BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 8 Sanna starts new season INDEX DOW JONES QE NYMEX QATAR 2, 15 COMMENT 14 Qatar highly values its ARAB WORLD 3 BUSINESS 1-8, 10-12 with 23,460.85 8,146.23 54.55 INTERNATIONAL 4-12 CLASSIFIED 9 energy relationship +25.84 -24.97 +0.25 ISLAM 13 SPORTS 1-8 +0.11% -0.31% +0.46% double Latest Figures with customers: Al-Sada published in QATAR since 1978

FRIDAY Vol. XXXVIII No. 10626 November 3, 2017 Safar 14, 1439 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

In brief Barshim soars

QATAR | Technology to the top New version of Metrash2 mobile app launched Qatar’s world champion high day of the ANOC general jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim assembly, the largest meeting of A new version of the Metrash2 mobile poses with his Best Male Athlete the Olympic movement outside application (app) has been launched from Asia trophy at the annual the Olympic Games. Qatar with service and design improvements ANOC (Association of National Olympic Committee President and touch ID login facility, the Ministry Olympic Committees) gala HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad of Interior (MoI) has announced. A awards in Prague yesterday. al-Thani, Qatar’s ambassador Residence Permit issuance facility and The two-time Olympic medallist to Germany and former QOC user notification services have also and 2017 IAAF world champion Secretary-General Sheikh Saoud been added, while a number of inquiry accepted the award from bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were services can be accessed in the new Ukrainian pole vault legend among those present on the version without logging in, the MoI has Sergey Bubka on the opening occasion. Also see Sport Page 1 said in a post on social media. To activate the touch ID, users have to record their fingerprint in the app settings after signing in with their password. Once this is done, they can log in with their touch ID, the MoI adds

QATAR | Language Qatar aims to add Arabic to British curriculum Palestine plans legal proceedings Qatar is generously splashing out to put Arabic on curriculum in British Eff ects of schools, The Times of London has against British govt over Balfour reported. Amid long-term decline of French and German in the British school system, Qatar is donating 400,000 QNA sterling pounds to a British Council Ramallah programme that promotes Arabic siege fading, teaching in British schools. Less than 1% of schools currently teach Arabic, and egal proceedings against the Qatar is rebranding Arabic in the hope British government will be soon that it will “capture the imagination” of Lbrought before British, European British schools and parents as one of and international courts to lift the in- the foreign language options, according justice infl icted on the Palestinian peo- says BMI to The Times. The report added that ple by the Balfour Declaration, Pales- reaction was largely positive in schools tinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki that started to introduce Arabic to its said yesterday. zAlternative supply chains will prevent curriculum. The State of Palestine “made every eff ort possible to persuade the Brit- disruptions to activity in key sectors QATAR | Siege ish government to abandon plans to celebrate the centennial of the Balfour he eff ects of the quartet’s boy- to resume drilling at the North Field Minister briefs Unesco Declaration because such a celebration cott against Qatar on the coun- may not happen before 2020, it said. on rights violations shows lack of sensitivity to the Pales- Ttry’s import levels are “fading”, Meanwhile the construction sec- The siege countries have violated all tinian people,” al-Malki said. facilitating “continued growth” in the tor, which grew by 15.3% y-o-y in Q2, human rights principles and values, However, because these efforts construction and manufacturing seg- 2017 – looks set to remain a key driver including the right to education with the have failed to yield results and be- ments, BMI Research has said in its lat- of growth as projects linked to the 2022 measures they have taken against Qatar, cause of its moral and national obli- est report. FIFA World Cup progress. HE the Minister of Education and Higher gation towards its people, the Minis- Palestinian children hold signs during a protest marking the anniversary of the The Fitch Group company forecasts Any major shortage of materials re- Education Dr Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali try of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs Balfour Declaration, in the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday. Qatari real GDP to expand by 1.9% this sulting from the cut-off of regional al-Hammadi said yesterday. will soon act to bring legal proceed- year and 2.5% in 2018, from an estimat- trade links (resulting from the dip- Speaking at the 39th conference of ings before the British courts against gise and make reasonable reparations addition to British citizens who were ed 2.2% in 2016. lomatic crisis and resultant boycott) Unesco here, HE al-Hammadi said the the British government to remedy to make up for that tragedy, including aff ected by the policies of their gov- It said the “successful” establish- appears temporary: the sharp 39.1% siege countries’ measures included not its mistake of 100 years, al-Malki recognising the State of Palestine,” the ernments towards Palestine as a result ment of alternative supply chains fol- m-o-m import rebound in August, fol- allowing Qatari students to continue added. foreign minister said. of this promise, Wafa reported. lowing the outbreak of the GCC dip- lowing an initial drop of 37.9% in June, their studies in those countries and The ministry will contract a Brit- Al-Malki further stated that minis- Al-Malki noted that the ministry will lomatic crisis in June will prevent the suggests the process of establishing al- not providing Qatari graduates any ish law fi rm to follow up on these legal try will work on encouraging Palestin- complete its legal procedures by exam- resultant boycott against Qatar from ternative supply chains has been large- certificates. The minister noted that proceedings “in order to bring justice ians who were aff ected by the imple- ining the possibility of bringing legal causing severe disruptions to activ- ly successful. the siege has led to a social and and lift the historic injustice infl icted mentation of the Balfour promise to proceedings before the European and ity in key non-hydrocarbon segments A government-reported uptick in psychological fracture in the GCC on the Palestinian people, and com- bring similar claims, particularly by international courts to achieve justice. such as construction and manufactur- manufacturing sector growth (to 2.7% society, besides the emotional and pel the British government to apolo- those who hold British citizenship, in Pages 3, 14 ing. in July, from 0.0% in Q1, in part driven educational damage caused to Qatari However, BMI noted hydrocarbon by a sharp rise in food processing, as students who used to study at the siege sector’s performance in Qatar will be Qatar works to become more food-se- countries. weak in the second half of this year, a cure) also appears to support this view. trend it expects to continue. BMI continues to expect Qatar’s QATAR | Diplomacy BMI researchers expect the Opec construction sector to grow by a strong Turkey-Gulf Defence forum opens in Istanbul agreement to be rolled over to H1, 2018, 10.1% in 2018, and 11.6% annually on Qatar-UK bilateral and “for cut barrels to return to mar- average in the fi ve-year period between relations reviewed kets” only at a gradual pace in the sec- 2017 and 2021. British Minister of State for the Middle he Qatar Armed Forces’ Centre the Turkish Tasam Centre. ond half of next year. Given BMI’s expectation for the East and North Africa Aff airs Alistair for Strategic Studies inaugu- In the light of the importance of the While gas production will see mod- diplomatic crisis to be resolved within Burt has met with Qatar’s ambassador Trated yesterday in Istanbul the Turkey-Gulf Defence and Security Fo- est growth from late-2017 (when the months (rather than years), and for to the United Kingdom Yousef bin Ali Turkey-Gulf Defence and Security rum and its objectives, the Centre for fi rst phase of the Barzan project comes hydrocarbon prices to gradually rise, al-Khater in London. Discussions during Forum on the sidelines of the Istanbul Strategic Studies Commander Staff online), any “substantial uptick” in it believes sentiment will improve sig- the meeting dealt with bilateral relations, Security Conference, Directorate of Brigadier General Dr Hamad Mohamed output from recently announced plans nifi cantly over 2018. and ways of developing them, in addition Defence Communication at the Min- al-Marri described it as the result of to issues of mutual interest. istry of Defence announced in a state- research co-operation between Qatar ment. and Turkey. BRITAIN | Politics The two-day Turkey-Gulf forum is “It will enable the two centres to New UK defence the fi rst of its kind and specialised in solve important defence and security military and security cases in the Mid- cases for Qatar and Turkey particularly, Bahrain faces fi nancial crisis minister named dle East region. It is the result of co- in addition to the important cases of Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday operation between the Qatar Armed the Arab Gulf and Middle East in gen- A senior off icial addressing the forum ahrain has asked Gulf Arab allies and regional political instability than named Gavin Williamson as Britain’s Forces Centre for Strategic Studies and eral,” he added. yesterday. for fi nancial assistance as it seeks richer GCC states, several of whom have new defence secretary after his Bto replenish its foreign-exchange cut spending. And while Bahrain’s budg- predecessor Michael Fallon was forced reserves and avert a currency devalua- et defi cit is set to narrow this year, the to step down over a scandal sweeping tion , according to people with knowl- International Monetary Fund expects the parliament. It represents a significant edge of the talks. shortfall to be the highest in the GCC. promotion for the 41-year-old, a trusted The request was made to Saudi Arabia The central bank’s foreign reserves, ally whose former job as chief whip and the UAE, two of the people said. A including gold, have tumbled about involved enforcing discipline for May’s third person said Kuwait was also asked. 75% since 2014 to just above 522mn di- Conservative party in parliament. The countries responded by asking the nars ($1.39bn) in August. Without aid Williamson, who was only elected to island kingdom do more to bring its fi - or a recovery in oil revenue, authorities parliament in 2010, is best known for nances under control in return for the may struggle to keep the currency’s peg having a pet tarantula, Cronus, that he money, the people said on condition to the US dollar – maintained at 0.376 keeps in a glass-sided tank on his desk. of anonymity because the discussions Bahraini dinars. The job is one of the biggest and most were private. Bahrain’s debt risk, measured by fi ve- challenging in the British government. “Most people are fully expecting the year credit default swaps, has dropped May’s Downing Street Off ice responded other Gulf countries to come to Bah- more than 60 basis points to 241 as of that Williamson “was an excellent and rain’s aid,” said Jason Tuvey, a London- Tuesday, according to data compiled by hard-working chief whip and the prime based economist at Capital Economics. Bloomberg. minister thinks he will make an excellent Bahrain, a close Saudi ally, has been Bahrain is also a member of a Saudi-led defence secretary”. Page 7 A view of the audience at the forum. more vulnerable to slumping oil prices coalition boycotting neighbouring Qatar. Gulf Times 2 Friday, November 3, 2017 QATAR

Minister meets Italian delegation Emir receives Kyrgyzstan message

His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has received a written message from President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev, pertaining to bilateral relations and means of boosting them. Ambassador of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to Qatar Nuran Niyazaliev HE the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali yesterday met with a delegation from the Italian Parliament, handed over the message during a meeting with HE Minister of State for Foreign Aff airs Sultan bin who are currently on a visit to Qatar. The meeting discussed aspects of co-operation in the cultural and sports fields as well as ways to Saad al-Muraikhi yesterday. boost and develop them. Mada gives 60 disabled Credentials accepted people training in IT

By Joey Aguilar Staff Reporter HE the Minister of State for Foreign Aff airs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi received yesterday copies of the credentials of ambassador of the Republic of Nigeria Dr Haruna Bawa ada (Qatar Assistive Technology Abdullahi Wase and ambassador of the Republic of Ecuador Centre) is working with a group Ivonne Juez de Baki to the State of Qatar. HE the Minister of Mof 60 people with disabilities State for Foreign Aff airs wished the ambassadors success in (PWDs) this year to train and enhance their new missions, assuring them of all support to enhance their information, communication and relations. technology skills. These skills can be used by PWDs to have a competitive chance of fi nding a job and pursuing their careers, Mada policy expert Ahmed Habib said during a media interaction. “We have a very large programme that Fourth Katara Tech we just launched this year, the idea was for us to partner with the Ministry of Admin- istrative Development, Labour and Social Forum held Aff airs, to work with a group of young Qataris,” he said. “By the end of the year hopefully these 60 people will then be up- he fourth edition of Sulaiti said. Some of the topics skilled through our programme.” Katara Tech Forum on discussed at the forum include To achieve this goal, Mada is also exert- TWednesday gathered ‘The Impacts of Cyber Security ing eff orts to educate the community and participants from diff erent Breaches’, ‘Positive Technology raise public awareness on the importance walks of life, especially infor- Project’ and ‘Stars of Science: of ‘assistive technology’, which further mation and technology (IT) Interactive robot for children improves the quality of life of PWDs. experts, at the Katara Drama with intermediate needs’. More than 1,800 PWDs in Qatar have Theatre, tackling various top- Speakers included Banos benefi ted from the Centre’s various initia- ics on IT and cybersecurity. Demetero, Dr Somaya al- tives last year, particularly in the e-acces- Katara general manager Dr Maaded, Iman al-Hamd, Sara sibility programme. Benefi ciaries received Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti al-Najjar and Mohamed al- high-tech gadgets and software, as well said the event, which takes Jeferi, who focused on “apply- as other equipment that suits their needs A Qatari with disability demonstrates how an assistive technology is used. PICTURE: Ram Chand place on the fi rst Wednesday ing technology in present life”. (a combination of device or software) for of every month, aims to sup- “The basic idea is to encour- free. “All these things we provide after an tar’s public sector websites, government some of the major websites are accessible port Qatari young talents as age the youth to embrace IT, Some of these include sound beam, an assessment by an assistive technology and Ministry websites, to make sure they to PWDs. they enhance and develop their which is somehow becoming assistive technology that enables people expert so we don’t just give technology meet these e-accessibility standards,” Ha- “This is a service that we provide for free skills, creativity and effi ciency. part of their culture and it is im- with limited physical ability, as well as without studying and understanding bib said. to developers and designers,” he stressed. He noted that raising public portant. Every time we come, people with autism, to make music; cus- what a person’s needs and abilities are, Mada monitors the e-accessibility “MoI is committed to e-accessibility, right awareness and educating the we meet new people and learn tomised keyboards, which features fi nger what their desires are, and what the con- scores of these websites and works close- now all the fees that are associated with next generation of IT experts about new activities in this fi eld locks; and educational programmes and text of using these technologies is,” Habib ly with all entities to make sure that they any kind government transactions are will equip them with the need- in our country,” Dr Hameed apps; among others. explained. continue to improve. Habib added that waived for PWDS, they have a very robust ed skills to help the country in Minwar from Qatar Mobility In- “Some of these solutions are very sim- Mada is working with web developers they also work with Qatar’s Ministry of accessibility kind of policy.” its sustainable development novations Centre (QMIC) said. ple but make a diff erence to someone,” and designers to ensure government web- Interior (MoI) in ensuring the Metrash app “The MoI website has been certifi ed by eff orts in various fields. The event also saw Ka- Habib said. “There are thousands of apps sites are PWD-friendly and meet interna- is accessible to PWDs. our team as e-accessible. Beyond that we “The forum will drive the tara’s IT Department offi cials (for PWDs) that are available that we pro- tional standards for web accessibility. Mada, according to Habib, wants to work with them to make sure their Metrash youth to further contribute to the honoured for attaining the vide for free as well.” “On a daily basis we monitor all of Qa- ensure that the e-government portal and app is e-accessible as well,” Habib added. development of our country’s ISO20000 certifi cate. A mem- economy and participate in the orandum of understanding be- renaissance phase that is cur- tween Katara and QMIC was rently witnessed by Qatar,” Dr al- also signed during the event.

W Industrial St to be closed for 11 days

temporary closure will Road users can use the lo- be in place for 11 days cal roads in the area in ad- Afrom today on the West dition to Salwa Road, East Industrial Street from Round- Industrial Street and Street about 33 to Roundabout 2. 33 as alternative roads (as Traffi c through the route shown on the map) during will resume on November 14, the period. according to an Ashghal state- The closure is being imple- ment. mented as part of Phase I of Through the closure the au- construction works to upgrade thorities aim to lay the fi nal Doha’s Industrial Area, which asphalt layers on the West In- aims to increase the capacity of dustrial Street in order to open roads and support higher traf- it completely for traffi c with fi c volumes in addition to pro- four lanes in each direction and viding the Industrial area with all traffi c markings and traffi c a fully integrated infrastruc- signs and signals installed. ture. Artist’s impression of Souq Al Baladi. Souq Al Baladi to open tomorrow

ouq Al Baladi, a project of Saudia a number of dignitaries, including Qatar and immersive traditional experience of (items) under one roof in such a histori- Group off ering a wide range of fresh government offi cials and leading entre- fresh food shopping at Souq Al Baladi, cally important trading place”. Sfood items, will be inaugurated to- preneurs. which will be relished by our customers Souq Al Baladi “epitomises Qatar’s morrow. Souq Al Baladi features an “extensive in Qatar,” Mohamed Abdulla al-Attiya, traditional designs and patterns” and Strategically located on Wholesale range of the freshest products” across sec- chairman of Saudia Group of Companies, offers “tailor-made fresh food sections Market Street, the new facility has “ample tions such as fi sh, butchery, fruits & veg- was quoted as saying. to meet the needs of Qatar nationals and car parking and easy access from all over etables, bakery, Arabic sweets, hot food, N K Musthafa Abdu, managing director expatriate families”, according to a state- Qatar”, a press statement from the Group Fresh Mart, etc, sourced from within Qa- of Saudia Group of Companies, empha- ment issued by Saudia Group CEO Sal- said. tar as well as friendly countries with high sised that this is part of “our ambitious man Musthafa, COO Rashid Musthafa The opening ceremony will take place quality standards, the statement notes. plan for the people of Qatar to provide a and directors Faisal Musthafa and Jassim at 4.30pm tomorrow in the presence of “We are delighted to provide a unique state-of-the-art outlet with all fresh food Musthafa. Gulf Times Friday, November 3, 2017 3 REGION/ARAB WORLD

ATTACK FIRM STAND JUSTICE MISTAKE FINANCE Tunisia cop stabbed to death Khamenei says US remains UN: Iraq not equipped to Swiss admit drone test Algeria energy output seen by suspected extremist Iran’s ‘number one enemy’ try IS atrocities in Mosul bungle in Golan Heights growing 6.5% next year

A Tunisian police off icer who was stabbed by a The United States is Iran’s “number one enemy” Iraq is not capable of trying atrocities committed Switzerland’s defence ministry has admitted sending Opec member Algeria’s oil and gas output is suspected Islamist died yesterday of his wounds and Tehran will never succumb to Washington’s by Islamic State during the battle for Mosul so staff to test reconnaissance drones in contested expected to grow 6.5% in 2018, after a 2.7% and security unions threatened to stage protests pressure over a multinational nuclear deal, it must find other routes to justice such as the land held by Israel — an embarrassing blow for the fall projected for this year, the energy ministry if parliament fails to legislate tougher protections Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei International Criminal Court (ICC), a UN human neutral European country’s status as an honest said in a document seen by Reuters. Algeria’s for security force personnel. The suspect, named said in a televised speech yesterday. “America’s rights report said yesterday. At least 2,521 civilians broker in the Middle East. Swiss off icials visited economy relies heavily on oil and gas, which as Zied Gharbi, was arrested on Wednesday hostility is towards the Iranian nation... America were killed during the nine-month battle including an airfield in the Golan Heights region on three account for 60% of the state budget and 95% of after two policemen suff ered knife wounds near is the number one enemy of our nation...We will 741 people who were executed, the report said. occasions in 2012, 2013 and 2015 to monitor tests total exports. The government expects earnings the parliament. He shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ as he never accept their bullying over the nuclear Most died as a result of Islamic State (ISIL) attacks. of the Israeli-built Hermes 900 aircraft that they are from energy exports to reach $33.6bn in 2018, up stabbed the policeman in the neck, witness and deal,” Khamenei said. Since the deal was reached “Iraqi courts and tribunals do not have jurisdiction buying for $265mn. The visits, which lasted several from $32.3bn for the end of this year, according off icials said. “Our colleague Riadh Barrouta died in 2015, Khamenei has continued to denounce over international crimes (such as genocide, days, took place in an area which Switzerland does to the document, outlining the sector’s target for today after the terrorist attack in Bardo yesterday,” the United States publicly, suggesting that the crimes against humanity and war crimes) — and not recognise as being part of Israel. After an internal next year. In 2016, energy earnings were $27.7bn. Walid Hkima, a national security spokesman, said. antagonism between the two countries since prosecutors, police investigators and judges lack review this year, the Swiss found the presence of Overall economic growth will improve due to The attacker was 25 and from Ettadamen, one of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Tehran would not capacity to...(investigate), charge and try persons their personnel at the airfield contradicted the “the return of growth in hydrocarbons sector,” the largest, poorest suburbs of Tunis. abate because of the accord. in relation to such crimes,” the report said. Swiss position on the conflict, the ministry said. the ministry said in the document.

