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THURSDAY Vol. XXXIX No. 10961 October 4, 2018 Moharram 24, 1440 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

Our Say

By Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka Editor-in-Chief Amir’s visit paves way for big growth in Qatar, Latin America relations

Qatar has been a robust player both on regional and international arenas for decades, creating new His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is being greeted by Peru His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Peru President Martin Vizcarra witness the signing of an strategic alliances every now and President Martin Vizcarra at an off icial reception accorded to the Amir in Lima yesterday. agreement between the foreign ministries of Qatar and Peru at the Presidential Palace in Lima yesterday. then, building new collaborative partnerships, and further fortify- ing friendly relationships. Though small in size, Qatar has been able to skilfully approach superpowers and establish long-term co-operative Amir, Paraguay president relationships with them as well as other countries. Doha has also been Qatar, Peru explore able to create long-term partnerships hold talks in Asuncion with international organisations and intergovernmental organisations like the United Nations (with its agen- cies) and World Trade Organisation. ways to promote Such strategic alliance, partner- ships, and relations are also already established with countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Lat- in America, too, has also got Qatari partnerships in good measure. friendly relations Currently, His Highness the Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad QNA Peru president also discussed the to develop them. al-Thani is on offi cial visits to key Lima most important regional and inter- The meeting and the ceremony South American countries which national issues of common interest were attended by members of the of- include Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay and exchanged their views, particu- fi cial delegation accompanying the and Argentina. One aim of the visits atar and Peru are moving larly the current Gulf crisis. Amir. is to explore ways of bolstering re- forward to boost bilateral The Peruvian president affi rmed Later in the day, the Amir left lations, developing and enhancing Qrelations and exploring the principle of respect for the sov- Lima, following a two-day state vis- co-operation in various fi elds and ways to develop co-operation in ereignty of states, praising in this it, heading to Paraguay. He was seen areas of mutual interest. Such dis- various fields, especially in econ- regard the mediation of the Amir of off upon departure from the Callao cussions involve signing new deals omy, trade, investment, education Kuwait, and the US mediation to re- air base by Peru’s Deputy Minis- and agreements, with the hope- and tourism. solve the crisis through dialogue and ter of Foreign Aff airs Hugo de Zela, ful outcome of increasing political, His Highness the Amir Sheikh diplomatic means. Commander-in-Chief of the Air economic, cultural, scientifi c and Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani held The signing ceremony and discus- Base Major General Javier Ramirez, technical co-operation. discussions with Peru’s President sions were attended by members of Qatar’s ambassador to Peru Ali bin His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is being received on arrival at The current visit comes within the Martin Vizcarra in this regard at the the offi cial delegation accompanying Hamad al-Sulaiti, ambassador of Asuncion airport by Paraguayan Foreign Minister Luis Alberto Castelloni yesterday. framework of the “Doha Declara- Presidential Palace in Lima yes- the Amir and a number of Peruvian Peru to Qatar Carlos Velasco, as well tion” of 2009. It is the implementa- terday, offi cial Qatar News Agency ministers. Earlier, upon arrival at the as members of the Qatar embassy in QNA expressed his pleasure at the Amir’s ac- tion of what was agreed on at the end (QNA) reported. Presidential Palace, His Highness Lima. Asuncion cepting the invitation to visit Paraguay, of the Arab-South America Summit The Amir arrived in Peru from Ec- the Amir was accorded an offi cial re- The Amir sent a cable to President especially as it coincides with the 17th an- held in Qatar in March 2009. The uador, where he started a four-state ception. Vizcarra, expressing deep thanks niversary of the establishment of relations summit planted the seeds of the re- Latin American tour which is also The Amir also received the key and appreciation for the hospital- atar and Paraguay held a session of between the two countries, looking for- lationships between Qatar and Latin taking him to Paraguay and Argen- of the city of Lima from the City ity and honour accorded to him and offi cial talks chaired by His High- ward to strengthening bilateral relations of America, and His Highness the Amir tina. Mayor Luis Castaneda Lossio, as the accompanying delegation dur- Qness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin friendship and co-operation in the coming Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani His Highness the Amir and an honorary guest of Peru and an ing the visit in which they exchanged Hamad al-Thani and President Mario years. saw it as an objective to be achieved. President Vizcarra also witnessed expression of the friendly relations views on issues of common inter- Abdo Benitez, at the Presidential Palace in For his part, the Amir expressed his Among what the leaders approved the signing of a number of agree- and co-operation between the two est and means of strengthening and Paraguay’s capital city of Asuncion, yes- thanks to the president for the warm at the summit was agreeing on sev- ments between the two govern- countries. promoting the friendly relations and terday evening. welcome and affi rmed his keenness to eral issues that aimed at promot- ments concerning the cancellation This came during a ceremony yes- co-operation for the benefi t of the The Amir arrived yesterday in Paraguay strengthen relations with Paraguay and ing key areas of common interests. of visa requirements for holders of terday in the municipality building, two peoples. on a state visit as part of his four-nation develop them for the benefi t of the two There has been a stress on the im- diplomatic passports and special in the presence of a number of senior His Highness the Amir wished Latin American tour, which has taken him friendly countries and peoples. portance of co-operation and pro- passports, as well as the institu- offi cials in Peru. President Vizcarra the best of to Ecuador and Peru, with Argentina to fol- During the meeting, the two sides dis- motion of capacity building and ex- tional co-operation between the The Amir and the Mayor of Lima health and happiness, and the low. cussed the co-operation relations at various change of expertise in development ministries of foreign affairs and held a meeting during which they friendly people of Peru further At the beginning of the meeting, Presi- levels, especially in the economic, invest- and innovation. To Page 24 interior. reviewed the friendly relations be- progress and prosperity. dent of Paraguay welcomed the Amir ment, trade and cultural areas, as well as the [email protected] During the talks the Amir and the tween the two countries and ways Pages 2, 8, 9, 23, 24 and the accompanying delegation. He air transportation sector. To Page 24 Amir’s visit to Paraguay a new beginning for bilateral ties: envoy

QNA Asuncion is an integrated model thanks countries, stressing that the embassy resentatives of the executive, legislative in 2017 as part of the state’s eff orts to The ambassador expressed his admi- Doha to the advantages enjoyed by the two in Qatar is Paraguay’s only diplomatic and judicial authorities. attract the strongest economies in the ration for Qatar’s dealing with the Gulf countries. representation in the GCC and will be The Amir will also meet representa- Arab world. crisis and its ability to overcome the He pointed out that the mutual vis- the main gateway to the expansion into tives of the private and commercial He added that his country has taken current situation positively. araguay’s ambassador in Doha, its, the establishment of a joint min- the Asian continent. sectors in various fi elds to identify op- measures to attract capital from all over He said that Doha, after the blockade Angel Ramon Barchini, said that isterial committee and the signing of Barchini pointed out that the Amir’s portunities for co-operation and in- the world and to encourage investment, imposed on it by the Gulf countries, Pthe state visit of His Highness various co-operation agreements in visit means a lot to the Paraguayan vestment between the two countries, including the signing of a number of was able to face the situation, and suc- the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al- various fi elds have a great impact in government and people, stressing that in addition to signing several bilateral bilateral and international treaties to ceeded in moving forward to achieve Thani to his country is a beginning of a supporting the future of the ambitious it contributes to enhancing bilateral co-operation agreements in a number protect investment, recognising inter- self-suffi ciency and open up to new new phase of the existing co-operation relations between Qatar and Paraguay. relations and opens new and benefi - of fi elds. national arbitration, and providing for- markets, creating opportunities for and a foundation for a stronger future The ambassador explained that Par- cial opportunities for both parties, and The ambassador noted that Qatar eign investment laws that let foreigners import and export with the world as a prospects. aguay’s new government is committed continues to make progress in trade, and his country signed an agreement have the same guarantees and rights whole. The ambassador said in a statement to opening new markets in diff erent tourism and investment with Qatar. to promote and protect mutual invest- and obligations of Paraguayan investor He also pointed out that his country to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the continents of the world with special The ambassador added that His ments, and another one to avoid dou- and other government facilities and tax exports to Qatar meat and fi ne coal, future of relations between Doha and attention to the Middle East and Asian Highness the Amir will meet with rep- ble taxation and prevent tax evasion exemptions. food products and poultry. Gulf Times 2 Thursday, October 4, 2018 QATAR

Cabinet approves draft 391 undergoing training to for qualifi cations and academic accreditation join teaching profession commission E the Prime Minis- The Cabinet also approved a E the Minister of Educa- Minister HE Dr al-Hammadi ter Sheikh Abdullah draft resolution of the Minis- tion and Higher Educa- noted that the College of Edu- Hbin Nasser bin Khalifa ter of Transport and Commu- Htion Dr Mohamed Abdul cation is a key partner in the al-Thani chaired the Cabinet nications regarding the rules Wahed Ali al-Hammadi stressed advancement of the educational regular meeting, held yes- and regulations to protect the that Tumoh (ambition) pro- sector, being the national in- terday morning at the Amiri privacy of personal data of gramme, which aims to attract stitute for teacher education, Diwan. individuals. students to the teaching profes- which aims to raise students’ Following the meeting, HE The ministry has prepared sion, is one of the leading pro- academic achievement, improve the Minister of Justice and the draft resolution within grammes in the fi eld of training their national sense and realise Acting Minister of State for the framework of issuing the teachers at a high-level. Qatar National Vision through Cabinet Aff airs Dr Hassan necessary decisions to im- During his visit to the College education based on innovation Lahdan Saqr al-Mohannadi plement the provisions of of Education at Qatar Univer- and creativity. stated that the Cabinet re- Law No. (13) of 2016 on the sity on the occasion of Qatar’s “The future of Qatar depends viewed several topics on its protection of the privacy of celebrations of World Teachers’ on the success of the education agenda. personal data. Day, the minister said that the process, therefore the College The Cabinet approved a The Cabinet approved the programme successfully gradu- of Education has an important HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Mohamed Abdul Wahed Ali al-Hammadi during a draft resolution to establish accession to the multilateral ated 274 students in various role as a modern educational meeting at the College of Education at Qatar University. the National Commission for agreement to implement tax educational specialties since institute, which includes re- Qualifi cations and Academic treaty related measures to pre- its launch in the academic year search centres, sources of mod- ing to the advancement of Qatar. disciplines. “The number of stu- attention to the fulfi lment of Accreditation. vent base erosion and profi t 2009-2010. ern learning, and teaching and Dr al-Derham stressed the uni- dents reached 2,000 students in their rights, awareness of the Within the framework shifting. He added the programme is administrative bodies qualifi ed versity’s keenness through the various programmes including teaching profession and provide of the general policy of the The Cabinet approved the currently preparing 391 stu- to assist in any eff orts to develop College of Education to prepare bachelor’s and master’s degrees appropriate training and contin- state, the commission aims annual plan of the Qatar Tour- dents who will join the teaching and promote education. qualifi ed teachers, according to the as well as doctoral programmes uous professional development. to manage the national qual- ism Authority for participat- profession soon after gradua- Qatar University president Dr best methods of teaching and eval- off ered in Arabic, thus increasing The ministry will hold a cere- ifi cations framework, make ing in exhibitions held outside tion. He highlighted the role of Hassan bin Rashid al-Derham uation, to meet the needs of the the number of Qataris enrolled.” mony today at the Qatar National academic accreditation, ap- the State during 2019. the College of Education and its praised the constructive co-op- fi eld of teaching and education, Qatar participates in the cel- Convention Center, to hon- ply quality assurance stand- It also took the necessary contribution in providing the eration between Qatar University which is witnessing a great boom ebration of Teachers’ Day, which our100 teachers who have spent ards to higher education measures to ratify an agree- educational system with high- and the ministry in several areas, and requires extraordinary eff ort. is held on October 5 each year, in decades in the teaching profes- institutions in the state and ment on the mutual recogni- level educational cadres in terms including the preparation of edu- College of Education dean Dr recognition of the role of teach- sion in government schools in to contribute to its develop- tion of driving licences and of preparation and educational cational curricula and the gradu- Ahmed al-Emadi stressed the ers in the education of future recognition of their eff orts in this ment in order to enhance their replacement between qualifi cation. ation of Qatari cadres contribut- college’s interest in scientifi c generations, in addition to draw fi eld. (QNA) confi dence. Qatar and France.

Amir condoles with King of eSwatini Transport Minister His Highness the Amir Sheikh Qatar, Peru explore ways to enhance Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and meets Serbian envoy His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani sent yesterday cables of economic and trade relations condolences to Mswati III of the Kingdom of eSwatini on the death of former prime minister Sibusiso atar and Peru are ex- Barnabas Dlamini. HE the Prime ploring options to es- Minister and Minister of Interior Qtablish a joint ministe- Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin rial committee for economic, Khalifa al-Thani sent a similar commercial and technical co- cable to Prime Minister Vincent operation as part of eff orts to Mhlanga. strengthen trade and economic relations between the two countries. Amir greets This, as well as other areas, came under discussions at the German president meeting of HE the Minister on National Day of Economy and Commerce HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Ahmed al-Sulaiti met yesterday with the Serbia ambassador to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Mohamed al-Thani with Roger Qatar, Jasminko Pozderac. During the meeting, they discussed Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani Valencia, minister of foreign co-operation relations between Qatar and Serbia in the fields and His Highness the Deputy trade and tourism of Peru. HE the Minister of Economy and Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani during a of transport and communications and means of further Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Discussions also touched meeting with Peruvian off icials. enhancing them. Hamad al-Thani sent yesterday upon a number of agreements cables of congratulations to promote bilateral investment nical co-operation agreement, ties, particularly in the fi elds the Peruvian Ministry of For- to German President Frank- relations including an agree- in addition to an agreement of mining and energy as well as eign Aff airs; and Carlos Velasco, Walter Steinmeier on his ment on the mutual promo- on legal co-operation and a hydropower, infrastructure and Peru’s envoy to Qatar. country’s National Day. HE the tion and protection of invest- memorandum of understanding transportation projects. The Qatari delegation in- Prime Minister and Minister ments and an agreement on the (MoU) in the fi eld of education, The meeting was attended by cluded Ali bin Hamad al-Sulai- Qatari ambassador of Interior Sheikh Abdullah avoidance of double taxation. higher education, scientifi c Alberto Nico, chief executive ti, Qatar’s ambassador to Peru bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani In 2017, Qatari-Peruvian bi- research as well as an MoU on of the Peruvian Private Invest- and Sheikh Faisal bin Thani al- holds talks in Kuwait also sent a similar cable to lateral trade reached QR95mn. mining. ment Promotion Agency; Gus- Thani, director of the Invest- German Chancellor Angela In 2013, Qatar and Peru signed Discussions also touched on tavo Otero, Director General for ment Department at the Qatar Merkel. an economic, trade and tech- several investment opportuni- Africa and the Middle East at Investment Authority. Qatar highlights measures on tobacco control atar is participating in in the fi ght against tobacco. and has become a permanent ing warning pictures on tobacco plan 2018-2022 included ways the eighth international A delegation of the Ministry party, which refl ects the state’s packages and preventing the ad- to reduce the rate of smoking in Qconference of the par- of Public Health and the Tobacco keenness to protect its citizens vertising of tobacco products in Qatar. ties to the WHO Convention on Control Centre at Hamad Medi- and residents of the dangers of the media. On the preventive and thera- Tobacco Control, which is being cal Corporation (HMC) repre- smoking.” The Ministry of Public Health peutic level, Qatar witnessed held in Geneva and will continue sents Qatar in the conference. He pointed out that Qatar took issued the national tobacco con- several preventive and aware- Kuwait’s Minister of the Amiri Diwan Aff airs Sheikh Ali Jarrah until Saturday. Dr Ahmad al-Mulla, head several procedures to limit the trol plan 2016/2015, based on ness-raising programmes, al-Sabah met yesterday with Qatari ambassador to Kuwait, The conference will dis- of the HMC Tobacco Control spread of the tobacco, including WHO policy, and seeks to pro- including regular awareness Bandar bin Mohammed al-Attiyah. During the meeting, they cuss several topics, foremost Centre, adviser to the Minister banning smoking in public plac- mote the prevention of the im- campaigns at schools and uni- discussed bilateral relations and means of co-operation. of which is the formation of Public Health, said that Qa- es, preventing the marketing of pact of smoking on children and versities to raise awareness Ambassador al-Attiyah also met Kuwait’s Deputy Chief of of a medium-term strategic tar was one of the fi rst coun- chewing tobacco, Dokha and young people and to improve about the dangers of smoking. the National Guard Meshaal al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah. The framework to defi ne the ac- tries to sign and ratify this con- electronic cigarettes, preventing the chances of quitting smoking There are also several specialised meeting focused on bilateral ties and the means to enhance tions of the parties to the con- vention (fi rst in the Gulf and the sale of tobacco products to and increase the places with- clinics in Qatar to help smokers them, in addition to issues of joint interest. vention over the next fi ve years the second in the Arab world) people under the age of 18, plac- out smoking. The ministry’s quit smoking. (QNA) MME cautions Bridge at Khalid Bin Abdullah Al Attiya on environment interchange to partially open tomorrow law violation By Ramesh Mathew looking for the completion of the Staff Reporter second phase of the Al Rayyan Road development project, ex- he Ministry of Mu- birds and use them for hunt- pected to be ready by December nicipality and Envi- ing in one of the wild areas. major bridge constructed in line with the directives of HE Tronment (MME) called The violation was referred to to provide direct traffi c the Prime Minister and Minister yesterday for preservation of security authorities to take the Afl ow between Al Furousi- of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin environment and avoidance necessary measures. ya Street and Al Huwar Street in Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani. of any violations that harm A ministerial decision re- Rayyan area is ready for partial Ahmad al-Emadi of the its safety. leased on September 10 regu- opening tomorrow. Highway Department, Minis- The MME said in a state- lated hunting in the wildlife. Ashghal offi cials an- Off icials from the Ashghal, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Central Municipal Council and try of Transport and Commu- ment that it will carry out One of those regulations was nounced yesterday the partial Rayyan municipality at the new bridge and tunnel in Rayyan yesterday. PICTURE: Shaji Kayamkulam nications (MoTC) Road Assets patrols and will also monitor the ban of certain hunting de- opening of the new bridge at Department manager Hamad videos and images shared on vices that attract birds to it in Khalid Bin Abdullah Al Attiya lane each in either direction is the direction from Bani Hajer to A number of traffi c detours Issa, Central Municipal Council social media that include en- the wild. The hunting of cer- Interchange and a new tunnel ready for opening. Doha. will now be removed and it is chairman Mohamed Mahmoud vironmental violations. tain birds was also specifi ed at Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad The new tunnel is about 925m Ashghal said that the new expected to reduce travel time al-Shafi , member Mohamed Sa- The MME noted that the at the period from September Al Thani Interchange. The long and includes fi ve lanes in bridge and tunnel would ensure by more than 50%. The bridge lem al-Qamra, Traffi c Safety and Department of Protection and 1 to May 1, 2019. The hunting project is part of Al Rayyan each direction, of which two will a signifi cant improvement in will serve many areas, including Engineering Department man- Wildlife caught one person in of rabbits was also specifi ed Road Development Project now be open to allow the contin- the area’s traffi c fl ow, especially Al Rayyan, Al Luqta, Al Gharafa, ager Brigadier General Mohamed the act of violating environ- from November 1 to Decem- (phase two). uation of construction works on between Al Furousiya Street and Mreikh, Fareej Al Amir besides Marafi a, Al Rayyan Municipality mental laws, after he appeared ber 15, subject to being done The new bridge is approxi- the project. This is in addition to Al-Huwar Street, leading further Education City and Aspire Zone. representative Saqer al-Kaabi in a video where he appears by falcons and hunting dogs mately 370m long and includes opening two lanes on Al Rayyan to Al Gharrafa Road and Khalifa Project engineer Abdullah and a number of other Ashghal to be using a device to attract only. (QNA) four lanes in each direction. A Road below the new bridge in Avenue. Qassem said Ashghal is now offi cials were present. Gulf Times Thursday, October 4, 2018 3 QATAR

SC showcases impact of 2022 World Cup to aid workers’ welfare

he Supreme Committee 20th Anniversary of Engineers A key theme during the pres- to put money back in the pock- a range of UK-based and inter- for Delivery & Legacy (SC) Against Poverty, Qutub high- entations was the groundbreak- ets of workers is underlined by national companies from a di- Tshowcased the impact of lighted the success of the work- ing progress the SC has made on fi ve SC contractors who rolled verse range of industries joined the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qa- ers’ welfare programme to date reimbursing fees that may have the scheme out to 8,000 work- by key stakeholders to discuss tar in tackling workers’ welfare in addressing human rights and been paid by migrant workers ers with no involvement in SC various issues relating to tack- and helping to accelerate social labour issues. during their recruitment proc- projects. ling modern day slavery and change, during two presenta- He said: “We have made con- ess. This was also discussed ex- Qutub added: “We are real- protecting the rights of workers. tions in London last week. crete steps to address a number tensively between the SC and istic enough to understand the The SC received positive feed- Mahmoud Qutub, the SC’s ex- of crucial issues, including but key stakeholders at a dedicated issue hasn’t been solved – and back during both conferences ecutive director of the Workers’ not limited to ethical recruit- ethical recruitment workshop won’t be solved by any one or- after highlighting the success Welfare Department and senior ment, health and safety, ampli- hosted by the NYU Stern Centre ganisation – but we found a way of the SC’s grievance mecha- adviser of the Special Projects fying our workers’ voices and for Business and Human Rights to give back to the workers who nisms including workers’ wel- Offi ce, addressed UK industry using innovation to enhance the the previous week. may have experienced some fare forums and hotline, and to experts attempting to tackle lives of our workers. Since the end of 2017, the SC form of exploitation in their showcase key initiatives such The SC’s Mahmoud Qutub addressing a conference. modern day slavery and the civil “It’s important to share our has worked with 70 contractors home countries. as the deployment of innova- society members supporting progress with industry peers in involved in building 2022 con- “Hopefully our eff orts under- tive cooling technology across with Qatar International Safety Balfour Beatty, Intercontinental these eff orts. order to showcase the impact struction projects to commit a line our determination to use the SC projects, the Weill Cornell Centre, and the introduction of Hotels Group, Unicef, HSBC, the At both the 4th Modern Slav- that an event such as the World projected QR51mn to 20,000 World Cup as a platform to drive Medicine-Qatar nutrition pro- digitised medical records across Body Shop, C&A and Siemens ery and Human Rights in Sup- Cup can have on the welfare of workers over the next three the conversation.” gramme, the extensive health SC sites and accommodations. attended the 4th Modern Slav- ply Chain Conference and the workers.” years. The legacy of this drive Both events brought together and safety training carried out Global companies including ery conference.

Woqod’s new petrol station opens in Fereej Kulaib

atar Fuel (Woqod) phase. He said this October HMC launches opened yesterday the three new fi xed petrol stations QFereej Kulaib petrol in Old Aslata (Corniche), Ha- station, raising its network of mad International Airport, and petrol stations to 64 as part of Fox Hills (Lusail) will open. the company’s ongoing expan- Al-Muhannadi said in fur- sion plans to serve every area in therance of customer’s sat- innovative Qatar. isfaction and the decrease of Woqod CEO engineer Saad traffi c congestion in petrol Rashid al-Muhannadi said: stations, Woqod is currently “We are pleased to open a new working on the dismantling of petrol station in Fereej Kulaib. diesel dispensers in Wadi Al- programme for Woqod aspires to expand its banat, Bufassaila, and Rowdat petrol station network in the Al Hamama petrol stations, and country to meet the rising de- The Fereej Kulaib petrol station. will replace them with petrol mand for petroleum products dispensers. and achieve the goal of pro- the completion of this project.” the-clock services to residents, He said Woqod is consider- viding customers with access Fereej Kulaib petrol sta- includes Sidra convenience ing the replacement of the dis- stroke treatment to best-in-class products and tion is spread over a 3,554sqm store and sale of LPG cylinders, mantled diesel dispensers with services at their convenience area and has eight lanes that in addition to sale of gasoline three mobile diesel stations to By Joseph Varghese teams in these locations and we and comfort. will serve Fereej Kulaib and its and diesel products. be located in some areas near Staff Reporter will start in next week or so,” he “Woqod will also announce neighbourhood. In addition, He added that Woqod is the three above-mentioned said. According to Dr Saqqur, the the opening of new petrol sta- the number of dispensers was currently working on the con- petrol stations. major requirements for the pro- tions this month to meet the increased in order to enhance struction of 31 petrol station Al-Muhannadi said the an- amad Medical Corpora- gramme are awareness among pa- fuel and energy needs of the the quality of the service and projects, which are expected to nouncement is part of the com- tion (HMC) has estab- tients as well as training for medical country. The Woqod team reduce the vehicle congestion be operational this year. He said pany’s strategic expansion plan, Hlished the ‘Tele-Stroke and paramedic staff . would like to thank all gov- at the petrol stations. Woqod currently has seven new adding that Woqod is targeting Programme’ a new and innova- “At HMC, we receive about ernmental and private entities Al-Muhannadi said the new stations in the tendering phase to reach a total of 120 fuel sta- tive way of treating stroke pa- 1,600 stroke patients annually. concerned that contributed to petrol station off ers round- and 10 stations in the design tions by the end of 2020.” tients in the distant areas of the High blood pressure is the ma- country. jor reason for stroke followed by “We have set three satellite Dr Maher Saqqur other reasons such as diabetes, centres for stroke treatment; overweight, lifestyle issues as well one in Al Khor, another one in Al three hot spots will deal with as smoking. We have also started Wakrah and the other in Sanaya. the stroke patients by using a stroke prevention programme Partial removal of roundabout on Orbital Road Patients suff ering from stroke the Cerner facility,” Dr Saqqur which help people identify the in these areas will be provided noted. “The patients will be CT symptoms and get necessary treatment instantly through scanned at one of the satellite treatment in advance,” he said. shghal has announced partial re- a programme called ‘drip centres and I can instantly see “We have excellent health fa- moval of the roundabout located and ship’,” disclosed Dr Ma- the images using the Cerner sys- cilities in Qatar, better than many Awest of Al Mazrooah Interchange on her Saqqur, senior consultant, tem over the Internet and make of the advanced countries. People the Orbital Road from tomorrow (Friday). stroke neurologist, Hamad Gen- diagnosis. Depending on the im- must make use of the healthcare The change is to allow the completion of eral Hospital, HMC and profes- ages, we will decide if any clot is facilities for risk factor manage- road construction works at Al Mazrooah In- sor of clinical knowledge in the to be removed and if so, the pa- ment. Unfortunately, many of the terchange. University of Alberta, Canada. tient will be taken to the HGH stroke patients coming to HMC, The proposed roundabout removal has “It will be too late to bring where we will complete further had neither visited these facilities been designed in co-ordination with the stroke patients to HGH from far treatment,” the physician said. nor got proper guidance from the General Directorate of Traffi c and will re- off places such as Al Khor or Al “This should save us minimum physicians. Exercise is the best main permanently in place. Wakrah as time matters a lot in one hour to reach HGH which way to control the lifestyle diseas- Those travelling from Umm Slal Ali area, a stroke case. Every minute, two should save the patient. We have es and control stroke risk,” added while exiting the place, can directly access million neurons die. So these already done the training for the the neurosurgeon. the Orbital Road westbound lanes and drive for a distance of 2km towards Al Mazrooah roundabout. At Al Mazrooah rounda- NU-Q professor elected to Academy of Motion Picture Arts bout, they can make a U-turn and ac- cess the Orbital Road eastbound lanes Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) Professor for our students and faculty to have such through which they can exit the Orbital Marco Williams (pictured) has been elected to the a distinguished teacher and colleague,” Road at the first right turn while access- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, best he added. Williams has previously held a ing Umm Slal Mohamed institutions known for awarding the film world’s Oscars. Williams, Guggenheim Fellowship, a George Foster such as the Health Centre, the Girls’ who holds a joint appointment as professor of com- Peabody Award and a Columbia-DuPont School and the petrol station. munication at NU-Q and on the university’s home Award, all high honours, for his documentary films. The motorists heading to Al Mazrooah campus in Evanston, Illinois (US), has been named to Williams, whose films have championed diversity and Interchange can access Al Shamal Road the documentary branch of the academy. NU-Q dean empowerment, said: “I hope to enhance the diversity towards Al Ruwais and all northern ar- Everette E Dennis called the election a “well-deserved of the types of films considered (for the Academy eas via the north-east ramp, or head tre, the Civil Defence and the Police De- straight towards Al Mazrooah Inter- recognition for a renowned professional known for Awards) as well as the types of makers who create straight towards Lusail. partment will exit Umm Slal Mohamed change and use the east roundabout his work as a documentary film artist, mentor and these important works. At NU-Q, Williams teaches Those from Umm Slal Mohamed area, area and access the Orbital eastbound at the interchange to do a U-turn, and master teacher. He has done important and pathfind- courses in film directing and the foundations of proceeding to Umm Slal Ali facilities lanes. continue straight and use the exit to- ing documentaries and this is the latest of his many screenwriting. Before joining NU-Q, he taught at New such as the Immigration Services Cen- On the Orbital Road, they can drive wards the above destinations. honours and awards he has received”. “It is a privilege York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Positive response to Katara QM, UCL Qatar to develop new Cultural Heritage Law

