An unmanned Zephyr solar plane has flown for 7 days non-stop and is still in the air, according to the BBC’s Jonathan Amos.
The Zephyr is being tested at the US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, and will be brought down after it has flown for two weeks.
“Zephyr is basically the first ‘eternal aircraft’,” says project manager Jon Saltmarsh.
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(0)“Many people around the world have criticised their leaders for behaving like children. But perhaps our critics give us too much credit. If we took 191 children from each corner of the globe… if we explained the climate crisis to these children, I suspect they would act more sensibly than we do,” said President Nasheed at the ‘Cartagena Group / Dialogue for Progressive Action’ being held on Saturday and Sunday at Bandos Island resort near the Male’.
“I cannot accept that the Maldives must disappear, so others can carry on polluting,” he said.
“Deep divisions” obstructed progress at Copenhagen, Nasheed claimed. “[We] must start in Cancun by reaching agreement across all core issues, especially the inter-related issues of mitigation, finance, and monitoring, reporting and verification.”
Nations need to change the way they present the issue of climate change action to their domestic electorates, according to the President.
“Cutting carbon should not be considered a burden that will destroy jobs and hamper economic growth,” he said. “Instead, going green should be seen as the greatest economic opportunity since the Industrial Revolution.”
Transcript of President Nasheed’s speech
(0)Dislikes(0)With my own ears, I’ve heard more than one Maldivian long for death’s release. And the chills that ran down my spine the first time I heard it reside in me still, slowly corroding my hope for a better national future.
Recently – amidst the political turmoil that has dominated everyone’s consciousness – there was a spectacular suicide that captured us for the briefest of moments. A wayward youth, giving in to his inner turmoil, flung himself from the air traffic control tower – departing this world, not by meeting the ground below, but rather by meeting a hangman’s noose. His body left dangling, silently screaming his frustration and his surrender.
Did the abuse he endured in life end with his death? Was the respect and dignity he so desired afforded him after he passed from this world? No.
Accused of apostasy, people have called him a showoff for his ever-so-public last testament. A lunatic. Someone unworthy of sympathy. They have taunted him and scarred his memory and even gone to such as extent as to suggest that he should not be given his due burial rights. That he was not God’s creature and that his alleged disbelief in God meant he is somehow less than human.
With this poor soul, we have failed. Failed in offering alternatives to troubled youth. Failed in addressing the intolerance in our society. And we have failed in our duties as human beings.
Social Negligence
As a nation we have developed a culture of neglect. While being among the nosiest of peoples, constantly sticking our noses where they don’t belong, we have not taken the next step: actually caring about those around us and the plight of others.
The social ills we face are greater than I have seen in any other non-war-torn nation. Soaring sexual and drug abuse rates have become the widely accepted bane of our society. And those who are left with significant psychological damage are left without avenues for help. Those who have entered into depression, who feel their very soul being eaten away, and who no longer believe in the value of their lives, have no avenue for help. While physical abuses have only just started to be addressed, mental abuses of all denominations have been forgotten.
This culture of neglect must end. We have to encourage more therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists to come to this country. We have to convince government and private institutions that we cannot heal our nation if the souls of our nation remain in tatters. And we cannot continue to pretend that the local Imam is all knowing and qualified to deal with all manner of mental problems.
Ideologies of Intolerance
We especially have to stop pretending that neo-salafi ideologies based in the Hanbali school of Islamic Jurisprudence are competent enough to deal with this world’s problems and issues. I believe Islamic counseling has a place in our society; that it helps bring people fulfillment and that it is an integral (not primary) part of efforts such as drug counseling. However, the recent global trend towards the propagation of neo-salafi ideologies is something I cannot accept.
Not only is neo-salafism fundamentally against Maldivian culture and heritage, it is also the most intolerant of all the classical Islamic schools of jurisprudence. It does not allow the scholars of this ideology to relate to victims of mental abuse. It does not allow for varying thoughts to exist, which is necessary to help in the process of healing. Instead, this ideology calls for the strict imposition of their beliefs, wiping out whatever was there before – removing all traces of the person who once existed.
Would be Saviors
They see all the world as sinners, and themselves as the would be saviors of our nation. The salafis and all their ilk would save our society from all of our ills. They will bring us to heaven’s gate and lead us hand and foot into the Creator’s embrace, with never a moment’s consideration that such action would leave ours meaningless.
