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FRIDAY Vol. XXXVI No. 9961 January 8, 2016 Rabia I 28, 1437 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals PM meets Turkish official Markets In brief slip as oil REGION | Security Heaviest air strikes yet rock Sanaa Dozens of air strikes hit the Yemeni capital Sanaa yesterday, in what residents described as the heaviest plunges to aerial attacks yet in nine months of war. The strikes pounded the presidential palace and a mountain military base to the south of the city, causing children and teachers in several schools to flee for their lives. HE the Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani met yesterday with the visiting Meanwhile, Yemen’s pro-Abd-Rabbu Undersecretary of Turkish Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Ahmet Erdem, and his accompanying delegation. During new lows Mansour Hadi foreign ministry the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to develop and promote them, as well as a declared the representative of the number of issues of mutual interest. Page 2 Fears about China’s economy prices by bringing supply into line with UN High Commissioner for Human caused a third day of stock market demand. Rights persona non grata after what falls around the world as tension The decline carried on in North it said were unfair statements. between Saudi Arabia and Iran America following news that US oil pushed oil to its lowest level for a stocks had risen by 10% in the past decade week - the biggest increase since 1993. ARAB WORLD | Confl ict At one point, Brent crude was down al- Syria govt allows aid Guardian News & Media most 6% on the day at levels not seen into starving town Coalition denies bombing London since 2004. Analysts believe the price could tumble below $30 a barrel in the Syria’s government gave permission coming weeks. yesterday for UN aid deliveries to lobal fi nancial markets suff ered “With the lack of a strong upward three besieged towns, including a third day of new year turbu- catalyst on the horizon, we are not out Madaya near Damascus where Iran embassy in Yemen Glence after fresh fears for the of the woods yet [on oil prices],” said residents say people are starving to health of China’s economy and tension Miswin Mahesh, an oil market analyst death. “The UN welcomes today’s Agencies Abdollahian said, quoted by offi cial in severing ties with Tehran as Saudi- between Saudi Arabia and Iran sent the at Barclays Capital , adding: “Non- approval from the government of Riyadh news agency IRNA. Iran tensions grow. price of oil plummeting to its lowest Opec production from the North Sea, Syria to access Madaya, Fuaa and The Iranian accusations came days “Somalia can no longer watch these level in more than a decade. Canada and Brazil is falling, but not Kafraya and is preparing to deliver after Saudi Arabia broke off diplomatic violations by Iran against the sov- US benchmark West Texas Inter- quick enough at a time when demand is humanitarian assistance in the he Saudi-led coalition fi ghting ties with Iran in response to an arson ereignty of Somalia as a nation,” the mediate for February delivery fell 70 weak, partly due to a mild winter in the coming days,” a UN statement said. rebels in Yemen yesterday de- attack on its own embassy in Tehran by ministry’s statement said. cents, or 2.1%, to fi nish $33.27 a bar- northern hemisphere.” It said there were “credible reports Tnied an accusation by Tehran protesters infuriated by Riyadh’s ex- The Iranian embassy’s acting envoy, rel on the New York Stock Exchange. New numbers showed the Chinese of people dying from starvation” in that its warplanes had targeted the ecution of a Shia cleric. Javad Dehghan Lotfabadi, and his team WTI had hit a low of $32.10 in early service sector growing at its lowest Madaya. Page 3 Iranian embassy there. Coalition warplanes and troops should depart from Somalia within 72 European trading, a level last seen in level for 17 months, while a fi fth con- An investigation found that “the have since March been supporting hours, it said. December 2003. secutive month of weaker manufactur- allegations are false and that no op- local forces in Yemen on the side of Pakistan yesterday welcomed Saudi In London, European benchmark ing data led to a 7% fall in equity prices EAST ASIA | Nuclear test erations were carried out around the President Abd-Rabbo Mansour Hadi Arabia’s initiative to form a military Brent North Sea crude oil for February in Shanghai on Monday. The market Push for sanctions embassy or near to it,” a coalition against Iran-backed Houthi rebels and coalition of 34 countries to fi ght “ter- fell 48 cents (1.4%) to $33.75 a barrel. subsequently stabilised after Beijing statement said. their allies who seized large parts of rorism” in the Islamic world. Earlier Brent had fallen to $32.16, its fi rst suspended share dealing and then against North Korea “It also confi rms the embassy build- the country. The gesture came as Saudi Foreign lowest level since April 2004. stepped in to the market to buy stocks. The US, South Korea and Japan are ing is safe and has not been damaged.” Meanwhile, Somalia yesterday cut Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir Share prices were also down, with Laura Eaton, analyst at the London- pushing for stronger international Earlier yesterday Iran said it would diplomatic ties with Iran and gave Ira- met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif London’s FTSE 100 closing 64 points based consultancy Fathom, said China sanctions on North Korea, the protest to the UN Security Council af- nian embassy staff 72 hours to leave in Islamabad. lower at 6,073 and New York’s Dow was growing at 2.4% a year rather than the three countries said a day after ter it accused Saudi warplanes of de- the country. Riyadh announced the formation Jones industrial average dropping be- 6.9% indicated by offi cial statistics. She Pyongyang announced it had liberately bombing its diplomatic mis- The Foreign Ministry in Mogadishu of the coalition last month signalling low the 17,000 level in early trading. added that the authorities in Beijing were carried out a fourth nuclear test. US sion in the Yemeni capital Sanaa. said in a statement that Iran’s diplo- a more assertive foreign policy by the Oil’s slide began in east Asia, where likely to respond by allowing the currency President Barack Obama and South “During an air raid by Saudi Arabia mats committed violations against kingdom. Beijing’s decision to allow its currency, to weaken further in order to boost ex- Korean President Park Geun-Hye against Sanaa, a rocket fell near our Somalia by meddling in internal aff airs The regional Sunni power said the the yuan, to weaken prompted con- ports, and by reducing interest rates from agreed to co-operate on a new UN embassy and unfortunately one of and playing a negative role in stability, alliance would share intelligence, cerns in fi nancial markets that China’s 4.35% to zero by the end of 2017. resolution for strong sanctions, our guards was seriously wounded,” security and unity. combat violent ideology and deploy economy is performing much less “China has a longstanding problem the president’s off ice in Seoul said. Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Somalia joined Sudan and Djibouti troops if necessary. Page 14 strongly than suggested by offi cial sta- of non-performing loans and while Obama also spoke with Japanese tistics. policy stimulus may stall the slow- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Page 8 The selling then continued in Europe down in growth, it is not going to solve as dealers calculated that the tension the country’s long-term problems”, between two of the world’s biggest oil Eaton said. She estimated that unem- SPORT | Football producers - Saudi Arabia and Iran - ployment, offi cially 4%, was currently Platini withdraws bid Iran N-deal implementation ‘days away’ would prevent Opec from agreeing on 7% and likely to rise to 11%. Business for FIFA presidency production cuts that might stabilise Pages 5, 7 & 12 Suspended UEFA chief Michel Platini would be ready to begin lifting its nu- plementation, if all goes well.” AFP Saudi plunge leads Gulf markets down yesterday withdrew from the race Washington clear-related sanctions against Tehran. Kerry said Iran had shipped its stock to become FIFA president, telling “The foreign minister made it clear of low-enriched uranium to Russia L’Equipe that he will concentrate on to me they intend to complete obliga- and that additional steps Iran was tak- Gulf stock markets fell sharply led the 20-stock Qatar Index to plummet clearing his name instead. “I will not S Secretary of State John Kerry tions with respect to implementation ing would leave it at least a year from yesterday amid a fresh slide of oil. The 3.02% to 9,767.22 points. present myself for the presidency said yesterday implementation day as rapidly as possible,” Kerry said. achieving a nuclear capability even if it Saudi stock index sank 4.5%, its biggest Dubai’s index tumbled 3.4% in an of FIFA. I am withdrawing my Uof the Iran nuclear deal may be “And we are currently engaged our- changed its mind. “With that, Iran lit- daily drop since August, to close at almost indiscriminate sell-off . Abu candidature. I no longer have the only “days away,” with Tehran on track selves in making certain that we’re erally shipped out its capacity currently 6,225 points, its lowest fi nish since Dhabi dropped 3.2% in a broad sell-off . time nor the means to go to the to meet its pledge to put a bomb be- prepared to move on that day and I to build a nuclear weapon,” he said. December 2011. Elsewhere in the Gulf, Kuwait’s index voters, to meet people, to fight yond its reach. think it could come - without being “We went from two months of po- The Qatar Stock Exchange plunged 304 fell 1.6% to 5,475 points; Oman’s index against the other candidates,” said Kerry told reporters he had spoken to specifi c - sooner rather than later.” tential breakdown time, two to three points and lost QR15bn in capitalisation. dropped 0.5% to 5,365 points, while Platini in reference to the January 26 Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif, Earlier, Kerry had hailed the deal’s months to nine months. And in the An across-the-board-selling, particularly Bahrain’s index slid 0.7% to 1,202 points. deadline for nominations to succeed who insisted Iran would live up to its “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, next days we will meet our task of be- in the real estate and insurance sectors, Business Page 1 Sepp Blatter. Sport Page 1 promises, and the secretary said the US from which we are days away from im- ing more than a year of breakout time.” New app launched to track lost or stolen smartphones

By Joey Aguilar “We want to give smartphone us- the handset off , silence or stop the ple have to keep their gadgets very close Staff Reporter ers/owners the maximum protection ringing, and hence cannot sell it too,” with them because it is related to their against numerous threats on their gadg- the CEO noted. The app also automat- work and to their family,” he maintained. ets,” Copperseeds Technologies manag- ically locks the device once it detects a The cost varies. For example, a pack- ost or stolen smartphones can ing director and CEO Arun Babu said at sim change besides locking all mobile age for a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 may now be easily tracked or recovered the launch event. applications. range from QR59 to QR240 for one Lusing a fi rst-of-its-kind mobile Physical, liquid and fi re damages, vi- A device may also be tracked and re- year plus the actual cost of the mobile security application launched in Qatar rus attacks, mobile and identity theft, covered by registering its International phone. Customers who buy smart- yesterday. data loss, and high fi nancial cost of serv- Mobile Equipment Identity with a cen- phones from any outlet in Qatar can Knightfox Smart Warranty has been icing are covered by Knightfox Smart Off icials of Intertec and Copperseeds Technologies launching the Knightfox Smart tralised lost mobile database, also a fea- avail of Knightfox Smart Warranty brought to the country by prominent Warranty. Warranty in Doha yesterday. PICTURE: Thajudheen ture of Knightfox. from Intertec. technology enterprise Intertec in part- The ‘remote locate’ feature instantly To stop thieves or strangers from get- For damaged phones, Babu noted that nership with Copperseeds Technolo- tracks and maps where the device is, us- tries to touch the phone’s screen. These activated – making it easier to track the ting personal data on a lost device, the a minimal fee will be charged under the gies, a leading Indian mobile security ing GPS or tower location. It reports the images will be saved on the Knightfox device. ‘confi dential data wipe’ remotely wipes scheme. Asked if users would intention- services provider, based at Kinfra Park, approximate location of the device in anti-theft site (www.knightfox.me). Another feature of the app is the ‘re- the data by an SMS or a command from ally damage their smartphones to bene- Koratty, Kerala. real time. The app also locks and prevents mote theft alarm’ which activates a con- a web control panel. fi t from the warranty, the offi cial added: The mobile security application off ers In theft mode, the device once report- anyone from accessing fi les from the tinuous loud ringing even in the silent Knightfox received a good response “Culprits will be there and we are ex- several features that will help in tracking, ed missing automatically takes a mug phone. Once locked, reset (factory set- mode. from the Indian market where it was fi rst pecting that but the good people should recovering data and recovering lost units. shot of the person every time he or she ting) and shutdown features will be de- “The thief will not be able to turn launched, according to the CEO. “Peo- not suff er because of them.” Gulf Times 2 Friday, January 8, 2016 QATAR

Transport Minister meets Danish FM Justice Minister receives Indian envoy In brief

Labour Minister meets Turkish delegation

HE Minister of Labour and Social Aff airs Dr Abdullah Saleh Mubarak al-Khulaifi met the visiting technical delegation of the Turkish Employment Agency (ISKUR) in Doha yesterday. During the meeting, they HE the Minister of Transport Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti holding a meeting with the Danish Foreign HE the Minister of Justice Dr Hassan Lahdan Saqr al-Mohannadi holding talks with Indian discussed a number of issues of Minister, Kristian Jensen, in Doha yesterday. Talks dealt with relations between Qatar and Denmark ambassador to Qatar Sanjeev Arora in Doha yesterday. Talks dealt with legal co-operation between common interest. in the field of transport and means of enhancing them. Qatar and India, as well as issues of common concern. The meeting was attended by ambassador of Turkey to Qatar Ahmad Dimerok. Culture Minister meets Niger’s QRCS holds courses for Syria relief workers ambassador HE the Minister of Culture, Arts atar Red Crescent Society Human Rights Law and the Islamic and Heritage Dr Hamad bin (QRCS) recently organised two perspective to both. Abdul Aziz al-Kuwari met the Qcourses to build the capacity of The lectures were delivered by Dr ambassador of Niger to Qatar relief workers involved in Syria in the Saad Rostom, manager of the Interna- Mubarak Hassan Boubacar in fi eld of child malnutrition treatment tional Humanitarian Law and Islamic Doha yesterday. and human rights in the International Shariah Promotion Project, as well as They discussed the prospects of Humanitarian Law and Islamic Shariah. Dr Osama al-Shorbagi and Malik Nasser cultural co-operation between In co-ordination with the food clus- from Afaq Academy. the two countries, and ways of ter in northern Syria, led by the Offi ce Certifi cates of participation and enhancing them. for the Co-ordination of Humanitar- course material were shared with the The Niger ambassador ian Aff airs, the QRCS mission in Turkey attendees. appreciated the development held a course for trainers on Communi- These course are part of QRCS’s ef- witnessed by the culture sector ty-based Management of Acute Malnu- forts to support the Syrian people in in Qatar. trition (CMAM). their protracted calamity, whether in The course was attended by 30 co- terms of relief (food/non-food aid, Attorney General ordinators, project managers and med- medicines, blankets, tarpaulins, ambu- ics from 17 humanitarian agencies in lances and rehabilitation of camps hit in Sudan talks northern Syria. They were trained in by fi re or snow), development (building methods and techniques of treating clay houses, establishing and operating Vice-President of Sudan Hassabo children with acute malnutrition, as health centres, providing fuel for civil Mohamed Abdel Rahman met well as how to make an eff ective medical defence vehicles, opening humanitar- HE the Attorney General Dr Ali intervention on the ground. ian corridors, securing water trucks in bin Fetais al-Marri in Khartoum The fi ve-day course was held at the residential neighbourhoods, installing yesterday. Talks dealt with issues headquarters of the Awraq Community water networks and heaters at camps), of common interest. Dr al-Marri Development Organisation, Gaziantep, One of the courses being delivered. or humanitarian diplomacy and advoca- also met Sudan’s Chief Justice, with funding from QRCS. It was con- cy (organising and participating in con- Professor Haider Ahmed Dafalla, ducted in Arabic and English, and cer- tres. The trainers will later share their ganised in co-ordination with Afaq The two-day course was attended ferences and events to raise awareness and discussed co-operation in tifi cates and material were shared with skills and knowledge with fi eld practi- Academy, including nine lectures on the by 20 trainees from QRCS and Syrian among the international community the legal field between Qatar the participants. tioners, including types, factors, clini- International Humanitarian Law, Inter- NGOs working in Gaziantep. about the serious humanitarian condi- and Sudan. The meetings The purpose of the course was to pre- cal symptoms and classifi cation of acute national Human Rights Law and their The participants received useful ba- tions of Syrians in their own country and were attended by Qatar’s pare CMAM trainers, which is crucial to malnutrition. link with the teachings of Islamic Sha- sic information about the Internation- in neighbouring places such as Lebanon, ambassador to Sudan Rashid bin treat child malnutrition at QRCS cen- In parallel, another course was or- riah. al Humanitarian Law, International Jordan, Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. Abdulrahman al-Nuaimi. Number of female bus passengers increasing

By Joey Aguilar Mall and City Center Doha, to and from the same desti- for children. However, she Staff Reporter among others,” he noted. nation at West Bay. hopes that more buses will The driver recounted that “Now, you will see them be deployed on major routes this was not the case way waiting at bus stops near our to serve the increasing he number of female back in 2010 when very few accommodation and one a number of passengers both bus passengers in female passengers could be few metres from the mall in male and female. TDoha has been sig- seen taking the buses as taxis the evening,” he added. While buses provide at nifi cantly increasing in the used to be their preferred While waiting time is least a better alternative for past fi ve years, some Karwa mode of transportation go- longer than for the taxi, fe- transportation, many resi- bus drivers told Gulf Times. ing to work or to other places. male expatriates fi nd the dents hope that travelling Besides the growing ex- However, the opening of bus safer and more practical from one place to another patriate population in Qatar, major shopping malls, other nowadays. will be more convenient and one of the drivers said taxi business establishments “I really don’t like riding a faster once the Doha Metro woes, which continue to be a and commercial buildings bus but it is the only option is inaugurated. dilemma to many commut- across Doha, Al Wakrah and available. I had to wake up Taxi woes have also com- ers, have prompted a large Al Khor has resulted in an too early to avoid being late pelled many female expa- number of female workers increase in the number of at work but I was able to save triates to secure driving to take buses instead. female bus passengers. more money,” said Mona, an licences and buy their own “Many of the female pas- Filipino expatriate Jojo, employee of one of the shops cars. A source from a lead- sengers are Filipinos, In- who travels from Aziziyah to at City Center Doha. ing driving school in Doha dians and Sri Lankans who City Center Doha by bus also Besides cheaper fares, told Gulf Times that they work in major malls such as had the same observation. she now fi nds the bus more also recorded an increasing Gulf, Landmark, Ezdan, Vil- Before, he said he rarely saw convenient with front seats number of female students laggio, Hyatt Plaza, Al Khor female passengers travelling dedicated for them and in the past four years. Emir pardons 10 Filipino prisoners

By Joey Aguilar Emir usually issues pardons ing their sentences in Qatar passion displayed by HH the Staff Reporter twice a year, the other dur- while some had ongoing Emir and the government of ing the holy month of Ram- cases in courts. Qatar.” adan.” The embassy is now co- In July last year, the Emir en overseas Filipino People who were granted ordinating with the Search also pardoned 12 OFWs, in- workers (OFWs), in- clemency are often those and Follow-Up Department cluding one female) in light Tcluding one female, who have already served a under the Ministry of Inte- of the holy month of Ram- were pardoned by HH the substantial portion of their rior for the immediate repa- adan. In 2014, nine female Emir Sheikh Tamim bin sentences. triation of the OFWs. OFWs who were convicted Hamad al-Thani on the Cota Arimao, head of As- “We sincerely welcome of immorality and theft also occasion of the Qatar Na- sistance to Nationals at the the clemency granted to 10 received clemency. tional Day on December 18, embassy, said the pardoned Filipino prisoners by HH the The embassy, as well as the Philippine embassy has OFWs were convicted of Emir on the occasion of the community members, has said. theft, possession of il- National Day, same as the been continuously remind- In a statement posted on legal drugs and bounced previous Eid al-Fitr,” Phil- ing OFWs in the country to the website of the Depart- cheques. ippine ambassador Wilfre- follow the rules and regula- ment of Foreign Aff airs, the He noted that more than do Santos told Gulf Times. tions of the host country to embassy noted that “the 100 Filipinos were still serv- “This shows the great com- avoid being jailed.

Egyptian expat dies in road crash

n Egyptian expatriate was killed hailed from the Suhag region of the Upper in a road accident yesterday when Egypt. Ahis car overturned after one of its Four of his brothers are in Qatar, includ- tyres burst near Al Wakrah town before ing one employed with the Gulf Publish- noon. He was the sole occupant of the ing & Printing Company. vehicle. Eff orts are under way to send the body The victim, Ibrahim al-Dabaa (22) to his native place. Ibrahim al-Dabaa Gulf Times Friday, January 8, 2016 3 REGION/ARAB WORLD

Celebrating Christmas Israeli tourists fi red on in Cairo Reuters hind the hotel, the ministry said. Cairo One gunman was arrested at the scene and security forces surrounded the other attacker unmen yesterday opened in another part of Cairo, said se- fi re on Israeli tourists as curity sources earlier. There has Gthey boarded a bus in Cairo been no claim of responsibility but there were no casualties, secu- for the attack. rity sources said, while the Interior Bilal Mahajne, deputy mayor Ministry said the attack was di- of Umm el-Fahm, an Arab town rected at security forces. in northern Israel, said on Israel Egypt declared it would step Radio that one of his associates up security at major tourist at- had spoken to some of the tour- tractions last year after Islam- ists who were on the bus. “They ist militants carried out several are all safe and well, and back in attacks, causing its struggling the hotel in Cairo,” he said, add- tourism industry to slump fur- ing the group was on an organ- ther. ised tour. Yesterday’s shooting took In June last year, a suicide place at the Three Pyramids Ho- bomber blew himself up near the tel, on a road leading to the Giza ancient Karnak Temple in the pyramids southwest of the capi- southern city of Luxor, wound- tal. ing three Egyptians. A week It is likely to raise questions earlier, gunmen on a motorcycle over President Abdel Fattah al- shot dead two members of the Sisi’s repeated promises to stamp tourism police at Giza. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaks at the Coptic Christmas eve Mass led by Pope Tawadros II, the 118th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and out militancy in Egypt. Tourism is a pillar of the Egyp- Patriarch of the See of St. Mark Cathedral, in Cairo on Wednesday night. Security sources said the tour- tian economy, which has been ists boarding the bus were Israeli struggling to recover from politi- Arabs. cal turmoil that began with the The Interior Ministry said in 2011 uprising that toppled auto- a statement 15 people who had crat Hosni Mubarak. gathered on a side street near In one of the worst attacks, Is- the hotel threw home-made fi re- lamic State’s Egypt affi liate has works in the direction of security said it planted a bomb on a Rus- forces stationed there. sian passenger plane that crashed Syrian regime permits UN aid “One of the loiterers fi red a in the Sinai on October 31, killing home-made pellet gun in the di- all 224 people on board. rection of the security in front of Egyptian militants, who have the hotel, causing some damage pledged allegiance to Islamic to the glass façade of the hotel State, have killed hundreds of into starving besieged town as well as the window of a tour- Egyptian soldiers and police ist bus. No injuries occurred,” it since the army toppled Islam- AFP Syria, are surrounded by anti-govern- they stepped on landmines laid by regime “People for far too long have been left said. ist president Mohamed Mursi in Beirut ment fi ghters. forces or were shot by snipers, according without all the basics, basic food sup- Security forces apprehended 2013 after mass protests against “When the news broke out some people to the Observatory. plies, basic medicines, no electricity and one person who was hiding be- his rule. fi red into the air to celebrate, but most are Aid deliveries are also expected to no water... I really saw the hunger in the yria’s government yesterday gave still waiting to see the food to believe it be- reach 20,000 people trapped in the Shia people’s eyes,” he recently told AFP. permission for UN aid deliveries cause they have been disappointed in the towns of Fuaa and Kafraya, in northwest- “We’ve forgotten what bread tastes Sto three besieged towns, including past,” citizen journalist Maaz al-Qalamuni ern Idlib province, OCHA said. like,” 27-year-old Mohamed told AFP Madaya near Damascus where residents told AFP by telephone from Madaya. The deliveries are not expected to start from Madaya this week. say people are starving to death. The town last received humanitar- for several days due to administrative de- “The situation has become very trag- “The UN welcomes today’s approval ian assistance in October but has since lays and certainly not before tomorrow, ic,” he said. from the government of Syria to access been inaccessible “despite numerous re- aid workers in the country said. The UN said that over the past year, Madaya, Fuaa and Kafraya and is prepar- quests,” according to the statement from Foreign Minister Walid Muallem is ex- only 10% of its requested aid deliveries ing to deliver humanitarian assistance in the UN’s Offi ce for the Coordination of pected to discuss the fl ow of aid during to hard-to-reach and besieged areas of the coming days,” a UN statement said. Humanitarian Aff airs. talks with UN envoy Staff an de Mistura, Syria were approved and carried out. It said there were “credible reports of Around 40,000 people, mostly civil- who is due tomorrow in Damascus on a Elsewhere in Syria, air strikes believed people dying from starvation” in Madaya, ians, live in Madaya in Damascus prov- new mission to organise peace talks be- to have been carried out by Russian war- including a 53-year-old man who report- ince, many of them displaced from the tween the regime and its opponents. planes killed 10 civilians yesterday in the edly died on Tuesday. neighbouring rebel stronghold of Za- Outrage has been growing as images of rebel bastion of Erbin east of Damascus, The three towns are part of a landmark badani. what appear to be Madaya residents look- the Observatory said. Russia last year six-month deal reached in September for At least 10 people have died there from ing extremely frail after months of little launched an air war on rebels battling the an end to hostilities in those areas in ex- a lack of food and medicine, according to food have spread on social media. Syrian regime, which it backs. change for humanitarian assistance. the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Pawel Krzysiek, a spokesman for the More than 260,000 people have been Access to Madaya and nearby Zabadani a British-based monitoring group. International Committee of the Red Cross killed since the Syrian confl ict erupted in Egyptian forensic experts inspect a bullet-riddled window at the had been restricted by pro-regime forces, Another 13 people who tried to escape who entered Madaya during the last aid March 2011 and millions forced from their entrance of the Three Pyramids hotel in Cairo’s Al Harm district. while Fuaa and Kafraya, in northwest in search of food have been killed when delivery, also painted a bleak picture. homes.