Air strikes kill 6 in Palestinians protest Syria ‘truce zone’ AFP Douma, Syria

yrian government air strikes yesterday killed at least six civilians, including a baby, in a rebel-held Stown outside the capital Damascus, a monitor and on Balfour centenary local medics said. The strikes hit the town of Douma, which lies in the AFP Eastern Ghouta region, where a “de-escalation zone” Ramallah deal agreed by regime allies Iran and Russia and rebel backer Turkey has been in place since July. At a medical facility, an AFP photographer saw the housands of Palestinians bodies of at least two people killed in the strikes, as well yesterday took to the streets as adults and children being treated for their wounds by Tof various cities to protest harried medical staff . on the 100th anniversary of Brit- Despite the truce deal, there has been an uptick in ain’s Balfour Declaration, which government bombardment on Eastern Ghouta in recent helped lead to Israel’s creation and days. the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict. Humanitarian groups have also warned of a malnutri- Palestinian President Mahmoud tion crisis in the area, which is under a tight government Abbas used the occasion to de- siege. nounce the declaration, writing “Regime planes fi red rockets on several parts of Dou- in a newspaper opinion piece that ma,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian “the creation of a homeland for one Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor. people resulted in the disposses- “Six civilians were killed, including a child,” he said, sion and continuing persecution of adding that 21 others were wounded. another”. At the medical facility, two bodies were lying on beds, Several Palestinian leaders have each covered in a bright yellow sheet. called on Britain to apologise for Medics worked to treat the wounded, including the 67-word declaration that said 13-year-old Ziad, who suff ered a head injury after being it viewed “with favour the estab- caught up in the strike on his way home. lishment in Palestine of a national “I was coming back from school when the fi rst strike home for the Jewish people”. hit and I hid in a doorway,” he told AFP, sitting with his Around 4,000 people gathered head bandaged and blood still coating the bridge of his in the West Bank city of Nablus, nose. where effi gies supposed to repre- “The plane came back a second time and I tried to get sent British Prime Minister There- A Palestinian woman waves her national flag as she participates in a march in the West Bank city of Ramallah to protest the 100th anniversary down to the basement, but the force of the second strike sa May and former British leader of Britain’s Balfour Declaration. knocked the door closed and it injured my head and Arthur Balfour were set ablaze. nose.” A few thousand more gathered At West Bank tea party, artist Banksy off ers royal ‘apology’ for Balfour Declaration the British government to abandon Behind him, a younger boy cried in terror, rubbing at in Gaza and hundreds in Ramallah. plans to celebrate the centennial his eyes with both his hands. Smaller rallies were held in British street artist Banksy has of- It has refused to do so. Buckingham Palace and Westmin- of the Balfour Declaration because Men lay on beds or stretchers, some shirtless and al- the southern West Bank city of fered a royal “apology” engraved on “ER...Sorry”, read the inscription, a ster Abbey. such a celebration shows lack of ready being bandaged, others waiting to be treated and Hebron, where protesters burned a Israel’s barrier in the occupied West double entendre, on the grey Israeli- “This conflict has brought so sensitivity to the Palestinian peo- covered in blood. British fl ag. Bank for Britain’s endorsement a built wall. ER, standing for Elizabeth much suff ering to people on all ple,” al-Malki said. Five children, the youngest just a toddler, sat wide- Several dozen Palestinians also century ago of the establishment of Regina, with the Roman numerals sides, it didn’t feel appropriate to In 1967, Israel occupied the West eyed on a bench as medical staff tended to the wounded. protested outside the British con- a Jewish homeland in Palestine. II between the two letters, is Queen ‘celebrate’ the British role in it,” the Bank, including east Jerusalem, Up to 400,000 people are believed to live in Eastern sulate in Jerusalem. The work was unveiled on the Elizabeth’s royal cypher. statement said. and the Gaza Strip in the Six-Day Ghouta, which has been under government siege since In Nablus, marchers chanted eve of yesterday’s centenary of the The point was hammered home Banksy, whose real name is not War. It has since annexed east Je- 2013. “Oh the English colonisers, we Balfour Declaration at a mock tea at the event by having an actor known, has described his guest- rusalem and the occupation of the The blockade has caused serious food and medicine want an apology from you.” party for Palestinian children at the dressed as the monarch pulling house as having the worst view of West Bank continues. shortages, and pushed the prices for what remains be- In Ramallah signs called Balfour artist’s Walled Off hotel that opened back a red curtain that covered the any hotel in the world: every room Hopes for a two-state solution yond the reach of impoverished residents. “the promise of he who doesn’t last march in the town of Bethlehem. etching. overlooks a walled section of the to the Israeli-Palestinian confl ict At least two children are reported to have died from own to those who don’t deserve” — Palestinian have demanded Brit- A statement issued by Banksy Israeli barrier that cuts through the are greatly diminishing. malnourishment or related complications in recent a common expression in Arabic for ain apologise for a declaration they said the work was commissioned West Bank. Abbas wrote in Britain’s Guard- weeks, and more than 1,100 other children are report- the Balfour Declaration. see as having led to dispossession from a professional stone carver Palestinians see the barrier as a ian newspaper: “We have endorsed edly suff ering acute malnutrition. Some protesters held black fl ags and suff ering. whose previous credits include symbol of oppression. the two-state solution for the past On Monday, several dozen trucks carrying assistance calling for Palestinian refugees 30 years, a solution that becomes for 40,000 people entered Eastern Ghouta as part of a to be allowed the right to return, increasingly impossible with every United Nations-Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy. as they marched from Ramallah’s In Gaza, more than 3,000 people Senior Palestinian offi cial Mah- Legal proceedings against the passing day. It was the fi rst aid access since September, despite Arafat Square to a nearby British took part in a march from a square moud al-Alul told AFP in Ramal- British government will be soon “As long as the state of Israel repeated requests from the UN and humanitarian ac- cultural offi ce. in Gaza City to the local United Na- lah the British government should brought before British, European continues to be celebrated and re- tors for consistent access to besieged areas like Eastern “Balfour promised to establish tions headquarters. apologise. and international courts to lift the warded, rather than held account- Ghouta. the Israeli entity and its result is The war surrounding Israel’s “It is unprecedented for crimi- injustice infl icted on the Palestin- able to universal standards for its On Tuesday, 11 people including six school children everything the Palestinian people creation led to some 750,000 Pal- nals to celebrate their crime. That ian people by the Balfour Declara- continued violations of interna- were killed in regime shelling on the town of Jisreen in still suff er from today, such as dis- estinians either fl eeing or being the British prime minister insists tion, Palestinian Foreign Minister tional law, it will have no incentive Eastern Ghouta, the Observatory said. placement, destruction and pain,” expelled from their homes — what on celebrating this means they per- Riyad al-Malki said yesterday. to end the occupation,” he added, More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria said Abu Haitham Amro, 70, who they call the ‘Nakba’, or catastro- sist in the oppression of the Pales- The State of Palestine “made referring in particular to Israeli since the confl ict began in March 2011 with anti-gov- was carrying a Palestinian fl ag. phe. tinian people.” every eff ort possible to persuade settlement building. ernment protests. Plane-sized ‘void’ discovered in Great Pyramid

By Mariette le Roux and found inside the Great Pyramid since the Khufu’s pyramid was plundered long Laurence Coustal, AFP 19th century, the research team said. before it was visited by modern archae- Paris “There have been many theories ologists, and no relics remain from any about the existence of secret chambers of the known chambers. inside the pyramid,” said Tayoubi. “But For this reason, the new cavity may passenger plane-sized “void” none have predicted anything this big.” be “very exciting,” said Morishima, has been discovered in the mid- The exact shape and size of the void though it is not known if it contains Adle of the Great Pyramid of is fuzzy — its purpose and possible anything at all. Egypt, where it has lain secret and un- contents a mystery. The team used a technique called touched for 4,500 years, scientists re- But it is thought to be at least 30m “cosmic-ray muon radiography”, which vealed yesterday. long, and located above the ‘Grand Gal- allowed them to visualise “known and po- The space is one of four cavities, lery’ — a sloped corridor almost 50m tentially unknown” voids in the pyramid along with the king and queen’s cham- long and 9m high which links Khufu’s without having to touch a single stone. bers and ‘Grand Gallery’, now known to burial chamber at the pyramid’s centre Muons are charged, heavy particles exist inside the giant monument con- to a tunnel leading outside. formed from the interactions of cosmic structed under pharaoh Khufu of an- The monument — 139m high and rays with atoms in the upper atmos- cient Egypt. 230m wide — was erected as a tomb for phere. “It is big,” said co-discoverer Mehdi Khufu, also known as Cheops. Similar to X-rays which can penetrate Tayoubi of the ScanPyramids project, To this day, nobody knows quite how the human body and allow bone imag- which has been exploring Khufu’s it was built. ing, these particles can follow a mostly pyramid since October 2015 with non- The void, said co-author Kunihiro straight line through several hundreds of invasive technology using subatomic Morishima from the Nagoya University metres of stone before decaying or being particle scans. in Japan, “was not known by anyone absorbed, the team said. “It’s the size of a 200-seater airplane, until now, from when the pyramid was By recording the position and direc- in the heart of the pyramid,” Tayoubi built 4,500 years ago”. tion of each muon as it travels through told AFP of the discovery, published in “The big void is completely closed,” the pyramid, muon detectors can dis- science journal Nature. he added, which means anything inside tinguish cavities from stone. Towering over the Giza complex on it would not have been “touched by an- “We will continue to conduct muon A handout 3D artistic view made by ScanPyramids and released yesterday by the Nature Publishing Group shows a hidden Cairo’s outskirts alongside smaller yone after the pyramid (was) built”. imaging for revealing the detail” of internal structure in Khufu’s Pyramid, the largest pyramid in Giza. pyramids for kings Menkaure and Kha- The pharaohs of ancient Egypt built the void, said Morishima — including fre and the Great Sphinx, the Khufu’s these monumental tombs for them- its dimensions and inclination, and Anything inside would be “too small the void without disturbing anything. “While there is currently no in- pyramid is the oldest and only surviving selves, complete with sarcophagus to whether it consists of a single, large for muon imaging.” The discovery, named simply “Big formation about the role of this void, construction among the Seven Wonders hold their embalmed mummies, and cavity or a complex of several. The team is already turning its atten- Void”, has been confi rmed using three dif- these fi ndings show how modern par- of the Ancient World, and one of the stocked with everything they could re- “Our muon imaging technology tion to new technology for the next step — ferent muon technologies and three inde- ticle physics can shed new light on the largest buildings ever erected on Earth. quire for the afterlife — food, clothing can’t confi rm (whether) there are some possibly a miniature robot that can travel pendent analyses, verifying its existence world’s archaeological heritage,” the The cavity is the fi rst major structure and jewellery. artifacts or not,” he added. through tiny holes to examine the inside of with “high confi dence,” the authors said. authors wrote in Nature. Gulf Times 4 Friday, November 3, 2017 AFRICA Malawi turns to British troops in poaching war

AFP the rangers who routinely con- Nkhotakota game park in central this park,” Kumchedwa told AFP. “We are training them how to lawi in pursuit of elephants. ter used to help track poachers. Liwonde, Malawi front gangs of poachers armed Malawi. “(British forces) are transfer- track down poachers and defend “But now after training with “It’s an expensive asset - but it with Kalashnikovs. “We were in a poaching crisis ring military skills to Malawian themselves from animals.” the British army, I know how to pays to use it,” Reid said. Liwonde, which borders Mo- in 2015 in this park but the situ- rangers to use in conservation... Kingsley Kachoka, a Malawian protect myself and others from “Poaching is declining dra- nder a scorching sun, a zambique, is Malawi’s leading ation has now been contained,” the soldiers are adding value to who is a sergeant in the British danger.” matically,” he said, with offi c- team of British soldiers game reserve and is home to the said Bright Kumchedwa, the the training of rangers.” army, told AFP he was delighted Craig Reid runs African Parks, ers having seized 27,000 wire Uand Malawian rangers southern African country’s larg- director of Malawi’s parks and Michael Geldard, the British to be home “to help my country a conservation organisation that snares, 43kg of ivory and 56 sheltered under a tree ready to est elephant and rhino popula- wildlife department. army colonel in charge of the to deal with poachers”. manages several game parks un- rounds of illegal ammunition pounce on their prey: poachers. tions. And although the fi ght against training, described the campaign “I hope there will be a change be- der a deal with Lilongwe, and from poachers between from The combined force, armed The seven British soldiers are the illicit wildlife trade is far against poachers as “a game of cause we are covering more ground said his team had pioneered the August 2015 and October 2017 with rifl es and handcuff s, did there to train 35 of Malawi’s an- from over – poaching halved the cat and mouse with danger”. in counter-poaching skills.” use of cyber-trackers and drones according to African Parks. not encounter any poachers as it ti-poaching rangers. country’s elephant population “We are here to train rangers Malawian ranger Edward to tackle poaching. Patrols at the park have led to patrolled the 530sq km Liwonde Prince Harry is the public face from 4,000 in the 1980s to 2,000 how to protect themselves from Makupiza said that in the past “The landscape has changed the arrest of 130 poachers, most national park in Malawi’s south. of the project that began in 2016 in 2015 – gains are being made. wild animals and not necessarily he feared being shot by heav- and we have become much more of whom have been sentenced But the presence of the high- and earlier this year he visited “The good news is that we to shoot poachers,” said Geldard, ily armed Mozambican poach- professional in dealing with to jail terms of at least six years ly-trained and well-equipped the park to oversee the reloca- have had only one case of a rhino who is also Britain’s defence atta- ers who carry assault rifl es when poaching,” he said. following a move by the govern- British forces was reassuring for tion of over 300 elephants to the being poached in two years in che to several African countries. they cross the border in to Ma- The park also owns a helicop- ment to stiff en penalties. Liberia court to hold hearing on vote today

AFP bloodshed with the election in Monrovia 2005 of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – Africa’s fi rst elected woman president. iberia’s Supreme Court She is stepping down after a has delayed until today a maximum two six-year terms Lhearing on the country’s in which she helped to ease the disputed presidential election, trauma of confl ict but struggled increasing the likelihood that an to tackle its grinding poverty. impending runoff vote will be Attempting to head off the lat- delayed. est crisis, Sirleaf on Wednesday A court spokesman told AFP hosted Guinean President Alpha late Wednesday that the hearing, Conde and Togolese leader Faure which will challenge the electoral Gnassingbe, acting in a media- commission’s handling of the fi rst tory role, as well as the electoral round of the elections on Octo- protagonists Weah and Boakai. ber 10, would not take place as Conde represents the African planned for procedural reasons. Union and Gnassingbe chairs the It will now take place today at West African regional economic 2pm (1400 GMT), the spokes- bloc ECOWAS (Economic Com- man said yesterday. munity of West African States). South African President Jacob Zuma appears on screens as he answers questions during the last presidential answer session this year, in the parliament yesterday. Former international football- The goal is to “listen to the er George Weah and incumbent various concerns and bring their Vice President Joseph Boakai face expertise to bear on the table with each other in the November 7 a view to resolving those issues”, runoff . Neither gained more than her offi ce said on Wednesday. 50% of votes in the fi rst round. In a statement to his support- Boakai has backed a legal com- ers issued after meeting, Weah plaint lodged by the opposition said, “I want to call on all of you to remain calm. Opposition MPs walk out Liberty Party alleging “massive fraud and irregularities”, but has “We have met the AU and said he is still participating in the ECOWAS leaders, I can assure runoff . you that all is well. The Supreme Court found on “We are waiting for the Su- Tuesday that the country’s elec- preme Court to come with its toral commission had a case to ruling. The democratic battle of parliament in S Africa answer arising from the Liberty we started in 2005 we are pre- Party complaint. The election is pared to fi nish it, whether it is Agenies “My government is com- Democratic Alliance leader systemic corruption by Zuma, fl uenced the appointment of Liberia’s fi rst democratic transi- fi rst round, second round, third Capetown mitted to fi ghting corruption,” Mmusi Maimane had asked how some of his ministers and heads ministers, which Zuma and the tion in seven decades. round or fourth round.” Zuma said in response to a much had been spent since May of state-owned companies. Guptas have denied. Commentators describe it as Although the October 10 vote question. 1, 2009 to defend 783 corrup- But the president fi led an ap- z Zuma said his government a key test of stability after a 15- was hailed as largely credible by acob Zuma told South Afri- He also said he would estab- tion charges against Zuma that plication asking the High Court was considering the best time to year nightmare in which an esti- domestic and international ob- ca’s parliament yesterday he lish a judicial commission to were dropped by the National to set aside the report, saying he launch a major expansion of its mated quarter of a million people servers, they also recorded some Jhad received no payments investigate allegations made in Prosecuting Authority (NPA) would instead set up a judicial nuclear power fl eet, after the fi - died in back-to-back civil wars. irregularities and long delays in from private companies or indi- a 2016 report by South Africa’s before he ran for the presidency. commission of inquiry into the nance minister said the country Liberia emerged from the voting. viduals during his time as presi- corruption-fi ghting Public “He is going to jail. The presi- allegations. could not aff ord it. dent, as opposition lawmakers Protector. dent is going to jail,” Maim- The court is expected to rule Zuma was responding to a walked out in protest over the “I did not receive any pay- ane shouted before leading the on that case soon. question in parliament by op- I Coast increases electricity output cost to the state of his legal fees. ments from private individuals walkout. Zuma told parliament the ju- position leader Maimane who Allegations by government or companies during my tenure South Africa’s High Court dicial commission would inves- asked why Finance Minister Ivory Coast started producing financed by a $500mn low-interest and opposition politicians that as president of the Republic of reinstated the charges last year tigate those corruption allega- Malusi Gigaba had said the ex- power yesterday at a 275 loan from China’s Export-Import the wealthy Gupta family of South Africa, other than those and the Supreme Court upheld tions and any others brought to pansion would be delayed while megawatt (MW) hydroelectric Bank and built by China’s state- businessmen used a friend- disclosed or reported to the that decision in October, reject- its attention. Energy Minister David Mahlobo plant that will boost the country’s owned hydropower engineering ship with Zuma to control state necessary authorities,” he said ing an appeal by Zuma. “After the (High Court) judg- said the opposite. electricity output by more than firm Sinohydro Corporation. businesses and infl uence ap- in answer to another question. The 75-year-old president is ment, I will establish it immedi- “We have a policy of mixed 10%. Ivory Coast, the world’s top “The Soubre dam will allow Ivory pointments are among many The main opposition party still trying to prevent the NPA ately. We will prove the lies and energy and that includes nu- cocoa grower, has emerged from Coast to produce abundant and scandals that have dogged his then walked out of the session, from fi ling the charges. the truths,” Zuma said. clear,” Zuma said. a decade-long political crisis as inexpensive electricity,” President presidency. saying Zuma was refusing to The “State of Capture” report “The truth will be found.” “We are not saying we have Africa’s fastest-growing economy, Alassane Ouattara said at the The Guptas and Zuma have answer questions on how much by the Public Protector, whose The report focused on allega- changed policy. Its a question but that growth has strained power inauguration ceremony. “We are denied any wrongdoing and say the state had spent on legal fees job is to uphold standards in tions that Zuma’s friends, the of timing, when do we do it. We supplies. The new plant near the going to continue constructing they are victims of a politically to fi ght corruption allegations public life, recommended a ju- businessmen and brothers Ajay, have been discussing that issue southwestern city of Soubre was other hydroelectric plants.” motivated witch-hunt. against him. dicial probe into allegations of Atul and Rajesh Gupta, had in- all the time in the government.” Security for Kenya judges Burundi curbs on ‘enhanced’ after shooting drumming rituals AFP erful, synchronised drumming Nairobi with dancing, heroic poetry and Reuters vehicle, known as a “chaser car”, her bodyguard, who is in hospi- traditional songs.” Nairobi to follow or go ahead of them as tal in stable condition. It says the “entire population they moved around the country. He declined to comment on urundi’s President Pierre of Burundi recognises it as a fun- The source, who was not whether any other judges had Nkurunziza has intro- damental part of its heritage and enya’s chief justice said available to speak yesterday, said requested extra security, but Bduced strict controls over identity.” the national police chief this request was turned down. noted that both the interior the country’s renowned drum- Today, the drums are played for Khad “enhanced” the se- The source also said the judges minister and chief of police had ming rituals, banning female entertainment: but for centuries curity of Supreme Court judges were upset at the government’s promised they could have what- drummers and limiting the sa- they were a sacred rite, symbolic after one of their bodyguards characterisation of the shooting ever they requested. cred tradition to offi cial events. of a united kingdom – a powerful was shot, denying a Reuters re- as a crime rather than an attempt He said he was not able to “It is strictly forbidden to memory for a country whose re- port that a request for extra se- to intimidate judges who had re- give details of the extra security those of the female sex to beat cent history has been scarred by curity had been turned down. cently annulled the August elec- provided because “that in itself drums. They can however carry civil war and political crisis. The judges’ safety was thrust tion victory of President Uhuru would be a breach of security out female folk dances accom- In the country’s Kirundi lan- into focus last week after the Kenyatta. protocols”. panying the drums,” read a de- guage, the word for drum – “in- shooting, which occurred on The statement, issued by Kenyatta won the repeat pres- cree seen by AFP yesterday, that goma” – is the same as that for Tuesday evening. Chief Justice David Maraga’s of- idential poll on October 26 with was signed late last month. kingdom. In modern times drum- The next day, fi ve out of seven fi ce late on Wednesday, said the 98% of the vote after opposition All groups seeking to perform ming groups have fl ourished, per- judges failed to come to court story was wrong. leader Raila Odinga withdrew “cultural shows” must from now forming at weddings, graduation to issue a judgment on an elec- “To the contrary, the Inspec- from the race, saying it would on register with the ministry of ceremonies and baptisms. tion petition seeking to delay tor General of Police has in fact not be fair. culture and are not allowed to While traditionally a male- the next day’s presidential poll, enhanced the security of Su- The repeat election was or- perform outside of offi cial cer- dominated fi eld, several female sparking widespread specula- preme Court judges,” it said. dered by the Supreme Court af- emonies without authorisation drumming groups have emerged tion of intimidation. It did not give further details. ter it nullifi ed the results of a poll from the ministry. in recent years. The presidential A senior judicial source told Interior Ministry spokes- on August 8 due to procedural Burundi’s ritual dance of the decree, signed on October 20, said Reuters earlier this week that af- man Mwenda Njoka said Deputy irregularities. royal drums was in 2014 placed that if an organiser gets permis- ter the shooting the judges, who Chief Justice Philomena Mwilu The election board said Keny- on Unesco’s Intangible Cultural sion to have drummers perform at are normally allocated one bod- had been allocated six police to atta won that election by 1.4mn This file photo taken on March 14, 2015 shows drummers from Heritage list, which describes it an event, he must pay the Treasury yguard, had requested another guard her after the shooting of votes. the Gishora drumming group performing in Gishora. as “a spectacle combining pow- a fee equivalent to €245 ($280). Gulf Times Friday, November 3, 2017 5 AMERICAS Police catch gunman accused of killing three at Colorado Walmart

