The phrase “ethnic cleansing” originated in the Balkan wars of the 1990s, when Serb and Croat nationalists sought to “restore” their “purity” by “cleansing” the territories they claimed as their own of minority populations, who were expelled from their homes. Ethnic cleansing, a sacred ritual for its perpetrators, takes away from its victims their status as human beings. It is a crime against humanity in the most literal sense.
On Monday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights described what so far has euphemistically been referred to as the "Rohingya crisis" as a "textbook example of ethnic cleansing". The Myanmar military is engaged in an indiscriminate assault designed explicitly to bleach the country of its Muslim Rohingya minority population by driving them into neighbouring Bangladesh. More than 370,000 Rohingya men, women and children have fled in the last few weeks to Bangladesh, joining the 400,000 Rohingya refugees who already live there.
Bangladesh, itself a victim of a brutal war in 1971, has been a generous host. But it cannot long bear the burden alone. Bangladesh's prime minister has warned Myanmar to halt the violence against the Rohingya and create the conditions for their return. Myanmar responded by saying it would take back only those people whose citizenship could be verified. This would be amusing if it weren't so cruel because the Rohingya under Myanmar's laws are subhuman, ineligible for citizenship. Evidently, the Myanmar government's intention is to create an ethnically "pure" state by expelling as many Rohingya as possible and then denying them readmission. In Naypyidaw's cold calculation, the world will soon forget all about the Rohingya.
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Read more
Muhammad Yunus: ‘Aung San Suu Kyi should tell the Rohingya that Myanmar is as much their home as it is hers’
Myanmar operation against the Rohingya textbook ethnic cleansing, says UN rights chief
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Such an eventuality, alas, is not unthinkable – which is why the international community must act now. Condemnation must make way for concrete action. Dhaka has urged India, which in 1971 intervened militarily to end the Pakistan army's atrocities in Bangladesh, to apply pressure on Myanmar. This seems unlikely given that New Delhi, governed by a Hindu supremacist party with its own deadly fantasies of "purity", is preparing to deport Rohingya refugees from India. China, competing with India for Naypyidaw's friendship, has come down on Myanmar's side.
The great powers of the future have abdicated responsibility. It falls to the West and the Middle East to take a lead on this. But what can be done? In an opinion piece in The National on Tuesday, Dr Muhammad Yunus, winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, laid out a plan. It calls for the reconstitution of the Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, with exclusive powers to grant citizenship to the Rohingya; international monitors in vulnerable areas; and UN-supervised refugee camps inside Myanmar. Dr Yunus's personal plea to Aung San Suu Kyi, his fellow Nobel laureate and de facto leader of Myanmar, to embrace the path of peace will probably go unheeded. But the world must not emulate Ms Suu Kyi. It must act now.
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THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
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MATCH INFO
Tottenham Hotspur 0 Everton 1 (Calvert-Lewin 55')
Man of the Match Allan (Everton)
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
