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BUSINESS | 21 SPORT | 27 QIIB gets highest Marchisio targets certificate for card more silverware data protection for Juventus

Thursday 22 December 2016 | 23 Rabia I 1438 Volume 21 | Number 7018 | 2 Riyals

Prime Minister meets Canadian envoy Emir condoles Six new Indian with Russian President

EMIR H H Sheikh Tamim bin schools to open Hamad Al Thani sent a cable of condolences to President of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on the assassination of the Russian Ambassador to next year Turkey Andrey Karlov, who was murdered on Monday. The Emir also expressed Irfan Bukhari strong condemnation and The Peninsula denunciation of the criminal attack on the Ambassador, mid continuing stressing Qatar's firm position complaints about that rejects violence and terror- shortage of seats in ism in all their forms, whatever Indian schools in their motives and causes. Qatar, a senior offi- Deputy Emir H H Sheikh cialA of the Ministry of Education Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani and Higher Education said yes- With several Indian Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani and Prime Minister and Inte- terday that the problem would schools starting with Ambassador of Canada Adrian Norfolk, in Doha, yesterday. The meeting focused rior Minister H E Sheikh be addressed as six new Indian admission for the next on bilateral cooperation and the means to enhance it. → See also page 2 Abdullah bin Nasser bin Kha- schools would be opened in the lifa Al Thani have also sent next academic year. academic year to the similar cables. With several Indian schools limited seats available, starting admission for the next parents say that they academic year to the limited have been forced to seats available, parents say that run from pillar to post they have been forced to run looking for a seat for Hukoomi gets 4 million hits a month from pillar to post looking for a seat for their kids. their kids. Asked about the issue, The Peninsula tioning and connection with the audience. under development, which, after comple- Hamad Al Ghali, director of the Hukoomi agreements are aimed at coor- tion, will be upgraded and enriched with Private Schools Office at the security issues,” Al Ghali told ukoomi, the Qatar e-Government dinating efforts in the management of online more improvements and features. Ministry said that only two The Peninsula. Portal was accessed about four mil- content and services – a step that signifi- Hukoomi now provides nearly 1300 Indian schools have been told The MES Indian School cur- Hlion times a month this year, with up cantly helps in providing higher-quality and online services, of which 650 are end-to- by the ministry to stop admis- rently has about 8,000 students to 300 visitors from at least 180 countries more useful information and services. These end for companies, citizens and residents sions since they already have although the school premises visiting at any one time. agreements are in line with the strategic covering the fields of healthcare, education, students on their rolls beyond have a capacity of only 5,000 The government portal recently signed goals and objectives laid down in the Qatar business, and many more. the permitted capacity. students. The Ideal Indian agreements with a number of ministries on e-Government 2020 Strategy. The Hukoomi team can be reached in “ We have asked the MES School has 6,000 students, managing the online content and e-services Hukoomi, Qatar’s e-Government Por- various languages and through multiple Indian School and the Ideal more than double the permit- available at the portal. tal, was first launched in 2008. A new channels; by phone on “109”, or fax at Indian School not to take any ted capacity of 2,800 The portal plans to implement more such Hukoomi version was launched in 2010 with 44069998, SMS and email; contact@huk- new students for the next aca- students. agreements with all government agencies more improvements, enhancements, serv- oomi.qa or even instant messaging and demic year due to safety and → Continued on page 8 in Qatar to achieve the best possible func- ices and information. Phase 3 is currently WhatsApp on 50078999. 02 HOME THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 Little-known disease causes PM meets Kyrgyz Ambassador high cholesterol in region

The Peninsula protocol and innovative therapy Inherited disorder options are necessary,” Dr Zirie little known condi- An inherited explained. tion, familial condition, familial Studies suggest that many hypercholestero- hypercholesterolemia patients on cholesterol manage- lemia, along with (FH), can result in ment treatment continue to various other dis- early cardiovascular experience persistent abnormal eases,A is resulting in a peculiar lipid levels exposing them to a disease. pattern of high blood cholesterol high risk of cardiovascular dis- in the region that is much dif- ease. This is also due to ferent from the rest of the world, There is a lack of sub-optimal patient compliance according to experts. data on FH and the and adherence to the prescribed Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani More than half of the high- disease is severely treatment regime. with the Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic in Qatar Nuran Niyazaliev. The meeting risk patients do not achieve underdiagnosed in Around 61.8% of all patients focused on bilateral cooperation. target cholesterol control in Gulf the region. and 69.5% of very high risk countries, according to experts patients do not achieve target at a recently concluded scien- cholesterol control levels in the tific conference. down through families. It causes Gulf countries. Comprehensive The Ministry of Public LDL (bad) cholesterol level to be surveillance, awareness, adher- Cabinet approves draft Health (MoPH) recently organ- very high. The condition begins ence to treatment regimens, as ised, in collaboration Hamad at birth and can cause heart well as modification of lifestyle Medical Corporation and Sanofi, attacks at an early age. choices, is necessary to halt the resolution on civil aviation a two-day educational scientific The high prevalence of rise in cardiovascular disease- programme to tackle high cho- familial hypercholesterolemia related mortality. lesterol. The event, led by along with hypertension, diabe- The programme included sci- The Peninsula at the General Authority of Civil rules and national regulations. renowned national and inter- tes, and consanguineous entific presentations on Aviation, and be chaired by the The Cabinet also approved national cardiologists and marriages, in the Middle East dyslipidemia management, he State Cabinet yesterday President of the General Author- the projects and decisions of the endocrinologists, emphasised region, results in a pattern of guidelines for lipid management, approved a draft resolution ity of Civil Aviation, with Minister of Municipal and Envi- the need for adopting effective dyslipidemia (high amount of updates on latest therapy Tto establish a committee to representatives from the author- ronment on the adoption of Gulf and timely measures to ensure lipids in the blood) that is differ- advancements, and advanced coordinate search and rescue ities concerned as members. standard specifications as the improved blood cholesterol ent from many other regions of workshops on optimal manage- operations in civil aviation. The committee will be spe- Qatari standard specification as management in patients to the world. Early prevention and ment based on case studies. The Prime Minister and Inte- cialized in a number of areas, well as the adoption of Gulf Tech- address cardiovascular disease control of dyslipidemia is of par- Experts noted a large number of rior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah including the study of ways to nical regulations as the Qatari (CVD) risks. amount importance to reduce patients are faced with the chal- bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani remove comments that have been Technical regulations. The Cabi- “People with underlying con- the risk of developing cardio- lenge of achieving the chaired the Cabinet's ordinary monitored by the inspection team net also reviewed several other ditions such as high blood vascular diseases. (CVD). recommended LDL cholesterol meeting, held at the Emiri Diwan of the International Civil Aviation topics and took decisions: includ- pressure (hypertension) and dia- There is a lack of data on levels. “The Ministry through the yesterday. Under the resolution, Organization team in accordance ing a draft law on the protection betes often have high cholesterol. familial hypercholesterolemia National Health Strategy empha- the committee will be established with the international standard of the Arabic language. In the region, adults also suffer and the disease is severely under sizes the importance of medical from familial hypercholestero- diagnosed in the region. education programmes for devel- lemia (FH), a little known “People with FH are unable oping a highly skilled workforce. inherited condition associated to process the body’s natural sup- This is essential if we are to suc- Foreign Minister meets UN envoy for Syria with high cholesterol that can ply of cholesterol in the liver, cessfully implement our public result in early cardiovascular dis- leading to very high levels of ‘bad’ health agenda and reduce the QNA Syria Staffan de Mistura in Minister said that the meeting ease,” said Dr Mahmoud A Zirie, cholesterol that can block arter- incidence of chronic diseases. Our Morocco. During the meeting, was a good opportunity to dis- Senior Consultant Endocrinology, ies (atherosclerosis) and lead to a effort is to better equip our health atar's Minister of Foreign they discussed the deteriorating cuss the situation in Aleppo and Head of Endocrinology and Dia- heart attack or stroke. With the experts, enhance their knowledge Affairs H E Sheikh Moham- humanitarian conditions in Syr- to exchange views on means to betes, HMC. rising incidence of cardiovascu- and enable physicians to deliver Qmed bin Abdulrahman Al ian city, Aleppo, and exchanged achieve ceasefire, guarantee Familial hypercholestero- lar events leading to fatal the best outcomes for patients,” Thani met yesterday with the views on a number of matters of civilians' safety in the besieged lemia is a disorder that is passed outcomes, effective treatment said Dr Salih Ali Al Marri. United Nations special envoy for common interest. The Foreign cities in Syria.

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QAR 20.00 1kg THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 HOME 03 32 films chosen for DFI’s Fall Grants 2016

The Peninsula DFI support life-cycle of the films. It also supports established names n unprecedented This takes the from the MENA region. number of 32 films total number Fatma Al Remaihi, Chief - 15 of them directed of films supported Executive Officer of DFI, said: by women - from 27 by DFI to date “Identifying and supporting countries have been to over 310 from emerging talents from across the chosenA for Doha Film Institute’s 51 countries. world is one of our central com- Fall Grants 2016, DFI announced mitments in nurturing the next yesterday. 32 films chosen from generation of filmmakers. We This takes the total number 27 countries and 15 want to empower talented of films supported by DFI to date young people by helping them of them are directed to over 310, from 51 countries, tide over the challenges they by women. of which 264 are projects from face in fulfilling their creative the Arab world. aspirations, and encourage the Aimed at supporting first- creation of compelling content. and second-time filmmakers Palestine, Puerto Rico, Saudi The diversity of submissions for from around the world, the Arabia, South Africa, Spain, this year’s Grants has been financing initiative covers Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, exceptional, and we chose the shorts, documentaries, experi- the UAE, the UK and the USA. 32 projects for their power to mental and essay films and The Grants programme aims touch a chord among film audi- features. to seek out original voices in film ences, anywhere in the world.” In addition to films by Qatari by emerging talents, encourage There are two submission directors, the Fall Grants pro- creative interaction among the cycles for the Grants annually. gramme covers projects from filmmakers, and develop a com- The next cycle opens January 9 development to post-produc- munity of filmmakers around and closes on January 23. tion, from Algeria, Argentina, the Doha Film Institute alumni. DFI also has co-financing Burkina Faso, Canada, Domin- Selected projects are also schemes as well as the Qatari ican Republic, Egypt, France, offered creative development Film Fund dedicated to support- Germany, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, support by the Institute’s pro- ing short and feature filmmaking Morocco, Netherlands, Oman, fessionals throughout the by Qatari directors. Committee on food control holds meeting

The Peninsula ities regarding imported meat. levels of safety standards and The meeting was held fol- food quality in the local he Joint Committee on lowing the restructuring of the market. Human Food Control dis- committee after a ministerial Sheikh Mohammed bin Tcussed during its fourth decision. The meeting also Hamad Al Thani, Director of meeting, held at the headquar- approved 18 topics on food con- Public Health at the Ministry and ters of the Ministry of Public trol transferred to the committee head of the committee, empha- Health, an application to set up from other competent bodies. sised the importance of a mechanism for licensing of Members of the committee coordination on food control private food laboratories. The held another meeting with between different municipali- committee also issued a deci- directors of the municipalities ties and other concerned bodies sion enhancing coordination to consolidate cooperation and at all levels and outlets to ensure between the concerned author- communication to ensure high health and food safety. 04 HOME THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016

Qatar attends Arab Civil Ashghal starts excavation work for trunk sewer Aviation meet The Peninsula QNA Three segments he Public Works Project comprises he State of Qatar took Authority (Ashghal) the construction of a part in the 55th meet- has started excavation 16km main trunk Ting of the Executive works for the main sewer, divided into Council of the Arab Civil Avi- trunk sewer, part of three segments. ation, which kicked off TDoha South Sewage Infrastruc- yesterday in the Omani cap- ture Project. ital, Muscat, with the The project comprises the participation of the civil avi- construction of a 16 kilometre Doha South Sewage ation heads of delegations of main trunk sewer, divided into Infrastructure nine Arab countries, in addi- three segments, Eastern, North- Project designed to tion to the Director-General ern and Western. This is in serve areas in the of the Arab Authority for Civil addition to the design and con- south of Doha. Aviation and a representative struction of 11 shafts that will be of the Arab League. used to excavate the main tun- Qatar's delegation to the nel. The main trunk sewer will it will enable the decommission- meeting was headed by convey the sewage flows through ing of more than twenty old Chairman of the Civil Avia- pumping stations to the existing pumping stations currently tion Authority Abdullah bin Doha south treatment works. located in the residential and Nasser Turki Al Subaie. The project also includes the commercial areas in the south The meeting discussed construction of seven lateral of Doha. several issues relating to air interceptor sewers with a length One of the important bene- transportation, air naviga- of about 24 kilometers, which fits of the project is the gravity tion, air safety and the will convey flows from areas in based main trunk sewer that will Workers at the main trunk sewer project site. environment and aviation the centre of Doha to the main link a number of areas in the security, and issued the nec- tunnel. south of Doha to the sewage net- on the existing drainage net- the city of Doha, five shafts will sustainability assessment, rating essary recommendations. The Doha South Sewage work. As a result, it will reduce work, where sewage flows be excavated using a Vertical and awards scheme for civil The meeting also reviewed Infrastructure Project is designed the environmental impacts exceed its capacity. Shaft Machine. engineering, infrastructure, a summary of the work of the to serve areas in the south of through the full control of odours The main trunk sewer will The project will be complete landscaping and works in pub- technical committees in var- Doha and the expected popula- in sewage treatment works and be excavated using two Tunnel- by Q1 2019. The Doha South lic spaces. The Joint Venture ious fields. tion growth over a hundred conveying system, and reduce Boring Machines designed Sewage Infrastructure Project is “Bouygues Travaux Publics” and Qatar currently chairs years to come. The project can other environmental problems specifically for the geological the first project in the region to “UCC” is the project contractor the General Assembly of the be linked to future infrastructure arising from sewage overflow features encountered in Doha. implement the ‘CEEQUAL’ an and “CH2M” is the Project Man- Arab Civil Aviation. projects, and when completed, due to excess hydraulic pressure To minimise the footprint within international evidence-based agement Consultant. Qatar supports UN Security Council's efforts to end human trafficking

QNA international community to end this phe- Al Thani during the Ministerial-level open nomenon requires concerted international debate of the Security Council on Traffick- he State of Qatar has confirmed efforts to address its causes and foremost ing in Persons in Conflict Situations. that it will continue its support finding just solutions to conflicts and cri- The statement pointed out that the for any effort of the UN Security ses, fighting against impunity and State of Qatar has supported the United Council to put an end to traffick- completing the principle of Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat ing in persons in accountability. Trafficking in Persons since its launch, and Tconflict-affected areas, and to achieve This came in a statement of the State has taken legislative measures to issue international peace and security in the of Qatar delivered by the Permanent Rep- Qatari law against trafficking in persons region and the world. resentative of Qatar to the United Nations which criminalizes trafficking in all its Qatar stressed that the success of the Ambassador Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif forms and patterns. The statement noted to Qatar's efforts in combating crime as it hosted the 13th Congress on Crime Preven- tion last year, which resulted in the Doha Declaration and adopted a comprehensive approach to address the crime of human trafficking. It pointed out that Qatar is one of the biggest support- ers of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as the main UN reference to com- bat trafficking in persons. The statement also added that Qatar is one of the biggest donors to the United Nations Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons since its inception. Moreover, the statement said that the reports presented at the Ministerial-level open debate of the Security Council on Trafficking in Persons in Conflict Situations revealed alarming statistics on the growing of human trafficking phenomenon, and confirmed the causal relationship between conflicts and the growing phenomenon of traf- ficking in persons. Qatar's statement, deliv- ered by H E Ambassador Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, said that the forced migration is at the forefront of the severe impacts of con- flicts, which forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their home- lands for a safe and dignified life. It further stressed that the challenge that the interna- tional community faces today, not only lies in the promotion of frameworks and tools to address this phenomenon, but in addressing the key factors that contribute to escalating it, particularly the extended and new crisis, which force innocent civilians to search for security, exposing them to the risk of being trafficked. THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 HOME 05 QA to offer 'The Colours of Desert' opens at Katara Raynald C Rivera is totally different from canvas The Peninsula painting because it requires spe- cial dyes in creating various new child rom surrealist paintings to pieces such as wall and fashion silk art to Arabic calligra- art. Silk is a national fibre and Fphy-inspired paintings, 44 one of the most luxurious fab- stunning artworks by seven art- rics in the world,” she explained. ists reflect thematic and cultural Her collection under the diversity in an exhibition aptly theme “Moments” is a riot of col- activity kits dubbed ‘The Colours of Desert’ ours depicting how the world which opened on Tuesday at began and evolved. introduction of a glow-in-the- Katara. Other MAPS members who Travel experience dark Clue Junior entertainment Those in attendance at the whose works feature at the show Airline updates on pack, that can keep restless launch were left in awe by the are Abdulrahman Abdulah Al board toys youngsters busy once the lights product of the skillful hands and Dorani and Moudhi Al Hajri from collection and lunch are dimmed. imaginative minds of the partic- Qatar, Ziyad Al Ubaidi from Iraq boxes aimed at The updated plush toys, ipating artists from diverse and Sylvia Gomes from South enhanced for young activity kits and lunch boxes, backgrounds. Ahmad Al Sayed (right), Deputy General Manager for Africa. containing comforting favour- The surrealist paintings of MAPS is a chapter of US- travellers. Operations, Katara, and P Kumaran (left), Indian Ambassador, ites such as healthy and Kuwaiti Fouad Al Emadi do not at the opening of the exhibition at Katara on Tuesday. based international organisation delicious pastas, fish or chicken fail to impress with concrete Pic: Abdul Basit/ The Peninsula SPIN. More than 100 artists from The Peninsula dishes, fresh seasonal fruit, fruit metaphor expressed through all over the world will come to juice, and sweet treats, are well-defined lines and bold col- Art and Silk Printers (MAPS) on works,” MAPS founder Rashmi Doha for their next exhibition, atar Airways, in part- available now on Qatar Air- ours, while Egyptian Khaled Al their fourth annual group Agarwal told local media. added Agarwal. The exhibition nership with Hasbro ways’ A380 services between Mesawy’s fusion of Arabic cal- exhibition. Agarwal, who hails from was inaugurated in the presence Inc, has updated its Bangkok, Guangzhou, London, ligraphy and fine art resulting in “MAPS has members from India, is a silk painter who for 13 of the Deputy General Manager range of plush toys, Paris, Sydney, and Doha. The pictorial compositions depict- different nationalities coming years has been teaching the cen- of the Cultural Village Founda- Qchildren’s activity updated range will be rolled out ing famous figures appeal to together to create art under one turies-old art in Qatar and tion-Katara, Ahmad Al Sayed kits and in-flight lunch boxes across the airline’s global net- many art enthusiasts. roof. Like the desert’s different displaying its dynamism from and the Ambassador of India P designed to entertain and work of destinations from early The collection is just a small colours, this exhibition witnesses fine art to fashion art through Kumaran. The exhibition is open delight the global airline’s 2017. The lunch boxes are part fraction of what to expect from various nationalities showing her large body of work. until December 27 from 10am to youngest travellers. of the special children’s meal 68 members of the Middle-East different cultures through their “Silk painting is beautiful. It 10pm. Plush infant toys Elefun and and must be ordered prior to Mr Potato Head are joined on departure. board by classic favourites such “Flying can be a new and as Clue Junior, Guess Who, exciting experience for chil- Monopoly Here and Now World dren, and our partnership with Bespoke amenity bag in QA premium class Edition and The Game of Life Hasbro Inc allows us to make for older children, as they go their journey extra special. We places together with the award- are committed to ensuring we The Peninsula colours: black, grey, burgundy and white, winning airline. The airline’s provide the very best customer featuring innovative lightweight materials specially prepared children’s experience to families flying atar Airways has signed an exclusive that provide functionality with style. meals feature new Pictureka or with us, and that includes con- three-year partnership with premium The amenity kits also exclusively feature Monopoly designed lunch boxes tinually updating our children’s Qpurveyors BRICS and Castello Monte products from Italy’s Castello Monte Vibi- – a gift that children can take activity kits with different Vibiano Vecchio to elevate the airline’s pre- ano Vecchio, the environmentally friendly home and use long after their games to ensure our young mium cabin experience. olive oil company. flight. travellers remain engaged, and BRICS, the Italian maker of stylish travel “Qatar Airways curates the finest trav- Children can stay enter- most importantly – entertained. bags, has created a bespoke premium amen- elling experience of any airline, by focusing tained with the range of All of our children’s activity ity bag inspired by their world-famous on the entire passenger experience. No detail different activity kits provided packs and lunch boxes are Bellagio series. is too small to go unnoticed, which is why on flights across the airline’s mementos that remind them of The First Class amenity kit will come in we have sought out the finest producers in First Class amenity kits for women. network of more than 150 our journey together,” said Ros- four colours: black, grey, burgundy and white, the world to create an amenity package that places. Special thought has sen Dimitrov, Qatar Airways with full grain leather inserts paired with a The BRICS Business Class amenity kit, adds value to the journey,” said Akbar Al been paid to families travelling Senior Vice President Customer high-tech shell designed with contrasting inspired by the Sintesis line of trolley bags, Baker, Qatar Airways Group Chief on overnight flights with the Experience. stitching accents, with Tuscan leather trim. is an asymmetrical shape, also in four Executive. 06 HOME THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016

