Saudi Arabia frees two jailed Saudi Americans after 307 days

 Saudi Arabia has temporarily released two Saudi Americans who were jailed on alleged “terrorism-related” charges after more than 300 days of detention amid a stark change in US policy towards the kingdom.

Salah al-Haider, the son of a leading women’s rights activist and Bader al-Ibrahim, a writer and doctor, were set free on Thursday pending trial, according to campaigner groups.

This is welcomed progress, even though it is long overdue,” Freedom Initiative’s Bethany al-Haidari said in a statement.

“Bader al-Ibrahim and Salah al-Haider should have never been jailed in the first place and their release should certainly not be on a ‘temporary’ basis.”

The two dual nationals were arrested in April 2019 and charged with “terrorism” related charges. Their next court case is set for March 8 this year in Saudi Arabia’s Specialized Criminal Court (SCC).

“They have been detained, separated from loved ones, and tried as terrorists for simply expressing their views. Peaceful dissent is not terrorism,” al-Haidari added.

The news of their release was confirmed by Prisoners of Conscience human rights group as well.

Campaigners accuse the kingdom of using the SCC, or anti-terrorism court, to silence critical voices under the cover of fighting “terrorism”.

“We welcome and are closely monitoring the conditional release of US citizens Badr Al-Ibrahim and Salah Al-Haider,” a State Department spokesperson told the AFP news agency on Thursday.

Last month, a Saudi appeals court upheld the conviction of prominent Saudi American doctor Walid Fitaihi on charges that included “disobedience” against the kingdom’s rulers, a source close to his family told the AFP.

But the Harvard-educated doctor will effectively serve no jail time after the court reduced his six-year jail term handed down in December by half, and suspended a part of the remaining sentence, the source said.

Fitaihi, who still faces a travel ban and an assets freeze, has already served nearly two years in pre-trial detention.

The State Department spokesperson also welcomed the reduction of Fitaihi’s sentence.

“We remain in close contact with family members and we will continue to advocate for a swift resolution” of all three cases, they added.

‘A pariah’

Saudi authorities have not officially commented on the pair’s detention, charges or provisional release, which comes after Saudi Arabia accelerated political trials following US President Joe Biden’s election victory late last year.

Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Saudi Arabia has detained activists, religious leaders and royal family members in a sweeping crackdown on dissent over the last three years.

The detentions have cast a spotlight on the human rights record of the kingdom, an absolute monarchy which has also faced intense criticism over the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in its Istanbul consulate.

Marking a stark U-turn from his predecessor’s friendly approach towards Saudi Arabia, Biden pledged to make the kingdom a “pariah” over its human rights failings and made it clear the US would have reassessed its relations with Saudi Arabia “to make sure America does not check its values at the door to sell arms or buy oil”, he said in October.

On Friday, Biden announced an end to the US support for Saudi-led military offensive operations in Yemen highlighting a major humanitarian crisis.

A quarter of US weapons sales in the five years between 2014 and 2019 went to Saudi Arabia, up from 7.4 percent in 2010-2014, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Saudi Arabia began its military involvement in the war in Yemen in March 2015 which killed tens of thousands of people, including large numbers of civilians, and created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

UK expels Chinese spies posing as journalists: Report

 The United Kingdom has expelled three Chinese spies working in the UK while posing as journalists over the past year, the Daily Telegraph newspaper has reported.

The three were understood to be intelligence officers for Beijing’s Ministry of State Security, the paper said on Thursday, citing an unnamed senior government source.

“Their true identities were uncovered by MI5 and they have since been forced to return to China,” it said, referring to Britain’s domestic intelligence agency.

All three had claimed “to work for three different Chinese media agencies,” the source said, adding they had all arrived in the country over the past 12 months.

It did not name the Chinese media agencies.

UK-China relations have become increasingly strained as the UK has criticised Beijing over its crackdowns in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, and barred Huawei from its domestic 5G networks over security concerns.

On Thursday, British regulators revoked the licence of Chinese news network CGTN after finding its state-backed ownership structure broke UK law.

The regulator said CGTN’s licence holder, Star China Media Ltd, had failed to show it had editorial oversight over the network and that a proposed transfer to another media group would still keep it tied to the Chinese Communist Party.

The English-language satellite broadcaster has long faced criticism for parroting the Communist Party line in its global broadcasts.

In the United States, it is one of seven Chinese media outlets that have been designated as state-sponsored actors rather than as independent media.

Indian Muslim comic, jailed for jokes he never cracked, gets bail

India’s top court has granted interim bail to a Muslim stand-up comedian who was jailed for more than a month over jokes he did not tell, but was “going to”.

