BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 1 Qatar earn fi rst points against INDEX DOW JONES QE NYMEX QATAR 2-6, 27 COMMENT 26 Bahrain REGION 8, 9 BUSINESS 1-7, 14-16 19,83200 10,742.03 52.37 ARAB WORLD 8- 10 CLASSIFIED 8-13 QNB posts 10% jump +29.00 +32.56 -0.64 INTERNATIONAL 12-25 SPORTS SECTION 1-11 +0.15% +0.30% -1.21% in profi t to QR12.4bn Latest Figures published in QATAR since 1978

MONDAY Vol. XXXVII No. 10335 January 16, 2017 Rabia II 18, 1438 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals Emir meets CMC members

In brief

QATAR | Aid QR43.8mn for solving Gaza’s power problem HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani directed an urgent payment of QR43.8mn to solve the Gaza Strip’s electricity problem. The Emir also directed that an international co- operation should be undertaken to study the problem and make proposals to swiftly solve it. This came as HH the Emir met at the Emiri Diwan yesterday with deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau in Palestine Dr Ismail HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani meeting with chairman, vice chairman and members of the Central Municipal Council at Emiri Diwan yesterday. The meeting was attended by HE the Prime Minister and Haniyeh. The Chairman of the National Interior Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani. Page 2 Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza ambassador Mohamed al-Emadi, during a telephone conversation, informed acting Minister of Energy Authority in Ramallah Zafer Melhem that Qatar will pay QR14.6mn a month for three months to solve Gaza’s Bangladesh to ink electricity problem.

QATAR | Education Qatar calls for 120 private schools seek tuition fee hike deal with RasGas As many as 120 private schools in Qatar have sought permission to hike tuition fees for the academic year 2017- pushing Israel to 18, sources at the Ministry of Education for LNG imports and Higher Education told Arabic daily Arrayah. The ministry’s decision is By Mizan Rahman It later inked an MoU on December expected to be announced in February. Dhaka 29, 2016 with India’s Petronet to build The schools are classified into three another LNG import terminal at Ku- categories according to the quality of tubdia island having a capacity to han- their educational services. The ministry halt settlements high-level government team is dle around 1,000 mmcfd of imported had notified the schools in December set to leave for Qatar this month LNG. to apply for fee hike if they wished to, QNA gitimacy resolutions and the Arab peace Ato initiate a deal with RasGas Petrobangla again initiated a deal through a circular from the department Paris initiative for 2002, which includes the to import LNG six years after inking a with Summit LNG Terminal Company concerned. The application forms establishment of a Palestinian state memorandum of understanding, said a Pvt Ltd on January 4, 2017 to build an- were submitted online through based on the 4 June 1967 borders, with senior offi cial in Dhaka. other FSRU at Moheshkhali island hav- the ministry’s website. In addition, E the Foreign Minister of Qatar its capital in East Jerusalem, and resolv- The team will discuss issues regard- ing the capacity to handle around 500 applicants should support their claims Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdul- ing the Palestinian refugee issue on the ing the quantity of liquefi ed natural gas mmcfd of gas. with valid reasons and documentation Hrahman al-Thani called on the basis of the provisions of international (LNG) to be imported from Qatar and It has now moved to sign another in detail to justify the requested fee international community to compel Is- law and international legitimacy resolu- its pricing, LNG Cell chief of state-run deal with Indian Reliance to build an- hike, the daily added. rael to implement the international le- tions, especially resolution 194.” Petrobangla Mohamed Quamruzzaman other LNG terminal at Moheshkhali gitimacy and the Arab peace initiative, He warned that the absence of peace told newsmen. island, said the senior Petrobangla of- ARAB WORLD | Confl ict which includes the establishment of a or delay to achieve it will only further Petrobangla earlier had inked an fi cial. Palestinian state with its capital in East complicates the crisis, will bring unde- MoU with Qatar in January 2011 to im- State-run Power Cell has also Clashes grip fl ashpoint Jerusalem. sired consequences that are unpredict- port around 4mn tonnes of LNG annu- planned separately to build a LNG ter- area near Syria capital HE the Foreign Minister also stressed able, and will have implications for all ally. minal in the same area at Moheshkhali, Heavy fighting gripped a flashpoint on the need to solve the Palestinian the peoples of the region and the world. It later extended the deadline of the said offi cials. region near Syria’s capital yesterday, refugee issue, and also called on the UN “It is unrealistic to continue the oc- MoU twice due to delay in works to Under the deals, Petrobangla would leaving nine civilians dead and Security Council to compel Israel to im- cupation and the denial of the rights of build LNG import terminal. have to pay charges and fees to the LNG threatening a nationwide truce mediately stop the construction of colo- HE the Foreign Minister of Qatar Sheikh the Palestinian people and the building Petrobangla inked a “confi dential- terminal builders even if it does not im- designed to pave the way towards nial settlements in the occupied Pales- Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani is of settlements on the lands of others,” ity” deal with RasGas in Doha in Octo- port LNG through the terminals, said peace talks. Further east, Syrian tinian territories. welcomed by his French counterpart HE the Foreign Minister said. ber 2015 to facilitate import of LNG. Petrobangla sources. government troops lost ground to In a speech before the international Jean-Marc Ayrault as he arrives for He called on the UN Security Coun- Inking the initial agreement would Excelerate would charge around the Islamic State group near the ministerial conference on the Middle the Mideast peace conference in Paris cil to compel Israel to implement reso- be a follow-up deal after signing of US$0.59 per unit (1,000 cu ft) of natu- key Deir Ezzor military airport. The East peace process in Paris, the Foreign yesterday. lution 2334 which demanded the im- the “confi dentiality deal”, said the ral gas as service charge and costs for escalating violence augurs ill for peace Minister expressed his regret over Is- mediate cessation of the construction Petrobangla offi cial. tugboat operation, port facility, etc. negotiations in Kazakhstan later this rael’s unwillingness to meet the require- prehensive and lasting settlement, of colonial settlements in the occupied Offi cials said Petrobangla has now Costs for Petronet, Summit and Re- month. Page 9 ments of peace process, noting that which requires more than ever before Palestinian territories, as well as issue a been “liberal” to award deals to private liance are almost similar to that of Ex- Israel made one obstacle after another the international community to take decision demanding Israel to dismantle sector for building LNG terminals un- celerate. AMERICA | Politics through its continued aggression on the practical measures to ensure Israel’s hundreds of illegal settlements that vio- der Quick Enhancement of Electricity Petrobangla has estimated that Palestinian people. compliance with the will of the inter- late the provisions of the Fourth Geneva and Energy Supply (Special Provision) the government would have to spend CIA director to Trump: He also saluted the steadfastness of national community in the implemen- Convention and international law, and Act, 2010 bypassing competitive ten- around $1.57bn annually to import LNG be careful on Russia the Palestinian people in light of the tation of the international legitimacy, threaten the essence of the rule of the dering process. only through the terminal to be built by CIA Director John Brennan yesterday continued failure of the UN, especially the principles of international law, and Palestinian state on their national terri- Petrobangla, also known as Bang- Excelerate at an estimated cost for LNG had a stern parting message for the Security Council, to protect and re- relevant UN resolutions, as well as Ma- tory. “If we do not create a mechanism ladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corpora- at US$8 per Mcf. Republican Donald Trump days store their legitimate rights, adding that drid decisions, Oslo agreements, the for the implementation of the recent tion, inked the fi rst fi nal deal with US- Bangladesh is now reeling under before he assumes the US presidency, Israel has turned the occupation into Arab peace initiative and the principle of Security Council resolution, then it will based Excelerate Energy Bangladesh acute natural gas crisis with daily aver- cautioning him against loosening a permanent racial separation system two-state solution. be added to a series of UN resolutions Ltd for construction of the South Asian age output of around 2,700 mmcfd of sanctions on Russia and warning that is rejected in the 21st century, and He stressed that all these documents which Israel continued to defy.” country’s fi rst LNG terminal — a FSRU gas against the demand for over 3,300 him to watch what he says. Brennan warned of the risks of its promotion and are the basic references for the peace He stressed on the need to fi nd a new (fl oating, storage and re-gasifi cation mmcfd, according to Petrobangla. rebuked the president-elect for dissemination, a matter that would lead process. multilateral follow-up mechanism for unit) — at Moheshkhali island in the The country started facing natural comparing US intelligence practices to opening the door to endemic confl icts HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrah- the implementation of what is agreed Bay of Bengal on July 18, 2016. gas crisis from 2009 with rapid in- to Nazi Germany in comments that in the region and provide pretexts and man al-Thani reiterated Qatar’s fi rm upon in the fi nal status issues, and end- Excelerate is now working to imple- dustrialisation forcing Petrobangla laid bare the friction between Trump opportunities to create states based on position toward peace, saying: “Our po- ing the Israeli occupation and establish- ment the project having the LNG im- to ration natural gas supplies to gas- and the intelligence community he ethnicity and religion. sition in the State of Qatar vis-a-vis the ing full independent and sovereign State port handling capacity of up to 700mn guzzling industries, power plants, CNG has criticised and is on the verge of HE the Foreign Minister said that peace process is the same Arab position of Palestine, with its capital in East Je- cu ft per day (mmcfd), said Quamruz- (compressed natural gas) fi lling sta- commanding. Page 13 peace must be founded on a just, com- which is committed to international le- rusalem, on the 4 June 1967 borders. zaman. tions and households. Extension for fi rms to comply with new Commercial Companies Law

ompanies in Qatar will have This is the third extension given to and give them enough time to proc- in the forms of business entities and There has been a general “tighten- obligations to public shareholding another six months to com- companies in this regard, a statement ess their documents and registration private establishments and single per- ing” of the timelines to complete the companies listed on the Qatar Ex- Cply with the new Commercial issued by MEC said. accordingly. In this way, they would son companies are no longer a form of various registration processes. Existing change, appear in the new companies Companies Law no 11 of 2015, from According to Qatar News Agency be able to avoid any penalty for failing business entities. time periods have been reduced, mate- law. February 7. the latest extension is granted by the to comply with the new regulations in The permitted forms of business rially in some instances, and some new The new Companies Law requires The Ministry of Economy and Com- government in an effort to ease com- time. entities in the new law are; limited li- time periods have been introduced, eg publications to be made in two local merce (MEC) yesterday announced ex- mercial activities, strengthen the na- HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Ha- ability companies, public shareholding an application to register a limited li- newspapers one of which must be pub- tension of the grace period by another tional economy, enable competition mad al-Thani had issued law No. 11 of company, private shareholding com- ability company (LLC) must be consid- lished in Arabic. In addition entities are six months for companies to comply locally and abroad, and enhance the 2015 referred to as the new Qatar Com- pany, joint venture company, limited ered and a response issued by the MEC directed under the new Companies Law with the new law. private sector and facilitate its con- mercial Companies’ Law in June 2015. partnership, equities partnership and within 15 days from the date of submis- to make publications available on their The Cabinet had earlier approved tribution to Qatar’s economic devel- The new law requires corporate gov- general partnership. sion. websites if they have them, eg the pub- the draft of this decision at its regular opment. ernance report to be an integral part of Any company that does not take any References to the Qatar Financial lication of the memorandum and arti- meeting (No 22 for 2016) held on June Besides, MEC wants to support the the General Assembly. of the above forms shall be deemed null Markets Authority (QFMA), its rules cles of association of public sharehold- 1 last year. commercial companies in the country As per the new law, there are changes and void. and regulations and its supervisory ing companies. Gulf Times 2 Monday, January 16, 2017 QATAR Emir meets members of Central Municipal Council

Doha QNA

H the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al- HThani yesterday met the chairman, vice-chairman and members of the Central Munici- pal Council at the Emiri Diwan. The meeting was attended by HE the Prime Minister and Min- ister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani. At the meeting, the council members thanked HH the Emir for his continuous support to the council, which plays a major role in voicing the citizens’ com- ments and issues from diff erent electoral districts, assuring that it will continue to do its utmost to serve the community. HH the Emir said that the council plays a major role in repre- HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani meeting the members of the Central Municipal Council at the Emiri Diwan yesterday. senting the Qatari society from all around the state, highlighting its demographic development. The of co-operating with all offi cials into consideration to ensure Qa- the maintenance of the identity, fairness of the elections. members success in their mis- importance in the urban, civil, and Emir reaffi rmed the importance and taking the citizens’ opinions tar’s development and guarantee representation of the citizens and The Emir wished the council sion.

In brief Malls intensify FM holds meetings in Paris

Judicial team from Bahrain measures to visits Qatar

HE the Head of the Court of Cassation and President of the Supreme Judiciary Council Masoud Mohamed al-Amiri met a judicial delegation from prevent fi re Bahrain headed by Judge of the Court of Cassation Abdulla By Joey Aguilar Yacoub Abdulrahman, and his Staff Reporter accompanying delegation. They exchanged views on co-ordination between the number of major malls judiciaries in both nations. in Qatar have intensifi ed The visit of the delegation comes Atheir eff orts to implement as part of the bilateral meetings safety and security measures, of GCC courts of cassation and particularly regulating and stop- HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani held separate meetings judicial supreme councils. ping the use of power extension with Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed al-Tahir Siala and (below) Ireland’s Minister of Foreign cords, to prevent fi re and other Aff airs and Trade Charles Flanagan on the sidelines of the international ministerial conference Shafallah Centre hazards, it is learnt. on the Middle East peace process in Paris yesterday. HE Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al- According to mall offi cials, Thani also met Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut hosts Nepalese many tenants have been using Cavusoglu and the United Nations Special Co-ordinator for the Middle East Peace delegation such cords recklessly without Process Nickolay Mladenov. They discussed a number of regional and international issues of realising the possible dangers common concern, especially the deteriorating political and humanitarian situation in Syria and they can cause. the regime’s violations of human rights. They also discussed ways to co-ordinate positions and The Shafallah Centre for Children “We faced many circumstanc- the ongoing preparations for Astana talks which is scheduled to be held at the end of January with Special Needs has hosted es, in which tenants were using and the Geneva talks under the auspices of the United Nations to be held in February 2017. a delegation from Nepal with a extension cords carelessly,” Dar Reckless use of extension cords. view to promoting co-operation Al Salam Shopping Mall opera- between the two sides. tions manager Zahid Iqbal told of strictly implementing safety with a dedicated team, which The delegation included Gulf Times. measures to avoid accidents includes regulating the use of Secretary of the president’s He stressed that tenants have such as fi re in the mall. power extension cords. Off ice for Development Aff airs, been completely unaware that an General manager Feroz Mall manager Navaneeth Secretary-General for Human overloaded power extension cord Moideen told Gulf Times that Sudhakaran said all their ten- Rights and Social Justice, and might cause electrical sparks, their ‘43 check point inspection’ ants need to seek a work permit Executive Director of Madan overheating of wires, and “even- covers all potential safety haz- and approval before using any Academy in Nepal. tually cause fi re and other safety ards including electrical appli- equipment or machine, or even During a tour of the Centre, CEO hazards in the mall.” ances, fi xtures and equipment to replacing a light bulb, as part of of Qatar Foundation for Social To avoid the use of extension ensure that all their tenants and their safety measures. Action and Acting Executive cords, Iqbal noted that they suc- mall premises follow high safety He added that they also regulate Director of the Shafallah Centre cessfully convinced their ten- standards. the use of extension cords with Amaal bint Abdullatif al-Mannai ants to replace it with permanent “At Hyatt Plaza, we take the multiple outlets inside the mall, briefed the delegation on the power sockets, which also made safety of our customers serious- limiting it for charging smart- diff erent departments at the it easier to organise power cables. ly. We have an in-house Health phones and other similar devices Centre, its activities and the “With the close co-operation Safety and Environment team but not high wattage machines or services it provides. of our tenants, such measure is who conducts frequent inspec- equipment to avoid overloading. The delegation expressed deep working well enough and reduc- tions at all our outlets,” he said, The Ministry of Interior has admiration for the Shafallah es fi re and other safety hazards in adding that they have been regu- advised residents not to overload Centre, praising Qatar’s attention the mall,” he pointed out. larly doing this for a long time. extension cords or outlets and to human development and Hyatt Plaza Shopping Mall Al Khor Mall is also regularly not to place electrical cords un- the eff orts it has exerted for also reiterated the importance conducting safety inspections der a rug. human investment, especially for persons with disabilities. Qatar to take Msheireb Properties signs partnership pact with Al Meera part in WEF Qatar will participate in annual meeting of the Davos World sheireb Properties and impact on our local community, Economic Forum which will Al Meera Consumer and we look forward to working be held on January 20. The MGoods Company have closely together to make a vital delegation will be led by HE signed a partnership that will contribution to our country’s vi- the Minister of Economy and bring the latter’s chain of super- sion of a diversifi ed economy,” he Commerce Sheikh Ahmed bin markets to Msheireb Downtown noted. Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani. Doha (MDD). MDD, a transformative re- This year’s meeting is being held The new Al Meera store will be vitalised urban regeneration under the theme “Responsive located at Galleria Mall, which project in the heart of Doha, is and Responsible Leadership” forms a major part of the retail now open for commercial, retail and will be attended by a off ering at MDD with 100 shops. and residential tenants. number of economy ministers Besides an anchor supermar- The QR20bn community ini- and economic leaders from the ket and six-screen cinemas, the tiative covers more than 31 hec- Group of Twenty (G20) and more mall will also feature entertain- tares, with a vision to create sus- than 1,000 executive managers, ment zone for children. tainable modern communities heads of companies, leaders in “Al Meera’s Msheireb branch that off er a wealth of residential, the business field, community is the fruition of years of ex- commercial and retail prospects. influencers, experts and perience that the company has MDD off ers more than 300 academics. gained in the model design of retail shops, over 100,000sqm its commercial branches, which of leasable commercial space Qatar-Kazakhstan goes in harmony with the nature over 17 grade-A offi ce buildings of the place and its surround- with 24/7 property management ties discussed ings,” chairman Sheikh Thani services, a luxury department bin Thamer al-Thani said. store, fi ne dining restaurants, HE Minister of State for Foreign “On this premise, the Msheir- Off icials of Msheireb Properties and Al Meera at the agreement signing. premium hotels, government Aff airs Sultan bin Saad al- eb branch design is an attractive buildings, four heritage houses, Muraikhi met yesterday with blend of the modern Qatari ar- section will be dedicated to the will be equipped with the best The branch will be using racks “Together, we can off er visi- and stylish homes. Kazakhstan’s Special Envoy for chitectural art’s adherence to the supermarket space. technological solutions that and shelves with an attractive tors and residents an unrivalled MDD features a pioneering Middle East and Africa Baghdad authenticity of Qatari culture, as Organic products will be dis- follow international standards, design to help customers in a experience that seamlessly sustainability design to off er Amreyev, who is also an adviser well as its openness to contem- played in a second section while paying attention to the smallest quick and easy selection of prod- connects work, life and play,” residents and visitors a premier of Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister. porary art trends,” he pointed the third section will be devoted details in its advanced lighting ucts, which also aims to preserve Msheireb Properties CEO Ab- shopping experience with shad- They discussed bilateral relations out, adding that the its Msheireb to a coff ee shop for organic prod- systems, and features the best and maintain products while dulla Hassan al-Mehshadi said. ed walkways and clean effi cient and the means to enhance them. branch will be divided into sev- ucts. forms of presentation and stor- making the shopping experience “Al Meera’s values refl ect our energy that creates the perfect They also discussed issues of eral sections, of which the fi rst Sheikh Thani said the branch age. fun and exciting. own goals to make a positive climate to shop and relax. joint interest. Gulf Times Monday, January 16, 2017 3 QATAR Sheikh Joaan conveys condolences Tamuq conference focuses on energy, food, water security

he annual Qafco – Texas A&M University at Qatar TConference 2017 held last week focused on the interconnec- tion of food, energy and water. As the demand for fresh water, food and energy increases with population growth, economic and technological development, and climate change, this nexus will become even more critical for areas such as Qatar where fresh water is scarce and oil and gas revenues must be consumed to generate energy for seawater desalination, it was pointed out. “The event, a melting pot of ideas, helped the youth gain a better understanding of issues and provide sustainable solu- tions,” said Humoud al-Mannai, Dr Michael Ladisch at the conference. chief technical offi cer, Qafco. He explained that industries the world addressed the syn- and sessions showcased opinions Dr César O. Malavé, dean of like Qafco have a crucial role to ergies and trade-off s between and research from some of the Tamuq, expressed pride in part- play in providing a helping hand to water and energy use and food world’s most respected names in nering with industry collaborators HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, during a visit to Jeddah yesterday, conveyed the condolences the farmers to help feed the world. during the one-day conference, the fi eld, including Dr Michael such as Qafco to help realise sus- of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and HH the Deputy Emir Sheikh Abdullah bin “Investments in research and which aimed to help ensure wa- Ladisch, professor at Purdue Uni- tainable solutions to real-world Hamad al-Thani to Adviser to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and Governor of Makkah technologies, as well as forums for ter, energy and food security for versity (US). The event also pro- issues and to encourage the ex- Province Prince Khalid al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, and to members of the ruling family of Saudi knowledge sharing like this one, future generations. vided a forum for the exchange of change of knowledge, ideas and Arabia on the death of Prince Mohamed bin Faisal bin Abdulaziz al-Saud. can be a big boost to these eff orts.” The conference featured an ideas and opportunities for future expertise that is essential to fuel Sixteen experts from around impressive technical programme, collaborations. innovation and new thinking. Al-Kuwari meets prime ministers of Grenada and Trinidad

QNA Al-Kuwairi presented his eagerness to develop the bilat- St. George’s and Port of Spain electoral programme under the eral relations between both na- theme “Towards a New Start for tions in investment, tourism Unesco” and his vision for the and education and expressed his renadian Prime Minister development of the organisa- interest to know more about Qa- Keith Mitchell met HE tion. tar’s development. GDr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Prime Minister of Trinidad He also reaffi rmed the support al-Kuwari, adviser at the Emiri and Tobago Keith Rowley also of the Caribbean countries to the Diwan and Qatar’s candidate for met the Qatari candidate in the Qatari candidate stressing that the post of director general of capital, Port of Spain, where he al-Kuwari is eligible for the po- the United Nations Educational, explained his vision for the posi- sition due to his expertise. Scientifi c and Cultural Organi- tion. The meeting was attended by sation (Unesco) as part of his The prime minister expressed Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister plans to visit several countries. his admiration for Qatar and his of Foreign Aff airs Dennis Moses. HE Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kuwari with Grenadian Prime Minister Keith Mitchell and (Right) Premier of Trinidad and Tobago Keith Rowley. Gulf Times 4 Monday, January 16, 2017 QATAR

2,436 violations of cleaning law reported The public cleaning municipalities concerned 111,973 discarded tyres, department at the Ministry of to take action against the 4,576 carcasses, and 2,909 Municipality and Environment violators. abandoned vehicles. (MME) provided 11,199 Last year also, the The department also garbage collection containers department managed to implemented various related for various areas around the remove 832,268 tonnes of services to the public upon Barwa Bank names country last year. household waste, 377,516 specific requests, in addition Besides, the department tonnes of solid refuse, 133,902 to the promotion of a number spotted 2,436 violations tonnes of construction of awareness programmes of the public cleaning law, waste, 375,384 of various at schools to enhance the which were referred to the types of waste materials, culture of public cleanness. QR1mn prize winner arwa Bank has announced Additionally, twice a year, there the winner of the QR1mn are four winners per draw for the Bgrand prize for the Shari- cash prize of QR25,000, two win- ah-compliant Thara’a savings ners per draw for the cash prize account. Jassim Mohamed A J of QR50,000, and one winner per al-Kaabi was picked in a draw con- draw for the grand prize of QR1mn, ducted under the supervision of rewarding 102 winners in total with a representative of the qualitative cash prizes up to QR3mn. licence and market control depart- Khalid al-Subeai, acting Group ment of the Ministry of Economy CEO at Barwa Bank, said: “The and Commerce (MEC). Thara’a draw is our own special way Thara’a off ers account holders of saying ‘thank you’ to our clients the chance to win cash rewards up for using our Shariah-compliant to QR1mn, a fi rst for Islamic banks savings account with the QR1mn in Qatar. Based on several criteria, grand prize. Thara’a account holders are eligible Thara’a off ers account holders for a number of periodic draws for access to Barwa Bank’s innovative cash prizes totalling to QR3mn cash banking channels, with benefi ts rewards throughout the year on the including unlimited withdrawals Jassim Mohamed A J al-Kaabi wins QR1mn in the Thara’a savings condition that the customer deposit and deposits, as well as free fund account draw. does not go below QR10,000. transfers across their accounts and On a monthly basis, a draw is held through all Barwa Bank channels. strategically-located branches and from the convenience of their offi ce for the cash prize of QR5,000, as Barwa Bank off ers an extensive a broad network of more than 60 or home through the state-of-the- well as a draw for the cash prize of variety of personal banking prod- ATMs located across Qatar. Cus- art online banking, or via the 24/7 QR10,000. ucts and investments, as well as fi ve tomers can access their accounts Contact Centre.

Nissan Urvan recalled The Ministry of Economy and Commerce QA donates QR105,000 to QCS (MEC), in collaboration with Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Company, has announced the recall of Nissan Urvan model year 2013-2016 over the possibility of oil leak from rear axle oil seal. The MEC said the recall campaign comes within the framework of its ongoing eff orts to protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs. The MEC will co-ordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and communicate with customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out. The MEC has urged all customers to report Qatar Cancer Society (QCS) has received a donation of QR105,000 from Qatar Airways to treat any violations to its Consumer Protection and cancer patients who are unable to bear the treatment costs. QCS general manager Mariam Hamad Anti-Commercial Fraud Department through al-Noaimi thanked Qatar Airways for the gesture, and said that addressing cancer needs the con- the following channels: Hotline: 16001, e-mail: certed eff orts and constant co-operation between all institutions and agencies in Qatar. She also [email protected], Twitter: @MEC_Qatar, pointed to the importance of community partnerships and highlighted that QCS cannot work in Instagram: MEC_Qatar, MEC mobile app for isolation. The off icial also added that people need more awareness about cancer. Android and IOS: MEC_Qatar HMC to host ME Forum on quality and safety in May

amad Medical Cor- is “System wide transfor- is also the ME forum chair, ment learnings so that we can poration (HMC) mation to achieve better said the ME Forum had be- adapt what works best for us Hhas announced patient care”. It centres on come a mainstay on the here for our industry and our that it will host the Middle transformative approaches event calendar and a popu- patients,” he added. East (ME) Forum on quality to optimising health sys- lar professional develop- The conference will again improvement and patient tems taking into account ment opportunity with include the highly popular safety in healthcare from three dimensions: the ex- healthcare industry work- quality improvement post- May 5 to 7. perience of the individual; ers in both Qatar and the er exhibition highlighting It will mark the fi fth how to improve the health wider region. successful quality and safe- time that HMC collabo- of a defi ned population; and “The Middle East Fo- ty improvement initiatives. rated with the internation- how to reduce the per capita rum on Quality and Safety Successful poster submis- ally renowned Institute for cost of healthcare. in Healthcare provides an sions will be included in Healthcare Improvement Topics covered in the ideal platform to network the poster exhibition that (IHI) to deliver high qual- wide-ranging programme with other experts, share will be on public display ity advanced learning in the will highlight the science best practice learning and throughout the event. science of improvement. behind improvement, the discover not only the es- Prospective participants Led by HMC’s Hamad continuing transforma- sence of improvement sci- can visit https://www.ha- Healthcare Quality Insti- tion of clinical interven- ence but practical tools and mad.qa/ihimeforum2017 tute, the annual confer- tions and clinical systems, ways of how to introduce to register their interest and ence will be held at Qatar how healthcare leaders can real and sustainable sys- learn more about the post- National Convention Cen- drive improvements in their tems improvements,” said er competition. Doctors, tre. The conference will teams and organisations, Dr Wyatt. nurses, and allied health feature plenaries, lectures and ways in which health- “We do this again with our professionals attending and workshop session from care workers can enhance strategic partner, the Insti- the Middle East Forum are local, regional and global engagement with patients. tute for Healthcare Improve- eligible to earn continu- health experts. HMC chief quality of- ment, who share with us ing healthcare education The conference theme fi cer Dr Ronald Wyatt, who their global quality improve- points.

