BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 1 Al Sadd through to semis aft er Qatari Diar completes draw with fi rst phase of Sea Pearl Atakoy in Turkey Esteghlal published in QATAR since 1978

TUESDAY Vol. XXXIX No. 10945 September 18, 2018 Moharram 8, 1440 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

In brief

QATAR | Arbitration Cases worth QR2bn submitted to Qicca HE Sheikh Dr Thani bin Ali bin Saud al-Thani, member of the board of directors for international relations at the Qatar International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (Qicca), said that the value of cases submitted to the centre exceeded QR2bn in 2018. This came in his speech following the signing of a co-operation agreement yesterday between the Qatar Chamber’s Qicca and Center of Continuing Education at Qatar University to organise training courses in arbitration. Page 4

QATAR | Religion His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani greets Cote d’Ivoire Awqaf ministry reminds President Alassane Ouattara. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Cote d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara at the off icial reception. Muslims of Ashurah fast The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Aff airs has urged Muslims to fast the days of Tasua, the 9th of Moharram, and Ashurah, the 10th day of Moharram, in pursuance of Hassad in strategic deal the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad Qatar, Cote d’Ivoire (peace be upon him). Although not obligatory, it is highly recommended with Australia fi rm Mira to fast on these day and there is a great reward for it, the ministry said. assad, Qatar’s premier in- The tran- ARAB WORLD | Confl ict sign agreements to vestor in food and agri- sition of the Hbusiness sectors announced significant No assault as Putin and yesterday, that it continues the stra- majority Erdogan agree Idlib plan tegic repositioning of its Australian of farms to Moscow said yesterday there would agricultural investment activities by Mira’s ag- be no assault on Syria’s Idlib as enhance co-operation securing an agreement, which will ricultural the leaders of Russia and Turkey see the transition of Hassad’s in- portfolio is agreed to create a demilitarised QNA for co-operation in the fi elds of tour- achieve the interests of both countries vestments to Macquarie Infrastruc- expected to zone around the Syrian rebel-held Doha ism and tourism business events. and their peoples. ture and Real Assets “Mira” agricul- be complet- province. Russian President Vladimir The signing ceremony of the agree- During the session, the Amir and tural portfolio. ed before Putin and his Turkish counterpart ments and the memorandum of under- President Ouattara discussed means This decision is in line with Has- Mohamed al-Sadah the end of Recep Tayyip Erdogan — who are aking their bilateral relations standing were attended by the min- to promote the bilateral relations and sad’s strategic review, and achieves its this month. on opposite sides in the deadly to new heights, Qatar and Cote isters from Qatar and members of the develop the co-operation, especially objective to broaden its agricultural As for the on-farm management seven-year conflict in Syria — met Td’Ivoire signed a number of offi cial delegation accompanying the in the investment fi eld, education, in- investments across a signifi cantly teams on the properties, they will be for over four hours in Russia’s Black agreements and memorandum of un- President of Cote d’Ivoire. frastructure and agriculture. The talks larger and more diversifi ed Austral- off ered continued employment. Mi- Sea resort of Sochi to decide the fate derstanding yesterday in Doha to en- His Highness the Amir also held an also touched on the most prominent ian farming portfolio, according to a ra’s agricultural business will contin- of Idlib, home to 3mn people. “We hance co-operation in various fi elds. offi cial talks session yesterday with international and regional issues, espe- statement issued yesterday in Doha. ue to build its regional footprint and will prevent a humanitarian tragedy His Highness the Amir Sheikh President Ouattara at the Amiri Diwan. cially related to achieving security and Hassad CEO Mohamed bin Badr al- invest in those communities in which which could happen as a result of Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Cote At the beginning of the session, the stability in Africa. Sadah said: “Under this agreement, it operates, creating further employ- military action,” Erdogan said after d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara Amir welcomed the Ivorian presi- The talks were attended by a number Hassad Australia’s portfolio will ment opportunities in its key regional the talks. Page 6 witnessed the signing. dent and his accompanying delega- of ministers from Qatar and members be merged with Mira’s agricultural offi ces in Albury and Orange. The agreements are on the establish- tion, wishing them a pleasant stay and of the offi cial delegation accompany- portfolio. This investment will en- Mira has a strong track record in ASIA | Weather ment of a joint committee of co-opera- hoping that the visit contributes to ing the Cote d’Ivoire leader. President able Hassad to maintain its long-term Australian agriculture, farm manage- tion, on higher education and scientifi c promoting the friendly relations and Ouattara was earlier accorded an offi - commitment to Australian primary ment and commodity production, Dozens feared buried in research, promotion and protection of develops co-operation between both cial reception at the Amiri Diwan. production. It also allows Hassad to having built and managed its agricul- Philippine landslide mutual investments aimed at enhancing countries in various fi elds. His Highness the Amir hosted a continue to benefi t from the agricul- tural portfolio for more than 10 years. Philippine rescuers yesterday and deepening economic co-operation For his part, President Ouattara luncheon banquet at the Amiri Diwan tural sector’s favourable thematics”. It manages more than four million searched desperately for dozens for the common interest and mutual thanked the Amir for the warm wel- in honour of President Ouattara and his Al-Sadah added, “This agreement hectares of farmland across Australia feared buried under a landslide benefi t of both countries, and on Ivorian come and hospitality, expressing his accompanying delegation. will also reinforce Hassad’s strategy, and is one of the country’s largest unleashed by Typhoon Mangkhut, workers recruitment regulation. happiness to visit Qatar for the sec- The banquet was attended by a aimed at supporting the country’s diversifi ed farmers, providing Has- which also left a trail of destruction The leaders also witnessed the sign- ond time. He also praised the strong number of their excellencies ministers food security eff orts. Thus, Hassad sad with access to signifi cant scale in Hong Kong and saw millions ing of a maritime transport agreement bilateral relations and looked forward and businessmen. will supply the local market with meat and expertise to enhance its future evacuated in southern China. Page 10 and a memorandum of understanding to further develop the co-operation to Page 2, Business Page 1 products in case of shortage or need”. growth.

Saudi Crown Prince not well advised: Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim

audi Crown Prince Mohamed I was hopeful of MbS and his reform agenda but now I am Front, he said that all coalition part- bin Salman (MbS) is “not well ners, including Western countries, were Sadvised” and his decisions are disappointed with him aware of the kind of support being of- made in a “weird” and “irresponsible” Syria’s Assad may be winning the war, but he has lost his country fered to the various Syrian opposition way, Qatar’s former prime minister HE outfi ts and that when a decision was Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani has Still believes in a Palestinian state; Trump administration could broker made to withdraw support for Al Nusra, said. a deal between Israel and the Palestinians Qatar obliged. “Instead of using force inside and Asked about the Middle East peace outside his country, he should focus on He said Doha was taken by surprise by internationally known by now…it’s been to step aside and usher in a new leader- process, the former Qatari premier the well-being of his people,” Sheikh the blockade announced by Saudi Ara- hacked to fi nd a reason”. ship. The former Qatari PM said the fail- said he “still believed in a Palestinian Hamad opined. bia, the UAE and their allies in June 2017, On Iran, he urged the Trump ad- ure of the international community in state” and that the Trump adminis- In an exclusive interview with claiming the real objective of this move ministration to resolve its diff erences Syria was due to the bickering within the tration could broker a deal between FRANCE 24, he also noted that after be- was “to overthrow” the Amir of Qatar. with Tehran in a peaceful way and also coalition fi ghting Assad. He also cited Israel and the Palestinians. He la- ing initially hopeful about “MbS” and After initially siding with the Saudis stressed that the GCC needed to engage Israel’s alleged support for Damascus as mented that the Trump administra- his self-proclaimed reform agenda, he and Emiratis, the Trump administration in a serious dialogue with Iran. a major factor, as well as the infamous tion was not talking to the Palestin- has now changed his mind. “I am disap- has now reversed course, he said. Commenting on the war in Syria, he “red line” on chemical weapons that ians and warned that it had to change pointed” with Mohamed bin Salman, the Sheikh Hamad said “for the time be- said “Assad has lost his country” even President Barack Obama refused to en- its approach and stop listening only to former Qatari premier told the channel. ing”, he did not see any hope for a so- though he is winning the war. “While force in 2013. Benjamin Netanyahu and a handful of Asked about the Emirati leader Mo- HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani lution to the crisis. He accused Saudi the Syrian president may be winning HE Sheikh Hamad said while Qatar Arab countries,. hamed bin Zayed (MbZ), the former Qa- Arabia and the UAE of “breaking the the war militarily, he has lost his country had been given the lead in supporting He stressed that the Palestin- tari prime minister said he was acting as In the 30-minute interview, HE Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC)” by and his people,” the former Qatari PM the Syrian opposition at the onset of the ians could not be pressured by force or a negative infl uence on the Saudi Crown Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim discussed re- targeting Qatar. said, warning that Assad’s victory might war, Saudi Arabia eventually decided to money to accept a deal, and regretted Prince. He said he still hoped MbS lations with Saudi Arabia as well as the Sheikh Hamad said since there was be temporary and that only genuine rec- take the lead, fuelling tensions. that Saudi Arabia and the UAE were do- would come to his senses and become a ongoing Gulf crisis, the war in Syria and no legitimate reason to blockade Qatar, onciliation could repair the country. He Asked about the alleged Qatari sup- ing so in order to “please the American true leader of the region. the stalled Middle East peace process. “Qatar News Agency was hacked, that is said he doubted Assad would be ready port for the Al Qaeda-linked Nusra (Trump) administration”. Gulf Times 2 Tuesday, September 18, 2018 QATAR

Amir and Cote d’Ivoire president witness signing of agreements

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Cote d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara holding talks in Doha yesterday. His Highness the Amir and President Ouattara also witnessed the signing of a number of agreements.

Defence minister meets special envoy Amir reforms QU’s of Indonesian president board of trustees igh Hghness the Amir period or more similar periods. Qatar and Morocco, signed in which the following are regis- Sheikh Tamim bin Ha- The decision is eff ective from in Rabat on March 12, 2018. tered: Qatari economic establish- Hmad al-Thani issued its date of issues and is to be The Amir issued an instru- ments and their branches, and yesterday Amiri Decision No 64 published in the offi cial gazette. ment of ratifi cation approving branches of non-Qatari establish- of 2018 reforming the board of Instruments of the ratifi cation of a memoran- ments operating in the country; trustees of Qatar University. ratification issued dum of understanding on the those licensed to practice self- The decision stipulated that His Highness the Amir Sheikh supplementary protocol in the employment; a number called the board of trustees of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is- fi eld of supervision and control “Unifi ed Economic Number” HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Aff airs Dr Khalid bin University be reformed with His sued yesterday an instrument of fi nancial institutions between shall be issued for any person reg- Mohammed al-Attiyah met yesterday with Dr Alwi Shihab, special envoy of Indonesia’s Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin of ratifi cation approving a draft Qatar Central Bank and Bank istered in the Unifi ed Economic president. During the meeting, they discussed issues of common interest, as well as Hamad al-Thani as chairman air services agreement between Al-Maghrib, signed in Rabat on Register and shall be used in all relations between Qatar and Indonesia and means of enhancing and developing them. and HE Sheikh Dr Abdullah bin Qatar and the Government of March 12, 2018. transactions and papers relating Ali bin Saoud al-Thani as vice Somalia, signed in Doha on The Amir issued an instru- to his activity. chairman. The members of the March 18, 2015. ment of ratifi cation approving The competent department board of trustees will include HE His Highness the Amir issued a draft memorandum of under- of the Ministry of Economy and Qatar to attend the Minister of Administrative an instrument of ratifi cation ap- standing for co-operation in the Commerce shall determine the Development, Labour and So- proving a draft memorandum of fi eld of media between Qatar mechanism for regulating the WEF annual cial Aff airs Dr Issa Saad al-Jafali understanding for co-operation Media Corporation and the Iraqi Unifi ed Economic Register and Qatar set to assume meet in China al-Nuaimi, HE the Minister of in the fi eld of health between Qa- Media Network of Iraq, signed in the procedures for registration Education and Higher Education tar and Somalia, signed in Doha on Doha on June 10, 2018. and marking therein. Qatar will participate in the 12th Dr Mohammed Abdul Wahed Ali May 14 2018. Law on unified The law is eff ective and is to be chairmanship of ACD World Economic Forum’s (WEF) al-Hammadi, HE the Minister The Amir also issued an in- economic register published in the offi cial gazette. annual meeting of the New of Development Planning and strument of ratifi cation ap- High Highness the Amir Two accession atar will assume the met together for the fi rst time. Champions, to be held in Tianjin, Statistics Dr Saleh Mohammad proving a draft air services Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al- documents issued chairmanship of Asia The ACD is a continent-wide China, from September 18 to 20. Salem al-Nabit, HE the Minister agreement between Qatar and Thani issued yesterday Law His Highness the Amir Sheikh QCo-operation Dialogue forum and aims to constitute the HE the Minister of Education and of Public Health Dr Hanan Mo- the Netherlands regarding Cu- No 14 of 2018 on the Unifi ed Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is- (ACD) for 2019, with the unani- missing link in Asia by incorpo- Higher Education and head of the hamed al-Kuwari, Qatari Busi- racao, signed in Colombo on Economic Register. sued yesterday an accession mous approval of the 34 member rating every Asian country and Qatari delegation to the meeting, nessmen Association chairman December 6, 2017. The law defi nes the Unifi ed document approving Qatar’s ac- states. building an Asian community Dr Mohammed Abdul Wahed HE Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim al- The Amir also issued an in- Economic Register as a record cession to the Marrakesh Treaty Qatar, which is one of the 18 without duplicating other or- Ali al-Hammadi, will deliver a Thani, HE Dr Hessa Sultan al- strument of ratifi cation ap- in which economic enterprises to facilitate access to published founding members, will receive ganisations or creating a bloc speech in a panel discussion Jaber, HE Dr Ibrahim Ibrahim, proving a draft agreement on and self-employed individuals works for persons who are blind, the chairmanship ceremonies against others. on “the reality, opportunities Ali Ahmed al-Kuwari, Faisal the promotion and protection are registered, and the economic visually impaired, or otherwise during its hosting of the Ministe- A key principle is to consoli- and challenges of middle class Mohammed al-Suwaidi and a of mutual investments between establishment as an individual print-disabled. rial Meeting of the ACD member date Asian strengths and fortify education globally”. number of qualifi ed, experi- Qatar and Ukraine, signed in enterprise or company or en- His Highness the Amir also states in New York, on the side- Asia’s competitiveness by max- More than 2,000 off icials, leaders, enced and scientifi c status, from Doha on March 20, 2018. tity engaged in any area of the issued an accession document lines of the UN General Assembly. imising the diversity and rich thinkers, scholars and heads of inside or outside the country. The Amir issued an instru- economic sector. approving Qatar’s accession to Qatar will also host a meet- resources evident in Asia. companies are taking part in The decision also stipu- ment of ratifi cation approving Under the provisions of the law, the agreement for the estab- ing of foreign ministers of ACD ACD ministers held meet- this event, which is held under lated that the duration of the ratifi cation of a memo- a Unifi ed Economic Register shall lishment of the International member states, a business forum ings to discuss ACD develop- the theme “Shaping Innovative membership is four years, randum of understanding in be established within the Minis- Anti-Corruption Academy as an and two workshops on education ments, before Kuwait organised Societies in the Fourth Industrial which may be extended by one the fi eld of housing between try of Economy and Commerce international organisation. and culture. the historic summit in 2012 to Revolution”. Other issues on Qatar had hosted the fi fth promote the objective for which the agenda include future of meeting of the Asia Co- the ACD was established, calling education and related skills operation Dialogue in 2006. for holding a periodic summit to as well as the strategies of The ACD was inaugurated in discuss issues of regional coop- participating countries towards New post office in New Wakrah June 2001 in Cha-Am, Thailand, eration and ways to enhance and preparing their workforce to face where 18 Asian foreign ministers solidify Asian unity. (QNA) challenges and opportunities related to the fourth industrial revolution. (QNA)

Workshop on govt Infrastructure enables papers digitisation Kahramaa to switch agreement The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) yesterday to smart network introduced the government documents digitisation framework atar General Electricity the reduction of water losses agreement at a workshop, attended and Water Corporation in addition to providing smart by representatives of government Q(Kahramaa) has an infra- solutions in this regard. “One entities structure that enables it to easily of these projects has been im- Under the agreement, government switch to a smart network in wa- plemented for about three years paperwork and documents will ter monitoring and distribution in 10 areas and has already ena- be converted to a digital format systems, Kahramaa has said. bled the project to achieve water through electronic archiving, At a press conference held savings of 1.5mn cubic metres scanning, indexing, classification by Kahramaa yesterday, Abdul equivalent to QR6.2mn. and online storage via content A new branch of the Qatar Posts was opened yesterday on Abdulrahman bin Jassim Street, New Wakrah. The opening was held in the Monem Ahmed Darwish, direc- In this project, he said, about management systems, as well as presence of Qatar Posts chairman and CEO Faleh bin Mohamed al-Naeimi, prominent Qatari citizen and entrepreneur Salman Abdulla tor, water network operation 1,000 digital devices were in- save the paper documents in the Abdulghani and a number of senior off icials. The new branch has been opened considering the rapid development of the area and its and control department, said stalled on the water distribu- institution’s stores or by providing proximity to so many institutions and residential accommodations in New Wakrah, said al-Naeimi. that within the framework of tion networks in 10 areas in or- external spaces that off er its interest in creating a smart der to monitor any water leakage protection and confidentiality. network, a specialised team was through censoring water leaks and “MoTC places considerable formed to look for smart solu- sending a direct notifi cation to attention to providing best tions and the latest technologies Kahramaa about the site leakage. digital solutions and practices available in the international In addition, other projects with that contribute to the digital markets to achieve this goal. smart solutions have been im- transformation agenda Katara Publishing House to release 30 new titles “Darwish said that Kahramaa is plemented in water transmission across the country within the always working on providing an in- lines from production stations to framework of the Qatar Digital atara - The Cultural Vil- ing House will issue a series and culture in Qatar and the as well as critic studies that tegrated network of water, whether Kahramaa tanks, he said, adding Government 2020 Strategy,” lage has announced that of new and distinguished Arab world. won the Katara Prize for Ara- from tanks or highly effi cient trans- leaks that have been identifi ed in said Hassan Jassim al-Sayed, KKatara Publishing House works for selected Qatari The number of publications bic Fiction during its previous mission and distribution networks the transmission lines helped in assistant undersecretary at will release 30 new titles in Oc- and Arab authors, in order that Katara Publishing House sessions. along with sophisticated control. reducing the losses signifi cantly. the Government Information tober, in preparation for its par- to encourage intellectuals plans to print is about 30 titles, Launched in April, Katara Recently, many smart solutions Jassim Mohammed al-Man- Technology Sector. ticipation in the 29th edition of and writers to publish their in addition to its participa- Publishing House aims to be- have been implemented to detect souri, head of water loss and leak “To save government entities’ time Doha Book Fair set to begin on creative works, adding this tion with other works such as come a driving force behind the leaks and water losses,” he said. section, said, “Qatar is one of and eff ort, MoTC, in collaboration November 29. Katara initiative aims at sup- documentary books and liter- publishing industry in Qatar He presented achievements the fi rst countries in the region with the Ministry of Finance, In a statement yesterday, porting writers and authors ary, scientifi c and literary works and a connecting link between of Kahramaa regarding the op- to implement the leak detection launched a public tender on the Katara said that the Publish- and enriching knowledge released by the foundation, readers and writers. (QNA) eration of the water system and project.” (QNA) agreement,” he explained. (QNA) Gulf Times Tuesday, September 18, 2018 3 QATAR New exit permit law to be implemented by private sector he new law exempting expatriates and their residency. (QC) with a view to give more in exchange companies, gold Mohamed al-Obaidli, assist- at the MoI, explained the initia- The project will be imple- expatriate workers from On the occasion, the min- details to companies, institu- shops and so on, QNA states. ant undersecretary for Labour tive to allow expatriate workers mented in eight countries in the Tobtaining an exit permit istries called on all private tions and employers about the Captain al-Khalaf said the Aff airs at the MADLSA, ex- to complete RP procedures such fi rst stage: Nepal, India, Bangla- to leave the country will be im- companies and employers to amendments, especially with law will be implemented eff ec- plained the amendment pertain- as fi ngerprinting and biometric desh, Pakistan, the Philippines, plemented by the private sector prepare for the implementa- regard to the procedures and tively after being announced in ing to the removal of exit permit data processing, medical exami- Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Tuni- and does not include govern- tion of amendments to the law controls to determine the 5% of the Offi cial Gazette. He noted and said it will come into eff ect nation and the signing of work sia. The project will be imple- ment/quasi-government agen- regulating the entry and exit of workers in private sector com- that it will be implemented by in the near future. contracts for expatriates in their mented in Sri Lanka next month cies or personal sponsorships, expatriates and their residency. panies whose departure from the the private sector and does not He defi ned the new deci- home countries. and later in the rest of the eight the offi cial Qatar News Agency The amended law guarantees country require prior approval/ include government/quasi-gov- sions as part of a series of deci- He noted that the initia- countries, to be followed in all (QNA) has reported, quoting a the right of expatriate workers permission. ernment agencies or personal sions and procedures aimed at tive enables the completion of countries from where workers senior Ministry of Interior (MoI) who come under the provisions Mohamed Ali al-Meer, direc- sponsorships. the development of the work- all procedures for the recruit- are recruited. offi cial. of the Labour Law to leave the tor of the Labour Inspection Meanwhile, a seminar was held ers recruitment and employ- ment of workers in their coun- Maj al-Mohannadi highlight- Captain Nasser al-Khalaf country temporarily or on fi nal Department at the MADLSA, for representatives of diplomatic ment system in Qatar. “We are tries before coming to Qatar. ed the features of the initiative, of the MoI made the observa- exit, without requiring the con- said the ministry has completed missions in the country to in- working in co-ordination with The process will be completed which simplifi es the RP proce- tion at a workshop held by the sent of the employer. An em- all the procedures related to the troduce them to amendments to the Ministry of Interior and at special service centres set up dures by saving time, eff ort and Ministry of Interior and Minis- ployer, though, can specify 5% implementation of the law. The the residency law that abolishes Qatar Chamber to hold sev- in their countries and through cost. “The new system will en- try of Administrative Develop- of employees who need pre-ap- legislation allows employees of the exit permit as well as the new eral awareness seminars on an electronic system that pro- sure compliance with the terms ment, Labour and Social Aff airs proval before leaving the country a private company to leave with- system of completing the resi- these procedures for relevant vides various steps and stages of of the employment contract and (MADLSA) as part of a series due to their nature of work. out an exit permit except for 5% dency permit (RP) procedures in bodies, including diplomatic implementing the recruitment preserve the rights of the expa- of awareness workshops being The workshops are being held percent of its workers, which is the home countries of expatri- missions,” he said. process, including medical ex- triate worker and employer. It conducted to shed light on the through co-operation and co- a percentage determined by the ates, the MoI said in a statement. Maj Abdullah Khalifa al-Mo- amination, biometric data proc- also will avoid cases of return recent amendments to the law ordination between the MoI, employer based on the nature of The seminar was held by the hannadi, director of the Visa ess and signing of employment of medically unfi t workers,” he regulating the entry and exit of MADLSA and Qatar Chamber some sensitive jobs such as those MoI and MADLSA. Support Services Department contracts. added. 20 winners in Innovation Showcases competition he World Innovation dren to improve their vocabulary room anywhere in the world; Summit for Health through sign language, stories, the Crispvision Eye Test Kit, a T(WISH), an initiative and play. sight-saving kit from Nigeria of Qatar Foundation (QF), has “The most important learning used to detect eye defects, cor- selected 20 winners of its In- stage for children is the fi rst few rect far-sightedness and moni- novation Showcases competi- years of their lives, when they tor debilitating eye diseases tion, from 11 different coun- acquire important vocabulary,” such as cataracts, onchocercia- tries, to present their work said al-Jefairi. “Research shows sis, and trachoma; and ‘Tilapia at the upcoming WISH 2018 that children at the age of six Skin Burn Bandage’, a low-cost summit. years have almost 1,000 words and effi cient process from Brazil The Innovation Showcases in their vocabulary while, un- that uses sterilised fi sh skin to initiative provides a platform fortunately, hearing-impaired treat patients with second- and for aspiring healthcare lead- children only have 50 words. third-degree burns. ers to exhibit and demonstrate The SeeDo robot will help solve Sultana Afdhal, CEO, WISH, The salon has been fined and closed for one week. their healthcare-related innova- this problem, bringing about a said, “We recognise that in- tions in the presence of around remarkable change in early in- novation in healthcare can take 2,000 global health experts tervention for hearing-impaired many forms, from utilising and policymakers at WISH’s Mohammed al-Jefairi, of Abilitix, whose innovation has been selected children.” mobile technology to making biennial summits, which have as an Innovation Showcase for WISH 2018. Other innovations to be show- mental healthcare accessible MEC shuts down quickly become established as cased include ‘Proximie’, an aug- and aff ordable for youth and a major highlight of the global WISH Innovation Hub at WISH Stars of Science whose company mented reality platform from adults everywhere, to providing healthcare calendar. 2018 is Mohammed al-Jefairi – a Abilitx has developed the SeeDo the United Kingdom that allows simple and eff ective eye test kits Among the winners whose Qatari innovator and 4th place robot, designed to communicate doctors to virtually transport for those at risk in developing salon for using projects will be displayed in the winner in season nine of QF’s with hearing-impaired chil- themselves into any operating countries.” expired products he Ministry of Economy with Article 18 of Law No 8 and Commerce (MEC) on Consumer Protection. The Indian naval Thas announced the one- law stipulates that the closure week closure of a beauty salon decision shall be published on located in Al Waab over the the MEC website and in two use of expired products. daily newspapers at the The closure decision comes expense of the violator. ship arriving within the framework of its The ministry has stressed intensive inspection cam- that it will not tolerate any paign to monitor markets and violations of the Consumer commercial activities in order Protection Law and its regu- to crack down on violations, lations. It will intensify its in Qatar today price manipulation and coun- inspection campaigns and terfeit and substandard prod- refer those who violate laws ucts, the ministry has said in a and ministerial decrees to the he Indian Naval Ship (INS) across the globe showcased their statement. competent authorities, who Mumbai, a guided mis- capabilities. The beauty salon was fi ned will, in turn, take appropri- Tsile destroyer, is arriving The INS Mumbai, the 10th INS Mumbai and closed for a one-week pe- ate action against the per- at Hamad Port early today, on a warship of the same lineage, has riod in line with Article 6 of petrators in order to protect three-day visit of Qatar. been built to an indigenous de- production phase carried out by her tremendous fi repower and from strife torn Yemen amidst Law No 8 of 2008. Article 6 consumer rights. In the framework of the deep- sign at Mumbai’s Mazagon Dock Mazagon Dock. reach to counter threats in all the active gun fi re and shelling. prohibits the sale, display and The MEC has urged all con- rooted friendly ties, multi-faceted Limited. It bristles with a formi- The 6,700 tonne ship was three dimensions. The ship is presently being promotion of substandard, sumers to report violations or and growing co-operation be- dable array of weapons backed commissioned on January 22, The ship has frequently re- commanded by Captain Amit counterfeit and fraudulent submit complaints and sug- tween India and Qatar, this is the by state-of-the-art sensors and 2001. With an overall length of sponded in a swift and timely Srivastava, a specialist in navi- products. gestions to its consumer pro- second time in the last six months equipment. The vessel is the 163m and beam of 17m, the ship manner to render relief within gation and direction, and has a A product is considered tection and anti-commercial that an Indian Naval Ship is visiting third of the Delhi class of guided has been at the forefront of the India and overseas. The major complement of 35 offi cers and fraudulent if it fails to meet fraud department through the country, according to a state- missile destroyers and repre- Sword Arm – The Western Fleet Humanitarian Assistance and 300 sailors. the standards, is unusable or the call centre: 16001, e-mail: ment from the Indian embassy. sents the Indian Navy’s quantum of the Indian Navy. Besides the Disaster Relief operations in- This visit stands testimony to has expired. [email protected], Twitter: Earlier in March, Indian Naval leap in technology and capability sophisticated anti-ship, anti- clude Operation Sukoon - evac- the friendly ties between India The administrative closure MEC_QATAR, Instagram: Ship Kolkata was in Doha to par- in the new millennium. aircraft and anti-submarine uation of personnel from Leba- and Qatar and will further en- declaration shall be published MEC_QATAR and the minis- ticipate in the Dimdex 2018, an These formidable destroyers weapons fi tted on the ship itself, non (2006) and Operation Rahat hance maritime co-operation at the expense of the beauty try’s app available on iPhone exhibition where a large number are designed by the Indian Navy the capability of carrying two (2015) wherein over 5,600 Indian between the two countries, salon that has committed and Android devices: MEC_ of shipyards and navies from with the detailed design and multi-role helicopters provides and foreign citizens were rescued added the embassy statement. the violation in accordance QATAR

