Category: News in Brief

Obama announces end to Iraq war

United States President Barack Obama has declared an end to the seven-year American combat mission in Iraq, saying that the United States had met its responsibility and it was now time to turn to domestic problems.

In a prime-time address from the Oval Office, the New York Times observed Obama balancing praise for the US troops who fought and died in Iraq with his conviction that getting into the conflict had been a mistake in the first place.

“But he also used the moment to emphasise that he sees his primary job as addressing the weak economy and other domestic issues — and to make clear that he intends to begin disengaging from the war in Afghanistan next summer,” the NYT wrote.

“We have sent our young men and women to make enormous sacrifices in Iraq, and spent vast resources abroad at a time of tight budgets at home,” Obama said. “Through this remarkable chapter in the history of the United States and Iraq, we have met our responsibility. Now, it’s time to turn the page.”

“Over the last decade, we have not done what is necessary to shore up the foundation of our own prosperity. We have spent over a trillion dollars at war, often financed by borrowing from overseas. This, in turn, has shortchanged investments in our own people, and contributed to record deficits. For too long, we have put off tough decisions on everything from our manufacturing base to our energy policy to education reform. As a result, too many middle class families find themselves working harder for less, while our nation’s long-term competitiveness is put at risk.”

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US President’s address

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Police recover Rf500,000 stolen from Galaxy Enterprises

The Maldives Police Service has recovered more than Rf500,000 (US$39,000) suspected stolen from Galaxy Enterprises, report police.

Police said two men were arrested with the money, believed to have been stolen from Galaxy Enterprises. Police said they discovered money, bank cheques and a destroyed safe near where the men were arrested.

The police property and commercial crime department is investigating the case.

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US expresses commitment to cooperation with MNDF

The United States is committed to continued cooperation with the Maldivian military to promote safety and security in the Indian Ocean region, stated the US Army’s Command Sergeant Major Iuniasolua Savusa addressing graduates of the Maldives’ inaugural Warrant Officer/Sergeants Major course.

The Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF) held the graduation ceremony at the newly-constructed Non-Commissioned Officers’ Academy.

Cmd Sgt Maj Savusa is the senior enlisted soldier in the United States Pacific Command.

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RISSC report ranks State Islamic Minister among top 500 most influential Muslims

The Maldives’ State Minister for Islamic Affairs Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has been placed among the top 500 most influential Muslims, but the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISC) in e Kingdom of Jordan.

The report, entitled “The 500 Most Influential Muslims – 2010”, commends Sheikh Shaheem for providing “good leadership to his ministry, especially in the drafting of regulations under the Religious Unity Act of the Maldives which, he believes, will provide a legal framework to protect Islam.”

The report also acknowledges Sheikh Shaheem’s “collaboration with the Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) to introduce a new television channel which will focus on relating Islam to the broader issues of society.”

The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre is an independent research entity affiliated with the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought is an international Islamic non-governmental, independent institute headquartered in Amman, the country’s capital.

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President appoints JSC and CSC members

President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed three members to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), the independent body charged with oversight of the judiciary.

The three new members – Supreme Court Judge Adam Mohamed Abdulla, High Court Judge Abdulla Ghanee, and Mohamed Fahmee Hassan, President of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), took their oath of membership of JSC before Supreme Court judge Abdulla Areef and were presented with letters of appointment.

President Mohamed Nasheed also appointed Mohamed Fahmee Hassan as the President and Ahmed Hassan Didi as the Vice President of the Civil Service Commission.

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John Keells Holdings switches leases from Alidhoo to Dhonveli

John Keells Holdings has concluded a leasing switch of tourism properties in the Maldives, according to a report in the Sri Lankan Sunday Times.

In a statement to the Colombo Stock Exchange, the diversified group which – together with Aitken Spence – is a large Sri Lankan leisure operator in neigbouring Maldives, said that it “divested the head lease of loss-making Alidhoo Island as consideration received the head lease of Dhonveli Island for a period of 18 years.”

The group previously had a sublease of Dhonveli until 2021.

“While the transaction itself will not result in a capital gain or loss in the profit and loss statement of the group, the sale of the loss making Alidihoo Island, which is located in the Northern-most atoll in the Maldives and the acquisition of the head lease of Dhonveli Island, which is profitable and just fifteen minutes by speed boat from the capital Male, will have a positive impact on the profitability of the group going forward,” the statement said.

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Maldivian mother give birth to conjoined twins

A Maldivian mother has reportedly given birth to conjoined twins in Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH).

Hospital Spokesperson Zeenath Ali declined to disclose information about the twins, stating that the family had requested that information regarding the incident not be disclosed, and that the hospital’s medical staff also did not wish to disclose any information about the babies.

“Truly, we also do not know about it,” she said, adding that the hospital’s record system “will only show that a person gave birth, and does not include what kind of baby was born or its condition.”

Local newspaper Haveeru, which claimed to have pictures of the twins, reported that they were both female and shared the one heart, and that their condition was serious.

Conjoined twins, also known as ‘Siamese twins’, is a rare phenomenon thought to occur between one in every 50,000 to 100,000 births, with a higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa, and a greater frequency among females.

Approximately half conjoined twins are stillborn, while a smaller percentage of those pairs born alive  “have abnormalities incompatible with life”, according to Wikipedia’s entry on the subject.

The overall survival rate for conjoined twins is approximately 25 percent, while most cases of surgery to separate twins are extremely risky and life-threatening.

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MBC to take MNBC issue to court

The Maldives Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), established under a law enacted by parliament, has said it will take the government-created state media body Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC) to court, in a dispute over which organisation would take control of the state media’s assets.

Daily newspaper Haveeru reported that the MBC will request in the Civil Court that the MNBC transfer all the assets, money and staff of MNBC to MBC.

Political Adviser for the President, Hassan Afeef, recently stated that the MNBC would not be dissolved even though parliament had established the MBC.

Afeef claimed that the two channels of the state media, Voice of Maldives and Television Maldives, were assets of MNBC and no asset of a company shall be transferred to another company without the consent of the owners, and that therefore the two channels could not be given to MBC.

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