Interchange to QM thanks partners for support be closed for two months Team spirit Qatar. This is an ambition that we cannot deliver successfully without the support The Peninsula Qatar Museums, Reach Out of our partners and sponsors, and I would to Asia and Doha Film like to thank them profusely on behalf of IN order to complete the Institute hold VIP gala QM for their continued involvement.” reconstruction of Al Kharaiti- dinner for sponsors. Al Mannai, ROTA Executive Director, yat Interchange on the North said: “ROTA is honoured to have a host of Road, the Public Works sponsors whose ongoing support is inte- Authority, ‘Ashghal’, will close The Peninsula gral to the success of our programmes. the intersection to traffic on Over the years, our valued sponsors have December 25 for two months. atar Museums (QM), Reach Out enabled us to advance our numerous edu- The temporary diversion, to Asia (ROTA) and Doha Film cational initiatives that provide done in consultation with the Institute (DFI), held a VIP gala marginalised communities and under- General Directorate of Traf- dinner at the Museum of privileged youth in the region and Asia fic, will involve the entire QIslamic Art on Tuesday to thank with access to quality education. intersection entrances and all partners and sponsors for their sup- Fatma Al Remaihi, Chief Executive exits besides Wadi Al Salamya port over the past year. Officer of DFI, said:“At the DFI, we focus Street in the west and part of The annual dinner, hosted by H E on nurturing the talents of our youth H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Al Ebb Street in the east. Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Kha- through wide-ranging initiatives that sup- Museums, at the gala dinner. The detour will facilitate lifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar port the development of film professionals the revamp of Al Kharaitiyat Museums, ROTA and the DFI, is the sec- in the country. Our annual Ajyal Youth Seashore Group; Qatar Petroleum, Souq Waqif; United Development Com- Interchange, as part of North ond event of its kind to be held with first Film Festival today serves as a strong plat- Shangri-La Hotel and Vodafone Qatar. pany; Qatar Tourism Authority; Darwish Road Corridor Enhancement gala dinner for sponsors held at the end form for our youth to discover global ROTA sponsors include Qatar Finan- Holding (Fifty One East, Sony, FNAC); Souq project. During the road of last year. cultures and actively engage in a creative cial Center; Occidental Petroleum of Waqif Boutique Hotel; Elan / Novo; Kem- change, motorists can access The dinner was attended by a number and educational environment. We are Qatar, Qatar Charity; QNCC; Muntajat; Al pinski Marsa Malaz; Translation and the surrounding neighbour- of local dignitaries, VIPs, CEOs and chair- thankful to all the sponsors and partners Shaqab; HSBC; Al Majed Jewellery; Qatar Interpreting Institute; French Embassy; hoods and Al Shamal Road persons from local sponsoring for their unwavering support to our activ- Rail; ExxonMobil; Qatar First Bank (QFB); MAC; Al Faisal Holding; Vodafone Qatar; and vice versa via the local companies. ities for the development of globally The Social & Sport Contribution Fund; Aspire Katara Hospitality; Al Nazih Trad- approaches as well as three Mansoor bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud, minded future citizens.” Ghanim Al Muftah; Sheikh Faisal Bin Qas- ing; Katara Hall; Tarsheed; Makeup other major nearby junctions QM CEO and Special Advisor to the Chair- Qatar Museums’ sponsors include sim; Mr Rashid Nasser Al Ka’abi; Mr District; Dana Water; Northwestern Uni- — Izghawa Interchange, Al person, said: “At Qatar Museums, we seek International Bank of Qatar; Occidental Wissam Al Mana; Zohour Al Fardan; Al versity Qatar; Qatar Living; See My Kheesa Interchange and Umm to connect and amplify the nation's cul- Petroleum of Qatar; Qatar Airways; Bank Fardan; Al Faleh Group. Culture; Al Jazeera Network; Qatar TV; I Slal Mohammed Interchange, tural institutions and heritage sites and of America Merrill Lynch; Saleh Al Hamad DFI sponsors include Giffoni; Sara- Love Qatar; Screen International; Festi- without any change to traffic build an exciting and creative future for Al Mana Co.; Ooredoo; Ali Bin Ali Group; jevo Film Festival; Katara; Oxy Qatar; val Scope; British Council and MBC. flow on the main North Road. QRCS conducts first-aid and leadership courses The Peninsula Am a Paramedic' health educa- To reach out to as many information to the audience. tion lectures at several schools community members as possi- The complex's manager ver the past couple of across Al-Khor, where the stu- ble, a team from Al-Khor thanked QRCS for its constant months, Qatar Red Cres- dents learnt about first-aid and branch visited the Audio Edu- support. Ocent Society's (QRCS) cardiopulmonary resuscitation cation Complex to explain In relation to expatriate branch in Al Khor held lectures (CPR), as well as to treat burn, QRCS' activities and workers, a first-aid training ses- and courses at schools, youth fracture, nosebleed, ear bleed- departments. sion was held at the branch, in centres, and the branch, for the ing, arterial bleeding, epilepsy, A specialist trainer intro- view of the high risk of work- benefit of more than 700 peo- and other special cases. duced the complex's students place injuries. As a partner of ple from Al-Khor, Al-Thakhira, The branch received a to first-aid, emphasising their the region's social and cultural and Al-Shamal region in group of students from Al-Ghu- important role in case of injury. institutions, the branch hosted general. wairia School for a presentation The lecture was translated by a a workshop by Al-Khor Girls As school activities were on QRCS and basic first-aid sign language interpreter, to Center on the development of resumed, QRCS continued its 'I skills. ensure the effective transfer of leadership skills.

Customs training session ends

The Peninsula

THE General Authority of Customs (GAC) has con- cluded a training session organised in collabora- tion with Police Training Institute for its employees. It was the 17th train- ing session for Customs Authority employees. The new batch's graduation ceremony was held at Police Training Institute headquarters and was attended by officers from the GAC, said a press release. As many as 52 participants attended the session which continued for 9 weeks in which GAC employees received prac- tical and theoretical training. The General Author- ity of Customs is keen to provide all of its employ- ees with necessary skills related to customs work, the press statement said. Municipality transactions The Peninsula

THE Technical Affairs Section at Al Rayyan Municipality witnessed 4,537 transactions last month. They include 160 building licences, 18 demolition licences, 50 maintenance licences, 549 advertising licences, among others. The number of files processed electronically reached 3,514. THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 HOME 07 HMC wins award Muhammad Ali's daughter visits MIA The Peninsula

ate boxing legend for nursing Muhammad Ali’s twin Ldaughter, Jamillah Ali visited the Museum of Islamic Orlando, Florida. The NDNQI Award Art (MIA) on Monday for a pri- Quality care for Outstanding Nursing Quality is vate tour of the exhibition HMC selected from bestowed annually to the best per- dedicated to her father. more than 1,900 forming hospital in each of six The exhibition, titled hospitals affiliated with categories including academic med- ‘Muhammad Ali: Tribute to a the National Database ical centre, teaching hospital, Legend’, is on show until of Nursing Quality community hospital, paediatric hos- February 25 in MIA’s fourth Indicators. pital, rehabilitation hospital and floor eastern gallery, and is psychiatric hospital. To be eligible the first significant exhibition for the award, hospitals must have dedicated to Muhammad Ali The Peninsula submitted data on a minimum since his passing earlier this number of measures in 2015. year. amad Medical Corpo- Ghaya Al Tamimi, Director of During her visit, Jamillah ration (HMC) has been Nursing at Rumailah Hospital, said: Ali met with H E Sheikha Al named a winner of the “I am extremely glad and proud that Mayassa bint Hamad bin Kha- ‘2016 NDNQI Award we have received this award. This lifa Al Thani, Chairperson of for Outstanding Nurs- award represents the high quality Qatar Museums. Hing Quality’ by Press Ganey care that patients at Rumailah Hos- ‘Muhammad Ali: Tribute Jamillah Ali, twin daughter of late boxing legend Muhammad Ali, at the Museum of Associates, Inc. HMC has won pital receive from a group of to a Legend’ brings together a Islamic Art (MIA). awards for its Mental Health Serv- dedicated nurses.” The NDNQI collection of 22 significant ice and Rumailah Hospital. Award for Outstanding Nursing artefacts from the boxing exemption’ letter, which is 1960 Rome Olympics. open in a permanent home Selected from more than 1,900 Quality recognizes hospitals that champion’s distinguished exhibited for the first time- on The exhibition has been as part of the redeveloped hospitals affiliated with the National have achieved excellence in over- career, including photography loan - on the 50th anniversary collected and curated under Khalifa International Sta- Database of Nursing Quality Indi- all performance in nursing quality from Ali’s outdoor exhibition that a 24-year-old first Ali the auspices of Qatar Muse- dium next year, featuring cators (NDNQI), HMC was the only indicators. bout at the Doha Stadium in wrote it, and memorabilia ums’ 3-2-1 Olympic and some of the exhibits from this award recipient located outside of Hoda Salam Nakhla, Acting 1971; his momentous ‘draft spanning Ali’s journey to the Sports Museum, which will show. the US and is among an elite group Director of Nursing with HMC’s of six hospitals that received the Mental Health Service, said the national award for 2016 during a award is an important achievement ceremony held last month in for HMC and its patients. QC donates school bags in Burkina Faso

The Peninsula Khalid Abdullah Al Yafei, the Execu- Director in Burkina Faso, said that the tive Director for Operations Department charity carried out this humanitarian atar Charity (QC) has organised a at QC, said that the charity distributes activity to send various messages and programme for distributing school school kits to students to promote access realise important objectives, including Qbags to Burkina Faso's sponsored to education and reduce the burden on bringing a smile to the orphan's faces, orphans as part of activities and social their parents who cannot meet their reducing the financial burden on their programmes carried out to reduce the school needs. parents and more importantly providing financial burden on parents and provide He explained that QC distributed the them with all the means needed to con- all means that would enable them con- school kits to Burkina Faso's orphaned tinue their education normally. tinue their education. students as part of its development plan QC's staff working in Burkina Faso QC distributed school bags to 900 implemented in the country. QC exten- office and the orphans' families partici- orphans of both genders, in the capital, sively helps orphans improve their pated in the ceremony that was organised Ouagadougou, Bobo Dioulasso, and seven academic performance, as it believes they for distributing the school bags. The other governorates. Each student received as future generations would take leading orphans' parents expressed their grati- Hoda Salam Nakhla (left) and Deborah Nelson of Mental Health a bag containing school supplies, accord- roles in their states' economic develop- tude to the Qatari people for their Service, HMC, with NDNQI award. ing to the educational stage. ment. Mohammed Al Nuwayti, QC's Office generosity and philanthropy. 08 HOME / MIDDLE EAST THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 UN may vote Ethical Hacking Competition winners declared The Peninsula

he Department of Compu- tomorrow on ter Science and TEngineering (CSE) and KINDI Center for Computing Research at Qatar University College of Engineering (QU- CENG) have announced the South Sudan winners of the Ethical Hacking Competition. One hundred students from Arms embargo to do to limit the number of CENG participated in the com- weapons coming into a coun- petition in which they tested an Security Council try which is awash with organisation’s computers to members deeply weapons," said British Ambas- detect if they are vulnerable to divided over arms sador Matthew Rycroft. outside attacks. embargo and "The warning signs of a Firts place winners are stu- sanctions. potential slip towards genocide dents Mohammed Saad, are there," he said. Mohammed Amaan Sheikh and UN Secretary General Ban Azeem Mohamed (Anonymous First place winners display their prize. United Nations Ki-moon is backing the US call team). Second place winners AFP to ban arms deals with South are students Amro Darder, competition’s guidelines. eliminate any potential CSE Head Dr Sumaya Al Sudan, saying an embargo Mazen Abdelfattah and CENG Dean Dr Khalifa Al attacks,” he said. Madeed said: “Ethical hacking would reduce the capacity of Mohamed Ali (SkyNet team), Khalifa said that “ethical hack- He added: “I would like to is a key component to he UN Security Coun- all sides to wage war. while the third place winners ing” and “ethical hacker” are thank the organisers of this strengthening the system secu- cil is expected to vote "If we fail to act, South are students Yassmine Barka- terms used to describe hack- competition for their efforts to rity of an organisation, and it tomorrow on a US- Sudan will be on a trajectory llah, Fatma Al Mansoori and ing performed by individuals raise the students’ awareness is one of the most wanted cri- drafted resolution to towards mass atrocities," Ban Manel Ferjani (CyberGuards to help identify potential on ethical hacking. This com- teria for any professional in the impose an arms told the council on Monday. team). The third place ex aequo threats on a computer or net- petition aligns with CENG’s field of cyber security. I am Tembargo and sanctions on The draft resolution pro- was achieved by students work. He also explained that mission to produce graduates glad that we provided QU stu- South Sudan, now in its fourth vides for a one-year ban on the Mohamed Sadok Gastli, Jyohan an ethical hacker attempts to who are experts in computer dents with the opportunity to year of war. "supply, sale or transfer" of Joglekar and Mustafa Farag bypass system security and science and engineering and to practice ethical hacking. By It remained unclear how- "arms and related material of Ibrahim Aly Rakha (Pandas search for any weak points that provide the industry with simulating the attackers we ever whether the measure all types, including weapons team). could be exploited by malicious national engineers and highly can discover the weaknesses would be adopted, with diplo- and ammunition, military vehi- The participants attended hackers. “This information is -qualified professionals who in our own organizations and mats saying that it fell short of cles and equipment" as well as two workshops held by CSE and then used by the organisation will contribute to realise the provide efficient solutions to the nine votes needed for adop- spare parts. KINDI Center for Computing to improve the system security goals of Qatar National Vision maintain the security of our tion in the 15-member council, The measure would also put Research to orient them on the in an effort to minimise or 2030.” systems.” diplomats said. South Sudan's rebel leader Riek The United States has Machar, army chief Paul argued that cutting off the arms Malong and Information Min- flow was urgently needed fol- ister Michael Makuei on a lowing UN warnings that the sanctions blacklist that provides Workshop on educating Syrian refugees country faced the risk of mass for an assets freeze and a glo- atrocities. bal travel ban. Russia, China, Japan, More than 6 million people The Peninsula the current situation of educa- Malaysia, Venezuela and more — half of South Sudan's popu- tion of Syrians and the importantly the three African lation — are in need of urgent heikh Thani bin Abdullah challenges it faces in Syria and council members — Angola, aid and humanitarian organi- Foundation for Humanitar- in neighbouring countries. Egypt and Senegal — have all sations expect this number to Sian Services (RAF) has The initiative continues for expressed serious reservations. rise by 20 to 30 percent next organised a workshop on the five years. Japan, which has sent troops to year, UN officials say. Qatari initiative “QUEST” to edu- Qatar Development Fund the UN mission in South Sudan, Some 1.3 million South cate Syrian refugees, which aims has developed the initiative in has argued that imposing an Sudanese have fled across bor- to hone the abilities of the dis- collaboration with some Qatari arms embargo would antago- ders as refugees, including placed and refugees to prepare humanitarian organisations nise President Salva Kiir's 383,000 who have fled to them to join formal education including Qatar Charity, Educa- government and put peace- Uganda since July. and the labour market. tion Above All, Reach Out To keepers' lives at risk. The world's youngest The workshop was held a Asia, Silatech and Raf, as well as The United States requested nation, South Sudan descended week ago in Istanbul and other main partners including The workshop on educating Syrian refugees being held in that a vote take place on tomor- into war in December 2013, attended by a number of Syrian Unicef, OCHA and UNHCR. Istanbul. row. Britain and France support leaving tens of thousands dead and Turkish education experts, The initiative aims to offer pri- the move. and more than 3.1 million peo- in addition to officials from RAF. mary and secondary education for also aims to support youth aged professional skills, which will ena- "It's clearly the right thing ple displaced. The participants discussed displaced and Syrian refugees. It 17 to 24 to get technical and ble them to find work.

