Arab youth rank the UAE as most desirable Arab country to live in

For the third consecutive year, the UAE has been named the country that most Arab youngsters would like to live in, as well as the country they would most like their own nations to emulate, according to the sixth Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey, which was released today (Monday, April 7). Conducted by international polling firm PSB, the survey canvassed 3,500 Arab youngsters, aged between 18 to 24 years, in 16 countries across the Mena region.

Thirty nine per cent of Arab youngsters cited the UAE as their most preferred country to live in from a list of 20 nations that included the US, the UK, France and Germany, up from 31 per cent in 2012. The UAE is followed by the US (21 per cent), Saudi Arabia (14 per cent), France (13 per cent) and Qatar (13 per cent). When asked which country they would most like their own nations to emulate, the UAE ranked first again, retaining the number one spot as a model nation among young Arabs for the third consecutive year. Thirty nine per cent named the UAE, followed by the US (25 per cent), with France (14 per cent), Turkey (ten per cent) and China (seven per cent) completing the top five places. Again, the UAE showed a strong year-on-year increase, up from 30 per cent in 2013.

Joseph Ghossoub, chairman and CEO of the MENACOM Group, the regional parent company of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, says: “The vision and wisdom shown by the UAE’s leadership – with an emphasis on economic diversification, free market reforms, technological innovations and investments in human capital – resonate around the world and clearly continue to strike a chord with the Arab youth. This vote of confidence from young people across the region strengthens the UAE government’s resolve to continue to provide the best possible environment for living, working and doing business.”

The UAE was also named number one happiest country in the Middle East region and number 17 in the world in the 2013 World Happiness Report, commissioned by the United Nations. These findings are echoed in the sixth Annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey, with UAE nationals ranking highest among all of the other participants from 16 countries, when asked about a sense of optimism in the future of their country. Sixty nine per cent of young Emiratis agreed with the statement, ‘I feel optimistic about what the future holds for my country’, more than the others.

Sunil John, CEO of ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, says: “The popularity of the UAE is likely a reflection of the country’s strong economic outlook and status as a safe haven, amid the regional political turmoil. The Gulf country, which is the Arab world’s second largest economy with a GDP of $390 billion, is expected to grow by 4.5 per cent in 2014 on the back of a number of factors, including its successful bid to host Expo 2020. Its moderate government, coupled with the ease of doing business, has placed the country in a unique position to be able to attract foreign direct investment.”

Regional confidence among Arab youngsters in their national governments was notable in the survey’s findings. More than 68 per cent was either ‘very confident’ or ‘somewhat confident’ in their governments’ abilities to deal with rising rates of unemployment, while similar numbers were optimistic about their administrations’ abilities to deal with war (67 per cent) and enhance living standards (66 per cent).

The 2014 Arab Youth Survey, which has received the largest polling since it began in 2008, canvassed respondents from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Algeria, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen – with Palestine added for the first time this year.

Refugee-host Lebanon at “breaking point,” says UN

The number of Syrian refugees finding refuge in Lebanon has surpassed one million, the UNHCR said on Thursday. Lebanon had the world's 'highest per capita concentration of refugees' and urgently needed boosts in funding.

A current humanitarian aid appeal for Lebanon was only 13 percent funded, the agency said, adding that 2,500 new refugees entered Lebanon daily – more than one person per minute.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said the impact on Lebanon – a small country of 4.5 million people – was 'staggering.'

The influx had severely stretched Lebanon's health and education sectors as well as its electricity, water and sanitation services. Lebanon had shown 'striking generosity' but was 'struggling to cope,' he said.

Children make up half

Half of the Syrian refugees - living in tented settlements and makeshift shelters (pictured) in Lebanon - are children, according to the UNHCR. Only around 100,000 of them are attending public schools.

The majority of school-aged Syrian refugees in Lebanon lacked schooling, with many forced to work. Girls were often off married young, lacking education.

Fiery protest

In Beirut, UNHCR regional representative Ninette Kelley said the self-immolation by a Syrian refugee mother in Lebanon last week was a 'telling reminder of the consequences of the Syrian emergency.'

Mariam al-Khawli is being treated for 70 percent burns to her body after an unexplained cut in aid funding to her family, including her disabled husband and three children suffering from blood ailments.

