QATAR | Page 2 SPORT | Page 8 Al-Thawadi highlights unifying Qatar’s climate change power of eff orts aimed at cutting Qatar carbon emissions 2022 published in QATAR since 1978

SATURDAY Vol. XXXX No. 11312 September 21, 2019 Muharram 22, 1441 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

Amir, British PM hold talks on bolstering bilateral ties

QNA At the beginning of the meeting, the London British prime minister welcomed His Highness the Amir, pointing out that they are “old friends”. Johnson noted is Highness the Amir Sheikh that they met at the city hall when he Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani was mayor of London and in Zurich Hhas discussed with British when Qatar defeated England for the Prime Minister Boris Johnson the stra- hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. tegic relations and means of boosting He congratulated Qatar on that co-operation between the two coun- achievement, stressing that the rela- tries in various fi elds for their mutual tionship between the State of Qatar benefi t. and the United Kingdom is growing In a meeting at the British prime stronger and there are several land- minister’s offi ce at 10 Downing Street marks in London attesting to this. in London yesterday, they discussed The Amir stressed the strength of several emerging issues in the Middle the relations between the two coun- East, especially the developments in tries, in addition to the strong per- the Gulf. sonal relations between His Highness and the prime minister, pointing out Amir arrives in New York that this meeting will contribute to strengthening these relations in sev- His Highness the Amir Sheikh eral areas. Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani The members of the offi cial delega- arrived in New York yesterday to tion accompanying His Highness the participate in the meetings of the Amir and senior offi cials of the British His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and British Prime 74th session of the United Nations prime minister’s offi ce attended the Minister Boris Johnson holding talks at 10 Downing Street in London yesterday. General Assembly. meeting. The Amir is accompanied by an The Amir later left London for New Earlier on Thursday, His Highness cussed strategic ties between the two off icial delegation. (QNA) York, following a working visit to the the Amir met French President Em- countries and the latest developments United Kingdom. manuel Macron in Paris. They dis- in the region and the world. QQIAIA rreaffieaffi rmsrms long-termlong-term ccommitmentommitment toto UUKK

atar Investment Author- institutions,” said Mansoor tinues to believe that the UK Welcoming Qatar’s display of ity (QIA), the country’s al-Mahmoud, QIA chief execu- would fundamentally remain an long-term confidence in the UK Qsovereign wealth fund, tive. attractive destination for long- amidst its exit from the Euro- has reaffirmed its long-term Against the backdrop of un- term investment, irrespective of pean Union, UK ambassador to commitment to the UK, through certainty created by Brexit, QIA the ultimate outcome of Brexit, Qatar Ajay Sharma said: “Over a strategy of continuous, gradual has continued to invest in the according to him. many years, the UK and Qatar investment and increased di- UK, announcing in 2017 an in- “We will continue to examine have successfully forged strong versification, irrespective of the tention to invest an additional and seek exciting opportunities diplomatic and economic rela- outcome of Brexit. £5bn of investment across all to grow our UK portfolio and tions, and we look forward to “QIA has built a world-class regions of the UK, in sectors in- we look forward to strengthen- further strengthening these ties portfolio of assets within the cluding infrastructure, technol- ing our existing UK partnerships following QIA’s renewed com- UK and successfully estab- ogy and energy, he said. and developing new opportuni- mitment to invest billions of ad- lished partnerships with sev- With almost 90% of these ties for the long-term benefit of ditional pounds in the UK over eral leading British financial funds now committed, QIA con- both nations,” he said. the years to come.” Retired UK military offi cial lauds Qatar Armed Forces

By Joey Aguilar helping each other,” Denaro said, two countries both work closely in Staff Reporter adding the UK has been support- the fi ght against terrorism. ing Qatar’s armed forces in many “Over the years, the UK has aspects for many years. supported Qatar and Qatar has etired British military of- “We need to be constantly vigi- remained close to the UK,” he fi cial, Major General Arthur lant and I believe that is what QAF stressed. RDenaro, CBE DL, has lauded is, under His Highness the Amir’s Denaro said Qatar and the UK the Qatar Armed Forces (QAF), un- leadership and HE Dr Khalid bin will continue to collaborate in the der the leadership and the vision Mohamed al-Attiyah’s drive,” he fi eld of defence and security, as well of His Highness the Amir Sheikh added. as in the fi ght against terrorism, as Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, saying “I’d like to think that in this un- he underlined the importance of that it is working hard to be the best certain world, we are in safe hands, His Highness the Amir’s visit to the of their kind. collaborating is the key to our joint UK and his meeting with UK Prime Denaro was the Commandant safety, and they will discuss this Minister Boris Johnson. Royal Military Academy Sandhurst at the highest level in Number 10 He said the reputation of the and also the Middle East Adviser to Downing Street,” Denaro said. region where he served for several the United Kingdom’s (UK) Min- Major General Arthur Denaro, CBE “This visit is so important, cer- years has been diminished by this istry of Defence for six years, until DL. tainly to the UK. I’d like to think blockade. 2002. His Highness the Amir considers “Over the years I have visited the Speaking to Gulf Times in con- Qatar Ajay Sharma’s earlier state- this important also because Qa- region frequently and both as Mid- nection with the visit of His High- ment, he said the relationship be- tar needs friends in these diffi cult dle East adviser to our Secretary of ness the Amir to the UK yesterday, tween the two countries, especially times, as does Great Britain. I’d like State, which I did for six years, and Denaro underscored the deep- their armed forces, “is growing to think His Highness regards the since I retired,” Denaro said. rooted ties between Qatar and the into very long-term lasting friend- UK as an ally supportive to Qatar,” “We were all striving to get the UK in a number of areas, particu- ships.” he said. GCC to work closely together mili- larly in the fi eld of defence and se- “That is why long-term rela- Denaro noted that close co-op- tarily and to see those eff orts all curity. tionships are so important, built on eration and support between Qatar blown apart has been very dismay- Citing the British ambassador to real commitments by both sides to and the UK are taking place as the ing,” he stressed. Gulf Times 2 Saturday, September 21, 2019 QATAR Qatar addressing climate change atar attaches great im- using compressed natural gas it to the environment. and thereby reduce greenhouse tainability, with many benefi ts portance to address- (CNG) as a fuel in the transport Qatar’s launch of solar pow- gas emissions. in adapting to the expected im- Qing the phenomenon sector. er station is also an important The Jetty Boil-Off Gas (JBOG) pacts of climate change, reduc- of climate change, and has im- It aims to develop CNG as an step towards diversifying the Recovery Facility, which was ing emissions and improving air plemented several projects and alternative fuel in Qatar’s public country’s electricity production commissioned in 2014, is also quality. initiatives to contribute to ef- transport applications. sources and increasing reliance one of the largest environmental In the fi eld of environmen- forts aimed at curbing air pol- This project provides in- on renewable energy sources. projects of its kind in Qatar. tal monitoring and laboratory, a lutants and reducing carbon di- creased fuel security and de- The launch of the electric bus The recovery facility collects draft report on the state of the oxide emissions and increasing velops the local gas distribution project also promoted sustain- the boil-off gas and transports environment in Qatar has been reliance on renewable energy network in the country. In ad- able transport in the country and it to a central compressor prior fi nalised. sources. dition, the use of CNG allows helped achieve integration with to returning it to the LNG plants It is an important interna- Qatar, represented by the the reduction of greenhouse gas the Doha Metro project, as part where it is used as fuel gas, or tional environmental report and Ministry of Municipality and emissions. of eff orts to reduce air pollutants converted back into LNG. assesses various environmental Environment, has a major role in Hamad International Airport emitted from transport. The facility reduces CO2 aspects including air quality, co-operation with international is the fi rst airport in the region to Infrastructure at Hamad Port, emissions by about 2.5mn marine environment, etc. organisations and bodies con- reach the Level 3 ‘Optimisation’ one of the largest ports in the tonnes a year, and supports The methodology of the re- cerned with the environment status in the Airports Council In- Middle East, has been planned Qatar’s commitment to re- port was based on the frame- The Umm Al Houl power plant uses the best environmentally friendly and climate change. ternational (ACI) Airport Carbon to cope with the eff ects of cli- duce climate changing carbon work of the UN Environment technologies in the field of desalination, as well as clean natural gas Qatar is among the fi rst Accreditation programme. mate change, such as projected emissions. Programme (UNEP). In this re- fuel to reduce emissions. countries to accede to the UN HIA earned the Level 3 ac- sea level rise (according to Inter- Among Qatar’s eff orts in the gard, a national continuous air Framework Convention on Cli- creditation in recognition of governmental Panel on Climate fi eld of climate change, the in- quality monitoring network for and international co-operation tainable development strategies. mate Change in 1996, the Kyoto their exemplary work in manag- Change (IPCC) estimates) and auguration of Umm Al Houl Qatar was established, where 18 to benefi t from experts in the Qatar’s attention to the issue of Protocol in 2005, and the Paris ing, reducing and engaging other climatic conditions. Power Plant, the largest power stations were connected to the preparation of a number of work- climate change is in line with its Agreement in 2016, which it stakeholders on the airport site, Al Shaheen Oil Field Gas Re- plant in the Middle East, which network across the country, in shops and capacity-building at National Vision 2030, which its ratifi ed in 2017. in minimising CO2 emissions covery and Utilisation Project has high production effi ciency addition to the development and the local and Gulf level through environmental pillar highlighted In 2012, Qatar hosted the 18th as part of the airport industry’s has been a Clean Development and uses the best environmen- modernisation of four air qual- co-operation with UNEP. the issue of climate change and Conference of the Parties to Cli- response to the challenge of Mechanism (CDM) project since tally friendly technologies in the ity monitoring stations with the Qatar is also a member of the the need to play a leading re- mate Change, COP18, which is Climate Change.” 2007, under the UN Frame- fi eld of desalination, as well as latest international equipment, International Renewable Energy gional role in assessing and miti- considered one of the milestones In another eff ort, the project work Convention on Climate clean natural gas fuel to reduce in addition to the development Agency (IRENA), which supports gating its negative impacts, sup- of the global climate change ne- of injecting carbon dioxide Change, where mechanisms emissions. of monitoring the state of the countries in their eff orts to move porting international eff orts in gotiations that contributed to underground aims to improve have been established to reduce The Ministry of Municipality marine environment and soil towards a sustainable energy this fi eld, and contributing to the the Paris Agreement. oil recovery to capture carbon greenhouse gas emissions at the and Environment has launched monitoring. future. fi rst and second National Devel- One of Qatar’s most promi- dioxide emissions and pump international level. the project of planting 1mn Qatar attaches great impor- Qatar is also a founding mem- opment Strategies of Qatar Na- nent eff orts in the fi eld of cli- them into tanks to enhance oil The project aims to reduce the trees, a social initiative aimed at tance to co-operation with ex- ber of the Global Green Growth tional Vision 2030 by including mate change is the project of recovery, rather than releasing combustion of associated gas enhancing environmental sus- ternal parties, including bilateral Institute (GGGI), which helps climate change and sustainable developing countries pursue sus- development. (QNA) Pages 5, 9 Qatar will host successful French minister meets attorney-general World Cup: SIGA chief

By Peter Alagos experiences, he continued, is mutual trust. Many visits of the Business Reporter vital in the strengthening of ties Italian members of the govern- between both countries. ment took place exactly after Frattini also stressed that the economic blockade, which atar is “on track” for its “Italians are very happy” to be is one of the most diffi cult mo- preparations to host the part of the mega-infrastructure ments of the country’s history, Q2022 FIFA World Cup, projects “across all platforms which, to my view, has made according to Sport Integrity and sectors of the Qatari soci- Qatar even stronger. Despite Global Alliance (SIGA) chair- ety,” including the building of the situation, many of the Ital- man Franco Frattini. stadiums for the World Cup. ian ministers of the government “I am sure Qatar will witness a “Co-operation in respect to at the time came here to pay of- very successful World Cup,” said sport organisation is the right fi cial visits and to see the devel- the former Italian foreign min- Franco Frattini, chairman, approach, so my evaluation is opments,” Frattini pointed out. ister, who was in Doha recently Sport Integrity Global Alliance very positive … take for exam- He added: “After the block- for the Doha 2019 Inter-regional (SIGA). PICTURE: Jayaram ple the construction of Al Bayt ade, there was a strengthening Sports Integrity Summit. Stadium in Al Khor, which has of national unity within Qa- According to Frattini, Qatar try where all those preparations a unique and complex design tar. The families, institutions, takes its 2022 FIFA World Cup for world sports events are taken from the point of view of archi- civil society, and all others felt preparations “very seriously,” very seriously. I had the same tecture,” he emphasised. more united and this brought citing the massive infrastruc- impression when I look at all the Aside from construction and strength to the country. ture development projects be- facilities that are being prepared industry, Frattini said Qatar “I think one can say that the ing implemented and complet- for other sporting events,” Frat- and Italy share “a long lasting country has become stronger. ed across the country. tini told Gulf Times. co-operation in many fi elds,” And I think the right approach “Over recent years, Qatar has He also underscored the whether in geopolitics, secu- is that as soon as possible there French Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet met with HE Attorney-General Dr Ali bin Fetais al-Marri witnessed an amazing develop- longstanding co-operation be- rity, high technology, and mili- must be a resumption of dialogue in Paris yesterday. The two sides discussed relations of judicial and legal co-operation in the field of ment; and every time I come to tween Qatar and Italy, especial- tary equipment, among others. in the region. But this country judicial training and exchange of experiences in the management of major sporting events, the fight Doha, I fi nd something new and ly in the fi elds of construction “We have a longstanding tra- has found its way to succeed de- against cybercrime, and other topics related to the training of judges. something better, so it is a coun- and technology. The sharing of dition of co-operation, based on spite what had happened.” Compass International School to host Further drop in Open Day at new campus in Themaid fi sh prices ompass International ties”, the statement notes. Par- Campus, said: “We are delight- suring that Compass Interna- School – Doha will host ents will have the opportunity ed to welcome families to the tional School students have the likely COpen Day activities from to meet the teachers, the head Open Day at our newest cam- broadest educational choice”, 9am until 12 noon today at its of campus and the executive pus. They will love the activities the statement adds. he daily bulletin of fi sh new campus in the Al Themaid principal, Paul Holyome, and that we have organised and I The principal language of prices issued by the Min- area of Doha. learn more about the curricula think they will be pretty amazed instruction at all campuses of Tistry of Commerce and The event, which is open to off ered at the school. to see the facilities at our new Compass International School Industry (MoCI) is set to refl ect the public, is being held mark There will be light refresh- campus. Moreover, parents will is English. This is comple- positively on reducing the prices the new academic year and ments served in the cafeteria be able to experience Compass’ mented by Qatar’s only accred- at the local market, a local Arabic celebrate the recently opened, and a photo booth will be avail- transformational approach to ited Dutch culture and language daily reported yesterday. state-of-the-art campus in Al able to capture a souvenir of learning fi rst hand.” programme, off ered at the Most of the customers pointed Themaid, the school has said in the day. Compass International Gharafa campus and the French out that the prices of fi sh have a statement. Admissions staff will be on School off ers the International bilingual programme, off ered at lately dropped. A source at the It invites families to enjoy a hand to take visitors on a tour Primary Curriculum, the Eng- the Rayyan campus. MoCI told the newspaper that variety of activities and learn of the state-of-the-art facili- lish National Curriculum, the The full Ministry of Educa- the daily prices bulletin will more about the programmes of- ties at the new campus, which International General Certifi - tion and Higher Education’s Ar- continue to be issued on a regu- fered across the four Compass opened its doors to students on cate of Secondary Education, abic curriculum is available for lar basis and the hike that was International School campuses September 15. The new campus the International Baccalaureate native Arabic speakers across all From STEAM activities to sport, and from Lego to origami and observed in fi sh prices last week in Doha. includes “outstanding facilities, Diploma Programme and the campuses and for international mask-making – attendees of all ages will enjoy a wide variety of was only due to the laws of sup- From STEAM (science, tech- including science laboratories, Early Years Foundation Stage. students as a foreign language activities at the event. ply and demand, as the quantity nology, engineering, arts and an auditorium, a 25m swimming In the coming years, the ad- at the Themaid campus. of fi sh available in the local mar- maths) activities to sport, and pool, music practice rooms, vanced A-levels programme, as Admissions are currently open School – Doha is part of Nord ternational School Doha’s Ad- ket was not adequate. from Lego to origami and mask- specialist design areas, per- well as a Business and Technol- for the 2019/2020 academic Anglia Education, which oper- missions Team at admissions. The source said that prices late- making – attendees of all ages forming arts, athletics spaces ogy Education Council voca- year for Early Years through ates 65 schools in 28 countries [email protected] for a potential ly dropped due to the improving will enjoy a wide variety of “en- and more”. tional credential, will be off ered Secondary. around the world. place in the 2019/20 academic supply and expected that further gaging and stimulating activi- Ann Djedid, head, Themaid at the Themaid campus, “en- Compass International One can contact Compass In- year or visit www.cisdoha.com. drop in prices will be seen by mid next month. In addition, the ban on fi shing kingfi sh is set to expire by October 15, which will in turn refl ect positively on retail prices. Buyers are also hopeful that Qatar Cultural and Heritage Events Centre off ers training programme prices would drop as the weather improves, leading to an increase in atar Cultural and Heritage centre said in a statement. ning and organisation of events regard to their role and functions. tees and support teams in the dia campaigns; Omar Ghanem, the catch. For instance, the price of Events Centre has said it “The programme’s idea is to and how to avoid them,” the Also, the principles of ‘pro- management of events, and on expert of international protocol a kilo of Hamour fi sh was recently Qis holding a training pro- enrich and develop the knowl- statement explains. tocol’ and ‘etiquette’ will be how to market events and via and etiquette; and Ashraf Ma- around QR58 compared to around gramme for the management and edge, skills and experience of The training programme will taught during the programme professional media campaigns, tar, media specialist. QR100 a week ago and Sheri QR18 organisation of mass events, from the participants in the fi eld of enable the participants, through as well the technique of events’ the centre notes the statement. Qatar Cultural and Herit- compared to around QR33. tomorrow until September 25 at planning and organising events, scientifi c methods, to organise evaluation. The four-day programme age Events Centre said it “is Consumers also stressed that the Qatar National Convention conferences and exhibitions. events and develop their personal The programme focuses on will be supervised by a group of expected to provide several the entities concerned should Centre (QNCC). Also, it is meant to educate the skills necessary to deal with the the most important procedures trainers in the fi eld of organis- similar training programmes off er local fi shermen more sup- The training programme participants on the modern media and the public. In addi- and equipment necessary for ing mass events, namely Dr Ab- in the coming period, target- port, such as subsidised fuel and targets ministries and insti- methods of managing diff erent tion, it will allow the participants organising events, planning to dullah Jawdat Rizqallah, media ing ministries and institutions easing the procedures to have tutions concerned with the teams and discovering the most to possess the personal and pro- implement the organisation of expert and strategic adviser; of the State concerned with the access to more government serv- organisation of events, con- important obstacles and com- fessional skills that are needed exhibitions and conferences, Ali al-Ajmi, media consultant organisation of events, confer- ices, in order to enhance their ferences and exhibitions, the mon mistakes during the plan- for a good media speaker, with planning to organise commit- specialised in professional me- ences and exhibitions”. production. Gulf Times Saturday, September 21, 2019 3 REGION/ARAB WORLD Houthi rebels Troops injure Palestinian announce plan in northeast Ramallah QNA Ramallah

