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TUESDAY Vol. XXXIX No. 11092 February 12, 2019 Jumada II 7, 1440 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

Amir meets French FM Amir honours winners of state awards

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani honoured winners of the Qatar’s appreciative and incentive state awards in sciences, arts and literature. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met with French Minister The award winners were Dr Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Turki al-Subaie in the field of education, Mohamed Jassim al-Khulaifi (museums and archaeology), Dr Saif Saeed of Europe and Foreign Aff airs Jean-Yves Le Drian and his accompanying delegation Saif al-Suwaidi (economics), Dr Yousif Mohamed Yousif al-Obaidan (political science), Dr Hamad Abdulrahman al-Saad al-Kuwari (earth and environmental sciences), at the Amiri Diwan yesterday. The minister conveyed to the Amir the congratulations Mohanna Rashid al-Asiri al-Maadeed (earth and environmental sciences), Dr Huda Mohamed Abdullatif al-Nuaimi (allied medical sciences and nursing), Dr Asma of French President Emmanuel Macron on Qatar national football team winning the Ali Jassim al-Thani (allied medical sciences and nursing), Salman Ibrahim Sulaiman al-Malik (the art of caricature) and Abdulaziz Ibrahim al-Mahmoud in the novel 2019 Asian Cup. During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations and means of field. The Amir commended the winners’ distinguished performance, wishing them success in rendering services to the homeland. For their part, the award winners developing them. Page 2 expressed their thanks to the Amir, saying the honour is a source of pride. Page 2

Amir congratulates GCO urges citizens, Iranian president His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim residents to bin Hamad al-Thani, His Highness refrain from the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani and HE the abuse of all sorts Prime Minister and Minister of Qatar, France sign pact Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani sent yesterday he Government Communica- cables of congratulations to Iranian tions Offi ce (GCO) has called President Hassan Rouhani on his Tupon all citizens and residents country’s National Day. in Qatar to avoid abusing peoples and for strategic dialogue communities and their symbols on the social media outlets and elsewhere, in US Olympian to take line with the true principles of Islam part in NSD events O Agreement covers defence, security, sports, economy, combating terror and genuine Arab ethics. In a press statement yesterday, the O French minister reaff irms support for Qatar’s hosting of World Cup GCO said it is following with great regret the mutual abuses that have O French PM to attend opening of National Museum in March dominated exchanges on social media outlets recently. E the Deputy Prime Minister tween the two countries constituted a important extension of co-operation combining the two countries”. The GCO said this call follows the and Minister of Foreign Aff airs qualitative leap for the strategic part- mechanisms and open up broad pros- Further, he noted that the strategic directives of His Highness the Amir HSheikh Mohamed bin Abdul- nership between Doha and Paris. pects for strengthening co-operation dialogue opens “new and very strong Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, rahman al-Thani yesterday announced The agreement was signed by HE relations between Qatar and France. prospects” for co-operation in various who in his fi rst speech after the block- the signing of a declaration of intent to Sheikh Mohamed and Le Drian follow- He explained that the strategic dia- sectors, such as security, defence, ener- ade, commended the Qatari peo- establish a strategic dialogue between ing a meeting yesterday during the lat- logue is based on “very strong foun- gy, economy and other sectors of inter- ple’s adherence to values and princi- Qatar and France, constituting “a ter’s visit to Qatar. dations, adding that it will create the est to both countries, stressing that the ples even in times of diff erences, and qualitative leap for the distinguished HE the Deputy Prime Minister and right ground for co-ordination and Qatari government highly appreciates stressed the need to continue on this strategic partnership between the two Minister of Foreign Aff airs expressed action, especially at the level of build- the partnership between the two coun- approach. countries”. hope that the dialogue would be an ing partnerships and a strategic vision tries and always works to support it. The GCO noted that Qatar had earli- The agreement covers various ar- HE Sheikh Mohamed said the French er responded to the appeal of the Amir The Government Communications eas, such as defence, security, health, minister held very positive discussions of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al- Off ice (GCO) has announced that education, culture, sports, economy, in Doha. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Jaber al-Sabah on October 24, 2017, the US Olympic medallist Ibtihaj investment, combating terrorism and Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met with to preserve the rights of future gen- Mohamed (Pictured) is visiting Qatar follow-up on developments pertaining Le Drian yesterday and the meeting erations, heal the wounds and avoid on the occasion of National Sport to relations between the two countries dealt with the historic friendship be- falling into abuse. The GCO had also Day today. She is a dedicated and as well as the implementation of agree- tween the two countries and regional called upon everybody to refrain from accomplished athlete, entrepreneur, ments between them, the offi cial Qatar development, he added. exchanging abuses. activist and speaker, whose influence News Agency (QNA) reported. HE the Foreign Minister also pointed Urging the citizens and residents of transcends the world of sport. Addressing a joint press conference out that his talks with the French minis- Qatar to commit to authentic values Ibtihaj is a leading figure in the with French Minister of Europe and ter were characterised by an atmosphere when responding to abuses and fabri- global discussion on gender equality Foreign Aff airs of Jean-Yves Le Drian, of transparency and exchange of views cations, the Government Communica- and diversity, issues which Qatar HE Sheikh Mohamed said the common on all issues of strategic co-operation tions Offi ce reiterated that Qatar’s case has promoted in the international and fi rm approach to ties between Qa- between the two countries, both in the is just and it does not require exaggera- community and continues to set tar and France called for constructive HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aff airs Sheikh Mohamed bin defence and economic fi elds as well as tion, and the people’s defence of the the highest standards in the region. steps in this relationship, noting that Abdulrahman al-Thani with French Minister of Europe and Foreign Aff airs of Jean- economic and cultural partnerships. homeland is based on justice, fairness Page 3 the declaration of intent signed be- Yves Le Drian at the press conference in Doha yesterday. To Page 2 and objective facts. — QNA Qatar celebrates National Sport Day today O Aspire Zone, Katara sporting activities. The fi rst sport day Qatar’s sport day is a unique initia- large celebration with the participation QWSC will off er table tennis skills held at 10am at Qatar Mall and will be in Qatar was held in 2012. tive which is dedicated to highlighting of players and visitors. from 9.30am to 1.30pm. The Qatar attended by Qatari fencing players. The and Corniche main This year’s sport day is particularly the importance of sport in the lives of Katara will host a number of sport Taekwondo and Judo team will hold Clement Academy will organise fenc- venues of events remarkable, especially as it comes af- people. The sport day also highlights events, including a weightlifting show, exercises for all categories on Katara ing matches at the MIA Park at 8am. ter Qatar was crowned 2019 Asian Cup the leadership’s interest in the people and the public will be able to participate Beach throughout the morning, in ad- In addition, the Qatar Swimming As- QNA champions in the tournament played in who are the real resource to achieve Qa- in these competitions for all age groups. dition to a taekwondo show from 12 sociation organises water sports at the Doha the UAE. tar National Vision 2030. The Katara boxing event will be held in noon to 3pm and a judo performance Hamad Aquatics Complex from 9am The Sport Day Committee organises The Qatar Olympic Committee co-operation with the Qatar Boxing from 3 to 5pm. onwards. many events launched by the Ministry (QOC) will mark the day in co-oper- and Wrestling Federation. The Qatar Golf Association will In co-operation with the Qatar Ath- atar celebrates the National of Culture and Sports and the Qatar ation with the Ministry of Education The Qatar Athletics Federation, in organise mini golf at Katara Beach letics Federation, the Organising Com- Sport Day today with partici- Sports For All Federation (QSFA), in- and Higher Education at Al Yarmouk co-operation with the Ministry of throughout the day, while Qatar Cy- mittee of IAAF World Championships Qpation of citizens and resi- cluding a number of innovative events Preparatory School for Boys with the Municipality and Environment, will cling and Triathlon Federation will hold will off er athletic activities for children dents from all segments of the soci- such as fun race or balloon race at Al participation of sports federations, hold competitions for children aged all-day aquathlon swimming at Katara aged 5 to 7 at Aspire Park. ety. Bida’a Park, along with special events families and children. 8-12, while the Qatar Women’s Sports Corniche. The Qatar Volleyball Asso- Azizia Girls Center, in tandem with The celebration comes in imple- at Aspire Zone, Katara and the Cor- QOC, through sports federations, Committee (QWSC) will organise vari- ciation will organise a beach volleyball the QWSC, is organising women’s mentation of Amiri Decision No. 80 of niche. will organise a number of events and ous activities including mini games for event at 8am and volleyball matches in gymnastics and other sports. 2011, which stipulates that the second In addition, all Qatari clubs will be activities for all categories and ages in children aged 5 to 13 in co-operation association with Kahramaa. The Qatar Besides, many other public and Tuesday of February every year shall conducting many sporting events. The order to attract the largest number of with Kahramaa. In co-operation with Tennis, Squash and Badminton Federa- private sector entities are organising be a sport day for the state in order to public parks will also be ready to host people possible. The Qatar Shooting the Organising Committee of the Na- tion will hold tennis games at 9am for sports events to mark the sport day. encourage everyone to participate in sports events. and Archery Association is set to hold a tional Sport Day events at Katara, the all categories. A fencing game will be Page 3 Gulf Times 2 Tuesday, February 12, 2019 QATAR

Qatar, France sign strategic dialogue pact OFFICIAL

From Page 1 strategic dialogue on a wide scale requires decisive action from the terrorism, its fi nancing and the He added that they exchanged and to continue on a regular basis. international community to sup- ideology that fuels it. views on regional issues, espe- He said the dialogue will fo- port the two-state solution. He also noted that the French cially the Gulf crisis, Palestinian cus on several aspects, such as He touched on the importance prime minister will attend the Qatar-Jordan audit issue, Syria and ways to confront reaching a political solution in of the Qatari-French relations opening ceremony of the Na- terrorism. Libya that will lead to elections and the extent of co-operation tional Museum of Qatar in Doha bureaux chiefs meet On his part, Le Drian congratu- and achieve stability in the coun- between the two countries in all next month. lated Qatar on its national football try. It will also focus on ways to fi elds, including defence, secu- He highlighted the impor- HE the President of State Audit team’s recent victory at the Asian resolve the Syrian crisis, which rity, economy, energy and cul- tance of economic co-operation Bureau Sheikh Bandar bin Cup. He said the Qatari team will be achieved by establishing ture. He highlighted that Qatar between the two countries, say- Mohamed bin Saud al-Thani met played very well and their victory a constitution, holding elections recently received the French Ra- ing that France and French com- the President of Jordan Audit is a source of national pride for in which all Syrians participate fale fi ghter aircraft in Bordeaux, panies want to keep up with the Bureau Dr Abed Kharabsheh and Qatar and is a good indication for and fi nding a neutral environ- France, in the presence of HE Qatari economy in enhancing its the accompanying delegation. the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. ment that would guarantee suc- the Deputy Prime Minister and independence and developing During the meeting, they He also confi rmed his country’s cess, without which there will Minister of State for Defence Af- Qatari productive investments in reviewed bilateral relations support for Qatar’s hosting of the be no sustained victory against fairs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al- France, in addition to the sports and means of enhancing and 2022 FIFA World Cup, adding that the IS, no return for the refugees Attiyah, referring to robustness sector, especially in preparation developing them in areas of football is one of the best aspects and no security for neighbouring in ties between the two countries for the 2022 World Cup. mutual interest. that brings the people of Qatar countries, QNA reports. in the defence and security fi elds. Le Drian said his country’s and France together. He also observed that the stra- Le Drian added that the in- stance on the measures taken by Qatar-Thailand Le Drian reaffi rmed the im- tegic dialogue will support sover- creasing number of threats and a number of neighbouring coun- portance of establishing a strate- eignty and the stability of coun- crises in the Middle East and tries against Qatar calls for reso- ties reviewed gic dialogue between Qatar and tries that have been hit by crises elsewhere shows the importance lution through dialogue between HE the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Aff airs Sheikh France, adding that the joint in- such as Lebanon and Iraq, as well of security and defence co-oper- countries, stressing that people President of the National Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani with French Minister of Europe terests of both countries paved as the situation in Palestine and ation between the two countries, should not pay the price of dif- Assembly of Thailand and and Foreign Aff airs of Jean-Yves Le Drian in Doha yesterday. the way to establish the bilateral especially Gaza, which he said in particular the fi ght against ferences between states. President of Asean Inter- Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) professor Pornpech Wichitcholchai met with the ambassador of Qatar to Thailand, Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulrahman ‘State awards recognise al-Thani. The meeting discussed bilateral relations, means of enhancing role of researchers and developing them, and issues Local suppliers’ key of mutual concern. and scientists in society’ Al-Hammadi meets European delegation QNA of the State and society and Doha participate in the development HE the Secretary-General of the role in Al Majd Road of sciences. Ministry of Foreign Aff airs Dr HE the Minister of Culture Ahmed bin Hassan al-Hammadi atar’s “Appreciative and Sports congratulated the met the Deputy Managing and Incentive State winners of the State awards, Director for the Middle East and QAwards” aim at sup- and thanked them for their ef- North Africa in the European porting and recognising the forts. External Action Service, Colin important role of the country’s He also thanked the offi cials Scicluna, and his accompanying project praised researchers and scientists in in charge for their eff orts and delegation who are currently developing the society, HE the attention which refl ect their visiting Qatar. During the meeting By Peter Alagos Immediately after the tions to complete infrastructure Minister of Culture and Sports active participation in achiev- they discussed promoting co- Business Reporter blockade was imposed on requirements and to source out Salah bin Ghanim al-Ali has ing the cultural goals of the operation as well as topics of Qatar in June 2017, Ashghal cheaper materials from diff erent underlined. country. common interest. made it possible for com- suppliers, al-Mohannadi said. In a statement yesterday, Qatar’s “Appreciative and ocal manufacturers and panies here to participate in “What Qatar has achieved on the sidelines of His High- Incentive State Awards” were Qatar attends Arab small and medium-sized the various infrastructure amid the economic blockade ness the Amir Sheikh Tamim established in accordance with Parliament meeting Lenterprises (SMEs) have projects being implemented could serve as a model or a case bin Hamad al-Thani honour- Law No 11 of 2003. The fi rst played a signifi cant role in the in the country. To do this, study because it did not have any ing the winners of Qatar’s state round was launched in April Meetings of committees of completion of Al Majd Road, Ashghal, in collaboration impact on our projects, particu- awards in sciences, arts and 2005. the Arab Parliament started Qatar’s largest infrastructure with Qatar Development larly Al Majd Road, which is the literature, the Minister of Cul- The prizes are awarded yesterday at the headquarters project under the Public Works Bank, launched ‘Taheel’, an largest infrastructure project in ture and Sports said that the every two years in the fi elds of the General Secretariat of Authority (Ashghal), a senior of- initiative that relies on Qatari the country. If not for the block- Amir’s patronage of the awards of Islamic studies, social and the Arab League in preparation fi cial has said. capacities, resources, indus- ade, we didn’t realise how strong reaffi rms the wise leadership’s human sciences, pure and ap- for the meeting of the plenary Ashghal president Dr Saad tries, and local workforce. Qatar is,” al-Mohannadi empha- appreciation for science and plied sciences, arts and litera- session of the Parliament to be bin Ahmed al-Mohannadi Aside from encouraging the sised. its keenness on promoting the ture. held today. stressed that because local sup- private sector to build new fac- Al Majd Road, which was in- position of the researchers and The value of the two awards Qatar is participating in the pliers were instrumental in pro- tories, Taheel enlists Qatari augurated recently by HE the innovators in a society that this year is QR2,800,000. The meetings with a delegation from viding the materials needed by manufacturers in Ashghal’s ap- Prime Minister and Interior believes in the importance of winner of the “State’s Ap- the Advisory Council. Ashghal, the economic block- Dr Saad bin Ahmed proved supply chain, in addition Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin knowledge in the development preciative Award” receives The meetings, include the session ade “had no impact” on Al Majd al-Mohannadi: “Local to accrediting local industrial Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani, is of the various fi elds of life. QR500,000 with a gold medal of the Committee of Foreign, Road project. suppliers were one products that meet the techni- part of four new roads spanning The Minister said the awards and a certifi cate of apprecia- Political and National Security “Local suppliers were one of the key elements cal requirements, specifi cations, 195km. recognise the Qatari research- tion. The winner of the “State’s Aff airs and the meeting of the of the key elements in the de- in the delivery of the and the standard quality levels. It has seven lanes of free-fl ow ers’ and scientists’ role in en- Incentive Award” receives Committee of the Modernisation livery of the project, and they project, and they were Since May 2017, Ashghal has dual carriageway from Mesaieed hancing the awareness of a QR300,000 with a certifi cate, of the Arab Counter-Terrorism were able to provide many of able to provide many qualifi ed 186 local suppliers to Al Khor that will accommo- community capable of meet- a gold medal and a certifi cate of Convention. The Committee of the materials that we needed, of the materials that we for all of its projects across the date over 14,000 vehicles per ing the current challenges. appreciation. If more than one Economic and Financial Aff airs, which is why the economic needed, which is why the country, al-Mohannadi pointed hour in each direction. It will The minister noted that Qa- person wins, the prize amount the Committee of Legislative, the blockade did not have any im- economic blockade did out. also serve as the main artery of tar is full of researchers and will be distributed equally Legal and Human Rights and the pact on Ashghal’s infrastruc- not have any impact on Not only did the blockade Qatar’s road network and pro- scientists who spare no eff ort among the winners, and each of Committee for Social, Cultural, ture projects,” al-Mohannadi Ashghal’s infrastructure open new markets for Ashghal, vides access to 2022 FIFA World to develop their creativity to them will get a gold medal and a Women and Youth Aff airs will also told Gulf Times. projects” it also allowed for new specifi ca- Cup stadiums. contribute to the advancement certifi cate of appreciation. meet.

Traffi c directorate aims to CRA, QFC Authority sign deal to further lower road deaths develop Qatari digital, media sectors

By Ayman Adly Major Jabir Mohamed Odibah, tive partnerships with various By Peter Alagos Staff Reporter assistant director of the Traf- government and private entities Business Reporter fi c Awareness Department said including schools, auto dealers, there are training courses tar- driving schools, media organi- he General Directorate geting traffi c police to enhance sations, and foreign communi- he digital media sector of Traffi c aims to fur- their skills in enforcing the law, ties to promote traffi c awareness will open up a wide range Tther lower Qatar’s global dealing with the public, and re- through lectures and training Tof opportunities, support record of 4.9 road traffi c acci- porting. courses, and hence enhance traf- competitiveness and innova- dent deaths per 100,000 people fi c safety on the public roads. tion, and stimulate investment during 2018. “The positive indicators First Lieutenant Abdulrah- in the business environment, “We have launched the an- achieved for the past year man Mohamed al-Awei, head of HE the Minister of Transport nual traffi c awareness plan for gives us even greater the traffi c studies and informa- and Communications Jassim 2019 to implement the National challenges, including tion section, pointed out that Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti has said. Traffi c Safety Strategy (NTSS),” further reducing the the section regularly conducts Al-Sulaiti made the state- said Colonel Mohamed Radi number of deaths from comprehensive studies and re- ment yesterday at a signing cer- al-Hajiri, director of the Traffi c road traffic accidents, searches to review the opinion emony between the Commu- Awareness Department. and reducing the number of the people on the traffi c situ- nications Regulatory Authority He said that the Traffi c Direc- of both minor and major ation in the country and study (CRA) and the Qatar Financial torate has launched its annual traffic accidents, whether the related phenomena and is- Centre (QFC) Authority, which traffi c awareness plan for 2019 to these entail injuries or sues. Collective transportation will work together for the de- implement the NTSS, including not” is one of the main issues stud- velopment of Qatari digital and HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti joins CRA president a variety of programmes, cam- ied by the section to ease traffi c media sectors. Mohamed Ali al-Mannai and QFC Authority CEO Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida after the MoU signing paigns and training courses aim- The plan includes special congestion during 2022 FIFA The memorandum of agree- ceremony yesterday. PICTURE: Anas Khalid ing to enhance road traffi c safety training course for the traffic World Cup. In addition, the ment (MoU) was signed by CRA and improve driving behaviour police on how to handle their section issues periodic traffi c president Mohamed Ali al- each their respective mandate, knowledge-based societies. economy, and to support the among the diff erent categories duties during the upcoming reports to help decision makers Mannai and QFC Authority CEO the CRA said in a statement. “This MoU between the CRA diversifi cation of the country’s of the society. 2022 FIFA World Cup. The improve the situation accord- Yousuf Mohamed al-Jaida in the The two authorities will work and QFC Authority will further economy. In this respect, the “The positive indicators training will be given by in- ingly. presence of al-Sulaiti at the min- jointly to support services and support the development of the CRA will ensure providing need- achieved for the past year gives ternational specialists in the Major Jabir Mohamed Odibah istry’s West Bay headquarters. activities aimed at attracting lo- digital media sector as a key pil- ed support, in accordance with us even greater challenges, in- field. Such courses are pre- revealed that a team from the Under the MoU, CRA will cal and international enterprises lar in supporting our country’s its mandate, to achieve this goal.” cluding further reducing the ceded by a number of general Ministry of Interior has taken support QFC Authority in the working in the media and digital transformation into a knowl- Al-Jaida added: “The Com- number of deaths from road foundation courses to prepare part in Qatar Charity Competi- evaluation of enterprises’ pro- sectors. In addition, both signa- edge-based economy in line munications Regulatory Author- traffi c accidents, and reducing the targeted personnel and of- tors Programme, alongside an- posals related to joint initia- tories will support activities and with the Qatar National Vision ity and the Qatar Financial Cen- the number of both minor and ficers for the more specialised other team from the Ministry of tives or projects and on relevant projects that will help increase 2030,” al-Sulaiti stressed. tre have a long standing history major traffi c accidents, whether courses. Such training courses Administrative Development, products off ered by QFC. The the two sectors’ percentage of Al-Mannai said: “The CRA of partnerships, and this MoU these entail injuries or not. will go on as scheduled un- Labour and Social Aff airs and two parties will also participate contribution to Qatar’s gross welcomes the signing of the further refl ects and solidifi es “We have adopted new aware- til 2022, putting traffic police raised a donation of QR2mn to in relevant advisory commit- domestic product (GDP). MoU with the QFC Authority. our shared commitment towards ness approaches and ideas to into different categories ac- build 64 housing units for the tees and working groups. “The production, dissemi- The CRA is always keen on con- investing in Qatar’s economic reach out to the largest possible cording to the tasks that they needy families in Kyrgyzstan, as The agreement is a major step nation, and use of data in the tributing eff ectively towards growth by enhancing our coop- number of people in the coun- are set to handle. part of the humanitarian mes- in developing bilateral co-oper- context of the globalisation of achieving the goals of Qatar eration in the communications try in addition to non-govern- Captain Mohamed Sulaiman sage of MoI and community par- ation between the two authori- information have become one National Vision 2030. and information technology sec- mental organisations that sup- al-Hammadi, head of traf- ticipation. The donations go to ties in this fi eld by providing lo- of the most important mani- “A core aim of this vision is to tor, or more specifi cally, by work- port such awareness eff orts,” he fi c awareness and culture said Qatar Charity, which undertakes cal and international enterprises festations of the technologi- create a balance between an oil- ing closely to develop Qatar’s pointed out. that the section has built ac- the project. with services that fall under cal progress that has produced based and a knowledge-based ‘Media and Digital Cluster’.” Gulf Times Tuesday, February 12, 2019 3 QATAR

Join Ooredoo at MIA Park today To promote the importance of a healthy lifestyle, Ooredoo is encouraging citizens and residents to come down to MIA Park today from Experts advise nutrient-dense 8am to 5pm and join in the activities on off er for Qatar National Sport Day. There is plenty on off er for all ages and all fitness levels, from toddlers to grandparents and from complete beginners to seasoned fitness fanatics, according to a foods and regular exercise statement issued yesterday. The park will be divided into n recognition of Qatar Na- between 800 to 900 patients in encouraging their patients food labels, and following rec- zones, starting with the Kids Area tional Sport Day, Hamad each month and delivers ho- to engage in exercise. Regu- ommended portion sizes, are which will include a host of age- IMedical Corporation’s Di- listic, multidisciplinary care lar physical activity has been all essential to making better appropriate adventures such as etetics and Nutrition director for patients in need of medical shown to significantly improve decisions,” she said. games, races and inflatables. Reem al-Saadi and the Nation- management, lifestyle modi- quality of life. Active individu- “The serving size and Zone 2 will feature sports and al Obesity Treatment Center fications, bariatric, and endo- als are able to maintain a high number of servings per pack- director Dr Monica Skarulis scopic procedures. functional capacity for much of age section of a nutrition are raising awareness about the While Dr Skarulis recom- their life. Exercise can truly be label show how many serv- link between lifestyle choices mends obese individuals consult medicine and it has been shown ings are in the package and and good health. with their doctor before begin- to prevent chronic disease and how big a serving is, which games such as billiards, table “Consuming nutrient-dense ning a weight-loss journey, she extend life,” said Dr Skarulis. is generally listed as ‘cups’ tennis and table football, as well foods in the right quantities, says most people won’t require Al-Saadi observed individu- or ‘pieces’. The most impor- as a professional bike tutorial, from all the food groups, and Dr Monica Skarulis Reem al-Saadi the specialised services provided als with a body mass index tant numbers to look for on Zumba and aerobics. engaging in regular physical at the National Obesity Treat- (BMI) greater than 30, which a food label are portion size, Zone 3 is dedicated to fun and activity are major determi- mitigating the harmful effects for roughly half of a person’s ment Center to lose weight. She for the average person equates portions per package, total games, with activities including nants of good health. There of obesity, and for lowering overall health. Once an individ- says healthcare professionals to approximately 30 pounds of fat, trans and saturated fat, tug of war, Ping Pong Waiter and a are countless studies that have mortality rates. She says indi- ual understands what factors are play an important role in high- excess weight, are most at risk sugar, sodium, and fibre. The three-legged race, while Zone 4 is demonstrated the benefits of viduals who are sedentary are contributing to weight gain and lighting the significance of diet of developing serious health information shown on the la- all about martial arts and combat regular exercise and a healthy at risk for a number of chronic a sedentary lifestyle, a health- and exercise and she calls physi- problems. bel is based on a 2,000 calo- with kung fu, karate, taekwondo and diet in the treatment of the diseases. care professional can help them cal inactivity a major public “Dietitians and nutrition- rie a day diet. You may need boxing and some Human Chess. most common medical prob- “There are four basic factors set appropriate goals,” added Dr health threat. ists can help patients to un- less or more than 2,000 cal- Zone 5 features ball sports such as lems,” al-Saadi said. that contribute to a person’s Skarulis. “Making lifestyle changes derstand the significance of ories depending upon your handball, volleyball and basketball, Dr Skarulis pointed out that overall health status, including Located in building 311 in isn’t always easy, but it is the key making healthier choices when age, gender, activity level, as well as food stalls off ering exercise is a powerful tool for genetics, environment, access Hamad Bin Khalifa Medical to long-term weight loss and selecting meals and beverages. and whether you are trying to healthy meals and drinks. Zone both the treatment and pre- to healthcare, and behaviour, City, HMC’s National Obes- good health. Frontline health- Becoming educated about nu- lose, gain, or maintain your 6 is for ablutions and a separate vention of chronic disease, for with the last factor accounting ity Treatment Center treats care providers can play a role trition, learning how to read weight,” said al-Saadi. mosque for men and women. QTSBF organising Sport No entry fee at Al Khor municipality parks Day events at three venues

