BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 12 Qatar Chamber offi cial sees Qatar key role athlete for China INDEX DOW JONES QE NYMEX QATAR 4 – 11, 30 – 32 COMMENT 28, 29 in state’s targets REGION 12,13 BUSINESS 1 – 6, 17 – 20 diversifi cation 17,482.00 9,813.96 48.41 ARAB WORLD 12 – 14 CLASSIFIED 7 – 17 Rio glory +67.00 -195.99 -0.26 INTERNATIONAL 15 – 27 SPORTS 1 – 12 strategy +0.38% -1.96% -0.53% Latest Figures published in QATAR since 1978

SUNDAY Vol. XXXVII No. 10096 May 22, 2016 Sha’baan 15, 1437 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals UN chief In brief lauds Qatar ARAB WORLD | Tragedy Search teams hunt for EgyptAir black boxes Search teams scoured the Mediterranean yesterday for and Kuwait more wreckage and the black boxes from EgyptAir flight MS804 for clues on why the plane plummeted and turned full circle before disappearing off radar. An EgyptAir off icial said the search initiatives was focused on finding the bodies of the passengers and the Airbus The UN secretary-general says that delivering the keynote address at the A320’s flight recorders, which will the world is passing through its opening of the 16th Doha Forum. HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani held a meeting with Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and UN stop emitting a signal in a month most turbulent phase since World HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Ha- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the 16th Doha Forum yesterday evening. Discussions at the meeting at when the batteries run out. The War II mad al-Thani was present at the open- Doha’s Sheraton Hotel dealt with the latest developments in Yemen and the peace talks hosted by Kuwait, particularly with plane carrying 66 passengers ing ceremony. regard to finding a solution for the return of Yemen’s legitimate government delegation to the talks. The Yemeni president plunged into the Mediterranean on By Ramesh Mathew Also present were HE the Prime Min- agreed, during the meeting, for the resumption of the Yemen’s legitimate government delegation to the talks on the UN Thursday while flying from Paris to Staff Reporter ister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Ab- guarantee to ensure that those talks would be in accordance with the Security Council resolution No 2216. The UN secretary- Cairo. Page 12 dullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al -Thani, general thanked the Emir for his good off ices that led to persuade the Yemeni president to return the legitimate government several heads of states, ministers and delegation to Kuwait talks. The Emir also met with a number of participants of the Doha Forum. nited Nations Secretary-General senior offi cials. IRAQ | Demand Ban Ki-moon yesterday urged The Doha Forum is being held under countries in the Middle East and its by armed confl icts and terrorism for years. rations to provide a better life into real Tight security aft er Uglobal and regional powers to the title “Stability and Prosperity for neighbourhood were causing consider- He noted that the world was passing action by helping revive order, peace and prevail upon the warring parties in Syria All”. able hardships and it was high time the through its most turbulent phase since stability in some of the war-torn coun- protests in Baghdad to end the confl ict in the country, while Stressing the importance of peace and major players used their infl uence to World War II and more than 130mn peo- tries. Iraqi authorities tightened security lauding the initiatives of the govern- stability to have prosperity around the prevail upon the warring parties. ple required some kind of life-saving Speaking earlier, the president of the in Baghdad yesterday, one day ments of Qatar and Kuwait in resolving world, including in this region, Ban said He urged the powers to play a more medicine and other similar assistance on 70th Session of the UN General Assem- after protesters demanding reforms the devastating crisis. that confl icts, terrorism and the absence proactive role in establishing peace and a regular basis for survival in view of the bly, Mogens Lykketoft, hoped that the breached the city’s heavily fortified He made the observations while of basic freedom for people in war-torn stability in places that had been hit hard perils of the ongoing armed confl icts. Doha Forum would help address some of Green Zone. Security forces closed The continuing turbulence in Libya, the common global challenges, such as two major bridges and roads Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan, terrorism, poverty, unemployment and leading to the area, which houses he said, was taking a heavy toll on their environmental degradation, eff ectively. parliament, government off ices economies and causing extensive loss of Lykketoft said that many occurrences and foreign embassies in central lives. of the past had made the UN fi rmly be- Baghdad. “Security measures Against this backdrop, every coun- lieve that no eff ective and practicable have also been bolstered around try was duty-bound to prevent warring solution to any issue was possible with- the Green Zone and government parties in each war zone from causing out the collective eff orts of diff erent buildings,” a police off icial told DPA. further escalation in their respective countries. Anti-government protesters were territories and outside, he said. No government on its own can solve absent from the area and major Highlighting the need to build ac- such problems, adding that only team- squares in Baghdad yesterday. countable institutions at diff erent lev- work involving more than one player can Page 13 els to ensure sustainable development help the world tide over major crises. across the world, the UN offi cial recalled HE the Minister of Foreign Aff airs the promises made towards that end by Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al- AMERICA | Diplomacy several world leaders at the 2015 United Thani, Mauritius President Ameenah Obama leaves for Nations Climate Change Conference, Gurib-Fakim, Afghanistan President COP 21-CMP 11, in Paris. Ashraf Ghani and Niger President Ma- Vietnam and Japan He sounded optimistic that a forth- hamadou Issoufou were among the Barack Obama yesterday departed HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim and other participants at the opening coming summit in Istanbul would see speakers at the inaugural function. on a trip to Vietnam and Japan ceremony of the Doha Forum. many global leaders turning their aspi- Pages 8 and 11 that will include the first visit to Hiroshima, site of the world’s first nuclear attack, by a sitting US president. In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Obama will stress improving relations with a dynamic Refund and exchange of purchased goods made easier and rapidly emerging country, but one which, for most Americans, remains a by-word for slaughter he Ministry of Economy and to the standards issued by the Qatar with the obligation of the circular and 3) If the consumer buys a product before making a purchase. and folly. In Japan, Obama will Commerce (MEC) has made it General Organisation for Standards and are compelled to refund consumers ac- that doesn’t comply with the terms of Reminding consumers of their role attend a G7 summit and make Tbinding on traders to either ex- Metrology); Third - when the item fails cording to the method of payment. his agreement with the dealer. in protecting their rights, the MEC has history by becoming the first sitting change or refund the cost of an item to meet the purpose that it was pur- The ministry outlines three other In this case, the consumer is entitled urged them to verify the return and ex- US president to visit Hiroshima. returned by a buyer who is dissatisfi ed chased for, or when the trader fails to cases in which consumers are enti- to exchange the product. change policy when making a purchase, with the product for a number of rea- secure a trial/ changing room although tled to request a partial or full refund If the product cannot be exchanged, to ask for an invoice, to keep the prod- sons. the nature of the product requires con- though these cases do not fall under the the dealer has to refund the consumer. uct in its original condition, to check BANGLADESH | Disaster A circular, outlining in detail under sumers to try it before purchasing it. exchange and return policy as defi ned To ensure the compliance of suppli- the product is functional and to negoti- Cyclone leaves which circumstances a consumer can The circular notes that consum- by the Consumer Protection Law. ers and dealers with the offi cial circular, ate with shops any additional terms as exchange products or request a refund, ers are entitled to return and exchange They are: 1) When the supplier ad- the ministry has asked them to clearly part of the exchange and return policy trail of devastation has been issued to traders and they have products without having to prove that vertises that it is selling a product at the display a return and exchange policy and to document these terms on the Cyclone Roanu battered the coast been given two weeks to comply. the goods are defective or overvalued. lowest market price and the consumer in a prominent place at the front of the invoice. of southern Bangladesh yesterday, Under the following circumstances, A consumer may request to return or fi nds that the same product is being shop. If the shopkeepers refuse to abide by forcing half a million people to flee the consumer protection law explicitly exchange an item regardless of his mo- sold at a lower price at another shop. The policy should be written in Ara- this policy, consumers can contact au- their homes and leaving 23 people compels shops to refund or exchange tives such as: regretting spending the In this case, the shop should com- bic (as well as other languages chosen thorities at the Ministry of Economy dead in floods and rain-triggered products: First – if the consumer fi nds amount paid to the shop, dissatisfac- pensate the consumer for the price dif- by the merchant). Shopkeepers should and Commerce through the following landslides. The cyclone damaged that the product is defective or fails to tion with the colour or size of the item, ference. print the exchange and return policy communication channels: Call Center: tens of thousands of mud-and- meet the value or purpose of its intend- fi nding the same item at a lower price at 2) When the dealer commits a viola- on the back of the invoice handed to 16001, e-mail: [email protected], So- tin houses in the impoverished ed use; Second – the non-conformity another shop, or purchasing the item tion such as selling consumers expired consumers and they shall refrain from cial networking accounts: Twitter @ southern districts, with many low- of a product with standard specifi ca- as a gift to someone who is unsatisfi ed food or counterfeit spare parts. posting any documents prohibiting the MEC_QATAR; Instagram MEC_QA- lying villages inundated by a storm tions with the product. In this case, the consumer is entitled return or exchange of products. TAR and the application of the MEC surge that swelled up to 2m high. (for instance, a consumer buys an In all the above cases, the ministry to exchange the defective product or Retail outlets shall also provide a on smart phones, iPhone and Android Page 27 electrical device that fails to conform stressed that shops need to comply request a full refund. space for consumers to try products devices MEC_QATAR New entry and exit law ‘to come into eff ect in mid-December’ he new law regulating the en- He stressed that the new law would ence of representatives from a number Committee, said that Qatar’s popu- partments, public entities and chari- 58% of whom are Qataris and 42% try, exit and residency of expa- abolish the sponsorship system and of ministries, government entities, lation had increased by 23 times ties. These schools accept children of expatriates. Besides, there are 162 Ttriates in Qatar will come into replace it with the job contract system various communities and churches as in around four decades and a half, expatriates who work in the private private schools and 87 private kinder- eff ect in mid-December, a Ministry of in regulating the relationship between well as specialists in expatriate mat- amounting to 2,526,994 people on sector but live in the external areas gartens. Some 172,000 children study Interior (MoI) offi cial has said. an expatriate worker and an employer, ters in the country. March 31 this year. He noted that some and villages where there are no private there and only 18% are Qataris. Addressing the Doha International making penalties stricter for viola- Dr Ibrahim bin Saleh al-Nuaimi, 85% of the country’s population was schools available. Most of the expatriate community Centre for Interfaith Dialogue (Dicid)’s tions by employers. Further, the new chairman of Dicid, stressed that the productive. She said the cost of books and other representatives at the meeting agreed sixth roundtable for expatriate com- legislation abolishes the two-year ban centre had put expatriate community Fawziya al-Khater, director of the educational resources per student that the main challenges facing fami- munities, Captain Abdulla Khalifa al- on expatriates who want to come back issues on top of its priorities since its Education Institute at the Ministry at an independent school amounted lies were high housing rents and lim- Muhannadi from the MoI’s General to the country on a new visa. establishment. He said the discus- of Education and Higher Education, to QR30,000 a year, but expatriate ited availability of free education, in Directorate of Border Passports and Law No 21 of 2015 was issued on Oc- sions were aimed at enhancing com- stressed the country’s keenness to parents paid only QR150. Similarly, addition to a general high cost of liv- Expatriates Aff airs said the ministry tober 27 last year. munity participation, acceptance of provide suitable educational options transportation costs QR8,000 while ing. However, they stressed that fami- would hold a press conference before The Dicid roundtable was held un- the other and a culture of tolerance to all residents. She said independent the parent pays only QR300, it was lies preferred staying in Qatar due to the enforcement of the law to announce der the theme “Expatriate families in and peaceful co-existence. schools admitted children of Qataris observed. an atmosphere of peace and tolerance the executive regulations of the legisla- Qatar: opportunities and challenges”. Sultan Ali al-Kuwari, vice-pres- and other GCC citizens, besides ex- There are 191 independent schools in the country and a high level of se- tion and explain its various articles. The topic was discussed in the pres- ident of the Permanent Population patriates working for government de- in the country with 108,000 students, curity.