t least one farmer Pales- tinian was injured yes- to halt Saudi Aterday as Israeli settlers attacked several of them work- ing in a farm near the village of Beitin, northeast of Ramallah in the West Bank. Palestinian news agency (WAFA) reported that 25 Jewish missile strikes settlers protected by an Israeli army force broke into the farm, Reuters/DPA Mashat said that the Houthis dermine a UN-brokered cease- physically assaulted some of the Cairo/Riyadh “would not hesitate to launch a fi re agreement reached in Swe- farmers and injured one of them period of great pain” if their call den last December. in the head. for peace was ignored. “The alliance has to bear con- The settlers also attacked emen’s Houthis will stop In the speech, Mashat boast- sequences of this escalation,” vehicles belonging to local Pal- aiming missile and drone ed of the group’s rapidly im- Abdel-Salam added in a press estinian citizens and smashed Yattacks at Saudi Arabia if proved military capabilities and statement. their windshields, the report Palestinian protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli forces during clashes following a a coalition targeting Yemen does said “signifi cant advancement” Tensions have run high since added. demonstration along the border east of Bureij in the central Gaza Strip, yesterday. the same, a Houthi offi cial said would be seen in the coming pe- the weekend after the attacks on yesterday, nearly a week after riod, particularly in air and mis- Saudi oil facilities. the Houthis claimed a strike on sile defence. In Beirut, the chief of Leba- Saudi oil facilities. The Houthis said this week non’s pro-Iranian Hezbollah The Houthis have insisted they had picked out dozens of movement, Hassan Nasrallah, they are responsible for a dev- sites in the United Arab Emir- advised Saudi Arabia to stop its Iran’s central bank says sanctions Kuwait govt astating Sept 14 assault on Saudi ates, Riyadh’s top ally, as possi- years-long military campaign in Arabia’s oil facilities that initial- ble targets for future attacks. Yemen. ly halved the kingdom’s produc- ALLIANCE HITS “It proves to us that oil is more show US has no ‘leverage’ raises tion, but the United States and REBEL TARGETS expensive than blood,” Nasrallah Saudi Arabia have blamed Iran. Earlier, a Saudi-led military said, referring to the attack on Tehran, which support the alliance fi ghting Houthi rebels in the Saudi oil sites. AFP/Reuters ures the toughest ever im- according to the US Treasury. security Houthis, has denied any in- Yemen said that it had mounted He added that no one was Tehran/Dubai posed on another country by INSPECTION volvement in the attacks. air strikes against the rebels, killed in the attack, while thou- Washington. Meanwhile, Iranian Oil Speaking on the group’s Al days after the Houthis had sands have been killed in Yem- Hemmati contended that if Minister Bijan Zanganeh dis- level at ports Masirah TV, head of the Houthi claimed to be behind attacks on en’s war. ran’s central bank gov- US sanctions were eff ective, cussed cybersecurity and political offi ce Mahdi al-Mashat major Saudi oil facilities. “Stop betting on the Ameri- ernor said yesterday that Iran’s “economic condition production bottlenecks dur- called for a halt to strikes on both A spokesman for the coalition, cans and their failed admin- Inew US sanctions against would have been very diff er- ing a visit to a major refi nery QNA sides and for serious talks among Turki al-Maliki, said the alliance istration,” Nasrallah said, ad- the lender are a symptom ent from what it is now.” and petrochemical plants on Kuwait all players involved. had carried out an operation dressing Saudi Arabia. of Washington’s inability to The Trump administration Iran’s Gulf coast, the offi cial “I call on all parties from dif- against “hostile” Houthi targets “It will be less costly for the exert “leverage”, state news had vowed a response after news agency IRNA reported. ferent sides of the war to engage north of the coastal province of Saudis and the Emirates to agency IRNA reported. US offi cials blamed Iran for “Investigating the refi n- uwait’s Minister of Com- seriously in genuine negotia- Hodeidah in western Yemen, ac- protect their installations by “The US administration attacks that took place last ery’s civil defence situation merce and Industry and tions that can lead to a compre- cording to the Saudi news agen- stopping the war on the Yemeni sanctioning the central bank weekend on Saudi Arabia’s oil and related topics is among KState Minister for Serv- hensive national reconciliation cy SPA. people,” he added at a ceremo- again shows how empty their infrastructure — an accusa- the goals...of the oil minister’s ices, Khaled al-Roudhan issued that does not exclude anyone,” Al-Maliki accused the rebels ny in southern Beirut. hands are in fi nding leverage tion denied by Tehran. one-day trip to Bandar Ab- a decision to raise port security said Mashat. of using Hodeidah for launching In recent months, the against Iran,” IRNA quoted Yemen’s Houthi rebels bas,” IRNA reported. level of facilities from one to two. The Saudi-led military coa- ballistic missiles, drones and re- Houthis have launched a string central bank governor Abdol- have claimed responsibility Iran’s civil defence body is In a statement yesterday, Ku- lition did not immediately re- mote-controlled explosive boats of drone and missile attacks naser Hemmati as saying. for those attacks, which hit in charge of issues including wait Ports Authority (KPA) said spond to request for comment and deploying naval mines. into Saudi territory, which the Washington has imposed a the Khurais oilfi eld and the cybersecurity. the ministerial decree orders on the Houthi announcement. He added that the alliance rebels say are to defend them- series of sanctions against Te- world’s largest oil processing IRNA said Zanganeh in- raising the security level of all The coalition led by Saudi had a “legitimate right to take selves against the coalition’s hran since unilaterally pulling facility at Abqaiq. spected several petrochemical port facilities in the country, Arabia and the United Arab and implement the appropriate strikes. out of a multilateral nuclear The United States already plants and the 350,000-bar- both commercial or oil, Kuwait’s Emirates intervened in Yemen deterrence measures with these The power struggle between deal in May last year. maintains sweeping sanctions rels per day Gulf Star refi n- KUNA reported. in March 2015 after the Houthis legal military targets.” the Saudi-backed government US President Donald on Iran including on its cen- ery, which helped Iran declare The decision stresses neces- ousted the internationally rec- Rebel spokesman Mohamed and the Houthis has left Yem- Trump announced new sanc- tral bank, but yesterday’s des- self-suffi ciency in gasoline sary measures to protect ships ognised government in Sanaa in Abdel-Salam called the strikes a en, with a famine and massive tions on Iran’s central bank ignation is over the lender’s after the inauguration of its and port facilities, the statement late 2014. “dangerous escalation” that un- damage to infrastructure. yesterday, calling the meas- work in funding “terrorism,” third phase in February. added. The decision comes as a measure to preserve the security of the country and its territory as well as ports, due to the current conditions in the region. On Wednesday, the Chief of Bus blast Thousands stage protest in Ennahdha party backs the General Staff of the Kuwaiti Army raised the state of combat readiness of some army units kills 12 near Algiers despite tight security vote frontrunner within the precautionary meas- ures to be taken, in such circum- stances in the region. Kerbala AFP AFP parliament, followed with Algiers Tunis 12.9% with its fi rst-ever can- didate for the presidency, Ab- REFUGEES Reuters delfattah Mourou. Returned migrant Hilla, Iraq housands of protest- unisia’s infl uential Is- International Crisis Group ers took to the streets lamist-inspired party analyst Michael Ayari said En- shot dead in front Tof the Algerian capi- TEnnahdha said yester- nahdha’s established role on of UN staff in Libya bus bombing killed at least tal yesterday in defi ance of a day it will support law profes- Tunisia’s political scene could 12 people and wounded heavy security presence to de- sor and political outsider Kais have pros and cons for Saied. A Sudanese migrant was shot to Aseveral others yesterday mand the ouster of the coun- Saied in a presidential runoff “Many pro-Ennahdha death in Libya after the coast guard near Iraq’s holy city of Kerbala, try’s army chief. against jailed media magnate young people voted for Kais stopped the boat he was on from south of Baghdad, a statement Demonstrators gathered Nabil Karoui. Saied in the fi rst round,” Ayari attempting to cross the Mediter- from Iraqi security services said. near the capital’s main post The latest twist in the elec- said. But, he added, Ennah- ranean and brought him back Two police spokesmen in the offi ce square — the epicentre Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest to reject the Algerian toral race came a day after the dha’s endorsement might not to shore, UN agencies reported area said an explosive device of Algeria’s protest movement election announcement for December, in Algiers, yesterday. North African country’s long- go down well among other yesterday. The incident occurred on planted on the bus detonated at that forced longtime presi- time dictator Zine El Abidine supporters of Saied. Thursday in Tripoli, when many of a northern entrance to the city, dent Abdelaziz Boutefl ika main avenues. The army chief despite mass protests de- Ben Ali, who was ousted in The fi rst round result was a the 103 migrants who had been on setting fi re to the vehicle.They to step down in April — this on Wednesday ordered police manding political reforms 2011, died in exile in Saudi Ara- major upset for Tunisia’s po- board resisted being sent back to said the wounded were rushed to time calling for the removal of to block protesters from out- and the removal of the former bia. “Ennahdha has chosen to litical establishment, in place Libyan detention centres. hospital. There was no immedi- General Ahmed Gaid Salah. side Algiers entering the capi- president’s loyalists — includ- support the people’s choice,” since the fall of Ben Ali over International Organisation for ate claim of responsibility for the “The people want the fall of tal, in a bid to stem the fl ow of ing Gaid Salah himself — be- the party’s spokesman Imed eight years ago after mass pro- Migration (IOM) off icers witnessed blast. Gaid Salah,” they chanted, re- people attending anti-regime fore any vote. Khemiri said after last Sun- tests that sparked the Arab armed men beginning to shoot Such attacks in south of Iraq ferring to the de facto strong- rallies. In the runup to the rally, day’s fi rst round of polling, in Spring revolts. in the air. When several migrants have been rare in recent years, man in post-Boutefl ika Alge- The tougher line on demon- police made several arrests which Saied fi nished ahead According to a lawyer began running away, the Sudanese especially after the territo- ria. strations comes after interim near the square, AFP photog- with 18.4% of the vote. claiming to be close to Ben migrant was struck by a bullet in the rial defeat of IS in Iraq in 2017 “Take us all to prison, the president Abdelkader Ben- raphers said. The surprise result of the Ali’s family, the late president stomach, IOM spokesman Leonard and the routing of its Al Qaeda people will not stop.” salah on Sunday announced Police also stopped vehicles election, contested by more could be buried later in the Doyle said. “This was tragedy wait- predecessors in the mid-2000s. Yesterday’s demonstration a December 12 date for a on main streets in the capi- than 20 candidates, thrust to holy city of Makkah, in west- ing to happen,” Doyle said. Islamic State insurgents have marked Algeria’s 31st con- presidential election to fi ll the tal and an AFP journalist saw the fore both Saied and Karoui. ern Saudi Arabia. “The death is a stark reminder continued to carry out regular secutive week of rallies, but vacuum left by Boutefl ika’s offi cers in plainclothes ask Karoui came second with The funeral would be at- of the grim conditions faced by attacks mostly against security protesters faced a heavy de- departure. numerous people for identity 15.6%, according to the elec- tended by family members migrants picked up by the coast forces in the north of the coun- ployment of security forces Gaid Salah has led the push papers, before some were led toral commission ISIE. residing in Saudi Arabia and guard after paying smugglers to try, however. in the city centre and along its for polls by the end of 2019, off to nearby vans. Ennahdha, a key force in other countries. take them to Europe.” Twitter suspends former Saudi royal adviser’s account

Reuters cording to a company blogpost. Although the Saudi pub- activity back to the Saudi gov- Saudi government,” it said. offi ce did not immediately re- Facebook later said it had re- Brussels/San Francisco Qahtani, a close confi dante lic prosecutor has said Qahtani ernment. It also removed a network of spond to a request for comment. moved 65 Facebook accounts of Crown Prince Mohamed bin took part in a plan to repatriate Twitter declined to specify 267 accounts in the United Arab Twitter said it had also taken and 35 Instagram accounts used Salman, ran the royal court’s Khashoggi, offi cials have refused the precise reason or timing for Emirates and Egypt which were action against accounts operat- by “individuals associated with witter suspended the ac- media centre as well as an elec- to disclose whether he was ar- Qahtani’s suspension, saying engaged in a “multi-faceted in- ing exclusively from the UAE, as Partido Popular” after receiving count of former Saudi tronic army tasked with pro- rested and sources have said he only that he had violated the formation operation” targeting well countries including Spain a tip from Twitter. Troyal court adviser Saud tecting the kingdom’s image was not among those put on trial company’s “platform manipula- Qatar and Iran while amplify- and Ecuador. The party said in a state- al-Qahtani yesterday, nearly a and attacking its perceived en- for the murder. tion” policies. ing messages supportive of the The network of 4,258 accounts ment: “The PP has never set up year after he was sacked over emies online. The Saudi government com- Records of his tweets are not Saudi government. operating from the UAE, em- false accounts because it be- his suspected role in the murder He dictated Saudi Arabia’s of- munications office did not im- being added to its archive of The company said those ac- ployed fake names and tweeted lieves that social media effec- of Washington Post journalist fi cial line on issues including a mediately respond to Reuters state-backed information op- counts were managed by a pri- mostly about Qatar and Yemen, tiveness actually happens with Jamal Khashoggi. diplomatic dispute with Qatar request for comment yester- erations, the company said in its vate company called DotDev, the company said. real volunteers and their own The social network also and security and human rights. day. blogpost. which identifi es itself on its It did not name an entity be- accounts. separately removed accounts Qahtani has not tweeted since Twitter’s actions follow Fa- Twitter suspended six other website as a “custom software hind that operation. A diff erent issue is what social linked to Saudi Arabia’s “state- Oct 22, shortly after he was fi red, cebook’s removal last month accounts linked to the Saudi gov- solutions company based in In Spain, Twitter said it had network users do, under their run media apparatus” and oth- but sources told Reuters in Janu- of 350 fake accounts and pages ernment which were presenting Abu Dhabi.” DotDev also has an suspended 259 accounts used own responsibility, when inter- ers in the United Arab Emirates ary that he continued to wield promoting Saudi propaganda, themselves as independent jour- Egyptian affi liate based in Giza, by the Partido Popular political acting with our party’s accounts, and Egypt, all of them ampli- considerable infl uence behind which marked the fi rst time a nalistic outlets “while tweet- outside of Cairo. party to artifi cially boost en- just as they do with other parties fying pro-Saudi messages, ac- the scenes. tech company had linked such ing narratives favourable to the The UAE government media gagement. accounts.” Gulf Times 4 Saturday, September 21, 2019 AFRICA

At least 5 Activists seek action to protect environment soldiers dead in Burkina Faso ambush

AFP Ouagadougou

t least fi ve soldiers have been killed in an ambush Ain northwestern Burkina Faso near the border with Mali, security forces said yesterday. “A military patrol was at- tacked last night (Thursday) in an ambush by armed individuals near Toeni,” in Sourou province, a security source said. One other soldier was injured. The army fi red back and sent out a patrol to track down the at- tackers, another source said. A similar attack in the region left four soldiers dead a month ago. In a separate development, locals said a bridge had been blown up at Boukouma on the road linking the northern towns of Djibo and Dori. Environmental activists march carrying signs while taking part in the climate strike protest calling for action on climate change, in Nairobi, Kenya, yesterday. Thousands of residents have fl ed the region in the wake of re- peat militant attacks. The attacks — mostly in the north and east — have left more than 570 people dead since 2015, according to an AFP tally. 1,500 fl ee CRACKDOWN Missing Zimbabwe doctor Angola seizes homes in diamonds, expels half a million migrants SA amid Angolan authorities have ex- found but strike to go on violence pelled more than half a million undocumented migrants in the Reuters sent in a country tainted by pened to him. ZHDA said return to work. The govern- day.The doctors are seeking past year as part of an operation Harare a long history of repression he was undergoing medical ment has denied this. The a 400% salary hike that they AFP to target diamond smuggling, under his predecessor, the checks. He had called a col- doctors, who have been on want indexed to the US dol- Geneva the government said yesterday. late Robert Mugabe. league and said he was in the strike since Sept 3, marched lar. Mineral-rich Angola is a major Zimbabwean doctors’ Since Monday, doctors bush, it said. He then walked to parliament on Thursday ZHDA rejected the gov- producer of diamonds but the union leader who dis- have held demonstrations to some shops where po- to protest Magombeyi’s dis- ernment’s salary offers, t least 1,500 foreign na- government believes many are A appeared during a pay and night vigils at the main lice picked him but he could appearance and press the which would see the lowest tionals have been forced bought and sold illegally by strike has been found alive, Parirenyatwa Hospital in not remember much, only government to increase their paid worker earning 1,023 Ato fl ee their homes in foreigners. his union and police said yes- the capital over their leader that he had been abducted pay after a court ruled that Zimbabwe dollars ($72) a South Africa amid a surge in “The authorities have repatri- terday. Peter Magombeyi’s disap- by three unidentified men, police should not interfere month.Statistical agency deadly xenophobic violence in ated 527,725 illegal immigrants, The Zimbabwe Hospital pearance. Magombeyi was ZHDA said. Magombeyi with the march. Zimstat says an average the country, the United Nations closed down 96 illegal diamond Doctors Assocation (ZHDA) found in Nyabira, 40km west could not be reached by Reu- “At this time we must family of five required 1,617 said yesterday. co-operatives, four mining said however it would press of Harare on Thursday night, ters for comment. stick together in solidarity Zimbabwe dollars ($114.5) The UN refugee agency projects and 289 shops,” said a on with its strike action, police spokesman Paul Ny- The union repeated its ac- and press on in action. We a month not to be deemed voiced alarm at the violence, spokesman for the presidency, viewed as a test of President athi said, adding that law cusation that state security therefore continue to say no poor, but many Zimbabwe- which reportedly killed at least Pedro Sebastiao, during a press Emmerson Mnangagwa’s enforcement agents were agents were making death money, no work,” the group ans have seen their incomes 12 people — both foreign na- conference. willingness to tolerate dis- investigating what had hap- threats to force doctors to said in a statement yester- eroded by soaring inflation. tionals and South Africans — in and around Johannesburg ear- lier this month in a spate of at- tacks against foreigners fuelled by soaring unemployment and Balloon flight poverty. Traditional beliefs, rituals fuel “At least 1,500 foreign na- tionals, predominantly mi- grants but also refugees and asylum-seekers, have been tensions over Mugabe’s funeral forced to flee their homes,” UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley told reporters in Geneva. AFP would be buried at the Nation- surrounding the deaths and fu- He said the agency’s staff had Harare al Heroes Acre monument, in nerals of chiefs. in recent weeks received “a sig- about 30 days, once a mauso- “When a chief such as Mu- nificant increase in calls to our leum was built for him. gabe dies, he is not a person telephone hotlines, with people s public wakes for late But Mugabe was a non-prac- that can be buried at Heroes reporting that their homes and Zimbabwean leader Rob- tising chief in his homestead, Acre, that is forbidden. He businesses have been looted, Aert Mugabe have drawn and the burial feud has high- should be buried in a cave,” Bu- buildings and property have to a close, traditional chiefs are lighted the spiritual beliefs, rombo said. been set on fire.” demanding the body be buried superstitions and rituals sur- “Mugabe was not just a pres- They were also receiving re- according to spiritual traditions. rounding deaths of traditional ident, but he was the embodi- ports of “increased gang ac- Those requests have been part leaders in parts of Zimbabwe. ment of the spirit of Kaguvi,” he tivity on the streets and rising of a dispute over the fi nal burial Once Mugabe’s remains were added, referring to one of Zim- incidents of sexual and gender- of Mugabe, who died September returned to Zvimba on Monday, babwe’s revered spirit mediums based violence,” he said. 6 almost two years after a coup traditional leaders demanded and pre-colonial nationalist South Africa, the continent’s ended his increasingly autocratic the burial remain in line with lo- leader. When a chief died, often second largest economy, is a 37-year rule. cal rites. his body “would be dried”, his major destination for other Af- He died during a medical trip One of the Zvimba chiefs, teeth “extracted” and his finger rican migrants. to Singapore aged 95, leaving Raphael Zvikaramba, said they and toenails “ripped off”, Bu- But they are often targeted Zimbabweans torn over the leg- had “so far” accepted the gov- rombo said. by some locals who blame them acy of a man who some still laud ernment’s proposal, but refused He said the body would then for a lack of jobs. for his role as a colonial-era lib- to comment on the details. be wrapped in skin hides be- “Many refugees are now too eration hero. “(Zvimba) chiefs are buried in fore burial, and could even be afraid to go to work or carry out Mugabe’s burial has already caves and the burial is secretly swapped with a token such as their day-to-day trade, despite been caught up in a dispute be- conducted at night,” Mugabe’s a goat’s head to be buried in- having no alternative sources tween his family — who wanted nephew Dominic Matibiri said, stead. of income,” Yaxley said. to bury him at his rural home- standing outside his late uncle’s “You can build that monu- Over the past two weeks, stead Zvimba — and the govern- rural house. ment, but it doesn’t mean that some 500 Nigerians have been ment, which pushed for the body A prominent Zimbabwean is where the remains of Mugabe repatriated amid the attacks in to rest at a national monument traditional healer, Benjamin will be buried... it’s just for Johannesburg, including many in the capital. Burombo Jr, detailed the cul- people to continue remember- Hot-air balloons fly up with tourists at sunrise in the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya. directed at Nigerian-owned They fi nally agreed Mugabe tural beliefs and superstition ing him.” businesses and properties.

DR Congo Ebola survivors play crucial role helping victims of virus

AFP More than 2,100 people have That’s where survivors come vivors association for the re- with patients at an Ebola treat- a lot,” he told a local Kinshasa true. Those who come here can Beni died from Ebola in Democratic in. sponse to the outbreak. ment centre, as he has immu- radio station. be cured.We must transmit this Republic of Congo since the A 35-year-old doctor who Survivors of Ebola become nity. UN chief Antonio Guterres message to everybody. Don’t haemorrhagic fever resurfaced identifi ed himself as Maurice, immune to the disease, al- Another survivor, Claude visited Beni in the country’s hide your symptoms. Come,” s health agencies bat- in August 2018. contracted the virus while caring lowing them to interact with Mabowa, lost his mother, a Ebola-plagued east earlier this he said after meeting Ebola tle to stop the spread of Containment eff orts have for a patient in July 2018 before sufferers without protective brother and sister to Ebola, ac- month and urged people who survivors. Athe deadly Ebola virus in been hindered by the confl ict the outbreak was offi cially con- clothing. Ebola is contagious cording to NGO Alima. might be infected to visit their The ongoing Ebola outbreak eastern DR Congo, some survi- in the country’s east, as well as fi rmed. and causes patients to often die “There are people who ap- nearest health centre for a is the second-worst one in his- vors of the disease are playing a attacks on health workers tack- He then passed the disease to from dehydration and multiple proach me, and others are checkup. “It is worth coming. tory after more than 11,000 crucial role in aiding victims of ling Ebola in a population where his wife, Esperance. organ failure. moving away,” the 21-year-old There are people who might people were killed in Guinea, the worst outbreak in the coun- mistrust of outsiders and super- Both survived and Maurice is Viannay Kambale, 31, sur- said, about peoples’ reaction to think: ‘Well, I’m going to die, Sierra Leone and Liberia be- try’s history. stition is rife. now the head of the Ebola sur- vived the virus and now works him in public. “It bothered me why should I go? No, it’s not tween 2014 and 2016. Gulf Times Saturday, September 21, 2019 5 AMERICAS Trudeau pledges ban on military-style assault rifl es

Reuters why Trudeau made his gun ban Freeland, who represents a “Where’s your black face, “to go after criminal and illegal Toronto announcement there. parliamentary constituency in man?” shouted one woman at fi rearms” works better. “Thoughts and prayers aren’t Toronto, said in a statement late Trudeau. Trudeau’s campaign was up- going to cut it,” Trudeau told a yesterday she was “troubled and “Good morning,” he replied. ended when Time magazine on anadian Prime Minister news conference. “We know you disappointed” by images of the Liberals said that while the Wednesday published an im- Justin Trudeau, embroiled do not need a military grade as- prime minister in “blackface”, scandal is politically damaging, age of the prime minister, who Cin a “blackface” picture sault weapon, one designed to but that she accepted his apol- voters will ultimately be more is known to be a strong advocate scandal, pledged yesterday to kill the largest number of people ogy. interested in concrete measures for multiculturalism, with his ban military-style assault rifl es in the shortest amount of time, to Earlier in the day, Trudeau such as the new gun rules. face blackened at a 2001 “Ara- in the country’s most ethnical- take down a deer.” walked down the street in Toron- Those announced yesterday bian Nights” party when he was a ly-diverse city in a bid to get his This month, a 17-year-old was to’s Danforth district, where the include a buyback programme 29-year-old teacher at a Vancou- campaign back on issue. killed by gunfi re and fi ve other sitting Liberal member of parlia- for all legally-purchased assault ver private school. Trudeau is campaigning in To- people were wounded in a com- ment faces a tough fi ght. rifl es, and a Liberal government Other images have since ronto with less than fi ve weeks munity just outside of Toronto, Most of the people he met would also work with other levels emerged, and Trudeau said on to go before his Liberals fi ght an and two days later another per- seemed delighted to meet him, of government to give municipal- Thursday that he was “wary” of October 21 national election and son was killed in a shooting on a including a young woman who ities the ability to further restrict ruling out the existence of even two days after at least two bomb- Trudeau with supporters during campaigning in Winnipeg on major highway. embraced him four times and or ban handguns. more because he could not re- shell images of him in “black- Thursday. Four members of cabinet posed for a selfi e. Before the “blackface” im- member those that had already face” emerged, as well as a video turned up at the announcement Stay-at-home father Stu Sim- ages emerged two days ago, polls come to light. showing him with blacked-up who has clashed with Trudeau in age abroad, repeating that he was to show their support, including mons said the “blackface” photo showed Trudeau running head- Yesterday Trudeau said that a face and body wearing a curly the past, said in the Oval Offi ce very sorry for what he had done Finance Minister Bill Morneau was not important as long as to-head with his main rival, video that emerged on Thursday haired wig. yesterday: “I’m surprised and I when younger. and Foreign Minister Chrystia Trudeau did his job. Conservative Party leader An- showing him with his arms, face The scandal over the pictures was more surprised when I saw Liberals need to hang onto Freeland. “I dressed up as The Hulk drew Scheer. and even parts of his legs black- – which could propel the rival the number of times.” Toronto, Canada’s largest city, Around two dozen legislators when I was 18 and no one’s go- When asked about gun control ened came from a costume day Conservative Party into power – Trudeau, 47, sidestepped to have any chance of retaining and candidates were also present ing to get mad at me about that, before Trudeau’s announcement, when he worked as a whitewater is still dominating headlines both questions both about Trump’s power. and Trudeau shook hands or except perhaps the Martians,” he Scheer said he does not believe rafting guide on the Red River in at home and abroad. comments and whether the af- The city has faced a recent es- hugged every Liberal on the stage told Reuters. “blanket bans” are eff ective and Quebec, when he was in his early US President Donald Trump, fair had damaged Canada’s im- calation in gun violence, and that at the end of the event. Not everyone was welcoming. that boosting police resources 20s.

