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TUESDAY Vol. XXXVII No. 10035 March 22, 2016 Jumada II 13, 1437 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals PM meets Russian Muslim leader Qatar on track to In brief bring all key govt QATAR | Media Al Jazeera Forum opens HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Jazeera Media Network al-Thani meeting with Russian Muftis Shura Council Speaker Sheikh Rawi Ain al-Deen, chairman HE Sheikh Hamad bin who is also the president of the Religious Administration of Muslims of the Russian services online Thamer al-Thani yesterday opened Federation, on the occasion of his visit to the country. Talks during the meeting, the 10th Al Jazeera Forum which attended by the delegation accompanying Sheikh Rawi, dealt with co-operation The use of ICT has improved the effi ciency in government administra- is being held under the theme between the two countries and a number of issues of common interest. quality of government services tion, and increase government open- “Regional and International ness. There is a way to go in ensuring Struggle in the Middle East”. The atar is on track to achieving its that government employees have the forum brings together political target of bringing all key gov- necessary skills and training to keep up leaders, intellectuals, journalists Qernment services online by with emerging technologies,” he added. and activists from the Arab world 2020, the Ministry of Transport and The report said government enti- and beyond, to explore and build ILO team sees progress in Communications said yesterday. ties in Qatar are rolling out mobile apps dialogue on the future of the region A report entitled, “Qatar’s ICT Land- HE al-Sulaiti: says Qatar’s digital and services. The most common reason in light of its current situation. scape 2015” released by the Ministry strategy is on the right course. cited by government organisations for In his opening remarks, Sheikh improving worker conditions of Transport and Communications, deploying mobile applications is to en- Hamad bin Thamer welcomed reveals ICT adoption within the gov- As of December 2015, as many as 681 able citizens to have a true multichan- the forum participants and guests ernment workforce is widespread, gov- government services were online, and nel service experience (81%). who took part in this year’s World Agencies improve migrants’ working conditions. ernment organisations are embracing that number is expected to rise to 1,000 Off ering managers and executives Media Summit, the International Geneva Yet “certain challenges remain and new technologies and the rapid rise in by the end of this year. the ability to access key performance Press Institute’s World Congress, the implementation of the measures penetration levels of smartphones and In fact, IT executives in Qatar believe data and push notifi cations to citizens convened in Doha over the past to overcome them are still under way,” tablets in Qatar is spurring the rollout that the use of ICT by the government were both cited by 44% of IT execu- two days. Page 32 atar is making progress to- said the report by the team led by of mobile apps and services by govern- has improved the quality of government tives. Of the channels used for provid- ward improving conditions for Japanese ambassador Misako Kaji and ment entities. services to citizens signifi cantly. ing e-services, the increasing impor- Qmigrant workers, but the test including representatives of govern- Government organisations in Qatar The report is based on a large-scale tance of mobile is visible, with nearly QATAR | Event will be when the new legislation is ments, employers and workers’ groups. are using social media channels to reach study of 480 government employees half of the online services being made Bedouin-style tents enforced from December, the Interna- From December, a new Qatari law out to external stakeholders and foster and IT executives from 48 government available through a mobile-enabled tional Labour Organisation (ILO) said abolishes the “kafala” sponsorship deeper engagement as well as improve organisations (ministries, councils, au- website or mobile app. for World Cup fans yesterday. system for migrant workers in favour of service delivery. thorities, and other institutions), with The investments government or- Qatar may house thousands of A high-level ILO team who visited a labour contract system. In 2015, 78% of government entities the aim of monitoring the government’s ganisations have made in automation football fans in Bedouin-style Qatar this month said any decision A worker will no longer be forced to in Qatar are using social media, with progress in improving government serv- of core business processes are bearing tents in desert areas close to to appoint a commission of inquiry continue a job if there is abuse or ex- 97% of those using social media using ice delivery, transparency, and effi ciency. fruit. While 87% of organisations in stadiums during the 2022 World should be put off for a year to allow ploitation, although domestic workers it to publish information, 84% to en- “The environment is ripe for contin- Qatar had automated their core busi- Cup. Most of the likely 500,000 time to implement the reforms. are excluded from this provision, the gage with social media users, and 70% ued progress, and this study validates ness processes in 2013, this percentage fans are expected to stay in hotels The team’s report and recommenda- report said. to solicit ideas and involve social media that Qatar’s digital government strategy rose to 93 in 2015. and apartments, but thousands tions will be debated at the ILO’s gov- The ILO mission, the second in users in the policy and service-delivery has put us on the right course for future Of those who have automated their could also camp under canvas in erning body today, spokesman Hans two years, met various ministers, the processes of government organisations. success,” said HE the Minister of Trans- core business processes, 100% have re- desert close to stadiums, a move von Rohland said. CEO of Qatar Petroleum and workers’ In addition, more than three-quar- port and Communications Jassim Seif portedly automated their HR functions. organisers are holding up as a In the report, the ILO mission said groups, mostly from the Philippines ters (80%) of government organisations Ahmed al-Sulaiti. The Qatar government has been creative, and culturally authentic, it “acknowledges the recent concrete and Nepal. It visited sites including that use social media now employ at “We continue to pursue the impor- conducting market research studies way for Qatar to meet FIFA measures taken by the government and Khalifa Stadium, a major construction least one dedicated social media execu- tant objectives of this strategy - better since 2008 on the state of ICT in major requirements. Page 2 other interlocutors” it met in Qatar to site ahead of the 2022 World Cup. tive. serve individuals and businesses, create sectors. Page 2 Gulf Times 2 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 QATAR

Prime Minister meets ambassadors

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani held separate meetings with the ambassadors of Paraguay, UK and Bosnia and Herzegovina – Angel Roman Barchini, Ajay Sharma and Tarik Sadovic, respectively – in Doha yesterday. The talks dealt with aspects of bilateral co-operation and means of developing it.

Official

78% of govt Emir holds phone conversation with Russian president

HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday entities using held telephone conversation with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin. During the phone call, they discussed bilateral relations between Qatar and Russia and means to enhance them and social media exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues ome 78% of government indicates that the information since 2013. As of June 2015, 76 of joint interest, notably the latest entities in Qatar are using shared on social media chan- government organisations were Vehicles’ headlights are reflected off a rain-swept road in Doha yesterday evening. developments in Syria. Ssocial media for collabora- nels is published in a timely connected to the Government PICTURE: Jayaram tion, information sharing, and/ manner. Among those who Network. Advisory Council or citizen engagement, the Min- publish, 23% publish fi rst on Cloud adoption among gov- istry of Transport and Commu- social media and later on tra- ernment organisations is still discusses HR law nications said in its ‘Qatar’s ICT ditional channels, 48% publish low. In 2015, 18% of government Landscape 2015’ report. information on social media at entities in Qatar are using cloud The Advisory Council held its It said social media channels the same time as on all other solutions according to the IT Thundershowers weekly regular session chaired present an attractive medium communications channels, executives surveyed. Security- by its Speaker HE Mohamed bin for government organisations to and 26% publish on social me- related concerns are cited as Mubarak al-Khulaifi. reach out to external stakehold- dia after publishing through the primary inhibitors of cloud The Council reviewed a draft law ers and foster deeper engage- traditional channels such as adoption. on the protection of privacy of ment as well as improve service newspapers, radio, and broad- Online security continues to forecast for today personal data and decided to delivery. cast. be a concern for government refer it to the Services and Public Social media channels are The frequency of interaction organisations in Qatar, with just Facilities Committee to study not only being used to publish over social media channels var- over a third of those surveyed hundershowers are ex- post on social media yesterday may be accompanied by thun- it and furnish a report to the information (97% of organisa- ies by organisation, although having a formal security policy pected in some parts of evening, the Met department der is some places at times. Council. It also discussed a report tions using social media), but the most common approach is developed, implemented, and Tthe country today along said scattered, light rain was The wind speed may go up to by the Legal and Legislative also to engage with social media to publish and interact several monitored. with strong winds, the Qatar being reported from across 25 knots during the thunder- Aff airs committee on a draft law users (84%), and to solicit ideas times a day (39%). It should also IT training of government Met department has said. Qatar and its intensity was ex- showers, with the sea level ris- for the issuance of the human and involve social media users in be noted that some organisations employees is still an area for im- The weather offi ce has also pected to increase in the com- ing to 7ft. resources law and decided the policy and service-delivery may have very few customers to provement. Despite the demand forecast thunderstorms and ing hours. The minimum and maxi- to refer its recommendations processes of government organi- engage with over social media for training, only 38% of the gusty winds, as well as high The forecast for both inshore mum temperatures in the thereon to the Cabinet. zations (70%). channels. surveyed employees confi rmed seas, in off shore areas. and off shore areas says partly country today are expected to Meanwhile, the Advisory Among surveyed organisa- Two executives pointed out they received ICT training in the Doha is among the places cloudy to cloudy conditions are be 20C and 27C, respectively, Council’s Public Services and tions that use social media that most of their customers are last three years, compared to where rain is likely today, ac- expected today and there is a with the forecast for Doha be- Utilities Committee held its first channels, 6% use external agen- not individuals but other large 25% in 2013, with most of that cording to weather charts. In a chance of scattered rain, which ing 20C and 26C. meeting of the 44th ordinary cies to manage their social media organisations and as such, their training provided by their em- session under its rapporteur Saqr activity and interactions. A large customer base prefers to engage ployer. Fahd al-Mereikhi. majority (80%) of government with them directly outside social However, the report said gov- The Committee studied a draft organisations that use social media channels. ernment employees expect to law on the protection of personal media now employ at least one The report also said the get an average of 38 hours of ICT data and decided to complete its dedicated social media execu- number of government entities training in the next 12 months, study at another meeting. tive. connected to the ‘Government up from the 34 hours they re- Bedouin-style tents The IT executives’ survey Network’ has seen a sharp rise ceived in the last 12 months. Speaker meets envoy of Tunisia Adoption of cloud solutions relatively low for World Cup fans HE the Speaker of the Advisory Adoption of cloud solutions among government to subscribe from both the government cloud and Council Mohamed bin Mubarak organisations is relatively low in Qatar, an off icial local providers, and 7% said they would only be al-Khulaifi yesterday met Tunisia’s report show. willing to subscribe to a cloud service from local Reuters ship of the Middle East. As a tar has spent tens of billions ambassador to Qatar Salah In 2015, 18% of government entities in Qatar providers. Doha result, we are actively research- of dollars on upgrading infra- al-Salhi. are using cloud solutions, according to the When asked about the reasons for not subscribing ing the concept of support- structure and has built scores They discussed bilateral relations IT executives surveyed, said the Ministry of to cloud services, IT executives shared their ers sleeping under the stars,” a of hotels and apartment com- at the parliamentary level and Transport and Communications in its report reasons— with major concerns around security atar may house thou- spokesperson for Qatar’s World plexes. means to enhance them. ‘Qatar’s ICT Landscape 2015’. (65%), including data location, uncertainty on sands of football fans in Cup Supreme Committee told Desert camping, a popu- HE Secretary-General of the Among current users, IaaS (infrastructure as the supplier’s data center information assurance QBedouin-style tents in Reuters without giving further lar winter activity for Qataris, Advisory Council Fahd bin a service) and storage as a service (STaaS) are practices, and risk of cyber-attacks; and the lack desert areas close to stadiums details. could help allay concerns about Mubarak al-Khayareen attended popular service models. of suitable off erings from local providers, cited by during the 2022 World Cup. “With six years to go, all op- thin occupancy after the event, the meeting. Separately, private cloud is the most popular cloud 15% of the respondents. Most of the likely 500,000 tions are still being explored analysts say. deployment model in government organisations. While cloud computing does have its inherent fans are expected to stay in ho- but we are excited by the pos- Authorities said in January Armed forces When asked whether government organisations risks, 64% of IT executives in government tels and apartments, but thou- sibility of supporters enjoying that 46,000 rooms would be exercises are willing to subscribe to a cloud service off ered organisations also agreed that they are not fully sands could also camp under a range of accommodations ready by 2022. by either a local provider or the government, aware of the laws and regulations in Qatar relating canvas in desert close to stadi- designed for all needs.” The implies a busy building approximately 44% of organisations responded to cloud services and the hosting of data outside ums, a move organisers are hold- Qatar is also looking at pro- programme - industry ana- The General Command of negatively. Still, the majority of organisations are the country’s borders. ing up as a creative, and cultur- moting private letting services lysts STR Global estimate Qa- the Qatari Armed Forces has willing to opt for cloud off ers. In fact, government IT executives noted that they ally authentic, way for Qatar to such as Airbnb and putting up tar’s current hotel stock totals announced that the Internal Twenty-nine percent of those organisations are are not fully clear about which cloud solutions meet FIFA requirements. spectators on cruise ships 21,056. A Supreme Committee Security Force (Lekhwiya) will willing to subscribe to a cloud service from the they can use and which policies govern the use of “At the heart of this World docked along the coast, a gov- spokesperson said Qatar was conduct exercises on March 30 at government cloud, 20% said they would be willing public cloud solutions, the report said. Cup is a commitment to show- ernment offi cial said. on track to deliver the hotel the Lekhwiya camp and Saliyah case the hospitality and friend- Since winning its bid, Qa- rooms required by FIFA. field from 7 am to 10 am.

Ministry recalls Maserati models

The Ministry of Economy and Commerce, in collaboration with Alfardan Sports Motors, has announced the recall of Maserati V8 Nine-month long road closure in Legtaifi ya Quattroporte models of 2014-2015 to fix a weakness in the electrical wiring. The MEC said the recall campaign comes within the framework of its ongoing eff orts to protect consumers and ensure nine-month road clo- Mall) will be diverted to Lusail that car dealers follow up on vehicles’ defects and repair them. sure will be in place from Street (as shown in the attached The MEC will co-ordinate with the dealer to follow up on the AThursday (March 24) on map). maintenance and repair works and communicate with customers the two-lane dual carriageway Ashghal will also be closing to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out. from Legtaifi ya Lagoon (La- the existing 150m long four- The MEC has urged all customers to report any violations to its goona Mall side) to the South lane dual carriageway from the Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department Canal Crossing on the direction traffi c signalised junction at the through the following channels: Hotline: 16001, e-mail: info@mec. towards Doha. It will be for ap- Lusail Street to Lagoona Mall gov.qa, Twitter: @MEC_Qatar, Instagram: MEC_Qatar, MEC mobile proximately 300m in each direc- while diverting the traffi c to a app for Android and IOS: MEC_Qatar tion (as shown in the map). two-lane one-way leading to the The closure, to be implement- new roundabout in front of the Jail, deportation for stealing cash ed in co-ordination with the Lagoona Mall (as shown in the Traffi c Department will contin- attached map). A Sri Lankan man has been sentenced to six months in jail and ue until the end of the year. The closure is required to subsequent deportation by a Doha Criminal Court for stealing a During the period, south- complete the construction of sum of QR2,200 from a parked vehicle. Local Arabic daily Arrayah bound traffi c (to Doha) will be the Lusail Expressway, besides reported that the victim parked his car beside a road and locked diverted to a temporary one-way expanding the Lusail Express- it but left the currency on a seat. The defendant forced the driver’s road that was constructed east way from four to 12 lanes (in- door open and took the money and fled. When the victim came of the closed road near the loca- cluding eight lanes being part back to his car he discovered the theft and reported the issue to the tion of the upcoming Pearl Inter- of a tunnel), and replacing the police. The defendant was arrested by the police for another matter change via the new roundabout utility lines under the road such and during the investigation he admitted the theft of money from in front of Lagoona Mall. The as electricity cables, water lines a car. He also showed investigators where he hid a sum of QR800, northbound traffi c (to Lagoona and other systems. the balance from the stolen money after spending the rest. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 3 QATAR QF R&D hosts Arab expatriate science and technology forum

H Sheikha Moza bint During the opening ses- to engage with their local peers. search and Development at Qa- Nasser, chairperson of sion, HH Sheikha Moza bint Together, these leading industry tar Foundation. HQatar Foundation for Nasser said: “As we continue professionals set new objectives Celebrating its 10th anniver- Education, Science and Com- to move forward in the journey and goals for Arab-driven sci- sary, the scope of the original munity Development (QF), took of research and development in ence and technology innova- AES initiative has been expand- part in the opening session of Qatar, and without losing fo- tions in Qatar, the region and ed to include Arab technology the Arab Expatriate Science and cus of the basic research and around the world, to build mo- entrepreneurs, investors and Technology Innovation Forum fundamentals, I hope you start mentum and excellence in their innovation ecosystem builders. (AES Forum), yesterday at Qa- exploring the next steps in the respective fi elds. The new AES vision is to create tar National Convention Cen- innovation chain, including en- “Arab scientists and technol- a nexus among Arab innova- tre. trepreneurship, technology de- ogy entrepreneurs are creating tors, researchers and scientists The event was hosted by velopment, and commercialisa- ideas and innovations which to increase and celebrate the Qatar Foundation Research tion.” make the world a better and contributions that Arabs make and Development (QF R&D), The AES Forum, which acts as more sustainable place. The AES to the global community in the a member of QF, and refl ects an international hub for science forum is a vehicle to celebrate fi eld of science and technol- QF’s commitment to build- and technology innovation, in- and support these innovators ogy. This year’s gathering was, ing Qatar’s research capac- vites Arab scientists, research- and leading industry profession- for the fi rst time, attended by HH Sheikha Moza participating in the opening session of the Arab Expatriate Science and Technology ity through the development of ers, technology entrepreneurs als,” said Dr Hamad al-Ibrahim, regional and international Arab Innovation Forum. PICTURE: AR Al-Baker / HHOPL key sciences. and investors from outside Qatar executive vice-president of Re- participants. Sheikha Moza to attend research conference today ‘Water security is major By Joseph Varghese manager at the opening session, the winners and recognises achievements Staff Reporter QF R&D. of the best research award as well and excellence in research in Dr al- as the best innovation award will 2015. The award brings to light challenge for Qatar’ Salem de- be announced. contributions made to knowl- H Sheikha Moza bint scribed “The conference, this year, edge and science that have had Nasser, chairperson of that the is highly successful in diff erent an impact on policy making or By Joseph Varghese Many researches are going on in challenge from diff erent aspects HQatar Foundation for annual ways. This year we have received capacity building in Qatar. Over Staff Reporter this fi eld.” and solve the issue eff ectively. A Education Science and Commu- research over 1,300 research abstracts for 71 projects were reviewed by the “This has already been recog- lot has been achieved. But what nity Development (QF) will grace conference the conference. We also have QNRF Director’s Committee for nised as a major grand challenge. we have achieved so far, are only the Annual Research Conference is a research Dr Nabeel al-Salem received more than 640 posters the award. ater security is, prob- I feel that it is the prime chal- a few steps in a long journey,” (ARC’16) and deliver the leader- festival for for the conference in addition The Best Innovation Award ably, the prime grand lenge for the country and the re- stressed Dr al- Salem. ship address today at the Qatar Qatar. The programmes, partici- to a large number of technical recognises the most innova- Wchallenge in the coun- gion. We are all working towards He also pointed out that sev- National Convention Centre. pation and the number of events presentations. We have about 12 tive project processed by Qatar try that needs to be tackled at the solving this issue,” he continued. eral researches are going on in Held under the patronage of all indicate that it is a highly cele- satellite events going on along Foundation’s Offi ce of Intel- top of other grand challenges, “It is a multi-sector chal- the solar energy sector to fi nd HH Sheikha Moza, the two- day brated and much anticipated one. with the main conference,” Dr lectual Property and Technol- opined an offi cial of Qatar Foun- lenge and everyone has to come out the most suitable technology conference under the theme, The conference provides a plat- al-Salem said. ogy Transfer for its commercial dation Research and Develop- together to meet the challenge. for Qatar. ‘Investing in Research and Inno- form for knowledge sharing and “We will recognise about 60 potential, marketability, and ment (QF R&D). The universities, researchers and “We are testing several types vating for Society’ is the fl agship collaboration. It aims to tackle the people with various awards in contributes towards developing “Water security is the key other stakeholders have to come of solar technologies and the event of QF Research & Develop- four grand challenges that have several categories during the Qatar’s knowledge and innova- challenge that is being addressed together to fi nd a solution for solar test facility is the test bed ment (QF R&D). already been identifi ed as part of conference. Out of them, we tion based economy. at the Annual Research Confer- this problem. Many researchers for various technologies. A lot Giving the details of the the National Research Strategy. have two special awards which The award identifi es an inven- ence 2016,” Dr Nabeel al-Salem, are working on the challenges,” of data is being collected and we event, Dr Nabeel al-Salem, ex- After the opening of the con- are of very high level. These are tion created by a Qatar entity executive director, Outreach and he maintained. have a lot of researchers working ecutive director, Outreach and ference, there will be a keynote the Best Research Project Award partially or entirely supported by Communications at QF R&D The offi cial noted that Qatar on the facility. We have the dust Communications at QF R&D panel discussion on Strategic In- and the Best Innovation Award,” Qatar Foundation. Candidates told Gulf Times yesterday. National Research Fund is pro- problem in the country and we said that the two day conference vestment in Research and Inno- Dr al-Salem said. for the award were selected from “We have a number of ab- viding more support and fund- are working on how to overcome has got huge attention interna- vation which will be attended by The Best Research Project QF’s intellectual property port- stracts and posters on the issue ing on researches on tackling this issue. We are also trying to tionally. He was accompanied some leading international sci- Award is funded by the Qatar folio. The winner was selected of water security and ways to the challenges of water security. improve the effi ciency of the by Kholoud al-Ali, outreach entists and researchers. Also at National Research Fund ( QNRF) out of 280 inventions. make use of the water resources. “We are trying to approach this photovoltaic panels,” he added. Gulf Times 4 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 QATAR

Qatar condemns torching of Palestinian’s home Qatar has condemned in second secretary at Qatar’s Al -Maawda said that the Justice Minister meets Niger envoy the strongest terms the permanent delegation to crime of burning the house Call for heinous and barbaric crime the UN off ice in Geneva, of the only witness is an committed by the Israeli made the remarks when episode of a long series comprehensive settlers who burned the he addressed a session on of crimes terrorising the home of the sole witness human rights in Palestine Palestinian people, killing solution in the arson attack on Saad and other occupied Arab children and storming the Dawabsheh family that took territories, under Article 7 Aqsa Mosque in order to place in July 2015. of the 31st session of the implement its policy to QNA Jassim Sayar al-Maawda, Human Rights Council. Judaise Jerusalem. Geneva

he State of Qatar has reaffi rmed its full soli- Tdarity with the just struggle of the Palestinian people and its support for international eff orts aimed at fi nding a lasting and com- prehensive solution in the Middle East crisis which HE the Minister of Justice Dr Hassan Lahdan Saqr al-Mohannadi met the ambassador of Niger to Qatar Mubarak cannot be achieved, except Hassan Boubacar in Doha yesterday. They discussed the legal and legislative co-operation between the State of Qatar through the end of the Is- and the Republic of Niger as well as a number of issues of common concern. raeli occupation and the es- tablishment of the State of Palestine with East Al Quds as its capital in accordance with relevant international legislations and Arab peace initiative. This came in a speech de- livered by Qatar’s permanent representative to the United Nations and other organisa- tions in Geneva Faisal bin Ab- dullah al-Henzab during an interactive dialogue here yes- terday with Special Rappor- teur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian ter- ritories occupied since 1967, held as part of the ongoing 31st Human Rights Council. Al-Henzab said Israel’s continued rejection to co- operate with the Special Rapporteur and not allow- ing him to enter the occupied Palestinian territories which led him to resign, were at- tempts by Israel to cover up its war crimes against the Palestinian people. He called on the president of the Human Rights Council to resist pressure and to se- lect a new special rapporteur without delay, expressing Qatar’s grave concern over what is stated in the report about the international com- munity’s inability to provide eff ective protection for the Palestinians.

Gulf Times 6 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 QATAR

Filipino food festival at Quality Mall

Quality Retail Group has Filipino community” in Qatar spend the whole weekend announced that a carnival is expected to participate in exploring with friends and of Filipino food and food the food festival, according family, this spectacular products, Pistang Pinoy, will to a statement from Quality culinary event - Pistang Pinoy be held from today until Retail Group. “Quality Mall, - should not be missed.” In April 2. The festival will be Al Hilal, is easy to reach and addition, there are a number inaugurated by Philippine perfectly placed for both of promotions planned at all ambassador Wilfredo Santos weekday and weekend visits. Quality retail outlets in Qatar at Quality Mall, Al Hilal, at Whether you pop in on your to “add joy to this culinary 6pm today. The “cream of the lunch break or after work, or celebration”.

HE the Minister of Municipality and Environment Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Rumaihi is flanked by Laboratories and Standardisation Aff airs assistant undersecretary Dr Mohamed bin Saif al-Kuwari and British ambassador Ajay Sharma at the launch of the book. Book focuses on green building initiatives

scientifi c book titled The 225 page book in- jma Area, seeking a clean Implementing recycling recycling industry by issu- ‘Recycled Aggregate cludes comprehensive data environment free from has also the added advantage ing conformity certifi cates to Ain Construction on the construction indus- accumulated waste which of improving the aggregate verify compliance of recycled - Qatar Experience’ was try in Qatar and potential contributes to pollution supply in Qatar and reducing aggregate with the approved released in Doha yester- recycling, supported by a and spreads of dust in the relying on imported materi- standards. day by HE the Minister of set of statistical tables and air. als at controlled quality and The techniques and mix- Municipality and Environ- charts, photographs and In addition, a test road prices. Qatar Standards have tures used in research and ment Mohamed bin Ab- case studies. trial (the Green Road) was already updated the Qatar studies featured in the book dullah al-Rumaihi. The book contains a constructed using con- Construction Specifi cation to are unique to the Gulf, Mid- The book is the outcome range of studies that have struction waste as an ac- permit the use of recycled ag- dle East, and North Africa for of the partnership between been conducted in Doha cess road to the Rawdat gregate in various construc- their contribution to a cleaner the government and in- and the UK between 2010 Rashid landfi ll site. The tion applications, and will environment and supporting dustry to combine the UK and 2015, focusing on the test road is approximately continue their support to the the construction industry. and Qatar experience to development of codes of 1km long with heavy truck fast track government ini- practice and supporting loadings, and cost around tiatives for green buildings mechanisms to convert the QR1.2mn to construct. and sustainable develop- vast quantities of construc- The construction cost ment. tion wastes into high-value was covered by the indus- British ambassador Ajay construction products. try in support of scientifi c Sharma, Laboratories and Millions of tonnes of research and preservation Standardisation Aff airs as- construction wastes are of the environment. The sistant undersecretary Dr currently accumulating in in-service performance of Mohamed bin Saif al-Ku- Rawdat Rashid and other the building and road trials wari and many senior of- landfi ll sites in Qatar. was monitored up to two fi cials from the Qatar Na- In the framework of the years and the results have tional Research Fund, UK pioneering experiment of shown high strength and Transport Research Labora- using alternative aggre- durability of the new mix- tory in Qatar, Ashghal and gates, building trials in the tures made with recycled Qatar University attended form of test rooms have aggregate in comparison to the book launch event. been constructed in Na- conventional materials.

Only ‘green ACs’ from July 1 Assistant Undersecretary eff iciency rate of these for Laboratories and ACs must not be less than Standardisation at the 8.5Btu per hour. Al-Kuwari Ministry of Municipality said the goal is to save and Environment Dr Mo- and rationalise the use hamed bin Saif al-Kuwari of energy in the country. said the ministry will allow He was speaking at the the entry, import, trading launch of the scientific and storage of only energy book ‘Recycled Aggregate saving air-conditioners in Construction - Qatar from July 1. The energy Experience’. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 7 QATAR

Some of the students honoured on the occasion. Qatar varsity medical students honoured

atar University College of riculum was being developed in Qatar: that everything was falling into place. Medicine (QU-CMED) recently will problem-based learning work in Looking back now, I can only remem- Qhonoured Dean’s List students Qatar? Thank you for giving us the an- ber the great knowledge I have gained, at a ceremony attended by the CMED swer. Yes. It works. disregarding the pressure and anxiety administration, faculty, students and “It works because of your excellent I faced.” their families. ability to learn in teams - dialoguing, Speaking on the determination and A total of 26 distinguished students researching, conceiving hypotheses motivation necessary to achieve aca- (44% of the fi rst year’s cohort) who ob- and discussing possible solutions in a demic excellence, Mohamed Hussain tained 3.5 GPA or higher received their team-based learning context. It also Aljaber said: “Being one of the Dean’s certifi cates from Dr Egon Toft, VP for works because of your more solitary, List students will push me to put in medical education and CMED dean, for and equally necessary, endeavours of more eff ort to achieve higher levels. I their outstanding academic perform- scholarship - thoughtful reading and am proud to be a CMED student who ance during Fall 2015. refl ection and the formulation of ideas will be committed to serve his commu- In his remarks, Dr Toft said: “You are in writing characterised by clarity and nity after a few years.” here because you have demonstrated refl ective of deep understanding of Stressing the importance of good distinctive excellence in both the so- your subjects.” study habits and study/student life cial and personal aspects of learn- Commenting on her achieve- balance, Wafaa Ahmed Mohamed said: ing. The College of Medicine adopts a ment, Almaha Saad al-Muhannadi “Devoting time and eff ort to quickly learning method that is new to Qatar. said: “The key element for achiev- comprehend lessons is an important It is called problem-based learning, ing what I have achieved is the desire key to success. Students should also and you, a remarkable 44% of the fi rst to be nothing ordinary. That is why I remember to enjoy their academic life year’s cohort, are the answer to the put everything I have into the knowl- and benefi t from all off ered opportuni- question that was raised when the cur- edge and tasks I was given, to ensure ties.” Gulf Times 8 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 QATAR Speed governor for school buses advised

By Joseph Varghese when Sarvodaya Nursery’s van schools must try to avoid mini- vehicle, they have to be used. So, many rules and do not take ad- Staff Reporter overturned. buses as much as possible for all the children must be advised equate measures to ensure the He urged all concerned to the transportation of the chil- to use the seat belts, especially safety of the children. avoid mini-vans as much as pos- dren. “The minibuses should not the little ones. This will prevent A parent said, “Everyday, I go he maximum speed limit sible for school transportation. speed over 80km when driven such tragedies as in the case of to drop and collect my children for minibuses should be “Considering that the safety straight. They have small tyres the child last week. The assistant from their school and see bus T80km per hour when they and comfort of passengers must which cannot handle sharp in the vehicle must be trained to drivers resort to several means are driven straight and not over come fi rst and the ride and han- turns at high speeds. The vehi- ensure that the children wear to overtake those who drive 50km speed when turning, a dling of minibuses are usually cle should not be driven over 50 seat belts, as the driver alone cars and other small vehicles. traffi c safety expert has stressed. of a lower standard than cars, it km speed when they are taking cannot do it,” he added. Schools must look into these Installing speed governors, is often better to cruise at a re- the turns. Otherwise, there is a The offi cial was of the view problems seriously.” A Karwa school bus ended up over a pick-up and a car, in a service ensuring that passengers wear duced speed,” he pointed out. chance that the vehicle might that installing speed governors Another parent observed that road parallel to Airport Road in Al Rawdah area early morning seat belts and having attendants Several parents also have overturn.” on school buses can bring down some bus drivers do not care yesterday in an accident. Sources said the accident resulted in onboard are some of the meas- raised concerns saying that The offi cial pointed out that cases of speeding as the gadget about other drivers. “Many such injuries to at least three people, including the drivers of the bus ures to reduce accidents involv- some schools have outsourced it is important that all school will not allow the vehicle to go drivers just drive along without and the pick-up. According to the Ministry of Education and Higher ing school buses, he observed. their transportation and many buses should have an attendant beyond the set limit. bothering about other vehicles Education, the bus had no passengers other than the driver as it The expert was referring drivers are not properly trained onboard and the children must Parents of students at several and squeeze through the pocket was on its way to collect children of Al Wafaa Model School for to the death of a fi ve-year- in handling the children. be instructed to use the seat belt. schools told Gulf Times that the roads making it highly inconven- Boys (picture from social media). old Indian boy last Thursday The offi cial suggested that “If you fi nd seat belts in the school bus drivers do not follow ient for other drivers,” he added.

Some of the participants at the seminar. Seminar promotes awareness about Zika virus disease

atar University Bio- tions’, Dr Nadim alerted that medical Research about one out of fi ve people QCentre (QU-BRC) develop symptoms asso- has held a seminar on ‘Zika ciated with the Zika virus Virus and Public Health Re- disease, emphasising that sponse in Qatar’ in collabo- since there is yet no vac- ration with the Ministry of cine to prevent it, people in Public Health. endemic areas also need to The seminar was an op- wear long sleeve shirts and portunity to raise aware- long pants. ness about the Zika virus She said that although phenomenon and its im- the disease has not yet been plication on global health, reported in Qatar, a surveil- while focusing on Qatar’s lance case alert has been response strategies regard- developed and distributed ing the health issue. to all hospitals and health It featured presentations facilities in the country. by Dr Mohammed al-Hajri, In addition, all Qatar Air- director of Emergency Pre- ways fl ights from aff ected paredness and Response countries are disinfected Department, Ministry of while screening of blood Public Health; Dr Shazia donors for recent travel his- Nadim, acting head of Sur- tory to aff ected countries veillance and Outbreak, has been instituted. Public Health Depart- ment, Ministry of Public Since there is yet no Health; Dr Elmoubasher vaccine to prevent it, Farag, acting head of Com- people in endemic municable Diseases Con- areas also need to wear trol Programmes, Public long sleeve shirts and Health Department, Min- long pants istry of Public Health; Dr Mohamed Noor from the While advising people Ministry of Public Health; to also make use the Zika and Dr Hassan Altigani, test mobile apps developed confi rm specialist, Minis- by WHO to update their try of Municipalities and knowledge about the dis- Environment. ease and access available While making a presen- information, she said that tation on ‘The current situ- Qatar has set up two 24/7 ation of Zika virus and the hotlines - 66740948 and national response frame- 66740951 - for people to work’, Dr al-Hajri said that reach the relevant agencies the WHO has declared a anytime. public health emergency The issue of ‘Vector Sur- of international concern veillance and Control’ was over the mosquito-borne treated by Dr Farag and Dr Zika virus disease which Altigani. could be transmitted dur- Dr Farag said the aedes ing pregnancy to unborn mosquito, which causes babies. the Zika virus disease is According to him, since adaptable to human habi- there is no specifi c vac- tation and that the eggs can cine or treatment yet for remain dry for up to 400 the disease, the best form days. of prevention is protection He said that steps were against mosquitoes espe- being taken to develop a cially through the use of in- National Strategy for Sur- sect repellants. veillance Control of Disease Speaking on ‘Human Vectors of Public Health Surveillance for Zika Infec- Concern in Qatar.