Gulf Times 4 Sunday, May 22, 2016 QATAR

Qatar to host meeting of GCC social security panel Third QCS conference starts in Doha today

The State of Qatar, Department in GRSIA Ali in the GCC states in The third Qatar Standardisation Aff airs at used in roads, such as represented by General al-Kuwari said that the addition to the joint Construction Specifications the Ministry of Municipality the limestone or gabbro Retirement and Social upcoming meeting will programmes and projects (QCS) conference will and Environment, Dr building blocks as well Insurance Authority (GRSIA), discuss a number of topics and exchanging successful start today in Doha under Mohamed bin Saif al- as washed sand, used will host the 37th meeting including the progress experiences and expertise. the patronage of HE the Kuwari said in statement to in buildings, noting that of the Standing Technical of applying insurance On the sidelines of the Minister of Municipality and QNA that the conference the conference comes Committee of the GCC protection extension meeting, an awareness Environment Mohamed bin will discuss some of the one year after the entry Civil Retirement and Social system for GCC nationals, meeting will be held to Abdullah al-Rumaihi. requirements of the Qatari of Qatar Construction Security, on May 30-31. the co-ordination between inform the Gulf nationals Assistant Undersecretary standards, especially with Specifications 2014 into Director of Contributors retirement institutions working in Qatar for Laboratories and regard to raw materials practice.

Wayak’s Executive Director Mohamed al-Benali signing the Memorandum of Understanding with PHCC. PHCC signs MoU with Society of Mental Health Friends

QNA primary healthcare strategy Doha (2013), which highlights the need to develop and imple- ment comprehensive mental he Primary Health health services that focus on Care Corporation the needs of the community. T(PHCC) has signed She added that the main a memorandum of under- objective of signing the MoU standing with the Society of was the co-ordination and Mental Health Friends (Way- co-operation between the ak) aiming at implementing two parties in the fi eld of ex- the joint programmes in the changing of experiences and fi eld of mental health aware- information and scientifi c ness. research. The memorandum of Al-Benali said that both understanding (MoU) was sides have mutual goals signed by PHCC’s Execu- based on the delivery of pub- tive Director of Operation lic health services to citizens Department Dr Samya al- and residents, with respect Abdulla, and Wayak’s Ex- to physical or psychological ecutive Director Mohamed health. al-Benali. He added: “We aim to pro- Commenting on the MoU, vide psychological and moral Dr Samya said that the posi- support to the recipients of tive co-operation with Soci- psychological services, de- ety of Mental Health Friends fend them, enhance their comes within the frame- human dignity and raise work of the national strat- awareness in Qatar and the egy for mental health and Arab world”.

Gulf Times 6 Sunday, May 22, 2016 QATAR

QFIS building at the Education City has been recognised by a number of international entities since its opening. QFIS nominated for international architecture award he iconic Qatar Faculty of Is- Designed by Mangera Yvars Archi- are represented in the diverse short- lamic Studies (QFIS) building at tects Ltd, it houses both an academic list. TEducation City has been nomi- facility and a mosque which, with a The award will be offi cially an- nated by the Royal Institute of British capacity of 1,800 people, is one of the nounced in December 2016, and pre- Architects (RIBA) for its inaugural In- largest in Qatar. sented to the architects of the building ternational Prize. “We are absolutely delighted and that is regarded as the most signifi cant The award is open to qualifi ed ar- incredibly honoured to have been se- and inspirational, and which exempli- chitects located anywhere in the lected as a candidate for RIBA’s fi rst fi es design excellence, architectural world, and QFIS, a college of Hamad ever International Prize,” said Jassim ambition and delivers meaningful so- Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and a Telefat, executive director, Capital cial impact. member of Qatar Foundation for Ed- Projects, QF. “This nomination illus- Since its opening, QFIS has been ucation, Science and Community De- trates our ongoing commitment to ex- recognised by a number of interna- velopment (QF), is one of 30 projects cellence in innovation, and highlights tional entities. currently under consideration and our dedication to continuous growth In 2015 it was awarded the best the only Gulf representative. and development in order to serve the building in the category of Religion at Opened in March 2015, the 35,270sq people of Qatar.” the World Architecture Festival and, m university is designed to serve the Entries for the RIBA awards were in the same year, it was the winner higher education needs of Qatar and submitted from 50 countries, and of the MEED Quality Project of the other Islamic societies. projects from more than 20 countries Year. Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 7 QATAR

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani with off icials and graduates of Police College. PM attends Police College graduation ceremony

QNA and to refi ne the skills and Doha experience of the offi cers to perform their work effi cient- ly and eff ectively. E the Prime Min- Speaking for the gradu- ister and Minister ates, Second Lieutenant Hof Interior Sheikh Rashid Hazam Mohamed Abdullah bin Nasser bin al-Marri said that the course Khalifa al-Thani, the Chair- has added a lot to the par- man of Supreme Council ticipants in the fi eld of po- of Police College, has at- lice work, pointing out that tended the graduation of the training is one of the essen- fi rst mandatory qualifying tials of success in any work. course organised by Police At the conclusion of the College for the graduates of ceremony HE the Prime civilian universities. HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani Minister and Minister of In- The batch comprised 36 presenting a certificate to a graduate of Police College. terior handed certifi cates to attendees from the Ministry the graduates. of Interior’s diff erent de- this batch is the nucleus of Commander of the course The ceremony was at- partments, who graduated future courses to be held by First Lieutenant Jassim Ab- tended by a number of the as second lieutenants. the College for graduates of dullah al-Khater said that the Interior Ministry’s senior During the six-month civilian universities who are main objective of the course offi cials and families of the course, attendees received engaged in the fi eld of police is to develop the capabilities graduating offi cers. military, sports and aca- work. He praised the high demic training in addition standards shown by the PM chairs supreme council meeting to making fi eld visits to a graduates. number of the Ministry’s He explained that the departments. course included a start-up HE the Prime Minister and Council of Police College at Commenting on the oc- period for transition from Minister of Interior Sheikh the College headquarters. casion, Director General of civilian life to police life, in Abdullah bin Nasser bin The council discussed topics Police College Brig Dr Mo- addition to academic quali- Khalifa al-Thani chaired the on the agenda and took ap- hamed Abdullah Talib al- fi cation through legal and 4th meeting the Supreme propriate decisions. Mahanna al-Marri said that police materials. Gulf Times 8 Sunday, May 22, 2016 QATAR Emir, PM meet Doha Forum’s participants

QNA Doha

H the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani held Hseparate meetings with a number of participants of the 16th Doha Forum at Doha Shera- ton Hotel yesterday. The Emir met Secretary Gen- eral of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi of Yemen, Af- ghan President Mohamed Ashraf Ghani, President of Mauritius Dr Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, Niger’s President Mahamadou Issou- fou, Foreign Minister of Argen- HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani meeting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and President of Mauritius Dr Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin tina Susana Malcorra, Minister who were in Doha to attend the 6th Doha Forum at Doha Sheraton Hotel yesterday. Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. of Foreign Aff airs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov, Minis- lyn B Maloney, a member of the the 7th Arrondissement of Paris, views issues of common interest. Doha Sheraton Hotel, yesterday. Sanz, Minister of Foreign Aff airs Ki-moon and Afghan President ter of Energy and Mines of the US House of Representatives, and President of the 70th Ses- Separately, HE the Prime The Prime Minister and Minis- of Argentina Susana Mabel Mal- Mohamed Ashraf Ghani. Dominican Republic Antonio Foreign Minister of Costa Rica sion of the UN General Assembly Minister and Minister of Inte- ter of Interior met with Britain’s corra, President of 70th UN Gen- During the meetings, they re- Emilio Conde, Senior Minister Manuel Gonzalez as well as Ra- Mogens Lykketoft. rior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Minister of State for the Middle eral Assembly Session Mogens viewed a number of topics on the of State for Defence and Foreign chida Dati, a former French min- During the meetings, they re- bin Khalifa al-Thani also met a East and North Africa Tobias Ell- Lykketoft, Pakistan’s Minister Forum’s agenda and exchanged Aff airs of Singapore Dr Mo- ister of justice, member the Eu- viewed a number of topics on the number of ministers participat- wood, Minister of Foreign Aff airs of Defence Khawaja Mohamed views on a number of issues of hamed Maliki bin Osman, Caro- ropean parliament and Mayor of Forum’s agenda, and exchanged ing in the 16th Doha Forum, at of Costa Rica Manuel Gonzalez Asif, UN Secretary General Ban common concern. Costa Rica keen to expand ‘trade, tourism ties with Qatar’

By Ramesh Mathew Qatar to attend the Doha Forum vourable industry conditions in Central American country to remarkably good, especially for Staff Reporter which started yesterday. our country,” he said. recognise China and has exten- those wanting to escape from Costa Rica has the best human The Foreign Aff airs Minister sive diplomatic relations with the severe summer of this region development Index of all coun- from the Central American na- the Asian giant. during the period between June atar is the only country tries of Central America and has tion has no doubt that his coun- While mentioning some of the and September”. The minister among the six Gulf Co- diversifi ed its economy consid- try would be one of the most fa- strides made by Qatar to bolster says the maximum temperatures Qoperation Council (GCC) erably in the last two-and-a- vourite tourist destinations for relations with his country, Sanz in Costa Rica during the period states to have an embassy in the half decades. “Earlier, we used to the people of Qatar once they said HH the Father Emir Hamad bin was 27-28 degrees. Costa Rican capital of San Jose, export only four products name- learnt more about his country’s Khalifa al-Thani was the fi rst leader Considering the tourist po- Costa Rican Foreign Aff airs Min- ly coff ee, banana, meat and sug- exotic tourist destinations. from the Arab region to visit Costa tential of Costa Rica, British ister Manuel Antonio Gonzalez ar. Now, we are exporting more “Though fewer people are Rica in 2010. Qatar opened its em- Airways recently started direct Sanz yesterday said. Similarly, than 4,000 products to over 160 travelling to Costa Rica from bassy in San Jose the next year. fl ights connecting London and Costa Rica’s only embassy in the countries across the world,” said the Arab region these days, the Sanz is hopeful that the new San Jose. “Though until now no Gulf region is in Qatar. Sanz while mentioning some of country is receiving a large Qatari ambassador to Costa Rica Gulf carrier is fl ying to Costa Speaking to Gulf Times yes- the strides made by Costa Rica in number of visitors from the Far who took over only a few months Rica, we are hopeful that con- terday, the visiting minister said the last 25 years. East, in particular China and ago would help their country nectivity between this region his country has been making “We are looking forward to many other places of that re- succeed in drawing a number and San Jose would be estab- consistent eff orts to improve its further investments from Qatari gion,” said Sanz. China has in- of visitors in coming years. “We lished soon,” said Sanz. familiarity and visibility among business houses in such sectors vested in a number of projects have beaches, mountains, for- For Sanz, this is his second the people of Qatar ever since as hospitality and tourism,” said and has helped Costa Rica build ests, luxury boats and whatever a visit to Qatar. He had come here Costa Rica set up its embassy in the Costa Rican Foreign minis- many industries as well. tourist would like to savour. Not as his country’s foreign trade Costa Rican Foreign Aff airs Minister Manuel Antonio Gonzalez Sanz. Doha in 2010. The minister is in ter. “There are enormously fa- In fact, Costa Rica was the fi rst over, our weather conditions are minister some 10 years ago. PICTURE: Najeer Feroke