Two gunned down in Washington, DC 23 states sue US over Reuters regular feature of American Washington life, but a spate of recent mass shootings in Texas, Ohio and other states have renewed de- wo shootings in Wash- bate over the nation’s gun laws ington, DC left two and spurred calls for action. Tpeople dead and seven Many Republicans and the injured late on Thursday, re- powerful gun lobby, the Na- auto emissions rules ports by police and several me- tional Rifl e Association (NRA), dia outlets said, as authorities oppose further restrictions on Reuters by cutting regulation, a debate York City, sued the US Transpor- That does not take eff ect until ment launched an anti-trust hunted yesterday for a pair of gun ownership. Washington that already is playing out ahead tation Department in the US Dis- late November. probe of Ford Motor Company, suspects from one of the at- Republican Vice-President of the presidential election next trict Court, seeking a court order The Trump administration Volkswagen AG, BMW AG, and tacks likely armed with an as- Mike Pence has decried the year. blocking the federal move. is seeking to reverse decades of Honda Motor Company that sault rifl e. gun-control stance and ac- group of 23 states is suing “Trump’s latest move is bad The states suing include New precedent that has allowed Cali- struck a voluntary agreement In the fi rst attack, one man cused the Democrats as having to block the Trump ad- for our air. Bad for our health. York, Michigan, Colorado, Il- fornia a national role in deciding with California to vehicle reduce was killed and fi ve people a “radical agenda”. Aministration from undo- Bad for our economy,” said Cali- linois, New Jersey, New York, what Americans drive as it regu- emissions. wounded, two of them criti- Republican President Don- ing California’s authority to set fornia Governor Gavin Newsom. Washington State, and Massa- lated vehicle emissions. The Obama-era rules called cally, in a drive-by shooting. ald Trump, in an interview strict car pollution rules, one of California’s vehicle emissions chusetts. Becerra said the Transporta- for a fl eet-wide fuel effi ciency The victims had been stand- with Fox News that aired on the biggest US battles over cli- rules, more stringent than the The US Transportation De- tion Department’s determina- average of 46.7 miles per gallon ing in an apartment building Thursday, said he was looking mate change. Trump Environmental Protec- partment has declined to com- tion was unlawful, and that the (mpg) by 2025, with average an- courtyard in the Columbia for compromise steps that both On the day that young people tion Agency (EPA)’s rules, are ment. administration misread federal nual increases of about 5%, com- Heights neighbourhood when Democrats and Republicans around the world staged protests followed by a dozen other states It said on Thursday in its de- law and ignored the intent of pared with 37mpg by 2026 under they were shot, Metropoli- could support on gun control, demanding action on climate, the that account for more than 40% termination that federal law pre- Congress. the Trump administration’s pre- tan Police commander Stuart but has given no details on lawsuit in US District Court in of US vehicle sales. empts state and local regulation “The administration insists on ferred option to freeze require- Emerman said. what action he may push. Washington was the fi rst round Trump has said that looser of vehicle fuel economy, includ- attacking the authority of Cali- ments. Two suspects were seen in a House Democrats have in a legal battle that many expect tailpipe emissions rules would ing California’s greenhouse gas fornia and other states to tackle Transportation Secretary Nissan sedan and used an “AK passed several gun initiatives, will outlast Trump’s presidency. make vehicles cheaper. vehicle emissions rules that are air pollution and protect public Elaine Chao said on Thursday style rifl e”, police said in state- including expanded back- “Mr President, we’ll see you Environmentalists argue followed by about a dozen other health,” Becerra said. that the administration will fi - ment. ground checks, but the Repub- in court,” California Attorney- Trump’s rules will hasten climate states. The Trump administration has nalise revisions in the coming “Detectives are interview- lican-led Senate has not taken General Xavier Becerra said in a change, and that emissions rules The legal challenge does not been waging a multi-pronged weeks. ing witnesses and looking for up the legislation. statement. improve fuel economy, lowering address a parallel decision by the battle to counter the state’s ef- “No state has the authority to camera footage,” Emerman The controversy over the use The legal fi ght pits a state that consumer costs. US EPA to revoke a 2013 waiver forts to fi ght climate change by opt out of the nation’s rules and said. of assault rifl es has entered the has become the US environmen- The states, led by California California received under the reducing emissions of green- no state has the right to impose About half an hour after the 2020 presidential race, with tal champion against a president and joined by the District of Co- Clean Air Act to set emissions house gasses from vehicles. its policies on everybody else in fi rst incident, three people candidate and former US Rep- who wants to boost the economy lumbia, Los Angeles and New standards. In August, the Justice Depart- our whole country,” she said. were shot in the northeast- resentative Beto O’Rourke de- ern part of the city, leaving claring at a Democratic debate one dead, according to NBC’s that he would confi scate such Washington affi liate. rifl es. There was no initial indica- O’Rourke has made gun tion the two shootings were safety the centrepiece of his Teenaged activist hopes climate linked, NBC reported. campaign since late August, DC Police on Twitter con- when his hometown of El Paso, fi rmed the second shooting in Texas, was the site of a racially- strikes will be ‘social tipping point’ the 1400 block of Rhode Is- motivated mass shooting that land Avenue, just south of the killed 22 people inside a Wal- Brookland neighbourhood, but mart store. AFP/DPA “This is because thousands of Right: Thunberg is seen with gave no other details. On Thursday, gunmaker New York local organisers who have spent, others during the Global Climate ABC affi liate WJLA-TV Colt said it was suspending I don’t know, how many hours. Strike march in New York City. showed ambulances carrying its productions of the AR15 They worked very hard. I’m eter- victims from the scene of the and other rifl es for the civilian eenage environmental nally grateful for what they are Below: Students and activists fi rst shooting. market, the Associated Press activist Greta Thunberg doing. hold up a globe near the US Gun violence has been a reported. Thas said that she hopes “I hope this will be another so- Capitol during the global climate the massive worldwide climate cial tipping point that we show action march in Washington, DC. strikes yesterday would mark a how many people are engaged, Mayor de Blasio ends presidential bid turning point in persuading lead- how many people are putting ers to take decisive action on glo- pressure on leaders, especially New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that he was ending bal warming. before this UN climate action his floundering bid to be nominated as the Democratic candidate in The 16-year-old described the summit,” she added, referring next year’s US presidential election. numbers of people who took to to Monday’s carbon emissions “It’s clearly not my time, I am going to end my presidential the streets as “unbelievable” – meeting. campaign,” he said on the MSNBC television network. from Asia-Pacifi c to Europe and Thousands gathered in Man- De Blasio vowed to “continue my work as mayor of New York City, Africa, culminating in New York hattan’s Foley Square at midday and I’m going to keep speaking up for working people”. where 1mn students have been (1600 GMT) to rally the one mile “After several months of campaigning, I have reached a point where permitted to skip school. (1.6km) distance to Battery Park I feel I have contributed all I can to this primary,” he said in an e-mail Thousands of students also on the tip of the island. to supporters. took to the streets of other US New York authorities gave The announcement comes after de Blasio failed to qualify for the cities, which have taken a scat- their blessing to the 1mn chil- most recent-televised debate among candidates as he struggled to tershot approach to permitting dren in over 1,700 schools in the get more than 1% in opinion polls. school absences. metropolis to miss school for the “It’s incredible what we have event. achieved together, it’s a historic New York’s department of Facebook suspends apps over privacy day,” she said via a live stream education tweeted last Thurs- from New York to thousands of day that the city’s 1,800 schools Facebook said yesterday that it suspended “tens of thousands” of youth protesters in Stockholm. would “excuse absences” of their apps on its platform as a result of its review on privacy practices “We will put so much pressure 1.1mn students, with parental launched following the scandal involving Cambridge Analytica. on [politicians] that they just permission. The review was launched in 2018 after revelations that the political can’t fail,” she told protesters in Mayor Bill de Blasio said he consultancy hijacked personal data on millions of Facebook users Stockholm via live stream, amid supported the move, tweeting: and included attorneys, external investigators, data scientists, chants of “Greta, Greta” and ap- “New York City stands with our engineers, policy specialists and others, according to a Facebook plause. young people. They’re our con- statement. “We, people of all ages, have science.” The suspensions are “not necessarily an indication that these shown what we stand for, now it’s Children carried placards that apps were posing a threat to people”, said a statement from vice- up to them to show that they have read “There Is No Planet B” and determined than others”. after refusing to fl y because of Thunberg also batted back president of partnerships Ime Archibong. listened to us. Now they have to “Make The Earth Great Again”, “They need to take their re- the carbon emissions caused by criticism that she has received prove it,” she said. a twist on President Donald sponsibility and do this and that’s planes. for her uncompromising atti- “You see the pictures of all Trump’s rallying cry of “Make what we are going to try and push It took her 15 days to cross the tude, describing it as evidence Trump threat to release IS captives these people. You can’t believe America Great Again”. for. Now we have proven what we Atlantic. that “as a positive sign that we what you are seeing,” she said Thunberg is due to attend a can do, now they have to prove Thunberg addressed Congress are actually having an impact”. US President Donald Trump has threatened to release Islamic State during an interview with AFP, as summit on zero emissions at the what they can (do),” she added. this week and met with former She said she does not yet know (IS) prisoners at European borders if France, Germany and other thousands of protesters started UN headquarters in New York on Thunberg has become a sym- president Barack Obama. when she will return to Europe. countries don’t take back their captured nationals. marching. Monday, and said she hoped the bol for climate action since she She said meeting Trump, a cli- Yesterday, German Chancellor “I defeated the Caliphate,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Off ice “This is not just because of size of the protests would spur began sitting outside the Swed- mate change sceptic who is not Angela Merkel praised Thunberg during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. me,” said the Swede, who has world leaders into action. ish parliament in August 2018 taking part in Monday’s summit, for her activism. “And now we have thousands of prisoners of war, ISIS fighters,” spurred teenagers and students “It’s a great opportunity when calling for politicians to cut car- is not a priority for her. “If one thing impresses me, Trump said using one of the acronyms for the extremist group. around the world, mainly Eu- they are gathered here,” she told bon emissions and curb global “I don’t see why he would speaking as a scientist, then “We’re asking the countries from which they came, from Europe, rope, to strike from school every AFP at New York’s city hall, be- warming. want to meet a teenager, a cli- that is that Greta Thunberg says we’re asking them to take back these prisoners of war,” Trump said. Friday under the rallying cry fore joining the march, adding She sailed into New York on a mate activist ... when he does not ‘Unite behind the science’,” M e r - “So far, they’ve refused,” he said, singling out Germany and France. “Fridays for Future”. that some leaders “seem more zero-carbon yacht last month listen to science,” she said. kel said. Gulf Times 6 Saturday, September 21, 2019 ASIA

Facebook user jailed Volunteers on frontline of in Vietnam over posts

DPA Indonesia’s forest blazes Hanoi Reuters than 29,000 military, police Pulang Pisau and disaster agency personnel, Vietnam court has sen- along with 34 water-bombing tenced a Facebook user helicopters, to fi ght the fi res, its Ato fi ve years in prison for rom soon after sunrise, a disaster agency has said. spreading anti-state propaganda group of volunteers gath- Yudi Oktama, 21, said he had and attempting to overthrow Fers every day on Indone- spent about two months as a the government during the US- sia’s portion of Borneo island to volunteer, popularly referred North Korea summit earlier this throw themselves into the des- to by the abbreviation “satgas”, year, state media reported. perate fi ght against the worst for “satuan tugas”, or task force Nguyen Van Cong Em, 48, was forest fi res in years. in Indonesian, and received a sentenced by Ben Tre Provincial But the fi refi ghters in the stipend of 100,000 rupiah ($7) Court earlier this week in Me- once verdant district of Pulang a day. kong Delta, three hours south of Pisau often have only make- Saleh Hendra, 41, another Ho Chi Minh City. shift equipment, with little volunteer, said the hardest part He was given a fi ve-year sen- more than face masks to protect of the job was trying to tackle tence and another fi ve years against choking smoke from the stubborn fi res on peatland, under house arrest. blazes. which is especially fl ammable Cong Em was charged with us- “We can’t aff ord to provide and can repeatedly reignite. ing Facebook to slander the state fi reproof suits for the volun- “There is more sorrow than and instigate demonstrations teers, so they wear what they happiness (in this work),” he against the Vietnamese govern- own, but the important thing said, describing long days in the ment while Hanoi hosted the is to ensure their safety,” said fi eld. summit between US President Mulyadi, a military offi cer over- Asked if he was afraid, he Donald Trump and North Korean seeing the eff ort. responded, “What else can leader Kim Jong Un in February The volunteers, often clad in we do? The fear is there but 2019, the court said. sandals or trainers, line up in we’re concerned because of our He was accused of using seven military fashion alongside oth- families.” personal Facebook pages to post, ers from the army, police, the The role of volunteers in- share and comment on mate- disaster mitigation agency and cludes educating residents on rial that the state said included non-government bodies, such ways to avoid slash-and-burn fabricated content and distort- as Greenpeace, for a briefi ng on clearance of new land for plan- ed party policies and state law the day’s tasks. tations, a practice often blamed between October 27, 2017 and The fi res have sent a chok- for the fi res. February 26, 2019. ing smog across Borneo and The district in Indonesia’s The posts had defamed the Vi- Indonesia’s island of Sumatra, province of Central Kalimantan Firefighters battle a blaze at a peatland forest in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra yesterday. etnamese state and caused pub- as well as the neighbouring na- on Borneo is home to 126,000 lic panic, police run television An tions of Malaysia and Singa- people, and about a fi fth of its Some residents use buck- phones to illuminate their path. same time,” said Sumarni La- health of her six-year-old, who Ninh TV reported, quoting the pore, carried by shifting winds. 95 villages are vulnerable to ets of water to douse fl ames In the provincial capital of man, a volunteer at the city’s suff ers from asthma. court. This year’s hot spots are the forest fi res in the dry season. threatening their homes, often Palangkaraya, the air pollution Ranu Welum Foundation, who “I’m afraid for my son, he has Vietnam, a nation with a most numerous since devastat- It is often a struggle to fi nd marooned in scorched areas of index has hovered above 500 for works to preserve the culture of just been discharged from the population of 95mn, is a sin- ing blazes in 2015, as an El Nino water to pour on the fl ames, as gnarled and charred tree trunks. days, a level that environment the region’s Dayak people and hospital last year,” added As- gle-party Southeast Asian weather pattern exacerbates the more than half the area’s 9,000 As night falls, fi refi ghters don offi cials classify as dangerous. protect forests. trinova, 31, who was forced to communist state that regularly annual dry spell. wells were dry, said Mulyadi, headlamps, fl ashlights, or fall back “The air quality is similar Shopkeeper Risa Astrinova close her small shop for a week jails human rights activists and Indonesia has sent more who uses only one name. on just the torch on their hand- to inhaling 50 cigarettes at the said she worried about the because of the smoke. dissidents. Indonesia delays vote on Thai vets race to save criminal code overhaul rescued

Reuters tigers Jakarta ffi cials at a sanctuary in Thailand said yesterday ndonesian President Othey are racing to keep Joko Widodo yesterday dozens of tigers alive after more Iordered a delay in a par- than 80 died from disease fol- liamentary vote on revisions lowing their confi scation from a to the criminal code, which controversial temple. has been criticised by rights The Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua groups as an assault on basic temple – better known as the freedoms. “Tiger Temple” – had for years The vote had been due next attracted tourists with the week on changes ranging from promise of being able to pose for the criminalisation of con- photos next to the big cats. sensual sex outside marriage But repeated allegations of ex- and penalties for insulting the ploitation led offi cials to confi s- president’s dignity to a four- cate the animals, moving them to year jail term for abortions two nearby sanctuaries in 2016. Environmental activists play dead as they participate in a Global Climate Strike near the Ministry of Natu- in the absence of a medical This week experts said 86 of ral Resources and Environment off ice in Bangkok yesterday. emergency or rape. the 147 tigers have died, blaming Indonesia is the world’s most the deaths on canine distemper populous Muslim-majority Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo (left) with Minister of State virus typically found in dogs. country and has substantial Secretariat Pratikno as he announces a delay in passing a new law The surviving animals have Christian, Hindu and Buddhist at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta yesterday. been separated into groups de- Young climate strikers storm minorities, but has seen a re- pending on their symptoms, Kao cent trend towards greater re- ends this month, lawmakers speech and allowed cronies and Pratubchang sanctuary head ligious piety and conservative had scrambled to wrap up de- his family to control big chunks Banpot Maleehuan told activism. bates on several bills, including of the economy. reporters yesterday. into Thai environment ministry “I have ordered the law and new rules governing the anti- The Institute for Criminal “For the group with serious human rights minister to con- graft agency KPK, which activ- Justice Reform, a non-govern- symptoms, the vets will plan to vey this decision to parlia- ists fear will strip the watchdog ment organisation, welcomed operate on them to make sure Reuters ment compound, before lying We need change. We demand ment, to delay the confi rma- of its eff ectiveness. the delay and urged the gov- they live longer,” he said. Bangkok down on the ground to play dead. better,’ said activist Ralyn “Lilly” tion of the criminal code bill,” A new parliament of mem- ernment to set up an expert The ones with less severe “This is what will happen if Satidtanasarn, 11. Widodo told a televised news bers elected following April’s panel to ensure a new draft is symptoms will receive medicine. we don’t act on climate change “I’ll take my exams when you conference, adding that he had legislative vote begins its term “in line with the principles of The enclosures in a diff er- ore than 200 young now,” said one of the strike lead- take action,” another young decided it needed further re- next month. constitutional democracy” and ent part of sanctuary contained people in Thailand ers, Nanticha Ocharoenchai, 21. protester said. view after receiving input from Hundreds of students has wide public support. some of the surviving tigers, and Mstormed into the envi- “Today we are demanding An offi cial at the Ministry various groups. staged protests outside par- The planned revisions had Banpot told reporters they are ronment ministry and dropped that the Thai government de- of Natural Resource and Envi- Widodo had told his min- liament on Thursday against also spurred neighbour Aus- planning to build a large yard “so to the ground feigning death clare a climate emergency and ronment was supportive of the ister to gather more views the proposed changes to the tralia to update its travel ad- they can relax”. as they demanded govern- stop using fossil fuel.” student action. from groups opposing the criminal code. vice, warning citizens of risks Thailand gets some 38mn ment action on climate change Young children were seen car- “This is how the young people revision “to perfect” the Tempo newspaper yesterday they faced in Indonesia if the tourists a year, with many of along with thousands of strikers rying placards in one hand and express their concerns, which we current draft, before it is likened the planned revisions new rules take eff ect. them attracted by a large wildlife around the world. holding a parent’s hands in the deem as a good sign and not at deliberated on by the next to a return to the “New Order” Australians are among the tourism industry. The young strikers were other. all a nuisance,” Adisorn Nooch- parliament, he said. regime of former authoritarian leading visitors to the holiday Activists say abuse is rife in chanting “Save our Earth” as “We’re young, but we’re not dumrong, deputy permanent As parliament’s current term ruler Suharto, who curbed free island of Bali. the industry. (AFP) they marched into the govern- dumb. We know it’s happening. secretary of the ministry, said. Lanka presidential nominee would restore ties with China: aide

Reuters viser and his spokesman. commented on Sirisena’s allega- “I suppose the thinking was if dures. He allowed projects to President Xi Jinping, to discuss 26-year civil war in 2009. Colombo China and Sri Lanka’s already tions. China has repeatedly de- we upset China, the West would resume the following year after future ties. However, his candidature is strained relations took a further nied any wrongdoing in its mul- come to us with endless bags of demanding changes in some. Spokesman Keheliya Ram- yet to be confi rmed, with un- blow on Monday when President ti-billion dollar infrastructure gold... But the bags of gold never Rajapakse’s spokesman said bukwella said that at the meeting certainties lingering over a legal ri Lankan presidential Maithripala Sirisena alleged projects in Sri Lanka. materialised,” Kohona said. on Friday that the opposition Chen pledged China’s support battle related to misappropria- nominee Gotabaya Ra- corruption at a Chinese compa- “Now China is looking at us Ties between Colombo and politician, whose candidature for the Sri Lankan government’s tion of funds and his renuncia- Sjapakse would “restore ny contracted to build the Lotus diff erently. When Gotabaya Ra- Beijing soured when, upon his has yet to be confi rmed, and future endeavours. tion of US citizenship. Sri Lanka relations” with the country’s Tower, South Asia’s tallest tower. japakse becomes the president election in 2015, Sirisena sus- his brother, former president Rajapaksa is widely seen as the does not allow dual citizens to top lender China if he wins A Sri Lankan parliamentary pan- ... he will set the record right and pended all Chinese investment Mahinda Rajapakse, met this frontrunner in November’s elec- contest elections. the November 16 vote and met el said it would investigate. restore the relationship to where it projects, citing allegations of week with Chen Min’er, a lead- tion due to his popularity among Rajapakse has denied wrong- with a senior Chinese offi cial Neither the company nor the was,” Rajapakse’s adviser Palitha corruption, overpricing and er of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka’s Sinhala Buddhist doing and says he has already this week, according to an ad- Chinese embassy in Colombo has Kohona told reporters in Colombo. fl outing of government proce- China (CPC) and a close ally of majority for his role in ending a renounced his citizenship. Gulf Times Saturday, September 21, 2019 7 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA Trump touts ‘unbreakable’ bond at Aussie PM’s visit