Heavy vehicles corner service areas

With the eff ective implementation of the ban on the parking of vehicles in the open areas in the city and its immediate neighbourhoods in recent weeks, operators of some of the trucks and also buses ferrying construction workers have started cornering the service areas along the roads. The unauthorised parking of heavy vehicles in such places, and that too overnight, inconvenience car owners. This picture was taken yesterday afternoon from Hassan bin Tabit (Street 960) of Zone 42 of Al Hilal area. Parking of large vehicles is also causing a lot of obstacles for those entering such streets from the main roads as they cannot see the vehicles coming from the opposite side. PICTURE: Ram Chand Gulf Times Monday, January 16, 2017 5 QATAR

Some of the off icials and participants at the workshop. Ministry organises workshop to promote health behaviours

inistry of Public Association, Qatar Can- change in health and social in the workshop would be Health (MoPH) has cer Association, Qatar Red development fi elds. able to apply Combi plan- Mconcluded a fort- Crescent Society and the Addressing the workshop, ning and implementation night-long regional work- Public Health Department Sheikh Dr Mohamed bin methodology for health and shop as part of its eff orts to of the Ministry of Public Hamad al-Thani, director, social development support change and promote health Health of Saudi Arabia Public Health Department in Qatar through the pro- behaviours. It also focused participated. of MoPH, noted that Combi gramme’s 10-step method. on family health and pre- The workshop was con- Programme aims at promot- This method is an adjusted ventive health behaviours ducted by Dr Everold N Ho- ing health, health commu- version of the programme related to lifestyle diseases. sein, professor of New York nications, health education held in New York in co- The exercise on “Integrat- University, international and social mobilisation. operation with WHO and ed Communication Method- expert on health commu- “It also concentrates Unicef. ology for Health Behaviour nication and consultant to on the communicable and Samar Maad, director, promotion in Health and WHO and Integrated Com- non-communicable diseas- human resources depart- Social Development Fields”, munication Institute for es including diabetes, obes- ment of MoPH, stated, was held in co-operation Behavioural Change. ity and cancers, in addition “Success and implementa- with World Health Organisa- Combi Programme was to road accidents, health tion of this workshop on the tion (WHO) and Combi In- discussed during the work- and behavioural disorders of regional level is considered a stitute in the US. shop. The advanced train- teenagers, and other health valuable addition to the role Specialists from MoPH, ing programme provides a and social behaviours.” of MoPH’s Learning and Primary Health Care Cor- dynamic methodology for He also added that spe- Development Section in the poration, Qatar Diabetes achieving the behavioural cialists who participated fi eld of health programmes.” Gulf Times 6 Monday, January 16, 2017 QATAR Last 2 days to 264 nurses for schools submit WISE n partnership with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Ithe Primary Health Care Corpora- tion (PHCC) has provided 264 primary care nurses to 258 schools across the applications country to ensure a safe and healthy environment during the examination period. By Joseph Varghese The awards highlight initiatives The primary care school nurses de- Staff Reporter found to be most creative and ef- liver support by providing healthcare fective in fi nding solutions to edu- through assessment, intervention and cation challenges at any level and follow-up for all students, addressing pplications for the 2017 in all environments. the physical, mental, emotional, and World Innovation Sum- By bringing forward these mod- social health needs of students to sup- Amit for Education (WISE) els, WISE is building a network of port their achievements in the learning Awards will be received till tomor- recognised change-makers to in- process. row. This is the ninth edition of spire transformation and innova- Afrah Mousa, director, Health Pro- WISE Awards and 48 projects have tion in education. moting School Programme and Serv- been recognised so far. Past winning projects have ad- ices at PHCC, said: “PHCC consid- The winners of WISE Awards dressed a wide range of concerns ers the role of primary care nurses to 2017 are expected to be announced and pursuits, including access to be integral to ensuring optimal health in September and honoured at the quality education, life-long learn- outcomes for all people across their WISE summit from November 14- ing opportunities, and education lifespan. 16. in emergency contexts. Alfardan Automobiles showcases the 730Li, 740Li and 750 Li X Drive at the four-day BMW event. “Primary care nursing in schools ap- A pre-jury will review all eligible Applications can only be for plies a social model of healthcare that applications and shortlist 15 fi nal- original works and original projects addresses the health needs of students ists who will be contacted in April. and must be submitted by a project by off ering a wide range of service de- The WISE fi lm team may visit representative working within the livery including immediate healthcare the 15 fi nalists on site and an in- project. needs, promoting healthy mentality dependent, on site innovation as- All applicants must guarantee Alfardan test-drive event and lifestyle choices, encouraging ill- sessment conducted between May that the project was originated ness prevention through screening and and June 2017. by their organisation or by them- early detection as well as administrat- Following the assessments, selves. ing intervention and referral. WISE will offi cially announce the Individuals who are not directly “Following the start of exam season, 15 fi nalists in June 2017. running the project can submit for BMW afi cionados PHCC has collaborated with schools The jury will review the fi nalists nominations. across Qatar to promote a healthy edu- in August and will announce the The ideal project would be an cational environment, where not only six winning projects in September on-going, innovative and success- lfardan Automobiles recently including the intuitive Touch Com- sively revised engines: the 6-cylinder is the students’ physical health a pri- 2017. ful education initiative that has an hosted a four-day BMW event at mand: a 7-inch tablet positioned in the 740iLi and 8-cylinder 750iLi xDrive ority but there is also a major focus on The 2017 WISE Awards submis- excellent record of proven success AThe Pearl-Qatar to give custom- rear of the vehicle, off ers passengers a – the latter accelerating from 0-100 psychological state given that this is a sion procedure accepts both appli- and fi nancially sustainable. ers and afi cionados the opportunity completely new experience in control- km/h in 4.4 seconds at 450hp, and the stressful period for them.” cations and nominations. It has to have a clear plan for the to test drive the fl agship model of the ling multiple in-car functions. 6-cylinder equivalent, off ering 326hp, PHCC nurses also participate in the Existing education projects run project’s future objectives and de- brand, the 7 Series with a choice of all Touch Command also allows rear with a maximum torque of 450 Nm at assessment of students’ development by any type of organisation in any velopment and scalable and repli- three variants – the 730Li, 740Li and passengers the ability to control in-car 1,380 rpm. and growth by carrying out a health education sector and from any part cable in other contexts and regions 750 Li X Drive. infotainment while comfort features, BMW Effi cientDynamics, such as the check for each student four times of the world can apply or be nomi- of the world. “The event was designed to give the such as the new BMW 7 Series Vitality premium vehicle’s lightweight Carbon throughout the school year, monitoring nated for the WISE Awards. The projects need to have a clear participants the opportunity to experi- Programme, off ers luxurious in-seat Core, further enhances the on-road nutritional habits, encouraging detec- Each year, the WISE Awards rec- understanding and knowledge of ence the very best in automotive luxu- massage options. A unique Gesture performance of both variants as it en- tion of any potential chronic disease by ognise and promote six successful its innovation, its distinctiveness ry, with the ability to drive around the Control function, which off ers those sures that the car is 130kg lighter than raising students’ awareness of health innovative projects that are ad- within its sphere of action, and the city to immerse themselves with the inside the vehicle with the option to in- its predecessor. issues and fostering the development dressing global education chal- type and depth of its impact on its car and the host of technologies it has crease the volume of the radio only by Also present during the event was the of healthy lifestyle habits. lenges and that have demonstrated benefi ciaries. to off er,” said Ihab Allam, general man- gesturing at the screen, is also one of BMW 730 Li equipped with TwinPower In co-ordination with the medical a transformative impact on com- WISE, a global educational ini- ager of Alfardan Automobiles. the new technology features. Turbo technology to provide dynamic department of the School Health Pro- munities and societies. tiative of Qatar Foundation for Ed- The BMW 7 Series brings with it a The BMW 7 Series’ Sky Lounge fea- performance and low fuel consump- gramme and Services and school prin- They are models of excellence ucation Science and Community host of new features which prove that tures a panorama glass roof and illu- tion. The four-cylinder in-line engine cipals, the school nurses provide emer- and practice that inspire others Development, was established in personalised innovation is as crucial minated light patterns which provide comes with two-litre, accelerating gency services, seclusion of contagious through innovation and creative 2009 by chairperson HH Sheikha as design and ambience. BMW Con- a luxurious interior light ambience in from 0-100kph in 6.3 seconds with a cases, if any, and a seamless provision action in education. Moza bint Nasser. nectedDrive driver assistance features, six colours. There are two comprehen- maximum torque of 400Nm. of comprehensive health services.

Participants of the training programme listen to Erik Eriksen (inset) of Harman Academy from Denmark. Harman House conducts training on redefi ning ‘superior sound’

arman House, in Harman said it is deliv- over-ear, and sports-head- technical sophistication and association with ering premium audio ex- phones. Noise cancellation ease of use. HVideo Home & periences in the home and and latest audio technolo- With award-winning Electronic Centre, has on-the-go from state-of- gies such as ‘TruNote’ en- self-powered speaker de- conducted a training the-art surround sound sys- able the “best possible lis- signs that bring movies, programme for lifestyle tems in the home and in-car tening experience.” video games, or music to products of Harman audio to headphones. Harman said it is dedi- life, Harman off ers market brands. The headphone line-up cated to raising home enter- leading personal audio solu- More than 50 sales features in-ear, on-ear, tainment to higher levels of tions. personnel from Harman House stores, leading hy- permarkets, specialty re- tail stores, Jumbo Retail, and other dealers attend- ed the function. Erik Eriksen of Harman Academy from Denmark, who led the training pro- gramme, said: “We under- stand that a world-class sound system can only reach its maximum poten- tial if the fi eld force who set out each day to promote it knows how to take it to the end user, so we off er our training programmes as a modular course designed to empower our fi eld force with the technical infor- mation and practical expe- rience they need to exhibit confi dently to consistently achieve an excellent re- sult.”

Gulf Times 8 Monday, January 16, 2017 REGION/ARAB WORLD Summit warns against ‘unilateral’ solution to Middle East tension

AFP President Francois Hollande fore Trump takes over. EU for- Paris told the gathering that the pros- eign ministers are set to discuss pect of two independent states the conference’s conclusions coexisting side-by-side — seen today, EU sources said. conference for peace in as increasingly elusive — was It was uncertain whether the Middle East yester- “not the dream of yesterday’s they would issue a statement, Aday warned Israel and the system.” with Britain and some central Palestinians against “unilateral “It remains the goal of the en- European countries reluctant steps” on Jerusalem and borders tire international community,” to upset the incoming Trump that could threaten a negotiated he said. administration, a European solution to their seven-decade Netanyahu, who insists only diplomat said. confl ict. direct talks with the Palestinians Israeli-Palestinian efforts Around 70 countries attend- can bring peace, dismissed the have been at a standstill since ing the Paris talks called on the Paris meeting as “a last gasp of a US-led initiative collapsed in two sides to avoid steps that the past” and a “futile” exercise. April 2014. “prejudge the outcome of ne- Both Netanyahu and Abbas Tensions have spiralled re- gotiations on fi nal status issues, have been invited to meet with cently following a wave of Pal- including inter alia, Jerusalem, Hollande to discuss the conclu- estinian attacks and inflamma- borders, security, refugees.” sions of the Paris talks. tory rhetoric on both sides. The participants in the con- Abbas is expected to travel to Israel’s ongoing expansion of ference “will not recognise” Paris in the coming weeks but settlements on occupied Pales- such steps, they warned. Netanyahu has rejected the off er, tinian territory is also seen as a They also said that the basis French diplomats said. major obstacle to a resolution. for the negotiations should be The conference was mainly Over 400,000 Israelis live in the 1967 borders, before Israel symbolic, but comes at a cru- West Bank settlements consid- occupied the West Bank and east cial juncture for the Middle ered illegal by the UN. Jerusalem, French Foreign Min- East, five days before Trump is On Saturday, Abbas warned ister Jean-Marc Ayrault told a sworn in as president. that relocating the US embassy press conference. Trump has said “there’s no- to Jerusalem could “destroy the France organised the gather- body more pro-Israeli than I prospects of any political proc- ing to reaffi rm global support Foreign ministers and representatives of various countries pose for a group photo during the Mideast peace conference in Paris yesterday. am” and his choice for ambas- ess” and fuel extremism. for a Palestinian state existing sador to Israel, David Fried- The Paris conference comes alongside an Israeli state — a Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Ayrault told a press conference move the US embassy in Is- Abbas has warned it would “de- man, is a hardliner who says under a month after a landmark scenario the Palestinians fear as “futile”. US Secretary of State that the participants had set out rael from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem stroy” peace eff orts. he looks forward to working UN Security Council resolution could be jeopardised by Donald John Kerry, who attended the the 1967 frontiers as the basis for sparks fears of a major escalation “When you are president of from “Israel’s eternal capital, criticising Israeli settler activ- Trump’s incoming US adminis- talks on his farewell tour, said he fi nal-status negotiations. in the Middle East. the United States, you cannot Jerusalem”. Israel, which is still ity. The vote passed after the tration. had negotiated to prevent Israel “The basis is the 1967 borders Ayrault said such a move, take such a stubborn and such a seething over a critical UN res- Obama administration — in a Neither Israel nor the Pales- being treated unfairly. and the major UN resolutions,” which would support Israel’s unilateral view on this issue. You olution last month, had voiced parting shot at Netanyahu — tinians attended the conference, “We did what was necessary he said. claim that Jerusalem is its capi- have to try to create the condi- fears the Paris meeting could took the rare step of abstain- which the Palestinians sup- to have a balanced resolution,” The conference comes as tal, would be a “provocation”. tions for peace,” Ayrault told produce anti-Israel measures ing rather than using its veto to ported but Israeli Prime Minister Kerry told reporters. Trump’s campaign pledge to Palestinian leader Mahmoud France 3 TV. at the Security Council — be- protect Israel.

Spain’s Felipe meets Saudi king as warship sale mooted

AFP ago after Houthi rebels and their al- Riyadh lies, troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, overran much of Yemen. This year’s budget allocates pain’s King Felipe VI met yes- 191bn riyals ($51bn) for military terday with Saudi King Sal- spending including equipment and Sman, offi cial media said, dur- weaponry, down from 205bn riyals ing a visit coinciding with talks to spent in 2016. sell Spanish warships. A separate budget allocation of Felipe, 48, was guest of honour at 97bn riyals is to pay for new naval a lunch hosted by Salman, 81, who bases for the Border Guards, and other decorated him with the cordon of security projects. Felipe’s father, Juan King Abdul Aziz, the highest Saudi Carlos, who reigned from 1975 to honour for a foreigner, the Saudi Saudi King Salman meets with Spanish King Felipe VI in Riyadh yesterday. 2014, has close ties to the Saudi royal Press Agency said. family. Later they discussed relations urday in Riyadh for a three-day stay. tiations are very advanced to build A Spanish consortium, Al-Shou- between the two nations and how Madrid’s foreign ministry said its fi ve warships which would be sold la, is building a high-speed railway to further develop them “in various minister Alfonso Dastis, and Public to the Saudi navy,” a spokesman for across the desert to link the holy cities fi elds”, it said. They also reviewed Works Minister Inigo de la Serna, state-owned Spanish ship builder of Makkah and Madinah. The project the situation in the Middle East, be- would accompany Felipe during the Navantia said. is behind schedule and is now set to fore Felipe held separate talks with visit. Spanish media have linked this Spain is the seventh largest arms open in 2018. Saudi Finance Minister Mohamed trip to a much-anticipated deal to exporter in the world, and Saudi Spanish construction group FCC Aljadaan and Minister of Commerce sell Avante 2200 frigates for an esti- Arabia is one of the biggest buyers of leads one of three consortia building and Investment Majed al-Qasabi. mated two billion euros ($2.1bn). military gear. A coalition began air a $22.5bn rapid transit system in the The Spanish king arrived late Sat- “We can only confi rm that nego- strikes over Yemen almost two years Saudi capital.

Bahrain executes three for bombing

Reuters Ali al-Singace, 21, found Dubai guilty of killing one Emirati and two Bahraini police of- ficers. ahrain yesterday ex- Such executions are rare ecuted three men con- in the Gulf island. Bvicted of killing three British Foreign Secre- policemen in a 2014 bomb tary Boris Johnson said in a attack, the fi rst such execu- statement that Britain op- tions in over two decades. poses the death penalty and Activists in the kingdom he “raised the issue with the reacted with rage, calling it a Bahraini Government.” “black day” and posting im- State news agency BNA ages of protesters clashing said the men were shot and with police on social media. killed in the presence of a Reuters was unable to ver- judge, doctor and a cleric. ify the protests. Social media postings by The executions hap- activists showed demon- pened less than a week after strators blocking roads with the country’s highest court burning tires and throwing confirmed the punishment rocks at police who respond- against Abbas al-Samea, ed with tear gas in several 27, Sami Mushaima, 42, and villages.

POLICY Iran ‘will not renegotiate N-deal’

Iran will not renegotiate its nuclear agreement with world powers, even if it faces new US sanctions after Donald Trump becomes president, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said yesterday. Trump, who will take off ice on Friday, has threatened to either scrap the agreement, which curbs Iran’s nuclear pro- gramme and lifts sanctions against it, or seek a better deal. “There will be no renegotiation and the (agreement) will not be reopened,” said Araqchi, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator at the talks that led to the agreement in 2015, quoted by the state news agency IRNA. “We and many analysts believe that the (agree- ment) is consolidated. The new US administration will not be able to abandon it,” Araqchi told a news conference in Tehran, held a year after the deal took eff ect. “Nuclear talks with America are over and we have nothing else to discuss,” he added. “It’s quite likely that the US Congress or the next administration will act against Iran and imposes new sanctions.” Gulf Times Monday, January 16, 2017 9 REGION/ARAB WORLD

UNREST Yemen shelling Malabar Gold & Diamonds’ new outlet opens in Bahrain kills Saudi soldier on border

Shelling from Yemen has killed a Saudi soldier on the kingdom’s southern border, the interior ministry said yesterday. A Border Guards post in Najran region came under attack from “intensive shelling” at 5:00pm (1400 GMT) Saturday, killing a corporal, the ministry said. Army troops intervened to support the Border Guards. The corporal is the latest of more than 110 soldiers and ci- vilians killed in southern Saudi Ara- bia by rocket strikes or skirmishes since a coalition began operations in Yemen almost two years ago. In support of President Abd-Rab- bu Mansour Hadi’s government, the alliance started air strikes after Houthi rebels and their allies over- ran the capital Sanaa and moved on to other parts of Yemen. Since then, more than 7,400 people have been killed in Yemen.

AVIATION German jet lands in Kuwait over Malabar Gold & Diamonds 161st global showroom was inaugurated by Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor at LuLu Hypermarket, Hidd, Bahrain, in the presence of Shamlal Ahamed MP, managing director – International hoax bomb threat Operations, Malabar Gold & Diamonds, Abdul Salam KP – group executive director, Malabar Group and guests last Wednesday.

A German plane carrying 299 passengers made an emergency landing in Kuwait yesterday over a hoax bomb threat, authorities in the Gulf emirate said. The aircraft operated by Eurowings, a low-cost carrier owned by Lufthansa, had been travelling from Salalah in Nine dead in clashes near Damascus Oman to Cologne in Germany when the captain requested an AFP northwest of Damascus, fresh 12 killed and said shells struck called off after chief negotiator without water. An offi cial from closer to Deir Ezzor military air- emergency landing. Upon its arrival Beirut clashes broke out between rebel a temporary shelter where dis- Ahmed al-Ghadban was killed the reconciliation ministry ear- port, despite heavy air strikes by in Kuwait, the plane was searched groups and advancing govern- placed women and children had the next day. lier said the local deal in Wadi government warplanes. for explosives but none were found. ment forces, the Syrian Observ- been seeking refuge. Both sides accused each oth- Barada “had not completely The Observatory said yester- eavy fi ghting gripped a atory for Human Rights said. The activist group published er of assassinating the retired collapsed”. day raids in Deir Ezzor killed fi ve DEFENCE fl ashpoint region near Regime shelling of the Deir gruesome pictures of what it army offi cer, who had only as- “We are communicating and civilians, including two women HSyria’s capital yester- Qanun village killed nine civil- said was the aftermath of the sumed his duties to restore the pursuing new eff orts in parallel and two children. Britain, UAE launch day, leaving nine civilians dead ians including at least three attack, including photographs water supply on Saturday. with the ongoing military ac- It was the second day of the joint military drills and threatening a nationwide children, the Britain-based of blood-stained fl oors and “The agreement was consid- tion,” the offi cial said. militant group’s brutal as- truce designed to pave the way monitor said in an updated toll. body parts wrapped in blankets. ered null this morning after the Many battlefronts have sault on regime-held territory Britain and the United Arab towards peace talks. Another 20 people were Fighting has persisted for regime’s multiple violations and quieted since the nationwide around the city. It came despite Emirates launched a joint military Further east, Syrian govern- wounded in the attack. weeks in Wadi Barada, which is especially after the killing of the ceasefi re brokered by regime more than 120 regime air strikes exercise dubbed “Sea Dagger 2017”, ment troops lost ground to the Observatory head Rami Abdel the main source of water for the negotiations offi cial,” Shami backer Russia and opposition as well as heavy artillery fi re, Emirati state news agency WAM Islamic State group near the key Rahman said it was the “highest capital. said. ally Turkey. said Abdel Rahman. reported yesterday. The exercise, Deir Ezzor military airport. toll” there since the truce came Locals struck a truce with Shami said the government’s The deal excludes IS and its A military source said that WAM said was aimed at “training The escalating violence into force on December 30. Syrian authorities on Friday to maintenance workers left Wadi jihadist rival, the Fateh al-Sham Russian warplanes had car- on the planning, implementation augurs ill for peace negotiations Omar al-Shami, spokes- allow maintenance teams into Barada without completing the Front — formerly the Al Qaeda- ried out “a series of air strikes” and management of joint military in Kazakhstan later this month. man for the Wadi Barada Me- Wadi Barada to restore water repairs, leaving 5.5mn people linked Al-Nusra Front. around the airport and on sev- operations.” In the Wadi Barada region dia Committee, gave a toll of to Damascus, but the deal was in Damascus and its suburbs Yesterday, IS fi ghters edged eral nearby hilltops. Gulf Times 10 Monday, January 16, 2017 ARAB WORLD

Iraqi forces sweep Jordan’s king reshuffl es Mosul University for remaining militants

Reuters next to the university. Parts of Baghdad the sprawling campus over- cabinet amid challenges look neighbouring districts in eastern Mosul and towards the Reuters what they said was rampant of- raqi special forces swept river. Amman fi cial corruption. through the campus of Mosul Taking the entire east bank of “Freedom of speech does IUniversity yesterday to clear the Tigris, which bisects Mosul not mean agitation or chaos... it of any remaining Islamic State from north to south, will allow ordan’s King Abdullah re- We respect freedom of ex- militants after taking full control Iraqi forces to begin assaults on shuffl ed his cabinet yester- pression as long as it does not of the area, a spokesman said. the city’s west, which Islamic Jday but retained Hani Mulki violate the higher national A military statement said State still holds. as prime minister with more interest,” Mulki told a parlia- troops had also taken another On Saturday elite rapid re- scope to face militants and to mentary session. area along the eastern bank of sponse units of Iraq’s federal press ahead with unpopular International rights groups the Tigris river, in gains that police recaptured large areas IMF-mandated reforms to cut say there has been an ero- are bringing more of Islamic in the southeast, securing a rising public debt. sion in public liberties with State’s last major stronghold in stretch along the bank. The reshuffl e, the second stepped up arrests of peaceful the country under Iraqi forces’ Loss of Mosul could spell since the business-friendly dissenters. Finance Minister control. the end of the Iraqi side of IS’ Mulki was appointed last May, Omar Malhas kept his job in Counter-terrorism service self-styled caliphate, which came at a time of sluggish eco- the reshuffle. He is overseeing (CTS) troops drove the mili- it declared from the city after nomic growth and poor busi- a tough three-year programme tants back inside the strategi- sweeping through vast areas of ness sentiment. agreed with the International cally located university com- Iraq and Syria. The fi ve new ministers enter- Monetary Fund that aims to plex and seized clusters of Iraqi forces say they are close ing the cabinet include former cut public debt to 77% of na- buildings including colleges to recapturing the entire east- police chief Ghaleb Zubi as in- tional output GDP by 2021 on Saturday, a crucial advance ern bank. terior minister and Ayman Sa- from 94% now. towards recapturing all areas of They are backed by US- fadi, a long-time adviser to the Politicians and economists Mosul east of the river. led air power in an offensive royal family, as foreign minister, say the tough fi scal consolida- “The university is completely launched in October to retake according to a palace statement. tion plan, which includes rais- liberated and forces are sweep- the city. Safadi, whose appointment King Abdullah II of Jordan leaves after a meeting at the Jordanian Royal Palace in Amman yesterday. ing taxes on basic food and fuel ing the complex for any hid- The campaign involves a was a surprise, replaces Nass- items in the coming months and ing militants,” CTS spokesman 100,000-strong force of Iraqi er Joudeh, who had served as of an Islamic State attack in lapse, a Jordanian guard shot In his fi rst comments after cutting subsidies, will worsen Sabah al-Numan told Reuters troops, Kurdish fighters and Jordan’s chief diplomat since the southern city of Karak last dead three members of the US the cabinet reshuffl e, Mulki de- the plight of poorer Jordanians. by phone yesterday. “Most Shia militias. 2009. month in which at least nine special forces at an airbase last fended the arrest last Thursday Removing subsidies has trig- buildings are booby-trapped so Forces have made rapid ad- Outgoing interior minis- people, including a Canadian November. of a group of prominent retired gered civil unrest in the past. we’re being cautious.” vances since the start of the ter Salamah Hamad narrowly tourist and members of the se- Jordan is among the closest army and security offi cers who Jordan’s economy is expected “We’re not stopping,” he year, aided by new tactics and avoided a vote of no-confi dence curity forces, were killed. allies of the United States in the criticised the monarch and to have grown by 2.4% last year, added, saying the CTS was improved co-ordination, mili- in parliament over his handling In another major security Middle East region. blamed security breaches on below an IMF target of 2.8%. working to push into areas tary officials say.

Fighter jet shot down over Libya’s Benghazi A fighter jet from Marshal Khalifa Haftar’s forces was shot down over Libya’s Sudan extends ceasefi re with rebels by six months Benghazi yesterday as it carried out raids on militant positions, a military source said. The MiG-23 went down after being targeted by “extremist militias”, said a commanding off icer with Haftar’s forces. The pilot ejected himself and Reuters regions to six months, state further to improve its human meeting yesterday to prepare ber, by just one month. survived unharmed, he said. A source at the Benghazi airbase told the LANA Khartoum news agency SUNA reported. rights record and resolve po- procedures to “accommodate The United States said on Fri- news agency loyal to the parliament in Libya’s east backed by Haftar that a The move comes after the litical and military confl icts, in- for the positive impact of the day it would also unfreeze Su- “heat-seeking missile” had hit the plane. Haftar has managed to retake a large United States said on Friday it cluding in warring regions such United States lifting sanctions,” dan’s assets and remove finan- part of the eastern coastal city of Benghazi from militants since it came under udan said yesterday it would lift a 20-year-old trade as Darfur. SUNA reported. cial sanctions as a response their control in 2014. But violent clashes have been ongoing for several weeks would extend a unilateral embargo against Sudan, but Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir on Jan 1 had al- to Khartoum’s co-operation between his forces and militants surrounded in their last bastions. Sceasefi re in fi ghting with would wait 180 days before do- Hassan al-Bashir asked the ready extended the cease- in fighting Islamic State and rebels in the country’s warring ing so to see whether Sudan acts government at a special cabinet fire, in place since Octo- other groups.

Gulf Times 12 Monday, January 16, 2017 AFRICA

Gambia’s Barrow M23 rebels in Senegal ‘until his inauguration’

AFP hit troops: Dakar he inauguration of Gambia’s president-elect Adama Barrow will go ahead this week, his Tspokesman insisted yesterday, as he landed in neighbouring Senegal to wait out the fi nal days of President Yahya Jammeh’s mandate. Kinshasa Jammeh has refused to cede power after disputing the result of a December 1 election won by Barrow, AFP rebel groups in a civil war against Kin- triggering a crisis that has led the president-elect to Kinshasa shasa’s authority, and roaming armed appeal for help from west African allies. militia triggering the mass fl ight of ter- “Jammeh’s term shall end on the 19th (of January) rorised civilians. and the same date president-elect Barrow’s term be- rmed Congolese rebels have After its November 2013 defeat at the gins. Nothing will change that. He will be sworn in and crossed back overnight into the hands of Congolese and UN forces, M23 shall assume offi ce on that date without fail,” spokes- Acountry from their longtime ref- agreed to a plan to disarm, demobilise and man Mai Fatty told AFP in Dakar. uge in Uganda, prompting fears that a reintegrate its soldiers into DRC civilian life. Fatty would not expand on where the inaugura- guerilla confl ict put to rest in 2013 could But the return of the former rebels has tion would take place and under what circumstances, be rekindled. stalled, with fewer than 200 of the 1,900 given the expected diffi culty for Barrow of returning At least 200 former members of M23, sheltering in Uganda and only 13 out of to Banjul. an ethnic Tutsi group defeated by the hundreds left in Rwanda coming back. A family member carries a portrait of Rwanda’s last king, Kigeli V Ndahindurwa, while others carry Earlier in the day it was confi rmed Senegalese Pres- Congolese army three years ago, arrived During the civil war Congolese au- his coff in to the King’s Palace in Nyanza, where the funeral services took place yesterday. ident Macky Sall had accepted a request by Liberian from Uganda over the weekend and took thorities denounced Rwanda and Uganda leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to host Barrow in Dakar over a village in North Kivu province, for allowing the rebel groups to use their until his inauguration. Democratic Republic of Congo govern- territory as staging grounds for attacks. A source in the Senegalese presidency told AFP the ment spokesman Lambert Mende told More recently, they have blamed agreement was reached following consultations with AFP yesterday. the states for “bad faith” for allowing Last king of Rwanda buried at other heads of state from the Economic Community Mende said the Congolese army was “criminals to circulate freely” instead Of West African States (ECOWAS) at a Bamako sum- fi ghting two battalions installed in Isha- of extraditing them to stand trial in DR mit. sha village “who were supposed to be in Congo. home after years in exile The 15-nation bloc has repeatedly called on Jam- Uganda under the responsibility of that Uganda Foreign Minister Henry Okel- meh to respect the result of the vote and leave after 22 country’s authorities”. lo Oryem, reached by AFP in Kampala, years in power. “How could our Ugandan neighbours, strongly denied backing the M23 move Reuters next to his predecessor and brother, King Ruda- Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Sirleaf with whom we are bound by very seri- across the border. Nyanza, Rwanda higwa. and Ghana’s ex-president John Mahama have ap- ous commitments, allow people who had “The fact that Uganda would arm or Some relatives wept over the coffi n. pealed to Jammeh to step down twice in person, with- been living in refugee camps to cross over authorise M23 rebels to be based here (in Rwanda’s Sports and Culture Minister Ju- out success, most recently on Friday. — armed — into our territory?” he added. Uganda) and destabilise the DRC is the he last king of Rwanda, who died aged 80 lienne Uwacu attended the service and said the Barrow was the surprise guest at the Africa-France Kinshasa said a former army general, fruit of their imagination. Why would in October in the United States after dec- government was saddened by his death. meeting in Bamako, where he was welcomed as a head Sultani Makenga, was leading one of the Uganda arm the M23?” he said. Tades in exile, was buried yesterday in his “The government will continue to support of state and introduced to several world leaders. battalions. Kinshasa’s central government would do ancestral home in the south of the African na- the remaining members of the royal family,” she The leaders of at least 30 nations had gathered to No military spokesperson was avail- well to “focus on the problems of governing tion. added. discuss jihad on the continent and Africa’s impact on able to confi rm the clashes with M23. its own country”, the minister added. His burial sparked a row in the royal family Last week, the king’s chief courtier an- the European migrant crisis — but The Gambia’s po- Omar Kavota, director of the Centre Congo is in political limbo, as Presi- over whether he should have been interred in the nounced in a message on Facebook that the title litical impasse dominated events. for the Promotion of Peace, Democ- dent Joseph Kabila has refused to step country from which he fl ed after he was deposed would pass to Emmanuel Bushayija, described There are just three days left of Jammeh’s fi ve-year racy and Human Rights said yesterday down after his second and fi nal mandate in 1961. in media reports as a naturalised Briton living in term, and he has warned the international community that sources in Ishasha had confi rmed ended in December. Relatives of King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa have northwest England. against “undue external interference”. the M23 presence there but said “there A New Year’s Eve deal calls for the ap- also rejected a declaration by a courtier last week Family members, represented by the pastor Jammeh has said he will not stand aside until the hasn’t been fi ghting or clashes yet”. pointment of a new prime minister and that his successor should be the king’s nephew, and family friend who conducted Sunday’s fu- country’s Supreme Court decides on his legal chal- Congo’s resource-rich eastern prov- a transitional body to pave the way to who now lives in a modest house in England. neral, said they opposed the proclamation. lenge seeking to annul the result of last month’s polls, inces have suff ered years of brutal con- elections in December 2017 — but not all About 3,000 people gathered in white tents in They have not said who they believe should be which he had initially conceded losing. The ruling fl ict, with neighbouring states backing opposition groups have signed on. Nyanza for the ceremony to lay the king to rest the heir. however is unlikely to happen before May.