Khawli told Reuters Wednesday: 'We got hungry … but they burned my heart before they burned my body. They burned my heart from the inside.'

Kelley said UN teams in Lebanon gave aid to the most vulnerable first and made regular checks on families who were not covered.

'We simply do not have enough [funding],' Kelley said.

Syria's three-year civil war has also left some 600,000 refugees registered in Jordan and around 670,000 in Turkey.

Sectarian strains

In a further sign of Lebanon's attempt to cope with the spillover from Syria's war, Lebanese troops moved into a restive Sunni area of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the army had entered the adjacent Alawite precinct of Jabal Mohsen.

Syria's conflict has split Lebanon between Alawites who tend to back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Sunnis who tend to back those opposing his regime.

Sectarian clashes between fighters of two Tripoli neighborhoods in the Mediterranean port city claimed at least 30 lives in March.

Tripoli residents said Wednesday they hoped the army's bid to cap sectarian tensions would restore a semblance of urban normality.

High toll in 3-year war

According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Syria's three-year civil war has claimed at least 150,000 lives.

It said on Tuesday its death count included more than 51,000 civilians and nearly 8,000 children.

In addition, at least half a million Syrians had been left wounded.

An additional 17,000 people were missing and 'tens of thousands' were held in regime prisons, the observatory said.

Aid agencies, including the International Red Cross, have repeatedly called for protected field access for aid deliveries. Forty percent of Syria's hospitals have been destroyed, according to the UN.

Syria's economic output has fallen 45 percent since the uprising's start in 2011.#

US gives Boeing green light to sell plane parts to Iran

Boeing, the world's biggest plane manufacturer, said late Friday the US Treasury Department issued it with a license allowing the airline to do business with Iran for the first time since 1979.

A Boeing spokesman said the company would now be allowed to export certain spare parts for commercial planes that were needed to ensure older aircraft could fly safely. The license covers a limited period of time and does not allow Boeing to sell new planes to Iran.

The company will contact officials in Iran to determine which specific parts are needed. Boeing's last delivery to Iran was a 747-100 jumbo jet in August 1979, three months before US hostages were seized at the Tehran embassy.

The Islamic Revolution that year led to US sanctions that were later broadened over a dispute from Iran's nuclear activities.

Last year, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear operations in exchange for a temporary easing of severe economic sanctions from Britian, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US. A permanent agreement is currently being negotiated.

The sanctions were introduced to put pressure on Iran to reduce or halt the capability of it producing a nuclear weapon, an ambition that Iran has denied.

Iran has said that the sanctions have prevented it from renewing its airline fleet, forcing it to use sub-standard Russian aircraft and continuing to use planes that should have long been retired.

Kerry warns of US ‘reality check’ in brokering Middle East talks

Kerry said there was a limit to Washington's commitment to efforts to broker a peace if the two sides themselves were not willing to move forward.

The Secretary of State declared late on Friday it was 'reality check time' as to whether an agreement could be reached. Kerry's comments came after what he described as unhelpful announcements by both the Israeli and Palestinian leadership.

'Regrettably in the last few days, both sides have taken steps that are not helpful, and that's evident to everybody. So we are going to evaluate very carefully exactly where this is and where it might possibly be able to go,' Kerry told reporters, while on a diplomatic visit to Morocco.

Kerry, who embarked on a last-ditch effort to save the floundering peace process last weekend, had been due to return to the Middle East on Wednesday, a day after attending the NATO summit in Brussels.

However, he cancelled after both parties made announcements that backtracked on preconditions for talks, placing the already-fragile negotiations in further jeopardy.

'No open-ended effort'

'There are limits to the amount of time and effort that the United States can spend if the parties themselves are unwilling to take constructive steps in order to be able to move forward,' said Kerry. 'Neither party has said that they've called it off. But we're not going to sit there indefinitely. This is not an open-ended effort… It's reality check time, and we intend to evaluate precisely what the next steps will be.'

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday signed 15 United Nations treaties and conventions that give his administration greater recognition. An agreement not to sign such documents had been a precondition set by Israel for talks to go ahead.

Earlier, Israel had said it would reissue 708 settlement tenders in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo. The Israeli government also called off its promised release of 26 Palestinian prisoners under conditions set for the talks by the Palestinians.