Winter Solstice in Luxor Indian parents worry Hezbollah using US weaponry in over school admission Syria: Israel

Continued from page 1 165 applications had been reg- Tel Aviv “No other private school has istered. “We cannot go beyond Reuters been stopped from admitting our capacity,” he said, adding new students for the 2017-2018 that parents have been facing ISRAEL has informed the academic year. Six new Indian problems as existing community United States that Lebanese schools will open during the next schools were insufficient to meet Hezbollah fighters in Syria are academic year," said Al Ghali. growing population of Indian using US armoured person- Officials of several Indian expatriate children. nel carriers originally schools, however, claim that it Another parent, Meena supplied to the Lebanese is impossible to accommodate Kumar narrated a similar story. Army, a senior Israeli military all children with their existing “We started our efforts to secure officer said yesterday. capacity. a seat for our kid in September The US State Department Several parents say that they last year in KG 1 but with no said last month that the are being denied the opportu- success. Ultimately, we sacri- American embassy in Beirut nity to get a seat for children as ficed one year of our child and was working to investigate admissions have started for kin- got her admitted in another images on social media pur- dergarten classes in several school in a lower level in play- porting to show Hezbollah, Tourists wait to watch the winter solstice as the sun rises at Karnak Temple in Luxor, schools. school. This year again we have which supports President Egypt, yesterday. “I had been waiting for been seeking admission in KG Bashar Al Assad, displaying opening of admission for the past 1 but we got the routine reply US military equipment in three months and I maintained that schools have only limited Syria. regular contacts with almost all seats with a priority for sib- Those images were Indian schools. I was always told lings," she said. widely reported to have been that soon they would announce She said that despite her of US-made M113 armoured Tunisia holds three over engineer's murder admissions. Today (yesterday) continuous efforts to fill in the personnel carriers, which the when Birla Public School online registration form on BPS State Department said were Tunis The ten were arrested resistance group Hamas has announced online registration website yesterday, she had extremely common in the Anatolia shortly after the murder of blamed Israel for Al Zawari’s for new admissions, the service failed as it was closed within no region. Mohamed Al Zawari, a Tunisian death, saying the slain engineer was discontinued within min- time. In an intelligence briefing n investigating judge has aviation engineer who was shot had overseen the group’s drone utes after it was announced Shahabuddin, Principal, to foreign reporters in Tel ordered three suspects — dead last Thursday outside his programme. open,” said Fateha, an India Shantiniketan Indian School said Aviv, the senior officer Aincluding one woman home in Tunisia’s southeastern Hamas has not offered any expatriate. that they had closed admission showed a photograph of mil- — to remain in police custody city of Sfax. evidence for the claim, but the “Every time I tried I met the for KG 1 after receiving more itary vehicles, which he said on suspicions of involvement The suspects were accused Jewish state is widely believed answer ‘error 404 – server not than 600 applications. “We have included US-made armoured in last week’s murder in Tuni- of murder and "conspiring to to have killed numerous Pal- found’ and after few minutes I four divisions for KG1 and in personnel carriers (APCs), sia of a Hamas-linked drone commit acts of aggression" estinian resistance activists in saw the message on the website each class we can accommodate along a road. expert. against Tunisia’s national the past, many of them over- that all seats had been filled,” she 30 students. It means we can “These APCs are of the Seven other suspects in the security. seas. In 1997, agents from added. take only 120 students as per the Hezbollah, while fighting in same case were released, Suf- Interior Minister Hedi Med- Israeli spy agency Mossad tried When contacted yesterday, regulatory body’s directives,” he Syria, that they took from the ian Al Saliti, a spokesman for joub said Al Zawari’s killing was — and failed — to kill Hamas A K Srivatava, Principal, Birla said, adding that a permanent Lebanese armed forces,” he Tunisia’s Court of First Instance, planned by two foreign nation- political chief Khaled Meshaal Public School said that within solution to the problem lies in said in English, describing the told the country’s official news als living in two European in Jordan by spraying poison 15-minutes after starting the opening new community guerrilla group as dominant agency yesterday. countries. Palestinian into his ear. online registration, as many as schools. in Lebanon. THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 MIDDLE EAST 09

Bahrain police Turkey claims Gulen clash with Shia cleric supporters link to envoy murder DUBAI: Police in Bahrain yes- terday clashed with protesters supporting a top Shia cleric Istanbul Kremlin warns crime scene after also witness- who has been stripped of his AFP ing the autopsy. The Kremlin citizenship and is on trial in Turkish Foreign indicated it was not the time for the Sunni-ruled kingdom, urkish authorities Minister Mevlut hurried pronouncements on activists said. Security forces were yesterday look- Cavusoglu told US responsibility. fired teargas canisters to dis- ing into claims the counterpart John "In this case it is hardly perse dozens of protesters alleged mastermind of Kerry in a phone call worth hurrying to any conclu- outside the home of Sheikh Isa the failed July coup that Ankara believed sions until the investigation Qassim in the village of Diraz Twas involved in the assassina- determines -- as our president west of the capital, activists Gulen was involved, tion of Moscow's ambassador, said — who was behind the said. Protesters have been but the Kremlin but the Kremlin warned against murder of our ambassador," staging a sit-in at Diraz since warned against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with Syrian jumping to conclusions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry authorities revoked Qassim's Bana Alabed (left), a seven-year-old girl who tweeted on Monday's murder of Andrei jumping to Peskov told reporters. Commen- citizenship in June, after attacks from Aleppo, and her brother at the Presidential Karlov stunned Russia and conclusions. tators said that Putin would accusing him of sowing sec- Complex in Ankara, yesterday. prompted warnings of retribu- likely be unimpressed by any tarian divisions in the tion from the Kremlin. But both books on Gulen's organisation knee-jerk nailing of the crime country. sides responded by vowing to were found at Altintas' home, on Gulen, who has become a Erdogan meets Aleppo's step up cooperation, particularly while thorough checks are being byword for evil in Turkey after on the Syria conflict. made of his acquaintances at the coup bid. Ex-Israeli president Twitter activist girl Off-duty Turkish policeman school and the police academy "It can be assumed that the freed after 5 years Mevlut Mert Altintas, 22, he attended. Russians will not be satisfied pumped nine bullets into Kar- Thirteen people, including with explanations that 'Kar- Istanbul today. Turkey will always lov at an art gallery in Ankara close family members, have lov's killer was a Gulenist'... JERUSALEM:Former Israeli Reuters stand with the people of before he himself was killed by been detained over the killing They will instead ask for solid President Moshe Katsav has Syria,” Erdogan said on his police in a shootout. and are being investigated for evidence," wrote Murat Yetkin, been released from prison seven-year-old Syrian official Twitter account. The pro-government press possible links to Gulen. editor-in-chief of Hurriyet after serving five years of a girl who drew global Helped by her mother, has repeatedly said that US- In a striking detail, the Hur- Daily News. seven-year sentence for rape A attention with her who manages the @Alabed- based preacher Fethullah Gulen, riyet daily said Altintas, who Since the coup, Turkey has and other sex crimes. Katsav Twitter updates from besieged Bana account, Bana Alabed who Ankara blames for the served with the Ankara anti-riot piled pressure on the United walked out of the Maasiyahu Aleppo met Turkish President has uploaded pictures and attempted putsch, was behind police, had provided security for States to extradite Gulen, a one- prison in central Israel yester- Tayyip Erdogan at his palace videos of life during the nearly the assassination plot. And President Recep Tayyip Erdogan time Erdogan ally. day, escorted by his wife and in Ankara yesterday. six-year-old Syrian war, gain- Turkish Foreign Minister Mev- eight times since the July 15 "We need to let them -- (the a small group of supporters. Photographs released on ing around 352,000 followers lut Cavusoglu told US attempt to overthrow the Turk- investigators) let the facts and He smiled but did not com- Erdogan’s official Twitter on the micro-blogging site counterpart John Kerry in a ish strongman. the evidence take them where ment to reporters. Katsav was account showed the president since September. phone call on Tuesday that Hurriyet writer Abdulkadir it is before we jump to conclu- granted early release last hugging Bana Alabed as she Turkish Foreign Minister Ankara believed Gulen was Selvi, known for his contacts in sions," said State Department week by a parole board. sat on his lap. Bana and her Mevlut Cavusoglu said when involved. the ruling elite, said that on the spokesman John Kirby. mother Fatemah were evac- Bana and her mother were "Turkey and Russia know day of coup bid Altintas had Dramatic footage of Mon- uated safely along with evacuated from Aleppo that that behind the attack... there is called in sick. But it was not day's assassination showed UK & France push 25,000 other people from the she would be brought to Tur- FETO," his ministry quoted clear what he did that night. Karlov stumble and crash to the rebel-held eastern part of key with her family. Cavusoglu as saying, using Tur- Turkey and Russia are ground as Altintas brandished Syria helicopter Aleppo this week. Turkey has The eventual departure of key's acronym for Gulen's jointly investigating the murder his automatic pistol at terrified ban and sanctions supported rebels fighting Syr- thousands left in Aleppo’s organisation. after an agreement between onlookers who cowered behind ian President Bashar Al Assad. insurgent zone will hand full Gulen, who has lived in self- Erdogan and Russian President cocktail tables. “I was pleased to host @ control of the city to Assad, the imposed exile in the United Vladimir Putin. The gunman vowing that UNITED NATIONS: Britain AlabedBana and her family at biggest prize of the nearly six- States since 1999, has strongly A team of 18 Russian inves- those responsible for events in and France want the United the Presidential Complex year-old civil war. condemned the assassination. tigators arrived in Ankara on Syria would be held Nations Security Council to Media reports said that Tuesday and spent the day at the accountable. ban the sale or supply of hel- icopters to the Syrian government and to blacklist 11 Syrian military command- ers and officials over chemical Deal to complete Aleppo evacuation, say rebels weapons attacks during the nearly six year war. The pair have drafted a Beirut President Bashar Assad since an out of the city. Some 3,000 rebel Tuesday evening that "differ- civilians has been fully resolution, that also seeks to AP uprising against his family's fighters and civilians stood out- ences among terrorist groups" guaranteed." blacklist 10 government and four-decade rule swept the side in harsh wintry conditions were holding up the evacuations Opposition media activist related entities involved in yrian rebels said they have country in 2011. overnight, waiting to board what from Aleppo and from two rebel- Ahmad Primo said the govern- the development and pro- reached an agreement with It followed a punishing may be the last convoy out of the besieged Shiite villages in the ment's side was demanding to duction of chemical weapons Sthe government in Damas- offensive by the government and east. Activists circulated photos country's north, Foua and complete the evacuations from and the missiles to deliver cus yesterday to complete their its regional allies that drove out on social media of families hud- Kfarya. The government calls all Foua and Kfarya before it would them. withdrawal from Aleppo, the tens of thousands of civilians dled around fires amid the sleet armed opposition fighters allow buses out of Aleppo. The UN and the Organiza- country's largest city. from the east of the city. It had and snow. By midday, temper- terrorists. The International Commit- tion for the Prohibition of "An agreement has been been held since 2012 by the atures in the city hovered around The rebels are supposed to tee of the Red Cross said it was Chemical Weapons reached to resume the evacua- opposition. The government freezing. allow the evacuation of the sick prepared to facilitate the evac- (OPCW) has found that Syrian tion of Aleppo," announced agreed to allow the remaining The Britain-based Syrian and wounded from the two vil- uations when they resume. government forces were Ahmad Qara Ali, spokesman for residents — fighters and civilians Observatory for Human Rights, lages as part of a cease-fire deal Spokeswoman Ingy Sedky responsible for three chlorine the Ahrar Al Sham faction. He — to leave as part of the agree- which monitors the conflict reached last week to ensure the said the ICRC had already evac- gas attacks and that Islamic said the evacuations would begin ment brokered by Russia and through a network of activists evacuation of eastern, rebel-held uated 750 people from the twin State militants had used mus- "shortly." Turkey in Ankara last week. on the ground, said 60 buses part of the city of Aleppo. villages. This would leave some tard gas. The Syrian opposition agreed But a dispute delayed the were waiting to leave. Ward Furati, spokesman for 1,500 more requiring evacuation, Syrian President Bashar Al to surrender their last foothold final round of evacuations for Rebels and the government Aleppo's Fastaqim rebel faction, according to the deal reached by Assad’s government has in the city, last week, marking over 24 hours after some 20,000 traded blame for the delay. said fighters in Aleppo "won't rebels and the government on denied its forces have used the most significant victory for civilians and fighters were bused Syrian state media said on leave until the security of all the Monday. chemical weapons. 10 VIEWS THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016

ESTABLISHED IN 1996

CHAIRMAN SHEIKH THANI BIN ABDULLAH AL THANI

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DR. KHALID BIN MUBARAK AL-SHAFI [email protected]

ACTING MANAGING EDITOR MOHAMMED SALIM MOHAMED [email protected]

DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR HUSSAIN AHMAD [email protected]

EDITORIAL Merkel’s challenge he police are still hunting for the suspect in Aleppo residents must Monday’s suspected terror strike in a Christmas market in Berlin that claimed at Tleast 12 lives, but there are strong indications that the perpetrator of the crime is an immigrant. A be allowed to flee Syria 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker was arrested but was later released after the police acknowledged that they had caught the wrong man. The attack has caused illness (the main cause of death before therefore very hard for MSF or any deep anguish and disappointment in Germany, and is Dr Méguerditch Tarazian the war), MSF was itself forced to go humanitarian actors to provide the certain to embolden anti-immigrant, far-right parties underground in order to provide assist- inhabitants of Idlib with the level of in the country which are already on the ascendant. ance to the people of Syria. The assistance they require. Though Europe has witnessed a spate of terrorist Damascus government has never It is to Idlib province that the last attacks in the recent past, there are two factors which authorised our organisation to operate remaining civilians Aleppo are supposed make Monday’s attacks in Berlin the most in Syria. to be evacuated, but it is not a safe haven reprehensible and condemnable – first, it has he last time Médecins Sans Fron- Added to these limits is the conflict for the displaced, many of whom who happened in a country which opened the doors to more tières (MSF) managed to get a situation in fragmented Idlib province would like to be able to flee via Turkey. than a million refugees, mainly from Syria, while medical aid convoy through to hos- that is controlled by various armed But with the border hermetically sealed several other countries closed their borders; and pitals it supports in eastern Aleppo groups, some of whom to Syrians seeking to flee, they are con- secondly, these attacks have caused more trouble and was back in August. target relief organisa- demned to all-out war. embarrassment to a leader who was the very architect TSince then, the town has endured a never- tions with abductions, The rights of an individual to flee a of this liberal immigration policy – Chancellor Angela ending siege and the only information MSF arbitrary arrests and war zone—in Aleppo, Idlib, or anywhere Merkel. teams have had regarding the reality of the restrictions. It is else—must be recognised and safe pas- At a time when several lives of Syrian medical personnel has been by sage provided to those who want to countries, once known as Skype or telephone. leave. It’s unfortunate the bastions of liberalism Doctors have been telling us for months We must continue to and democracy, are about shortages and the challenges of treating The writer is the President of Médecins Sans that a country demand that the people of which has slipping into the decadent casualties against a backdrop of intensive Frontières (MSF) in France. While still in and destructive grip of the bombings. The past few days, they have been eastern Aleppo be allowed medical school, he worked as a translator received more far-right, xenophobic describing how terrified they are about the to evacuate while hoping for MSF in Nagorno-Karabakh, and from than a million forces, Merkel has fate that awaits them, their fear of reprisals that the emotion stirred up 1999-2002, he worked as an MSF field doc- remained a beacon of hope for providing medical care in the rebel-held tor in Sierra Leone, Afghanistan, Iran, and refugees is being by the media in reaction targeted by with her liberal values. She zone and how they want to be evacuated. the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2003, is unarguably the strongest In the final throes of the battle to retake to the deluge of bombs he became an emergency coordinator for terrorists. voice of liberal values in Aleppo — no matter what the cost —, we must prevails on the Syrian and MSF projects in Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Europe today. Her open- continue to demand that the different parties and its allies to be less Pakistan, Central African Republic, Jordan, hearted and open-doors immigration policy, her to the conflict allow civilians to flee without as well as other countries. From 2007 until stubborn refusal to succumb to the forces of risking their lives, something they have con- intransigent regarding the being elected President, he served first as xenophobia and hate, her warnings to world leaders sistently refused to agree to. plight of civilians. Deputy and then as Director of MSF’s Emer- who deviated from the great principles of democracy Since September, the rebels have rejected gency Programming at MSF in France. and harmony, and most importantly, her steadfastness this option several times, with some armed and courage in the face of crises and refusal to budge groups going so far as to prohibit civilians from her policies under pressure, all make her a from using corridors opened by the govern- special leader which the world desperately needs in ment of Syria and its allies. this era of turmoil and tension. They finally consented on Tuesday, and so Even after the terrorist attack, Merkel reacted in a did the Syrian government after some hesita- way befitting her stature. Addressing a press tion. As the evacuation of civilians finally got conference after the attack, she answered the hardest underway, MSF teams are positioned in Ati- question of how the country would feel if the mah, in Idlib governorate, 35 kilometers away perpetrator turned out to be one of the million refugees from Al Atareb in Aleppo governorate and are to whom she had offered protection. It would be hard ready to help the displaced with 45 tons of to bear, she said. medical supplies—mainly drugs, consumables It will be hard to monitor more than a million and medical equipment—and non-food items. refugees who come from diverse backgrounds. And it’s We must continue to demand that the inevitable that Merkel will be forced to take a tougher people of eastern Aleppo be allowed to evac- stance on immigration after these attacks. But uate while hoping that the emotion stirred up Germans must support Merkel in her fight against by the media in reaction to the deluge of terrorism. She faces elections next September for a bombs prevails on the Syrian and its allies to fourth term in office, and her fate is a preoccupation be less intransigent regarding the plight of for all of Europe. civilians. Germany and Europe need the leadership of But we must not forget that the extreme Merkel in these troubled times. violence of the retaking of the town is a sad reflection of what is happening in neighbour- ing Idlib province where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are now QUOTE OF THE DAY trapped. The inhabitants of Idlib are also subjected to a sustained aerial bombing campaign and doctors in the hospital network that MSF sup- We are establishing ports in the region have reported 54 attacks on health workers and medical facilities since the basis for June 2016. fiscally responsible Health services in the opposition-held administration in zone have been the target of loyalist troops Brazil for at least the since the conflict began in 2011 and, under Syrian counterterrorist laws passed in 2012, next 10 years. providing medical care to a casualty in oppo- sition-held zones such as Idlib can be penalized as material support to terrorism. Michel Temer Given the enormous challenges clandes- tine health services have faced in attempting Brazilian President A general view shows damage inside Shahba Mall, one of the largest commercial to respond to the needs of countless war- wounded and people suffering from chronic shopping centres in Syria. THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 OPINION 11 From the rubble of Aleppo, ISIL rises

