Mubarak Transfer All Powers But Still Remains 'Head of State'

International News


WASHINGTON, Feb 11 — Hosni Mubarak has transferred all powers of presidency to his vice president, but remains Egypt’s “de jure head of state,” the Egyptian ambassador to Washington said yesterday.

Speaking after Mubarak stopped short of saying he was ending his 30-year rule in an address to Egyptians, Ambassador Sameh Shoukry told CNN: “President Mubarak has transferred all authority to the vice president.”

Asked if Mubarak remained the head of state, Shoukry said: “He remains the de jure head of state.” He said Vice President Omar Suleiman “is the de facto president”.

The ambassador said he had been told by the vice president himself that “President Mubarak has transferred all authority to the vice president.”

Suleiman, he said, was “now undertaking all the authority of the president under the constitution.”

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in a Cairo square calling for Mubarak’s ouster chanted “Leave! Leave!” after Mubarak’s speech, in which he said he was transferring powers to the vice president. 

Taking Own Lives Catching On Among Youngsters Who Just Can't Cope

Local News

Petaling Jaya, 10 Feb - Suicidologist Adnan Omar believes the suicide trend among the young is getting more serious here and is fast catching up with Japan that has a rate of above 30 per 100,000 people.

“The numbers from the National Suicide Registry may not be accurate but the general trend points to the 20-39 age group making up the highest number of suicides,” said Adnan who is head of the Counselling and Psychological Services Centre of Taylor’s University. He also described the teen years as the age of instability. At that stage, adolescents are facing a lot of stress in school, work, breakdown in relationships and also deal with family issues.

The National Suicide Registry Malaysia (NSRM) estimated that between January and August last year, a total of 425 people committed suicide, averaging 60 per month (including undetermined deaths.)

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Professor of Psychology Dr T. Maniam said the country’s suicide rate was estimated at 10 to 13 per 100,000 people which is almost the same rate as the United States.

The Health Ministry has identified those aged between 16 and 25 as being “high risk.”

I think that the younger generation nowadays should be educated on how to release their stress appropriately. Besides, people should also treat a suicide note seriously or it can reinforce a person’s will to commit suicide. Recently, there is a growing trend of people expressing their desire to take their own lives on social networks. Their words should have been taken seriously by their friends. Instead, they treated it as a joke and even dared them to end their lives. I hope that people can be more alert to the people around them, and keep an eye on them if they are found something’s wrong with. 

Source:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/2/10/nation/8031924&sec=nation
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/2/10/nation/8035599&sec=nation