A source familiar with the talks told the Reuters news agency that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were likely to meet, along with US envoy Martin Indyk on Sunday.

Can Rahul Gandhi revive India’s Congress party?

The government of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been hit by a series of corruption scandals in the past two years, which has severely damaged the popularity his Indian National Congress party. Analysts say Congress' chances to win the general elections in the second half of 2014 are quite low.

The ruling coaliton has been hit by a string of corruption scandals and is going through its roughest political patch in years since it returned to power in 2009. Last month, the Congress faced a debacle in the recent Delhi state elections. In other states, it was defeated by the main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is cashing in on the rising anti-government sentiment.

The Congress' supporters believe that only one person can turn the fortunes of the party. His name is Rahul Gandhi, the son of the Congress's president, Sonia Gandhi.

The Gandhis are one of the most influential political dynasties in the South Asian nation. Rahul's father Rajiv Gandhi, his grandmother Indira Gandhi, and great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru were all prime ministers of India.

Rahul joined politics in 2004 and became a member of parliament after winning the seat for Amethi town in the northern Uttar Pradesh state.

A reluctant politician

Rahul has been critiziced for what analysts regard as his reluctance to lead the Congress party. Pradip Datta, a political scientist at the University of Delhi, says Rahul knows that he will eventually lead the Congress, but is deliberately using the image of a reluctant politician.

'Rahul, in a way, wants to show his aloofness to the corrupt world of politics, which, to a large extent, is identified with his own party,' Datta told DW. The expert also says that the 43-year-old has so far failed to prove that he is charismatic enough to mobilize the masses.

But as parliamentary elections draw closer, it will be difficult for Rahul to not take the reins of his party. And it seems that the Congress is aware of Rahul's importance in the upcoming elections.

Sonia Gandhi recently announced that her son will lead the Congress's election campaign, however, she fell short of announcing Rahul's name as candidate for the post of prime minister.

Jatin Gandhi, the deputy Editor of the India Today magazine, believes Rahul is the victim of his own image.

'Rahul realizes that the mood in India is against dynastical politics. He has been talking against it for the past ten years. Unfortunately, he has not been very successful in altering his image,' Gandhi told DW.

Challenges ahead

Aarthi Ramachandran, author of 'Decoding Rahul Gandhi' believes it is time for the Congress' politician to send a clear message that he is capable of leading the party and will form an effective and corruption-free government if they vote for him.

'He also needs to convey to Indians that he will be different from the current Congress leadership in New Delhi,' Ramachandran said. The author, however, fears that it won't be easy for him because he is seen as a key figure in the present government.

Also, Rahul faces tough competition from two politicians: Narendra Modi of the BJP and Arvind Kejriwal of the Common Man's party.

Kejriwal is now chief minister of Delhi after ending Congress' Sheila Dikshit's 15-year-rule in the state. Political commentators say the new party has given Indian voters an alternative in general elections.

On the other hand, the Hindu nationalist BJP's leader Narendra Modi is already considered favorite to win the elections. The chief minister of Gujarat is credited for the rapid economic growth in his state.

Experts believe that it won't be easy for the young Gandhi to revive the Congress party and change people's perceptions about it.

Afghans vote in landmark poll, undeterred by threats

KABUL: Voting was largely peaceful in Afghanistan's presidential election on Saturday, with only isolated attacks on polling stations as a country racked by decades of chaos embarked on its first ever democratic transfer of power.

A roadside bomb killed two policemen and wounded two others in the southern city of Qalat as they were returning from a polling station, while four voters were wounded in an explosion at a voting centre in the southeastern province of Logar.

There were no reports of more serious attacks so far on an election that Taliban insurgents had vowed to derail, branding it a U.S.-backed sham.

The United States, having spent $90 billion on aid and training for Afghan security forces since it helped vanquish the Taliban in 2001, could point to its success promoting democracy as a major achievement toward leaving Afghanistan as a more stable country.

But the abiding Taliban threat, and uncertainty over neighbor Pakistan's intentions, leaves the worry that Afghanistan could enter a fresh cycle of violence, and once again become a haven for groups like al Qaeda, after the bulk of US troops leave by the year-end.

Most people expect the election will be better run than the chaotic 2009 vote that handed the outgoing president, Hamid Karzai, a second term amid massive fraud and ballot stuffing.