The comedian, 30-year-old Munawar Faruqui, was arrested on January 1 following a complaint by the son of a politician from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The complainant alleged Faruqui had made objectionable remarks about Hindu deities and the powerful home minister, Amit Shah, during a show at a cafe in the city of Indore.

Stand-up comedy has become hugely popular in India in recent years but some comedians have been criticised for poking fun at Modi’s Hindu nationalist party and its policies.

In his plea, Faruqui said police did not conduct investigations or collect any evidence before arresting him.

Indore police initially claimed “objectionable comments” were made against Hindu deities at the comedy event.

Later, the city’s superintendent of police, Vijay Khatri, told Article 14, an Indian news website, that Faruqui had not made the jokes during a performance but was “going to”.

On Friday, a Supreme Court bench said the allegations against Faruqui were vague and granted him interim bail.

Faruqui was not immediately available for comment.

Last month, creators of a show on Amazon’s streaming platform were charged with offending religious sentiments.

SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Denmark to create world’s first energy island in the North Sea

 Wind power hub will store enough green energy to cover electricity needs of three million European households.

Denmark has approved a plan to build the world’s first energy island in the North Sea that will produce and store enough green energy to cover the electricity needs of three million European households.

The artificial island, which in its initial phase will be the size of 18 football fields, will be linked to hundreds of offshore wind turbines and will supply both powers to households and green hydrogen for use in shipping, aviation, industry and heavy transport. It will connect to several European countries.

The move came as the European Union unveiled plans to transform its electricity system to rely mostly on renewable energy within a decade and increase its offshore wind energy capacity 25-fold by 2050.

“This is truly a great moment for Denmark and for the global green transition,” Danish Energy Minister Dan Jorgensen told a press briefing on Thursday.

“The energy hub in the North Sea will be the largest construction project in Danish history.

“[The island] will make a big contribution to the realisation of the enormous potential for European offshore wind,” he said.

The energy island, which will cost around 210 billion Danish kroner ($33.9bn) to build, is an important part of Denmark’s legally binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent by 2030 from 1990 levels, one of the world’s most ambitious.

The North Sea, a hub for renewable energy

The Nordic country, home to wind turbine maker Vestas and offshore wind farm developer Orsted, was with its favourable wind speeds a pioneer in both onshore and offshore wind, building the world’s first offshore wind farm almost 30 years ago.

In December, it decided to halt the search for oil and gas in the Danish part of the North Sea and hopes instead to make it a hub for renewable energy and carbon storage.

The island, to be located 80km off Denmark’s west coast, and its surrounding wind turbines will have an initial capacity of three gigawatts and be operational around 2033.

The government agency said that the capacity will eventually increase to 10 gigawatts.

No date has been set yet for the start of the construction of the island.

Denmark also has plans for an energy island in the Baltic Sea. The state will hold a controlling stake in both islands.

The Social Democratic government made the deal with eight parties in the Danish parliament, including the largest political groups.

“Only by inspiring others and developing new green solutions they also want to use, can we really do something to combat climate change,” Jorgensen said.

Shell’s profit slumps in 2020 due to COVID pandemic

 Royal Dutch Shell’s profit last year dropped to its lowest in at least 20 years as the coronavirus pandemic hit energy demand worldwide, though the company’s retail network and trading business helped cushion the blow.

The Anglo-Dutch oil major’s annual profit slumped 71 percent to $4.8bn as its oil and gas production and profits from refining crude into fuels dropped sharply.

In a sign of confidence, however, Shell said it planned to raise its dividend in the first quarter of 2021, which would be the second slight increase since it slashed its payout by two-thirds at the start of last year due to the pandemic.

Analysts say while Shell missed forecasts for both its fourth-quarter profit and cash flow, the results overall were not as bad as feared, especially after rival British BP posted a loss of $5.7bn earlier this week.

“We are coming out of 2020 with a stronger balance sheet,” Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said in a statement.

Shell shares were little changed at 09:15 GMT, slightly underperforming the broader European energy index.

Shares in Shell collapsed in 2020 along with rivals to hit 878.1 pence on October 28, their lowest in more than a quarter of a century. They have recovered since but are still down 40 percent since the end of 2019, before COVID-19 savaged oil markets.

US rivals Exxon Mobil and Chevron reported huge losses in 2020, battered by the prolonged slump in energy demand during pandemic lockdowns. BP’s loss was it’s first in 10 years while Exxon reported a massive $22.4bn annual loss, its first as a public company.

Low carbon strategy

Shell’s results come a week before it presents its long-term strategy to become a net-zero emissions company by the middle of the century and tries to persuade investors it has a profitable future in a low-carbon world.

