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US fi rms see Qatar as gateway A dazzling decade of to Gulf and Mideast region Asian men’s football published in QATAR since 1978

TUESDAY Vol. XXXX No. 11413 December 31, 2019 Jumada I 5, 1441 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

In brief QATAR | Offi cial Qatar deploys Amir sends message to Austrian president His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani sent yesterday hi-tech vessels a written message to Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, pertaining to bilateral ties and means to bolster them. Qatar’s ambassador to Austria and Permanent for maritime Representative to the UN and International Organisations in Vienna, Sultan bin Salmeen al-Mansouri, delivered the message yesterday during a meeting with Austrian safety, security President’s Adviser for International Aff airs Bettina Kirnbauer. atar has launched a vessel to following up on the navigational aid ARAB WORLD | Crisis monitoring project, which system and detecting any marine pol- Iraq warns US ties at Qseeks not only to enhance mar- lution and reporting it to the bodies stake aft er strikes itime security but also preserve marine concerned. environment. The monitoring vessels, to be de- Iraq’s government warned yesterday The project, launched from the ployed on Qatari waters and ports, that its relations with the United Pearl-Qatar, comes within the frame- would support the security and safety States were at risk after deadly work of the Ministry of Transport and of maritime navigation and the protec- American air strikes against a pro- Communication’s (MoTC) eff ort to de- tion of marine environment. Iran group sparked anger on the velop maritime transport works across Dr Saleh bin Fetais al-Marri, As- streets with protesters torching US the country in line with commitments, sistant Undersecretary of Maritime flags. At least 25 fighters were killed Aid workers prepare to fly the injured to Qatar for treatment. (Picture supplied by Ministry of Defence) conventions and duties advocated and Transport Aff airs at MoTC, said the in Sunday night’s attacks which sought by the International Maritime monitoring vessels, which began work saw US planes hit several bases Organisation. already, are among the most modern belonging to the Hezbollah Brigades, The new vessels would be used for in the world, using high technology one of the most radical factions of carrying out several tasks that con- and would enhance ensuring maritime Hashed Al-Shaabi, a Tehran-backed tribute to enhancing maritime safety safety and security and protecting lives Page 4 Qatar sends aid to Somalia; fl ies such as investigating maritime ac- and property at sea as well as preserv- Iraqi paramilitary coalition. cidents and inspecting Qatari seago- ing the marine environment. ARAB WORLD | Court ing vessels to ensure meeting all legal The maritime transport sector at Sudan sentences 29 injured to Doha for treatment requirements and safety and security the ministry would continue work on equipment according to the Law on keeping up with latest developments agents to death Maritime Vessels. in transport and navigation industry, A Sudanese court yesterday sentenced They would also inspect foreign ves- in addition to launching projects that 29 intelligence agents to death for Toll from terrorist bombing in Mogadishu climbs to 81 sels at the anchorage area to ensure support the country’s economic activ- torturing and killing a protester early compliance with maritime safety re- ities and serve citizens and residents, this year, an AFP correspondent said. quirements enunciated in internation- in line with the Qatar National Vision It is the first time members of the QNA treating the injured, and a number “The overall number of the dead al maritime conventions, in addition 2030. security forces have been condemned Mogadishu of the wounded were transported on stands at 81 currently. Two more peo- to death in relation to the killing of the Amiri Air Force plane to complete ple died from their injuries,” Ismail protesters. The defendants were the necessary treatment in Qatar. The Muktar, a spokesman for Somalia’s found guilty of torturing to death n the directives of His High- mission was conducted by the Qatar information ministry, told AFP yes- teacher Ahmed al-Kheir Awadh ness the Amir Sheikh Tamim Fund for Development (QFFD), in co- terday. at an intelligence services facility Obin Hamad al-Thani, a Qatari operation with the Standing Com- Muktar said the death toll could and sentenced to be hanged, judge Air Force plane carrying medical aid mittee for Rescue and Relief Works climb further as rescue operations Sadok Albdelrahman said. Page 4 arrived yesterday in Somalia to sup- and Humanitarian Aids. entered a third day. port those who were injured as a re- The Qatari assistance to the So- Around two dozen people were LATIN AMERICA | Diplomacy sult of the recent terrorist bombing in mali brothers included four tonnes of listed as missing after the attack, but Bolivia expels Mexican, the capital Mogadishu. medical materials and fi rst aid. The 12 have been located – fi ve of them The medical and relief delega- integrated medical and relief team dead – and the rest remain unac- Spanish offi cials tion and the Qatari medical aid were comprised 25 members from vari- counted for, he said. Bolivia’s government expelled received by Somali Prime Minister ous medical and relief specialties of Some 125 people were injured in the Mexican and Spanish diplomats Hassan Ali Khairy, Minister of In- the Qatari International Search and blast. yesterday, escalating a diplomatic ternal Security Mohamed Abou Bakr Rescue Group at Lekhwiya Force and At least 16 of those killed were dispute after Mexico’s embassy in Eslo and Somali ambassador to Qatar Hamad Medical Corporation. students from the capital’s private La Paz granted asylum to allies of Abdul Razzaq Farah and Qatar’s am- According to AFP, the death toll Banadir University, who had been Bolivia’s former socialist president Evo bassador to Somalia Hassan Hamza from the massive car bomb in the So- travelling on a bus when the car bomb Morales. Bolivian caretaker President Hashem. mali capital has risen to 81, as rescue detonated. Jeanine Anez said her administration The aid included medical materi- workers pursued their search for the The attack was the biggest to hit had asked Mexican ambassador Maria als, accompanied by an integrated missing. Somalia since a truck exploded in Teresa Mercado and several Spanish medical and relief team from the The bombing on Saturday at a busy 2017 near a fuel tanker in Mogadishu, off icials to leave the country within 72 Qatar Search and Rescue Group. The intersection in Mogadishu was the creating a fi reball that killed over 500 Dr Saleh bin Fetais al-Marri inspecting a monitoring vessel ahead of the launch of hours and called them “persona non Qatari medical team participated in country’s deadliest attack in two years. people. Page 2 the project. grata”. Page 6 ASIA | Environment Bushfi res: call to fl ee 5 Melbourne suburbs Qatar’s industrial investments in 5 years reach QR13bn Around 100,000 people were urged to flee five Melbourne suburbs yesterday evening as Australia’s he volume of Qatar’s industrial shares of Qatari manufacturing in- The study recommended that Qatari spiralling bushfire crisis killed a investments in the past fi ve dustries in local markets “to satisfy- industries have to eff ectively control volunteer firefighter battling a Tyears stands at QR13bn with ing levels near to achieving the relative over the various cost elements to im- separate blaze in the countryside. the establishment of more than 380 self-suffi ciency” would help provide prove the level of competitiveness of Authorities in the country’s second- new industrial facilities, according to a the national economy a solid basic their products at the local and foreign biggest city downgraded an earlier study by Qatar Chamber. foundation for the next stage in plan- markets. bushfire emergency warning but The study, ‘Production Capacities ning for the future of the industry. Qatar Chamber stressed that the said residents should steer clear of and Degree of Utilisation as an Input The study showed that machinery interest in studying productive ca- the blaze, which has burned through to Enhance the Growth of the Manu- and equipment manufacturing has pacities in the non-oil manufacturing 40 hectares of grassland. Page 8 facturing Industry in Qatar’, showed grown signifi cantly as facilities have sector “is of special importance” as it that the manufacturing industries also increased by 82% during the last helps in shaping the future policy for INDIA | Weather sector has seen a considerable growth fi ve years. This gives manufacturing this sector within a long-term strategy. Delhi records coldest within the past fi ve years in terms of more fl exibility in planning for other The study concluded that with all the number of facilities and produc- components with lower comparative these scenarios, “attention must be Dec day in 119 years tion fi elds. advantages such as raw materials and focused on the degree to which the The Indian capital broke the record It said that in terms of the type of Qatar Chamber headquarters other productive inputs, it said. available production elements are ex- for its coldest December day in manufacturing industries, “they are It also stressed that meeting do- ploited in the production process with 119 years yesterday as dense fog distributed in an appropriate econom- that the facilities of the food prod- a manner that corresponds to the plans mestic demand for basic products, the least possible amount of these ele- engulfed the city, causing train ic manner over the entire branches of ucts industry have increased by 103%, adopted by the country to achieve the even if it is suffi cient in the short term, ments and at the lowest possible cost. and flight delays. At least 500 manufacturing industries, even though which is the largest growth rate among economic stability through diversify- “will not be so in the medium and long “The cost here is an important ele- flights from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi a large percentage of it is distributed in all other manufacturing industries, in- ing sources of income, as well as in- terms, especially when markets reach ment essentially related to the use of International airport were delayed the fi eld of food industries.” cluding oil and gas-related industries. creasing the attractiveness of the Qa- the saturation stage and the continued optimal energy so that there is no ex- due to fog and at least eight were Based on data of the Ministry of “This quantitative and qualitative tari economy to domestic and foreign targeting of Qatari market by current cess production capacity that consti- cancelled, an airport authority Commerce and Industry (Qatar In- development contributed signifi cantly investments,” the study said. and potential competitors that leads to tutes expenses for the enterprise with- spokesman said. Page 11 dustrial Gateway), the study indicated to increasing the industrial diversity in It also noted that the rise in market a high level of competition.” out return.” Gulf Times 2 Tuesday, December 31, 2019 QATAR

In brief Qatar rushes medical aid to Somalia

Shooting in Texas church condemned

Qatar has voiced its strong condemnation and denunciation of the shooting incident which targeted a church in the US State of Texas, killing two people and injuring one. In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs reiterated Qatar’s firm position rejecting violence and terrorism, regardless of motives and reasons. The statement stressed Qatar’s total rejection of targeting places of worship. The statement expressed the condolences of Qatar to the families of the victims and to the government A Qatar aid plane arrives in Somalia. Injured Somalis receive medical care on board Qatar Air Force plane in Mogadishu. and people of the United States, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. Qatar condemns attack at Afghan Shura Council’s checkpoint Qatar has strongly condemned the attack that targeted a MME signs pact with weekly meeting checkpoint in Jowzjan province in northern Afghanistan, killing a number of policemen and injuring others. approves draft laws In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs reiterated Qatar’s firm position QPMC for recycling rejecting violence and terrorism, QNA Doha whatever the motives and reasons.

he Shura Council held Applications its regular weekly meet- invited to Ting yesterday under the of building waste chairmanship of HE the Speaker recognise Indian Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al- businessmen QNA Rashed landfi ll has about 40mn Mahmoud. Doha tonnes of mixed construction At the beginning of the meet- waste with an area of about 7mn ing, the Council discussed the HE the Speaker of the Shura The management of the sq m, which contributes to fi lling Financial and Economic Aff airs Council Ahmed bin Abdullah Museum of Islamic Arts (MIA) in he Ministry of Munici- many of the State’s construc- Committee’s report on a draft bin Zaid al-Mahmoud chairing association with Indian Cultural pality and Environment tion needs, noting that the MME law on the unifi ed economic reg- yesterday’s session. Centre (ICC) and the Embassy of T(MME) has signed a co- has plans and integrated pro- istry. India will felicitate some of the operation agreement with Qa- grammes for the treatment of all The Council also discussed of understanding with the presi- long term NRI businessmen in tar Primary Materials Company forms of waste. the report of the Legal and Leg- dent of the Grand National As- Qatar. (QPMC) to enhance co-oper- The agreement, therefore, is islative Aff airs Committee on a sembly of Turkey. MIA has requested ICC to ation in the fi eld of construc- part of these plans until 2022 to draft law amending some provi- In accordance with the mem- propose names with relevant tion waste recycling at Rawdat reach the best levels and stand- sions of the Penal Code issued by orandum of understanding, the details for the felicitation on Rashed landfi ll. ards in the fi eld of waste recy- Law No 11 of 2004, and a draft two sides agreed to enhance the second day of the Indian The agreement was signed cling, he added. law amending some provisions parliamentary co-operation be- community festival, Passage by Assistant Undersecretary for The CEO of QPMC stressed of the Criminal Procedure Code tween the two countries. to India 2020 that will be Public Services Aff airs at the that the agreement was the re- issued by Law No 23 of 2004. HE al-Mahmoud also briefed held at MIA Park on January MME Safar Mubarak al-Shafi sult of continuous co-ordina- The Council approved the the Council on his participa- 16 and 17. and CEO of QPMC Essa Mo- tion between the MME and the draft laws and submitted its rec- tion and the accompanying In a meeting held at ICC with hamed Ali Kaldari. QPMC, which is in line with the ommendations to the Cabinet. delegation in the work of the the senior community members Al-Shafi stated that the Assistant Undersecretary for Public Services Aff airs at the MME, Qatar Vision 2030 in terms of The Council also discussed second meeting of the Execu- and the presidents of various agreement aimed at treating Safar Mubarak al-Shafi, and CEO of QPMC Essa Mohamed Ali Kaldari, preserving the environment and the Legal and Legislative Aff airs tive Council and 12th Plenary associate organisations of ICC, a and recycling the construction shake hands after signing the agreement. providing the necessary raw ma- Committee’s report on a draft of the Asian Parliamentary As- special working committee was waste located at Rawdat Rashed terials for the construction and law amending some provisions sembly, which was held in the formed under K M Varghese, landfi ll, as well as rehabilitat- a qualitative shift in Qatar’s ef- suitable for use in infrastructure industrial sector through the re- of Law No 15 of 2014 on regulat- Turkish city of Antalya from chairman of the Advisory Board ing and fully cleaning it, adding forts in terms of treating con- and construction projects, in cycling of construction waste at ing charitable activities. December 13 to 18, 2019, and of ICC. A six-member committee it is part of the ministry’s plans struction waste and occupying addition to cleaning the Rawda Rawdat Rashed landfi ll. After an extensive discus- his meetings held on the side- has formulated a framework towards achieving sustainability in advanced ranks among coun- Rashed landfi ll and rehabilitating He added that the construc- sion on the draft law, the Shura lines of event. and has decided to invite and preserving the environment, tries in this fi eld. it so that the ministry can utilise tion waste recycling project is Council decided to recommend Meanwhile, the Shura Coun- applications of self-nominations and within the programmes of Al-Shafi explained that one of it for other purposes, adding that a qualitative shift in the fi eld of an amendment to some of its ar- cil’s Services and Public Utilities or nomination by others for the public services aff airs sector the agreement’s objectives was the project aims to reduce the use recycling, as it provides raw ma- ticles, approve it in its amended Committee held a meeting yes- review and shortlisting of the towards sorting and recycling to implement community part- of natural resources, including terials for companies and other form and refer its recommenda- terday, where it elected HE Hadi candidates. all forms of various municipal nership by allowing the private raw debris, and to preserve the entities and contributes signifi - tions to the Cabinet. bin Saeed al-Khayarin as acting Candidates have to complete waste, including construction sector to participate in the im- safety and health of the environ- cantly to a marked development The session concluded with rapporteur. the prescribed forms which are waste. plementation of various projects ment surrounding the Rawdat in the fi eld of industries and con- the Speaker briefi ng the Council During the meeting, the com- available at ICC and submit the He noted that this agreement and programmes for recycling Rashed area. struction and to the provision of on the results of his visit to the mittee discussed a draft law on forms to ICC on or before January would largely contribute to the and handling waste, including The Assistant Undersecre- construction raw materials to all Turkish capital, Ankara, from railways, and decided to com- 8. ICC may be contacted at Tel: achievement of Qatar National treatment of construction waste tary for Public Services Aff airs construction and industrial sec- December 11-13, 2019, during plete its study at its next meet- +974 44686607, e-mail: iccqatar@ Vision 2030, and it is considered and converting it into materials pointed out that the Rawdat tors in the country. which he signed a memorandum ing. gmail.com. HMC off ers integrated care services for elderly patients

amad Medical Corpora- tients and current services, such tion (HMC) off ers a wide as a memory clinic and a falls Hrange of geriatric health- prevention clinic, have fi lled an care services to promote the important void. Geriatric physi- health and well-being of Qatar’s cians also work across the sys- elderly population. tem within multi-disciplinary Dr Amir Ibrahim Abdalla, teams, providing physical and consultant geriatrician and occupational therapy, speech emergency geriatrics clinical therapy, nutrition and dietetics lead at Hamad Medical Corpo- services, and other allied health- ration (HMC), says for Qatar’s care services. ageing population, there is a new He also pointed out most emphasis on geriatric medicine, patients with complex medi- with elder care specialists now cal conditions are admitted to working as part of multi-disci- Rumailah Hospital’s long-term plinary teams operating across care wards, adult ventilator HMC’s network of facilities. units, or the Enaya Specialised “The geriatrics team works Dr Amir Ibrahim Abdalla Care Centres and a large number across a number of HMC facili- of elderly patients are cared for ties and services. Members of general geriatrics, and rapid as- over the age of 65 have a range of by HMC’s Home Health Care our team work in emergency, sessment clinics,” he noted. unique healthcare requirements Service. Temporary closure on Al Furqan intersection inpatient, and outpatient facili- Dr Abdalla explained that that include a number of condi- “We recently introduced a ties and we collaborate with col- while geriatric care is provided tions typical of, if not specifi c new service at Al Wakra Hospital leagues across the system. As an across HMC, services are inte- to, ageing, such as dementia, that provides specialised coun- he Public Works Authority General Directorate of Traffic, Street can make use of the example, we work closely with grated and there is a focus on depression, delirium, inconti- selling for our elderly patients (Ashghal) has announced is to facilitate completion of free flow right turns and take our orthopaedic colleagues to treating the ‘whole patient’, tak- nence, vertigo, falls, bone frac- via a weekly outpatient clinic. Ta temporary closure on Al the works related to the devel- a U-turn at the next avail- address the unique care needs ing every aspect of their life into tures, and nutritional defi cien- This service is also provided at Furqan Intersection until January opment of the Treated Sewage able junction, as shown on of elderly patients who are re- account, including culture and cies. Elderly patients may also Enaya Specialised Care Cent- 5 while keeping the main lanes on Effluent (TSE) in Muaither, the map. covering from fractures,” said Dr tradition. require longer hospital stays,” ers 1 and 2 in Hamad Bin Khalifa Jassim Bin Ali Street (formerly Al Mearad and Rawdat Abal Ashghal will install road signs Abdalla. “With approximately 12% of the consultant geriatrician ex- Medical City and involves pro- Muaither North) and the right Heeran areas. advising motorists of the tempo- “Rumailah Hospital also off ers the country’s population pro- plained. viding patients with a compre- turns of the intersection open to During the closure, drivers rary traffi c closure and requested a wide range of geriatric services jected to be over the age of 65 According to Dr Abdalla, HMC hensive health assessment as traffi c. heading from Al Salam Street road users to abide by the speed through its specialised long- by 2022, demand for specialised is continuing to add new and in- well as any necessary follow-up The closure, implemented to Al Sedaira Street and from limit and follow the road signs to term care units and its special- geriatric services is expected novative services to address the care, including rehabilitation,” in co-ordination with the Al Sedaira Street to Al Salam ensure safety. ised falls prevention, memory, to continue rising. Individuals specifi c care needs of elderly pa- added Dr Abdalla. Gulf Times Tuesday, December 31, 2019 3 QATAR AAB celebrates Customer Appreciation Week

bdullah Abdulghani & Bros Co (AAB), the exclusive Adistributor of Toyota and Lexus in Qatar, celebrated their Customer Appreciation Week from December 10 to 17 as part of the Qatar National Day celebra- tions. “The event was organised to celebrate Qatar National Day as well as to thank Toyota and Lexus customers for their sup- port in making them the number one brands in Qatar,” AAB said in a statement. During the celebra- The Toyota Corolla Hybrid 2020 cars, the prizes during the Customer tion, customers purchasing any Appreciation Week. new vehicles, pre-owned vehi- cles, spare parts or servicing their from the Ministry of Commerce and processes. At AAB, we would vehicle at any of the eight AAB & Industry, customers as well as like to express our appreciation to Service Centers were issued raffl e senior offi cials from AAB. Coupon our customers for their continu- coupons to win two Toyota Co- numbers 2029 and 7604 won a car ous trust, support and loyalty in rolla Hybrid 2020 cars. The raffl e each. AAB acting CEO R K Mu- our brands. This Customer Ap- draws to announce the winners rugan said: “Our main focus has preciation Week is one of the ways were held at the Toyota Showroom always been to achieve customer we are reaching out and saying in the presence of a representative delight in all our internal practices thank you!” Off icials and guests during the draw.