Embassy attack may backfi re on Iran hardliners Security detail

AFP and Riyadh’s consulate in Mash- being thrown and people climb- Islamic republic as punishment for Dubai had, Iran’s second-largest city. ing onto the building’s roof to tear its nuclear programme, Khamenei The row has reduced opportu- down the Saudi fl ag, while some later said “the emotions of youths nities for Rouhani to engage with took selfi es with items they had involved were right, but their ac- he arson attack on Saudi Ara- Arab states - several Saudi allies stolen from inside. tions were not.” bia’s embassy in Tehran that also cut or reduced ties - and ben- Hardline organisations includ- Unlike Rouhani this week, Iran’s Tprompted Riyadh to cut dip- efi ted those who want to stop his ing the Revolutionary Guards and then-president, the hardline Mah- lomatic ties with Iran was initially eff orts at rapprochement. its junior Basij militia publicly moud Ahmadinejad, remained si- seen as a victory for hardline oppo- “The reaction at the embassy criticised the embassy attack and lent four years ago. nents of President Hassan Rouhani. changed the game against us and denied any involvement. Ellie Geranmayeh, an Iran spe- But analysts say the incident helped Saudi Arabia and the radi- The rift between competing cialist at the European Council on could ultimately backfi re on his cals,” Amir Mohebbian, a political political factions, however, has Foreign Relations, said the recent foes ahead of Iranian parliamen- strategist close to Iranian Foreign been visible in Iranian media, with violence had limited the space for tary elections next month, giving Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif, reformist newspapers accusing diplomacy on regional crises. the moderate Rouhani ammuni- told AFP. hardline groups in the regime of “This seemed to be the result tion as he confronts conservatives “Public opinion, not only in Iran fuelling the crisis in a bid to harm that hardliners in Saudi and Iran and works to restore his country’s but the world, had been against Rouhani at the polls. wanted,” she said, noting that Riy- international reputation. Saudi Arabia but the action of the But given that the violence “will adh knew Nimr’s execution would Although similar episodes have radicals made the situation bad likely only have costs for Iran” “bear costs” with Shia govern- occurred in the past - Britain’s for Iran in handling our relations Rouhani may seek to confront the ments but it was a price it seemed embassy was stormed in 2011 for with Western countries and in the issue, said Mohebbian, a moderate willing to pay. example - Rouhani’s response region.” conservative who has advised top The reaction from Rouhani and signals a shift against the “rogue Although 50 arrests were quick- politicians. other offi cials in condemning the elements” he condemned for Sat- ly made, the ransacking of the em- “Maybe this should be the start attack, however, may be a harbinger urday’s attack. bassy was condemned across the of something to manage the radi- of a dramatically diff erent result. The violence has undermined world, including by the UN Secu- cal people, whose actions are not “Ironically, Iran’s hardliners may the president’s eff orts in the Middle rity Council. rational,” he said, noting that have given Rouhani more ammuni- East and beyond to bring Iran out of Such a setback for Rouhani - supreme leader Ayatollah Ali tion to convince the supreme leader its relative isolation - exemplifi ed who on Wednesday wrote to Iran’s Khamenei’s comments about the to marginalise the radical elements by last year’s deal with world pow- judiciary chief to demand that violence would be vital. of the system and to continue par- ers on its nuclear programme. those accused of orchestrating the Though yet to address the attack, ticipating in multilateral diploma- His government has maintained violence be dealt with urgently - Khamenei has previously spoken cy,” such as in resolving the confl ict its criticism of Saudi Arabia’s ex- came after years of trying to im- out against similar incidents. in Syria, Geranmayeh said. Iraqi government forces and members of the elite counter-terrorism service stand guard ecution of Shia cleric Nimr al- prove Iran’s international image. When the British embassy was Only by doing so will Iran “re- on a street as they work to secure a central neighbourhood of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Nimr, which sparked the angry In contrast, the scenes at the attacked in 2011, after a new round coup its standing among the inter- province, sweeping neighbourhoods for militants and evacuating trapped civilians. protests at the Tehran embassy embassy included petrol bombs of sanctions was imposed on the national community,” she added. Gulf Times 4 Friday, January 8, 2016 ARAB WORLD

UN meet to seek safe havens for Over 50 dead in suicide fl eeing Syrians

AFP Geneva attack on police school he UN will hold a conference in March where countries will be asked to pledge resettlement AFP Tplaces for people fl eeing the Syrian confl ict, the Tripoli world body’s new refugee chief announced yesterday. Filippo Grandi said the ministerial conference, to be opened by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on suicide truck bombing on a March 30 in Geneva, would be the fi rst of its kind ever police school in Libya’s city organised by the world body. Aof Zliten killed more than 50 “This is a bit unchartered territory,” said the 58-year- people yesterday, in the deadliest old Italian, who took over the UNHCR helm less than attack to hit the strife-torn country a week ago after Antonio Guterres of Portugal stepped since its 2011 revolution. down after a decade in charge. A bomber detonated an explo- He told journalists in Geneva that the conference sives-laden truck used for carry- would “ask states to pledge places, not money,” and ing water at a police training centre would “be limited to Syrian refugees because they are in central Zliten at around 8.30am the most urgent problem.” (0630 GMT), a local security The conference, he said, was desperately needed to source told AFP. help better manage the refugee crisis sparked by Syria’s A witness in Zliten, a coastal city brutal civil war, which has lasted nearly fi ve years and about 170km east of Tripoli, told killed more than 250,000 people. AFP some 300 men, mainly coast Most of the more than 4mn people who have fl ed guards, were inside the compound war-ravaged Syria have found refuge in surrounding at the time. countries, which have come under enormous pressure. Health ministry spokesman Am- As the war has dragged on and conditions have wors- mar Mohamed Ammar said 50 to 55 ened in surrounding states, Syrian refugees have in- people had been killed and at least creasingly set their sights on Europe and account for 100 wounded and that victims a majority of the more than 1mn migrants who risked were being treated in several hos- their lives to cross the Mediterranean to the continent pitals. Urgent calls were issued for last year alone. blood donations. Nearly 3,800 people drowned or went missing at- There was no immediate claim tempting the perilous journey in 2015, according to of responsibility for the attack but UNHCR. the Islamic State group, which has “We have to urge states to increase the possibility been growing in power in Libya, has for refugees, especially in countries burdened by large carried out many suicide bombings numbers of refugees ... to facilitate the exit of refu- in the country. gees from these countries, not through traffi cking, but Libya descended into chaos af- through what we call legal pathways,” Grandi said. ter the 2011 overthrow of longtime “Organising this movement rather than leaving it in dictator Muammar Gaddafi and the hands of those that are basically criminals, I think has had rival administrations since has a lot of advantages,” he added. August 2014, when an Islamist- Grandi voiced his support for German Chancellor backed militia alliance overran Angela Merkel, who has come under fi re at home as the Tripoli, forcing the government to country struggles to cope with nearly 1.1mn asylum take refuge in the east. Libyan security forces inspect damaged cars at the police school in Zliten. seekers last year last year alone, insisting her welcom- The internationally recognised ing stance toward migrants was “an example” to follow. government condemned the at- The UN envoy to Libya and Italy, the former colonial power In a report to the UN Security Calls have been growing for a But he expressed deep concern over moves by some tack as a “cowardly terrorist act” Western governments called for in Libya, off ered its support in Council in November, Internation- possible foreign military interven- European countries to close their doors to the migrants and called for the lifting of an arms unity in the wake of the attack, helping to bring stability. al Criminal Court chief prosecutor tion to bring stability to Libya and and refugees moving though the continent. embargo it says has prevented au- saying implementing the political “In the face of this terrorist Fatou Bensouda said that IS had contain IS, which is reported to “Setting limits, erecting barriers, closing doors is not thorities from tackling IS. agreement was crucial. threat, the fi rst answer must be been responsible for at least 27 car have at least 3,000 fi ghters in the the message that we would like to come out of Europe,” Meanwhile, a deputy defence “I condemn in the strongest unity among Libyans,” Foreign and suicide bombings in Libya in country. Grandi said. minister for the Tripoli-based terms today’s deadly suicide at- Minister Paolo Gentiloni said. “It is 2015. Mohamed Eljarh, a Libya analyst He warned that “the rest of the world is looking at government, Mohamed Bashir al- tack in Zliten, call on all Libyans to urgent that the recently signed po- The group claimed responsibil- with the Atlantic Council, said it what Europe is doing in terms of asylum.” Naas, vowed to avenge the attack. urgently unite in fi ght against ter- litical agreement be implemented.” ity for suicide car bombings in the was unlikely the latest attack would “If Europe starts setting limits, pushing back, erect- “The perpetrator is not known rorism,” UN envoy Martin Kobler France also condemned the at- eastern town of Al Qoba in Febru- boost unity eff orts. ing barriers, being hostile, the rest of the world will but he is a coward. He kills our sons wrote on Twitter. tack and called on “all Libyan par- ary that killed at least 40 people. “This has not been the case in follow, and the rest of the world has a bigger burden,” from the shadows. We must avenge EU policy chief Federica Mogh- ties to quickly form a national unity In recent days, IS has launched a the past, even when IS was expand- he cautioned, pointing out that only 10% of refugees them and do everything possible erini also urged Libyans to back the government... that would be a series of attacks on oil facilities in ing and the scale of attacks was in- worldwide are in Europe. to protect them,” Naas told a press unity deal. “The people of Libya de- partner for the international com- eastern Libya, pushing east from its tensifying,” he said. Grandi has taken the helm of the UNHCR as the conference. serve peace and security and... they munity in the face of terrorism.” coastal stronghold of Sirte. “Despite IS’s evident presence in agency is dealing with record levels of displacement The UN is pressing Libya’s ri- have a great opportunity to set aside World powers fear Libya could Offi cials have warned of crip- Libya, various political groups are worldwide. val sides to implement a power- their divisions and work together, descend further into chaos and be- pling consequences for the coun- still consumed with their strug- The number of people displaced by war and violence sharing deal agreed last month on united, against the terrorist threat come an IS stronghold on Europe’s try if the militants manage to seize gle for power and control,” Eljarh hit a record high in 2015 of more than 60mn - surpass- forming a unity government. facing their country,” she said. doorstep. control of Libya’s oil resources. elaborated. ing even the 50mn mark reached during World War II. Rogue settlers defi ant in face of Israel murder rap

By Dan Williams, Reuters Steeped in messianic Jewish mysticism and rebelling Yishuv Hadaat, West Bank against what they see as adulterated modern Zionism, the Hilltop Youth number in the hundreds, by most accounts. But they pose a deep-rooted challenge even for the na- he caves around this windy settler outpost, whose tionalist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanya- name is Hebrew for ‘Of Sound Mind’, have served as hu as it struggles to stop Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed in the Tplaces of meditation and prayer - and, according to Is- absence of peace negotiations. rael - staging ground for the worst Jewish militant attack on Security offi cials say that Ben-Uliel is among a few dozen Palestinians in years. hard-core militants, many of them school drop-outs or es- It was from Yishuv Hadaat, prosecutors say, that 21-year- tranged from their families, who long eluded surveillance old Amiram Ben-Uliel set off on a moonlit July night to fi re- due to their secrecy and determination to clam up under po- bomb a house in the nearby West Bank valley town of Duma, lice interrogation. killing a baby, Ali Dawabsheh, and his parents Saad and Critics say the Duma murders, which marked an escala- Riham. tion from the vandalism and assaults previously attributed Ben-Uliel’s indictment for the murders on Sunday met to the militants, were inevitable given Israel’s at times murky with denial and defi ance from other members of the so- policing of its citizens in the West Bank - all of whom are called ‘Hilltop Youth’, a new generation of ultra-religious set- deemed by world powers to be squatters on occupied Pales- tlers whose resentment of the secular Israeli state rivals their tinian land. hostility toward Arabs. The inconsistency is in plain view in Yishuv Hadaat and “I don’t think Jews did it. Even if they did do it, you need to other outposts erected in recent years by the Hilltop Youth look at why ... The (Israeli) police and government really fi ght without state permission. What began as rogue clusters them in every way,” said Refael Morris, a 20-year-old friend of shacks are now often orderly trailer parks or shepherds’ of Ben-Uliel’s from a neighbouring settlement enclave. hamlets with power lines, paved roads, bus stops and Israeli army sentries. Still, residents style these communities that dot the stra- tegic highlands as the vanguard of a dreamed-of Jewish theocracy where gentiles would be expelled, putting paid to decades-old Israeli talk of making way for a Palestinian state. “If we wouldn’t be here, the Arabs would be here, and whatever the Arabs get now it will be very hard to take back,” said Morris, who sports the Hilltop Youth trademark shaggy beard and religious sidecurls along with a crocheted skullcap. A 20-year-old son of British immigrants, Morris is a married father of two. He works as a baker, having been ex- empted from the Israeli military draft, he says, on ideological grounds. Many settlers with far-right affi liations say they are also denied private gun permits and subject to police monitoring. But the Duma arson, and what Israel’s Shin Bet security service said were manifestos circulated among the suspects and which called for insurrection against the state, prompt- Jewish settler Refael Morris stands at an observation point overlooking the West Bank village of Duma, near Yishuv Hadaat, ed the crackdown that offi cials hope will rout the Jewish an unauthorised Jewish settler outpost. militants. Outside experts see a rocky road ahead. Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, described the mili- had only fringe appeal, sympathisers reached deeper into The Duma case is already beset by defence lawyers’ allega- tants as an extremist distillation of the views of wider cir- Israeli society. tions that Ben-Uliel, as well as a 17-year-old charged with cles of settlers, a community driven by a sense of pioneering On Tuesday, a soldier who lives in a West Bank settlement planning the arson but not turning up to the cave rendez- patriotism and hardened by almost daily friction with the was jailed for 45 months after being found guilty of leak- vous, were tortured to give false confessions. Palestinians. ing information to Jewish militants about law-enforcement While most Israelis condemn the hate crimes and Netan- “They are taking these elements and, in a fundamentalist moves planned against them by the army. yahu has defended the Shin Bet’s methods as legitimate and way, accentuating them to the point where they live in un- “I fi nd it hard to believe no one else (in the settler com- necessary, within the far-right Jewish Home party that sits lawful settlements anywhere they want and (their relation- munity) knew what was going on those hilltops,” Hirschhorn in his coalition there have been misgivings about the probe. ship) with the Palestinians is violent and sometimes mur- said. One party lawmaker asserted there is no such thing as derous,” he said. “I think they (authorities) will manage to throw the book Jewish terrorism. Another scholar, Sara Yael Hirschhorn of Oxford Univer- at these people, but it will be perceived by the right as a show Tomer Persico, who researches the Hilltop Youth for the sity, said that while the Hilltop Youth’s religious doctrines trial, and such trials are also a way to organise these people.” Gulf Times Friday, January 8, 2016 5 AFRICA Confusion, anger over fate of Nigerian Shia cleric

AFP with his wife on December 13, Nigeria’s military, who alleged Buratai himself said on De- lice spokeswoman Olabisi Kola- more circumspect: “All I can tell the group said in a statement. Lagos fuelling fears about his health IMN members tried to “assassi- cember 17 that Zakzaky had been wole was quoted as telling one you is that El-Zakzaky is safe, “We are highly agitated by this and the potential for a new se- nate” chief of army staff General transferred to “the relevant au- newspaper Zakzaky had been secure and very fi ne; he is doing seeming needless incommunica- curity threat Nigeria could do Tukur Yusuf Buratai, dismissed thorities for prosecution”, ac- charged with “criminal con- well. do the sheikh has been placed in.” upporters of a Shia cleric in without. the claimed death toll, calling it cording to local media reports. spiracy and inciting public dis- “But I can’t tell you where he Members of Nigeria’s low- Nigeria are calling for his Human Rights Watch have “unsubstantiated”. Federal police chief Solomon turbances”. is being kept or whether he is er chamber of parliament the Srelease, more than three claimed soldiers killed “at least Diplomatically, Iran is watch- Arase then confi rmed he was in “He has been remanded in with us or not.” House of Representatives met weeks after he was arrested by 300” IMN members in the raid ing events closely and has voiced police custody but was waiting prison custody and the case ad- On Monday the IMN, whom IMN representatives last month the military during a bloody in the ancient city of Zaria, in the its concern about the situation for “orders from above” about journed,” Kolawole was quoted Nigeria’s President Muham- and were told Zakzaky’s release crackdown on his group. northern state of Kaduna that while there were protests out- the next move. as telling The Punch daily. madu Buhari has accused of would end the stand-off with The military and police have began the previous day. side the West African country’s With Zakzaky reportedly shot But Kaduna prison chief Abu- trying to create “a state within the military. assured followers of Ibrahim Za- Three of Zakzaky’s sons, his embassy in Tehran. four times and gravely injured, bakar Argungu said the next day: a state”, voiced frustration at Za- Abubakar Sadiq Mohamed, kzaky, who heads the pro-Irani- deputy, the group’s spokesman Contradictory statements from rumours swirled the police were “We only have 191 followers of kzaky’s continued detention and a political science professor at an Islamic Movement of Nigeria and head of security were re- Nigeria’s security services on Za- buying time to allow him to re- the Shia sect in our custody. But the confusion. Ahmadu Bello University in Zar- (IMN), that he is alive and well. portedly among those who died kzaky’s whereabouts have added cuperate, fearing a backlash if he we do not have their leader, Ibra- “So, whom should we believe? ia, said such an intervention was But nothing has been heard when troops tried to reach the to the uncertainty and sparked was seen in poor health. him El-Zakzaky, with us.” This smacks of deceit, conspir- important to allay fears in the from him since he was arrested cleric’s house. anger among his followers. On December 29, federal po- Kolawole on Tuesday was acy and outright manipulation,” minority Shia community. Hydropower dams fuel malaria risk for villagers

Reuters Water Management Institute Kamburu Dam, Kenya (IWMI), found that construc- tion of an expected 78 major new dams in the region over lfred Nyaga irrigates the next few years would lead his acre of khat, a mild to an additional 56,000 ma- Astimulant, in Kaloki laria cases annually. village by pumping water with Malaria impacts must be a diesel-powered engine di- tackled so they do not under- rectly from Kamburu Dam in mine the sustainability of Af- central Kenya. rica’s drive for development, Each morning, he takes the the study warned. khat he has harvested at night It recommended distribut- to sell at Kiritiri market, some ing bed nets to people living 30km from the village on a within 5km of dams. It also shrub-covered slope stretch- proposed operating schedules ing to the hydropower dam’s that dry out reservoir shore- banks. line areas where mosquitoes Being so close to the reser- breed at critical times, and Garrisa University terror attack suspects from (left) Rashid Charles, Sahal Diriye, Osman Abdi, Hassan Aden and Mohamed Abdikar appear at a court in Nairobi yesterday. voir means Nyaga and his four introducing fi sh that eat mos- workers are often bitten by quito larvae. mosquitoes as they toil. In Kenya, the state-run “We have no other option Kenya Electricity Generating because we have to work on Company Limited (KenGen) is our farms and we need the aware of the problem, but has dam water,” said Nyaga. yet to act. The dam provides an ideal KenGen, which manages breeding environment for the the Kamburu Dam straddling Survivors recall terror Anopheles mosquito, which Embu and Machakos coun- carries the malaria parasite, ties, says it has not intervened putting local farmers and their to prevent malaria here or families at risk of infection. around its other dams, even in Bed nets to keep off the in- high-risk areas. sects while sleeping are a must KenGen operates 14 dams in the mud and tin-roofed across Kenya, with total power at Kenya massacre trial houses that dot the landscape. generation capacity of 819 Kenya’s hydropower dams megawatts. They produce The deadly attack at Garissa with the trial underway in the his face covered, hurl an explo- the security forces entered the to 20 years in jail by a court. benefi t communities living more than half the power con- University was claimed by Al Kenyan capital. sive device into the room. hall. The judge ruled the teacher, on their banks by providing a sumed in the country. Shebaab insurgents The fi ve accused are Moham- “I heard an explosion and saw “I played dead for several Samuel Wanjala Wabwile alias plentiful source of water to ir- Embu and Machakos have ed Ali Abdikar, Hassan Aden sparks, before the man walked hours before I was rescued,” The Salim Mohamed Wabwile, had rigate crops. been categorised as low-risk AFP Hassan, Sahal Diriye and Os- into the hall and started shoot- Star newspaper quoted her as taken advantage of poverty in But the large reservoirs that malaria zones despite having Nairobi man Abdi who are thought to be ing,” she said, in testimony saying. the coastal county of Kilifi where feed them are also a habitat the highest concentration of Kenyan or Somali nationals, and reported by the Daily Nation Yesterday a leader of a mosque school children walk in tattered for mosquitoes, which thrive large dams, totalling fi ve be- Rashid Charles, a Tanzanian na- newspaper. in Garissa gave evidence, de- uniforms without shoes to bait especially well in the shallow tween them along the Tana urvivors of a university tional. During the attack, the gunmen scribing how Charles turned up them using incentives like food. puddles that often form along River. massacre in Kenya where They have denied the charges. lined up non-Muslim students to prayers in the three days be- Offi cials say dozens of youths their shorelines. More broadly, malaria is a SIslamist gunmen killed 148 Speaking to the court in Nai- for execution in what President fore the attack, adding he had have crossed into Somalia in the African governments and major health challenge in Ken- people have recounted scenes of robi, witnesses lined up to tes- Uhuru Kenyatta described at not been seen there before. past three years for training by the World Bank argue the ya, with some 25mn people at terror at a trial of fi ve men linked tify about the horror they had the time as a “barbaric medieval The trial is set to continue the militants after being recruit- continent needs hydropower risk of the disease, according to the slaughter. experienced as masked gunmen slaughter”. today. Prosecution lawyers say ed and radicalised at home. dams to boost inadequate to 2009 data from the Kenya The deadly attack at Garissa staged a terrifying pre-dawn as- “I heard the door opening, they will call around 30 witness- Wabwile was arrested in June electricity supplies with a Medical Research Institute. University in northeastern Ken- sault on the campus, with their they were spraying us with bul- es to give evidence. last year and charged with three clean, renewable source of Malaria accounts for 30 to ya on April 2, 2015, was claimed accounts detailed in Kenya’s lets and shortly after there was Garissa University formally counts, including being a mem- energy. Sub-Saharan Africa 50% of all outpatient attend- by Somalia’s Al Qaeda-linked Al main newspapers. silence in the hall as most of my reopened this week, for the fi rst ber of Al Shebaab. The court already has over 2,000 dams. ance and 20% of admissions to Shebaab insurgents. It was the While an early hearing was colleagues had fallen down,” said time since the massacre, with convicted him of radicalising But a study published last health facilities in the country. East African nation’s deadliest held in November, the main wit- another student, Evelyn Chep- most of the staff reporting for his pupils during lessons at the September in Malaria Journal Peter Esekon, a clinical of- attack since the 1998 bombing nesses began giving evidence kemoi, according to The Stand- duty ahead of the new term. school where he taught in Kilifi , warned that over 1mn people in fi cer at KenGen, said the of the US embassy in Nairobi. this week. ard newspaper. Around 60 students are expect- contrary to the law on the pre- sub-Saharan Africa would con- company undertakes weekly Four gunmen involved in the Addressing the court, Rispa Chepkemoi, who was shot in ed to begin classes on January 11. vention of terrorism. tract malaria in 2015 because surveillance, and so far has massacre were killed, but fi ve Nyang’au said she was at a dawn the legs and hand, said she lay Also in Kenya yesterday, a “The accused preyed on the they lived near a large dam. not observed a substantive in- others have been charged with prayer meeting with around 30 among the bodies of her slaugh- primary school teacher who re- pupils’ feeble minds to impart The researchers, including crease in malaria at any of its 162 counts of terrorism and Christian students when she saw tered classmates, pretending to cruited pupils into the Al She- his ideological beliefs,” magis- experts from the International dam sites. conspiracy to commit an attack, a “tall man armed with a rifl e”, be dead for over fi ve hours until baab in Somalia was sentenced trate Diana Mochache said.

Trade row with US resolved, Ex-minister in court Hutu rebels kill 14 says South African minister from rival group

Reuters Hazukay said the killings Reuters felt South Africa would remain exports to South Africa, and Kinshasa appeared to be revenge for Pretoria in AGOA but they were wait- that discussions with Wash- a series of attacks launched ing for confi rmation from the ington were ongoing. by Nande Mai Mai militias US. Eliminating barriers to US wandan Hutu rebels against the FDLR. The Nande, outh Africa has resolved a At stake is South Africa’s trade and investment is one killed 14 civilians from who dominate commerce in dispute with the US over membership of the African of the criteria for membership Ra rival ethnic group in North Kivu, are historic rivals Sfarm exports, allowing Growth and Opportunity Act of AGOA, which was renewed eastern Democratic Repub- of the local Hutu. agricultural goods to be ex- (AGOA), a US trade agreement earlier last year and provides lic of Congo early yester- “For some time now, the ported to the world’s top econ- designed to help African ex- duty-free access to goods from day morning and wounded FDLR and Mai Mai have omy without penalties, the porters. sub-Saharan African coun- nine, the army said, in a sign fought over the zone and that trade minister said yesterday. “We look forward to a tries, ranging from crude oil to of the ethnic tensions that has provoked high tensions US President Barack Obama strengthening of relations, not clothing. persist in the confl ict-torn between the two communi- said on November 5 that he just to going back to where they South Africa exported region. ties,” Hazukay said. would revoke the duty-free were,” Davies told reporters in $176mn in agricultural prod- Fighters from the Demo- The Centre of Study for the status of South African agri- the capital Pretoria. “We have ucts to the US under AGOA in cratic Forces for the Liberation Promotion of Peace, Democ- cultural produce unless Pre- succeeded in achieving a bal- 2014 and potential lost benefi ts of Rwanda (FDLR) attacked racy and Human Rights (CE- toria took action by the end of ance in maintaining the trade are estimated to total $4mn to the ethnic Nande civilians in PADHO), an activist group last year to loosen restrictions opening with the US and the $7mn. the town of Lubero in North that documents violence in on US farm exports. animal health in South Africa.” South African products af- Nigeria’s former defence minister Bello Haliru Mohammed Kivu province at around 2am North Kivu, confi rmed the South Africa’s Trade Minis- On Monday, Davies said fected would include oranges, sits in a wheelchair at the federal high court in Abuja, Nigeria, (0000 GMT), said Mak Hazu- death toll of 14 and said the ter Rob Davies said “we think Pretoria was keen to meet out- macadamia nuts, wine and cit- yesterday. kay, a local spokesman for victims had been shot or we have cracked the deal” and standing requirements on beef rus, US data shows. Congo’s army. hacked to death. Gulf Times 6 Friday, January 8, 2016 AMERICA