radical with each bloodletting. Alia Brahimi No defeat for ISIL Al Jazeera Aleppo is no defeat for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. ISIL is the most formidable and global of all the terrorist play- he United Nations Security Council on Decem- ers, which has attracted tens of ber 19 overcame intense divisions and voted thousands of fighters from more for UN observers to monitor evacuations from than 50 countries, manufactured the besieged city of Aleppo. chemical weapons, minted its own Syrian ambassador to the UN, Bashar currency, and run a substantial TJaafari, referred to the French-drafted resolution as proto-state. “just another part of the continued propaganda ISIL’s fighters have barely held against Syria and its fight against terrorists”. He a presence in eastern Aleppo since added: “The last terrorists in some districts of the they were pushed out in 2014 by a eastern part of Aleppo are evacuating their strong- disparate coalition of rebels. holds and Aleppo this evening will be clean.” Developments in Aleppo can be Indeed, Syrian officials and their allies have con- easily interpreted by ISIL as some- sistently described the fierce government offensive thing of a victory: because of the as aimed at “cleansing” the city of “terrorists”. distraction factor (in recent days In an interview with Russian tabloid Komsomol- ISIL was able to re-take Palmyra, in skaya Pravda, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad an offensive led by Abu Talha al- explained that “you have to keep cleaning this area Tunisi); because of the annihilation and to push the terrorists to Turkey … Aleppo is going of ISIL’s rivals and opponents to be a very important springboard to do this move”. (including important remnants of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also the non-jihadist opposition); and spoken repeatedly of “clearing the city of terrorists”. because of the clear statement that He reiterated on December 8 that Russia aimed “to Sunni civilians have much to fear fight terrorists in Syria till the end”. from the government in Damascus. These sweeping depictions of the Aleppo offen- A Syrian family runs for cover following an air strike on a rebel-held area of Aleppo. Beyond the urgent moral issues sive as a successful counterterrorism operation, in play, the Aleppo campaign has however, gloss over a number of troubling realities. can be meaningfully understood as a counterterror- However, ultimately there can be little equivalence yielded the very dangerous combi- Rescuing civilians from terrorists? ism operation. between the actions of a self-defined rebel move- nation of an empowered ISIL and a Firstly, it is both logically and morally problem- Government-allied foreign militia ment - largely hijacked by thugs and jihadis, who are majority Sunni population further atic — absurd, even — to deliberately target a civilian Moreover, the Syrian government relies upon widely condemned as illegitimate — and the respon- alienated from, and terrified of, the population in the name of rescuing it from terrorists. militia comprising foreign nationals who are com- sibilities of a government which has a seat at the UN Assad regime. Yet, over the course of the past few months, east- mitting politically motivated violence against and claims the mantle of sovereign authority. From a strategic point of view, ern Aleppo has been indiscriminately pounded by non-combatant targets. But perhaps most importantly, the government’s then, the Assad regime may yet win thermobaric weapons (vacuum bombs), flying Many of their actions are designed to intimidate current campaign grips Aleppo’s civilians in a pincer Aleppo, but lose Syria. improvised explosive devices (barrel bombs), explo- or coerce — essentially, to terrorise — the civilian of foreign terrorism: on the one hand, the grisly and sive bomblets (cluster bombs), and bunker busters population. unaccountable foreign-dominated rebel groups and, The writer is a specialist in terrorism (earthquake bombs). Deployed alongside these foreign militiamen - a on the other, marauding, government-allied foreign and political trends in the Middle East In the summer, when the government tightened mix of conscripts, mercenaries and ideological vol- militia. and North Africa. its siege of the city — raising the spectre of mass star- unteers from Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Pakistan and Driving extremism vation — and intensified its bombardment, Save the Afghanistan — are deeply alarming sectarian narra- Additionally, the brutalisation of civilians, partic- Children estimated that 35 percent of all casualties in tives which dehumanise Sunni Muslims. ularly children, only drives extremism. Aleppo were children. To be sure, in recent years, the rebel movement It is likely that the effects of the Syrian govern- Last month, the last children’s hospital in Aleppo in Aleppo became heavily influenced by jihadist ment’s military campaign, and the intense onslaught was reportedly vacuum bombed while in the process factions. against Aleppo specifically, will be felt for a genera- of treating the child victims of a chlorine gas attack. Some of the fighters involved are Sunni foreign- tion - in Syria and beyond. Last week, the UN reported that civilians, includ- ers who played an outsized role in snuffing out a Some terrorists may be killed and their weapons ing women and children, were being shot on the spot great deal of the organic Syrian opposition, and who seized. But social and political trauma of this order D-RING ROAD in their homes and on the street by pro-government have committed grave crimes against the civilians of only drives radicalisation more broadly. POST BOX: 3488 forces entering eastern Aleppo. rebel-held and government-held Aleppo, and Syrian After all, modern jihadism evolved from the In both intention and effect, therefore, it is doubt- government troops. crushed bones of political opposition movements DOHA - QATAR ful whether the government’s campaign in Aleppo These excesses, when they occur, are deplorable. across the region in the 20th century — ever more [email protected]

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OFFICE TEL: 4455 7741 / 767 Trump’s cabinet bodes ill for the planet FAX: +974 4455 7758 MANAGING EDITOR TEL: 4462 7505 opposition to the Obama administration’s Clean and other constitutional rights. Power Plan, which is key to meeting the country’s Others have joined the effort to hold the oil giant to account. Lauren Carasik DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR commitments under the Paris climate agreement. On December 14, the Pace Environmental Law Clinic filed a Al Jazeera TEL: 4455 7743 Pruitt wrote in the National Review that “scien- petition on behalf of the Waterkeeper Alliance to suspend Exx- tists continue to disagree about the degree and onMobil from contracts with the government, citing its extent of global warming and its connection to the “pervasive pattern of deceptive and damaging conduct related LOCAL NEWS SECTION resident-elect Donald Trump’s actions of mankind”. to environmental issues generally and climate change issues in TEL: 4455 7769 cabinet is shaping up as a night- Moreover, former Texas governor Rick Perry particular”. Dispirited activists derive some small satisfaction mare for environmentalists and will head the DOE, an agency he once vowed to from the fact that Tillerson may have to testify in confirmation BUSINESS NEWS SECTION others committed to bold action abolish, after committing the memorable faux pas hearings about what Exxon knew and when, potentially cir- TEL: 4462 7535 on climate change. Trump of forgetting its name in a presidential debate. cumventing the company’s obstructionism. PtappedRex Tillerson, CEO of ExxonMobil, Perry, who hails from a state with a powerful Tillerson espouses faith in technological advances and SPORT NEWS SECTION the biggest publicly trading oil company in energy sector, sits on the board of Energy Transfer adaptation to remediate deleterious climate effects, and pro- TEL: 4455 7745 the world, as secretary of state, where he Partners, developer of the controversial Dakota motes the continued use of fossil fuels as a bridge to more would head the agency in charge of nego- Access Pipeline. Both are expected to advance sustainable resources. In so doing, he avoids the urgency of ONLINE SECTION tiating international climate agreements. Trump’s anti-regulatory, pro-extraction agenda. immediate action to curb emissions by deferring to the forces of TEL: 4462 7501 His selection rounds out a cabinet Fox guarding the henhouse? the free market to fix the problem. [email protected] filled with climate sceptics, and signals a Tillerson is cast as a pragmatic, experienced The company also justifies cheap energy as the key to alle- resurgence of oil and gas power inside the businessman who possesses a skillset seamlessly viating poverty. Yet some anti-poverty institutions have a PUBLIC RELATIONS Beltway that is poised to dictate foreign transferrable to statecraft. Yet, the oil magnate’s different view, including the World Bank, which concluded that policy while ignoring the staggering social globetrotting has been in service of corporate profit, “avoiding climate risks is the route to sustainable TEL: 4455 7613 costs of carbon. not advancing the public good. development”. [email protected] Trump recently reaffirmed his hostility The elevation of an oil baron as the nation’s top ExxonMobil endorses the Paris climate agreement, along to climate protections, vowing again to diplomat lays bare Trump’s priorities. As Steve Coll with a carbon tax, yet it continues to support institutions and ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT “cancel the restrictions on the production observes in The New Yorker, “American power is politicians that oppose both. TEL: 4455 7837 / 780 of American energy including shale, oil, best understood as a raw, neocolonial exercise in It already begun FAX: 4455 7870 natural gas and clean, beautiful coal”. securing resources.” Tillerson’s ties with Vladimir The chasm between words and deeds highlights the fact [email protected] Kathy Mulvey, the climate accounta- Putin, and by extension with Russia’s energy indus- that it derives much of its income from the continued extraction bility campaign manager at the Union of try, have caused consternation, and he has of fossil fuels despite the imperative of keeping most of those CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT Concerned Scientists, denounced the promoted the company’s interests abroad despite resources in the ground. TEL: 4455 7857 choice. “[T]here’s a real concern that Pres- the significant human costs of doing so. Activists are Trump’s transition team raised yet more alarm bells when it [email protected] ident-elect Trump is creating a alarmed by Tillerson’s presumed loyalties and his sent a questionnaire to the DOE asking for the names of people government of, by, and for the oil and gas company’s conduct on climate change. who had worked on initiatives to curb greenhouse emissions. SUBSCRIPTION & DISTRIBUTION industry,” Mulvey said. “The analogy of the ExxonMobil has come under fire for covering up An unbowed DOE refused to comply. After ensuing outrage, the TEL: 4455 7809 / 839 nomination of Rex Tillerson for secretary what its scientists have long known about the dan- Trump team claimed the questionnaire was unauthorised, but FAX: 44557819 of state would be akin to nominating a gers posed by carbon emissions. Separate reports by the chilling effect is clear. The Washington Post reported that tobacco CEO as surgeon general,” she the Los Angeles Times and InsideClimate News last concerned scientists “have begun a feverish attempt to copy [email protected] added. year prompted the attorneys general of Massachu- reams of government data onto independent servers in hopes Scott Pruitt and Rick Perry, selected to setts and New York to investigate whether of safeguarding it from any political interference”. head the Environmental Protection ExxonMobil committed consumer or securities Tillerson’s relative moderation cannot mask the irony that All thoughts and views Agency (EPA) and the Department of fraud by failing to disclose to its shareholders what one of the cabinet nominees with the least extreme position on expressed in these columns Energy (DOE) respectively, are avowed cli- it knew about climate change. climate made his fortune by extracting carbon fuels. mate sceptics. The company claims it has not suppressed evi- Trump’s appointments make it clear that we cannot rely on are those of the writers, not Pruitt, the Oklahoma attorney general dence of climate change, and Tillerson conceded it the government to protect the planet: that stewardship will be of the newspaper. and loyal friend to the oil and gas indus- was real shortly after he ascended to the company’s up to civil society. tries, is set to take the helm of an agency top position in 2006. All correspondence whose legacy he appears determined to But the oil giant is aggressively fighting the The writer is a clinical professor of law and the Director of the Inter- regarding Views and national Human Rights Clinic at Western New England University dismantle. Touting himself as a leading investigation into its conduct, calling the effort Opinion pages should be opponent of the EPA’s “activist agenda”, politically motivated and even suing the attorney School of Law. She has provided legal support for the water Pruitt helped spearhead state-led generals for violating the company’s free speech protectors. mailed to the [email protected] 12 ASIA / AFRICA THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 Gambian President refuses to step down

Banjul African leaders in calling for him My rights cannot be violated transition period of 60 days. Defiant attitude AFP to step down. and intimidated to a point where Even if he had won legally, I have "Unless the court decides the I succumb to blackmail," he said. 60 days of transition," he said. Unless the court efeated Gambian case, there will be no inaugura- West African leaders meet- The nation's government-in- decides the case, President Yahya tion (of Barrow) on the 19 ing at the weekend said they waiting said on Monday that there will be no Jammeh (pictured) January," said Jammeh, who had would attend Barrow's inaugu- Jammeh had no constitutional inauguration (of has again vowed not initially conceded defeat but ration and "take all necessary mandate to stay in office beyond Barrow) on January to leave office at the then lodged a complaint with the actions to enforce the results", January. 19. I will not cheat but Dend of his mandate in January, country's Supreme Court to without spelling out what those "Any president who loses I will not be cheated: saying a court first must rule on overturn the result. measures might be. constitutional legitimacy Jammeh his challenge to the outcome of "I will not cheat but I will not Jammeh, who took power in becomes a rebel," said Halifa Sal- a hotly disputed election. be cheated," he said in a televi- that every Gambian votes. That's a 1994 bloodless coup, initially lah, a spokesman for the Jammeh, who has been in sion address late Tuesday. the only way we can resolve the warmly congratulated Barrow opposition coalition that spurred West African leaders power for 22 years, has rejected "What we are asking for is matter peacefully and fairly." after results were declared. Barrow to victory. opposition candidate Adama not for the IEC (Independent Jammeh, 51, also took aim at But a week later he con- The impoverished country said they would attend Barrow's shock victory in the Election Commission) to declare the West African regional demned "unacceptable errors" has been stable under Jammeh's Barrow's inauguration December 1 vote. me the winner, I cannot do that," ECOWAS bloc which has called by election authorities and called rule although rights groups and and 'take all necessary His stance has stoked inter- he said. on him to accept the results and for a new vote. media watchdogs accuse him of actions to enforce the national concerns about the "Justice must be done and refrain from any action that "I will not step down, cultivating a climate of fear and results'. future of the small west African the only way justice can be done could compromise the peaceful because this is disrespectful of crushing dissent against his country, with the UN joining is to reorganise the election so transfer of power." our constitution which says a regime. Uganda daily apologises over genocide cartoon

Kampala just in bad taste. Poking fun at AFP genocide is not funny. It is denial. Unacceptable," tweeted state-owned Ugandan Yolande Makolo, communica- newspaper yesterday tions director in the Rwandan Aapologised and retracted presidency. a cartoon about the Rwandan A series of furious tweets genocide which sparked a furore from Rwandans compared the in the neighbouring country. newspaper to controversial Ugandan daily New Vision French satirical magazine Char- published a cartoon on Tues- lie Hebdo. day showing Rwandan A source at New Vision said A mother crosses a road with her son on a heavily polluted day in Shijiazhuang, in northern China's Hebei province, yesterday. President Paul Kagame sitting its managing director had per- RIGHT: Scooter riders wait to cross a road. inside a confessional, while sonally phoned Kagame to Pope Francis kneels outside apologise for the cartoon. asking forgiveness for the 1994 Meanwhile, editor-in-chief, Beijing residents flee over heavy pollution genocide. Barbara Kaija said the offend- The pontiff also asks for ing image had been taken down forgiveness for an assassination from the website. Beijing terms related to travelling to include Thailand and Japan, she where the family has a holiday bid against former Rwandan Since the genocide, whose Reuters escape pollution, said Michelle said. "Good air quality definitely house, on Monday to avoid the army chief Faustin Kayumba victims were mostly from the Qi, a spokeswoman for the site's would be one reason to go". pollution, Wang said. Nyamwasa -- who blames Kag- Tutsi minority, the Catholic esidents of China's capital parent company, Ctrip.com. Some Beijing residents, like For those who can't go too far, ame for several attempts on his Church has been accused of were wearing face masks Northern China has been Jane Wang, 27, and her family, travel websites including Ctrip life in South Africa where he being close to the Hutu extrem- Rand using air purifiers to shrouded in almost record pol- can't get out of town fast enough. advertise hotels with air filtration lives in exile. ist regime in power in 1994 and try to avoid heavy pollution lution all week, disrupting "My husband and I really systems in places across north The cartoon appeared to some of its priests and other blanketing the city for a fifth day flights, traffic and shipping, and wanted to go but our company China, where numerous cities mock Kagame who on Friday clergy were implicated in the yesterday, but others were giv- closing factories and schools. didn't let us take off work so we having issued pollution red alerts. repeated his demand that the massacres. ing up the fight and joining a Searches for plane tickets had no choice but to wear a "Enjoy a micro forest, live in pope apologise for the actions A number of churches rush of "smog avoidance" travel. from Beijing to southern China, mask and go to work coughing," a fresh air room: enjoy your own of Catholics implicated in the became scenes of mass killings Beijing led the country for including coastal locations like said Wang, who works in an a complementary air filtration genocide which killed around as the Hutu militiamen found searches on the travel website Hainan province, quadrupled automotive technology research machine," reads a banner adver- 800,000. people seeking refuge there, Qunar.com for "avoid smog", this week, Qi said. centre. tisement on Ctrip's page for hotel "Today's cartoon in @ sometimes turned over by the "wash your lungs" and other Popular foreign destinations Her mother flew to Hainan, bookings. NewVisionWire is more than priests, with no way out. Anti-Kabila protests: 11 children dead as bus runs 21 dead in clashes into procession