AFP perpower rival. In June, Morri- Washington son warned of smaller economies suff ering collateral damage and of the global system coming “un- US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Australia’s Prime resident Donald Trump der real pressure.” Minister Scott Morrison during an off icial arrival ceremony on the treated Australia’s Prime However, at the White House South Lawn of the White House in Washington DC yesterday. PMinister Scott Morrison to he indicated broad agreement a lavish White House visit yester- with the US push against China, ers from crossing the Mexican secure” access to rare earth met- day celebrating their countries’ saying “we need to make sure border. Similarly, Morrison, a als will be on the agenda. “unbreakable bond.” Meeting on that we all compete on the same former immigration minister, But the relationship gets more the South Lawn under clear blue playing fi eld.” China can’t have has worked to make Australia less complicated over how to deal skies, Trump promised Morrison “special rules,” he said. attractive to would-be asylum with China. a state dinner later that will “be Trump’s relations with the seekers. Under Trump, the United quite something.” previous Australian premier, His Liberal-National coalition States has embarked on what An honour guard, military Malcolm Turnbull, got off to a also has much in common with some are comparing to a new band and 19 gun salute kicked bad start. Trump’s climate change skepti- Cold War with its rival economic off the visit, with the two leaders But Morrison will cement his cism, rejecting overwhelming superpower. and their wives watching from place in a growing conservative scientifi c warnings to encourage Huge trade tariff s and growing a podium, before walking up to club — also including the likes of lucrative fossil fuel industries. competition in the military-stra- the White House’s South Portico Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Australia is the world’s largest tegic sphere are sending ripples balcony. and British Prime Minister Boris coal exporter. through the entire Pacifi c region. “Australians and Americans Johnson— drawn into Trump’s Australia has joined Trump’s As China rises, there are even understand each other like few orbit. coalition to patrol the Strait of worries in some quarters that other peoples,” Morrison replied In addition to yesterday’s fes- Hormuz. One area that Trump Australia may not always be able to Trump, adding that he and the tivities, Morrison and Trump are especially appreciates is trade to rely on its US security um- Republican had also “established US President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his due to reunite tomorrow for a where the United States enjoys a brella. a very early understanding.” wife, Jennifer Morrison, stand for the National Anthems during an arrival ceremony for an Off icial Visit on visit at a new Australian-owned surplus. The trade confl icts pro- A hard-hitting report from the The rare event — only the sec- the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, yesterday. factory in Wapakoneta, Ohio, liferating under Trump have by- United States Studies Centre at ond state-level visit under Trump that the White House says will passed Australia. the University of Sydney in Au- and the fi rst for an Australian agree on curbing asylum seek- This is “one of our strongest identifi ed. A more complicated “demonstrate the strong trade The administration offi cial gust said the US military is an premier here since John Howard ers, playing down climate change and most enduring relationships issue is the growing challenge to and investment relationship.” said that co-operation between “atrophying force” that is “dan- in 2006 — will feature similar fears, pushing back against Iran, anywhere in the world,” a senior both countries from China and Trump has defi ed controversy Australia’s space agency and gerously overstretched” and “ill- mutual appreciation throughout and excluding China’s Huawei Trump administration offi cial the shocks from Trump’s trade over his push to prevent illegal Nasa on a return to the Moon and prepared” for a confrontation the day. Trump and Morrison from their 5G phone markets. said Thursday, asking not to be war with the US economic su- immigrants and asylum seek- joint eff orts to ensure “stable and with China. Forest fi re haze clears over Singapore ahead of F1 race

AFP sparking fears that tomorrow’s health offi cials to warn people MNRB ADT Championship, Singapore showpiece F1 night race may be in aff ected areas to keep out- was postponed for a second knocked off track. door activities to a minimum consecutive day yesterday due But yesterday the skies were and wear masks. to the haze, organisers said. It is ingapore’s skies cleared largely clear, with only a light The blazes are centred on In- expected to start today. yesterday and air quality haze over the city, while air donesia’s Sumatra island and Over 2,800 “hotspots” — ar- Simproved as smog from quality improved to a “moder- the Indonesian part of Borneo eas of intense heat detected by raging Indonesian forest fi res ate” level of around 65 on the island. Borneo is shared be- satellite indicating a likely fi re drifted away, easing fears that National Environment Agen- tween Indonesia, Malaysia and — were sighted yesterday in two this weekend’s Formula One cy’s scale. Brunei. Thousands of schools provinces of Indonesian Bor- race may be aff ected. A reading between 101 and have been forced to close in neo alone, although the number The blazes have been spew- 200 indicates unhealthy air Malaysia and Indonesia amid dropped in Riau, Indonesia’s ing toxic haze across South- quality. The wind direction mounting health concerns, disaster agency said. east Asia, forcing the closure could however still change while several airports have shut Indonesia insists it is do- of schools and airports, and ahead of the weekend and push due to poor visibility. ing all it can and has deployed prompting Jakarta to deploy smog back over Singapore. People have been dashing to about 29,000 personnel from a A high-school student raises her hand, as the gesture of ‘Five demands’, and chants slogans in a shopping thousands of personnel to tack- F1 organisers say they have buy face masks and there has range of government agencies mall after a human chain rally in Tsuen Wan district in Hong Kong yesterday. le them. a contingency plan if the haze been an increase in reports of nationwide in an eff ort to douse The Indonesian fi res are an worsens and have been stock- respiratory illnesses and con- the blazes, many of which burn annual problem during the dry ing up on face masks to protect ditions such as dry and itchy underground in carbon-rich season when farmers use illegal against pollution which specta- eyes. The worst-aff ected part peat. Almost 250 people have slash-and-burn techniques to tors can buy at the circuit. of Malaysia has been Sarawak been arrested on suspicion of clear land for agriculture, but Indonesia, and its neighbours state, on Borneo, where more activities that led to the blazes. Pro-China groups to tear this year’s are the worst since Malaysia and Singapore, have than 1,000 schools were shut- But experts say the fi res are 2015. been worst aff ected by smog tered yesterday and air quality unlikely to be extinguished un- Thick smog had been hang- but it is starting to spread over reached “hazardous” levels in til the onset of the rainy season ing over Singapore since last a wider area in Southeast Asia. one area bordering Indonesia. in October and have raised fears down pro-democracy weekend, pushing air qual- Haze was detected yesterday The second round of an Asian of a repeat of the 2015 crisis, the ity to unhealthy levels, obscur- in central and southern parts Development Tour golf tour- worst smog outbreak for about ing the waterfront skyline and of the Philippines, prompting nament in the state, the PGM two decades. graffi ti in Hong Kong Solomon Islands students to move to China after ties cut off with Taiwan

Reuters Republic on Oct 1, 1949. target the Happy Valley race- More than 100 Solomon Islands ties, media in both Taiwan and the “on the first available charter flight election in 2020 and the prospect Hong Kong Protesters have vowed not to course where a horse part-owned students will be transferred to Solomons said. if that is necessary”, but Taiwan of a reliable development partner avoid confrontation but to re- by Ho was due to run. China from self-ruled Taiwan early “The government of (China) made had agreed to let their studies in China. Taiwan’s opposition build the walls afterwards. The Ho, who once described the next year, after the South Pacific an undertaking to take over and continue until the current semes- Kuomintang (KMT) party favours pro-Beijing lawmaker has Lennon Walls are named after protesters as “black-shirted nation switched diplomatic ties to improve on all the programmes ter ends next January, he added. unification and the Solomons called for a Clean Hong the original John Lennon Wall in thugs”, on Thursday pulled the Beijing, the Solomons leader said ...beginning with the immedi- Sogavare gave no details of plans was “better served making a deci- AKong Day today, urging communist-controlled Prague horse, “Hong Kong Bet”, from all yesterday. But for the Solomon ate transfer of our students in for the students after the transfer. sion that reflects our long-term supporters to pull down “Len- in the 1980s that was covered races until the protests are over. Islands, the move has left in limbo Taiwan to China at the end of the In his first public statement since development interests rather than non Walls” of anti-government with Beatles lyrics and messages Ho said the horse should not be the future of 125 of its students current semester,” Prime Minister the diplomatic switch, Sogavare being uncertain over what might graffi ti across the Chinese-ruled of political grievance. Lennon’s “deprived of its right to race”. in Taiwan, which runs student Manasseh Sogavare said in a said the Solomons made the happen should one day Taiwan city, a possible fl ashpoint in more 1980 Double Fantasy album in- Anti-government protesters, exchange programmes only with statement. The Solomon Islands change after 36 years because democratically decide to reunite than three months of unrest. cludes a track called Cleanup many masked and wearing black, countries that have diplomatic would bring the students home of uncertainty about Taiwan’s with mainland China”, he said. The Lennon Walls are large Time. The walls have occasion- have caused havoc in recent mosaics of Post-it notes calling ally become fl ashpoints in re- weeks, throwing petrol bombs at for democracy and denouncing cent weeks. Three people were police, storming the Legislative perceived Chinese meddling in wounded in a knife attack by Council, trashing metro stations, the former British colony that an unidentifi ed assailant near a blocking roads to the airport and Spectacle in the sky have cropped up in underpasses, Lennon Wall in the Tseung Kwan lighting street fi res. under footbridges, outside shop- O district of the New Territories Police have responded with ping centres and elsewhere. in August. tear gas, water cannon and rub- Legislator Junius Ho, who has “We hope citizens will under- ber bullets. A total of 1,474 peo- taken a tough stand against the stand areas around Lennon Wall ple have been arrested, aged be- protests, has called for cleanups are relatively high-risk,” police tween 12 and 84, police said on of 77 Lennon Walls from 9am to offi cial Fang Chi-kin told report- Friday. 4pm today, by 100 people at each ers. “There have been fi ghts and So far 207 have been charged, site. scuffl es between people from including 79 for rioting. “We will do this to celebrate diff erent backgrounds near these Yesterday, rights group Am- the 70th anniversary of our areas.” nesty International accused po- motherland,” he said on his Fa- Hong Kong’s Jockey Club can- lice of torture and other abuses in cebook page, referring to the celled all races last Wednesday their handling of detained pro- founding of the Chinese People’s after protesters said they would testers.

Tiny NZ insect named after Lord of the Rings character

New Zealand scientists have said in a statement yesterday. types of psylla he collected from named a tiny insect after JRR The pair identified the insect during kowhai trees in 21 South Island loca- Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings char- research for New Zealand’s Bio- tions and separated them into two acter Frodo Baggins. The newly Protection Research Centre. distinct species. He said that the discovered Psylla frodobagginsi is Many of the stunning cinemato- “Psylla frodobagginsi can be identi- less than 2mm long and belongs graphic sets for director Peter fied most easily by its small dimen- to a family known as jumping plant Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings sion, light colours, and uniformly lice. “The name was chosen due to and Hobbit trilogies were placed in spotted wings,” and suggested that the smaller size of this psyllid spe- the South Island where the Psylla the two species now be given the A girl looks at a performance of the Black Eagles, the aerobatic team of T-50 jets belonging to South Korea’s air force, during “Air cies, together with the fact that it is frodobagginsi was found. For his common names “greater kowhai Power Day” preview at US Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek. The event was part of an annual ceremony to open the US airbase to the native to New Zealand,” Francesco PhD thesis Martoni described psyllid” (P apicalis) and “hobbit kow- public for promoting friendship with its surrounding communities. Martoni and Dr Karen Armstrong consistent diff erences between two hai psyllid” (P. frodobagginsi). Gulf Times 8 Saturday, September 21, 2019 BRITAIN

Dozens poisoned this year by salmonella-infected British eggs

Guardian News and Media farms. Salmonella can cause food soft-boiled eggs. At the time the Eggs produced by the infected reveal that in 2018, 28 fl ocks test- food containing them – because cock said: “We are now saying London poisoning and – in the most seri- head of the FSA said: “The risk poultry fl ocks were placed under ed positive for salmonella, four of of the salmonella risk. The then if there is a British Lion egg, ous cases – can prove fatal. of salmonella is now so low you restrictions, meaning they can- them with dangerous strains. junior health minister Edwina you’re safe to do that. The risk Public Health England (PHE), needn’t worry.” not be sold to the public and must According to PHE a further 55 Currie sparked a public outcry of salmonella is now so low you ozens of people have been which monitors salmonella, is Internal records obtained by be sent for processing to kill the human cases prior to 2019 were after saying “most” British egg needn’t worry. And that’s true poisoned after consuming not aware of any deaths. the Bureau of Investigative Jour- bacteria or be disposed of – while also being linked to the out- production was infected with whether you’re a fit healthy DBritish eggs contaminated Despite outbreaks of this strain nalism and the Guardian show birds from infected fl ocks were break. salmonella. adult, or whether you’re preg- with salmonella, an investigation occurring for more than three that 25 egg-laying poultry fl ocks culled. The revelations come just two But in 2017 the FSA lifted the nant or elderly or young. It’s has found, despite recent gov- years, the government has issued in the UK have tested positive for However, some contaminated years after the Food Standards advice, stating the presence only people on strictly medi- ernment assurances that the risk no public warnings about the salmonella in 2019 so far, seven eggs did reach the public, with Agency (FSA) declared that al- of salmonella in eggs had been cally supervised diets who need had been virtually eliminated. safety of hens’ eggs. of them contaminated with the PHE confi rming that 45 people most all eggs produced in the “dramatically reduced” and that to avoid those eggs.” At least 45 consumers have In 2017, the Food Standards most serious strains of the bac- had become ill after eating eggs UK were free of salmonella. A “British Lion” eggs – which cov- PHE stated that it had been in- fallen ill since January this year in Agency (FSA) told the public that teria. Two egg-packing facto- infected with salmonella since major health scare in the 1980s er about 90% of UK egg produc- vestigating this strain of salmo- a major disease outbreak health it was safe for vulnerable people, ries – one that supplies leading January. The exact route to the had led to warnings that vulner- tion – were safe to eat. nella for three years, despite the offi cials have traced back to including pregnant women and supermarkets – have also been public is unclear. able groups should not consume Speaking at the time, the FSA clearing eggs for consump- contaminated eggs and poultry the elderly to eat raw, runny or contaminated, records show. The government records also raw or lightly cooked eggs – or then FSA chair Heather Han- tion. 18% of children now leave school as low achievers: study

Guardian News and Media in England left school without London basic qualifi cations. Of those, 28,225 were on FSM. According to Longfi eld, increasing rates of he number of children failure to reach attainment tar- leaving school without gets among the most disadvan- Tbasic qualifi cations by taged are causing the increase. the age of 18 has risen by nearly “These are children who will a quarter in the past three years, have spent 15 years in compulso- according to a report by the chil- ry education, often having more dren’s commissioner for Eng- than £100,000 of public money land. spent on their education, and yet Almost one in fi ve children leave the education system with- (18%) left school last year with- out basic benchmark qualifi ca- out the government benchmark tions,” the report said. of fi ve good GCSEs, or the equiv- “These children have multiple alent technical qualifi cations, options closed to them. Many a 24% increase since 2015, the will not be able to begin an ap- study found. prenticeship, start technical The fi gures for children with courses or enter some workplac- special educational needs are es because they cannot meet the particularly stark with almost basic entry requirements.” half (45%) failing to reach what Using her powers under the Brexit Minister Stephen Barclay (second left) is pictured prior to a meeting with EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels yesterday. is known as level 2 attainment by Children’s Act 2004, the com- the time they fi nish compulsory missioner has written to the gov- education. ernment calling on ministers to Pupils on free school meals conduct an independent review (FSM) also fared badly with more into falling level 2 attainment. than one in three (37%) leaving “The government must ur- school “without any substantive gently investigate why the Govt claims ‘momentum’ in qualifi cations”. progress that has been made over The children’s commissioner, recent years in closing the at- Anne Longfi eld, described the tainment gap has stalled and is fi gures as shameful and called now going backwards, and com- on the government to urgently mit itself to halving over the next investigate. “While we should fi ve years the number of children Brexit talks despite EU doubts celebrate the progress that is be- failing to gain a level 2 qualifi ca- ing made in raising standards for tion by the age of 19.” AFP could cause food shortages and principles and ideas”. And there avoid a hard border in Ireland, is gestion in a speech in Madrid on millions of children, it should The department for education Brussels spark civil unrest. was further pessimism from undemocratic and unacceptable Thursday that such a solution never be an acceptable part of the later challenged the commis- Barclay and Barnier discussed Dublin, with Irish Foreign Min- to London. was impossible. education system for thousands sioner’s fi ndings: “This report three papers submitted by Lon- ister Simon Coveney telling BBC But Britain has so far not come He accused the commission of children to leave with next to does not provide the full picture, rexit talks are progress- don with ideas on replacing the radio that while the “mood mu- up with an alternative that satisfi es of “seeking a purist, identical nothing.” comparing against fi gures that ing with “momentum”, the so-called “Irish backstop” pro- sic” around talks had improved, Brussels or Dublin, and after yes- result” and suggested the dead- Longfi eld is particularly con- include qualifi cations we have Bminister in charge of nego- visions in the Brexit deal struck a deal was still “not close” and terday’s talks the commission once line for working out a backstop cerned that progress in clos- since removed from performance tiating the divorce said yesterday last year but rejected by British British proposals so far were in- again called on London to come up alternative could be pushed back ing the attainment gap between tables because they did not serve after meeting his EU counterpart, lawmakers. adequate. with substantial proposals — sug- to December 2020. children living in the least and pupils well. despite warnings from Europe “There is signifi cant work still “What we are being asked to gesting the papers submitted fall Brussels has called for a clear most deprived areas of England “The proportion of 19-year- that a deal is still some way off . to do but there are serious dis- do by Barclay and by others is to short of what is required. alternative well before Johnson has stalled and is now in reverse, olds with vital English and maths After talks in Brussels with EU cussions that are taking place,” replace a guarantee around that “It is essential that there is a attends a potentially decisive EU at a time when pupils have to stay GCSEs has actually risen from chief negotiator Michel Barnier, Barclay said after the talks. border question...with a promise fully workable and legally op- summit in Brussels on October in education longer than ever be- 50.9% in 2010 to 68.1% in 2018,” Brexit Minister Stephen Barclay “We are moving forward with that somehow we’ll do our best erational solution included in 17-18. fore. a spokesperson said, adding: said there was a “shared sense momentum, talks will continue to try to solve this issue in the the withdrawal agreement,” the After a diplomatic push this By law children in England “We are working to dramatically of purpose” to reach agreement next week between the technical future but we don’t know how commission said. “We remain week which included talks with must stay in education or train- improve the rigour, quality and and avoid Britain crashing out of teams.” But the European Com- just yet,” he said. willing and open to examine any Commission chief Jean-Claude ing until they are 18, but the standard of qualifi cations across the bloc without a divorce deal. mission, which leads Brexit talks “That doesn’t sound like a fair such proposals that meet all the Juncker in Luxembourg, John- evidence laid out in the report the board, and have already done Britain is racing toward its for the remaining 27 member deal to me.” objectives of the backstop.” son will meet with EU Council suggested pupils gained little in so with GCSEs. These reformed October 31 departure without states, gave a more sober assess- Prime Minister Boris John- The commission’s emphasis president Donald Tusk on Mon- terms of qualifi cations during qualifi cations will help young an exit agreement and faces the ment, stressing that the British son insists the backstop, which on the need for any alternative day afternoon on the sidelines the extra school years. people achieve the skills they threat of economic disruption papers amounted to no more would temporarily keep Britain plan to fully replicate the back- of the UN General Assembly in Last year 98,799 children need to get on in life.” that the government admits than “a fi rst set of concepts, in the bloc’s customs union to stop goes against Barclay’s sug- New York. Uber awaits decision BA reinstates half its fl ights as strike put off on vital London licence Passengers whose travel was Guardian News and Media London cancelled and who were refunded Reuters A question put to London blow... but we just don’t see it can rebook at their original fare, London Mayor Sadiq Khan from a mem- happening,” he said. and those rebooked on to other ber of the city’s assembly about “Is there going to be another ritish Airways will operate carriers by BA may also have the the licence renewal is still await- 15-18 month renewal or is it go- more than half its normal option to return to one of its serv- ber is still waiting to see ing a reply according to an entry ing to be fi ve years? Judging by Bfl ight schedule next Friday ices if available. However, passen- whether its licence in on the London Authority’s web- (ride-sharing fi rm) Ola coming in after a strike by pilots was called gers who booked their own alter- ULondon, which expires site from earlier this week. and getting a 15-month licence, I off . native travel will not be refunded if on Wednesday, will be renewed TfL said it does not comment think they’re going to be on the Although BA had stopped sell- they choose to fl y with BA after all. as the regulator, which previ- on individual licence applica- shorter cycles.” ing tickets for September 27 and Pilots walked out for two days ously stripped the taxi app of tions. The 2017 licence loss came started cancelling bookings, it will this month, costing the airline its right to operate in the city, Uber declined to comment just weeks after chief executive merge some services and operate an estimated £40mn a day after remains tight-lipped about the yesterday. Dara Khosrowshahi took over more than 400 fl ights on the day. all but fi ve daily fl ights were can- decision. Among its options are giving and became a test of his ability It is also off ering to rebook thou- celled. Transport for London (TfL) Uber a maximum fi ve-year li- to assuage regulator concerns as sands of cancelled passengers. The British Airline Pilots’ Asso- rejected the Silicon Valley com- cence, a shorter one, or stripping the app faced disputes with taxi The airline e-mailed passen- ciation announced on Wednesday pany’s licence renewal request the fi rm of its ability to operate, fi rms and the authorities in dif- gers on September 12 to confi rm that it had called off the Septem- in 2017 due to failings it said it almost certainly prompting an ferent markets. cancellations, just before a 14-day ber 27 strike, saying it was “time found in its approach to report- appeals process during which Mayor Khan was critical of notice period when it would have for a period of refl ection before ing serious criminal off ences the app would still be able to take Uber just weeks ago and said been liable for additional compen- the dispute escalates further and and driver background checks, rides, as in 2017. companies must play by the sation payments under EU regula- irreparable damage is done to the prompting legal action. Benjamin Black, co-Head rules. “You will know my track tion. brand”. A judge in 2018 then granted of Internet Equity Research at record which is standing up to A BA spokeswoman said: “We The union has called for “mean- Uber a probationary 15-month analysts Evercore ISI, said he the big boys, and they are boys, are off ering all customers whose ingful new negotiations”, although licence, which expires on Sep- thought the firm would retain and make sure everyone plays fl ights were cancelled due to next BA has said it is only available for tember 25, after the company its ability to operate in London, by the rules,” he told listeners week’s planned industrial action talks without preconditions in the had made several changes to its one of its top five global mar- to a phone-in on LBC radio. “I the option to rebook on to a British long-running pay dispute. Balpa business model in London, the kets. don’t care how many lawyers Airways fl ight, with a schedule of has a mandate for industrial action fi rm’s most important European “If they lost the London li- you employ or how big your PR services to our daily destinations until January and said it could an- market. cence, that would be a major budget is.” Khan: mum’s the word on September 26, 27 and 28.” nounce further strike dates. Gulf Times Saturday, September 21, 2019 9 EUROPE German govt agrees on €54bn climate package

DPA This will result in price in- case, it was only right that there The CO2 price for fossil fuels months of negotiations, all that Berlin creases for petrol and diesel. should be consequences. is to begin at €10 per tonne, ris- remained was a set of measures The plan also foresees meas- She said the new plan was sup- ing by degrees to €35 per tonne by that would not ensure that Ger- ures to alleviate the burden on posed to act as “a sort of guaran- 2025. many meets international climate ollowing weeks of wran- consumers, with commuters be- tee” that the goals for 2030 are Thereafter the price will be commitments. gling and all-night negotia- ing able to deduct €0.35 per kilo- achieved. determined in trading within a The head of Greenpeace in Ftions, Germany’s coalition metre of driving from tax returns. Setting a carbon dioxide price stipulated corridor. Germany, Martin Kaiser, called government has agreed on a cli- This marks an increase from was a crucial aspect of the gov- There are also plans to make the government plans “laugh- mate package costing more than the current €0.30 per kilometre. ernment talks, as was funding for rail travel cheaper by cutting val- able”. €54bn ($59bn), Finance Minister The aim is for petrol and diesel expanding the use of renewables. ue-added tax on rail tickets. German environmental organi- Olaf Scholz said yesterday. to rise in price by €0.03 per litre in Land-based wind power has Flying will become more ex- sation DUH said the measures The measures include a ban 2021, increasing to €0.10 by 2026. run into regulatory obstacles, pensive by raising the tax on were nothing but “empty prom- on installing oil-fi red heating in Petrol currently costs around with local residents objecting to planes taking off from German ises”. buildings from 2026, with a sub- €1.40 a litre and diesel around their construction. airports from January 1, 2020. “From changing to 100% re- sidy for householders prepared to €1.30 in Germany. Much of the focus was on Current weak demand for elec- newables to presenting concrete switch to more climate-friendly The government’s aim is to cut transport during the talks. tric vehicles is to be boosted by plans to pull out from coal, oil and alternatives. greenhouse gas emissions by 55% Emissions have stalled at 1990 subsidies on cars costing less than natural gas – this plan does not Up to 40% of the costs for by 2030, in comparison with 1990 levels, despite considerably more €40,000, and vehicle tax will be show any true will for serious cli- switching to alternatives would levels. effi cient engines, as a result of a aligned more closely with CO2 mate protection,” said DUH head be covered under this plan. The country is expected to fail rise in personal travel and goods emissions. Sascha Mueller-Kreanner. A price for emissions of car- to reach its interim target set for freight. Environmental organisations The World Wildlife Fund bon dioxide has also been agreed, next year. Scholz said the government did said they were disappointed by (WWF) said the package was a Merkel: the new plan is supposed to act as ‘a sort of guarantee’ that that will take eff ect via trading in German Chancellor Angela not plan on taking out new debt to the measures. “mixture of despair, postpone- the goals for 2030 are achieved emissions certifi cates. Merkel said that since this was the fi nance the switch. Greenpeace said that after ment and failure”.