‘used books’ campaign atar Museums (QM) and for our people and respects University College Lon- our past. This project is aimed Qdon (UCL) in Qatar have at modernising the existing QNA says Khalid al-Sayed, who is in partnered to deliver a new legal heritage legislation, so that Doha charge of the project. Al-Sayed framework for Qatar’s cultural we can maximise the social said that the objective of the heritage, which will help move and social-economic benefits project was to promote the cul- the country forward in realising of arts and culture,” al-Namla isitors to Katara Cultural ture of reading among the public the ambitions of the Qatar Na- said. Village can now pick up and help people to dispense their tional Vision 2030 (QNV 2030). “It will ensure we continue Vused books in English and unwanted books in a socially QM, the leading cultural au- to be a leading cultural cen- Arabic on various titles, free of useful manner. thority in Qatar, and UCL Qatar tre, not just in the region but cost, at one of the several pur- “We had distributed about worked successfully together globally. We look forward to pose-made cabinets set up at the 20,000 books last year under the for several years, and this new working with government Katara premises. project,” said al-Sayed. partnership is set to be one of stakeholders in the coming Kataras Used Books Donation Katara has set up seven spe- the most signifi cant. months and drawing on the Campaign, now in its second cially-made cabinets across its In the coming months, sen- unrivalled expertise of the year, has evoked a tremendous premises to showcase and dis- ior leaders from both institu- Mansoor bin Ebrahim al-Mahmoud, Ahmad al-Namla, and Dr Sam Evans. UCL team,” he added. response from the public. tribute the books. It has also set tions will draw on internal and Evans said UCL was invit- Since last month, Katara has up a hotline for the public to call external expertise from organi- ards, the new comprehensive and monitoring of the law, in The fi rst day focused on de- ed to Qatar in 2010 by Qatar been collecting used books from for donating books. Katara is ac- sations like Unesco aimed at law will strengthen Qatar’s co-ordination with other rel- veloping a shared defi nition of Foundation to develop cultural potential donors and distribut- cepting books mainly in English modernising cultural heritage relations with global institu- evant government agencies. diff erent types of heritage rel- heritage programmes that help ing them to the public free of and Arabic on all topics. laws currently protected under tions, enhancing the country’s The project was inaugurated evant to Qatar and examined realise the tangible and intan- cost. A social media campaign Visitors to Katara can open the the Law on Antiquities, No 2, reputation as a leading cultural at a two-day workshop this recent developments in heritage gible value of the county’s in- launched by Katara in this regard cabinets and select the books of which was published in 1980. centre in the region and inter- week in the presence of spe- protection. vestment in arts and culture. has gone well with the public, their choice. Under the visionary guid- nationally. cial adviser to QM Chairperson The second explored the “Over the last eight years, ance of QM Chairperson HE In developing the framework, Mansoor bin Ebrahim al-Mah- range of legal protection for QM has been a pivotal partner Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Ha- QM and UCL Qatar will be ex- moud, QM’s acting CEO Ahmad heritage, such as the illicit for UCL in this task. We’re in- FM sends message to Kenya mad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the amining multiple facets of her- al-Namla, UCL Qatar director trafficking of cultural prop- credibly proud to be working project will further protect and itage protection best practice, Dr Sam Evans, representatives erty and protection of heritage with them yet again on such an Kenya’s cabinet secretary for foreign aff airs Monica Juma received a written mes- promote Qatar’s history and including taking a detailed look of Qatari government entities, during armed conflict. important national initiative; sage from HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed culture. at four key areas. Qatar National Library, Unesco, “Qatar is an ambitious and an initiative that is paramount bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, pertaining to bilateral relations and means to support, By bringing the existing legal This new Authority will op- and international experts from fast developing country, one to protecting and promoting develop them. Qatar ambassador to Kenya Jaber bin Ali al-Dosari handed over framework into line with inter- erate within QM and entrusted the University of Siena and Uni- that is embracing change and Qatar’s heritage and delivering the message during a meeting with the Kenyan off icial. nationally recognised stand- to oversee the implementation versity of Geneva. progress in a way that is right the QNV 2030,” he added. Gulf Times 4 Thursday, October 4, 2018 QATAR

AZF partners with HMC in public blood donation drive Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF), in collaboration with Hamad ‘Vibrant Medical Corporation (HMC), will launch a public blood donation campaign at Aspire Park today as part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives. Dubbed as “Donate Blood, Save Life,” Gujarat the campaign represents another example of AZF’s support for Qatar’s medical organisations and HMC as they seek to provide uninterrupted blood supplies for critical patient needs and pro- 2019’ team mote a culture of blood donation. The campaign encourages do- nors to head to HMC’s mobile blood donation unit, situated near ‘Burgery’ restaurant, between 4pm and 8pm. AZF also launched to arrive yesterday a two-day campaign urging its employees to take part in the blood donation eff orts. Meanwhile, a mobile blood dona- tion unit will be available for donors near AZF’s headquarters until on Oct 10 the end of the week.

10-member ‘Vibrant Gu- jarat’ delegation led by Dr ARajiv Gupta, Additional Chief Secretary of the Govern- Italian ambassador Pasquale Salzano inaugurated the festival at LuLu Hypermarket, Al Messila, yesterday in the presence of Giosafat Rigano, Italian ment of Gujarat will be visiting trade commissioner to Qatar, Mohamed Althaf, director of LuLu Group, and other dignitaries. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil Doha between October 10-12, to promote the ninth edition of Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit scheduled to be held in the west- ern Indian state between January 18-20. It will be held at Gujarat’s cap- ital Gandhinagar. Italian Food Festival The delegation comprises of- fi cials from the Gujarat State Government as well as repre- sentatives from the industry, including those from the private sector. The visit is being co-or- begins at LuLu outlets dinated by the Embassy of In- dia, Doha, along with the Indian he Italian Food Festival Commission in 2004. “Rather the display of Ducati Motorcycles food logistics and diversification Business & Professionals’ Coun- 2018 has been launched at than a festival of Italian food, it is by Alfardan Motorcycles created of food supplies. cil (IBPC). TLuLu Hypermarket outlets more of a celebration of the Ital- an ambience highlighting Italian “Italy is pleased to be a part- The delegation would meet under the theme, ‘Savour the Best ian culinary and food tradition music, culture and heritage, the ner for Qatar in this respect,” and interact with prominent Qa- of Italy’ until October 9. and the rich heritage of advances statement noted. With a view to he said. “With this approach of tari businessmen and investors, The event has been organised in made by Italy in the realms of sci- make Italian food more popular partnership and exchange, we and also with state-owned busi- association with the Italian Trade ence, fashion, art, music and lit- among the local community, LuLu are even more honoured to an- ness and investment institutions Agency, with the support of the erature. The festival also aims at Hypermarkets has printed and nounce the upcoming week of in Qatar. Italian embassy in Qatar, in order improving customers’ awareness circulated a free recipe book con- Italian cuisine in November, in Besides disseminating salient to promote authentic Italian food of Italy’s food brands, showcas- taining 20 special recipes. which LuLu will also be a part- information related to invest- products. ing a new and wide range of prod- Presenting the campaign, Sal- ner.” ment opportunities in Gujarat Italian ambassador Pasquale ucts directly sourced from various zano said: “Let me congratulate Speaking on the festival, an and ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ Global Salzano inaugurated the festival companies in Italy,” LuLu Group LuLu and the Italian Trade Com- official spokesperson for LuLu Summit 2019 in particular, the at LuLu Hypermarket, Al Mes- said in a statement. mission for making this initia- said: “LuLu Group has long- delegation will discuss ways to sila, yesterday in the presence The festival features in-store tive nicer and bigger every year. standing trade relations with forge new collaboration/partner- of Giosafat Rigano, Italian trade promotions, sampling, live dem- The embassy of Italy is proud to Italy and been importing a wide ships in various sectors, espe- commissioner to Qatar, Mohamed onstrations by renowned Italian support this annual promotion, range of foodstuff, including cially oil and gas, petrochemicals, Althaf, director of LuLu Group, chef Claudio Trovato from Marri- which allows people to experi- olives, organic products, spe- infrastructure and construction, and several other dignitaries from ott Hotels, communication cam- ence the great variety of Ital- cialty ranges, bakery ranges, cement, chemicals and fertilisers, various Italian companies operat- paigns via social networks, media ian food and ingredients of the Italian specialty cheese varie- textiles, gems and jewellery and ing in Qatar. and fl yers, and specifi c procure- Mediterranean diet.” ties, pasta, pasta sauces, etc, and food processing. LuLu Hypermarkets has been ment activities to increase the He noted that Qatar is show- related grocery items for many Coinciding with the visit of organising the event in Doha for range of Italian products off ered ing the world a strong vision and years. Italian products are ac- the delegation, a networking the past 14 years as part of its an- at LuLu Hypermarket outlets. commitment in developing its cepted very well by our custom- event is being organised by the nual LuLu Food Fiesta. The festi- A live performance by famous agro-food production capacity, ers. Generally, Italian products Indian Business & Professional val was launched in Qatar in co- Italian jazz duet Tutti Frutti at implementing ambitious plans are of superior quality and good Council (IBPC) on October 10 at operation with the Italian Trade the inaugural ceremony as well as for self-sufficiency, integrated variety.” Sheraton Hotel. Gulf Times Thursday, October 4, 2018 5 QATAR CRA dispels rumours of global Internet shutdown

The CRA clarified that on October Numbers (ICANN) will change the mains, .gov.qa, .org.qa, .com.qa etc., 11 the ICANN will change the cryptographic key that helps protect will not be affected as the latest se- cryptographic key that helps the Domain Name System (DNS) — curity measures, and international protect the Domain Name System the Internet’s address book. standards have been implemented by — the Internet’s address book This is an important move to en- CRA. sure a secure, stable, and resilient The CRA is recommending to do- he Communications Regula- DNS, the CRA added. mains operators who own or manage tory Authority (CRA) has cau- “To further clarify, some Internet domains not under the Qatari do- Ttioned the public against mis- users might be affected if their net- mains to check with their Domains leading information circulating on work operators or Internet Service Registry Operator or contact CRA for social media platforms pertaining to Providers (ISPs) have not prepared more information via support@do- an alleged “two-day Internet outage for this change. However, this im- mains.qa across the world.” pact can be avoided by enabling the The primary source for informa- The CRA clarified that on Oc- appropriate system security exten- tion about the rollover is http:// tober 11, 2018, the Internet Cor- sions,” it continued. www.icann.org/kskroll, the CRA poration of Assigned Names and Qatari domains such as .qa do- said. Gulf Times 6 Thursday, October 4, 2018 QATAR

DFI Cinema to screen two fi lms today Mercedes-Benz models recalled The Doha Film Institute (DFI) Cinema is bringing two distinctive voices in cinema, Qatar Airways airline The Ministry of Economy and as part of its Ajyal Film Series screenings, Commerce (MEC), in collaboration to the Museum of Islamic Art Auditorium with Nasser Bin Khaled Automo- today. biles, has announced the recall of “The Ajyal Film Series of DFI Cinema keeps 2016-2017 Mercedes-Benz C-Class the spirit of our annual film festival event partner of FWI 2018 models over the potential detach- throughout the year by off ering another ment of the aluminium profile bar opportunity for Qatari audiences to catch from the vehicle. up with trend-setting films,” said DFI chief atar Airways is the official Kiran Joneja, Manjeet Rajkumar warmly welcoming the attendees The MEC said the recall campaign executive Fatma al-Remaihi. airline partner for Fash- Hirani and many celebrities will be at this event, but we also look for- comes within the framework of At 6pm today, Walls (2017), directed by Qion Weekend International seen on the red carpet at FWI 2018. ward to flying the show’s entou- its ongoing eff orts to protect con- Qatar-based talent Nibu Vasudevan, will 2018 (FWI 2018), in partnership rage in style from around the world sumers and ensure that automo- be screened, followed by a question and with FAB Entertainment, taking to witness this unforgettable show, bile dealers follow up on vehicles’ answer session. An animated film, Walls is place on Friday and Saturday at and to indulge in Qatar’s welcom- defects and repair them. set in a decaying world that has become A scene from the film Walls. Mondrian Doha. ing hospitality and culture,” al- The MEC said that it will co- nothing more than a trash heap. The weekend will begin with Baker added. ordinate with the dealer to follow Here, skeletal robotic creatures are en- overseas to fight. an iconic fashion show that will FAB Entertainment CEO Fauzia up on the maintenance and repair gaged in a pointless, seemingly endless Best-known for films such as Harry Potter showcase global celebrity fashion Vohra said celebrities and overseas works and will communicate with war. and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), and designer and Oscar jury member guests flying into Doha for FWI customers to ensure that the nec- The film gained international acclaim science-fiction thrillers Children of Men Manish Malhotra with celebrity will experience unprecedented essary repairs are carried out. through its participation in global festivals, (2006) and Gravity (2013), Cuaron is among Bollywood queen and showstopper The weekend will begin luxury and hospitality whilst trav- including at the “Shortcuts to Qatar” at this the most talked-about Mexican filmmakers Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. with an iconic fashion elling with their partner airline on year’s Cannes Film Festival. of his generation. FWI is a blend of fashion-relat- show that will showcase their global network. Toyota Lexus Following the screening and the ques- The film is rated ‘G’ and suitable for general ed events, which will exclusively global celebrity fashion Virginia Commonwealth Uni- tion and answer session, A Little Princess audience. highlight designer Manish Mal- designer and Oscar versity School of the Arts in Qa- models recalled (US/1995), directed by the renowned Tickets are priced QR25. hotra’s work, providing the perfect jury member Manish tar’s fashion design students will Alfonso Cuaron will be screened. Students and Culture Pass by Qatar setting for his debut show in Doha. Malhotra be an essential part of the fashion The Ministry of Economy and A charming, critically acclaimed children’s Museum members can avail of discounted Alfardan Group, Salam, Mon- show at FWI 2018. Commerce (MEC), in collabora- fantasy, A Little Princess tells the story rates of QR20 per person. drian Doha and Qatar Tourism Au- “We are thrilled to be the offi- Omar Hussain Alfardan, presi- tion with Abdullah Abdulghani & of 10-year-old Sara Crewe, who has been Tickets are available at DFI Ticket Outlet thority are the other core partners cial airline partner for this stylish dent and CEO of Alfardan Group, Bros Co, has announced the recall left in a respected New York City board- across the MIA Auditorium and online at of the event, which will see the event. Qatar couldn’t be a more said: “We are pleased to support of Toyota Lexus LC500 models ing school while her British father heads www.dohafilminstitute.com Miss World 1994 winner walking perfect destination for an event of this spectacular event that gathers of 2017-2018, to reprogram the the runway for Malhotra for the this calibre, as the State continues communities from Qatar and the hybrid vehicle control’s ECU. first time internationally. to embrace an all-encompassing international fashion scene, which The MEC said the recall campaign Actor and reality show star, Ka- ambience for culture, couture and reflects Alfardan Group’s commit- comes within the framework of ran Tacker will be the host of the fashion,” Qatar Airways Group ment to forging strategic partner- its ongoing eff orts to protect con- FWI 2018 fashion show. chief executive Akbar al-Baker ships with cultural icons to make sumers and ensure that automo- Renowned actress Mahira Khan said. the country a hub for cultural ex- bile dealers follow up on vehicles’ and Pakistani theatre, film and tel- “We are also honoured to be fly- periences.” defects and repair them. evision actor, model and director ing many of the celebrities to Doha, “Setting the pace for Qatar-India The MEC said that it will co- Hamza Ali Abbasi are the special especially as we have recently in- Year of Culture in 2019, this high- ordinate with the dealer to follow guests. troduced our revolutionary and profi le event will cater to the rising up on the maintenance and Rising star Azaan Sami, singer stylish Qsuite Business Class seat demand for fashion and entertain- repair works and will communi- and songwriter Sophie Choudhary, on our very popular Mumbai and ment destinations in line with the cate with customers to ensure Indian film director and producer Bengaluru routes,” he noted. growth of the tourism and hospital- that the necessary repairs are Ramesh Sippy with actress wife “We not only look forward to ity sector in Qatar,” he added. carried out.

‘Discover Education City’ to highlight opportunities to prospective students. Two-day ‘Discover Education City’ begins October 16

he opportunities for It also aims to give pro- learning, discovery, spective QF students and Tand growth that an their families an insight into education at Qatar Foun- Education City’s facilities, dation (QF) off ers will be environment, and ethos, opened up to Qatar’s stu- while showcasing QF’s ed- dents and its wider commu- ucation, community, and nity this month through the innovation-focused initia- latest edition of ‘Discover tives. Education City’. The two-day fair will The annual education fair provide information and – which will take place at guidance on undergradu- the Education City Student ate and graduate education Centre from October 16- programmes at HBKU and 17 – allows students from the international universi- Qatar’s independent and ties with campuses at Edu- private schools, as well as cation City, including ad- recent graduates and pro- mission processes, fi nancial fessionals looking to expand aid, and housing require- their skills and knowledge, ments. to explore the world-class The ABP and QCDC will higher education options also have booths in place available across Education at Discover Education City City. to support and advise high Organised by QF Com- school students as they seek munity Development in to make the transition to partnership with QF mem- university and explore po- ber Hamad Bin Khalifa Uni- tential future career paths. versity ( HBKU); QF part- Machaille al-Naimi, ner universities Carnegie president of Community Mellon University in Qatar, Development, QF, said: Georgetown University in “In both the academic and Qatar, HEC Paris, North- community sense, Educa- western University in Qatar, tion City is a vibrant and Texas A&M University at diverse environment that Qatar, Virginia Common- off ers myriad opportuni- wealth University School ties to develop, innovate, of the Arts in Qatar, Weill and broaden understand- Cornell Medicine – Qa- ing within and beyond the tar; the Academic Bridge classroom. Programme (ABP), part of “Through Discover Edu- QF’s Pre-University Edu- cation City, QF gives high cation; QF member Qatar school students and their Career Development Centre families, postgraduates, ( QCDC); Qatar Founda- and working profession- tion Financial Aid Services; als seeking to widen their and QF male and female skillset a true taste of what student housing, Discover study and life at Education Education City will famil- City is like.” iarise those looking to de- Sessions at Discover Ed- termine the next step on ucation City will run from their academic journey with 9am-12pm and 4-8pm on the programmes and majors October 16, and from 9am- off ered by QF’s universities, 12pm and 4-7pm on Octo- across a diverse range of ber 17, and no pre-registra- disciplines. tion is required.

Gulf Times 8 Thursday, October 4, 2018 ARGENTINA AMIR VISITS SOUTH AMERICA Opportunities abound in Qatar, says Argentinian expatriate

By Joey Aguilar others,” Freije noted. Staff Reporter He also lauded how the Min- istry of Interior’s Traffi c Depart- ment manages traffi c in many atar, a “home away from areas of the city, signifi cantly re- home” for many expatri- ducing road accidents. Qates, has been continu- Hoping to still be in Doha dur- ously providing various opportu- ing the 2022 FIFA World Cup, nities for its residents in diff erent Freije wants to see the city’s sectors, Argentinian expatriate complete transformation and Matias Freije has told Gulf Times. experience its many off erings, “I see that the work-life bal- including the games during the ance here is perfect, and I am prestigious tournament. thankful to have a good job here Argentina is among the 80 at Qatar Foundation,” said the countries, which also include veterinarian, who has been tak- Peru, Paraguay and Ecuador, ing care of horses in Doha since whose nationals enjoy visa-free 2015. entry to Qatar. He lives in Doha with his wife “I like the city because eve- and two children. rything is close, not too big, you Freije, who was speaking on have a lot of things to do in a very Matias Freije’s two kids at a playground. the visit by His Highness the Matias Freije (right) with fellow Argentinian Guillermo Villegas Bardó. small radius,” Freije said, add- Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad ing that he has the chance to use outdoor sports and recreation- Apart from enjoying their of Qatar, especially in the winter. al-Thani to Argentina, expressed city” in a couple of years once all Doha will become an extraor- several sports facilities off ered at al facilities such as table ten- visits in many of the city’s pub- Freije said they also enjoy the confi dence that they can share and major infrastructure projects are dinary city, with its stunning diff erent locations. nis, bowling, badminton, bas- lic parks during their free time, gathering of small Argentinian bring a lot of experience to Qatar. fi nished”. roads and highways, bridges, He likes to play golf, football ketball, swimming, volleyball, Freije’s family also frequently groups (community members) He said Doha is “amazing and “I always tell my friends that buildings and soon, the much- and tennis. track and field events, kite-fly- spends time during weekends in at the embassy with a barbecue will become a more amazing when all the projects are done, awaited Doha Metro, among Doha hosts many indoor and ing and cycling, among others. the beaches in the northern part during the winter. Qatar has ‘loads of potential’ as a tourist destination

By Joey Aguilar cuisines, to family-friendly spac- time with her family on Fuwairit a rich tradition, has loads to off er every person within Qatar’s vast and my family the chance we Staff Reporter es for kids to thrive in and parents beach in the northern part of Qa- Qatar in terms of expertise and ex- community has something to off er couldn’t have had back home to to relax, this country provides tar, away from the bustle of Doha. perience,” she pointed out. “Qatar towards greatness,” she added. live a contented life,” she said. something for everyone regard- “I like Souq Waqif for relaxed is also becoming an authority in About living in Doha for eight About infrastructure, Brown atar has “loads of poten- less of their stage in life,” Anahi strolls and Qatar National Library the sports arena and that is going years as a second home, Brown hopes to see more strategic and tial” as a touristic and Brown, an empowerment coach for countless hours of reading. to be a great asset going forward.” stressed that “my life in Doha well-planned development in the Qfamily destination, of- and speaker, told Gulf Times. Qatar has so many great places to About helping make the 2022 is beyond my dreams”. “Com- upcoming years “to make sure fering an array of products and She was describing the open- visit and enjoy,” she noted. tournament in Qatar successful, ing from South America, I find Qatar is ready to wow the world”. services suitable for both domes- ness of Qatar as a destination, Brown also cited the coun- Brown said her biggest contribu- this place safe and loving to About His Highness the Amir’s tic and foreign visitors, an Ar- allowing visa-free entry to 80 try’s status as a sports hub, host- tion would be to continue working families, offering countless op- visit to Argentina, she said the two gentinian-Venezuelan expatriate nationalities, including Argen- ing several major sporting events, for the country’s success, as well as portunities to grow and develop countries have “a huge potential in Doha has said. tinians and citizens of other Lat- particularly the 2022 FIFA World being open to off ering support to your career and family.” to become great partners in each “From the up and coming culi- in American countries. Cup. “I believe that Argentina, as a Anahi Brown, an empowerment any organisation looking for local “I’m Argentinian-Venezuelan other’s growth, not only in sports nary scene with new concepts and Brown said she loves to spend football-loving country with such coach and speaker. talent to join them. “This is when and feel that Qatar has given me but also in many other ways”. Sights & sounds of Argentina

ith the Argentine riety of adventure tourism choosing to live near the village: La Caldera. embassy in Doha tours. Here, adventure can city, but also, close to na- O Folk festivals: Folk fes- Wworking closely be lived in diff erent ways: ture. Surrounding the villa tivals in Salta should not be with Qatar Airways and the mule or horseback riding are various natural reserves, missed. On a single evening country’s senior tourism of- between poplars and wil- one of them being the San it is possible to taste typical fi cials on tourism co-oper- lows, mountain bike across Lorenzo Ravine – a natu- dishes and learn about the ation and promotion, those the mountains, rafting at Los ral sanctuary that can be musical culture of the Argen- wanting to visit Argentina Patos river, trips to Laguna explored in diff erent ways: tine northwest. The atmos- have a lot to look forward Blanca at about 9,800ft and horseback riding, trekking, phere is cheerful. Dinner is to. The South American – of course – land-yachting. mountain bike and 4x4 ve- accompanied by live shows, country has much to off er O San Lorenzo Ravine and hicles, always accompanied with the presentation of mu- – from natural splendours La Caldera: San Lorenzo by authorised guides and, sicians and dancers. Birth- to cultural attractions and is located at only six miles of course, camera in hand. place of great composers, more. Here are some of the from the city of Salta, in At a bit more than 13 miles Salta is an important musical touristic highlights: Lerma Valley. A summer vil- from Salta’s capital city, the centre in the country. la in the past, nowadays it is nature’s beauty merges with (Courtesy: www.argen- O Multi-adventure at the the residence place of those the history of a 19th century tina.travel) feet of the Andean Range: High snow-covered peaks, furious rivers, roads among valleys and a huge fl atland covered by lava. The per- fect stage for adventure. In Mendoza, rivers, valleys and mountains form natu- ral irresistible scenarios fi t for adventure. O Del Cerrito Island: In the province of Chaco, at the confl uence of two huge rivers, an incredibly beauti- ful natural reserve. A privi- leged area for fi shing. O Flavours of the Chacar- era: Ancient and musical, Santiago del Estero is a land of skilful hands where life is celebrated until the fi rst lights of the day. Crossed by the rivers Dulce and Salado, plotted by dusty roads and routes, the province of Santiago del Estero, in the northern region of Argen- tina, is a land of folk tradi- tions. There, music, typical food, regional products and handcrafts reaffi rm their ancestral identity. O Rosario, the city and the river: In the province of Santa Fe, on the Paraná riverside, one of the most important Argentine cities: historical, cultural, soccer- fan and natural. Known as the ‘fl ag’s birthplace’, the city proudly presents the Na- tional Flag Memorial, an im- posing construction cover- ing 107,639sqft, built to pay tribute to General Manuel Belgrano, the creator of the Argentine fl ag and a key player in the independence struggle. O Land-yachting in the wind’s desert: A pre-range oasis located in the desert aridity, it is the departure point for an interesting va- Gulf Times Thursday, October 4, 2018 9 AMIR VISITS SOUTH AMERICA ARGENTINA

Qatar, Argentina ‘to sign pacts in His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani Mauricio Macri, President of Argentina.

