As coronavirus shutters people inside under government-mandated lockdowns worldwide, Yemen’s mine clearing teams remain in the field.
Ousama Algosaibi, a programme manager at the Saudi project for landmine clearance, Masam, said his workers were pressing on with their vital work despite the global outbreak.
Coronavirus cases have passed one million worldwide but there are no figures for Yemen due to the protracted conflict, which began in 2014 when Houthi rebels ousted the government from the capital, Sanaa.
“Work is still being carried on, taking into account protecting our teams and personnel from the coronavirus,” Mr Algosaibi said. “Our medical staff have been busy educating our staff and the local population around us on the best way to protect themselves and their families.”
Masam, funded by the King Salman Centre for Relief and Humanitarian Aid, has been operating in Yemen since June 2018.
A staff of 450 people, making up 32 manual clearance teams and five emergency response teams, has cleared 158,404 explosive remnants of war (unexploded ordnance and abandoned explosive ordnance, also known as ERW) and improvised explosive devices since the project began.
Mr Algosaibi said the Houthi rebels had planted mines “randomly” in all areas they occupied.
“Mines are usually used to stop the advance of opposing forces or to defend military positions,” he said.
“That is not the case in Yemen. In Yemen mines were used to terrorise the local civilian population and to deny access to villages, farm land, schools and so on.”
Yemen is one of 58 countries afflicted by the “landmine pandemic”: a scourge of explosive devices from past and current conflicts that affects 60 million people, according to the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining
The organisation launched the #togetheragainstlandmines awareness campaign on April 4 to mark the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action 2020.
“Like the Covid-19 virus, this plague hampers the safety and development of entire nations – only this threat will not disappear with everyone staying at home,” the charity said on its website.
The Landmine Monitor 2019 report, released by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, found that 2018 was the “fourth year in a row with exceptionally high numbers of recorded casualties due to landmines and ERW”. That year, 6,897 people were killed or injured by mines and ERW.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on March 25 for a ceasefire in Yemen to help avert a Covid-19 disaster, and UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths encouraged both sides to act now as “battlefields are dividing Yemen and making it harder to combat the possible outbreak of Covid-19”.
Mr Algosaibi said more could be done to save Yemenis from horrific, life-changing injuries and death as a result of landmines.
“Yemen is a beautiful country with beautiful people that are facing the horror of mines on daily basis,” he said.
“The international community should assist more in protecting the Yemeni population in this ordeal.”
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
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Always check the weather forecast before setting off
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- Cancer is the second-leading cause of death worldwide, after cardiovascular diseases
- About one in five men and one in six women will develop cancer in their lifetime
- By 2040, global cancer cases are on track to reach 30 million
- 70 per cent of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries
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strategies
- The total annual economic cost of cancer is $1.16 trillion
Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.
Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.
"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."
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The team
Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory
Videographer: Jear Valasquez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova
With thanks to Jubail Mangrove Park, Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi
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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
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Forwards Calvert-Lewin, Foden, Grealish, Greenwood, Kane, Rashford, Saka, Sancho, Sterling, Watkins
RESULTS
Light Flyweight (48kg): Alua Balkibekova (KAZ) beat Gulasal Sultonalieva (UZB) by points 4-1.
Flyweight (51kg): Nazym Kyzaibay (KAZ) beat Mary Kom (IND) 3-2.
Bantamweight (54kg): Dina Zholaman (KAZ) beat Sitora Shogdarova (UZB) 3-2.
Featherweight (57kg): Sitora Turdibekova (UZB) beat Vladislava Kukhta (KAZ) 5-0.
Lightweight (60kg): Rimma Volossenko (KAZ) beat Huswatun Hasanah (INA) KO round-1.
Light Welterweight (64kg): Milana Safronova (KAZ) beat Lalbuatsaihi (IND) 3-2.
Welterweight (69kg): Valentina Khalzova (KAZ) beat Navbakhor Khamidova (UZB) 5-0
Middleweight (75kg): Pooja Rani (IND) beat Mavluda Movlonova (UZB) 5-0.
Light Heavyweight (81kg): Farida Sholtay (KAZ) beat Ruzmetova Sokhiba (UZB) 5-0.
Heavyweight (81 kg): Lazzat Kungeibayeva (KAZ) beat Anupama (IND) 3-2.
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE results
Lost to Oman by eight runs
Beat Namibia by three wickets
Lost to Oman by 12 runs
Beat Namibia by 43 runs
UAE fixtures
Free admission. All fixtures broadcast live on icc.tv
Tuesday March 15, v PNG at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Friday March 18, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Saturday March 19, v PNG at Dubai International Stadium
Monday March 21, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