Reuters the Thornton Police Department and wearing body armour stood Police had earlier released a shortly after 6pm on Wednesday, just shot towards a group.” Reuters he was buying groceries Thornton, Colorado said. nearby. surveillance camera photograph Avila had earlier told reporters, The Walmart had been quickly at a self-checkout stand when he Police spokesman Victor Avila KCNC-TV said police SWAT of a middle-aged white man citing witness accounts. surrounded by police and fi re heard gunshots and ricocheting told reporters that Ostrem had team offi cers had ringed the sus- wearing a black jacket and blue Two men were killed in the crews. bullets. olice in Colorado have cap- “a minimal criminal history” pect’s last known address in sub- jeans. shooting and a woman who Authorities initially said “mul- “The employees started tured a man who they had and that authorities had not yet urban Adams County yesterday They also published a photo was shot was taken to a hospital tiple parties” had been injured. screaming and the customers Psaid calmly walked into a established a motive for the ram- morning when Ostrem drove past of the red four-door Mitsubi- where she died, according to po- Avila said there was no indica- started screaming” as people suburban Denver Walmart and page. and was spotted. shi hatchback he was believed to lice. tion the shooting was an act of began to fl ee, he said. “I ran out, fatally shot three people at ran- Video broadcast from CBS af- He was followed by law en- have fl ed in. No one else was wounded, po- terrorism and no one had claimed too, because I didn’t want to get dom before driving away. fi liate KCNC-TV showed the forcement and journalists, KC- Ostrem “nonchalantly” en- lice said. responsibility. shot.” Scott Ostrem, aged 47, was suspect being handcuff ed by po- NC-TV reported, and was ar- tered the store in Thornton, “What we have determined is “We can’t rule anything out,” NBC television affi liate taken into custody without in- lice against the side of an SUV rested in the nearby suburb of about 10 miles (16km) northeast that it is random as of right now,” he said. 9NEWS reported that a woman cident a day after the shooting, as Federal Bureau of Investiga- Westminster following a “quick of downtown Denver, and opened Avila told reporters. “As witness- Walmart customer Aaron whose son was in the Walmart following a tip from the public, tion (FBI) agents carrying rifl es pursuit”. fi re on shoppers and employees es stated, the person came in and Stephens, 44, of Thornton told said he heard about 30 gunshots. New York attack suspect says killings ‘felt good’ US Republicans AFP New York

he Uzbek immigrant be- hind New York’s worst Tattack in 16 years has roll out tax bill confessed to acting in the name of the Islamic State (IS) group By Michael Mathes, AFP standard deduction that indi- and “felt good” about the kill- Washington viduals and families can claim ings, having planned an assault on their taxes, and expands the for a year, investigators said. child tax credit, while eliminat- The shocking details emerged S Republican leaders un- ing a raft of deductions, includ- as federal prosecutors fi led ter- veiled a sweeping tax bill ing for alimony payments, mov- rorism charges against Sayfullo Uyesterday that would dra- ing expenses, and some medical Saipov, who subsequently ap- matically slash corporate rates expenses among others. peared in court in a wheelchair and maintain the top tax bracket It also eliminates the estate tax – he had been shot in the abdo- for millionaires, but the measure on money inherited by Ameri- men by police – 24 hours after A notice from law enforcement faces scepticism despite a push cans through the death of a par- mowing down pedestrians and agencies seeking for from President Donald Trump. ent, beginning in 2024, and re- cyclists, and colliding with a information on the October 31 Simmering disagreements peals the Alternative Minimum school bus. attack in New York is seen near persisted over what should end Tax. US President Donald Trump a bicycle path. up in the largest tax overhaul And it limits the home in- vowed an immediate crackdown since Ronald Reagan’s 1980s terest deduction to loans up on the visa programme that he Trump (left) said on Twitter that presidency. House Way and Means chairman Kevin Brady (left) and Speaker of to $500,000, from the current said allowed the 29-year-old to the “NYC terrorist” ... “SHOULD The eff ort, conducted largely the House Paul Ryan (right), with members of the House Republican $1mn. immigrate in 2010, saying that GET DEATH PENALTY!” in secret in recent months, is leadership, introduce tax reform legislation in Washington, DC. With the release of the highly he would “certainly consider” seen by many Republicans as a anticipated bill, the hard sell be- sending the suspect to the mili- New York Governor Andrew shot at political redemption af- est groups will seek to “distort enrich the wealthy. gins. tary detention centre in Guan- ISIS’s fl ag in his hospital room Cuomo said Saipov had been ter they and Trump failed in their the facts”. On paper, the bill condenses Some rank-and-fi le members tanamo Bay and later calling for and stated that he felt good radicalised after moving to the high-stakes bid to repeal and re- But in brief remarks in the Oval the existing seven tax brackets from high-tax states like New his execution. about what he had done,” the United States. place Barack Obama’s signature Offi ce, the president said he ex- to just four, plus an eff ective fi fth York and New Jersey had soured The attack killed eight peo- charging document revealed. He is not a US citizen but a le- healthcare reforms. pected to be able to give Ameri- bracket at 0%. on a plan to curb local tax deduc- ple, fi ve of them childhood The complaint listed two gal permanent resident. “This is it. This is a very im- cans a “giant tax cut” this year. Critically, it keeps the top rate tions as a way to help cover the friends from Argentina cele- counts: provision of mate- Trump denounced Saipov portant and special moment for “I really believe we will have it for wealthy tax-payers at 39.6%, cost. brating 30 years since their high rial support and resources to as an “animal” and said he was our country,” House Speaker done before Christmas,” he said. rather than 35% as proposed A compromise was struck, so school graduation, a 31-year- a designated foreign terrorist “starting the process of termi- Paul Ryan said as he and fellow The Republican Party is under in September under the White that homeowners will be able old Belgian mother, and two US organisation, and violence and nating” the popular green card Republicans announced the Tax intense pressure to score a major House tax outline. to write off property taxes up to men, from New York and neigh- destruction of motor vehicles. lottery, which he said had ena- Cuts and Jobs Act. legislative victory in 2017, but it But it raises the threshold for $10,000, while other state and bouring New Jersey. It was not immediately clear bled Saipov to enter the coun- Ryan said a family of four will likely need to do all the heavy that top bracket to $1mn for mar- local deductions are eliminated. Of 12 wounded, four re- whether he would face further try. would save an average of $1,182 lifting as Democrats have united ried couples, from the current At one point a controversial mained in critical condition charges. “We have to do what’s right a year under the new plan, which against the legislation. $470,700 – meaning a major tax proposal was introduced that following the deadliest attack Kim said the material sup- to protect our citizens,” the he hailed as an overhaul that will Senate rules allow for the break for people earning half a would limit Americans’ tax- in America’s fi nancial capital port charge carries a maximum Republican president told re- “deliver real relief” for working measure to add $1.5tn to the defi - million dollars or more annually. deferred contributions to their since the Al Qaeda hijackings on sentence of life imprisonment. porters. “We will get rid of this Americans. cit over 10 years. The corporate tax rate would 401(k) retirement accounts. September 11, 2001. Federal prosecutors could lottery programme as soon as Trump applauded the bill as But with the cuts expected to be permanently lowered to 20% In the end it was left out of the Saipov fi rst started planning also potentially seek the death possible.” an “important step” towards tax cost far more, tax-writers have from 35%, a move Republicans bill, in what is seen as a victory an attack a year ago, before set- penalty. He later said on Twitter that relief, but he acknowledged the scrambled to fi nd other ways to insist will provide rocket fuel for for Trump. tling two months ago on using a In the largely-Muslim neigh- the attacker “SHOULD GET hurdles ahead in getting the con- boost revenues and cut spending the US economy to take off . But his call to insert language truck to kill as many people as bourhood where Saipov lived DEATH PENALTY!” troversial measure through Con- to cover the costs. “We are going to make this that would ditch the Obamacare possible during Halloween cel- with his wife and children for Trump has already slashed gress. House Minority Leader Nancy economy boom,” said Cathy Mc- provision requiring individuals ebrations, according to a federal little over a year in the New Jer- the country’s annual refu- “We are just getting started, Pelosi reacted swiftly, blasting Morris Rodgers, chairwoman of to have health insurance or pay a terrorism complaint. sey town of Paterson, residents gee intake by more than 50%, and there is much work left to the new plan as a “half-baked the House Republican Confer- fi ne went unheeded. Prosecutors unveiled the seethed with anger, furious that tightened visa issuance around do,” Trump said in a statement, bill” that would “plunder the ence. charges, saying that he had he had besmirched their hard- the world and attempted to while warning that special inter- middle class” in order to further The bill roughly doubles the „ See also Business Page 12 waived his rights and confessed working immigrant reputation. ban travelers from 11 countries, to being inspired by IS propa- “They should hang him!” most of them with Muslim- ganda, after yelling “Allahu snapped the manager of a laun- majority populations, but not akbar” upon exiting a rented derette near his modest apart- Uzbekistan. pickup truck in Lower Manhat- ment. Saipov lived in Florida before tan on Tuesday. “If you come to the US, it’s to moving to Paterson, a former Women protest violence in Day of Dead rally “Saipov committed this at- do something better, not some- industrial hub about 20 miles tack in support of ISIS,” US act- thing bad!” she spat, refusing to (30km) northeast of New York. ing Manhattan attorney Joon give her name out of fear. Though it remains unclear Reuters with the caption “Justice”. Kim announced, using an acro- A police offi cer shot Saipov whether Saipov acted alone, Mexico City “Each case is a tale of horror,” nym to refer to the IS group. after he exited the truck bran- Cuomo has drastically stepped said organiser Ana Elena Contre- Saipov appeared in a wheel- dishing paintball and pellet up security at airports, tun- ras, who is pushing the govern- chair before a US magistrate in guns. nels and Penn Station, which he earing black clothing ment to do more to end the mur- Manhattan federal court, where Vehicle rammings have been called the busiest rail hub in the and skeletal face paint, der, rape and abuse of women, the charges were formally read. a frequent tactic deployed by IS hemisphere. Wdozens of women in a country where thousands of He was not required to enter sympathisers in the West, in- Authorities announced they marched in downtown Mexico violent crimes go unpunished a plea and was afterward sent to cluding in Barcelona, London, had found a second Uzbek City on Wednesday to commem- every year. a federal detention facility, most Stockholm, and in Nice, where a they’d been seeking in their in- orate the growing number of Contreras said as long as per- likely in New York, a spokesman Tunisian suicide truck bomber vestigation – 32-year-old Muk- women murdered and pressure petrators are not brought to for the US Attorney’s offi ce told killed 86 people on Bastille Day hammadzoir Kadirov – but they the government to put an end to book, women will continue to AFP. last year. provided no additional details. what they say is the rampant im- face grave risks in Mexico, which He was found in possession “He appears to have followed In Manhattan, leaders vowed punity fuelling it. scored worse than the most vio- of multiple knives in a black almost exactly to a ‘T’ the in- the annual marathon would go About 200 protesters held lent countries of Central Amer- bag, a Florida driving licence structions that ISIS has put out ahead as planned on Sunday. photos of murdered sisters, ica in the 2017 Global Impunity and two cellphones that con- in its social media channels be- Police said the event, which daughters and friends while Index, published in August. tained thousands of IS propa- fore with instructions to their attracts more than 50,000 chanting “not one more” in a That included Honduras and ganda images and dozens of IS followers on how to carry out runners and 2.5mn spectators, An activist with her face painted to look like the popular Mexican procession that was a sombre El Salvador, which have been two propaganda videos, Kim said. such an attack,” senior police would be the most protected figure ‘Catrina’ lights a candle to put it on an altar during a march contrast to festive events else- of the most murderous countries “Saipov requested to display offi cer John Miller said. ever. against femicide during the Day of the Dead in Mexico City. where in the capital on the eve of in the world in the past decade. Day of the Dead. The problem of violence Homicides of women have against women has become so Canada to boost immigration to 1mn risen by nearly a quarter on av- serious in Mexico that the federal erage under President Enrique penal code now defi nes certain Canada will boost immigration to 1mn over the next three years Pena Nieto compared with the types of murders as “femicide”. with a plan that “will guarantee” the country’s future prosperity, its Comey book title takes a dig at Trump previous administration, and Still, measuring the phenom- immigration minister announced on Wednesday. Mexico’s total murder tally is on enon of femicides is diffi cult due The number of immigrants will be increased to at least 310,000 track to hit the highest level in its to a lack of specifi c data, said next year, and continue growing to 330,000 in 2019 and 340,000 AFP alty,” Trump told the country’s that there are no ‘tapes’ of our modern history this year. Francisco Rivas, director general in 2020, said Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, who assumed Washington top investigator at a private conversations before he starts “As women we face a lot of of the National Citizen Observa- off ice in January and is himself an immigrant. White House dinner in January, leaking to the press!” danger,” said Claudia Correa, tory, a civil group monitoring “This plan will result in the most ambitious immigration levels in one week after Trump became To which Comey replied, in whose 21 year-old daughter, was justice and security in Mexico. history and will guarantee Canada’s prosperity now and into the ormer FBI director James president, according to Comey. Congressional testimony weeks found dead near her home in Ve- “There’s a part of society that future,” he told a press conference. Comey takes a snarky In a memorandum he wrote later: “Lordy, I hope there are racruz state last month with stab still doesn’t consider this issue The arrivals – in economic and family categories, as well as refugees Fdig at President Don- after the dinner, Comey said tapes.” wounds in the chest and neck, as something serious; they mini- – would push up the population of Canada by about 0.9% each year, ald Trump with the title of his he was uncomfortable with Announcing his book con- after going out one evening with mise it,” said Rivas. an increase from 0.8% in recent years. forthcoming book: A Higher Trump’s repeated entreaties, tract in August with publisher her ex-boyfriend. In the fi rst four years of Pena Critics, however, said as many as 450,000 newcomers are needed Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Lead- and had only promised “honest Flatiron Books, Comey titillated Correa said the ex-boyfriend Nieto’s government, Mexico annually to support businesses and labour needs as the population ership. loyalty” afterward. future readers by promising has since disappeared, and an registered some 2,543 homicides ages and birth rates fall. It was Trump who demanded When Comey kept the in- “yet unheard anecdotes”. investigation is underway to fi nd of women on average, up from According to the last census, the proportion of the Canadian allegiance from Comey early vestigation going against more Flatiron said the book, to be him. 2,051 in the term of his predeces- population born abroad had risen to a near historical high of 21.9% this year, before fi ring him in implicit pressure from Trump released in May 2018, will “ex- “The authorities don’t do any- sor Felipe Calderon, according to in 2016, for a total of 7,540,830. frustration over the Federal in the following months, the plore what good, ethical leader- thing to fi nd these killers and the data published by Mexico’s na- For the first time, Africa ranked second ahead of Europe as a source Bureau of Investigation (FBI)’s president fi red him on May 9. ship looks like and how it drives killers realise that they are taking tional statistics agency. of recent immigrants, from 2011 to 2016, Statistics Canada said. mounting probe into whether Days after the fi ring, furi- sound decisions”. so long that they have a chance The 2,735 homicides of women Asia, including the Middle East, remained the leading source. his campaign colluded with ous that Comey had kept and On his own rarely used Twit- to get away. And they are going last year was the second-highest The top source countries in these two regions were Nigeria, Algeria, Russian meddling in the 2016 leaked memos of their discus- ter account - @formerBu – to continue doing so if we allow fi gure of any year since 1990, and Egypt, Morocco and Cameroon; and the Philippines, India, China, election. sions, Trump blasted via Twit- Comey simply tweeted: “Lordy them to,” said Correa, donning a more than double the number Iran, Pakistan, Syria and South Korea, respectively. “I need loyalty, I expect loy- ter: “James Comey better hope I hope there are pictures.” photo of her deceased daughter recorded a decade ago. Gulf Times 6 Friday, November 3, 2017 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA

Suu Kyi makes fi rst visit Xi sends rare message to violence-hit Rakhine

AFP Yesterday, around 3,000 Sittwe, Myanmar Rohingya arrived by land at the Bangladesh border, a sign hunger and fear is still driv- yanmar’s leader ing people from their homes. to North Korea’s Kim Aung San Suu Kyi “The army didn’t attack us but Mvisited confl ict-bat- made our life very diffi cult,” AFP press briefi ng in Beijing yester- its banned nuclear weapons and tered northern Rakhine state Mohammad Zafar, 35, from a Beijing day that North Korea’s message ballistic missile programmes, for the fi rst time yesterday, village in Buthidaung told AFP was just one among many others even after voting for them in the reportedly meeting Rohingya at the Bangladesh border. “We received. Xi had responded “out Security Council. But Beijing has Muslims who have faced an were not paid for any work and of politeness,” she said. grown increasingly frustrated army crackdown that has seen couldn’t go to markets. How hinese President Xi Jin- The last time KCNA reported a by its belligerent neighbour, and hundreds of thousands of the long is it possible to live like ping has sent North Ko- message from Xi was in July 2016. rapidly backed a new set of UN minority fl ee. that?” Crean leader Kim Jong-un Analysts say that such exchang- measures after a fl urry of missile Suu Kyi, a nobel laureate Suu Kyi heads a commit- a rare message “out of polite- es have become extremely rare launches by the North and its who leads Myanmar’s pro-de- tee charged with rebuilding ness,” Beijing said yesterday, in under the current leaders, even sixth nuclear test in September. mocracy party, has been ham- Rakhine. She was joined by his fi rst public communication though Beijing and Pyongyang Professor Yang Moo-jin of mered by the international businessman Zaw Zaw, one with his wayward neighbour traditionally sent greetings and the University of North Korean community for failing to use of a host of military “cronies” for more than a year. The note congratulations on each other’s Studies in Seoul said the public her moral power to speak up in who thrived under junta rule signalled a possible improve- key anniversaries in the past. exchange of messages signalled a defence of the Rohingya. and are now taking prominent ment in their strained relation- Xi Jinping Kim Jong-un Their relationship was forged willingness on both sides to im- Some 600,000 of the mi- roles in rebuilding the battered ship, which has soured over in the bloodshed of the Korean prove relations. “The fact that nority have fl ed to Bangladesh region. Pyongyang’s growing weapons wish that under the new situ- Kim as “Comrade Chairman”. War, when Mao Zedong sent both sides are swiftly trading since late August carrying ac- There are fears a carve-up ambitions even though Beijing ation the Chinese side would In his earlier note, Kim had millions of “volunteers” to fi ght letters and announcing it car- counts of murder, rape and ar- of contracts in Rakhine by big is its longtime ally and economic make eff orts with the DPRK side off ered Xi his “sincere congratu- US-led United Nations forces to ries a symbolic meaning,” Yang son at the hands of Myanmar’s business will further divorce benefactor. to promote the relations between lations” and expressed his belief a standstill. told AFP. “If the message was powerful army. the Rohingya from their land. Xi’s message, dated Wednes- the two parties and the two that their relations would devel- Mao described the allies as more intimate, we could expect a The UN says that crack- Suu Kyi says the Rohingya day, was sent in response to con- countries to sustainable sound- op “in the interests of the people close as “lips and teeth”, and faster thawing of ties,” he added, down is likely tantamount to who have fl ed are now wel- gratulations from Kim last week ness and stable development,” of the two countries”. Chinese China has long been accused of “but for now, it shows that both ethnic cleansing, while pres- come back, if they meet con- for securing a second term as the Xi said, according to the North’s foreign ministry spokeswoman failing to enforce United Nations sides agree on the need to im- sure has mounted on Myan- tested “verifi cation” criteria head of China’s ruling party. “I KCNA news agency, addressing Hua Chunying told a regular sanctions against the North for prove their relations”. mar to provide security for the for re-entry to Myanmar. Rohingya and allow people to The Rohingya are loathed in return home. Buddhist-majority Myanmar, Suu Kyi left via state capital where they are denied citizen- Sittwe as evening fell yester- ship and denigrated as illegal Just arrived day after a visit that also took “Bengali” immigrants. Malaysian royals call in Maungdaw and Buthidaung Their legal status is at the in northern Rakhine. crux of communal tensions, It was her fi rst trip in offi ce with ethnic Rakhine Bud- for Mahathir to face to the region, which has seen dhists adamant that Rohingya some of the worst communal are foreign interlopers. violence that has cut through A Rohingya resident who the western state since 2012, has remained in Maungdaw sedition probe severely damaging Myanmar’s town appealed to Suu Kyi to global reputation. reconsider foisting a contro- AFP with his ruling council yesterday “The Lady” — as she in versial national verifi cation Kuala Lumpur over the issue. known — did meet with the card (NVC) on the minority. Afterwards the sultanate is- Rohingya community in The card grants them limited sued a statement expressing an- Maungdaw town, according to rights of residence in Myan- powerful Malaysian royal ger at Mahathir’s comments and local media, a fi rst for a leader mar, but does not recognise family called yesterday calling for an “investigation and keen to convince observers them as an ethnic group with Afor former prime minster legal action under the Sedition inside the country and abroad citizenship. The Rohingya say Mahathir Mohamad to face a se- Act”. that the crisis has abated and it is a bureaucratic attempt to dition probe for allegedly insult- “The accusation is indirectly reconstruction of Rakhine can erase their identity and force ing an ethnic group from which insulting the genealogy and begin. a shaky legal status onto them they claim descent. origins of the Selangor Sultan- But it was not clear if Suu in a region where many claim During a rally last month ate who come from the Bugis Kyi visited some of the hun- generations of ancestry. “We against a massive financial (race),” Hanafi sah Jais, Selangor dreds of Rohingya villages cannot do anything with this scandal embroiling the current Royal Court secretary, said in a torched by the army — alleg- NVC card, so we do not want government, Mahathir had said statement. edly aided by ethnic Rakhine to receive it,” the resident said, Prime Minister Najib Razak “History has proven that the Buddhist locals. requesting anonymity fearing was descended from “Bugis pi- Selangor Sultanate are Bugis The Rohingya who remain reprisals. “We are not Ben- rates”. descendants, who have fought in northern Rakhine are living galis from Bangladesh, we are Political tensions are rising in and defended religion and peace in fear, surrounded by hostile Rohingya living here for gen- Malaysia, with Mahathir — who in the Malay archipelago.” neighbours, who refuse to let erations.” was premier for 22 years — seek- The police could not imme- them farm or move freely. Observers say Suu Kyi has ing to oust Najib at elections diately be reached for comment. The UN yesterday again chosen not to criticise the that must be called by August. Malaysia has nine state sultans called for unfettered humani- army in fear of a backlash from The Bugis are a seafaring ethnic who have no formal power, rare- tarian access to a zone still un- a powerful institution that group that come from neigh- ly dabble in politics, and whose der army lockdown. controls all security matters. bouring Indonesia. Large num- proclamations are not binding. bers migrated to Malaysia, and But the centuries-old royal many in the country claim Bugis families are accorded great re- Longest living female dolphin in ancestry. spect as symbols of Malaysia’s The comments sparked anger heritage and guardians of the Is- captivity dies at Japan aquarium among Malaysians with Bugis lamic faith in the country. ancestry and Mahathir later re- A parliamentary democracy, A female bottlenose dolphin between the age of 10 and 15 portedly insisted that the re- Malaysia has a unique system in has died at a Japanese years. marks were directed at Najib, not which the sultans serve as the aquarium only weeks after Nana, which drew media the community. ceremonial heads of nine of the breaking a national record attention after breaking Sharafuddin Idris Shah — the country’s 13 states, with one of of more than four decades the record, was given an Sultan of Selangor, one of Ma- them appointed the nation’s fi g- in captivity, an official said award and special residence laysia’s wealthiest states — met urehead king every fi ve years. yesterday. certificate by the city of Nana, thought to be around Shimoda last month. “Nana 47 years old, was discovered was a symbol of our aquarium Japan kills 38 minke whales off drowned on Tuesday at a and had attracted a lot of natural cove of Shimoda fans with her cute behaviour,” northern island for ‘research’ Aquarium in Shizuoka, central Sakamoto said. Japan, said official Kiyoshi “We miss her so much,” he Japan caught 38 minke whales whales off Aomori prefecture Sakamoto. The death came said, adding that the facility in coastal waters off the from September 1 to October less than a month after Nana is considering holding a northern part of the country 31, the Fisheries Agency said. reached 42 years and 10 ceremony in the dolphin’s for “research” purposes, the In 2014, the International Court months under human care, memory. Nana was captured government said, despite of Justice ruled that Japan’s beating the previous record off the coast of Ito in 1974 and international criticism. The so-called “research whaling” in held by another dolphin had lived at the aquarium number of catches was fewer the Antarctic contravened a 1986 at Kamogawa Sea World, ever since. than half the targeted 80 minke moratorium on whale hunting. southeast of Tokyo. She gave birth to eight whales because of unfavourable Japan decided to halt whaling in The aquarium will conduct calves while also taking weather, Kohei Ito, a fisheries the Antarctic for a year following an autopsy on the dolphin as part in dolphin shows, the agency official, told DPA the court ruling. But it resumed the exact cause of its death official said. Dolphin shows yesterday. in the fiscal year 2015-16 after could not immediately be are popular at Japanese A whaling group hunted 35 the government decided to slash Ivanka Trump, adviser to the US President Donald Trump, is escorted by US Ambassador to established, said Sakamoto, aquariums, while some local minke whales off the northern the number of planned hunts of Japan William Hagerty and his wife Chrissy upon her arrival at Narita International Airport, adding that Nana had fishermen hunt the animals island of Hokkaido from July minke whales to about a third of east of Tokyo, Japan, yesterday. recently lost her appetite. for meat, which they say is a 18 to August 20, and 3 minke its earlier target. Many bottlenose dolphins die traditional part of their diet. UN urges Australia to end stand-off at PNG camp