LuLu at Barwa City marks 5th anniversary Over 60 Doha Bank customers win at ‘Al Dana Savings’ draws

oha Bank has announced the winners of the ‘9th DAl Dana Savings Scheme 2019’ monthly and quarterly raffl e draws held last month. A total of 63 customers across fi ve savings scheme products won QR390,000 in cash prizes and a family staycation at one of the leading resorts in the country. Grabbing the top monthly The management and staff of LuLu Hypermarket Qatar celebrated the 5th anniversary of their Barwa City branch. prize was M al-Sulaiti who won QR50,000, while A Almalki won the Al Dana Savings Plan prize worth QR10,000, and J al-Khayarin were the winners of the Al Dana Family Savings Account draw, securing a free staycation with the family at promise to reward its custom- Current Account, the ‘Al Dana Qatar is a model for rapid Banana Island Resort Doha by ers in return for their strong Savings Scheme 2019’ fea- Anantara. In addition, 31 cus- relationship with the bank. tures Qatar’s highest individual tomers took home a monthly “Not only does the Al Dana prize, largest number of draw prize of QR5,000 each. Savings Scheme honour and prize winners, and biggest prize Six customers also won the recognise the loyalty of our pool. development: Lima mayor quarterly draws with QR10,000 trusted clients, but it also in- A minimum balance of each: S Amin and M al-Ali centivises them to save money QR5,000 in any of these ac- won the ladies draw, while to secure their future. I would counts will enable customers By Ayman Adly M Almohsin and H Alsiddiqi like to congratulate all our win- to enter monthly and quarterly Staff Reporter clinched the senior citizen draw ners and thank them for their draws, as well as a year-end and J Alharazi and A Radwani continued appreciation for our draw, which has a grand prize were the winners of the young products and services.” of QR2mn with each deposit of he massive urban develop- saver draw. In addition, 23 cus- With fi ve diff erent account QR1,000 giving them a chance ment being implemented tomers won QR5,000 each in off erings, including Al Dana to win. To learn more about the Tthroughout Qatar, Doha the branch-wise draw. Savings Account, Al Dana ‘Al Dana Savings Scheme 2019’, in particular, is worthy of deep Doha Bank Group CEO Dr R Young Savers Account, Al Dana visit any branch or http://do- admiration and appreciation, Seetharaman said: “Doha Bank Savings Plan, and Al Dana habank.qa/personal/accounts/ Jorge Munoz Wells, Mayor of has once again delivered on its Family Savings Account and save-and-win-with-al-dana/ Lima, told Gulf Times. The visit- ing mayor of the Peruvian capital described Qatar as a model for QRCS monitors polio vaccination campaign in Syria rapid development that focus on improving the living standards of Qatar Red Crescent Society Aleppo. The purpose is to reach would be the focus of coming its residents. (QRCS) has implemented a new out to all the children who had campaigns. In preparation for the The South American dignitary edition of the neutral vaccination never been vaccinated under vaccination drives, the inspec- felt the visit has been of great monitoring programme in Syria. the previous campaigns. With a tors attend intensive in-house benefi t in the light of the ex- Its representation mission in Tur- failed health sector and a total and field training courses, to be change of views and experiences. key monitored the second winter absence of public health services better able to perform monitor- Qatar has considerable experi- polio vaccination campaign, due to the war, such drives are ing, planning, follow-up, and ence in urban infrastructure and which targeted over 815,000 Syr- crucial to completely eradicate documentation. Once ready, they city planning, which the mayor ian children aged between 0 to 5. polio among Syrian children. are deployed together with the believes could be highly benefi - Over a whole week, 110 inspec- The neutral vaccination monitor- vaccinators to the target districts. cial for his country. tors, supervisors, and co-ordi- ing programme seeks to ensure The process typically involves “I have met with a good nators of QRCS in Syria moved the validity of vaccine application three phases. Prior to a cam- number of senior Qatari offi cials from house to house, accom- and readiness of the assigned paign, the supervisors visited the and we discussed how to manage panying the vaccination teams centres, outline the action plans, main centres to make sure of cities and address the involved of the United Nations Children’s keep an eye on the vaccina- readiness and equipment. Then, challenges for the desired devel- Mayor of Lima, Jorge Munoz Wells (right) with Peru’s ambassador to Qatar, Jose A Benzequen Perea. Fund (Unicef) and the World tors as they are doing their job, vaccine samples and storage opment. We hope to sign sister Health Organisation (WHO). They support them with advising to conditions are checked in com- or twin cities agreements with “Qatar is secure, safe and very clean, neighbouring countries as well. monitored the process of giving avoid inconveniences, conduct pliance with the WHO standards. Doha soon to exchange related “Peru has a rich history, cul- oral polio vaccines and Vitamin A screening of diff erent target The inspectors accompany the experiences. Qatar is secure, safe so it would be excellent if we exchange ture and heritage, is a promising to the beneficiaries. The vaccina- areas to identify coverage rates vaccinators to evaluate their and very clean, so it would be experiences on how it works and tourist destination with various tion and monitoring personnel among children, and find where performance at health centres excellent if we exchange experi- attractive investment oppor- covered many parts of Idlib and coverage is inadequate, which and households. (QNA) ences on how it works and trans- transfer this to Lima and other cities in tunities in mining, oil and gas, fer this to Lima and other cities in Peru” tourism and construction and Peru,” said Wells. farming,” said Wells. Though Qatar is very secure ticular, can keep direct invest- services on all levels,” observed Meanwhile, the ambassador and well-prepared to host the ments with good yield in diff erent Wells. of Peru to Qatar, Jose A Ben- 2022 FIFA World Cup, Lima fi elds including transportation Based on the positive experi- zequen Perea, said that there are could still off er some help and and infrastructure projects. ence and impression, the Peru- currently around 150 Peruvian expertise based on its hosting the “During this visit I have seen vian dignitary stressed that he professionals in Qatar with their Pan-American Games 2019, he the metro lines in Doha, some considers himself as an ambas- families and they describe their felt. Mayor Wells described Qa- food production companies, sador of Qatar in Lima willing life here as excellent. For the time tari offi cials as well-focused on museums including the National to enhance all avenues of mu- being Qatari citizens require a development and have practical Museum, Katara – the Culture tual co-operation in particular visa to go to Peru, which is grant- plans that extend to Qatar Na- Village Foundation, and many investments, cultural exchange ed immediately. “Work is on to tional Vision 2030. other sophisticated and admira- and environmental and munici- give them visa-free entry and it “In Lima there are two metro ble places. pal co-operation and city-to- would be implemented soon,” the lines, one is operational and the “I visited the country three city direct relations and con- envoy said. other is still being constructed,” years ago and I can say that with- tacts. Both Qatar and Peru have a said the mayor, stressing that in the past three years, Qatar has Peru is a safe and secure hub long history of mutual friendship Peru is a good investment desti- reached amazing progress in all for foreign investors in Latin and enjoy a good political will to nation in Latin America, where fi elds, enhancing local food pro- America, from where investors take the relations further in all foreign investors, Qataris in par- duction and expanded its urban could expand their projects to the fi elds, the ambassador added. QRCS personnel monitoring the second winter polio vaccination campaign in Syria. Gulf Times 4 Tuesday, December 31, 2019 REGION/ARAB WORLD

Shelling of Hodeidah grain stores halts Iraq warns US ties at stake WFP milling Artillery fire has damaged a mill on the frontline near the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, forcing the World Food Programme to suspended the milling of grain intended for food aid to a starv- after deadly air strikes ing population, the agency said yesterday. AFP to send a very clear message to The government’s information Baghdad them about how serious we take minister, Muammar al-Eryani, said American lives,” Schenker told the rival Houthi movement had reporters. carried out the shelling. raq’s government warned “This was a response that was There was no comment from yesterday that its relations serious, but was, I think in many Houthi media. Iwith the United States were ways, proportionate,” he said. The WFP grain stores at the Red at risk after deadly American air “We don’t want an escalation Sea Mills have become a focal strikes against a group sparked here, we want a de-escalation.” point of the conflict in Hodeidah, anger on the streets with pro- Tensions have soared be- where the United Nations is testers torching US fl ags. tween the United States and Iran trying to enforce a ceasefire and At least 25 fi ghters were killed since Washington pulled out troop withdrawal agreed a year in Sunday night’s attacks which of a multilateral nuclear agree- ago at Stockholm peace talks. saw US planes hit several bases ment with Tehran last year and “The milling of WFP wheat at the belonging to the Hezbollah Bri- imposed crippling sanctions Red Sea Mills near Hodeidah has gades, one of the most radical Iraqi leaders fear their country been temporarily halted after the factions of Hashed Al-Shaabi, could become a battleground. mills were hit by artillery fire on an Iraqi paramilitary coalition. The offi ce of Grand Ayatol- Thursday 26 December,” a WFP It came at a time when Iraq is lah Ali Sistani, who is highly spokesperson said. caught up in mounting tensions revered by Iraq’s majority com- The war has severely hit food between its allies Tehran and munity, denounced the attacks. supplies in Yemen and millions Washington and grappling with “The authorities must pre- of people are at risk of starvation huge street protests against vent Iraq being used as a place in what aid agencies describe as corruption but also against for the settling of accounts,” one of the world’s worst humani- Iran’s growing political infl u- it said in reference to US-Iran tarian crises. ence in the country. tensions. The stores were off limits for The strikes “killed 25 and US sources say pro-Iran around six months and were at wounded 51, including com- armed factions now pose a risk of rotting until the WFP nego- manders and fi ghters, and the greater threat than the Islamic tiated access in late February and toll could yet rise,” said the Iraqis wave Hashed Al-Shaabi armed network flags yesterday, during a demonstration to denounce the previous night’s attacks by US State group, whose rise saw began cleaning and milling what Hashed, which holds major planes on several bases belonging to the Hezbollah Brigades near Al-Qaim. the US freshly deploy troops on had been enough grain to feed sway in Iraq. Iraqi soil. 3.7mn people for a month. Victims were still being aff ect ties with Washington The warning came as demon- measures” in the face of the US strikes were a message to Iran Sunday night’s strikes re- So far just over 2,500 tonnes has pulled from the rubble of bases “American forces acted on strators torched US fl ags in the attacks. after months of “restraint” by vived calls from Iraq and be- been milled into flour and dis- near Al-Qaim, an Iraqi district their political priorities, not southern cities of Basra and Na- Dozens of lawmakers called the administration of President yond for US troops to leave. patched, the spokesperson said. bordering Syria, yesterday, it those of the Iraqis,” a statement jaf and in Kirkuk north of Bagh- on the government to review an Donald Trump. Iraq’s Hezbollah Brigades A statement by a mill official said. said, adding that such strikes dad while lawmakers called for agreement allowing the deploy- Schenker said the strikes demanded the “withdrawal of carried by the media office Iraq’s government, acting in a “violate the sovereignty of Iraq”. US troops to be booted out of ment of 5,200 US soldiers in were in retaliation for the death the American enemy”, a call of the Giants Brigade, part of caretaker capacity following the The attacks “force Iraq to re- Iraq. the country, saying the strikes Friday of a US civilian contrac- echoed by the pro-Iran groups Yemeni government forces, said resignation of prime minister view its relations and its securi- Parliament’s deputy speaker, amount to a violation that tor in Kirkuk in a Hezbollah Bri- Badr organisation and Assaib the shelling put a hole in a grain Abdel Abdel Mahdi in the face of ty, political and legal framework part of infl uential cleric Mo- renders the pact obsolete. gades rocket attack. Ahl al-Haq — whose lead- silo, exposing it to the elements. street protests, denounced the to protect its sovereignty”, the qtada Sadr’s bloc, called on the US Assistant Secretary of “We thought it important ers were recently hit with US — Reuters strikes and warned they could government added. Iraqi state to “take all necessary State David Schenker said the to hit a signifi cant target set sanctions.

Palestinian PM slams fund cut Sudan sentences 29 intelligence agents to death

QNA The Palestinian Authority was forced to pay Reuters eral stages of appeal. The judge Ramallah its employees half salary for six months this year Khartoum listed 27 agents from Kassala, after Israel deducted millions of dollars from its capital of eastern Kassala state, tax revenues leading it to the brink of fi nancial who received death sentences. alestinian Prime Minister Mohamed collapse. The crisis was eased only after Israel Sudanese court sen- Another two agents from Shtayyeh said yesterday that the Israeli agreed to return most of the tax revenues to the tenced 29 members of Khashm al-Qirba, the town in Pcabinet’s decision to deduct addition- Palestinians. Athe national intelligence Kassala state where teacher Khair al amounts from the Palestinian tax revenues Meanwhile, the Arab League has denounced service to death by hanging was killed, were also sentenced to amounting to 150mn shekels ($43mn) under the Israel’s decision to deduct from Palestinians’ yesterday over the killing of a death, a lawyer said. Khair’s death pretext of making payments to the families of the taxation funds as a hostile measure. Dr Saeed teacher in detention in February became a rallying point during 16 prisoners and those killed by Israel, “brings us Abu Ali, the assistant secretary general for af- during protests that led to the weeks of protests against Bashir’s back to square one of the crisis” and “demands an fairs of Palestine and occupied Arab territories, overthrow of former president rule. His family said security offi - appropriate response from all of us.” said in a statement “this offi cial embezzlement of Omar al-Bashir. cials initially claimed he had died Shtayyeh said at the beginning of the weekly the Palestinian people funds affi rms that the oc- The group that spearheaded A Sudanese man celebrates after the sentencing of 29 members of of poisoning, though days later a cabinet meeting held in Ramallah that the with- cupation authority continues with its scheme to the protests welcomed the rul- the national intelligence service to death by hanging over the killing of a state investigation found he had held money so far will reach 650mn shekels undermine the Palestinian Authority.” ing, the fi rst to deliver sentences teacher in detention in February, outside the court in Omdurman. died of injuries from beating. ($188mn), which “brings us back to square one He called on the international community to over crackdowns on demonstra- Hundreds of people rallied of the crisis that we tried to overcome by wisely exert “real and eff ective pressure” on the oc- tions in the months before and erase Bashir’s legacy and chal- brother Saad told reporters after outside the court in Omdurman managing public funds.” cupation Israeli authority to coerce it to stop after Bashir was toppled in April. lenge the security apparatus. the verdict. where the verdict was delivered He added, “It is clear that Israel does not want the aggression on the Palestinians.” Dr Abu Ali Prosecuting members of the “This day is a victory for jus- Thirteen defendants were yesterday, some waving national us to stand on our feet. However, the government also condemned Israeli authorities plan to build intelligence services is seen as tice, a victory for all Sudanese sentenced to prison terms and fl ags or holding pictures of Khair. will remain active and effi cient in managing pub- 2,000 settlements in the West Bank and register- a test of how far Sudan’s tran- and a victory for the revolu- a further four were acquitted in They broke into celebration af- lic funds.” ing “settlement real-estates” in offi cial records. sitional government will go to tion,” teacher Ahmed al-Khair’s the ruling, which could face sev- ter the ruling.

Iran FM meets Russian counterpart

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohamed Javad Zarif shakes hands with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after a news conference following their meeting in Moscow yesterday. Gulf Times Tuesday, December 31, 2019 5 AFRICA 18 killed in new militia attack in eastern DR Congo

AFP ADF fi ghters have killed more than to Ugandan President Yoweri Museve- Beni 200 people since the army launched an ni. It fell back into eastern DRC in 1995 off ensive against the militia on Octo- and appears to have halted raids inside ber 30, according to a toll compiled by Uganda. Its recruits today are people of ighteen people in eastern DR civil society groups. various nationalities. Congo’s troubled region of Beni The toll has sparked anger over the In a separate incident in eastern Ehave been killed in a fresh attack authorities’ response. Democratic Republic of Congo yester- by a notorious armed group, a local of- “The authorities were tipped off on day, “armed bandits” attacked a base fi cial said yesterday. Sunday evening about the presence of used by a Chinese-owned gold mine, “There was an incursion in Apetina- suspicious men west of Oicha,” said killing four people, the military said. Sana by the ADF last night,” Beni ad- Teddy Kataliko, a civil society activist The raid happened in Irumu district ministrator Donat Kibwana said, re- in Beni.“We continue to ask the DRC in the northeastern province of Ituri, ferring to the Allied Democratic Forces armed forces to launch operations on said Lieutenant Jules Ngongo, the ar- militia. the western side as well, to save civil- my’s provincial spokesman. Supporters of the Council of Patriots (CoP) confront policemen in Monrovia, yesterday. “(They) hacked 18 civilians to death.” ians.” Two soldiers, a policeman and a Apetina-Sana is 16 kilometres west There have also been demonstra- driver for the mine were killed, he said. of Oicha, the chief administrative town tions in the city of Beni, where local “The assailants have not been in the Beni region. It is a point on the people accuse the UN peacekeeping completely identifi ed but they must so-called Death Triangle, along with force Monusco of failing to protect be armed bandits who look for sup- Mbau and Eringeti — the worst-hit them. plies during the year-end festivities,” Opposition postpones area for attacks. The ADF began as a rebellion hostile Ngongo said. Somalia says unnamed country anti-govt rally in Liberia AFP all protests before the end of January across the city and were systematically Monrovia would be blocked. checking vehicles and passengers. Yesterday, the Council of Patriots Opposition MP Yekeh Kolubah, who behind blast that killed 90 (COP) opposition said it had called is also a COP member,said that police iberian opposition leaders an- the rally off after the government said offi cers had stopped him from trans- nounced a week-long post- it was unable to provide security and porting protesters to a rallying point in Reuters when a truck bomb exploded next to a fuel tanker in Mogad- Lponement of an anti-govern- after international observers recom- the city. Mogadishu ishu, killing nearly 600. ment rally planned for yesterday after mended postponement. Costa told reporters later yesterday Meanwhile, four Al Shebaab militants were killed on Sun- mounting confrontation with the gov- COP Chairman Henry Costa, who morning that representatives from the day in three US air strikes in two locations in Somalia, the US ernment. helped footballer-turned-president UN, EU, US and the West Africa bloc omalia said an unnamed country helped plan Satur- military said yesterday. The rally was meant to protest at Weah come to power, insisted the pro- Ecowas had complained to the govern- day’s bomb explosion in Mogadishu that killed at least The air strikes came a day after at least 90 people were the West African country’s deepen- test would take place nonetheless. ment about blocking the protest. S90 people, and added it would investigate the assault killed in a truck bombing at a busy checkpoint in the Somali ing economic crisis, but its organisers A new date has been set for January Still traumatised by back-to-back with help from a foreign intelligence agency. capital Mogadishu, the deadliest attack in more than two said there was lack of protection for 6, after mediation from international civil wars and the 2014-2016 Ebola The bombing was the deadliest in more than two years in a years. protesters. observers. crisis, Liberia is struggling to revive its country wrecked by nearly three decades of hardliners’ vio- The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) said in The government had accused the The streets of the capital Monrovia failing economy. lence and clan warfare. a statement that two militants had been killed by two air opposition of calling for President were extremely quiet early yesterday, Infl ation is rampant, according to “A foreign country planned the massacre of the Somalis strikes in Qunyo Barrow and another two by an air strike at George Weah’s “unconstitutional an AFP journalist saw. the World Bank, and civil servants in Mogadishu on 28 Dec 2019,” the National Intelligence and Caliyoow Barrow. eviction” and on Saturday warned Police offi cers erected checkpoints regularly go unpaid. Security Agency said in a tweet yesterday. It said no civilians were killed. NISA said it would use assistance from an unnamed for- The United States carries out regular air strikes in Somalia eign intelligence organisation in its investigation. in support of a weak, United Nations-backed government in No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing at the Mogadishu, which has fought Al Shebaab for years. busy Ex-Control checkpoint in the northwest of Mogadishu. “The US and the Federal Government of Somalia will con- However, Mogadishu mayor Omar Mohamoud blamed Al tinue to increase pressure on the terrorist organisation in Qaeda-linked group Al Shebaab. order to deny them the ability to plot terrorist attacks,” the The group carries out frequent bombings to try to under- Africom statement said. mine Somalia’s central government, which is backed by the Plans by the United States to withdraw hundreds of troops United Nations and African Union peacekeeping troops. from Africa could curtail the fi ght against Al Shebaab and The most deadly attack blamed on Al Shebaab was in 2017 other militant groups across the continent.

Germany split over military engagement in Sahel

Germany yesterday reaff irmed its wish to assume more military responsibility in the troubled Sa- hel region, despite deep divisions over the issue in Angela Merkel’s government. “The stability of the Sahel region is an essential factor for our security in Europe and we view the worsening security situation there with concern,” said Chan- cellor Merkel’s spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer at a news confer- ence. “The Chancellor has stated several times that Germany wants to and must assume more responsibility there.” The issue of German military An electoral worker sorts ballots during the counting of votes for Guinea-Bissau’s involvement in the African region presidential runoff , in Bissau. has strained tensions within Merkel’s government in recent days, and rekindled debate over Germany’s longstanding culture of pacifism since the Second Guinea-Bissau presidential World War. On Sunday, defence minister and leader of Merkel’s conservative CDU party An- candidate Embalo claims win negret Kramp-Karrenbauer called for a wider mandate for the 1,450 German forces stationed in Mali, Reuters sults its observers had compiled in each who are currently limited to train- Bissau region. Surrounded by a group of cheer- ing and surveillance missions. ing supporters outside his campaign In an interview with the Frank- headquarters, Embalo told Reuters that furter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) ormer army general and ex-Prime Pereira had earlier called to congratulate newspaper, Kramp-Karrenbauer Minister Umaro Cissoko Embalo him on his win. pointed out that French forces Fsaid yesterday he was on course to In a tweet, Pereira said: “A lot of fake had “a much more robust man- win Guinea Bissau’s presidential elec- news is circulating, but only offi cial date” in countries like Mali. tion and his opponent urged the nation numbers can be respected.” Her comments prompted a to await offi cial results. He did not say specify what he con- furious response from social- An Embalo victory over Domingos sidered fake news and campaign offi - democratic junior coalition Simoes Pereira, another former prime cials were not available for comment. partners SPD. minister and the candidate of the rul- Embalo, 47, came second in last “We will not accept a redefinition ing PAIGC party, would be a turnaround month’s fi rst round vote with 28% ver- of German foreign policy by the from November’s fi rst round, in which sus 40% for Pereira. defence ministry,” the SPD’s new- Pereira comfortably won the most votes. Ahead of Sunday’s run-off , Embalo ly elected, left-leaning co-leader The two competed in Sunday’s run- won the backing of incumbent Presi- Saskia Eskens told the FAZ. off to replace incumbent President Jose dent Jose Mario Vaz, who received 12%. Yet despite Kramp-Karrenbauer’s Mario Vaz, who was eliminated in the As a candidate, Embalo vowed to call for greater military involve- fi rst round. modernise the country of 1.6mn peo- ment, it also emerged this week- Vaz’s fi ve-year term was marred by ple, which has suff ered nine coups or end that Germany had refused regular political sackings, an ill-func- attempted coups since independence French requests to increase its tioning parliament and high-level cor- from Portugal in 1974. presence in the Sahel. ruption, and voters said they hoped the Embalo and Pereira both served as In a confidential parliamentary next president would restore calm to the prime ministers under Vaz, who had a communication seen by AFP, the West African nation. total of seven premiers amid a protract- government confirmed that it Offi cial results are not expected until ed feud with the PAIGC. had refused two requests from tomorrow and the electoral commission The political instability hurt Guinea- France to join a so-called Com- has not commented on the vote count. Bissau’s economy, which depends heav- bined Joint Special Operations Embalo campaign spokesman Djibril ily on volatile prices for cashew nuts, Task Force (CJSOTF). Balde said the victory claim was based the main income source for over two- on campaign tallies of preliminary re- thirds of households. Gulf Times 6 Tuesday, December 31, 2019 AMERICAS