New taxi app books a ride for Ivory Coast middle class ANC not bound to elect

By Patrick Fort, AFP which 800mn was raised by bank loans. deputy as leader: Zuma Abidjan Goma is confi dent about expanding the fi rm, with a monthly turnover that rose from 20mn CFA francs in April to Reuters tween those who want a successor n bustling Abidjan, a homegrown 60mn by September and a fast-growing Johannesburg loyal to Zuma, and a faction that company has tapped into the global portfolio of business clients. wants a fresh start under Ram- Itaxi app revolution that has spawned In coming weeks, he says, Africab aphosa. Uber and other online transport net- taxis will take to the streets of Lome and outh Africa’s African Na- Ramaphosa, who is Zuma’s works. Cotonou, the capital of Togo and the tional Congress (ANC) is not deputy both in the party and in While Uber has already jumped into economic capital of Benin. Sbound by tradition to elect its government, told supporters on several African markets from South Af- To make it work, the company is deputy as leader, President Jacob Sunday that the ANC was “under rica to Egypt, Africab seeks to provide striving to adapt its services to local Zuma said in an interview broad- severe strain” and suff ered from Ivory Coast’s emerging middle class needs. cast yesterday, dismissing labour relentless competition for infl u- with a locally-owned high-tech and re- As is often the case in African towns unions’ endorsement of Cyril ence and control over resources. liable travel option. and cities, many of Abidjan’s backstreets Ramaphosa. “We must acknowledge here Africab’s clients can use the company and alleys have never been named. To get The ANC, which last year suf- that there are instances where in- app to book its taxis — which cannot be round this, Africab maps the addresses fered its worst election result since ternal ANC processes have been hailed in the road, and it advertises its of clients and familiar landmarks. the end of white-minority rule in infi ltrated by individuals and com- services only online. And in a striking contrast with ordi- 1994, is set to choose a successor to panies seeking preferential access Its fi xed fares tend to be higher than nary taxis, Africab drivers are bound to the scandal-plagued Zuma by the to state business,” Ramaphosa said. for regular taxis, but clients benefi t from abide by the highway code. end of this year. South Africa’s anti-graft watch- extra perks. Driving on pavements or in emergen- Ramaphosa and Nkosazana dog last year called for an investiga- A daytime trip that would cost around Two men walk past a taxi from the Africab company in Abidjan. cy lanes to avoid traffi c jams is strictly Dlamini-Zuma, the African Union tion into infl uence peddling in Zu- 2,000 CFA francs ($3.2) in an old cab can banned, and all company cabbies have president once married to Zuma, ma’s government, but the president cost 3,300 CFA francs in an Africab. The idea for Africab came from trying But when former president Laurent to retake both driving and highway code have both been tapped by organi- has denied providing special favours But the start-up’s sleek vehicles — to navigate Abidjan’s unruly traffi c, says Gbagbo refused to step down despite an tests. sations in the governing alliance to for wealthy friends and wants the which are owned by the company, not by Goma, a native of the Republic of Congo election defeat, 3,000 people were killed Satisfi ed client Fatou Bamba, who become party leader, but neither watchdog’s report to be reviewed. the driver — are all air-conditioned. educated in the US and Europe and mar- in months of confl ict. manages her own company, fi nds Afri- has yet declared whether they in- The Congress of South African They are fi tted with tablet devices and ried to an Ivorian woman. With a 10% yearly economic growth cab’s cars clean and comfortable — plus tend to stand. Trade Unions (Cosatu), which is off er free wi-fi internet access. “When I came here, I often had diffi - rate, the west African country is now there’s the internet bonus. Zuma, who was party deputy part of the ruling political alli- “Brr, it’s cold inside!” jests Ivorian co- culty organising journeys. You had to get back on the rails. “Above all, you’re safe... You can work before being elected leader in 2007, ance and claims to represent 1.8mn median Michel Gohou in an advertising out on the street, haggle... or sometimes The International Monetary Fund said inside an Africab and you don’t feel the made it clear that Ramaphosa was workers, said in November that it video for Africab’s fl eet. rent a car and brave the traffi c,” he said. last month that it was on track towards stress of driving and the traffi c jams,” not an automatic choice. would campaign for Ramaphosa. “Africab is the new way of getting “The cars (regular taxis) were dilapi- becoming the continent’s fastest-grow- Bamba said. “People say it is a tradition that Dlamini-Zuma, who held several around,” brags Vangsy Goma, the found- dated, they are often more than 20 years ing economy. Taxi driver Ahi Mian, 32, appears hap- once you are the deputy president, cabinet positions before becom- er and managing director of the fi rm. old. Drivers are badly trained and for the Companies like Africab are tapping py to have joined Africab’s fl eet. you then become the president, ing head of the African Union, was The company, Goma says on Africab’s most part, there is no air-conditioning.” into the budding optimism that the up- “It’s better for me. I drove a (regular) that is not true,” Zuma said in the endorsed by the ANC Woman’s website, seeks “to build an entrepre- Until political strife erupted in 2010- ward trend has brought. taxi before. Here we have fi xed hours and interview with the South African League last week and is expected neurial culture that is based on technol- 11, Ivory Coast had long been the star Its launch in February 2016 cost 1bn the car is air-conditioned. But above all, Broadcasting Corp Analysts say a to have the backing of her former ogy and respects African identity.” economic performer in west Africa. CFA francs ($1.6mn) in investment, of there’s less stress,” he says. split has emerged in the ANC be- husband. Gulf Times Monday, January 16, 2017 13 AMERICA

Big chill in CIA director central US

Reuters Milwaukee

reezing rain fell across urges Trump much of the Great Plains Fand Midwest on Satur- day as a major ice storm already blamed for the death of a mo- torist in Missouri and dozens of cancelled fl ights threatened to wreak further havoc. to be careful Ice, freezing rain and winter weather warnings and advi- sories were in eff ect for a vast swath of the country stretching from northern Texas east across parts of the Midwest and into the Washington DC area, according on Russia to the National Weather Service. “Ice continues to accumulate Reuters “It’s more than just about Mr Trump. It’s about in the Central/ Southern Plains Washington the United States of America.” states and will shift north into Trump last week accused the intelligence com- the Upper Mississippi Valley munity of leaking information about an unsub- as a new weather system ap- utgoing CIA Director John Brennan yes- stantiated report on compromising information proaches from the West Coast,” terday issued a stern parting rebuke to the Russians have accumulated against Trump. the Weather Service said on its ORepublican Donald Trump days before he On Twitter, he accused intelligence agencies of website late on Saturday. assumes the US presidency, advising him not to practices reminiscent of Nazi Germany. “This storm will change ice absolve Russia for its recent actions and warning “What I do fi nd outrageous is equating intelli- to snow from southeast Colo- him to watch what he says. gence community with Nazi Germany,” Brennan rado to northeast Nebraska; and Brennan’s comments, in an interview on “Fox said. “I do take great umbrage at that.” He also The SpaceX Falcon rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in will bring a slight risk of severe News Sunday,” laid bare the simmering tensions questioned the message it sends to the world if California on Saturday morning. thunderstorms and heavy rains between the president-elect and the intelligence the president-elect broadcasts he does not have to Texas on Sunday,” the Weath- community he has criticised and is on the verge confi dence in the US own intelligence agencies. er Service said. of commanding. For months, Trump had publicly doubted US The Missouri State Highway The CIA director said Trump needs to be mind- intelligence conclusions that Russia was behind Patrol urged motorists to avoid ful about his off -the-cuff remarks once he takes cyber attacks against Democratic political groups SpaceX launches, lands rocket for travel after 31-year-old Tiff any the oath of offi ce on Friday, alluding to his pen- before saying in a news conference on Wednesday Jackson was killed while driving chant for making broad pronouncements on that he thinks Russia was behind the hacking. on any icy overpass in Crystal Twitter. The US intelligence community concluded in a fi rst time since September blast City. “Spontaneity is not something that protects report presented to President Barack Obama and Jackson’s vehicle slid off the national security interests and so therefore when Trump last week that Russia tried to sway the road and struck trees, according he speaks or when he reacts, just make sure he un- outcome of the November 8 election by hacking AFP ter two years of surging sales and small profi ts,” to the highway patrol. derstands that the implications and impact on the and other means. It did not make an assessment Miami the paper said after a review of internal fi nancial Snow, sleet and heavy fog United States could be profound,” Brennan said. on whether they were successful. documents from 2011 to 2015, forecasts for the were also in the forecast in parts next decade and interviews with former SpaceX of region. paceX on Saturday successfully launched employees. and landed its fi rst unmanned Falcon 9 Three weeks after last September’s accident, Srocket since a costly and complicated the company removed a long-standing phrase Islamic Center set on launchpad explosion in September. from its website saying it was “profi table and fi re in Washington Demonstrators pledge to fi ght for “Liftoff of the Falcon 9,” a SpaceX commen- cash-fl ow positive.” tator said as the tall white rocket launched from That “suggest(ed) both profi t and cash fl ow A Washington man was arrested Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 9.54am had moved into the red for 2016,” the Journal said, on Saturday on charges of set- civil rights under Donald Trump (1754 GMT), carrying a payload of 10 satellites for noting that it found an operating loss for every ting fire to an Islamic centre in Iridium, a mobile and data communications com- quarter in 2015 and negative cash fl ow of roughly Bellevue, Washington, authori- pany. $15mn. ties said. Reuters Moments after the Falcon 9 soared into the sky, SpaceX, headed by Musk, a billionaire entre- Isaac Wayne Wilson, 37, was Washington the rocket’s two sections separated as planned, preneur who also runs Tesla Motors, declined to arrested after he was discov- sending the satellites to orbit and the tall por- comment on the fi ndings and is not obligated to ered in a parking lot near the Is- tion, known as the fi rst stage, of the rocket back release its fi nancial fi gures because it is a private lamic Center of Eastside, where S civil rights activists vowed on Satur- to Earth. company. a fire broke out in the middle of day to defend hard-fought gains in vot- Cheers erupted at SpaceX mission control “The company is in a fi nancially strong posi- the night. Uing rights and criminal justice during the in Hawthorne, California as live video images tion and is well positioned for future growth,” Bellevue Police Chief Steve presidency of Donald Trump, kicking off a week showed the fi rst stage powering its engines and with $1bn in cash and no debt, SpaceX chief fi - Mylett said Wilson was arrested of protests ahead of the Republican’s inaugura- landing steady and upright on a platform marked nancial offi cer Bret Johnson was quoted as saying. on suspicion of second degree tion. with an X in the Pacifi c Ocean. The June 2015 accident — in which the un- arson, and on an outstanding About 2,000 mostly black protesters ignored SpaceX has successfully landed multiple rock- manned Dragon cargo ship exploded in a massive warrant for felony first degree steady rain to march and rally near Washington’s ets this way, on both land and water, as part of its fi reball two minutes after launch — was caused by malicious mischief in Seattle. Martin Luther King Jr Memorial, as speakers Black Lives Matter activist Hawk Newsome eff ort to bring down the cost of space fl ight by re- a faulty strut that allowed a helium tank to snap Police and fire agencies urged them to fi ght for minority rights and Presi- rallies activists in front of Trump Tower in New using multi-million dollar components instead of loose, SpaceX said. received several calls alerting dent Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, York City. jettisoning them in the ocean after launch. Last September’s explosion, during a test a day them to a fire at the center which Trump has vowed to dismantle. The platform, or droneship, was labelled “Just prior to a scheduled launch, was traced to a prob- around 2:45am. Rev Al Sharpton, the rally’s organiser and a vet- tive of the National Association for the Advance- Read the Instructions.” lem with a pressure vessel in the second-stage Firefighters found heavy fire eran civil rights leader, said Democrats in Con- ment of Colored People. Though the landings garner plenty of excite- liquid oxygen tank. on the first and second floors, gress needed to be sent a simple message: “Get The rally also included the Hispanic group La ment, SpaceX’s primary mission was to safely de- SpaceX said it will change the way it fuels for Fire Chief Mark Risen said, add- some backbone.” Raza, politicians, relatives of African-Ameri- liver the payload of satellites to orbit. now and redesign its pressure vessels in the fu- ing that firefighters quickly pre- “We march in the driving rain because we want cans slain by police, the National Urban League, “Mission looks good,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk ture. vented the fire from spreading the nation to understand that what has been Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Cam- wrote on Twitter. But a report out this week by a top NASA ad- to other parts of the building. fought for and gained, that you’re going to need paign, an advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexu- “All satellites deployed.” visory group also expressed concerns about the There were no injuries, Risen more than one election to turn it around,” he said. al and transgender civil rights. Saturday’s launch was the fi rst in a series way SpaceX fuels its rockets, particularly since it said. The rally drew fewer people than organisers had The rally came hours after Trump blasted US planned to upgrade Iridium’s global communica- plans to start launching astronauts to space in the Imam Faizel of the Islamic initially expected, but Sharpton said afterwards he Representative John Lewis after the Georgia tions network. coming years. Center of Eastside said he was was satisfi ed with the turnout, given the rain and Democrat and civil rights campaigner said Rus- The $3bn project aims to send 81 satellites to SpaceX uses super chilled liquid oxygen, and shocked by the incident. temperatures hovering just above freezing. sia’s alleged hacking aimed at helping Trump put space in the coming months. since the temperature must stay so low, it plans “As a community, yes we are “I really didn’t think we’d get those kind of his legitimacy into question. The stakes for SpaceX were high after a pair of to have astronauts inside the spacecraft atop the heartbroken, we are sad that we numbers,” he said in a telephone interview. Trump replied on Twitter that Lewis should fo- accidents. rocket before fuelling is complete, known as a have lost our place of worship. I Trump, a New York real estate developer, won cus instead on his Atlanta district. “All talk, talk, September’s blast destroyed a $200mn satellite “load and go” approach. have been the imam there for 16 with a populist platform that included promises talk — no action or results! Sad!,” he wrote. Facebook had planned to use to beam high-speed The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel urged years and never have we ever to build a wall along the Mexican border, restrict About 30 groups, almost all of them anti- internet to Africa. NASA to scrutinise this process closely, saying its experienced anything like this,” immigration from Muslim countries and disman- Trump, have gotten permits to protest before, Another explosion in June 2015 two minutes af- risks may not be “adequately understood.” he told a news conference. tle Obamacare. during and after the inauguration. ter liftoff obliterated a Dragon cargo ship packed Musk has lofty goals, including colonising The motive remains His choice of Senator Jeff Sessions, an Ala- Thousands of demonstrators have vowed to with goods bound for the astronauts at the Inter- Mars and revolutionising the launch industry by unknown, Mylett said, and the bama Republican, to become attorney general shut down the inauguration. Washington po- national Space Station. making rocket components reusable. incident is under investigation. has raised concern among many on the left that lice and the US Secret Service plan to have some The incidents cost SpaceX dearly, possibly Founded in 2002, SpaceX logged 18 successful The mosque solicited dona- Trump could weaken voting rights for minorities 3,000 extra offi cers and an additional 5,000 Na- pushing the privately owned company into the launches of the Falcon 9 before the 2015 accident. tions on its web site to rebuild, and roll back criminal justice reforms. tional Guard troops on hand for security. By far red, the Wall Street Journal reported this week. The company has a $1.6bn contract with NASA saying “Together we can build “We will march until hell freezes over, and the biggest event will be the Women’s March on “That June 2015 disaster, followed by months to supply the International Space Station using something better, bigger, and when it does, we will march on the ice,” said Cor- Washington the day after the inauguration, which of launch delays, contributed to a quarter-billion its Dragon space capsule, which is the only cargo beautiful.” nell William Brooks, president and chief execu- organisers say could draw 200,000 people. dollar annual loss and a 6% drop in revenue, af- ship that can return to the Earth intact. Ringling Bros circus closing show after 146 years

By Olivia Hampton, AFP sition of Ringling Bros.,” he said in a Bailey to run their “Greatest Show on PETA that showed a male handler hit- Washington statement on the group’s website.” Earth,” making a fortune along the way. ting elephants with an ankus, or point- “The circus and its people have con- People for the Ethical Treatment of ed stick. tinually been a source of inspiration Animals cheered Ringling’s latest deci- The Ringling Brothers herd was the ingling Bros and Barnum & Bai- and joy to my family and me, which is sion as the end of an era, and called for largest in the Western hemisphere for ley Circus announced on Sat- why this was such a tough business de- other circuses to follow their lead. Asian elephants, listed as an endan- Rurday it will host its fi nal show cision to make.” The group has a total of “After 36 years of PETA protests, gered species by the International Un- in May, ending ‘The Greatest Show on 30 stops scheduled on its 2017 tour. which have awoken the world to the ion for the Conservation of Nature, Earth’ after 146 years. The fi nal “Circus XTREME” show plight of animals in captivity, PETA which says 40,000-50,000 exist in the Company executives cited high oper- will take place at the Dunkin’ Donuts heralds the end of what has been the world in highly fragmented popula- ating costs and declining ticket sales after Center in Providence, Rhode Island on saddest show on Earth for wild ani- tions. the traveling American circus retired its May 7, while the group’s “Out Of This mals, and asks all other animal circuses “It is sad. You feel it is the end of an popular elephants as reasons for drawing World” tour will take place May 21 at to follow suit, as this is a sign of chang- era,” long-time trainer Trudy Williams the curtain on a celebrated spectacle that the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coli- ing times,” the group’s president Ingrid told AFP at the time. traces its origins to politician and show- seum in Uniondale, New York. Newkirk said in a statement. Ringling Brothers was also embroiled man P T Barnum’s fi rst show in 1871. Although Barnum’s fi rst show took Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO in a 14-year lawsuit in which animal Animal rights groups cheered the place decades before, it was not until of the Humane Society of the United rights groups alleged the circus was move as a success story following dec- 1919 that a group started by fi ve Wis- States, joined in. mistreating its herd. ades of activism against the use of ani- consin brothers, Ringling Bros World’s “A major moment as big brands that The case was eventually thrown out mals in the circus. Greatest Shows, merged with Barnum A circus performer hangs upside down during a Ringling Bros and Barnum & harm animals fade away and more hu- after a lead witness was found to have Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth. Bailey Circus performance in Washington, DC, last year. mane businesses emerge I applaud been paid for his testimony by animal of show producer Feld Entertainment, While the Ringling brothers had been @RinglingBros announcement,” he rights groups. said he and his family came to the “dif- better known for traditional circus fare, One such object was the Fiji mermaid, cus after fi res destroyed his Barnum’s tweeted. By 2014, the plaintiff s, including the fi cult” decision to end the circus “after Barnum was dubbed the “Prince of or Feejee mermaid, which was in fact no American Museum. In May 2015, the circus retired its American Society for the Prevention much evaluation and deliberation.” Humbugs,” known as a shameless pro- less than the head and torso of a monkey Two whales were boiled alive in their performing elephants after major criti- of Cruelty to Animals and the Humane “Nearly 50 years ago, my father moter of incredible hoaxes, freak shows sewn to the body and tail of a fi sh. tanks during one of the fi res. cism from animal rights groups, in- Society, had been ordered to pay the founded our company with the acqui- and zoological curiosities. Barnum launched his traveling cir- In 1881, Barnum teamed up with James cluding widely circulated videos from circus $25mn to reimburse its legal fees. Gulf Times 14 Monday, January 16, 2017 ASEAN Leadership change at UWSA key to Myanmar’s peace process

Reuters offi cials said. “The election will also mountainous border with China and groups who are still fi ghting against Yangon include the chairman, but whether a military crackdown in the Muslim- the Myanmar army.” he will be replaced is unknown,” said majority northwest that has sent The Wa State, which has not fought one of the sources. “Those who are 65,000 people fl eeing to neighbour- the Myanmar army in years but has yanmar’s strongest ethnic sick or old would retire. The party ing Bangladesh. declined to disarm, is currently led armed group is set for its is going to cultivate a new group of After sweeping to power follow- by UWSP Chairman Pao Yu Hsiang, Mbiggest leadership shake-up young talents,” the person added, ing a November 2015 election, No- a veteran of the Communist Party of in a quarter century, senior sources referring to the party’s top decision- bel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has Burma, which disintegrated and split said, raising the prospect of a period making Politburo. made ending the ethnic confl icts that into various ethnic factions in the late of instability in a group that is key to A second Wa offi cial with direct kept Myanmar in a state of perpetual 1980s. Aung San Suu Kyi’s signature peace knowledge of the matter described civil war through decades of military Pao is in poor health that prevents process. the vote as an “earth-shattering” rule a priority. him from travelling, but remains The United Wa State Army (UWSA) event within the reclusive Wa State As the biggest ethnic army, the the ultimate decision-maker, three boasts some 30,000 soldiers who hierarchy. UWSA will be crucial to the success sources close to the leadership said. control a secretive, China-dominat- Reuters visited the self-proclaimed of that goal, but the group has so far The UWSP operates on a rotating ed statelet the size of Belgium in the Wa State in October — a rare trip by declined to actively participate in the duty leader system. This means the remote hills on Myanmar’s eastern a major international news organisa- peace process launched by Suu Kyi four most senior leaders in the Polit- border. tion — where offi cials described for last year. buro, Deputy Chairman Hsiao Ming This year the group’s political the fi rst time its inner workings. “Suu Kyi’s peace process is almost Liang, Defence Minister Chao Chung wing, the United Wa State Party The reshuffl e could pose a new impossible without Wa’s participa- Tan and two other top leaders, rotate (UWSP), is holding elections for the headache for Suu Kyi’s nine-month- tion,” said Yangon-based political on a monthly basis. fi rst time since 1992, with at least old civilian administration, already analyst Soe Naing, a former mem- The party has about 15,000 mem- some of the old guard who have led grappling with escalating clashes ber of the Central Committee of the bers and closely resembles China’s the statelet since its 1989 formation between government forces and UWSP. “Wa is a mediator between Communist Party leadership struc- United Wa State Army (UWSA) soldiers march during a display for the media in Pansang, set to stand down, three senior Wa other ethnic armed groups along the government and several ethnic armed ture. Wa territory in north east Myanmar. Indonesia, Japan to forge defence ties

AFP and Jakarta unveiled an agree- such as Indonesia. It has repeat- Jakarta ment aimed in part at strength- edly stressed that maritime dis- ening Indonesia’s ability to de- putes should be addressed ac- fend its vast marine borders. cording to law. ndonesian President Joko Indonesia has no argument with The defence and foreign min- Widodo and Japanese Prime China over ownership of reefs isters of Japan and Indonesia will IMinister Shinzo Abe yester- or islets in the disputed South meet this year to discuss deepen- day reaffi rmed their commit- China Sea. ing “co-operation in the fi elds ment to co-operate on maritime But Beijing’s expansive claims of defence and security”, Abe security and deepen defence ties, overlap with Indonesia’s exclu- added. as both nations feud with China sive economic zone — waters Widodo said Japanese invest- over sea territory. where a state has the right to ment in Indonesia had nearly Abe —in Indonesia on a re- exploit resources — around the doubled from 2015 to almost gional tour that has taken in Aus- Natuna islands. Indonesia has $5bn last year. The two leaders tralia and the Philippines and will vowed to protect its sovereignty discussed opportunities centred include Vietnam — said their two from intrusions by fi shing ves- on large infrastructure projects island nations gave maritime co- sels, and has blown up foreign including a medium-speed rail operation the “highest priority”. boats in a show of force, includ- line and key port. “Japan will actively encour- ing some from China. Japan has won bids to con- age co-operation on maritime Japan, which has a territorial struct Indonesia’s largest coal- security and encourage the de- row with China over disputed is- fi red power plant and a mass velopment of the remote islands lands in the East China Sea, has rapid transit system for Jakarta. of Indonesia,” he said through a worked to strengthen ties with But it lost a lucrative contract to translator at the presidential pal- members of the Association of China to build the country’s fi rst Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo (left) and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chat during their meeting at the presidential palace in Bogor ace in Bogor. Last month Tokyo Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) high-speed rail network. yesterday. Abe was expected to hold talks with Widodo on economic investment and regional security during his visit.

Malaysian communities in denial after paedophile case: police More than six months after Richard Huckle was sentenced to life Back in delta, Kerry meets Viet Cong foe in jail for sexually abusing scores of children, most of the families in the Malaysian communities where he lived are declining counselling and other help, police say. By Dave Clark, AFP is a huge market for Vietnamese Huckle had posed as a freelance photographer, English teacher and Ca Mau, Vietnam shrimp, but measures to deep- Western philanthropist over the past decade to gain access mostly en trade ties are threatened by to impoverished communities in Kuala Lumpur, where taboos Trump’s opposition to measures around child sex abuse often prevent families from disclosing it. iet Cong veteran Vo Ban like the Trans-Pacifi c Partner- Police reached out to 320 adults and 101 children in two Tam remembers the fi rst ship. Vietnam was the fi rst stop communities aff ected by Huckle, Ong Chin Lan, the head of Vtime he crossed paths with on Kerry’s last foreign trip as the Sexual, Women and Children Investigation Division of the John Kerry on the banks on the Washington’s top diplomat, and Malaysian national police said in an interview. “We have identified Bay Hap river, a day that ended he wanted to return there after a few victims. We have tried to identify communities,” Ong said. in bloodshed. Almost a half- meetings with senior offi cials. “But we respect the parents and guardians’ view of not coming century later, the now 70-year- Two days before he had been forward. They don’t want to lodge a police report because of pride old Mekong Delta shrimp farmer having a sleepless night in Ha- and shame.” Ong said police, along with the women’s ministry and locked eyes with the US Secretary noi’s French colonial-era Ho- non-governmental organisations, have conducted programmes of State on Saturday and they tel Metropole, an aide told AFP. focusing on providing counselling and therapy for the victims and warmly grasped hands in mutual Could he fi nd the site of the am- their families. She did not say how many have participated. respect. bush? He started pouring over Kerry returned to the Vietnam Google’s online map, zooming in waterway at the end of a visit to on the lazy curves of the Mekong Activists rally for release of the Communist nation, less than Delta’s waterways. display penguins in Jakarta a week before he was to leave of- He also called his former turret fi ce, searching for the spot where gunner from his boat to compare A group of animal welfare campaigners demanded the release he won a Silver Star for bravery as memories of the fateful day and of six penguins kept to entertain diners at a restaurant in Jakarta a young US Navy lieutenant. On prepare the expedition. at a rally outside a mall yesterday. The Humboldt penguins February 28, 1969, as the skipper On Saturday, sitting on the are confined to a glass enclosure in the dining room of Pingoo of Swift Boat PCF-94, Kerry was prow of a tourist boat with Dart- restaurant in Neo Soho Mall in West Jakarta. News web site patrolling when Vo Ban Tam’s mouth College historian and Detik.com reported that the activists were demanding that the unit launched an ambush. Secretary of State John Kerry (left) talks with Vo Ban Tam (second from right), a former Viet Cong guerrilla Vietnam War expert Ed Miller, restaurant return the animals to their natural habitat and that they The plan, the Vietnamese gue- who took part in the attack on Kerry’s Swift Boat on February 28, 1969, while on a tour of the region in the Kerry spread a copy of a war-era should not be exhibited in malls. “We wanted to educate the public rilla told his former adversary Mekong River Delta, Vietnam. Kerry once patrolled these waters on a US naval gunboat and received the map across his knees. Using the that (displaying animals in the restaurant) is not a good education on Saturday, was to use rifl e and Silver Star for his actions. chart, Miller’s studies and his for our children,” rally co-ordinator Inge Sigarlaki was quoted grenade fi re to lure the heavi- own memories he guided the ves- as saying. The restaurant, which opened in late December, also ly-armed American craft into Kerry had never before learned Kerry had never before learned the name of the man he sel up the muddy creek. off ers customers the chance to feed the penguins by spending 50 range of a shoulder-held rocket the name of the man he shot. shot. During his unsuccessful 2004 White House campaign, Families came out of their thousand rupiah ($3.75). launcher. During his unsuccessful 2004 opponents tarnished his war record by claiming he killed a homes to watch the small fl otilla This tactic had paid off for White House campaign, oppo- teenager pass where decades before they Thai flood death toll rises to 40 the Viet Cong in the past but on nents tarnished his war record by might have fl ed for cover. “This this day Kerry made a dramatic claiming he killed a teenager. later in 1969. Despite holding leader in the post-war reconcilia- right here, where we are right The death toll from floods in southern Thailand has risen to 40 decision, deliberately beaching But US offi cials preparing for Silver and Bronze stars for valour tion. Now, with just days to go be- now, was a very heavily Viet Cong people, with more rain expected in coming days. The unseasonable his boat then storming ashore to Kerry’s visit tracked down Vo and three Purple Hearts for being fore the start of Donald Trump’s controlled area,” he told reporters, heavy rain has triggered floods across the south, cutting road and pursue the operator. Grabbing Ban Tam and his account con- wounded in action, he became a presidency marks the end of his noting that insurgent activity in rail links, threatening crops and aff ecting about 1.6mn people. an M-16 rifl e the then 26-year- fi rmed Kerry’s memory that his prominent anti-war activist. The tenure at the State Department, Ca Mau went back to French rule. The Meteorological Department said on its website more rain is old chased down the guerilla and slain adversary was an adult. Vo tall, young, erudite Yale graduate Kerry plans more visits. Leaders in Washington back expected today. The rainy season in Thailand normally takes place shot him dead, saving his crew Ban Tam admitted that thanks to stood out among veterans and his He wants to work on environ- then had not understood this, from June to November. The floods, which began on January 1, from a counterattack. Kerry’s action the Viet Cong had devastating testimony before a mental problems with the Lower mistaking a fi ght against Viet- have followed unseasonably heavy rain. Vo Ban Tam remembered not been victorious that day. But Senate committee in 1971 sealed Mekong Initiative while he and namese self-reliance and patri- Thailand is one of the world’s most important producers of natural the dead man, 24-year-old Ba he recalled proudly how his com- his celebrity. fellow veterans are involved in otism for a Cold War geopolitical rubber and the national rubber authority said output in 2016-2017 Thanh, as a respected member rades often had the upper hand. On behalf of his own American plans to open a US-funded Ful- struggle, he argued. would be about 10% lower because of the floods. Global rubber of the Viet Cong’s main force in “We were guerrillas, we were comrades in arms, he famously bright University in Vietnam. The lessons of US failure in Vi- prices have spiked on concern about the impact. Ca Mau province, trained to use never there where you were demanded: “How can you ask a Pollution and climate change etnam have stayed with him as he The country saw its worst flooding in half a century in 2011, when the prized launcher. “He was a shooting,” he boasted, telling man to be the last man to die for are now the biggest threat to the studied more recent crises. “It heavy rain beginning in July that year over northern regions led good soldier,” he recalled, speak- Kerry they could hear his boat a mistake?” Mekong Delta with encroaching impressed on me the notion that to six months of inundations, including in the central plains, where ing through an interpreter on the coming that day a kilometre off . Kerry went on to become a sen- salination a huge issue — father you really need to analyse and industrial estates have replaced rice fields in many places. banks of same river, shortly after “Well, I’m glad we’re both alive,” ator, a presidential candidate and of 10 Vo Ban Tam saw his entire understand what lies underneath The floods submerged a third of the country, killed more than 900 Kerry re-visited the scene of the Kerry said. fi nally secretary of state - and he shrimp stock wiped out last year the slogans,” Kerry told reporters people and crippled industry. ambush for the fi rst time. Kerry returned from Vietnam never forgot Vietnam, becoming a by pollution. The United States on the boat. Gulf Times Monday, January 16, 2017 15 AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA Court to decide on Samsung chief’s arrest today

