World
Migrant boat sinks off Greek coast: harrowing testimony of one survivor
- Khaled Karamat
- BBC Urdu – Athens
After the emigrants’ boat sank, Muhammad Hamza had enough to escape certain death
Muhammad Hamza appeared calm and composed, his voice not conveying any feelings or emotions. One would be shocked to know that this 30-year-old could have helped survive.
When smugglers took him to a fishing boat anchored off the Libyan coast, Mohammed made the decision to join the deadly expedition in the blink of an eye.
He was sitting on the deck of the boat and kept his head down.
The United Nations said about 750 people were trapped on the boat.
“Nobody cares about me,” Mohamed told me in the Greek capital, Athens, after being released from a detention center with the rest of the survivors.
He was one of 12 Pakistanis who survived the sinking of the migrant boat out of 104 people rescued. There are conflicting accounts of the sinking of the fishing boat in the Mediterranean Sea in the early hours of June 14 under mysterious circumstances and why it sank.
“There were Egyptians and Syrians with their families on the boat. I was on the middle deck, with many Pakistanis. There were Pakistanis on the lower deck of the boat,” says Mohammad.
He said there were no Pakistani women on the boat and he saw two children aged 10 or 11. About 100 Pakistanis were on board, the rest on the two lower decks.
There is disagreement about the number of Pakistanis on board. Pakistani officials say there were 300 civilians on board, but Mohammad insisted the number was 350. He explained: “When we left the safe haven in Libya, we knew how many Pakistanis there were among us.”
“We don’t know how many Syrians and Egyptians we have with us. We know the number of Pakistanis who were with us. We even know the brokers who arranged their travel.”
Image copyright Hellenic Coast Guard
The migrant boat was photographed several times before it sank
They beat and forced them to sit
Mohammed spoke of the terrible conditions and harsh treatment he faced during the six nights and five days he spent at sea. “The Egyptians and Libyans beat us and made us sit down.”
“We weren’t allowed to stand. We couldn’t even stretch our legs. They didn’t even let us speak.”
Running out of food and water, the travelers were forced to drink sea water. “There were no toilets, we had to pee in the sea,” he says.
The boat has been continuously circling in a radius of 20-25 km from the Mediterranean Sea for the past two to three days.
He says three ships approached the boat 24 hours before it sank. Two “cargo ships” and a ferry provided food and water to the passengers.
Through ocean surveillance data, the BBC was able to identify two vessels that approached the fishing boat on June 13.
The owners of the two vessels said the Greek coast guard had asked them to provide supplies to the fishing boat passengers.
Migrant boat sinks: BBC obtains evidence that casts doubt on Greek coastguard account
WATCH: Survivors flee to safety after Greek ferry disaster
Crying for help
Mohammed was the only one to get emotional when talking about the events of the last day. “People were screaming for help, some waving their shirts to catch the eyes of passing ships,” he said.
It was getting dark and he couldn’t describe the last ship that approached them.”It was late, so I don’t know what happened.” “The ship had great lights.” “I was sitting in the back of the boat and the ship was in front. People said she (the ship) threw ropes for them.”
“I was sitting on the right side of the boat and it turned to the same side and we jumped out.”
Greek officials say the coast guard tried to attach a rope to the boat more than two hours before it capsized so some of their crew members could board the vessel and assess the situation.
Officials said the people on board tried to untie the rope saying they wanted to go to Italy.
The Greek Coast Guard has denied allegations that they were towing the boat when it sank, or that they accepted any responsibility.
Mohamed says the boat’s engine stopped working half an hour before the boat sank, and people on the two lower decks were allowed to go to the roof in panic.
He notes: “When our boat overturned there were four or five freighters in the area, which surrounded us on all four sides, but were a short distance away and did not come near us, but left a speedboat for us.
“As I was swimming towards him, I saw an empty 1.5 liter bottle. I grabbed it and tried to make my way.
“Ahead of me was a Syrian and an Egyptian holding a small rubber tire. I swam with them for half an hour to 40 minutes. Then the speedboat rescued us.”
Muhammad was unemployed in Pakistan and left his country in search of a better life, he says.
He paid 2.5 million Pakistani rupees ($8,700) for the journey, traveling from Karachi to Dubai and then to Egypt before finally reaching the Libyan city of Benghazi.
Mohammad hopes to live out his life here and says he spoke with his family in Gujranwala, a Punjabi town in Pakistan. They are “happy” that he is alive.
“Creator. Award-winning problem solver. Music evangelist. Incurable introvert.”
World
Emirates News Agency – The “Emirates Pavilion” shares the country’s agricultural heritage at the 2023 Doha International Horticultural Exhibition.
Saturday, September 30, 2023 – 7:59 PM
DUBAI, September 30 / WAM / The Qatari capital Doha has announced the participation of the UAE Pavilion at the International Horticulture Exhibition 2023, which will be held from October 2, 2023 to March 28, 2023 under the theme “Legacy and Impact”. 2024, the International Horticultural Exhibition brings together… nearly 80 international participants to showcase their latest innovations and solutions centered on the exhibition’s slogan “Green Desert, Better Environment”.
The UAE Pavilion at the exhibition, overseen by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation and the Office of National Planning, tells the inspiring stories of dreamers and pioneers in the UAE and the close and enduring connection between them. It also chronicles its long history of qualitative and innovative contributions focused on efforts to improve the country’s society and natural.. heritage of prosperous agriculture.
His Highness Ibrahim Al-Alawi was appointed Commissioner-General of the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2023 Doha, whose design is inspired by the majestic kaff tree, the pavilion’s walls are surrounded by sculpted mud and a roof made of palm fronds. The building and its landscaping were designed by the International Park Ingels Group (BIG) for a garden that includes a variety of local plants suited to the country’s environment.
