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#OoredooSmart #OoredooSmart IT’S CALLED SMART FOR MANY REASONS Stay tuned for more. #OoredooSmart ISO 9001:2008 CERTIFIED NEWSPAPER Thursday 13 February 2014 13 Rabial II 1435 - Volume 18 Number 5974 Price: QR2 International Marsh, Smith Islamic eyes put Australia expansion on top Business | 17 Sport | 28 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com [email protected] | [email protected] Editorial: 4455 7741 | Advertising: 4455 7837 / 4455 7780 Non-payment England inundated of salary a crime: NHRC Call to amend law to punish firms DOHA: Qatar’s human rights authorities in this regard, he added. watchdog wants employers who Al Merri appreciated the ini- default in payment of work- tiative of the Supreme Committee ers’ salaries to be considered for Delivery and Legacy, which on as committing a serious offence Tuesday released a set of stand- and punished accordingly. ards related to salaries and accom- Ali bin Simaikh Al Merri, modation of workers employed in chairman of the National Human sports projects associated with the Rights Committee (NHRC), has World Cup. said that the committee has asked “The new standards indicate the authorities to make amend- that the issue of improving the ments in the labour law to make labour situation is being taken delay in payment of workers’ sala- seriously. It is a positive step by ries a crime . the government, but the judgment He said the Committee, in its has to be made based on whether annual reports, had also been the standards and requirements A man ferries a local resident by boat through the flooded central square in the village of Datchet in Berkshire. Flooded communities in Britain faced demanding fixing of a minimum are implemented on the ground. a fresh battering from storms and high winds yesterday, with hundreds more homes threatened by the advancing waters. See also page 12 wage for workers in Qatar. The role of the NHRC is to moni- “Our job is to give proposals to tor and keep a track of what has the authorities concerned and only been implemented,” said Al Merri. the government can implement Regarding the sponsorship them. We are following up (on system, he said, “the commit- such issues) and we feel a serious tee concerned is still studying Syria killing accelerates; peace talks falter intention on the part of the gov- the sponsorship law to see it in a ernment to improve the situation balanced way from the perspec- BEIRUT: Syrians have been more than in any other three foreign fighters in a paper that and US officials in an effort to of labourers as well as the work tive of the workers as well as the dying in greater numbers than weeks since the war began in 2011. avoided any mention of Assad — get Washington, which backs the environment,” Al Merri said while sponsors.” He didn’t divulge more ever since peace talks began Yesterday, Assad’s army and whose departure the government rebels, and Assad’s ally Russia, to speaking to the media during the details, saying the committee con- three weeks ago, activists said fighters from Lebanese ally delegation has refused to discuss. press their proteges. opening of a gymnasium at the cerned had to be approached for yesterday, as troops pounded Hezbollah pounded the strategic The confidential paper did Russia said it would veto a UN NHRC headquarters yesterday. more information. rebel towns on the Lebanese border town of Yabroud where not draw an immediate official resolution on aid, saying its word- He said the initiatives were not Asked if the NHRC had made border and negotiations faltered rebels prepared to resist a ground response from the government, ing seemed meant to open the way taken in response to criticism any recommendation in this in Geneva. offensive. although the foreign minister said for foreign military action. from the international commu- regard, Al Merri said “we have More than 230 people have been There was little sign of an early driving out foreign fighters could And a foreign ministry spokes- nity. Efforts were being made to been demanding implementation killed every day in Syria since breakthrough on the third day of be worth discussing in time — rare man in Moscow said Barack improve the situation of workers of international standards.” January 22, when international a second round of talks in Geneva. common ground. Obama had “intentionally dis- even before Qatar won the bid to On the proposed law to regu- mediators brought President The opposition, which has lit- Concern about talks running torted” the Russian position in host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. late domestic helps, Al Merri said Bashar Al Assad’s government tle sway over rebels fighting on into the sand prompted the media- remarks the US president had However, the NHRC, as the there was coordination with other and its opponents together, the the ground, called for a transi- tor in Geneva, Lakhdar