Reuters Seoul

outh Korea’s special prosecutor said yesterday it will take into account the Seconomic impact of whether to arrest This photo taken and released by activist group Sea Shepherd Global yesterday shows an image taken Samsung Group leader Jay Y Lee in connec- from a helicopter of a protected minke whale onboard the Nisshin Maru, part of the Japanese whaling tion with an infl uence-peddling investiga- fleet, at sea in Antarctic waters. tion involving the president. The offi ce also delayed by one day, until today, its decision on whether to seek the arrest of Lee, the third-generation leader of South Korea’s largest conglomerate, or chaebol, citing the gravity of the case. Sea Shepherd fi nds The special prosecution had said it would make a decision on Lee by yesterday. But spokesman Lee Kyu-chul told reporters yesterday investigators were deliberating all factors including the potential economic Japanese ship ‘with impact of the arrest of Jay Y Lee. Prosecutors have been investigating whether Samsung provided 30bn won ($25.46mn) to a business and founda- tions backed by President Park Geun-hye’s slaughtered whale’ friend, Choi Soon-sil, in exchange for the national pension fund’s support for a 2015 Jay Y Lee, centre, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, at the off ice of independent counsel merger of two Samsung affi liates. in Seoul, where he was questioned as a suspect in bribery case that led to the president’s The Samsung chief denied bribery ac- impeachment. AFP be documented since the rul- had returned to whaling in the cusations during a parliamentary hearing Sydney ing by the International Court of Southern Ocean this summer. in December. Taking into account the eco- Establishing a money-for-favour ex- hee, who has been incapacitated since a Justice (ICJ), said Sea Shepherd. “We will continue our eff orts nomic impact could prove benefi cial to the change between Samsung and Park or her 2014 heart attack, was handed a three-year It has spent more than a dec- in the International Whaling 48-year-old Lee. surrogate is critical for the special prosecu- suspended jail sentence in 2009 for tax eva- Japanese ship has been ade harassing Japanese harpoon Commission to strongly op- The imposition of less severe punish- tor’s investigation, analysts say. sion. He was later pardoned. caught with a slaughtered ships during the Southern Hemi- pose commercial whaling and ment on erring business leaders to avoid Park, the daughter of a military ruler, has Samsung has acknowledged making con- Awhale in the Antarctic sphere summer. so-called ‘scientifi c’ whaling, negative economic consequences has prec- denied wrongdoing, although she has apol- tributions to the two foundations as well as in defi ance of an international “The fact that the Japanese uphold the moratorium on com- edent in South Korea. ogised for exercising poor judgment. Her a consulting fi rm controlled by Choi but has court decision against Tokyo’s crew went to cover up their mercial whaling and promote “Law and principle are the most impor- friend, Choi, who is in detention and facing repeatedly denied accusations of lobbying hunts, activist group Sea Shep- harpoons and the dead minke whale conservation,” he added. tant metric, and after also considering vari- her own trial, has also denied wrongdoing. to push through the merger of Samsung herd said yesterday. whale on deck just shows that In 2014 the United Nations’ ous factors mentioned previously, we will The Constitutional Court is deciding C&T and Cheil Industries Inc. The conservationist organi- they know what they’re doing is ICJ ordered Tokyo to end the decide by law and principle,” the prosecu- whether to uphold or overturn the im- The world’s biggest maker of smart- sation – whose two vessels de- wrong,” the captain of Sea Shep- Antarctic hunt, saying it found tion spokesman Lee said, referring to eco- peachment vote. If Park is forced to leave phones, memory chips and fl at-screen tel- parted Australia last month for herd’s MY Steve Irwin, Wyanda permits issued by Japan were nomic impact, without elaborating. offi ce, a presidential election would be held evisions has delayed its annual executive the Southern Ocean to disrupt Lublink, said in a statement. “not for purposes of scientifi c A Samsung Group spokeswoman de- in 60 days. Among the expected contend- promotions, which typically take place in the hunt – said it spotted the The news came a day after research”. clined to comment. Samsung’s Lee was ers is former UN secretary-general Ban Ki- early December, amid the scandal. Nisshin Maru in the Australian Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Japan cancelled its 2014-15 questioned for 22 hours before leaving the moon. The special prosecution also said it plans whale sanctuary around the na- Abe met his Australian counter- hunt after the ruling, but re- special prosecutors’ offi ce in Seoul on Fri- The chiefs of South Korean chaebol have to indict early next week National Pension tion’s Antarctic territory. part Malcolm Turnbull in Syd- started it the following year day morning as part of the investigation over the years had prison sentences short- Service chief Moon Hyung-pyo, who was The Japanese fl eet set sail on ney, with their talks focusing on under a new programme with a into a corruption scandal that has led to ened or forgiven, or received pardons, with arrested in December after acknowledging November 18 last year in defi - trade and defence. two-thirds cut in the target catch President Park’s impeachment by parlia- the economic impact of imprisonment he pressured the fund to approve the merger ance of a worldwide moratorium Japan is a signatory to the In- number – saying the fresh plan ment. cited as a factor. Jay Y Lee’s father Lee Kun- while he was health minister. on commercial whaling and in- ternational Whaling Commis- was genuinely scientifi c. ternational opposition. sion’s moratorium on whaling in Tokyo claims it is trying to Sea Shepherd released pho- force since 1986. But it exploits prove the whale population is tographs of a dead minke whale a loophole allowing whales to be large enough to sustain a return on the deck of the Nisshin Maru, killed for the purposes of “scien- to commercial hunting. But the Field day a factory ship, adding that the tifi c research”. meat from what it calls scientifi c vessel’s crew covered the carcass Australia’s Environment Min- research often ends up on din- with a tarp when its helicopter ister Josh Frydenberg said in a ner tables. No one was available approached. statement his government was for comment at Japan’s Fisheries The dead whale is the fi rst to “deeply disappointed” Japan Agency.

Japan aborts mini-rocket mission shortly after lift-off

Japan’s space agency yesterday aborted a mission to use a mini-rocket to send a satellite into orbit after the spacecraft stopped sending data to ground control shortly after lift-off . The SS-520 rocket, which stands around the size of a power pole, lifted off at 8:33am (local time) into a clear sky at the Uchinoura Space Centre in south- ern Kagoshima Prefecture. The rocket, regarded as one of the smallest units in the world capable of sending satellites into the space, was carrying the 3-kg “TRICOM-1” observation satellite. But off icials aborted the mission within minutes of takeoff after the space agency stopped receiving data from the rocket after the launch. Local media said data stopped arriving 20 seconds after liftoff . “The first stage of the rocket’s flight went as planned. However, we were unable to receive (data) from the unit as it continued the flight,” the agency said in a statement. The rocket later fell back to earth, landing within a designated safety area in waters off the coast of southeast Japan, according to off icials. The country’s space agency is expected to provide a more detailed debrief about the nature of the mishap as more information becomes available. China appoints new governor in Tibet

China has appointed a new governor of Tibet, one of the country’s most politically sensitive regions, state news agency Xinhua reported yesterday. A thirty-five-year veteran of the Communist Party, Qi Zhala, 58, has also served as the region’s Communist Party vice-secretary and the party boss of regional capital Lhasa, according to his resume, published by party mouthpiece the People’s Daily. He replaces Luosang Jiangcun who was named secretary of the region’s National People’s Congress in the same Xinhua announcement. Managing the remote Himalayan region of Tibet remains a diff icult issue for China, which has struggled with decades of often violent unrest in protest at Chinese rule, which started when Chinese troops marched into Tibet in 1950. China says its rule has brought prosperity and stability, and rejects claims from Tibetan exiles and rights groups of widespread repression. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un provides field guidance to the newly built Kumsanpho Fish Pickling Factory and Kumsanpho Of Tibetan ethnicity, Qi originates from neighbouring Yunnan province. He held off icial posts in Yunnan before Fishery Station, near Pyongyang. transferring to Tibet in 2010. As governor, he is the second-most powerful figure in the region, after the regional Communist party boss. China’s Zhou Youguang, linguist, dissident, democrat dies at 111

AFP nist Party mouthpiece the Peo- while visiting friends at Prin- one developed in the Soviet Un- Mao’s successor Deng Xiaop- Beijing ple’s Daily said. ceton. But following the Com- ion, using Roman letters to rep- ing, who launched market-style Zhou is commonly known as munist victory in 1949, Zhou resent pronunciation alongside reforms which helped transform the “father of Pinyin”, a system returned home to teach econom- marks to indicate tone. China into the world’s second- inguist Zhou Youguang, for transliterating Chinese char- ics and became a close associate But Zhou’s contributions did largest economy. the man who helped invent acters into the Roman alphabet of the party’s number two, Zhou not save him from the chaos of But after he retired aged 85, Lthe Pinyin system used introduced in the 1950s and now Enlai. Mao’s decade-long Cultural Rev- Zhou wrote dozens of books ar- for writing Chinese worldwide used by hundreds of millions of He was attracted to Mao Ze- olution from 1966, during which guing that Deng’s reforms were before becoming an outspoken language learners in China, as dong’s Communists because “at intellectuals were persecuted. insuffi cient without political critic of the communist govern- well as abroad. that time they promoted them- Zhou, then in his 60s, was sent to change. “Chinese people becom- ment died Saturday in Beijing. He Born to an aristocratic family selves as democrats”, he wrote in work at a labour camp in faraway ing rich isn’t important,” he said. was 111. in 1906, Zhou experienced the a 2012 autobiography. Ningxia for more than two years, “Human progress is ultimately Zhou, who was probably Chi- last years of the Qing dynasty An amateur linguist who had separated from his wife and son. progress towards democracy.” na’s oldest dissenter, died at his and its revolutionary overthrow. taught himself some Esperanto, He has described the two decades “After 30 years of economic house, a day after having cel- He avoided China’s civil war be- Zhou was assigned in 1955 to co- from 1960 to 1980 as “wasted”, reform, China still needs to take ebrated his 111th birthday, state tween the Communists and Na- chair a committee tasked with adding: “In all honesty I haven’t the path of democracy,” Zhou media said. “He lived through tionalists by going to work for increasing literacy by reforming got anything good to say about told AFP in a 2015 interview. “It’s many eras and helped enlighten a Chinese bank on Wall Street, the Chinese language. He even- Mao Zedong.” the only path. I have always be- ordinary people,” the Commu- twice meeting Albert Einstein tually backed a system based on He had a higher opinion of lieved that.” Zhou Youguang at his home in Beijing in this 2015 photo. Gulf Times 16 Monday, January 16, 2017 BRITAIN Corbyn decries ‘social care crisis made in Downing Street’

Guardian News and Media what he described as a rigged sys- unless more money was invested staff to ensure adequate and safe people and anti-establishment ter tells us … the reason we have a Conservatives of slashing taxes for London tem where power is in the wrong by the state. care for residents. insurgent, the Labour leader ac- crisis in the NHS is not because her the richest – by another £70bn by hands, and accused the govern- He said cuts of £4.6bn over the “They’ve told councils to fi ll cused Theresa May of using over- government has slashed billions 2022 – while cutting pay for the ment of slashing taxes for the rich- course of the last parliament cre- the gap by raising council tax that stretched GPs as scapegoats for from social care budgets and un- rest. eremy Corbyn has vowed to est and lining the pockets of their ated a “social care crisis made in won’t even meet 3% of what coun- the NHS crisis. Family doctors and derfunded our health service. No. “They’ve sold off our country’s take failing care homes into friends while cutting vital public Downing Street”. cils are already spending on so- medical leaders rejected the prime She’s told her No 10 advisers to tell assets and handed over public Jpublic ownership under a services. Care homes have faced rising cial care for the elderly,” Corbyn minister’s demand to move to a the media the real people to blame services to be milked by tax dodg- Labour government in a major Addressing the Fabian Society costs and falling fee payments said. “They’re passing the buck to seven-day week and extend open- are the hard-pressed and under- ers,” he said. “The truth is the sys- speech slamming the Tories for new year conference in his sec- from councils, and fi gures from councils, shifting the blame and ing hours at GP surgeries. Senior pressure GPs.” tem simply doesn’t work for most “spectacularly” failing to spread ond major speech of 2017, Cor- the Care Quality Commission handing you the bill.” doctors have said the move could At the end of a week in which people. Labour under my leader- Britain’s wealth evenly. byn said the social care system showed that one in fi ve nurs- As part of his much-anticipated lead to mass resignations. his leadership has come under ship stands for a complete break The Labour leader attacked was at serious risk of breakdown ing homes does not have enough “relaunch” as a champion of the Corbyn said: “The prime minis- fresh attack, Corbyn accused the with this rigged system.”

Marketing stunt Dutch resident in Britain for 30 years may be forced to go

Guardian News and Media sure EU citizens of their rights London following the vote to leave the EU, but said it could not because they were “negotiating capital” in Dutch woman who has Brexit talks. lived with her British “I started looking at citizen- Ahusband in Devon for 30 ship after the referendum and years has learned from Immi- discovered this new requirement gration Minister Robert Good- for a permanent residency card. will that she may not have the I assumed it was based on years right to stay in the country after resident here, but then I found Brexit. out I could not apply anyway be- Jet Cooper and her husband, cause of the CSI (comprehensive who has been diagnosed with a sickness insurance), and because serious illness, asked their MP, I haven’t worked enough,” said Jet. Sarah Wollaston, to seek clarifi - “I am self-employed and have cation from Goodwill about her been paying National Insurance right to remain in Britain after the contributions, but I don’t think EU referendum. I earn enough to qualify for a PR The couple were alarmed to card through the employment discover, via two three-page let- route,” she said. ters from Goodwill, that Jet may Jet said there was nothing in her Commuter sit next to a Tube sign reading ‘Webminster’ after Amazon rebranded Westminster Tube station as a marketing stunt in central London. not be eligible to remain in the 30 years here, raising three chil- country because she had not taken dren, now aged 28, 27 and 17, that out private health insurance and led her to believe she was in the UK because she may not have earned illegally. “I fi nd it very odd that no suffi cient revenue in the years one has ever said anything about during which she freelanced. this before, but if Goodwill is cor- Goodwill confi rmed in a letter rect, they could have chucked me to Wollaston that EU citizens who out any time in the last 30 years,” were “self-suffi cient” would not she said. qualify for permanent residency Jet and her husband’s concerns (PR) unless they had “compre- about her legal position were May to urge national unity hensive sickness insurance cover raised after the referendum. They and enough fi nancial resources to had thought that Jet, as the spouse support themselves”. of a British citizen who has lived The letters, which her husband, in the UK for three decades rais- a children’s author, described as ing British children, would get “chilling”, came as a shock, as Jet’s citizenship without a hitch. But amid ‘hard Brexit’ reports rights had never been questioned she learned that since November in the 30 years she lived in the UK 2015, all EU citizens applying for Reuters see Britain leave the EU’s sin- “Now we need to put an A spokesman said such re- who voted for Brexit did so pre- bringing up their three children. citizenship have to fi rst apply for London gle market and customs union. end to the division and the ports were speculative and did cisely in order to be able to re- “We want to be lawful, but a permanent residency (PR) card, May intends to launch by the language associated with it — not comment further. strict immigration. we are in an impossible posi- something that previously only end of March the formal process ‘Leaver’ and ‘Remainer’ and After May said in a TV inter- Finance Minister Philip tion. Patrick has recently been applied to non-EU citizens. rime Minister Theresa of negotiating the terms of Brit- all the accompanying insults view last week that post-Brex- Hammond was yesterday diagnosed with a serious medical Her husband Patrick, 67, told May will call on Britons ain’s exit from the EU, but has so — and unite to make a success it Britain would not be able to quoted as saying the coun- condition and is dependent on Wollaston that he believed the CSI Pto reject the acrimony far given very little away about of Brexit and build a truly glo- keep “bits” of its EU member- try could change its economic the NHS and can’t just leave the rule was a “deliberate trap” de- of the Brexit referendum in a what deal she will be seek- bal Britain,” May is expected to ship, the pound fell sharply as model to regain competitive- country. Do they want to split our signed to prevent EU citizens ap- speech this week that some ing, frustrating some investors, say. the comment was interpreted ness if it were to leave the EU family?” said Jet, 55. “Anyway, our plying for British citizenship. newspapers have billed as set- businesses and lawmakers. The speech extracts cited as signalling a clean break from without an agreement on ac- home and our community is here The CSI rule is mandated by a ting the stage for a “hard” exit May’s speech will stress the in the statement did not say the EU’s single market — the cess to the single market. and has been for 30 years. We’re 2004 EU directive and was de- from the European Union. need for Britons, who voted for whether she would reveal her biggest destination for British His comments, from an in- not going anywhere.” signed as a barrier against benefi t Investors will scrutinise Brexit by 52% to 48% in last stance on the single market or exports. terview with German news- Jet is one of 3mn EU citizens tourism. But the blanket regula- May’s speech tomorrow for June’s referendum, to unite immigration, but the Sunday In the Brexit negotiations, the paper Welt am Sonntag, were settled in the UK whose futures tion failed to take account of the clues on whether she plans to around common goals such as Times quoted an unnamed EU is likely to insist on freedom interpreted as a warning that have been thrown into question fact that Britain’s health service is prioritise immigration con- protecting and enhancing work- source in May’s office as saying of movement for its citizens in Britain could use its corporate after Brexit. Last week the gov- not paid for by insurance but di- trols and bilateral trade deals ers’ rights, her Downing Street her words were likely to cause a return for full access to the sin- tax rate as a form of leverage in ernment reiterated a desire to as- rectly from tax. in a “hard Brexit” that would offi ce said in a statement. market correction. gle market, but many of those negotiations.

Gove meets Trump Govt vows to undercut ahead of premier

EU if Brexit plans fail Guardian News and Media came prime minister last July. London Britain’s relationship with the US is likely to be crucial as AFP come and work in our economy seemed like an unwise “recipe for May’s government prepares for London to keep it functioning,” the chan- some kind of trade war with Eu- ichael Gove, the life outside the EU. Trump has cellor of the Exchequer said. rope”. former justice secre- suggested he would be keen to But as for having no control, In tomorrow’s speech, May will Mtary and prominent strike a trade deal with the UK, ritain yesterday warned “that has to stop”. He hinted call for Britain to unite and get be- Leave campaigner, appears to in striking contest to Barack it might undercut the EU that London was ready to push hind Brexit, pleading for an end to have held a personal meeting Obama, who said during the Beconomically if it cannot through aggressive cuts to busi- the “insults” and rancour between with the US president-elect, referendum campaign that Brit- obtain both single market ac- ness taxes to ensure British- Leavers and Remainers, Downing Donald Trump, and written ain would be at “the back of the cess and immigration controls, based fi rms remained competi- Street said. about it for the Times. queue” if it voted for Brexit. as Prime Minister Theresa May tive in the face of EU tariff s. The speech would call on Brit- Gove, who has a regular col- Boris Johnson, the foreign prepared her big Brexit strategy Hammond said he wanted ain to “set aside old divisions, umn with the newspaper he secretary, has already held speech. Britain to remain a “recognisably and unite to make a success of worked for before being elected meetings with key members Britain would be forced to European-style economy with Brexit”, said May’s offi ce. as MP for Surrey Heath, was of Trump’s transition team in “change our economic model” in European-style taxation systems, Hammond said he was expect- co-chair of the campaign group Washington, and May’s two order to remain competitive if it is European-style regulation sys- ing to start “substantive negotia- Vote Leave, and his decision to closest advisers, Fiona Hill and shut out from access to the single tems.” tions” just weeks after Article 50 is stand for the Conservative lead- Nick Timothy, have also visited. market, Finance Minister Philip However, London would have to triggered. ership scuppered the hopes of Trump’s intervention comes as Hammond said. change course “if we are forced”, in “We are ambitious to do this as Boris Johnson. the prime minister prepares to Hammond, in an interview order to “regain competitiveness”. quickly as possible,” he said, and News that the pair have met set out more clearly her aims in with Germany’s Welt am Sonntag “The British people are not go- “move seamlessly” to the new for an interview that will appear the Brexit negotiations, in a ma- newspaper, said Britain could not ing to lie down and say, too bad,” arrangement in 2019, though in the Times newspaper today is jor speech tomorrow. compromise on the main message he said, adding “we could be there could be an “interim pe- likely to spark irritation at No 10, Gove is known to be close to from the June referendum vote to forced to change our economic riod” before it kicks in. which has been carefully laying Rupert Murdoch, and news that leave the EU: stemming the fl ow of model and we will have to change Bookmakers believe May will the groundwork for the prime he has secured an interview will immigrants from the bloc. our model to regain competitive- not trigger Article 50 by the end of minister to travel to Washington spark speculation that it was EU citizens would be free to ness. March. to visit the new president, per- brokered by the media magnate, travel to Britain and do business And you can be sure we will do The Supreme Court is consider- haps as soon as next month. whose Fox News network gave there — but the debate was over whatever we have to do”. ing an appeal against an earlier rul- May sacked Gove, alongside favourable coverage to Trump’s the right to work, settle and set Opposition Labour leader Jer- ing that she cannot do so without longtime allies including George campaign. Asked about the in- up businesses, he said. emy Corbyn told BBC televi- the assent of parliament in Lon- Osborne, in the radical reshuffl e terview, one No 10 insider said it “Clearly we need people to sion that the government’s plans don. Gove: scores over prime minister. she carried out when she be- “sounds like a good read”. Gulf Times Monday, January 16, 2017 17 BRITAIN Three teenagers jailed for killing rapper over bicycle

Guardian News and Media after the judge lifted reporting re- “No sentence that I can pass “Nonetheless, this is extremely Richards and Lukelo-Mami. He and his siblings had subse- cannabis dealing, pointed to his London strictions – were handed lengthy can undo the wrong that you have serious off ending. Gang-related The court heard in mitigation quently been taken in by an aunt lack of previous convictions as sentences for the manslaughter done or bring back Yarde,” judge homicide involving the carrying of that the three defendants had suf- before spending time in care. He evidence of his relatively good of the 17-year-old on a street in Nicholas Cooke told the trio as he knives is a dreadful problem and it fered from diffi cult circumstances was sentenced to 12 years. character. He was sentenced to 13 hree teenagers convicted of New Cross, south-east London, passed sentence at the Old Bailey. needs to be strongly deterred.” that had led them into involve- Fauz Richards had denied any years. killing aspiring grime MC, last April. “All must understand that I’m Yarde, the court heard, had ment in gang culture. involvement in the attack on My- Lucus Risch, who was also con- TMyron Yarde, in a row over The court heard that the inci- not sentencing you for murder, gone into a rival area armed with Valeria Swift, speaking for ron but was found by the jury to victed of perverting the course a stolen bicycle have been sen- dent was a case of a punishment but for manslaughter. The jury a machete or samurai sword in an Lukelo-Mami, said he had had have stabbed the victim in the legs of justice for getting two women tenced to a total of 37 years in jail. stabbing in the legs that had fatal came to the understandable con- attempt to recover his stolen bicy- “the hardest of upbringings”, in- a number of times. Nonetheless, who bought drugs from him to Fauz Richards, 19, and 16-year- consequences after Lukelo-Mami clusion that an intention to kill cle, snatched as part of an ongo- cluding the murder of his mother Stephen Akinsanya, his barrister, dispose of a weapon, was said to olds Junior Lukelo-Mami and dealt a fatal wound that caused or cause serious injury was not ing feud, but had been disarmed by his father while the pair were said his client was remorseful and, have also expressed deep remorse Lucus Risch – who can be named Myron to bleed to death. proven. by Risch before he was stabbed by away on holiday together in Spain. despite Richards’ self-admitted over his role in the attack.

Minister to Walk in the rain meet media Westminster chiefs for talks on fake news council could