Italy’s M5S backs local poll pact Youth climate protests with PD

Reuters Rome spread across the globe DPA/AFP ising a weekly school strike and on the Thai government to do embers of the anti- Berlin rally outside the Swedish parlia- more to mitigate climate change. establishment 5-Star ment in August last year. Protesters demanded that the MMovement (M5S) have This week’s rallies are set to be government declare a climate backed a local alliance with the hildren and teenagers the biggest global collective pro- emergency in Thailand and the centre-left Democratic Party walked out of classrooms test so far, with events scheduled Philippines as well. (PD), in an online vote that could Call over the world yester- to take place across the world’s As the day moved on, protests strengthen the new government day to participate in a massive inhabited continents. geared up across Europe, the and change the shape of Italian global climate protest. “Stop climate change now” birthplace of the Fridays for Fu- politics. Protests kicked off early in the and “There is no planet B” read ture movement. Following the recommenda- day in Asia and Australia, where some of the signs brandished by In Thunberg’s native Sweden, tion of party chief Luigi Di Maio, tens of thousands of young peo- demonstrators in a trendy cen- police estimated that almost 61% of M5S members voted in ple and adults joined the pro- tral shopping district of Tokyo. 10,000 people attended part of favour of fi elding a joint candi- tests to demand no new coal or Students and environmental yesterday’s Stockholm protest, date with the PD in an election gas projects and 100% renew- activists in New Delhi gathered with some carrying placards next month to pick a new gover- able energy by 2030. outside the ministry of housing with texts like “You’ll die of old nor of the central region of Um- “They say ‘stay in school’, and urban aff airs to demand cli- age, I’ll die of climate change”. bria. ‘get good marks’, but what is the mate action in India, the planet’s Protesters gathered near the The vote marked a reversal point of that if our future is be- third-largest emitter of green- Swedish parliament, where of M5S’s traditional rejection ing ruined,” said 16-year-old house gases. Thunberg began her climate of election pacts and the reper- Freya Croft in Sydney’s beach Several thousand Bangladeshi strike a year ago, before march- cussions will extend far beyond suburb of Manly. children marched on the streets ing to Citizens’ Square in the Umbria, a land-locked region of The “Fridays for Future” of Dhaka yesterday, asking the district of Sodermalm for the 900,000 inhabitants. movement was started by Swed- government to announce a “cli- rally. By joining forces in Umbria, ish activist Greta Thunberg, 16, mate emergency”. Thunberg is currently in New traditionally a PD stronghold, who has galvanised young peo- In Bangkok, some 200 pro- York for a UN Climate Action M5S and the PD hope to halt a ple around the world with her testers marched through the city Summit. long streak of victories by the activism since she began organ- to submit an open letter calling In Germany, organisers said centre-right, which has tri- 80,000 people had turned up Students and activists hold up a umphed in seven regional bal- at midday at Berlin’s Branden- globe during the global climate lots since a national election in burg Gate, with police putting action march in Zagreb, Croatia. March 2018. the fi gure at “much more than Success at the October 27 10,000”, while Hamburg police people marched as part of the Umbria vote would probably said at least 45,000 protesters climate strike, according to po- pave the way for similar alliances had turned out in the northern lice. in the next few months in the re- port city. “What do we want? Climate gions of Emilia-Romagna in the Five Dutch teenagers between justice! When do we want it? industrial north and Calabria in the ages of 14 and 18 set off at Now!” chanted crowds of young the poor south. midday on a 120km trek from the people passing by the European In the medium term, analysts eastern city of Wageningen to Commission. say this would create the condi- the western city of The Hague, Tens of thousands of mostly tions for M5S and the PD to be- where the country’s parliament young people joined scores of come a stable alliance that would is located. protests across Britain, as the contest future local and national They plan to protest there leader of the opposition ad- elections against a conserva- next week. dressed the largest protest near tive bloc led by Matteo Salvini’s “We want to shake people parliament in central London. hard-right League. awake,” they said. The London protesters car- M5S governed Italy with the Activists rally during the UK Student Climate Network’s global In Brussels, the capital of Eu- ried banners and placards bear- Activists attend an environmental demonstration in Saint League until last month, when climate action march in central London. ropean politics, some 15,000 ing messages including “Mars is Petersburg as part of the global climate action day. Salvini pulled the plug on the co- not an answer” and “Don’t be a alition in a vain attempt to trig- fossil fool”. rising sea levels and unpredict- take place at the United Nations ger elections he expected to win. In South Africa, several hun- able seasons. today. Instead, M5S formed a new dred people gathered near the Numerous peer-reviewed UN Secretary-General Anto- government with the PD, push- Constitutional Court in Johan- scientifi c studies have shown a nio Guterres will then host an ing Salvini into opposition. nesburg to join those around the link between human-made gas emergency summit on Monday However, the path to stable world calling for more action emissions and climate change. in which he will urge world lead- M5S/PD co-operation may not against climate change. But the protests also laid bare ers to raise their commitments be smooth. Similar peaceful protests were resistance from those who ques- made in the 2015 Paris climate Driven by a common desire held in Kampala in Uganda and tion the threat. accord. to block Salvini, the traditional Nairobi in Kenya. Australian ruling coalition The agreement saw countries adversaries overcame their dif- About 200 marched in Gha- parliamentarian Craig Kelly pledge to limit the long-term ferences to form a national gov- na’s capital Accra, where some on Thursday told children that rise in the average temperature ernment, but fi elding joint can- 44% of the country’s population “everything you’re told is a lie”. of the Earth to 1° Celsius (3.6° didates in regional and mayoral has not heard of climate change, “The facts are, there is no link degrees Fahrenheit) over pre- elections requires a deeper level according to a study by Afroba- between climate change and industrial levels, and if possible, of co-operation. rometer. drought, polar bears are increas- to 1.5C. Mutual enmity still runs deep Activists were also partici- ing in number.” A landmark UN report to be among activists at local level, pating in acts of protest further An increasing number of unveiled next week will warn and some of M5S’s most promi- afi eld. businesses backed the protests. that global warming and pollu- nent fi gures have publicly re- Civil society group 350.org Amazon chief Jeff Bezos on tion are ravaging Earth’s oceans belled against the coalition with posted photos of young peo- Thursday pledged to make the and icy regions in ways that the PD, fomenting internal party ple “arriving now via boat in US technology and retail giant could unleash misery on a global tensions. Marovo in the Western Province carbon neutral by 2040 and en- scale. On Thursday Alessandro Di of the Solomon Islands ready for courage other fi rms to do like- The scientifi c report from the Battista, a potential M5S leader, their #climatestrike #MatagiM- wise. Intergovernmental Panel on Cli- warned colleagues not to trust alohi event today”. Friday’s mass action set the mate Change (IPCC) will be put the PD, calling it Italy’s most The Solomon Islands is made scene for a range of high-profi le to a gathering of experts from pro-establishment and “dan- up of hundreds of tiny islets that climate events in New York. 195 countries meeting in Mo- gerous” party and “the most E-bikes and an e-scooter are seen during the global climate strike action in Berlin. are some of the worst aff ected by A Youth Climate Summit will rocco from Friday. hypocritical party in Europe”. Even after yesterday’s vote in favour of the Umbria pact with Romanian ex-president ‘worked with secret police’: court Russia hosts military drills involving 130,000 troops the PD, the two parties still need to fi nd a mutually acceptable Former Romanian president Traian Basescu was elected as a member of the European Parliament. Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted yesterday Kyrgyzstan, an important Russian and Chinese ally candidate for governor. found yesterday by a court in Bucharest to have He said yesterday that he would appeal against the part of an international military exercise that is set in Central Asia. Preliminary talks have made collaborated with the feared communist-era decision at the Supreme Court. to include 128,000 troops as the country reinforces The leaders met at a Russian military base in little progress, running up Securitate secret police. Although the relevant background checks had security ties with China and several other key Asian Russia’s central Orenburg region, near the border against vetoes and local rivalries. The Court of Appeal said it had found that “the found nothing comprising when he ran for public states. with another former Soviet republic, Kazakhstan, in M5S’s pre-condition for any defendant, Traian Basescu, was a collaborator off ice, the present case was opened after new Russia and China have been bolstering their strong Central Asia. local deals is that candidates of the Securitate” in a case based on documents evidence was unearthed by the CNSAS, the body ties in recent years as their relations with the Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China and the four must come from so-called “civil dating back to his time as a student at the Marine charged with studying Securitate archives. West, particularly the US, have deteriorated amid other Asian member states of the China-based society”, meaning they are not Institute in the southeastern city of Constanta. The case will be a blow to Basescu’s reputation regional conflicts and trade disputes. Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) military career politicians or members of Basescu, 67, served two terms as president from as one of the key figures in Romania’s post- During the Centre-2019 military exercise, Putin alliance – India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan either party. 2004 until 2014, and in May of this year was communist transition. met the leader of the former Soviet republic of – were to participate in the exercise. Gulf Times 10 Saturday, September 21, 2019 INDIA

CONTROVERSY POLITICS LEGAL WEATHER INFLATION Supriyo assault row Shiv Sena firm on CBI files reply on Rains to be above average Onion prices on the sparks multiple protests contesting 135 seats Chidambaram’s bail plea for first time in six years increase once again

Political activists and students took to Kolkata Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray The country is likely to receive above- Rising onion prices are once again bringing tears streets a day after Union Minister Babul Supriyo categorically yesterday said that the alliance The Central Bureau of Investigation has average monsoon rains in 2019 for the to the eyes of the people. In the last one week, was heckled and assaulted by radical Left with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was filed its reply in connection with the bail first time in six years as seasonal rainfall the price of the vegetable has increased by 40%- students at the Jadavpur University for hours on and both parties would contest 135 seats application filed by former finance minister continues longer than expected, two senior 50%. In Delhi’s Azadpur Mandi, the wholesale leading to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad each in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly P Chidambaram in the case relating to INX weather department officials said, in a price of onion on Thursday was between Rs30- workers vandalising a students’ union room. The elections. “This formula was decided earlier Media. In its reply filed before the Delhi high boon for the country’s cooling economy. 46. While in Maharashtra’s Nashik, onion was Left students yesterday took out a march from by BJP president Amit Shah and Chief Minister court, CBI said Chidambaram remained “non- Extra rainfall will help farmers expand areas being sold at Rs50-55. According to traders, the the university campus to Gol Park protesting Devendra Fadnavis. We are firm on that cooperative” during the investigation. The under winter-sown crops such as wheat, onion prices have gone up due to the fall in its against ABVP’s “vandalism” and the manner formula. The announcement of the alliance agency contended that there was suff icient rice rapeseed and chickpea, improving their stock which in turn has aff ected the supply to in which the minister “provoked” students will be made soon,” Thackeray said. In another evidence on record which reveals the role of earnings down the line and helping revive wholesale markets. Last week, in a bid to control yesterday. The ABVP, on the other hand, held development, prominent farmers’ leader and the ex-finance minister in the INX Media case. tepid rural demand that has stung economic the rising prices of onion, the government a protest in central Kolkata’s Dorina Crossing the head of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti “Chidambaram wielding his influential position growth. The longer monsoon could also reduced the minimum export price of the demanding the resignation of the university vice Kishore Tiwari joined the Shiv Sena, barely five has so far ensured the investigation agency restock reservoirs and help replenish ground vegetable to $850 per tonne. Sources believe the chancellor and arrest of all those who assaulted days after he snapped ties with the BJP over does not get details sought from banks situated water, helping assuage water shortages in government’s move has reduced the possibilities Supriyo. various issues. abroad,” the CBI claimed. pockets of the country of 1.3bn people. of onion export. Committed to Protest over economic slowdown abide by ruling on Maradu fl ats, insists Kerala

IANS this is one of the fi rst instances of Delhi/Kochi demolition of a building of this magnitude and nature and the department concerned lacked ven as the deadline for the experience and expertise in demolition of fl ats at Ko- handling the situation. Echi’s Maradu ended yes- Jose said that he is duty-bound terday, the Kerala government to ensure implementation of the submitted an affi davit in the directions of the court in letter Supreme Court stating that it is and spirit, but has genuine ap- committed to abiding by the apex prehension as to whether the court’s directive, for which steps harm arising out of the demoli- have already been taken. tion will seriously impact the The six-page affi davit, fi led environment and human life, by chief secretary Tom Jose, also while keeping in mind the object states that he should be forgiven behind the orders passed by the for any wrong acts and be ex- court and has taken step to deal cused from appearing personally with the matter with utmost care on Monday. and concern. “The government has taken all The Maradu complex com- B V Srinivas, president of the youth wing of the Congress party, is detained by police during a protest against an economic slowdown, in New Delhi yesterday. steps to comply with the direc- prises of 356 fl ats in fi ve buildings tions of the court. Therefore I and 240 families reside there. request the court to exempt me The apex court had, on Sep- from personal appearance. I wish tember 6, ordered its demolition to assure the court that I shall by September 20 for violating nevertheless monitor the imple- the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) mentation of the order issued by rules. the court,” Jose said in his affi da- The apex court had also asked vit. the Kerala chief secretary to be The affi davit was submitted present before the justice Arun Ex-minister accused of rape after several rounds of legal con- Mishra-headed bench on Sep- sultation and is seen as a bid to tember 23 and with this affi davit, buy time as the government has it remains to be seen what the submitted an expert commit- court will decide on Monday. tee’s report by IIT Madras, which Jose, who was in Delhi for sub- highlights the serious environ- mitting the affi davit, is returning remanded to judicial custody mental hazards that will have to to the state capital. be tackled when the demolition In a related development, the IANS by posting a video message on doctors at his ashram and was The woman, who studied in a Vikram alias Brajesh and Sachin takes place. Kerala High Court yesterday kept Shahjahanpur (Uttar Pradesh) the social media on August 23. later shifted to the hospital after college run by Chinmayanand, Sengar alias Sonu – have been In the affi davit, Jose points out aside a petition fi led by a fl at res- The very next day, the wom- his condition showed no signs of said in her statement that the arrested under the IT Act and for the detailed steps that the gov- ident pointing out that the time an went missing and was later improvement. self-proclaimed guru got a vid- destroying evidence and extor- ernment has taken to go ahead given by the Maradu municipal- ormer Union minister and found in Dausa, Rajasthan. On Thursday night, doc- eo of her made while she was tion, said Uttar Pradesh director with the demolition after the Su- ity for eviction was too less. senior Bharatiya Janata Taking suo moto cognisance tors advised that he be shifted in the college hostel washroom general of police (DGP) O P Singh. preme Court ordered it. But the court pointed out FParty (BJP) leader Chin- of the incident, the Supreme to Lucknow for treatment, but and used it to blackmail her. She All the three have been pro- “The demolition process re- that the apex court verdict has mayanand was yesterday arrest- Court called the victim for a Chinmayanand refused. claimed she was raped several duced in court and sent to judi- quires appropriate technology to be abided by in all respects, ed from his Mumuksha Ashram closed door hearing and later However, questions were be- times by Chinmayanand, who cial remand. The SIT recorded and machinery for the demoli- and posted the petition for next in Shahjahanpur by the special ordered the Uttar Pradesh gov- ing raised on the working of the threatened to eliminate her fam- the statements of all the three tion and expeditious disposal Tuesday. investigating team (SIT) probing ernment to set up a special in- SIT. The victim had recorded ily if she protested. which also corroborated with of debris. As of today, there are At an all-party meeting held rape charges against him. vestigating team to probe the her statement under Section The matter also turned into the statements of Chinmay- space constraints for the proper here earlier this week to discuss He was later produced in the allegations. The court also or- 164 of the CrPC, but the SIT a major controversy after the anand’s staff , who disclosed to disposal of the waste/debris the Supreme Court order, Chief court which remanded him to dered security for the victim had failed to arrest or question Supreme Court intervention, the SIT that the three intended without proper study and plan- Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had 14-day judicial custody. Earlier, and her family. the BJP leader. Rather he was and the opposition accusing the to extort money from Chinmay- ning... if the entire structure is said that the Kerala government Chinmayanand was taken to the Chinmayanand had been kept under house arrest at his Yogi Adityanath government of anand and were trying to negoti- demolished in one go, it will re- has decided to approach the apex district hospital for medical ex- evading questioning by the SIT. ashram. favouring Chinmayanand and ate with them. sult in larger ecological disaster court again. amination following his arrest. Earlier this week, he complained Apparently dismayed at the avoiding his arrest. A video showing the boys and seriously prejudicing the inhab- Meanwhile, at Maradu, those The arrest comes on the of ‘uneasiness’ and ‘weakness’ delaying tactics, two days ago Meanwhile the SIT also ar- the alleged victim talking about itants and environment of even facing eviction are hoping against complaint of a 23-year-old law and was kept under house arrest the victim threatened to commit rested two cousins and a male demanding money from the ac- nearby places,” the affi davit said. hope that on Monday there will student who had accused Chin- in his ashram. suicide if Chinmayanand was friend of the alleged rape victim. cused had gone viral on social Jose also told the court that be some relief for them. mayanand of blackmail and rape He was treated by a team of not arrested. The three – Sanjay Singh, media.

Official visit Kerala CM will soon be Dancing airline crew angers regulator behind bars: Congress Reuters SpiceJet cabin crew member smil- New Delhi ing and walking down the aisle of an airplane full of passengers was IANS During the Pala Assembly “He needn’t threaten anyone reported by local media this week, Kottayam by-election campaign, Vijayan, as everyone knows his role in he aviation regulator is drawing criticism by people on so- without naming Kunju, said if the Lavalin case and it’s he who concerned about several cial media. the man doesn’t behave, he will speaks of corruption. We are the Tvideos on popular Chi- SpiceJet said in a statement erala Congress president soon be eating ‘government food’ least perturbed by his threats and nese video app TikTok that show yesterday its crew is strictly pro- Mullapally Ramachan- (food served in prison) and the very soon, we will all know about fl ight crew singing and dancing hibited from shooting pictures or Kdran yesterday issued a Left government will show no the Lavalin case,” he said. while on duty, and has asked air- videos on-board and it takes strict veiled warning to Chief Min- mercy to anyone, irrespective of Meanwhile, former chief min- lines to take action in the interest action against violators. ister Pinarayi Vijayan, saying who they are, if they are found to ister Oommen Chandy, under of passenger safety, a senior of- AirAsia India said it ensures he would soon be eating ‘gov- be corrupt. whose tenure the Palarivattom fi cial said. that its staff adheres to strict in- ernment food’ as the Supreme The Supreme Court has listed fl yover was built, told the media The warning from the watchdog ternal guidelines for social media Court is going to take up a case the SNC Lavalin case for fi nal that they are the least worried by comes as it found that social media usage. in which he will be arraigned as hearing on October 1. The Cen- any probe which is currently on posts, especially on TikTok, are in- Indigo said it had received the an accused. tral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the fl yover case. creasingly featuring fl ight attend- communication from the avia- Ramachandran was speaking wants Vijayan to face trial in the “At times the Cabinet makes ants grooving to popular tunes or tion regulator and will take ap- to the media here after Vijayan’s case. realistic and practical decisions. lip-syncing movie dialogues while propriate action where required. remarks against former state The case pertains to an agree- We are prepared to face anything inside an aircraft. Owned by China’s ByteDance, public works department minis- ment with Canadian firm SNC in the case,” he said. The directorate general of civil TikTok is one of the world’s most ter and senior opposition legis- Lavalin in 1997 for the renova- Built at a cost of Rs420mn, aviation (DGCA) has directed all popular apps. lator of the Indian Union Mus- tion and modernisation of the the 750-metre fl yover was sup- airlines to rein in such behaviour It has become a sensation in lim league V K Ebrahim Kunju, Pallivasal, Sengulam and Pan- posed to serve for over 100 years. and will soon seek a compliance India, where it has been down- who could be arrested shortly in niar hydroelectric projects in It was opened in October 2016 report, said a senior offi cial at the loaded by more than 350mn the Palarivattom fl yover case in Idukki district, which allegedly and within three years the fl yover department. times, according to analytics which four offi cials are already caused a loss of Rs2.66bn to the started crumbling and was shut “We have issued instructions fi rm Sensor Tower. behind bars. exchequer. It was inked when for traffi c. and told them these are unbecom- This week, Reuters found doz- “It’s not Kunju who is going to Vijayan was the state electricity Earlier this week, Vijayan ing,” a DGCA offi cial said, adding ens of videos that showed crew have government food, instead, minister. announced that the flyover that a letter had also been sent from airlines such as IndiGo, it would be Vijayan who would Senior Congress leader was going to be knocked down, Minister of External Aff airs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to airlines about such “theatrical AirAsia India and Vistara, part- be having that and it would be Ramesh Chennithala claimed with ‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan (right) is welcomed by Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne in performances” by crew members owned by Singapore Airlines, known very soon,” said Ramach- “everyone knows Vijayan’s role entrusted with building a new Helsinki, Finland, yesterday. which could risk passenger safety. singing, dancing or ramp walking andran. in the case”. one. A TikTok video showing a along an aircraft’s aisle. Gulf Times Saturday, September 21, 2019 11 LATIN AMERICA