By Joey Aguilar Staff Reporter

everal agreements on various fronts aimed at several fi elds’ High-level strengthening Qatar-Argentina relations will be Ssigned during the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Argentina, Ar- zAgreements likely in agro-industry, education and sports gentina’s ambassador to Qatar Carlos Hernandez has visits likely said. “We are intending to sign agreements and memo- By Joey Aguilar randums of understanding (MoU) in areas such as e described His Highness’ visit gentina, he has personal friends over there “From the side of Qatar, things moved Staff Reporter agro-industry, education, youth co-operation and as extremely important, allowing and especially his close friendship with really good for both sides, exporting to us exchange, sports, visa waiver for Qatari citizens and a Hseveral opportunities to open and President Mauricio Macri. He is admired and an approximate value of $450mn, basically ‘Declaration of Intention’ between the city of Buenos reaffi rming the two countries’ excellent respected by our people,” he added. fuel,” the envoy noted. igh-level visits between Qatar and Argentina Aires and the city of Doha,” the envoy told Gulf Times. relationship. Hernandez expressed confi dence that “In just a short period, Qatar moved from in various areas of co-operation will take place Argentina is keen to help Qatar, based on the MoU on “Bilateral relations between Qatar and trade volume between the two countries being a small provider of LNG to Argentina, Hin the coming months as part of the countries’ agro-industry, in its self-suffi ciency eff orts to achieve Argentina are on the way to reaching their will increase rapidly in the coming years, to become the number one at present. We are efforts to further strengthen bilateral relations, Ar- food security, Hernandez said. highest level. We have a tradition of co- not only LNG imports, but also exports happy with this relationship.” gentina’s ambassador Carlos Hernandez has said. However, he said that due to the limited time avail- operation and friendship and are doing our from Argentina. “We would also like to be relevant food The envoy told Gulf Times that Argentina’s Secretary able, the agreement signing “for issues still pending” best, that is my responsibility, to make it He said Argentina exported an approxi- provider to Qatar, we can, we are ready for of Government for Sports, Secretary of Government for would be done later. more eff ective and dynamic for the good of mate value of $20mn with around 70% re- it,” said Hernandez, as he expressed opti- Renewable Energy and Mining, and Minister of Energy, “Some are on the way between our national univer- both countries,” the envoy said. lated to agriculture such as cereals, barley, mism that more companies from Argen- as well as the governor of the province of Jujuy (rich in sities and national libraries plus other matters,” Hern- “His Highness the Amir is more than wel- fruit, poultry, meat, and the rest in various tina will come and operate in Qatar in the mineral resources and solar energy projects), will be vis- andez pointed out. come to our country. We know he loves Ar- industries. lead-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. iting Doha “most probably in December this year”. Hernandez expressed confi dence that the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Argentina will open doors to further boost bilateral Argentina - South America’s second largest economy and a diverse land ties between the two countries. About collaboration in the fi eld of sports and Qatar’s Argentina is a country located mostly in the etc; traditional dances like tango; the passion hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he said they are southern half of South America. Sharing the for football, and the craze for major players planning the visit of the Argentine football association bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the and clubs, Boca Juniors and River Plate being president or vice-president this year. west, the country is also bordered by Bolivia the most popular ones, and the ones that fill and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the their stadiums and cause proliferating displays northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic of excitement every time they play. Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to Many natural sites in the country are protected the south. areas, such as reserves and national parks. It is the eighth largest country in the world, Moreover, some of the main natural landmarks fourth largest in the Americas and the largest have been declared World Heritage Sites by Spanish-speaking nation. Unesco. It is subdivided into 23 provinces and one The main characteristic of Argentina is autonomous city, Buenos Aires, which is the diversity, and this is also the case with the federal capital of the nation. weather. The country enjoys a very varied On July 9, 1816, the Congress of Tucumán climate: it is mild and humid in the Pampas; formalised the Declaration of Independence, cold and damp in the western Patagonia; which is now celebrated as Independence Day, subtropical in the Mesopotamia region; and a national holiday. warm in the Northeast. The highest points Argentina has the second largest economy at all latitudes are the coldest areas, with in South America, the third largest in Latin dry, snowy, mountain weather, and a wide America and is a member of the G-15 and G-20 temperature range. major economies. Buenos Aires is the capital and most populous It is also a founding member of the city of Argentina. The city is located on the United Nations, World Bank, World Trade western shore of the estuary of the Río de Carlos Hernandez, Argentina’s ambassador to Q atar. Organisation, Mercosur, Union of South la Plata, on the South American continent’s American Nations, Community of Latin southeastern coast. Buenos Aires’ quality “From that visit will for sure come as a result of co- American and Caribbean States and the of life is one of the best in Latin America in operation plus the organisation of tournaments in Qatar, Organisation of Ibero-American States. 2018, and it is the most visited city in South including football teams sponsored by Qatar Airways It is the country with the second highest America. like Boca Juniors from Argentina, the most popular foot- Human Development Index in Latin America Buenos Aires is a top tourist destination and ball team in Latin America, but also our national team with a rating of “very high”. is known for its preserved Spanish/European- most probably in March 2019,” the envoy said. Argentina has many peculiarities that have style architecture and rich cultural life. Buenos “Regarding the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it is clear that travelled the world by word of mouth with the Aires held the 1st Pan American Games in Argentina supported Qatar from the start,” he stressed. people who have visited the country. 1951 and hosted two venues in the 1978 FIFA During His Highness the Amir’s visit to Argentina, The outgoing personality of its people, who are World Cup. It will host the 2018 Summer Youth Hernandez said collaboration of small and medium en- friendly, fun and eff usive; the typical cuisine Olympics and 2018 G20 summit. terprises, “as well as top ones” ,will be discussed during which includes asado, mate, regional dishes, Courtesy: Wikipedia and www.argentina.travel the meetings of Qatar’s Minister of Economy and Com- merce. “We are organising meetings for him with busi- ness people with that purpose,” he added. Talks on tourism co-operation and promotion and en- hanced connectivity between the two countries are also un- der way, said Hernandez. “Contacts have been initiated with tourism authorities at high level in order to promote it and a direct fl ight to Doha Buenos Aires, is already under con- sideration and it will for sure boost this area,” he said. “We would also like Buenos Aires to be a hub for Qatari destina- tion to other Latin American countries and Doha to Asia.” “As soon as Qatar Airways Group chief executive Ak- bar al-Baker decides to off er a direct Doha-Buenos Aires fl ight, I am convinced trade will fl ourish,” he added. In the area of education, he noted that they are also initiating student exchanges of diplomatic schools or A view of Buenos Aires young diplomats, and “trying to have a bilateral institu- tional contact in this matter.” Renewable energy, mining future areas of co-operation

By Joey Aguilar Citing that several countries have in- lithium which has a high value in the in- “But there are also other possibilities Staff Reporter vested in these projects in the last two ternational market and cobalt which has of co-operation and investment in this Bilateral relations - milestones years, Hernandez noted that Argentina it several times more,” the envoy noted. fi eld since we are pursuing to double our will soon host the largest solar energy “You wouldn’t fi nd these last two very oil and gas production in fi ve years time The start of diplomatic relations of Understandings between the rgentina is exploring a possible facility in Latin America. easy in the world and our reserves look to and also trying to expand the LNG ter- between Qatar and Argentina two countries: partnership with Qatar in fi nanc- “We are also interested in wind and be like very relevant.” minal,” Hernandez said. goes back to the mid- 1970s, when z An agreement to develop and Aing some large renewable energy hydro (energy) apart from others,” he Hernandez also highlighted Qatar’s He added that Qatar Investment Au- the two countries made a joint implement integration projects in projects in Argentina, according to Ar- stressed, noting that the two countries investments in Argentina, which are thority also owns a 12% stake of Adeco- statement in 1974 in New York to the fields of energy, culture and gentina’s ambassador Carlos Hernan- have started discussing on the prospects mainly related to the shale oil deposit of Agro, an agro-industrial company with a establish diplomatic ties. scientific co-operation. dez. of Qatar’s participation in renewable and Vaca Muerta. large variety of products owning 435 hec- z Agreement for economic, “Our country is the new star in this mining sectors of Argentina. “Vaca Muerta has room for everyone tares in Argentina, Brasil and Uruguay. Exchange of visits: commercial and technical sector in Latin America since we are pur- Besides renewable energy, Hernandez who is interested in investing. The re- The envoy disclosed that agreement on z His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin cooperation. suing to highly increase the participation said Argentina is also exploring Qatari serves are more than relevant, one of the the promotion and protection of invest- Khalifa al-Thani, the Amir of Qatar z Agreement for air transport — of this sort of clean energy in our grid,” interest in the mining sector. most recent and largest worldwide,” he ments, and a double taxation avoidance at that time, visited Argentina in Agreement for co-operation in the the envoy said. “We understand Qatar is not keen to stressed. will be ratifi ed soon, Hernandez said. 2010. sports field — A Memorandum of He was speaking ahead of the visit of invest in greenfi eld projects but there Qatar Petroleum made a huge invest- “Simply some internal political cir- z The President of Argentina at Understanding (MoU) between His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim are other ones where they can invest,” he ment this year related to the exploring cumstances did not allow its considera- that time, Cristina Fernández de the Chambers of Commerce and bin Hamad al-Thani to Argentina, which added. on unconventional hydrocarbons by ac- tion by the National Congress, which is Kirchner, visited Qatar in 2011 Industry of the two countries. is expected to further strengthen the re- “We have relevant reserves of gold and quiring 30% stake in ExxonMobil Argen- the institution to give the green light. z MoU for tourism co-operation lations between Qatar and Argentina on copper, but also some nowadays strate- tina, a company with licences to explore I am confi dent we will achieve it very Agreements and Memorandum between the two countries. various fronts. gic and scarce resources in the world like the reserves. soon,” he said.

Gulf Times Thursday, October 4, 2018 11 REGION/ARAB WORLD US sanctions against Iran must not hit humanitarian aid: court

Reuters interests, and that Washington of our country are illegal and cruel. ruling by the 15-member panel fore Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolu- The Hague would “terminate” the little- “The United States must com- of justices. The sanctions may tion which ended friendly rela- known treaty with Iran. ply with its international commit- not hurt “exportation to the ter- tions between the countries. “This is a decision frankly that ments and lift obstacles to Iranian ritory of Iran of goods required US State Department Legal he World Court ordered is 39 years overdue,” Pompeo told trade,” it added. for humanitarian needs such as Adviser Jennifer Newstead had the United States yesterday a news conference.”Iran is abusing The ICJ is the United Nations’ medicines, medical devices and said Iran’s real quarrel was its Tto ensure that sanctions the ICJ for political and propagan- highest court for resolving dis- foodstuffs and agricultural com- frustration over the US pullout against Iran, due to be tightened da purposes and their case, as you putes between nations. modities as well as goods and from the nuclear pact, under next month, do not aff ect humani- can see from the decision, lacked Its rulings are binding, but it services required for the safety which Tehran restricted its dis- tarian aid or civil aviation safety. merit.” Pompeo said the United has no power to enforce them, of civil aviation,” he said. puted uranium enrichment pro- Judges at the International States had already taken steps to and both the United States and While US sanctions “in prin- gramme under UN monitoring Court Of Justice (ICJ) handed a ensure that the sanctions, which it Iran have ignored them in the ciple” exempt food and medical in exchange for a lifting of most small victory to Tehran, which had intends to tighten next month, do past. supplies, the court said “it has international sanctions. argued that sanctions imposed not impact humanitarian aid — re- The court said assurances of- become difficult if not impos- Trump’s unilateral move has since May by the administration of gardless of the court’s ruling. fered by Washington to ensure sible for Iran, Iranian nationals put it at odds with the other sig- US President Donald Trump vio- The court order issued yes- sanctions do not affect humani- and companies to engage in in- natories to the deal, including late terms of a 1955 Treaty of Am- terday was temporary, pending tarian conditions were “not ad- ternational financial transac- Washington’s close European al- ity between the two countries. a resolution of Iran’s full lawsuit equate”. tions” to purchase such goods. lies Britain, France and Germany, But US Secretary of State Mike against Washington at the ICJ, “The court considers that the The Trump administration as well as Russia and China. Pompeo rejected the decision. something that could take years. United States must...remove by argued last month that Iran’s Washington nonetheless plans He said the United Nations Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in means of its choosing any im- request was an attempt to mis- to pursue a new series of sanc- court, often called the “World a statement “the decision proved pediment arising from the meas- use the court and that the 1955 tions due to go into effect Nov Court”, had no jurisdiction over once again that the Islamic Re- ures announced on 8 May 2018,” treaty specifically ruled out us- 4 aimed at curtailing Iranian the sanctions, which Pompeo public is right and the US sanc- said Presiding Judge Abdulqawi ing courts to resolve disputes. oil exports, the lifeblood of its said were essential to US security tions against people and citizens Yusuf, reading a summary of a The treaty was signed long be- economy.

UNREST Yemen rebels free sons of former president Saleh Palestinian teen killed in Yemen’s Houthi rebels said yesterday they had released two sons of slain ex-president Ali Abdallah Saleh, 10 months after clashes with army: ministry they were captured following the killing of their father. Salah and Medyen Saleh were pardoned AFP by Mehdi Mushat, head of the Gaza City rebels’ supreme political council, and subsequently released, the rebel-run Saba news agency said. Palestinian teenager was It did not give further details. killed during clashes with Multiple political sources close to AIsraeli soldiers near the the late president said neighbour- Gaza border yesterday, the health ing Oman, which has remained ministry in the enclave said. neutral in the Yemen war, played Ministry spokesman Ashraf a major role in brokering their al-Qudra said that Ahmed Abu release, which came on condition Habel, 15, succumbed to a head the two stepped down from Yem- wound after being hit with a tear eni politics. A Saudi-led military gas cannister fi red by soldiers coalition backing Yemen’s govern- near a checkpoint between Israel ment said yesterday that Saleh’s and the Gaza Strip. released sons had been flown out Israel’s military did not imme- of Sanaa on a chartered UN flight diately respond to a request for to Jordan. That was confirmed by comment. a source at Sanaa international There have been months of airport. The coalition accused the protests and clashes along the rebels of stalling for five days “by Gaza border. refusing to allow the UN plane to Yesterday’s incident took place land at Sanaa international airport”, in the Beit Hanoun area of the in a statement published by Saudi northern Gaza Strip, near the Erez Arabia’s state news agency. crossing into Israel. At least 195 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israeli CONFLICT fi re since the protests began on Turkish troop March 30. One Israeli soldier has been The aunt of slain 15-year-old Palestinian Ahmed Abu Habel, who was killed during clashes with Israeli forces convoy enters killed in the border area over the near the Erez border crossing with Israel, reacts outside a hospital morgue in Beit Lahia in the northern Syria rebel zone same period. Gaza Strip, yesterday. Israel says its actions are neces- A Turkish military convoy sary to defend the border and stop creation. Israel says allowing the targeted soldiers with explosive in his yard in the Maghazi refu- entered rebel-held northwestern infi ltrations and attacks, which so-called right of return would devices, grenades and gunfi re, gee camp near the central Gaza- Syria early yesterday, an AFP it accuses Hamas, the move- mean the end of the country as while infi ltrations have been at- Israeli border when he was shot. correspondent reported, as the ment that runs the Gaza Strip, of a Jewish state. Last Friday, seven tempted. The gunshot was apparent er- deadline for establishing a buff er orchestrating. Palestinians and Palestinians, including a 12 and Israeli snipers have been posi- rant fi re from the Israeli army zone between rebel and govern- rights groups say demonstrators 14-year-old, were killed in clash- tioned on the opposite side of the which was shooting at Palestin- ment forces draws closer. At least have been shot while posing no es with Israeli forces along the fence. The months of unrest have ians attempting to breach the 40 vehicles, including trucks and real threat. Gaza border. It was the bloodiest also led to several exchanges of fence that separates Gaza from armoured personnel carriers, Israel and Palestinian fi ghters day of border protests since May rockets or mortars fi red by Hamas Israel, Health Ministry spokes- were seen moving slowly south in blockaded Gaza have fought 14, when more than 60 Palestin- and air strikes by Israel’s military. man Ashraf al-Qedra said. along a main highway under the three wars since 2008. The pro- ians died in violence accompa- Meanwhile, Israel yesterday An Israeli army spokesman cover of darkness. The troops tests have been calling for Pales- nying the inauguration of the US denied Palestinian allegations said that the army did not use they were carrying are expected tinian refugees to return to their embassy in Jerusalem, a move that errant Israeli gunfi re killed a gunfi re in the area of the central to be deployed at “observation former homes now inside Israel. that enraged Palestinians. 78-year-old Palestinian near the Gaza strip border and that there posts” Turkey has already set up More than 700,000 Palestin- The protests have seen Pales- Gaza border on Tuesday. were no known incidents of dis- in rebel-held areas of Idlib and ians fl ed or were expelled in the tinians hurl stones and burn tyres. According to the Gaza Health turbances along the border at the Aleppo provinces. The Syrian 1948 war surrounding Israel’s Israel says protesters have also Ministry the man was shot while time. Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the vehicles were heading to Turkish monitoring posts, including in the southwestern parts of Idlib. There was no word from Turkey on any reinforcements to the area. It last Saudi journalist critical of govt sent a similar troop column into northern Syria just over a week ago. Yesterday’s convoy entered as the deadline for implementing missing after entering consulate a Turkish-Russian accord on the future of Syria’s last major rebel bastion draws closer. AFP He said the Turk- “We are monitoring the situation closely, Istanbul ish foreign ministry trying to gather more information. It would be and police were closely unfair and outrageous if he has been detained POLITICS monitoring the case, for his work as a journalist and commentator,” Iraqi PM designate prominent Saudi journalist critical of adding that Ankara Lopez said. gets tough task Riyadh was still missing yesterday 24 was in touch with Sau- A friend of Khashoggi, Turan Kislakci, head Ahours after he entered the kingdom’s di offi cials. of the Turkish-Arab Media Association, said of forming govt consulate in Istanbul, with his fi ancee anx- “I hope it will be re- he had contacted Turkish offi cials who said iously waiting for news and US offi cials inves- solved peacefully,” he “they are closely following the case”. Veteran Iraqi politician and now tigating his case. said. “We are certain that Jamal is being held in- prime minister designate Adel Jamal Khashoggi (pictured), who writes Khashoggi’s Turkish fi ancee has been wait- side unless the consulate has a tunnel,” Kis- Abdel Mahdi yesterday began the opinion pieces for the Washington Post, has ing outside the consulate since yesterday lakci said. tough task of forming the next not been seen since entering the Saudi con- morning. Hatice appealed to the Turkish government government, seeking to overcome sulate building on Tuesday where he was to “I haven’t received any news from him since to use all diplomatic channels to fi nd her fi - sharp diff erences and unite frac- receive an offi cial document for the couple’s 1pm (1000 GMT) on Tuesday,” 36-year-old ance. “It is a problematic country,” she said, tious political parties. In a surprise marriage. Hatice, who would not give her family name, referring to Saudi Arabia. move late Tuesday, new President Khashoggi, a former government adviser said as she stood outside the barricades around She said Khashoggi had gone to the consu- Barham Saleh handed Abdel Mahdi who went into self-imposed exile in the Unit- the building. late to obtain documents for their own mar- — seen as an independent — the ed States last year to avoid possible arrest, has She said Khashoggi had left his mobile riage to prove he was not married. diff icult responsibility only hours after been critical of some policies of Saudi Crown phone with her. “We want to know his where- In an article written for the Post in Septem- being elected. It comes as several Prince Mohamed bin Salman and Riyadh’s in- abouts. Where is Jamal?” she said. “We want ber 2017, Khashoggi wrote: “When I speak of the diff erent blocs in the Iraqi parliament tervention in the war in Yemen. him to come out of the consulate safe and fear, intimidation, arrests and public shaming are jostling for power following the A senior Turkish offi cial said the Saudi jour- sound.” of intellectuals and religious leaders who dare May elections — in-fighting which had nalist was still being held at the consulate. The US State Department said it was inves- to speak their minds, and then I tell you that I’m so far stymied the formation of a new “According to information we have, this in- tigating the matter. from Saudi Arabia, are you surprised?” government. The largest bloc tradi- dividual who is a Saudi national is still at the “We...are very concerned about where he At about the same time, Khashoggi said he tionally appoints the prime minister Istanbul consulate of Saudi Arabia,” presiden- may be,” the Washington Post’s international had been banned from contributing to the Al- and presides over the formation of tial spokesman Ibrahim Kalin told a news con- opinions editor, Eli Lopez, said in a statement Hayat daily, owned by Saudi Prince Khaled bin the next government. ference. late Tuesday. Sultan al-Saud. Gulf Times 12 Thursday, October 4, 2018 AFRICA

MISHAP POLITICS FINANCE JUSTICE FAKE NEWS 11 dead in Sierra Leone Lagos governor loses I Coast solar power station Mozambique puts 180 Niger kicks out aid worker army vehicle accident bid for second term to get EU, German funds militants on trial over ‘false’ malaria toll

Eleven people died and dozens more were The governor of Nigeria’s commercial hub Lagos, a German and EU cash will be used to finance the One hundred and eighty suspected Islamist An employee of the medical charity Doctors injured when a Sierra Leone army vehicle prominent ruling party figure, yesterday lost his bid first solar power station in Ivory Coast, Germany’s militants went on trial in Mozambique yesterday, Without Borders (MSF) was kicked out of Niger overturned on a hill in the capital Freetown on to seek a second term following a primary selection embassy in Abidjan said yesterday, as the West an off icial said, the first such court case in a nation yesterday, accused of exaggerating the death Monday, the military said. The army truck had process that exposed internal divisions in a crucial African country attempts to boost its use of shocked by a recent spate of extremist attacks. toll from a malaria epidemic in the south of the been heading for a funeral service for a soldier state months ahead of polls next year. Akinwunmi renewable energy. The plant in the northern city Since the end of 2017, several deadly attacks in West African country. A video by Anne Pittet, who recently died when the accident happened Ambode, who took off ice in 2015, was defeated by of Boundiali will receive 27mn euros ($31mn) in the north of the mostly Christian country have an MSF paediatrist, said 10 children were dying in mid-afternoon, on one of the hills that Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the ruling All Progressives funding from the KfW public investment bank been linked to Islamist militants. Joaquim Sive, each day in the southern town of Magaria from surround the centre of Freetown. “Eight soldiers Congress (APC) party primaries for gubernatorial and 9.7mn euros from the European Union, police chief in Cabo Delgado province, where malaria or malnutrition. Health Minister Idi and three civilians have been confirmed dead,” elections to be held in March 2019, just weeks after the embassy said in a statement. Ivory Coast is many of the attacks occurred, confirmed that Illiassou, who talked to AFP in Magaria, said while 70 others were injured, the army said in February’s presidential election in which Buhari will west Africa’s leader in electricity production — 180 suspected insurgents were going on trial but “everything (Pittet) said was false.” MSF said on a statement citing its medical chief Stephen seek a second term. “I...declare Babajide Sanwo-Olu 75% of which comes from thermal energy and declined to give information about the charges or September 25 that its paediatric teams were Sevalie. Of the injured, 57 remain in the Freetown the winner,” said Clement Ebri, chairman of the the remainder from hydroelectric dams. But location. Off icial information regarding the Islamist “fighting alarming death rates among children military hospital with injuries ranging from APC Lagos governorship primary committee, at a authorities want renewables to make up an 11% attacks has been sparse in Mozambique, where under five”, totalling around 10 deaths a day over minor to severe, the statement added. briefing broadcast on national television. share of national consumption by 2020. off icials are hesitant to speak about the issue. the previous 20 days. Finance minister testifi es against Zuma over graft

A keeper feeds an orphaned baby elephant with milk from By Ben Sheppard, AFP a bottle, at the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage near Johannesburg Nairobi.

outh Africa’s fi nance minis- ter yesterday gave damning Stestimony against former More African ivory president Jacob Zuma, accusing him of pushing policies designed to benefi t the wealthy family at the being smuggled into heart of a government corruption scandal. Nhlanhla Nene was sacked China despite ban by Zuma in 2015 in a move that shocked many South Africans and foreign investors as allegations Reuters grew that Zuma and the Gupta Nairobi Research: For African family were overseeing rampant bush elephants, state corruption. wrinkles are cool The Gupta brothers are accused ore African ivory of fraudulently profi ting from vast is being smug- A study of the African bush government contracts and energy Mgled into China elephants’ vast network of deep and transport deals under Zuma, from Myanmar and Bei- wrinkles has found they are who was ousted earlier this year by jing’s ban on trade in ivo- intricately designed to help the the ruling ANC party. ry has failed to dampen animals keep their cool, fight off Nene was re-appointed as fi - imports, a report by con- parasites and defend against nance minister by the new presi- servation group Save the sun damage, scientists said dent, Cyril Ramaphosa, who has Elephants said yesterday. yesterday. vowed to crack down on graft and Wildlife activists said The fine pattern of millions of to revive growth in South Africa, they welcomed China’s channels mean the elephants’ the continent’s most advanced ban this year on the ivory skin can retain five to 10 times economy. trade, arguing the step more water than on a flat sur- “I do believe that I was removed by a country that is the face, the scientists said. from offi ce due to my refusal to world’s largest importer The research, conducted by toe the line in relation to certain and end user of tusks scientists at Switzerland’s Uni- projects,” Nene told a judicial in- was vital to reducing the versity of Geneva and the Swiss quiry into state corruption. slaughter of the endan- Institute of Bioinformatics, was “Those projects may have ben- gered species. published yesterday in the jour- efi ted the Gupta family and other South Africa’s Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene arrives at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry probing state capture in Johannesburg yesterday. But it has not stopped nal Nature Communications. close associates of the then presi- what Save the Elephants “Because of their huge body dent...for instance the nuclear bious or irregular procurement”. February over allegations centring well as a portfolio of mining, tech- “I just hope people will realise called the “prolifi c size, and their warm and dry deal and the SAA (South African He described the cost of the around the Guptas, who reportedly nology and media companies. it will be better if they come for- growth” in trading in a habitat, African elephants can Airways) strategy.” proposed nuclear power stations held such sway that they chose When Nene was fi red in 2015, ward on their own...rather than be town in the “Golden Tri- avoid over-heating only by los- Nene, speaking under oath at as “astronomical” and posing a some of Zuma’s cabinet ministers. Zuma replaced him with a little- dragged screaming and kicking,” angle” area, where Thai- ing calories through evaporation the hearings, said that his then threat to the country’s fi nances. Former deputy fi nance minister known loyalist who lasted four he said. land, Laos and Myanmar of the water they collect in and deputy Mcebisi Jonas was off ered At a meeting with Zuma in 2015 Jonas has previously told the in- days in the job as markets dived “This is a very serious issue in meet at the confl uence on their skin,” researchers wrote. his job after Nene refused to back when Nene declined to back the quiry that one of the Gupta broth- and investors pulled out of the our country, the whole country of the Ruak and Mekong The scientists found that a proposed $100bn Russian-built nuclear project, Nene said he re- ers threatened to kill him after country before a more respected wants to know what happened.” Rivers, south of China. elephant skin channels are not nuclear programme that the Gup- ceived “a very tense and hostile” Jonas refused to accept a $40mn minister was appointed. Ramaphosa faces diffi cult elec- There has been a 60% just folds or wrinkles, but actual tas were set to benefi t from. response from Zuma who wanted bribe. The India-born Gupta brothers tions next year as public support growth in new ivory items fractures in the animal’s brittle “It makes sense that those who to report on progress to Russian Nene told the inquiry that he — Ajay, Atul and Rajesh — have left has declined for the ANC party, seen for sale in the Myan- outermost layer of skin. wish to pursue a systematic strat- President Vladimir Putin. met Jonas on a balcony to avoid South Africa and are now based in which has ruled since Nelson mar-China border town The skin grows on a tiny egy to raid the public coff ers... The inquiry, which opened in being bugged by the intelligence Dubai. Mandela came to power in 1994 of Mong La in the past lattice framework, they said, would attack the role or credibil- August, is probing allegations that services, saying “even when you Both Zuma and the Guptas, who after the end of apartheid rule. three years and 90% of causing it to fracture under ity of the national treasury,” Nene Zuma organised a web of graft look at a fl ower pot, you are not employed Zuma’s son Duduzane, Zuma, 76, has also been charged buyers are Chinese wish- mechanical stress when the said, piling accusations of miscon- at government departments and sure.” deny any wrongdoing. with 16 counts of graft linked to an ing to smuggle the ivory animals move. duct on Zuma. public enterprises in a scandal The Guptas owned a uranium The inquiry chair, deputy chief arms deal from before he became home, the report said. African elephants are known to Nene added that pressure was known as “state capture”. mine, which would have seen prof- justice Raymond Zondo, urged president. He will next appear in It gave no separate fi g- love bathing, spraying and mud- put on the treasury “to conceal du- Zuma was forced to resign in its soar from the nuclear deal, as public offi cials to give evidence. court on November 30. ures for the period since wallowing, and since they have the ban was introduced. no sweat and sebum glands to Myanmar has the keep their skin moist and supple, world’s largest popula- the tiny crevices trap and hold tion of captive elephants, on to water and mud, helping to 5,000 in all, but trade in regulate body temperature. Melania Trump tours former slavery outpost in Ghana tusks at Mong La and else- It also forms a barrier against where increasingly comes bugs and solar radiation. from elephants of African AFP to perceived friendly nations. origin, the report said. Cape Coast, Ghana The president has shown lit- “Demand is still very high in China...Myanmar has over tle interest in Africa since coming 2,000km of borderline with China which is very easy for to power but tweeted about his smugglers to bring ivory across,” said researcher Lucy Vigne. S First Lady Melania Trump wife’s meeting with new mothers: She co-authored the report with Esmond Bradley-Martin, a yesterday visited a former “Proud of our great First Lady — prominent American investigator of the illegal ivory and rhino Uslave trading fort in Ghana, and she loves doing this!” horn trade who was found dead in his home in the Kenyan cap- the second day of her maiden solo Photographs of the two fi rst la- ital with an unexplained stab wound in his neck in February. tour of Africa promoting her chil- dies featured on the front pages dren’s welfare programme. of major newspapers in Ghana “Akwaaba (Welcome) to Cape while the visit was talked about on Coast,” read a sign hung from the morning radio shows. whitewashed walls of the Cape But there were complaints about Coast Castle, some 145km from children being taken out of school the capital, Accra. to welcome her as well as the But there were signs that the choice of visiting the newly built soft diplomatic push was yet to and well-equipped Greater Accra take off locally, as comparisons Regional Hospital. were drawn to the visit of former Some presenters said it would US president Barack Obama and have been more accurate to show his family in 2009. a more under-resourced hospital. “The interest is very, very Shared photos on Twitter muted and subdued. There are a showed just a handful of people at lot of people (in Ghana) who are the side of the road as Trump’s of- extremely indiff erent about this fi cial convoy passed. visit,” political commentator Etse Sikanku said comparisons with Sikanku told AFP. US First Lady Melania Trump poses with Osabarimba Kwesi Atta II, the chieftain of the regional Fante tribe Obama’s visit were inevitable and A relaxed and smiling Melania (second left), at the Emintsimadze palace in Cape Coast, Ghana. contrasted the “pomp and pag- Trump arrived in Accra from Wash- eantry” surrounding his arrival ington on Tuesday to a red-carpet the Atlantic slave trading route, Obama — whose photo now It also comes after another tur- and the interest generated by his welcome of traditional dancing and where she also met members of the adorns the wall of a hall renamed bulent week for the Trump admin- Kenyan heritage. fl ag-waving schoolchildren. local Fante tribe. in his honour — said at the time istration, with controversy about “It was like a big party, every- In a day of engagements as part The imposing fort on the wind- that the cells were a reminder that his pick for the US Supreme Court, body was into it, people stood on of her “Be Best” campaign in edu- swept coast, where untold num- “sometimes we can tolerate and who has been accused of sexual as- rooftops, everybody wanted to see cation and healthcare, she handed bers of people were kept in dark stand by great evil even as we think sault. Barack Obama, the son of Africa,” out teddy bears to newborns and dungeons before being shipped that we are doing good”. Overall, there were doubts the visit said Sikanku, author of The Afro- met her Ghanaian counterpart, overseas, is now on the Unesco The fi rst lady’s visit to Ghana, would radically alter existing ties. centric Obama and Lessons on Po- Rebecca Akufo-Addo. World Heritage List. Malawi, Kenya and Egypt has been The fi rst lady wants to highlight the litical Campaigning. The highlight of yesterday’s It has seen a steady increase in seen as an attempt to carve her own work of the US Agency for Interna- But for Melania Trump, “you itinerary was the tour of Cape visitors since Obama and his fam- path and emerge from her husband’s tional Development, even as her hus- wouldn’t know about it unless you Coast Castle, a major outpost on ily toured the site. shadow and his divisive presidency. band looks to slash aid and restrict it were following the news”, he said. Gulf Times Thursday, October 4, 2018 13 AMERICAS