he Qatar Tennis, Squash is the fruit of this unlimited and Badminton Federa- support from our leadership. Ttion (QTSBF) will mark “The QTSBF spares no eff ort Qatar National Sport Day (NSD) in developing sport and support- today by organising a huge ing the national vision which aims number of sport and entertain- at building a healthy society by ment events at Katara, Qatar organising a wide range of events Foundation and the Khalifa at the National Sport Day and Tennis and Squash Complex. throughout the year to encourage The QTSBF will host an open Nasser bin Ghanim al-Khelaifi Tariq Zainal the community members to lead day for embassies at the Khalifa active and healthy lifestyles.” International Tennis and Squash Moreover, the QTSBF will or- QTSBF president Nasser bin QTSBF secretary-general Complex from 8am with partici- ganise the NSD Tennis tourna- Ghanim al-Khelaifi said: “National Tariq Zainal added: “The QTSBF pation of embassies of the Philip- ment for juniors under 8, 9 and Sport Day is an initiative that refl ects is proud of marking the National Al Khor and Al Thakhira Municipality has decided to open all parks within its jurisdiction for families pines, India, Pakistan and Nepal. 10 years to feature with national the importance of sport for our wise Sport Day by hosting a number of without any entrance fees today, on the occasion of Qatar National Sport Day, the Ministry of During this event, expatriates will team players and their parents. leadership of His Highness the Amir sport and entertainment events Municipality and Environment (MME) said yesterday. The parks include Al Khor Park, Al Khor Plaza, have the opportunity to practise In addition, some mini tennis Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at diff erent venues to help build a Al Qarma, Al Kaaban and Al Thakhira, among others. Meanwhile, the MME has invited the public to their local traditional sports. courts will be built in other ven- as sport plays a vital role in building healthy community. The QTSBF take part in its National Sport Day activities at the Katara Corniche, from 8am to 5pm. The sporting The federation also invited Ash- ues outside the Khalifa Interna- a healthy society that able to bring is keen to provide workers with activities at Katara will see the participation of the ministry’s employees and their family members, ghal and Qatar Rail in addition to tional Tennis and Squash Com- about the desirable development. the opportunity to participate in while various events have also been lined up across diff erent municipalities to mark the occasion. some private companies to partici- plex, under the supervision of its “The glorious achievement all the events to organised by the Through its participation in the annual celebration, the MME seeks to encourage its employees, pate in the sport and entertainment coaches who will be available to made by the Qatari national federation to mark national sport their families as well as the general public to engage in sporting activities and make them an events to help workers to practice teach community members, the football when they claimed the day as we appreciate their role in integral part of their daily lives, the statement notes. and follow a healthy lifestyle. basics of tennis. title of the AFC Asian Cup 2019 the development of our nation. QOC list of activities US Olympian to take QFC holds activities part in NSD events to mark Sport Day he Government Communi- cations Offi ce (GCO) has an- he Qatar Financial Cen- “The Qatar National Vi- within the broader international Tnounced that the US Olympic tre (QFC), one of the sion 2030 places great em- community,” he said. medallist Ibtihaj Mohamed is visit- Tworld’s leading and fast- phasis on encouraging the “The key message that this ing Qatar on the occasion of National est growing onshore business adoption of a healthy and ac- occasion aims to convey to Sport Day today. and financial centres, yester- tive lifestyle, and we are hon- every citizen and resident in She is a dedicated and accomplished day celebrated Qatar National oured to continue to support Qatar is that sports shouldn’t athlete, entrepreneur, activist and Sport Day with an action- our nation with promoting be a secondary choice but a speaker, whose infl uence transcends packed day full of health and this important mandate,” ac- way of life and a part of our the world of sport. Ibtihaj is a leading sports related activities. cording to Yousuf Mohamed daily culture. At QFBA, we are fi gure in the global discussion on gen- Ibtihaj Mohamed The event saw employees al-Jaida, chief executive, QFCA. happy to support the local ef- der equality and diversity, issues which from across the QFC Authority Faisal Rashid al-Sahouti, chief forts investing in the human Qatar has promoted in the internation- “Ibtihaj will also participate in a (QFCA), Qatar Financial Centre executive, QICDRC said Qatar capital in line with the na- al community and continues to set the discussion at Qatar National Library Regulatory Authority (QFCRA), National Sport Day highlights tional vision’s development highest standards for in the region. Her about her work to empower young Qatar Finance and Business the importance of a healthy so- ambitions,” said Dr Khalid passion for inclusion through sport has women through sport. Qatari women Academy (QFBA) and Qatar ciety in the overall development al-Horr, chief executive, QFBA. united communities around the world. have participated in Olympic Games International Court (QICDRC) and prosperity of the nation. Michael G Ryan, chief execu- The GCO said in a statement: “We in sports such as swimming, athletics, come together to challenge “Today’s occasion helps acceler- tive, QFCRA said: “Qatar Nation- look forward to sharing Qatar’s unique shooting and table tennis, and Qatar their colleagues in a series of ate the development of a positive al Sport Day highlights the very culture and hospitality with Ibtihaj. is looking to continue and strengthen fun-fi lled activities that in- social change, and positions Qa- important and special role that During her time in Qatar, she will be this legacy in part through important cluded table tennis, air hockey, tar as a regional sports hub and a sport plays in the lives and com- Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) has issued a taking part in several National Sport discussions with Ibtihaj. foosball and many others. role model for social development munities. list of activities in which can people can take part Day (NSD) activities, including a visit “The Government Communications on National Sport Day, which will be celebrated to the Aspire Academy to participate Offi ce hopes that all of Qatar will pro- Policeman’s barefoot run to show solidarity around the country today. Image courtesy of in fencing practice with local students, vide the warmest of welcomes to Ibti- QOC Twitter page and cycling as part of Qatar Founda- haj, proudly demonstrating our culture Qatar resident Aziz Mouliah, meaningful to me as I get to tion’s events. and passion for sport.” pictured, will attempt to create a know myself, that being a human unique record on National Sport we should all be interrelated and Day today by running a distance have a compassionate heart,” he of nearly 72km barefoot between said in a Facebook post. Sealine and Katara. “I prefer to be barefoot because Strong winds expected in most areas The 29-year-old Moroccan, who this signifies my concern to the works as a policeman in Qatar, will other side of the world, people start at 6am and expects to complete who don’t even have slippers, trong winds are expected ity, especially in open areas. The areas. There were also reports erly) will be 15-25 knots inshore, his run in around eight hours. compared to the people who are in most parts of the coun- winds are also likely to cause high of thundery rain accompanied going up to 30 knots at times Mouliah says he is attempting this more blessed,” he wrote. of the nearly 90km I ran only Stry today along with a dip seas and a noticeable drop in tem- by hail in some of the northern before falling to 10-18 knots by rare feat to not only give out the He stressed that people have 15km barefoot,” he said. in temperature, the Qatar Met perature compared to the previ- areas, with people posting im- night. Offshore, northwesterly message of a healthy lifestyle, become more “materialistic and Barefoot running, also called department has said. ous days. While the windy con- ages and videos of the same on winds will blow at a speed of which is the main objective of self-centred”, which prompted “natural running” is still practised The weather office has also ditions are expected to ease from social media. 18-28 knots, reaching a high National Sport Day, but also to him to embark on this challenge. in parts of Africa and Latin issued a warning for thundery this evening, the marine warning Doha, too, received some rain of 30 knots, while the sea level show his solidarity with millions Mouliah said he has run barefoot America. In some Western rain in the early hours as well as will continue until tomorrow, the in the morning and evening. may rise to 13ft at times. of people in the world who cannot before, but not more than 15km. countries, barefoot running windy conditions and high seas weather update states. Today’s detailed forecast Visibility, meanwhile, may aff ord even minimal footwear. “I ran between Dukhan and the has grown in popularity due to in offshore areas today. The country received some says moderate conditions will drop to 3km or less in some plac- “This challenge is very Corniche a few months ago, but perceived health benefits. Accordingly, the department showers yesterday, and the prevail during the day along es. has urged people to be cautious chances of scattered rain with some clouds, and some The minimum temperature Aspire Zone Foundation parking spaces remain closed today and avoid all marine activities (which may be thundery at places will experiences slight today is expected to be 14C in in view of the expected condi- times) will continue until dawn to blowing dust at times. It will Mesaieed, Wakrah and Al Khor, Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) has parking areas near Villaggio Mall, of first aid checkpoints across its tions. today, the update adds. be cold by night. 15C in Dukhan and 16C in Doha, announced that parking spaces Al Furousiya Street or in the area precinct at which ambulances In an update posted on social Sporadic light rain was re- Offshore areas, too, will see Abu Samra and Ruwais. The in Aspire Zone will be closed to near Aspetar Hospital. Shuttle and trained first aiders will be media yesterday, the department ported from a number of places partly cloudy conditions and maximum, on the other hand, the public from early morning buses will be provided to pick up stationed. Visitors to Aspire can said strong northwesterly winds since last morning, and thun- there is a chance of scattered will be 18C in Ruwais, 19C in today on the occasion of National visitors from Aspire’s Ladies hall use a number of portable toilet were expected to aff ect the coun- dershowers were also wit- rain at first, which may turn Dukhan, 20C in Al Khor, 22C Sport Day. starting from 7am, and drop them facilities which are distributed try until this evening, resulting nessed at times, including in thundery occasionally. in Doha, Wakrah and Mesaieed, Instead, visitors to Aspire Zone off near Football Pitch 10. across Aspire Park. AZF is off ering in blowing dust and low visibil- Abu Samra and some northern The wind speed (northwest- and 23C in Abu Samra. can park their vehicles in the AZF is also establishing a number a full-day programme. Gulf Times 4 Tuesday, February 12, 2019 QATAR

HE the Speaker Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud chairing yesterday’s session of the Advisory Council. Advisory Council discusses draft law on documentation

QNA in addition to the gen- ent parliamentary fi elds, as tion, during which they dis- Doha eral provisions on cases well as to exchange views on cussed bilateral relations where the agency is ter- relations and regional and between Qatar and Para- minated, copies and elec- international issues of com- guay and ways to develop he Advisory Council tronic procedures and the mon concern. them in various fi elds, es- held its regular week- organisation and keeping The friendship groups pecially the legislative and Tly meeting yesterday of records, documents and include the Qatari-Arab legal fi elds. under the chairmanship of indexes related to docu- Friendship Group, Qatar- Separately, yesterday, the HE the Speaker Ahmed bin mentation in accordance Asia Friendship Group, Legal and Legislative Aff airs Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mah- with the provisions of the Qatar-Africa Friendship Committee of the Advisory moud. draft law. Group, Qatar-Europe Council held a meeting un- At the beginning of the After discussion, the Friendship Group, the Qa- der the chairmanship of meeting, the Council dis- council referred the draft tari Friendship Group with its Rapporteur, Nasser bin cussed a draft law on docu- law to the Legal and Legis- the United States, Canada, Rashid al-Kaabi. mentation. The draft law lative Aff airs Committee to Australia and New Zealand During the meeting, the included 37 articles, the fi rst study it and submit a report and the Qatari Friendship committee examined a draft of which defi nes documen- thereon to the Council. Group with Latin Ameri- law on documentation and tation as a procedure by the The Advisory Council can and Caribbean coun- decided to complete its notary public or by those also approved the forma- tries. study at the committee’s delegated by the Minister tion of Qatari parliamentary At the end of the meeting, next meeting. of Justice, by which the will friendship groups with the HE al-Mahmoud briefed The committee also dis- of the parties concerned is parliaments of brotherly and the members on his meet- cussed a draft law amending documented in an offi cial friendly countries, which ing on Wednesday with the certain provisions of Law No record. aim to strengthen and pro- President of the Supreme 21 of 2004 regarding minis- The draft law specifies mote co-operation relations Court of Paraguay Dr Jose ters and decided to submit how to document, certify between the Council and Raul Torres Kirmser and its recommendations to the signatures and prove date, these parliaments in diff er- his accompanying delega- Advisory Council.

Gulf Times 6 Tuesday, February 12, 2019 QATAR

Chief of Staff discusses key regional issues with EASF director

HE Chief of Staff of the Qatari Armed Forces Lieutenant-General (Pilot) Ghanem bin Shaheen al-Ghanem met yesterday with the director of the East African Standby Force (EASF), Dr Abdillahi Omar Bouh, who is currently visiting Qatar. The meeting discussed the most important issues on the regional and international arenas. The meeting was attended by senior off icers of the Armed Forces, and the delegation accompanying the EASF director. GU-Q opens registration for community classes eorgetown University in helped her brush up on her career agement, co-active coaching for Qatar (GU-Q) has opened goals, saying: “I took this course personal development, and Arabic Gregistration for the spring because I work in a bank in the calligraphy. session of their popular Commu- marketing department and I was “I have a degree in art, and I nity Classes, a six-week long pro- looking for extra information on never studied anything related to gramme that invites the public to digital marketing. I really enjoyed business. I found this course to be explore a new hobby, learn a new the class because it was very in- very helpful and informative,” said skill, or to engage and discuss a formative and visually and intel- Community Classes student Dana topic of interest. lectually appealing.” Mahmoud. Taught by a range of GU-Q This year’s courses off er a range Registration is open until the end scholars and staff , as well as sea- of topics, including introductions of the fi rst week of classes, but GU-Q soned experts, leading academics, to business management, project encourages interested students to and industry experts, each session management, women in Ameri- sign up online to ensure availability. of the evening classes are two hours can politics, digital marketing, The early bird registration discount long and designed to fi t the needs international relations in the Gulf ends February 24, 2019. and schedules of working profes- region, the ethics and economics The classes are open to par- sionals. The 14 course off erings this of football in a globalised world, ticipants over the age of 18, and no session include both Arabic and and more. previous qualifi cation or degree is English language options. Arabic language classes off er required. Course enrolment and Journalism major Sarah Mah- topics in literature, introduction attendance will earn a certifi cate The 14 course off erings this session include both Arabic and English moud explained how the classes to emergency and disaster man- of completion. language options.

Public Prosecution’s department HBKU college signs MoU conducts blood donation campaign

The Public Prosecution’s Public Rela- with EVMC over research tions and Communications Depart- ment conducted a blood donation campaign yesterday in co-operation with the Blood Donor Unit at Hamad and graduate education Medical Corporation under the motto “Drops of your blood saves the lives of others.” A number of he College of Health and Life Sci- staff and employees from the diff er- ences (CHLS) at Hamad Bin Kha- ent departments participated. The Tlifa University (HBKU) has signed initiative was part of the Public Pros- a memorandum of understanding (MoU) ecution’s humanitarian and positive with Equine Veterinary Medical Center role in the society by promoting the (EVMC) to collaborate in areas of research act of giving, in particular when it and graduate education. comes to life saving through blood Dr Edward Stuenkel, founding dean of donation. CHLS, and Dr Jessica Johnson, acting direc- tor of EVMC, signed the MoU. The agree- ment aims to extend the productive interac- tions and research of health and life sciences, enhance biomedical research expertise and CHLS will contribute to the partnership expand veterinary competencies. through its state-of-the-art laboratories Commenting on the collaboration, Dr Stu- and graduate programmes. enkel said: “Our collaboration with EVMC is an opportunity to expand the research performed tated veterinarians at EVMC. at the systems and stem cell levels – of the life In addition, CHLS faculty, scientists and sciences performed on equines. Our shared ob- researchers as well as EVMC staff will share jectives will allow for CHLS graduate students access to facilities and the use of laboratory to learn about the application of state-of-the- equipment on the premises of both entities. art medical treatments and genomic science Dr Johnson said: “Our partnership with advances in veterinary equine care. HBKU’s CHLS will enable us to contribute “This MoU will also provide EVMC re- eff ectively to and benefi t from a mutual pool search scientists with opportunities to en- of expertise, know-how, and amenities. It gage in CHLS educational activities, and marks the beginning of a long-term relation- opens doors for the participation of CHLS ship that will undoubtedly help us achieve graduate students in next generation vet- our intended objectives and interests.” erinary science projects.” The agreement forms part of HBKU’s As part of the MoU, HBKU has estab- commitment to pursuing local and interna- lished, through its graduate programmes, tional collaborations to promote education adjunct academic appointments to aca- and knowledge transfer, and make research demically qualified and research-orien- opportunities more widely accessible.

Ducati Panigale V4, other models recalled The Ministry of Commerce and Industry and repair works and will communicate with (MoCI), in co-operation with Alfardan customers to ensure that the necessary Motorcycles, announced the recall of Ducati repairs are carried out. Panigale V4, Panigale V4 S, and V4 Speciale The ministry urges all customers to report models of 2018-2019 due to an oil leak from any violation to its Consumer Protection the engine. and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department, The recall campaign comes within the which processes complaints, inquires and framework of the MoCI’s continuous eff orts suggestions through the following channels: to protect consumers and ensure that bike Call centre: 16001, e-mail: [email protected]. dealers follow up on vehicle defects and qa, Twitter: @MOCIQATAR, Instagram: repairs. MOCIQATAR, Ministry of Commerce and The ministry said that it will co-ordinate with Industry mobile app for android and IOS: the dealer to follow up on the maintenance MOCIQATAR Dodge, Jeep Wrangler models recalled for faulty airbags

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry car dealers follow up on vehicle defects and (MoCI), in co-operation with United Cars repairs. Almana, announced the recall of Dodge The ministry said that it will co-ordinate with Charger and Challenger models of 2014- the dealer to follow up on the maintenance 2015 and Jeep Wrangler models of 2014- and repair works and will communicate with 2016 over a potential defect in the front customers to ensure that the necessary passenger airbag inflator. repairs are carried out. The recall campaign comes within the The ministry urges all customers to report framework of the Ministry’s continuous any violation to its Consumer Protection and eff orts to protect consumers and ensure that Anti-Commercial Fraud Department. Gulf Times Tuesday, February 12, 2019 7 QATAR Naval Academy marks first academic year Al-Bairaq project stresses key role of women in science and technology

he superiority of women Dr Noora Jabor al-Thani, Out- in fi elds such as science, reach and Communication Sec- Mohammed Bin Ghanim Al-Ghanim Naval Academy marked yesterday its first academic year, during a ceremony held on the Ttechnology, engineering tion head and Al-Bairaq leader, occasion. Commander of Mohammed Bin Ghanim Al-Ghanim Naval Academy Brig. Gen. Khalid Nasser al-Hajri said in a speech and mathematics was highlight- Center for Advanced Materials during the ceremony that the Academy aims at training students militarily and academically on the latest maritime technology ed in yesterday’s International (CAM), expressed her happiness and systems. He said that the academic year kicked off yesterday, with eight semesters divided over four years. The batch includes Day of Women and Girls in Sci- and pride in the achievements of candidates from the Ministry of Defence and the General Directorate of Coasts and Borders Security of the Ministry of Interior. He ence, through Qatar University’s the Al-Bairaq students and their added that the course includes three major disciplines: marine science, marine engineering, marine supply and management. (QU) Al-Bairaq Project in co- distinguished level of perform- The ceremony was attended by HE Chairman of the Colleges and Institutes Authority Maj. Gen. Hamad Ahmed al-Nuaimi, HE operation with the Unesco offi ce ance and intelligence. She said, Commander of the Amiri Naval Forces Maj. Gen. Abdullah Hassan al-Sulaiti, HE Commander of Ahmed bin Mohamed Military in Doha. “In Qatar, we have a society that College Maj. Gen. Fahad Mubarak al-Khayareen, and the ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the State of Qatar Fikret Ozer. The event in QU, showcased recognises the importance of in various ways, the role and equality among individuals and achievements of Al-Bairaq, the encourages the role of Qatari impact of its curriculum and the women as leaders and pioneers ways in which it empowers Qa- in all areas of life, proudly show- tari female adolescents. casing their role in the society as Al-Bairaq is a non-traditional scientists, engineers and doc- Fifty One East and Sennheiser unveil HD 800 S educational project, in which tors, which contributes to the students at Qatari secondary development and advancement school work in teams with ex- Al-Bairaq empowers the future of Qatar.” ifty One East, Qatar’s in-ear design. The enhanced is supplied with two connection pert university-level scientists of women in science, Dr Noora al-Thani praised the leading department store, sound reproduction of the HD leads, a 6.3mm connector and a on practical scientifi c problems technology, engineering eff orts of Al-Bairaq partners, the Fand Sennheiser, one of the 800 S is achieved through the XLR-4 balanced that ensures in authentic contexts. Faculty and mathematics. Unesco offi ce in Doha, Qatar Na- world’s leading manufacturers addition of the innovative ab- top notch sound quality. members train and mentor the tional Commission for Educa- of headphones, microphones sorber technology that was With the HD 800 S, the Ger- future generation of scientists search. Engineer Fatima Nab- tion, Culture and Science, and and wireless transmission sys- pioneered in the Sennheiser man audio specialist presents and help develop and enhance han, a member of Al-Bairaq gave the eff orts of the staff working tems, have introduced the in- IE 800 – a breakthrough that a new version which even sur- their critical-thinking, prob- a presentation on the achieve- on the programme from univer- novative HD 800 S, a stylish preserved the audibility of very passes the listening experience lem-solving and team-work ments of the project, and dis- sity professors, researchers, as- and enhanced version of the high frequency sounds by elim- of its predecessor. Acousti- skills. cussed the remarkable role it sistants and all members of the multi-award winning HD 800 inating a phenomenon known cally, the proven transducer Students who joined the Al- plays in providing equal op- Al-Bairaq team. to music lovers in Qatar. as the “masking eff ect”, where technology and the innovative Bairaq programme in their high portunities for both female and Al-Bairaq is a step in the di- The latest Sennheisser’s HD the human ear struggles to hear earcup design of the HD 800 school years were present to male students. rection of supporting Qatar’s 800 S, is now available exclu- Sennheisser’s HD 800 S frequencies of sound when are still being employed, while share their experiences. Par- She also discussed the role the commitment to promote in- sively at FNAC in Doha Festival headphones lower frequencies of a higher the sound image has once again ticipants of Al-Bairaq’s “I am programme plays in encouraging novation, entrepreneurship City, according to a statement volume occur at the same time. been further optimised in the a Researcher” track Fatma al- Qatari students to choose a sci- and applied research in order to issued yesterday. A modern iser’s engineers have succeeded Sennheiser uses the high- medium and low-frequency Maaedid, Amna al-Jumaili and entifi c discipline by giving them develop its knowledge-based classic, Sennheiser’s reference in enhancing further the sound est quality material which was range. Sennheiser has also en- Mariam al-Thani presented a the opportunity to participate in economy, enrich its human capi- class HD 800 headphones de- reproduction in the open, cir- a key element in the making of hanced the equipment of the project titled, “Leidenfrost Ef- scientifi c workshops and in en- tal and improve its competitive- liver sound that is as natural as cumaural HD 800 S. IE 800, the world’s best sound- HD 800 S with the addition of fect Drops as a Reactor for Direct hancing their research skills. ness. It also stresses interdisci- possible and true in every de- Sennheiser’s HD 800 S brings ing in-ear headphone, and in a symmetrical XLR4 cable. The Methanol Fuel Cell Catalyst,” The event also allowed Al- plinary research that can cover tail. improved sound quality and a bringing greater purity and colour was also changed: the and discussed the skills they Bairaq to present the contribu- any and all Science, Technology, Improving on a seemingly new matt black look to the ear- sound precision to the HD 800 earcups of the new model are gained through the programme, tions of students in local and Engineering and Mathematics perfect formula is not a task un- canal headphone that brought S. The new headphone off ers magnifi cent in a premium mat- which helped implement the international competitions, in- (STEM) subjects. It is presented dertaken lightly, but Sennhe- audiophile sound to a compact more connectivity options and te-black fi nish. project and carry out their re- cluding some who came fi rst. by QU’s CAM. Gulf Times 8 Tuesday, February 12, 2019 REGION/ARAB WORLD US-backed Syrian forces battle to take last IS pocket Air strike kills 16 civilians including seven children

AFP Near Baghouz, Syria Relatives of slain Palestinian policeman Major Abdelhamid al-Akar, who suff ocated to death with another man while in a cross-border tunnel under Gaza’s frontier with Egypt, mourn during his funeral in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, yesterday. yrian fi ghters backed by artillery fi re from a US-led Scoalition battled a fi erce militant counteroff ensive yes- terday as they pushed to retake a Two Gazans die in border last morsel of territory from the Islamic State group. A war monitor said a coali- tion air strike killed 16 civilians including seven children trying Women and children fleeing from the last Islamic State group’s tunnel: interior ministry to fl ee the holdout yesterday, tiny pocket in Syria sit in the back of a truck near Baghouz, but the US-led alliance was not eastern Syria, yesterday. immediately available for com- AFP ment. “IS launched a counterattack about 20 men who were crouch- Gaza City Court extends detention of Palestinian by 10 days More than four years af- on our forces and we are now ing on the ground. ter the extremists declared a responding with rockets, air Two French women said they An Israeli court yesterday extended by 10 days packed with photographers yesterday, an AFP “caliphate” across large parts strikes and direct clashes,” Bali paid smugglers to take them out wo Palestinians includ- the detention of a Palestinian over the brutal journalist said. The room was cleared before the of Syria and neighbouring Iraq, said earlier. of the battered IS-held holdout ing a Hamas policeman murder of an Israeli woman that has gripped the start of the closed door hearing. several off ensives have whittled The sound of bombs echoed of Baghouz, but Iraqi militants Tsuff ocated to death from country, Shin Bet security services said. A Shin Bet spokesman said the court decided “to that down to a tiny holdout. dozens of kilometres away and had prevented other foreigners gas in a cross-border tun- The body of 19-year-old Ori Ansbacher was found extend his detention by 10 days” but gave no fur- The Kurdish-led Syrian Dem- columns of dark grey smoke from leaving. nel under Gaza’s frontier with on Thursday south of Jerusalem and her sus- ther details. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ocratic Forces on Saturday an- could be seen from SDF territory. “They said only the Syrians Egypt, the enclave’s interior pected murderer Arafat Irfaiya, 29, was arrested visited Ansbacher’s parents on Sunday at the nounced the fi nal push to expel Bali said there were “dozens of and Iraqis can be smuggled out,” ministry said yesterday. on Saturday. The Israeli intelligence service Shin Israeli settlement of Tekoa in the West Bank, a ter- hundreds of diehard militants SDF hostages held by IS” inside said one of the women, who said Interior ministry spokesman Bet has labelled it a “nationalist” attack, a phrase ritory occupied by Israel for more than 50 years. from that patch in eastern Syria their last foothold, but denied her fi rst name was Christelle, Iyad al-Bozum said 39-year- used to refer to violence related to the Israeli- In response to the murder, which shocked and on the Iraq border. reports of executions. from the city of Bordeaux. old major Abdelhamid al-Akar Palestinian conflict. Despite a court gag order, angered Israelis, Netanyahu, who is campaigning The US-led coalition main- Backed by coalition air strikes, The Observatory said 600 and Sabhy Abu Qarushayn, 28, Israeli social media was abuzz over the weekend for re-election in April, vowed to block some funds tained a steady beat of bombings the SDF alliance has been bat- people including around 20 sus- “suff ocated due to the inhala- with what Yediot Aharonot newspaper called to the Palestinian Authority. on the last IS pocket yesterday, tling to oust the militants from pected militants fl ed IS areas tion of toxic gases”. Civil de- “graphic descriptions about the alleged nature of Israel collects around $127mn a month in customs as the SDF faced fi erce resist- the eastern province of Deir Ez- overnight. fence crews, alerted on Sunday, the murder”. duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian ance. zor since September. The SDF said it advanced in- retrieved the two bodies from His hands and feet in shackles, Irfaiya was es- markets that transit through Israeli ports and then The Syrian Observatory for Since December, tens of thou- side the pocket on Sunday, seiz- the tunnel “after a great eff ort corted by Israeli policemen into a Jerusalem court transfers it to the PA. Human Rights, a Britain-based sands of people, most women ing 40 positions from IS. that lasted several hours”, Bo- war monitor, said 12 SDF fi ght- and children related to IS fi ght- On Saturday, the alliance zum said in a statement. ers and 19 militants were killed ers, have fl ed the shrinking mili- said up to 600 militants as well He did not comment on the similar charges after the deaths line for the cramped territory of Egypt closed or destroyed doz- in the fi ghting yesterday. tant holdout into SDF territory. as hundreds of civilians could origin of the substance, but a of four Palestinians in a border 2mn people squeezed between ens of tunnels after the overthrow “Heavy clashes are ongoing to US-backed forces have remain inside the IS patch of Palestinian security source said tunnel. Israel, Egypt and the Mediter- of its Muslim Brotherhood Presi- pressure IS into surrendering,” screened the new arrivals, weed- four square kilometres. Spokes- the Egyptian military has used Tunnels have in the past been a ranean Sea. dent Mohamed Mursi. Tensions Observatory chief Rami Abdel ing out potential militants for man Bali said IS leader Abu gas to halt the use of illegal tun- key way for Gazans to skirt a dec- But the passages have also between Egypt and Hamas have Rahman said. questioning.Yesterday, dozens of Bakr al-Baghdadi, the man nels it fi nds along the border. ade-long Israeli blockade and, been used to bring in weapons eased in recent years and many SDF spokesman Mustafa Bali coalition and SDF fi ghters were who pronounced the cross- The Egyptian army could not be until recently, Egypt’s closure of by Hamas, the enclave’s rul- Egyptian goods are now imported said the SDF responded after IS stationed at a screening point for border “caliphate” in 2014, was reached for comment yes- its crossing with the enclave. ers who have fought three wars in to Gaza openly through the Ra- launched a counterattack earlier new arrivals from IS areas. not among them, and likely terday but in 2010 Cairo denied They once served as a life- with Israel since 2008. fah border crossing. in the day. Coalition forces stood over not in Syria. UN says Yemen food aid at risk of rotting

AFP Sanaa

ood aid in a warehouse on the frontlines of the Yemen war is Fat risk of rotting, the UN said yesterday, leaving millions of Yem- enis without access to life-saving sustenance. The Red Sea Mills silos, located in the western port city of Hodei- dah, are believed to contain enough grain to feed several million people for a month. But the granary has remained off -limits to aid organisa- Martin Griff iths (centre), the UN special envoy for Yemen, arrives at Sanaa tions for months. international airport, yesterday. “The World Food Programme (WFP) grain stored in the mills — swathes of Yemeni territories. coalition, and UN aid chief Mark enough to feed 3.7mn people for a The coup prompted the mili- Lowcock yesterday said the rebels month — has been inaccessible for tary intervention of Saudi Arabia had made “efforts to re-open the over fi ve months and is at risk of rot- and its allies the following year road leading to the mills” in the ting,” read a joint statement by the on behalf of the embattled gov- joint statement. UN aid chief and special envoy for ernment, triggering what the UN On Thursday, Lowcock issued a Yemen. “We emphasise that ensur- calls the world’s worst humani- public plea to the Houthis to allow ing access to the mills is a shared re- tarian crisis. relief groups to cross front lines to sponsibility among the parties to the More than 10mn Yemenis reach the Red Sea Mills, warning confl ict in Yemen.” stand at the brink of starvation. the remaining grain could spoil. Hodeidah, and its food silos, UN Yemen envoy Martin Grif- The Yemen war has killed around have been in the hands of Yemen’s fiths, who in December secured a 10,000 people since 2015, accord- Houthi rebels since 2014, when the ceasefire agreement for Hodeidah ing to the World Health Organisa- insurgents staged a takeover of large between the rebels and Saudi-led tion.

