I am still having computer frustrations, so forgive the shorter-than-usual and later-than-normal diary. As Seth Myers says “let’s get to the news...”
First up a commentary from Reuters:
“When people are forgotten the world becomes fractured,” President Donald Trump observed to the Davos forum in his breathlessly-awaited speech Friday. That he himself was the fracturer-in-chief must have entered the minds of more than a few in the crowded hall.
In other European news, The Guardian has the important story of the day:
Visitors to Paris Zoological Park evacuated as workers try to lure animals back to enclosures
Kim Willsher in Paris
The Paris Zoological Park has been evacuated and closed after dozens of baboons escaped their enclosure.
As zookeepers raced to round up the animals, armed police surrounded the popular attraction and sealed off nearby roads.
From Italy, via the BBC:
Italian graduate student Giulio Regeni, whose mutilated body was found in Cairo two years ago, was killed because of his research on Egypt's independent trade unions, a Rome prosecutor says.
In detailed comments on the investigation, Giuseppe Pignatone said Regeni had been under Egyptian police surveillance up until he disappeared.
But Mr Pignatone did not accuse anyone.
Egyptian officials, who deny any involvement in Regeni's murder, have admitted that he was being monitored.
From Al-Monitor, happier news about Egypt:
CAIRO — Established right in the heart of Marina el-Alamein, one of Egypt's most treasured archaeological sites, a school aims to teach the younger generation the importance of archaeology with both theoretical and practical lessons.
The Young Archaeologist School, which targets children ages 6-16, is overseen by the Department of Museum Education and Archaeological Awareness in the archaeological area of Marina. It is one of several programs nationwide targeting young people, such as the Young Guides program. In a country where the smuggling of artifacts is rampant, these programs seek to instill in young people the importance of preserving antiquities, so that they would take a stance against illegal excavations, smuggling, and buying and selling stolen artifacts.
The Young Archaeologists School in el-Alamein was launched in July 2016. El-Alamein, situated on the northern coast of Egypt some 60 miles from Alexandria, was a major Greco-Roman town and port known as Leucaspis, which was founded 2,000 years ago. The current site includes the remains of more than 50 structures, including a bath, markets and a basilica.
From Reuters:
AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan said a decision to end subsidies on staple pitta bread that will lift its prices by between 60 and 100 percent will take effect on Saturday, the first such step in over two decades to ease the country’s budget woes.
From Saudi Arabia, via Newsweek:
The Holocaust is among the worst human atrocities ever committed, and no one in their right mind would deny it, declared the leader of a major Muslim religious institution in Saudi Arabia in a letter to the director of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
“True Islam is against these crimes. It classifies them in the highest degree of penal sanctions and among the worst human atrocities ever,” wrote Dr. Mohammad Alissa, secretary general of the Muslim World League. “One would ask, who in his right mind would accept, sympathize, or even diminish the extent of this brutal crime?"
From Al Jazeera:
Depok, Indonesia - Saudi Arabia has "politicised" access to the Hajj, according to organisers of a Muslim youth conference in Indonesia.
Ziyad Abdul Malik, chairman of the Muslim Students Association's (HMI) branch in South Jakarta, lambasted the kingdom for using the pilgrimage to Mecca, considered Islam's holiest city, to impose its policies on other Gulf nations and Muslim-majority countries.
From Human Rights Watch:
Secret Detentions, Enforced Disappearances
(New York, January 27, 2018) – The Bangladesh government should take urgent steps to confirm the whereabouts and release of men held by its security authorities outside the authority of the courts, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that was made public today.
Enforced disappearances have emerged as a key and pressing concern in Bangladesh, particularly since the period leading up to the January 2014 national elections. Over 80 cases of secret detentions and enforced disappearances were reported in 2017, with seven of them killed later in so-called “gunfights,” or “crossfire”: euphemisms for extrajudicial killings. At least 17 are still missing.
From Reuters, via U.S. News and World Report:
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A Cambodian court on Friday sentenced two environment activists to a year in jail, with a suspension of seven months each, after they were convicted of filming suspected illegal sand export activity.
The court in southewestern Koh Kong province sentenced Dem Kundy, 21, and Hun Vannak, 35, members of the conservation group Mother Nature, their defense lawyer, Sam Chamroeun, said. Each was also fined $250.
From The Straits Times:
PENANG (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The future of the Penang undersea tunnel project seems uncertain now and Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng blames it on sabotage and interference.
“Work has not started because of interference and sabotage.
“First, we needed to comply with government procedures and obtain the environmental impact assessment (EIA) approval at the end of last year.
I am not going to give any details, but there is another upsetting story in the Straits Times about a cat who lost out to a snake in a terminal way. I can’t even watch nature documentaries any more, so I am sorry I read it,
Again, I apologize for the lateness and shortness here, along with the lack of arts news. Feel free to add such things in the comments. Thanks. And grrrrr Windows updates!