Gulf Times 10 Sunday, May 22, 2016 QATAR Maserati celebrates cultural diversity

aserati Qatar has cel- come from diff erent parts of the is made up of countless nation- ebrated World Day for globe took pride in displaying alities who make Maserati what MCultural Diversity for elements of their cultures in dif- it is.While they are profession- Dialogue and Development. ferent ways. als, they are also ambassadors of The company brought its en- From the sharing of informa- their unique cultures.They each tire team together at an event it tion to food that is exclusive to bring in richness and individu- organised to celebrate diversity, diff erent lands, languages, cus- ality to their roles.This, again, is inclusion, dialogue and develop- toms and diverse cultural prac- something we value. ment, values that the Maserati tices, the employees interacted “So, to have a globally desig- brand “fully supports,” the com- with each other in a spirit of re- nated day that promotes diver- pany said in a statement. spect and recognition of unique- sity and dialogue, awareness and The event took place in the ness. respect is something that we are Maserati showroom at The The “fi rst-of-its-kind” cel- truly happy to engage in.” Pearl-Qatar. ebration saw the enthusiastic Dagher went on to say that “The event recognised that participation of Maserati Qatar’s through this event, Maserati Qatar, with its diverse commu- entire team, which used the op- Qatar has relished the opportu- nity provides a microcosm of the portunity not only to showcase nity to raise awareness about the world. The country possesses their own cultures but also raise importance of intercultural dia- a unique demographic, draw- their level of awareness of the logue, diversity and inclusion. ing in professionals of countless cultures and customs of col- He confi rmed that the brand nationalities who live and work leagues. was committed to building a alongside each other, thereby The Maserati Qatar team also community of individuals fo- off ering a perfect backdrop to exchanged traditional souvenirs cused on supporting diversity promote a globally designated as a memento of the occasion. with real and everyday-life ges- day that celebrates diversity,” the Charly Dagher, general man- tures that will improve under- statement noted. ager of Maserati Qatar at Alfardan standing and promote co-opera- At the event, Maserati Qatar’s Sports Motors, said: “When we tion among people from diff erent community of professionals who look at our global workforce, it cultures. Members of the Maserati Qatar team at the event. Maersk wins Qatarisation award for second year

aersk Oil Qa- tunities, such as MBAs. tar (MOQ) has MOQ has made since Mwon the “Crys- “made fi rm progress, not tal Award for Supporting only reaching, but exceed- Qatarisation” at the an- ing many of its targets with nual Qatarisation Review Qatari nationals making up Meeting of the energy and 30% of the company’s em- industry sector’s Strategic ployees of whom 11% are in Qatarisation Plan. leadership positions,” the With this, the company statement said. has once again been rec- ognised for its continued “We are extremely commitment to supporting proud to receive this the nation’s Qatarisation award as a testament strategy, the company said to our tireless focus in a statement. on Qatarisation and The event was attended in recognition of our by senior industry dignitar- successful eff orts to ies and offi cials, including attract and develop HE the Minister of Energy the leaders and and Industry Dr Mohamed specialists that will bin Saleh al-Sada, Qatar unlock the potential Petroleum (QP) president of Qatar’s national and CEO Saad Sherida al- resources for Kaabi and MOQ deputy generations to come” managing director Sheikh Faisal bin Fahad al-Thani, Moza al-Naimi, head of who accepted the award for Qatarisation at MOQ, said: Maersk Oil Qatar. “Winning this award will “We are extremely proud inspire us to continue to de- to receive this award as a velop and provide the right testament to our tireless fo- programmes, support and cus on Qatarisation and in learning opportunities to recognition of our success- enable employees to reach ful eff orts to attract and de- their career goals while also velop the leaders and spe- supporting those of the cialists that will unlock the country’s Strategic Qatari- potential of Qatar’s nation- sation Plan and Qatar Na- al resources for generations tional Vision 2030.” to come,” Sheikh Faisal said. In addition to the com- In close partnership with pany’s recruitment and QP, MOQ operates the Al development eff orts, MOQ Shaheen fi eld, Qatar’s larg- has implemented a number est off shore oilfi eld devel- of outreach programmes to opment. inspire the next generation In 2014, the company to pursue rewarding careers launched a new Qatarisa- in the energy industry. tion strategy focused not These include working only on attracting Qatari with the education sector to nationals, particularly to promote an understanding off shore roles, but also to of the oil and gas industry develop leadership capac- and to encourage Qatar’s ity via mentoring and be- youth to study STEM (sci- spoke training courses and ence, technology, engi- through the provision of neering and mathematics) further educational oppor- disciplines.

HE Dr Mohamed bin Saleh al-Sada with Saad Sherida al-Kaabi and Sheikh Faisal bin Fahad al-Thani.

15-year jail for drug trade

A Doha Criminal Court yesterday that the court also has sentenced a man to 15 sentenced his accomplice years in jail and imposed to one year in jail and a fine a fine of QR300,000 for of QR10,000 for consuming keeping hashish for trade the illegal drug. Both were and personal consumption. arrested in a sting operation Arabic daily Arrayah reported by authorities. Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 11 QATAR 2016 Honda Civic – stylish and feature-rich

By Joe Koraith control and you won’t miss the Staff Reporter manual shifting. The low NVH levels also keep out the engine noise. It would have been nice if ew and improved. That’s they fi ltered a bit of that into the a term thrown around by cabin. The 2.0-litre variant is Nmanufacturers who make equally good to drive. While you a few cosmetic changes to their lose out a bit on the acceleration, product and then market it as a it’s powerful enough to keep you completely new one. The 2016 entertained. During our drive, Honda Civic, on the other hand, the car reached three fi gures with can defi nitely use that tag line! great ease and when we pushed This 10th edition of the Honda further, the 2.0-litre engine was Civic has undergone a plethora more than eager to extend its legs. of changes as compared to its The ride quality on the Civic predecessor and it’s now ready is excellent. You can attack the to regain its pedestal. roundabouts with no fear of The previous Civic was not understeer. Among other modi- bad to look at but this iteration The interior of the Civic has been completely redesigned and now The 2016 Honda Civic RS is the top trim, identifiable by the black grille and the LED headlamps, comes fi cations, Honda has used high- takes that up to a whole new comes with a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment. with a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine. strength steel to stiff en the body level. The redesigned front fas- by 25%, which aids handling. cia with the sleek headlamps The interior matches the Auto for your mobile connectiv- under the infotainment system. The 2.0-litre engine is available The more powerful RS is defi - You can expect to see a few of and the grille connected by the sportiness shown on the inside ity. These two trims also gets the This comes with a USB and a 12V in the LX and the EX trims. It pro- nitely the one for the enthusiast. them during the track days at the chrome lip, gives it a very sporty and it also comes loaded with Honda LaneWatch, which gives charging port. The Civic also has duces 158hp@6500rpm and 187N- Switch to Sport mode, mash the Losail International Circuit. appearance. From the side the features. The Civic is available in the driver a view of the blindspot a generous 1,378-litre boot. m@4200rpm. The RS comes with pedal to the fl oor and the CVT The 2016 Civic is comprehen- blacked out B and C-pillars and three trims in Qatar – LX, EX and on the right of the car when the And the change continues un- the 1.5-litre turbocharged ver- holds till it hits the 6,000rpm. sively a far more attractive pack- the sloping back continues the RS. The EX and the RS come with indicator stalk is activated. This der the hood. Gone is the 1.8-li- sion, which gives you 22hp more Quite a few signal Grand Prixs can age than its predecessor. Stylish, sporty character. The rear is Honda’s 7-inch touch screen in- is done using a camera on the tre old mill (143hp) and now in its at a lower 6000rpm and 220N-m be won with this Civic. Because better engines and feature-rich – where the major redesigning has fotainment system that was seen right rearview mirror. place you have two new and more of torque across a wide range of it is a CVT, there’s no option to the 10th edition of the Civic looks been done and stylish C-shaped on the Pilot. It comes with Ap- The car has a lot of storage powerful engine options – the 1,700-5,500rpm. Both engines manually change gears. But all set to regain its mantle as every- tail lamps are a head turner. ple Car Play and Google Android spaces including a cubby hole 2.0-litre and the 1.5-litre turbo. come mated to a new gen CVT. you need is a little bit of throttle body’s everyday sporty sedan.

Strong winds, poor visibility Defence Minister visits due to blowing dust US Central Command

trong winds are ex- wind speed reaching 30 The wind speed may QNA US Special Operations Forces, pected across the knots, along with low go up to 35 knots in some Florida during his current visit to the Scountry today along visibility in some areas places during the day. United States of America. with poor visibility due to due to blowing dust, the Off shore areas, too, are During the visit, offi c- blowing dust, the Qatar weather offi ce said in a likely to see dusty condi- E the Minister of State ers at the Central Command Met department has said. tweet yesterday. tions at times. for Defence Aff airs Dr briefed HE al-Attiyah about Off shore areas, too, are The Met department, The wind speed there HKhalid bin Mohamed the history of the Central likely to see strong winds in co-ordination with the may reach a high of 35 al-Attiyah has visited the US Command and its military along with high seas, ac- Ministry of Public Health, knots in some places, Central Command and the capabilities. cording to the weather had earlier issued an ad- with the sea level rising report. visory on how to stay safe to 13ft. FM meets Yemeni counterpart Visibility may drop to in view of the dusty and The maximum tem- 2km or less in some places windy conditions. perature is expected to be HE Minister of Foreign Aff airs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman at times. The forecast for inshore 39C in Doha, Messaied and al-Thani met Yemeni Foreign Minister Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi, on Strong northerly winds areas today says it will be Wakrah today, followed the sidelines of the 16th Doha Forum yesterday. were experienced in dif- hot during the day with by 37C in Al Khor, 34C in Discussions during the meeting dealt with bilateral ties and the ferent parts of the coun- slight to blowing dust at Dukhan and Abu Samra latest developments of the Yemeni peace consultations sponsored try yesterday, with the times. and 32C in Ruwais. by the UN in Kuwait.

Doctor jailed for practising without licence

Doha Criminal Court has awarded a six- Amonth suspended jail sentence to a psychiatrist for practising without a licence, local Arabic daily Arrayah has reported. The defendant - an expa- triate - used to receive clients at her apartment and off er them psychiatric treatment without obtaining the neces- sary licence to practise from the department concerned. Her practice continued for more than fi ve years before offi cials detected it during an inspection campaign by the authorities. The inspectors found a number of medical reports and fi les pertaining to her clients. Upon investigation, it turned out that she had ap- plied for a medical licence more than fi ve years ago. However, she failed to get one as she did not complete the procedures.

Expat gets jail term for bid to steal clothes

Doha Criminal Court has sentenced a Gha- A naian expatriate to three months in jail for trying to steal clothes from a shop, local Arabic daily Arrayah has reported. Footage from surveillance cameras at a local shopping mall showed that the man took six shirts and a pair of trousers from a shop and hid them inside a plastic bag be- fore trying to leave without paying. During the investigation, the defendant admitted to the wrongdoing. The court has also ordered his deportation. Gulf Times 12 Sunday, May 22, 2016 REGION/ARAB WORLD Top director slams Tehran’s treatment of intellectuals