Iran ‘to continue expanding military might’

Reuters to develop different types of...missiles and will con- Dubai tinue our path and our military power,” Rouhani said in a speech at Tehran’s Azadi (Freedom) square. Rouhani also vowed Iran would defeat US sanctions, ranian President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday that reimposed after President Donald Trump withdrew Iran was determined to expand its military power and from Tehran’s nuclear accord with world powers last Iballistic missile programme despite mounting pres- year. “The Iranian people have and will have some sure from hostile countries to curb Iran’s defensive work, economic difficulties (due to the sanctions) but we state TV reported. will overcome the problems by helping each other,” “We have not asked and will not ask for permission Rouhani said. Gulf Times Tuesday, February 12, 2019 9 AFRICA SA imposes Surf’s up! severe power cuts ahead of May election

AFP/Reuters yesterday by “load-shedding” — May 8, with the ruling ANC party Johannesburg scheduled power cuts to reduce keen to repair a fall in popularity usage. in recent years. The cuts were categorised as The largest opposition party, outh Africa yesterday in- “stage 4”, the highest severity the Democratic Alliance, blamed troduced its most severe level since March 2014. Eskom’s woes on government Selectricity rationing in “The power system is severely graft and said it would request an nearly fi ve years, presenting constrained, which is why after a urgent parliamentary debate. President Cyril Ramaphosa with long time we have had to imple- “These power failures can be a major political challenge just ment stage 4 of load shedding,” placed squarely at the feet of the months ahead of the May general Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasi- ANC, as it has been their looting election. we said. and theft of the public’s money Surfing coaches and relatives help Abdul Price get ready to surf at an adaptive surfing event at Muizenberg beach in Cape Town The debt-laden state power “Since this morning we have that has left us in the dark,” the yesterday. Adaptive surfing is an initiative aimed at giving disabled people access to the ocean, and to surfing in particular. This utility Eskom is at the centre of unexpectedly lost six additional party said. is made possible by having a team of coaches and helpers to get the surfers in and out of the water, safely. the country’s economic troubles generating units which have put “It is unacceptable that ordi- and has been hit by allegations of additional strain on the system,” nary South Africans have to pay government graft. the company said in a statement. for the ANC’s failures.” Ramaphosa said yesterday the Ramaphosa last week vowed to Eskom said the cuts would take prospect of more power cuts by fi ght mismanagement and cor- 4,000 megawatts of demand out utility Eskom were “most wor- ruption at the utility, which has of the system to prevent its col- rying”. 419bn rand ($30bn) debt, by di- lapse. Chadian rebels vow to fi ght on after losses “That comes as quite a shock. viding it into generation, trans- It pleaded for residents and It is reported that there are six mission and distribution divi- businesses to use electricity units that are down — that is sions. sparingly. AFP Terrorism is expanding in the Sahel, warns AU security chief most worrying, most disturb- “Security of energy supply in “Please switch off geysers Libreville ing,” said Ramaphosa during a our country is an absolute imper- (water heater) as well as all non- The African Union’s peace and security chief ment, in terms of political engagement, in live Twitter broadcast. ative...It could severely damage essential lighting and electricity Smail Chergui yesterday called for member terms of justice,” he said. He last week had admitted that our economic and social devel- appliances to assist in reducing Chadian rebel group yesterday vowed states to tackle the root causes of extremism, He highlighted youth unemployment as a “Eskom is in crisis and the risks it opment ambitions,” Ramaphosa demand,” the utility said. to pursue its campaign against Presi- as he deplored the spread of “terrorism” in key challenge. His comments echoed those of poses to South Africa are great.” said in his state-of-the-nation Phasiwe said the power out- Adent Idriss Deby, despite suff ering the Sahel. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who Offi ces, shops, factories, traffi c address in Cape Town last week. ages were likely to continue until losses to government forces after being tar- “Terrorism is expanding,” Chergui told took over as AU chair on Sunday with a call to lights and private homes were hit The country heads for polls on April. geted by French air strikes. journalists on the sidelines of an AU summit tackle the root causes of extremism. “A battle has been lost, but not the war,” in Addis Ababa, pointing in particular to coun- Chergui expressed disappointment in dif- Youssouf Hamid, spokesman of the Union of tries on the Sahara’s southern rim. ficulties faced to finance the G5 Sahel force, Resistance Forces (UFR) told AFP. “There are increasing numbers of terrorist a French-backed 5,000-man joint mission On Saturday, the Chadian military said it movements, who attack civilian populations among the five nations on the front line: had captured more than 250 rebels, includ- and institutions in these countries. Almost Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and 4 die as Cameroon hospital is torched ing four senior leaders, and seized more than on a daily basis, Burkina Faso now is facing Chad. 40 vehicles and “several hundred” weapons. criminal and terrorist attacks,” he said. The Islamist revolt in the Sahel took off The operation targeted a convoy of mili- Chergui said the combination of extrem- after chaos engulfed Libya in 2011. AFP It was not immediately clear ruled by Britain, have long com- tants trying to cross into Chad from Libya ist attacks, inter-ethnic conflict and clashes Militant attacks erupted in northern Mali as Douala whether the victims were shot or plained of discrimination at the that was also hit earlier in several French air between pastoral and agricultural communi- Boko Haram arose in northern Nigeria. died in the fi re, nor whether they hands of the French-speaking strikes, it said. ties was leading to an “unprecedented high The French army largely flushed militants were patients at the facility. majority and where separatists Hamid said the military’s account was a level of violence.” from Mali, but they have gained ground in our people died when gun- Another local source said it are fi ghting for independence. “fantasy.” He said that AU member states had agreed neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger, while men raided a hospital and appeared separatists were behind Since the start of February, at He said “about 30” fi ghters who had tak- to address the scourge of extremism in a Chad is battling unrest on its borders. Fburnt it to the ground in the attack. least four people have been killed en shelter in a cave after the French attacks more comprehensive manner. Lack of funding and training, as well as western Cameroon where an- The incident occurred on Na- in Buea, one of whom was decap- surrendered to the Chadian army “without This meant not only through “military and poor equipment, have hobbled the G5 Sahel glophone separatists have been tional Youth Day, the anniversary itated, as separatists announced fi ghting.” security responses, but also other means in initiative. fi ghting troops, witnesses and a of the 1961 referendum which plans to disrupt the February 11 “We didn’t know that France would in- terms of governance, in making sure that no “The troops are ready, but there is no local offi cial said yesterday. saw Cameroon’s western Eng- anniversary. tervene. Normally, they do intelligence- one is left on the road in terms of develop- equipment,” said Chergui. The incident occurred in Kum- lish-speaking areas joined onto Over the past 16 months, there gathering, which we knew about. We didn’t ba, a town which serves as the the francophone areas which have been regular clashes be- expect them to carry out strikes,” he added. commercial hub for the anglo- had just won independence from tween troops and groups of sepa- “It wasn’t a fi ght between (UFR fi ghters) Under Deby, a former head of the armed Libya-based rebels in the far north. phone region and which has been France. ratists who have attacked police and the Chadian fi ghters. It was France which forces, the country has taken a leading role in The UFR was created in January 2009 badly hit by the violence between Kumba lies about 70km north stations, schools and staged did the fi ghting, not Chadians,” he said. the fi ght against militancy in the Sahel region. from an alliance of eight rebel groups. separatists and Cameroon troops of Buea, capital of the South- mass kidnappings. The French jets, based near the Chadian It is part of a West African coalition fi ght- It is led by Timan Erdimi, Deby’s nephew, that began in October 2017. west region which along with UN fi gures show around capital N’Djamena, intervened at the gov- ing the Boko Haram insurgency, and a mem- who is also a member of the Zaghawa ethnic “Attackers killed four people the Northwest region is home 437,000 people have been forced ernment’s request, France says. ber of the French-backed G5 Sahel anti- group. and burnt down the hospital,” to an anglophone minority that out of their homes by the ongo- Chad, a vast and mostly desert coun- terror alliance, which also includes Burkina In February 2008, a tripartite insurgent said an administrative offi cial in accounts for about a fi fth of the ing confl ict, with another 32,000 try with more than 200 ethnic groups, has Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger. group, moving in from the east, reached the Kumba region, confi rming country’s population. fl eeing across the border to suff ered repeated coups and crises since it The latest incursion follows several recent the gates of the presidential palace in information from a witness. Both areas, which were once neighbouring Nigeria. gained independence from France in 1960. air strikes by the Chadian air force against N’Djamena before being repulsed. Buhari, Atiku battle for Nigeria presidency, power and petroleum

By Paul Carsten and Didi Akinyelure, Muhammadu Buhari, 76, made his- He was overthrown less than two tacks, those policies are little changed tion, raising concerns about whether he Muslim, born in Adamawa state. Reuters tory in 2015 as the fi rst person to demo- years later in another coup, after the for the 2019 race. could serve another four years. Buhari During the later years of military Abuja/Lagos cratically oust an incumbent president military fi gures who installed him be- He earned the nickname ‘Baba Go has said he has the energy to do so. rule, he became a senior customs offi - in Nigeria. came displeased with his methods. Slow’ during his fi rst term when critics To his admirers, Buhari is frugal, mor- cial, and later a businessman with ven- Now, as candidate for the All Pro- But Buhari’s anti-corruption cachet said he governed at a glacial pace, par- al and prizes loyalty above other quali- tures in port oil and gas logistics as well igeria had more than 70 candi- gressives Congress (APC), he is seeking has remained strong among his sup- ticularly when low oil prices caused a ties in his allies — a foil to the alleged as a private university. dates for president when cam- a second term. It is his fi fth run at the porters and helped him run success- currency crisis. The moniker fi rst entered excesses of the PDP. To his critics, he is He sought the APC presidential tick- Npaigning began for Saturday’s presidency. A reputation as a staunch fully in 2015 against Goodluck Jonathan popular usage to describe Buhari when he an ailing relic with little head for policy et for the 2015 elections but lost to Bu- elections. But only those from the two opponent of corruption was key to Bu- of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). took six months to appoint a cabinet. and no concern for the rule of law. hari and threw his support behind him, main parties — President Muhammadu hari’s victory at the last election. The party had been in power since Some, including his wife, have said ac- Atiku Abubakar is the 72-year-old funding his campaign and even lending Buhari and former vice president Atiku A Muslim, born on December 17, Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999. cess to Buhari is tightly controlled by close candidate for the PDP, the party that him a private jet. Abubakar — have a real shot at leading 1942 in the northwestern town of Daura Buhari rode a wave of anti-corruption advisers, known in Nigeria as “the cabal”, inherited power from the military in Atiku switched sides again in 2017, Africa’s most populous nation. in Katsina state, Buhari spent his career sentiment, coupled with promises to re- and that they are really directing policy. 1999 and governed for the next 16 years. and last year emerged as the PDP’s While a handful of the other candi- in the army. Installed as military dicta- vive the stuttering economy and defeat Buhari was absent for fi ve months in For the fi rst eight of those years, candidate. He has promised to “make dates are touted as civil society alterna- tor after a coup in December 1983, his the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency. 2017, being treated in Britain for an un- Atiku was vice president to Nigeria’s Nigeria work again”, lifting it out of the tives, their chances of winning are slim approach was typifi ed by policies that Despite a lack of corruption con- specifi ed ailment. new democratic leader and former mil- economic doldrums with business- without the big parties’ wealth and pa- included having people whipped if they victions, Nigeria’s fi rst recession in 25 Despite that illness, he announced in itary head of state, Olusegun Obasanjo. friendly policies that he says will create tronage. refused to queue at bus stops. years and a resurgence of Islamist at- early 2018 that he would seek re-elec- Atiku, like Buhari, is also a northern jobs. Gulf Times 10 Tuesday, February 12, 2019 AMERICA

California to Heartland Democrat Klobuchar pull troops from border joins 2020 White House race Reuters Los Angeles

AFP don’t come from money,” she said. “But Minneapolis what I do have is this: I have grit. I have alifornia Governor Gavin family. I have friends. I have neighbours. Newsom is poised to I have all of you.” Cwithdraw all 360 state emocrat Amy Klobuchar joined Minnesota Republicans, with a poor troops from the US-Mexico bor- the 2020 White House race on record against Klobuchar, have tried der, in an apparent rebuttal of DSunday, adding a pragmatic nonetheless to blunt her announce- President Donald Trump’s stance voice from the heartland state of Min- ment, portraying her as overly cautious that there is a national security nesota to an ever-growing fi eld of con- and perhaps not up to a nationwide crisis there, media said yesterday. tenders hoping to unseat US President challenge. In his upcoming State of the Donald Trump. “Minnesota Nice is not going to work State address today, the Demo- In a speech that was almost a point- on a national stage,” Jennifer Carnahan, cratic governor will say he is by-point rejection of the president’s chair of the state’s Republican Party, giving the National Guard a new policies and the country’s toxic divides, told the Star Tribune newspaper. mission so they do not partici- she told supporters: “We are tired of the While many of the high-profi le pate in “political theatre,” the shutdowns and the showdowns, of the Democrats already in the race are in Los Angeles Times newspaper gridlock and the grandstanding.” the progressive lane — liberal Senator and other media reported. “Enough is enough. Our nation must Elizabeth Warren formally declared her In a similar move, New Mexico be governed not from chaos but from candidacy Saturday — Klobuchar has Governor Michelle Lujan Gri- opportunity,” she added. quietly gained attention in Washington sham last week ordered most Klobuchar, the 58-year-old grand- as a centrist. National Guard troops deployed daughter of an iron miner, made the an- She is known for putting partisanship at the state’s border with Mexico nouncement before a heavily bundled- aside to pass legislation, something to withdraw, also rejecting the up crowd under gray and snowy skies that has earned her a devoted following Republican president’s conten- in a park along the Mississippi River, as in Minnesota, and something American tion of a crisis. volunteers passed out handwarmers. voters regularly tell pollsters they want. Grisham, a Democrat, called In a year when many Democrats say “If you just go in your opposite cor- Trump’s frequent declarations their top priority in a candidate is an ner of the boxing ring, you never get of an immigration crisis at the ability to defeat Trump, Klobuchar’s anything done,” she said on ABC’s ‘The border a “charade.” words seemed — time after time, issue View’ late last year. The troops were deployed by issue — to target the president. “Courage is whether you’re willing to by her Republican predecessor, She said that if elected she would re- stand next to someone you don’t always Susana Martinez, last year at turn to the international climate treaty Senator Amy Klobuchar announces her candidacy for president during a snow fall in Minneapolis. agree with, for the betterment of this Trump’s request. on “Day One.” country.” In the reported excerpts from She promised more stringent gun fi ghting global warming while stand- She won re-election in November by with bouts of “explosive rage” leading In a historically diverse Democratic his speech, California’s New- laws and set a target of universal health ing in a virtual blizzard of snow, ice and a resounding 24-point margin, carrying to exceptionally high staff turnover. fi eld, Klobuchar is the fi fth woman to som says that he will redeploy care, while calling for America to sup- freezing temperatures,” he said, repeat- 1,200 precincts won by Trump in 2016. Her defenders say she is simply seek the nomination. the troops to support eff orts port its troops, diplomats and intelli- ing his unfounded suggestions that cold A former prosecutor with an unpre- someone who demands excellence, and Senators Kamala Harris of Califor- to counter wildfi res and drug gence offi cers. weather is evidence against climate tentious demeanour, she referred again that the allegations against her would nia, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York smuggling. “They deserve better than foreign change. and again in her speech to her roots in not be made against a man. and Warren of Massachusetts have Constantly pointing to threats policy by tweet,” she said. “Bad timing. By the end of her speech a region that prides itself on an ethic of Klobuchar, 58, pointedly wore nei- all thrown their hat in the race, as has from illegal immigrants, Trump In typical fashion, Trump swiftly re- she looked like a Snowman (woman)!” honesty and hard work. ther a hat nor gloves during her speech congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Ha- has made building a wall on the acted to Klobuchar’s announcement on Klobuchar has been visibly building a But at odds with that image, her own in bitterly cold weather, her brown hair waii. Former vice president Joe Biden US-Mexico border a priority of Twitter. national profi le. work ethic has emerged as a focus of and mustard-yellow coat gradually is known to be weighing a candidacy, his presidency. “Well, it happened again. Amy Crucially, she has proven popular criticism in recent days. turning white with the accumulating and former Texas congressman Beto But Democrats are seeking to Klobuchar announced that she is run- even in the more Republican-friendly Several former aides have been quot- snowfall. O’Rourke has said he will announce his thwart that, saying it is unnec- ning for President, talking proudly of rural parts of her state. ed saying she is diffi cult to work for, “I don’t have a political machine, I plans this month. essary and a waste of money.

Trump defends ‘executive time’ Michelle Obama makes surprise appearance at Grammy Awards Donald Trump pushed back on Sunday at the suggestion he spends much of his work day taking it easy, as the White Virginia governor vows not to resign Former US first lady Michelle House kept up the hunt for the person behind an embarrass- Obama made a surprise appear- ing leak of the president’s schedule. ance during the opening address According to details published last week by Axios, 60% of Reuters in the last few election cycles. wanted lawmakers to “build more at the 61st Grammy Awards in Los Trump’s work life is categorised as “executive time,” meaning Richmond Party leaders in the state and across consensus on a path forward.” Angeles on Sunday and was met unstructured time to make phone calls, read newspapers, the nation have now called for Gov- Northam, meanwhile, insisted in with a standing ovation from the tweet and watch television. ernor Ralph Northam and Lieuten- an interview on CBS yesterday that he star-studded crowd. Seeking to set the record straight, the president said such irginia’s embattled Democratic ant Governor Justin Fairfax over their would not resign over the 1984 year- Grammy host Alicia Keys kicked free time should be viewed as “positive, not negative.” governor vowed in an interview separate accusations. book picture, which showed a person off the show by inviting Obama, 55, “When the term Executive Time is used, I am generally Vyesterday not to resign over They have been more forgiving in blackface next to another wearing along with Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett working, not relaxing,” Trump tweeted. revelations that he wore blackface at a of Attorney General Mark Herring, the robes and hood of the white su- Smith and Jennifer Lopez, to share Michelle Obama “In fact, I probably work more hours than almost any past 1980s party, as a web of scandals en- largely because he came forward on premacist Ku Klux Klan. personal anecdotes about how speaks on stage President. veloped three top party offi cials. his own to admit having performed Northam denied being in that music has changed their lives and at the 61st “The fact is, when I took over as President, our Country was A Democratic state lawmaker, in blackface at a 1980 college party, picture but admitted to dressing in empowered them as women. Annual Grammy a mess,” Trump continued. meanwhile, said on Twitter that he rather than waiting for someone else blackface for a social event that same Obama, wearing a shimmering, sil- Awards in Los “Depleted Military, Endless Wars, a potential War with North would not move immediately on his to accuse him. year. ver suit, was briefly interrupted as the Angeles on Korea, VA, High Taxes & too many Regulations, Border, Im- call over the weekend for impeach- Northam and Herring are white; Blackface traces its history to crowd erupted in cheers and applause Sunday night. migration & HealthCare problems, & much more. ment proceedings against Virginia’s Fairfax is black. 19th-century “minstrel” shows that at the beginning of her comments. “I had no choice but to work very long hours!” added the lieutenant governor, who has been The Democratic state lawmaker mocked African-Americans and is “From the Motown records I wore out on the South- president, who rarely has off icial work before 11am, according accused of sexually assaulting two said he might ask the state house to seen as off ensive by many Americans. side to the ‘Who Run the World’ songs that fueled me to the daily guidance issued to the media by his press off ice. women, charges he has denied. begin discussing impeaching Fairfax Northam said that Fairfax would through this last decade, music has always helped me Quizzed about what appeared to be a rather easy typical The accusations of racist behaviour if he did not resign signalled yesterday have to step aside if sexual assault al- tell my story,” Obama said, referring to the Chicago day at the off ice for the world’s most powerful man — acting or sexual assault — hot button issues he was in no rush to act. legations against him were found to be neighbourhood where she grew up. chief of staff Mick Mulvaney also pushed back on Sunday. in a party that has embraced diversity “Yesterday, I sent draft language to true. Obama is currently touring to promote her memoir “That executive time is on there to allow the president to as one of its key messages — target- my colleagues on the fi rst step of an “And if these accusations are de- Becoming, which was released in the United States and prep for the next meeting, to debrief from the previous meet- ing the three men have rattled party impeachment action regarding the termined to be true, I don’t think he’s in 28 languages around the world. ing,” Mulvaney told NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’. leadership in a swing state that likely Lt Governor,” state Delegate Patrick going to have any other option but to She and her husband, former president Barack “The phone calls start at 6.30 in the morning, and they will play a pivotal role in the 2020 US Hope said on Twitter. resign,” Northam said. Obama, signed deals for a book apiece with Penguin go until 11 at night. So I can assure you that the gentleman is presidential election. “There has been an enormous Fairfax has said that encounters Random House a month after Obama left off ice in Janu- working more than what’s on that calendar,” he said. In the unlikely event all three men amount of sincere and thoughtful with both women were consensual. ary 2017. Trump has reportedly ordered an aggressive search for the were to step down, the governorship feedback which has led to additional On Sunday, a spokeswoman for “Whether we like country or rap or rock, music helps source of the leak. would pass to the Republican speaker conversations that need to take place the lieutenant governor said he was us share ourselves, our dignity and sorrows, our hopes Speaking on ‘Fox News Sunday’, Mulvaney said the White of the state house, which would be before anything is fi led.” “aggressively exploring options for a and joys,” Obama said. “It allows us to hear one another, House was hoping to identify the culprit “this week.” a stunning reversal in a state where In a series of tweets he said that he thorough, independent, and impartial to invite each other in.” Democrats have been gaining power believed Fairfax’s two accusers but investigation” of the allegations.

For Parkland survivors, a year of political gains and unresolved pain

Zachary Fagenson, Reuters has linked tens of thousands of the campaign kickoff , along with shootings, combined with hun- Parkland, Florida student activists in pushing for parents of some of the victims. dreds of others, left a total of 387 political candidates who support The petition needs 800,000 dead, according to the Gun Vio- their goals of new measures to signatures. lence Archive. year after the deadliest reduce gun violence. Success has come at a cost for “We carry a heavy weight, high-school shooting in “We have to replace these ter- the student activists. and every single day there’s an- AUS history, students from rible actors who are comfortable Since last year’s shooting, other mass shooting in America, Florida’s Marjory Stoneman putting our lives at risk for a check many have not had enough time and we see ourselves as vessels Douglas High School look back from the NRA,” said Matt Deitsch, to grieve or properly process the amplifying what’s going on this with pride on the network they the group’s chief strategist, refer- tragedy. country,” Deitsch said. have built to stem the country’s ring to the National Rifl e Associa- In a series of recent Twit- For many students, sharing epidemic of gun violence through tion, which opposes what it con- ter messages, Tarr, a March for their experiences, both broadly the ballot box. siders any retreat on gun rights. Our Lives co-founder, refl ected and with those who have gone Even so, it has been diffi cult Deitsch, along with Emma on having to put on a composed through something similar, has for many to come to terms with Gonzalez, David Hogg, Delaney “performance” over the past year been therapeutic, however. the trauma of February 14, 2018, Tarr and Jaclyn Corin, is among as a public fi gure on social media. Not long after the shoot- when a former Stoneman student the most prominent Stoneman “I can’t sit back and let you ing, a publisher contacted Sarah with an assault gun massacred 17 students who have toured the na- think that I’m always fi ne, that Lerner, a journalism and English people at the Parkland, Florida tion to encourage young people I’m always ready to go. That’s not teacher at Stoneman, about pub- campus. to register and vote for pro-gun realistic,” she wrote. lishing a book fi lled with refl ec- “There’s defi nitely not a day control candidates. “I’m a human being and god tions of that day and its after- that goes by where I’m not think- By “terrible actors,” Deitsch damn if all of this work and pain math. ing about it, and I know for a fact was referring to political incum- isn’t hard.” Parkland Speaks: Survivors that everyone that has to walk bents who oppose the group’s The past year has brought from Marjory Stoneman Douglas through those campus gates is goals, which include a ban on as- more US gun violence, compli- Share Their Stories was released thinking about it,” said junior sault weapons. A March 24, 2018 photo of students rallying during the ‘March for Our Lives’ at the Miami Beach Senior cating the task of recovery. late last month and includes 43 Caitlynn Tibbetts. It also backs funding for gun High School in Miami, Florida. In a shooting with echoes of accounts of the shooting and The student campaign in sup- violence research and supports Parkland, a gunman at Santa Fe what followed, including two port of gun control, which featured universal background checks, people arrayed against us,” De- work aims to expand to thou- weapons ban on Florida’s ballot High School in Texas killed 10 pieces by Tibbetts, the junior. a massive march on Washing- disarming domestic abusers and itsch, 21, said with evident pride. sands of high schools and col- in the 2020 election. and wounded 14 on May 18. “This book gave us the opportu- ton and in other cities around the enacting laws to staunch gun Having put together a multi- leges by the end of 2019, giving March For Our Lives leader Months later, an anti-Semitic nity to look past politics and look country, resulted in the formation traffi cking. million-dollar war chest, with it even more clout going into the Hogg, among the fi rst Stone- attack on the Tree of Life Syna- at the heart of it,” Tibbetts said. of a sprawling national network “The fact that gun violence is a the help of A-list celebrities like 2020 election. man students to call for greater gogue in Pittsburgh left 11 dead “And the heart of it is that called March for Our Lives. top issue for the fi rst time ever is George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey Activists are to launch a peti- gun control in the hours after the and six injured. we’re struggling to move past it, With some 500 chapters, it something that should scare the and Steven Spielberg, the net- tion campaign to put an assault shooting, was expected to attend By the end the year, that pair of but we’re trying.” Gulf Times Tuesday, February 12, 2019 11 ASIA

‘Napalm Thai junta chief decries coup Girl’ to receive prize conjecture as ‘fake news’ DPA Dresden AFP Bangkok Poll panel disqualifi es princess as PM candidate im Phuc Phan Thi, the Thailand’s election panel the application of the same election laws against using the woman who for nearly fi ve hailand’s junta chief yesterday disqualified the rule requiring the monarch monarchy in campaigning. Kdecades has been known yesterday dismissed ru- sister of the king from running to be above politics and to be Party leaders were not as the “Napalm Girl” from a Pu- Tmours of an impending for prime minister, putting an politically neutral,” the panel immediately available for litzer Prize-winning photograph coup as “fake news”, as specu- end to a stunning, short-lived said in a statement after a comment and cancelled a taken during the Vietnam War, lation ricocheted across a king- candidacy by echoing King meeting. press conference planned for is set to be awarded the Dresden dom unsettled by the ill-fated Maha Vajiralongkorn’s words The princess had accepted Monday. Peace Prize for her activism. political union between a prin- that royalty should be “above the nomination of the Thai Ubolratana’s surprise The well-known photo by cess and a party allied to the politics”. Raksa Chart party, a populist nomination broke with a Associated Press photographer powerful Shinawatra clan. The Election Commission movement drawn from tradition that members of the Nick Ut shows Kim Phuc – who Conjecture has coursed released the off icial list of supporters of ousted ex- royal family stay out of politics. now resides in Canada – at the through Thailand since Fri- parties’ candidates for prime premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand has been a age of 9 running naked on a road day when the Thai Raksa Chart minister without the name of who has been at the centre of constitutional monarchy since after being severely burned on party proposed Princess Ubol- Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya more than a decade of turmoil 1932, but the royal family her back by a South Vietnamese ratana, King Maha Vajiralong- Sirivadhana Barnavadi, 67, the in Thai politics. wields great influence and napalm attack in 1972. korn’s elder sister, as a candi- king’s elder sister. The panel did not mention commands the devotion of The Dresden Peace Prize, date for premier after the March The list excluded Ubolratana a separate petition seeking millions of Thais, with the king awarded annually since 2010 24 election. “because every member of to ban Thai Raksa Chart on considered to be semi-divine. in the city’s famed Semperoper Hours later, a royal com- Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha presiding over a meeting at the royal family comes within the grounds that it violated (Reuters) opera house, includes 10,000 mand from the king appeared to the Government House in Bangkok yesterday. euros ($11,300), which will fl ow put a pin in her unprecedented into Kim Phuc’s foundation sup- political aspirations. swiftly agreed to comply with But yesterday the gruff monarchy in 1932, including to Prayut and his junta allies. Pheu Thai, was expected to help porting schools, orphanages and It said the monarchy was the command. former general, who master- against existing juntas seen to Recent days have seeded un- the Shinawatra machine secure medical facilities in diff erent above politics and described his Election authorities meet- minded a putsch against the have over-stepped their mark. ease, with the fi rst election in a majority in the 350-seat lower parts of the world. sister’s candidacy as “highly in- ing yesterday were expected to government of Yingluck Shina- Prayut, a former army chief eight years now seemingly de- house. “When I am alone, I avoid the appropriate”. discuss whether the use of the watra, Thaksin’s sister, in 2014, turned junta head, has agreed to pendent on behind-the-scenes But it is under intense pres- image,” Kim Phuc said in reference The slapdown by an unas- princess’s name was uncon- tried to stop it short. stand for premier after the elec- power plays by the elite. sure following its bid to bring in to the photograph that catapulted sailable monarch – protected stitutional, a fi rst step towards “Rumours...? We’re in- tion and is aided by an army- “Pls#NoMoreCoup WTF the princess. her into the public eye. “But I by some of the world’s harsh- dissolving the party. vestigating. Fake news,” he scripted constitution. with this country,” said one “I think the party leader and know that it allows me to work for est royal defamation laws – who Adding to the uncertainty, told reporters at Government But critics say he has person- Twitter user, while another said board should take a responsibil- peace, and that is my vision.” has never addressed the public chatter of an impending coup House about the merits of the alised power and outstayed his “I wish we have only #elec- ity by resigning,” said Srisuwan in such strong terms, set off a against the ruling junta leader speculation. welcome with a public wearied tion2019”. Janya of the Association for the chain reaction. Prayut Chan-O-Cha and a ma- Thailand’s generals have a by his fi nger-jabbing style. Meanwhile, the fate of Thai Protection of the Constitution, A chastened Thai Raksa jor change in army top brass has penchant for coups, backroom The king appointed a new Raksa Chart hangs in the a royalist activist group, who Chart, a key pillar in the elec- billowed out, with the hashtag plotting and factional struggles. army chief, Apirat Kongsom- balance. submitted a petition to election tion strategy of billionaire ex- #coup trending in the top 10 in They have grabbed power 12 pong, last year from a rival The party, a second to the authorities Monday calling for Cambodian the party’s censure. premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai Twitter. times since the end of absolute faction of the army Thaksin political powerhouse commander French national Thailand releases fi red after gift video shared held over drone refugee footballer DPA Phnom Penh

fl ight in Myanmar after extradition ambodian Prime Minis- ter Hun Sen has sacked Reuters to say what charges he was Ca provincial military po- Yangon arrested on. lice commander after a video of Local media said police de- bid dropped the offi cer apparently gifting his tained the man on a bridge at fi ve children $100,000 each was yanmar police have the entrance to Naypyitaw’s shared online and criticised by arrested a French sprawling parliament complex Reuters go next. He is a free man,” said social media users, local media Mnational in the capi- on Thursday and that he was Bangkok Chatchom Akapin, an offi cial Hakeem al-Araibi is escorted to a courtroom in Bangkok. reported yesterday. tal, Naypyitaw, police and accused of illegally importing in the Thai attorney-general’s Kim Reaksmey, the military po- France’s embassy said yester- the drone. offi ce. noted the halt of legal proceed- Craig Foster, who had helped lice commander of Ratanakkiri day, after the man reportedly Online outlet News Watch hailand yesterday freed A witness said Araibi was ings and the verdict against the lobby offi cials at world govern- province in the country’s northeast, fl ew a drone near parliament. published a photo a man hold- a jailed refugee Bah- seen leaving the Bangkok re- footballer remained in place. ing body FIFA, said, “My thanks was fi red from the Royal Cambodi- Naypyitaw is not a common ing a small Chinese-made Traini footballer with mand prison in a car and im- Thailand’s ministry of for- go to the wonderful people of an Armed Forces (RCAF) and mili- destination for foreign tour- drone and an image of a pass- residency status in Australia, migration offi cials said he was eign aff airs said it had no Thailand for your support and tary police, said defence ministry ists, but some curious visi- port belonging to 27-year- after Bahrain abandoned its heading for the main inter- comment on the case. to the Thai government for up- spokesman Chhum Sucheat. tors are drawn to its oversized old French citizen, Arthur bid to seek his extradition, and national airport in the Thai The detention of Araibi, who holding international law.” Footage of Reaksmey at a offi cial buildings and largely Desclaux. immigration offi cials said he capital. appeared with his feet in shack- Araibi has said he wants to birthday party at his luxuri- empty, runway-like roads. Kyaw Naing, an offi cial at the was immediately driven to the Rights group Amnesty In- les at a court hearing last week, return to Australia, where he ous home, which was shared on The junta constructed the city French embassy in Yangon, con- airport. ternational, which lobbied for drew international criticism, has lived since 2014 and plays Facebook on Wednesday, was in secret and moved the coun- fi rmed that consular offi cials Hakeem al-Araibi, 25, who his release, later said Araibi had with Australian authorities and for a Melbourne football club. widely criticised, with many try’s administration there in were aware of the arrest, but de- fl ed Bahrain in 2014 and re- arrived at the airport. fellow footballers urging Thai- He was convicted of van- questioning how an offi cial earn- the mid-2000s. clined to provide details. ceived refugee status in Aus- It was not immediately clear land to release him. He says dalising a police station during ing a government salary of a few In 2017, two foreign jour- Asked what charges the tralia, was arrested in No- when or why Bahrain withdrew he faces torture if returned to 2011 anti-government protests hundred dollars a month could nalists for Turkish state TV Frenchman was facing, he vember last year at a Bangkok its request. A Bahrain govern- Bahrain. in Bahrain and sentenced in ab- have so much money, the Khmer station TRT World and their said: “We don’t know yet. We airport while on a honeymoon ment spokesman declined to In the Australian capital of sentia after he fl ed. Araibi de- Times reported. interpreter spent two months are contacting the Myanmar trip, following an Interpol no- give details when asked who Canberra, Prime Minister Scott nies the charges, saying he was Sucheat said the government’s in a Myanmar jail for fl ying authorities.” tice issued at Bahrain’s request. ordered the halt of the legal Morrison welcomed the deci- playing in a televised soccer Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) was a drone over the legislature. The legal status of drones However, the Middle East proceedings. sion of the Thai government. match at the time of the police now investigating the graft accu- The three pleaded guilty to in Myanmar is unclear. Myint nation has withdrawn the However, authorities in Bah- “We greatly respect the proc- station attack. sations against Reaksmey. breaching the colonial-era Htwe, a director at the Minis- request, prompting a Thai rain, which has accused Araibi ess that they have had to work New York-based Human Prime Minister Hun Sen said Aircraft Act. try of Hotels and Tourism, said court to approve a motion by of crimes committed during through and we greatly appre- Rights Watch has said Araibi last week that he had made Thein Min Htwe, a police- drones were not mentioned in prosecutors to drop the case the Arab Spring protests of ciate their listening to the issues was tortured by Bahraini au- the “painful decision” to fi re woman in Naypyitaw’s Ottara the “dos and don’ts” displayed against the footballer, Thai 2011, said the country reaf- that have been raised by our thorities because of his broth- Reaksmey due to the scandal. Thiri township, confi rmed at points of entry, but that offi cials said. fi rmed its right to pursue legal government and many others,” er’s political activities during Reaksmey was accused of il- reports a Frenchman was de- importers may need permis- “There are no grounds to action against him. he told a news conference. the 2011 protests. legal log smuggling by a local tained for fl ying an unmanned sion from other government hold him anymore. It is his In a statement, Bahrain’s On social network Twitter, Bahraini authorities deny association, which fi led an ACU aerial vehicle, but declined departments. right to decide where he will foreign ministry said it had former Australia soccer captain allegations of torture. complaint against him on Friday. Bangladesh sets sights on recruitment Rohingya stopped from taking trip to Malaysia