Guatemala joins ranks of cocaine producers as plantations and labs emerge

Tribesmen Reuters The discoveries of coca to the murder of three soldiers other plantations with both have been detained and 57 Guatemala City plantations and laboratories in earlier this month. plants and seeds between motorcycles, 38 other vehicles diff erent locations prompted At the time, the government San Luis Peten and Chahal in and 52 firearms seized, while Interior Minister Enrique said the soldiers were eastern Guatemala. two cocaine-processing labs Guatemala is no longer just Degenhart to admit Guatemala ambushed by drug traff ickers. Aguilar said he did not know were destroyed, police said in a stalk illegal a transit point for traff ickers was now a cocaine-producing The plantations are in remote how much territory the statement. seeking to smuggle cocaine nation. stretches of the municipalities plantations covered. Guatemala has long been north towards the US, Until recently, the crop was of Livingston on the Caribbean Last year, Reuters reported that a major transit country for authorities said after security almost exclusively cultivated coast and El Estor, which sits a one hectare “trial” plantation cocaine, and traff ickers have off icials discovered several coca in lower terrain in the eastern on a lake popular with tourists containing 75,000 coca plants exercised influence over loggers in plantations and processing slopes of the Andes or the and is where the soldiers were had been found in Guatemala. political parties and in some laboratories. highlands of Colombia, Peru killed. The new plantations contain cases territorial control. The finds underscored concerns and Bolivia before being “The plantations were located 17 times as many bushes. Despite support from the that cocaine production is transported north. in a mountainous area, which Authorities declined to comment US and some success in moving beyond Andean nations, The discoveries came after the took three hours to get to on on which criminal groups they intercepting drug shipments Amazon where the leaf has traditionally government gave emergency foot,” police spokesman Jorge believed were involved. at sea, Guatemala has made been grown, and closer to its powers to the military in Aguilar said. Since the state of emergency little progress in controlling main market, the US. eastern Guatemala in response The military said it found two was announced, 342 people traff icking. Reuters same period of 2018, prelimi- Arariboia Indigenous Territory, nary data shows. Brazil Fires in the Amazon, which often follow deforestation, are also up around 50% this year, ear midnight, a group of according to government data, Poll campaign six Guajajara tribesmen spurring global outcry. Nwith their faces painted Environmental regulator for battle listen to the rumble Ibama spokesman said in Au- of heavy trucks about 30km gust that previous governments from their village in the Amazon were to blame for challenges rainforest. facing Ibama. They suspect a caravan of il- The environment ministry legal loggers felling trees on has said that it takes its role in their reservation. protecting the rainforest seri- The police are not coming, ously, pledging to halt criminal but the natives have a plan to activity. fi ght back. Ibama did not respond to a The “forest guardians,” as request for comment on the they call themselves, hurry to Guajajara fi ght against logging a choke point in the local net- on their land. work of rutted dirt roads and lay Local law enforcement agen- in wait, armed with rifl es and cies have recognised the guard- handguns. ians’ work in flagging illegal As the trucks approach, they activity and presenting evi- ready themselves to spring an dence. ambush, apprehend the loggers However, offi cials say that and deliver the culprits, along vigilantism is not the best with their equipment, to the method for dealing with the is- nearest federal police station, sue. hundreds of miles away. Some guardians have been The men say they are among killed by loggers, the group told some 180 guardians patrolling Reuters, and several wear face their tribal land against loggers coverings during operations to on night missions. avoid becoming marked men. By day, most guardians carve They receive no compensa- out an existence farming mani- tion for the risky and grueling oc, rice and other staples in detective work, while spending the Arariboia Indigenous Ter- part of their meager incomes on ritory, a humid, 1,600-square- ammunition, gasoline and vehi- mile stretch of rainforest in the cle maintenance. northeastern Brazilian state of As the guardians lay in wait, Bolivian President and presidential candidate Evo Morales campaigns at an election rally in Tarijas, southern Bolivia. Morales, who has governed Bolivia since 2006, Maranhao. they spend nearly an hour in is facing setbacks a month ahead of the October 20, 2019 general elections, in which he will run for a fourth term, considered unconstitutional by the opposition. The rest of Maranhao has lost tense silence until a scout for most of its original rainforest the loggers approaches. over the past century. Surrounded by the guardians, Loggers and ranchers have the scout quickly surrenders cleared land right up to the and confesses that three trucks Guajajara reservation and loaded with illegal timber are on crossed the border increasingly their way. in recent decades. When the trucks arrive, the But since 2012, when the guardians block the road with a ‘forest guardians’ formed, they 4x4 of their own. Brazil police ‘accuse Vale estimate that illegal incursions The loggers, who number have fallen by half. around eight, fi re a gunshot. “I’m proud of the warriors The guardians fi re back, and who are continuing the fi ght, the loggers scatter into the for- because the Arariboia Indig- est. enous Territory was considered With no space to bring the lost,” says Laercio Guajajara, captured scout to the police, the of fraud before dam burst’ one of the group’s co-ordina- guardians leave him in the forest tors. to be retrieved by his colleagues. Reuters/DPA madinho, in the southeastern Vale shares edged up 0.5% dered the mining company to Vale has been struggling to “But we’re showing the After failing to start the logging Rio de Janeiro state of Minas Gerais, a source yesterday, trading roughly in pay 11.8mn reais ($2.8mn) in deal with the aftermath of the world, the country, that our trucks they have seized, the with knowledge of the matter line with Brazil’s benchmark damages to the family of some dam breach that spewed mil- land isn’t lost, that it has an guardians burn them to make said. Bovespa stock index. of the victims. lions of tonnes of mining waste owner.” sure they are not used again. razilian federal po- The dam killed nearly 250 The stock is down nearly 14% The family in question lost across the countryside and Eff orts by vigilante groups “We asked them to leave, lice proposed criminal people when it collapsed, un- since the accident, which has three of its members in the dis- forced the suspension of some such as the guardians have and they didn’t,” says Laercio. Bcharges against Vale SA, leashing a torrent of mining disrupted output and the com- aster, the court in Minas Gerais of its operations. gained attention this year, as “We’re burning the trucks now auditor TUV SUD and 13 of waste on a nearby town and pany scrambled to verify the state said in a statement yester- The disaster was the second the Amazon, the world’s largest to show our response.” their employees, alleging fraud roiling global iron ore mar- safety of its dams. day. involving Vale in three years in tropical rainforest, has suff ered in relation to a deadly dam col- kets. It was not clear how many of It was the fi rst time that a the mineral-rich region. rising deforestation. “I’m proud of the warriors lapse in January, according to a Vale said yesterday in a se- the individuals accused by Bra- court ordered damages to be Brazil has since banned the More than 2,400 square miles who are continuing the fi ght, document seen by Reuters yes- curities fi ling that it was aware zilian police were still working paid to individual victims of the construction of new upstream of the Brazilian Amazon have because the Arariboia Indig- terday. of the police investigation, but for Vale and TUV SUD. disaster. dams, which are cheaper but been cleared so far in 2019, an enous Territory was considered Federal police accused the would not comment further Brazilian news website G1 Earlier this year, Vale said less stable than other types of area larger than the US state of lost. But we’re showing the companies of working with fal- until it has more details. fi rst reported on the police ac- it would pay a total of 400mn tailings dams, and ordered the Delaware and nearly twice that world that our land isn’t lost, sifi ed documents attesting to TUV SUD declined to com- cusation. reais in damages to the victims’ decommissioning of existing registered by satellites in the that it has an owner.” the stability of the dam in Bru- ment. Meanwhile a court has or- families. ones. Brazil Senate chief off ers Pinera at military parade Peru deports 150 to resign over police raid Venezuela migrants Reuters been circulating in audio mes- Lima sages on WhatsApp and social Reuters reais ($1.33mn) in bribes to favour According to documents re- media posts that Venezuelans Brasilia of certain contractors in a river leased by the Supreme Court, were trying to kidnap children. dredging project as well as vari- police also believe Bezerra Coel- eru has deported 150 Peru’s interior minister ous other construction contracts. ho’s son, Fernando Bezerra Filho, Venezuelans for entering ruled out any truth to the ru- he leader of the Brazilian received 1.7mn reais from the al- Pthe country illegally as mours and warned against government in the Senate “I took the initiative of leged scheme. authorities sought to enforce “xenophobic” practices. Thas off ered to resign his off ering to resign from the Bezerra Filho was a key fi gure stricter policies for migrants Peru was once one of the leadership position after being position of government in resolving a multibillion-dollar from the crisis-stricken nation, most welcoming countries for targeted in a police raid into possi- leader so that the dispute between the government Peru’s immigration offi ce said. Venezuelan migrants, grant- ble corruption, a move that could government can, in the and state oil fi rm Petroleo Bra- The immigrants were de- ing them temporary residency weaken the sway of President Jair coming days, evaluate sileiro SA. tained this week in a coastal so they could work and access Bolsonaro in the upper house. whether it’s the right He did not immediately re- desert region at Peru’s north- public services. Speaking to journalists in moment to proceed with a spond to a request for comment. ern border with Ecuador, part But as the number of Ven- capital Brasilia, senator Fern- new choice or not” It was not immediately clear of a route taken by hundreds of ezuelans in Peru has climbed ando Bezerra Coelho off ered to what impact the arrests would thousands of Venezuelans who to more than 850,000, fanning resign his leadership position, “I took the initiative of off er- have on the ability of Brazil’s have migrated to Peru, Chile concerns about crime, jobs and while staying in the Senate, after ing to resign from the position government to move legislation and Argentina in recent years social services, Peru cut the federal police offi cers raided his of government leader so that the through Congress. to escape hyperinfl ation and residency programme short congressional offi ces on Thurs- government can, in the coming Bezerra Coelho told Reuters shortages of basic food and and toughened entry require- day morning as part of a bribery days, evaluate whether it’s the earlier in September that the medicine at home. ments. investigation. right moment to proceed with a body will likely pass the pension Authorities barred the mi- Earlier this month, the gov- Shortly after, Onyx Lorenzoni, new choice or not,” Bezerra Coe- reform measure by mid-October. grants from entering Peru for 15 ernment said that a new visa Bolsonaro’s chief of staff , said he lho told reporters in Brasilia. Tax reform, he said, would years and left them in Ecuador, requirement for Venezuelans would talk to the president about Bezerra Coelho and a legal rep- not be approved until the second the offi ce said in a statement. that it imposed in June had led the matter over the weekend. resentative denied that the sena- half of 2020. The announcement fol- to a 90% drop in legal entries Bezerra Coelho is a key fi gure tor committed any irregularities. In any case, the episode lowed several days of local TV and that authorities would in pushing through a proposed They also criticised the police weakens the anti-corruption coverage of a gruesome mur- beef up security to prevent il- overhaul of Brazil’s tax system, search, saying that while the ac- bonafi des of right-wing Presi- der involving Venezuelan gang legal crossings. and he is in charge of ushering tion was supported by the federal dent Jair Bolsonaro who came Chile’s President Sebastian Pinera waves during the annual members, fuelling concerns Peru, Chile and Ecuador a sweeping pension reform bill police and authorised by the Su- to power in part on a promise to military parade at the Bernardo O’Higgins park in Santiago, about crime, a top priority for now require visas and hard- through the senate. preme Court, the prosecutor gen- put corrupt politicians and busi- Chile. most Peruvians. to-get passports from Ven- Police allege he received 5.5mn eral’s offi ce opposed the move. nessmen in jail. False rumours have also ezuelan nationals. Gulf Times 12 Saturday, September 21, 2019 PAKISTAN

Writers, scholars Top auditor fi nds Rs16tn draw attention to in fi nancial irregularities Kashmir

Internews proved, or the AGP offi ce was too cases of fraud, embezzlement, ment involving a total amount of It said that the total supple- accounting offi cers of the minis- Internews Islamabad consumed in procedural niceties theft and misuse of public re- Rs14.735tn. mentary grants as per manu- tries are not authorised to incur Islamabad under the decade-old rules and sources involved a “paltry” Also, 237 cases of Rs293bn script of appropriation accounts excess expenditure without any regulations. amount of Rs862mn. were pointed out involving ir- for the fi scal year 2017-18 stood supplementary grants or within he Auditor-General of This is evident from the fact, However, there were also seri- regular expenditures or pay- at Rs10.561tn, but only Rs599bn original budget allocation. riters and scholars in Pakistan (AGP) has point- for example, that the govern- ous cases of bad fi scal manage- ments in violation of rules. of these grants had been printed This included Rs3.48tn of ex- Pakistan have drawn Ted out irregularities of ment raised $2bn (Rs280bn) in ment highlighted by the AGP. There were 56 cases of recov- in schedule of authorised ex- cess payment of domestic debt. Wthe attention of the more than Rs15.67tn worth of international bonds at 8.25% The AGP in its report, also ery amounting to Rs186bn, while penditure, leaving an unauthor- The AGP also expressed con- international literary commu- public money by federal min- and 7.25% interest, with the submitted to the president of in four cases record – relating to ised expenditure of Rs9.962tn. cern over non-surrendering of nity, particularly academics, to- istries and divisions during the approval of the prime minister Pakistan, put on record that its Rs1.06bn – was not produced on The AGP said that the fi nance savings worth Rs411bn by vari- wards the alleged human rights audit year 2018-19. instead of the federal cabinet as fi ndings were based on scrutiny the auditor’s demand. ministry is required to place all ous ministries and divisions, re- violations and humanitarian In its report laid before parlia- required under the rules. of public funds of 40 out of 50 Interestingly, the AGP also supplementary grants before the sulting in lapse of funds. crisis in Indian-administered ment as required under Article While the audit objected to federal entities, and did not cov- questioned misrepresentation National Assembly for approval, This was violation of fi nancial Kashmir. 171 of the Constitution, the AGP the higher interest rate, the en- er amounts below Rs1mn spent of more than Rs9.96tn worth but it was not done, and hence rules that require that all antici- The event was organised by highlighted a series of violation tire amount of Rs280bn was or received by these entities. of supplementary grants by the such large amounts remained pated savings should be surren- the Pakistan Academy of Letters of rules and regulations, weak- described as irregular and unau- It said that an amount of ministry of fi nance and the Ac- unreported. dered to the kitty immediately (PAL), titled “Izhar-e-Yakjehti nesses of internal control, mis- thorised without raising ques- Rs4.9bn was recovered dur- countant-General of Pakistan The fi nance ministry’s re- the moment they are foreseen, Rooh-e-Azadi-e-Kashmir”, appropriation or overpayment tions if the funds were actually ing the year under review at the Revenue (AGPR), which are re- sponse that supplementary but not later than May 15 each aimed at expressing solidarity of public funds and negligence. justifi ed. instance of the auditor, and de- quired to ensure sound fi nancial grants received from various year. with their Kashmiri brethren. The funds audited were of the As a consequence, the major- posited in the federal consoli- management of the federal gov- ministries and divisions beyond This could have pre-empted Eminent poets recited their fi scal year 2017-18, which is de- ity of such big ticket items are dated fund. ernment. a cut-off date could not be made utilisation of funds by some poems in various Pakistani lan- scribed as audit year 2018-19. ultimately regularised by the The AGP highlighted a total of The audit described it as a part of the book presented to other deserving areas. guages. The audit objections regard- parliamentary Public Accounts 39 cases of weak internal con- “high-risk” area because it parliament was found to be un- The AGP also highlighted National Language Promotion ing the accounts of the federal Committee (PAC) because these trol amounting to Rs14.56tn, violated Articles 80-84 of the tenable. about Rs55bn less payment to Department (NLPD) director- government for the audit year seldom involve corruption or involving several ministries and Constitution, since the fi nance Moreover, the AGP noted that the provinces under their Na- general Iftikhar Arif said that all 2018 are far greater (87%) than embezzlement. divisions and related entities ministry did not print these the ministries and divisions tional Finance Commission scholars of Pakistan support the the Rs5.8tn a year before, show- This is also evident from the abroad. supplementary grants in budget had incurred an expenditure (NFC) shares, through over- Kashmiris’ right to self-deter- ing that either fi nancial control fact that in the huge sum of Again, some of them were also accounts which accounted for of Rs3.643tn in excess of fi nal deduction of collection charges mination. over public money has deterio- Rs15.67tn that attracted audit included in 51 cases pertain- 94.32% of the total supplemen- grants available to them, point- and unauthorised overpayment He strongly condemned the rated instead of having been im- objections, the actual reported ing to weak fi nancial manage- tary grants. ing out that heads and principal of Rs35bn to Baluchistan. violence and alleged human rights atrocities by the Indian military in Indian-administered Kashmir. He appealed to the United Nations (UN) and other human Pakistanis rights organisations to take no- tice and to stop India. He urged the world commu- join global nity to join their call demand- ing the restoration of Kashmiris’ fundamental rights. march for The Indian government’s an- nouncement revoking Kashmir’s special status is a serious viola- action on tion of human rights as the spe- cial status previously granted a level of autonomy to the region, climate he said. Parliamentary Secretary for National History and Literary Internews Heritage Division Ghazala Saifi Islamabad said that the Pakistan govern- ment will be raising the Kash- mir issue at all available world citizen-led initiative of a forums. climate march, organised With Prime Minister Imran Aby Climate Action Now, Khan due to attend his maiden was held yesterday across Paki- session of the United Nations stan, marking climate strikes in Students hold placards as they General Assembly, she said that other countries to help stop glo- march in Peshawar to protest the premier is expected to speak bal warming. governmental inaction towards on behalf of the people of Kash- More than 26 cities and towns climate breakdown and mir and raise his voice for their took part in the march all over environmental pollution, as part rights. the country, including Mardan, of demonstrations being held “Today is the 46th day that Mithi, Thatta, Kasur, Kotli, worldwide in a movement dubbed the people of Kashmir are facing Chagai, Killa Abdullah, Pesha- ‘Fridays for Future’. a curfew and a complete com- war, Chitral, and Gilgit. munications blockade,” Saifi Meherbano Raja, a climate ac- Left: A girl holds up a sign as she said, adding that people are also tivist and part of the organising attends the Global Climate Strike facing a shortage of food and committee, said everyone began with others in Karachi. medicine. gathering at the Lahore Press Despite these challenges, she Club at 3pm, and started the said that the spirits of Kashmiris march at 4pm. remain high and that they will At the same time, marchers not step back from rendering any set off at Karachi’s Frere Hall. sacrifi ce for their freedom. “It is youth-led because they Saifi said that the Indian Su- are the most aff ected generation preme Court has also recently and so they will be leading from issued directives to lift the cur- the front,” she said. “There are few in Indian-administered school students too.” Kashmir and to restore life there. Celebrities as well as leaders, The parliamentary secretary including Senator Sherry Reh- said that the European Parlia- man, had called on people to ment recently debated the Kash- participate in the climate march. mir issue and expressed concern Thousands of events were over the alleged human rights planned worldwide for what is violations by India. expected to be one of the larg- Saifi claimed that Indian est collective calls to action in a Prime Minister Narendra Modi movement fuelled by social me- is now globally known to be a dia under the hashtag #climat- criminal. estrike. Professor Dr Maqsood Ja- Dubbed the “Fridays for Fu- fri alleged that Modi has laid the ture” movement, the campaign foundation of breaking India wants schoolchildren around into pieces and is simultane- the world to take a more active ously carrying out hate crimes role in persuading adults to take against India’s Muslim and the the issue of climate change more Sikh community, as well as hate seriously. crimes against other minorities They are demanding that poli- in India. ticians and businesses take dras- Jafri said that Modi not only tic action needed to stop global violated UN conventions and warming, which scientists warn resolutions, he also breached the will lead to environmental catas- Indian Constitution by revoking trophe under current trends. Youths shout slogans as they march in Lahore. Youths stage a climate change ‘die-in’ in Islamabad. Articles 370 and 35-A. Heatwave likely in China to open visa off ice in Peshawar Karachi this week China has decided to open a visa off ice in Peshawar to boost The Met Off ice has forecast that Full bench to hear petitions on Isa references economic relations with Pakistan. a mild heatwave is likely to aff ect This was revealed by Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing Karachi from today to September while speaking to the media during his visit to Peshawar’s China 24. Internews Judicial Council (SJC) – Chief Malik had requested that explaining the sources of funds Window on Thursday morning. The Met Off ice warned that the Islamabad Justice Khosa, Justice Gulzar a full-court bench excluding for such acquisition of proper- He said that the first Small Economic Zone of the China-Pakistan maximum temperature was Ahmed, Justice Mushir Alam, members of the SJC be formed. ties”, Justice Isa had violated the Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Rashakai will be operational this year, likely to remain in the range of Justice Sardar Tariq, and Justice Justice Isa had written letters code of conduct for judges of the which will help in poverty alleviation. 38° to 40° Celsius, with surface hief Justice of Pakistan Ejazul Ahsan – are not part of to President Dr Arif Alvi after superior courts. The ambassador was briefed about the various galleries of the wind expected to blow from the Asif Saeed Khosa has the bench. the law minister instituted a Butt had also alleged that the cultural centre, including literature and photo galleries, the CPEC, northeast during the period. Cconstituted a full bench The bench is scheduled to presidential reference against letters were leaked to the media and the Pak-China friendship wall. Last year, a heatwave killed 65 of 10 judges to hear petitions hear the petitions on September him for allegedly possessing to generate unnecessary public people in Karachi in three days, challenging the presidential ref- 24 at 1pm. properties in the United King- controversy, that the language when it coincided with power erence fi led against Justice Qazi A seven-judge bench of the dom in the name of wife and used in the letters was off en- Prime minister performs Umrah outages and the month of Faez Isa. apex court had dissolved after children. sive, that the judge had unduly Ramadan. Headed by Justice Umar Atta Munir A Malik, the counsel for In the second reference, Ad- targeted the prime minister and Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is on a two-day off icial visit to In June 2015, a heatwave had Bandial, the bench will com- Justice Isa, raised an objection vocate Waheed Shahzad Butt levelled unsubstantiated allega- Saudi Arabia, performed Umrah in Makkah-ul-Mukarramah early killed more than 400 people in prise 10 judges of the apex court. and requested the court to con- had contended that by repeat- tions against Alvi and other fed- yesterday. the metropolis. Members of the Supreme stitute a new bench. edly writing letters “instead of eral cabinet members. His wife Bushra Bibi accompanied him during the holy rituals. Gulf Times Saturday, September 21, 2019 13 PHILIPPINES

