BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 1 Esperance bounce back with to showcase Tunisian economic strengths at Hannover Fair Super Cup published in QATAR since 1978

TUESDAY Vol. XXXX No. 11141 April 2, 2019 Rajab 26, 1440 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

In brief Sheikha Moza attends GU-Q event Algerian President

QATAR | Offi cial Boutefl ika resigns Amir congratulates Turkish president DPA to the people’s demands.” Algiers Boutefl ika, who has faced mass pro- His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim tests against his rule for more than a bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness the month, had maintained his position as Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin lgerian President Abdelaziz defence minister in the caretaker gov- Hamad al-Thani and HE the Prime Boutefl ika has resigned, bowing ernment that was revealed on Sunday. Minister and Minister of Interior Ato mass protests seeking an end The government, headed by Noured- Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin to his 20-year rule, Algeria’s state news dine Bedoui, is composed of 27 min- Khalifa al-Thani sent yesterday cables agency APS reported yesterday. isters, including six members of the of congratulations to President He will give up his offi ce before his former cabinet. Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the sisterly designated end-of-term date on April Boutefl ika kept as military chief of Republic of Turkey on the victory of 28. The decision came after hundreds staff the powerful General Gaid Saleh, the Justice and Development Party of people demonstrated on Monday in who earlier this week called for the (AKP) in local elections. Algiers against Boutefl ika’s new gov- president to be declared unfi t for offi ce ernment. on health grounds. ASIA | Trial APS said Boutefl ika, who is 82 and in Boutefl ika’s resignation means there poor health, would take important deci- will now be a transitional phase. Kim assassination sions to ensure “continuity of the state’s The opposition Labour Party had de- suspect to be freed Her Highness Sheikha , Chairperson of (QF), attended the “GU-Q 100: A Celebration of institutions” before stepping down. It scribed the new cabinet as a new face for A Vietnamese woman accused of Knowledge Production” event yesterday, marking the publication of 100 books authored by in Qatar’s did not spell out a date for his departure an old government. assassinating the North Korean faculty, staff and research fellows, as well as celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the home campus’s Edmund A. Walsh or give more details immediately. “It is unclear on what basis these fi g- leader’s half-brother is to walk free School of Foreign Service. Also in attendance were HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of QF, Protesters carried slogans de- ures were chosen,” the party said in a after Malaysia dropped murder and HE Lulwa Alkhater, Ministry of Foreign Aff airs spokesperson. Page 24 scribing the new cabinet as “a blow statement. Page 10 charges against her yesterday, weeks after her Indonesian co-accused was also released. The 2017 killing of Kim Jong-nam with a toxic nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport shocked the world, but Doan Thi Huong’s guilty plea to the lesser charge of “causing injury” makes Msheireb Downtown 90% complete her the only person convicted in the case. Page 13 By Pratap John EUROPE | Vote Business Editor Comedian Zelensky set for Ukraine presidency sheireb Downtown Doha Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky (MDD), which is the ‘Smartest” is favourite to become Ukraine’s Mand ‘Most sustainable fully- president after results yesterday built City District in the world’, is more showed him dominating a first-round than 90% complete and is now open for vote despite many initially dismissing the public through most of its quarters. his candidacy as a joke. The 41-year- The “world’s fi rst sustainable old’s political experience had been downtown regeneration” project, the limited to playing the president QR20bn , in a TV show but he leapfrogged revives the old commercial heart of establishment candidates amid the city through a “new architectural public frustration over corruption language” that is based on community and a stalling economy. Page 16 living, across a 76-acre site. Central to Msheireb Downtown ASIA | Weather Doha are its “green features”, from rainwater harvesting to shady over- Nepal whirlwind storms hangs that make walking outside cool- kill 27, injure hundreds er, points out Clark Williams, Direc- A freak storm tore down houses tor – Marketing, Msheireb Properties, and overturned cars and trucks which is developing the City District. as it swept across southern Nepal “We are the fi rst to introduce the killing at least 27 people and leaving cool pool system in Qatar and have the more than 600 injured, off icials largest number of PV solar panels in said yesterday as a major rescue the country,” Williams said in an inter- operation gathered pace. High winds view with Gulf Times. battered the rural district of Bara Most of the mixed-use develop- and adjoining areas late Sunday. ment, which comprises more than 100 Five children were among the dead, buildings, is fi tted with PV solar pan- the home ministry said, as rescuers els, solar water panels and overhangs battled to get relief supplies to the designed to shade the surrounding The QR20bn ‘Smartest” and ‘Most sustainable fully-built City District in the world’ is now open for public through most of its quarters; experts consider the project as ‘best region and evacuate injured. Page 13 sidewalks. To Page 8 example of urban regeneration’ in the world. (Supplied picture)

Today is World Autism Awareness Day

atar joins the world today UAE hacked Al Jazeera chairman’s phone Qto observe the World Autism Aware- Reuters ponents of the UAE monarchy. A Reu- with little oversight from Washington. tiny nation. It was an unprecedented ness Day. Washington ters investigation in January revealed The crisis erupted in the spring of confrontation among Arab countries World Autism Project Raven’s existence and inner 2017, when the UAE and allies - includ- that had historically prized consensus. Awareness Day was workings, including the fact that it sur- ing Saudi Arabia and Egypt - accused That week, Project Raven operatives fi rst proposed by Her group of American hackers who veilled a British activist and several un- Qatar of supporting extremism, charg- sprang into action, launching opera- Highness Sheikha once worked for US intelligence named US journalists. es that Doha has denied. tions to break into the Apple iPhones of Moza bint Nasser, Aagencies helped the United Arab The Raven operatives - who included The UAE camp demanded Qatar take at least 10 journalists and media execu- Chairperson of Qa- Emirates spy on a BBC host, the chair- at least nine former employees of the a series of actions, including shutter- tives they believed had connections to tar Foundation, to the man of Al Jazeera and other prominent US National Security Agency and the ing the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite the Qatari government or the Muslim United Nations in 2007, Arab media fi gures after the UAE and US military - found themselves thrust television network and cracking down Brotherhood, according to programme and the proposal was its allies imposed a blockade on Qatar into the thick of a high-stakes dis- on the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic documents reviewed by Reuters. adopted without a vote in 2017. pute among America’s Gulf allies. The movement some Arab governments re- Raven targeted Arab media fi gures who by the UN General As- The American operatives worked Americans’ role in the UAE-Qatar im- gard as a threat. spanned a range of political thought - from sembly. The fi rst World Autism Aware- Plan (2017-2021) in 2017 with a view to for Project Raven, a secret Emirati in- broglio highlights how former US intel- In June 2017, the UAE camp severed a Beirut-based BBC host to the chairman ness Day was marked on April 2, 2008. improving the lives of those with au- telligence programme that spied on ligence offi cials have become key play- diplomatic ties with Qatar and imposed of Al Jazeera and a producer from a Lon- Qatar launched the National Autism tism. Page 22 dissidents, militants and political op- ers in the cyber wars of other nations, an air, land and sea blockade against the don satellite channel. To Page 10 Gulf Times 2 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 QATAR

Advisory Council signs pact with Group of Latin America and Caribbean countries

QNA Doha

he Advisory Council and the Parliamentary Group Tof Latin American and Caribbean countries (GRULAC) signed yesterday a memoran- dum of co-operation (MoC) at the headquarters of the Advisory Council. The MoC was signed by HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council Ahmed bin Abdulla bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, and the President of GRULAC in IPU, Rodolfo Urtubey. Under the memorandum of co-operation, the two sides agreed to strengthen ties of friendship to sustain and con- tinue their relations, to find mechanisms for co-opera- HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council Ahmed bin Abdulla bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, and the President of HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council Ahmed bin Abdulla bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, and the President of tion, to share information and GRULAC in IPU, Rodolfo Urtubey, signing the memorandum of co-operation yesterday in Doha. GRULAC in IPU, Rodolfo Urtubey, holding talks in Doha yesterday. to exchange visits between the Advisory Council and strengthen communication in water resources, in addition to tween the two sides, at which Caribbean States and explored 140th Meeting of the General the ambassador of Argentina to Parliamentary Group of Lat- the field of political dialogue, other issues of common con- they discussed parliamentary ways to enhance and bolster Assembly of the IPU which will Qatar Carlos Hernandez, and in American and Caribbean international peace and secu- cern to both sides. relations between the Advisory them. begins its meetings in Doha on members of the Qatari-Latin States to support bilateral rity, the promotion of democ- The signing of the MoC took Council and the Parliamentary The meeting also reviewed Saturday. American and Caribbean friend- co-operation, as well as to racy, education, energy and place during a meeting be- Group of Latin American and the issues on the agenda of the The meeting was attended by ship group.

CMC poll offi cial urges voters Advisory Council to participate in elections

QNA to facilitate all procedures for the supervisory committee is Doha voters. He urged every voter inspecting the electoral dis- to carry his or her identity tricts in order to ensure their card on the polling day and to readiness for polling day and rejects US decision ajor General Majid present it to the electoral com- to overcome all obstacles and Ibrahim al-Khulaifi , mission . facilitate all procedures for vot- MChairman of the Su- Brigadier Ali Khajim al- ers to ensure elections are free pervisory Committee for the Otaibi, Director of Facilities and fair. Elections of the Central Munic- and Commission Security De- He stressed that the Su- ipal Council (CMC), has called partment and Chairman of the pervisory Committee is cur- on all voters to participate in Elections Security Committee, rently working to ascertain on Golan Heights the electoral process on April said that the role of the security the number of the voters in all 16, the polling day. offi cers is to maintain the order constituencies to identify those QNA This came during his visit outside the electoral commit- that are densely populated in Doha to the Committee at Muaither tees. order to provide more staff and Preparatory School for Girls, He added that the election volunteers in those constituen- the poll centre of the electoral security committee is working cies. he Advisory Council yes- constituency District No 12, to to take all necessary measures He said that the polling day terday held its regular assess the preparations for the to guard and secure the head- will be under full judicial su- Tweekly session under the conduct the electoral process quarters of electoral districts pervision, with each judge pre- chairmanship of HE the Speaker on the polling day scheduled on the polling day and ensure siding over an electoral com- Ahmed bin Abdulla bin Zaid al- for April 16, according to the the proper conduct of the elec- mittee comprising members of Mahmoud. Amiri decree issued in this re- toral process. the Ministry of Interior and the At the outset of the meeting, gard. For his part, Major Mubarak other from the civilian side, in the Council expressed its cate- Major General al-Khulaifi Ali Majid, assistant director of addition to the presence of as- gorical rejection and condemna- stressed the importance of the election department at the sistant judge in each electoral tion of the US administration’s equipping polling stations and Ministry of Interior, said that commission. declaration to recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Minister of culture The Council stressed that this US declaration, which is clearly meets ambassador contrary to international law, the Survey to assess of Panama Charter of the United Nations HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council Ahmed bin Abdulla bin Zaid al-Mahmoud chairing yesterday’s and the relevant resolutions of session. the Security Council, will not al- public satisfaction HE the Minister of Culture and ter the fact that the Syrian Golan trols to deter violators, and en- After extensive discussion Parliamentary Union to promote Sports Salah bin Ghanim bin is occupied territory. force the maximum penalties for of the committee’s report, the friendship, exchange of experi- Nasser al-Ali met the ambassador The Council warned of the driving the vehicle in a manner Council agreed to submit its rec- ences and take joint initiatives with govt services of Panama to Qatar, Oreste Del serious repercussions that could that jeopardises people’s lives ommendations to the Cabinet. on issues of common interest Rio Sandoval, yesterday. During result from this illegal American and destructs property, in addi- At the end of the meeting, HE and to strengthen the presence the meeting they discussed step, especially on the stalled tion to passing traffi c signals. al-Mahmoud briefed the Coun- and role of the two parties in QNA survey will also provide a solid aspects of co-operation between peace process and on the secu- The committee also recom- cil on his participation along international parliamentary fo- Doha platform for establishing a di- Qatar and Panama in cultural and rity and stability of the region, mended tightening the ban on his accompanying delegation rums. rect link between government ports sectors and ways to boost stressing that a just, compre- the use of mobile phones while in the work of the 12th Periodic Meanwhile, the Internal and agencies and service recipi- and develop them. hensive and lasting peace will driving, as it is the cause of many Meeting of the heads of the ad- External Aff airs Committee of lanning and Statistics ents by listening to their views be achieved only with the with- accidents, and the need to use visory councils, parliament and the Advisory Council held a Authority (PSA) will and working to meet their re- Legal training drawal of Israel from all the Arab the seat belt. national councils of the GCC meeting yesterday, chaired by its Pstart a fi eld survey to- quirements. territories occupied in 1967 and It also suggested that the val- countries in Jeddah last Thurs- Rapporteur HE Abdulla bin Fa- day for the fourth consecutive As part of data collection course the establishment of an inde- ue of fi nes for speeding should day. had bin Ghorab al-Marri. year in an eff ort to appraise a number of researchers will pendent Palestinian state with be based on a slab system corre- He also briefed the Council At the meeting, the commit- the services provided by other interview the recipients of dif- The justice ministry’s Legal and Jerusalem as its capital. sponding with the speed. on the memorandum of under- tee studied a draft law on fi re- government ministries and in- ferent government services, Judicial Studies Centre started The Council continued its The recommendations in- standing between the Advisory works and decided to complete stitutions in Qatar. The survey while they are on the spot. a five-day specialised legal discussion of the report of the cluded the need to enhance Council and the Pan-African its study at its next meeting. will be conducted until the end The survey also targets re- training course for a number Internal and External Aff airs electronic surveillance through Parliamentary Union on co-op- The Public Services and Utili- of April. cipients of online services of researchers and lawmakers Committee on the request by a cameras dedicated to monitor- eration between them. ties Committee of the Advisory The survey aims to know provided by the offi cial web- in diff erent ministries and state number of members for a gen- ing traffi c violations and to pro- The MoU was signed by HE al- Council also held a meeting of the opinions and evaluation sites of government agencies agencies. eral discussion on road accidents vide pedestrian corridors. Mahmoud and the President of the 47th regular session of the of government service re- or their diff erent mobile ap- The course includes the in Qatar. The committee appreciated the Pan-African Parliamentary Council under the chairmanship cipients. It intends to identify plications, or Hukoomi. training of Qatari lawyers In its report, the committee the eff orts of the National Tour- Union and the Chairman of the of its Rapporteur Mohammed their impressions and form a In addition, specialised fi eld in the fields of judicial and recommended working with the ism Council to develop a fi ve- National Assembly of Burkina bin Mahdi al-Ahbabi. clear vision over the level and researchers conduct visits to administrative control and authorities concerned to develop year plan for the Sealine area, Faso, Al-Hassan Palla Sakandi. The committee continued its quality of government serv- a sample of recipients in their control minutes. a national strategy adopted by which, after the completion of Both sides agreed under the review on the request for a gen- ices, seeking to help develop place of residence and collect The course aims to develop the the General Directorate of Traffi c the plan, will become a tourist provisions of the MoU on estab- eral discussion on the terrestrial them and improve their qual- the required data. PSA has legal and practical skills of the to raise awareness and abide by attraction that meets the secu- lishing a work programme for and marine environment and ity. urged the government agen- participants in the administrative the traffi c rules and the etiquette rity and safety conditions of the co-operation between the Ad- decided to complete its review at In a statement issued yes- cies, and the public to co-op- and judicial control and of road use, intensify traffi c pa- vehicles or their users. visory Council and the African its next meeting. terday, the PSA said that the erate with the fi eld researchers. discrimination between them.

Nama, QNL launch second edition of vision 2030 awareness campaign

QNA continue until the end of April, awareness and building their ca- help young people and enhance Doha aims at educating young people pabilities, adding all youth in Qa- their participation socially in an both citizens and residents. tar citizens and residents should eff ective manner in order to take Its activities include raising realise their role in the prosperity the eff ort for taking the coun- he Social Development awareness of youth in achieving of Qatar and its future. try’s development and progress Centre ‘Nama’ of the Qa- the objectives of Qatar National The workshop includes a forward in all areas. Ttar Foundation for Social Vision 2030, enhancing their number of activities, workshops The ‘Aspiration and Achieve- Work, in collaboration with the strengths and increasing the and practical and motivational ment 2030’ campaign comes in (QNL), awareness of all youth groups activities to achieve its objec- the context of the new strategic yesterday launched the second about the pillars and objectives tives, including workshops for orientations of Nama that target edition of the awareness cam- of the vision, in a way that gives academic guides, interactive youth as they are considered the paign under the title ‘Aspiration them the opportunity to con- workshops and public work- key engine in the wheel of devel- and Achievement 2030’, which tribute to the achievement of shops, some of which will be opment in Qatar. seeks to educate youth about these goals. held in ministries and govern- The campaign also seeks to Qatar National Vision 2030, and QNL Executive Director Dr ment and private bodies. motivate them to contribute encourage them to contribute Sohair Wastawy said that their These activities will focus on consciously to achieving the and achieve this vision and its mission is not only to spread how to contribute to achieving goals of this vision that repre- objectives in order to meet the reading, knowledge, or help in the goals of Qatar Vision. sents a prosperous future for a The Social Development Centre ‘Nama’ of the Qatar Foundation for Social Work, and Qatar National aspirations of Qatar. learning and education, but also Through this campaign, Nama great country and its ambitious Library (QNL), have launched the second edition of the awareness campaign under the title ‘Aspiration The campaign, which will to contribute to shaping youth is looking to support its role to people. and Achievement 2030’. Gulf Times Tuesday, April 2, 2019 3 QATAR

Oral and dental health awareness drive concludes

The Ministry of Public Health, in co-operation with Primary QLC signs pact for executive Health Care Corporation (PHCC) and Hamad Medical Corporation, concluded the month-long awareness campaign on oral and dental health and included a number of educational activities and events for all age groups. education programme Nearly 818 male and female xpanding executive lead- ers, executives and core staff , students from 20 public and ership development as well as special “ambassa- private schools participated Ethrough local partner- dors of change” for each train- in the educational activities ships, Qatar Leadership Centre ing centre) will benefi t from the organised by the ministry, (QLC) signed a contract with programme’s innovative face- which provided free medical Qatar Social Work (QSW) for to-face classroom and reality- consultations through its Twitter the executive education pro- based training approach. account. gramme, Basmati – a nine- “We have entered into this For its part, PHCC organised month, senior administration professional skills development educational awareness activities training programme delivered programme with our partners in health centres and public in both English and Arabic. at QLC because we believe that schools. The comprehensive and leadership is a pivotal require- The activities included open multi-modular structure of ment in the workforce today. awareness discussions and the programme aims to raise The programme’s objectives distribution of oral and dental leadership effi ciency through align with our long-term or- health publications as well as advanced methodologies in ganisational goals, which places awareness activities in a number mentorship, communication, emphasis on the growth of our of public hospitals throughout management of change, and institution and the continued March. conceptual leadership. development of leadership com- QLC programmes director Mohamed S M al-Rumaihi and QSW CEO Amal A al-Mannai are seen with other off icials at the ceremony. Head of the national task force At the signing ceremony at- petencies amongst our team for the promotion and prevention tended by representatives of members,” al-Mannai said. to changes, develop innovative QSW – one of the leading na- all industry sectors. Practical leadership development pro- of oral and dental health at the both organisations, QLC’s pro- “Building on a previous problem-solving skills, and tional institutions for social training and education oppor- grammes for individuals and national oral and dental health grammes director Mohamed S foundational assessment and identify solutions as a team,” al- work in Qatar. Serving the ad- tunities such as QLC’s growing institutions fl ourishes through committee Dr Wafaa al-Mulla M al-Rumaihi and QSW CEO comprehensive evaluation, the Mannai added. vancement of social dynamics is portfolio of corporate govern- its strategic partnerships with said the activities aim to raise Amal A al-Mannai signed the overall goal is to advance em- In accordance with the agree- a noble profession. As such, we ance programmes underline the national leaders in industry and awareness about the importance agreement in the presence of ployees’ personal skills and ment, participants will get the proudly join forces to contribute progressive development of hu- academia. of maintaining the oral and dental distinguished guests. establish successful work re- opportunity to engage in the to human capital development, man capital,” he added. As such, the Centre contin- health. By applying best global prac- lationships between members programme’s dynamic activities following a shared commitment The impact of the programme ues to occupy a vital role in the She added that maintaining tices in leadership development of staff and management,” al- and events calendar. The Bas- to the pillars of Qatar National will be assessed though Check- furtherance of human capital in oral and dental health is a clear strategies, Basmati incorporates Mannai noted. mati programme seeks to develop Vision 2030 (QNV2030) as point 360 - an innovative lead- Qatar as set forth by the collec- indicator of good health. refl ection on personal and pro- “Basmati refl ects the desire participant competencies across prescribed by His Highness the ership assessment tool used to tive core mandate of QNV2030. The National Health Strategy fessional goals in order to ap- of making unparalleled diff er- four multi-day modules entitled Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad identify and prioritise develop- Since its launch in 2014, QLC’s 2018-2022 has set a national goal proach the work environment ence, and through the Basmati The Leader Within You and the al-Thani,” al-Rumaihi said. ment opportunities and leader- Institutional Programme off ers to reduce the prevalence of tooth positively and effi ciently. programme, we look forward to Concept of Leadership, Manag- “Today’s contract agreement ship skills. In addition, internal a unique leadership education decay among children under the A total of 136 participants further fostering an organisa- ing Change Eff ectively, Eff ective reinforces QLC’s unrelenting assessment measures will in- platform for Qatari government age of five by 25% by 2022. from four tiers of QWS mid- tional culture that is motivated Communications Skills, and Ef- support of the advancement of clude module-specifi c as well as institutions and public sector Statistics show that 88% of Qatari and senior-level administrative by a forward-looking, creative fective Guidance and Mentorship. social work in Qatar as we look pre-and post-training surveys. organisations to advance institu- children and 61% of non-Qatari teams (including department vision; one that ultimately al- “We are honoured to enter towards a common aspiration QLC’s longstanding expe- tional performance and enhance children aged 6 years have tooth directors, department manag- lows us to dynamically adapt into this collaboration with of Qatari self-reliance across rience in developing effi cient managerial competencies. decay. (QNA) Nissan showroom hosts training Al-Hammadi meets APU chief on installing infant car seats

aleh Al Hamad Al Mana ing Center, the offi cial sponsor Company (SHM), author- of Ghalai, in collaboration with Sised Nissan distributor, Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Co, has has hosted the fi rst workshop launched a new training session HE the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs Secretary-General Dr Ahmed off ered through Ghalai, Qa- for staff to be accredited profes- bin Hassan al-Hammadi met the head of the African Parliamen- tar’s National Child Passenger sionals of the programme. The tary Union (APU) and president of the National Assembly of Safety Programme. training will be regularly con- Burkina Faso Alassane Bala Sakande, who is currently visiting Held at the Nissan show- ducted throughout the year to Qatar. During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations room on Salwa Road, the train- enable all staff to learn about and ways of promoting them, enhancing the co-operation ing session was led by experts the vehicle’s safety features and between Qatar and the APU, and issues of mutual concern. from Hamad Medical Corpo- how to install and fi x baby seats. ration (HMC) and introduced Their training is in line with in- employees to the correct way of ternational standards of the seat installing and adjusting infant manufacturers as well as car car seats. safety features”. The fi rst workshop comple- Participants of the training workshop. He added: “On this occa- ments SHM’s sponsorship of sion, I would like to thank Saleh Carnegie Mellon team Ghalai, supports the organisa- be the fi rst to off er training to Al Hamad Al Mana Co for their tion’s corporate social respon- its employees. We are proud to valuable support to Ghalai pro- sibility programme, and re- support Qatar National Child gramme. It is a clear indication wins ‘Quick Startup 2019’ fl ects its pledge to road safety, Passenger Safety Program, of their utmost attention and according to a statement. Ghalai, to refl ect our commit- care of the children safety and team from Carnegie Mel- nership with CMU-Q aimed at Named after the Qatari word ment to Qatar community, es- maintains this precious genera- lon University in Qatar encouraging and nurturing an en- used to say someone like a child pecially our precious children. tion for the future of Qatar.” A (CMU-Q) won fi rst place trepreneurial ecosystem in Qatar. is precious, Ghalai is part of the Our partnership with Ghalai is Ghalai will off er a number of at the ‘Quick Startup 2019’ with As the teams develop their country’s ongoing commit- part of our CSR programme and services including child pas- their idea called ‘VisKit’. ideas, experienced mentors off er ment to improving road safety in line with our initiatives that senger technician training and The idea, which the team de- feedback and advice. This year’s education and awareness. focus on traffi c and passen- certifi cation, purpose-built car veloped during the three-day mentors hailed from CMU’s In- The programme came to life gers’ safety. On this occasion, seat check/testing stations, and competition, is an all-in-one, tegrated Innovation Institute, through collaboration between I would like to extend my sin- a school visits drive. The pro- dashboard mounted, heads-up General Electric, Injaz Qatar, several governmental and pri- cere gratitude to the Ministry gramme, inaugurated recently by display and mobile phone carriage Qatar University, and Sustain- vate organisations including of Public Health and all parties HE the Minister of Public Health, to make sure drivers keep their able Qatar, as well as CMU-Q. the Ministry of Interior, Min- and stakeholders for joining Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari, eyes on the road. The system pro- George White, professor of istry of Public Health, Ministry their eff ort to set up this pro- at the Women’s Wellness and Re- vides access to driving directions entrepreneurship and the organ- of Education and Higher Edu- gramme and looking forward to search Center (WWRC), shined a and advanced safety features like iser of Quick Startup, said, “We cation, HMC, Primary Health more partnerships soon”. spotlight on Qatar’s fi rst Ghalai night vision and collision detec- are seeing more and more young Care Corporation, Sidra Medi- Dr Khalid Abdulnoor Saifel- Drive-Through Test Station. Lo- tion, without having drivers look people take a keen interest in en- cine, Qatar University, Conoco deen, director of Hamad In- cated in the basement of WWRC, at their mobile phones. trepreneurship. At the fi rst Quick Philips; and SHM. ternational Training Center it off ers parents the services of Quick Startup is a competi- Startup, just fi ve years ago, only Hisham Saleh al-Mana, (HITC) and the chairman of Child Passenger Safety techni- tion for university students and 20 students participated. That chairman and managing di- Qatar National Child Passenger cians, who can teach them about new graduates to create a busi- number has quadrupled.” rector, SHM, said: “Saleh Al Safety Programme, Ghalai said: the correct use of safety belts and ness plan and investor pitch over Second place went to a CMU- Hamad Al Mana is pleased to Training in progress. “Hamad International Train- fi t child seats. the course of a weekend. The Q team of students and alumni. winning team was comprised Abdulrahman Alfayad, Najlaa of four graduating seniors from al-Thani, Nourhan Elkhatib, and CMU-Q’s Business Adminis- Mohamed Zakzok developed an tration Programme: Ommar idea called Malabna, a platform Aburaddad, Mohamed Hamdi, that would provide an easy, us- Faisal Mir, and Haris Syed. er-friendly and fast way to book Strong winds, thunderstorms forecast Michael Trick, dean of CMU- sport courts and fi elds in Qatar. Q, said: “We want participants The third place team included By Joseph Varghese times. The department also with chronic diseases,” it said in to learn new skills, collaborate QU students Huda Ahmed and Staff Reporter warned that thundery rain is an advisory. with teammates, and be inspired Sherouk Hasan, as well as Arjun likely in some off shore areas, “The public is advised to take to think like entrepreneurs.” Ajith and Althaf Saifudeen, who too, besides windy conditions the following precautions dur- This is the fi fth year that proposed Qassure, an insurance he Met department has and high seas. ing inclement weather: avoid CMU-Q has hosted Quick Star- aggregator, facilitator, and adviser. forecast strong winds The detailed report says the going outside, especially during tup. This year, about 80 univer- This year’s judges repre- Tand thunderstorms in wind speed may go up to 30 high winds or low visibility when sity students and new graduates sented many of the institu- Qatar today, a day after the knots in off shore areas at rstfi the dust levels are particularly from across Qatar participated tions within Qatar who pro- country experienced severe before falling to 8-18 knots by harmful; and cover your nose in the competition. mote entrepreneurial learning. dusty conditions and Hamad the evening. Inshore, the wind and mouth with a mask or damp QNB presented the awards for Representatives from CMU-Q, Medical Corporation (HMC) speed may reach a high of 25 cloth to reduce inhalation of par- Quick Startup 2019 as part of its CNA-Q, QBIC, QSTP, and Qa- cautioned the public to take knots in some places before ticles of dust,” the advisory said. continued support for the training tar University chose the winners necessary precautions in view dropping to 5-15 knots later. HMC also cautioned mo- programme and within its part- from among 22 team pitches. of the adverse weather. The sea level, meanwhile, torists to take extra care while The weather offi ce had said may rise to 10ft. driving and keep car windows in a report on Sunday that the Moderate temperature is ex- closed. “Avoid rubbing the eyes country is likely to experience pected during the day along to prevent eye infections. In- unsettled weather conditions with slight dust at times. It will dividuals who experience mild until the weekend due to the also be cloudy occasionally and The West Bay skyline shrouded in dust yesterday. symptoms such as watering deepening of a low-pressure there is a chance of light rain in eyes, cough or wheezing should system over the region. some places, which may turn Meanwhile, diff erent parts of HMC advised the public to go to their Primary Health Accordingly, it issued a thundery at fi rst. the country witnessed severe take necessary precautions on Care Centres while those who warning yesterday that strong Cloudy conditions are also dusty conditions from yester- account of the unstable weath- have severe breathing problem winds are expected in the early likely off shore, and there is a day afternoon until late in the er. “Dust storms can trigger may have a lung infection and hours today along with thun- possibility of scattered rain that evening, leading to a sharp drop sinus allergies and respiratory should go to the emergency derstorms in some places at may become thundery at times. in visibility in some places. infections, especially in those department,” it added. First place winners of Quick Startup. Gulf Times 4 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 QATAR

Tawar Mall to hold fashion show on April 4-5

Tawar Mall will hold its first said Jassim Jabr Tawar al- well in line with our overall fashion show on April 4 and 5, Kuwari, chairman, Tawar Mall. objectives,” added al-Kuwari. from 5.30pm to 8.30pm. The The shows will be held in Brands including Villa event will feature an array of the evening hours, with four Queen, Anotah, Ronza clothing and accessories from shows hosted by professional Fashion, Montania, Galvanni, Sidra to launch nuclear relevant brands. hosts and models. WAK Design, NSK Collection, “We strive to ensure that our “Fashion weekend is one of Verona Fashion, Diva visitors receive diversified these activities that help in On, Eleonora, Selection experience by providing providing brand awareness Designed, Le Merge, and a range of entertainment and exposure to members Pasarela haute couture will opportunities for everyone,” of the community, which fits be featured. medicine service soon

By Joseph Varghese at functional changes in the personalised targeted treat- Staff Reporter body at the molecular level. ment,” he added. Recently there have been “Some patients who many new developments in have aggressive diseases or idra Medicine, a mem- the fi eld. higher stages of cancer are ber of Qatar Founda- “We are expanding the eligible for some nuclear Stion, will soon start scope of the portfolio of medicine therapies. These providing nuclear medicine radio tracers that we are us- are targeted therapies and therapeutic service to inpa- ing in nuclear medicine here approved worldwide but one tients, a senior offi cial told at Sidra Medicine. Moving of the conditions is that they Gulf Times. forward, we will introduce require inpatient stay in the “So far, we have activated as many novel technologies hospital. Sidra Medicine has and opened our diagnostic into the country as possible. an inpatient room built spe- nuclear medicine and mo- We hope to bring in a multi- cifi cally for this purpose,” lecular imaging services layer portfolio of treatment said the physician. and we are working hard to options. It will help patients According to Dr Djekidel, open the therapeutic service to consider treatment here nuclear medicine around which should open within and thereby avoid travelling the world is making rapid the next few months,” Dr abroad,” said Dr Djekidel. Dr Mehdi Djekidel expansions. “A lot of newer Mehdi Djekidel, division The offi cial said that the technologies are taking chief, Nuclear Medicine and radiology department helps in nuclear medicine is the pictures of changes hap- place with newer cameras Molecular Imaging at Sidra in providing the necessary lowest amount of radioac- pening in certain areas of and newer radio tracers. Medicine, said. assistance to diff erent med- tive material that a patient the body and the other area At Sidra Medicine, we are “This will help us provide ical teams in multidiscipli- needs according to inter- is the therapeutic aspect. putting a lot of eff orts day therapies to patients within nary settings. national guidelines,” Dr “Both of them allow us and night to bring state-of- the hospital and help them “We use the newest cam- Djekidel added. to fi ne-tune in detail what the-art medical care to our avoid travelling abroad to eras that are much higher in The offi cial stated that in targets we aim to image or patients. We use interna- get such services,” he stated. resolution to take pictures. paediatrics, nuclear medi- treat in small parts of the tional guidelines and best Nuclear Medicine, in ex- We are making use of the cine is used in two main body. This in the end gives practice principles when istence for over 70 years, most advanced facilities in areas – one is molecular im- us an idea of what is exactly performing nuclear medi- is a highly subspecialised nuclear medicine at Sidra. aging which allows us with happening in the body and cine tests on our patients,” fi eld of radiology that looks Our dose administration specifi c radiotracers to take also permits us to deliver a he added. HMC planning campaign on thalassemia awareness

halassemia, an in- at the National Center for aff ects people living in the herited blood dis- Cancer Care and Research Mediterranean region,” said Torder characterised (NCCCR), Hamad Medical Dr al-Homsi. by abnormal haemoglobin Corporation (HMC) next “We off er a full range production, is the focus of a week. of services to care for all public awareness campaign Dr Ussama al-Homsi, patients, including those chairman, Medical Oncol- with thalassemia. Our ex- ogy and Hematology, NC- perts focus on diagnosing CCR, said the campaign and treating haematologi- aims to highlight the signifi - cal malignancies as well as cance of premarital screen- other blood disorders. We ing for genetic blood disor- work collaboratively with ders like thalassemia and the our colleagues and partners importance of blood dona- to ensure our patients re- tion in ensuring a safe blood ceive the right care,” added supply to care for patients Dr al-Homsi. with thalassemia. The haematology care “Thalassemia is an in- team at NCCCR, in collabo- Dr Mohammed Yassin Dr Ussama al-Homsi herited disorder aff ecting ration with HMC Patient and the blood cells resulting in Family Education Depart- life for thalassemia patients. and a combination of the three. the production of either no ment will raise awareness of One of our top priorities is Dr Yassin says the im- or too little haemoglobin, the causes and symptoms of to ensure people are aware pact of thalassemia can which is used by red blood the disorder as well as the of thalassemia and are able range from mild to se- cells to carry oxygen around treatment options. to recognise its symptoms vere and life-threatening. the body. The lack of hae- “Our awareness activi- as early as possible,” said Dr Symptoms of thalassemia moglobin results in reduced ties focus on simple steps Mohammed Yassin, con- can include fatigue, weak- oxygen supply to every cell that can be implemented to sultant, Hematology De- ness, pale or yellowish skin, in the body. Thalassemia is reduce the condition’s po- partment, NCCCR. facial bone deformities, also known as Mediterra- tentially devastating eff ects There are four main types of slow growth, abdominal nean anaemia as it mainly and improve the quality of thalassemia – alpha, beta, delta, swelling, and dark urine.