AFP they could from the refugees,” brokers to curb abuse and traffi cking Cox’s Bazar Lt Colonel Asadud Zaman Chowdhury, BGB chief for the Bangladesh security forces town of Teknaf, said. Thomson Reuters Foundation least 1mn secured jobs abroad About 3,800 Bangladeshis Bangladesh is one of the most basis, said providing middlemen stopped 22 Rohingya Muslims It is the fourth time since Dhaka in 2017 – the highest number died while working abroad last expensive nations in the world with offi cial documents could from being smuggled to November that Rohingya have ever recorded, according to year – the highest annual toll for those seeking to migrate, help cut out cheating and Malaysia by boat, off icials said been intercepted attempting to offi cial data. since 2005 – raising concerns with some migrant workers pay- exploitation. yesterday, the second group get a boat to Malaysia. angladesh is planning to “The plan is to ask the recruit- among campaigners about the ing fees of up to $8,500 to go “If they make us offi cial and in three days prevented from On Friday, border guards sideline unscrupulous re- ing agencies to provide us with poor treatment of many migrant abroad, says the United Nations. give us a monthly salary that will leaving squalid refugee camps. stopped 30 Rohingya from Bcruitment brokers who the details of the brokers who are workers. Yet much of this spending be good for everyone,” he said. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) boarding a boat and sent them dupe or exploit workers they unoffi cially working for them,” Bangladesh has more than is not documented, making it “The amount of cheating will forces found 11 women, 10 back to their camps. send abroad by compiling a list said Raunaq Jahan, a senior civil 1,200 licensed recruitment tough for workers who return decrease because everyone will children and a man at a village Authorities fear that more of certifi ed agents as record servant with the EWOE. agencies but most are located home after being swindled to be answerable.” on the Bay of Bengal coast, Rohingya will try to take boats to numbers of its citizens spend “After that we will spread in cities and out-of-reach of a take exploitative brokers to However the secretary gen- near the border with Myanmar, Malaysia while the Bay of Bengal large sums of money to secure these names and make people huge chunk of the population, court, said Marina Sultana of eral of the Bangladesh Associa- on Sunday. is calm up until the end of March. jobs overseas. aware of the certifi ed brokers,” said Shakirul Islam, chairman, RMMRU. tion of International Recruiting The 22 had paid traff ickers up Bangladesh’s refugee The scheme could lower the she said. “This move can prevent Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Pro- “The only document likely Agencies said regulating re- to $1,200 each to get a place on commissioner Mohammed Abul cost of going abroad for work human traffi cking.” gram (OKUP), a migrants’ rights to exist is the government fee cruitment middlemen would not a small boat for the dangerous Kalam said “an internationally – which can cost thousands of The vast majority of Bangla- organisation. receipt,” the director said. “No- improve the system or result in journey, a BGB off icer said. The organised racket” was preying dollars in fees – and curb the desh’s migrants depend on bro- “That’s why the job seek- one is taking responsibility for lower fees. people smugglers fled before on desperation in the Rohingya abuse and traffi cking of Bangla- kers to fi nd work overseas, and ers are dependent on the mid- the big amount of money in “If you want to reduce the mi- security forces arrived. camps. deshi migrant workers, said the about half experience some form dlemen to reach these agencies the middle ... so there is no real gration fee, you can’t add more There were more than 1mn “The refugees are lured by false Ministry of Expatriates’ Wel- of fraud or harassment, accord- and go abroad,” he said, adding, way to prove as to where all the stakeholders to the system,” said Rohingya in Bangladesh where promises. They simply don’t fare and Overseas Employment ing to the Refugee and Migra- “At the same time, the agencies, money goes at the moment.” Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury they are largely confined to the have any idea how dangerous (EWOE). tory Movements Research Unit which lack the capacity, also Mohammed Parvez, a broker Noman. “Who is going to pay overflowing refugee camps. these sea journeys can be,” he More than 7.5mn Bangladeshis (RMMRU) – a migrant rights depend upon the informal net- who works for three recruit- the brokers when they become “The traff ickers took whatever said. live outside the country, and at organisation. works.” ment agencies on a part-time offi cial?” Gulf Times 12 Tuesday, February 12, 2019 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA Former Malaysian PM Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial delayed

AFP allegations linked to his involve- his personal bank accounts, has two. The scandal was a major fac- It is just one of several trials mania, said the postponement portrayed the cases against him as Kuala Lumpur ment in the looting of Malaysian denied any wrongdoing. But the tor in the shock poll loss of Na- Najib, who is free on bail, is ex- was a “huge setback” for the new revenge by the new government sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in ex-leader’s lawyers fi led an ap- jib’s long-ruling coalition in May. pected to face over 1MDB and in- government led by Prime Minister led by Mahathir, Najib’s mentor- a fraud that reverberated around plication for the trial to be delayed Since being ejected from power, volves a fraction of the total pur- Mahathir Mohamad. turned-nemesis, who came out of ormer Malaysian premier the world. pending an appeal on a technical Najib has been arrested repeatedly portedly stolen from the fund. “They needed the trial to re- retirement in his 90s to oust the Najib Razak’s trial over a Billions of dollars were alleged- matter. and hit with a total of 42 charges Getting legal proceedings un- gain support from the public,” he scandal-mired ex-premier. Fmassive fi nancial scandal ly stolen by Najib and his cronies The Court of Appeal on Mon- linked to 1MDB. derway will relieve pressure on the told AFP. But Bridget Welsh, a As he awaits trial, Najib has that contributed to his govern- from 1MDB, which was set up to day agreed to the postponement He denies any wrongdoing. The new government amid growing Southeast Asia expert from John gone on a bizarre publicity blitz in ment’s downfall was postponed help develop Malaysia’s economy, for an unspecifi ed period, V Sith- trial, originally scheduled to be- public unease about slow progress Cabot University, played down recent weeks, performing a cover yesterday, in a blow to slow-mov- and spent on everything from ambaram, a criminal lawyer on gin Tuesday, is on seven charges on 1MDB, although observers say the signifi cance of the postpone- of a 1970s R&B hit accompanied ing eff orts to bring the disgraced high-end real estate to expensive the prosecution team, told AFP. related to allegations Najib pock- that Najib’s defence team has ment, saying “delaying tactics” by backing singers, attacking the politician to justice. artworks. “It won’t be delayed too long,” eted 42mn ringgit ($10.3mn) from been using delaying tactics. were an expected part of the new government on social media Najib had been due to go on Najib, who allegedly received he said, adding he hoped the ap- SRC International, a former unit James Chin, a Malaysia spe- defence’s strategy. The former and seeking to present himself as trial today for the fi rst time over huge sums from the fund into peal would only take a week or of 1MDB. cialist at the University of Tas- leader and his defence team have a man of the people. Australia signs massive Aussie PM kicks sub deal with French fi rm

AFP Canberra off re-election bid ustralia formally signed a A$50bn “strate- AFP last August against the more Agic partnership” with Canberra moderate Liberal leader Malcolm France to build 12 state-of- Turnbull, is gambling that a sense the-art submarines yesterday, of fearfulness resonates with the a signal of Canberra’s willing- rime Minister Scott Mor- broader electorate. Australia fre- ness to project power across rison fi red the starter’s gun quently ranks in the top dozen the Pacifi c. Pon his re-election drive safest places in the world. Prime Minister Scott Mor- yesterday, promising to keep Morrison’s minority govern- rison hailed the “very auda- Australians safe in a dangerous ment will face an early test of its cious plan” at a ceremony in and sometimes “evil” world. policies this week, when mem- Canberra as “part of Australia’s Painting a grim picture of a bers of parliament vote on a bill biggest ever peace-time in- country threatened by terrorism, that would allow doctors to de- vestment in defence”. From left: Australian Defence Minister Christopher Pyne, Australian people smuggling, drugs, natu- cide when asylum-seekers kept The partnership’s main pil- Prime Minister Scott Morrision and French Defence Minister ral disasters and crime, Morri- in off shore detention centres can lar is a contract for France’s Florence Parly shake hands after signing the attack-class submarine son argued the opposition Labor be transferred to Australia for Naval Group — a consortium Strategic Partnering Agreement in Canberra, Australia. Party under its chief Bill Shorten medical treatment. with state backing — to build were “asleep at the wheel” on se- Australia PM Scott Morrison. The government has vowed 12 attack-class submarines the shadow of a memorial to US as well for expeditionary sub- curity. never to allow asylum-seekers and has been years in the mak- forces in front of the Australian marines,” he said, hoping the Australians are expected to go Australia under my government? rip off older Australians — cyber who try to reach the country il- ing. At roughly US$35bn this is defence offi ces in Canberra. Australia contract would serve to the polls in mid-May to decide Or do you want to live in a weaker bullying. Elder abuse,” he said, legally by boat to set foot in the Australia’s largest ever defence “It takes a lot of confi dence as a launchpad for contracts in whether Morrison’s conservative Australia under Bill Shorten and listing a myriad of threats. country. procurement project and the for Australia to bet on France other countries including In- Liberal Party gets a third term in Labor?” “We have led, we haven’t fol- Morrison says the bill backed largest ever foreign sales deal and a lot of confi dence for dia, Poland and Brazil. government. Morrison argued he was lowed. We have taken decisions by Labor and independents by French shipbuilder Naval France to share with Australia Guillou confi rmed the fi rst Polls show Morrison is per- uniquely suited to “dealing with rather than put them off to an- would provide a back door for Group. The fi rst submarine is the capability that is so close to Australian submarine should sonally popular but his party is the world as it is — uncertain, other day. And we have embraced entry to Australia for such asy- expected to be fi nished in the the core of our sovereignty and be sailing in the early 2030s, heading for its biggest defeat in often dangerous, uncompro- tough calls rather than seeking to lum-seekers and fuel a resump- early 2030s, starting with sea our strategic autonomy and a the last in the early 2040s with decades — something he hopes mising, and at its worst — sim- buy weak compromises for the tion of people-smuggling op- trials around the fi rst quarter result of immense investment the last decommissioned prob- to turn around by pointing to a ply evil.” “Foreign interference. purpose of politics.” erations which have largely been of 2031 and operational testing over decades,” Parly said. ably in the early 2080s. “We strong economy and an uncom- Radical terrorism. People smug- Morrison’s message is likely to choked off by the tough off shore in late 2032. Under the Strategic Partner- are looking at a very, very long- promising stance on security and gling. Natural disasters. Organ- resonate strongly with the hard detention policy. Critics say that is too late: ship Agreement, 12 conven- term partnership with Austral- immigration. ised crime. Money laundering. right of his party and with Aus- No Australian government has the waters to Australia’s north tionally powered submarines ia,” he said. “The election is about the Biosecurity hazards. Cyber secu- tralia’s powerful conservative lost a vote on a substantive mat- and east are the scene of an derived from the Naval Group The agreement compris- Australia you want to live in for rity. The evil ice trade. Violence media outlets. ter of policy in almost 100 years. intense struggle between the Barracuda nuclear design will es two thick volumes with the next decade,” he said. “Do against women... online preda- But Morrison, who became A loss for Morrison could trigger United States, China and re- be constructed in a new ship- 23 schedules, with two more you want to live in a stronger tors and scammers who seek to prime minister in a party coup an early election. gional powers, who are all vy- yard in South Australia. schedules to be added later. It ing for infl uence. Parly hailed the agreement, sets conditions on what intel- Beijing has made territorial which was negotiated and lectual property Australia has claims to much of the South drafted entirely in English, as access to and which it owns, China Sea — a marine thor- a long-term partnership be- and covers a range of provi- oughfare that is vital to main- tween Australia and France sions for contract termination Notorious Australian drug lord stabbed in prison tain the supply of ores, min- and dismissed some “whining or missed deadlines. erals and crude that fuel the about the lengths of the nego- Guillou also said an alli- Chinese economy. tiations”. ance with Italian shipbuilder AFP bourne’s gangland war which victim’s identity to AFP. A sec- suppressed court documents Washington fears that China “Behind those masses of Fincantieri would permit the Sydney began in the late 1990s. The ond man aged in his 30s was also that revealed one of the biggest is becoming increasingly as- dark steel, behind those eyeless two companies to team up on violence claimed dozens of lives taken to hospital, police added. legal scandals to hit Australia in sertive over those claims to beasts” there was friendship research, development and and was later immortalised in the Mokbel skipped bail in Mel- years. display its dominance over and a common attachment to procurement for some com- notorious crime boss who hugely popular Australian TV se- bourne in early 2006 just before The documents disclosed that smaller Asian nations and be- multilateralism and the rules- mon projects, either bilateral was once Australia’s most ries Underbelly. Police said a man being sentenced for drug traf- a high-profi le Melbourne bar- come the prime regional power. based order, she said. or for export. “If we look at Awanted man has been aged in his 50s – widely reported fi cking. rister had for years been giving Australian military analysts Naval Group chairman the change in the market, we stabbed in prison, reports said to be Mokbel by Australian media He was later arrested while on information to Victoria Police, hope the subs will allow the Herve Guillou said Australia need European players to unite yesterday, months after revela- – was fl own from the maximum the run in Greece and extradited while representing Mokbel and country to maintain a credible chose the French submarine more strongly to be able to face tions his lawyer was a police in- security Barwon Prison south- to Australia. Yesterday’s attack six of his associates. deterrent against possible hos- design because of its endur- the new giants in this market, formant cast doubt on his crimi- west of Melbourne in a serious came several years after one of More than 600 cases could be tile actions. ance, long range and acous- like CSCC in China, like OSK nal convictions. condition after a stabbing on Mokbel’s associates, mobster tainted as a result, according to Visiting French Armed tic superiority. “We are bid- in Russia,” he said. “We really Tony Mokbel, who master- Monday afternoon. Carl Williams, was killed in the Australian media, meaning that Forces Minister Florence Parly ding in the Netherlands today. want to take the initiative of minded a drug traffi cking em- A Victoria Police spokes- same prison. It followed the re- the criminals might be able to cosigned the agreement in a That is one really important being stronger before the oth- pire, was a central fi gure in Mel- woman would not confi rm the lease in December of previously appeal their convictions. ceremony that took place in bid because they are looking ers are stronger.”

Water treatment Kim-Trump summit a ‘remarkable breakthrough’ for peace, says Moon

AFP progress has since stalled with peace process can be concluded Seoul the two sides disagreeing over it successfully”. The leaders of means and analysts say tangible the two Koreas and the US have progress on denuclearisation persisted in talks over the issue he agreement for a second will be needed if the talks are to because of “strong confi dence summit between Donald avoid being dismissed as “real- in the direction history should TTrump and Kim Jong- ity TV”. take”, added Moon, who has un was a “remarkable break- With the high-stakes summit taken on the role of middle man through” for peace negotiations now two weeks away, Pyongyang between Pyongyang and Wash- on the Korean peninsula, Presi- has yet to provide any offi cial ington, trying to bridge the gap dent Moon Jae-in said, but he confi rmation of the meeting in on denuclearisation talks. acknowledged doubts remained the Vietnamese capital. Security allies Seoul and over denuclearisation. “For us, the era of peace and Washington have at times pur- The US President and North prosperity on the peninsula has sued divergent approaches Korean leader are due to meet drawn closer,” said Moon in his toward Pyongyang, with the in Hanoi from February 27 to 28 fi rst comments since the summit dovish South Korean leader following their landmark fi rst was announced. pursuing engagement while the summit in Singapore last June. The meeting was a “remark- United States insists pressure That meeting — the fi rst-ever able breakthrough in the peace must be maintained until the between the leaders of the US process on the Korean peninsu- North denuclearises. and North Korea — produced la”, the South Korean president But Moon expressed gratitude a vaguely-worded document added. But he acknowledged to both Trump and Kim for their in which Kim pledged to work there were “still many doubts “unprecedented, bold diplo- towards “the denuclearisation about whether the denuclearisa- matic eff orts”, saying they were of the Korean peninsula”. But tion of the Korean peninsula and “crossing a sea of deep mistrust”.

S Korea indicts former top judge for manipulating rulings

South Korean prosecutors Seoul central prosecutors’ off ice administration of then President indicted a former chief justice filed 47 charges against Yang Park Geun-hye. yesterday over charges of abusing Seung-tae, the Supreme Court Since his arrest in January, power and manipulating rulings, chief from 2011 to 2017, in the domestic media have quoted his Firefighters combating a bush fire near Nelson in New Zealand’s South Island. A large New Zealand wildfire is set to keep burning including some regarding forced first such indictment of a former lawyers as saying they will clarify until next month but has moved away from danger areas and residents of an evacuated village should be able to return home soon, labour during World War II chief justice. He was accused of their position during a hearing firefighters said yesterday. involving Japanese companies, delaying rulings on controversial on his case, although no date the Yonhap news agency said. The cases in a bid to aid the has been fixed yet. Gulf Times Tuesday, February 12, 2019 13

BRITAIN May’s letter addressed to Corbyn, but aimed elsewhere

Guardian News and Media for any more radical changes. accept Labour’s key term for vot- than the ability to strike our own support,” she added. No 10 will diff erences between the two lead- many Labour MPs and trade un- London It is also clearly aimed not just ing through a Brexit deal: a com- deals?” be well aware at how the debate is ers but the similarities, perhaps ions – as well as a vote in parlia- at Corbyn and his MPs but at the mitment to seeking a permanent May’s letter also makes an un- raging within Labour at the mo- an uncomfortable point for critics ment on whether to accept new rebels in May’s own party. The customs union. comfortable challenge to Labour ment about what the party’s pol- of both May and Corbyn. European standards to keep pace heresa May’s return letter letter off ers an opportunity for May challenges Corbyn as to on free movement. She says her icy should be on free movement. On security, Corbyn’s fi nal de- with Europe. Some MPs, howev- to Jeremy Corbyn is full of fresh talks between the camps “as why he believes the Labour policy own plans for close alignment Ending free movement is May’s mand, May even suggests that she er, would like to see Britain auto- Tsome surprisingly warm soon as possible” and engages on of a permanent customs union, with the EU’s customs union and reddest of red lines. and Corbyn form a united front to matically uprate its standards as words for the Labour leader and the substance of Labour’s fi ve de- which would involve requesting single market “provide for the Labour’s Keir Starmer, the push Brussels for more conces- the EU does. his off er of talks to come to a Brex- mands set out in a letter to May a say over future trade deals from closest relationship possible” shadow Brexit secretary, has sions to allow UK access to some The section is full of cosy lan- it compromise. last week. the EU, would be better than the outside full membership, a key hinted at reopening that option. intelligence tools that the EU has guage praising “Conservative and But the friendly tone masks Downing Street will hope that a terms she has negotiated. demand from Labour. “I actually think we get stuck on been reluctant to let Britain use Labour governments” of the past two key things: an attempt to willingness to appear open to fur- The prime minister says her But she pushes Corbyn to say the freedom of movement dis- without the oversight of the Eu- that have “led the way” in high tease out Labour divisions on ther discussions with Labour will deal “explicitly provides for the how he would go further than that cussion too early without saying, ropean court of justice. standards. free movement and to publicly be a shot across the bows of some benefi ts of a customs union” and without remaining within the what does a principled, eff ective In the letter, too, comes con- The section is carefully aimed expose how little space there re- Brexiters who fear the prime min- pointedly asks the Labour leader: single market. “This would mean and fair immigration policy look fi rmation that May is seeking not just at Corbyn but at Labour ally is between Labour’s Brexit ister will soften her Brexit deal to “I am not clear why you believe it accepting free movement, which like?” he said. to legislate to ban any rollback MPs who May hopes to persuade tests and May’s negotiated deal, win Labour votes. would be preferable to seek a say Labour’s 2017 general election Yet the most striking point of workers’ rights – the “non- to vote for her deal, even if their meaning May has little appetite What the letter does not do is in future EU trade deals rather manifesto made clear you do not about the letter overall is not the regression lock” demanded by leader does not. Williamson enhances reputation for haplessness

Guardian News and Media by the parliamentary authorities London for breaching rules about pho- tography in the Commons when he posted a picture of his boss avin Williamson’s boast Theresa May making a statement that Brexit could “en- to MPs about Brexit. Ghance the UK’s lethality” And the content of his prosaic is the latest in a string of naive Instagram posts, featuring dreary forays by the 42-year-old defence constituency shots, animals and secretary. He may have intended even a tribute to the value of his it as a boost to Britain’s global new garden incinerator, have also military standing but it is more been widely mocked. Beside an likely to just confi rm William- underwhelming picture of his son’s reputation as the Cabinet’s 1981 Land Rover Defender, Wil- Private Pike, the hapless youth in liamson wrote that it epitomises the sitcom Dad’s Army. everything that is so fantastic In his fi rst 15 months in the job about #greatbritain. He had ap- Williamson’s antics have regular- parently forgotten that Land ly invited the Captain Mainwar- Rover has been owned by India’s Anti-Brexit protestors hold placards, flags and banners outside of the Houses of Parliament in London yesterday. ing response of “Stupid boy!” Tata Motors for more than a dec- In March, in the wake of the ade. poisoning of the former Russian Last summer, senior fi gures spy Sergei Skripal and his daugh- in the defence department were ter Yulia in Salisbury, Williamson reported to be exasperated by had a message for the chief sus- some of Williamson’s eccen- pects. “Frankly, Russia should go tric suggestions for stretching away and should shut up,” he said the defence budget. According in remarks that were widely ridi- to the Sun, he put forward the UK must budge for Brexit culed in both Russia and the UK. idea of mounting guns on trac- Challenged by ITV about those tors as makeshift mobile missile comments, Williamson com- launchers, and buying second- pounded the error by repeatedly hand ferries to convert them to refusing to answers questions beach assault craft. A source told about his informal use of lan- the Sun: “The man is out of his breakthrough: Barnier guage. Williamson stonewalled so mind. No one knows what to do.” blatantly that presenter Richard He even tried to launch his own Reuters with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn she rejected the idea of a customs withdrawal of the UK.” relationship,” he said. Madeley terminated the interview. set of medals for gallantry, ap- Luxembourg to unlock ratifi cation of the with- union, saying Britain must be able Barnier said it was up to London Another EU offi cial, speaking on In July, Williamson earned the parently oblivious to the fact that drawal agreement she negotiated to strike its own trade deals after to provide clarity on what next — a condition of anonymity, said last dubious distinction of becoming only the Queen can approve such with Brussels. Brexit. view shared by Bettel. week that the president of the Eu- the fi rst minister to be heckled by honours. he European Union’s Brexit British lawmakers overwhelm- Barnier said he understood May “We never pushed for Brexit, ropean Council, Donald Tusk, had his own phone at the dispatch box Williamson was at it again be- negotiator Michel Barnier ingly rejected the deal, agreed in did not want to delay Brexit to win we never demanded Brexit,” directly advised May to take a look in the House of Commons. Dis- fore Christmas when he proposed Tyesterday said Prime Min- November, in a vote last month, more negotiating time and reiter- Bettel said. “The responsibility at the Corbyn plan. cussing Syria appeared to prompt fi ring paintballs to deter Span- ister Theresa should endorse a leaving Britain on course for an ated the controversial Irish border started in London and is still in May will make a statement to- the Siri service on his iPhone. It ish ships from trespassing in Gi- permanent customs union with abrupt Brexit with no transition fi x in Britain’s stalled withdrawal London.” day to update lawmakers on her chirped up with this interruption: braltar’s waters. During a regular the bloc — as proposed by the op- period to minimise expected eco- agreement was an insurance policy Barnier reiterated the bloc talks to win changes to the Brexit “I’ve found something on the web ministry of Defence meeting with position Labour party — to break nomic disruption. the EU hoped never to use. would not return to talks on the deal, her spokesman said yester- for Syria…” senior armed forces staff , he sug- the impasse over their looming “I found Corbyn’s letter in- “This time that remains is ex- legal withdrawal treaty but could day, before parliament votes on her Struggling with new technolo- gested that Gibraltarians could be divorce. teresting in tone and in content,” tremely short,” Barnier told the tweak the accompanying political next steps. gy has been something of a theme armed with paintball guns to fi re Barnier told a news conference Barnier said of the Labour lead- joint news conference with Lux- declaration on EU-UK ties after “The PM will be making a state- of Williamson’s gaff e-prone time at passing Spanish ships to scare in Luxembourg that time was “ex- er’s Brexit proposals, sent to May. embourg Prime Minister Xavier Brexit. ment to the House (of Commons) in offi ce. His use of the photo- them off . In response the chief of tremely short” to conclude a deal “Something has to give on the Bettel.”The withdrawal agreement “We are determined to organise today and that will be an update on sharing site Instagram landed defence staff , Gen Sir Nick Carter, before Britain is due to leave the British side.” which we agreed with Theresa an orderly withdrawal. This or- Brexit talks and is in advance of the him in more trouble. In Novem- simply rolled his eyes, according bloc on March 29. In a reply to Corbyn published May’s government...remains the derly withdrawal is the prerequi- debate taking place on Thursday,” ber Williamson was ticked off to the Sun. The EU is urging May to work by May’s offi ce late on Sunday, best way to ensure an orderly site that we need to build a... future he told reporters. Gove urged to pause Radio 4 news ‘not biased toward Remain’ non-Brexit consultations At the same time, a vocal con- Guardian News and Media London tingent of Remain supporters Guardian News and Media ing diverted to that end,” says the extra staff ; we cannot,” they say. have lambasted the broadcaster’s London letter, signed by among others “We very strongly urge you content for not warning enough the National Farmers’ Union, the therefore to require of your Cabi- BC Radio 4’s news output about the consequences of leav- Food and Drink Federation and net colleagues that a range of is not inherently anti- ing the EU, with the likes of An- he government has been the International Meat Trade As- current and planned consulta- BBrexit, the media regula- drew Adonis, the Labour peer, asked to pause as a matter sociation. tions that will impact food and tor has concluded, dismissing a calling it the “Brexit Broadcast- Tof “great urgency” con- “At this moment of potential drink, some of which are expect- formal complaint from a group ing Corporation”. sultations on all food, farming crisis for our industry, it cannot ed shortly, are fi rmly and clearly of MPs and peers who believe the The complaint was submit- and environment issues because be ‘business as usual’ within gov- placed on ‘pause’ until this un- corporation is biased in favour of ted last year by a cross-party Brexit is choking the capacity of ernment,” it says, listing 12 con- certainty is over. A list of the rel- Remainers. group of pro-Brexit peers and businesses to respond to Michael sultations Gove has in the pipe- evant consultations of which we The politicians had claimed MPs, including Labour’s Kate Gove’s plans. line or has already launched. are aware is given in the appendix “positive, pro-Brexit opinion is Hoey, the Conservative MP Leaders from 32 organisations Ongoing and expected con- to this letter. being systematically underrep- Philip Davies, the DUP’s Ian across all sectors have written to sultations the organisations say “If the government seeks to resented in BBC output” and that Paisley and the former Ukip the environment, food and rural should be delayed include a tax on press ahead with these consul- “more time, space and emphasis leader and peer Malcolm Pear- aff airs secretary to express their plastic items with less than 30% tations it will be seen by some is being given to pro-EU or anti- son. They dismissed the BBC’s “deep concern” over the resourc- recycled content, further adver- as a sign of bad faith and many Brexit voices”, based on an analy- initial defence of its output last es they are having to divert to pro- tising restrictions on foods high organisations may decline to re- sis of Radio 4’s output. summer, forcing Ofcom to take tect against the potential impact in fat, salt or sugar, a national ac- spond.” However, Ofcom concluded a second look. of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. tion plan on pesticides and a clean Among those that also signed a suffi cient range of views were Ofcom said it found no The intervention means that air strategy. the letter are the Food and Drinks being represented by the BBC grounds for further investigation consultations on Gove’s pet They say they are in crisis man- Wales Industry Board, the British and its content did not break but took the unusual decision to projects, such as a bottle deposit agement mode, and while Gove Meat Processors Association, the broadcasting code rules requir- publish its reasoning in order to scheme for England and Wales, can allocate resources to his own British Poultry Association, Dairy ing impartiality. shed light on its decision-mak- could be delayed. consultations, they cannot. UK and UK Hospitality, repre- The public broadcaster has ing process. “Businesses throughout the “Neither we nor our members senting hotels, restaurants and been repeatedly criticised dur- The complaint was based on UK food chain – and their trade have the physical resources nor venues. ing and after the EU referen- three surveys, carried out by the associations – are now totally fo- organisational bandwidth to en- The decision for such a broad dum by both sides, with Brexit- campaign group News-watch, cused on working to mitigate the gage with and properly respond to swath of industry organisations to ers arguing the BBC’s output is which involved monitoring 75 catastrophic impact of a ‘no-deal’ non-Brexit related policy consul- come together is a sign of the deep overwhelmingly negative about hours of content broadcast on Brexit. Large amounts of time, tations or initiatives at this time. frustration felt over the fact that the consequences of leaving the BBC Radio 4 between October 9, money, people and eff ort are be- Government has recruited many no deal is still on the table. Gove: projects face delay EU. 2017, and March 29, 2018. Gulf Times 14 Tuesday, February 12, 2019 BRITAIN Sala died from head and trunk injuries, inquest hears

Guardian News and Media body was recovered from inter- Sala was referred to by his full in international waters, Sala’s Meanwhile, the family of Ib- Lineker and Kylian Mbappe. to go down and just have a last London national waters off the island of name, Emiliano Raul Sala. His body was recovered and taken to botson have spoken of their Speaking to ITV’s Good Morn- look. A proper look. I know Guernsey. date of birth was given as Oc- Portland in Dorset. On February determination to fi nd and re- ing Britain, Ibbotson said: “This the conditions aren’t brilliant. The senior acting coroner tober 31, 1990, and his place of 7 the body was identified us- cover the body of the man they is why we’ve done the appeal, I know it is such a dangerous he footballer Emiliano Sala Brendan Allen said investigations birth Esperanza, Santa Fe, Ar- ing fingerprint evidence. Basil described as “our rock”. just for some help.” Sala’s body sea, but just so that we know died of head and trunk in- were being carried out by the po- gentina. Purdue, a Home Office forensic In her fi rst broadcast inter- was recovered in a privately ourselves that we had that last Tjuries when the plane he lice, the Air Accidents Investiga- The coroner’s offi cer Ian Parry pathologist, carried out a post- view, his wife, Nora Ibbotson, funded search that was launched (look).” was in crashed into the Channel, tion Branch (AAIB) and the Civil said the plane carrying Sala and mortem examination on the said: “We just know we can’t after the initial search was called If a body were found it would an inquest has heard. Aviation Authority. the pilot, David Ibbotson, left same day and concluded that leave him out there on his own off . cost up to £300,000 to recover During a fi ve-minute hear- Allen said the AAIB inquiry Nantes for Cardiff on January 21. the cause of death was head and until we have tried to do every- Ibbotson said she wanted it. Ibbotson said being reu- ing at Bournemouth town hall in was likely to take between six and “Air traffi c control lost contact trunk injuries. thing we can.” rescuers to send down a re- nited with her husband’s body Dorset, it emerged that Sala was 12 months, and he adjourned the during the fl ight and an exten- The full inquest will not take More than £140,000 has mote-controlled submarine to would allow “the family unit to formally identifi ed by a fi nger- inquest until November 6. No sive search operation was carried place before next year. The No- been raised by a campaign to the wreck of the plane to search be back – so we can go and visit print expert. members of Sala’s family were out,” he said. vember date is for a pre-inquest restart the search for the pilot, again for her 59-year-old hus- him. And just to know that he’s The court was told that his present. After the plane was located review. including donations from Gary band. She said: “Just to be able there.”