US Congress fi nally sends Obamacare California declares repeal to president

AFP Obama was seeking to talk Washington about “anything but his fail- ures” but Republicans were “not going to let him take a soft gas leak emergency fter dozens of attempts course”, he said. “We need to spanning fi ve years, make this year about ideas, not Reuters “It has become so complex and Acongressional Republi- about Obama’s distractions.” Los Angeles there are so many diff erent state cans succeeded on Wednesday Democrats dismissed the agencies involved that it needs to in sending legislation to US vote as the 62nd attempt by be coordinated and directed in an President Barack Obama’s desk Republicans to repeal, defund overnor Jerry Brown has organized way, like for a disaster,” to repeal his landmark health- or otherwise dismantle the declared a Los Angeles- said Kelly Huston, deputy direc- care law. Aff ordable Care Act that nar- Garea natural gas leak that tor of the governor’s Offi ce of Republicans hailed it as rowly passed a Democrat-led has been sickening nearby resi- Emergency Services. a hard-fought victory, say- Congress in 2010. dents for more than two months The emergency declaration by ing the bill – which also cuts “I don’t understand their an emergency, calling for alter- Brown, a Democrat, follows calls funding to women’s healthcare obsession” with repealing the natives to stop the underground by local offi cials in Los Angeles provider Planned Parenthood health law, House Democrat leak if existing eff orts fail. for increased state regulation of – highlights sharp policy dif- Jim McGovern said, noting Southern California Gas Com- gas storage facilities. ferences between their party that doing so would “throw pany, which operates the well The declaration allows the and rival Democrats during the 22mn people out of health in- that is the site of the under- governor’s administration, if 2016 presidential election race. surance plans”. ground methane leak, is trying to necessary, to quickly waive laws Obama is certain to veto the As for the law putting a one- stop it by drilling a relief well to in the future to deal with the cri- measure, which passed the year moratorium on federal reach a damaged pipeline, then sis, said the governor’s spokes- Senate last month under spe- funding for Planned Parent- injecting fl uids and heavy mud man, Evan Westrup. cial rules that prevented Dem- hood, Democrats warned it into it. Residents of Porter Ranch have ocrats from blocking it. would deny healthcare access The governor’s offi ce said in said they want the gas fi eld shut The bill passed the House of to millions, particularly im- a statement that the utility will down. Representatives Wednesday by poverished women. need to identify how it will stop The governor, who visited a margin of 240 to 181, with one “It’s cruel. It’s a cruel thing the leak if a relief well fails to seal Porter Ranch on Monday, in his Democrat voting yes. to do,” McGovern said. it – or if the existing leak wors- A sign marking the boundary of the Aliso Canyon storage facility is pictured in Porter Ranch, California. declaration called for regulators It was the fi rst major con- Debate over Planned Par- ens. California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in the Porter Ranch area due to the to assess the long-term viability gressional vote of 2016, com- enthood exploded last year, The leak was discovered on continuing leak of natural gas from the Aliso Canyon storage facility operated by the Southern California of natural gas storage facilities in ing just two months after Paul when anti-abortion activists October 23 at a well used for nat- Gas Company. California. Ryan became the new Speaker released secretly-recorded ural gas storage in Aliso Canyon “As we have since this incident of the House. videos showing the organisa- just outside Los Angeles’ Porter Energy, say that they expect to well pipe several hundred feet They have said past studies began, SoCalGas stands willing And yet it is the latest in a tion’s offi cials discussing use Ranch neighbourhood, which is stop the leak in late February to beneath the surface of the 3,600- found no long-term health ef- and ready to co-operate with the long line of symbolic votes of aborted foetal tissue for home to more than 30,000 peo- late March. acre (1,457-hectare) fi eld. fects from mercaptans. governor’s offi ce, all state and lo- that Republicans have held in medical research. ple. The leak, which state offi - Nearby residents have com- The governor’s offi ce said it cal offi cials and regulatory agen- recent years, frustrating mil- Conservative critics, many Thousands of residents were cials have said accounted at its plained of such ailments as head- had taken steps to co-ordinate cies,” Dennis Arriola, president lions of conservatives across of whom seek to outlaw abor- forced to move over the holidays, peak for a fourth of California’s aches, nausea and respiratory the local, state and federal re- and chief executive of the com- the American heartland who tion in the United States, have with the company underwriting 20mn metric tonnes a year in irritation from mercaptans, the sponse to the leak, which at last pany, said in a statement. have grown angry with inef- accused the organisation of their temporary housing. greenhouse gas emissions from odorants added to natural gas, count was releasing more than The storage fi eld is the second fectual Republican leaders in selling foetal organs and body Offi cials from Southern Cali- methane, is believed to have been according to Los Angeles County 30,300kg of methane per hour, largest such facility in the west- Congress. parts for profi t, and encourag- fornia Gas, a division of Sempra caused by a broken injection- health offi cials. and stop it as soon as possible. ern United States by capacity. “For the fi rst time in fi ve ing women to have abortions years, we will fi nally put a bill in order to expand such opera- on the president’s desk that tions. defunds Obamacare,” Ryan Seeking to douse the told reporters, noting that months-long scandal, Planned Democrats have been “block- Parenthood announced in Oc- Oregon occupiers ing and fi libustering these tober that it will no longer ac- bills” for years. cept reimbursements for costs “We are confronting the of the donations. president with the hard, hon- House Republican Ann say not quite time est truth: Obamacare doesn’t Wagner called the vote “a vic- work,” he added. tory for women’s health”. to head home yet Florida woman dies after hospital thought she was faking symptoms Reuters compiling evidence to clear the Burns, Oregon Hammonds, who began longer A Florida woman who collapsed and later died after being arrested prison terms this week for setting for refusing to leave a rural hospital emergency room may have fi res that spread to federal land. lived if medical staff and police had not assumed she was faking he leader of a group of He said witnesses told them illness, her lawyers said on Wednesday. armed men who took over the blazes were started by federal Barbara Dawson, 57, complained of abdominal pains at Calhoun Ta US wildlife refuge in re- agents. Liberty Hospital in the Florida Panhandle town of Blountsville five mote southeastern Oregon said “We believe we have enough days before Christmas, but medical staff examined and released on Wednesday that they know of this to exonerate the Ham- her. they will have to go home, but monds,” he said. “If that is the When she refused to leave, the hospital called the police, who they want results from their pro- only thing that is accomplished, handcuff ed her and took her outside, where she collapsed in the test and feel it is not “quite time then it will be well worth our ef- hospital driveway. yet”. fort.” Dawson was returned to the hospital but died of a blood clot in her The takeover that began on Many residents of Burns see lungs the next day. Saturday at the Malheur Na- the occupation as the work of “Barbara Dawson should not have lost her life because of a bad tional Wildlife Refuge, about 30 outsiders, and the Hammonds’ assumption,” said Daryl Parks, a partner in Parks & Crumb, a miles (48km) south of the small lawyers have sought to dissociate nationally known civil rights law firm representing the woman’s town of Burns, is the latest skir- themselves from the protesters. family. mish in the so-called Sagebrush Bundy is the son of a Nevada The December 21 death is now under investigation by the Rebellion, a decades-old confl ict rancher who, along with a large A member of an anti-government militia stands next to a campfire outside of the Malheur National Wildlife Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Blountstown Police over federal control of land and group of armed men, stared down Refuge Headquarters yesterday. Department and the state Agency for Health Care Administration. resources in the US West. federal agents in 2014 when they Mark Mallory, chief of police in Blountstown, about 54 miles Launched following a big- tried to seize his cattle over un- identities remained unclear, left They have not been showing cion of the federal government’s (87km) west of Tallahassee, said his off ice had handled the incident ger demonstration in support of paid grazing fees. in the direction of town. weapons in recent days. motives, and criticism of the oc- properly and had deferred to medical first-responders on the scene. two imprisoned local ranchers, Asked what would need to Harney County Sheriff David US Representative Greg Wal- cupiers. Hospital administrator Ruth Attaway said she was co-operating with Dwight Hammond Jr and his son, happen for his group to quit the Ward had told a packed commu- den, whose congressional district At a news conference on state investigators. Steven, the occupation has been refuge, Bundy said: “Enough is nity meeting in Burns earlier on includes Burns and Malheur, said Wednesday, leaders of the Burns marked by daily media brief- enough when there’s actual ac- Wednesday that the protesters on Wednesday that he had been Paiute Tribe, whose reservation ings from the protesters, and by tion that is happening, and when had hijacked a peaceful rally and on the phone to the county judge is not far from the wildlife refuge, Star Wars: The Force Awakens passes federal law enforcement agents things are actually transpiring, needed to leave now. and local ranchers until late on said it was time for the protesters keeping watch from a distance. and we’ll know when that hap- “Go home. Work your diff er- Tuesday night. to say good-bye. Avatar for domestic box off ice record “There is a time to go home, pens.” ences with whoever out through “Americans have the right to “We as Harney County resi- we recognise that. We don’t feel In a sign of simmering ten- the appropriate channels, and protest. It should not take this dents don’t need some clown to Star Wars: The Force Awakens soared past Avatar on Wednesday to it’s quite time yet,” protest leader sions, a Reuters witness said let us get back to our lives,” Ward form. And it is time for those come in here and stand up for us,” become the top-grossing movie of all time in North America, riding Ammon Bundy told a news con- there was angry shouting and said to applause. “I don’t want who are there to depart. They’ve said the Native American tribal on hype, nostalgia and an inventive script. ference at the refuge on Wednes- that the protesters, several of to see a single person hurt. In made their case,” the Republican council’s sergeant at arms, Jarvis Disney said the seventh film in the Star Wars saga had grossed day. whom had been eating dinner, fact, when I wake up tomorrow, congressman told reporters in Kennedy. $758.2mn through Tuesday, when it took in $8mn, and surpassed He added: “We feel like we grabbed their rifl es to investigate I want to have pleasant thoughts Washington. He mocked the protesters’ as- on Wednesday the $760.5mn earned by James Cameron’s Oscar- need to make sure the Hammonds an unexpected arrival at the site about you – that you did the right He also said he viewed the fi ve- sertions they want to help the winning sci-fi epic Avatar. are out of prison, or well on their late on Wednesday. thing, that you packed your bags, year sentence imposed on the community, while local children At $1.56bn in global earnings, The Force Awakens still has some way. We need to make sure there The occupiers later said three and you went home.” Hammonds as excessive. stayed home because schools work ahead on that scale to overtake Avatar ($2.79bn) or another is some teeth in these land trans- men had turned up, one of them Neither protesters nor author- The reactions in Burns, a town were closed over concerns about Cameron blockbuster, Titanic ($2.19bn). fers. And also that those who known to the protesters, prompt- ities have said how many people of 3,000 people about 280 miles possible violence. It is now fourth in all-time worldwide revenues, also trailing Jurassic have committed crimes, those ing an altercation and minor in- are involved in the occupation. (450km) southeast of Portland, “They’re scaring our people,” World ($1.67bn). are exposed as well.” juries to one of the occupiers. About a dozen protesters have have included sympathy for the Kennedy said. “They need to get But many observers expect the film ultimately to challenge for the Bundy said the group was They said the three men, whose been visible at the site. well-known Hammonds, suspi- out of here.” top spot. Jeb Bush rules out third-party run if Trump wins

Reuters if Trump were to win the Republi- sisted he would ultimately win the Trump, such as his successful squarely at Trump and tried to Meredith, New Hampshire can nomination for the November nomination. business record, although he said defi ne him as a man unqualifi ed to 2016 presidential elections. But he was reminded of the he thought Trump might have serve in the Oval Offi ce. “No. I’m not going to run as a popularity of Trump when Tom exaggerated some of it, and to an Bush said a purported North S Republican presidential third-party candidate, no matter Emanuel, a selectman from near- extent liked his ability to speak his Korean test of a hydrogen nuclear candidate Jeb Bush has who wins the nomination,” Bush by Laconia, New Hampshire, told mind without resorting to politi- bomb underscored Trump’s chal- Uruled out a third-party said. “I’ve been supporting Re- Bush that he was leaning toward cally correct statements. lenge, pointing to Trump’s inabil- candidacy should Donald Trump publicans since Richard Nixon.” supporting Trump and wanted Still, he said, Trump’s disparag- ity at a December 14 debate to talk win the party’s 2016 nomination Trump, a billionaire real estate to know why Bush had recent- ing of a disabled New York Times credibly about the three elements but held tight to his belief that developer and reality television ly called the New York mogul a reporter and frequent insults of of the US nuclear “triad”, the arse- Trump is a “jerk” and not qualifi ed star, has been leading the Repub- “jerk”. other people have gone too far. nal of missiles based in the air, at to be president. lican fi eld. Looking at his watch, Bush “When somebody disparages a sea and on land. At a town hall meeting in New Bush, lagging in the polls na- drew laughter in the crowd when person with disabilities, that sets “I think when you’re asked Hampshire, a questioner asked tionally and in the early vot- he replied: “Let me see how much me off ,” he said. “That’s why I about the nuclear triad, and you’re the former Florida governor ing state of New Hampshire but time we have.” called him a jerk.” running for president of the Unit- whether he would launch an inde- drawing energetic crowds during Turning more serious, Bush Bush has more than any of ed States, you’d better have a good Bush: I’m not going to run as a third-party candidate, no matter pendent run for the White House an intense focus on the state, in- said he admired some aspects of his Republican rivals taken aim answer,” he said. who wins the nomination. Gulf Times Friday, January 8, 2016 7 ASEAN Vietnam protests Cambodia celebrates fall of Khmer Rouge regime China’s test fl ight in S China Sea

Reuters ly” built on the reef, Vietnam online statement. Hanoi said. Vietnam would defend its “This is a serious violation of sovereign rights and jurisdic- Vietnam’s sovereignty, threat- tion in the area through peaceful ietnam yesterday ac- ening peace and regional stabil- measures, in line with interna- cused China of violating ity, threatening security, safety tional law and the United Na- Vits sovereignty by land- and freedom of navigation and tions charter, he added. ing two more test fl ights on an aviation in the East Sea,” foreign On Saturday, China landed island in the busy South China ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh a civilian plane on the same Sea waterway, four days after said, using the name by which 3,000-metre (10,000-foot) China landed a plane on the Vietnam refers to the South Chi- -long runway in its fi rst test in same runway in the disputed na Sea. the Spratlys, which was also the territory. fi rst time it had used a runway in The runway on Fiery Cross “This is a serious violation the area. Reef is one of three China has of Vietnam’s sovereignty, The United States, which has been building for more than a threatening peace criticised China’s construction year by dredging sand up onto and regional stability, of islands in the South China reefs and atolls in the Spratly Is- threatening security, safety Sea, said after the fi rst landing lands. and freedom of navigation it was concerned that the fl ight Vietnam’s claim to the area and aviation in the East had exacerbated tension. overlaps that of China, which Sea” Each year, more than $5tn of claims almost the whole of the world trade is shipped through Cambodian president of the National Assembly and honorary president of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), Heng Samrin (2nd left), South China Sea. “Vietnam resolutely requests the South China Sea, where Bru- his wife Sao Ty (left), Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen (2nd right) and his wife Bun Rany (right) release doves during a CPP ceremony Two large Chinese civil air- China to immediately end sim- nei, Malaysia, the Philippines, marking the 37th anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in Phnom Penh yesterday. Up to 2mn people were executed or died craft landed on Wednesday on ilar acts and have no further Vietnam and Taiwan have rival of starvation or overwork as the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime tried to create an agrarian utopia. an airfi eld that China “illegal- violating acts,” Binh said in an territorial claims.

Volcanic eruption Indonesia to Indonesia, S Korea sign $1.3bn sink 39 foreign fi shing boats fi ghter jet development deal for poaching AFP Experimental (KF-X) pro- one fi fth of the total cost of the Seoul gramme. project, with up to 100 Indone- The programme is aimed at sian workers taking part in de- DPA producing new, homegrown velopment and production, KAI Jakarta ndonesia signed a $1.3bn deal fi ghter jets to replace the South’s said in a statement. with South Korea yesterday aged fl eet of F-4 and F-5 fi ghters Indonesia will be given one Ito jointly develop Seoul’s imported from the US. prototype plane and gain access he Indonesian govern- next-generation fi ghter jets, the A consortium of KAI and to some technical data and in- ment will sink 39 foreign South’s aircraft manufacturer the US aerospace giant Lock- formation involving the project, Tboats that were seized for said. heed Martin last March won a it added. fi shing illegally in the country’s Under the deal signed with 8.6tn-won contract to provide The South Korean military waters, an offi cial said yesterday. Korea Aerospace Industries 120 fi ghter jets to Seoul’s air plans to put the new fi ghter jets Twelve of the boats will be (KAI), Indonesia’s defence min- force. into service by 2025 to guard blown up and sunk this month, istry will invest about 1.6tn won The investment from Indo- against threats from the nuclear- said Fuad Himawan, the head of ($1.3bn) in the Korean Fighter nesia will account for about armed North Korea. enforcement at the Fisheries and Marine Resources Ministry. The 39 boats were seized from Vietnamese, Malaysian and Thai Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung volcano spews lava and ash during an eruption as seen from Tiga fi shing crews, he said. Brisk business Serangkai village in Karo, Indonesia’s North Sumatra province, yesterday in this photo taken by Last year, Indonesia sank more Antara Foto. than 100 foreign boats for fi sh poaching. Fisheries Minister Susi Pud- jiastuti has taken a tough stance against illegal fi shing, saying she will continue to blow up vessels operated by foreign poachers. Singapore’s BOC Aviation orders She has said Indonesia loses $15bn every year to illegal fi shing. 30 Airbus jets worth $3bn Malaysian police off icers told to AFP re-engined A320 costs $106.2mn Leahy, Airbus chief operating of- lose weight Singapore and a standard A320 is worth fi cer for customers. $97mn, according to the Airbus BOC Aviation, owned by Bank website. This would constitute a of China, is based in Singapore Malaysian police off icers will ingapore-based aircraft total catalogue cost of $3.07bn. with offi ces in Dublin, London, begin a training programme next leasing fi rm BOC Avia- “This order underscores our Seattle and Tianjin. It is a key week aimed at tackling obesity in Stion said yesterday it has continued confi dence in the reli- customer for both Airbus, based the force, a senior police off icial ordered 30 Airbus A320s worth ability and operational effi ciency in France, and US rival Boeing. said yesterday. more than $3bn at list prices to of the A320 family aircraft, and Last November, the company Some 11,000 police off icers are meet growing demand. refl ects its popularity among announced an order of 22 Boe- estimated to be overweight in The order, made at the end of our customers for short- and ing 737 planes worth $2.27bn at Malaysia, out of 122,403 off icers December, comprises 18 A320s medium-haul routes,” said BOC catalogue prices. nationwide, according to police equipped with new engines and Aviation chief executive Robert The single-aisle A320 and logistics chief Zulkifli Abdullah. 12 A320s using the current en- Martin. B737 families are popular choic- The six-month Fit N Fit 2016 A Malaysian vendor unloads a stock of watermelons at a busy wholesale wet market in Kuala gines, the company said in a “With this order, BOC Avia- es among low-cost carriers, project, to start Monday, will Lumpur yesterday. Wholesale wet markets across Kuala Lumpur attract traders and daily household statement. tion becomes one of Airbus’ which have expanded rapidly in initially include 35 off icers, customers in the wee hours of morning for cheap and fresh products. At 2015 catalogue prices, each top 10 customers,” added John Southeast Asia. Abdullah said. Myanmar MMA fi ghter seeks blazing homecoming

AFP wei, to diversify their techniques his progress online and laud his Aung La N Sang predicted a Yangon in order to compete internation- visit on social media. bright future for the sport to ri- ally in mixed martial arts. “We are very proud of him,” val Muay Thai, if its “primitive” Aung La N Sang was born in said Saw Lwin, one of several rules could be modernised. yanmar fi ght fans Myanmar when the country was dozen fans who packed yes- He had no formal training in swarmed to a Yangon still under junta rule, but left terday’s event. “He makes the lethwei growing up, but said it is Mhotel yesterday for a when he was 18 to study agricul- world know about Myanmar and “as normal as eating and sleep- glimpse of a mixed martial arts ture in the US state of Indiana. we can believe one of our fi ghters ing here”. specialist dubbed the “Burmese He had planned to return to is famous in the US.” “All the boys want to fi ght,” he Python” as he returned home his homeland to start a farm in Lethwei is hugely popular in said. after over a decade in the United the northern state of Kachin — a Myanmar and local pugilists say it He said changes in Myanmar, States. war-torn area bordering China is the toughest member of South- where Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro- Aung La N Sang, who has where he was born. east Asia’s kickboxing family — democracy party won landmark caused a stir in the kickboxing- But after discovering a love even more brutal than Thailand’s November elections, meant he mad Southeast Asian nation for jiu jitsu his “dreams have better known Muay Thai. would likely return more fre- since his arrival earlier this week, changed” and he stayed on to Head-butts are allowed and quently to the nation. made his fi rst public appearance train in mixed martial arts in competitors have their hands After this week’s visit he will at the press conference to pro- America, where he now runs a wrapped but do not wear gloves return for his ONE Champi- mote a fi ght planned for March. gym. as they attempt to batter their onship match in mid-March The 30-year-old said on The 6’1” middleweight fi ghter opponent into submission. against an undisclosed oppo- Wednesday that coming back now has 16 wins and 9 losses un- Spectators in front row seats nent at a stadium in Yangon near to Myanmar “felt like a dream, der his belt, and a keen following are close enough to hear bones where he lived as a child. but at the same time it felt like in the mixed martial arts com- shatter and expect a sporadic The match will be broadcast home”. munity. showering of blood and sweat. across Asia, where the sport He also told reporters that he But he is especially beloved A win is by knock-out only, commands an avid fanbase. wanted to help Myanmar fi ght- by boxing fans in Myanmar, who but if no one gets knocked out “It’s going to be a homecom- ers, trained on the bone-crunch- have battled the country’s lack- in fi ve three-minute rounds, the ing and I am going to sell that Mixed martial arts fighter Aung La N Sang (centre) answers a question during a press conference at ing local kickboxing style leth- lustre Internet speeds to follow match ends in a draw. place out,” he said. Yangon yesterday. Gulf Times 8 Friday, January 8, 2016 AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA

Patriotic fi zz around return of China’s favourite cola from 1980s China’s favourite cola of the 1980s is to be re- launched, 20 years after Seoul asks Washington an ill-fated deal with Pepsi consigned Tianfu Cola to the sidelines of the country’s soft-drink market. The sweet, suppos- edly medicinal drink will be returning to the for strategic weapons country’s shelves for the Lunar New Year holiday Reuters in early February, the Seoul off icial news agency Xin- hua reported yesterday. Once commanding a outh Korea is in talks with the US to 70% market share in the deploy US strategic weapons on the country, Tianfu - which SKorean peninsula, a South Korean means “heavenly pal- military offi cial said yesterday, a day after ace” - fell to a 1% stake North Korea said it successfully tested a after forming a joint hydrogen nuclear device. venture with Pepsi in South Korea also said it would resume 1994, before production propaganda broadcasts by loudspeaker was finally stopped. into North Korea from Friday, which is At the time of the Pepsi likely to infuriate its isolated rival, in re- deal, Tianfu Cola was sponse to its fourth nuclear test. making inroads into Rus- The US and weapons experts voiced sia and the US, but the doubts the device North Korea tested on combined unit slashed Wednesday was a hydrogen bomb, but output in favour of the calls mounted for more sanctions against American product. it for its rogue nuclear programme. Many other Chinese soft The underground explosion angered drink brands suff ered China, which was not given prior notice a similar fate as the although it is North Korea’s main ally, country opened up eco- pointing to a strain in their ties. nomically in the 1980s The test also alarmed Japan. Prime and 90s. Minister Shinzo Abe agreed with US After 12 years of losses, President Barack Obama in a telephone debt-ridden Tianfu sold call that a fi rm global response was its remaining shares needed, the White House said. Obama in the joint venture to also spoke to President Park Geun-hye of Pepsi, then successfully South Korea to discuss options. sued the US giant in a A South Korean military offi cial told Chinese court for the Reuters the two countries had discussed right to its own recipe. the deployment of US strategic assets on Tianfu Cola includes the divided Korean peninsula, but de- herbs drawn from tradi- clined to give further details. tional Chinese medicine After North Korea last tested a nuclear and a 1995 Chinese device, in 2013, Washington sent a pair of study claimed to show nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers on a it had anti-carcinogenic sortie over South Korea in a show of force. eff ects. At the time, North Korea responded by “Our joint venture with threatening a nuclear strike on the US. Pepsi put the brand on South Korea, technically in a state of ice, so we lost 20 years,” war against the North, said it was not Qian Huang, general considering a nuclear deterrent of its manager of Chongqing- own, despite calls from ruling party lead- based Tianfu, told ers. The US is highly unlikely to restore a press conference, the tactical nuclear missiles it removed according to the 21st from South Korea in 1991, experts said. Century Business Herald The test was a “grave violation” of an South Korean conservative activists burn an eff igy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un during a rally in Seoul yesterday. newspaper. August agreement by the two Koreas to On China’s Twitter-like ease tension and improve ties, a South “Any escalation in this region, any constructive eff orts have they made?” The US State Department confi rmed The impoverished state boasts of its social media service Korean national security offi cial, Cho over-reaction can easily lead to not only a Hours after the nuclear test, the UN North Korea had conducted a nuclear test military might to project strength glo- Weibo, many users Tae-yong, said in a statement. confl ict between South and North Korea, Security Council said it would work im- but the Obama administration disputed bally but also plays up the need to defend hailed the return of “Our military is at a state of full readi- but drag China and the US and Japan into mediately on signifi cant new measures the hydrogen bomb claim. itself from external threats as a way to Tianfu Cola as a patriotic ness, and if North Korea wages provoca- a confrontation,” Cordesman said. against North Korea. Diplomats said that “The initial analysis is not consistent maintain control domestically, analysts victory for the Asian gi- tion, there will be fi rm punishment.” A Chinese foreign ministry spokes- could mean an expansion of sanctions, with the claim the regime has made of a say. ant, which has risen The South raised its military alert to woman called for a resumption of so- although major powers might baulk at an successful hydrogen bomb test,” White Hydrogen bombs use a two-step proc- to become the world’s the highest level in areas along the border called six-party talks between the two all-out economic off ensive. House spokesman Josh Earnest told re- ess of fi ssion and fusion that releases second-largest economy near its propaganda loudspeakers, the Koreas, China, the US, Japan and Russia North Korea has a long history of belli- porters. substantially more energy than an atomic and carries increasing South’s Yonhap news agency reported aimed at curbing North Korea’s nuclear cose rhetoric against the US and its Asian The test took place two days ahead of bomb. However, it will likely take several diplomatic heft. yesterday. ambitions. allies but its assertion that it had tested what is believed to be North Korean lead- days to determine more precisely what “Protect the nation’s The US is limited in its military re- “We are worried about how things a hydrogen device, much more powerful er Kim Jong Un’s birthday. kind of device was set off as a variety of brands!” wrote one user. sponse for fear of provoking an un- are developing,” the spokeswoman, Hua than an atomic bomb, came as a surprise. North Korea called the device the sensors, including “sniff er planes”, col- Another declared: “You predictable regime in Pyongyang, said Chunying, told a briefi ng. North Korea also said it was capable “H-bomb of justice”, but its state news lect evidence. know Tianfu cola is Anthony Cordesman, a defence policy Asked about a suggestion from US of miniaturising the H-bomb, in theory agency also said it would act as a respon- A US government source said Wash- pure China, much better expert at the Washington-based Center Republican presidential front-runner allowing it to be placed on a missile and sible nuclear state and would not use its ington believes North Korea had set off to drink than Pepsi or for Strategic and International Studies Donald Trump that China could do more threatening the US West Coast, South nuclear weapons unless its sovereignty the latest in a series of tests of atomic Coke.” think-tank. to rein in North Korea, Hua said: “What Korea and Japan. was infringed. bombs.