Kinshasa Kano Reuters German govt AFP

ecurity forces arrested 275 defers talks ELEVEN children were killed people and 21 died during with Congo when a bus driver lost control Sprotests demanding that of his vehicle and ploughed President Joseph Kabila step into a Muslim procession down, police said yesterday, Kinshasa marking the birthday of although counts by rights Reuters Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) groups suggested a higher death in northern Nigeria, police said toll. GERMANY has indefinitely yesterday. Figures on the numbers of postponed talks on devel- "The accident on Tuesday dead, wounded and arrested opment assistance to Congo in Malam Sidi village in trickled out as anti-Kabila pro- after President Joseph Kabila Gombe state was due to a tests that began in the early stayed in power despite his brake failure," said police hours of Tuesday appeared to mandate expiring this week, spokesman Ahmed Usman be dying down. the German foreign office recently. Police officers stand guard outside the house of a suspected militant near Jakarta, yesterday. Earlier in the day, sporadic said yesterday. "A total of 11 children died gunfire echoed across the cap- "From now on, the Con- in the incident while 17 oth- ital Kinshasa, and security golese Government's scope ers were seriously injured," forces repressed a protest in the for action will be restricted," Indonesia foils bomb plot; three dead Usman added. southeastern mining hub of the statement said. He also said that the vic- Lubumbashi, leaving 10 dead "The negotiations on Jakarta bomb didn't explode and we detonated six bombs seized tims were aged between 11 and 47 wounded in two days of development cooperation AFP took firm action against them," from the house and more are and 15, prompting a very clashes, King Kasongo, a law- scheduled to take place said national police spokesman expected to be blown up before angry mob to descend on the yer and activist for the NGO next year will be postponed ndonesian police have foiled Rikwanto, who goes by one investigators can enter the bus driver and beat him to Humanism and Human Rights indefinitely. The German plans by an IS-linked group name. building. death. (HDH), said. Government reserves the Ifor a holiday suicide bomb- He also said that the group Police have yet to disclose Police have launched an Mobs also wounded a right to take further steps." ing after killing three suspected to which the three belong, which the total number of bombs dis- investigation into the acci- policeman and attacked gov- militants yesterday and discov- is linked to the Islamic State covered yesteday. dent, he added. ernment offices, health centres ering a cache of bombs, group (IS), had planned to stab The plot was disclosed by a Muslims in northern and gas stations, he said. hoping the crisis can be authorities said. a police officer at a police sta- group member who was Nigeria celebrate the birth- Protests erupted moments resolved peacefully. A firefight erupted at a house tion and wait for crowds to arrested earlier yesterday and day of Prophet Muhammad after the expiry of Kabila's man- Yet it is unclear how much in South Tangerang 25 m west gather before launching a sui- tipped off police about the three (PBUH) with month-long reli- date cast the nation of 70 room for compromise there is. of the capital Jakarta, with police cide bomb attack around the militants and their whereabouts, gious gatherings and street million into the constitutional The constitutional court has saying the alleged militants had holidays. police said. processions. unknown. ruled that Kabila can stay on opened fire at officers. The targeted location is near The raid came less than two Nigeria is almost evenly Young men started fires in until the 2018 vote, but the "We asked the three men to a private hospital west of weeks after police arrested four divided between a mainly- the streets of Kinshasa and opposition accuses Kabila of surrender but they fought, with Jakarta, police added. Islamist militants including a Muslim north and threw stones at riot police. shelving the vote to cling to one of them throwing a bomb Bomb squad officers in pro- female suicide bomber in Bekasi predominantly Christian Many Congolese are similarly power, a charge he denies. (at officers). Thankfully the tective gear have so far east of Jakarta. south. THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 ASIA / PHILIPPINES 13

Rocket firing contest Publisher shot Govt defends dead after article on drug trade Duterte's Manila Reuters

A PHILIPPINE provincial newspaper publisher has been murder claim shot dead after writing a col- umn alleging official negligence Manila Legitimate action over a discovered methamphet- AFP amine laboratory, in the first UN rights chief's killing of a journalist during he Philippines said comments were country's war on drugs. yesterday that Pres- nothing more than The National Union of ident Rodrigo 'his (Zeid's) opinion'. Journalists of the Philippines Duterte's killing of Again, let me just (NUJP) condemned Monday's three people in the remind one and all, murder of Larry Que, publisher T1980s was part of a police oper- of a news site on the island that the incident ation, after the United Nations of Catanduanes, and said it referred to by the rights chief urged Manila to "challenged" President Rodrigo president was investigate him for murder. Duterte to find the perpetra- In several speeches last actually covered by tors and utilise a special task week, Duterte recounted how media and it was (a) force he set up to protect media. in 1988, early in the first of his legitimate police The Philippines enjoys one A firing contest among multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) batteries selected from several terms as mayor of the action: Official of Asia's most liberal media southern city of Davao, he and large combined units of the KPA at an undisclosed location in North Korea. environments, and one of the local police ambushed and UN called for most dangerous for journalists. killed three suspected "credible and kidnappers. independent UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad investigations" to be Al Hussein said in a statement immediately on Tuesday that Duterte's kill- reopened into the Japan & Indonesia to cooperate on naval security ings, by his own admission, Davao killings. "clearly constitute murder" and Philippine judicial authorities Tokyo cooperation with Indonesia in must launch a murder Duterte was investigated by the AFP maritime affairs," Kishida told investigation. independent Commission on Panjaitan. Duterte spokesman Ernesto Human Rights over allegations apan and Indonesia agreed The agreement is aimed at Abella said yesterday Zeid's he ran death squads that killed yesterday to cooperate on helping Indonesia strengthen its comments were nothing more more than a thousand petty Jmaritime security at a time capacity in maritime security than "his (Zeid's) opinion". criminals in the city. when both countries are and promote economic devel- "Again, let me just remind Duterte has variously embroiled in sea rows with opment of remote islands, a one and all, that the incident denied or confirmed the alle- China. foreign ministry official said. referred to by the president was gations. The commission did Beijing asserts sovereignty Australia has earlier said it actually covered by media and not file any criminal charges over almost all of the resource- is considering joint patrols with it was (a) legitimate police after completing its inquiry. rich South China Sea, despite Indonesia in the South China action," Abella added. Zeid called for "credible and rival claims from Southeast Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida (left) and Indonesia's Sea. He did not address Duterte's independent investigations" to Asian neighbours. Indonesia has coordinating minister for maritime affairs Luhut Panjaitan. Japan, which has a territo- possession and discharge of a be immediately reopened into no dispute with China over own- rial row with China over firearm while not a the Davao killings. ership of reefs or islets. In June Indonesian President affairs Luhut Panjaitan and Jap- disputed islands in the East policeman. "The perpetrators must be But China's expansive claims Joko Widodo toured the islands anese Foreign Minister Fumio China Sea, has worked to Duterte has said he rou- brought to justice, sending a overlap with Indonesia's exclu- on a warship, in a move seen Kishida met to exchange docu- strengthen ties with members of tinely carried a gun during his strong message that violence, sive economic zone -- waters sending a strong message to Bei- ments to launch the cooperation the Association of Southeast early years as mayor of Davao killings and human rights vio- where a state has the right to jing to respect his country's framework, including in mari- Asian Nations (Asean), repeat- to protect himself in a high- lations will not be tolerated by exploit resources -- around the sovereignty. time security and economic edly stressing maritime disputes crime environment. the State and that no one is Natunas, a remote scattering of In Tokyo, Indonesia's coor- development in remote islets. should be addressed according While mayor of Davao, above the law," Zeid said. islands with rich fishing grounds. dinating minister for maritime "Japan highly values to law.

NEWS BYTES Court to mull Park's impeachment Cambodia and UN human Four die as minibus rights office sign new pact Seoul prime minister taking over. A split would also compli- drove into market AFP If judges back impeach- cate any potential presidential ment after hearing from both run by outgoing UN Secretary Phnom Penh statement saying that the outh Korea's Constitu- sides, she will be formally General Ban Ki-Moon, who Anatloia government has “consented” FOUR people were killed when tional Court will start ousted and a presidential had been widely expected to to the OHCHR’s presence in a minibus drove into a market Shearings today into election held within 60 days. compete on the Saenuri ticket. CAMBODIA'S government has Cambodia since 1993 and the in a northern part of Beijing whether to confirm the But any split in the Saenuri Thirty-five lawmakers reached an agreement with the new MOU grants it a further and many others have sus- impeachment of President Party would drastically reduce have agreed to break away Phnom Penh arm of the Office two years of operation “based tained injuries, the city's police Park Geun-Hye, with her rul- its chances in such a poll. from the party on December of the High Commissioner for on mutual respect and said yesterday, but they did not ing conservative party deeply More than 30 Saenuri 27, the dissident group said, Human Rights (OHCHR) after non-interference”. suggest it was a militant-related split on the issue before a lawmakers who have been at adding they will try to per- a nearly year-long impasse. “The purpose of the said incident. likely fresh election. odds with Park have vowed suade more legislators to join The new memorandum MoU signed on 19 December The incident happened at The court has up to 180 to leave, arguing that the par- them. of understanding underlines 2016 is to declare the parties’ about 3pm in a small town in days to decide whether to ty's current leadership refuses Their departure will leave a provision about “non-inter- intention to cooperate in Beijing's largely rural Chang- uphold or reject parliament's to embrace reforms despite the party with some 90 law- ference” in Cambodia’s affairs implementation of a techni- ping district, when the minibus impeachment of the country's the corruption scandal and makers in the 300-seat and will formally come into cal cooperation programme "drove into" an agricultural first female president on impeachment crisis. parliament, relegating it to effect once it is signed by the in the field of human rights market and hit people there, charges ranging from bribery "We've reached a conclu- second place behind the left- High Commissioner in and to establish a framework Beijing police said in a short to abuse of power. sion that conservatives' leaning Democratic Party. Geneva, Zeid Ra'ad Al for cooperation on the basis statement on their microblog. Park has been suspended reform through the Saenuri The group crossed party Hussein. of purposes and principles The injured have been from her duties since the Party is impossible", promi- lines to join opposition par- On Tuesday, the ministry stipulated in the Charter of taken to hospital, the state- impeachment vote on Decem- nent lawmaker Yoo ties in passing the motion to of foreign affairs released a the UN," the ministry said. ment added. ber 9, with the South Korea's Seung-Min told journalists. impeach Park. Malaysia aircraft crashes; one dead Philippine leader offers olive branch to rebels

A MILITARY plane crashed at Manila family," Duterte said in a speech by the middle of next year. an air base in northern Malay- AFP to soldiers ahead of the long hol- The communists' armed fac- sia yesterday, leaving one dead idays weekend. tion is believed to have fewer and three injured. hilippine President Rod- "I guarantee you: No arrests, than 4,000 gunmen, down from The air force said an inves- rigo Duterte yesterday no oppression," he said, adding a peak of 26,000 in the 1980s, tigation team would be formed Purged communist rebels he was sure many of the guer- when a bloodless revolt ended to look into the crash in the waging a decades-old rebellion rillas had not been with their the 20-year dictatorship of late town of Butterworth involv- to spend time with their fami- families for years. president Ferdinand Marcos. ing the Beechcraft B200T lies over the holidays, pledging "No one wants to fight dur- But they remain active in turboprop. to guarantee their safety. ing the holiday (Christmas) rural areas, where they extort Its statement gave no fur- His government is observ- season." money from local businesses. ther details. ing a ceasefire with the Maoist The government has earlier They have also in recent Local reports said the plane insurgents while holding peace announced Duterte was likely years carried out deadly attacks was being used for training at talks to bring an end to a to grant amnesty to hundreds of on police and military forces. the time. 47-year-old armed campaign detained New People's Army Duterte said yesterday his In May, a Malaysian air has left tens of thousands of rebels. holiday offer did not extend to force Aermacchi MB339CM jet people dead according to offi- He freed 18 rebel leaders Islamist militants in the south crashed in a small town in the cial estimates. earlier this year to kickstart talks who have pledged allegiance to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte takes part during the rural state of Pahang but there "Leave your arms wherever being hosted by Norway, and the IS group or been abducting were no casualties. Armed Forces anniversary celebration at Camp Aguinaldo you are now and you can come both sides have said they expect tourists, businessmen and sea- in Quezon City, Metro Manila, yesterday. down to the city and visit your to reach a final peace agreement men for ransom. 14 PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 Pakistan & Bosnia to boost bilateral ties NEWS BYTES Umerkot Fort Sarajevo Anatolia Mutual cooperation to be restored Two leaders by next year expressed rime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the Chair- commitment for THE culture department man of Council of establishment of a started preservation work Bosnia and Herze- Joint Commission to of the Umerkot Fort with govina Dr Denis further strengthen the hope to restore it to PZvizdic yesterday agreed to their countries' mutual its original splendor. strengthen ties in the field of relations. Around 200 workers, trade, defence, agriculture and with the help of local textiles. artisans and experts, Addressing a joint press Nawaz Sharif said have started work on the conference following their cooperation in power front of the fort.Accord- meeting here at the Institutions sector and the energy ing to officials, the front Building (Parliament), the two crisis that Pakistan of the heritage site where leaders expressed commitment was facing at present, Mughal emperor Akbar for establishment of a Joint came under was born will be finished Commission to further discussion. by June, 2017. strengthen their countries' “We are doing all mutual relations. the development work Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in bilateral relationship and as per the guidelines of said he had a detailed exchange added the he concluded with UNESCO [United Nations of views on regional and inter- chairman "the most productive Educational, Scientific national matters with the discussion" that focused on and Cultural Organisa- chairman, and added that Paki- entire spectrum of bilateral rela- tion],” said Roshan Ali Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, stan stood committed to its tions and further cooperation in Kanasro, director of plan- support for the progress and trade, investment, defence, cul- Dr Denis Zvizdic at a joint press conference in Sarajevo, yesterday. ning and development at prosperity of people of Bosnia ture and education. the culture department. and Herzegovina Nawaz Sharif said coopera- construction of motorways and He expressed satisfaction environment. He added that work was He said it was a great pleas- tion in power sector and the highways being built in both that the two countries had He invited the chairman of being carried out under ure visiting the "friends and energy crisis that Pakistan was Pakistan and Bosnia and Herze- agreed to sign visa abolition of councils of ministers to visit the ‘protection, preser- well-wishers" of the beautiful facing at present, came under govina was discussed. their holders of diplomatic and Pakistan, saying `Long live the vation and promotion of and historic city of Sarajevo and discussion. He mentioned that Bosnia official passports. friendship of Pakistan and Bos- protected archeological expressed gratitude to the gov- He mentioned that Pakistan had a very vibrant production in The prime minister said nia and Herzegovina'. sites and monuments in ernment of Bosnia and had large coal reserves in Sindh, wood, textile industry and Pakistan's growth rate had gone Dr Zvizdic welcomed Prime Sindh’ scheme. Herzegovina in advancing ties while Bosnia had expertise in thanked the government of Bos- up and invited the Bosnian busi- Minister Nawaz Sharif on visit- with Pakistan. hydropower which could be nia for inviting Pakistanis to nessmen and trade chambers to ing Bosnia and Herzegovina and He said the high-level visit shared. He said infrastructure display their products at an exhi- take opportunities offered by the termed Pakistan a "sincere Pakistan was part of boosting momentum development mainly bition in their country. country's business conducive friend" of his country. permits cotton from India Jhangvi says sectarianism in his past 13 militants dead in THE government of Paki- stan has conditionally lifted an import ban on Jhang "I consider everybody to be a sectarian campaign and has Kunduz operations Indian cotton and allowed Reuters human, and I want peace in Jhang portrayed himself as a deradi- unloading of stuck car- and in Punjab," Jhangvi added, calised figure, even managing goes of 12,000 bales asroor Nawaz Jhangvi, when asked how he felt about to win some Shia votes in the Kabul "The clearance operation (170kg) from the neigh- a cleric whose father Shias. Banned Sunni sectarian December 1 election. QNA still continues in insecure vil- boring country, sources Mwas one of Pakistan's organisation Ahl-e-Sunnat-Wal- "Time will prove whether lages of Kunduz City," the said yesterday. most infamous sectarian figures, Jamaat, strongly backed Jhangvi its genuine deradicalisation t least 13 armed militants statement said, adding that Sources said the Plant said he has become more mod- during the election but the and a departure from the past from the Taliban move- "Also, during this operation, Protection Department erate and distanced himself bearded cleric denies being a or whether it's based on polit- Ament were killed in the some amount of ammunitions (PPD) has stopped the from his previous anti-Shia member of the group. ical expediency," add the strategic Kunduz City, includ- were seized." import of lint from India, rhetoric after winning a regional In the Punjab assembly, resident who did not wish to ing a key member of the The Taliban movement has despite the arrival of assembly seat. Jhangvi has joined the far right be identified. Amid the rub- movement. not commented regarding the 12,000 bales at the port Jhangvi's December election religious party Ulema-e-Islam- bish-strewn streets of Jhang, "Afghan National Security report so far. Kunduz is among on November 20. to the Punjab provincial assem- Fazl. Jhangvi distanced himself Jhangvi is mobbed by residents Forces launched a joint clear- the relatively volatile provinces Around 10 spinning bly caused a stir in Pakistan due from anti-Shia video clips by wanting to shake his hand, or ance operation in Kunduz city in northern Afghanistan where mills had imported the lint to fears his political ascent saying they were several years take a selfie with him. He has capital of Kunduz province. the Taliban movement launched cargos, which was held at would increase sectarian divides old. But when asked if he regret- promised them freshly paved As a result of this joint oper- several attacks this year as part the port and they were in Jhang, a dusty town with a ted making inflammatory roads and badly needed sew- ation, 13 armed Taliban of their spring offensive to cap- instructed to re-export history of violence between Shia comments about Shias in the age pipes. including Mullah Ramazan a ture the strategic Kunduz city. the whole lot. Following and Sunni communities. past, Jhangvi smiled and said "no "People of Jhang have been key member of armed Taliban Meanwhile, the Afghan the government order, Old video clips on the inter- comment". ignored for too long," Jhangvi movement were killed and 14 forces are busy conducting their some mills had got the net show Jhangvi starting One prominent Shia resident said during a visit to a Christian others including Mullah Man- annual Shafaq operation which stay orders against the speeches by shouting "Shia are in Jhang said Jhangvi did not run area of the town. sour a local commander of the was launched in response to government decision infidels". The 29-year-old is on movement were wounded," the Taliban’s annual spring offen- from the courts. a domestic list of people with Ministry of Interior said in a sive, aiming to eliminate the top suspected ties to militant groups. statement. leaders of the movement. Jhangvi's assassinated father, Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, was a fierce anti-Shia cleric who founded a feared Sunni sectar- ian group, Sipah-e-Sahaba Afghanistan & ADB sign $415m deal Pakistan. He was killed by sus- pected Shia militants in 1990. The banned militant group Kabul Director of Asian Development million in co-financing from the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which has QNA Bank (ADB) Thomas Panella Afghanistan Infrastructure Trust carried out some of the worst sec- signed second installment of Fund supported by the Govern- tarian attacks in Pakistan's n agreement was signed $415 million grant agreement to ments of Belgium, Canada, history, was named after his between the Afghan gov- boost Afghanistan's energy sup- Germany, the Netherlands, and father. The group's Urdu-lan- Aernment and the Asian ply and strengthen the country's the United States; and $1 million guage name means Army of Development Bank worth $415 cross-border trade in energy, from the People's Republic of Jhangvi. "Responsibility has fallen million to support Afghanistan's according to the Afghan China Regional Cooperation and on my shoulders, now I am rep- energy security. (Khaama Press). Poverty Reduction Fund. Gov- resentative of all the people of The Afghan Ministry of The statement further added ernment of Afghanistan will also Jhang," Jhangvi told Reuters in an Finance (MoF) said in a state- that assistance includes $188.23 allocate $5 million for the sec- interview last week during an ment that the Afghan Minister million from the ADB Asian ond installment of this project hours-long tour of his home town. Masroor Nawaz Jhangvi meets residents in Jhang, yesterday. of Finance Eklil Hakimi and Development Fund; $225.77 from its own internal resources. Pakistan signs convention to prevent parental abductions