Gulf Times 10 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 QATAR QC hails ExxonMobil Qatar’s role in ‘spring programme’ Several associates were recognised for their performance during 2015. delegation from Qa- thus, thanks ExxonMobil tar Charity (QC) has for its eff orts.” A visited the head- He stressed that many quarters of ExxonMobil Qa- of the students who par- tar to thank the latter for its ticipated in the activities Domasco holds appreciation co-operation in developing funded by ExxonMobil Qa- the local community and for tar were happy to get such fostering an environment an opportunity. day for associates that encourages the “spring “We’re delighted to have activities” participants to supported Qatar Charity in oha Marketing ates, called attention to for ISO certifi cation in learn and innovate. 2015 to realise the Education Services Company the importance of “do- “record time”. The delegation included for Orphans programme, D(Domasco) has held ing ordinary things in an The all-day event round- Ali al-Gharib, centres di- held in collaboration with its latest Associate Appre- extraordinary way”. ed off with activities such as rector, QC local develop- Qatar Scientifi c Club,” said ciation Day for associates Several associates were a tug-of-war competition, ment; Nayef al-Rumaihi, al-Mana. “We place great at Sealine Beach Resort. recognised for their per- won by the head offi ce team, manager of public relations; emphasis on fi nding mean- At the event, Domasco formance during 2015 and as well as mini cricket and Ahmed Saleh al-Ali, com- ingful ways to contribute to managing director Faisal received awards presented football tournaments, won munications manager; and Qatar’s thriving society, and Sharif thanked all the asso- by Cordery and Sharif. by the aftersales and head Hamed Shehada, head of our work with Qatar Char- ciates for their contribution Notably, Domasco’s ISO offi ce teams, respectively. community responsibility ity is an example of how lo- to the company’s “record ambassadors of excellence After that, the associ- management at QC. cal establishments help us performance” in 2015. were singled out for ap- ates engaged in the other The QC delegation was achieve this.” Also present was Co- preciation with a special available beachside sport- received by Saleh bin Saad Meanwhile, al-Gharib lin Cordery, regional award, commending them ing activities, including al-Mana, vice-president said the summer activities managing director, who, for the role they played in basketball, table tennis and Off icials from Qatar Charity and ExxonMobil Qatar. and director of govern- planned for future leaders in a speech to the associ- getting the company ready beach volleyball. ment and public relations; included education, enter- and Mohamed Hashem al- tainment and sports, which Hashemi, consultant for would help develop their government and public af- skills and capabilities to fairs, ExxonMobil Qatar. shoulder the burdens of life. The visit marked the con- Shehada thanked Exx- clusion of events as part of onMobil for sponsoring the “spring programme” for QC’s programmes and be- future leaders, which was ing aware of its social role conducted by QC and fund- and responsibility. He also ed by ExxonMobil. commended its interest in “The programme in- programmes with sustain- cluded several scientifi c able eff ects that would help activities carried out in an the benefi ciaries in the long innovative environment of term. learning, creativity and fun. At the end of the visit, It targeted children aged al-Rumaihi handed over a 10-17 years and the events certifi cate of appreciation were held from January 24 and QC’s memorial shield to February 4,” according to to al-Mana. a statement. ExxonMobil had pre- On the occasion, al-Ali viously sponsored QC’s said: “QC is proud to enter “Ramadan Village” pro- into a partnership with Exx- gramme, which included a onMobil that aims to serve heritage exhibition suitable the local community. QC, for all family members.

Meshal al-Shamari with Matthew Pencharz at the QGBC Villa during the networking event. QGBC hosts deputy mayor from UK

atar Green Build- to share our expertise and ing Council (QGBC) knowledge from the fi elds of Qhosted Matthew green building and sustain- Pencharz, deputy mayor for ability with one another. environment and energy, We look forward to working Greater London Authority, with Pencharz’s team in the United Kingdom, recently. future.” Hosted at the QGBC QGBC is a member of headquarters, the network- Qatar Foundation for Edu- ing event was aimed at cre- cation, Science and Com- ating synergies between munity Development. It has the two organisations and been working with a wide getting acquainted with the range of regional and inter- array of sustainability and national partners to initiate green building programmes critical conversations on that QGBC is currently key sustainability challeng- undertaking. es that Qatar and the region The event was attended in large face. by senior members from These partners include both organisations. the Green Building Coun- Meshal al-Shamari, di- cil’s Network in the Middle rector, QGBC, said: “Creat- East and North Africa re- ing meaningful collabora- gion, World Green Building tions with our international Council, US Green Building partners is a key tenet in our Council, Chartered Insti- approach to bringing in in- tute of Building, Chartered novative ideas and applying Institution of Building them here in Qatar with- Services Engineers, Build- in our ongoing projects. ing Research Establish- This visit was benefi cial in ment, Middle East Facility multiple ways. Management Association “The gathering provided and Engineers of Australia us with a valuable chance in Qatar. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 11 QATAR

Mowasalat floats tenders for fifth taxi franchisee

Mowasalat has floated capacity to operate and March 30, except Fridays and tenders for its fifth taxi finance a fleet of up to 500 Saturdays, it said. franchise, according to an taxis. No existing franchisee Already there are four Karwa advertisement published is allowed to participate in taxi franchisees namely Al yesterday. The company this bid. Million, Al Ijaara, Car Cabs of is looking forward to The copies of tender Profit Trading and Contracting QA welcomes star Qatari-owned companies documents could be Company and Capital taxis to participate in the tender, collected from the Secretariat of Ibn Ajayan Trading & which would be closed before Tenders Committee Off ice at Contracting. Besides this, noon on May 1. the Mowasalat Headquarters Mowasalat’s own Karwa taxis chefs to food fest The bidder should have the between 8 and 2 pm, until are also operating. everal of the world’s most work at El Bulli and The Fat Duck. celebrated chefs have begun The Qatar Airways Cooking The- Sto arrive in Doha, courtesy of atre’s line-up also includes “Queen Qatar Airways, to deliver their cu- of Qatari cuisine” chef Aisha; Fran- linary creations at the Qatar Air- cisco Ruano, owner of one of the ways Cooking Theatre, part of the top fi ve restaurants in Mexico and upcoming Qatar International Food former chef at world-famous Noma Festival (QIFF). Restaurant; and a number of chefs The Doha-based airline is offi cial from the Arabic food channel Fa- co-host of the festival. tafeat, such as Daad Abu Jaber, Sal- The Qatar Airways Cooking The- ma Soleiman, Mohamed Orfali and atre will take place at the Museum of Wafa al-Kandari. Fatafeat chefs will Islamic Art (MIA) Park along with be presented by Darine al-Khatib. expanded activities and new attrac- HIA, partner of FC Bayern Mu- tions scheduled at the satellite ven- nich, has secured the football club’s ues in The Pearl-Qatar and Katara head chef Alfons Schuhbeck to – the Cultural Village, from today participate in the Qatar Airways until March 28. Cooking Theatre, giving fans the Headlining the gastronomic ex- opportunity to explore the favour- perience are internationally ac- ite dishes enjoyed by the popular claimed celebrities such as global European team’s players. lifestyle personality Martha Stew- Salam al-Shawa, Qatar Airways art; restaurateur and MasterChef senior vice-president (marketing Australia judge George Calom- and corporate communications), baris; Qatar Airways ambassador said: “It is a great pleasure for Qatar and multiple-award-winning chef Martha Stewart Vineet Bhatia Airways to welcome these extraor- Vineet Bhatia, and chef Massimo dinary talents to Doha. The Qatar Capra, partner of Qatar Duty Free’s MIA Park. America’s most famous kitchen’s at MIA Park, Katara and Airways Cooking Theatre at this Soprafi no Restaurant at Hamad homemaker will cook a healthy The Pearl-Qatar: Japan’s Tagaki Ka- year’s festival has an exciting line- International Airport (HIA). menu featuring fresh salads and side zuo; Magno Brasserie’s Paul Bentley up of stellar international chefs, Stewart will open the Qatar Air- dishes and her take on an energising joins the line-up from Mexico; Tim whose unique creations will take ways Cooking Theatre at 5pm to- booster juice. Butler of Eat Me Restaurant Bang- guests on a globe-trotting journey day, cooking four nutritious recipes Several Michelin star-rated tal- kok fame; and Spanish pastry chef to taste delectable cuisines from live on the festival’s main stage at ents will also be creating in the stage Jesús Escalera, who is known for his every corner of the world.” Regency Travel and Tours ties up with Jumeirah Group

Off icials of Regency Travel and Tours and Jumeirah Group at the partnership announcement event yesterday in Doha. PICTURE: Jayan Orma

atar’s Regency Travel and Tours Qhas partnered with global luxury hotel com- pany Jumeirah Group to boost leisure business from the country to Jumeirah’s 22 hotels around the world. Jumeirah Group, a mem- ber of Dubai Holding, has hotels and resorts in des- tinations including Du- bai, Abu Dhabi, Maldives, Turkey, China, Azerbaijan, London, Frankfurt and Mallorca. “Regency Travel and Tours, which has over 40 branches across Doha, is responsible for providing over 30,000 room nights in Dubai annually,” chief executive offi cer Tareq Ab- dullatif Taha said yesterday while announcing the part- nership. “More than 25 travel agents in Qatar deal directly with Regency for their holi- day business. We provide B2B and B2C online booking engines, widely used by ma- jor corporate, travel trade partners and direct custom- ers,” he explained. Regency head offi ce has a dedicated 24-hour call centre. During 2014 – 2015, visi- tors from Qatar to Jumeirah hotels globally increased by 20% and room revenue increased by 11%. Qatar residents visiting Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts in the UAE can now take advan- tage of an exclusive 10% off best available rate. The Jumeirah Breaks package incorporates a number of benefi ts as well. Regency Travel and Tours director of sales Rabie al- Ankar, leisure and MICE head Farooq Siddiqui, man- ager Jagannath Pothiraj, and Jumeirah Group global account director Rabih El Hayek and director of glo- bal sales (Middle East) Jad Doumet were also present at the announcement of the partnership. Gulf Times 12 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 REGION/ARAB WORLD Biden says US watching Iran ‘like a hawk’ on N-deal

AFP for Iran to uphold its side of the cused Washington of failing to there are still widespread con- later in his speech. Washington deal. We’re watching Tehran respect the terms of the deal, in cerns about security in the wake The US, UN and the European like a hawk,” Biden said. a speech marking Persian New of the agreement. Union oppose all Israeli settle- “Under this deal, Iran would Year. Biden also touched on peace ment building, and consider it ice President Joe Biden never be allowed to pursue nu- The US has lifted sanctions efforts between Israelis and an obstacle to peace. warned on Sunday that clear weapons, never, never, “on paper” under the deal Palestinians and the prospects On the issue of US military Vthe US is watching Iran never,” he told the annual policy which came into effect in Janu- for a two-state solution. aid for Israel, Biden vowed “like a hawk” to ensure compli- conference of the American Is- ary, “but they are using round- “There is no political will forthcoming assistance would ance with the landmark nuclear rael Public Affairs Committee about paths to prevent the Is- among Israelis or Palestinians be “without a doubt the most deal. (AIPAC) lobby group. lamic republic from achieving to move forward at this moment generous security package in Tehran and six world powers, “If Iran violates the deal, the its targets,” Khamenei said on with serious negotiations,” Bi- the history of the US. including the US, agreed to the US will act,” Biden pledged. Sunday. den said. “Israel may not get every- deal in July when Iran promised A key provision allows the Iran has denied wanting nu- “To be frank, Israel’s govern- thing it asks for, but it will get to scale down its nuclear activi- sanctions to be restored or clear weapons, saying its atomic ment’s steady and systematic everything it needs,” he said. ties in return for the lifting of “snap-back” immediately if activities were exclusively for process of expanding settle- “It’s about making sure Israel painful UN and Western sanc- Iran is found in breach of the peaceful purposes such as pow- ments, legalising outposts and will always exist, strong and ca- tions, including on its lifeblood agreement. er generation. seizing land, is eroding in my pable, as the ultimate guarantor oil exports. Iran’s supreme leader Aya- Yet in Israel - where many view the prospect of a two state for the Jewish people around US Vice President Joe Biden spoke at the American Israel Public “The incentives are aligned tollah Ali Khamenei had ac- fear being targeted by Tehran - solution,” he told the crowd the world.” Aff airs Committee (AIPAC) conference on Sunday. Yemen talks may resume in Kuwait this month AFP On Sunday, the UN envoy ful that we are going to reach a Dubai wrote on his Facebook page that solution,” he told the conference, he held “positive and construc- speaking in Arabic. tive talks” in rebel-held Sanaa Mekhlafi added that his gov- new round of UN-bro- with the Iran-backed Houthis and ernment “never chose war” and kered Yemeni peace talks their allies - supporters of former praised the Saudi-led coalition, Yemeni tribesmen from the Popular Resistance Committees, supporting forces loyal to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, hold a position Acould be held by the end of president Ali Abdullah Saleh. of which Qatar is a member. during clashes with Shia Houthi rebels west of the city of Taiz yesterday. Since March 19, fighting has raged in the outskirts of Taiz as rebels try this month in Kuwait, a Yemeni “Preparations are ongoing for Last Wednesday, coalition to retake positions lost in recent weeks to loyalists. government offi cial said yester- the next round of peace talks on spokesman Brigadier General day. Yemen,” he wrote, without giving Ahmed al-Assiri said that the al- The talks would be accompa- a specifi c date or location. liance was at “the end of the ma- nied by a ceasefi re in the war- A resumption of talks must be jor combat phase”, raising hopes torn country where a Saudi-led accompanied by a “week-long of a possible relaunch of peace coalition launched a military truce that could be renewed if talks. campaign in support of the inter- respected”, he said, adding that Kuwait is a member of the nationally-recognised govern- discussions should focus on the nine-nation coalition. Israel brings in 19 Yemeni ment one year ago, said the of- implementation of UN Security Previous UN-sponsored nego- fi cial who requested anonymity. Council Resolution 2216. tiations between rebels and gov- Yemen’s warring parties who The resolution states that ernment offi cials failed to reach met with UN envoy Ismail Ould the rebels must withdraw from a breakthrough, and the most Cheikh Ahmed last week have seized territories and disarm, be- recent round ended in acrimony Jews in covert operation agreed on “the principle of hold- fore peace talks can progress. in December. ing a new round of talks in late Speaking at the Al Jazeera Fo- The World Health Organisa- Reuters parture from Yemen marked the Jewish community in 1949. government protection. March in Kuwait”, the offi cial said. rum in Qatar yesterday, Mekhlafi tion says fi ghting in Yemen has Jerusalem de facto end of a community that Fresh fi ghting and political Some members of the deeply Yemen’s Foreign Minister, Ab- said the government was willing killed almost 6,300 people over has lived alongside its Muslim chaos has since driven many of conservative Jewish community dulmalik al-Mekhlafi , on a visit to negotiate. the past year and the UN has neighbours for centuries, only to the people who stayed behind had voiced concern that life in to Doha, later said the govern- “We are going to go to these warned of an unfolding humani- srael has brought in 19 Jews be driven out by a surge in fi ght- out of their northern homelands. Israel or elsewhere would be an ment would attend the talks. peace talks and ... we are hope- tarian catastrophe. from war-ravaged Yemen in ing and political turmoil. “This is a moment of utmost aff ront to their traditional val- Iwhat immigration offi cials Yemeni Jews have complained signifi cance for the State of Isra- ues. described as the last covert op- of increasing harassment since el and Jewish immigration,” the Yemeni government aid to eration to move members of a the rebel Houthi movement - head of the quasi-governmental those driven from the north - an dwindling Jewish community whose slogan is “Death to Amer- Jewish Agency for Israel, Natan individual monthly stipend of Dubai Horse Fair dating back two millennia. ica, death to Israel, curse the Sharansky, said in a statement. $20 - stopped about six months Seventeen people arrived late Jews, victory to Islam” - seized After decades of airlifts of ago and the group remaining on Sunday, including a man who control of the capital Sanaa in Yemeni Jews, the latest arrivals behind faces eviction from the doubled up as the rabbi and ko- 2014. “brought the mission to its con- compound. sher butcher in the northern Israel, founded partly as a clusion”, he added. Other operations have trans- Yemeni town of Raydah, carried haven for survivors of the Nazi The Agency statement said ferred Jewish populations from a 500-year-old Torah scroll, said Holocaust, has organised waves around 50 Jews had decided to Ethiopia and, more covertly, offi cials. Two others came in a of Jewish immigration includ- stay, including at least 40 liv- from Arab or Muslim states with few days earlier. ing the mass transfer of most of ing in a compound near the US which Israel has no formal rela- The sacred manuscript’s de- Yemen’s then 40,000-strong embassy in Sanaa, under Yemeni tions.

Algerian troops kill six militants near Tunisia border

Algerian troops killed six armed two off -road vehicles, the ministry fled there after French troops in- and Islamic State continue to Islamist fighters in the country’s said in a statement. tervened in 2013 in response to an operate in remote pockets of the southeast near the Tunisian border, Algeria and Tunisia co-operate in Islamist insurgency in Mali, which country. and captured arms and muni- security along their frontier, where borders Algeria to the north. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb tions, the ministry of defence said a small group of fighters from the A war with Islamist militants killed claimed a rocket attack on Friday yesterday. Al Qaeda-linked Okba Ibn Nafaa bri- 200,000 people in Algeria in the on a southern Algerian gas plant They were killed in El Oued, and gade operates in Tunisia’s Chaambi 1990s, since when the country has operated by BP, Statoil and state Iraqi artist Fawaz Ayoob paints a picture of Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Prime Minister Kalashnikov rifles, handguns and mountains. been relatively peaceful. energy firm Sonatrach. It caused no and Vice President of the UAE and Emir of Dubai, during Dubai International Horse Fair. ammunition were recovered from Militants are suspected to have But Al Qaeda’s North Africa branch damage or casualties. Kuwait deports Lebanese, Iraqis for Hezbollah links

Agencies (GCC) named Hezbollah, an Iranian- of recruiting young men to carry Kuwait City allied Islamist political movement out terrorist attacks in Gulf states, that is fi ghting for President Bashar smuggling in weapons and explo- al-Assad in Syria’s civil war, a terror- sives, and inciting chaos, violence uwait has expelled 11 Lebanese ist group on March 2. and political unrest. and three Iraqis suspected of The GCC, which groups Saudi The Arab League declared Hezbol- Kbelonging to Hezbollah, a Ku- Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab lah a “terrorist” group on March 11. waiti newspaper reported yesterday, Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar Last week, Bahrain deported an nearly three weeks after the country - had already imposed sanctions on unspecifi ed number of Lebanese res- joined other Gulf Arab states in des- Hezbollah in 2013. idents for alleged links to Hezbollah ignating the Lebanese Shia group a Al-Qabas said Kuwait’s state se- and Saudi Arabia warned that it will terrorist organisation. curity body had prepared a list of punish citizens and residents who Al-Qabas cited a security source “unwanted” Lebanese and Iraqis, “support or demonstrate belonging” as saying the 14 people had been ex- including advisers to major compa- to the group. pelled at the request of the state se- nies, for deportation “in the public Riyadh last month halted a $3bn curity service. The Interior Ministry interest”. programme for military aid to Beirut was not immediately available for At the time of the GCC deci- in protest against Hezbollah, which comment. sion, Secretary-General Abdul- is a key political force in Lebanon and The Gulf Co-operation Council latif al-Zayani accused Hezbollah has lawmakers in its parliament. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 13 ARAB WORLD UN expert slams Israel’s ‘lack of accountability’

AFP presented his fi nal report to the But he said repeated requests The EU representative, Peter postponed after an Israel-linked (Special Rapporteur) contin- nearly 200 Palestinians, 28 Israe- Geneva UN Human Rights Council, criti- for access were unsuccessful. Soerensen of Denmark, said he rights group had sent out a letter ues and the (council) president lis, two Americans, an Eritrean cising Israel’s refusal to co-oper- “This lack of co-operation regretted that Israel had not al- accusing both nominees, British continues to consult with a wide and a Sudanese have been killed ate with his mandate. regrettably seems to signal the lowed Wibisono to access the law professor Penny Green and range of stakeholders,” spokes- since October. he UN expert on human “It was with deep regret that I continuation of a situation under Palestinian territories. Canadian law professor Michale man Rolando Gomez said in While stressing that “any rights in the occupied Pal- accepted that the premise upon which Palestinians suff er daily But he also noted that his man- Lynk, of being anti-Israeli activ- an e-mail, adding that an an- wanton act of individual vio- Testinian territories voiced which I took up the mandate... was human rights violations under date was “limited to investigate ists. nouncement was expected on lence, whether committed by scathing criticism of Israel yes- not fulfi lled,” he told the council. the Israeli occupation,” he said, Israel’s violations”, and insisted Khraishi called the delay a Thursday. Palestinians or Israelis, is unac- terday as he stepped down over The Indonesian diplomat, who and slammed “a general lack of that all rights abuses, regardless “fl agrant violation” of the rules In his presentation, Wibisono ceptable and must be investigat- what he said was a lack of access had announced in January that he accountability” for such abuses. of who committed them, “should of the Human Rights Council. stressed the need for a succes- ed and prosecuted,” he stressed to areas he was meant to monitor. intended to quit, said he had been Israel has long accused the be subject to scrutiny.” A spokesman for the council sor to continue his work, voicing the violence was happening “in a Makarim Wibisono, who took assured before taking up the po- Human Rights Council of having Palestinian representative meanwhile said there had been alarm at the recent escalation of pre-existing context... against a on the role of Special Rapporteur sition that he would have access a built-in bias against it. It was Ibrahim Khraishi meanwhile “no postponement” of the ap- violence committed by both Pal- backdrop of illegal settlements in on the rights situation in the Pal- to the occupied Palestinian ter- not present for Wibisono’s pres- charged that the appointment of pointment. estinians and Israelis. the West Bank... (and) the block- estinian territories in June 2014, ritories. entation yesterday. Wibisono’s successor had been “The process to appoint the According to an AFP count, ade of Gaza.” Syrian govt refuses to discuss

Syrian government’s head of delegation, Bashar al-Ja’afari and UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura (right) address a news conference after a meeting on Syria at the European headquarters of the UN in Geneva yesterday. Assad’s fate

Reuters discuss it could lead to a deteriora- areas in the east of the country. Geneva/Beirut tion of the situation on the ground. Fighters from the militant Biden: Israel settlements “Everyone more or less agrees, group - which is excluded from the cessation of hostilities is still the ceasefi re deal - killed 26 he fate of President Bashar holding,” he said. “The same ... Syrian soldiers yesterday west al-Assad will play no part more or less for the movement on of Palmyra, a monitoring group Tin talks to end the Syr- humanitarian aid. But neither of said, after days of advances by raise questions about ian war, the head of the govern- them can be sustained if we don’t government forces backed by ment’s delegation said, lead- get progress on the political tran- Syrian and Russian air cover. ing the UN peace envoy to warn sition.” Russian President Vladimir that lack of progress on the issue The fragility of the three- Putin said last week that the could threaten a fragile cessation week-old cessation, which was Syrian army would soon recap- commitment to peace of hostilities. backed by the US and Russia, ture Palmyra from Islamic State, Damascus delegate Bashar was highlighted yesterday when which has held the desert city for Ja’afari said Assad’s future had Moscow said it had recorded six nearly a year. Reuters Biden said he did not agree ture peace agreement with the ‘show-me.’ This cannot con- “nothing to do” with the ne- violations in the last 24 hours. Palmyra has both symbolic and Washington with Israel President Benjamin Palestinians. Palestinians, who tinue to erode,” he said. gotiations, which entered their The Syrian opposition ac- military value as the site of an- Netanyahu’s government that seek to establish a state in the Biden was cheered for criti- second week yesterday, insisting cused the government delega- cient Roman-era ruins - mostly expanded settlements would West Bank and Gaza Strip, say cising what he called Palestinian that counter-terrorism eff orts tion of wasting time by refusing destroyed by Islamic State - and S Vice President Joe Bi- not interfere with any eff ort to they fear Israeli settlement ex- actions at the UN to undermine remained the priority for the to discuss the future of Assad. because of its location on a high- den called on Israel’s settle the confl ict. pansion will deny them a viable Israel, and he said changes in government. “It is not possible to wait like way linking mainly government- Ugovernment on Sunday “Bibi (Netanyahu) thinks it country. the region, including the united “The (terms of) reference of this, while the regime delegation held western Syria to Islamic to demonstrate its commitment can be accommodated, and I Palestinians have cited Israeli fi ght against Islamic State mili- our talks do not give any indica- wastes time without achieving State’s eastern stronghold. to a two-state solution to end believe he believes it. I don’t,” settlement activity as one of tants, could help thaw relations tion whatsoever with regard to anything,” said Salim al-Muslat, The Britain-based Syrian Ob- the confl ict with the Palestinians Biden said. the factors behind the collapse between Israel and its neigh- the issue of the President of the spokesman for the opposition servatory for Human Rights said and said settlement expansion is Biden said the region instead of US-brokered peace talks in bours. Syrian Arab Republic,” he said High Negotiations Committee. the fi ghting took place about weakening prospects for peace. seems to be moving toward a 2014, and a surge of violence Israel and the US are also in when asked about the willing- Arguments over Assad’s fate 4km (2 miles) west of Palmyra. “Israel’s government’s steady one-state solution, which he over the past fi ve months has talks on a generous military as- ness of the government delega- were a major cause of the failure It was not possible to inde- and systematic process of ex- termed dangerous. dimmed hopes negotiations sistance agreement, he said. tion to engage in serious talks on of previous UN peace eff orts in pendently verify the death toll. panding settlements, legalising “There is no political will at could be revived any time soon. “It will, without a doubt, be political transition. 2012 and 2014 to end a civil war Syria’s state news agency SANA outposts, seizing land, is erod- this moment among Israelis or “We’ve stressed to both par- the most generous security as- “This is something already ex- that has killed more than 250,000 said the army and allied forces, ing in my view the prospect of a Palestinians to move forward ties the need to take meaningful sistance package in the history cluded.” people and caused a refugee crisis. backed by the Syrian air force, two-state solution,” Biden said with serious negotiations. And steps to demonstrate their com- of the US,” Biden said of a pact UN envoy Staff an de Mistura The five-year-old conflict carried out “concentrated op- in a speech to the American Is- that’s incredibly disappointing,” mitment to a two-state solu- expected to be worth billions - who describes Syria’s political between the government and erations” against Islamic State rael Public Aff airs Committee Biden said. tion that extends beyond mere of dollars annually to the Jew- transition as “the mother of all is- insurgents has also allowed Is- around Palmyra and the Islamic (AIPAC), a leading pro-Israel Israel says it intends to keep words,” Biden said. ish state, the largest recipient of sues” - responded by saying the lamic State to take advantage State-held town of Al-Qaryat- lobbying group. large settlement blocs in any fu- “There’s got to be a little such US assistance. government delegation’s refusal to of the chaos and take control of ayn, about 100km further west.

Commemorating soldiers Marine deployment to Iraq fire base first of its kind: US military About 200 US Marines have established an artillery position in northern Iraq, the US military said yesterday - a first-of-its- kind deployment whose existence was revealed only after one of the Marines was killed in a rocket attack. The marine, Staff Sergeant Louis Cardin, was killed on Saturday in an Islamic State rocket attack on the fire base that wounded several others. US President Barack Obama acknowledged Cardin’s death yesterday at a press conference in Havana with Cuban President Raul Castro, saying his thoughts and prayers were with his family. “It’s a reminder that even as we embark on this historic visit, there are US armed service members who are sacrificing each and every day on behalf of our freedom and our safety,” he said. The death also pointed to a deepening US ground troop involvement in the fight against the Islamic State group. While US warplanes launch daily strikes against IS positions in Iraq, the estimated 3,900 US troops in the country are A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace yesterday shows Jordan’s King Abdullah II off icially in a supporting role training and laying a wreath on a monument commemorating soldiers who lost their lives in the Karameh battle. advising Iraqi troops. The battle took place in Karameh on March 21, 1968 when the Jordanian army and Palestinian With the exception of raids by US special fighters fought against the Israeli army after it crossed Jordan’s borders. operations forces, the US troops have until now not been directly involved in combat. But Cardin’s death prompted the Pentagon to disclose that he was engaged in Palestinian student couple’s hug makes university blush providing fire support from a “recently established coalition fire base near A demure public hug by a They were wedded in the eyes Bank, to share their joy with their Makhmur in northern Iraq.” newlywed Palestinian student of the law but not in the view of fellow-students. Yesterday, a US military spokesman couple landed them in front of some in Palestinian society where “We wanted to celebrate the acknowledged that the Marines a university disciplinary board, only a full-blown family ceremony occasion with our friends,” the established “Fire Base Bell” two weeks accused of “breaching moral counts and the court procedure young man said. ago, deploying the equivalent of a standards and tradition,” the is barely seen as anything “I put the ring on her and held her company with “four guns.” groom said. more than a formalisation of in my arms without any violation Colonel Steve Warren, the Baghdad- The couple, who do not want to engagement. of morals,” he added. based military spokesman, said the be identified, went to court on They went straight from court “But shortly afterwards I learned Marines were there to provide “force Thursday to sign their marriage to their college, in a particularly I had been summoned before the protection” for several thousand Iraqi licence. conservative part of the West disciplinary board.” troops at Makhmur. Gulf Times 14 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 ARAB WORLD Southern Libya could be ‘gateway’ for IS group AFP However, the desert region Tubus... took control of the bor- Paris remains something of an intel- ders between these three coun- ligence black hole and the extent tries and between Libya and Su- of IS’s intrusion is unclear. dan,” said Tubiana. potentially critical con- For now, the group’s prior- That has given them control fl ict has gone largely un- ity is holding on to its northern over much of the local smuggling Anoticed in southern Libya strongholds, said Jerome Tubi- and trade, and they are fi ghting yet could open up a gateway to ana, a researcher with the Small for control of oil and petrol sta- sub-Saharan Africa for the Is- Arms Survey think-tank. tions, he said. lamic State group, analysts say. “That said, going down to- “Their militias have set up IS has consolidated its hold wards Niger, forming ties with checkpoints on the main cross- along Libya’s northern coast, Boko Haram - the IS arm in west Saharan roads... transporting and experts are concerned the Africa - and competing with food and manufactured goods militants may now be pushing AQMI could obviously be tempt- from Libya and importing live- into the remote desert region of ing for IS,” he said. stock from the Sahel,” Tubiana Fezzan in the southwest of the Militant groups are able to ex- said, adding that contraband country. ploit a complex rash of local ri- such as cigarettes and cocaine Sitting on the crossroads be- valries in Libya’s southern desert also pass through the region. tween Algeria, Niger and Chad, region. For the Islamic State group, Beirut’s Hippodrome has survived wars and relentless upheaval but the iconic racetrack, where rival fighters once gathered to bet on their Fezzan off ers lucrative sources Since the 2011 revolution that this presents opportunities as days off , approaches its centenary facing an uncertain future. of income from smuggling and ousted longtime dictator Mua- well as challenges. already acts as a hideout for Al mmar Gaddafi , Fezzan has been The many local militias means Qaeda in the Islamic Magh- embroiled in confl ict involving there are plenty of groups who reb (AQMI) and other militant the ethnic Tubus and Tuaregs, as would be hostile to a potential IS groups. well as two Arab tribes, the Zu- takeover. It is one of Africa’s main drug waya and the Awlad Suleiman. French soldiers stationed in routes, traversed by migrants “Military authority (in Fezzan) the Sahel desert are also lying in Beirut’s iconic racetrack from sub-Saharan Africa hop- lies mainly with tribal, criminal wait, Tubiana said. ing to get to Europe as well as by and extremist groups,” said a UN So far, IS has carried out few foreign mercenaries, mostly Af- report this month. attacks in the region, though an- rican, heading to join IS at their The Tubus are currently in the alysts say this may be because it Sirte stronghold in northeastern ascendant in Fezzan after helping wishes to avoid reprisals from the faces an uncertain future Libya. to overthrow Gaddafi . many regional actors who take a Penetrating south through Having been marginalised un- close interest in Fezzan. AFP lihood for trainers, jockeys, Sunni Muslim, is reluctant to “Militia fi ghters used to shoot Fezzan could ultimately help IS der the former regime, they now The Tubus enjoy the backing Beirut grooms, employees, vets, breed- invest public money in a site at each other all week and meet link up with its brutal Nigerian control much of the region’s re- of the internationally recognised ers and farmers - 1,500 families where betting - prohibited in here on Sunday to place their sister organisation, Boko Haram, sources, including recently dis- government based in Libya’s in total, and all that will disap- Islam - takes place. bets,” recalled trainer Ali Ahmed as well as providing a rear base in covered gold mines spread across eastern city of Tobruk, while eirut’s Hippodrome has pear,” he said. “The Hippodrome is part of Seif Eddine. case of any international assault the three-way border between their Tuareg and Arab rivals have survived wars and re- Before Lebanon’s 1975-1990 Beirut’s heritage. Why should Enemy militia leaders would on its positions along the Medi- Libya, Chad and Niger. the support of the Islamist coali- Blentless upheaval but the civil war, the track was the only bettors alone have access to even meet in a secret hall under terranean coast, analysts say. “With the fall of Gaddafi , the tion that rules from Tripoli. iconic racetrack, where rival one in the Middle East where it?” said Hamad, who would the stands. fi ghters once gathered to bet on horse-racing fans could gather only agree to pour public funds The racecourse’s various en- their days off , approaches its to place their bets. into the racecourse if it were trances allowed fi ghters to ac- centenary facing an uncertain Races were held twice a week, “opened to all” residents. cess the site from parts of the future. bringing in about half a million Hamad plans instead to set city that were blocked off from The Hippodrome was built dollars (450,000 euros) a week up what he calls Beirut Central each other, and it was public Morocco expels over 80 members in 1916 by the Ottoman Turks. in wagers. Park - a golf course complete enough to allay any fear of am- During the civil war it was used But the war reduced the with an artifi cial lake, as well as bush or kidnapping. as a neutral site where enemy number of horses kept in sta- a riding school. During the 1982 Israeli inva- of UN mission in Western Sahara combatants could meet. bles around the racecourse from But Mohamed Ayoub, who sion of Lebanon, Israeli forces One of the city’s last remain- 1,500 to 350. heads an NGO named Nahnoo positioned behind the Hip- AFP source in the territory’s main city war that broke out when Morocco ing green spaces, it is now suf- “Races were no longer held, (We), denounced the idea. podrome pounded Palestinian Rabat of Laayoune. deployed its military in the former fering fi nancial diffi culties and a and the bets dropped to no more “A golf course - that’s a fi ghters on the other side. The departures raised to 83 Spanish territory in 1975. dearth of investment. than $150,000” a week, said project for the rich. Also, how With the stables caught in the the number of staff ers of the Rabat demanded a scaling back Should the racecourse close racecourse general manager Na- can we create an artifi cial lake crossfi re, it became impossible ore than 80 civilian MINURSO mission in Western of the UN mission in retaliation for good, the land could fall into bil Nasrallah. while we’re suff ering from a wa- to access them. About 350 hors- members of a UN mis- Sahara who have left since Sat- for Ban’s remarks during a visit to the hands of property develop- The Hippodrome, a potential ter shortage?” he said. es fell ill in the stifl ing summer Msion have left Western urday, leaving behind a pregnant a Sahrawi refugee camp in early ers who have already turned gold mine for developers, covers “The city council wants to set heat - and 17 lost their lives. Sahara under a Moroccan expul- member who was unable to travel. March in Algeria, which supports Beirut into a concrete jungle. an area of 200,000sq m in the up a costly commercial project To evacuate the surviving an- sion order, airport sources and The UN has said the remov- the territory’s pro-independence “The city council refuses to heart of the Lebanese capital. and then hand it over to a private imals, de Freige secured a truce an AFP correspondent in the al of the civilian staff from the Polisario Front. invest, each time off ering a dif- “If the Hippodrome closes, company.” thanks to then-president Elias disputed territory said on Sun- 500-strong MINURSO would deal Morocco, which considers the ferent excuse, and this really what guarantee would there Situated on a former civil war Sarkis, a true lover of horses, day. a crippling blow to the mission, territory to be part of the kingdom worries us,” said Nabil de Freige, be?” de Freige asked, question- frontline that divided Chris- and US special envoy Philip Ha- It was the latest chapter in a aff ecting drivers, technicians and and insists that its sovereignty head of the Society for the Pro- ing how the land could be kept tian, Sunni and Shia neighbour- bib. row between Morocco and the communications experts. cannot be challenged, has also tection and Improvement of the from the developers. hoods, the racecourse is a mirror Like much of Beirut however, world body since UN chief Ban The military force would not be decided to cut $3mn in funding Arabian Horse. Nasrallah believes the only of recent Lebanese history. the racecourse did not fully re- Ki-moon angered Rabat by using able to operate without the civil- for the UN mission. De Freige, who is also Leba- way forward is for the city coun- A wall, riddled with bullet cover. the term “occupation” to refer to ian component, the UN’s top po- Ban was to raise the MINURSO non’s minister for administra- cil, which owns the racecourse, holes, still shows the green and Once the horses had been the status of Western Sahara. litical aff airs offi cial, Jeff rey Felt- issue with UN Security Council tive reform, fears that the coun- to invest in rebuilding the site. red symbol of the French For- evacuated, “Israel’s air force and “The last civilian members man, warned last week. ambassadors in New York yes- try’s ancient tradition of horse “We should be subsidised, eign Legion, painted in 1982 by tanks destroyed all the stands, of the UN mission... took off The UN has been trying to bro- terday, after the Council met last breeding will suff er a heavy like in any other country where soldiers deployed in the small for no reason at all,” de Freige on Sunday at 6pm on a fl ight ker a Western Sahara settlement week but failed to urge Morocco to blow if the racetrack shuts. there are horse races,” he said. Mediterranean country at the said, and reconstruction was to Casablanca,” said an airport since a 1991 ceasefi re ending a reverse the drastic cuts. “This place provides a live- Beirut mayor Bilal Hamad, a height of the war. never completed. Gaza rockers and rappers struggle to carve out a space