QRCS and Qatar Pharma sign MoU Ooredoo says it seeing strong Qatar Red Crescent Society MME runs research work (QRCS) and Qatar Pharma yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for momentum for Aamali Mobile co-operation in the provision of on developing livestock medicines, medical supplies and equipment, equipping hospitals oredoo has announced and the training of technical he Livestock and Ag- that it is seeing strong personnel for health relief and ricultural Research Omomentum from busi- humanitarian activities. Tdepartments at the ness customers in signing up The MoU was signed by QRCS Ministry of Municipality and for and switching to its Aamali Secretary General Ali bin Environment have carried out Mobile business solution to and upgrade their services – all to Aamali Mobile. The rapid Hassan al-Hammadi and Qatar two research projects on the ef- support mobile workforces. from the convenience of a click adoption of Aamali Mobile Pharma chairman Dr Ahmed bin forts made by the Agricultural Aamali Mobile, which was or swipe. shows how Ooredoo is pro- Mohammed al-Sulaiti. Aff airs and Fisheries depart- launched earlier this year, has In response to business cus- viding our business custom- Al-Hammadi stressed QRCS’s ments to develop and enhance seen thousands of customers tomer demands, Ooredoo’s ers with the country’s most keenness to extend the bridges livestock. make the switch to the busi- Aamali Mobile plans cater to trusted, reliable, and best of partnership and cooperation The fi rst research aimed to ness mobile service, which the specifi c needs of diff erent platform at great value for ena- with diff erent institutions, fi nd unconventional feed alter- provides fl exible options, real- types of workers. For example, bling mobile workforces. We especially the private sector natives for livestock and benefi t time insights, and full control Aamali Mobile customers can will continue to enhance our to take advantage of their from date palm waste in order to Awassi sheep over mobile plans. select plans that deliver dif- tailored plans to best meet our expertise and experience in preserve the environment and As more employees work ferent options for local or in- customers’ needs.” order to support charitable and achieve the maximum possible Awassi sheep in a closed system The aim was to fi nd out the while on the go, from remote ternational minutes, data, and Business customers can lev- humanitarian work. benefi t from natural resources. in the Qatari environment. The possibility of Qatari horses be- offi ces, or while traveling, roaming minutes to meet the erage the Ooredoo Advantage, Al-Sulaiti said that the MoU Another objective was to Awassi is a local sheep breed in ing infected with one of the vi- Aamali Mobile business cus- needs of employees, managers, making Ooredoo “Best for was part of the company’s know the impact of using palm South-West Asia originated in ruses in question due to cross- tomers can use the Ooredoo or C-suite executives. Business,” thanks to its breadth commitment to supporting leaves and date waste instead the Syro-Arabian desert. ing borders and participating in mobile App or an online portal Ooredoo COO Yousuf Ab- and depth of talent, best fi xed humanitarian action. of conventional food on the The second research focused tournaments and events world- to have full control over their dulla al-Kubaisi said, “We’re and mobile networks, broadest He pointed out that Qatar productive and reproductive on serological survey of some vi- wide, in addition to identifying local, international, or roam- seeing strong momentum from portfolio of ICT services and Pharma produces more than 550 performance of Awassi sheep, ral diseases among Qatari horses the potential risk factors as- ing allowances. Customers can Qatar’s business customers solutions, and trusted partner products to meet the country’s as well as the productive and such as West Nile fever, arteritis sociated with being exposed to also quickly and easily, view, signing up for and switching for 60 years. needs of medicines. (QNA) reproductive characteristics of and diff erent types of herpes. these viruses. (QNA) Gulf Times 4 Tuesday, September 18, 2018 QATAR Qicca and QU renew training partnership By Peter Alagos Qicca board member Sheikh Dr ment of Companies and Com- “The topics of training courses tual practical problems that may Qicca board member Sheikh Dr Thani bin Ali al-Thani and QU head Business Reporter Thani bin Ali al-Thani and QU mercial Agencies, Qualifi cation off ered in co-operation with the be raised in certain cases. of Strategy and Development Dr Darwish al-Emadi shake hands after head of Strategy and Develop- and Preparation of Arbitrators Qicca vary between diff erent “We also off er an extensive signing the agreement during a press conference held at the Qatar ment Dr Darwish al-Emadi, in Professional Certifi cation (Phase branches of law, especially the integrated programme that of- Chamber headquarters. he Qatar International the presence of CCE director Dr II, III, and IV), and Qualifi cation Trade Law, Commercial Com- fers fi ve diff erent stages for the Centre for Conciliation Rajab A al-Esmail. and Preparation of Arbitrators panies Law, Arbitration Law, preparation and qualifi cation of serve the community”. Speaking to Gulf Times yes- Tand Arbitration (Qicca) Sheikh Thani said the pro- Professional Certifi cation Phase management of construction Qatari and resident arbitrators. “The courses are off ered in terday, al-Esmail said that more and the Centre of Continu- gramme courses off ered this year I Study. contracts, and the resolution of “The trainees receive a certifi - the evening, allowing employ- than 100 people from within ing Education (CCE) at Qatar include Fundamentals of Com- “The previous training pro- related disputes,” Sheikh Thani cate in arbitration that qualifi es ees in all sectors to join these the QU and outside the univer- University (QU) have signed an mercial Arbitration, Arbitra- grammes were welcomed by all said in a speech. them directly to register with the programmes, which have been sity participated in the training agreement renewing its partner- tion in Disputes of Engineering the trainees, who praised the He noted that the training pro- Qicca,” he added. developed scientifi cally in co- courses held during the Academ- ship in providing training pro- Contracts, Arbitration of Finan- good organisation and effi ciency grammes are characterised by a For his part, al-Emadi lauded operation with the Centre for ic Year 2017-2018. grammes in the diff erent facets of cial and Banking Disputes, Anti- of the lecturers and the continu- combination of theoretical and the series of training courses Continuing Education to collect He said that the CCE will be arbitration. Money Laundering, Arbitration ous updating of the scientifi c practical aspects, which makes “that come within the framework diff erent sciences in a range of le- off ering more courses for Aca- The agreement was signed by of Maritime Disputes, Establish- material provided. the trainee fully aware of the ac- of Qatar University’s strategy to gal knowledge areas,” he said. demic Year 2018-2019. New stores opening at Doha Festival City

oha Festival City has According to Doha Festival care brand making its debut in broadened its mall of- City, the new store openings Qatar. Dferings with more store bring “unprecedented” exclusive “We are very pleased to wel- openings, adding to the more items to shoppers and families at come a multitude of unique than 500 retail stores now open the mall. brands to join our retail haven, for shoppers to enjoy. W&B Home, one of the most expanding Doha Festival City’s The number of respected recent stores to open, specialises already extensive breadth of of- brands at the mall continues in elegant and meaningful home ferings and providing even more to grow each month, further décor, catering to the city’s so- choice to our shoppers,” Bawabat strengthening Doha Festival phisticated interior decor tastes. Al-Shamal Real Estate Company City’s position as a unique global Alongside Laura Ashley and WLL (Basrec) chief executive shopping and lifestyle destina- Linen House, the mall now Kareem Shamma said. tion. boasts an extensive variety of “We look forward to continu- This month, eight new stores home retailers and its prominent ing our growth trajectory, and have opened, with a mix of qual- fashion and beauty off erings also shoppers can anticipate even ity outlets are already proving expanded. more retail and dining options to to be popular with visitors: The These include Verona, a luxury open over the next few months. Face Shop, Karisma, XTI, Linen fashion brand, XTI, the trendy The demand for retail space at House, Naseej, Verona, W&B fashion stop, and The Face Shop, Doha Festival City is at an all- Doha Festival City to open new stores soon. Home, and Laura Ashley. an indulgent South Korean skin- time high,” he added.

‘Magicians of the Recall order announced for Light’ showcases 2015-17 Dodge Ram models

fi ve iconic fi lms he Ministry of Economy and Com- the dealer to follow up on the maintenance merce (MEC), in collaboration with and repair works and will communicate TUnited Cars Almana, has announced with customers to ensure that the neces- he “Magicians of the Light” screenings will show- the recall of Dodge Ram models of 2015- sary repairs are carried out. case fi ve fi lms by accomplished fi lmmakers, sched- 2017 over a defect in the rear door lock of The MEC has urged all customers to re- Tuled from tomorrow (September 19) at the Museum the vehicle. port any violations to its Consumer Protec- of Islamic Art Auditorium, the Doha Film Institute (DFI) The MEC said that the recall campaign tion and Anti-Commercial Fraud Depart- Cinema has announced. comes within the framework of its ongo- ment through the following channels: Call The fi lms, to be screened until Saturday (September ing eff orts to protect consumers and ensure centre: 16001, e-mail: [email protected], 22), demonstrate how fi lmmakers pushed the boundaries that automobile dealers follow up on vehi- Twitter: @MEC_Qatar, Instagram: MEC_ Pi (Suraj Sharma) and a Bengal tiger known as Richard Parker arrive at an uneasy détente in of cinematography to leave their legacy on cinematic his- cles’ defects and repair them. Qatar, MEC mobile app for Android and director Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. tory, according to the DFI. The MEC said it would co-ordinate with IOS: MEC_Qatar “Through DFI Cinema, we bring innovative fi lm ex- periences to audiences in Qatar that help them enhance their understanding of the medium while appreciating great cinema,” DFI chief executive Fatma al-Remaihi said. She noted that “Magicians of the Light” and Richard Peña’s masterclass will focus on the magic of cinematog- raphy, and how art has had a deep impact in redefi ning cinema over the years. Peña, professor of fi lm studies at Columbia University and director of the New York Film Festival from 1988 to 2012, will off er a visually stunning survey of cinematog- raphy in cinema. The masterclass will take place on September 22 at 4pm, in addition to Peña providing a fascinating intro- duction for select fi lms in the series. Tomorrow, people can watch director Ang Lee’s Life of Pi (US, Taiwan, UK, Canada/2012) at 6pm, which won the Oscars for Best Director, Best Cinematographer (Claudio Miranda), Best Original Score (Mychael Danna), and Best Visual Eff ects (Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De Boer and Donald Elliott). Directed by Japanese master Kenji Mizoguchi, Sansho the Bailiff (Japan/1955) will be screened on September 20 at 7pm, while master director Ingmar Bergman’s The Sev- enth Seal (Sweden/1957) will be screened on September 21 at 4pm. At 7pm on September 21, director Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (US/1978) will be screened while Sam Mendes’s Road to Perdition (US/2002) follows on Sep- tember 22 at 7pm. Tickets are priced QR35. Students and Culture Pass by Qatar Museum members can avail of discounted rates of QR25 per person. Tickets are available at DFI Ticket Outlet across the MIA Auditorium and online at www.dohafi lminstitute. com

‘Magicians of the Light’ will focus on ‘the magic of cinematography’ and how art has had a deep impact in redefining cinema over the years. Gulf Times Tuesday, September 18, 2018 5 QATAR HBKU’s College of Islamic Studies lectures on fi nance, social sciences The Oppo F9. n the interest of fostering strong Oppo F9 latest civic knowledge on the modern Ievolution of Islamic fi nance and social sciences, the College of Islamic to enter highly Studies (CIS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) is set to host a se- ries of lectures this month. competitive Scholars and industry insiders are scheduled to deliver seminars in Edu- cation City on topics including the Qatar market role of Shariah maqasid in Islamic banking, the transformative conse- quences of World War I on the Middle lobal smartphone brand Oppo has East, and pioneering Muslim contri- launched Oppo F9, the latest addi- butions to psychotherapy. Gtion to its F series, in Qatar. Underlining the importance of “As the latest generation of the Oppo F supporting intellectual discourse on series, the F9 has made breakthroughs in historical and theological challenges fast charging, dual rear cameras and gradi- that are relevant in present-day con- ent colour design with water drop screen, texts, CIS dean Dr Emad El-Din Sha- in addition to the excellent selfi e function,” hin, said: “At CIS, we recognise the the company said in a press statement is- importance of diverse thought and sued in Doha by Ali Bin Ali Group’s Prime contemporary theories in enrich- Distribution Trading Company. ing debate, especially in cases where Described as the “fi rst smartphone with fi nding malleable solutions is crucial. fl ash charge technology in the mid-range We can no longer rely on sole per- market”, Oppo F9 is equipped with VOOC spectives and one-dimensional an- Flash Charge — a technology independently swers to complex, global challenges. developed by Oppo. Through our public lectures, we in- It applies low-voltage charging technolo- vite local and international speakers gy and has a charging speed up to four times to face inquiries in open forums and faster than general charging at 5V/1A. share their insights with the com- With this technology, “users can easily munity. This helps our college fulfi l realise ‘5-minute charge, 2-hour talk”, the its commitment to enhancing public statement notes. dialogue on key Islamic challenges.” Oppo F9 is also the fi rst smartphone in its Today, Dr Abdulazeem Abo Zayd, price segment to have gradient colour de- professor of Islamic fi nance at sign with water drop screen. CIS, will deliver a public lecture on It has three gradient colour combinations “Maqasid Development of Islamic — Sunrise Red, Twilight Blue and Starry Banking Products.” In the Arabic lan- Purple. guage, maqasid is defi ned as the “ob- The device has a 25MP front-facing cam- jectives” or foundational goals. The College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. era and, for the fi rst time in the Oppo F Maqasid al-Shariah, or Shariah series, is equipped with dual rear cameras objectives in relation to Islamic fi - from the maqasid point of view. in the emergence of the modern states Social Sciences, Qatar University and As the fi rst to diff erentiate between (16MP + 2MP). As for the software, Oppo nance, analyse certain banking prac- In “WWI: The War that Trans- of the Middle East after four centu- Dr Mamoun Mobayed, consultant neurosis and psychosis, al-Balkhi’s brings the ColorOS 5.2 operating system to tices and their purposes, identifying formed the Middle East,” scheduled ries of Ottoman rule. psychiatrist, director of Treatment immense contributions to science create a smarter interactive experience for which are Shariah-compatible and on September 23, Dr Eugene Rogan, This lecture will investigate the and Rehabilitation Department, Be- during the Islamic Golden Age will be users. which are not. professor of Modern Middle Eastern confl icts engendered by the post-war havioural Healthcare Centre to dis- the focus of the lecture. When it comes to hardware, Oppo F9 has This lecture will focus on com- History and director of St Antony’s partition, and how the boundaries cuss the foundations of Islamic psy- All events are currently open for a 4GB/6GB + 64GB memory combination mon Islamic banking products to College Middle East Centre at Uni- continue to remain in place, in spite chology. registration to the public and will be that improves the speed of operation. identify which are most likely to versity of Oxford, will highlight the of socio-political and economic strife The seminar will highlight the hosted at Education City. Moreover, the F9 supports multiple SIM be adopted and which will be re- transformative impact of the First plaguing the region. work of prominent Muslim polymath More details about the College slots – two for SIM cards and one for the jected, and certain regulations that World War on the geographical and On September 26, CIS is scheduled Abu Zayd al-Balkhi, and his pioneer- of Islamic Studies and its roster of storage card. can be implemented to convert cer- political dynamics of the region. to host Dr Okasha Eldaly, research as- ing discovery of psychotherapy and events and activities is available on- Oppo F9 has come to Qatar with a price tain practices into being acceptable The Allied victory in 1918 resulted sociate, Center for Humanities and psychosomatic medicine. line at www.hbku.edu.qa. of QR1,249.

Domasco conducts customer test drive event for GAC Motor latest SUV GS8

oha Marketing Services Com- pany (Domasco) has hosted a Dspecial test drive event for ex- isting and potential customers of GAC Motor to provide them with the oppor- tunity to experience the complete GAC range and services. The event, which was held at the brand’s showroom from September 6 to 8, allowed customers to “test drive their favourite model and take advan- tage of some exciting off ers”, the com- pany said in a press statement. Faisal Sharif, managing director of Domasco, said: “We held this event fol- lowing the encouraging response the GAC brand has received from custom- ers in Qatar. We will continue to build on this success and look forward to hosting more events for our customers.” GAC Motor recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with the release of a new brand culture and brand essence, The GS8 from GAC Motor. ‘The Road to Greatness’, aiming to provide a solid foundation for manu- sales and service network operational near the Qatar Decoration intersection, facturing and future product develop- in 15 countries across Asia, Europe, Af- opposite HSBC Bank. The showroom is ment fi t for a global-scale operation, rica and America. open from Saturday to Thursday, 8am the statement notes. Customers can visit the exclusive to 8pm. Domasco is the exclusive dis- GAC Motor has established a global GAC Motor showroom on Salwa Road, tributor of GAC Motor in Qatar.

Ooredoo, Nokia connect Myanmar’s fi rst-ever voice call over LTE

oredoo Myanmar, which off ers customers. Nokia is fully committed Myanmar’s fastest 4GPlus net- to introducing its latest cutting-edge Owork, has become the country’s technologies to support Ooredoo as it fi rst mobile operator to showcase next as more people migrate to the higher works to enable further access to dig- generation Voice over Long-Term- speed, higher capacity LTE bandwidth. ital technology in Myanmar.” Evolution (VoLTE) technology, in part- This technology is said to contribute to This is the latest in a series of inno- nership with Nokia. the shift from the traditional fi xed an- vations from Ooredoo Myanmar. VoLTE will enable customers to alogue telephony to truly mobile dig- In June, Ooredoo Myanmar became make better quality voice calls, as well ital technology. This is next generation the fastest network in Myanmar, ac- as use voice and data at the same time. mobile technology that will lead the cording to the Ookla Speedtest Intel- In addition to superior voice qual- way to exciting new developments and ligence analysis for Q1-Q2 2018. ity, the VoLTE technology also enables meet the demands of future societies.” Earlier this year, Ooredoo complet- faster call connection time, and allows Ooredoo is the fi rst operator in My- ed a 4G Pro network demonstration, customers to switch between ongoing anmar to demonstrate the benefi ts of showcasing its readiness to bring a 5G voice calls and high-quality video calls VoLTE technology to its customers, in service to the people of Myanmar, as as they want, contributing to an overall partnership with Nokia. well as expanding access to its 4G net- enhanced customer experience. Ooredoo Myanmar will showcase work, which, by the end of 2018, will Sanjay Vaghasia, chief technol- this technology at its fl agship Ooredoo reach 92% of the total population, in- ogy and information offi cer at Ooredoo Store in Myanmar Plaza to customers cluding 300 townships. Myanmar, said: “Of the many technol- who are interested to experience this Ooredoo Myanmar recently cel- ogy buzzwords that customers hear a new technology. ebrated its fourth anniversary, during lot about today, VoLTE is one that they Danabalan Amirthalingam, country which the company announced up- will quickly come to appreciate thanks senior offi cer at Nokia Myanmar, said: dates on its investments in Myanmar, to the better service it helps deliver. “Working with Ooredoo, Nokia has its 4G coverage expansion, new in- “VoLTE technology works seam- unleashed its technology leadership novative products, and future plans to lessly to service increasing traffi c car- in Myanmar by demonstrating next support Myanmar’s digital transfor- ried on the LTE network, particularly generation VoLTE services to Ooredoo mation. Gulf Times 6 Tuesday, September 18, 2018 REGION/ARAB WORLD

Cholera Turkey and Russia agree on infection in Saudi buff er zone in Syria’s Idlib province Reuters Erdogan says deal averts Qatar regrets no agreement Riyadh humanitarian crisis; Turkish, Russia on forming Constitutional troops to patrol demilitarised Committee in Syria zone; Russian defence minister say audi Arabia has confi rmed there’s be no off ensive; Buff er zone The State of Qatar expressed its regret one cholera case and said to take eff ect by October 15: Putin over the failure to reach an agreement Sthree others were suspect- on forming a constitutional commit- ed in an area bordering Yemen, tee in Syria, stressing that the Syrian where an epidemic has killed By Maria Tsvetkova, Reuters regime is not serious in reaching a po- more than 2,000 people, Saudi Sochi litical solution and tries to waste time in state TV has said, citing a health order to implement its belief, which is a ministry offi cial. military resolution. The report on Sunday night ussian and Turkish troops are to This came in the statement made said the patients, identifi ed only enforce a new demilitarised zone by the State of Qatar’s permanent as non-Saudis, were receiving Rin Syria’s Idlib region from which representative to the UN Office in care at in Jizan, about 1,000km “radical” rebels will be required to Geneva, HE ambassador Ali Khalfan southwest of Riyadh. withdraw by the middle of next month, al-Mansouri, at the 39th session of It was unclear if the outbreak Russian President Vladimir Putin said the United Nations Human Rights was linked to Yemen or to last yesterday after a meeting with his Council on the interactive dialogue month’s Haj, which draws some Turkish counterpart. with Independent International Com- 2mn foreigners each year, raising Russia, the biggest outside backer of mission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab the risk of the spread of infec- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his Republic. tious disease. fi ght against rebels, has been prepar- The ambassador warned that any Saudi Arabia reported fi ve ing for an off ensive on the city of Idlib, military escalation in Idlib will threaten cases of cholera in 2017, all of which is controlled by rebels and now the lives of 3mn civilians, 1mn of whom which were imported, and there home to about 3mn people. are children, according to the United was no further spread, according But after Putin’s talks with Turkish Nations Children’s Fund. to the World Health Organisa- President Tayyip Erdogan, who has op- He highlighted the importance of tion (WHO). posed a military operation against the achieving a comprehensive cessa- The WHO said yesterday the rebels in Idlib, Russian Defence Min- tion of fighting in Syria and reaching origin of the current cases was ister Sergei Shoigu told reporters there peaceful solution based on the Geneva not yet known but the outbreak would not now be an off ensive. communique 1 and UN Security Council was not expected to spread given Erdogan, who had feared another Resolution 2254. Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure. cross-border exodus of Syrian refugees Al-Mansouri strongly condemned “Infectious diseases have no to join the 3.5mn already in Turkey, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin meet at the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the the scorched earth policy followed by borders, and cholera is no diff er- the deal would allow opposition sup- Black Sea resort of Sochi yesterday. the Syrian regime and its allies with ent,” spokeswoman Fadela Chaib porters to stay where they were, and regards to the civilians, starting with told Reuters. avert a humanitarian crisis. Putin said, with Erdogan standing dominated by the former Nusra Front — groups, which we will determine with imposing siege on cities and prevent- “Saudi Arabia has extensive Putin told a joint news conference alongside him. “The demilitarised an Al Qaeda affi liate until 2016. Russia, will not operate in the area un- ing the arrival of humanitarian aid, measures in place to manage with Erdogan: “We agreed that by Oc- zone will be monitored by mobile pa- Other Islamists, and groups fi ghting der discussion,” he said. intensifying aerial bombardments, ran- health issues during the Haj, and tober 15 (we will) create along the con- trol groups of Turkish units and units of as the Free Syrian Army banner, are now “Russia will surely take necessary dom attacks and destruction of institu- has been able to prevent outbreaks tact line between the armed opposition Russian military police.” gathered with Turkish backing under precautions to ensure the Idlib de-es- tions and service facilities, especially by making sure that pilgrims to and government troops a demilitarised Neither Putin not Erdogan explained the banner of the “National Front for calation zone is not attacked. Together medical ones and forced displacement the Haj have adequate water, sani- zone of a depth of 15-20km, with the how they planned to diff erentiate “rad- Liberation”. we will ensure the detection and the of civilians. tation, and hygiene facilities.” withdrawal from there of radically- ically-minded” rebels from other anti- “With this agreement we have pre- prevention of provocation by third par- Ambassador al-Mansouri expressed The WHO has rolled out minded rebels, including Al Nusra.” Assad groups. It was also not immedi- cluded experiencing a large humanitar- ties and violations of the agreement.” Qatar’s gratitude to the Commission an emergency treatment pro- “By October 10, at the suggestion of ately clear how much of the city of Idlib ian crisis in Idlib,” Erdogan told report- Ahead of the trip to Russia, Erdogan of Inquiry on its briefing and urged gramme, based on the vestiges the Turkish president, (we agreed) on fell within the zone. ers at the news conference with Putin. had said Turkey’s calls for a ceasefi re the Syrian authorities to allow them of Yemen’s shattered health the withdrawal from that zone of the Idlib is held by an array of rebels. “The opposition will continue to in Idlib region were bearing fruit after to enter the country to carry out their system, to try to catch new cas- heavy weapons, tanks, rockets systems The most powerful is Tahrir al-Sham, remain in the areas where they are. In days of relative calm but that more work mission. - QNA es early and stop the explosive and mortars of all opposition groups,” an amalgamation of Islamist groups return, we will ensure that the radical needed to be done. spread of the disease.

Under fire from smugglers, Libyan navy Iran nuke chief: EU too slow rescues 57 migrants at sea in countering US sanctions

ibya’s navy has res- DPA of August, with further sanctions on the cued 57 people on Vienna country’s fi nance and oil sectors to follow in La migrant boat off early November. the coast of the North Addressing member states of the Interna- African country, in an he European Union needs to speed up tional Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at their operation that involved a its eff orts to salvage the nuclear deal annual meeting, Salehi acknowledged EU ef- clash with armed smug- Twith Iran, Tehran’s vice president and forts but added: “We believe that the so-far glers. nuclear programme chief Ali Akbar Salehi adopted approach of gradualism is not the Navy spokesman Ay- said yesterday in Vienna. proper mechanism whatsoever in response oub Qasim told DPA yes- In May, the US withdrew from the 2015 to the situation arising from the American terday that the Libyan pact that is meant to prevent Iran from reckless policy.” coastguard acted on Sun- building nuclear weapons. Washington be- “Now is the time for the EU to uphold its day night upon a report gan reimposing sanctions on Iran at the start commitments,” he said. from an operations room and rescued a boat carry- ing 57 all-male migrants, most of them from Ni- geria. Near the migrant boat was another ves- sel carrying six armed smugglers who shot at the coastguard rescue patrol, Qasim said yes- terday. The patrol returned fi re, forcing the militants to fl ee towards the coast of the western Libyan town of Zuwara, he add- ed. The rescued migrants noted that the boat was initially carrying 80 peo- ple before the militants took all the women and children and left the men on board, according to the spokesman. “The rescued mi- grants were taken to the port of Zawiya Refinery west of Tripoli where they were provided with aid and medi- cal assistance,” Qasim said. In recent months, the Libyan coastguard has reported inter- cepting various ves- sels carrying hundreds of migrants headed for Europe via the Medi- terranean Sea. Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 revolt that toppled long- time dictator Muammar Gaddafi . The North Afri- can country has since emerged as a gateway to Europe for people fl ee- ing war, persecution and poverty in their home- lands. Gulf Times Tuesday, September 18, 2018 7 AMERICA More days of fl ooding ahead for Carolinas, surrounding states

Reuters one-minute period of sunshine at Wilmington, NC the NWS Raleigh offi ce,” the NWS said on Twitter. “Last time we had sun was on Wednesday.” he remnants of deadly Hur- In many areas, the brief period ricane Florence yesterday of sun was wiped out by more rain Tbrought more misery to the but some evacuated residents were waterlogged Carolinas with of- able to return to their homes to as- fi cials warning the worst is yet to sess damage. come, as heavy rain persisted and Eric Tryggeseth, 59, yesterday swollen rivers posed a growing found his home in Leland, North threat. Carolina, without power and a tree Florence was a tropical depres- laying in his front yard. sion yesterday with maximum He had been evacuated a day be- sustained winds of 45kph as it fore by military troops in a truck. headed through Virginia and to- “The fl oodwaters were rising so ward New England. I fi gured I better get out of there,” With the rain and winds headed he said. “I can’t thank the fi rst re- north, some residents in North and sponders enough.” South Carolina started to return New Bern, North Carolina, a to their homes as the sun peeked town of 30,000 located at the con- through the clouds briefl y for the fl uence of the Trent and Neuse riv- fi rst time in days. ers, was one of the hardest-hit spots Tens of thousands of houses when Florence fi rst came ashore have been damaged, but for many and City Manager Mark Stephens parts of the Carolinas, “the worst said it was one of the worst storms is yet to come” as river levels rise in its 308-year history. to historic levels, said Zach Taylor, About 509,000 homes and a meteorologist with the US Na- Members of the Coast Guard help a stranded motorist in Lumberton, North Carolina. businesses were without electric- tional Weather Service. ity yesterday in North and South “The soil is soaked and can’t Flash fl ood watches yesterday away outside Charlotte, North intensifying today and tomorrow, Carolina and surrounding states. absorb any more rain so that wa- extended all the way to Pennsyl- Carolina, after rushing water the US National Hurricane Center About 1.8mn customers were af- ter has to go somewhere, unfor- vania, Maryland, New York and pushed his mother’s car off the said. fected by the storm. tunately,” he said, adding that the southern New England. road, the Union County Sher- It has dumped up to 100cm The storm killed at least 11 peo- rivers would start to crest soon. The coastal city of Wilmington, iff ’s Offi ce said on Facebook. The of rain on North Carolina since ple in North Carolina, including a Flash fl oods, landslide warn- North Carolina, remained cut off by mother had driven around barri- Thursday, the NWS said. mother and child hit by a falling ings and “prolonged signifi cant fl ood waters yesterday morning. cades on a closed stretch of road, Some Carolinians were relieved tree, state offi cials said. river fl ooding” throughout the re- At least 17 deaths were reported the post said. that the storm was pushing out, Six people died in South Caroli- gion will continue for the next few in North and South Carolina. Florence, which came ashore despite the continued threat of na, including four in car accidents days, the National Weather Service Rescue teams searched over- as a hurricane on Thursday, is ex- fl ooding from rivers. and two from carbon monoxide (NWS) said. night for a 1-year-old boy swept pected to weaken again before re- “BREAKING. We’ve observed a from a portable generator.