Churchgoers Suspect in stabbing attack kill gunman who shot two during Texas charged with hate crimes service ter the suspect, Grafton Thomas, Greenwood Lake, New York, December 27. attacks in the state and a mass The New York Police Depart- AFP Reuters was arraigned on Sunday on fi ve home contained anti-Semitic The following day, December shooting in New Jersey earlier ment has stepped up its presence Houston New York counts of attempted murder sentiments including “refer- 28, the phone was used to access this month. New York authori- in some Jewish neighbourhoods in a state court in the town of ring to ‘Adolf Hitler’ and ‘Nazi an article headlined “New York ties denounced a “scourge of in New York City in wake of the Ramapo. culture’” as well as a drawing City increased police presence hate” plaguing the country. recent string of anti-Semitic in- orshippers in the US ederal prosecutors yester- Thomas is accused of stab- of a swastika, FBI agent Julie in Jewish neighbourhoods after “There is a scourge of hate in cidents. state of Texas shot day fi led hate crime charg- bing fi ve people on Saturday Brown said in the complaint. Possible Anti-Semitic Attacks. this country. It’s ignorance is Thomas’ family said through Wdead a gunman who Fes against a man accused night with what the crimi- She said his cell phone was used Here’s what’s to know.” intolerance. But it’s also illegal. his attorney he had a long his- opened fi re during a livestreamed of going on a stabbing rampage nal complaint described as a to search “Why did Hitler hate Authorities did not release the And it’s spreading,” New York tory of mental illness, no known Sunday service, ending an attack during a Hanukkah celebration “machete” after bursting into the Jews” on November 9, De- names of the victims. Four of the Governor Andrew Cuomo told history of anti-Semitism and no that killed two parishioners, au- at a rabbi’s home north of New a Hanukkah celebration that cember 3, December 7 and De- fi ve victims of the attack were CNN. prior convictions for any crime. thorities said. York City, saying the suspect included dozens of people at cember 16. released after being treated at a New York City Mayor Bill de He is due to return to court in The latest US shooting at a kept journals containing refer- Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg’s Brown also said the phone local hospital while one was still Blasio pointed to a “national Ramapo on January 3. house of worship took place in ences to Adolf Hitler and “Nazi home in Rockland County, showed searches for Jewish tem- hospitalised with a skull frac- crisis of anti-Semitism” in an Some of Thomas’ neighbours the suburban Fort Worth com- Culture.” about 30 miles (48km) north of ples in Elizabeth, New Jersey and ture, the New York Times quoted interview with MSNBC and described him to the New York munity of White Settlement The United States Attorney’s New York City. Staten Island, both on December offi cials as saying. stressed the need for increased Times as an “unassuming per- on Sunday morning when the Offi ce for the Southern District Handwritten journals con- 18, and for prominent American The stabbings were the lat- vigilance, education and coop- son” who “did not appear trou- gunman entered West Freeway of New York fi led the charges af- fi scated from the suspect’s companies founded by Jews on est in a series of anti-Semitic eration within communities. bled.” Church of Christ, offi cials said. “A couple of members of the church returned fi re, striking the suspect who died at the scene,” White Settlement Police Chief J P Bevering told reporters. Civil rights icon John He praised the “heroic actions New York mayor of those parishioners” for ending the threat, although he said one Lewis announces of the suspect’s victims died at a local hospital. decries ‘crisis’ of A second parishioner later cancer diagnosis died, authorities told reporters at an evening news conference. The FBI said it was working to anti-Semitism AFP Known for his decades of work fi nd a motive for the attack. Washington in the civil rights movement, “Places of worship are meant Lewis marched with slain civil to be sacred, and I am grateful for rights leader Martin Luther King John Lewis the church members who acted after attack ivil rights icon and US Jr at the August 1963 rally in quickly to take down the shooter House Representative Washington at which King gave ended in an attack by state a remark drawing widespread and help prevent further loss of CJohn Lewis announced on his “I Have a Dream” speech. troopers on the protesters that criticism. life,” Texas Governor Greg Ab- AFP spree at the suburban house in Sunday he had been diagnosed “I have decided to do what I later became known as “Bloody Prominent Democrats showed bott said in a statement. New York Monsey, Rockland County, of with stage four pancreatic can- know to do and do what I have Sunday.” their support for Lewis following “Our hearts go out to the vic- Rabbi Chaim Rottenberg. cer. always done: I am going to fi ght He joined Congress in 1987, his announcement, with former tims and families of those killed Rockland has the largest The diagnosis followed a it and keep fi ghting for the Be- representing a district that in- president Barack Obama tweet- in the evil act of violence that ew York Mayor Bill de Jewish population per capita “routine medical visit,” Lewis, a loved Community,” Lewis said. cludes parts of Georgia’s state ing, “If there’s one thing I love occurred at the West Freeway Blasio yesterday de- of any US county, with 31.4%, 79-year-old Democrat who has He added he will miss a few capital and largest city, Atlanta. about (Lewis), it’s his incompa- Church of Christ,” he added. Ncried a “crisis” of anti- or 90,000 Jewish residents. repeatedly sparred with Presi- votes while he undergoes treat- Lewis was among a group of rable will to fi ght. I know he’s got The church regularly posts its Semitism in the United States Grafton Thomas, 37, alleg- dent Donald Trump, said in a ment. Democratic lawmakers to skip a lot more of that left in him.” services online and a video of the after fi ve people were stabbed edly entered the rabbi’s home statement, adding that he would “But with God’s grace I will be Trump’s inauguration in January Speaker of the House Nancy attack was livestreamed on their at a rabbi’s house during a during celebrations on Sat- seek treatment while continuing back on the front lines soon.” 2017, saying he saw his election Pelosi also took to Twitter, website. Hanukkah celebration. urday evening for Hanukkah, to represent his Georgia district. The son of sharecroppers, as illegitimate. saying, “John, know that gen- Guns kill about 36,000 peo- “We consider this a crisis,” stabbing several people with a “I have been in some kind of Lewis also took part in the Free- In response, the president- erations of Americans have ple a year in the United States de Blasio said in an interview machete before fl eeing. fi ght – for freedom, equality, dom Rides – challenges to segre- elect tweeted that Lewis should you in their thoughts & prayers – one of the most heavily with NPR radio. “There is a Still covered in blood, Tho- basic human rights – for nearly gated facilities at bus terminals “spend more time on fi xing and as you face this fi ght. We are all armed countries in the world growing anti-Semitism prob- mas was reportedly arrested in my entire life. I have never faced in the South. helping his district, which is in praying that you are comfort- – through suicides, homicides, lem in this whole country. his car about 30 miles (50km) a fi ght quite like the one I have On March 7, 1965, he led a horrible shape and falling apart able. We know that you will be police-involved shootings and “It has taken a more and away, two hours after the at- now,” he said. march in Selma, Alabama that (not to mention crime infested),” well.” accidents. more violent form.” tack. The New York mayor said an The New York Times quoted “atmosphere of hate” has de- Taleea Collins, a friend of the veloped and that the “forces of suspect, and his pastor Wendy hate have been unleashed.” Paige, as saying Thomas “Some of that has to do with struggles with mental illness. US retailers rush to comply with California privacy law the reality of Washington,” he Last year, a white suprema- said. “Some of it has to do with cist shot dead 11 people at a social media.” Pittsburgh synagogue – the Reuters Large US retailers are rushing troversial General Data Protec- ties in the law, for example, the information outlined under the De Blasio announced a se- deadliest attack against the Washington to comply with a new law, the tion Regulation, which set a new language around loyalty pro- new law. Target already allows ries of measures to tackle the Jewish community in the California Consumer Privacy standard for how companies col- grammes and if retail companies its shoppers to opt out of shar- problem, including an inten- United States. Act (CCPA), which becomes ef- lect, store and use personal data. can off er them going forward.” ing their information with third sifi ed police presence in Jew- Earlier this month, six peo- S retailers including fective at the start of 2020 and The European law gave compa- There is also lack of clarity on parties for marketing purposes, ish communities of New York, ple, including the two attack- Walmart will add “Do is one of the most signifi cant nies years to comply while CCPA what constitutes “sale” of in- she said. additional security cameras ers, were killed in a shooting UNot Sell My Info” links regulations overseeing the data has given them a few months. formation, retail lobbyists and Amazon.com Inc is taking a and multi-ethnic community at a kosher deli in Jersey City, to their websites and signage in collection practices of US com- Draft regulations around the attorneys advising retailers said. diff erent approach. We do not safety patrols. New Jersey, which authori- stores starting Jan. 1, allowing panies. It lets shoppers opt out law were released in October. Walmart spokesman Dan plan to put a “Do not sell” button “We have made it a habit ties said was fuelled in part by California shoppers to under- of allowing retailers and other Retailers did not anticipate hav- Toporek said the retailer sup- on our website because Amazon when the Jewish community anti-Semitism. stand for the fi rst time what per- companies to sell personal data ing to add signs in their stores, ports eff orts that give customers is not in the business of selling is attacked anywhere in the A report in April from the sonal and other data the retailers to third parties. which are required by the regu- control of their information. customers’ personal data and world to reinforce key Jewish Anti-Defamation League collect, sources said. In addition to retailers, the law lations but were not part of the Home Depot spokeswoman it never has been,” a company community locations in New stated that the number of Others like Home Depot will aff ects a broad swath of fi rms in- original statute. Requiring signs Sara Gorman said the Califor- spokeswoman said in a state- York City,” he said. “But we’re anti-Semitic attacks in 2018 allow shoppers not just in Cali- cluding social media platforms in stores is not an eff ective use of nia law introduces new require- ment. doing it now on a much bigger was close to the record of 2017, fornia but around the country to such as Facebook and Alphabet’s retailers’ dollars, said Nicholas ments but does not change the Amazon will launch a revised scale, particularly in Brook- with 1,879 incidents. access such information online. Google, advertisers, app devel- Ahrens, a vice president at the company’s “deliberate approach privacy notice and will review lyn, where the most important President Donald Trump At its California stores, Home opers, mobile service provid- Retail Industry Leaders Associa- to customer data and privacy.” the fi nal regulations to “un- vulnerabilities are.” tweeted that Americans Depot will add signs, off er QR ers and streaming TV services, tion, who leads its tech policy. Target spokeswoman Jessica derstand what signage may be A suspect appeared in a New “must all come together to codes so shoppers can look up and is likely to overhaul the way A Walmart source with Carlson said a “Do Not Sell” but- required to inform customers York court on Sunday charged fi ght, confront, and eradi- information using their mobile companies benefi t from the use knowledge of the matter told ton on its website, will be visible how to fi nd the privacy notice” with fi ve counts of attempted cate the evil scourge of anti- devices and train store employ- of personal information. Reuters the company is “work- to all US shoppers and Califor- at its stores, the spokeswoman murder after the stabbing Semitism.” ees to answer questions. The law follows Europe’s con- ing through a lot of ambigui- nia residents will have access to added.

Bolivia expels Trump and Putin Mexican and discussed Russia attack, arms control Spanish offi cials Reuters committed to continuing Palm Beach, Florida counterterrorism cooperation between the two countries. “The presidents also dis- in diplomatic S President Donald cussed the state of relations Trump and Russian between the United States and Bolivia’s interim president Jeanine Anez speaking next to Bolivian Chancellor Karen Longaric (2nd L), UPresident Vladimir Pu- Russia and future eff orts to sup- Communication Minister Roxana Lizarraga (L), Minister of Government Yerko Nunez (2nd R) and Defence tin discussed the state of rela- port eff ective arms control,” he standoff Minister Fernando Loperz (R) during a press conference after declaring persona non grata and expelling tions between their two coun- said, an apparent reference to Mexican Ambassador in Bolivia, Maria Teresa Mercado, Spain charge d’aff aires, Cristina Borreguero, and tries in a phone call instigated Trump’s stated desire for a new Spanish Consul, Alvaro Fernandez, at Palacio Quemado, in La Paz yesterday. by Putin, the White House said nuclear arms control deal. Reuters to leave the country within 72 yesterday. Trump, on a two-week La Paz/Mexico City hours and called them “persona took over by default, and has lomatic staff and impeded the is among nine people who have The offi cial reason for the working vacation at his Mar- non grata”. made sharp policy shifts away departure of Spanish offi cials taken asylum in the Mexican em- call, according to both sides, a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Shortly after, Mexico’s for- from his socialist government, visiting its embassy in the capital bassy. was for Putin to thank Trump Florida, has longed for strong olivia’s government ex- eign ministry said it would recall fraying ties with leftist allies in where a number of Morales’ al- Mexico said last Thursday that for what White House spokes- US relations with Russia and pelled Mexican and Span- Mercado to ensure her safety the region. lies had holed up. it was asking the International man Hogan Gidley said was complained that a US probe Bish diplomats yesterday, and branded Bolivia’s move as Morales, meanwhile, claimed Anez said the Bolivian govern- Court of Justice to mediate the “information the United States into whether his 2016 presi- escalating a diplomatic dispute “political in nature”. he was toppled in a right-wing ment would not tolerate people dispute. provided that helped foil a po- dential campaign colluded after Mexico’s embassy in La Paz In Madrid, Spain’s foreign “coup” and many of his allies “trying to cover up and protect Mexican Foreign Minister tential holiday terrorist attack with Russia had stymied him. granted asylum to allies of Bo- ministry said it would expel have rallied behind him with the criminals who have committed Marcelo Ebrard said in a Tweet in Russia.” He has faced sweeping op- livia’s former socialist president three Bolivian diplomatic staff country headed for new elections crimes of sedition, armed upris- that Mercado had “fully rep- No details were provided, position to warmer ties with Evo Morales. over the matter. in 2020. He fl ed the country and ing and terrorism” and that Bo- resented Mexico and its cause but Russia said on Sunday it Russia from Republican and Bolivian caretaker President Bolivia’s disputed October was granted asylum in Mexico. livia would not be a “colony” of in favour of asylum and peace”. had thwarted attacks report- Democratic lawmakers trou- Jeanine Anez said her adminis- election sparked widespread He is now in Argentina. any other country. Mercado wrote in a post in re- edly planned in St. Petersburg bled by Putin’s annexation tration had asked Mexican am- protests and Morales resigned On Friday, Mexico’s govern- According to Bolivia’s gov- sponse she was proud to uphold thanks to a tip from Washing- of Crimea and Russian sup- bassador María Teresa Mercado last month in the face of growing ment said Bolivian authorities ernment, a former senior aide to Mexico’s “principles and tradi- ton. port for separatists in eastern and several Spanish offi cials civil and military pressure. Anez harassed and intimidated its dip- Morales, Juan Ramon Quintana, tion of asylum.” Gidley said both presidents Ukraine, among other strains. Gulf Times Tuesday, December 31, 2019 7 ASIA Indonesia objects to Pier walk China sea intrusion

Reuters statement. It did not say when Local fi shermen saw a Chinese lands and has also expanded its Jakarta the incident occurred. coastguard vessel escorting fi sh- military presence in the area. “The foreign aff airs minis- ing boats several times in recent China claims most of the try has summoned the Chinese days and then reported what South China Sea, an important ndonesia said yesterday it ambassador in Jakarta and con- they had seen to the Maritime trade route which is believed to had protested to Beijing over veyed a strong protest regarding Security Agency, media reports contain large quantities of oil Ithe presence of a Chinese this incident. A diplomatic note said. and natural gas. coastguard vessel in its territori- of protest has also been sent,” it Indonesia’s foreign minis- Beijing has been building ar- al waters near the disputed South said. try reiterated its stance that tifi cial islands in the area, devel- China Sea, saying it marked a The ambassador will report the country is a non-claimant opments that have irked mem- “violation of sovereignty”. back to Beijing, but both sides state in the South China Sea bers of the Association of South The boat trespassed into In- have decided to maintain good and that it has no overlapping East Asian Nations (Asean). donesia’s exclusive economic bilateral relations, it said. jurisdiction with China. Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam zone off the coast of the north- China’s embassy in Jakar- However, Jakarta has clashed and the Philippines – all mem- ern islands of Natuna, Indone- ta could not immediately be with Beijing before over fi shing bers of Asean – and also Taiwan People walk on a pier at Lhokseudu beach, Aceh province of Indonesia, yesterday. sia’s foreign ministry said in a reached for comment. rights around the Natuna Is- also have claims in the sea. Will work Thai rivals plan to Six Vietnamese Bangladesh for victory men sentenced to diplomat at general mobilise thousands Ali dead death for abusing, close friend and supporter elections: Reuters The rival event is called lence between conservative, of India, Bangladeshi dip- Bangkok “Walk to Cheer Uncle” – a royalist “yellow shirts” and Alomat Syed Muazzem Ali reference to Prayuth’s nick- “red shirt” backers of oust- passed away after a sudden and Premadasa name of Uncle Tu. Organisers ed populist leader Thaksin killing student brief illness yesterday. ore than 10,000 peo- say some 2,500 people have Shinawatra. A former foreign secretary of ple have registered registered to take part. Thanathorn has been in- Bangladesh, Muazzem Ali re- IANS Mfor a “Run Against “This event is for the pub- vited to the anti-government DPA He then asked her to deliver cently retired after his fi ve-year Colombo Dictatorship” in Bangkok next lic, for all of us, in the name run, but has not been involved Hanoi 13 chickens to a specifi c ad- tenure in India. He played a key month while supporters of the of the people who love Uncle, in organising it, organiser dress in town. role in strengthening India- Thai government plan to stage love the nation and the mon- Tanawat said. When she arrived, the group Bangladesh relations during his ormer Sri Lankan presi- a rival walk on the same day, archy,” its Facebook page says. Plans for the run had to be court in northwestern kidnapped her, took the chick- term. Ministry of External Af- dential hopeful Sajith Pre- organisers said yesterday. The two events will be held hastily redrawn last week af- Vietnam sentenced ens and the bike and kept her fairs sources said that he left New Fmadasa has said that he The twin events, set for on January 12 at parks that are ter local authorities barred Asix men to death for at the house of another gang Delhi last week. was willing to work for the vic- January 12, point to the ris- 11km (seven miles) apart at use of the original venue. abusing and murdering member. He is survived by his wife Tuh- tory of all United National Party ing political temperature in overlapping times. Government spokeswoman 22-year-old student Cao My Toan then called to the stu- fa Zaman Ali and two sons. (UNP) MPs in the island nation’s Thailand, though there is no “These events could open Narumon Pinyosinwat said Duyen in a case that shocked dent’s mother to ask her to pay Minister of External Aff airs S general elections. immediate sign of any return the fl oodgates to more gath- the prime minister was not the country earlier this him, but the mother refused to Jaishanker expressed shock over Addressing a public meeting to the violent street protests erings,” said Ben Kiatkwankul connected to either event and year, state media reported do so. his death and extended condo- to thank all those who voted for that have roiled the Thai capi- of the Maverick Consulting cared only about the safety yesterday. Five men had in turns phys- lences to his family. him in the November 16 presi- tal over the past two decades. Group political advisory fi rm. of participants and those in On February 2, gang lead- ical abused her for three days In a tweet, Jaishankar said: dential election, Premadasa Opponents of the govern- On December 14, thousands the area. er Vi Van Toan told his gang then decided to strangle her to “He was a good friend and a said he intended to double the ment say it manipulated an of people joined a rally for op- “Each side can organise members that the student’s death on early February 7. strong partner for so many of us.” amount of election rallies at the election held in March to ex- position politician Thanath- events, it is their right, as long mother owed him nearly Toan and the fi ve men were Ali had joined the foreign parliamentary elections, the tend the rule of junta leader orn Juangroongruangkit after as it is within the scope of the $13,000 since May 2017. sentenced to death on Sunday. service in 1968. But after he de- Daily Mirror newspaper report- Prayuth Chan-ocha and they authorities sought a ban on law,” she added. He said he wanted them to Two men and one woman clared his allegiance to Bangla- ed yesterday. now fear that authorities his Future Forward party for Another potential fl ash- help him kidnap her daughter were each sentenced to be- desh, which was created in 1971, “We held around 150 rallies will move to dissolve the vo- violating electoral law – an point comes on January 21, and blackmail her. tween three and 10 years in he became a founding member for the presidential election and cal opposition party Future accusation the party says is when the Constitutional In return, Toan would give prison for their involvement in of the Bangladesh mission in I am willing to address around Forward. unfounded. Court will rule on whether to them money, the online news- the case. Washington DC. 300 rallies at the general elec- “We want to show the gov- Thanathorn has already dissolve Future Forward on a paper Tien Phong reported. Duyen’s mother was sen- Ali was also Bangladesh’s tions,” he said. ernment the discontent that been banned as a member of complaint it seeks to over- One of the gang members tenced to 20 years in prison in Permanent Representative to Stating that he has been citizens have with the admin- parliament. throw the monarchy. It re- went to Muong Thanh market November for her involvement Unesco in Paris. He was involved named as the new Opposi- istration,” university student This month’s rally was the jects that accusation, which in the city of Dien Bien Phu, in the drug ring. in the resolution on proclama- tion Leader by the party, he Tanawat Wongchai, who is biggest protest since Prayuth is not directly related to the where Duyen was helping her The court found the tion of February 21, Bengali said the matter would be con- helping organise the anti- took power in a 2014 coup in charge that it broke election mother sell chickens, accord- 44-year-old mother guilty of Language Martyr’s Day, as the fi rmed only on January 3 af- government event, said. the name of ending street vio- rules. ing to the Vnexpress online storing, transporting and ille- International Mother Language ter Speaker offi cially accepts newspaper. gally purchasing narcotics. Day. (IANS) him as the new leader of the opposition. “I was referred to as the UNP Deputy Leader when I arrived here. However I would like to tell you that I Mountain guides demand social security am not the Deputy Leader of the party anymore. I made a IANS lives to support the expedition memorandum of understanding statement just after the presi- Kathmandu members on diff erent moun- with Nepal Mountaineering As- dential elections and resigned tains so their contribution to the sociation for fi ve years to jointly from the Deputy Leader’s climbing industry must be hon- conduct mountain and aspirant post. I did that as I am duty epal’s mountain guides oured,” he said. guides training courses. bound to do so after the elec- have demanded the gov- Mountain guides worked for Aspirant Guide Course, toral defeat,” he said. Nernment for social se- the welfare and safety of climb- which consists of three com- “One must be ready to accept curity for them, as they are the ing members but the concerned ponents spread over a span of responsibility when a political backbone of the Himalayan na- stakeholders have not increased 10 months, incorporates a to- party is defeated in an election,” tion’s climbing industry. their investment in them, Sher- tal of 47 training days. It is the Premadasa added. Ang Norbu Sherpa, president, pa added. fi rst step to pursue advanced Nepal National Mountain Guide On the occasion of the 14th International Mountain Guide Association (NNMGA), said that National Mountain Guide Day – IFMGA. mountain guides are often low- on Sunday, the NNMGA also The NNMGA had launched paid and there is no guarantee awarded certifi cates to fi ve new aspirant guide training in 2007 of social security, reports The mountain guides and four aspir- while the fi rst batch of interna- Bills drafted The symbols of a Thai ‘Run Against Dictatorship’ (left) and a pro-government walk which are being Himalayan Times. ant guides. tional mountain guide graduated to amend organised for January 12, 2020, are displayed on mobile phones’ screens, in Bangkok yesterday. “The guides always risk their The NNMGA has inked a in 2009. Lanka’s Bangladesh closes human Nepal completes 83% marriage of post-quake projects law IANS number of public infrastructure milk bank after protests Kathmandu including schools, health posts, offi ces of security agencies and IANS heritage sites were also damaged. Colombo AFP drank milk from the same Malaysia have set up human backed the milk bank, say- epal’s National Re- NRA chief executive offi cer Dhaka mother and later married. milk banks. ing it was needed to help save construction Author- Sushil Gyawali told media yes- “Their entire marriage and “We should see how they child lives as well as aid their Nity (NRA) said that it has terday that the reconstruction of Sri Lankan lawmaker has lineage would become ille- have solved the issue. We growth. completed 83% of the country’s 69% individual houses and other drafted two private mem- Bangladesh hospital gal,” said Gazi Ataur Rahman, should sit together to fi nd a “Human milk banks are post-earthquake reconstruction. public infrastructure has already Abers bills to repeal the has suspended plans a spokesman of the infl uential solution,” he said. essential for orphans and The NRA, established to fast been completed. existing Muslim Marriage and Ato give donated breast Islami Andolan Bangladesh The milk bank in Dha- critically ill children, es- track the reconstruction proc- “The reconstruction is under- Divorce Act and to incorporate milk to babies after a backlash political party. ka was slated to start this pecially to save the lives of ess, entered the fi fth year on going in 14% individual houses all marriages under the Marriage by clerics who said the scheme Another cleric, Ahmed Ab- month, but project co-ordi- the babies who are being Wednesday, reports Xinhua and public infrastructure. The (General) Act. violated religious law. dul Kaiyum, said Shariah law nator Mojibur Rahman said treated at the hospital’s in- news agency. combining progress of the com- The two bills, drafted by law- The programme aimed to did not allow for milk banks. it had been delayed indefi - tensive care unit and whose The deadly earthquakes on pleted and under-construction maker Athuraliye Rathana, are feed up to 500 orphans and “It would go against reli- nitely because of the “wide- mothers are not available,” April 25 and May 12 in 2015 in works stands at 83%.” due to be tabled in parliament infants of working mothers in gion,” he said, suggesting that spread criticism”. said Mahbubul Haque, a top the country claimed the lives The government has been soon, News First reported. the Muslim-majority country, the authorities should have He added that the hospital doctor at Dhaka’s main chil- of 8,790 people while injuring providing Rs300,000 ($2,624) With the enactment of these which has high rates of child discussed this “very sensitive had set up strict safeguards for dren’s hospital. 22,300 others, damaging pri- in grants to each family, whose two bills the provisions of the malnutrition and stunted issue” beforehand with the scheme. “Milk banks are estab- vate and public properties worth house was completely destroyed Marriage (General) Act will apply growth. clerics. “We collect and preserve lished in major hospitals in $7.06bn, according to the Post and has no other accommoda- to all marriages in Sri Lanka. Bangladesh’s top religious Prominent cleric Fariduddin milk separately and rigorously the West. We should set up Disaster Need Assessment made tion facility. The Muslim Marriage and leadership has not yet made Masoud struck a conciliatory record (donor) identities,” he more such banks in all our by the Nepali government in col- Of the total 780,165 benefi ci- Divorce Act allows marriage of a ruling on the milk bank, but note, however, saying authori- said yesterday, a day after the top hospitals for children,” laboration with foreign donors. aries of the government’s grant, Muslim girls under 18 years of it was halted after critics said ties should fi nd out if and how milk bank’s suspension was he said. Nearly 900,000 individual 482,323 benefi ciaries have com- age, which is the common legal the plan could lead to breaches Muslim majority nations such announced. Some 90% of Bangladesh’s houses were either fully or par- pleted rebuilding their homes, marriage age in Sri Lanka. of religious law if two babies as Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and Top child specialists had 168mn people are Muslim. tially damaged while a large according to the NRA. Gulf Times 8 Tuesday, December 31, 2019 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA

Bushfi res reach Melbourne as heatwave fans Australia blazes

AFP ian university campuses – the The crisis has focused atten- in Australia’s devastating sum- was deemed “unsafe” for them to Brenton Eden said it would be a forcing children to play indoors Melbourne fi re’s spread toward houses had tion on climate change – which mer fi re season, which has been remain in bushland areas, Gipps- “very dangerous” day for people and causing professional sport- been halted for now but it was yet scientists say is creating a longer turbocharged by a prolonged land fi re incident controller Ben in the state, with “dry” thunder- ing events to be cancelled. The to be brought under control, said and more intense bushfi re sea- drought and climate change. Rankin said, describing the situ- storms – which produce thun- capital Canberra has cancelled round 100,000 people Victoria Emergency. Local media son – and sparked street protests Conditions worsened on Fri- ation as “very intense”. der and lightning but no rain its New Year’s Eve fi reworks dis- were urged to fl ee fi ve showed images of water bomb- calling for immediate action to day with high winds and temper- Authorities had warned tour- – already sparking a number of play due to a total fi re ban in the AMelbourne suburbs yes- ers fl ying over neighbourhoods, tackle global warming. While atures soaring across the country ists enjoying Australia’s summer fi res, including an emergency- Australia Capital Territory, while terday evening as Australia’s and families hosing down their conservative Prime Minister – reaching 47C in Western Aus- holidays in East Gippsland that level blaze on Kangaroo Island. several regional towns have also spiralling bushfi re crisis killed a homes in the hope of halting the Scott Morrison belatedly ac- tralia and topping 40C in every the fi res would cut off the last “Winds are gusting and unfor- followed suit. A petition to can- volunteer fi refi ghter battling a fi re’s spread. knowledged a link between the region – including the usually major road still open. Victoria tunately this is a dry lightning cel Sydney’s famous New Year’s separate blaze in the countryside. A volunteer fi refi ghter died fi res and climate change, he has temperate island of Tasmania. Emergency Management com- front that is going to move rap- Eve fi reworks and use the money Authorities in the country’s in New South Wales state and continued his staunch support of More than a dozen blazes are also missioner Andrew Crisp said idly across South Australia,” he to fi ght bushfi res ringing the city second-biggest city downgraded two others suff ered burns while Australia’s lucrative coal mining raging in Victoria’s East Gipps- residents and holiday makers still told national broadcaster ABC. has topped 270,000 signatures, an earlier bushfi re emergen- working on a blaze more than fi ve industry and ruled out further land countryside, where authori- in the area faced being stranded Conditions were also expected but offi cials say the show will go cy warning but said residents hours south-west of Sydney, the action to reduce emissions. ties said “quite a number” of as it was now “too late to leave”, to deteriorate in worst-hit New on. should steer clear of the blaze, Rural Fire Service said. “It’s be- The blazes have also de- the 30,000 tourists visiting the with his agency warning it was South Wales, where 100 fi res Sydney has spent A$6.5mn which has burned through 40 lieved that the truck rolled when stroyed more than 1,000 homes usually picturesque region had “not possible” to provide aid to were burning Monday morning on this year’s fi reworks display hectares (nearly 100 acres) of hit by extreme winds,” the agency and scorched more than 3mn heeded calls to evacuate. Some of all visitors in the area. including more than 40 uncon- – funds that the Change.org grassland. said in a tweet. Ten others, in- hectares (7.4mn acres) – an area the fi res were burning so intense- Neighbouring South Australia tained. petition argues would be better In Bundoora – just 16km (10 cluding two volunteer fi refi ght- bigger than Belgium. A heatwave ly that hundreds of fi refi ghters is also experiencing “catastroph- Sydney and other major cit- spent on supporting volunteer miles) north of the city centre ers, have been killed so far this sweeping the country yesterday were pulled back beyond a front ic” fi re conditions. ies have been shrouded in toxic fi refi ghters and farmers suff ering and home to two major Austral- fi re season. fuelled the latest destruction estimated to stretch 1,000km. It The Country Fire Service’s bushfi re smoke haze for weeks, through a brutal drought.

All eyes on ‘new way’ in Kim Jong-un’s New Year speech

N Korea urges ‘positive and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will give his set-piece New Year speech tomorrow, an opportunity to flesh out the nuclear-armed nation’s threat to seek a “new way” forward after the expiration of its year-end deadline for US off ensive’ security measures sanctions relief. Ahead of the address, Kim told a meeting of Reuters leading military and economic economy.” Kim “presented the top ruling party off icials that Seoul power. tasks for urgently correcting the “positive and off ensive measures The United States had opened grave situation of the major in- for fully ensuring the sovereignty channels of communication dustrial sectors of the national and security of the country” were orth Korean leader Kim with North Korea and hoped economy,” KCNA said. needed, the state news agency Jong-un called for “pos- Kim would follow through on In New York, UN Security KCNA reported yesterday. Nitive and off ensive meas- denuclearisation commit- Council members were sched- Nuclear talks between the North ures” to ensure the country’s ments he made at summits with uled to hold an informal meet- and the US have been largely security before a year-end dead- US President Donald Trump, ing yesterday to contemplate a stalled since the collapse of line he has set for denuclearisa- O’Brien said. Russian and Chinese proposal a February summit between tion talks with the United States, A video released by the US Air to ease sanctions on North Ko- Kim and US President Donald state media KCNA said yester- Force and reviewed by Reuters rea. Russia and China proposed Trump in Hanoi. Pyongyang has day. yesterday showed a simulation a draft UN Security Coun- been demanding the easing of Kim convened a weekend of an Aegis destroyer spotting cil resolution this month that international sanctions imposed meeting of top Workers’ Party what appeared to be a North Ko- would lift some sanctions in a on it over its nuclear and ballistic offi cials to discuss policy mat- rean intercontinental ballistic bid to kick-start the denuclear- missile programmes, while ters amid rising tension over missile being fi red towards the isation talks. Washington is insisting it takes his deadline for Washington to Pacifi c over the skies of Japan, Speaking in Beijing, Chinese more tangible steps towards soften its stance in stalled ne- prompting the launch of ground Foreign Ministry spokesman giving them up. The North has not gotiations aimed at dismantling interceptor missiles. Geng Shuang said the proposal so far specified the “new way” it Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile The 65-second clip was dated was aimed at promoting the would adopt if the US does not programmes. September and released on Dec 2 talks process and to “satisfy rea- off er fresh concessions by the end At a Sunday session, Kim on the website of the US Defense sonable humanitarian and liveli- of the end, and Kim is expected to suggested action in the areas of Visual Information Distribution hood requirements” from North make it clearer. Earlier this month foreign aff airs, the munitions in- Service. Korea. China and Russia – the North’s dustry and armed forces, stress- People watch a television news programme showing the latest pictures of North Korean leader Kim A South Korean military “China hopes that when it biggest economic partners – ing the need to take “positive Jong-un, at a railway station in Seoul yesterday. source said while it was largely comes to the peninsula issue, proposed loosening UN sanctions and off ensive measures for fully a regular promotional video, its Security Council members can against Pyongyang, and analysts ensuring the sovereignty and off ensive measures,’ they might closely and hoped North Korea that it may take an unspecifi ed release coincided with height- assume their responsibilities say Kim is likely to seek to exploit security of the country,” KCNA mean highly provocative action would choose peace over con- “new path” if the United States ened tensions amid a recent se- and take proactive steps to sup- rivalries between Washington, said, without elaborating. against the United States and frontation, Secretary of State fails to meet its expectations. ries of North Korean weapons port a political resolution,” he Beijing and Moscow. The “new The meeting was the largest also South Korea,” said Yang Mike Pompeo said. US military commanders tests and a war of words between told a daily news briefi ng. way” was more likely to be an old plenary session of the party’s Moo-jin, a professor at the Uni- “We still maintain our view said the move could include the Pyongyang and Washington. The move is seen as an at- way with denuclearisation firmly 7th Central Committee since versity of North Korean studies that we can fi nd a path for- testing of a long-range missile, North Korea’s economy tempt to create a crack in a US- off the table, said Henri Feron, its fi rst gathering in 2013 under in Seoul. ward to convince the leader- which North Korea has sus- seemed to be another key item led global campaign to pressure Senior Fellow at the Center for Kim, according to Seoul’s Unifi - KCNA said the meeting was ship in North Korea that their pended since 2017, along with on the agenda for the second- North Korea to give up its weap- International Policy in the US. cation Ministry handling inter- still under way. It was the fi rst best course of action is to create nuclear warhead tests. day session, Yang said, with the ons programmes amid lacklustre “What North Korea refers to as Korean aff airs. time the gathering had lasted a better opportunity for their Washington would be “ex- economy hit by international progress in the negotiations. a new path is new in the sense The key policymaking organ more than one day since Kim people by getting rid of their nu- traordinarily disappointed” if sanctions over its weapons pro- Sanctions on industries that that it will diff er from its relatively drew several hundred attendees, took power in late 2011, ministry clear weapons,” Pompeo told Fox North Korea tests a long-range grams. earned North Korea hundreds engaging posture the past two state television showed yester- spokesman Lee Sang-min told a News. or nuclear missile, White House KCNA said Kim discussed of millions of dollars a year were years, but will actually be a return day. The committee also met in regular briefi ng. North Korea has urged Wash- national security adviser Robert state management and econom- imposed in 2016 and 2017 to to the posture it maintained 2018 and in April but on a much The United States was watch- ington to off er a new approach O’Brien said on Sunday, vowing ic issues in line with his cam- cut off funding for Pyongyang’s notably in the Obama era,” he smaller scale. “By ‘positive and ing the end-of-year meeting to resume negotiations, warning to take appropriate action as a paign to build an “independent weapons programmes. told AFP.

China jails scientist who gene-edited babies Icy dip

AFP The trial was held behind transparency while his case was Beijing closed doors as the case related ongoing was also concerning, to “personal privacy”, Xinhua said Julian Hitchcock, a lawyer said. He’s gene-editing experi- at Bristows LLP, which spe- Chinese court yesterday ments resulted in two pregnan- cialises in human gene editing. sentenced the scien- cies — the twin girls and third “News of the court’s treatment Atist who claimed to be baby which had not previously of He Jiankui and his associates behind the world’s fi rst gene- been confi rmed, it said. therefore appears to be some- edited babies to three years in He announced in November thing of a relief,” Hitchcock said prison for illegal medical prac- last year that the world’s fi rst in a statement, while calling for tice, state media reported. gene-edited babies — the twins China to publish the full details He Jiankui, who shocked the — had been born that month of the judgment. scientifi c community last year after he altered their DNA to Gene-editing for repro- by announcing the birth of twin prevent them from contracting ductive purposes is illegal in girls whose genes had allegedly HIV by deleting a certain gene most countries. China’s health been altered to confer immu- under a technique known as ministry issued regulations in nity to HIV, was also fi ned 3mn CRISPR. 2003 prohibiting gene-editing yuan ($430,000), Xinhua news Days later, He, a former as- of human embryos, though the agency said. sociate professor at the South- procedure is allowed for “non- He, who was educated at ern University of Science and reproductive purposes”. Stanford University, was sen- Technology in Shenzhen, told a He’s gene editing meant to tenced by a court in Shenzhen biomedical conference in Hong immunise the twins against for “illegally carrying out the Kong he was “proud” of his HIV may have failed in its pur- human embryo gene-editing gene-editing work. The claim pose and created unintended intended for reproduction”, shocked scientists worldwide, mutations, scientists said ear- Xinhua said. Two of his fel- raising questions about bioeth- lier this month after the origi- low researchers were also ics and putting a spotlight on nal research was published for sentenced. Zhang Renli was China’s lax oversight of scien- the fi rst time. handed a two-year jail term tifi c research. He claimed a medical break- A man swims in a partially-frozen lake in Beijing yesterday. and fi ned 1mn yuan while Qin “That technology is not safe,” through that could “control the Jinzhou was given 18 months, said Kiran Musunuru, a genet- HIV epidemic”, but it was not suspended for two years, and ics professor at the University clear whether he had even been fi ned 500,000 yuan. of Pennsylvania, explaining successful in immunising the China jails Protestant pastor for 9 years for ‘inciting’ subversion The trio had not obtained that the CRISPR molecular babies against the virus because qualifi cations to work as doc- “scissors” often cut next to the the team did not reproduce the tors and had knowingly vio- targeted gene, causing unex- gene mutation that confers this China yesterday jailed the leader in December 2018 in a raid by sanctioned churches where inciting subversion has often lated China’s regulations and pected mutations. resistance, scientists told the of an unoff icial Protestant church authorities in which dozens of Communist Party songs also been used against dissidents as ethical principles, according to “It’s very easy to do if you MIT Technology Review. for nine years for “incitement members of his “underground feature in the order of service. a way to silence criticism of the the court verdict, Xinhua said. don’t care about the conse- While the team targeted the to subvert state power”. Pastor church” disappeared. Catholics are similarly divided government and the Communist They had acted “in the pursuit quences,” Musunuru said. right gene, they did not rep- Wang Yi, whose Early Rain China’s off icially atheist between unoff icial churches led Party. of personal fame and gain” and Amid the outcry, He was licate the “Delta 32” variation Covenant Church was the target government is wary of any by bishops recognised by the Shortly before being detained, seriously “disrupted medical placed under police investiga- required, instead creating novel of a government crackdown organised movements outside its Vatican and those who follow Wang wrote a post on his church’s order”, it said. tion, the government ordered edits whose eff ects are not clear. last year, was also found guilty own control, including religious off icial prelates. Chengdu’s off icial Facebook page criticising The researchers had forged a halt to his research work and Moreover, CRISPR remains of “illegal business operation” ones. Protestants in the country court system website said Wang the Chinese government for ethical review materials and re- he was fi red by his Chinese an imperfect tool because it by a court in southwest China’s are split between unoff icial had been convicted in an open repressing Christians in the cruited couples where the hus- university. While He’s actions can lead to unwanted or “off - Chengdu, according to an “house” or “underground” trial by a court in the city, where country, saying “the Party can band was HIV positive for their “went well beyond what was target” edits, making its use in announcement on an off icial churches like the Early Rain Early Rain Covenant Church flourish for a while, but it cannot gene-editing experiments. ethically acceptable”, the lack of humans hugely controversial. court website. Wang was detained Covenant Church, and state- had been based. The charge of last forever.” Gulf Times Tuesday, December 31, 2019 9 BRITAIN