AFP That is the paradox of Gaza, a os shot in the ruins of bombed-out Egypt has largely kept its border On a cloudy afternoon in the Gaza City fact not lost on advertisers who buildings because they believed with Gaza closed since 2013 and has Nuseirat refugee camp, the im- seek to woo young breakdanc- people needed to hear music. destroyed Palestinian tunnels un- provised centre in an alleyway - ers and devotees of parkour - the “In Gaza, it’s life or death, it’s der the frontier used for smuggling. where dozens of youngsters learn hamiss Abu Shaban’s band urban sport combining running, the same,” chants Mghamess, a Saradi and Azzam have given moves - is deep in shadow. would love to wow the acrobatics and gymnastics. Gaza rap pioneer. up hope of taking part in inter- In the Gaza Strip, battered by Kkinds of crowds seen else- But the rewards are few for the “They can put up more check- national competitions and even three wars with Israel since 2008, where, but in Hamas-run Gaza rappers, other musicians, dancers points and barriers/I shall not Palestinian national events are electricity fl ows for just eight they struggle to fi nd venues and and acrobats trying to carve out a weary, believe me/our dreams beyond reach as Israel rarely al- hours each day. instruments, let alone get per- niche for themselves. will survive/even if I myself die,” lows passage to Jerusalem or the There is no lighting and music mission to play. If they want to rehearse, record he intones in a clip viewed tens of occupied West Bank. played from a laptop computer Even so, that hasn’t dispelled or be fi lmed, they must do it in thousands of times online. Young artists also face obsta- will last only as long as the battery the enthusiasm for popular music whatever space they can fi nd, of- It was online that Mahmud cles placed by their own conserv- holds out. in the Palestinian territory, where ten in their own homes. Saradi, 21, dressed in sportswear ative society, ruled for the past 10 “The authorities are constantly 70% of the population is under 30 Without offi cial authorisation and a green and blue baseball cap, years by Hamas. asking us for offi cial authorisa- years old. and performance space, they can- was initiated into breakdance “We wanted to open our own tions,” says Mohamed al-Lumani, “Gazans are fans of music. not have grandiose dreams, they moves. centre in Gaza City but three times a 35-year-old IT engineer and They fl ock to every concert,” Abu say. The dance style that spread the authorities refused to give us a guitarist with Watar Band. Shaban, a 22-year-old bass player There is also a lack of instru- Musicians and other entertainers have found it hard to make a name among African-American youths permit,” says Abderrahim Zrii, 22, “We know that we have to in Watar Band, says on the small ments and equipment, thanks to and living for themselves in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip as they struggle in the 1970s and ‘80s is the best who runs the makeshift training struggle for every concert we play. stage of a sold-out 200-seat the- an Israeli blockade of the strip in to find venues and instruments, let alone get permission to play. way to banish “despair, stress, facilities of break-dancing crew It’s a tiring struggle but the audi- atre. place for nearly a decade. everything we suff er” in Gaza, B-Boy Funk. ence’s joy is our reward.” It was only their third perform- The French Cultural Centre was In December 2014, it was hit by formance spaces, dancers and says Karim Azzam, 18. “They said, ‘You’re dancers? Bass player Abu Shaban says ance for the past year and a half. one of the few places where young a bombing claimed by militants. musicians are using the Internet Gazans are for the most part Then this centre is not art, it’s a “artists in Gaza are in the worst Musicians and other entertain- Gazans could get away briefl y Gaza is a narrow strip of land to display their talents. physically confi ned to their sliver nightclub.’” possible position: prevented from ers have found it hard to make a from Palestinian political divi- into which 1.8mn Palestinians are Even at the height of the gru- of Palestinian territory. The crew made do with the movement by the blockade and name and living for themselves in sions, repeated wars with Israel, jammed, wedged between Egypt, elling war of summer 2014, Wa- An Israeli blockade imposed in house of the father of three mem- with concerts so rare that they are the hardscrabble Palestinian ter- poverty and chronic unemploy- Israel and the Mediterranean Sea. tar Band and rapper Ayman 2006 severely restricts the move- bers who all fl ed Gaza for the US forced to do something else in or- ritory’s few venues. ment, but it has closed its doors. Starved of permanent per- Mghamess posted songs and vide- ment of people and goods. and Europe. der to eat.” Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 15 AFRICA

RAID RETAINING POWER POLITICAL PRESSURE LONG WAIT DONE DEAL Shebaab storm Somalia Zanzibar president wins in Opposition leader held for Cape Verde opposition wins base, claim many killed re-run of cancelled election defaming Zambia president parliament after 15 years

Islamic insurgents yesterday stormed a Somali Election off icials in Zanzibar yesterday declared Zambian police yesterday arrested an opposition Cape Verde’s main opposition Movement for military base outside the capital Mogadishu, incumbent President Ali Mohamed Shein the leader for saying President Edgar Lungu used public Democracy (MpD) party has won parliamentary claiming to have inflicted heavy casualties. The winner of a weekend poll in Tanzania’s semi- funds on a holiday last year, a police spokeswoman elections, results showed overnight, taking fighting broke out at Laanta-Buro military base autonomous islands. Shein, of the ruling Chama Cha said, in a further sign of rising political tension ahead back power after 15 years. With almost all votes about 40km south-west of Mogadishu soon after Mapinduzi party, welcomed the announcement, of August elections. She said Erick Chanda, leader counted from Sunday’s poll, MpD had 53.7%, midnight with witnesses saying Shebaab fighters a day after the presidential and legislative vote of the Fourth Revolution Party, was charged with versus 37% for the former ruling African Party for overran the camp. “Hundreds of Shebaab fighters which was boycotted by the opposition. Shein has defamation of the president following a May 9, 2015 the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). PAICV have stormed the base and there was very heavy been in power since 2010 and is due to be sworn in newspaper report in which he accused Lungu of has controlled parliament for the past decade Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara (right) and fighting. The militants looted the army depots and again on Thursday. Shein won just over 91% of the having spent taxpayers’ money at a holiday resort. and a half, but struggled in municipal elections Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto share a set fire to the camp,” said Ali Muktar, a resident of vote, according to Zanzibar Electoral Commission “He was arrested this morning and is currently in 2012. A presidential election is due to be held light moment during the opening ceremony of a nearby village. Somali military off icial Abdulahi chairman Jecha Salim Jecha. Shein won 299,982 in police custody,” police spokeswoman Charity later this year. The former Portuguese colony, the Africa CEO Forum Awards that honours the Ibrahim confirmed the attack. “There was heavy votes against just 6,076 - or 1.9% - for his main rival Munganga-Chanda said. Lungu has been in power for which has experienced a tourism boom in recent best economy performances of African chief fighting at Laanta-Buro last night but I cannot Seif Sharif Hamad of the opposition Civic United just over year after winning a ballot triggered by the years, recorded per capita GDP of $3,450 in 2014, executive off icers and African companies, at the elaborate on casualties,” he said. Front, which boycotted the poll. death of predecessor Michael Sata in October 2014. among the highest levels in Africa. Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan. Stark warning ICC convicts Bemba on war rape ruling

Reuters his head vigorously as Stein- The Hague er read through the litany of charges, and he is expected to appeal his conviction. ongo’s Jean-Pierre Bemba yes- That process could take sev- terday became the highest- eral years. Cranking politician to be con- Though Bemba had pun- victed by the international war crimes ished some low-ranking sol- court, when it judged him responsible diers for crimes and ordered for a 2002-2003 campaign of rape and inquiries into allegations of murder in Central African Republic. misconduct, which included Bemba, who served as vice presi- raping girls aged as young as dent from 2003 to 2006, failed to 10, these attempts were half- A Kenya Wildlife Services ranger walks through a secure ivory stock room in Nairobi. One of Kenya’s most prominent discipline or restrain his Movement hearted at best, judges said. conservationists, Dr Dame Daphne Sheldrick of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, has warned that if the present rate for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) MLC soldiers had pillaged to of ivory poaching continues elephants could be extinct as early as 2025. Over the past decade alone, 75% of all African soldiers as they rampaged through supplement their meagre wag- forest elephants have been slaughtered. the neighbouring country, the Inter- es during the intervention in national Criminal Court’s presiding support of Central African Re- judge, Sylvia Steiner, said. public’s then-president Ange- The case is the fi rst in which the Felix Patasse, who was eventu- Plane spotters ICC has found a high offi cial directly ally deposed by rebels led by responsible for the crimes of his sub- his successor, Francois Bozize. fined by court ordinates, as well as the fi rst to focus Bemba’s supporters reacted for trespassing primarily on crimes of sexual violence Jean-Pierre Bemba listens to proceedings indignantly to the verdict. Kenya mulls cap committed in war. at the International Criminal Court in “He did something about Kenyan court yes- “MLC soldiers by force knowingly The Hague. this, but they said it wasn’t terday ordered four and intentionally invaded the bodies enough,” said Eve Bazaiba, ABritish aviation en- of the victims,” said Steiner, reading from an unusually secretary-general of the MLC’s political wing, outside thusiasts to pay a fi ne or graphic judgement. the courtroom. “How could he do enough? He was just face a year in jail for tres- on lending rates UN human rights commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al-Hus- one person!” passing and taking pic- sein welcomed the verdict as a step towards eradicating The son of a businessman who became rich during tures without permission “the horrendous sexual crimes which have blighted the years of close association with former Congolese dicta- at Nairobi’s Wilson Air- Reuters “Just the way the govern- Njomo, who is from the lives of so many women.” tor Mobutu Sese Seko, Bemba founded and helped fi - port, one of their lawyers Nairobi ment put a cap on fuel prices, ruling Jubilee coalition, Steiner ordered that Bemba be held in custody pend- nance the MLC, originally a rebel force in north-west said on Monday. after the fuel prices ran amok, dismissed criticism of ing sentencing at a later date. Congo. He entered government under current presi- The four plane spotters we should also put a cap on the move, which would Dressed in a suit and a maroon tie, he at times shook dent Joseph Kabila. were detained on March 12 enyan legislators interest rates if we want to also set the minimum rate for in Kenya, which has tight- are pushing a law create employment, if we bank deposits at 70% of the ened security around of- Kthrough parliament want to create new business- central bank’s benchmark fi cial buildings, hotels and aimed at capping commer- es,” lawmaker Jude Njomo rate. other sites after a spate of cial banks’ lending rates at told Reuters. “We had the same response attacks by Shebaab Islam- 4 percentage points above Njomo, who was citing the from the fuel dealers when the Benin prime minister concedes election ists. the central bank’s bench- 2010 government move to cap government said it was going “The four British na- mark rate, the lawmaker national fuel prices, spon- to put a cap on fuel prices. tionals were convicted on leading the initiative said sored the lending rate motion “The banks have been Reuters tiny country’s lingering problems, congratulate him on his victory and their own plea of guilty,” yesterday. being prepared for a second milking the people dry and Cotonou which include high unemployment wish him luck,” Zinsou said on his lawyer Nicodemus Ouma Businesses often complain and fi nal reading. If passed, it they would like the same situ- and a fl agging economy hit by a Facebook page. told Reuters. that high commercial lend- will then go to the president, ation to continue forever,” he slowdown in its neighbouring trad- The election was seen as rein- His fi rm was helping ing rates, often around 18% or who can still refuse to sign it told Reuters. usinessman Patrice Talon had ing partner Nigeria. forcing the democratic credentials work out arrangements to more, stifl e corporate invest- into law. The government projects a commanding lead yesterday “I feel like a soldier packing for of Benin. pay the fi nes of 200,000 ment. Individuals say high Banks cite a range of rea- the economy will expand by Bin Benin’s presidential run- the front. This is not a day of glory By relinquishing power after Kenyan shillings ($1,970) rates put borrowing for home sons for charging rates, such about 6% this year. off election against Prime Minister - congratulations will have to wait,” serving two terms in offi ce, Boni for each of them. loans, for example, out of as the diffi culty of obtaining The Kenyan parliament Lionel Zinsou, paving the way for a Talon said. “The task will not be Yayi stands in contrast to leaders The men were con- reach of many. a detailed history of new cli- fi rst attempted to control peaceful transition in one of West easy, but we are happy and excited in other African nations, including victed of trespassing in a The central bank, whose ents. They also say big cus- commercial lending rates two Africa’s most stable democracies. that our country has turned the Burundi, Rwanda and Congo Re- restricted area and taking benchmark rate is now tomers, who they know well, decades ago but past attempts Preliminary results from the page.” public, who have altered their con- pictures without permis- 11.50%, has urged banks to can secure much lower rates have failed. electoral commission put Talon, Despite the backing of outgoing stitutions to extend their rule. sion. lower rates but has not set a than those commonly cited. Njomo said his motion en- once a powerful fi gure in the na- President Thomas Boni Yayi and Talon was once a staunch sup- Wilson Airport, in the cap. The Kenya Bankers’ As- joyed broad support in parlia- tion’s cotton industry, ahead with the main opposition Democratic porter of Boni Yayi before falling capital Nairobi, handles Bankers say a fi xed cap will sociation chairman, Joshua ment. 65% of votes, while Zinzou had Renewal Party, Zinsou, a former out of favour. Boni Yayi later ac- mostly domestic and push them to cut some lend- Oigara, who is also chief ex- If President Uhuru Keny- 35%. Only votes from abroad were economist and investment banker, cused him of involvement in a plot chartered fl ights. Jomo ing to businesses deemed ecutive of Kenya Commercial atta refuses to sign, lawmak- yet to be counted, the commission struggled to shrug off the percep- to poison him. Kenyatta International riskier, hurting economic Bank, said the proposed leg- ers could seek a two-thirds said. tion that having spent most of his Mediation eff orts led to a presi- Airport is the capital’s activity. Parliament’s previ- islation would have “a huge majority, which lawmakers Zinsou yesterday conceded de- career abroad he is an outsider in dential pardon, however, and Talon main airport and lies on ous attempts to set a cap have impact on the entire fi nancial said would force him to ink feat to Talon, who said he was al- his own country. returned from exile in France in Oc- the outskirts of the city. failed. sector”. the legislation. ready focused on fi xing some of the “I called Patrice Talon tonight to tober. Nigeria’s champion rams butt heads for cash, glory

By Stephanie Findlay, AFP dominate in the ring is a mystery, fenced off with orange and blue At stake is a plethora of offi - Lagos said Folami. “There is no winning rope. cial prizes ranging from cars to secret of rams, you can never Vendors sold popcorn and kitchen appliances. More lucra- force them to fi ght.” suya - a salty, spicy grilled meat tive, however, is the gambling on hampion ram King of Oils It’s exactly that innate will served with red onions and to- the sidelines where men bet tens shows no visible signs of to battle that distinguishes matoes - while contortionists in of thousands of naira on rams. Cstress before his semi-fi - ram fi ghting from other animal striped outfi ts of mustard yel- “After football, this is what nal fi ght at the National Stadium sports, Folami said. low and lime green performed in brings people together,” said ram in Lagos. With eight weight categories front of VIPs sitting in the shade judging assistant Segun Odulate. The amber eyes of the snow- and referees, the Ram Lovers under white tents. “If you come here you won’t white ram barely register the Association of Nigeria (RLAM) Some rams are named after think anything more, you’ll con- raucous crowd 50m away but his is working to bring ram fi ghting historic warriors (Attila the Hun, centrate on the rams and you’ll be outward tranquillity belies a te- into the mainstream by enforcing Spartacus), while others after happy.” nacity deep within. a strict set of rules to ensure ram devastating diseases (Ebola, Ma- Perhaps no one was as happy Three and a half years ago, safety and fair play. laria). as Folami, whose King of Oils Dayo Folami bought King of Oils “We brought in rules and regu- The Nigerian ram fi ghting won his semi-fi nal match in just for less than 50,000 naira ($250). lations of diff erent weight cate- rules state that at the start of a 10 blows. Yet today the 39-year-old busi- gories, just like in boxing,” RLAM Two rams butt heads as the referee and marshals look on during the ram fighting competition at the tournament rams are allowed to “I was very happy, I will fi ght nessman says the ram is “price- member Basheer “Bash” Agusto National Stadium in Lagos on Sunday. hit 30 “blows” before the referee in the fi nal,” he said. less”. said. “People expect to see fair- calls a tie. By the fi nals, rams can In the days before the ultimate “I’ve won a lot of money with ness.” Once identifi ed as a fi ghter Mohawk and a thin gold chain or golf club, never mind the boat headbutt up to 100 times. match this coming weekend, the power he has,” Folami, wear- Agusto, the 68-year-old own- “you make sure he’s not lacking”, necklace, said ram fi ghting is an club, so here they have an outlet But sometimes the fi ght never Folami says no expense will be ing a white T-shirt and dark er of champion ram Little Tiger Agusto explained, recommend- escape from daily life in Nigeria, to look forward to,” he added. takes place at all, with unwilling spared on King of Oils. “I’m go- jeans, told AFP at Sunday’s event. - who competes in H, the lightest ing to “give him vitamins and where poverty is endemic despite Hundreds of people gathered rams high-tailing it to the safety ing to give him special treatment, “He doesn’t give up.” category - said the rams are “just clean-up between the hooves”. massive oil wealth. under a blazing sun to watch of their owners amid laughs and special food,” he said. “I know What motivates King of Oils to like any other athlete”. Agusto, his silver hair in a short “They can’t go to the polo club the rams fi ght on a sandy pitch, jeers from the crowd. we’re going to win.” Gulf Times 16 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 AMERICAS Father of train hero indicted for fraud

Reuters about the allegations against Sacramento his father and declined to com- ment on the case. Brian Stone’s attorney told he father of a US Air Reuters he had no comment on Force airman who the indictment. Thelped to thwart a train Shehadeh, 57, was indicted attack in France was one of on 52 counts of mail and wire three men indicted in a Sacra- fraud, seven counts of arson mento federal court on fraud and one count of money laun- and arson charges, according dering. Saber Shehadeh, 73, to local media and court docu- was charged with three counts ments. of mail fraud, according to Brian Stone, 57, indicted court documents. on 13 counts of mail and wire Saber Shehadeh is a relative fraud, is accused of helping of Jamal Shehadeh, the Bee re- Jamal Shehadeh with insur- ported. ance claims after the second After fi res were set at com- Madonna performs during her Rebel Heart tour opener at Bell Centre in September 2015 in Montreal. man allegedly had fi res set mercial properties, the three at six commercial properties submitted insurance claims from December 2009 to Sep- that contained false state- tember 2013 in Sacramento ments about the incidents and Carmichael, California, and businesses. They received court documents showed. more than $1.5 million in in- The Sacramento Bee news- surance money, according to paper reported that Stone is a US Department of Justice the father of US Air Force air- statement. man Spencer Stone. All three men were denied Madonna completes Spencer Stone and his two bail on Friday, according to friends subdued a gunman on court documents. a high-speed train bound for The mail and wire fraud Paris in August last year, win- charges carry a maximum of 20 ning accolades from the presi- years in prison and a $250,000 dents of France and the United fi ne. The arson charges carry States. a fi ve to 20-year prison sen- Spencer Stone told the Sac- tence and a maximum fi ne of tour amid criticism ramento Bee he did not know $250,000. Madonna is dealing with separation “KM (Kylie Minogue) is always better.” Critics have also accused Madonna of from her teenaged son Smith left before the show was over be- showing up drunk to perform. On Sat- cause “I did not want to take the risk of not urday’s penultimate concert in Sydney, DPA having transport back.” she tried to tackle some of the issues sur- Sydney Sydney public transport had increased rounding her controversy. Two daughters of train services to accommodate the singer’s “Here’s the thing: I don’t even drink. late concert at the Sydney Olympic Park. But because I have been accused of being adonna performed the fi nal show One fl oor assistant, who asked not to be an alcoholic so many times, I’m going to pianist found dead of her Rebel Heart World Tour in named, said Madonna had come for the start drinking,” she said. MSydney on Sunday night, once sound check at 7pm on Sunday and went Critics say Madonna’s alleged “melt- again keeping her fans waiting for more back after half an hour. down” is said to be due to the ongoing Reuters state,” Babcock said. “He has than three hours in the rain. “She apparently sleeps for three hours custody battle over her 15-year-old son, Dallas been cooperative in this inves- Her performance has been marred by after her sound check, that’s her routine. Rocco, who is living in London with his tigation. He is not considered a controversies in Australia, where she ap- So she arrived around 11:30 for the per- father, Guy Ritchie, a British fi lm director suspect at this time.” peared on stage for the fi rst time in 23 formance,” she said. who was once married to Madonna. he two young daugh- Police previously said there years, after cancelling three earlier tours. Last week, in Brisbane, where she was “I don’t wanna be accused of having a ters of Ukrainian pian- were no signs of forced entry The Like A Virgin singer was fashionably late by three hours, audience members meltdown ... God forbid a mother should Tist Vadym Kholodenko into the home and that they late to all of her six shows in Australia. For scrambled to get back home after the show miss her son,” she said during her concert were found murdered inside were investigating the case as a her fi rst in Melbourne, she was four hours was over, including some who had to wait on Saturday. their home in a Fort Worth, double homicide. late. Rocco Ritchie until 5am for public transport to re-start. “I’m glad you all have a sense of humour, Texas, suburb, and his es- A cause of death had not Penny Liang and Wang Yan, two Chi- Also, in one of her shows, she invited a because if I didn’t have one I wouldn’t sur- tranged wife sustained mul- been determined as of Friday nese tourists visiting Australia, said they “She said she wanted perfect sound and female audience member up on stage, as vive.” tiple stab wounds in the in- morning. Police said the chil- were excited to see their favorite singer light and that was why it took time, but on a routine during the performance of her For her Rebel Heart tour, which started cident, local police said on dren had not been stabbed. perform, but were disappointed by the de- her last show, after seven months of per- song Unapologetic, and accidently pulled on September 9, 2015, she made 82 shows Friday. “The loss of my children lay. formances, it should have been perfect the woman’s corset top down, exposing worldwide. Police in Benbrook said will be with me forever. But “She was so late to start. We could not without any delays,” he told DPA. her in front of the whole crowd. Not all concert-goers were annoyed. Kholodenko, 29, is not con- I would like to say that I feel stay for the whole show. It was a waste of “She kept using an abusive word and Madonna joked that it was “sexual har- Sarah Jane, a homemaker from sidered a suspect in the deaths the support of the Fort Worth our money,” Liang told DPA, before dash- kept asking the audience to say it with her. assment”. Wahroonga in Sydney’s outskirts, had seen of his daughters, Nika, 5, and community and all people who ing to the train station at 1 am to catch one It was a bit tedious.” The spectator, aged 17, later defended her concert in 1993. Michela, 1, who were discov- are sending me messages all of the last trains to the city. “It seems she does not even care. She Madonna, saying it was her best day. “I have waited 23 years for her return. ered in their bedrooms early on over the world,” Kholodenko Jeremy Smith, a resident of Sydney who was here after 23 years and she probably “Only I get to decide if I’m humiliated or She did not disappoint,” Jane told DPA af- Thursday. said in a statement on Friday had paid A$1,000 ($750) for two tickets, thought she will never be back again,” said not - why would people assume I am hu- ter the concert. “Even though it was late, Their mother, 31-year-old evening. said her performance was “okay, but not Smith, sporting a t-shirt featuring Aus- miliated by my own body?” she told local it was vivacious. It was a well-choreo- Sofya Tsygankova, underwent “Wherever I go after this out of this world”. tralian singer Kylie Minogue. Brisbane paper, Courier Mail. graphed spectacular performance.” surgery at a local hospital, po- tragedy, my heart will stay lice said. She will be held for with the people here of Fort mental evaluation once she re- Worth and my daughters will covers from her physical inju- rest in this soil,” he added. ries, police Commander David In 2013, he won the gold Babcock said. medal in the prestigious Van Babcock told a news confer- Cliburn International Piano ence the police do not see any Competition. He was sched- Trump’s border wall plan draws uled to have three shows with immediate threat to the com- munity and are not actively the Fort Worth Symphony searching for a suspect. Orchestra over the weekend, Kholodenko had an appoint- and a replacement has been ment to pick up the children on named for him, the orchestra mixed reactions in Arizona said. Thursday morning from his estranged wife’s home, he said. Kholodenko and Tsygankova Agencies certainly supports the idea of building a since the beginning of his campaign. “Once he arrived there, he married in 2010, but fi led for Nogales, Arizona wall. “That really rang a bell with me and a lot found the mother in an ex- divorce last November, ac- “I’m tired of having thousands of people of the ranchers, that fi nally we had some- treme state of distress and dis- cording to court records ob- coming through my ranch. I worry about body in the political arena that wasn’t covered the children in their tained by local media. onald Trump’s ambitious plan to running into a guy with an AK-47 and a worried about being politically correct and build a giant wall on the border hits bunch of druggers behind him,” Chilton talked about the problem that is actually Dclose to home for people like Be- said. “The United States needs to secure happening,” he said. renice Andrews. its international boundary.” Ladd said he isn’t sure the wall will The front door of her family’s home is Artist Kate Drew-Wilkinson lives in ever actually be built but said he believes just feet away from a fence separating the Bisbee, AZ, where she owns a gallery a few Trump will enforce immigration laws. Trial in Bosma US and Mexico. The home is so close to miles north of the border. Drew-Wilkin- Hector Orozco has a unique perspective Mexico that the sounds of schoolchildren son opposes Trump and his wall proposal, on the border debate because of his occu- at play south of the border can be heard. Jim Chilton on the porch of his home on saying he’s a bully who is dangerous to the pation and past party affi liation. murder to resume So can buses along a main thoroughfare on his 50,000 acre ranch along the United States. He manages manufacturing company the Mexico side. US Mexico border in Arivaca, Arizona. “I don’t think he has a real understand- south of the border with offi ces on the As the presidential contest shifts to ing of the geography or the sheer diffi culty American side, making campaign debates Agencies burned beyond recognition. Arizona and its Tuesday primary, Trump’s ferent views on Trump’s border wall plan: of building a wall of that kind,” she said. about foreign trade especially relevant. He Hamilton The Crown alleges Bosma wall stirs up a range of emotions among Everywhere Jim Chilton goes on his “And it’s ugly. The whole thing is really is also an immigrant from Mexico who be- was shot at point-blank range border-area residents like Andrews. For sprawling cattle ranch along the Mexi- ugly.” came a US citizen and traditionally voted inside his truck and later his some, nothing short of a wall will do. For can border in Arizona, he has a gun at the Drew-Wilkinson, an England native Republican. he trial of two men ac- body was burned in a large ani- her, the fence that currently divides the US ready. Guns at his front door. Guns in his who moved to the US in the late 1960s, As of late, though, Orozco said he can’t cused of killing a Ham- mal incinerator. and Mexico is a good enough barrier. pickup truck. Guns on his horse’s saddle. wouldn’t reveal who she would be vot- get behind the party and its ideology. To Tilton father is set to Court has heard that blood “For him to even propose something like For Chilton, illegal immigration and ing for but said it defi nitely wouldn’t be him, America’s biggest challenge is the resume after a week-long inside the truck and on the that is complete insanity,” Andrews said. drug smuggling isn’t just something he Trump. defi cit and the economy, not illegal immi- break. outside of the incinerator was Trump has not provided specifi cs the hears about on the news. He lives with it John Ladd is a cattle rancher whose gration. Dellen Millard of Toronto, likely Bosma’s — the chance it wall but says it would cost between $10bn every day as smugglers routinely cross roughly 15,000 acre ranch abuts the border “It’s like they’re trying to distract us and Mark Smich of Oakville, wasn’t his blood was pegged at and $12bn, and has said he would make the border on his property. He supports near Naco, Arizona. Immigrants and drug from the bigger problems,” he said. “(Ille- Ontario, have pleaded not one in 18 quadrillion by a fo- Mexico pay for it. Mexico has scoff ed at just about anything to stop it, including smugglers frequently sneak into the coun- gal immigration) is a problem but it’s not guilty to fi rst-degree murder rensic scientist. the idea. Trump’s plan to build a wall from one end try on his property, cutting his barbed- the biggest problem.” in Tim Bosma’s death. Bosma’s truck was found There are already about 650 miles of of the border to the other. wire fences and leaving behind garbage. And he said a wall wouldn’t resolve im- Bosma disappeared on the at Millard’s mother’s house fencing, including the steel fence that di- “We need a wall. We need forward op- He is sick of politics as usual and fi nds migration problems in any way. night of May 6, 2013, after north of Toronto and the in- vides the sister cities of Nogales in Arizona eration bases. We need Border Patrol to Trump’s lack of political correctness re- “People will fi nd a way to improve their taking two strangers on a test cinerator discovered at a and Mexico and ranges from 18 feet to 26 be down there all the time,” Chilton said. freshing. He isn’t bothered by Trump’s lives,” Orozco said. “Regardless of how big drive of a black Dodge Ram farm near Waterloo, Ontario, feet tall. Much of the border was built in “We just need to secure that international lack of specifi cs about how he’d build a the wall is, they’re gonna look for a way pickup truck he was trying to owned by Millard, the heir to the last 15 years as immigration surged. boundary at the border, period.” wall. because they’re gonna want to make a bet- sell. an aviation company started The cost has been in the billions. While Chilton hasn’t decided who he’ll He simply likes that Trump has ter life for their family. Not all who cross His body was found nearly 50 years ago by his People who live on the border have dif- vote for in the presidential election, he been talking about illegal immigration are criminals.” more than a week later grandfather. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 17 AMERICAS Bernie dolls NJ police offi cer is shot dead in personal vehicle

Reuters The offi cer was taken to a lo- New York cal hospital and then airlifted to the Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, accord- police offi cer was shot ing to a post on the Park Forest and killed while sitting police department Facebook Ain his personal vehicle page. A tweet from the police yesterday morning near a de- department said the offi cer funct movie theatre complex in was in critical condition. the suburban New Jersey bor- Park Forest is about 48km ough of Sayreville, local media south of Chicago. reported. Police did not identify the The incident took place next offi cer or the shooter. But local to the former Amboy Cin- media reports, citing Park For- emas complex off the Garden est Mayor John A Ostenburg, State Parkway, about 34 miles named the offi cer as Tim Jones. southwest of New York City, Offi cers were called to look according to NBC 4 New York into a break-in at a vacant resi- and other media, which cited dence at 5:40am on Saturday law enforcement sources. and found a stolen vehicle at The offi cer may have been that location. Leslie Zukor of Mercer Island, Washington shows off her handmade Bernie Sanders dolls at a rally for the Democratic presidential candidate outside Seattle Center, investigating a report of a sus- Police surrounded the home. Washington. picious person when the gun- As a man exited the residence, fi re broke out at the theatre offi cers attempted to detain complex, which closed about him, but the man pulled out 10 years ago, the reports said. a gun and began exchanging Neither the Sayreville police gunfi re with offi cers, the Face- department nor the Middlesex book post said. county prosecutor’s offi ce im- A self-described gang mediately responded to calls member killed a South Caroli- for comment. na police offi cer on Friday, then Two sheriff ’s deputies in called his own mother before Indiana were shot, one of them turning the gun on himself, Supreme Court throws fatally, while serving a warrant police said. for drug-related off ences on The suspect committed Sunday, police said. suicide moments after fi ring A suspect, who has not been on offi cers who were trying to identifi ed, died in the incident, serve him with an arrest war- which took place in Russiaville rant at a house in Greenville, in central Indiana, about 50 South Carolina, Greenville out stun gun ruling miles north of Indianapolis, Police Chief Ken Miller told they said. reporters. The court has expanded what can be Yesterday decision did not further clar- In yesterday case, the justices took is- the federal government lacks the resources Deputy Carl Koontz of the The department identifi ed included in guns ify the standards of the Heller ruling, yet it sue with the fi nding of the Massachusetts and inclination to enforce fully the federal Howard county sheriff ’s de- the slain offi cer as Allen Lee signalled that lower courts should not look court that stun guns are “unusual” be- marijuana ban. partment was killed in the in- Jacobs, 28, an Army veteran Reuters narrowly at the weapons covered. cause they are a “thoroughly modern in- Colorado also said that the Supreme cident, and deputy sergeant who served in Iraq before join- Washington The justices objected to the Massachu- vention”. Court was not the proper place to resolve Jordan Buckley was wound- ing the force in 2011. setts court’s approach of considering the The court is down to eight justices, the case. The lawsuit by Oklahoma and ed, Indiana state police said. “We lose, we hurt, we ache,” dispute through a “contemporary lens” rather than its usual nine. conservative Nebraska was fi led under the court’s rarely Buckley was in stable condi- Miller said. “In an instant, lives he supreme Court yesterday threw and that it stated that stun guns would not Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in Febru- used “original jurisdiction”, which covers tion at a hospital. can change forever.” out a Massachusetts court rul- have been the type of weapon Congress ary, wrote the Heller decision. instances in which the justices hear dis- The two were shot at after Jacobs, whose job was to Ting that stun guns are not covered envisioned in 1789 when it passed the con- The US Supreme Court yesterday putes between states that are not fi rst re- they knocked on the door of a investigate gang activity, was by the US constitution’s guarantee of the stitution’s Second Amendment declaring threw out a lawsuit fi led by the states of viewed by lower courts. residence to serve the warrant. among several serving the right to bear arms, siding with a woman a right to bear arms. Nebraska and Oklahoma against their Washington state also voted in 2012 They then returned fi re. warrant targeting a man po- who said she carried one as protection The amendment was ratifi ed in 1791 as neighbour Colorado over a law approved to legalise recreational marijuana use by “With an extremely heavy lice said was a known and self- against an abusive former boyfriend. part of the constitution’s Bill of Rights. as a ballot initiative by Colorado voters adults, while Oregon, Alaska and the Dis- heart I’m sorry to report depu- described gang member, Miller The court, in an unsigned ruling with no Caetano said she carried the stun gun in 2012 that allows the recreational use trict of Columbia followed in 2014. ty Carl Koontz has succumbed said. dissents, ruled in favour of Jaime Caetano, for self-defence because her former part- of marijuana. The court declined to hear Tom Angell, chairman of the Marijuana to his wounds,” a state police The man ran down the street who in 2011 was arrested for possession of ner was violent and abusive. the case fi led by Nebraska and Oklahoma, Majority advocacy group favoring mari- spokesman, sergeant John Per- and the offi cers chased him a stun gun in violation of a state law ban- Caetano’s lawyers had argued that stun which said that marijuana is being smug- juana legalization, welcomed the court’s rine, said on his Twitter feed. until the man opened fi re, hit- ning such weapons. The ruling provided a guns should be considered “arms” under gled across their borders and noted that action. Koontz had been with the ting Jacobs several times, Mill- victory, at least temporarily, for gun rights the second amendment and that the Massa- federal law still prohibits the drug. “At the end of the day, if offi cials in Ne- State Police for nearly three er said. advocates. chusetts law went too far in banning them. Two conservative justices, Clarence braska and Oklahoma are upset about how years, while Buckley was a The suspect then ran a short The justices decided that a March 2015 The supreme court sent the case back to Thomas and Samuel Alito, said they would much time and resources their police are nine-year veteran of the force, distance, called his mother, Massachusetts supreme judicial court rul- the Massachusetts high court for further have heard the case. spending on marijuana cases, as they said according to Perrine. and shot himself to death, ing was inconsistent with a 2008 supreme proceedings. The justices noted that the Nebraska and Oklahoma contended in their briefs, they should join Colorado A suburban Chicago po- Miller said. He had no further court decision declaring an individual Heller decision rejected the proposition that drugs such as marijuana threaten in replacing prohibition with legalisation,” liceman was shot and suff ered details on the man’s phone right to bear arms. That 5-4 ruling in the “that only those weapons useful in warfare the health and safety of children and ar- Angell said. life-threatening injuries on conversation. case District of Columbia v Heller left are protected.” gued that Colorado had created “a dan- “That will allow their criminal justice Saturday, and the shooter was Jacobs, a father of two boys, open many questions about the extent of Gun rights are one of the most divisive gerous gap” in the federal drug control systems to focus on real crime, and it will killed by police in a confronta- was expecting a baby girl with the individual right, the fi rearms covered issues for the high court, and the justices system. generate revenue that can be used to pay tion during an investigation of his wife in July. He was pro- and when government regulations would have in recent years been reluctant to take Colorado stands by its law. It noted that for healthcare, education and public safety a break-in at a vacant home, nounced dead at a local hospi- stand. up state disputes. the Obama administration has indicated programmes,” Angell added. the police department said. tal, the department said. Arbitrator slashes First day of spring amount owing for 14 Canada senators

Agencies that identifi ed nearly $1mn in problematic expense Ottawa claims. In his fi nal report, Binnie said senators were acting in accordance with what they “believed to be their entitlements.” ore than a dozen senators who were or- The arbitration process was established after the dered to pay hundreds of thousands of auditor general raised questions about spending Mdollars back to the senate in questionable claims from 30 current and former senators total- expense claims have had their bill reduced by a spe- ling nearly $1mn. cial arbitrator. Former supreme court justice Ian Binnie was appointed as arbitrator last May to Binnie has ruled that 14 senators who owed $322,611 oversee disputes of the auditor’s fi ndings. properly billed the Senate for travel and hospitality Of the 30 senators identifi ed in the audit and or- expenses half the time. dered to repay the questioned amounts, 14 chose The fi nal bill the group of current and former sen- to go through the arbitration process led by Binnie ators now owe is $177,898. “I impute no bad motives while seven opted out of it and the remaining nine to any of the senators,” Binnie said in his report. paid back money, according to the Senate website. He said the predominant attitude he encountered Senators found to have spent inappropriately will from the senators was that they were not fully aware have 30 days to reimburse the amounts owed. of the rules, rather than specifi cally seeking to break Amounts outstanding range from $1,120 to or get around them. $75,227, according to the latest publicly available “The attitude was, ‘If we knew the rules, we repayment status report. The senate expense scan- would follow them’,” Binnie told a news conference. dal was narrowed last week when it was revealed “I didn’t feel for the most part that they were the RCMP informed 24 of the 30 named senators gaming the system.” that the evidence against them didn’t warrant a full The expenses were fl agged last year in a criti- criminal investigation.Courtesy of The Cana- People walk in Times Square as snow falls during the first day of spring in New York on Sunday. cal audit of Senate spending by the auditor general dian Press Gulf Times 18 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 ASEAN Around 25,000 Rohingya left camps in past year: UN

Reuters among ethnic communities in Myan- ting humanitarian dependency as well sharply this year from previous years, traffi cking camp close to the Malaysian The fl ow of migrants and refugees to Bangkok mar that their situation may improve as restoring a degree of normality and the UN said. border. The crackdown led criminals to Thailand from areas of confl ict in other under the new government of Aung dignity to people’s lives,” she said. “It is striking, there are many less abandon ships at sea with thousands of parts of Myanmar has also decreased San Suu Kyi’s National League for De- The Rohingya still faced challenges people coming than last year,” Volker migrants aboard. as people hope for improvements un- round 25,000 members of the mocracy (NLD). The NLD won a land- due to lack of citizenship and related Turk, assistant high commissioner for Mass graves of suspected human- der the NLD government, said the Eu- Rohingya Muslim minority slide electoral win in November and is restrictions, she said. protection at the UNHCR, told Reuters traffi cking victims were also found on ropean Union’s ambassador to Thai- Agroup have left camps for dis- forming a government to take power on The number of camps for displaced yesterday after an event on refugees in the Malaysian side of the border. land, Jesus Sanz. placed people in western Myanmar and April 1. people has fallen to 40, down from 67, Bangkok. Thai and Bangladeshi crackdowns “The positive change in Myanmar returned to the communities they fl ed The majority of Rohingya who have she added. “It’s a combination of factors. As on human smugglers disrupted the is the main cause for the reduction in during sectarian violence in 2012, the left the camps have rebuilt houses in Persecution and poverty led thou- well as the new government, there are networks that brought migrants from numbers,” Sanz told Reuters. “It re- UN said yesterday. their place of origin, Tan said in an e- sands more Rohingya to fl ee Myanmar stronger activities against smuggling Myanmar and Bangladesh by sea to mains to be seen how quickly the gov- The number of people still in camps mailed statement to Reuters. The move in the wake of the violence between and traffi cking. And the discovery of Thailand and Malaysia. ernment of Myanmar will be able to has fallen to around 120,000 from out of the camps started in March 2015 Buddhists and Muslims there four the mass graves last year also shocked Suu Kyi and the NLD have been crit- stabilise the situation there and give 145,000 in Rakhine State, Vivian Tan, in a process led by the Myanmar gov- years ago. Many of them were smug- people.” icised for saying little about how they real opportunities to these people.” regional spokeswoman for the UN ref- ernment, she added. gled or traffi cked to Thailand, Malaysia Thai police launched a campaign will address the situation in Rakhine, The EU helps fi nance camps in Thai- ugee agency, told Reuters. “These movements are a positive and beyond. in May 2015 following the discovery but the electoral win sparked cautious land near the border with Myanmar The move will bolster optimism step toward ending displacement, cut- The number of migrants has fallen of 30 bodies in graves near a human- optimism in the Rohingya community. that hold more than 100,000 refugees.

