Attorney General Dhiyana Saeed sacked

President Mohamed Nasheed dismissed Fathmath Dhiyana Saeed from her position as the Attorney General on Monday.

A statement issued by the President’s Office cited Article 115(f) and 137(a) of the Constitution for the dismissal, and expressed President Nasheed’s gratitude for services rendered during her tenure as Attorney General.

The dismissal came some time after the President had begun responding to and criticizing some of the legal advice that he had been receiving from Dhiyana. One of the most notable instances being when she had advised the President to stop some senior Government officials and island councilors from using their powerful positions to try and influence the results of the parliamentary elections. President Nasheed responded to the advice by saying that the Attorney General was pursuing her own interests by making the allegation.

The President also appointed Minister of Finance and Treasury, Ali Hashim, as the acting Attorney General.

President Nasheed congratulates President of Sri Lanka

President Mohamed Nasheed has sent a message of congratulations to President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka. The President’s message reads as follows:

Quote:

“The Government of Maldives wishes to congratulate the Government and people of Sri Lanka for their tremendous success in effecting an end to the decades-old conflict in their country.

As Sri Lanka celebrates a unified nation, I would like to reaffirm our continued support and solidarity with the Government and people of Sri Lanka.

This momentous occasion in Sri Lanka’s history will pave the way towards realising greater equality and justice for all Sri Lankans.

Sri Lanka is a country with a rich history and vibrant culture. I am confident that a unified Sri Lanka, free from scourge of terrorism and violence, will be prosperous, peaceful and progressive.

The Maldives and Sri Lanka enjoy excellent diplomatic, economic and cultural relations. I believe that the Maldives and Sri Lanka will both benefit from peace in Sri Lanka and we look forward to working together towards a brighter future for our peoples.

I take this opportunity to express on behalf of the Government and the people of Maldives our sincerest best wishes to Your Excellency and the people of Sri Lanka.”

Miladhoo School reopens after seven days

The Hidhaya School in Noonu atoll Miladhoo was reopened on Monday after seven days, following complaints from parents that the school administration had done nothing about the strange illness that was affecting some of the students at the school. The school had been closed down because some of the students were displaying unusual symptoms and fainting in class.

The Deputy Principal of the school, Abdulla Haneef, said on Monday that the school had been reopened on the request of parents as the first term tests was approaching.

“The exams are almost upon us,” he said. “We will proceed as the parents want us to.”

He also said that even on the day they had reopened the school some of the students had complained about chest-pains and other ailments, and had to be sent home. There were no such complaints on Tuesday, he said, adding that the two students who had been sent home the previous day had returned to school too.

Officials from the school said that due to the request of the parents they had asked the Education Ministry to send a team compromising of Education Ministry and Islamic Affairs Ministry officials to the island. Haneef said that the team would arrive in Miladhoo very soon.

Out of the 280 students studying at the school, the mysterious illness seems to only affect the girls. Nine girls from a Grade 7 class and one girl from a Grade 10 class had been affected, official said.

Elections Commission admits one Hinnavaru resident voted twice

A resident from Lhaviyani atoll Hinnavaru had voted twice at the No. 3 ballot box in the island during the parliamentary elections held on 9 May, the Elections Commission has admitted in Court.

Responding to the charges brought forward by one of the candidates who contested in that constituency, Ahmed Shareef Abdul Rahman Yoosuf, of Alivilaage / Lh. Hinnavaru, the Elections Commission’s lawyer admitted that the double voting had occurred. He further said that the opportunity for the man to vote twice had been due to the oversight of one of the Election officials who was overseeing the voting at the ballot box: the official had accidently given two ballot papers to the man.

Ahmed Shareef is seeking to invalidate the ballot results of that constituency due to the incident and calling for a revote. However the Elections Commission lawyer said that just one vote wouldn’t make any difference to the results in the constituency so there was no need to invalidate the ballot results.

Elections Commission officials Fuad Thaufeeq, Ali Siraj and Hassan Shaah were present at the Court hearing.

Civil Court cancels hearings until new Attorney General is appointed

The Civil Court has begun cancelling the hearings for some scheduled trials after the Attorney General was dismissed from office on Monday.

Judge Abdulla Ali said on Tuesday that they had made the decision because they believed the new Constitution did not allow for another person to represent the Attorney General in court.

When the earlier Attorney General, Dr Hassan Saeed, resigned from the position the former Information Minister, Mohamed Nasheed, had been assigned to the position temporarily and work at the Civil Court had proceeded uninterrupted.

However Judge Abdulla Ali said that the previous Constitution had allowed for such an instance while the current Constitution did not. He further said that even though some of the scheduled case hearings had been cancelled people could still file complaints at the Civil Court.