#INSTAGRAMDOWN INVESTIGATION IN THE DOCK DIALOGUE Instagram hit by outage in Suspicious powder sent Woman sues Facebook for Canada relaunches pipeline several cities around world to Pentagon is not ricin ‘enabling’ sex traff icking talks with indigenous tribes

Facebook Inc’s photo-sharing social network Packages that were sent to the Pentagon this A Texas woman, claiming that she was raped, Canada’s resources minister said yesterday Instagram was not working yesterday for users week have tested positive for a substance ricin beaten and sex traff icked at the age of 15 by a pimp Ottawa was relaunching consultations with across several cities, including London, San is derived from, but not the deadly poison who posed as a Facebook “friend,” has filed suit indigenous groups on the Trans Mountain Francisco and Singapore. Users took to Twitter to itself, an off icial said yesterday. The Pentagon’s against the social network, alleging its executives pipeline to the Pacific after a court ruled the complain about the outage and tweeted messages mail screening facility on Monday intercepted knew minors were being lured into the sex trade tribes get a say in the multi-billion dollar along with the #instagramdown hashtag. suspicious packages addressed to Defense on their platform. The woman, identified only as project. “We believe that we can and must According to a check by Reuters, the app displayed Secretary Jim Mattis and Navy chief Admiral Jane Doe in court papers filed in Harris County move forward with engaging in a meaningful an error message saying “couldn’t refresh feed”, John Richardson. “It seems to be that it was a District Court in Houston earlier this week, also and focused consultation with indigenous while its website did not load for users. Facebook substance that ricin is derived from,” Pentagon named as defendants the now-shuttered classified groups on the Trans Mountain pipeline A March 10, 2018, file photo of Harriet Prince, and Instagram were not immediately available spokeswoman Dana White told AFP. “It wasn’t ads website Backpage.com and its founders. expansion project,” Natural Resources Minister 76, of the Anishinaabe tribe, marching with to comment. DownDetector’s live outage map ricin itself.” Separately, the Secret Service Facebook did not respond to a request by Reuters Amarjeet Sohi told a press conference. And so Coast Salish Water Protectors and others showed that parts of North America, Europe, said it had obtained a “suspicious envelope” for comment. Attorneys for Backpage.com and the government, he said, will “reinitiate (those) against the expansion of Texas-based Kinder Australia, India, Singapore and other countries addressed to President Donald Trump on the former employees named in the lawsuit as consultations with indigenous groups impacted Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline project in were facing issues with the service. Monday. defendants also did not return calls for comment. by the project.” Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.

4 men charged Key US senators criticise Trump with inciting violence at 2017 for mocking Kavanaugh accuser Virginia rally Reuters Washington Reuters By Ford’s own testimony, there are gaps Washington in her memory. There are facts that she cannot remember: how she got home, our Californian men de- how she got there, where the house was, scribed by prosecutors wo moderate Republicans, who what the date was.” Fas members of a militant could be pivotal in determin- Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mc- white supremacist group were Ting whether the Senate confi rms Connell has said the Senate will vote on arrested on Tuesday on charges US Supreme Court nominee Brett Ka- Kavanaugh’s confi rmation this week af- of instigating violence during vanaugh, yesterday criticised President ter each senator is given a report on the a white nationalist rally that Donald Trump for mocking a woman ongoing FBI investigation. turned deadly in Charlottesville, who has accused the judge of sexual as- The fi ght over Kavanaugh’s nomina- Virginia, last year. sault. tion comes against the backdrop of the The criminal complaint un- Senators Jeff Flake and Susan Col- #MeToo movement fi ghting sexual har- sealed in US District Court in lins were among the lawmakers who assment and assault that has toppled a Charlottesville charged each of took issue with comments Trump made succession of powerful men. the four — Benjamin Drake Da- regarding Christine Blasey Ford, a uni- Voters will be casting ballots in No- ley, 25, Michael Paul Miselis, versity professor from California who vember 6 elections in which Democrats 29, Thomas Walter Gillen, 34, detailed her sexual assault allegation are trying to seize control of Congress and Cole Evan White, 24 — with against Kavanaugh at an extraordinary from Trump’s party. violating the federal riots statute Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Speaking on the Senate fl oor yester- and conspiracy to riot. last week. day, McConnell again took aim at Ka- Each defendant faces 10 years At a political rally in Mississippi on vanaugh opponents. in prison if convicted of both Tuesday night, Trump mocked Ford’s “We will not be intimidated by these counts, authorities said. testimony about the alleged assault in people,” McConnell said. No pleas were entered. Maryland in 1982 when she was 15 and “This is all part of the organised ef- Authorities said all four men Kavanaugh was 17. fort to delay, obstruct and intimidate, fl ew from the west coast in Au- Ford testifi ed that she could not re- including those of us who will be voting gust 2017 to participate in the member the precise date or location of this week.” “Unite the Right” rally protest- the alleged assault or how she got home Several people with information ing against the removal of a afterward, but off ered a detailed ac- related to the allegations against Ka- statue honouring Robert E Lee, count of the incident itself in which she vanaugh have said they have tried in commander of the Confederate said a drunken Kavanaugh pinned her vain to speak with the FBI, which is Army in the US Civil War. down, tried to remove her clothing and US President Donald Trump rallies supporters during rally in Southaven, Mississippi on Tuesday night. due to wrap up its investigation this They are accused of physically covered her mouth when she screamed. week. assaulting counter-protesters “What neighbourhood was it in? I “It’s just not right. I wish he hadn’t... President Mike Pence casting a tie- In a Twitter post yesterday, Trump The FBI has already interviewed they encountered during the don’t know. Where’s the house? I don’t done it. I just say it’s kind of appalling,” breaking vote. did not back away from his comments at Mark Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh, as August 12 rally at Emancipation know. Upstairs, downstairs, where was Flake said of Trump’s comments. So far, no Republicans have said they the rally, instead attacking Kavanaugh’s well as at least three other people with Park in Charlottesville, and dur- it? I don’t know. But I had one beer. Speaking briefl y to reporters, Collins would vote against Kavanaugh. Democratic critics. information about the allegations made ing a torch-lit march the night That’s the only thing I remember,” said: “The president’s comments were Flake was instrumental in initiating Writing in all capital letters, Trump by Ford and a second accuser, Deborah before through the University Trump, who was himself accused dur- just plain wrong.” an FBI investigation into the allegations said when he goes to political rallies, Ramirez. of Virginia campus, where hun- ing the 2016 presidential race of sexual She did not respond when asked if his against Kavanaugh, a conservative federal which are organised by Republicans, Judge, identifi ed by Ford as a witness dreds of Unite the Right dem- misconduct with numerous women, comments would aff ect her vote on Ka- appeals court judge nominated by Trump he sees that voters are angry at the “vi- to the alleged assault, has denied any onstrators chanted “white lives said in his imitation of Ford’s testimony. vanaugh’s confi rmation. for a lifetime job on the top US court. cious and despicable” way Democrats memory of such an incident. matter” and “Jews will not re- “And a man’s life is in tatters,” Trump Trump’s fellow Republicans control Kavanaugh has denied Ford’s accusa- are treating his nominee. Ramirez has said Kavanaugh exposed place us.” added. the Senate by a 51-49 margin. tion as well as allegations by two other The White House defended Trump’s himself to her when they both attended The August 12 event ended Appearing on NBC’s Today show, Flake That means if all the Democrats vote women, all dating from the 1980s. remarks. Yale University. with a man ploughing his car said that “there’s no time and no place for against Kavanaugh, Trump could not Trump ordered the FBI investigation White House adviser Kellyanne Con- Ford’s lawyers said on Tuesday she into a crowd, killing one coun- remarks like that, that discuss something aff ord to have more than one Repub- last Friday, limiting its duration to no way told Fox News that “the president has off ered her full co-operation with ter-demonstrator, 32-year-old this sensitive at a political rally.” lican oppose his nominee, with Vice more than a week. is pointing out factual inconsistencies. the FBI but received no reply. Heather Heyer, and injuring doz- ens of others. The driver, James Alex Fields Jr., was charged with the killing in June. He has plead- ed not guilty. Room with a view US President Donald Trump Black teen would not drop drew condemnation from Demo- People view Pacific cratic and Republican political Sea Nettle jellyfish leaders for saying that “many sides” at the Monterey Bay knife, white cop tells court were to blame for the violence. Aquarium in Monterey, All four of the men newly accused California. of inciting violence were identifi ed AFP pears to be walking away from offi cers when in an FBI affi davit as members and Chicago Van Dyke begins fi ring his gun. He continues associates of the California-based to shoot McDonald after he falls to the ground. Rise Above Movement, described At the trial which opened on September 17, as a “militant white supremacist white Chicago police offi cer testifi ed defence lawyers have argued that the video organisation.” Tuesday at his high-profi le murder tri- does not show Van Dyke’s perspective. Prosecutors said their partici- Aal that he shot dead an African-Ameri- Taking the stand in his own defence Tuesday, pation in beatings of counter- can teen because he came too close and would the 40-year-old testifi ed that he began shoot- protesters was corroborated by not drop his knife. ing McDonald because he raised his knife and photographs and video footage In the politically-charged case that has “never stopped” advancing towards the offi cer. from the events, some excerpt- set America’s third-largest city on edge, of- Prosecutors said the video — recorded at ed in a collection of still images fi cer Jason Van Dyke shot Laquan McDonald night from some distance and pointing at the printed in the affi davit. 16 times in October, 2014. A police dash-cam teen’s back — did not capture McDonald raising The defendants were also ac- video captured the incident. his knife or trying to get up. The highly-antici- cused of having “engaged in acts Van Dyke faces 23 charges including fi rst- pated trial has led to fears of possible violence in of violence” at previous political degree murder. On the video, McDonald ap- the Midwestern city if the offi cer is acquitted. rallies in Huntington Beach and Berkeley, California. Daley, Miselis and Gillen, all from Southern California, were presented with the charges dur- ing separate court appearances US military comes to grips with over-reliance on Chinese imports on Tuesday before a federal magistrate in Los Angeles. Each was ordered to remain By Phil Stewart and Mike Stone, and cruise missiles to drones and cell- main supplier of many of the rare earth When the study is released, it will not the report, speaking on condition of held by the US Marshals Service Reuters phones. minerals used by the United States, will provide a detailed inventory of all of the anonymity. pending further proceedings. Washington The focus on China refl ects an eff ort be given special emphasis in the report, weaknesses in the supply chain. One aspect of the report’s recom- White, a San Francisco-area under Trump to address the risks to US said the offi cials who spoke to Reuters These will be in a classifi ed annex. mendation is expected to be ensuring resident, was scheduled for his national security from Beijing’s grow- on condition of anonymity. A US offi cial said the report will also profi tability for niche US producers of initial court hearing in Oakland Pentagon-led review ordered ing military and economic clout. A January analysis from the United examine US shortcomings that con- critical components in American weap- yesterday. by President Donald Trump has Pentagon offi cials want to be sure States Geological Survey said the Unit- tribute to purchases from foreign com- onry. All four will end up either Aidentifi ed hundreds of instances China is not able to hobble America’s ed States produced no rare earth miner- panies, including roller-coaster US Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’s top weap- transported in federal custody where the US military depends on for- military by cutting off supplies of ma- als in 2017 while China accounted for defence budgets that make it diffi cult ons buyer, has publicly spoken in recent back to Virginia or, if freed on eign countries, especially China, for terials or by sabotaging technology it 81% of global mine production. for companies to predict government weeks about the Defense Production Act bond, ordered to appear for fu- critical materials, US offi cials have said. exports. Rare earth minerals are used in mag- demand. (DPA) of 1950, which allows the US pres- ture court dates there. The study is expected to be released The report could add to mounting nets, radars and consumer electronics. Another weakness is in US science ident to incentivise domestic producers US Magistrate Judge Jean in the coming weeks and aims to lessen trade tensions with China, bolster- Aside from the risk that a foreign and technology education. of critical materials through purchase Rosenbluth denied bond for the US military’s reliance on foreign ing the Trump administration’s “Buy power could cut off vital supplies need- Advocates of the study say it is a commitments and other guarantees. Miselis, who according to pros- countries and strengthen US industry. American” initiative, which aims to ed to keep the US military up and run- late but critical look at ways to address Lord said the government should step ecutors had travelled with Daley Among the study’s conclusions will help drum up billions of dollars more ning, other risks include the threat of America’s loss of manufacturing, whose in to off er such support if businesses to Germany, Italy and Ukraine to be a determination the United States is in arms sales for US manufacturers and sabotaged equipment or espionage. toll on national security gets far less at- would be unable to ensure a “reasonable meet white nationalists abroad. too dependent on foreign suppliers for create more jobs. The Pentagon has long fretted that tention than the jobs lost, and the po- profi t.” Federal prosecutor David Ryan a range of items including some micro- Lieutenant Colonel Mike Andrews, a “kill switches” could be embedded in litical wave that it created in rust-belt The US Government Accountability said thousands of rounds of am- electronics, tiny components such as Pentagon spokesman, did not comment transistors that could turn off sensitive states that helped elect Trump presi- Offi ce off ered one example in a report munition, smoke bombs and integrated circuits and transistors, the on the contents of the report but told US systems in a confl ict. dent in 2016. last year about how the US military had fl ares were found at the home of offi cials told Reuters on condition of Reuters the study would make recom- US intelligence offi cials also warned “People used to think you could out- to fund a US factory in 2014 to produce Miselis at the time of his arrest. anonymity. mendations “to ensure a robust, resil- this year about the possibility Chi- source the manufacturing base without the chemical Butanetriol, used in the At least two defence lawyers These kinds of essential components ient, secure and ready manufacturing na could use Chinese-made mobile any repercussions (on national secu- Hellfi re air-to-surface missile. For the said they expected a federal in- are embedded in advanced electron- and defence industrial base.” phones and network equipment to spy rity). But now we know that’s not the previous six years, the military relied on dictment to be returned in the ics used in everything from satellites China, which has also become the on Americans. case,” said one US offi cial familiar with China for the chemical. case soon. Gulf Times 14 Thursday, October 4, 2018 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA

Former Rescuers look for survivors Malaysian PM’s wife arrested as Indonesia toll tops 1,400 Reuters Kuala Lumpur AFP tude quake and the tsunami it Wani spawned. Despite the Indonesian gov- alaysian anti-graft au- ernment having earlier urged thorities yesterday ar- he death toll in Indone- foreign rescue teams to “stand Mrested former fi rst lady sia’s twin quake-tsunami down” because the crisis was Rosmah Mansor, who will spend Tdisaster passed 1,400 in hand, residents in hard- a night in detention before being yesterday, with time running hit, remote villages like Wani taken to court to face money- out to rescue survivors and the in Donggala province say lit- laundering charges. UN warning of “vast” unmet tle help has arrived and hope is The Malaysian Anti-Corruption needs that have fuelled looting. fading. Commission (MACC) said it ar- Indonesian soldiers have “Twelve people in this area rested Rosmah, 66, who will face been ordered to fi re on those haven’t yet been found,” Mo- charges in court today for infring- raiding stores on the quake and hammad Thahir Talib said. ing an anti-money laundering law. tsunami-struck island of Su- “In the area to the south, “Rosmah will face several lawesi, a colonel said, after des- because there hasn’t been an charges,” the agency said in a perate survivors emptied shops evacuation we don’t know if statement. of food and water. there are bodies. It’s possible Rosmah’s arrest follows three Meanwhile the authorities there are more,” the 39-year- rounds of questioning by an- have set a tentative deadline old said. ti-graft agents over state fund of Friday to fi nd anyone still The Red Cross expressed 1Malaysia Development Berhad trapped under rubble, at which frustration at the slow pace of (1MDB), from which US authori- point – a week after this dev- the response. ties say more than $4.5bn was astating double disaster – the “There are still large areas misappropriated. Last Wednes- chances of fi nding survivors of what might be the worst- day, she was questioned for will dwindle to almost zero. aff ected areas that haven’t been nearly 13 hours. Military spokesman M Tho- properly reached, but the teams After Najib’s election defeat in hir said the number of con- are pushing, they are doing May, the couple have seen their fi rmed dead has risen to 1,411, what they can,” said Matthew world turned upside down, with while the disaster agency said Cochrane, a spokesman for the A resident tries to salvage his collapsed home in the village of Petopo in Palu, Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi yesterday. authorities banning them from 519 bodies have already been International Federation of Red leaving the country and the po- buried. Cross and Red Crescent Socie- fl ights from 7:59am today. through the ruins of a collapsed deadly diseases. around daisy-chained power lice searching their homes. Government rescue workers ties (IFRC). Signs of desperation are factory, salvaging food, drinks Rescue eff orts have been strips at the few buildings with Malaysians have been out- seeking survivors are focusing The World Health Organisa- growing, with police offi cers and construction materials. hampered by a lack of heavy ma- electricity, or queued for water, raged by the seizure of around on half a dozen key sites around tion has estimated that across forced to fi re warning shots and Indonesia President Joko chinery, severed transport links cash or petrol being brought in $275mn worth of cash and the seaside city of Palu – the Donggala, some 310,000 people teargas to ward off people ran- Widodo, who faces re-election and the scale of the damage. via armed police convoy. goods, including a vast collec- Hotel Roa-Roa where up to 60 have been aff ected by the disas- sacking shops. next year, insisted the military In yet another reminder of Queues to get a few litres of tion of Hermes Birkin and other people are still believed buried, ter. “If there is looting again, we and the police were in full con- Indonesia’s vulnerability to petrol lasted more than 24 hours designer handbags, jewellery a shopping mall, a restaurant Survivors are battling thirst will quickly fi re a warning shot trol. “There is no such thing natural disasters, the Soputan in some places. and watches from properties and the Balaroa area where the and hunger, with food and clean and then shoot to immobilise,” as looting,” he said on a visit to Volcano in Sulawesi erupted Sanitation is also a grow- linked to the couple. sheer force of the quake turned water in short supply, and local said military colonel Ida Dewa Palu. yesterday, spewing volcanic ash ing problem. “People every- Najib has said most of the the earth temporarily to mush. hospitals are overwhelmed by Agung Hadisaputra. As survivors pick through up to 4,000m above the crater. where want to go to the toilet seized items were gifts to his At a minimum, 150 people are the number of injured. Six of the Indonesian social the shattered remains of their With power returning to parts but there’s no toilet. So we do wife and daughter and had noth- unaccounted for beneath the Offi cials on the ground said aff airs ministry’s trucks laden neighbourhoods, the death toll of Palu late Tuesday, phone net- it along the road at night,” said ing to do with 1MDB. rubble, offi cials said. that while the government had with supplies were reportedly continues to rise. works back up and running and 50-year-old Armawati Yarmin. The anti-graft agency did According to the UN’s hu- now invited off ers of help, there looted en route to Palu and on The Indonesia-based Asean even some markets opening for Indonesia sits along the Pa- not say if the charges against manitarian offi ce almost is still no “mechanism for this one route out of the city, an AFP Coordinating Centre for Hu- business, there were the faint- cifi c “Ring of Fire”, the world’s Rosmah relate to 1MDB. 200,000 people need urgent to be implemented”. journalist saw youths blocking manitarian Assistance said that est signs of things getting back most tectonically active re- After the arrest, Rosmah’s law- help, among them tens of thou- Landing slots at Palu airport the road and asking for “dona- more body bags were “urgent- to normal. gion, and its 260 million peo- yer, Geethan Ram Vincent, told sands of children, with an esti- are snapped up by the Indone- tions”. ly” needed as fears grow that But for most, daily life has ple remain hugely vulnerable to reporters her lawyers had not mated 66,000 homes destroyed sian military, although it was On the outskirts of the city, decomposing corpses could changed beyond all recognition. earthquakes, tsunamis and vol- been informed of the nature of the or damaged by the 7.5-magni- slated to be open to commercial hundreds of people sifted provide a breeding ground for Palu residents crowded canic eruptions. charges to be fi led against her. Bangladesh China superstar Japan space probe lands scraps quota new robot on asteroid

AFP temperatures and measure scheme for Fan ordered to Tokyo magnetic fi elds. MASCOT’s launch comes 10 days after the Hayabusa2 govt jobs Japanese probe landed dropped a pair of MINERVA- a new observation ro- II micro-rovers on the Ryugu pay $129mn Abot on an asteroid yes- asteroid. AFP terday as it pursues a mission It was the fi rst time that Dhaka to shed light on the origins of moving, robotic observation AFP the fi lm and television industry. the solar system. devices have been successfully Beijing Chinese tax authorities have The French-German Mo- landed on an asteroid. angladesh yesterday abol- now laid at least part of the bile Asteroid Surface Scout, The rovers will take advan- ished a controversial quota mystery to rest, ruling that or MASCOT, launched from tage of Ryugu’s low gravity to Bsystem for civil service jobs hinese superstar Fan both Fan and companies con- the Hayabusa2 probe, landed jump around on the surface – that had been the target of major Bingbing took to social trolled by her failed to pay tens Fan Bingbing ... facing tax evasion charges safely on Ryugu and was in travelling as far as 15m (49ft) street protests that paralysed Cmedia for the fi rst time in of millions of dollars in taxes, contact with its team, the and staying above the surface parts of the country earlier this months yesterday to apologise to the offi cial Xinhua news service masses, there would be no Fan are reported to be used in China lander’s offi cial Twitter ac- for as long as 15 minutes – to year. fans and the Communist Party reported yesterday. Bingbing,” she wrote. to evade taxes. count said. survey the asteroid’s physi- The cabinet announced the for tax evasion, shortly after The report said Fan would Following the investigation After the contract documents “And then I found myself in cal features with cameras and end of the decades-long policy news broke that authorities had have to pay a total of 883mn into Fan, authorities have de- went viral, the national tax ad- a place like no place on Earth. sensors. that reserved more than half of ordered her to pay nearly $130mn yuan ($129mn) in owed taxes, clared a wider crackdown on ministration announced it had A land full of wonder, mys- Unlike those machines, all government jobs for the off - in back taxes and fi nes. fi nes and penalties, adding that the entertainment industry, instructed authorities in eastern tery and danger!,” the @MAS- MASCOT will be largely im- spring of veterans from Bangla- The 36-year-old actress, she would avoid criminal pros- Xinhua said. Jiangsu province to investigate COT2018 account tweeted. mobile – it will “jump” just desh’s war of independence and model and producer had been ecution as long as she met a re- Off enders are being off ered alleged use of such dual contracts “I landed on asteroid Ryu- once on its mission, and it can disadvantaged ethnic minorities. a ubiquitous household name payment deadline. an amnesty until December 31 in the entertainment industry. gu!” turn on its sides. Cabinet secretary Moham- in China for years and tasted At least one other person im- to pay any taxes they owe. Fan was not mentioned by MASCOT is expected to And while the rovers will mad Shafi ul Alam said quotas set Hollywood success with a role plicated in the probe has been Fan’s troubles began in May name but she has businesses collect a wide range of data on spend several months on the aside for top-tier public serv- in the 2014 blockbuster X-Men: detained for further investiga- soon after she appeared on the registered in Jiangsu. the asteroid, some 300mn km asteroid, the MASCOT has a ice positions would be scrapped Days of Future Past. tion related to concealing and red carpet at Cannes fi lm festi- Last year, Fan topped Forbes (190mn miles) from Earth. maximum battery life of just entirely, but some reservations But she disappeared from “deliberately destroying” ac- val when a former presenter for magazine’s list of top-earning “It is hugely signifi cant to 16 hours, and will transmit the for lower-level positions would the public eye and her once ac- counting documents, Xinhua state-run China Central Televi- Chinese celebrities with in- take data from the surface data it collects to the Haya- remain. tive social media presence went added without detailing that sion (CCTV) posted a purported come of 300mn yuan ($43mn). of an asteroid, we have high busa2 before running out of Recruitment for the most silent in May after allegations person’s identity. movie shoot contract. She is one of fi ve leading in- expectations for the scien- juice. sought-after jobs would be de- emerged that she had evad- Fan took to China’s Twitter- The documents suggested ternational actresses cast in the tifi c data,” Hayabusa2 mission The Hayabusa2 is scheduled termined by examination only, ed taxes on a lucrative movie like Weibo yesterday to ac- Fan was offi cially paid 10mn forthcoming Hollywood spy manager Makoto Yoshikawa at later this month to deploy an he said, adding a government shoot, charges her studio called knowledge her wrongs, beg for yuan ($1.45mn) for a project thriller “355”, alongside Jessica the Japan Aerospace Explo- “impactor” that will explode decree to that eff ect would be is- “slander”. her supporters’ forgiveness, while unoffi cially receiving an Chastain and Penelope Cruz. ration Agency (JAXA) told a above the asteroid, shooting a sued later in the week. Her sudden absence from and apologise to “society, the additional 50mn yuan – all for But her star has dimmed briefi ng before the landing. two-kilo copper object into it The contentious quota scheme screens and advertisements friends who care about me, the four days of work. among authorities in China. The 10kg (22-pound) box- to blast a small crater on the was the subject of enormous ral- across the country spurred public and the national tax au- So-called “yin and yang” A recent report by academics shaped MASCOT is loaded surface. lies in April that brought Bang- rumours that she had been thorities.” dual contract arrangements – listing the “social ranking” of with sensors. It can take im- The probe will then hover ladesh, a Muslim-majority de- snatched by offi cials at a time “Without the Party and with one contract for income Chinese celebrities placed Fan ages at multiple wavelengths, over the artifi cial crater and mocracy of 160mn, to a standstill when Beijing is cracking down country’s good policies, with- declared to tax authorities at the very bottom with a score investigate minerals with a collect samples using an ex- and saw more than 100 injured. on what it views as excesses in out the loving attention of the while the other is kept secret – of zero. microscope, gauge surface tended arm.