President-elect says China urges Jakarta to free ethnic ministry ‘vital’ for peace crew as sea row escalates in Myanmar AFP over the incident. “With what Jakarta took place yesterday, we feel our years-long eff orts and work AFP Greater openness, a surg- to promote peace in the South Naypyidaw ing economy and the landslide hina called on Indonesia China Sea were interrupted and victory in November’s historic yesterday to release the sabotaged.” elections for Suu Kyi and her Ccrew of a Chinese fi shing Indonesia has in the past acted yanmar’s new pres- party have all buoyed opti- boat detained during a maritime as a mediator in the region’s dis- ident-elect told mism in the future. confrontation, as Jakarta lodged putes. Earlier, Foreign Minister Mlawmakers yester- But confl icts continue to a furious protest in the escalat- Retno Marsudi lodged a strong day that plans to create a new rage in several areas between ing row. protest with Chinese embassy ethnic aff airs ministry were ethnic minority armed groups The incident happened Satur- representatives, saying there had “vital” as he put eff orts to heal and the still-powerful na- day as Indonesian surveillance been a “violation by the Chinese relations with minorities at tional army, which operates vessels tried to detain the trawler coastguard of Indonesia’s sover- the heart of policy in a nation beyond the reaches of civilian suspected of operating illegally eign rights” and that Jakarta was torn by civil wars and sectarian government, after a ceasefi re near Indonesian islands in the seeking clarifi cation about the confl ict. pact signed last year failed to South China Sea. incident. Htin Kyaw, a close confi - include all of the country’s After stopping the boat and While Indonesia does not have dante of Aung San Suu Kyi who fi ghters. Some 240,000 peo- removing eight crew members, territorial disputes with China in will rule as her proxy, indicated ple are displaced due to un- the Indonesians were towing the the South China Sea, Jakarta is that tackling the legacy of half rest and communal confl ict in vessel to shore when the Chi- nervous about Beijing’s growing a century of civil wars in ethnic Myanmar, mostly in northern nese coastguard appeared and assertiveness, and the military minority borderlands will be a Kachin state where fi ghting rammed into the detained boat, had already dispatched extra re- major priority for his govern- between the army and rebels helping to release it. sources to the Natunas. ment, which offi cially takes is ongoing, and in western Ra- However, Chinese foreign The navy said yesterday it power next week. khine, where tens of thousands ministry spokeswoman Hua would double its patrols in the “A ministry of ethnic af- of Rohingya Muslims remain Chunying insisted yesterday area. fairs is of vital importance for trapped in camps following that the area near Indonesia’s The Natunas are a string of the future of the union (My- outbreaks of communal vio- Natuna Islands was a “tradi- islands rich in fi sh on the far anmar), which needs peace, lence in 2012. tional Chinese fi shing ground”, northwest fringe of the archi- development and sustain- The situation in Rakhine and that the Chinese boat had to Indonesia’s Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti gestures as she talks to reporters after meeting with Chinese pelago. ability,” he told lawmakers in state is a key concern of the in- be rescued by coastguards after embassy off icials in Jakarta, Indonesia yesterday.. Indonesia in 2014 launched a his fi rst address since being ternational community, which facing harassment from an In- tough crackdown on illegal fi sh- elected the fi rst civilian leader has urged the new government donesian vessel. line” defi ning its claims since protests — called for the release claim that the boat was operat- ing which involves sinking for- in decades. to prioritise the plight of the The two nations normally en- this overlaps Indonesia’s exclu- of the crew. ing in Chinese fi shing grounds. eign vessels caught fi shing with- His comments came as part Rohingya, who fl ee the coun- joy good relations and the fl are- sive economic zone around the But Indonesian Fisheries “I want China to show good- out a permit after impounding of a wider speech explain- try in their thousands every up in tensions is rare. Natunas. Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, who will and return the boat, which the boats and removing the ing his government’s plan year on rickety boats. Indonesia does not have over- China’s acting charge is leading a tough campaign has broken the law by carrying crews. to streamline the country’s A web of citizenship rules lapping territorial claims with d’aff aires in Jakarta, Sun Weide against illegal fi shing in the vast out illegal fi shing,” said Pud- Beijing voiced concern last bloated bureaucracy, trimming have left many eff ectively China in the South China Sea, — who was summoned by both archipelago, said the eight would jiastuti, adding that authori- year after Indonesia destroyed the number of ministries from stateless, while they also claim unlike other Asian nations. But the foreign ministry and fi sher- face justice in Indonesia and dis- ties were considering fi ling a an impounded Chinese fi shing 36 to 21. to endure worsening persecu- it objects to China’s “nine-dash ies ministry yesterday to hear missed as “baseless” Beijing’s case to an international tribunal vessel. Htin Kyaw takes the mantle tion by Rakhine’s Buddhist of leadership as Myanmar is in community who largely sees the midst of a dramatic trans- them as illegal immigrants formation after years shackled from neighbouring Bangla- Indonesian taxi drivers to rally for ban on online taxi apps by military rule. desh.

Reuters threatening the business models of the But the Communications Ministry, profi table taxis into motorcycle taxis. Jakarta country’s top taxi fi rms PT Blue Bird and which oversees the app operators, has said Go-Jek and Grab drivers say they regu- Express Transindo Utama. the fi rms can go on operating. larly off er rides at below cost to grab mar- “Online transport apps have destroyed Nasihin, a taxi driver for Express, said ket share. The two privately held compa- housands of Indonesian taxi drivers some local taxis, mainly the small play- he used to earn about 250,000 rupiah nies declined to provide details on pricing will take to the streets of the capital ers,” said Andre Djokosoetono, director of ($20) a day in salary before the arrival of and their fi nancial performances. Ttoday for a protest rally to demand Blue Bird, the country’s largest taxi opera- the ride-hailing apps. Now he struggles to “A price war is not unusual for the in- the government prohibit ride-hailing tor. bring home a steady income. “Tomorrow, troduction of a businesses like this ... apps like Grab and Uber, as a price war in- “We are fi ghting to make sure everyone I have to go to the protest because what as promotions are huge to seize market tensifi es. is treated fairly and there aren’t any play- they are doing is illegal,” he said. share,” said Patrick Walujo, co-founder of The proliferation of cheap taxis us- ers disadvantaged by these apps.” “Taxi drivers are getting very angry.” private equity fi rm Northstar Group, one File photo shows Htin Kyaw (left), newly elected president of ing ride-sharing apps Go-Jek, Grab and The Transportation Ministry has asked The mobile apps have shaken up the of three investment companies that have Myanmar and member of the National League for Democracy Uber has made the traditional pick-up that the taxi-hailing apps be banned since market, sparking a cut-throat price war together provided more than $200mn in (NLD) party and Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and drop-off taxi services unprofi table, they are not registered as public transport. and forcing diversifi cation away from un- funding to Go-Jek. after the parliament vote in Naypyidaw.

Elderly woman hacked to death over Malaysia probes halal Vietnam parliament to put suspected witchcraft A 70-year-old Indonesian woman airline for handwritten has been hacked to death in the remote east of the country by machete-wielding men who boarding passes new leadership to work early suspected her of performing witchcraft, police said yesterday. Three men attacked Nuryan DPA civil aviation department reg- Reuters plemented from the begin- Umanahu early Sunday in the vil- Kuala Lumpur ulations and services. Hanoi ning,” he told reporters on Fri- lage of Buya, in the Sula Islands, Rayani Air apologised for day when explaining why a new after one of them became the fl ight cancellations and government would be approved suspicious she had cast a spell alaysia’s fi rst Shari- other mistakes it made during ietnam’s outgoing par- by outgoing legislators. on his wife. ah-compliant airline the fi rst three months of its liament convened for a The process is a formal- “While she was sick, the wife Mis being investigated operations. Vfi nal session yesterday ity, with nominations for prime often felt possessed and said that for aviation violations that “Rayani Air would like to that will see a new leadership minister, president and parlia- the old woman had cast a spell include handwritten boarding apologise for the fl ight can- and cabinet take offi ce three ment speaker already approved on her,” local police off icial Arifin passes, the country’s trans- cellations that has been hap- months early, ditching the nor- by the party, which controls the La Ode Buri said. port minister said yesterday. pening due to technical proce- mal route of the public electing rubber-stamp legislature. “Her husband believed this and The transport ministry has dures,” it said in a statement. a new legislature fi rst. The nominations are Dung’s took his friends to search for the received various complaints “Passengers’ safety is our The National Assembly said deputy, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, as old woman.” from passengers against Ray- upmost important (sic) and we the move was to expedite a premier, Minister of Public Se- The husband was accompanied ani Air, which started opera- are doing our very best to solve drawn-out transition and put a curity Tran Dai Quang as presi- by a large mob of villagers to the tions in December, according the issues that have been sur- new government to work soon- A general view of the Vietnam National Assembly (Parliament) is seen dent and National Assembly old lady’s house, but only three to Transport Minister Liow facing recently,” it added. er rather than wait for a parlia- during the opening ceremony of its 2016 spring session in Hanoi, vice-chairwoman Nguyen Thi went inside and carried out the Tiong Lai. The airline, which prohib- mentary election in May and Vietnam yesterday. Kim Ngan as legislative head. killing, said Buri. Liow said among the com- its alcohol consumption on its house endorsement in July. Party chief Nguyen Phu Three men have been ar- plaints against Rayani Air were fl ights and serves only halal That means Prime Minister Dung has served the maxi- strongman in a country tradi- Trong was re-elected for a sec- rested on suspicion of murder, frequent delays or cancella- food, off ers domestic flights Nguyen Tan Dung will be re- mum two terms as premier and tionally ruled by consensus. ond term at the January con- he added. tions of fl ights, and on one in the predominantly Mus- lieved of his duties earlier than has no future political role. De- The assembly’s general sec- gress. Many people still believe in black occasion alleged issuance of lim northern states of Kedah expected, hastening his contro- spite his popularity as an eco- retary, Nguyen Hanh Phuc, said Lawmakers are set to endorse magic in Indonesia, a sprawling handwritten boarding passes. and Kelantan and the eastern versial exit following a Com- nomic liberal who stood up to the change in plan was about the three main posts separately archipelago of more than 17,000 Liow’s offi ce has already states of Sabah and Sarawak, munist Party congress in Janu- China’s maritime assertiveness, boosting effi ciency. between March 31 and April 7. islands inhabited by a kaleido- given warning to airline man- managing director Jaafar ary at which he was overlooked experts say party stalwarts “We need new spirit, new New ministerial positions are scope of diff erent ethnic groups. agement to comply with all Zamhari said. for the top post of party chief. feared Dung could become a motivation, new impetus, im- due to be approved on April 9. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 19 AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA Beijing out to subvert diplomatic ties: Taipei

Reuters “The warning to our new Taipei government was thick with meaning,” the bureau said in its report. aiwan’s top security “It had the intention of agency said yesterday pressuring president-elect TChina’s establishment Tsai Ing-wen to respond in of diplomatic ties with one of her May 20 inaugural speech the island’s former African al- in a way that falls in line with lies was meant to put pressure China’s expectations,” the bu- on president-elect Tsai Ing- reau said. wen to “fall in line” before her Tsai said in an interview car- inauguration on May 20. ried by one of Taiwan’s biggest China resumed ties with dailies, the China Times, yes- the small west African state terday that both sides should of Gambia last week, ending show goodwill in the period an unoffi cial diplomatic truce before she is sworn in. between China and Taiwan “Through the expression of following landslide wins in goodwill, the hope is to build a presidential and parliamen- foundation of trust,” Tsai said. tary elections by Tsai and her She said through a spokes- pro-independence Democratic man last week she hoped the Progressive Party. Gambia case was not a “tar- South Korean soldiers pass a gate as they patrol along a barbed-wire fence at a guard post near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea. Gambia was one of only a geted move” by China. few African countries, along Chinese foreign ministry with Burkina Faso, Swaziland spokeswoman Hua Chunying and São Tomé and Príncipe, to said the resumption of diplo- recognise Taiwan, which Chi- matic ties with Gambia was na regards as a wayward prov- “not aimed at any person”. ince to be recovered by force if Hua also warned the United necessary. States not to “put in a good Taiwan has only 22 allies in word” for Taiwan, after US North Korea fi res fi ve the world, including the Vati- President Barack Obama can City. signed a bill supporting Tai- China and Taiwan have wan’s participation in Inter- for years tried to poach each pol. Hua said Interpol was a other’s allies, often dangling body only sovereign nations generous aid packages in could join. front of leaders of developing China has repeatedly missiles into the sea nations. warned Tsai against any Yesterday, Taiwan’s nor- moves towards independ- North Korea continues to defy the said they were fully prepared for the pos- mally secretive National Se- ence, while Tsai has stuck to world sibility of another North Korean under- curity Bureau said in a report her stance of maintaining the ground nuclear test. presented to parliament the status quo without off ering a Agencies “We believe that a fi fth nuclear test can island’s ties with its few re- clear policy. Seoul take place right away,” said unifi cation maining diplomatic allies were Gambia broke its ties with ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee. at risk of being undermined Taiwan in 2013, but did not im- The defence ministry also reiterated its by fi nancial aid packages from mediately establish ties with orth Korea yesterday fi red fi ve assessment that the North was ready to China. China. short-range missiles into the sea carry out another test as soon as the lead- Noff its east coast — the latest in a ership gave the order. series of launches ordered by leader Kim “In this regard our military, along with Jong-Un amid rising military tensions. intelligence authorities in South Korea and They came just days after the North the United States, are thoroughly moni- test-fi red two medium-range missiles in toring such movements,” said ministry what the UN Security Council described spokesman Moon Sang-Gyun. Analysts with the US-Korea Institute Missing as an “unacceptable” violation of UN res- olutions. at Johns Hopkins University say recent Tensions have been soaring on the di- satellite images show what appears to vided Korean peninsula since the North be test-tunnel maintenance activity at carried out its fourth nuclear test on Janu- North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear test complex. columnist ary 6, followed a month later by a long- range rocket launch that was widely seen “It is highly likely that site is capable of as a disguised ballistic missile test. US state department’s co-ordinator for sanctions policy ambassador Daniel Fried shake supporting additional tests at any time,” The Security Council responded earlier hands with South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula Kim Hong-kyun one of the analysts wrote on the closely- this month by imposing its toughest sanc- before their high-level sanctions meeting at the foreign ministry in Seoul. followed website 38 North. In a separate development, US and ‘being held tions on North Korea to date. In recent weeks Pyongyang has main- missiles into the East Sea on March 10, us- as an eventual nuclear warhead explosion South Korean offi cials met yesterday to tained a daily barrage of nuclear strike ing what state media described as a new test. discuss how to implement new sanctions threats against both Seoul and Washing- high-calibre multiple rocket launcher. China, the isolated North’s sole major against Pyongyang for carrying out a nu- ton, ostensibly over continuing large- Existing UN sanctions ban North Korea ally, urged it yesterday to refrain from vio- clear test in January. The two sides would discuss “ways to by Chinese’ scale South Korea-US military drills that from conducting any ballistic missile test, lating UN resolutions and called for calm the North sees as provocative rehearsals although short-range launches tend to go in both Koreas. maximise pressure on North Korea” fol- for invasion. unpunished. At a meeting with senior aides earlier lowing the test, Yonhap quoted a South Reuters ing. “There are lots of things An offi cial with South Korea’s joint Last Friday the North upped the ante by yesterday, South Korean president Park Korean government offi cial as saying. Beijing worth reporting in China, and chiefs of staff said the vefi short-range test-fi ring two medium-range missiles, Geun-Hye warned of a “very crucial time” The United States fought for South Ko- you should not focus so much missiles were launched from near the which were seen as far more provocative for the Korean peninsula. rea in the 1950-53 Korean War and guar- on individual cases.” eastern city of Hamhung, beginning just given the threat they pose to neighbours “Even after the international commu- antees its ally’s security with thousands of hinese police “took President Xi Jinping has before 3:20pm (0620 GMT), and landed in like Japan. nity adopted strong sanctions, North Ko- troops stationed in the country and close away” a well-known embarked on an unprece- the East Sea (Sea of Japan). They were the fi rst medium-range rea continues to attempt reckless provo- military co-operation. Ccolumnist last week dented effort to clamp down He said analysts were still gathering in- launches for two years and followed an or- cations as shown through Kim Jong-Un’s The war ended in a truce but no for- before he tried to board a fl ight on the Internet and censor telligence on the precise missile type. der from Kim Jong-Un for his military to recent order,” Park said. mal peace treaty between the communist for Hong Kong and his where- opinions that do not reflect The North had fi red two short-range prepare a series of missile launches as well Seoul government offi cials, meanwhile, North and democratic South. abouts are still unknown, his those of Communist Party lawyer said yesterday. leaders, including by impos- Jia Jia, who writes a regular ing tougher penalties for column for Tencent Online, “spreading rumours” via so- went missing late last Tuesday, cial media. around the time he was sched- An online letter, which cir- uled to board a fl ight from Bei- culated widely at the start of Australian premier threatens to jing to Hong Kong. China’s parliament this month He had warned former col- and was signed by “a loyal leagues of the danger of re- Communist Party Member”, publishing an open letter call- had called for the immediate ing for president Xi Jinping to resignation of Xi and blamed resign. him for “unprecedented prob- call early polls over union row lems”. “We only know that on that day, March 15, Beijing public Last week, Yan told Reuters AFP nies should be managed,” Turnbull said. “We are ready for this election,” Shorten security bureau offi cials went that Jia Jia had told friends Sydney A government inquiry into trade union said. to the airport to take Jia Jia before boarding the fl ight to corruption in December found “wide- Turnbull had broken the promises he away. Airport offi cials also as- Hong Kong that he had no spread” and “deep-seated” misconduct, made on seizing power from his predeces- sisted them. This is based on connection to the letter. ustralian prime minister Malcolm but the opposition accused the coalition sor Tony Abbott last year, the opposition a notice from the airport of- Jia Jia’s case has attracted Turnbull threatened yesterday to of exploiting the royal commission to con- leader added. fi cials,” lawyer Yan Xin told international concern from Ahold early general elections, which duct an anti-union witch-hunt. “He has failed to deliver (economic Reuters. rights groups such as Amnesty his conservative government would likely “If the senate fails to pass these laws, I leadership). He promised fairness and he “Since then, there is no new International. win, if parliament fails to end a deadlock will advise the governor-general to dis- has failed to deliver and he promised unity development, we haven’t re- Yesterday, an editorial in the over legislation on unions. solve both houses of parliament and issue and he has monumentally failed to deliver.” ceived any more communi- state-run tabloid The Global Turnbull grabbed power in a ruling Lib- Malcolm Turnbull writs for an election,” Turnbull said. Turnbull had predicted the vote would cation. As for the events that Times criticised the interna- eral party coup last September, pledging Parliament will be recalled from April be held between August and October, followed and whether it was a tional community for going better management of the economy, but election because we need to secure sup- 18 to pass the legislation. But if that fails, ahead of a January 2017 deadline, as he detention, we’re still unsure.” “against the Chinese govern- has failed to push ahead with fi scal and in- port... from the Australian people for im- both houses would need to be dissolved by tried to consolidate power after Australia Calls seeking comment from ment” and jumping to conclu- dustrial relations reforms. portant economic reforms,” Turnbull said, May 11 to allow for a July vote. swapped prime minister fi ve times in as the Beijing police and airport sions before authorities an- In a political ploy, Turnbull said the implying he did not expect the bills to get “The time for playing games is over,” many years. offi cials went unanswered. nounced fi ndings. election would be held on July 2 unless the through. Turnbull vowed. The government last week won a battle A spokeswoman for China’s “Any suspicions about upper house, where crossbenchers hold The union laws aim to bring back While the prime minister is expected to in the senate to reform electoral law, after foreign ministry, the only gov- ‘custody or arrest in secret’ the balance of power, agrees to pass dead- the Australian Building and Construc- win an election his support has slipped in harnessing support from the Greens party. ernment department to hold a are ill-founded,” it said in an locked legislation on unions. tion Commission (ABCC), a watchdog recent weeks as promised changes have The changes to Australia’s transferable daily news briefi ng for foreign editorial. The senate has already rejected the bills scrapped by the former Labor government failed to materialise. ballot system, where voters rank parties reporters, said her ministry The paper said that while — one of them twice — and several key and loathed by union leaders. The latest Newspoll published yester- or candidates according to preference, are was not the right one to direct family members should be no- crossbenchers said Friday they would still “These reforms will ensure that un- day in The Australian still had Turnbull aimed at reducing the number of micro- a question to. tifi ed within 24 hours if some- not budge, potentially triggering a “double ions are more accountable, more trans- garnering 39% satisfaction as leader, 11 parties who have successfully blocked “Lots of things happen in one was detained, that time- dissolution” of both houses of parliament. parent, managed in the same manner, percentage points ahead of Labor opposi- government policies over the last three China every day,” spokeswom- frame could be extended if it “We are calling the double dissolution transparent manner that public compa- tion leader Bill Shorten. years. an Hua Chunying told a brief- involved “national security”. Gulf Times 20 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 BRITAIN/IRELAND ‘Brexit’ could cost £100bn and a million jobs: industry group

Reuters economy, regardless of any trade this would cause a serious shock to In its defence, the CBI last week Chamber of Commerce, resigned ly reduced compared with staying. The highly regulated pharma- London deals the country could negotiate the UK economy.” published research showing that this month after he went public Economic output could be cur- ceutical sector has more at stake with its former European partners. The CBI, which has said it will 80% of its members wanted to stay with his anti-EU views, breaching tailed by as much as about 5% of than most from a so-called Brexit, “This analysis shows very clear- promote the economic case for in the European Union, while just the neutral position adopted by his GDP by 2020, or £100bn, it said, prompting top manufacturers British vote to leave the ly why leaving the European Un- Britain to remain in the EU, has 5% thought leaving the bloc would organisation. while even in a scenario where a GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZene- European Union could ion would be a real blow for living been criticised by anti-EU cam- help them. The CBI, which mainly repre- free trade agreement with the EU ca, both of which oppose exit, Acost the economy £100bn standards, jobs and growth,” CBI paigners who say the business Britons will vote in an in-out sents larger British businesses, was rapidly secured, GDP might to draw up detailed contingency and 950,000 jobs by 2020, ac- director-general Carolyn Fairbairn community is split on the issue. referendum on June 23 and are commissioned accountants PwC still be reduced by 3%. plans. cording to research commis- said in a statement yesterday. Two hecklers interrupted a more equally divided than busi- to examine two diff erent exit sce- Meanwhile lawyers and indus- Smaller UK biotech companies, sioned by employers’ group the “The savings from reduced EU speech by Prime Minister David ness, opinion polls show, with narios based on the likelihood of try offi cials said a vote to leave the represented by the BioIndustry Confederation of British Indus- budget contributions and regu- Cameron at a CBI conference in about 40% on either side and reaching new trade deals. European Union would threaten Association, also fear a decision try (CBI). lation are greatly outweighed by November, when they unfurled about 20% undecided. Under both, it said British living some prescription medicines with to leave would disrupt the market The CBI said “Brexit” would de- the negative impact on trade and a banner reading “CBI - Voice of The director general of anoth- standards, economic growth and regulatory limbo, posing a legal and could aff ect patient access to liver a serious shock to the British investment. Even in the best case Brussels”. er employers group, the British employment would be signifi cant- headache for drugmakers. medicines.

Khan and Goldsmith ‘Absolute’ go on the attack as poll nears confidence

London Evening Standard London in Osborne, ac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan ramped up their Zmayoral campaigns yes- terday as the offi cial election got under way, with the Labour hopeful setting out his plans to make London’s security one of asserts PM his top priorities. In a speech in Westminster, Reuters ments, usually held in October or should unite the party as its cen- Khan pledged a full review of the London November, when the government tral mission to deliver the prime emergency services’ readiness to makes its economic forecasts. minister’s ‘all-out assault on pov- cope with a major terrorist inci- “The chancellor has already erty’. What matters is not so much dent on day one of his mayoralty if avid Cameron “absolute- said that he is looking at this is- the risk of a divided party but a di- he was elected. ly” backs his fi nance min- sue and yes we will set out our ap- vided society.” He said he would be “the Brit- Dister after a senior minister proach at the Autumn statement,” Tory MP Sarah Wollaston, a ish Muslim who takes the fi ght quit over budget cuts, his spokes- she said. Meanwhile, a Cabinet family doctor, said Osborne was to the extremists”. His review of woman said yesterday, as the pre- minister yesterday pleaded with facing “very serious charges” and the capital’s terror preparations mier tried to unite an increasingly Tory MPs to avoid “civil war”. should come back to Parliament to would look at communications divided party. Communities Secretary Greg “revise” his Budget decisions. between the diff erent police forc- Cameron was left “puzzled and Clark used the term as he insisted “I think there may need to be es, emergency services, Transport disappointed” on Friday when that Cameron and Osborne were a signal that he is going to come for London and the Thames au- senior minister and former leader committed to helping the least back and revise some of these thorities. of the Conservative Party, Iain well off . plans and revise the balance of It would examine how the pub- Duncan Smith, resigned his post Tory grandee Lord Howard, the where the burden falls.” lic is kept informed to minimise over cuts to disability benefi ts former party leader, also appealed Clark toured the media yester- the risk of panic and further cas- which were outlined in Finance to MPs to “calm down” and de- day morning urging Conserva- ualties and ensure lessons from Minister George Osborne’s budget fend the government’s record. tives to “come together again” and the disaster drill in Dartford were last week. Enfi eld Southgate MP David to avoid “scrapping” in public. learnt. “If gaps are identifi ed, I will The sudden departure of Dun- Burrowes yesterday echoed Dun- The communities secretary said: act to fi ll them,” he said. can Smith not only widened divi- can Smith, telling the Standard “I don’t think it should be civil war Khan also promised he would sions in the ruling party, split over that “the risk of a divided society” at all because actually Iain and the “have the backs” of police who whether to stay in the European was more important than party prime minister and the chancellor “shoot to kill” in terror incidents. Union, but also prompted calls unity. have worked very successfully to- “I want Londoners to know that from the opposition Labour Party He said: “The concern about gether over the years, for example, I will give my full backing to our for Osborne to step down. PIPs (personal independence pay- to get more people into work than armed offi cers to take the deci- Asked whether Cameron had ment) cuts was based on social ever before, to have fewer children sions necessary to keep us safe,” complete confi dence in Osborne, justice and it is the cause which in workless households.” he said. the prime minister’s spokeswom- In a personal speech, he spoke an told reporters: “Absolutely.” PM needs ‘sweeper’ to spot rebels: backbenchers about being repeatedly targeted “We’ve faced ... tough decisions by extremists over mainstream about how the country lives with- Tory MPs yesterday urged now being reconsidered. The views, of receiving death threats in its means and he (Cameron) Cameron to appoint a senior idea echoes the role filled by and having to discuss police pro- has worked very closely with the minister as a “sweeper” to Cabinet grandee Lord Wakeham tection with his daughters. chancellor (fi nance minister) and improve the presentation for John Major from 1990 during Senior Tories have warned that other ministers on that to date, of controversial policies. the last Tory civil war, earning Londoners would be putting their and will continue to do so.” Loyalist backbenchers said the him the nickname “minister for safety at risk if they elected Khan She said Cameron would no government needed a senior banana skins”. Lord Whitelaw following a series of media reports longer pursue the cuts to disabil- figure who was capable of performed a similar role during highlighting his links with contro- ity benefi ts, meaning a loss for the spotting rebellions and banging Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. versial individuals and groups. budget of £4.4bn. heads together when ministers Harrow East MP Bob Blackman At a campaign rally in Wool- Osborne, once seen as a front- fell out. The plea came after a said: “There is a case for looking wich, Goldsmith, told support- runner to succeed Cameron, will toxic weekend of infighting after for someone with an overview of ers he felt it was his “civic duty” outline how he will fi ll that hole Iain Duncan Smith’s resignation government who spots problems to warn Londoners of the choice in the Autumn statement, she over disability cuts, which are before they can become a crisis.” they faced on May 5. Goldsmith speaks during the launch of his London mayoral campaign in Woolwich yesterday. said, referring to one of two state-

Grieving widow Bear bone fi nd re-writes End custody dispute, human history in Ireland Madonna, Ritchie told Reuters pealed to both sides to settle London the matter, according to a tran- AFP County Clare on the west coast dated from the same time as the script of his judgment. London of Ireland. bone. “... At the root of these pro- It was stored in the National The results were revealed in British judge yesterday ceedings ... is a temporary Museum of Ireland since the a paper published in the journal made a fresh plea to pop breakdown in trust. For all the nalysis of a bear bone 1920s, until Carden and Dowd Quaternary Science Reviews. Astar Madonna and her media coverage, comment and found in an Irish cave re-examined it and applied for As well as pushing back the fi lm director ex-husband Guy analysis, this is a case born out Ahas provided evidence funding to have it radiocarbon date of human history in Ireland, Ritchie to work out an amicable of circumstances that arise for of human existence in Ireland dated - a technique developed the fi nd may have important solution to their custody battle countless separated parents the 2,500 years earlier than previ- in the 1940s - by Queen’s Uni- implications for zoology, as sci- over their teenage son. world over,” he said. ously thought, academics an- versity Belfast. The team sent a entists have not previously con- The Material Girl singer and “I renew, one final time, my nounced. second sample to the University sidered that humans could have Sherlock Holmes director, whose plea for the parents to seek, and For decades, the earliest evi- of Oxford to double-check the infl uenced extinctions of species litigation over 15-year old Rocco to find an amicable resolution dence of human life in Ireland result. Both tests indicated the in Ireland so long ago. has been taking place in New to the dispute between them ... dated from 8,000 BC. bear had been cut up by a human “From a zoological point York and London, divorced in It would be a very great trag- But radiocarbon dating of a about 12,500 years ago. of view, this is very exciting,” 2008 and agreed their son would edy for Rocco if any more of bear’s knee bone indicated it had The new date means there was Carden said. “This paper should live with the songstress. the precious and fast-receding been butchered by a human in human activity in Ireland in the generate a lot of discussion with- But since late last year Rocco days of his childhood were to be about 10,500BC - some 12,500 Stone Age or Palaeolithic period, in the zoological research world has been in London living with taken up by this dispute.” years ago and far earlier than the whereas previously, scientists and it’s time to start thinking Ritchie and in December ig- His appeal echoes that of previous date. only had evidence of humans in outside the box... or even dis- nored a New York court order Manhattan Supreme Court “This fi nd adds a new chapter Ireland in the later Mesolithic mantling it entirely!” to return to the US to stay with justice Deborah Kaplan, who to the human history of Ireland,” period. The National Museum of Ire- his mother. earlier this month also urged said Marion Dowd, an archae- “Archaeologists have been land noted that approximately Madonna, 57, issued le- both sides to work together to ologist at the Institute of Tech- searching for the Irish Palaeo- 2mn more specimens are held in gal proceedings in the British resolve the dispute. A hearing nology Sligo who made the dis- lithic since the 19th century, and its collections and could reveal capital last December but later in New York was set for June 1. covery along with Ruth Carden, now, fi nally, the fi rst piece of the more secrets. sought to withdraw them. Madonna wrapped up her a research associate with the Na- jigsaw has been revealed,” Dowd “All are available for research Jen Phillips, the widow of police constable David Phillips, At yesterday’s hearing - Rebel Heart world tour at the tional Museum of Ireland. said. and we never know what may wipes her face after making a statement outside Manchester which neither Madonna nor weekend with shows in Syd- The knee bone, which is Three experts further con- emerge,” said Nigel Monaghan, Crown Court following the end of the trial into her husband’s Ritchie attended - judge ney. Rocco had travelled with marked by cuts from a sharp tool, fi rmed that the cut marks on the keeper of the natural history di- death, yesterday. Clayton Williams, 19, was found guilty of the Alistair MacDonald granted the her for the tour’s initial stages, was one of thousands of bones bone had been made when the vision of the National Museum manslaughter of constable Phillips in Liverpool last October. singer permission to end the working backstage. He also fi rst found in 1903 in a cave in bone was fresh, confi rming they of Ireland. proceedings in Britain and ap- toured with the singer in 2012. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 21 BRITAIN/IRELAND

School principal, deputy ‘failed to save girl from sex assault’

London Evening Standard offi cers about serious allegations Standard successfully challenged An internal investigation and Sempers was arrested. next day they met in a hotel guarding log” had been created London that Kevin Sempers, a former legal orders preventing reporting found Sempers and the girl were Decathlete Sempers, who car park near Heathrow airport for Sempers. Commonwealth Games athlete, of the case. Facebook friends but he contin- competed at the 2010 Common- where Sempers assaulted the Quinn added: “I would have ex- messaged the girl inappropriately The failings came to light at ued to be employed and neither wealth Games in Delhi, pleaded girl, then 14, in the back seat pected a safeguarding log to have London school princi- on social media more than a year a National College for Teach- the police, local authority or the guilty at Isleworth crown court of his car. been created for the pupil rather pal and his deputy failed before the assault. ing and Leadership misconduct teenager’s parents were told, the to two counts of sexual activity Sentencing him, the judge than just the member of staff .” A to protect a 13-year-old The pair, who have since re- hearing for Lang and Barton last hearing heard. with a child and was jailed for 18 said he had “preyed” on the Sarah Turner, an external pupil who was groomed online signed, both admit failures over week. It was told Barton received It was told that the school months. girl. auditor who also reviewed the by a teaching assistant who adequately safeguarding the girl an anonymous call alleging Sem- was again informed more than He was said to have had con- Peter Quinn, an independent school’s safeguarding record, went on to sexually assault her and could now face bans from pers messaged the girl, then 13, a year later, by the same anony- tact lasting 18 months with education consultant who inves- said its policy had not been “fi t in the back of his car, the Stand- teaching. via Facebook. mous caller, that Sempers and the girl and after messaging tigated the school’s record, told for purpose” and it had failed ard revealed. A string of failures over the It heard the caller, the parent of the girl were exchanging text each other he suggested they the teachers’ misconduct hearing to contact social services. The Adam Lang, head of Uxbridge girl’s care in the run-up to Sem- another child at the school who messages on mobile phones and meet. They went to a car park there was no record of the teen- hearing heard Barton, the desig- High School, and vice-principal pers being jailed for sexual activ- was friends with the victim, also had met up. Two days later the in Ealing where they kissed ager ever being off ered support nated safeguarding offi cer for the Judith Barton failed to tell police ity with a child was revealed for told Barton that Sempers told the caller also phoned the local au- and touched each other. After or counselling or of her parents school, told Lang of the allega- or local authority safeguarding the fi rst time yesterday after the girl he “wished she were older”. thority, who called the police the pupil messaged him the being informed although a “safe- tions against Semper.