Call to Govt launches vaccine campaign abort convicts’ as second polio case emerges manhunt AFP the outbreak on Thursday after Manila polio struck a three-year-old girl in the country’s south. over fears A global eff ort to eradicate he Philippines yesterday the disease has slashed infec- launched a programme tions from more than 350,000 of violence Tto immunise millions of cases in 1988 to just 33 last year, children from polio after the according to World Health Or- Asian nation was hit by its fi rst ganisation data. Reuters outbreak of the crippling dis- Only Afghanistan, Nigeria Manila ease in nearly two decades. and Pakistan have failed to stop The two cases, the fi rst since transmission. 2001, occurred after deadly Health authorities said the he Philippine justice min- dengue fever and measles epi- virus that struck the Philippines ister yesterday urged po- demics earlier this year and as this year was a mutation of a Tlice to abort a manhunt of vaccination coverage plunged weakened strain present in the dozens of potentially dangerous partly due to mistrust stoked by oral polio vaccine, which is used convicts freed in error, fearing a dengue vaccine scandal. in most of the world to control possible violence after the presi- “It is unthinkable that a child the disease. dent off ered big bounties to kill will suff er from a disease that The low vaccine coverage al- or capture them. is highly preventable by vac- lows the virus to fi nd a new hu- The release of so many crimi- cination,” Health Secretary man host, they said. nals guilty of violent off ences Francisco Duque said after ad- The Philippines in 2016 be- under a programme to reward ministering a dose of oral polio came the fi rst nation to use good behaviour has been a huge vaccine to a toddler at a Manila Dengvaxia, the world’s fi rst embarrassment for President ceremony. dengue vaccine, in a country Rodrigo Duterte, a former pros- “We continue to urge parents trial programme involving hun- ecutor who won an election by and caregivers of children be- dreds of thousands of school- promising to stamp out crime. low fi ve years old, health work- children. Justice Secretary Menardo ers, and local chief executives But controversy arose after Guevarra wanted police to stand to take part in the synchronised its French manufacturer Sa- down after the midnight expiry polio vaccination to be sched- nofi disclosed a year later that of Duterte’s deadline for inmates uled in their communities,” he it could worsen symptoms for to turn themselves in, as the added. people not previously infected number of those who reported to Polio vaccinations in the cap- with the virus. authorities roughly matched the ital plunged from just over 77% Manila stopped the pro- 1,700 serious off enders freed. of the target numbers in 2016 gramme and banned the vaccine. “We want to make sure that to below 24% in June, making The disclosure sparked a na- those remaining are actually the metropolis of 13mn a high- tionwide panic, with some par- people that need to be arrest- risk area for the re-emergence A mother watches as a health worker administers a polio vaccine during an anti-polio campaign in Manila, yesterday. ents alleging the vaccine killed ed,” Guevarra told news channel of polio, a health department their children, though a govern- ANC. statement said. even death and has no cure, lier said, blaming poor sanitary from a province adjoining Ma- sis last month, the department ment-commissioned investiga- “We fi nd it prudent to pause The highly infectious virus, has been detected in Manila practices. nila was struck with the virus said yesterday. tion found no conclusive proof for a while, tally the count and which can cause paralysis and sewage, the department ear- A sickly fi ve-year-old boy and suff ered an onset of paraly- The department announced that it did. make sure those who surren- dered are those on the list.” Duterte had off ered a “prize” of a million pesos ($19,000) for each of the convicted murder- ers, rapists and drug off enders Youth join call for climate justice Filipinos told to be fearless in released in a corrections bureau blunder, and said he preferred them caught dead rather than DPA alive. Manila protests against martial law Guevarra tried this week to in- tervene to ensure the public did not take literally Duterte’s ex- oung environment ac- The Manila Times pressed desire for the fugitives to tivists in the Philippines Manila be killed. Ywere holding rallies yes- Duterte has drawn fl ak for his terday on the fi rst day of the fi erce rhetoric, including calls Global Climate Strike. he Commission on Hu- for the deaths of drug users or On the University of the Phil- man Rights (CHR) urged alleged criminals, which critics ippines campus in Manila, stu- TFilipinos not to be afraid say is inciting vigilantism and dents, environmentalists and in commemorating the 47th spurring police to kill illegally. indigenous people gathered to anniversary of the declaration His offi ce rejects that, saying address the climate crisis. of Martial Law in the Philip- his words are meant for eff ect, They held placards with slo- pines. and should be taken seriously, gans including “What do we In a Twitter thread posted not literally. want? #ClimateJustice! When yesterday night, the CHR said Guevarra would not identify do we want it? Now!” Activists comprised of students and professionals gather in front that impunity continued to rule the wanted former inmates, out Students from Saint Louis of a banner as they take part in a world-wide climate rally, at the the nation, long after dictator of concern that people trying to University in the mountain re- University of the Philippines’ campus in Manila, yesterday. Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled capture dangerous felons could sort city of Baguio joined a pro- the country for over two dec- get hurt or might target the test denouncing nations and Youth Strike for Climate Phil- say were killed under the Du- ades, had gone. wrong people. corporations that fail to address ippines said. terte administration in 2018. “Forty-seven years ago, More time was needed to “heatwaves, violent storms, The group said the activi- “The youth will not be dis- Martial Law was declared in verify those who had reported to warmer oceans, vanishing ties were “in solidarity with the couraged from defending the our country,” the CHR tweeted. authorities, he said, adding that coastal towns, the extinction of youth-led movement inspired rights of the people and the en- “The dictator (Marcos) has long Protesters hold up placards as they gather at Luneta Park on the they included former criminals species and raging forest fi res.” by teen climate activist Greta vironment,” Madelene De Borja been gone but the growing cli- eve of the 47th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law by who were not under suspicion A series of protests is set to Thunberg,” who will launch the of the Ecological Justice League mate of injustice and impunity the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in Manila, yesterday. but who had surrendered for fear take place across the country climate strike in New York. of Youth Leaders said. today seems to be reminiscent of being killed, or because they from September 20-27, organ- The Department of Educa- Also yesterday, coinciding of the dark period of the dicta- option. “Let us not be victims measures, which enable preferred being in prison. ised by groups including the tion asked school offi cials to with the Global Climate Strike, torship.” of historical amnesia and push abuses, must never be an “Probably they are afraid for Youth for Strike Climate Philip- allow students to join local pro- Greenpeace Philippines formed The human rights com- back against similar authori- option.” The CHR said that their lives because the president pines and Zero Waste Pilipinas. tests with parental consent. a blockade at the Shell oil refi n- mission further tweeted that tarian tendencies that threaten it would continue to oppose said you’d better surrender or “A key demand that unites In a joint statement, youth ery in Batangas province, south people should not fall victim our democracy,” it tweeted. any form of historical revi- you’ll be hunted down dead or all of these strikes is a call for organisations demanded justice of Manila, demanding account- to “historical amnesia” and “It is our duty to engage sionism and concluded its alive,” he said. the Philippine government to for the death of 30 land and en- ability for the fi rm’s role in the should educate the next gen- the younger generations and thread saying, “Never again, “Some may have found it dif- declare a climate emergency,” vironmental activists that they climate crisis. eration that abuses were not an remind them that extreme never forget.” fi cult to adjust outside.” Duterte orders shunning of grants from backers of UN drug war probe

Reuters tally, many in mysterious cir- land and Ukraine. It is not the Manila cumstances. fi rst time Duterte has taken a President pestered again as gecko stalls speech The growing toll led to 11 UN stand against the international experts issuing a statement of community over perceived criti- Philippine President Rodrigo Du- duce various loud sounds, from hilippines President Rod- concern in June about what they cism of his anti-narcotics cam- terte just keeps getting bugged barks to chirps, to communicate rigo Duterte has instructed called a “staggering” number of paign. during his public speeches. or when threatened. Pall departments and state- deaths during Duterte’s signa- He once threatened to pull the A noisy gecko was the latest While activists accuse Duterte run fi rms to halt negotiations ture campaign. Philippines out of the United wildlife contributor to an ad- of cowing his opponents into and agreements on grants and Human rights groups accuse Nations and publicly rejected dress by Duterte, interrupting silence, reptiles and insects have loans from countries that have police of systematic cover-ups 260mn euros ($286.91mn) of the leader on Thursday evening no qualms about pestering him backed a UN investigation into and summary executions of European Union development just as he launched another during his often hours-long, his bloody war on drugs. anyone associated with drugs, projects over remarks by some tirade at human rights groups televised addresses. With 18 countries in favour, which police deny. European parliamentarians. critical of his bloody war on A big cockroach crawled up his the United Nations Human “All concerned offi cials are di- It later emerged that the drugs. shoulder and down his shirt Rights Council approved a reso- rected to suspend negotiations projects were never stopped. The reptile’s persistence caused during a speech in May when lution in July to compile a com- for and signing of loans and Last year, he unilaterally with- laughter in the crowd of mostly he was lambasting an opposi- prehensive report on Duterte’s grant agreements with the gov- drew the Philippines from the soldiers, causing Duterte stop tion party ahead of a national three-year crackdown, during ernments of the countries that International Criminal Court, mid-sentence, turn to his left and election. which at least 6,700 people have co-sponsored and/or voted in after it announced it was con- pause for a while to see what He joked the cockroach was its been killed in what police say favour,” the memo said. ducting a preliminary examina- the off -camera commotion was. supporter. were shootouts with drug deal- Medialdea did not immedi- tion into alleged crimes against “You brought a gecko here?” he Two months later, a fly kept ers who resisted arrest. ately respond to a request for humanity. It is not immediately asked an off icial sitting behind buzzing around him and landing A document seen by Reuters, comment. clear how a halt on loans from him, drawing laughs. on his forehead, just as he was dated Aug 27 and signed by Du- Duterte’s spokesman and legal the 18 countries would impact Geckos are common across berating his rivals in the Catholic terte’s Executive Secretary Sal- counsel, Salvador Panelo, said the Philippines. southeast Asia. clergy. vador Medialdea, said all agen- “the president has not issued Economic Planning Secre- The small lizard-like reptiles are He said in jest that the fly was cies and state companies should any memorandum suspending tary, Ernesto Pernia, told Reu- known for their ability to pro- acting on their orders. suspend negotiations or agree- loans and negotiation”. Panelo ters in a text message that “no ments “pending the assess- had previously called the reso- infrastructure projects” would ment of our relations with these lution “grotesquely one-sided, Duterte: under scrutiny be aff ected.”Only some ODA terte has not said he would deny Locsin, last week said such a re- countries”. Thousands of mostly outrageously narrow, and mali- grants,” he said, referring to Of- UN representatives entry to his quest would be refused, criticis- urban poor drug users have also ciously partisan”, arguing that it was less than the 14 votes against council that voted in favour of fi cial Development Assistance. country to investigate, if a re- ing the UN human rights experts been killed in the Philippines lacked legitimacy because the 18 and 15 abstentions combined. the resolution include Britain, Though the Philippines re- quest is made. who had already made up their in addition to the offi cial police council members who backed it Countries on the 47-member Australia, Spain, Denmark, Ice- jects the resolution itself, Du- His foreign minister, Teodoro minds. Gulf Times 14 Saturday, September 21, 2019 COMMENT

CHAIRMAN Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Classes without textbooks? Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka Deputy Managing Editor K T Chacko More colleges giving it a try Production Editor Amjad Khan By Susan Snyder The Philadelphia Inquirer P.O.Box 2888, Doha, Qatar [email protected] hen Natalie Flynn 44350478 (News), surveyed students in her Temple University intro to 44466404 (Sport), Wphysical geology classes, 44466636 (Home delivery) she found half weren’t buying the textbook she used. 44350474 Many couldn’t aff ord it. facebook.com/gulftimes “We were developing a very, very uneven playing fi eld in the classroom,” twitter.com/gulftimes_Qatar she said. That’s when Flynn decided to phase out print textbooks from as many of her courses as possible. She’s part of a small but growing eff ort at Temple to GULF TIMES use or create online materials, including textbooks that are openly licensed and vetted - and perhaps most importantly, free to students. Companies on ‘strike’ Temple offi cials estimate the ort,eff which began in 2011 and has gotten buy- in from nearly 90 of the university’s 3,850 full and part-time professors, has for the climate crisis: saved students $1mn. In the last year, Temple in collaboration with its library and action or advertising? university press began giving professors $5,000 stipends and support to write their own free, open texts. Eight “Strike for climate action” is the watchword coming not from projects are underway via “North Broad the shop steward but the C-suite as many companies publicise Press,” including a book being written their support for mobilisation, but positioning to capture by the criminal justice department for consumers that isn’t translated into action carries risks. its intro course. While the movement may not be massive, it is global: around “We put it through peer review, copy Temple University physical geology professor Natalie Flynn talks to her students about using a free website (on smart board) the world companies have gone public and associated themselves editing and production,” said Annie instead of a textbook, on the first day of class on August 26, 2019. She is using open resource materials in the classroom as part with the global climate protests on September 20 and 27. Johnson, Temple’s library publishing of a program at Temple that encourages professors to write their own textbooks or use other free resources so students don’t The American outdoor clothing company Patagonia, for specialist. have to buy expensive textbooks. Many other colleges locally and example, has publicised widely its decision to close its 107 stores nationally are taking similar steps to because of the textbook costs, develop “We also encourage them to think editions. They rent or borrow. They on both days to encourage its employees to participate in the ease the burden of textbook costs, which an increased fi nancial burden because about other content they can provide to opt for e-books. They take pictures of events. can exceed $1,000 a year, according to they buy them regardless, or have to go students that might not be OER,” such key pages with their phones. They even In Germany, 2,400 fi rms have joined under the banner of some estimates. to great lengths to develop alternative as library resources, she said. download PDFs of pirated versions. “Entrepreneurs for Future”. “The goal is to try to create as much methods for acquiring the necessary Rutgers in 2016 began off ering faculty “There’s a massive email chain Employees of companies such as Zalando, Delivery Hero and open content as possible,” said Steven materials.” $1,000 incentives to reduce reliance on for a pirated version of Bio 1,” Philip Flixbus were marching in suit and tie to demonstrate the support Bell, Temple’s associate university The college, said Christopher Barnes, print textbooks in their classes. Since Mattes, a student in Flynn’s geology of the business world. librarian. “This isn’t something that scholarly communications librarian, then, the university estimates 19,300 class, pointed out. Mattes, 22, a senior The popular organic supermarkets Alnatura were operating happens overnight. This is a long-term is trying to help. Last spring, F & M students at its campuses in Camden, environmental science major from with skeleton staff s. project, but we are seeing a revolution.” handed out its fi rst ever textbook Newark and New Brunswick have Scranton, said Temple’s class of 2020 Companies are coming under “pressure from both citizens, The move toward “Open Educational aff ordability awards to faculty who best benefi ted and saved $3.5mn, Wilkinson Facebook page was fi lled with students off ering to sell old textbooks at the who have never been as concerned about environmental Resources” comes as print textbook used open resources. Barnes’ team also said. sales continue to drop and rentals and has off ered faculty help in finding free Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ, beginning of the semester. questions, as well as consumers who are demanding that e-book sales increase. alternatives to print texts. earlier this year gave $2,000 grants to “I saw multiple versions of the same fi rms assume their responsibilities in the larger ecosystem, “We’ve seen textbook sales decrease “The greatest resource has been the faculty to move toward open resources, book that I bought for $150,” he said. said Guenaelle Gault, head of the Society and Consumption by approximately 10% per year as level of support throughout campus, said Sean Hendricks, an assistant vice “Someone just sold it for $30.” Observatory, a Paris-based research and consultancy fi rm. students switch from buying new and from the provost and president on president. The university estimates Flynn told students they wouldn’t Employees are also putting pressure on their employers: used textbooks to using rentals, buying down,” he said. students are saving $120,000. have to buy a book for her class. Instead, nearly 1,700 Amazon employees planned to join demonstrations from alternative sources and embracing Some educators caution that while With more faculty coming on board she gave them the URL for a free book, yesterday. digital subscriptions,” said Lori they support making more material free in 2020, students could save as much written by Salt Lake Community “As employees at one of Friedman, a spokesperson for Lehigh to students, Open Educational Resources as $1.2mn, he said. More than 4,200 College faculty. “There is the largest and most powerful University. “Textbook rentals now vary in quality among disciplines, as students last year took College Comp “It has a lot of nice interactive companies in the world, our account for about 30% of our sales.” well as how up to date they are and how II, which will be using an open textbook features to it,” such as videos and a form of role in facing the climate crisis Some states, including New York, much support they off er for faculty and next year. Students could save a quarter animations, she said. are funding eff orts to make open students using them. of a million in that subject alone, is to ensure our company Senior Jem Palma, of Cheltenham, schizophrenia resources more available to students. “Some OERs are great and some may Hendricks said. was pleased. is leading on climate, not In Pennsylvania, academic libraries are not be helpful,” said Regan AR Gurung, Manor College in Jenkintown “I’m used to having to pay for not in joining the following,” said their strike pushing for state funding, as well as a professor of psychology at Oregon surveyed more than 50 faculty last only textbooks but access codes for petition. educating and training faculty about State University. “The bottom line here fall from a range of disciplines and all of my classes, even clickers for march without “We have to take open resources, Bell said. is that OERs are extremely promising found that most use open educational attendance,” she said. “So this is great.” responsibility for the impact “Some ask why should faculty give but we’ve got to make sure that in our resources. The majority said they also Flynn said she’s gotten print supporting the that our business has on the away their intellectual content for free,” assessments of OER that we are being use a print textbook, said Cherie Crosby, textbooks out of all of her general planet and on people.” Bell said. “For many faculty, it’s a social true to the students. Just giving them dean of education and professional education courses, which enrol students movement” Jeff Bezos, the head of the justice issue, one of access.” something free if it’s not the same studies. from a mix of majors. Sometimes, online retail and technology At Franklin & Marshall College in quality really in the long run is not doing “It’s a progression,” she said. “I don’t there’s no way to avoid a book for behemoth, which was recently singled out by Greenpeace for its Lancaster, the student government our students a service.” know if we’ll be completely OER, but higher-level classes, she said. For those, we’re moving toward that.” carbon emissions, pledged on Thursday to make its operations in a letter last April implored faculty Rutgers University encourages faculty she keeps multiple copies for students to address high textbook costs that to explore and evaluate OERs the same An individual print textbook for to borrow. carbon neutral by 2040. impact students inequitably, citing “a way they would a commercial textbook, some subjects can cost $200 or more. “Even as majors, I don’t think they Meanwhile Google announced on Thursday a record-high great many cases in which students are said Zara Wilkinson, reference and Students have found ways around the need to own it,” she said. - Tribune boost to its green electricity purchases, after having become in either dissuaded from joining a class instruction librarian at Rutgers Camden. tab. They buy used versions or previous News Service 2017 the fi rst fi rm of its size to off set its entire annual electricity consumption with renewable energy. If these companies “open the fl oodgates, they then have to take real engagements, for example cancelling exiting commercial contracts, which rapidly becomes very complicated,” said Gault. Heavily polluting companies in the energy and industrial Trudeau blackface lands him in hot water sectors have been more discrete about the climate strikes, even if Swedish truck and bus manufacturer Scania has dedicated they were made to feel less because of who they are,” yesterday to employee training on sustainability. Guardian News and Media Toronto Singh said. “There is a form of schizophrenia in joining the march without But that boost for the NDP may fade away as the supporting the movement” with action, something which could election draws closer: progressive voters turned off pose problems for companies “whose environmental footprint anadians have long been aware that Justin by Trudeau’s escapades are unlikely to transfer their can’t easily be shrunk,” said public relations specialist Jean- Trudeau likes to dress up. support to Scheer’s party. “A lot of those people will Christophe Alquier. His tendency to appropriate dress and just fall back to the Liberals, because their primary Hover he sees a “formidable marketing platform” in the strikes Ccustoms from other cultures has prompted objective will be to vote against the Conservatives for companies wanting to show they have taken on board the gentle mockery from rival politicians and the media: … It’s going to be a rough few days for the Liberals, need to take action on the climate. on a trip to India last year, he was photographed in a but I don’t think it’s gonna move the needle in the But “there is risk as the demand for change is very strong in a kurta on numerous occasions. He has Indigenous art polls much as the Conservatives might hope,” said situation where there is lots of mistrust of these actors,” said Gault. tattooed his shoulder. He dances to bhangra music. Wiseman. “Companies can’t settle for just ‘greenwashing’”. But the emergence of three damning images of the Beyond the immediate political frenzy, the Canadian prime minister in blackface have shattered emergence of Trudeau’s blackface images has also cast The movement’s organisers are on the lookout for companies the prime minister’s carefully curated image as a a spotlight on a deeper thread of systematic racism in just looking for marketing opportunities. progressive leader. Canada. “To change everything, we need everyone,” said Clemence The incident has landed the prime minister in hot Canada’s Indigenous population is Dubois of the activist group 350. water as his Liberal party fi ghts to secure another disproportionately represented among murder “So many big companies coming out in support of the strikes four-year term in a tightly contested federal election. Justin Trudeau: Image as progressive leader shattered victims, prison inmates and the child welfare system. shows that it is now impossible to turn away from the climate Trudeau quickly apologised – “I’m angry at myself. First Nation communities struggle with enduring crisis, but of course, actions prove louder than words,” she said. I’m disappointed in myself,” he told reporters – but the actions – a standard he appeared unprepared to off er poverty and exclusion. Black residents of Toronto are “The next step will be for major corporations to do so, by re- damage may already have been done, said Amarnath to Trudeau. 20 times more likely to be shot dead by the police than directing fi nance and changing their practices.” Amarasingam, a professor of religion at Queens “The more we get caught up in dichotomisation their white neighbours. University. of ‘You said something racist and therefore you’re “Canadians generally see racism through the lens “I have a diffi cult time seeing him wiggle his way out bad’, the more we’re likely to miss the real point,” said of what we are not. We are not the US. We are not of this one. He’s not an authentic kind of messenger Aditya Rao, an Ottawa-based human rights lawyer. “I Europe. We’re not having tiki-torch marches,” said To Advertise on the race issue. He’s not an authentic messenger on worry that people are looking to score political points Amarasingam. “We always feel like we’re kind of the discrimination issue because he’s never led that off of this.” ‘above the rest’ when it comes to issues of race and [email protected] conversation in the country before,” he said. While Trudeau will likely sustain political damage racism and discrimination.” Display The timing for Trudeau is particularly bad: only in the coming days, he’s unlikely to be facing an Balpreet Singh of the World Sikh Organisation, weeks ago, the prime minister publicly castigated existential crisis, said Nelson Wiseman, a professor of describe Trudeau’s use of blackface as “mocking” and 44466621 44418811 the Conservative leader, Andrew Scheer, over a political science at the University of Toronto. “hurtful” – but then pointed to Quebec’s provincial recently unearthed video clip from 2005, in which The immediate winners may be the left-wing New government which recently introduced legislation Classified Scheer expressed scepticism over the idea of gay Democratic Party. The NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, banning public sector employees from wearing 44466609 44418811 marriage. gave a powerful speech on Wednesday, in which he religious symbols – a law that disproportionately Scheer has seized on the blackface images, saying described the chilling impact the images had on him – targets visible minorities. Subscription Trudeau “has lost the moral authority to govern”. and on millions of other Canadians who faced racism “A picture of the prime minister in blackface is But the Conservative leader also has to grapple growing up. bad. But the fact that there’s a province in Canada [email protected] with that fact members of his own party have a “The kids that see this image, the people that see that is telling the members of certain religious history of racist or homophobic statements and social this image, are going to think about all the times in groups that they’re second-class citizens and won’t media posts. Scheer told reporters he would stand by their life that they were made fun of, that they were be employed – that’s really a thousand times worse,” © 2018 Gulf Times. All rights reserved candidates who showed genuine remorse for previous hurt, that they were hit, that they were insulted, that he said. Gulf Times Saturday, September 21, 2019 15 COMMENT How AI can promote social good