Guardian News and Media London send homeless inisters have sum- moned media bosses Mfor talks on “accuracy” in journalism amid growing con- cern over the rise of fake news. Matt Hancock, the minister of state for digital and culture to Coventry policy, has asked UK newspaper industry representatives to join Guardian News and Media comes driven away from their lo- needs including health, education round-table discussions about London cal communities and family sup- and employment into account. the issue. port networks. Westminster also says it will Last week, the US president- There is increasing bitterness seek to make more homeless elect, Donald Trump, attacked eople who lose their homes among local authorities in the households the off er of a private CNN as “fake news” for report- in one of London’s richest south-east that they are unable rented tenancy rather than more ing on an unverifi ed intelligence Pboroughs could be sent to to fulfi l their own obligations to expensive temporary accommo- dossier about his links to Russia. live in temporary accommoda- house homeless families because dation. Labour pointed out this BuzzFeed published it in full tion as far away as Coventry under London councils outbid them would mean homeless families while acknowledging that it new plans announced by the City for local temporary accommo- would forfeit their right to social could not vouch for its veracity. of Westminster. dation. housing. Facebook also announced a Westminster council says ris- Research commissioned by The council said it would pro- project to build stronger ties with ing homelessness, coupled with Westminster council found that vide a “wrap-around support news organisations following al- housing benefi ts cuts and govern- with limited aff ordable properties service” for families moved be- legations that it was responsible ment plans to force local authori- available in London, the best op- yond the capital, including help for propagating falsehoods dur- ties to sell off social housing gives portunities for rehousing home- to enroll children in schools, fi nd ing the US election. it no option but to place more less families in the south-east nursery places and register with The UK government’s decision families outside the capital. were to be found in Slough and GPs. to hold talks on the issue fol- Currently just 3% of West- Maidenhead. Westminster says the new pol- lows Hancock’s statement to the minster’s homeless families are Westminster’s homeless icy is essential to the cap the spi- House of Commons last Novem- rehoused outside Greater Lon- households would be put into ralling cost of providing tempo- ber that ministers were “consid- don, but this is likely to increase priority bands, with those with rary accommodation to homeless ering the implications of the dis- because of rising cost pressures extensive care and support needs families, currently £4.3mn annu- semination of fake news on social and shortages of aff ordable local who would be at risk if they were ally and set to rise to nearly £12mn media sites”. accommodation, it says. moved away prioritised for hous- by 2020. The News Media Association Rehousing homeless families ing in the borough, together with Homeless Westminster fami- has previously warned minis- outside the capital has always carers and foster carers. lies can still choose to be housed in ters that Google and Facebook proved politically controversial, Households with children at temporary private rented accom- were unfairly making money out and London authorities have been key exam stages in local schools modation, but the council says of journalism produced by its reluctant to advertise the fact that and those with jobs in Westmin- current average waiting times for members. they have been doing so routinely ster would be in band two, mean- a social home in the borough range “There is now an urgent need for some years. ing they would qualify for tempo- from 10 years for a two-bedroom to look at the value chain of dig- Westminster’s cabinet mem- rary accommodation elsewhere in fl at to up to 25 years for a four- ital news, and the industry is ber for housing, councillor Daniel Greater London. bedroom house. ready to play a full part in work- Astaire, said the council faced in- All other households would fall Social security cuts, such as the ing towards fi nding a solution tense challenges around housing into band three, meaning they housing benefi t freeze and the ex- which sees the content creators aff ordability and diffi cult choices would be off ered private rented tended benefi t cap will continue fairly rewarded for their invest- were inescapable. homes in south-east England or to drive homelessness in the bor- ment in news production,” said “While we always try to provide beyond. The council identifi ed ough, it said. About 60% of its Lynne Anderson, the News Me- accommodation for homeless urban areas in the West Midlands homeless acceptances are cur- dia Association’s deputy chief people in Westminster, like many as presenting the best opportuni- rently the result of evictions from executive. other boroughs of all political per- ties, but noted that the supply of private rented homes. “The recent debate around suasions we have to look at iden- suitable properties were limited in The council says it is unable to fake news has again highlighted tifying suitable homes beyond the those areas too. keep pace with demand for social the vital importance of the qual- city’s boundaries,” he said. Councils are allowed by law to housing in central London. It has ity journalism produced by news Labour members said the rehouse households outside the 4,500 people on its priority list media publishers which under- Tourists carrying umbrellas walk in the rain during a spell of wet weather, next to The Tower policy “turbo-charged” a recent local area, but only in areas where but only between 600 and 800 pins democracy by holding pow- of London, in London yesterday. trend that has seen increasing suitable accommodation takes the rented homes become available er to account.” numbers of people on low in- full range of household members’ each year. Vine used ‘road rage’ video Baby born in police car Celebrity neighbours to boost profi le, court told fi ght mega-basement London Evening Standard old wrote: “I ask the council to London honour my right to a peaceful Guardian News and Media cycling through Kensington on as she waits at traffi c lights and she enjoyment of my home and liveli- London his way home from work when he gets out again, saying: “Do you hood...the proposed development became aware of Pearson’s car be- want me to knock you out? Take couple’s plan for a mega- will clearly impact negatively hind him. a picture of my car again and I’ll basement beneath their upon neighbours for many years BC presenter Jeremy Vine Footage from cameras mounted knock you out.” A£4mn home in a leafy to come.” has been accused in court of on Vine’s bike was played to the Vine alleges she made a gun ges- London village has caused uproar Former Newsnight presenter Bexaggerating an alleged road court, showing him riding along ture with her fi ngers before driv- among “fl abbergasted” celebrity Mr Snow, 78, father of TV histo- rage incident he fi lmed and posted a street with cars parked on both ing off . Pearson denied this and it neighbours. rian Dan Snow, wrote: “We are online to boost his profi le. sides and then braking after Pear- was not captured on the footage. TV presenter Peter Snow, chil- astonished that this application The Crimewatch and Radio 2 son sounded her horn. He told the court he had thought dren’s author Judith Kerr, and has progressed as far as it has. The presenter said he had feared he The fi rst of two confrontations Pearson was about to hit him dur- former Arsenal and England de- original architects of these fi ne would be violently assaulted by between Pearson and Vine fol- ing the incident. fender Lee Dixon are among resi- and substantially weighty build- the driver during the “scary” con- lowed. Pearson shouted: “Why are “Those are the words of a vio- dents who have sent more than ings would be fl abbergasted if they frontation. But the defendant’s you stopping in front of my car? lent person and those are the 100 objections opposing the dig knew that anyone contemplated lawyer said of the confl ict: “It was Why did you do that? Move out words of someone who has hit in Barnes. Nick Pointon, 46, a digging out basements under- designed to increase your profi le of my way.” On the video Vine can people before, without any ques- senior executive at Candy Crush neath the houses they designed on the internet.” be heard saying the Highway Code tion,” Vine said. games-maker King, and his wife over 100 years ago. Vine was giving evidence at suggests he needs to be in the cen- Pearson’s lawyer, James Claire have submitted proposals “These houses were never built Hammersmith magistrates court tre of the road, while Pearson gets O’Keeff e, accused Vine of exag- for a 1,700ft basement below their on strong enough ground to ac- in the trial of Shanique Sheena out of her car and moves towards gerating how scared he had been three-storey Edwardian terraced commodate the building of base- Pearson, 22, over an incident on Vine. “This is what gets cyclists for dramatic eff ect. “What you property. ments. They are already very ca- August 26, 2016. killed, why would you stop in front wanted all along was footage for A total of 102 letters have been pacious.” Pearson, of Vauxhall, south- of my car. You don’t respect your your Facebook page,” he said, written to Richmond council com- Sir Anthony Figgis, 76, a long west London, denies charges of life?” she is heard to say. pointing out that the video had A woman gave birth in the back of a police car after being plaining about the scheme, fi rst – serving diplomat who was the driving without reasonable con- She tries to move Vine and his been watched 1mn times. told it could take an hour for an ambulance to reach her submitted in October 2015, which Queen’s Marshal, said the dig sideration for other road users bike, grabbing the handlebars and He accused Vine of racially ster- home. Samantha Collins, 30, of Chingford, had a due date would increase the property’s total would cause disruption and noise and using threatening, abusive using her feet to get him out of the eotyping Pearson, who is black, at the end of the month but baby Tillie had other ideas. fl oorspace by almost half. nuisance for several years, and or insulting words or behaviour. way. She can be heard adding: “I by claiming she had made a gun With traff ic snarled up, she got as far as Chingford police Kerr, who wrote children’s clas- branded it “unacceptable!” She has admitted driving an unli- could’ve hit you and been done for gesture. “I suggest to you that you station before deciding to ask for a police escort. Collins sic The Tiger Who Came to Tea, Lee Dixon, 52, now a TV football censed vehicle on the day in ques- murder.” have racially stereotyped her as a gave birth in the back seat of the police car shortly after a said the plans were “over-ambi- pundit, said: “Many houses in the tion. She then overtakes him. Vine black person and that gesture is medic arrived on a motorbike. tious” and would aff ect her ability area including mine are suff ering Vine told the court he had been attempts to take a photo of her car associated with black people.” to work from home. The 93-year- from subsidence to some degree.” Gulf Times 18 Monday, January 16, 2017 EUROPE Serbia halts ‘nationalist’ train heading to Kosovo AFP Raska to avoid a confl ict and save “The introduction of an illegal Belgrade lives,” Vucic told a press confer- rail service represents interfer- ence in Belgrade. ence which threatens our sover- He accused the Kosovo gov- eignty and proves Serbia is seek- Serbian train decorated ernment of sending police units ing to destabilise Kosovo,” said with the national colours to the north of the territory to Edita Tahiri, who leads Kosovo’s Aand plastered with icons “provoke a wide-ranging con- negotiating team with Belgrade. This picture taken in 2011 shows and a nationalist slogan left Bel- fl ict”. The central Kosovo govern- Steinbach walking behind grade on Saturday for Kosovo, “Serbia wants peace ... but I ment has no real control over Merkel at a party convention in the former Serbian province, but ask the Albanians of Kosovo not the predominantly ethnic Serb Leipzig. was halted just before the border to try attacking Serbs in Kosovo north and that region’s borders as tensions fl ared. because Serbia will not allow it,” with Serbia. Serbia had styled the train as Vucic warned. It has appealed to the Euro- a bid to revive the fi rst rail serv- Although most of Kosovo is pean Union to “stop this illegal ice from the Serbian capital to ethnically Albanian, many Serbs train”. Merkel the mostly ethnic Serbian north consider it their native home- Ill-feeling between Serbia and of Kosovo since a bloody war 18 land and a cradle of their culture Kosovo is at its worst since the years ago that propelled Kosovo and civilisation. signing of a historic agreement critic quits towards independence. Some 13,000 people were in 2013, under the aegis of the But Kosovo denounced the killed in the 1998-1999 war, EU, to normalise relations. scheme as a provocation and an sparked by clashes between the The train incident coincides ruling attempt to damage its territorial forces of the rump Yugoslav with an attempt by Serbia to integrity. state – Serbia and Montenegro – have Kosovo’s former prime Its president, Hashim Thaci, and Kosovo separatists. minister, Ramush Haradinaj, ex- party called on “leading offi cials to The confl ict ended when the tradited from France for alleged take the necessary measures to North Atlantic Treaty Organi- war crimes. stop this train, which threatens sation (Nato) carried out an air This picture taken on Saturday shows a man walking past the train that was bound for Kosovo at the Belgrade accuses Haradinaj of Reuters Kosovo’s sovereignty”. campaign against Serbia. main railway station in Belgrade. The train decorated with the Serbian flag and artwork featuring war crimes against civilians in Berlin Several hours after the train Kosovo unilaterally declared Serbian churches, monasteries and medieval towns, was intended for travel from Belgrade to Kosovska the late 1990s, when he led eth- left central Belgrade, Serbian independence in 2008, but Ser- Mitrovica, for the first time since the 1998-99 war. nic Albanian insurgents fi ghting Prime Minister Aleksandar bia and its ally Russia have yet to Serbian forces for Kosovo’s in- fi erce internal critic of Vucic said he had ordered it to be recognise its sovereignty. that are located in Kosovo. the renewed service answered a said. “Who has the right to call dependence. German Chancellor An- halted in southwest Serbia, just The train, painted in the red, It also bore the inscription: clear need. for the violation of a fundamen- Haradinaj has already been Agela Merkel announced before the border with Kosovo, blue and white of the Serbian “Kosovo is Serbia.” It would allow the majority tal right – that of free move- twice tried and acquitted at the yesterday that she would resign because of fears it would be at- fl ag, is decorated inside with At the Belgrade train sta- Serbian population in Kosovo’s ment?” International Criminal Tribunal from the centre-right Chris- tacked. replicas of religious icons from tion, Marko Djuric, the Serbian north “to have better commu- Kosovo, though, reacted for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) tian Democratic Union (CDU) “I decided to stop the train at Serbian Orthodox monasteries minister for Kosovo aff airs, said nication with central Serbia”, he strongly. in The Hague. party, accusing Merkel of hav- ing harmed the country with her migration policy. Erika Steinbach’s move could Merkel gets gift weaken Merkel’s standing among that triggered raid conservative voters ahead of a Germany struggling to deport North Africans September election in which the Chancellor Angela Merkel has anti-immigrant Alternative for accepted a handmade wood Germany (AfD) party is expected carving from an Iranian refugee, By Simon Kremer, DPA The interior ministry said that This was the case with Anis passports and insist that they But North African countries to enter the federal parliament two weeks after the thank-you Tunis deportations were often not im- Amri, the Tunisian man who are Syrians, according to an of- also feel that they have been left for the fi rst time. gift triggered a police raid at a plemented. carried out the Christmas mar- fi cial at the Moroccan interior in the lurch. Steinbach strongly criticised German postal centre. Of more than 500,000 reject- ket attack. ministry, who declined to pro- Egyptian Foreign Minister Merkel for allowing more than a In late December, Mohammed hen the fi rst plane ed asylum-seekers, only 52,000 Prior to the deadly attack, Tu- vide his name. Sameh Shukri complained in an million refugees into Germany in Taherina and his son had gone carrying unsuccess- were subject to deportation. nisia had failed to issue the nec- He added that there had been interview with DPA of a lack of the past two years, accusing the to the post off ice in the western Wful Tunisian asylum- The issue is increasingly con- essary documents for him to be an exchange of information with support from European Union chancellor of violating the law town of Naunheim to ship a seekers took off from Leipzig troversial in Germany, given the returned. the German authorities on Mo- countries. and not consulting other Euro- package containing the artwork in April last year, the German huge numbers of migrants that But Tunisian Prime Minister roccans illegally living in Ger- Just 18 Egyptians have been pean Union members before her to Merkel’s off ice in Berlin. authorities believed they were arrived last year and the isolated Youssef Chahed told DPA that many over recent months, and repatriated of the 1,373 not decision in 2015. Taherina had carved the wooden close to resolving a key point of acts of terrorism that culminat- the agreed processes were being that repatriations could now be granted asylum, according to “All this contradicted our sculpture, which depicts two controversy. ed in the Berlin truck attack on adhered to. implemented in stages. Shukri, who insists Egypt is co- current legal situation and also hands holding the German German Interior Minister December 19, in which 12 were Co-operation was “proceed- However, the procedure is operating. isolated Germany in Europe be- flag and a flag used by Syrians Thomas de Maiziere had re- killed and more than 50 injured. ing in an ideal way”, he said. complex. “As long as these people are cause of the uncoordinated ac- opposed to the regime of Bashar cently reached agreement with Scores of sexual assaults in De Maiziere visited North Af- Martin Zillinger, an ethnolo- willing to return of their own tion,” Steinbach said. al-Assad. the Tunisian government on Cologne and other cities dur- rica at the beginning of last year, gist and migration researcher at accord, we will accept them,” The conservative lawmaker The words “Gut Gefuehl” (good returning rejected Tunisians ing 2015-16 New Year’s Eve taking in Tunisia, Algeria and the University of Cologne, be- the minister says. also linked her resignation to feeling) is written on the carving. ineligible for asylum on special celebrations, which authorities Morocco, to hold talks on the lieves there are North African In Tunisia, attitudes are di- Merkel’s decision to acceler- Events took an unexpected turn chartered fl ights, each carrying said were carried out mainly by repatriation of rejected asylum- offi cials “who have little interest vided, and there have been ate Germany’s shift away from when the gift givers – who were 25 at most. North Africans, also put pres- seekers. – perhaps for reasons of solidar- street protests against the de- nuclear power and fossil fuels sending the package to Merkel But by the end of the year sure on the government to speed In an offi cial letter to the inte- ity with the migrants – to work portations. towards renewable sources of in gratitude for being allowed there had been just fi ve further up deportations. rior ministers of the 16 German particularly quickly”. Tunisians are fearful that Is- energy after the Fukushima dis- to stay in Germany – prompted fl ights, returning an average of But most rejected asylum- states, De Maiziere said that And he adds that a situation lamic State fi ghters could return aster in Japan in 2011. nine police off icers and a bomb- 12 people each. seekers are granted temporary the approximately 10,000 Mo- has been created in Germany from the war zones where the The decision to shut down the sniff ing dog to storm the post German migration authorities permission to stay for health roccans, 13,000 Algerians and and the European Union “where militia is involved – Tunisians country’s oldest nuclear plants off ice. rejected 8,363 asylum applica- reasons; because the country of 2,500 Tunisians who had previ- we thwart the options for repa- make up a disproportionate and bid farewell to nuclear pow- The raid took place after an tions from North Africa in the origin refuses to take them; or ously arrived in Germany “for triation by compelling people to number of the fi ghters. er as a technology was “without employee called police to period from January-November because their documents are not the most part have no prospect disappear into a life of illegality”. And many are disinclined to any legal basis”, she said, adding report suspicious behaviour by last year. in order. of being allowed to stay”. Government ministers are take back criminals – like those there had been no threat that a Taherina. Over that period, just 368 According to the German au- But identifi cation issues often talking about cutting aid to who are no longer welcome in similar disaster could happen in The false alarm came just days people were returned to their thorities, the last named is the obstruct the process. countries that refuse to take Germany after the New Year’s Germany. after a truck attack on a Berlin countries of origin. main reason. Migrants usually destroy their their nationals back. Eve attacks. Steinbach also cited Ger- Christmas market in which 12 many’s participation in euro- people were killed and dozens zone bailout programmes for injured, putting the country on highly indebted countries such high alert. as Greece, a policy that she said Merkel was handed the gift by had “unhinged” the EU’s Growth Julia Kloeckner at a meeting Vienna’s homeless show and Stability Pact and violated of her centre-right Christian joint rules. Democrats (CDU) in Perl, The 73-year-old politician, a Germany. CDU member for more than 40 Kloeckner, the CDU leader in the tourists life on the street years, concluded: “That’s not my state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in party anymore.” which Naunheim is located, had Steinbach has become a hate personally picked up the artwork By Nina Lamparski, AFP “I’m happy because my hair range from a couple of hours to fi gure in Poland and the Czech from Taherina. Vienna is long again and I’m totally all day. Republic for her former role as healthy,” Barbara told her tour “Our guides are in a unique president of the Association of group. position to explain Vienna’s Expellees – a job in which she n a wintry afternoon, “I’m confi dent that I’ll soon complex social system and its documented the fate of Germans Asylum requests tourists huddle around have my own place again, not challenges. They provide chil- expelled from Eastern Europe in Austria halves Otheir guide outside Vi- least because of this,” she add- dren with an emotional lesson after World War II. enna’s central train station. ed, referring to her new job at they can’t get in a classroom,” Steinbach said she would not The number of migrants applying But instead of exploring Shades Tours. said Schober. join another party, but added she for asylum in Austria more than glitzy palaces, Barbara will take Launched last year, the social During the visits, people have Schrober answers questions from tourists at one of the shelters hoped the AfD would enter par- halved in 2016 and did not breach them around night shelters start-up is part of a growing the chance to ask questions and for homeless people. liament in the next election. a cap introduced early last year and soup kitchens as part of a European trend that sees the the homeless are generally keen “So that there is a real opposi- to limit new arrivals, the interior new initiative aimed at helping needy hired as city guides as a to share their stories. “It’s warm, it’s open 24 hours from freezing to death, particu- tion again,” she said. ministry said yesterday. homeless people like herself get way to help them reintegrate. “Ask anything you like, there a day and you can be anony- larly in the current cold snap The AfD’s “fl esh is also from The Alpine country of 8.7mn was back on their feet. While they show tourists is no taboo on the topic, we can mous here,” she tells the visi- gripping the continent. the fl esh of the CDU”, she said, the last stop before Germany for Vienna is ranked one of the in Paris around famous land- speak frankly,” Barbara told her tors after they enter the huge But it’s not enough to meet and had some smart people many fleeing war and poverty world’s most livable cities with marks, the Vienna concept goes group. glass structure. the high demand, made worse among its members, but also po- in the Middle East and beyond an excellent social security sys- a step further to peel off the The organisation now em- “What’s the worst part about because Vienna also draws the litical extremists. at the beginning of the refugee tem, but thousands of people stigma attached to homeless- ploys three full-time guides, being homeless?” asked one of homeless from other European The AfD was founded in 2013 crisis. nonetheless fall through the ness. two of whom have already been the tour group. cities like Budapest where con- as an anti-bailout party, but it After receiving 90,000 requests cracks. “I wanted (the tours) to be able to move from their shelter The isolation, Barbara re- ditions are even tougher. has broadened its appeal as it for asylum in 2015, it introduced Offi cial data shows around more educational,” explained into private housing. plied. For €2 a day, you can sleep, was able to benefi t from uncer- a cap on the number of asylum- 4,300 end up on the street eve- Shades Tours creator Perrine Boosted by the success, “Nobody from my former life eat, shower, and use the Inter- tainty and anxiety linked to Mer- seekers it would accept in ry year, but the actual number Schober, a 33-year-old tourism Schober broadened the off ering knows where I am now and I net at the men-only VinziPort kel’s refugee policy. January 2016. is thought to be much higher. management graduate. to include English-language have no family,” she said. shelter, the last leg of Barbara’s The AfD now has seats in 11 Last year, Austria received 42,073 It’s hard to imagine that tour “We (see) homelessness on a tours for international tourists. Vienna, a city of 1.7mn, has a tour. of Germany’s 16 federal state requests for asylum, most of guide Barbara, with her fl owing daily basis but we have no idea “I wanted to get an insight solid network of public institu- “Everyone chips in. Food is assemblies and polls predict it them from Afghans, Syrians locks and cream suit, is includ- what it is actually about, so I into the life of homeless peo- tions and not-for-profi t organ- provided by the kindergarten will enter the federal parliament and Iraqis, an interior ministry ed in that grim statistic. guess that’s the reason people ple because we encounter them isations helping those in need. next door, hospitals and baker- to become the third-strongest spokesman said, confirming Diagnosed with breast can- look away instead of trying to without understanding what it Barbara and her group brace ies,” says Schober. party. an earlier report by APA news cer in 2014, the former gallery help,” the French-Austrian told is like,” said Bulgarian Steliana icy winds to head to the so- At the end, participants An Emnid survey published agency. owner in her forties fi rst lost AFP. Kokonova, 29. called “P7” building – the thank Barbara for sharing her yesterday showed support for The ministry counted 36,030 her livelihood and then her fl at Shades Tours was initially Barbara, who declined to give government branch that runs story, including Kokonova: Merkel’s CDU party down one applications as relevant for the while undergoing chemother- aimed at Austrians, drawing her surname, switches eff ort- Vienna’s homeless registry and “One major thing that will stay percentage point to 37%, while cap of 37,500 because it strips apy. hundreds of schoolchildren, lessly from German to Eng- provides sleeping quarters. with me is that we now have the co-governing centre-left out certain cases, including those After several months sleep- social workers and compa- lish and French as she explains In winter around 700 beds more information about how to Social Democrats (SPD) stood at it believes should be processed in ing rough, she managed to get a nies in 2016, with a selection why the central station is a are added to the 300 available direct homeless people towards 21%. other countries. bed in a homeless shelter. of tours costing €15 ($16) that “hotspot” for the homeless. all year round to prevent people useful institutions.” The AfD was on 12%. Gulf Times Monday, January 16, 2017 19 EUROPE

Police free three after Brussels anti-terror raids Belgian police have released three people held overnight following anti-terror raids late on Saturday in Brussels, local Divided parliament to prosecutors said. Police mounted four raids in the Molenbeek district, which was home to several perpetrators of the Islamist militant attacks in Paris and Brussels, but found nothing, according to the Brussels prosecutor’s off ice. elect Schulz’s successor “Three men were arrested and questioned overnight ... they By Céline Le Prioux, AFP the largest group in the assem- since gained strength, with Brit- were released afterwards,” it said Brussels bly. ons voting to leave the bloc in in a statement. Socialist Gianni Pittella of It- a shock referendum result last Media reports showed armed aly also has a shot at the top job. June, while across the Atlantic police setting up a security he European Parliament But liberal Guy Verhofstadt of a similar wave of populism took perimeter during the operation. faces a stormy election Belgium, parliament’s Brexit ne- Donald Trump to the US presi- The gritty Molenbeek area has Tfor a new president to- gotiator, saw his chances dip af- dency. gained notoriety recently as the morrow after a long-standing ter a failed merger last week with Former Belgian prime min- home of several of those who coalition of pro-EU parties col- Italy’s populist 5-Star Move- ister Verhofstadt had initially took part in the deadly Islamic lapsed just as the crisis-hit bloc ment. been seen as having a chance, State (IS)-claimed November 2015 confronts a wave of eurosceptic The winner will be in charge with his profi le newly raised by attacks in Paris and the suicide populism. of the European Parliament at his role as chief Brexit negotia- bombings of Brussels airport and While there are at least seven the critical time when it has fi nal tor for the parliament, a job in the metro in March 2016. contenders for the job, the main approval on any deal for Britain’s which he has strongly pushed Belgian authorities stepped up candidates are two Italians and a departure from the European for MEPs to have a bigger role in security after the killings and Belgian seeking to replace Mar- Union, expected in 2019. negotiations. there have been periodic police tin Schulz. In a febrile political climate, But his campaign has eff ec- operations and arrests since The German socialist is step- the result could also eventu- tively been torpedoed after he then as the investigations have ping down as head of the EU’s ally prompt a reshuffl e of other said he was considering joining continued. only elected body to return to top EU jobs, an instability the Schulz: stepping down as head of the EU’s only elected body to return to politics in Germany. forces with Beppe Grillo’s 5-Star Belgian-born French national politics in his homeland. 28-nation bloc can do without Movement after it defected from Salah Abdeslam, the only The secret ballot by 751 MEPs as it tackles crises ranging from EPP chief Manfred Weber wrecked debt-hit Greece and hands of conservative Tajani. Farage’s eurosceptic grouping. known militant to have survived taking place tomorrow at the Brexit to migration. said the “betrayal” by the other Spain. The key to the result may now The deal – a sign of the im- the Paris massacres, hid in parliament in the French city of For all but fi ve years of the groups which had been expected Jean-Claude Juncker, the lie with the votes of the smaller portance of the populists’ votes Molenbeek and was arrested Strasbourg is most likely to be European Parliament’s history to back Tajani means that “they former Luxembourg premier populist and anti-EU parties – fell through when Verhofs- there four months later, on March won by Italian politician An- since 1979, the EPP and social are responsible for the growing who heads the European Com- trying to break up the EU from tadt’s Liberal MEPs opposed any 18, 2016, four days before the tonio Tajani, a former spokes- democrats have alternated in infl uence of the populists in this mission, the EU’s executive arm, within. such move, especially as it came attacks on the Belgian capital. man for Italy’s scandal-plagued the presidency under a “grand house”. and former Polish prime minis- Eurosceptic groups led by just days after the Belgian had former prime minister Silvio coalition” aimed at getting laws Pittella however has said he ter Donald Tusk, who leads the Britain’s UKIP and France’s spoken out about the threat of Berlusconi. passed more easily. would not accept an EPP “mo- European Council of 28 national National Front made stunning populism. Chechen leader Tajani, 63, who served as Eu- But that cozy arrangement nopoly” of the EU’s top jobs, leaders, are both from the EPP. gains in the last European Par- Tomorrow’s vote could go on ropean commissioner for in- has broken down amid a disa- adding that he also opposed the Leftist MEPs have warned liament elections in May 2014, for up to four rounds as an ab- says more than 50 dustry from 2010 to 2014, is the greement over who should suc- German-led austerity policies that they may push for one of changing the EU’s political solute majority in the European insurgents held candidate of the centre-right ceed Schulz after his nearly fi ve aimed at tackling the eurozone those jobs if the European Par- landscape. Parliament is needed to win the European People’s Party (EPP), years as EU legislative leader. crisis which critics say have liament also ends up in the The anti-EU movement has presidency. Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov said yesterday that his forces had detained more than 50 insurgents linked to the Islamic State (IS) militant group, completing a major security Cyprus security talks to conclude this month: source operation. Kadyrov wrote on Instagram yesterday that security forces Reuters failed to produce a breakthrough at the Swiss resort of Mont Pe- said. “All this should take place on redrawing the boundaries The Turkish side says some had captured an armed group co- Nicosia in a confl ict spanning decades, lerin on January 18. within January.” between the two sides, settling form of presence must be main- ordinated by a Chechen fighter though the three countries “The general agreement is Cyprus was split among its property disputes and on how to tained to protect the minority located in Syria, with the latest which are stakeholders in Cy- that (working group session) ethnic Turkish and Greek popu- co-govern. Turkish side from a repeat of the arrests taking place in various working group due to prus – Britain, Greece and Tur- should not take place for more lations since Turkish troops in- Greece, Turkey and Britain turbulent 1960s. locations on Saturday. convene on Wednesday, key – agreed to set up the work- than two or three days,” the vaded in 1974 in response to a were assigned as “guarantor” Turkish President Recep “Now the whole group of bandits AJanuary 18, to hammer ing group to look at security source revealed to Reuters, re- short-lived coup by Greek Cyp- powers in a treaty adopted when Tayyip Erdogan has said that a has been neutralised and more out security arrangements for arrangements after these turned questing anonymity because of riot militants seeking union with Cyprus gained independence of total pull out of Turkish soldiers than 50 members have been a post-settlement Cyprus will out to be a major sticking point. the sensitivity of present dis- Greece. London in 1960. from the island is not possible. brought to police stations,” meet for two to three days only, The Greek Cypriot side has cussions. But intercommunal violence The Greek side seeks abolition Any deal should address how Kadyrov said, followed by another round of previously said there was no This would be followed by a had simmered since the 1960s of the guarantor system, accus- constitutional order should be The Russian North Caucasus high-level talks, a source close time frame for the talks. new summit of politicians, pos- when a power-sharing system ing Turkey of abusing it through respected in a united island, as is one of the major sources of to the Turkish Cypriot side said The working group made of sibly at a “higher level” than collapsed soon after independ- its 1974 invasion and the contin- well as protecting it from “ex- foreign Islamist militants fighting yesterday. technocrats from all countries the foreign ministers who met ence from Britain. ued stationing of some 30,000 ternal threats”, the Turkish Cyp- in Syria and Iraq. Talks in Geneva last week involved were scheduled to meet in Geneva last week, the source There are also unsettled issues Turkish troops in the north. riot source said. ‘Robber pulled a gun on me’, ‘Charity scam’ parents questioned on sexual exploitation claims

Kardashian told French cops By Daniel Bosque, AFP ity, and recurrent infections that need money for a pioneering op- Barcelona can lead to death at an early age. eration in Houston, Texas, that “There is nothing special could save his daughter’s life. AFP In the Journal du Dimanche about the pictures. There is no But a week later the Spanish Paris report, for which the newspaper Spanish couple arrested pornographic, sexual or exploita- media outlets El Pais and Hiper- did not provide English quotes, for allegedly using the rare tive content,” the couple’s lawyer textual cast serious doubt on the Kardashian, 36, said she heard Aillness of their daughter in Alberto Martin told reporters. story. French newspaper has noises at the door after return- a charity scam now fi nd them- The explanation did not con- They reported there was no published Kim Kardashi- ing from dinner after midnight. selves investigated for sexually vince the judge who opened an proof of his travels, and that nei- Aan’s testimony to police Her bodyguard was absent, exploiting the 11-year-old girl. investigation into the couple for ther the hospital in Houston nor of how a robber threatened her guarding her sister Kourtney at Fernando Blanco, a former DJ “exhibitionism, sexual provoca- its alleged pioneering treatment, at gunpoint when she refused to a nightclub. on the holiday island of Ibiza, tion and sexual exploitation”. even existed. hand over a ring worth millions “I saw through the slid- and his wife Margarida Grau The pair were already under Moreover, the supposed ge- of dollars. ing door two people coming,” were surrounded by reporters investigation since December for netics specialist who conceived In the account of the Paris Kardashian said in comments on Friday as they appeared in fraud after police accused them it, Edward Brown, did not appear robbery she described how she translated from the newspaper’s court in the mountain town of of spending nearly €600,000 in any offi cial registry. was bound and gagged and said French account, adding that one Seu D’Urgell in the northwestern ($637,000) of the €918,000 they A judge launched a probe for one of the gang was wearing a of the men was wearing “a jacket region of Catalonia for question- had raised for their daughter’s alleged fraud and Blanco was de- jacket emblazoned with police with ‘police’ written on it”. ing. treatment. tained after he fl ed a police check insignia. “He asked me with a strong The couple were summoned They allegedly used the money near the border with France. The Journal du Dimanche said French accent where my ring after police found naked pictures for their own personal expenses, After questioning both par- it had exclusive access to the was. It was on the bedside table. of their daughter Nadia Nerea, including a car, clothes, travel ents, the judge kept the father in handwritten report based on (But) I replied that I didn’t know who they say suff ers from a rare and luxury watches. jail without the right to bail. Kardashian’s account, in which and then he pulled out a gun This file photo taken at the Rue Tronchet, near Madeleine, central genetic disorder called trichothi- The couple established a char- The mother, Grau, was re- she said that the robbers seemed and I showed him the ring,” she Paris, on October 3, 2016 shows police off icers at the entrance of odystrophy, on a USB drive that ity in 2009 and, in addition to leased. “inexperienced”. told police, adding it was worth the hotel residence, where Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint by belonged to Blanco. channelling requests for dona- The judge removed Nadia from The newspaper also said it had $4mn. assailants disguised as police. Catalan television station TV3 tions through the media, have the couple’s custody. a transcript of a brief interview Kardashian told police the reported that one image showed held fundraising events and col- The girl currently lives with an given to police after the masked men tied her up with plastic the impression they were saying “completely amateurish”. the couple having sexual inter- lected money via a dedicated Fa- aunt. men burst into Kardashian’s cables and adhesive tape “and they should leave. His own client left traces of course in front of Nadia. cebook page. The case has dominated head- luxury residence in October, they carried me to my bath- Once they had fl ed, Kardashi- his DNA on the plastic cable Other pictures of Nadia con- Nadia’s story became a media lines in Spain and raised ques- taking jewellery worth €9mn room” where they placed her in an managed to free herself – she and the tape they used to tie up tained “sexual content”, the sta- sensation thanks to the eff orts of tions about how many media ($9.5mn). the bathtub. told police she could tell the men Kardashian. tion said without elaborating her father to publicise the case. outlets promoted the story with- Police last week made arrests The gang also took a box con- were “kind of inexperienced in Khedache “has admitted tak- further. The 52-year-old Blanco, who out verifying basic facts. in Paris and the south of France taining jewellery including two the way they tied me up”. ing part in the robbery but has The couple told the judge that has a prior conviction for fraud, “As it was a very human story, and 10 suspects have been Cartier diamond bracelets, a The alleged mastermind, refused to speak about any ac- the pictures were taken to track told journalists that he had trav- somewhat weepy that centred on charged, including the alleged diamond-studded necklace, a 60-year-old Khedache, has complices and denies he was the the progress of their daughter’s elled the world in search of a a sick girl, the media ploughed ringleaders. yellow gold Rolex watch and a been charged, along with nine mastermind”, Lienard said. disease, which in mild cases only cure, including meeting an emi- ahead without thinking,” said Investigators say the gang’s diamond-encrusted cross. others. He told Lienard that the jew- gives patients brittle hair but, nent geneticist who lived in a Marcel Mauri, a professor of key members were Aomar Ait The wife of US entertainer Investigators have told AFP ellery was passed to another when severe, causes delayed de- cave in Afghanistan. journalism ethics at Barcelona’s Khedache and Didier Dubreucq, Kanye West said after the gang that he had gone on the run six party. velopment, intellectual disabil- In late November he claimed to Pompeu Fabra University. men in their 60s with long had put her in the bathroom years ago while on trial for drug Khedache was seen in the criminal pasts nicknamed “Old that she heard the men talking traffi cking off ences. Belgian city of Antwerp, one of Omar” and “Blue Eyes”. to each other in French and had In September last year, an the world centres of the dia- Russia says facing increased cyber attacks from abroad acquaintance gave him “a tip- mond industry, with another off worth its weight in gold”, suspect, 64-year-old Marceau Russia is facing increased cyber attacks from abroad, secretary of Russia’s Security Council, told the according to one investigator Baum-Gartner, a few days after a senior security off icial was quoted as saying Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily, according to excerpts of an – that Kardashian and her en- the robbery. yesterday, responding to Western accusations interview to be published in full today. tourage would be staying at a French police had placed oth- that Moscow is aggressively targeting information “The global (Internet) operators and providers are discreet apartment-hotel com- er members of the gang under networks in the United States and Europe. widely used, while the methods they use constantly plex in Paris’s chic Madeleine surveillance and spotted four of US intelligence agencies say that Russian President evolve,” said Patrushev, a former head of the FSB district to attend catwalk shows them meeting up at a Paris bar in Vladimir Putin ordered a cyber campaign aimed secret service and a close ally of Putin. during fashion week. December. at boosting Donald Trump’s electoral chances by Patrushev accused the outgoing US administration He recruited Dubreucq, 61, Investigators believe they discrediting his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton in the of President Barack Obama of “deliberately ignoring who had previous convictions were discussing how to divide 2016 presidential campaign. the fact that the main Internet servers are based This file photo taken on September 29, 2016 shows Kim Kardashian, for robbery and drugs. up the spoils of the robbery. “Recently we have noted a significant increase in on the territory of the United States and are used Kourtney Kardashian and Kris Jenner at the Off -white 2017 Khedache’s lawyer Jean-Yves Around €250,000 was found attempts to inflict harm on Russia’s informational by Washington for intelligence and other purposes Spring/Summer ready-to-wear collection fashion show, in Paris. Lienard said the gang were in the police raids last week. systems from external forces,” Nikolai Patrushev, aimed at retaining its global domination”. Gulf Times 20 Monday, January 16, 2017 INDIA