“We can talk about there being no compulsion in religion till we lose our voices, but conservatives will not care, and this will not lessen the number women being abused, or the number of atrocities being committed in our religion’s name,” Tariq Ramadan, Islamic scholar at Oxford University and grandson of the Islamic Brotherhood founder Hassan Al-Bana, told me at a conference on Islam and democracy in April.
I do not believe in secularism in the Maldives. But I do not accept neo-salafism as the only answer to it.
The Result of Conservatism
This poor soul, Ismail Mohamed Didi, was pushed to the edge as a result of the conservative ideologies present in our society. Those who knew him well have all attested that he was “a nice guy” who did not impose his atheism in others. The problem was that some who knew of his beliefs were offended by the fact that he had them to begin with, hence the official complaint and investigation. It is pure and simple: blatant intolerance is surpassing our need to have love for our fellow Maldivians.
Maldivians are becoming fanatical in their beliefs and the world has started to notice. We are importing Saudi-based neo-salafi ideologies rooted in the Hanbali School of Islamic jurisprudence. Out of the 1.5 billion Muslims on earth, only 10 percent of the Islamic world agrees with this interpretation. An interpretation, mind you, which refuses to accept the validity of any of the other classical forms of Islamic jurisprudence.
Religion is not something you wear on your sleeve, or with a long beard or Arabian dress. The growing norm in Maldivian culture is a complete eradication of it, because today in Maldives to be a better Muslim, you need to be a better Arab. Forget Indonesia, Malaysia, and even Egypt, because those are apparently not real Muslims. They are not educated enough. And even though many of their scholars have a lifetime of learning behind them, they do not see the truth.
Really?
Our Choice
Social negligence, which has existed for time immemorial, mixed with the newly institutionalised ideologies of intolerance have proven to be in this instance a fatal concoction. And this darkness has spread through our nation.
We all have a choice to make. We either chose to stand in the light, or to recede further into darkness. We each need to take responsibility for our actions and inaction. We each need to take responsibility for our society and the ills we see in it. We need to stand up for what is right; turning away from ignorance, hatred, intolerance and complete societal degradation. It starts with each and every one of us.
All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of Minivan News. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to [email protected]
(0)Dislikes(0)People’s Alliance (PA) leader Abdulla Yameen has told local media outlets that he is being held against his will by the Maldives National Defence Force.
The MNDF has claimed Yameen sought their protection after violent clashes between MDP supporters, police and another group outside his house on the evening of July 14.
The leader of the minor opposition party, who was last week released from house arrest by the Supreme Court, had been accused by the government of corruption, bribery and treason. The MNDF have refused to present Yameen in court, despite an order from the Criminal Court on July 15.
The government has meanwhile said it intends to monitor the judiciary to ensure corruption does not obstruct the judicial process.
Speaking to private broadcaster DhiTV from the Presidential Retreat ‘Aarah’ last night, Yameen said he was contacted repeatedly by Chief of Defence Force Moosa Ali Jaleel and told that the army had orders to take him under protection by force if necessary.
Providing his account of the incident, Yameen stressed that he refused the offer of protection and requested that security forces control the crowd outside his residence.
He added that Moosa Jaleel informed him between 12:00am and 1:00am on Wednesday night that MNDF had “no choice” but to take him under military guard.
Yameen said he was at PA MP Ahmed Nazim’s house at the time when crowds began gathering outside his residence.
“MNDF suddenly somehow knew that I was at Nazim’s house and MNDF soldiers came and took over the whole area,” he said. “They started banging on the door and threatened to come in. Finally, my lawyer Abbas Shareef who was outside called me and said they have warned that they will break down the door and charge in if I did not come out.”
As he was a guest at Nazim’s house and did not wish to “dragged away so inhumanely”, Yameen continued, he left with the officers because “I was forced to and did not have any choice.”
Yameen, former Trade Minister and younger brother of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, strongly criticised the government’s handling of the political unrest in the capital.
“Imagine, every night they come out and smash and destroy so many places,” he said. “What about the rights of my neighbours? It wasn’t just my house that was damaged. What about the children that are traumatised?”
Yameen called on the security forces not to be “too concerned with one individual” and ensure the safety of the public.
“They know who it is that come out like this every time and holler,” he said. “They will do well to take legal action against those people. In no event should they have to neglect maintaining peace and all the soldiers come and protect me.”
Yameen and Nazim along with MP Gasim Ibrahim is currently under investigation for alleged corruption involving “cash for votes” in parliament.
A press release issued by the President’s Office on Thursday states that the unrest was precipitated by an attack on the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) rally on Wednesday night.