British teen guilty of false Britons paying 40% more rape claim

AFP Paralimni, Cyprus for energy than in 2015 Price rises have far British Gas, EDF Energy, E.ON don households were paying ‘Remarkable’ high as Scottish temperature record is broken court in Cyprus has outstripped inflation with UK, npower, Scottish Power and £3,129 a year – over £400 more found a British teenager dual fuel bills costing on SSE – raising their prices. than the national average. Northern Scotland registered a “remarkable” over- mountain’s other side, heating up and raising ground Aguilty of falsely claiming average £1,813 a year The annual report did not ex- In contrast, those living in night temperature of 16.8° Celsius (62.2° Fahrenheit) level temperatures as it travels. she was gang-raped by a group amine the costs of broadband, Scotland spend only £2,470 in the early hours of Sunday – a record high for this The eff ect coincided with gusts of warm air arriving of Israeli tourists in a case that By Clea Skopeliti mobile or TV services, which on bills, despite experiencing time of year. from the southern Atlantic, which have resulted in prompted allegations of police Guardian News & Media also involve heavy outlays. colder weather than the English Northeastern England and northern Wales were also Britain being warmer than Athens and Rome. mistreatment. Simon McCulloch of com- capital. unusually warm, with 13.3C recorded in Chillingham This pattern is usually seen in eastern Scotland, north- The 19-year-old was con- parethemarket.com said: “A lot Lower bills are largely because Barns, Northumberland, and 11.5C in Rhyl. eastern Wales and northeastern England. victed of “public mischief”, nergy bills have risen by of attention during the general of signifi cantly cheaper Scottish The Scottish figure, recorded by the Met Off ice at 3am Alex Burkill, a meteorologist for the Met Off ice, said which carries a sentence of up to 40% in fi ve years, tak- election was devoted to fi nan- car insurance. on Sunday in Cassley in Sutherland, is the highest on it was extremely rare to see such high temperatures one year in prison and a fi ne of Eing average UK household cial diffi culties that many people The West Midlands is the record for December 29-31. overnight this late in the year. around €1,700. costs up to a record of £2,707 a face around the UK. UK’s second most expensive re- Forecasters have attributed the unseasonably warm “Getting temperatures of 16° or 17° in December isn’t Sentencing was adjourned year, research has revealed. “These statistics are a stark gion, with bills averaging £2,910 weather to a meteorological pattern called the Foehn all that unusual, but it’s remarkable that this was dur- until January 7. Comparethemarket’s study reminder of not only the high in 2019. Eff ect. ing the night,” he told the BBC. The defendant, who pleaded examined the costs of energy, cost of essential services, but While the cost of car and It occurs in mountainous areas, creating wet and cold The rest of the UK also experienced mild overnight not guilty, alleged that 12 Israelis home and motor insurance since of the huge increases that have home insurance has remained conditions on one side of a mountain and warm and conditions, but temperatures are expected to drop in raped her on July 17 at a hotel in 2015, and found that gas and been seen in the past few years. broadly unchanged this year, dry conditions on the other. the new year. Ayia Napa. electricity price increases were “The average cost of energy, there are indications that motor The phenomenon occurs when humid air is pushed The current record for the highest daytime maxi- But the Israelis, aged 15 to 18, largely responsible for this year’s motor and home insurance is cover will rise over the next year. over high ground by strong winds. mum temperature in December in the UK is 18.3C, were released without charge the changes. now £675 higher than 2015 – far Comparethemarket attributes As the moisture-filled air rises, it cools and condenses, registered in Achnashellach in the Scottish Highlands same month after the woman The analysis says fi nancial above the rate of infl ation.” this to mooted delays to reform resulting in clouds and rain. on December 2, 1948. – By Clea Skopeliti/Guardian was arrested on suspicion of pressures have worsened despite According to the Offi ce for of personal injury claims for This then releases dry air, which moves down the News & Media “making a false statement about the energy price cap introduced National Statistics’ compos- whiplash injuries and changes to an imaginary crime”. at the beginning of 2019. ite price index, items that have the Ogden rate, used to calculate “The statements you have Dual fuel bills now cost an av- risen in line with infl ation are compensation payable to vic- “With the average saving for in recent years,” he said. markets, has previously said “it given were false,” the judge told erage of £1,813 a year, a 40% hike 11.59% pricier now than in 2015. tims of traffi c accidents. these products standing at £482, The energy cap is due to expire will be up to the government to the woman at the Famagusta from £1,289 in 2015. The analysis draws attention McCulloch said consumers shopping around clearly goes a by 2023. consider if the market is work- District Court in Paralimni in The cap has led to many pro- to the regional disparities in should always look around for long way to mitigating the dra- Ofgem, the government reg- ing well enough for the cap to be southeast Cyprus in remarks viders, particularly the big six – utility costs, fi nding that Lon- better deals. matic bill increases we have seen ulator for gas and electricity removed”. translated by an interpreter. She appeared frustrated by the delay to the sentencing, telling her lawyer: “He already made his decision! I thought we were ask- ing for a fi ne.” Hogmanay fest organiser blamed for ‘curfew’ row Harry and The defence said it would lodge an appeal with the Su- preme Court. Poor communication guidance for residents didn’t Meghan “We believe there have been by Underbelly partly accurately refl ect this, creating many violations in the procedure responsible, says council unnecessary confusion.” and the rights of fair trial have leader Adam McVey The row erupted last week fi le for been violated,” the woman’s after it emerged that Under- lawyer, Nicoletta Charalambi- By Severin Carrell belly, which also runs some of dou, said. Guardian News & Media the largest Fringe venues, said trademark Rights groups argued the applications by residents for teenager has suff ered humilia- any more than six access passes tion and been mistreated by the he leader of Edinburgh would be screened by the po- Reuters police and media. council has accused the lice. London They have called for a probe Torganisers of the city’s About 75,000 revellers are into police handling of the case. Hogmanay festival of causing expected to converge on the More than a dozen women an avoidable row over the rights Hogmanay festival site, called ritain’s Prince Harry and from an association for the pro- of residents to access their the arena by Underbelly, for his wife Meghan have tection of women attended court homes. performances featuring Mark Bfi led to register the name wearing white scarves with an Adam McVey blamed Un- Ronson, Marc Almond and of their charitable foundation, image of lips sewn shut printed derbelly, the events company other acts spread over several Sussex Royal, as a trademark, on them. that runs Edinburgh’s winter stages. according to a document pub- As the defendant was led from and Hogmanay festivals, for Residential and shopping ar- lished on the Intellectual Prop- the court with her face blind- the dispute over access rights eas such as Rose Street, Princes erty Offi ce’s website. folded to shield her identity 20 for people who live within the Street, Mound Place, Castle Harry and Meghan, the Duke protesters chanted “We are with large security zone covered by Street, Frederick Street and and Duchess of Sussex, set up you” and “We believe you”. the festival. Hanover Street will be cor- their own foundation this year, The woman’s lawyers had In a Twitter thread, McVey doned off with steel barriers The Star Flyer lifts visitors above the Christmas market by the Mound in central Edinburgh. splitting from the decade-old claimed that she was pressured said many of the complaints and security checks. philanthropic vehicle Royal into signing a retraction written were valid and fed into a wider One of its biggest events is policies had been in place for its policy was being misrepre- Edinburgh residents attended Foundation that they shared by a detective. debate about the scale and du- the Hogmanay fi reworks dis- years, and the exact wording sented. the Hogmanay festival but with Harry’s older brother But the judge said during the ration of Edinburgh’s lucrative play from Edinburgh Castle. used had been approved in ad- “We have never prevented agreed the event had an inevi- Prince William and his wife Kate. trial that police had acted prop- and popular festivals. But residents inside the zone vance by the council. resident and guest access,” he table impact on those living in- The trademark application erly at all times, with no pressure Those issues would be central will be barred from viewing it Following the furore, it tweeted. “The arena needs to be side the cordon. covers a wide range of goods and exerted to change the woman’s to a review the council would be at street level unless they have amended its policies to say ap- secure, so for many years, resi- Edinburgh Old Town com- services from books to clothing mind about her initial rape claim. holding in the spring, he said. bought festival tickets. plications for what it terms “a dents have applied for passes munity council, which includes and educational and charitable The defendant had said police “Many problems which led To the anger of community reasonable number” of extra for easy access to their homes. the southern half of the festival campaigns. were “hostile and negative” and to legitimate criticism were groups, Underbelly also sug- passes would be shared with “City of Edinburgh council zone, said Underbelly’s reac- The Intellectual Property Of- asked her to sign a statement she avoidable and in some instanc- gested that if residents wanted the police and fi re service only and the previous producer put tions to the complaints were fi ce said the application was had not seen. es simply down to poor com- larger numbers of access passes “if necessary”. the system in place – we adopt- “ultra-defensive”. submitted by Sussex Royal, The British legal aid group Justice munication,” McVey said. for their own Hogmanay par- It also deleted the reference ed it. “We felt (and feel) ignored,” Foundation Of The Duke And Abroad, which is supporting the “Residents’ rights and access ties, the Scottish Fire and Res- to screening residents’ proper- “We are sorry if this has been it said, urging the council to Duchess Of Sussex in June and woman, said the defence would to their homes during any event cue Service would be asked to ties by the fi re brigade, but re- misunderstood but our inten- “behave as if they want to hear published on December 20. take the case to the European have to be prioritised and prop- check that was within safety tained it for businesses. tion was never to prevent ac- what we say” when the coun- The 35-year-old prince is Court of Human Rights if neces- erly planned for. limits for their property. Charlie Wood, an Under- cess.” cil’s consultation on the plan- Queen Elizabeth’s grandson and sary. “It is unacceptable that the Underbelly insisted similar belly director, told McVey that The fi rm said thousands of ning of future festivals starts. sixth in line to the throne. Fears over lack of intensive care beds for children

By Denis Campbell Cambridge said on December 23: Dr Julia Patterson, a spokes- the accuracy of offi cial NHS “si- Guardian News & Media “So far this month we have been woman for EveryDoctor, a net- treps” data. able to accommodate 32 transfers work of grassroots NHS doctors, The fi gures, published weekly into our paediatric intensive care said: “Paediatric intensive care by NHS England during winter, ritically ill children are unit and paediatric high depend- exists to treat some of the most detail bed occupancy across the being rushed from one ency units, of which four would vulnerable members of our soci- country in intensive care units Cpart of England to another normally go to London hospi- ety. for adults, paediatric inten- because National Health Serv- tals.” “After nine years of planned sive care units for children and ice (NHS) hospitals are running A message sent between PICU NHS austerity cuts by the gov- neonatal intensive care units for short of intensive care beds in doctors in the capital on Decem- ernment, it is not surprising that newborns. which to treat them, the Guard- ber 17 said: “There are no PICU the end-point is a lack of safe The most recent data, showing ian can reveal. beds in London and three ven- care for the most vulnerable. that units in England had been on An increase in severe breath- tilated patients awaiting a bed “But it is a situation which is average 83% full so far this win- ing problems in children driven across London.” utterly shocking and totally un- ter, were deceptive and under- by winter viruses and infections, Another message shared by acceptable to the UK doctors at estimated the true extent of the including fl u, means some are PICU doctors on December the frontline, caring for these pressures being felt, the FICM having to be transferred some- 20, seeking a bed for a child at patients every day, and we are said. times many miles from their Whipps Cross hospital in London therefore moved to speak up. Dr Alison Pittard, the FICM’s home area because there are not with bronchiolitis, showed that “This situation is being al- dean, told the Health Service enough paediatric intensive care there were no beds at St George’s lowed to happen by politicians Journal that many units had been unit (PICU) beds locally. A paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in London. or King’s College hospitals in who have the power to inject 100% full in December and that Specialist doctors who staff south London or in the NHS’s emergency funds and turn the its members were concerned the units say the situation is One doctor at a PICU in the A PICU doctor in London said: “The system is at breaking entire North Thames region, situation around. that one in four hospitals “did “dangerous and rotten for the Midlands said: “PICU beds are “This winter has so far been mild point.” which covers east, central and “Sick children’s lives are at not recognise their unit’s sitreps families” involved and that staff always in high demand. But since and yet pressure on beds from A consultant at another major north London and Cambridge. risk. How can we call ourselves a data”. are “fi refi ghting” to handle winter hit this year, around six children with respiratory dis- London hospital said: “At one Dr Peter-Marc Fortune, the civilised society when our chil- NHS England did not respond the number of children need- weeks ago, the situation feels like ease or respiratory vulnerability point over a weekend in Decem- president of the Paediatric In- dren’s lives are being wantonly in detail to the claims but said the ing sometimes life-saving care, we are simply fi refi ghting. seems recognisably worse than ber there were 11 intubated new- tensive Care Society, confi rmed placed at risk?” fi gures were submitted by hospi- many of whom are on a ventilator “Many days I come on shift to previous years. borns or babies awaiting PICU that early winter circulation of Disclosure of the acute short- tals themselves. to help them breathe. fi nd there are no beds in [our] re- “We have no beds to accept beds, with none available any- bugs was leading to children be- ages of PICU beds comes after It emerged last month that the In the past few weeks, young gion and the patients referred to patients with invasive pneumo- where. ing transferred. intensive care doctors said that number of hospital beds available patients have been sent from the us end up in Southampton, Shef- nia who need surgical resource, “One of our patients went to “At this time of year things are pressure on beds in the units in England has fallen to its lowest Midlands to Sheffi eld, from Lon- fi eld, Oxford and other centres and we are stepping children Cambridge and another two were always very, very busy. We run where they work is worse than ever level because 17,230 beds don to Cambridge, and from one far away. down from intensive care to the transferred out of London too. right at the edge of capacity every offi cial NHS fi gures show. have been cut since 2010. side of the Pennines to the other “The PICU network is over- main wards earlier than we would [This is] dangerous and rotten for year. Everyone feels very buried In an unusual move, the Fac- Many hospitals have opened in order to get them a place in a stretched. There aren’t enough like to make way for the relentless the families.” and that they are working to their ulty of Intensive Care Medicine extra beds to help them cope this PICU. beds, nurses or skilled doctors.” infl ux of newer, sicker patients. Addenbrooke’s hospital in limit,” he said. (FICM) raised concerns about winter. Gulf Times 10 Tuesday, December 31, 2019 EUROPE

German airline France waits on Macron crew strike to address pension strike starts

AFP 62, a change the unions fi ercely Half of the country’s high- DPA Paris oppose. speed TGV trains were cancelled Berlin Macron’s speech “is a non- yesterday, with more severe dis- event for us”, Fabien Dumas of ruptions for regional trains, and rench union leaders upped the SUD-Rail union told AFP. similar disruptions are expected erman airline German- their calls yesterday for “I’m not expecting any an- through the week. wings cancelled 60 FPresident Emmanuel Ma- nouncements,” he said, ahead But rail operator SNCF said Gfl ights yesterday, the fi rst cron to give ground on a planned of new talks between unions just 7.1% of employees were on of the three-day strike called by pension overhaul, amid signs and the government starting on strike, including a third of train the cabin crew union Ufo. that support is fl agging for a January 7. drivers, the lowest rate since the Service at the Cologne Bonn transport strike now in its 26th After three weeks of strikes – protest was launched on De- Airport was particularly aff ected day. the longest since the mid-1980s cember 5. by the strike, with airports in Macron will address the na- – the government has conceded And in Paris, only two of the Berlin, Dusseldorf and Munich tion today in his annual New that some workers, like police 16 metro lines were shut down also hit by cancellations. Year’s Eve speech, having largely and fi refi ghters, would still be completely – though most oth- The strike over the New Year’s left it to his government to de- able to have early retirements. ers were off ering only minimal holiday is expected to scratch fend one of the most contested And Paris Opera dancers were service, and only during morn- 180 fl ights from the schedule in reforms of his term. told over the weekend that the ing or evening rush hours. total. The president will reaffi rm reform would apply only to new “It’s starting to get tiring, An airline spokeswoman told his “determined ambition (for) recruits from January 2022. we’re tired,” said real estate em- DPA that of the 1,200 fl ights a project of social progress that “It’s obvious that his plan is ployee Julie at Saint-Lazare sta- during the strike period, more corrects a number of inequali- coming apart,” Yves Veyrier of tion in Paris. than 1,000 will operate as usual. ties”, an offi cial at the Elysee the Force Ouvriere union told “At the same time we support Most of the fl ights cancelled Palace told AFP on condition of France Info radio yesterday. the movement,” she acknowl- yesterday were domestic, but anonymity. “You can see that it doesn’t edged. “But it’s tiring.” Macron: to address the nation today in his annual New Year’s Eve speech. some routes to Vienna and Zu- “At this stage he is not expect- work for diff erent sectors, The strike is also likely to rich were also disrupted. ed to go into the details of the whether it’s pilots, fi refi ghters, crimp New Year’s festivities. Champs-Elysees to ring in the Yesterday, CGT union mem- formances so far, promising an The situation at Cologne Bonn reform”, which would scrap 42 Opera dancers,” he said, reiter- Interior Minister Christophe new year, with the city’s 16 bers blocked ports in Lorient, Le outdoor concert at the Bastille Airport was calm, without long separate pension schemes for a ating his demand that Macron Castaner said nearly 100,000 metro lines open – and free – all Havre and other cities to protest today after one at the ornate queues forming at service desks. single, points-based system, the drop the plan outright. police would be on duty na- night. the reform, and lawyers have Garnier palace on Christmas Eve Most passengers were in- offi cial said. The transport strike has cast tionwide on New Year’s Eve to But this year just two metro called for a “hard strike” from that went viral. formed beforehand and didn’t It would also set a “pivot age” a pall over the holidays, snarling prevent drink driving as more lines will run, and only until January 6. Labour leaders have already even travel to the airport, an air- of 64 at which retirees would daily commutes in big cities like revellers opt to get around by car. 2.15am, though transit operator Paris Opera dancers have also called for a fresh day of mass port spokesperson said. benefi t from a full pension, Paris and spelling travel misery In Paris, 250,000 to 300,000 RATP vowed to step up night bus maintained a strike that has led demonstrations to take place on Germanwings operates fl ights though they can legally leave at for thousands over Christmas. people usually gather on the services. to cancellations of some 50 per- January 9. for Lufthansa low-cost subsidi- ary Eurowings; about 30 out of Eurowings’ fl eet of 140 planes belong to Germanwings. Germanwings employs about 1,400 people for Eurowings, 800 I wouldn’t have wasted my time on Turkey arrests 94 of them cabin crew. Lufthansa’s integration of the companies is at the heart of the militant suspects labour dispute. Trump, says teen activist Thunberg At issue in the current strike is regulations covering part-time Reuters ing weapons, ammunition and work. Reuters Istanbul documents, Anadolu said. The trade union is seeking a London It said 30 Iraqis, two Syrians separate collective agreement on and one Moroccan were de- part-time work arrangements urkish police detained tained in Ankara. for Germanwings cabin crew. eenage climate change 94 people suspected of Nine Iraqi citizens who had The company is off ering the activist Greta Thun- Tties to Islamic State (IS) operated in Syria and Iraq were subsidiary a scheme that corre- Tberg said yesterday that in nationwide raids yesterday, detained in Kayseri, while four sponds to Lufthansa’s part-time talking to US President Don- ahead of New Year celebra- Syrian and two Iraqi citizens policy, which it describes at the ald Trump at a United Nations tions, police and state media were detained in Adana, it best “that exists in the industry”. summit on global warming said, two months after the added. Most of Germanwings’ cabin would have been a waste of time group’s leader Abu Bakr al- Istanbul police said 20 Turks crew are women, some of whom since he would not have paid any Baghdadi was killed. and four foreign nationals wish to switch from full-time to attention. Police have rounded up re- were captured in separate raids part-time for family reasons. In an interview with BBC ligious extremists in late De- aimed to prevent potential at- Germanwings denied such radio’s Today programme, for cember in the last two years, tacks by the group ahead of requests in some cases, leading which she was the guest editor since New Year’s Day in 2017 New Year’s. to resentment on the part of the yesterday, Thunberg also said when a gunman killed 39 peo- US President Donald Trump employees. she regarded personal attacks on ple in an Istanbul nightclub in announced on October 27 that But the company said that her as funny and that she hoped an attack claimed by the mili- Islamic State leader Baghdadi in 2019 “almost all” part-time to go back to having a normal tant group. had been killed in a raid by US requests from the 800 fl ight at- life. Counter-terror police car- special forces in northwest tendants had been granted, with A video of the 16-year-old ried out the operations in the Syria, near the Turkish border. only 11 requests denied “for op- Swedish campaigner giving central provinces of Ankara, Two days later, Turkish po- erational reasons”, the company Trump what media described as Kayseri and Adana, and Bat- lice detained dozens of Islamic said. a “death stare” at a UN climate This picture taken from video on September 23 shows Thunberg as US President Donald Trump enters man in the southeast, state- State suspects believed to have But the cabin crew union Ufo summit in New York in Septem- the United Nations to speak with reporters. owned Anadolu news agency been plotting attacks targeting says more clarifi cation on part- ber went viral on social media. reported. celebrations of Turkey’s Re- time policy is needed. Trump has questioned cli- because they obviously don’t activist had helped rescue her ates” while in the global media Istanbul police said it also public Day celebrations. It rejects the Lufthansa part- mate science and is pulling the mean anything,” she said. “I from the depression she had limelight. made arrests. The government has said it time collective wage agreement, United States out of the 2015 guess of course it means some- previously been suff ering. “Quite frankly, I don’t know At 5am in Batman, some will have repatriated most of as it has signifi cant weaknesses Paris Agreement on global thing – they are terrifi ed of She also spoke in yesterday’s how she does it, but she laughs 400 police offi cers detained 22 its Islamic State detainees to – some of its part-time models warming. young people bringing change BBC programme with veteran most of the time. She fi nds it hi- people in simultaneous raids their home countries by the are only limited in time, the Ufo When asked what she would which they don’t want – but British broadcaster David At- larious,” he said. on various addresses, seiz- end of the year. argues. have said to the president if they that is just proof that we are tenborough, telling him how his The teenager rejoined activ- had spoken, Thunberg said: actually doing something and nature documentaries had in- ists outside the Swedish par- “Honestly, I don’t think I would that they see us as some kind of spired her. liament this month after four Romanian woman dies after ‘igniting’ during hospital op have said anything because threat.” “You have aroused the world,” months of overseas trips to at- obviously he’s not listening to Thunberg came to world the 93-year-old Attenborough tend climate conferences in New A woman has died after being set on fire during a A nurse threw a bucket of water onto the 66-year- scientists and experts, so why attention when she began a told Thunberg in reply, adding York and Madrid. hospital operation in Romania, the health ministry old Romanian to prevent the December 22 fire from would he listen to me?” grassroots campaign aged 15 by that she had achieved things “I hope I won’t have to sit said yesterday, in a case which has cast a spotlight spreading. “So I probably wouldn’t have skipping school every Friday to “that many of us who have been outside the Swedish parliament on the ailing health system. The health ministry vowed to investigate the said anything, I wouldn’t have demonstrate outside the Swed- working on the issue for 20 years for long. I hope I don’t have to be The pancreatic cancer patient died Sunday after “unfortunate incident”. wasted my time,” she said. ish parliament. have failed to do”. a climate activist anymore,” she suff ering burns to 40% of her body when surgeons “The surgeons should have been aware that it is This month Brazilian Presi- The demonstration have in- Her father Svante Thunberg, said yesterday, adding that she used an electrical scalpel despite her being treated prohibited to use an alcohol-based disinfectant dent Jair Bolsonaro called spired millions of young people who was also interviewed for is looking forward to returning with an alcohol-based disinfectant. during surgical procedures performed with an Thunberg “a brat”. to take action against climate the BBC programme, said that to school in August. Contact with the flammable disinfectant caused electric scalpel,” deputy minister Horatiu Moldovan Trump has said on Twitter change. she had dealt very well with “the “I just want to be just as eve- combustion and the patient “ignited like a torch”, said. that she needs to work on her Thunberg, who was named fake news, all the things that ryone else. I want to educate lawmaker Emanuel Ungureanu said on his Facebook The victim’s family said that the medical staff had anger management problem. Time magazine’s Person of the people try to fabricate about myself and be just like a normal page, citing medical staff at the capital’s Floreasca spoken of an “accident”, but declined to off er any “Those attacks are just funny Year for 2019, said becoming an her, the hate that that gener- teenager.” urgent care hospital. details.