Tamil Nadu Roundup Dangal is best fi lm; top awards for Aamir and Alia By Umaima Shafiq IANS film. It means everything.” Achievement Award it’s the end, The Best Actor in a Supporting Mumbai Alia, who came along with her but I feel it’s just the beginning.” Role (Male); Adil Shaikh won Best Rahman’s new mother Soni Razdan and sis- Action director and stunt co- Choreography for Kar Gayi Chul, ter Shaheen Bhatt, received the ordinator Shyam Kaushal won and Shakun Batra and Ayesha De- version of old fter setting new records Best Actor (Female) award from the award for Best Action for vitre won the Best Story and Best song a big hit at the box offi ce, Dangal Sridevi and Boney Kapoor. Dangal and Payal Saluja won Best Screenplay for Kapoor and Sons. Abagged three of four ma- “It’s very close to my heart Costume for Udta Punjab. The much acclaimed fi lm Oscar award winning music jor awards – Best Film, Best Ac- (Udta Punjab),” Alia said. “Thank Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mush- Neerja won four awards. Shabana director A R Rahman, known as tor-Male (Aamir Khan) and Best you Shahid for sending the script kil was one of the most celebrated Azmi won the Filmfare Award for the Mozart of Chennai, re-sung Director (Nitesh Tiwari) at the to me. Today is a very special day fi lms of the evening, with four Best Actor in a Supporting Role a popular song from his 1994 Filmfare Awards event on Satur- for me. Sridevi ji receiving it from awards. (Female), Aparna Sud and Anna Tamil film Kadhalan to celebrate day night. you is an honour. Another reason While Arijit Singh won the Ipe won for Best Production his 50th birthday at the MTV Alia Bhatt won the Filmfare is my sister is here. Got her out of Best Playback (Male) for the title Design; Mitesh Munchandani Unplugged music show on Best Actor Award (Female) for her home.” Aamir Khan and Ali Bhat: top awards song of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Pri- won for Best Cinematography January 11 has gone viral on the performance in Udta Punjab. Sharing her father Mahesh tam bagged the Best Music Di- and Monisha R Baldawa won the Internet. Attended by most actors of the Bhatt’s message, the actress said: portrayals in Aligarh and Udta non presented the Filmfare Best rector and the Best Music Album. award for Best Editing. Rahman’s new version of the song Bollywood fi lm fraternity, the “My dad said ‘I feel you are going Punjab respectively, in the Male Debut Awards Male and Female Amitabh Bhattacharya won the Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari bagged Urvasi Urvasi has contemporary iconic 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards to win. You should do what you category. to Diljit Dosanjh for Udta Pun- award for Best Lyrics for Channa the the Filmfare Award for Best lyrics that comment on the was a star-studded event hosted feel. If you feel like crying, cry.’ While Sonam got emotional on jab and Ritika Singh for Saala Mereya from the same fi lm. Debut Director for her highly ap- US elections, the woes of by actor Shah Rukh Khan. This is a dream come true for me. receiving the award from fi lm di- Khadoos respectively. Neha Bhasin won the Best preciated fi lm Nil Battey Sanna- demonetisation in India and After winning the Best Di- Finally Thanks Karan for giving rector duo Abbas-Mustan, Sha- Shatrughan Sinha received Playback Singer (Female) for Jag ta, which starred Swara Bhaskar. the eff ect of mobile phones and rector award, Tiwari said: her the fi rst break.” hid said: “I am very excited to get the prestigious Filmfare Lifetime Ghoomeya from Sultan. Holding In performances, Salman Internet on today’s youth. The “This award is the reassurance In other awards, actress it and I want to thank Filmfare for Achievement Award presented her precious ‘black lady’, Neha Khan danced to some of his hit words were crowd sourced from of how much people loved our Sonam Kapoor won the Critics’ this. It’s a good day!” by his daughter, actress Sonakshi hummed the song and said, “I songs, such as O o jaane jaana, his fans. He is accompanied by film (Dangal). So I would like to Award For Best Actor (Female) Director Ram Madhvani won Sinha. would like to thank the entire Munni badnam hui and Sultan. Suresh Peters who sang the take the opportunity to thank for her role in Neerja while actors Critics’ Award For Best Film for After winning the award, the team of Filmfare, you guys rock!” Actor Tiger Shroff grooved to hits original song with him. The everyone in India and abroad Manoj Bajpayee and Shahid Ka- Neerja. veteran actor said, “Many peo- The fi lm Kapoor and Sons won like The Pappi Song, Aa raha hoon original lyrics were written by who loved and supported our poor shared the award for their Sooraj Pancholi and Kriti Sa- ple feel if you get the Lifetime three awards - Rishi Kapoor won main and Dhoom Again. poet Vairamuthu. Rahman worked with renowned Tamil music maestro Illayaraja before setting up his own band and debuted as an individual composer in the 1992 Tamil/ Hindi film Roja. With this film, Rahman set a new benchmark for fusion music by amalgamating Carnatic, folk, Western and jazz genres into Won’t tolerate Indian movie songs in the next two decades. Woman commits suicide after attempts to Rs10mn loss

Five people were arrested for abetting the suicide of a homemaker who lost over Rs10mn in the share market in disrupt peace: Coimbatore last week. Visalakshi hanged herself at her home at Perur Chettipalayam. Visalakshi had borrowed the money and invested it on the advice of her friend Jothilakshmi. However Jothilakshmi was unable army chief to the pay either the dividend or capital but instead urged Don’t air grievances on ever, any ceasefi re violation will action, you can contact me di- Visalakshi to pay Rs3.5mn more to social media, Gen Rawat tells get a befi tting reply.” rectly.” recover the losses. This apparently soldiers The LoC divides Jammu and But he warned those using the drove Visalakshi to suicide. Kashmir between India and Pa- social media: “You can be held In a separate incident, a couple IANS kistan. guilty for this and invite punish- were arrested for swindling New Delhi The general said Indian mili- ment.” a doctor of Rs700,000 by tary power would be on display The general went on: “We have pretending to be insurance if peace on the border was dis- the capacity to tackle cyber at- agents of a nationalised bank in rmy chief General Bipin rupted. tacks, yet, we have to be careful Coimbatore. Police learnt that the Rawat said yesterday that “We want peace on the border. against the enemy elements on couple were business graduates AIndia desired peace but But any attempt to disrupt the social media, and also ask our who had lost their previous bank will give a befi tting reply if peace peace will not be tolerated. Our families to be alert about it.” jobs for embezzling funds. was disrupted. attempts to establish peace at the The comments come after a Speaking at the Army Day border should not be seen as a soldier alleged in a video that “ja- function here, Rawat also warned weakness. wans are being exploited in the Jaya’s niece soldiers against using social me- “We want to extend a hand of army by offi cers”. urged to dia for airing their grievances, friendship, but are also warning A trooper each from the Border adding it could result in punish- those who disrupt peace that we Security Force and Central Re- join politics ment. will display our power as well,” he serve Police Force had also taken The celebration, marked with said. to social media to air grievances Everyday dozens of All India customary parade and mili- Gen Rawat asked the army, air related to their service condi- Anna Dravida Kazhagam activists tary display, also saw a “surgical force and navy to work together to tions. throng late chief minister Jayaram strike” – like the one the army face the upcoming challenges. The army chief inspected a pa- Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa claims it carried out on terror- “It is important that all three rade, which showcased marching Jayakumar’s house at T Nagar in ist bases in Pakistani territory in forces work together. This will be contingents and mechanised col- Chennai, urging her to join politics. September last year. the key to success. umns. On display were BrahMos Deepa Jayakumar, a journalist, The army chief gave away 15 “I want to assure the navy, air missiles. is the daughter of Jayalalithaa’s gallantry awards, including fi ve force, coast guard and other forc- This was followed by a display elder brother. posthumous ones. es that they will always get sup- by an army motorcycle team and a The visitors have covered the Lance Naik Hanumanthappa port from the army.” combat drill that brought alive the empty building adjacent to Koppad, who died in an avalanche The army chief also warned “surgical strike”. Deepa’s house with posters and at Siachen, the world’s highest soldiers against using social me- The operation showed soldiers placards pleading her to float her battlefi eld, was among the award dia to air their grievances and slithering down a helicopter and own party. Deepa often waves to winners. asked them to approach him di- destroying an enemy brigade them from her balcony but has Speaking at Delhi Cantonment, rectly if their problems were not headquarters while Pinaka rock- not given any positive reply. the army chief said without nam- resolved. ets and Bofors guns provided cov- However the group is hopeful ing Pakistan that India wanted “A few colleagues are using er support. because of her open hostility to peace despite the support given social media to share their prob- The Army Day is celebrated on her aunt’s companion and current to the proxy war being waged lems. It aff ects the morale of the January 15 to commemorate the AIADMK general secretary V K against New Delhi. jawans and thereby the army.” day Lt Gen K M Cariappa took Sasikala. “Despite the support given to He asked soldiers to use the over as the Commander-in-Chief the proxy war, we want peace on established channels, and said: of India in 1949 from General Sir Bird trading Soldiers abseil from a helicopter during an airshow held as part of Army Day in New Delhi yesterday. the Line of Control (LoC). How- “If you are not happy with the Francis Butcher. racket busted Children protest Off icials of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and Tamil Nadu cop’s transfer forest department have unearthed a racket in illegal trading of wild Sulking Chandy leaves for Delhi to meet Rahul Hundreds of children hit birds from a house in Aynavaram the streets in Katni town in suburban Chennai. By Ashraf Padanna some of Chandy’s nominees would help the party to face the in Madhya Pradesh to They caught Mujib Hussain with Thiruvananthapuram were facing allegations of cor- present challenges. I would ex- protest against the transfer 187 Alexandrine parakeets that he ruption. plain it to the leadership,” Chan- of a police off icer who had stuff ed into congested cages He stopped attending meet- dy said. unearthed a hawala scam. to be sold online and in pet shops. enior Congress Party ings that Sudheeran convenes “I have no complaints or de- They were demanding that He admitted to have sourced leader Oommen Chandy after district chiefs were picked mands. But I have a strong view Superintendent of Police these protected birds as chicks Shas left for New Delhi for a up against his wishes, while he that there should be organisa- (SP) Gaurav Tiwari be and eggs from Andhra Pradesh. crucial meeting with party vice- remains the most popular leader tional elections and that’s noth- posted back to Katni. Tiwari He promised the off icers to president Rahul Gandhi today. among the party cadres and al- ing new. People want the Con- was transferred January give contact numbers of other The former Kerala chief min- lies. gress and UDF to strengthen and 9 after the Rs5bn hawala poachers. ister has not been on good terms But he has been actively par- I would be at the forefront of all scam came to light. He was with Gandhi ever since he made ticipating in well-attended pub- eff orts at that.” transferred to Chhindwara V M Sudheeran the party chief lic meetings of the opposition Meanwhile former chief min- and was replaced by Actress cancels in the state against the wishes of United Democratic Front (UDF) ister and senior Congress leader Sashikant Shukla. On shoot over a majority of leaders, including that the party leads in Kerala. Chandy: crucial meeting A K Antony yesterday asked Saturday, 15 protesters were Ramesh Chennithala. On Sunday, he addressed a party leaders to end their in- arrested. The children, who jallikattu row Chandy has also been de- meeting in his home district of rations and the public distribu- tional elections would satisfy fi ghting, saying it was eating gathered on the streets manding organisational polls, Kottayam, distancing himself tion system is in ruins ever since him. into their support base. yesterday, carried placards Leading film actress Trisha ending the practice of the “high from the violent protests and this (communist) government He also sounded disappointed “What many fail to realise is saying “we want Gaurav Krishnan cancelled her shoot for command” nominating key asserting that the party should came to power (seven months at the party’s feeble response to that the support base of not just Sir back”. Interestingly, the Tamil film Garjanai, fearing security party functionaries, much to the not deviate from the Gandhian back).” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s the party but its leaders is slip- protest was not being led by threats from jallikuttu supporters chagrin of Sudheeran. principles of passive agitation. The senior leader who also “divisive tactics to remain in ping because of this infi ghting,” any youths. The police later at Nemathanpatti village in The diff erences reached a “The protests should have skipped a high-power political power” and governance paraly- Antony said. counselled the children and Madurai district last week. fl ashpoint when Sudheeran de- the participation of people, and aff airs committee of the Con- sis under his successor, Pinarayi “The need of the hour is for sent them home. Additional The pro-jallikattu group threatened layed fi nalisation of candidates they should keep discipline,” he gress on Saturday despite the Vijayan in Kerala. the leaders to come out of the Superintendent of Police to disrupt the shoot because Trisha for last year’s assembly polls, said at the meeting organised by best eff orts by other leaders, “I have my views (on nomina- comfort zone of their coteries. Pramod Sonkar said he had recently endorsed animal which saw the party suff ering the UDF district committee. took to Facebook to make it clear tions) that I have been holding They should not fear criticism,” had no information on the welfare group Peta. a humiliating defeat because “The people are being denied that nothing short of organisa- all along. Only a total revamp he said. children’s protest Gulf Times Monday, January 16, 2017 21 INDIA

Senior BJP leader remanded in custody over corruption charge

IANS Majumdar was earlier Satur- Majumdar told reporters. intention on the part of the com- under section 420 (cheating), Commission offi ce demanding leader of the Congress joined the Kolkata day questioned for seven hours The prosecution, however, plainant to implicate the accused section 406 (criminal breach of jobs. He said give me around Rs8- BJP in September 2014. at the Bidhannagar North police said Majumdar admitted during in the case, the prosecution said. trust) and section 506 (threat to 10 lakh and I will help you to get the Reacting to the arrest, state BJP station following a complaint interrogation that he took the Moving bail application, Ma- cause death or grievous hurt) of job by fi ling a case in the Supreme chief Ghosh said even if Majumdar Kolkata court yesterday by Arup Ratan Roy that the BJP money and demanded a seven- jumdar’s lawyer said though the the Indian Penal Code. Court. Later, we handed over was involved in the case, it hap- remanded a senior leader leader had taken Rs720,000 in day police remand, arguing his tenor of the FIR (fi rst informa- According to the complainant, Rs7.20 lakh to him in two tranches. pened before he joined the party. Aof the Bharatiya Janata two instalments promising to get custody was needed to fi nd out tion report) was that no case had Majumdar met him and others “But when we met him af- “Our party is in no way re- Party in custody after he was ar- jobs for SSC candidates by fi ling where Majumdar has deposited been fi led in the Supreme Court, during a hunger strike by the SSC ter three months, he completely sponsible for this,” Ghosh said. rested for alleged corruption. a petition in the Supreme Court. the money. a case was moved on the matter candidates under the platform denied taking money from us. However, he called the devel- West Bengal’s BJP vice president However, the BJP leader lashed Regarding Majumdar’s alle- in the apex judiciary. The defence of the Chhatra Aikya Sangram When we asked him to return our opment a ploy to malign the BJP. Jayprakash Majumdar was arrest- out at Roy in the court, saying he gation about the complainant, also termed the arrest as “arbi- Mancha for jobs and he allegedly money, he threatened us by bran- “Jayprakash Majumdar is nei- ed on Saturday after he allegedly was not a candidate at the TET the prosecution argued that Roy trary” without following the due promised to get them jobs by fi l- dishing a revolver and forced us ther a lawyer nor does he run a took money from School Service examination. had even knocked on the doors process of law. ing a case in the Supreme Court to leave his offi ce,” Roy added. law fi rm. Then why would the Commission candidates on the “The complainant himself is of the state BJP president Dilip After hearing both sides, the in return for money. He conceded that his name person give money to him for pretext of getting them jobs. not an examinee of TET. This Ghosh with the allegations and court sent Majumdar to three- “Jayprakash Majumdar met us was not on the merit list, but two fi ghting a court case? This is a The court also rejected his bail complaint is based on lies. The was forced to move the court as a day police custody. during a hunger strike we had or- of his relatives made the cut. ploy to defame the BJP,” he said. plea. entire thing is a conspiracy,” last resort. As such there was no Majumdar has been booked ganised near the School Service Majumdar, a one-time senior Sidhu joins Congress, calls it a ‘new innings’

IANS tionalist, is the star campaigner in New Delhi the Punjab polls,” said a statement from Amarinder Singh’s offi ce. The BJP said Sidhu was board- ricketer-turned-politi- ing “a sinking ship”. cian Navjot Singh Sidhu “Sidhu is a great colleague. I Cfi nally joined the Con- hope he doesn’t get drowned in a gress calling it “a new innings” sinking ship,” said BJP leader and in politics. Minister of State for Home Kiren The former Bharatiya Janata Rijiju. Party (BJP) MP was warmly into The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) the party by Congress vice presi- immediately began poking fun at dent Rahul Gandhi. Sidhu, replaying videos of earlier Sidhu’s wife Navjot Kaur Sid- times when he used to viciously hu had earlier joined the Con- attack the Congress. gress. AAP leader and Delhi Chief A smiling Gandhi and Sidhu Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who later posed for photographs. is now campaigning in Punjab, “Beginning of a new inning. has said Sidhu has been roped On the front foot... Punjab, Pun- into the assembly battle because jabiat and every Punjabi must Rahul Gandhi doesn’t like Ama- win!!!” the former India opener rinder Singh. Rescue workers search for victims of a boat accident in Ganges near Patna yesterday. said in a tweet later. The Akali Dal dismissed the de- Sidhu is expected to contest velopment as of no signifi cance, the February 4 Punjab assembly saying it would make no diff erence election from Amritsar East, part to the electoral outcome. of the Amritsar Lok Sabha con- Sidhu, who had earlier toyed stituency which he represented with the idea of joining the AAP for the BJP from 2004 to 2014. along with his wife, met Gandhi Congress spokesman Randeep on Friday too to discuss his role Surjewala said the party “wel- in the party. Boat tragedy toll rises to comes Sidhu and thanks Gandhi Sidhu, who never enjoyed for bringing like-minded leaders warm relations with the Akali under the Congress umbrella”. Dal, quit the BJP saying he was Former Punjab chief minister feeling stifl ed. and state party chief Amarinder He also told friends that the Singh congratulated Sidhu by BJP did not fi eld him from Am- phone from Bathinda, saying his ritsar in the 2014 Lok Sabha 24, rescuers end search induction would strengthen the election under pressure from the Congress in Punjab. Akali Dal. Boat was carrying 50 people, ment Minister Chandrashekhar boat tried to jump on to an- of overcrowding, poor mainte- out, minister Manturam Pakhira “Besides being the party’s The BJP instead fi elded cur- more than its capacity of 30, said. other boat behind and that nance, lax regulations and a lack said. choice for Amritsar East, Sidhu, rent Finance Minister Arun Jait- say off icials Nineteen bodies were found too tipped,” National Disas- of life jackets and other safety “Six women have died in the who is known for his wit and hu- ley, who lost the election to Con- on Saturday. ter Relief Force director R K equipment. stampede while they were trying mour besides being strongly na- gress leader Amarinder Singh. Agencies Manu Maharaj, a senior po- Pachnanda said. Some 20 people died after a to cross a jetty near Gangasagar,” Patna lice offi cial from the state, said The boats were giving free ferry capsized in a rain-swollen Pakhira said. yesterday rescuers had ended rides to the passengers who river in the northeastern state of Ten others were injured as the search operations after recover- were returning from the venue Assam in September 2015. pilgrims rushed to board vessels ive more bodies have ing the fi ve additional bodies. of an annual kite-fl ying festival More than 100 people lost to reach Kolkata, he added. been recovered from the “Operations have been closed held on the occasion of Makar their lives in 2012 in Assam when Rescue workers launched FGanges river after an because there is no more miss- Sankranti. a boat sank in the Brahmaputra a search operation to look for overloaded boat capsized near ing complaint,” Maharaj said, Among those to survive the river during a storm. those who might have fallen into the capital of Bihar taking the estimating the total number of tragedy was an 18-month tod- Meanwhile, a stampede in the river during the stampede. death toll to 24, officials said people on the boat when it cap- dler, now recovering in a hos- West Bengal killed six women Thousands of devotees from yesterday as rescuers ended sized at about 40. pital, Anirudh Kumar, joint yesterday as devotees returning across the country gather every search operations. “But we are on alert,” he said. secretary of the state disaster from Makar Sankranti festival year at Gangasagar, where the The accident happened on Police have registered a case management authority said. rushed to get onto a jetty, a min- Ganges fl ows into the sea, to take Saturday evening as people were against the boat operator, Ma- Prime Minister Narendra ister said. to the holy waters . returning after watching kite- haraj said. Modi expressed grief over the Some 1.5mn people had as- Stampedes at s religious fes- fl ying celebrations to mark a The disaster management loss of lives and announced sembled at Gangasagar to take tivals are not uncommon with harvest festival. minister had said on Saturday 10 compensation of Rs200,000 a holy dip in the river on the police and volunteer stewards The boat was carrying as to 12 people managed to swim to for the families of the deceased, occasion of the harvest festi- often overwhelmed by the sheer many as 50 people, more than its safety. according to his offi cial Twitter val. size of the crowds. capacity of 30, and it capsized Eight people were hospital- account. The devotees were on their Last year, 24 people died after not far from the shore in Patna, ised after being rescued. Boat accidents are common way back from the two-day fes- a stampede broke out in Vara- Sidhu meets Rahul Gandhi before joining the party in New Delhi yesterday. Bihar state’s Disaster Manage- “The passengers of the in the country, mainly because tival when the stampede broke nasi.

Barkha Dutt quits NDTV

Amazon’s Gandhi fl ip-fl ops spark anger Well-known TV journalist Barkha Dutt yesterday quit Agencies dhi fl ip-fl ops on sale on Ama- fl ippant about Indian symbols “will look great and make NDTV network after New Delhi zon USA. and icons and warned that someone smile”. 21 years of service “#Amazon should be “indiff erence will be at your Amazon could not immedi- to explore “new op- banned in India. They have own peril”. ately be reached for comment portunities”. lip-fl ops bearing the crossed the limit. This is ri- “Amazon, better behave. yesterday but the fl ip-fl ops “It’s been a super face of Mahatma Gandhi diculous!” Mayank Parmar Desist from being fl ippant appeared to have been taken ride at NDTV but Ffor sale on Amazon trig- posted yesterday. about Indian symbols & icons. down from their site. new beginning in gered fresh outrage yesterday, Indiff erence will be at your Amazon has made steady 2017. I shall be mov- days after the e-retail giant “Remain committed to own peril,” Das said in a tweet. inroads in India, with plans ing on from NDTV was forced to stop selling In- economic reforms, ease “Remain committed to eco- to invest $5bn in the country to explore new op- dian fl ag doormats. of doing business & nomic reforms, ease of doing since entering the cut-throat, portunities and my own ventures,” Dutt wrote On Wednesday, India de- open trade. Sometimes business & open trade. Some- rapidly growing e-commerce on Twitter. manded Amazon apologise for get touchy when our times get touchy when our market in 2013. Dutt, who was working as a Consulting Editor selling “insulting” doormats icons are involved” icons are involved,” he said in On Saturday, the Indian at NDTV, added she was “hugely excited to featuring India’s national fl ag, a separate tweet. foreign ministry said that start New Year on a new slate, diversify my with Foreign Minister Sushma “#Amazon must rollback In a third tweet, however, he the country’s “Ambassador interests and build my own independent Swaraj warning of tough ac- its slippers with face of Ma- added: “Comment on Amazon in Washington has been in- projects.” tion against the company. hatma Gandhi on it. Respect was as a citizen of India as I structed to convey to Ama- The network said in a statement: “In 1995, Amazon removed the of- our leaders and avoid con- felt strongly about it. Nothing zon that while providing Barkha Dutt joined NDTV straight out of fending products from its troversy,” wrote another user more should be read into it.” a platform for third party college, and now, after 21 wonderful years website, but the controversy Ashok Tanwar. The fl ip-fl ops, which cost vendors, they should respect together, Barkha has requested that she had barely died down when Economic Aff airs Secre- $16.99, are described on the Indian sensitivities and sen- would like to explore some new opportunities, Twitter users began posting tary Shaktikanta Das asked website as “professionally timents,” said spokesman Vi- pursue other interests and work on her own screengrabs of the pink Gan- Amazon to refrain from being printed” and a product that kas Swarup. ventures.” Gulf Times 22 Monday, January 16, 2017 LATIN AMERICA

TRAVEL PEOPLE LAW AND ORDER DISASTER TRAGEDY EU visas no longer good Ex-Chile president Lagos US designer wanted Chile city in state of Football club gets off ers for for entry to Panama in race to lead country in graft case extradited emergency over wildfires filming of plane disaster

Most EU visitor visas will no longer be accepted Ricardo Lagos, a leading opponent of former A New York fashion designer who calls himself Chile has declared a local state of emergency Chapecoense, the Brazilian club who lost almost for entry into Panama under a new decree Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet who later went the “curator of cool” was arrested in Mexico and over wildfires plaguing the landmark tourist- their entire squad in an air disaster enroute to highlighting a general tightening of migration on to serve as president from 2000 to 2006, has sent to the US where he is charged as part of a draw city of Valparaiso. The hilly Pacific city, part the Copa Sudamericana final in November, have restrictions in Central America. The sudden change accepted his party’s nomination to run in the 2017 bribery case that has ensnared relatives of former of which is a Unesco World Heritage Site, has received off ers for a film based on the tragedy. in policy, reported in Panamanian media, comes a presidential election. The 78-year-old, who will UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, off icials said. been put under military authority to co-ordinate The club confirmed that the online streaming month after a similar step in neighbouring Costa represent the centre-left Party for Democracy Malcolm Harris, a self-described arts and fashion firefighting and government asset deployment broadcaster Netflix and other producers Rica. Both countries will continue to accept visitor (PPD), vowed to improve communication between consultant and blogger, was indicted in New York eff orts. Located 120kms northwest of the capital had inquired about acquiring the film rights visas issued by the US, as well as those issued by politicians and the public, invest in infrastructure, along with two of Ban’s relatives. He and his spouse Santiago, Valparaiso is the seat of the Chilean to the air crash in Colombia. The club said Britain, which is outside the EU’s visa-free internal push forward with pension and education were arrested in San Miguel de Allende, Mexican Congress and spans 40 hills, off ering stunning in a statement on Twitter it had listened to Schengen zone and which is due to soon leave the reform and tackle low productivity. “The role of media reported, citing a statement from the city views of the sea. At the moment, 73 square miles proposals from a number of producers but no European Union entirely. The moves however do progressives is to carry on pushing at the limits government. “The couple was detained in a joint of mostly woodlands have been lost, off icials immediate decision had been made. However not aff ect most European citizens, who are able of what is possible,” he said during an acceptance operation between Mexican federal authorities and said. The city was a famous port of call in its the club would “in no way accept entertainment to enter both Central American countries without speech at a cinema in Santiago, surrounded by authorities of the United States, and at this time is heyday, from the mid-19th century to the early being made out of the tragedy” or it being visas for short stays. young Chileans. in his country of origin,” the statement said. 20th. “exploited improperly.” Opposition mocks Maduro as military exercises held