It adds that a group of people tried to incite violence and attacked participants at the rally.
In his weekly radio address on Friday, President Mohamed Nasheed said the government was “forced” to isolate political leaders after considering the consequences of inaction.
“Therefore, the isolated individuals will remain so for now,” he said. “The government has now decided to carry on with this.”
The Maldives was experiencing “teething pains” with the present political crisis, Nasheed continued, as multi-party democracy was in still in its infancy.
“When we mature for such a system, we have to always accept that we have to face a number of things that are inevitable and unanticipated,” he said. “I want to assure citizens, we have complete confidence that we can face this. We see the bigger picture. We know the difficulty we are facing today. God willing, we will emerge from it, and no matter how hard the road we have to walk, I have complete confidence that we can walk down it.”
Despite Nasheed’s apparent confidence in resolving the country’s political deadlocks lawfully and peacefully, the outbreak of violence has drawn the attention of international bodies such as the UN.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement “urging all political parties to restrain those who promote violence and confrontation, and to resolve their differences through dialogue.”
“Political rivalries should not be allowed to jeapardise the significat gains the country has registered in democratic reform,” Ki-moon said, pledging the assistance of the UN in resolving the situation.
The UN “recogises the positive steps taken by the Maldives to advance democracy in recent years, and underlines the importance of cooperation and accomodation among the various political actors as an essential ingredient of building democracy,” the statement read.
The United States has meanwhile urged the Maldives to accept offers of mediation from the international community to resolve the political crisis.
“We call on all sides to refrain from violence and to come together to resolve disagreements through dialogue,” the US Embassy in Colombo said.
US Ambassador Patricia Butenis and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse have already held mediation sessions in the country to resolve a deadlock between the executive and what President Nasheed has described as “elements within parliament.”
(0)Dislikes(0)Dengue fever is on the rise across the Maldives, especially in Male’, and children are the main victims, according to the Maldivian Centre for Community Health and Disease Control (CHDC).
Official records show 473 cases have been reported for 2010 up to the first week of July, and children aged between one and nine years are the most effected by the virus. “There have been no fatalities reported so far,” says the CHDC.
“In January, we had 24 cases of dengue, and in April it climbed to 28,” says Zeenath Ali Habeeb, media co-ordinator for Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH). Figures from IGMH show that cases almost doubled in May to 50, and by June they reached 57.
Each year with the onset of the monsoon, there is an increase in the number of people with dengue, according to Dr Solah, senior medical officer at CHDC. Rain water in containers of any kind can become mosquito breeding grounds, and this is the main reason for the increased incidence of dengue.
The vector control unit carries out regular programmes to ensure mosquito breeding grounds are controlled, says Dr Solah, who has confidence in the capacity of the country’s hospitals to handle dengue cases even though there is no specific cure.
“Hospitals can only give supportive treatment, like providing lots of fluids,” he explains. “The decline in fatalities over the years shows that our expertise has improved in handling dengue.”
Despite the regular occurrence of dengue, health authorities say it cannot be prevented. “We are managing it as best as possible,” claims Dr Solah, “with regular inspections by the vector control unit, and advising islands and atolls to destroy mosquito breeding grounds.”
Efforts to eradicate dengue are hampered by “the absence of any laws” to penalise people and owners of buildings who habitually refuse to clean out water containers that are fertile breeding grounds for mosquitoes, according to Dr Solah.
Few cases of dengue have been officially reported in the islands. Most of the known cases are in the capital. Numerous construction sites and congested living conditions mean the inhabitants of the capital are more likely to suffer from dengue, Dr Solah believes. “Lack of human resources to tackle the issue is another problem,” he says. Monitoring and constant surveillance of the situation requires trained entomologists.
“Collective efforts at the individual, social and government level are needed to tackle this public health issue.”
Shocking Global Dengue Infection Rates
The World Health Organisation estimates that each year 50 million adults and children are infected with dengue, although other estimates place the figure as high as 100 million. Deaths from the disease are estimated at 25,000 per year. It is endemic in more than 100 countries.
Dengue is a disease of urban and semi-urban environments – those favoured by its main mosquito vectors Aedes aegypti and the Aedes albopictus, both of which feed during daylight or when dwellings have their lights switched on. There are four dengue viruses and nearly 2.5 billion people, 40 percent of the world’s population, are at risk of infection.