AFP water and electricity being cut The men’s plight has refugees and local communities “I’ve thought about this. I be- ter Peter Dutton insisted the new facility on Nauru, but reportedly Sydney and dwindling food supplies, attracted the attention of had grown due to a lack of con- lieve I could house and fi nd jobs facilities were “much better” few have accepted. saying they are fearful for their Hollywood, with Australian sultation when the transition for 6. I’m sure there’d be other than being at the camp and said A third-country resettlement safety if they move to transition star Russell Crowe centres were being constructed. Australians who would do the he wanted “to close Manus as deal struck between Canberra he United Nations called centres amid reports locals do describing the situation as “The local population have not same.” quickly as possible”. and Washington has so far only on Australia to stop a “hu- not want them there. “disgraceful” been prepared ... that creates The detainees were also ter- Australian Greens senator seen 24 refugees fl own to the Tmanitarian emergency” “UNHCR, the UN Refugee an environment of high risk for rifi ed of being forced out after Nick McKim visited the camp United States. unfolding at a detention centre Agency, today reiterates its call to sustain themselves, UNHCR both sides,” he said. control of the camp offi cially this week and yesterday called Resettlement in New Zealand in Papua New Guinea yester- to Australia to stop a humani- said. One Manus detainee, an Lam added that while he had transferred back to PNG’s navy on Dutton to end the impasse, — raised in 2013 but never taken day, urging an end to a tense tarian emergency unfolding Iranian called Behrouz Boochani, been in contact with PNG au- Wednesday, advocates said. But saying the refugees were “caught up by Canberra — could be via- days-long stand-off between on Manus Island, Papua New tweeted yesterday that refugees thorities, who assured him the the PNG naval base’s command- in limbo” between the two coun- ble again after new leader Jacin- refugees and authorities. The Guinea,” the organisation said were “digging into the ground to detainees would not be forcibly ing offi cer Begsy Karaki insisted tries’ governments. “Each gov- da Ardern said yesterday she Manus Island camp, set up to in a statement. Describing the fi nd water”. “As the days go by transferred, he had not heard they “will not be forcefully re- ernment is trying to claim that planned to raise the issue with hold and process asylum-seek- situation as “increasingly tense where they have no water and no from Australian offi cials, who moved”. the refugees are the responsibil- her Australian counterpart Mal- ers under Australia’s harsh im- and unstable”, the agency said electricity, I think the tensions had mostly left the area. The “There is no panic and those ity of the other and the men are colm Turnbull. The pair are due migration policy, was offi cially there was inadequate accom- will just go up higher,” UNHCR men’s plight has attracted the that have pre-conceived ideas caught in the middle, and every- to meet on Sunday in Sydney. closed Tuesday after it was ruled modation outside the camp for representative Lam Nai Jit told attention of Hollywood, with developed by the asylum-seek- where they turn there is danger,” Canberra has long defended unconstitutional by PNG’s Su- all of the men, with one centre AFP from Manus Island, adding Australian star Russell Crowe ers, I reiterate that there is no McKim told AFP Thursday. its policy of denying asylum- preme Court. still incomplete. that the weather was “extremely describing the situation as “dis- threat,” he told PNG’s Post- Barred from moving to Aus- seekers resettlement in Austral- But some 600 men have Within the camp, they were hot and humid”. graceful”. He added that he was Courier newspaper yesterday. tralia, they have been off ered ia, saying it has prevented deaths locked themselves inside despite storing water in garbage bins He said unease between the willing to do his part, tweeting: Australia’s Immigration Minis- transfers to another Pacifi c on at sea. Gulf Times Friday, November 3, 2017 7 BRITAIN/IRELAND

LEGAL TRIAL CRIME OFFBEAT VERDICT Up to 100 inmates to Grenfell fraudster admits Teenagers deny Burglary suspect trapped Woman, 80, jailed over dog be given right to vote making up family deaths school killings plot in takeaway vent attack on five-year-old girl

Fewer than 100 prisoners will get the right A serial conman has admitted pretending his Two 14-year-olds have appeared in court A suspected burglar had to shout to passers- An 80-year-old woman has been jailed for 12 to vote under changes to prison service family died in the Grenfell Tower fire to obtain accused of plotting to murder teachers and by for help after getting trapped in a takeaway months after her son’s dog attacked a five-year-old guidance that it is hoped will end a 12-year about £12,500 from funds meant for victims. children at a school in the north of England. extractor vent for seven hours. A member of girl, leaving her with facial injuries. Theresa Graves, dispute threatening Britain’s membership of Anh Nhu Nguyen claimed his wife and son were Lawyers for the boys, from the market town the public spotted legs dangling from the shaft of March, Cambridgeshire, held the animal up for the European court of human rights. David killed in the blaze. He posed as a victim of the of Northallerton in North Yorkshire, indicated at DFC Chicken in Handsworth, Birmingham, Skyla Boldan to kiss it in June this year, according Lidington, the justice secretary, confirmed to disaster for almost two weeks and was given the they would deny conspiracy to murder. During before police arrived at about 8.20GMT to the girl’s family. But it bit her, causing deep MPs yesterday that the government intends money by charities and Kensington and Chelsea a 15-minute hearing at Leeds youth court, the yesterday and rescued him. Police constable cuts to her lip. The dog, a Jack Russell had to be to change prison rules to allow “up to 100 Council. The 52-year-old, of Beckenham, south- boys stared directly ahead after confirming Matthew Willocks said: “The suspect climbed destroyed. Graves was found guilty of being in off enders” on short sentences to vote while east London, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown their names, ages and addresses. They were in at around 2am. He was completely stuck charge of a dangerous dog. Skyla’s grandfather, they are out of prison on a temporary release Court yesterday. He was discovered to be a fake led away in handcuff s after sitting with three and couldn’t move.” The man was eventually John Boldan, said the woman regularly walked licence. The changes will not mean that any when he gave several diff erent flat numbers, security guards behind the glass dock. The released by the fire brigade about an hour the dog in the area. He said she called Skyla over, convicted prisoner behind bars will be given some of which did not exist and one where a real teenagers were remanded into custody by later. A 45-year-old man from Handsworth was picked up the animal and “put it over the gate into the vote and judges will in future have to make victim lived. Nguyen showed no emotion as he district judge David Kitson to appear at Leeds later arrested on suspicion of burglary, West my child’s face”. “The next thing we know Skyla’s clear in their sentencing. entered his pleas through a translator. crown court on December 4. Midlands Police said. screaming, covered in blood, ” he said. Offi cials warn 140,000 illegals of deportation

Guardian News and Media focused on the operation of the London Home Offi ce’s reporting system for those facing removal and on the management outside deten- ore than 140,000 peo- tion of FNOs who have also been ple, including 60,000 told to leave the country. Mdeclared as “abscond- “In both cases, I found peo- ers”, have been told by immigra- ple and processes under strain,” tion authorities that they face said the inspector. “The num- detention and removal from bers required to report rou- Britain, an offi cial watchdog has tinely mean that it is extremely revealed. diffi cult for staff at reporting Two reports from the in- centres to ensure that report- dependent chief inspector of ing events are ‘meaningful’, in borders and immigration give terms of encouraging voluntary the fi rst offi cial indication of departures or resolving barriers the number of people in Britain to removal. without legal status and who are “Meanwhile, the removal of to face action forcing them to foreign national off enders is reg- leave. ularly frustrated, often by last- The reports by David Bolt, minute legal challenges, and which have only just been pub- monitoring non-detained FNOs lished after being delivered to eff ectively is a challenge and one the home secretary in May, de- that raises obvious public pro- New Defence Secretary, Gavin Williamson, arrives at the ministry of defence, in London yesterday. liver a severe blow to the Home tection concerns,” he said. Offi ce’s claims to be creating a Bolt added: “The system is “hostile” environment for illegal hampered by poor communica- immigrants in Britain. tion and co-ordination within The inquiry by the chief in- the Home Offi ce. The inspec- spector concludes that the tion found that recording and practical diffi culties involved in treatment of non-compliance asking 80,000 people to report with reporting restrictions was regularly to a Home Offi ce centre inconsistent, and there was lit- May replaces minister or a police station has seriously tle evidence of eff ective action to compromised any value in try- locate absconders.” ing to secure their removal from The reports say that in Sep- Britain. tember 2016 more than half of Bolt’s offi ce clarifi ed that the 80,000 people facing re- the 80,000 fi gure represent- moval reporting monthly or ed a snapshot of the numbers quarterly to the Home Offi ce over Commons scandal required to report while the were required to go to one of 60,000 offi cially declared as ab- three London reporting centres. AFP a glass-sided tank on his desk. Britain, a major member Williamson was May’s par- tions that the incoming defence sconders was a cumulative total “At the busiest of these, London The new defence minister of the Nato military alliance, liamentary campaign manager minister had orchestrated the over time. Some of them may Becket House, the numbers of said he was “honoured and ex- spends 2% of its gross domes- when she successfully ran to reshuffl e. have left the country, the offi ce individuals counter staff were cited” by the promotion, adding tic product (GDP) on defence become Conservative Party BBC News political editor added. expected to process in a day rime Minister Theresa he was “determined to ensure but the armed forces are facing leader, and was rewarded with Laura Kuenssberg tweeted that In the reports Bolt says there meant that they had on average May yesterday named that the armed forces receive constant pressure to cut costs. the job of chief whip. a minister had told her that May is “little evidence that eff ective two to three minutes per inter- PGavin Williamson as the recognition they deserve”. Fallon announced his resig- In this role, he had respon- was “so weak she has let Wil- action was being taken to locate view. Inevitably, opportunities Britain’s new defence secretary But some questioned Wil- nation late Wednesday, the fi rst sibility for ensuring that ruling liamson appoint himself — this the vast bulk of absconders”. for meaningful interactions were after his predecessor Michael liamson’s expertise for the job, casualty of a deepening scandal party MPs attend votes, and is appalling”. He cites an example in which limited.” Fallon was forced to step down considered one of the biggest over sexual harassment in Brit- vote according to party lines, a The move raised questions the Home Offi ce’s “hostile en- About 7,000 or 9% of those over a sexual harassment scan- and most challenging in the ish politics. tough task in the recent votes on about whether the whips’ offi ce vironment” measures have required to report failed to turn dal sweeping parliament. government. He had apologised earlier in Brexit legislation given the rifts had a role in preparing the dos- backfi red and made it more dif- up and as of December 2016 It represents a signifi cant According to “TheyWorkFo- the week for inappropriately within the party over the issue. sier on ministers that is behind fi cult to trace foreign national there were almost 60,000 ab- promotion for the 41-year- rYou”, an online record of par- touching a journalist in 2002, He also had to keep the cen- the scandal, and there were re- off enders (FNOs) who have dis- sconders. old Williamson, a trusted ally liamentary activity, Williamson but reports suggested there tre-right party together follow- ports that Williamson advised appeared on release from prison. The chief inspector says there whose former job as chief whip has asked only seven questions were other allegations which ing the disastrous performance May that Fallon may be facing In line with the measures FNOs are about 5,884 foreign national involved enforcing discipline on defence since 2010. had not yet been made public. in the June snap general elec- further allegations. were no longer being given help prisoners who have been re- for May’s Conservative Party in May’s Downing Street offi ce “I accept that in the past tion, when May lost her parlia- “Make no mistake, Gavin to fi nd somewhere to live after leased from custody but still face parliament. responded that Williamson “was I have fallen below the high mentary majority, spurring calls Williamson wants to be prime release, with the result that the removal. A total of 5,180 were Williamson, who was only an excellent and hard-working standards that we require of for her resignation. minister. And he knows all the Home Offi ce no longer had a shown to be reporting regularly elected to parliament in 2010, is chief whip and the prime minis- the armed forces that I have Julian Smith, one of William- dirt on his colleagues,” wrote fi xed address for some. but 704 were recorded as ab- best known for having a pet ta- ter thinks he will make an excel- the honour to represent,” Fallon son’s closest allies, was named Tim Shipman, political editor of The two inspections by Bolt sconders. rantula, Cronus, that he keeps in lent defence secretary”. said. new chief whip, raising sugges- The Sunday Times newspaper.

Johnson meets students Nurses, midwives leaving N Ireland direct rule in droves since Brexit vote in ‘very near future’ Reuters nationalists, already upset by London Britain’s vote to leave the Eu- Guardian News and Media “These dramatic fi gures published in July showed that ropean Union. London should set alarm bells ringing in the number of nurses and mid- A move to direct rule would Whitehall and every UK health wives leaving the register out- he head of the Democrat- sideline the DUP’s main rival department. (They) represent stripped the number joining it ic Unionist Party (DUP) Sinn Fein, which seeks a united he number of nurses and a double whammy for the NHS for the fi rst time. And in Sep- Tin parliament yesterday Ireland with no British govern- midwives coming to work and patients”, said Janet Davies, tember NHSA Digital disclosed urged the British government to ing role in the north. Tin Britain from Europe the chief executive of the Royal that almost 10,000 EU doctors, institute direct rule of Northern The party does not take up has plunged by 89% since the College of Nursing. nurses and support staff had quit Ireland “in the very near future”, its seats in the London parlia- UK voted to leave the EU, fi gures The fi gures are the latest evi- the NHS in England since the saying otherwise its economy ment. have revealed. dence that Britain’s decision Brexit referendum. would be left to drift. “At some point in the very The sharp fall coincided with a last year to leave the EU has led “Far from delivering the staff The British government took near future we will need to sudden increase in qualifi ed Eu- to more staff from EU countries needed to keep patients on wards a step towards imposing di- have ministers, and if they are ropean medics leaving the Nurs- quitting and fewer choosing to safe, nurse numbers are now in rect rule for the fi rst time in a not Northern Ireland executive ing and Midwifery Council’s pursue their careers in the UK. fact falling in our NHS. It’s stag- decade on Wednesday by an- ministers... then it would have (NMC) register: from 2,435 in An average of 1,966 nurses gering that numbers are falling nouncing preparations to set to be ministers from here,” Ni- 2015-16 to 4,067 in the last year and midwives from Spain joined when all the evidence shows we Northern Ireland’s budget from gel Dodds told the British par- – a rise of 67%. the register every year between need more nurses in the NHS, not London after talks on forming a liament. The NMC data, released yes- 2012 and 2016. However, that less”, said Jonathan Ashworth, regional executive collapsed. “And they will have to take terday, also shows a third wor- fell by 95% to just 104 people the shadow health secretary. While Prime Minister There- decisions because we cannot rying trend relating to the NHS’s between October 2016 and Sep- Siva Anandaciva, the chief sa May is reluctant to impose allow the economy to drift and already shortstaff ed workforce tember 2017. analyst at the King’s Fund health full direct rule for fear of an- we cannot allow Northern Ire- – that the number of UK-trained Similarly, the number of thinktank, said the falls in nurse tagonising the Irish govern- land to drift,” he said. nurses and midwives leaving the health professionals from Ro- numbers were deeply worrying ment and Northern Ireland’s The DUP, he said, had been register rose by 11%, from 26,653 mania joining the register has given the need to maintain pa- large Irish nationalist minority, urging the British government in 2015-16 to 29,019 last year. dropped from 1,604 a year dur- tient safety across the NHS. her government is dependent to impose a budget. Health union leaders said the ing those four years to only 216 “While the government’s re- on the DUP’s 10 votes in parlia- Direct rule would likely trends were alarming and con- last year. There has also been a cent commitment to increase ment to remain in power. create a confl ict with Dublin, stituted “a double whammy for dramatic drop in the numbers nursing training places is wel- Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson meets students at the And many fear a move to di- which says Northern Ireland’s the NHS and patients”. The NHS coming to work from Italy (1,325 come, training nurses takes London College of Communication in London to mark rect rule for the fi rst time since Good Friday peace deal gives is already short of an estimated down to 187), Portugal (1,127 to many years and will not meet the ‘International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against 2007 would further disturb it the right to a role in the run- 40,000 nurses across the UK and 73) and Poland (305 to 34). short-term needs of the NHS or Journalists’ yesterday. a political balance between ning of Northern Ireland in the 3,500 midwives in England alone. Separate fi gures the NMC its patients,” he added. pro-British unionists and Irish event of direct rule. Gulf Times 8 Friday, November 3, 2017 EUROPE