Australia scraps tampon tax as PM seeks to woo female voters

Australia will remove a everyone’s come on board to heavy defeat, with voters angry Vietnam nominates new president controversial sales tax on women’s scrap what is an unfair tax,” Kelly about the ousting of former sanitary products, Treasurer Josh O’Dwyer, minister for women, prime minister Malcolm Turnbull AFP “The party central committee country’s independence leader Frydenberg said yesterday, a move told reporters in Melbourne. in a party-room coup in August. Hanoi unanimously agreed on nomi- and Communist Party founder, widely seen as an eff ort by the “Millions of Australian women New Prime Minister Scott nating Nguyen Phu Trong to the did so in the 1960s. centre-right government to win will benefit as a result.” Morrison emerged as a post of president,” the party said His roles will make up half of Vi- favour with female voters before “The government has a problem compromise candidate after ietnam Communist Party on its website. etnam’s top political posts - known an election due by May. with female voters, particularly a challenge to Turnbull was general secretary Nguyen The country’s rubber-stamp as the “four pillars” - which also Nguyen Phu Trong Products such as condoms and centrists who have been turned off launched by the right wing of the VPhu Trong was nomi- National Assembly is expected include prime minister and head of sunscreen are exempt from the 10% by some of its rhetoric,” said Peter Liberal party, the senior partner nated yesterday as the only can- to approve the nomination of the National Assembly. servative and hardline leader who goods and services tax that has Chen, professor of political science in the Liberal-National coalition. didate for president, eff ectively Trong, also a member of the The president’s post is largely has led a high-level crackdown on been added to all other items sold at the University of Sydney. A recent opinion poll showed ordaining him as the most pow- powerful politburo, at their seen as ceremonial, though of- corruption that has seen dozens in Australia for almost 20 years, “In the era of #MeToo, it is a move the government was trailing the erful person in the country. next month-long session which fi cially it will make Trong the of former offi cials, bankers, and including female sanitary products. that was a inevitable,” he said. main opposition Labor party The party’s central commit- opens on October 22. head of state as well as chief of executives put behind bars. Frydenberg said the tax would be The politically unpopular tax will by 54% to 46% on a two-party tee announced the nomination Trong will become the fi rst the Communist Party, in a coun- He has also been accused of removed from January 1, 2019, after cease in Australia four months preferred basis under Australia’s after President Tran Dai Quang person to hold the top posts of try where all other political par- waging a crackdown on dissi- the approval of Australian state and before the next election is preferential voting system, where died last month following a long president and party leader simul- ties are banned. dents, with at least 40 jailed this territory lawmakers was secured. due. Opinion polls indicate the votes from minor parties are illness. taneously since Ho Chi Minh, the Trong, 74, is known as a con- year alone. “We’re really delighted that government is on course for a redistributed. (Reuters) Gulf Times Thursday, October 4, 2018 15

BRITAIN

JUSTICE CRIME OFFBEAT PROPOSAL POLICY Dad jailed for stabbing Man knifed on packed Zoo fills penguin enclosure Time to get rid of Army may end daughter to death train at Hackney Central with fakes due to shortage disposable nappies: Gove ban on beards

The mother of an eight-year-old girl stabbed A man is being treated in hospital after being Zookeepers have been left in a flap after a Ministers are planning a crackdown on The army is considering whether to relax to death by her father has told of her trauma stabbed on a packed commuter train in east shortage of penguins forced them to fill a brand disposable nappies to reduce the amount of its ban on beards amid claims it could as he was ordered to serve a minimum of 27 London, police said. One man was arrested after new enclosure with plastic models. Exotic Zoo plastic in the oceans, Michael Gove said. The be putting off potential recruits. At the years behind bars. Tracey Taundry, 34, watched what British Transport police called a “serious in Telford, Shropshire, had spent thousands environment secretary said there was a need moment soldiers can sport a beard only if in horror as her ‘despicable’ ex-lover William stabbing”, which happened on a London of pounds on the specialist attraction, which for a ‘diff erent approach’ to reduce the number their commanding off icer gives permission, Billingham dragged their daughter Mylee into Overground train at Hackney Central station. A had been due to open in the summer holidays. of single-use nappies being thrown away. Asked something usually granted only on religious his bungalow by her coat hood, before stabbing witness said he saw a man wielding a knife as he But visitors were left disappointed when whether it was time to ‘get rid’ of disposable or medical grounds. The army argues the helpless child to death in the kitchen. In entered the station shortly after the incident. “I an outbreak of avian malaria meant bosses nappies, he said: “Yes.” But Gove’s aides beards and stubble can prevent protective a statement read out at Birmingham Crown saw loads of people running towards me … and were unable to take delivery of six Humboldt strenuously denied a ban was being considered. breathing equipment from being tightly Court, she said: “I wasn’t able to go with her in a woman said: ‘There is a guy with a knife’” Nick penguins, which are native to South America. Instead they insisted the government would sealed on a soldier’s face. But as more and the ambulance. I wasn’t able to hold her hand at Renaud-Komiya said. He added: “The guy with Zoo director Scott Adams instead decided to fill encourage people to move away from disposable more troops are granted the ability to have the hospital..” Billingham, from Brownhills, West the knife was coming towards the walkwaywhen the empty enclosure with plastic imitations until nappies towards ‘sustainable alternatives’ such beards on religious grounds, some are Midlands, stabbed Mylee in January in a jealous the police grabbed him. He was shouting (but) I they can get hold of the real thing, so they can as cloth ones. Almost 3bn disposable nappies are questioning why this can’t be extended to all rage after Taundry began a new relationship. couldn’t make anything out.” “at least educate visitors to some extent”. thrown away in the UK each year. soldiers in a bid to boost recruitment.

Police not to face May blasts custody death charges Labour, calls

Guardian News and Media London for Tory unity cotland’s chief prosecutor has decided not to charge Sany police offi cers over the death of Sheku Bayoh, a trainee gas engineer who died in custody three years ago. Bayoh died while being sub- over Brexit dued by a group of offi cers soon after 7am on May 3, 2015, in Guardian News and Media to see it through, and that’s what and Barbara Castle, Denis Healey Kirkcaldy, Fife. The police of- London I’ve been doing on Brexit.” And and John Smith”, in today’s La- fi cers had used CS gas, pepper she held out the prospect that the bour party – but not on the front- spray, batons and leg and arm government would increase pub- bench. restraints as they arrested him. heresa May has promised lic investment after a decade of “Instead, their faces stare James Wolff e, the lord ad- the Conservatives they can deep spending cuts, in an attempt blankly out from the rows behind, vocate, formally told Bayoh’s Tend a decade of austerity to neutralise Labour’s argument while another party occupies family that he would not pros- and see off “the Jeremy Corbyn that austerity is crippling Brit- prime position: the Jeremy Cor- ecute any of the offi cers involved party” if they unite behind her ain’s public services. byn party,” she said, claiming the during a private meeting at the Brexit plans. “When we’ve secured a good Labour frontbench “rejects the Crown Offi ce in Edinburgh yes- In an upbeat speech closing the Brexit deal for Britain, at the spend- common values that once bridged terday. party’s conference in Birming- ing review next year, we will set out our political divide”. Speaking shortly after their ham, which has been marred by our approach for the future,” she Corbyn has been criticised meeting, Bayoh’s sister Kadijatu divisions over Europe, the prime said. “A decade after the fi nancial repeatedly from the podium by Johnson told reporters: “I have minister warned her colleagues crash, people need to know that the Cabinet ministers this week, left this offi ce very disappointed that if they failed to back her, austerity it led to is over and that underlining the fact that senior and disgusted. My brother Sheku Brexit could unravel. their hard work has paid off . Conservatives regard Labour as a has died and yet the police get to “If we all go off in diff erent di- “There must be no return to serious electoral threat. walk free. The justice system has rections in pursuit of our own vi- the uncontrolled borrowing of the In a self-deprecating move, failed us as a family as well as his sions of the perfect Brexit, we risk past. No undoing all the progress the prime minister appeared on two boys.” ending up with no Brexit at all,” of the last eight years. No taking stage dancing to Abba’s Danc- Furious that news of Wolff e’s she said. Britain back to square one. ing Queen. She then opened her decision appeared to have been May did not mention her “But the British people need to speech by commemorating the leaked last month, the family’s Chequers plan, which rebel Tories know that the end is in sight. And centenary of World War I, and lawyer Aamer Anwar said they have been urging her to “chuck”, our message to them must be this: urged her party to “recapture that would press Humza Yousaf, the speaking instead about “a free- we get it.” spirit of common purpose” that Scottish justice secretary, to or- trade deal that provides for fric- Throughout the hour-long followed the confl ict. der a public inquiry. tionless trade in goods”, which speech, May repeatedly returned “The lesson of that remarkable “Sheku’s family believe they would “protect our precious un- to attacking the opposition. She generation is clear – if we come have been failed by those who ion”. sought to exploit divisions in the together there is no limit to what have a duty to protect the public “No simple free-trade agree- Labour party, claiming she could we can achieve. Our future is in and uphold the rule of law,” An- ment could achieve that, not even see “the heirs of Hugh Gaitskell our hands,” she said. war said, before the family went one that makes use of the very lat- to meet Yousaf in private at the est technology,” she insisted, in a Scottish parliament. dig at Boris Johnson’s alternative Premier shakes it up with ‘Dancing Queen’ boogie “There have been repeated at- proposal of a “super-Canada” Gyrating awkwardly to the sounds tempts by police sources to print deal. through her address. But she was lies, criminalise, speculate and The former foreign secretary of ABBA’s disco hit “Dancing applauded by the hall yesterday smear Sheku in his fi nal mo- drew an enthusiastic crowd to Queen”, Prime Minister Theresa as she danced to the 1976 Europop ments,” Anwar added. a rally on Tuesday, at which he May made an unusual stage hit, which she has previously told “Sheku Bayoh was under the claimed May’s Chequers plan was entrance for a keynote speech interviewers is one of her favourite infl uence of drugs but he did a “betrayal”, and urged his sup- yesterday. May, who captured songs. Online reactions were less not deserve to die. He acted out porters to persuade her to aban- headlines for her robotic dancing complimentary of May’s moves. of character and the police had don it. during a visit to Kenya in August, Labour MP Angela Rayner wrote: every right to act if he had bro- May hit back – without men- was under pressure to put on a “I use to love the Dancing Queen ken the law to defend them- tioning Johnson by name – in- good show at her Conservative by Abba #Cringe” accompanied selves, but any force used had to sisting: “Leadership is doing what Party’s annual conference. with a sad emoji.” Twitter user @ At last year’s conference, May lost JoeBlob 123 wrote: “I need the sick reasonable, proportionate and Prime Minister Theresa May dances a few steps as she takes the stage to give her keynote address on you believe to be right, and having her voice and spluttered her way bucket”. legitimate.” the fourth and final day of the Conservative Party Conference 2018 at the International Convention the courage and determination Centre in Birmingham yesterday. Pret A Manger to change Royals visit tech park Cap on number of child refugees upheld labelling after girl’s death Guardian News and Media Giving reasons for the court’s London ruling, Hickinbottom said: “In my judgment, the reasons given Guardian News and Media sandwich shop can benefi t from are as protected and informed as for rejecting a child … were pat- London that regulation ... but that an possible. Nothing is more impor- he government’s decision ently inadequate.” Children who organisation that sold ... 218mn tant to Pret right now.” to cap the number of unac- had their applications rejected items (a year) could also benefi t The company said “full ingre- Tcompanied child refugees will now be entitled to receive ret a Manger has agreed to from that regulation ... dient labelling will be introduced who can be brought into the UK those reasons and can appeal full ingredient labelling on “A cynic might think it was al- to all products that are freshly has been upheld by the court of against those decisions. Pall its freshly made prod- most a device to get round regu- made in its shop kitchens. The appeal. Rosa Curling, a solicitor at ucts following the case of Natasha lation relating to information on labels will list all ingredients, in- But three senior judges said the London law fi rm Leigh Day, Ednan-Laperouse, who died after food allergens.” cluding allergens.” there had been a breach of the which represented Help Refugees, having an allergic reaction to one Under current regulations for The coroner said Natasha died “duty of fairness” in the process said: “The court of appeal said the of its baguettes. items made in-store, it is suffi - of anaphylaxis after eating the because those refused entry were consultation was OK so the cap Natasha, 15, collapsed on a cient for general allergen warn- sandwich containing sesame, to not given any reasons for being stays. Only 280 of the 480 places British Airways fl ight from Lon- ings to be posted around the shop, which she was allergic. Her father, denied permission. have been taken so far. don to Nice on July 17, 2016, af- rather than on the packaging, and Nadim, said she died because of The limit of 480 asylum seek- “Those refused entry have a ter eating an artichoke, olive and for specifi c advice to be given “inadequate food labelling laws”, ers under the age of 18 was set by right to know why and therefore tapenade baguette she bought at orally by staff . and joined the rest of her family the Home Offi ce after the gov- they can appeal against the deci- a Pret outlet at Heathrow airport. Pret has announced it will go in calling for a change in the law ernment was forced to accept a sions. I’m sure there will be ap- The baguette did not have any further than the regulations re- to save lives. parliamentary amendment by the peals by children who have been allergen advice on its wrapper. quired by introducing full ingre- Natasha’s parents gave a Labour peer Lord Dubs. considered and rejected.” Dubs There was no requirement for it to dient labelling, including aller- qualifi ed welcome to Pret’s an- The decision by the judges, said: “For two years, we have do so because of reduced labelling gens, to all products freshly made nouncement. Nadim and Tanya Lord Justice McCombe, Lady fought tooth and nail for the requirements for food produced in its shop kitchens. Ednan-Laperouse said: “We cau- Justice King and Lord Justice rights of these vulnerable chil- on-site. In a statement, the Pret chief tiously welcome the decision by Hickinbottom, opens the way for dren. Today, I’m relieved to say At an inquest into Natasha’s executive, Clive Schlee, said: “I Pret a Manger, and we hope this children refused entry to bring that it was worth it. Every unac- death last week, the coroner ex- want to say again how deeply sor- will quickly lead to improved la- individual challenges about the companied child we have turned pressed concerns about these ry we are for the loss of Natasha. belling across all their stores. way their applications were han- away deserves an explanation and regulations. I said we would learn from this “Pret says it has recognised dled. a chance to appeal the decision, Responding to evidence pro- tragedy and ensure meaningful there is much more it can do – we The judges ruled that there was and we’re delighted the courts vided, Dr Saan Cummings, the changes happen. agree. We will be inviting them to Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, visit the nothing wrong with the consul- have agreed with us on that. The acting senior coroner for west “I hope these measures set us meet us to outline how we think University of Chichester Tech Park, in Chichester, West Sussex, tation carried out by the govern- decision gives some hope to thou- London, said: “It seems on the on course to drive change in the they can contribute to genuinely yesterday. ment, by which it arrived at the sands of vulnerable child refugees face of it a bit strange that a local industry so people with allergies meaningful change.” 480 fi gure. in Europe.” Gulf Times 16 Thursday, October 4, 2018 EUROPE

CRIME JUSTICE LEGISLATION TRICKY TREAT ‘Jailbreak king’ re-arrested Italian who shot at Africans Putin signs unpopular Paddle your own pumpkin: after months on the run in racist attack jailed pension reform into law Racers go with vegetables

A gangster who escaped from a French prison by A far-right sympathiser who injured six Africans Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday With a look of apprehension, a blond woman helicopter with the help of an armed commando during a violent revenge attack in the central signed a deeply controversial bill to raise the clad in a wetsuit wobbles her way onto a lake team was captured yesterday by police in a Italian town of Macerata was sentenced yesterday state pension age for the first time since the in western Germany in a huge, hollowed-out tower-block apartment, ending another chapter to 12 years in jail, media reports said. Luca Traini, Soviet era, the Kremlin said. The bill, which has vegetable. Paddle held aloft, she’s a contestant in the life of a criminal known as the “jailbreak 28, embarked on his shooting spree on February sparked rare street protests, only needed Putin’s in the Krewelshofer lake’s annual pumpkin king”. Redoine Faid, who has said his life of crime 4, following the sordid murder of a young Italian approval to become law after the upper house race, held for the third time yesterday over was inspired by Hollywood movies like Scarface woman allegedly at the hands of Nigerian drug of parliament, the Federation Council, passed a 35m course. Grown specially for the race, and Reservoir Dogs, escaped in July from a high- dealers. Pamela Mastropietro’s body was found it earlier yesterday. The pension reform will the pumpkins must weigh at least 250kg security prison where he was serving 25 years dismembered and stuff ed into suitcases days gradually raise the retirement age for men to and, to minimise the risk of capsizing, more for a heist in which a policewoman was killed. before Traini’s attack. The two incidents, which 65 from 60, and for women from 55 to 60 — the for heavier participants. The fastest racers in He was arrested as he slept at an apartment in occurred at the height of Italy’s tense electoral first hike in almost 90 years. Kremlin spokesman six categories get 200 euros ($230) in prize Creil, the area where he grew up, an hour’s drive campaign, shook the country and laid bare its Dmitry Peskov had earlier indicated that Putin money, or 300 euros if they paddled in their north of Paris. About 50 off icers took part in the deep tensions surrounding immigration. Traini was could sign the bill soon without being more own pumpkins — enough to buy a boat for A man paddles a giant pumpkin boat during the pre-dawn raid. charged with attempted murder and racial hatred. specific. next year. traditional pumpkin race in Lohmar, Germany.

Unification Day celebrated French interior minister quits in new headache for Macron

AFP Paris

rench President Emmanuel Macron was left scrambling yesterday to fi ll another key cabi- Fnet post after Interior Minister Gerard Col- lomb resigned, the third minister to step down in two months. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe took temporary control of the top portfolio while Macron began searching for a replacement for 71-year-old Col- lomb, previously one of the president’s most loyal allies. The departure of Collomb, nicknamed “France’s top cop” because his ministry is in charge of security and immigration, has thrown the government into fl ux. Macron initially refused his resignation Monday but gave in late Tuesday to Collomb’s request to be allowed to quit to campaign for his former job as mayor of the city of Lyon. He had previously announced plans to step down next spring, but critics complained his priorities had already turned to campaigning for his old fi efdom and pressured him to quit immediately. The Liberation newspaper described the back- German Chancellor Angela Merkel greets people during the German Unification Day public festival in Berlin yesterday. The three-day Citizens’ Festival began on October 1 afternoon for the and-forth as “extraordinary dilly-dallying which Day of German Unity. The governing Mayor Michael Mueller (SPD) yesterday received the top representatives of the Federal and State governments in the City Hall. In addition, the country seems more like something from a music-hall than leaders, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, German Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) and other politicians attended an ecumenical service in the Berlin Cathedral and a ceremony government politics”. in the State Opera. Collomb’s replacement will be appointed “within a few days”, according to government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux. At yesterday’s regular cabinet meeting, Macron slammed opposition and press comments suggest- ing the resignation amounted to a “crisis”, Griveaux told reporters. “Nothing that has been happening in the past 48 hours is tantamount to a political crisis,” he said. “The government is fully at work.” Collomb’s exit adds to the woes of 40-year-old centrist Macron, who is battling record low approval EU’s anti-terror fi ght ratings after 17 months in power. It comes just weeks after popular environment minister Nicolas Hulot resigned live on radio with- out warning Macron, saying he felt “all alone” in the government on green issues. Collomb, a former Socialist and political heavy- weight, had previously compared his relationship with Macron to that of a father and son, and wept at risk after Brexit during the new president’s inauguration in May 2017. By Michel Moutot, AFP agents for new sharing protocols downside, because it would be UK and the EU maintained near- Nobody wants to be held respon- But their relationship is reported to have soured Paris after the UK leaves in March 2019. much harder to replicate that level perfect information sharing, the sible for allowing a terrorist attack this summer over a scandal surrounding Macron’s But those tools are expected to of data sharing.” counter-terrorism and law enforce- simply because following the new former security aide Alexandre Benalla. fall far short of the European arrest “It doesn’t mean that there would ment challenges would remain im- procedures kept vital intelligence Benalla was caught on camera roughing up pro- ritain’s looming exit from the warrant, the Schengen Informa- be no co-operation without UK mense,” according to a report from from crossing the Channel in time. testers at an anti-government demonstration while EU risks hindering essential tion System — which British police membership, but it would be slower, the Soufan security think-tank in “Brexit or no Brexit, agencies wearing a police helmet. BEurope-wide co-operation consulted 539mn times last year — more ponderous,” he told AFP. the US last month. will continue to co-operate with The aff air blew up into a major scandal after it to thwart terrorist attacks, experts or the Europol network, said NPCC “The real issue is speed and sim- “The threat level will continue to London as they have done for the emerged that Macron’s offi ce knew about the inci- warn, despite the determination of head Sara Thornton. plicity: the more complex the proc- remain elevated for years to come, past 50 years,” said Alain Chouet, a dent but kept Benalla on staff , only fi ring him after security agents on both sides of the “The fallbacks we’re going to have esses are, the more time it takes, the and the possibility of a no-deal former head of France’s DGSE for- Le Monde newspaper broke the story. Channel to keep working together. to use will be slower, will be more less the police can do,” he added. Brexit will simply make that threat eign intelligence agency. Summoned to appear before a parliamentary in- The main problem is London’s bureaucratic and it would make it British agents have built up solid more diffi cult to counter by creat- “With the English, things work quiry, Collomb had pointed blame at Macron’s of- eventual loss of unlimited real-time much harder for us to protect UK relations with their counterparts ing unnecessary stovepipes that pretty well, as long as we don’t mess fi ce, saying it was up to the presidency to report Be- access to pan-European databases citizens and EU citizens,” she said. across Europe, having worked side- will hamper the sharing of informa- directly in their aff airs,” Chouet nalla to prosecutors. in case Britain crashes out of the For Malcolm Chalmers, a security by-side on several long cases as tion and intelligence across relevant added. Collomb “did not appreciate being put in the fi r- bloc without a police co-operation expert and deputy director of the extremist attacks have increased in agencies,” it wrote. “One of our agencies’ missions is ing line over an aff air which he didn’t believe was deal in place. Royal United Services Institute, “if Europe. Given the high stakes, however, to make up for international politi- anything to do with him”, an aide said. Even if such a “hard Brexit” is the UK was no longer able to take Yet their determination to co- and the disastrous potential con- cal hazards. We’re paid for that, we The rift between him and Macron appeared to avoided, the country’s National part in the EU databases that are ordinate closely after Brexit will sequences in case of intelligence- do it, and the English do the same,” deepen in recent weeks, with Collomb saying last Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) an- developing rapidly, if no new means nonetheless run into bureaucratic sharing failures, most agents re- he said. “For our agencies, co-op- month that the government “lacked humility” — nounced last month that it is set- of involvement were to be found, challenges, analysts say. main optimistic that frictions will eration has always gone well. And it echoing accusations of arrogance often levelled at ting up an operations centre to train then there would be a signifi cant “Even in a ideal world where the be kept to a minimum. will continue to do so.” Macron personally.

Three share chemistry Nobel for work on antibody drugs, smart enzymes

Reuters Arnold, only the fi fth woman play technique to engineer the so commercially successful...it Stockholm to win a chemistry Nobel, was evolution of antibodies, with the was a complete paradigm shift,” awarded half of the 9mn Swedish aim of producing more eff ective he told reporters in a conference crown ($1mn) prize while Smith medicines. call. “Antibodies as a pharma- wo Americans and a Briton and Winter shared the other half. Humira, or adalimumab, was ceutical product are still growing yesterday won the 2018 “Some people breed cats and the fi rst drug based on Winter’s great guns.” TNobel Prize for Chemistry dogs. I breed molecules,” Arnold work to win regulatory approval The prizes for achievements for harnessing the power of evo- told Reuters after learning of the in 2002. It has since gone on to in science, literature and peace lution to generate novel proteins award, which she said had come become a blockbuster, with sales were created and funded in the used in everything from environ- as a complete surprise. last year of $18bn. will of Swedish dynamite inven- mentally friendly detergents to The Royal Swedish Acad- “With this medicine, far fewer tor and businessman Alfred No- cancer drugs. emy of Sciences said Arnold had people with rheumatoid arthritis bel and have been awarded since The fruits of this work include transformed science by using the are forced to use a wheelchair,” 1901. the world’s top-selling prescrip- principles of evolution — genetic said immunologist Dan Davies of For the fi rst time in decades, tion medicine — the antibody change and selection — and to the University of Manchester. the Nobel line-up did not fea- injection Humira sold by AbbVie evolve new types of proteins very Other antibody drugs at the cut- ture a literature award after a rift for treating rheumatoid arthritis fast. ting edge of medicine use the same within the Swedish Academy and other autoimmune diseases. Arnold is the second woman technology, including a number of over a rape scandal involving the Frances Arnold of the Cali- to win a Nobel prize this year treatments that have proved highly husband of a board member left it fornia Institute of Technology, after Canada’s Donna Strick- Frances Arnold George Smith Gregory Winter eff ective against cancer. unable to select a winner. George Smith from the Univer- land shared the physics award on Winter said he was surprised The science and peace prizes sity of Missouri and Gregory Tuesday. “There are enzymes now that catalyse the formation of zymes that Frances Arnold has by the huge commercial success are selected by other bodies. Winter of Britain’s MRC Labora- Her research on enzymes — in detergents that we use in building blocks for new medi- developed.” of antibody drugs, which he put Chemistry is the third of this tory of Molecular Biology were proteins that catalyse chemical re- our dishwasher and have been cines,” said chairman of the No- Smith developed a method us- down in large part to the high year’s Nobel Prizes after the win- awarded the prize for pioneering actions — laid the bedrock for the evolved by this process. There bel chemistry committee Claes ing a virus that infects bacteria prices that drug companies have ners of the medicine and physics science in enzymes and antibod- development of better industrial are also enzymes that can cre- Gustafsson. to produce new proteins while managed to charge for them. awards were announced earlier ies. chemicals and pharmaceuticals. ate new types of biofuels or “All this you can do with en- Winter used the same phage dis- “I had no idea they would be this week. Gulf Times Thursday, October 4, 2018 17 INDIA

Cities dump ‘progressive’ law to speed up land acquisitions

Reuters amendments that dilute the fed- Pradesh. “The amendments to cast to double by 2050, with the Tens of millions of farmers till times the market value in rural ar- developed land, while the state New Delhi eral Land Acquisition Act of 2013, a mostly progressive law have area used by towns and cities rising smallholdings in India and pro- eas and two times in urban areas. keeps the remainder. While par- which was designed to protect land opened the fl oodgates to forcible fi ve times by then, according to the tests against land acquisitions are “States’ fi nances are limited, ticipation is voluntary, campaign- owners by ensuring their consen- acquisition of land,” the former World Resources Institute (WRI), a common, with a $17bn high-speed while land values keep rising,” said ers say offi cials ignored protests of ndia’s fast-growing cities are sus, paying generous compensa- bureaucrat told the Thomson Reu- Washington-based think tank. rail link facing delays due to fruit Mathews. “The limited availability farmers unwilling to give up land. hurting the poor in their drive tion and rehabilitating those dis- ters Foundation. That would require an aver- growers opposed to selling their of land means haphazard growth Elsewhere, authorities are em- Ito speed up land acquisition placed. Their alternate acquisition The rapid expansion of Indian age of 15sq km of land, fi tted with orchards. and inadequate infrastructure and barking on partnerships with for new metro train networks, methods often “lack transparency cities has triggered disputes over infrastructure and amenities, to The 2013 law can make land amenities.” private developers, and cluster roads and government offi ces by and are regressive”, said E A S Sar- land, with rights groups reporting be readied every day up to 2050 – acquisition lengthy and expen- For Andhra Pradesh’s new city, redevelopment of slums and tene- ditching vital legal safeguards, ma, an activist who fi led a petition violent evictions of poorer com- most of which would come from sive, said Mathews, WRI’s head of authorities used land pooling to ment blocks, including in Mumbai, analysts and campaigners say. against plans to build a green- munities. converting rural land to urban use, urban development in India, as it quickly consolidate smallholdings home to some of the priciest real Several states have introduced fi eld city along a river in Andhra India’s urban population is fore- said WRI’s Rejeet Mathews. off ers compensation of up to four where owners get back a share of estate in the world. Creases can be ironed out, says Congress after BSP snub

