The route is increasingly being used by wealthier Afghans, Iraqis, Iranians and Kurds aboard new or nearly new sailboats that can more easily avoid detection by authorities.
The fiancée of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi has urged US pop star Justin Bieber to not be “a pawn” of the Saudi crown prince and to cancel his performance at a Formula One event in Saudi Arabia.
“Do not sing for the murderers of my beloved Jamal,” Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz wrote in an open letter to the entertainer published in The Washington Post.
Cengiz asked Bieber not to be “a pawn” of Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom she called a “killer.”
“This year, you released an album that you titled ‘Justice.’ You also released one titled ‘Freedom.’ Saudi Arabia is in dire need of both,” Cengiz wrote. “Your message will be loud and clear: I do not perform for dictators. I choose justice and freedom over money.”
A prominent critic of the Saudi government and a Washington Post columnist, Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi Embassy in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018. Riyadh admitted that the journalist was killed by Saudi officials, but denied that the crown prince was involved.
In 2020, a Saudi court handed lengthy prison sentences to eight of the country’s nationals for Khashoggi’s murder.
According to a 2021 report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence, it was “highly unlikely” that the assassination of Khashoggi was carried out without Mohammed bin Salman’s approval. Nevertheless, the US sanctioned several Saudis for their role in the murder, but not the crown prince.
Bieber is set to perform at the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021 in Jeddah on December 5 alongside popular artists such as David Guetta and Jason Derulo.
Palestinian militant group Hamas, as well as some NGOs and people online, earlier urged Bieber to back Palestinian rights and cancel his performance in Israel scheduled for October 2022.
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WASHINGTON DC/SAN DIEGO, Nov 22 (IPS) – The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects across the globe, but the data and evidence show that women have borne the brunt of the crisis. While inequalities in health, economic power, and other areas existed long before the pandemic began, the pandemic has widened these gaps.
Several nations in the Asia-Pacific region, richer and poorer, had slow starts to their immunization campaigns but have since zoomed past the United States and many nations in Europe.
The route is increasingly being used by wealthier Afghans, Iraqis, Iranians and Kurds aboard new or nearly new sailboats that can more easily avoid detection by authorities.
President Duterte has condemned recent events in the South China Sea in which Philippines vessels were confronted by the Chinese Coast Guard, saying it speaks poorly of relations between the two nations.
Speaking on Monday, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte responded to last week’s flare-up in which Philippines boats were fired upon by Chinese Coast Guard water cannons at the Second Thomas Shoal (known as Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines). The vessels were delivering supplies to marines stationed on the atoll; Beijing, which claims the islands, said the boats hadn’t requested permission to enter.
“We abhor the recent event in the Ayungin Shoal and view with grave concern other similar developments,” Duterte told the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China.
“This does not speak well of the relations between our nations and our partnership,” the outspoken leader added.
The president, who will leave office in 2022, has attempted to improve relations with his Chinese neighbors during his tenure. However, Beijing’s claims over vast swathes of the South China Sea, including islands and atolls just off the Philippines, have continually challenged diplomatic ties. Beijing’s assertiveness has also engendered increasing anti-China sentiment among Filipinos.
Earlier this year, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called on Manila to stop its military drills around Thitu Island and Scarborough Shoal, accusing the Philippines of “complicating the situation and escalating disputes.”
The Second Thomas Shoal sits just 105 nautical miles (195km) off the Philippines province of Palawan and within the nation’s exclusive economic zone. The atoll is also within China’s ‘nine dash line’ – a unilaterally defined territorial claim which asserts Chinese ownership over 90% of the South China Sea.
Beijing rejected a 2016 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration which threw out its claims in the South China Sea, which is based on historic usage. The Second Thomas Shoal is approximately 650 nautical miles (1,200km) from the southern Chinese province of Hainan.
The Asian regional summit is being hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who told his fellow leaders that Beijing would “never seek hegemony, and certainly not bully the small.”
The potentially resource-rich and strategically important waterways of the South China Sea are the subject of multiple overlapping claims from China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Brunei.
On Friday, the US warned China that attacking Philippines public vessels would prompt a US response under its treaty obligations.