Pressure mounts Catalan leaders ordered on Merkel over detained pending trial migrants Reuters ernment last Friday, hours after leading fi gures from the inde- because if he starts doing some- banned October 1 referendum on One of them, Santi Vila, who Reuters Madrid the Catalan parliament made a pendence movement to stand in thing outside the law, he is going secession and later proclaiming stepped down from the Cata- Berlin unilateral declaration of inde- a snap election in the wealthy to lose everything.” independence from Spain. lan cabinet before the a unilat- pendence – a vote boycotted by region called by the Spanish Following a tumultuous With Puigdemont and four eral declaration of independence Spanish judge has or- the opposition and declared il- government for December 21. month, attention is gradually others in Belgium, only 15 turned last Friday and has since then ermany has lost track of dered nine Catalan se- legal by Spanish courts. Puigdemont said on Tuesday turning to the December vote. up. been pushing for a negotiated 30,000 rejected asylum- Acessionist leaders be held Puigdemont’s lawyer in Bel- that he would go back to Spain Protests taking place in cen- All the members of the dis- solution with the government, Gseekers, Bild daily re- pending a potential trial over gium, where he has travelled only if given unspecifi ed guar- tral Barcelona yesterday to sup- missed Catalan cabinet but was granted bail of €50,000 ported yesterday, piling pressure the region’s independence push, with four members of his sacked antees by the Spanish govern- port secessionist leaders as they one declined to answer ques- ($58,300). on Chancellor Angela Merkel to and was reported to have issued cabinet, said his client would ment. testifi ed in Madrid failed to at- tions from the state prosecutor Five senior regional lawmak- agree a migrant policy with po- a European arrest warrant for stay away from Spain while the His fl ight appears to have cost tract a big crowd. and the High Court judge, who ers and the speaker of the Cata- tential coalition partners that ousted Catalan President Carles political climate was “not good”, support for his cause at home. Cracks have appeared within opened an investigation that lan parliament, Carme Forcadell, ensures no repeat of a migration Puigdemont. but he would co-operate with “President, enough is the pro-independence coali- could take several years before were summoned by the Supreme crisis in 2015. A spokeswoman for the High the courts. enough,” the infl uential Catalan tion of centre-right and far-left any potential trial. Court, which handles the cases The paper said the migrants Court could not immediately “If they ask, he will co-op- newspaper El Peridico, which parties as well as inside Puigde- “The defendants have played of people who enjoy parliamen- were on a December 2016 list of confi rm the report by the Barce- erate with Spanish and Belgian has been sceptical of the case for mont’s own PdeCat (Democratic an active role by propelling the tary immunity. people due to leave the country lona-based newspaper La Van- justice,” lawyer Paul Bekaert independence, said on its front Catalan Party) where some of his carefully designed secession- The Supreme Court agreed and quoted an interior minis- guardia of the arrest warrant for told Reuters after Puigdemont page on Wednesday. allies are now pushing for a ne- ist process and overcoming all yesterday to give one more week try spokesman as saying they Puigdemont, who is in Belgium. ignored an order to appear be- Ebelio Ramos, a pensioner gotiated solution with the cen- kinds of obstacles that could to Forcadell and the Catalan could not rule out that some Catalan political parties and fore the High Court yesterday from the pro-independence tral government. make them deviate from their lawmakers to prepare their de- “had already left or disappeared civic groups denounced the to answer charges of rebellion, town of Berga said: “I don’t know The struggle has divided fi nal objective,” the judge said in fence and a new hearing will take without the relevant authorities decision to “jail the legitimate sedition and misuse of public what they’re thinking about but Catalonia itself and caused deep the ruling that sent the defend- place on November 9. knowing”. government of Catalonia” and funds relating to the region’s se- when someone does what he did resentment across Spain. ants to jail. The courts have already told One commentator at Bild, called for protests outside the cessionist drive. and declares independence and In Madrid, 20 secessionist She said the defendants must the Catalan secessionist leaders which has run a campaign to Catalan regional parliament. The jailings of the secessionist then fl ees... a president has to leaders had been summoned be held in custody because they to deposit €6.2mn ($7.2mn) by speed up deportations of failed Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy leaders and Puigdemont’s fl ight fulfi l the law and if he doesn’t, by two separate courts to tes- were a fl ight risk and could de- today to cover potential liabili- asylum-seekers, wrote: “No sacked Puigdemont and his gov- to Belgium make it diffi cult for it is better that he stays calm, tify over their role in holding a stroy evidence. ties. wonder many people are worried and unsettled. “They ask: ‘can the state pro- tect me?’ Politicians must take this insecurity seriously.” The report, which coincided Pope makes emotional anti-war address with offi cial data showing the number of people seeking refuge in Germany more than doubled Reuters He walked slowly and alone ed States and North Korea have tended by US ambassador to in the two years until the end of Rome amid the rows of low white increased in recent months, Italy Lewis Eisenberg and the 2016 to 1.6mn, comes as migrant headstones in the shape of Francis has warned that a nucle- acting US ambassador to the policy tops the agenda in coali- crosses and Stars of David, gen- ar confl ict would destroy a good Vatican, Louis Bono. tion talks. ope Francis made one of tly resting a white rose on about part of humanity. “If today is a day of hope, it Voters punished Merkel for his most emotional anti- a dozen and stopping to pray si- Last April, he said a third is also a day of tears,” the Pope her open-door policy in a Sep- Pwar addresses yesterday, lently before saying the Mass. country should try to mediate said. tember election, with her con- saying during a visit to a US “Please Lord, stop. No more the dispute between Pyongyang “Humanity must not forget” servatives suff ering heavy losses military cemetery that the world wars. No more of these useless and Washington to cool a situa- the tears of mothers and wives to the far-right Alternative for seemed to be headed into war massacres,” he said, speaking in tion that had become “too hot”. who lost husbands and sons in Germany (AfD). perhaps bigger than any before. hushed tones in an improvised US President Donald Trump, past wars. Her conservative bloc has Francis said a Mass for several homily. who has said North Korea “will “Humanity has not learned tried to paper over internal di- thousand people at the Sicily- Francis said that remember- be met with fi re and fury like the lesson and seems that it does visions on migrant policy but is Rome American Cemetery in the ing the many young people who the world has never seen” if it not want to learn it,” he said, still at odds with the Free Demo- town of Nettuno, south of the died in World War II was even threatened the United States, asking for prayers for the victims A picture shows the message written by Pope Francis at the Fosse crats (FDP) and especially the Italian capital, on the day Ro- more important “today that the will visit South Korea as part of a of today’s confl icts, especially Ardeatine (Ardeatine Caves), the site of a 1944 massacre carried out Greens with whom they want to man Catholics commemorate world once more is at war and is trip to Asia that starts today. children. by German troops. The message reads: ‘These are the fruits of war, rule. their dead. preparing to go even more force- While Trump is in Asia, the On his way back to the Vati- death, revenge ... forgive us Lord’. Plans to discuss the issue yes- The burial ground is the fi nal fully into war”. Pope will be hosting an inter- can, Francis stopped to pray at terday were delayed. resting place for 7,860 American He did not elaborate but ap- national seminar at the Vatican the Ardeatine Caves, where in lice offi cers by partisans. caves in a vain attempt to try to The Statistics Offi ce said the soldiers who died in the libera- peared to be referring to the pos- that will urge the banning of nu- March, 1944 Nazis killed 335 They were all shot in the back hide the massacre. 1.6mn people seeking refuge by tion of southern Italy and Rome sibility of nuclear war. clear weapons. Italian men and boys as a reprisal of the neck. Seventy-fi ve of the victims the end of last year was a 113% in 1943 and 1944. As tensions between the Unit- The cemetery Mass was at- for the killing of 33 German po- The Germans blew up the were Jews. jump from 2014 and equivalent to 16% of Germany’s foreign population. Included in the fi gures are people from abroad staying in Germany for humanitarian rea- France seeking to restore honour to Legion d’Honneur award sons, people still going through the asylum process, those grant- ed refugee status or subsidiary AFP “old boys’ network”. vents politicians from hiring to foreigners whose cultural or protection status and failed asy- Paris There will be a 50% cut in ci- relatives, after the presidential scientifi c talents are deemed to lum-seekers who stay. vilian honours from 2018-20, a campaign of right-wing rival have contributed to France, but More than half of the 1.6mn 10% drop in military awards and Francois Fillon was torpedoed they have also been dished out in people had by the end of 2016 rance has announced an 25% fewer gongs for foreigners, by revelations that he paid his pursuit of diplomatic objectives. been granted permission to stay overhaul of its Legion he said. family hundreds of thousands of Last year the decision to be- in Germany while some 158,000 Fd’Honneur (Legion of Eff orts will be made to select euros. stow one on Saudi Prince Mo- were rejected asylum-seekers, Honour) awards system, as part award-winners who better re- Macron had already signalled hammed bin Nayef sparked a said the Offi ce. of President Emmanuel Ma- fl ect modern France, he said, that he planned to crack down storm of criticism. Some 455,000 of the total cron’s mission to clean up poli- noting that “white men aged on Legion d’Honneur hand- Weinstein, honoured in were from Syria. tics. over 60” currently account for outs, surprising many in July 2012, is not the fi rst foreigner Although the number of new The prizes have been in the too many of the recipients. by awarding just 101 to mark to be stripped of his Legion arrivals to Germany has fallen spotlight since Macron an- Asked whether Syrian Presi- Bastille Day instead of the cus- d’Honneur. sharply in the last 18 months and nounced last month that France dent Bashar al-Assad – one of tomary 500-600. Fashion designer John Gal- the government has stepped up would strip Hollywood mogul many heads of state granted the Set up by Napoleon Bonaparte liano’s was taken away in 2012 deportations of rejected asylum- Harvey Weinstein of his Legion Legion d’Honneur – should be in 1802, the prizes have previ- after an anti-Semitic rant in a seekers, many Germans, worried of Honour over lurid sex assault stripped of his, Castaner said ously been awarded almost sys- Paris bar, while cyclist Lance about security, say better con- allegations. This photo taken on May 15, 2012 shows medals of the National authorities could consider this tematically to former ministers, Armstrong lost his two years trols are needed. French Presidents have tradi- Order of the Legion of Honour during the off icial investiture “legitimate” request. academics, ambassadors and later over doping revelations. “We need to know who is in tionally handed out some 3,000 ceremony for France’s president-elect Francois Hollande. Macron, elected in May, has military offi cers. Late Panamanian dictator our country and who has left,” such awards each year to French made improving the standards Half have been granted to Manuel Noriega lost his over said conservative Bavarian In- citizens and foreigners alike un- numbers would be drastically “We do not have the Legion of public life a central theme of women since 2008 under a pol- drug traffi cking convictions terior Minister Joachim Her- der a two-century-old system. cut from next year and awarded d’Honneur to butter people up,” his presidency following a string icy change by then-president which saw him serve time be- rmann, known for taking a tough But government spokesman solely on the basis of merit, as Castaner said, adding that the of political scandals in France. Nicolas Sarkozy. hind bars in France as well as the line on migrants. Christophe Castaner said the originally intended. honours should not be part of an The fi rst law he signed pre- The Legion d’Honneur is open United States. Last year, a failed asylum- seeker from Tunisia killed 12 people when he drove a truck Attack plotter sentenced to four years in prison into a Berlin Christmas Market. On Tuesday, a 19-year old A Dutchman was sentenced to four years in jail yesterday for preparing Syrian man was detained on sus- a terror attack, following his arrest last year when police discovered an Brother of French school shooter sent to jail picion of planning a bomb attack assault rifle and a large amount of fireworks. in Germany. Judges at the Rotterdam District Court “concluded that the suspect was The AfD, continuing to put planning to commit an attack ... which would involve a large number of AFP knowingly facilitating his when his brother stole a scooter of Abdelkader, who defended pressure on politicians on the victims”. Paris brother’s attacks on the Jewish that was used in the attacks, but his brother in 2012, declaring: migrant issue, criticised the “The court also deduced from a conversation with two unknown persons school in the southwestern city denied any knowledge of his in- “Every Muslim would like to southern state of Baden Wuert- that the suspect was searching for a target for the attack,” it added in a of Toulouse. tentions. give his life to kill his enemy.” temberg for accepting 34,000 statement. he older brother of a The March 2012 assault, The trial lifted the lid on a Prosecutors have presented Syrian refugees. The 31-year-old man, identified by Dutch media only as Jaouad A, was French religious extrem- which Merah carried out in dysfunctional family, in which him as the real brains behind “Although the war in Syria arrested in December last year after police raided his home in the western Tist who shot dead seven the name of Al Qaeda, was the three of fi ve children born to Al- the attacks and called for him to is as good as over, the regional port city of Rotterdam. people in Toulouse in 2012, in- deadliest on Jews in France in gerian immigrant parents came be given life in prison, without government does not mind the The raid was launched after “alarming” information by the Dutch intel- cluding three Jewish children, three decades. under the spell of religious ex- possibility of parole for 22 years. asylum authorities continuing ligence services. was given a 20-year jail sen- In a nine-day killing spree, tremists. Merah’s lawyers have urged to let Syrians stay here,” said the Police found an AK-47 assault rifle, two clips of ammunition as well as a tence yesterday after being con- the 23-year-old shot dead three Both Abdelkader and Mo- the jury not to make him a regional AfD in a statement. painting with a picture of the flag used by the Islamic State (IS) group and victed of a terrorist conspiracy. soldiers in the garrison town of hamed spent time in prison for scapegoat for his brother’s some €1,600 ($1,800) in cash. Abdelkader Merah was how- Montauban before being killed acts of delinquency – an experi- crimes to satisfy the public Four boxes with 288 “deadly Cobra 6 fireworks” – large firecrackers which ever cleared of having a direct by police after a 32-hour siege at ence that radicalised the young- thirst for a conviction. cause explosions and large smoke clouds were found in a child’s room, hand in Mohamed Merah’s kill- his home. er Merah and left him thirsting “Don’t make him a symbol of Dutch public prosecutors said last month. ing of three soldiers and attack Investigators believe Ab- for revenge against France. terrorism, make him a symbol The suspect’s computer and an external hard drive contained “IS videos on a Jewish school, where he delkader – who neighbours In 2011, he travelled to the of our justice system,” lawyer and magazines with very violent material such as mutilations, beheadings gunned down a rabbi, two of the nicknamed “Ben Ben” over his lawless tribal regions of Paki- Antoine Vey urged during Tues- and other atrocities” while his phone contained hundreds of pictures and rabbi’s children, aged three and admiration for Al Qaeda leader stan near the border with Af- day’s summing up. videos about the IS group. fi ve, and an eight-year-old girl. Osama bin Laden – had con- ghanistan to join the Qaeda- A friend and fellow defendant Police also found online instructions how to make pipe bombs and suicide The trial of Abdelkader is siderable infl uence over his affi liated Jund al-Khalifa. of Abdelkader’s, Fettah Malki, is vests. the fi rst arising out of a wave of brother. Returning to France, he was also charged with complicity in “It has been proven that the man is guilty of actively searching, possess- violence by mostly homegrown The 35-year-old, who lived in questioned by intelligence serv- the attacks for supplying Mo- ing and distributing extremist propaganda about the armed jihad,” the religious extremists that has the high-rise Toulouse suburb ices but insisted his trip had hamed Merah with a machine court said. claimed the lives of more than of Les Izards, was known to po- been solely for tourism. gun and a bullet-proof vest. Jaouad “contributed to international terrorism aiming to create fear 240 people in France in the past lice for links to ultraconserva- The families of Merah’s vic- Prosecutors have called for Voters punished Merkel for her among the Dutch population”, the judges said. fi ve years. tive religious groups. tims have been pinning their him to be given a 20-year sen- open-door policy in the election Abdelkader is accused of He admitted to being present hopes for justice on the trial tence. in September. Gulf Times Friday, November 3, 2017 9 INDIA

CONTROVERSY POLITICS SECURITY DEMAND ELECTION Kamal Haasan: there are BJP leader slams Mamata Two-day coastal security Chandigarh app off ers Gujarat Dalit leader Hindu extremists too over Roy quitting Trinamool exercise in Goa from Nov 8 tomatoes at Re1/kg wants ‘arrogant BJP’ to go

Tamil film actor Kamal Haasan, who is planning Amid speculation that former Trinamool Congress Coastal security exercise ‘Sagar Kavach’, in With people feeling the pinch after tomato prices Dalit youth leader Jignesh Mewani yesterday to jump into active politics, says there are “Hindu leader Mukul Roy would the Bharatiya Janata which several security and intelligence agencies soared to Rs100 per kg, an “on-demand hyper-local said he won’t join any political party but wanted extremists” too. Writing in a Tamil magazine, Party, its national general secretary Kailash are expected to participate, will be held off the transport and logistics app” has off ered to make the “arrogant BJP government” ousted in Haasan said earlier rightwing Hindus used to Vijayvargiya yesterday held West Bengal Chief Goa coast on November 8 and 9, an off icial doorstep delivery of tomatoes at just Re1 per kg Gujarat., Mewani said the Bharatiya Janata Party argue but did not indulge in violence. But as their Minister Mamata Banerjee responsible for Roy statement said yesterday. “The exercise will in Chandigarh. With its “Tomato Loot” initiative, government was not even ready to discuss “cunningness” started to fail, they began to resort quitting her party. “Mamata ji throws down the also assess the eff ectiveness of coastal fishing Jugnoo app has off ered to deliver tomatoes at this Dalit issues. “The SC community is heavily to violence, he said. “Extremism has spread into very steps which she climbs up on. There are community in serving as ‘eye and ears’ for early price for one week from today. Samar Singla, CEO discontented with the BJP government. It is a their camp as well,” the actor said. “This extremism many examples. You became the CM with the warning of seaward threat,” the statement and founder of the app, said: “We are increasing hypocritical government,” Mewani said. “They is not a victory or progress to those who call help of Mukul Roy’s organisational skills... he was added. “This time the service of Drishti lifeguards the supply and reducing prices to bring relief to even discriminate against Dalit martyrs like themselves Hindus.” He moaned that these days forced to quit. Who do you belong to ? Whoever (a private lifeguard agency), present at the the people, so that skyrocketing prices of such Kishore Vanavi... The BJP had promised Rs4 lakh festivals have been commercialised. According to supports you, you try to destroy them,” he said. beaches of Goa, will also be utilised for the common vegetables don’t discourage them to to his family but they have not given anything to him, the older generation upper caste people who The BJP has said the process of the former purpose.” The coastal security exercise is being buy these.” About two years back, Jugnoo had them. They are not even ready to have discussion get jittery on seeing equality in society were now Trinamool leader’s inclusion is in progress. supervised by the state chief secretary and is launched a similar campaign to sell onions at lower regarding our issues which we have been asking trying to impose Sanathana Dharma on the youth Vijayvargiya had earlier said Roy had expressed conducted and co-ordinated by Indian Coast prices when the company noticed a spike in the for one-and-a-half years. We don’t want this by coating it with honey, he said. his wish to join the BJP. Guard unit in Goa. market. arrogant BJP government at any cost.” Power plant explosion toll rises to 29

Agencies Senior state police offi cial Lucknow Anand Kumar said on Wednes- day ash had piled up in the fur- nace beneath the boiler, which he death toll from a blast led to a build-up of pressure re- at a coal-fi red power plant sulting in the explosion. Tin Uttar Pradesh rose to at The federal power ministry least 29 yesterday, as authorities and state government have both launched an investigation into the off ered cash compensation to the cause of one of the country’s worst families of the deceased and to industrial accidents in years. the injured. More than 20 survivors were The plant in the town of Un- battling for their lives with severe chahar supplies electricity to burns following Wednesday’s nine states, NTPC’s website blast in a newly-operated unit at showed. the 1,550-megawatt plant run by The company said other facili- state-owned National Thermal ties would make up for the short- Power Corporation, offi cials said. fall and outages were unlikely. More than 80 others suff ered The 500MW unit had been injuries in the explosion. operating since April and was Arvind Kumar, a principal sec- shut down after the accident. retary, said some of the severely The other fi ve units of the injured had been taken to a hospi- station are operating normally, BJP chief Amit Shah attends an event in Bengaluru yesterday. Also seen are federal minister Ananth Kumar and BJP Karnataka unit president B S Yeddyurappa. tal in the state capital Lucknow. NTPC said in a statement. “Blockages in the fl ue gas pipe “NTPC has initiated an in- in a unit led to the blast. Hot fl ue quiry into the incident. We are gases and steam let out by the blast not a company that will take any severely injured several work- risk. We have so many units that ers,” Sanjay Kumar Khatri, the top if power cannot be supplied by government offi cial of Rae Bareli one, it can be given by the other. district where the plant is located, It was a sudden accident,” an said. NTPC offi cial, who did not wish Oust ‘corrupt’ Congress “A magisterial inquiry has been to be named, said. initiated. This two-member tech- Power Minister R K Singh de- nical team will submit fi ndings nied claims from some political within seven days,” Khatri said. leaders and families of the vic- In a statement, the National tims that human negligence was Human Rights Commission said to blame for the blast. an investigation was needed to “I have seen everything dur- govt in Karnataka: Shah ascertain whether negligence or ing my physical inspection of the errors had caused the explosion, accident scene and I can say that IANS BJP came to power on its own for state where all this money has ty’s chief ministerial candidate held across the state in two phas- and asked the state government to there is no human negligence Bengaluru the fi rst time in 2008 but lost the been spent. B S Yeddyurappa is capable of es, an offi cial from the state unit submit a detailed report within six in the unfortunate incident,” Congress in the May 2013 elec- Criticising the government’s bringing “development” to the said. weeks. Singh told reporters, after visit- tion. decision to host Tipu Jayanti on state. “We are conducting the rally NTPC is the country’s top pow- ing the accident site along with haratiya Janata Party pres- Shah’s visit to the state came the erstwhile Mysore ruler’s birth Reacting to Shah’s allegations till January-end, covering all the er producer and accidents have state Power Minister Shrikant ident Amit Shah yesterday four days after Prime Minister anniversary on November 10, of the Congress government 224 assembly segments to bring been rare at its facilities. Sharma. Bsaid his party’s 75-day, Narendra Modi was here on Oc- Shah said the state government being “corrupt”, Siddaramaiah our party back to power in Kar- statewide rally in Karnataka was tober 29. was “not interested” in the state said it was “interesting” to see nataka,” the offi cial said. to oust the “corrupt” Congress Quoting a media survey with- formation day’s celebrations as it the “Parivartana” rally being led The rally will cover 17 districts Man wakes up to crocodile horror government and bring in a “pari- out giving any details, Shah said was in celebrating Tipu Sultan’s by Yeddyurappa and Shah, who in the fi rst phase and 13 districts vartan (change)” in the state. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s birth anniversary. both went to jail on criminal in the second phase, which will A man in a remote Odisha unexpected guest: a 3m-long “The rally is to bring about government was at the top as the The state has had “no concern charges. be fl agged by Home Minister village had the scare of his crocodile, weighing half a tonne. ‘parivartan’ in Karnataka - to “most corrupt government” in for security”, the BJP chief said, “It is good that the BJP is go- Rajnath Singh at Hubballi on De- life when he woke up to find a “I was terrified. I woke up my change the situation of the farm- the country. adding that “over 10 BJP and ing on Parivartana Yatra. Their cember 21, said the offi cial. Modi fully-grown crocodile resting family members and in the ers, youth and the justice system “The Narendra Modi govern- Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh way of doing penance for the sins will address the rally on its last inside his home, officials said commotion rushed out to seek in the state and to remove the ment has been sending across (RSS) workers were killed in the of their past,” the chief minister day here on January 28. yesterday. Dasaratha Madakami help from other villagers,” he corrupt Congress government in funds to the state (which were) state and the state government tweeted. About 300,000 cadres and from Malkangiri district in said. “The villagers panicked at the state,” Shah said addressing nearly 2.5 times more than it re- has had no answer.” “Interesting that Parivaratana supporters of the party will the state said he found the seeing such a huge crocodile a party gathering here to fl ag off ceived during the time when the “People must choose a gov- Yatra should be led by Yeddy- participate in the rally on motor reptile when he awoke early and wanted to kill it, but we the “Nava Karnataka Nirmana Congress ruled at the Centre,” ernment that is focused towards urappa and inaugurated by Amit bikes and four-wheelers, with Wednesday after hearing decided against it,” he said. The Parivarthana Yatra”. Shah said, adding around Rs2.9tn taking the state ahead,” Shah Shah - both of whom went to jail Yeddyurappa at the forefront strange sounds inside his house. crocodile was later captured Assembly election in the state was released and the chief min- said, reiterating that the BJP’s on criminal charges,” he said. onboard a customised special Moments later, he found the with the help of forest officials. is due by April-May, 2018. The ister must tell the people of the state unit president and the par- The BJP’s 75-day rally will be bus. Uncles sentenced to life Shah Rukh turns 52 Pakistani sisters return for raping 10-year-old girl home after 11 years in jail IANS press - the peace train between Amritsar India and Pakistan. Agencies she was too far advanced. from Sexual Off ences (POCSO) The sisters and the mother, who Chandigarh Indian law does not allow ter- Act. were heading for Muzaff arnagar minations after 20 weeks unless Kumar took the one-and-a- wo sisters from Pakistan in Uttar Pradesh in 2006 to meet the mother’s life is in danger. half-years-old girl to an isolated arrested nearly 11 years ago relatives, were tried by a court court yesterday sentenced The girl did not know she was place on Wednesday and sexually Tand jailed for carrying drugs here and sentenced to 10 years in to life in prison two men pregnant and was unaware she assaulted her, Deputy Commis- were yesterday released from the prison and imposed a penalty of Awho were convicted of delivered a baby girl in August sioner of Police M N Amritsar Central Jail and allowed Rs400,000. raping their 10-year-old niece as her parents told her she was Tiwari said. to return home. They, however, claimed that in a case that caused a global fu- undergoing stomach surgery to An increasing number of such Fatima and Mumtaz entered were framed. rore when the girl was denied an remove a stone. cases have come to the courts Pakistan through the Attari bor- Fatima, who is from Gujranwala abortion and had to give birth The baby was put up for adop- in recent years, with as many as der, about 30km from here, af- and was pregnant at the time of earlier this year. tion. 10,854 cases of child rape re- ternoon after all formalities for her arrest, gave birth to Heena in A fast-track court in Chan- The girl, whose identity has ported in India in 2015, according their release and repatriation were jail in 2006. The newborn girl lived digarh also imposed a fi ne of been kept secret, initially told to the National Crime Records completed by authorities on both with her mother in the prison. Rs350,000 rupees each on the police and child welfare activists Bureau. sides. Although their prison term two men, who are brothers. that she had been raped several In May, a court allowed an- They were accompanied back ended in November 2015, they “This is an appropriate pun- times by the fi rst uncle, who is other 10-year-old girl allegedly by Fatima’s daughter Heena, who were lodged in the prison tran- ishment for such a heinous crime aged in his 40s. raped by her stepfather to un- was born during her imprison- sit camp as they did not have the and should be a strong deter- But after DNA tests did not dergo an abortion. ment here. means to pay the fi ne. rent,” said Sangita Vardhan, head link him to the baby, police began Activists say awareness of, Although the sisters were hap- The plight of the sisters was of the Chandigarh Child Welfare searching for more suspects and and reporting of, sexual violence py to be returning home, they taken up with the court and the Committee that is counselling a second uncle was arrested. against women has risen since a had mixed feelings since their Indian government by local lawyer the girl, who continues to live In another case, a man was ar- fatal gang-rape of a student on a mother, Rashida Bibi, who was Navjot Kaur. with her parents. rested on charge of sexually as- bus in New Delhi in 2012, which arrested with them in May 2006 With the help of a Batala-based “That the conviction and sen- saulting a minor girl living in his sparked nationwide protests and died in prison in 2008 due to ill- NGO, Sarbat Da Bhala Humanity tencing took place so quickly is neighbourhood in west Delhi, a tightening of the law. ness. Club, Kaur arranged for the fi ne. encouraging,” she said. police said. But sexual violence against Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan gestures towards They were arrested by secu- Despite that it took almost seven The girl was 30 weeks preg- Rakesh Kumar, 33, was arrest- children remains a taboo topic, fans during celebrations for his 52nd birthday at his rity agencies at the Attari railway months for their fi le in the minis- nant in July when the court ed from Aman Vihar and booked with most cases going unreport- home in Mumbai yesterday. station for carrying drugs as they tries of Home and External Aff airs turned down her abortion plea as under the Protection of Children ed. alighted from the Samjhauta Ex- to move. Gulf Times 10 Friday, November 3, 2017 PAKISTAN

ECONOMY POLICY WEATHER DECISION EVENT 45 oil marketing firms get Seminaries to register Plans drawn up to tackle China to help build new rail Lahore Literary Festival approval to import fuel with education boards looming water shortage line, beef up existing ones draws huge crowds