Theft-proof bike stand Four-year-old’s treehouse torn down over privacy fears

London Evening Standard person has the substantive right London to respect for their private and family life.” Her daughter, Miranda Lind- fi lm director is locked in say-Fynn, the director of a ven- an extraordinary battle ture capital fi rm, added: “It looks Awith neighbours over a straight into my bedroom win- treehouse in the back garden of dow on the fi rst fl oor, which is an her £5mn Notting Hill home — infringement on my privacy.” with one invoking the Human Dellal called on the expertise Rights Act in a bid to have it re- of a leading human rights law- moved. yer to counter the allegations as Jasmine Dellal, 48, the aunt of other neighbours rallied to her Agent Provocateur model Alice support. Dellal, says she did not realise One, professor Robin Choud- she needed planning permission hury, said: “All should be free, for the timber play area for her as far as possible, to enjoy their four-year-old son. homes and gardens with mutual The 14ft structure — a lad- respect and neighbourly consid- der, slide and climbing wall built eration. To invoke Article 8 of the around the garden shed — has di- Humans Rights Act 1998 object- vided the community. ing to a child’s play structure is Dellal’s supporters have ques- wholly disproportionate.” A designer has invented a bike stand he claims is more theft-proof than the ones in common use in London. Denis Quilligan’s steel dock ensures that both back and front tioned why Kensington and Another, Elizabeth Robson, wheels are gripped to make the bike harder to steal. Quilligan’s One Lock bikeDock works by the cyclist reversing their bike into the rear wheel holder and then locking the Chelsea’s planning offi cers have added: “I do not think the coun- front wheel to the other part of the stand. become involved in a spat over a cil should not be wasting time treehouse in a borough plagued and public funds with objections by developments and basement to a child’s treehouse that none excavations. of us can see from the street and that will allow children to have “To invoke Article 8 of fun outdoors. the Humans Rights Act “It makes me wonder why the 1998 objecting to a child’s planners are even involved with play structure is wholly something of this scale, when disproportionate” they are permitting plans to lit- erally surround me with massive Five killed after car In January Dellal’s retrospec- projects.” tive planning application was re- Dellal is recognised for her doc- fused and she was served with an umentary work aiming to change enforcement notice ordering her perceptions of Roma Gypsies. Her to scale it down or demolish it. father was entrepreneur Jack Del- One of the neighbours cam- lal, known as “Black Jack”, who paigning against the treehouse built up a reported £4bn fortune falls into sea in Ireland is Heleen Lindsay-Fynn, whose in the property markets before his husband Nigel is a retired banker. death in 2012. Agencies whose age remained undeter- the vehicle to rescue the two- Any of the people who could him,” Crawford said. “When he In a letter of objection to the She told the Standard that she London mined, the police said in a state- month-old girl, the newspaper do something were coming as came back he was totally ex- council, she said: “I would urge has now lowered the platform ment. said. quick as they could and got hausted. I think if he had an- you to consider your responsi- and removed the roof. She said: “At present Gardai (Irish po- Another eyewitness said he here in great time and knew other fi ve yards to go - I can’t see bilities under the Human Rights “It’s under two-and-a-half me- ive people died after a car lice) are treating this matter saw the driver of the car scream what to do. how he would have made it.” Act which states that a person tres now so doesn’t have to go fell into the sea from a pier as a tragic accident and it does for help. “But it was all too late. There Crawford believed the vehicle has the right to peaceful enjoy- to planning. My view is people Fin north-western Ireland’s not appear to be a ‘self-harm’ Francis Crawford was with his was nothing anybody could do. had only just entered the water ment of all their possessions should just speak to each other.” County Donegal, while a baby incident,” the statement said. wife in Buncrana in Co Donegal Everybody did what they could when he spotted it and shouted which includes the home and A Kensington and Chelsea girl was rescued by a bystander, “The car may have accidentally in the Irish Republic when the and it was too late.” to the driver. It is suspected the other land. council spokesman said: “A police said yesterday. slipped into the water.” tragedy unfolded on Sunday The dead are all believed to be driver tried to reverse at the edge “We believe that the pro- planning enforcement notice Emergency services mounted A witness told the Irish In- evening. from Derry city. of the slipway but the wheels posed development would have was served for the removal of a a search after the car was seen dependent the car appeared to “The man was still shout- Crawford said the man who failed to grip on thick algae. a dominating impact on us and large play structure in the gar- sliding off Buncrana Pier late have slipped into the water at ing to me when the car went swam out to the car was a hero The pier is used for a local fer- our right to the quiet enjoyment den. The notice has been com- on Sunday. They recovered the the end of a ramp used by sea- down. It was very sad,” he said. and risked his own life. ry service which runs across the of our property. Article 8 of the plied with to the satisfaction of bodies of a man and a woman, sonal ferries. “There was nothing I could do “How he got (the baby) ... they Swilly from Buncrana to Rath- Human Rights Act states that a the council.” two boys, and a fi fth person Another witness swam out to or nothing anybody could do. are saying it was handed out to mullan. Bermondsey Street locals Pleasing paparazzi Average house price upset at roadworks chaos passes £300,000 Agencies West - £292,251; the East of Eng- London land - £326,836; the South East - London Evening Standard struction work at London Bridge Celebrity chef Jose Pizarro, 44, £399,680; London - £644,045. London station. owner of Jose Tapas Bar and Piz- But, unlike previous months, Sarah Wyndham Lewis, who arro Restaurant, both in the street, he average asking price the engine of house-price growth runs a shop and bee-keeping who has appeared on Saturday for a house rose above was not London, but across the raders and residents in business in the street, said: “We Kitchen and Sunday Brunch, said: T£300,000 for the fi rst North and West of England, ac- fashionable Bermondsey have become used to traffi c jams “What the council is proposing time, according to the latest data cording to the property website. TStreet claim that a perfect and live under siege. Emergency would not just kill business but from Rightmove. Prices in London increased storm of roadworks, street clo- services struggle to get through. the sense of community. I moved Across England and Wales, by 11% from the year before, but sures and a new cycle route has Businesses are fi nding it ever to this area nine years ago because house prices have been push- were fl at from February. left them “under siege”. harder to get reliable deliveries I fell in love with it. Now you have ing the £300,000 mark for some Experts have pointed to a rise They say disruption already and heaven forbid you have a car. people coming out of their cars time, with new monthly records in stamp duty, which kicks in means it can take drivers 30 min- “Now Southwark is intent on screaming at each other.” being set regularly. from April, as fuelling a rush on utes to get down the historic one- pushing through the Quietway in The closure of Tower Bridge In February, the average asking house-buying in recent months. way street, a journey which used a way which local people believe for several months this year for price was £299,287, beating the Rightmove’s Miles Shipside to take three minutes. will fi nally bring this area to a repairs will compound the chaos, previous record of £296,549, set said: “On average, 30,000 prop- Businesses fear that road complete standstill.” opponents say. Southwark Lib- in October last year. erties have come to market each changes for a new cycle Quiet- Campaigners say a new one- Dem councillor Damian O’Brien Now, in March, the average week over the past month, up by way — a back street alternative to way traffi c system will funnel said: “There has been no joined- price tag for a house is £303,190, 3% on this time last year, but there busy main roads — will be the last more vehicles into Bermondsey up thinking applied to this. We up 7.6% from this time last year. are insuffi cient numbers of newly straw, crippling traffi c fl ow and Street. want the Cycleway, but not the House prices have jumped by listed properties in many parts of bringing the area to a standstill They say the scheme will trap way it is being imposed on us.” more than £100,000 over the the country to meet demand. when it is launched in October. traffi c, preventing it from turning Labour’s Darren Merrill, cabi- last 10 years: in 2006, the aver- “However, stronger growth in Critics accused Southwark off until it reaches Snowsfi elds and net member for environment and age was £200,980. average earnings would not have council of a lack of joined-up the partially closed Tooley Street. public realm, said: “We’re aware New records were also set helped the situation, as it would thinking and warned things will This will force vehicles to of the concerns raised by resi- for asking prices in six regions simply have enabled buyers to get worse when a large section travel the length of Bermondsey dents. The new Quietway route British actress Laura Carmichael poses for photographers at in March. In the North West it bid prices up even higher, chas- of nearby Tooley Street closes in Street, which has undergone a will help to address this by read- the Empire Awards in London yesterday. stood at £177,437; the West Mid- ing the limited supply of suitable April for two years for more con- renaissance in recent years. justing the road layout.” lands - £204,140; the South housing stock.” Gulf Times 22 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 EUROPE

CAUSE UNKNOWN JOBS CUT LARGE GAP NEW YEAR Man blows himself up at French strike forces many Small German elite has the Kurds mark Nowroz amid bakery in Serbian capital flights to be cancelled majority of the wealth anxiety over security

A man blew himself up yesterday in a bakery Up to a third of flights were cancelled yesterday The top 10% of Germans have almost 60% of Kurds across Turkey were celebrating Nowroz, the in the centre of the Serbian capital Belgrade, at French airports as air traff ic controllers the wealth, a study by the central bank revealed spring New Year holiday marked with bonfires, police said. “An unknown man was killed today entered a second day of strikes. Low-cost airline yesterday, laying bare a wide gap between the but attendance at rallies yesterday was down at around 12.38pm on Ilije Garasanina street Ryanair deplored what it said was the 41st strike richest and the poorest in Europe’s biggest compared to last year, amid security concerns. after he activated an explosive device in a by French air traff ic controllers since 2009. economy. The Bundesbank identified rising Diyarbakir, the main city in the mostly Kurdish cake shop,” a police statement said. “Interior Around 140 passengers spent the night in Paris’s property prices as driving wealth for those who south-east of Turkey, was seeing a heavy security ministry off icials are probing all the facts and Orly airport where half of flights were cancelled own it, while those who rent, as many Germans presence at a large planned event. In addition to circumstances of the event.” The website of daily on the first day of strikes on Sunday. Authorities do, were falling behind. Households who own police, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party newspaper Kurir said the man went into the yesterday asked airlines to cut a third of flights their home saw wealth jump by more than (HDP) deployed its own staff to safeguard the bakery, “forced everyone out of it, lay down on at Orly and Marseille airports, and 20% at Lyon, 33,500 euros ($37,800) in the four years to 2014, event. The authorities have banned some Nowroz the bomb and blew himself up”. Police sealed off Nice and Beauvais near Paris. The striking union, while those who rent saw theirs rise by just 1,000 events and arrested people aff iliated with the the street after the incident at the bakery, which which represents around a fifth of air traff ic euros or less. The Bundesbank found that the HDP. Last year, some 1mn people had gathered A woman takes a selfie as Turkish Kurds lies a few hundred metres from an open market, controllers, is campaigning against job cuts and bottom half of the population had to make do in the city. This year the number was far lower, gathered yesterday for Nowroz celebrations in a high school and a sports centre. the lack of investment in new technology. with just 2.5% of the country’s overall wealth. perhaps in the tens of thousands. Diyarbakir. Turkey battling ‘terrorist wave’

Reuters east, where it sees an upsurge in Istanbul violence since July as fuelled by the territorial gains of a Kurdish militia in Syria. resident Tayyip Erdogan Israeli Defence Minister said yesterday Turkey Yaalon said the roots of the vio- Pwould use all its military lence lay in radical Islam he said and intelligence might to battle was “fl ooding the world”. “one of the biggest and bloodiest “What must be ensured is that terrorist waves in its history”, af- terrorism is not initiated, like the ter a suicide bomber killed three way Hamas initiates terrorism Israelis and an Iranian in Istan- against us, from Turkey, from bul. Istanbul,” he said in a speech, in Israeli Defence Minister a swipe at Ankara’s support for Moshe Yaalon described Turkey the Palestinian Islamist militant as “awash in terrorism”. group, which Israel sees an ob- Turkey’s main opposition par- stacle to repairing bilateral ties. ty blamed what it called the gov- Government offi cials deny ernment’s “adventure-seeking suggestions that Turkey, long policies” in the Middle East for seen by Washington as a model turmoil washing across Syria’s for Islamic democracy but now borders. facing Western criticism over its Saturday’s attack on Istiklal human rights policies, is not fo- Street, a long pedestrian avenue cused on fi ghting Islamic State. lined with international stores But the main opposition Re- and foreign consulates, was the publican People’s Party (CHP), fourth suicide bombing in Tur- which has criticised what it sees key this year. as a pro-Sunni sectarian med- Two in Istanbul have been dling in Syria, blamed Turkish blamed on Islamic State, while foreign policy. the two others in the capital An- “What we are going through kara have been claimed by Kurd- now is the result of the (ruling) ish militants. AK Party’s unstable, contradic- A suspect (white sweatshirt on the right) attempts to flee outside an apartment building in Molenbeek, near Brussels in this still image taken from video shot on March 18, 2016. The attacks have raised ques- tory, utopian, adventure-seeking tions at home and among Nato policies in the Middle East,” CHP allies as to whether its security group deputy chairman Engin services are overstretched as Altay told a press conference in they fi ght on two fronts. parliament. “Turkey has recently been fac- At least half a dozen news- ing one of the biggest and blood- papers from across the politi- iest terrorist waves in its history cal spectrum yesterday carried ... Our state is fi ghting terrorist head-and-shoulders pictures organisations and the forces be- of three more suspected Islamic DNA identifi es Paris hind them with everything at its State members, saying they had disposal - its soldiers, police, vil- been instructed to carry out fur- lage guards and its intelligence,” ther attacks in crowded areas. Erdogan said in a speech in Is- “All provincial police units tanbul. have taken action to try to cap- But his critics, including pri- ture the three terrorists sus- vately some of Turkey’s allies, pected of being Islamic State argue that Erdogan’s focus on members planning sensational attacks accomplice battling Kurdistan Workers Party attacks,” the state-run Anadolu (PKK) militants in the largely news agency said. AFP wounded in the leg, will give new leads on nders said on Sunday that Abdeslam tigators, they just have to continue along Kurdish southeast - a campaign Interior Minister Efkan Ala on Brussels the attacks claimed by the Islamic State - who has been charged with “terror- this path,” he said. he has repeatedly vowed will Sunday identifi ed the Istanbul militant group. ist murder” and belonging to a terrorist Two more suspects are wanted over the continue - comes at the expense bomber as Mehmet Ozturk, born Abdeslam, the last known survivor of group - had already told investigators he Paris attacks: Mohamed Abrini, who be- of its fi ght against Islamic State. in 1992 and from the southern elgian prosecutors said yesterday the group that carried out the attacks, was planning some sort of new attack in came friends with Abdeslam when they Erdogan said the PKK and province of Gaziantep near the they had discovered the real iden- was found just around the corner from his Brussels. were teenagers, and Laachraoui. other groups were working with Syrian border. Five people had Btity of an accomplice in the Paris family home in the gritty Brussels neigh- “That may be the reality because we Prosecutors said Laachraoui’s DNA Islamic State and had turned on been detained in connection attacks, as they met with French coun- bourhood of Molenbeek, where several have found a lot of weapons, heavy weap- had been found at an apartment used by Turkey because they had failed to with the blast. terparts to discuss the probe into Novem- other of the attackers hailed from. ons, in the fi rst investigations and we the Paris attackers that he rented under achieve their aims elsewhere in Israel has confi rmed that three ber’s carnage. Belgium has faced heavy criticism for have found a new network around him in a false name in Auvelais, near the central the region. of its citizens died. Two held dual The accomplice was named as Najim failing to keep tabs on Islamic radicals Brussels,” Reynders told a panel discus- Belgian city of Namur, and at another He accused Europe of “two- citizenship with the US. An Ira- Laachraoui, 24 - previously known by the there. sion in Brussels. suspected hideout in Schaarbeek, a dis- faced behaviour” for allowing nian was also killed, Turkish of- false name Soufi ane Kayal which he used The investigation is now widening, and But Abdeslam’s lawyer Sven Mary trict of Brussels. PKK sympathisers to set up a fi cials have said. to travel to Hungary in September with Hollande has said that the network in- said his client would fi ght extradition to He used the same false name at the tent near an EU-Turkey summit Israeli Prime Minister Ben- Saleh Abdeslam, the key suspect who was volved in the Paris attacks was much big- France and has vowed to take legal ac- border between Austria and Hungary on in Brussels last week. jamin Netanyahu has said Israel fi nally arrested in a dramatic raid on Fri- ger than previously thought. tion against the French prosecutor for his September 9 when he was travelling with Turkey has seen phases of civil is trying to determine whether day. French prosecutor Francois Molins met comments. Abdeslam and Mohamed Belkaid. disorder, a military coup in 1960, its citizens were deliberately tar- Laachraoui, who also travelled to Syria his Belgian counterpart Frederic Frederic He also blasted what he called po- Belkaid, a 35-year-old Algerian, was and left-right street clashes in geted. Eleven of the 36 wounded in February 2013, is still on the run. Van Leeuw, the federal prosecutors’ offi ce litical meddling by the Belgian foreign shot dead Tuesday in a police raid in the the 1970s and 1980s that trig- were Israelis. French President Francois Hollande, said. minister. Forest district of Brussels. gered two further army interven- Turkey’s Haberturk newspa- who has said he wants Abdeslam extra- Molins said at the weekend that Ab- “They don’t learn, these politicians, Abdeslam meanwhile spent his second tions. The Kurdish confl ict has per said police had been exam- dited as quickly as possible, was to hold deslam played a “central role” in the at- and realise that there’s a separation of night in solitary confi nement in the high- also caused widespread blood- ining CCTV footage and that it his fi rst formal meeting with relatives of tacks and originally planned to “blow powers. This chatter has to stop. The in- security prison in Bruges, the historic shed, but rarely has a Turkish appeared the suicide bomber the 130 Paris victims late yesterday. himself up” at the Stade de France sta- vestigators and prosecutors - and I don’t medieval tourist town about an hour’s government faced such serious had followed the group of Is- “The president, in light of recent dium but changed his mind. often say this - have done an excellent drive north of Brussels. domestic confl icts simultane- raeli tourists for several kilo- events, will update them on what is “These fi rst statements, which should job,” Sven Mary was quoted as saying in The prison also holds Mehdi Nem- ously. metres from their hotel, then happening,” the presidential palace be taken cautiously, leave a whole series yesterday’s De Morgen daily. mouche who killed four people in an at- Turkey is part of a US-led waiting outside the restaurant said. of issues that Salah Abdeslam must ex- “If the politicians want to nullify all of tack on the Jewish Museum in central coalition against Islamic State in where they ate breakfast be- Investigators hope Abdeslam’s arrest plain,” he added. this and violate the tenuous bond of trust Brussels in 2014 and who was extradited Syria and Iraq, but is also fi ght- fore blowing himself up as they in Brussels on Friday, in which he was Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Rey- that exists between my client and inves- from France back to Belgium to face trial. ing PKK separatists in its south- emerged. Spain probes bus crash that killed 13 foreign students

AFP Seven Italians, two Germans, a of Valencia, which is known for the The mayor of Fraginals, Jose Ronce- Barcelona Romanian, a Frenchwoman, an Aus- burning of giant statues. ro Pallares, said the stretch of motor- trian and a student from Uzbekistan Jane said investigators were looking way is known as an accident blacks- - all women aged between 19 and 25 - into both human error and technical pot. panish investigators yesterday were killed, Jordi Jane, who heads up problems as possible causes. “I don’t know why, the highway looks sought to establish the cause of a interior matters for Catalonia, told a According to the coach’s tachograph fi ne and it’s a straight line,” he told AFP. Sweekend coach crash that killed news conference in the town of Tor- - the device which records the vehicle’s “It rained a lot that night and maybe 13 female students from six countries, tosa, headquarters of the rescue op- speed and distance as well as the driv- that played a role.” most of them Italians, as they were re- eration. er’s activities - the driver had taken the The remaining passengers who es- turning from a festival. “Some of them were not wearing seat necessary rest time. caped unhurt left Tortosa during the The vehicle was carrying students belts,” he said. Earlier, he told Spanish “But the question is whether during night. from about 20 countries, many of them radio the victims were “crushed be- this rest period, the driver had rested Some 1,500 students from across on the European Erasmus exchange tween the coach and the road”. suffi ciently,” he said. Spain, including around 275 from Bar- programme in Barcelona, the seaside He said 34 people were injured, but The driver, who is in his sixties, is in celona University, travelled to Valencia capital of Spain’s northeastern Catalo- declined to indicate the seriousness of intensive care being treated for chest for Las Fallas festival, a source at the nia region, regional authorities said. their injuries. injuries, Jane said. university said. The driver lost control of the coach Six of the victims’ families arrived He had been due to appear before a Many of those on board the four which crossed the central reservation yesterday in Tortosa, Jane added. judge yesterday, but the hearing has been other coaches reached their destination and crashed into an oncoming car near The coach was one of fi ve buses trav- postponed, a legal source told AFP. The without even knowing about the acci- the Catalonian town of Freginals just elling in convoy from the traditional driver refused to speak to police on Sun- dent - one of the deadliest in Spain in A woman puts a candle at the mourning hall for victims of Sunday’s fatal bus before 6am on Sunday. “Las Fallas” festival in the eastern city day on the advice of his lawyer, Jane said. recent years. accident, at the University of Barcelona. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 23 EUROPE Refugee crisis: Greece Ukraine pilot likely to be asks for logistics aid deemed guilty Reuters Lesbos, Greece

reece yesterday appealed to its in Russia trial EU partners for logistical help to Gimplement a deal with Turkey AFP Petro Poroshenko has pledged to aimed at stemming the fl ow of migrants Donetsk do “everything possible” to bring and refugees into Europe as people, many Savchenko back home and mooted a unaware of the tough new rules, contin- prisoner swap to free her. ued to come ashore on the Greek islands. Russian court yesterday be- Kiev is holding two men it says Economically battered Greece, for gan delivering its verdict were Russian soldiers serving in months at the epicentre of Europe’s Ain the high-profi le murder the east of the country, who could biggest migrant crisis since World War trial of Ukrainian helicopter pilot provide Poroshenko with a possible II, is struggling to mount the massive Nadiya Savchenko, which Kiev and bargaining chip. logistics operation needed to proc- the West have slammed as a politi- But Moscow is also thought to ess asylum applications from the many cal sham. have at least 10 other Ukrainians hundreds of migrants still arriving daily Prosecutors are demanding a 23- behind bars - including high-pro- along its porous shoreline. year jail term for Savchenko’s al- fi le detainees like fi lm director Oleg Turkish offi cials arrived yesterday on leged involvement in the killing of Sentsov - and the Kremlin has given the Greek island of Lesbos to help imple- two Russian state TV journalists in little hint it is ready to play ball. ment the deal, which requires new arriv- war-torn eastern Ukraine in 2014. Savchenko has struck a defi ant als from March 20 to be held until their Few doubt that the 34-year-old fi gure throughout the long months asylum applications are processed and combat helicopter navigator will of her detention, which saw her sent for those deemed ineligible to be sent be found guilty, and Kiev is already to a psychiatric hospital near Mos- back to Turkey from April 4 onwards. pushing for a prisoner swap. cow before being transferred close “We must move very swiftly and in a The judge began by reading the to the Ukraine border for her trial in coordinated manner over the next few prosecution indictment which con- the town of Donetsk. days to get the best possible result,” tained allegations that Savchenko She has repeatedly gone on hun- Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras acted as a “spotter” in the fatal ger strike to protest her conditions said after meeting EU Migration Com- shelling of journalists Igor Kornely- - fasting for more than 80 days at missioner Dimitris Avramopoulos in uk and Anton Voloshin in June 2014, one point and going almost a week Athens. “Assistance in human resources just two months after the start of the without food and water at another. must come quickly.” A girl carries her brother in a cardboard box at a makeshift camp at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni. pro-Kremlin uprising in Ukraine’s Usually dressed in a traditional Under the EU-Turkey roadmap industrial east. Ukrainian blouse or pro-Kiev T- agreed last Friday a co-ordination Just after 4.30am yesterday, one arrivals are being registered and their held in centres pending the outcome of At the time, she was serving in a shirt, Savchenko has ridiculed the structure must be created by March 25 coastguard vessel rescued 54 refugees asylum applications processed. their asylum applications. volunteer pro-Kiev battalion fi ght- court from the glass defendant’s and some 4,000 personnel - more than and migrants from the open sea and “We are very tired. I want to go to my Under the deal, for every Syrian re- ing the insurgents. cage and fl ashed her middle fi nger at half from other European Union mem- brought them to the port, some of the family in Sweden,” said Ahmet Bayrak- turned to Turkey, another would be re- An AFP correspondent was the judges as the trial ended. ber states - deployed to the islands by 698 arrivals counted in Lesbos. tar, a 32-year-old unemployed account- settled from Turkey to the EU, a process barred from the courtroom in the “All I can do is to show by exam- next week. They staggered down the ramp, ant from Aleppo, Syria. “We’ll try, God which has already triggered alarm from southern Russian town of Donetsk ple that Russia, with its overbearing However, yesterday, the day after the women and children fi rst, one elderly willing.” human rights groups for being discrim- and early reports from Russian news state and totalitarian regime, can be formal start of an agreement intended man bundled up in blankets. Like others, he was unaware of the inatory, a violation of international law agencies wrongly said Savchenko crushed if you are not afraid or bro- to close off the main route through “Where are we going?” asked one new EU-Turkey accord. and one which could be challenged in had been found guilty. ken,” Savchenko said in her closing which a million refugees and migrants Syrian woman who was travelling with “We don’t know about this,” Bayrak- court. The reading of the verdict is set to statement on March 9. arrived in Europe last year, authorities her husband and daughter. tar said. “We’re coming directly from The fate of those migrants and refu- last through today. Ties between Moscow and Kiev said 1,662 people had arrived on Greek The arrivals were directed to a coast- Syria. Everybody wants to go to the bor- gees stranded in Greece before the ac- “You heard the fi rst introductory are already in tatters over the 2014 islands by 7am (0500 GMT), twice the guard bus that would drive them to the der. We don’t have the news, we don’t cord was brokered, estimated at nearly and explanatory parts, some me- seizure of Crimea and the subse- offi cial count of the day before. Moria “hot spot”, a centre where new have electricity, we don’t have any- 47,000 people, remains unclear. dia hurried with the guilty verdict,” quent separatist insurgency in the thing.” Hundreds of migrants travelling from Savchenko’s lawyer Mark Feigin told east. Iraqi in decapitated head post guilty of war crime Two hours later, just as the run rose the islands to the Greek mainland con- journalists during a break in pro- A complex political process to above the Aegean Sea, the same coast- tinued to disembark yesterday at the ceedings. end the confl ict in eastern Ukraine An Iraqi migrant to Finland has been a war crime. Prosecutor Juha-Mikko guard vessel pulled another 44 people port of Pireaus near Athens. “It will be guilty of course, you has stalled as Kiev and Moscow ac- found guilty of committing a war crime Hamalainen said his conduct was defined from the water, many of them escaping They appeared free to leave because need not doubt that, there is no cuse each other of failing to live up after he posted images of himself on as “a war crime” by the International confl ict in Congo and Sierra Leone. One they had landed in Greece before March doubt and there will be a long sen- to promises made in a peace deal Facebook with the head of an Islamic Criminal Court. He had sought a two-year woman cradled a baby just a few months 20, eyewitnesses said. tence.” signed over a year ago. State group fighter. prison sentence. old. Some migrants said they would try Russian state television, however, Russia has meanwhile thrust its Jebbar Salman Ammar, 29, was given Jebbar Salman Ammar arrived in They walked silently to the bus for to reach Idomeni, a northern Greek continued reporting a guilty verdict way back to the centre of the in- a 16-month suspended sentence by the Finland about six months ago as part of Moria, a sprawling, gated complex of frontier outpost where some 12,000 against Savchenko, who has become ternational diplomacy with its air Pirkanmaa district court. Europe’s huge migrant influx. prefabricated containers and hard tents. refugees remain stranded in squalid a national hero at home and been campaign in Syria, prompting some The court found he had desecrated Finland, a country of 5.4mn people, re- Before Friday’s deal, migrants and conditions hoping that Macedonia will elected to parliament in absentia. in Kiev to fear the West might ease the corpse of a fighter by posting three ceived some 32,000 mostly Iraqi asylum refugees had been free to wander out reopen the border and let them pass on. She insists she was kidnapped by the pressure over Ukraine. images on Facebook of himself with the seekers last year, as Europe experienced it of the camp and head to ferries to the “I will try to go to the border with pro-Moscow separatists in eastern A guilty verdict and harsh sen- head of the fighter in the Iraqi city of Tikrit. biggest migrant crisis since World War II. Greek mainland, from where they Macedonia within the next 10 days even Ukraine before the journalists were tence for Savchenko could refocus He admitted to publishing the pictures A similar case of another Iraqi man is would mostly head north through the if it’s closed. Maybe I will have to come killed and then illegally smuggled Western attention, however, and and to having fought against the Islamic to be heard in another Finnish court next Balkans towards wealthier western Eu- back here, maybe not, but anyway it’s over the border into Russia before Kiev is pushing for sanctions on State group, but he denied committing week. rope, especially Germany. better than Syria,” said Hozefa Hasdibo, being slapped with false charges. some 40 people it says are “directly Now, new arrivals are supposed to be 23, from Idlib in Syria. Ukraine’s pro-Western President involved” in Savchenko’s case.

Air base tour Putin ratings high, but trust is waning

Reuters Moscow

ladimir Putin’s trust rating among ordinary Russians has fallen by 10% in the past year Veven though the numbers who want to see him re-elected as president have grown, two opin- ion polls showed yesterday. According to one poll, by the independent Le- vada Center, 73% of voters said they trusted Putin, down from 83% in the same polling series a year before, while 19% said they did not trust him, up from 14%. The pollster did not off er an explanation for the apparent slip in Putin’s trust rating, which remains stratospheric by Western standards. He has capitalised on confl icts in Ukraine and Syria to boost his popularity and his message that Russia is again a force to be reckoned with on the world stage has gone down well with voters. However, the Russian economy is in a sharp slowdown, made worse by Western sanctions im- posed on Russia over the Ukraine confl ict, and mil- lions of Russians have seen their household income fall in real terms. Liberal opposition politicians say any poling data German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks to soldiers as she tours a German Luftwaff e airbase in Noervenich near Cologne. concerning Putin is unfairly boosted by the fact that state TV, where most Russians get their news, aff ords Putin blanket and favourable coverage while largely ignoring them. Putin is widely expected to contest the next presidential election in 2018. If he won, it would be his fourth term as president. Russia may amend civil aviation rules after deadly Flydubai crash Another Levada poll, conducted last month, suggested more Russians were ready to re-elect Putin now than a year ago, despite his falling trust Reuters recreate the conversations of the issues, then they should be analysed - was badly damaged and needs to to land in what were reported to be rating. Moscow pilots in the moments before their and, at the conclusion of that analy- be restored. That process could take fi ercely strong winds and did not di- That poll said 65% of Russians said they wanted Boeing 737-800 slammed into the sis, proposals should be made to the weeks, offi cials have said. There is vert to a nearby airport. to see Putin re-elected as president, up from 57% in ground. government so that some amend- so far no suggestion of terrorism. An Aerofl ot plane had earlier the same polling series the year before. ussian Prime Minister Dmitry The plane, operated by Dubai- ments can be made to technical Russian media say the two main made several aborted landing at- A survey by a state-run pollster earlier this Medvedev yesterday ordered based budget carrier Flydubai, equipment, if that’s needed, or to theories under consideration by in- tempts and been diverted. month gave him sharply higher numbers, suggest- Roffi cials to examine whether crashed in the early hours of Sat- the rules that exist in our country’s vestigators are possible pilot error Investigators are likely to focus, ing that public support for Putin to serve another Russia’s fl ight safety rules need to urday at Rostov-on-Don airport in aviation,” he said, without elaborat- or a technical failure. among other issues, on how the term as president had hit its highest level in four be tightened up after a passenger jet southern Russia in strong, gusting ing. Flydubai’s CEO Ghaith al-Ghaith decision to land was reached, why years. crashed in southern Russia killing all winds on its second attempt to land. The stricken plane’s fl ight data said on Saturday it was too early to the plane circled above the airport The fi rst Levada poll was conducted from March 62 people on board. Medvedev told the government recorder survived largely intact, but determine why the plane, which was in a holding pattern for over two 11-14 and surveyed 1,600 Russians across the Investigators were trying to repair to analyse the reasons behind the the cockpit voice recorder - which just over fi ve years old, crashed. hours, and on the precise thinking country. The second poll was carried out from Feb. the damaged voice recorder recov- crash. should shed light on the pilots’ fi - One of the big unanswered ques- of the pilots and the airport’s land- 19-24 with the same number of voters. ered from the plane, so they could “If there are some technological nal conversations before the crash tions is why the plane attempted ing tower. Gulf Times 24 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 INDIA

WILDLIFE PROTEST AVIATION MISSION WEATHER Rampaging elephants Five jewellers held for Jet to start flights to its Disabled cyclist launches Highway reopened kill five in W Bengal self-immolation threat new European gateway crowd-funding site for one-way traff ic

Five people have been killed by wild elephants Five jewellers who attempted to set themselves Jet Airways yesterday announced the launch of Disabled cyclist Jagwinder Singh yesterday The strategic Jammu-Srinagar national highway that went on the rampage, triggering panic in a afire over the government’s imposition of excise daily non-stop flights from New Delhi and Mumbai launched a crowd-funding campaign to collect was reopened yesterday for one-way traff ic village in West Bengal, an off icial said yesterday. duty were arrested in Ghaziabad yesterday, to its new European gateway of Amsterdam, money to participate in Paralympics events. after remaining closed for four days. “One-way Another man was critically injured by the four police said. Police were deployed in high starting from March 27. According to the company, Singh, hailing from a small village near Patiala traff ic will be allowed on the national highway,” a elephants, which entered Bhatar village on Sunday numbers at the jewellery market at Chopla in the new flights to Amsterdam - Airport Schiphol in Punjab, does not have arms and uses his senior traff ic department off icial said. “Traff ic will morning after apparently straying from their Ghaziabad town. When the jewellers, who had will enhance connectivity between India, feet to do his daily chores. Yet, he nurtures a be allowed from Jammu to Srinagar. Only light herd. West Bengal Forest Minister Benoy Krishna earlier announced they will set themselves on Europe and North America. The move assumes dream of winning at the Paralympics cycling vehicles will be allowed to move on the highway.” Burman said the victims were trampled after fire if their demands were not met, reached the significance as the airline will shift its European championship and has launched the crowd- Incessant rains in the region’s Ramban district angering the elephants by throwing stones to try site and the police immediately detained them. hub from Brussels to Amsterdam. The airline also funding campaign on DesiredWings.com. had triggered landslides forcing the closure of the to scare them off . The male elephant died when Meanwhile, jewellers’ organisation Swarnkar operates out of Abu Dhabi in partnership with Singh won the state gold medal in Paracycling over 300km-long road. As weather showed signs it was hit by a tranquilliser dart fired by forestry Sangh general secretary Ravi Verma said Etihad Airways. “We are delighted to announce the organised by the Chandigarh Association in of improvement on Sunday evening, landslides off icials summoned to help, and the other three - a jewellers throughout the country would not launch of our new daily services to Amsterdam. 2014. He bagged bronze in the International were cleared at Sher Bibi, Panthal, Nasri and other female and two calves - ran away, Burman said. celebrate Holi, and would burn an eff igy of the This is a significant step for Jet Airways and Cyclothon held in Odisha in 2015. He completed places to make the highway traff ic worthy. Due Wildlife experts say encounters between humans central government on that day. The jewellers demonstrates our continuous endeavour to the 212km cyclothon in 9 hours and 15 minutes, to the four-day-long closure, mutton, poultry and elephants are increasing in India’s rural areas downed their shutters on March 2, and have provide greater choice and better connections for organised by the Green Biker Association, products and vegetables have are in short supply due to the destruction of the animals’ habitat. been observing a strike since that day. our guests,” Jet Airways said in a statement. Patiala, in 2014. in the Kashmir Valley.