Zoo not Road access row to blame Cabinet revolt for tiger’s death, says manager threatens to

AFP London derail HS2 rail he London Zoo yesterday denied it was responsible Tfor the death of an endan- gered Sumatran tiger mauled by a potential mate brought in as part of a breeding programme. Staff were left “entirely dis- link project traught” by the death of the ti- gress, called Melati, the zoo’s Daily Mail The department for transport from London to Birmingham. manager said yesterday, reject- London said it did not recognise the fi g- A source close to Transport ing suggestions they had not ure of £6bn a year – equivalent to Secretary Chris Grayling insist- waited long enough before al- Network Rail’s annual budget for ed the project would go ahead, lowing the animals into the same growing Cabinet revolt maintenance and upgrade work. and ruled out any bid to scale it enclosure. is threatening to sink the The investigation, for Chan- back. “There is no possibility of Zoo staff held Melati, 10, and AHS2 rail link. Ministers are nel 4’s Dispatches programme, it being either axed or any of the Asim, 7, in adjacent enclosures alarmed by the project’s spiral- claims that although published routes changed,” the source said. for 10 days before allowing them ling costs and are “increasingly national accounts show HS2 will The Campaign for Better on Friday to try and breed as part minded to kill it off ”, says a senior rise to an average cost of £4.2bn a Transport has urged the govern- of a Europe-wide programme to source. year over the next 10 years, min- ment to invest £4.8bn instead help boost the numbers of the Initially put at £33bn, the isters have secretly allocated up in extending the rail network to endangered animal. budget is thought to have soared to £6bn a year. help “the most disadvantaged “Several people from outside to more than £60bn. Treasury in- This would bring the outlay to and disconnected communities”. the zoo have remarked that 10 siders admit the scheme is being £64bn – £8bn more than budget- It said that a national reopen- days seems fast to introduce added to an audit of major capital ed currently and almost twice the ing programme would initially tigers to each other,” Kathryn projects in which its future will be initial budget of £33bn set in 2011. create 33 new rail lines with 72 England, chief operating offi cer assessed “from scratch”. The senior Cabinet source tells the new stations, allowing an addi- of the Zoological Society of Lon- This means funding could be programme ministers are now “in- tional 20mn rail journeys a year. don (ZSL), told staff in a letter squeezed or stopped. An investi- creasingly minded to kill off ” plans Dispatches featured the fi rst in- published on her blog. gation screened yesterday claims for the line and “put the money terview with professor Stephen “It’s not — it’s wildly variable ministers fear that over a decade into upgrading services used by Glaister since he stepped down and depends entirely on careful HS2 will cost up to £6bn a year – millions of voters every day”. as chair of the Offi ce of Road and observation of their behaviour. equal to the entire maintenance “The costs are spiralling so Rail watchdog in December. Conversely, it can be risky to budget for the existing rail net- much that we’ve been actively Asked if the government leave tigers showing an interest work. considering other scenarios, would regret the construction of in each other out of contact for Although ministers publicly including scrapping the entire HS2, he replies: “That is what the too long, leading to a build-up insist it will go ahead, the Cabi- project,” the source said. analysis shows. There was no big of tension and frustration,” she net source told of rising dissent. A Cabinet minister told the picture analysis. We just don’t added. HS2 opponents are said to in- Spectator: “In the next Tory know whether there would have The pair initially watched each clude Theresa May’s deputy David leadership contest the win- been a better way of spending other, before rearing up — “all Lidington, chief secretary to the ning candidate will need to have the money.” quite a normal part of them test- Treasury Liz Truss and Commons ‘Scrap HS2’ in his or her leader- Alistair Darling, who was ing their boundaries,” explained leader Andrea Leadsom. “There is ship manifesto — as in: call the chancellor when HS2 Ltd was England. “But in the blink of an concern across government at the whole thing off .” set up to build the line 10 years eye, with no obvious provoca- way the project is being managed Another minister told the ago, tells Dispatches the project tion, they turned on each other. and at the way the projected costs magazine: “The case for HS2 is should now be scrapped. “Asim started to retreat and are continuing to grow,” the source and always was nonsense. By the He says: “Anyone who knows we were poised to close the gate said. time it gets to Birmingham, if it anything about long scale when Melati lashed back out at “We are not yet at the fi nal go/ ever does, there will have been projects knows that if you’re him. He overpowered her in a no-go decision but opposition so many rows about cost over- spending a lot of money on one split second.” is mounting.” A department for runs that the second phase won’t big prestigious project it will Staff lit fl ares, sounded air- transport insider admitted that happen.” suck money away from every- horns and set off fi re extin- “scoping work” had been com- Dispatches also reveals that thing else you need to be doing. guishers and hoses, but Melati, missioned to cut costs, which ministers are considering saving The railways depend on sus- mother of three cubs, was fatally Taxi drivers block Parliament Square in a dispute over road access, in London, yesterday. could include reducing the depth money by building only the fi rst tained annual investment going injured. of cuttings and tunnels. leg of HS2, the section that runs on decade after decade.” Knife off enders to wear New Year parade BBC to bring back cult GPS tags in pilot scheme TV show Crackerjack Guardian News and Media turn of the Double or Drop game, in London which children are chosen from the Guardian News and Media The mayor, Sadiq Khan, said them from further off ending and audience to answer questions, win- London yesterday: “The causes of vio- protecting victims.” ning prizes for correct answers and lent crime are extremely com- There were 128 homicides he BBC is to revive the cabbages for incorrect ones. Con- plex and involve deep-seated in London in 2018, the highest children’s TV show testants have to hold their prizes nife crime off enders in problems – such as poverty, in- number in a calendar year this TCrackerjack, 35 years after for the duration of the competition London will be tagged equality, social alienation and a decade. Scotland Yard’s mur- it was last aired. without dropping them. Kwith tracking devices lack of opportunities for young der investigation unit has lost The broadcaster announced This series will be presented upon their release from prison people – that enforcement a quarter of its offi cers and staff that the programme, which orig- by children’s TV presenters Sam in an attempt to reduce violence alone won’t solve and have been over a decade. inally ran from 1955 until 1984, Nixon and Mark Rhodes, who in the capital, the mayor has an- made much worse by huge gov- At the weekend a man believed will be made at MediaCityUK in will follow in the footsteps of nounced. ernment cuts to the police and to be in his 30s was stabbed to Salford by BBC Children’s in- Eamonn Andrews (who later Those who have served custo- preventative services. death in East Dulwich, south- house production team. It will air presented This Is Your Life), Le- dial sentences for knife-related “This innovative pilot will east London. No arrests have yet next year on CBBC and iPlayer. slie Crowther, Michael Aspel, Ed crimes such as possession, rob- build on the good work of the been made. The programme was introduced Stewart and Stu Francis. bery, wounding, GBH and ag- City Hall-funded violent crime In a separate incident, a every week with the phrase: “It’s Cheryl Taylor, the head of con- gravated burglary will be subject taskforce by helping off enders 23-year-old man was left in a Friday, it’s fi ve to fi ve … It’s Crack- tent for BBC Children’s, said: to GPS tagging under a year-long integrate back into society and critical condition after he was erjack!” It was originally fi lmed in “Crackerjack is just one of several pilot. reducing the risk of reoff end- stabbed in Neasden, north-west front of an audience of children fabulous series that Children’s in- The scheme, beginning on ing, as well as giving the police London, on Saturday night. A in London, and included teams of house productions have developed February 18, will be used on up the information they need to 29-year-old man was arrested children competing in games, as this year. It’s the perfect vehicle to 100 off enders deemed likely thoroughly investigate reported at the scene on suspicion of at- well as comedy and music acts. for our much-loved stars Sam and to reoff end in four London bor- crimes.” tempted murder, and a 24-year- The BBC said the show would Mark and promises to usher in a oughs that have among the high- Carina Heckroodt, head of the old woman was detained on sus- be updated for “today’s connect- new era of frenetic family fun and est rates of knife crime – Lewi- London extremism, gangs and picion of assisting an off ender. ed generation giving them an whizzbang audience antics.” sham, Lambeth, Croydon and organised crime unit in the Na- In west London, four people – all-round, interactive experience The in-house production team Southwark. tional Probation Service, said: one aged 15, one 16 and two 18 – while retaining the beating heart has also announced other new The tags will automatically “These tags will provide a con- were arrested after a 16-year-old of what etched Crackerjack into commissions, including a revival check the movements of the of- stant physical reminder of an of- boy was found with a stab wound the aff ections of British children of 1990s children’s drama The fenders against the location of fender’s licence conditions, en- when police responded to reports Performers take part in the Chinese Lunar New Year for three decades”. There will be Demon Headmaster, and mystery reported crimes and share sig- couraging them to comply with of a fi ght in Central Avenue, Hay- parade through central London, Britain. 10 episodes in the series. drama Get Even, about four teen- nifi cant matches with police. their restrictions and deterring es, just before 4pm on Saturday. The programme will include a re- age girls who expose injustice. Gulf Times Tuesday, February 12, 2019 15 EUROPE

UAE woman in limbo Germany’s CDU after her asylum to toughen stance bid fails

AFP Skopje Kramp-Karrenbauer: What happened in September 2015 and after was a humanitarian exception. We must make sure nothing like it on deportations ever happens again, that we have learned our lessons. 42-year-old Emirati woman who says she was Reuters/DPA moved on from the chancellor’s sults of the internal party talks, thorised stays in Germany. loveless marriage they sealed Kramp-Karrenbauer, whose Athreatened by her fam- Berlin signature decision to let in more CDU parliamentarian Armin The effi cacy of Germany’s after both seriously underper- centrism already has her regard- ily for wanting a divorce is now than 1mn asylum-seekers and Schuster said the party would deportation procedure was also formed expectations at last ed with suspicion by her party’s stuck in a Macedonia migrant migrants in 2015. seek an additional 10,000 offi c- called into question. year’s election, leaving theirs arch-conservatives, bungled centre after the Balkan state re- he new leader of Ger- “What happened in Septem- ers for the EU border protection “Here we have a problem: The the only possible alliance in a her welcoming remarks, causing jected her asylum request, rights many’s ruling Christian ber 2015 and after was a hu- agency Frontex by 2020. majority of deportations are fragmented parliament. embarrassed laughter when she lawyers and activists said yes- TDemocrats, Annegret manitarian exception,” Kramp- Currently, EU countries have not carried out,” said Thomas Like the CDU, the SPD has referred to her own party as the terday. Kramp-Karrenbauer, has un- Karrenbauer told her Christian agreed to create this permanent Strobl, CDU interior minister in been trying to rebuild support, “Social Democrats”. After fi ling for asylum in Mac- veiled plans for a tightening Democratic Union (CDU) party. reserve by 2025. the state of Baden-Wuerttem- pushing for more generous un- German media jumped on edonia in October, Hind Albo- of immigration rules, part of a “We must make sure nothing The party also wants asylum berg, where two in every three employment benefi ts and pen- the slip-up – the tabloid Bild looki’s application was rejected move to distance the party under like it ever happens again, that applications to be processed on deportations are unsuccessful. sions – appealing to some of its called it an “embarrassing mis- the following month by the in- her leadership from her men- we have learned our lessons.” the European Union’s external Deportees could be detained core voters, but anathema to the hap” – and the SPD poked fun terior ministry which said her tor and predecessor, Chancellor Within the coalition govern- borders, Schuster said. sooner ahead of their return trip, CDU’s pro-business wing. at Kramp-Karrenbauer, dubbed desire to “to live a normal life” Angela Merkel. ment, the migrant infl ux caused This would include carrying not in overnight raids on the day Despite the tensions, the AKK after her initials, by off er- was not grounds for granting Some of the proposals, in- a crisis, with the CDU’s Bavarian out deportations of unsuccess- of their departure, as is current- SPD’s dire position in polls has ing “solidarity” and reminding protection. cluding plans for “intelligent sister party, the Christian Social ful applicants. ly the case, Strobl suggested. led many to assume the coalition her to address party colleagues The decision was upheld by spot checks” at German borders Union (CSU), threatening to end As long as the bloc’s external He also wants to see rejected will last its course. as “comrade”, the SPD’s cus- courts last week in a fi nal ruling. for as long as the European Un- their decades-old alliance over borders remain unprotected, asylum-seekers only given one “I expect that the grand coali- tomary greeting. Amid fears that she could be ion’s external borders are not se- migration and border control. Germany intends to carry out chance at appeal in order to tion will carrying on governing Kramp-Karrenbauer’s elec- sent back home to Dubai, law- cured, could strain ties with her The state of Bavaria, on the checks on its own borders “ac- bring about a “colossal accel- until 2021,” said Christian Lind- tion as CDU leader put her in yers stepped in and secured an Social Democrat (SPD) coalition southern border with Austria, cording to location and at times eration” of the asylum appeals ner, leader of the pro-business pole position to become Ger- injunction from the European partners. is the main entry point for mi- that make sense”, the party is process. Free Democrats (FDP) in an in- many’s next chancellor and she Court of Human Rights in Stras- However, offi cials hope that grants attempting to enter Ger- planning to tell Brussels under Both coalition parties – the terview with Reuters. “That is is trying to put her own stamp bourg that bars her deportation the plans, announced after two many. its freshly drawn-up plan. CDU and the SPD – are gearing not what I would like but it is on the party. while the tribunal processes her days of internal party discus- The rift last year contributed German federal police are also up for four European and re- what I expect.” Merkel has said she will not case. sions to which Merkel was not to Merkel’s exit as party leader. to have their remit widened to gional elections this year which The CDU’s planned reset was seek re-election after this par- “For now, she is safe from de- invited, will show the party has Yesterday, presenting the re- include fi ghting against unau- could determine the fate of the somewhat overshadowed when liamentary term, ending in 2021. portation,” said Zoran Drangov from the Association of Young Lawyers in Macedonia, which fi led the case. Earlier this month, Albolooki posted a video on YouTube de- scribing her ordeal. Chinese fi lm yanked “I came to Macedonia run- ning away from Dubai as I have been threatened by my father, his big brother, my brother, that they will make my life hell, and from Berlin fi lm fest that’s all because I asked only for divorce,” she said in the plea for help. AFP “I am the mother of four chil- Berlin dren, no mother would leave her kids like this, but I had to leave my kids, I had no other choice,” he Berlin fi lm festival she added with a quivering voice. said yesterday that a new Uranija Pirovska, the direc- Tmovie by acclaimed Chi- tor of Macedonia’s chapter of nese director Zhang Yimou had the Helsinki Committee for Hu- been pulled from the competi- man Rights, condemned what tion days before its scheduled she said was an unusually swift world premiere. British-US actor Christian Bale poses for fans as he leaves after a photocall and a press conference for rejection of the application by The highly unusual move, the film Vice, at the 69th Berlinale film festival in Berlin. Macedonia. which comes amid a Beijing “This is a case of gender- crackdown on the domestic en- Left: Actresses Cemre Ebuezziya, Ece Yueksel, and Helin Kandemir pose during a photocall to promote based violence, which, unfortu- tertainment industry, was an- the movie Kız Kardesler (A Tale of Three Sisters) at the 69th Berlinale. nately, was not recognised by our nounced in a festival statement institutions,” she told AFP. citing “technical diffi culties winner Juliette Binoche is to pick one of China’s best-known di- and television industry have She added that Albolooki encountered during post-pro- the winner on Saturday. rectors abroad and a frequent recently noted sharper govern- “told me that she only wanted to duction”. Two other Chinese directors, guest at prominent European ment scrutiny. live in a society where she could Zhang’s Yi miao zhong (One Wang Quan’an and Wang Xia- fi lm festivals. The entertainment sector had live and work freely, something Second) had been scheduled to oshuai, are still in the running. He won the Golden Bear in blossomed in recent years, with she could not do in her home screen on Friday. The cancellation follows an- 1987 with the drama Hong gao- offi cial encouragement by a gov- country”. It is billed as an intimate por- other Chinese fi lm, Better Days, liang (Red Sorghum) starring ernment keen to replace foreign The case comes several weeks trait of a prisoner who escaped being withdrawn last week, also Gong Li. content with homegrown fare after runaway Saudi teen Rahaf from a labour camp during the lution, an experience he has ex- The Berlinale festival, one of for “technical reasons”. In 2009, he presented A and develop the industry as a Mohamed al-Qunun captured Cultural Revolution and is on a plored in many of his fi lms”. Europe’s top cinema showcases, It was described as a story Woman, A Gun, A Noodle Shop, global “soft power” asset. the world’s attention by tweet- trek to see a key newsreel in a ru- “In Yi miao zhong, the fi lm- said that it would show an earlier about a disaff ected youth and a remake of the Coen Brothers’ But a nationwide push for ing about her plight from Bang- ral village cinema. maker pays homage to his medi- Zhang work instead and that the was to premiere in the Genera- Blood Simple, at the event. more material approved by the kok, where she was stopped by The movie’s press material um and celebrates the cinema as competition for the Golden Bear tion sidebar section. Two years later he screened Communist party across me- Thai authorities which blocked noted that Zhang himself “was a communal experience which top prize would now only feature Zhang, the maker of such The Flowers of War, featuring dia, music and entertainment her travel on to Australia. sent to the country as a young goes beyond the fi lm itself,” it 16 titles. classics as Raise the Red Lantern Christian Bale. has had a chilling eff ect on some The 18-year-old’s emotional man during the Cultural Revo- said. A jury led by French Oscar and House of Flying Daggers, is Insiders in the Chinese fi lm artists. social media posts about escap- ing physical and psychological abuse from her family in ultra- Norway, Poland to conservative Saudi Arabia even- tually saw her granted refugee expel diplomats status in Canada. World seeing ‘catastrophic collapse’ of insects: study Norway will expel a Polish diplomat who had clashed with Migrant boat in By Marlowe Hood, AFP proportion of insect species sects play as food items of many local off icials after Warsaw Paris in decline – 41% – to be twice vertebrates is often forgotten,” declined to recall him, the distress off Libya as high as that of vertebrates” the researchers said. Norwegian foreign ministry said or animals with a backbone, Moles, hedgehogs, anteaters, yesterday. A migrant boat on the sea stretch early half of all insect Francisco Sanchez-Bayo of the lizards, amphibians, most bats, Poland said it would expel a between Libya and southern species worldwide are University of Sydney and Kris many birds and fi sh all feed on Norwegian diplomat in exchange, Europe is in distress with 150 Nin rapid decline and Wyckhuys of the University of insects or depend on them for in a rare spat between the two people on board, activists said a third could disappear alto- Queensland in Australia re- rearing their off spring. countries. yesterday. gether, according to a study ported. “At present, a third of Other insects fi lling the void Norway had decided to expel Alarm Phone, an organisation warning of dire consequences all insect species are threatened left by declining species prob- Polish consul Slawomir Kowalski that takes calls from migrant for crop pollination and natural with extinction.” ably cannot compensate for because his behaviour was not boats in distress, wrote on Twitter food chains. An additional 1% join their This file photo taken in Locon near Lille, shows a bee on a flower. the sharp drop in biomass, the compatible with his diplomatic it was contacted by a vessel that “Unless we change our way ranks every year, they estimat- Nearly half of all insect species, vital to both ecosystems and study said. status, the foreign ministry’s took off from Khoms, east of the of producing food, insects as a ed. economies, are in rapid decline worldwide, said a scientific study Insects are also the world’s spokeswoman said. Libyan capital Tripoli. whole will go down the path of Insect biomass – sheer col- warning of a ‘catastrophic collapse’ of natural environments. top pollinators – 75% of 115 She said the ministry had “They say 50-60 women & 30 extinction in a few decades,” lective weight – is declining top global food crops depend received numerous complaints children among them! There are concluded the peer-reviewed annually by about 2.5% world- – emerged as the biggest cause Only a few species of insects on animal pollination, includ- from off icials that the consul has sick & pregnant ppl. Their engine study, which is set for publica- wide. of insect decline and extinction – mainly in the tropics – are ing cocoa, coff ee, almonds and obstructed their work. stopped working. No rescue in tion in April. “Only decisive action can threat. thought to have suff ered due to cherries. Norwegian media said Kowalski sight – authorities in #Italy and The recent decline in bugs avert a catastrophic collapse of Next were pollution and the climate change, while some in One-in-six species of bees had been involved in several #Malta were informed around that fl y, crawl, burrow and skit- nature’s ecosystems,” the au- widespread use of pesticides in northern climes have expanded have gone regionally extinct cases where Polish citizens were noon,” it said. ter across still water is part of thors cautioned. commercial agriculture. their range as temperatures somewhere in the world. disputing decisions by Norwegian Alarm Phone later said it lost a gathering “mass extinction”, Restoring wilderness areas The recent collapse, for ex- warm. Dung beetles in the Mediter- child protection services. contact with the boat and that only the sixth in the last half- and a drastic reduction in the ample, of many bird species In the long run, however, sci- ranean basin have also been hit “This is an extremely unjustified Italian authorities had turned billion years. use of pesticides and chemi- in France was traced to the use entists fear that global warm- particularly hard, with more decision,” Polish Deputy Foreign over responsibility for the rescue “We are witnessing the larg- cal fertiliser are likely the best insecticides on industrial crops ing could become another ma- than 60% of species fading in Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel to their Libyan counterparts. est extinction event on Earth way to slow the insect loss, they such as wheat, barley, corn and jor driver of insect demise. numbers. Sek said on Twitter. “The only “Very concerned about this since the late Permian and Cre- said. wine grapes. Up to now, rising concern The pace of insect decline possible decision in this situation situation. No one is aware of ANY taceous periods,” the authors The study, to be published “There are hardly any in- about biodiversity loss has appears to be the same in tropi- is mutual action, which will be ongoing rescue operations at the noted. in the journal Biological Con- sects left – that’s the number mostly focused on big mam- cal and temperate climates, carried out immediately.” moment,” Flavio Di Giacomo, a The Permian end-game servation, pulled together data one problem,” said Vincent mals, birds and amphibians. though there is far more data Poland’s foreign ministry said in spokesman for the International 252mn years ago snuff ed out from more than 70 datasets Bretagnolle, an ecologist at the However, insects comprise from North America and Eu- a statement that a Norwegian Organisation for Migration, more than 90% of the planet’s from across the globe, some Centre for Biological Studies. about two-thirds of all terres- rope than the rest of the world. diplomat had been declared tweeted. life forms, while the abrupt fi - dating back more than a cen- Experts estimate that fl ying trial species, and have been the Britain has seen a measurable “persona non grata” in Poland, “These people are in grave nale of the Cretaceous 66mn tury. insects across Europe have de- foundation of key ecosystems decline across 60% of its large following Norway’s decision. danger and risking their lives and years ago saw the demise of By a large margin, habitat clined 80% on average, caus- since emerging almost 400mn insect groups, or taxa, followed Norway’s foreign ministry was they must be saved,” Di Giacomo land dinosaurs. change – deforestation, urban- ing bird populations to drop by years ago. by North America (51%) and not immediately available for added. “We estimate the current isation, conversion to farmland 400mn in three decades. “The essential role that in- Europe as a whole (44%). comment. Gulf Times 16 Tuesday, February 12, 2019 EUROPE

Millions stolen Spanish PM mulls spring from hospitals

DPA ballot as poll talk swirls Mannheim, Germany Catalan leaders go on trial in Online newspaper El Con- One government offi cial said go on trial today for their role At stake are Spain’s stability, veteran Catalan politicians Oriol Madrid over independence fi dencial cited sources close to that speculation over early elec- in Catalonia’s failed 2017 inde- the future of Catalonia’s inde- Junqueras and Carme Forcadell. hether it’s purses, mo- bid Sanchez as “totally” ruling out tion could be a way to put pres- pendence bid, putting the spot- pendence movement as well as Notably absent from the list is bile phones, endosco- that date, but the chances of sure on them to change their light back on Spain’s biggest the region’s and the central gov- former Catalan president Carles Wpy equipment or pot- Reuters his administration serving its mind. political crisis in decades which ernment’s image abroad. Puigdemont, who is in self-im- ted plants, anything that is not Madrid full term, scheduled to run until Sources told Reuters over the could make it fl are once again. “It’s the most important trial posed exile in Belgium and thus nailed down is being stolen from 2020, appear slim. past days that May 26 is another To the dismay of much of the we have had in democracy,” Su- cannot be tried in Spain. German hospitals. Offi cials told Reuters in recent possible election date, to coin- rest of Spain, Catalonia defi ed preme Court president Carlos The dozen’s fate has been a The annual damage goes into panish Prime Minister days that an early election was cide with EU, regional and local a judicial ban by carrying out a Lesmes told reporters on Febru- rallying cry for separatists ever the millions of euros, a survey Pedro Sanchez is consid- likely, though no date had yet polls. referendum and subsequently ary 1, referring to the return to since 2017, said Federico Santi, carried out by DPA and pub- Sering calling a snap elec- been set. That option was favoured by unilaterally declaring independ- democracy in Spain after dicta- analyst at political risk consul- lished this week has revealed. tion for mid-April, news agency Socialist party deputy secre- advisers to Sanchez, while sen- ence in October 2017. tor Francisco Franco’s death in tancy Eurasia, adding that he ex- Thieves are exploiting the EFE said yesterday, as the gov- tary general Adriana Lastra said ior Socialist party offi cials prefer There was shock at home and 1975. pected, like other observers, that anonymity in the often sprawl- ernment scrambles to fi nd the yesterday that this is a certainty an April election, the sources abroad when police used batons Raul Romeva, one of nine the trial will re-ignite tensions. ing building complexes, and the support it needs to get a pivotal if the budget vote did not pass. said. and rubber bullets on protesters defendants jailed without bail Pro-Catalan independence defencelessness of patients. vote on the 2019 budget through The government said it is fo- Earlier on, sources had also on the day of the vote. since late 2017 and facing the protests had quieted down over Hospitals are limited in their parliament. cusing on getting the budget pointed at October as a possible Some of the Catalan separa- charge of rebellion, has made the past months but separatist ability to put an end to the prob- Sanchez’s ruling Socialists adopted and did not comment date. tist leaders were later arrested or clear his view that it should end groups have called a series of lem, as they must strike a bal- hold less than a quarter of the on possible early election dates. Polls have shown that the fl ed the country. only with an acquittal. protests in Catalonia and in Ma- ance between openness and pa- seats in the lower house, and Sanchez’s party has been conservatives, centre-right The start of the trial today will “A (prison) sentence would drid to coincide with the trial of tient safety. speculation about whether it struggling to gather enough and far-right, all of whom have refocus attention on the region’s weigh forever on history and on the 12. Patients’ associations have will serve a full term has swirled support to pass the fi scal bill, taken a harder line on Catalonia push for secession which so rat- Spain’s future,” Romeva told Re- Their supporters say they are urged tougher entrance checks. since it took offi ce last summer and depends on the vote of than Sanchez, could win enough tles Spain’s political and cultural uters in an interview conducted political prisoners, while Ma- Although there are no na- when the conservative People’s smaller parties, including Cata- votes in a national election to identity. by e-mail from jail. drid accuses them of breaking tionwide statistics, state-level Party lost a confi dence vote. lan nationalists, who have said govern together. The trial will decide if Catalan At the time of his arrest, the law. fi gures show the extent of the He is considering calling an they will vote against it. However, co-operation with nationalist leaders stay in jail. Romeva was foreign minister in Among the many witnesses crimes. early election for April 14, EFE Catalan separatist parties the Socialists is unlikely to be The public prosecutor is seek- Catalonia’s regional government will be Mariano Rajoy, who was In the most populous state – the state news agency – cited have until tomorrow to say if uppermost in the separatists’ ing prison terms of up to 25 years and a member of the European Spanish prime minister at the of North Rhine Westphalia, for unnamed government sources as they maintain their objection to minds this week. on charges of rebellion and mis- Parliament. time of the independence vote example, nearly 6,500 cases of saying. the budget. Twelve Catalan politicians use of public funds. Fellow defendants include and its aftermath. theft were recorded in hospitals in 2017; despite a slight decline, this corresponds to the consist- ently high level of the previous years, according to the State Criminal Bureau of Investigation Pompeo says US Four (LKA). By comparison, in 2011 there were signifi cantly fewer thefts soldiers at 4,715. ‘not covering up’ In the southwestern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg killed in alone, losses in 2017 reached a record level of nearly €2.75mn Khashoggi case ($3.12mn). Istanbul The hospitals are struggling to react. AFP/Reuters “Hospitals are big complexes Budapest helicopter with uncontrolled access,” LKA spokesman Frank Scheulen said. It was easy for thieves to get S Secretary of State crash into hospitals and ransack draw- Mike Pompeo has de- ers and cabinets in empty rooms, Unied that Washing- he said, advising patients to at ton is “covering up” the kill- DPA/AFP least use existing lockers. ing of Saudi journalist Jamal Istanbul The national patients’ asso- Khashoggi and promised fur- ciation (APV) called for stricter ther action. controls in the entrance areas of “America is not covering our soldiers were killed hospitals. up for a murder,” Pompeo told yesterday after a military Visitors should have to regis- reporters in Budapest when Fhelicopter crashed while ter, say whom they want to visit asked about criticism by a sen- trying to make an emergency and on which ward, and identify ior Democrat. Pompeo: The president has landing in Istanbul, according to themselves if necessary, it said. He added that the United been very clear (that) as we the Turkish city’s governor, Ali “Not everyone should be able States would take more action get additional information, Yerlikaya. to walk straight into a hospital,” to hold accountable all those we will continue to hold all of The soldiers succumbed to association president Christian responsible for the US-based those responsible accountable. their injuries after being taken Zimmermann said. journalist’s death inside the to hospital, he said from the ac- Saudi consulate in Istanbul in consulate in Istanbul to take cident site in Cekmekoy district. October. care of paperwork for his mar- “Unfortunately four of our Ex-soldier found The remarks came after riage, according to offi cials. soldiers became martyrs,” Yer- US President Donald Trump Trump said nothing on the likaya told reporters. guilty of treason missed a deadline set by Con- congressional deadline, while He said no other military gress to reply by Friday on congressional aides said that personnel or civilian had been An Estonian court has convicted whether Saudi Arabia’s power- Pompeo had sent them a letter injured after the helicopter a former military off icer and his ful Crown Prince Mohamed bin in which he outlined actions ploughed to the ground in the father of treason for spying for Salman ordered the killing of over the killing. Cekmekoy district. neighbouring Russia, a judicial the Washington Post contribu- The administration revoked The incident happened statement said yesterday. tor. the visas of nearly two dozen around 6.51pm (1551 GMT), he The former soldier, 38, was US lawmakers, Democrats Saudi offi cials and froze the as- said in televised comments. sentenced to 15 years and six and some of Trump’s fellow sets of 17 others. Images on Turkish televi- months in prison, while his father, Republicans, have sought a However, Trump has openly sion earlier showed thick black 65, must serve six years in jail. strong response by Washing- said that he does not care if smoke emanating from behind Both men had been arrested in ton to Khashoggi’s murder and Prince Mohamed is responsible a white wall at the site on the September 2018. to the humanitarian crisis in for the killing, as Saudi Arabia Asian side of Istanbul. Firefighters and police inspect the site of the helicopter crash in Istanbul. According to the Estonian Yemen, where a Saudi-led coa- buys weapons from the United Yerlikaya said the Istanbul authorities, the former off icer lition is fi ghting Iran-backed States and shares his hard line public prosecutor had launched empty playground in a residen- Television pictures showed killed last November after a had shared the military’s internal Houthi rebels. on Iran. an investigation into the cause tial area. the wreck of the aircraft and military helicopter crashed in information for over 10 years. Pompeo said that Trump’s Democratic US Senator Tim of the crash. The pilot had wanted to make fi refi ghters trying to tackle a another residential area of Is- The authorities did not give administration is “working Kaine, a member of the Sen- Broadcaster CNN Turk re- an emergency landing, the gov- blaze at the scene. tanbul, hitting a four-storey details on the extent of the leak’s diligently” on its investigation. ate Armed Services and For- ported that it crashed on an ernor said. Four Turkish soldiers were building. damage. “The president has been eign Relations committees, on very clear – couldn’t be more Sunday accused the Trump clear – as we get additional administration of complicity in information, we will continue covering up the killing. to hold all of those responsible “This amounts to the Trump accountable,” he said. administration aiding in the Senior Ukraine offi cial charged over deadly acid attack Khashoggi, who lived in the cover-up of a murder,” Kaine United States, was strangled to said in a statement. “America death and dismembered in Oc- should never descend to this AFP Yesterday, less than two rested on suspicion of involve- March 31 presidential election. tober after entering the Saudi level of moral bankruptcy.” Kyiv months before Ukrainians go ment. He was expelled from the party to the polls to elect a president, Lutsenko’s spokeswoman Lar- last week. General Prosecutor Yuriy Lut- ysa Sargan said that Manger was Gandzyuk’s death has sparked krainian prosecutors said senko pointed the fi nger at the accused of “intentionally and condemnation of the government Spain detains guerrilla-style graff iti yesterday that they had head of the regional council in unlawfully causing the death of and drawn renewed attention to taggers for stopping trains Ucharged a high-ranking the southern region of Kherson, another person ... with special dozens of assaults on other anti- regional offi cial with organising Vladyslav Manger. cruelty and by prior agreement corruption campaigners in the Spanish police said yesterday that they detained 18 graff iti taggers a deadly acid attack on a promi- “It was he who ordered and with a group of individuals”. country over recent months. who operated in Spain and Italy, forcing trains to a standstill so they nent anti-corruption activist partially organised this crime Speaking to AFP, Sargan said Both the European Union and could paint them and in one case assaulting police and security that prompted widespread out- by fi nancing it,” Lutsenko told a that Manger had not been arrest- the United States have called the guards. rage. news conference. ed, adding: “Searches are under attacks on activists unacceptable One of these taggers was placed in provisional custody and three Kateryna Gandzyuk, an ad- According to the charge sheet way in Kherson.” and urged authorities to bring the others were banned from approaching railway facilities, police said viser to the mayor of the south- released by Lutsenko, Manger If found guilty, the 48-year- perpetrators to justice. in a statement, adding the investigation continued. ern city of Kherson, was an out- was guided by “personal animos- old faces up to life in prison. Activists accuse police and The gang made headlines in October and November last year after spoken critic of corruption in law ity” because Gandzyuk opposed Manger has insisted that he prosecutors of dragging their pulling the emergency brakes four times in Madrid’s underground enforcement agencies. “illegal logging” in the region. did not know Gandzyuk person- feet, insisting the detention of tubes, forcing the carriages to stop. She was attacked in July and Lutsenko said that the pros- ally, and claimed that he had no those possibly involved only In one case, they assaulted “several police agents and security had about a litre of acid poured ecution had obtained enough ties to her. This video grab released by happened after a wave of protests agents”, the statement said. on her. testimony from witnesses about “I am ready to answer all ques- Gromadzhsky Television on across the country. Police had for several months been looking for the gang of taggers The 33-year-old died in No- Manger’s role, adding that the tions from investigators,” he said February 5 shows Gandzyuk Lutsenko in November sub- that operated in several Spanish regions and in Milan. vember after months of treat- attackers had received “no less in televised remarks. “I am not lying on her hospital bed on mitted a letter of resignation to They are accused of having caused more than €650,000 ment, including more than 10 than $4,000”. going to go anywhere and will September 25 last year. Poroshenko but the Ukrainian ($730,000) in damage. operations. In August, police authorities fully cooperate with the investi- leader refused to fi re him. In December 2016, police said they arrested five suspected Her murder sparked shock and detained fi ve people, three of gation.” Manger was a member of the More than 50 attacks on anti- members of another gang called the “Zorros Viejos”, or “Old Foxes”. uproar with activists accusing whom were placed under house Today a Kyiv court is expected Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) par- graft activists, environmental These operated in much the same way, and were accused of the authorities of failing to com- arrest. to consider a request from the ty of former prime minister Yulia and human rights campaigners causing over €200,000 worth of damage to train carriages around plete the investigation or identify In November, a former aide to prosecution to formally arrest Tymoshenko, a key rival of Presi- including fi ve murders were re- the country. the mastermind. a ruling party lawmaker was ar- him. dent Petro Poroshenko in the corded last year. Gulf Times Tuesday, February 12, 2019 17 INDIA