IANS misrule of BJP. In this jour- New Delhi ney, whoever is willing to walk with us is welcome and those who don’t want, are he Congress Party free to tread their own path,” yesterday said it was he added. Thopeful of an under- Meanwhile, senior Con- standing with the Bahujan gress leader Digvijaya Singh Samaj Party saying “creases attempted to do damage can be ironed out”. control, saying he respected Refusing to read much into the BSP supremo and will be BSP chief Mayawati’s allega- happy if such an alliance ma- tions against the Congress, terialised. party spokesman Randeep “I respect her. We will be Singh Surjewala said she has very happy if we have an alli- expressed her confidence in ance with the Bahujan Samaj Congress president Rahul Party. At the national level, Gandhi and United Progres- I have always supported the sive Alliance chairperson idea that all parties opposed Sonia Gandhi, which was im- to the BJP-RSS ideology Mayawati is seen with national leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi at the swearing in of Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy in Bengaluru on May 23. Her presence with portant. should come together to de- the Congress leaders had lent credence to the theory that a grand alliance was possible against the BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections. “Mayawati has expressed feat them,” Singh told a TV respect and confidence vis- channel. a-vis Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Asked if his statement on Gandhi and that is the most Mayawati triggered her latest important issue rather than snub, Singh said: “Nation- looking for multiple mean- ally, central agencies have ings in her statements,” Sur- been let loose to suppress the jewala said. voices of every political party “At times, out of emotions, or person who is not with the sweet and bitter things are BJP or has criticised Prime Maya ditches Congress said. Once the two leaders Minister Narendra Modi or have an amicable, respectable his government.” and fruitful relationship with Singh, a former Madhya each other, all other creases Pradesh Chief Minister, also can be ironed out. I don’t sought to deny Mayawati’s think that alliances are dis- accusation of sabotage. cussed or announced at press He pointed out that the ahead of key elections conferences,” Surrjewala said former Uttar Pradesh chief immediately after Mayawati minister had earlier made her IANS that the party would not ally with against the BJP in the next Lok Sab- BSP-Congress alliance. She did not Referring to seat-sharing nego- declared she was not align- intentions clear by announc- New Delhi the Congress in Madhya Pradesh ha elections. refer to any other Congress leaders tiations with the Congress, Maya- ing with the Congress for Ra- ing an electoral pact with Ajit and Rajasthan at any cost,” Maya- Asked whether the BSP would of Madhya Pradesh. wati said in Madhya Pradesh the jasthan and Madhya Pradesh Jogi’s Janta Congress for as- wati told a press conference. align with the Congress in the 2019 “I feel that Sonia Gandhi and Congress off ered only 15 to 20 of the polls. sembly polls in Chhattisgarh. ahujan Samaj Party chief The BSP chief’s announcement Lok Sabha polls, Mayawati said, “I Rahul Gandhi’s intentions for 230 seats to the BSP and fi ve of the Asserting that the Con- The BJP took a jibe at the Mayawati yesterday ruled comes nearly a fortnight after her have said everything about this.” Congress-BSP alliance are honest. 90 seats in Chhattisgarh. gress’ sole aim was to up- Congress, saying coalition Bout an alliance with the statement ruling out an alliance Reading from a prepared state- However some Congress leaders are She said had the Congress not root the Bharatiya Ja- was not a part of the opposi- Congress in the upcoming as- with the Congress in Chhattisgarh ment, Mayawati said that the Con- sabotaging this,” she said. adopted an “adamant” attitude it nata Party from power in tion party’s DNA. sembly elections in Rajasthan and where she tied up with former chief gress’s attitude was not to defeat Mayawati said Digvijaya Singh could have got the benefi t of an al- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan “With whom does the Madhya Pradesh, in yet another minister Ajit Jogi’s party Janata the BJP but to weaken opposition has been giving statements that she liance with the BSP. and Chhattisgarh, Surjewala Congress enter into coalition blow to the main opposition party. Congress for the assembly elec- parties. “The Congress had adopt- has a lot of pressure from the cen- “The BSP is a party of all com- said the party’s alliance com- is entirely their business, The decision could also impact tions due next month. ed similar tactics in the past and tral government and so she did not munities including Dalits, adivasis, mittee formed by Rahul Gan- none of ours. But in the light the opposition’s plan for a grand al- Signifi cantly, at the swearing in was continuing it now. Even now it want an alliance with the Congress. backward, downtrodden, farmers, dhi will decide and deliberate of the concerns and almost liance against the Bharatiya Janata of Karnataka Chief Minister H D was not trying to change itself.” “This is baseless,” she said. labourers and Muslims and other on stitching up alliances or the pain of Mayawati ji, I can Party in the 2019 Lok Sabha elec- Kumaraswamy in May, Mayawati Interestingly, she praised Ra- “Congress leaders like Digvijaya minorities. We are not going to understanding with state- only say that coalition is not tions. was present along with national hul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi but Singh do not wish for a Congress- bow at any cost before either BJP or specific parties. part of the DNA of the Con- “The Congress is two steps ahead leaders including Congress leaders attacked Digvijaya Singh, sen- BSP alliance. They are afraid of Congress. It will not be a puppet in “Our only aim is to free gress. The only thing in their of the BJP in attempts to fi nish the Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi ior Congress leader from Madhya agencies like ED (Enforcement Di- the hands of anyone. We still have Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan DNA is family,” Law Minister BSP politically. In the interest of the that lent credence to the theory Pradesh saying he was an “RSS rectorate), CBI (Central Bureau of the capacity to bounce back,” she and Chhattisgarh from the Ravi Shankar Prasad said. BSP movement, it has been decided that a grand alliance was possible agent” and was “sabotaging” the Investigation).” said.

India to deport Rohingya to Climate directly linked Myanmar, despite UN concern to culture, says Modi

IANS roles in the drafting of the Paris Agencies Rakhine state in Myanmar’s being deported from India,” New Delhi Climate Agreement during the Guwahati west had been detained. said Cheryl D’Souza, a lawyer Conference of Parties (CoP) in Rakhine was the epicentre for the petitioners. 2015. of a Myanmar army offen- She said the court had limate and culture are Modi, along with then French olice yesterday said that sive that over the past year agreed to hear the matter to- directly linked, Prime president Francois Hollande, seven Rohingya de- has driven 700,000 Rohingya day. CMinister Narendra Modi launched the India-initiated ISA Ptained in the country’s Muslims into Bangladesh. “This is a routine procedure, said after he was conferred the during CoP 2015. northeast will be deported Myanmar’s army has denied we deport all illegal foreign- ‘Champions of Earth’ award of The ISA was conceived as a coa- to Myanmar, which has been nearly all wrongdoing, insist- ers,” Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, the UN Environment Programme lition of solar resource-rich coun- accused by the UN of wag- ing its campaign was justified additional director general of (UNEP) here yesterday. tries to address their special en- ing a campaign of “genocide” to root out Rohingya insur- police in Assam said. “As long as culture is not a part ergy needs and provide a platform against the Muslim minority. gents. But Achiume said India of our thoughts about the climate, to collaborate on dealing with the The United Nations had But a UN fact-fi nding mis- risked breaching its interna- it will be diffi cult to save ourselves identifi ed gaps through a com- warned India that returning sion said there was enough evi- tional legal obligations by re- from calamity,” he said after he re- mon, agreed approach. the men ignored the persecu- dence to merit prosecution of turning the men to possible ceived the award from UN Secre- It is open to all 121 prospective tion they faced in Myanmar, several top Myanmar military harm. tary General Antonio Guterres at a member countries falling between and would be a “flagrant deni- commanders for crimes against “Given the ethnic identity special ceremony here. the Tropics of Cancer and Capri- al” of their right to protection. humanity and genocide against of the men, this is a flagrant Modi, along with French Presi- corn. But police in the northeast Rohingya civilians. denial of their right to protec- dent Emmanuel Macron, was The fi rst general assembly of state of Manipur, where the Nearly 200 Rohingya are tion and could amount to re- named for this year’s ‘Champions the ISA was held here on Tuesday, men have been incarcerated known to be detained in In- foulement,” the law professor of Earth’ award by UNEP under which was also attended by Gu- since 2012 for immigration dia on charges of illegal entry, said in a statement. the Policy Leadership category for terres. violations, said the Rohingya Achiume said. New Delhi has described the their pioneering work in champi- In his remarks at the award would be deported today. The deportations follow an Rohingya as a security threat, oning the International Solar Al- presentation ceremony, Modi said “The seven Myanmarese Indian government order last pointing to intelligence it says liance (ISA) and promoting new that though the world has recog- men will be deported tomor- year to return the Rohingya. links the minority group to ex- areas of levels of co-operation on nised India’s commitment to the row,” Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, The Supreme Court is still tremist organisations. environmental action, including cause of climate, it has been a part a senior state police officer, considering a petition chal- The UN says there are Macron’s work on the Global Pact of Indians’ lifestyle for thousands said. lenging the order on the 16,000 registered Rohingya in for the Environment and Modi’s of years. The UN Special Rapporteur grounds it was unconstitu- India, but many more are un- unprecedented pledge to eliminate “This award is for our Adivasi on racism, Tendayi Achiume, tional. documented. Prime Minister Narendra Modi receives the ‘United Nations Champions all single-use plastic in India by brothers and sisters who love the said she was “appalled” at the “This is perhaps the first New Delhi puts the figure at of the Earth’ award from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New 2022. jungles more than themselves,” he amount of time the men from instance of Rohingya refugees 40,000. Delhi yesterday. India and France played key said. Gulf Times 18 Thursday, October 4, 2018 INDIA Asia’s fi rst dolphin research centre to be set up in Patna

IANS groundbreaking ceremony. Singh, conservator of Forests and Syndicate had earlier stalled the “With the government ready creasing in the river. All this is Sinha said the mammal’s pres- Patna After remaining in a limbo additional secretary, Department proposal for over three years. and funds available, NDRC will not favourable for dolphins,” ence signals a healthy river eco- for nearly six years, the NDRC of Environment, Forests and Cli- Unhappy over the delay, Bihar now not be delayed. It is going to Sinha said. system. Dolphins prefer water is likely to be set up next month mate Change, told IANS here. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had be a positive development for the He said the Gangetic river that is at least 5-8ft deep. They ith the population on the banks of the Ganges river Echoing this, Santosh Tiwari, threatened earlier this year to much-needed dolphin research,” dolphin is India’s national are usually found in turbulent of the endangered in the Patna University premises. chief conservator of forests and shift NDRC to Bhagalpur. Sinha, known as the Dolphin aquatic animal but frequently waters where there is enough fi sh WGangetic river dol- It will play an important role in chief executive offi cer, Wildlife R K Sinha, an expert on Man for his research on Gangetic falls prey to poachers and is for them to feed on. phin decreasing and its habitat strengthening conservation ef- Conservation Fund, told IANS: Gangetic river dolphins, who dolphins as professor at Patna sometimes killed inadvertently The Gangetic river species – changing, there is finally good forts and research to save the en- We are ready to set up the NDRC is currently the vice chancellor University, told IANS. after being trapped in plastic found in India, Bangladesh and news that the much-awaited dangered mammal. as soon as possible because it is a of the Nalanda Open Univer- He said the dolphin habitat has fishing nets and hit by mecha- Nepal – is almost completely National Dolphin Research “We are in the fi nal stages to priority for us.” sity (not to be mistaken with the been threatened and disturbed in nised boats. blind. It fi nds its way and prey Centre (NDRC), India’s and commence work to set up the The process to set up the NDRC revived Nalanda University) in the river. The mammals are being killed using echoes – with sound being Asia’s first, would be a reality NDRC after some formalities are started after the Patna University Patna, said the NDRC will prove a “The water level has been de- at an alarming rate with wildlife everything for them to navigate, here soon – with October 5 be- cleared between the department agreed nearly two months ago to boon for research and conserva- creasing and the fl ow has slowed offi cials saying poachers covet feed, escape danger, fi nd mates, ing hinted at as the date for the and Patna University,” Surendra provide the land. The university’s tion of dolphins. down. Besides, siltation is in- them for their fl esh, fat and oil. breed, nurse babies and play. India risks US sanctions over $5bn Russian missile deal

By Sanjeev Miglani and Lesley ment representative said. Cold War, but since its breakup Wroughton/ Reuters “The administration has in- New Delhi has diversifi ed its New Delhi/ Washington dicated that a focus area for the weaponry. implementation of CAATSA The United States is one of Section 231 is new or qualitative its top arms suppliers, closing he United States has upgrades in capability – includ- $15bn worth of deals in just the warned India against ing the S-400 air and missile last decade. In-coming Chief Justice of India Justice Ranjan Gogoi greets dignitaries ahead of taking oath in the presence of President Ram Nath Kovind Ta planned purchase of defence system.” US fi rms Lockheed Martin inside the Durbar Hall at the presidential palace in New Delhi yesterday. S-400 surface-to-air missiles Last month, the United States and Boeing lead the race to sell from Russia when President imposed sanctions on China’s the Indian military hundreds Vladimir Putin visits New Delhi military for its purchase of com- of aircraft to replace its ageing this week, saying such an acqui- bat fi ghters as well as the S-400 Russian MiG planes. sition would attract sanctions missile system it bought from The Modi government hopes under US law. Russia this year. the Trump administration will New chief justice to focus on India’s military wants the not disrupt burgeoning de- missile batteries, both as a de- “We urge all of our fence ties with the world’s big- terrent against China and to allies and partners to gest arm importer by levying gain an edge over Pakistan, as forgo transactions with sanctions the US Congress has they are able to track and shoot Russia that would trigger sought. tackling huge backlog of cases down combat aircraft, even sanctions under the The Trump administration stealth planes, at unprecedented CAATSA” faced competing pressures from Agencies with right (choice of) people and “We are trying to reduce the raised grievances regarding the ranges. Congress pursuing a hard line on New Delhi will come only if the offi ce main- time in the fi ling of cases and functioning of the Supreme India and Russia will sign the The United States is also Russia, said Jeff Smith, a spe- tains its dignity,” he said. their listing (before the court). Court, especially then-chief jus- missile deal, estimated at more concerned about Nato ally Tur- cialist on South Asia at the Her- The chief justice’s remarks We are trying to introduce a tice Dipak Misra’s allocation of than $5bn, during Putin’s visit key’s decision to buy the Rus- itage Foundation. anjan Gogoi, who took his were in reference to Attorney system where cases don’t get important cases to other judges. for annual summit talks with sian missile system, seeing it as “The administration was crit- oath as India’s new chief General K K Venugopal’s oft- dropped. If we succeed, perhaps At the centre of the contro- Prime Minister Narendra Modi incompatible with the alliance ical of the CAATSA and fought Rjustice yesterday, indicat- repeated suggestions to increase a large section of mentioning will versy was the assigning of a case beginning today, a Kremlin aide systems. hard for a national security ed that he intends to tackle the the retirement age of judges in go away altogether.” demanding a probe into a judge’s said. Modi’s government, caught in waiver at the cabinet secretary huge backlog of of cases await- the Supreme Court and high Earlier in the day, Gogoi was death to a junior judge of the Su- But the United States has the US-Russia crossfi re, hopes level but was denied by Con- ing decisions in Indian courts. courts. administered the oath of offi ce by preme Court. warned countries trading with the Trump administration will gress,” he said. There were an estimated 33mn The AG has also advocated President Ram Nath Kovind at a Judge B H Loya, who was try- Russia’s defence and intelli- give it a pass on the proposed “The administration is not cases pending in Indian courts in signifi cantly increasing the sala- function in the Rashtrapati Bha- ing a case of murder against rul- gence sectors they would face arms transfer from Russia, offi - only trying to navigate compet- January 2018, according to the ries of judges. wan, attended by Prime Minister ing Bharatiya Janata Party chief automatic sanctions under a cials in New Delhi said. ing geopolitical interests but National Judicial Data Grid. The chief justice said: “You Narendra Modi, Finance Minis- Amit Shah, died of a cardiac ar- sweeping legislation called Defence Minister Nirmala relatively stringent conditions Gogoi said he would be focus- may increase the retirement age ter Arun Jaitley, Home Minister rest in December 2014 but some Countering America’s Adver- Sitharaman told reporters In- imposed by a Congress deter- ing on fi lling about 5,000 vacan- of the judges and also increase Rajnath Singh and law Minister lawyers and family members al- saries Through Sanctions Act dia was closing in on the deal to mined to tie its hands on Russia cies in the subordinate judiciary. their salaries as much you want. Ravi Shankar Prasad. leged a cover-up. (CAATSA) that President Don- buy the air defence system from policy.” His comments came at a func- But that would not solve the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumi- The Supreme Court has dis- ald Trump signed into law last Russia, with which it has long- Meanwhile Indian Air Force tion organised by the Supreme problem unless dignity of the in- tra Mahajan and former prime missed the demand for a probe. August. standing military ties. chief B S Dhanoa said he ex- Court Bar Association (SCBA) to stitution is maintained.” ministers Manmohan Singh, H Gogoi, 63, the son of a former The law is designed to punish “Negotiation on S-400 air pected the deal to sail through felicitate him on his elevation as Responding to SCBA president D Deve Gowda Congress leader chief minister of Assam, is the Putin for the 2014 annexation of defence systems has been on for “as and when the government the chief justice of India. Vikas Singh describing him as Malikarjun Kharge were also fi rst Supreme Court chief jus- Crimea from Ukraine, involve- a long while and it is at a stage clears it”. Underscoring fi lling of vacan- a “strict” man, the chief justice present. tice from India’s north-eastern ment in the Syrian civil war and where it can be fi nalised,” Sith- “The negotiations are over cies in subordinate courts, Go- said: “I am what I am. I can’t Gogoi is also expected to bring region. meddling in the 2016 US presi- araman said last week. and it is with the government goi said: “We will try to do it in change.” in more transparency into the He is one of the few Supreme dential election. “We have a big legacy of buy- now. I don’t think that CAATSA three-four months.” On cases demanding urgent way the rosters are decided in the Court judges who have made “We urge all of our allies ing defence equipment from is likely to come in the way. But He said mere fi lling of vacan- hearings, Gogoi said that he court. their assets public. and partners to forgo transac- Russia.” the decision belongs to the gov- cies would not solve the problem. along with his colleagues were He is one of the four judges He does not own a house or a tions with Russia that would More than 80% of India’s ernment,” Dhanoa said. “It is a solution, but not the trying to evolve a system which who held an unprecedented press vehicle and has no outstanding trigger sanctions under the military equipment was of So- He said S-400 would be like a whole solution. The solution lies can produce better results. conference in January when they debts. CAATSA,” a US State Depart- viet origin during the days of the “booster shot” in the IAF’s arm. Scam-hit bank shuts 51 250 patients evacuated after fi re hits hospital branches to cut costs relative of another patient said. IANS Kolkata A man claimed that his father, IANS 51 units have been closed down which they have been merged. admitted for treatment of a res- Pune, Maharashtra and merged with neighbouring Customers have been asked to piratory problem, died after his branches. deposit their cheque books is- fi re broke out at the Cal- condition deteriorated after in- This is the fi rst such measure sued from the closed branches cutta Medical College and haling smoke, though the hospi- he scam-hit public sec- initiated by any public sector with the old IFSC/MICR codes AHospital yesterday morn- tal authorities said no death oc- tor bank, Bank of Ma- bank in Maharashtra. The BoM by November 30, and collect ing, which was brought under curred due to the blaze. Tharashtra yesterday has around 1,900 branches all their payment instruments bear- control after fi ve hours, offi cials West Bengal minister Sovan announced the closure of 51 over India. ing the new branch’s codes. said. Chatterjee said all patients in the branches across the country as In a brief announcement yes- The BoM cautioned that since Authorities evacuated 250 aff ected building were shifted to part of cost-cutting measures, terday, the bank said it has closed the old IFSC/MICR codes have patients and claimed there were other wards as the fi re, though an official said. down and merged the 51 branches been spiked and would be dis- no casualties. Panic gripped pa- controlled, continued to burn. The bank hit headlines after for public convenience. continued permanently from tients and their relatives as chaos “The blaze broke out on the Maharashtra police arrested its The branches shut are in December 31, the customers prevailed due to the blaze that ground fl oor of the hospital chairman and managing director Thane (7), Mumbai (6), Pune should conduct all their banking broke out at a medical store at building around 7.55am. Ten fi re Ravindra Marathe and fi ve others (5), Jaipur (4), Nashik and Ben- transactions only with the new the state-run hospital in Kolkata. tenders were pressed into serv- for the alleged Rs20.43bn scam galuru (3 each), Amravati, Latur, codes. Some of the critically ill had ice. The situation is now under involving prominent realtor DSK Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Nagpur, On June 29, barely nine days to be carried by hospital staff as control,” said Jag Mohan, direc- Group of Pune. Satara, Hyderabad and Chennai after the arrests of the BoM top enough number of stretchers tor general of West Bengal Fire From October 1, the 51 branch- (2 each), NOIDA, Kolkata, Chan- brass, the management had re- were not available. Authorities and Emergency Services. es – all in urban centres across digarh, Raipur, Goa, Solapur and lieved Marathe and the executive said 250 patients were evacuated. “The fi re started at a place India which have been identi- Kolhapur (1 each). director R K Gupta of all their “I am a heart patient. I pan- where gas cylinders, gauzes and fi ed for the cost-cutting ac- The IFSC Code and MICR functional responsibilities. icked on hearing of the fi re,” a bandages are stored. We have tion – were closed and declared codes of these branches have The management action came patient said. identifi ed the source of fi re and non-viable and incurring huge also been cancelled and all the after Marathe, Gupta, the BoM’s “The moment I heard about are working accordingly. We losses, the offi cial of the Pune- existing savings, current and CEO Sushil Muhnot and three the fi re, we rushed out. But I have are using extractors to remove headquartered bank said. other bank accounts of the others were arrested in the al- no idea when I will be able to take smoke from the building. The Declining to be identifi ed, the customers have been trans- leged scam, which created a po- Firefighters and volunteers work to control a fire at the Calcutta the patient inside as the doctors fi refi ghters are in control of the senior bank offi cial said these ferred to the branches with litical furore. Medical College and Hospital yesterday. are unable to say anything,” a situation,” Mohan said. Gulf Times Thursday, October 4, 2018 19 LATIN AMERICA

DEFENCE LAW AND ORDER COMMENT PROJECT PEOPLE Colombia to delay missile Duque cracks down Morales lashes outat sea Chile desalination plant Ex-Nicaraguan president system purchase on drug consumption access ruling plans get approval Barrios suff ers stroke

Colombia has no immediate plans to buy Colombia’s newly-elected President Ivan Duque Bolivia’s President Evo Morales lashed out at the The environmental authority in Chile approved Nicaragua’s first female president, Violeta Barrios an anti-aircraft missile defence system has signed a decree cracking down on drug “biased” International Court of Justice ruling that after more than a year of evaluation, the de Chamorro, has suff ered a stroke, her family to modernise its air force due to budget consumption following an “alarming increase” in rejected La Paz’s demand for access to the sea development of the largest desalination plant said. The 88-year-old was in a hospital in the constraints, the defence minister said. Military domestic abuse of substances. The decree will from neighbour Chile. Morales told reporters in La in Latin America, with an initial investment of capital Managua, her family said. Chamorro was sources said last week the country was looking allow police to confiscate even minimum doses of Paz that he would personally send a letter to the about $500mn. Trends Industrial’s ENAPAC the widow of newspaper editor Pedro Joaquin into the possibility of acquiring a system, marijuana, decriminalised in the South American court “showing the contradictions” in the court’s project will desalinate sea water for industrial Chamorro Cardenal, who was assassinated in 1978 though President Ivan Duque said the eventual country since 1994. “We are signing a decree that verdict “which did not give justice to Bolivia.” clients in the Atacama desert and mining region during the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza. After purchase of equipment would not be part of gives tools to the police to remove drugs from the Morales – who petitioned the world court in 2013 in the north of the country, with a maximum the socialist Sandinistas ousted Somoza in 1979, an arms race. “We are not going to invest 1.1tn streets of our cities, and of course, to destroy any to oblige Chile to give landlocked Bolivia a land capacity of 2,630 litres of water per second. The Chamorro was part of a government led by former pesos ($367.4mn) in anti-aircraft defence for dose,” said Duque as he signed the decree at the corridor to the Pacific – attended the reading region, home to several of Chile’s largest copper guerilla and current President Daniel Ortega, but the time being, because among other reasons, presidential palace. Under the decree, even legal of the court verdict in The Hague. Bolivia lost deposits, also includes the Salar de Atacama, resigned after disagreeing with him. She was we do not have the budget,” Defence Minister amounts of drugs can now be confiscated during 400kms of coastline in a 1879-1883 war with Chile. one of the world’s richest deposits of lithium, the elected the first female president of Nicaragua in Guillermo Botero said during an appearance police pat-downs in public areas, and the drugs will Ever since, Santiago has rejected every attempt ultra-light metal used in electric car batteries, 1990, at the head of a coalition which defeated before Congress. only be returned if the user can prove an addiction. by its smaller and poorer neighbour to win it back. mobile phones and lap-tops. Ortega and put an end to a decade of revolution. Hospital urges Brazil poll preparations new Venezuela mums to adopt ‘kangaroo care’

Reuters for babies considered to be critical Caracas condition. “We take the baby out of the incubator...and place it here,” said enezuela’s largest ma- Diaz, gesturing to her chest. ternity hospital is asking Concepcion Palacios is the only Vmothers to care for non- public hospital in Venezuela with critical premature babies with a ‘kangaroo programme’, as oth- skin-to-skin contact known as ers are not able to provide the year “kangaroo care” rather than in of necessary follow-up care, Diaz incubators, as wards struggle said. with a lack of equipment. The programme’s rooms are At the Concepcion Palacios well-maintained, with pictures of Hospital last week, doctors held kangaroos on the walls. tutorials to show nurses and The United Nations children’s mothers how to hold newborns agency (Unicef) has provided the against their bare chests inside a hospital with technical assistance pouch or cloth wrap. and medical equipment to evalu- Researchers have identifi ed ate babies’ health. “The kangaroo Brazilian electoral workers seal electronic ballot boxes in Manaus, Brazil, yesterday. Brazilian markets soared for a second day yesterday on an opinion poll confirming ‘kangaroo care’ — which has method saves the lives of prema- right-wing presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro was gaining steam ahead of Sunday’s vote and was on track to beat his likely leftist rival in a second-round runoff . gained adherence in countries in- ture babies...and for that reason cluding the US, Norway and Fin- we support the programme at the land — as a way of lowering infant Concepcion Palacios Hospital,” mortality and improving develop- Unicef said in a September press mental outcomes for premature release. Diaz, a 60 year-old pae- and underweight babies. diatrician, said about 880 pre- In Venezuela, where public mature babies had been treated hospitals face shortages of basic with ‘kangaroo care’ since the medicine and the fl ight of nurses programme started in 2015, and and doctors abroad after fi ve years in September they had started to of economic crisis, ‘kangaroo train doctors and nurses to expand Norsk Hydro to shut care’ can also provide a way to re- the system within the hospital. duce pressure on scarce resources. “The experience was gratify- A senior doctor at Concepcion ing. I understood it was impor- Palacios, speaking anonymously, tant for him to feel my heat,” said said the hospital lacked almost all 33-year-old Milagros Marquez of material needed to treat patients, her son Sebastian, who was born such as water, disinfectant, hospi- at 33 weeks. Brazil plant, layoff 4,700 tal beds, and useable cubicles. Doctors in Colombia fi rst came Venezuela’s information minis- up with ‘kangaroo care’ in the Reuters production. Hydro’s shares fell utive Svein Richard Brandtzaeg this year drove up market pric- majeure earlier this year on try did not respond to a request to late 1970s in response to limited Oslo 12% on the news to a 21-month told a conference call, adding es for alumina and aluminium. some alumina deliveries from comment about the lack of equip- incubators and a high death rate low, making it the worst per- that about 3,000 of those were The original output cut oc- Brazil, and now plans to expand ment in hospitals. among premature babies. Re- former in the European STOXX employees and contractors at curred after the company ad- this declaration, Brandtzaeg According to the last statistics searchers discovered that babies orsk Hydro will halt pro- 600 Index. Alunorte and 1,700 were work- mitted making unlicensed said. released by Venezuela’s health held close to their mothers’ bod- duction and layoff 4,700 The price of aluminium, the ers at Paragominas. emissions of untreated water “We will continue to work ministry, infant mortality, or ies for several hours each day had Npeople at the world’s product made from alumina, He did not give a number for during heavy rains, but while constructively with the au- death of children aged under two, a much higher chance of survival. largest alumina refi nery, Bra- climbed 5.5% to its highest how many could be laid off at Hydro said its problems have thorities to lift the embargo climbed 30% to 11,466 cases in ‘Kangaroo care’ also includes zil’s Alunorte, which has been since June. the Albras smelter. been fixed, it has yet to con- and to resume operations in 2016 from the year before. exclusive breastfeeding, early dis- operating at half capacity since The decision also triggered The closures will have “sig- vince authorities to allow a order to re-establish Alunorte The report cited neonatal sep- charge, and close follow-up care March due to an environmental a shutdown of Hydro’s Para- nificant operational and finan- restart. as the world’s leading alumina sis, pneumonia, respiratory dis- at home. The babies experience dispute, it said yesterday. gominas bauxite mine, which cial consequences” Hydro said The decision to halt all pro- refinery,” Hydro added. tress syndrome, and prematurity the same movements as they do The decision to close the supplies Alunorte, and will in a statement. duction was taken as the re- Shares of Alcoa, a major as the main causes. when they are in the womb and plant indefinitely is a major lead to the imminent closure of Alunorte made 6.4mn tonnes finery’s waste deposit area is producer of both alumina and Lide Diaz, the ‘Kangaroo Mama’ are comforted by the beating of setback for the Norwegian the nearby Albras aluminium of alumina in 2017, about 10% of close to full capacity and the aluminium, rose more than 9% programme’s co-ordinator at the mother’s heart, said Nathalie metals maker, which only last smelter, chief executive Svein global production outside China ongoing dispute is preventing in early US trading, while Cen- Concepcion Palacios, said the Charpak, a French paediatrician month signed two deals with Richard Brandtzaeg said. and enough to make some 3mn Hydro from using a newly cre- tury Aluminium, which out- new focus on skin-to-skin care and one of the founders of Colom- Brazilian authorities that it be- “Thousands of people will be tonnes of aluminium. ated residue facility, it said. sources alumina production, ensured incubators were available bia’s Kangaroo Foundation. lieved would help it resume full without jobs,” Hydro chief exec- Its partial shutdown earlier The company declared force initially fell by 17%.

