Paul, the world’s leading octopus fortune teller, has selected Spain as the winner of the 2010 World Cup.
The so-far infallible invertebrate, also known as the mighty mollusc medium, picked the outcome of all six of Germany’s World Cup matches so far, and took only three minutes to tip Spain to beat the Netherlands.
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(0)The Solar Impulse plane powered by 12,000 solar cells on airliner-size wings has flown through the night with three hours of power to spare.
It flew for 14 hours in daylight to accumulate energy for the night section of its flight.
After 26 hours in the air, pilot Andre Borschberg landed the prototype aircraft at Payerne airbase in western Switzerland.
(0)Dislikes(0)Police today arrested Deputy Speaker of the Parliament and People’s Alliance (PA) MP Ahmed Nazim, after laying sieging to his house for half a day.
According to the warrant issued by the court this afternoon, police are seeking to question Nazim on matters concerning bribery, attempting to influence and threaten independent commissions, and attempting to physically harm political figures.
Police waited outside Nazim’s house from 11:00pm last night in an attempt to take him into questioning, but he remained inside. After several attempts by police to obtain a warrant, the court this afternoon issued a warrant for police to enter Nazim’s house without his permission.
Newspaper Haveeru reported that Nazim was taken to Dhoonidhoo police custodial.
A police spokesman said that police have been trying to summon Nazim for days regarding the investigation of a case reported to police.
”We last night informed the Speaker of the Parliament (Abdulla Shahid) that police needed to summon Nazim and had tried to take him [in for questioning], but Nazim did not co-operate with the police,” he said. ”He is now under police observation.”
He said that Nazim was “not arrested but summoned”.
Police recently arrested People’s Alliance (PA) leader Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom and Jumhoory Party (JP) leader Gasim ‘Buruma’ Ibrahim on charges of bribery and treason, after the case was reported to police by the President’s Office.
Days afterwards, several recordings believed to be of MPs discussing the sale of political influence and obstruction of bills were leaked to the media.
”The leaked audio clips were edited versions of the real clips,” claimed DRP MP Ahmed Nihan. ”They edited it in a way that they can achieve what they wanted.”
Local media have claimed that one of the voices in the leaked audio clips was Nazim’s.
DRP MP Ahmed Nihan however condemned the arrest of the PA MP.
”This is what the government does to threaten the opposition,” said Nihan. ”He threatens the opposition leaders and MPs physically and mentally.”
Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP Ahmed Mahlouf said he ”always knew that dictator’s Nasheed’s actions would be like this.”
”Right after the peace talks [mediated by US Ambassador Patricia Butenis and more recently, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa] concluded, police went to arrest Nazim,” said Mahlouf. ”President Nasheed tries to solve problems by creating them.”
Mahlouf said that arresting Nazim “was like arresting the Vice President.”
”President Nasheed is very dangerous. I would do not think he would be afraid to shoot people either,” Mahlouf added.
Nihan claimed the government was now expecting opposition parties to hold demonstrations that would deteriorate the situation of the country further, in order to charge more opposition leaders and MPs.
”President Nasheed will be behind everything,” Nihan said. ”MDP is a party that never respects their words and their pledges.”
He said that the ‘new’ cabinet reinstated yesterday was unlawful and that the parliament would not approve some of the ministers.
Yesterday the President’s Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair claimed the wording of the constitution was such that parliament was only required to assent to a cabinet as a whole, and was not required to endorse individual ministers.
In a joint press statement this morning, the Nasheed and Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa said the government and the opposition had agreed to constitute a six member Majlis committee “to carry forward a dialogue addressing such pressing issues as the appointment of the cabinet of ministers and the smooth functioning of the legislative process.”
Nazim chairs the parliamentary finance committee, which was at loggerheads with the Ministry of Finance over additions parliament made to the budget, such as the restoration of civil servant salaries.
Nazim also put forward a motion to dismiss former Auditor General Ibrahim Naeem, after he was accused of corruption by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for using the government’s money to buy a tie and visit Thulhaidhu in Baa Atoll.
Naeem claimed the charges were an attempt to discredit his office and prevent him from reclaiming the government’s money stored in overseas bank accounts.
“A lot of the government’s money was taken through corrupt [means] and saved in the banks of England, Switzerland, Singapore and Malaysia,” Naeem had claimed two weeks prior, announcing a financial audit of all current and former ministers.
Nazim the previous week had pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the former ministry of atolls development while he was Managing Director of Namira Engineering and Trading Pvt Ltd.