HEALTHCARE INVESTIGATION ALLEGATION DEMAND POLITICS Doctors save swine flu Vadra in Jaipur for ED Trinamool blames BJP Delhi lawyers to hold Minister’s letter to Shah patient, her foetus questioning in scam for legislator’s murder protest march today embarrasses BJP

Doctors at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute (FEHI) Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in- Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee Delhi lawyers will take part in a protest march A letter written by Jharkhand Food and Supply saved a 24-week foetus from swine flu by treating law Robert Vadra arrived in Jaipur yesterday yesterday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party for from Patiala House Court to Jantar Mantar Minister Saryu Rai to Bharatiya Janata Party the would-be mother who tested positive for the for questioning by the Enforcement Directorate his the murder of party legislators Satyajit Biswas today demanding budgetary allocations for the president Amit Shah has embarrassed the ruling H1N1 virus. Swapnil Mishra, 30, was admitted to the (ED) in connection with an alleged land scam and claimed those who are seeking protection welfare of advocates, a statement said yesterday. party in the state. Rai said in the letter: “I feel hospital with fever, persistent cough and shortness case involving 275 acres of land in the Kolayat from central leaders in Delhi will be brought back According to the Bar Council of India, 1.7mn ashamed to remain a minister in the Raghubar of breath. When her condition worsened, she sub-division of Bikaner district. Vadra was to face the law. Biswas was shot dead on Saturday lawyers across the country are showing solidarity Das government. Please allow me to quit from the was put on ventilator. Doctors opted for ECMO accompanied by his mother Maureen. He will night by a group of unidentified assailants. Four to the protest march. “The legal fraternity is urging minister’s post.” The letter, written on Saturday, was (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine, be questioned by the ED today. According to people, including BJP leader Mukul Roy, have the government to provide budgetary allocations leaked to the media yesterday. “The party has taken which acts as a heart-lung bypass. “Since she sources, he will have to answer 55 questions been booked by the police, and two arrests have at all-India level to ensure that the welfare scheme the issue seriously. There is no tradition of getting had tested positive for H1N1 virus, we had to treat being drafted by the ED. Last week in Delhi, been made. A number of Trinamool leaders for lawyers as stated above is implemented such matters reflected through the media. The her with anti-virals,” a doctor said. Meanwhile, a Vadra was subjected to intense interrogation by have termed the murder a “political killing” and uniformly at the national level,” said K C Mittal, minister should have raised the issue on the party gynaecologist too monitored her situation and the the ED in connection with a money laundering blamed the BJP of eliminating a popular youth chairman of the Bar Council of Delhi. He said the platform,” BJP spokesperson Pratul Sahdeo told health of foetus through repeated ultrasounds. probe against him for his alleged role in leader to gain political ground in the district. peaceful protest march will start from Patiala reporters. The BJP was unhappy as the letter was After 15 days, the patient was weaned off ECMO procuring assets abroad in an illegal manner. “Those who are thinking that they would commit House Court at 12.30pm and proceed to Jantar leaked to the media before it could reach the party and her foetus was alive and thriving, the doctor Priyanka Gandhi, Vadra’s wife and a Congress crime, abate murders and then go and hide Mantar. The off ice bearers of the Bar Council of president. Rai has not shared a good relationship said. “This is the first reported case in India of a general secretary, is also expected to reach behind the leaders in Delhi, they are mistaken. India, Bar Council of Delhi, Supreme Court Bar with Chief Minister Raghubar Das. Due to his pregnant swine flu patient where both the mother Jaipur and will accompany her husband to the The off enders will be grabbed by the collar and Association and Delhi High Court Bar Association, diff erences with Das, Rai had given up the additional and the foetus survived,” the doctor said. ED off ice, Congress sources said. brought back here,” Banerjee said. among others, will participate in the protest march. charge of Parliamentary Aff airs minister last year.

Goyal posts speeded-up ‘Priyanka footage of new train magic’ draws Guardian News and Media New Delhi

ailways Minister Piyush Goyal has been mocked Rfor sharing a video of the thousands at country’s fi rst locally built fast train - using footage that had been speeded up to twice its normal speed. Goyal posted the video of the Vande Bharat Express on his of- fi cial Twitter and Facebook ac- debut rally counts on Sunday. But the video was doctored, Agencies calls to enter the political fray. woman prime minister known according toan investigation by Lucknow This ended last month when she as the “Iron Lady”, was criticised AltNews.in, a website that has accepted the key post of Con- for suspending civil liberties for made a speciality of debunking gress general secretary. nearly two years starting in 1975. false news stories and social me- he Congress Party yester- She will also be its face in Uttar Posters of Priyanka lined the dia rumours. day unleashed its newest Pradesh, the state that sends the streets of Lucknow, and hundreds A member of a “train spotters” Tstar with thousands turn- highest number of lawmakers to of Congress supporters, accom- Facebook page wrote under Goy- ing out to see Priyanka Gandhi the Lok Sabha, the lower house panied by drummers, chanted her al’s post that the video appeared Vadra speak at her fi rst rally as of parliament, and is currently name after she emerged from the to be footage he had taken in De- the country gears up for a general dominated by Modi’s Bharatiya airport with her brother. cember, with its speed doubled. election. Janata Party (BJP). Congress leaders hope Priya- The Vande Bharat Express, India’s Crowds showered rose petals But a string of BJP defeats in nka’s entry into politics will im- fastest train, will make its maiden on the sister of party president state elections late last year and prove its chances across Uttar voyage with passengers on Friday. Rahul Gandhi as she took an rising discontent over a weak Pradesh, a vast agrarian state It travels from Delhi to Varanasi. open bus tour through Lucknow, farm economy and lacklus- of 220mn people that the BJP Before it was revealed to have capital of the key northern state tre jobs growth have weakened nearly swept in the last general been altered, Goyal’s post had of Uttar Pradesh. Modi’s position, which an in- election in 2014, winning 73 of been retweeted by prominent The opposition Congress is creasingly aggressive Congress the 80 seats there. members of the ruling Bharatiya counting on the 47-year-old is looking to capitalize on. Although Priyanka has helped Janata Party and was reported daughter of assassinated pre- Priyanka - she is usually re- manage elections for her brother as news by Republic, a generally mier Rajiv Gandhi to boost its ferred to by just her fi rst name and her mother, former Con- pro-government news channel. campaign against Prime Minister - bears a striking resemblance to gress chief Sonia Gandhi, she Goyal is regarded as one of Narendra Modi who is expected her grandmother, former prime has never held an offi cial party Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s to call an election in April. minister Indira Gandhi, and is post until now. “I hope that we highest performing ministers Priyanka and elder brother known for her gifts as a speaker can together start a new kind and oversaw the fi rst phase of Rahul waved at cheering sup- able to connect with voters. of politics,” she said in an audio the government’s ambitious porters who chanted their names Congress hopes that the eye- message shared by Congress. plans to generate 227 gigawatts while dancing to drums. balls she’s able to generate will Since the announcement of of renewable energy by 2020. Many wore pink t-shirts em- turn into votes. Priyanka’s entry into politics, But he has been less impressive blazoned with her picture. “It’s like Indira Gandhi has India’s fi nancial crime-fi ghting at posting on social media. In Au- At a rally she called for sup- come back,” said Fuzail Ahmed agency Enforcement Directorate gust 2017, he shared a picture of porters to join a campaign to Khan, 45, a Congress supporter. has questioned her husband, a highway lit up by a row of LED build “a new future” for In- “The state’s farmers want Ra- Robert Vadra, for several hours streetlights, boasting of the gov- dia and a “new kind of politics hul Gandhi to be prime minister, in a case relating to alleged own- ernment’s success in illuminating where everyone is a stakeholder”. Priyanka to be chief minister.” ership of £1.9mn ($2.45 mn) of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra waves to supporters as her brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi Indian roads. The picture was of Priyanka had for years resisted Indira Gandhi, India’s only undisclosed assets abroad. looks on during a roadshow in Lucknow yesterday. a Russian street, it soon emerged.

Speaker orders probe into tape The Karnataka Assembly speaker Democracy, nation under yesterday ordered an inquiry into an audio clip released by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy last week to expose the Bharatiya Janata Party’s alleged attempts threat, says Andhra CM to lure a ruling party legislator. In the clip, former chief minister IANS and BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa New Delhi allegedly mentioned Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar’s name while in conversation with Sharanagouda, ndhra Pradesh Chief Min- the son of Janata Dal (Secular) ister N Chandrababu Naidu legislator Naganagouda Ayesterday accused the cen- Kandakur, on February 7. tral government of betraying the Playing the clip to the media state by not granting it a special sta- on February 8, Kumaraswamy tus and claimed there was a threat and Sharanagouda alleged that to democracy and the country un- Yeddyurappa agreed to pay an der Prime Minister Narendra Modi. unspecified amount if Kandakur With a host of opposition leaders, left the JD-S and joined the BJP. including Congress president Rahul “I have asked the chief minister Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (left) speaks to to form a special committee to Arvind Kejriwal extending their senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh during a ‘Dharma Porata Deeksha’ inquire into the contents of the support, the Telugu Desam Party (a day-long hunger strike for justice) launched by Naidu to demand special audio tape in which my name was (TDP) chief staged a hunger strike status for his state, in New Delhi yesterday. mentioned,” Kumar said, after in the national capital demanding Minister for Rural Development Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party gov- partment to crush the opposition Naidu said his protest was against and Panchayat Raj Krishna Byre ernment accord Special Category and dissent,” said Naidu claiming the injustice done to the state, to re- Gowda of the Congress raised it Status and fulfi l other commit- democracy and the nation was “un- mind the central government of its in the assembly. ments made in the Andhra Pradesh der threat” under Modi. promises and to demonstrate the Kumar said the probe committee Reorganisation Act, 2014. “We want to save democracy. To- strength of Andhra Pradesh. must submit its report in the A day after Modi addressed a rally day there is a democratic compul- Warning the prime minister to next 15 days. Sharanagouda also in Andhra Pradesh and made a bit- sion for all political parties to join stop the attacks, Naidu said Modi claimed Yeddyurappa told him ter attack on Naidu, a number of together to save the country,” he should act immediately to fulfi l the that the speaker could be booked opposition leaders turned up at the said. commitments as only “two days by paying Rs50 crore for not Andhra Bhavan in New Delhi and Calling upon the opposition par- were left” to the ongoing parlia- invoking the anti-defection law launched a scathing attack on the ties to unite, Naidu said: “We need ment session, which could be the against Kandakur in the event prime minister. to keep this in mind. Modi was given last session before the Lok Sabha of his defecting to the BJP from Pointing to the issue being re- absolute majority. What did he do? elections. the JD-S. peatedly raised in parliament by the Nothing. The BJP and Modi were “If you don’t fulfi l the promises Terming the reference to him in TDP, Naidu said his agitation was a playing games to divide the opposi- you have made, we know how to get the audio tape as disrespectful to way to communicate to the nation tion by asking who’s their leader. it done,” Naidu said, adding that the the post of speaker, Kumar said “the betrayal by the Modi govern- “He is responsible for the falling government failed to implement the he was pained by the incident. ment of Andhra Pradesh”. standard of public discourse. The provisions of Bifurcation Act, in- “Whichever MLA took my name “Modi is threatening everybody PM must stop fi rst hitting below the cluding funds to bridge the revenue in the audio tape must step out -- the opposition, bureaucracy, belt. Then everyone will stop and defi cit, a railway zone in Visakhap- of politics or I should be out of corporates and even the media. He then we will maintain dignity and atnam, steel plant in Kadapa and a politics,” Kumar said. is using the CBI, ED and the IT De- discourse of politics.” petrochemical corridor. Gulf Times 18 Tuesday, February 12, 2019 INDIA Modi to launch health projects, address rally in Haryana

IANS health and Ayush departments it would provide education and university would be developed est budget. So the fi scal defi cit farmers with steps like Ayush- dig at the UPA government say- Chandigarh and inaugurate the National treatment through ayurveda, over 144 acres at an estimated target was marginally raised to man Bharat. ing no benefi ts were given to Cancer Institute (NCI) at Badhsa yoga, unani, siddha and homoe- cost of about Rs750 crore, he 3.4%. Goyal also refuted the criti- the farmers in Budget 2009 but village in Jhajjar district from opathic medical systems. added. Replying to the discussions cism that the government had loans to the farmers doubled in rime Minister Narendra Kurukshetra itself. The university would be set Vij also said that the ayurveda on the interim budget which presented a full budget in an the NDA government’s rule. Modi will lay the founda- The cancer institute, con- up on about 94.5 acres at an institute would come up in Pan- was later passed by voice vote, election year. He said the Congress only Ption stones of fi ve projects, structed at a cost of about estimated cost of about Rs475 chkula, at a cost of Rs 270.50 he said the amount allocated for “We have not announced brought one announcement in including three of the health and Rs2,035 crore, has 710 beds and crore. crore, to provide medical facili- farmers in the 2019 budget was any new scheme for next year’s their 10 years from 2004-14 per- Ayush ministries, during his would provide treatment of all “Similarly, he (Modi) would ties in the ancient Indian health not small and provided constant budget. Rather, in 2014, the then taining to farmers – a farm loan visit to Haryana’s Kurukshetra stages of cancer, he said, adding also lay the foundation stone of system. annual income support. UPA fi nance minister, without waiver of Rs 60,000 crore. Ac- town today. that apart from doctors’ rooms, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya \>\>Finance Minister Piyush “About 12 crore farmers get- waiting for a regular budget, cording to Goyal, even that was He will also address a pub- about 800 rooms have been con- University of Health, Karnal and Goyal said the government’s ef- ting Rs6,000 each year which had cut the duty on SUVs and not provided in the Budget and lic rally in the pilgrimage town, structed for the attendants of the National Institute of Ay- forts have helped improve farm- translates into Rs7.5 lakh crore in big luxury cars for the rich while the actual number was brought around 100km from Chandi- patients. urveda, Panchkula,” Vij said. ers’ economic condition and a span of 10 years is not small by tinkering with the tax rates down to Rs 52,000 crore a year garh, on this occasion. Modi would also lay the foun- The university in Karnal’s Ku- refuted the criticism that the any means,” he said, adding that which is unusual in the Interim later. Haryana Health Minister Anil dation stone of Shri Krishna tail village will provide graduate Rs6,000 annual income support the government had provided budget.” He asked whether an The Lok Sabha on Monday Vij said yesterday that the prime Ayush University, Kurukshetra, and post-doctoral courses, and to them was meagre. earlier higher MSP for 22 crops SUV was purchased by the mid- passed the Interim Budget for minister will lay the foundation which is the fi rst of its kind in also have a super-specialty hos- The minister said in the Lok and that there had been a marked dle class and farmers. 2019-20 after a day-long dis- stone of three major projects of the world, he said, adding that pital with a trauma centre. This Sabha Modi wanted an hon- improvement in the condition of The Minister took another cussion. Rahul shuts Toxic alcohol toll rises to 99 doors on BSP, SP ahead of key elections

IANS Prime Minister Modi for alleged Lucknow corruption. Gandhi said that there was no dearth of issues to put the Modi ongress president Rahul government on the mat - be it Gandhi yesterday virtu- farm loan waiver, promised jobs Cally shut the doors on the and even corruption. Modi had Bahujan Samaj Party and the let the people down, the Con- Samajwadi Party and said that gress leader said. A woman is consoled after her husband’s death from bootleg alcohol in Saharanpur, in Uttar Pradesh, yesterday. The toll has gone up to 99 with scores still in hospital. while he respected their leaders “Loans of no farmer have News of the deaths in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand has trickled in over the past three days, with police suspecting the moonshine had been cut with methanol. Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav, been waived but his industrial- there should be no doubt that ist friends have got benefi ts from his party will fi ght the com- the prime minister. Two crore ing Lok Sabha polls with “its jobs were promised every year full might and ability” in Uttar but nothing has happened.” Pradesh. Taking a dig at the prime min- Addressing Congress work- ister, he imitated Modi’s style of ers at the party office, Gandhi speech and said that while earli- said that the time had come er he used to speak with his head when the ideology of the Con- held high and his 56-inch chest gress should be resurrected in pumped up, now he spoke with Parliament panel to the state and added, while ges- his head down. turing towards party general “He is on the defensive, his secretaries Priyanka Gandhi hollowness has been exposed Vadra and Jyotiraditya Scin- before the whole country,” Gan- dia, that these people had been dhi said. sent to Uttar Pradesh not just Former additional chief for the Lok Sabha polls but to secretary of Assam M G V K summon Twitter chief also ensure that the Congress Bhanu, who retired last July, “forms the next state govern- joined the Congress, yester- Agencies be seen as breaching parliamen- against LW (left-wing) ac- Facebook has stepped up its leading local media house, have ment”. day. New Delhi tary privilege, Thakur said. counts who are regularly post- fact-checking programme and been added to Facebook’s fact- “We will yield not an inch on “If one talks of development Offi cials of India’s technol- ing off ensive, abusive, violence is toughening up policies for checker network, taking the to- our ideology. The people of the in Assam, Congress is the only ogy ministry and Twitter had inciting, threat & death wish political advertisements. tal number to seven, the state- state have suff ered a lot, they party. There is no alternative to parliamentary panel been invited to the meeting to tweets even when they are “We are committed to fi ght- ment said. have tried and tested every party Congress. I have a small house is summoning Twit- discuss safeguarding citizens’ found violating Twitter rules,” ing the spread of false news on And the programme has been and the Congress will have to in Tezpur, because I love the city. Ater Inc’s chief executive rights on social media and on- the YSMD said in a document it Facebook, especially ahead of broadened to cover services in form the next government for Given an opportunity, I want to to appear before it later this line news platforms. submitted to Thakur’s panel on the 2019 general election cam- more Indian languages, so that the sake of progress and pros- serve its people,” said Bhanu, month, after he did not attend Twitter declined to com- January 31. paign season,” Manish Khan- it will now cover English and perity of Uttar Pradesh,” Gan- adding he would try for ticket a hearing yesterday to discuss ment. Twitter said last week it duri, Facebook India’s news fi ve local languages, the state- dhi declared as the workers ap- from Tezpur, but the decision citizens’ rights on social media. The summons comes as so- “does not review, prioritise, or partnership head, said in a ment added. plauded. rests with the party. The parliamentary commit- cial media companies are un- enforce its policies on the basis statement. India is Facebook’s largest Exhorting party activists to A 1985 batch IAS offi cer of the tee on information technol- der scrutiny ahead of elections of political ideology”, adding The coming election is ex- market by users, and its What- work hard for the electoral bat- Andhra Pradesh cadre, Bhanu ogy (IT) has decided to sum- due before May in which Prime that all accounts and tweets are pected to be a close fought bat- sApp messaging service has tle that lies ahead, he pointed was known as the right-hand mon Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Minister Narendra Modi is treated impartially. tle between the BJP and the op- more than 200mn users in the out that it was a “fi ght between man of former Assam chief min- on February 25, panel chairman seeking re-election. India, one of the world’s position Congress Party and its country thanks to the advent an ideology and unity and broth- ister Tarun Gogoi and looked Anurag Thakur told reporters Several companies are over- biggest Internet markets, has regional allies. of cheap mobile data and in- erhood on one side and the RSS, after several important depart- after its meeting. hauling policies to curb misin- clamped down on US corpora- Last week, Facebook said it creasing penetration of smart- BJP and Narendra Modi’s divi- ments between 2001 and 2006. “We had summoned the glo- formation ahead of the vote. tions over the past year – from was introducing stricter rules for phones. sive and hate-centred politics on He also worked with former bal CEO, he did not appear but The Youth for Social Media mandating fi rms such as Mas- political advertisements in India. Aside from concerns over the other”. Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y sent junior executives,” said Democracy (YSMD), a collec- tercard Inc and Visa Inc to store The latest move to strengthen misuse of social media for po- He assured the party work- S R Reddy. Thakur, a lawmaker from the tive with right-wing leanings, Indian citizens’ payments data the fact checking programme is litical purposes, there has also ers that leaders will not be “air- The Congress may fi eld Bhanu ruling Bharatiya Janata Party accused Twitter of left-wing locally, to modifying e-com- aimed at verifying the accuracy been criticism over the spread dropped any more” and that the from the Tezpur constituency, (BJP). bias and protested outside the merce norms for Amazon and of stories and preventing the of false, incendiary messages grassroots workers will be en- where he is quite popular for the The panel had taken this very fi rm’s offi ce in the Indian capital Walmart and drafting stricter spread of hoaxes. that have fanned communal couraged. welfare activities he initiated seriously and if Dorsey still earlier this month. rules to regulate content on so- Five new partners, includ- tensions and sparked mob vio- He again trained his guns on during his tenure. failed to appear, Twitter would “No action is being taken cial media. ing the India Today Group, a lence. Doval’s son a thorough Message of harmony Rajasthan CM urges Gujjars to end protest professional, court told 5% reservation. However, the IANS Jaipur High Court cancelled it. Now IANS integrity and had a consistent against Ramesh, The Caravan they can start discussions with New Delhi value system, Sharma told the magazine and the author for the Centre for 5% reservation court, adding that he did not publishing an allegedly defama- ajasthan Chief Minister as it requires constitutional even know who Vivek Doval’s tory article. Ashok Gehlot yesterday amendments,” Gehlot said. ll allegations against na- father was when he became his The article referred to the Rappealed to the Gujjar The chief minister added tional Security Adviser business partner. Doval family as D Companies, Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti that he will do whatever he can AAjit Doval’s son by Con- “Subsequently I came to know whereas the term D Company patron Col Kirori Singh Bainsla for the Gujjar community. “Col gress leader Jairam Ramesh and of his father when he became the had been used for Dawood Ibra- to end the quota stir, considering Bainsla should come forward for The Caravan magazine are “in- National Security Adviser. Vivek him, India’s most wanted crimi- the inconvenience faced by pas- opening a dialogue and we shall correct and mala fi de” and he is a had made it very clear from the nal, Vivek told the court in the sengers due to the cancellation take the discussion forward.” “thorough professional”, a busi- very beginning that his father last hearing. and route diversion of trains. Gehlot also accused the BJP ness partner told a Delhi court or family background will not be Vivek Doval has alleged that The protest launched by the of inciting the Gujjar commu- yesterday. used for any business purpose,” the article intended to harm his Gujjar community demanding nity and said, “The BJP plays Recording his statement, Amit Sharma said. reputation and business and 5% reservation in government politics on such issues. When Sharma said all the allegations Another friend, Nikhil Kapur, these were punishable under the jobs and educational institutes we were in the opposition and by the Congress leader and the also deposed as a complainant Indian Penal Code. entered its fourth day yester- the Gujjars were pressing for author of the Caravan magazine witness and said he was disap- Earlier, Vivek Doval’s lawyer day. Gehlot asked the protest- their demand for reservation, article were defamatory. pointed after reading the article. D P Singh told the court that ing community to place their we never incited them.” Testifying as a complainant After recording their state- a hedge fund cannot be set up demands before the central Meanwhile, the members of witness, Sharma told Additional ments, the court listed the mat- overnight or in a matter of days government. the Gujjar community yester- Chief Metropolitan Magistrate ter for next hearing on February and the very title of the article “We did our best for them day jammed the Agra National Samar Vishal that the allega- 22 when arguments on the is- ‘The D-Companies’ itself was Krishna Das, 58, who according to local media has spent during my last tenure as the Highway near Sikandara, which tions have caused “irreparable sue of summoning the accused “scandalous and it is creating at least 10 years trying to spread messages of peace chief minister. We spoke to impacted the road traffi c on ei- damage” to Vivek Doval’s repu- would come up. prejudice in the minds of readers and harmony by placing placards on beaches, packs his them and introduced 1% reser- ther side. They also continued to tation and career. The court was hearing a defa- against the complainant and his placards on a beach in Mumbai yesterday. vation for the Gujjar commu- block the railway tracks in Malar- Vivek Doval was a person of mation case fi led by Vivek Doval family”. nity. We also tried to give them na Dungar near Sawai Madhopur. Gulf Times Tuesday, February 12, 2019 19 LATIN AMERICA

INITIATIVE CRIME DISASTER TRAGEDY MILITANCY Mexico looks to stop power Mexican radio Extreme weather in Chile UN armoured vehicle Colombia’s Cano Limon firms from hiking rates journalist shot dead causes $91mn damage crash kills four in Haiti pipeline bombed again

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez A radio news host in Mexico’s Gulf Coast state of Flooding in the north of Chile and wildfires in A traff ic accident involving a United Nations Colombia’s Cano Limon pipeline was bombed on Obrador yesterday said he wants to revise the Tabasco has been shot dead, marking the sec- the south have caused $91mn worth of damage armoured vehicle killed four people and injured nine Saturday, state-run oil company Ecopetrol said, contracts that private energy companies have ond journalist murder this year as the country to infrastructure including bridges and roads, in Port-au-Prince, according to police and the UN. the sixth time it has been attacked this year. The with state-run power utility CFE so they do not grapples with record violence that has claimed President Sebastian Pinera said according to local The vehicle of the United Nations Mission for Jus- bombing, which took place in the La Colorada hike electricity prices. “We are urging companies the lives of numerous reporters. Jesus Eugenio media. Around 1,200 homes had been destroyed, tice Support in Haiti lost the use of its brakes while area of Arauquita municipality near the border that have agreements with the Federal Electricity Ramos died at a hospital in the city of Emiliano the president said on a visit to Huara, a small town driving in the capital and collided with a collective with Venezuela, spilled crude oil into a dry riverbed Commission (CFE) to come together to review Zapata due to gunshot injuries, the Tabasco among those which have been hit by flooding taxi – known as a tap-tap – according to witnesses. nearby, Ecopetrol said. There were no injuries, contracts and above all to reach an agreement prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Tabasco after heavy rains which began on Thursday, La An investigation is underway to determine the spe- it said. There were more than 80 attacks on the that electricity prices will not increase,” Lopez Ob- governor Adan Augusto Lopez said he lamented Tercera newspaper reported. He also visited the cific cause of the accident. “Four tap-tap passengers 780km pipeline in 2018, which kept it off line for rador said during his morning press conference. the loss of the reporter, known locally as “Chuch- nearby cities of Arica and Iquique. The latter was were killed and several others were injured in the ac- most of the year. Although Ecopetrol did not name “We are looking to achieve a voluntary restructur- in,” and said his murder would be investigated. partially evacuated on Saturday, after suff ering cident,” police spokesman Gary Desrosiers said. Two the group responsible, military sources said the ing of agreements and commitments within the Ramos hosted the news programme Our Region severe flooding and landslides. In the south mean- MINUJUSTH policemen and a Haitian policeman bombing was carried out by leftist National Libera- framework of the law.” Today on a local station. while several wildfires are raging. were among the wounded, Desrosiers said. tion Army (ELN) rebels. No word from Moise as fear paralyses Haiti