The Emirates Pavilion also offers a number of sensory and informative stations designed to help visitors understand the agricultural heritage of the UAE and get to know Emirati dreamers from around the world. Visitors will be able to get up close and personal with the people who have contributed and continue to contribute to creating a more sustainable future for everyone in the country, especially how the people of the Emirates coexist with their land and how they support the late founders. Father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan contributed to developing a prosperous and diversified agricultural sector for future generations.
The multi-sensory experience for guests includes six educational stations that tell different stories, showcase different endeavors and shed light on the lifestyle of the people of the Emirates, from their ancestors to today, a style characterized by harmony. Environment and innovation will go hand in hand with it. At the beginning of their journey at the pavilion, guests learn about… the first dreamers at the Emirates and then go on an emotional experience to explore the efforts of the founding father, Sheikh. Saeed bin Sultan Al Nahyan established the country’s forward-looking approach to agriculture today, focusing on collaboration, innovation and community empowerment to preserve the heritage of our forefathers. The pavilion also celebrates the diverse efforts of those behind the agricultural scenes in the Emirates. At the end of the experience, guests will also have the opportunity to interact with an installation designed by the Atelier Bruckner office in Stuttgart that encourages self-reflection on environmental legacy on a personal level. Other notable works include its contributions to the museum in the future.
The “Legacy and Impact” exhibition is the UAE’s third participation in international horticultural exhibitions, as the UAE participated in this special category for the first time in Beijing 2019, followed by “Saltwater Cities: Where the Land Meets the Sea” at Expo Floriad 2022 in Almere, the Netherlands. held
Muhammad Nabil Abu Taha/ Muhammad Jaballa/ Zakaria Mohideen
“Creator. Award-winning problem solver. Music evangelist. Incurable introvert.”
The U.S. moves closer to shutting down federal agencies at midnight today as lawmakers reach an impasse over agreeing a short-term spending bill and the chances of averting it dwindle.
The U.S. fiscal year begins tomorrow, Oct. 1, but bitter disagreements among Republicans over the size of the federal debt have prevented passage of bills needed to keep the government funded and open.
A hard-line Republican House of Representatives rejected any temporary measures to save the country from closing federal agencies. Yesterday, Republicans rejected a plan proposed by their leader, Kevin McCarthy, to temporarily fund the government through a draft law that voted 198 to 232.
Moody’s, the credit rating agency, warned that the shutdown would be “negative” for U.S. sovereign debt, threatening its top rating and driving higher borrowing costs.
Here’s what happens in the event of a federal shutdown in the US:
1. No pay for federal employees: Hundreds of thousands of federal employees will be on unpaid leave, while members of the military and other employees deemed “essential” will continue to work without pay. The American Federation of Government Employees estimates that a full shutdown would result in about 1.8 million federal employees receiving their full-time salaries, and about 850,000 non-essential employees would be placed on unpaid leave, according to the Committee for a Responsible Public Budget, an independent organization. If achieved, these restrictions will be lifted and all employees will be paid in advance, the union said.
2. Only essential services: Only essential services will continue to operate, Social Assistance checks continued to be paid during previous shutdowns, and air traffic controllers, border guards and hospital staff remained on duty, but many services are likely to remain. Surveys of food and environmental sites other than national parks, including new applications for social security and medical care, will also have a greater impact on the closure period.
3. Economic impact: Economists at Goldman Sachs estimate the shutdown will hurt economic growth by 0.2 percentage points each week in the fourth quarter, and Goldman’s note suggests it could take two to three weeks to lift the shutdown. Sachs economists dismissed it as saying “no immediate concessions have been made by either party”. According to the memo, “Even if the funding cuts were quickly lifted, the political environment before the (current) deadline is reminiscent of the situation a long time ago. The shutdowns.”
Oxford Economics estimates that the loss of productivity of government workers irreparably costs annual economic growth 0.1 percent a week, and a shutdown could indirectly hurt the economy because unpaid federal workers would cut back on their spending.
The potential shutdown is starting to weigh on Wall Street, with major stock indexes falling as the deadline nears.
4. No information for the Federal Reserve: Economists fear that the shutdown will also stop the release of federal government data, and that raises concerns about the Federal Reserve, which will be guided by this data to approve possible changes in interest rates. . The Federal Reserve has recently slowed the pace of raising interest rates as it tackles inflation.
In the absence of new data, the US Federal Reserve will be forced to make decisions with ramifications for the economy, without a clear picture of the situation, and the impact of a shutdown in the short term will be limited in the long term. , it could become a big problem if delegates fail to reach an agreement.
“Creator. Award-winning problem solver. Music evangelist. Incurable introvert.”
US presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. will announce his candidacy as an independent instead of continuing his long-running bid to defeat President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee, complicating next year’s presidential election.
Kennedy, an anti-vaccination activist and member of a famous American political family, posted a video on YouTube on Friday asking Americans to join him in a “major announcement” in Philadelphia on October 9.
He said he would talk about a radical change in American policy.
Kennedy is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963, and the son of former U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his 1968 presidential bid.
In April, Kennedy said he would challenge Biden to run for the Democratic nomination against the expected Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.
Since then, Kennedy has complained that the Democratic Party has “basically blended together” with the Biden campaign, which has cost him a fair chance in the nomination race.
Many polls have Biden ahead of Kennedy.
Kennedy’s plan to run as an independent was first reported on the political website Mediaite.
In response to an emailed question from Reuters about the report, the Kennedy campaign responded by sending out its own video.
Democrats worried that any effort by a third party could shift votes away from Biden.
“Creator. Award-winning problem solver. Music evangelist. Incurable introvert.”
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