Interior Ministers of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives are attending the four-day SAARC Interior Ministers Conference in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The conference will discuss the regional security situation, terrorism, drug trafficking and other crimes.
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(0)Membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council will bring close scrutiny of the country’s human rights performance, warned foreign minister Shaheed as the Maldives takes its seat on the 47 member Council.
Speaking at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, the foreign minister said it was the first time Maldives has held a seat on a UN Council, and he promised the Maldivian government was determined to use its three-year membership to promote human rights abroad and to consolidate democracy at home.
The Human Rights Council is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The Council was created by the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006. The Maldives has been active on the Council as an observer since 2006 through its Permanent Mission in Geneva and stood for a seat in elections earlier this year, securing 185 votes – the highest number in the history of the UN human rights body.
The Human Rights Council meets three times a year, in September, March and June. During its membership, the Maldives will focus on torture prevention, women’s rights, children’s rights, environmental rights, and the rights of persons with disabilities.
“It is therefore vital that the Maldives practises what it preaches and lives up to the highest international human rights standards as well as to its legal obligations under international human rights law,” said the foreign minister.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Abruzzo region of Italy, 50 miles east from Rome, has signed a declaration with the Maldivian government providing increased assistance for the Maldivian health sector.
Each year, the Abruzzo region will provide transplantations for ten Maldivians with Beta Thalassemia.
The Abruzzo region and the government of Maldives will also share knowledge and best practices in healthcare, Beta Thalassaemia programs and consultations on Thalassaemia projects in the Maldives.
The agreement was signed during President Nasheed’s ongoing visit to Italy.
(0)Dislikes(0)Low carbon development is both possible and economically viable, said President Nasheed in a speech at the “International Conference on Climate, Energy Environment: How to Build a New Global Deal” in Rome.
The climate issue must be understood as an economic, financial and security issue, he said. Climate change was a very real threat to humanity but there was “an organised scheme” in many developed countries against climate change.
Climate deniers were able to stop the momentum gained after Copenhagen, the President claimed, and the only way to regain the momentum was 60s style street action. “Soon after Copenhagen, sceptics started working,” he said.
“We have more than 16 islands where people have to be relocated, our fresh water is being contaminated… our ocean temperatures are rising and therefore our fish stocks are dwindling,” said the President.
The conference was organised by the Centre for American Progress, and the Institute of European Democrats and Sustainable Future Centre.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Criminal Court has started the trial of Mariyam Nazaha, 21, of Henveiru Baikandige, less than 24 hours after she allegedly stabbed her ex-husband to death Tuesday afternoon.
State prosecutor Dheebaanaz Fahmy told the court that Nazaha bought a knife around two months ago and hid it in her bedroom to murder Hassan Shahid, 34, of Machangoalhi Edhuruge. She also said Nazaha had stabbed him in the back at her house while he was leaning towards a TV rack.
Shahid died while undergoing treatment for injuries sustained from the alleged attack, and murder charges should be laid against her, the prosecutor said.
When the judge asked whether she understood the charges, Nazaha replied “yes” but said she pleaded not guilty.
The prosecutor noted that the charges were based on Nazaha’s confession in the investigation and added that the police were collecting evidence. She sought a revision of the charges.
The defendant’s lawyer Ahmed Abdulla Afeef said he would respond to the charges after reviewing the documents.
(0)Dislikes(0)The former capitals of Kaaf atoll and and Shaviyani atolls have been reinstated.
The government changed the capitals from Thulusdhoo to Maafushi (Kaafu atoll) and from Funadhoo to Milandhoo (Shaviyani atoll) on 26 October 2009.
That decision has now been reversed by the Majlis after a vote with 41 MPs for the reinstatement and 31 against.
The bill containing the reinstatement, originally presented by Funadhoo MP Ali Saleem, was passed with committee amendments.
(0)Dislikes(0)A taxi parked near Galolhu youth centre was damaged by fire last night, police reported.
Police said that the incident occurred at 2:30am. There was no one inside the vehicle and nobody was injured during the incident.
Police said they suspected that the vehicle was deliberate set on fire.
(0)Dislikes(0)Maldives and India are much better places to live than other South Asian countries, according to the Failed States Index prepared by the Washington DC-based research organisation Fund for Peace and Foreign Policy magazine.
Many countries bordering the Indian Ocean are in the top 37 ‘Alert’ category of Failed States, including Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Pakistan, Kenya, Yemen, Burma, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Iran.
Maldives, ranked at 84 in the ‘Warning’ category is considered less ‘failed’ than India, ranked at 79, and Thailand, ranked at 81.
The Failed States Index is based on 12 social, economic and political indicators.
(0)Dislikes(0)A Maldivian woman in Male has stabbed her ex-husband to death, after a disagreement between the former couple, police confirmed to Miadhu Daily.
The name of the deceased man and the woman have not been released, although police confirmed the man was 34 and the woman was 21 years old. The stabbing occurred at Baikendige house on Hadheebee Magu in Henveiru ward late yesterday afternoon, say the police, and the man died while being treated at ADK Hospital, according to Miadhu Daily. Police confirmed the man was stabbed at his ex-wife’s residence and she called the police after the incident and confessed. According to onlookers, the man ran into a small nearby shop after the stabbing and asked the shopkeeper to contact police and medics. He was stabbed directly through his lungs and this lead to a heart failure, said doctors speaking to Miadhu Daily.
Haveeru Online treated the story as ‘breaking news’ and gave timed updates as it gathered more information about the incident. Miadhu Daily said the incident ‘brought surprise and shock to many Maldivians, as a woman stabbing a man to death is a very rare occurrence throughout the world.’
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