PM to meet bankers, No moves to insurers on crop scheme scrap quota IANS New Delhi

rime Minister Narendra Modi will meet senior offi - system for Pcials of all banks and insur- ance companies in Mumbai today to discuss the implementation of the government’s crop insurance scheme, an offi cial source said yesterday. The fi nance ministry source Dalits: PM said Finance Minister Arun Jait- Lies are spread against BJP on came to power nationally and in “These all are his ideas; only ley will also attend the meeting at reservations, says Modi various states, eff orts were made some people in between sabo- the National Bank for Agriculture to uphold the teachings and val- taged these works,” he said, in a and Rural Development offi ce IANS ues Ambedkar. veiled criticism of the Congress. along with offi cials of the finance New Delhi “There are misgivings against He lamented that even after 60 and agriculture ministries. us. But the truth is we in the BJP years some villages in India re- The meeting will discuss ways have always had utmost respect main in darkness. to bring more farmers under the rime Minister Narendra for Ambedkar,” Modi said. “Babasaheb was the voice of ‘Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yo- Modi yesterday tried to “If Martin Luther King Jr is seen the marginalised,” the prime min- jana’ (PMFBY) in a bid to realise Pbring an end to the de- as an image of fi ght against injus- ister said, adding that the found- the target of 50% insurance cov- bate on reservations for the un- tice, B R Ambedkar should also ing father of the Indian Constitu- erage. Of the farm credit target of derprivileged, saying lies are not be seen as second to anyone,” tion should not be seen as a leader Rs8.5 lakh crore set for this fi scal spread over the issue whenever he said, adding that Ambedkar of any caste. year, only Rs75,000 crore is under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was the “Vishwa Manav (world “Rather he was a protector of crop insurance. comes to power. leader)”. all human values.. We should not Currently, only around 25% of “Those who did not do any- The BJP and the Modi govern- limit him to our borders.” the country’s total crop area is thing for 60 years often spread ment have been under attack over “To call Ambedkar the messiah covered by insurance. Drought lies. I remember it well when Va- controversies over the death of only of the Dalits is a great injus- and unseasonal rains last year jpayeeji became prime minister Dalit student Rohith Vemula in tice to him. He raised his voice forced state governments to seek they started saying reservation Hyderabad University and the re- against any and all injustice,” over Rs10,100 crore from the Na- would go. He was prime minister ported “pressure” from the Rash- Modi said. tional Disaster Response Fund. for two terms. Nothing of that triya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Modi said farmers’ welfare fi g- Under the new crop insurance sort happened, but lies were still to dilute the existing reservation ured prominently in Ambedkar’s scheme to be implemented from spread,” Modi said at the foun- policy. economic philosophy. April 1 for kharif crops to be sown dation laying ceremony of B R At the end of the two-day na- “In order to realise one of his from June and available to farm- Ambedkar National Memorial tional executive meeting on Sun- dreams, I will launch a technology ers, the premium is a low 2% of here. day, the BJP central leadership on April 14 that will help enable sum insured for all kharif crops He reiterated that the govern- charted out a detailed roadmap to farmers get updated informa- and 1.5% for all rabi crops. ment had no plans to abolish res- reach out to the Dalits. tion about market rates of agro For annual commercial and ervation policy for the Dalits. The thrust of Ambedkar’s products,” the prime minister an- horticultural crops, farmers will In Madhya Pradesh and Gu- teachings for the people was nounced. have to pay a premium of 5%. The jarat, where the BJP has been in to educate themselves because In Patna, former Bihar chief remaining premium share, as was power for many years, “nothing “education followed by getting minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, whose the case with previous schemes, has ever happened to the reserva- the people organised” can lead a Hindustani Awam Morcha is a will be borne equally by the cen- tions for Dalits and tribals,” but community on the road to success constituent of the BJP-led Na- tral and state governments. lies were still spread to mislead and prosperity, Modi said. tional Democratic Alliance, called Addressing farmers at the Kri- the people, Modi said. “The struggle as emphasised for reviewing the reservation shi Unnati Mela here on Satur- These misinformation cam- by Ambedkar’s teachings can only policy. day, Modi explained the benefi ts paigns were carried out by peo- come after these,” he said. “I strongly feel that reservation of PMFBY and said it had been ple who only want to do politics The prime minister said his policy must be reviewed because evolved after wide-ranging con- on the issue of reservations, the government was trying to realise in lack of such a review, those sultations. prime minister said. Ambedkar’s dreams by providing who actually require the reserva- The 2016-17 budget has in- Modi paid glowing tributes to electricity in 18,000 villages in a tion are not being benefi ted,” said creased the allocation for agri- Babasaheb B R Ambedkar, com- fi xed time frame. Manjhi. culture, irrigation and rural infra- paring him with American civil “When in these villages you He said the real situation could structure in order to help farmers rights activist Martin Luther King get power supply, do not give not be assessed because the re- cope with the impact of two suc- Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays floral tributes at the portrait of B R Ambedkar at the foundation Jr. He said it has been proven time credit to Modi. Give credit to view of reservation policy has not cessive years of poor rainfall. stone laying ceremony of the Dr B R Ambedkar National Memorial in New Delhi yesterday. and again that whenever the BJP Ambedkar.” been done.

IT Day Tharoor under attack for DRDO develops radar that can remarks on Bhagat Singh look through walls IANS BJP MP and Bollywood actor I meant he was a young man in his New Delhi Paresh Rawal tweeted: “At the 20s with Marxist ideas and be- IANS number of people and other im- cost of repeating myself, I must liefs, who had a great passion for New Delhi portant information about the say @shashiTharoor IQ is lower his country. Kanhaiya has those situation on the other side of the he Congress Party yester- than his shoe size!” same qualities. That’s all; there is barrier. day said there was only one Following a furore over his nothing more to that,” the Con- n what can prove to be a great “In a hostage situation, the ra- TShaheed Bhagat Singh and comment, Tharoor clarifi ed that gress leader said. aid for security forces in deal- dar can help give an idea about the he was irreplaceable. what he meant was the two men “Obviously, their circumstances Iing with hostage situations, number of people inside the room The party’s response came after had certain qualities in common, were diff erent. Bhagat Singh was the government-run Defence and their movement,” the scien- senior leader Shashi Tharoor trig- “a fact which the BJP will never fi ghting the colonial rule and for- Research and Development Or- tists said. gered a controversy on Sunday by understand”. eign oppression whereas Kanhaiya ganisation’s has developed a radar According to experts, the na- drawing a parallel between the “Those who have read Bhagat is fi ghting for his beliefs in a very that can look through a wall. ture of movements can help in freedom fi ghter and Jawaharlal Singh’s writings will know ex- diff erent democracy,” he added. The radar, named ‘Divyach- locating the terrorists and diff er- Nehru University student leader actly what I am talking about. Tharoor made the comments akshu’ (divine eye), has been de- entiating them from the hostage. Kanhaiya Kumar. Bhagat Singh would never have while giving a lecture on ‘JNU veloped by DRDO’s Electronics The development of the ra- “I don’t know what Tharoor supported the BJP because he was and Nationalism’ outside the ad- & Radar Development Establish- dar was triggered by the Mumbai said but no one can replace Bhagat a committed atheist and a fan of ministrative hall of the JNU which ment (LRDE) based in Bengaluru terror attack of November 2008, Singh, especially the boys of this (Russian communist revolution- has been the centre of protests and is going through develop- where terrorists took hostages at generation. Only one Bhagat ary) Lenin. So, I don’t think the ever since sedition charges were ment trials now. several locations, including the Singh can be born in this country, BJP should have many ideas about slapped on Kanhaiya Kumar and It can look through walls of 20- Taj Mahal and Oberoi Trident ho- and he is irreplaceable,” Congress Bhagat Singh. Perhaps they got two other students over an event 30cm thickness made of any ma- tels and Nariman House. leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told re- them from Bollywood movies!” held where anti-national slogans terial by using thermal imaging. The device will also prove use- porters here. Tharoor told reporters. were allegedly raised. “The radar can produce images ful in situations such as the re- The Bharatiya Janata Party Tharoor asserted that the situa- In his speech Tharoor said from the other side of the barrier cent attacks in Gurdaspur, Pun- criticised Tharoor for his remarks. tions were completely diff erent for people should have the right to up to a distance of 20m. It catches jab, where terrorists entered the “If Kanhaiya is Bhagat Singh, both the martyr and Kanhaiya Ku- choose what they believe is cor- the thermal signatures and move- Dina Nagar police station, or the what are Sonia and Rahul Gan- mar, and the only parallel between rect and still be tolerant of other’s ments in a room can be clearly Pathankot airbase and two of the dhi?” BJP spokesman Shahnawaz the two was that they were young ideas in a democracy. seen,” a scientist working on the terrorists went on to hide in a Hussain said, adding “the way the men in their 20s with Marxist ide- “Today nationalism is decided project said. building. Congress is making anti-national als and passionate commitment to by whether or not one can say Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje tries out a The radar tracks heat on the The project was started in 2010 slogans, even Mahatma Gandhi their respective countries. ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’. I am happy to virtual reality headset during the Rajasthan IT Day 2016 at other side of the wall and gives and the development trials are and Jawaharlal Nehru will be up- “When I said that Bhagat Singh say it, but should I also oblige eve- Birla Auditorium in Jaipur yesterday. real time thermal image, which expected to conclude by the year set”. was a Kanhaiya Kumar of his time, ryone to say it? can disclose the movement, the end. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 25 INDIA Former Doha resident wins Lifetime Achievement Award

By Gulf Times Correspondent based in his hometown Salem in degree in Arabic, even though his while working as a Staff Artist in Ministry of External Aff airs to JNU in 1980) was on the subject of New Delhi Tamil Nadu. initial academic performance in the Arabic Unit of the External serve as Press Secretary at the Arabic loanwords in Hindi, Urdu Born on May 15, 1936, in Bat- school was far from promising. Services Division of the All India Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia and Tamil, a tome that was trans- lagundu village, Nainar’s intro- With the help of external tui- Radio and as a part-time faculty under the tenure of ambassador lated into Arabic in 2011 by Qatar’s ormer Qatar resident Dr duction to Arabic was almost tions, Munawwar spent the fi rst member at Aligarh Muslim Uni- T T P Abdullah in May 1969. Ministry of Culture. He has also Syed Mohamed Munawwar accidental, and was largely due few months of his BA as an ‘ob- versity’s Department of Arabic. Upon his return to India in translated ‘Faith’ by Sheikh Ali FNainar has been presented to the eff orts of his father, Dr S server’ student, attending class In the early years of his ca- 1972, he joined the then-nascent al-Tantawi, a handbook on Islam with a Lifetime Achievement M Hussain Nainar, a professor of but exempt from tests. As his reer, Munawwar Nainar also Jawaharlal Nehru University in from Arabic into English for the Award by the All India Asso- Arabic, Urdu and Persian at Ma- fl uency increased, he was sub- worked briefl y as a stringer for New Delhi. As Associate Pro- Awqaf Ministry, besides work- ciation of Arabic Teachers and dras University (from 1920-53) sequently granted full-time ad- Voice of America’s Correspond- fessor of Arabic in the Centre of ing in the Ministry of Education’s Scholars in New Delhi recently. and a writer of many scholarly mission and graduated in 1959 ent in New Delhi. Skilled in oral Afro-Asian Languages in JNU’s Scholarships Department (UK Nainar, 79, who worked in texts on the Arab and Islamic with a ‘Jayyid’ (Above Average) and written translation, he was School of Languages he helped section) for over 20 years. various capacities in the Qatari heritage of southern India. grade from the Cairo University. picked by the Indian government establish the Department of He is a founder member of DPS- ministries of Religious Aff airs It was at his father’s behest Munawwar Nainar followed to serve as the offi cial interpreter Arabic. He played a key role in Modern Indian School in Doha. (Awqaf) and Education from that the young Munawwar Nain- this up with a Masters Degree on many ministerial and presi- designing the 5-year Integrated Nainar also worked as a part- 1982 to 1996, and was based in ar was sent to Cairo University in in Arabic Language and Lit- dential state visits. Masters Programme in Arabic. time translator from 2001 to Doha until 2013, is currently 1955 for the four-year Bachelor’s erature from Delhi University, He was selected by India’s Dr Nainar’s PhD thesis (from 2013 for Gulf Times. Nainar: honoured Lalitha bows out of Kerala election battle after protests

By Ashraf Padanna my decision to withdraw yester- Gulf Times Correspondent day itself,” she told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram Thrissur. “He wanted me to talk to (state secretary) Kodiyeri (Balakrishnan). eteran Malayalam actress I asked him to convey my decision K P A C Lalitha yesterday as I didn’t want to disturb him. My Vsaid she was not contest- health doesn’t allow me to cam- ing the May 16 Kerala assembly paign extensively.” elections as she was not keeping Lalitha last week expressed well. her willingness to be a candidate BJP leaders speak to journalists after meeting President Pranab Mukherjee demanding the dismissal of the Uttarakhand government, in New Delhi yesterday. The 69-year-old was on of the party, for which she used the initial list of candidates of to campaign during elections. the Communist Party of India She was also part of Kerala (Marxist) which leads the op- People’s Arts Club (KPAC), position Left Democratic Front which helped Communist ideals (LDF) in the state. to reach the masses eff ectively She had earlier said she through its popular dramas and was ready to contest from songs. Vadakkancherry in Thrissur, the The CPM has also short- Congress expels two hometown of her late husband, listed actor Mukesh for Kollam ace fi lmmaker Bharathan. and television journalist Veena A section of CPM workers was George in Aranmula, among not happy with the “parachuted nearly two-dozen independents candidate” and accused the representing various interests. party of disregarding local lead- The Congress is fi elding ac- ers. On Sunday morning, dozens tor Siddique from Aroor against leaders over rebellion of workers took out a protest CPM legislator A M Ariff and an- march in the town demanding other actor Jagdish in Pathana- No end to political crisis in mittee (PCC) that Saket and Anil March 26 on why they should proper search of his offi ce and jee and sought the dismissal of her withdrawal. puram against sitting legislator Uttarakhand should be expelled for anti-party not be disqualifi ed from mem- some fi les were also seized. Uttarakhand government. Her decision to bow out came K B Ganesh Kumar, also a fi lm activities. We accepted the rec- bership of the assembly for vio- The former agriculture min- However, the rebel Congress minutes after CPM strongman and television star. IANS ommendation of the disciplinary lating the party discipline and ister after receiving the notice leaders were not the part of the Pinarayi Vijayan, whom the par- Bheeman Raghu, the favour- Dehradun/New Delhi committee and expelled them for aligning with the opposition said he was still in the Congress delegation. ty projects as the next chief min- ite villain, has also jumped on six years,” state Congress chief Bharatiya Janata Party. but wanted the chief minister’s “We have requested the presi- ister, welcomed her candidature the bandwagon of political as- Kishore Upadhyay said. Uttarakhand’s political up- removal. dent to direct the governor to and dismissed the protests as a pirants in the tinsel world de- he Congress Party yes- “The disciplinary committee heaval showed no sign of abating Nine Congress legislators led dismiss Uttarakhand govern- “peculiarity of the time”. claring himself as a candidate terday expelled former recommended that Saket was as both sides - Chief Minister by Harak Singh had rebelled ment and to give us time to prove “The list is still not out. Once of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Tchief minister Vijay Ba- the mastermind of the whole Harish Rawat and rebel Con- against the chief minister last our majority. We have the sup- it is ready, then there will be no Pathanapuram against his col- huguna’s son Saket Bahuguna crisis in Uttarakhand and must gress leader Harak Singh Rawat week when they sought a vote port of 36 MLAs,” Vijayvargiya issues. We do consider numer- leagues. and party joint secretary Anil be expelled. The Congress Party - have hardened their stands. division in the assembly. The told reporters after the meeting. ous names, and then the fi nal list “I’m going there not as a vil- Gupta for six years for “anti- had given him Lok Sabha tickets On Sunday, as the ruling coa- speaker rejected the demand. He also said Rawat had no is prepared,” Vijayan told report- lain, but a hero. I’ll return victo- party” activities as the political twice. But he indulged in indis- lition discussed how to prove Before the crisis, the Con- moral right to remain chief min- ers in Kozhikode. rious,” he told reporters here. crisis in the Uttarakhand gov- cipline,” Upadhyay said. its majority in the assembly by gress had 36 legislators in the ister but “he is calling cabinet The party witnessed simi- Another aspirant is Asokan, ernment deepened. He said the party would not March 28 as mandated by Gov- 70-member assembly. The rul- meetings and taking decisions.” lar protests only when it denied whom the Communist Party of Saket Bahuguna, a two-time accept any kind of indiscipline ernor K K Paul, show cause no- ing party also has the support of Asked about the rebel Con- mass leader V S Achuthanandan India (CPI) wants to pit against Lok Sabha candidate from Tehri, and strict action would be taken tices were pasted on the houses six members of the Progressive gress leaders not joining the a nomination in 2006. Home Minister Ramesh Chen- was among the nine legislators against those who violate disci- of the rebel legislators. The chief Democratic Front, while the op- delegation, Vijayvargiya said: Lalitha’s swift withdrawal nithala in Haripad. who rebelled against Chief Min- pline. minister personally oversaw the position BJP has 28 legislators. “They will meet the president after declaring herself battle- Asokan claims he was an ac- ister Harish Rawat’s government. Speaker Govind Singh Kun- sealing of the Vidhan Sabha of- In New Delhi, a delegation of separately.” ready is the latest setback. tive member of the All India “The Congress disciplinary jwal had served notices to fi ce of Harak Singh Rawat, the BJP leaders, headed by general Earlier, the BJP leaders had “I had informed (party’s dis- Students Federation (AISF), a action committee recommended nine rebel Congress legisla- former agriculture minister. secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, said the rebels would also join trict secretary) A C Moideen of students’ wing of the CPI. to the Pradesh Congress Com- tors, seeking their responses by Sources said there was a met President Pranab Mukher- the delegation. NDA to release Kerala list Trinamool stung of candidates on Mar 27 again by new video IANS tor from Nandigram Mohamed Kolkata Illyas was seen accepting money. IANS ekheran, who will take on Con- also told election offi cials that Panda has also been in the Thiruvananthapuram gress legislator K Muraleedharan they needed permission to carry news for his grilling by the Cen- at Vatiyoorkavu constituency in on with the activities of cashew n what could cause further tral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) the capital. factories for which they sanc- embarrassment for the Tri- and the Enforcement Directorate he Bharatiya Janata Party- In 2011, only three BJP can- tioned funds much earlier. Inamool Congress, Narada (ED) in the multi-billion rupee led National Democratic didates fi nished in the second “Another issue we will bring News yesterday published a Saradha scam. TAlliance will announce place. In all other constituen- before them is that there is a new set of videos of its sting op- The Trinamool has rejected the its candidates for the Kerala as- cies, it fi nished a distant third. health insurance scheme in place eration in which two prominent allegations claiming the videos sembly elections on March 27, a Meanwhile, Chief Minister for people... on April 1 every leaders of West Bengal’s ruling to be “doctored” and “manufac- senior leader said yesterday. Oommen Chandy said Kerala is year, all those people’s policies party were purportedly caught tured” and threatened to take le- President of the Kerala unit of mulling legal action against the have to be renewed; we want ap- on tape - one of them accepting gal steps against the news portal. BJP K Rajasekheran said made chief electoral offi cer if the poll proval for that.” money, and the other seeking a Neither of the two leaders the announcement after his panel does not allow the state “In the budget speech, I had “benami” stake in a project. could be reached for comment. party fi nalised seat-sharing with government to resume supply of announced a scheme for supply The news portal on March 14 Thousands thronged the newly-formed Bharat Dhar- drinking water to places reeling of free rice to all people in the had published the fi rst video in the streets of Kolkata to get a ma Jana Sena (BDJS), the party under a water shortage. Below Poverty Line category, we which 11 Trinamool leaders were glimpse the chief minister as she promoted by Hindu Ezhava Addressing reporters after a are seeking approval for that too,” shown accepting bundles of cash undertook yet another walka- leader and Sree Narayana Dhar- special cabinet meeting, Chandy said Chandy. The chief minister in return for favours to a fi cti- thon, smiling, waving and inter- ma Paripalana (SNDP) general said the election offi cials asked said there was no harm in having tious company. acting with people. secretary Vellapally Natesan. the government to stop providing a model code of conduct in place In the latest videos, the website Amid the raging controversy “Today we decoded that the drinking water to residents in Kol- before the polls, but it should not claimed Trinamool Lok Sabha over the sting operation, Ban- BDJS will contest in 37 seats. On lam, which was facing scarcity. put people in diffi culty. member from Arambagh Aprupa erjee has been undertaking pro- March 26 there will be talks with “The water that we supplied “In 2011, elections were held Poddar accepted money, while cessions across the city and the other allies. The full list will be to places in Kollam was already in April but the model code of former party state general secre- adjoining districts canvassing announced on March 27,” said sanctioned much before the conduct was in place till the tary Shanku Deb Panda sought a for her party ahead of assembly Rajasekheran. The BJP is de- code of conduct came into force. votes were counted on May 13. “benami stake” in the fi ctitious polls. termined this time to open its We have written to them to give “This time, the polls would company in return for his help. Waiting anxiously for Baner- account in the 140-member as- us sanction, and in case they be held on May 16. In eff ect, it’s Incidentally journalist- jee to start her walk from Bally- sembly and has already released don’t do it, at tomorrow’s cabi- the same as everything comes to turned-politician Panda had gunge, people of all ages waited its fi rst list of 22 candidates. net meeting, we will decide to a standstill from the date of an- West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader carried out a sting operation in patiently across the Sarat Bose The fi rst list includes all their take legal steps,” he said. nouncement and is only lifted af- Mamata Banerjee greets supporters as she leads a party rally 2008 in which then Communist and Ashutosh Mukherjee roads top leaders including Rajas- Chandy said the government ter results are announced,” he said. ahead of assembly elections in Kolkata, yesterday. Party of India (Marxist) legisla- to catch a glimpse of her. Gulf Times 26 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 LATIN AMERICA

APPEAL SETBACK POLL DECISION CRIME End to controversial Haiti lawmakers reject Fujimori support ‘slips’ Ecuador to hike taxes Army seizes over 760kg Honduras dam works urged prime minister’s plan in Peru election race on cigarettes, soft drinks of cocaine in Colombia

The daughter of murdered Honduran Haiti’s lower chamber of parliament has rejected Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori Ecuador is working on a reform package Soldiers seized 762kg of cocaine belonging to environmentalist Berta Caceres has called for a programme submitted by Prime Minister Fritz saw her support erode slightly, an Ipsos poll that will raise taxes on cigarettes, alcoholic the Farc guerrillas from a rural area outside the withdrawal of all international companies Jean, lawmakers said, throwing up a new hurdle showed, with a runoff vote likely after a first beverages and soft drinks to cover the budget Ipiales city in Colombia’s Pasto province, backing the construction of a dam against which as the country struggles to meet deadlines to round of balloting on April 10. Fujimori got deficit created by the drop in the price of oil, but no arrests were made, the army said. her mother had fought. The companies funding transfer power from an interim to an elected 30.8% support in the survey of 1,792 voters the nation’s top export product, President The cocaine was found at a laboratory that the construction of the Agua Zarka dam should government. According to an agreement between from March 15 to 17 and published in the El Rafael Correa said. “The price of petroleum had facilities to house about 40 people, the consider the consequences of their involvement, the executive and the legislative branches, a Comercio newspaper, a point less than in keeps dropping” and the government must army said in a statement. The laboratory was Berta Isabel Zuniga Caceres said in New York. presidential runoff election is scheduled to the same poll last week. Wall Street favourite make “certain adjustments”, Correa said. The destroyed as part of the operation. Soldiers Caceres, a prominent Honduran environmentalist take place on April 24, while a new president is Kuczynski rose a point to 15.1%. Writer Alfredo president recently said the plunge in oil prices also found 188kg of cocaine base paste and and indigenous activist, was shot dead by due to take off ice by May 14. “We rejected the Barnechea rose to 11.7% from 9%, while leftist had created a budget “hole” of about $800mn a large amount of materials used to produce unknown assailants on March 3 in her home in La programme of Fritz Jean because his nomination lawmaker Veronika Mendoza climbed to 11.3% because off icials had based their spending cocaine. The lab was built by the Farc or Esperanza. She had spent years advocating the by President Privert did not meet the consensus from 9%. The race has been shaken by the projections on an average oil price of $35 per Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia’s rights of the indigenous Lenca people and fought requirements which should characterise the electoral board’s unprecedented move to bar barrel. Petroleum, however, fell below $30 per 48th Front with the assistance of foreign drug the construction of the dam project. prime minister,” Deputy Gary Bodeau said. two candidates just a month before elections. barrel in trading this year, Correa said. cartels, the army said. Obama, Castro meet in Havana

Reuters Havana Obama too popular S President Barack Obama was received by Cuban for ‘Rogues’ Gallery’ UPresident Raul Castro in Havana yesterday at the start of historic talks where the US AFP all the time,” said Christopher. leader will press his counterpart Havana “But we see Obama as a presi- for economic and democratic re- dent who has improved rela- forms while hearing complaints tions. We just don’t see him as about US sanctions. arack Obama is on a tour any sort of rogue.” Obama arrived in Cuba on of Havana hotspots. But On a three-day landmark Sunday on a trip that comes Bone place not on his itin- visit - the fi rst by a sitting US 15 months after he and Castro erary is Cuba’s “Rogues’ Gal- president in almost 90 years - agreed to end fi ve decades of Cold lery” lampooning US presi- Obama will likely help change War-era animosity and work to dents. the image of the US that sever- normalise relations. On the fi rst Located at the Museum of al generations of Cubans have full day of his visit, he went to the Revolution, the display de- had since 1959. the heart of Cuba’s Communist picts a small handful of former US sanctions for a half cen- system, laying a wreath in Revo- US leaders in less than fl attering tury have hurt Cubans and lution Square at the memorial to caricatures. Obama, however, is Americans, who are still not independence hero Jose Marti. notably not among them. allowed to travel as normal He moved on to the nearby There are no studies about tourists or do business freely. Palace of the Revolution, where how popular Obama is in The last US president to visit Castro and his predecessor, old- Cuba, where media is run by Havana in offi ce was Calvin er brother Fidel Castro, have led the state. But it is hard to fi nd Coolidge in 1928. Cuba’s resistance to US pressure many detractors. Bob Johnson, a US doctor going back decades. The caricature display, who is 59, also laughed out A US presidential visit to the which is in the museum fi lled loud when he saw Reagan and inner sanctum of Cuban power with the Castro brothers’ vin- the Bushes painted as rogues. would have been unthinkable be- tage memorabilia, typifi es this. “Obama would be diff erent fore Obama and Raul Castro’s rap- The venue is almost an oblig- if he had been president in the prochement in December 2014. atory stop for tourists familiar 1960s, ‘70s, or ‘80s when all that Marti was a 19th century poet with Cuba’s 1959 Revolution, was going on,” he said, referring and writer whose activism was which ultimately saw the Car- to the tenser Cold War years. key to winning Cuba’s freedom Cuban President Raul Castro welcomes US President Barack Obama at the Palacio de la Revolucion in Havana yesterday. ibbean nation join the Commu- But “our country has from Spain and whose legacy nist bloc - the only country in changed, and he represents a was later adopted by Fidel Cas- will encourage more economic lution. Government offi cials say no doubt that we still have some loosen restrictions on trade and the Americas to do so. lot off the changes that have tro’s revolutionaries as a symbol reforms and greater access to the the US needs to end its economic work to do, and part of that is travel with the Caribbean island. The Rogues’ Gallery is taken place.” of anti-imperialism. Internet for Cubans. embargo and return the Guan- bringing an end to the embargo Cuba has praised those meas- meant to take a few swipes Johnson may look to be an Obama and Castro have met Ahead of his talks with Cas- tanamo Bay naval base to Cuba that is currently in place.” While ures but Castro is likely to press at the likes of hardline Cold average, everyday sightseer, in three times before, but yester- tro, Obama announced a deal that before the two nations can enjoy it may not happen during his fi - Obama to go further. Warriors Ronald Reagan who shorts and hat with a camera day’s meeting was the most sub- Google has reached with the island. normal relations. nal year in offi ce given the US “We think the US government is portrayed as a cowboy and on his neck, but technically he stantial. Obama and Raul Castro “One of the things that we’ll Cuban police backed by hun- presidential election, “it is in- can take more steps to send clear George H W Bush, decked out is still not allowed to visit Cuba have deep diff erences to discuss be announcing here is that dreds of shouting pro-govern- evitable,” he added. and direct signals in this direc- in Roman emperor garb. as a simple US tourist. as they attempt to rebuild the bi- Google has a deal to start setting ment demonstrators broke up a Thwarted by Congress on the tion,” Foreign Trade Minister It also depicts George W Instead, he had to offi cially lateral relationship. up more Wi-Fi and broadband Ladies in White march on Sun- embargo, Obama has instead Rodrigo Malmierca told report- Bush - long a popular target sign up on a photographic tour As Castro and Obama stood access on the island,” Obama day, detaining dozens of people used his executive authority to ers on Sunday. of Cuban criticism - in a Nazi to qualify under one of the ex- shoulder to shoulder before their told ABC News in an interview just hours before Obama landed. helmet and with donkey ears. ceptions which allow Ameri- talks, a military band played the that aired yesterday. He gave no Obama has urged Congress 180 dissidents arrested in Cuba, opposition says Signs explaining the meaning cans to visit. Cuban anthem and then the US other details, and representa- to rescind the 54-year-old em- of the exhibit in English, French “Obama is popular here. But anthem. After the music, the tives for Google could not be im- bargo but has been rejected by Around 180 dissidents have Havana on Sunday, he said. and Spanish say that these ex- so are Americans here, more two leaders walked past a mili- mediately reached. the Republican leadership. He been temporarily arrested in “They remained in custody presidents were all rogues who so than in other parts of the tary guard of honour His administration hopes now has both Democratic and Cuba on the sidelines of US until late night. Some of them ultimately strengthened Cuba’s world,” Johnson added. The formal ceremony con- changes might also come at a Republican elected offi cials with President Barack Obama’s visit had been beaten brutally and Revolution and made socialism After the US and Cuba be- trasted with Obama’s lower key Communist Party congress next him on his Cuba trip and hopes to the communist country, a were bleeding,” Sanchez added. “irrevocable.” gan to normalise relations in arrival by Air Force One in Ha- month but doubts any political Congress may act after the No- rights group said yesterday. Among those temporarily The cartoonish, larger-than- December 2014, tourism in- vana on Sunday. Castro did not opening will be forthcoming. vember 8 presidential election. “We estimate the number at held were at least 50 so-called life images often make visitors creased by 18% in 2015 and vis- meet the plane and there were no Still, Obama has promised to One Cuban yelled “Down with around 180,” Elizardo Sanchez, Ladies in White, their leader a little uncomfortable, bring- its by Americans were up 77%. military honours. talk about freedom of speech and the embargo!” during Obama’s leader of the banned Cuban Berta Soler said. The women ing on a bit of nervous laughter. “I certainly hope that Cu- The US president is under assembly in Cuba. “I will raise tour of Old Havana, and the Human Rights and National campaign for freedom of During such moments, young bans don’t see Obama as a pressure from critics at home to these issues directly with Presi- president responded by raising Reconciliation Commission, opinion and political reforms Cuban guide Christopher rogue,” said visiting teacher push Castro’s government to al- dent Castro,” he told the Cuban his right hand. said. Most of those arrested had in Cuba. Many Ladies in White quickly breaks the tension. Elerida Bengtsson, from Nor- low dissent from political oppo- dissident group the Ladies in Asked about the potential for been released in the meantime. were also arrested when Pope “It’s all caricature. And it’s way. “For me he is not. He is nents and further open its Sovi- White in a March 10 letter. US companies to lose out to oth- The majority were arrested Francis visited the country in just for fun,” he stresses. absolutely diff erent” from the et-style command economy. Castro has said Cuba will not er countries in the Cuban mar- after protests in the capital September 2015. “I get asked about Obama Bushes and Reagan, she said. His aides have said Obama waver from its 57-year-old revo- ket, Obama told ABC: “There’s