BMW Series5, M5 and X5 models of 2000-2003 recalled The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in collaboration with Alfardan Automobiles, has announced the recall of BMW Series5, M5 and X5 models of 2000- 2003 due to an incorrectly installed driver airbag on the sports steering wheel. The recall campaign comes within the framework of the Ministry’s continuous eff orts to protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicle defects and repairs. The Ministry said that it will coordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and will communicate with customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out. The Ministry urges all customers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department, which processes complaints, inquires and suggestions through the following channels: Call centre: 16001, e-mail: [email protected], Twitter: @MOCIQATAR, Instagram: MOCIQATAR, Ministry of Commerce and Industry mobile app for android and IOS: MOCIQATAR Gulf Times Tuesday, April 2, 2019 5 QATAR Al-Baker tours new Muscat International Airport Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive says new Muscat International Airport is a ‘beautiful representation’ of Omani culture and heritage

atar Airways Group Chief Executive, HE Ak- Qbar al-Baker, made an offi cial tour of Muscat Interna- tional Airport recently as part of Qatar Airways’ new offi ce open- ing celebrations in the Omani capital. Oman Airports Management Company chief executive offi cer Sheikh Aimen Ahmed Sultan al- Hosni was among the dignitaries who were with al-Baker. State-owned Oman Airports Management Company is re- sponsible for the management and operations of civil airports in the Sultanate of Oman. The infrastructure of the airports, HE al-Baker and Qatar Airways senior vice-president (marketing and communications) Salam al-Shawa attending a presentation at Muscat including terminal buildings, Al-Hosni presenting a commemorative souvenir to HE al-Baker. International Airport. cargo building, runway, apron, car parking and other facilities, leaders of distinguished airlines other government offi cials and in the Middle East’, and ‘World’s are directly under the man- from around the world to enrich trade partners. Best First-Class Airline Lounge’. agement of Oman Airports and promote mutual relations Qatar Airways operates 70 Qatar Airways seamlessly Management Company. between these airlines and our fl ights per week, serving three connects passengers from Oman Al-Baker said, “It was an leading airports that have earned gateways in Oman- Muscat, to more than 160 destinations honour to offi cially tour the new an excellent reputation among Salalah and Sohar. across six continents through its Muscat International Airport their global counterparts. It was Qatar’s national carrier has award-winning hub, Hamad In- and to have the opportunity to our pleasure to welcome Qatar been fl ying to Oman since 2000, ternational Airport in Doha. discuss and compare learnings Airways Group Chief Executive when it fi rst began direct services The carrier will launch a host with our regional peers in Oman. HE al-Baker in a visit aimed at to the Omani capital, Muscat. of “exciting new” destinations The new Muscat International promoting the partnership be- In 2013, Salalah was added to in 2019, including Lisbon, Malta, Airport is a beautiful represen- tween our companies, as we are the airline’s expanding network Rabat, Davao, Langkawi, Izmir, tation of Omani culture and her- committed to creating a high as the second destination, fol- and Mogadishu. itage, and its state-of-the-art level of co-operation with all lowed by Sohar in 2017. Qatar Airways was named technologies, infrastructure and airlines that operate from our A multiple award-winning air- ‘World’s Best Business Class, modernity are very impressive. airports.” line, Qatar Airways was named ‘Best Business Class Seat’, ‘Best As the main gateway into Mus- The airport tour followed the ‘World’s Best Business Class’ by Airline in the Middle East’ and cat, this new airport will surely offi cial opening of Qatar Air- the 2018 World Airline Awards, ‘World’s Best First-Class Air- help attract even more visitors to ways’ new offi ce in Muscat, held managed by international air line Lounge’ in the 2018 World this beautiful country.” in the attendance of al-Hosni; transport rating organisation Airline Awards, managed by in- Al-Hosni said, “Oman Air- Qatar’s ambassador to Oman Ali Skytrax. It was also named ‘Best ternational air transport rating ports is delighted to welcome bin Fahad al-Hajri Shahwani and Business Class Seat’, ‘Best Airline organisation, Skytrax. HE al-Baker at the control tower of Muscat International Airport. Gulf Times 6 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 QATAR

Waqif, Al Wakrah Winning Challenge 22 put souqs to stage ‘April Festival’

QNA ing this period. He pointed out Doha that the festival attracts all the us on the map: Team Eila diff erent age groups through the diversity of its activities QNA ouq Waqif and Souq Al which are off ered to adults and Doha Wakrah will host the young people, attracting diff er- S‘April Festival’ starting ent nationalities from Arab and from April 5. Director of Souq foreign communities, tour- he winning team of the Waqif Mohamed al-Salem said ists, citizens, and residents. He second edition of Chal- in a statement to Qatar News pointed out that the festival Tlenge 22, an innovation Agency (QNA), that the eight- aims to stimulate tourism in the award launched in 2015 by the day April Festival this year will country. Supreme Committee for De- witness a number of events, Speaking to QNA, Souq Al livery and Legacy to promote including the African circus Wakrah manager Khalid Saif creativity in the Arab world, shows in the West Square, in al-Suwaidi said that the souq praised the role of the competi- addition to amazing perform- will host for the fi rst time the tion in developing the project, ances for pedestrians. world-famous Russian circus. on the sidelines of the team’s He added that the Al Hamam Al-Suwaidi said that the visit to Doha recently to present area will off er a variety of skill public will enjoy the giant their innovation to representa- and intelligence games for all fountains at the waterfront of tives of many government and ages. Children can enjoy the the souq. He pointed out that private institutions. performances of Snow White the famous fi gures in the chil- Team Eila, a chat bot that and Jungle Book at the theatre. dren’s world will tour the souq allows businesses to sell their The director of on the waterfront. He added products over Facebook Mes- said that the visual arts will that several games will be or- senger, includes a group of five have a share in the spring fes- ganised. Authentic Arabian Jordanian entrepreneurs. tival through the various sec- horses will be on show and visi- Eila’s member Samer Tarazi tions of Souq Waqif Arts Cen- tors can ride a pony. The April said that the team has experi- tre. He pointed out that the Festival will be held at Souq enced a substantial upturn in events of the April Festival in Al Wakrah from 4pm to 10pm reputation and exposure since Souq Waqif will start from 4pm throughout the festival days. winning the competition. to 10pm throughout the festi- The festival is organised by the val days, where more than one Organising Committee of the Thanks in part to the event will be presented dur- Private Engineering Offi ce. exposure generated through Challenge 22, Eila Team Eila members visited Doha recently. has helped businesses in Youth urged to volunteer in three countries Jordan, name such as the World Cup via businesses in three countries that winning the competition simple: the sky’s the limit. Nigeria and Uganda process Challenge 22 really helped us,” Jordan, Nigeria and Uganda in the field ‘Internet of Things’ “The dream is big,” Tarazi Education Conference more than 65,000 orders he added. process more than 65,000 or- helped propel Eila onto the next continued. “We want to be- Eila is a platform that allows ders. level. come one of the strongest play- The Scientific Committee and the Organising Committees of “Winning Challenge 22 put merchants to set up personal- A simple Eila Facebook ad- Tarazi said: “It enabled us to ers in the market. We aim to the 2019 Education Conference in the Ministry of Education and us on the map,” he said. “We ised chat bots where they place vert helped a Ugandan food get to where we are today. Had become a mainstream major Higher Education have called on young people to participate in the started getting a lot of attention an automated shopping assist- truck generate three times the we not won Challenge 22, who player in conversational com- volunteer team of the conference which will be held on April 24 from investors around the re- ant right within their social return on investment, while knows, we perhaps might not merce. Helping merchants to and 25, at the Qatar National Convention Centre under the theme gion, or people that just wanted media or messaging pages so the platform has helped some have been able to raise funds at start selling within chat and ‘Education that Makes a Diff erence’. The ministry explained in a to work with us. It added cred- they can sell their products or food and beverage businesses an early stage. So it has helped social media spaces using ar- statement that those interested must fill a form available at: https:// ibility to the product when it services without having to do it in Jordan to automate up to 15% us carry the dream forward, tificial intelligence agents. And surveys.education.qa/s/8Y5EL/ Those interested in volunteering was in its really early stages.” manually. of their orders. According to grow the team, build a better who knows, maybe we can see can contact EduConference2019edu.gov.qa for further inquiry. “In 2017, it was still being de- Thanks in part to the ex- the team, their project was still product and get to where we Eila in use at the World Cup The conference is an educational scientific platform to share local, veloped and had a lot of issues, posure generated through in its infancy when Challenge are today.” And of their dreams here in Qatar. That would be regional and international experiences, ideas and best practices in but being associated with a big Challenge 22, Eila has helped 22 came calling. The team said for the future, their answer was the ultimate dream.” the field of education. — QNA

Katara to launch Palestine Cultural Festival on April 4

The Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) announced the launching of Palestine Cultural Festival under the theme ‘Palestine in Qatar’ from April 4 to 13 in the premises of Katara showcasing the Palestinian culture through many activities and shows. The announcement was made during a press conference attended by Katara’s deputy general manager Abdelrahman al-Sayyed, ambassador of Palestine to Qatar Munir Ghannam, director of Public Relations at Ooredoo Manar al-Muraikhi, general manager of Warwick Hotel Marco Saxer and CEO of FinalVision Company Ammar Anabtawi. Al-Sayyed said that hosting this important cultural event reflects Katara’s commitment towards the brotherly Palestinian people and raising awareness on their culture and heritage as a way of struggle through culture. “This festival is part of eff orts by Katara to host diff erent Palestinian cultural events successfully in the past years,” he explained. Ambassador Munir Ghannam praised Qatar’s support to the Palestinian people. He said Katara is a big contributor in showcasing the Palestinian heritage to people and preserving it through raising awareness and dedicating an annual festival for this cause. Director of Public Relations at Ooredoo Manar al- Muraikhi said that the company is sponsoring the important festival that revives the Palestinian culture, and Katara is a good platform to showcase the culture of Palestine. Speaking to QNA, CEO of FinalVision Company Ammar Anabtawi pointed out that there is a detailed schedule that will be announced before the start of the festival which will feature many lectures and artistic activities. — QNA Gulf Times Tuesday, April 2, 2019 7 QATAR

New benefi ts for building citizens’ residential villas AI to transform he Ministry of Munici- pality and Environment T(MME) held a workshop yesterday for accredited engi- neering consultancies on latest developments in the building permits systems and the new conditions for developing resi- healthcare in a dential villas according to the country’s comprehensive urban plan. Hassan al-Adhami from the MME Building Permits Com- plex said that the new conditions comprise a number of benefi ts regarding residential villas, QNA An artist’s impression of a villa compound. decade: expert reported. These include an increase in MME said in a statement. tween the two buildings. By Joseph Varghese systems that can learn without the percentage of construction The roof construction “set- The new regulations allow Staff Reporter requiring data. area on a villa roof, from 35% to back” (described as the mini- construction on an increased “As in the case of humans who 70%, as this will lead to an in- mum distance that a building or plot ratio, from 1.2 to 1.65, to can learn things without data, crease in the number of rooms other structure must be set back maximise the benefi t from using achine learning and we are trying to build systems there as well as the total space of from a road, façade etc) should be the land. artifi cial intelligence that can learn without data,” he the villa while satisfying all nec- of 3m from the façade, the rules Meanwhile, the height of the M(AI) will impact sev- pointed out. essary requirements to ensure stipulate. lounge (majlis) adjacent to the eral sectors in a big way in the Dr Torralba, however, stated the privacy of neighbours. However, it can have a zero villa’s outer wall has been raised next decade, especially that of that at this stage, the research is The new regulations are meant “setback” from the other sides from 3.5m to 4.6m. healthcare, an expert told Gulf not very close to what humans to ease the rules for residential and the rear part of the building. Also, the minimum space re- Times. do. property developers and maxim- In the event of overlooking quired for each villa within a “Healthcare is an area where “Now, we are trying to create ise the benefi t from designated neighbour’s property, windows complex has been decreased machine learning will have a systems that can generate imag- land plots in addition to accom- should be made of fritted glass from 285sq m to 250sq m in me- huge impact,” explained Dr An- es. What we are trying is to cre- modating more inhabitants, the or a screen has to be erected be- dium-density areas. tonio Torralba, a professor of ate some of the capabilities of electrical engineering and com- humans. I try to build models on puter science at the Massachu- how human perception works. setts Institute of Technology Dr Torralba: I am trying to look into machines that can recognise Generally, I do it from an engi- (MIT) and a principal investiga- objects and sense, like humans. neering perspective,” he noted. tor at MIT’s Computer Science According to the expert, au- New QIB and Artifi cial Intelligence Labo- some areas, the machines will into machines that can recog- tonomous driving is an area ratory. have better accuracy, such as nise objects and sense, like hu- where there will be a big impact. “The machines will start pro- looking at radiography. The mans,” said the expert. “A car will act like a robot viding additional diagnostic technology is almost there and it “I am focusing on the multi- and conduct all the activities branch tools to doctors in several areas. will be applied in a year or two.” model perception, as humans autonomously. Policy makers It will happen very soon, maybe “It might take about some sense the world through diff er- will have to play a big role in the atar Islamic Bank (QIB) within a decade,” noted the aca- years for the technology to be- ent perceptions such as touch, eventuality of machines doing has announced the of- Senior representatives from the Amiri Guard and QIB at the off icial demic, who was in Qatar recent- come acceptable globally,” he vision, among others. many of the present jobs,” he Qfi cial opening of a new inauguration of the new branch. ly to deliver a keynote address at added. “My goal is to build a machine stated. branch at the Amiri Guard in Al an event organised by the Qatar “We might lose many of the that can integrate all the senses, The researcher said that the Rayan. closer to our customers to off er we have established with the Computing Research Institute, present jobs and at the same just like the humans. We are term ‘artifi cial intelligence’ is a Senior representatives from them Shariah-compliant serv- Amiri Guard and its employees, part of the Hamad Bin Khalifa time, many other unknown and now working on systems that misnomer. the Amiri Guard and QIB attend- ices in a timely and convenient who can now enjoy convenient University. interesting jobs are on the ho- can analyse data which has no “It provides the concept that ed the offi cial inauguration. manner,” said assistant general and time-effi cient access to our “Machines will initially start rizon. We are poised for a very annotations,” described Dr Tor- machines are intelligent, but the The branch working hours will manager Hassan al-Jaff ali, the wide range of banking products assisting humans, and eventu- exciting and fascinating as well ralba. machines, by themselves, are be from Sunday to Thursday, head of the bank’s Branches Net- and services,” said assistant gen- ally they will give suggestions to as transformative period,” he “In machine learning, we not intelligent. Instead of AI, we from 7.30am till 1pm. work. eral manager Saeed al-Khay- humans in several areas such as highlighted. need to have large amount of can call it algorithm for complex “Opening a new branch in “The new branch demon- areen, the head of Corporate diagnosis, prescription among “Computer vision is my area data to train the machine. What problem solving,” added Dr Tor- the Qatar Amiri Guard brings us strates the valuable relationship Banking. others,” Dr Torralba said. “In of research. I am trying to look we are trying to do is to have ralba. Gulf Times 8 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 QATAR

ICC enhances consular services for Indian patrons

Document attestation services will now be embassy) and original documents/certificates provided at the Indian Cultural Centre (ICC). (duly attested by the Indian Ministry of Msheireb Downtown 90% complete A notification posted on the Indian embassy’s External Aff airs), at the ICC. Twitter page yesterday said applicants could Staff deployed at ICC would be able to provide avail of the service on Saturdays, from 9am to services on the same day, the notification From page 1 12noon, from April 6. The notification states — signed by embassy counsellor Rajesh that the head of mission has approved the Kamble — pointed out. However, it added that The entire project, Williams noted, features sustain- acceptance of document attestation services, “this arrangement is temporary and could able designs that consume fewer resources, generate less such as all ‘sign in presence’ documents, be revoked by the head of mission at any waste, cost less to operate and achieve a reduced carbon employment contracts (after being duly time with or without prior notice”. The ICC is footprint. approved by the Labour Section at the located off E-Ring Road in Abu Hamour. All buildings within the city district are targeting an av- erage ‘Gold’ rating under the internationally recognised LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifi cation system developed by the US Green Building Council, while several buildings will aim for a ‘Platinum’ rating. The Jumaa Mosque at Msheireb is one of the fi rst LEED certifi ed mosques in the region (LEED Gold). MDD has the largest known concentration of LEED Gold-certifi ed buildings in the world, he noted. Msheireb Downtown Doha is seen as part of a wider mis- sion to meet Qatar’s National Vision 2030 plan, which aims - among other goals - to reduce energy consumption and the nation’s carbon footprint. Msheireb Downtown Doha’s commitment to “sustain- ability” is evident from the fact that it has the “largest onsite water treatment of non-drinking water” for district cooling use in Qatar. It is the “fi rst large-scale mixed-use development project in Qatar” to use non-drinking water for fl ushing. Msheireb Downtown Doha is the “fi rst known develop- ment” that collects condensate water from air condition- ing in Qatar. The district has the “largest fully Clark Williams explaining features of the Msheireb Downtown Doha. PICTURES: Nasar T K automated” waste collection system in the country. It is home to one of the biggest Re- verse Osmosis (RO) plants in Qatar sup- plying non-potable water for irrigation, fl ushing water and the cooling towers (6,500m3 in a day) Msheireb Down- town Doha is a Clark Williams in an interview with social and civic Gulf Times. services hub with a combination of commercial and residential properties, civic services, re- tail, cultural off erings, entertainment areas and four hotels, which include the 5-star Mandarin Oriental, Park Hyatt, Al Wadi Doha MGallery by Accor Hotels and a Boutique hotel. Two of these luxury hotels - Mandarin Oriental, Doha and Al Wadi Doha MGallery were opened to the public last month. It is adjacent to the “redeveloped” Souq Waqif, a suc- cessful mixed-use scheme based on a traditional Qatari souq and the historical ‘Al Koot Fort’. Highlighting some of the development’s key features, Williams said: “We have one of the world’s largest under- ground connected car parks with provisions to accommo- date thousands of vehi- cles at any given time.” Beneath Msheireb Downtown Doha will be the largest metro station in Qatar (with a capacity to host 25,000 passengers in an hour) and it is also home to the fi rst opera- tional tram in Qatar. The project will have Qatar’s longest outdoor pe- destrian shopping street. Williams said Msheireb Downtown Doha is one of the “largest connected de- velopments” in Qatar. It is one of the largest develop- ments in Qatar that has de- veloped a fi bre backbone of about 430km of fi bre optic network and growing. The project hosts the largest network of elec- tronic amenities (EA) in the region and is home to the “largest connected fi re safety systems” in the region. MDD is the “fi rst devel- opment in Qatar” off ering the largest and most ad- vanced security and safe- ty systems (9,000+ CCTV cameras) and the “single most connected develop- ment” in the region oper- ating a fi bre optic back- bone cable system. “We also have one of the largest monitored devel- opments using close to a million sensors and devic- es around the city - above and below ground level,” Williams pointed out. The country’s iconic fi - nancial institution – QNB moved into Msheireb Downtown Doha in Octo- ber 2018. The ‘Souq Underpass’ connecting MDD with Souq Waqif had opened in October 2018. Besides of- fering convenient access between the properties, the Souq Underpass con- tains many retail shops, he said. Clearly, the Msheireb Downtown Doha project blends traditional Qatari heritage and aesthetics with modern technology, a focus on sustainability and harmony with the en- vironment. It is set to realise the objective of “bring- ing people back to their roots- to rediscover a sense of community and togetherness.” No wonder many see the project as the “best example of urban regen- eration” in the world! Gulf Times Tuesday, April 2, 2019 9 QATAR Ooredoo in pact to off er Karwa smartcard top-ups

oredoo has announced a new partnership with OMowasalat, the public transportation company, to of- fer Karwa smartcard top-ups instantly via Ooredoo Mobile Money. The tie-up means Ooredoo Money customers will be able to digitally top up their Karwa cards – used to pay for public transportation buses – directly from their mWallets, without Khaled Kafoud Manar Khalifa al-Muraikhi visiting any outlet to top up a Karwa card. ing for any opportunity to help happy to support and partner A moment from the customer appreciation event. Once the service is live, top- make everyday transactions with Ooredoo, for our public ups will be credited to Karwa quicker and easier. We are de- bus-riding customers and bus cards instantly. lighted to be able to off er cus- card users to top up easily. We Speaking about the new tomers the opportunity to top are sure this will enhance the partnership, Manar Khalifa up Karwa cards at the touch of reach and availability of our al-Muraikhi – director PR and a screen and we are sure this services to customers, encour- Corporate Communications service will be a valuable addi- aging them to access public Jaidah division, Osram at Ooredoo – said: “We are tion to the already useful Oore- transport more often”. completely committed to do- doo Money.” The Ooredoo Money app can ing everything we can to ensure Khaled Kafoud, PR, Media & be downloaded from the App complete customer satisfac- Government Relations manag- Store and Google Play, and is tion, and this includes look- er at Mowasalat, said: “We are available in seven languages. conduct customer event

sram, the multinational uct and packaging updates, the sentatives from each of the win- ram Loyal Customer Award for lighting manufacturer, statement noted. It also included ning businesses and said, “Our 2018; and Al Fajer Auto Spare QF opens registration for schools community outreach classes Ohosted a customer ap- a technical seminar to create partnership with Osram goes Parts for the Osram Achieve- preciation event jointly with the product awareness. from strength to strength year on ment Award for 2018. Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Pre-University Educa- Hissa al-Kubaisi, manager, Academic Affairs’ Jaidah Independent Aftermarket Leading fi gures from Osram year, and we’re proud to say that Their success refl ects Jai- tion (PUE) has opened registration for its Co-Curriculum Programme, PUE, QF, explained division in Doha recently. worldwide attended, including we have a 60% market share for dah Independent Aftermarket’s Qatar Foundation Schools (QFS) Community how the classes are designed to encourage The annual customer appre- Nikolai Dianov — head of Sales & Osram automotive lamps in the “commitment to developing Outreach Classes, which will run from April 14 social engagement in Qatar. “I would like to ciation event recognised “trail- Marketing, Automotive Lighting Qatar market, which is the high- strong and lasting partnerships, to May 8 at Awsaj Academy – part of PUE – in thank our teachers for their time and dedica- blazing businesses that are set- from Osram Eastern Europe & est market share in the region. putting customer care at the . tion in delivering this programme. QF schools ting the benchmark for quality MEA; Matt Hillenbrand — head Osram is a brand that custom- heart of its operation and setting The classes, open to children aged 7-12 and have exceptional teachers and facilities and we in the country”, according to a of Product Management from ers trust and we look forward to the highest standards of excel- those aged 18 years and older, include creative would like to encourage the wider community press statement. Osram Germany; and Aysen strengthening this partnership lence for the automotive in- writing, Spanish, math, English as a second to register.” The event celebrated busi- Acarturk Api, Marketing man- going forward.” dustry in Qatar”, the statement language, and STREAM (Science, Technology, Education is one of QF’s main mission areas, nesses with a proven track record ager from Osram Lighting Mid- Appreciation awards were added. Reading, Engineering, Art and Mathematics). and through the QFS Community Outreach of success and with a commit- dle East. given to Osram’s loyal custom- Rao also launched a special The programme will be delivered by teachers Classes, PUE is striving to promote the impor- ment to the highest standards of Jaidah Independent After- ers: Ali International Trading Est off er for customers during the from various QF schools. tance of learning and human development. excellence, service and customer market Wholesale manager KT got the Osram Excellence Award event in order to further extend care, as well as for sharing prod- Rao presented awards to repre- for 2018; Euro Parts for the Os- support to customers. Gulf Times 10 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 REGION/ARAB WORLD

