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OPINION P.6 EDITORIAL:

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PagesVOL. 17 ISSUE NO 4690

10th April, 2019 5th Shaaban, 1440

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Presidential directives not to target protestors

Higher Coordinative Committee Affirms Importance of Adherence to National Dialogue for Resolving All IssuesBy: Najat AhmedKhartoum- The Higher Coordinative Committee of the National Dialogue, which is chaired by Presi-dent of the Republic Field Marshal Omer Al Bashir, has stressed importance of adherence to dialogue as a means for resolving all issues of the country. The committee affirmed in its meeting held at the Guest House Monday, which was attended by all its members, the im-portance of safeguard-ing the stability of the country and the security of the citizens and their properties and preventing sliding of the country into seditions. The Higher Co-ordinative Committee of the National Dialogue re-viewed in its meeting the

current exceptional situ-ations in the backdrop of the protests which some areas witness, affirming

the importance of reach-ing agreement by the so-ciety with all its sectors and political forces on a

solution that is approved by all.The meeting underscored importance that the com-

mittee would present an integrated initiative soon-est that would help the country surpass its cur-rent situations.The Higher Coordinative Committee of the Nation-al Dialogue expressed its appreciation to the stances of the Armed Forces and the other regular forces in dealing with the protests in a civilized manner.

www.sudanvision.net Address: Khartoum, Intersection of Ali Dinar Street and 21st Oct. Street

By: Najat AhmedKhartoum- The Spokesman of the Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Khalifa Al Shami, has affirmed to media organs ending of the sit-in by demonstrators before the premises of the General Command of the Army and its roads, affirming that the Armed Forces and the security organs maintain control over the se-curity situations.He affirmed that the security organs with all their components confront all illegal gatherings in a de-cisive way in accordance with the law, saying that there are illegal gatherings that carry out acts that are against the law, including threats to the citizens and searching of their cars.He called on the citizens not to participate in such gatherings to preserve the security and stability.He assured the citizens on the stability of the secu-rity situations in general, affirming that measures

would be taken to assure the security of the citizens, referring to acts that had happened in an illegal and unethical manner, including sabotaging installations and blocking of roads.

Khartoum- National Prime Minis-ter Dr. Mohamed Tahir Aila chaired yesterday a meeting with the lead-erships of the media institutions and discussed the importance of the media in confronting attempts to cause confusions in the country through circulation of unfounded

rumors.The meeting underscored a work plan for dissemination of news and information in transparent and credible manner for safeguarding the security and safety of the citi-zens.Meanwhile, the Prime Minister

also chaired yesterday the regu-lar follow up meeting, as Minister of Information and Government Spokesman Hassan Ismail said the meeting discussed a number of is-sues. The meeting heard a report by the Minister of Federal Government Chamber, Lt. Gen. Sedik Amer, on the performance report of the states and the stability of the situation of fuel supply.The Government Spokesman said the Prime Minister affirmed pur-chase of two million bags of wheat in Gezira State besides presence of 400,000 tons of wheat flour in Port Sudan.He said the meeting also heard a report by the Minister of Water Resources, Irrigation and Electric-ity on the situation of electricity supply, where it got assured on the readiness of the ministry for the summer season.

By / Shadia BasheriThe International Aviation Conference that was hosted by Saudi Arabia ( in Riyadh) last Sunday has discussed the special co-ordination issues with avi-ation authorities, directors, and Institutions countries in the area and on how to solve these problems that are facing the aviation work between these coun-tries .The Official Spokes man of the Civil Aviation Abd al hafiz Abd Al Rahim in a statement to (Sudan Vi-sion) said that the Conference dealt with the issue of

Block Chain an information exchange program with International aviation authorities, On the sidelines of Conference , the Director Gen-eral of the Civil Aviation Authority Captain Mustfa Sayed Al Duweihi who participated in the Confer-ence in Riyadh has held several meetings with the Saudi Arabia Aviation Authority and the UAE to discuss how to promote the cooperation together in addition to the exchange of experiences and also met with the President of the International Aviation Organization and Invited him to visit Sudan.

Armed Forces Spokesman: We Will Confront All Illegal Gatherings Decisively

Government Underscores Role of Media in Confronting Rumors

International Civil Aviation Conference Discuss Block Chain Issues

The committee requests the legible voters in the Indonesian Community to participate in the voting process and counting of votes according to the set time

Kedutaan Besar Republik Indonesia

Khartoum

Panitia Pemilihan Luar Negeri (PPLN) Khartoum mengumumkan bahwa Pemerintah Indonesia akan menyelenggarakan Pemilihan Umum (Pemilu) serentak di seluruh wilayah Indonesia pada tanggal 17 April 2019 dan untuk Perwakilan RI di Luar Negeri sesuai dengan jadwal antara tanggal 12-17 April 2019.

Kedutaan Besar Republik Indonesia di Khartoum telah menetapkan bahwa kegiatan Pemilu bagi warga negara Indonesia yang berada di Sudan akan diselenggarakan pada tanggal 12 April 2019 mulai pukul 08.00 CAT s/d 17.00 CAT di dua tempat yaitu di Wisma Duta RI di Khartoum 2 Street 68 dan di Kedutaan Besar RI di Riyadh Street 60 . Sementara itu, pada tanggal 17 April 2019 akan diadakan perhitungan suara hasil Pemilu yang akan berlangsung di KBRI Khartoum.

Sehubungan dengan hal tersebut, menghimbau kepada Seluruh WNI yang memiliki hak pilih untuk dapat hadir berpartisipasi dalam waktu pemilihan dan perhitungan suara dimaksud.

The committee of external elections, the Republic of Indonesia, 2019, announces that the Government of the Republic of Indonesia will hold the general elections in all the Indonesian states on April 17, 2019 as the Indonesian diplomatic missions abroad would hold the elections during the period 12-17 April 2019.

The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Khartoum is to organize voting in the general elections for the Indonesian Community in Sudan on Friday, April 12, 2019 at 08:00 am ñ 05:00 pm at the Residence of the Indonesian Ambassador at Khartoum 2, Bloc 48 and at the premises of the Indonesian Embassy at Riyadh Quarter, Road 60, Bloc 22. The Embassy would undertake counting of the votes and announcement of results at the premises of the Indonesian Embassy on April 17, 2019.

Embassy of the Republic of IndonesiaKhartoum- Sudan

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Al Bashir: Preservation of Security is Priority and Sudanese People Deserve Tranquility and Stability

Report: Najat AhmedKhartoum- President of the Repub-lic and Chairman of the National Congress Party Field Marshal Omer Al Bashir has said that preservation of security and stability is priority and that the Sudanese people de-serve tranquility and stability.Al Bashir, addressing the meeting of the Leadership Office of the Na-tional Congress Party at the Head Office of the party Monday, af-firmed that they would surpass the crisis more united and cohesive. Meanwhile, First Vice-President and Minister of Defense 1st. Lt. Gen. Awad Ibn Auf has affirmed that the Armed Forces is the safe-ty valve of the Sudan and will not hesitate in safeguarding its security, unity and leadership.The First Vice-President and Min-ister of Defense was addressing a briefing meeting for senior com-manders of the Armed Forces held at the Ministry of Defense Mon-day.Ibn Auf said there are some circles

that attempt to utilize the current situations to cause a split in the Armed Forces and create sedition among the components of the secu-rity system in the country, affirming that this will never be allowed.He explained that the Armed Forces give consideration to the reasons of the protests and it is not against the aspirations and hopes of the citi-zens, but it will not allow slide of the country into chaos and will not tolerate any type of insecurity.In the meantime, Minister of Infor-mation and Government Spokes-man Hassan Ismail has disclosed directives made by the President of the Republic to the Armed Forces not to confront the protestors and the importance of guaranteeing their right of expression.He disclosed negotiations with some opposition forces; top of them the Chairman of National Ummah Party, Imam Al Sadik Al Mahdi, af-firming that the government is en-deavoring for serious dialogue with him.

Weekly News Report Sudan Vision Darfur Peace Office announced its welcoming to the joining of any armed group that desires to reach a peaceful settlement es-pecially after the recent disputes among SLM/AW and the rejec-tion of its leader to any peaceful approaches.In West Kordofan, the security committee managed to contain the limited incidents between the communities of two villages on land ownership.National Umma Party denies in press statement that its leader Imam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi has joined the protests and that all what happened is that he was on his way for a social affairs visit. However, National Umma Party stance is still grey towards the protests a matter that makes its options open.The Council of Ministers dis-cussed last week the general features of the annual criminal situation which reflected the great efforts exerted by the police forc-es in preserving the security and stability.The cabinet also affirmed that the US Supreme Court Decision in favour of Sudan will lead of opening new horizons between Khartoum and Washington.Omdurman National Theatre launched its 20th festival under the auspices of Vice President, Dr. Mohammed Yousuf Kibir and Khartoum State Governor, Lt. Gen. Hashim Osman Al-Hussein. The festival aims at refreshing the theater activities.Within its endeavours to make the summer school holidays pur-poseful, Khartoum State govern-ment is working out a plan to send health and services convoys to all the districts of the state be-sides arranging all the pitches for the youth to practice their sports comfortably.South Darfur government con-tinued its efforts to provide all the requirements of the return-

ees from the IDPs camps includ-ing schools, primary health cen-tres, youth clubs and solar power projects.Blue Nile government started its plan to rehabilitate the youth cen-tres and pitches in the state ac-cording to a planned programme.River Nile State Government launched the graduatesí protected houses to accommodate 150 grad-uates within the endeavours to re-duce unemployment in the state.The study resumed in Al-Razi University after two month of sus-pension due to the recent protests.The study of other universities will resume in Khartoum and oth-er states within the coming days due to the considerable decline in the protests.The arrangements for deploying joint forces on the borders with Ethiopia are completed according to the military agreement signed

recently to stop any violation on the borders.The flow of fuel to the petrol sta-tions is going on smoothly.The cabinet directed storing the local produced wheat of this year to be consumed locally.All the preparations were com-pleted to provide the local mar-ket with additional quantities of sugar to cover the demand of Ra-madan.Sudan Receive a shipment of SDG 2.800 billion of SDG200 banknotes coinciding with the priming of SDG500 banknotes along with the continuation of printing more SDG100 banknotes a matter which will bring an end to the local currency crisis.NISS started the implementation of emergency order No. 6 a matter which will contribute in returning of confidence on the banking sys-tem.

HOME2 Wednesday, April 10, 2019

STUDY3 Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Prof. Atta El-Hassan El-Battahani, University of Khartoum

IntroductionSince independence, Sudan has undergone a number of national peace agreements, some of which were observed and honored for short periods, others which were bypassed and dishonored. The net result of bro-ken agreements has driven the country into deep con-flict, leading to the secession of South Sudan in 2011, and creating a crisis which still threatens the country with further violence and dismemberment. Today, as never before, the country stands at a crossroads, and calls for change are coming from all quarters, even from inside the regime itself. Change seems to be the catchword for all actors, including the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), the armed groups of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), traditional opposition po-litical parties, youth groups and the international com-munity.While this is clearly the time for Sudan to em-bark on a genuine internal dialogue and reform process that leads to a broad-based, democratic government and meaningful reconciliation among Sudanese, there is no consensus on the direction change should take: how far, howinclusive, how substantive? Agreeing on and devel-oping a Shared Dialogue Framework for national dialogue is essential if key issues and modalities for negotiations, and a mechanism to oversee the overall process, are to be laid out to ensure a successful start of a process. Sudanís most successful past experiences of political dialogue of 1972 and 2005 were shaped by a combination of national conditions and drivers, and the opportune intervention from an international third party. Comparing the present conjuncture to those rela-tively successful experiences, one may cautiously state that conditions are different now. Regional and inter-national actors no longer have the same appetite with which they pursued past national dialogue processes, and nationally, parties to the conflict are too weak to force an ëendgameí, either through military means as in the experience of Sri Lanka, or through a peaceful settlement similar to the South Africa model.The main objectives of this research are to provide a comparison between successes and failures of past na-tional dialogue and peace processes in Sudan, and to identify options to overcome the current challenges to undertaking a genuine, inclusive and accountable na-tional dialogue as a means to address the root causes of Sudanís crisis.The concept of national dialogue has several different meanings depending on the way in which it is used. According to Rieker (forthcoming) dialogue is used as a synonym for formal negotiations between two or more parties to a conflict, as well as to describe either the more informal process of communication among opposing parties leading up to negotiations or to proc-esses that aim atavoiding an escalation of conflict, without any con-crete ambition to reach a negotiation phase. It is important to note that the motivations for engag-ing in a dialogue varies, and a lot hinges on whether dialogue aims to promote understanding, whether it aims to change actorsí identities and interests, or whether it merely seeks to avoid the escalation and the use of violence. In some cases, actors may engage in dialogue for instrumental or tactical reasons, with no commitment to a peaceful resolution of a conflict. In other cases, dialogue may be imposed upon the parties by the UN Security Council or other external actors, without sufficient internal commitment to reach an agreement. For example, UN Security Council resolu-tion 2046 currently calls for the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Peopleís Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) to negotiate under the auspices of the Af-rican UnionHigh-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) in Addis Ababa. However, no real progress has been made in nearly three years.Political dialogue in Sudan, 1956-2011Sudan has undergone a number of national dialogue exercises and peace agreements from independence in 1956 to 2010, all with the intention of putting an end to the countryís ongoing conflicts.Internally driven national dialogue processes, 1956-19891965 Round-table conference between northern and southern political forces following the overthrow of Abboud Military regime in 1964.1972 Addis Ababa Agreement between the Govern-ment of Sudan and Anya Nya Movement fighting for autonomy for Southern region1986 Koka Dam Declaration between Sudan Peopleís Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and northern political forces expect the Democratic Unionist Party and the National Islamic Front1988 Sudan Peace Initiative signed between Demo-cratic Unionist Party and SPLM/A.Externally driven peace processes, 1989-20111989 Bergen Forum on the Management of Crisis in Sudan, a workshop bringing together newly installed Islamic regime, SPLM/A, and some northern political representatives.1993 Abuja Peace talks in Nigeria between the Sudan Government and SPLM/A.1994 Intergovernmental Authority on Development