AFP plate and money in every pock- Port-au-Prince et,” yet most Haitians still strug- gle to make ends meet and face infl ation that has risen 15% since poradic gunfi re ech- his election. oed through the deserted “We call on the police to arrest Sstreets of Port-au-Prince Jovenel Moise because he repre- yesterday as the government sents a danger and a threat to the remained silent in the face of life of every Haitian,” said Andre protests that have paralysed the Michel, one of the main opposi- Haitian capital and triggered ris- tion leaders. ing violence. “He no longer has any legiti- The normally traffi c-clogged macy: the country will remain streets were empty as schools, deadlocked until Jovenel Moise shops and municipal offi ces resigns,” he said. were shuttered for fear of more A mediation group composed violence that has already left of a senior UN offi cial, the am- several people dead and an air bassadors of France, Germany, uncertainty hanging over the Brazil, Canada and the US, and government of President Jov- representatives of Spain, the EU enel Moise. and the Organisation of Ameri- Barricades have sprung up can States, has called on Haiti’s in some areas of the capital and politicians to enter dialogue over other cities, as protesters have the crisis, lamenting the loss of taken to the streets demanding life and damage caused by the the president step down over protests. reports of mismanagement and Yet the administration has possible embezzlement of devel- remained mute in the face of (Left to right) Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino, President Nicolas Maduro, the commandant of the armed forces strategic command operations Remigio Ceballos, opment funds in the impover- rising unrest over the past five Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez, First Lady Cilia Flores and General Jesus Suarez Chourio, general commander of the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, attend a military ished Caribbean nation. days, with only Eddy Jackson exercises at Fort Guaicaipuro in Miranda state, Venezuela. Since the opposition organ- Alexix, the secretary of state for ised widespread demonstra- communication, issuing a brief tions last week to mark two statement yesterday on Twit- years of Moise’s presidency, ter. smaller and more spontaneous “The government recognises protests have broken out in key the right of every person to urban centres. demonstrate and exercise their In some places, young men rights according to the law, but have erected barricades and be- looting shops, blocking streets, Maduro ‘seeks Opec help gun seizing bypassers to hold to burning tyres, smashing car ransom, while vehicles have been windows or throwing oil on the torched, and shops damaged and road do not fall into that cat- looted, creating a climate of fear egory,” he said. and intimidation alongside the While the government has opposition protests. off ered no response to the de- Demonstrators are demanding mands of demonstrators, oppo- against US sanctions’ Moise quits over a scandal cen- sition groups have also failed to Reuters tring on the Petrocaribe fund, spell out any concrete solution to Moscow/London with oil policy, not politics. and its ministerial conference, in countries of this organisation”. Venezuela was once a top- under which Venezuela supplied the crisis, beyond calling for the More than 40 nations includ- the fi ght we are currently having The sanctions on Venezuela three Opec oil producer but pro- Haiti and other Caribbean and president to step aside. ing the US, European powers against the illegal and arbitrary have boosted global oil prices, duction has been in decline for Central American countries with “We are facing the biggest enezuela’s Nicolas Ma- and most of Latin America have intrusion of the US in the inter- which were trading at around years following the collapse of oil at cut-rate prices and on easy crisis since 2008,” said Haitian duro has sought Opec recognised Maduro’s rival, Juan nal aff airs of Venezuela,” Ma- $62 a barrel yesterday. the country’s economy. credit terms for years. economist Etzer Emile, recalling Vsupport against US sanc- Guaido, as the country’s rightful duro wrote. The move has disrupted ship- Energy research and consult- Investigations have shown riots that rocked the country a tions imposed on his country’s head of state, following disputed “I seek your fi rm support ments as more than 20 tankers ing fi rm Rystad sees Venezue- that nearly $2bn from the pro- decade ago. oil industry, citing their impact elections last year. and collaboration to jointly de- loaded with Venezuelan oil have lan production plummeting to gramme were misused. After racking up a record on oil prices and potential risks The request was made in a let- nounce and face this shameless been anchored off the US Gulf 680,000 barrels per day (bpd) A report released in January budget defi cit of 24bn gourdes for other members of the pro- ter sent to Opec secretary-gen- dispossession of...important Coast. Still, analysts say there is next year, from 1.34mn bpd at on the misuse of the money also ($306mn) in 2018, the govern- ducer group. eral Mohamed Barkindo dated assets of one of the members of ample spare capacity in other oil the end of 2018. named a company that was then ment can no longer fund social But a source familiar with the January 29 and seen by Reuters, Opec”, the letter said. producers plus strategic reserves Venezuela pumped 3mn bpd headed by Moise as a benefi ciary welfare programmes without matter said the Organisation of a day after the US imposed sanc- He wrote that Opec should in consuming nations to com- at the turn of the century. of funds from a road construc- slashing spending. the Petroleum Exporting Coun- tions on Venezuelan state oil help to determine potential pensate for a loss of Venezuela’s Together with Libya and Iran, tion project that never had a “There is no magic wand, but tries, of which Venezuela is a fi rm PDVSA. solutions based on “the im- exports. Venezuela is exempt from the signed contract. if we do not close the valve on founding member, had declined “Our country hopes to receive pact that this action has on the Opec tends to avoid political latest Opec-led supply cut due During his election campaign, government spending, we won’t to make any formal statement. the solidarity and full support of global energy market, and the disputes involving individual to the involuntary decline in Moise promised “food on every be going anywhere,” said Emile. Opec says it is concerned the member countries of Opec risk it represents for the other members. production. Macri besieged by Anger at Arias Caracas looks to hike oil exports to India economic crises Reuters the intake,” Quevedo said after a New Delhi meeting with Indian refi ners. Reliance Industries and Na- Reuters “You can’t do everything at the self to stringent economic tar- yara Energy, part owned by Rus- Buenos Aires same time,” said Nicolas Alonzo, gets. enezuela wants to double sia’s Rosneft, both buy Venezue- Buenos Aires-based economic While a reduction in govern- its oil sales to India and lan oil. analyst at fi nancial consultancy ment subsidies, including those Vis open to barter payment Barter deals could help India rgentine President Mauri- Orlando Ferreres & Asociados. that have kept utility costs low, is arrangements with the world’s balance its trade with Venezuela. cio Macri is fi ghting eco- “In the world of economic part of that commitment, “tari- third biggest crude consumer, In fi scal 2017/18, India’s im- Anomic fi res on all fronts. policies it’s very hard to simul- fazos” – sharp hikes in house- Venezuelan Oil Minister Manuel ports from Venezuela were worth Rein in inflation and cuts to taneously meet multiple targets, holds’ water, gas and electricity Quevedo said yesterday. $5.87bn while its exports were utility subsidies threaten to which in Argentina’s case would – are a major headache for Macri. Caracas, which buys medi- $79.3mn, Indian trade ministry rekindle it while also fuelling be to bring down the infl ation They not only threaten to add cines and other products from data showed. public anger; get a tumbling rate and expand economically at fuel to infl ation, which has al- India, is looking for alternative The minister said Venezuela’s peso in check by jacking up in- the same time.” ready severely reduced consum- payment methods after the US oil output was now 1.57mn bpd, terest only to find industrial Whether “Macri economics” ers’ spending power, but have imposed stringent sanctions on about half its level at the start of output has hit an almost two- will succeed in stabilising the also sparked regular street pro- Venezuela’s state oil fi rm PDVSA the century. decade low. $392bn economy and restoring tests, energised political opposi- in a bid to push out President Quevedo said US sanc- The centre-right leader, on it to growth will be key for the tion and dented Macri’s popular- Nicolas Maduro. tions meant Venezuela had lost some fronts, is enjoying a rare outcome of elections in Oc- ity. “The relationships with In- $20bn in revenues. He did not period of calm: the peso has tober and determine whether The president’s approval rate dia will continue, the trade will give a timeframe. Venezuela’s stabilised after losing half its Argentina sticks with reforms sits at around 41% and there is continue,” Quevedo said, adding self-proclaimed president Juan value against the dollar last backed by the International little he can do to shore up his that Venezuela wanted to expand Guaido, who has been recognised year, rampant inflation has sta- Monetary Fund or returns to popularity given his economic trade in services and technology by the US and some of its allies, bilised. leftist policies of former presi- toolkit is limited by the fi scal and with New Delhi. is setting up bank accounts with Look elsewhere, though, and dent Cristina Fernandez de economic targets agreed with The minister, who said Caracas US help to take income accrued other problems are surfacing. Kirchner. IMF, analysts say. was open to barter arrangements by PDVSA’s US refi ning subsidi- Consumer confi dence is at its A team for the IMF arrived in They note, however, that with but did not give details, told re- ary Citgo Petroleum Corporation lowest since a devastating fi nan- Buenos Aires yesterday as part of a fragmented opposition and his A woman holds a signs reading “I believe you” during porters during a conference that In response, PDVSA is tak- cial crisis in 2001-2002; indus- a third review of Macri’s progress predecessor Fernandez de Kirch- a protest against Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Venezuela aimed to double oil ing steps to remove at least two trial output slid 15% in December under a $56.3bn loan agreement ner under a shadow of corruption Costa Rican president Oscar Arias, who was accused of supplies to India from 300,000 American executives from Cit- and Macri’s popularity has tum- with the international lender in charges, Macri may still have a sexual assault in San Jose, Costa Rica. barrels per day (bpd) now. go’s board of directors, sources bled. which Argentina committed it- shot at re-election. “India also wants to increase familiar with the matter said. Gulf Times 20 Tuesday, February 12, 2019 PAKISTAN

Arrest stokes Pakistan ‘very close’ to fears for media getting IMF aid: Umar freedom Reuters statement following the meet- soon after Khan’s government widening current account defi - DPA Islamabad ing. was appointed last August but a cit left him little choice than to Islamabad “I also highlighted that deci- package has been held up by dif- seek international assistance. sive policies and a strong pack- ferences over the pace and scale While no IMF package has akistan is likely to secure age of economic reforms would of reforms that Pakistan would been agreed, Pakistan has raised akistan’s media network an International Monetary enable Pakistan to restore the be required to undertake. more than $10bn in loans and was buff eted by anger and PFund (IMF) bailout soon resilience of its economy and lay The IMF has pressed Pakistan credit arrangements from Mid- Pshock yesterday after news to stave off a balance of pay- the foundations for stronger and to improve tax revenue collec- dle Eastern allies such as Saudi emerged of yet another jour- ment crisis and help shore up its more inclusive growth,” the IMF tion, bolster foreign currency Arabia and the United Arab nalist arrested for criticising economy, Finance Minister Asad chief had said, calling the meet- reserves and narrow a current Emirates as well as support from the powerful military, in what Umar said yesterday, as talks be- ing “good and constructive”. account defi cit expected to top China, its partner in the vast rights groups call an attack on tween Islamabad and the fund Pakistan last received an IMF 5% of gross domestic product China Pakistan Economic Cor- freedoms. continue. bailout in 2013 to the tune of this year. ridor (CPEC) project. The arrest of television host A day earlier, Prime Minis- $6.6bn. Pakistani offi cials say that The economic turbulence Rizwan Razi is the latest in a ter Imran Khan met IMF chief While there had not been any they agree on the need for re- facing Pakistan was underlined series of incidents apparently Christine Lagarde in Dubai to indication of a breakthrough in forms, but do not want to sign up yesterday when Moody’s In- aimed at silencing criticism of discuss a bailout, and the coun- the negotiations with the IMF, to conditions that would derail vestors’ Service cut its outlook the army and spy agencies in the try’s foreign currency reserves Umar said yesterday that an the economy, with growth set to on Pakistan’s banking sector to Umar: It seems we have come very close to having an agreement past six months. have dwindled to around $8bn, agreement is coming into view. slow this year to around 4% from negative, citing the banks’ large with the IMF. Razi was arrested in the east- just enough to cover about two “Our diff erences have nar- 5.2% last year. holdings of government bonds ern city of Lahore on Saturday by months of imports. rowed,” he told business groups Khan has long resisted for- “that link their credit profi les to points between December 2017 Earlier this month, Pakistan’s the Federal Investigation Agency That meeting ended with a in the northwestern city of Pe- eign loans, once declaring that the low-rated government”. and February 2019, and infl ation credit rating was downgraded by (FIA)’s cyber-crime wing for a pledge to continue talks. shawar. “It seems we have come he would rather commit suicide It noted that the Pakistani was rising; “all factors which Standard and Poor’s, which cit- series of tweets deemed off en- “I reiterated that the IMF very close to having an agree- than seek an IMF loan. rupee had depreciated by 30% aff ect business and consumer ed diminished growth prospects sive to the military, offi cials said. stands ready to support Pa- ment with the IMF.” However, Pakistan’s fast de- against the US dollar, inter- confi dence and the private sec- and elevated external and fi scal He was given bail by a local kistan,” Lagarde had said in a Talks with the IMF began pleting foreign reserves and a est rates had risen by 450 basis tor’s debt repayment capacities”. stresses. magistrate late on Sunday and was released yesterday, his em- ployer, Din television, said. The military did not respond to requests for comment. Social media was fl ooded with PTI and PML-Q the criticism of the government and the military. “In [Prime Minister] Imran Khan’s Pakistan, not a single day agree to continue passes without someone being abducted by thugs in uniform,” New York Times correspondent Ihsan Tipu wrote on his Face- their partnership book page. The Human Rights Commis- sion of Pakistan called the arrest Internews He also said that Leader of a blatant attack on media free- Lahore the Opposition in the National dom, seeking an inquiry. Assembly Shehbaz Sharif’s appointment as the Public he ruling Pakistan Te- Accounts Committee (PAC) Private sector to hreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has chairman is not a result of gradually take Tsucceeded in sorting blackmailing. out diff erences with the Paki- “In fact, the government over Haj operation stan Muslim League – Quaid- wanted to make 38 commit- e-Azam (PML-Q), its junior tees of the National Assembly Federal Minister for Religious partner at the Centre and in functional, while the oppo- Aff airs and Interfaith Harmony Punjab, with both parties de- sition had refused to let that Noorul Haq Qadri has said that ciding to continue their alli- happen without the formation the government will gradually ance. of the PAC,” he said. hand over the Haj operation to “The PTI will take its al- Speaking on the occasion, the private sector. lies both at the Centre and in PML-Q chief Hussain rejected In an interview, Qadri said that provinces along,” said Special rumours regarding any split in the Saudi government wanted Assistant to the Prime Minister the PTI-PML-Q alliance, say- Haj pilgrims to be encouraged to Naeem-ul-Haq while talking ing that his party supports the Naval pursuits opt for private tour operators. to the media after meeting with PTI-led government. Currently, 60% of Pakistanis PML-Q president Chaudhry “Both the parties have Warships from various countries are seen during perform the Haj under the Shujaat Hussain at the latter’s pledged to stand united, and the ‘AMAN-19’ multinational naval exercises in government scheme, and the rest residence. their alliance will last for fi ve the Arabian Sea, near Karachi. The exercises that through private operators. Member of the National As- years,” he added. began on February 8 ends today, with some 45 When asked about the time frame sembly (MNA) Moonis Elahi, The PTI, Hussain said, had countries participating with ships and observers. for the implementation of new the scion of the Chaudhry fam- given due share to the PML-Q Haj policy, the minister said that ily of Gujrat, was present dur- in the government. Left: A helicopter descends to land on the Pakistan the Saudi government wanted ing the meeting. “Imran Khan as prime min- navy ship Moawin during the ‘AMAN-19’ the handing over of the Haj He said that diff erences be- ister is the need of the hour for multinational naval exercises. operation to the private sector tween the PTI and the PML-Q the country,” he added. done gradually. were not irreconcilable. Responding to a question, Elahi said that he met the Hussain said: “The PML-Q PML-Q leader on the direc- will not become part of any tives of Prime Minister Imran conspiracy against Punjab Khan. Chief Minister Sardar Usman Haq said that the govern- Buzdar, and would stand with Apex court takes up case of man accused of stealing hens ment would benefi t from Hus- him in the face of challenges.” sain’s political acumen in all However, the PTI’s relations matters. with another of its partners, Internews Raja Sajjad, lodged a complaint The police did not recover Sajjad insisted that he had paid petitioner, fi led the bail plea, To a question, he said that the Muttahida Qaumi Move- Islamabad with Koral police in Islamabad on hens, and the complainant did his dues, adding: “Accused [Za- informing the court that the pe- the PTI government is against ment (MQM), has suff ered a April 17, 2018. not produce any witness in this hid] stole my 15 hens, a computer, titioner had been remanded in all kinds of violence, whether setback as the latter had de- Sajjad, who owned a real es- case. a water cooler.” police custody for some eight it is at a police station or a ma- cided to boycott the recently- he Supreme Court of Pa- tate business in Arsalan Town However, Zahid was arrested The complainant, however, did months. drasa, as it was against Islamic constituted committees of the kistan will hear today the Islamabad, told police that an that day and moved to Adiala Jail, not explain as to why he waited His client has falsely been im- teachings. National Assembly. Tbail plea of a poverty- unknown person had stolen his his father, 79-year-old Bradar for nine weeks before reporting plicated in this case, Iqbal said, About the National Ac- The party directed all its stricken father who has lan- 15 hens, one water dispenser, and Khan, revealed. the matter to the police. arguing that the story mentioned countability Bureau (NAB), members not to attend the up- guished in Adiala Jail for a year, badminton set from his offi ce on “My son was the sole bread- Bradar Khan fi led post-arrest in the FIR was “fabricated”. Haq said that there is a need coming meetings of the com- after he was accused of stealing the night of February 6, 2018. winner for his fi ve children as the bail, which was dismissed by However, Sajjad’s lawyer op- to bring about changes in the mittees for elections of their hens. “I searched for the thief at my whole family moved to Islamabad Judicial Magistrate Islamabad posed the bail plea, saying that laws. chairpersons to show its re- The case will be heard by a own but could not fi nd any clue. from Konodas, a small town near (East) on September 12, 2018. accused was a habitual off ender. Responding to another sentment and anger over the two-member bench comprising Now I came to know that Mo- Gilgit city across Ghizer river, 10 He then approached Addi- After hearing both parties, the question, he said that there composition of the commit- Justices Mushir Alam and Qazi hamed Zahid had stolen my hens years ago,” Khan told local media. tional Sessions Judge (East) Is- Islamabad High Court in its order is need to improve the NAB’s tees as well as refusal of the Faez Isa. … the accused should be arrested “We have no money to pursue lamabad for his son’s bail, but his on January 12, 2019, stated that performance. PTI to give chairmanship of Mohamed Zahid from Gilgit- and justice be served,” read the my son’s case. My son worked at plea was dismissed on November the record shows the petitioner “The government will work the choice committees to the Baltistan was accused of stealing complaint lodged with police. Sajjad’s shop, and he was ask- 29, 2018. to be a habitual off ender. with all political parties to in- MQM. 15 hens by his former employer a On the same day, police reg- ing for his salary Rs8,000, which Then the accused, through his The accused, through counsel troduce changes in the NAB The PTI off ered the MQM year ago in Islamabad. istered a fi rst information re- Sajjad had not paid. Instead, my counsel, fi led a bail plea before Shahid Kamal, then fi led a bail law,” Haq said, adding: “As per the chairmanship of the com- After two months and 10 days port [FIR, Police Form No (1) son was beaten and expelled the the Islamabad High Court on De- plea before the Supreme Court the NAB law, it is mandatory to mittee on statistics, which the of an apparently “fabricated” 5-24] under 380/457 (PPC, 1860) shop, months before being ac- cember 24, 2018. on the grounds that the Islama- decide a case within 30 days.” party had refused. theft incident, the complainant, which is a bailable off ence. cused of theft.” Malik Iqbal, counsel for the bad High Court had erred. Sindh police plan to procure over 6,000 small arms

Internews General of Police (IGP) Kaleem authorities involving several “Cities like Karachi have be- monly known as Kalashnikovs – gangsters, street criminals and ultimately have a positive eff ect Karachi Imam in the aftermath of the re- measures that include regular come increasingly weaponised and G-3 rifl es. hitmen associated with political on the performance of the law- cent targeted attacks and grow- (fi rearms) exercises, deployment over the years, and the old mod- Similarly, 9mm metric calibre groups, and succeeded in im- enforcement agency. ing complaints of street crimes of young police offi cers at public els are turning ineff ective in such SMGs of MP5 are also in use of proving the city’s security situa- “The recently-launched street he Sindh police plan to mainly in Karachi, which not places, and replacement of old a situation,” he said. some police units, he said. tion to a large extent. watch force is also to fi ght in- acquire a consignment of only led to the loss of lives but fl eet of vehicles with new ones,” There is a conviction in the Retired military offi cials had Peace has returned to residen- creasing street crime,” he said. Tover 6,000 9mm pistols also raised questions over pro- said an offi cial. police hierarchy that apart from also been helping Sindh police tial and commercial areas after “In a few areas like Defence and for Karachi, amid growing secu- fessionalism and policing skills “The measures include acqui- the lack of professionalism and over the past couple of years to years of bloodshed on sectarian, Clifton, the Karachi police have rity challenges that warrant the of the law enforcement agency. sition of 6,380 9mm pistols to be policing skills, the fi rearms cur- choose and use the kind of guns ethnic and political lines fol- armed members of the force with use of eff ective and easy-to-han- The Sindh police chief has is- given to the operational force in rently in use are not easy to han- needed for policing in Karachi, lowing the targeted operation small weapons like 9mm pistols, dle weaponry in urban policing sued new guidelines for reforms Karachi. dle and unfi t in the security envi- hence the plan for procurement launched in September 2013. and not with AK-47s.” against organised criminal and in overall policing and directed “It is a principled decision that ronment of Karachi, he added. of small arms, he added. Still, street crime remains a “The force, comprising per- militant gangs, it emerged. offi cers to ensure their prompt conventional weapons, which At present, the offi cial said, The Karachi police, backed serious challenge for the law sonnel who have completed their The decision, offi cials said, implementation. have been in use for the past two city police offi cers are using sub- by Sindh Rangers, have taken enforcement agencies, and po- training and passed out recently, is part of departmental reforms “The fresh set of instructions decades, will gradually be re- machine guns (calibre 7.62mm) on threats ranging from terror- lice authorities vow that the re- is being expanded to other dis- pledged by new Sindh Inspector have directly come from the top placed with improved versions. – the AK-47 assault rifl es, com- ist attacks to deadly battles with forms being introduced would tricts as well,” he said. Gulf Times Tuesday, February 12, 2019 21 PHILIPPINES

Cotabato mayor Death toll in measles wants court to nullify plebiscite

By William Depasupil The Armed Forces of the Manila Times Philippines yesterday denied outbreak reaches 70 Sayadi’s allegations. “This is grossly unfair to the By Catherine A Modesto he legal team of Cotaba- men and women of the (Armed Manila Times to City Mayor Cynthia Forces) who dutifully per- TGuiani Sayadi is study- formed their election duties,” ing all options in preparation said Brig.Gen.Edgard Arevalo, t least 70 people had died for the fi ling of a petition be- military spokesman, in a state- in the measles outbreak fore the Supreme Court (SC) ment. Aas the number of cases to declare the just concluded Arevalo said Sayadi should rose to more than 4,300, the De- plebiscites in Mindanao null bring her charges to a proper partment of Health (DoH) said and void. forum and challenged her to yesterday. Sayadi said her camp had “substantiate her allegations From January 1 to February 9, documented all the violence, than besmirch the good repu- the Health department’s epide- threats and intimidation that tation of the (military) through miology bureau recorded 4,302 transpired within and out- media.” cases, 66% of which had no pri- side of polling places during “The (Armed Forces) is or history of vaccination against the casting of votes in Cota- and will remain professional, measles. bato City for its inclusion in non-partisan and true to its This fi gure was higher than the Bangsamoro Autonomous mandate of protecting the the 1,935 recorded in the same Region in Muslim Mindanao people in the exercise of their period in 2018 by 122%. The DoH (BARMM) on January 21. political rights and in electing said Metro Manila had the most Speaking to Manila Times, their leaders who will man- number of cases at 1,296 and 18 Sayadi showed documents that age the aff airs of the state,” deaths. included pictures, names of Arevalo said. Sayadi claimed This was followed by Calabar- personalities and her text ex- that polling places in Cotabato zon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, changes with military offi cers City Central Pilot Elementary Rizal, and Quezon) with 1,086 in the provinces, among oth- School, Datu Siang Elementary cases and 25 deaths; Central Lu- ers, that will prove her claims School, Muamad Elementary zon with 481 cases with three that government and military School, Cotabato City Insti- deaths; Western Visayas with offi cials, who were supposed tute, Datu Usman Elementa- 212 cases and four deaths; and to protect the integrity of the ry School, Sero Elementary Northern Mindanao with 189 plebiscite, allegedly conspired School and Roxas Elementary cases and two deaths. with the Moro Islamic Libera- School were subjected to Of the total recorded fatalities, tion Front (MILF) to ensure the threats and intimidation. 79% were not immunised. victory of the Bangsamoro Or- She said massive disenfran- Most came from Calabarzon. ganic Law (BOL). chisement of registered voters in Eastern Visayas, Mimaropa, “They are all fully docu- Cotabato City could have been Calabarzon, Central Visayas Children with measles fill the paediatric ward of the San Lazaro Hospital in Manila. mented and we will present prevented if the military and the and Bicol, showed an increas- them at the proper forum at Department of Education (De- ing trend of cases this week, the which had 22 new admissions their trust and confi dence in what we witnessed in the past Metro Manila’s immunisation the proper time,” Sayadi said pEd) were only honest enough DoH added. over the weekend. vaccines long proven to be ef- where there was no one coming rates in 2018 went down to less in an interview. Speaking to and matched their words with In Tarlac alone, the Regional According to the Health de- fective.” He also said more par- or lining up,” Duque said. than 40%, making children vul- reporters, Palace spokesman actions. “I kept my word and Epidemiology and Surveillance partment, 34% of the patients ents seem to have changed their The DoH said it would contin- nerable. Salvador Panelo said Sayadi they didn’t,” she said.“I believed Unit 3 (RESU3) said there were were aged one to four years and views on the vaccination pro- ue its vaccination drive against Domingo was reacting to the should fi rst fi le a complaint. them because they formed part only 47 cases of measles in 2018 27% were less than nine months gramme by getting free vaccines measles until the immunisation statement of Public Attorney’s “Precisely, you have to fi le a of the government and I’m also but in January 2019, at least 445 old. The DoH attributed the epi- in health centres for their chil- coverage reaches 90 to 95%. Offi ce chief Persida Acosta, who case in the appropriate admin- a government offi cial.” cases were recorded. demic in some regions to “vac- dren, unlike in previous months Although the department ad- put the blame back at the DoH istrative bodies,” Panelo said Sayadi reiterated that she was Of the fi gure, the DoH con- cine hesitancy,” which refers to due to the vaccine scare. mitted that it failed to reach its for allegedly failing to protect when asked if the Palace would assured by the military leader- fi rmed 192 confi rmed cases in the “delay in acceptance or re- “When I visited Baseco com- immunisation target for the past the public from measles. investigate Sayadi’s claims. ship of the 6th Infantry Division the province and four deaths as fusal of vaccines despite avail- pound, there were over 500 chil- 10 years, its vaccination coverage Domingo said Acosta’s claim “If she has evidence to back (ID) on the eve of the plebiscite of January 26. ability of vaccination services.” dren who got vaccinated. had been at 70 to 80%, Under- that the controversial Dengvaxia up her claim, then fi le the ap- that the thousands of non- A 21-day-old infant was the Health Secretary Francisco In Pansol village in Quezon secretary Rolando Domingo said had killed a lot of schoolchildren, propriate charges against voting MILF members inside youngest listed patient at the Duque yesterday reiterated his City, I remember almost 300 got in a television interview. “aggravated” the already below- whosoever she felt has violated Cotabato City would be asked to Tarlac Provincial Hospital, appeal to the public to “rebuild vaccinated. This is a far cry from The health offi cial noted that target immunisation rates. elections laws,” he added. leave but nothing happened. Pimentel seeks creation Chinese woman in trouble of department for OFWs for throwing drink at cop By Bernadette E Tamayo staffed to meet the grow- most preferred country of Manila Times ing number and demands of destination among OFWs at our OFWs. A dedicated ex- 25.4%, according to the Phil- Manila Times ers to abide by the rules of the They should not flout our ecutive department for our ippine Statistics Authority Manila country. rules and they should also re- enator Aquilino “Koko” foreign workers is the solu- (PSA),” Pimentel said. “They have to obey the law spect the officials who are im- Pimentel has raised the tion,” Pimentel said. “For in- Last year, OWWA repatri- here…They have to respect our plementing our laws. Sneed to create an agency stance, OWWA has already ated around 3,000 workers. he Philippine National culture the way we respect their China, as our nearest neigh- that would solely promote the complained in 2018 that it The deployment of Filipino Police (PNP) yesterday culture and laws of their land,” bour in Asia, should advise welfare and focus on the con- has just 420 staff worldwide, workers also declined by 10% Tawarded the police offi cer he said. its nationals about complying cerns of over 10mn overseas 300 locally and 120 abroad, because of the instability of who incurred the wrath of a Chi- Meanwhile, Senator Richard with the rules and laws of our Filipino workers (OFWs). addressing the concerns of crude oil prices. nese student who was refused Gordon and senatorial can- country and respecting persons The senator stressed that the 10mn OFWs.” “The Bangko Sentral ng Pil- entry at the MRT for carrying a didate Christopher Lawrence in authority here,” Gordon said. creation of a department for Pimentel filed on May 10, ipinas has lowered the growth cup of taho (soy dessert). Jiale Zhang at the Mandaluyong “Bong” Go yesterday joined Go, who was in Camp Crame OFWs was one of the campaign 2017 Senate Bill 1445 creating targets for both personal and Police Offi cer 1 William City police station after calls for the immediate depor- as the guest speaker during the promises of President Rodrigo the DoFW. cash remittances to 3% in- Cristobal was awarded the throwing a cup of soy dessert tation of Zhang. launch of “Kabataan Kontra Duterte. “We urgently need this stead of 4% for 2019. We need “Medalya ng Papuri” in Camp at a police off icer. Gordon, chairman of the sa Droga at Terorismo” pro- He reiterated his call for the OFW department. Deploy- a more proactive stance to Crame for his “one commend- Senate Justice and Human gramme, said Zhang “has no immediate creation of a De- ment of workers abroad is not stem this decline,” the sena- able act that is worthy of emula- “I am not expecting this rec- Rights Committee, said the respect.” partment of Overseas Filipino a temporary phenomenon,” he tor said. tion by other PNP offi cers.” ognition because I only did what Bureau of Immigration should “(We) Filipinos give the Workers (DoFW), saying the said. The senator cited reports “We need a national level He was lauded for his “profes- the Chief PNP (Director General immediately start deporta- highest respect to the police… Philippine Overseas Employ- that the Philippines stands to policy, implemented by a sionalism and patience” after Oscar Albayalde) expect of us: be tion proceedings against the We need to show respect so ment Administration (POEA) lose about separate government depart- Jiale Zhang threw the cup of taho patient and do the right thing,” 23-year-old for her failure to that others will see how to re- and the Overseas Work- $1.5bn worth of remittances ment, that squarely addresses at him at the MRT station in Boni Cristobal told reporters in Fili- respect the country’s rules and spect other people,” the former ers Welfare Administration due to the projected 10 to 15% key employment trends and Avenue. pino. laws. top aide of President Rodrigo (OWWA) cannot fully attend decrease in the deployment of developments abroad because The MRT implemented a liq- He added that he felt embar- “The Chinese nationals here Duterte said. to the needs of OFWs. OFWs to the Middle East. these have direct economic uid ban to prevent bomb attacks rassed but he did not retaliate and all other foreign nationals Albayalde said Go would give “Both these government “That’s a big number, con- consequences back home,” in Metro Manila after the deadly because of his reputation. staying in our country should a reward to Cristobal for his agencies are already under- sidering Saudi Arabia is the he said. Jolo twin blast. Albayalde reminded foreign- respect our rules and laws. action. US pledges millions for intelligence support to fi ght terror