US hackers helped UAE spy on Al Jazeera chairman, BBC host

From Page 1 work for another government in On June 19, 2017, Americans target to click on a link sent to National Security Council de- to spy on journalists seen as tied or Al Arab. Al-Araby TV sees targeting an American ally. She working for Raven targeted Fais- an iPhone, they said. Apple de- clined to comment on Project to Qatar. That month, Project itself as the voice of “secular, The goal, the former Raven said Washington should bet- al al-Qassem, host of a popular clined to comment. Raven. Raven’s Qatar mission expanded liberal, pro-democracy” Arabs, operatives said, was to fi nd ma- ter supervise US government- Al Jazeera show called The Op- Karma provided Raven op- At fi rst, the goal was to crack from two full-time operatives said Abdulrahman Elshayyal, terial showing that Qatar’s royal trained hackers after they leave posite Direction, interviews and eratives access to the contacts, down on terrorism by help- assigned to the country to seven. director of the channel. He and family had infl uenced the cov- the intelligence community. documents show. messages, photos and other data ing the UAE monitor militants On June 20, Raven operatives two other Araby employees were erage of Al Jazeera and other “Folks with these skill sets The show features guests stored on iPhones. around the region. But Raven’s hacked into the iPhone of Ab- hacked in the weeks following media outlets, and uncover any should not be able to knowingly who heatedly debate controver- It did not allow them to moni- mission quickly expanded to in- dullah al-Athba, chief editor of the start of the blockade, Raven ties between the infl uential TV or unknowingly undermine US sial topics such as corruption in tor phone calls. clude monitoring and suppress- Qatar’s oldest newspaper, Al- documents show. network and the Muslim Broth- interests or contradict US val- Middle Eastern governments. While Raven operatives broke ing a range of UAE political op- Arab, programme documents “It’s a very worrying trend erhood. Reuters couldn’t deter- ues,” Smith told Reuters. Informed by Reuters about his into the devices, they did not ponents, the documents show. show. that a state is using all these mine what data Raven obtained. Among the Arab journalists hacking, al-Qassem said he was have full access to the data they Among its targets were Qatar In an interview with Reuters, things to spy on people critical of Al Jazeera has long maintained hacked, Raven project docu- not surprised he was targeted collected; they passed the ma- and Al Jazeera. Al-Athba said he believed he was them,” Elshayyal said in a phone it is independent from Qatar’s ments show, was Giselle Khoury, by the UAE, which he accuses of terial on to UAE intelligence of- Al-Qassem, the host hacked targeted “because I am a sup- interview. government. Sheikh Jassim bin Beirut-based host of BBC Ara- being “a symbol of corruption fi cials overseeing the operation. by Raven, said Al Jazeera porter of the Arab Spring since “I’m not a terrorist or a money Mansour al-Thani, a media at- bic’s The Scene, a programme and dirty politics.” It’s unclear what they found. presents all sides, without cen- the beginning,” who repeatedly launderer.” tache for Qatar’s embassy in that interviews Middle Eastern “In a word, they are afraid of In January, UAE Minister of sorship. criticised the Emiratis for their Bishara, the founder of Al- Washington, said “the govern- leaders on current events. the truth,” he said. State for Foreign Aff airs Anwar “The street and the Arab peo- opposition to the movement. Araby Al-Jadeed, was also tar- ment of Qatar does not request, Three days after the blockade That same day, Raven opera- Gargash was asked by reporters ple can decide what’s right,” he The Raven eff ort went beyond geted by Raven. ask, or enforce on Al Jazeera any began, Raven operatives hacked tives targeted the iPhone of Al in New York about Project Raven said. the Middle East. Operatives He told Reuters he regards his agenda whatsoever”. Al Jazeera her iPhone. Raven programme Jazeera’s chairman, Sheikh Ha- after the initial Reuters report. The Emiratis also tapped used Karma to target the mobile outlet as “relatively independ- “is treated like any other re- documents show she was target- mad bin Thamer bin Mohamed Gargash acknowledged his Raven in the eff ort to contain phones of other media fi gures ent” in the context of the Arab spected media outlet.” ed because of her contact with al-Thani. Through an Al Jazeera country has a “cyber capability” dissent at home, according to the UAE believed were being world. “Nobody tells us what to The UAE Ministry of For- Azmi Bishara, a Doha-based spokesman, Sheikh Hamad al- but didn’t specifi cally address former Raven operatives and supported by Qatar, including say,” said Bishara, a Palestinian eign Aff airs and its embassy in writer who has been critical of Thani declined to comment. the programme. He denied tar- project documents. journalists for London-based who lives in Qatar. Washington did not respond to the UAE and founded the news The attacks utilised a cyber geting US citizens or countries In the years after the Arab Arabic media outlets Al-Araby Al-Hiwar, another London- requests for comment. The NSA outlet Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. weapon called Karma. As Reu- with which the UAE has good Spring, the operatives were in- TV and Al-Hiwar. Both net- based Arabic satellite channel, declined to comment. A Depart- “They need to spend their ters reported in January, Karma relations. creasingly tasked with target- works televise Arabic language was targeted by Raven on the day ment of Defense spokeswoman time on making better their allowed Raven operatives to re- The UAE created Project ing human rights activists and channels popular in the Middle the blockade began. Al-Hiwar declined to comment. country, their economy,” Khoury motely hack into iPhones by in- Raven in 2009 with the help of journalists who questioned the East. founder Azzam Tamimi said he Dana Shell Smith, the former said in an interview after Reuters putting a target’s phone number American intelligence contrac- government. Sheikh Jassim bin Mansour believes the UAE was fearful of US ambassador to Qatar, said she informed her of the hack. “Not or associated e-mail address into tors and former senior White In June 2017, after Gulf na- al-Thani, the Qatari spokesman, his channel’s support for politi- found it alarming that American on having Giselle Khoury as a the attack software. Unlike many House offi cials from the George tions began their blockade of said the government does not cal reform and democratisation intelligence veterans were able to hacking target.” exploits, Karma did not require a W Bush administration. The US Qatar, the UAE ramped up eff orts support Al-Araby TV, Al-Hiwar in the Arab world. Palestinians Ailing Boutefl ika: Algeria’s longest serving president

AFP His third term in 2009 followed a consti- mull recalling Algiers tutional amendment allowing him to stand again. His supporters argue that under his stewardship public and private investment bdelaziz Boutefl ika is Algeria’s long- created millions of jobs and dramatically est-serving president and a veteran lowered unemployment. Aof the independence struggle who has But a lack of opportunity continues to envoy over held on to power for some 20 years despite ill drive many Algerians abroad as youth unem- health. ployment remains high. The 82-year-old survived the Arab Spring When the Arab Spring erupted in January uprisings that toppled other leaders in the 2011, Boutefl ika rode out the storm by lifting region. a 19-year state of emergency and using oil But after weeks of demonstrations against revenues to grant pay rises. his rule, veteran loyalists including army For political commentator Rashid Tlem- Brazil’s move chief Ahmed Gaid Salah have deserted the Bouteflika: set for resignation cani, Boutefl ika “should have left offi ce at president. the end of his second term, after securing Reuters Sunday the trade mission and Gaza in the 1967 Middle It was Boutefl ika’s bid for a fi fth term in of- Morocco on March 2, 1937 to a family from national reconciliation and conquering the Brasilia would not be a diplomatic East war. Palestinians seek to fi ce earlier this year that sparked public anger western Algeria. At the age of 19 he joined the hearts of a large part of the population”. representation, but the move establish a state in the ter- and brought hundreds of thousands out onto National Liberation Front (FLN) in its strug- In April 2013, Boutefl ika was rushed to drew anger from the Palestin- ritories, with East Jerusalem the streets across the country demanding he gle against French colonial rule. hospital in France after his stroke, and spent he Palestinian ambas- ians.Brazil has not officially as its capital. Alzeban said the step down. Dubbed Boutef by Algerians, he When independence came in 1962, he was three months recovering. He had already sador to Brazil said recognised Jerusalem as Isra- Palestinians were also upset had helped foster peace after a decade-long appointed minister of sport and tourism at been hospitalised in Paris in 2005 because of Tyesterday he may be re- el’s capital. Most world pow- because Bolsonaro did not civil war in the North African country in the the age of just 25, under Algeria’s fi rst presi- intestinal problems from which he has never called home after right-wing ers say the city’s status should consider a visit to the Pales- 1990s which killed nearly 200,000 people. dent, Ahmed Ben Bella. fully recovered. Boutefl ika’s decision to seek Brazilian President Jair Bol- only be decided as part of a tinian territories or co-ordi- “I am the whole of Algeria. I am the em- He became foreign minister the following a fourth mandate in 2014 after 15 years in sonaro’s new government said peace process with the Pales- nate his visit with Palestinian bodiment of the Algerian people,” he said in year, a post he held for more than a decade, power sparked both derision and criticism. it will open a trade mission to tinians. authorities. 1999, the year he became president. but was sidelined after the death of president He did not even campaign and voted from a Israel in Jerusalem. Palestinian ambassador in Bolsonaro is an outspoken But in recent years, Boutefl ika has had a Houari Boumediene in 1978 and went into wheelchair, but still won 81% of the vote. Brazil’s announcement on Brasilia Ibrahim Alzeban told admirer of US President Don- history of medical problems. self-imposed exile. But it was Boutefl ika’s bid for a fi fth term Sunday came during a visit by Reuters that he may be re- ald Trump, who broke with A stroke in 2013 aff ected his mobility and While he was abroad the military-backed in elections, which had been due to be held Bolsonaro to Israel. It stopped called, although a response consensus by recognising Je- speech, and he has used a wheelchair ever government cancelled the 1991 elections, in April, that proved the last straw for many. short of following the United was still under consideration. rusalem as Israel’s capital and since. He is rarely seen or heard in public. He which an Islamist party had been poised to His candidacy was submitted on March 3 States with a full embassy “From what I was told, it moving the US embassy there has also faced criticism from rights groups win, sparking a decade of bloodletting. while he was in Switzerland for what his of- move to the contested city of will depend on how (Bol- last year. and opponents who accuse him of being au- Boutefl ika returned from Switzerland in fi ce described as another round of routine Jerusalem, as Bolsonaro had sonaro’s) visit evolves,” Alze- Israeli Prime Minister Ben- thoritarian. 1999 to stand for president with the backing medical tests. suggested in January. ban said. “We wish that the jamin Netanyahu has said he When Boutefl ika came to power with the of the army which saw in him a potential fi g- On March 10, he returned home, and the Like most countries, Brazil subject of Jerusalem had not hopes that Brazil’s Jerusalem support of an army battling guerrillas, no- ure of reconciliation. next day pulled out of the race, and cancelled has an embassy in Tel Aviv. been touched upon.” trade office is a step toward body expected him to stay in offi ce for so He initially faced six rivals, but when the elections. Bolsonaro’s original pro- The Palestinian Foreign moving the embassy to the long. the opponents dropped out, crying foul, he Initial elation from demonstrators turned posal angered the Muslim Ministry said on Sunday the city. After his election he addressed critics who found himself the only candidate. to anger when he confi rmed he would stay on world, and senior Brazilian opening of the Jerusalem “There is no recognition of saw him as another puppet of the military, He proposed an amnesty for rebels who in power beyond the term of his mandate. On officials backed away from it trade office was as a “a fla- Jerusalem as the capital,” Bra- saying: “I’m not three-quarters of a presi- laid down their arms and twice secured pub- March 31, Boutefl ika named a new govern- for fear of damaging ties with grant violation of interna- zilian presidential spokesman dent.” lic endorsement for “national reconciliation” ment and one of his key backers, business Arab countries and jeopardis- tional legitimacy (and) direct Barros said. “Our president Paradoxically, it was only after his stroke through referendums. tycoon Ali Haddad, was arrested. ing billions of dollars in Bra- aggression against our people continues to evaluate this that Boutefl ika was able to consolidate The fi rst, in September 1999, was a major A day later the presidency announced zilian halal meat exports. and their rights.” possibility (of moving the em- power in a country where the shadowy in- gamble but paid off , leading to a sharp de- Boutefl ika would resign before his mandate Presidential spokesman Israel captured East Jerusa- bassy), but that is not what we telligence service has long been viewed as a crease in violence that helped propel Boute- expires on April 28, in a statement carried by Otavio Rego Barros said on lem along with the West Bank decided at this time.” “state within a state”. Boutefl ika was born in fl ika to a second term in 2004. the offi cial APS news agency. 5.2-quake Iran orders evacuation Bashir says protest strikes Iran in fl ood-hit western cities province demands ‘legitimate’ AFP Tehran AFP AFP the protests. “Some of them special courts to investigate vi- Tehran Khartoum took to the streets to express olations of the emergency rule, ranian authorities yester- their legitimate demands, but with many protesters jailed for day ordered the immediate some of those gatherings used participating in banned rallies. 5.2-magnitude earth- Ievacuation of fl ood-strick- udanese President Omar unlawful ways and destroyed Bashir imposed a year- quake yesterday struck en cities in a western province al-Bashir yesterday ac- properties.” long state of emergency but Athe western Iranian prov- as rivers burst their banks, Sknowledged the “le- Several offi ces and buildings lawmakers have cut it to six ince of Kermanshah bordering dams overfl owed and vast areas gitimate” demands of anti- belonging to Bashir’s ruling months. Iraq, authorities said, without were cut off from communica- government protesters, while National Congress Party were In the initial crackdown on reporting damage or casualties. tion. blaming several deaths on the set on fi re during early protests. protests, security agents de- The quake struck a region al- The highest level of alert was actions of political groups. “Some political groups are tained hundreds of demonstra- ready gripped by massive fl oods declared in Lorestan province Protests have rocked the east trying to use this to enhance tors, opposition leaders, activ- that have cut off entire cities and with four or fi ve cities “com- African country since Decem- hatred among the community ists and journalists. submerged many villages. pletely critical”, state television Iranian soldiers help civilians in a flooded area in a village around ber, with demonstrators calling because of which we lost many Many of them including More than 40 people were re- news network IRINN reported the city of Ahvaz, in Khuzestan province, yesterday. on the veteran leader to step people,” said Bashir, dressed in senior opposition fi gures have ported killed in fl oods last month from Khorramabad, the re- down. a traditional white-and-blue been released after weeks of across much of Iran. The nation- gion’s capital. ephones are not working, our ra- airport in the western city of They accuse Bashir’s gov- robe and white turban. detentions. al seismological centre said the “In Khorramabad the wa- dio communications are down... Khorramabad was fl ooded, ernment of mismanaging the Offi cials say 31 people have The United States has regu- quake’s epicentre was 22 kilome- ter has risen by as much as at this moment we have no news with images showing water country’s economy, leading to died in protest-related vio- larly criticised the detentions. tres south of the city of Sumar three metres (nearly 10 feet) in of other cities and villages,” he submerging the runway and soaring food prices and regular lence so far, while Human Yesterday, Bashir adopted and at a depth of 10 kilometres. parts...and reports are coming told IRINN, adding roads were cutting the province’s main air shortages of fuel and foreign Rights Watch has put the death a conciliatory tone as he ad- “Thankfully there have been no in of regions...completely sub- fl ooded and helicopters were link to the rest of the country. currency. toll at 51 including children and dressed broader issues in Su- reports of damage or casualties till merged with residents strand- unable to take off due to the bad Authorities in Lorestan or- “The economic crisis has medics. dan. now,” Kermanshah’s governor- ed on their rooftops,” it added. weather. dered evacuations in many re- impacted a wide section of our The protests fi rst erupted in “I renew our commitment general Houshang Bazvand told The Red Crescent’s provincial “We have requested emer- gions, bringing in the armed people,” Bashir told lawmakers the central town of Atbara on for a permanent ceasefi re and state TV. Iran sits on top of two director, Sarem Rezaee, said his gency help from neighbouring forces to forcibly remove those in his fi rst speech to parliament December 19 after the govern- express readiness for a dialogue major tectonic plates and sees fre- organisation had lost contact provinces but at the present who do not comply, local media since a state of emergency he ment tripled the price of bread. that can lead to peace,” he told quent seismic activity. with much of the region. “Tel- no one can do anything.” The reported. imposed on February 22 to quell The authorities have set up lawmakers. Gulf Times Tuesday, April 2, 2019 11

AFRICA Ethiopia set to release crash probe report this week Agencies tigation” of the March 10 tragedy ber, killing 189 people on board. Families in 35 nations were left The same system was impli- and Ethiopia reportedly experi- Liability claims related to the Addis Ababa in which a Nairobi-bound Boeing After the second crash of a bereaved when the plane crashed cated in the October crash, with enced erratic steep climbs and Ethiopian crash and 737 MAX 737 MAX crashed shortly after Boeing 737 MAX, the aircraft was into a fi eld just minutes after initial investigations fi nding that descents, as well as fl uctuating grounding could be the larg- taking off from Addis Ababa. grounded worldwide. takeoff from the highland capital a sensor on the plane had trans- airspeeds, before crashing short- est aviation reinsurance claim preliminary report into Nebiat initially said the report It was not clear yesterday if the on a fl ight south to neighbouring mitted incorrect information to ly after takeoff . outside of war on record, broker the crash of a Boeing 737 would be released yesterday, but transport ministry’s preliminary Kenya. the MCAS system. The two crashes have been a Willis Re said yesterday. AMAX 8 in which 157 peo- the transport ministry which is report would be made public A source with knowledge of the The pilots of Lion Air Flight major blow for Boeing, triggering Separately, Norwegian Air said ple died will be likely issued this in charge of investigations, later straight away, or limited to the investigation has said an anti- 610 struggled to control the air- the US manufacturer’s biggest its chief executive Bjoern Kjos week, the Ethiopian government said it would still be some days. eyes of authorities including the stalling system, the Manoeuvring craft as the MCAS repeatedly crisis in decades. would travel to meet Boeing in said yesterday. “The report will most like- US Federal Aviation Administra- Characteristics Augmentation pushed the plane’s nose down, The stakes are high, with Boe- Seattle. It gave no details on the exact ly be released some day later tion (FAA). System (MCAS), was activated according to the fl ight data re- ing trying to hold on to nearly Norwegian, which has 18 737 timing of the release, nor hints this week,” transport ministry The plane’s black boxes are shortly before the crash. corder. 5,000 MAX 737 orders; air safety MAX 8 in its fl eet and is sched- about the report’s fi ndings. spokesman Mussie Yiheyes said. being examined by France’s BEA Boeing designed the automat- The pilot had tried repeat- regulators facing questions over uled to take delivery of dozens Foreign ministry spokesman The airplane, operated by air safety agency, working with ed MCAS system - which lowers edly to regain control and pull the their scrutiny of the aircraft; more in the coming months and Nebiat Getachew said the trans- Ethiopian Airlines, was the same American and Ethiopian inves- the aircraft’s nose if it detects a nose up, but the plane crashed and airlines and victims’ families years, said last month it would port ministry would release “a model than the Indonesian Lion tigators to determine what went stall or loss of airspeed - for this into the sea. looking for answers - and poten- seek compensation from Boeing preliminary report into its inves- Air plane which crashed in Octo- wrong. particular model. Both the planes in Indonesia tially compensation. over the grounding.

Intelligence services free Hunger stalks Nigerian journalist Mozambique AFP Warri, Nigeria

Nigerian journalist ar- rested at gunpoint by Asuspected state agents after cyclone last weekend was released from intelligence headquarters yes- terday afternoon, one of his col- leagues told AFP. Morris Alagoa, an activist for Niger Delta Rights, a human rights group in southern Nigeria, fl attens crops said Jones Abiri had been held by the Department of State Services Reuters ness association, Agbiz. But residents said Nham- (DSS). Nhampuepua, Mozambique How that might impact prices puepua, an hour-and-a-half’s Abiri was arrested at gunpoint is uncertain. drive from Beira, was falling on Sunday as he met colleagues “Food-security-wise, it’s been through the cracks. at the offi ces of the Bayelsa Fed- ulai Joaquim has enough devastating,” the World Food The only aid that had reached erated Newspaper Publishers’ food to feed his 10 children Programme’s director for South- there by Saturday was donated Association in the state capital, Ffor another week, maybe ern Africa, Lola Castro, told Reu- by a local petrol company. Yenagoa. two. ters at the airport in the cyclone- Nhampuepua’s suff ering high- Yesterday morning Alagoa Then, he says, it is in the hands hit port city of Beira. lights the scale of the task con- said he spoke to Abiri, who con- of God. “We have to scale up fast.” fronting humanitarian agencies fi rmed he was “on the premises A cyclone ripped his cassava WFP has delivered food aid to and the government. of the DSS in Abuja” before his crop from the ground, leaving some 200,000 Mozambicans and The United Nations humani- subsequent release after his bail the roots to rot in the fi eld, and aims to reach a million in the next tarian co-ordination agency, conditions were met. the fl oods that followed washed two weeks, Castro said. which is overseeing the disaster Following his release, Abiri away his maize. But that is not enough. response, estimates that 1.85mn “still wasn’t told his off ence,” “There have been a lot of Farmers also need seeds to re- people scattered across an area according to Alagoa. tears,” said Joaquim, 45, as he plant as quickly as possible. of 3,000sq km - roughly the size “We are yet to be briefed on trudged past the small plots of “It needs to be done yester- of Luxembourg - were aff ected reasons for his arrest,” he said. land that hug the mud and stick day,” Castro said. by the storm in Mozambique Abiri, who is the editor and homes of Nhampuepua, also de- The storm could not have come alone. publisher of the Weekly Source stroyed by the storm. at a worse time, barely a month The subsistence farmers of newspaper, had previously “Everyone is hungry.” before the main maize harvest, Nhampuepua, hardened by years been detained by intelligence Hundreds of rural communi- the region’s principal crop. of poverty, are already replant- officers for two years without ties were plunged into food crisis In countless villages, Reuters ing what they can, using cuttings trial. after Cyclone Idai tore through saw households desperately try- from the uprooted cassava plants He was held over alleged links central Mozambique on March ing to dry green, unripe cobs sal- that now litter the village. to armed rebel groups in the oil- 14, humanitarian workers say. vaged from the fl ood waters. But the land has its rhythm and rich Niger Delta region. The government estimates But villagers said eating the will not be rushed, however great During his detention he had that more than 700,000 hectares cobs was making them ill. the need. no access to a lawyer or his fam- of agricultural land was fl ooded, In Bebedo, 100km northwest Only in eight months will the ily, according to the Committee leaving many farmers with noth- of Beira, dozens of families came cassava be ready to eat. to Protect Journalists (CPJ). ing to harvest. out to see a Russian-made heli- Until then, hunger is a real Abiri was freed in August last From the air, the kilometres copter land in a cloud of dust, threat. year following a campaign by of fl attened crops look like thin- carrying a WFP delivery of forti- On Saturday, Diniz Jeronimo, rights organisations. ning, slicked-back hair. fi ed food. 28, and his family of fi ve shared a CPJ Africa programme co- More than 750 people died in Within 20 minutes, they had bowl of plain boiled spaghetti for ordinator Angela Quintal said: the storm and heavy rains before carried more than a hundred their only meal. “We are deeply worried that he it hit Mozambique and two oth- brown boxes of Plumpy’sup, Their crops were devastated. has once again been arrested er southern African countries, a fortifi ed peanut paste used Like most of the community, and that his whereabouts are not Zimbabwe and Malawi. to treat malnutrition in young the family’s only immediate in- known. Two weeks later, as search and children, as well as white sacks come comes from selling char- “We call on federal and state rescue operations wind down, containing a soy and corn fl our coal, which takes seven days to authorities in Nigeria to disclose the focus is shifting to feeding blend. make. where Abiri is being detained the survivors. It was the second delivery that On the slow, sandy road to and the reasons for his arrest, Maize imports to Mozambique day. Dondo, the nearest town, a stream and urge that they ensure that could double this year from The village is being used as a of bicycles carried sacks of the his rights are not violated yet the usual 100,000 tonnes, said distribution centre to feed neigh- fuel. again and that due process is re- People wait to receive aid at a camp for the people displaced in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai in John Wandile Sihlobo, an economist bouring communities -17,000 Now Diniz is worried the price spected.” Segredo near Beira, Mozambique. with the South African agribusi- mouths in all. will come down.

Ebola outbreak spreading Sierra Leone bans faster than ever: WHO fi shing for a month AFP peace environmental group. Freetown Sierra Leone National Fish- Reuters WHO spokesman Christian Lind- two of the most aff ected areas. ermen Consortium chairman Geneva meier. Another challenge has been a Alpha Sheku Kamara accused Previous spikes of around 50 mistrust of fi rst responders. ierra Leone has banned in- China and Korea of destroying cases per week were documented A survey conducted last Sep- dustrial fi shing in its ter- stocks. emocratic Republic of in late January and mid-Novem- tember by medical journal The Sritorial waters for a month “We are happy that the gov- Congo’s Ebola outbreak is ber. Lancet found that a quarter of from yesterday in a move to try ernment has declared fi shing Dspreading at its fastest rate More alarmingly, about three- people sampled in two Ebola to shore up stocks that was ap- period closure after series of yet, eight months after it was fi rst quarters of Ebola deaths last hotspots did not believe the dis- plauded by environmental activ- complaints,” he told AFP at the detected, the World Health Or- week occurred outside of treat- ease was real. ists. bustling Tombo fi shing com- ganisation (WHO) said yesterday. ment centres, according to Congo Lindmeier said new approach- The government also decreed munity outside the capital Free- Each of the past two weeks has health ministry data, meaning es to community outreach were an April 1-30 halt to exports by town. registered a record number of new there is a much greater chance showing signs of progress and major fi shing companies “to “Industrial fi shing boats from cases, marking a sharp setback for they transmitted the virus to that some previously hostile local protect our fi sh stock from de- China and Korea are destroying eff orts to respond to the second those around them. residents had recently agreed to pletion”, said a statement from our nets and also depleting the biggest outbreak ever, as militia “People are becoming infected grant health workers access. the fi sheries ministry. fi sh stock,” he said. violence and community resist- without access to response meas- One treatment centre that “All industrial fishing com- “We are calling on the govern- ance have impeded access to af- ures,” Lindmeier told Reuters. closed in February after being panies should stock their fish ment to eff ectively enforce the fected areas. The current outbreak is be- torched by unknown assailants in cold rooms during the pe- ban with surveillance.” Less than three weeks ago, the lieved to have killed 676 people reopened last week. riod of closure,” Minister of Many coastal communities in WHO said the outbreak of the and infected 406 others. More than 11,000 people died Fisheries Emma Kowa Jalloh Sierra Leone depend on fi shing haemorrhagic fever was largely Another 331 patients have re- in West Africa’s 2013-16 Ebola told AFP. for food and their livelihood, said contained and could be stopped covered. outbreak. The West African states of Steve Trent, executive director at by September, noting that weekly In the past two months, fi ve Since then, health authorities Mauritania, Senega, Gambia, Environmental Justice Founda- case numbers had halved from Ebola centres have been attacked, have worked to speed up their re- Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and tion (EJF). earlier in the year to about 25. some by armed militiamen. sponses and deployed an experi- Sierra Leone lost about $2.3bn “We applaud the ban but the But the number of cases hit a That led French medical char- mental vaccine and treatments, Health workers carry a newly admitted confirmed Ebola patient a year from 2010 to 2016 due long answer is for legal, equitable record 57 the following week, and ity Medecins Sans Frontieres both of which have been consid- into a treatment centre in Butembo in the eastern Democratic to illegal and undeclared fish- and sustainable fi shing industry then jumped to 72 last week, said (MSF) to suspend its activities in ered eff ective. Republic of Congo. ing, according to the Green- management to be introduced.” Gulf Times 12 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 AMERICAS

Provinces Census meaningless without fall foul citizenship question: Trump of Canada

Reuters the census, more likely hurting Dem- carbon tax Washington ocrats than Republicans. When Ross announced the addition of a citizenship question in March By David Ljunggren, Reuters resident Donald Trump yester- 2018, he said it was in response to a Ottawa day injected himself into one of Department of Justice request for data Pthe most consequential cases of to help enforce the Voting Rights Act, the current Supreme Court term, say- which protects eligible voters from anada yesterday imposed a land- ing the nation’s 2020 census would discrimination. mark carbon tax on four provinces be “meaningless” without adding a Only US citizens can vote in federal Cwhich had defi ed Ottawa’s push to citizenship question to the question- elections. combat climate change, prompting un- naire. Non-citizens comprise about 7% happy premiers to say they would chal- The comment on Twitter came of the 328.7mn people living in the lenge the measure. ahead of an expected ruling from the United States. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, citing Supreme Court on whether Com- Census questionnaires have not international commitments to fi ght global merce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ deci- included a citizenship question since warming, had made clear for two years he sion to add the citizenship question 1950. would slap the tax on any of the 10 prov- violated federal law. “The census is the administration’s inces that did not come up with their own “Can you believe that the Radical new front on its war on immigration plans by yesterday. Left Democrats want to do our new and, sadly, the president’s tweet to- The measure is opposed by Ontario, the and very important Census Report day bears out that concern,” said Terri most populous province, where Trudeau’s without the all important Citizenship Ann Lowenthal, a former staff direc- Liberals need to do well to stand a chance Question,” Trump tweeted. “Report tor on the House census oversight of retaining power in a federal election would be meaningless and a waste of committee who now advises groups this October. the $Billions (ridiculous) that it costs seeking an accurate 2020 count. Carbon pollution will initially cost to put together!” The Supreme Court is reviewing a C$20 ($15) a tonne, rising by C$10 a year The citizenship question is among January 15 by US District Judge Jesse until it reaches C$50 in 2022. a series of White House policies sig- Furman in Manhattan, fi nding that It also applies in Manitoba, Saskatch- nalling tighter control over immigra- the addition of the citizenship ques- ewan and New Brunswick. tion. tion was illegal, and that Ross’ deci- “As of today, it’s no longer free to pol- These include Trump’s declara- sion to add it was “arbitrary and ca- lute anywhere in Canada,” Environment tion in February of a national emer- pricious.” Steven Dillingham, United States Census Bureau Director, speaks about the upcoming Census 2020 at the National Minister Catherine McKenna said on gency to obtain funds for a wall on the Oral arguments are scheduled for Press Club in Washington, DC, yesterday. From June 2020 through July 2020 census takers will go door-to-door to Twitter. US-Mexico border, and his threat to April 23, with a decision expected by count people who have not responded to the 2020 Census. “Climate change is real...some politi- close the border as soon as this week, the end of June. cians may not care much, but our kids and disrupting legal crossings as well as Furman said Commerce Secretary Furman, an appointee of former question, and that there was a “long Following that ruling, the Supreme our grandkids do.” trade. Wilbur Ross broke a “veritable smor- president Barack Obama, stopped pedigree” in the census for asking Court said it will also decide whether Offi cial data regularly show Canada has The US Constitution requires a gasbord” of federal rules by including short of a fi nding that Ross intended about citizenship or country of birth. Ross’ actions violated the Constitu- little chance of meeting its climate change census every 10 years, with results the question, and that enforcement of to discriminate against immigrants. He also said other democracies in- tion’s Enumeration Clause, which goals of reducing emissions by 30% from used to draw political boundaries, the Voting Rights Act was a “pretexu- The decision came in a lawsuit cluding Australia, Canada, France, sets out terms for counting people. 2005 levels by 2030. allocate seats in Congress and at the al” rationale for adding it. brought by 18 US states, 15 cities and a Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Mexico, Adding the citizenship ques- Although Ottawa says the money col- state and local level, and distribute The judge said adding the ques- variety of civil rights groups. Spain, and the United Kingdom ask tion could lead to an undercount of lected will be returned to taxpayers in roughly $800bn of federal funds. tion would cause many states to lose In urging the Supreme Court to about citizenship on their censuses. 4.2mn Hispanics alone, the Harvard the form of rebates, right-leaning parties Critics have accused Trump of en- federal funding, while Arizona, Cali- overturn Furman’s ruling, Solici- Another federal judge, Richard See- Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center portray it as a cash grab. couraging an undercount by dissuad- fornia, Florida, Illinois, New York and tor General Noel Francisco said Ross borg in San Francisco, on March 6 also on Media, Politics and Public Policy The Conservatives, who polls show ing immigrants from participating in Texas would lose Congressional seats. had discretion to add the citizenship declared the citizenship question illegal. estimated last month. could win the October election as a scan- dal over alleged political interference dogs Trudeau, promise to scrap the measure. Supreme Court: Inmates not Ontario premier Doug Ford vowed to guaranteed a painless death oppose what he called “the worst tax ever” in court. The Supreme Court yesterday made it clear that House panel escalates probe into disputed “We’re going to keep fi ghting this car- the US Constitution does not guarantee a prison- bon tax with every single tool at our dis- er sentenced to capital punishment “a painless posal,” he said in a fi lmed statement. death,” paving the way for the execution of a Scott Moe, the premier of Saskatch- convicted murderer who sought to die by lethal security clearances issued by White House ewan, which has already launched a chal- gas rather than lethal injection because of a rare lenge, said he hoped the tax was an April medical condition. By Ginger Gibson and Mark sought by the committee, includ- two-dozen individuals allowed turned, according to Cummings. Fool’s joke. Russell Bucklew, 50, had argued that lethal Hosenball, Reuters ing the list generated by Newbold, access to national security infor- He said Newbold has worked in “We now have four provinces repre- injection might inflict undue agony by rupturing Washington a manager in the White House mation despite recommendations the White House for 18 years. senting half the population in this nation blood-filled tumours on his body caused by a personnel security offi ce. that their clearance applications “I would not be doing a service that say this is a fl awed policy,” Moe told congenital condition called cavernous heman- Cummings letter yesterday be denied. to myself, my country or my chil- the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. gioma in violation of the Constitution’s Eighth S House Oversight Com- was the second sent from Con- The House Oversight Com- dren if I sat back knowing that the Trudeau’s other eff orts to combat cli- Amendment, which bars cruel and unusual mittee Chairman Elijah gress, warning the White House of mittee is investigating security issues that we have could impact mate change are also proving a challenge. punishment. In a decision written by conserva- UCummings yesterday pending subpoenas as the Demo- clearance abuses that involve national security,” Cummings Last year the government unveiled leg- tive Justice Neil Gorsuch, the court ruled 5-4 that threatened to begin subpoenaing cratic-controlled Congress seeks Kushner, who is a senior adviser quoted Newbold as saying. islation to overhaul environmental as- Bucklew had failed to present enough evidence current and former White House to compel the administration to to the president, and others, amid Newbold also was targeted for sessments of energy projects, paying more for them to let him ask a lower court to allow offi cials as part of an investigation comply with wide-ranging inves- reports that Trump ordered his retaliation after declining to ap- attention to greenhouse gas emissions. him to be executed by lethal gas. into two dozen disputed security tigations. former chief of staff John Kelly prove applications based on na- Critics say this will deter future invest- The court’s five conservatives were in the clearances issued under President House Judiciary chairman Jerry to provide Kushner with clear- tional security protocols, Cum- ment at a time when existing projects are majority and its four liberals dissented. Donald Trump, including that of Nadler informed the administra- ance over objections from Kelly mings said. already in trouble. Referencing the history of capital punish- his son-in-law Jared Kushner. tion yesterday that he intends to and Donald McGahn, then White “I’m terrifi ed of going back. I Canada bought Kinder Morgan Canada ment, Gorsuch wrote that “the Eighth Amend- In a letter sent yesterday to subpoena Special Counsel Rob- House counsel. know that this will not be per- Ltd’s Trans Mountain crude pipeline for ment does not guarantee a prisoner a painless White House counsel Pat Cipol- ert Muller’s full report on his in- Democrats have made repeated ceived in favour of my intentions, C$4.5bn last year after the company ex- death — something that, of course, isn’t guaran- lone, Cummings said his panel vestigation into alleged Russian requests for documents and inter- which is to bring back the integ- pressed doubts it could proceed with plans teed to many people, including most victims of would move to authorise a sub- meddling in the 2016 presidential views but say the White House has rity of the offi ce,” she is quoted as to more than double the existing capacity. capital crimes.” poena of former White House per- election. been stonewalling. saying in the letter. Yesterday’s ruling was in line with a decision sonnel security director Carl Kline The White House did not im- “The committee now plans Cummings wants to depose from 2015 in which the court rejected a chal- at a committee meeting today. mediately respond to a request for to proceed with (a) compulsory Kline about security clearance Many airlines hit by lenge to Oklahoma’s method of execution by With the demands, the com- comment. process and begin authorizing practices at the White House in lethal injection on a 5-4 vote. In that case, the mittee revealed that an admin- Attorney Abbe Lowell, who subpoenas, starting at tomorrow’s the past two years, the treatment system-wide outages court held that inmates challenging a method istration whistleblower, Tricia represents Kushner and his wife, business meeting,” Cummings of specifi c cases and his interac- of execution had to come up with an alternative Newbold, had detailed in an in- Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, said in the letter. tions with Newbold. S airlines were yesterday hit by option that was less painful. terview to the panel accusations had no comment. The committee has interviewed After deposing Kline, Cum- system-wide computer outages There was no evidence that Bucklew’s chosen of being pressured to recommend Jim Jordan, the top Republican Newbold about “grave security mings said the committee would Urelated to problems with the Aero- alternative — lethal gas — would be any less security clearances for offi cials on the committee, issued a state- risks” that she has witnessed in interview others from the White data planning weight and balance pro- painful, said Gorsuch. who had previously been denied. ment calling the letter a “partisan the past two years, Cummings House, including the current chief gram, the Federal Aviation Administration Gorsuch noted that Bucklew is awaiting She told the committee she kept attack” that was “an excuse to go said. security offi cer, former chief se- said. After reporting problems along with execution for crimes committed more than two of a list of more than two dozen fi shing through the personal fi les Newbold told the committee curity offi cer Cory Louie, chief several major peers, however, Southwest decades ago. “Yet since then, he has managed people who had received denials. of dedicated public servants.” that she and other career offic- operating offi cer Samuel Price, Airlines Co said on Twitter that it had re- to secure delay through lawsuit after lawsuit,” Cummings called on the White Cummings also said his com- ers have adjudicated dozens of former deputy chief of staff Joseph ceived word that the problem had already Gorsuch wrote. House to avoid additional sub- mittee is working with Newbold, denials of security clearance ap- Hagin and deputy director of ad- been resolved and that systems would be poenas by providing documents who he said knows of more than plications that were later over- ministration William Hughes. back up soon. Americans still don’t trust self-driving cars: poll