Wireless alert drill now on Oct 3 he Trump administration has delayed until next month plans to send a message to all US cell- USAF seeks growth to stay ahead of China, Russia Tphones testing a previously unused presidential alert system that aims to warn the public about na- Reuters rons, up 24% from the 312 today. years fi ghting militants in places like tional emergencies, offi cials said yesterday. Washington The increase would bring the Air Afghanistan. The test message was originally scheduled for Force to about 717,000 personnel, in- Wilson declined to get into details 2.18pm EDT on Thursday but is being pushed back to cluding the Guard and Reserve. about classifi ed analysis of future mili- the same time on October 3 because of response eff orts he US Air Force is predicting it The US Air Force had 401 squadrons tary threats. to Tropical Depression Florence, the Federal Emergen- will need to grow sharply over in 1987, at the peak of the Cold War be- But she pointed to events already cy Management Agency (FEMA) said in a statement. Tthe next decade or so, boosting tween the United States and the Soviet making global headlines, like how Rus- Florence came ashore in North Carolina last week the number of operational squadrons Union. sia staged its largest military exercise as a hurricane and has caused widespread fl ooding in by nearly a quarter to stay ahead of in- Usually commanded by a lieutenant this month since the fall of the Soviet North and South Carolina. creasingly muscular militaries in China colonel, squadrons are the core fi ght- Union, mobilising 300,000 troops. FEMA, which will send the alert, said last week that and Russia, offi cials said. ing units of the Air Force and are often Pentagon offi cials believe the big- the messages would bear the headline “Presidential Air Force Secretary Heather Wil- composed of about 18 to 24 aircraft. ger challenge, however, will be stay- Alert,” and that phones will make a loud tone and have son told reporters that the preliminary The Air Force estimate is likely to ing ahead of China’s rapidly expanding a special vibration. analysis drew partly from classifi ed in- set the stage for greater debate about military capabilities. The test has been scheduled to ensure that the telligence about possible threats in the military spending priorities, including “The threat is growing,” Wilson said. alert system would work in the event of a national 2025 to 2030 time frame, showing that within the Pentagon, where branches of “We have to be clear-eyed about the emergency, and US cellphone users will not be able the service, at its current size, would be the world’s most powerful military al- world in which we live.” to opt out. unable to preserve America’s edge. ready fi ercely vie for resources. Wilson acknowledged that the Air The message will read: “THIS IS A TEST of the “The Air Force is too small for what That competition is set to grow if Force’s estimates would be further re- National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No ac- the nation is asking us to do,” Wilson President Donald Trump succeeds in fi ned in the weeks and months ahead. tion is needed.” told a small group of reporters ahead of creating a new ‘Space Force’ as the sixth The latest analysis would be among Former president Barack Obama signed a law in a speech yesterday that will lay out her branch of the military, something he the reports submitted to Congress in 2016 requiring FEMA to create a system allowing the arguments. hopes to do by 2020. March next year that seek to address a president to send cellphone alerts regarding public The Air Force analysis did not include About one-sixth of US federal basic question: What kind of Air Force safety emergencies. a price tag and Wilson declined to spec- spending goes to defence, according to does America need? The country’s wireless emergency alert system was ulate on costs. the Congressional Budget Offi ce. Air Force Chief of Staff General David started in 2012 and has issued over 36,000 alerts for But such growth could conceivably Although some lawmakers complain Goldfein noted that was diff erent from situations such as missing children, extreme weather cost billions of dollars, given the need the Pentagon gets too big a share of the typical question of what is the best and natural disasters, but never a presidential direc- to hire more personnel and buy sub- US resources, defence spending enjoys Air Force that the United States can af- tive. stantially more aircraft, from refuel- broad support in Congress. ford, given current budget priorities. Cellphone users can opt out of natural disaster or ling tankers and fi ghter jets to bombers, Trump last month signed a mas- Wilson said: “We also know that missing children alerts. made by companies like Boeing Co and sive, $716bn defence policy bill meant there will be a debate about what we In its statement last week on the test messages, Lockheed Martin Corp Wilson estimat- to help address shortcomings in the can aff ord — and that’s fair.” FEMA said the presidential alerts can be used only for ed the Air Force would need about more US military, which is trying to shift its “But I think we have to be clear on national emergencies and the president has sole re- 40,000 personnel as part of the plan to focus to challenges posed by countries what is needed to protect our vital na- sponsibility for determining when such alerts are used. have a total of 386 operational squad- like China and Russia after nearly 17 tional interest in this country,” she said.

Kavanaugh issues denial; accuser says she is willing to testify

Reuters was at the White House yesterday morning, said it should “be done immediately so the Washington a White House offi cial said. process can continue as scheduled.” Ford’s accusation has significantly com- Republicans hold a slim 11-10 advantage plicated his nomination, which must be on the Judiciary Committee and a 51-49 ma- rett Kavanaugh, President Donald approved first by the Judiciary Commit- jority in the Senate. Trump’s US Supreme Court pick, tee and then by the full chamber, which Even before the allegation emerged, Ka- Byesterday called a woman’s allegation is narrowly controlled by Trump’s fellow vanaugh’s fate appeared to rest on two mod- that he sexually assaulted her 36 years ago Republicans. erate Republican women senators who sup- “completely false,” while a lawyer said the The high-stakes confi rmation fi ght comes port abortion rights. accuser is willing to publicly testify before just weeks before the November 6 congres- One of them, Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Senate panel that is scheduled to vote this sional elections in which Democrats are told CNN late on Sunday that Republicans week on his nomination. seeking to take control of Congress from “might have to consider” discussing a pos- In a day of fast-moving developments, all Trump’s fellow Republicans. sible delay. 10 Democratic members of Senate Judici- Kavanaugh is Trump’s second nominee The other, Senator Susan Collins, told the ary Committee overseeing the confi rmation for a lifetime appointment to the nation’s New York Times that the allegations are seri- process sent a letter calling for Thursday’s highest court. ous and that Ford should be interviewed. planned vote to be delayed so the FBI can in- Some committee Republicans have said But Collins also questioned why Demo- vestigate the allegation. Ford should have a chance to tell her story, crats had not raised them earlier. Christine Blasey Ford, a university profes- a view also expressed yesterday by White Ford detailed her story in a letter sent to sor in California, has accused Kavanaugh of House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein in July. trying to attack her and remove her cloth- In television interviews yesterday, Ford’s The contents of the letter leaked last week ing in 1982 when they were both high school Washington-based lawyer, Debra Katz, said and Ford identifi ed herself in an interview students in a Maryland suburb outside her client would be willing to speak out pub- Kavanaugh ... eye of the storm with the Washington Post published on Sun- Washington. licly. day. “This is a completely false allegation. I Asked if that included testimony under Ford before the committee’s scheduled vote, Ford and her lawyers have not responded have never done anything like what the ac- oath at a public hearing before senators, Katz according to a spokesman for the Republican to Reuters requests for comment. cuser describes — to her or to anyone,” Ka- told CBS’s This Morning program: “She’s senator. Conway said sworn testimony from both vanaugh said in a statement issued by the willing to do what she needs to do.” The panel’s Democratic members pushed Kavanaugh and Ford on the specifi c alle- White House. Katz’s comments suggested any public for a delay. gation should be considered as part of the “Because this never happened, I had no hearing could be explosive. “All Senators, regardless of party, should record in the judge’s hearings. idea who was making this accusation until Ford believes Kavanaugh’s alleged actions insist the FBI perform its due diligence and “This woman should not be insulted and she identifi ed herself yesterday,” Kavanaugh were “attempted rape” and “that if it were fully investigate the allegations as part of its she should not be ignored,” Conway said in added. not for the severe intoxication of Brett Ka- review of Judge Kavanaugh’s background,” an interview with Fox News. “I am willing to talk to the Senate Judici- vanaugh, she would have been raped,” Katz they wrote in a letter to Grassley that was If Kavanaugh’s nomination fails, Trump ary Committee in any way the Committee told NBC’s Today programme. made public by Senator Dianne Feinstein, would get to select a replacement, but that deems appropriate to refute this false allega- Katz told CBS that Ford had consumed a the panel’s top Democrat. nominee likely would not be confi rmed by tion, from 36 years ago, and defend my in- beer but was not drunk. Republican panel member Jeff Flake has the Senate before the election. tegrity,” he said in the statement. Ford was 15 at the time of the alleged inci- urged the committee to delay its vote until it Even if Republicans lose control of the Kavanaugh, whose statement was his sec- dent and Kavanaugh was 17. hears from Ford. Senate in the midterm election, they likely ond denying the allegation but the fi rst since Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Another committee Republican, Lindsey would be able to vote on a second nominee Ford was publicly identifi ed as his accuser, Grassley plans to speak with Kavanaugh and Graham, welcomed hearing from Ford but before the new Congress is seated in January. Gulf Times 8 Tuesday, September 18, 2018 AFRICA

Anger as rhino Protests paralyse Ethiopian trade kingpin released from capital after 23 die in strife South Africa jail AFP By Chris Stein, AFP He claimed the violence has gone Johannesburg Addis Ababa on for the past four years. The roads to Burayu were yes- terday blocked by protesters, who onservationists yesterday expressed shock af- emonstrators yesterday threatened journalists covering the ter a Thai kingpin of the illegal rhino horn trade fl ooded the Ethiopian capi- demonstrations. Cwas released from jail in South Africa after Dtal Addis Ababa, blocking Businesses closed their doors serving just six years of his 40-year sentence. roads and shutting businesses in and avenues across the city were Chumlong Lemtongthai was freed on parole in Pre- an explosion of anger following the jammed with commuters waiting toria last week and immediately fl ew back to Bangkok, killing of 23 people on the city’s for public transportation that had government offi cials told AFP. outskirts over the weekend. greatly reduced due to the unrest. Lemtongthai pleaded guilty in 2012 to running bo- The unrest in Ethiopia’s larg- There were no immediate reports gus rhino hunts as a cover to source horns to sell on the est city was the latest instance of of deaths or injuries in the demon- lucrative black market. ethnic violence to challenge Prime strations. His long sentence had been hailed by campaigners Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has The weekend killings followed as a breakthrough in the criminal prosecution of traf- undertaken aggressive reforms in- the triumphant return from exile fi ckers. cluding reigning in the security of leaders of the once-outlawed But his release triggered accusations that South Afri- forces since his April inauguration. Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebel can authorities were failing to act to stop the slaughter. Police appeared spread thin as group who in August agreed with “His early release is an utter disgrace. It makes a groups of mostly young men wav- Ethiopia’s government to lay down complete mockery of the seriousness of the crimes ing protest fl ags and tree branches arms. perpetrated,” Audrey Delsink, director the Humane jogged through neighbourhoods But in the days before their re- Society International animal charity, told AFP. across the city to denounce the turn, clashes broke out between “It sends a strong message that high-level poachers weekend killings in the Burayu sub- young men from the ethnically- with known links to wildlife traffi cking networks are urb. mixed city of around 4mn people treated with leniency. Ethiopia’s police chief, Zeynu Je- and Oromos who came into Addis “Lemtongthai was personally involved in the illegal mal, said offi cers had shot dead ve fi Ababa to welcome the OLF. slaughtering of 26 rhinos, and ordering the deaths of people yesterday, describing them Oromo-led anti-government at least 50 animals.” as “dangerous vagrants” who at- protests that began in late 2015 The World Wildlife Fund said authorities must push tempted to loot property and steal helped bring about the resigna- for “successful prosecutions and appropriate sen- police weapons. tion of Ethiopia’s former leader and tencing of those responsible”. “I came for justice because our Abiy’s subsequent rise to power. Lemtongthai enlisted Thai women to pose as fake brothers and sisters are being An Oromo himself, Abiy has hunters on game farms in North West province, ob- slaughtered and thrown into the shuffl ed the leadership of Ethio- taining permits from the provincial authorities to woods,” said Bizuayehu Biyargegne pia’s police, military and intelli- shoot a set number of rhino. Getahun, one of a group of more Ethiopians demonstrate yesterday at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa. gence arms, which have long been Professional hunters shot the rhino and Lem- than a hundred protesters gathered accused of abusing human rights. tongthai’s Laos-based traffi cking network used false in the central Meskel Square. State-owned Ethiopia News On Twitter, Abiy’s chief of staff , But that wasn’t enough for many But while he’s encouraged the paperwork to traffi c the horns as legitimate hunt- “They’re raping our sisters and Agency (ENA) said the violence in Fitsum Arega, said the leader protesters, who blamed the Oro- people of Africa’s second most- ing trophies before selling them on Asia’s traditional mothers,” she claimed. Burayu was carried out by an or- “strongly condemns the killings mos, Ethiopia’s largest ethnicity populous country to set aside their medicine market. Zewdu Tinae called on the gov- ganised mob, who looted, killed and acts of violence against inno- which inhabits Oromia, for target- diff erences, bloody ethnic confl icts Driven by rocketing demand in Asia, the number of ernment to prevent the violence and forced 886 people out of their cent citizens. ing minorities. have rocked his administration. rhinos killed in South Africa has climbed steeply in the that he said had killed his brother homes, citing Alemayehu Ejigu, “These cowardly attacks repre- “People of Gamo and people The most serious began shortly past decade from just 13 in 2007 to reach more than and neighbour. “The government police commissioner for the Oro- sent a grave concern to the unity of other ethnicities are being at- after his inauguration, when clash- 1,000 annually in the past fi ve years. is saying let’s come together, but mia region that surrounds Addis and solidarity of our people and tacked,” said Mahmud Emersa, re- es between Oromos and members In the last eight years alone, roughly a quarter of the we’re being driven apart because Ababa and includes Burayu. Local will be met with an appropriate re- ferring to a minority ethnic group of the Gedeo ethnic displaced near- world population of rhinos has been killed in South there’s no rule of law,” he said. media reported up to 200 arrests. sponse,” he said. from southern Ethiopia. ly a million people. Africa, home to 80% of the remaining animals. Gulf Times Tuesday, September 18, 2018 9 ASIA

Pay more for your clothes, Bangladesh Drugs kill seven at workers tell brands

Thomson Reuters Foundation “The decision to raise wages Chennai, India for garment workers in Bang- ladesh is an encouraging - though long overdue - step in Vietnam music fest arment workers in the right direction,” Sharon Bangladesh have re- Waxman of the FLA said in AFP curity did not spend much time Gjected an increase in a statement, adding that the Hanoi checking people at the entrance. the minimum wage, saying it fi ght for fair wages would, Investigators are trying to is still not enough to live on however, continue. confi rm who brought the drugs and urging global brands to The unions also say pro- even Vietnamese have died into the venue and said all events pay more for the clothes they duction targets should not be and fi ve are in a coma after of its kind would be banned in buy, unions said yesterday. increased after the wage hike, Staking drugs at an elec- the capital pending the probe. Bangladesh raised the mini- which many small and me- tronic dance music festival in “The incident yesterday... was mum wage by more than 50% dium factory owners argue is a Hanoi, offi cials said yesterday, very painful. It was a great loss,” last week to 8,000 taka ($95.5) “burden” that may lead to the as authorities scrambled to trace said Tran Xuan Ha, deputy head a month - the fi rst increase closure of units. the substance. of the Hanoi government’s prop- since 2013, when a string of “After the last pay hike in The Sunday night disas- aganda department. fatal factory accidents thrust 2013, we realised that many ter, believed to be the deadli- Tickets cost between $21 and poor working conditions and factories increased produc- est drug-related incident in the $135 in a country which has pay into the spotlight. tion target for workers and country, shocked the commu- joined Asia’s multi-million-dol- “The new wages announced the work pressure built up nist nation’s conservative capi- lar fi xation on EDM. are not enough for workers to tremendously,” said Nahidul tal. Synthetic drug use is on the Most ravers are found in the cos- live a decent life,” said Raisul Is- Hasan Nayan, general secre- rise but remains largely under- mopolitan and more free-wheeling lam Khan, fi eld co-ordinator for tary of the Sommilito Gar- ground among a relatively niche southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City. the IndustriALL Global Union. ments Sramik Federation, group of hard-partying youth. But the EDM party scene has “Workers were demanding which supports unions. The victims, all Vietnamese, gained popularity in the capital 16,000 takas. They are not happy “Workers came to us and said tested positive for an unspeci- as has drug use among young and many organisations are talk- their pay had gone up but they fi ed drug, prompting offi cials to people, in a city where most bars ing about an indefi nite strike if did not even have a minute to ban all electronic dance music and clubs are supposed to close the wages are not reconsidered,” drink water or use the restroom (EDM) festivals in the capital. at midnight in line with the of- he said over phone from Dhaka. during their shift.” “Police investigators are try- fi cial curfew. Bangladesh is the world’s Khan said the situation had ing to fi gure out what type of It was the third Vietnam Elec- second largest garment pro- improved since the collapse drug that was,” deputy director Commuters pass the entrance to the West Lake Water Park in Hanoi yesterday where party-goers died tronic Weekend festival held in ducer after China and its of the Rana Plaza complex of Hanoi police Nguyen Van Vien from drug use during electronic dance music festival “Trip to the moon” inside the park. the country and was slated to $30bn industry employs an in 2013 killed 1,136 garment told reporters yesterday. be the biggest yet, according to estimated 4mn people, 80% workers, but fashion brands Offi cials said the dead were all Moon” festival was hosted by line-up, according to the online freaking out,” she said, declining state media. of them women. had a duty to do more. in their 20s, while the fi ve people Vietnam Electronic Weekend fl yer. to be named. Shocked Hanoians expressed The workers are among the “Brands have to step up and in a coma in intensive care are in Hanoi’s upscale West Lake, a One festivalgoer said she saw Another who attended the fes- grief online at the deaths. worst-paid in the world, a pay more for the clothes they aged between 18 and 30. neighbourhood popular among several people collapse in the tival said she saw many people “A warning message for those compensation report released are buying,” he said. If the deaths are confi rmed expats, teachers and youth for its crowd and about four people she suspected to be high stand- young ones who have been so ir- by the Fair Labour Association “After Rana Plaza disaster, as drug-related it could be one nightlife. shuttled out on stretchers. ing around dazed for most of the responsible for their own (lives),” (FLA) in April stated. the Bangladesh garment and re- of the worst cases anywhere in Thousands attended the event “I thought maybe they were night. reader Nam Huynh wrote on Overtime income accounts tail manufacturing industry has recent memory of mass narcot- which sprawled across three just exhausted but when I saw “They didn’t dance much, VNExpress. for 20% of their salary, it said, made big eff orts to meet interna- ics-related deaths at a music stages at a water park and in- more people (being carried out) just swayed a bit and they didn’t There are some 220,000 reg- and half the workers put in more tional standards. Now interna- festival. cluded EDM big hitters Yellow I was shocked... there were so like the lights shining directly at istered drug users in Vietnam, than 60 hours a week despite tional brands have to show their Sunday night’s “Trip To The Claw and Headhunterz on the many ambulances outside I was them,” she said, adding that se- according to offi cial fi gures. the impact on their health. commitment to the workers.” Bhutan’s ruling Thai political party charged Major fi re party defeated in engulfs early elections over ‘false’ Facebook post homes in AFP launch onto the political stage Hanoi Bangkok on October 1. AFP Tobgay, a 52-year-old “We are not afraid. We will irefi ghters yesterday bat- New Delhi, India mountain-biking enthusiast, fi ght the case and continue our tled a major blaze in central and his People’s Democratic hai police yesterday political activities,” Pannika FHanoi that engulfed several Party (PDP) won power from charged members of a said. homes near a children’s hospi- hutan’s prime minister opposition in 2013. Tnew progressive party Last week the junta an- tal and sent panicked residents conceded defeat late on More than 291,000 people led by a maverick 39-year-old nounced a partial easing of a running for safety. BSunday, after the rul- cast their vote in Saturday’s tycoon with spreading “false” ban on political activities which There were no deaths or inju- ing party was knocked out in poll for a 66% turnout of reg- information about the ruling it imposed after toppling the ci- ries reported hours after the fi re the fi rst round of the small istered voters, an election of- junta in a Facebook live broad- vilian government in 2014. started in a crowded part of the Himalayan nation’s third-ever fi cial said. cast. Thanathorn’s legal woes Vietnamese capital, but a huge election. Bhutan has tried to shield Thanathorn Juangroongru- come just months after he plume of smoke could be seen Harvard educated Tsher- itself from the downsides of angkit was charged under the launched his political career, from several kilometres away. ing Tobgay was seeking a modernisation, striving for Computer Crime Act along- hoping to win votes among a Patients were wheeled out of a second term in the poll but “Gross National Happiness” side two other members of the public wearied by the 12-year nearby children’s hospital - which fell short of two rival parties, over GDP growth, maintaining “Future Forward” party over a power struggle between a pro- was not on fi re - as much of the ar- who will contest a runoff on a carbon-negative economy weekly broadcast on Facebook junta old guard and allies of ea’s electricity was shut off , accord- October 18. and keeping tourist numbers in June. billionaire ex-premier Thaksin ing to AFP reporters at the scene. Election offi cials said Druk down with a daily fee of $250 The show accused the junta Shinawatra. “I have never seen such a big Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), per visitor in high season. of trying to intimidate rivals He attracted some compari- fi re, it must have been more which won Bhutan’s fi rst-ever The 800,000 inhabitants of into aligning with it before next sons to other “outsider” poli- than 100m (330ft) high I think,” election when the kingdom Switzerland-sized Bhutan got year’s election, Pannika Wan- ticians making waves around Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, founder of Thailand’s Future resident Dinh Thi Chung said. transitioned to democracy in television in 1999 and democ- ich, a spokeswoman for Future the globe, such as France’s Forward party, talks to journalists at Technology Crime Suppres- Another resident wept nearby 2008, attracted nearly 93,000 racy arrived only in 2008 when Forward, said. Emmanuel Macron. sion Division in Bangkok yesterday. as she watched fi refi ghters extin- votes, narrowly beating Druk its “dragon king” monarchy If convicted under the dra- But analysts say the political guish the blaze. Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT). ceded absolute power. conian law, the trio face hefty novice has yet to make a serious The Pheu Thai party, which Shinawatra, who led that gov- “We lost everything.... there “I congratulate DNT and Corruption, rural poverty, fi nes and up to fi ve years in case for his liberal party. formed the government top- ernment, joined her brother were 20 households in the area, DPT and their candidates youth unemployment and jail. Under a junta-scripted con- pled in 2014, has yet to reveal Thaksin in self-exile last year all on fi re,” the woman said. (on) their outstanding per- the prevalence of criminal But the Future Forward par- stitution anyone convicted of a who its leader will be ahead of just before a court found her A police offi cer said they formance,” Tobgay posted on gangs remain challenges for ty said it would continue its criminal off ence is banned from the polls. guilty of criminal malfeasance were not yet able to confi rm any Twitter. Bhutan’s economy. campaigning before its formal running as a lawmaker. Former premier Yingluck during her time in offi ce. casualties as they battled the inferno. Big blazes are relatively com- Cambodian farmer mon in Vietnam, where fi re pre- vention and fi refi ghting services charged for murder remain underdeveloped. (AFP) over sorcery Jailbreakers could be Toddler killed in mudslide A Cambodian farmer is facing life in prison after he allegedly used a heading to Thailand sickle to behead another farmer at Thailand refugee camp who the accused claimed cast AFP Thailand but the authorities Elephant a spell on him and made him ill, Yangon here are trying to recapture local media reported yesterday. them by blocking possible AFP ing,” he said, adding that side world and has in recent Chin Chun, 54, was charged with escape routes.” Bangkok the mudslide wiped out 12 years been eclipsed by the Ro- kills woman premeditated murder at the More than 30 inmates on the The prisoners escaped after pulling houses. hingya crisis on the other side Kampong Speu Provincial Court run after a Myanmar jailbreak the driver down from a garbage “There are 11 people with of the country. on Sunday after allegedly killing may try to cross into Thailand, truck and then crashing through two-year-old girl has minor injuries and a two- Myanmar’s leader Aung in Nepal Hem Yim, 66, on Friday morning, an off icial said yesterday, a day the gates, leaving them wrenched died and seven others year-old girl died,” he said. San Suu Kyi, has made it a the Khmer Times reported. after they hijacked a garbage off their hinges. Aremain missing after Mae La Oon is just 3km priority to bring peace to the wild elephant killed a Police said Chun was caught truck and ploughed through The getaway vehicle was found a mudslide at a refugee camp from the Thai-Myanmar bor- country’s restive border areas 23-year-old woman as by villagers and turned over to the prison gates. later on Sunday stuck in the in northern Thailand near the der, one of the most remote of and has pressed rebel groups Ashe made her way home authorities shortly after beheading The fugitives broke out of Hpa- mud some 200km away by Myanmar border, police said the numerous refugee camps to join a faltering ceasefi re near a wildlife reserve in south- the victim, the Times reported. An jail in the country’s eastern road towards the Thai border, yesterday. lining the jungle-covered accord. central Nepal, local police said Yim’s wife Sorn Suth, 56, denied Karen state - which borders said state-run paper The Global The camp in Mae Hong frontier. Two more groups yesterday. the accusations of sorcery, Thailand - on Sunday morning. New Light of Myanmar. Son province is home to Many families have lived signed up earlier this year The woman was returning according to a police report cited State media said 10 of the 41 The report said the ringleader around 10,000 people from in the border camps for dec- but fi ghting continues from an eatery that she ran in by the Times. escapees had been recaptured was serving a life prison term Myanmar’s ethnic Karen ades, victims of a civil war in many areas where the the village of Thori on Sunday Suth said that on Friday her while police are scouring without parole for “drug group, forced to fl ee a con- that has rumbled on since ceasefi re is supposed to evening when the animal fatally husband went outside to light a nearby villages for those still traff icking, illegal possession of fl ict that has festered for Myanmar gained independ- be in eff ect, while other trampled her, police offi cer Satya fire for cooking. at large. arms and attempted murder”. decades between rebels and ence from colonial power rebel groups refuse to Narayan Thapa said. “While I was sitting in the house, The jailbreak has left villagers In total, 29 of the 41 prisoners the military. Britain. participate. The elephant had ventured out of I heard the sound of a beating near the prison scared, local had been sentenced while 12 Heavy monsoon rains The Karen National Union Thailand is expected to the Parsa Wildlife Reserve, a habitat and my husband’s cries for help,” off icial Khin Thet Mar said. were still facing trial, Khin Thet in the mountains sur- has offi cially signed a peace face three more days of for wild animals such as rare tigers, Suth told authorities. “When I “(The escaped prisoners) don’t Mar confirmed. rounding Mae La Oon deal with Myanmar’s govern- heavy rain as the tail of leopards and Indian bison. went outside, I saw the accused have anything to eat or money Archive photographs of the camp caused the disas- ment but its armed wing is deadly Typhoon Mangkhut Confl ict between wild animals running away with a sickle in to use so people think they prison, which holds around ter late on Sunday, Thai still locked in what is one of whips the country, after and humans has proliferated his hand and my husband’s might threaten them to get 2,000 prisoners, showed a Police Colonel Kantapat the world’s longest-running killing scores in the Philip- in recent years in Nepal, rais- beheaded body on the ground.” what they need,” she said. large sign in English on the Netipitchayapong said. civil wars. pines and causing wide- ing concerns about the safety Chun was jailed pending his “They might have fled to outside reading “Kind but Firm”. “The authorities are still But the insurgency has of- spread havoc in Hong Kong of people living near protected trial. (DPA) looking for the seven miss- ten been forgotten by the out- and China. areas. (DPA) Gulf Times 10 Tuesday, September 18, 2018 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA

Duterte again vows to shut mines after Frantic search for Philippine deadly landslides Philippine former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte repeated his call yesterday to shut all general jailed over mines in the country following deadly landslides, hours after his minister victims of typhoon landslide halted all small-scale mining in a activists’ abduction mountainous gold-rich region. “If I were to try to do my thing I will close AFP better if we have heavy equip- all mining in the Philippines,” he said, AFP of the earth at any cost,” the court Itogon, Philippines ment ... but it’s not possible presiding over a televised meeting of Manila ruling said. because the path going down is the government’s disaster response Palparan denied the charges, only wide enough for people to team two days after a powerful calling the judge “stupid” as the hilippine rescuers used pass.” typhoon struck. retired Philippine army verdict was read yesterday. shovels and bare hands Residents of the remote Duterte has often criticised general was sentenced A government commission Pto claw through mounds town, in the Cordillera range the mining industry, saying the Ayesterday to decades be- which investigated political kill- of rocky soil yesterday in a des- about 200km north of Manila, environmental damage far outweighs hind bars over the 2006 disap- ings said in 2007 that Palparan perate search for dozens feared had sought refuge in the old any benefit to the economy. pearance of two activists, hailed was a key suspect in murders of buried under a landslide un- bunkhouse to avoid the wrath His latest comments followed an by campaigners as a rare case of a people deemed “enemies of the leashed by Typhoon Mangkhut. of Mangkhut. The two-storey order earlier by Environment and top offi cial being held to account. state”. He went into hiding in Searchers have already pulled 11 structure was abandoned by a Natural Resources Secretary Roy Jovito Palparan, dubbed “The 2011 after being charged in the bodies from the vast debris fi eld gold mining fi rm in an area that Cimatu to stop all small-scale mining Butcher” by leftist groups for his case of the two activists, but was in Itogon in the disaster-prone has since been settled by small- in the Cordillera region, where brutal anti-insurgency tactics arrested in 2014. nation’s north. Dozens may still time miners, the mayor said. landslides killed 24 people. “We against communist guerillas, The military has been accused be buried, with little hope they Black body bags were lined up have a problem with our mining was convicted of kidnapping and of carrying out extra-judicial have survived. at a tent on a nearby road above industry. It has not contributed handed a minimum term of 20 killings of opponents. Tearful families surrounded the bunkhouse. anything substantial to the national years by a court in Bulacan prov- The 49-year communist re- a white board bearing names of Landslides and fl ooding economy,” Duterte said. Shortly ince just north of Manila. bellion in the largely Catholic the dead and missing as others elsewhere in the Philippines after he assumed off ice in 2016, he Palparan and three other ex- nation is one of Asia’s longest- inspected recovered bodies for A miner takes part in a search for fellow miners missing after a forced nearly 200,000 people warned all miners to follow tighter military offi cers were accused of running insurgencies and has signs these could be their loved landslide caused by Typhoon Mangkhut at a small-scale mining to fl ee their homes, according environmental rules or to shut down, abducting two female university claimed 30,000 lives by the gov- ones, more than 48 hours since camp in Itogon, Benguet, Philippines. to a police tally. saying the nation could survive students in 2006, on the suspi- ernment’s count. Yesterday, Hu- the typhoon hit the north of the Weeks of heavy monsoon without a mining industry. cion they were linked to commu- man Rights Watch said Palparan’s country’s main island of Luzon. dead,” he said. A hillside weak- landslide left a gaping gash in downpours had already left Mining accounts for less than 1% nist groups. The women remain conviction dealt a “big blow” to “We’re relieved that it’s not ened by the monster storm’s a green hillside studded with hillsides unstable in the re- of the country’s gross domestic missing. The court ruled that the nation’s infamous “culture of him,” Joan Catteg, 42, told AFP lashing rains collapsed on the small homes topped with rust- gion. Crescencio Bacalso, the product, although only 3% of the witness testimonies that the two impunity” in which powerful fi g- referring to her missing cousin miners’ bunkhouse about half a ing metal roofs. With dam- governor of Benguet province 9mn hectares identified by the state students were seen in a military ures can commit crimes without Harvey, a miner in the area. “He kilometre below. Mangkhut, the aged roads preventing the use that includes Itogon, also cited as having high mineral reserves camp being tortured were “cred- fear of punishment. was at the bunkhouse during world’s most powerful storm of heavy equipment, soldiers, a tragic case in Baguio, the re- is being mined. Mining has been a ible”. One witness said the wom- Cristina Palabay, secretary- Typhoon Mangkhut. He texted this year, pounded the Philip- police and miners used shov- gion’s largest city, where small- contentious issue in the Philippines, en told him they were raped. general of rights group Kara- his wife not to worry. He said pines at the weekend with tor- els and channelled water from scale miners were helping to the world’s No 2 nickel ore supplier Human rights groups accuse patan, said the conviction was a nothing bad will happen to him rential rain and violent winds a nearby stream to loosen the fi nd a woman whose house had after Indonesia, due to cases of Palparan of being behind the kill- warning to security offi cers over and that once the rain stops, that snapped utility poles and earth. been buried. environmental mismanagement. ing of leftists when he was a top President Rodrigo Duterte’s war he will go up. But he hasn’t re- sheared roofs off homes. It was excruciatingly slow “Unfortunately, there was The government estimates that military offi cer battling commu- on drugs, which has killed thou- turned until now.” Authorities say 65 are con- work, with rescuers having to a second collapse and the re- 60-70% of small-scale miners in the nist guerrillas in rural areas of the sands. “It sends a strong mes- Itogon Mayor Victorio Pal- fi rmed dead, mostly buried in hike down the mountain for sponders themselves became country operate illegally, many of them impoverished archipelago, under sage to men in uniform that they angdan said there were an es- landslides. Hundreds of res- an hour before getting to the victims of a landslide. Six of digging for gold, silver and chromite. former President Gloria Arroyo. can’t do as they please. So with timated 40 to 50 people in the cuers in rows formed a human site. “In the morning, the sun them managed to crawl out but Cimatu said he was also revoking “He was one with his men in the Duterte essentially doing a Pal- area during the landslide. “We chain to pass rocks, debris and is too hot, the soil is dry, mak- two others are missing,” Ba- temporary mining permits given to 10 desire to stamp out the enemies paran 2.0, I fear the possibility of believe that those people there, tree trunks out of the search ing it hard to dig,” rescuer Al- calso said. associations in the Cordillera region in of the state... who they believe him pardoning (Palparan),” Pala- maybe 99 percent, are already area in Itogon. The massive lan Drilon told AFP. “It will be the wake of the landslides. deserve to be erased from the face bay told AFP. Massive clean-up in Hong Kong after typhoon chaos

AFP task of cleaning up the city be- Hong Kong gan as residents, some in suits and ties, struggled to get back to work on roads that remained ong Kong began a mas- blocked by felled trees, mud and A woman walks along a road past trees that were sturck down by Typhoon Mangkhut in Hong Kong. sive clean-up yesterday debris. Bus services were halted Hafter Typhoon Mang- and commuters piled onto plat- and pebbles from the sea cov- shut down for the fi rst time in its and drawing accusations the city khut raked the city, shredding forms trying to board infrequent ered parkland along the coast- history as the storm approached. was ill-prepared. In the city of trees and bringing damaging trains after trees fell on overhead line which had been battered by They opened again yesterday but Zhuhai in Guangdong, a stone’s fl oods in a trail of destruction power lines. Schools will remain waves. Low-lying fi shing villag- Macau was still in recovery mode throw from Macau, volunteers that left dozens dead in the Phil- closed today. es were also badly aff ected after after severe fl ooding hit parts and police pulled fallen trees and ippines and millions evacuated Landslides and severe fl ood- seawater swept through. of the city, forcing emergency debris off highways. in southern China. ing aff ected some areas, with Streets in the seaside village workers to rescue people from “I think it will take us three After tearing through Luzon over 1,500 residents seeking ref- of Lei Yue Mun were covered shops and homes using boats or four days before it gets back and pummelling Hong Kong uge in temporary shelters over- in debris and glass as residents and jetskis. Yesterday morn- to normal,” said Zhang, a police and Macau, the storm made night. picked their way through. The ing, shopkeepers in Macau were offi cer clearing a road near Nan- landfall in mainland China late The storm, with gusts of more city’s main Victoria Park be- hosing down their stores which shui town. Sunday. It killed four in Guang- than 230km per hour (142mph), came an obstacle course with had been caked in mud after the Rice paddies and banana dong province, including three sent buildings swaying and wa- hundreds of trees down and fl oodwaters receded. plantations along the highway hit by falling trees. Authorities ters surging into homes and many completely uprooted. People were attempting to dry were fl ooded and destroyed, there said they had evacuated A general view shows a harbourside commercial building whose shopping malls in Hong Kong, Emergency teams were saw- out cupboards and electrical ap- while some factories in nearby more than 3mn people and or- windows were blown out by Typhoon Mangkhut in Hong Kong with some roads waist-deep in ing up some of the biggest trees pliances on the streets. The gov- industrial areas suff ered dam- dered tens of thousands of fi sh- yesterday. water. Windows in tower blocks blocking roads and pathways ernment and casinos took extra age. “I was scared. I didn’t dare ing boats back to port before the and skyscrapers were smashed in a clean-up operation that is measures ahead of the storm, go out last night. At one point arrival of what Chinese media Kong, the government described ple injured in Mangkhut, which as people cowered inside. likely to take days. determined to avoid a repeat of the fl ooding was this high,” said dubbed the “King of Storms”. the damage as “severe and exten- triggered the maximum “T10” In the neighbourhood of Heng In the neighbouring gambling Typhoon Hato which battered Zhen Jingli, from Yashao village, In the high-rise city of Hong sive” with more than 300 peo- typhoon alert. The monumental Fa Chuen, thousands of rocks enclave of Macau, all 42 casinos Macau last year, killing 12 people pointing to his waist.

Denuclearisation to top Moon’s summit agenda Denuclearisation will be high on condemned demands for it to Needles found in strawberries the agenda for this week’s inter- give up its weapons unilaterally Korean summit in Pyongyang, as “gangster-like”. South Korean President Moon The dovish South Korean leader Jae-in said yesterday on the — who has gladly taken on the eve of his third meeting with role of a mediator — will try to in two more Australian states North Korean leader Kim close the gap between the US Jong-un. Moon will fly to the and the North, according to North Korean capital today for Moon’s chief of staff Im Jong- Reuters fruit before eating. Queensland the sink prior to preparing the shelves. Australian police the latest stage in a diplomatic seok. Melbourne Police Commissioner Ian Stew- strawberries.” said the contaminated fruit thaw on the peninsula, People look at a picture of the “Through various meetings and art told reporters yesterday that South Australian police appeared to have originated although progress has stalled in summit between South Korean phone calls, President Moon it was unclear if the contamina- meanwhile said that they were at a Queensland-based sup- denuclearisation talks between President Moon Jae-in and has a better understanding eedles have been found tion was the result of a single advising members of the public plier. Queensland is a major Pyongyang and Washington. North Korean leader Kim of what the US is thinking inside strawberries person acting alone or several to check punnets of Mal’s Black strawberry producer in a na- “I’ve confirmed the sincere Jong-un during a photo than Chairman Kim,” Im told Nin two more Austral- people acting independently Label strawberries following a tional industry worth more willingness of both Chairman exhibition to support the reporters. Moon is due to fly ian states, police said yester- and that tracing back through report of a needle found inside than A$130mn ($93.22mn) a Kim Jong-un and President upcoming inter-Korean to New York later this month day, broadening a health scare the complex supply chain was the fruit on Sunday morning. year. Trump on several occasions,” summit, in downtown Seoul. to attend the UN General that has caused supermarkets taking time. “When the fruit was consumed Woolworths Group has re- Moon said during a Cabinet Assembly, where he is expected to recall brands and farmers Consumers in Queensland this morning, a needle was moved all the aff ected brands meeting. Kim backed denuclearisation to meet Trump. to dump fruit amid the peak were the fi rst to report fi nd- found inside one of the straw- from shelves in its supermar- “I plan to hold frank talks of the “Korean peninsula”. But Moon will hold at least two growing season. ing needles embedded inside berries. There were no reported kets, but continues to sell other with Chairman Kim Jong-un no details were agreed and formal meetings with Kim, who One man in the state of West- strawberries. “A member of injuries,” state police said. Po- varieties of the fruit. on ways to find a point of Washington and Pyongyang may make a rare appearance ern Australia and a girl in South the public today presented at lice in both states are investi- Jamie Michael, who is head compromise between the US have sparred since over what at the airport to welcome his Australia reported fi nding nee- York Police Station to report his gating. of the Western Australia demand for denuclearisation that means and how it will be guests, the chief of staff said. dles in their strawberries in the concerns that a needle had been Both of New Zealand’s Strawberry Growers Asso- and the North’s demand for achieved. The US is pressing for The South’s president is also past two days, according to po- in a punnet of strawberries,” the biggest supermarket chains ciation, told the Australian ending hostile relations,” he the North’s “final, fully verified scheduled to attend a concert lice. Western Australian police said decided on Monday to halt Broadcasting Corp that his added. Moon, who met Kim denuclearisation”, while and visit key sites in the North’s Seven brands of strawberries in a statement. Australian strawberry or- farm had dumped strawber- in April and May this year, was Pyongyang is seeking a formal capital with his delegation, in Australia are now believed to “The member of the public ders for now, even though the ries in the peak of the season instrumental in brokering the declaration that the 1950-53 which includes tycoons Lee be contaminated with needles advised he located the needle in country’s Ministry of Primary and that if shoppers stayed historic Singapore summit Korean War is over -- hostilities Jae-yong — the heir to the and pins, according to police his sink after preparing straw- Industries confirmed none of away, some growers would between US President Donald ceased with an armistice rather Samsung group — and the vice reports, prompting warnings berries for his family. He did the contaminated strawberry not be able to afford to plant a Trump and Kim in June, when than a peace treaty. It has chairman of Hyundai Motor. from authorities to slice the not recall the needle being in brands had made it on to shop crop for next year. Gulf Times Tuesday, September 18, 2018 11

BRITAIN

Border detainees ‘could be denied access to lawyer for an hour’

Guardian News and Media will undermine the traditional during border stops have not the rank of superintendent may when facing serious charges. is present, the bill currently only it observed in July. “Following London right to confi dential legal advice been publicised previously par- authorise a delay” in permitting “The idea people could be allows the suspect to consult them this, in some circumstances, a for those stopped at airports and tially because the bill contains so a detainee to consult a solicitor. questioned for an hour before when an offi cer is listening in. person may only consult their so- docks, the organisation which many other complex legal details. The bill also states that, in cer- being able to get legal advice runs “The confi dential nature of licitor in the presence of an offi c- uspects detained at UK represents solicitors throughout Section 23 of part two of the tain circumstances, a detainee’s against all the usual standards of communication between a lawyer er.” It added: “Powers (in the bill) borders may be denied the England and Wales fears. bill explicitly states that anyone right to consult a solicitor is sub- justice. Even after an hour, a sus- and their client has long been af- unjustifi ably interfere with the Sright to consult a lawyer The controversial bill has al- detained in England, Wales or ject to it being “only in the sight pect would have to proactively fi rmed as a fundamental human right to timely and confi dential for up to an hour and offi cers will ready passed through the House Northern Ireland “is entitled … and hearing of a qualifi ed offi cer”. request a solicitor, rather than right.” legal advice, and therefore ulti- be allowed to listen in to private of Commons and has now gone to consult a solicitor as soon as is Christina Blacklaws, the presi- being off ered legal support. Parliament’s joint commit- mately interfere with the right to a consultations under sweeping up to the Lords, where it is likely reasonably practicable, privately dent of the Law Society of Eng- “The government needs to en- tee on human rights (JCHR) has fair trial. These provisions do not new security powers, the Law to be subject to close scrutiny. and at any time”. land and Wales, said: “Every- sure everyone suspected of a crime also pressed the government for comply with the requirement that Society has warned. Powers delaying access to a It then goes on, however, to one under suspicion of a crime is entitled to a solicitor and prop- changes. “There is no right to a the law must contain suffi cient Proposals in the counter-ter- lawyer and permitting police to qualify that basic right by saying should be able to access confi - erly informed of their legal rights.” solicitor if questioned for under safeguards to ensure that powers rorism and border security bill listen in to legal consultations that “a police offi cer of at least dential legal advice, particularly She added: “Even when a solicitor one hour before being detained,” will not be exercised arbitrarily.”

First safe house May warning for child slaves launched on Brexit

Thomson Reuters Foundation London deal angers charity yesterday an- nounced Britain’s fi rst Asafe house for traffi cked children, aiming to tackle the high number of victims who go missing while in the care of au- thorities, who campaigners say Tory right lack a clear strategy to tackle the crime. Guardian News and Media the UK alongside the EU must be “What we’ve done is listen to As many as two-thirds of all London based on an advanced FTA (free- the people of Northern Ireland traffi cked children rescued and trade agreement), plus a range of … They don’t want a hard border placed in local care — from fos- agreements.” between Northern Ireland and Ire- ter families to care homes — go heresa May has insisted Jacob Rees-Mogg, the ERG land. The only proposal that has missing within the fi rst three the only alternative to her chairman, backed Baker. He told been put forward that delivers on days, often due to mistrust in TChequers plan is crash- LBC radio May was wrong to ar- them not having that hard border, authorities and fear of their traf- ing out of the EU with no deal, gue the only options available to and ensures that we don’t carve up fi ckers, campaign groups say. prompting her critics on the right parliament this autumn would the United Kingdom, is the Cheq- The Unseen Children’s House of the Conservative party to say be accepting Chequers or leaving uers plan.” has around-the-clock care she risks a “car crash” if she sticks without a deal. Johnson had written in his Dai- and security features includ- to her policy. “The prime minister’s argu- ly Telegraph column that Brexit ing CCTV cameras, panic but- The prime minister told the BBC ment on the radio yesterday would be “a total write-off ” unless tons and a mobile phone ban to yesterday she was confi dent of morning was that it was either her May ripped up her plans for the stop children running away, said getting a deal based on Chequers, plan or WTO terms, in which case Irish border. He said the backstop, Andrew Wallis, chief executive whereby the UK would agree to WTO terms would be much bet- which would keep Northern Ire- of leading anti-slavery charity sign up to a “common rulebook” ter,” he said. land in the customs union and sin- Unseen. for food and goods, which is deeply “The only reason we have got gle market if no other agreement “Amid criticism last week unpopular with hard Brexiters. the Chequers plan is because she could be reached, was “being used that traffi cked children are being May said she would then put the didn’t put forward a better one. It’s to coerce the UK into becoming a failed and going missing from anticipated exit agreement to par- not this simple either/or case.” vassal state of Brussels”. care at an unacceptable rate, liament for MPs to endorse, prob- But when May was asked what But No 10 delivered a sharp Unseen is taking positive practi- ably in November, and insisted would happen if parliament re- rebuke to Johnson. “I think it is cal action and piloting this inno- there would be no alternative other jected the agreement she expects worth pointing out that Boris vative project with Home Offi ce than ‘no deal’. to secure with Brussels, she said: Johnson was a member of the support,” Wallis said. Asked by Nick Robinson on “Do you really think the European Cabinet which agreed to the De- Britain’s anti-child traffi ck- BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Union is going to give a better deal cember joint report, including ing eff orts are fragmented and whether she was saying “my deal at that point?” the backstop. At the time he con- victims lack specialist care at a or no deal”, May said: “I believe we The prime minister will visit gratulated the prime minister for time when a record number of will get a good deal. We will bring Salzburg tomorrow and Thursday her determination in securing the child slaves are being uncovered, that back from the EU negotia- to attend an informal EU council deal,” May’s offi cial spokesman the Anti-Traffi cking Monitoring tions and put that to parliament. of leaders, where she will canvass said. May had earlier told the BBC Group, a coalition of charities, I think that the alternative to that support for her Chequers plan the options put forward by the EU said last week. will be not having a deal.” over dinner on the fi rst night of the for Brexit were unacceptable. At least 2,118 children sus- Tory MPs in the hard Brexit summit. It will be a critical test of “The European Union had ba- pected to have been trafficked European Research Group (ERG) the credibility of the proposals with sically put two off ers on the table. — from girls being sexually were quick to voice their objec- EU leaders, a week-and-a-half be- Either the UK stays in the single abused and gangs using young tions. Steve Baker, who resigned as fore the Conservative conference. market and the customs union – people as drug mules — were a junior Brexit minister over Cheq- May also dismissed alternative eff ectively in the EU – that would referred to the government uers, said he agreed with a column plans for the Irish border, includ- have betrayed the vote of the Brit- last year, up 66% on 2016 and by Boris Johnson in the Daily Tel- ing the one put forward last week ish people,” she said. “Or, on the the highest annual number on egraph and the UK should instead by the ERG. other side, a basic free trade agree- record. aim for a Canada-style free trade “What many of these other ment but carving Northern Ireland “There are no commonly agreement. plans are based on is moving the out and eff ectively keeping North- agreed safety and protection Baker began by quoting John- border. You don’t solve the issue ern Ireland in the European Union standards across the UK for the son, saying “if the Brexit nego- of no hard border by having a and Great Britain out. That would placement of children who are tiations continue on this path they hard border 20km inside North- have broken up the United King- suspected or known to be traf- will end, I am afraid, in a spectacu- ern Ireland, or 20km inside Ire- dom, or could have broken up the fi cked,” Bharti Patel, head of the Prime Minister Theresa May greets Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat outside 10 Downing Street in lar political car crash,” and he went land. It is still a hard border,” the UK. Both of those were unaccept- charity ECPAT UK, said. central London yesterday ahead of their meeting. on: “He’s right. The future for prime minister said. able to the UK.”

Restaurant incident not Clegg raps call for party novichok linked: police apology on coalition role AFP ing that the events were no longer London being treated as a major incident but enquiries were ongoing. Guardian News and Media LibDems feel they’re fi nally be- leader or indeed join the party. It was in Salisbury in March London ing heard on Brexit. “Today I speak to you as a here is “nothing to sug- that Russian double agent Sergei “There is this narrative hung friend and someone who feels a gest” that novichok Skripal and his daughter Yulia round the LibDem party’s neck, bond with you on many issues, Tcaused two people to fall ill were poisoned with novichok, a ick Clegg has said the which is just false, that we sold but may I say straight away, par- in the town where a Russian ex- powerful nerve agent created in LibDems should stop our soul, merrily went along with ticularly for the benefi t of the spy and his daughter were poi- the Soviet Union. Napologising for their time a savage, ideological approach to journalists here in this hall who soned by the deadly nerve agent, Britain has accused Russia in coalition, in a sideswipe at the austerity which deliberately pe- have been doing a great deal of police said yesterday. of orchestrating that attack, a future leadership favourite Jo nalised the poor. It is simply not speculating lately, I am not ad- Parts of Salisbury were sealed charge Moscow has denied. Swinson’s demand that the party true.” dressing you as your leader-in- off and a hazardous area response Skripal and his daughter sur- “own its failures”. Swinson, the party’s deputy waiting,” she said. team was called to the scene af- vived, but a couple, Dawn Stur- Speaking at the party’s an- leader who was a business minis- “Truth be told, I am not a ter the pair became unwell at gess and Charlie Rowley, came nual conference in Brighton, the ter in the coalition, said the party member of your party, or indeed an Italian restaurant on Sunday into contact with the same nerve former deputy prime minister had to “own the failures” of the any party now, but I want, all the evening. agent in a town near Salisbury said: “One of the golden rules of time in government, citing the same, to see the Liberal Demo- “Due to recent events in the months later and Sturgess, 44, politics is, don’t say stuff that re- bedroom tax and hostile immi- crats thrive, because in a healthy city and concerns that the pair died in hospital. inforces your opponent.” gration environment as regretta- democracy we need a strong had been exposed to an unknown Earlier this month British “We went into coalition eight ble policies. “When they fought third party, every bit as much substance, a highly precaution- prosecutors identifi ed two Rus- years ago, there is something dirty, we were too nice,” she said. as we need a strong opposition, ary approach was taken by all sians they said were operat- quite LibDem about still thinking The main draw on the confer- and, for that matter, a strong emergency services,” Wiltshire ing under aliases — Alexander about the things we did or didn’t ence fl oor yesterday was anti- government and a strong prime Police said in a statement. Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov — feel comfortable with when we Brexit campaigner Gina Miller, minister.” “We can now confi rm that whom they accused of trying to entered into government so long tipped as a potential future lead- Speaking to journalists after- there is nothing to suggest that murder the Skripals with a mili- ago,” he said. er of the party if reforms allow- wards, Miller expressed irrita- novichok is the substance.” tary-grade nerve agent. Clegg said he did not believe ing non-MPs to stand are voted tion that she is often portrayed Police said the couple, a man in Britain charged the two men in mea culpas to be election-win- through. as wanting to “stop Brexit”. She his 40s and a woman in her 30s, absentia with attempted murder, ning strategies. However, the businesswom- said: “I wish you would all stop were assessed in hospital where and said the suspects were mili- “In the end, you have to give a an, who led the legal fi ght for a saying this, you know, it’s re- they remained under observation. tary intelligence offi cers almost clear message; are you basically parliamentary vote on Article ally not helpful: stop saying ‘stop It was unclear if any crime had certainly acting on orders from proud of who you are, or not? 50, said she would not stand for Brexit’.” Clegg: cautions LibDems been committed, police said, add- high up in the Russian state. Gulf Times 12 Tuesday, September 18, 2018 BRITAIN School suspends pupils for ‘beating boys with cricket bat’