Vandals target Jewish cemetery Austrian conservatives, Greens see coalition deal within days Vandals overturned more than 40 gravestones and sprayed some of them with blue paint at Austrian Greens to get four On Sunday morning Kurz and time and the change of year for Given the diffi culty in keeping ministerial posts emerged yes- cluding the coveted interior and the Jewish cemetery in the town ministries as talks near end Greens leader Werner Kogler a fi nal polishing (of the agree- the deal confi dential once it is terday. fi nance ministries. of Geilenkirchen in the German said the deal could happen “by ment),” Kurz said. put to the more than 250 mem- Green politician Leonore Kurz, whose party is known state of North Rhine Westphalia. Reuters/AFP the middle of the coming week”. The Greens’ Federal Congress, bers of the Federal Congress, Gewessler is to head a new envi- for a tough approach to immi- On Sunday night, a witness Vienna A deal would make Kurz chan- comprising various groups the details are likely to be an- ronment ministry, which would gration, gained 37.5% of the vote observed two people wearing cellor again after his coalition within the party including its nounced before it meets. also comprise traffi c, infra- in September. dark, hooded clothes in with the far-right Freedom Par- national, local and European Media reports overnight said structure, energy and technol- He said on Twitter that “a action and alerted the police, ustrian conservative ty (FPOe) collapsed in May over lawmakers, must sign off on any that presentation was likely to ogy, a party representative who young and very experienced investigators said. leader Sebastian Kurz is a video sting that felled FPOe coalition deal, and it requires a happen on January 2 or 3. declined to be named owing to integration expert” named Su- Off icials found two men dressed Aon the brink of return- leader Heinz-Christian Strache. week’s notice to meet. Few of those details have the ongoing investigations, told sanne Raab would take on a in dark clothes in the immediate ing to power as a coalition deal A provisional government of The meeting has been called emerged so far, but Kogler has AFP. newly created integration min- vicinity of the crime scene, where with the left-wing Greens is civil servants is in place for the for next Saturday and invita- said he wants a package of in- The Greens – which celebrat- istry. balaclavas and aerosols of blue likely to be struck this week, time being until a coalition is tions were sent late on Satur- vestment on environmental ar- ed their best results ever in the Raab was one of those work- paint were found. three months after his party won formed. day shortly before midnight, a eas, and Kurz has said his priori- September polls with 13.9% – ing on the ban on face-covering The suspects aged 21 and 33 are a parliamentary election, both “The fi nish line has not yet Greens spokeswoman said. ties include continuing his hard would also get three other min- burqa or niqab veils that was in- known to the police. sides indicated on Sunday. been crossed, but the main ob- In contrast to the Greens, Kurz line on illegal immigration and istries, the representative said troduced in 2017. They were arrested temporarily. Late on Saturday the Greens stacles on the path to a joint gov- can sign off on the deal himself keeping a balanced budget. while declining to comment Analyst Thomas Hofer said They were released yesterday called a meeting of their party’s ernment have been removed,” on behalf of his party. There have also been reports further. Kurz was walking “a thin red morning in consultation with the top decision-making body next Kurz said in the joint statement “Important individual issues the deal includes large invest- Media reports have said they line” by going into government local court. weekend to sign off on a deal, in- to Austrian news agency APA. are still open and should be re- ments in expanding Austria’s rail could be the justice, social and with a left-leaning party with- The state security agency is dicating they expect the accord “It is now two days before the solved in the coming days,” Ko- network. women’s ministries, while the out alienating his conservative investigating. to be fi nalised before then. new year. We want to use this gler said in the statement. The fi rst details regarding OeVP would take the rest, in- voters. Gulf Times Tuesday, December 31, 2019 11 INDIA

5 more J&K Hundreds of fl ights delayed politicians released

IANS as fog engulfs north India Srinagar ive more mainstream AFP/DPA several places in the region, ac- ana state on Sunday, signalling politicians, including two New Delhi cording to Skymet Weather, an extreme weather conditions. FMLAs, have been released Indian forecasting company. It urged residents to take from detention in Jammu and Two children were among six precautions and the govern- Kashmir. ense fog and hazardous people killed when a car drove ment to take “necessary ac- The fi ve – Abdul Jabbar, Bashir air pollution blanketed into a canal in the Delhi suburb tion” such as providing night Ahmad Mir, Zahoor Ahmad Mir, Dnorthern India and dis- of Greater Noida late Sunday, shelters and fi rewood for Yasir Reshi, and Ghulam Nabi rupted hundreds of fl ights yes- local police offi cial Akhilesh homeless people. – were released from the MLA terday, as harsh winter weather Pradhan said. Several schools in Delhi and Hostel in Srinagar. sent temperatures plunging to “Preliminary investigations the adjoining regions of Gur- A total of 35 mainstream near-record lows. indicate the accident took place gaon and Noida said their pri- politicians were moved from New Delhi and surrounding because of low visibility due to mary sections would be closed the Centuar Hotel on the parts of the country are regu- the fog,” Pradhan said. today, the NDTV news channel banks of the Dal Lake to the larly shrouded by haze that hits At least 30 trains to and from reported. MLA Hostel last month. Four each winter due to build-up of the city were running late due to “The rains are expected to of the detained politicians vehicle fumes, industrial emis- low visibility, a spokesman for relieve severe cold wave con- had been released earlier. The sions and smoke from agricul- Indian Railways said. ditions and we are expecting a number of detained leaders is tural fi res. Delhi is currently experi- marginal rise in temperature,” now 26. But thick cloud cover caused encing its longest spell of cold said Kuldeep Srivastava, head Among these, three former by the current cold snap has weather in 22 years. of IMD’s regional weather fore- chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, reduced visibility even further, The city recorded its coldest casting centre in New Delhi. Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba with authorities blaming the day in the month of December In the northeastern state Mufti have been detained since weather for delaying more than in 119 years yesterday, with one of Assam, zoo authorities put August 5 following the revoca- 500 fl ights at the capital’s air- weather station registering a heaters in enclosures to protect tion of Article 370. port. maximum temperature of 9.4 tigers from the bracing condi- Farooq Abdullah has been de- Weather bureau said Delhi degrees Celsius. tions. tained in his house at Gupkar was on course to record its cold- The normal high tempera- “The animals are not used Road that has been declared as est December day since 1901, tures for this time of year are to this and we are taking spe- a sub-jail. Omar Abdullah has with a minimum temperature of around 20 degrees. cial measures to keep the ani- been detained at Hari Niwas and 2.6 degrees Celsius (35.6 Fahr- The weather offi ce issued a mals, particularly the old ones, Mehbooba Mufti is detained at a enheit) early yesterday. “code red warning” for New warm,” Tejas Mariswamy of As- government house on MA Road Visibility dropped to zero in Delhi and neighbouring Hary- sam zoo said. Soldiers patrol along a street under heavy foggy conditions in New Delhi yesterday. in Srinagar. CCTV in all stations, coaches by March 2022 IANS Rs500 crore under the Nirb- passengers, Yadav said, “The “RTIS in collaboration with being done for 6,500 locomo- New Delhi haya Fund for installing CCTV CCTV in the train coaches will ISRO for automatic chart prepa- tives across the country. cameras on the railway premises be fi tted in the common area and ration and passenger train infor- To a question over the privati- across the country. it will not compromise with the mation has been fast tracked and sation of the railway production he Indian Railways will He added that the railways has privacy of the passengers.” till date we have installed the units, Yadav clarifi ed that there install CCTV cameras also allotted Rs2,000 crore for While talking about the punc- RTIS system in over 2,700 elec- are “no plans” for privatising Tat all the stations and in the installation of CCTV cam- tuality of the trains, Yadav said tric locomotives and 3,800 die- the railway manufacturing units. all the coaches by March 2022, eras at over 6,100 stations and in that 60% of the locomotives sel locomotives provided with “We are not going to privatise Railway Board Chairman V K over 58,600 coaches. have been installed with the RAMLOT,” he said. railways but we are holding dis- Yadav said yesterday. The railways will also be using RTIS (Real Time Information “Balance of the 6,000 locomo- cussions on corporatisation.” Speaking to the media, the facial recognition and Artifi cial System) whereas the rest of the tives to be provided with the RTIS A political row had erupted chairman said, “So far, the railways Intelligence to identify culprits, work will be completed by next in a year’s time and tenders have earlier this year over the privati- have installed CCTVs at 503 rail- said Yadav. year in collaboration with the been fl oated for the same,” he said. sation of the Modern Coach Fac- way stations across the country.” Giving a clarifi cation on pri- Indian Space Research Organi- Yadav also emphasised that tory (MCF) in Uttar Pradesh’s General Bipin Rawat He said the railways received vacy issues and surveillance of sation (ISRO). automatic control charting is Rae Bareli. Outgoing army chief named fi rst CDS Use of facial

IAANNS Ministry amended the Indian NNew DDelhii Army, Indian Navy and Indian recognition in Air Force rules, to provide for the CDS or tri-service chiefs ndian Army’s outgoing being able to serve till 65. As chief, General Bipin Ra- per existing government rules, Iwat, was yesterday ap- the three service chiefs can rally sparks pointed India’s fi rst Chief of serve up to the age of 62 or for the Defence Staff (CDS), the three years, whichever is ear- principal military adviser to lier. Defence Minister and head of “He will be drawing a salary the new Department of Mili- equivalent to service chiefs, privacy fears tary Aff airs. and will head the Department “File for the appointment of of Military Aff airs to be cre- India’s fi rst CDS was cleared ated under the Ministry of Thomson Reuters Foundation screen the crowd at a political by Appointment Committee Defence. He will function as Mumbai rally, according to technology of Cabinet headed by Prime its secretary,” Union Minister analysts. Demonstrators hold placards and shout slogans during a protest against a new citizenship law in Mumbai yesterday. Minister Narendra Modi on Prakash Javadekar said during “The use of the system for yesterday morning,” said a the Cabinet briefi ng. olice in Delhi used facial profi ling and surveillance at “Delhi Police assures that best inals and fi nd missing children. India’s Supreme Court, in a senior government offi cer, The CDS will have all the recognition software to public congregations is illegal industry standard checks and Use of the technology at the landmark ruling in 2017 on the privy to the decision making powers like other secretaries, Pscreen crowds at a recent and unconstitutional. It is an act balances against any potential political rally comes amidst na- national biometric identity card process. including fi nancial. political rally - a fi rst for India - of mass surveillance,” said Apar misuse of data are in place. Racial tionwide protests against a new programme Aadhaar, said indi- The government announced Defence Minister Rajnath raising concerns about privacy Gupta, executive director, digital or religious profi ling is never a citizenship law, in which at least vidual privacy is a fundamental that General Rawat, who is all Singh had hailed the Union and mass surveillance amidst advocacy group Internet Free- relevant parameter while build- 25 people have been killed. right. set to retire today, has been Cabinet’s approval for the nationwide protests against a dom Foundation. ing these datasets,” the spokes- Pictures of police holding vid- Yet the ruling has not checked appointed as CDS and will be CDS and its charter and du- new citizenship law. “From building an underlying man was cited as saying. eo cameras at some protests have the rollout of facial recognition holding the post till 65 years ties, calling it an “historic The Automated Facial Recog- database of people from public Worldwide, the rise of cloud sparked concerns that images of technology, Gupta said. of age, which for him is March and major” decision towards nition System (AFRS) software protests to running it on crowds computing and artifi cial intel- protesters are being added to the Technology site Comparitech 31, 2023. bringing about jointmanship that the Delhi Police had in- of people attending rallies, this ligence technologies have popu- facial recognition database. ranked Delhi among the world’s General Rawat, who will between the armed forces. stalled to identify missing chil- directly impairs the rights of or- larised the use of facial recogni- Indian authorities have said most surveilled cities in a report take charge as CDS from Janu- The CDS will act as the dren, was used at Prime Minister dinary Indians from assembly, tion for a range of applications the technology is needed to bol- this year. ary 1, served a rare full three- Principal Military Adviser to Narendra Modi’s rally on De- speech and political participa- from tracking criminals to catch- ster a severely under-policed The Personal Data Protec- year term as the Indian Army the Defence Minister on tri- cember 22, a police spokesman tion,” he said. ing truant students. country. tion Bill, introduced in parlia- chief after he superseded two services matters. The three said yesterday, without giving The Indian Express daily cited In India, facial recognition But “its use has strayed from ment this month, empowers the offi cers in 2016. service chiefs will continue further details. a Delhi Police spokesman as say- technology was installed in sev- fi nding missing children to be- government to ask a company He was commissioned into to advise the Defence Min- It was the fi rst time the tech- ing the police had used the tech- eral airports this year, and the ing deployed in peaceful public to provide anonymised personal the 11 Gorkha Rifl es on De- ister on matters exclusively nology - which is increasingly nology “based on credible intel- government plans to roll out a gatherings” with a complete lack data and other non-personal cember 16, 1978. concerning their respective deployed in airports, offi ces ligence inputs about possible nationwide system, likely to be of any oversight or accountabil- data, for delivering welfare serv- On Sunday, the Defence forces. and cafes in India - was used to disruptions”. the world’s biggest, to stop crim- ity, said Gupta. ices and for policies.

Navy bans smartphones, social media on bases Uddhav inducts 35 ministers; Ajit deputy CM After the recent arrest of seven agencies busted an espionage both Eastern and Western naval navy personnel for allegedly racket with the arrest of seven command centres, responsible leaking sensitive information to Indian Navy personnel and a for security of the maritime IANS Mumbai MLA Aditya Thack- communities and regions in the ing the fi rst full-fl edged cabinet an espionage racket, the Indian money-laundering ring operator. borders from China and Mumbai eray has been made a Cabinet state. meeting this evening. Navy has issued direction to The arrest of the seven navy Pakistan, were exposed to these minister, making it a fi rst time in However, leaders of various The other heavyweights in the ban the use of all smartphones off icials from Mumbai, Karvar agents. the state when a father-son pair smaller allies expressed their cabinet are Congress ex-chief and social networking platforms and Vishakapatnam for leaking “Some more suspects are being aharashtra Chief Min- of CM and cabinet minister will displeasure saying they were not minister Ashok Chavan, ex-NCP onboard ships and naval bases. sensitive information about questioned,” the agencies said. ister Uddhav Thackeray function jointly. given any ministerial berths nor leader of opposition in Council “All social networking the movements of warships The agencies pointed Myesterday expanded his All the new ministers were invited for the swearing-in cere- Dhananjay Munde, ex-speaker platforms including Facebook, and submarines to foreign that Vishakapatnam, the cabinet by inducting 35 minis- sworn in this afternoon by Gov- mony by the Maha Vikas Aghadi Dilip Walse-Patil, and NCP na- Instagram, WhatsApp and other agents had exposed lapses in headquarters of the Eastern ters – including his son Aditya ernor B S Koshyari outside the government. tional spokesperson Nawab Ma- messengers from here on now the security apparatus placed Command of the Indian Navy Thackeray – comprising 25 of Maharashtra Legislature Com- Speaking to mediapersons lik. will not be allowed at the naval around critical assets in India. and also the base of the nuclear Cabinet and 10 of Minister of plex, Nariman Point. later, Thackeray said the cabi- The cabinet has three women bases and ships,” said a senior “Three sailors were arrested submarine Arihant, was exposed State rank. Welcoming the expansion, net portfolios would be allocated – NCP’s Aditi Tatkare (MoS) and Indian Navy off icer. from Visakhapatnam, two from to the espionage racket. It also Nationalist Congress Party the ruling allies Shiv Sena, NCP within a couple of days. Congress’ Varsha Gaikwad and The off icer said that moreover Karwar and two from Mumbai,” stated that the Eastern Command senior leader was sworn in as and Congress leaders termed it He also dismissed reports of a Yashomati Thakur, both Cabi- no smartphones were allowed said intelligence agencies, which keeps tab upon the suspicious Deputy Chief Minister for a as a “well-balanced” exercise rift or displeasure from several net rank – though the Sena has onboard ships and naval bases. busted the espionage racket. Chinese ship movements in the record fourth time – and a sec- by Thackeray giving appropriate quarters, saying he has not heard no woman representative in the On December 20, Intelligence The agencies had stated that Indian waters. (IANS) ond time in two months. representation to all sections, any such thing, after conduct- government for the present. Gulf Times 12 Tuesday, December 31, 2019 PAKISTAN FBR crackdown against tax evaders from March Internews refrained from taking action would be increased to Rs100mn Rs50,000 – was January 31. Committee member Ali Awan FBR offi cials if the shortfall of Islamabad against tax defaulters owing to from Rs10mn. About the taxation issues be- said that 5% of the rent was be- the revenue board was being met its commitment to the traders’ The session was informed ing faced by the exporters, im- ing deducted from the salaries by the 5% cut in salary. organisations. that over 700 committees have porters and retail sectors, the of employees up to grade 16 who The huddle also deliberated Qureshi: India has currently he Federal Board of Rev- However, he added, follow- been formed across the coun- committee members expressed had been allotted offi cial ac- on the issue of duty and tax ex- been divided into two enue (FBR) has decided to ing the expiry of the agreement try to help tax authorities bring their doubt over the targets set commodation in the capital city. emption for Chinese companies ideologies. Ttighten the noose against signed with traders and after traders into the tax net. by the FBR after removing the “There are also fl ats that are at Gwadar Port. the tax evaders, announcing a analysing the tax returns till The FBR offi cials maintained SRO 1125. 70 years old and have never been The FBR offi cials told the crackdown from March 2020. March, the FBR will launch a that proceedings against non- However, the FBR Member for repaired. Where is the budget participants that legislation to The revenue board has issued clampdown against dafaulters. tax payers would be carried out Policy (IR) stated that the gov- allocation for Public Sector De- regulate concessions to China at notices to 200,000 high net- The FBR offi cials said that with the help of the National ernment is working to resolve velopment Programme (PDSP) Gwadar airport, port authority, World worth individuals for the pur- they had a list of high net-worth Database and Registration Au- the problems of the merchants. and the quota deducted from tax-free zone and duty was be- pose. individuals, but the board was thority (NADRA)’s data. The committee was informed the salaries of employees being ing formulated for which draft These remarks were made by not taking action against them They further said that all the that the FBR had made sales tax spent?” he asked. had been submitted in the par- urged to FBR Inland Revenue (IR) Mem- as the implementation of several required information from the return of Rs550mn to the export Awan demanded that the fl ats liament. ber Dr Hamid Ateeq during a acts simultaneously may nega- banks was available with them industry in the fi rst fi ve months be repaired, as lodges and hous- The body called on the fi nance meeting of the National Assem- tively impact the businesses and and that the deadline for the im- of the fi nancial year. es for MPs were being main- adviser and State Bank of Paki- take notice bly’s Standing Committee on economy. plementation of the provision The Standing Committee on tained and decorated. stan governor in the next meet- Finance, Revenue and Economic The revenue board also stated of the Computerised National Finance also reviewed the is- He asked the committee to ing to discuss the issue. Aff airs, which was presided over that as per agreement with trad- Identity Card (CNIC) – a condi- sue of recovering the house rent reconsider the matter of money The draft was part of the or- of India’s by member of the National As- ers, the turnover tax will be de- tion which requires the traders from the salaries of federal em- deduction. dinance which was withdrawn sembly (MNA) Faizullah. creased from 1.5% to 0.5% and to submit a copy of their CNIC ployees to collect money for the Expressing reservations, the after objections were raised by Ateeq said that the board had the limit of annual turnover tax for making purchases above repair of fl ats. committee members asked the the parliament. minorities’ insecurity Paint job Female Painters decorate a truck in Lahore. Internews Islamabad Below: A painter is seen working with cans of elite forces paint used to decorate a truck in Lahore. oreign Minister Shah Mah- mood Qureshi has urged to join KP Fthe international commu- nity to take notice of the insecu- rity faced by minorities in India. police In a statement issued yester- day, he said: “India has currently been divided into two ideologies. battalion “Those in support of secular India are protesting while on the other side, Modi government Internews wants to impose Hindutva agen- Peshawar da in the country.” He said democratic values are being suppressed in India while n a bid to make the forces Hindutva philosophy is being more effi cient in search and promoted. Istrike operations, Khyber Qureshi said everyone is sad Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police have over the maltreatment with reli- decided to recruit female com- gious scholars in Utter Pradesh. mandos to serve in tribal dis- He said police “even man- tricts and adjacent areas. handled Priyanka Gandhi, not to These commandos will soon speak of the common man”. be ready to join KP police and as- This situation prevails across sist the force on all fronts against the country, but the Modi gov- terrorists and criminal entities. ernment is unmoved, he added. “There has long been a short- “The Indian government has age of lady police offi cers in ad- blocked the voice of occupied joining areas of tribal districts, Kashmir through communica- which has severely aff ected our tion blackout and curfew, but the ability to conduct search opera- voice of the entire India cannot tions in tribal households where be suppressed,” Qureshi added. men outside of the family are Bilawal wants NAB abolished He said this tension is no more not permitted to enter women’s confi ned to any religion, area or spaces,” KP Inspector-General language, but has spread every of Police Dr Naeem Khan said. Internews to take action against govern- authorities will be the sole au- of the NAB laws. Now, that we nook and cranny of India. “With the induction of these Islamabad ment employees. thorities tasked to act on all reviewed [the laws] and pre- Qureshi said police are storm- skilled female commandos into The proposed ordinance also such matters. sented a new system, we are still ing the Muslim majority areas our forces, we aim to make their states that the property of gov- Foreign Minister Shah Meh- being criticised,” said Qureshi. and subjecting them to violence. presence compulsory while con- akistan Peoples Party ernment employees cannot be mood Qureshi and Special As- In a series of tweets, Awan He said fi rst information re- ducting house raids, keeping (PPP) chairperson Bila- frozen without a court order. sistant to the Prime Minister also deplored the PML-N’s ports (FIRs) have been registered tribal customs and traditions in Pwal Bhutto Zardari has If the accountability watch- on Information, Firdous Ashiq criticism of the ordinance. against 10,000 students for mind,” he added. said that the promulgation of dog cannot complete an inves- Awan, defended the NAB Or- “Politicking on NAB amend- holding protest demonstrations. According to Khan, two the National Accountability tigation against a suspect with- dinance. ment ordinance by PML-N Qureshi said that India could batches of female commandos Bureau (NAB) Ordinance 2019 Bhutto Zardari: the federal in three months, the accused The minister, in a press con- spokespersons – who slam the carry out drama in Kashmir to have already completed training was a tacit admission by the government should work with will be entitled to bail. ference in Multan, repeated NAB everyday – is disappoint- divert attention from the inter- and are ready to be deployed. government that the corrup- the opposition. In addition, the NAB will that the government was not ing,” said Awan. nal chaos. A total of 69 female comman- tion watchdog “is a farce” and now only be able to pursue cas- giving a National Reconcilia- The special assistant was He said that while the world dos will eventually be inducted should be “abolished”. the PPP chairperson. es of Rs500mn and more. tion Order (NRO, which is used responding to PML-N spokes- must consider its own interests into the KP police battalion upon Zardari claimed in a tweet He said that the government Moreover, according to the to forgive crimes) to anyone. person Marriyum Aurangzeb’s with India as a commercial ally, completion of their four months that the ordinance was “proof to do its “job and legislate”. new ordinance, the NAB’s ju- He clarifi ed that the Pakistan criticism of the NAB ordinance. it should not be silent over the of training, which involves the that it agrees with (his father, The federal cabinet on Friday risdiction over matters relating Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will not Aurangzeb had earlier al- prevailing situation in India. use of advanced weaponry and former) president (Asif Ali) gave its approval to the NAB to tax, stock exchange and IPOs support any corrupt individu- leged that the ordinance was Qureshi said that millions of martial arts. Zardari”, that the “NAB and the Ordinance 2019, which was also has been curtailed. als and the party’s stance on the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s people in India have realised the As per North Waziristan Dis- economy cannot run together”. approved by President Dr Arif The Federal Bureau of In- matter was clear. attempt to benefi t his friends. facts, and the international hu- trict Police Offi cer Shafi ullah “Instead of clearly biased ef- Alvi the same day. vestigation, Securities and “The Pakistan Muslim She had also claimed that the man rights organisations as well Ghandapur, previously there forts, the government should Under the ordinance, the Exchange Commission of Pa- League – Nawaz (PML-N) and ordinance’s main aim was to as the foreign media are also were only seven female search- work with the opposition,” said NAB will no longer be allowed kistan and building control the PPP demanded the review “fool” everyone. covering these protests. ers in the district, who had been recruited by the Federally Ad- ministered Tribal Areas (Fata)’s former political administration. “Although these female searchers have been perform- Former army chief Raheel Sharif thwarted plans for coup in 2014 ing their duties in search and security services, there are no female commandos trained for Internews Battle For Pakistan, The Bit- alist general who had come into Pakistan and said that the US er experience at the ISI had been He was a hands-on ISI di- conducting raids and search and Islamabad ter US Friendship and a Tough the world of intelligence on the had penetrated many Pakistani in monitoring Pakistani internal rector-general and reportedly strike operations.” Neighbourhood, by Shuja Nawaz insistence of General Kayani.” organisations. politics. showed up in Karachi frequent- KP police spokesperson Shah- in its chapter titling, Mil-to-Mil According to the book, he (Pa- The book says that, after Pa- Zahir’s activism was not “lost ly, where he had earlier served as zad Kokab Farooq said that there ormer US ambassador to Relations: Do More. sha) became an activist and an sha’s retirement, the new ISI on US embassy”. Rangers director-general. are 648 female police offi cers Pakistan Richard Olson Olson made this comment in aggressive head of the country’s head Lieutenant-General Za- It is pertinent to mention here According to Nawaz, Akhtar deployed across the province. Fhas disclosed that former the context of the protest sit- largest intelligence agency, ex- hirul Islam was consumed by that Islam and Pasha have not took charge of the Karachi op- “Although some of the female chief of army staff General Ra- ins, or “dharna”, of Imran Khan panding its operations and remit domestic issues. given their views regarding their eration without even informing offi cers at the Police Training heel Sharif had thwarted a coup in 2014. virtually at will and demanding Islam spent most of his time role in service. the ISI’s sector commander in College of Hangu have been out- attempt in 2014. Nawaz has authored a 373- greater access to information on on the political turmoil follow- Nawaz adds that US surveil- that city. performing their male counter- “We received information page book covering the US-Pa- US operations and operatives in- ing the 2013 elections, which lance of the ISI and its head con- Due to his hands-on ap- parts in every fi eld, it is for the that Zahirul Islam, the Inter- kistan relationship and impor- side Pakistan. produced public sit-ins, or tinued after Pasha. proach, Akhtar was unpopular fi rst time that the KP police has Services Intelligence (ISI) direc- tant political events of the last According to Nawaz, Pasha “dharnas”, by Imran Khan’s Pa- Islam’s successor at the in the ISI and even in the army, decided to actually deploy fe- tor-general, was mobilising for a decade and a half in Pakistan. was a prime target of American kistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ISI, Rizwan Akhtar, was a US- according to Nawaz. male commandos in the adjoin- coup in September of 2014. Nawaz, the brother of a former surveillance. and allies against the govern- trained offi cer and maintained While giving details of ing areas of tribal districts.” “(Army Chief) Raheel (Sharif) army chief, the late General Asif He was being tracked during ment. a good relationship with his US Akhtar’s exit from the ISI and KP Elite Force’s fi rst Deputy blocked it by, in eff ect, removing Nawaz Janjua, is an acclaimed his travels abroad. “Both Pasha and Islam’s counterparts. later from army, Nawaz adds Superintendent of Police Rozia Zahir, by announcing that his author and well-reputed intel- The book provides details on names were associated with the However, he struggled to that “Akhtar failed to win the Altaf said that the female com- successor (Zahir) was talking to lectual. the surveillance of Pasha. street opposition to then-prime make an impression on his in- confi dence of the new army mandos have been trained to the corps commanders and was His book, Crossed Swords: Nawaz also states that during minister Nawaz Sharif; though terlocutors, especially when it chief General Qamar Javed Ba- work shoulder to shoulder with talking to likeminded army of- Pakistan, Its Army and the Wars his (Pasha’s) tenure, three Paki- no solid evidence came to the came to matters of detail discus- jwa, and resigned by taking early the men on the fi eld. fi cers. Within, is considered the most stan-US joint intelligence fusion surface. sions about the Afghan war. retirement”. “They’re more than capable “(Zahir) was prepared to do authoritative history of the Pa- cells were shut down. “Islam was also a former head American criticism was harsh. The book by Nawaz is fi lled of conducting raids as well as it and had the chief been will- kistan army. According to Nawaz, Pasha of one of the ISI’s wings or di- One US offi cial recalled that with fi rsthand accounts of Paki- search and special operations. ing, even tacitly, it would have In his latest book, Nawaz re- was a bête noire for Americans. rectorates, and then had been in a meeting on Afghan recon- stani and US offi cials with direct Their advanced training has en- happened. But the chief was veals that for Americans, the While quoting an unnamed in the hurly-burly of Karachi ciliation, Akhtar did not even purview of important political abled them to fi ght on all fronts not willing, so it didn’t hap- former ISI chief Lieutenant- US offi cial as saying, the author politics as the corps commander remember the names of leading events in Pakistan and Afghani- and stand tall in the face of ad- pen,” Olson was quoted in the General Ahmed Shuja Pasha was touches on the subject of US there,” notes the book. Afghan Taliban fi eld command- stan for a critical period of the versity.” recently-launched book The “straight shooting super nation- intelligence surveillance inside Nawaz adds that Islam’s earli- ers. region’s history. Gulf Times Tuesday, December 31, 2019 13 PHILIPPINES