Anniversary marked US working to halt spread Mexico auto parts of diseases from Venezuela makers hail trade deal Reuters dictate what percentage of a car Mexico City needs to be built in North America Reuters health ministerial counterparts... nationwide campaign to vacci- in order to avoid tariff s in the trade Sao Paulo because we want to ensure that nate 11mn children. deal. these individuals are vaccinated, While in Brazil, Azar visited a uto parts output in Mexico General Motors, Ford Motor Co, that they get the care that they popular type of 24-hour health will jump about 10% over Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Ger- he US is working with need, because we of course don’t clinic known as a UPA, where Athe next three years as au- many’s Volkswagen AG, Japan’s governments across Lat- want measles to become endem- patients can receive basic medi- tomakers scramble to adhere to Toyota Motor Corporation, Nissan Tin America to help pre- ic in the Western Hemisphere cal treatment. UPAs have helped stricter content rules laid out in a Motor Co and Honda Motor Co all vent the spread of diseases like again. We don’t want diphtheria reduce the number of hospital new North American trade deal, build autos in Mexico. diphtheria and measles from to become widespread.” visits for patients whose issues a top industry executive said. “The American carmakers al- Venezuela as refugees flee the can be dealt with locally. The US and Canada reached an ready have a very well-established country, US Health and Human “We want to ensure that Azar said they could serve as a agreement on Sunday after weeks footprint in the US and Mexico” Services Secretary Alex Azar individuals are vaccinated useful model for some US com- of tense bilateral talks to update and will more easily adhere to the said. and that they get the care munities. the 1994 North American Free stricter content rules, Albin told Azar, a former executive at they need, because we of Brazil, particularly the na- Trade Agreement (Nafta). Reuters. drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co, said course don’t want measles tion’s northeast, was hard-hit by Mexico and the US fi rst bro- The new rules should boost it was important to eff ectively to become endemic in the the 2015-16 outbreak of the Zika kered a bilateral accord in late Au- auto parts production from about treat infi rm Venezuelan migrants Western Hemisphere again” virus, in which some infected gust. The new trilateral deal, called $90bn annually at present to before diseases like malaria pregnant women gave birth to the United States-Mexico-Cana- “around $100bn” over the next spread through neighbouring Venezuela is now in the fi fth children with abnormal small- da Agreement (USMCA), will raise three years, he added. countries. year of an economic crisis that ness of the head, a condition the minimum North American In the course of that period, the “Disease knows no bounda- has caused its healthcare system known as microcephaly. content threshold for cars needed sector should add about 80,000 ries. And as we’ve had the com- to collapse and sparked malnu- Azar said that collaboration to qualify for duty-free market ac- new jobs, Albin said. plete collapse of the public health trition, hyperinfl ation, and a mi- between the US and Brazil on cess to 75% from 62.5%. Stocks in auto parts fi rms were infrastructure in Venezuela and gration crisis. developing a Zika vaccine con- “Carmakers, especially Asian lifted by the deal. then migrants fl eeing Venezue- Refugees have ignited health tinued. and European carmakers, will have “The US and Canada will also la to neighbouring countries, emergencies in neighbouring He added that the US and Bra- Bolivian President Evo Morales greets indigenous women to invest more in tools, in North grow since the three countries they’re bringing their health countries, including in Brazil. zil had signed an agreement on during the celebration of the 36th anniversary of the American components to comply will benefi t (from the new agree- conditions with them,” Azar told Almost 300 cases of measles Tuesday under which they would foundation of the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples with the new content rules,” Oscar ment),” said Albin. Reuters during a stop in Brazil were recorded in the Brazilian contribute 14mn reais ($3.5mn) of Bolivia (CIDOB) in Santa Cruz, Bolivia yesterday. The Albin, head of Mexican auto parts The deal set a fi ve-year transi- ahead of a G20 meeting of health border state of Roraima between each for research next year into a CIDOB supports Morales’ candidacy for president for the industry association INA, said in tion period once the accord enters ministers in Argentina this week. February and early August, spur- range of diseases including den- 2019 election. an interview. into force to meet the new content “We’re working with our ring the government to launch a gue and Aids. The so-called rules of origin requirements. Gulf Times 20 Thursday, October 4, 2018 PAKISTAN PM set to expand cabinet US offi cial holds talks with fi ve new members with Qureshi Internews With the inclusion of fi ve new eral minister while a special as- Awan, who is currently facing a Islamabad ministers, the strength of federal sistant is entitled to facilities NAB corruption reference, was AFP and that the Afghan Taliban cabinet will reach 33, including 23 available to a state minister. also present. Washington should seize the opportunity federal ministers, six state ministers Prime Minister Khan is con- The federal government has for dialogue,” Nauert said of rime Minister Imran Khan and four advisers to PM. cerned about “unfair” public recently faced backlash from po- the meeting, which took place has approved yet another The new ministers are likely to criticism of his government’s litical opponents and the public S Secretary of State on Tuesday. Pround of expansion in the take oath of their respective of- economic policies, growing pri- after it enhanced gas prices in Mike Pompeo pressed President Donald Trump federal cabinet, sources said. fi ces this week. marily due to “lack of proper ex- the country while a similar deci- UAfghanistan’s Taliban has doubled down on the At least fi ve new ministers will According to the constitu- planation from the government sion is expected over electricity to come to the table to end the war eff ort in Afghanistan de- be inducted into the existing tion, maximum strength of the on tough economic decisions”. prices. long-running war as he called spite his past calls to end the 28-member federal cabinet. federal cabinet cannot exceed 49 Yesterday, the premier di- The economic co-ordination on Pakistan to play a support- longest-ever US war. According to the sources, as per the formula defi ned in the rected his lieutenants to manage committee yesterday deferred a ive role, the State Department But diplomatic eff orts have Muhammad Faisal Vawda will 18th constitutional amendment mainstream print and electronic decision to hike electricity price said yesterday. also intensifi ed, with US of- be given the portfolio of minis- and calculated on the strength media eff ectively and on a regu- up to 61% and sources claim that Pompeo met in Washington fi cials meeting in July with try of water resources, Senator of the Senate and the National lar basis to disseminate exact the deferment came in view of with Pakistan’s Foreign Min- representatives of the Tali- Azam Khan Swati will get min- Assembly. information and reasons to the the upcoming by-elections in 37 ister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, ban, whose hardline regime istry of science and technology, The constitution also al- Prime Minister Imran Khan public behind “unpopular but constituencies. in the latest US outreach to was overthrown in a US-led Muhammadmian Soomro will lows prime minister to have a realistic” economic decisions. “There is a need to inform the the government of new Prime operation in the wake of the head the ministry of privatisa- maximum of fi ve advisers at a counted as a member of the fed- The PM issued the directives voters in simple words that by Minister Imran Khan, a long- September 11, 2001 attacks. tion, Ali Amin Gandapur will time, while PM Khan currently eral cabinet. Currently, the PM during a meeting with the party’s not increasing electricity prices time advocate of a negoti- The State Department no- look after the ministry of AJK has four. has four assistants one each on spokespersons at the PM Offi ce. the government will continue to ated settlement with Islamist tably did not say whether and Gilgit-Baltistan while Zartaj The constitution is silent accountability, media, political Senior party leaders including pile up circular debt and further insurgents. Pompeo addressed Pakistan’s Gul Wazir will take care of the about the maximum number of aff airs, and overseas Pakistanis. federal and provincial cabinet deteriorate the country’s econ- The top US diplomat, who position on extremism. climate change ministry as state special assistants PM can have An adviser to PM enjoys perks members attended the meet- omy,” said a senior leader who met Khan last month in Islam- In August, Pompeo congrat- minister. and a special assistant is not and privileges available to a fed- ing. Former adviser to PM Babar attended the meeting. abad, “emphasised the impor- ulated Khan in a telephone call tant role Pakistan could play on taking offi ce, with the State in bringing about a negotiated Department saying that he settlement in Afghanistan,” asked Islamabad to “take deci- State Department spokes- sive action against all terrorists woman Heather Nauert said. operating in Pakistan.” Govt kicks Pompeo “agreed that there Pakistan denied the ac- PM House to host institute was momentum to advance count, saying that the issue off drive the Afghan peace process, never came up. to widen of higher learning Power theft reaches tax net Internews The letter proposes that the fi ce (in the Freemason’s Hall), public activity whilst the public Islamabad Prime Minister House will now Chamba House (federal lodges), would be provided access to its Internews house an institute of higher and the State Guest House will grounds. Remaining portions of Rs53bn in 2017-18 Islamabad learning and a centre of excel- all be repurposed. the building will be converted ulfi lling his promise of lence. The education ministry The Chief Minister’s Offi ce, into an art and cultural centre. converting palatial gov- and the higher education com- built in the historic Freemasons The State Guest House in Internews while the acceptable bench- n a move to widen tax net and Fernment buildings into mission (HEC) have been tasked Hall, will be repurposed as a Karachi can be leased out to the Karachi mark level revolves around ensure compliance across structures meant for public use, to complete this conversion crafts museum and conference private sector by the foreign 10% in developed countries. IPakistan, the Federal Board Prime Minister Imran Khan project within three to fi ve years. centre. ministry after completing all The electric supply companies of Revenue (FBR) of Pakistan has yesterday fi nalised the use of 14 The two government prop- The Chamba House which codal formalities and use it as a he estimated cost of of Peshawar, Quetta, Sukkur started a massive drive for the re- key government buildings and erties in the Murree hill sta- currently serves as the federal high-end hotel. power theft during and Hyderabad were the worst covery of taxes from big and in- set deadlines for the respective tion, including the Govern- lodge where ministers, legisla- The Qasr-e-Naz (federal T2017-18 is over Rs53bn performers with losses rang- fl uential tax evaders, it emerged ministries and government de- ment House at Kashmir Point tors and lower grade bureaucrats lodges) will be leased out to a (about $429.32mn), reveals a ing between 22-38%. yesterday. partments to convert them. and the Punjab House at Pindi stay during their visit to the pro- private party for converting it report of the Senate commit- In absolute terms, Pesco While it is the responsibility With the government having Point, will be converted into vincial capital will now host the into a fi ve-star hotel because tee on circular debt. leads the charts with a loss of of the tax body to take actions already granted formal approval a boutique hotel and a tourist new governor house, including of its prime location and near The recently released re- 4,079GWh, followed by Les- against big tax evaders, the FBR to convert these buildings into complex respectively. his offi ce and residence. proximity to other star hotels. port, authored by Senator co at 2,839GWh and Mepco has acknowledged that the drive museums, art galleries and The Punjab government has The Housing and Works min- The housing and works minis- Shibli Faraz, disclosed that 2,698GWh. Saving even 1% of has been launched on the in- parks last month, a 12-mem- been directed to complete this istry will hand it over to the Pun- try has been given 100 days to electricity theft from the na- the losses in these companies struction of federal Minister for ber oversight committee was task within 45 days through a jab government for executing complete the task. tional grid stood at 3.9%. will have a larger impact com- Finance, Revenue and Economic formed to monitor progress. lease agreement after observing the project within 100 days. The Peshawar Governor Based on an energy supply of pared to smaller Discos. Aff airs Asad Umar. This committee will be all codal formalities. The State Guest House – which House will be converted into 120,400.5GWh, and unit sale Meanwhile, the cumulative The action by the FBR is part headed by Prime Minister Khan Moreover, the Punjab House once hosted heads of state during a Tribal and National History price of Rs11.37/kWh, power receivables of Discos soared by of government’s eff orts to widen himself so that he can person- and the Governor House An- the inaugural Organisation of Is- Museum, a botanical and an art theft came out to be Rs53.4bn. Rs154.5bn to Rs824.4bn by the tax net and bring in it all those ally monitor progress on the nexe in Rawalpindi will be con- lamic Conference (OIC) – will be garden with the Khyber-Pa- High transmission and dis- end of fi nancial year 18. individuals who have purchased project. verted into information tech- leased out to run like a fi ve-star khtunkhwa (K-P) government tribution (T and D) losses, the Of these, receivables from big properties, bought luxury ve- Moreover, PM Khan yester- nology institutes and IT Park/ hotel. The foreign ministry has set a deadline of three years to report said, have contributed running defaulters and per- hicles and received property rent day wrote to all governors, chief incubation centres respectively been directed to complete this complete the task. Rs187bn over the past fi ve years manent disconnections ac- in millions but have not paid any ministers, federal ministers, the within three months by the task within 100 days. In Quetta, the main building to the overall circular debt. counted for Rs500.2bn, while tax or fi led tax returns. provinces and other relevant Punjab government. Similarly, in Karachi, a por- will be converted into a mu- It notes that T and D losses those from the federal gov- The FBR claimed that in the offi cers to start work on the In Lahore, the Governor tion of Governor House will seum since the city currently of distribution companies ernment and related entities fi rst phase, strict action was be- project. House, the Chief Minister’s Of- be converted into a space for lacks such a facility. (Discos) increased to 18.3% amounted to Rs244.3bn. ing taken against 169 tax evaders and non-fi lers with proven trail of large business transactions and fi nancial deals made by them in recent times. Japan pledges $2.7mn to UNHCR All such tax evaders have been identifi ed by the FBR and are be- FIA gets go-ahead ing asked to pay tax besides be- ing subjected to heavy fi nes and penalties for failing to fulfi l their obligations. The FBR also decided to start for 15 centres to action, in a phased manner, against all those tax evaders who have purchased properties worth over Rs20mn or 1800CC engine cars or received rent to the tune of check cybercrime Rs10mn or more in a year but have not fi led their tax returns and are not in the list of taxpayers. Internews Gujranwala, Lahore, Faisalabad reporting centre will cover Ab- In a statement, the FBR Islamabad and Multan. The centre in La- bottabad, Kohistan, Manse- warned tax evaders to fi le their hore will cover Lahore, Kasur, hra, Torghar, Batagram and tax returns and pay their due tax- Nankana Sahib, Sheikhupura, Haripur while the jurisdiction es by November 30, as the drive he Federal Investigation Sahiwal, Okara and Pakpattan. of Karachi cybercrime report- for the recovery of tax from rich Agency (FIA) of Pakistan The Rawalpindi city, Jhelum, ing centre will be Karachi East, tax evaders has been launched Twas yesterday allowed to Chakwal and Attock are given Karachi West, Karachi South, across Pakistan. establish 15 cybercrime report- in the limits of the cybercrime Karachi Central, Malir and Ko- Last week several SUVs and ing centres in the country. reporting centre to be set up in rangi. sports model cars were found The ministry of interior is- Rawalpindi while Gujranwala, Sukkur, Khairpur, Ghotki, abandoned by the Islamabad po- Japanese ambassador to Pakistan Takashi Kurai, right, shakes hands with UNHCR country sued a notifi cation allowing the Gujrat, Hafi zabad, Mandi Ba- Larkana, Jabcobabad, Kash- lice, which were later traced to be representative in Pakistan Ruvendrini Menikdiwela after signing an agreement in Islamabad FIA to establish the centres in hauddin, Narowal and Sialkot more, Shahdakot and Shikar- owned by an infl uential person yesterday. Japan yesterday pledged a contribution of $2.7mn to support Afghan refugees and all the four provinces and Gilg- will be covered by the centre to pur are given under the report- who feared raids by the customs Pakistani youths. it-Baltistan. be set up in Gujranwala. ing centre to be set up in Sukkur departments. As many as fi ve of the cen- Faisalabad, Chiniot, Jhang, while Hyderabad, Dadu, Jam- tres will be opened in Punjab, Toba Tek Singh, Sargodha, shoro, Matiari, Tando Allah- three each in Sindh and KP, two Khushab, Bhakkar and Mian- yar, Tando Mohammad Khan, in Balochistan and one each in wali have been kept under the Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Mir- Islamabad and Gilgit. limits of the Faisalabad report- purkhas, Tharparkar, Umerkot, The decision was taken in ing centre. Shaheed Benazirabad, Naush- Plan to deregulate LPG prices under consideration accordance with section 51 of Multan, Vehari, Khanewal, ehro Feroze and Sanghar are the Prevention of Electron- Lodhran, D G Khan, Layyah, given in the jurisdiction of Hy- Internews 2016, approved by the Coun- Public Procurement Regulatory the LPG Policy 2016 will be tak- ic Crimes Act 2015, which Muzaff argarh, Rajanpur, Ba- derabad centre. Islamabad cil of Common Interests (CCI), Authority (PPRA) rules. en up separately at the CCI. grants the government pow- hawalpur, Bahawalnagar and The Quetta cybercrime re- provides that the federal gov- Also, at times it becomes dif- The Economic Coordina- ers to take all the necessary Rahimyar Khan are included in porting centre will look after ernment, from time to time, fi cult to handle the product in tion Committee (ECC), in its measures for the prevention the limits of the Multan cyber- Quetta, Qilla Saifullah, Lo- he federal government in consultation with the Oil case of sudden fl uctuation in recent meeting, recommended of cybercrime. crime reporting centre. ralai, Musakhel, Sherani, Sibi is likely to reverse the and Gas Regulatory Authority LPG prices. that LPG prices should be de- According to offi cials, the The limits of the Peshawar Lehri, Harnai, Ziarat, Kohlu, Tprevious government’s (Ogra) and relevant stakehold- Moreover, there is an issue of regulated and a proposal may step was taken keeping in view cybercrime reporting centre Dera Bugti, Jafarabad, Sohbat- decision to regulate liquefi ed ers, will determine the quantity LPG storage with PSO, which be submitted to the CCI for a sharp increase in cybercrime include Peshawar, Nowshera, pur, Nasirabad, Jhal Magsi and petroleum gas (LPG) prices and to be imported by public sector can result in fi nancial loss to the consideration and approval. in the country. Charsadda, Malakand, Buner, Kech. The Gwadar centre will plans to switch to a deregulated companies. national exchequer. Referring to the abnormal The jurisdictions of the 15 Chitral, Lower Dir, Upper Dir, cover Kech, Panjgur, Kalat, market. However, public sector com- The offi cials explained that increase in LPG prices, the pe- centres will cover the whole Shangla, Swat, Mardan and Mastung, Khuzdar, Awaran, This development comes panies – Pakistan State Oil private sector importers could troleum division said LPG rates country aimed at taking Swabi. Similarly, D I Khan, Kharan, Washuk and Lasbela. amid reluctance of public sector (PSO) and Sui Southern Gas deal with these price fl uctua- including producer prices, mar- prompt action against any cy- Tank, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, The Gilgit cybercrime re- companies to import LPG due to Company (SSGC) – are reluctant tions both on spot and long- keting and distribution mar- bercrime and the culprits in- Kohat, Hangu and Karak are porting centre will report about sudden fl uctuations in its prices. to import LPG under this policy term basis as they did not have gins, sales tax and regulatory volved in it, they added. given in the limits of the centre Gilgit, Hunza, Nagar, Baltistan, According to petroleum di- as they have to follow the pro- to follow the PPRA rules. duty were notifi ed by Ogra every The fi ve centres in Punjab to be set up in D I Khan. Kharmang, Shigar, Ghanche, vision offi cials, the LPG Policy curement process in line with The matter of amendment to month. will be set up in Rawalpindi, The Abbottabad cybercrime Astore and Diamer. Gulf Times Thursday, October 4, 2018 21 PHILIPPINES

World Animal Day celebrations Mocha quits to aid budget approval

By Bernadette E Tamayo Manila Times

ommunications Assist- ant Secretary Esther CMargaux “Mocha” Uson yesterday resigned from her post, supposedly to prevent left- ist lawmakers from delaying the approval of the 2019 budget of the Presidential Communica- tions Operations Offi ce (PCOO). Uson announced her return to blogging, as well as her openness to running for an elective post in 2019, during the hearing for the PCOO budget. The former entertainer dared her critics to a fi stfi ght or brawl — on social media where she has at least 5mn followers. “I will sacrifi ce in order to have the PCOO budget passed,” said Uson, who got the ire of some members of the House of Representatives for her failure to Pet owners pose with their cat and dogs ahead of World Animal Day celebrations at Eastwood City Walk of Fame in Quezon City, Metro Manila, yesterday. attend the PCOO’s budget hear- ing earlier this week. Uson explained that she was out of the country during the House budget hearing, because she joined the Philippine delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “I’ve learned that the approval of the PCOO budget by Congress has been delayed again. It appears that some legislators were Govt plans party crackdown withholding the PCOO budget be- cause of my failure to attend the hearing,” she said. Uson’s resignation was imme- diately accepted by President Ro- drigo Duterte, said Special Assist- ant to the President Christopher on reopened Boracay island Lawrence “Bong” Go. Palace spokesman Harry Roque AFP “cesspool”. When hotel doors dersecretary Sherwin Rigor to restore a 30-metre stretch allow 6,000 hotel rooms, half “Other agencies usually Jr, who said he was surprised over Manila reopen on October 26, the is- said on ABS-CBN TV.”There of sand between the water and the current total, with the rest consult with us and ask for our Uson’s resignation, wished her land known for its party at- are more people who want to tourist areas. seen going out of business for comments. So we are unsure the “best of luck.” Uson claimed mosphere will crack down on engage in wholesome activi- This belt will be off-limits to failing to comply with envi- yet if these are official or not,” that some leftist legislators were each drinking and smok- drinking and smoking on its ties.” drinking, smoking, weddings, ronmental and other regula- its executive director Pia Mi- mad at her for interviewing some ing will be consigned to beaches, while only 19,000 Before closure, the 2,470- vendors, and massage provid- tions, the official said. raflores said. leaders of indigenous communi- Bthe past when Boracay, tourists will be allowed at any acre island drew 2mn tourists a ers — activities which can be Boracay hotels are now re- Another environment un- ties in Mindanao. “I discovered the Philippines’ top holiday is- one time. year, pumping roughly $1bn in done inside hotels and restau- quired to put up their own dersecretary, Benny Anti- that according to some Lumad, land, welcomes back a capped The rules are aimed at pro- revenue into the economy. rants, Rigor said. sewage treatment plants, while porda, said all these rules will some datu leaders in Mindanao, number of tourists after its six- tecting the island’s fragile ec- The government said Bo- The new rules are also set garbage will be put on a barge be enforced from October 26, they were allegedly being used by month shutdown, authorities osystem, where up to 40,000 racay’s closure contributed to to ban the huge “Laboracay” every night and shipped across but he did not rule out a com- the Communist Party of the Phil- said yesterday. beachgoers were unwinding on a sharp slowdown in Philip- multi-day beach parties at- the sea to a landfill, Rigor said. promise if the local businesses ippines-New People’s Army to Philippine President Rod- its sand and swimming in its pine economic growth in the tended by tens of thousands The Boracay Foundation, asked for it. oust President Duterte,” she said. rigo Duterte ordered the resort turquoise waters at peak peri- second quarter, but Duterte of tourists during the weekend the main business industry “They should take the ini- “I believe that this is the reason shuttered to visitors in April, ods. said the clean-up was worth it. that includes May 1, Labour group on the island, said it had tiative...Weren’t they the same why some leftist congressmen are after declaring years of un- “We wanted the beachfront In the run up to the re- Day, which is also the peak of no comment on the new rules ones who destroyed Boracay very mad at me,” Uson said in a checked growth had turned to be clean and to be occupied opening, bars, restaurants and the tourist season. which have not been officially in the first place?” Antiporda prepared speech during the budg- the white-sand idyll into a by tourists,” Environment Un- hotels were being demolished The government will only conveyed to it. added. et hearing. 30% of Filipinos say ‘lives worsened in third quarter’ Military claims 18 institutions