By Paul Lienert and All are ploughing capital into things they know,” said inves- “At the moment, those re- ents said self-driving cars should lidar sensors and high-powered for a luxury trim package, the Maria Caspani, Reuters developing self-driving vehicles tor Chris Thomas, co-founder of sponses are largely based on zero be held to higher government onboard computers. Lidar is sim- answer in a lot of cases is going New York and related hardware. Fontinalis Partners and Detroit knowledge and zero experience, safety standards than traditional ilar to radar but uses laser light to be no.” Developers of the technology Mobility Lab. so it’s mostly a visceral reaction vehicles driven by humans. instead of radio waves. The challenges of turning over are making progress, but polls “When everybody under- to something they read about, “I’m concerned that even critical safety systems to robots alf of US adults think indicate the industry’s eff orts to stands the game-changing at- like the (2018) Uber crash in Ari- “If you’d asked people if when we get the technology ab- are now a central issue in debate automated vehicles are build public trust and commer- tributes of automated vehicles, zona,” said Dan Sperling, director they’d pay $15,000 for an solutely right, we will not have over how regulators should re- Hmore dangerous than cial demand lag behind. how they can give you back all of the Institute of Transporta- advanced safety package the business,” said investor and spond to a pair of deadly crashes traditional vehicles operated by The fi ndings are similar to that time to read or work or sleep, tion Studies at the University of or even $10,000 for a corporate adviser Evangelos Si- involving Boeing 737 MAX airlin- people, while nearly two-thirds those from the earlier 2018 Reu- they will start to ask about the California, Davis, and the author luxury trim package, moudis, managing director of ers. said they would not buy a fully ters/Ipsos poll. value of that recaptured time.” of several books on future trans- the answer in a lot of Synapse Partners, which invests Investigators trying to deter- autonomous vehicle, according They are consistent with re- For companies investing in au- portation. cases is going to be no” in autonomous vehicle technol- mine the causes of crashes in to a new Reuters/Ipsos opinion sults in surveys by Pew Research tonomous vehicles, public mis- Autonomous vehicle compa- ogy startups. Indonesia and Ethiopia are fo- poll. Center, the American Automo- trust and the unwillingness to nies have been trying for more “Somebody needs to be held Self-driving expert Bryant cusing on evidence that an au- In the same poll, about 63% of bile Association and others. pay for self-driving systems are than two years to get the US Con- accountable,” said survey re- Walker Smith, a law professor tomated fl ight control system on those who responded said they In March 2018, after the 2018 an increasingly urgent problem. gress to enact legislation that spondent Carla Ross, 62, a at the University of South Caro- the jets put the planes into nose would not pay more to have a Reuters/Ipsos poll, an Uber ve- But widespread deployment would give a regulatory green teacher from Norfolk, Virginia. lina, said a number of compa- dives, and pilots were unable to self-driving feature on their ve- hicle operating in self-driving of fully self-driving vehicles is light to self-driving cars. “Those cars shouldn’t even go nies “don’t actually want to sell override the systems. hicle, and 41% of the rest said mode struck and killed a pedes- some years away, industry offi - So far, opposition has bottled on the road until they can guar- people these cars — they want “If there’s one (airplane) crash they would not pay more than trian in Arizona. cials and experts said. up the industry friendly bills. antee a certain percentage of to rent us these services. They a year, it creates huge backlash $2,000. Relatively, few US residents Alphabet Inc’s Waymo unit The National Highway Traf- safety.” want us to pay every month, — and airplanes are far, far safer The poll results outline the have seen or ridden in a self- has deployed a small fl eet of self- fi c Safety Administration mean- The poll’s fi ndings that most every trip.” than cars,” said Sperling. challenges that face car and truck driving vehicle, and experts said driving vans to provide rides for while has yet to act on proposals consumers would not pay for For many Americans, “$2,000 The Reuters/Ipsos poll sur- makers, delivery companies, suspicion of unknown technol- customers in Arizona, and other to exempt autonomous vehicles self-driving vehicle capability is a lot of money,” he said. veyed 2,222 people online in technology companies and ride ogy can give way to acceptance companies have self-driving ve- from conventional vehicle safety underscores concerns within the “If you’d asked people if they’d English across the United States services operators such as Uber once it becomes more familiar. hicles on public streets in test standards. vehicle industry about the high pay $15,000 for an advanced and it has a credibility interval, a Technologies Inc and Lyft Inc. “People are comfortable with fl eets. Two-thirds of survey respond- costs of the technology, such as safety package or even $10,000 measure of precision, of 2%. Gulf Times Tuesday, April 2, 2019 13 ASIA 27 killed as freak storm US gives Vietnam six batters Nepal district more patrol AFP Bara

freak storm tore down boats as houses and overturned Acars and trucks as it swept across southern Nepal killing at least 27 people and leaving more than 600 in- ties grow jured, offi cials said yesterday as a major rescue operation AFP followed a historic visit of a US gathered pace. Hanoi aircraft carrier, the fi rst since High winds battered the the end of the Vietnam War rural district of Bara and ad- in 1975. joining areas late Sunday. he US handed over six Vietnam Coast Guard Five children were among the patrol boats and equip- Colonel Nguyen Minh Khanh dead, the home ministry said, Tment worth $12mn to said the transfer marks as rescuers battled to get re- the Vietnamese coast guard, “another milestone and lief supplies to the region and the embassy in Hanoi said evidence of the continued evacuate injured. yesterday, as the former foes friendship between the US The winds were so fi erce that continue to boost political and and Vietnam”. they overturned a bus carrying defence ties. The boats will be used to passengers, witnesses said. Hous- Vietnam and the United combat traffi cking, piracy, il- es, trees and electricity pylons States have become staunch legal fi shing and other mari- were all toppled in the storm. allies in recent years as time law enforcement, the Whole villages have been China exerts infl uence in statement said. fl attened and families were left the hotly contested South Vietnam has long been at mourning the death of relatives China Sea. odds with Beijing over the killed by trees and the debris, an The latest military deal saw South China Sea and is keen AFP photographer in the strick- the US transfer six 45ft (14m) to fl ex its military might en region said. Overturned cars Metal Shark patrol boats to by strengthening military blocked some roads. counterparts on the central ties with the US and other Injured victims fl ocked to local coastline of Khanh Hoa on powerful allies. hospitals who were unable to cope, March 29. Beijing claims most of the with some people were airlifted to People sit on the rubble of the houses destroyed by a storm at Bara district yesterday. It was the third handover resource-rich waterway and Kathmandu for treatment. in a four-tier deal and marks has built artifi cial islands and “People who went back into rything, my home and my fam- Rescuers struggled to reach ing Nepal’s monsoon season, gling to reach far-fl ung areas. “another important step in deployed military equipment their houses for shelter were ily,” Ram Babu Patel, 45, whose many settlements blocked by but storms causing such high Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli the continued security coop- to the sea. crushed,” said Jay Prakash Das, a wife was killed in the storm, said. fallen trees and electricity poles. casualties in spring are rare. expressed his condolences and eration between the United Though Washington Bara resident. “I was at home getting ready “Security bodies includ- The disaster comes as Nepal said that the government would States and Vietnam”, the and Hanoi have cosied in “We rushed out to help. A for dinner when the storm hit ing the army have been work- nears the fourth anniversary of do its best for treatment of the embassy said. the face of Beijing’s build- man had died right next to our - it was unbelievable. We have ing intensely since Sunday a devastating earthquake that injured. The latest delivery brings up in the sea, US Presi- building under a tree. People nothing left.” night on rescues and relief,” killed nearly 9,000 people and The provincial government the number of ships handed dent Donald Trump has had fractured bones and many Prakash Tharu, a volunteer in said Rajesh Poudel, Bara’s left millions homeless. has announced free treatment over to Vietnam to 18, and ratcheted up pressure on had head injuries,” Das added. Bara district, said the devastation district chief. Nepal’s diffi cult terrain and and a fi nancial assistance of there will be 24 in total. Vietnam to buy military “I’ve never seen anything like caused by the storm had left “a Every year hundreds die limited infrastructure often 300,000 rupees ($2,710) for The previous tranche of equipment to narrow a this. The winds took away eve- desperate need for food and relief.” in landslides and fl oods dur- leaves emergency workers strug- families of the dead. boats arrived a year ago and yawning trade gap. Vietnam suspect in Kim murder to be freed as charges dropped

AFP accused, Doan Thi Huong from who was at court, said he shown CCTV footage of them Shah Alam, Malaysia Vietnam, and replaced it with a planned to “host a big party to approaching Kim as he waited lesser one. welcome my youngest daughter for fl ight, one of them plac- She pleaded guilty to “caus- back home”. ing their hands on his face, and Vietnamese woman ac- ing injury” and was handed a Huong had already failed at then both of them running to cused of assassinating three year and four month jail one attempt to secure an early bathrooms before fl eeing the Athe North Korean lead- term, with her lawyers saying release. airport. er’s half-brother is to walk free she would be freed next month Days after Aisyah’s charge But the pair always main- after Malaysia dropped murder due to sentence reductions. was dropped, prosecutors an- tained they were innocent charges against her yesterday, The women would have been nounced that the attorney- pawns in a plan hatched by weeks after her Indonesian co- sentenced to death by hanging general had rejected a request North Korea and believed they accused was also released. if convicted of murder. to withdraw Huong’s murder were carrying out pranks for a The 2017 killing of Kim Jong While there was relief for charge, prompting her to break reality TV show. Nam with a toxic nerve agent at Huong, the outcome means her down in fl oods of tears in court. In the run-up to the killing, Kuala Lumpur’s international conviction is the only one over Hanoi had stepped up diplo- the North Koreans who be- airport shocked the world, but the sensational assassination matic pressure on Malaysia after friended the women got them Doan Thi Huong’s guilty plea of Kim Jong-un’s estranged Huong’s fi rst failed release bid, to practise smearing harmless to the lesser charge of “causing relative, who was seen as heir following the example of the substances on people’s faces in injury” makes her the only per- apparent to the North Korean Indonesian government which public locations in exchange for son convicted in the case. leadership until he fell out of had mounted a sustained dip- money. Malaysia allowed the two favour. lomatic off ensive to secure the The women’s lawyers said women’s suspected North Ko- Huong, a 30-year-old former release of 27-year-old Aisyah. the real masterminds were four BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, centre, is escorted to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University rean handlers to leave in the hair salon worker who had been Aisyah was freed immedi- North Koreans who were seen (BSMMU) for treatment in Dhaka yesterday. days after the murder, amid a living a precarious existence ately after her murder charge at the airport on the day of the furious diplomatic row as Seoul among Malaysia’s army of mi- was dropped and she fl ew murder meeting the pair, and accused Pyongyang of plotting grant workers before her arrest, back to Indonesia to a jubilant fl ed after the assassination. The the Cold War-style hit. said she was “happy” after the welcome. four were charged in absentia The pair, who claimed they verdict was handed down. The decision not to release along with the women over the were tricked into carrying out “This is a fair sentence,” Huong straight away sparked killing. Bangladesh opposition the killing, were put on trial she told reporters at the High criticism in Vietnam and Ma- The assassination also facing a murder charge. Court in Shah Alam, outside laysia of her unfair treatment sparked a furious row between But last month the charge Kuala Lumpur. “This is a fair and accusations of political North Korea and Malaysia, pre- against Indonesian suspect Siti judgement; I thank the Ma- meddling in the justice system. viously one of nuclear-armed Aisyah was dropped and yes- laysian government and the During the women’s long- Pyongyang’s few allies, and leader Zia hospitalised terday, prosecutors withdrew Vietnamese government.” running trial which began in prompted both countries to ex- the charge against the second Her father Doan Van Thanh, October 2017, the court was pel each other’s ambassadors. AFP “That’s why the authorities harassed and detained by secu- Dhaka decided to admit her to hospital.” rity forces ahead of a national Zia, clad in sunglasses and a election in December. pink head scarf, was transferred Hasina won that poll in a angladesh’s jailed op- to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib landslide, taking 288 seats in the Lanka destroys nearly position leader Khaleda Medical University under heavy 300-seat parliament. BZia was taken to hospital police guard and taken by wheel- The BNP won just seven in the in Dhaka yesterday for tests, chair into the facility. election marred by deadly vio- 800 kilos of cocaine said her lawyer, who described The hospital’s director, Briga- lence and claims of widespread the two-time former prime dier General Mahbubul Haq, said rigging. AFP detect narcotics at ports and minister as “deteriorating Zia was admitted in a weak con- Hasina - an erstwhile ally of Colombo airports, his offi ce said in a day by day”. dition and would undergo tests Zia, before the powerful women statement. Zia, a chief rival of Bangla- and treatment. fell out - insists she won fairly. Sirisena “reiterated his desire desh’s premier Sheikh Hasina, “She is diabetic. She is weak Zia was found guilty in Febru- ri Lankan police yesterday to carry out capital punishment was sentenced last year to a and has lost her appetite for ary 2018 of embezzling money destroyed nearly 800 ki- for repeat drug off enders”, the decade in prison on corruption food,” he said, adding she was intended for an orphanage, a Slos (1,280 pounds) of co- statement added. charges her supporters say are also suff ering from arthritis. charge her outraged supporters caine in the presence of Presi- Following a visit to the Phil- politically motivated. Zia was admitted to hospital marched against in the street. dent Maithripala Sirisena, who ippines in January, Sirisena said The 73-year-old, who is dia- in October also suff ering from ill The sentence was later has called for the death penalty he wanted to copy President Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena (second right) walks past betic and suff ers from arthritis, health. doubled by the High Court. for traffi ckers. ’s strongarm seized cocaine prepared to be destroyed near Colombo yesterday. was also hospitalised in October Her supporters say the Zia is appealing the verdict The drugs were seized in four tactics against illegal drugs. for treatment. government was putting her which prevented her from run- raids between June 2016 and He has vowed to end a 43- Colombo shopping mall. earlier, authorities discovered Her lawyer, Masud Ahmed welfare at risk housing her in ning against Hasina in the elec- June 2018. More drugs await year moratorium on death pen- In 2013, police seized 260 ki- 301 kilos of cocaine inside a Talukder, said her condition had Dhaka Central Jail, a formerly tion. She is also fi ghting doz- the conclusion of court cases alty and execute repeat drug los of heroin brought into the shipping container. worsened inside the 19th-cen- abandoned prison where she ens of other violence and graft before they are also destroyed convicts, but is yet to sign a country hidden inside tractors Authorities believe the Indian tury prison where she is the sole was sentenced by a special related charges. under judicial supervision, death warrant. imported from Pakistan. Ocean island is also being used inmate. court for graft. A widow of a military dicta- offi cials said. In February, police seized Sri Lanka’s biggest drug haul, as a traffi cking transit point. “She is extremely ill. Her con- Zia leads the Bangladesh Na- tor who ruled Bangladesh in the Sirisena vowed to step up nearly 300 kilos of heroin by weight, was in December Last week, nine Iranians were dition is deteriorating day by tionalist Party (BNP), the main late 1970s, Zia was prime min- his drug war and promised to worth $17mn, the island’s big- 2016 when police seized 800 arrested transporting 100 kilos day,” her lawyer Masud Ahmed opposition party whose sup- ister from 1991-1996 and again import high tech equipment to gest haul, while in transit at a kilos of cocaine. Six months of heroin in a trawler. Talukder said. porters and candidates were in 2001-2006. Gulf Times 14 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA New Zealand shooters back gun control after Christchurch tragedy

AFP after the shooting and will put Details on gun reform released US at 15mn. Philip Alperts, a gun Kiwis who own guns say ‘I don’t Wellington laws to parliament formalising policy researcher at the Univer- think they should be easy to get its action today. Finalising such New Zealand owners of most used in the terrorist attack will ownership of the firearms. “The sity of Sydney, said the crucial and it’s not my right, they should legislation can often take months semi-automatic rifles will have be banned,” Police Minister attack exposed considerable diff erence between New Zealand check I’m not predisposed to vi- ew Zealand will crack but Ardern says the matter is so until the end of September to Stuart Nash said in a statement. weaknesses in our laws,” Nash and the United States was the US olence or going to go off the rails,” down on fi rearms owner- urgent it will be done by April 11. surrender their weapons as “Too many people have legal said. “The firearms, magazines Constitution’s Second Amend- she said. However, like anywhere, Nship this week after the Further curbs — potentially changes to the country’s gun access to semi-automatic and parts used by the terrorist ment, which guarantees the right New Zealand has a vocal fringe Christchurch mosques massacre including a gun register, tighter laws are set to pass into law firearms which are capable were purchased lawfully and to keep and bear arms. element. that claimed 50 lives— and the vetting and stricter gun storage by the end of next week, the of causing significant harm.” modified into ... MSSAs due to Alperts, himself a Kiwi, said “Tyrant Prime Minister Kills Kiwi gun lobby, for the most part, rules — are set to be passed by the government said yesterday. The Owners of the soon-to-be-illegal legal loopholes.” countries such as New Zealand Sports Shooting,” screams the is okay with that. end of the year. first batch of changes to the weapons including military- The government was working viewed gun ownership as a privi- headline on one prominent pro- In stark contrast to the United In a move that would be un- county’s gun laws will come into style semi-automatics (MSSAa), on a buyback scheme which lege, while in America it was seen gun website. But former police States, where even the most mi- thinkable in the United States, eff ect by April 12, less than four assault rifles and several is estimated to cost between as an inalienable right. “We have minister Judith Collins had a nor curbs on gun ownership meet one of New Zealand’s largest gun weeks after a suspected white modification parts as well as NZ$100mn and NZ$200mn. a population who, when they blunt message for the US NRA ferocious opposition led by the retailers, Hunting & Fishing, vol- supremacist opened fire on magazines and ammunition will Around 200 firearms have travelled to America would get and any other gun lobbyists who National Rifl e Association, New untarily stopped selling MSSAs worshippers in two mosques in have until the end of September already been handed over since off the plane and be absolutely tried to inject themselves into Zealand gun owners agree action and halted online fi rearms sales. Christchurch on March 15, killing to hand them over to police. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern horrifi ed to see people walking New Zealand’s gun control de- is needed. “Such weapons of war have no 50 and injuring 48. After the amnesty, strict new announced the new ban days around with a gun,” he said, add- bate: “B%%##& off .” The March 15 rampage by a place in our business — or our “Every semi-automatic weapon laws will ban the import and after the attack. ing that safety was at the cen- The diff erence in gun cultures white supremacist gunman has country,” chief executive Darren tre of New Zealand gun culture. has played out on social media been a shock to the collective Jacobs said. Journalist Dawn Picken covered since the Christchurch shooting. system. “We want to support New Zealand has its own Na- fi ce holder has told media the nies that fought bitter wars per capita rate as New Zealand. scores of shooting deaths in the When a right-wing US website our government in any chang- tional Rifl e Association, but since New Zealand NRA is considering against indigenous populations There are approximately United States and once had bul- tweeted that “armed govern- es to prevent a terrorist attack the shooting, it has been at pains changing its name to avoid any and forged an individualistic 393mn guns in private hands in lets lodged in her bedroom when ment thugs” were carrying out from happening in New Zealand to point out it is a small sporting association with the American frontier mentality. However, sta- the United States, or 1.2 for every a random gunman opened fi re door-to-door gun confi scations again,” Nicole McKee, secretary organisation, not a wealthy po- body. tistics highlight the diff erence. In person, whereas New Zealand on her apartment building in in New Zealand, dozens of Kiwis of the Council of Licensed Fire- litical lobby group like its Ameri- On the surface, New Zealand 2016, New Zealand, with a popu- has about 1.5mn, or 0.3 per per- Spokane, Washington state. She left mocking replies. arm Owners said. can counterpart. and the United States share many lation of about 4.7mn, had nine son. said she had found a diff erent “I had a self-saucing dessert in Prime Minister Jacinda Ard- “Our members shoot with historical similarities, but they fi rearms-related homicides. The New Zealand govern- mindset since moving to New my pantry,” said one. “The cops ern’s government announced an single-shot bolt action rifl es at have a fundamentally diff erent In the United States, popula- ment believes there are 13,500 Zealand in 2011. came for it in the dead of night immediate ban on military-style paper targets,” president Mal- attitude towards fi rearms. tion approximately 327mn, there MSSAs in the country, while es- “It was quite refreshing as an – apparently we aren’t allowed semi-automatic rifl es (MSSAs) colm Dodson said. Another of- Both are former British colo- were 14,415, about 23 times the timates put the number in the American to come here and hear semi-automatic trifl es.”

Fugitive tycoon to challenge New Zealand PM Hong Kong’s extradition plans

AFP tion obtained by AFP, which top Huawei executive in Vancou- Hong Kong also states that he has chosen to ver. The Hong Kong government “exile himself from Hong Kong”. backtracked last week under “The bill, once enacted, would pressure and exempted nine pri- hails ‘important’ fugitive billionaire has hang over those it aff ects like a marily economic crimes from the vowed to launch a legal cloud,” Lau’s lawyers wrote in list of off ences that could be cov- Achallenge against Hong the application fi led in the city’s ered by the new extradition law. Kong’s controversial plan to sign High Court. Critics fear any extradition an extradition agreement with “He has felt compelled to agreement could leave both Macau, Taiwan and mainland leave Hong Kong until there is business fi gures and dissidents China, his lawyers said yester- more clarity on the extradition in Hong Kong vulnerable to Chi- China relations day, adding he has fl ed the fi - bill,” lawyer Gerard McCoy told na’s politicised courts, fatally nancial hub. AFP. The application asks the undermining a business hub AFP Hong Kong property ty- court to declare that any extra- that has thrived off its reputa- Beijing coon Joseph Lau is wanted in dition agreement cannot be ap- tion for a transparent and inde- Macau where he was convicted plied retroactively and argues pendent judiciary. in absentia for bribery in the that the city’s leader Carrie Lam The sudden plan to overhaul ew Zealand Prime Min- gambling enclave in 2014. He is being granted too much dis- Hong Kong’s extradition agree- ister Jacinda Ardern remains a free man because cretionary power to decide cases ment was sparked by a high- Nyesterday played up her Hong Kong and Macau do not under the proposal. profi le murder in Taiwan where country’s “critically important” currently have an extradition Thousands of protesters hit a Hong Kong man allegedly ties with China while President agreement. the streets of Hong Kong on strangled his pregnant girlfriend Xi Jinping called for “mutual Hong Kong’s government Sunday to demonstrate against during a holiday trip and then trust” amid tensions stemming has recently announced plans the new extradition proposal, fl ed. Historically Hong Kong from security concerns over Chi- to overhaul its extradition rules, which will be discussed in the has baulked at extraditing to the nese telecom giant Huawei. allowing the transfer of fugitives city’s legislature tomorrow. mainland because of the opac- The two leaders made the re- with Taiwan, Macau and main- Even a number of pro-Bei- ity of China’s criminal justice marks as they met at Beijing’s land China on a “case-basis” jing politicians and prominent system, and the death penalty Great Hall of the People on Ar- for the fi rst time. The proposal businesspeople have joined a — which has been abolished in dern’s fi rst trip abroad since the has sparked large protests and growing chorus of opposition, Hong Kong. Christchurch mosque attacks. mounting alarm within the while Taiwan’s Mainland Af- Lau made headlines in 2015 “Your visit to China fully re- city’s business and legal com- fairs Council said it may issue when he spent a combined fl ects the importance that you munities who fear it will ham- travel warnings if the extradition $76.9mn at auction to buy two and the New Zealand govern- mer the fi nancial hub’s interna- agreement included China. rare diamonds for his young ment attach to China-New tional appeal and tangle people The proposal comes at a time daughter. He argues his trial in Zealand relations,” said Xi, call- up in China’s opaque courts. of roiling distrust over how Bei- Macau was unfair because he ing the island nation a “sincere Lau has applied for leave to jing wields its authoritarian legal was unable to attend due to ill friend and partner”. legally challenge the govern- system — and as two Canadian health and that the city has re- The trip is also Ardern’s Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern before their ment’s extradition proposal, nationals languish in Chinese fused to grant him a right to a fi rst trip to China since she was meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday. according to a court applica- custody following the arrest of a retrial. elected in late 2017 — an unusu- ally long wait for the leader of a ner, with two-way trade totalling ister also held talks with Chinese Ardern called for upgrading nation that signed a pioneering NZ$27bn ($18.4bn) in 2018. Premier Li Keqiang before her New Zealand’s free trade agree- Australia sees record temperatures free-trade deal with Beijing in Ardern had repeatedly played meeting with Xi. The two dis- ment with China and said the 2008. down the spat with Huawei. Last cussed ways for New Zealand to country “welcomed high-qual- Australia continued a string temperature was 2.13C above bought badly needed rains. Relations between Beijing and month she said New Zealand was participate in Beijing’s ambitious ity foreign investment”, her of- of “hottest ever” months in the long-term average for the “Unfortunately, the rain needed Wellington have been strained in talks to minimise the security Belt and Road Initiative, a global fi ce said in a statement after the March, the government said month of March. to reduce significant rainfall in recent months after New Zea- risks posed by using the Chinese trade infrastructure programme meeting. yesterday, as global warming It was the fourth month in a row deficiencies in drought-aff ected land’s intelligence agency last telecom giant’s equipment in 5G that includes Pacifi c island na- Her short visit to China comes emerges as the hot button of record heat in the country, areas is substantial and will November halted plans for Chi- infrastructure, raising the pros- tions that traditionally fell un- in the wake of a mass shooting issue in national elections just and January was Australia’s require above average rainfall nese-owned telecom giant Hua- pect of a compromise on the is- der the spheres of infl uence of at two mosques in Christchurch weeks away. The Bureau of hottest month ever, with over a prolonged period to wei to participate in a proposed sue. Canberra and Wellington. Li last month that left 50 people Meteorology (BOM) said the mean temperatures across the completely remove deficits at 5G network, citing “signifi cant In his opening remarks to Ar- urged both sides to aspire for the dead and prompted her to over- country had experienced the continent exceeding 30C for longer timescales,” BOM said. security risks”. dern, Xi urged both countries to “greatest common denomina- haul New Zealand’s gun laws. A warmest March on record, with the first time. There was some Meteorologists say weather But Ardern said yesterday her “adhere to mutual trust (and) the tor” and that “when each side’s longer trip had been planned, mean maximum and minimum relief for regions suff ering patterns over the Indian and visit to Beijing aims to further her principle of mutual benefi t” as businesses invest in each other’s was but shortened to just a day temperatures above average from prolonged drought, Pacific oceans have contributed country’s “critically important bilateral relations between the businesses, they can enjoy a fair, following the attack. Both Xi for nearly all of the vast however, as two tropical to the higher temperatures, but relationship” with China —New countries face a “new trend”. transparent, convenient envi- and Li expressed condolences for continent nation. cyclones that struck northern that long-term climate change Zealand’s largest trading part- The New Zealand prime min- ronment”. those killed in the shooting. BOM said the national mean and western Australia in March trends were also involved.