Government Duterte calls for keeping will make water service providers embers of nationalism alive accountable Manila Times Manila By Divina NJD Cruz Manila Times resident Rodrigo Duterte urged the public to “keep Pthe embers of nationalism alace spokesman Salva- alive” and to “triumph over” dor Panelo said President apathy and divisiveness as he PRodrigo Duterte would led the observance of Rizal Day continue in 2020 his campaign yesterday morning. against the firms that control The president led the com- water distribution in Metro memorative rites in Davao City Manila. of Jose Rizal’s martyrdom. He Duterte had threatened to and his daughter, Davao City file “economic plunder” cases Mayor Sara Duterte-Car- against the two concession- pio, were present during the aires, Manila Water Co Inc and wreath-laying ceremony at the Maynilad Water Services Inc, Rizal Park in the city. which he accused of having “Today is an important day “onerous” provisions in their to commemorate and honour contracts with the government. Dr Jose P Rizal whose life and He also refused to talk with legacy have inspired countless the water companies. others to dedicate their lives The president said “tril- to serve the nation,” Duterte lions” had been “stolen” from said during the commemora- the people through unfinished tive rites. “Rizal’s ardent love of water treatment facilities and country and unfettered desire the corporate income taxes that to cultivate not only his intel- have been passed on to con- lect, but also the intelligence sumers. Panelo said in a radio of his countrymen have led to President Rodrigo Duterte walks past honour guards after leading the wreath-laying ceremony during the commemoration of the 123rd anniversary of the martyrdom interview that the president a reawakening of the Filipinos’ of Dr Jose Rizal at the Rizal Park in Davao City, yesterday. Right: Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko’ Domagoso (left), Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea (centre) and would continue his campaign patriotism and sense of respon- Navy Vice Admiral Gaudencio Collado Jr lead the wreath-laying ceremony to honour Jose Rizal on his death anniversary at the Rizal Park. against the concessionaires in sibility,” he added. the coming new year. It has been 123 years since a colony of Spain. In 1898, inde- ther fortifi ed and be kept thriv- their blood for,” he added al. “Through his literature, Rizal remain true to our convictions,” “He will go after all illegal, he Rizal was executed by fi ring pendence was proclaimed. ing through the solidarity that Rizal, an ophthalmologist by opened our eyes to the ills of so- she said. “At this time, that we will not bow down to anyone,” squad at the Luneta de Bagum- “May his shining example to we show in combatting the ills profession, wrote, among oth- ciety that hindered our progress are tested as a nation by many the spokesman said. bayan (now Rizal Park in Ma- always think of the greater good of illegal drugs, corruption and ers, two novels during his life- — some of which we continue challenges, let us remember and Asked if it would be a nila) in 1896, after a Spanish be emulated by generations of our criminality,” the president said. time: the Noli Me Tangere and to face in the present time. He bring to life Rizal’s zeal in pushing “bloody” pursuit, Panelo court martial convicted him of youth who look up to him today. “Together, let us strengthen its sequel El Filibusterismo. bravely fought for our rights, with for reforms in our country and said it did not need to be, but sedition and sentenced him to May the freedom we now enjoy and protect our liberty that our Vice President Maria Leonor the belief that we could only at- equality of every Filipino,” she that the state would respond death. The Philippines was then as a people be cherished, be fur- heroes have so unselfi shly shed “Leni’ Robredo also extolled Riz- tain genuine change for all, if we added. accordingly. Getting ready for New Year celebration President tells troubled media conglomerate owners to sell out

Reuters/Manila Times pen to you,” Duterte said in a is pending in congress, which said his group is open to nego- Manila speech before earthquake vic- is dominated by Duterte’s al- tiating with ABS-CBN for the tims in the southern province lies. ABS-CBN did not imme- possible airing of the latter’s of North Cotabato. diately respond to request for programmes on TV5 network hilippines President Ro- The broadcast franchise of comment on a public holiday. if it fails to secure a new fran- drigo Duterte yesterday ABS-CBN, the country’s larg- Duterte, in numerous pub- chise. Ptold owners of a media est media conglomerate with lic speeches, has lashed out at Pangilinan, who is the conglomerate that has drawn dozens of local and national the media, while his office has chairman of the network’s his ire to sell the company radio and television stations at times accused media com- parent company PLDT Inc, ahead of the network’s fran- covering news, entertainment panies of bias or distorting his said that they were “prepared chise expiry. and public affairs, will expire statements. to talk” with ABS-CBN if it The mercurial leader has a in March 2020. The Philippine leader en- wants to secure TV5’s block rocky relationship with the “If I were you, just sell it,” joys a high approval rating time. media, especially with those Duterte said of the network, and is wildly popular on social “We don’t have much en- critical of his bloody anti- which he had accused of not media. tertainment content. It’s up to narcotics campaign, and he airing his paid advertisement His supporters, including them,” he told reporters. has threatened numerous during the presidential race bloggers, fiercely defend him “I don’t want to be pre- times to block the franchise in 2016, and instead showed and his policies, and have tar- sumptuous. We don’t want to extension of ABS-CBN Corp. a TV spot that was critical of geted journalists. take the first step,” Pangilinan “This ABS, your contract him and was allegedly paid for Several bills renewing the added. The president had re- Workers prepare firecrackers for sale ahead of New Year celebrations in a makeshift factory in will expire, and you try to re- by his critic, former senator firm’s franchise are pending at peatedly threatened to block Bocaue, Bulacan. new. Antonio Trillanes 4th. the House of Representatives. the renewal of the network’s I don’t know what will hap- A bill to extend its licence Tycoon Manuel Pangilinan franchise.

Massacre case verdict ‘highlight of busy year for judiciary’ Lorenzana says not

By Jomar Canlas The decision will give the case that stemmed from the Ma- several controversial issues such Revenue (BIR). The case reached keen on separate army Manila Times Sandiganbayan a free hand to nila Peninsula siege. as same sex marriage, good con- the Supreme Court when Batan- rule on the plea of Ombudsman Because of this, the Makati duct time allowance and other gas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas Samuel Martires to withdraw Regional Trial Court can now issues of public importance. assailed the BIR’s wrong compu- for Bangsamoro region t was a busy year for the Su- the sloppy and “weak” criminal proceed with the trial of the case The court, in dismissing the tation. preme Court and the Depart- charges fi led by former Om- after President Rodrigo Duterte petition to allow same-sex mar- The Supreme Court ruled that Iment of Justice (DoJ). budsman Conchita Carpio Mo- revoked the amnesty bestowed riage fi led by Jesus Nicardo Fal- the IRA of LGUs should include By Dempsey Reyes The conviction and acquit- rales against Aquino. by Aquino. cis 3rd, said there was no “justi- tariff and duties collected by the Manila Times tal of dozens charged in the The high court also revived the Early this year, the DoJ and the ciable controversy.” Bureau of Customs, 50% of val- Maguindanao massacre case, the case fi led against Sulpicio Lines Offi ce of the Solicitor General el- The Supreme Court said it ue-added tax, 30% of national controversial implementation of in connection with the sinking evated to the CA their bid to re- “recognised the protracted his- taxes collected in the Autono- fter President Rodrigo the Good Conduct Time Allow- of the M/V Princess of the Stars vive the coup d’etat case against tory of discrimination and mar- mous Region in Muslim Mind- Duterte declared he was ance and the appointment of a in 2008 that claimed the lives of Trillanes over his participation ginalisation faced by the lesbian, anao, 60% of national taxes Ainclined to let the Bang- new chief justice were some of 227 passengers. in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny. gay, bisexual transgender, queer, collected from the exploitation samoro Autonomous Region in the stories that made headlines The tribunal ordered the re- One person who also made intersex, and other gender and and development of national Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in 2019. vival of the criminal charges and headlines was Joemel Advincula, sexual minorities (LGBTQIA+) wealth, 85% of excise tax from have its own armed forces, De- Diosdado Peralta was ap- allowed the consolidation of the also known as “Bikoy” or “Peter community” but pointed out tobacco products, and a portion fence Secretary Delfi n Loren- Delfin Lorenzana pointed chief justice in October, cases, which was pushed by the Joemel Advincula.” In August, that the matter should be tackled of franchise tax under Republic zana has clarifi ed that the law replacing Chief Justice Lucas families of the victims and Pub- he sought protection under the by Congress. Acts 6631 and 6632 (horse racing allows the existence of only BARMM to have its own armed Bersamin. Shortly after taking lic Attorney’s Offi ce Chief Per- Witness Protection Programme The court also mandated the laws), among others. one military. forces and police “to kill the his post, Peralta vowed to seek sida Rueda Acosta. after claiming that the opposi- Energy Regulatory Commission In the electoral case fi led Over the weekend, Loren- terrorists,” and not to use them protection for judges amid the In another case, the tribunal tion used him to discredit the (ERC) and the power utilities to by former senator Ferdinand zana said what President Rod- against the government. series of killings of members of allowed the taking of the tes- Duterte administration. observe a competitive selection “Bongbong” Marcos Jr against rigo Duterte could have meant Lt Gen. Gilbert Gapay, Army the bench. The 26th chief justice timony of convicted drug traf- Charges of libel, cyberlibel, process (CSP) as it ruled that all Robredo, the high court, sitting when he fl oated the idea in a commanding general, met urged Congress to pass a law that fi cker Mary Jane Veloso against inciting to sedition and obstruc- Power Supply Agreements sub- as the Presidential Electoral Tri- speech last week was the BAR- with BARMM chief Minis- would give protection to judges. her recruiters by way of deposi- tion of justice were fi led against mitted on or after 30 June 2015 bunal (PET), rejected the latter’s MM could have its own mili- ter Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim to The Supreme Court breathed tion in Indonesia. It reinstated Advincula, Vice President Maria must undergo a CSP. plea to dismiss the complaint tary is that under the supervi- reaffi rm the Army’s commit- life into some cases that were and affi rmed with modifi cation Leonor “Leni” Robredo, Tril- The high court opined that outright.The case was raf- sion of the Armed Forces of the ment in supporting the de- deemed hopeless, such as the the ruling of the lower court and lanes, senators Ana Theresia the ERC committed grave abuse fled off to Justice Mario Victor Philippines (AFP). commissioning. alleged involvement of then- ordered that the deposition of “Risa” Hontiveros and Leila de of discretion amounting to lack “Marvic” Leonen after the PET “I think that subject matter To facilitate the decommis- President Benigno Aquino 3rd Veloso be taken before the Phil- Lima, as well as defeated sena- or excess of jurisdiction when it ordered the replacement of has been discussed before but sioning, the Army is training in the death of 44 members of ippine Consular Offi ce and of- torial candidates Romulo Ma- unilaterally postponed the eff ec- Associate Justice Alfredo Ben- the Bangsamoro Organic Law joint peace and security teams. the Special Action Force in the fi cials in Indonesia pursuant to calintal, Florin Hilbay and Jose tivity of the CSP requirement. jamin Caguioa who wanted out (BOL) does not allow it,” he Each will have 30 members Mamasapano siege in 2015. The the Rules of Court and principles Manuel “Chel” Diokno. On the internal revenue allot- as ponente. told reporters, referring to the — 15 from the Moro Islamic court allowed the Offi ce of the of jurisdiction. The Integrated Bar of the ment (IRA) share of local gov- The PET kept the case alive law that created BARMM. Liberation Front (MILF), eight Ombudsman to withdraw the Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th Philippines was dragged into ernment units, the court en banc when it junked Robredo’s ap- “I believe what the presi- from the Philippine National criminal charges against Aquino was a frequent visitor of the the Bikoy controversy for allow- upheld its decision in July 2018 peal to dismiss the electoral dent wants is for the BARMM Police and seven from the and lifted the Temporary Re- courts because of several cases ing Advincula to use its facilities that the “just share” of local case, deciding to release to the to have its own armed forces Army. straining Order it issued that he is facing. and resources in holding a news government units (LGUs) must parties the report on the revi- supervised and controlled by The teams will also over- halted the arraignment and trial The Court of Appeals (CA) conference to attack the Duterte be computed based on all na- sion and appreciation of ballots the AFP. Our law only allows see the transformation of the of the former president for the junked his plea for a stay order administration and link the fi rst tional taxes, and not only on na- in the three pilot provinces and the existence of one armed MILF’s former areas and ma- simple crime of usurpation of that would halt his prosecution family to illegal drugs. tional internal revenue taxes col- require them to file their com- force,” Lorenzana added. jor camps into economic hubs, authority. in connection with the rebellion The high court also ruled on lected by the Bureau of Internal ment. Duterte said he would allow Gapay said. Gulf Times 14 Tuesday, December 31, 2019 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 Structural changes work wonders for S African cricket An injection of fresh blood often goes a long way in revitalising an organisation stuck in the past. Although the South African cricket set-up realised it a tad late, the changes it brought about recently have already started working wonders. Drastic structural changes in South African cricket over the last month contributed signifi cantly to the Test side turning around their fortunes and starting the four-match series against England with a win. California, climate change and The hosts ended a run of fi ve straight Test defeats with a 107-run win over England at Centurion Park on Sunday and the skipper Faf du Plessis whailed the new coaching structures and fresh personnel in the trauma of the last decade Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) administration. “Now we can trust the system a little bit more and just focus on playing cricket,” said Du Plessis. “There By Deborah Netburn about 3 degrees hotter than it was 100 country, and that’s our normal climate,” Climate change simulations for Los Angeles Times years ago. he said. California show more precipitation in is a lot more confi dence in the structures, going from This warming cannot cause Development and population growth wet years and deeper droughts in dry the top down. California’s droughts, fi res and storms have also amped u years, Hall said. he wildfi res were more on its own, but it does boost their p the eff ects of our natural disasters. And according to the models, “Obviously there were plans in place before, but destructive. The drought was eff ects. More people means more potential he added, we are just now on the right now I feel there are better plans in place. the longest on record. “Just like how wet clothes will dry for more human-caused fires, and precipice of seeing those changes play “We have got the T And the storms, when they out faster if your house is warm, soil when more homes are erected in the out. right people in the fi nally came, unleashed more water than and vegetation do the same thing,” said urban-wildland interface, the blazes If that leaves you feeling more ‘There is a lot the dams could contain. A Park Williams, an environmental feel more apocalyptic than ever terrifi ed than ever, consider this: right jobs, we’ve got To live in California over the last scientist at Columbia University’s before. Experts say there is plenty we can do more confi dence the right people at the decade has meant enduring a steady Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. For example, Scott Stephens, a to respond and adapt. top of Cricket South procession of weather-related disasters, Williams has studied the early years fi re ecologist at UC Berkeley, noted Prescribed burning and other fuel- in the structures, each one seemingly worse than the last. of the drought that parched California that the 1981 Atlas Peak fi re charred reduction strategies would make an Africa, which is really Five of the 10 largest fi res in state for most of the last decade. approximately 23,000 acres and enormous diff erence in minimising the going from the important.” record books have occurred since 2010. His research team determined that destroyed a total of 65 houses in and size of forest wildfi res, even in a warmer CSA suspended chief So has California’s third driest year the warming eff ect of climate change around Napa. world, Stephens said. top down’ since 1895, as well as its third wettest could account for 15% of the drought’s The 2017 Atlas fi re burned about Making sure vulnerable communities executive Thabang year since 1895, according to the severity, while the rest could be chalked twice as many acres in the same general have fi re plans in place that include Moroe on Dec. 6 following allegations of misconduct Western Regional Climate Centre. up to the state’s natural rain variability. area, but that time 781 homes went up checking on elderly or immobile and just hours after their major sponsor said it would In 2015, the Sierra snowpack — the “The drought that occurred this in fl ames. residents would also reduce the death source of one-third of the state’s fresh decade would still have been a severe “I still feel no doubt that climate toll in a blaze. not renew its contract in protest at poor governance water — reached its lowest level in 500 drought, even without the background change is impacting wildfi re in the state, The state’s weather patterns have in the organisation. years. warming,” he said. but there are other issues too,” Stephens forced residents to come up with ways Former captain Graeme Smith was appointed In years past, Californians might have The same is true for fi res and coastal said. to cope with long, dry summers and acting director of cricket fi ve days later and he attributed these events to a string of bad storms, said Lesley Ewing, a senior Our culture of round-the-clock news, occasional fl ooding in the winter, Lund luck. engineer with the California Coastal push alerts and viral social media posts said. quickly chose ex-teammates Mark Boucher as coach But now they stir up a sinking sense Commission. is upping our anxiety as well. “The nice thing about California is and Jacques Kallis as batting consultant. of dread. “I like to use the steroid analogy,” she “I think there is a general sense of that we are already well-organised for a Enoch Nkwe, who as acting coach took the team on This is climate change, the people tell said. “Top athletes who use steroids are crisis about everything right now, and highly variable climate,” he said. themselves — the payback for pumping still great athletes — the steroids just that has a compounding eff ect,” said Although climate change will a three-Test tour to India in November where they carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for give them a little push. Alex Hall, director of the Center for probably make living in California more were soundly thrashed, stayed on as assistant coach. more than a century. Storms and fi res already have the Climate Science at UCLA. challenging than ever, Hall said that in “Leadership always comes from the top and fi lters They fear the natural disasters potential to do horrible damage, but If you’re worried that things will only his professional opinion, it’s still a good that have always been part of life in climate change gives them an added get worse, you’re not exactly wrong. place to be. down and so I feel like, by starting that, it sets the tone California will only get worse. push.” By 2100, the state’s average “There are a lot of capable and for the way that we are playing now,” Du Plessis added. And the Californians wonder: How Indeed, scientists say the run-of- temperature could be 5.6 to 8.8F creative people here, and I think in that “You have to put those things in place for the long can they remain in the state that the-mill volatility of California weather higher than it was in the early 1900s, sense it is a great laboratory to address they love? is to blame for most of the decade’s depending on how good a job the these deep sustainability issues,” he things underneath to work in your favour.” Scientists say there’s no doubt disasters. world does of limiting greenhouse said. South Africa’s Test side have struggled since iconic that climate change has amplifi ed the Jay Lund, director of the Center for gas emissions, the Natural Resources So if climate change has you feeling players like Smith, Boucher, Kallis, Hashim Amla extreme events of the last decade, Watershed Sciences at the University Agency says. anxious and scared, that’s OK. and Dale Steyn retired but also have had to deal with mostly because the state’s average of California, Davis, said the swings And that will have further Just try not to freak out. temperature is rising. between precipitation highs and lows consequences for drought, fi re and It won’t help us solve anything. the tricky issue of balancing team selection with the California as a whole has warmed by have always been more pronounced in storms. “One thing I realised in the course of need for racial transformation. 1 to 2F since the beginning of the 20th California than in any other state in “The modelling shows us that we’ll the drought is that we do a terrible job Off the fi eld CSA clashed with the powerful Indian century, according to the state’s Natural the continental US, and in Southern see more extreme events happening when we are complacent and when we Resources Agency. California they’re even bigger. more frequently,” said Nina Oakley, panic,” Lund said. cricket board (BCCI), who had a testy relationship The US Environmental Protection “We have more droughts and fl oods an atmospheric scientist at the Desert “There has to be a way in the middle, with previous CSA CEO Haroon Lorgat, and lost Agency says Southern California is per decade than any other part of the Research Institute. and that’s where we want to be.” – DPA millions when India reduced the number of money- spinning matches they played in South Africa. More recently, the botched launch of a Twenty20 league also hit CSA’s coff ers hard and they are still at loggerheads with the players’ association, who are demanding that the entire CSA executive resign. But with legends such as Smith, Boucher and Kallis at the helm now, there’s hope for the country. Perennial under-achievers in cricket — they are yet to win a single ICC tournament at senior level — South African cricket fi nally seems to be on the right track.