Cabinet to lift ban on guest houses in atolls

The Cabinet on Monday decided to lift the ban on operating guest houses in the atolls. The decision was made at the cabinet meeting held on Monday afternoon, after collaborating on a paper proposed by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture on developing guest houses in the atolls.

In accordance with a decree passed by the People’s Majlis, the members of the Cabinet decided to end the government policy of banning tourist guest houses in inhabited islands except Malé and Hulhumalé.

The members also discussed and decided on opening up to the public the recreational club for government employees. It was decided to move the recreational club to a different building. Members also spoke on the importance of having a recreational facility for the members of the general public, noting that such a facility would be an important step towards preventing the youth from adopting negative behaviours.

The members of the cabinet also discussed the complaints which some of the ministers had been receiving on the issue of ‘Herethere’ resort staff being dismissed from their jobs. The cabinet decided to find a quick solution to this issue.

Japan’s economy in record plunge

Japan’s economy has seen its worst ever quarterly performance, with GDP shrinking 4% in the first three months of 2009.

The contraction is the fourth in succession, following a 3.8% drop in October to December.

But economists are predicting modest growth in the coming months after a small rise in production in March.

The world’s second biggest economy, which depends heavily on exports, has been hit hard by the global downturn.

The BBC’s Roland Buerk in Tokyo says people around the world are buying fewer of the cars and electronic gadgets that Japan is renowned for.

The latest contraction is the biggest since records began in 1955.

It comes at an annualised rate of 15.2%, compared with a 6.1% fall in the US over the same period.

Israel: ‘No need to finish’ W Bank barrier

The head of Israel’s security service has said there is no security reason for continuing construction of Israel’s barrier through the West Bank.

Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin told a parliamentary committee that Israel had enough capabilities to prevent attacks from the Palestinian territory.

Since building began years ago, Israel has maintained that it is a security measure to keep out attackers.

Palestinians reject this, seeing it as a land grab.

The UN has criticised Israel, citing an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice that parts of the barrier built inside Palestinian territory in the West Bank – 90% of the route – are contrary to international law.

Gaza attacks

Meanwhile, Israeli police say a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza has landed in the town of Sderot, causing damage but no casualties.

Several people were treated for shock after the rocket struck the backyard of a house.

It was one of very few rockets launched from Gaza in recent weeks.

Israeli security officials have said the Hamas movement, which controls Gaza, is trying to maintain a truce so it can re-arm following Israel’s offensive earlier this year.

Later, Israeli forces were reported to have bombed an area on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, hours after the Sderot attack.

It was apparently targeted at tunnels which Israel says are used to smuggle weapons into Gaza.

Obama moves to curb car emissions

US President Barack Obama has announced tough targets for new fuel-efficient vehicles in order to cut pollution and lower dependence on oil imports.

Describing the move as “historic”, Mr Obama said the country’s first-ever national standards would reduce vehicle emissions by about a third by 2016.

The plan aims to replace overlapping rules on emissions and efficiency set by federal agencies and states.

US carmakers and environmental groups have expressed support for the move.

See how new fuel effiency targets compare

Under the proposed standards, manufacturers would be required to begin improving fuel efficiency by 5% a year from 2012.

By 2016, they would have to reach an average of 39 miles per gallon for passenger cars, and 30 miles per gallon for light lorries.

Announcing the plan at the White House, Mr Obama said the status quo was “no longer acceptable” and led to dependence on oil exporting countries and climate change.

The new standards are expected to raise the price of new vehicles by about $1,300 (£839) per vehicle by 2016.

But the president said this would be offset by lower fuel cost within three years.

The US is the biggest car market with more than 250 million cars and light lorries on the road.

The proposed nationwide standard for exhaust emissions is expected to cut the amount of carbon dioxide produced by new passenger vehicles by 34%.

Savings

The Safe Climate Campaign, an environmental group, welcomed the plan saying it was “major signal” that the US was serious about curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

Carmakers are also hailing a single nationwide standard, after years of court battles to stop California and other states setting their own tough pollution controls.

“GM and the auto industry benefit by having more consistency and certainty to guide our product plans,” GM Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said in a statement.

Mr Obama predicted that the lawsuits would be dropped as a result of the proposed regulation.

The president said: “As a result of this agreement we will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the vehicles sold in the next five years.”

He said this amounted to removing 177 million cars from the roads by 2016.

In that period, the savings in oil will amount to last year’s combined US imports from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Libya and Nigeria, Mr Obama added.

BBC environment correspondent Richard Black says the plan should act as an incentive for US carmakers to increase fuel efficiency towards European and Asian levels.

The proposed regulation needs the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency and the transportation department.