Daily Mail by sixth-form bullies in dormito- 1,240 pupils, took action after a tacks – only to be told it was a mat- told how a bully called Flashman was all going on, with a few victims handler. We were told we needed London ries at £39,000-a-year Millfi eld boy called Tok made two record- ter for the school. Tok, 14, had ear- mercilessly ‘roasted’ pupils on an asking things like “Why are you full names of the abusers. My son School. ings on September 8 and sent them lier told his parents of cruel practices open fi re at Rugby private school. doing this?”. didn’t know their names because it They were ordered to bend over to his mother Erica Charles, 49, such as bed-fl ipping, where boys are She said: “The Upper Sixth boys “You could hear the whacking was the start of a new term. n elite private school has before being given a ‘choice’ of two and father Ian, 52. His parents im- suddenly sprung off mattresses. went to each Year 10 bedroom and the odd thing like “Put a towel “She then told me that the po- suspended two pupils lashes over their clothes or one on mediately removed him from the There were also rumours of gathering them up with a whole in his mouth”. It was grotesque. lice wouldn’t get involved because Aover claims they beat nine bare skin, according to a secret au- school and reported the 11-minute ‘fi ght nights’, where older boys crowd following. They were given Out of 12 Year 10 pupils, we believe the school was dealing with it. I younger boys with a cricket bat dio recording of the abuse. One of recordings to the headmaster force younger pupils to attack each a choice of being hit once on the nine were whipped, with three asked “Isn’t this physical assault and belt in a twisted initiation the nine victims said he could not Gavin Horgan. other. Ericas, managing director of bare backside or twice with clothes new boys left out – Tok was one of bordering on a serious criminal of- ceremony. sleep because of the pain while an- Erica, a mother-of-three from a renewable energy fi rm, compared on. them. fence?. But she was very curt and Year 10 pupils, aged 14, are said other woke up to bloodied sheets. Reading, Berkshire, told the Mail she the bullying to the Victorian novel “On the recordings you heard “After I heard the recording, I simply said the school is dealing to have been hit on their backsides The Somerset school, which has called police on 101 to report the at- Tom Brown’s School Days, which a lot of the older boys jeering as it called 101 and spoke to a female call with it”. UBS trader gets last-minute reprieve from deportation

Guardian News and Media removal centre near Heathrow London airport within days, and released on bail until the outcome of the judicial review which could take weku Adoboli, the banker several months. convicted of the UK’s Adoboli’s lawyer, Jacqui Mc- Kbiggest fraud, was yester- Kenzie, said: “Common sense has day given a last-minute reprieve broken out: sending a 38-year-old from deportation when a judge man to a country where he has not awarded a judicial review of his lived since the age of four was al- case. ways madness, given that he has Adoboli, 38, was found guilty lived in Britain since the age of 12 in 2012 of fraud that lost his em- and the UK is where his friends ployer UBS £1.8bn, and was due and partner live and where his to be deported to Ghana today. He family life is based. It is – unques- was facing deportation because he tionably – his home. Let’s hope had never got round to applying that will be the judgment, as and for British citizenship despite liv- when it is made.” Hannah Bardell, ing in the UK since he was 12. Adoboli’s MP who had led a cam- Under UK law, if a foreign na- paign to keep him in the UK, said tional has been sentenced to more on Twitter: “A really incredible Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, poses with women in the Hubb Community Kitchen at the Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre in west London. than four years in jail “the pub- result, we never gave up hope and lic interest requires deportation we’ll keep fi ghting!” unless there are very compelling In explaining her decision circumstances”. Adoboli, who left not to intervene to prevent the Ghana when he was four-years- deportation, Nokes said: “Al- old, was sentenced to seven years though Adoboli’s off ence was and served half of that time. not one of violence, he commit- Adoboli’s deportation was all- ted a serious off ence and this but sealed earlier yesterday when was refl ected in the length of his Meghan backs Grenfell the Immigration Minister, Caro- sentence. Financial crime, like line Nokes, refused to intervene all crime, has an impact on the to review the deportation order society that we live in and the despite appeals from 132 MPs and public expects robust action to a petition signed by more than be taken against foreign nation- 73,000 people. Nokes said the de- als who abuse our hospitality by cision to deport Adoboli had been committing crime. community cookbook “upheld independently, at several “After consideration of all the stages, by the courts” and it would individual circumstances of his Reuters The new book, “Together: versal need to connect, nurture, they could use the kitchen there The duchess is photographed be inappropriate for her to act. case, the Home Offi ce was satis- London Our Community Cookbook”, a and commune through food, and the Hubb project — hubb on the front of the of the book With the hours ticking down to fi ed that Adoboli’s case does not collection of 50 recipes from the through crisis or joy — some- means love in Arabic — arose helping out and Mahmud said his deportation, Adoboli’s law- meet any of the exceptions in the diverse users of the communal thing we can all relate to.” out of it. the royal had been happy to join yers submitted an application for 2007 (Borders) Act and a depor- eghan Markle, the kitchen at the Al Manaar Mus- Meghan’s support for the “Last summer, we were in. a judicial review of his case in one tation order was served on him Duchess of Sussex, lim Cultural Heritage Centre, project is her fi rst solo venture placed in a hotel and I had no “She wore an apron,” she fi nal last-ditch attempt to prevent on July 22, 2014. The decision Mhas lent her backing to will be used to allow the project since becoming a member of kitchen to cook for my family,” wrote. “I can’t believe I made the former banker’s “banish- to deport him has been upheld a new charity cookbook to help to expand and open for up to the royal family after marry- Mahmud wrote. “It was very her wash rice! After we said ment” from his friends and family independently, at several stages, funds for a community cook- seven days a week. ing Queen Elizabeth’s grandson emotional for me to get in the that we could only use the in the UK. by the courts. His application to ing project set up in the wake “I immediately felt connected Prince Harry in May. kitchen. The moment I started kitchen twice a week due to Adoboli had already had an ap- appeal to the court of appeal was of London’s Grenfell Tower fi re to this community kitchen; it The Grenfell fi re was Brit- cooking I was in tears. funding, she mentioned, ‘How plication for judicial review re- dismissed on June 28, 2018 and disaster in which killed 71 peo- is a place for women to laugh, ain’s deadliest fi re on domestic I didn’t know why though. I about sharing your recipes jected by the courts, and his law- on August 13 his application for ple. grieve, cry and cook together,” premises since World War II and was just excited to be back in the with other people?’. And that’s yers were not confi dent the fi nal a judicial review was refused.” The Hubb Community Meghan, who fi rst visited the there was criticism that the au- kitchen again. how it happened.” attempt – made on public inter- Nokes said the government was Project was created last summer kitchen in January and has made thorities were slow to provide “Word started to spread — Meghan will host an event at est grounds – would succeed. But “committed to a fair and humane by women seeking somewhere other private visits since, wrote new permanent accommoda- the mums from my son’s school Kensington Palace, where her just hours later a judge granted the immigration policy” and reject- to cook fresh food for their in a foreword. tion for many of the survivors. came along and they told their home with Harry is located, appeal for judicial review and in- ed the suggestion that Adoboli’s families and friends following “Melding cultural identities One of the contributors to friends, too. Soon there were on September 20 to launch the junction against deportation. treatment was similar to that of the blaze which engulfed the under a shared roof, it creates a the book, Munira Mahmud, 34, women from diff erent cultures cookbook with the Royal Foun- Adoboli’s lawyers expected him the Windrush generation of im- 24-storey social housing block space to feel a sense of normalcy said she and her friends had all cooking, swapping recipes, dation administering proceeds to be freed from an immigration migrants. in west London. — in its simplest form, the uni- approached Al Manaar to ask if talking and laughing together.” from sales to the Hubb project.

Soaking up the sun Man accused Plan to shift statue of of killing wife

Guardian News and Media ones where Hellmann is said to Pankhurst ditched London have discussed rows over a moot- ed move to Australia, their dire fi nances and the raising of their Guardian News and Media statue of Millicent Fawcett erected and open to the public 24 hours a British sailor murdered daughter. He argued they show the London in Parliament Square, called the day. his wife and deliberately pair were “consistently” rowing, proposed move “an act of van- Criado Perez said: “(Thorne) Asank their catamaran in with “potentially one of the argu- dalism against women’s history”. has hopefully listened to the con- the Caribbean to inherit her es- ments ultimately resulting in the proposal to move the stat- The planning application received cerns of people who are saying it’s tate, prosecutors in the US have murder of Hellmann”. ue of the suff ragette Em- more than 890 comments, almost really not a good idea to just tram- alleged. “Hellmann’s murder would re- Ameline Pankhurst from all of which were critical. ple all over women’s history and Lewis Bennett, of Poole, Dorset, move the marital strife from the near the Houses of Parliament to Westminster city council con- the wishes of the suff ragettes. I was smuggling rare stolen coins defendant’s life, allow the defend- the private Regent’s University fi rmed yesterday that the applica- hope that this is the end to moving when he was rescued alone off the ant to live his life as he pleased, London in Regent’s Park has been tion had been withdrawn. the Emmeline Pankhurst statue coast of Cuba without his wife Isa- and would enable him to inherit withdrawn after widespread an- Welcoming the decision, Criado from where she belongs.” bella Hellmann in May 2017. money from Hellmann’s estate, all ger. Perez said: “It did come as a huge Lucy Peck of the Thorney Island Hellmann’s body has not been of which provide strong circum- The statue, funded by suff ra- surprise, but I’m absolutely de- Society, a conservation group, found and the Federal Bureau of stantial proof that the defendant gettes, was unveiled in Victoria lighted. It was incredibly clear, you said: “We think this is the right de- Investigation (FBI) have charged had a strong motive to murder Tower Gardens near the House of just had to take a brief look at the cision. The location of the statue Bennett with her murder. Hellmann,” Greenberg continued. Lords by the former prime minis- history of the statue to realise that there, next to parliament, is the Court papers fi led in the US this If Hellmann is declared to be ter Stanley Baldwin in 1930. It was the location was incredibly signifi - correct place. We are in sympathy week alleged that Hellmann’s fam- dead – as Bennett, 41, has re- later moved to its current location. cant. “It was a location specifi cally with the feeling that the sculpture ily bugged her apartment in Delray quested – he would inherit her The Emmeline Pankhurst Trust, chosen by the suff ragettes. I felt was ignored and overshadowed in Beach, Florida, to listen to Ben- apartment and the contents of her a non-profi t group led by the very strongly that their wishes its present location, but that can nett’s conversations because they bank account. former Conservative MP Sir Neil should be respected and that it be easily remedied by attention to suspected him in her disappear- Prosecutors also alleged she Thorne, submitted a proposal in was completely wrong to move the the planting around it.” ance. The newlyweds were sailing may have discovered he was in July to “carefully dismantle” the statue to the grounds of a private Alison McGovern, the chair- towards their home in America possession of the gold and silver existing statue and move it else- college.” woman of the House of Commons last year when Bennett made an coins stolen from his former em- where. The planning application The outrage over the applica- works of art committee, said: “I SOS call saying the 41-year-old ployer in St Maarten – action that described the current location as tion surprised Thorne. He told the am delighted that the statue of former estate agent was missing could have made her an accom- somewhat hidden. Telegraph the proposed new site Emmeline Pankhurst will remain and the vessel was sinking. plice in the crime. The proposal resulted in a back- would place the statue in a more in its rightful place outside parlia- A man enjoys the sunshine whilst relaxing in a Prosecutor Benjamin Greenberg This “potentially led to an in- lash. Caroline Criado Perez, who prominent location. The grounds ment, the place she campaigned deckchair in a central London park yesterday. asked a Florida judge to admit into tense argument resulting in Hell- led a successful campaign to have a of the private college are fl oodlit for women to enter”. evidence conversations with loved mann’s murder”, Greenberg wrote. Gulf Times Tuesday, September 18, 2018 13 EUROPE Russian Communists protest ‘rigged’ poll

Reuters Galina, a 44-year-old state der pressure from plans to raise win in the fi rst round in the Pri- authorities that we are the power Vladisvostok, Russia employee, said she was not a the pension age. morsky Region, which includes here, that we decide what hap- supporter of the Communists, The president met Tarasenko, the Pacifi c port of Vladivostok, pens.” but had gone to vote for the fi rst who is formally an independ- 6,400km (4,000 miles) east of Ishchenko had earlier said he undreds of Russian Com- time in 10 years – for their candi- ent but is widely seen as the rul- Moscow. would go on hunger strike until munist Party supporters date Andrei Ishchenko – because ing United Russia’s candidate, That, and three other revers- the result was annulled. Htook to the central square she wanted change. a week ago, ahead of Sunday’s als in elections to select regional The crowd, some of whom of Vladivostok yesterday to pro- “What’s the point of voting if second round, and told him that governors, amounted to the were waving red Communist test against what they said was everything has already been de- “everything will be OK”, accord- worst showing for Kremlin- Party fl ags with the hammer and the brazen rigging of a regional cided for us?” she said, declining ing to a Kremlin transcript of the backed candidates since 2012. sickle, booed United Russia and election in favour of a politician to give her surname. meeting. Though there is no immedi- shouted for Tarasenko to step backed by President Vladimir Gennady Zyuganov, the veter- The comment was widely seen ate threat to the United Russia down. Putin. an leader of the Communist Par- as a personal endorsement of party’s grip on power, it suggests United Russia accused the With just under 99% of votes ty, called the situation “criminal Tarasenko, whom Putin appoint- growing discontent over living Communists of buying votes counted on Sunday night, Krem- lawlessness” and said planned ed acting governor last year. standards. during the campaign, something lin-backed incumbent Andrei nationwide protests by his party Ella Pamfi lova, head of the Ishchenko told a crowd of the Communists deny. Tarasenko was trailing his Com- on Saturday would make the central election commission, told hundreds of people in central Standing outside local gov- munist rival by over two percent- rigged election one of their cen- Ekho Moskvy radio her offi cials Vladivostok yesterday that the ernment headquarters yesterday age points. tral issues. were analysing the vote and that vote count had been rigged, and to protest, Viktoria, a 29-year- But yesterday, the election “They stopped the vote count she would send a special com- urged supporters to protest every old businesswoman who voted commission said that Tarasenko for four hours and started stuff - mission to investigate. evening until the result was over- for Ishchenko, said that she had had won by just over one per- ing the ballot boxes using spe- Putin’s spokesman Dmitry turned. started celebrating his win the centage point, with results cial bandit methods,” Zyuganov Peskov told reporters that the “At least 30,000 votes were previous night, then woken up to showing he had received almost told a news briefi ng in Moscow, Kremlin was watching the situ- stolen from us,” he told the a result she had not expected. every one of the almost 20,000 calling the imbroglio “a political ation and would be guided by crowd, saying the results had “After this vote, I feel like a no- fi nal votes counted, an unlikely Chernobyl”. Pamfi lova. been rewritten overnight. “We body. Like I don’t count, some- Supporters of Andrei Ishchenko take part in a rally in the far-eastern turnaround that the Communists The scandal is awkward for Tarasenko failed to pass the shouldn’t stand for it. We have one who doesn’t have the right to city of Vladivostok. called evidence of rigging. Putin whose own ratings are un- 50% threshold for an outright gathered here today to show the vote,” she said. Russia Spain prime minister Erdogan: Turkey will raise releases vows to strip offi cials MH17 of judicial privileges troop numbers in Cyprus

‘proof’ AFP means they can only be tried AFP Some conservative Turk- Madrid by Spain’s Supreme Court, the Istanbul ish media have also reported in country’s top court. recent weeks that Turkey was AFP Spain’s 1978 constitution planning to open a naval base Moscow panish Prime Minister granted the privileges to the urkish President Re- on Cyprus, a move that would Pedro Sanchez has vowed prime minister and a handful cep Tayyip Erdogan has likely deal a terminal blow to any Sto reform the constitu- of other top offi cials but it had Tvowed that Ankara will reunifi cation hopes. ussia has released fresh tion to end judicial privileges been extended over the years increase rather than reduce its But Erdogan said “we have no information to back its enjoyed by politicians, judges, to include judges, public pros- troops numbers in Cyprus, a need to build a base there”, not- Rclaim the missile that royals, and other top offi cials ecutors, police and others. move that could further set back ing that unlike Greece, Turkey downed a Malaysia Airlines which can shield them from Some 250,000 people are attempts to reunify the divided was just “minutes away” from fl ight over war-torn Ukraine in corruption charges. covered by the system, includ- Mediterranean island. the coast of Cyprus. 2014 was fi red by Kyiv’s forces. The Socialist premier said ing fi ve members of Spain’s In comments published in But he appeared to leave the At a briefi ng, the Russian the measure is needed “to re- royal family, the head of Turkish media yesterday, Er- door open to such a move as a defence ministry said it was store people’s confi dence in Spain’s Supreme Court, Carles dogan added that Turkey had no way of making a political state- releasing the BUK missile’s se- politics” in a country which Lesmes, said last year. need for a naval base on Cyprus ment. rial number for the fi rst time and has been rocked by a string of Spain has been fi t by a se- as mooted in some reports but “This issue just has a psy- said that it was produced and corruption scandals. ries of graft scandals aff ecting could establish such a facility if chological dimension. In this sent to Ukraine in the Soviet era Sanchez announced the political parties from across it was necessary from a “psy- Erdogan: No, we are not going to reduce the numbers of our troops. respect, if we felt the need, we and had not been returned to measure which will make it the spectrum, the royal family, chological” point of view. We will increase them, we are not going to decrease them. could establish a base. Our pres- Russia. easier for politicians to be footballers and even unions. “No, we are not going to re- ence there is important,” Erdog- The Dutch-led investigation prosecuted at a Madrid event The anger over graft has led duce the numbers of our troops. UN secretary general Kofi An- third of the island in response an said. of the crash said it would study marking 100 days since he top- to the rise of two new parties, We will increase them, we are nan. to a Greek military junta-spon- There were high hopes at the the information. pled his conservative Popular far-left Podemos and centre- not going to decrease them,” he While Turkish Cypriots were sored coup. beginning of 2017 that UN- Russia has denied any respon- Party predecessor in a no con- right Ciudadanos, which have told Turkish reporters travelling overwhelmingly in favour of Turkey is believed to main- backed talks could clinch a sibility for the shooting-down fi dence vote amid a long-run- vowed to stamp it out. back with him from a trip to Az- the plan, Greek Cypriots voted tain around 35,000 troops in breakthrough in the long-run- of the plane and has presented a ning graft scandal. Sanchez’s Socialist party has erbaijan. against. northern Cyprus, although the ning stalemate on reuniting the number of theories pointing the Under a system of judicial only 84 seats in Spain’s 350- He expressed impatience over “Henceforth we will imple- military does not give offi cial island. fi nger at Kyiv. privileges known as “aforami- seat lower house of parliament, the Cyprus issue, saying that ment the formula that we have fi gures. However, the deadlock has The Boeing 777 fl ying from ento”, Spain’s lawmakers and the smallest number for a gov- “this business would have been declared for ourselves,” said Er- The withdrawal – or drastic not been broken and analysts Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur other top offi cials benefi t from ernment since the country re- solved” if the Greek Cypriots dogan, without elaborating. reduction – of Turkey’s military say rapid progress is unlikely for crashed outside the rebel strong- a system of judicial privileges turned to democracy follow- had backed unifi cation in an Cyprus has been divided presence is seen as key to any the moment as Erdogan reaches hold of Donetsk on July 17, 2014, meant to protect them from ing dictator Francisco Franco’s April 2004 referendum on a plan since the 1974 Turkish invasion, reunifi cation plan being accept- out to the nationalist electorate killing all 298 on board, most of spurious attacks and which death in 1975. put forward by the late former which occupied the northern able to the Greek Cypriot side. in Turkey. them Dutch nationals. The European Union imposed damaging economic sanctions on Russia afterwards, blaming Russian-backed rebels in east- ern Ukraine who shot down a Macron remark sparks Marie-Antoinette jibe Offi cers number of other planes. A top Dutch investigator said his team had concluded that the AFP “We sometimes have to shoot knife plane was shot down by a Rus- Paris refuse customers or groups sian-made BUK missile from a because we don’t have enough Russian military brigade in the workers,” said the maitre d’ attacker southwestern city of Kursk. rench President Em- at La Rotonde, the upmarket The Netherlands and Austral- manuel Macron has restaurant where Macron cel- ia in May directly blamed Russia Fsparked criticism over ebrated winning the fi rst round Reuters for the attack. comments to an unemployed of the presidential election. Brussels “The missile with the serial man deemed insensitive. Declining to give his name, number 886847379 intended for But is it really possible, as he he added however that the res- the BUK missile system on De- claimed, to fi nd a job in a Paris- taurant was selective in its hir- elgian police shot and se- cember 29, 1986 was sent by ian restaurant just by crossing ing. riously wounded a home- rail transport to military unit the street? “We’re looking for serious Bless man who they said number 20152,” said a senior Welcoming the public to the people. They have to want to attacked them with a knife after military offi cial, Nikolai Parshin, presidential palace on Satur- work,” he said. they found him sleeping rough in quoted by RIA Novosti state day as part of an open-doors Jose Vicente, a waiter at the Brussels yesterday. news agency. event, Macron got talking to a nearby Kibaloma cafe, said Prosecutors dismissed any He said that the military unit 25-year-old who said he was “absolutely”, restaurant jobs terrorist motive on the part of referred to was based in Ukraine, having no luck fi nding work as were available, although con- the man, who they identifi ed as a then a Soviet republic, adding a gardener. This picture taken on Saturday shows Macron posing for a ‘wefie’ with visitors, who were allowed trary to Macron’s words “you Belgian national of Egyptian ori- that this information was classi- “I send resumes and cover access to the Elysee Palace as part of France’s Heritage Days. can’t just cross the road to fi nd gin, and opened investigations fi ed “top secret”. letters, they don’t lead to any- one”. into both the knife attack and the “After the breakup of the So- thing,” he told Macron, in a clip The Liberation daily went ple to move between sectors to surplus of low-skilled jobs in “Not everyone is cut out for police offi cers’ use of a rearm. fi viet Union, it (the missile) was that quickly went viral. so far as to draw a comparison bring joblessness down from its the construction and restaurant it,” said Vicente, who has been Shortly after 9am in an area not brought onto Russian soil Macron advised him to head with the supposed suggestion current rate of 9.1%. industries. waiting tables for 30 years. dominated by government of- and was incorporated into the to the bustling Montparnasse by France’s last queen, Marie- But Liberation accused Ma- Industry offi cials say that Those who turn up looking fi ces, two offi cers used a baton Ukrainian armed forces,” he said. neighbourhood of Paris, saying Antoinette, that if the poor had cron of “a purely technocratic there are up to 100,000 hotel for work are usually aspiring and pepper spray on the man Russia said it had sent the in- he could fi nd a job as a waiter in no bread they should eat cake vision under which if there are and restaurant jobs that need dish-washers – mostly immi- when he pulled the knife after formation on the missile to the the blink of an eye. instead. vacant jobs all you need to do is fi lling in France, and have even grants who “don’t have qualifi - they woke him. Netherlands. “If you’re willing and moti- After several previous head- stick job-seekers in them, re- called on Macron to allow more cations and don’t speak French When he slashed one in the The ministry also said that vated, in hotels, cafes and res- line-grabbing encounters with gardless of their training, their illegal immigrants to cover the properly”, Vicente said. face, the other offi cer shot the video footage used by an inter- taurants, construction, there’s members of the public, includ- situation, or what they want to shortage. The latest controversy man in the chest and leg. national commission investi- not a single place I go where ing telling off a teenager for not do with their lives”. Montparnasse, a commer- comes as Macron’s ratings A third shot missed. gating the incident showing the they don’t say they’re looking calling him “Mr President”, the “Blaming (job-seekers for cial district whose bistrots were have slumped, weighed down The prosecutor’s offi ce said BUK missile being transported for people,” he said. “If I crossed paper advised Macron to stop their unemployment) in the once favoured hangouts for the by a scandal over a former the offi cer was only slightly hurt. into rebel-held eastern Ukraine the street I’d fi nd you one.” “lecturing everyone”. style of Marie-Antoinette, likes of Ernest Hemingway, is bodyguard and with economic The man was rushed to hospi- was faked. The exchange ended with a Elected in May 2017 on a that’s what is weighing this indeed packed with restau- growth set to come in at a low- tal, where he was in a stable con- The Dutch-led Joint Investi- handshake, but provided in- promise to reinvigorate a slug- presidency down,” it conclud- rants. er-than-expected 1.6% this dition by late afternoon but still gation Team (JIT) said yesterday stant ammunition for leftist gish economy, unemployment ed. Many of their managers say year. unable to give evidence. that it had made a request for critics of Macron, a former in- has yet to budge much under Yet some have sprung to Ma- they are chronically short- A Kantar Sofres Onepoint The man was in his early 40s information on serial numbers vestment banker, accusing him Macron’s pro-business poli- cron’s defence over his advice staff ed, suff ering high turnover poll released yesterday found and believed to be homeless, the on missile components in May of being patronising and out of cies. to the gardener, pointing out due to high pressure and unso- only 19% had a positive view of prosecutors added in a state- 2018. touch with ordinary people. He is keen to encourage peo- that France does indeed have a ciable hours. the president. ment. Gulf Times 14 Tuesday, September 18, 2018 INDIA

PEOPLE JUDICIARY INVESTIGATION RESERVATION ODD-EVEN SCHEME Malayalam actor SC rejects Swamy’s Probe against cop for Congress demands quota SC stays NGT order Captain Raju dead plea on Tirumala trust assaulting rickshaw-puller for N Indians in Mumbai on women drivers

Veteran Malayalam actor The Supreme Court yesterday refused to entertain The Delhi police yesterday ordered a vigilance In a significant development, the Mumbai The Supreme Court yesterday stayed the National Captain Raju died yesterday Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian inquiry against a sub-inspector and some other Congress yesterday demanded reservations in Green Tribunal (NGT) order in which it did not at his home in Kochi, family Swamy’s plea to free the Tirumala Tirupati police personnel for mercilessly beating a education and jobs for north Indians belonging to given exemption to two-wheelers and vehicles sources said. He was 68. Devasthanams (TTD) from the control of the Andhra rickshaw-puller, a video of which went viral on diff erent backward classes living there. Mumbai driven by women in the national capital during The actor suff ered stroke Pradesh government but granted him liberty social media. The video shows Sub-Inspector Congress president Sanjay Nirupam met Chief the odd-even vehicle rotation scheme. A bench of while travelling from to approach the high court. Swamy argued that Lalit Kumar assaulting the victim using sticks Minister Devendra Fadnavis and submitted Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta Kochi to the US in June to under the guise of sanction provided in the law to inside a police post in east Delhi’s Anand Vihar. a three-point memorandum, seeking quotas stayed the November 11, 2017 order of the NGT attend his son’s marriage, administer the religious institutions, the Andhra According to the police, a constable made the for north Indian OBCs, SCs and STs, who are after the counsel appearing for Delhi government and was admitted to a Pradesh government had virtually “usurped” the video and posted it on a social networking site. accorded reservations in northern parts of India contended that apart from the two-wheelers, hospital in Muscat. After fundamental religious, administrative and cultural While the victim could be seen crying for help and but not in Maharashtra. “People belonging to they also wanted exemption for vehicles driven a week’s treatment in Muscat, he was brought rights of the Hindu citizens and denominations. requesting the inspector to spare him, a group of multiple castes have migrated from north India by women due to “safety” concern. The NGT back to Kochi on July 2. Raju, hailing from The TTD is an independent trust that manages policemen witnessed the entire incident, without to Mumbai in search of employment. These had directed that the odd-even scheme, which is Pathanamthitta district, resigned from the Indian Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple at Tirumala, Sri raising any objections. “As soon as we came to include people from more than 30 diff erent currently not in force in Delhi, would be applicable Army and started his acting career in 1981. He Padmavathy Temple in Tiruchaanur and 11 other know about this incident, we initiated a vigilance castes like Vishwakarma, Kurmi, Koiri, Pal, Kanojia, for all vehicles as otherwise such a relaxation was often cast as a villain and has featured in temples in Andhra Pradesh, among the richest inquiry against the accused off icer. We are trying Gupta, Chaurasia, Maurya and Rajbhar who have would defeat the purpose of improving Delhi’s character roles and in TV serials. He was last temples in India in terms of annual income and to ascertain the date and time of incident,” Deputy made Maharashtra their homes for over three air quality. Under the scheme, odd and even seen in the Malayalam film Masterpiece. assets, Swamy said. Commissioner of Police Pankaj Kumar Singh said. generations,” Nirupam said. numbered vehicles are to ply on alternate days.