Both Nazim and Speaker of the Parliament DRP MP Abdulla Shahid did not respond to Minivan News at time of press.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Deputy Principal of Lale Youth International School Suleiman Atayev has fled the country, along with the computer studies teacher Yunus Yildiz.
Both staff members left seperately on flights on Sunday and Monday evening, and did not inform the school they were leaving.
Managing Director of Biz Atoll Abdulla Jameel, the Maldivian company responsible for the school which operates it under agreement with a group of Turkish businessmen after acquiring it from the former government, confirmed the unannounced departure of the two staff members.
“It is true. We have no idea why they left. We recently brought some changes to management and demoted the deputy principal [Atayev] to a teacher. I have no idea why the computer teacher left,” he said.
Minivan News understands that the pair were also implicated as suspects in the assault case facing Akar, after school staff testified against him.
Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam said while Akar’s case was before court, there was “no specific evidence” to hold the two other staff members in the Maldives.
Akar’s passport was confiscated by police at immigration when he attempted to flee the country in May, shortly after Minivan News published an investigative report containing allegations by parents and staff members against him. He attempted to flee a second time and was detained in police custody.
An assistant principal also fled the country in January after Minivan first published allegations of child abuse raised by parents.
Atayev, who announced himself acting principal following Serkan’s detention by police, previously told Minivan News he was confident charges against the former principal would be proven false.
He was also very critical of the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) investigation into the school: “They are refusing to tell us the nature of the complaints they are investigating. They are supposed be about human rights but they are not respecting ours,” he told Minivan News in May.
Shiyam said today that police were aware that the HRCM report “contains a lot of information against the school.”
“It has been a difficult investigation for us because of [a lack] of people coming forward to give evidence. We are still investigating,” he said.
Among nearly 50 recommendations, HRCM’s report recommended “that police should investigate the physical and psychological abuse going on at the school as an urgent concern,” and “separate those suspected of physical abuse from the school’s students until the police investigation is concluded.”
HRCM also recommended that the Education Ministry terminate its contract with Biz Atoll, “and hand over management as soon as possible to a qualified party.”
Deputy Education Minister Shifa Mohamed said the Education Ministry was under the impression that Suleiman Atayev was still the school’s acting principal, however Deputy Education Minister Dr Abdulla Nazeer said the Ministry was not required to be aware of the “hiring or firing of staff by school management.”
“I understand two deputy principals have been terminated – one local, the other expat,” he said.
Jameel confirmed that Turkish national Mohamed Akis Erdogan has taken over as principal of Lale, while Maldivian Moosa Rasheed has been appointed as deputy principal.
“The school is much better now,” he promised.
Dr Nazeer said he had met Erdogan on several occasions and had found him to be “educated and academic”.
“He has an undergraduate degree, a masters and a teaching diploma,” Dr Nazeer said, “the type of qualifications we require for the position of a principal.”
He said he was unable to comment on the validity of Erdogan’s qualifications, and had requested Biz Atoll validate them with the Maldives Accreditation Board (MAB).
He would not comment on whether the departure of so many senior staff members this year raised questions about Biz Atoll’s hiring practices, but noted that “when the school was given to Biz Atoll, I am not sure the previous government made the financial and other checks that needed to be done before handing over a school. Now, based on our criteria for public-private partnerships, I wouldn’t say these requirements had been checked.”
The Ministry was constrained by the “relatively simple contract, which had no minimum standards or a termination clause,” he said. “The Ministry has now amended the contract [to include these].”
The contract, together with the HRCM report, have been forward to the Attorney General’s office by the Education Ministry, which expects to receive an answer by next week as to whether the government can withdraw the school from Biz Atoll.
Minivan News investigated the school in May, after parents and staff members aired concerns that the school was a ‘cardboard’ front for an international tax and visa racket operating out of Turkey, whereby Turkish businesses would allegedly make tax-free charitable donations through the company funding the schools in tax-friendly countries, and reclaim the funds through disproportionately high wages paid to local staff ‘in’ on the scheme.
One staff member reported sighting “bundles” of Rf 500 notes being given to Turkish staff, while a parent claimed to have spoken to one of the Turkish businessmen involved with the school, who had boasted that his business donated money to the school because under Turkish taxation law he did not have to pay taxes on it.
Another teacher told Minivan News that “Turkish teachers escort Turkish businessmen around the school on a weekly basis, and regularly make trips to Turkey. We certainly couldn’t afford to go to Turkey on our salaries, and this is a school that can’t even afford clocks or light bulbs.”