Islamabad The convention strives to the ministries of law, finance, Women’s Protection Act and the will. The Hague convention was intends to ensure safer return of Internews protect children internationally information and foreign affairs. Honour Crimes Bill and as with concluded in October 1980 and an abducted child to the country from harmful effects of their The relevant ministries of the those two bills, the government came into force in 1983. Earlier, of habitual residence, where the akistan has joined a group wrongful removal or retention four provincial governments decided to ignore the CII’s pro- 95 nations had signed the con- child was born or of which he/ of 95 states committed to and establishes procedures to have also endorsed the conven- tests on this issue as well. vention. Pakistan, which she is a national. This means that Pprotecting the interests of ensure their prompt return to the tion, which now goes before the The government argued that becomes the 96th state to join the legal disputes for a child’s cus- children in matters relating to State of their habitual residence. federal cabinet for a formal the convention would help Paki- group, had neither signed nor tody and access could be decided their custody, the Pakistan It also secures protection for endorsement. stani children stranded abroad, ratified it. by the court of the country to Embassy announced yesterday. rights of access. The only dissenting note had particularly those whose parents The Hague convention which the child belongs. President Mamnoon Hussain had “The convention will make it come from the Council of Islamic are dual or foreign nationals. applies to children below 16 years Under the convention, on December 15 signed the instru- easier for families to bring their Ideology (CII), which said that the Since Pakistan was a non- of age and offers protection to removal of a child from one ment of accession for The Hague children to Pakistan or to relo- parents had the right to move signatory state, the United States them from the harmful effects of country to another is considered Convention on the Civil Aspects cate their children to a foreign their children to any location and and some other Western nations abduction and retention across a crime of abduction or kidnap- of International Child Abduction, domicile,” the embassy said. should not need the state’s carried warnings on their travel international boundaries by pro- ping because it is considered paving the way for Pakistan’s for- The convention received approval to do so. The council sites, stating that children could viding a procedure to bring about “detrimental to the child’s life, mal entry into the group. almost unanimous approval from had also objected to the be detained there against their their prompt return. The treaty wellbeing and best interests”. THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 INDIA 15 RBI withdraws `5,000 one-time deposit norm New Delhi Currency woes contradicted on Monday night IANS the RBI notification, saying peo- The decision created ple will not be questioned if any n a U-turn, the RBI yester- massive confusion amount of old currency was day withdrew its order even after Finance deposited at one go. But repeated barring people with KYC- Minister contradicted deposits may invite scrutiny, he compliant bank accounts the RBI notification, said. from depositing over saying people will not The RBI decision yesterday ` I5,000 in old currency more be questioned if any came after the one-time deposit than once until December 30. But amount of old condition drew widespread flak. the notification stands for bank currency was Both the opposition and bank accounts which are non-KYC. customers hit out at the govern- deposited at one go. The upper limit of `50,000 also ment's flip-flop over deposit of stays for non-KYC bank old notes following the Novem- accounts, the Reserve Bank of The RBI decision ber 8 decision to recall the India said. yesterday came after high-value currency bills. The central bank said that on the one-time deposit According to the December A pilgrim counting banknotes on the banks of the Ganges river in Varanasi, yesterday. reviewing its December 19 noti- condition drew 19 notification, if a person depos- ` fication, it was advising banks to widespread flak. its more than 5,000 in withdraw the one-time deposit withdrawn currencies, the condition for amounts above account will be credited only for future audit trail. The condition vis-a-vis non- the Taxation and Investment `5,000 for fully KYC-compliant allowed only once till December after questioning him or her, in Even if the deposits were less KYC compliant accounts Regime for the Pradhan Mantri accounts. 30 — that too after strict the presence of two bank offi- than `5,000 at a time but cumu- remains, the upper limit of Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016. On December 19, the RBI had scrutiny. cials, as to why the money was latively exceeds the amount, then deposits restricted to `50,000. The Finance Ministry had announced that deposits of The decision created massive not deposited earlier. also the bank officials were told Officials said the curbs were also said earlier that the decision demonetised `500 and `1,000 confusion even after Finance The bankers were to keep the to get on record an explanation meant to encourage deposits of was meant to end the seemingly notes in excess of `5,000 will be Minister Arun Jaitley explanatory statement on record from the depositor. the demonetised currency under unending queues in banks.

Nirbhay Legislator suspended for Rahul Gandhi accuses missile 4th sittting on speaker's chair Modi of taking bribes test fails Dharamsala on the chair, the Speaker IANS reached the house. His mar- Mehsana the Sahara Group (`5 crore seven `25 crore, `12 crore paid, the THE indigenous Nirbhay sub- shal informed Bhardwaj about IANS times and `2.5 crore twice), the rest?' This is what is written sonic cruise missile's fourth test AN OPPOSITION BJP leg- the arrival of the Speaker; Congress leader said: "The there. failed yesterday, sources said, islator in Himachal Pradesh however, the legislator still ongress Vice President Income Tax Department has this "Now, you tell the country even as the DRDO refused to yesterday found a unique way went ahead. Bhardwaj, who Rahul Gandhi yesterday record from the Sahara Group's Modiji if this is true. You should make any official comment of registering the party's pro- is house presiding officer, Caccused Prime Minister diary for the last two-and-a-half order an independent inquiry on the issue. test in the state assembly by announced the adjournment Narendra Modi of taking kick- years and has recommended an into these Income Tax records." According to informed sitting on the Speaker's chair in of the house for the day. At that backs of `65 crore from inquiry. According to Gandhi, the sources, the missile was his absence. Later, he was sus- time, Congress legislators and corporate houses as the Chief "Narendra Modiji, tell us kickbacks became known after blasted off around noon from pended from the house along Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Minister of Gujarat and asked whether this allegation is true or an Income Tax raid on Novem- the Integrated Test Range (ITR) with two others for the rest of were also present in the house. him to come clean on this. not, order an independent inves- ber 22, 2014 on the Sahara at Balasore in Odisha but had the session for the 'unparlia- After this, the BJP members "It is on the records of the tigation into this and come clean. groups when their records were to be aborted due to "techni- mentary' act. led by Leader of Opposition Income Tax department that You have made the entire coun- seized, he said. cal glitches". As the house re-assembled Prem Kumar Dhumal stood Modi received money from the try stand in queues for days. \ Gandhi said there were According to the source, after 15 minutes of adjourn- up on their seats and left the Sahara Group nine times in six Now speak the truth," Gandhi entries which showed that on the missile's take off was fine, ment after question hour, BJP's house after raising slogans. months (in 2013-14)," Gandhi told said to applause by the huge October 30, 2013 `2.50 crore was but then it deviated from its Suresh Bhardwaj reached the The Chief Minister described public rally in this north Gujarat crowd. given to Modi, on November 12 intended course. podium of Speaker B.B.L. the act of Bhardwaj, the Chief town in the Prime Minister's "This is not all. There is one `5 crore, on November 27 `2.5 With the threat of the mis- Butail and sat on his chair. Whip of the BJP's state unit home district. more record of the Birla Group crore and on November 29 sile hit the ground, it had to be As he was about to sit demanded action against him. Rolling out dates when Modi (with the Income Tax Depart- another `5 crore was handed destroyed within minutes of allegedly received money from ment). Gujarat CM (to be paid) over to him. blasting off. Trade unions oppose salary e-transfer ordinance Income Tax raid at Tamil Nadu chief secretary's home New Delhi moving the ordinance to amend banking facilities in addition to employees or payment through IANS Section 6 of the Payment of the existing modes of payment cheque, along with the existing Wages Act, 1936, clarified that of wages in current coins or cur- provisions of payment in cur- Chennai activist M G Devasahayam said n ordinance the Union the option of cash payment of rency notes," he added. rent coins or currency notes," it IANS that the government had the Cabinet yesterday passed wages would continue to exist. The Labour Ministry, in a said. power to summarily dismiss an Ato facilitate digital trans- "An additional way of pay- statement, clarified that the pro- Also, the appropriate gov- ncome Tax officials yesterday IAS officer under Article 311 of the fer of salaries by employers ment has been introduced posed amendment would not ernment (Centre or state) will raided the house and office of Indian Constitution. across the country has met with through this ordinance. The old make mandatory the payment have to come up with the noti- ITamil Nadu Chief Secretary P. Speaking to reporters here, opposition from various quar- system of cash would also of wages to the workers only fication to specify the industries Rama Mohana Rao, triggering DMK leader M K Stalin said the ters. Several trade unions, remain," a senior official said through cheques or account or other establishments where calls for his dismissal from serv- Chief Secretary should immedi- employees' associations and after a meeting of the Cabinet. transfers. the employer shall pay wages ice. A senior official in the Income ately resign. He said it was political parties have opposed "This is being done to facil- "The proposal is an addi- through cheques or by crediting Tax Department said cash in new important for Chief Minister O. the move calling it impractical. itate the employers in making tional facility of crediting the the wages in the employees' currency was seized from the Panneerselvam to appoint a new The government, while payment of wages using the wages in the bank account of the bank account, it added. raided premises, including the Chief Secretary. He also Secretariat. demanded a detailed statement Searches were also con- from the Chief Minister. ducted in several other places Terming the raid as a dis- NEET-UG in connected to Rao, his son and grace, PMK founder S. Ramadoss Mock fire drill others. demanded Rao's dismissal and Ironically, Rao holds the legal action against him. 8 languages additional charge of Vigilance Union Minister Pon Rad- Commissioner and the Commis- hakrishnan refuted the charge from 2017-18 sioner for Administrative that the central government was Reforms. Rao was appointed to using the raid as a political tool THE Union Health Minis- the post overlooking the senior- and said the raids were con- try yesterday said NEET-UG ity of several IAS officials. ducted based on information will be conducted in eight Informed sources said the gathered by the IT department. languages from the 2017- searches of Rao's residence and Former IAS officer Devasa- 18 academic year. The eight office were linked to the earlier hayam said: "The raids have languages are Hindi, English, IT raids on the residence of busi- opened a Pandora's box. Corrup- Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, nessmen J. Shekhar Reddy, tion cannot happen in the Assamese, Telugu and Tamil. Srinivasalu and Prem. government without the conniv- "Under the directions of The IT department recently ance of corrupt bureaucrats." Health Minister J P Nadda, seized 177 kg of gold and cash He also found fault with the and after rigorous and exten- totalling `96 crore in old 500 and central government. sive consultations with state 1,000 rupee notes and `34 crore "Rao superceded several sen- governments about their in new currency from the three. ior IAS officers when he was examination pattern and A contractor, Reddy had appointed the Chief Secretary. other related aspects, it has reportedly executed a lot of work Even today there are 18 IAS offic- been decided that the for the Tamil Nadu government. ers senior to him working in the National Eligibility cum The CBI arrested all three state or in the central govern- Entrance Test (NEET-UG) yesterday. ment," Devasahayam said. from AY 2017-18 will be con- Leaders of the DMK and PMK The IAS cadre comes under Coast Guard personnel participating in a mock fire drill during a National Pollution ducted in following 8 demanded the immediate dis- the central government, which Response Exercise off Mundra port in the Gulf of Kutch region in western Gujarat, yesterday. languages," said the missal of Rao. was silent when Rao became statement. Former IAS officer and social the Chief Secretary. 16 EUROPE THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016

EU reprimands Govts cannot force to keep customers data Kroes for not Brussels Privacy matters European Union (ECJ) said its challenges against data reten- he said. Privacy International, an declaring income Reuters ruling was based on the view that tion laws in Britain and Sweden advocacy group that intervened EU's top court ruled holding traffic and location data on the grounds that they were in the case, said the ruling raised Brussels that such en masse allowed “very precise no longer valid after the ECJ questions about the legality of Reuters U countries cannot interference with conclusions to be drawn con- struck down an EU-wide data provisions in the British bill force telecom opera- people’s privacy cerning the private lives of the retention law in 2014. requiring telecom operators to he EU executive repri- tors to keep all their could only be persons whose data has been The ruling will make uncom- store data for up to 12 months manded customers’ data, the justified by the retained”. fortable reading for the British “for reasons that go far beyond Tex-commissioner EU’s top court ruled objective of fighting Such interference with peo- government, which passed a new what is strictly necessary for Neelie Kroes yesterday for Eyesterday, weighing in on a pri- serious crime. ple’s privacy could only be data retention law in November, fighting serious crime”. not declaring income that vacy debate that has raged since justified by the objective of fight- and for many other European A number of British politi- would effectively have Edward Snowden’s 2013 leak on ing serious crime and access to governments which had submit- cians - including Brexit minister reduced her pension, but The ruling will make mass surveillance by British and data should be subject to prior ted observations to the court. David Davis - had filed a legal stopped short of legal action US spies. uncomfortable review by a court or independ- “This is a pretty big deal for challenge against the IPA’s pred- after quickly recouping the Attacks in Europe from reading for the ent body except in urgent cases, the UK,” Bird & Bird partner, ecessor, a 2014 surveillance law, money. France to Belgium - and, on British government, it said. Governments could Graham Smith, said. part of which was suspended by The European Commis- Monday, in Berlin - have rein- which passed a new demand targeted data retention “On the face of it, there is a British court. sion said it had accepted an forced calls for security agencies data retention law in subject to strict safeguards, the quite a lot in the data retention Swedish telecoms operator apology from Kroes in a sep- to be given greater powers, while November. ECJ statement said, but the data bit of the Investigatory Powers Tele2 had told its regulator that arate matter, in which its privacy advocates say mass must be stored within the EU Act (IPA) that does not comply it would stop retaining data after ethics committee investigated retention of data is ineffective in given the risk of unlawful access. with the conditions that the the ECJ struck down the EU Data her after a leak of Bahamas the fight against such crimes. The Court of Justice of the The court was responding to Court of Justice has laid down,” Retention Directive. records showed she had failed to declare a director- ship in an offshore company there. Ancient ring ditch On the financial issue, Putin backs tougher Kroes notified the EU nine months late about income in 2015 that should have been offset from a “transitional alcohol laws; toll 62 allowance” she was receiv- ing after leaving office. Kroes, 75, a former Dutch Moscow government minister, spent AFP 10 years at the Commission until late 2014 under then- ussian President Vladimir president Jose Manuel Putin (pictured) yester- Barroso, as antitrust chief and Rday ordered tighter then commissioner for dig- regulations on alcohol as the ital affairs. death toll among those who In August, she irked the drank bath essence containing executive, now headed by toxic methanol rose to 62 in Jean-Claude Juncker, by Siberia. criticising its demand for a Putin ordered the govern- record $14bn from Apple Inc ment to introduce tougher laws to repay illegal subsidies. As by next July on the production "tragedy," while the regional Kroes was an adviser to and sale of perfumes, lotions authorities have declared a another Silicon Valley titan, and household cleaners con- state of emergency. Uber, her intervention was taining alcohol as well as Impoverished drinkers in seen by critics as a conflict of Sun rises behind the "Ringheiligtum Poemmelte" ancient ring ditch in Poemmelte- human and veterinary Russia often turn to cheap interest with her previous medicines. vodka substitutes such as per- Zackmuende, south of Magdeburg, eastern Germany, yesterday. roles. In an order published on the fumes and cleansers because Kremlin website, Putin also they are cost far less than legit- raised the possibility of chang- imate alcoholic drinks. ing excise duty tariffs on Such liquids usually contain legitimate alcohol "with the aim drinkable ethanol, not metha- Petition for Finland EU-referendum fails of reducing demand for fake nol which is deadly even in alcohol." small doses. Investigators have The measures came after detained 12 people suspected Helsinki The proposal gathered less wanted a referendum and 56 floated the idea of a EU vote as the Siberian city of Irkutsk has of producing and selling the Reuters than 34,000 supporters in six percent supported EU member- a possible campaign theme. seen a wave of deaths among bath essence. months. The required number ship. “It’s a shame we were not Finland’s three-party gov- those who consumed a liquid The speaker of Russia's petition to hold a referen- was 50,000. According to a poll able to move forward this way, ernment - which includes the labelled as hawthorn-flavoured upper house of parliament Val- dum on whether Finland conducted by the Iltalehti news- but we raised the discussion Centre Party with agrarian roots bath essence that contained entina Matviyenko said A should leave the Euro- paper soon after the Brexit vote about Finland leaving the EU to and the pro-EU National Coali- methanol, a toxic substance Tuesday that those responsible pean Union failed to attract on June 23, 69 percent of Finns a new level,” said Sebastian tion Party - remains officially used in antifreeze. should stand trial for "premed- enough signatures by the dead- opposed an EU referendum and Tynkkynen, head of the Finns committed to membership of the From Saturday to Wednes- itated murder." line yesterday to move the 68 percent supported EU Party Youth. EU and the euro single-currency day evening, 62 people have Just 20 to 50 millilitres of proposal to parliament. membership. Tynkkynen said the youth zone. Earlier this year, another died from methanol poisoning, methanol can be fatal and the The “Fixit” petition was That suggested that Britain’s organization’s next goal was to petition demanded Finland’s the Irkutsk regional health min- people affected had usually launched in June by the youth vote and consequent political make a Fixit referendum the break from the euro, saying the istry said, while 36 people are drunk significantly more, organization of the country’s co- turmoil had strengthened pro- main campaign demand for the lack of an independent mone- still in hospital. Irkutsk region's chief toxicolo- ruling, eurosceptic Finns party EU sentiment in Finland. A party in Finland’s next general tary policy was hampering Putin's spokesman earlier gist Alexei Tretyakov told RIA in the wake of Britain’s referen- previous poll in March had election in 2019. Senior lawmak- economic growth in the coun- this week called the deaths a Novosti news agency. dum vote to leave the EU. shown 43 percent of Finns ers in the Finns party have also try of 5.5 million people.