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© 2019 Gulf Times. All rights reserved Five of the 10 largest wildfires in California’s record books have occurred since 2010. Gulf Times Tuesday, December 31, 2019 15 COMMENT ‘Fake news’ has killed Nigerians. Can a bill stop the violence?

By Erin B Logan as Nigeria, where Internet use is rising “comments directed at political leaders Offi cials’ use of existing laws to Tribune news Service far more rapidly than education levels. reporting high level of transgressions go after reporters is troubling for In the last seven years, the number of and misdeeds.” advocates such as Mumo, who fears Internet users in Nigeria has tripled, to “There is nothing special about this new legislation would give the n June 2018, images of a baby’s 100mn. ‘fake news’ in Nigeria,” Falola said in government greater authority to defi ne bloodied corpse, a man’s cracked Adamkolo Mohamed Ibrahim, a an interview. “It has become a global truth and silence critics. skull and bodies in mass graves scholar at the University of Maiduguri phenomenon in a post-truth age.” “If you have a government that’s Iquickly spread across Facebook who studies fake news, says that Musa, the senator behind the bill, willing to implement these laws in a feeds in Nigeria, Africa’s most popu- bots and propagandists who use said “it is not an attempt to stifl e free broad way against critics, you’re not lous nation. social media and spread false news speech, it’s an opportunity to address going to have a positive outcome no The Facebook users circulating these are threatening to render democratic growing threats that disturb the matter how well-meaning it is,” she images accused Fulani Muslims in the rights – including freedom of speech peace.” said. “We’ve seen truth being defi ned Plateau state – an area of tremendous – meaningless. He fears that Nigeria is But the legislation – like other in a way that favours authority. That’s ethnic, linguistic and religious teetering on the edge of “post-truth” proposals around the world to curb a problem.” diversity – of perpetrating atrocities – a time when falsehoods, mild and fake news – does not off er a very Musa contends that the defi nition against Berom Christians. In what extreme, permeate society so intensely reliable defi nition of the problem. of truth can be sorted out in court and the authorities described as an act of that the truth becomes meaningless. Muthoki Mumo, an Africa that his proposed ban would not harm vigilante retribution, several Berom With more than 200 ethnic groups expert at the Committee to Protect nonpartisan journalists. youths then dragged Fulani men out of and 500 languages, Nigeria, a former Journalists, a New York-based group But the actual outcome remains far their cars and killed them. At least 10 British colony, is one of the largest that advocates for press freedom, from certain. people died. multicultural societies on the planet. noted that lawmakers in Ethiopia, In October, a court permitted the A crisis of disinformation is Since independence from Britain in Kenya and Tanzania proposed prosecution to bring forward an beleaguering nations around the 1960, it has also grappled with separatist bans on “fake news,” as “part of an anonymous witness, making it harder world, sowing discord in established movements, sectarian and ethnic discord attempt to grapple with a public that for Jalingo’s attorney to defend his democracies such as the United States, and struggles over natural resources, Police are seen in Abuja, Nigeria, in this July 23, 2019, photograph. Nigerian is expressing itself more freely and client in a fair and free trial. Germany and Britain and rattling including minerals and oil. publisher Agba Jalingo has been detained since August 22 without charge. frequently online.” And, for those who cannot aff ord to fragile ones such as India, Taiwan and Not until the late 1990s, scholars The problem is that authoritarian fi ght charges in court, the alternative Nigeria. With just a laptop and a login, say, did Nigeria become a genuine people safe from communal violence. “There is too much misinformation governments throughout the world is pleading guilty and paying the it is so easy to create infl ammatory multiparty democracy, with “Our democracy is only 20 years trending in our social media space,” have used “fake news” as a pretext fi ne. And in a time that is becoming material, rapidly disseminate it and competitive, free and fair elections. old,” said Ibrahim. “There is the fear Musa said. to curb legitimate speech. Threats increasingly fi nancially strained for draw strong – even violent – reactions Now, even those fragile advances are that if fake news is allowed to continue “Is that the kind of world we should against journalists are rising, and media outlets, the fi ne can seem lofty. that some experts fear that the very being threatened by fake news. as it is, it might get to a point where live in?” journalists worldwide increasingly The market to peddle falsehoods foundations of society are threatened. Last year, for example, President the democracy is threatened and the Though the bill is still in its infancy, are being imprisoned on accusations exploded in Nigeria after the 2016 US Last year, a BBC investigation Muhammadu Buhari, who has suff ered military might step in.” opposition to it has been fi erce, largely – often trumped-up and bogus – of presidential election, said Ibrahim, the exposed the bloodshed in Plateau state, from various health problems, found Because Ibrahim does not want this because citizens fear it will only disseminating false news. scholar. And, with greater access to the linking it to the viral disinformation himself compelled to deny rumours to happen, he is supportive of some provide cover for censorship. Agba Jalingo, the publisher of internet and a thriving social media spread by Facebook. that he had died and been replaced in type of government action. An online petition decried the so- CrossRiverWatch, was arrested by scene, rumours spread like wildfi re in False information, hoaxes, urban ceremonies by a Sudanese clone. A federal senator, Mohamed Sani called social media bill as a measure Nigerian authorities in August after the West African country. rumours and “deepfakes” – digitally It is no crazier, to be sure, than the Musa, recently introduced a bill that to curb critical online speech against the news website reported alleged For Ibrahim, Nigeria “is in crisis,” altered video and photos that purport far-right claim that Hillary Clinton would criminalise those who create politicians. corruption involving Cross River and clamping down on “fake news” to show actions or speech that did not, was behind a child sex ring housed “fake news,” with penalties that Toyin O Falola, a professor of African state’s public bank and governor. is key. If a central body can stop false, in fact, happen – are a rising threat in a Washington pizzeria. But an include fi nes and imprisonment for studies at the University of Texas Offi cials asserted that the outlet’s viral posts from creating violence and worldwide, but they are especially embryonic democracy such as Nigeria individuals, and fi nancial penalties for in Austin, said the proposed ban on reporting was false, treasonous and an confusion, the country has a chance dangerous to emerging economies such may need layers of protection to keep companies. “fake news” was mainly a reaction to attempt to disturb the peace. for more peace, he said.

Joe Biden is winning the electability primary Three-day forecast

TODAY “If (Biden) just fi nishes close to Maximum Temperature : 280c By Doyle McManus Minimum Temperature : 170c Los Angeles Times fi rst in Iowa ... I think that he will be well on his way to being the nominee,” WEDNESDAY predicts David Axelrod, the former Maximum Temperature : 250c n their search for a presidential strategist for President Obama. “The Minimum Temperature : 170c danger for him is if he drops to fourth nominee, Democrats have argued THURSDAY about all manner of things. or fi fth.” Maximum Temperature : 240c I They’ve debated “Medicare Biden may get help once the Minimum Temperature : 180c for All” and a “Green New Deal.” Senate starts President Trump’s They’ve weighed a wealth tax and free impeachment trial, probably in early Fisherman's forecast college tuition. They’ve clashed over January. It will tie down Democratic WARNING campaign donations from millionaires. senators in the race, including Warren Inshore : Poor Visibility expected at some most areas at But their most important dispute and Sanders, for weeks. first isn’t about ideology or policy. Trump was impeached for Offshore : Expected poor visibility It’s about a more elusive quality: trying to muscle Ukraine into by early morning WEATHER electability. investigating Biden and his son, Inshore : Misty to foggy at some- Who is most likely to defeat Hunter Biden, who took a lucrative places at first becomes President Trump in November? Many job with a Ukrainian energy moderate temperature company. House Republicans daytime with some Democratic voters say that’s their top Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks to the media during a press clouds and relatively priority – not whether they agree with event in Los Angeles on December 20. argued that as vice president, cold by night. a candidate’s positions. Biden intervened inappropriately Offshore : Misty to foggy at first So far, the electability primary has Los Angeles on December 19. “The support. Other surveys have found in Ukraine to protect his son. becomes fine later WIND a clear winner: former Vice-President question is ... who has the best chance, that many voters, including women, Democrats have largely ignored the Inshore : Southerly-Southwester- Joe Biden. the most likely chance, of defeating fear that female candidates are less allegation, which is not supported ly 05-15/18 KT Biden’s campaign hasn’t been Donald Trump?” electable than men. by evidence. Offshore : Northwesterly-South- westerly 03-10/15 KT inspiring or error-free – far from it. He’s hoping to persuade voters Biden turned in his best debate Biden argues that Trump’s attacks Visibility : 4-8/2 KM He’s clung to fi rst place in national desperate to win in 2020 to back him performance of the year last week – on him prove that he’s the candidate polls, with support from about 28% of in the primaries, whether they like his crisp, combative and gaff e-free. For the president fears most. In other Offshore : 1-3/4 FT Democratic voters, but he’s running moderate positions or not. once, he sounded like Fighting Joe words: electability. behind other candidates in Iowa and That pitch appears to have helped Biden, not Befuddled Joe Biden. Electability is an odd burden for Around the region New Hampshire, where the fi rst votes stabilise Biden’s campaign after Asked about his earlier promise voters to assume. It asks them to guess Weather Weather will be cast. a series of gaff es and uninspiring that Republicans would become how millions will vote in November, today Max/min tomorrow Max/min Nevertheless, when voters are debate performances that sent voters more moderate if he were elected – a and how a candidate will perform in a Baghdad Sunny 20/06 M Sunny 18/06 asked who they think is most electable shopping for alternatives. forecast that seemed out of sync with heated showdown with Trump. Kuwait City M Sunny 23/11 P Cloudy 21/09 against Trump, Biden wins. Even some First, Senator Kamala Harris rose political reality – he off ered a tougher- “I just try to imagine how each of Manama M Sunny 24/19 P Cloudy 22/18 voters who prefer other candidates say in the polls, only to fall back to Earth sounding formula. them would do in a debate against Muscat M Sunny 26/19 P Cloudy 27/19 Biden has the best shot. and withdraw from the race. Senator “If anyone has reason to be angry Trump,” a woman in Fort Dodge, Iowa, Tehran Showers 09/02 M Sunny 09/01 In a CNN Poll released last week, Elizabeth Warren also soared, only with the Republicans and not want to told me last month. 40% of Democrats nationwide said to lose altitude after unveiling a big, co-operate, it’s me – the way they’ve At the time, Biden was stalled in the they believe Biden has the best chance costly proposal for government-run attacked me, my son and my family,” polls. I wrote that his caravan felt like a of winning a general election, well health insurance. he said. “But the fact is, we have to “zombie campaign.” I forgot one thing: ahead of his rivals. Other surveys have “Warren has fallen because be able to get things done. And when Zombies never expire. shown similar results. Democrats, especially liberal we can’t convince them, we go out None of this means Biden is on his Polls like that help explain why democrats, believe she has an and beat them, like we did in the 2018 way to the nomination. Iowa caucuses Biden, who launched his campaign electability problem,” Stanford election.” are notoriously unpredictable. And with a soaring promise to “save the political scientists David Brady and The real world test of electability he’s still an imperfect candidate. soul of America,” now focuses on a Brett Parker reported last week. starts with the Iowa caucuses on But he doesn’t have to be perfect, blunter, more practical message. They suggested that Warren’s February 3. Polls suggest a tight race especially against Trump. Under this “We all have big progressive plans,” proposal for a single, government-run among Biden, Sanders, Warren and Pete year’s rules, he just needs to appear he said at the Democrats’ debate in health insurance plan cost her some Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Ind. electable. – Tribune News Service

Around the world Weather Weather today Max/min tomorrow Max/min Athens S Showers 09/02 S Showers 11/06 Live issues Beirut Rain 16/13 Rain 16/13 Bangkok P Cloudy 34/26 M Sunny 34/24 Berlin P Cloudy 07/-1 P Cloudy 04/-3 Cairo Sunny 18/07 P Cloudy 18/07 Study: People wrongly remember facts to support their own views Cape Town Cloudy 23/16 Cloudy 23/17 Colombo M Cloudy 29/24 S T Storms 29/24 Dhaka Sunny 26/16 P Cloudy 26/17 QNA societal topics and quizzed true fi gures showing the opposite — memory after being told the facts Hong Kong P Cloudy 19/14 M Sunny 18/16 Washington participants to see if they would 12.8mn in 2008 and 11.7million in 2014 earlier on. Istanbul S Showers 08/03 Rain 07/05 remember the stats. — people remembered the information These fi gures were then passed to a Jakarta T Storm 30/24 T Storm 29/24 It revealed that people naturally, and wrongly. second person and the process repeated, Karachi M Sunny 24/12 Cloudy 22/12 eople’s brains wrongly without meaning, spin fi gures in their “People can self-generate their own mimicking the passing of information London Cloudy 11/03 M Cloudy 07/05 remember cold-hard facts in head to fall in line with their own views. misinformation. It doesn’t all come via various independent conversations. Manila P Cloudy 32/26 P Cloudy 32/26 order to support their own For example, when posed with from external sources,” lead study Researchers found that the more Moscow Rain&Snow 03/-2 P Cloudy 0/-4 Pviews on controversial topics, statistics that the number of US author Jason Coronel, an assistant the information was relayed the more New Delhi M Sunny 14/06 P Cloudy 17/09 a study by Ohio State University has immigrants had decreased by 1.1mn professor of communications at Ohio it began to resemble the view of the New York P Cloudy 09/02 P Cloudy 06/01 found. between 2007 and 2014, participants State University said. person passing the information. Paris P Cloudy 06/01 M Sunny 06/01 When these conversations are who did not agree with immigration Researchers then inquired as to how Shannon Poulsen, a doctoral Sao Paulo M Sunny 32/21 P Cloudy 33/23 relayed to other people, the research distorted the facts. this phenomenon was passed around student at Ohio State who conducted Seoul Sunny -3/-8 M Cloudy 03/-3 found, the fi gures become further Many people believe that the social circles. the study, said the fi rst part of the Singapore S T Storms 31/25 M Cloudy 31/25 distorted in line with the individual’s number of Mexican immigrants was Participants in the study were asked experiment is interesting, but the Sydney Cloudy 34/19 P Cloudy 23/20 personal opinion. higher in 2014 than 2007. to write down the numbers of Mexican second-stage revealing the spreading Tokyo Clear 18/05 Cloudy 10/03 Researchers took four controversial When they were presented with the immigrants in 2007 and 2014 from of misinformation is worrying. Gulf Times 16 Tuesday, December 31, 2019 QATAR

The 195km Al Majd Road, stretching from Mesaieed to Al Khor, was opened in February. Ashghal constructed Hamad General Hospital’s new Trauma and Emergency Department building in 2019. A year of achievements for Ashghal

By Shafeeq Alingal Staff Reporter

he Public Works Author- ity (Ashghal) has added Tseveral development projects to its credit during 2019. The achievements include completion of local roads, ex- press highways, intersections, bridges, sewage projects and buildings. Expressing his gratitude to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and the government for the support, Ashghal President Saad bin Ahmed al-Muhannadi said all the projects could be completed on schedule notwithstanding the ongoing unjust blockade.

Expressways and roads As per the data received by Gulf Times, Ashghal completed more than 150km of highway Al Tarfa Interchange on Al Khor Road, which saw the opening of a 33km stretch as well as four other works until November 2019 tak- Al Watiyyat Interchange on Sabah Al Ahmad Corridor has seen completion of more than 70% of works. interchanges during 2019. ing the total length of the high- way network in the country to In 2019, Ashghal could com- stretching from Mesaieed to Al Local Areas Infrastructure project was also launched in drainage networks of Doha. In environment making it home to more than 750km. plete 35% of works of Duhail In- Khor, was opened in February Programme 2019 and seven new contracts to 2019, the works to develop four a variety of birds. The year witnessed remark- tersection that will reduce travel reducing travel time by more Ashghal’s eff orts resulted in serve 3,090 housing plots signed wastewater pumping stations able developments with the time by 90%. than 50%. The unique design the completion of 382km local by Ashghal. were also started. Building Projects prestigious Sabah Al Ahmad The works at a cost of off ers separate truck and car roads through the programme. As per the plans, the capac- Ashghal completed construc- Corridor marking the comple- QR800mn are scheduled to be tracks, enhancing safety. At West Muaither, roads and Sewerage Networks ity of the pumping stations will tion of the new Trauma and tion of more than 70% of works. completed in the fourth quar- Ashghal also opened two new drainage water services were Projects be increased by 62% to 211% in Emergency Department at Ha- Al Watiyyat Interchange and ter of 2021. On Al Khor Road, a tunnels at the Mesaimeer In- provided for more than 1,300 In February, excavation of the order to absorb the current and mad General Hospital. The four- new bridges at Makkah Al Mu- 33km-long stretch was opened tersection to provide free fl ow housing plots while 21km road 10km long outfall tunnel of Me- future wastewater fl ows in vari- storey building has 348 treat- karramah and Umm Lekhba in- in March in addition to fi ve in- for traffi c from E-Ring Road was erected along with pedestri- saimeer Pumping Station and ous areas. ment and service rooms and a tersections were opened. The terchanges on various occasions and heading to Rawdat Al Khail an and cycle lanes at North Bani Outfall Project was started. The Ashghal also completed Al multi-level parking space. A to- developments brought in re- during the year. More than 92% Street and the industrial area Hajir to serve 380 residential outfall tunnel is a signifi cant Karaana Lagoon Reclamation tal area of 27,000sq m was newly markable improvement in traffi c of works of the road have been road. More than 92% of the plots. More than 600 lighting part of Mesaimeer Tunnel that and Rehabilitation Project that constructed while 3,000sq m of fl ow at Al Luqta, Al Gharrafa, Al completed. works of Khalifa Avenue Road poles were also set up. Further, will accommodate surface and helped the area to get trans- the previous Emergency Depart- Waab and Al Rayyan areas. The 195km Al Majd Road, project were also completed. the B-Ring Road development storm water received from the formed into a healthy natural ment was reconstructed. Mahaseel holds training on ‘Screen for Life’ initiative reaffi rms support for early screening referrals modern agricultural systems creen for Life, Qatar’s importance of early and regu- encourages women aged 45- National Breast and lar screening within the rel- 69 to undergo complimentary SBowel Cancer screen- evant age groups is a key suc- mammogram tests at its spa- ahaseel for Marketing ing programme led by the Pri- cess strand in our campaign,” like screening suites in the Al and Agricultural Serv- mary Health Care Corporation explained Dr Shaikha Abu Wakra, Leabaib and Rawdat Al Mices Company, a Has- (PHCC), has reaffi rmed its com- Shaikha, manager of Screening Khail Health Centres and via its sad Food subsidiary, is keen on mitment to securing the sup- Programmes at PHCC. mobile screening unit. developing the private agricul- port of medical professionals in “Medical professionals have The tests should be repeated ture sector as part of eff orts to spreading awareness. a role to play in reinforcing our every three years. Screening for achieve self-suffi ciency in the Since the beginning of 2019, message that people within the bowel cancer is off ered for men country. Screen for Life has engaged target groupings should commit and women aged between 50-74 In this regard, the company with 437 medical profession- to regular screenings even if they with early detection leading to a has held a training course on als through training sessions to do not show any symptoms. possible 90% survival rate. modern agricultural systems secure their support to recom- Their professional opinion Patients can also collect the with an aim to contribute to the mend regular screening for the will carry weight and help people Fecal Immunochemical Test kit development of the private ag- diseases – the two main causes understand that early screening –the FIT Kit – and take the sim- riculture sector, which has been of cancer deaths in the country. can signifi cantly reduce fatali- ple test in the privacy of their accorded top priority in view of The programme team vis- ties from these cancers because own home then simply take their its increasing contribution to ited 21 health centres to conduct if they are caught early enough, sample to the PHCC for test- the national exchequer. these sessions, mainly attended the survival rate can be as much ing. To encourage referrals from Representatives of the lo- by 340 physicians. Another 97 as 100%. Family physicians can doctors, PHCC has established a cal farms that have agreements healthcare providers attended also assist us in overcoming any dedicated and automated e-re- with Mahaseel to benefi t from the sessions including; nurses, cultural sensitivities and per- ferrals process since 2016. This its marketing services attended pharmacists, social workers sonal inhibitions people dem- system can be accessed by phy- the course. and health educators. “This onstrate towards screening,” sicians from any PHCC health About 160 local farms have al- approach to driving home the she continued. Screen for Life centre in Qatar. ready registered with Mahaseel to benefi t from the marketing and agricultural services pro- vided by the company to farm- ers, aiming to increase the quan- Mahaseel training under way to impart knowledge on agricultural systems. tity and enhance the quality of their local produce. tion, sorting as well as transpor- ees conducted fi eld applications factors, thus ensuring a near- The training course was held tation. at the production site. Mahaseel constant return once achieved over the period of two consecu- The theoretical material also is currently working with local the agreed upon quantities, so tive days (December 29-30), di- covered the mechanical, physi- farm owners as per two types the farmer’s main focus will be vided into theoretical and prac- ological, pathological and envi- of contracting programmes: on the farming activity. tical studies. The same course ronmental damages that could pre-contracting and daily direct Moreover, the company has will be repeated on January 1-2. occur to the crops, as well as the contracting, following specifi c developed a well-designed work The fi rst day of the course importance of managing post- conditions for each programme. system to ensure an effi cient (theoretical) was held at the harvest operations. The pre-contracting pro- process from receiving the local Ministry of Municipality and The second day of the training gramme is a guarantee for farm- produce, to sorting, packaging Environment. It focused on sev- course was held at “Qtfa” Arab ers to sell their produce at a fi xed and marketing in the local mar- eral important topics such as, Qatari Company for Agriculture price, without any infl uence by ket, so the product reaches the crops handling, harvest, collec- Production – where the attend- the market supply and demand consumers in the best quality. A ‘Screen for Life’ training session in progress.