It is planning a major restructuring as part of its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and aims to cut 9,000 jobs or more than 10 percent of its workforce.

The reorganisation will lead to additional annual savings of about $2-2.5bn by 2022, above and beyond cuts of $3-4bn announced last year.

Like its rivals, Shell responded to the unprecedented drop in oil and gas demand last year by cutting spending sharply.

Shell invested $17.8bn in new projects in 2020, about $6bn less than a year earlier, and slashed its operating costs by one percent to $32.5bn, helping its cash flow.

Reducing costs is vital for Shell’s plans to move into the crowded power sector and renewable energy where margins are typically lower than for fossil fuels.

It is betting on its expertise in power trading and rapid growth in hydrogen and biofuels markets as it shifts away from oil, rather than joining rivals in a scramble for renewable power assets.

Despite a 28 percent drop in fuel sales last year, Shell’s adjusted earnings from trading and marketing, which includes sales at its global network of more than 45,000 filling stations, only fell 3 percent from a year earlier to $4.6bn.

But at the same time, Shell’s cash flow was down nearly a fifth from 2019 while its debt-to-equity ratio rose to 32 percent from 29 percent, exceeding the company’s target.

At least 9 soldiers killed in latest central Mali attack

 The Malian army has said at least nine soldiers were killed and six others wounded following an ambush in the country’s volatile centre.

The attack occurred at about 6:15am (06:15 GMT) on Wednesday near the village of Boni in the Mopti region, a hotspot of recent violence.

In a Twitter post, the army said it hit back with air support from the French Barkhane force and the Malian air forces.

Army spokesman Colonel Soulemane Dembele told Reuters news agency about 20 attackers were also killed in the forces’ response.

Mopti, Mali – map

Mali has been plagued by a brutal conflict that began as a separatist movement in the north but soon devolved into a multitude of armed groups jockeying for control in the country’s central and northern regions.

The insecurity has spread across the arid scrublands of the Sahel, into Burkina Faso and Niger, with groups exploiting the poverty of marginalised communities and inflaming tensions between ethnic groups.

Attacks grew fivefold between 2016 and 2020, with 4,000 people killed in the three countries last year, up from about 770 in 2016, according to the United Nations.

It was not clear which group carried out the latest attack.

Rebel attacks in central Mali typically involve roadside bombs or hit-and-run raids on motorbikes or pickups.

The region has seen a string of deadly attacks since the start of the year, including a roadside bomb that killed four United Nations peacekeepers from Ivory Coast.

French and Malian troops have also carried out a joint mission in the area, called Operation Eclipse. According to a Malian army statement on January 26, “100 terrorists were neutralised” in the operation.

The deteriorating security situation has created an enormous humanitarian crisis across the Sahel, destroying fragile agricultural economies and hobbling aid efforts.

Ghana listed for 2.4m doses of Covid-19 vaccine by March

 There is some rare ray of hope in Ghana’s fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Since President Akufo-Addo’s announcement of steps to secure a vaccine, the first substantial progress in securing the products have been made public.

President Akufo-Addo had, in his Sunday night update on the nation’s measures regarding the pandemic, indicated that the country is expected to receive its first consignment of the vaccines in March 2021.

“..we are hopeful that, by the end of June, a total of 17.6 million vaccine doses would have been procured for the Ghanaian people,” he said January 31, 2021.

However, the latest update on the UN-led COVAX Facility, of which Ghana is a participant has revealed that the country is earmarked to take delivery of 2.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine which is licensed to the Serum Institute of India (AZ/SII).

Ghana is among 145 counties listed to receive vaccines from a number of suppliers through the COVAX Facility according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Per Wednesday’s announcement, “… delivery is estimated to begin as of late February, subject to WHO EUL, manufacturing supply capacity and completion of pre-requisites…”

According to the facility’s interim distribution document on February 3, 2021, the vaccine is expected to be administered to persons in key sectors such as health workers in the first quarter.

“This is in line with the facility’s target to reach at least 3% population coverage in all countries in the first half of the year, enough to protect the most vulnerable groups such as healthcare workers,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, a Pharmacist and Research Fellow at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has proposed that Ghana diversifies its sources for Covid-19 vaccine procurement.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express Tuesday, Dr Kwame Asiedu Sarpong is of the view that channeling all efforts in one direction may not do the country any good, hence the need to exploit all possible routes.

“We should diversify our route, so we can go in for the Russian vaccines that haven’t bilateral negotiations, similar with the UK, call in for AstraZeneca, we can go in for Novavax and go in for Covax as well.”