Headline News 05/01/2019

Headlines:

Richest 1% to Own Two-Thirds of World's Wealth by 2030: New Study
Turkey to Host Trilateral Summit on Afghan Peace
Pakistan has Not Done a Damn Thing for the US, says US President Donald Trump

Details:

Richest 1% to Own Two-Thirds of World's Wealth by 2030: New Study

As the wealthy continue to accumulate money faster than average income earners, the rich-poor divide will only widen over the next few years. And in 12 years’ time, more than two-thirds of the world’s wealth will be in the hands of just 1 per cent of the population, according to the latest research. The wealth of the richest people has been growing by 6 per cent every year since 2008 and as of last year, the top 1 per cent owned half of the global wealth. If the same growth rate is observed over the next several years, the richest will control 64 per cent of the total wealth by 2030, according to estimates by the UK’s House of Commons published online on Saturday. In comparison, the remaining 99 per cent or more than 7 billion people have seen their wealth grow at a lower pace of only 3 per cent per year and if the trend continues, they are projected to have only $195 trillion in wealth by 2030. According to Knight Frank’s Wealth Report, the population of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UNHWIs), each owning at least $30 million in assets, is expected to jump by 60 per cent by 2026. Dubai is home to the highest concentration of millionaires and multi-millionaires (those with at least $10 million) and UNHWIs for any city in the Middle East and accounts for 63 per cent of the UAE’s rich population. [Source: Gulf News]

Global capitalism has enabled the super-rich to get even richer and it is a great shame that some Muslim countries take pride in the number of multi-millionaires they have while the majority of their people live in misery.

Turkey to Host Trilateral Summit on Afghan Peace

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan says “a much stronger effort” is needed to further ongoing peace talks his country is facilitating between the United States and Afghanistan’s Taliban. Addressing a televised joint news conference in Ankara after official talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Khan said Afghans have suffered for decades and it is time for the International community to help bring an end to the war in the country. “Pakistan has already been helping a dialogue between the Taliban and the Americans but it needs a much stronger effort from all the stakeholders, neighbors,” the prime minister emphasized.Khan was referring to two-day talks in Abu Dhabi last month between U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, and senior Taliban representatives that Pakistan said it had arranged. Khalilzad and the Taliban described the dialogue “productive” and promised to meet again soon. Insurgents demand complete withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan, saying their presence are blocking progress toward peace. Speaking Friday, President Erdoğan announced he will host a trilateral summit meeting with Pakistan and Afghanistan after Turkey’s March 31 local elections to discuss the peace process. "I look forward to the summit meeting inshallah [God willing] in Istanbul where we hope that Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey will be able to help in this [Afghan] peace process ... a much badly needed peace,” Prime Minister Khan said. Pakistan's role in arranging the U.S.-Taliban talks, analysts say, is leading to a thaw in Islamabad's traditionally tumultuous relationship with Washington. Speaking on Wednesday, President Donald Trump apparently acknowledged the improvement in mutual ties. "We do want to have a great relationship with Pakistan ... so, I look forward to meeting with the new leadership in Pakistan. We will be doing that in the not too distant future." Khan’s two-day official meetings in Turkey ended Friday and it was his first visit to the country since taking power after the July elections in Pakistan. The two Muslim nations enjoy close relations. Prime Minister Khan assured Turkey of his country’s support to defeat Islamic State, saying the terrorist group “already has emerged in various parts of Afghanistan" and threatens the security of Pakistan. Erdoğan also praised a recent ruling by Pakistan’s supreme court, which declared exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen’s organization, FETÖ, a terrorist group. The highest Pakistani court also handed over schools being run by the outlawed organization in the country to a Turkish government foundation. Turkey accuses Gulen of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016. [Source of America].

Both Pakistan and Turkey are working hard to use all their assets to implement America’s plan for Afghanistan. Just imagine what both countries could achieve if they were united under a single leadership controlling lands from the Bosporus to the Himalayas.  Such a state will become a reality only if Muslims abandon their nation states and work tirelessly for the re-establishment of the Khilafah Rashidah (righteous guided Caliphate).

Pakistan has Not Done a Damn Thing for the US, says US President Donald

The United States President Donald Trump said that the US government want a 'great relationship' with its Pakistani counterpart, in one of his first comments in 2019 on America's troubled relationship with Pakistan government. The US government decided to stop USD 1.3 billion military aid to Pakistan in 2018, stating that the country is home to many enemies. President Trump told his Cabinet colleagues that he will plan a meeting with Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan. He also added that the US administration has commenced peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan.  Donald Trump accused that Pakistan has not been fair to his country as it does not aide the United States for anything except using its money like water. He asserted that Islamabad does not do "a damn thing" for the US and its government provided late al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden a safe hideout in the city of Rawalpindi. The US President also stated that Pakistan acts as a safe place for terrorists, which is unacceptable to the US authorities. Trump accused Islamabad of giving nothing to Washington but "lies and deceit". The US government decided to suspend security assistance to Pakistan over several issues of security, terrorism and their differences on Afghanistan but the training programmes for military officers will still go on.[Source: Times NoW News]

Despite’s Trump’s constant threats directed at Pakistan Khan’s government is determined to engage America. This is a folly. The only way to deal with Trump’s America is to cut all form of ties and expel her forces out of the region. Only then will Pakistan prosper.