(IGAD)Peace Talks on the Sudan Conflict, IGAD-led mediation between Sudan Government and SPLM/A.1995 Asmara Declaration, a comprehensive policy document proposed by National Democratic Alliance for resolving the governance crisis1997 Khartoum Peace Agreement between Reik Ma-charís SPLM breakaway faction and the Sudan Gov-ernment.2002 Nuba Mountains Agreement signed between the Sudan Government and SPLM/A2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) be-tween the Government of Sudan and SPLM/A2006 Abuja Agreement between the Government of Sudan and Sudan Liberation Army ñ Minni Minnawi2006 Cairo Agreement between the Sudan Govern-ment and National Democratic Alliance2006 East Sudan Peace Agreement between Sudan Government and representatives of Eastern rebel groups2011 28th June Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Peopleís Liberation Move-ment-North2012 Doha Agreement between the Sudan Govern-ment and the Liberation and Justice Movement led by Tigani SesiFoundations for a successful national dialogue proc-essWhile never successful in addressing the root causes of the crisis, there are key elements from Sudanís previ-ous political dialogues which have helped make some processes more successful than others.Key to the more successful processes has been when negotiating parties had a strong support base and cred-ible claim of legitimacy in representing their constitu-ency, as well as the political will to implement what was agreed upon. The Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972 showed that when parties to the conflict stick to the letter and spirit of the agreement peace can then be delivered.Another significant element for success was when the macro-political environment was not polarized be-tween competing, diametrically opposed political and ideological camps, such as between the NCP and the SPLM during 2005-2011.Both the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972 and the CPA of 2005 involved major national contending forces, but international support and mediation were instru-mental in the relative success achieved.Elements undermining a national dialogue and peace

agreementsThroughout Sudanís history numerous elements have undermined dialogue efforts. These include:ï Too often negotiations were conducted in bad faith (Hardallo, 2010), and in fact negotiating parties were either maneuvering or buying time in the belief that victory was achievable through military means.ï A consistent failure of past negotiations in Sudan is that they most often involved only the belligerents: the government and armed rebels. The silent majority was never involved, including for example victims of con-flict such as refugees and the internally displaced.ï Processes were not viable because of insufficient po-litical, legal, and economic livelihood guarantees for ëlosersí, and/or no acceptable exit strategy for outgo-ing rulers were developed. No political-legal exit strat-egies were provided for by reconciliation and justice mechanisms following the cessation of violent con-flict.ï Agreements were undermined by fierce competition over resources in a political market place where re-sources are limited and, more importantly, the value of government positions negotiated during peace talks de-preciate quickly when the prices of agreements change, resulting in rebels returning to armed conflict (de Waal, 2013). Failure on the part of rebels negotiating

peace was in part rooted in their lackof institutional capacity to play a positive role once in government.ï All too often negotiation tactics and attitudes of the ruling elites were dictated by politicians prioritizing their own personal and short term interests: actions were determined by high discount rates and low trans-action costs. ï Historically, peace agreements have barely delivered any peace dividends, so when peace agreements were broken they did not attract any pub-lic outcry. Agreements fed into a political system that ensured its own survival and security, and which was costly to run given the huge budget needed to cover the privileges of office holders in the context of a weak economy. The stark and sad experience of SPLM/A in South Sudan, with the outbreak of conflict in De-cember 2013, is a vivid example of how things can go wrong if peace agreements are not translated into peace dividends for the victims of conflict.ï Peace agreements have adopted a piecemeal ap-proach ñ making concessions without addressing the root causes of conflict. Elites in government over the years have shunned any attempt to involve all stake-holders and convene a comprehensive national dia-logue process.Lessons learned from dialogue and peace processes in SudanKey lessons for the future can be learnt from the his-tory of political dialogue in Sudan.An inclusive processAn inclusive process will most likely make the process slower and more complex, but it will also make any agreement more durable. However, according to USIP ìcomplicating matters are divisions within unarmed groups, especially among the opposition political par-ties, just as there are divisions within the SRF. This is an area in which external assistance and facilitated discussions among the opposition may be able to help smooth the path to national dialogue.î (Lyman and Temin, 2013)Avoiding a narrow definition of peaceMany hoped the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agree-ment would not only end the long-running southern civil war, but also provide momentum and serve as a model for resolving other conflicts in the country. However, the widely acclaimed and celebrated CPA, supported by all, failed to achieve its ambitious goals. It neither ended conflict in Sudan and South Sudan, nor did it lead to democratic transformation.According to Young, ìby assuming a limited definition of peace, focusing solely on the north-south dimension of the conflict, refusing to involve other political par-ties and civil society, treating the media as a threat to the process, and leaving the fate of the process toSPLM/A leader Dr. John Garang and First Vice Presi-dent Ali Osman Taha, the CPA was successful in reach-ing an agreement based on an acceptance of the lowest common denominator of the parties. But this narrow approach largely precluded the realization of its own stated objectives, which included a sustainable peace, Sudanís democratictransformation, and making unity attractiveî (Young, 2007).Engaging the media to build peaceHigh levels of media censorship means that the pub-lic has had very little understanding of both the na-ture and impact of conflicts or the terms of different peace agreements, undermining the demand for peace and the public legitimacy and support of peace agree-ments. Furthermore, the media is politically divided and controlled, which has in the worst of cases led to hate speech and inflammatory rhetoric.Make peace dividends workComparative literature identifies the contest over re-sources and services, and the dominance of these by particular groups, as key in igniting conflicts, and the reversal of these as key for sustained peace, in particu-lar investing resources to generate development goods and services for the majority. Past peace processes have not positively affected resources and services, key factors of grievances driving conflict in Sudan.Plans to reform the military and security services must focus explicitly on providing physical security guaran-tees for the population rather than prioritize the protec-tion of oil fields and other state assets. Unless popula-tions have confidence in the peace process, and see ameaningful improvement in their security and access to services, they are less likely to support the process.

National Dialogue in Sudan: Past Experiences and Current Challenges (1)

Change seems to be the catch-word for all actors, including

the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), the armed groups of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), tradi-tional opposition political parties, youth groups and the interna-tional community.

An inclusive process will most likely make the process slower and more complex, but it will also make any agreement more durable

Sudan’s most success-ful past experiences of

political dialogue of 1972 and 2005 were shaped by a combination of national conditions and drivers, and the opportune inter-vention from an interna-tional third party.

4 Wednesday, April 10, 2019 Edited by: Alula Berhe Kidani

FOCUS IN AFRICA

By: Prriyal Singh

During its previous two terms on the UN Security Council, South Africa played a leading role in establishing better working re-lations between the UN and the African Union (AU). Improved cooperation between the UN Se-curity Council and the AU Peace and Security Council is often at-tributed to South Africaís consid-erable diplomatic work, and is regarded as one of the countryís greatest achievements on the UN Security Council.During its current 2019-20 term, this successful legacy project will no doubt be prioritized by the Department of International Re-lations and Cooperation. But the country faces significant hurdles as champion of the UN-AU part-nership on peace and security.Chief among these are the com-plex political dynamics between council members. South Africaís toughest task will be resolving the bitter aftermath of a failed draft resolution from December 2018, led by Ethiopia. The reso-lution tried to secure greater sus-tainability and predictability of funding for AU-led peace support operations sponsored through UN-assessed contributions.There is growing skepticism about the UNís commitment to supporting stability across AfricaResearch by the Institute for Se-curity Studies in New York last month found that the issue has markedly strained relations be-tween the councilís African mem-ber states, who rigorously lobbied for the resolution, and the United States, who chiefly opposed it. The implications are a growing skepticisms of the UN multilat-eral system and the global bodyís commitment to supporting stabil-ity in Africa.

The financing issue is likely to remain deadlocked for the fore-seeable future, but South Africa should nevertheless continue its efforts to entrench the UN-AU partnership. Policymakers and diplomats will need to tactfully navigate council dynamics and establish other priority areas.With its upcoming dual roles in 2020 as AU chair and UN Securi-ty Council member, South Africa is well positioned to be an effec-tive global actor. Ironically, the best way forward for the country may well be found by looking back.The issue of financing peacekeep-ing is likely to remain deadlocked for the foreseeable futureDuring its previous terms on the

council, South Africa champi-oned the adoption of the land-mark resolutions 1809 (2008) and 2033 (2012) on strengthen-ing cooperation between the UN and regional organisations. These efforts are reflected in the joint 2017 UN-AU Framework for Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security, which emphasized a more systematic and results-oriented series of engagements. There has been significant progress in carrying out the agree-ment, but much more needs to be done. Particular aspects must be strengthened, such as joint con-flict analyses and harmonizing the two organizationsí conflict prevention and peacebuilding doctrines and policies. By fo-

cusing on implementation of the 2017 framework agreement, es-pecially at a working (desk-to-desk) level, South Africa could help show tangible outcomes in a relatively short period. Paul Williams and Arthur Boutel-lis point out a range of other operational challenges facing the AU-UN partnership, such as creating inflexible structures that risk becoming redundant. South African diplomats would do well to bring these issues onto the UN Security Councilís agenda ñ pos-sibly during the countryís council presidency month in October this year.A deadlock on financing need not bar progress in other critical ar-eas of the AU-UN partnership

South Africa must also use its position as chair of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Conflict Pre-vention and Resolution in Africa to source briefings from AU of-ficials and relevant thematic experts. As chair, South Africa plays a vital role in consolidat-ing positions with CÙte díIvoire and Equatorial Guinea, while re-flecting broader African positions stemming from Addis Ababa. Consensus among African coun-cil members is useful in gain-ing support from other elected council members, especially on sticking points like the financing question.Directly supporting the expanded role of the UN Office to the AU, and the AUís Permanent Observ-

er Mission to the UN, is a further area in which South Africa could help strengthen the UN-AU part-nership. The ongoing process of ësilencing the guns by 2020í is another project that will require a more coherent and robust col-laboration between the UN and the AU ñ one that is responsive at both political and working lev-els. The question of financing peace support operations rightly re-quires prioritization, but a per-sistent deadlock on the issue need not bar progress in other areas of the UN-AU partnership. South Africa must be innovative and build on the political capital it gained during its previous terms on the UN Security Council.

Deadlock or not, SA must pursue better UN-AU partnershipCan South Africa make gains in the bitter aftermath of the Security Council’s decision on financing peacekeeping?

African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina leads delegation to IMF-World Bank Spring meetings

Set up to fail ? Challenging how we think about policySouth Africa has fallen into the trap of believing imported best practices can solve complex problems like violence

African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesi-na is expected in Washing-ton DC, on Monday, to take part in the IMF/ World Bank Spring meetings from 9-12 April.Dr. Adesina and a delegation of senior Bank officials, are expected to meet with US Congresswoman Karen Bass, who serves on the House Committee on Foreign Af-fairs where she is a Ranking Member of the Subcommit-tee on Africa, Global Health, Global Huma Rights and International Organisations. The meeting will be attended by other US government of-ficials and investors.During his four-day DC trip, Dr. Adesina will also hold bilateral meetings with heads of sister Multilateral De-velopment Banks (MDBs) including Takehiko Nakao, President of the Asian De-velopment Bank; Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of the European Bank for Recon-struction and Development (EBRD) and Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the In-ter-American Development Bank. Dr. Adesina took over as chairman of all MDBs in Da-vos earlier this year.Also scheduled during the trip are bilateral meetings with Dag-Inge Ulstein, Nor-wegian Minister for Interna-

tional Development; Hon. Maryam Monsef, Canadian Minister for International Development and Vice Min-ister Masa Asakawa, the Jap-anese Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs. On Wednesday, 10 April, the President and his delegation will attend the 3rd Consulta-tive Forum of the Southern African Development Com-munity ministers of finance. The African Development Bank Governor’s Con-sultative Committee (GCC) Meeting, to take place on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meetings on 11 April, is expected to be one of the key highlights of the DC trip. The meeting aims to move forward discussions on the 7th General Capital Increase (GCI-VII) of the Bank group. It follows the December 2018 Regional and Non-Regional Gover-nors Consultation meeting held in Rome. The Presidentís four-day agenda will end with a min-isterial meeting of Finance and Economic ministers from Africa. Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; a development econ-omist and former Nigerian Finance Minister and Lord Nicholas Stern, professor of economics and chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change, will be in attendance.

By: Chander Gould and Matodzi Amist

As followers and users of social media, itís hard not to be overwhelmed by the persistent and collective sense of failure in South Africa that is fuelled by, among other things, daily reports of violence.Researchers and activists often say South Africa has excellent policies and laws ñ the problem is not being able to implement them. This im-plies that thereís something wrong with those entrusted with implementing them and that if only there were capable, committed individuals in government, the country would carry out its policies and strategies. This would in turn bring down the high levels of poverty, inequality and inter-personal violence.This way of thinking is flawed. The capability of government is only part of the problem. Ad-dressing the complex problems facing society ñ such as high levels of interpersonal violence ñ requires complex, flexible responses. Attribut-ing a one-dimensional analysis (poor capability of government officials) and a one-dimensional response (train government officials) is insuffi-cient and misguided.Good policies not only ensure that citizensí rights are realised, but are aligned with organi-sational capabilities, resources and needs. After all, a law or a policy has no value if there are no means of making it work; if it doesnít cor-respond to real life. To overcome the capability trap, South Africa needs a state that enables and encourages inno-vationSo where has South Africa gone wrong? Lant Prichett, Michael Woolcock and Matt Andrew identify the factors and techniques that give rise to persistent state failure. They say one of the cardinal mistakes made in development is treat-ing complex problems (like violence) as if they were simple, and thinking that all we need to do is import ready-made (best-practice) solutions. This results in the idea that we can speed up de-velopment if we go out into the world and find

examples (or worse, ëmodelsí) that have worked in other places and replicate them. Since 1994, we have done this in South Africa in various ways ñ through study tours to other countries, or researchers recommending best-practice examples to inform its laws and poli-cies, for example. Solutions have been imported without appreciating or understanding the cul-tural, social, economic and political conditions that enabled the ësolutioní to work where it did. In the end we have accumulated a wealth of failed expectations by developing policies and strategies that seemed to work in other contexts, but didnít produce the same results when ap-plied in South Africa. Of course we can and do need to learn from what has worked and what has not in other countries. And it is important to draw on evidence from evaluations of interventions and programmes conducted on a small scale. For the foreseeable future, violence prevention will mostly be implemented by NGOs using do-nor fundingBut perhaps our biggest failure has been not to question why things have worked in one place or another, and to make sure that the conditions match those in South Africa. By not doing so, we have set ourselves up for failure. Complex systems have been created that camouflage our lack of capability, by creating the illusion that all the requirements of functionality have been met. This is critical to keep in mind as South Africa works towards a national strategy on gender-based violence. We must grapple honestly with what the country needs to, and can, do to pre-vent and reduce the extremely high levels of violence. Unchecked, this violence will under-mine the economy and our national well-being for generations to come. Gender activists and policymakers must not be naÔve in thinking that a national strategy on gender-based violence will be a panacea. It is not for the lack of strategies, plans and policies

that South Africa has struggled to address the problem. The Department of Planning, Moni-toring and Evaluationís review of governmentís response to violence against women and chil-dren found that laws and policies were compre-hensive but the human and financial resources to make them work was lacking. It also pointed to skewed spending. South Afri-ca spends more than R80 billion a year on polic-ing, but less than 10% of that on services to vio-lence survivors and programmes to disrupt the cycles of violence. The government and NGO workforce is also so overburdened and affected by trauma and violence themselves that they canít provide quality care. Weak and inconsist-ent leadership from government and parliament hasnít helped. For the national strategy to reduce violence against women, these issues must be tackled. We also have to recognise the complex nature of violence, and agree that there are no simple one-size-fits-all solutions, but many different contex-tually relevant options. We must accept the need for a cycle of probing-sensing-responding.Government must provide policy leadership and direction without undermining emergent prac-ticeTo overcome the capability trap, South Africa needs a state that enables and encourages inno-vation ñ which means we should expect to fail, but must be able to fail fast and learn from our mistakes. South Africa needs planning, budgeting, and monitoring and evaluation systems that allow for iterative and explorative processes. Policies must be informed by context, and match capa-bilities and needs of communities they serve. In short, we need to start from where we are at, not from where we wish we could be. What that means for preventing violence is that we must accept that most interventions will be implemented by NGOs, and will need to be do-nor-funded for the foreseeable future. And the state needs to provide policy leadership and di-rection without undermining emergent practice

By Ahmed Ibrahim BallalMany experts speak up about the ways and means to rescue the country from the ills it is in pres-ently, especially the ones that relate to strategic planning (SP). To begin with, professor Mohamed Hussein Abu Salih, chairperson of the Khar-toum stateís higher council for SP, says that the sole approach to up-root predicaments, is via SP. ëWe keep working for 60 years with-out SPí, he says, going further to talk about the huge economic and political capabilities that US have been enjoying, which are mainly realized through SP. He goes on to criticize the behavior of ministers allover the history of Sudan, ex-plaining that once they are appoint-ed as ministers, then this is the time that to ignore SP by having it just being thrown behind their backs. Dr. Abdul Raíouf Al Tikeina of the

institute of strategic studies, says that the richness in resources that Sudan enjoys makes it the target of the foreign agendas, seeing that the way out from this dilemma resides

in SP which is to result in national consensus and unification of vi-sions and therefore are to be up to the challenges. And Abdul Wahab Osman Kuku, from the Islamic uni-

versity, calls for the incorporation of education, especially the techni-cal one, into SP, if for the country is to prosper and in all domains, especially economically.