Flying together Norway slightly eases mass killer Breivik’s jail isolation

Oslo yesterday showed that some on Breivik, and said that any Reuters conditions for Breivik have been changes were not prompted by relaxed, including that he no the court finding. orway has slightly relaxed longer speaks to his lawyer Among recent measures to the jail isolation of mass through a glass wall. NRK pub- allow Breivik more contact were Nkiller Anders Behring lic television said more contact with a “visitor Breivik since an April court rul- floor-to-ceiling bars had been friend” from a local church, ing that it violated his human installed. more physical training and more rights by keeping him in a “This has eased contact time outdoors. Still, Sejersted “locked world”, legal documents somewhat but he is still cut off said that Breivik had rejected showed yesterday. from receiving visits from law- many offers of social activity. Dutch and Belgian F16 aircraft fly over the Netherlands prior to the signing of an agreement The Norwegian state, pre- yers in a normal way in a Sejersted accused the lower between Benelux countries to work together to monitor the national airspace by civilian paring an appeal starting on visitors’ room,” Breivik’s lawyer court of “setting the bar too low” aircraft that posed a terrorist threat, in Rotterdam, yesterday. January 10 against the ruling, Oeystein Storrvik wrote in the in April by ruling that the Nor- said Breivik’s still-draconian jail documents. wegian state had violated a ban conditions were fully justified “The overall pressure of iso- on “inhuman and degrading after the right-wing militant lation has however been treatment or punishment” under killed 77 people in shootings and maintained,” he wrote. the European Convention of Queen cancels trip due to 'heavy colds' a bombing in July 2011. Breivik has been isolated for Human Rights. The April ruling that Norway 5-1/2 years with no contact with It said the European Court London "The queen and the Duke of part of a yearly tradition. violated Breivik’s human rights other prisoners and restrictions of Human Rights often ruled that AFP Edinburgh have heavy colds and Police and staff were at the by keeping him isolated stunned on his letters, he wrote. Brei- any violations “must go beyond so have decided not to travel to station in London waiting for the survivors and relatives of the vik’s mother was the only family that inevitable element or suf- ueen Elizabeth II has can- Sandringham today," the queen but photographers were dead. In court, he said he was member to have any contact, fering or humiliation connected celled her departure for a spokesman said, referring to the suddenly told the trip would not feeling bad in jail despite a giving her son a hug in 2013 with a given form of legitimate QChristmas trip to her estate in eastern England. be going ahead, British media three-room cell, complained shortly before she died of treatment or punishment.” country estate because she and The 90-year-old monarch reported. about cold coffee and grumbled cancer. Breivik is serving a 21-year her husband have "heavy colds", and her 95-year-old husband The queen and Philip, who that jail food was “worse than Public prosecutor Fredrik sentence, Norway’s longest, that a Buckingham Palace spokes- Prince Philip had been expected has had several health problems waterboarding”. Sejersted said the state was con- can be extended if he is still con- man said yesterday. to take a train from London as in recent years. Documents released tinuously revising restrictions sidered a threat. THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 EUROPE 17 Berlin hunts for attacker after IS claims assault

Berlin recent years. The Pakistani man AFP Probe beefed up was arrested late Monday after The sole suspect, a he was reportedly seen jump- 23-year-old Pakistani ing out of the truck and fleeing erman police yester- asylum seeker, was the scene. day stepped up their released for lack of But officials had expressed hunt for the driver of evidence. growing doubts over whether a truck that ploughed they had the right suspect in through a Berlin custody, and he denied the Twenty-four GChristmas market, in a deadly charges under repeated assault claimed by the Islamic remained in hospital, questioning. State jihadist group. 14 of whom were "We may have a dangerous The sole suspect -- a seriously injured. criminal in the area," Berlin's 23-year-old Pakistani asylum police chief Klaus Kandt said, seeker -- was released late Tues- Berlin carnage "in response to adding that security would be day for lack of evidence, appeals to target citizens of coa- boosted while urging "height- prompting fears of a killer on the lition countries". There was no ened vigilance". Following the loose and further rattling nerves evidence to back the claim, nor suspect's release, Kandt told in a shocked country. was the perpetrator identified. ARD television "one or more" "We can't rule out that the Germany is part of a US-led perpetrators were believed to perpetrator is on the run," Inte- coalition fighting IS in Iraq and be on the run and possibly rior Minister Thomas de Maiziere Syria. De Maiziere said several armed. Police said they were Berliners and refugees gather to sing "We Are The World" in front of the Kaiser Wilhelm told public broadcaster ZDF. lines of inquiry were being pur- chasing up more than 500 tips Twelve people were killed sued, but "we should let the from the public and examining Gedaechtniskirche in Berlin, yesterday. when the Polish-registered artic- security services do their job." DNA traces found in the cab of ulated truck, laden with steel "No-one will rest until the the truck. Images from the after- beams, slammed into the perpetrator or perpetrators have math of the rampage showed crowded holiday market on been caught," he told ARD pub- the mangled truck with its wind- Tunisian suspect under probe Monday, smashing wooden stalls lic television. screen smashed, a trail of and crushing victims. The attack comes at a sen- destruction in its wake, while Berlin responsibility for Monday's named as either Ahmed or Anis Twenty-four remained in sitive time for Chancellor Angela survivors recounted harrowing AP attack on the market next to the A., though he reportedly used hospital, 14 of whom were seri- Merkel who is running for a stories of near misses and Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial various aliases. "We don't know ously injured, according to de fourth term in 2017 but has bloody carnage. nvestigators hunted yester- Church in the center of the for sure whether it was one or Maiziere. The scenes instantly faced strong criticism over her A Polish man, killed with a day for a Tunisian man capital. several perpetrators," he said. revived nightmarish memories decision last year to open the gunshot, was found on the Iwhose documents were Several German media out- "We don't know for sure of the July 14 truck assault in the country's borders to refugees. truck's passenger seat, said de found in the truck that plowed lets reported yesterday, without whether he, or they, had French Riviera city of Nice, In a blow to investigators, Maiziere. He was believed to be into a Christmas market in Ber- identifying their sources, that support." where 86 people were killed by federal prosecutors announced the original driver of the Polish- lin, killing 12 people and authorities were searching for Berlin Mayor Michael Muel- a Tunisian Islamist. they had to release the only sus- registered vehicle. An autopsy injuring 48 others, German a Tunisian man whose identi- ler said yesterday it was "good The IS-linked Amaq news pect in custody after finding no indicated that the driver was still media reported. The Islamic fication documents were found to see that Berliners aren't agency said "a soldier of the forensic evidence to link him to alive at the time of the attack, State group has claimed in the cab of the truck. He was being intimidated." Islamic State" carried out the Germany's deadliest attack in the daily Bild reported.

EU to boost border checks to tackle 'terrorism financing' France may seek EU sanctions Brussels killed as a truck ploughed into a or precious metals carried by disrupt and cut off the financial from those thought to be con- Reuters crowd. It is part of an EU “action suspect individuals entering the sources of terrorists and crimi- nected to criminals. against Kabila plan against terrorist financing” EU. People carrying more than nals,” the commission To prevent the laundering of he European Commission unveiled after the bombings and ¤10,000 ($10,391.00) in cash are Vice-President Frans Timmer- illegal funds, Brussels also wants Paris proposed tightening con- shootings in Paris in November already required to declare this mans said. EU officials said some EU states to abide by minimum AFP Ttrols on cash and precious 2015. Under the new proposals, at customs upon entering the EU. of the recent attacks in Europe common rules on money laun- metals transfers from outside the customs officials in European The new rules would allow were carried out with limited dering with the aim of blocking rance said yesterday that EU yesterday, in a bid to shut Union states will be able to step authorities to seize money even funds, sometimes sent from out- criminals from exploiting legal DR Congo President down one route for funding of up checks on cash and prepaid below that threshold “where side the EU by criminal differences between different EU FJoseph Kabila may face militant attacks on the payment cards transferred via there are suspicions of criminal networks. The Commission is countries. EU sanctions over his refusal continent. the post or through freight activity,” the EU executive com- also proposing common rules for The proposals will need to step down at the end of his The move follows Monday’s shipments. mission said in a note. the 28 EU countries on freezing approval from EU states and the mandate. attack on a Christmas market in Authorities will also be given “With today’s proposals, we “terrorists’ financial resources” European Parliament to become "If things don't proceed Berlin, where 12 people were the power to seize cash strengthen our legal means to and on confiscating assets even law. properly, towards dialogue and an end to the democratic impasse," France will ask the European Union to consider sanctions against Kabila, gov- Road closed Oppn action could lead to ernment spokesman Stephane Le Foll told reporters. He said Foreign Minister calamity: Polish leader Jean-Marc Ayrault discussed the option during a cabinet meeting. Warsaw “This is really a road to a The European Union Reuters great calamity.” imposed travel bans and asset The stand-off was sparked freezes on seven top DR he leader of Poland’s rul- last week by government plans Congo officials on December ing Law and Justice (PiS) to curb media access to the 12, three months after a Tparty, Jaroslaw Kaczyn- Sejm. However, the Sejm’s press crackdown on anti-Kabila ski, yesterday told opposition office has since promised to protesters left more than 50 protesters, including MPs occu- consult media on the changes, people dead. pying parliament’s debating and the opposition’s focus has Washington, which had chamber, that their actions now switched to the budget previously targeted several were illegal and could lead to a debate, which it says was con- senior figures close to the “great calamity”. ducted irregularly and is president for sanctions, added But the opposition vowed invalid. “If PiS is not open to two more on December 12. to continue a six-day-old pro- concessions ... then I do not see According to a United test bringing to a head tensions other options than to continue Nations provisional toll, at A police officer speaks to a motorist as roads are closed during the Changing of the Guard that have been building ever the protest until it is effective,” least 19 people were killed in ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London, yesterday. since the socially conservative Ryszard Petru, leader of the lib- street protests in DR Congo and nationalist-minded PiS eral Nowoczesna opposition on Tuesday, the final day of came to power with a large party, told reporters. Kabila's second and final term majority 14 months ago. Fears of a drift towards in office. In particular, it is demand- authoritarianism under the PiS Veteran opposition figure Artificial leaf copies nature ing a re-run of a debate and - which it denies - have led to Etienne Tshisekedi called for vote on the 2017 budget that mass protests in Polish cities "peaceful resistance" against was diverted to a side-room of over the last year, including a Kabila, who is showing no to manufacture medicine the lower house, the Sejm, last blockade of the parliament sign of plans to leave power week because of the sit-in, and building by demonstrators last anytime soon. held without opposition law- Friday. The protests have Kabila, 45, who has ruled Netherlands little energy to fuel chemical By doing away with the need makers present. mainly been peaceful, but since since 2001, is constitutionally Reuters reactions. for a power grid, it may be pos- “We are really acting in a Friday parliament has been sur- barred from seeking a third The leaf-inspired micro fac- sible one day to make malaria restrained way,” Kaczynski told rounded by police, who on term but under a controver- utch scientists have tory mimics nature’s efficiency drugs in the jungle or even med- a news conference, flanked by Tuesday cordoned it off with sial recent constitutional court developed an artificial at harvesting solar radiation by icines on Mars in some future Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, metal anti-riot barriers. order, he may stay on until a Dleaf that can act as a using new materials called lumi- space colony, he believes. the speakers of both chambers Over the weekend, protest- successor is chosen. mini-factory for producing nescent solar concentrators with The device, made from sili- of parliament and a deputy ers also tried to block "The end of Mr Kabila's drugs, an advance that could very thin channels through cone rubber, can operate even speaker, against a backdrop of Kaczynski’s car from entering mandate should normally allow medicines to be produced which liquid is pumped, expos- when there is diffuse light, Polish flags. the Wawel castle in Krakow, lead to new elections without anywhere there is sunlight. ing molecules to sunlight. which means it will work under “Opposition lawmakers are where his brother is buried. the outgoing president stand- The work taps into the abil- “Theoretically, you could cloudy skies. However, there is bound by the law as all other A short video posted on ing in them," Le Foll said ity of plants to use sunlight to use this device to make drug still a way to go to scale up the citizens are ... Blocking, taking social media on Tuesday yesterday. feed themselves through pho- compounds with solar energy process to make it commercially away freedom from citizens, showed a PiS minister being The president has been in tosynthesis, something anywhere you want,” said lead viable. Noel and his colleague- not allowing normal move- harassed by a small group of office since his father Laurent industrial chemists have strug- researcher Timothy Noel at sare now trying to improve ments are all criminal acts and protesters who shouted insults Kabila was assassinated in gled to replicate because Eindhoven University of energy efficiency further and these acts are accepted (by the and tried to grab her scarf 2001. He was elected in 2006, sunshine usually generates too Technology. increase output. opposition),” Kaczynski said. before she got into her car. and again in 2011. 18 AMERICAS THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 Trump hotels Trump to meet security adviser reach deal after attacks

Palm Beach with unions AP resident-elect Donald Trump is planning to meet with his incoming national secu- New York Labour disputes Prity adviser in the aftermath of violence Reuters abroad as the process of filling top jobs in his The contracts administration presses on, marked by some effective January 1 infighting among advisers. otels in Las Vegas will provide food and Trump opened his day yesterday by boast- and Washington beverage and ing anew about his November 8 election victory, owned by US housekeeping tweeting that his win in the Electoral College President-elect employees. was more difficult to pull off than winning the Donald Trump popular vote would have been if he had tried. Hsaid yesterday they have Democrat Hillary Clinton won at least 2.6 mil- Under the entered into collective bargain- lion more votes than Trump, an apparent sore agreement, one of US President-elect Donald Trump attends a meeting at Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm ing agreements with more than point for the president-elect. "I would have 500 workers, who will drop the unions will Beach, Florida, yesterday. done even better in the election, if that is pos- claims that the hotels violated withdraw a series of sible, if the winner was based on popular vote federal labour law. cases filed against - but would campaign differently," he tweeted. The four-year contracts the Las Vegas hotel. Trump's meeting with retired Lt. Gen. effective January 1 will provide $1m donation report denied Michael Flynn, his choice for national security food and beverage and house- adviser, will come a day after Flynn and sev- keeping employees at Trump Last week, Democrats in eral other members of the incoming national International hotels in those cit- the US Congress called on Washington and/or Eric Trump," "autographed guitars by security team met with Vice President-elect ies with annual raises and Trump to divest from the Wash- AFP an Opening Day 2017 performer," and other Mike Pence in Washington. pension and healthcare bene- ington hotel, saying the lease goodies. "Unlike political committees, such Aides said the meeting was planned before fits, Trump Hotels and four would pose a conflict of inter- resident-elect Donald Trump's transi- non-profits aren't required by law to reveal the acts of violence In Germany and Turkey, unions said in a joint est because he would tion team on Tuesday denied a report their donors, allowing sponsors to write though they were discussed. The Islamic State statement. essentially be both its landlord Pthat his sons were seeking donations of seven-figure checks for access to the presi- group has claimed responsibility for the truck Under the agreement, one and tenant once he is sworn in. up to $1m in exchange for possible post-inau- dent while staying anonymous, if they choose," attack in Berlin that killed 12 people and injured of the unions, Unite Here Culi- Eric Danziger, the chief guration access. the CPI report warned. 48. As well, investigators searched for clues on nary Workers Union Local 226, executive of Trump Hotels, The Center for Public Integrity, an award- The foundation's directors are Donald whether the gunman who assassinated the Rus- will withdraw a series of cases called Unite Here Local 25, the winning group that addresses ethics and other Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Dallas investor Gen- sian ambassador to Turkey planned the attack filed with the US National union representing workers at policy issues, said a non-profit foundation was try Beach and Tom Hicks Jr., a Dallas alone. Labour Relations Board against the hotel, which is down Penn- set up last Wednesday making discreet poten- billionaire's son, the report said, posting a copy The gathering with Pence on Tuesday the Las Vegas hotel, union sylvania Avenue from the White tial pay-for-play possible. According to the of the legal documents certifying the forma- included retired Gen. John Kelly, Trump's nom- spokeswoman Bethany Khan House, an “important partner” CPI report, the "Opening Day Foundation" tion of group. The funds would be donated to inee for head of the Department of Homeland said. Those cases had been in a statement. was planning to hold a fundraising event on unnamed "conservation charities," accord- Security; retired Gen. James Mattis, the pick for expected to be an early test of “We share mutual goals January 21, the day after the inauguration and ing to a copy of a brochure for the event defense secretary; and Rex Tillerson, the head how Trump, who as president with the union, as we both Trump's first full day in the White House. obtained by TMZ.com. of Exxon Mobil and the intended nominee for will have influence over the desire to ensure outstanding The report said major donors would "Opening Day is your opportunity to play secretary of state. NLRB, would handle concerns jobs for the employees, while receive: a "private reception and photo oppor- a significant role as our family commemo- While Trump has assembled his Cabinet at over conflicts of interest raised also enabling the hotel to oper- tunity for 16 guests with President Donald J. rates the inauguration of our father, friend a quick pace, the process to fill out top White by his business holdings. Trump ate successfully in a competitive Trump," a "multi-day hunting and/or fishing and President Donald J. Trump," the brochure House jobs has been slowed by pushback takes office on Jan. 20. environment,” he said. excursion for 4 guests with Donald Trump Jr. said. among some advisers.