30 fi refi ghters killed New Japanese imperial era takes name from ancient poetry battling China blaze Reuters mean “good” and “beautiful,” software and make preparations wish but that doesn’t give me the use of Japanese texts marked a Tokyo while the second means “peace” to avoid glitches when the new sense they want peace for ordi- signifi cant change. or “harmony”. The name empha- era begins. nary people,” said one Twitter “It means the gengo has en- AFP noon after a sudden change in sises the beauty of Japan’s tra- While use of the Western cal- user. tered a new chapter,” he said. Beijing wind direction ignited a “huge apan declared yesterday the ditional culture and a future in endar is common, many Japanese For the fi rst time, the new “The system which originated fi reball”, the ministry had said name of its new imperial era which everyone would be able to count years by gengo or use the name was taken from an ancient with the Chinese emperor system in an earlier statement. Jwhen Crown Prince Naruhito achieve their dreams, especially two systems interchangeably. Japanese source – an anthology has been made alive in Japan.” hirty fi refi ghters died Footage aired by state broad- becomes emperor on May 1, with young people, Abe said. of poems called the Manyoshu – The new name was a closely after they were sent to caster CCTV showed plumes of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe say- “Our nation is facing a big Japanese poem instead of old Chinese texts. The guarded secret, with offi cials Ttackle a forest blaze in smoke coming from the forest- ing it emphasised traditional val- turning point, but there are lots characters are from a poem about involved forced to hand in their remote mountains in south- ed, mountainous region. ues at a turning point in the na- of Japanese values that should While the public response was spring that mentions soft winds mobile phones and keep quiet. west China’s Sichuan province A separate forest fi re that tion’s history. not fade away,” he told a news generally positive, some people and plum blossoms – references When it was fi nally announced, at the weekend, authorities lasted two days in the north- Crowds watching giant televi- conference, adding the name did not like the new name, pro- that scholars recognised but are Internet users rushed to register said yesterday. ern province of Shanxi was sion screens across Tokyo roared signals that “our nation’s culture nounced “ray-wa.” “It’s a gentle, not familiar to most people. domain names linked to “Reiwa”, Nearly 700 fi refi ghters were brought under control on Sun- and raised their phones to take is born and nourished by people’s peaceful name,” said Masaharu Abe stressed the history and which also sparked a jump in deployed to battle the fi re, day, the offi cial Xinhua news photos as a sombre Chief Cabinet hearts being drawn beautifully Hannuki, a 63-year-old man positive interpretation of the name-related stocks. which broke out on Saturday agency said. More than 9,000 Secretary Yoshihide Suga held together.” outside Shimbashi train station name. Experts also said it re- Guidelines stipulated that the on steep terrain at an altitude people were evacuated from up a white placard with the new Naruhito’s ascension to the where free special edition news- fl ected his conservative political era name should be appropriate of around 4,000m (13,000ft) their homes due to that blaze, name – Reiwa – written in two Chrysanthemum Throne will papers were handed out. agenda that emphasises national to the ideals of the nation, con- in Muli County, the ministry of which did not cause any casu- characters in black ink. come a day after his father, Em- “We want this to be an era pride. “It’s a collection that ex- sist of two “kanji,” or Chinese emergency management said. alties. The country had been anxious- peror Akihito, abdicates on April where children can shine in presses our nation’s rich culture, characters, and be easy to write Rescuers have found the Nearly 3,000 fi refi ght- ly awaiting the new era name, or 30, ending the Heisei era, which a calm future.” Others said it which we should take pride in, and read. It also can’t be a repeat bodies of 30 fi refi ghters earlier ers doused another forest fi re “gengo,” which is used on coins, began in 1989. He will be the sounded severe because the fi rst along with our nation’s beauti- of a previous combination. listed as missing, the ministry in the outskirts of Beijing on calendars, newspapers and in of- fi rst emperor to abdicate in Ja- character is used most often ful nature,” Abe said. “We believe Scholars and bureaucrats had said on its offi cial twitter-like Sunday. No casualties were re- fi cial paperwork, and over time pan in over two centuries. The to mean “command” and “or- this national character should be drawn up a list of candidates, and Weibo account. Local authori- ported in the fi re, which started captures a national mood. The announcement came a month der.” “The idea that you should passed along to the next era.” the cabinet made the fi nal deci- ties had lost contact with 30 Saturday and spread over 42.7 fi rst character is most often used early so government offi ces and just give in to orders from those Makoto Ueno, a Manyoshu ex- sion after consulting an advisory fi refi ghters on Sunday after- hectares (105.5 acres). to mean “command” but can also companies can update computer above you – that’s probably their pert at Nara University, said the panel. Gulf Times Tuesday, April 2, 2019 15 BRITAIN

UK frontline troop numbers down by Parliament weighs forcing as much as a third

By Frances Perraudin Guardian News and Media

ersonnel numbers in some May into a softer Brexit frontline British army units are Pdown by as much as a third, Reuters fi gures show, prompting serious con- London cerns about their readiness for action. The government was accused of “appalling complacency” over re- awmakers yesterday sought to cruitment after the publication of the break a stalemate over Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) data, Ldeparture from the European which showed a number of battal- Union by trying to force Prime Minis- ions with hundreds fewer troops than ter Theresa May to pursue much closer their requirements state. economic ties than the deal she negoti- While publicly available govern- ated envisages. ment fi gures show an overall defi cit After a tumultuous few weeks in of 8%, the new data showed a much which May’s divorce strategy was re- larger defi cit in infantry groups on jected by lawmakers for a third time, the frontline. despite her off er to quit if it passed, Information published in response the future direction of Brexit remains to a parliamentary question by the mired in confusion and acrimony. MP Mark Francois revealed that the Three days after the date on which Scots Guards, 1st Battalion, only had Britain was originally due to leave the 460 personnel in October last year, EU, it is still uncertain how, when or 34% below its 697 workforce re- even whether the United Kingdom will quirement. say goodbye to the bloc it joined 46 The Princess of Wales’s Royal Reg- years ago. iment, 2nd Battalion, had 330 people, In a bid to break the impasse, law- 31% below its target strength. makers took control of parliamentary The Welsh Guards, 1st Battalion, proceedings and were to vote on four and the Mercian Regiment, 2nd Bat- options ranging from staying in the talion, had only 72% of their target EU’s single market to revoking the for- strength, while the Duke of Lancas- mal divorce papers to avoid a no-deal ter’s Regiment, 1st Battalion, had exit. only 74%. The third defeat of May’s withdraw- Twelve of the 30 infantry battal- al agreement on Friday left one of the ions included in the data were miss- weakest British leaders in a generation ing more than one in fi ve of their facing a spiralling crisis over Brexit, the required personnel, while only three United Kingdom’s most far-reaching met or exceeded their requirement. policy change since World War II. Dr Jack Watling, a research fellow May’s government and her Con- at the Royal United Services Insti- servative party, which has been trying tute, said the fi gures were worrying, to contain a schism over Europe for pointing out that Russian ground 30 years, are in open confl ict between forces already had much higher num- those pushing for a customs union bers of infantry in equivalent units. with the EU and eurosceptics demand- “You need three times as many ing a cleaner break with the bloc. men as the enemy when attacking,” May’s chief whip, responsible for A protester holds a placard outside the Houses of Parliament in central London yesterday. he said. party discipline, told the BBC in a doc- “A battalion that is missing 10% umentary being aired yesterday that of the single market with a customs of its strength can probably com- the government should have known arrangement; putting any agreed deal pensate for the shortfall. Having lost that May’s loss of her parliamentary 6mn sign petition to halt Brexit to a second referendum; and halting 30%, you are not going to be able to majority in a snap election in 2017 Brexit altogether if necessary to avoid generate the combat power to stand would “inevitably” lead to a softer British lawmakers yesterday debated erine McKinnell, an opposition Labour the 2016 referendum and work with par- leaving the bloc without a deal. up to two enemy battalions, even in Brexit. halting Brexit after a record 6mn people lawmaker, said as she introduced the liament to deliver a deal that ensures we May is considering a fi nal throw of the defence.” The issue has pushed aside almost signed a petition to revoke the process debate. leave the European Union,” the govern- the dice by bringing her deal back to a The British army is on course to all others — a point made by a dozen that set Britain on course to leave the The debate is largely symbolic and did ment said in response to the petition. vote in parliament as soon as tomor- miss its targets for the number of re- semi-naked climate change protest- European Union. not take place in the main chamber of The revoke petition is the largest par- row, when it could be put to lawmakers cruits it should have by 2020. ers who stood against a glass panel in a The online petition to revoke Article the House of Commons, where discus- liamentary one ever, beating the 4.15mn in a “run-off ” against whichever alter- The army’s 2020 strategy, pub- public gallery overlooking the chamber 50 took off after a speech when May said sions on alternatives to May’s Brexit plan signatures for a 2016 petition which native gains the most support. lished in 2015, aimed to have 82,000 as lawmakers debated. that she was on the side of the British were taking place. called for another EU referendum in the Sterling rose on investor hopes that army personnel and 30,100 reserves Beyond Westminster, the UK head public over Brexit. Its website repeatedly Petitions on the government’s website event that neither the remain or leave May would be forced to go for a softer by March 2019. of German industrial giant Siemens, failed as it garnered as many as 2,000 are debated after they reach 100,000 camps achieved 60% of the vote. Brexit than planned. According to MoD statistics, the Juergen Maier, said Britain was wreck- signatures a minute. signatures and the government must More than 1.8mn people signed a However, several lawmakers said army only had 79,790 trained per- ing its reputation, and urged lawmak- “This petition has been supported by respond to all petitions with more than petition calling for US President Donald they saw a national election as the only sonnel in October 2018, and 26,960 ers to back a customs union with the an unprecedented number of people, 10,000 names. Trump to be prevented from making a way to fi nd a solution. trained reserves. EU. although it’s not surprising because we “This government will not revoke state visit to Britain, leading to a debate Eurosceptic lawmaker Steve Baker, a In 2012, the MoD signed a decade- “We are all running out of patience,” live in unprecedented times,” Cath- Article 50. We will honour the result of in parliament in 2017. member of May’s Conservative Party, long contract with the outsourcing Maier said. suggested that any backing for a cus- company Capita to manage recruit- “Where the UK used to be beacon toms union could push him to support ment to the armed forces. for stability, we are now becoming a “A sphinx is an open book compared In the 2016 Brexit referendum, unite around the deal May negotiated a move to topple the government. The National Audit Offi ce found laughing stock,” he said in an open to the UK,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, 17.4mn voters, or 51.9%, backed leav- with the EU. Britain had been due to leave the EU in December that Capita had con- letter to lawmakers published by the European Commission president. ing the EU while 16.1mn, or 48.1%, Parliament is to vote on four alter- on March 29 but the political deadlock sistently missed the army’s targets, website Politico. “Nobody knows where it is heading. backed staying. native Brexit options selected by the in London forced May to ask the bloc for with the shortfall ranging from 21% From EU offi cials watching from Would like to make the sphinx talk and But ever since, opponents have speaker, John Bercow. a delay. As things stand, Britain will now to 45% each year. Brussels, there was one plea — make up tell us in which direction they would sought to soften, or even stop, the di- These include remaining in a cus- depart at 2200 GMT on April 12 — unless Responding to the fi gures, Francois, your minds. like to go.” vorce, while proponents have failed to toms union with the EU; membership May comes up with another option. the Conservative MP for Rayleigh and Wickford and a member of the de- fence select committee, said: “These numbers make starkly ap- parent what ministers have been seeking to hide for some time, which Millions spent on May holds knife-crime summit with teachers is that the frontline strength of the regular army is now being seriously eroded by the lack of recruits to re- private consultants ordered to identify violent youths fresh infantry battalions, because of the calamity that is the Capita re- cruitment contract. advising on Brexit By Rachel Cordery, Reuters “This has gone beyond the simple London criticism of an ineff ective contrac- tor: this now directly aff ects the de- By Peter Walker fence of the realm. These people are Guardian News and Media rime Minister Theresa May yesterday so incompetent that they are now held a special meeting on tackling impacting our national security and PBritain’s soaring knife-crime rate af- ministers should sack them without ne government department alone spent £5.5mn in a ter the government announced new plans hesitation.” single month on management consultants to help with that could make teachers and health work- Nia Griffi th, the shadow defence OBrexit policy, it has emerged. ers responsible for tackling violent behav- secretary, said: “Ministers are guilty Labour analysed government data on all spending of £25,000 iour. of appalling complacency as person- or more by the Cabinet Offi ce in January, the last month for The meeting with experts in youth vio- nel numbers fall month after month. which fi gures have been released, and calculated that the lence in May’s Downing Street offi ce comes There is now nothing short of a amount spent on external consultants for Brexit-related work after a spate of high-profi le deaths sparked a crisis in recruitment and retention to was £6mn. debate in Britain over whether a nationwide the army. The decision to outsource The Cabinet Offi ce said just over £400,000 of this was spent decline in the number of police offi cers is recruitment to a private company, not on consultants but by a media buying company to purchase behind a rise in stabbings. Capita, has been a total failure. It is advertising space for the government’s Brexit-related public in- Over the weekend, four people were high time to scrap that bad deal and formation campaign. stabbed in what police said were unpro- bring the service back in house.” It said the £5.5mn, which primarily went to multinational voked attacks in London. Watling said the MoD should companies including EY, PwC and Bain, covered necessary ex- At least 48 people in Britain have been shorten the bureaucratic process for tra skills for Brexit-related tasks such as operational and project stabbed to death since the start of the year. signing up recruits. management tasks. The new proposals could see teachers, “Enough people apply to join, but The monthly cost was expected to increase as the Brexit proc- nurses and police offi cers held to account far too many drop out,” he said. ess accelerated, the department said. if they fail to spot warning signs of violent “The MoD also needs to strength- At the end of last year, the Treasury said it had allocated £4.2bn crime among young people. en their off ering to enlisted soldiers. for government spending on Brexit preparations. “In recent months we’ve seen appalling We don’t see the same retention At the weekend the Centre for European Reform released cal- number of young lives cut short or devas- problems among offi cers. Every man culations suggesting Britain’s economy is 2.5% smaller than it tated by serious violence crime including a who leaves takes their training and would have been if voters had chosen to stay in the EU in 2016, number of horrifying incidents this week- experience with them, so we need to resulting in an extra £19bn of government borrowing a year. end,” May said. improve retention.” Jenny Chapman, a shadow Brexit minister, said: “The To- “In many cases the perpetrators of these An army spokesperson said it was ries’ handling of Brexit is a national embarrassment. While the crimes are as young as their victims and this meeting all its operational commit- prime minister is stubbornly refusing to accept her bad deal is is something that has to be of deep concern ments to keep the country safe. dead, we now learn her government spent millions of pounds to us all.” Prime Minister Theresa May addresses a ‘Serious Youth Violence Summit’ as London Mayor “The ‘workforce requirement’ is on private consultants in the same month it suff ered the biggest There were 285 fatal stabbings in England Sadiq Khan looks on at 10 Downing Street. not the minimum threshold the army defeat in parliamentary history. This underlines the impor- and Wales in 2018, the highest level since needs to fulfi l its operational require- tance of parliament taking control and fi nding a way to break records began more than 70 years ago, offi - faced opposition from some union offi cials ed to any issues of concern. The problem is ments, it represents the number of the deadlock.” cials statistics showed last month. and lawmakers. “Neither the blame for or what happens after issues of concern have positions in each battalion,” they A Cabinet Offi ce spokesman said: “It is long-established prac- Police say the surge in knife crime in a the solution to violent crime can be laid at been identifi ed.” said. tice for government departments to draw on the advice of exter- country where guns are hard to obtain has the door of schools or front-line hospital The Conservative lawmaker Jacob Rees- “We are fully committed to im- nal specialists. been driven by several factors, including staff ,” said Mary Bousted, who works at the Mogg questioned the value of the summit. proving our recruiting process, and In preparing for the UK to make an orderly and successful exit rivalries between drug gangs, cuts to youth National Education Union. “I’ve never been convinced that summits working with Capita, we have put from the European Union, we are equipping ourselves with the services and provocations on social media. “Schools already have strong safeguard- solve anything very much, what you need is in place a plan to address the chal- right people and the right skills.” However, the government’s new approach ing practices in place and staff will be alert- action,” he said on LBC radio. lenges.” Gulf Times 16 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 EUROPE Comedian takes huge lead in Ukraine vote

Reuters With three-quarters of votes failure to stamp out corruption a gap that wide could be closed,” Kyiv counted yesterday, Volodymyr or improve living standards fi ve said Sergey Fursa, investment Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comic years after a pro-Russian leader banker at Dragon Capital. who plays a fi ctional president was swept out by a popular re- Zelenskiy’s advisers were pre- comedian with no politi- in a popular TV series, had won volt. dicting Zelenskiy would win the cal experience has taken more than 30.5%. Nationalist former prime min- lion’s share of votes from the Aa commanding lead in the It leaves President Petro Poro- ister Yulia Tymoshenko placed other defeated candidates, who Zelenskiy plays table tennis with a journalist ahead of the provisional fi rst round of Ukraine’s presiden- shenko in a distant second with third with 13.2% in a fi eld of 39 campaigned against the status results at his campaign headquarters in Kyiv. tial election, off ering a fresh face just 16.6% of the vote, a hole candidates. quo. to voters fed up with corruption that may be too deep to climb out Zelenskiy and Poroshenko will “If we believe the research while strengthening the military. and the years of hardship and war in a country on the front line of from. face each other in a run-off in done before the fi rst round, then More than 13,000 people that followed. the West’s standoff with Russia. He faced a public furious at his three weeks. there will be big outfl ows (to have died in the confl ict against Just 9% of Ukrainians have Zelenskiy has been criticised Zelenskiy) from everyone,” said separatists and Ukraine has lost confi dence in their national gov- for being light on policy detail, Poroshenko: trails Zelenskiy Dmytro Razumkov, Zelenskiy’s control of parts of its industrial ernment, the lowest of any elec- and a cheerful victory speech on 16.6% to 30.5% with some political adviser. heartland. torate in the world, a Gallup poll Sunday night provided little fur- three-quarters of the ballots In a country dependent on for- Major combat ended with published in March showed. ther insight into what he would counted. eign loans, economists are trying a ceasefi re in 2015 but deadly Zelenskiy tapped into this do if he wins. to fi gure out whether Zelenskiy clashes still take place regularly. anti-establishment mood with “I would like to say ‘thank you’ Russian-backed separatists. would stick to reforms and fi scal Crimea has been annexed by a campaign packed with jokes, to all the Ukrainians who did not Russian President Vladimir policies demanded by the Inter- Russia in a move that triggered sketches and song-and-dance vote just for fun,” Zelenskiy told Putin “dreams of a soft, pliant, national Monetary Fund (IMF). international fi nancial sanctions routines that poked fun at his cheering supporters on Sunday. tender, giggling, inexperienced, “We would expect Zelenskiy to on Moscow, and Poroshenko has political rivals. “It is only the beginning, we will weak, ideologically amorphous be put under greater pressure in campaigned hard to keep the His campaign blurred the line not relax.” and politically undecided presi- the run-up to the second round pressure on Russia. between reality and his TV se- In keeping with the campaign’s dent of Ukraine”. to fl esh out his policy agenda,” However, public opinion has ries, in which he plays an honest laid-back style, his election night “Are we really going to give him said Stuart Culverhouse, head turned fi rmly against the politi- history teacher who accidentally venue provided a bar with free al- that opportunity?” Poroshenko of sovereign and fi xed-income cal establishment. becomes president. cohol and table football. said. research at investment bank Ex- Voters say that politicians “He embodies the perceived President Poroshenko, 53, at- But analysts said it would be otix. failed to deliver on expectations need for ‘new faces’ in politics tacked Zelenskiy as fundamen- tough for Poroshenko, a confec- Poroshenko has tried to inte- of honest government, despite and could sway the young, pro- tally unserious and a reckless tionary billionaire, to fi ght back grate the country with the Eu- the sacrifi ces made during the reform electorate to his side,” Former prime minister Tymoshenko leaves the stage after delivering choice at a time when the coun- to win the second round. ropean Union and the North At- revolt that overthrew pro-Rus- said Economist Intelligence Unit a speech at her campaign headquarters in Kyiv. try still faces a confl ict against “I fi nd it hard to imagine how lantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) sian leader Viktor Yanukovych analyst Agnese Ortolani.

Priests Scientists fi nd likely source of methane on Mars Danes to burn By Patrick Galey, AFP scientists questioned previous pointed to the same general area a sheet of frozen methane be- source of carbon and energy,” build ‘wall’ Paris studies that relied on a single of the most likely source for the neath a rock formation, which he added. data set. methane.” the team believes periodically Though there is no liquid Harry Now an international team Europe’s Mars Express probe ejects the gas into the atmos- water on Mars, the European post-Brexit he mystery of methane of experts have compared ob- measured 15.5 parts per billion phere. Space Agency said in Febru- on Mars may fi nally be servations from two separate in the atmosphere above the Giuranna said that while ary that its imaging equipment Potter Tsolved as scientists con- spacecraft, taken just one day Gale Crater on June 16, 2013. methane is a sign of life on had shown further evidence of AFP fi rmed yesterday the presence apart in 2013, to fi nd independ- The presence of methane in Earth, its presence on Mars dried up river beds, suggesting Paris of the life-indicating gas on the ent proof of methane on our the vicinity was confi rmed by doesn’t necessarily constitute the Red Planet may once have books Red Planet as well as where it neighbouring planet. readings taken 24 hours earlier evidence of something similar been home to simple organ- might have come from. Furthermore, they conduct- by Nasa’s Curiosity rover. on the Red Planet. isms. In the 15 years since a Euro- ed two parallel experiments Using the data, Giuranna and “Methane is important be- Giuranna said that further rom a Brexit weed-smok- AFP pean probe reported traces of to determine the most likely the team divided the region cause it could be an indicator research was needed to deter- ing ban to express deliv- Warsaw the gas in the Martian atmos- source of methane on Mars to around the crater into grids of of microbial life,” he said. “But mine the extent of the methane Feries by falcon, here is a phere, debate has raged over the be an ice sheet east of Gale Cra- 250 by 250sq km. life is not required to explain ice sheet near Gale Crater. roundup of yesterday’s April accuracy of the readings show- ter – itself long assumed to be a One study then ran a million these detections because meth- If founded to be extensive, Fool pranks in world media. riests in Poland burned ing methane, which on Earth is dried up lake. computer-modelled emissions ane can be produced by abiotic the methane it contains “could In a nod to US President Don- books that they say are produced by simple lifeforms. “This is very exciting and scenarios for each section while processes.” support a sustained human ald Trump’s Mexico border wall Psacrilegious this weekend, Because methane gas dissi- largely unexpected,” Marco another team studied images of “Though not a direct biosig- presence” on Mars as a possi- plans, Denmark said that it including tomes from British pates relatively quickly – within Giuranna, from Rome’s Nation- the planet surface for features nature of life, methane can add ble source of fuel for industrial would build a fence in the North author JK Rowling’s Harry Potter around 12 years on Earth – and al Astrophysics Institute, told associated on Earth with the to the habitability of martian processes and a propellant for Sea to protect its herrings after series of fantasy novels. due to the diffi culty of observ- AFP. “Two completely inde- release of methane. settings, as certain types of returning manned missions to Brexit – and make Britain pay “We obey the Word,” priests ing Mars’ atmosphere, many pendent lines of investigation The most likely source was microbes can use methane as a Earth, he said. for it. said in a Facebook post showing “The new fence will prevent photographs of the public book young herring from migrating burning and quoting Biblical out of Danish territory. No Dane passages from the book of Deu- should miss out on herring that teronomy in the Old Testament. should rightfully be considered One passage exhorting be- Success shreds JR’s ours,” fi sheries minister Eva Kjer lievers to destroy the enemies of Hansen said in a statement. “The God includes the command to Brits created this problem, and I “burn their idols in the fi re”. Louvre art illusion am going to make them pay for The post, on a page run by the the fence.” Catholic “SMS from Heaven” Swiss daily Le Matin reported evangelical group, stirred con- AFP however, and some expressed that vegans wanted to ban choc- troversy and has gone viral. Paris themselves on Twitter with olate bunnies at Easter. Photographs show three comments such as “really dis- The newspaper said on its priests carrying a basket of appointing bad experience to- website that a petition launched books and other items, includ- whimsical collage in the day for the Louvre pyramid’s last week by an anonymous ing an African-styled face mask, courtyard of France’s 30th anniversary”. “collective” had so far garnered through a church to an outside ALouvre art museum had Another noted that “JR’s art 80 signatures. fi re pit. a short shelf life after a swarm piece was more fl eeting than “At Easter, shelves buckle un- Priests are seen saying prayers of tourists and art lovers left it foreseen”. der the weight of chocolate rab- over the fi re pit where other in shreds. The artist was more philo- bits, eggs, chicken and chicks,” items, including a “Hello Kitty” French artist JR and 400 sophical. the petition supposedly read. umbrella and a Hindu religious volunteers put the fi nal touch- “The images, like life, are “This impresses the appalling fi gurine, are also burning. es to the huge collage on Friday ephemeral,” he tweeted. idea on children that it’s normal Contacted by AFP yesterday, to mark the 30th anniversary of “Once pasted, the art piece and even desirable to exploit and the Polish Episcopate and local the Louvre’s glass pyramid. lives on its own. The sun dries eat animals.” bishop acknowledged the inci- On Saturday, he tweeted a the light glue and with every Conservative German news- dent but declined to comment. photo of the 17,000sq metre step, people tear pieces of the paper the Frankfurter Allgemeine The local parish did not an- (183,000sq foot) work which, fragile paper. Zeitung joked that its hometown swer calls. from a certain angle, made the “The process is all about club Eintracht Frankfurt would The book burning took place pyramid appear to extend deep participation of volunteers, build an extra storey onto its sta- “after the 10am mass on Sunday, into a quarry of white rock, and visitors, and souvenir hunters.” dium in order to boost revenue at 11am”, an unnamed parishion- invited the public to come take “This project is also about and attract big-name players. er at the church in the northern a look. presence and absence, about Vienna’s public transport Polish city of Gdansk told the Come they did, and within reality and memories, about company came up with an origi- TVN24 commercial news chan- a few hours the fragile 2,000- impermanence,” he added. nal way to get smartphone users nel. odd sheets of paper were torn Three years ago JR, whose to pay more attention. Parishioners were asked to to pieces, returning the site to real name is Jean Rene, gave Wiener Linien tweeted a bring items that are linked to its natural state in what could the pyramid a very diff erent mocked-up image of a corridor “negative energy” and supersti- almost be called a work of pub- treatment, covering it in a gi- in one of its underground sta- tious beliefs, including good luck Visitors walk on a giant artwork by French artist JR, around the glass pyramid designed by IM Pei, as lic performance art. ant trompe-l’oeil that made it tions split into “smartphone” charms, the parishioner added. the Louvre Museum celebrates the 30th anniversary of its glass pyramid in Paris. Art lovers were not amused seem like it had disappeared. and “non-smartphone” lanes. “I’d like to believe this is a joke ... seriously? Are people burn- ing fantasy literature in the 21st century in some kind of sick rit- ual?!” one Facebook user said in a comment underneath the post. New government plane glitch hits German minister Other Facebook users, how- ever, supported the book burn- ing exercise. AFP ernment planes in the past few An appearance with French to transport him back to Ger- reasons while Development Min- “Get rid of everything that New York months, the “Konrad Adenauer” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le many. ister Gerd Mueller had to cancel a does not please God and see how Airbus carried Foreign Minister Drian had to be pushed back. Maas’s latest plane woes hit trip to Namibia at the start of the your life will change,” one person Heiko Maas safely to New York, The opening of a meeting at the aircraft that was forced to year owing to problems with his posted. German government air- but one of its tyres burst upon the Security Council on protec- land in Cologne because of elec- plane. This latest incident comes plane that broke down and landing. tion of humanitarian workers trical problems in November Out of 1,743 government fl ights as Poland’s infl uential Roman Aforced Chancellor Angela The plane was towed to a park- took place without Maas. while carrying Merkel to Buenos between 2016 and 2018, 21 gov- Catholic church struggles to Merkel to delay her trip last No- ing space, with the delay forcing Just a month ago, the foreign Aires. ernment fl ights were cancelled or deal with the fallout of revela- vember to a G20 summit, blew a Maas to miss his fi rst appoint- minister was stranded in Mali Merkel missed the beginning otherwise aff ected by technical tions about paedophilia among tyre yesterday on its fi rst fl ight ments while Germany was due due to a hydraulic problem with of the G20 summit as a result. defects, according to offi cial data. priests that are unprecedented after a four-month overhaul. to assume the presidency of the his Airbus A319’s landing gear. At the end of January, Presi- Berlin is looking into buying in this overwhelmingly Catholic In the latest of a series of de- UN Security Council, said an AFP A Luftwaff e (air force) Airbus dent Frank-Walter Steinmeier new planes over the coming years Maas: missed his first country. fects plaguing German gov- journalist on board the fl ight. A340 had to travel from Cologne was stuck in Ethiopia for similar to replace an ageing fl eet. appointments. Gulf Times Tuesday, April 2, 2019 17 INDIA J&J baby shampoo samples fail quality test

Reuters had resumed production of ing building materials, is a specified methods”. Organisation and India’s Cen- brands in the country. letries market, according to New Delhi baby talc after government tests known carcinogen. The two batches of the baby tral Drugs Standard Control The company leads sales in market research provider Euro- found no asbestos in the prod- “We do not accept the in- shampoo tested are due to ex- Organisation (CDSCO) were not the Indian baby and child toi- monitor. uct. terim results given to us, which pire in September 2021 and were immediately available to com- ohnson & Johnson’s baby The Rajasthan Drugs Con- mentioned samples to ‘contain manufactured at the company’s ment. McDowell’s water banned in Kashmir shampoo samples failed trol Organisation’s notice dated harmful ingredients - identi- plant in the northern state of The federal regulator and its Jquality tests conducted by March 5 said that the samples fication positive for formalde- Himachal Pradesh, according to counterparts in Indian states The Jammu and Kashmir govern- informed through the medium of Rajasthan according to a pub- of J&J’s baby shampoo taken hyde,’” she told Reuters. the watchdog’s notice. launched an investigation into ment has banned the sale and this notice to discontinue use or lic notice from the state’s drugs from two batches had failed the “We unequivocally main- “We have confirmed to the J&J’s Baby Powder following a supply of McDowell’s packaged stop sale of above food products,” watchdog, findings that were quality test as they contained tain that our products are safe Indian authorities that we do Reuters report in December that drinking water in the state after said the notice dated March 29. rejected by the US drugmaker. “harmful ingredients”. and our assurance process is not add formaldehyde as an the firm knew for decades that the detection of E coli bacteria The Food Safety and Standards This comes just a few It did not elaborate. amongst the most rigorous in ingredient in our shampoo nor cancer-causing asbestos could in it. An off icial statement by the Authority of India (FSSAI), how- months after Indian authori- A J&J spokeswoman said that the world,” the J&J spokes- does Johnson’s baby shampoo be found in the product. state’s Food Commissioner de- ever, will not take action against ties launched an investigation the results it received from the woman said, adding that the contain any ingredient that J&J has described the Reuters scribed McDowell’s No 1 Platinum the packaged water at the na- into J&J’s Baby Powder to see if watchdog indicated that for- company has contested the can release formaldehyde over article as “one-sided, false and Packaged Drinking Water as “un- tional level as the issue was found it contains cancer-causing as- maldehyde had been discovered interim test results of the gov- time,” the company spokes- inflammatory”. safe”. “The public in general and in only a particular batch, its CEO bestos. in the samples. ernment analysis that were woman said. J&J’s Baby Powder is one of the stakeholders in particular are Pawan Kumar Agarwal said. J&J said in late February it Formaldehyde, used in mak- based on “unknown and un- The Rajasthan Drugs Control the most recognised foreign W Bengal is ‘problematic’, so 7 rounds of polling: EC