The official statistics, relying on diagnoses by doctors at hospitals, only hint at the extent of the problem. In Africa, dengue infection and death rates are hidden by lack of statistical reporting, and the situation is similar in India.
In the Philippines this year nearly 26,000 cases have been treated in the country’s hospitals and 190 people have been killed by the virus. The province of Davao del Sur has been declared a “state of calamity”.
Malaysia is experiencing a resurgence of dengue with over 23,500 official cases so far this year and eight deaths. For the whole of 2009, there were 24,817 people diagnosed with the disease.
In Thailand, official statistics show over 26,000 dengue infection cases nationwide and 30 fatalities between January and June this year, with 6 deaths during a week in June.
Sri Lanka has had nearly 25,000 dengue victims and 132 deaths this year. On 15 July, Sri Lanka’s Education Ministry issued a circular to schools making it compulsory for every school to reserve half an hour for two days each week to clean school grounds and class rooms.
In Burma, there are reports of more than 900 people infected with six deaths in the Rangoon district, and outbreaks of plague and dengue fever spreading through military units in Naypyidaw, the Burmese military regime’s seat of government.
Vietnam has reported over 5,000 cases this year.
Statistics are scarce for India, but Bangalore city, which has spent millions of rupees on prevention campaigns, reports 159 dengue cases so far. In Delhi, there are concerns about spread of dengue when the city hosts the Commonwealth Games in October, a month when there is a high prevalence of vector-borne diseases.
Dengue infections are rising in Yemen and dozens of people have been killed there this year.
“I receive calls on a daily basis from patients and relatives of the dead seeking help… many people died at home as they were unable to cover the cost of treatment in hospitals,” said Abdulbari Dughaish, a member of parliament (MP) from the Aden, in a report from UN’s IRIN website.
In Central and South America, dengue epidemics are raging, with hundreds of deaths.
Brazil had nearly 750,000 official cases of dengue and 321 deaths from the disease in the first five months of 2010. Colombia has been reporting thousands of new cases each week. In Venezuela, nearly 50,000 people have caught dengue this year.
Other countries in that region are also experiencing severe dengue infection rates. Honduras reports over 15,000 cases with 19 deaths – a state of emergency due to dengue was declared in June. Guatemala – 4,400 cases. Martinique – 5,300 cases since the end of February. Dominican Republic – 4700 dengue cases with 24 deaths. French Guiana – 6300 cases, and Paraguay – nearly 11,000.
(4)Dislikes(0)The first thing that strikes you are the colours. Different hues of orange and blue dance flirt with each other on the canvas.
The colours beckon and invite you to look at Maldives through the eyes of an Indian painter.
‘Jyotirgamay-towards light’ is an exhibition by Shashi Thakur.
“I’ve captured everything I feel about this country and painted it on canvas,” says the jovial Shashi.
Maldives on different mediums
Shashi’s vision of Maldives is beautifully captured using different mediums. Oil on canvas brings alive a scene of boduberu. Two men dance with wild abandon, their feyli vivid, the white strips striking, their red shirts wirls while the sea behind whirls.
The sand seems to shift beneath their feet, two herons dancing in rhythm.
A surfer rides in the midst of a surf wave. The brush strokes flow from underneath him and cocoons him in its midst.
“I used Indian ink on formica here, the ink is almost transparent on the smooth surface and there’s a flow to it,” she explains.
Shashi feels that despite the diversity of medium used there is a unity in the paintings.
In Shashi’s paintings the sea churns, swirls, raises – and it’s never far off. Her signature style – quick brush strokes using one colour and mixing them straight on the canvas – gives a zigzag feel to each line.
She has painted fishermen. The entire painting is in blue different hues of it. The fishermen reel in the fish, while the sea swirls and blue arches emanate from a light source on the horizon.
“With the emergence of the glorious sun, I also emerge but unwillingly, from beloved sea,” reads one of the lyrical captions by the Indian High Commissioner, Dnyanesshwar M Mulay, adding a poetic dimension to the paintings.
“The paintings are full of the vibrancy of longing, surging, churning and convergence that enrich life and its process” says Mulay of Shashi’s paintings.
Shashi says the act of painting is almost like a meditation for her, “I’m searching for light, when I with my canvas, I am going towards light.”
Light is very much present in her paintings. Either as a white bird in flight in a painting of a women caught between the surging waves and the orange horizon in front. Or the light that emanates from the surface of all her underwater paintings.
“Luckily here you can stand chest deep in water and still see beautiful corals,” says Shashi, who is planning a dive in the underwater submarine to finally see underwater beauty in all its glory.