“A lot of money is going somewhere,” another suggested.
The school, which was provided to Biz Atoll free by the government, reportedly receives 50 percent of its funding from a group of Turkish businessmen who pour charity funds into schools in several developing countries, including Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia and Cambodia. Minivan News understands the new principal has arrived from a school belonging to the group in India.
Overshadowing repeated controversies over the school’s management is the issue of capacity. The school, which Minivan News understands was built to accommodate almost 1000 grade school students, currently has an enrolment of 98, not including the preschool.
“That is a major concern for us and we have raised it three or four times,” Dr Nazeer said. The government intends to build many homes and flats in Hulhumale and if every flat has 2-3 kids, we anticipate that the population of children [on the island] will double or even triple. So we need to better utilise the schools [on Hulhumale].”
(0)Dislikes(0)The Human Rights Commission of the Maldives (HRCM) has expressed concern that the media has been publishing “personal telephone calls” and “other types of private conversation” between people.
HRCM issued a press release noting that article 24 of the constitution says that ‘everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his private communications, and that every person must respect these rights with respect to others.’
‘’We have noted that this causes people to hesitate before conducting private conversation,’’ said the statement.
“[Furthermore] article 52 of the constitution says that no evidence shall be obtained by unlawful means.’’
The statement said that under article 18 of the constitution it was the responsibility of the state to protect the rights and freedom of the people.
“All the medias should provide information in a manner that will not disrupt the humanitarian sanctity and honor of any person,’’ the commission said. “We call on the media to use the freedom of press according to the laws with responsibility.’’
Recently telephone conversations believed to be voice of MPs discussing the sale of votes for political influence were promulgated through the local media.
(0)Dislikes(0)Police failed to arrest Majlis deputy speaker and Dhiggaru MP Ahmed Nazim when he arrived home at Aabin in Galolhu ward, reports Haveeru.
The arrest attempt failed when residents of the house prevented police from entering without a warrant, according to Haveeru, and Nazim’s lawyer and several opposition MPs also came to the house.
Last week, the police arrested Mulaku MP Abdulla Yamin and Maamigili MP Gasim Ibrahim on allegations of treason and bribery of Majlis members, and the Maldives media identified Nazim’s voice in recorded phone conversations discussing negotiations with the Anti-Corruption Commission, an unidentified MP and million rufiyaa payments.
(0)Dislikes(0)In recent months the Maldives’ fledgling democracy has proved to be self-incapacitating more than progressive, reads an article in the the ‘Newsbook’ of last week’s Economist magazine.
Fed up with an opposition-led parliament, which tends to block its every move, this week the archipelago’s entire cabinet resigned in protest. Political deadlock has ensued.
The president, Mohamed Nasheed, has stayed put, alongside his vice-president. He claims that an informal alliance of lawmakers is sabotaging his every proposal; an aide described it as “scorched-earth politics”.
The opposition has already passed an amendment which allows it to veto every lending or leasing agreement made between the government and an overseas party. Thus in one fell swoop it was able to scupper Mr Nasheed’s planned privatisation of the capital’s airport and much else besides.
Hopes for foreign investment—at the core of the new government’s ambitions and an essential part of its effort to plug the fiscal deficit—have been dashed.
(0)Dislikes(0)A 50 acre business centre is proposed for Hulhule, north of the present Male International Airport, reports Haveeru.
“Our idea is to make that land a business centre of the Maldives. It was proposed based on our experience and the recommendations of US experts. If the government and the public want it, we are ready to do it,” said P Sripathy, CEO of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited.
There are many business opportunities in that area, he said. “For instance, people would be surprised if we say it is a mini transhipment hub. Many international flights, including large aircraft, land there. So cargo is being transited through Maldives from Colombo and other places. There are noticeable aspects there. The place holds value.”
The new terminal would be constructed north of the runway, according to Sripathy. “First phase of the new terminal will commence on a 45,000 square-metre area of land. The number of aircraft that can use the terminal per hour will increase once the runway is developed and the parking and taxi areas are expanded,” he added.
(0)Dislikes(0)A six-month independent inquiry has cleared climate scientists accused of manipulating their data, but criticised them for being too secretive and defensive about their research.
The inquiry panel said it had not found any evidence to undermine the conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
It is the third inquiry into the email affair, dubbed ‘Climategate’, and clears the head of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia and his colleagues of the most serious charges.
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