Brahimi, made on Syrian aid on Tuesday. country’s human rights watch- GCC states on this issue. British-based Syrian Observatory tional governing body to oversee a to bring forward by a day to REUTERS dog, expects more from the THE PENINSULA for Human Rights said. That is UN-monitored ceasefire and expel today a meeting with Russian See also page 7 Olympics snowboarding GCC to activate Protests called three years water grid plan after Bahrain uprising DOHA: A meeting of the water and electricity ministers of DUBAI: Bahrain’s opposition pro-democracy revolts that swept the GCC countries yesterday has called for protests to mark the Arab world in early 2011. agreed to activate the proposed the third anniversary tomor- But even the head of Al Wefaq, water grid project. row of an Arab Spring revolt led cleric Ali Salman, admits there The decision follows establish- by the Shia majority that was will only be “symbolic activities ment of an electricity grid among crushed by the Saudi-backed to protest the deterioration of the the member countries. Sunni monarchy. situation.” The Minister of Energy and The Gulf state is deeply divided, The clandestine February 14 Industry, H E Dr Mohamed bin with persistent protests on the youth coalition has called on pro- Saleh Al Sada, led the Qatari del- outskirts of the capital Manama testers to try tomorrow to reach egation to the meeting, held at that ignite clashes with police, Pearl Square, where demonstra- the headquarters of the General scores of Shias jailed on “terror” tors camped for a month before Secretariat of GCC in Riyadh. charges, deadlocked reconciliation being violently driven out by secu- The General Secretariat of talks and simmering sectarian rity forces in March 2011. GCC will supervise the project. distrust. The opposition says the monar- The decisions of the meeting will The main opposition group Al chy has little interest in sharing be referred to the forthcoming Wefaq is calling for a strike today power, much less in accepting a GCC foreign ministers’ summit and a rally on Saturday to com- constitutional monarchy with an to be held in March. memorate the February 14 upris- elected prime minister. THE PENINSULA Torah Bright of Australia during the Women’s Snowboard Halfpipe Final at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park ing, which was inspired by the AFP during the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games in Russia. Castaway says passing ships ignored his cries for help SAN SALVADOR: The casta- after landing late Tuesday fol- “He told us how several boats contrasted with his good physical his family on the Pacific coast. way who says he survived 13 lowing a long flight home from passed by, including close to him. shape, which has impressed doc- “He gets tired quickly, loses a months adrift in the Pacific cried the Marshall Islands, where he He asked for help and they did tors following Alvarenga’s unusual little bit of control. He is still not for help as several ships passed washed ashore two weeks ago. not want to help him,” Rodriguez diet. ready to communicate with the by during his ordeal but they Alvarenga says he set off on told a news conference at the San “His physical condition is envi- world,” Rodriguez said. ignored his pleas, El Salvador’s an ill-fated shark fishing trip off Rafael National Hospital. able,” Rodriguez said. Alvarenga did not utter any health minister said yesterday. Mexico’s southern coast in late One ship’s crew waved back at Alvarenga asked for a corn intelligible words to a gaggle After meeting Jose Salvador 2012 before drifting 12,500 kilo- him but did not stop to help the tortilla and sugary bread at the of news cameras as he arrived, Alvarenga (pictured) in a hospi- metres for more than a year. shaggy-haired castaway, who was hospital. carried in a wheelchair, at San tal, Maria Isabel Rodriguez said A 24-year-old crewmate died only in his underwear, she said. Tests on his kidneys and Salvador airport on Tuesday. He the fisherman was in good physical four months into the voyage, Another came so close that “it heart found nothing abnormal, shook his head, waved and put one shape but that needs psychological unable to stomach a diet that was almost destroyed his little boat but he will undergo a psycho- hand in front of his eyes before attention following his odyssey. limited to urine, turtle blood, raw because it passed next to him,” logical evaluation to determine being wheeled away. Alvarenga, 37, spent the night fish and bird flesh, according to Rodriguez said. when he can return to his home AFP at a hospital near San Salvador Alvarenga. His psychological fragility village of Garita Palmera and See also page 12 THURSDAY 13 FEBRUARY 2014 02 www.thepeninsulaqatar.com HOME Fun with fitness for corporate sector everal companies marked contractors, construction workers and Tournament was held.

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