IANS litical meetings, Dube said: “I area domination instead of the Kolkata have asked the parties to submit CRPF personnel, taking advan- complaints backed with proper tage of the similarity of their evidence and I will see to it.” uniforms. he Election Commission Dube will be in Siliguri today Accusing the state’s Chief yesterday said it was not to inspect the poll preparedness Electoral Officer (CEO) Aariz Tpossible to declare all for the first two phases. Aftab of being “partisan” to- polling booths in West Bengal The state’s ruling Trinamool wards the ruling Trinamool as ‘sensitive’ but the seven- Congress, however, claimed Congress, Roy claimed that phase election was decided as that the law and order situation they did not want to discuss A taxi drives past a poster of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata. the state was ‘problematic’. in West Bengal was in a better the issues in detail in his pres- Special police observer for shape than in any other state in ence. West Bengal, Vivek Dube, held the country and urged Dubey to “The people of Bengal have an all-party meeting in Kolkata “substantiate and survey” the the perception that the CEO in and later said he was satisfied allegations made by the oppo- the state is partisan. He is not with the deliberations. Most of sition groups before taking any impartial. So whatever com- the leaders wanted more pa- steps. plaints we make, will be relayed BJP faces a tough task in trolling, with all parties urging “We told him that our dele- to the state government and him to ensure that the elections gation had submitted a written Trinamool Congress within two were conducted in a free and complaint to the EC referring minutes. That is why we did not fair manner. to a number of incidents of law want to say anything (to the ob- Asked about opposition and order breach in the state in server) in the CEO’s presence,” retaining Secunderabad parties’ demand that West the last few weeks but still no he added. Bengal be declared sensitive, effective measures have been The Congress also noted that Dube said: “All booths can taken,” Communist Party of the onus is on the EC and of- IANS BJP and the Congress. son of Telangana minister T Srini- 2017. Interestingly, TRS is try- never be declared as sensitive. India (Marxist) leader Rabin ficers like Dubey to ensure that Secunderabad The BJP is facing a tough task vas Yadav, who represents Sanath- ing to cash in on what it calls the Some will be sensitive, some Deb said of the meeting with free and fair elections can be in retaining Secunderabad, the nagar assembly segment in the humiliation meted out by the BJP will be highly sensitive and the Dubey. conducted in West Bengal. only seat it won in Telangana in same parliamentary constituency. to Dattatreya, who comes from a classification is based on cer- “Polling will be held in north “People of Bengal are de- ecunderabad is set to wit- 2014 while the Congress is mak- The ruling party is hoping backward class. tain criteria.” Bengal’s Cooch Behar and Ali- pending on the EC for free and ness a three-cornered con- ing every eff ort to recapture its to get the support of backward Secunderabad was a Congress Dube explained that the rea- purduar in the first phase on fair polls. If they fail to keep Stest as the ruling Telangana former stronghold. classes, Muslims and Christians, stronghold till 1991 when Dat- son why “the election in the April 11. But central forces have their promise, people will point Rashtra Samithi (TRS) appears to Anjan Kumar Yadav, a two- who are in sizeable numbers in tatreya wrested the seat for the state has been divided into sev- not reached Alipurduar, while their fingers at the EC. The have an edge in its bid for a maid- time MP from Secunderabad, is this constituency with over 19.68 fi rst time. He was returned from en phases is that the EC knew in Cooch Behar, they have been state government cannot be en win in the Lok Sabha constit- again contesting on a Congress lakh votes. the constituency in 1998, 1999 that West Bengal is a problem- kept idle under the direction of blamed at that point because uency, which has so far elected ticket while the BJP has fi elded G Interestingly, Anjan Kumar and 2014. atic state”. Also, the state will district police superintendent. it is the EC’s responsibility to either the Congress or Bharatiya Kishan Reddy, a three-time MLA Yadav, who was elected in 2004 In 2014, when the BJP contest- need more forces. Route marches are not happen- maintain law and order during Janata Party candidates. from Amberpet, one of the seven and 2009, is also banking on ed the elections in alliance with He gave the examples of Te- ing. The EC said they (CRPF) the elections,” Congress leader Eighteen years after TRS came assembly segments falling under these sections. However, a series the Telugu Desam Party, Dat- langana and Andhra Pradesh will go to Alipurduar today. This Pradip Bhattacharya said after into being and fi ve years after Te- the constituency. of defections by 10 MLAs and tatreya defeated Anjan Kumar where the election will be held shows its negligent attitude to the meeting. langana state became a reality, Kishan Reddy, former presi- several leaders to the TRS have Yadav with a massive majority in a single phase. With more take up confidence building Representatives of the Tri- TRS, for the fi rst time, looks to dent of the party’s Telangana left the Congress demoralised. of over 2.54 lakh votes, garnering phases it will be easy to move measures,” he alleged. namool Congress, however, ac- be in a position to capture the key unit, was defeated from Amber- The BJP may fi nd the going 33.62% of votes. forces. A state Bharatiya Janata Party cused the opposition parties of constituency in the state capital. pet in the in December 2018 as- tough as it has dropped Bandaru Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Asked about complaints of (BJP) delegation led by Mukul making “baseless allegations” A total of 28 candidates are in sembly polls. Dattatreya, an outgoing MP who (MIM) candidate N Mohan Rao the political parties who ques- Roy echoed the concerns raised regarding the law and order situ- fray in Secunderabad, the twin The TRS is looking to open the served as minister of state for was at third spot polling 1.45 lakh tioned the neutrality of the by Deb and alleged that the state ation and urged Dubey to “sub- city of Hyderabad, but the main account with a political novice, Labour and Employment in the votes. TRS had fi nished fourth Chief Electoral Officer’s office police’s Rapid Action Force stantiate and survey” the com- contest will be among the TRS, 32-year-old T Sair Kiran Yadav, Modi government till September with 1.43 lakh votes. and police officers seen in po- (RAF) is being used to conduct plaints before taking action.

Court grants bail to Vadra Single PSLV rocket puts in money laundering case

29 satellites in three orbits IANS “It is noted that the accused is New Delhi having permanent residence in Delhi and has deep roots in so- Reuters in addition to India’s EMISAT Switzerland, will be used for the ciety, his family is based in India New Delhi satellite. “Internet of Things”, or connect- New Delhi court yester- and his properties are also situ- “This particular mission is ing physical devices to the Web, day granted bail to Robert ated in India,” the court said. very special for ISRO,” its chair- the agency added. AVadra, the brother-in- It also allowed anticipatory n Indian rocket yester- man K Sivan, said after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi law of Congress president Rahul bail to Vadra’s aide Manoj Arora day placed domestic launch from the southeastern congratulated the agency on the Gandhi, in a money laundering and asked them both to fur- Aand foreign satellites state of Andhra Pradesh. launch and said his government case related to the Black Money nish a personal bond of Rs5 lakh in three different orbits on a “This is for the fi rst time the was working on raising citizens’ Act. each and one surety of a similar single flight, a first for the na- PSLV is carrying out three orbital interest in science and their re- Special Judge Arvind Kumar amount each. tion and a low-cost option that missions in a single fl ight,” he spect for scientists. allowed Vadra’s anticipatory bail They have been ordered not could burnish its reputation for said in a speech, referring to the ISRO wants companies such in the case related to his owner- to leave the country without pioneering affordable options Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle as state-owned Hindustan Aero- ship of overseas assets worth permission and join the probe in space. family of rockets. nautics Ltd and Mumbai-based £1.9mn. whenever required. The launch of a domestic in- Sivan, who previously told conglomerate Larsen & Toubro to The Enforcement Directorate The court also ordered the telligence satellite and 28 foreign media the “three-in-one” build its rockets in future. (ED), which questioned Vadra accused not to tamper with the ones came less than a week after launch would help cut costs, said Last year India said it expect- several times, had opposed the probe or try to infl uence wit- India used an anti-satellite mis- the agency aimed to complete 30 ed to spend less than Rs100bn bail saying his custodial inter- nesses. sile to take down one of its own more missions this year, includ- ($1.4bn) on its fi rst manned rogation was necessary for the It noted that the offi ce premis- satellites, demonstrating a ca- ing India’s second lunar explo- space mission to be launched by probe. es of the accused were searched pability only China, Russia and ration programme known as the 2022, suggesting it is likely to be “There is no allegation that on December 7-8, 2018, and vo- the United States had possessed Chandrayaan-2. cheaper than similar projects by applicant (Vadra) at any point of luminous documents running previously. Among the satellites in yester- the United States and China. time, has tampered with evidence into nearly 20,000 pages have The Indian Space Research day’s launch are 20 earth-imag- India’s 2014 launch of an or infl uenced any witness in the been seized. Organisation (ISRO) said 24 sat- ing satellites of Planet Labs Inc, a unmanned Mars mission cost present matter,” the court said. The court also observed that ellites from the United States, private satellite operator based in $74mn, just a fraction of the The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C45, carrying It observed that the case be- Vadra had fi led an anticipatory two from Lithuania and one each San Francisco. $671mn spent by US space agen- Electromagnetic Spectrum Measurement satellite ‘EMISAT’ and ing probed by the ED was based bail plea on February 1 and joined from Spain and Switzerland were Two of the satellites, one from cy Nasa on its MAVEN Mars mis- 28 other satellites, lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre mainly on documentary evi- the investigation on February 6 positioned in yesterday’s launch, Lithuania and another from sion. yesterday. dence. on the court’s direction. Gulf Times 18 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 INDIA

UNDERWORLD VERDICT HONOUR HEALTH JUDICIARY Dawood sister’s Mumbai Three jailed for life for Artist bags three-month 45mn Indians suff er Hardik Patel moves SC apartment auctioned murder in Gurugram residency in Scotland from heart ailments to stay conviction

The government has auctioned a flat The Gurugram Civil Court yesterday sentenced A Vadodara-based artist has been selected as the Of the 1.3bn population of India, around 45mn Patidar leader Hardik Patel yesterday moved the belonging to the late Haseena Ismail Parkar, three men to life imprisonment for the brutal 2019 ‘Emerging Artist of the Year’, and will represent suff er from heart ailments, which gives the country Supreme Court seeking a stay of his conviction and sister of absconding mafia don Dawood murder of a mechanic in 2015. The accused, India at a three-month art residency in Scotland this an odd distinction of having the highest number of sentence in a 2015 rioting case by a district court Ibrahim, five years after her death, sources identified as Joginder Singh, 35, Sandeep summer. Raju Baraiya was chosen from a pool of cardiovascular disease cases in the world, according to enable him to contest the general elections. The said yesterday. The 600 sq ft apartment in Kumar, 25 and Ramesh Chand, 53, along with five finalists by a jury, comprising artists, gallerists, to a renowned cardiologist. Warning that India Patidar leader, who joined the Congress on March Nagpada in Mumbai – was auctioned for 10 others beat the victim Naved to death in art critics and collectors, art patron Kiran Nadar, may turn into the world capital of coronary artery 12 and was being projected to be a candidate for Rs18mn under the Smuggling and Foreign Chandu village on August 23, 2015. “We have designer Sunil Sethi and Glenfiddich artists in diseases, H K Bali said the incidence of heart disease the Jamnagar seat, has challenged the March 29 Exchange Manipulators Act (SAFEMA). The registered a case under sections 302, 364, residence programme curator Andy Fairgrieve. has increased among the younger generation. “Poor Gujarat High Court order rejecting his plea. The high property in south Mumbai was put up for 201, 323, 342, 506 and 34 of IPC,” police off icer A student of painting art, Baraiya was thrilled at the lifestyle choices have resulted in an increase in the court did not accept his plea that he would suff er auction after Parkar’s relatives failed to prove Subhash Bokan said. Bokan said the victim had chance to “interact with artists from across the world number of young Indians suff ering from coronary an irreparable loss if he was not able to contest it was bought with money acquired through repaired a sewing machine belonging to one of and create refreshing masterpieces”. Bestcollegeart. artery disease. If this continues the future is at severe the Lok Sabha election. Patel sought the stay of legal means. The details of the auction and the accused, Sandeep. “As he was not satisfied com, which has collaborated with Glenfiddich, will risk, he said yesterday. Till a decade ago, doctors the Mehsana court decision convicting him for the identity of the buyer are not available. with the work done by Naved, Sandeep called give Rs1mn award to Baraiya. Indian artists who have hardly came across young patients with heart involvement in a rioting and arson case at Visnagar Originally owned by Ibrahim, the flat was taken him for a meeting... Naved went there with his won the Scotland residency are Juhikadevi Bhanjdeo problems. “Now, we get many cases where people in during the Patel agitation in 2015. The Mehsana over by his mother Amina and then by Parkar brother Saleem. But the accused held them (2012), Yuvan Bothysathuvar (2013), Chetnaa Verma the 25-35 years age group are diagnosed with heart court had ordered a two-year imprisonment in July after the alleged don fled the country in the captive in a hotel, and thrashed them after (2014), Krupa Makhija (2015), Subir Hati (2016), disease,” said Bali, chairman of Paras Superspecialty last year. So long as he remains convicted, Patel mid-1980s. stripping them naked,” the off icer said. Sitaram Swain (2017) and Biblap Sarkar (2018). Hospital in Panchkula near Chandigarh. stands barred from contesting elections. Modi hits out at Andhra CM, calls him ‘U-turn Babu’

IANS project has become an “ATM” Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh for the TDP government which kept increasing the project’s cost. Stating that the project was rime Minister Narendra hanging fi re for four decades, he Modi stepped up his attack said the previous governments Pon Andhra Pradesh Chief and the present TDP were part- Minister N Chandrababu Naidu ners in the crime. yesterday, comparing him to the Claiming that his government character Bhallala Deva, the pri- declared Polavaram a national mary antagonist in the blockbust- project in its very fi rst cabinet Supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hold placards as they attend a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political campaign in Hyderabad yesterday. er fi lm Baahubali, and accused the meeting, Modi said his govern- Telugu Desam Party president of ment has removed all hurdles and trying to keep power within his so far released Rs7,000 crore but family by hook or crook. “the TDP government had no in- Addressing a Bharatiya Janata tention to complete the project”. Party rally in Rajahmundry, a Listing out the steps taken by town in East Godavari district, his government during the last Modi repeatedly called Naidu a fi ve years, Modi said the deci- ‘U-turn Babu’ and alleged that sion to make income tax zero for Facebook removes ‘fake’ the TDP has been involved in those earning up to Rs5 lakh has stealing people’s data. already come into eff ect. “I was told that the TDP started He said the government ex- a new work which is related to ecuted many works at a rapid cybercrime through Seva Mitra pace without imposing any new app, which is neither doing Seva tax on people. (service) nor is a Mitra (friend); in- Modi urged people to bring pages linked to Congress stead, it is stealing people’s data,” the BJP to power both in Andhra Modi said, referring to the data Pradesh and at the Centre so that Agencies this activity attempted to con- Facebook to give it a list of pages/ now commission an in-house both sides resorted to such tac- theft case fi led in Telangana state it can continue the good work. New Delhi ceal their identities, our review accounts that were removed. journalist to write another book tics is a troubling feature,” the in March against an IT company Elections to 175-member found that it was connected to “This is to clarify that no offi - on their fraud,” Malviya tweeted. think tank said in a blog post. providing services to the TDP. Andhra Pradesh Assembly and individuals associated with an cial pages run by INC have been The social media giant also Facebook has faced increas- Modi alleged that lies, frus- 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in acebook Inc said yesterday INC (Indian National Congress) taken down. Additionally, all discovered spam activities by ing pressure from authorities tration and U-turn have become the state will be held on April 11. it had removed 687 pages IT Cell,” Nathaniel Gleicher, pages run by our verifi ed volun- an Indian IT fi rm Silver Touch, around the world, including the the identity of the TDP govern- Earlier in the day addressing Fand accounts linked to the Head of Cybersecurity Policy at teers are also unaff ected. In the which has been linked to the Indian government, to ensure ment. a rally in Wardha, Maharashtra, main opposition Congress Party, Facebook, said in a statement. mean time, we are awaiting a re- pro-BJP page “The India Eye”, its platform is not abused for “See the statement he made Modi attacked the Nationalist just days before voting begins Gleicher added that Facebook sponse from Facebook to provide followed by 2.6mn accounts. political gains or to spread mis- two years ago and see what he Congress Party (NCP) and its top in a general election, because was removing accounts based on us a list of all pages/accounts Facebook has removed 15 pag- information, especially ahead of is saying today. He could not do leadership, accusing them of ig- of “co-ordinated inauthentic their behaviour, not the content that they have taken down,” the es, groups and accounts linked to elections. anything but blame others. Such noring farmers for decades and behaviour” on the social media they posted. Congress said in a tweet. the fi rm. Facebook has toughened up leadership can’t be trusted by the indulging in blatant corruption. platform. India’s staggered election, Congress spokesman Manish “They posted about local news its rules governing political ad- people,” the prime minister said. He specifi cally targeted NCP The announcement marks scheduled to begin on April 11, Tiwari said the party needed to and political events, including vertisements in India and many Modi claimed that the BJP president Sharad Pawar, his a rare action from Facebook will end on May 19. check the veracity “whether the topics like the Indian govern- other countries to increase wanted to save Andhra Pradesh’s nephew Ajit Pawar and oth- against a prominent political Two of the samples shared Facebook pages are linked to us.” ment, the upcoming elections, transparency. heritage which was under threat ers and said owing to a severe party in a country where it has by Facebook were of posts that The ruling Bharatiya Janata the BJP and alleged misconduct Last week, Facebook removed from ‘U-turn Babu’. “He is both- ‘intra-family crises’ the party’s more than 300mn users, the criticised Modi’s initiatives and Party reacted sharply, with IT of political opponents including a social media network in the ered about his own heritage,” grip was slipping from Sharad highest in the world. called for supporting the Con- Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad the INC,” noted Gleicher. and took the unusual Modi said in an obvious reference Pawar’s hands. Facebook said its investiga- gress and its president Rahul saying the steps taken by Face- Silver Touch spent over step of linking it to a business- to Heritage Foods, the dairy com- “Sharad Pawar is one of the tion found that individuals used Gandhi. book were “historic”. Rs4.8mn for ads on Facebook. man who said he had managed pany owned by Naidu’s family. most experienced leaders. Any- fake accounts and joined various These pages and accounts BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malvi- The Digital Forensic Research the president’s online election “Standing by one’s word is thing he does or speaks is after groups to disseminate their con- have spent around Rs2.7mn on ya also joined the chorus against Lab at the international aff airs campaign in 2016. Andhra’s heritage but U-turn deep calculations. He recently tent and increase engagement. advertisements on Facebook. the Congress, saying Facebook’s think tank Atlantic Council, It has taken similar actions re- Babu’s heritage is betrayal. Hon- said he would fi ght the elections, Their posts included local The fi rst ad ran in August 2014 action was “unprecedented.” which partnered with Facebook cently against accounts in Russia esty and transparency are And- but suddenly backtracked. The news and criticism of political and the most recent in March “Facebook’s crackdown on for the review, said the accounts and Iran. hra’s heritage but dishonesty person who once thought he could opponents such as Prime Min- 2019. pages linked to Congress IT cell linked to Congress pushed satir- Separately, Facebook said it and corruption are the heritage become the PM has left the bat- ister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Facing criticism, the Congress is unprecedented. Proves that ical posts, while pro-BJP pages had also removed another 227 of U-turn Babu.” tlefi eld even before the battle has Janata Party (BJP), Facebook tweeted that none of its offi cial just like Rahul Gandhi, Con- “carried vitriolic posts against pages and 94 accounts in India The prime minister leader begun. Even he knows which way said. pages has been taken down and gress’s digital footprint is also a opposition leaders”. for violating its policies against also alleged that the Polavaram the wind is blowing,” Modi said. “While the people behind it was awaiting a response from purveyor of fake news! They can “The fact that partisans on spam and misrepresentation. Rahul will lose Wayanad AAP complains to EC election: NDA candidate against ‘NAMO TV’ IANS hour channel ‘NAMO TV’. It is New Delhi agreed that they have money IANS Vellapally Natesan, who was in- nounced that Gandhi would and can have own channel,” he Thrissur, Kerala strumental in fl oating the BDJS contest from Wayanad, apart said, raising four questions be- in 2015. from his traditional constituen- he Aam Aadmi Party fore the EC. “I know so many people here cy Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, ac- (AAP) yesterday fi led a “Did the BJP approach the ongress president Rahul cutting across communities and ceding to the demands of party Tcomplaint with the Elec- Media Certifi cation Committee Gandhi will be defeated hence I do not think they will workers in south India. tion Commission against a tel- to certify the contents of the tel- Cin Wayanad in Kerala, vote for someone who is not Meanwhile, Gandhi is ex- evision channel ‘NAMO TV’ ecast?” he asked. Tushar Vellapally, who is the known,” said Vellapally, knowing pected to reach Wayanad on named after Prime Minister He asked if permission can be National Democratic Alliance that his own election will fetch Thursday to fi le his nomination, Narendra Modi. granted to a party to have their candidate, said yesterday. him a good deal of attention on Congress general secretary and In a letter, the AAP said the own TV channel even after the Bharatiya Janata Party presi- account of his high-profi le op- former Kerala chief minister Supreme Court, in its various Model Code of Conduct is en- dent Amit Shah yesterday an- ponent. Oommen Chandy said yesterday. judgments, has held that there forced. nounced the candidature of Vel- Communist Party of India Chandy told IANS that Gan- has to be a “level playing fi eld” Who will monitor the content lapally, who was moved from the leader P P Suneer is the Left dhi was expected to arrive in for all political parties. of the telecast? “If no permis- Thrissur Lok Sabha constitu- Democratic Front candidate in Kozhikode late on Wednesday and “The Commission is entrust- sion sought by the EC, then what ency to take on Gandhi. Wayanad. travel to Wayanad the next day. ed with the duty to maintain the action has been taken in this re- “Why should a north Indian The BDJS is a constituent of “If by chance he does not ar- same among all the parties.” gard?” come and contest here when the NDA in Kerala and Vellap- rive on Wednesday, he will arrive Mohamedd Irsad, from AAP’s Launched last week, the chan- there are so many Malayalis? The pally is the NDA’s state convener. early Thursday and proceed to legal cell, said the intention be- nel is devoted to the coverage of writing on the wall is very clear. Thanking Shah for giving him Wayanad. Ahead of submitting hind these judicial precedents Modi’s speeches and rallies. Both Gandhi, who is not required in the opportunity, Vellappally his nomination, he will conduct was to have equal opportunities the BJP and Modi have promoted north India, is not going to be said in a tweet: “This behind a road show,” said Chandy, add- to all political parties irrespec- it on social media. accepted here and hence he will the curtain drama of the left ing that he would be present tive of money and muscle power In a tweet, Modi shared a pic- not win,” Vellapally, the presi- and Congress we will expose to with Gandhi. so that all political parties can ture which said the channel will dent of the Bharat Dharma Jana our countrymen. I am with you Chandy said the “entire elec- reach out to the voters. have a “real-time coverage of PM Sena (BDJS) said. in this fi ght to eradicate foreign tion profi le in south India has “But defying this very car- Modi’s exciting election cam- He is the son of high-profi le rule from our motherland.” changed drastically” because of A woman prepares textile materials dedicated to the Congress at dinal principle, the Bharatiya paign and a lot more fascinating SNDP Yogam general secretary The Congress on Sunday an- Gandhi’s candidature. her residence in Ahmedabad yesterday. Janata Party has launched a 24- content”. Gulf Times Tuesday, April 2, 2019 19 LATIN AMERICA

Peru off ers to Millions without water as end emergency measures in Venezuela crisis deepens mine imbroglio Reuters By Margioni Bermudez, AFP ditions in the country, which sits Lima Caracas on the world’s largest proven oil re- serves. The power failures have accompa- he Peruvian government has off ered to illions of Venezuelans were nied a political showdown between end emergency measures authorising left without running water Maduro and opposition leader Juan Tthe use of force in a remote Andean re- Myesterday amid a series of Guaido, who is recognised as interim gion if indigenous protesters lift their block- massive blackouts, forcing President president by the United States and ades of roads to Chinese miner MMG Ltd’s Nicolas Maduro to announce elec- more than 50 other countries. Las Bambas copper mine, the prime minister tricity rationing and school closures Speaking on state television, Ma- said yesterday. as the government struggles to cope duro said he had approved “a 30-day Prime Minister Salvador del Solar pitched with a deepening economic crisis. plan” to ration power. the idea to Gregorio Rojas, the leader of indig- Maduro announced 30 days of He did not detail how it would work enous community Fuerabamba, during ne- power rationing on Sunday, after his but said there would be “an emphasis gotiations on Sunday aimed at restoring road government said it was shortening on guaranteeing water service.” access to Las Bambas, one of Peru’s biggest the work day and keeping schools Maduro also acknowledged that copper mines, his offi ce said in a statement. closed due to blackouts. many Venezuelans could not watch “What we agreed was that fi rst he would The measures are a stark admission his broadcast because they had no see if his community is in agreement. He by the government — which blamed electricity. can’t make decisions today without consult- repeated power outages in March on Crippled infrastructure, little in- ing members of his community,” Solar was sabotage — that there is not enough vestment in the power grid and poor quoted saying. Rojas could not immediately electricity to go around, and that the maintenance have all contributed to be reached yesterday. power crisis is here to stay. the country’s electricity woes. His attorney said he was travelling to Angry Venezuelans meanwhile A “brain drain” of qualifi ed per- southern Peru, where Fuerabamba villag- took to the streets of Caracas to pro- sonnel has also hit the industry, with ers have blocked two roads that Las Bam- test the power cuts and water short- about 25,000 people in the electricity bas needs to transport copper and receive ages. sector among the 2.7mn Venezuelans supplies, halting exports from the mine and “We have small children and we who have emigrated since 2015. nearly forcing it to suspend production. aren’t able to give them a drop of wa- The blackouts are only exacerbat- Las Bambas produces about 400,000 ter to drink,” said Caracas resident ing the country’s deep economic cri- tonnes of copper per year, equivalent to about Maria Rodriguez. sis, which features a soaring infl ation A woman holds a placard reading ‘We Want Water and Electricity’ during a protest at Fuerzas Armadas Avenue in 2% of global output and 1% of Peru’s gross With no electricity, pumping sta- rate. Caracas on Sunday. domestic product. tions can’t work, so water service is On Sunday, authorities announced The government has declared two states of limited. other measures as a result of the elec- megawatts, when it has the capacity frastructure has been abused due to government enforcers that the op- emergencies in response to the road block- Street lights and traffi c lights go tricity shortage. to generate 34,000 megawatts,” Ca- a lack of maintenance and the post- position describes as paramilitary ades, suspending the right to hold public dark, pumps at fuel stations stand “To achieve consistency in the bas told AFP. poning of upgrade plans,” he told thugs. gatherings and authorising police and the idle, and cell phone and internet provision of electricity, the Bolivar- The Maduro government has AFP. Maduro has given the “colectivos” military to restore order. service is non-existent. ian government decided to maintain blamed “terrorists” for alleged at- Another problem was the “de- permission to contain protests that But authorities have not yet tried to clear But people try to fi nd it water the suspension of school activities tacks that have damaged the Guri hy- professionalisation” of the sector he describes as violent mobs aiming protesters from the roads with force, fearful wherever they can: from springs, and establish a workday until 2pm droelectric power plant, which gen- when Chavez nationalised the power to oust him from power. of the kind of deadly clashes that have halted leaky pipes, gutters, government- in public and private institutions,” erates 80% of Venezuela’s electricity. company in 2007 — a move that led Joaquin Rodriguez, a 54-year-old mining projects in the past. provided tankers, and the little that Communications Minister Jorge Ro- The Guri plant, however, was al- to pro-government loyalists taking lawyer, was among those protest- Del Solar said the government was willing fl ows through the Guiare River in Ca- driguez said on state television. ready showing signs of trouble: back positions as managers and engineers. ing in Los Palos Grandes, a once- to discuss the community’s demands in de- racas. Guaido has asked his supporters to in 2010, then-president Hugo Chavez Demonstrations by Venezuelans prosperous neighborhood that has tail with MMG and outside mediators once “We fi ll up from a well near here protest each time there is a blackout. said electricity would be rationed in angry about the blackouts broke out endured blackouts for more than a the blockades were lifted. but we don’t know if its drinkable. “This is going to continue. The some Venezuelan states because wa- on Sunday in Caracas. decade. MMG has said it is open to dialogue. But we’re using it,” said Erimar Vale, situation is very serious, there will be ter was low at the Guri dam due to a With cooking pots, whistles and “Once again a nationwide blackout who lives in the capital. more blackouts and rationing,” said drought. fl ags, dozens of residents spontane- is aff ecting our quality of life,” he told Angel Velazquez said he bathed at Winton Cabas, president of the Ven- Jose Aguilar, a Venezuelan consult- ously took to the streets in scattered AFP. “We don’t have water. We don’t work because he did not have water ezuelan Association of Electrical and ant living in the United States, said protests. have any light. We don’t have Inter- at home. Mechanical Engineering. the problems with the power grid run Protesters and human rights net access, our phones don’t work... The blackouts have worsened al- “The whole power grid is barely deep. groups said some demonstrators we are even worse off than we could 14 killed as boat ready dire economic and living con- generating between 5,500 and 6,000 “Over the past 20 years, the in- were attacked by “colectivos” — pro- have imagined.” bearing Haitian 17 dead in horrifying Lima bus blaze migrants sinks DPA Miami AFP way connecting the upper and lower grief, told local television that he had Lima levels. lost six family members including his The tragedy refl ected the chaos of wife, children and grandchildren. t least 14 Haitians died when a twin- Peru’s public transport system, par- An AFP photographer witnessed engine outboard boat smuggling n inferno swept through a bus ticularly in the capital of 10mn people one woman weeping, her face bur- Amigrants to the Turks and Caicos at an illegal transport termi- where authorities are overwhelmed ied in her hands, while paramedics (Islands in the Atlantic Ocean) capsized in Anal in Lima, killing 17 people by transport problems. checked her. shark-infested waters, the islands’ police trapped inside in one of Peru’s worst Initial reports said an electrical Lima’s Mayor Jorge Munoz vis- force has said. fi re disasters in over a decade, the fault at the rear of the bus triggered ited the injured in hospital and an- Takara Bain, a spokeswoman with the state prosecutor’s offi ce said yester- the blaze just after 7.30pm on Sun- nounced an investigation to punish Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police, said 14 day. day. those responsible. others were rescued before the search-and- Most of the victims were trapped Initially the fi re department said “I am totally outraged,” he said, rescue operation was suspended until day- on the upper deck of the interpro- at least 20 people had perished in the recalling that insecurity and other break yesterday. vincial bus in Lima as it prepared to fi re, but the fi gure was revised down- problems had led to the closure of the The islands’ police marine branch was depart the controversial Fiori bus wards after fi refi ghters had combed Fiori terminal last year. alerted after 8am (1200 GMT) on Sunday that terminal, fi re chief Mario Casaretto through the burnt-out bus. The station is in Lima’s populous a boat transporting undocumented migrants said. “At 4am, the team of prosecutors northern San Martin de Porres dis- from Haiti had capsized off West Caicos, an “Everyone became trapped in the and six doctors concluded the re- trict, from where the bus was to de- uninhabited island in the British overseas stairwell leading to the fi rst level moval of 17 bodies,” the prosecutor’s part for the northern city of Chiclayo. territory. when they wanted to get down from offi ce said on Twitter. Fiori was operating illegally after “At this stage, it is unclear as to the to- the upper level,” Casaretto said. Among the dead were four chil- local authorities closed it in January tal souls on board the vessel,” acting Police Onlookers described scenes of dren. 2018 for the unauthorized sale of fuel Commissioner Trevor Botting said. panic and cries of terror. Thirteen adults — fi ve women and to public buses. “This is a tragic loss of life. We off er our Much of the vehicle was reduced eight men — also died. The fi re was one of the worst in condolences and sympathies to the families to a skeleton and the corpses of some Authorities did not say how many Lima since December 2001, when a of those aff ected by this terrible incident. No Police off icers stand next to the remains of a bus that caught fire at a bus victims could still be seen in the seats. people were on board. fi reworks blast caused a market blaze journey is worth risking lives on the danger- station in a populous district north of Lima. Others asphyxiated on the stair- One unidentifi ed man, broken by that killed about 300 people. ous seas in these small vessels.”