HK disappearances cut deep into freedom fears

AFP no longer willing to tolerate anything which Hong Kong is causing embarrassment to them,” said pro-democracy lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki. “We are at a crossroads - if we tolerate he disappearance of fi ve Hong Kong this, more will come, so we have no choice booksellers has sent shivers through but to say no.” Tthe semi-autonomous city as anxiety The tiny bookstore in the busy shopping grows that Chinese control is tightening. district of Causeway Bay run by the missing Bookshops are removing political works booksellers was one of dozens in Hong Kong from their shelves, while publishers and to sell books banned on the mainland. store owners selling titles banned in main- Shelves were stacked with titles cover- land China say they now feel under threat. ing behind-the-scenes political wrangles, The fi ve missing men all worked for pub- private stories of Chinese leaders and unre- lishing house Mighty Current, known for ported corruption scandals. books critical of the Chinese government, The shop has been closed for days. and are feared to have been detained by Industry sources say the majority of cus- mainland authorities. tomers visiting the stores come from the But it is the latest disappearance that has mainland, ranging from ordinary citizens to triggered the most outrage. party offi cials keen for information on what Publisher Lee Bo, 65, was last seen in may be a state secret back home. Hong Kong - the only one of the fi ve men to At Paul Tang’s shop, customers fl ick have disappeared while in his home city. through a stack of books entitled The Secret Elvis fans Daniel Rawsthorne and Angus Wyllie pose at Sydney’s Central Station prior to boarding the “The biggest problem is if they really A printout showing Lee Bo and four other Emotional Life of Zhou Enlai, a former leader Elvis Express. came to Hong Kong to snatch people. It has missing colleagues is displayed outside a of the Communist Party. never happened before,” Jin Zhong, a main- bookstore in the Causeway Bay shopping “I think in Hong Kong people should be land-born, Hong Kong-based publisher of district of Hong Kong. able to enjoy such freedom,” says one cus- banned books, told AFP. “If it becomes a tomer, a Hong Kong photographer in his norm and people can be snapped up anytime kidnapped by mainland authorities, say 40s. “What has happened shows that the Impersonators board the Elvis Express from here... it is a big blow.” Beijing is trampling the “one country, two 50-year promise is just a slogan.” The other four men are believed to have systems” deal under which Hong Kong has The disappearances have already spooked gone missing when they were visiting been governed since it was handed back by some shops into pulling books. DPA eight-hour ride on the Express, The festival generated southern China and Thailand. Britain to China in 1997. AFP has learned that stores in the main- Sydney carrying some 450 lookalikes. A$13.8mn (US$9.7mn) for the lo- “As a free society, we are supposed to be The two sides agreed Hong Kong was to stream Page One chain have removed con- Some 22,000 fans are expected cal economy last year, she said. able to provide an open platform for diff er- preserve its freedoms and way of life for 50 troversial political titles. to descend on Parkes - popula- “Everyone gets into the fun ent voices in Hong Kong,” said Paul Tang, years - Chinese law enforcers have no right “We used to sell them but we don’t do it ressed in shiny jumpsuits, tion 12,000 - to celebrate the and that’s what’s so special about owner of the city’s People’s Recreation to operate in the city. anymore. We have received instructions ill-fi tting wigs and long birth and life of Elvis, who would the Parkes Elvis Festival. It’s so Community bookstore, which sells titles The disappearances come against a sim- that we don’t,” said one source from the Dsideburns, and topped have turned 81 today. friendly and everyone just has a banned on the mainland. mering backdrop of disaff ection over in- chain. with that famous quiff , thousands “It will be the largest since really good time,” Parkes Mayor Tang described the disappearances as creased interference from Beijing in politics Another said: “Some have been returned of Elvis fans were gathering yes- the annual event started 23 years Ken Keith, who was on board the “white terror”. and education. (to distributors) and some have been taken terday at a small Australian town ago,” Emily Mann, the festival di- Elvis Express, told broadcaster “None of us know how far it will go,” he In 2014, tens of thousands brought parts off (shelves).” for an annual festival in honour of rector, told DPA. ABC. said. of Hong Kong to a standstill for more than For Tang, the turn of events has come as a the King of Rock and Roll. “The accommodation is The theme of the festival this There were new reports yesterday that two months after Beijing imposed restric- terrifying shock. Impersonators fl ocked yes- booked years in advance. We year is Mexican, in reference to mainland agents had threatened two more tions on candidates for the city’s next leader. “We need to have these books to inspire terday to Sydney’s Central Sta- have set up extra sites for camps a 1963 Elvis movie called Fun in Hong Kong-based publishers involved in There have also been recent protests over those who haven’t had a chance to receive tion to board the Elvis Express and tents. We also have a fan- Acapulco. putting out books about political intrigue on perceived political appointments at univer- information,” he said. train heading for the rural town tastic home-stay programme in The festival, set to run until the mainland, and had paid for some books sities. “(But) if one day someone comes to me of Parkes, some 365km west of which we are accommodating January 10, will also see 150 events to be destroyed. “If it was really a deliberate act, I think it and says my personal safety will be aff ected Sydney. hundreds of visitors in some 120 and competitions, including for Furious pro-democracy lawmakers, ac- serves to give a strong signal to the people of if I continue to do this, I will have no option Local television showed fans houses belonging to local Parkes the best-dressed Elvis, best danc- tivists and residents, who believe Lee was Hong Kong that the Central government is and quit.” singing and dancing during the residents,” Mann said. er, and the best edible Elvis art. Gulf Times Friday, January 8, 2016 9 BRITAIN

PEOPLE REALTY CRIME LAW AND ORDER HEALTH Trump threatens to pull House price average at Concrete block dropped Murder hunt launched as Cancer warning over investments over ban record £208,000: Halifax on lorry from M4 bridge pensioner found dead ‘alarming’ obesity levels

US Republican presidential candidate Donald House prices reached a record high of £208,000 A concrete block was dropped from a motorway A murder investigation has been launched after Almost 700,000 more people could develop Trump has threatened to cancel over £700mn of on average in December after leaping by 9.5% footbridge onto a lorry, police said. The heavy an 82-year-old woman was found dead in her cancer in the next 20 years because they are planned investments in golf courses in Scotland if during 2015, according to Halifax. Across the UK, block smashed into the roof of the HGV on the home. The body of Mary Logie was discovered overweight or obese. The warning comes from Britain slaps him with a travel ban. The threat from the average price in December was £208,286, M4 near Bridgend in South Wales. Debris from at a property in Green Gates in Leven, Fife, at Cancer Research UK - and the charity says Trump, owner of two golf courses in his mother’s after increasing by 1.7% month-on-month, it the masonry and lorry damaged four other around 8pm on Tuesday. She had sustained immediate action is needed to tackle Britain’s homeland of Scotland, comes as British lawmakers said. The annual increase of 9.5% recorded in vehicles on the road. South Wales Police said it head injuries and was pronounced dead at “alarming” obesity levels. Ten types of cancer are prepare to hold a debate on a petition signed by December was up from 9% in November. But was “extremely fortunate” no one was hurt. the scene by paramedics, Police Scotland said. linked to obesity: cancer of the bowel, breast in over half a million people calling for him to be there are signs that the pace of price growth is The block was dropped from the bridge that The pensioner had previously been seen alive older women, gallbladder, liver, kidney, womb, barred from the country after his proposal to stop softening slightly. The quarterly rate of growth, links the A4063 Sarn bypass and Penycae Lane at around 8am the same day. Detective chief pancreatic, oesophageal, and aggressive forms Muslims entering the US. The debate will be held which tends to be a good indicator of underlying shortly before 8pm on Wednesday. In December inspector Keith Hardie said: “Whoever has been of ovarian and prostate cancer. In a new report, on January 18 but will not be followed by a vote. trends, has remained below 2% for two months in last year, police warned roads in Essex were responsible for causing Mary’s death has preyed Cancer Research UK and the UK Health Forum Only Interior Minister Theresa May can issue an a row, Halifax said. The quarterly rate showed that being deliberately trapped with concrete blocks, on a vulnerable and elderly member of the warn that current trends mean almost three in order banning entry into Britain and Prime Minister prices in the three months to December were 1.6% wood and barbed wire with the intention of community and we are pursuing various lines of four adults will be obese by 2035. Obesity can Cameron said he does not favour barring Trump. higher than in the previous three months. causing danger to motorists. inquiry as part of this ongoing investigation.” lead to cancer by causing changes in the body.

Cricketer Trees left for recycling dies after PM upbeat but fall from bridge poll reveals Guardian News and Media London

cricketer has died after plunging 30 metres from Aa road bridge that spans a Britons tilting river in Devon. Tributes poured in from the world of the cricket following the death of the 28-year-old bowler Tom Allin, who played for War- wickshire and Devon. His death came just two days towards Brexit after the body of the Sussex fast bowler Matt Hobden was found Reuters pend on a fi fth of voters who are ers last month, she called Britain at a property in Forres near In- London/Wildbad Kreuth, Germany still undecided. a “natural ally”, stressing its im- verness, Scotland. His family “Despite the impending vote portance to Europe’s internal free said he was celebrating new year on Brexit, signifi cantly more peo- market and its weight in foreign with friends when he died. majority of Britons who ple report to have felt further re- policy debates. She also said she Allin’s body was discovered at have made up their minds moved from Europe over the last was “confi dent” a solution would the base of the bridge over the river Awould vote to leave the twelve months than closer to it,” be found. Torridge in Bideford, north Devon, European Union in a forthcoming Johnny Heald, managing director Cameron attended at a session on Monday. Police are investigat- referendum, making Britain by far of ORB International, said. of the Christian Social Demo- ing on behalf of the coroner but the most reluctant member of the “If the prime minister is to cratic Union, the sister party of are not treating his death as suspi- 28-nation bloc, an opinion poll avoid disaster on his watch some- Merkel’s CDU, before travelling cious. published yesterday showed. one needs to start convincing to Budapest for a meeting with In a statement Devon and Corn- As Prime Minister David Cam- the public very soon on why we Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor wall police said: “Police responded eron pushed for a deal from other should remain a part of the EU.” Orban, a prickly Eurosceptic con- to an incident at around 9pm on EU leaders to improve London’s A British exit would shake the servative ally. January 4, on the A39 river Tor- membership terms before a vote union to its core, ripping away its In Hungary, he sought support ridge bridge, where a man in his he could call as early as June, the second largest economy and one for his most contentious demand late 20s had sadly died as a result ORB poll indicated that opposi- of its top two military powers. - that Britain be allowed to limit of injuries incurred from what tion to the European Union was the in-work benefi ts paid to EU police are treating as a non-suspi- growing in Britain. “If the prime minister is to migrants, something critics say cious incident. While 21% of voters are still un- avoid disaster on his watch amounts to illegal discrimina- “Police are not conducting a decided, 43% want to leave the EU someone needs to start tion. criminal investigation into this and 36% want to stay, the survey convincing the public very “I’m confi dent with goodwill - incident. The man was believed showed. soon on why we should and there is goodwill I think on all to be well known to the local When the undecided are remain a part of the EU” sides - we can bring these nego- community. Emergency serv- stripped out, 54% of voters want tiations to a conclusion and then ices were quickly on the scene a British exit, or ‘Brexit’, up from Pro-Europeans warn an exit hold the referendum,” Cameron however, attempts to resusci- 51% a year ago, and 46% want to from the EU would hurt Britain’s said in Wildbad Kreuth. tate the male were unsuccess- stay, down from 49%. economy and could trigger the “I’ve been very heartened by ful.” The public scepticism con- break-up of the United Kingdom the goodwill I’ve felt by fellow sis- Allin spent six years at War- trasted with Cameron’s latest by prompting another Scottish ter party members in the CSU here wickshire before returning to his declaration of optimism that a independence vote. Opponents of in Bavaria.” native Devon in 2013. deal can be struck on his demands EU membership say Britain would Orban, criticised in the EU A statement on Warwickshire’s for changes in Britain’s relation- prosper outside the bloc. for his outspoken opposition to website read: “Everyone at Edg- ship with Brussels, including re- Cameron, who is urging fellow admitting refugees and his em- baston is immensely saddened by ducing benefi t rights for EU mi- leaders to clinch an agreement brace of “illiberal democracy” at the news that former Warwick- grants working in the UK. at an EU summit on February home, was Cameron’s only ally shire fast bowler Tom Allin has “We believe that all these issues 18-19, dined with Merkel and her in a failed 2014 attempt to block died. can be dealt with. The discussions conservative Bavarian allies on the appointment of Jean-Claude “Tom was an incredibly popular are going well,” Cameron said in Wednesday. Juncker as European Commission member of the professional squad Wildbad Kreuth, Bavaria, after “Throughout these next weeks, president. during his six years with Warwick- what he said was an “excellent it is especially important that we Hungary’s foreign minister shire. meeting” with German Chancel- make decisions in our own inter- said on Thursday that Budapest “The thoughts of all at War- lor Angela Merkel over dinner on est in order to achieve a reason- supports some of Britain’s re- wickshire county cricket club are Wednesday. able package that will allow Great form proposals that aim to boost with Tom’s family and friends, and The ORB poll indicates that the Britain to remain a part of the Eu- economic competitiveness in the we would ask that their privacy A jogger runs past at a pile of Christmas trees left out for recycling, following the end of the referendum could be far closer ropean Union,” Merkel said before EU but would not want to see an be respected during this diffi cult Christmas season in London. than some politicians had as- the dinner. erosion in the free movement of time.” sumed and that the result will de- In a speech to German lawmak- labour. Blair urged Gaddafi to fi nd Ex-soldier regrets bid ‘safe place’: transcripts to rescue migrant girl Reuters Ahmadi and her father Reza. Ba- London har, who he referred to as Bru, fol- AFP parliament’s Foreign Aff airs gust and was killed on October 25. lowed him around the camp and London Committee, which is examining Libya has since plunged into he struck up a close friendship the western intervention in Lib- lawlessness, with the country former British soldier who with her. ya’s civil war and Britain’s options splitting into two warring fac- goes on trial in France next The girl’s father asked him to ormer prime minister Tony now concerning the troubled tions. Aweek after being caught take her to live with a relative in Blair urged Muammar country. Though out of offi ce, Blair trying to smuggle a child from a northern England, and although FGaddafi to stand aside and Committee chair Crispin Blunt had infl uence with Gaddafi as French migrant camp into Britain he initially refused, the 49-year- fi nd a bolthole in the early days said they would consider “wheth- his 2004 so-called “deal in the said he felt he had to do something old father-of-four said his pater- of the Libyan uprising, telephone er Gaddafi ’s warning of the rise of desert” brought Libya in from the to help those caught up in last nal instinct kicked in and he could transcripts released yesterday extremist militant groups... was cold as Tripoli scrapped its chem- year’s refugee crisis. not bear to leave her in the “squal- showed. wrongly ignored” due to his “oth- ical weapons. Rob Lawrie, from Guiseley in id” camp. Blair urged the Libyan dictator erwise delusional” world view. Gaddafi claimed Al Qaeda cells northern England, said he felt He hid the girl in his van and to stop the violence, start a proc- Evidence suggests “western had been attacking police sta- compelled to act after seeing pic- set off for Britain on October 24 ess of change, stand aside, resolve policymakers were rather less tions, saying: “They want to con- tures of drowned Syrian toddler last year but was stopped by bor- the situation peacefully and keep perceptive than Gaddafi about the trol the Mediterranean and then Aylan Kurdi. der police who found two Eritrean communications open between risks of intervention,” he said. they will attack Europe.” “I didn’t know what diff erence men in the back, who he said had them. The committee quizzed Blair Blair said: “The way to deal I could make, I just knew I had to stowed away inside without his Gaddafi insisted Libya was un- in December on his relationship with this is the leader says and get down to Europe, in the camps, knowledge. He was arrested and der attack from sleeper cells from with Gaddafi , after which the makes clear he wants a peaceful Dunkirk, Calais, get down to the Bahar was returned to her father. the Al Qaeda terror network who ex-premier, who was in offi ce be- outcome. The use of airplanes to Hungarian border, just do some- “I do regret it because it has cost wanted to take north Africa and tween 1997 and 2007, provided attack cities and the use of force thing,” he said. me everything,” he said. “It has attack Europe - and if Western the phone transcripts released against civilians—this has to Lawrie, who is due to appear in cost me my family and it’s fi nan- forces intervened, Libya would yesterday. stop.” court on January 14 in Boulogne- cially bankrupted me, but that’s end up “like Iraq”. The uprising that overthrew In the second call, Gaddafi said sur-Mer on a charge of aiding il- about me. It was done on the spur “If you have a safe place to go Gaddafi ’s regime began in mid- he was preparing to “arm the peo- legal immigration, closed his car- of the moment. Yes I was compas- you should go there because this February 2011. ple” for a battle against “coloni- pet-cleaning business, bought a sionately but it was illegal.” will not end peacefully,” Blair The two calls from Blair were sation”. “If you want to reap Libya van and headed to migrant camps Despite public support for his warned. made on February 25, 2011, the we are ready to fi ght, it will be like in northern France to deliver tents, cause and two online petitions The transcripts cast light on second after Blair reported back Iraq,” he said. aid and help build temporary which have attracted 150,000 Gaddafi ’s thinking as the uprising to US and European Union fi g- Blair urged Gaddafi to take the structures for those living there. signatures asking for leniency, he began to escalate. ures. initiative and lead a peaceful tran- Among those he met were four- could face a jail term of up to fi ve They were published by the Gaddafi fl ed Tripoli that Au- sition process. Lawrie: financially bankrupted year-old Afghan migrant Bahar years under French law. Gulf Times 10 Friday, January 8, 2016 EUROPE French president calls for security co-operation

AFP in the death of 130 people in co- to French security services, hav- on the pavement near Charlie sion in the wake of the murders Paris ordinated violence across the ing either travelled abroad to Hebdo’s offi ces. of Charlie Hebdo’s best-known capital on November 13 – claimed fi ght with extremists or been The next day, a policewoman cartoonists. by the Islamic State (IS) group. prevented from doing so. was shot dead by Amedy Couli- The newspaper had been in the year to the day since gun- In a sombre speech at Paris Hollande said that since the baly in the southern suburb of jihadists’ sights since it fi rst pub- men killed 12 people at police headquarters, Hollande attack on Charlie Hebdo, nearly Montrouge, apparently as he was lished cartoons of the Prophet ACharlie Hebdo newspaper hinted at intelligence failings 200 people in France had been heading to attack a Jewish school. Muhammad in 2006. and with France still grieving that might have allowed attacks placed under travel restrictions Among changes set to be in- Charlie Hebdo has continued November’s massacre in Paris, to take place, as he called for all to prevent them joining up with troduced in the wake of the No- to raise ire, rejecting self-cen- President Francois Hollande branches of the security services IS in Syria or Iraq. vember attacks are new guide- sorship in the wake of the attacks called for greater co-operation to co-operate more closely. The president said the three lines allowing police to keep their and working from ultra-secure between the security services. “Faced with these adversaries, police killed in January’s attacks weapons even when off -duty. offi ces in a top-secret location. Underlining the continuing it is essential that every service “died so that we could live in The president reiterated his Parisians said yesterday that threat, a man was shot dead out- – police, gendarmerie, intelli- freedom”. pledge to boost the number of they feared another terror attack side a police station in northern gence, military – work in per- A police bodyguard tasked police and armed gendarmes by was likely at some point. Paris shortly after Hollande gave fect harmony, with the greatest with guarding the newspaper’s 5,000. Alain Jurquet, a 67-year-old his speech marking the anni- transparency, and that they share editor, Charb, was killed along- The speech will be followed pensioner, said: “It’ll happen versary of the killings at Charlie all the information at their dis- side him by brothers Cherif by a concert on Sunday to mark again. I won’t stop living. There Hebdo on January 7, 2015. posal,” the president said. and Said Kouachi and in scenes the 1mn people who poured on are thousands of deaths around The attack on the satirical Many of the attackers in both caught on fi lm the brothers to the streets of Paris on January the world, unfortunately, but Hollande thanks members of the French police forces at the police newspaper began a series of at- January’s rampage and the mas- shot dead another police offi cer, 11, 2015, in an outpouring of sup- that can’t stop us from going on headquarters in Paris yesterday. tacks in France that culminated sacre in November were known Ahmed Merabet, as he sprawled port for the freedom of expres- with our lives.” Armed man wearing

fake suicide belt slain A bomb disposal robot moves to inspect the body of a man shot dead at a police station in the 18th district in Paris in this still image taken Reuters he had already been identifi ed by from his clothes. That’s why the The Islamic State, the militant She said the police shouted at from video. Paris investigators. police offi cer opened fi re,” said a group that controls swathes of the man and that he then started The incident took place ex- police offi cial. Iraq and Syria, claimed respon- running towards them before Paris has increased its eff orts at Benghalem, 35, who is believed to actly one year after deadly Is- French interior ministry sibility for the November 13 at- they shot him. striking jihadist groups in Syria have had links to the perpetrators rench police shot dead a lamist militant attacks on the spokesman Pierre-Henry Bran- tacks. In his speech, Hollande prom- and Iraq, becoming the second of both series of Paris attacks, re- man wielding a meat cleav- Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine det later said that the suicide belt Several of the militants in- ised to equip police better to pre- largest contributor to the US- main unknown. Fer after he tried to enter a in the French capital and also just the man was wearing had proved volved in those attacks were, like vent further militant attacks. led coalition against the Islamic He is suspected of being an police station yesterday, the an- minutes after President Francois to be fake. last January’s killers, French- The president also defended State. Islamic State executioner and niversary of militant attacks in Hollande had given a speech in an France has been on high alert born. draconian security measures im- Security measures at home of having led a group of French- Paris, shouting “Allahu Akbar” another part of Paris to mark the ever since the shootings last Journalist Anna Polonyi, who plemented since November that have included a three-month speaking militants in Raqqa, and wearing what turned out to anniversary. January at the Charlie Hebdo of- could see the outside of the po- his Socialist government had state of emergency during Syria. be a fake suicide belt. In his statement, Paris Pros- fi ce and at a Jewish supermarket lice station from the window of once shunned. which the police have launched The French court sentenced six The Paris prosecutor said the ecutor Francois Molins said a ter- in which 17 people died over three her fl at, posted photos on social Last year’s attacks have boost- hundreds of raids on homes, other defendants who attended man had also been carrying a rorism inquiry had been opened days. media that showed what ap- ed the popularity of the far-right, mosques, restaurants and hotels. yesterday’s hearing to jail terms mobile phone and sheet of pa- into the incident, which occurred Security concerns were further peared to be a bomb-disposal anti-immigrant National Front Separately yesterday, a French of between six and nine years per bearing the Islamic State (IS) in the 18th district of the capital, heightened in November, when robot beside the body of the man, (FN) party ahead of a presidential court sentenced a French-born for being part of the recruitment fl ag and claims of responsibility an area the Islamic State said it 130 people were killed in the who was wearing blue jeans and a election due in 2017. Islamist militant in absentia to network. by the militant group written in had planned to strike in Novem- capital in co-ordinated shoot- grey coat. “Terrorism has not stopped 15 years in jail for his role in re- It was the fi rst such court case Arabic. ber. ings and suicide bombings that Polonyi told Reuters that her posing a threat to our country,” cruiting militants to fi ght for the involving militant Islamists in He has yet to be named, but “(The man) shouted ‘Allahu targeted a music hall, bars and sister, in the fl at with her, had said Hollande. group in Syria in 2013. France since the November kill- some French media reports said Akbar’ and had wires protruding restaurants and a soccer stadium. seen the incident happen. Since the November attacks, The whereabouts of Salim ings. Germany needs frank talk Polish president Bomb left signs controversial near bank about integration: Merkel media bill into law Reuters Milan

AFP a scene that was indescribable”. AFP and radio – all currently state- Berlin Interior Minister Thomas de Warsaw owned businesses – into na- talian police found yesterday Maiziere warned that foreign- tional cultural institutions like a rudimentary explosive de- ers who commit serious crimes the opera or the national mu- Ivice outside a branch of Ban- hancellor Angela Merkel “must assume they will be de- olish President Andrzej seum. ca Etruria, one of four lenders said yesterday that Ger- ported”, including asylum seek- Duda has signed into law The media measure is the whose rescue from bankruptcy Cmany must have a “fun- ers even though there are strict Pa controversial bill hand- latest controversial legislation has triggered public anger after damental” debate about how to laws surrounding their expul- ing the conservative govern- introduced by the PiS, which thousands of retail investors lost integrate newcomers, as police sion. ment control of state media, is led by former premier Jaro- their life savings. identifi ed 16 people suspected German law requires a con- despite EU concern and con- slaw Kaczynski and which won A bank employee told Reuters of a shocking rash of sexual as- viction of at least three years in demnation from rights watch- a general election in October that bomb disposal experts had saults blamed on migrants. prison before an asylum seeker dogs. after eight years in opposition. conducted a controlled explo- As outrage grew in Germany can be forcibly returned while “It’s important to the presi- Duda already passed into law sion and the branch, located on over the assaults, which includ- his or her application for refuge dent that state media be im- late last year a reform of the the outskirts of Perugia, a town ed two alleged rapes and several is being examined. partial, objective and credible,” constitutional court, despite in the central Umbria region, accounts of groping during New The individual must also not presidential spokeswoman mass protests and claims by was operating normally. Year’s Eve festivities in Cologne, face threats in his or her country Malgorzata Sadurska told re- the opposition that the chang- Italian news agency Ansa said Merkel said citizens were right of origin. porters yesterday. es threaten judicial independ- the device consisted of a bag to raise serious questions. But de Maiziere said: “We “That’s why the president ence. containing rusty nails, fertiliser She pledged strong action will have to discuss if we should signed into law the radio and The Council of Europe, the and batteries that could ignite it. and stressed that “we must also change” these rules that are in television bill” that the con- continent’s top human rights Last month Italy salvaged speak again about the cultural line with the UN Geneva Con- servative-dominated parlia- watchdog, had urged Duda Banca Etruria and three other fundamentals of our co-exist- vention and European Human ment approved late last month. against signing the media law. small ailing banks under new ence”. Rights Convention. Under the new law, sen- The Polish government’s European Union rules that re- Some 121 complaints have The Social Democrats, junior ior fi gures in public radio and legal moves have prompted quire investors to bear some of been fi led so far, with police partners in Merkel’s left-right television will be appointed – escalating warnings from the the losses to reduce the burden saying they are investigating “16 “grand coalition”, have argued and sacked – by the treasury European Commission that it on taxpayers. young men ... mostly of North against any changes to the law. minister, and no longer hired could intervene, including two Shareholders and some 12,500 African origin” although no one The SPD’s deputy chief, Ralf by the National Broadcasting letters from its vice-president, holders of riskier junior debt saw has yet been charged. Stegner, told Die Welt news- Council. Frans Timmermans, asking their savings wiped out. Investigators are trawling Merkel: We need to re-examine if everything necessary has been paper that “we need neither The new legislation will also Warsaw for information. Banca Etruria in particular through CCTV footage and ex- done with regards to expulsions to send a clear signal to those who changes to fundamental rights see the current managers and In an unprecedented move, has become the focus of mount- amining witness accounts to do not respect our law. for asylum nor to the Geneva supervisory board members of the Commission is set to de- ing anger as it sold the highest determine whether the suspects Convention on refugees”. Poland’s public broadcasters bate the state of rule of law in amount of retail bonds among were implicated, police added. pel convicted asylum seekers, ing how offi cers were powerless He also warned that con- fi red with immediate eff ect. Poland on January 13, which the four rescued lenders. About three-quarters of the Merkel vowed to consider fur- to hinder the terrifying rampage stantly “reacting to current The ruling Law and Justice could lead to a potentially pu- Many bond holders have com- cases involved sexual off ences, ther action. on New Year’s Eve. public moods is not a responsi- (PiS) party had earlier said it nitive process aimed at but- plained that they were not prop- while others related to theft or “We need to re-examine if “The offi cers were unable ble manner of governance”. plans to turn the PAP news tressing democracy and rights erly informed about the risks bodily harm. everything necessary has been to prevent all events, assaults, In a bid to calm tensions, Jus- agency and public television in the 28 EU states. involved. Welcoming the fact that large done with regards to expulsions crimes – there were just too tice Minister Heiko Maas said numbers of alleged victims have to send a clear signal to those many at the same time,” accord- that asylum seekers with con- come forward, Merkel said there who do not respect our law.” ing to the police report. victions of one year can already were “very serious questions The assaults plaguing the Both victims and witness- be expelled – although a grace that go beyond Cologne” for Rhineland city during New es were threatened, it said, period must be given to the indi- Germany. Year’s festivities were not iso- describing unaccompanied vidual to leave German territory 25 opposition party mayors sacked The attacks have shown that lated, with the northern port women as “running a veritable on his own accord, failing which there is in “some quarters, con- city of Hamburg also hit. gauntlet of heavily drunk men in he would be forcibly returned. tempt for women”, she said. Some 70 complaints of sexual DPA on grounds of undermining state arm of the PKK, whose militants “We need to confront that assaults have been fi led, Ham- Four men arrested over gang rape of two teenagers Istanbul unity and integrity and trespass- have been killed by the dozens as with utmost determination,” burg police said, with 23 of ing in security zones, among the government launched a fresh Merkel said, adding that she did those victims also reporting that A 21-year-old man and three minors have been arrested on suspicion of other off ences. off ensive more than three weeks not believe that the cases were they’d been robbed. raping two teenaged girls in the western German town of Weil am Rhein, urkey’s interior ministry Turkish President Recep Tayy- ago. isolated. Witnesses in Cologne said police and prosecutors confirmed yesterday. has dismissed 25 mayors ip Erdogan last week accused the Turkish authorities have since Although authorities have groups of 20-30 young, in- The victims and the 21-year-old accused were acquainted. Tbelonging to a pro-Kurd- leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP August imposed curfews in the said there are no indications that toxicated men out of a crowd The girls met up with him on New Year’s Eve and followed him to his flat, ish opposition party since the of betrayal by calling for auton- southeast, and human rights ac- the perpetrators of the assaults of about 1,000 people had sur- where they initially engaged in consensual sexual activity, police said. beginning of August in south- omy in the country’s southeast, tivists say the civilian population were asylum seekers, critics of rounded victims, assaulted The situation escalated, resulting in the man, his 15-year-old brother and eastern Turkey, the party told a predominantly Kurdish region has been particularly hard hit. Merkel’s open-door approach to them and in several cases robbed two other 14-year-old boys repeatedly raping the girls, police said. DPA yesterday. where authorities are engaged in The Kurdish minority, which those fl eeing war have seized on them. All four suspects are Syrians, according to police, though it is unclear The local leaders, belonging to operations against the banned comprises at least 15% of Tur- the opportunity to draw a link. Yesterday Bild newspaper whether they are refugees currently seeking asylum or have been in the a branch of the Peoples’ Demo- Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). key’s population, has long com- With debate mounting over and Der Spiegel online quoted country longer. cratic Party (HDP), lost their Erdogan considers the HDP plained of systemic discrimina- whether to make it easier to ex- an internal police report detail- jobs within the last fi ve months nothing more than the political tion. Gulf Times Friday, January 8, 2016 11 INDIA Priyanka wins at People’s Choice Award in Los Angeles