Bolivia blames Crossing border Argentina & Britain agree airline for plane crash to identify soldiers' bodies Buenos Aires DNA with that of consenting La Paz Reuters relatives, the statement said. AFP There are 123 unknown soldiers rgentina and Britain buried in the Falkland Islands, he Bolivian airline that agreed on a framework though not all families of the owned the aeroplane Ato identify the bodies of deceased have given consent Tthat crashed in Colom- dozens of unknown Argentine for DNA testing. bia, killing 71 people including soldiers buried on the disputed More than 600 Argentines most of a Brazilian football Falkland Islands, Argentina’s and 255 British servicemen team, is fully responsible for Foreign Ministry said on were killed after Argentina the accident, an official said. Tuesday. seized the islands and Britain The Bolivia-based LaMia The two countries, which sent a task force to retake them, airlines plane slammed into went to war over the islands in sparking the conflict. the mountains outside Medel- 1982 and have had strained Both countries also agreed lin on November 29, killing relations for decades, also to consult with airport author- most of Brazilian football agreed to try to increase the ities in Brazil and Chile to link team Chapecoense Real as number of flights to the remote more flights to the islands, they traveled to a match. islands. Britain has been keen located about 435 miles off the "The evidence is conclu- People cross the Colombian-Venezuelan border, over the Simon Bolivar international to improve relations with coast of southern Argentina. sive, the direct responsibility bridge, in San Antonio del Tachira, Venezuela, yesterday. Argentina since pro-business The overwhelming majority of of this event falls on the pilot President Mauricio Macri took the islands’ 3,000 inhabitants and the airline company," over from Cristina Fernandez say they want the islands to Public Works and Services in December, although Argen- remain a British overseas Minister Milton Claros said at tina continues to claim territory. a press conference. US Border Patrol seizes $3m from cars sovereignty over the islands. Only one monthly flight A harrowing recording Under the agreement reaches the Falkland Islands has emerged of the pilot radi- SAN DIEGO largest cash seizure ever made Passat, raced away but was signed by British Foreign Office currently, departing from Chile oing the control tower to AP by in San Diego County. later found abandoned in a cul- Minister Alan Duncan and with a stop in the Patagonian report he was out of fuel. Six Authorities say they fol- de-sac and the driver was Argentina’s Vice Foreign Min- city of Rio Gallegos. people survived the crash. he US Border Patrol says lowed a speeding Kia Forte found hiding in some brush. ister Pedro Delgado, forensic Britain and Argentina Investigations are ongo- it's seized more than $3m from a freeway and pulled it Authorities say they found experts from the International agreed in September to work ing, Colombia's civil aviation Tthat was being smuggled over. They found nearly more than $3m in cardboard Committee of the Red Cross will toward removing restrictions safety chief has said the plane from the US into Mexico. $34,000 in vacuum-sealed boxes in the trunk. The two take DNA samples from the sol- on the oil and gas, shipping and disregarded international The cash was found inside bundles in the center console. drivers pleaded not guilty to diers’ bodies. fishing industries around the rules on fuel reserves. two cars in Escondido. It's the A second car, a Volkswagen federal smuggling charges. They will then compare the islands. US govt loses to Russia’s disinformation campaign: Advisers

Washington Far more effort has gone into said, but there was little sus- official cautioned that any US information in ways we don’t.” Russian-government funded Reuters plotting offensive hacking and tained, high-level government government attempt to counter Clinton Watts, a security consult- media outlets, such as RT televi- preparing defenses against the conversation about the risk of the the flow of foreign state-backed ant, former FBI agent and a sion or Sputnik News, before he US government spent less probable but more dramatic propaganda coming to the disinformation through deter- fellow at the nonprofit Foreign being amplified on Twitter by more than a decade pre- damage from electronic assaults United States. rence would face major political, Policy Research Institute, said others. Tparing responses to on the power grid, financial sys- During the presidential elec- legal and moral obstacles. the US government no longer has Watts said it was urgent for malicious hacking by a foreign tem or direct manipulation of tion it did - to an extent that may “You would have to have an organization, such as the US the US government to build the power but had no clear strategy voting machines. have altered the outcome, the massive surveillance and cur- Information Agency, that pro- capability to track what is hap- when Russia launched a disin- Over the last several years, security sources said. But US offi- tailed freedom and that is a cost vided counter-narratives during pening online and dispute false formation campaign over the US intelligence agencies tracked cials felt limited in investigating we have not been willing to the Cold War. stories. “Those two things need Internet during the US election Russia’s use of coordinated hack- Russian-supported propaganda accept,” said the former official, He said that most major Rus- to be done immediately,” Watts campaign, current and former ing and disinformation in efforts because of free speech who spoke on condition of ano- sian disinformation campaigns said. “You have to have a pub- White House cyber security Ukraine and elsewhere, the guarantees in the Constitution. nymity. “They (Russia) can in the United States and Europe lic statement or it leads to advisers said. advisers and intelligence experts A former White House control distribution of have started at conspiracy theories.” THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016 AMERICAS 19

Police personnel search amid the ruins left by a huge blast that occured in a fireworks market in Mexico City, yesterday. 31 dead in Mexico fireworks market blasts Mexico Massive blast “People were crying every- Tultepec emergency services, month and no irregularities were a long-running series of fatal Reuters where and desperately running said earlier that a lack of safety found. explosions and industrial acci- It was the third time in all directions,” said 20-year- measures was the likely cause of Mexican media reported dents that have rocked Mexico’s in just over a decade old witness Cesar Carmona. the blasts. The federal police said there were 300 tonnes of fire- oil, gas and petrochemical series of massive explo- that explosions have Some children suffered burns a forensic team had been sent to works at the market at the time industries. sions destroyed a hit the popular San to more than 90 percent of their investigate and that at least 70 of the explosions. A blast struck the Tultepec Afireworks market outside Pablito marketplace bodies and were being sent to the people had been injured. Videos The head of a local pyrotech- fireworks market in September the Mexican capital on Tuesday, in Tultepec. US city of Galveston in Texas for from the scene showed people nics association told online 2005 just before independence killing at least 31 people, injur- treatment, said Eruviel Avila, the frantically fleeing, while aerial publication Animal Politico last day celebrations, injuring many ing dozens and leaving the governor of the State of Mexico footage revealed blackened stalls week that the fireworks market people. Another detonation gut- Mexican media market a charred wasteland. in which Tultepec is located. and a flattened tangle of metal was the safest in Latin America, ted the area again almost a year Television images showed a reported there were He also vowed to find and and wood. featuring “perfectly designed later. flurry of multicolored pyrotech- 300 tonnes of punish those responsible and to The state’s top prosecutor stalls” that could prevent any “I offer my condolences to nics exploding into the early fireworks at the time provide economic assistance to raised the death toll late on Tues- chain reaction in the event of a the relatives of those who lost afternoon sky as a giant plume of the explosions. those who had lost their day to 31, most of whom died at spark. their lives in this accident and my of smoke rose above the market. livelihoods. the market. Federico Juarez was present wishes for a speedy recovery for Fireworks detonated in a peal of marketplace in Tultepec, about The federal attorney gener- More than 80 percent of the when the first explosion rocked the injured,” President Enrique clattering bursts reminiscent of 32 km north of Mexico City. The al’s office opened an 300 stalls at the market were the market. “Everyone started Pena Nieto said in a tweet. a war zone. detonations struck in the run-up investigation, saying in a state- destroyed by the explosions, said running to escape as bricks and Pena Nieto is the former gov- It was the third time in just to the busy Christmas holiday, ment that six separate blasts state official Jose Manzur. pieces of concrete fell every- ernor of the State of Mexico, the over a decade that explosions when many Mexicans stock up caused the destruction. He said the market was where,” he said. country’s largest, which sur- have hit the popular San Pablito on fireworks. Isidro Sanchez, the head of inspected by safety officials last The blasts were the latest in rounds the capital.

Evening leisure Colorado girl pleads guilty to conspiracy in school attack plot

Denver accomplice, Sienna Raine John- two students in a nearby county Reuters son, also 17, were arrested in fatally shot a teacher and 12 December 2015 after an anon- classmates before killing them- ne of two teenage girls ymous tipster alerted authorities selves. Higgins wrote in a accused of plotting a to the teens’ plans, authorities journal, later seized by investi- OColumbine-like assault said. Both girls were 16 at the gators, that she wished she could on their Colorado high school time of their arrest, and prose- have taken part in the 1999 ram- last year pleaded guilty on Tues- cutors charged them both as page, even taking a photo of day to conspiracy and adults. Johnson’s case is still herself in front of Columbine solicitation to commit first- pending. High, Hurlbert said. degree murder, a prosecutor Defence attorneys had Brauchler said Higgins said. sought to have both cases han- pleaded guilty to the conspiracy Brooke Ann Higgins, 17, dled by the juvenile court count as an adult and to the admitted in Douglas County Dis- system, where criminal penal- solicitation charge as a juvenile. trict Court that she and a ties are more lenient. The unique arrangement, if classmate planned to attack staff The full details of the plot approved by a judge in Febru- and students at Mountain Vista remained under a court seal, but ary, would allow Higgins to High School in the Denver sub- prosecutor Mark Hurlbert told serve three years in a juvenile urb of Highlands Ranch, District Reuters at the time Higgins was lockup followed by four years People from Hoboken and New Jersey view lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center Attorney George Brauchler said charged that the teen was fas- of supervised probation on the in New York City during sunset, yesterday. in a telephone interview. cinated with the 1999 Columbine adult charge under a so-called Higgins and her alleged High School massacre, in which deferred judgment, he said. Five crew dead Odebrecht and Braskem Death penalty may be on in Colombian the way out in US: Report plane crash plead guilty in bribe case New York pleas in the United States fol- Bogota Reuters lowing an investigation in Brazil Washington innocence, costs, and discrimi- The 2016 executions would AFP dubbed “Operation Car Wash” AFP nation, availability of life be the fewest since 1972, when razilian construction firm into corruption at Petrobras, without parole as a safe alter- the US Supreme Court declared Colombian cargo plane Odebrecht SA and affili- which has led to dozens of he days of capital punish- native, or the questionable way capital punishment unconstitu- crashed three minutes Bated petrochemical arrests and political upheaval ment may be numbered in in which states are attempting tional. It reinstated the death A after taking off in the company Braskem SA pleaded in Brazil. Tthe United States, with to carry out executions, the pub- penalty four years later. Public east of the country on Tues- guilty in a US court yesterday The deal with Odebrecht, sharp reductions in new death lic grows increasingly opinion polls measured support day evening, killing five crew to violating American foreign Latin America’s biggest engi- sentences and executions car- uncomfortable with the death for capital punishment at a four- members and critically injur- bribery laws as part of a more neering firm, is for 6.9bn reais, ried out amid waning public penalty each year." decade low this year, the report ing another, officials said. than $3bn deal resolving a more than $2bn, a source this support, according to a report Though two-thirds of US said. Still, the possibility that the The sole survivor, a flight sweeping corruption probe of week, and is part of an agree- released yesterday. states still allow the death pen- Supreme Court will once again technician, was in hospital Brazil’s state oil company. ment with Brazilian The Death Penalty Informa- alty, this year is expected to end outlaw the death penalty faded and would be flown to the The companies entered prosecutors. tion Center, a Washington-based with 31 new death sentences, the after Republican Donald Trump capital Bogota for treatment, their pleas in federal court in Under the global settlement nonprofit organisation, said sta- DPIC said in a year-end report. was elected president last authorities said. The dead Brooklyn in the major corrup- deal, Braskem jointly owned by tistics point to a continued That would be a steep 37 month. Trump, who takes office include the pilot, co-pilot, tion case stemming from a Odebrecht and Petrobras, has record decline in the use of kill- percent drop even from 2015, on January 20, is expected to fill flight engineer and dis- wide-ranging probe into their agreed to a global deal of $632 ing as punishment. when 49 death sentences the vacant seat on the nine-seat patcher, it added. The Boeing role in a scheme involving million, Assistant US Attorney "America is in the midst of a marked a 40-year low. Supreme Court with a conserv- 727, operated by the Colom- political kickbacks at Brazil’s Alixandra Smith said in court. major climate change concern- Executions declined to 20 ative judge, tipping the court to bian carrier Aerosucre, was Petrobras. Of that sum, the United States ing capital punishment," said this year, the lowest number a conservative majority. bound for Bogota from Puerto The cumulative penalties gets 15 percent, Switzerland Robert Dunham, DPIC's execu- since 1991 and well below the Notably "just five states" of Carreno, near the Venezue- were negotiated as part of a gets 15 percent and Brazil gets tive director and the author of 1999 peak of 98 executions, the 31 where the death penalty lan border. It crashed at global settlement with US, Bra- 70 percent, prosecutors said. the report. stoking hopes for opponents of is legal have executed a prisoner 5:23pm 10 miles from the zilian and Swiss authorities. It is one of the largest cor- "Whether it's concerns about the death penalty. this year, the report said. German Olano Airport. They are the first guilty ruption cases on record. 20 HOME THURSDAY 22 DECEMBER 2016

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FAJR 04.53 am Kiddy Zone opens exclusive SHOROOK 06.15 am

ZUHR 11.32 am MAGHRIB 04.51 pm ASR 02.30 pm ISHA 06.21 pm toy store at The Pearl-Qatar WEATHER TODAY The Peninsula Kiddy Zone aims to become the o o number one retail toy store destination edina Centrale has offi- in the GCC countries where customers 16 C 23 C cially welcomed Kiddy can confidently shop knowing that all Minimum Maximum Zone to its friendly retail the products are safe for children and neighborhood as the complies to U.S. European and Gulf first and exclusive toy Standards, it takes special care on mat- Mstore at The Pearl-Qatar, located at ters related to kid’s safety and applies Building No.5, Unit No. 90. strict adherence to all relevant local, Kiddy Zone’s new store at Medina national and international safety stand- Centrale spreads over 5,230 ft², luxu- ards essential for cultures. riously and skillfully designed to Speaking on the occasion of open- develop a remarkably marvelous ing ceremony, Kiddy Zone’s CEO - Mr. shopping experience for families. Its Osama Al Shihabi, said, "We are enthu- interior decoration focuses on creat- siastic to bring the brand Kiddy Zone ing an exciting, friendly and joyful to The Pearl and specifically to the ambiance for both children and par- vibrant district of Medina Centrale ents which gives the store a highly where we believe, we will further competitive edge in the market. The enrich the family-friendliness sur- store also brings for the first time ever roundings offering the most versatile a multi-touch interactive game & selfie and diversified line of toys and much Osama Al Shihabi, CEO, Kiddy Zone (centre), with Bassam S El Khoury, center at the entrance where children more from the world’s most promi- can play, compete, win, develop skills nent brands. We are equally pleased Executive Director, Commercial, UDC, after the Opening of Kiddy Zone and build beautiful memories. to be affiliated with UDC being our at Medina Centrale, at The Pearl-Qatar, yesterday. Pic: Abdul Basit/The Peninsula

strategic partners and I thank UDC on has established itself as the Qatar’s most behalf of Kiddy Zone for all the con- successful retail toy stores possessing a tinued support and cooperation character for excellent customer serv- Moderate in temperature daytime extended”. Kiddy Zone will soon open ice, pleasant in-store ambiance and with slight dust at times and cold one more store in The Pearl-Qatar at exhaustive collections of toys for dis- at night. Porto-Arabia in the first quarter of 2017 cerning customers and expanded its HIGH TIDE 10:00 LOW TIDE 02:15 - 18:15 which shall be the best retail toy stores business to other GCC countries, cur- in Qatar as we aim for it, we are also rently Kiddy Zone successfully operates Courtesy: Qatar Meteorology Department opening another store in Dar Al Salam a chain of 10 stores in the most prestig- Mall in Doha, within the same period. ious and popular shopping malls in LATEST NEWS Kiddy Zone franchise was Qatar, UAE and Oman. Kiddy Zone in UPDATE launched in the year 2006 in Qatar. Medina Centrale at The Pearl will be Drawing strength from its local partner open from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm on “Qatar National Trading Group Com- week-days and from 10:00 am to 11:00 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com pany” in a short span of time, Kiddy Zone pm on weekends. Tel: 44720251.