Reuters remove Maduro, a former bus Caracas driver and union leader, but au- thorities have quashed chances of an early presidential vote. is fi nger on a rifl e trig- Seen as key powerbrokers ger and wearing an in the volatile country, the Holive green hat, Presi- military’s top brass has fi rmly dent Nicolas Maduro oversaw backed Maduro’s “21st centu- military exercises in crisis- ry socialism,” although most wrought Venezuela, which he soldiers are also suff ering from says is under threat of impe- Venezuela’s economic reces- rialist” invasion due to its oil sion. wealth. Many were deployed across More than half a million the country of 30mn for the soldiers and civilians were de- exercises that included pro- ployed in the drill. tecting Venezuela’s coastal oil State television broadcast refi neries or practising urban footage of soldiers camoufl aged defence. as bushes shouting “socialist State television promoted fatherland!” while command- the hashtag #TimeToDefend- ers brandished Russian-made TheFatherland. military equipment. But for many Venezuelans “We’re ready to defend our struggling to eat three meals a land, inch by inch, neigh- day amid what is thought to be bourhood by neighbourhood, the world’s steepest infl ation, street by street,” said Maduro the exercises fell fl at. Inmates of the Alcacuz Penitentiary Center near Natal, Rio Grande do Norte state, throw objects from the prison roof during a riot. during a drill in Miranda state. And after a week in which Opponents of the Socialist authorities rounded up several leader scoff he is delusional and opposition politicians amid say his administration should accusations of coup-plotting, be focused on stocking empty some Venezuelans saw a dark- supermarkets and pharmacies er subtext to the show of mili- amid brutal shortages in the tary force. recession-hit nation. Venezuelan authorities Brazil expects death toll “You are PATHETIC, Nico- had late last week arrested las Maduro,” tweeted oppo- four opponents of Maduro sition lawmaker Armando for plotting an armed revolt, Armas, adding the drill was a while the opposition accused “pantomime.” him of using intimidation to The opposition is trying to cling to power. in latest jail clash to rise President angers foes with snub to Congress

Venezuela’s leader Nicolas tion speaker of the assembly, Reuters yesterday morning to enter be- escalating feud between some 1,150 prisoners and capacity for state’s prisons after 33 pris- Maduro angered his oppo- Julio Borges, told report- Sao Paulo cause of reports that inmates of Brazil’s most powerful drug 620 detainees. oners died in a settling of scores nents yesterday by refusing to ers. Maduro considers the remained armed and out of their gangs, who ended two decades Earlier yesterday, Justice Min- between prison gangs at the deliver his annual presidential assembly illegitimate since cells. of an uneasy working relation- ister Alexandre de Moraes vowed Monte Cristo prison near Boa address in the legislative the courts have ruled in his razilian police yesterday Brazilian media reported that ship about six months ago. to extend fi nancial and security Vista in Roraima. chamber, fanning tensions in favour by disqualifying some entered a prison in the authorities expect the toll to be Brazil’s deadliest jail uprisings support for Rio Grande do Norte In a letter to President Michel the volatile country. Maduro of its opposition members. Bnortheastern state of Rio rise signifi cantly in the latest in decades have exposed growing to prevent further prison upris- Temer, Campos also requested gave his speech reviewing his The opposition MUD coali- Grande do Norte where authori- spell of prison bloodshed. turf wars between Sao Paulo- ings. the transfer of eight prison- year in off ice at the Supreme tion blames Maduro for an ties expect the death toll from As in previous riots this based gang Primeiro Comando Moraes authorised the state ers identifi ed as gang leaders to Court, in a snub to the National economic crisis that has a weekend riot to rise from the month, some of the inmates da Capital, or PCC, and the Rio to use some of the 13mn reais maximum-security federal pris- Assembly. Opposition lawmak- prompted deadly riots and current 10. were decapitated, Folha de S. de Janeiro-based Comando Ver- ($4mn) it wired in recent days ons, as well as nearly 10mn re- ers said he was breaking the looting due to shortages of Members of rival drug gangs Paulo and other media reported, melho that risk plunging a cha- to upgrade and acquire prison als ($3.1mn) to complete prison constitution, which says the food and medicine. It wants apparently started the clash in citing state offi cials. otic penitentiary system deeper equipment. reforms. address must take place in the a popular vote on removing the Alcaçuz prison late on Sat- Brazil’s penitentiary system into violence. Late last week Roraima gov- Minister Moraes has also assembly. “This confirms that him from office and has called urday, the state’s security secre- has plunged into chaos since the It was not immediately clear ernor Suely Campos requested agreed to send emergency forces Maduro is acting outside the for fresh street protests on tariat said in a statement. start of the year, with over 116 what drug faction was behind 100 federal security forces with or supplemental prison staff to constitution,” the new opposi- January 23. Police surrounded the facili- inmates dying in gang warfare. Saturday’s killings in the Al- “urgency” saying she could not at least three other northern and ties overnight, but waited until Behind the bloodshed is an cacuz prison, which has about “fully guarantee” security in her central Brazilian states. US farmers ask Trump to Anger at price hike Brazil rate cuts ‘not stay the course on Cuba likely to lift economy’ Reuters Over the past two years, cen- Sao Paulo tral bank data has shown that Reuters Signatories included a wide taking offi ce and has named more than 40% of household Havana range of agricultural trade Jason Greenblatt, a Trump Or- income was being used to pay off groups, from the American ganisation executive and chief nterest rate cuts will prob- debt. Furthermore, 48.7% of listed Farm Bureau and American legal counsel, as negotiator for ably take longer than usual companies did not generate enough ozens of US farm and Feed Industry Association to sensitive international issues, Ito boost economic growth in cash in the third quarter of last year agribusiness groups the soy bean, corn, rice, wheat, including Cuba. Brazil as a high debt load damp- to cover debt costs, up from 22.7% Durged president-elect peas, beans, cattle, poultry Under an exception to the ens confi dence among families in 2010, according to business Donald Trump to build upon lobbies and other associations. US trade embargo from the and businesses, economists said. school and think-tank Ibmec. progress made by the Obama The letter was arranged by year 2000, Cuba may import Forecasts for economic Another important reason for administration in relations the Washington-based Engage agricultural products for cash. growth in 2017 remain just above the small economic boost in the with Cuba, calling trade with Cuba Coalition and USA Rice. The letter calls on Trump to al- zero after two years of sharp near term from lower interest the former Cold War foe par- Agricultural organisations in low normal trade fi nancing and contraction, even after the cen- rates is the fact that they are not ticularly important at a time states that Trump won, such as credit so the sector can better tral bank slashed rates by 75 basis expected to fall much in real terms of a severe downturn in farm Idaho, Alabama and Georgia, compete for the Cuban market. points on Wednesday to 13% and when discounted for infl ation, incomes. were also signatories. While the sector has sold suggested it would cut closer to which has fallen sharply in Brazil. The agricultural trade Trump, a Republican, has billions of dollars in products single digits this year. Bank lending spreads are groups stated their views in a said he will dismantle the still to Cuba over the years, the let- Economists say rate cuts in also very high, as banks usually letter sent to Trump, who is to fragile detente begun by Presi- ter said sales have steadily de- Brazil usually help boost growth grow more cautious in uncer- be inaugurated on January 20. dent Barack Obama two years clined as the embargo makes it within six to nine months of a tain times. In November 2016, “As a broad cross-section of ago unless Cuba gives the US a diffi cult to compete with other central bank decision. the latest data available, aver- rural America, we urge you not better deal, while providing no suppliers. Cuba imports some However, this time, they say the age spreads were 23.5 percentage to take steps to reverse progress specifi cs. $2bn in food annually. lag could be longer as consumers points, 4.1 points higher than in made in normalising relations On Thursday the White The signatories cited a deep and investors are opting to reduce the same period a year earlier. with Cuba, but also solicit your House announced that it was dip in farm income to bolster their large debts before increasing “Families and companies de- support for the agricultural ending a policy that granted their argument that US farmers demand for goods and services. pend on lower interest rates to business sector to expand trade residency to Cubans who ar- needed more trade. “Rate cuts are important, but renegotiate their debts,” said with Cuba,” the letter said. rived in the US without visas, “Net farm income is down their impact on demand for credit Alessandra Ribeiro, an econo- “It’s time to put the 17mn the latest bid by Obama to 46% from just three years ago, remains uncertain. Families are mist with Sao Paulo-based American jobs associated with make his Cuba policy irrevers- constituting the largest three- facing tough conditions,” said Livio consultancy Tendencias. “In- agriculture ahead of a few ible. year drop since the start of the Demonstrators take part in a protest against a fuel price hike Ribeiro, an economist with the Get- vestment and consumption de- hardline politicians in Wash- Trump is expected to review Great Depression,” the letter outside a Pemex Refinery in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. ulio Vargas Foundation, a respected cisions will be postponed in this ington,” the letter concluded. the Cuba engagement upon said. business school and think-tank. scenario.” Gulf Times Monday, January 16, 2017 23 PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN Revisit F-16 deal Protest to boost ties, Pak envoy tells US

Internews leave for the US by the end of the Islamabad current month has been asked by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to stay back until further orders. akistan’s ambassador The government has already to the United States has sought the consent of the US Psuggested that the new government for his posting, sup- government in Washington can posed to be a formality. strengthen counter-terror co- With this, the process of se- operation with Islamabad by lection of a new foreign secretary revisiting the sale of F-16 fi ghter has also slowed down. jets and resolving issues with the The fi ve contenders for the Coalition Support Fund (CSF). post are Ghalib Iqbal, Tehmina “Co-operation between Pa- Janjua, Ibne-Abbas, Abdul Basit kistan and the US in the fi ght and Masroor Junejo. against terrorism will be further Ghalib, former Chief of Pro- strengthened by revisiting the Jalil Abbas Jilani tocol (CP) and grade 22 offi cer, sale of F-16s and CSF issues,” is waiting for his posting, while Jalil Abbas Jilani told American strengthen their bilateral ties in Jaijua is Pakistan’s Permanent print and electronic media cor- the future. Representative for the United respondents at a reception for Replying to a question, the Nations headquarters in Geneva. them at the Pakistan embassy in ambassador said Pakistan had Ibne-Abbas is Pakistan’s high Activists of Pakistan Minorities Rights Defender (PMRD) carry placards at a protest in Lahore on Saturday. PMRD is demanding the Washington. launched a successful campaign commissioner in the United government stop issuing liquor permits to non-Muslims. Thirty-nine people died after drinking home-made liquor mixed with He said Pakistan looks for- to tackle militancy, and terror in- Kingdom and Abdul Basit is high aftershave on Christmas-eve in central Pakistan, off icials said, including two out of the four suspects accused of creating the toxic ward to closely working with cidents in the country had subse- commissioner for India. brew. the incoming administration of quently gone down by 70%. Ambassador Masroor Junejo is President-elect Donald Trump. In response to another ques- Pakistan’s envoy to Denmark. Ji- In April last year, US law- tion, he said while there is no or- lani would be completing his con- makers blocked a move by the ganised IS presence in Pakistan, tractual period mid-next month. ‘Halwa puri’ most Obama administration to subsi- Islamabad is concerned about The sources have hinted that dise Pakistan’s purchase of eight the ultra-radical Middle East- he will have to stay in Washing- favourite winter F-16 fi ghter jets after accusing ern group’s growing infl uence in ton until April, as the prime min- IS militants abduct 13 teachers breakfast Islamabad of ‘not doing enough’ neighbouring Afghanistan. ister has given some signifi cant to crack down on militants. Meanwhile, the government assignment to Aizaz Chaudhry Speaking to US media repre- of Pakistan has decided to ask Ji- that could be accomplished in DPA Shpoly area when they were on Friday, Islamic State mili- Traditional breakfast of ‘halwa puri’ sentatives, Jilani said Pakistan lani to continue till the arrival of about two months. Kabul abducted,” Attaullah Khugyani, tants burned more than 60 ci- has been marked as the most and the US had a historic rela- his successor, Foreign Secretary The dossiers of the four top spokesman for the provincial vilian houses that had already favourite food item in Pakistan tionship which spanned over Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, to step bureaucrats of the Foreign Offi ce governor, said. been evacuated due to the mili- during the winter season across seven decades. into his shoes. have been placed on the table slamic State militants ab- A statement quoting the tant threat. the country. He said the interests of both Highly-placed diplomatic of prime minister and he would ducted 13 lecturers at a provincial governor says Af- Islamic State militants have According to a report aired by countries converged on several sources said yesterday that Aizaz make a fi nal decision as soon he Ireligious school in Af- ghan security forces have slowly been spreading to other news channel the demand of fa- issues and that this would help Chaudhry who had planned to returns from Davos. ghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar started an operation to release areas outside Nangarhar prov- vourite breakfast, ‘halwa puri’ has province yesterday, an offi cial the lecturers, who were kid- ince, adding to pressure on the increased manifold with the onset said. napped from the madrasa in already stretched Afghan secu- of harsh winter. “The teachers were busy Haska Mina. rity forces amid a rise in insur- The specific outlets are seen taking exams from students in In Nangarhar’s Kot district gency. crowded with customers. Many special stalls are off ering Punjab considering another variety of hot ‘puri’ with ‘channa’ and diff erent kinds of ‘halwas’ in markets and bazaars so that Dashing through the snow! people can enjoy the savvy food tax break for cinema owners easily. In winter intake of oily and rich energy food is the most favourite Internews jtaba Shujaur Rehman. better footfall in cinemas. which not only keeps the body Lahore Till date we have not collected The recent tax breaks have temperature warm but also liked any tax from cinema owners, Re- encouraged many investors who by people especially on weekends hman added. have poured billions of rupees to said a youngster Danish Tahir at ith the recent empha- He further said that enter- modern multiplex screens. ‘halwa puri’ shop. sis on and revival of tainment duty tax has been re- A single multiplex screen A few shops famous for traditional Wthe country’s cinema duced to 20% from 65% in Pun- costs almost Rs50mn and cur- foods off er it daily throughout industry, the Punjab Excise and jab, which is currently levied on rently around 105 multiplex the year while others sell it at Taxation department is looking to theatres. screens have been set up all over weekends or during winters only give an extra fi ve-year tax holiday “In case tax is implemented Pakistan out of which around 85 he added. to the province’s movie screening and CM refuses to give further are in Punjab. Ayesha Usman, a young girl said business in a bid to maintain the tax breaks, then it will be a fl at Investors are now moving to- we are five friends and during fl ow of investments in the sector. rate. We won’t follow Sindh wards second-tier cities to cap- exams preparations we go for In addition to giving yet an- or cantonment board models, ture their markets but the ban on breakfast at any ‘halwa puri’ shop other tax holiday to new multi- which charge Rs10 to Rs30 per Indian content followed by the a feast for us after tiring studies plexes, a proposal of fl at tax for seat”, Rehman said. end of the tax holiday are poten- the whole night. old cinemas is also under con- He added that per-seat tax tial hindrances. Another customer Humaira Ikram sideration, though nothing has collection can possibly open up Additionally, many have ter- said if I am on duty on weekend been fi nalised yet. another avenue of corruption minated almost 30% of their my colleagues ask me to bring “We have crafted a few pro- so it is better to charge cinemas workforce and shut down half of fresh crispy ‘puri’ with ‘halwa’ and posals for imposition of enter- Rs2,000 to Rs4,000 tax per existing screens to sustain. ‘channa’ for breakfast and we tainment duty tax in Punjab, but show. Super Cinema Co-founder enjoy it together. the fi nal decision will be made by As per cinema owners, the in- Ramzan Sheikh said that this tax She further said on off day Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz dustry desperately needs anoth- break has allowed the cinema families have time to sit together Sharif,” said provincial minister er tax break followed by screen- culture to fl ourish in an enter- Internally displaced Afghan boys slide down on a snowy day in Kabul yesterday. so enjoying traditional foods is a of Excise and taxation Mian Mu- ing of Indian content to have tainment-starved country. major attraction. Bereaved Afghan women join fi ght against IS

Thomson Reuters Foundation the Taliban could,” Ali told the was reported as saying in the Af- gled to contain the Taliban in- London Thomson Reuters Foundation, ghan media last week. surgency since the bulk of Nato using the Arabic acronym for Is- Although local police have soldiers withdrew at the end of lamic State. cautiously welcomed the new 2014. ul Bibi, an Afghan grand- The women are not a properly defence force, he said, the rag- The United States has an- mother well into her structured group, he said; they tag women’s unit has raised nounced plans to send 300 Ma- Geighties, never expected have no uniform and have not concerns among higher au- rines to the volatile southern to become a fi ghter. received any military training thorities. province of Helmand, large parts But now she is one of more other than how to point a gun at “We do not support any of which are under Taliban con- than a hundred women in Af- the enemy and shoot. armed group, unless they come trol, as part of a regular rotation ghanistan’s northern Jawzjan The Taliban has carried out under one of our forces,” Najib of troops helping train and ad- province who have taken up attacks in Jawzjan for the last Danish, the deputy spokesman vise Afghan forces. arms against Islamist mili- decade, part of a country-wide for the Afghan Interior Ministry, Russia, China and Pakistan tants. insurgency to topple the Afghan said from Kabul. warned month last that the in- Nearly all of the women have government and drive out for- “We hope they join the Af- fl uence of Islamic State was lost a husband, son or brother eign troops. ghan security forces, so we can growing in Afghanistan and that to the Taliban or the newly ac- Islamic State became active help them as part of our troops,” the security situation there was tive Islamic State in the province in the province — a gateway to he said. deteriorating. bordering Turkmenistan. Central Asia — in early 2016, But the women accuse the Af- Mariam lost three members “I lost nine members of my when a Taliban commander and ghan army of failing to protect of her family in the Islamic State family. The Taliban and Daesh 50 of his fi ghters declared al- their families from the militants. attack on Garmjar village in De- (Islamic State) killed my fi ve legiance to the ultra-hardline “First they killed my brother, cember. sons and four nephews,” Bibi group, said Mohamed Reza Gha- then they killed my cousin, my She fl ed to Qush Tepa and said by phone from Jawzjan. “I foori, spokesman for Jawzjan uncle and my brother-in-law,” joined the women fi ghters. have taken up arms to defeat the governor. said Zarmina, another woman “Daesh came, hit us, abused terrorists so other people’s sons On December 25, Islamic fi ghter.”Now that I have taken up us, killed our people and burned won’t get killed.” State fighters attacked Garm- arms, I am going to fi ght to the about a hundred houses. They Determined to protect their jar village and killed five civil- death.” didn’t leave anything for us. families, the women approached ians, burned down about 60 The women fighters are not registered with the army or police and the government has not licensed their Thousands of civilians have They killed three members of my a local police commander, Sher houses and forced 150 fami- weapons. been killed in Afghanistan in vi- family. They wanted to burn us, Ali, in December and asked him lies to flee, he said by instant olence since the Taliban govern- but we fl ed and came here,” she for guns and ammunition. messenger. killed by the Taliban. fl ed. Most of the their men died. registered with the army or po- ment was brought down in the said by phone. “They came to me and said A woman in her twenties, who Now she is fi ghting back, she I will stand against Daesh and lice and the government has not US-led campaign of 2001. “When you have nothing that if I didn’t provide them did not want to give her name, said. will hit them too,” she said by licensed their weapons, Abdul Afghan armed forces control left in your life, you will take with weapons they would kill said her husband and many “I hit the Taliban with this PK phone from Jawzjan. Hafi z Khashi, head of the securi- no more than two thirds of na- up weapons and fight to the themselves — before Daesh or other family members had been (machine gun), and the Taliban The women fi ghters are not ty department of Jawzjan police, tional territory, and have strug- death.” Gulf Times 24 Monday, January 16, 2017 PHILIPPINES Commemorative stamp launch Senate set to hear ethics raps against De Lima

By Jeff erson Antiporda cused De Lima of collecting Manila Times money, through Dayan, from drug lords at the NBP to alleg- edly fund her senatorial cam- he Senate ethics com- paign. mittee is set to hear var- Pulmano, meanwhile, Tious ethics complaints wants De Lima expelled from against Senator Leila de Lima, the Senate and tried for trea- a leading critic of the Duterte son because of the damage administration. she allegedly caused to OFWs Senate Majority Leader Sen. through her statements given Vicente Sotto, head of the to foreign media on the spate Senate ethics committee, said of alleged extrajudicial killings the panel has jurisdiction over in the country. the raps fi led by the leadership In his complaint, Pulmano of the House of Representa- claimed De Lima’s call for the tives last month. United Nations “to meddle in “Defi nitely we have ju- our sovereign aff airs, raised a risdiction (over the House concern towards her inten- complaint). I don’t think any tion.” member of the committee Sotto said he would have President Rodrigo Duterte and Philippine PHLPost Postmaster General Joel Otarra unveil the Philippines’ Asean Chairmanship Special Stamp during the Philippines’ Asean would say otherwise,” Sotto to discuss with members of Chairmanship launch at SMX Convention Centre in Davao city, southern Philippines yesterday. said. the Senate ethics commit- He explained that the com- tee whether the de Jesus and plaint lodged by the House Pulmano complaints would members was based on De be heard, because these in- Lima’s action when she was volve acts supposedly com- already a senator, giving the mitted by De Lima when she Senate ethics panel jurisdic- was still justice secretary in tion over it. the previous administration. The House complaint stems Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a from De Lima’s alleged re- member of the ethics com- fusal to heed the House justice mittee, earlier remarked that Duterte threatens martial committee’s invitation to its he might call for the dismiss- probe into the proliferation of al of the complaint lodged by the illegal drug trade inside the de Jesus because of lack of New Bilibid Prison (NBP) dur- jurisdiction. ing De Lima’s tenure as Justice The ethics committee has secretary. The complaint also enough time to resolve the law in war against drugs alleged that the senator ad- complaints before Congress vised her former bodyguard, adjourns session for the AFP gal drugs, promising an unprec- However Saturday’s com- up in 1987 in an effort to avoid said he has ordered the military Ronnie Dayan, to ignore the Easter break in March, Sotto Manila edented crackdown to stop the ments were the most direct another dictatorship specified to “blast” militants who have panel’s summons. said. Philippines from becoming what threat. Martial rule would al- a single six-year presidential been on a kidnap-for-ransom Rep. Reynaldo Umali of Since the members of he termed a narco state. low Duterte to use the military term. It also said the president spree, even if hostages would Oriental Mindoro, head of committee are available and hilippine President Rod- The crackdown has left at to enforce civilian law and de- could impose martial rule for also be killed. the House justice commit- there are no pressing mat- rigo Duterte has threat- least 5,700 people dead in just tain people at length without just 60 days and only to stop an “They say, ‘What about the tee, along with House Speaker ters, the panel may even re- Pened to impose martial over six months, raising con- charging them. invasion or a rebellion. hostage?’ Sorry, collateral dam- Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del solve the complaints by Feb- rule to prosecute his deadly war cerns of a breakdown in the rule The Philippines last endured Parliament can revoke the age. Then if they are blasted eve- Norte and Majority Leader Ro- ruary, he said. on drugs, three decades after the of law with security forces and martial law during the 20- measure within 48 hours while ryday, that (kidnappings) would dolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte, If the committee finds de nation shed dictatorship with a vigilantes carrying out extraju- year rule of dictator Ferdinand the Supreme Court can review stop, or, at least, places us in a fi led the 12-page ethics com- Lima guilty, she can either be famous “People Power” revolt. dicial killings. Marcos, who was accused of its legality. But Duterte, speak- very — and into a parity — So plaint against De Lima before admonished, reprimanded, “If I wanted to, and it (the ille- The Philippines’ longtime plundering billions of dollars ing to local businessmen in his better not get yourselves kid- the Senate in December. suspended and even dis- gal drugs problem) will deterio- ally, the United States, has led from state coffers and oversee- southern home town of Davao napped.” The other complaints missed from the Senate. rate into something really very international criticism of the ing widespread human rights city, warned he could ignore The Abu Sayyaf, a loose net- against De Lima were fi led by Other members of the virulent, I will declare martial killings, with outgoing Presi- abuses. the 60-day limit. work of militants formed in the lawyer Abelardo de Jesus and committee are Senators law if I wanted to. No one will be dent Barack Obama urging Du- Marcos declared martial law “The 60-day (limit) will be 1990s with seed money from Al Ronillo Pulmano, an overseas Francis Escudero, Gregorio able to stop me,” Duterte said in a terte to prosecute his war “the in 1972, invoking the threats of gone,” he said. “And I’d tell you Qaeda, preys on southern Phil- Filipino worker (OFW). Honasan, Risa Hontiveros, speech on Saturday night. right way”.Duterte has reacted crime and a communist insur- now, if I have to declare mar- ippine waters and has earned De Jesus’ complaint was Emmanuel Pacquiao and The 71-year-old former state furiously to the criticism and gency, and lifted it in 1981. tial law, I will declare it — not millions of dollars from kidnap- based on President Rodrigo Grace Poe. Senate President prosecutor said the aim would be vowed to continue his war until His rule ended in 1986, when about invasion, insurrection, pings-for-ransom. Duterte’s speech on August 17 Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon “to preserve the Filipino people illegal drugs are eradicated. millions took to the streets in not about danger. I will declare It beheaded two Canadian last year during the 115th Po- and Senate Minority Leader and the youth of this land”. Du- Duterte has raised the pros- the largely bloodless military- martial law to preserve my na- hostages last year after demands lice Service Anniversary held Ralph Recto are ex-officio terte won elections in May last pect of imposing martial law backed “People Power” revolt. tion — period,” he said. for millions of dollars were not in Camp Crame, where he ac- members. year on a pledge to wipe out ille- previously. A new constitution drawn Also on Saturday Duterte met. Miss Universe contestants Festive gathering to get a taste of Cordilleras

By Thom F Picana traction to re-greening the strawberry fields at its “green Manila Times/Baguio City city.” zone,” according to Miss Ba- It offers “lots of opportuni- guio City 2011 Shauna Curran, ties toward sustainable devel- and now BCC events manager. wenty-nine candidates opment of tourism,” she said. “We grow our own herbs,” in the 2017 Miss Universe BCC general manager Anthony Tbeauty pageant are will An arts and cultural exhibit de Leon said. have a taste of Baguio City, as prepared by Baguio solar De Leon is also the president well as the rest of the Cordill- painter Jordan Mang-osan of the organising association– eras on January 18, for a one-day and Baguio-bred national Hotels and Restaurants Asso- peek into highland culture. artist and international ciation of Baguio, the private “We will showcase the best award-winning fi lmmaker organisation that shelled out of Baguio and the highlands,” Kidlat Tahimik at the BCC’s P31mn for hosting the event. tourism director Venus Tan Cordilera Convention Hall The candidates will also be Saturday said over the weekend will usher in the Cordillera taking part in regreening Ba- amid preparations for the in- spirit and culture guio City by planting a tree ternational beauty tilt’s Baguio each, Curran said. leg on Wednesday. The candidates will be wel- An arts and cultural exhibit “The world is watching us on comed at Loakan Airport by prepared by Baguio solar paint- this,” beamed the tourism of- Philippine Military Academy er Jordan Mang-osan and Ba- A devotee carries his child to be blessed by the lay minister with holy water during the annual feast of Sto. Nino (Holy Child Jesus) in ficial, saying it will be “a great cadets with a silent drill before guio-bred national artist and Manila yesterday. opportunity to showcase Ba- heading to Upper Session Road international award-winning guio City as a city evolving and for the Panagbenga-like (Ba- filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik at showing excellent profession- guio Flower Festival) street- the BCC’s Cordilera Conven- alism in organising such a huge dancing and float parade that tion Hall will usher in the Cor- event.” will wind up at the Baguio dillera spirit and culture. With the tourism depart- Country Club (BCC). A formal gala dinner will cap ment’s “Rev-Bloom” campaign Aboard three BCC-designed the candidates’ visit. Probe sought over contraceptive distribution come-on, Tan added, the Miss floats themed after the coun- On Saturday afternoon, or- Universe candidates will see try’s biggest group of islands– ganisers and authorities had “a revived city and a city that Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao– a walk-through at the three- By Jeff erson Antiporda ment’s eff ort to curb the rising condoning underage sex. high school students would be should be visited.” the Miss Universe aspirants kilometre parade route. Manila Times number of cases of human im- “Are they now saying that sex like giving students knives and At least 160 countries will be are expected to be warmly De Leon said there will be no munodefi ciency virus and ac- with an underage person is now telling them to use it to stab watching the candidates expe- welcomed by Baguio residents need to jam signals of telecom- quired immune defi ciency syn- allowed? What about Repub- anyone. rience Baguio, regarded as the Reigning Miss Universe Pia munication firms “because the enate Majority Leader Vi- drome (HIV/Aids). lic Act 7610 (Special Protec- “I want the officials of the Summer Capital of the Philip- Wurtzbach of the Philippines terror possibility in Baguio City cente Sotto yesterday said Sotto accused DOH Secre- tion of Children Against Abuse, DOH to answer if they are pines. will be on a fourth float. is very low.” She would call for a probe tary Paulyn Jean Rosell-Ubial Exploitation and Discrimina- now saying that underage sex The hosting of the Baguio The international beauties Ample security preparations into the plan of the Department and other offi cials of “playing tion Act). How about statutory is now allowed and even en- leg, according to Tan, “signals will have a taste of Baguio liter- are in place,Baguio police di- of Health (DOH) to distribute with fi re,” saying the condom rape?” Sotto said in an inter- couraged because of the pro- the revival of reforesting the ally as they pick strawberries at rector Senior Supt. Ramil Sac- condoms to public high school distribution programme could view over radio station dzBB. gramme. Isn’t that coercion?” city, the beginning of putting the Baguio Country Club’s own ulles said. students as part of the govern- be construed as the government He said giving condoms to Sotto said. Gulf Times Monday, January 16, 2017 25 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL Mega port city poised to Bangladesh expands change face of Colombo social welfare IANS “I feel very proud to be con- make Colombo a better place for due to environmental concerns. good salary,” said Jagath Kurat- Colombo tributing towards this project as Sri Lankan living overseas to re- However, in March 2016, the hunga, a worker of the CHEC a Sri Lankan. The project is going turn back to their motherland to project was given the nod from Port City Colombo. to create more than 80,000 jobs work and live. I truly believe the the government after success- “CHEC has put the best re- programmes ri Lanka is building a mega within the next 20 years, which project is going to help Colombo ful discussions between the two sources and facilities into this port city project in its will benefi t Sri Lanka immense- become a vibrant business hub in countries and with all environ- project, for instance, the Asia’s Scapital Colombo that will ly,” said Chiranthi Balapataban- South Asia,” Balapatabandi said. mental reports cleared. biggest dredger Jun Yang One By Mizan Rahman According to ministry data, transform the country into an di, marketing communications Workers have now resumed is working for the project,” said Dhaka a total of 1,490,105 physically international fi nancial and busi- executive of CHEC Port City Co- “The project is going to work, taking shifts round the Chandana A Gunawardana, challenged persons were iden- ness hub in the Indian Ocean lombo, the project’s contractor. create more than 80,000 clock to construct the fi rst phase deputy project manager, Co- tifi ed in 2016. The information region in the coming years. Balapatabandi said that the jobs within the next 20 of the project. lombo Port City Development s many as 5.1mn un- regarding all the identifi ed The $1.4bn project, which is cur- project would help promote Sri years, which will benefi t Sri Employees said they also ben- Project. derprivileged people in physically-challenged per- rently under construction near the Lanka’s economy by encourag- Lanka immensely” efi t immensely from the knowl- Gunawardana, who has been ABangladesh are getting sons has been included in the Colombo Harbour, is Sri Lanka’s ing foreign direct investments edge of Chinese professionals working for several projects monthly allowance regularly ‘disability information system largest foreign investment. and private sector growth. The project, which initially be- involved in the project. under the CHEC during the as the present government database’. The project is an invest- Sri Lanka, taking advantage of gan construction in September “Our Chinese colleagues are past 10 years, said the project’s has fi xed a target to eradicate Some 145 programmes re- ment of China Communica- its strategic location, is seeking 2014 under the former govern- very friendly and polite. I am re- one-year suspension has cre- extreme poverty from the lating to the social safety is tions Construction Company strong role in China’s Belt and ment, was suspended in March ally happy working for the Port ated temporary unemployment country by 2030, according being implemented, of which Limited (CCCC) and has to date Road Initiative. 2015 by President Maithri- City project and CHEC has given for many, but it was back in full to an report released in Dhaka 95 social safety net pro- employed hundreds of locals. “The Colombo port city will pala Sirisena’s government me a good opportunity with a swing now. yesterday. grammes were implemented Poverty reduction is the in 21 line ministries, a ministry core objective of the govern- offi cial said. 3mn join first phase ment, which has undertaken several initiatives for gradual “The government of of Biswa Ijtema socioeconomic development Prime Minister Sheikh Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh in the country. Hasina is emphasising on Hasina yesterday joined the Akheri A ministry of social welfare target-oriented expansion Munajat (concluding prayers) of offi cial said that the govern- of social protection Biswa Ijtema as an estimated 3mn ment is providing allowances programmes and devotees from both home and to 5,120,000 disabled, elderly ensuring transparency abroad participated in the first people, widows and physical- as a means of reducing phase of the world’s largest Muslim ly-challenged students un- poverty and establishing congregation after the Haj that ended der the social safety net pro- social justice” on the banks of the river Turag at gramme aimed at eradicating Tongi, near Dhaka. poverty from the country. The government is priori- President Abdul Hamid and He said the government of tising the programmes which Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Prime Minister Sheikh Hasi- are needed for making the chairperson Khaleda Zia also joined na is emphasising on target- country poverty-free. As well the prayers. oriented expansion of social it wants to change the fate of A special prayer was off ered seeking protection programmes and the section of the people who continued peace, progress and ensuring transparency as a are extreme poor and suff ering welfare of the country as well as the means of reducing poverty from disability. greater unity of the Muslim Ummah. and establishing social justice. Bangladesh has also taken Noted Indian Islamic scholar Maulana Earlier, Planning Minister up a plan to provide identity Saad led the prayers. Mustafa Kamal said that the cards to all disabled persons Gazipur Police Superintendent government formulated the by using the national disabil- Harunor Rashid told newsmen that seventh Five Year Plan (2016- ity database, and also to revise 7,804 foreign nationals from about 91 2020) to reduce extreme pov- the existing development pro- countries took part in the first phase erty by about 4% down to grammes and take up new ini- of the congregation. around 8.9% by 2020. tiatives by taking the nature of The second phase of Biswa Ijtema “Bangladesh has already disability into account. slated for January 20-22. achieved a lower middle- The government already Noted Ulema in their sermons income country status. Our formulated National Social called for following the guidance prime minister also made re- Security Strategy (NSSS), of the Qur’an and Sunnah. The markable progress in poverty 2015 in line with the imple- sermons were translated into several Muslim devotees arrive on a crowded train to take part in Akheri Munajat, or final prayers, at the Biswa Ijtema or World Muslim Congregation, alleviation in the country,” mentation of the cherished languages. at Tongi, some 30kms north of Dhaka, yesterday. Kamal added. “Vision 2021.” Chinese docs bring Bulls lock horns as Nepal brightness to Lankan celebrates winter festival