By Catherine S Valente of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL). and in Jolo, Sulu, claiming the lives of said Kono, the Palace said, informed Manila Times “While the terroristic acts have cre- at least 23 people. the Philippine government that Japan ated fear and anxiety in the inhabitants The Palace also said Japan was com- was willing to open up its labour mar- of the region, they however refused to mitted to help the Philippines quell ter- ket for qualifi ed Filipinos, in recogni- he United States (US) govern- be intimidated and cowed as they exer- rorism. tion of the Philippines’ contribution ment has pledged to provide cised their right of suff rage in the just- In a separate statement, Panelo said to the socio-economic development of Tmore than P300mn in fi nancial concluded plebiscite,” he said. this was promised by Japanese Foreign Japan. support for intelligence-gathering in The Palace offi cial reiterated that Minister Taro Kono on Saturday, dur- Duterte thanked Kono for the visit the Philippines’ counter-terrorism ef- government forces would “relentless- ing his courtesy call on President Rod- and lauded Japan for being a “true fort, Malacanang announced yesterday. ly” hunt down the “mass murderers.” rigo Duterte in Davao City. friend” for its involvement in the coun- In a statement, Palace spokesman “Our armed forces are relentlessly Panelo said Kono conveyed Prime try’s “Build, Build, Build” programme, Salvador Panelo said the Philippine pursuing the mass murderers even as Minister Shinzo Abe’s “grave concern” the Palace said. government welcomed US support some of them have been criminally over the twin explosions in Jolo, Sulu. “The President highlighted the qual- following the explosions that rocked charged and presently detained,” Pan- “During that hour-long meeting, ity of the infrastructure projects, as Mindanao in January. elo said. Kono reiterated Japan’s sustained sup- well as the transfer of technology and “We welcome the United States’ A day before the plebiscite on the port for the Philippines’ quest for just training embedded in the projects that commitment in fi ghting terrorism. ratifi cation of the proposed BOL on and lasting peace and development in would benefi t Filipino practitioners This shows that our military alliance February 6, explosions occurred in Sul- Mindanao and extended felicitations and experts,” he said. with the United States remains strong,” tan Naga Dimaporo, Lala and Kauswa- for the success of the holding of the Duterte also expressed willingness Panelo said. gan in Lanao del Norte province. Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite,” to meet Abe anew, to discuss develop- Panelo noted that terrorists in Mind- On January 21, majority of voters Panelo said. ments in bilateral ties. anao “have gained a foothold and have from the Autonomous Region in Mus- In a press briefi ng, Panelo said Japan Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez unleashed bombs that killed our sol- lim Mindanao voted in favour of the did not specify the help. 3rd mentioned that loan agreements diers and civilians,” but added it did not proposed BOL. “But we welcome all kinds of help. formalised between the Philippines stop the people from participating in However, this was followed by two As I said, all nations of the world and Japan since 2016 had reached the second plebiscite on the ratifi cation separate bombings in Zamboanga City must unite to combat terrorism,” he 398.82bn yen (about $3.63bn). Salvador Panelo: welcoming assistance Gulf Times 22 Tuesday, February 12, 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 How to avoid another US govt shutdown

The ridiculous and futile 35-day partial US government shutdown of the federal government that ended January 25 does not deserve a sequel when the funding deal reached that day runs out February 15. Most members of Congress – Republicans as well as Democrats – seem to grasp this. There were several reports on Thursday that lawmakers were close to a compromise on a measure that would provide some funding to improve border security, though not the full $5.7bn for 230 miles of new walls that President Donald Europe, please wake up Trump has sought. Senate Appropriations Chair Richard Shelby, (Republican – Alabama), told Politico that Trump wanted negotiators to “wrap it up” and to “get a legislative solution.” Of course, it’s possible a president as mercurial as Trump may ultimately not sign what Congress sends before it is too late him. It’s also possible that the Democratic lawmakers who seem increasingly opposed to basic immigration By George Soros more so in trans-European alliances. Conservatives are internally divided, but happening in France, Poland, Sweden, enforcement may oppose any deal that builds off the Munich The party system of individual states their leaders, Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa and probably elsewhere. refl ects the divisions that mattered in May, respectively, are so determined to When it comes to trans-European premise that the border needs defending. But it’s the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, deliver Brexit that they have agreed to alliances, the situation is even worse. time for a compromise that treats border security urope is sleepwalking into such as the confl ict between capital and co-operate to attain it. The situation is so National parties at least have some as essential – yet also oblivion, and the people of labour. But the cleavage that matters complicated that most Britons just want roots in the past, but the trans- seeks to improve an Europe need to wake up before most today is between pro- and anti- to get it over with, although it will be the European alliances are entirely dictated it is too late. If they don’t, the European forces. defi ning event for the country for decades by party leaders’ self-interest. The Perhaps immigration system that E European Union will go the way of The EU’s dominant country is to come. European People’s Party (EPP) is the something seems close to broken. the Soviet Union in 1991. Neither our Germany, and the dominant political But the collusion between Corbyn worst off ender. The EPP is almost For starters, the deal leaders nor ordinary citizens seem to alliance in Germany – between the and May has aroused opposition in both entirely devoid of principles, as constructive shouldn’t accept the understand that we are experiencing a Christian Democratic Union (CDU) parties, which in the case of Labour is demonstrated by its willingness to revolutionary moment, that the range and the Bavaria-based Christian bordering on rebellion. The day after permit the continued membership will come out president’s preposterous of possibilities is very broad, and that Social Union (CSU) – has become Corbyn and May met, May announced of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor premise that America is the eventual outcome is thus highly unsustainable. The alliance worked as a programme to aid impoverished Orbán’s Fidesz in order to preserve its of Washington’s in the middle of a national uncertain. long as there was no signifi cant party pro-Brexit Labour constituencies in majority and control the allocation emergency because of Most of us assume that the future in Bavaria to the right of the CSU. That the north of England. Corbyn is now of top jobs in the EU. Anti-European ugly squabbles will more or less resemble the present, changed with the rise of the extremist accused of betraying the pledge he forces may look good in comparison: at criminal elements freely but this is not necessarily so. In a long Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD). made at Labour’s September 2018 party least they have some principles, even if entering the country. and eventful life, I have witnessed In last September’s lander elections, conference to back a second Brexit they are odious. Unauthorised immigrant apprehensions are down; many periods of what I call radical the CSU’s result was its worst in over referendum if holding an election is not It is diffi cult to see how the pro- agents per apprehension are up; most of the crossing disequilibrium. We are living in such a six decades, and the AfD entered the possible. European parties can emerge victorious period today. Bavarian Parliament for the fi rst time. The public is also becoming aware from the election in May unless they put of people and drugs happens at ports of entry; The next infl ection point will The AfD’s rise removed the raison of the dire consequences of Brexit. The Europe’s interests ahead of their own. and authorised and unauthorised immigrants are be the elections for the European d’être of the CDU-CSU alliance. But chances that May’s deal will be rejected One can still make a case for preserving both less likely to commit crime than native-born Parliament in May 2019. Unfortunately, that alliance cannot be broken up on February 14 are growing by the day. the EU in order radically to reinvent Americans. anti-European forces will enjoy a without triggering new elections that That could set in motion a groundswell it. But that would require a change of competitive advantage in the balloting. neither Germany nor Europe can aff ord. of support for a referendum or, even heart in the EU. The current leadership The deal should acknowledge the diffi cult jobs of There are several reasons for this, As it is, the current ruling coalition better, for revoking Britain’s Article 50 is reminiscent of the politburo when the immigration and Border Patrol agents, and address including the outdated party system cannot be as robustly pro-European as notifi cation. Soviet Union collapsed – continuing their staffi ng woes. It should provide more funding for that prevails in most European it would be without the AfD threatening Italy fi nds itself in a similar to issue ukases as if they were still technology and barriers to boost border security – but countries, the practical impossibility its right fl ank. predicament. The EU made a fatal relevant. of treaty change, and the lack of legal The situation is far from hopeless. mistake in 2017 by strictly enforcing The fi rst step to defending Europe also signifi cantly increase the ranks of immigration court tools for disciplining member states The German Greens have emerged as the Dublin Agreement, which unfairly from its enemies, both internal and judges to relieve a backlog of more than 800,000 cases that violate the principles on which the the only consistently pro-European burdens countries like Italy where external, is to recognise the magnitude of asylum seekers, migrants arrested for being in the European Union was founded. The EU party in the country, and they continue migrants fi rst enter the EU. This drove of the threat they present. The second United States without authorisation and individuals who can impose the acquis communautaire rising in opinion polls, whereas Italy’s predominantly pro-European is to awaken the sleeping pro-European (the body of European Union law) on the AfD seems to have reached its and pro-immigration electorate into the majority and mobilise it to defend the overstayed their visas. applicant countries, but lacks suffi cient highpoint (except in the former East arms of the anti-European League party values on which the EU was founded. This is a reasonable compromise that nearly all capacity to enforce member states’ Germany). But now CDU/CSU voters and Five Star Movement in 2018. The Otherwise, the dream of a united modern presidents – except for maybe the current one compliance. are represented by a party whose previously dominant Democratic Party Europe could become the nightmare – would likely accept. But to his credit, Trump made The antiquated party system hampers commitment to European values is is in disarray. As a result, the signifi cant of the twenty-fi rst century. – Project those who want to preserve the values ambivalent. portion of the electorate that remains Syndicate one very reasonable observation about immigration on which the EU was founded, but helps In the United Kingdom, too, an pro-European has no party to vote for. this week. His unscripted comment in his State those who want to replace those values antiquated party structure prevents There is, however, an attempt underway z George Soros is Chairman of Soros of the Union address that America could use legal with something radically diff erent. This the popular will from fi nding proper to organise a united pro-European list. Fund Management and of the Open immigration “in the largest numbers ever” reflected is true in individual countries and even expression. Both Labour and the A similar reordering of party systems is Society Foundations. a recognition that such immigration has historically strengthened the nation and its economy. The US Chamber of Commerce’s enthusiastic reaction to the remark reflected the difficulty that many entire industries are having in filling jobs. So perhaps something constructive will come out of Washington’s ugly squabbles. Or perhaps Trump will disavow his own remarks, as he has done repeatedly. Americans desperate for a focused, coherent federal government should hope it’s the former. – Tribune News Service

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© 2019 Gulf Times. All rights reserved Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May are so determined to deliver Brexit that they have agreed to co-operate to attain it. Gulf Times Tuesday, February 12, 2019 23 COMMENT How Greece’s PM hopes to solve his election riddle

Reuters cuts, cut property and corporate and continue the bloc’s expansion Athens taxes and ease some social security eastward. contributions. The question now is whether He raised the minimum wage for Tsipras has built up enough goodwill rime Minister Alexis Tsipras the first time in a decade, by 11%. with EU partners to further loosen has been implementing He also wants to extend a reduced the purse strings to win over voters. his re-election strategy to value-added tax regime for five Despite the end of the bailout, Pthe letter over the past six islands with huge migrant arrivals Athens has agreed to meet specific months, steering Greece out of a in past years, and to make it easier surplus targets, tied to potential debt humiliating bailout and resolving a for people to pay off pension-fund relief. decades-old dispute with neighbour- arrears and bank loans, government Its lenders are also monitoring ing Macedonia. officials said. its progress to decide whether to So far, it isn’t paying off. Tsipras aims to hire thousands disburse millions of euros in bond With a general election no more of public-sector workers by 2020 profits. than eight months away, his Syriza as well as making constitutional Eurozone officials note that party is far behind in opinion polls. reforms to separate the Greek although Greece is expected to That is despite two signature Orthodox Church clearly from the exceed its fiscal targets this year its projects since last summer, evidence state, important to left-wing voters. reform progress is low. that the economy is climbing out of Moves are also under way to Tsipras’ cabinet applauded him years of depression and willingness extend Greece’s western maritime when he announced the minimum at last among investors to lend. boundaries to 12 miles offshore from wage raise last week, but a meeting Tsipras was elected as a firebrand six, two officials said. of eurozone deputy finance ministers leftist in 2015 on a promise to reject This could smooth some gave it a cooler reaction a few days the austerity required in the bailout. nationalist feathers ruffled over later. He later caved in to the lenders’ Macedonia and enable the creation “The atmosphere was not very demands and has reinvented himself of exclusive economic zones positive,” said a eurozone official. as a conformist. surrounding Greece, Albania and “Greece is moving back in many Now, after years of austerity many Italy. areas. The general political feeling is ordinary voters cannot afford to The latest poll by Metron Analysis, of course positive about Tsipras and keep the lights on, others are deeply for To Vima newspaper, puts Syriza 12 what he did about Macedonia, but indebted, and almost one in five points behind the conservative New this is not the markets, you cannot Greeks is unemployed. Democracy, whose leader Kyriakos trade one thing for the other.” “Our debt is huge and it’s still Mitsotakis promises to ease tax and One eurozone official said a late growing, unemployment is still social contributions for businesses February progress report on Greek very high,” said 30-year-old and boost investment. reforms “did not look good”. A Athens resident Panagiotis, an The government aims to shrink negative EU report could unnerve environmentalist who works in the that gap before European Parliament markets — destabilising another private sector. elections in May, Tsipras’ first plank of Tsipras’ re-election “The crisis isn’t over. That’s a lie, official popularity test since winning strategy: the need for calm financial we are not fools.” power. markets. Sources close to the prime minister Analysts say he may opt for a Greece successfully tapped bond say his strategy is only now reaching snap vote if the gap keeps widening, File photo of Greek Prime Minister Tsipras celebrating after the voting session on the agreement aimed at ending a 27-year markets with a five-year bond last the point where his government can though he has repeatedly ruled that bilateral row by changing the name of Macedonia to the Republic of North Macedonia, at the Greek Parliament, in Athens. week, its first issue post-bailout, and deliver on its pre-election promises out. plans more bond issues this year. and make amends for bailout pain — His term expires in October. majority in parliament, beating Macedonia to ease Greek fears that the continued use of the word “There is a fine line that Greece a plan he says aims at “fair growth”. “We want to showcase that Greece a censure motion last month by the old name implied a sovereignty Macedonia. needs to make sure it doesn’t Creditors released Greece from its has returned to normality,” one of the a single vote with support from claim over its northern province of However, the deal appears to have cross,” said associate director third bailout in August, putting it government officials said. “The aim independent lawmakers, after his Macedonia. won him respect from the European at IHS Markit Economics Diego back on the path to full financial is to shrink the gap in the EU election right-wing coalition ally resigned The deal proved unpopular Union, Greece’s major bailout Iscaro.”Markets understand it’s independence. to be able to win a national vote later over the Macedonia name accord. for Tsipras at home, where creditor. a pre-election period but Athens Tsipras has since used greater fiscal in the year.” The neighbouring ex-Yugoslav tens of thousands of protesters It opens the way for the EU to start needs to build a post-bailout freedom to scrap further pension His government has a razor-thin state agreed to rename itself North condemned his decision to sanction accession talks with the Balkan state reputation of reforms.”

New US Muslim lawmakers highlight Israeli violations Three-day forecast TODAY Maximum Temperature : 220c Minimum Temperature : 160c AFP Omar, 37, is the daughter of Somali position of today’s Democratic Party party members formed the Democratic Washington refugees who was elected to represent a and their leadership is enabling it,” Majority for Israel, touting themselves WEDNESDAY Minneapolis, Minnesota district with a Republicans said in a statement on as “The Voice of Pro-Israel Democrats,” Maximum Temperature : 220c large Somali population. January 29. which for some came across as a rebuke Minimum Temperature : 130c he support for a boycott of She accuses Israel of discrimination Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin of Omar and Tlaib. THURSDAY Israel by the fi rst two Muslim against Palestinians akin to apartheid, urged his colleagues “to reject the anti- After Omar joined the infl uential Maximum Temperature : 220c women in the US Congress but denies that she is anti-Semitic. Israel and anti-Semitic hatred that we House Foreign Aff airs Committee, Minimum Temperature : 160c has opened a breach in the Her remarks in January to Yahoo are starting to see infi ltrating American according to The New York Times, T Fisherman's forecast Democratic Party and threatens to News however sparked anger among politics and even the halls of Congress.” Jewish committee Chairman Eliot create a fi ssure in the ironclad US- the large pro-Israel contingent in The worry about the still small but Engel privately made it clear that he growing support for BDS in the United would not ignore any “particularly WARNING Israeli alliance. Congress, the powerful, largely Inshore : Expected strong wind Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib Democratic US Jewish community, States predates Tlaib’s and Omar’s hurtful” remarks she might make. at most areas made their debut in the House of and Israel itself, where BDS is seen as a political rise. “You hope that when people are Offshore : Expected thunder rain Representatives in January openly national threat. A number of states have passed or elected to Congress, they continue to at first/ strong wind & high sea declaring their support for the “When I see Israeli institute laws proposed constitutionally questionable grow,” he reportedly told her. WEATHER Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, that recognise it as a Jewish state and legislation and policies that would “There is obviously a serious fi ght Inshore : Moderate temperature Sanctions movement, or BDS. does not recognise the other religions penalise supporters of the boycott going on within the Democratic Party daytime& p cloudy with slight dust to blowing The movement, launched more that are living in it, and we still hold movement. with respect to how to deal with BDS dust at places at times, than a decade ago and modelled on it as a democracy in the Middle East, But the arrival of Tlaib and Omar and some within their party who cold by night the 1960s movement to pressure I almost chuckle,” she told Yahoo in Congress was greeted with the fi rst advocate for it,” said Alvin Rosenfeld, Offshore : Partly cloudy with c of sctd rain at fisrt maybe South Africa over apartheid, calls for News. proposed federal law to fi ght to that who directs the Institute for the Study thundery at times people and groups to sever economic, “Because I know that if we see that in end, in the Senate. of Contemporary Antisemitism at WIND cultural and academic ties to Israel, another society we would criticise it — Senator Marco Rubio argues that Indiana University. Inshore : Northwesterly 10-18 KT Offshrore : Northwesterly 18-28/30 and to support sanctions against the we do that to Iran, any other place that BDS aims to eliminate the state of “Should the party swing to the far KT Jewish state. sort of upholds its religion.” Israel, and said his legislation would left and appear to be way out of line But for Israel partisans — including Omar and Tlaib sparked the BDS protect states’ rights to exclude from with America’s traditional ties to one Visibility : 4-8/3 KM many Democrats and Republicans controversy during a period when public contracts any supporters of BDS. of its strongest allies, Israel, the party Offshore : 6-8/13 FT Republicans, the majority in the will surely suff er at the polls,” he told in Congress — BDS smacks of anti- Donald Trump’s administration has Around the region Semitism and poses a threat to Israel. strengthened relations with Israel and Senate, along with more than half of AFP. Weather Tlaib, 42, has Palestinian roots slashed aid to the Palestinians. the Democrats approved the legislation. Amy Elman, a political science Weather tomorrow Max/min and represents a district of suburban But Republicans saw their support But a signifi cant number of professor at Kalamazoo College, said today Max/min Sunny 22/13 Detroit, Michigan that is home to for BDS as both a threat to Jews and an Democrats opposed it, because, anti-Semitism should not be used as a Baghdad Cloudy 22/14 M Sunny 19/10 thousands of Muslims. exploitable rift among Democrats. they said, it violates constitutional “political football by any party.” Kuwait CitySunny 18/10 Sunny 21/14 She argues that BDS can draw a “Democrats have made it clear that guarantees of freedom of expression. “Democrats should care less Manama Cloudy 20/14 P Cloudy 22/17 focus on “issues like the racism and the hateful, bigoted rhetoric toward Israel That has left Democrats vulnerable where the charges of anti-Semitism Muscat M Sunny 27/19 Sunny 11/02 international human rights violations is not confi ned to a few freshman to charges of anti-Semitism. come from. What matters is if the Tehran P Cloudy 11/01 by Israel right now.” members. This is the mainstream To fi ght that, in January prominent accusations are valid,” she said.

Live issues Diabetes does not appear to aff ect children’s test scores

Around the world By Lisa Rapaport “Being a parent myself to a child were due to chance. problems with thinking and memory Reuters Health with type 1 diabetes, I know there is Test scores were below average, in middle or late life,” Budson said. Weather Weather a lot to worry about in diabetes,” said however, for diabetic students who “Now individuals with diabetes of today Max/min tomorrow Max/min lead study author Niels Skipper of had dangerously high blood sugar. In any age know exactly what they need Athens M Cloudy 14/06 Showers 07/04 he less common form of Aarhus University. “The take-home contrast, the students with diabetes to do to keep their memory as strong as Beirut P Cloudy 16/13 P Cloudy 19/14 diabetes, known as type 1, message here is that school performance without severely elevated blood sugar possible: they need to keep their blood Bangkok S T Storms 35/25 Sunny 35/26 develops in childhood or young should not be one of them, and that had average scores that were slightly sugar under good control because that Berlin P Cloudy 05/02 S Showers 08/04 Tadulthood when the pancreas children with diabetes have the same above average. will reduce their risk of strokes,” Budson Cairo P Cloudy 21/09 Sunny 22/11 fails to produce the hormone insulin, opportunities for learning and education This suggests that poor blood sugar advised. Cape Town Cloudy 23/17 Cloudy 23/18 which is needed for the body to convert as their peers,” Skipper said by e-mail. control, and not just the diabetes The study wasn’t designed to Colombo M Sunny 31/25 P Cloudy 32/24 blood sugar into energy. Children in the study took diagnosis itself, are what may explain determine whether or how diabetes Dhaka M Sunny 28/16 Sunny 30/17 Complications of type 1 diabetes – standardised tests in reading and math the potential for cognitive problems might directly cause cognitive problems, Hong Kong P Cloudy 20/18 M Sunny 22/18 like dangerously high blood sugar, or that were scored from 0 to 100. to develop with the disease, said Dr and it also wasn’t designed to assess Istanbul Rain 14/06 Rain 07/06 dangerously low levels of sugar in the Students with type 1 diabetes had Andrew Budson, chief of cognitive and risk factors for stroke, a rare event in Jakarta T Storm 29/24 S T Storms 31/24 brain – have both been associated with been living with the condition for an behavioural neurology at the Veterans children. Karachi Cloudy 28/17 Sunny 26/17 cognitive problems. But not all studies average of 4.5 years and roughly two- Aff airs Boston Healthcare System and a One limitation of the study is that London P Cloudy 12/06 P Cloudy 12/03 have tied type 1 diabetes to worse thirds of them used insulin pumps. researcher at Boston University School students had not been living with Manila M Sunny 31/24 S Showers 31/24 academic performance, researchers note Overall average test scores for kids of Medicine. diabetes for that long when they took Moscow S Showers 02/-1 Snow 02/06 in JAMA. with diabetes were 56.56, compared Dangerously high blood sugar can their standardised tests, and it’s possible New Delhi P Cloudy 22/12 M Cloudy 24/14 For the current study, they examined with 56.11 for children without increase the risk of strokes, and these that academic performance might get New York Snow 01/01 P Cloudy 06/00 average reading and math scores for more diabetes. On math tests, average scores episodes may in turn cause cognitive worse over time, the study authors note. Paris P Cloudy 09/-1 P Cloudy 10/-1 than 631,000 public school children were 56.06 for students with diabetes problems in people with diabetes, It’s also possible that results Sao Paulo S T Storms 31/20 Showers 22/18 in grades 2 through 8 in Denmark over and 55.68 for those without the Budson, who wasn’t involved in the in Denmark, where there’s high Seoul M Sunny 03/-9 M Sunny 02/-10 fi ve years. They found no meaningful condition. Average reading scores were study, said by e-mail. awareness of how to manage diabetes Singapore S Showers 33/26 T Storm 32/26 diff erences in average test scores between 56.81 with diabetes and 56.32 without The inference “is that an increase and government-funded healthcare, Sydney Sunny 34/20 Cloudy 23/18 the 2,031 kids with type 1 diabetes and the it. These diff erences were all too small in strokes is the only reason that may not refl ect what would happen Tokyo Clear 11/02 Clear 10/02 rest of the students in the study. to rule out the possibility that they individuals with diabetes end up with elsewhere. Gulf Times 24 Tuesday, February 12, 2019 QATAR EAA project in Pakistan aims to educate 200,000 children ducation Above All (EAA) „ Generation Amazing is supporting EAC and partner British Foundation’s global pro- Egramme, Educate A Child Council in using football in education for social change (EAC), in partnership with the British Council, has announced ish Council in using football in of fun activities that break the Council and Generation Amaz- the ‘Ilm-Possible: Take a Child education for social change. The routine of the school day. Fawad ing, we aim to support a sustain- to School (TACS) Phase II’ programme, which seeks to boost Aziz, a nine-year-old student able future in Pakistan. project in Pakistan, aiming to retention rates at school, has al- benefi ciary, recently remarked: Together, we strive to reach enrol 200,000 out of school ready piloted this life skills re- “We love Generation Amaz- 200,000 of the country’s most children (OOSC) into quality source in eight districts. ing. We get to play football and vulnerable and marginalised primary education throughout Activities are employed both learn things such as how to cross children and inspire them with the country. in and out of the classroom to the road, and the importance of a quality primary education that Building on the previously create an exciting, dynamic playing together.” will positively impact their lives, successful Phase I strategies learning environment that pro- Through Generation Amaz- communities and country.” of TACS, this three-year joint motes and encourages positive ing a total of 9,016 students have Faiza Inayat, director of Ilm- project is also supported by Gen- social change through sports and already been reached in the TACS Possible: Take a Child to School eration Amazing, the social and education in a way that is both II project and signifi cant posi- Phase II, states: “We are always human legacy programme of interactive and stimulating for tive behavioural change has been looking for innovative means to Qatar’s Supreme Committee for children. noted, as student benefi ciaries support our retention objectives Delivery & Legacy (SC), to en- The activities fall primarily were observed to be more re- and to keep children engaged and hance the learning experience of within two types of categories: spectful towards teachers, par- supportive of their own educa- class 1-5 students by introducing Classroom Learning Discussions ents and classmates. tion. a football for development mod- and Sports Sessions. Furthermore, the students The Generation Amazing ule called ‘United Generation’ Generation Amazing is con- displayed a greater propensity model aims to do this by utilis- that promotes ‘life skills through tributing to making school en- towards personal responsibility ing an easy to understand and sports’ as part of a normal school vironments in Pakistan more in- and an ability to work in teams. interactive approach. The Gen- day in 66 public schools. clusive, helping teachers develop Dr Mary Joy Pigozzi, executive eration Amazing programme has Generation Amazing is sup- better relationships with their director, EAC, states: “Through had considerable impact in the porting EAC and partner Brit- students through the insertion our partnership with British schools where it is implemented.” Some of the beneficiaries of the project. Halal Qatar Fest ends with ‘great success’ CNA-Q hosts football heroes

he eighth edition of who contributed positively and lated to livestock breeding such Besides, the organising com- ollege of the North At- mi, and associate vice president event was an excellent oppor- the Qatar Halal Fes- eff ectively to make the festival a as various competitions and mittee conducted a daily con- lantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) (student aff airs) Aljazzi Fetais. tunity for the college commu- Ttival came to an end success. entertainment shows. Many test, Al Mizayen (a beauty com- Chosted a group of the The players took questions from nity to show its pride for Qatar, yesterday, having “great suc- “We at Katara are proud of elite breeds of sheep and goats petition for sheep and goat), country’s football heroes and the audience on a variety of top- in anticipation of FIFA 2022 cess” since its launch early this what we have achieved so far were sold at the daily auction, between breeders and the Asian Cup champions on cam- ics, such as: how they feel dur- World Cup. month, Katara – the Cultural with one of our largest festi- which attracted bidders and winners were duly rewarded. pus yesterday. ing the game, how they balance “It was great pleasure to host Village Foundation said. The vals, the Halal Qatar Festival, breeders from Qatar and some Breeders said the festival drew Al Annabi players Almoez Ali, sport and other life priorities, Qatar’s football heroes during festival witnessed several visits which achieved its main aim of neighbouring countries, Katara young local to a “good hobby Assim Madabo, Bassam al-Rawi and what are some of their other their special appearance on our by ambassadors and dignitaries raising awareness among the said in a statement. that preserves the heritage and and Yousef Hassan, spoke to a favourite sports and activities? campus,” said Dr al-Khalifa. who witnessed the various cul- young generation about a vital The auction saw its larg- is also a quality way to spend full house of nearly 1,000 of stu- The players took a group “Their words were inspir- tural activities and attractions part of their national heritage,” est transaction when a unique their free time”. dents and staff during a panel picture with students and cut ing and engaging. They are true on off er during the festival. he said. sheep of Syrian breed was sold Meanwhile, the Mahaseel discussion session. a special cake with president role models for our students, to Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim al-Su- The festival also saw a for a sum of QR250,000, which Festival will continue at the In attendance were CNA-Q Dr al-Khalifa, before signing a demonstrate that whatever your laiti, general manager of Katara, number of visits by schoolchil- highlighted the development in same venue until the end of president Dr Khalifa al-Khalifa, backdrop that the college pre- life’s goal is, it can be achieved praised the eff orts of all those dren, who enjoyed activities re- the quality of livestock. March. vice president (fi nance and ad- pared in celebration of their through dedication and hard ministration) Dr Salem al-Nae- historic achievement. The work.”

CNA-Q president Dr Khalifa al-Khalifa with the players.

Snapshots from Halal Qatar Festival 2019 at Katara. QU organises design conference

atar University (QU) College of Engineer- Qing (CENG) and Depart- ment of Architecture and Urban Planning (DAUP) organised the GSM4Q conference, the 4th in a series of Game Set and Match conferences on the state of mind in architecture and urban design. The conference was under the theme ‘Connecting People, Spac- es and Machines: The Informed Nomadic Monad’. It covered a variety of specifi c yet strongly connected topics like swarm be- haviour, distributed climates, robotic buildings, informed ma- terials, monads, nomads, scal- QU president Dr Hassan al-Derham and deans and professors at the able interactions, smart environ- conference. ments. The event was attended by QU of expertise. “We are here to dis- president Dr Hassan al-Derham, cuss connecting people, spaces CENG dean Prof Abdulmajid and machines in the realm of 21st Hamouda, associate dean for Re- century architecture. Our de- search and Graduate Studies Prof partment is ready to explore and Abbes Amira, DAUP head Dr Fo- reach new horizons to empower dil Fadli, Prof Kasper Oosterhuis, next generation architecture students, faculty members and students.” Professor Oosterhuis other representatives from fellow added, “The leading theme of higher education institutions in the GSM4Q conference is ‘The Qatar, as well as professionals and Informed Nomadic Monad.’ The practitioners from governmental monad is considered to be a de- and private institutions. sign pattern that defi nes how In his opening speech, Dr Fadli inputs, processes and outputs said the event triggers interac- together build generic types, as in tion between faculty members, functional programming. students and professionals with The nomad links back to the international speakers and sci- Bedouin history of Qatar and for- entists, who come from diff erent ward to its potential for today’s backgrounds and diff erent areas strategic planning.” Prof Kasper Oosterhuis