Mexican president wants to ‘bring order’ to Central American migration to US

Reuters three violent and impoverished the government was limiting the Mexican government — a more Mexico City countries: Honduras, Guatemala number of visas it issues. than 140% increase from March and El Salvador. Detentions at the US border 2018, and a seven-fold jump from Lopez Obrador has tried to have surged in recent months, 2017. exico will help to regu- persuade Trump to address the angering Trump and putting US Secretary of State Mike late the fl ow of Cen- problem by fostering economic pressure on Lopez Obrador to Pompeo said the United States Mtral American migrants development in Central Amer- fi nd a solution that will prevent was working with the Central passing through its territory to ica. a shutdown of the frontier to the American governments and the United States, but the root But on Saturday the US State market for 80% of Mexico’s ex- Mexico to “solve this problem at causes behind the phenomenon Department said it was cutting ports. the border,” and pointed to the must be tackled, Mexican Presi- off aid to El Salvador, Guatemala Asked if it was time to put numbers when asked why Trump dent Andres Manuel Lopez Ob- and Honduras. pressure on the Central Ameri- had toughened his stance. rador said yesterday. Mexico began issuing tempo- can countries to do more to tack- “Just look at the math,” Pom- Speaking after US President rary humanitarian visas to some le the problem, Lopez Obrador peo told reporters outside the US Donald Trump on Friday threat- members of a migrant caravan in said the causes of migration were Army War College in Carlisle, ened to close the US southern southern Mexico, giving priority “not being attended to” and that Pennsylvania. border if Mexico did not halt il- to children and the elderly, the people needed to be off ered more “How many folks are coming legal immigration immediately, National Migration Institute said opportunities there. across. This is a crisis. We need Lopez Obrador said he would not yesterday. “Obviously, we have to help to fi x it.” have a confrontation with the It said it would provide trans- because Central American mi- Putting a stop to aid to Cen- United States. port back to Central American grants pass through our territory tral America only made the job “I prefer love and peace,” countries, Cuba and Haiti, on a and we have to bring order to this tougher, said Senator Ben Car- Lopez Obrador told reporters at voluntary basis. migration, make sure it’s legal,” din, a senior Democrat on the his regular morning news con- Earlier this year, Mexico hand- Lopez Obrador said. Senate Foreign Relations Com- ference. ed out humanitarian visas liber- “That’s what we’re doing. But mittee. The leftist president has con- ally, but reined in the program serenely, calmly, without a com- “And closing the border — that sistently refused to get drawn after a surge in applications. motion and with great prudence makes no sense at all,” he told into a war of words with Trump The institute said from next and responsibility.” CNN. over the border. month it was planning to en- US Border Patrol projections “We need Mexico’s co-opera- Most of the people caught at courage people to apply for visas are for over 90,000 apprehen- tion to work with us, and cutting the frontier trying to enter the in their home countries. sions at the border during March, off the border just tells Mexico: Cars queue up awaiting inspections by US border patrol off icers to enter the US from Mexico at the San United States illegally come from It was not immediately clear if according to data provided to the ‘We’re doing it alone.’” Ysidro point of entry, in Tijuana, Mexico. Gulf Times 20 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 PAKISTAN

Investment interest Facebook kills accounts linked to army PR arm The Inter-Service Public said in a statement. “Although Examples included a post on April 11. Relations has not responded the people behind this activity from a page called “Pakistan “We’re taking down these to requests for comment attempted to conceal their iden- Army – the BEST”, with an pages and accounts based on tities, our investigation found image purporting to show a their behaviour, not the content Prime Minister Khan is seen with Sheikh Faisal bin Thani al-Thani during their meeting in Islamabad. Reuters/AFP/DPA that it was linked to employees crashed Indian fi ghter jet with they posted,” Gleicher said. Sheikh Faisal, who was meeting Khan as head of a delegation from the Qatar Investment Islamabad of the ISPR (Inter-Service Pub- text reading: “Indian airforce An analysis of the pages, ac- Authority (QIA), is the chief of the Qatar Investment Department as well as the head of the Qatar lic Relations) of the Pakistani has become a consistent failure counts, and groups by the At- Regional Investment Fund at the QIA. The QIA delegation expressed keen interest in investments in military.” which is evident from current lantic Council think tank’s dig- Pakistan’s housing, energy, tourism and airport management sectors. The Prime Minister’s Adviser on acebook has removed 103 The ISPR did not respond to embarrassment for India”. ital forensic lab said that the Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood and Board of Investment chairman Haroon Sharif were also present pages, groups and ac- requests for comment. Others praised Pakistani tone of the pages in questions during the meeting. Fcounts that were part of Facebook’s announcement Prime Minister Imran Khan for strongly supported Pakistan and a network it said was linked to comes at a time when it has promoting peace, or propagated attacked India, consistent with employees of the Pakistan mili- been facing increasing pressure unverifi ed claims that a Paki- the ISPR’s behaviour”. tary’s public relations arm, the across the world over the use stani pilot had shot down fi ve The military’s spokesman social media group announced of its platforms by politically Indian planes. has often mentioned the term yesterday. aligned groups, many of which “We are constantly working “fi fth generation warfare” dur- Facebook said that it removed conceal their true identity. to detect and stop co-ordinated ing press conferences, referring pages and accounts on Face- The 24 pages, 57 accounts and inauthentic behaviour because to an unconventional battlefi eld book and Instagram that spread seven groups removed on Face- we don’t want our services to that includes the dissemination information about Pakistani book had more than 2.8mn fol- be used to manipulate people,” and countering of information politics and political leaders, the lowers. Gleicher said. on social media. Indian government and the Pa- An additional 15 Instagram Facebook simultaneously Last week, Facebook re- kistani military. accounts were also removed. announced the removal of 687 moved a social media network “Today we removed 103 Gleicher said that ISPR em- pages and accounts linked to in the Philippines and took the pages, groups and accounts for ployees were operating military India’s main opposition Con- unusual step of linking it to a engaging in co-ordinated in- fan pages, as well as pages on gress party, which had engaged businessman who said he had authentic behaviour on Face- Kashmir, “general Pakistani in- in “co-ordinated inauthentic managed the president’s online OMANI AIR CHIEF PRAISES PAF: Oman Royal Air Force book and Instagram as part of a terest”, and local and political behaviour” on its social media election campaign in 2016. commander Vice-Marshal Matar Ali Matar al-Obaidani has lauded network that originated in Pa- news including on topics such platform (see report on page It has taken similar actions the professionalism and achievements of the Pakistan Air Force kistan,” Nathaniel Gleicher, Fa- as arch-rival India’s army and 18), days before India’s multi- recently against accounts in (PAF). He said this during a meeting with Air Chief Marshal Mujahid cebook’s head of cybersecurity, politicians. stage national elections begin Russia and Iran. Anwar Khan in Islamabad yesterday. Lodhi: Between 2014 and 2019, 193 peacekeepers lost their lives due to deliberate attacks. Pakistan plans to extend term of military courts Pakistan Government says the ported the idea, arguing that the said yesterday. “We will try to In an interview with the BBC “Military courts were an ex- The PPP says that the govern- lobbies for country needs military existing criminal justice system extend their tenure.” yesterday, Chaudhry said: “The traordinary step taken in ex- ment has yet to contact them courts, says minister was not strong enough to punish He added however that any term of these military courts will traordinary circumstances. [We] over the issue. terrorists behind suicide bomb- extension in their term remains be extended if the government believe the military courts deliv- National Assembly member safety of DPA/Internews ings and gun attacks. conditional on consensus among succeeds in getting the political ered successfully. Dr Nafi sa Shah told the BBC that Islamabad Suspects are not allowed a political parties. parties to agree [over the mat- “There is still need of them. her party’s stance remains clear lawyer and proceedings are kept The opposition Pakistan Peo- ter]. The government is trying to We are very close to defeating that they don’t support military UN troops secret to make sure religious ples Party (PPP) of former presi- create political consensus over terrorism completely, and we courts. akistan plans to extend for groups cannot attack or harass dent Asif Ali Zardari said that it.” believe extension in their term is Since the launch of the Zarb- another year the term of judges. it does not support the idea of “If the [other] political par- important,” Chaudhry said. e-Azb military operation, the Internews Pmilitary courts, in a move The tribunals were initially set having a parallel judicial system. ties feel there is no need for “It would be good if they are interior ministry had referred United Nations offi cials said yesterday would up for two years, but authorities “Lack of transparency and [another] extension, then there extended again, but obviously it over 700 cases of terrorism to bolster the fi ght against religious kept extending their term. secrecy make the whole sys- won’t be [another] extension,” won’t be possible if there is no the military courts. militants. The latest term ended on Sun- tem fl awed,” party spokesman the minister added. national consensus,” the minis- Of these, 185 are still under oicing concern over the Pakistan’s parliament passed day, which means more legisla- Qamar Zaman Kaira said. The government is seeking the ter added. process and had to be decided increasing number of fa- a law in 2015 to establish mili- tion would now be required to The Human Rights Commis- co-operation of the opposition The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf by March 30 before the expiry of Vtalities suff ered by United tary tribunals, days after Tali- let the controversial court con- sion of Pakistan, an independent parties for another extension (PTI) government had sum- the term. Nations peacekeepers operating ban gunmen killed nearly 150 tinue. group, urged the government as it would require a two-thirds moned a session with opposition The National Assembly was in hot sports around the world, schoolchildren in the deadliest “The military courts are not to back the extension, which majority in any of the two hous- parties on March 28 to discuss told in November last year that Pakistan has underscored the attack ever in the country. needed in Pakistan,” Informa- it says is “against the basic idea es of the Parliament to carry out the matter, but it was boycotted a total of 478 cases had been de- need for ensuring not only their The then-government sup- tion Minister Fawad Chaudhry of justice”. the constitutional amendment. by the political parties. cided. security but also safety of the personnel in equal measure. “While security will remain American travel blogger says ‘amazing’ a challenge, and will vary from Pakistan boasts ‘world’s best hospitality’ mission to mission, the safety side of the coin can be addressed American travel blogger Drew Binsky, the latest foreign tourist to Schemes worth billions for southern Punjab by adequately equipping peace- visit Pakistan, has shared that the country’s hospitality is the “world’s keepers with training and nec- best”. essary equipment, and better In a video posted on his Facebook page, Binsky shared that he did Internews ment after the ADP review. lease of Rs300mn in the current the construction of 58 rural health facilities on the ground,” not spend any money during his travels to the country, “not by Lahore The road sector schemes were budget. water supply schemes in tehsil Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi choice” but because “the hospitality in Pakistan is so amazing that announced by the chief minister Other approved schemes Taunsa, and the beautifi cation said at a peacekeeping event co- they won’t let me pay for anything”. during his visit to Dera Ghazi include the establishment of of exit-entry points of Dera hosted by Pakistan at the UN The travel blogger, who said he withdrew Rs28,000 ($200) from an evelopment schemes Khan in November last year. dispensary at Zindapir and Mu- Ghazi Khan and Taunsa. headquarters in New York. ATM when he arrived in Pakistan, wrote: “Fact: I came to Pakistan worth billions of rupees These include improvement barki, the upgrade of of RHC The committee has approved It was the fi rst meeting on and I haven’t spent any money. Why? Because nobody will let me. Dare being approved for of Taunsa city roads, construc- (rural health centre) Shadan the creation of 38 posts in the triangular formula – training, Seriously. This is the world’s best hospitality, by a long shot.” the southern parts of Punjab tion of approach road up to Sasti Lund as a model RHC, the up- Dera Ghazi Khan Development capacity building, safety and se- “Anywhere I go in the world, I always insist on paying – whether it be province, reportedly on the rec- Basti, rehabilitation of a met- grade of RHC Vehova, the up- Authority, restored by the chief curity and performance – that for dinners, gifts, taxi rides, experiences, you name it. ommendation of Chief Minister alled (paved) road from Zain to grade of RHC Barthi into a 60- minister, costing Rs65.852mn. included China, Egypt, Indone- “But the people here in Pakistan (aggressively) won’t let me pay. It’s Usman Buzdar. Bharthi, and widening of a road bed THQ [tehsil headquarters] The department concerned sia, and Morocco. insane!!” he said. The schemes are being ap- from Basti Buzdar via Man- hospital, and the upgrade of has been asked to rationalise the The panellists at the event Binsky clarified that it was not just his friends who won’t let him pay proved in the meetings of the grotha. THQ Hospital Taunsa Sharif demand of 12 vehicles for fi eld included under-secretaries but “random street vendors and people I meet especially here in standing committee of the Offi cials said that funds for from the existing 100-bed to and staff duty in the same de- general of the Department of Peshawar”. cabinet on fi nance and develop- the execution of the schemes 190-bed hospital. velopment authority. Peacekeeping Operations and In the video, Binsky also captured himself buying items in the streets ment. would be diverted from the ADP Five schemes worth Rs1.211bn It has approved Rs80mn the Department of Field Support of Peshawar and the vendors refusing to take money from him. One such scheme is worth scheme titled “Punjab Special and announced by the chief to establish the Panaah Gah/ as well as high-level dignitar- Binsky, who documented his Pakistan travels on his Instagram page, Rs4.19bn, which has been ap- Development Programme”, re- minister during his visit to Dera Musafi r Khana at Dera Gha- ies visiting for the Peacekeeping in an earlier post said: “Truth be told, I’ve never received better proved for inclusion in the An- fl ected in the ADP 2018-19 with Ghazi Khan were also approved. zi Khan, releasing Rs20mn Ministerial meeting. hospitality in my life than in Pakistan. Along with Iran, Pakistan is the nual Development Programme an allocation of Rs4bn. These schemes are the beau- through supplementary grants Between 2014 and 2019, Lo- world’s most misconceived and misunderstood country. (ADP) 2018-19. The committee approved that tifi cation of Manka Canal in in the current budget. dhi said, 193 peacekeepers lost “If you’ve ever been here, then you’ll know. Happy Pakistan Day!” Funds for the schemes would widening of road from Lohdran Dera Ghazi Khan, the laying of A Rs85.7mn scheme to es- their lives due to deliberate at- In the post published on March 24, he shared: “I have received over be decided by the Planning and to Jalalpur Pirwala, costing an sewer lines along Manka Canal, tablish a synthetic turf hockey tacks, 117 due to accidents, 231 as 20 gifts from people I have just met to thank me for coming to their Development Board in consul- estimated Rs1.592bn. the restoration of City Park, Na- ground in the Dera Ghazi Khan a result of illness, and 69 under country.” tation with the fi nance depart- The approval was for the re- waz Sharif Park and Ghazi Park, City Park has been approved. “other causes”. She said that it is important for the troop and police con- tributing countries, the Security Date for filing tax returns extended Council, and the Secretariat, to work together, enabling bet- The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has extended the date of filing Musharraf risks losing his right to defence ter decision-making related to of income tax returns for the Tax Year 2018, till April 30. planning of peacekeeping mis- The FBR has taken this decision in view of numerous sions. representations by various trade bodies and organisations along Internews tice Asif Khosa heard the high is currently undergoing chemo- self let the suspect leave the “Being one of key stakeholders with other taxpayers seeking extension in the date of filing of Islamabad treason case against Musharraf therapy.” country and did nothing to in peacekeeping, and one with returns for Tax Year 2018. on the Lahore High Court Bar’s At this, the chief justice re- bring him. The federation put rich on ground experience, it is All persons who have not yet filed their returns have been urged to petition. marked: “The court will review itself in a closed street,” Khosa imperative that the troop con- take advantage of this opportunity. he Supreme Court of Pa- As the hearing went under- Article 9 in detail. As per Article added. tributing countries are able to kistan, while hearing a way, Khosa inquired whether 9, the court can start the trial The court then announced a voice their concern on issues re- Thigh treason case against Musharraf had assured that he even in the suspect’s absence, decision on the case and said: lating to peacekeeping and, more Model trial courts to start working former military ruler General will appear before the court on and one lawyer has to be ap- “If Musharraf does not ap- importantly, their views are ac- Pervez Musharraf, remarked May 2. “What will happen if pointed for the suspect’s de- pear on May 2, the special court corded the weight they deserve In line with the vision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, model that the special court should Musharraf does not live up to his fence.” should announce a decision af- at critical stages of mandate criminal trial courts (MCTC) will start working in 114 districts of the announce a decision after hear- commitment? This matter can- “On July 19, 2016, the trial ter hearing the prosecution. formation and force generation,” country from this week for expeditious dispensation of justice. ing the prosecution as the sus- not be left openhanded.” court stated that the case can- “The suspect will lose his Lodhi said. The courts, which were constituted last week, will hear cases pect will lose his right to defend Musharraf’s counsel told the not continue in the suspect’s right to defend if he fails to ap- Pakistan is one of the largest related to murder and narcotics. if he fails to appear before court court: “As Musharraf’s counsel. absence. The state should have pear before court and will not contributors to UN peacekeep- A cell has also been set up to monitor and evaluate the on May 2. I cannot assure that he will ap- challenged that decision, as even have the facility to record ing, with more than 5,000 troops performance of the model courts, which will be headed by A three-judge bench headed pear before the court on May 2. they were the complainants. his statement under Section serving in missions around the Islamabad district and sessions judge Sohail Nasir. by Chief Justice of Pakistan Jus- It is a matter of his health and he “The federal government it- 342.” world. Gulf Times Tuesday, April 2, 2019 21 PHILIPPINES protests Chinese boats near island in disputed sea

AFP 2019. “The DFA (Department there is militiamen in that area Manila of Foreign Affairs) has already or not, but clearly it is an area made a diplomatic protest over that is disputed,” he said. it,” Panelo said. “We have been handling this anila has lodged a dip- “The mere fact that they are issue through friendly diplo- lomatic protest after there and just staying there for matic channels so you don’t Zhao Jianhua: claiming misuse of mandate Mmore than 250 Chinese a week. Why, what are you do- need to worry about whether ships were spotted in recent ing?” there will be any kind of out- months off a Philippine-held He did not say when the break of conflict,” he added. island in the hotly disputed protest was filed and the DFA This protest comes as the South China Sea, a presidential did not immediately issue any United States and the Phil- spokesman said yesterday. statements. Control over the ippines kicked off yesterday ICC case against president Under President Rodrigo Du- South China Sea is a point of their largest military exercises, terte the Philippines has largely regional contention because which have been running for set aside the once-heated ter- trillions of dollars of goods decades between Washington ritorial stand off over Beijing’s traverse through it and rich pe- and its former colony. claims to the resource-rich wa- troleum reserves are thought to The US has aimed to shore up will not succeed: envoy terway in order to court Chinese sit deep beneath its waters. its relationship with its long- investment. China, the Philippines, Bru- time ally, as Duterte has taken However, Duterte spokesman nei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vi- steps toward China in an effort By Catherine S Valente case fi led against Xi before the his meeting with Communist China before a United Nations- told reporters etnam have all staked claims to to unlock billions of promised Manila Times ICC will not prosper. Party of China’s International backed arbitral tribunal in 2013 Manila had spoken up after re- the sea. Beijing’s ambassador trade and loans. Zhao then echoed President Department Minister Song Tao for incursions in the country’s ports emerged that a number of to Manila Zhao Jianhua told During a visit to Manila in Rodrigo Duterte’s statement in Davao City last week, assured exclusive economic zone within Chinese ships passed near Pa- reporters there are Chinese March, US Secretary of State hina is confi dent that that his administration had no Chinese offi cials that govern- the disputed West Philippine gasa (Thitu) island. fishermen operating near the Mike Pompeo vowed to defend the crimes against hu- hand in the communication ment was not involved in the Sea (South China Sea). The military put the number island and he pledged China the Philippines from “armed Cmanity accusation fi led by former Philippine of- complaint fi led against Xi. The tribunal, based in The of vessels, including fishing would look into the number of attack” in the South China Sea, against Chinese President Xi fi cials against Xi for “crimes Former Foreign Aff airs sec- Hague, invalidated China’s and coast guard boats, at 275 vessels. a pledge Philippine leaders had Jinping before the International against humanity” committed retary Albert del Rosario and nine-dash line claim over the for the first three months of “We do not know whether long sought. Criminal Court (ICC) would not in the contested waters. former ombudsman Conchita waters and recognised tradi- prosper, its ambassador to the “President Duterte and the Carpio Morales joined Filipino tional fi shing rights of Filipi- Philippines Zhao Jianhua said department concerned has ex- fi shermen in fi ling the commu- nos in the Scarborough Shoal, yesterday. pressed clearly to the Chinese nication to the ICC on March an area where Beijing’s patrol Court upholds Napoles plunder conviction Speaking to reporters fol- that the Philippine govern- 13, a few days before the coun- ships are known to have shooed lowing his meeting with Palace ment has no role on that. So, try offi cially withdrew from the away Philippine fi shers. The Sandiganbayan First Division denied business- illegal use of the PDAF or pork barrel of lawmakers. spokesman Salvador Panelo in it’s an action by individuals and international body. The Philippines and China woman Janet Lim-Napoles’ plea to reconsider her Another co-accused, former senator Ramon “Bong” Malacanang, Zhao dismissed we think it’s a kind of political The former offi cials said Chi- have long sparred over the West plunder conviction in connection with the Priority Revilla Jr, was acquitted of the same charge for the ICC case against Xi as a action viciously targeting the na took a more “assertive pos- Philippine Sea, but relations Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam, lack of evidence in a decision, which the Sandigan- “fabrication” and a “misuse of Chinese leadership,” Zhao said. ture” in the region, ramped up have improved considerably Manila Times reported. bayan promulgated on Dec 7. the mandate” of the interna- “So, we don’t think it’s a its intimidation of Filipino fi sh- under Duterte, who set aside In its resolution, the anti-graft court cited “over- Finding Napoles and Cambe guilty beyond reason- tional tribunal. proper action that is based on erfolk and built military instal- the 2016 landmark legal victory whelming evidence” against Napoles and co- able doubt of plunder, the two were sentenced “Of course, I don’t think it’s facts. So, it’s a fabrication and lations on contested islands. for enhanced ties. accused Richard Cambe which showed them to to reclusion perpetua with perpetual absolute appropriate,” Zhao said during also the misuse of the man- It was during del Rosario’s The president earlier said the be the “main plunderers” in the case involving the disqualification to hold any public off ice. a chance interview, when asked date of the ICC,” the Chinese time as top Philippine diplo- group was “entitled to fi le the if China is confi dent that the envoy added. Duterte, during mat that the country brought case.” Police chief claims slain farmers resisted arrest

Manila Times rants of arrest. “These 14 re- happened in different areas,” bers. “They say that they are Manila portedly fought back. Our po- Albayalde said. Police opera- just farmers. Well, of course, lice officers would not fire their tives had 36 search warrants we all know that almost all bullets if these farmers did not against some farmers, who NPA (members) are farmers in he 14 slain farmers in fight back,” Albayalde said. were mostly local peasant lead- the morning and rebels in the Negros Oriental who He also said that if police ers, in the province for their evening,” he said. Twere tagged as mem- were planning to commit mur- alleged connections with the Albayalde added: “Just be- bers of the New People’s Army der, 12 other farmers would not NPA. cause they are farmers, it does (NPA) resisted arrest, which have been arrested. The slain farmers were not automatically mean that prompted police operatives to Albayalde said one of the identified as Steve Arapoc, they are involved in the armed retaliate, Philippine National police officers in the operation Manulo Martin, Sunny Pal- group.” Various human rights Police (PNP) chief Police Gen- was injured from the firefight. agtiw, Edgardo Avelino, Esmael groups and leftist lawmakers eral Oscar Albayalde said yes- He also clarified that the 14 Avelino, Rogelio Recomono, slammed the PNP for the kill- terday. farmers were killed separately Ricky Recomono, Genes Pal- ings. He said in a press brief- in Negros Occidental — eight in mares, Eric Acabal, Ano Enojo The Commission on Human ing that the police operatives Canlaon City, two in Santa Ca- Rapada, Gonzalo Rosales, Mel- Rights (CHR) said it would in- would not engage in a firefight talina, and four in Manjuyod. chor Panares, Mario Panares vestigate to determine if the kill- with the farmers if they did not “This did not happen in one and Franklin Lariosa. ings were justifi ed. Albayalde start shooting while they were place. It is not true that this is Albayalde said the farmers also assured the public that an Members of church groups hold candles during a protest in Manila yesterday, condemning the killing of being served with their war- a murder incident because it were all validated NPA mem- investigation was underway. 14 farmers in the central Philippines.