By Hala Hanna and Vilas Dhar even public safety. Residents submit detailed Boston stories and data about their neighbourhoods to the platform, which then aggregates these individual experiences into climate models. rtificial intelligence is now Crisis Text Line, meanwhile, uses machine increasingly present in corporate learning to analyse words and phrases and government decision-making. associated with youths in crisis through text AAnd although AI tools are still messages, and triages messages to ensure largely in the hands of institutions that at-risk users get help fast. By processing vast focus on profit before purpose, these new amounts of data, the organisation has identifi ed technologies could be equally powerful in some of the most likely predictors of the need promoting social good. for an emergency response. For example, it To that end, a joint eff ort by MIT Solve and found a high correlation between the word the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation shows “ibuprofen” and attempts at self-harm. By how AI applications can be used to extend using AI, messages containing this word are prosperity to economically marginalised now prioritised in the queue. But the outreach groups. Already, entrepreneurs are exploring is done by human volunteer counsellors who how AI can be used to address some of the contact the distressed texter. world’s thorniest challenges in thoughtful, These examples show how new business creative, and previously impossible ways. models are helping to extract additional AI is most exciting when it can both absorb value from big data and AI technologies, large amounts of data and identify more benefi ting those previously excluded from accurate correlations (diagnostics), while the data economy. That is why MIT Solve leaving the causational conclusions and and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation are ultimate decision-making to humans. This collaborating to support tech entrepreneurs human-machine interaction is particularly solving global problems. We will continue important for social-impact initiatives, where to identify promising ventures in their early ethical stakes are high and improving the lives stages; equip them with the capacity to grow, of the marginalised is the measure of success. scale, and diversify; and champion their stories What’s more, algorithms are only as good to bolster the use of AI for social good. And as the data that train them, and the choice of Solve judges will select a new cohort of tech which data to include in AI models is inherently entrepreneurs at the upcoming Solve Challenge biased. Or, as the saying goes, “bias in, bias Finals. out.” AI has the potential to improve billions Take the issue of fi nancial inclusion and of people’s lives – but only if it creates and creditworthiness. For people without a bank delivers value directly to those most in need, account, getting a loan or credit card is near rather than fattening the bottom line of impossible. Yet many of the unbanked can businesses already serving the most privileged. prove their creditworthiness in other ways, ILLUSTRATION: Edureka.com By harnessing these technologies for social such as through a history of paying utility and good, today’s new breed of entrepreneurs can phone bills on time. high-quality services, and improve outcomes. personalised medical insights that help Yet there is a limit to what bots can do. bring about lasting, transformational change. Destácame, an AI-based platform that now Century Tech’s educational platform, for them to identify appropriate next steps. Its Although AI tools can triage customer-service Crisis Text Line is a Patrick J. McGovern serves 1.3mn people in Chile and Mexico, uses example, makes teachers more productive by AI engine and curated medical knowledge requests or even make psychological support Foundation grantee and Solver fi nalist. an algorithm to create an alternative credit automating rote and administrative tasks. And base, meanwhile, provide semi-skilled health available to larger numbers of people, forging Inclusion in this commentary has no infl uence score using data not reported to credit bureaus. by understanding how each student learns, it professionals such as community health a genuinely deep connection requires a human on Crisis Text Line’s likelihood of being By proving its clients’ ability to repay loans, the provides customised individual plans aimed at workers, pharmacists, nurses, and midwives touch. selected for the MIT Solve programme. – platform helps to reduce the barriers that often improving their performance in school. with clinical decision-support tools. At the The ISeeChange platform, for example, Project Syndicate prevent fi nancial institutions from lending to In a similar vein, Ada Health serves both frontlines of health-service delivery where combines natural language processing with them. patients and health workers. The platform’s worker shortages are acute, such support can user-generated data and sensor networks O Hala Hanna is Managing Director, In education and health, meanwhile, AI conversational interface, backed by natural make the diff erence between sickness and to give cities critical data to improve their Community at MIT Solve. Vilas Dhar is a trustee can dramatically reduce the cost of providing language processing, gives patients instant health. climate resilience, infrastructure design, and of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. A war of words over women’s health Three-day forecast their sexual and reproductive Vaccinating girls against the human That is why the Alliance for TODAY By Katja Iversen Maximum Temperature : 390c New York health needs, remain a matter of papilloma virus (HPV) would avert Gender Equality and UHC – which political contention, which has more than 3mn deaths from cervical comprises more than 100 civil society Minimum Temperature : 300c long caused their healthcare to be cancer over the next decade in 72 organisations from 46 countries – has SUNDAY his month, the United undervalued and under-resourced. In low- and middle-income countries. been calling on UN member states not Maximum Temperature : 380c Nations General Assembly humanitarian settings, for example, And, of course, healthier mothers have to allow a victory for those seeking to Minimum Temperature : 310c will hold a high-level there is very little access to sexual and healthier children. undermine women’s health and rights. MONDAY Tmeeting to secure a reproductive healthcare. And in many Protecting women’s health and The deletion of these words has very Maximum Temperature : 380c commitment by member states to places, young people have diffi culties guaranteeing their autonomy over real consequences. Minimum Temperature : 300c deliver universal health coverage exercising their reproductive rights. their own bodies is the bedrock “Healthcare for all” includes sexual Fisherman's forecast (UHC), including financial risk Undermining women’s health of gender equality. SRHR enables and reproductive health, and “all” protection and access to essential further, women are often under- women to reach their full potential includes every person, regardless of WARNING healthcare services, medicines, represented in medical trials, leading by, among other things, participating race, ethnicity, age, ability, migration Inshore : Expected poor visibility at some places by early and vaccines for all. But just how to inadequate diagnosis and treatment in their economies, politics, and status, gender identity or expression, morning much countries commit to services of diseases. Even programmes societies. This boosts the wellbeing indigeneity, health condition, class, or Offshore : Nil that meet the unique needs of girls that are intended specifi cally to of families and communities, thereby caste. To have any chance of delivering WEATHER Inshore : Misty to foggy at places and women as part of their UHC serve adolescent girls are often contributing to overall economic this, SRHR must be recognised, at first becomes rela- implementation is still up for debate. designed without meaningful youth growth and sustainable development. funded, and manifested in every tively hot and humid By adopting a political declaration engagement; as a result, they often Despite these enormous benefi ts, country and community in the world. daytime with slight dust at times. on UHC, countries are agreeing to fail to meet their target users’ needs experience suggests that unless The fi ght now moves from words Offshore : Misty at times and allocate funding from their national and, at times, even reinforce damaging SRHR is explicitly protected in UN on a page to action. If governments some clouds budgets to create a future in which stigmas. declarations, it is likelier to be left out are serious about UHC, they must WIND Inshore : Southwesterly-South- diabetics everywhere get insulin, But for universal health coverage to of policy deliberations and budgets. commit to building and funding easterly 05-15 KT HIV isn’t left to ravage communities, be truly universal and transformative, Ensuring such protections is an comprehensive healthcare systems and all children receive essential it must embrace gender equality uphill battle, because conservative that work for all people, including Offshore : Northwesterly-Westerly vaccinations. In that future, even the in all forms – and that also means UN member states push to strike girls and women. The result will be a 03-12 KT most vulnerable communities would providing explicit guarantees of sexual words like “gender” and “sexual and healthier, wealthier, and more equal Visibility : 4-8/2 KM have reliable and aff ordable access to and reproductive health and rights reproductive health and rights,” and world. – Project Syndicate the services they need, and the entire (SRHR). This includes pre-and post- sometimes even “human rights,” from Offshore : 1-3 FT society would be healthier and more natal care, infertility treatment, and various international declarations. O Katja Iversen is President and CEO Around the region productive. prevention and treatment of sexually There is a war of words being of Women Deliver, a global advocate And yet the unique health needs transmitted infections and cancers of fought in the multilateral system, and for gender equality and the health and Weather Weather of girls and women, not least the reproductive organs. women’s bodies are the battleground. rights of girls and women. today Max/min tomorrow Max/min Baghdad Sunny 43/24 Sunny 40/23 Kuwait City Sunny 38/26 Sunny 40/27 Manama Sunny 39/30 Sunny 40/30 Muscat Sunny 34/28 Sunny 34/28 Live issues Tehran Sunny 36/22 Sunny 34/20 Why breaking up Facebook would likely backfi re

By Carl Shapiro and Aaron Edlin so much. If Facebook didn’t feed The winner might do so even more The Mercury News red-meat false news to the angry eff ectively than Facebook has today, electorate, they would not be so riled with eff ects even more pernicious. up and craving more. If Facebook To be sure, one might hope for a lizabeth Warren, prominent weren’t so good at splitting us up fi rm competing by off ering to protect antitrust academics and even into narrow targeted audiences that privacy as DuckDuckGo does in a Facebook founder have all have less and less in common, they search, or by promising not to addict Ecalled for an antitrust suit would not make so much money from its users. But DuckDuckGo’s privacy Around the world to break up Facebook. Now state advertisers. promises have created no meaningful Weather Weather attorneys general have announced an Tempting as it is to break up a threat to Google, and it is far easier today Max/min tomorrow Max/min investigation. behemoth that causes so much harm to see a rival toppling Facebook with Athens Sunny 25/17 Sunny 27/16 But breakup advocates should be to our society, breaking up Facebook a more addictive product than with a Beirut Sunny 29/24 Sunny 29/25 careful what they wish for because would most likely make things less addictive one. What startup does Bangkok T Storm 29/24 T Storm 30/24 the real problems Facebook creates even worse. Once Facebook starts not dream of its product going viral? Berlin P Cloudy 21/08 Sunny 23/09 – addicting people like a drug, competing with independent versions Lest we forget, viruses can be very Cairo Sunny 34/22 Sunny 33/22 promoting fake news, allowing a of Instagram and WhatsApp, all three harmful if not fatal. Cape Town Showers 16/13 Cloudy 17/11 foreign power to tip a presidential are likely to follow the same alluring When fi rms produce bads, the Colombo S T Storms 29/26 T Storm 28/25 election, allowing mass murderers path to growth that Facebook itself has solution is regulation or taxation, Dhaka S T Storms 34/27 T Storm 32/26 to broadcast their massacres and blazed: producing bads. Competition not breakups or more competition. Hong Kong Sunny 29/23 P Cloudy 28/24 diminishing our privacy – are all likely are good and the more the better. could well trigger a race to the bottom, We need to identify the bads and ban Istanbul M Sunny 21/13 M Sunny 22/13 to be aggravated, not mitigated, by a More competition is a great thing in much as unregulated competition them or tax them, just as we have with Jakarta P Cloudy 34/24 M Sunny 33/24 breakup. markets where fi rms produce goods – can lead to child labour, air and water air pollution and cigarettes. Europe Karachi M Sunny 37/28 M Sunny 37/28 Breakup advocates are right things we really do want more of. But pollution, unsafe products and other and California have begun regulating London Sunny 25/18 Rain 21/13 that Facebook’s acquisitions of more competition is not a great thing unsavoury practices. the bad aspects of digital industries, Manila S T Storms 29/24 M Cloudy 30/24 WhatsApp and Instagram eliminated in markets where fi rms produce bads Goods do not necessarily win out including Facebook. Federal regulation Moscow M Sunny 11/04 Showers 08/02 competition. Unwinding these – things that cause harm. In those against bads. McDonald’s did not grow is now overdue. New Delhi S T Storms 32/25 T Storm 31/25 mergers would most likely create more markets, increased competition is so fast serving food that is healthy for If bads are not suffi ciently regulated New York P Cloudy 29/19 M Sunny 29/22 competition, which is exactly what likely to lead to even more bads. the body, and Facebook did not grow or taxed in any market like social Paris M Sunny 29/18 Rain 23/13 antitrust law seeks. The sad truth is that alongside the so fast serving fare that is healthy for media where fi rms can get ahead by Sao Paulo Cloudy 19/16 Showers 18/13 Antitrust law promotes goods it produces, Facebook produces the mind. Modern capitalism is driven producing them, then the seemingly Seoul Cloudy 26/17 Rain 19/14 competition to keep prices low so many bads. Even worse, these bads by profi ts, not by social virtue. simple “solution” of a breakup risks Singapore P Cloudy 32/26 P Cloudy 33/27 that Americans can aff ord more have been central to its success. If Split Facebook into three fi rms exacerbating the very problems it is Sydney Cloudy 22/16 P Cloudy 19/12 goods and services, with the Facebook weren’t so addictive and and these fi rms will vie to creatively intended to solve. – Tribune News Tokyo Cloudy 22/19 Cloudy 22/17 implicit assumption that goods engrossing it would not have grown capture the attention of the world. Service Gulf Times 16 Saturday, September 21, 2019 QATAR

QU-CPH holds Qatar Pharmacy Sheikha Moza meets US Speaker Pelosi Undergraduate Society elections

atar University’s (QU) the international pharmaceuti- mitment, impact, innovation, College of Pharmacy cal students’ federation. partnership.” Q(CPH) held its annual The elected members of this The former QPHUS president elections for its Qatar Phar- year’s QPHUS executive council Sara Thiab said, “Leading Qatar macy Undergraduate Society are: President Hend al-Naimi, Pharmacy Undergraduate So- (QPHUS) for the academic year vice president Kheloud Awad, ciety was an enriching experi- 2019-2020. contact person and public rela- ence. Students from all four profes- tions offi cer Bassant Elkattan, The amount of knowledge sional years of pharmacy were media and marketing director and skills that I developed dur- encouraged to run for the nine Nadin Kamel, treasurer Aliah ing my time to fulfi l this role are executive council positions and Aly, general secretary Ruba Su- now lifelong skills that I will be to participate in electing their laiman, and four class repre- using beyond my time in col- representatives. sentatives Rana Mekkawi, Hiba lege. I encourage all students The executives are members Mohamed, Laila Shafei and to uptake executive positions of CPH undergraduate student Marwa Elshazly. in the society to experience the advisory committee which is a CPH assistant dean for Stu- benefi ts of such roles, and how forum to discuss any strengths, dent Aff airs Dr Alla El-Awaisi they both teach and develop us, concerns or area for improve- who oversaw the campaign, as better pharmacists and peo- ments relating to the students’ nominations and the elections, ple.” academic and non-academic commented, “Congratulations The elected president of this experience. to the new executives for their year’s QPHUS, al-Naimi com- These members take an ac- new positions and wish them mented, “I do believe that being tive role in leading students’ all the best in successfully lead- a QPHUS member is a great op- initiatives in hosting academic ing QPHUS over the next year. portunity for us youths to invest and nonacademic outreach and Being an executive member is our skills preparing us for future social events. QPHUS board a great opportunity to develop positions. I am very excited to Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Education Above All and Silatech, met with Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US members may also be selected the student leadership skills take the lead in this year’s soci- House of Representatives, during which they discussed Education Above All’s work in educating out-of-school children globally, as to represent Qatar regionally or and be a role model to other ety. I am sure that the president well as Silatech’s eff orts in the region. internationally at conferences, students by displaying the core position will hold a lot of ex- scientifi c or educational events. values of our college: which are perience and knowledge, and I QPHUS is an active member of professionalism, respect, com- can’t wait to start this journey.” SC welfare standards ensure happy, content, productive workforce

BK Contracting was the fi rst contractor to be ap- Hpointed by the Supreme The elected members of QPHUS pose for a group photo. Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 projects. The company em- braced the SC’s Workers’ Welfare Standards (WW Standards), pav- ing the way for others to follow. Nasa astronaut shares insights HBK Contracting was com- missioned to work on Al Janoub Stadium in May 2014. Within months, the company showed on decision-making dynamics strong commitment to the WW Standards, making signifi cant strides in ensuring workers’ well- ary Ellen Weber, a vet- being. eran Nasa astronaut The company’s strong compli- Mand US national sky- ance resulted in its appointment diving champion, has discussed as main contractor for two more the dynamics of decision-mak- FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadi- ing when risks are high and time ums – Lusail and Ras Abu Aboud Onsite workers at Lusail Stadium. PICTURES: Courtesy of SC website is short, during a lecture at Carn- – in 2016 and 2018, respectively. egie Mellon University in Qatar Ramzi Dahdah, chief operating and Qatari law,” adds Dahdah. (CMU-Q). offi cer at HBK Contracting, said: “Working alongside the SC has Drawing on her long experi- “A happy and content workforce bolstered our eff orts to abolish ence as a consultant in innova- is a productive workforce. We this practice, ensuring that work- tion and high-risk operations, recognise their hard work and ers are free of recruitment-related Weber explained that the need acknowledge their contributions debts and able to send more mon- for urgent action can be a major in bringing our projects to life. It ey back home to their families.” risk factor in any decision-mak- is our primary responsibility to HBK Contracting now only ing process. ensure that our workers are taken works with recruitment agen- “The reason why there are care of at all times.” cies approved by the Ministry of lessons from space on decision- HBK Contracting was the fi rst Administrative Development, making is because it applies to main contractor to adhere to the Labour and Social Aff airs. The any situation where you have to SC’s recruitment fees reimburse- company also sends its own hu- make a decision fast,” argued Dr ment scheme and has returned man resources team to conduct Weber, who was selected in the approximately QR5,391,000 per interviews with candidates in 14th class of Nasa astronauts and year to more than 3,000 workers their home countries to make sure went on two spacefl ights during since 2017. This example has since that workers are not impacted by Ras Abu Aboud Stadium construction in progress. her 10 years with Nasa. CMU-Q dean Michael Trick presents a memento to veteran Nasa been followed by more than 190 illegal and unethical recruitment Michael Trick, dean of CMU- astronaut Mary Ellen Weber. contractors across projects relat- practices. day, both on and off site. Our staff plementation of the SC’s stand- Q, said, “We are delighted to have ed to Qatar 2022. HBK was also among the fi rst work hard. It is our responsibil- ards will help Qatar reach new worked with the US embassy in Advisory Council Committee on Weber is a guest of the US em- HBK has reimbursed all its contractors to establish catering ity to provide them with the right heights in workers’ well-being, Qatar to host Dr Weber for this Technology, Innovation and En- bassy in Qatar, and will be speak- workers, even those who joined services at each of its worker ac- nutrition when they get back from and the onus is on contractors lecture to our community. gineering, which advises Nasa ing to several diff erent commu- the company before the WW commodation sites. This gives work,” said Dahdah. to look after their workers. The Her remarkable experience leadership on future space tech- nities during her stay in Qatar. Standards came into eff ect, in workers the opportunity to enjoy Throughout its journey with WW Standards have become a provides key insights for our stu- nologies. Now in its ninth year, CMU-Q’s an eff ort to treat all their work- the ethnic fl avours of a home- the SC, HBK Contracting has benchmark and are ingrained in dents who are forging their own She is a consultant in technol- Dean’s Lecture Series features ers equally and ensure that every cooked meal. “Our workers come taken the lead in implementing our company’s values and ethics. career paths, and learning about ogy innovation, strategic com- industry leaders, government of- worker benefi ts from the stand- from countries where food is truly the WW Standards in all aspects There’s no turning back, we need leadership, problem-solving munications, and high-risk op- fi cials and members of the com- ards. “Charging workers recruit- celebrated. Food brings people of workers’ well-being – a com- to keep working harder and raise and decision-making.” Weber is erations through her company, munity who share their expertise ment fees is an unethical practice, together and this camaraderie mitment that goes beyond 2022. the bar even higher.” currently a member of the Nasa Stellar Strategies. on relevant and topical issues. prohibited by the WW Standards is what we aim to achieve every Dahdah said, “The strict im- (Report sourced from sc.qa)

HBKU hosts ‘Sustainability for Children’ outreach programme

he Sustainable Built En- sustainability challenges and to conserve water in buildings. can be manufactured. Visits to graduate-level research and vironment Research and their impact on the built envi- This session included two short other laboratories demonstrat- thinking beyond academic en- TEducation Lab (SBE), ronment, including energy and movies that also helped to ex- ed how scientists and engineers vironments and into the com- a research group within the water supplies, resource recy- plain topics to the third graders. work together and provided op- munity. College of Science and Engi- cling, and climate change. In addition, SBE members portunities to use microscopes Doing so not only provides neering (CSE) at Hamad Bin Over the course of the day, organised a number of child- to gain a diff erent understand- vital training opportunities for Khalifa University (HBKU), SBE members introduced a friendly experiments to dem- ing of issues discussed during our group, but also enhances recently hosted a workshop to variety of topics related to the onstrate the properties of ma- the workshops. understanding of sustainability raise awareness of sustainabil- theme of the event. These in- terials. To demonstrate renewable issues.” ity among young learners. cluded the fourth state of mat- These included water density energy integration with build- SBE is a research group Sustainability for Children ter known as plasma, which experiments involving eggs and ings, SBE team members intro- founded and led by Dr Sami invited 45 students from the was demonstrated during an saltwater, as well as layered liq- duced their solar house game. al-Ghamdi and his students. It third grade at Qatar Academy experiment involving a plasma uids. Students also learnt how a This provided students with represents the next generation Sidra to participate in a range of ball lamp. magnetic fi eld works through a the opportunity to build a solar of interdisciplinary education fun activities to heighten their Students also learned about magnet-iron experiment, and house while learning about re- and research in environmental awareness and understanding critical water challenges facing witnessed an interesting chem- newable and clean energy, how science, engineering, and sus- of key sustainability issues and Qatar and GCC states, includ- ical reaction between hydrogen solar panels work, and how we tainability. their impact on Qatar and the ing the environmental impact peroxide and yeast. can save the environment using SBE members conduct rest of the world. of desalination. A demonstra- A visit to the 3D printing lab- renewable systems. multidisciplinary research on The workshop was the lat- tion of how a desalination plant oratory provided students with Dr Sami al-Ghamdi, assist- the complexities of the built est in a series of events organ- works was accompanied by a fi rst-hand experience of how ant professor, SBE, CSE, said, environment and trains the ised by the SBE addressing key few smart techniques on how 3D printing works and what “We are committed to taking next generations of scientists. CSE conducts ‘Sustainability for Children’ workshop.