IANS vourite Actress in a New TV manager, the cast and crew, the A National Award-winning culture through votes given by Indian fi lm fraternity that in- winning #PeoplesChoiceA- Los Angeles series at the gala on Wednes- writer, ABC...everyone. I’m re- actress in India, Chopra’s act- the general public - for Chopra cluded Nimrat Kaur, Anil Ka- ward for favourite actress day night here. She was pitted ally overwhelmed.” ing repertoire includes fi lms comes as a fi llip to her in- poor, Anushka Sharma, Huma #Quantico!!So Proud!!”, while against actresses like Emma She was given the trophy by like Andaaz, Aitraaz, Kr- ternational career, which Qureshi, Prakash Jha and Shek- Anushka Sharma shared: “Hey ollywood actress and Roberts, Jamie Lee Curtis, Lea Hollywood action star Vin Die- rish, Fashion and Mary fi rst began as a singer in har Kapur. @priyankachopra congratula- former Miss World Priya- Michele and Marcia Gay Harden. sel, who also gave a touching Kom. Her last big screen 2012 with her single In Nimrat Kaur, who played a tions on the win! So proud of Bnka Chopra made India Ecstatic with the victory, Cho- tribute to his late Fast and Furi- outing as Kashibai in my city. She went on pivotal role in the American you! Keep rocking yaow”. proud yet again. She won a Peo- pra said: “I’d like to thank eve- ous co-star Paul Walker by sing- Bajirao Mastani last to collaborate with TV series Homeland, tweeted: Chopra will next be seen ple’s Choice Award for her in- ryone who voted for Quantico. It ing the song See you again during year has also won American rapper Pit- “Brilliant and so incredibly well onscreen in the forthcoming ternational acting debut as FBI is my fi rst year in the US, and to the course of the show. praises. bull for Exotic in 2013. deserved! So so proud of this ti- Bollywood film Jai Gangaajal, agent Alex Parish in American come to another country and ac- Chopra looked glamorous in The People’s After wining the gress! A fi rst of many more to go which is slated to release on TV thriller series Quantico. She tually get this kind of acceptance is a shimmery dress by American Choice Award - award, Chopra was @priyankachopra.” March 4. is said to be the fi rst South Asian I guess what America is all about.” fashion designer Vera Wang, and which recognises fl ooded with con- Anil Kapoor wrote: “And the Other global stars to win big actress to win the honour. “So, thank you for accepting stood out with her smokey eye the people and the gratulatory messages People have made their choice! were Melissa McCarthy, Taylor Chopra was named the Fa- me, thank you to my mom, my make-up. work of popular from the members of Congrats @priyankachopra on Swift and Ellen DeGeneres. Doubts cast over India-Pak talks after airbase attack

Agencies The standoff after the ap- New Delhi parent thaw is part of a pattern over the years. Attempts to re- start talks have been frequently ndia yesterday called on Pa- thwarted by attacks between kistan to take “prompt and the two countries, which have Idecisive” action against mil- fought three wars. itants it blames for an attack on With such an eventuality in an air base, days before fraught mind, the national security advis- peace talks between the neigh- ers of the two countries agreed on bours are scheduled to resume. a process during a meeting in ear- A meeting between the for- ly December to keep dialogue go- eign secretaries of both nations ing in case of a potential disrup- Mourners carry the coff in of Mufti Mohamed Sayeed (INSET) in Srinagar yesterday. had been tentatively scheduled tion, the Pakistani offi cial said. for January 15, but it is unclear As a result, Indian NSA Ajit if it will still happen after the Doval has spoken at least three weekend attack on the Indian times by phone with his Paki- Air Force base in Pathankot in stani counterpart, Naseer Khan Punjab near the Pakistan border. Janjua, since the attack, includ- India’s foreign ministry said ing last Saturday evening when Islamabad has been given ac- the fi ghting was still ongoing, tionable intelligence that those the Pakistani offi cial said. Kashmir chief minister who planned the assault came India’s security establishment from Pakistan. has blamed the attack on militant “As far as we are concerned group Jaish-e-Mohamed, alleged the ball is now in Pakistan’s to have been behind an assault court,” spokesman Vikas Swarup on the country’s parliament in told reporters when asked if the 2001 that almost brought the two talks were on. “The immediate countries to war for a fourth time. Mufti Sayeed dies at 79 issue in front of us is Pakistan’s The Pakistani offi cial said response to the terrorist attack.” Pakistan could temporarily ar- Daughter Mehbooba likely “Mufti Sahab’s demise leaves Two senior PDP leaders, Mu- appointed India’s fi rst Muslim at the Aligarh Muslim Univer- He said the Indian govern- rest Jaish-e-Mohamed’s leader to take over as new CM a huge void in the nation and in zaff ar Hussain Beigh and Altaf home minister in 1989. sity before joining politics in ment’s Pakistan policy was clear Masood Azhar to appease India, J&K, where his exemplary lead- Bukhari, earlier handed over a Later the same year another 1959. and consistent, adding New Del- but only if the leads checked out. Agencies ership had a major impact on letter to Governor N N Vohra of his daughters was kidnapped After taking on the iconic hi wanted friendly relations with Pakistan also expects DNA ev- Srinagar people’s lives,” Modi said in a nominating Mehbooba as the by Kashmiri militants. She was Sheikh Abdullah, Sayeed be- all its neighbours. idence, bodies and other forms message on Twitter. leader of their legislature party eventually released in exchange came a cabinet minister in “We have extended our hand of identifi cation from India Sayeed’s PDP controversially - which would entitle her to as- for fi ve jailed rebels. Jammu and Kashmir in 1972. of friendship to Pakistan but we “within days”, the offi cial said. ammu and Kashmir Chief went into coalition in Kashmir sume charge as the new chief His party won the 2002 elec- Just three years later, he became will not countenance cross-bor- Sharif met senior ministers Minister Mufti Mohamed with BJP after state elections at minister. tion in Kashmir on a promise to head of the state unit of the der terrorist attacks,” he said. and his national security advis- JSayeed, one of the country’s the end of 2014. Analysts said the death of the bring a “healing touch” to the Congress Party. A senior Pakistani offi cial said ers yesterday and discussed “is- best-known Muslim politicians, The PDP’s main support base veteran leader, who also served war-ravaged region, and Sayeed He joined prime minister Ra- India provided intelligence that sues pertaining to national and died yesterday, an offi cial said. is among Muslims in the Kash- as chief minister in Kash- has won praise for his eff orts to jiv Gandhi’s government in 1986 included telephone numbers, regional security”, according to a The 79-year-old, whose mir Valley, the epicentre of the mir between 2002 and 2005, bring about reconciliation. but quit the next year to throw call intercepts, and locations statement from his offi ce. People’s Democratic Party is in separatist insurgency that broke was unlikely to trigger major But he also faced criticism at his lot with V P Singh, who re- where they believe the attackers Meanwhile, the Communist a controversial coalition with out in 1989. change. home for his perceived close- volted against Gandhi’s leader- or their handlers were. Party of India (Marxist) said the Prime Minister Narendra Mo- Thousands off ered the ‘Ni- “The BJP and PDP have lim- ness to New Delhi. A profi le of ship and went on to become the Pakistan is following up the government must accept “bun- di’s Bharatiya Janata Party in the maz-e-Jinaza’ (funeral prayer) ited options and will try to con- the chief minister in the latest prime minister in 1989. leads, the offi cial said, and hopes gling” in the response to the state, is likely to be succeeded as in Srinagar. tinue in power,” said Happymon issue of The Caravan magazine Sayeed became the home that the talks would not be can- attack and conduct “a proper chief minister by his daughter. More than 7,000 people, in- Jacob, assistant professor of was headlined “The Collabo- minister in the V P Singh gov- celled while it explores them. probe.” Sayeed died in Delhi’s All cluding VIPs, family members international studies at New rator - How Mufti Mohamed ernment. Prime Minister Narendra At the same time, the party also India Institute of Medical Sci- and party activists, off ered Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Uni- Sayeed became Delhi’s man in Within days, however, mili- Modi and his Pakistani counter- urged the government to stick to ences after being admitted on the prayer at the huge Sher-e- versity. Kashmir”. tants abducted his third daugh- part Nawaz Sharif are struggling its proposed talks with Pakistan, December 24 suff ering from a Kashmir Cricket Stadium in the “But Mehbooba is a bit im- Several rebel groups have for ter, Rubaiya Sayeed, in Srinagar, to keep their renewed dialogue saying a reversal “will only cramp respiratory illness, a hospital evening, hours after his body mature when it comes to the decades been fi ghting Indian forcing the V P Singh govern- on track after the militant attack India’s strategic options”. offi cial said. was brought from New Delhi. administrative part. She has forces deployed on the Indian ment to free fi ve jailed guerrillas killed seven Indian military per- “The Modi government must His daughter Mehbooba Senior PDP leader Naeem never held any position in the side of divided Kashmir, seeking from Kashmir. sonnel and wounded 22. accept that there has been Mufti, current head of the PDP Akhtar led the prayer after government and has to start independence or a merger of the In 1999, after a brief stint Modi made a surprise stopo- bungling which raises vari- that he founded in 1999, is which the body was taken to from scratch in an alliance with territory with Pakistan. again in the Congress when P V ver in Pakistan last month, the ous disturbing questions,” said widely expected to take over Bijbehara, the hometown of an ideologically disparate part- Born in Bijbehara on January Narasimha Rao became its lead- fi rst time an Indian premier has an editorial in the CPM journal as the state’s fi rst female chief the Muftis in Anantnag district ner.” 12, 1936 to a family of ‘Peers’, er, Sayeed and daughter Meh- visited in over a decade. People’s Democracy. minister. where he would be buried. Sayeed, a former lawyer, was Sayeed studied in Srinagar and booba fl oated the PDP.

Do more to rescue women Price hike protest Four arrested over traffi cked to Goa, govt urged kidney-selling racket

AFP Potential donors were test- Reuters are very few rescues during this Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand Hyderabad ed in Gujarat or Maharashtra Mumbai time as the police are busy with and from other Indian states are states before being traffi cked tourists and music shows and duped by traffi ckers who prom- to Sri Lanka where the op- other activities,” said Arun Pan- ise them good jobs in the state, 22-year-old student erations took place, Sudhakar prominent charity in Goa dey, director of the charity An- which is famed for its palm- from Telangana was said. yesterday called on the yay Rahit Zindagi. fringed beaches and night life. A arrested for allegedly Agovernment to do more to “Most rescues are during the Instead, they fi nd themselves playing a significant role in “He wanted to lead a rescue thousands of women and monsoon, when the police are being exploited in brothels an international kidney-sell- lavish life by making children who are traffi cked to relatively free. But there haven’t fronted by hotels, beauty salons, ing racket, police said yester- money by selling his the popular tourism spot every been as many rescues as this data spas and bars or used in forced day. kidney” year for sexual exploitation and claims,” he said, adding that only labour such as domestic work or After selling one of his forced labour. a couple of hundred victims were in the hospitality industry. own kidneys for Rs500,000 Three hospitals in the Sri Home ministry data show more rescued each year. Minister of State Haribhai ($7,500) in December 2014, Lankan capital Colombo are than 5,000 women and children Almost 36mn people are en- Parathibhai Chaudhary told par- Kasparaju Suresh, who was suspected to be involved in the were rescued from various forms slaved worldwide - traffi cked liament last month that 4,371 studying hotel management in illegal trade, police said, with of modern day slavery in Goa in into brothels, forced into manual women and 823 children were Hyderabad, allegedly became potential donors lured through the fi rst 10 months of 2015. labour, victims of debt bondage rescued in Goa in the fi rst 10 an agent, persuading 15 people social networks such as Face- But charities and police work- or even born into servitude, ac- months of 2015 - the highest to sell their own kidneys. book and WhatsApp. ing to end human traffi cking in cording to the 2014 Global Slav- number rescued in that period “He (Suresh) wanted to lead Three others were also ar- the coastal state disputed the ery Index. from any Indian state. a lavish life by making money rested in relation to the case, data, saying they believed the Almost half of them - 16mn - But Pandey said that while by selling his kidney,” said S named as Mohamed Abdul number of victims rescued was are in India, where slavery ranges Goa has two anti-human traf- Sudhakar, a senior police of- Hafeez, Palem Mahesh and much lower. from bonded labour in quarries fi cking police units, they also Bharatiya Janata Party activists stage a demonstration fi cer from Nalgonda district in Kothapalli Naresh, all aged in “The demand for commercial and kilns to domestic servitude have other duties and do not against a hike in milk price and the Karnataka government’s Telangana state. their twenties and thirties. sex workers is high during the and prostitution. have the resources eff ectively to new rule that makes wearing helmets compulsory for pillion “After learning the tricks of Recipients of the kidneys tourist season of October to Feb- Activists in Goa say up to curb human traffi cking and res- riders, in Bengaluru yesterday. the trade, Suresh became an were charged Rs2.7mn for the ruary, but unfortunately there 4,000 women and children from cue so many victims. agent himself.” transplants, police said. Gulf Times 12 Friday, January 8, 2016 INDIA

HEALTH APPOINTMENT EARTHQUAKE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATION Coconut water best Pavan Kapoor is India’s Manipur seeks Rs200mn Court reserves order on Remo gets anticipatory for pregnant women new ambassador to Israel from central government appointment of police chief bail in abuse case

Coconut water is one of the best sources of Pavan Kapoor, a 1990 batch Manipur has sought Rs200mn from the central The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High A Goa court yesterday granted anticipatory nutrients for pregnant women, according to a Indian Foreign Service off icer, government for the relief and rehabilitation of Court yesterday reserved for January 11 its bail to pop star Remo Fernandes, accused of study. The Coconut Development Board (CDB) was yesterday named as people aff ected by the January 4 earthquake, order on an appeal against the appointment verbally abusing a minor girl in December last said coconut water consumption helps pregnant India’s new ambassador a senior off icial said in Imphal. However, the of Javeed Ahmed as the new Uttar Pradesh year. Vandana Tendulkar, president of the Goa women to maintain the daily required levels of to Israel. “Pavan Kapoor central government was yet to respond to police chief. The bench of Justice S N Shukla Children’s Court, ordered Remo to submit a fluids and electrolytes in the body. “Coconut water (lFS: 1990), presently high the request, Manipur Chief Secretary Oinam and Justice Ashok Pal Singh reserved its personal bond of Rs50,000 and to report to the is rich in electrolytes, chlorides, magnesium, commissioner of India in Nabakishore said at a public function on order after hearing state Advocate General investigating off icer for 10 days. The musician calcium, riboflavin and vitamin C besides Maputo, has been appointed as the next Wednesday evening. “For the time being, the Vijay Bahadur Singh, who objected to the was also asked to surrender his passport to containing moderate amounts of sugar, sodium ambassador of India to Israel,” the external Manipur government has sanctioned Rs2crore maintainability of the petition filed by social the court. Remo was booked under the Goa and protein,” said the CDB. It also pointed out that aff airs ministry said in a statement. Kapoor for providing immediate relief to the aff ected, activist Nutan Thakur on the ground that quo Children’s Act on charge of verbally abusing the having coconut water in the first trimester helps to will replace Jaideep Sarkar. The appointment with Rs50 lakh each given to four worst-aff ected warranto cannot be filed by an outsider. On girl on December 3, after she was hospitalised counter morning sickness, constipation, prevents assumes significance as Israeli Prime Minister districts,” he said. The chief secretary also Wednesday, a bench of Justice A P Sahi and following a road accident involving the pop star’s dehydration and improves immunity and relives Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to visit India said a team of National Disaster Management Justice A R Masudi said the allegations made son. The police had issued a lookout notice after fatigue. “A pregnant woman’s body requires more this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also Authority will visit Imphal on January 9 to in the petition were related to the appointment the singer, who was holidaying in Europe when fluids to replenish the needs of an unborn baby.,” expected to visit Israel following Netanyahu’s assess the damage to two marketing complexes of the director general of police, which was the first information report was registered, failed the CDB added. visit. meant for women vendors. clearly a service matter. to respond to two police summonses.

Will not be cowed Chauhan takes down by IS threats: Owaisi charge amid

IANS Hyderabad protests by ajlis-e-Ittehadul Mus- limeen (MIM) president MAsaduddin Owaisi yes- terday said he will not be cowed down by threats from Islamic State, and continue to speak out against the militant group as it FTII students has nothing to do with Islam. A day after somebody tweeted Protesters caned and situation on the campus,” Kaur an FTII alumnus, will be the new on his wall asking him to shut detained by police said. chairman of the institute’s Aca- his mouth and leave democracy, FTII Students’ Association demic Council. the Hyderabad MP, who moves IANS (FTIISA) president Harishankar The FTII also nominated fi lm- around without any security, said Pune, Maharashtra Nachimuthu was also among makers and fi lm personalities he would not seek protection de- those detained, Kaur added. Rajkumar Hirani, Satish Shah, spite threats. The FTIISA had announced Pranjal Saikia, Narendra Pathak “I receive such threats eve- ajendra Chauhan yes- on Wednesday its plan to ‘resist’ and fi lm journalist Bhawana So- ryday. I will live as long as Allah terday assumed offi ce Chauhan as its demands re- maaya to the governing council. wills,” he said. Gas chairman of the Film mained unmet by the authorities. Prominent persons attending Stating that IS’ ideology is and Television Institute of India “Our core demand was to place the FTII Society meeting includ- devilish and based on hatred, (FTII) as a large number of stu- the newly-appointed society in ed additional secretary and fi - Owaisi said there was need to fi n- dents staged a vociferous protest abeyance and to set proper crite- nancial advisor Subhash Sharma, ish this ideology. outside the campus. Police caned ria and procedure to appoint the Satish Shah, Rahul Solapurkar, “They don’t know mercy. and detained at least 20 students. FTII Society and it still remains joint secretary (Films) Sanjay They don’t know the meaning of The police, deployed in large the same,” the FTIISA said in a Murthy, Hirani and B P Singh. mercy. They massacred 1.5 lakh numbers, resorted to mild caning statement. Additionally, there were Anagha Muslims including scholars,” he after some students attempted to The FTIISA said “we still have Ghaisas, Narendra Pathak, Bha- said, pointing out that all Islamic block the route taken by Chau- problem with these appoint- wana Somaiyya, Urmil Thapliyal, scholars in India and abroad have han, who came for his fi rst take- ments and will continue to resist Pranjal Saikia, ex-offi cio members condemned IS actions and urged over meeting of the FTII Society. it unless the concerned authori- Director-General of Films Divi- people to be cautious. He was appointed its chairman in ties put the society in abeyance sion Mukesh Sharma, FTII direc- The MP said his party had June last year. and set a process for further ap- tor Prashant Pathrabe, offi cer on taken a political stand that it was The assembled students pointments, since it is a question special duty to Information & against all anti-national forces. shouted slogans “Go back Chau- of our academics.” Broadcasting minister Chaitanya An alleged IS sympathiser had han” as he arrived at the campus The direct protest against Prasad, Children’s Film Society tweeted “It’s better for you to shut and some attempted to stop him Chauhan yesterday came af- of India CEO Shravan Kumar and your mouth on Islamic State if from entering the premises. ter the students on June 12 went Kolkata-based Satyajit Ray Film you don’t know the truth, Islamic At least 17 students had al- on strike, which was called off and Television Institute (SRFTI) State will invade India soon.” ready been served notices warn- on October 28 - after 139 days, director Sanjay Pattnayak. To this Owaisi replied: “Sir you ing them of stringent action if “against the political appoint- The governing council ap- are a bloody Takfi ri, if you want they attempted to create a ruckus ments of incapable people in the proved the Annual Report and to debate on Evil ISIS I am ready on the campus during Chauhan’s FTII Society”. Statement of Accounts of FTII you will not be able to counter my visit. Chauhan, best known for es- for 2013-2014 and 2014-2015, Theological Points.” Some students accused the saying the role of ‘Yudhishthir’ while revised estimates for 2015- “You can dream so keep police of high-handedness and in B R Chopra’s TV serial Mahab- 2016 and Budget Estimates for dreaming Takfi ri read book on manhandling the students who harat besides featuring in small next year 2016-2017 were also ISIS will bring y out of Darkness were protesting peacefully when roles in various fi lms like Tumko sanctioned. of ISIS Allah give Taufeeq,” Ow- they were forcibly dragged to the Na Bhool Paayenge and Baghban, Earlier, Chauhan was accorded aisi added. waiting vans. was appointed FTII chairman on a warm welcome by the staff , ad- He said he replied because he Student leader Reema Kaur June 9, last year. ministration and faculty on his could not tolerate anyone talking said their demonstration was The fi rst meeting of the FTII fi rst visit to the prestigious in- about invading India. “silent, and made violent by the Society and its governing council stitute. The IS sympathiser then police”. was later held under Chauhan. Addressing the gathering, tweeted asking Owaisi to leave “The students were protest- Eminent television serial Chauhan said he would do his democracy. “Your Disgrace for ing at the gate peacefully. Police maker B P Singh was elected vice best to solve the problems of the Muslims of India. Opposing Is- staged a lathi-charge. They hurt president of the FTII Society, also FTII, including the long-stand- lamic State will lead you to hell many students and put them in as vice chairman of the Govern- ing demand of pension for the only repent before end.” FTII students stage a demonstration after Chauhan assumed off ice as FTII chairman in Pune yesterday. the riot van. It is a curfew-like ing Council. The CID producer, staff . Welfare issues remain Priyanka seeks fi nal hearing in land case

a concern: Amartya The offi cials, who were IANS Shimla directed to remain present IANS According to the 82-year-old tion, healthcare, social security before the court on Novem- New Delhi Harvard professor who was con- and environment care and so on - ber 27 last year in a contempt ferred the Nobel for economics that did not happen,” he said. he Himachal Pradesh petition fi led by Vadra, ten- in 1998, one of the main fl aws of “So it’s a very mixed record.” High Court yesterday dered an unconditional apol- ndia has progressed during the reforms - initiated by his friend But he also listed some positive Tadmitted a petition ogy to the court. 25 years of liberal economic and former prime minister Man- outcomes - such as the cut in fuel fi led by Congress president Acting on the apology, the Ireforms but some central is- mohan Singh when he held the fi - subsidies and elimination of the Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Pri- court closed the contempt sues still remain a matter of con- nance portfolio - was that it con- rich from getting doles for cook- yanka Vadra for fi nal hearing proceedings. cern, notably in the education and fi ned itself to some narrow goals. ing gas and the attempts to spend in her land purchase case. Vadra had alleged that de- healthcare spaces, Nobel laureate While it was, indeed, desir- more money on sophisticated sci- Justices Trilok Singh spite the stay order passed by Amartya Sen has said. able, the focus was on removing, entifi c research. Chauhan and P S Rana di- the high court, the informa- “Any progress that happened to some extent, the intrusion of But how does he react to the rected the court registry to tion commission proceeded here and there has to be viewed the government on matters of perceptions of an economy being expedite the hearing. with the matter and sum- in the context of the larger failure business and economic decision- governed by the stock markets? Vadra had challenged an moned the records. to address the central issues,” Sen making that often proved to be In contrast to a statement made order passed by the state in- The information commis- said, on the sidelines of the NDTV counter-productive, resulting in by Singh at the peak of the securi- formation commission to the sion in July last year rapped and TCS Nobel Solutions Summit limited gains for the country as a ties scandal of 1992 that he does Shimla deputy commission- government offi cials, includ- on Wednesday evening. whole, he added. not lose sleep over stock market er asking it to give details of ing Deputy Commissioner “The basic neglect of educa- “That was a positive thing to movements, Sen said the percep- the land bought by her on the Dinesh Malhotra, and sum- tion and healthcare and the idea do, but I only wish the reforms tion of any economy must be sen- outskirts of the state capital moned them and the records that India could become a great had been more complete than it sitive to the market. to Right to Information (RTI) related to the land deal in world leader in the fi eld of econ- has happened. On the other hand, But he said the problem does activist Devashish Bhattach- August. omy with unhealthy, uneducated it needed more positive things not lie in how the markets move, arya. The government offi cials labour force is profoundly mis- for government to be done,” said but whether they also take note Earlier, the high court had were facing penalty proceed- taken,” said the welfare econo- Sen, also the recipient of India’s of the non-market factors like discharged Chief Informa- ings for withholding infor- mist, commenting on the 25 years highest civilian award, the Bharat how people’s lives are changing, is tion Commissioner Bhim Sen mation sought under the RTI of reforms since July 1991. Ratna, in 1999. preventable illness and morbidity and Information Commis- Act. “The previous government was “For things that the govern- being addressed, whether envi- sioner K D Batish from con- Vadra’s cottage, just 15km spending less. But the current gov- ment can do, rather than intrud- ronment is being protected, and tempt proceedings relating from Shimla, is coming up ernment is spending even lesser,” ing into businesses and going are children getting good educa- Priyanka Vadra visits her under-construction cottage at Chharabra, in to their order on summoning at a height of more than he said. “This is very unfortunate.” much more into providing educa- tion. Shimla. her records. 8,000ft. Gulf Times Friday, January 8, 2016 13

LATIN AMERICA

Mexico’s drug war ‘reverses trend of rising male life expectancy’

Guardian News and Media new study has shown. capital of the world. But states states. That is what made me Beltran-Sanchez, a professor ing standards improved and more lions of impoverished Mexicans Mexico City As violence worsened between not nearly as aff ected by violence think that it is homicide that is of community health studies Mexicans gained access to health through a programme known as 2005 and 2010, life expectancy such as Oaxaca and Tlaxcala also having a big impact,” says Hiram at the University of California services. Seguro Popular - a measure that rates fell in all of Mexico’s 31 saw declines of six months. Beltran-Sanchez, the lead re- Los Angeles, said. “After 2005, Beltran-Sanchez said he was researchers say should have in- exico’s drug war vio- states, including regions per- The drop in life expectancy searcher on the study. when the whole thing exploded expecting to see an increase of creased life expectancies. lence became so acute ceived to have escaped the con- coincides with a period of es- Two authors of the study told and military operations be- “three or four years” during the Mortality from diabetes - Mduring the govern- fl ict, according to the study calating violence between rival the Guardian that the decline in gan moving through the coun- last decade, but found a decrease problematic in a country which ment’s militarised crackdown on published in the journal Health cartels, and then president Felipe life expectancy was directly re- try, that’s when the homicides in life expectancy of 0.6 years for consumes staggering amounts organised crime that it caused Aff airs. Calderon’s 2006 decision to de- lated to the rise in the homicide went up, very much across the men and almost no change for of soda - actually levelled off be- male life expectancy rates to drop Life expectancy fell by as much ploy federal forces against the rate after the drug war began and board.” women. tween 2005 and 2010 and would by an average of several months, as three years in Chihuahua state, traffi ckers. not merely a coincidence. Mexico had made gains in life The reversal came as the fed- have contributed to gains in life reversing a decade’s worth of which includes Ciudad Juarez “After 2005, that’s when life “Homicides were going expectancy over the previous six eral government extended a uni- expectancy without such high public health improvements, a - once considered the murder expectancy goes down in all the down” from 2000 to 2005, decades as public health and liv- versal healthcare coverage to mil- homicide rates.