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi yesterday The representatives of seminaries of different Pakistan is projected to suff er a rare 36% water China will build a new track and upgrade the The second edition of the Lahore Literary Festival approved the new petroleum policy. The premier schools of thought in northwest Pakistan shortage in the ongoing Rabi season, amid existing ones between Rawalpindi, Peshawar (LLF) in London was a huge success with huge took a historical decision to deregulate the yesterday agreed to a government’s decision fewer rainfalls and flows in two contributing and Torkham border with Afghanistan under crowds flocking to the British Library to hear about prices of petroleum products and ended the to register religious institutions with education rivers – Jhelum and Kabul – plunging to a historic the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Pakistan’s literature and culture during dozens of monopoly of PSO on its export from November boards. However, they voiced concerns over low, compelling the authorities to adopt tight Corridor (CPEC) project. A 41-member delegation ticketed events packed in a day. The day-long event 1, 2017 and allowed 45 oil marketing companies the registration procedure, according to irrigation patterns that minimise crop losses. At of off icials of Chinese companies had visited the consisted of sessions on literature, culture, food, of Pakistan to import petrol. The 45 oil marketing sources. The representatives of seminaries an ‘emergency meeting’ yesterday, the advisory existing railway track and other installations during art, politics and history from Pakistan and south companies of private sector were given showed willingness for registration of their committee of the Indus River System Authority a recent trip to the provincial capital. Railways Asia, followed by a musical performance with one permission to import diesel from December 1. institutions with the education boards at (Irsa) concluded that the overall water shortage divisional superintendent, Peshawar, Mohamed of Pakistan’s leading classical singers, Tina Sani. Under the new policy announced by the premier, a meeting held at the civil secretariat in during the current season would be 36%, almost Hanif Gul said the representatives of the Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yusufzai was the PSO will import kerosene while the authority Peshawar, the sources said. The meeting was double the shortage (20%) forecast a month ago. companies were given briefings by railway off icials. surprise guest at the event. Her participation was of importing furnace oil, which is used in the chaired by Dr Fazl Rehman, the chairman Hence, the need for best utilisation of limited They had also gathered other required information not announced earlier due to security reasons but power plants of Wapda, will remain with the of Board of Intermediate and Secondary resources through contingency distribution plan to off er bids for obtaining contract for launching she took part in discussions on Pakistan, made a government sector. PSO will also import jet fuel. Education Peshawar. that was approved by the advisory committee. the ground work on the project, he added. speech and took questions from the audience. PPP nominates Asma Alamgir to run for Peshawar seat

Internews pressed hope that other parties Peshawar would follow suit and give repre- sentation to women workers. Asma Alamgir, the wife of he Pakistan People’s Par- former federal minister Arbab ty (PPP) has nominated Alamgir, has already begun cam- TAsma Alamgir, former paigning among residents of NA- adviser to the prime minister, as 3. its candidate for the National As- She claimed her nomination as sembly constituency, NA-3, for the PPP candidate had received a the next general election. positive response from the peo- The announcement was made ple. She said only a woman can during the recent visit of former understand the problems facing president Asif Ali Zardari to Pe- women shawar in the presence of party Terming NA-3 her ancestral leaders, workers, and provincial constituency, Alamgir observed offi ce-bearers. that the people faced a host of Welcoming the nomination of a problems and lacked basic ne- woman to a general seat, the PPP cessities of life. “I will concen- leaders said the party had fulfi lled trate on the education and health the Election Commission of Pa- of women,” she said, adding Security personnel escort a vehicle carrying ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif as he leaves the Rawal lounge of Benazir Bhutto International airport upon his arrival from kistan requirement to provide 5% the constituency had no proper London in Islamabad yesterday. representation to women and also school for girls. honoured the commitment of the Alamgir said the Pakistan late Benazir Bhutto. Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led pro- It is rare for a woman to con- vincial government only made test election for the National hollow promises, but did noth- Assembly seat from Khyber Pa- ing practical to provide educa- khtunkhwa. tion and health facilities to the Awami National Party (ANP) women. leader Begum Nasim Wali Khan The youth are running from Sharif returns to face had contested and won a general pillar to post in search of jobs and seat of the National Assembly soaring utility bills and price- in 1977. In fact, she was the fi rst hikes has added to the miseries woman in the whole of Pakistan of the poor, she said. to win a general seat in an assem- “The Benazir Income Support bly election. Programme (BISP) launched by Alamgir, who was adviser to Benazir is the only project for trial in corruption case prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani the poor and is providing relief to for fi ve years, termed her PPP the needy even today,” she main- Reuters Allies of Sharif, who has appropriation of the national Also facing trial before the obscure ownership of compa- nomination an honour for herself tained. Islamabad served as prime minister twice exchequer,” he added. NAB court is Sharif’s daughter nies used to buy the properties. and the women of the province. Alamgir pledged to increase and was toppled in a military The Supreme Court disquali- Maryam and her husband, Mo- The Supreme Court has or- She recalled that Benazir had BISP funds to give more relief to coup in 1999, have called the fi ed Sharif from offi ce in July hamed Safdar. dered the NAB investigation promised to nominate her to a the poor, particularly helpless akistan’s ousted prime proceedings a political vendetta over unreported sources of an- They have all pleaded not and trial to be concluded within general seat and Asif Ali Zardari women who had no male bread- minister Nawaz Sharif re- and hinted at intervention by nual income of about $10,000, guilty. six months, which would prob- had honoured that commitment. winner. Confi dent of winning Pturned home yesterday to elements of the powerful army. a salary the former premier de- The allegations stem from ably bring a verdict before gen- Alamgir claimed the PPP was the the NA-3 seat, Alamgir claimed face trial in an anti-corruption Sharif, 67, denounced the nies ever receiving. the Panama Papers leaks in eral elections due next year. fi rst political party to give repre- the 2013 general election was case he calls political revenge process in an interview on The high court also ordered 2016 that appeared to show that Maryam Sharif, who has in- sentation to women activists. rigged and her party’s mandate but which opposition leaders Wednesday in London before the National Accountability Maryam and her two brothers creasingly played a prominent By nominating women to was stolen. “However, we ac- have termed as accountability fl ying home. “This case in the Bureau (NAB) to investigate and owned off shore holding com- role in the PML-N, has been contest for general seats, Alam- cepted the results for the sake of for the rich and powerful. National Accountability Bureau conduct a trial into the Sharif panies registered in the British seen as her father’s political gir stressed the PPP had proven democracy,” she said. Sharif, who had been in Lon- is highly bogus and fake, which family’s wider fi nances, includ- Virgin Islands and used them to heir. that it was the only party which The PPP leader said the Pa- don with his wife who is un- doesn’t have links to corrup- ing the London properties. buy upscale fl ats in London. This week, however, two par- worked for the welfare of women. kistan Muslim League-Nawaz dergoing cancer treatment, is tion,” he told Geo TV, compar- Sharif maintains control of A Supreme Court-appointed ty insiders said the leadership Terming her nomination a pos- (PML-N) and PTI had disap- due to appear in court today ing the process to charges laid the ruling Pakistan Muslim investigatory panel deemed had decided that Shahbaz Shar- itive step, Alamgir said it would pointed the people. She termed over allegations linked to Lon- against him after General Per- League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, that the family’s wealth did if, the former premier’s brother, encourage women workers to the PTI chairman Imran Khan don properties the family owns, vez Musharraf seized power in which elected close ally Shahid not match its income, and ac- was likely to be the party’s can- come forward and bring about immature and lacking the capa- charges that could see the 1999. Khaqan Abbasi as prime minis- cused Maryam and her brothers didate for prime minister next a real change in society. She ex- bility to rule the country. former premier jailed. “There is no kickback or mis- ter after Sharif was disqualifi ed. of signing forged documents to year. Dhaka claims on envoy role Baked with love Navy orders two in video posting rubbished Swift Corvettes Internews vette can also deploy rigid-hulled Islamabad infl atable boats for special op- Internews and Dhaka have been deterio- poseful abuse of social media by eration forces’ missions and for Islamabad rating since 2009, when Prime the high commission of Pakistan board, search and seizure op- Minister Sheikh Hasina’s gov- in Dhaka. Such breach of diplo- he Pakistan Navy has placed erations. At a speed of 15 knots ernment resumed the 1971 ‘war matic norms and practices and an order for two 75m Swift (27.74km per hour), the corvette he foreign offi ce yesterday crimes’ trial which had been deliberate propaganda to spread TCorvettes from US-based has a range of 4,000nm and en- denied that the Pakistani suspended after a 1974 tripartite shameless lies shall not only shipbuilding company Swiftships, durance of 25 days. It has a top Tambassador to Bangladesh ‘clemency’ accord between Paki- jeopardise bilateral relations, but the company’s chief executive of- speed of 30 knots. The corvette had posted a controversial video stan, Bangladesh and India. will also render a great disservice fi cer Shehraze Shah said. can operate in sea conditions of up that fuelled tensions between the The video, which has already to succeeding generations of his- In an interview with a defence to Sea State 6, which is very rough two countries. been removed from the Facebook torians, intelligentsia as well as and security magazine Monch, with four to six metres high waves. “This was not done by our page, contended that Sheikh common people who champion Shah said the navy had also pur- Pakistan specifi c defence and high commissioner, it was Mujeebur Rehman had wanted the cause of truth and justice,” chased Swiftships’ 11m Special analysis group, Quwa, reported shared by someone else,” foreign autonomy for people in East Pa- Bangladesh’s foreign ministry Operation Craft Riverine, which in June that the navy had signed offi ce spokesman Nafees Zakaria kistan and not independence. said in a statement. was deployed for counter-in- an order for two off shore pa- said. Rather, it suggested that it was The Bangladesh government surgency and drug-interdiction trol vessels (OPVs) from Damen In a Twitter posting, the former Bangladesh president sought a “formal apology” for missions. Shipyards. One of these will be spokesman said: “Sharing of a Gen Ziaur Rehman who had de- the posting of the video and Pakistan also retains the op- built at the Karachi Shipyard and video by a third party cannot be clared independence. asked the high commissioner and tion to order two more 75m Swift Engineering Works (KSEW). attributed to the Pakistan high The video contained an inter- the Pakistan government to “act Corvettes in 2020. “Swiftships has The intended role for the Damen commission in Dhaka.” view of Mujeeb in which he can responsibly” and “refrain from partnered with Lockheed Martin OPVs is “anti-surface (and) anti- An offi cial in Islamabad said be heard saying he was not seek- any such uncalled-for and pro- to off er these 1,500 to 2,000 tonne air operations, maritime security the concerned Facebook page ing separation, but autonomy. vocative activities” in future. ships to the client,” said Shah, operations, day (and) night heli- was neither the offi cial page of Bangladesh had strongly pro- Bangladeshi offi cials claimed adding that the corvettes will be copter operations, combat search the high commission nor was it tested over the video’s posting, that the Pakistani envoy had ten- equipped with Lockheed Martin’s and rescue, and surveillance and operated by any of the mission which it said was misleading and dered apology over the posting. combat management system. intelligence gathering operations,” staff . distorted history. A Pakistani offi cial, mean- Pakistan is expected to use the the report added. The row, which started with Pakistan’s high commissioner while, denied that the high com- ships in its Combined Task Force Analysing the Swiftships’ de- the posting of the video on Face- in Dhaka, Rafi uzzaman Siddiqui, missioner had apologised. The deployments. The 75m corvette is scription of the corvette, Quwa book, has added acrimony to the was summoned to Bangladesh’s offi cial said he (envoy) had ex- a multi-purpose platform for ad- noted that the “Pakistan navy is already tense ties between Paki- foreign ministry and a protest plained that neither he nor his dressing both conventional and acquiring the corvette to aug- stan and Bangladesh. lodged over the incident. mission had anything to do with A man slices baked buns at a bakery in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. asymmetrical security threats. ment the Damen OPVs in the Relations between Islamabad “This is an instance of pur- the controversial posting. According to Swiftships, the cor- aforementioned roles”. Gulf Times Friday, November 3, 2017 11 PHILIPPINES Conqueror of Everest sails for China aboard traditional boat Carina Dayondon is on a mission to revive pride in the nation’s forefathers

AFP Manila

fter conquering Mount Everest, Philippine ad- Aventurer Carina Dayon- don is set to sail to China aboard a wooden replica of an ancient boat in the hopes of boosting na- tional pride in a forgotten mari- time prowess. Dayondon is planning to sail from Manila to southern China early next year, recreating trade and migration voyages made before Spaniards colonised the Philippines in the 1500s. “People tell me I am crazy. They ask: ‘Wow, why climb Mount Everest? Why go to China on this tiny thing,’” Dayondon told AFP in Manila Bay aboard one of the two boats that will make the expected six-day sail- ing journey. Philippine adventurer Carina Dayondon with her pet dog aboard the balangay, in Manila Bay. The balangay in Manila Bay. “I’m excited because our team will be more inspired realising “Like Mount Everest, I want praise of Southeast Asian boat- crew members are aiming to do how good our forefathers were. this to be symbolic of what our building skill. But somehow it with as little modern technical and use a harness and do the The voyage to China will be ed the fi rst Philippine men up We have to let people know we people can accomplish, of what we’ve paid very little attention help as possible. proper position so we don’t fall,” the team’s second maritime Mount Everest in 2006, said he should be proud of being Filipi- can be possible out of the so- to this.” “We have no night-sailing ca- she said. quest following a 17-month hoped the government would no,” the 39-year-old added. called impossible,” the 69-year- Tribal boat-builders from the pability so we can be run over by a Nevertheless, a third boat journey that began in 2009 fi nancially back such feats but Dayondon, a petite but mus- old said. southern Philippines, where the super tanker. That’s my fear. The with a motor will accompany around Southeast Asia. they had not. cular coast guard offi cer, created The vessels are a copy of a “ba- boats originated, have made the greatest diffi culty of replicating the balangays otherwise they One of the group’s biggest “Filipinos love us when we history in 2007 when she and two langay”, which date back as far as replicas of the balangay using an ancient voyage is modernity will not be allowed into Chi- challenges is off the water — climb Mount Everest, love us other countrywomen became 320 AD. skills passed on down the gen- because there are new port pro- nese ports. fi nding enough money to fund with our exploits but they are the fi rst Filipinas to summit the “Early trade with China and erations. tocols,” Valdez said. Their trip is planned to com- the adventure. not willing to pay for that. And world’s highest mountain. Southeast Asia was made pos- The boats, 18m long by 3m “This kind of boat is being memorate a journey made The team members plan to that makes us a poorer nation,” Arturo Valdez, who led their sible by watercraft,” Ligaya Lac- wide, are made of hardwood treated as a maritime hazard.” about 600 years ago by a sul- open the vessels to the pub- he said. Everest support team, is also sina, researcher at the National planks, include two sails, two Daily life aboard the boat is a tan from the southern island of lic for educational tours and “Blazing a trail and going heading the sailing mission and Museum’s maritime division, rudders and a roofed area. struggle, according to Dayondon. Sulu who went to China to pay even wedding shoots to raise beyond what is normal, that is similarly sees the journey to told AFP. Their journey to the southeast- “We sleep anywhere because tribute to Ming Dynasty rulers money for their upkeep in the spirit of a nation. That is China as a chance to inspire Fili- “Europeans during the colo- ern Chinese city of Quanzhou we don’t have quarters. We have there but who but died of an ill- Manila Bay. how you build a nation, out of pinos. nial period were eff usive in their will be about 1,000km, and the no toilet. We just hold the rope ness on his way home. Valdez, who also shepherd- a dream.” Manila to focus on terrorism Mega drug rehab centre ‘a mistake’ at Southeast Asian summit Manila Times fective,” Santiago said in a tel- Makati evision interview on Wednes- day. He said there are only 400 Reuters Philippines does not mean the driven out of Iraq and Syria. gram, overlapping claims in the latory Act (Republic Act 10591), drug users being treated in the Manila fi ght is over,” Cayetano said in a More than 1,100 people, most- South China Sea and wider re- Law on Explosives (Republic Act ionisio Santiago, chair- Ecija centre. statement a day after an Islamic ly rebels, were killed in the battle gional trade pacts. 9516) and International Humani- man of the Dangerous Former Health secretary State-inspired attack in New and air strike have levelled the The Philippines will urge its tarian Law (Republic Act 9581). DDrugs Board (DDB) Paulyn Ubial had said the right wo weeks ahead of a re- York killed eight people and in- heart of the city of 200,000. allies to step up eff orts to hunt Senior Deputy State Prosecu- has described the Mega Drug wing of the rehabilitation cen- gional summit, Philippine jured 11. Six army battalions are still in down Islamic State and affi liates tor Richard Anthony Fadullon Abuse Treatment and Reha- tre could accommodate 1,000 TPresident Rodrigo Duterte “The terrorist attacks in New the ruined city hunting the re- worldwide. said the case fi led by the Philip- bilitation Center in Fort Mag- people. The facility was con- yesterday urged greater co-oper- York and other places abroad maining militants, who number There are still two smaller pro- pine National Police Criminal In- saysay, Nueva Ecija, as a mis- structed in 2016. ation to battle Islamist militancy, during the past several weeks tell about 40, based on information Islamic State militant groups in vestigation and Detection Group take. Santiago said the centre, The materials used to set following military victories in us the threat remains real.” from the captured Indonesian, the southern Philippines. (PNP-CIDG) has been submitted which can serve 10,000 pa- up the centre were donated Iraq, Syria and the southern Phil- In Marawi, soldiers killed two said Colonel Romeo Brawner, zPolice have fi led rebellion for resolution. Members of the tients, is an “impractical” so- by Chinese real estate mogul ippine city of Marawi. pro-Islamic State gunmen and deputy commander of a military charges against an Indonesian Barangay Peacekeeping Action lution to the country’s drug Huang Rulun. The “commu- Philippine Foreign Minister arrested an Indonesian militant a task force. terrorist who allegedly fought Teams of Barangay Loksadatu ar- problem. The massive reha- nity-based” treatment being Alan Peter Cayetano said Du- week after the army declared vic- Cayetano said the Philippines, alongside the Maute group in rested Syahputra on Wednesday bilitation centre was con- pushed by Santiago focuses on terte would discuss the fi ght tory over the Maute group, which during the Asean summit, want Marawi City. morning and was turned over to structed on a 75,000 hectare intervention eff orts of villages against terrorism, a key priority, occupied large parts of the lake- to deepen and strengthen its co- Muhamad Ilham Syahputra, 22, the police and military. property in Palayan City. It has to reduce drug dependency in with Asean leaders and regional side city for fi ve months. operation with allies, by stepping underwent inquest proceedings Authorities seized from Syah- 172 building units. their areas. The intervention partners, including US President It was the biggest security up eff orts to share intelligence, before Assistant State Prosecu- putra his mobile phone, pass- “The [mega rehabilitation includes the “voluntary sur- Donald Trump, gathering at a crisis in years for the Roman training and build resources, tor Ethel Rea Suril at the Quezon port, a fragmentation grenade, centre] is impractical. It is a render” of drug dependents, summit in Manila on November Catholic-majority Philippines, among others. City Prosecutor’s Offi ce yester- fi rearm and ammunition, cash in mistake. The budget should family programmes, commu- 13. triggering concerns the island Also on the summit agenda are day afternoon for rebellion and local and foreign dominations, have been used for ‘commu- nity care, “relapse prevention” “The defeat suff ered by the Is- of Mindanao could become a North Korea’s ballistic missile violations of the Comprehensive gold bracelets, and computer nity-based’ rehabilitation. workshops and seminars, and lamic State in Iraq, Syria, and the magnet for Islamic State fi ghters tests and nuclear weapons pro- Firearms and Ammunition Regu- tablet. Community-based is more ef- counselling. Jail Paolo if he is involved in drugs: president

Manila Times tigation). If they are really guilty, then the shipment of P6.4bn worth of illegal During a Senate inquiry, Trillanes war on drugs amid unprecedented People’s Lawyers and one of the group’s Makati City so be it. I have told you the same thing drugs in May. dared Paolo to show his back tattoo, scrutiny of the campaign in which more organisers. Duterte’s spokesman, Har- when I was still [the Davao] mayor. Duterte defended his son, however, which would supposedly prove that than 3,900 mostly urban, poor Filipi- ry Roque, a congressman and human What is my order to the police? saying Paolo had been involved in im- Paolo was a member of a Chinese drug nos have been killed. rights lawyer, denied rights violations resident Rodrigo Duterte won’t Shoot them [drug personalities], even if portations through the clothing busi- syndicate. Police say the deaths were in self- on the part of the president but wel- stop authorities from investigat- it is my son,” Duterte said. ness of the family of his wife, with Paolo, vice mayor of Davao City, re- defence after armed suspects resisted comed the new group. Ping or even putting his son Paolo “That statement remains [true to whom he eloped at the age of 18. fused to show his tattoo, invoking his arrest. Critics dispute that and say ex- “Unless we can come up with actual and son-in-law Manases Carpio in jail this day]. Shoot them. If they will be “The reason why he was there [al- right to privacy. ecutions are taking place, with zero ac- evidence that there are extra-legal kill- if they were indeed involved in the il- sent to jail, fi ne. ways in the port], he didn’t fi nish his President Duterte eventually let go countability. ings, then we cannot overcome the pre- legal. Such is life. If somebody uses drugs studies. of Customs chief Nicanor Faeldon over Lawyers Against Extrajudicial Kill- sumption (of regularity in the discharge But Duterte said he won’t investigate or is in possession of drugs, go ahead So he learned how to do business and the drug smuggling issue and replaced ings adds to a growing number of voic- of offi cial functions),” Roque said. them because such a probe won’t have and shoot. [Call it] extrajudicial killing, had to work with the family of his wife,” the former Marine with Isidro Lapeña, es calling on the government to end the “He (Duterte) will not tolerate mur- credibility before the public. if you want, I can understand,” Duterte Duterte said. a former Philippine Drug Enforcement campaign. ders. He will only tolerate killings when “I leave it to the independent agen- added. Senator Antonio Trillanes 4th has Agency chief. “It is the duty of all lawyers to con- it is in line with duty and when the cies; the [Commission on] Human Paolo and Carpio, husband of the accused Paolo of being behind the Filipino lawyers yesterday an- sistently, uncompromisingly uphold engagement is legal,” Roque, who had Rights, which is making all the noise, President’s daughter Sara, the Davao smuggling of the P6.4bn worth of il- nounced a broad alliance to challenge and defend human rights,” said Edre prosecuted on behalf of murdered jour- and the NBI (National Bureau of Inves- City mayor, were accused of facilitating legal drugs. President Rodrigo Duterte’s 16-month Olalia, head of the National Union of nalists, told reporters. Gulf Times 12 Friday, November 3, 2017 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL Khaleda Dance festival rejects ‘false’ charges

By Mizan Rahman Dhaka

angladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia Byesterdya told a Dhaka court on Thursday that fi ling of ‘false’ graft cases is part of a conspiracy to make her ineligible in the next gen- eral election. She came up with the remarks while placing her self-de- fence statement before the special court at Bakshibazar in the capital in Zia Orphanage and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases. She alleged Khaleda ... legal woes that the cases were fi led in order to prevent her from doing politics, and to make her ineligible for the general election. A child in traditional attire performs during the Kartik Naach (Dance) Festival at the ancient courtyard of Patan Durbar Square in Lalitpur. The Kartik Naach is an annual “Many ministers and ruling party men made various comments dance and drama festival celebrated in Nepal. in media about me before the end of trial. Even a minister said I’ll be sent to Kashimpur jail. Isn’t it contempt of court?” “I’m, therefore, in doubt weather I would get justice from the court,” said the BNP chief adding, “It’s their ulterior motive to an- nihilate me and my family from politics in a planned manner.” The court set November 9 as the next date for hearing. Diplomacy at work On July 3, 2008, the Anti-Corruption Commission fi led the Zia Head of minority faith party Orphanage Trust graft case with Ramna Police Station accusing Khaleda Zia, her eldest son Tarique Rahman, and four others for misappropriating over 21mn taka that came as grants from a foreign goes missing in Bangladesh bank for orphans. On August 8, 2011, the commission fi led the Zia Charitable Trust graft case with Tejgaon Police Station accusing four people, includ- AFP “We are deeply concerned. I need ing Khaleda Zia, of abuse of power in raising funds for the Trust Dhaka to know whether he is alive,” she from unknown sources. said. Meanwhile, 19 BNP leaders and activists were arrested in two Mithun Chowdhury, 42, cases fi led by police over two incidents of attacks on Dhaka-Chit- he head of a new political launched the Bangladesh Janata tagong highway while party chief Khaleda Zia was heading to Cox’s party representing minority Party earlier this year to repre- Bazar for distributing relief among Rohingya refugees and returning Tfaith communities in mainly sent non-Muslims in Bangladesh, to Dhaka. Muslim Bangladesh has gone miss- which is home to small numbers of Thirteen BNP men were arrested in a case fi led over torching two ing, his wife said yesterday, amid Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, and buses on Dhaka-Chittagong highway while the Zia’s convoy passed concern over the extrajudicial de- tribal communities. through Mahipal of Feni on October 31. tention of opposition fi gures. Chowdhury was trying to mo- Three of the arrestees are Phulgazi sub-district unit president of Sumona Chowdhury said her bilise support ahead of the general Chhatra Dal M Kamal Hossian, Sonagazi municipality BNP presi- husband Mithun was picked up by elections expected next year. dent Abu Mobarak Dulal, Feni municipality former commissioner men in civilian clothes outside a Opposition parties accuse Prime and also BNP leader Delwar Hossian Babul, said Superintendent of temple in Dhaka last Saturday along Minister Sheikh Hasina’s govern- Police (SP), Feni SM Jahangir Alam Sarker. with the head of his party’s youth ment of arresting tens of thousands Sub-Inspector Nur Uddin of Feni Model police station fi led the wing. of their supporters and activists case against 69 people, mentioning 29 names on Wednesday night. “The law enforcement authori- since 2014, when they boycotted a Meanwhile, Feni Model Police Station offi cer-in-charge Rashed ties were behind this. They led controversial general election over Khan Chowdhury said police arrested six people in another case them into a black car,” she told AFP fears it would be rigged. fi led for attack on Khaleda’s motorcade in Feni on way to her Cox’s by phone from the northeastern The government has also been Bazar visit on October 28. city of Sylhet. accused of enforced disappear- Feni court police inspector AKM Najibul Islam fi led the case, ac- Sumona said the police told her ances — where authorities detain cusing 30 unnamed people. Mithun was detained by counter- people unoffi cially and hold them Immediately after the incident, police detained six people, in- terrorism offi cers. in secret jails. cluding the buses’ drivers and their helpers, a local leader of Sramik Police offi cers contacted by AFP Bangladesh is also fi ghting Dal and a Chhatra Dal activist. said they were looking into her homegrown Islamist extremists, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull shakes hands with his Sri Lankan counterpart Police also fi led another case with the same police station, blam- complaint but did not confi rm if he blamed by the government for at- Ranil Wickremesinghe during a meeting in Colombo yesterday. ing feud between two former BNP lawmakers. had been arrested. tacks against minority groups.