Military drills to focus on counter-terror operations 44 Metro villages to get water bill exemption By Dempsey Reyes ditional security challenges at Manila Times present. As we have this year’s Balikatan, we will shoulder the By Jordeene B Lagare & be deducted from bills deliv- load together to prepare for Francis E Cueto ered in April. erritorial defence and these scenarios and should a Manila Times The fi rm came under fi re as counter-terrorism will be crisis or national disaster occur customers of the East Zone Tthe top priorities of this in the future, we will be ready,” concession — from low-in- year’s Balikatan (shoulder-to- he added. Kim recalled the suc- t least 44 villages or come families to commercial shoulder) exercises between the cess of military co-operation 152,000 households and industrial establishments Philippines, the United States against the Maute terrorists Awill not be paying their — suff ered from an unprec- and Australia. during the five-month siege of water bills for March after Ma- edented water shortage that The exercises offi cially opened Marawi City in 2017. “Our suc- nila Water Co Inc identifi ed started on March 6 with the yesterday at Camp Aguinaldo in cess in Marawi is an important them as having been the “most implementation of a sched- Quezon City, in ceremonies at- reminder of how the training, severely aff ected” by the water uled water service interruption tended by US ambassador to the relationships and shared expe- shortage. scheme to refi ll 28 network Philippines Sung Kim, Defence riences forged during exercises In a statement yesterday, reservoirs. Undersecretary Cardozo Luna like Balikatan enabled us to de- Manila Water said these vil- Manila Water has an alloca- and Armed Forces chief Gen. feat security threats and save lages would receive a one-time tion of 1,600mn litres per day Benjamin Madrigal Jr. lives,” Kim said. waiver under its one-time bill (MLD) from Angat Dam, Metro It was also attended by ex- This year’s Balikatan will waiver programme. Manila’s main water source. ercise directors from the Phil- draw more than 7,000 soldiers The villages include Ad- However, the company was ippines and the US — Lt Gen. from Manila, Washington and dition Hills, Barangka Drive, forced to tap its reserves from Gilbert Gapay, commander of (From left) Philippines’ military Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay, co-director of the joint US-Philippine military Canberra. Plainview, Highway Hills and La Mesa Dam to make up for the military’s Quezon-based exercise, Undersecretary Cardozo Luna of National Defence, US ambassador to the Philippines Sung Yong Kim, The Balikatan drills will in- Hulo in Mandaluyong City; the supply defi cit, as demand Southern Command, and General Benjamin Madrigal Philippine military chief, and US marines Brigadier General Christopher McPhillips volve naval and aerial capabili- Kapitolyo, Bagong Ilog and increased to about 1,750 MLD Brig. Gen Christopher McPhil- link arms during the opening ceremony of the annual joint military exercise in Manila, yesterday. ties of the US and Philippine Oranbo in Pasig City; Upper over the previous weeks. lips, commander of the US 3rd militaries. Bicutan in Taguig City; and The one-time bill relief Marine Expeditionary Brigade. in Palawan. These countries According to Madrigal, the ritorial defence and counter- It will also have live-fi re drills, Mambog in Binangonan, Rizal. scheme will cost P150mn. Madrigal said seven countries include Japan, Canada, New 35th iteration of the Balikatan terrorism operations. amphibious landings, humani- The fi rst 10 cubic metres As of yesterday, water avail- would send observers to the ex- Zealand, South Korea, Thai- drills would have “scaled-up” “All of us understand how tarian assistance and disaster (cbm) for households in vil- ability in the Manila Water area ercises to be held in northern land, Vietnam and the United exercises, which means there threats on security constantly response, and community rela- lages supplied with water from was at 98.9% for eight to 12 and southern Luzon, as well as Kingdom. would be more focus on ter- evolve, including the non-tra- tions, among other activities. other reservoirs in March will hours at the ground fl oor level. Gulf Times 22 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 COMMENT

CHAIRMAN Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Faisal Abdulhameed al-Mudahka Deputy Managing Editor K T Chacko P.O.Box 2888, Doha, Qatar [email protected] 44350478 (News), 44466404 (Sport), 44466636 (Home delivery) 44350474 facebook.com/gulftimes twitter.com/gulftimes_Qatar GULF TIMES Congress does nothing as carnage from gun violence mounts in US

The casualties of a mass shooting are not only those killed or wounded in the burst of gunfi re. The damage reverberates, often for years, sometimes magnifying a family’s tragedy. Sadly, the United States of America has borne witness to that awful truth many times. And Americans are reeling once again, this time from the recent news that three people connected to two of the worst national nightmares took their own lives. Two were students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed last year on Valentine’s Day. One, a 16-year-old boy who has not been identifi ed, was a current student and a ninth-grader at the time of the shooting. The other, 19-year-old Sydney EU decision on Brexit Aiello, was a 2018 graduate who was diagnosed with post- traumatic stress disorder and was struggling with survivor’s guilt after one of her best friends, Meadow Pollack, was slaughtered. Last week, Jeremy Richman, the father of a fi rst-grader killed in the 2012 massacre of 26 people at Sandy Hook deadline avoids disaster Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was found dead in an apparent suicide in the building that housed Anatole Kaletsky deal” rupture with Europe. And once Starting with economics, eliminating Germany’s most important industry a programme he founded to support research on brain London the promise of unfettered national the risk of a collapse in trade with will be blighted by uncertainty for abnormalities linked to violent behaviour. sovereignty combined with integration Europe’s second-largest economy another year or two – and possibly Richman, a neuropharmacologist who had two other small in the global economy is revealed as should signifi cantly boost business much longer. Meanwhile, business and y removing the hard deadline a delusion, the most likely scenario confi dence in every EU country. consumer confi dence in France has been children, spoke just last week about research on identifying for completing negotiations will become an endless sequence of But the benefi ts are unlikely to be hit by a political crisis arguably worse symptoms of people in crisis in a summit at Florida Atlantic on the United Kingdom’s “temporary” transition arrangements. immediate, because, in theory, the EU than Britain’s, while Italy is already in University, a short distance from Parkland. Bwithdrawal from the European The EU’s arrangements with Norway has created a new cliff -edge risk with a recession caused by a credit crunch There are ways to Union, the EU has avoided the disaster and Switzerland, originally designed the April 12 deadline, by which point the and government austerity required by help people cope with of a 2008-style sudden stop in business to last just one or two years when the UK must decide on a new negotiating eurozone fi scal rules. Congress still with its second-largest trading partner. EU single market was created in the strategy, apply for a further extension, The right response to these pressures the emotional turmoil This decision dramatically improves the early 1990s, are now approaching their and agree to participate in the European would be a large-scale fi scal stimulus, refuses to pass they may suff er after economic and political outlook for the fourth decade. elections if it is to avoid crashing out. with big tax cuts and public investment a violent incident. UK and all of Europe. British voters probably will I attach a low probability to a repeat of programmes both at the EU level and sensible gun Those who have strong For Britain, the prospects are realise that any such semi-detached last week’s no-deal brinkmanship (as by national governments. The case for support systems, such suddenly much clearer and better than arrangement, far from enabling the do fi nancial markets). But businesses large tax cuts and more public spending control legislation at any time since June 2016. While the UK painlessly to “take back control,” that operate on longer timescales is most obvious in Germany, where as a caring family and likelihood that Prime Minister Theresa would involve high economic costs and will naturally prefer to avoid making huge budget and trade surpluses are the access to grief and May will soon be ousted could create a reduction in national sovereignty. decisions until they can see how this biggest impediment to healthy demand trauma counselling, fare better than those who don’t. the impression of a constitutional As this understanding sinks in, next diplomatic hurdle can be overcome growth in Europe and, indeed, in the But what if one didn’t have to turn to mental health crisis, the reality is that political the Brexiteer ardour will dissipate, – and whether or not major changes in global economy. treatment at all? Because ultimately, as the recent suicides conditions are sure to stabilise once the politicians seeking re-election will be trade arrangements are likely to result But what has this to do with Brexit? prove, it doesn’t work for everyone. Wouldn’t the better period for renegotiating the UK-EU forced to focus again on the domestic from the new negotiations that follow a A lot. May’s humiliating retreat from relationship is extended again from the issues of economic, social, and regional long Brexit extension. Brexit will send a troubling message to alternative be to end mass shootings altogether? There are new, very soft, April 12 deadline until policy that largely motivated the The continuing uncertainty about populist parties across Europe. Just as plenty of countries where gun violence is not so insidious. the end of the year or beyond. How 2016 referendum protest – and one Brexit will be particularly damaging to the Brexit referendum initially fuelled The country’s lawmakers could of course do this with this extension comes about – whether way or another Britain will decide Germany, France, and Italy, because, for populist rhetoric in France, Italy, and more aggressive gun control laws. because of a new prime minister or a to remain in the EU. It would then diff erent reasons, domestic conditions Germany about breaking up the euro Despite the immeasurable heartache, Congress still refuses general election or a second referendum become an important but subsidiary in each of these economies are dire. or weakening EU institutions, Brexit’s or a vote in Parliament to erase all of issue for the country to agree on a Germany is suff ering from falling embarrassing setbacks are likely to to pass sensible gun control legislation. May’s “red lines” which prevented credible mechanism for setting aside a demand for cars not just in Europe and have the opposite effect. After all, if But on Tuesday last, the Republican-controlled Senate did her negotiating a Norwegian-style referendum that decided to make two Britain, but also in China and America. Europe’s best-performing economy, fi nally hold a gun control hearing. The Judiciary Committee associate membership of the EU – is plus two equal fi ve. No one can say for sure whether if most stable democracy, and strongest heard testimony about “red fl ag” laws that defi ne under impossible to predict. It is also not very More important for the world than this is just a temporary blip, owing military power cannot cope with what circumstances authorities can confi scate guns from important. what happens in the UK is how the to new emissions regulations, or a leaving the EU, what hope can there All that really matters is that postponement or cancellation of Brexit permanent structural change caused by be for similar initiatives in France or people deemed to be risks to themselves or others. The eliminating the hard deadline for will aff ect political and economic changing attitudes to fossil fuels and Italy? alleged Parkland gunman fell into that category. Brexit removes the threat of a “no conditions in the rest of the EU. car ownership. What is certain is that This means that the European Committee chairman Lindsey Graham said Congress Parliament elections in May could should be able to pass legislation to incentivise states to pass produce smaller swings than expected red fl ag laws, which have been adopted in 14 states, including toward anti-EU parties. A less obvious implication, already comprehended New York. Unfortunately, Graham ruled out federal red fl ag by successful populist leaders like legislation, which would be far more eff ective. Italy’s Matteo Salvini, is that savvy Nor is the Senate likely to pass a bill approved in the House national leaders should stop attacking to mandate background checks on all gun sales, a measure EU institutions and instead attack the backed by the vast majority of Americans. That’s distressing; specifi c policies that those institutions impose. By defying EU fi scal and New Zealand banned automatic weapons six days after 50 immigration rules while demanding people were killed in attacks on two mosques there earlier that EU institutions be reformed, not this month. abolished, Salvini has made himself the The only bright spot is that President Donald Trump’s dominant fi gure in Italian politics. new regulation banning bump stocks – which enable rapid The last phase of the Brexit negotiations off ers new reasons for fi ring of semiautomatic guns and were used by the Las national governments to resist the Vegas gunman to kill 59 people in 2017 – did take eff ect on European Commission’s interpretations Tuesday despite gun-rights activists’ attempts to seek court of EU rules. The Commission’s initial injunctions. advice on extending the Brexit deadline So Americans muddle along – overwhelmed by the endless was to permit it only under political conditions that the UK could not tragedy of gun violence, angered by the shameful lack of possibly accept or fulfi l. Had EU leaders action in Congress to do anything about it. followed the Commission’s infl exible and unrealistic advice at the March 21 summit, they would have forced Britain To Advertise into a no-deal Brexit and might now be facing an economic disaster of 2008 [email protected] proportions. Such a disaster is still theoretically Display possible when the next Brexit deadline 44466621 44418811 arrives on April 12. But a much longer extension is almost certain, now that Classified the principle of a potentially endless 44466609 44418811 negotiation has prevailed. - Project Syndicate Subscription z Anatole Kaletsky is Chief [email protected] Economist and Co-Chairman of Gavekal Dragonomics and the author of Capitalism 4.0, The Birth of a New © 2019 Gulf Times. All rights reserved Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May leaves from the rear of 10 Downing Street in central London yesterday. Economy. Gulf Times Tuesday, April 2, 2019 23 COMMENT The Mueller bait and switch

By Elizabeth Drew exoneration, implanting the idea in the off to federal and state prosecutors Washington, DC mind of much of the public. As is often outside of Washington. The US the case with Trump’s presidency, the Attorney’s Offi ce for the Southern truth will have a hard time catching up. District of New York and the New York he American people should Barr’s independence had already state attorney general, for example, have known that something been in question. Last November, are investigating the collection and was awry when President Trump fi nally rid himself of his fi rst distribution of unusually large funds TDonald Trump’s attorney attorney general, Jeff Sessions, with for the presidential inauguration, the general, William Barr, announced on whom he’d been furious for (properly) Trump family business and foundation Friday, March 22, that he had received recusing himself from the special (which has been forced to shut down), special counsel Robert Mueller’s counsel’s investigation into Russia’s the payment of hush money before the report and would provide a summary interference in the 2016 election, election to keep an actor quiet about an of its fi ndings to certain congressional whether the Trump campaign had aff air with Trump, Trump’s taxes, and leaders over the weekend. co-operated with Russia, and whether other issues. There can be little doubt We should have asked: Why Trump had obstructed justice by from his own behaviour that Trump Barr’s summary and not Mueller’s? impeding the investigation. Months has somehow been compromised by Presumably, Mueller had attached earlier, in June 2018, Barr appeared Putin, in part because of Trump’s one to his report. It turned out there to apply for the job by sending a eagerness to build a hugely lucrative was a propagandistic reason for this long, unsolicited document to the Trump Tower in Moscow. Discussions unusual arrangement: Barr issued Justice Department criticising about the project were ongoing during the best possible interpretation of Mueller’s inquiry into whether Trump his election campaign, even as Trump Mueller’s report – from the president’s had obstructed justice as “grossly was telling the public that he had no standpoint – including perhaps even irresponsible,” “fatally misconceived,” business with Russia. a twist on what Mueller had said and and “potentially disastrous.” Rather than simply exult in his intended. This allowed the president Democrats, journalists, and others ostensible vindication, Trump has and his backers to propagate and are anxious to see Mueller’s actual been playing the victim and vowing celebrate what Mueller didn’t say: report so that they can read what vengeance. He has called for an that the report’s conclusions were a Mueller weighed as reasons for saying investigation into what he calls “an “total exoneration” of Trump. In fact, that the president obstructed justice, illegal takedown that failed,” by “the even Barr’s brief summary, quoting even if in the end he decided to not FILE PHOTO: US Attorney General William Barr leaves his house after Special Counsel Robert Mueller found no evidence of other side,” which should be “looked Mueller’s report, said, “While this charge him for it. And they want to collusion between US President Donald Trump’s campaign and Russia in the 2016 election in McClean, Virginia, US, on March 25. at.” The Trump re-election campaign report does not conclude that the see, if it’s in the report, why Mueller sent a memo to television producers President committed a crime, it also decided not to be the one to decide might be. In any event, US law sets a oligarchs (who owe their wealth to the Russian intelligence agent with ties to advising caution about booking certain does not exonerate him.” whether or not to charge Trump – a high bar for prosecuting obstruction Kremlin) – 102 in at least 28 meetings, the Kremlin who had promised “dirt” lawmakers and others who had said A version of Mueller’s report for prosecutor’s job. Most legal observers of justice: the person has to be known by one count – might not count as co- on Clinton. that the Trump campaign had colluded release is supposedly in the works assume that Mueller was leaving to have had “criminal intent,” and, operation with Russia’s “government.” It had been widely expected that with Russia. Journalists, too, were – scrubbed of classifi ed material, the decision to Congress, not to the as in any conviction, to have done so Further doubt about this distinction Trump’s son would face indictment targeted for revenge. And Hillary grand jury testimony (which is attorney general. “beyond a reasonable doubt.” stems from the fact that various Trump as well – even Donald, Jr., had said Clinton, about whom Trump still always supposed to remain secret), or Several experts speculated that Barr may well have used another aides have been convicted of lying so – but Barr’s announcement ruled obsesses, will continue to be a target. information on ongoing investigations. Mueller made this choice because of a formulation – possibly the same about such contacts. These include out further prosecutions. Another Trump’s base loves that, and the base No one knows when it will appear Justice Department rule – more weakly one as Mueller – in sparing Trump Trump’s former national security prominent escapee from the special is critical for Trump’s re-election, (indeed, no one outside the Justice grounded than is generally believed and his aides a charge of conspiring adviser, Michael Flynn, who lied about counsel’s hammer was Trump’s son- which now does not seem as out of the Department even knows how long the – that a sitting president cannot with Russia to help them win the his conversations with the Russian in-law, Jared Kushner, who is widely question as it did before. – Project Mueller report is). But on March 25, be indicted. (This creates a strong 2016 election: they hadn’t co- ambassador during the transition believed to have used his White House Syndicate six House committee chairs wrote to incentive for a president to remain in operated or collaborated with the (probably about lifting sanctions that role, especially in foreign policy (in Barr demanding that he produce the offi ce as long as possible.) Barr’s letter Russian “government” (something President Barack Obama had imposed which he’d had no experience), to z Elizabeth Drew is a Washington- report by April 2. Meanwhile, Trump said that “most” of Trump’s attempts the Mueller report did confi rm). The on Russian businesses). Moreover, attend to his family’s need for funds to based journalist and the author, most and his boosters, including most of to obstruct justice were publicly problem is that the numerous known the president’s son, Donald Trump, pay off a huge real-estate debt. recently, of Washington Journal: the Republican Party, get to carry on known – thus fuelling intense curiosity contacts between campaign offi cials Jr., along with other top campaign Trump himself is still vulnerable to Reporting Watergate and Richard about the president’s supposed total about what unknown attempts there and Russian intelligence agents and offi cials, met in Trump Tower with a investigations initiated by or handed Nixon’s Downfall.

How to govern a digitally networked world Three-day forecast TODAY while acknowledging the diffi culty businesses, and civil society would and user groups, as well as other Maximum Temperature : 270c By Anne-Marie Slaughter Minimum Temperature : 240c and Fadi Chehadé of designing a workable governance form peer-to-peer, self-governing relevant national and international Washington, DC system. horizontal networks. A central hub organisations, to participate in the WEDNESDAY Some business leaders also would activate these groups to address design – and, crucially, the adoption Maximum Temperature : 270c accept the need for digital rules and specifi c digital issues – such as the – of digital norms. But it would Minimum Temperature : 220c overnments built the current conventions. Microsoft President Brad use of facial-recognition data, the push resources and power to the THURSDAY systems and institutions of Smith has called for a “Digital Geneva sharing of patients’ health records participants rather than acting as a Maximum Temperature : 280c international co-operation Convention” to protect citizens with insurance providers, and hidden top-down authority. Minimum Temperature : 220c to address nineteenth- and from peacetime cyberattacks, while advertising aimed at children – and Horizontal networks are a G Fisherman's forecast twentieth-century problems. But in Apple CEO Tim Cook argues that the ensure that relevant experts are practical design for governing the today’s complex and fast-paced digital United States needs its own version included. digital world. At the same time, they WARNING Participants in these networks draw heavily on the successes (and Inshore : Expected strong wind& world, these structures cannot operate of the European Union’s General thunderstorm at places at “Internet speed.” Data Protection Regulation regarding would co-design digital norms, or failures) of existing networks of at times Recognising this, United Nations personal data. Both recognise that actionable rules and implementation national regulators, such as the Basel Offshore : Expected thunder rain Secretary-General António Guterres a continued lack of norms will hit guidelines that give companies and Committee on Banking Supervision, on some places/ strong wind& high sea last year assembled a high-level business growth and further erode citizens clear incentives to co-operate the Financial Stability Board, and the WEATHER panel – co-chaired by Melinda Gates trust in their companies’ stewardship responsibly in the digital world. These Internet Corporation for Assigned Inshore : Moderate temperature and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma – to of the digital world. co-designers should produce the best Names and Numbers (ICANN). daytime with slight dust at times& p cloudy to propose ways to strengthen digital Because the Internet is a network possible solutions at Internet speed, Instead of spending another cloudy at times with governance and co-operation. (Fadi of networks, its governing structures and make them available for anyone to year debating the perfect digital c of light rain at some Chehadé, a co-author of this article, should be, too. Whereas we once adopt voluntarily. governance system, it would be wiser places Offshore : P cloudy to cloudy is also a member.) It is hoped that imagined that a single institution In some cases, national or to start with a functional and proven with c of sctd rain the panel’s fi nal report, expected in could govern global security or the international authorities may adopt approach and adapt along the way. maybe thundery at June, will represent a signifi cant step international monetary system, that new laws and regulations to ensure The world urgently needs a workable times WIND forward in managing the potential and is not practical in the digital world. No that digital norms are implemented digital governance system that serves Inshore : Northwesterly-North- risks of digital technologies. group of governments, and certainly and enforced. But such “top-down” the common good. If public, private, easterly 05-15 KT Digital governance can mean many no single government acting alone, actions should be only a last resort, and civic leaders do not act soon, Offshrore : Northwesterly 08-18 KT things, including the governance of can perform this task. and would ideally use the co-designed we risk economic decline, faster Visibility : 4-8 KM digital norms as blueprints. weaponisation of digital technologies, everything in the physical world by Instead, we need a digital co- Around the region digital means. We take it to mean the governance order that engages public, The central hub or clearing and further erosion of trust and Weather governance of the technology sector civic, and private leaders on the basis house would loosely co-ordinate security. The consequences of this Weather tomorrow Max/min itself, and the specifi c issues raised by of three principles of participation. the networks and ensure that the failure would extend well beyond the today Max/min P Cloudy 25/13 the collision of the digital and physical First, governments must govern entire co-governance order operates digital world. – Project Syndicate Baghdad P Cloudy 23/12 Sunny 26/18 worlds (although digital technology alongside the private and civic sectors according to principles of openness, Kuwait CitySunny 24/17 P Cloudy 27/21 and its close cousin, artifi cial in a more collaborative, dynamic, inclusivity, subsidiarity, resiliency, z Anne-Marie Slaughter is President Manama M Cloudy 24/19 M Cloudy 32/25 intelligence, will soon permeate every and agile way. Second, customers and innovation. Furthermore, the and CEO of New America. Muscat P Cloudy 32/26 M Sunny 17/10 sector). and users of digital technologies and hub would serve as an exchange for zFadi Chehadé, former President Tehran M Sunny 15/07 The issue is rapidly rising to platforms must learn how to embrace diff erent networks’ digital norms, and CEO of ICANN (2012-2016), the top of the global agenda. At their responsibilities and assert their thereby encouraging their spread is a member of the UN Secretary- this year’s annual meeting of the rights. Third, businesses must fulfi l and adoption. This would also General’s High-level Panel on Digital World Economic Forum in Davos, their responsibilities to all of their help to increase cohesion and limit Co-operation and an advisory board the leaders of Japan, South Africa, stakeholders, not just shareholders. unnecessary duplication. member of the World Economic China, and Germany called for global In the digital order we envisage, In time, the hub might actively Forum’s Centre for the Fourth oversight of the technology sector, representatives of governments, help governments, businesses, Industrial Revolution.

Live issues Around the world Weather Weather today Max/min tomorrow Max/min Toddlers gain more from printed books than from e-books Athens M Sunny 20/09 Cloudy 18/07 Beirut P Cloudy 17/12 Sunny 18/14 Bangkok T Storm 33/27 P Cloudy 34/28 By Lisa Rapaport emotional and cognitive growth. “Parents and toddlers know how to happened between parents and kids. Berlin M Sunny 16/08 Cloudy 17/08 Reuters Health But many parents who don’t sit kids engage over a book, but when adding With printed books, parents talked Cairo Sunny 24/13 P Cloudy 27/14 down to watch cartoons or play video a tablet into the mix, it defl ects from to kids much more about the stories. Cape Town M Sunny 24/13 P Cloudy 24/16 games may still use tablets to read some of the positive benefi ts of that The grown-ups paused to do things Colombo Sunny 31/26 M Sunny 31/26 hen grown-ups are e-books to young kids. Among other shared reading experience,” Munzer like ask kids if they remembered Dhaka T Storm 30/23 S T Storms 31/23 reading to toddlers, they things, e-books can be more con- said by e-mail. “That isn’t to say there something they did that’s similar Hong Kong P Cloudy 22/19 P Cloudy 23/19 have more meaningful venient than cramming lots of board is no benefi t to electronic book, just to what’s happening in the story, or Istanbul P Cloudy 13/07 P Cloudy 11/06 Wconversations when the books in a diaper bag. Many parents less than when you compare it with a asking kids what they think will hap- Jakarta S T Storms 32/25 P Cloudy 32/25 stories are in traditional printed books also believe reading apps and interac- print book.” pen next, the researchers report in Karachi P Cloudy 33/23 P Cloudy 33/23 than when stories are in e-books, tive e-books can make it easier for kids For the study, Munzer’s team vide- Pediatrics. London Rain 08/01 Showers 09/02 researchers found. to learn their ABCs. otaped 37 parent-child pairs during Enhanced e-books sparked more Manila P Cloudy 34/26 P Cloudy 34/26 Results of the small experiment “We know shared book reading is reading sessions done in a lab. Parents interactions than e-books without any Moscow Sunny 08/-3 Sunny 09/-3 suggest story time with tablets may such an amazing developmental activity read similar stories in three diff erent bells and whistles, however. New Delhi Sunny 36/19 Sunny 37/21 not be as good for kids’ development. to engage in with children – not only formats: traditional printed books, e- Toddlers also spoke up more to ask New York M Cloudy 10/05 M Sunny 18/07 Paediatricians recommend against by exposing children to rich language books without any bells and whistles, questions and share their own opin- Paris Showers 17/04 S Showers 09/02 any screen time at all for children and vocabulary, but also by providing and “enhanced” e-books with extra ions and ideas about the stories when Sao Paulo P Cloudy 29/17 P Cloudy 29/18 under age two. They warn that tablets, opportunities for physical closeness features like sound eff ects or anima- parents were reading from printed Seoul M Sunny 12/02 Sunny 12/-2 smartphones and digitally enhanced and creating moments to bond,” said tion. books. Singapore I T Storms 32/26 T Storm 32/26 toys and games can get in the way of lead study author Dr Tiff any Munzer of During each reading session, re- The enhanced e-books sparked Sydney P Cloudy 22/16 Sunny 24/17 creative play and interactions with the University of Michigan’s CS Mott searchers observed how much interac- more interaction initiated by kids than Tokyo Clear 12/04 Clear 12/04 caregivers that are essential for social, Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor. tion, conversation and collaboration basic e-books, however. Gulf Times 24 Tuesday, April 2, 2019 QATAR

The panel discussion during the event. Sheikha Moza attends

HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation, was the honoured GU-Q knowledge event guest speaker at the ceremony.

er Highness Sheikha gan with the launch of its Doha opened up fresh avenues of dis- Georgetown University in Qatar, and Dr Joel Hellman, dean of the es,” exploring the development Nonneman, former dean and Moza bint Nasser, campus in support of the devel- covery for Georgetown faculty, we are setting an example of how Edmund A Walsh School of For- of the research infrastructure of currently professor of Interna- HChairperson of Qa- opment goals of Qatar National not only by enabling them to to produce relevant research at a eign Service. Qatar, and how locally produced tional Relations and Gulf Stud- tar Foundation (QF), attended Vision 2030. explore and research the Mena global standard, and training the “One hundred years ago, SFS knowledge about economics, ies and Dr Mehran Kamrava, Georgetown University in Qa- Speaking at the event, region from up close rather than next generation of knowledge took on the mission to foster politics, culture, and history former interim dean and cur- tar’s ‘GU-Q 100: A Celebration Sheikha Hind said, “Through its far afi eld, but also by the varied producers to do the same. peace and stability through ed- have helped to shape regional rently professor and director of of Knowledge’, a gala event to wealth of research in the fi eld of perspectives that our diverse These published volumes of ucation rooted in a global per- and global thought in those sub- GU-Q’s Centre for International commemorate more than 100 humanities and social sciences, student body contributes in cre- rigorous research across a wide spective. I’m proud to see the jects. and Regional Studies. books published by faculty and Georgetown University in Qatar ating a deeper bank of knowl- range of topics in international continuation of that Georget- Panellists included, HE Lol- On the occasion, GU-Q also staff since the university’s doors has made a signifi cant contribu- edge and academic thought.” aff airs help shape our under- own tradition in today’s celebra- wah al-Khater, spokesperson of published the GU-Q 100, an in- opened in 2005. tion to the international profi le The evening gala, at GU-Q’s standing of the world and refl ect tion of GU-Q’s contributions the Ministry of Foreign Aff airs dexed compendium of the book HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad of Qatar Foundation and Qa- Education City campus, was our commitment to developing a to multidisciplinary scholarship and a member of the GU-Q Joint titles, which includes the cover al-Thani, Vice Chairperson and tar as a hub of new knowledge, also attended by deans of QF research landscape that is con- in Qatar and around the world,” Advisory Board; Dr James Rear- art, a brief synopsis of each CEO of QF, was the honoured original thought, and intellectu- partner universities, members ducive to the discovery and dis- dean Hellman said. don-Anderson, founding dean project, and a biography of each guest speaker at the ceremony, al courage in confronting issues of the diplomatic community, semination of new knowledge.” He also moderated a panel of GU-Q and professor of his- author or editor. Several other marking a major milestone in the which infl uence what our world students, faculty, staff , and oth- Representing Georgetown’s discussion on “The Regional and tory; Dr Amira Sonbol, professor events have been planned in the collaboration between QF and is, and what it can be.” er special guests. Dean of GU- Washington, DC campus at the Global Impact of Research in the of history and one of the original coming weeks to mark the uni- Georgetown University that be- “Being based in Qatar has Q, Dr Ahmad Dallal, said, “At gala were provost, Robert Groves Humanities and Social Scienc- faculty members; and Dr Gerd versity’s achievements. QM mulls more innovative exhibitions Fuwairit beach temporary closure

By Joey Aguilar bringing X-Ray Fashion to Doha Staff Reporter for three weeks, hoping to make a great impact on residents and make them more aware of the atar Museums (QM) is fast fashion industry and its mulling to host more in- supply chain overall. Qnovative exhibitions like “What we really hope is that the X-Ray Fashion virtual reality we can inspire people and get (VR) fi lm aimed at providing the them to think about their stand- public with more unique and in- point and how much power they teractive shows. as a consumer have and start “That is for sure especially thinking about the environment with the opening of the National and taking smarter choices from Museum. One of our endeavours now on,” she stressed. is to actually bring a lot more VR About the VR fi lm’s impact, and technology into our exhibi- Ungermand noted that there tions and really interact to the have been a lot of strong reac- public in a diff erent level,” QM’s tions to this new experience, Director of Exhibitions Sheikha with “multiple people coming Reem al-Thani said. The exhibition is a cinematic VR experience built around a 49 sq m out crying some are quite upset She was speaking to report- physical installation that guides the viewer through the diff erent on what they are seeing for the ers on the sidelines of the X- stages of the fast fashion garment production. fi rst time.” Ray Fashion exhibition, which PICTURE: Ram Chand “I myself was quite upset opened to the public yesterday when I found out to begin with (April 1) at QM Gallery Al Riwaq, other side, and what they need Francesco Carrozzini (Franca: because it is such an easy ques- and runs until April 21. to be aware of in the future” Chaos and Creation), the ex- tion that we as consumers have The new installation, which when buying fashion items. hibition is a cinematic VR ex- to ask ourselves in order to know comes to the Middle East for X-Ray Fashion was created perience built around a 49sq m the truth,” she pointed out. “But the fi rst time as part of QM ex- by Danish VR production house physical installation that guides we don’t, we try to avoid it at tensive 2019 programme, puts MANND and co-produced by the viewer through the diff erent any cost, so a lot of people have the spotlight on ‘the other side’ the World Bank Group’s Con- stages of the fast fashion gar- started to really change their of the $2.5tn fashion industry nect4Climate programme and ment production; from cotton consumer habits.” – dubbed as the world’s second the late Paul G Allen’s Vulcan farm to sweatshop, and from “Now they are telling us that Fuwairit beach will be closed to the public until August 1, the Ministry of Municipality and largest polluter. Sheikha Reem Productions with the support catwalk to consumer purchase they consume a lot less and re- Environment (MME) has announced. The closure, which came into eff ect yesterday, is aimed said such installation gives peo- of Alcantara, a certifi ed carbon to the afterlife of the garment. ally think about the brands that at providing a suitable environment for the nesting of endangered turtles, the MME said. “Let’s ple an opportunity to see and ex- neutral company. MANND co-founder Signe Un- they are now purchasing and create together a healthy environment for #NestingSeason2019,” it tweeted. The beach is closed perience “where fashion comes Directed by Italian-born di- germand said they are happy supporting from now on,” Un- to the public every year during this period. Picture used for representative purpose only. from, how it looks like on the rector and fashion photographer to be co-operating with QM in germand said.

Qatar Aeronautical College starts PG course in aviation safety

atar Aeronautical College topics are managed and to analyse de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC), to of- recently started its fi rst them continuously, in conjunc- fer the Advanced Masters in Avia- Qpostgraduate programme tion with state institutions within tion Safety Management to avia- and “delivered” the Advanced their State Safety Program (SSP) tion professionals to create a new Master in Aviation Safety Man- and industry counterparts. It is generation of SMS specialists in agement (AMASM) course. the formal systemic and proac- the aviation industry. Developed and accredited by tive approach to anticipate and This programme will enable Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civ- manage safety risk, as well as to the applicants to acquire a practi- ile (ENAC) under the aegis of the initiate and achieve the necessary cal expertise in the development, International Civil Aviation Or- transformation of organisational implementation, assessment and ganisation (ICAO), the AMASM structures, accounting, policies improvement of Safety Manage- programme is designed to train procedures, standard practices ment System and State Safety safety managers. and regulations. Programme. It is specifi cally Aviation safety is at the core of International civil aviation au- designed to address both execu- ICAO’s fundamental objectives thorities require organisations tive as well as working levels, to and they strive to promote a sys- and institutions alike to imple- consider the entire range of avia- temic approach of safety by the ment a Safety Management Sys- tion organisations (aircraft opera- implementation of a Safety Man- tem (SMS) for the management of tor, manufacturer, maintenance agement System (SMS). SMS is a safety risks to reach the next level organisation, airport operator, structured process that requires of aviation safety worldwide. In air navigation service provider, organisations to address possible 2018, Qatar Aeronautical Col- training organisation) and to cov- safety issues with the same level of lege (QAC) signed a partnership er the interactions between these The master’s programme will enable the applicants to acquire a practical expertise in the development, implementation, assessment and priority that other core business agreement with Ecole Nationale structures. improvement of Safety Management System and State Safety Programme.