By Andrew McCathie/DPA But while it is the husband, Cannes, France Emad, who seeks revenge for the attack on his wife in The Sales- man, it is the victim of a rape in eading Iranian director As- Paul Verhoeven’s Elle who seeks ghar Farhadi condemned revenge. Lyesterday the treatment of Farhadi said in making his fi lm intellectuals in his country at a he was interested in violence that Cannes Film Festival press con- is somehow justifi ed by the per- ference marking the premiere of petrators. his fi lm about a husband seeking “Like a terrorist, (the husband) revenge for an attack on his wife. believes he entitled to be violent,” Farhadi said after his Oscar- said the 44-year-old Farhadi. winning movie Nader and Simin, “He has also built up the reasons A Separation he “found it easy to to be violent.” make fi lms in Iran, which helped After Rana rules out going the A picture uploaded on the off icial Facebook page of the Egyptian military spokesperson yesterday and taken from an undisclosed location reportedly shows some debris to iron out some of the diffi culties police, Emad launches his own that the search teams found in the sea after the EgyptAir Airbus A320 crashed in the Mediterranean. The military spokesman released pictures of some of the wreckage it fi lmmakers have in the country.” increasingly obsessive probe into recovered so far, including a safety vest and what appeared to be the shredded remains of a seat. This was despite the dim view the assault in a bid to track down that Tehran generally takes of the the attacker, turning the movie way leading Iranian directors are into something of a detective celebrated at major fi lm festivals thriller. around the world, often banning “I think a western man might their award-winning fi lms at have reacted even more violent- home. ly,” said Taraneh Alidoosti, who The authorities’ treatment of plays Rana in the fi lm. “It’s a ta- intellectuals such as poets and boo to invade a woman’s private fellow fi lmmakers “embarrasses sphere. ‘Smoke on board’ me,” Farhadi told the Cannes press Emad “feels like what hap- conference for his fi lm, The Sales- pened to Rana is an assault on man. his own masculinity” and he acts “But,” he said, “when you have “out of love for his wife,” she grown up with these obstacles, said. they become a source of energy,” Farhadi is returning to Cannes adding he would continue to work three years after the screening mostly in Iran. of his movie The Past with The plane before crash Farhadi’s movie is about a Salesman, which includes refer- young couple - Emad and Rana - ences to Arthur Miller’s classic AFP for more parts of the plane and the the Egyptian coast in the early who move into a new apartment Death of a Salesman. Cairo black boxes. hours of Thursday. only to face a dramatic change in In 2012, Farhadi won the Oscar While Egypt’s aviation min- It had turned sharply twice be- their life after she is attacked in for the best foreign language fi lm ister has pointed to terrorism as fore plunging 22,000ft (6,700m) an incident related to a previous with Nader and Simin, A Separa- moke was detected inside more likely than technical failure, and vanishing from radar screens, tenant. tion, which was awarded a series an EgyptAir plane shortly French Foreign Minister Jean- said Greek Defence Minister As was the case with the other of prizes around the world, in- Sbefore it plunged into the Marc Ayrault said yesterday that Panos Kammenos. fi lm that premiered at Cannes cluding the Berlin Film Festival’s Mediterranean with 66 people on nothing was being ruled out. Experts stressed there was not yesterday, Dutch-born director Golden Bear for best picture. board, investigators said yester- “At this time... enough information yet to explain Men on a military dinghy boat remove an object from the sea Paul Verhoeven’s Elle, Farhadi’s Both Farhadi and Elle include day, off ering clues but no answers all theories are being examined the incident. as they recover debris of the EgyptAir jet that crashed in the The Salesman is a tale about re- strong female characters - both about why it crashed. and none is favoured,” he told a “All you can say... is that there Mediterranean Sea, in this still image taken from video yesterday. venge. young and old. The Airbus A320 had been news conference in Paris after was smoke. The smoke could be fl ying from Paris to Cairo early meeting relatives of passengers. due to a fi re in the plane following Thursday when it plummeted and The disaster comes just seven a technical problem, or it could turned full circle before vanishing months after the bombing of a also mean an explosion...but it is from radar screens, without its Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai far too early to formulate hypoth- Yemen reunification anniversary crew sending a distress signal. peninsula in October that killed all eses,” Jean-Pail Troadec, a former Egypt’s military released pic- 224 people on board. BEA director, said. tures of wreckage recovered so The Islamic State group was “The fact that there was no dis- far, including a pink bag decorated quick to claim responsibility for tress call doesn’t necessarily mean with butterfl ies, a life vest, shred- the attack, but there has been no anything,” Troadec said. ded seat covers and mangled de- such claim linked to the EgyptAir “The pilots maybe had other bris showing the EgyptAir name. crash. things to do, reacting to the event. France’s aviation safety agency Relatives of the passengers on Sending a message is not the fi rst said Flight MS804 had transmit- the EgyptAir fl ight gathered at a priority.” ted automated messages indicat- hotel near Cairo airport on Friday Personal belongings and parts ing smoke in the cabin as the dis- after meeting airline offi cials as of the Airbus A320 had been spot- aster unfolded. they struggled to come to terms ted by teams searching the sea While the information may with the catastrophe. off Egypt’s northern coast about help investigators, more wreck- “They haven’t died yet. No one 290km (180 miles) from the city of age including the black boxes will knows. We’re asking for God’s Alexandria, the Egyptian military need to be found before they can mercy,” said a woman in her 50s said. piece together what happened. whose daughter had been on Kammenos said the search “There were ACARS messages board. teams, which include multina- emitted by the plane indicating EgyptAir Holding Company tional aircraft and ships, had that there was smoke in the cabin chairman Safwat Muslim said found “a body part, two seats and shortly before data transmis- yesterday that the priority was one or more items of luggage”. sion broke off ,” a spokesman for fi nding the passengers’ remains The passengers were 30 Egyp- France’s Bureau of Investigations and the fl ight recorders, which tians, 15 French citizens, two Ira- and Analysis said. will stop emitting a signal in a qis, two Canadians, and citizens It was “far too soon to interpret month when the batteries run out. from Algeria, Belgium, Britain, and understand the cause of the “The families want the bod- Chad, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and accident as long as we have not ies. That is what concerns us. The Sudan. found the wreckage or the fl ight army is working on this. They included a boy and two data recorders”, he said. This is what we are focusing babies. ACARS, which stands for Air- on,” he said. Seven crew and three security craft Communications Address- A French patrol boat carrying personnel were also on board. ing and Reporting System, trans- equipment capable of tracing the The European Space Agency A Yemeni man in traditional clothes performs on a horse during a parade in Sanaa yesterday, on the eve of the 26th anniversary mits short messages between plane’s black boxes was expected said one of its satellites had on of Yemen’s 1990 reunification. Southern Yemen united with the North Yemen (Yemen Arab Republic) on May 22, 1990, to form the aircraft and ground stations. today or tomorrow. Thursday spotted an oil slick present-day Yemen. After four years, South Yemen declared its secession from the north, which resulted in the north occupying Search teams were scouring the The plane disappeared between about 40km southeast of the south Yemen and the 1994 civil war. eastern Mediterranean yesterday the Greek island of Karpathos and plane’s last known location.

Lebanese charity ‘unfairly hit’ by US anti-Hezbollah law A Lebanese charity network ties to Iran. He died in 2010. run by a Shia cleric said it had Sayyed Ali Fadlallah, his son, been unfairly caught up in declined to say which bank new US financial sanctions or banks had frozen the against Hezbollah, accusing accounts. Lebanese banks of applying “The foundation’s name was the restrictions too widely. not mentioned in this law... The US act passed in what is happening now are December threatens to precautionary measures punish any organisation taken by some institutions providing significant that are dealing with this finance to Lebanese Shia matter far removed from the group Hezbollah, deemed accuracy required to ensure a terrorist organisation by no one is done an injustice,” Washington. The Mabarrat Fadlallah told Reuters in an foundation said that some interview on Friday. Lebanese banks, scared of The foundation generates risking international isolation, funding through individual had frozen some of its donations and a network accounts, even though it had of businesses including no political aff iliation. hotels, restaurants and The foundation was petrol stations. “We felt established by the late Grand from our meeting with Ayatollah Sayyed Mohamed some of the banks that they Hussein Fadlallah, a top Shia are afraid and wanted to authority who was an early take precautions that were mentor to Hezbollah but later greater than necessary,” said distanced himself from its Fadlallah. Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 13 REGION/ARAB WORLD OIC rejects E Jerusalem displayed at UN as Jewish capital

QNA Ki-moon that displaying such a (KUNA) reported. Court of Justice, the principal “Israel’s status in that Terri- integral part of the Occupied Pal- in its letter for the appropriate New York portrait, especially at the United “Both the Security Council and judicial organ of the United Na- tory remains that of an occupying estinian Territory. measures to be taken as soon as Nations, is “legally, politically and General Assembly have rejected tions has reaffi rmed the illegality Power with specifi c obligations The OIC protest the exhibit possible for the removal of the morally wrong”. Israel’s illegal annexation of East of all such Israeli measures in this towards the people and proper- for “misleading and inappropri- aforementioned panel, which is he Organisation of Islamic Al-Otaibi stressed that such Jerusalem via extension of its so- regard as well as the status of the ties under occupation as per the ate depictions of Jerusalem at the an aff ront to the member states of Co-operation (OIC) has ex- act directly challenges the inter- called “Basic Law” in 1980 and Palestinian territory, including Fourth Geneva Convention, and United Nations,” and expressed the OIC, the State of Palestine in- Tpressed its strong rejection national legal principle prohibit- have condemned all policies and East Jerusalem, as occupied,” he other relevant rules of interna- that this display should not be cluded, and the majority of other of, and opposition to, the panel ing the acquisition of territory by practices by Israel, the occupy- added. tional law and relevant United Na- permitted anywhere on United member states who respect inter- display held at the UN depicting force and numerous United Na- ing Power, that deem to alter the Kuwait’s representative called tions resolutions,” he confi rmed in Nations premises. national law, the applicable rules Occupied East Jerusalem as “The tions Security Council and Gen- demographic composition, char- on the international community the letter. With Israel’s disrespect of in- and legislation regarding this on- Spiritual and Physical Capital of eral Assembly resolutions, which acter and status of the Occupied to reiterate that it is axiomatic that Therefore, al-Otaibi represent- ternational law, especially Se- going tragic confl ict. the Jewish People”. have determined clearly that East Palestinian Territory, including Israel’s occupation of East Jerusa- ing the OIC, added that the act curity Council Resolution 478 of The Palestinian representation On behalf of the OIC, Kuwait’s Jerusalem, the rest of the Pales- East Jerusalem, and deemed them lem and the rest of the Palestinian of allowing the display of such a 1980, which does not recognise at the UN also voiced in a separate Permanent Representative to tinian territory and other Arabs to be null and void in accordance territory is illegal and inherently panel abrogates the obligations its annexation of East Jerusalem, letter, its strong objection to such the UN Ambassador Mansour lands occupied by Israel in June with international law, including temporary and does not in any and responsibilities of the United al-Otaibi affi rmed that such act an exhibit of misleading and inap- Ayyad al-Otaibi, the OIC Chair, 1967 remain occupied and in no in particular international hu- way lend the occupying power Nations, which has emphasised at should be rejected, not tolerated propriate depiction of Jerusalem, reaffi rmed in a letter addressed way is Israel sovereign over these manitarian law,” he wrote. sovereignty or title over the occu- various junctures, as noted above, or appeased. which negates the Palestinian ex- to the UN Secretary General Ban territories, Kuwait News Agency “Moreover, the International pied territory. that East Jerusalem remains an The OIC respectfully requested istence in the City.

Supporters of Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr follow the cars carrying the coff ins of two anti-government Members of the Iraqi security forces take their positions along a road during an intensive security deployment at Tahrir Square in Baghdad protesters, who were killed the day before during clashes with the security forces guarding the heavily- yesterday. fortified Green Zone compound, during their funeral yesterday in Baghdad. Iraq forces killed at least two protesters

AFP of the deceased accused the state of stormed parliament. push through reforms aimed at curb- Baghdad using excessive force. Security and medical offi cials also ing corruption and spending since he “Peaceful protesters were exposed said at least 57 people were wounded took the country’s top job in 2014. to the fi re of live and rubber bullets in Friday’s unrest, during which forc- His latest plan was to replace the raqi forces killed at least two pro- and teargas,” said the man, who gave es also used water cannons and sound current government of party-affi li- testers while defending Baghdad’s his name as Abu Mohamed. bombs against protesters, some of ated ministers with a cabinet of tech- IGreen Zone, offi cials said yester- Friday saw the worst eruption of whom threw rocks and other debris. nocrats. day, as the troubled country’s leaders violence since Sadr, the scion of an Security forces also fi red live But he has faced resistance from warned against further escalation. infl uential clerical family from Najaf, rounds during the demonstration, key players, including within his own The two supporters of Moqtada ordered his many followers to take to mostly into the air, but offi cials said at party, who are reluctant to give on a al-Sadr were the fi rst casualties of the streets to demand reforms. least two protesters had died of bullet system of patronage that is the very the months-old protest movement His supporters confronted the se- wounds. source of their power. started by the young cleric to push for curity forces and broke into the Green Abadi reacted to the latest breach Sadr ostensibly supports Abadi’s political change. Zone, a sprawling fortifi ed district in by saying that “storming state insti- reform but every security breach in They were interred in the holy city central Baghdad that hosts most of tutions... the Green Zone has made the premier of Najaf, which is home to the world’s the country’s top institutions. cannot be accepted”, but added look weaker and infuriated rival Shia largest cemetery where millions of A small group managed to storm that he supports the “demands of the groups. people from Iraq’s Shia majority are Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s of- peaceful protesters”. Parliament has failed to reconvene buried. fi ce. They quickly pulled out. Sadr vowed on Friday that “peace- since protesters stormed it late last “The victims were buried...in Wadi The protesters faced a barrage ful protests” would continue, warn- month. al-Salam (Valley of Peace) cemetery,” of teargas fire and generally stiff- ing that “the revolution will take an- A session had been slated for this said Sheikh Imad al-Kaabi, an offi cial er resistance than three weeks other form” if there are attempts to coming Thursday but Friday’s fresh in the Sadr Movement. earlier, when they broke into the block them. breach raises questions over where to During the funeral, a relative of one Green Zone for the first time and Abadi has made several attempts to hold it. Yemeni govt to give peace talks ‘last chance’