The stronger the next president's mandate, the less vulnerable Afghanistan could be to instability. Even if the election is less flawed this time, it could take months - perhaps even until October - for a winner to be declared at a time when the country desperately needs a leader to stem rising violence as foreign troops prepare to leave.

Nearly 3,500 members of the US-led coalition force have been killed in Afghanistan since deployment over a decade ago.

KABUL SEALED OFF

About 12 million are eligible to vote in the election, and there are eight candidates, with former foreign ministers Abdullah Abdullah and Zalmay Rassoul, and former finance minister Ashraf Ghani the favourites.

Karzai is barred by the constitution from running for the presidency again. But, after 12 years in power, he is widely expected to retain influence through politicians loyal to him.

The Taliban warned civilians ahead of the election they would be targeted if they try to vote, and dozens died in a spate of attacks in the preceding weeks.

A veteran Associated Press photographer was killed and a senior correspondent of the same news agency was wounded on Friday when a policeman opened fire on the two women in eastern Afghanistan as they reported on preparations for the poll.

More than 350,000 Afghan troops were deployed, guarding against attacks on polling stations and voters. The capital, Kabul, was sealed off by rings of roadblocks and checkpoints.

In the city of Kandahar, cradle of the Taliban insurgency, the mood was tense. Vehicles were not allowed to move on the roads and checkpoints were set up at every intersection.

Hamida, a 20-year-old teacher working at a Kandahar polling station, said more than a dozen women turned up in the first two hours of voting and added that she expected more to come despite the threat of an attack by the Taliban.

"We are trying not to think about it," she said, only her honey-brown eyes visible through her black niqab.

Raising questions about the legitimacy of the vote even before it began, the election commission announced that at least 10 percent of polling stations were expected to be shut due to security threats, and most foreign observers left Afghanistan in the wake of a deadly attack on a hotel in Kabul last month.

The interior ministry said six officials - including an intelligence agent - were detained on Saturday for trying to rig the vote, and elsewhere several people were arrested for trying to use fake voter cards.

RISK OF DELAY

One of the chief risks is the length of time it may take to declare a new president. If none of the candidates wins over 50 percent of the vote, the two frontrunners would go into a run-off on May 28, spinning out the process into the holy month of Ramadan when life slows to a crawl.

A long delay would leave little time to complete a pact between Kabul and Washington to keep up to 10,000 US troops in the country beyond 2014, after the bulk of the American force, which currently stands at around 23,500, has pulled out.

Karzai has rejected the pact, but the three frontrunners have pledged to sign it. Without the pact, far weaker Afghan forces would be left on their own to fight the Taliban.

Uncertainty over the outcome could also stall crucial foreign aid and economic reform, foment ethnic tensions and leave a political vacuum in which the Taliban could gain ground.

The election is a landmark after 13 years of struggle to quell an insurgency that has killed at least 16,000 Afghan civilians and thousands more soldiers.

Karzai's relations with the United States became increasingly strained in recent years as Afghan casualties mounted, and he voiced frustrated that Washington was not putting enough pressure on Pakistan to stop the Taliban, who base themselves in borderlands.

Although Karzai's departure is a turning point for Afghanistan, none of his would-be successors would bring radical change, Western diplomats say.

"The only positive thing in this election is that it is necessary to save the state as it is, and therefore there is a need to transfer power one way or the other," Sarah Chayes, a South Asia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told a media briefing on the eve of the vote.

"Whether the election will be the great transformative event that everybody expects is, I think, delusional."

Afghan army again fires 6 mortars into Pakistan

MIRANSHAH: At least six mortar shells were fired from the Afghanistan side of the Pak-Afghan border on Saturday that landed in Pakistan’s bordering areas in North and South Waziristan Agency (NWA), but no loss of life reported.

Sources said that four mortar shells fired from Afghanistan landed at Bangidar in Tehsil Ghulam Khan of North Waziristan here, while two mortar shells were also fired into South Waziristan from Afghanistan. Fortunately, no loss of life reported in both the incidents

Earlier also Afghan forces had fired mortar shells into Pakistani territory several times. Only last week six mortar shells were fired from across the border from a check-post of Afghan National Army, landed near the Pakistani check-post in Ghulam Khan Sector in North Waziristan Agency (NWA).