AFP Thousands gathered to watch is little growing in the fi elds. from the steep terraced Taraka the fi ght on Saturday, which sees “We feed them rice, fl our, banks that overlook a fl at cataract patients 14 pairs of bulls butt heads, with wheat, eggs and black lentils plateau. the winner of each bout taking from fi ve months ahead to make “We celebrate Maghe Sankran- he bulls pawed the ground home 3,000 rupees ($27) in prize them strong,” said bull owner ti fair here and it is fun to watch IANS and machines from China not ising in charitable medical sending a dusty cloud money. Madan Shrestha, 42, who has the bulls fi ght,” said one local res- Colombo function well in the hospital.” activities. Tinto the air before lock- Unlike its Spanish counter- fi elded a bull every year for about ident who comes each year. The Chinese team provided The medical team, which con- ing horns to a huge cheer from part, bullfi ghting in Nepal re- the last 12. Unlike European bullfi ghting, consultations to more than 500 sists of eminent eye physicians the crowd that had gathered in quires no matadors as the bulls “My bull has fought against bloodshed is a rare sight as the everal Chinese doctors patients on their second day from PUMCH with modern med- a makeshift arena in the Hima- – usually buff alo – fight each two-three others. He charges rules dictate that the bout ends and nurses at Kalutara in the hospital, when a doc- ical equipment and instruments, layan foothills of Nepal. other. very hard so I am hopeful that he once the animal tires of fi ghting. SGeneral Hospital in Co- tor strike took place across the also off ered a technical training The bullfi ght in the remote The bulls are fed a special diet will win,” he added. Nevertheless, animal rights ac- lombo are busy these days car- whole island, Zhao said. and exchange programme intro- village of Taraka, about 76kms of eggs and lentils to prepare them The festival has been held tivists have attacked the festival, rying out cataract surgeries for The programme was ti- ducing advanced ophthalmology (46 miles) from Nepal’s capital for the fi ght – which comes at a every year in Taruka for over arguing that it causes injuries to local patients. tled “Brightness Action,” un- surgical techniques to local doc- Kathmandu, takes place each quiet time for the farming com- a century, bringing thou- the bulls, and have campaigned to During their one-month der which the Chinese doc- tors and nurses. year to mark the end of winter. munities of the area when there sands who watch the bouts have it banned. stay in Sri Lanka, the Chinese tors helped low-income Sri All medical services provid- medical team, from the Peking Lankans to successfully recov- ed by Lifeline Express were free Union Medical College Hospi- er their eyesight. of charge. tal (PUMCH), has successfully According to Zhao, the ma- Cui Li, deputy director of completed 503 cataract surger- jority of patients could regain the China National Health and ies, as part of their fi rst over- normal vision, even up to 1.0 Family Planning Commission, seas charitable mission. degree only one week after sur- said at the opening ceremony “It is not so easy to carry gery. of ‘Brightness Action’ that, out surgery to a group of local “Patients queued to shake the Chinese medical team is patients in an exotic hospital hands and pray for us, to ex- undoubtedly contributing to and a country we are not fa- press their thankfulness to our the development of China- miliar with. We need to over- team,” Zhao said, adding: “All Sri Lanka relations. come many diffi culties such the staff ... put a lot of man- “The medical treatment car- as hot weather, language com- power as the workload in both ried out by Lifeline Express in munication barriers, and the the out-patient clinic and the Sri Lanka for the local people, most terrible thing – power cut operating room greatly in- not only benefi ts local people, during surgery,” the 35-year- creased.” also makes something mean- old Dr Zhao Chan said, add- The delegation is part of ingful for the bilateral relations ing, “Not only that, the humid ‘Lifeline Express’, China’s only between two countries,” Cui air also made the equipment mobile eye hospital special- said.

Nepalese premier visiting UAE epalese Prime Minister ergy Summit 2017” to be held portunities in Nepal, tourism Pushpa Kamal Dahal will on January 16-17 in Abu Dhabi. promotion and protection of Npay an offi cial visit the Besides attending the events, the interest of Nepalese work- United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Dahal was scheduled to hold ers in the UAE and providing ministry of foreign aff airs has said. bilateral talks with UAE’s Vice them easy consular services Leading a 10-member del- President and Prime Minister and legal assistance will be dis- egation, the Nepalese prime Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid cussed during the offi cial talks, minister will be visiting the al-Maktoum yesterday. the ministry stated. Gulf nation at the invitation of Various matters includ- The UAE is one of the major Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahy- ing further strengthening and destinations for Nepalese mi- an, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, widening of bilateral relations, grants. About 225,000 Nepa- the ministry said. co-operation in the regional lese nationals are estimated Dahal will deliver a keynote and international forums, to be currently working in the address at the opening cere- economic and development UAE, according to the Nepalese Nepalese spectators watch a bullfight during the Maghesangranti Festival in Taraka, some 76kms from Kathmandu, yesterday. Thousands of mony of the “World Future En- co-operation, investment op- media reports. Nepalis gathered at an open ground in the Himalayan foothills to watch a bullfighting festival that heralds the end of winter. Gulf Times 26 Monday, January 16, 2017 COMMENT

Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Deputy Managing Editor: K T Chacko China, Europe drive shift

P.O.Box 2888 Doha, Qatar to electric cars as US lags [email protected] Telephone 44350478 (news), By Laurence Frost/Reuters In China, Europe and the United 44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery) Detroit States, automakers are advocating Fax 44350474 new infrastructure money go to public electric car charging networks. lectric cars will pick up critical In the United States, EV momentum in 2017, many in manufacturers are pushing for the the auto industry believe – continuation of a $7,500 federal tax Ejust not in North America. subsidy for consumers who buy a fully Tighter emissions rules in China and electric car. GULF TIMES Europe leave global carmakers and Even if Trump were to try to some consumers with little choice but eliminate it, it would take time as to embrace plug-in vehicles, fuelling Congress would have to act. an investment surge, said industry “There is not a disagreement that executives gathered in Detroit this the world is going electric,” California Electronic waste past week for the city’s annual auto The electric ECAR car is unveiled at the European Motor Show in Brussels, Air Resources Board Chair Mary show. Belgium, on Friday. Nichols said on the sidelines of the “Car electrifi cation is an irreversible auto show, noting that all vehicle trend,” said Jacques Aschenbroich, of other US states are pushing ahead on grounds they present a separate makers were now investing in electric rising dangerously chief executive of auto supplier Valeo, with state-level rules mandating standard. models across their entire product which has expanded sales by 50% in rising quotas for electric, or “zero Still, industry executives in Detroit lines. fi ve years with a focus on electric, emission” vehicles. said hitting the brakes on electric The debate, she said, was “over hybrid, connected and self-driving But plug-in registrations in the vehicles in the United States would timing, not the goal.” cars. United States fell in 2015, and the not relieve the pressure to bring them The Chinese electric car market in Asian countries In Europe, green cars benefi t market share of electric-only vehicles to market, because China and Europe cast its shadow over the Detroit auto increasingly from subsidies, tax breaks declined further to 0.37% in 2016, as are forging ahead with policies to show, where manufacturers showed and other perks, while combustion cheap fuel drove demand for gas- expand sales of plug-in cars. off plug-in hybrid and electric models Electronic waste is rising sharply across Asia as engines face mounting penalties guzzling sport utility vehicles and That is why Ford is moving forward that will likely do scant business in the higher incomes allow hundreds of millions of people including driving and parking pickup trucks. with previously announced plans to United States. to buy smartphones and other gadgets, with serious restrictions. President-elect Donald Trump has invest $4.5bn for plug-in vehicles by IHS Automotive predicts Chinese China, struggling with pledged to roll back environmental 2020, Chief Executive Mark Fields said plug-in deliveries will hit 1mn in consequences for human health and the environment, catastrophic pollution levels in and climate rules. earlier this month. 2019, four years before the United according to a UN study released yesterday. major cities, is aggressively pushing Groups representing established “The industry is changing, the States. So-called e-waste in Asia has jumped 63% in fi ve years, plug-in vehicles. automakers asked Trump to review infrastructure’s starting to build, and China pulled ahead in 2015 with a the report by the United Nations University said, as it Its carrot-and-stick approach Obama administration fuel economy that’s why our view is (that) within the fourfold sales surge before adding 55% combines tens of billions in targets out to 2025, even before the next 15 years we’ll see more electrifi ed last year to 348,000 vehicles, with the warned of a need for most nations across the region to investment and research funding with outgoing administration formally off erings than we’ll see gasoline- United States at 138,000. improve recycling and disposal methods. subsidies, and regulations designed to signed them into eff ect on Friday. powered,” Fields said as he unveiled a “Look to China rather than the “For many countries that already lack infrastructure discourage driving fossil-fuelled cars Automakers have also asked Trump $700mn plan to build a battery SUV US for the future of electric cars,” for environmentally sound e-waste management, in big cities. to work toward a single, national set of and other plug-in vehicles in Flat Gerard Detourbet, a Renault-Nissan the increasing volumes are a cause for concern,” said The road ahead for electric vehicles rules to govern automotive greenhouse Rock, Michigan. executive leading low-cost plug-in (EVs) in the United States, however, gas emissions, a move that could To drive the shift to electric, development, said recently. “China Ruediger Kuehr, the report’s co-author and head of the could have more hairpin curves. spark legal challenges to electric car industry executives said they needed is compelled to act – that’s the main UN University’s Sustainable Cycles Programme. Regulators in California and a group quotas in California and other states more help from governments. diff erence.” For many years, China and some other parts of Asia have been a dumping ground for discarded electronics from the developed world, recycling the waste in often unsafe but ultracheap backyard factories. But the report said that in recent years, Asia has rapidly Robot arms replace emerged as a major source of electronic waste, due to Weather report increasingly affl uent consumers buying items such as Three-day forecast phones, tablets, refrigerators, personal computers and TODAY televisions. factory hands High: 24 C China more than doubled its own generation of Low : 15 C Expected poor horizontal visibility at e-waste between 2010 and 2015, the period of the study, places at first according to the report. By Jitendra Joshi/AFP well for Trump on the campaign trail Paris but trends such as automation have Per capita the worst-off ending economy in the region already rendered much low-skilled US TUESDAY was Hong Kong, with each person in the Chinese labour obsolete. High: 23 C territory generating an average of 21.7kg (47.8lb ) of onald Trump has been The total output of US Low: 14 C crowing as companies manufacturing rose more than 250% Sunny e-waste in 2015. including Ford renounce from 1980 to 2015, but its workforce Singapore and Taiwan plans to move factories to slumped by roughly 40% in that time, D WEDNESDAY Asia has rapidly were also big e-waste Mexico. according to analysis by the Brookings dumpers, with just But the main benefi ciaries of this Institution in Washington. High: 23 C emerged as a over 19kg per person shift back to the US aren’t saying “These diverging lines – which Low: 15 C much by way of celebration – refl ect the sector’s improved M Sunny major source of generated in 2015, industrial robots don’t tend to speak. productivity – highlight a huge according to the study. While globalisation’s detractors problem with Trump’s promises to electronic waste Cambodia, Vietnam blame countries such as China and help workers by reshoring millions of Fishermen’s forecast Mexico for stealing the factory jobs manufacturing jobs,” Brookings expert and the Philippines were OFFSHORE DOHA of the West, experts point to less Mark Muro wrote in a blog post. Wind: SE-NE 03-13 KT among the lowest e-waste generators with an average of obvious culprits which are harder “America is already producing a lot. Waves: 2-4/6 Feet about one kilogram for each person. to scapegoat and to overcome in And in any event, the return of more INSHORE DOHA Wind: SE-SW 03-13 KT Meanwhile, improper and illegal e-waste dumping an interconnected economy with manufacturing won’t bring back many Waves: 1-2/3 Feet means increased exposure to extremely toxic chemicals, complex supply chains. jobs because the labour is increasingly leading to severe health and environment consequences. Since US manufacturing being done by robots.” Around the region employment peaked in the late Annual data from the International Weather Weather Acids that are used to separate the metals in the 1970s, according to Michael Hicks Federation of Robotics show an today Max/min tomorrow Max/min electronic products are a particular concern, with of the Center for Business and inexorable rise in the worldwide use of Abu Dhabi Sunny 23/17 Sunny 23/17 Economic Research at Ball State industrial robots. Baghdad Sunny 16/04 P Cloudy 17/04 inhalation or exposure to them causing serious health Dubai University in Indiana, “95% of job China is now the biggest market for M Sunny 24/16 M Sunny 25/16 problems. Kuwait City Sunny 19/09 M Sunny 19/09 them. In the Chinese town of Guiyu, which built its losses were due to productivity Manama Sunny 23/16 Sunny 21/14 improvements including automation Even if jobs did return, Western Muscat Sunny 26/17 Sunny 24/18 economy on recycling waste from overseas, heavy and computer technology, rather consumers are likely to balk at paying Riyadh Sunny 24/09 P Cloudy 21/10 metal contamination has turned the air and water toxic, than trade”. the higher prices that companies Tehran M Sunny 09/-1 Sunny 11/01 according to a 2014 study by researchers at Shantou Indiana is one of the rust-belt states would have to charge to refl ect the where Trump triumphed in November, higher input prices – everything University Medical College. and the president-elect has promised from wages to property leases and Children in the town also had high lead levels in their a punitive border tax against electricity tariff s – of making those blood, the university study found. outsourcing companies as he bids to goods at home. When an AFP team visited Guiyu in 2014, electronic become “the greatest jobs producer Take television manufacturing. remnants were strewn in a nearby stream, and the air that God ever created”. Had that stayed in America, But while the US economy is experts say, each set would cost was acrid from the burning of plastic, chemicals and pumping out manufactured goods in hundreds of dollars more than they circuitboards. record volumes, it is achieving that do now on average, limiting their In the US, about 400mn units per year of consumer feat with 7.3mn fewer factory hands affordability. electronics are scrapped. Rapid advances in technology than in 1979, government fi gures Households would have stuck with show. one TV in the living room, instead of mean that electronic products are becoming obsolete Automation has transformed the several dotted around the home. more quickly. This, coupled with explosive sales in productivity of manufacturing since “Trade doesn’t kill jobs, it protects consumer electronics, means that more products are industrial robots fi rst started painting, consumption,” Hicks said, while being disposed, even if they still work. cutting, welding and assembling in the also stressing that globalisation 1960s. had created millions more jobs Recycling electronics isn’t like recycling cardboard. And experts point to more recent in Western nations’ services These products are not easy to recycle. Proper and safe innovations such as artifi cial and logistics sectors than it has recycling often costs more money than the materials are intelligence, management apps and 3D destroyed in industry. worth. printing as new threats to shop-fl oor So if those manufacturing jobs are Around the world Materials used and physical designs make recycling workers as well as to white-collar gone forever – and new developments Weather Weather staff . such as machine learning and today Max/min tomorrow Max/min challenging. While companies claim to off er “green Hicks – who has known former nanotechnology portend a “Fourth Athens Rain 13/08 Showers 14/06 electronics,” they are far away from truly green products. Indiana governor Mike Pence, Trump’s Industrial Revolution” – what can be Beirut M Sunny 17/12 Sunny 20/13 P Cloudy 29/24 incoming vice president, for years done to assure the future of workers in Bangkok 32/25 S Showers Berlin M Sunny -1/-6 P Cloudy -1/-6 – dismissed recent announcements the developed world? Cairo M Sunny 21/10 P Cloudy 23/10 by Ford, Indiana air-conditioning Some ideas are in their policy Cape Town Cloudy 23/16 Cloudy 32/18 To Advertise brand Carrier and others as “political infancy, such as a universal basic Colombo Sunny 33/22 Sunny 33/22 theatre”. income, but others are well-known Dhaka Sunny 26/12 Sunny 27/13 [email protected] Hong Kong Cloudy 16/14 P Cloudy 17/16 “The apparent change of heart of and perhaps more pressing than ever, Istanbul Rain 07/04 Showers 11/06 Display these American companies is due to including better education and re- Jakarta T Storms 29/24 T Storms 29/24 Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 the hard math of expected tax cuts training. Karachi Sunny 23/11 Sunny 22/12 and regulatory changes (under the Such discussions will inform the London Showers 06/02 P Cloudy 05/0 P Cloudy P Cloudy 29/23 Classified Trump administration),” he told AFP World Economic Forum in Davos, Manila 20/23 Moscow M Cloudy -2/-7 Cloudy -4/-11 Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 in a phone interview, noting that Switzerland, coming up in the same New Delhi P Cloudy 28/08 P Cloudy 19/07 under company projections, robots week that sees Trump inaugurated as New York P Cloudy 07/03 Rain 07/06 Subscription rather than wages will account for the 45th US president on January 20. Paris P Cloudy 03/-4 Sunny 02/-5 the bulk of planned investment that “We are at some kind of turning Sao Paulo T Storms 29/21 T Storms 26/21 [email protected] Seoul Sunny 03/-8 P Cloudy 04/-5 is being redirected from Mexico to point in history,” WEF founder Klaus Singapore T Storms 33/24 T Storms 32/24 the US. Schwab said. “We need new concepts. Sydney Cloudy 27/20 M Sunny 36/27 2017 Gulf Times. All rights reserved Vows to renegotiate trade pacts, or We cannot have just populist Tokyo Clear 09/-2 Clear 09/0 declare China a currency cheat, played solutions.” Gulf Times Monday, January 16, 2017 27 QATAR Porsche Qatar rolls out new models of Panamera orsche Centre Doha (Al Bo- new three-chamber technology raq Automobiles Compa- and Porsche Active Suspension Pny) yesterday launched the Management (electronic damper second generation Panamera, in control), the further enhanced two all-wheel drive versions: the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Con- Panamera 4S and Turbo. trol Sport system including Por- The Panamera has been rede- sche Torque Vectoring Plus, as veloped down to every last detail, well as a new electromechanical with modifi cations to the engine, steering system. transmission, chassis and overall The integrated 4D Chas- design concept. The new model sis Control system analyses and further extends the boundaries synchronises all chassis systems between a sports car and a com- in real time for even better han- fortable cruising car with tech- dling. In combination with im- nical highlights such as rear axle proved brake performance, Por- steering, electromechanical roll sche is now also introducing rear stabilisation and a three-cham- axle steering adapted from the ber air suspension. 918 Spyder and 911 Turbo to its Speaking at the launch event, Panamera range. Salman Jassem al-Darwish, In addition, the Porsche Pan- chairman and CEO of Porsche amera off ers ‘the best layout Centre Doha, Al Boraq Auto- variability of any model in the mobiles Company, said: “In the luxury class,’ making it the most new Panamera, our customers practical for everyday use with and enthusiasts will experience a 40:20:40 split of the fold- a fundamentally redesigned car ing rear bench backrests (495 to with new turbo engines, sharper 1,304 litres of luggage capacity). exterior design, intuitive interior The new equipment options are features and innovative tech- the panoramic tilt roof, massage nologies. The enhancements ap- seats, ambient lighting and a 3D plied to the new Panamera make high-end sound system from it a true segment leader, one that Burmester. I am sure will be well received in The 2.9-litre V6 twin-turbo Qatar.” engine of the Panamera 4S is a Two new twin-turbo engines completely new development, have been introduced, combined which produces 440hp, availa- with the brand’s fi rst eight- ble at 5,650 rpm and represents speed Porsche Doppelkupplung a 20hp increase from the previ- transmission. The Panamera 4S, ous model. Reaching 100km/h 4S Diesel and Turbo apply their in 4.4 seconds (4.2 seconds power to the road via Porsche with the Sport Chrono Pack- Traction Management – a per- age), the Panamera 4S has a top manent, fully variable all-wheel speed of 289 km/h. A NEDC drive system. combined fuel consumption of The unique concept and per- 8.2 – 8.1 l/100km (186 – 184g/ The second generation Panamera Turbo presented at the launch event in Qatar yesterday by Salman Jassem al-Darwish and other off icials. PICTURE: Nasar T K. formance credentials of the four- km CO2) means that the new door sports car are refl ected in Panamera 4S offers a fuel sav- with a maximum torque of 770 the sprint time is down to 3.6 of the previous model (NEDC), introduced in the Porsche 918 Response Button. It can be used a new design which creates a ing of up to 1.0 l/100km or 11% Nm between 1,960 and 4,500 seconds. therefore equating to CO2 emis- Spyder, is an intuitively oper- to free up the maximum power stylistic link to Porsche’s design in comparison to the first gen- rpm. It has 30hp more than its The new turbo model features sions of 214 – 212g/km. ated rotary ring on the steering potential of the Panamera at the icon, the 911. eration model. predecessor as well as a torque a top speed of 306km/h and a Engine response can be fur- wheel, which can be used to ac- press of a button. The refi ned chassis has its ba- With its powerful petrol en- increase of 70 Nm. The new power-to-weight ratio of 3.6kg/ ther increased using the op- tivate one of four driving modes Basic retail prices are as fol- sic layout supplemented with gine, the Panamera Turbo’s Panamera Turbo accelerates to hp. A lower combined fuel con- tional Mode Switch with the (Normal, Sport, Sport Plus or lows: Panamera 4S – QR481,000 innovative systems such as an new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 100km/h in 3.8 seconds, whilst sumption of 9.4 – 9.3 l/100km, Sport Response Button. The Individual). Located at the cen- and Panamera Turbo – adaptive air suspension with develops 550hp at 5,750 rpm, with the Sport Chrono Package is up to 1.1 l/100km less than that Mode Switch, which was first tre of the switch is the Sport QR676,100. QU workshop addresses doping issues in sports

atar University College in Doping and Anti-Doping in troversies surrounding sanc- of Pharmacy (QU-CPH) Sports’. tions for Russian athletes at the Qrecently held a workshop The programme agenda com- Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralym- titled ‘Drugs in Sports II’, for prised four plenary discussions pic Games)”, and “Prohibition of Nepalese Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat (centre) and other dignitaries at the reception. exploring the use and misuse of facilitated by CPH associate Glucocorticoids in Sports (Cur- drugs by athletes and defi ning professor of pharmacy and rent issues and future direc- the roles and responsibilities of co-ordinator of the CPD pro- tions)”. healthcare practitioners and ath- gramme Dr Nadir Kheir, CPH CPH dean Dr Mohamed Diab lete support personnel. associate professor of phar- said that the event aligns with Organised by CPH Continuing macy and course co-ordinator the priorities of Qatar, which Nepalese FM optimistic on Professional Development for of drugs in Sport Dr Ahmed has become a regional and glo- Health Care Practitioners (CPD- Awaisu, Hamad Medical Cor- bal hub for sports. “It also un- HCP) Programme, the event at- poration (HMC) clinical phar- derlines CPH commitment to tracted around 90 healthcare macy specialist Afif Mohamed raise its students’ awareness on practitioners, scientists and re- Ali, head of registration and issues that are of the interest of Qatar investments in Nepal searchers from various health- drugs pricing section, Pharma- the society. In Qatar, healthcare care institutions across Qatar in- cy and Drug Control at the Min- professionals have the poten- cluding pharmacists, physicians, istry of Public Health Ahmed tial to provide a valuable role in By Usha Wagle Gautam and nurses. Mohamed Hussein Babiker, and educating athletes to prevent in- Gulf Times Correspondent The keynote speaker Dr David CPH PharmD students Aya Issa advertent and intentional use of Mottram, emeritus professor at and Somaia Abdelaziz. prohibited drugs and to be a part Liverpool John Moores Univer- Discussions focused on “In- of clinical services teams.” he Qatar government sity’s School of Pharmacy and advertent doping (Case Study of Dr Kheir added that the event, is interested to invest Biomolecular Sciences, is also Maria Sharapova)”, “Therapeu- well-attended by healthcare Tin Nepal’s hydropower, collaborating with CPH in the tic Use Exemption (Case Study professionals from all over Qatar, hospitality, tourism and tele- development of undergraduate of Fancy Bears Cyber Hack and is another testimony that health com sectors, the central Hima- and postgraduate programmes Bradley Wiggins)”, “Sanctions practitioners increasingly recog- layan nation’s Foreign Minister on drug use in sports. He gave a by Anti-Doping Organisations nise their potential role in pre- Prakash Sharan Mahat has said presentation on ‘Current issues (The McLaren Report and Con- venting doping in sports. in Doha. Mahat, who was in Doha last week on a three-day offi cial visit, was speaking at a recep- tion organised by the Nepalese embassy at the ambassador’s residence. Elaborating on the bilat- eral relationship between Ne- A view of the gathering on the occasion. pal and Qatar, Mahat referred to his meetings with HH the Emir ers as honest and hardworking,” ing facilities for workers, and The Nepalese foreign min- Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al- Mahat said while recalling that enhancing co-ordination and ister also requested his com- Thani, HE the Foreign Minister the bilateral relationship between co-operation between Ministry patriots in Qatar to follow the Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrah- the two countries has a history of of Administrative Development, rules and regulations of their man al-Thani and HE the Min- four decades. Labour and Social Aff airs and the host nation. Nepalese For- ister of Administrative Develop- The Nepalese foreign minister Nepalese embassy. eign Affairs secretary Shankar ment, Labour and Social Aff airs revealed that his meetings re- “I have invited Qatar’s foreign Bairagi, Ministry of Labour Dr Issa Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi. volved around raising the quota minister to make an offi cial visit and Employment joint secre- “I feel lucky to have conducted of semi-skilled Nepalese work- to Nepal and he replied that he tary Govinda Vurtel, Nepalese such high-level meetings be- ers, issuing 24-hour insurance will visit soon,” said Mahat who embassy charge d’ Affaires tween the two countries after 12 policy, amending the 2005 la- praised the Nepali community’s Mani Ratna Sharam and a years. I am happy that HH the bour agreement between the two unity and co-operation with the number of community mem- Some of the off icials at the workshop. Emir praised the Nepalese work- countries, preparing safe hous- embassy. bers were present.