Report by: Mohamed AbdallaSudan economy is diversified with many re-sources, which categorized the country as a rich in term of potentials, the economic bodies and experts dedicate to improve the revenue and to generate hard currency, Sudan is qualified to provide good the local, regional and interna-tional markets with enough quantities. The estimated animal population of Sudan is 103 million herds, 30 millions of Cattles, 37 million of Sheep, 33 millions Goats, 3 million Camels and 4 millions Horses. Also there are large amounts of Fish and Husbandries.The animal resources contribute continuously to the national economy, nearly US$ 4 billion come to the public treasury every year, also it provides people with milk and meat 60% of them from the animal resources, 40% of Suda-nese population depend on pastorals, economist say that Sudan has more than 103 million herds, they disclosed that since 1970s the government

didnít cnduct animal population census.Beside the food security the national herds con-tributed to the Gross Domestic Product GDP, it represents 20% of Sudan GDP and 40% of the agricultural contribution, the volume of animal export totaled to US$ 700 million which proves the national herds is a key element in Sudanese economy.The Ministry of Finance and National Economy has put plans to create better investment condi-tions, but the contribution of national herds to Sudan economy is so limited despite the huge number of herds, as regard to the international trade, the monitors said, Sudan animal resources donít compete in the regional and international markets, because it depends on traditional sys-tems in promoting, marketing, production and exporting so 80% of animal production based on traditional methods and natural pastures.The Study Centre of Future has organized a workshop in collaboration with the ministry of

Animal Resources recently under the title ìThe Economy of Local Market and Exportation, the workshop recommended to promote and to in-crease the volume of exported and canned meat to generate more hard currencies.The result of the workshop is directed to neces-sity of conducting animal population census and to set a database to offer data, to investors through regulations and policies, leather manu-facturing alongside constructing slaughterhous-es. 50% of the worldís leather production comes from Sudan, more than 121 agencies and store-house investing in leathers besides 27 tanneries and 21 factories to export 25 millions of differ-ent types of leather pieces. Economists complain of the consequences of the unilateral economic sanctions imposed on Sudan in 1997, after two decades US lifted the sanction, but it still operating, the business houses and international companies canít trans-fer money to or from Sudan.

FAOThe Sudan had recognized the need to regulate and control the use of the forest resources since the onset of the 20th century. In 1902 the govern-ment established the Forests and Woodlands Service and issued regulatory acts in 1908 and 1917 supportive to the adopted policies of conservational nature. The first formal national forest policy was declared in 1932. That policy reined for more than half a century and was amended in 1986 to ac-commodate new concepts such as the need to involve local communities in forestry activities and enhance coordination in policies and operational programmes with related sectors. Since 1932 several changes both exter-nal and internal have occurred and have greatly impacted on the forestry sector and clearly necessitated a full revision of the forest policy. Con-sidering these changes the government became determined to actualize a revised policy that guides the sector to meet the challenges ahead; namely reduction of poverty, improvement of peopleís wellbeing, amelioration of physical environment, changes affecting the levels of supply and demand for forest products and obligations and commitments emanating from re-cently endorsed regional agreements and international conventions To this effect, the government of Sudan requested the assistance of FAO in 2002 to provide support to revise the countryís forest policy, the legal and in-stitutional framework. FAO responded with the approval of Project TCP/SUD/2903, which commenced in July 2003. The project covered policy revision, institutional reorganization and forestry legislation reform. Base-line and specific studies were conducted. A policy document was finally

formulated in a participatory manner through opening forestry issues, concerns and problems to wide discussions among stakeholders and the general public. The Policy Document contains the following:ïBackground information that explain the reasons for policy revision and the methodol-ogy of the policy formulation process. ïPrinciples for governance of the forestry sector ïThe vision the Sudan holds for its forests ïThe national goals that will be pursued in future covering the key areas of action and aimed at achieving the Sudan vision. ïSpecific policy objectives and poli-cy guidance that will be adopted during the current policy cycle aimed to contribute to the realization of the national goals. The specific objectives are directly derived from the issues raised by the different stakeholders. Sudan is classified as a moderately forested country with about 29% forest and woodlands cover (Aricover 2003), of which only 3% is gazetted forest reserves. Almost two thirds of the country is desert or semi-desert. While low rainfall woodland savannah forests cover most of the central Sudan, open broad-leaved trees are the most common forest types in southern Sudan and closed forests are found in small niches on mountain slopes in the South. Forests importance emanates from their vital role in envi-ronmental conservation and from their economic importance in satisfying the basic needs of the society for forest products. Forests contribute about 12% of the gross domestic product (GDP).Their products in form of fuel wood, charcoal, construction poles, timber, gums, food, fodder, and native medicines are in demand at varying levels in the country. The means and intensity through which these products are obtained had and continued

to have varying impacts on the role played by forests in environmental protection and in the livelihood of the different communities. The Sudan had recognized the need to regulate and control the use of this important resource since the onset of the 20th century. To this effect a Forests and Woodlands Service was established in 1902 even before the establishment of the Department of Agriculture. Forest acts were issued in 1908 and 1917 supportive to policies of conservational nature. The first national for-est policy was declared in 1932. That policy outlined guidelines for tree cutting inside and outside forest reserves and spelt out the restrictions and privileges of the local populations with regard to forests. The policy also clearly divided the responsibilities and functions between the central and provincial authorities over forests.

OPEA Historically, exploration for pe-troleum in Sudan started in 1950s before the countryís independence. It started when Italian company AGIP acquired a concession area along the Sudanese Red Sea coast in 1959. The extensive exploration efforts of AGIP resulted in no sig-nificant commercial discovery of oil.Due to some of the world oil crisis of the early 1970ís, oil prices rose sharply from $3 per barrel to $12 per barrel, the Sudanese Red Sea coast became the target of many oil companies such as Union Texas, Texas Eastern and Chevron. Chev-ron won a concession to explore for oil in east of Sudan in several wells. Chevron tested the formation by number of exploratory wells.Some of them were associated with dry and condensate gas discover-ies; on other one was not finished due to technical problems of abnor-mal pressure and temperature.In 1974, the Government of the Su-dan Republic and Chevron signed exploration Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA) offering Chev-ron the right to explore an area in the interior of Sudan. This area is as big as 60% of the total area of the sedimentary cover of Sudan.

Through the rest of 1974 and during the end of 1975, aerial photography and land sat have been interpreted. The end of 1975 completed air-borne magnetometer and helicop-ter supported gravity surveys. This work directed the seismic crew to enter the area.At the end of the year 1976, the well Baraka-1 was drilled in the NW of the Muglad basin complex. Although this well was a dry well (plugged & abandoned) but it was very useful in directing the efforts for the future exploration drilling.

During the first exploration efforts (1975-1980), which concentrated on the Muglad basin, several oil discoveries were made such as: Unity-1, Unity-2 and Abu-Gabra-1 wells.Following several constructional reigns, Chevron was able to gain another 73200 km2 in the Blue Nile and Baggara basin in 1979. In 1981, nine wildcats were spud-ded. These include an additional oil discovery in Sharaf-1 in the NW Muglad basin and several appraisal wells in the Unity area.

In the same year the exploration activity was extended to include Talih-1 oil discovery near the Uni-ty field, Adar-1 and Adar-2 in the Melut basin. The exploration work have greatly speeded during 1982, eighteen wells were drilled, in the Muglad and the Blue Nile basins.Within the year 1983; a total of 24 wells were drilled that included the first and the second oil discover-ies in Heglig-1 and Toma-South-1 wells at Heglig field in the Muglad Basin, The activities of Chevron declined sharply.

Prosperity in All Domains, Especially economically, Is Though Strategic Planning

The Contribution of the National Herds

Sudan National Forestry Policy Statement

Sudan Oil

Sudan Trade Balance Deficit

Creating Job Opportunities for Youth in Sudan through Labour-IntensiveWork Opportunities

Email: moabd31@yahoo.comMohamed Abdalla

EconomicVision

5 Wednesday, April 10, 2019ECONOMY

The balance between imports and exports gives an indication to the economic future of the countries, Sudan 2019 budget has drawn attention to the rate exchange and prices instability. Sudan is rich of resources, the volume of exported products to-taled to US$ 3 billion while the imported products reached to US$ 8 billion, so US$ 5 billion is the deficit, the gap is so big, but it can be bridged, because Sudan economic potentials is diversified, a lot of things to be exported to make balance, It is to be noted that Sudan’s most important export is gold which represents 70% of total exports, the second most significant revenue is livestock which oc-cupies 25% also the export list includes: oil Arabic gum and cotton.While the major imported goods are manufactured goods, transport equipment, medicines and chemicals, these products cost billions of US dollars, this the image of the trade balance, how to change the trend of trade exchange to expand the volume of exports and to minimize the list of the imported goods is the only challenge, austerity meas-

ures were adopted and incen-tives were given to the inter-national companies to invest in transformative industries. But the trade policy is shocked by unclear regulations.Many factors and barriers set by Sudan anti lobbies and groups to assume the unilateral eco-nomic sanctions imposed by US in 1997 to press the govern-ment, the sanctions was lifted by Trump in 2017, but it still hin-ders the trade exchange process. The only way out towards good trade balance is by removing Sudan from the list of countries banned by US financial bodies, trade exchanges depends totally on money transactions and cur-rency exchange through banks, I think the government required to improve Sudan international financial relations, a serious talks with the Office of Foreign Assets Control OFAC which associated to the US treasury, all countries that subjected to US economic sanctions signed an agreement or took a license from OFAC to import and ex-port goods and services, also the government must be fair and transparent.

UNDP Achieved Projects to Con-tribute to Poverty ReductionYouth employment and national job creation opportunities are the governmentís growing focus and among the top national priorities embedded in the Sudan National Five-Year Development Plan (2012-12016). In support of this national development agenda, the Government of Sudan, the India, Brazil and South Africa Facility for Poverty for Hunger Alleviation (IBSA Fund), and UNDP Sudan launched in February 2014 the first tripartite South-South Cooperation project that will pilot the creation of a labour-intensive model for youth employment. The project aims to generate rapid demand for youth labour using lo-cal resource and labour-intensive approaches to contribute to mod-ern infrastructure and utilities, mainly in road works and waste management, and provide link-age to the youth for longer term employment opportunities. Be-ing piloted in Khartoum State, the project is focused on training lo-cal labour resources and establish-ing a Labour-Based Coordination Unit that will coordinate labour demand works and create syner-gies between government institu-tions, labour contractors, business groups, and youth organizations to enhance the impact of collective interventions. The project will run for two years in partnership with

the Ministry of Labour and Ad-ministrative Reform.Achievements to DateUnder the projectís initiative, the establishment of the Labour-Based Coordination Unit (LBCU) within the Ministry of Labour and Admin-istrative Reform has provided an institutional structure that would coordinate the projectís labour de-mand work and build working re-lations with relevant government institutions and stakeholders. Cre-ated under the Ministryís General Department of Policies, Planning and Research, the Unit has been assigned with four core technical staff at initiation phase. The Min-istry has allocated offices space for UNDP project staff and LBCU at the Ministry building.The Khartoum State Ministry of Social Development has been ap-pointed overall focal point for the pilot project while the State Min-istry of Planning and Waste Man-agement Corporation have been identified for road maintenance and waste management work, re-spectively.At the Stakeholders Orientation Workshop held on 15 December 2014, local partners from various government institutions, the busi-ness sector, and youth associations have expressed strong interest and support to the project, and a collec-tive understanding of labour-based approach as an effective strategy to address unemployment.

Mozameledai@gmail.com

Mozamel Aldai Alabass

The New York Time

Sarah Jeong

EditorialPresidential directives not to target protestors

OPINION6

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Wednesday, April 10, 2019

A peep at our status que

The President of the Republic have issued directives that the security forces should not target the peace-

ful protestors. This comes after one day of the National Defense and Security Coun-cil, chaired by the President which also stressed in its meeting which was held at the Guest House on 7 April on the impor-tance of unifying the national ranks and re-alization of peace and resorting to wisdom to prevent sedition in the country.The council affirmed that the protestors represent asector of the society whose vision and de-mands shouldbe heard. It pointed out to keenness of the government on maintaining dialogue with all sectors for realizing nationalaccord. This official prudent recognition from such an important institution of the protestors demands represent a good start-ing point for dialogue with the protesting youth. In this context the element of time is crucial and the steps to such a dialogue should be accelerated as much as possible to end the present situation of tension between the youth and the official institutions.Same time the Police Force have issued similar instructions to all its forces to abide by these presidential directives,.In this context we stress on that these insti-tutions have to abide by the highest degree of restraint regardless of any proactive be-haviour taking into consideration that most of the protestors are very young with little experience in the required conduct in such gatherings. Also, such a manner will facilitate any dia-logue with them while harsh treatment will complicate such a process. Our advice to the security organs if we are allowed to give one treat them like your young untamed brothers or sons. This method will make your job easier; serve your country and the youth future.

In an opinion article published last weekend, Facebookís chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, said he agreed with the growing consensus that Facebook ó and other social media companies ó should be subject to more regulation. The article, published in four countries and three languages, was fated to be misunderstood from the start.His first suggestion was to create an independent body so users could ap-peal Facebookís moderation decisions. Over the past few years, Facebook has caught fire from all sides for its con-tent moderation. Some say hate speech should be censored more aggressively. At the same time, the company has been accused of censoring conserva-tive viewpoints. And for years, it has been roundly criticized for its puritani-cal ban on female nipples.But if Facebook had its way, the ulti-mate authority would no longer lie with Facebook ó or Twitter or YouTube or other competitors. That job would fall to unspecified ìregulators.îìRegulation could set baselines for whatís prohibited and require com-panies to build systems for keeping harmful content to a bare minimum,î Mr. Zuckerberg wrote. For a company exhausted by a year of scandal, a regu-latory scapegoat is just what the doctor ordered. If you donít like what we do, why donít you try it for a change?

