has said.
Speaking at the Umrah+ Connect business-to-business event in London on Monday, Majid Khan said the Kingdom had attracted 12 new airlines to date in 2024.
Khan said: “There has been good expansion out of the UK. Virgin Atlantic is going to start daily flights from Heathrow to Riyadh in March; British Airways launched flights to Jeddah yesterday; Wizz Air will also be operating Gatwick to Jeddah flights daily.
“We are definitely focusing on our own carriers as well, because they are definitely our first priority; Flynas, flyadeal, Saudia, and Riyadh Air in the future.
“But we are also proactively working with international carriers in order to help us to get a higher share of inbound tourism to the Kingdom, as they have their sales and marketing channels in this part of the world.
“We know that the majority of BA travelers are not Saudis. They are actually travelers from the UK market, from their network in Europe and North America.”
Saudi Arabia has a strong, strategic location and travelers can reach more than half of the world within a six-hour flight, Khan said. He added that the ACP was working to deliver 150 million tourists to the Kingdom as part of Saudi Vision 2030.
He said: “Saudi Arabia is like one continent. We have 1,700 km of coastline, the new Maldives that’s actually the Red Sea, the two holiest sites for Muslims in the world, and mountainous regions.
“In the south we have Abha and Jazan, which I would personally call the Switzerland of Saudi Arabia. So it’s definitely an untouched wonder.”
An exhibition at the event highlighted new tourism developments in the Kingdom that British pilgrims can enjoy, including religious sites and activities that promote an understanding of Saudi cultural heritage.
Khan said the ACP was trying to revolutionize the way pilgrims travel, allowing them to holiday in the Kingdom after performing their religious rituals.
He said: “If we take the UK market, travelers typically have one Umrah ticket in their pocket to perform the minor pilgrimage with their family and friends. They then come back again to the UK, and have a separate ticket to either Dubai, Istanbul, or Malaga.
“This is something we would like to change. Travelers can perform Umrah, see the sacred places, and then save their tickets and continue to travel around the Kingdom. That’s the way we try to position Saudi Arabia.”
Rashid Mohammed, the organizer of Umrah+ Connect, said that Monday’s event had provided an opportunity for Umrah travel agents to network and grow their businesses.
Mohammed said: “We’ve brought you a diverse experience here in London, and it’s for you to use these tools, through connecting with people, to create packages that enhance and enrich pilgrim experiences.
“We’re also grateful for the support of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, and the Umrah and Ziyarah Forum, who are here today and have really backed us to put on this show.”
Father accused of Sara Sharif’s murder denies responsibility for death in UK trial
- Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors at the start of the trial that Sara had suffered a litany of injuries, including burns and bite marks
LONDON: The father of Sara Sharif, a 10-year-old girl who was found dead in her home in Britain, denied responsibility for his daughter’s death as he gave evidence at his murder trial on Tuesday.
Sharif was found dead in August 2023 at her home in Woking, a town southwest of London, after what prosecutors say was a campaign of “serious and repeated violence.”
Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told jurors at the start of the trial that Sara had suffered a litany of injuries, including burns and bite marks.
Her father Urfan Sharif, 42, his wife and Sara Sharif’s stepmother Beinash Batool, 30, and the girl’s uncle Faisal Malik, 29, are on trial at London’s Old Bailey court charged with her murder.
The trio are charged with causing or allowing the death of a child. All three deny the charges against them and blame each other for her death, prosecutors have said.
Emlyn Jones told jurors earlier this month that Urfan Sharif said to police: “It wasn’t my intention to kill her, but I beat her up too much.”
Sharif entered the witness box on Tuesday and was asked by his lawyer Naeem Mian whether he was responsible for Sara’s death. He replied: “No.”
He became emotional as he was asked by Mian to describe what Sara was like, saying she was “beautiful, an angel” and that her favorite color was pink.
Sharif accepted slapping Sara on “a few occasions” to discipline her, but denied beating her in a regular or sustained way.
Mian had said to the jury that Sharif had wrongly been painted as a “villain,” rather than Batool, for slapping Sara.
Batool’s case, prosecutors have previously said, is that Urfan Sharif was a “violent disciplinarian” and that she was scared of him.
The trial is expected to run until December.
Mount Fuji is still without its iconic snowcap for the first time in 130 years
- The lack of snow on Mt. Fuji, a UNESCO World Heritage site, as of Tuesday breaks the previous record set on Oct. 26, 2016, meteorological officials said
- Usually, the 3,776-meter- (nearly 12,300-foot-) high mountain has sprinkles of snow falling on its summit starting Oct. 2
TOKYO: Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji, known for its snowcap forming around this time of the year, is still snowless in November for the first time in 130 years, presumably because of the unusually warm temperatures in the past few weeks.
The lack of snow on Mt. Fuji, a UNESCO World Heritage site, as of Tuesday breaks the previous record set on Oct. 26, 2016, meteorological officials said.
Usually, the 3,776-meter- (nearly 12,300-foot-) high mountain has sprinkles of snow falling on its summit starting Oct. 2, about a month after the summertime hiking season there ends. Last year, snow fell on the mountain on Oct. 5, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency, or JMA.
The snowless Mt. Fuji has captured attention on social media. People posted photos showing the bare mountain, some expressing surprise and others concerned over climate change.
The JMA’s Kofu Local Meteorological Office, which keeps weather data in central Japan and was the agency that announced the first snowfall on Mt. Fuji in 1894, has cited October’s surprisingly summery weather as the reason.
The average October temperature is minus 2 Celsius (28.4 Fahrenheit) at the summit, but this year, it was 1.6 Celsius, (34.9 F), a record high since 1932.
Japan this year also had an unusually hot summer and warm autumn.
A symbol of Japan, the mountain called “Fujisan” used to be a place of pilgrimage. The mountain with its snowy top and near symmetrical slopes have been the subject of numerous forms of art, including Japanese ukiyoe artist Katsushika Hokusai’s Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.
Today, it attracts hikers who climb to the summit to see the sunrise. But tons of trash left behind and overcrowding have triggered concern and calls for environmental protection and measures to control overtourism.