75% of Rio Ozzy Osbourne in Cuba stadium staff fi red Venezuela ahead of Olympics opposition Guardian News and Media Rio de Janeiro

dministrators of Rio de Ja- neiro’s legendary Maraca- Ana stadium have fi red 75% sets out to of the arena’s staff eight months before the 2016 Olympics. The consortium formed by construction company Odebrecht SA and entertainment group AEG said in a statement that 40 people were laid off . The stadium, which hosted the oust govt 2014 World Cup fi nal, is to be used for up to nine months by Games AFP The number two in Maduro’s Cabello said the government organisers, who are bringing in Caracas leadership, former assembly would “paralyse” the assembly by their own workers for that period. speaker Diosdado Cabello, said withholding its budget from the Maracana administrators said the the swearing-in of the suspended treasury. layoff s aim to cut costs while the enezuela’s emboldened op- deputies “fl agrantly violated the “No change of government is facility is under Olympic control. position laid claim to a big constitution.” easy. Everything will depend on Arena tours and maintenance will Vlegislative majority that “I don’t want to see portraits the situation in the country in a be carried out by contractors. could empower it to oust President of Chavez or Maduro. Take all this few months,” said Juan Manuel The Maracana, Brazil’s fl agship Nicolas Maduro, who came out stuff away to the presidential pal- Rafalli, an expert in constitutional stadium with nearly 79,000 seats, fi ghting and reacted by reshuffl ing ace, or give it to the cleaning staff ,” law. “I foresee great social con- is scheduled to host Olympic soc- his cabinet. the new speaker, Henry Ramos Al- fl ict and enormous pressure for cer matches as well as opening The lawmakers’ defi ant move lup, told workmen removing the change.” and closing ceremonies. further deepened a tense political portraits, in a video released by his One of the fi rst measures the Ownership of the stadium standoff in the South American staff . opposition wants to pass is an am- passed in 2013 to a private con- oil-producing country, which is He said his side would within six nesty for some 75 political prison- sortium formed by Odebrecht, mired in recession and seen ana- months propose a way “to change ers, but Maduro has vowed to veto which is now implicated in a mas- lysts warn of the possibility of un- the government by constitutional that move. sive corruption scheme at the rest on the streets. means.” The US state department country’s state-run oil company, Leaders of the opposition, Maduro responded: “I will be backed the call for political prison- Petrobras. which has vowed to fi nd a way there to defend democracy with an ers to be released, with spokesman The stadium consortium lost to get rid of Maduro within six iron hand. They will not make me John Kirby calling on Tuesday for 125m reais ($31.2mn) in the fi rst months, had portraits of the so- give ground or waver.” a “transparent” resolution of the two years of business. It is likely to cialist government’s late hero Facing a “new stage of the Revo- dispute. have taken an even bigger hit last Hugo Chavez removed from the lution” and a “bourgeois legisla- Venezuelan Foreign Minister year and is in discussions with the National Assembly building. ture,” Maduro said his new cabinet Delcy Rodriguez rejected that as Rio de Janeiro state government to The opposition has taken con- team would work on the “grave “interference,” in a Twitter mes- renegotiate their contract. trol of the assembly for the fi rst economic situation” and retool his sage. Administrators said discus- time since 1999, the year that party’s policies. December’s election result was sions with the Rio state govern- Chavez came to power. In elections on December 6, the widely seen as a protest by vot- ment on a new operating contract At its fi rst regular legisla- opposition MUD coalition won a ers over the state of Venezuela’s are ongoing. tive session on Wednesday, the majority in the assembly for the economy. The consortium said that one of opposition-controlled assembly fi rst time in nearly 17 years. It threw up the toughest chal- the reasons they have lost money swore in three anti-government Under Venezuelan law, with lenge to the president’s author- is because they were unable to lawmakers, defying Maduro, who a two-thirds majority, the op- ity and Chavez’s socialist “revolu- build a retail complex on the site, had secured a court injunction to position could from April launch tion” since Maduro took over from due to protests in 2013 over at- suspend them. measures to try to force Maduro his late mentor in 2013. tempts to evict an indigenous The three extra deputies boost from offi ce before his term ends in Venezuela has the world’s big- community from a dilapidated the total number of opposition 2019. gest known oil reserves but has museum complex. seats in the legislature to a two- But it was not clear whether suff ered from a fall in the price of Brazilian media have reported thirds “supermajority” that could they will succeed in pushing ahead the crude on which its government that stadium operations could be enable them to remove Maduro by at odds with the court injunction. relies. It is in deep recession, with returned to the state in 2017. constitutional means. The government side insisted citizens suff ering shortages of ba- Another Rio Olympic venue has The government side vowed to any legislation passed with the sic goods and soaring infl ation. also been the subject of unfl atter- Singer Ozzy Osbourne (left) and his son Jack walk in a park in Havana. charge the opposition with con- votes of the suspended deputies Now they face the uncertainty of a ing headlines this week. tempt of court. would be null. political confl ict.

Campaign trail Chile govt eyes tough Colombia tax reform set price-fi xing penalties for 2016: fi nance minister Reuters On Wednesday, Chile’s Santiago competition regulator ac- cused supermarket chains Reuters change, accounting for around cember that the Andean coun- Cencosud, SMU, and the lo- Key Biscayne, Florida a fi fth of national income. try could issue international The comprehensive changes debt as soon as this month to hile’s president and cal unit of Wal-Mart Stores will touch on everything from help fi nance its spending this fi nance minister yes- of participating in a price- olombia’s government corporate and personal income year. Cterday said that price- fi xing scheme involving fresh hopes to enact a struc- tax to value-added tax, Carde- Policymakers on the coun- fi xing threatens the economy chicken. Ctural reform designed to nas said, and the government try’s central bank board began and called on lawmakers to It was the second time in curb tax evasion this year and aims to take a bill to Congress raising the benchmark inter- pass legislation that would three months that the regula- plans to issue $1.5bn in global “as soon as possible.” est rate in September in a bid stiff en fi nes and impose jail tor said it had uncovered col- bonds during the fi rst quar- to control infl ation, which time on those who commit lusion aff ecting consumers. ter, Finance Minister Mauricio Tax changes are “about reached 6.77% in 2015. collusion. In October, it accused Chil- Cardenas said. making sure our tax That fi gure is well above the Citing a recent price-fi xing ean forestry company CMPC Tax changes are “about system deals in a more central bank’s long-term target scheme by three supermar- of colluding with a unit of making sure our tax system eff ective way with tax of between 2% and 4%. ket chains, Finance Minister Swedish-owned SCA for at deals in a more effective way evasion” Minutes from the Decem- Rodrigo Valdes said such col- least a decade to control near- with tax evasion, widens the ber meeting showed that some lusion is a threat to the “effi - ly 90% of the nation’s toilet tax base ... so that it’s not just An expert commission ex- board members supported a ciency and productivity of the paper and tissue sales, keep- a few corporations and indi- amining possible reforms will sharper 50-point rise in the economy.” ing prices higher. viduals that take most of the report its fi ndings to the gov- rate, instead of the 25 points The government hopes the “This is very bad for con- tax burden,” Cardenas told ernment this month. approved by majority. bill, which is being discussed fi dence and is another blow Reuters on the sidelines of a Colombia will issue the re- “It’s clear in the minutes in Congress, will be approved to the legitimacy of the sys- Morgan Stanley-hosted con- maining half of global bonds that there are diff erent views by the end of January. tem,” said Valdes, speaking to ference in Florida. it plans for the year during the within the board in terms of “I want to ask lawmakers of reporters at the fi nance min- Higher duty collection could fi rst quarter, the minister said, the pace at which rates should all political stripes to support istry. “This goes beyond the off er the government some re- after pre-fi nancing $1.5bn be increased, but the majority the government’s initiative to specifi c case only and has col- lief from the global fall in oil during 2015. view has been 25 basis points,” end once and for all this sen- lateral eff ects that are deeply prices, which has cut national “We already did 1.5 pre-fi - Cardenas said. sation of impunity in cases of negative.” income as infl ation has spiked. nancing last year, the other 1.5 Infl ation will fall to 5% this Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori greets collusion,” President Michelle Cencosud’s shares were Oil is Colombia’s top ex- sometime in the fi rst quarter.” year, he said, and to within the people in San Juan de Lurigancho, on the outskirts of Lima. Bachelet told reporters at the down 4.6% in midday trad- port and source of foreign ex- Cardenas had said in De- target range during 2017. presidential palace. ing. Gulf Times 14 Friday, January 8, 2016 PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN

MILITANCY ENERGY CURRENCY REVENUE TRADE Pakistan arrests 11 militants Karachi coal project to Last date to exchange old Car owners in Pakistan face Pakistan to import 100MW in three operations start generation in 2017 banknotes announced double payment of WH tax electricity from Iran

Police and paramilitary troops Frontier The 1,320MW Port Qasim coal project has The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) yesterday A possible technical error in inter-departmental Iran would become a major energy exporter to Corps (FC) have arrested 11 militants in three achieved financial close and its first unit will start said that the last date to exchange old design transfer of data is causing problems in vehicle Pakistan with the increase of 100MW electricity operations in Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan generation by December 2017 while construction banknotes of Rs10, Rs50, Rs100 and Rs1, 000 tax settlement for a segment of car owners in import this month. The two countries were and south Sindh provinces, off icials said. Wasey of 1,02MW Gulpur hydropower project has denominations through commercial banks is Sindh province. considering another two projects, involving Khan, spokesperson of the Frontier Corps said started. Similarly, 1,320MW coal project at November 30, 2016. However, the SBP field off ices According to information received, many car import of 1,000MW of power which could get the troopers conducted two search operations Sahiwal by Huaneng Shandong Ruyi of China is will continue to accept the old design banknotes owners who approached Sindh Excise and up to 3,000MW of electricity from its western in Zhob and Kalat districts of Balochistan and under construction and is scheduled to achieve of Rs10, Rs50, Rs100 and Rs1, 000 from general Taxation Department to pay tax on a year-old neighbour, Khaleej Times reported. Khaleej arrested seven militants. The arrested militants commercial operationalisation in December 2017, public up to December 31, 2021, the central bank vehicle were asked to pay withholding tax along Times quoting Pakistan’s Foreign Off ice said, were associated with outlawed outfit Tehreek- while 660MW Engro Powergen Thar coal-based said. The federal government on June 4, 2015 with the motor vehicle tax. Pakistan currently imports 74MW of electricity i-Taliban Pakistan. The arrested insurgents power project has signed financing documents had announced that the old design banknotes “The buyers who have already paid withholding from Iran for its coastal Makran division. It were shifted to some unknown places for and is expecting financial closing in a few weeks. will cease to be legal tender with eff ect from tax (WHT) at the time of registration of vehicles further said that the two countries were in the investigations. In a separate operation in the This was stated by off icials at the 103rd meeting December 1, 2016. Therefore, it has now been ended up not paying even the regular tax process of finalising a deal for the construction capital city Karachi of Sindh province, four of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board decided to phase out all the remaining old design because of an unjustified demand,” an insider of phase-1 of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline militants were arrested. (PPIB) held yesterday. banknotes of Rs10, Rs50, Rs100 and Rs1,000. said yesterday. project. Pakistan plans to Saudi FM holds talks upgrade status of Gilgit-Baltistan

AFP diqa, the move could also Islamabad demonstrate Islamabad’s de- with Pakistan PM sire to end the Kashmir con- fl ict by formally absorbing the Reuters akistan is considering territory it controls — and, by Islamabad upgrading the consti- extension, recognising New Ptutional status of its Delhi’s claims to parts of the northern Gilgit-Baltistan re- region it controls, such as the audi Arabia’s foreign min- gion, which is also claimed by Kashmir Valley. ister arrived in Pakistan India, in a bid to provide legal “If we begin to absorb it so Syesterday, where he met cover to a multi-billion-dollar can India. It legitimises their Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Chinese investment plan, of- absorption of the valley,” she who is keen to use the two-day fi cials said yesterday. said. visit to defuse spiralling tension The move could signal a his- Mohan Guruswamy, head between Saudi Arabia and Iran. toric shift in Pakistan’s posi- of the New Delhi-based think Several of Saudi Arabia’s al- tion on the future of the wider tank Centre for Policy Alter- lies have broken diplomatic ties Kashmir region, observers natives said despite its avowed with Iran after demonstrators have said. claim over G-B, the Indian ransacked the Saudi embassy in The proposal would grant government may not react Tehran this weekend. the mountainous region strongly. Pakistan, which borders Iran, greater legislative powers and “There will be some noise in has sought to avoid taking sides control of its revenue, as well India but the country has never as Sharif tries to stem violence as send two lawmakers to the shown a political consensus to at home and boost economic ties federal parliament for the fi rst take back those areas from Pa- with both Saudi Arabia and Iran. time — albeit as observers. kistan,” he said. “Pakistan expressed deep Islamabad has historically “This step is basically to for- concern at the escalation of the insisted the parts of Kashmir it malise the incorporation of ar- situation and condemned the controls are semi-autonomous eas under Pakistani rule. Prob- burning down of (the) Saudi em- and has not formally integrat- ably a good step as it may lead bassy in Tehran,” Sharif’s offi ce ed them into the country, in to the permanent settlement said in a statement. line with its position that a ref- of the Kashmir issue with both “The prime minister called erendum should be carried out countries content with what for (the) resolution of diff er- across the whole of the region. they currently have under their ences through peaceful means in A top government offi cial rule.” the larger interest of the Muslim from Gilgit-Baltistan said the The G-B region’s ambigu- unity.” move was in response to con- ous legal status has long meant Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al- cerns raised by Beijing about that it has relatively little say in Jubeir also met army chief Gen- the China Pakistan Economic its own aff airs and was directly eral Raheel Sharif and Sharif’s Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz and Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir attend a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad Corridor, an ambitious $46bn ruled from Islamabad, despite foreign aff airs adviser Sartaj Aziz. yesterday. infrastructure plan to link Chi- the pretence of autonomy. The visit comes after Pakistan na’s western city of Kashgar to Ibrahim Sanai, the region’s last month distanced itself from trade links with both Iran and the Pakistani port of Gwadar information minister, said: an anti-Islamic State coalition Saudi Arabia and improve access on the Arabian Sea. “Gilgit-Baltistan will be made announced by Saudi Arabia, to their vast energy resources to “China cannot aff ord to in- an independent provisional which had named Pakistan as a fuel its power-hungry economy. vest billions of dollars on a province till the fi nal decision member. It hopes to fi nish a major gas road that passes through a dis- on Kashmir issue. Pakistan also declined a Saudi pipeline to Iran if sanctions im- puted territory claimed both But Amanullah Khan, chair- call to join a Riyadh-led inter- posed over Iran’s nuclear pro- by India and Pakistan,” the of- man of the nationalist Gilgit- vention in Yemen last year to gram are lifted. fi cial, speaking on condition of Baltistan Democratic Alliance, fi ght Iranian-allied rebels. But Pakistan and Saudi Arabia anonymity, said. said Islamabad was attempting “Pakistan can’t aff ord to pro- have cultivated a close alliance The corridor plans have to pass legislation that would vide what Saudi Arabia is look- for decades, and Sharif spent been strongly criticised by allow it to plunder the region’s ing for,” said Mosharraf Zaidi, an time in political exile in Saudi New Delhi, with India’s For- resources. Islamabad-based commentator, Arabia in the 2000s, after he was eign Minister Sushma Swaraj “The real motive behind the adding that it had the most of ousted in a military coup. in June calling the project move is to provide a legal cover any Muslim nation to lose from In 2014, Saudi Arabia gave Pa- “unacceptable” for crossing to the Pakistani plans of leas- a broader sectarian breakdown. kistan $1.5bn as a “gift” to shore through Indian-claimed ter- ing out the region to China and Pakistan wants to deepen up its foreign reserves. ritory. selling its natural resources But according to Pakistani like gold and uranium,” he Media asked to be cautious on Saudi-Iran row strategic analyst Ayesha Sid- said. Schools asked to display anti-terror material The Pakistan Electronic Media yesterday, Pemra directed the Regulatory Authority (Pemra) media to be careful when airing has directed news channels discussions about the current The Schools Education directive has asked school to be careful while discussing standoff between Saudi Arabia Department (SED) has administrations to put developments in the Middle and Iran. Pemra has directed issued directives to district up charts and posters in East, with particular reference the senior management of education off icers to put up classrooms and at prominent to the prevailing tensions news channels to oversee the material discussing anti- places on their campuses to between Saudi Arabia and Iran. content of their programmes, terrorism eff orts, tolerance draw the students’ attention In a directive issued to all talk shows and news reports and co-existence in all towards eff orts to eliminate licensed news channels relating to Saudi-Iran relations. In this handout photograph released by the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) yesterday, Pakistan’s schools of the province. The terrorism from the country. army chief Raheel Sharif meets Saudi Minister of Foreign Aff airs Adel al-Jubeir in Rawalpindi. Some Taliban factions consider joining peace process

Off icials from four nations to ending the 14-year-old war that ue, time and terms and condi- the meeting. The announcement last July, A senior Taliban commander led by Mullah Mohamed Rasoul, discuss Afghan peace ; Some kills hundreds each month and tions for the proposed talks are It is uncertain whether the shortly after inaugural talks said Sirajuddin Haqqani, Man- are holding out. factions of the Taliban say has intensifi ed in the past year. decided by these four countries latest violence in Afghanistan between Kabul and the Af- sour’s deputy and the head of the “We are not involved and considering joining peace Whether the Taliban, increas- fi rst,” said one senior member is intended to disrupt talks or ghan Taliban were staged, that feared Haqqani network blamed will never be part of Mullah process has stalled since ingly dominant on the battlefi eld of a group of Taliban leaders strengthen the Taliban’s nego- its founder Mullah Mohamed for a series of suicide attacks in Mansour’s peace negotia- last year ; Afghan fighting since the withdrawal of most based in the Pakistani city of tiating hand, but government Omar had been dead for more Kabul, may take part. tion,” said Rasoul’s deputy and worsens, adding sense of international troops by the end Quetta. Chief Executive Abdullah Ab- than two years, threw the mili- Another, however, believed spokesman, Mullah Manan urgency of 2014 yet riven by factional Afghan offi cials say the meet- dullah said Kabul would not bow tant group into disarray, stop- that if Haqqani was involved it Niazi, adding the group’s ob- infi ghting, eventually joins the ing schedule does not include to pressure. ping the fl edgling peace process would only be through proxies, jective remained to drive for- Reuters talks is far from clear. any Taliban representation, but “I hope that various groups of in its tracks. as he was unwilling to risk his eign forces out of Afghanistan Kabul/Peshawar Even if it did, those present they do not rule out the possibil- the Taliban do not think that,” he Mullah Akhtar Mansour, Mul- security by coming out into the completely. would only represent part of ity of the group joining at some told reporters. lah Omar’s longtime deputy, open. “We will continue this jihad the Islamist militant movement stage. After six months of worsen- took over the leadership, but was “As usual, he may send his until reaching that goal.” ome factions within the fi ghting to topple the govern- With security worsening, Ka- ing fi ghting, with the province rejected by parts of the move- representatives but he would For its part, the Taliban may Afghan Taliban are con- ment in Kabul and restore strict bul is trying to limit expecta- of Helmand slipping out of ment which accuse him of cov- never attend such a meeting,” look for signs of concessions in Ssidering taking part in a Islamic rule in place before it was tions of a breakthrough, and says control and frequent suicide ering up Omar’s death for his said one person close to him. areas including 2011 United Na- peace process that offi cials from ousted in 2001. the aim of next week’s talks is to bombings in the capital, Af- own gains and of being Paki- The Taliban’s main spokes- tions sanctions that impose as- Afghanistan and Pakistan aim to But important elements of the work out a road map for peace ghanistan and its neighbours stan’s puppet. man, Zabihullah Mujahid, said set freezes and travel bans on its revive next week, several sen- Taliban have signalled they may negotiations and a way of as- are trying to return to peace But Mansour’s faction has no formal negotiating team had leaders. ior members said, in a softening be willing to send negotiators at sessing whether they remain on talks, albeit without the Taliban shown signs of warming to the been appointed, but he stopped “They should fi rst remove of the militants’ recent stance some point. track. for now. idea of joining peace talks at short of a full denial of involve- us from the blacklist so we can against talks. One Taliban commander said “This will help Afghanistan Leadership divisions may im- some stage. ment. freely travel around the world Next week’s meeting in Islam- preparations had gone as far as and our partners to measure the pede progress, with some mili- One militant said they had “We haven’t received any for- for negotiations with them,” said abad between offi cials from Af- choosing a team, including two tangibility and sincerity of ef- tant factions saying they will not received “positive” signals from mal message for peace talks so the member of Mansour’s fac- ghanistan, Pakistan, the United members of the Taliban’s offi ce forts taken by the parties,” Presi- take part. diff erent sources to make prepa- far and therefore we didn’t ap- tion. States and China is intended as in Qatar, but others were more dent Ashraf Ghani’s spokesman “There is no such thing as the rations for likely talks, but that point our team for negotiations,” Russia has already signalled the fi rst step towards resuming cautious. said in an emailed response to Taliban, there are groups of Tali- it had not been decided when or he said. a willingness to be “fl exible” on stalled negotiations aimed at “We may do it after the ven- questions on the objectives of ban,” Ghani said last month. where they would be held. By contrast, Mansour’s rivals, the issue. Gulf Times Friday, January 8, 2016 15 PHILIPPINES China should be challenged on

This photo taken on December 31, 2015, shows Filipino children forming a sign ‘China Out’ during a protest on a beach at Pag-asa island, a remote Philippine-held fl ights: Rosario island in the South China Sea. Reuters/AFP retary Albert del Rosario told a Del Rosario said the Philip- dredging sand up onto reefs and Right: Rosario thanks Hammond Manila news conference. “If this is not pines would protest to China atolls. after their joint news conference challenged, we will have a situa- about its fl ights. The US has criticised China’s in Manila. tion where China will take a po- “These are provocative actions construction of the islands and he Philippines has de- sition that an air defence identi- which we need to think about and worries that it plans to use them Britain is a major source of de- nounced Chinese fl ights fi cation zone could be imposed.” we need to take positions on,” he for military purposes. fence equipment for the Philip- Tto an artifi cial island in the China declared such a zone said. China says it has no hostile in- pines. disputed South China Sea and over the East China Sea in 2013, China claims almost the whole tent. Hammond, whose Manila visit said if China was not challenged where it has over-lapping claims of the South China Sea, through British Foreign Secretary followed a trip to China, did not it was likely to impose an “unac- with Japan. which more than $5tn of world Philip Hammond, in the Philip- elaborate on what action would ceptable” air defence zone over The United States criticised it trade passes every year, and has pines as part of a three-country be taken if the “red fl ag” was the area. as dangerous and provocative. been increasingly assertive in tour of Asia that included China, raised, other than to say Britain China landed two test fl ights Under the zone’s rules, all air- staking its claim. said freedom of navigation and would continue to assert its right on an island it has built in the craft are meant to report fl ight Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, overfl ights were non-negotiable. to sail in the area. South China Sea on Wednesday, plans to Chinese authorities, Taiwan and the Philippines have “They are red line for us,” The Philippines has asked a four days after its fi rst landing on maintain radio contact and reply rival claims to parts of the sea, Hammond told the same news United Nations-backed tribunal disputes should be resolved bi- would not take sides on the dis- the 3,000m (10,000’) runway on promptly to identifi cation in- which is believed to have rich de- conference. “We, as an interna- to void China’s claim over almost laterally. pute but appealed to the claim- a reef in the Spratly Islands. quiries. posits of oil and gas. tional maritime and trading na- the entire South China Sea. It ex- “Win or lose, we will abide ants to resolve their diff erences “We are very concerned about US, Japanese and South Korean The runway at the Fiery Cross tion, enjoy freedom of naviga- pects a decision this year. by the rule of law and we expect under international law. the fact that China had already military aircraft have breached Reef is one of three that the tion and overfl ights in the South China did not participate in China to do the same,” Del Rosa- “We recognise the tribunal and fl own their fl ights to Fiery Cross the zone without informing Chi- Chinese government has been China Sea. We expect to continue the arbitration hearings at The rio said. we will recognise the decision of Reef,” Philippine Foreign Sec- na. building for more than a year by to exercise those rights.” Hague as it maintained that sea Hammond said that Britain the tribunal,” Hammond said. Saudi-Iran dispute may Sandiganbayan junks Jinggoy bail petition By Reina Tolentino Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) The Sandiganbayan’s First Division Manila Times or pork barrel fund scam. denied bail to Revilla in December two Defence lawyer Alexis Abastil- years ago. las-Suarez confi rmed the anti-graft Enrile jowever is out on bail after the displace 1mn workers fter more than a year of bail court’s decision. Supreme Court granted his bail peti- hearings, the Sandiganbayan’s Estrada was one of three senators tion on humanitarian grounds. AFifth Division has denied Sena- charged in June 2014 in connection Both Estrada and Revilla are de- By Catherine S Valente Bank Governor Amando Tetangco Jr should also prepare strategic measures tor Jose Jinggoy Estrada’s petition for with the “pork barrel” scam, the other tained at the Philippine National Po- & Nelson S Badilla said. against the “possible collapse of the bail in the P183mn plunder case he is two being Senators Ramon “Bong” Re- lice Custodial Centre in Camp Crame, Manila Times Saudi Arabia and the United Arab petro-dollar economy because of the facing in connection with the Priority villa Jr and Juan Ponce Enrile. Quezon City. Emirates (UAE) were among the major oil crisis”. sources of cash remittances in the fi rst “And that would mean employment ore than 1mn overseas Filipi- 10 months of 2015. and livelihood programmes for dis- no workers (OFWs) could lose Wilson Fortaleza, spokesman for placed OFWs and their families,” he Mtheir jobs if war breaks out Partido Manggagawa (PM), said the added. between Saudi Arabia and Iran, labour government should be prepared to help Yesterday Malacañang also said the groups warned yesterday. displaced workers and their families. country is fi ne-tuning contingency The displacement of such a big Tanjusay said that the government measures to keep more Filipinos in the number of Filipino workers would pose should prepare for a “worst-case sce- Middle East safe. a big challenge to the government be- nario” by coming up with “contin- Presidential Communications Sec- cause they would add to the 11mn job- gency measures including relocation, retary Herminio Coloma Jr cited the less Filipinos in the Philippines, Alan transfer and, if need be, evacuation of need for “comprehensive contingency Tanjusay, spokesman for the Trade OFWs who might be aff ected in case measures” involving various agencies. Union Congress of the Philippines- the current political tensions spin out “That’s why we are fi netuning and Nagkaisa (TUCP-Nagkaisa), said. of control”. updating plans to ensure that these Saudi Arabia and Iran are host to On Wednesday, President Benigno will be eff ective,” he told reporters. more than 1mn OFWs. Aquino III instructed labour and for- So far, there is no indication that Fil- The government of Saudi Arabia cut eign offi cials to prepare “comprehen- ipinos based in Iran and Saudi Arabia its ties with Iran on January 2 after Ri- sive contingency plans” for the OFWs are in danger. yadh’s embassy in Tehran was attacked who would be displaced by the Middle Nevertheless, Coloma noted that by protesters hours after Saudi execut- East crisis. Philippine embassies and consulates ed Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Tanjusay said that aside from the are ready to extend assistance to OFWs. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas had sudden job displacement of OFWs, the He said the government had demon- said remittances could be aff ected by government must also take into con- strated its capability to repatriate dis- escalating tensions in the Middle East. sideration the “lessened remittance” tressed OFWs from confl ict-stricken “We may see some temporary set- of OFWs and possible interruption of areas in North Africa and the Middle back because of logistical diffi culties oil supply. East countries, such as Libya, Syria, and deployment may slow,” Central The government, Fortaleza said, Iraq and Yemen.