American legal experts were incredu-lous. Daphne Keller of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society accused Facebook of proposing an unconstitu-tional system, knowing it was impossi-ble. In an initial statement, Ben Wizner of the American Civil Liberties Un-ion said it was a violation of the First Amendment. The Electronic Frontier Foundation claimed it would violate the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.Facebookís head of public policy, Kevin Martin, explained that while Mr. Zuckerbergís reference to ìregulationî might mean actual government inter-vention in France, Germany and Ire-land, it meant only private sector self-regulation in the United States.This kind of faux regulation is nothing new. Among the examples cited were Finra, a nongovernmental financial in-dustry ìregulatorî; the Motion Picture Association of America, which rates films; and the Entertainment Software Rating Board, which rates video games. (After this clarification, the A.C.L.U.ís Mr. Wizner agreed that independent bodies like the M.P.A.A. are not un-constitutional).But none of these examples deal with directly regulating speech. Social me-dia content moderation is a different beast entirely. Slapping a label on a video game isnít the same as banning distribution of the video game.Facebook avoided bringing up the Hays Code, the closest corollary to

what they propose. The M.P.A.A.ís cur-rent rating system is a pale shadow of Hollywoodís old Hays Code, the now-laughable list of rules that for years had onscreen husbands and wives sleeping in separate beds.The Code was developed voluntar-ily by the studios in hopes of avoiding government censorship. It zealously policed depictions of romance, crime, law enforcement and the clergy. When the Supreme Court held that motion pictures were protected by the First Amendment in 1952, enforcement of the code diminished. Facebookís proposal is a bow to public opinion. Last year, a coalition of advo-cacy groups published the Santa Clara Principles ó new baseline rules for how content moderation should work. The principles focus most heavily on the right to appeal decisions ó†particularly in conjunction with ìnew independent self-regulatory mechanismsî created in collaboration with industry.All this sounds like what The Vergeís Casey Newton calls ìa Facebook Su-preme Court. î Itís almost as though the Santa Clara Principles were developed by a room full of lawyers. Hammer, meet nail.Due process would be much welcomed in a world where people believe simul-taneously that Facebook takes down too little content or too much. But due process is costly, even after removing high-billing lawyers from the equation. Consider that the Supreme Court, with a budget of nearly $90 million, receives

8,000 petitions a year ó most of which are rejected. Meanwhile, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by an ex-Facebook moderator, ìmoderators are asked to review more than 10 million potentially rule-breaking posts per week.îNo wonder content moderation on the big platforms doesnít so much resem-ble an unpleasant visit to the Depart-ment of Motor Vehicles as it does a re-enactment of the horror film ìThe Purge.î Due process is a luxury good.Weíre not likely to see a Facebook Su-preme Court ó not an American one, in any event. The Hays Code died after the First Amendment was extended to movies; a Hays Code for the internet will probably be dead on arrival. In a confused, fractured world, Face-book would be glad to stick to a single global standard. This is perhaps why Mr. Zuckerberg offers full-throated praise of the European Unionís privacy standard, the General Data Protection Regulation, in his op-ed. The fracture of the internet into different spheres of influence would be bad for his busi-ness, and to that end, the company would much rather impose European sensibilities on the American internet than deal with multiple standards. So, while the American government has its hands tied behind its back by the Constitution, the French, the Germans and the Irish will set their own bar for online speech. In the future, American speech ó†at least online ó†may be gov-erned by Europe.

Funding an ecological transition in Eu-rope via ‘green moneyí bonds would be economically justifiable.To what extent can the money created by the central bank be used to finance investments in the environment? This is a question often asked today. The green activists respond with enthu-siasm that the central bankóand, in particular, the European Central Bank (ECB)óshould stimulate the financing of environmental investments through the printing of money.The ECB has created Ä2,600 billion of new money since 2015 in the context of its quantitative easing (QE) pro-gramme. All that money has gone to financial institutions which have done very little with it. Why canít the ECB inject the money into environmental investments instead of pouring itinto the financial sector?Most traditional economists react with horror. The ECB should not interfere with the environment, they say. The government should do that. If the ECB jumps on the environmental bandwag-on, it will be obliged to print too much money. This will fuel inflation in the long run, with terrible consequences. Ultimately, the environment will not be served.Creating moneyWho is right? It is good to recall the basics of money creation by the ECB

(or any modern central bank). Money is created when that institution buys financial assets in the market. The sup-pliers of these assets are financial in-stitutions. These then obtain a deposit in euro at the ECB, in exchange for re-linquishing these financial assets. That is the moment when money is created. This money (deposits) can then be used as their reserve base by the financial in-stitutions to extend loans to companies and households.There is no limit to the amount of fi-nancial assets the ECB can buy. In principle, it could purchase all existing financial assets (all bonds and shares, for example), but that would increase the money supply in such a way that inflation would increase dramatically. In other words, the value of the money issued by the ECB would fall sharply. To avoid this, the bank has set a lim-it: it promises not to let inflation rise above 2 per cent. That imposes a con-straint on the amount of money which the ECB can create. So far, it has been successful in remaining within the 2 per cent inflation target.There is also no restriction on what types of assets the ECB can buy. Since 2015, when it started its QE programme, it has mainly bought government bonds, but also corporate bonds from financial institutions. The ECB could, however, also purchase bonds issued to finance environmental investments. The only restriction on these purchases (again) is that they do not endanger meeting the inflation target.

ECB optionsWhat are the options for the bank? The Ä2,600 billion of government and cor-porate bonds it has bought since 2015 have not fuelled inflation, which has remained below 2 per cent in the euro-zone. The ECB has now stopped mak-ing new purchases. It has announced, though, that when these government and corporate bonds come to matu-rity new bonds will be bought in the market, so as to keep the money stock (money base) unchanged. This creates a window of opportunity for the ECB. It could replace the old bonds with new ‘environmental bondsí, issued to finance environmental projects.In doing so, the ECB would not cre-ate new money. It would only reorient money flows towards environmental projects. As the total amount of money would remain the same there would be no risk of additional inflation.A possible objection is that if the ECB buys these ‘environmental bondsí it will be involved in the decision-mak-ing process about which environmen-tal investments should have a priority. How much public and how much pri-vate investment must be made? Should it be in renewable energy or nuclear energy? Should the priority rather be public transport? These are all ques-tions which have to be settled by po-litical authorities, not by the central bank.One way out would be for the Euro-pean authorities to give a mandate to the European Investment Bank (EIB)

to finance, say, Ä1,000 billion of envi-ronmental investments. These political authorities could add guidelines for the EIB about environmental priorities. The EIB would issue bonds to obtain the resources necessary to fund these investments.This is the moment when the ECB could step in, buying the EIB bonds at a pace dictated by the expiry of the old bonds on its balance sheet. This way the ECB would create ‘green moneyí without fuelling inflation. And as the ECB bought EIB bonds, it would create the possibility for the EIB to increase its borrowing in the capital markets without endangering its AAA status.Perfectly possibleThe bottom line is that it is perfectly possible for the ECB to use the in-strument of money creation to favour environmental investments without endangering price stability. Of course, one could also argue that the ECB could use its monetary instrument to favour other worthwhile projects, such as poverty reduction. If a majority of the population were to desire this it should be done. But it would create the risk that the ECB was loaded with too many social responsibilities which it could not handle properly.Given the existential threat of the deg-radation of the environment, includ-ing climate change, the priority should be to use the ECBís money-creation capacity towards the support of envi-ronmental projects. This can be done without creating inflation.

As long as striptease is considered the utmost level of modernity, civilization or culture, we should say farewell to our Islamic principles and shari’a. For there is a crusade against Islam through many ways, one of which is through media represented in T.V series and an obscene pornographic movies or Youtube channels. Moreover, the most dangerous one is the bad image which sent through deformation of Islam as a religion of terrorism and hatred. So, why always Islam?The main reason is the expansion of Islam in non-Muslim countries is growing rapidly according to statis-tics in 2013, in contrast to other reli-

gions, to give cite Christianity repre-sents 31.5 % of the world population, while Islam is approximately 23.2% of the overall population (7095217980) meaning that the number of Muslims are 164609057136. Furthermore, the number of non-Muslims whom they convert to Islam is in great figures. On top of that, The Islamic religion reached these remote areas in Europe, china, India and America through mer-chants and tourists whom they left their fingerprints in people’s minds, for the loyalty, tolerance, sincerity, forgive-ness and solidarity which were the ma-jor role in attracting hundreds of people to have a bash in such a good religion. Therefore, in order to stop such danger is creating Fear in the west under the context of terrorism. If we cast our minds back to The elev-enth of September 2001 in united states

of America (the international trade Cen-tre) followed by London attack and the shooting of Charlie Hebdo newspaper in France on 7th of January 2015, we might find that there are some hidden agendas behind these attacks which oc-curred respectively years ago in order to deform the image of Islam in west-ern communities, for Islamic religion was growing fast among western reli-gions, whether Christianity, Judaism or Buddhism. As result, the only way to get rid of such religion is through por-traying its picture to the globe, but all to no avail.The counter Islamic religion has waged misinformation long time ago through deliberate planned strategies to hurdle Islam development in their countries. However, their media played and still performing well in this side. Even we as Muslims totally believe that Al-Qae-

da, Boko haram or ISIS (Islamic states) they are real Muslims that represent Islam. But, on the contrary, Islam is a religion of peace, tranquility and quiet-ness; this clearly appears in the proph-et’s (peace and please be upon him) saying:” the Muslim is the one from whose hand and tongue, the people are safe, and the believer is the one peo-ple trust with their lives and wealth”. (Source: Sunan al-Nasai 4995.In conclusion, the image which exists now should be changed through pub-lishing pamphlets in many languages including Spanish, Dutch, German, English and French, and all languages if that possible, explaining the meaning and the aim of Islam, and stay vigilant towards any threat that try to insult Is-lam by hook or by crook. For The max-im says:” he that ill to himself will be good to nobody.

Facebook Wants a Faux Regulator for Internet Speech. It Won’t Happen

Green money without inflation

Columnist forthe Guardian

Polly Toynbee

7 Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Capitalism emerged in the interstices of feudalism and Paul Mason finds a prefiguring of postcapitalism in the lifeworld of the contemporary Euro-pean city.

A time traveller from their grandparent-sí youth might ask: when is lunchtime over? But itís never over because for many networked people it never really begins. In the developed world, large parts of urban reality look like Wood-stock in permanent sessionóbut what is really happening is the devalorisation of capital.Sure, somewhere on the edge of a big city, there is always a financial district where regimented people, uniformly dressed, pursue work-like activity frantically and, in their few hours of re-lease, hit the gym treadmills so that the adrenaline never stops.But just 20 years after the rollout of broadband and 3G telecoms, informa-tion resonates everywhere in social life: work and leisure have become blurred; the link between work and wages has been loosened; the connection between the production of goods and services and the accumulation of capital is less obvious.Ask a mainstream economist what is going on and they might reply ëcon-sumptioní or ëleisure timeí. The post-capitalism thesis rests on the idea that there is something more than that. Dig-ital networks, which Schumpeterian

economists assumed would usher in a new and dynamic era of capitalism, have instead begun to break down tra-ditional patterns in four identifiable ways.First, there is the zero-marginal-cost effect, whereby the production cost of information goods falls, under condi-tions of free markets and competition, towards zeroóand where, as a result, production costs in both manufacturing and services also fall.Second is the potential for the decisive automation of physical workó47 per cent of jobs or 43 per cent of tasks, de-pending on the research.Third is the network effectówhat tech corporations experience as ëincreas-ing returns to scaleí. On a vast scale networks create positive externalities, where the ownership rights over the utility produced are not preordained by a factory-like division between em-ployer and worker.Finally, there is the potential democra-tisation of information itself. A glitch discovered in a piece of software to-night can be remedied on every instance of that software by tomorrow morning; a mistake in Wikipedia can be spotted and corrected instantaneously by the wisdom of crowds.A new kind of systemThe postcapitalist project is founded on the belief that, inherent in these tech-nological effects lies a challenge to the existing social relations of a mar-ket economy, and in the long term, the possibility of a new kind of system that can function without the market, and beyond scarcity.But during the past 20 years, as a sur-vival mechanism, the market has react-ed by creating semi-permanent distor-tions whichóaccording to neoclassical economicsóshould be temporary.In response to the price-collapsing ef-fect of information goods, the most powerful monopolies ever seen have

been constructed. Seven out of the top ten global corporations by market capi-talisation are tech monopolies; they avoid tax, stifle competition through the practise of buying rivals and build ëwalled gardensí of interoperable tech-nologies to maximise their own rev-enues at the expense of suppliers, cus-tomers and (through tax avoidance) the state.Because information machines can re-place humans faster than they create new, skilled jobs, millions of low-paid jobs have been created which do not need to exist. Instead of concentrat-ing work into short bursts, to maxim-ise productivity, the blurring of work and leisure time has been encouraged and consumption activities (booking a holiday, arranging a date, messaging friends) has been tolerated within work time, because this maximises consump-tion and personal-data production.In response to the network effects, a new modelóthe platform monopo-lyóhas sprung up, attracting billions in offshore capital that cannot be produc-tively invested elsewhere. The entire business model of such corporations is to charge economic rents andóas with the othersóstrangle the competition, which in the case of ride-hailing apps is the traditional taxi business and the city government.In response to the democratising effects of infotech, vast and growing informa-tion asymmetries have been created.Neither competition nor regulation has so far put a stop to this fourfold process of consolidation and sclerosis. Features like monopoly, under-employment, rent-seeking and information asym-metry, assumed by classical economics to be temporary, have begun to look like permanent requirements for the 21st-century private sector. Instead of a fourth industrial revolution, a para-sitic, dysfunctional infocapitalism has been created whose monopoly profits

and anti-competitive behaviour are so intrinsic to the system that they cannot be challenged.Embryonic formsIn a medieval city, the embryonic forms of bourgeois society were effectively invisible. If we picture 14th-century Paris at the time of Etienne Marcelís revolt, the power lay in the great hÙ-tels of the provincial feudal lords, in the monastery, in the myriad churches and in the university. Together they formed a machine for administering and validating the wealth produced on rural estates. Cross-border banking was effectively a secret service, reliant on religious orders for storage depots and complex forward contracts to get around the ban on usury. Even the actu-al bourgeoisie refused to back Marcelís attempt to impose the rule of law on the king, so alien did the concept seem.But from the vantage point of knowing what became of feudalism we can see the guilds, the proto-banks, the cross-border trade networks and scientific thinking within the medieval university as a kind of ëcapitalism in embryoí.If I return to the scene in Barcelona, the microcosmic changes in everyday life now have a different meaning. The free time is a product of under-employment. To keep people servicing capital through interest payments, apps and e-commerce, they must have a job, a credit card and a cellphoneóno mat-ter how poor they are. The under-em-ployed, poor, information-rich young person is the avatar of both the malaise and the possibility of a solution.It looks as unspectacular and fragile as early capitalism did amid the splendour of late feudalism. The task of turning it into something bigger requires, first, a revolution in government intervention, whereby the state consciously shapes the creation of an open-source, col-laborative and non-market sector of the economy. Secondly, these alternative

forms of business model must evolve so as to scaleóso that their best prac-tices can be turned into drag-and-drop solutions for start-ups. Thirdly, there must be access to finance, though in a different form than that encountered in the tech start-up world. Finally, a revo-lution in human attitudes is required.There is a great passage in Max We-berís The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism where he describes the take-off point of industrial capital. A young man from one of the ëputting outí families in the textile trade instilled rigour into his cottage-based workers, sought economies of scale and cut out all middlemen. As a result, the idyllic life of rural spinners and weavers col-lapsed. Weber concludes: ëIt was not generally in such cases a stream of new money invested in the industry which brought about this revolution Ö but the new spirit, the spirit of modern capital-ism, had set to work.íIf you look closely enough at the at-titudes of young people brought up in an entirely digital world, you see a new spirit at work.The bourgeois would call it feckless-ness; the big consumer brands call it ëpro-sumptioní. Sit in a squat, a col-laborative workspace or a state funded arts lab in one of these cities and you can see it is instead, quite consciously, a determination to live ëdespiteí the implicit assumptions of mainstream economics.Until the 2010s, though the co-oper-ative and ësolidarityí economies had proliferated as a counter-culture in rich countries, few had thought to advocate that the state should foster this new form of economic life. As with early industrial capitalism, however, this is exactly what is neededóa project to regulate capitalism in a way that sup-ports, rather than strangles, emergent collaborative, non-profit, non-finan-cialised business models.