By Ralph Villanueva The number of personal optimists also dipped ‘infi ltrated’ by communists Manila Times in the third quarter of the year. The SWS survey found that 36% of Filipinos expect a better life in the next 12 months, compared to 9% expecting it By Dempsey Reyes nly 28% of Filipinos said their lives im- to get worse, for a Net Personal Optimists score of Manila Times proved in the third quarter of 2018 com- +27. This is considered as “high,” and is 17 points Opared to the 30 percent who said oth- down from the +44 “excellent” in June 2018. erwise, a survey by the Social Weather Stations The survey also found that 31% of Filipinos are ighteen colleges and uni- (SWS) showed yesterday. optimistic that the Philippine economy would get versities have been infi l- The -2 net rating is good for a “fair” rating, ac- better next year, while 20% said it would fall, for a Etrated by the Communist cording to the pollster. Net Economic Optimists score of +11. Party of the Philippines (CPP), This is the fi rst time since the fi rst quarter of It is classifi ed as “very high,” and is 19 points the military said yesterday. 2015 that the net gainers garnered a negative rat- below the +30 “excellent” in June 2018. Brig. Gen. Antonio Par- ing, following 14 consecutive positive scores. The decline resulted from decreases in all areas lade Jr, assistant deputy chief The fi gure is seven points below the +5 (high) in in the country.The net economic optimism took of staff for operations of the June 2018, and is the lowest since the -8 (fair) in a great hit in Mindanao, standing at +28 from Armed Forces of the Philip- September 2014. The decline was caused by dips June’s +49 mark. It suff ered a 22-point decline in pines (AFP), identifi ed the 18 in Mindanao (zero, from June’s +14 mark), Metro Balance Luzon, at +8. schools as the University of Manila (-4, from June’s +1) and Balance Luzon The optimism also fell in the Visayas, where the Philippines Diliman, UP (+3, from June’s +9 fi gure). It, however, rose in a net rating of +1 was recorded from June’s +20, Manila, Polytechnic University the Visayas at zero from June’s “mediocre” -11 while the net economic optimists were at +5 in of the Philippines, Ateneo de mark. Metro Manila, from June’s +13. Manila University, De La Salle The number of net gainers in all social classes It also saw huge dips in all social classes. University, University of Santo also fell sharply. It dropped dramatically in class- The survey was conducted from September 15 Tomas, Adamson University, es A, B and C at -1, good for a “fair” rating, from to 23, 2018 among 1,500 adults at least 18 years of Far Eastern University, Uni- June’s “excellent” +31 fi gure. age. It had sampling error margins of + or – 3% versity of the East-Recto, UE The same happened in class D, which stood at for national percentages, + or – 4% for Balance Caloocan, Emilio Aguinaldo zero rating from June’s +4 grade. Luzon and + or – 6% each for Metro Manila, College, Eulogio “Amang” Ro- In Class E, it fell to -14, from June’s +1 rating. Visayas and Mindanao. driguez Institute of Science and Technology (Earist), San Beda College, Lyceum of the Philip- pines University, University of Makati, University of Caloocan President Rodrigo Duterte gives a soldier his own watch during a visit to Camp Juan Ponce Sumuroy City (formerly Caloocan City in Catarman, Northern Samar. College), University of Manila Warning over quake in Zamboanga and Philippine Normal Univer- In line with the Red Octo- mining companies and Hades said yesterday. “President Du- sity. ber plot, Parlade said in a radio will run after those with “blood terte sees no ground to declare Parlade did not name six oth- interview, the CPP would be debts.” martial law nationwide as the By Antonio P Rimando nouncement that came in the earthquake will hit, but Zam- er schools in Cebu and in other executing fi ve plans, namely, Last month, Parlade dis- whole situation is under con- Manila Times wake of last Friday’s 7.5-magni- boanga peninsula is near the provinces that he said were also “Supermarket,” “Casino,” closed the alleged plot trol,” he added. tude earthquake and tsunami on Sulu Trench and it can cause an a recruitment ground for anti- “Tabasco,” “Bulldozer” and cooked up by the CPP in con- Martial law remains in eff ect the Indonesian island of Sulawe- Intensity 8 tremor if it moves.” government groups that would “Hades.” nivance with the political in Mindanao. former offi cial of the si that reportedly killed about A lot of residents were alarmed execute the “Red October” plot Under Supermarket, accord- opposition. Galvez on Tuesday accused Philippine Institute of 900 people. when Phivolcs Director Renato to oust President Rodrigo Du- ing to him, communist rebels During the military’s budget communists of trying to force AVolcanology and Seis- Labayog added that the re- Solidum, in a visit to Zamboanga terte. will be attacking stations of the hearing at the Senate on Tues- Duterte to declare martial law mology (Phivolcs) has warned minder was not intended to sow last year, talked about the pos- According to him, offi cials of Philippine National Police and day, however, AFP chief Gen. nationwide so that they can that a possible movement in the fear among local inhabitants sibility of earthquake and tidal the 18 colleges and universities military detachments on the Carlito Galvez Jr, cleared the gather enough support to oust Sulu Trench could cause a pow- “but rather to make us realise wave in this highly urbanised might have been unaware that ground. Liberal Party and the Magdalo him. erful earthquake followed by a how important it is to prepare coastal city. the CPP was “composing” the Casino is aimed at military group from the supposed ouster “The president is being tsunami that could rip through when such a catastrophe arises Labayog said Solidum’s warn- plot by eyeing students and by intelligence units, he said. plan. dragged to declare martial law Zamboanga peninsula. to prevent unnecessary loss of ing taken positively would re- showing fi lms highlighting the Tabasco will be targeting Despite the plot to oust him, nationwide. That’s the ploy of Allan Labayog, ex-director of lives.” quire everyone to prepare so that “dark years” of Martial Law un- perpetrators of extrajudicial President Rodrigo Duterte sees the CPP so that would be some Phivolcs Region 9, said people He noted, “It is not possible they will know what to do when der then- strongman President killings, Bulldozer will be aimed no ground to declare martial sort of a political death trap for should take seriously the an- to predict when and where the calamity strikes. Ferdinand Marcos. at burning of equipment of law nationwide, Malacanang the president,” Galvez said. Gulf Times 22 Thursday, October 4, 2018 COMMENT

CHAIRMAN Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka Deputy Managing Editor K T Chacko P.O.Box 2888, Doha, Qatar [email protected] 44350478 (News), 44466404 (Sport), 44466636 (Home delivery) 44350474 facebook.com/gulftimes twitter.com/gulftimes_Qatar GULF TIMES Could EU move on fake news be a gamechanger ? The preferred term for fake news now seems to be disinformation. Good enough, but is there progress in combating it? Necessary as they are, inquiries into how democratic processes in recent years were aff ected by fakery need to be accompanied by eff orts to prevent repeats in coming electoral cycles. Stakes are high in both the US midterms and in whatever voting process – election or second referendum – helps settle the Brexit issue. The newly released EU code of practice on disinformation As Bangkok sinks, could this shows how far debate has moved since Donald Trump in 2016 revived the old term “fake news”. At that time, to Trump’s and some other politicians’ advantage, it was particularly hard to say what was and was not encompassed by the term “fake news”. anti-fl ood park be the answer? We have travelled some way since the tech giants were denying that anything was amiss, and since the words “Cambridge” and “Analytica”, used together, would have By Jamie Fullerton Bangkok brought to mind only reference books or the like. Signatories to the code, which include Facebook, angkok is sinking – fast. As Twitter and Google, agree, among other things, that urban development continues “open democratic societies depend on public debates that unabated, this city of more than allow well-informed citizens to express their will through B10mn people is getting lower free and fair political by 2cm a year, according to Greenpeace estimates. Meanwhile, the surface of The code defi nes processes”. the Gulf of Thailand is rising by 4mm a The code defi nes year – above the global average. disinformation as disinformation as With the Thai capital currently “verifi ably false approximately 1.5m above sea level, “verifi ably false the spectres of the 2011 fl oods that or misleading inundated the city and those of 2017 or misleading information” that is that killed 1,200 people in India, Nepal “created, presented and Bangladesh loom large. Recent information” and disseminated for rainwater fl oods, plus a UN preparatory meeting on climate change hosted economic gain or to deceive the public” and “may cause in Bangkok, pushed concerns to the harm”. The harm includes “threats to democratic political surface once more. and policymaking processes as well as public goods such as “When I was young I liked floods,” the protection of EU citizens’ health, the environment or says the architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom, who was born in the city. People push their belongings through the water during an evacuation from a flooded area in Bangkok in 2011, during Thailand’s security”. “I pushed my little boat out and the worst floods in half a century. The defi nition does not include misleading advertising, road became a canal, it was such fun. reporting errors, satire and parody or “clearly identifi ed But after 2011 everyone was like, ‘Oh. Bhumibol Adulyadej before he died (£610mn). Flood barriers and structures, but what about the normal partisan news and commentary”. What used to be childhood fun has in 2016. Just as monkeys stuff their underground tunnels are being built, people?” he says. “The water will come become a disaster.’ And it’s getting cheeks with banana, saving the fruit and canals are being dredged and to them.” Among the code’s purposes is transparency about worse.” mush for later, the monarch encouraged expanded. Long-term forecasts by Suptharathit’s political and issue-based advertising “with a view to Voraakhom’s ingenious answer Thailand’s Ministry of Agriculture Sakchai Boonma, director of the research team suggest Bangkok is likely enabling users to understand why they have been targeted was the 11-acre Centenary Park at and Co-operatives to help prevent Department of City Planning for the to be hit by serious fl ooding roughly once by a given advertisement”. Chulalongkorn University in the centre fl oods by utilising land areas that could Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, per decade, and he predicts that by 2100 of the city. Hidden beneath the trees temporarily store water. says a “green zone” east of Bangkok the city will be mostly underwater. Tara The non-binding code wants “indicators of trustworthiness and grass lies its most interesting Suptharathit believes current fl ood is already used to retain water for the Buakamsri, Greenpeace’s Thailand director, of content sources, media ownership and/or verifi ed identity”, feature: vast underground water prevention in Bangkok is too reliant city. Since 2013, he says, fl ood concerns says: “We just don’t know when a ‘worst- and to “dilute the visibility of disinformation by improving the containers that, along with a large pond, on hard structures such as dams and have been better addressed by building case scenario’ – surge from the sea, rainfall fi ndability of trustworthy content”. can hold a million gallons of water. canals. Voraakhom’s park helps, and regulations. “There must now be space and fl ooding from the north, all arriving at Under normal conditions, water that Suptharathit proposes paying more for water to absorb into the ground the same time – will happen.” The code acknowledges the freedom of expression is not absorbed by plants fl ows into farmers to use their land for water (of new-builds),” he says. “Bangkok Voraakhom admits parks such as hers issues inherent in fashioning workable responses to these receptacles, where it is stored retention during the July-October rainy has been expanding in every direction can only be a tiny part of the solution, disinformation. Signatories “should not be compelled by for watering during dry periods. When season. “We don’t think about the use … but city planning authorities are but believes they help raise awareness governments, nor should they adopt voluntary policies, to severe fl oods hit, the containers hold of nature enough,” he says. “Low- prioritising preventing and fi xing fl ood and “show society what can be done in water and release it into the public elevation rice fi elds, things like that. situations.” the next 100 years”. delete or prevent access to otherwise lawful content solely sewage system after fl ooding has Before fl owing to Bangkok much of the However, Suptharathit says the She climbs onto an exercise bicycle on the basis that they are thought to be ‘false’”. subsided. area (that fl oodwater travels through) poor will still feel the brunt of severe fi xed to the ground in Centenary Park. It Aversion to government compulsion is sensible in this Voraakhom and her architecture fi rm is rural.” fl ooding. They are likely to live in old serves the dual purpose of giving users a context, but why constrain voluntariness so much? Lots of Landprocess will open a 36-acre park For its part, the city government buildings not well protected by new workout while also churning pondwater with similar water retention functions insists it is responding to increased anti-fl ood measures, and are also at risk to prevent stagnation. “Is it too late?” misleading information is lawful. Many publishers must at Bangkok’s Thammasat University concern about fl ooding. It recently of being displaced by fl ood prevention she says as she starts pedalling. “I’ve make judgments under tight deadlines, especially on the next year. announced 28 new fl ood prevention redevelopment around canals. “The no idea, but we have to do as much as cusp of elections, and there are likely to be times when they Centenary Park is also a welcome projects at a cost of 26bn baht strong can survive with these big possible.” – Guardian News and Media feel it is right to act against what is reasonably believed to glimpse of grass in a metropolis that, according to the Economist Intelligence be disinformation, before it can do its harms. Transparency Unit’s Green City Index, has just 3.3sq about the test for falsity, and how it is applied, will matter, m of green space per resident. That even if the accounting has to be conducted retrospectively. compares with 27sq m in London and The code, which includes some best practices, has 66sq m in Singapore. Dr Seri Suptharathit, director of the emerged from EU work undertaken over the past two years. Centre on Climate Change and Disaster It indicates both progress made and diffi culties ahead at Bangkok’s Rangsit University, says in tackling a problem that we know can affl ict a society even more green has been turned grey through both new and old forms of media. since that survey took place in 2011. He says that in the past 20 years the amount of green space in Bangkok has dropped from 40% of total land to less To Advertise than 10% – exacerbating fl ood risk. Walking around Centenary Park, [email protected] which opened last year on a site on the Display Chao Phraya delta previously occupied by university residential buildings, 44466621 44418811 Voraakhom points out trees, and an education centre with a lawn roof and Classified herb garden. 44466609 44418811 “One time last year we had six hours of heavy rainfall and all the Subscription roads around here were fl ooded,” says Voraakhom. “But the park still held the [email protected] water.” Her design ethos fi ts with the “monkey cheeks” water retention © 2018 Gulf Times. All rights reserved initiative pushed by Thailand’s King The Chulalongkorn Centenary Park green infrastructure. Vast underground reservoirs beneath the park can store 1mn gallons of water. Gulf Times Thursday, October 4, 2018 23 COMMENT Qatar, Paraguay eye new partnerships

QNA success has been to diversify the Doha country’s economic base beyond its traditional dependence on agricultural exports, boosting industrial activity to is Highness the Amir Sheikh 9.5 % of GDP in 2017. Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani’s Forty-seven percent of the people are tour in a number of countries engaged in agriculture. Hin South America continues Paraguay’s land is one of the most with a visit to the Republic of Paraguay, fertile areas for agriculture in South the third stop following two successful America. visits to Ecuador and Peru. Paraguay’s strong economic growth The tour, which also includes the is based on several factors, foremost fourth and fi nal stop in Argentina, of which are commodity exports, the builds on the previous two trips to the world’s fourth-largest exporter of continent in 2015 and 2016. soybeans and the sixth largest source They are a refl ection of the Amir’s of maize, one of the world’s largest commitment to establish new hydropower producers, one-fourth of partnerships for Qatar in dozens of vital which is generated by one of the world’s sectors with those countries. largest dams, the Itaipu dam, jointly Amir’s visit to Paraguay is a big step owned and operated by the governments towards enhancing ties between the of Paraguay and Brazil. two countries and peoples, as it opens The country’s GDP last year was about the door for new partnerships in the $68bn, the export value was $11.5bn and economic and commerce fi elds. the main exports were soybeans, fodder, There will also be strategic cotton, edible oils, timber, leather and investments that could cross the gold. borders of both countries in the food The government has identifi ed four product sector, as that sector has all the His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met Paraguay President Horacio Cartes at the headquarters of Qatar’s Permanent Mission to the United areas as key economic engines for requirements to establish broad and Nations in New York in September last year. They reviewed bilateral relations and means of developing them. growth. strong partnerships. They are the exporting of food The Amir’s meetings with Paraguay’s Relations between the two countries They discussed bilateral relations Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi. between Argentina, Brazil and Bolivia. products, building new factories, President Horacio Cartes and senior have been witnessing an exchange of and ways to strengthen them during the The Vice Minister of Foreign Aff airs It has an area of more than 400,000sq transforming Paraguay into a regional offi cials will focus on bilateral relations visits from leading offi cials. meeting. for Paraguay Federico Gonzalez chaired km, with a population of about 7mn, logistics hub, and promoting investment and exchange of views on various His Highness the Father Amir Sheikh On February 11, 2018, HE the the Paraguayan side. with the Paraguayan River running in forests and green energy. regional and international issues of joint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani paid an Minister of Economy and Commerce The two sides discussed bilateral through it from North to South. Paraguay currently produces food for interest. offi cial visit to Paraguay in August 2010. Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin relations and the means to enhance In recent years, Paraguay has come 80mn people, mostly meat, corn and This refl ects the commitment of The Special Envoy of the President of Mohamed al-Thani met with them and a number of issues of mutual to the fore, with many of its economic soybeans. the Amir to opening new scopes for the Republic of Paraguay ambassador Paraguay’s Minister of Industry and interest. successes being cited as a regional But the government plans to triple the Qatari economy, to serve its 2030 Alejandro Hamed Franco visited Qatar Commerce Gustavo Leite. Qatar and Paraguay have a number success story. that fi gure, making Paraguay one of the National Vision, in addition to building in 2009. During the meeting, they signed of agreements and memorandums of When world commodity prices fell world’s major food baskets. the strongest ties with countries from all His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim an agreement to promote and protect understanding. in the past decade and destabilised the Currently, it exports about 300,000 over the world. bin Hamad al-Thani met in September mutual investments between the two This include an agreement on neighbouring economic giants Brazil and tonnes of beef annually to 73 markets Qatar and Paraguay set up ties last year with President Cartes at countries. economic, commercial and technical Argentina, Paraguay’s stable economy around the world. in 2002, when the permanent the headquarters of the Permanent They also discussed bilateral relations co-operation, an agreement on the and government fi scal policies helped According to economic reports, representatives of the two countries Delegation of the State of Qatar to the and the scope for enhancing co- promotion and protection of mutual overcome the crisis and maintain foreign investors are following to the United Nations in New York United Nations on the sidelines of the operation, especially in economic fi elds. investments between the two countries, sustainable growth. Paraguay’s economic developments and signed a joint statement on establishing UN General Assembly. In May the two countries Foreign and a memorandum of understanding Average annual GDP growth for the fl ocking to them as a result of convincing diplomatic ties. The President expressed his happiness Ministry offi cials held political for consultation between the two foreign last decade was 4.8%, driven by strong incentives including tax breaks, the Qatar’s embassy in Asuncion was with meeting the Amir. He also consultations in Asuncion. ministries. agricultural exports, hydroelectricity possibility of full restoration of capital established in 2012. and Paraguay opened expressed hope that the meeting would The Qatari side was chaired by HE Paraguay is a landlocked country and a rapidly expanding industrial base. and profi t, and equal rights for foreign its embassy in Doha two years later. be repeated. the Minister of State for Foreign Aff airs located in the middle of Latin America The key to Paraguay’s economic investors and local fi rms.

Three-day forecast ‘Health for All’, 40 years on TODAY Maximum Temperature : 390c Minimum Temperature : 290c By Kabir Sheikh have created new risk categories, The Declaration of Alma-Ata’s lasting Engaging government policymakers, Geneva while wealth inequalities and political legacy is the consensus that health can civil society, the media, and funders FRIDAY exclusion have produced deeper be improved only with a combination on the message of Health for All will be Maximum Temperature : 380c pockets of vulnerability. of good science, sound economics, and crucial to strengthening health systems. Minimum Temperature : 280c orty years ago last month, Consider, for example, the issue of action against social injustices. Finally, just as the declaration SATURDAY thousands of delegates from migration: the politicisation of this This was true in the 1970s, and it is prescribed, international health Maximum Temperature : 370c 134 countries gathered in age-old phenomenon has serious true today. organisations and donors are Minimum Temperature : 290c Kazakhstan, then a part of public health consequences. The international community beginning to reorient their strategies F Fisherman's forecast the former Soviet Union, to adopt the Health markets have also changed should mark the declaration’s to empower leaders at the local and Declaration of Alma-Ata. dramatically. anniversary by recommitting to the national levels. WARNING values it upholds. While there is still room for This landmark agreement Today, poorly-regulated private Inshore : Nil committed the world to expanding healthcare sectors predominate in Three of Alma-Ata’s messages merit improvement, more women and Offshore : Nil health access, and the principles many countries in Asia, Latin America special attention. citizens of developing countries it enshrined in a mere three pages and Africa. First, to improve health, leaders occupy prominent positions in global WEATHER Inshore : Misty at places by early continue to have a profound eff ect on While the expansion of healthcare need to do more than build clinics organisations than before. morning, becomes hot the fi eld of public health. markets expands patient choice, and train physicians; they must also The world has yet to achieve the daytime and relatively The declaration’s continuing appeal personal debt is also increasing. protect the environment, ensure ideals announced in 1978. humid by night. consists in its dual character: it is part Moreover, commercial interests access to clean water and sanitation, But we are moving in the right Offshore : Misty at times with gospel of applied science, part political within the food, alcohol, and tobacco promote gender equality, create jobs, direction. some clouds manifesto. industries undermine people’s health and strengthen infrastructure. True change takes place close WIND Inshore : Northwesterly-North- Among its key messages are and complicate eff orts to curb the rise Although these objectives are to common people, and not just in easterly 05-12 KT increasing community leadership in in noncommunicable illnesses like incorporated in the UN Sustainable centres of global power. health planning; reducing elitism in heart disease and diabetes. Development Goals (SDGs), there It can come through more Offshrore : Mainly Southwesterly- modern medicine; and tackling social Regrettably, community needs to be more serious commitment representative public institutions, Southeasterly 03-10 KT inequality for better health outcomes. involvement in health planning has to the holistic approach advocated by more relevant science, or more social Visibility : 4-8/3 KM The declaration’s central remained virtually unchanged since the Declaration of Alma-Ata. action. contribution was its articulation 1978. Second, more needs to be done In all of these areas, the Declaration Offshore : 1-2/3 FT to promote interdisciplinary health of Alma-Ata will no doubt be a source of “health for all,” a precursor to Although research shows that Around the region universal health coverage (UHC). services improve when people sciences that address both the of continued inspiration. – Project Weather Examining the origins and evolution participate in health planning, practical and ethical questions posed Syndicate Weather tomorrow Max/min of UHC’s founding doctrine could “participatory governance” is not a by Alma Ata. today Max/min Sunny 39/21 prove useful in the ongoing struggle to common feature in many developing One opportunity to reaffi rm this z Kabir Sheikh is chair of Health Baghdad Sunny 40/23 Sunny 42/27 achieve it. countries. principle will come this month, when Systems Global, a policy adviser at the Kuwait City Sunny 42/28 Sunny 39/29 One of the biggest diff erences With few exceptions – Brazil and some 2,000 stakeholders from around Alliance for Health Policy & Systems Manama Sunny 39/30 Sunny 33/27 between 1978 and today is the breadth Thailand are often singled out – the world gather in Liverpool for the Research, and former Joint Director Muscat M Sunny 33/27 M Sunny 29/17 of health vulnerabilities. community-centred health systems Fifth Global Symposium on Health for Research and Policy at the Public Tehran Sunny 29/18 Climate change and shifting diets remain rare. Systems Research. Health Foundation of India.

Live issues Women who drink more water get fewer UTIs Around the world By Lisa Rapaport/ Reuters Health proof that drinking more water can prevent UTIs, Weather Weather London the study authors note. today Max/min tomorrow Max/min The women in the current study were generally Athens M Sunny 26/17 P Cloudy 24/17 healthy, but they had experienced at least three UTIs Beirut M Sunny 28/24 M Sunny 28/25 omen who drink extra water to avoid in the previous year, including at least one infection Bangkok S T Storms 33/26 T Storm 32/26 urinary tract infections (UTIs) may be that had been confi rmed by a clinician with urine Berlin Cloudy 18/08 Sunny 21/07 on to something. A new experiment tests. All of the participants also reported drinking Cairo Sunny 34/23 M Sunny 35/23 Woff ers fresh evidence that drinking less than 1.5 litres of fl uid daily. Cape Town M Sunny 22/13 Sunny 26/14 more water each day can make UTIs less frequent. Among women assigned to increase their water Colombo T Storm 29/24 T Storm 28/24 For the study, researchers focused on 140 women intake, participants drank an average of 1.7 litres Dhaka P Cloudy 33/26 M Sunny 34/25 with recurrent UTIs who typically drank fewer more of fl uids each day by the end of the study than Hong Kong Sunny 28/21 Sunny 28/21 than 1.5 litres of fl uid (about six 8-ounce glasses) a they did at the start. Women in the control group Istanbul P Cloudy 20/14 Sunny 21/15 day. For 12 months, researchers asked half of these that wasn’t asked to boost water consumption didn’t Jakarta S T Storms 34/26 P Cloudy 34/25 women to continue their usual fl uid intake and asked experience a meaningful change in fl uid intake over Karachi Sunny 33/24 P Cloudy 34/24 the other half to drink an additional 1.5 litres of the course of the study. London P Cloudy 21/12 P Cloudy 22/09 water daily. One limitation of the study is that it was done at a Manila P Cloudy 31/24 P Cloudy 32/24 Over the year, women who drank more water had least two to three litres a day,” Hooton said. single location, making it possible that results could Moscow Showers 09/02 P Cloudy 08/04 an average of 1.7 UTIs, compared with 3.2 on average Roughly half of women will experience at least be diff erent for patients elsewhere, the authors note. New Delhi M Sunny 34/22 Sunny 34/22 for women who didn’t add extra water to their diets, one UTI at some point, researchers note in JAMA Results for these women at high risk for repeat New York P Cloudy 28/16 P Cloudy 20/14 the experiment found. Internal Medicine. Once women do have that first UTIs also might diff er from what would happen with Paris Sunny 22/08 Sunny 26/13 “The data strongly suggest that hydration status is UTI, 27% of them will have another one within six women with a lower risk of UTIs, noted Dr Deborah Sao Paulo Cloudy 20/15 Cloudy 17/14 associated with UTI risk,” said lead study author Dr months, and 44% to 70% will have another UTI Grady, author of an accompanying editorial and a Seoul M Sunny 25/12 Showers 20/17 Thomas M Hooton, of the University of Miami Miller within a year. professor of medicine at the University of California, Singapore T Storm 31/27 P Cloudy 31/27 School of Medicine. Women have long been advised that staying San Francisco. Sydney Rain 17/14 Showers 16/14 “If a woman has recurrent UTI, she should con- hydrated can help minimise their risk of these infec- It’s also hard to give women an exact amount of Tokyo Clear 22/19 Rain 22/18 sider her daily fl uid intake and try to increase it to at tions. But until now, researchers didn’t have decisive water to consume to prevent UTIs, Grady said. Gulf Times 24 Thursday, October 4, 2018 QATAR Amir’s visit enhances close ties with Peru

His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, and the President of Peru, Martin Vizcarra, attend the formal welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace in His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, reviews the ceremonial guard of honour after his arrival at Lima airport. Lima.

His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, received the key to the city of Lima from Mayor Luis Castaneda Lossio, during his visit to the municipal headquarters in Lima on Tuesday. His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, is greeted by Peruvian government ministers during his visit to Lima.

Amir’s visit paves way for big growth in Qatar-Latin America relations

From Page 1 rect agreement with what the expats feel somehow at home. Of the countries which His Doha Declaration stipulated in Some facilitation regard- Highness the Amir has so far terms of the need to “respect ing family visas would also be visited, there has been agree- the international law and sov- helpful in encouraging skilled ments on various issues re- ereignty and territorial integ- Latinos to come and work in lated directly to the Doha Dec- rity of states.” Qatar. laration. For example, Qatar Arabs and Latin America too In the area of landscaping, and Ecuador signed an agree- share a lot in common. The both Qatar and Latin Ameri- ment to expand and develop countries in both regions are can countries can work even joint co-operation in the field emerging ones. Latin Ameri- on rapid steps to reach agree- of environment protection can countries went through ments and form commit- and sustainable development. the same political and social tees that would help explore They also signed a joint dec- cycle which Arab countries Qatar’s opportunities in ex- laration on co-operation in had gone through, in terms of changing resources so as to the agricultural field between colonisation, revolutions and make the country greener. In the two countries and increase gaining of independence, dic- this regard, I would call upon the volume of exchange of tatorships and reaching up to Hassad Food Company to work agricultural products. Such opening new pages of emerg- more so as to come up with agreements directly relate ing democracy. Both regions proposals and suggestions that to what was agreed on in the have rich and family-orient- would generate agreements His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani receives the key to the city of Asuncion from Mayor Luque Carlos Echeverria. Doha Declaration with regard ed cultures. Arabs and Latin and memoranda of under- to “environment preserva- America can work together to standing with Latin America, tion and the leaders’ stress on bring ties and relations even aimed at achieving food secu- the sustainable development, closer. rity. These areas include the fighting desertification and In addition to what the visit livestock field, the creation of Qatar and Paraguay hold offi cial talks promoting ecotourism.” is trying to achieve, I believe a logistics food hub in Qatar, Another occasion where that both Qatar and Latin especially that we already have the Doha Declaration is im- America can secure significant the necessary infrastructure, From Page 1 dent of the Senate, and his deputy Miguel ed by Minister for Foreign Aff airs of Para- plemented is seen in HH the ways of co-operation in areas the economic zone (Manateq) The talks also dealt with the latest devel- Cuevas, chairman of Chamber of Deputies, guay Luis Alberto Castelloni, and Charge Amir’s briefing HE President that include, for example, the and the huge Hamad Port. opments on the regional and international and a number of members of the two cham- d’Aff aires of the Qatar embassy to Paraguay Martín Alberto Vizcarra on the creation of a pension fund or These steps can can make Qa- arenas of common interest. bers of the National Congress. Abdul Rahman Ahmed al-Suwaidi, and am- ongoing Gulf crisis, and, in this social security system which tar a major exporter in the re- The meeting was attended by members During the visit, the Amir reviewed with bassador of Paraguay to Qatar Angel Ramon regard, the Peruvian President would encourage Latinos to gion. of the offi cial delegation accompanying His the President of the National Congress and Barchini, as well as the members of the Qa- accentuated the importance explore opportunities in Doha. In the same vein, more in- Highness the Amir. his deputy and members the prospects of tar embassy in Paraguay and a number of of respecting the sovereignty Such a system would attract vestments between Qatar and On the Paraguay side, it was attended by developing friendly relations and co-opera- Paraguayan school students. of states, and commended the South Americans, especially Latin America can be planned the Vice President Hugo Velazquez, and a tion between the two countries, particularly At the reception ceremony at the airport, meditation of HH the Amir of qualified and expert human in the energy sector and min- number of ministers and senior offi cials. in the legislative and parliamentary fi elds, the Amir was handed over the key to the Kuwait and the United States resources, from all sectors to ing. This would also widen The Amir also paid a visit to Paraguay’s as well as the exchange of experiences in re- city of Asuncion by Mayor Luque Carlos of America to find a solution employ their expertise in Qa- the scope of co-operation and National Congress building. Upon arrival, lated fi elds. Echeverria, as the guest of honour of the Re- for the crisis on the basis of tar. The fund will be helpful presence of both Qatar and the Amir was greeted by Silvio Ovelar, Pres- Earlier, on his arrival at Silvio Pettirossi public of Paraguay, expressing the friendly dialogue and diplomatic ways. in that Qatar will stop being a Latin America even more. ident of the National Congress and Presi- International Airport, the Amir was greet- relations between the two countries. Such an accentuation is in di- transit station and will make falmudahka@gulf-times.