Reuters said on Saturday, four days sour Hadi and its Iran-allied saying it would only return that the government delega- Cairo after the delegation sus- Houthi rebel foes have been if its opponents committed tion would give the talks “a pended participation in the meeting for nearly a month to withdraw from cities they last chance” after President emen’s government process aimed at ending the in Kuwait for talks to ease a have seized since 2014 and Hadi held meetings with the will give UN-spon- year-long war. war that has killed more than hand over weapons. emirs of Qatar and Kuwait, as Ysored peace talks in Representatives from the 6,200 people. Yemeni Foreign Minister well as UN Secretary General Kuwait a “last chance”, the Saudi-backed government of The government withdrew Abdel-Malek al-Mekhlafi Ban Ki-moon. country’s foreign minister President Abd-Rabbu Man- from the talks on Tuesday, wrote on Twitter yesterday The talks are focused on government demands for the Houthis to hand over their weapons and quit cap- tured cities, as well as the formation of a new govern- ment that would include the rebels. The government is cur- rently based in the southern Yemeni port of Aden, while the Houthis retain control of the capital Sanaa. The peace talks began last month after a tenta- tive ceasefi re which reduced clashes in the country. Israel forces fire at Gaza farmers and fishermen Israeli forces yesterday opened fire on Palestinian farmers, shepherds and fishermen in two areas in the southern Gaza Strip, witnesses said. Israeli forces deployed east of the town of al-Qarara in the southern district of Khan Yunis opened fire at farmers and shepherds in the area, witnesses told Palestinian news agency (Ma’an). According to locals, the Israeli forces also opened fire at fishermen in their boats off the coast of Gaza City. No injuries were reported. Gulf Times 14 Sunday, May 22, 2016 ARAB WORLD Tripoli cafes off er Libyans taste of normality

AFP that could provide everything I unity government has gradually costs, late wages and a recent li- Libyans drink the stuff “You need to have courage,” cafes, hours spent on Facebook, Tripoli need, I’d risk waiting a very long asserted its authority in the cap- quidity shortage. “morning, noon and night,” ac- he says in his coff ee shop, which or both at the same time.” time,” the 46-year-old tells AFP. ital, Tripoli residents have grown Entrepreneurs hope the unity cording to Mohamad Aguili, who each afternoon is fl anked by sev- Hind, 25, says the capital’s “It’s only thanks to the people used to fending for themselves. government can calm some of two months ago opened his Har- eral chrome motorcycles that cafes and restaurants are a good eaving between tables that life goes on.” It is in keeping with Tripoli- the chaos befalling Libya, par- ley Davidson Cafe on Tripoli’s give the spot its name. “You have way of giving them “the feeling” at a seaside restau- The North African nation tans’ do-it-yourself spirit that ticularly security in a country western fringe. to throw yourself out there. Then of a social life. “If they are open Wrant in Libya’s capital has been mired in unrest since Twigiri created Toucan. that is increasingly a haven for Coff ee is often imported from it’s make or break.” then everything is fi ne. Even bearing freshly baked rosemary the 2011 Nato-backed ouster “There are enough people in extremists including the Islamic former colonial power Italy In the family section of Cafe during bombings or economic bread, Abdelmuttaleb Twigiri of longtime dictator Muammar distress,” he says. “But now we State group. along with clean, modern ma- Veranda, a renowned patisse- crises, people will always drink shuttles between the wood-fi red Gaddafi , with militants fi ghting want to live.” “Once people feel safe, they chines with which to make it. rie which despite the odds has coff ee.” oven and his customers in a blur for power and a piece of Libya’s His establishment is one of invest,” explains Abdelqader In straitened times such as maintained its reputation after For Twigiri, whose restau- of hospitality. vast oil reserves. several cafes and restaurants al-Kanuni, president of a local these, import costs could impair its Italian chef fl ed in 2011, im- rant looks out over date palms It’s the opening night of his A militia alliance swept into to spring up in the past three charitable fund. Libyans’ coff ee intake, but Aguili maculately manicured cousins planted to replace a wall built by brainchild Toucan, a Mediterra- the capital in August 2014, set- months along a 15-km stretch of Tripoli remains dogged by says there are still cafes to suit Hind, Mira and Lamaan struggle Gaddafi ’s sons to block access to nean “fusion” eatery that Twi- ting up its own parliament and road linking several neighbour- sporadic violence but even a every pocket. to make themselves heard above the beach, Tripoli’s cafe culture giri hopes will give residents of forcing the internationally rec- hoods in western Tripoli. near-total breakdown of daily Nevertheless, he is fully the hubbub. is a symbol of a people unbowed once-bustling Tripoli a rare taste ognised administration to fl ee to They are braving an economic routine has failed to sap one pas- aware of the economic and “Pastimes are limited” in by turmoil. of normality amid political chaos. the remote east. crisis marked by a dramatic cut sion all of its residents agree on: security risks involved in the Tripoli, says Mira, a 23-year-old “Tripolitans bend - they don’t “If I think of a government Although a new, UN-backed in oil revenues, spiralling living a love of coff ee. business. pharmacy student. “There are break,” he says. 60,000 dead in Syria govt jails: monitor AFP famous Saydnaya prison as well as 500,000 people since Syria’s confl ict Beirut detention centres run by Syria’s no- erupted in 2011. torious air force intelligence and state While some have been released and security forces. others died, the whereabouts of thou- t least 60,000 people have died Thousands of prisoners are held in sands of detainees remain unknown. in Syrian government prisons the military-run Saydnaya prison, one Abdel Rahman also said that “sev- Aover the past fi ve years from of the country’s largest detention cen- eral thousand people” have died torture or due to dire humanitarian tre located 30km (18 miles) north of while being held by rebel groups and conditions, including a lack of food, a Damascus. militant factions like the Islamic monitor said yesterday. Rights groups have accused Syria’s State group. Smoke rises after civil defence members safely detonate cluster bombs inside a field in al-Tmanah town in southern Idlib The head of the Syrian Observa- government of systematically using In early 2014, a regime defector countryside, Syria yesterday. tory for Human Rights monitoring torture and inhumane practices in its calling himself “Caesar” smuggled group, Rami Abdel Rahman, said he detention centres. out of Syria some 55,000 photo- compiled the toll from regime sourc- A UN probe in February accused the graphs depicting the tortured and es. Syrian government of a policy of “ex- abused bodies of around 11,000 peo- “Since March 2011, at least 60,000 termination” in its jails. ple who had reportedly died in Syrian people lost their lives to torture or to The Britain-based Observatory says jails during the first two years of the horrible conditions, notably the lack it has compiled a list of 14,456 names - conflict. of medication or food, in regime de- including 110 children - who have died Earlier this month, the UN spe- tention centres,” Abdel Rahman said. in regime prisons. cial envoy to Syria Staff an de Mis- He said the highest number of According to Abdel Rahman, gov- tura named Eva Svoboda to oversee deaths had been recorded in the in- ernment forces have arrested a total of progress on the issue of detainees. Displaced child brides face bleak future in Iraq

Thomson Reuters Foundation in Iraq is 18 - 15 years with parental ferent camp or town, adding a fresh Erbil, Iraq consent - UN statistics show that al- trauma to her experience, rights most one in fi ve women marry before experts say. they are 18. Early marriage not only deprives n the photo that Aziza produces on Aid workers in refugee and IDP girls of education and opportuni- her mobile phone, her 14-year-old camps who have seen an increase in ties but increases the risk of death or Idaughter Layla is wearing a pink child marriage say many parents hope childbirth injuries if they have babies satin dress and smiling meekly at the that their daughters will be better pro- before their bodies are ready. camera. tected against assault or sexual vio- “(Sometimes) she cannot breast “This was her engagement party,” lence if they are married. feed and doesn’t know how to connect said 35-year-old Aziza. “(Her fi- Others are desperate to fend off with the baby so other family members ance) was 22 years old. His family poverty and see the bride price or have to (take care of the baby) and this came to us at various times to ask for dowry as a way of getting money creates much tension inside the fam- our daughter. The third time we ac- which may benefit other members of ily,” Mohamed said. cepted.” the family. “(The girl’s) status as a mother and At fi rst Aziza and the young man’s A lack of education is another push as a wife is compromised. She feels parents struggled to convince the two factor. In Iraq, girls stay in school only like a failure and doesn’t know why to accept the arrangement but when until the age of 10 on average, accord- she cannot do what she’s supposed they did, the wedding preparations ing to the Save the Children. to do.” were quick to get underway. Child brides are also often disem- It was not the fi rst time Layla had “I refused in Mosul because I powered and at greater risk of domes- received a suitor. Her parents had didn’t want her to get married tic and sexual violence and HIV, cam- turned down many off ers of marriage until aft er school. Here in paigners say. back in Mosul, the family’s home town the camp she was pushed to For Abdul Wahed, a psychologist before they fl ed a campaign by Islamic accept” with the aid agency Terre des Hom- State to capture Iraq’s second biggest mes, child marriages are often seen city in 2014. “Before (the confl ict) they had a fu- by Iraqis as a cultural rite of pas- Since then, Aziza, her husband ture ... now they have to get married sage. and six children have found shelter as young as 12 because their fathers “When we ask them why they mar- in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region, think that if they get married they’ll ried their child off they say, ‘Because some of the 1mn Iraqis (IDPs) liv- be safe,” Rezhna Mohamed, direc- we’re used to it, we were also married ing in camps for people displaced by tor of psychological services for local at that age’,” Wahed said. conflict. charity SEED, told the Thomson Reu- For Layla, now 16, the threat of “I refused in Mosul because I didn’t ters Foundation. moving out of the familial tent never want her to get married until af- The lack of privacy in camps, in- materialized. In a change of heart, ter school. Here in the camp she was cluding the sharing of latrines and Aziza and her husband called their pushed to accept,” Aziza said. showers means women and girls are daughter’s engagement off . The names of both mother and exposed to men who do not belong to “At the start my husband was pres- daughter have been changed to protect their familial circle. sured into it and accepted, but after their identity for fear of repercussions “They want the women to be pro- the engagement he had a pain in his within their community. tected - moral and social protection. heart,” Aziza said. Child brides are not unusual in Iraq They say that marriage is protec- Since the engagement was broken - Aziza herself was 16 when she mar- tion,” Mohamed said, adding: “For off a number of men have come to ried Layla’s father - but uncertainty displaced Iraqis the economic rea- Aziza’s tent to ask for Layla’s hand in about the future in a country torn sons are the most impacting - they marriage. One man recently off ered apart by violence and economic hard left with nothing, not even their the family $4,000 in exchange for the times has made early marriage more IDs.” teenager, but was refused. Issued in Public Interest by common. By allowing a daughter to marry, “I’ve promised myself that she Worldwide, more than 700mn parents entrust their parental respon- won’t marry until she fi nishes school,” women were married before their sibilities to the groom and his family, Aziza said. 18th birthday, according to a 2014 who are obliged to accept the new wife “Education is important, I didn’t Unicef report. More than one in three into their household. get an education, at least I can help of them were married before the age However, this often isolates her my daughters get one. I want them to of 15. from family and friends, particu- fi nish school and become engineers or While the minimum age of marriage larly if the husband lives in a dif- doctors,” she smiled proudly. Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 15 AFRICA Good governance South Africa to speed up land redistribution