The new spirit of postcapitalism

OPINION

by Paul Mason

Director - Center for Middle East PolicyIsraelis head to the polls on Tuesday to elect the 120 members of the 21st Knesset. The results will provide just the first major stop in a tumul-tuous political year ahead. Polling averagesósee belowósuggest a tight race, but one in which incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a consistent advantage over his main challenger, former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces Benny Gantz. The polls also sug-gest a great deal of uncertainty: Not only is the pro-Netanyahu advantage modest, but several small parties on both right and left have seen their vote totals hover around the electoral threshold for entrance into the Knes-set. If they fail to clear 3.25 percent (nearly 4 seats), their votes would be discarded, potentially upending the equilibrium between the left- and right-wing blocs. For Netanyahu, this election presents not only a battle for his political life, but possibly a battle for his personal freedom. The Israeli attorney general has decided to indict Netanyahu in three cases, including one charge of bribery, pending a hearing with the prime minister and his lawyers in July. Bibiís lawyers face the chal-lenge of undoing what months and years of investigations have present-ed to the attorney general (a Netan-yahu appointee). Barring their un-likely success, Netanyahu will need

a coalition willing to keep him in power through one of two unpopu-lar avenues. First, he could maintain the support of such a coalition while on trial for serious crimes (he would only have to resign by law if convict-ed). Or, better yet for Netanyahu, he could form a coalition willing to pass legislation granting the prime minis-ter immunity from prosecution. With all these uncertain factors at play, it is possible that we see another round of elections before too longómaybe even within the year.Netanyahuís challenger, Benny Gantz, is running for elected office for the first time. It will be his only chance to fully make use of his status as a recent chief of staff for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), a coveted role that conveys popularity and gravitas, before he is no longer considered untarnished by politics. In the next round, whenever it comes, he will still have his old military rank, but he will never again enjoy the status of a pure outsider.

How elections in Israel workIn February, each party or alliance of parties presented a rank-ordered list of Knesset candidates to the central election commission. For example, the Likud, Netanyahuís party, listed him in the first place, followed by the rest of its candidates. While the Likud chooses its list largely by pri-mary, in some parties the leadership nominates the whole list.On April 9, Israelís adult citizens will have the opportunity to cast a paper ballot indicating one of the compet-ing lists. All Israelis vote in a single, nation-wide district. After the votes are tallied, the 120 Knesset seats are allocated to the lists in proportion to the vote total each receives, so long as they pass the minimum 3.25 per-cent threshold. A party that received a quarter of the votes, therefore, would receive 30 seats. This kind of propor-tional representation system tends

to produce many parties, and Israel usually has about a dozen Knesset factions representing different niches of Israeli society. Once the results are finalized, Is-raelís president, Reuven Rivlin, who has a largely ceremonial role and is not up for election this year, will invite representatives of each list to his residence. There he will ask them to recommend one of the 120 mem-bers of Knesset (MKs) to form the next government. If a majorityó61 or moreórecommend one member, the president will task that person with the job of forming a majority coali-tion and presenting a new cabinet to the Knesset for a vote of confidence. (No party in Israel has ever received a majority on its own, and so coali-tions are necessary.) Coalition nego-tiations will include the division of portfoliosódefense, finance, foreign affairs, education, and othersóand an agreement on the government policy guidelines.If no candidate receives the recom-mendation of 61 MKs, the presidentís task becomes harder. He must assess who has the best chance of forming a coalition and task him or her with the job. If that person fails, he may turn to another MK. In extremis, new elections could be called.Israeli law prohibits the publication of polls in the last three days before an election. Above is an average of the last polls from the major news outlets. Parties that do not pass the minimum 3.25 percent vote thresh-old are listed at 0 seats, and the votes they did receive are reflected in the other partiesí totals. Most of these others see their seat totals rounded up, while the two largest receive an additional seat (Israelís system of al-locating excess votes slightly favors larger parties). The above approxima-tions are highly sensitive to the exact distribution of votes each party re-ceives, as those with five or six seats in this average are still in risk of fall-

ing below the 4-seat threshold. Con-versely, some parties at zero in this chart are not far from qualifying, in particular Raam-Balad, whose base in the Arab population in Israel is not well polled, and Yisrael Beitenu, led by former Minister of Defense Avig-dor Lieberman.Three scenarios

Right-right Netanyahu coalitionIf election results are similar to these polling averages, the opposition Blue and White party, led by Benny Gantz, would be the largest faction in the next Knesset. Netanyahu, however, would almost surely form the next government and return to the prime ministerís residence. A view of the party blocs shows why:

The pro-Netanyahu blocóright wing, center-right, and ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) blocó tallies 66 seats in this average, representing a clear major-ity for Netanyahu, who could then negotiate with his existing coalition partners (with the addition of a new entrant, Zehut) and form a right-wing coalition.This may not, despite appearanc-es, represent complete continuity. Netanyahuís first priority would be to try and pass legislation granting him immunity. The price he would have to pay may be very steepóeach of the potential coalition partners could po-tentially topple him, allowing them to demand a ransom for his freedom. The loot would be senior cabinet portfolios and policy. Netanyahu may even do what was unthinkable until recently: Move toward the an-nexation of parts of the West Bank.

Netanyahu-led national unity gov-ernmentIn normal times, Netanyahu would probably have preferred a different coalition: a ìnational unityî govern-ment that would include both the Likud and at least part of the Blue

and White opposition list, together with ultra-Orthodox parties and some of the right wing. This would allow Netanyahu to govern from the center and allow him to avoid some of the more extreme policies of the far-right. A right-center coalition, as can be seen above, could easily command a majority, even if parts of Blue and White refuse to join. And such a coalition could also appeal to the leaders in Blue and WhiteóGantz and former finance minister (under Netanyahu), Yair Lapidówho may want to approach the next election, and perhaps the post-Netanyahu era, as a senior cabinet ministers rather than election losers.Indeed, if Netanyahu sees that his right-wing coalition partners are not willing to grant him legal immunity, he may then bolt to the center and exploreóor appear to exploreójoin-ing with the opposition, at least so as to lower the ransom price of the far-right.The excuse is ready-made: the Trump peace plan, perennially about-to-be-released. If the plan is released be-fore the coalition in Israel is formed, as Tal Shalev of Walla! reported it will be, Bibi and Gantz could both set aside their vows never to accept the otherís leadership. Instead, facing a major diplomatic challenge/oppor-tunity, they could profess to answer the call for national responsibility. It would seem cynical to votersóvery, very few of whom expect anything to come of the peace planóbut it could provide the political cover they would need to form a unity govern-ment.Such a coalition would be far more moderate than a right-right coalition. It would not shift away dramatically from existing policy on most issues, but it could moderate a lot of the pol-icies of the past three years. It would also likely be short-lived, lasting only until Netanyahu is indicted and his new partners bolt.

Israeli elections primer: Final polls and what they mean

BY: Natan Sachs

SCIENCE8 Wednesday, April 10, 2019

BBCWhen Melissa Moore trav-elled from the US to Costa Rica for knee replacement surgery she decided to keep it a secret.«I didn’t tell my friends and family because I didn’t want them to say <are you crazy?’,» says the 53-year-old.«Of course I also had my own misgivings about trav-elling to Central America and having major surgery.»Melissa, from the town of Brandon in Mississippi, is one of a growing number of people around the world who are going abroad for cheaper or quicker medical treatment.While many Americans do so because they don’t have health insurance - official figures show that more than 28 million do not - others like Melissa go overseas because their basic cover means that they have to pay a sizeable chunk of any treatment bill.She says that her knee op-eration in Clinica Biblica, Costa Rica’s largest pri-vate hospital, cost $12,200 (£9,200), compared with

around $44,000 in the US.Patients Beyond Borders, a publisher of guidebooks for «medical tourists» es-timates that more than 20 million people will travel to another country for medical treatment this year, up 25% from 16 million last year.Meanwhile, a 2016 report by payments giant Visa estimated that the medical tourism industry was worth $50bn a year, and continu-ing to grow.Yet before people in the UK feel relieved about having the National Health Serv-ice, with its free at the point

of delivery service, more and more Britons are also going abroad for treatment.This is more often so they can avoid waiting lists, get cosmetic surgery that is not covered by the NHS, or for dental work due to a lack of NHS dentists.Medigo, a German-based medical travel company says that queries from UK residents jumped 53% last year. Official figures from the UK’s Office of National Statistics also show that a rising number of people are going abroad for treatment.One British person who re-

cently travelled abroad for surgery was Amanda Wells, from the Scottish town of Dalkeith, near Edinburgh.The 46-year-old travelled to Poland last year - via Medigo - to have a pain-ful bunion removed from her left foot, because she didn’t want to wait the nine months that her GP estimat-ed it would take her to get the operation on the NHS.She says she was able to get the work done in Poland for £3,000, half the amount she was quoted by a private surgeon in the UK.«I did my research regard-

ing waiting times to meet with a [NHS] surgeon, and I discovered that my GP was being optimistic,» she says.«The facilities were excel-lent in Poland. The surgeon was fantastic and I saw him for three follow-ups before I went home.»Another Briton who went abroad for treatment last year was Lincoln Summers, of Woking, south west of London. He went to a den-tist in Hungary.«I looked like a mobster after one of my front teeth broke off,» says the 54-year-old.Lincoln says he got an im-plant fitted in Budapest for £800 compared with the £2,500 he was quoted by a private UK dentist.«It was not what I expected at all [in Hungary], it was a state-of-the-art dentist,» he adds.While both Lincoln, Aman-da - and Melissa in the US - say they were very happy with the medical care they received, some experts urge medical tourists to be cau-tious. Especially if people are travelling to the devel-oping world.

Yahoo Style Health foods are big business in the UK, where 97% of us say we try to eat healthily at least some of the time.Almost a third of us (32%) hanker after the lat-est products said to have nutritional benefits, ac-cording to a Mintel survey ñ with over half (54%) looking for low sugar products, and a similar number looking for ones that are low fat (50%).But how much do we really know about the ìhealthî foods weíre buying?Many of us are ìfooledî into thinking certain foods are healthy thanks to the way they are marketed, claims diet expert Terri-Ann Nunns.ìI think the reason weíre often tricked is through clever packaging and us getting sucked in by the latest trends and fads. Weíre conditioned to think that anything green, contains fruit or is ëfat freeí is automatically healthy and that isnít always the case,î explains Nunns. Other times, itís sugar-laden foods like fruit juice that catch us out ñ meaning weíre more likely to eat these foods in bulk with wild abandon, and less regard for controlling our portion sizes.ìMore often than not, people get sucked in by the latest ësuperfoodsí or foods that claim to be low fat but are really full of sugar and it can be very confusing,î she explains.Here are the not-so-healthy ìhealth foodsî you should be looking out for.Frozen yoghurtThis icy treat has enjoyed a boom among health food fans in recent decades, with UK frozen yo-ghurt consumption tripling between 2011 and 2014. However, Nunns warns that ìfro yoî it is not as healthy as we might think.ìFrozen yoghurt generally has about as much

sugar as normal ice cream does, meaning itís not quite living up to the idea that itís healthy,î she says. Try filling up with Greek yoghurt instead, or making your own healthy ice cream by whizzing up milk, frozen bananas and vanilla extract in the blender.Fruit juiceWeíve been told all our lives that fruit is good for us, but this isnít always the case when drinking it in juice form ñ which can often be high in sugar.Not only is fruit juice damaging to your teeth and linked to weight gain ñ linked to its high amounts of sugar ñ it also lacks the fibre content of its whole fruit equivalent. ìDrinking fruit juice is nowhere near as benefi-cial as eating a piece of fruit due to the lack of fibre,î explains Nunns. ìThe fibre is what protects us against absorbing the sugar found in fruit, this

isnít present in juice so we retain the high sugar content.îCanít part with your morning OJ? While eating whole fruit is preferable, Nunns advises making homemade freshly-squeezed orange juice, which is tastier, cheaper and ñ as no sugar is added ñ healthier.Dried fruitMuch like fruit juice, dried fruit contains a higher sugar content compared to its whole, fresh fruit alternative ñ meaning it can trip you up nutri-tionally if you eat too much. For instance, just 30 grams (g) of raisins contains as many calories (100) as a much larger 80g serving of grapes.ìDried fruit as a snack is of course a better alter-native to say a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps and can also be a great way to increase your fibre intake. ìHowever, dried fruits are typically high in sugar and calories and therefore they really should only be eaten in moderation ñ a handful is definitely enough. If possible, try to opt for fresh fruit as the calorie content is much lower,î says Nunns.Gluten-free foodsWhile gluten-free foods are of course healthier for those with an intolerance for gluten, this is not the case for the vast majority who do not, stresses Nunn.ìMany people have chosen to remove gluten from their diets as a health benefit ñ but the reality of this is that thereís actually very little evidence that going gluten-free has a positive effect on weight loss. ìWeíre often tricked into thinking that anything that is ëfat freeí or ëcalorie freeí is healthy and that isnít always the case, which is similar for glu-ten free foods.î

‘I had My Misgivings about Going Abroad for Surgery’ Boeing Cuts 737 MAX Production after Two Fatal Plane Crashes

Sky NewsBoeing has said it is slowing production of the 737 MAX so it can focus its attention on fix-ing the flight-control software that has been implicated in two deadly crashes.The aircraft-maker said it is «making progress» on updated 737 MAX software that it hopes will prevent future accidents.Boeing’s chief executive Dennis Muilenburg admitted the «erro-neous activation» of the MCAS software had been a «common link» between the crashes of Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air.Both crashes involved the 737 MAX 8, which has an auto-mated system that pushes the plane’s nose down when the possibility of an aerodynamic stall is detected.Mr Muilenburg said in a state-ment: «We have the respon-sibility to eliminate this risk, and we know how to do it. «As

part of this effort, we’re making progress on the 737 MAX soft-ware update that will prevent accidents like these from ever happening again.«Teams are working tirelessly, advancing and testing the soft-ware, conducting non-advocate reviews, and engaging regula-tors and customers worldwide as we proceed to final certifica-tion.» The crash in Ethiopia on 10 March killed all 157 people on board and a preliminary re-port , based on flight data and cockpit voice recorders, showed the faulty sensor sparked a series of events that caused the pilots to lose control of the plane.The problems were similar to those reported on the Indonesian Lion Air flight that crashed last October, killing all 189 people on board.The 737 MAX was grounded by the world’s aviation authorities after the Ethiopia crash.