Suspects in gang-rape SC to study remanded in custody veracity of IANS Chandigarh

Haryana court yesterday remanded three men in Apolice custody after they evidence in were arrested for their alleged role in the Rewari gang-rape case. One of them, the main ac- cused Nishu, and Deendayal and Sanjeev Kumar, were earlier presented in a court in Kanina, activists’ case around 350km from here. They will be presented in court again IANS serting that the matter be heard Senior counsel Anand Grover on September 21. New Delhi by a competent court, Addition- asserted that “they (police) have The Special Investigation al Solicitor General Maninder not followed the procedure un- Team (SIT) of the Haryana police Singh said otherwise every mat- der the law”. on Sunday evening announced he Supreme Court yes- ter may start coming to the top Grover said it was no more the arrest of Nishu. SIT chief terday said it will exam- court. a case of strangers moving the Nazneen Bhasin said that raids Tine the veracity of mate- Earlier, Additional Solicitor court as two of the fi ve accused were on to nab two other main rial gathered by police against General Tushar Mehta, appearing have fi led their affi davits in the accused – soldier Pankaj and fi ve rights activists arrested on for Maharashtra, told the court he court. Manish. charges of links with the out- will show the material to demon- Pressing for an “independ- The three main accused alleg- lawed Communist Party of In- strate that the fi ve accused - Sud- ent and comprehensive inquiry”, edly gang-raped a 19-year-old dia-Maoist. ha Bhardwaj, Varavara Rao, Gau- Singhvi said that he wanted woman on September 12. Deen- Ordering the matter to be tam Navlakha, Vernon Gonsalves to show the court some of the dayal is the owner of a room heard tomorrow, a bench of Chief and Arun Ferreira - were arrested shocking material relied upon by where the crime took place in Justice Dipak Misra and Justices not for airing dissent but for “ac- the Maharashtra police to pro- Mahendragarh district. Sanjay A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chan- tivities prejudicial to the interest ceed against the fi ve activists Kumar is the medical practi- drachud said: “First of all, we of the State”. who were arrested on August 28. tioner who treated the victim. must look into the material. We The chief justice said they will Neither of them informed the will see the record, what are the “First of all, we must look have to move a separate petition police although they knew of allegations, and see if there is into the material. We will for an independent probe. the crime. something real. We will quash if see the record, what are the Referring to two FIRs fi led in Police had earlier announced a it is a cooked-up or clumsy story.” allegations, and see if there the case, Singhvi said a part of a reward of Rs100,000 for provid- The interim order of house ar- is something real. We will play by German playwright and ing information on the suspects, rest of the activists will remain quash if it is a cooked-up or poet Bertolt Brecht calling upon all residents of Kanina village. in force till the next hearing to- clumsy story” the people to rise for their rights The victim, who has identifi ed morrow. that was used in Bhima-Kore- her attackers, and her parents The court told senior counsel As the court said that it will gaon event was the foundation earlier accused the police of not Abhishek Manu Singhvi: “We examine the veracity of the ma- of one of the FIRs. taking action. The family alleged are protecting your liberty... terial, Mehta said that fi ve ac- He told the court about the that 8-10 men could be involved your formulation on law, we will cused can’t say thereafter that volte face by the Maharashtra in the gang-rape. hear you on Wednesday.” they have a (judicial) remedy. government, which in response The accused allegedly kid- In the course of the hearing, “They can’t have two remedies. to the fi rst FIR, blamed activists napped the victim from Kanina Chief Justice Misra said: “The Let them withdraw their respec- of a right-wing outfi t for vio- bus stand while she was on her best way to deal with it (is that) tive pleas before diff erent courts, lence on s peaceful Dalit proces- way to her coaching classes on the interim order (of house ar- they can’t have two remedies.” sion at Bhima-Koregaon village Wednesday. rest) will remain. All the cases Singhvi told the court that but in second FIR backtracked She said they gave her sed- will be transferred to one court.” nothing had happened in those on it. ative-laced water to drink and However, this course of ac- petitions ever since the matter Singhvi said that after the gang-raped her in a room in ag- tion was lost as the hearing took came before the top court and Bhima-Koregoan violence on ricultural fi elds till she fell un- a diff erent turn in the course of that hearings on them have been January 1, a committee had sub- conscious. They later dumped arguments by Singhvi. deferred. mitted its inquiry report. The her at a bus stop near her vil- The hearing saw the central Mehta reiterated his objection Pune police did not accept it and lage. government opposing a plea by on how could strangers – Romila later even disowned it. Manish even called up her historian Romila Thapar and ac- Thapar and Maja Daruwala – Describing the evidence as father and told him to pick her tivist Maja Daruwala against the could petition the top court to “fabricated”, Singhvi said the from the bus stand. The victim arrests by contending that Nax- challenge the arrests. police had accused the activists had topped board examina- alism was not just a problem be- At this, CJI Misra said: “We of receiving a letter from a man tions and was felicitated by the deviling one state but also other are not concerned about the lo- identifi ed as Comrade Prakash, government for her academic Protesters shout slogans against the rape of a 19-year-old girl in Rewari in the northern state of states in the country. cus of the case. I have not even forgetting that he is lodged in jail achievement. Haryana, in New Delhi yesterday. Citing the procedure and as- uttered these words.” after his conviction in a case.

Clearing debris Couple in Tamil Nadu get Court lifts ban on petrol as wedding gift three drugs for now IANS the only reason given in the gov- New Delhi ernment’s notifi cation was that IANS depreciating rupee and expen- Last week, the West Bengal the combinations had “no thera- Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu sive crude oil further pushed government reduced the excise peutic value”. petrol and diesel to new record on petrol and diesel by Re1 per he Supreme Court yes- The government’s decision to highs yesterday. litre each. terday lifted a ban on the ban 328 FDC drugs had brought couple got a surprise In Delhi, petrol crossed Rs82 The Karnataka government Tmanufacture and sale of around 6,000 medicines on the and unexpected gift at to Rs82.06 per litre yesterday announced yesterday that pet- Piramal’s painkiller Saridon and radar, including very commonly Atheir wedding reception in Kolkata and Chennai the rol and diesel will be cheaper two other drugs – Piriton and used ones. in this town on Sunday. price was Rs83.91 and Rs85.31, by Rs2 per litre each across the Dart – for now. The list of such drugs includes K Prabhu and P Divya Pra- respectively. state from today following the These drugs were part of Saridon, Macleods Pharma’s bhu were surprised when their Similarly, diesel prices rose reduction in cess on these fuels. the 328 Fixed Dose Combina- Panderm Plus skin cream, Alkem friends presented them a plas- in Delhi and Kolkata to Rs73.78 In a related incident in Chen- tion (FDC) drugs whose manu- Laboratories’ antibacterial Tax- tic can containing four litres of and Rs75.63 respectively, and nai, an auto-rickshaw driver facture, distribution and sale im AZ and combination diabetes petrol. climbed to Rs78 and Rs78.33 in was allegedly assaulted by were banned by the Ministry of drug Gluconorm PG. “We were really surprised. Chennai and Mumbai. Bharatiya Janata Party mem- Health and Family Welfare on The ban order was, however, I was not told about the gift Fuel prices in the country bers when he asked the party’s September 12. hailed by the All India Drug Ac- in advance,” Prabhu said in have been rising almost daily state president about rising oil Lifting the ban, a bench of Jus- tion Network, which said that Cuddalore, about 175km from since August 1. They fell only prices. tice Rohinton Fali Nariman and the government had taken the Chennai. once on August 13 and have The party’s Tamil Nadu Justice Indu Malhotra sought the right decision as the “banned Asked if the petrol will be been on record levels for over chief Tamilisai Soundararajan government’s response to pleas drugs were indeed harmful and used to drive his auto-rick- two weeks now. was speaking to reporters on by the aff ected pharmaceutical not prescribed in medicine text- shaw, Prabhu said: “I have de- Since the start of the cal- Sunday when Kadir, who was companies against the order to books”. cided to keep it. I will not use it endar year, the petrol price in standing behind her, asked her Men work to clear debris yesterday after a fire broke out at ban FDCs manufactured before Also yesterday, the Supreme to power my vehicle.” Delhi has gone up by over 15% about the rising fuel prices. the Bagree market building in Kolkata on Sunday. The fire at 1988. Court sought a response from Meanwhile, the price of pet- from Rs69.97. The hike in diesel While Sundararajan ignored the six-storey building, which houses nearly 60 businesses, The bench is hearing cases on government on a plea for a ban rol neared Rs90 a litre in Mum- price has been even steeper. It the question and kept facing was still raging yesterday and dozens of firefighters the validity of fi xed-dose drug on 85 pesticides since these were bai yesterday. has gone up by more than 22% the camera unperturbed, BJP attempted to control the blaze. However, there were no licences. banned in other countries but As per rates released daily by since January 1 when it cost members pushed him back and casualties in the incident. Questioning the ban, the were allowed in India, posing a state-run Indian Oil Corp, the Rs59.70. later pulled him away. companies had earlier said that serious health hazards to farmers. Gulf Times Tuesday, September 18, 2018 15

INDIA Court asks university to secure EVMs after ABVP win

IANS Delhi to conduct elections of the victorious Akhil Bharatiya Vid- unconstitutional, arbitrary and didates were aggrieved by the ar- The plea alleged that EVMs that the elections were conduct- New Delhi DUSU elections, is directed to yarthi Parishad (ABVP) candi- illegal and sought fresh polls bitrary, corrupt and unfair elec- were tampered with and ques- ed in an “arbitrary, corrupt and ensure that the EVMs, utilised dates to fi le their replies within through ballot papers. tion conducted by the university tioned to how “privately pro- unfair” manner by the university for the conduct of the polling and three weeks and fi xed October 29 The Bharatiya Janata Party- as out of 126 EVMs used, seven cured” EVMs could have been and DU was acting under extra- he Delhi High Court yes- counting of votes, along with all for hearing. affi liated ABVP won three of the went missing. used in the polls held on Septem- neous pressure. terday asked Delhi Uni- paper trail/documentation are The court was hearing a plea four top DUSU seats. ABVP candi- They alleged that Chillar was ber 12. Meanwhile, the Jawaharlal Ne- Tversity to secure the Elec- kept in a secured place under his by the National Students Un- date Ankiv Basoya was elected the leading his opponent by 4,200 Countering NSUI’s submis- hru University (JNU) administra- tronic Voting Machines (EVMs) lock and key, till the next date ion of India (NSUI) candidates president while Shakti Singh and votes by noon but all of a sudden sion, the central government tion yesterday decided to restrict used in the students union elec- of hearing,” Justice Siddharth Sunny Chhillar, Leena and Sau- Jyoti Chaudhary were elected the they stopped the counting on the standing counsel Anil Soni said all rallies, processions and dem- tions till the next date of hearing Mridul said. rabh Yadav who challenged the vice president and joint secretary. ground of EVM malfunctioning the same EVMs were used in the onstrations on the campus. and issued notices to the govern- The court asked the central Delhi University Students Union NSUI’s Akash Chaudhary de- and resumed counting after six DUSU elections in 2009, 2011, The decision was taken follow- ment, the university and others. government, the university, its (DUSU) election results declared feated ABVP’s Sudhir Dedha to hours. The entire process was 2012 and 2017 but no objections ing multiple reports of violence “The Chief Electoral Offi cer, chief electoral offi cer, the Elec- on Thursday. win the secretary’s post. marred by tampering of EVMs, were raised at that time. within the campus before and af- appointed by the University of tion Commission and the three They said election results were The NSUI alleged that its can- the NSUI said. The NSUI candidates alleged ter the students’ union election. Diversity should be accepted: RSS chief

IANS among people and its workers do New Delhi not run to advertise its work. About diversity, the RSS chief said “truth can be realised in n a first-of-its-kind out- several ways and so accept diver- reach from which oppo- sity. Do not fear it. Celebrate it. It Isition leaders kept away, should not become a reason for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh discord.” chief Mohan Bhagwat yester- On the frequent criticism day said the organisation has about women not being given emerged as a “power” in the equal participation in RSS, he country and many people tar- said there was a diff erent wing get it out of fear but said diver- for them which works in parallel sity should be accepted and it with the main organisation. If a should not become a reason for change has to be made, the sug- discord. gestion has to come from both In a 90-minute speech at the sides. opening of a three-day event He said words like remote- “Future of Bharat: An RSS per- control are used about the work- spective”, he traced the history of ing of Sangh. RSS, expounded on the concept “What does a swamaysevak of Hindutva and the participa- do in his public life it is for him tion of women in the outfi t that to decide. He chooses his area of is perceived to be largely male work, we do not tell him which BJP leaders meet to discuss the political situation in Goa, in Panaji yesterday. dominated. area to work,” he said, adding “Its work gets advertised au- that RSS also its critics. tomatically when its power in- Against the criticism that creases. And when its work gets RSS controls the Bharatiya Ja- popular, then people try to learn nata Party governments, Bhag- more about it. And then a few wat said the organisation does people target Sangh out of fear not remote-control its affi liates, of its increasing power which does not want dominance, does is quite natural,” he said to the not seek publicity and its eff ort Congress stakes claim gathering at the Vigyan Bhavan, is to create good swayamsevaks normally reserved for state func- in every village of the country to tions. create a disciplined society that Those present included sev- will take the country towards eral ministers of Prime Minister glory. Narendra Modi’s government, Apparently dismissing criti- Bollywood personalities in- cism by detractors that the RSS to form govt in Goa cluding Annu Kapoor, Madhur had no role in the independ- Bhandarkar, Ravi Kishen and ence movement, he said the fi rst IANS dissolved or held in suspended without a fl oor test,” the let- “We have said that the CM Ram Lal said, adding that there Manisha Koirala and expelled sarsanghachalak (chief) had Panaji animation and instead the Con- ter signed by 16 Congress MLAs (Parrikar) should continue. It was no proposal for a merger of Biju Janata Dal MP Baijayant worked with freedom fi ghters, gress, the single largest party, said. will be for the good... He is un- any of the supporting alliance Panda, Amar Singh, Subrama- was a member of Indian National should be invited to take power. Sinha is not in Goa. The Con- dergoing treatment. He will re- parties into the BJP. nian Swamy and nominated MP Congress and had held Mahatma olitical activity in Goa “We have requested the gover- gress MLAs are expected to meet cover sooner or later. There was Ram Lal’s comment came on Sonal Mansingh. Gandhi in esteem. gathered steam yesterday nor that the government should her when she returns today. no discussion on whether some- a day when Amit Shah called on “This programme has been or- Bhagwat said the purpose of Pin the absence of ailing not be dissolved and put the Earlier, a team of BJP central one else should be appointed in Parrikar at the All India Institute ganised for people to understand the lecture series was to inform Chief Minister Manohar Par- state on the path of elections. We observers, including general sec- charge. The High Command will of Medical Sciences. the RSS because today it has people about the RSS which was rikar, with the Congress staking have also asked her not to im- retary Ram Lal, who on Sunday decide that,” Naik told reporters. Meanwhile, two key allies – emerged as a power in the coun- founded in 1925. He said the RSS claim to form a government. pose President’s Rule or keep the had met party MLAs and lead- Ram Lal, however, initially the Goa Forward and Maharash- try which is felt by the world,” builds human character. However, leaders of the House in suspended animation. ers from alliance parties and in- tried to play down the discus- trawadi Gomantak Party – have Bhagwat said. “To make good swayamse- Bharatiya Janata Party-led alli- People have elected us for fi ve dependent lawmakers, spoke to sions on leadership change, later put the ball in the BJP’s court as He said that a lot of debate vaks stand in every village, every ance discussed leadership op- years. Imposing an election after senior leaders from the party’s insisting that the fi nal call could far the decision of leadership is takes place over RSS. “Debate street is what Sangh wants. What tions to replace the chief min- a mere 18 months is not good for core committee as well as former be taken by BJP president Amit concerned. and discussion should take place is meant by a good swayamse- ister who is being treated for anybody,” Kavlekar said. legislators in a bid to draw up a list Shah. “We want a common solu- but for the debate reality should vak? It means a person bearing pancreatic cancer at a Delhi hos- “We also apprehended that of potential alternative options for “The government is strong tion from the BJP, which will be be known,” he said. good and reliable character, ac- pital. false letters or statements may the post of chief minister. and has the full majority, what is agreeable to all alliance part- “The work of the Sangh is cepts the entire society as his In a letter submitted to Gov- be attributed to leaders of INC Ram Lal met former chief going to happen? It is not for me ners,” MGP president Dipak unique and beyond comparison,” own and works selfl essly and ernor Mridula Sinha, Congress (Indian National Congress), minister Laxmikant Parsekar, to decide (on a permanent solu- Dhavalikar said, even as party he said. “And thus from known to does not look anyone with en- leader Chandrakant Kavlekar claiming there is a desire on the former speaker Rajendra Arle- tion). Whatever everyone has sources suggested that the party unknown it is impossible to un- mity and gives aff ection to soci- demanded that in view of the part of the INC to accept rec- kar, former power minister Ma- said I will place before the na- has already pitched for Public derstand Sangh.” ety. This vision was conceived in political instability arising out ommendation for dissolution of hadev Naik and former tourism tional president. What decision Works Department Sudin Dha- He said because the RSS had a 1925. The Sangh is all about this of Parrikar’s absence from offi ce, the Goa Assembly. This is not minister Dilip Parulekar among has to be taken will be taken. The valikar to be appointed as chief unique identity, it gets popular and nothing else,” he said. the state assembly should not be true and should not be accepted others. government has to function,” minister in Parrikar’s absence.

Delhi airport gets top honour Modi turns teacher for The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in New Delhi has bagged the title of Best Airport to handle over 40mn passengers per annum (MPPA) by the Airport children in Varanasi Service Quality (ASQ) Awards 2017. The Delhi International Airport IANS in formative years and that they The prime minister earlier had Ltd (DIAL), a GMR-led consortium Varanasi should “go out and play”. a brief interaction with Aan- which operates and manages the He also told the students, who ganwadi workers who carried IGIA, made the announcement gifted him red roses, that they banners to thank Modi for in- yesterday. “As we witness robust rime Minister Narendra should not shy away from asking creasing their daily wages. He growth, we look forward to a Modi, who turned 68 yes- questions as doing so “is a key mingled with them freely and strong collaboration and support Pterday, donned the hat aspect of learning”. inquired about their work, fami- of all airport stakeholders and our of a teacher during his visit to Greeting students on the Vish- lies and their issues. He also told esteemed passengers. We are set Varanasi, his parliamentary con- wakarma Puja, the prime minis- them that they should become to undertake the expansion works stituency, as he interacted with ter also told the children that it “Yashoda Maiyya” for thousands at Delhi airport in line with IGIA students at a primary school in is important for them to under- of children who need attention Master Plan-2016,” I Prabhakara Narur village and gave them tips stand the signifi cance of skills and better healthcare. Rao, executive director of GMR on life. development. The entire city has been decked Airports said in a statement. Soon after his arrival at the “It is important to learn vari- up to celebrate Miodi’s birthdy. A According to the statement, the Babatpur airport where he was ous skills as this will help you 68kg cake of “laddoos” was cut Delhi airport is now the seventh received by Uttar Pradesh Chief forever,” Modi told the wide- by women at the Azam Park in busiest airports in Asia and among Minister Yogi Adityanath and eyed students who appeared Lahurabir locality here. Many of the top 20 busiest airports across senior Bharatiya Janata Party elated that the prime minister the women were from the minor- the world. ASQ is a worldwide leaders, Modi took a helicop- was amidst them. ity wing of the BJP. programme to survey passengers ter ride to Dereka from where After spending some 30 min- The women also sang the at the airport on their day of travel. he drove straight to the school utes with the children, Modi drove happy birthday song for their Every year the programme delivers and told children that sports is back to Dereka where he would MP and prayed for his long and Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with school children at a primary school in Narur village in some 600,000 individual surveys an integral part of development spend the night at a guest house. healthy life. Varanasi yesterday. in 41 languages in 84 countries. Gulf Times 16 Tuesday, September 18, 2018 LATIN AMERICA

LEGAL CONTROVERSY PEOPLE COMMENT POLITICS Guatemala court lifts ban Venezuela soldiers accused Colombian navy rescues US-Cuba relations in Bolsonaro holds lead on entry of UN off icial of crossing into Colombia 28 Jamaican castaways decline: Diaz-Canel in new Brazil poll

Guatemala’s constitutional court yesterday Colombia’s foreign ministry yesterday said Twenty-eight Jamaican sailors who escaped a Relations between Cuba and the US are in Brazilian far-right presidential candidate Jair made a provisional ruling to allow the chief of a it sent a letter of protest to Venezuela after fire were alive and well after being rescued by decline under President Donald Trump, his Bolsonaro held a solid lead ahead of the October United Nations-backed anti-graft body to return soldiers from that country’s army crossed into the Colombian navy in the Caribbean, authorities Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel said. 7 election following a near-fatal stabbing, but to the country, a judge told a news conference at Colombian territory last week and detained said. The sailors were travelling on the fishing “Relations today are in decline. We still maintain Workers Party (PT) candidate Fernando Haddad the court. President Jimmy Morales last month three Colombian citizens. Venezuelan soldiers boat “Real Magic” when it caught fire and they channels of dialogue and our position is that we emerged in second place, signalling a potential announced the shuttering of the International on Thursday crossed to an island in the took to life rafts to await help, Rear Admiral do not reject the possibility of dialogue at any polarised right-left runoff , a poll showed. Bolsonaro, Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, and Orinoco River that has been part of Colombia Juan Francisco Herrera, a navy commander in time, but it must be between equals,” Diaz-Canel who is in the hospital and unable to campaign, has subsequently barred its head from returning to the since 1931, Bogota’s foreign ministry said in a Colombia’s San Andres and Providencia area, said in the interview with the Telesur network. 28.2% of voter support, according to the survey by country, a move that triggered global criticism and statement. It also conducted an investigation said. The captain of the boat managed to alert Diaz-Canel took aim at the US economic pollster MDA. Haddad, who replaced imprisoned street protests across the Central American nation. to verify that the incident took place, the the Jamaican embassy using a satellite phone. blockade of Cuba, terming it “the main obstacle former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the “The plenary of magistrates annuls the decision ministry said. “There was a violation of The embassy contacted Colombian authorities to the development of the country.” He also said ticket last week, had 17.6% in his first showing in taken by President Jimmy Morales, which prevents national territory,” it said. The Venezuelan and asked them to search for the shipwrecked Cuba was not behind mysterious “health attacks” an MDA poll. Center-left populist Ciro Gomes had the return of the head of CICIG,” said Dina Ochoa, government did not immediately respond to a sailors south of Cayo Serranilla Island, which that have plagued US diplomats in the country, 10.8 % of voter intentions and business-friendly one of five judges on the court. request for comment. they did with the support of US aircraft. saying: “We have not attacked anyone.” candidate Geraldo Alckmin was fourth with 6.1 %, Ex-Ford offi cials to go on trial for assisting 1970s dictatorship

AFP were 100 union delegates, of Buenos Aires whom 24 were taken captive from their jobs. In those days, military brigades were stationed edro Troiani and Carlos at the factory while soldiers ate Propato were trade un- at the plant’s canteen, many Pion leaders at Ford Motors workers have testifi ed. in Argentina four decades ago “They paraded me around the when they were detained in the whole factory in handcuff s as if company’s factory and tortured they were saying: look at what by the military dictatorship. could happen to you,” said Troiani. They were held prisoner for “The colleagues threw screws two years and letters were sent to at them.” their families claiming they had Pointing to a leisure area at the been fi red for failing to show up factory, Propato said that was for work. where he and his colleagues were Now they’re suing the compa- tortured. He said soldiers cov- ny’s former executives for com- ered his head with a plastic bag plicity in the 1976 coup d’etat, and he thought he was going to and subsequent 1976-1983 mili- suff ocate until Troiani poked a Retirees protest outside the National Congress in Buenos Aires yesterday against the government’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and in demand for a tary dictatorship. hole in it and “saved my life.” raise in their pensions. They’re not the only ones pur- Smiling sheepishly, Troiani suing international car companies says he can’t remember the in- in court over alleged abuses dur- cident. ing the dictatorship — complaints From the plant, they were taken have been made against Mercedes to a police station in Tigre, a Bue- Benz, Renault and Fiat too — but nos Aires suburb, after which they theirs is the most advanced. were transported to a succession Although the company itself of detention centres throughout is not implicated in the judicial their two-year captivity. Argentina govt makes process, the plaintiff s do want to “A person imprisoned with- demonstrate there was complic- out knowing why suff ers twice ity with the seven-year dictator- as much,” said Troiani, who like ship that killed 30,000 people, Propato was already a father at according to human rights or- that time. ganisations. According to historian Victo- “Without the participation of ria Basualdo, the bubbling union ‘progress’ in IMF talks civilians and more of these com- and worker activism of the 1970s panies, this coup would not have was “a central worry as much Reuters exchange rate of 40.1 pesos to worked out with the Interna- streets in recent days to protest and present a proposal to the succeeded,” Troiani said. for the armed forces as it was for Buenos Aires the dollar next year. tional Monetary Fund, which is proposed budget cuts. IMF executive board,” the IMF “These people collaborated, company management.” It forecasts an economic con- revamping Argentina’s standby Macri’s plan will also include said in a statement. they gave them vehicles, food, It explains the “workplace re- traction of 2.4% this year and fi nancing deal by strengthening export tax hikes that the busi- Fiscal belt-tightening items fuel, they gave them the compa- pression” on the day of the 1976 rgentina’s troubled peso 0.5% in 2019. its fi scal targets. ness community is expected to included in the budget bill will nies so they could move as they coup, on March 24, when “large currency inched higher The currency has lost more The JPMorgan Emerg- reluctantly accept as the price not be easy for Macri to im- wanted, and that’s how we were numbers of armed forces were mo- Aand the risk of its bonds than half its value against the ing Markets Bond Index Plus of keeping Macri, a free-market plement ahead of his expected removed, one by one.” bilised in factories” leading to “the defaulting declined yesterday dollar this year as confi dence (EMBI+), which measures the advocate, in power. 2019 re-election bid. “They collaborated. I painted detention and kidnapping of work- after the government unveiled collapsed in Argentina’s abil- perceived likelihood of default In June, the government Achieving a zero defi cit will the Falcon cars that they used ers and unionists,” Basualdo said. its budget plan and the IMF ity to make its 2019 debt pay- against safe-haven US Treas- signed a $50bn standby deal not come from spending cuts in the repression,” said Propato, In Latin America, a region said “important progress” had ments. ury bonds, pegged Argentina with the IMF that included alone. “A big component of the referring to the vehicles the dic- in which military dictatorships been made on revamping the But market sentiment has at 651 basis points yesterday, a projected fi scal shortfall of proposal will be tax increases tatorship used to kidnap oppo- were once the norm, Argentina country’s standby loan agree- improved in recent days. five points tighter than on Fri- 1.3% of gross domestic product, concentrated on the export sec- nents, real and perceived. is the country that has taken the ment. President Mauricio Macri’s day, and 122 tighter than 773, which was not enough to halt a tor,” economist Gustavo Ber Both Troiani and Propato in- greatest strides towards pros- The peso rose 0.68 % to 39.60 budget bill aims to use export where the country started the run on the peso. said. sist they had no involvement in ecuting those accused of human to the US dollar and country tax increases as well as spending month. “Important progress is being “This can be advantageous political militancy and that they rights violations. risk tightened by 10 basis points cuts to bring about fi scal equi- A lower spread over Treasur- made toward strengthening Ar- from the point of view of gener- were held and tortured, along- Hundreds of military person- after the government released librium, a formula that some ies indicates an increase in mar- gentina’s economic policy plan, ating a fi nancial calm that is the side other work colleagues, be- nel of various ranks have been its 2019 budget proposal, which analysts say could get the coun- ket confi dence in Argentina’s supported by a stand-by ar- tip of generating a greater ex- cause of their union activism. sentenced while several mem- pledges to erase the primary fi s- try through next year without ability to pay its debt obliga- rangement with the IMF. We are pectation of economic recovery, At the Ford plant on the out- bers of the successive military cal defi cit next year. major disruptions. tions. working hard to conclude these which is where social pressures skirts of Buenos Aires, there juntas died in prison. The bill projects an average The budget goals are being Argentines have taken to the staff -level talks in short order come from,” Ber said. Two face 20 years’ jail Anger at Ortega China-US row feared hitting Panama Canal for joke on Maduro Reuters readying a list of $200bn in Panama City Chinese imports on which it plans to levy tariff s in coming AFP According to Foro Penal, the holding a tiny demonstration days, stepping up the trade war Caracas accusation is based on a 2017 that closed a boulevard in Valen- ewer ships from China between the world’s two larg- anti-hate law approved by the cia in the north. and the US could use est economies. controversial regime-dominated In August, a public employee Fthe Panama Canal if However, Quijano said he wo Venezuelan fi refi ght- Constituent Assembly — con- said she and her family were for- trade tensions escalate be- expected more bulk cargo from ers risk 20 years of prison sidered illegitimate by the US and cibly ejected from their govern- tween the two economic gi- Brazil, the world’s largest soy Tfor publishing a video in European Union, and denounced ment-assigned home for shar- ants, but the dip could be producer, would boost canal which they jokingly referred to by the opposition as an instru- ing memes mocking Venezuela’s offset by grain exports from traffi c. a donkey as President Nicolas ment to “criminalise dissent.” military in a WhatsApp group north Brazil, the head of the Brazilian soy has tradi- Maduro, a human rights organi- The law allows for political chat. organisation that operates tionally been shipped across sation said yesterday. parties to be declared illegal, Authorities have not com- the waterway said. the Atlantic and Indian Ricardo Prieto, 41, and Carlos media outlets to be closed and mented on the fi refi ghters’ case. The canal, which cuts oceans, but farmers in top Varon, 45, are accused of “inciting stipulates prison sentences of up The video shows a woman through Panama creating an soy state Mato Grosso earlier aggravated hatred” in the country to 20 years. dressed as a fi refi ghter leading a essential shipping route be- this year signed a memoran- after a donkey was videoed be- The Constitutional Assem- donkey through a station while a tween the Atlantic and Pacifi c dum of understanding with ing led around a fi re station in the bly was set up by Maduro last man fi lming this, believed to be oceans, is a major source of the canal to look at ways to western state of Merida while a year as Venezuela’s new parlia- Prieto, addresses the donkey as revenue for the central Ameri- cut transport costs and in- man fi lming jokes about Maduro ment after he lost control of the “President Maduro.” As the don- can country. crease grain volumes using being on an inspection. democratically elected National key stops in a yard to eat grass, “Most cargoes passing the waterway via ports in the Maduro and his government Assembly, which has since been the man quips that “it’s the only through the Panama Canal north of Brazil. have been widely criticised for sidelined. good thing we have here.” come from or go to the US and New demand for US lique- mismanagement and blamed The Constituent Assembly’s Venezuelans are suff ering China,” Panama Canal Au- fi ed natural gas (LNG) in coun- for the economic crisis that has creation was largely responsible from shortages of food and med- thority chief Jorge Quijano told tries including Japan and Mex- spiralled out of control, with for four months of street pro- icines as well as failing public Reuters. ico could also compensate for infl ation predicted by the Inter- tests that left about 125 people services including electricity, “Tensions between them fewer vessels going to China, national Monetary Fund to reach dead. water and transport. could ultimately have an im- Quijano added, saying: “The 1mn% this year. A man and woman protesting According to the United Na- pact on the amount of loadings canal has many ways to ease Fernando Cermeno from the a lack of food were the fi rst to be tions, around 1.6mn people have A demonstrator shows a bloody flag during a protest using the waterway in any di- any impact.” Foro Penal rights group said the arrested under the anti-hate law left Venezuela since 2015, an against Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega’s government rection.” The Panama Canal has not pair were arrested on Wednes- in January, Foro Penal said. outfl ow straining the resources in Managua. The administration of US disclosed updated fi gures on day. They were detained after of neighbouring countries. President Donald Trump is vessel transit by volume. Gulf Times Tuesday, September 18, 2018 17 PAKISTAN