Troubled times 230,000 Colombian kids Chile lawmakers back uprooted by war: Unicef conditional abortion AFP Cariola of the Communist Santiago Party, which is part of the rul- Reuters “Unless these children receive jungle provinces, have been par- ing coalition. Bogota the material and psychological ticularly hard hit by the confl ict The deputies voted sepa- assistance they need, the pros- over the decades, Unicef said. awmakers in Chile’s rately on each of the circum- pects of long-lasting peace will Children are also at risk of lower house of Congress stances under which abortion ore than 230,000 Co- remain elusive,” he said. being recruited, and 1,000 chil- Lhave approved abortion will be allowed. Each time, the lombian children have Peace talks and a unilateral dren were used or recruited by in limited circumstances, the margin of approval was wide. Mbeen forced to fl ee their ceasefi re declared by the Farc in illegal armed groups, including fi rst step towards lifting a dec- Conservative opposition law- homes since peace talks between July 2015 have led to a decline the Farc, in the last three years, ades-old ban on the practice in makers have vowed to take the the government and rebels be- in the number of children dis- Unicef said. the socially conservative South case to the Constitutional Court. gan three years ago, and children placed and injured or killed by The government estimates American country. Abortion had been legal in will continue to be at risk even if landmines, Unicef said in its lat- there are 2,000 child soldiers in Under the measure approved Chile before 1989 in cases of a deal is reached, the United Na- est report. Farc ranks. Children are trained by the Chamber of Deputies, risk to the mother or an unvi- tions said yesterday. But despite peace eff orts, to fi ght, use grenades and to plant abortion will be allowed in cases able foetus. The government and rebels an average of more than 6,000 home-made landmines, while of rape, risk to the mother, or But ex-dictator General Au- from the Revolutionary Armed children a month were uprooted girls are used as sex slaves and when the foetus is no longer gusto Pinochet outlawed the Forces of Colombia (Farc) are from their homes between 2013 undergo forced abortions, ac- considered viable. The Senate practice completely before leav- inching ever closer to signing a and 2015, the report said. cording to human rights groups. must now approve the draft. ing power in 1990, and the pro- peace deal in Cuba, where talks Children account for one in In April 2015, the Farc reiter- Chile is one of the few coun- hibition remained unchanged began in late 2012.If a peace ac- every three of Colombia’s 7.8mn ated its pledge to release child tries in the world that does not for more than two decades of cord is reached it would bring an offi cially registered war victims. combatants but did not say when allow abortion under any cir- democratic rule because of end to more than half a century Government fi gures show or where this would take place. cumstances at all. pressure from the Roman Cath- of war and Latin America’s long- nearly 45,000 children have “Releasing every child below “Incredible - the motion is olic Church and conservative est-running insurgency. been killed and 8,000 disap- the age of 18 from armed groups passed,” said the leader of the groups. An estimated 160,000 “Even if the peace agreement peared since 1985. should not be contingent upon Chamber of Deputies, Marco clandestine abortions are car- were to be signed tomorrow, chil- “No child in Colombia today the outcome of the peace agree- Antonio Nunez, after a heated ried out each year in Chile. dren will continue to be at risk knows what it is like to live in a ment,” Unicef said in the report. debate of the draft submitted Bachelet, who is a paediatri- of all kinds of violations includ- country at peace. It is time to In the last three years since by the government of Presi- cian by training, has taken on ing recruitment, landmines and turn the page,” said De Bernardi. peace talks began, at least 180 Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff rides a bicycle near the dent Michelle Bachelet. conservative groups in Chile sexual exploitation,” Roberto De Indigenous and Afro-Colom- children, mostly girls, were vic- Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, yesterday. Rousseff ’s “This is an historic day. by seeking to ease the coun- Bernardi, Colombia representa- bian children living in confl ict tims of sexual violence at the presidency appears to be in peril as she fights impeachment, We see the political will to let try’s tough abortion law. Polls tive for the UN children’s agency areas, mainly concentrated in hands of warring factions, it protests, recession and scandal. women make their own deci- say 70% of Chileans support (Unicef), said in a statement. Colombia’s border areas and said. sions,” said lawmaker Karol the new bill. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 27 PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN Pakistani scientist’s parents celebrate son’s feat at home

Internews to carry out more research in my himself visited the scientifi c re- dream of getting her children for Bachelors in Telecommuni- scientist Einstein. It was rejected Islamabad fi eld,” he said while briefl y talk- search centre in Italy and met educated could be fulfi lled. cation Engineering at a college in by some scientists at that time ing by phone. Imran Khan. He said: ‘Khan, She fl uently speaks her moth- Peshawar in 2011. because Einstein could not prove “We faced the options of your achievement is very, very er tongue Pashto but faces some He was then off ered a schol- the theory. mran Khan, who was in the meeting our kitchen expenses great,’” Wara said, adding that diffi culty in speaking Urdu. arship by a Turkey-based in- Balochistan Chief Minister eight-member scientists’ within the income of my hus- her son made a phone call to “Imran used to wake up before stitution to pursue an MS in Nawab Sanaullah Zehri invited Iteam which proved Albert band or spend his salary on the inform her of his achievement, dawn to study his schoolbooks Optoelectronics and Photonics Khan’s family to the CM House and Einstein’s theory of gravitational education of my children,” Wara which made her cry. and I got up to make tea for him,” Engineering in 2015. The Gran congratulated his parents over the waves after a century, shocking recalled, adding that she had de- Her husband Ajab Gul, a na- she said, adding that it was she Sasso Science Institute provided historic achievement of their son. the entire scientifi c world and cided that her children would get tive of Mardan district in Khy- who carried his schoolbag and a chance to Khan to do his PhD. “I am very thankful to the opening new doors for research, education at any cost. One room ber Pakhtunkhwa who is in late took him to the school. The eight scientists selected for chief minister, the Balochistan is the son of a retired army hav- in the very small residential 60s, has studied till class eight. “Yes, I taught my son that he the gravitational waves research government’s spokesman An- aldar living in a very old and di- quarter was reserved for Imran’s He was recruited in the Pakistan had to make Pakistan proud and were from diff erent countries, warul Haq Kakar and others for lapidated mud house. study. The house of mud walls Army as a sepoy and retired as see my dream has come true including Italy, China, Pakistan giving great respect and honour “We are very poor and my and makeshift roof in the Quetta havaldar. now,” she said with teary eyes. and India. Nergis Mavalvala from by inviting us to the CM House,” husband told me when our son cantonment area was built dur- He spent most of his time “My son is also pride of Balo- Karachi was also in the team. Ajab Gul said. was in school that he could not ing the colonial rule. during his service in Quetta and, Imran Khan chistan because he was born in The team worked at the La- He said the chief minister had aff ord his educational expenses It is in a very dilapidated con- therefore, the family decided Quetta and began his education ser Interferometer Gravitational also announced Rs1mn reward with his meagre salary,” Kafal dition and there is fear that it after his retirement to continue troubling me after the retire- here,” she said. Wave Observatory and for the for Khan. The mother said her Wara, mother of Khan, said at may collapse but the family still living here so that their children ment of my husband was wheth- Khan, who studied in a school fi rst time in the scientifi c history son was a hardworking person their home here yesterday. lives in it because it cannot af- could continue their education. er Imran Khan would continue in Quetta cantonment and the recorded gravitational waves, and would do more in his fi eld. Khan is in Italy, doing his PhD. ford to buy a house. He was allowed to live in the his education,” Wara said, add- Federal Government College about a century after the theory “Hard work and prayers never go “I am working with my fellows “The Italian prime minister small quarter. “Another fear ing that she prayed so that her here, was awarded a scholarship had been enunciated by great unrewarded,” she added.

NAVAL EXERCISE Fishermen freed Pakistan warship reaches French Top offi cials of island of Reunion Pakistan Navy (PN) warship, PNS ASLAT, has reached the French island of La Reunion to partici- pate in a drill, the media reported Pakistan, India yesterday. According to a PN statement on Sunday, the gover- nor of La Reunion, while meeting the PN off icers, said that France and Pakistan enjoyed very friendly and cordial relations, Dawn online may meet in April reported. The visit by the PN warship would further strengthen the bilateral bonds, he added. The Agencies had asked Islamabad to fi rst send of peace talks planned between PN off icers on board the ship will Islamabad JIT to India before the meeting of the nuclear-armed arch-rivals, hold discussions with high-ranking foreign secretaries. with Modi urging his Pakistani off icials of the French Navy, civilian “Since this issue has now been counterpart Nawaz Sharif to authorities and political leaders he foreign secretaries of settled, hopefully foreign secre- take “fi rm and immediate ac- on topics of mutual interest. The Pakistan and India are taries will meet soon,” he said. tion”. ship would carry out exercise with Tlikely to meet in April to He added that both countries Meanwhile, an editorial “Pa- the French Navy at the end of the draw up a roadmap for a com- were looking to fi nd a way out of kistan-India peace process” in three-day visit. prehensive bilateral dialogue the the current hiccup in ties. The the Dawn has said that the im- Indian fishermen released by Pakistan wait to board a bus to India. Pakistan on March 20 two nuclear-armed neighbours date for resumption of talks will minent trip by a Pakistani inves- released 86 Indian fishermen held for trespassing into its territorial waters. OFFENSIVE agreed to pursue last December. likely be announced after the tigation team to India is “both Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed meeting between PM Nawaz and necessary and history-making”. Air strike kills Chaudhry and his Indian coun- his Indian counterpart. The Pathankot air force base IS militants terpart S Jaishankar were to meet Pakistani investigators will attack was a grim episode that in January but a terrorist attack travel to India on March 27 to could have yet again derailed Three militants belonging to the on the Pathankot airbase led to help probe the attack on an air dialogue between Pakistan and outlawed armed group of Islamic the cancellation of the key talks. base that killed seven soldiers in India, it added. Landslide destroys homes, State (IS) have been killed in an air Since then, the two countries January. The daily gave credit to the strike in eastern Nangarhar prov- have been struggling to resched- India has blamed militants governments of Modi and Sharif ince of Afghanistan, spokesperson ule the meeting between their from the Pakistan-based Islam- that the “Pathankot attack did for Nangarhar Police Headquar- top diplomats. ist group Jaish-e-Mohamed for not cause the rupture that it damages roads in Pakistan ters said yesterday. India apparently linked the the assault on Pathankot air base could have and both govern- According to Colonel Hazrat Hus- resumption of dialogue with the in the northern state of Pun- ments have kept the channels of sain Mashriqiwal, the air strike was ongoing investigation Pakistan jab, which triggered two days of communication open”. Internews Aloit, Sehrbagla, Masot, Dewal to ascertain the losses and carried out in Mamond area of is currently undertaking in con- gunbattles. The daily stressed that the Islamabad and Phaphril among other vil- devise plans on how to best Achin district late on Sunday. nection with the airbase attack. “The date for the joint inves- terrorism threat in the region can lages, where roads and other compensate those aff ected in Offi cials in Pakistan now tigation team visit from Pakistan only be combated by joint action infrastructure worth billions of various villages, and how to re- MILITANCY claim the crucial foreign secre- has been decided... It will arrive by Pakistan and India - and dia- eavy rainfall has led rupees was also damaged. habilitate them. tary-level talks are expected to on the night of (March) 27th and logue alone off ers the opportu- to what the locals Punjab Labour and Man- The committees will include 12 Balochistan take place in April after Pakistan start its work from 28th,” Swaraj nity to create a robust framework Hand elders of the area power Minister Raja Ishfaq the Murree assistant commis- militants killed agreed to send a joint investiga- told reporters in Kathmandu last for joint action against militancy term “the worst landslide” in Sarwar visited the aff ected are- sioner, the tehsildar, PML-N’s tion team (JIT) formed to probe week. and terrorism. Pakistan, leaving hundreds as along with offi cials from the party president and general Pakistani security forces yesterday the Pathankot attack to India It is the fi rst time Pakistan has “Yet, Pakistan needs to ac- of homes destroyed, roads district and the Murree Town secretary in Murree and the claimed to have killed at least 12 later this month. participated in a probe of this knowledge the centrality of ter- blocked and people stranded administration. chairmen and vice-chairmen suspected militants in Balochistan. An offi cial, who spoke on the kind, an Indian foreign ministry rorism to India’s concerns about under the open sky. He talked to locals and of union councils, and will The militants in Kohli district’s condition of anonymity, said source said. its relationship with Pakistan. Almost half the village of promised that measures will be present a report on the losses in Nasau area were killed in an that Prime Minister’s Adviser on The rare targeting of an In- The recent sharing of intelli- Graan-Ghoe was destroyed taken soon for their rehabilita- four days, he added. exchange of fire during a security Foreign Aff airs Sartaj Aziz and dian military installation outside gence with the Indian national when a landslide damaged 30 tion. The minister instructed Sarwar vowed that the gov- forces’ operation in the area on Indian External Aff airs Minister the disputed region of Kashmir security adviser by Pakistan was homes, and the residents have offi cials from Murree admin- ernment will do everything to Monday and a large cache of Sushma Sawraj discussed pos- came days after Prime Minister a positive step. Faster action on no other choice but to wait out istration to provide tents and help and appealed to residents arms and ammunition was sible dates for the foreign secre- Narendra Modi’s surprise visit to the Pathankot and Mumbai at- the rain in the open. food to those displaced by the of the area to help and support recovered from their possession, taries meeting. Pakistan in December. tacks would send a stronger sig- Houses were also destroyed landslide. those displaced by the land- spokesman Frontier Corps Khan The offi cial said New Delhi It led to the postponement nal yet.” in Potha, Sehana, Phagwari, Committees will be formed slides. Wasey said, Dawn reported. Good neighbours ease fears in Pakistan polio fi ght

AFP paign has long been a danger- shortage of offi cers can often by insecurity and distrust, but is Islamabad ous task. One hundred people hamper progress. now being targeted by the com- — both police and health work- Pakistan’s goals are ambi- munity programme. ers — have been killed in attacks tious: authorities want to vacci- “I dream of the day we have so n a rundown district of Ka- targeting polio vaccination nate 35mn children under the age much community support that rachi, Rabia balks at a neigh- campaigns since 2012, includ- of fi ve, eradicating the crippling children will be walked to the Ibour’s proposal to vaccinate ing three in Korangi in eastern childhood disease by the end of vaccination centre to the beat of her children, demonstrating one Karachi in 2014, who were not 2016. the drum, as I heard it happens in of the biggest hurdles to eradi- part of the community pro- Authorities are now targeting Yemen,” sighed Shahnaz Wazir cating polio in Pakistan by the gramme. the main geographical incuba- Ali, a provincial polio adviser. end of the year: confused and The Muslim nation of some tors of the disease, the tribal More than 2,000 religious frightened parents. 200mn people is one of only two areas bordering Afghanistan leaders have joined in the fi ght, Rabia, perplexed and sur- countries in the world where po- and the province of Khyber Pa- such as Baldia cleric Mullah rounded by children in her mod- lio remains endemic — the other khtunkhwa in the northwest. Umar Sadiq, who is trying to est two-room home, voices fears being war-torn Afghanistan, Karachi is a hub for migrants persuade the neighbours of little the vaccine to the crippling dis- just over a porous border. from these areas, posing a major Mohammed to have their chil- ease may in fact cause infertility. Some Taliban and ultra-con- risk to eradication hopes, polio dren vaccinated. “She was afraid there might servative religious leaders spread offi cials say. “Islam advocates a better be some harmful elements in the rumours that the vaccine con- Vaccinators had previously society in which every child is vaccine,” says Sharmeen Aslam, tains ingredients forbidden in found it almost impossible to raised with the best possible neighbourhood supervisor of a Islam, such as pork derivatives, penetrate the remote tribal are- hygiene standards. We need team of vaccinators. or that can cause infertility as as, where Islamists had operated healthy children,” he explains. “I told her there weren’t — and part of a Western plot to reduce with impunity. Authorities have also built now, since I live here, she knows the population. But a major Pakistani military more than 2,500 clinics in Ka- she can come and see me if there Vaccinators are accused of operation against extremists there rachi providing vaccines along are any problems, so now she be- being paid spies, a widespread is giving authorities new leverage with basic care in response to lieves me.” suspicion which only intensifi ed — such as refusing to allow fami- parents suspicious about the Each month, Aslam and her after the Central Intelligence lies fl eeing the fi ghting through vast resources deployed against team divide a handful of dusty Agency used a fake vaccination A Pakistani health worker administers polio drops to a child as government appointed Islamic cleric checkpoints unless they allow polio while their children have streets, each going alone to campaign to help track down Maulana Umar Sadiq (centre) looks on during a door-to-door polio immunisation campaign in the their children to be vaccinated. no access to healthcare or clean knock at door after ornate door former Al Qaeda leader Osama predominantly Pashtun district of Korangi in Karachi. These measures saw the drinking water. armed with nothing but their bin Laden in northern Pakistan number of new polio cases drop The strategies seem to be anti-polio drops. in 2011. safety,” says vaccinator Shahnaz the pinky fi ngernail of children by the community vaccination to 54 in 2015, down sharply from working: in Karachi, the number She is part of a commu- To dispel doubts, in 2014 the Ayaz. who have been vaccinated with programme, staff are no longer 306 new cases in 2014 - but the of refusals was slashed fourfold nity vaccination programme Sindh Emergency Operation She has worked in other a black marker, a sign that the accompanied by police escorts, improvement did not prevent in 2015 to about 10,000. launched in Pakistan’s biggest Centre (EOC), spearheading the neighbourhoods before, she drops have been administered. with a discreet police presence 18-month-old Mohamed from But the gains are fragile. Six city two years ago to ease dis- fi ght against polio in Karachi, says, but admits she was “a bit Some 2,500 neighbourhood now deemed suffi cient. losing the use of his right foot cases have been reported so far trust and suspicion from parents began hiring local women to take afraid”. vaccinators like Shahnaz are now Escorts are still necessary in before learning to walk. in Pakistan in 2016 - including by using staff from their local the lead on vaccinations. Ayaz marks each door with working in the metropolis of neighbourhoods of Karachi with In Baldia, the Karachi neigh- one child who had already been area. “Here, everybody knows me, a chalk “R” if the inhabitants 20mn. no community programmes and bourhood where he lives, vacci- vaccinated, fuelling parents’ Pakistan’s anti-polio cam- I do not have to worry about my refuse vaccinations, and darkens In areas of Karachi covered parts of other provinces, but a nation has long been hampered mistrust of the drops. Gulf Times 28 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 PHILIPPINES

China says base deal Binay challenges rivals to with US raises agree on lifestyle checks questions By Joel M Sy Egco The waiver also indicated Ombudsman Conchita Car- happen to be his friends’ or as- Manila Times that the candidates would “vol- pio-Morales; and the plaque sociates’ before. As a matter of Reuters untarily submit ourselves to a from the National Competi- fact, some of those individuals Beijing lifestyle and government serv- tive Council for being the 1st had nothing to do with the VP.” nited Nationalist Alli- ice performance check in ac- Place Most Competitive City AMLC’s earlier assertions ance (UNA) standard cordance with law.” in the overall competitiveness are conflicting with its latest hina said yesterday Ubearer Vice President Binay brought to the second category. request for the Manila regional agreements like the one Jejomar Binay dared his rivals PiliPinas debate the waiver; Meanwhile, UNA president trial court to drop from its Creached last week by the anew to sign their respective his Statement of Assets, Li- Toby Tiangco said that Binay’s list of respondents to the civil US and the Philippines allowing general waivers and voluntarily abilities, and Net Worth from performance during the sec- forfeiture case, the only firm for a US military presence at fi ve submit themselves to lifestyle 1988 to 2014; the affidavit he ond presidential debate sur- being used by lawyer Renato Philippine bases raised ques- and performance checks to fi nd submitted to the Senate Blue passed their expectations. Bondal to link the vice presi- tions about militarisation in the out who among them is hiding Ribbon Subcommittee; his “We are very satisfied with dent to supposed dirty money. South China Sea. anything. Statement of Contributions VP’s performance, actually, In an ex parte motion to drop The US is keen to boost the In particular, Binay chal- and Expenditures (SOCE); and more than what the team ex- respondents dated January 6, military capabilities of East lenged other candidates to sign the AMLC ex parte motion to pected out of the debate,” UNA 2016, the AMLC asked the Ma- Asian countries and its own re- a waiver for the Anti-Money drop JCB Foundation, Agrifor- president Toby Tiangco told nila court to drop as respond- gional presence in the face of Laundering Council (AMLC) to tuna and six other respond- a radio interview yesterday ents in its petition for civil China’s assertive pursuit of ter- check their bank accounts and ents. morning. forfeiture Abba Land, Inc; Agri- ritorial claims in the South Chi- those of their closest of kin. He said the documents, It was during the debate fortuna, Inc; JC Binay Founda- na Sea, one of the world’s busiest “I am challenging them to which he considered crucial that Binay urged his fellow tion, Inc; Makati Historical and trade routes. sign a general waiver. Voluntar- to the Sunday debate, would presidential bets to allow the Restoration Foundation, Inc; The US and its regional al- ily submit ourselves to a lifestyle have disproved the allegations AMLC to scrutinise their bank Metrowaste Solid Waste Man- lies have expressed concern that and government service per- against him. records. agement Corp; Powerlink.com China is militarising the South formance check in accordance Binay also brought with Also yesterday, Atty. Claro Corp; Kenneth Sabino S Tan; China Sea with moves to build with law. This should include him his medical certificate; Certeza, counsel of the vice and Clara Mae U. Ong, indicat- airfi elds and other military fa- the bank accounts of spouses, the plaque for the 2011 Seal president, slammed the AMLC ing that the agency failed to link cilities on the islands it occupies. their children and children’s of Good House Keeping from for telling the Court of Appeals the said entities and individuals Asked about the base deal, children,” Binay said at a press the Department of the Interior that all 242 bank accounts they to alleged illegal activities. The Chinese Foreign Ministry conference in Cebu City, where Binay: challenging opponents and Local Government signed earlier linked to Binay held ill- motion was granted by the court spokeswoman Hua Chunying the second presidential debate by the late DILG Sec. Jesse Ro- gotten wealth. on January 19. said that US-Philippine co-op- was held. would authorise AMLC or its name, my children’s name and bredo; the plaque for the 2014 He said that most of the ac- “This shows that AMLC has eration should not be targeted at “I have these documents and representative to “open and my children’s children’s name Blue Certification for Busi- counts were owned by “other no evidence to link the vice any third party nor harm other I have signed them,” he added. check all bank accounts under to ensure full transparency in ness Permits from the Office people, other individuals, oth- president to Bondal’s allega- nations’ sovereignty or security The waiver, Binay explained, my name, under my spouse’s this election process.” of the Ombudsman signed by er companies, some of which tions,” Certeza said. interests. “I also want to point out that recently the US military likes to talk about the so-called milita- risation of the South China Sea,” Peace efforts Hua told a daily news confer- ence. Cash reward raised for “Can they then explain, isn’t this kind of continued strength- ening of military deployments in double murder suspects the South China Sea and areas surrounding it considered mili- tarisation?” Manila Times driver, who remained at large was identifi ed China claims most of the en- Sta. Rosa City, Laguna only as “Bryan”.Police also fi led double parricide ergy-rich waters through which charges against Richard, the husband of victim about $5tn in ship-borne trade Pearl Helen. passes every year. Neighbours he reward for the capture of the master- Pearl Helen and her son Denzel were found Brunei, Malaysia, the Philip- mind and another suspect in the gruesome dead in their residence in Celina Plains Subdivi- pines, Taiwan and Vietnam also Tkilling of a mother and her one-year-old sion on March 2 by their relatives. have claims. child has been raised to P300,000 as charges of Denzel was declared dead on arrival, while The US says it takes no sides in double murder and double parricide were fi led by Pearl Helen died days later at the hospital. the disputes but wants to ensure the police against the perpetrators. Based on the autopsy report, the victims were free navigation through the sea. Santa Rosa City Mayor Arlene Arcillas, in a hit on the head by a hard object. It has said it will increase what news conference, said that in addition to the Investigators said that the suspects, who re- it calls freedom-of-navigation P200, 000 she earlier allocated, Laguna Gover- portedly introduced themselves as Internet operations by its navy ships nor Ramil Hernandez also off ered P100,000 for service repairmen to be able to enter the victims’ through the waters. the arrest of the suspects. house, used a hammer in killing the mother and US allies Malaysia and Aus- Laguna Provincial Police Director, Senior Supt. her child.The hammer was found in the crime tralia both reiterated yesterday Ronnie Montejo said they expect the reward could scene on the same day. calls for freedom of navigation help them solve the case, especially the arrest of Galo said his conscience has been bothering through the South China Sea. the victim’s husband – Richard Sta. Ana – said him after committing the crime that he decided “We’ve been extremely con- to have contracted the two suspects for the grue- to surrender to authorities. sistent in saying that our activi- some crime. He claimed they were contracted for P60,000 ties will continue, that we will On Friday, claiming responsibility for the by “Boss” to kill the victims. Police said “Boss” send our ships and our planes crime, Ramoncito Galo surrendered to Barangay turned out to be Sta. Ana, who allegedly sus- to that part of the world as we Cupang (Muntinlupa) chairman Celso Diokno, pected that Pearl Helen was having extra marital require, as it is necessary in ac- who turned him over to the police. aff air. cordance to international law,” Galo underwent inquest proceedings for theft Galo said “Boss” gave P10,000 as initial pay- Australian Defence Minister with double murder at the Santa Rosa City Pros- ment and the balance was to be given after they Local candidates, policemen and soldiers sign a peace covenant at Plaza Miranda in Manila. Marise Payne said after meeting ecutors Offi ce. His co-accused, also a tricycle had done their “job”. her counterpart in Malaysia. For bank heist hackers, Philippines was a handy black hole

Reuters Bangladesh said on Saturday it in the Philippines’ anti-money Manila had formally sought the assist- laundering regime. ance of the US Federal Bureau of “Money laundering is a serious Investigation. concern due to the Philippines’ n February 2013, the Philip- Public hearings on the heist in international narcotics trade, pines was up against a dead- the Philippines’ Senate last week high degree of corruption among Iline to amend its Anti-Money focused on the manager of a Ma- government offi cials, traffi cking Laundering Act and get itself off nila branch of Rizal Commercial in persons and the high volume of the ‘grey list’ of a global watch- Banking Corp (RCBC). remittances from Filipinos living dog, and lawmakers were bick- Her bank received the stolen abroad,” the US report said. ering over whether to include money on Feb 4 and transferred it With ambitions to become one casinos under the legislation. to a foreign exchange broker who of Asia’s gaming hubs alongside With one day to go, a Con- passed it on in tranches, including Macau and Singapore, the gov- gressional committee heard re- $30mn in banknotes that offi cials ernment opened a tract of re- peated pleas not to hamstring say would have weighed 1,500kg. claimed land near Manila airport an industry that could rival A colleague of the man- for casinos. Two world-class re- other Asian gambling meccas by ager testifi ed he saw her drive sorts now operate there, counting obliging casinos to report suspi- off in her car with 20mn pesos Chinese high rollers among near- cious transactions. Finally, the ($431,000) in cash from one of ly half of their VIP clients, and senator chairing the meeting several fi ctitious accounts to two more are under construction. agreed “with a heavy heart” to which the money was wired. The The Senate hearing was told exclude them, a transcript of the Sergio Osmena, one of the Philippine Senators probing the case of branch manager declined to give $29mn of Bangladesh’s money proceedings shows. money laundering involving the theft of $81mn from the US account evidence in public. The Solaire Hotel and Casino, which stands in a gaming complex, is was transferred to one of these That same senator now heads of the Bangladesh Bank, gestures during a Reuters interview at his According to an Anti-Money seen along Macapagal road in Paranaque city, Metro Manila. casinos, Solaire, owned and oper- a panel trying to fathom how off ice in Makati city, Metro Manila yesterday. Laundering Council (AMLC) ated by Bloomberry Resorts Corp. $81mn hacked last month from document seen by Reuters, on Feb Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s. mena told Reuters, explaining “We did not know it was dirty the New York Federal Reserve tem at serious risk. “It can wreak breached the computer systems 8 Bangladesh Bank sent RCBC “Prevention of ... money laun- he believes the Bangladesh case money,” Silverio Benny Tan, cor- account of Bangladesh’s central havoc on the economy,” he said. of Bangladesh Bank in early several messages via the SWIFT dering is being hampered by the is the tip of an iceberg alerting porate secretary of Bloomberry bank wound up with two casinos “Any money coming in and out February and attempted to steal interbank communications net- very strict bank deposit secrecy people to hundreds of money Resorts, told reporters. and a junket operator in the Phil- of the country will come under $951mn from its account at the work requesting transactions be law,” central bank Governor laundering crimes going unre- The Philippine Amusement and ippines — and then disappeared. scrutiny. People might just say ‘to Federal Reserve Bank of New stopped and the funds returned. Amando Tetangco told reporters. ported every year. Gaming Corp, which regulates It is one of the biggest cyber hell with it, it’s not worth doing York, which it uses for interna- However, fi ve withdrawals were “Once the funds go into a bank In a March 2 report, the US the industry, says that to prevent heists in history, and since the business with the Philippines’.” tional settlements. made from the accounts in 73 deposit account, that’s it. The State Department said only 49 laundering, money transferred to money trail has gone cold in the The Philippines depends Some attempted transfers minutes the next morning. When trail turns cold.” anti-money laundering cases casinos for players must be ex- Philippines, the perpetrators heavily on remittances from were blocked, but $81mn wound RCBC responded to the SWIFT Sergio Osmena, another sena- have been fi led since the AMLC changed for ‘dead chips’ that can may never be identifi ed. workers abroad, which account up in the Philippines. message later that day, all that re- tor probing the bank heist, has began operating in 2001. The only be cashed in from winnings. The senator, Teofi sto Guing- for about 10% of its GDP. Security researchers blamed mained of the $81mn was $68,305. pressed for years to amend the number of prosecutions and But, for Senator Guingona, ona, told Reuters after a public The country’s central bank malware and a faulty printer but RCBC President Lorenzo Tan bank laws. He made no headway, convictions has been virtually the disappearance of such large hearing on the case last week chief said last week fi nancial said Bangladesh central bank told the Senate he could not he said, because secrecy suits nil. Recent eff orts to include ca- sums into casinos underlines the that fi erce lobbying by the gam- markets had shown no signs of offi cials were also responsible discuss what happened because businesses that want to evade sinos in the law have been held weakness of Manila’s anti-laun- ing industry over the law had left distress over the scandal, but because of weak security proce- of the country’s bank deposit taxes and can bribe lawmakers to up because of forthcoming elec- dering regime and could push the Philippines one of the world’s added: “We have to recognise dures. The bank’s governor and secrecy law, one of the world’s resist legislative change. tions and extensive lobbying the country back into the ‘grey softest targets for money laun- there is a risk that is associated two deputy governors quit their strictest and a legacy of the “I am quite happy that a scan- from the gaming industry, which list’ of the Financial Action Task derers, putting the fi nancial sys- with this.” Unknown hackers jobs over the scandal last week. martial-law era of President dal like this has happened,” Os- the report said was “a weak link” Force (FATF). Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 29 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL Nepal and China sign Earthquake rebuilding fi rst-ever transit treaty chief faces IANS Kathmandu

epal and China have graft probe signed 10 memorandums Nof understanding (MoU), AFP He said there were also con- including the transit and trans- Kathmandu cerns at the slow pace of re- portation treaty, and exchanged construction and relief eff orts. letters on various areas of Gyewali, who is accompa- co-operation during Prime Min- he head of Nepal’s nying Nepal’s prime minister ister K P Sharma Oli’s ongoing earthquake reconstruc- on an offi cial visit to China, visit to the country. Ttion authority is being was not immediately available Oli embarked on his maiden investigated following com- for comment. His spokesman offi cial visit to China on Sun- plaints of corruption and oth- also declined to comment. day at the invitation of Chinese er irregularities, an anti-graft Prime Minister Li Keqiang. offi cial said yeterday. “Several complaints have Among the most important Sushil Gyewali was in De- been fi led against him deals is the transit and trans- cember appointed chief of that allege he is colluding portation treaty that Nepal and the National Reconstruction with NGOs and INGOs in China signed for the fi rst time. It Authority (NRA), charged a way that is against our will end the Himalayan nation’s with spending $4.1bn in funds system and procedure” total dependency on an Indian raised after the quake which sea port for third-country trade killed nearly 9,000 people and The government vowed last links. destroyed more than half a June to set up the NRA to over- These agreements and MoUs million homes last April. see rebuilding and ensure that were signed after the meeting Spokesman Krishna Hari all aid went to victims, as part between Oli and Li in Beijing Pushkar said the Commission of its bid to attract funding yesterday morning. for the Investigation of the from sceptical foreign donors. After fi ve-month agitation Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People Abuse of Authority had re- But political bickering over in Nepal’s southern plains by in Beijing yesterday. ceived complaints about Gye- leadership of the body held up people of Madhes region over wali’s handling of decisions in its formation until December. the republic’s new constitu- port is 1,000km from Nepal. $216mn soft loan for construc- Similarly, one of the commer- sular General Offi ce in Chengdu, his previous job as executive With tens of thousands of tion’s provisions, Nepal’s trade There are concerns that Ne- tion of an airport in Pokhara, the cial banks in China will open its China, were also signed, said director of the Town Devel- the April 25 quake victims still with third-country was halted. pal cannot immediately use the second largest city of Nepal. offi ce in Nepal as per another Gopal Khanal, foreign relations opment Fund, as well as in his living in tents, the government It made the Nepalese leadership Tianjin port as infrastructure in According to details of the agreement. Nepalese banks can expert to Prime Minister Oli. current role. has been strongly criticised to opt for an alternative to the Nepal’s side is poor and the Chi- agreement provided by the also open their branches in China. China will also construct a “Several complaints have for delays in disbursing aid Haldia port of Kolkata. nese side is located at a higher Nepalese side, Nepal and China China will help in installation bridge in far west of Nepal in been fi led against him that al- pledged by donors. With the latest agreement, altitude. also signed the free trade agree- of solar panels in 32,000 house- Hilsa that will connect Nepal lege he is colluding with NGOs Corruption is rife through- Nepal will be able to use the Chi- Another agreement signed is ment to boost the bilateral trade. holds. Agreements in the fi elds of and Tibet. Hilsa was a traditional and INGOs (international out Nepal, ranked 126th out nese seaport for third-country about Chinese soft loan for con- China has also agreed to ex- science and technology, sister- trade route. non-governmental organisa- of 175 countries in watchdog trade through the nearest Tian- struction of a regional airport plore oil and gas resources in Ne- city relations between various Oli is scheduled to meet Chi- tions) in a way that is against Transparency International’s jin port that is 3,000km from in Pokhara, some 200km from pal and will provide all technical Nepalese and Chinese cities, and nese President Xi Jinping in the our system and procedure,” global corruption perception Nepal border. India’s Calcutta Kathmandu. China has pledged and economic support. establishment of Nepal’s Con- afternoon. said Pushkar. index. BNP leader, Bangladesh gets FBI 33 others charged with help on bank heist

violence Reuters as head of the central bank after into the heist on Sunday. “This Dhaka the former governor Atiur Reh- is a wake-up call,” he said of the man resigned amid complaints unprecedented breach in the IANS from the government that it bank’s computer security. Dhaka angladesh police met an had only learned of the heist a A Philippines Senate hearing offi cial of the US Federal month later from the media. last week was told that $30mn BBureau of Investigation Also on Sunday, the wife of of the $81mn haul was delivered olice Bangladesh yes- (FBI) in Dhaka yesterday to try a cyber crime expert reported in cash to an ethnic Chinese ca- Gurkha soldiers on parade in London. There are around 3,500 Gurkhas currently serving in the British Army. terday pressed charges to track down culprits in an he had disappeared after being sino junket operator in Manila. Pagainst former prime attempted $951mn cyber he- abducted from a motor rick- The rest was transferred to two minister Khaleda Zia’s Bang- ist from the country’s central shaw in the early hours of last casinos in the Philippines. ladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) bank. Thursday. He had met police According to his wife, cyber acting secretary general Mirza Initial investigations aim to on Tuesday and told the media crime expert Tanveer Hassan Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 33 identify the origin of a transfer he knew three user IDs used for Zoha was blindfolded by un- Being a British Gurkha: still the heist. known people in plainclothes others in a violence case. order for $81mn that the Fed- A local police sub-inspector eral Reserve Bank of New York Senior police offi cial Mirza early on Thursday before being submitted the charge-sheet in paid from Bangladesh Bank’s Abdullahel Baqui said after taken away in a vehicle. a cherished Nepali dream the case which was fi led with a account there to casinos in the meeting the FBI offi cial that He had gone on Tuesday with police station in Dhaka for al- Philippines, a senior police of- criminals in six countries were a special police force to the legedly vandalising and torching fi cial said. apparently involved in the he- central bank where they spent DPA from diff erent districts, between Nepal. Those who make it, go a vehicle on January 6 last year The transfer, one of the larg- ist. several hours. Afterwards, he Kathmandu the ages of 17-21 are training for through a more rigorous two- during the BNP’s anti-govern- est cyber heists in history, was “This is the biggest tran- told reporters he knew three of the selection test. They run for week selection, during which ment movement. among 35 requests that un- snational organised crime ever the user IDs involved in the he- an hour along the capital’s Ring they are tested physically and The hearing on whether the known hackers made for pay- seen in Bangladesh and so we ist. hen Yogesh Rai failed Road, breathing in the city’s dust psychologically. charges will be taken into cog- ments from the bank’s New sought both technical and hu- Kamrun Nahar Chowdhury, the selection test for and smog before arriving back at “Besides passing the maths nizance is expected to be held on York Fed account in early Feb- man assistance (from the FBI),” Zoha’s wife, said police had Wthe British Army’s the centre for further exercise. and English-language test, we April 22. ruary. he said. refused to investigate her hus- Brigade of Gurkhas in 2007, his “We have sit-ups, press-ups need to cover 2,400m within 9 A BNP spokesman who did Other requested trans- The offi cials also discussed band’s disappearance and she childhood dream was crushed. and heaving practices for two minutes, 40 seconds. We carry not want to be named termed fers from that account, which how to proceed with their in- had appealed to the govern- He was already 21 years old, hours every day,” says 20-year- a wicker basket with 25kg of the cases fi led against the par- Dhaka uses for international vestigation, he added. ment for help to free him. Po- and would not be eligible to ap- old Rakesh Rai. “Along with six sand and run 5km uphill within ty’s leaders as “politically moti- settlements, were apparently A government investigative lice were unavailable for com- ply again. months of physical training, 46 minutes,” explains Rakesh. vated” and said they would fi ght blocked. committee led by former cen- ment. “I wanted to turn my disap- we also have three months of “There’s an entertainment those legally. Former fi nance secretary Fa- tral bank governor Mohammad “We don’t know why he was pointment into success for oth- maths and English lessons.” test, too. We sing, dance, play Meanwhile, the Supreme Court zle Kabir took over on Sunday Farash Uddin began its probe picked up,” she said. ers, so I took the advice of some Rakesh has failed the selection the guitar.” yesterday extended by seven retired soldiers and decided to once, but that has not deterred Each year, around 5,000 days its stay order against a High start a pre-training centre for as- him from trying again, because young highland men apply, out Court order that granted bail piring candidates,” says Yogesh. he says being in the British Army of which fewer than 2,000 get to BNP leader Mirza Abbas in a For the last 200 years, Nepali is a special opportunity. past the fi rst round. Out of those, graft case fi led by the Anti-Cor- Prince Harry takes boat ride youths have been recruited “It’s a matter of pride to be 230 are recruited for the British ruption Commission (ACC) for into the Britain’s forces. The a British soldier and this has Army and 80 for the Singapore irregularities in allocating plots. brigade takes its name from also helped the hill tribes fi ght Police, which is also part of the the home state of king Prithivi poverty.” Amber Shing Sunu- same recruitment process. Narayan Shah, the unifi er of war has also failed the selection “The British took the Gur- Lanka inflation modern Nepal. once, and he too is persisting kha in because they were good up in February His armies beat back an in- this time around. fi ghters in the mountains, vasion by the British East In- “I felt bad for myself when and then built a mystic story Sri Lanka’s consumer prices dia Company’s forces in 1814, my cousins got through last around their bravery. This was nationwide rose 1.7% in February impressing the British by their time, but I was also happy for the British imagination. Hence 2016 from a year ago, according resolve. The subsequent treaty them,” says Sunuwar. “It’s a the perception that Gurkhas to a new national price index, allowed for the recruitment of life-changing opportunity.” are fearless,” says anthropolo- compared with a 0.7% fall in Nepali youth into the army of Sunuwar comes from a vil- gist and writer Deepak Thapa. January, the statistics department the British trading monopoly. lage in Ramechhap district, Following several rounds of said yesterday. “When the British left India where lack of higher educa- protests, in 2004 equal pen- On a month-on-month basis, the in 1947, a tripartite agreement tion pushes people into foreign sions were announced for the national consumer price index on the recruitment of the Nepali employment. One of his elder British Gurkhas who retired af- (NCPI), compiled using prices soldiers was struck. Of the 10 brothers works in Malaysia, ter 2000. But hundreds of them collected from all nine provinces serving Gurkha regiments, six another in Saudi Arabia. who retired before 2000 are still with a base year of 2013, in remained in India, and four “But I want to be a soldier,” demanding equal pensions. February fell 1.1%, similar to the were moved to England,” says he says. “I grew up watching “It (the recruitment) has month before. Rajesh Kulung Rai, secretary of my uncles and my cousins in done Nepal very well, as it pro- “This increase of inflation in the Gurkha Research Council. the uniform and I have always vides good employment. Also in February 2016 was mainly due The regiments chosen by the known this is what I want.” retirement a lot of the men who to the elimination of the eff ect of British included a majority of In the villages inhabited by served in the British Army can price reductions of few essential the indigenous mountain peo- the indigenous tribes, every work as security guards around food items, LP gas, kerosene ple like the Rais, Gurungs and young man is expected to make the world,” explains Thapa. oil, petrol, diesel and bus fare Magars. Still today, joining the an attempt at the selection. For the young men in the hills, in the interim budget proposal British Army is a dream that There are set criteria for the being a ‘lahure’ - in common lo- implemented by the government Nepali boys grow up with. aspirants, mostly relating to cal parlance - is a cherished aspi- in February 2015,” Amara Britain’s Prince Harry is seen on a boat during his tour in Bardia National Park in this handout At the Gurkha Pre-Training physical fi tness. The fi rst round ration, which can bail their fami- Satharasinghe, director general, photo provided by National News Agency of Nepal in Bardia yesterday. Centre in Kathmandu, 18 men takes place in Dharan in eastern lies out of hardship and poverty. census and statistics, said. Gulf Times 30 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 COMMENT

Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Editor-in-Chief : Darwish S Ahmed Production Editor: Water and jobs: Hitting C P Ravindran

P.O.Box 2888 Doha, Qatar two birds with one stone! [email protected] Telephone 44350478 (news), SDG 6 focuses on the 169 targets, aims at nothing less the Arab countries reached 23.8% in government can decide on the best 44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery) entire water cycle, including than “transforming our world” to a 2014. type of water-related jobs it can Fax 44350474 sustainable one. The rapid growth in population focus on based on its needs, human the management of water, The SDGs cover a wide range will boost the demand for water resources, and comparative advantage wastewater, and ecosystem of drivers across the three pillars as consumption rises steadily. In in this fi eld. of sustainable development and addition, many water resources will In this regard, one must point out resources include a dedicated goal on water and dry up due to climate change, rapid that agriculture is not the favourable sanitation (SDG 6) that sets out to urbanisation and industrialisation. sector as thought for many years. By Mohamed Abdel Raouf “ensure availability and sustainable Water stress is expected to reach In fact, on average, agriculture GULF TIMES management of water and sanitation about 80% in 14 Arab countries by consumes around 89%, industry Geneva for all”. 2014. 6% and household 5% % of water SDG 6 focuses on the entire water Therefore, the World Water Day supplied. n March 22 every year, the cycle, including the management of 2016 is a very important opportunity However, the agriculture sector world celebrates the most water, wastewater and ecosystem to tackle water issues that are aff ecting share in GDP in 2015 was 2.3% in Saudi important environmental resources. Realising SDG 6 would, in households, businesses, farms and Arabia and as low as 0.1% in Qatar, Formula One Oday for humankind, the fact, go a long way towards achieving communities. 0.3% in Kuwait and Bahrain, 0.6% in World Water Day (WWD). It is an much of the 2030 Agenda. Arab countries need to solve water the UAE, and 1.4% in Oman. international event that puts the issues to solve other related issues, In contrast, the industry sector’s spotlight on themes related to water The Arab world is the including youth unemployment, that share of GDP in the UAE and Saudi start points to issues. are troubling them. Arabia, for instance, was 61.6% and Every year, WWD focuses on a most water scarce Besides investment in water 46.9% respectively. While the services specifi c aspect or topic that is relevant infrastructure, there is a need to sector share of GDP was 38.2% in the to water issues. region on Earth. develop precise policies and strategies UAE and 50.8% Saudi Arabia. The theme of the 2016 WWD is in this regard. Needless to say, in Islamic a thrilling season “Water and Jobs”, which is a great On the other hand, today according Arab countries need to focus on societies such as the Arab world, opportunity to discuss the importance to the UN, almost half of the world’s promoting regulations that protect efforts to increase awareness and of water in creating jobs, promoting workers - 1.5bn people - work in clean water and create jobs at the same find solutions to water scarcity Formula One leaves Melbourne and heads to sustainable development. water-related sectors and nearly all time. issues should have been easy WWD 2016 is a crucial day for the jobs depend on water. In fact, the social and economic because of religious reasons as Bahrain with spirits lifted by an incident-packed Arab world in general and the GCC There are direct and indirect water consequences could be enormous many Qur’anic verses encourage the season-opener following Saturday’s disastrous in particular. On the one hand, most related jobs. The direct ones are those if governments do not accelerate preservation and protection of water. qualifying. Arab countries suff er from water related to irrigation and agriculture, reforms to deal with water issues in The use of religious guidelines and problems such as scarcity, pollution water maintenance, desalination, the region. principles must be an integral part of The new-look qualifying format is now to be and poor quality. In fact, the Arab water treatment, water science Thus, governments can seize any awareness campaign. scrapped for Bahrain on April 3 after a system world is the most water scarce region and research and many other water this occasion of WWD and the very The water problem in the region is on Earth. engineering jobs. relevant theme of this year to hit two not only an environmental issue, but designed to increase excitement fell fl at when The annual per capita availability The indirect ones include nearly birds with one stone. also an economic, social, and security drivers stayed in the pits having set a time in the of this renewable resource is less almost all other types of work related Governments of the region should problem. than 500cu m in 70% of the region; somehow to water such as tourism, use the occasion to launch a plan The governments need to act right fi nal session. the average annual rainfall is below construction, steel, food industry, for investment in water-related now to secure water and employment “We wanted to improve the show and we went 250mm in 70% of the region and less manufacturing and so on. businesses. needs in the short, medium and long in the wrong direction,” Mercedes F1 head Toto than 100mm in the GCC. Many Arab countries are facing a In turn, this will help both in solving terms. Water issues are very important major challenge over the increase in water problems and creating many Wolff said. as the 2030 agenda for sustainable youth unemployment. According to green jobs, a necessity to reduce zDr Mohamed Abdel Raouf is the The qualifying anti-climax was soon forgotten development, with 17 Sustainable World Bank data, the total percentage unemployment. Sustainability Research Programme in a dramatic Australian Grand Prix race won by Development Goals (SDGs) and of unemployed youth population in It is worth mentioning that each Manager at the Gulf Research Center. Nico Rosberg ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel third. Hardly any surprises in that podium line-up in what at fi rst glance seems a repeat of an often dull 2015 season. But “there was bedlam on the way there in this action-packed curtain-raiser, one which points to a brighter season for the sport,” as Britain’s Telegraph pointed out. The biggest talking point at the Albert Park circuit was the huge crash on Turn 3 of lap 18 in which Fernando The biggest Alonso was able to walk away unharmed talking point from the wreckage of was the huge his McLaren. crash in which His survival was the biggest reason of all Fernando for F1 to be in good Alonso was able heart following the fi rst weekend of the to walk away 21-race season. unharmed Alonso admitted he was lucky to be alive and cited improved safety measures in F1 which has seen many fatalities over the years, with Jules Bianchi in 2015 following a 2014 crash the most recent. “I was in the car fl ying and bouncing around - I could see the sky, then the ground, then the sky again,” Alonso said. A farmer watering a field in Playitas town, Nicaragua. World Water Day is being marked today. The red fl ag which then interrupted the race may have compromised Vettel, who had got off to a fl ying start from third on the grid, with teammate Kimi Raikkonen close behind. European Central Bank goes rogue But after the Alonso crash and a safety-car restart, Ferrari stayed with their tyre plan while defl ation. Instead, it largely refl ects Meanwhile, banks, households and the bank lending channel, so it infl ates Hamilton and Rosberg changed to a one-stop By Sylvester Eijff inger Tilburg low oil prices, which have fallen by small and medium-size enterprises – and distorts – the prices of bonds strategy using the harder medium compound, more than 70% since June 2014. In are still excessively leveraged, and and stocks. fact, if we discard energy and food need time to pay down their debts. More problematic, the ECB policy which paid off in the end. he European Central Bank prices, the eurozone is in a situation of While this might seem to suggest that results in a substantial redistribution Rosberg has made it four wins in a row, (ECB) has done it again. At its structural low infl ation. That, together the ECB’s focus on boosting infl ation of wealth from savers (including following victories on the last three races last recent meeting in Frankfurt, with the oil price, should actually is the right one, the reality is that retirees) in the stronger northern Tthe ECB Governing Council benefi t the economy, as it gives a boost a straightforward expansion of the eurozone countries – namely, season, in his bid to get the better of Hamilton decided to increase bond purchases to consumption and investment. bond-purchase program ignores the Germany, Finland and the Netherlands after twice fi nishing runner-up to the Briton. further, from €60bn ($67bn) to €80bn underlying structural issues affl icting – to the debtors in the southern per month, with corporate bonds now the eurozone’s weaker economies. eurozone countries, including France, But both Mercedes drivers are more wary of also eligible for purchase. The deposit The problems with Worse, by enabling those economies Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Such the Ferrari challenge as the Formula One caravan rate, too, was reduced once again, and the ECB’s current to borrow cheaply, QE permits them transfers were never supposed to be a now stands at -0.4%. This is far from to avoid implementing diffi cult feature of the Economic and Monetary moves on. a neutral policy – and it takes the ECB policy approach are structural reforms. Union, and it is clearly not within the far beyond its mandate of preserving Draghi and the doves on the ECB ECB’s mandate to force fundamental monetary stability. serious Governing Council – namely, the changes to the EMU system – The motivation behind the recent presidents of southern European especially if those changes favour one To Advertise policy moves is clear: ECB president So why has the ECB’s massive countries’ central banks – seem to group of countries. Mario Draghi is committed to curbing quantitative easing (QE) programme, think that they can get a car moving The problems with the ECB’s current [email protected] defl ation, a serious threat to economic which has put plenty of money simply by giving it more gas, even policy approach are serious. Yet the Display growth. After all, in a defl ationary into circulation, failed to stimulate if its clutch is broken. The hawks in ECB seems committed to it – not least, Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 environment, it is more diffi cult to demand for goods and services? One the ECB Governing Council, such as it seems, because QE’s benefi ciaries repay debt, so companies will tend to problem is that banks are reluctant to Bundesbank president Jens Weidmann outnumber those who are footing the Classified postpone investment. Recent Eurostat pass the negative deposit rate through and De Nederlandsche Bank president bill. The longer the ECB keeps up this Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 fi gures, which show that the annual to the savings rate, for fear of losing Klaas Knot, see the folly in this bizarre and irresponsible policy, the consumer-price index fell by 0.2% last depositors. They are thus forced to approach, but they are in the minority. greater the chances that, when the car Subscription month, heighten concerns. increase further their margins on QE was eff ective in spurring fi nally does get going, it will careen out [email protected] But while what is happening mortgages and loans to small and economic growth in the US, because it of control. - Project Syndicate is technically defl ation – that is, medium-size enterprises. As a result, functioned via the capital market. But, sustained price-level decreases that contrary to the goal of QE, they are in Europe, where there is no unifi ed zSylvester Eijffi nger is professor 2014 Gulf Times. All rights reserved may be refl ected in employment or extending less credit to households capital market to allow portfolios to of fi nancial economics at Tilburg other contracts – it is not structural and companies. rebalance, the policy works through University in the Netherlands. Gulf Times Tuesday, March 22, 2016 31 COMMENT Searching for the last lions in Nigeria

There is no simple solution including Tanzania’s Serengeti Park to saving the West African and South Africa’s Kruger National Park, run on a budget of approximately lions, whose males have $500 per square kilometre. shorter manes than their In contrast, most West African parks with lions operate on a budget of southern counterparts just $36 per square kilometre. “Yankari is one of the few areas By Stephanie Findlay where fencing makes sense because AFP/Yankari Game Reserve, Nigeria the situation is so urgent,” said Henschel, speaking from Libreville. To protect the animals and allow nder a starless night sky rangers to patrol more effi ciently, in Yankari Game Reserve, fences need to be built around the Martial Kiki stands on the perimeter of the park, he added. Uback of a battered pick-up “We know how to conserve cats,” he truck searching for the last lions in said. “We just need money to do it.” Nigeria. Kiki has to go through the whole park From the white Toyota Hilux, its for his surveys, even though he knows sides lacerated by branches, the that in the searing heat of March, when 31-year-old researcher from the there is no rain, the lions are probably republic of Benin plays the tormented closer to the river to hunt thirsty prey. sound of a distressed buff alo calf over Field work is diffi cult. a megaphone. Unmaintained roads render swathes In theory, the lions are supposed of the reserve inaccessible to rangers’ to hear the buff alo and come for an patrol vehicles, which gun-toting, easy meal. Then Kiki would shine a machete-wielding poachers who hunt fl oodlight on the hungry, nocturnal on foot exploit. cats and count them for a population Bloody skirmishes are common, estimate. so Kiki is escorted at all times by But despite broadcasting 29 hours six armed rangers, who have had to of calls and trekking 150km through defend him more than once during his Yankari looking for tracks, Kiki hasn’t buff alo calls. seen one lion yet. Not even a paw “We shot to scare them but instead print. of them trying to run away, they shot “I expected to see more than us,” he laughed before adding more this,” Kiki told AFP in the heart of seriously: “I used to like camping the reserve, an expanse of savannah in the bush but now I think it’s too the size of Luxembourg in Nigeria’s dangerous.” northeast, dubbed the country’s Martial Kiki, a young researcher from the republic of Benin, fears that in five to 10 years, lions can disappear completely from Nigeria. With an estimated 35 lions of the By the end of his trip, it’s clear Kiki’s “richest wildlife oasis”. West African subspecies living in two protected natural areas in Nigeria, and ever-diminishing genetic diversity, lion conservation in Nigeria faces a unique challenge. survey will only serve to document “The situation has become the last lions living in Nigeria unless a worse. There has been no response, said Kiki, a languid, boyish man with researchers believe there are just “When we started our fi rst males have shorter manes than dramatic conservation eff ort is put in no tracks,” he said, inadvertently broad shoulders wearing a worn beige under fi ve. comprehensive West Africa lion their southern counterparts, and in place - and fast. likening the situation to one of the baseball cap. The numbers for West Africa are survey in 2009, lions had already lost December were listed as endangered “You know when you are standing darkest scenes from Disney’s The “Now everywhere we’re going there equally dire, with just 400 lions 99% of their West African range,” said by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. on the same ground as the lion, you Lion King, when the protagonist’s are hyena prints.” remaining in the region, according Philipp Henschel, a survey coordinator With chronic mismanagement in feel how strong they are, you can feel pride is overrun by a pack of mangy There are only two areas in Nigeria to the International Union for at the lion conservation organisation the past and underfunding, Yankari your heart beating. You really feel that scavengers. home to lions: Kainji Lake National Conservation of Nature (IUCN), out Panthera. today is struggling to attract the funds this is the king of the jungle,” he said. “In fi ve, 10 years, lions can Park, in the northwest, where some of a total population of 20,000 lions There is no simple solution to it needs to preserve its last lions. “But not in Yankari. Here you can disappear completely from Nigeria,” 30 cats are living, and Yankari, where living in the wild around the world. saving the West African lions, whose Parks famous for their lions, only see lions in pictures.” Letters Weather report Three-day forecast

TODAY Flying is still safest twice. Statistically speaking, fl ying is one can safely say there can be no power? Will that be causing harm to High: 26 C still the safest mode of transport. human activity that will not leave the environment? Low : 20 C Partly cloudy to cloudy with chance mode of transport The average person’s odds of dying any impact on our environment. We shouldn’t exaggerate the of scattered rain, thundery at places in a plane crash is 1 in 20,000, being Everything we do have its effect on problems; instead we should fi nd becomes fine by evening Dear Sir, struck by lightning is one in 3,000, our surroundings. Life has its impact practical ways to reduce humanity’s dying in a car accident one in 100. on environment! carbon footprint. WEDNESDAY The recent crash of Flydubai fl ight Pilots are highly-trained What if the energy we use for High: 27 C FZ981 is a grim reminder that pilot professionals but they can still make sending e-mails and using the Internet SB Low: 19 C error and technical failure can lead to mistakes. comes from solar energy or wind (Full name and address supplied) Sunny awesome tragedies. Weather-related causes could have Nothing conclusive can, however, been behind the FZ981 crash. A build- be said about the cause of the FZ981 up of ice on the jet’s wings could be THURSDAY crash as investigation is still on. a major factor as temperatures at the Please send us High: 26 C Investigators are now probing into crash site were -5C. Our sympathies to your letters Low: 18 C the crash that killed all 62 people on those who lost their loved ones in the Sunny board. fi ery crash. The Boeing 737, which fl ew from By e-mail Dubai to the southern Russian city Farouk Araie [email protected] Fishermen’s forecast Fax of Rostov-on-Don, exploded into a [email protected] 44350474 OFFSHORE DOHA fi reball on Saturday after missing the Or Post Wind: NW 10-20 KT runway in bad weather. Letters to the Editor Waves:2-4/7 Feet It had reportedly been making its Don’t exaggerate INSHORE DOHA Gulf Times Wind: NW-N 06-16/25 KT second attempt to land after circling the problems Waves: 1-3/4 Feet for several hours. P O Box 2888 All 55 passengers and seven crew - Doha, Qatar Around the region including nine diff erent nationalities, Dear Sir, Weather Weather with 45 from Russia - had died All letters, which are subject to editing, should have the today Max/min tomorrow Max/min instantly. The letter, “Impact of e-mails Abu Dhabi Cloudy 32/22 P Cloudy 27/19 While 75% of plane crashes are on our environment”, was taking name of the writer, address and phone number. The writer’s Baghdad P Cloudy 23/11 Sunny 26/12 Dubai caused by pilot error, rarely have the things a bit too far. If e-mails name and address may be withheld by request. Showers 28/21 S T Storms 26/21 Kuwait City Sunny 29/17 Sunny 28/16 same mistakes been made more than contribute to carbon emissions, then Manama P Cloudy 26/21 Sunny 24/20 Muscat P Cloudy 29/24 S T Storms 28/22 Riyadh Sunny 27/13 Sunny 26/13 Tehran Showers 14/08 P Cloudy 17/08 Live issues Have compassion for ailing boss

By Marie G McIntyre to respond to informal leadership, not a critic, Angela may be more Tribune News Service consider meeting with management receptive, so try relating your and suggesting the appointment of feedback to her career objectives. a temporary team lead. This person Start by describing how much you UESTION: Our boss would not replace Emily, but assist her appreciate her operational expertise has a terminal illness with specifi c supervisory tasks. That and customer service skills and then that causes her to have might not only reduce Emily’s burden, explain that you have one area of Qmemory issues. “Emily” but also get those key projects off the concern related to her future as a store was not a very good manager in back burner. manager. the best of times, but her declining For example: “Angela, I would like health has the department Q: Shortly after joining this to make one suggestion that may Around the world fl oundering. Although Emily retail company, I was promoted increase your odds of being promoted. Weather Weather could retire with a pension, for to store manager and transferred I’ve noticed that when something today Max/min tomorrow Max/min some reason she wants to keep to a new location. My assistant goes wrong, you seem worried about Athens M Sunny 21/14 P Cloudy 20/14 working. manager, “Angela”, has been here being blamed, which makes your Beirut Sunny 19/13 M Sunny 22/18 M Sunny 35/27 Most of us have tried to work for seven years and probably responses sound rather defensive. Bangkok 37/27 P Cloudy Berlin Showers 08/02 Showers 08/01 around Emily’s defi ciencies, but believes our positions should be Upper management won’t react well to Cairo Sunny 26/13 P Cloudy 31/21 some people are using this as an reversed. She often says she hopes this, so I think it’s something we need Cape Town P Cloudy 27/16 Sunny 24/16 excuse to goof off . Key projects to have her own store before long. to work on.” Colombo P Cloudy 33/26 M Sunny 33/26 have now been put on hold, so Although Angela has terrifi c The next time Angela reacts Dhaka Sunny 34/23 Sunny 34/22 Hong Kong Showers 18/17 Showers 19/13 it feels like we’re just treading Since you aren’t walking in her shoes, skills in customer service and defensively, refer to this discussion Istanbul P Cloudy 18/11 M Cloudy 21/12 water. We would like to get past make an eff ort to be less judgmental. operations, I feel she has one and suggest that she try rephrasing Jakarta T Storms 31/25 S T Storms 32/26 this management problem and Viewed another way, this major drawback as a leader. her comments. If you remind her Karachi Sunny 34/20 Sunny 34/22 be a productive team again. What “management problem” is actually Whenever things go wrong, she that she’s practicing for a possible London M Sunny 12/06 M Cloudy 13/05 P Cloudy Sunny 36/23 should we do? a leadership opportunity. When reacts defensively and looks for management role, she might actually Manila 35/23 Moscow Snow -1/-7 P Cloudy -2/-8 faced with a crisis, a team of mature someone to blame. I’m afraid appreciate your eff orts. New Delhi Sunny 32/17 Sunny 34/17 ANSWER: First, instead of professionals should be able to pull this could limit her promotional New York M Sunny 13/08 P Cloudy 21/09 harbouring resentment towards your together, make collaborative decisions opportunities, but I hesitate zMarie G McIntyre is a workplace Paris P Cloudy 12/04 P Cloudy 13/05 ailing boss, you might try to muster up and complete critical projects. But if to mention it because I’ve only coach and the author of Secrets to Sao Paulo T Storms 31/20 S T Storms 27/19 Seoul P Cloudy 14/03 Sunny 13/-1 some compassion. Emily undoubtedly some members are neither mature nor known her a few months. How Winning at Offi ce Politics. Send in Singapore M Cloudy 32/27 S T Storms 34/27 has her reasons, both practical and professional, then the natural leaders should I handle this? questions and get free coaching tips at Sydney Rain 21/14 Sunny 26/16 personal, for choosing to remain must try to guide the group. http://www.youroffi cecoach.com, or Tokyo Clear 1 6 /0 4 Cloudy 17/06 employed during this diffi cult time. If your slackers seem unlikely A: If you appear to be an advocate, follow her on Twitter @offi cecoach Gulf Times 32 Tuesday, March 22, 2016 QATAR Global institutions Internet, social media ‘have changed ways urged to protect of framing stories ’

By Joey Aguilar Staff Reporter

journalists and he advent of Internet and social media have changed the way journalists frame Ttheir stories, Al Jazeera Plus managing di- rector Dima Khatib told the World Media Summit Doha 2016 yesterday. “The people have become the tool with which I make and disseminate my story,” she said, citing end impunity the audiences’ preference in selecting and “lik- ing” the kind of content posted online. By Joey Aguilar Speaking about the impact of technology on Staff Reporter new reporting, she also showed a video of a man who uses sword and fi re in cutting women’s hair, which got more than 186mn views and around he International Federation of Jour- 3.4mn subscribers on Facebook. She felt a jour- nalists (IFJ) has reiterated that inter- nalist like her no longer holds the authority of Tnational institutions ought to protect telling people what is true or not, which was not journalists and end impunity everywhere by the case in the past. forcing governments to abide by United Na- “Before, when they see it on television, it was Dima Khatib speaking at the event. tions (UN) resolutions. like sacred and it must be true, or because it was “Perhaps we do not need to have further published in newspapers,” Khatib recalled. feedback to frame and come up with better stories. declarations but the core of our joint cam- But now, she said journalists are obliged to Al Jazeera has been doing this on the ground, paign should be to urge international institu- prove the authenticity of their news report or according to Khatib saying their reporters con- tions to take action,” stressed IFJ president video, especially when the public reacts to com- nect news subjects and sources to those who post Jim Boumelha on the second and fi nal day of ments and direct messages. comments online.“For example, our reporter the World Media Summit Doha 2016 yester- “As a news organisation, I do not have that au- who is in Macedonia speaks with refugees and day. thority anymore,” she said. “Many times even if I then translates to them the comments. Then he Many of the resolutions adopted both prove it, people will question it and come up with posts it back on the thread,” she added. “We do at UN and at the regional level to explicitly ‘counter truth.’ As a journalist, I have to fi ght not own the platform where we operate and this address the issue of impunity are weak and back with another ‘counter truth’ to convince is a true challenge.” non-binding, he observed. them that I am telling the truth.” According to Daya Thussu, professor of In- Based on IFJ’s records, around 2,700 jour- While such set up serves as a big challenge to ternational Communication at the University nalists have died in the last 25 years, an aver- many journalists, she said that it also provided of Westminster in UK, about 8.8bn videos are age of about two journalists or media workers them an opportunity to use these reactions or watched on Youtube and 186mn photos are post- dying every week. ed on Instagram daily. In addition, about 2.3bn The invasion of Iraq triggered the killing GB of web traffi c is used, 152mn call using Skype, of more than 400 journalists and the scale of 803mn tweets are on Twitter, 36mn purchases unsolved journalists’ murder “hits as hard as are made on Amazon, 4.2bn searches are made a bullet.” IFJ president Jim Boumelha speaking at the World Media Summit Doha 2016 yesterday. on Google and 207bn e-mails are sent daily. Killers also get away with murders (nine The massive use of social media and Internet has out of 10 cases), about 89% without being lives, sometimes mistaken for combatants, election in the Philippines seven years ago? It also signifi cantly posted huge decline in ad rev- persecuted. get fatally caught in the crossfi re, or walk on is the biggest single mass murder of journal- enues of many new organisations such as newspa- When IFJ started counting the number of a landmine,” the IFJ offi cial added. ists,” he said. pers and television networks, according to Thussu. killed journalists in 1990, it recorded 40 cas- He lamented that few journalists can rely “The same case in Yemen, that thread is He said New York Times’ $3.5bn revenue in es in the same year. on international institutions to defend their a problem of impunity that cuts across geo- the year 2000 decreased to about $1.8bn in 2014 “We do not just remember them and pay rights when jailed or murdered. graphic and political boundaries,” he said. “It (14 years), which is more than 50% down. In the our respect but we also protest relentlessly, According to Boumelha, nearly three out is perhaps the single greatest threat to press same period, Google grew from zero to $66mn. expose the shameful failure of governments of four (75%) journalists killed around the freedom everywhere.” Earlier this month in the UK, The Independent to properly investigate and prosecute the world did not step on a landmine or get shot Boumelha blamed weak judicial system, no newspaper also stopped its print edition. killers and we lead the fi ght for justice,” Bou- in crossfi re but murdered – either gunned political will to back investigations and in- “Digital natives such as Buzzfeed started melha said. “In their names we also do more down, stabbed or tortured. competent investigators as reasons why im- publishing on Facebook instant articles while every day to fi nd ways of making journalism Citing the case in Somalia, he noted that punity thrives in countries where journalists the traditional media however still struggles in safer.” more than half of journalists killed did not had been murdered. pushing for distribution power,” he noted. He noted that many of the victims are local die in a fi refi ght or bombing attack but were “Who is behind all these journalists’ mur- Khatib echoed Thussu’s statement saying the beat reporters whose names do not resonate murdered individually. der? It is estimated that in many cases, they challenge now is how to control back over where in the media. “Does anybody remember a single name are government offi cials,” he said. “We all to spread content by using technology to tradi- “These are diff erent from by-lined war of the more than 30 journalists (out of the agree that the world is now a more dangerous Professor Daya Thussu at the event. tional media’s favour. “I would love to see a solu- correspondents, who knowingly risk their 58 victims) killed in one incident during an place for journalists.” PICTURES: Nasar T K tion that would pioneer such a path.” All-new Toyota Fortuner to off er ‘impressive off -road capabilities’

oyota recently announced the launch of the 2016 TFortuner in the Middle East, unveiling a second-gener- ation model that “builds on its heritage of being a durable SUV with impressive off -road capa- bilities”. A number of offi cials from Toyota and Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros Co (AAB), distributor of Toyota vehicles in Qatar, attend- ed the launch ceremony in Doha. With the new Fortuner, Toyota has focused on creating a more Dignitaries at the opening of the exhibition. distinctive, sleek and power- ful design while improving per- formance and adding a wide variety of features to increase convenience, safety and ride Katara expo showcases connect comfort, according to a state- ment. Hiroki Nakajima, the For- Abdullah Abdulghani & Bros Co and Toyota off icials at the launch ceremony of the Fortuner in Doha. between Arabic, Greek cultures tuner’s executive chief engineer, PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil said: “Our development concept was to build a true SUV that has an SUV. There are eight exterior The Fortuner is available in a members, side rails and suspen- eaturing artworks from and curator Marilena Kout- by the images and the spirit of style and confi dence. The all- colours: Phantom Brown ME, wide range of petrol and diesel sion towers, enhancing the tor- the 20th century and soukou, opened on Sunday at the East. new Fortuner is the outcome of Nebula Blue ME, Super White 2, engine options. The petrol op- sional and bending rigidity of the Fthose created on the spot, Building 18. The works are by Greek art- our continuous eff orts to rede- White Pearl CS, Silver ME, At- tions include a 2.7-litre four- frame. This not only improves the ‘Greek art and orientalism’ The exhibition that contin- ists who are being constantly fi ne toughness while off ering titude Black MC, Gray ME and cylinder engine, which produces durability, but also enhances exhibition, jointly organised by ues until March 30 highlights inspired by the tales of the our customers powerful vehicles Avant-Garde Bronze ME. 164hp and 25.0 Kg-m of torque, quality and safety. the Cultural Village Foundation the interaction of Arabic and Middle East, and its contem- with drastically improved off - The interior exhibits the and a 4.0-litre V6 engine, which There is also a Drive Mode - Katara, the embassy of Greece Greek cultures and is inspired porary culture. road capabilities.” toughness of an SUV, tempered churns out 235hp and 38.3 Kg-m Switch that off ers a choice of They are Giannis Poulios, According to Takayuki Yoshit- with the elegance of a premium of torque. The diesel engine fea- Eco or Power driving, while an Dimitris Tiniakos, Aptin sugu, chief representative, Mid- sedan. tures a 2.4-litre turbo, which easy-to-use 4WD Switch is also Aptinian, Artin Artinian, An- dle East and North Africa rep- Innovative touches (model- produces 147hp and 40.8Kg-m available. thonis E Theodoridis, Nikolaos resentative offi ce, Toyota Motor dependent) include a 7-inch, of torque. The Fortuner’s safety systems Magiasis, George Panoutsoulos Corporation: “The all-new For- tablet-inspired multimedia The SUV has a six-speed au- include the Anti-Lock Braking and Paris Alexander Prekas. tuner is a completely redesigned touchscreen display. With a full- tomatic transmission, which System with Electronic Brake- Katara’s deputy director for SUV that enhances driving con- colour display, the Rear View maximises engine potential and force Distribution. It also comes Operations Aff airs Ahmad al- fi dence on every level while set- Monitor System ensures peace multi-stage gears optimised to with the Supplemental Restraint Sayed described the exhibition ting a new standard for SUVs all of mind when reverse parking. improve drive force in the low- System for the front seats along as an illustration of the historic around the world.” Drag and fl ick operation is also speed range. with a knee airbag for the driver. and cultural ties between east Toyota has created a new supported, while smartphones The Fortuner has a newly-de- In terms of seatbelts, a three- and west. The event highlights “Solid Fluidity” design language and portable media devices can veloped frame structure with ri- point Emergency Locking Re- the impact of the Arabic and for the Fortuner, which ex- be used freely. gidity increased to the limit, de- tractor seatbelt is equipped on Islamic culture on others’ cul- presses toughness and wideness The Fortuner has a 4.2-inch livering exceptional toughness in all seats. When impact is sud- tures’ arts, literature and archi- through the high body axis, the Thin Film Transistor type mul- the harshest environments while denly applied during a collision, tecture. bulging wheel arch fl ares as well ti-information display, which preventing torsion and distor- the seatbelt locks to restrain the Greek ambassador Ioannis as the chunky trapezoidal front shows driving information, tion to provide a stable driving passenger. Metaxas said the event refl ects bumper, the statement noted. navigation display function, Eco experience. A top tether anchor com- the strong historic links be- The Fortuner has a tough yet Drive Indicator and idling-stop On the ride and handling patible with the Child Re- tween the Greek nation and the smart rear design that defi es time, and also has an audio op- front, an all-new frame has been straint System is present for the An artwork on display. Arab world since antiquity. the typical unrefi ned image of eration function. bolstered by strengthened cross second-row seat.