The ConversationWhat triggered the decline and eventual extinction of many megaherbivores, the giant plant-eating mammals that roamed the Earth millions of years ago, has long been a mystery. These ani-mals, which weighed 1,000kg or more and included the ancient relatives of modern elephants, rhinos, hippos and giraffes, reached a peak of diversity in Africa some 4.5m years ago dur-

ing the Pliocene epoch (between 5.3m and 2.6m years ago). After this, their numbers slowly de-clined, in a trend that continued into the Pleistocene (2.6m years ago to roughly 11,000 years ago).Both the Earthís climate and hominins ñ our early human an-cestors ñ have in the past been blamed for this change. How-ever, a recent paper argued that the gradual extinction of mega-

herbivores occurred because of long-term environmental chang-es and that developments in ho-minin behaviour ñ such as wield-ing tools and using fire ñ did not impact megaherbivore decline.While this seems to be true of the early decline in megaherbivore population, we argue that our an-cient human ancestors may well still have contributed to more re-cent megaherbivore extinctions. Whatís more, weíre repeating the

pattern today. Ancient hominins in a land of giants The genus Australopithecus is among the best known hominins from the Pliocene. Dating as far back as 4.2m years, they shared food and water-rich woodland and grass-land environments with a dozen species of large herbivores, in-cluding three giraffids, two hip-pos, two species of rhinoceros and five species of proboscide-ans ñ a trunked and tusked group of animals that includes modern elephants and extinct mammoths and mastodons. Australopithecus were omnivorous ñ but there is no evidence that they hunted large mammals. In fact, its likely that megaherbivores played a beneficial ecological role for these early hominins. Thousands of years of grazing and migration gradually opened up wooded en-vironments, which created the perfect blend of woodland and grassland in which early hom-inins thrived. In these Pliocene landscapes, our ancestors and the ancestors of modern elephants, rhinos, giraffes and hippos coex-isted in relative harmony.However, major climatic and environmental changes were to separate the fates of hominins and megaherbivores.

Humans are not off the Hook for Extinctions of Large Herbivores - then or Now

‘Health’ Foods that Aren’t Actually that Good for You, from Frozen Yoghurt to Fruit Juice

Arab NewsJEDDAH: Saudi Arabia is one of the worldís rich-est country in old manu-scripts, said a lecturer in literature at King Saud University.Sulaiman bin Abdulrah-man Al-Theeb, professor of the university’s An-cient Arabic Literature, said that Saudi Arabia is one of the richest coun-tries in the world regard-ing ancient manuscripts.Most inscriptions found in the Kingdom include Thamudic, Najdi, Hijazi and Tabuk writings.According to the Saudi Press Agency, the lecture presented by Al-Theeb, entitled «Ancient Arabic writings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,» was re-cently held at the Nation-al Museum in Riyadh, in the presence of a number of researchers, specialists and academics.Al-Theeb noted that among the most im-portant writings are the Nabatean scripts in the Kingdomís Al-Qassim region; Al-Safa’i writings

in the country’s northern region; Aldadaniyah writ-ings in Al-Ula region; along with the Aramaic scripts, which are among the most important writ-ings in the world.He also mentioned other writings discovered in the regions of Al-Ihsaa, Sabaía and the Maeen

writings, affiliated with the ancient Maeen tribe, as well as the Tadmur writings found in the north of the Kingdom.More writings from oth-er civilizations such as Greek, Latin, cuneiform, and Egyptian scripts are also found in the King-dom, he added.

KSA among Worldís Richest Countries with Ancient Manuscripts

BBCThe fossil of a 43-million-year-old whale with four legs, webbed feet and hooves has been discovered in Peru. Palaeontologists believe the marine mammal’s four-metre-long (13 ft) body was adapted to swim and walk on land.With four limbs capable of carrying its weight and a powerful tail, the semi-aquat-ic whale has been compared to an otter or a beaver. Researchers believe the dis-covery could shed light on the evolution of the whale and how it spread. «This is the most complete specimen ever found for a four-legged whale outside of India and Pakistan,» Dr Ol-ivier Lambert, a scientist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and co-author of the study, said.It was found in marine sedi-ments 1km (0.6 miles) inland from Peru’s Pacific coast, at Playa Media Luna.The location has piqued re-

searchers’ interest as the first whales are thought to have first evolved in South Asia around 50 million years ago.As their bodies became better suited to water, they migrated further afield to North Africa and North America, where fossils have been found. The latest discovery sug-gests early whales managed to swim there from South America.«Whales are this iconic ex-ample of evolution,» Travis Park, an ancient whale re-searcher at the Natural Histo-ry Museum in London, said.«They went from small hoofed mammals to the blue whale we have today. It’s so interesting to see how they conquered the oceans.»An international team of palaeontologists from Peru, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium excavated the fossil in 2011. They have named it Per-egocetus pacificus, meaning «the travelling whale that reached the Pacific».

Fossil of Ancient Four-legged Whale Found in Peru

WORLD NEWS9 Wednesday, April 10, 2019

AFPTRIPOLI: Fighting in south of Libyan capital killed†25 and wounded another†80, the Tripoli-based health ministry said on Monday.The death toll is for fighters as well as civilians includ-ing a whole family who died, the spokesman said.The United Nations earlier said†that 2,200 people have been displaced by clashes around the Libyan capital and many more could flee, but in some areas civilians are trapped.Fierce clashes raged on Sunday near Tripoli between pro-Haftar fighters and troops loyal to the interna-tionally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).The two sides also exchanged air strikes days after Haftar -†who backs an administration in eastern Libya opposed to the GNA - launched an offensive Thursday to seize the capital.The clashes came despite calls by the United Nations and the United States for an urgent ceasefire.Pro-GNA forces on Sunday announced a counterof-fensive named ìVolcano of Angerî.Spokesman Colonel Mohamed Gnounou said the operation was aimed at ìpurging all Libyan cities of aggressor and illegitimate forcesî, in reference to Haftarís fighters.Libya has been riven by divisions since the NATO-backed uprising in 2011 that killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with rival administrations and armed groups vying for power and control of the countryís oil.Haftarís offensive has threatened to plunge the coun-try into a full-blown civil war and once again thwart diplomatic efforts to find a solution to Libyaís woes.

AFPRAMALLAH: Palestinian prime minister-designate Mohammad Shtayyeh will announce the make-up of his new government in the coming days, Palestin-ian officials said Monday. Shtayyeh has until April 14 to form a new govern-ment which is expected to exclude all supporters of Hamas, longtime rival to the Fatah movement of both Shtayyeh and Pales-tinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Analysts say real decision-making power remains with 84-year-old Abbas, in power since 2005. Abbas on March 10 charged Shtayyeh with forming the new govern-ment, replacing Rami

Hamdallahís technocratic administration which had the nominal backing of Hamas. The movement controls the Gaza Strip, while the Palestinian Au-thority Abbas heads is based in the West Bank, where Israel also main-tains a military occupa-tion.Five smaller factions will also join Fatah in the new government, officials said. Others, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, refused to take part.Deputy president Mah-moud Aloul told AFP a meeting would be held Monday evening between Shtayyeh and Abbas to decide on candidates for remaining ministries.

AFPPARIS: France has ruled out the repatriation of French ter-rorists and their families de-tained in Syria after the fall of Daeshís ìcaliphate,î Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said on Friday.France and other European nations have been wrestling with how to handle the hun-dreds of foreign fighters, many of whom are being held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces which led the final push against Daesh.French daily Liberation re-ported Friday that in early March the government had been ready to bring home around 250 men, women and children before abandoning the plan given public hostility to the repatriations.The issue is extremely sensi-tive in France, where a dead-ly 2015 attack on the capital claimed by Daesh killed 130 people and set off a wave of other deadly assaults since then. ìItís logical that our services considered all hypotheses. This was one of the hypoth-esis they prepared,î Castaner said at a press conference fol-lowing a meeting of G7 inte-

rior ministers in Paris.ìNo communal repatriation was under consideration to be carried out,î he said, reiterat-ing that France would none-theless study bringing back children of jihadist fighters on a ìcase-by-case basis.îLast month, French authori-ties for the first time brought home five orphaned children of French extremists from camps in Syria.According to the UN chil-drenís agency UNICEF, around 3,000 foreign chil-dren from 43 countries are housed at the Al-Hol camp in Syria alone, which has taken in most of the people flee-ing Daeshís self-proclaimed

ìcaliphateî in recent weeks.Up to 1,700 French nationals are thought to have traveled to Iraq and Syria to fight with the terrorists between 2014 and 2018, according to gov-ernment figures. Around 300 are believed to have died in combat.Kurdish officials have warned they do not have the resources to hold all the captured fight-ers indefinitely, and Washing-ton is also urging its allies in the anti-Daesh coalition to take home their citizens.But repatriation is a political-ly fraught issue, and govern-ments fear they may not have enough evidence to convict IS members who claim they

Casualties Mount as Fierce Fighting for Tripoli Rages

New Palestinian Government to be Formed in Days: Officials

France ‘will not Take back Daesh Fighters and their Families’

AFPISTANBUL: Turkish Presi-dent Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said some ìorganized crimeî had been carried out during last weekís election for Istanbul mayor when results showed his ruling AKP candi-date narrowly lost the race.The AKP demanded a recount in Ankara and Istanbul citing ir-regularities after tallies showed the party was defeated in both cities in what would be a major setback in a decade and a half in power.Erdoganís remarks appeared to signal more AKP chal-lenges over Istanbul, the coun-tryís economic hub and larg-est city, echoing commentary in pro-government media last week denouncing a ìballot box putschî during the March 31 election.ìWe are seeing that some organ-ized crimes have been carried out,î Erdogan said at a press conference before a trip to Russia, without giving details. ìThere is an element of robbery in all of this. There was some theft at the ballot box.îIn the capital Ankara, the Su-preme Electoral Council on Monday officially handed op-

position CHP party candidate Mansur Yavas his mandate, an AFP reporter said.Erdoganís AKP won most votes nationwide in the election, but voters appeared to punish the party in the two big cities with Turkeyís economy in recession and inflation in double digits after a currency crisis last year.Defeat in Istanbul would be es-

pecially sensitive for Erdogan who grew up in one of its work-ing-class districts and began his political career as mayor of the city.AKPís candidate for Istanbul former premier Binali Yildirim and opposition CHPís Ekrem Imamoglu both declared vic-tory soon after the Istanbul race when initial results showed a

dead heat.Electoral authorities later said Imamoglu was winning by around 20,000 ballots, but that gap has narrowed during a week of recounting. Both parties say the difference is now less than 17,000 ballots. The two candi-dates each received more than 4 million votes.Imamoglu has declared himself

Istanbul mayor and called on the AKP to accept the result.Erdogan said when there was a problem with a percentage of votes in other countries, ap-peals and even new elections were not unusual.ìNo one has the right to declare themselves victorious with a difference of around 13,000-14,000 votes,î Erdogan said of the Istanbul results. ìAs for the irregularities, it was not just in some places, almost all of it is irregular.îAfter 16 years in power, Er-dogan is praised by supporters, especially among his base with more religiously conservative Turks who say he oversaw a period of economic growth and prosperity.But his critics at home and among Western allies say the Turkish leader has undermined democracy by purging dissent especially in the wake of a 2016 failed coup Ankara blames on a US-based Muslim cleric.Erdogan campaigned hard por-traying the local vote for may-ors and district councils as a fight for the nationís survival, but the election became a test of AKPís support after an eco-nomic slowdown hit Turkey.

Palestine Banker Calls for Mideast Quotas for Women Board Members

Ben Flanagan

DEAD SEA: There are many divides in Palestine ó but for the territoryís largest bank that is, for once, the subject of some good news.The Bank of Palestine says its board will have a fifty-fifty gender split within a couple of years ó and its chairman has called for Norway-style quota systems for women in top management positions across the Middle East.Hashim Shawa, group chair-man of the Bank of Palestine, said 44 percent of the bankís entire workforce are women, and that the board is on track for an equal divide.ìWe will be the first bank I think in the Middle East and Arab world, and maybe one of the first in the world, to have a 50-50 quota at the board level. And that will be in the next board elections, which will be in a couple of years,î he said at the World Economic Forum meeting in Jordan.ìAbout 10 years ago, I looked at the workforce gender bal-ance and we were at 12 per-cent female Ö no women

on the board, no women in senior positions, managers, departments, or executive levels.ìToday we have three women out of 11 on the board, weíre about 44 percent gender bal-anced, and we have women branch managers, women heads of department. In the C-suite, our chief credit of-ficer, risk management, chief of HR (are) women.îShawa said having more women employees, including those facing customers, had broad benefits to society.ìWhen men have to actually approach a woman to ask for a loan, this is how you change

mindsets, and you change culture. And you achieve the goal of lifting the entire society,î he said.The Middle East has woeful-ly low levels of women in top management positions.In the UAE, for example, just 1.5 percent of board seats in listed companies were held by women as of mid-2016 ó well below the global aver-age.Shawa said that he advocates a quota system in the Middle East, whereby listed com-panies would be obliged to have a certain proportion of women on boards.In 2003, Norway became the

first country in the world to impose a gender quota, re-quiring listed firms to raise the proportion of women on their boards to at least 40 per-cent.ìItís a really poor excuse to say, ëah there are not enough women with experience.í And fundamentally, if you donít mobilize 50 percent of your population youíll always be 50 percent underdeveloped,î Shawa told Arab News.ìA lot of people talk about climate change and all the challenges we face, AI and all that stuff. But we need to really address this imbalance issue.î

Erdogan Blames Istanbul Election Loss on ‘Organized Crime’

Afghan Forces Battle Taliban for Fifth Day in Western Badghis Province

APKABUL, Afghanistan: Afghan secu-rity forces are battling the Taliban for a fifth day after the insurgents launched a wide-scale attack in the western Badg-his province, officials said Monday.Col. Qais Mangal, a spokesman for De-fense Ministry, said that at least 12 secu-rity forces have been killed in the last 48 hours, bringing the overall death toll to

more than 40. Mangal said dozens of in-surgents have been killed and wounded by air and ground forces.Some 2,000 Taliban fighters attacked checkpoints and an army compound in the Bala Murghab district before dawn Thursday. Mohammad Nasir Nazari, a provincial council member, said some 600 Afghan soldiers who were trapped inside the base were able to escape and

reach the provincial capital of Qala-e-Now over the past two days after rein-forcements reached the base.He said army commandos and special police units are currently battling the insurgents, with high casualties on both sides. He was unable to provide an exact breakdown of the numbers killed and wounded.The Taliban effectively control nearly

half the country and have continued to carry out daily attacks on Afghan securi-ty forces despite holding several rounds of peace talks with the United States in recent months. The Taliban have refused to meet with the Afghan government, which they view as a US puppet.The Taliban agreed to take part in an Afghan dialogue in Qatar, where the insurgents maintain a political office, later this month. But the Taliban say any member of the government who attends will only do so in a personal capacity.After two months of consultations, the Afghan government announced Monday that it had created a council to appoint a delegation to the talks. The council consists of current and former officials, as well as other prominent figures from around the country. Afghan peace envoy Omer Daudzai said the delegates, who have yet to be chosen, will ìexchange viewsî with the Taliban ahead of possi-ble negotiations.US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who has led the talks with the Taliban in a bid to end Americaís longest war, tweeted Sunday that he had met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul to dis-cuss the upcoming dialogue and efforts to reduce the violence.Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a roadside bomb killed two people in the eastern city of Jalalabad and wounded another five, said Farid Khan, a spokesman for the provincial police chief. No one im-mediately claimed the attack, but a local Daesh affiliate claimed responsibility for attacks on Saturday and Sunday in Jalalabad.