Reuters hit investment and production at a The party has said it will speed up Kruger National Park time when South Africa is emerging the process with a bill going through from a major drought - pointing to parliament allowing the state to ex- the economic damage linked to farm propriate land without the owner’s outh Africa’s government is seizures in neighbouring Zimbabwe. consent. planning to impose limits on They have also complained about a Several black communities had Sfarm sizes to free up parcels of lack of clarity on how it will all work. land claims on the 2mn hectare land to hand over to blacks, a minister Setting out the farm size limits and Kruger Park because they were re- said yesterday, giving an insight into specifi cally linking them to the redis- moved after the Native Land Act of the workings of a divisive redistribu- tribution scheme may further alarm 1913, which consigned South Africa’s tion scheme. owners, particularly of smaller plots. black majority to 13% of the country’s Gugile Nkwinti, the minister of ru- But the government says the redis- territory. ral development and land reform, told tribution process needs to be acceler- But the government wants to keep Opposition supporters gesture during a peaceful march in Bamako yesterday to protest against “bad governance” and Reuters the government was plan- ated, to rectify past wrongs and pro- the Kruger, a major tourist draw and corruption in Mali. ning to set a range of limits - from a vide opportunities to the previously home to many animal species, intact, 1,000-hectare “small-scale” farm, excluded, and has repeatedly said it so its policy is to compensate those up to the largest allowed, at 12,000 will stick to the law and not follow with claims on it through cash in- hectares. Zimbabwe’s example. stead of allowing them to resettle in “If you are a small-scale farm and “In South Africa you have a con- the park’s boundaries. have 1,400 HA, we will buy the 400, centration of land ownership in the Perry Sambo, a 63-year-old school and leave you with your 1,000. hands of a few people. That is some- teacher who is one of the claimants We will buy the extra and redistrib- thing we have to correct,” Nkwinti being paid, said his parents had been ute it to black people,” the minister said before a ceremony in Kruger removed from Kruger before he was Donors urge Somalia to born. said. National Park where President South Africa’s ruling African Na- Jacob Zuma handed over 84mn rand “It was very diffi cult. Transport tional Congress (ANC), facing local ($5.4mn) in compensation to black was very scarce and they did not get elections in August, has promised to communities evicted decades ago. any assistance in what they wanted to speed up plans to redistribute land Experts estimate about 8mn hec- carry.” he told Reuters. speed up vote process “And some of their belongs they which remains predominantly in tares of farmland have been trans- white hands two decades after the ferred to black owners since the end had to leave because they could not By Edmund Blair, Reuters outgoing parliament falls short of one- had urged Somali offi cials to approve end of apartheid. of apartheid, 8% to 10 % of the land in carry everything. They lost also cat- Nairobi person-one-vote, which diplomats say the process “as soon as possible.” Some economists and farming white hands in 1994 and only a third of tle on the way that were eaten by li- would be too tough to stage because of Privately, diplomats have said the groups have said the proposals could the ANC’s long-running 30% target. ons.” the insurgency. election process might slip by a few he UN Security Council and But the process will expand the weeks, but it must maintain momen- Western donors have urged So- number of people picking the lawmak- tum because any political vacuum could Tanzanian president Tmalia’s parliament to speed up ers. be exploited by Shebaab Islamists or fi res drunk minister approval of new election rules to ensure In 2012, just 135 elders selected mem- clan warlords who tore the nation apart an August vote is held on time, say- bers of the lower house. in the 1990s. Tanzanian President John ing delays put recovery from confl ict at Under the new rules, 13,750 people President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Magufuli has fired his interior Burundi talks risk. from across federal states will chose 275 who was elected in 2012, is expected to minister for turning up in par- Somalia, slowly rebuilding after dec- members of the lower house. run again. liament allegedly the worse ades of violence and still battling an Is- A new 54-seat upper house will also Several corruption scandals have for wear for drink, Prime lamist insurgency, is due to elect a new be created to represent the states. frustrated donors. Minister Kassim Majaliwa said parliament, whose members will in turn The European Union, another major Offi cials say they have worked hard to yesterday. resume sans pick the president. donor, said a parliamentary failure to respond to criticisms. “The president has revoked “The United States is increasingly act quickly “will jeopardise the Somali The new election process aims to the appointment of Home concerned about delays in the 2016 political process and set Somalia several consolidate a federal structure, which Aff airs Minister Charles Kit- Somali electoral process,” the US State years back.” includes recently created regional wanga following reports that Department said on Friday, adding the A delegation UN Security Coun- states in a nation where politics is still he was drunk in parliament largely driven by clan loyalties. the opposition “legitimacy of Somali federal institu- cil diplomats echoed the comments in and failed to respond properly tions” depended on a transparent and talks with Somali leaders in Mogadishu But the government of Somaliland, a to questions,” Majaliwa told timely transition. this week. self-declared independent state in the state-owned Tanzania Broad- AFP jamin Mkapa, who has been tasked It urged parliament “to act swiftly” to Egypt’s UN ambassador, Abdellat- north, will not take part in the election casting corporation (TBC). Arusha, Tanzania with mediating the talks, said he enact the new rules. tif Aboulatta, told a news conference process although seats will be allocated “Ministers and other civil would use the next fi ve days “to un- The process to be approved by the in Nairobi on Friday that the delegation on its behalf, diplomats and offi cials say. servants must always display derstand the core of the crisis” and to utmost integrity,” Majaliwa eace talks aimed at solving set out a calendar for future meetings, said. Burundi’s year-long crisis re- participants told AFP. The occasion Kitwanga had Psumed yesterday in Tanzania, Despite its exclusion from this transgressed was not clear but with the opposition barred from round of talks, Mkapa is confi dent but his demise is in keeping the meeting, there was little hope it CNARED will be invited to future with Magufuli’s “bulldozer” would help strike a deal. meetings, a Western diplomat in Aru- Former militants call for an reputation. The talks in the northern town of sha said on condition of anonymity. The head of state has since Arusha brought together Burundian “We are conscious that it is a prob- taking off ice last October government offi cials, diplomats and lem that should be solved by the Bu- notably scrapped a number civil society representatives. rundians themselves,” Mkapa said at of ministerial foreign visits he But key opposition umbrella group the start of the talks yesterday. end to Niger Delta attacks deemed unnecessary and also CNARED was not invited. “My plan is to give all the parties cracked down on government the chance to present their views on entertainment budgets. “We are conscious that it is a Burundi’s future,” he added. Reuters region, made the call in a statement late current resurgence of militancy is an Magafuli also annulled last problem that should be solved The mediator is expected to hold Yenagoa, Nigeria on Friday. unnecessary distraction to the current December’s annual festivities by the Burundians themselves. separate meetings with each side rep- Buhari had said on Friday he had administration.” to mark independence, a tradi- My plan is to give all the parties resented in Arusha, starting with the heightened the military presence in Nigeria, which relies on oil sales tionally sumptuous aff air, say- the chance to present their government delegation. ormer militants have called for a the region where attacks in the last for 70% of national income, is going ing it would be “shameful” to views on Burundi’s future” “I am really worried by the danger- halt to a resurgence of attacks on few weeks - mostly claimed by a group through its worst economic crisis in spend money on a party in the ous situation in Burundi, especially Foil and gas facilities in Nigeria’s calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers - decades caused by low crude prices. wake of a cholera outbreak The Burundian government refuses with regards to assassinations and Niger Delta, saying it is an unnecessary have driven the country’s oil output to a Former members of MEND, many which killed dozens. to sit with key opponents whom it ac- other acts of violence,” Mkapa said. distraction for President Muhammadu more than 20-year low. of whom secured lucrative contracts The no-nonsense Magufuli cuses of involvement in a failed May Hundreds have been killed and a Buhari’s administration. “We should give President Buhari to protect pipelines under an am- has also been probing stories 2015 coup and of months of violence quarter of a mn people have fl ed Bu- The defunct Movement for the the opportunity to fulfi l his promises nesty agreement, are influential, al- of phantom civil servants with including grenade and rocket attacks. rundi since President Pierre Nkurun- Emancipation of the Niger Delta to the Niger Delta people by maintain- though whether this extends to those a bloated public sector fuel- Talks are expected to continue in ziza’s controversial decision in April (MEND), a group of former militants ing peace in the region,” former MEND responsible for the recent attacks is ling widespread payroll fraud. Arusha until May 24. 2015 to run for a third term, a vote he who previously targeted the oil-rich members said in the statement. “The not clear. Former Tanzanian president Ben- won amid opposition boycotts in July. Boko Haram refugees in Niger feel ‘abandoned’