Climate change-fuelled drought pushes Sri Lanka farmers to cities

By Amantha Perera, Reuters offi ce help or construction workers. In- eff ective strategy in some cases to cope Colombo creasingly many are also driving three- with changing conditions — but that wheeled taxis. many of those fl ocking to cities end up Migrants say fi nding work is increas- in low-paid jobs. hen Siri Hettige, a sociology ingly tough. One way to make it possible for professor at Colombo Uni- “It is very diffi cult to get jobs because more farmers to stay in rural areas, said Wversity, conducts surveys of most of them are already taken. The Weerakoon, the agriculture secretary, young people across Sri Lanka, he never only available jobs for someone like me is to invest in facilities to process har- fails to ask one key question: Does any- is in the construction sites, which are vests and turn them into higher-value body want to become a farmer? looking for manual help,” said Sangeeth products. ‘No’ has been the overwhelmingly Hettiarchchi, a 22-year-old originally “Right now with agriculture it is a emphatic answer, he said. from Moneragala District, in Sri Lan- buyer’s market because it’s the raw That is one indicator of the grow- ka’s southeast. product that is supplied. Farmers need ing poverty plaguing many farmers in He said he left his village last year as to be innovative and think about val- Sri Lanka, something that is driving income from the family’s banana plot ue addition, off -season and multiple increasing migration each year out of dwindled, and now works as construc- crops,” he said. rural areas. tion worker in Colombo. Weeraratne, of the policy institute, “Farmers are moving (out of their Sri Lanka this year has faced what said remittances from migrants might villages) because there isn’t enough United Nations offi cials described as be one source of funding for such fa- money in agriculture,” admitted M W the worst drought in 40 years. cilities. Weerakoon, a Ministry of Agriculture Weerakoon said the drought has ac- Right now, very little of the money additional secretary. celerated migration, with harvests ex- sent home ends up invested in improv- A rice farmer needs two successful pected to fall by as much as 50 % this ing job possibilities in rural areas or harvests a year on 2.6 acres of land to year and rice — the country’s staple — making farming more productive, she earn the Rs17,760 ($115) a month need- facing the worst harvest in a decade. said. ed to keep a family of four above the In Puttalam, an area in North West- “Migrants get very little advice on country’s poverty line, he said. ern Province, tobacco and shrimp how to manage their remittances,” she A maize farmer needs even more land farms and construction sites have seen said. — about 3.7 acres, he said. an infl ux of people from drought-hit For now the government is focused But most of the island’s rice farm- rural areas looking for day labour. on helping farmers fl attened by drought ers own less than an acre of land, and “We get a lot of people coming from get back in the fi eld. large numbers are facing worsening A view of a nearly-dry water storage pond near Siyambalankattuwa in Sri Lanka’s Puttalam District, North Western Province. the villages now because there is no Weerakoon said the government was debt, particularly as droughts, fl oods work. For men we pay around Rs800 making rice seed available to farmers at and other extreme weather linked to city where such risks are moderated,” their new districts for less than fi ve Kalurara districts in the Western Prov- ($5) per day and women around Rs600,” half the usual price this season, hoping climate change hit harvests. said Bilesha Weeraratne, a researcher years, according to the Department of ince. said Chamindha Samarwickrema, who to see 800,000 acres of rice planted, up In some cases, farmers have used with the Institute of Policy Studies, a Census and Statistics. For the most part they come from the manages a small tobacco plot. from 540,000 during the last drought their land as a guarantee for loans, and Colombo-based policy agency. Many farmers who own land move country’s agricultural Central, South, The drought, he said, is “good for us. season. face losing it if harvests fail, Weerakoon “Vast numbers are moving due to cli- back home once enough rain — or other North Western and North Central We get cheap labour.” “The key factor would be that we said. mate risks,” she said. conditions needed to get a harvest — provinces, according to Sri Lanka’s De- Though its share is falling, agricul- don’t lose large tracks of the planted All of those pressures are driving an Government data shows that about return, Weerakoon said. partment of Census and Statistics. ture still accounts for about 27% of Sri extent,” he said. increase in migration, largely to urban 4mn Sri Lankans — almost 20% of the But some migrants, particularly the In the two districts of Colombo and Lanka’s economy, and provides jobs for During the last harvesting season areas, Hettige, Weerakoon and others island’s people — are now internal mi- young and those who do not own land, Gampaha, one in every four residents is about 2.2mn people, according to Sri over 200,000 acres of the 540,000 said. grants. are reluctant to return. now a migrant, department data shows. Lanka’s Central Bank. planted were lost to drought and minor “If weather patterns bring more rain But the move is not always perma- Most migrants head for urban areas, Most of the migrants end up in man- Experts say migration itself is not fl oods, according to Sri Lanka’s De- or less, a family member is placed in a nent — about 35% of them remain in particularly Colombo, Gampaha and ual labour jobs in cities, including as necessarily negative — and could be an partment of Agriculture. Gulf Times Friday, November 3, 2017 13 THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH Waste not Freeing the heart from spite excessively ave you ever got upset when laves of Allah! Islam encour- sought the consequence of returning “A man from the dwellers of Paradise you weren’t able to buy ages making reconciliation mentioned in the above verse – which will walk in now” and you walked in something that you really between people in order is the promise of becoming purer (i.e. in all three times, so I wanted to sleep in Hwanted? Or, have you ever Sto maintain good relations their hearts). your place to see what you do in order bought something that you could have amongst the Muslims, to spread love Having pure hearts that are free from to imitate you, but I did not see that done without? and to keep the hearts of Muslims spite is a bounty and a blessing from you exert extra eff ort in performing any The answer to these two questions is yes, free from spite. Allah Says (what Allah which He grants to the dwell- extra deeds. How did you reach such an unequivocal yes. It is part of our human means): “So fear Allah and amend ers of Paradise upon their entry into status to deserve what the Prophet, nature. We want and we desire constantly. that which is between you” [Qur’an it. Allah Says (what means): “And We sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, , said about When we allow this to go unchecked our 8: 1]. Additionally, Islam ordains all will remove whatever is in their chests you?’ He replied: ‘My deeds are nothing desire for more becomes insatiable and that which spreads mutual love and of resentment (i.e. ill will or ill feelings more than what you saw.’ Then when I overtakes the dictates of our souls. frees the hearts from spite, as in the towards one another), [so they will be] left, he called me back in and said: ‘My Any kind of addiction or extreme act narration of Abu Hurairah, may Allah brothers, on thrones facing each other.” deeds are nothing more than what you emanates from our desire. Satan ever be pleased, with him who reported [Qur’an 15: 47] saw, but the only thing I do is that I do whispers to our Nafs (self) to go after our that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa In addition to a pure heart being a not hold any grudge against any Muslim desires. He encourages us to be greedy and sallam (may Allah exalt his mention), blessing and a bounty from Allah, it is or envy anyone for what bounties Allah to overindulge ourselves. In this way we said: “You will not enter Paradise until also a source of comfort. This is why Is- has granted them’; thereupon ‘Abdul- become slaves to our desires instead of in you believe, and you will not believe lam puts great emphasis on purifi cation laah Ibn ‘Amr said to him: “This diffi cult control of them. One enslaved to his desires until you love one another. Shall I of the heart from spite, so that people quality to obtain is what granted you cannot freely and truly worship his Lord. guide to that which would make you can live together in peace and harmony. this rank”. [Ahmad] It is a matter of our Eemaan (faith) that we love one another? Spread greetings The great importance attached to this It is not an easy task for someone to hold ourselves back from wasteful spending. (Salaam) abundantly amongst your- issue is because it is a diffi cult state to maintain a heart free from spite and If we fi nd diffi culty parting with our selves” [Muslim] achieve all the time. A person may have hold no grudges against anyone. On money in times of charity, then we know we The Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa a strong will which enables him to wake the other hand, it is not an impossible have become victims of over-consumption, sallam, was asked: “Who are the best up in the middle of the night to off er op- mission either, and can be achieved with or excessive spending. The Prophet, type of people?” He replied: “A person tional night prayers, but he may not be training, practice and constant striving. sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “Cursed who is truthful in his speech and Makh- strong enough to overcome some of his The Companions, may Allah be is the slave of gold and silver.” [Al-Bukhari] moom in his heart.” People asked: “We bad feelings towards his fellow Muslims. pleased with them, were very keen to re- When we allow ourselves to lust after know what is truthful speech, but what Undoubtedly, this quality is a praise- move any bad feelings from the hearts of money, then we know the shackles have is a Makhmoom heart?” The Prophet, worthy one indeed; Allah praised the their brothers towards them. ‘Aa’ith Ibn tightened. sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, responded Ansaar (i.e. the residents of Madinah) ‘Amr al-Muzani, may Allah be pleased Money and power are always aligned. Like saying: “It is a pure pious heart that for possessing such a quality saying with him, reported: “Abu Sufyaan sirens they call out to our desires. Today, does not have envy, evil or spite.” [Ibn (which means): “They [i.e. the Ansaar] passed by Salmaan, Suhayb and Bilaal the media is their infamous recruiter. It Maajah] fi nd not any [ill] feelings in their chests and some other Companions (after the constantly throws in our faces more things Spite has greatly increased amongst [i.e. hearts] of what they were given conquest of Makkah, when he was still to desire and to get and to admire. This only people today, resulting in the severing of [i.e. the Muhaajireen – emigrants from a disbeliever). They said to him: “The leads to further blinding ourselves from our relations and in people holding grudges Makkah] but give [them] preference swords of Allah did not exact their due purpose in life, which is to worship Allah against each other. This is in spite of the over themselves, even though they are from the foes of Allah?’’ Abu Bakr, may The Almighty. Allah warns us by saying fact that Allah has made legislations, in privation.” [Qur’an 59: 9] When Allah Allah be pleased with him, said to them: (what means): “Competition in [worldly] which would prevent this from happen- favoured the Muhaajireen with certain “Do you speak like this to the chief of increase diverts you (from the more serious ing. For example, a Muslim is allowed things, the Ansaar did not feel any ob- the Quraysh and their master?’’ Then he things).” [Qur’an 102:1] to request a fellow Muslim who wants jection to this, nor did they harbour any went to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi We must remind ourselves that worldly to visit him to return at a later time. In ill feelings or envy towards their broth- wa sallam, and related this to him. He, desires are mere illusions, transitory normal situations, people would not ap- ers in faith for being distinguished with sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “O pleasures, that Allah is testing us with. preciate someone not allowing them en- these favours. Instead, they favoured Abu Bakr! Perhaps you have angered Allah Almighty warns us of this by saying try when they visit them, but since Allah them over their own selves with what- them. If so, you have angered your Lord”. (what means): “Know that the life of this The All-Knowing, knows that people ever they had, even if they themselves Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with world is but amusement and diversion and might have certain circumstances that were in need of what they off ered. him, rushed back to them and said: “O adornment and boasting to one another would not allow them to receive visitors, The following great story refl ects the my brothers! Did I off end you?’’ They and competition in increase of wealth He legislated this to protect people’s rank of possessing a pure heart that is replied: “No. May Allah forgive you, and children – like the example of a rain hearts from holding grudges due to this. free from spite, and that it is a blessing brother”. [Muslim] whose [resulting] plant growth pleases the Allah Says (what means): “And if it is from Allah. Anas Ibn Maalik, may Allah This proves that a person must rush tillers; then it dries and you see it turned said to you, ‘Go back (Or a similar ex- be pleased with him, narrated: “We were said the same thing, and the same man notice that the man prayed the optional to make amends and apologise for his yellow; then it becomes [scattered] debris. pression showing that the occupants are sitting with the Prophet, sallallaahu once again walked in. When the Prophet night prayers during any of these nights, actions, if he fears that a fellow Muslim And in the Hereafter is severe punishment not prepared to receive visitors)’ then ‘alaihi wa sallam, once when he said: ‘A left the gathering, ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Amr but if he woke up during the night, he was off ended or his feelings were hurt, and forgiveness from Allah and approval. go back; it is purer for you” [Qur’an 24: man from the dwellers of Paradise will followed that man and said to him: ‘I would simply mention Allah. None- to make sure his brother’s heart remains And what is the worldly life except the 28]. This is a way to condole the person walk in now’ so a man from the Ansaar had a misunderstanding with my father theless, I never heard him utter except pure towards him. The one who is being enjoyment of delusion.” [Qur’an 57:20] who was not granted permission to (i.e. residents of Madinah) walked in and swore not to stay in his house three good things, so when the three nights apologised to must accept without delay Guard yourself from greed enter, lest he feels insulted or saddened, whose beard was dripping from the nights, so if you permit me I would like fi nished, I almost belittled his deeds and comfort his brother, and assure him As consumers we must be mindful of and a means to protect the hearts from eff ect of ablution and who held his slip- to spend these three nights with you.’ (as they were insignifi cant) and I said that he is not holding any grudge against Allah and thank Him for blessing us with the spite. This is why some of the Salaf, may pers with his left hand. The next day the The man said: ‘Yes, I permit you.’” to him: ‘O slave of Allah! There was not him and supplicate for him as the Com- fi nancial ability to purchase the things we Allah have mercy upon them, used to be Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, dispute between me and my father or panions did with Abu Bakr. need. Remembering Allah when shopping happy when they went visiting someone said the same thing, and the same man added: “ ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Amr told us anger, but I heard the Prophet, sallal- Article source: http://www.is- will help us humble our hearts and be and were not permitted in, because they walked in. On the third day, the Prophet that he spent three nights and did not laahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, saying thrice: lamweb.net/emainpage/ grateful for all that he has already given us. This can help prevent us from becoming upset when we are unable to buy something we want. We must also seek to instill in spending Avoid things that could cause enmity or spite habits of the Islamic practice of moderation. I cannot stress enough the importance of the Prophet Muhammad’s (sallallaahu hen people went to visit Abu and admonish him about the quality of forgiveness than three days, and then dies, will certainly enter The zeal of attaining high posts and positions ‘alaihi wa sallam) injunction to the Muslim Dujaanah, may Allah be pleased and tolerance, until he changed his mind and let the Hell.” [Abu Daawood] We ask Allah to purify makes a person envious; Al-Fudhayl Ibn ‘Iyaadh, Ummah: “Eat, drink, spend, and dress with him, in his death sickness, them go unharmed. our hearts from spite and grudges. may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “Striving without extravagance or arrogance.”[Al- Wthey saw him happy and his face Jaabir, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “I One of the main things that leads to having a to reach high posts and positions and leadership Bukhari] radiant; they asked him about the reason, to heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa spiteful heart is backbiting and tale bearing. These makes people envious and leads them to trans- We must strive for a balance between the which he may Allah be pleased with him replied: sallam, saying: “The devil has despaired of being two evil qualities often result in hatred and severing gressing other people’s rights.” extremes of spending too much (Israaf) and “I have two qualities I possessed in my life; one worshipped by those who engage in prayer in the of ties amongst people. Therefore, a Muslim must There is another matter that people neglect, being stingy. The righteous are “those who, is that I never interfered in that which did not Arabian Peninsula but (has not lost hope) in creat- control his tongue and not allow himself to talk which has a direct connection to this issue: when they spend, do so not excessively or concern me, and the second is that I always had ing dissension among them.” [Muslim] about others, backbite or slander them. straightening the rows during prayer. Nu’maan Ibn sparingly but are ever, between that, [justly] a pure heart, free from spite towards my fellow This was a statement made by the Messenger Some people refrain from eating certain types Basheer, may Allah be pleased with him, reported moderate.” [Qur’an 25:67] Muslims”. of Allah while addressing his Companions. Satan of meat before ascertaining their permissibility, that the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa This verse encourages moderation Imaam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah mercy upon strives very hard to instill spite in the hearts of the yet they have no problems eating the fl esh of their sallam, said: “Straighten your rows (during prayer) and balance in our spending. Instead of him, was another great example in this matter. believers towards one another, hence, we must fellow Muslim; Allah Says (what means): “And do or Allah would create dissension amongst you”. succumbing to our habits of spending on Some people of knowledge of his time who envied avoid anything that could be the means or cause not backbite each other. Would one of you like to [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] ourselves, we ought to give more than we him, spoke ill of him to the Caliph who commanded of enmity or spite. We must know that Satan is the eat the fl esh of his dead brother? You would detest Joking too much with people and two people take. When we give for the sole purpose him to be imprisoned; yet while he was in prison source of spite and envy. it” [Qur’an 49: 12] talking in seclusion in the presence of a third are of pleasing Allah we purify our souls. The he, may Allah mercy upon him, sent a letter to his Moreover, spite, dispute and envy are the reasons Another matter that results in spite is disputes more reasons for spite amongst Muslims, which we Prophet was the most generous of men and students saying: “You know very well that I do for one’s good deeds being rejected: Abu Hurairah, and arguments, thus people must beware of this must be careful to avoid. gave the majority of his belongings away. not like to see anyone from the common Muslims may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the bad quality. People can hold diff erent opinions but There are certain things a person can do to pre- The Prophet understood what was real and getting hurt because of me, let alone the people of Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, do not have to become enemies due to this. Yoosuf vent spite and spread love instead, like supplicating what was passing: He valued his humility, knowledge. People are three types: one who strives said: “People’s deeds are presented before Allah on As-Sadafi , may Allah have mercy upon him, said: for others and giving them gifts. the afterlife, and his connection to Allah to do what is correct but fails, and such will be Mondays and Thursdays, and then every slave (of “I never saw anyone wiser than Imaam Ash- Finally, we must diff erentiate between being over worldly pleasures. rewarded for striving to do what is right and will be Allah) is granted forgiveness (of minor sins) if he Shaafi ’ee. I argued with him once about a matter kind hearted and simple minded and naive. Not When we become entangled in the pardoned for failing as he tried; another is one who does not associate anything with Allah in worship. but we could not come to an agreement, so when he knowing what is plotted against you is not being superfi cial, our materialistic values will strives to do what is correct and succeeds, and such But the person in whose heart there is rancour saw me later, he took hold of my hand and said: ‘O kind, as this could make a person fall in the trap override our spiritual connection to our will be rewarded twice, once for striving to do what against his brother, will not be pardoned. With re- Abu Moosaa! Can’t we disagree and remain broth- of others, like those who propagate drugs and Lord. We must guard ourselves against this is right and another for achieving such a goal; the gard to them, it is said twice: ‘Hold these two until ers?’” Prejudice and partiality – whether to one’s immorality. Many people have been dragged into and instead spend our resources and time so third type is a person who is a sinner, and we ask they are reconciled’. ‘Hold these two until they are opinion, a group or a person – also lead to spite drugs, immorality and other harmful habits due that we may increase our spiritual wealth. Allah to forgive him. I will not forgive any of you if reconciled.’” [Muslim] In fact, this was the reason creeping into the heart. to their naivete. As Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim, may This is the struggle against the Nafs which you start talking about anyone who was the cause why the exact night on which the night of Al-Qadr Competing over worldly matters results in spite Allah have mercy upon him, stated: “Recognising our beloved Prophet Muhammad always of my imprisonment”. falls was not disclosed to the people. in most cases; this is why Islam forbade a person the evil and not indulging in it is not the same as emphasised. Not only that, but Allah Willed that Sultan An- The matter is even graver than this, as indicated from attempting to buy something that his Muslim being naive”. Striver for good deeds that will multiply Naasir, may Allah have mercy upon him, became in the following narration. Abu Hurairah, may Al- brother has already started negotiating about, or Article source: http://www.islamweb.net/ themselves rather than hoard worldly goods the Caliph and wanted to take revenge from the lah be pleased with him, said that the Messenger of proposing to a woman who a fellow Muslim has emainpage/ that will perish into the earth and become people who were the cause of his imprisonment, Allah, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “It is not approached earlier. The reason for this is that Islam dust. but Imaam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah mercy upon lawful for a Muslim to forsake his (Muslim) brother tries to prevent all the possible reasons that could Article source: http://www.islamweb. him, refused and continued to talk to the Caliph beyond three days; and whosoever does so for more engender spite and hatred. net/emainpage/ Ruling on smoking moking did not exist in the good and lawful things [at-tayyibaat] harm nor reciprocating harm. Smoking abandons his open sinful display. drops for the sake of Allah, He will surely who will sell cigarettes from that place time of the Prophet (sallallaahu and forbids for them all evil and unlawful harms the smoker and the one who is 8. If a person was to burn money we help him. Be patient and remember that is also forbidden (haraam). All of this is ‘alaihi wa sallam) yet we know things [al-khabaa-ith]... Smoking is of next to him and it is a waste of money. would say to him or her “Are you nuts! Allah is with the patient. Make suppli- co-operation in sin and enmity which Sthat Islam forbids all things the harmful and evil and unlawful things. 5. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi Haraam!” So how about the one who cation (du’aa) to Allah with the utmost is expressly forbidden in the Qur’an that are harmful to the body in general, 2. Allah Ta’ala states in Soorah Al- wa sallam) said in a hadith (mutafaqun spends hundreds of riyals on smoking?! sincerity especially after the adhaan and and the authentic sunnah. All forms of along with anything that harms one’s Baqarah Aayah 195: And do not throw ‘alaihi) agreed upon by both Al-Bukhari 9. Is it really a part of good religion or the salaat and any other time. Say: O smoking are clearly fi lth and the one who neighbours or wastes money. We put yourselves into destruction... Smok- and Muslim: Allah hates that you squan- morals or plain sensitivity and good taste Allah make it clear to me that smoking is affl icted with it must struggle to the before you the following evidence ing causes or contributes to a host of der wealth. Smoking is a waste of wealth to disturb and harass people with your is useless and wrong and give me the utmost to rid themselves of this fi lthy regarding the ruling on smoking so that illnesses such as throat, mouth and lung that is hated by Allah. cigarette or pipe smoke and pollute their strength to shun it and make it loath- habit. you can discern for yourself whether or cancer, tuberculosis, emphysema, res- 6. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa clean air?! You must know that polluting some and hateful to me, Aameen. The above Islamic ruling is agreed not it is halaal (permissible) or haraam piratory ailments, high blood pressure, sallam) said in another hadith (muta- the air is as bad as polluting drinking upon by the majority of Islamic scholars (forbidden). heart disease, and the list goes on... faqun ‘alaihi): The example of a righteous water. The Islamic Ruling: worldwide. We do not advocate each individual 3. Allah Ta’ala states in Soorah companion and the evil companion is 10. Have you ever asked yourself if Smoking in all its forms [i.e. cigars, A small minority of scholars say that making Islamic rulings on their own. Al-Israa Aayah 26-27: But spend not analogous to the seller of perfumes and smoking will be put on your scale of cigarettes, pipes, water pipes, etc.) is smoking is allowable while some have Our aim in taking this approach is to give wastefully of your wealth in the manner the blacksmith... The smoker is an evil good deeds or the scale of wrong and evil haraam (forbidden) and working in a ruled it as detestable. The evidence of the reader an opportunity to refl ect and of a spendthrift. Verily, the spendthrifts companion who blows fi re. deeds?! factory that produces cigars or ciga- the harmfulness of smoking and the consider the evidence for themselves, are brothers of the shayaateen (devils). 7. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa So what do you think the ruling on rettes and the like is also forbidden and clear principles of Islam based upon the especially if they are smokers, because Smoking is a waste of money and of the sallam) said in a third hadith (mutafaqun smoking is? therefore any earnings from such work absolute proofs within the Qur’an and nothing is more convincing at times than deeds of Shaitaan (Satan). ‘alaihi): My entire ummah (nation) is Halaal or haraam? are also haraam and constitute unlawful the authentic Sunnah, some of which one’s own rationale. 4. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa excused except the mujaahireen (open Brother or Sister Muslim Smoker... provisions. Buying, and selling ciga- was related above, clearly support the 1. Allah Ta’ala states in Surah Al-’Araaf sallam) said in an authentic hadith: Laa public sinner). The smoker is an open Ask Allah for help and be determined rettes, cigars, pipes, etc. is also forbidden position of tahreem (being haraam) as Aayah 157: He has allowed for them all darara wa laa diraar - Let there be neither sinner whose sin is inexcusable unless he to quit smoking. Whatever someone as is renting retail space to someone the strongest and correct ruling. Gulf Times 14 Friday, November 3, 2017 COMMENT

Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Editor-in-Chief: Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka Deputy Managing Editor: K T Chacko Production Editor: Amjad Khan

P.O.Box 2888 Doha, Qatar [email protected] Telephone 44350478 (news), 44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery) Fax 44350474 GULF TIMES Al Jazeera will remain fi rm on its founding principles The celebration of Al Jazeera Media Network’s 21st anniversary under the slogan “Al Jazeera Cannot Be Shut Down” on Wednesday, which was graced by His Highness the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is of particular importance as the State of Qatar and Al Jazeera are facing a vicious, but ineff ective, attack from the siege countries. Both the State of Qatar and the Al Jazeera have completely defeated the siege countries’ onslaught. The Al Jazeera Media Network’s anniversary celebration is a clear response to those who demand its closure. As His Highness the Emir noted the network will not be closed and A century on from Balfour, history will record how it changed the concept of freedom of expression. His Highness the Emir’s attendance at Al Jazeera celebrations is in recognition of its role in the achievements and accomplishments by our young country. Britain must do the right thing During the 21 years of its existence, Al Jazeera has been Rather than celebrate the The Balfour declaration was away their most sacred collective the declaration, and Her Majesty’s able to lead the Arab media and become the voice of the quintessentially a colonial decision right: the right to self-determination. government plans to celebrate its citizens and a fundamental pillar in the media space not only calamitous declaration, emanating from the myth of the Balfour deemed us unworthy. anniversary. at the Arab level but also internationally. the UK should recognise “white man’s burden”, the idea These historical injustices are not When will Britain recognise that the that “advanced nations” needed to the totality of the colonial legacy still real legacy of the Balfour declaration is Al Jazeera has been gaining broad support in the Arab and the injustice and help administer the territories of “peoples in existence today. The narrative, of suff ering, dispossession, oppression international media and rights circles. forge an independent not yet able to stand by themselves” myths and language that have been and injustice – a painful legacy that This year’s celebration of Al Jazeera’s anniversary is taking – in the words of the covenant of the used to justify Balfour and its corollary every Palestinian generation since Palestinian state League of Nations – an inherently events – from the Nakba in 1948 to 1917 has inherited? place under stormy circumstances not only in Qatar, but also problematic and racist notion in itself. the Naksa in 1967, and the continued If the UK is looking for past glories, the Arab region. By Hanan Ashrawi The land was neither Balfour’s nor occupation today – are an extension of it will not fi nd them in exceptionalism, These celebrations are a testimony to the fact that the London Britain’s to give away, but, as is always the racist, colonial spirit that defi nes stepping outside the global consensus the case with colonialism, a diktat the document. A century on, the or celebrating the colonial calamities Al Jazeera network will remain steadfast on its founding made in a capital far away is meant dehumanisation and marginalisation it has created. Rather, it is called principles enshrined 21 years ago, especially since truth was esterday the world to supersede the collective rights and of the Palestinian people persists, and upon to stand up for what is right, absent in the media coverage before that date. marked the centenary of aspirations of a people. is used as a basis to deny us our most and become a champion of the norms the calamitous Balfour Contrary to an oft-propagated basic rights. and values we collectively hold as an The human aspect of life will remain the focus of attention Ydeclaration. In 1917, with myth, the land was not devoid of A misleading veneer of “religious international community. of Al Jazeera, which is a few paragraphs and a stroke of his people. In 1920 the Jewish population confl ict” has been superimposed on The fi rst step in a process of appreciated by millions pen, the British foreign minister, Lord in Mandatory Palestine stood at only what are essentially political, legal, rectifi cation and redemption is to Al Jazeera has Balfour, unleashed historic forces that 11%; their land ownership was less than moral and human rights violations. recognise this historical injustice of people throughout changed the fate of an entire people 7% by 1947. Yet Balfour took it upon The coinage of the mantra “Judeo- and apologise to the Palestinian been able to the world. It is the and a whole region. He committed a himself to relegate the status of the Christian values” has also been generations that have been its right of Qatar to be grave sin: promising the homeland of indigenous people of the land to “non- conveniently utilised to exclude victims. The UK must decide to silence the siege one people to another. Jewish communities” – a second- and demonise “the other”, whether stand for peace, equality, justice proud of Al Jazeera, A century on, every Palestinian class entity whose primary existence Christian or Muslim – setting the and self-determination, and hold countries and and its employees have is still plagued by the consequences was that of “the other”, consisting of tone for the slanderous label “radical Israel accountable for violating these the right to be proud of that decision – whether it is the “communities” rather than a people Islamic terrorism”. Any criticism of basic rights. Having denied us that expose the unfair refugees yearning to return, still with national rights who have been Israel is dismissed on the basis that opportunity in 1917, a century on of the State of Qatar clutching the keys to their homes, calling the land home for centuries. Israel is a beacon of “democracy” we hope Britain can help create and and off ensive which has provided the Palestinians suff ering under an While the Jewish Palestinians and “western values” in a region of recognise a sovereign, independent world with a free media occupation that has lasted 50 years, became the primary demographic violence and darkness. The racist Palestinian state. A century on, we campaign Jerusalemites experiencing the and were off ered a “national home” in claim of a “villa in the jungle” is hope Britain will make it right. — platform. fraudulent transformation of the Palestine, the Christian and Muslim simply the contemporary equivalent of Guardian News and Media demanding its The siege countries’ character, demography, culture and majority were defi ned by what they the “white man’s burden”. call to shut down Al landscape of their city before their were not, and demoted to the status To this day, the UK has failed zHanan Ashrawi is a Palestinian closure eyes, or Palestinian citizens of Israel of holding only civil and religious to recognise this legacy, admit its politician. She is a member of the PLO Jazeera is no surprise. who are undergoing an intricate and rights. Consistent with colonial form, culpability and apologise for this executive committee and the Palestine These countries do not want the freedom of expression cruel system of discrimination and Balfour not only failed to recognise the historic injustice. In fact Prime legislative council as well as being head represented by Al Jazeera. All the accusations they have exclusion in a country that claims to political, human and legal rights of the Minister Theresa May has publicly of the PLO department of culture and be democratic. Palestinian people, he also stripped stated that Britain takes “pride” in information. raised against the network are fl imsy and based on fallacies. It is a matter of pride for Qatar that Al Jazeera has been able to silence the siege countries and expose the unfair and off ensive campaign demanding its closure. Al Jazeera cannot be shut down and it will not bow down to the demands of the siege countries. As the Chairman of the Board of Al Jazeera Media Network HE Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer al-Thani said during the event, Al Jazeera will remain fi rm on its founding principles. Al Jazeera’s coverage of events regionally and internationally is based on insightful vision, credibility and transparency. The siege countries’ demand for its closure refl ects their intolerance of free speech and freedom of opinion and expression. It is time the siege countries realised that their unjust attack against Qatar will not hinder Al Jazeera from remaining steadfast on its founding principles which include the freedom of opinion and expression and the right of the Arab citizen to express his opinion freely and without fear.

To Advertise [email protected] Display Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 Classified Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 Subscription [email protected]

2017 Gulf Times. All rights reserved ‘The land was neither Balfour’s nor Britain’s to give away.’ Gulf Times Friday, November 3, 2017 15 QATAR Channels tune into Qatar radio boom Filipino channel could get dio Olive (106.3 FM) and One FM in the country, and this led to the not adopting racist or infl am- operating licence soon as Radio (89.6 FM), both in Hindi. launch of radio stations for resi- matory messages, and not sup- the country plans more radio The launch ceremony took dents, particularly those from porting violence and terrorism. stations place at the Ministry of Culture India who make up the biggest “Except for that, we are open to HE the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali and other dignitaries and and Sports in the presence of a expatriate group. the media space,” he added. officials at the launch event. QNA number of ambassadors, includ- The minister said the com- Further, the minister stressed Doha ing Indian envoy P Kumaran, and ing phase will see the launch of that Qatar is one of the easiest There is also co-ordination with these stations will contribute to and cultural programmes, while representatives of the Ministry of new radio stations for other ex- places to obtain such licences Es’hailSat — the Qatar Satellite diversifying the media content also covering current events in Transport and Communications patriate groups to refl ect media even in terms of fees, which, he Company and diff erent state in- off ered to the public in Qatar the country so that speakers of here are plans to launch and Qatar Media Corporation, in freedom in Qatar, stressing that said, are “very low and don’t stitutions to support the private and meet the needs of expatriate the languages in question are more radio channels in addition to owners of channels these channels are “completely hinder those interested in radio sector and launch new stations. groups while teaching them about aware of latest developments. Tthe country and a Filipino and senior ministry offi cials. independent in their content and investment.” Al-Ali noted that a Filipino Qatari culture and traditions. Ambassador Kumaran ex- radio station could be granted an Speaking on the sidelines of directions”. He also expressed He said there are several re- radio station could be granted an Sheikha Najla said prepara- tended his thanks to Qatar and operating licence soon, HE the the event, al-Ali said launching hope that these will contribute quests with regard to the launch operating licence soon. tions for the setting up these the Ministry of Culture and Minister of Culture and Sports private radio stations in the lan- to the ongoing “renaissance in of new radio stations and these Speaking at the ceremony, stations started in 2016 as teams Sports for backing such initia- Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser guages of resident expatriates the country through the content are currently being reviewed in Sheikha Najla al-Thani, head of from the department as well as tives that enhance communi- al-Ali has said. He made the reaffi rms Qatar’s openness to the that they will off er”. co-ordination with the Minis- the radio licences department Qatar Media Corporation, the cation among Qatar residents, observation while speaking on world and that it believes in me- Asked about any criteria or try of Transport and Commu- at the Ministry of Culture and Communications Regulatory adding that these initiatives will the sidelines of an event held on dia freedom. He also noted that conditions for granting such li- nications. While there are not Sports, said the launch of such Authority and licence owners carry meaningful media message Wednesday to launch four private the launch is one of the positive cences, he said there are inter- enough radio frequencies at the radio stations in Qatar goes in line worked to fi nalise the process. that promote creative diversity radio stations in Qatar: Malay- outcomes of the illegal siege im- nationally established criteria, moment for the stations ap- with the state’s vision of encour- She added that the stations will in Qatar through a variety of alam (98.6 FM) and Suno (91.7 posed on Qatar, as it reiterates which include not spreading ha- plied for, he said there will be aging investments, particularly broadcast round the clock and programmes and ideas that teach FM), both in Malayalam, and Ra- the coherence among all who live tred or disrespecting religions, new technical solutions by 2018. in the media fi eld. She noted that feature entertainment, social the Qatari culture. QOC hosts Entertainment Day Gulf crisis will not aff ect for people with special needs 2022 World Cup: envoy

QNA QNA fusing to engage in dialogue at Doha Toronto the negotiating table. While giv- ing a detailed explanation about the ongoing political and eco- atar Olympic Commit- atar’s ambassador to nomic blockade, he also touched tee’s (QOC) sports aff airs Canada Fahad Mohamed upon the eff orts made by Qatar Qdepartment organised the QYusuf Kafood has said in dealing with the crisis. The 11th Entertainment Day for people that the Gulf crisis will not aff ect envoy highlighted the resilience with special needs at Qatar Su- Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA of the Qatari economy asserting preme Committee’s Abdullah bin World Cup. Speaking at a meet- that the country has taken the Suhaim Hall in co-operation with ing hosted by the Editorial Board new challenges head on and will Qatar Paralympic Committee. of Toronto Star newspaper, the come out stronger in line with The event saw the participa- envoy highlighted the negative Qatar’s ambassador to Canada its future aspirations. He reiter- tion of 150 male and female stu- eff ects of the siege imposed by Fahad Mohamed Yusuf Kafood. ated that the crisis will not aff ect dents representing a number of the Saudi-led bloc and its re- Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA paralympic centres, viz: Qatar percussions on the region and made on Qatar by the blockading World Cup. Society for Rehabilitation of Spe- the Gulf Co-Operation Council countries were summarily re- The meeting was attended by cial Needs’ female education and (GCC). He also commented on jected by the international com- Andrew Phillips, Editorial Page rehabilitation centre, Noor Insti- the cheap methods employed munity. Editor of Toronto Star, which is tute for the Blind, Doha Interna- by the siege nations such as Ambassador Kafood said that one of Canada’s leading news- tional Center for Special Needs, hacking, electronic piracy and the US position is now united papers. It was also attended by and Al Tamakon School for Com- levelling false accusations of in praising the State of Qatar’s members of the Editorial Board prehensive Education. supporting terrorism, adding handling of the crisis while criti- and international aff airs and se- Entertainment Day aims to raise that the unreasonable demands cising the siege nations for re- curity editors. the level of awareness for people with disabilities by giving them an opportunity to express their skills and capacities by participating in A number of QOC and Qatar Paralympic Committee off icials attended the event as well as coaches, several sporting events. organisers and student companions. Qatari Paralympic athletics medallist Abdurrahman Abdulqader The focus is more on entertain- participated in the event along with Sara Masoud, silver medallist in London and Rio Olympics. ment than serious competitions. ‘Blockade opened up new The celebration helps in break- ing the barrier between people with disabilities and their healthy business avenues for Qatar’ counterparts. The festival featured several ac- tivities dedicated to people with he Gulf crisis has opened prior to the siege they have start- mental, vision and motor disabili- new avenues for busi- ed approaching local training in- ties, including barrier races, ath- Tness, especially for young stitutes now, he pointed out. letics and leisure events. entrepreneurs, 26-year-old Ha- Haqeeqat, which aims to en- A number of QOC and Qa- sham Abbasi told Qatar Urdu gage and interact with the large tar Paralympic Committee offi - Radio show Haqeeqat yesterday. South Asian expatriate com- cials attended the event as well as “My two companies, which in- munity in Qatar, is a joint ven- coaches, organisers and student clude a training centre as well as ture of Gulf Times and Qatar companions. Qatari Paralympic a cargo and shipping business, Media Corporation Urdu Radio. athletics medallist Abdurrahman have benefi ted from the siege in It is broadcast from Sunday to Abdulqader, who won gold in Lon- terms of an increase in clients,” Thursday on FM107. The show is don and Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Abbasi, who established his fi rst hosted by Saif-ur-Rehman. participated in the event along business at the age of 19, ex- One can log on to Qatar Urdu with Sara Masoud, silver medallist plained. Radio on Facebook and ‘@Qa- in London and Rio Olympics. If Doha-based companies tarUrduRadio’ on Twitter for Abdulqader said he took part in used to send employees for vari- feedback and comments about the event to off er support and give ous kinds of training to Dubai the show. Hasham Abbasi hope to the students to continue to exercise, challenge their disabil- ity, win competitions and repre- sent the Qatari sport well in glo- bal competitions, adding that his disability didn’t hinder him from Indian Coast Guard vessel to achieving his goals.

Specialised Master’s degree in Financial Regulation and Leadership launched dock at Hamad Port tomorrow he Indian Coast Guard HEC Paris in Qatar yesterday launched a new Master’s degree in Eisa Ahmed Abdulla, COO of the QFC Regulatory Authority, said: Ship (ICGS) Samarth will Financial Regulation and Leadership for Qatari employees in core “The Master’s degree programme was sponsored and supported by Tarrive at Hamad Port to- business areas of Qatar’s three financial regulators. the Chairman of the QFC Regulatory Authority and Qatar Financial morrow (Saturday) on a four- The degree programme has been designed to develop employees Markets Authority, and Governor of Qatar Central Bank, HE Sheikh day visit to Qatar. In the frame- of Qatar Central Bank, the Qatar Financial Markets Authority and the Abdullah bin Saoud al-Thani. We look forward to seeing our future work of the deep-rooted friendly QFC Regulatory Authority – the three regulators. In addition, QNB also leaders in action in our sector, and delivering on Qatar National Vision ties, multi-faceted and growing has students registered in the programme, a press statement said. 2030 and the Strategic Plan for Financial Sector Regulation.” co-operation between India and The Master’s degree in Strategic Business Unit Management (SBUM), In 2016, the three financial regulators initiated the Master’s degree Qatar, this is the second time in with specialisation in Financial Regulation, took shape in 2016. Its programme as part of a strategic eff ort to create a legacy of financial this year that an Indian ship is purpose is to “support and build future Qatari regulatory leaders”, regulation in the country. Representatives from the partnering visiting Qatar, the Indian em- ICGS Samarth will arrive at Hamad Port tomorrow. the statement notes, adding that the custom programme for financial organisations were appointed to a technical advisory panel, which bassy said in statement yester- regulators is the “first of its kind in the region, and one of only a met twice last year to review proposals from regional education day. ICGS Samarth, which has 19 copter and Chetak helicopters. It handful worldwide”. providers. In December 2016, the panel awarded the contract to HEC Earlier this year in January, offi cers and 102 other personnel can carry fi ve high-speed boats, The programme will be delivered by HEC Paris in Qatar and runs from Paris in Qatar. the ICGS Samudra Prahari had under the command of Deputy Search and Rescue maritime November 4 until April 2019. The SBUM, with specialisation in Financial Regulation, features 12 visited Doha in conjunction with Inspector General KR Deepak patrol and engage in pollution- modules. Six of the modules are dedicated to financial regulation, India’s 68th Republic Day cel- Kumar, is based on the west control measures like cleaning including an online module on Islamic Finance. The programme will ebrations. coast of India at Goa, under the up oil spills at sea. Other features guide participants through leadership skills needed to eff ectively ICGS Samarth is the first administrative and operational include integrated bridge sys- manage teams and organisations, address the importance of ship of the new series of Off- control of the commander, Coast tem, integrated machinery con- developing and implementing a sound strategy in challenging times shore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) Guard Region (West) which has trol system, power management and feature in-depth learning of financial regulation. that have been indigenously headquarters in Mumbai. system and high power external The 17 members of the Class of 2019 will embark on a study tour to designed and built by Goa The 105-m long ship is fi re fi ghting system. Germany, during which they will be given the opportunity to explore how Shipyard Limited, India. The equipped with the most ad- This visit will further banks and regulatory systems work in a diff erent environment. Dr Nils word “Samarth” means “capa- vanced state-of-the-art tech- strengthen the friendship be- Plambeck, dean and CEO of HEC Paris in Qatar and academic director ble” and it reflects the Indian nology, navigation and commu- tween India and Qatar as well as of the SBUM, said: “Our programme, sponsored by the partnership of Coast Guard’s will and com- nications equipment, sensors enhance maritime co-operation Eisa Ahmed Abdulla and Dr Nils Plambeck announcing the details Qatar’s three regulators, is designed to further develop the leadership, mitment to serve and protect and machinery. It is capable of between the two countries, the of the new programme. PICTURE: Anas al-Samaraee management and technical competencies of the participants.” the maritime interests of India. deploying Advanced Light Heli- statement added.