10 Wednesday, April 10, 2019

By: Mohamed Najeeb Mohamed Ali - Sudanow

Culture played a major role in the independence of Sudan as the first contribution to the struggle against colonialism was through the pillar of culture. Ef-fectively, in the Revolution of 1924, the educated class and the intellectuals contributed to the estab-lishment of intellectual and cultural framework of this revolution and were behind the formation of the Graduates’ General Congress in 1938. The lat-ter was the basis of the Sudanese political move-ment and the impetus for opposing British admin-istration of Sudan and demanding independence. Also, many intellectuals played a tremendous role in promoting the Sudanese Afro-Arabic identity by highlighting the history of civilization of Sudan and reflecting it on the colonial present thus antici-pating the National State. Many thinkers and intel-lectuals see that the independence of Sudan was a purely cultural act, so England left after it was per-suaded that Sudan, with its leaders at that time and

its intellectuals and thinkers had the right to be the second country in sub-Saharian Africa, which gets its independence.

The seed of consciousness:Dr. Lamya Shamt

Professor and critic Lamya Shamt says that it is necessary to pay attention first to the writings and creative works that have contributed to shaping, motivating and guiding the core of consciousness that paved the way for independence. She adds that we can be guided by the ideas provided by critic Abdul Qudous Al Khatim in his critical reviews where he reflects on the contributions of Moham-med Ashri Siddig, a leading critic who started to prove himself in the early 30s of the last century, to strongly emerge as an authentic writer and liter-ary critic who had a unique and interesting style, an outstanding sense of innovation and intellectuality, as well as the ability to diagnose, raise, and ex-plore social diseases. Mohammed Ashri Siddig’s articles were gathered and published by the Min-istry of Culture and Information in 1970 under the title ìViews and Thoughtsî. By the same token and in another article, Al Khatim approaches the pio-neering critical works of critic Mohamed Moham-ed Ali, whom he describes as ìhaving an insightful thought characterized by a dialectic mentality car-ried out to the core of thingsî, a resisting view to the prevailing thoughts. Al Khatim gives several examples of Mohamed Mohamed Ali’s unconven-tional critical views, in which he sets an authen-tic opinion and a strong argument on traditional curricula, in particular the obsolete and repulsive teaching methods of Arabic grammar.

It should also be noted that the White Flag League, one of the Sudanese secret political associations with cultural background, worked to raise national awareness, and formed a national movement of consciousness, by means of the cultural work of some of its membership that included writers, crit-ics, poets and singers. The foundation of Gordon Memorial College in 1903 has had the greatest impact on the development of social and cultural life through the contributions and initiatives of an educated generation that is open to the poten-tial of the rising and organized national struggle. One example of this is the poetry and nationalist

singing of Khalil Farah, a graduate of Gordon Col-lege. He spread nationalist singing and resistance to colonialism in the public space. In addition to this, there are the critical works of the young critic Ali Madani who revolted against the reproduction of established principles, and the empowerment of ideological negativity aimed at the stereotyping of consciousness and the separation of its compo-nents. He also fiercely revolted against the social schizophrenia that deprived women of the right to education. Shamt added that Madani participated actively in the production of books that discussed exclusively the issue of Sudanese women’s edu-cation. Moreover, and in spite of his early age, he launched the first statement of the purely Sudanese cultural stamp. His friend Tawfiq Ahmad perceived this Sudanese emblem in the thought of Madani. He wrote an article devoted to the dialogues Mada-ni conducted with singers, poets and writers, urging them to get inspired by all that is purely Sudanese. Thus, the critical contributions of Amin Ali Madani had an important role in the formation of aware-ness, and in the development of the sense of collec-tive work against social, cultural and intellectual colonization, in order to gain the independence of Sudan.Poetry had a profound impact on the sensitization to nationalism, resistance to colonialism and incit-ing the revolution. Poems of Mahmoud Abu Bakr, known as the Eagle, of Yusuf Mustafa al-Tini, the engineer and the diplomat, and national poetry of Ahmad Muhamed Saleh who is one of the pio-neers of patriotic poetry in Sudan, to name but a few, all played a significant role in spreading na-tional awareness and national sensitization.

Dr. Ezzeddine Hilali Shamt refers also to the contributions of Sudanese novels which courageously raised thorny issues such as Shawqi Badri’s novel entitled ìWrathî, as it is one of the most audacious works that aim to voice out silenced topics and try to expose the ex-ploitation of marginalized and vulnerable people, in a narrative style that uses directness and frankness that seek to reveal the tragedies, misery and depri-vation that prevailed in the streets of the cities.Meanwhile, Dr. Ezzeddine Hilali, professor of dra-ma at the Sudanese universities, sees that the early awareness of Sudanese intellectuals in the late 19th century and the twentieth century had a direct im-pact on the national awakening in the 1930s, known in Sudanese cultural, political and social thought as the Awakening of the Thirties, though it was abort-ed by the colonizer through killing and excluding its young pioneers.Hence, Hamza Al-Malik Tumbel and Muawiya Noor and their companions who introduced T. S. Elliot and Matthew Arnold, and objective criticism in the first third of the twentieth century in Sudan, were themselves the first to claim a Sudanese iden-tity independent of the then currents divided by the nature of colonialism, which could only be bilateral throughout the colonial legacy in Sudan.No wonder then that Muawiya Noor introduced Matthew Arnold and objective criticism in Egypt in the ìEgyptian Gazetteî in the late first quarter and early second of the same century.Hilali estimates that by adding to them the intellec-tuals of the thirties, such as Abdullah Ashri Siddig and his brother and their colleagues from the group of intellectuals of Abu Rove quarter of Omdurman, who promoted socialism in their works of art and literature, one becomes fully aware that culture and intellectuals played a major role in the independ-ence of Sudan, and the Graduates’ General Con-gress was just a purely cultural entity.

National Identity: Novelist and writer Issa El Helou

Novelist and writer Issa El Helou estimates that in-dependence in Sudan was linked to the search for identity, and the idea of political and cultural free-dom was linked to national identity, especially at that time when European colonization was expand-ing in the Third World in Asia and Africa. Thus, paving the way to political independence that used literature and other arts to express the will of the nation to live in freedom without the control of the colonizer. Effectively, Sudanese elites used arts and literature for a national purpose, especially that English colonialism at that time in the early thirties would not allow writing to be a political act. Writers were only allowed to write in literature and art and never to tackle politics. After the White Revolution Brigade, these writings flowed and continued in the magazines ìAl Fajrî (Dawn) and ìAl Nahdaî (The Awakening). They raised the issues of Afro-Arabic identity, as well as realism and objectivity. They also dealt with social issues such as the comparison between the countryside and the city. At that time, what was known as the village literary school was emerging. In parallel, there was the story of the city written by the writers of the city. This kind of story used the elite and the educated people as heroes. In all this, the writers used symbolism as a method of expression in order to avoid political censorship.At that time also emerged genius writers who com-bined literature and politics in a way that respects the content and the form.Muawiya Muhammad Noor who was an eminent literary critic, surpassed the critics of that period in Egypt and the Levant. Poet Tijani Yusuf Bashir for instance was able to invent a poem that mixes African and Arabic com-ponents, later on, many poets of Sudan, including Elfitory and Mohammed Abdul Hai followed the

same path. It was the seed for the foundation of ìthe Forest and Desert Schoolî. The Khartoum School of Fine Arts also came out with the ef-forts of Salhi and Shubreen.The whole educated generation that carried out the act of writing at that time were prima-rily political thinkers who used literature as a means through which they could discuss all that colonialism would not allow to openly raise, and this could be applied to the intel-lectuals of the right as well as the leftists. We can cite poets Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahjoub, al- Khatib, Mahmoud al-Fadhli, Saad al-Din Fawzi, the great Abdullah Tayeb, and novel-ist Hassan Taher Zarrouk, and writer and critic Gamal Mohammed Ahmed, and Ahmed Tayeb Ahmed. It was this wonderful generation who paved the paths to the culture of independ-

ence.Critic Amer Mohammed Ahmed believes that Su-dan’s independence was the result of a cultural movement that spread across the whole Sudan. The fall of Mahdist Sudan was an alert for educated people at that time that the modernization and the awakening are connected to education and thus decolonization needs a cultural work that demon-

strates its inequality and produces a new polit-ical reality represented in the cultural societies of the 1920s, which gave rise to the revolu-tion of 1924, and also produced a university theater in Gordon College. The latter tried to read the present by repeating glorious history and looking forward to the future.

Critic Amer Mohammed This positive act played a major role in for-mulating an integrated national vision about the disadvantages of colonialism, which pro-duced a national poetry that contributed to the revival of the national and religious feeling and played an important role in defining the history of Sudan. It also worked on the for-mulation of a national consciousness accentu-ated by the prevailing culture of the time, and focusing on the question of identity, thus giv-ing the definition of Sudan through its history,

present and past, along with the other forms of the struggle that ended with the lifting of the flag of independence on 1/1/56.

Still, the question of the National State did not end, and the role of the intellectuals remained open until now. Many cultural and intellectual schools were behind the foundation of the cultural and geograph-ical entities in Sudan. Accordingly, the salon cul-ture that began in the twenties and drowned at the end of the forties (because of the emergence of the national political movement represented in the po-litical schools of the independence) was behind the crystallization of the question of identity. Hence, it is the ideological schools that emerged after the forties which brought up the problematic by asking questions unrelated to the Sudanese reality and the Sudanese identity, which disrupted the process of progress.

The Role of Culture in the Struggle for Independence in Sudan

ART&CULTURE

Dr. Lamya Shamt:The critical contributions of Amin ali Madani had an important role in the formation of awareness Dr. Ezzeddine Hilali:

Graduates’ General Congress was a purely cultural entity.

Novelist and writer Issa El Helou:Independence in Sudan was linked to the search for identity.

Critic Amer Mohammed Ahmed:Salon culture crystallized the question of identity

11HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Edited by: Alula Berhe Kidani

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

A gender gap is emerging on the donor front.By Emily Peck and Maxwell Strachan

GETTY Democratic women candidates face donors who are flat-out skeptical of all the women. A tricky gender pay gap is emerging in the race for donor dollars in the 2020 Democratic presidential race.There are so many women running that theyíre losing any advantage that being the sole female candidate would confer. Meanwhile, the women candidates are coping with sexism in the fundraising process, according to the donors and ac-tivists who spoke to HuffPost.As the executive director of Women Donors Network, Donna Hall oversees a group of more than 250 progressive female philanthropists who give away about $200 million a year and contrib-ute ìsizably to campaigns.î She said each of the four female senators running ? Kamala Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar ? have at least one donor in her network who is ìall inî for them. Other donors are staying out of the presidential race, for now, giving money to other causes like advancing voting rights.Hall was adamant that a woman could win the White House. ìWe feel the time has come,î she said. ìThereís certainly a desire among our members to see a woman elected.îBut there are definitely donors who lean the opposite way and are flat-out skepti-cal of all the women.ìItís been really hard. Donors who jump in early want a safe bet and see women as risky bets,î one Democratic organizer told HuffPost, declining to be named be-cause of her relationships with some of the candidates.Itís been really hard. Donors who jump in early want a safe bet and see women as risky bets. Though resistance to a woman is less of an issue now than it was in 2016, there are still donors reluctant to give to a woman, said Tom Sacks-Wilner, a New Jersey-based bundler for Kamala Harris who organizes and collects campaign contributions from other donors. ìItís a little more open,î he said. ìClin-tonís campaign helped shatter the glass ceiling.îSacks-Wilner said heís brought in about $200,000 so far for Harris. He expects that number to be higher by the time he has to report donations to the Federal Election Commission. The deadline is April 15. With such a large field of candidates in play a lot of donors are giving to multi-ple candidates, he said. Some are wait-ing to see if former Vice President Joe Biden is in or out. ìA few of mine are saying if he doesnít enter theyíll donate

to Harris.îItís perhaps a telling sign of the sexism in political fundraising that a relative unknown, longshot like South Bend, In-diana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg was able to raise $7 million in the early months of his campaign (more than half of which came in through contributions under $200, according to his campaign). The far more established Harris took in $12 million, likewise largely composed of smaller donations.ìI think women have to be perceived as more qualified, more experienced, more knowledgeable than men generally do,î Aimee Cunningham, a supporter of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and a Democratic do-nor from Austin who helped start the lo-cal Electing Women Alliance affiliate.Like many other campaign watchers, Cunningham mentioned the higher bar women have to clear to win elections. The ìmisogynyî women grapple with

when running for election ìabsolutelyî extends to the fundraising arena.ìIt is more uncomfortable for women to ask for money,î said Cunningham.Thereís also the matter of media atten-tion: The female candidates appear to have been getting less of it, some cam-paign watchers said.ìI do think that the women are getting covered less on cable. I think that con-tributes as well. When youíre in the news less that will impact fundraising,î said a Democratic strategist with one campaign who declined to be identified.ìAnd yeah, you donít have one woman candidate for women who want to elect a woman president to gravitate to ... but I honestly donít know how much of an impact that is or is not having,î the strat-egist said.Whether the female candidatesí fund-raising efforts were truly stymied will become more clear later this month

when the Federal Election Commission releases fundraising numbers.Already some data is emerging that seems to suggest a gap. On Tuesday, Bernie Sandersí campaign said it raised $18 million over the past three months, $6 million more than Harris and likely far more than Sen. Warren, who is re-portedly struggling to raise funds.Former Texas congressman Beto OíRourke said Wednesday that he hauled in $9.4 million in just 18 days after he announced his candidacy; less than Har-ris but still a notable sum collected over a far shorter timespan. Most campaign experts attribute Sand-ersí and OíRourkeís leads to well-devel-oped nationwide fundraising networks ? and a dash of celebrity.Earlier this year, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said she wouldnít tap tradi-tional big-donor fundraising tactics like events with big donors, going farther than the other Democratic candidates who have eschewed corporate or PAC money. Warren has nationwide name recogni-tion from her days as a fierce combat-ant against the big banks during the fi-nancial crisis; however, she only took in $299,000 on her debut day. (Earlier this year, Warren said she wouldnít tap tradi-tional big-donor fundraising tactics like events with big donors, going farther than the other Democratic candidates who have eschewed corporate or PAC money.) Sen. Klobucharís campaign said she raised $1 million in her first 24 hours.Of course, itís early. The four female senators in the race are all ìprolific

fundraisers,î said Betsy Fischer Martin, executive director of the Women & Poli-tics Institute at American University. And they all have money left over from their 2018 campaigns.The challenge right now is that there are so many women, itís hard to be distinc-tive. ìWhen youíre just looking back at 2016, Hillary had that runway all to her-self. And she was definitely able to capi-talize on that.î Fifty-two percent of Clin-tonís donors were women, Martin adds. In interviews and focus groups, women candidates at all levels expressed dis-comfort with the process of asking for money, in a 2014 report put together by the nonpartisan organization Politi-cal Parity. Leading women candidates could sometimes end up raising as much money as male candidates, but they of-ten had to ask for donations more times to get there.ìWhen you run for office, you have to be willing to call complete strangers and say ìHi Iíd like $2,800 from you,íî said Brianna Wu, a software engineer, who ran for Congress in Massachusetts last year and plans to give it another shot in 2020. ìFundraising is a process that de-mands you be aggressive.îWomen, according to stereotypes, are not supposed to be aggressive, she said, putting them at a disadvantage.Wu said she was frustrated to see some of the male candidates pull ahead in on-line fundraising. ìIt was frustrating to me to see people like Bernie and Beto with a shallow command of the issues pulling in so much money,î she said. ìI think it speaks to the unspoken sexism in the Democratic party with fundraising.î

‘Unspoken Sexism’ Dampens Fundraising For Women Running In 2020

When people complain that ëneoliber-alismí is a meaningless concept, I point them to what has happened to the top rate of income tax since around 1980, not just in the United States and the UK but else-where, as the first graphic shows.The second is a chart of the US top tax rate over the last century. The Republi-can president Dwight Eisenhower had top earners paying a 91 per cent marginal rate.No doubt there are complex reasons for these reductions, but key among them has to be a neoliberal belief that cutting top rates would lead to more dynamic CEOs, who would produce more dynamic compa-niesóand the benefits of this would trickle down to the economy as a whole. Low top tax rates would encourage entrepreneurs to take more risks that were socially ben-eficial and so on. The argument is so fa-miliar, trotted out routinely by right-wing think tanks, that it hardly needs elaborat-ing. It is a classic example of neoliberals using a bit of simple economics to justify policy that is advantageous to themselves or their paymasters.