By Boureima Hama, AFP its occupants who live with just (OCHA) has blamed a lack of tion and that of others like her. Assaga, Niger basic medical care and schooling. funds for the shortages. Several charities have warned The UN emergency relief co- Of the $316mn needed to fi - that tough security measures im- ordinator Stephen O’Brien, nance humanitarian eff orts in posed by Niger’s authorities in its ake us away from this hell,” who visited the camp last week, Niger just under a quarter has battle against Boko Haram have said Boussam, a mother warned that the raging confl ict been raised, according to the hampered the fl ow of food aid to Tof seven cradling skeletal has “catastrophically exacer- agency. Assaga. goats in Niger’s Assaga camp, bated” the vulnerability of the O’Brien has promised to raise Markets have been closed, the where thousands of desperate region’s refugees, displacing funds at the World Humanitar- fi sh and pepper trades suspend- refugees fl eeing Boko Haram Is- people already dogged by chronic ian Summit in Istanbul, starting ed and whole areas evacuated, lamist insurgents are living in food insecurity. tomorrow. placing a major toll on the area’s hunger. Anger is rising in the camp that And despite receiving a warm economy, already under strain She spoke to AFP in the south more is not being done to help welcome from children in the from chronic shortages. eastern camp near the border them. camp, O’Brien and the UN have Abdou Kaza, the region’s mili- with Nigeria where some 6,000 “I think that everyone has not yet eased the daily grind of tary governor, insists the meas- people are crammed in UN tents abandoned us,” said Ibrahim, a life in Assaga. ures are necessary to cut off in baking sun after being dis- refugee in his fi fties. “I am ashamed not to be able funds destined for the insurgents placed by the violence. Niger’s humanitarian aff airs to feed my family properly,” said and will only be temporary. The size of the camp has swol- minister Lawan Magadji, who Elhaj Moustapha, a once wealthy But according to the UN, re- len quickly since people began to accompanied O’Brien on his pepper grower forced into exile storing normality to the region arrive from mid 2015, having fl ed visit to the region, accepts that by the violence. will be a herculean task. attacks that have engulfed the not enough aid has reached the Mariam, a Nigerian refugee Some 9.2mn people in the Lake region as Boko Haram seeks to camp. living in the camp, accosted Chad basin that straddles Niger, carve out a hardline Islamist state “There is not enough food. O’Brien in person to complain Nigeria and Chad are in need in the north east of neighbouring Distribution operations are about conditions in the camp. of food aid as the Boko Haram Nigeria. based on the neediest house- “It has been four months since insurgency, launched in 2009 Conditions in the camp have holds,” he said. we last received food aid,” she and responsible for as many as deteriorated in recent months as The UN Offi ce for the Coordi- said But an infl ux of cash may not 20,000 deaths, continues una- food aid has struggled to reach nation of Humanitarian Aff airs be enough to improve her situa- bated. A child walks inside the Assaga refugee camp near Diff a in southeast Niger. Gulf Times 16 Sunday, May 22, 2016 AMERICAS Canada blaze brings black bears to town By Eric M Johnson, Reuters Scorched lands have some evacuation orders lifted Calgary Authorities in Canada’s wildfire-ravaged more than 500,000 hectares since it energy heartland have lifted evacua- began earlier this month. vacuees returning to the charred tion orders on Suncor Energy Inc and The fire also triggered a prolonged Canadian oil sands city of Fort Syncrude oil sites after rain and cold shutdown that has cut Canadian oil EMcMurray next month may have weather helped dampen the flames. output by 1mn barrels a day. to contend with black bears who have Municipal authorities in the oil town The blaze forced the evacuation of been prowling the streets in search of of Fort McMurray lifted the mandatory Suncor and Syncrude facilities after it food. evacuation orders on Suncor’s base jumped a critical firebreak last Monday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves to supporters at a fundraiser in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Black bears have wandered into the plant and Syncrude’s Mildred Lake facil- moving north of Fort McMurray into oil town in greater numbers since a wild- ity, as well as nearby camps that house sand camp areas. Some 8,000 workers fi re forced some 90,000 residents from oil workers, late on Friday. were evacuated. Producers have since the area earlier this month, leaving be- Meanwhile, Suncor said on Facebook signalled a gradual increase in operations. hind trash cans, dumpsters, and even that a limited crew will be back at some The fire did not grow overnight, and thawing freezers rife with food, au- of its sites tomorrow at the earliest. remained at the same size yesterday Moving to Canada: Trump thorities said. Syncrude, majority-owned by Suncor, morning and has not had additional im- “They are smart and adaptive. They has not publicly announced a remobili- pact on oil facilities, said Alberta wildfire can smell food from miles away,” said zation timeline, and it is not immediately information off icer Laura Stewart. Brendan Cox, a spokesman for the clear when either company will restart Some of the evacuees from Fort province’s fi sh and wildlife enforce- production. McMurray may be allowed to return as fuels US relocation dreams ment branch.”Just as you and I go to Fort McMurray itself still sits largely soon as June 1, if air quality improves the nearby grocery store, or our favorite empty, after its entire population of and other safety conditions are met. restaurant, the bears continue to return nearly 90,000 was evacuated in the Suncor and Syncrude did not immedi- By Jennie Matthew, AFP “The Donald Trump campaign are ongoing, says digital marketing to a particular food source.” northern Alberta fire that has blackened ately respond to requests for comment. New York for president has provided us with offi cer Brenden Sherratt. The blaze, which has since swelled an opportunity to make something Canada has tightened immigration to more 500,000 hectares, destroyed positive,” he told AFP. “But ultimately procedures for many categories of neighbourhoods, cut basic services, lar situation emerged after Canada’s two of which they released back into onald Trump’s infl ammatory Maple Match itself is not political. people, although it has been liberal in and heaped anxiety on a community 2011 Slave Lake blaze, when a local fi re the wild, and two which they eutha- presidential campaign and the It’s about bringing Americans and accepting Syrian refugees. already reeling from a two-year slump crew noted in an online journal entry nised, Cox said. Dprospect of the brash-talk- Canadians together.” Americans opposed to Trump in global crude prices. that the torched forest and tantalizing “Offi cers feel the same distaste as ing tycoon actually becoming com- After Cape Breton Island, off the hardly meet the UN defi nition of a Adding to residents’ concerns, the garbage “had lured the bears into the members of the public feel for putting mander-in-chief has left progressive tip of Nova Scotia, off ered a refuge refugee, Katz warned. city is nestled among prime bear habi- community.” a bear down,” Cox said. Americans obsessing about one thing: to Trump-hating Americans ear- “It is a tough argument to make that tat in northern Alberta’s lush boreal Offi cials shot dead more than 40 While taking photographs of a moving to Canada. lier this year, visitors to its tourism you are being politically persecuted in forests, said University of Alberta con- bears in the area, Foote said. charred hotel in Fort McMurray, George Stars from Cher to Lena Dunham site exploded from 65,000 last year the US,” said Katz, president at Apex servation biologist Lee Foote. In Fort McMurray, seven wildlife of- Kourounis, who presents the Angry have declared their intention to head to 600,000, says tourist chief Mary Capital Partners Corporation. There are perhaps 40,000 bears in fi cials are patrolling for bears, cleaning Planet television series, said he came north if the former reality star, famous Tulle. “Canada started accepting Ameri- the province, many of which will be up garage, and setting baited traps to within a few paces of a bear. for insulting Muslims and Mexicans, US academic Neda Maghbouleh can political refugees? Boy, China searching for food after a nearly six- capture animals that may be “habitu- “I spotted something moving out of and under the microscope for alleged moved to Toronto three years ago with would have a fi eld day with that. month winter hibernation at just the ated” to a food-rich area and likely to the corner of my eye and that some- sexism, reaches top offi ce. her husband when they were off ered Could you imagine?” time residents are returning home, return and possibly pose a threat to hu- thing was a great big black bear looking According to one recent Morning attractive faculty jobs at a university. Katz says Dominica in the Carib- Foote said. mans, Cox said. for food in this dumpster just outside Consult/Vox poll, 28% of Americans Their daughter was born in Canada, bean is the cheapest place for Ameri- Black bears can weigh 150kg. A simi- They have captured four bears so far, the hotel,” he said.”It was crazy.” would “likely” consider moving to the couple have acquired permanent cans to buy second citizenship - yours another country if Trump wins in No- residency and now they want to spon- for an investment of $100,000. vember. sor Maghbouleh’s parents to join them. He has also signed up his fi rst Latest ‘illegal’ aliens in Florida: Nile crocodiles Secret Service shoots Google said the search “How can I “My urgency and fear was really American client for Cyprus, where move to Canada?” surged 350 % on stoked by this election. nationality can be acquired in three Nile crocodiles have been discov- the academic journal Herpetological gun-wielding man March 1 when Trump won seven Re- It was a feeling that we need to be months for a one-off investment of ered living in Florida swamps, the Conservation and Biology. publican state elections. very proactive about this,” she said. 2.5mn euros ($2.8mn). latest in a line of exotic and often Nile crocodiles, which can grow US Secret Service agent shot a man Money makers on both sides of Businessman Nuri Katz, who helps But Americans are a minority of dangerous foreign species living in up to 6m long, are known to prey who brandished a gun near the the border have turned the hype into people acquire second citizenship, those shopping for a second nation- the southeastern US state. upon creatures such as shrimp, AWhite House on Friday while Presi- a savvy marketing tool.”Leaving he says many clients have given Trump ality and although a record number Florida’s hot, humid climate is fish, insects, birds, and mammals dent Barack Obama was out golfi ng, and country if TRUMP is elected PRESI- as a reason for wanting to relocate, but are renouncing citizenship, often for an ideal home for all kinds of illegal including humans, the herpetolo- the man was taken to a hospital in critical DENT? Give me a call and LET’S GET warns that there are huge obstacles to a combination of fi nancial and politi- reptiles, including giant Burmese gists wrote. condition, offi cials said. YOUR HOME SOLD!!” advertised one actually getting up and moving. cal reasons, Katz says the industry is pythons, Nile monitor lizards and For comparison, American alliga- The Secret Service, which protects the US realtor. “All this anecdotal talk about mov- “tiny.” Madagascar geckos. tors - common in south Florida and president and his family, briefl y locked A millennial entrepreneur in Texas ing to Canada, it’s really tough,” he And even if Americans have itchy Most were likely released by Louisiana - grow to about 4m long. down the White House as a precaution, and set up dating site Maple Match prom- told AFP during a business trip to feet, their country remains a premier private exotic animal collectors. As for the less common American Vice President Joe Biden was secured within ising to help Americans “fi nd the ideal New York.”It’s not going to be a fl ood destination for foreigners, particu- University of Florida experts have crocodile, a threatened species that the White House complex during the lock- Canadian partner to save them from of people just driving into Canada and larly Chinese. now confirmed the discovery of two is “shy and reclusive,” there are only down, a White House spokeswoman said. the unfathomable horror of a Trump saying ‘here we are’,” he said. An investor program grants green and possibly three Nile crocodiles, extremely rare reports of conflicts Authorities later said there appeared to presidency.” Sortable, a web advertising com- cards to those who invest at least animals that - unlike the local alliga- with people, according to a Florida be no link to terrorism. The shooting took The site is the brainchild of 25-year- pany in Ontario, targeted US-based $500,000 and create 10 full time jobs. tors - can prey on humans. Fish and Wildlife brochure. place just off 17th and E streets, near what old Joe Goldman, who always wanted developers by cheekily off ering “a safe But it’s so inundated that the wait Over the last decade several large The Nile crocs can feel entirely is known as the South Lawn outside the to set up a dating site but used the place for smart, nice people” looking time is eight years, Katz said. groups of Nile crocs “have been im- at home in Florida and much of the home and offi ces of the president. Trump bandwagon to drive publicity. for an alternative to a Trump presi- As the daughter of Iranian immi- ported from South Africa and Mada- Gulf of Mexico, where the weather The man was taken to hospital in criti- While actual introductions and dency earlier this year. grants, Maghbouleh grew up feeling gascar for both zoological display and flora is similar to that of its cal condition, the District of Columbia Fire dates are a way off , Goldman says that But while the ad generated a lot of lucky.”The US in so many ways is still and the pet trade,” read an article in African habitat. and Emergency Medical Services Depart- more than 30,000 people hungry for interest, the company has yet to re- the promised land for so many peo- ment said. love have already signed up. cruit any Americans although talks ple,” she admitted. Modern-day pioneer puts Nevada town up for sale

By John Glionna, AFP This patch of desert is all back to Torrance from Minnesota After Slim’s death, Nancy and Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada she’s known since she and Slim and passed a windswept desert Ace eventually fell in love, and fi rst fl ew over the arid expanse airfi eld, an outpost where he de- the couple married. in 1965, gawking at the isola- cided to stake a claim for his fu- She says she knew what a sac- ancy Kidwell is a mod- tion and sheer beauty of the spot ture. rifi ce he’d made, selling his busi- ern-day pioneer of they’d chosen to make a break To take ownership from the ness in California, and wanted to Nthe American desert, a from the California rat race. government under a land-set- make sure he’d be set fi nancially rough-riding frontierswoman But now her beloved Slim is tlement act, the couple had to if she were to die. who built an entire town amid long gone - a victim of Alzhe- develop a water source and grow But Ace died in 2011 - also of the lonely Yucca trees and sturdy imer’s disease in 1983 - and Kid- some kind of crop for at least one Alzheimer’s. sagebrush, where nothing ex- well has grown weary of working season. Both father and son, members isted before. seven-day weeks supervising 22 They moved into an odiferous of a secretive club for male avia- A half-century ago, Kidwell employees, playing the role of old trailer abandoned by some tors known as the Quiet Birdmen, and fi rst husband Slim turned a the town’s mayor, police chief Wyoming cowboys. are buried out by the gravel run- triangle-shaped gravel airstrip and sole businesswoman. While they worked the land, way - their markers bearing the abandoned by the US military into She wants to travel, maybe they hauled in their water in group’s slogan “Gone West” with a thriving community that fea- buy another airplane for a tour 55-gallon drums as Kidwell dealt an image of a plane taking off to- tured a casino, store, camper van of the nation’s parks - Yosemite, with her new neighbours - the ward the sunset. park, motel, bar and restaurant Yellowstone and Gettysburg in- rats, squirrels, jackrabbits, coyo- Many of Kidwell’s employees that drew high-desert wanderers cluded. tes and free-range cattle. are divided by the sale. from thousands of miles around. “I’m going to fi nd out what People laughed at their fool- They don’t want the town’s Many travellers landed in you do after you spend 51 years ishness - friends had a good matriarch to step down, but she’s private planes to frequent this of your life working in one place,” cackle over Slim Kidwell and his promised to take them on a Ha- gambling state’s fi rst-ever fl y- she said, “when you suddenly “blue-sky dreams” - which just waiian vacation once the sale in gaming emporium, that once don’t have to wake up at 5am made the couple work harder. goes through. advertised “seven hours of fun” each day to get the work done.” Slowly, the desert came to life. For now, Kidwell still wakes at where one-armed bandit afi cio- Kidwell is selling a full square They built a mobile home park 5am, hoping to stay on as a con- nados could touch down in the mile along Highway 95, with 500 Bartender Debbie Aguilera serves customers inside the Cal-Nev-Ari Casino in Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada. and gas station, then opened the sultant for any new buyer. late afternoon and taxi out that acres of the parcel ready for im- Cal-Nev-Ari Casino, building When her time fi nally comes, same night. mediate development. turned back to dust. ranch, survival school or shoot- ifornia, where the young adven- backyard hangars for pilots to she wants to be buried out on the Now it’s all up for sale - a cou- After all, she and Slim already Now, at a mere $8mn, Kidwell ing range. turess made enough money in stash their planes. airfi eld next to her men. ple’s dreamscape of 350 hardy did the back-breaking work is seeing sizeable interest: “My Recently, Kidwell sat in the her airfi eld secretarial job to take They opened what they lov- She’s already got the tomb- residents, carved from hardscrab- of building the infrastructure, broker says the whole thing has casino restaurant, drinking cof- fl ying lessons. ingly called the Blue-Sky Motel. stone with the same markings as ble land an hour south of Las bringing in utilities and digging gone viral.” fee and eating a biscuit and gravy, That’s when she met Slim Kid- Eventually, people moved here. Slim and Ace. Vegas, where Nevada’s narrow the wells. She has no idea what her town her frame still beanstalk-slim, well - she was 28 and he was 62, The government put in a post Everything is in place except southern tip comes within 15km Years ago, when Kidwell put will become once it’s sold, but her reddish hair worn in the same and the couple launched on a offi ce and a re fi depot. for that fi nal date. of both California and Arizona. the town up for sale at $17mn, has received calls from people coiff ed swirl she’s kept for, well, spring-autumn relationship that When Slim got sick with “I keep the marker out in the Asking price? $8mn. two developers got into a bidding who want to turn it into every- forever. would provide the adventure of Alzheimer’s, a son from a previ- hangar wrapped in canvas,” she For the 78-year-old Kidwell, war before the real estate market thing from a renewable energy Kidwell was born in rural Utah two lifetimes. ous marriage, Ace, came to help says with a smile.”I didn’t want the sale is bittersweet. collapsed and her well-laid plans project, motorsports park, guest and later moved to Southern Cal- One day, Slim got lost fl ying care for his father. to leave anything to chance.” Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 17 ASEAN