Sandigan to proceed with ONE SMOKER. P172mn plunder trial This year, the The Sandiganbayan’s Third Division has decided that it will not suspend proceedings in TWO PATIENTS. the P172mn plunder case against Senator Juan Ponce Enrile’s co-accused Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes and Janet Lim-Napoles. army aims The court, however, cancelled the trial dates next week and will start trying the case on January 20 instead of January 13 as was earlier scheduled. “If somebody complains that we suspended to ‘win’ peace proceedings in this case without a TRO (temporary restraining order) … what will the Supreme Court do? We will appear as if we are TOBACCO KILLS By Fernan Marasigan nando Iriberri said that the main ignorant of the law, we abused our discretion,” Manila Times mission of the operation plan is Third Division Associate Justice Samuel to win peace. Martires said yesterday during the hearing “So I just wanted to emphasise of Reyes’ motion to suspend the proceedings he Armed Forces of the that by 2016 because based on until after the Supreme Court (SC) resolves her Philippines (AFP) is the timeline of IPSP Bayanihan, petitions. Tpoised to intensify opera- we must win the peace, that’s the Under Rule 65 of the Rules of Court, a petition tions against all threat groups, timeline of IPSP Bayanihan by shall not interrupt the course of the principal particularly the communist New the end of 2016, we must be able case unless a TRO or a writ of preliminary People’s Army (NPA), even as it to declare the entire country as injunction has been issued barring further seeks to “win” peace this year. peaceful,” he added. proceedings in the case. Defence Secretary Voltaire The AFP, Iriberri said, is trying According to the urgent motion earlier filed by Gazmin said yesterday that in its best to complete the mission. the defence, Reyes’ petition, which has been the remaining days of the Aqui- The AFP chief disclosed that pending with the Supreme Court since January no administration, one of the a command conference was 6, 2015, was based on the ground that she was goals of the military is full im- scheduled from Friday to assess allegedly deprived of due process when the plementation of Internal Peace and evaluate the military’s per- Off ice of the Ombudsman “failed” to provide and Security Plan (IPSP) or Op- formance and fi nd out if there is her copies of Ruby Tuason’s sworn statements lan (Operation Plan) Bayanihan, a need to make adjustments. despite repeated requests. which is strongly opposed by “If we need to make some ad- Tuason was supposed to be the first witness leftist organisations describing justments, we will make adjust- whom the prosecution will present to testify in it a “grand psywar scheme and ments. But we will try our best the trial. continuing violence against the and that will be my challenge to “We are ready to present Tuason,” Deputy people”. all our ground commanders, to Special Prosecutor Cornelio Somido told the “We need to continue our IPSP attain our goals and it has been court during the hearing as he argued that the Bayanihan so that we can ac- there since 2010 when, as I said, court should proceed with the trial next week complish our mission to defeat when IPSP Bayanihan was craft- because the SC has not issued a temporary the threats to the security of the ed, it was a self-imposed goal restraining order. government,” Gazmin told re- with the Armed Forces and it is Somido, however, said they were not yet ready porters after the traditional New incumbent upon us to give our to present a witness other than Tuason next Year’s call at Camp Aguinaldo in best, to do our best to attain that week, thus prompting the court to cancel Quezon City (Metro Manila). goal, and that is our challenge,” the trial on January 13, 14 and 15 and proceed Issued in Public Interest by GULF TIMES AFP chief of staff General Her- he said. instead on January 20. Gulf Times 16 Friday, January 8, 2016 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL

Innovative plan to lift Tamils ‘still tortured’ in tourism to region Lanka, say rights groups proposed Campaigners note 27 “Sadly, it’s very much busi- witness statements supported IANS individual cases of serious ness as usual,” said Yasmin descriptions of individual loca- Kathmandu abuses, a year after Sooka, of the International tions of alleged torture. “Almost President Mathripala Truth and Justice Project. The all the statements are taken by Sirisena promised reforms ITJP’s report, based on the tes- lawyers with deep expertise and ourism experts in Nepal timony of 20 survivors of tor- experience in assessing a survi- have come up with a new Guardian News and Media ture who are now outside Sri vor’s credibility and if anything Tproposal for cross-border Colombo Lanka, also names the main was doubtful it would be ex- tourism in the Himalayan region, military camp in Vavuniya as a cluded,” said Frances Harrison, the media reported yesterday. site of torture. One case was in- spokesperson for the organisa- At a forum here on Wednes- ri Lankan authorities have vestigated by both groups. tion. day, tourism entrepreneurs pro- been accused of allowing Almost all the survivors in- Sirisena is already under posed promotion of the Hima- Scontinuing human rights terviewed by the ITJP were pressure on human rights. In layan region — including Nepal, abuses, including torture and il- members of the LTTE, though September the United Nations Tibet’s capital Lhasa, India’s legal detention, exactly one year almost all were forcibly con- said it had found evidence north-eastern state of Sikkim after Maithripala Sirisena took scripted as footsoldiers. strongly indicating that war and Bhutan - as a cross-border power on a reforming ticket in a Several were under 18 at the crimes were committed in Sri tourism route, Xinhua news surprise election win. time of their recruitment into Lanka in the closing phases agency reported. International campaigners the organisation and, having of its civil war, and called for “The symbolic route within say they have documented 27 spent only weeks within it, did the establishment of a special four diff erent countries can be individual cases of serious hu- not declare themselves to au- “hybrid” international court a major attraction for foreign man rights abuses occurring in thorities as former combatants to investigate individuals re- tourists,” Bikram Pandey, presi- the last 12 months. at the war’s end. Several were sponsible for the worst atroci- dent of Himalayan Expedition Freedom from Torture, a involved in political activities ties. Nepal, said addressing the event. UK-based organisation off ering such as election campaigning Unveiling a 220-page, two- Tourism entrepreneurs here medical aid to survivors of tor- as volunteers or campaigning volume report in Geneva, Zeid have mulled over two separate ture, said it had been involved for the disappeared before their Ra’ad al-Hussein, the UN high Buddhist and Hindu circuits in with eight cases. The victim Sirisena: already under pressure on human rights abduction. Five of them are commissioner for human rights, the region. They have devised in each was from Sri Lanka’s women. said it described horrifi c abuses a guided tour route, includ- largely Hindu Tamil minor- pledged widespread reform al, no matter how powerful they of Vavuniya as the site of their Several described torture including torture, executions, ing Kathmandu and Mustang of ity and the alleged perpetrators and reconciliation between may be,” she said. detention and torture. chambers equipped with ca- forced disappearances and sex- Nepal; Lhasa, Saga and Mount were members of the country’s Sri Lankan communities. The The NGO says it has medical Others reported abuse at a bles, rods and batons for beat- ual abuse by security forces, as Kailash of Tibet; Gorakhpur, intelligence services or military, veteran politician specifi cally evidence of torture by the Sri makeshift jungle camp. Many ing victims, water barrels and well as suicide attacks, assas- Varanasi and Sikkim of India and which are dominated by the is- promised an end to abductions Lankan military and intelligence have scars of branding with a pulley system for hoisting sinations and recruitment of Paro of Bhutan. land nation’s largely Buddhist in his maiden speech. services since Sirisena came to heated metal rods and have re- them upside down. There were child soldiers by the LTTE. The They believe that the cross- Sinhala majority. Sonya Sceats, director of pol- power which, it said, suggested ported sexual abuse, the NGO repeated and detailed accounts report found that both sides border connectivity will nar- Sri Lanka suff ered a crippling icy and advocacy for Freedom that “an abusive ‘deep state’ is said. of severe sexual abuse of both “most likely” committed war row down the existing gap in 26-year civil war pitting gov- from Torture, said Sirisena’s re- still terrorising communities A second group has also re- male and female detainees. crimes. the tourism sector across the ernment forces against violent peated recognition that recon- and impeding Sri Lanka’s post- vealed new evidence suggesting Many were accused by their Pressure for an interna- Himalayan region. However, the Tamil separatist extremists of ciliation in his nation required war revival”. ongoing torture and sexual vio- interrogators of wanting to re- tional investigation grew when experts also pointed to the chal- the Liberation Tigers of Tamil accountability for serious hu- Military authorities and the lence by the Sri Lankan security start the LTTE - destroyed as it became clear that domes- lenges of this new initiative. Eelam (LTTE) which ended in a man rights abuses was a wel- police have always denied any forces and police, including al- an organisation by the end of tic inquiries set up by the then “Transportation, tourism fa- series of bloody battles in 2009. come change. “But having set wrongdoings and human rights leged abductions by unidenti- the war. government of Sri Lanka were cilitation and government poli- Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was a new tone, the president must abuses. fi ed men driving white vans as The ITJP said medical reports partisan and ineff ectual. The cies can be diffi cult for cross- president during the fi nal years match his rhetoric with a clear Two of the survivors referred recently as last month. These by court-recognised experts in recommendations of a “les- border tourism in the initial of the war, was defeated after blueprint for rooting out torture to by Freedom from Torture “disappearances” became no- scarring corroborate accounts sons learned and reconciliation phase,” said Prachanda Man calling a snap poll. from Sri Lanka’s security sector identifi ed a well-known mili- torious under the repressive of injuries, while the cross-ref- committee” went largely unim- Shrestha, chairman of National On his election, Sirisena and putting perpetrators on tri- tary camp in the northern town rule of Rajapaksa. erencing of details common to plemented. Tourism Foundation,

Security beefed up in Dhaka over Jamaat shutdown

Authorities yesterday intensified security measures with Bangladesh’s largest Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami observing a nationwide shutdown to protest an apex court verdict that upheld the death penalty for its chief. Yesterday’s dawn-to-dusk shutdown by the party is in protest against the Supreme Court verdict, which upheld death penalty for its chief Motiur Rah- man Nizami for his 1971 war crimes, bdnews24 reported. Dhaka was, however, largely peaceful in the early hours of the strike. Jamaat activists also did not take out any procession in support of the strike. Security has been beefed up in Dhaka since Wednesday over the apex court’s verdict on the Jamaat chief’s appeal. He had challenged the war crimes tribunal’s sentence. Nizami is the second war criminal to be sentenced to death for the killing of intellectuals during the 1971 Libera- tion War. During the war, he was the chief of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the aff iliated student wing of the Jamaat- e-Islami. He was also the chief of the Al-Badr force that was formed by some mem- bers of Chhatra Sangha. A make-shift market is held along a railway line during the countrywide strike called by the Jamaat-e-Islami party in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Top Bangladesh economist faces probe by tax authorities

By Mizan Rahman all types of accounts. The banks were issues at various venues including at Dhaka also asked to provide details of bank the recently held 10th ministerial con- accounts which were earlier operated ference of the World Trade Organisa- by them. tion. he central intelligence cell of In a separate letter to the Central At a briefi ng organised by CPD to re- the National Board of Revenue Depository Bangladesh managing lease its half-yearly report on the state T(NBR) has initiated a move to director, the cell asked for details of of the economy on Sunday, Debapriya scrutinise bank accounts of the coun- existing and closed single or joint BO expressed concern over the prolonged try’s leading economist, Dr Debapriya accounts operated by Debapriya, Irina stagnant situation in private invest- Bhattacharya, his wife and other fam- and their family members. ment despite stability in the economy. ily members to verify their income tax In case of failure in providing infor- The think-tank also forecast that payment status. mation, the tax authority can impose a the overall revenue collection shortfall Offi cials said the cell had sought fi ne of 25,000 taka and a 500 taka for might reach 400bn taka in the cur- bank account statements operated by each day after the deadline, the letter rent fi scal year. It criticised the rev- Debapriya, a member of the Bang- stated. enue board for the discrepancy in its ladeshi think-tank Centre for Policy The revenue board can also pros- revenue collection data with that of Dialogue (CPD), his wife Irina Bhat- ecute anyone for failing to provide in- the Offi ce of the Controller General of tacharya and family members from all formation. Accounts. “Such discrepancy has an scheduled banks and the Central De- “This is not a new experience for adverse impact on the quality of fi s- pository Bangladesh Ltd. me. In fi scal 2003-04, during the BNP cal and budgetary policymaking and Issued in Public Interest by The revenue board has asked the government, I faced similar harass- planning,” the think-tank said. The banks and central depository to fur- ment in the context of my comments CPD also came under fi re from top nish the statements since July 1, 2008, on the state of the economy,” Debap- government functionaries, including within a week of receiving the request riya told reporters. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, letter. The move comes at a time when last month when it said Bangladesh In the letters, the cell asked the the CPD and Debapriya made various has not gained much from the 10th managing directors of banks to fur- adverse comments on the state of the ministerial conference of the World nish the statements with particulars of country’s economy and other national Trade Organisation in Kenya. Gulf Times Friday, January 8, 2016 17 THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH History of the Sunnah

uslims were, early on, trainer, the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi aware of the signifi cance wa sallam. Thus the studying of this era, of the Sunnah and its especially with respect to the history and Mauthority. They, one authority of the Sunnah, is necessary to generation after the other, were keen to all Students of Knowledge. preserve the Sunnah because they saw For detailed reading there are that as a part of the preserving of the many books on Hadiths and last revelations man is ever to receive. Sunnah: Their eff orts were unabated, and the Methodology of the Companions in remarkable job they did is unparalleled Preserving the Sunnah in the experience of any other religion Before discussing the Companions’ or civilization. ways of learning, practising, preserving At the time of the Prophet: and conveying of the Sunnah, it is One of the main reasons behind this worthwhile to shed some light on the is the fact that the Prophet sallallaahu main points one needs to understand ‘alaihi wa sallam clearly taught the about the Companions and their Companions the importance of his methodology: Sunnah, its place in Islam and their role 1. The Companions were fully aware of in saving it, teaching and conveying it the responsibility they shoulder after the to others around them and to those who death of the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi would come after them. In so doing, he wa sallam. sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam followed 2. The Companions are all an eff ective methodology, which will be trustworthy. They never doubted one briefl y outlined below: another in the matters of this religion 1. He emphasised the importance of and the narration of Hadith. seeking knowledge and teaching it to 3. The Companions have developed a others. He said: “Seeking knowledge methodology for scrutinising Hadiths is obligatory upon every Muslim (male and narrators, and by doing that have and female).” [Ibn Maajah] Also, he established the rules of ascertaining said: “Whosoever pursues a path to narrations for those who came after seek knowledge therein, Allah will them. thereby make easy for him a path to 4. The ability of diff erent Companions Paradise. No people gather together in to understand the Sunnah, memorise one of the houses of Allah (mosques), it and convey it varied from one reciting the Book of Allah and studying it Companion to another. among themselves, without tranquility 5. The Companions left Makkah descending upon them, mercy and Madinah to many places around enveloping them and angels surrounding the Muslim world, at the time, for the them, and Allah making mention of purpose of delivering the message and them to those (angels) who are with teaching Islam to those who accepted it Him.” [Muslim] thus spreading the Sunnah throughout 2. He always had a centre for teaching. the land. Most of the time, it was the mosque. It is interesting to note that about 3. He was soft in his dealings and 750 Companions narrated Hadiths, always facilitated things and made seven of whom narrated a high number them easy for others. He was merciful of Hadiths, and about 20 narrated an and humble and made himself readily average number, the rest narrated a small available. number. 4. He never pushed people into The seven who narrated a large anything. Instead, he gradually taught number of Hadiths are: Abu Hurairah them and led them to change. He always who narrated 5,374 Hadiths, ‘Abdullaah motivated them to follow his example Ibn ‘Umar narrated 2,630, Anas Ibn and be their best. Maalik narrated 2,286, ‘Aa’ishah 5. He would not continuously teach or The Prophet’s Mosque in Medinah. narrated 2,210, ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Abbaas work with them, but he would give them narrated 1,660, Jaabir Ibn ‘Abdullaah enough breaks to avoid overstressing or He would repeat whatever he wanted 9. Whenever the Prophet had to encouraged them to ask and learn. succeeding them in the best and most narrated 1,540, and Abu Sa’eed AI- boring them. to stress for three times to insure that choose between two ways, he chose the 11. He used to do his best in accurate way possible. They sincerely Khudri narrated 1,100 Hadiths. They 6. He spoke plainly and clearly and all heard him properly and clearly easier way, which had facility and mercy everything, and he perfected whatever loved it, honestly lived according to understood their role and were aware he talked to people at their level of understood what he was saying. if there was nothing forbidden in that, he did, thus setting an example for it and faithfully preserved it and kept of the signifi cance of their ability in understanding and intellectual ability. 8. When questioned, he would give and he kept away from the diffi cult and others. any impurity or irregularity out of it. narrating the Hadiths and did their Whenever appropriate, he spoke to more than what is expected as an answer harsh ways. The era of the Companions and their Their role in the preservation of best to deliver them diligently and people in their own dialect for the Arabs and use the occasion to further clarify 10. He attached special attention Followers Islam was one of utmost importance to accurately. Muslims of all times are had diff erent dialects. things for all, and teach about other to teaching the women and provided The Companions did their utmost its continuation, but they were highly indebted to them. 7. He used the method of repetition. things. them special times for questions. He to convey Islam to the generations prepared for it by the best teacher and Article courtesy: www.islamweb.net The era of Companions and their followers

ost scholars group the one to tumble into lying - to narrate or gave the grandmother exactly that. without seeking any substantiation or and preservation. Here are a few was a source of pride for them and they main aspects of the repeat everything he/she hears.” [Al- In the case of ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab verifi cation. examples of the Companions’ travel for placed more con fi dence in it than in methodology of the Bukhari and others] Ath-Thahabi mentioned many the sole purpose of confi rming certain writing, they believed that writings MCompanions in preserving O Encouraging narration from incidents that testify to the fact that 3. Study, critique, and assessment of narrations: could be tampered with. Some even the Sunnah into the following seven knowledgeable Companions. To strike he always ascertained the narration the narrations Jaabir Ibn Abdullaah travelled a took this pride to extreme levels, they categories: prudence in narrating the a necessary balance between being when it was necessary to do so. He Of the ways the Companions used whole month to Ancient Syria only to would not write anything down for Hadiths, verifi cation and substantiation cautious and insuring the transmission narrated that Maalik Ibn Aws heard to preserve the Sunnah, properly verify one Hadith. [Al-Bukhari] fear that may be taken as indication of of the Hadiths before accepting them, of the religion and the spreading of its ‘Umar say to ‘Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn learning and studying it, was perhaps One of the Companions travelled to defective memory. critique, discussions and assessment teachings, the Companions who had ‘Awf, Talhah Ibn Az-Zubayr and Sa’d the most important. They refer to visit Fudhaalah Ibn ‘Ubayd and told Obviously, the Companions who of the narration, travelling for search a great deal of knowledge - like those Ibn Abi Waqqaas : “I ask by Allah, Who this using terms like, “Tadaarus” and him that he came not to visit him but had more passion for preserving the and confi rmation of the Hadiths, recommended by the Prophet - never maintains the Heaven and Earth! Did “Muthaakarah,” both of which indicate only to ask him about a narration that Sunnah than poetry and literature used memorisation, practice and writing hesitated to narrate, write or teach you hear the Prophet say: ‘I am not to be a studying that involves more than one they both heard together from Prophet this powerful quality to protect and of the Hadiths. Some scholars refer to the Sunnah. There are hundreds of inherited, whatever I leave is to be given person as well as a mutual exchange and he was hoping that Fudhaalah had maintain the Sunnah. Imaam Ad- these aspects as ‘rulings’, ‘methods’ or narrations that encourage such practice in charity’? They said: ‘Yes, Allah is our of knowledge and ideas. The results of the complete wording of that Hadith. Daarimi narrated that the Companion ‘ways’ instead of methodology. so long as it is done in the right manner. witness.’” [Ahmad] this “studying and discussing” were [Abu Daawood] Abu Hurairah radhiallah ‘anhu said: O Opting for verbatim narration. After narrating the above manifold. One of the Companions left his home “I used to divide the night into three 1- Prudence in narrating the Hadith: Guided with instruction in the Hadith, incidents among others, Imaam Learning the Sunnah correctly, free in Madinah in order to meet Abu Ad- parts. In the fi rst, I would perform the Because of the fact that the Sunnah “May Allah bless the person who hears Ath-Thahabi repeatedly asserted of mistakes was one of the goals, and so Dardaa’ in Damascus only to have Abu optional night Prayer, in the second I is a revelation and a sacred Source for a statement from me and conveys it that the verifi cations were not meant was the fi rm memorisation of it. And Ad-Dardaa’ confi rm a narration which would sleep, and in the third I would this religion, the Companions were as he/she heard it,” the Companions to doubt the truthfulness of any of since it was physically impossible for this Companion had already heard from spend committing Hadith to my very careful when narrating what did all that was humanly possible to the Companions rather they were a large number of the Companions to the Prophet. [Ibn Abd Al-Barr] memory.” the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa keep their narration verbatim of what necessary to establish a standard of have equal time access to the Prophet The Companion Abu Ayyoob Actually, all of the Companions sallam, said or did. This vigilance was they actually heard from the Prophet. care and respect for what the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam these travelled all the way to Egypt to ask considered this an honor and a blessing, illustrated in: There are many reported incidents, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said or discussions were the means through ‘Uqbah Ibn ‘Amr about one Hadith. Abu for they were encouraged to do so by O Avoiding narration unless they had which testify to this fact. Having such did. They did that for themselves and which the narrations known to only a Ayyoob told ‘Uqbah that the two of the saying of the Prophet: “May Allah to. ‘Abdur-Rahmaan Ibn Abi Layla said: natural mastery of the Arabic – that to institute a tradition to be fol lowed few individuals were passed on to many them were the only living Companions make radiant (bestow vigour upon) “I have met with 120 Companions from was common among them - and and honored by all who come after others, thus expanding the circle of who have heard that Hadith directly anyone who heard what I said and the Ansaar (supporters of the Prophet), the fact that they saw and heard the them. narrators. from the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa committed it to his memory until he is none of whom would narrate a Hadith Prophet say, do and explain to them In summary, it is essential to note the Books such as Jaami’ Bayaan Al-‘Ilm sallam and he wanted to confi rm the able to convey it to another. Perhaps the or answer a question of fatwa unless he his teachings repeatedly, as well as following about this method: by Ibn Abd Al-Barr and Al-Jaami’ Li Hadith from ‘Uqbah . [Ahmad] person who hears it from him can have absolutely had no choice but to do it. their understanding of the need for O The purpose was to protect the Akhlaaq Ar-Raawi by Al-Khateeb have a better understanding of it than him.” One would have to go and ask another verbatim transmission of narrations, Sunnah, not to doubt one another. All many authentic narrations from the 5-Memorisation of the Hadith [At-Tirmithi] instead of him, so much so you would all combined to make it easy for them of the Companions are trustworthy Companions bearing witness to the Muslims – one generation after the On the other hand, the Prophet keep going from one to the other until not to cause changes as they narrate any as clearly stated in the Qur’an, and eff ectiveness of these discussions in other – did all that is humanly possible sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam also taught you get back to the fi rst one you asked.” Hadith. doubting their trustworthiness can preserving the Sunnah. to preserve the texts of the Qur’an and the Companions two aspects that They understood that they were certainly damage one’s faith. Another aspect of the Companions’ the Sunnah as accurate as they received brought a needed balance to the use of conveying the message brought to them 2- Verifi cation of the Hadith before O The purpose, also, was to establish methodology in preserving the it from the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi memorisation in conveying his Hadith, by the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa accepting it a method and set an example to be Sunnah was the critical assessment wa sallam. Besides the extra eff ort they namely the importance of writing, sallam and that people see it as such, This is an important tool that the followed by the rest of the Muslim and evaluation of what they narrated exacted to develop the Methodology, and the need of being moderate in all thus everyone wanted the other to do Companions established to safeguard nation. The truth, however, remains and taught to one another. Anytime a the Companions benefi ted from a matters. This fact complemented their that because they may know it better. the Sunnah against any foreign material that Companions used to accept Companion felt what he heard from talent that came naturally to them, one eff orts in establishing a sound and well- This, however, should not be construed interference and accidental or deliberate narration conveyed by any one of another had a problem, he or she would that was truly befi tting to the main rounded methodology. to mean they avoided spreading the mistakes. This was a common practice them. Their request of witnesses or critically analyse it and give his/her undertaking of that methodology - the The phenomenon of “Memory message or teaching Islam to others. amongst all of the Companions when that the narrator gives an oath that he opinion about it. A major example of verbatim transmission of the Sunnah. Power” continued to be a general This prudence indicates they were fully receiving or narrating the Sunnah. is saying the truth was to establish the this eff ort by the Companions was This unique quality of the Companions character of the Arab society well into aware of their role and its signifi cance. Imaam Ath-Thahabi mentioned methodology, so that people would not demonstrated by Badruddeen Az- was that they enjoyed powerful the third and fourth centuries of Hijrah, They would rather let others, who may this practice, in one of his great take narrating a Hadith lightly. This Zarkashi who wrote a book in which he memories. It was easy for anyone of the time by which all of the Sunnah was be more knowledgeable, do the job, but books, addressing the issue of Hadith fact may further be supported when collected more than seventy narrations them to commit to heart any number of collected into books and records. But once they had to do, they did it in the memorisers. He said that it was one of considering that: in which one Companion, ‘Aa’ishah, the narrations and retain them as such for a the diminishing of its prevalence in the best way possible. the ways used by of the four Caliphs to O Sometimes they required a Mother of the Believers was reported very long time. society with time did not minimise the O Limiting or discouraging the protect the Hadith. For example, Abu witness while at others they had the as having corrected other Companions’ This quality was not specifi c only role memory played in the preserving narration. This attitude was adopted for Bakr was asked to rule in the case of a narrator give oath or reminded him narrations based on her assessment of to the Companions but rather was a of the Sunnah. “Memory Power,” or the purpose of protecting the Sunnah grandmother who came asking for her of how serious it is to lie against the the narrations in light of the Qur’an and common feature of the Arab society as Dhabt - profi ciency in narration, as it because it minimises the possibility right in inheritance, he said that he Prophet. This variation indicates that the Hadith. a whole. Many scholars - Muslims and later came to be known - became an of mistakes or forgetfulness that may knew of no amount due to her neither in the purpose was actually to establish non-Muslim alike - established the fact essential part of the standards used otherwise cause people to doubt the the Book of Allah (i.e., Qur’an) nor the awareness of the signifi cance of 4. Travelling in search of the Hadith that the Arabs of that era were masters to judge authenticity. Judging the Sunnah or mistrust the narrators. This Sunnah of the Prophet. But when Al- narrating the Hadith rather than set Another great eff ort they made of language, and their society had a narrators memory power is central in trend was strongly encouraged by Mugheerah told that he has witnessed up a requirement of having more than was traveling in search of the Hadith, profoundly strong oral tradition. The what we know as the science of “Al-Jarh Caliphs Abu Bakr radhiallah ‘anhu and the Prophet give one-sixth of the total one narrator as a condition for its for after the death of the Prophet known narrator of poetry, Hammaad, wa Ta’deel.” ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab radhiallah ‘anhu amount of the inheritance, he asked authenticity. sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam the for example, was reported to have Article source: http://www. and was accepted and practiced by the him if he had witness to substantiate O There are a very large number of Companions moved to diff erent memorised at least one hundred long islamweb.net/emainpage/ Companions . This attitude is founded this claim. And when Muhammad Ibn narrations, which indicate that in many places within the Muslim land, and poems for each letter in the Arabic on the famous Hadith narrated by many Maslamah witnessed to the truth of cases the Companions had actually travelling became an essential method alphabet. That is more than 2,800 Companions : “It is suffi cient - for that fi gure, Abu Bakr accepted it and accepted Hadith from one narrator of Hadith collection, authentication pieces of poetry. Powerful memory Gulf Times 18 Friday, January 8, 2016 COMMENT

Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Editor-in-Chief : Darwish S Ahmed Production Editor: Amjad Khan Jordan cracks (down)