Yet the evidence for such an effect is weak, at best. The intuition for why it should be weak is straightforward. Above a certain level of income, other incentives beyond the purely pecuniary become important. Top CEOs, like top footballers, want to be successful at what they do, and more successful than others. They will want success whatever the overall financial re-wards of being successful.Another bit of basic economics that neo-

liberals hardly ever mention is the dimin-ishing marginal utility of consumption. This implies quite the opposite of low tax rates at the top. It is socially much more beneficial to tax those to whom one dol-lar is not worth the effort of picking it off the sidewalk and transfer it to those who are poorer. A well known paper by Dia-mond and Saez found that, after allowing for disincentive and avoidance effects, the optimal top rate of income tax in the US should be 73 per cent.There are two reasons why even 73 per cent might be an underestimate. Piketty, Saez and Stantcheva have argued that giving CEOs lots of money can have negative incentive effects. The CEOs start putting effort into increasing their salary rather than improving their firm. Part of oneís status comes from what one can afford. When all CEOs are taxed a lot at the margin the size of their salary has lit-tle impact on that, but when their salary is not taxed so much they can increase their salary, and therefore status, by extracting more from their own firm. To use some economics jargon, a low marginal tax rate on top incomes can be a good example of

an incentive for rent extraction rather than for increasing social output.But while an extra dollar for a CEO is not going to incentivise them in a posi-tive way very much, one could argue that it incentivises those with talent to aspire to be CEOs. CEOs are always going to be among the richest in society, because a lot of their income will be taxed at lower rates. A paper by Lockwood, Nathanson and Weyl however turns that argument on its head. High salaries are associated with activities, such as finance and law, that have what economists would call negative externalitiesóthey do much less good for society than the size of the salaries paid might suggest. A lot of finance, for exam-ple, is about trying to take money from other people rather than growing the size of the overall pie. If high post-tax sala-ries incentivise talented people into those professions, that is negative for society, which would benefit if they worked in dif-ferent jobs. One can reduce this misallo-cation of talent by having higher tax rates on top incomes.Neoliberals have one last line of defence against raising top tax rates in a single country, and that is migration. The argu-ment is that talent, which could be quite mobile, will move to where it is most re-warded. There is clear evidence that this is true, to an extent. This concern does not however mean we should leave top tax rates where they are or even reduce themósimply that we might not put them up as high as they should otherwise go, while some countries that are attractive to talent continue to have low tax rates on

top incomes. Sweden seems to do pretty well with a 70 per cent effective top tax rate nevertheless.This danger of a race to the bottom with top tax rates makes it all the more impor-tant that the US raises its top marginal rate, along the lines recently suggested by the Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. For various fairly obvious reasons the US does not need to worry too much about a talent drain if it raised top rates.Social welfareThe arguments for higher top tax rates are at least as much non-pecuniary. The evidence that social welfare is higher in more equal societies seems compelling. In other words, we should increase top tax rates just because that helps produce a more equal society. I have seen a few attempts to debunk the evidence presented for this in The Spirit Level, but they are not convincing as a whole, while there is even more evidence to support the idea that people are happier in more equal so-cieties.And there is a final argument for high tax rates at the top which seems particularly relevant to the US and UK at the moment. In a political system such as that in the US where money easily buys political influ-ence, one will find some of those who earn very high salaries trying to do exactly that. This creates a kind of plutocracy. Because money can also help to buy votes, demo-cratic elections may continue without in any way threatening the plutocracy. Even when there are laws limiting the amount that can be spent on elections, the UK shows there are ways for the rich to get

around that, particularly if they control large sections of the press.This is the argument made in an excellent New York Times op-ed by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman. They wrote: ëAn ex-treme concentration of wealth means an extreme concentration of economic and political power. Although many policies can help address it, progressive income taxation is the fairest and most potent of them all, because it restrains all exorbitant incomes equally, whether they derive from exploiting monopoly power, new financial products, sheer luck or anything else.íIn a short response, the economist Greg Mankiw said: ë[M]ost rich people I know would have been happy to spend vast sums of money to keep Mr Trump out of the White House. And many tried. The Trump phenomenon is not an argument that the moneyed elites have too much influence on politics. If anything, it is an argument that they have too little.íBut this misunderstands (as some on the left do) the nature of the plutocracy that super incomes and wealth create. It does not create a kind of committee of the very rich that between them decide who rules. It is much more erratic than that. Instead, it allows small groups among the very wealthy, who may be quite unrepresenta-tive, to hijack a democratic system. Don-ald Trump and Brexit are clear examples. Mankiw is right that one way to avoid that would be to create a more representative kind of plutocracy, but a far better way of avoiding disasters of this kind is to deal with the problem at its sourceóby reinstat-ing high rates of tax on top incomes.

Why top rates of income tax should be much higher

by Simon Wren-Lewis

LAST PAGE WEDNESDAY10th April, 2019 - 5th Shaaban,1440

Published By: Byader Media Distribution Co.Ltd. - Printed by: Martyr Major Osman Omer.

Quote of the Day:

Amal Clooney ‘Honoured’ as She Takes Up New Rolein Foreign Office

BRIEF

ìA gender line... helps to keep women not on a ped-estal, but in a cage.î

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The city-state is home to many open-air food courts where vendors, known as ëhawkers,í serve dishes at relatively cheap prices. (AFP)

Helping, Listening, Caring: Japanese Prefecture Leads Dramatic Decrease in Suicides

UK Scientists Discover World’s

Tallest Tropical Tree

On Washington DC’s Hidden Islamic Trail

ReutersAKITA, Japan: Taeko Watanabe awoke one cold March night and found a trail of blood in the hallway, a bloody cleaver on her son Yukiís bed and no trace of him in the house. Then police discovered a suicide note in his bedroom.ìThey found him in a canal by the temple and wrapped him in a blanket. After an autopsy, he came home in a coffin. I fell apart,î she recalled, eyes welling up as she sat by a photo of Yuki and a Buddhist altar laden with flowers and Fuji apples.Yuki, who was 29 when he died in 2008, was one of many who committed suicide that year in Akita prefecture, 450 km north of Tokyo. For nearly two dec-ades, Akita had the highest sui-cide rate in all of Japan, which itself has the highest rate in the Group of Seven.But things have changed, Wa-tanabe said. If her son faced the same situation now, ìhe would never have died. There are peo-ple who can prevent it.î Watan-

abe, who contemplated suicide herself after Yukiís death, now leads a suicide survivors group, part of national efforts that have brought Japanese suicides down by nearly 40 percent in 15 years, exceeding the government tar-get. Akitaís are at their lowest in 40 years. These efforts took off nationally in 2007 with a com-prehensive suicide prevention plan, as academics and govern-ment agencies identified at-risk groups. In 2016, regions got more freedom to develop plans

that fit local thinking.Corporations, prompted by law-suits from families of those who took their lives because of over-work, have made it easier to take leave; more offer psychological support, and a law caps over-time. The government mandates annual stress tests in companies with over 50 employees.Suicide has a long history in Japan as a way to avoid shame or dishonor, and getting psycho-logical help was stigmatized.But when suicides hit a peak

of 34,427 in 2003, it alarmed policymakers and drew foreign attention, often a catalyst for change in Japan. ìFor a long time, thinking was that suicide was a personal problem and so the government didnít really deal with it ó not just Akita, but the whole country,î said Hiroki Koseki, an Akita civil servant in charge of suicide prevention.POOR, ELDERLY, ALONESuicides have multiple causes, but experts say Akita has so many because of its remote-ness, lack of jobs, long winters, a large number of isolated and lonely elderly, and accumulat-ing debt.In 1999, Akitaís governor be-came the first in Japan to budget for suicide prevention. Amid positive media coverage, citizen and volunteer suicide prevention groups sprung up. Akita, with a population of just 981,000, now has one of the largest citizen help networks in Japan.ìBecause it was a personal problem, even governments said tax money shouldnít be used.

BBCScientists in the UK and Malaysia say they have discovered the world’s tallest tropi-cal tree measuring more than 100m (328ft) high. The lofty yellow meranti was spotted in a Borneo rainforest by a team from the Uni-versity of Nottingham last year. Researchers from the University of Oxford then carried out 3D scans and drone flights to confirm the record. The tree, found in the Danum Valley Con-servation Area in Sabah, has been named Menara, which is Malay for tower.Local climber Unding Jami, who scaled the tree with a measuring tape, said it was a «scary and windy» ascent.«But honestly the view from the top was incredible. I don’t know what to say other than it was very, very, very amazing,» he added.Dr Doreen Boyd, from the University of Nottingham, said the find was key because «it’s the science telling us these trees do exist, they are reaching heights we have perhaps never anticipated and there will be other tall trees out there that haven’t been discovered yet».«It tells us that we do need to protect these trees,» she said.

Arab NewsLONDON: The ‘Davidí-like physiology and ëNikeí wings were Greco-Roman, but his turban, beard and ësemiticí face, were unmistakably of the East. He sat majestically with one arm under his chin and his right foot atop a distill-ing retort. ìThose figures rep-resent the building blocks of Western civilization. Thereís Spain, England, the Middle Ages, even Islam is there for its contribution to science. Look, ëIslamí is written under the turbaned man.îThe tour guideís voice broke my meditative study of the Renaissance-style figures high up on the dome of the Tho-mas Jefferson building, inside Washington DCís Library of Congress.Painted in the 1890s by Ed-ward Homeland Blashfield, ìThe Evolution of Civilizationî suggests Islam played a far greater role in the develop-

ment of America than popular US history would have you believe.This fact is further reinforced by one of the libraryís most prized possessions, the Jef-ferson Qurían ó a two-volume 18th-century leatherbound English translation of Islamís holiest text that once belonged to the American founding fa-ther and third president, Tho-mas Jefferson.Along with the library’s dome, ìThe Quíran,î by George Sale, is part of a series of clues al-luding to Islamís relationship with the US, scattered across Washington DC.Around the corner, in the Smithsonian National Muse-um of African American His-tory, an exhibit honors the man often hailed as ëThe Greatestí American Muslim of all, box-ing legend Muhammad Ali.Northeast of this, on ìIslamic Wayî is a mosque linked to arguably America’s second-

most-famous Muslim, Mal-colm X. The Masjid Muham-mad, now a Sunni mosque, began life as the Nation of Islam Temple No.4, and was built using money personally raised by ëBrother Malcolmí before his conversion to Islam. It is not the capitalís only fa-mous mosque. On the oppo-site side of town, the Islamic Center offers a nod to historic Islamic art and architecture. The exterior of its mosque ó built in 1949 ó is modeled on classic north African, Fatimid architecture while, inside, the walls are decorated with blue Ottoman-style Iznik tiles and Quríanic calligraphy.Meanwhile, on the corner of 21st and Q NW is the Moroc-can Embassy ó one of the ear-liest established in the US, to acknowledge that the Muslim country was the first to recog-nize Americaís independence in 1776.But the true gem sits in an unfashionable neighborhood south of the River Anacostia. Americaís Islamic Heritage Museum on Martin Luther King Jr Ave W is the result of one man’s effort to unearth America’s Muslim history.ìIt all began when I discovered a West African ancestor on my fatherís side called Clara Higgenbotham, born in 1783 and enslaved in Brunswick, Georgia,î recalled Amir Nashid Ali Muhammad Ibn West, the museum’s founder. ìShe had a daughter called Amry Bakr ó a familiar Muslim surname.

In this photograph taken on February 13, 2019, Ruchi Taneja (L) teaches a group of Indian children studying with an app created by Planet Sparks that uses “gamified” teaching methods at a tuition centre in New Delhi. (AFP)

PAAmal Clooney has said she is “honoured” to have been appointed a special envoy on media freedom by the Foreign Office.The international human rights lawyer was appoint-ed by Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.She will also chair a panel of legal experts to find ways to prevent and re-verse media abuses.“Through my legal work defending journalists I have seen first-hand the ways in which reporters are being targeted and im-prisoned in an effort to si-lence them and prevent a free media,” she said.“I welcome the UK gov-ernment’s focus on this issue at a time when jour-nalists are being killed and imprisoned at record lev-els all over the world, and I look forward to working on new legal initiatives that can help to ensure a more effective interna-tional response.”The Foreign and Com-monwealth Office said that 2018 was the deadliest year for journalists, with 99 killed, 348 detained and 60 taken hostage by non-state groups.Mr Hunt said: “Violence against journalists has reached alarming levels globally and we cannot turn a blind eye.“The media has a crucial role to play in holding the powerful to account. There is no escaping the fact that draconian and outdated laws around the world are being used to restrict the ability of the media to report the truth.“Amal Clooney’s lead-ing work on human rights means she is ide-ally placed to ensure this campaign has real impact for journalists and the free societies who depend on their work.”

Arab NewsDUBAI: Jennifer Lopez released her latest music video on Sunday and chose to show off a larger-than-life outfit by a Dubai-based designer in the new clip.In the video for her new single ìMedicine,î the singer wears a ruffled outfit by Dubai-based fashion label Amato Couture.Created by Filipino designer Furne One, the creative force behind the la-bel, the piece hails from the 2018/19 couture collection and is dotted with crystals and pearl details.Lopez wears the outfit in a scene where she portrays a mysterious for-tune-teller, complete with a cloudy, white crystal ball.Lopez, who made headlines in early March when she got engaged to ex-baseball star Alex Rodriguez, is set to hit the stage on her first tour in six years over the summer.The tour, which will celebrate her 50th birthday, will see the industry legend perform across the US, in more than 25 cities.Itís not the first time the singer and

all-around superstar has picked out an outfit designed in the Middle East, however. She is known to be a fan of Lebanese couturier Elie Saab and even posed for People magazineís December issue wearing a gown by Lebanese designer Rami Kadi.In the interview accompanying the photographs, Lopez opened up about her bond with Rodriguez and her past relationships.In the wake of her divorce from singer Marc Anthony in 2014, Lopez said she went through a period of soul search-ing. ìI was done blaming other people ó he did this or he did that ó and I said to myself, no, itís you,î she told the magazine.ìI grew up sharing a bed with my sis-ters from the time I was born, (and then) it was one boyfriend, and then another, and then a husband, and (so on), and I realized youíve never been alone,î Lopez added.ìUntil I could really learn to be happy on my own and love myself, these re-lationships were never going to work out, no matter what. That was a big turning point for me.î

Dubai Fashion Label Nabs a Starring Role in Jennifer Lopezís New Music Video