Friday 13 International Friday, January 29, 2021 Lebanese man dies of wounds as troops and protesters clash US aid for Palestinian refugees won’t cover shortfall: UN

TRIPOLI: A man died of his wounds yesterday in Lebanon after clashes between security detains forces and protesters angered by the combined impact of a severe economic crisis and a coron- avirus lockdown. Navalny allies after Omar Tayba sustained a bullet wound late Wednesday when protests in the northern city of Tripoli turned violent for the third night run- apartment raids ning, his brother Ahmad told AFP. “My brother was in Tripoli watching the : Several allies of jailed Kremlin critic protests when he was hit,” he said. “He was were taken into custody early yes- transferred to hospital and died this morning. terday after police raided their apartments and of- The 29-year-old man, who was employed in a TRIPOLI: Lebanese mourners attend the funeral of Omar Tayba, who died during clashes between fices ahead of planned demonstrations. The searches bakery, became the first fatality-reported also were connected to a criminal probe launched by the by local media-of the protests that erupted ear- anti-government protestors and security forces the previous night, in the northern port city of Tripoli yesterday. — AFP interior ministry over alleged violations of coron- lier this week in Tripoli. avirus restrictions during protests last week, According to the National News Agency, a Navalny’s aides said. The opposition has called for total of 226 people received treatment Wednes- be enough to cover a shortfall. Under former “While the overall budget will remain at $806 fresh demonstrations on Sunday to demand freedom day night. Tripoli was already one of Lebanon’s president Donald Trump, the United States million, same as 2020, the income forecast in the for Navalny, who was arrested on his return from poorest areas before the coronavirus pandemic halted its support for the UN Relief and Works best estimates will lead to an expected shortfall Germany where he had been covering from a poi- piled new misery onto a chronic economic crisis. Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, equivalent to three months of operations. “We soning attack. Many of its residents have been left without an or UNRWA. On Tuesday, Washington’s interim therefore expect a cashflow crisis as of March Navalny’s lawyers intend to appeal against his ar- income since Lebanon imposed a full lockdown UN envoy Richard Mills said President Joe this year. More broadly, the expected deficit rest later yesterday. Ivan Zhdanov, the head of earlier this month in a bid to stem a surge in Biden intends to “restore US assistance pro- would be untenable and could lead to a financial Navalny’s FBK Anti-Corruption Foundation, said Covid-19 cases and prevent its hospitals from grams that support economic development and collapse of the agency,” Alrifai said. “Our finan- prominent aide Lyubov Sobol and Navalny’s brother being overwhelmed. humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people”, cial forecast takes into consideration the ex- Oleg were detained for 48 hours as suspects. A round-the-clock curfew is in force nation- without mentioning UNRWA. pected re-engagement of the US administration, Sobol’s lawyer Vladimir Voronin said both she wide and grocery shopping is restricted to home “We welcome the Biden administration’s de- so we predict a bit more income than 2020 but and Oleg Navalny were questioned by police during deliveries-a service that is often unavailable in cision to restore assistance to Palestinians and this slightly improved income will not cover the the night. Searches were also carried out at the flat poorer areas. Authorities have extended the look forward to continuing conversation with huge liabilities that UNRWA already has.” The of Navalny’s wife Yulia, and in the office of FBK, lockdown by two weeks to February 8. them about resumption of aid to UNRWA,” said agency had entered 2021 with liabilities of $75 Navalny’s organization, which is known for its inves- The UN agency for Palestinian refugees ex- the UN agency’s spokeswoman, Tamara Alrifai. million from the last financial year, and its annual tigations into the wealth of Russia’s elites. pressed hope yesterday that the United States Alrifai said the “2021 financial year looks very deficit was expected to reach $200 million in the Police also arrived at the home of Navalny’s doc- will resume its funding, but said it still would not difficult”. current year, she added.—AFP tor Anastasia Vasilyeva, who was also detained for 48 hours. In a video posted on Twitter by Vasilyeva’s press secretary, the doctor is playing Beethoven on the piano as people in uniform arrive at the door. Once-jailed Japarov sworn According to Mediazona, a news website that fo- cuses on opposition detentions, police carried out at in as Kyrgyz president least 18 searches on Wednesday. ‘Real counterweight’ BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan: Populist Sadyr Japarov inauguration ceremony. “I, like all patriots of the Tens of thousands of Russians across the country was sworn in as president of ex-Soviet Kyrgyzs- country, dream that Kyrgyzstan will become eco- rallied last weekend in support of Navalny, who is tan yesterday, completing a remarkable transfor- nomically developed, dynamic, strong and free,” awaiting a trial that could see him imprisoned for mation from prisoner to president in just a few Japarov said. BISHKEK: Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov several years on charges of violating a 2014 sus- months. Japarov, 52, was serving jail time on “A country where human rights are observed, pended sentence. Officials have also threatened to hostage-taking charges before being freed during where there is a dictatorship of law, and youth reviews a parade following his inauguration cer- emony in Bishkek yesterday. — AFP fine social media including Instagram, Twitter and a political crisis over a parliamentary vote in Oc- look to the future with optimism.” Japarov’s “dic- TikTok for failing to delete posts urging young peo- tober, beginning a dizzying rise to the top job. tatorship of law” comment parrots the famous ple to join illegal rallies. Protests in Russia are banned He won a January 10 presidential election by a catchprase of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Yet vote challengers Abdil Segizbayev and Kursan if they are not approved by the authorities, as are landslide with close to 80 percent of the vote. Moscow has taken a dim view of political up- Asanov were detained by law enforcement earlier calls for people under 18 to join in. President Vladimir Japarov yesterday swore to “preserve the in- heavals in the mountainous country of 6.5 million this week, raising fears that Japarov’s reign will Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters yes- tegrity of the people and the security of the coun- that looks to next-door China for loans and in- continue the cycle of revenge and selective justice terday that the state did not want social networks to try” as he placed his hand on the Kyrgyz vestment. Putin last year called the overthrow of that has defined local politics. become “platforms to announce illegal protests”. constitution, which is set to be overhauled in the the previous government a “misfortune” and Segizbayev, who was serving as national secu- The Investigative Committee, which probes major coming months. Voters chose a presidential form chided Bishkek for seeking a political model rity chief at the time of Japarov’s arrest in 2017, crimes, said it had launched a probe against Leonid of government over a parliamentary model in a based on Western democracies. was detained over charges of abuse of office. Volkov, the head of Navalny’s regional network, for referendum held in parallel to the presidential The new constitution is likely to grant the head Asanov, who proclaimed himself acting interior persuading young people to protest. The opposition vote. A Kyrgyz cabinet official said Japarov would of state sweeping new powers when it is passed minister during the same unrest that propelled plans to hold more rallies on Sunday, which in make his first foreign trip as president to Russia, and reverse the single-term limit imposed on Japarov to power, has been detained for his al- Moscow will take place outside the headquarters of where hundreds of thousands of Kyrgyz live and presidents after a bloody uprising ousted the leged role in seizing the ministry building during the FSB, the security agency that Navalny says tar- work. Japarov called the exodus a “tragedy” at his country’s second leader in 2010. Two of Japarov’s demonstrations.—AFP geted him in the near-fatal poisoning attack. — AFP