P.O.Box 2888 Doha, Qatar [email protected] under refugee pressure Telephone 44350478 (news), 44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery) Many refugees are largely Fax 44350474 left to support themselves – chiefl y with illegal, precarious GULF TIMES and low-paid work By Bethan Staton Amman

he Sudanese asylum seekers Shutting markets to and refugees had been protesting for more than Ta month when the police came to deport them late last month. stem panic is often Hundreds were camped outside the Amman offi ces of the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, driven to desperate measures by poverty and hopelessness the wrong medicine in Jordan, where life for many has been on hold for years. They’d demanded more support, Simply shutting down markets can be a tempting option and resettlement to a country where to halt panic selling, but it’s tantamount to breaking the they could build a life for themselves. thermometer to cure the fever. “We can’t carry on like this,” Hatem, a protester whose name has been Rather than cooling fl aring investor tempers, trading changed to protect his safety, said. curbs can even fuel a rush to the exits as sellers hurry But instead of relief, around to offl oad stock while they can - as China has this week 600 Sudanese were returned to discovered to its cost. Khartoum. But the danger refugees The tent city outside UNHCR in Amman, home to several hundred Sudanese protesters during November and December 2015. Authorities should use pauses in trading to actively face in Khartoum did not deter the soothe investor nerves, a strategy that China failed to government from sending them back. largely left to support themselves powerless to stop it, or decided not “The sort of chilling eff ect that you “We didn’t expect… what – chiefl y with illegal, precarious to push back on behalf of vulnerable could be deported has been felt by the implement during this week’s trading fi asco. happened,” Hatem said, continuing, and low-paid work. The chance of refugees.” Syrians since the beginning, maybe, of After having its new trading “circuit breaker” tripped despite the deportations, to state escape through legal resettlement A senior source at an NGO that 2013,” Coogle explained. twice in the fi rst four days it was in place, Chinese his respect for the Jordanian to a better life is low: only 2.9% of works closely with Sudanese “Because they know, they all know regulators backtracked yesterday and suspended the government. Jordan’s Sudanese population – which refugees, agreed. “Despite these someone who got taken and maybe suspensions, saying they were causing more harm than At the beginning of what’s already numbered just 3,500 before the deportations being completely sent back. The Syrians all know that set to be a tough year, the forcible deportation – have been resettled to a beyond the pale, it is not that you better not do a damn thing.” good. return is a grim indicator of the third country. For Syrians, the rate is surprising that the government What does this mean for the future Circuit breakers are pauses in trading or a shutdown growing insecurity refugees in Jordan even lower, at 2.3%. responded sternly,” he said. “The of providing for refugees? Among for the trading day when share prices fall by a certain face. With the neighbouring war in “The diffi culty is how can we – and government is very concerned development and human rights percentage, and their aim is to limit market volatility. Syria entering its sixth year, some it’s not just the Sudanese but the about losing control of the refugee professionals, there’s a concern that After plunges on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges 630,000 Syrian refugees are now whole population of concern – how situation in the country.” the deportation is indicative of a registered in the kingdom. But they’re can we continue to give hope to these At the time of the deportation, serious shrinking of humanitarian in August, which dragged down stocks across the globe just the largest and most high-profi le people,” McDonnell said. Jordanian government spokesman space. If 2016 is a year that sees other wiping off trillions in valuations, Chinese regulators group among almost 700,000 refugees For the Sudanese community Mohamed Momani told journalists concerns – whether that be security, decided to introduce circuit breakers from January 1. and asylum seekers from more than 40 and those working with them, the that the Sudanese deportees were in politics, fear of unrest or simply But the circuit breaker was triggered on the fi rst day it diff erent nations. Jordanian government’s move came the country illegally because they had pressure on resources – override was in force, on Monday, and then again yesterday, when The protest that prompted the as a shock. A mass deportation entered the country on medical visas. refugees’ basic rights for protection deportation was symptomatic of of this scale is unprecedented in It’s a claim that was dismissed by the and aid, it will mean further, deepened share prices tumbled 7%, provoking questions about its Jordan’s larger refugee crisis. Many Jordan. It’s in fl agrant violation of the UNHCR and Human Rights Watch. hardship for those seeking a safe haven eff ectiveness. of those camped outside the UNHCR international legal principle of non- The vast majority of protesters, they in Jordan. “After weighing advantages and disadvantages, offi ces said they were unable to pay refoulement, which states that people said, were registered as asylum seekers And with 12,000 Syrian refugees currently the negative eff ect is bigger than the positive rent and couldn’t aff ord food: they of concern must not be returned to or refugees, and the way individuals on Tuesday confi rmed to be stranded one,” the China Securities Regulatory Commission had, they simply said, nowhere else a place where persecution threatens enter a country – or fl ee where they’re at the border with Jordan – offi cials to go. their life or freedom, and it took place in danger – does not de-legitimise a had previously said the number was (CSRC) said. “How long can refugees continue, under the nose of the very agency claim to asylum. an exaggeration – access to refuge in “Therefore, in order to maintain market stability, CSRC just on the basic assistance we’re meant to protect refugees. In the Sudanese community, Jordan looks to be under even greater has decided to suspend providing?” Aoife McDonnell, “At no stage was deportation the eff ects of the deportation are threat. the circuit breaker spokeswoman for UNHCR in Amman, [thought to be] on the cards,” already being felt. Sudanese refugees Aid agencies report that the “The major mechanism.” said. Most refugees in Jordan, McDonnell said. Several sources said have historically been relatively humanitarian situation at the border is becoming increasingly grave: Beijing’s introduction including Syrians, don’t have permits that high-level international advocacy well-organised when it comes to problem in to work legally. Access to employment, eff orts tried – and failed – to put a community support and activism. But freezing temperatures and snow of the circuit breaker she added, will continue to be an issue stop to the government action. “It was now the fear of a crackdown means falling in the region are adding to the China is that the this week had proved as the years they spend in the country a peaceful protest. It does not warrant many are too afraid to even go outside, poor sanitation and malnutrition that counter-productive, with stretch onward. a deportation,” McDonnell added. or try to fi nd the work they need to were already threatening the lives of market is still investor fears of being “Their savings are gone. The Many of the humanitarian and survive every day. Protesting, when those who are trapped. But Momani unable to sell unwanted money’s gone. The media lost interest human rights workers IRIN spoke they know it could mean deportation, said security concerns prevent the immature” for quite some time,” she said. to believe that the deportation was now feels impossible. authorities letting refugees enter in stocks outweighing any “Various populations feel they’re a warning from Jordan. Unrest, the “We don’t know how to change it,” large numbers. reassurance over market stability. being forgotten about.” repatriation seems to suggest, will be Hatem said. “No matter how much support is Circuit breakers are nearly universal on Western Thanks to limited funding, not be tolerated by the government. “If some of us… protest, then we’ll provided, people aren’t going to go exchanges, but Christopher Dembik, an economist UNHCR aid off ers very limited Refugees who protest to better their be deported. We’re puzzled [about] home,” UNHCR’s McDonnell said. relief. A minority of refugees – circumstances cannot assume their what to do. We want to fi nd safety and “And as the international community, at Saxo Banque, said emerging markets diff er from mostly vulnerable families, such as rights will be respected, nor that tranquility here, but some of us are the focus has to be to fi nd political developed markets. those headed by women – receive the international community can do even afraid to go to the UNHCR now.” solutions, and countries cannot “It is possible to close the markets if measures are monetary support of a few hundred anything to protect them. For Syrians living in Jordan, this continue to absorb more and more promptly put into place to reassure investors, otherwise Jordanian dinars (300 dinars is $423) “It has reverberations within the fear is more familiar. Their country’s people who, as time goes on, become its counter-productive,” said Christopher Dembik, an each month. Others are eligible for wider refugee community to know close proximity to Jordan, and the more vulnerable.” emergency funding and receive winter that Jordan is capable of this, that ease with which the government can The underlying issue is the number economist at Saxo Banque. aid for heating and essentials, and they can do it and they can get away invoke security justifi cations, means of unresolved confl icts in the region, “The major problem in China is that the market is still some groups receive food vouchers with it,” Adam Coogle, a researcher for deportation has been a real threat for McDonnell added. “It wasn’t safe for immature. You have a myriad of individual investors and non-monetary support including Human Rights Watch in Jordan, said. some time. Forcible returns to Syria these people to go home. It certainly susceptible to panic selling and market shutdowns that housing. “[The deportation also means] that have also been documented by human wasn’t safe for them to be forcibly are not always accompanied by measures that could calm Beyond that, many refugees are Jordan’s donor countries are either rights watchdogs. returned.” – IRIN trading at the reopening,” he said. The Chinese regulators had put into place a 15-minute trading halt when share indices fall by 5%, and closing for the day if the threshold of 7% is breached. Yesterday, the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges were Beijing ‘unwilling’ to punish Pyongyang for N-test open for less than 15 minutes of trading overall. After the has disappointed international measures” such as the temporary But it doesn’t have to do that in the 15 minute trading suspension, it only took one minute for By Joanna Chiu/DPA Beijing leaders with a weak response to its restriction of economic co-operation future,” retired Chinese general Wang the slump to deeping to 7% and the exchange close for the neighbour’s hydrogen bomb testing. pilot projects, said Mikko Huotari Hongguang wrote in the state-run day. Pyongyang tested its fi rst nuclear of the Mercator Institute for China Global Times in 2014. “The problem with two-stage circuit breakers is that orth Korea’s surprise claim device 10 years ago, contravening Studies. Wang’s commentary also accused triggering the fi rst leads to triggering the second,” said that it had successfully Security Council resolutions and “China’s strategy continues to North Korea of violating the spirit of conducted a fourth nuclear leading to the imposition of economic be characterised by the following the two countries’ mutual defence Jean-Louis Mourier, an economist at the brokerage Aurel bomb test renewed fears sanctions by the UN. priorities: No war, no instability, no treaty by failing to consult China on its BGC. N and ignited a chorus of condemnation China did not use its veto power nuclear weapons,” Huotari said. nuclear programme. “Investors who didn’t sell their shares fast enough rush around the world. on the UN Security Council to block China is treading carefully because However, following a long frosty to do so after trading resumes,” he said. If confi rmed, the detonation would such sanctions, but its government it is afraid the Kim Jong-un leadership period between the countries, the Information is key because the fundamental objective be the fi rst to use fusion technology - a has also not answered calls to leverage will collapse if there is too much Chinese leadership sent a politburo major step up in North Korea’s nuclear its power to put stronger pressure on pressure on the regime’s economy. member to a military parade in of a suspension is to protect savers. weapons capability. North Korea. This could potentially lead to a fl ood October to mark 70 years since the Authorities need to take steps to ensure investors have South Korea and Japan had swiftly In 2013, Beijing cut crude oil exports of North Korean refugees into China, founding of the Workers’ Party of the elements they need to take informed decisions. threatened increased sanctions, and to North Korea following the country’s experts said. North Korea, suggesting a thaw in pledged with the US to forge a “united previous nuclear test but stopped “The worry is always there for relations. and strong” international response. short of cutting ties that would have China. They will not cut military “China and the international The UN Security Council also agreed seriously aff ected the country’s support and investment in North community have to work to fi nd an to draw up new measures against economy. Korea even if they are willing to make eff ective strategy because North Korea To Advertise North Korea. “There is no doubt that China is a some economic sanctions,” said Yu is not listening to anyone,” said Zhang The isolated communist regime’s kind of lifeline for North Korea,” said Yingli, associate researcher at the Liangui, a professor at the Institute [email protected] most important economic ally, Eric Ballbach, an expert on North Shanghai Institutes for International for International Strategic Studies Display however, has so far only called on Korea at Berlin’s Freie Universitat. Studies. of the Central Party School of the Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 Pyongyang to return to the negotiating “But China has not been willing to use International observers could also Communist Party of China. table and to give up its nuclear this economic infl uence with full force be overestimating China’s friendship “Pushing for sanctions is still Classified weapons. and this has not changed even after with North Korea. important. If there were no sanctions Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 On Wednesday, China’s foreign the most recent test.” China’s president Xi Jinping and at all, North Korea’s nuclear weapon’s ministry released a statement China’s foreign ministry confi rmed Kim Jong-un have never met and development would be even faster. Subscription saying it “fi rmly opposes” the test, it had not received advanced warning Chinese state media have increasingly Sanctions might not eliminate the [email protected] and a spokeswoman told reporters that North Korea would be conducting published scathing criticism of the threat, but it may help to slow their that Beijing would be summoning the nuclear test. regime. weapons development,” said Shi Pyongyang’s ambassador to lodge a While this was a “clear snub” to “China has cleaned up the DPRK’s Yinhong, international relations 2014 Gulf Times. All rights reserved complaint. the Chinese leadership, Beijing may [Democratic People’s Republic of professor at the People’s University in This is not the fi rst time China still only pursue “subtle coercive Korea’s] mess too many times... Beijing. Gulf Times Friday, January 8, 2016 19 COMMENT A better year for migrants?

More than a million people the crisis pale in comparison to the At the same time, the international risked their lives crossing the human and political costs. More than community must support the a million people risked their lives integration of refugees in major Mediterranean last year, and crossing the Mediterranean last year, host countries like Turkey, Kenya, then endured gruelling and then endured gruelling journeys Lebanon, and Jordan. As it stands, through the Balkans. Almost 4,000 such countries receive just a fraction journeys through the Balkans people died on the way, and many of the $3,000-5,000 per refugee European countries turned their backs required annually to provide adequate By Peter D Sutherland on those who survived, refusing them housing, food, health care, schooling, Dublin safe haven. and job training during the fi rst few Cynical political leaders ruthlessly years of displacement. And that does capitalised on popular anxiety by not account for the costs of building or he Mediterranean migration promoting an odious nationalist vision upgrading infrastructure. Lebanon’s crisis has delivered two that either ignores or distorts real-life water-supply system, for example, critical lessons. First, experiences with immigration. In is faltering under the strain of the TEurope and the international the US, for example, not one of the massive infl ux of refugees. In exchange community have grossly inadequate 780,000 refugees resettled since for funding, host countries should systems for protecting vulnerable September 11, 2001, has executed agree to integrate refugees fully into migrants. Second, in the absence of a terrorist attack. Meanwhile, their schools, labour markets, and such systems, populist leaders will immigrants typically pay more in taxes civic institutions. prey on fear to gain political support, than they receive in benefi ts. But integrating migrants eff ectively undermining the liberal, tolerant Nonetheless, extremist forces are will be impossible unless European societies that have taken 70 years of dangerously close to taking political and other countries change how hard work to build. power in some European states, and they perceive migrants. If migrants That is why vigorous action at the are gaining traction even in formerly are viewed as a burden or, worse, European and global levels is essential liberal bastions. Anti-migrant parties a security threat, reactionary this year. In September, UN Secretary- already are in power in Hungary and political forces will continue to gain General Ban Ki-moon will convene Poland. Their success is compelling ground, cutting off opportunities for an extraordinary summit dedicated mainstream parties to adopt anti- newcomers and turning such fears into to building a fair global system for migrant policies as well. a self-fulfi lling prophesy. If, however, protecting refugees and vulnerable All of this has seriously undermined host countries enthusiastically migrants. One hopes that countries European co-operation. The EU’s integrate migrants, everyone will will come prepared to make tangible, programme to process the million benefi t – including home countries enduring commitments. refugees who arrived on its shores (for example, through remittances). Such commitments were has succeeded in “relocating” a mere Last month in Paris, the sorely lacking in 2015. Indeed, the 190 of them. Checks at the borders Migrants cry and walk towards Gevgelija in Macedonia after crossing Greece’s border in this file photo. international community proved international community could of six countries within the Schengen that it could subordinate national have blunted last year’s crisis by Area have been reinstituted, at least reach Europe. This does not imply solidarity with the frontline countries, 75,000 of more than 20mn refugees self-interest to a greater global goal: providing even modest support for temporarily. To the rest of the world, that every vulnerable migrant must which will continue to host most annually. Millions end up in protracted confronting climate change. In 2016, the three frontline countries – Turkey, the EU appears chauvinistic and inept. be accepted. But the EU should be of the refugees. Equally important, displacement, spending an estimated the same thing must happen to forge a Lebanon, and Jordan – which together Of course, the crisis is not solely more systematically generous in it would put pressure on the rest 25 years, on average, stuck in limbo, better system for protecting migrants. host some 4mn Syrian refugees. for Europe to solve; responsibility is determining how many to admit, of the international community to unsure when they might return home. It is a matter of life and death for With only around €10bn ($10.8bn), not defi ned by proximity. But the EU and it should implement organised contribute. In 2016, developed countries 20mn refugees and millions of other these countries could have provided might now face an existential threat, ways to facilitate their entry. Such a That brings us to the second priority should agree to accept a combined vulnerable migrants – and a profound better housing, food, and education which it can overcome only with a system would protect migrants and for 2016: building a robust global total approaching a million refugees test of the civic health of democratic for refugees, thereby reducing the strong show of solidarity and global safeguard Europe (by enabling it to vet system to protect refugees and other annually, either through resettlement societies worldwide. – Project incentive to fl ee to Europe. That failure leadership. That is why its member applicants fully). vulnerable migrants. This requires, or by issuing humanitarian, student, Syndicate could end up costing Germany alone states must take the lead in proposing Beyond reducing the incentive for fi rst and foremost, agreement by labour, and other visas. With Canada upwards of €21bn annually for years solutions. asylum-seekers to risk their lives and more countries to accept refugees. In alone saying that it will resettle zPeter D Sutherland is UN Special to come. The most urgent priority is to create life savings to cross the Mediterranean, recent years, the UN Refugee Agency 50,000 Syrian refugees this year, it is Representative of the Secretary- But the fi nancial implications of safe and legal paths for refugees to such an approach would show has been able to resettle fewer than clear that this target is achievable. General for International Migration. Weather report Facing up to climate reality Three-day forecast TODAY High: 23 C By Adair Turner commitments envisage. Moreover, it and transport systems to deliver Indeed, we enter 2016 with Low : 16 C London demands further reductions beyond improvements in energy effi ciency, cheaper gasoline, which weakens the 2030 that ensure subsequent progress off set by a decline of more than $6tn incentive to purchase fuel-effi cient Partly cloudy and misty toward net-zero carbon emissions by in investment in oil, gas, and coal automobiles, and lower heating ast year, three facts about the second half of this century. production. costs, which weakens the incentive to climate change became But 2015 also provided further Reducing investment in fossil fuels insulate homes. A purely free-market SATURDAY clear: Achieving a low- evidence that we can achieve a low- or refl ects the reality that if the world is approach to the required energy High: 24 C Lcarbon economy is essential; even zero-carbon global economy serious about its maximum 2C target, transition would produce insuffi cient Low : 18 C new technologies make that goal without sacrifi cing the growth still two-thirds of known reserves must be progress on emissions reductions and Sunny attainable at an acceptable cost; but needed to pull many people out of left permanently in the ground. And leave behind large stranded assets, technological progress alone will be poverty. Wind energy is now cost- lower investment would be matched representing trillions of dollars of insuffi cient without strong public competitive in many locations, and by a decline in cumulative fossil-fuel wasted investment. SUNDAY policies. the costs of solar energy continue to revenues amounting to as much as Strong public-policy interventions High: 23 C Extreme weather in December – big plummet – down around 70% since $34tn more than under the IEA’s “new are thus essential to support an Low : 15 C fl oods in South America, the US, and 2008. Rapid cost reductions are also policies” scenario, owing not only adequately fast energy transition S Showers Britain, and very little snow in the Alps being achieved in battery and other to lower volumes of oil, gas, and coal that is as cost effi cient as possible. – partly refl ected this year’s strong El energy-storage technologies, bringing consumed, but also to signifi cantly Increased public support for Niño (caused by warmer Pacifi c Ocean electric cars closer to economic lower prices. research and development in crucial Fishermen’s forecast And therein lies the problem. Lower technologies – particularly energy water off Ecuador and Peru). But the viability and enabling fl exible OFFSHORE DOHA planet’s rising surface temperature electricity supply even where a large oil, coal, and gas prices would reduce storage – is needed to prevent short- Wind: NW-SW 05-15 KT will increase the probability and percentage of power comes from incentives to develop and deploy term movements in fossil-fuel prices Waves: 2-4 Feet severity of such weather patterns, and intermittent sources. renewable energy technologies, or to from undermining the transition’s INSHORE DOHA Wind: SE-SW 03-13 KT 2015 – the warmest year on record These and other technologies will improve energy effi ciency. And with momentum. Waves: 1-2 Feet – confi rmed that human greenhouse- enable the transition to low-carbon technological progress continuing to The Mission Innovation initiative, gas emissions are driving signifi cant economies to be carried out at a reduce extraction costs, fossil fuels announced in Paris, which commits 20 Around the region climate change. Earth’s average land manageable cost. Estimates from the may at times over the next several major countries to doubling clean- Weather Weather surface temperature is now about 1C International Energy Agency (IEA) decades still look cheap relative to energy R&D, is a vital step forward in today Max/min tomorrow Max/min above pre-industrial levels. suggest that in a “new policies” low-carbon alternatives. We certainly this respect. But a clear commitment Abu Dhabi P Cloudy 24/13 P Cloudy 27/14 Faced with that reality, the climate scenario that is broadly comparable will be able to produce low-carbon by policymakers to achieve a steadily Baghdad Cloudy 21/09 P Cloudy 18/06 Dubai agreement reached in Paris last with national commitments enshrined energy cheaply enough to support rising carbon price – ideally one that Sunny 24/16 Sunny 26/17 Kuwait City P Cloudy 20/13 S Showers 20/11 month represents a valuable but in the Paris agreement, the world sustained economic growth and increases more rapidly whenever Manama M Sunny 22/17 P Cloudy 24/18 still insuffi cient response. All major would need to invest $68.3tn in prosperity; what is much less certain fossil-fuel prices are at a cyclical low – Muscat Sunny 25/18 Sunny 28/19 economies are now committed to energy-related systems between now is whether it will be cheaper than is also required. Riyadh P Cloudy 25/14 P Cloudy 25/09 reducing emissions below business- and 2040. fossil fuels soon enough to avoid Technological progress makes Tehran S Showers 14/08 Showers 09/04 as-usual levels: but the combination By contrast, in a scenario climate disaster. it possible to build a low-carbon of national commitments would compatible with limiting warning to Nor is it likely that free-market economy; but without support from likely result in warming of almost around 2C, the required investment competition between fossil fuels and strong public policies, the extreme 3C above preindustrial levels – a would be $74.6tn. Given annual global low-carbon energy will develop in a weather events of December 2015 will terrifying prospect, given the adverse GDP of $74tn, the incremental $6tn smooth and predictable fashion. In look trivial compared to the harm consequences already apparent from of investment over 25 years represents the last six years, the oil price rose that climate change will subsequently a 1C rise. only a small economic burden. from $77 per barrel in January 2010 bring. – Project Syndicate To cap the global increase in But while the absolute increase in to over $100 during 2011-2014, before temperature at 2C (the target endorsed required investment is moderate, the collapsing to below $40 in the face of zAdair Turner, a former chairman in Paris), let alone to limit global IEA’s low-carbon scenario entails overcapacity (created partly by the of the United Kingdom’s Financial warming to 1.5C (an aspiration which a dramatic change in the pattern of investment spurred by high prices). Services Authority and a former was also confi rmed), will require that investment. An additional $14tn Gas and coal prices have followed a member of the UK’s Financial Policy emissions in the year 2030 be about should allocated to renewable or similar pattern. That boom-and-bust Committee, is Chairman of the 20% lower than the combined national nuclear energy, or to buildings pattern may well continue. Institute for New Economic Thinking. Live issues

Around the world Weather Weather Trouble sleeping? Dust everything in your bedroom today tomorrow Max/min Max/min Athens Cloudy 12/08 Rain 14/07 Beirut Rain 16/13 S Showers 17/11 M Sunny 32/25 she said. “Many times that can be due like an AllerEase mattress protector. “Wipe down these surfaces on a Bangkok 33/26 P Cloudy By Alison Bowen Berlin P Cloudy 03/-6 M Sunny 01/-4 Tribune News to indoor allergies.” “For some people, it can be a real regular basis,” she said. Cairo M Sunny 19/13 P Cloudy 21/11 Allergens on bedroom surfaces can problem,” she said. Bedding isn’t exempt: Throw it in Cape Town Cloudy 27/19 Cloudy 29/20 disrupt sleep, causing exhaustion Also, check your furniture. Perhaps laundry with hot water and a hot dryer Colombo P Cloudy 33/24 P Cloudy 33/23 t’s cold and fl u season, but if and even irritating symptoms like the last time you cleaned for guests, cycle once a week, she said. Dhaka M Sunny 27/17 P Cloudy 28/16 Hong Kong Sunny 18/15 P Cloudy 18/15 you have the sniffl es and feel coughing or sneezing that people you skipped the bedroom, knowing Same with stuff ed animals. Istanbul P Cloudy 08/06 Sunny 11/07 exhausted, the culprit might not might not realise are rooted near the you could close the door. Or maybe “Anything that’s stuff ed is going to Jakarta I T Storms 32/25 S T Storms 32/25 be a germ. bed. that became skipping the last few harbour dust mites,” she said. Karachi Sunny 27/13 Sunny 27/16 I London S Showers 09/04 Rain 10/05 When was the last time you dusted “I think the bedroom is really the cleanings. Wash them, or freeze them for 24 M Sunny P Cloudy 31/22 everything in your bedroom? No. 1 place that they may not be aware A thin layer of dust often collects on hours to get rid of any dust mites. Manila 31/22 Moscow Cloudy -13/-16 Snow -12/-18 It’s a question Dr Neeta Ogden, of that’s harbouring allergens,” Ogden a lamp or dresser or windowsill. And Don’t forget pillows: Wash New Delhi Sunny 24/10 Sunny 23/08 an adult and paediatric allergist said. below the bed, dust balls gather, and pillowcases, she suggests, in New York P Cloudy 06/04 Cloudy 08/07 and immunologist at Englewood The bed is a main source to examine. they can include dust mites. 130-degree water. Consider protectors Paris Cloudy 09/04 S Showers 11/07 Hospital and Medical Center in Dust mites hide in the mattress and “You might fi nd dander or even for those too, and as a last resort, Sao Paulo T Storms 31/21 T Storms 29/21 Seoul M Sunny 03/-6 P Cloudy 03/-2 New Jersey, finds herself often pillows “because they actually feed off roach residue or pollen,” she said. replace your pillows. Singapore S T Storms 33/26 S T Storms 32/26 asking patients. of our skin cells,” she said. Have wipes available, she suggests, After all, as she noted, “once sleep Sydney P Cloudy 23/17 P Cloudy 25/18 “People complain about the cough The best solution? She suggests a or even make a cleaning solution at is affected, it’s affecting quality of Tokyo Clear 1 2 / 0 3 Cloudy 12/03 that they can’t shake in the winter,” barrier between the mattress and you, home with vinegar and water. life.” Gulf Times 20 Friday, January 8, 2016 QATAR Nissan helps bring back Some of the paintings at the exhibition. Colour Run Katara gallery showcases works or the second year running, The un-timed fun run will see that motoring should be fun and Nissan Middle East and the participants doused from exciting, not just getting from A FSaleh Al Hamad Al Mana head to toe in diff erent coloured to B. That’s certainly what the Company, the Japanese auto ma- powder at each kilometre. The Nissan Juke is all about and why by students of Noor Institute jor’s exclusive dealer in Qatar, are run is followed by a colour fes- we believe The Colour Run is the both involved in bringing back tival where runners can create perfect event to support.” The Colour Run - presented by countless colour combinations Declan McClusky, general atara - the Cultural Vil- Your Health First in Qatar. with a variety of coloured pow- manager (automotive), Saleh Al lage Foundation has The fun-fi lled 5km fun run, ders. There are only two rules – Hamad Al Mana Company, said: Kopened the “Seeing dubbed the “Happiest 5k on the wear white at the start line and “We are proud to be involved Through My Paintbrush” gal- Planet”, will be held tomorrow fi nish plastered in colour. with Nissan in showcasing such lery at Katara Studios (Building at Qatar National Convention Fadi Ghosn, chief marketing an exciting event in Qatar. Last 19). Centre. offi cer of Nissan Middle East, year’s event was a great success Organised in co-operation Helping make the fun run pos- said: “Following the great suc- and we look forward to seeing with Noor Institute for the sible, Nissan has provided the of- cess of the event last year, we de- even more participants this year. Blind, the gallery showcases 45 fi cial vehicle for The Colour Run cided to extend our sponsorship The sponsorship of the fun run paintings. in Qatar – showcasing the com- to this year’s edition of The Col- bears further testimony to our The watercolour and oil pact SUV Nissan Juke. our Run. At Nissan, we believe commitment to our market.” paintings depict subjects relat- ed to nature and Qatari culture. The paintings are by Farhana Hafeth, Nawal al-Ahbabi and Amna Sudqi. During a tour of the gallery, Katara general manager Dr Kha- lid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti appre- ciated the paintings. “Whoever sees the paintings will realise the skills the female students have and the eff ort they have made, and they are not diff erent from what ordi- nary artists do.” Noor Institute for the Blind off ers a wide range of activities, including a workshop for handi- crafts and artworks in which many female students partici- pate. Project manager Ayman Ab- dulla said the institute offers a variety of activities cover- ing handicrafts and other art- works. “The students who have ex- hibited their works are passion- ate about the art. In co-opera- tion with their supervisor, they were taught some painting skills and how to handle watercolour The off icial vehicle is a Nissan Juke, especially done up for the occasion. and oil-based paints.” Dignitaries and guests viewing the paintings after the opening of the exhibition. Falcons and Hunting Festival sees intense competition

A falconer prepares to release his bird at the seventh International Falcons and Hunting Festival (Marmi), which started on Monday at Sealine and has been witnessing intense competition. The month-long event is being held under the patronage of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani. The activities of the international events are convened with the Hadad El Tahadee local competition (newborn free falcons), that will be held in the morning and evening shifts. A falcon tackling its bait.

Young Qataris enjoying the falcons and hunting festival. A competing falcon prepares to dive towards its target. Gliding very low over the desert, a falcon stealthily approaches.