Art scene in the Maldives
“Artists all over the world are the same, when I meet other artists I feel like they are my soul mates.”
Among Maldivian painters, Shashi says she particularly likes the works of Suja and Mariyam Omar: “I am fascinated with Mariyam’s style, and her use of coffee in her paintings.”
Shashi has a work in progress, at the art gallery. When art students come by she shows her signature style and lets them try on the canvas: “When they try they know how easy or difficult it is.”
Plans are afoot to bring a group of Indian painters to Maldives in the near future.
“I want them to stay in Maldives for a while and paint this country in their own style,” she says.
She rues the fact that paintings are bought from abroad to adorn walls here.
“Mr Mulay will be conducting an auction of the paintings on the 20th night of this month,” she says, hoping this will encourage more businessmen to buy paintings straight from the painter.
Some of the proceeds will be donated to charity.
Viewed through the paintings of Shashi, the Maldives is a diverse colorful place bursting with energy and beauty.
Jyotirgamay-Towards Light will be held in in National Art Gallery until 22 July 2010. The gallery will be open from 11:15 till 16:00 & 20:00 till 22:30 on weekdays.
(1)Dislikes(0)Five people have been taken into custody by the Maldives Police Service and Maldives National Defence Forces (MNDF) under a joint special operation launched last night to quell violence and unrest in the capital.
A police media official confirmed that five people were arrested in separate incidents in Male’.
Shortly before midnight, police dispersed a crowd of ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) supporters demanding the arrest of Deputy Speaker of Parliament Ahmed Nazim outside his residence, Galolhu Aabin.
Balcony windows of the People’s Alliance MP’s first floor apartment were smashed before riot police moved in.
The MP for Dhiggaru is currently under house arrest accused of bribery and attempting to influence independent institutions as well as cause physical harm to political opponents.
Announcing the joint special operation at a press conference last night, Major Abdul Raheem said MNDF assistance was requested by the Home Minister and appealed for cooperation from the public.
Denying any connection to the ongoing corruption investigation involving opposition MPs, Chief Inspector Hamdhoon Rasheed stressed that the measures were in response to growing public disorder triggered by political unrest and a resurgence of gang violence after the end of the World Cup.
“[…] We began [the operation] because some political parties are trying to create further chaos in the island using these roving gangs,” he said. “What we want is to ensure that this is a safe environment for those who don’t want any involvement in this or just wants to live peacefully.”
He added that gang attacks on rival camps set up to screen World Cup matches had taken place sporadically and was currently on the rise.
Opposition parties have blamed the unrest on angry mobs of MDP supporters gathering outside opposition MPs’ and judges’ residences.
While 18 people were taken into custody on Wednesday night following the disturbance at the MDP rally, Hamdhoon said all have since been released.
Asked whether police had arrested masked assailants that allegedly tried to attack President Mohamed Nasheed, the Chief Inspector answered no.
Hamdhoon further defended police handling of violent clashes outside opposition MP Abdulla Yameen’s residence after police reportedly took 40 minutes to intervene with tear gas.
(0)Dislikes(0)“Many people were ready for direct action to show the level of their disapproval of corruption,” said President Nasheed today in his weekly radio address. “Government, therefore, is forced to take swift measures, and do whatever possible to find a solution for corruption.”
The President was commenting on the recent political turmoil in Male where senior opposition figures in the Majlis were charged with bribery and treason, and then released by Supreme Court judges. A Criminal Court judge suspended the police prosecutors.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Maldivian Democratic Party, of which Presdient Nasheed is a leading member, staged demonstrations in the capital calling for an end to corruption, and condemning the decisions of the judges.
(0)Dislikes(0)The government is behind the unrest in the capital Male’, claims the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP), accusing the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of openly attacking and damaging the property of political opponents.
Following the launch of MDP’s nationwide protests against corruption on Wednesday, crowds of people gathered outside opposition MPs residences as well as the homes of some judges over the past two nights, leading to violent clashes, injuries to civilians and police officers as well as damage to property.
A press release by DQP claims that the MDP serial protest has been “a disaster” for businesses and has made movement in the capital “a burden”.
“While MDP’s leaders happen to be leaders of the Maldivian government as well, the best venue for putting forward MDP’s proposals is not the streets of Male’,” it reads.
The party calls on MDP to immediately cease its activities in Male’, which are intended to “protect the interests of certain people” by fueling political tensions and creating unrest in the capital.
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