PM to visit Riyadh on fi rst trip Imran pledges to grant

AFP Islamabad

rime Minister Imran Khan citizenship to refugees will head to Riyadh today Pfor his fi rst foreign visit Reuters/AFP/DPA/Guardian “The fi rst thing I will do going Islamabad of harbouring Taliban since coming to power, offi cials News & Media back (to Islamabad), God willing, militants who carry out attacks said. Islamabad is that we will get those people across the border. The two-day trip to Saudi Ara- from Bangladesh, who are per- Pakistan denies the charge bia will begin exactly one month haps living here for more than and blames Afghanistan for pro- after Khan assumed offi ce, with rime Minister Imran Khan 40 years and their children have viding sanctuary to Pakistani Pakistan facing a balance-of- vowed to grant citizenship grown older, issued passports Taliban militants responsible for payments crisis and speculation Pto Afghan refugees who and national identity cards,” he attacks that have taken place on that the new premier could seek have lived in the country for sev- said, according to footage of the its soil over the past two years. loans worth billions of dollars eral decades, at a time when re- dinner seen by AFP. The prime minister’s pledge from allies. lations between Islamabad and “And those Afghans whose was lauded by human rights The state visit was arranged Kabul remain tense. children have grown older here, activists in Pakistan, who have on the invitation of King Salman The UN Refugee Agency (UN- who were born in Pakistan, they called for Afghans born in the bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince HCR) says the move could ben- would also be issued the pass- country to be given national- Mohammad bin Salman, Paki- efi t at least 500,000 Afghans. ports and ID cards,” he con- ity in accordance with Pakistani Khan: When you are born in stan’s foreign ministry said in a About 2.5mn Afghans, many tinued. “When you are born in law. America, you get the American statement. of whom fl ed their homeland af- America, you get the American Under the Pakistan Citizen- passport. It is the practice in “The prime minister will call ter it was invaded by the Soviet passport. It is the practice in ship Act of 1951, all individuals every country in the world, so on His Majesty King Salman and Union in 1979, live in Pakistan, every country in the world, so born in Pakistan are entitled to why not here? How cruel it is for hold a bilateral meeting with the home to the world’s second- why not here? How cruel it is for citizenship. them. Crown Prince,” it said, adding largest refugee population. them.” Implementation of the law has that the king will also host a state Khan also said that undocu- However, he also noted that been lax due to political pressure The UNHCR is currently un- banquet for the prime minister mented Bengali immigrants liv- Bengali immigrants and Afghan from Pakistani residents who dertaking the volunteer repatri- at the royal court. ing in Pakistan would be given refugees have created an “un- fear Afghans will take their jobs. ation of around 1.4mn Afghans, “The prime minister will meet passports. derclass” in Karachi that has “Pakistan has been host to most of them living in Pakistan Saudi leadership and will dis- A government anti-traffi cking helped fuel street crime in the one of the largest refugee popu- since their country was invaded cuss regional and international unit placed the number of Ben- megacity of more than 20mn lation in the world and grant- by the Soviet Union in 1979. Children of Bengali immigrants living in Pakistan are pictured at a issues,” another senior govern- galis living in Pakistan, many people. ing citizenship to those eligible Afridi said that 64% of the madrasa in Karachi. Premier Imran Khan has vowed to give ment offi cial told AFP. of whom fl ed Bangladesh for Afghans have long com- seems to be a logical next step registered Afghan refugees are citizenship to some Afghan refugees and Bengali immigrants, economic reasons following its plained about constant harass- both legally and morally,” Saroop below the age of 24. off icials confirmed, granting rights to many who have lived in the independence from Pakistan ment due to the lack of citizen- Ijaz, a representative for Human Yesterday offi cials confi rmed country for decades. Pakistan Army in 1971, at 2mn in 2012, but it is ship rights for those who have Rights Watch (HRW), told Reu- the prime minister’s comments unknown how many of those are spent decades living and work- ters. “This move is an important and said that a draft policy minister’s speech, Foreign Min- Afghan refugees belong to the chief Bajwa on long-term residents. ing in Pakistan. fi rst step in ending the discrimi- would have to be prepared for ister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pashtun ethnicity and Pashtuns, visit to China “Why are they treated with- There were concerns earlier nation faced by refugee and mi- cabinet before legislation could who is seen as close to the army, thousands of whom live in Kara- out dignity? They are humans, this year that Islamabad planned grant communities.” be written and debated in parlia- returned from a visit to Kabul chi, overwhelmingly “voted for Army chief General Qamar Javed how have we deprived them for to repatriate refugees back to The UNHCR has praised ment. stressing the need for “dignifi ed, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Bajwa began a three-day visit 30-40 years?” Khan said. violence-plagued Afghanistan Khan’s announcement. Questions were being asked sustainable repatriation”. (PTI)” – Imran Khan’s party – to China on Sunday, Pakistan’s The premier, who visited Ka- after Pakistan extended the stay “We welcome the statement in Pakistan about whether Khan Sources within the UN were two months ago, said HRW’s military said, days after a rachi on Sunday, told a fundrais- of Afghan refugees living within and will continue to work close- had cleared his proposal with pleased at the initiative, but ex- Ijaz. Pakistani minister stirred unease ing dinner that his government its borders by only 60 days. ly with the government,” said the powerful military, which pressed some scepticism as to Off ering more Pashtuns citi- about Chinese Silk Road projects would take steps to grant na- Relations between the neigh- Qaiser Khan Afridi, a spokesman has traditionally held sway over how fully it would be carried out. zenship could cement the par- in the South Asian nation. tionality to those who had been bours have deteriorated in re- for the UNHCR, told DPA yes- refugee policy. Some analysts posited a po- ty’s hold on the crucial megalo- Bajwa is the most senior Pakistani there longest. cent years, with Kabul accusing terday. The day before the prime litical incentive for Khan. polis, he added. figure to visit staunch ally China since the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan took off ice in August, and his trip comes a week after China’s top diplomat visited Islamabad. Pakistan has deepened ties with Pakistan auctions cars in austerity drive China in recent years as relations with the United States have frayed. Reuters “It is a change of mindset,” factoring in fuel, crew, mainte- Bajwa may be hoping in Beijing to Islamabad Khan said in a speech on Friday. nance and safety inspections, smooth out any Chinese alarm at “I will be counting every single according to Syed Naseem Ah- comments last week by Pakistan’s rupee I have to spend on me.” mad, president of the Society commerce minister, Abdul akistan’s government His austerity vows, however, of Air Safety Investigation Pa- Razak Dawood, who suggested has begun auctioning off have been undercut by his near- kistan. suspending for a year projects Pabout 100 government- daily helicopter commute from Optics aside, analysts say in the China-Pakistan Economic owned vehicles as part of Prime his home in the hills above Is- Pakistan will have to take more Corridor (CPEC), the Pakistan leg Minister Imran Khan’s highly- lamabad. painful steps – such as raising of China’s Belt and Road Initiative publicised cost-cutting drive, Critics say the cost-cutting fuel prices – to make a real dent. that includes recreating the old which has drawn mixed reviews. has been mostly cosmetic. “In a nutshell, there is no in- Silk Road trading route. Auction offi cial Mohammad “There is nothing new in the dication yet, that Prime Minis- Bajwa, the Chief of Army Staff Asif told Reuters that the vehi- current austerity drive,” said po- ter Khan has a concrete plan to (COAS), regularly holds meetings cles could bring in about Rs2bn litical commentator Raza Rumi. cut Pakistan’s mounting debt with world leaders due to the ($16mn) to the cash-strapped Auctions of ageing govern- and government spending,” said Pakistan armed forces’ influence government’s coff ers, although ment vehicles, for example, have Yousuf Nazar, former head of in the nuclear-armed nation, that estimate depends on fi nd- taken place for years, though not Global Emerging Markets In- where the military controls ing buyers for four bullet-proof so publicised. vestments at Citigroup. security and dictates major Mercedes, estimated in value to- The 36 Mercedes and BMW An indication of cost-cutting foreign policy decisions. gether at Rs1bn. vehicles were a larger number Potential buyers and visitors are seen at an auction of government-owned cars at the premises of Prime policy is likely to come today, The auction has been billed as than at previous auctions – and Minister House in Islamabad. when Finance Minister Asad part of Khan’s drive to give “the the sale off ered bullet-proof Umar announces revisions to China to create nation’s wealth to its rightful luxury sedans estimated to be symbolic steps are important for austerity drive has been mixed. days, after publicly declaring he the budget. owners”, though critics say most worth Rs250mn (about $2mn) building national unity. When the new foreign min- would eschew motorcades and In the meantime, some of the ‘green economic of the new government’s cost- each. Public morale may be im- ister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, declining to live in the offi cial about 500 attendees at yester- belts’ in Pakistan cutting measures are more sym- Still, nearly three-quarters portant in the coming year as announced that he would not fl y prime minister’s residence. day’s auction said they would be bolism than signifi cant savings. of the 101 vehicles on off er were Pakistan could face painful fi rst class, only business class, Information Minister Chaud- happy to take the vehicles off the China has launched cross- Former cricket star Khan, 65, more than 10 years old, some conditions for foreign fi nanc- when travelling abroad, many hry said the helicopter commute government’s hands. border partnerships with several took offi ce last month after a noticeably knocked about. ing – possibly an International pointed out that this was already used less fuel than a motorcade, Nawab Gul bought a 2005 international non-governmental populist election campaign in Two were 32-year-old Toyota Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout the case under the previous gov- at one point arguing that it cost Toyota Altas for Rs1.25mn and civic organisations to create which he railed against what he Corollas. – to address dwindling foreign ernment. only Rs50 (40¢) per kilometre. ($10,000). three “green economic belts” in denounced as the corruption Even if the auction were to currency reserves and a balloon- Other early ideas – including That calculation provoked “They are saying the national countries involved in the Belt and waste of the two main po- bring in its projected Rs2bn, that ing current account defi cit. Khan’s vow to cut more than 500 fresh ridicule. coff ers are empty. So, here, have and Road Initiative, including litical parties that have traded is a drop in the bucket compared Chaudhry argued that small staff from Prime Minister House “Why don’t you stop metro my two cents,” Gul said. Pakistan. power for more than 50 years in with the government’s Rs5.9tn cutbacks can add up. and establishing a six-day work bus service and instead let peo- Another bidder Taufeeq Na- Three “belts” will be created between periods of military rule. ($48.19bn) budget, which “If you try to see its eff ect on week for civil servants – were ple enjoy the cheap helicopter wab said he would like to buy one using poplar trees, under a He has promised to cut costs, projects a Rs1.7tn rupees in defi - the GDP, it is small, but in num- shelved as unworkable. rides?” quipped a TV host. of the older, cheaper vehicles for plan released by the China including trimming the motor- cit spending. bers, it is not small,” Chaudhry In particular, Khan has been In fact, the eight-seat heli- his family. “I can say that I have Green Foundation at the Belt cades of government offi cials Still, Khan’s information min- told Reuters. mocked by some for taking a copter Khan uses costs about a Prime Minister House car. My and Road International (BRI) and selling public land. ister, Fawad Chaudhry, said even Still, public reaction to the helicopter into Islamabad most Rs200,000 ($1,633) per hour kids will feel good riding in it.” Forum on Public Co-operation for Ecological Remediation, which was held in Wuwei, Gansu province, the China Daily reported on Saturday. The “belts” are expected to Court hints at charging mineral water companies for groundwater start in northwest China and connect countries in Central and West Asia, such as Pakistan, Internews Nisar remarked that a litre of ing bottled water diff ers from the company to deposit a bank the water company and appoint- Kazakhstan, Iran, and Turkey. Lahore water is sold for Rs50, but only other industries as they extract surety of Rs1bn when Aitzaz Ah- ed Kaukab Jamal Zubairi, an ex- “Under the plan, a co-operative one-eighth of this price is given groundwater and purify it before san sought one-month time for pert in auditing, brushing aside partnership will be established to the government. selling it. deliberations with stakeholders Aitzaz Ahsan’s reservations. to encourage more exchanges of hief Justice of Pakistan “An international mineral However, he said, other in- and government authorities to The counsel had insisted that experience in developing a green (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar water company earned Rs6bn dustries release polluted water rationalise the water price. the task be given to one of top economy in diff erent countries,” Chas directed a chartered in profi t in just a year. Anyone after using the groundwater. “It is better to ask them to four chartered accountancy said Chen Shuxian, chairman of accountant fi rm to conduct a fo- using natural water resources Justice Ahsan noted that the take their all investment back fi rms, saying that a recent audit the foundation. rensic audit of a bottled mineral needs to be taxed,” he said. “The company earned an average to Switzerland,” the counsel re- on the Pakistan Kidney and Liv- Poplar trees now cover about water brand, and directed the children of Pakistan will not profi t of Rs6bn from the bottled sponded to the chief justice’s er Transplant Institute (PKLI), 648,000 hectares worldwide, latter’s counsel, Barrister Aitzaz have access to water if this situ- water business, but was unwill- order. conducted by Zubairi, contained according to the foundation. Ahsan, and representatives of ation continues.” ing to pay a rational price for ex- Chief Justice Nisar then asked grave factual errors. Most of them are located in 17 other bottled water manufac- The chief justice told Ahsan tracting groundwater. the counsel not to exploit the Aitzaz Ahsan also asked the countries involved in the BRI. turing companies to sit together that the court wants to regulate However, counsel Aitzaz Ah- situation by warning that for- chief justice to give them/ com- China holds 61% of the world’s and bring forth a viable plan to Nisar: Companies drilling to groundwater extraction by every san insisted that the amount eign investors would be discour- pany one month “to present our total poplar tree forests, which rationalise the purchase price of access groundwater have made industry like it did with the ce- quoted by the bench was not aged due to the judicial proceed- own report on this, then after provide important economic groundwater. profits worth billions of rupees ment industry. profi t, but rather the company’s ings. that you might get a forensic au- value to people. In pursuance to court orders, but they paid nearly nothing to Justice Ijazul Ahsan said that sale fi gures. “One cannot escape regula- dit done”. For example, the poplar forest the chief executive offi cers of the government. the companies selling water are Chief Justice Nisar told the tions being a foreign investor,” The chief justice rejected his covering an area of 31,840 various bottled water companies paying the lowest price to obtain counsel that the court would or- the chief justice added. both pleas and directed Zubairi hectares in Hotan, Xinjiang Uygur turned up before a two-judge “Companies drilling to access the natural resource as com- der the government to waive the The top judge also lamented to complete the audit within 15 autonomous region, generates bench at the Lahore registry, groundwater have made prof- pared to the rest of the world. existing price of water (0.4 paisa that the conduct of the compa- days. annual income of 672mn yuan hearing a suo motu case against its worth billions of rupees but Aitzaz Ahsan extended argu- per litre) as a charity if his client/ nies showed they did not want He also instructed his staff to ($98mn), according to the the extraction of groundwater by they paid nearly nothing to the ments to defend his client. company was not able to pay a to contribute to the country’s randomly purchase bottles of fa- National Forestry and Grassland international and local bottled government,” the chief justice He is of the view that the rational price. economy. mous mineral water companies Administration. water companies. regretted. business of companies sell- The chief justice directed He ordered a forensic audit of for their analysis. Gulf Times 18 Tuesday, September 18, 2018 COMMENT

CHAIRMAN Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka Deputy Managing Editor K T Chacko P.O.Box 2888, Doha, Qatar [email protected] 44350478 (News), 44466404 (Sport), 44466636 (Home delivery) 44350474 facebook.com/gulftimes twitter.com/gulftimes_Qatar GULF TIMES Can the trapped Paris climate deal be rescued? Two months ago, 12 boys and the coach of a Thai football team were rescued after being trapped in a cave in northern Thailand for 18 days. Many termed their rescue against heavy odds a miracle. Sadly, the six-day United Nations Special Climate Confer- ence that concluded on September 9 was not able to rescue the trapped Paris Climate Agreement in the well-lit confer- ence centre in southern Thailand. Many of the delegates wondered if it was about pronounc- ing the promises only to dodge them. The Paris Climate Agreement has been hanging from a cliff Has the drive to eliminate right from the day US President Donald Trump, a year back, announced his offi cial plan to withdraw from it. Though hundreds of American mayors and thousands of businesses - and even its allies like France - have been seeking to defy the consequences of Trump’s withdrawal, the agree- ment is getting dangerously close to its fatal consequence. road deaths lost its way? Indeed, the agreement in its present form is just an agree- ment of intent. By Laura Laker While the New York police are These “rules”, as per the time-table agreed in Paris, have to London performing fewer crash investiga- be ready no later than 2018. tions, in LA police used “pedestrian The Bangkok Climate Conference was a late addition to the sting” operations to catch jaywalkers schedule after dismal progress was made at the annual meet- ill de Blasio was two weeks into at busy Metro stations. Streetsblog LA ing of the subsidiary bodies of the United Nations Framework his term as New York mayor called them “one part of a system that when he stood with weeping criminalises the poor, especially youth Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC) in Bonn in May. of colour.” The Bangkok conference was the last major negotiating Bparents at the street corner where eight-year-old Noshat Nahian Montgomery County in Maryland meeting before the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) in was killed while walking to school and also has a Vision Zero policy, but per- Poland in December, when fi nally the Paris Agreement will be pledged to end the city’s “epidemic” of haps no one told Tom Didone, captain in mission mode. road deaths. of the traffi c division, who called pe- The agreement remains Noshat was crossing the seven-lane destrians “lazy” for not using cross- trapped in a complex maze of the Northern Boulevard in Queens with walks after seven people were killed by Indeed, the caves of fi nance for mitigation his 11-year-old sister fi ve days before vehicles in less than three months. and adaptation for the develop- Christmas 2013 when Mauricio Osorio- This summer London became the agreement ing countries, deployment of Palominos, operating an enormous latest global city to announce a Vision Zero programme, focusing on speed market mechanisms, periodicity truck on a suspended driving licence, in its present turned left across their path. Noshat reduction, bus and lorry safety and cy- of stocktaking and transparency, was the 11th child under 13 to be killed cling and walking infrastructure, as well form is just an fl exibility for developing coun- on the streets of New York that year. as tackling the city’s most dangerous tries in reporting. The urgent 30-day plan De Blasio junctions. Bringing together policing, agreement of Formulating the rules on the ordered became the fi rst Vision Zero transport and city hall, the target is to cyclic and iterative nature by policy of a major US city, blazing a trail eliminate all 2,000 annual road deaths intent enhancing the nationally deter- for mayors around the world to tackle and serious injuries in the city by 2041, mined contributions (NDCs), what the World Health Organisation with interim targets to reduce them by earlier considered an innovation in international agreements, calls a “major but neglected global 65% by 2022. health problem” and which killed As in LA, London’s plans for safer is now proving to be formidable. 1.25mn people in 2013. In two weeks streets have been dogged by local op- It all boils down to the fact that world is now setting the in late November that year, four New position. new norms of not keeping the promises made on global Yorkers were killed by drivers on side- In June, mayor Sadiq Khan’s fl agship co-operation. Not walking the talk and smartly gyrating the walks, sparking protests. Vision Zero, a road traffic safety project pioneered by Sweden in 1997, has been pedestrian safety scheme, the pedestri- agreed goals is now the global attire of diplomacy. Vision Zero, a road traffi c safety adopted by several cities around the world. anisation of Oxford Street, was blocked And each of these new patterns is being justifi ed, some- project pioneered by Sweden in 1997, by the local borough, Westminster city times diplomatically and, many times with international has since been adopted by the likes of New York’s Vision Zero programme cy at the NYC Department of Transpor- council, following local concerns about arrogance. Take, for example, fi nancing for mitigation and Paris, Berlin, Stockholm and state of targeted 50 such roads and junc- tation from 2007 to 2014 and developed traffi c displacement. adaptation for the developing countries. Victoria in Australia. At its best, it fo- tions. Slow zones, speed cameras, De Blasio’s Vision Zero programme, This was despite Oxford Street’s poor cuses on evidence-based interventions street lighting and traffi c signals were says: “Los Angeles had no safety policy safety record – with two pedestrians The “polluter to pay” norm has been the anchor in the around anything from safer vehicles introduced in areas where data showed before Vision Zero, it’s pretty common killed and 15 seriously injured between multilateral environment agreements right from the 1992 Rio to safer roads, covering engineering, they were needed most. The city set up across the US. There’s nothing to build 2014 and 2017. Agreement, but is now being openly fl outed. education and enforcement. However, community outreach and worked with on and you have established this really Lloyd Alter, design editor of Tree- The promise of providing “additional” fi nance through as any city can call itself or its safety taxi organisations. ambitious goal and it’s hard for every- Hugger.com and architect, sees the the Green Climate Fund (GCF), which was fi rst proposed by programmes Vision Zero, the results are By 2017 road deaths had fallen 28% one to fi gure out what’s going on.” physical road changes as crucial in then US secretary of state Hillary Clinton and then president mixed. from 2013 levels, and pedestrian deaths He says local council leaders who did reducing deaths. Barack Obama in Copenhagen in 2009, is supposed to become US states that adopted Vision Zero 45%, to the lowest point since records back Vision Zero in LA were left isolated “I love the idea of Vision Zero and fully operational in 2020, meaning developed countries would saw fatality rates decline 25% faster began. and “hung out to dry” in the face of wish it was implemented,” he says. “The provide - starting with $10bn per year in 2012 to reach $100bn than the national average from 1997 to Fillin-Yeh says: “If you have a pro- opposition. problem is, it becomes a cliche rather per year from 2020 onwards - to help developing countries 2014. But reducing road deaths in the gramme focusing on the things that Orcutt also expresses his frustration than an actual plan. long-term means redesigning roads to save lives, designing streets to protect at a lack of ongoing improvement in “The fundamental issue in America is pay for climate adaptation and mitigation. restrict motor traffi c – and that’s where people biking and walking, you will New York after those initial improve- that almost anywhere they try to imple- What has happened to that promise? As of today, GCF has things get diffi cult. have a successful vision zero.” Focusing ments. ment Vision Zero, almost everyone in pledges of $10.4bn whereas the actually committed is only New York aimed to halve traffi c on education alone, she says, “won’t “We need leaders to say, ‘This is what those cities drives. They aren’t willing $3.5bn. fatalities by 2025 by bringing together achieve anything”. we are doing in the city, and you don’t to be slowed down, they object, and the Not walking the full talk by the star performers on climate City Hall, the police department and While New York has some of the low- get to say no, and you don’t get to come politicians refuse to do anything that’s change has also resulted in the angry reaction from civil soci- the Department of Transportation. est traffi c death rates in the country, Los back on what our technical experts going to make drivers angry.” ety, and supported by countries, on such climate-hypocrisy. Although it was the safest city in the Angeles has the highest, with a person say,’” he says. “That is the power of the He references Toronto, where the aim When state leaders arrive in Poland in December, they US in terms of road deaths and serious killed in traffi c every 40 hours. mayor – that’s the point of the mega- was a 20% reduction in the number of would have to muddle through the mess of the draft “rule injuries, it was on a par with cities in In January last year the city’s mayor, phone you have.” pedestrians killed and seriously injured eastern Europe and Latin America. Eric Garcetti, announced its fi rst Vision Policing is too often a major stum- over 10 years. Academics dubbed it a book” mired in diminishing trust. De Blasio announced that speed Zero strategy, with a goal of eliminat- bling block for Vision Zero improve- “poor and tragically designed version” By that time, the GHGs concentration, already higher by 42% cameras near schools would start is- ing traffi c deaths by 2025. Work would ments – not least in New York, where of Vision Zero. compared to 1992 levels, would have risen to the “next level”. suing tickets for the fi rst time the day focus on 40 High Injury Network 66% of fatal crashes were caused by “Everybody picks and chooses what A rescue operation for the trapped Paris Agreement would after he stood on that street corner, streets, particularly those near schools. unsafe speed, driver inattention or they want, and in the end it isn’t Vi- be near impossible. and police would begin prioritis- Interventions included pedestrian distraction, failure to yield, traffi c sion Zero at all,” Alter says. He believes ing road crashes. He convinced the scrambles, painted kerb extensions pro- control disregard or drunk driving – in Vision Zero needs stronger wording state government to lower city traffi c tected by bollards, and left turn safety other words, risk-taking behaviour by similar to the Stop de Kindermoord To Advertise speeds, a key factor in road deaths, improvements . drivers. movement in 1970s Dutch cities. and targeted the High Injury Network. However, things started to unravel. Despite overall fatality reductions, “We should rename it ‘Stop Murder- [email protected] These “boulevards of death” – state On Temple Street, where 34 people between 2013 and 2017 New York hit- ing Our Kids’: make it real and make it Display highways doubling as neighbourhood were killed or severely injured within and-run collisions resulting in injury something much stronger, because it’s streets, like Northern Boulevard and 2.3 miles in eight years, a “road diet” increased 14% to more than 5,000. just lost its meaning,” he says. “When 44466621 44418811 Queens Boulevard – make up 15% of the expected to reduce crashes by up to 47% NYPD make an arrest in just 9% of hit- it came over from Sweden it was a plan, road network but account for 60% of met backlash from residents and driv- and-run injury cases and less than half it was things that we did, now it’s just Classified pedestrian fatalities. ers. Local city leaders downgraded lane of the fatal cases. Meanwhile, NYPD a cliche.” 44466609 44418811 As Kate Fillin-Yeh, strategy direc- removals to things that wouldn’t inter- ticketing of cyclists increased 25% from Even Sweden has stumbled on the tor at the National Association of City fere with motor traffi c: sidewalk repairs, 2016 to 2017: 23,452 summonses were road to zero road deaths, though, and Subscription Transportation Offi cials, puts it: “De- new traffi c signals and crosswalks. issued to cyclists in 2017 alone. In July, readjusted its target to no more than signing 60mph streets didn’t work in Road deaths rose rather than falling, state legislators turned off speed cam- 220 deaths a year by 2020. [email protected] a city context, but people didn’t know increasing 80% in two years. Then state eras in New York, only to reinstate them Ultimately, says Alter, zero road what better was. The thing we should legislators chose to increase speed lim- in autumn after more than 300,000 deaths may not be achievable, “but it be thinking about is how many people its on LA’s High Injury Network roads. drivers were logged speeding near is worth having as a goal.” - Guardian © 2018 Gulf Times. All rights reserved can we move, not how many cars.” Jon Orcutt, who was director of poli- schools in two-and-a-half weeks. News and Media Gulf Times Tuesday, September 18, 2018 19 COMMENT Universal basic income or universal living wage?

By Laura Tyson and Lenny Mendonca In 2014, IKEA started paying living credits go to low-income families with Berkeley wages based on the MIT calculator, and children, and 80% of the children other companies have since followed benefi ting from it are young people of suit. colour. universal basic income (UBI) For their part, local and state gov- But more work needs to be done. would be both regressive and ernments can close the gap – cur- Fewer than one in fi ve eligible prohibitively expensive. Yet rently $3 per hour in Fresno and $6 per Californians knows about the state’s Athe idea continues to attract a hour in San Francisco, by raising the EITC, which translates into $2bn in motley crew of tech and labour leaders, minimum wage and expanding EITC unclaimed credits each year. libertarians, and progressives, who fear coverage and other benefi ts. Similarly, one in fi ve eligible workers a coming age of mass technological Measures to raise the minimum nationwide (more than 6mn people) do unemployment. wage and index it to the cost of living not fi le for the federal EITC each year, Similarly, proposals in the United are already underway in many parts of losing out on some $16bn in unclaimed States for a federal jobs guarantee the US. credits. have been gaining momentum on the Through legislation or direct voter Clearly, more aggressive public traditional left. initiatives, approximately 8mn work- marketing programmes are required to But while such a programme could ers have already won minimum-wage raise awareness about the EITC at both employ millions of workers to deliver increases in recent years, and an ad- the state and federal levels. basic public services and rebuild and ditional $5bn has made it into workers’ And beyond that, the federal govern- modernise the country’s dilapidated pockets since 2017. ment should strengthen incentives for infrastructure, it is no more feasi- If applied nationally, a $15 hourly states to match federal EITC payments ble than a UBI, given current federal minimum wage (roughly equal to 50% based on their cost of living. budget constraints. of the economy-wide median wage), Enrolment in federal benefi ts such as The challenge for the future of work adjusted for regional cost-of-living Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition is not really about the quantity of jobs, diff erences, would mean another Assistance Programme, the Children’s but their quality, and whether they $144bn for workers by 2024. Health Insurance Programme, and Pell will pay enough to provide a decent After raising the minimum wage, Grants also needs to be simplifi ed. standard of living. the next step is to expand the EITC, Currently, more than $50bn worth of Even in developed countries where Without policy changes, the returns to labour will become increasingly uneven as the link between overall productivity by broadening its income and eli- federal benefi ts goes unclaimed every relatively higher wages encour- growth and wages becomes ever more attenuated. gibility criteria, increasing its size, year. age the adoption of labour-saving and making it available in periodic To ensure that struggling house- technology, job losses will likely growth in the US has resembled a ductivity growth and wages becomes Together, these three steps would payments instead of an annual lump holds receive the benefi ts to which they be offset by projected increases in dumbbell. ever more attenuated. ensure that full-time workers (in one sum. are entitled, fi ve states are piloting a demand for goods and services, The number of high-skill, well-paid Though skills training and lifelong or multiple jobs) do not live in poverty The EITC has a proven record of simplifi ed auto-enrolment programme driven by productivity and income jobs is increasing, particularly in so- learning are needed to equip workers or constant economic insecurity. success in encouraging work, reducing in partnership with Code for America. gains, growing healthcare needs, and called STEM fi elds (science, technol- for the jobs of the future, such meas- Currently, the minimum wage in poverty, boosting educational attain- There will always be work to be investment in alternative energy and ogy, engineering, math), where 2.4mn ures will not be suffi cient to ensure Fresno, California, is $11 per hour; in ment, increasing intergenerational done. infrastructure. jobs remain unfi lled. decent livelihoods. San Francisco, it is $15 per hour. mobility, and improving maternal and So, instead of pursuing fantasy UBI But current trends and future pro- At the other end of the skills spec- Complementary policies to provide a Yet, according to the MIT Liv- infant health. or job guarantees, why not take meas- jections about the quality of jobs are trum, although the number of “gig basic living wage are essential. ing Wage Calculator, a worker in a Even Chris Hughes, a Facebook ures that provide a universal living alarming. economy” jobs is growing at three In the US, three steps can be taken dual-income, single-child household co-founder and leading UBI booster wage for work now and for the work of The OECD Employment Outlook times the pace of GDP, many of the now to achieve this goal: a substantial in Fresno needs to earn at least $14 in Silicon Valley, calls for an expanded the future? – Project Syndicate shows an increase in low-paying jobs, workers fi lling them are barely scraping increase in the minimum wage and per hour to cover its basic needs; in EITC. sluggish real (infl ation-adjusted) wage by. a robust earned income tax credit San Francisco, that same worker must Some US states are already ahead of Laura Tyson, a former chair of growth, and declining employment Meanwhile, the unemployment rate (EITC), both indexed to regional costs make at least $21 per hour. others on this front. the US President’s Council of Economic benefi ts across advanced economies has remained stubbornly high among of living and automatically adjusted And if that worker is a single parent, By extending its EITC to include Advisers, is a professor at the Haas between 2007 and 2017. workers without a high-school di- for infl ation; and easy enrolment of the living wage in each city rises to $25 gig-economy work, and broadening School of Business at the University And, on average, fewer than one in ploma, and in economically challenged eligible workers for federal and state per hour and $39 per hour, respec- the range of eligible income, California of California, Berkeley, and a senior three job seekers in OECD countries rural and urban areas. benefi ts. tively. has increased the number of claims adviser at the Rock Creek Group. received unemployment compensation Without policy changes, the returns These benefi ts should also be pro- Both companies and governments from around 400,000 in 2016 to 1.3mn Lenny Mendonca, Chairman of New during that period. to labour will become increasingly rated and portable to cover part-time can help close the gap between living in 2017. America, is Senior Partner Emeritus at Since the 2008 fi nancial crisis, job uneven as the link between overall pro- and gig-economy workers. and minimum wages. Over 90% of California’s EITC McKinsey & Company.

A better bailout was possible Three-day forecast TODAY Maximum Temperature : 400c Minimum Temperature : 320c By Rob Johnson and George Soros balance sheet that would have been 20 to consume) would have experienced The administration’s policies failed New York times larger, $700bn could have gone relief from their mortgage debt. to deal with the underlying problems, WEDNESDAY a long way towards restoring a healthy This shift in the burden of adjust- and by protecting the banks rather Maximum Temperature : 410c fi nancial system. ment would have imposed losses on than mortgage holders, they exacer- Minimum Temperature : 310c he recent exchange be- The ability to use funds to inject the people who were responsible for bated the gap between America’s haves THURSDAY tween Joe Stiglitz and Larry equity into the banks was not part of the calamity, stimulated aggregate and have-nots. Maximum Temperature : 400c Summers about “secular the bill presented to the US House of demand, and diminished the rising The electorate blamed the Obama Minimum Temperature : 310c stagnation” and its relation Representatives. inequality that was demoralising the administration and the Democratic T Fisherman's forecast to the tepid economic recovery after So we organised for Representa- vast majority of people. Congress for the results. the 2008-2009 fi nancial crisis is an tive Jim Moran to ask House Financial We did recognise a problem with The Tea Party was formed in early WARNING important one. Services Chairman Barney Frank in a our proposal: providing relief to over- 2009 with large-scale fi nancial sup- Inshore : Nil History does not repeat itself, but it pre-arranged question whether it was indebted mortgage holders would have port from the billionaire Koch broth- Offshore : Expected strong wind rhymes, Mark Twain reportedly once in the spirit of the TARP legislation to encountered resistance from the many ers, Charles and David. and high seas at places said. allow the Treasury to use taxpayers’ homeowners who had not taken out a In January 2010, Massachusetts WEATHER Inshore : Misty at places by early But, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, in money in the form of equity injections. mortgage. held a special election for the late Ted morning,becomes hot light of our recent economic history, Frank replied in the affi rmative on We were exploring ways to over- Kennedy’s Senate seat, just after Wall and relatively humid history doesn’t rhyme, it swears. the House fl oor. come this problem until it became Street paid extravagant bonuses, and daytime. Humid by night. Stiglitz and Summers appear to This was in fact a tool that Paulson moot: the Obama administration elected the Republican Scott Brown. agree that policy was inadequate to used in the closing days of George W refused to accept our advice. The Republicans subsequently took Offshore : Fine address the structural challenges that Bush’s administration. The approach of the Bush and control of the House of Representa- WIND Inshore : Northeasterly-South- the crisis revealed and intensifi ed. But Paulson did it the wrong way: he Obama administrations stands in stark tives in the 2010 midterm elections, easterly 04-14 KT Their debate addresses the size of summoned the heads of major banks contrast both to the policy followed by gained control of the Senate in 2014, the fi scal stimulus, the role of fi nancial and forced them to take the money he the British government, and to earlier and nominated Donald Trump, who Offshrore : Northeasterly -South- regulation, and the importance of allocated to them. But by doing so he examples of successful fi nancial bail- was elected in 2016. easterly 08-18/25 KT income distribution. stigmatised the banks. outs in the United States. It is essential that the Democratic Visibility : 4-8/3 KM But additional issues need to be A few months later, when Presi- In Great Britain, led by then-Prime party recognise and correct its past Offshore : 3-5 FT Rises to 8 FT at explored in depth. dent Barack Obama’s administration Minister Gordon Brown, undercapital- mistakes. places ised banks were told to raise additional We believe a critical opportunity arrived, one of us (Soros) repeatedly The 2018 midterm elections, Around the region was missed when the balance of the appealed to Summers to adopt a policy capital. which will set the stage for the 2020 Weather burden of adjustment was tilted of equity injection into fragile fi nan- They were given the opportunity to presidential election, is an excellent Weather tomorrow Max/min heavily in favour of creditors rela- cial institutions and to write down go to the market themselves, but they opportunity to do so. today Max/min P Cloudy 44/26 tive to debtors in the response to the mortgages to a realistic market value in were warned that the UK Treasury The political and economic prob- Baghdad P Cloudy 44/28 Sunny 41/28 crisis and that this contributed to the order to help the economy recover. would inject funds into them if they lems that confront the US are much Kuwait City Sunny 44/28 Sunny 39/31 prolonged stagnation that followed Summers objected that this would failed to do so. The Royal Bank of deeper today than they were ten years Manama Sunny 38/31 Sunny 31/27 the crisis. be politically unacceptable because it Scotland and Lloyds TSB did require ago, and the public knows it. Muscat Sunny 30/27 M Sunny 31/19 The long-term social and political would mean nationalising banks. government support. The Democrats must recognise Tehran Sunny 33/21 ramifi cations of this missed opportu- Such a policy reeked of socialism The equity injections were accom- these problems, not downplay them. nity have been profound. and America is not a socialist country, panied by restrictions on executive pay This year’s midterm elections will Back in September 2008, when he asserted. and dividends. be a plebiscite on Trump, but the then-US Secretary of the Treasury We found his argument unconvinc- In contrast to Paulson’s method Democratic presidential candidate Hank Paulson introduced the $700bn ing – both then and now. of injecting funds, banks were not in 2020 must have a programme that Troubled Asset Relief Programme By relieving fi nancial institutions of stigmatised if they could borrow from many Americans fi nd inspiring. (TARP), he proposed using the funds their overvalued assets, the Bush and the markets. The electorate has seen where the to bail out the banks, but without ac- Obama administrations had already Similarly, during the Great Depres- Republicans’ demagogic populism quiring any equity ownership in them. chosen to socialise the downside. sion of the 1930s, the US took owner- leads, and a majority should reject it in At that time, we and our colleague Only the upside of sharing in the ship and recapitalised banks via the 2018. – Project Syndicate Robert Dugger argued that a much possible stock gains in the event of a Reconstruction Finance Corporation more eff ective and fair use of taxpay- recovery was still at issue! (RFC) and managed mortgage restruc- Rob Johnson is President of the ers’ money would be to reduce the Had our policy recommendation turing through the Home Owners’ Institute for New Economic Thinking value of mortgages held by ordinary been adopted, stockholders and debt Loan Corporation (HOLC). and a senior fellow and Director of the Americans to refl ect the decline in holders (who have a higher propen- No doubt the Obama administration Global Finance Project at the Franklin Around the world home prices and to inject capital into sity to save) would have experienced helped to alleviate the crisis by reas- and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. Weather Weather the fi nancial institutions that would greater losses than they did, whereas suring the public and downplaying the George Soros is Chairman of Soros today Max/min tomorrow Max/min become undercapitalised. lower- and middle-income house- depth of the problems, but there was a Fund Management and of the Open Athens M Sunny 29/21 Sunny 28/20 Because equity could support a holds (which have a higher propensity heavy political price to pay. Society Foundations. Beirut Sunny 29/26 M Sunny 29/26 Bangkok T Storm 30/26 T Storm 29/25 Berlin Sunny 30/16 Sunny 29/17 Cairo Sunny 35/23 Sunny 36/23 Cape Town Showers 14/08 Rain 12/07 Live issues Colombo T Storm 29/26 T Storm 29/26 Dhaka M Sunny 36/28 P Cloudy 36/27 Hong Kong P Cloudy 28/24 P Cloudy 28/24 Istanbul P Cloudy 24/19 Cloudy 24/19 Decoded: why some people are at risk of gout Jakarta M Sunny 34/25 S T Storms 34/25 Karachi P Cloudy 30/26 P Cloudy 29/26 IANS which causes severe joint pain and which helps excrete urate through the genetic variant in humans is in the gut London Cloudy 23/17 Cloudy 22/14 Wellington swelling, especially in peoples’ toes, kidney and gut. as well as the kidney. Manila S T Storms 32/26 S T Storms 31/26 knees, elbows, wrists and fi ngers. In this way, PDZK1 controls the “Our results have identifi ed a new mo- Moscow P Cloudy 17/09 P Cloudy 21/12 It can be treated using drugs that amount of serum urate which, when lecular pathway for gout, enabling new New Delhi Sunny 35/23 Sunny 36/23 esearchers have decoded a ge- lower urate levels. high, form crystals that cause gout. understanding of why there is gout risk in New York T Storm 28/20 P Cloudy 26/18 netic variant that enables new But if left untreated, it can cause “We found that the genetic variant patients with this particular genetic vari- Paris P Cloudy 28/15 M Sunny 27/14 understanding of why some serious damage to joints, kidneys and doesn’t aff ect the PDZK1 protein, ant,” Horsfi eld said. The research, pub- Sao Paulo S T Storms 24/18 P Cloudy 27/17 Rpeople are at risk of gout, quality of life. but causes change in the amount of lished in the journal Human Molecular Seoul P Cloudy 26/16 M Cloudy 25/18 a painful and debilitating arthritic A team from the University of Otago the PDZK1 gene produced,” said Julia Genetics, showed that there are dozens Singapore T Storm 30/26 T Storm 29/25 disease. in New Zealand, characterised the Horsfi eld, Associate Professor at the of regions in the human genome with Sydney Sunny 23/10 P Cloudy 25/09 Gout is caused by persistently genetic variant that lies not inside, university. signals that increase serum urate levels Tokyo Clear 27/21 Cloudy 26/20 elevated levels of urate in the blood, but just next to a gene called PDZK1 - “Unexpectedly, the eff ect of the and risk of gout, and kidney function. Gulf Times 20 Tuesday, September 18, 2018 QATAR

Patient Safety Week focuses on seven tracks

By Joseph Varghese tion and control and, The path- It’s not about what we know, but Along with other activities of Staff Reporter way from Book to Bedside. what we can change,” she contin- the week, there will be an aware- “This year’s theme is ‘Patient ued. ness programme on patient safe- Safety from Book to Bedside’. It is “With the launch of our Na- ty at two locations. he 4th Qatar Patient Safe- our analogy to express the chal- tional Health Strategy 2018-2022 “There will be a post-con- ty Week conference com- lenge of moving theory to prac- and its clear focus on achieving ference workshop on the fun- Tprising keynote speeches, tice. better health, better care and damentals of healthcare risk panel discussions, will focus on Quality improvement sci- better value MoPH together with management at Qatar Rehab seven diff erent tracks, said Huda ence and patient and family its partners has been on top of Auditorium and a repeat of the al-Katheeri, acting director, engagement are very important improving the quality of health- fundamentals of patient safety Healthcare Quality and Patent aspects that facilitate moving care services a long time ago. workshop at Hamad Medical Safety Department, the Ministry theory to practice, highlighted “We are determined to achieve City. The theme of our public of Public Health (MoPH). al-Katheeri while speaking at improved health for Qatar’s pop- campaign is “we are all patients” The seven tracks are: Leader- the inaugural session of the ulation, meeting the needs of and it has several messages. The ship and accountability; Shared event yesterday. existing and future generations, campaigns will be held at the decision making in healthcare “However, these cannot work by setting ourselves the goal of City Center Mall and Qatar Na- – are we there yet!; Medication without having continuous achieving safe, high quality, inte- tional Library. safety across the continuum of professional development pro- grated care model. In addition, along with the care; Learning from each other: grammes and research to equip Patient Safety has been and conference, there is an exhibition Healthcare, aviation innovation; our current and future workforce will always be a standing agenda displaying more than 70 posters learning from failure, learning with the necessary knowledge item in our national health strat- and 10 booths representing the from success; Infection preven- and skills to achieve best care. egies,” pointed out the offi cial. entire health sector in Qatar. HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari along with other dignitaries at the event. PICTURE: Jayaram MoPH fl ags off Qatar Patient Safety Week

By Joseph Varghese complex system and therefore in the country one of the best in Staff Reporter the delivery of healthcare will al- the region. “Patient safety has ways come with risks. evolved into a cornerstone of “During my interaction for healthcare quality and a mainstay rganised by the Ministry several years, I have seen an of political rhetoric about how to of Public Health (MoPH) increasing emphasis on pa- improve care around the world. Ounder the patronage and tient safety issues and huge Today, we are at a more exciting in the presence of HE the Min- interest and efforts and im- juncture where it is possible not Al-Ahli Hospital is a sponsoring partner in this annual event that is focused on spreading the concepts of patient safety among all healthcare ister of Public Health Dr Hanan provements in the area of only to learn from mistakes but providers as well as the public across Qatar. Mohamed al-Kuwari, the 4th patient safety and quality of also from excellence and innova- Qatar Patient Safety Week was healthcare services. tion,” explained Prof Darzi. opened yesterday at Sheraton There has been a growing “We are pioneering new tech- Doha. interest in involving patients nologies, building new equip- About 1,000 healthcare pro- and families in improving qual- ment and designing new en- fessionals are participating in ity of care, the projects and pro- vironment which reduce the Al-Ahli Hospital takes part in the week-long event taking place grammes that are dedicated to opportunity for harm in the fi rst until September 22. The inaugu- improving medication safety, place. ral event featured a number of reducing healthcare associated “In the face of sustained and top level government offi cials, infections, preventing falls and emerging threats to patient safe- distinguished guests and inter- pressure ulcers, improving re- ty, this keynote speech will cover 4th Qatar Patient Safety Week national speakers. porting of incidents and near the tools needed to capitalise on The guests at the event in- misses and many more, all con- innovation and build a safer care cluded Dr Sheikh Mohamed tributing to making our health- system for the future,” he high- l-Ahli Hospital is taking among all healthcare providers Jamal Hammad, deputy chief history of promoting safety as a bin Hamad al-Thani, director care system safer for our patients lighted. part in this year’s Qa- as well as the public across Qa- executive offi cer of Al-Ahli Hos- fundamental principle of patient of Public Health at MoPH; Prof and our staff .” “Discussions of Universal Atar Patient Safety Week. tar. Khalid al-Emadi, chief exec- pital said, “The importance of care and an important compo- Lord Darzi, director of the Insti- “I have seen achievement at all Health Coverage have ignored Held under the patronage of HE utive offi cer of Al-Ahli Hospital promoting patient safety cannot nent of quality management. tute of Global Health Innovation diff erent levels. At MoPH level, patient safety and quality of the Minister of Public Health Dr said, “The hospital is eager to be underestimated. Healthcare Maintaining full international at Imperial College of London; healthcare organisations gov- healthcare in general or – even Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari, the follow international standards is a complex and highly techni- healthcare accreditation since and Mark Pearson, deputy direc- ernment, semi-government and worse – have treated it as some- national initiative is created by for safety and we are doing our cal industry, excellence in clini- early 2014 under the auspices tor for employment, Labour and private, as well as achievements thing that is secondary in impor- the Healthcare Quality and Pa- best to achieve the highest qual- cal outcomes and patient satis- of the Australian Council on Social Aff airs at Organisation for with other sectors such as the tance to expanding health cover- tient Safety Department of the ity in healthcare for patients by faction is at the core of our being Healthcare Standards Interna- Economic Co-operation and De- academic sector and community age. This is wrong. First of all, Ministry of Public Health in col- enhancing education and pro- at Al-Ahli Hospital. Achieving tional is one way of demonstrat- velopment among others. organisations,” she added. poor patient safety is a signifi - laboration with public and pri- fessional development for med- these objectives can only be done ing our commitment to con- Welcoming the gathering, Giving the fi rst keynote ad- cant cause of the global disease vate healthcare providers from ical, nursing and allied health by investing in high performing tinuous quality improvement Huda al-Katheeri, acting direc- dress on ‘Innovations in Patient burden. across Qatar. professionals. health professionals, dedicated resulting in optimal outcomes tor, Healthcare Quality and Pat- Safety’ Lord Darzi said there is In turn, the cost of poor pa- Al-Ahli Hospital is a sponsor- “Also, this creates an entre- and competent support workers and overall improvements in pa- ent Safety Department, MoPH, every likelihood that the political tient safety is high,” noted Pear- ing partner in this annual event preneurial spirit among them and a quality systems approach tient safety,” said David Miller, noted that healthcare profes- will of the government of Qatar son while delivering the second that is focused on spreading as they strive for best possible to everything we do.” director of Safety, Quality and sionals are working in a very has made the healthcare system keynote speech on the occasion. the concepts of patient safety practice.” “Al-Ahli Hospital has a long Accreditation Systems.

Mock drill on Doha Metro

The Public Transportation and implement such operational Cosmos at HIA refl ects Qatar’s heritage, culture Security Department at the scenarios in Metro stations in order Ministry of Interior (MoI) has held to combine eff orts in finding an a meeting with Qatar Railways integrated security system that is By Joey Aguilar ing at the artworks while waiting Company (Qatar Rail) to discuss eff ective and in order to reach the Staff Reporter for their fl ights, he added. Cos- the contingency scenario in Doha best levels. The emergency plan mos now joins other a diverse Metro. The meeting was attended was discussed in its theoretical range of stunning artworks at by representatives from a number framework, the procedures were osmos, a one-of-its-kind HIA such as the Lamp Bear by of MoI departments participating reviewed and several procedures public art piece by in- Urs Fischer, Small Lie by KAWS, in the mock drill, including Civil were agreed upon, the MoI said in Cternationally acclaimed a series of Oryx sculptures by Defence, Al Fazaa, National a statement. As part of the plan, contemporary French artist Dutch artist Tom Claassen, and Command Centre and General a mock exercise was carried out Jean-Michel Othoniel, does not installations entitled ‘Play- Directorate of Traff ic. at Economic Zone station near go unnoticed by a multicultural ground’ by American artist Tom Major Jassim Abdulrahman Hamad International Airport audience at Hamad Internation- Otterness, among others. al-Sulaiti, assistant director of to enhance the readiness of all al Airport (HIA). Some of the regional and in- the Public Transport Security security authorities in preparation “It is huge sculpture that will ternational artists featured at Department, explained during for the operational phase of Doha give millions of passengers a the airport include Adel Ab- the meeting the need to prepare Metro. unique experience at HIA,” the dessemed, Dia Azzawi, Ahmed artist told reporters on the side- al-Bahrani, Maurizio Cattelan, lines of his visit at the airport to Don Gummer, Keith Haring, inspect his artwork yesterday. Damien Hirst, Jenny Holzer, Othoniel, who is best known Marc Quinn, Anselm Reyle, Ru- for modernising the gardens dolf Stingel and Bill Viola. of the Chateau de Versailles with his striking glass fountain Panel discussion sculptures, described his art- Earlier this summer, Jean- work as a monumental public art Michel Othoniel participated in piece that refl ects Qatar’s herit- a panel discussion at The New age and culture. Internationally acclaimed contemporary French artist Jean-Michel Othoniel visits HIA to inspect his York Times Art Leaders Network His visit to Doha forms part artwork ‘Cosmos’ yesterday. 2018 with QM chairperson HE of his larger collaboration with Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad Qatar Museums (QM) aimed at a blooming rose when observed “I discovered things I’ve never of this huge project, I was im- bin Khalifa al-Thani and other A mock drill was carried out at Economic Zone station of Doha Metro. connecting audiences living and from the front. seen (before) such as the as- pressed by its quality because distinguished fi gures from the visiting the country with inspir- Othoniel drew inspiration trolabe, it is really linked to the it is very ambitious in terms of world of architecture. ing works of art. for the three-year project from culture of Qatar and also the Is- giving the people a high quality The artist expressed his keen Cosmos is the artist’s fi rst an artefact found in the collec- lamic motif,” he added. artwork, and also it is one of the interest in doing public art, artwork to be installed in an air- tion of the I M Pei-designed The artist noted that Cosmos most impressive (artworks) in where an artist spends time in port, representing a colossal ce- Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) pays homage to this extraordi- the world in terms of scale,” Ot- the street apart from holding lestial globe echoing the trajec- in Doha – the oldest Islamic as- nary object, using gold to gild honiel said. shows in museums, galleries and tories of travellers from around trolabe in the world. “I came to the steel structure of the piece “It is really an important col- privately-commissioned ones. the world with more than 30mn Doha fi ve years ago before the to evoke the warm light of the lection given to the country, to “In fact in the airport, what passengers passing through HIA project happened to see a show sun. He cited the importance of the people, because it is for eve- is interesting is that it is a mul- last year. According to QM, the at MIA and I had the chance to gold for this artwork– an ele- rybody.” ticultural public,” he said,. “As striking piece resembles bright discover the museum, and I was ment linked to various cultures Passengers, many of whom an artist, it is always interesting calligraphy drawn in space when very impressed by the collec- on earth, “which brings also the usually stay at the airport for to see how people (from diff er- observed side-on or from be- tion, it is amazing, the quality is idea of honour and hope.” a short period, will have the ent backgrounds) react to your low, and appears in the shape of really great,” the artist stressed. “I did not know I will be part chance to spend more time look- work.” Off icials attending the meeting.