Riding out rough waters Indonesia volcano eruption kills three: offi cial

AFP Jakarta

hree people died and four others were critically in- Tjured yesterday after a highly active volcano in west- ern Indonesia erupted violently, shooting hot ash and gases into the atmosphere, an offi cial said. The victims were all farm- ing on the slopes of Mount Sinabung, a rumbling volcano on Sumatra island, when they were consumed by clouds of hot gas- es, disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. “Seven people were exposed to the hot clouds, killing three and leaving four others in a criti- cal condition,” he said in a state- ment, adding the injured had been taken to hospital. Several houses were also de- stroyed during the eruptions, which sent hot gases and col- umns of ash three kilometres into the sky, he added. The victims were farming within the “red zone”, an area four kilometres from the volcano declared off limits by govern- A boy rides a plastic toy motorcycle towed along a street partly submerged during heavy monsoon rains in Yangon yesterday, as long delayed rain brings relief following a long hot summer where ment authorities for safety rea- temperatures soared over 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of Myanmar. sons. Sutopo said despite repeated warnings and government as- sistance to deter people from re- turning, some still “recklessly” farmed the area. “This area should have been empty, because nobody should be inside the red zone,” he said. It is not the fi rst time the vol- cano has claimed lives since it Obama’s Asia tour highlights spectacularly burst back into life in 2013. Sixteen died during a par- ticularly fi erce eruption in 2014 and tens of thousands have been displaced over the years as Sinabung periodically rains former foes turned friends down ash, gases and rock, dev- astating the local economy. DPA Obama will have his eye not relationship is “evolving” and The volcano remains at the Washington on the past but on a future re- that human rights concerns highest alert warning, and emer- lationship undergirded by a remain an issue. The visit will gency authorities warn another 12-nation trade agreement include talks with Vietnam- eruption could occur anytime, S President Barack spearheaded by his administra- ese President Tran Dai Quang, Sutopo added. Obama’s upcoming trip tion. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Sinabung is one of 129 active Uto Asia will highlight two The Trans-Pacifi c Partner- Phuc and Communist Party volcanoes in Indonesia, which nations — Vietnam and Japan - ship agreed upon last year head Nguyen Phu Trong. sits on the Pacifi c Ring of Fire, a against which the United States would open Vietnam’s growing In Japan, where Obama will belt of seismic activity running fought long, bloody wars, but markets to US goods, US trade attend the Group of Seven lead- around the basin of the Pacifi c that now serve as important US offi cials note, pointing to the ers summit, history will be front Ocean. partners as Washington bolsters elimination of tariff s such as a and centre as he ends the visit at its ties to the region. 70-per-cent levy on US cars. the site of the US nuclear bomb- US offi cials have underscored Offi cials have also been ing in Hiroshima. the forward-looking nature of quick to defend the agreement He is not expected to deliver the trip that begins tomorrow in against concerns it would dam- a major speech, but instead will Vietnam, where they acknowl- age US manufacturing, includ- refl ect on the horrors of war, Malaysian edge a fraught history stemming ing in the apparel industry, the US-Japanese alliance and from years of war in the 1960s where Vietnamese goods stand nuclear disarmament which he and 70s, and concludes Friday to benefi t. has made a key goal of his presi- police with a visit to the Peace Memo- One legacy of the war remains dency. rial in Hiroshima, an arms embargo and specula- “It’s an opportunity to I think where the US dropped an tion has swirled about whether focus the world’s attention on nab 14 in atomic bomb during World War Obama will lift the ban during the need to prevent the spread II. the trip or soon afterward. of nuclear weapons and seek a “Under the rebalance (to Posters with portrait of US President Barack Obama are seen on sale at a painting gallery in Ho Chi Minh The US eased restrictions two world without them,” Rhodes anti-terror Asia) we’ve promoted an ex- City yesterday. years ago and the Obama ad- said. traordinary reconciliation with ministration has faced calls to The White House has been two former enemies,” Assistant an extraordinary record of co- But unlike in Japan, Obama’s were normalised in 1995. lift it altogether. very clear that Obama will not crackdown Secretary of State Daniel Russel operation and of partnership.” Vietnam visit does not include He will likely avoid the tricky Deputy National Security apologise for the nuclear bomb- said. The White House has ac- stops at sites directly tied to the optics of predecessors Bill Clin- Advisor Ben Rhodes said the is- ings of Hiroshima and Nagasa- “You’ll see that on this visit, knowledged this diffi cult his- war. ton and George W Bush, whose sue is regularly reviewed and is ki, even while acknowledging a Reuters as the president visits two na- tory, with offi cials meeting with Obama is the third US presi- lack of military service in the expected to be discussed with special responsibility by the US Kuala Lumpur tions with whom we’ve fought veterans groups ahead of the dent to visit Vietnam since confl ict was a matter of public the Vietnamese. as the only nation ever to have bitter wars, that we’ve now built trip. the war ended and relations debate. He stressed however that the used a nuclear weapon. alaysian authorities detained 14 people be- Mlieved to have links to the Islamic State (IS) in a series Prayer time of raids across several states ear- lier this week. Ailing Thai king treated The 14 - all Malaysians - are the latest to be detained by au- thorities who have been on a for excess fl uid in brain concerted campaign over the past few years to stamp out the threat of militancy in the country. AFP 6:30pm to 7:45pm (Friday) and the result was Deputy inspector-general of Bangkok satisfactory,” the statement added. police Noor Rashid Ibrahim said It is the second health update issued by the in a statement that eight of the palace in less than a week.Last Saturday the pal- suspects are believed to have hailand’s hospital-bound monarch Bhu- ace said Bhumibol had been treated with antibi- transferred money to the IS in mibol Adulyadej is being treated for water otics for a lung infection and knee infl ammation. Syria and the Abu Sayyaf mili- Ton the brain and has had the excess fl uid Previous health updates, including one last tant group in the southern Phil- drained, the palace said in a statement late Friday. year, have also mentioned a build-up of fl uid in ippines. Bhumibol, 88, is the object of an intense per- his spine or brain that was later relieved. All eight are also believed sonality cult and his frail health is a subject of He was fi rst treated for hydrocephalus in 2011. to have ties with Malaysian IS signifi cant public concern. Bhumibol is the world’s longest-reigning recruiter Mohamed Wanndy The wheelchair-confi ned king is rarely seen in monarch and most Thais have never known life Mohamed Jedi, who police had public and has spent most of the past two years under another king. earlier identifi ed as having re- hospitalised for a series of ailments, includ- Anxiety over what will happen after his reign cruited several Malaysians to ing previous bouts of hydrocephalus (water on comes to an end is considered an aggravating fac- launch an attack in the southeast the brain). The Royal Household Bureau said in tor in the country’s past decade of tumultuous Asian nation. a statement that doctors adjusted a tube used to politics as competing elites jostle for power and Three others were detained on drain excess fl uid after they noticed facial twitch- infl uence ahead of the transition. suspicion of promoting IS ide- ing. Bhumibol last left Bangkok’s Siriraj hospital in ology, while two men and one “It was detected that his facial muscles had ir- early January for an hour-long trip by car to visit woman were arrested for alleg- regular movements and the doctor conducted a his palace and other royal projects, according to edly planning to travel to Syria to computer x-ray and found there was an irregular offi cials. He was last seen in an offi cial photo- join the terrorist group.The raids surplus of fl uid in the backbone and brain,” the graph distributed in mid-December. Devotees offer prayers during Wesak day or Buddha Day festival celebrations at the were carried out between May 17- statement said. The kingdom has one of the world’s strictest Enlightened Heart Tibetan Buddhist temple in Ipoh, Malaysia yesterday. Wesak or Vesak 20 by the police special branch’s “The team of royal physicians corrected this lese majeste laws, punishing any criticism of the festival is the most important Buddhist festival of the year. counter-terrorism division in six by adjusting the tube in his abdomen between monarchy with up to 15 years in prison. states across the peninsula. Gulf Times 18 Sunday, May 22, 2016 AUSTRALASIA/EAST ASIA

Turnbull’s popularity Japan lodges complaint in declines as tight poll Okinawa over US arrest looms AFP considered a strategic linch- only sitting US president to Reuters Tokyo pin by hosting numerous US visit the world’s fi rst atomic Melbourne military bases that support the bombed city. two countries’ decades-long The Hiroshima visit by apan’s defence minister security alliance. Obama, who has a record of call- ustralian Prime Minister travelled to Okinawa to Okinawan police arrested ing for global denuclearisation, Malcolm Turnbull’s pop- Jlodge a formal protest with Kenneth Franklin Shinzato on has been well received in Japan Aularity has fallen, just over the commander of the US mili- Thursday for allegedly dispos- but the issue of the heavy US a month before what is expected tary base there yesterday after ing of the woman’s body in a military presence on Okinawa to a closely fought election, a the arrest of a base employee weed-covered area in southern has long been a periodic thorn in opinion poll published yesterday linked to the suspicious death Okinawa. the side of relations. showed. of a local woman. The man, a US citizen and More than half of the 47,000 Turnbull’s conservative gov- Gen Nakatani’s visit to the former US Marine, who works US military personnel in the ernment remained neck and island comes just days before a at the US Kadena Air Base, has country are stationed there, and neck with the centre-left La- high-profi le trip to Japan by US reportedly admitted to raping rapes and other crimes by serv- bour Party in the Ipsos poll, President Barack Obama. and killing 20-year-old Rina ice personnel have sparked local which showed the government “I deliver a strong message Shimabukuro, who had been protests in the past. leading with 51% support to of regret and at the same time missing since late April. In 1995 the abduction and Labor’s 49%. make a protest,” Nakatani told Prime Minister Shinzo Abe rape of a 12-year-old girl by However, Turnbull’s per- US military commander Lt Gen on Friday expressed “outrage” three US servicemen sparked sonal popularity as preferred Lawrence Nicholson, accord- after the arrest, while Foreign massive protests, prompting prime minister fell four per- ing to public broadcaster NHK, Minister Fumio Kishida sum- Washington to pledge eff orts to centage points to 47%, which is as he demanded the US military moned US ambassador Caro- strengthen troop discipline to still above opposition leader Bill in Okinawa ensure discipline line Kennedy to lodge a protest, prevent such crimes and reduce Shorten at 30%. among troops. calling the case “very cruel and the US footprint on the island. Australians will vote on July 2 For his part Nicholson atrocious”. But continued crimes by after an unusually long 74-day told Nakatani: “Our heartfelt Obama is due in Japan next American personnel remain a campaign. prayers and condolences are of- week for a two-day summit potent rallying point for Okina- Turnbull, considered a mod- fered to the family.” of Group of Seven countries wans and others in Japan who erate in the conservative Liberal The southern island of which concludes on Friday, oppose the presence of the bas- Party-led coalition government, Okinawa was the site of a brutal before venturing the same day es on the crowded island, where People off ering a silent prayer in front of the US Kadena Air Base in Cyatan, Okinawa prefecture, to had enjoyed high levels of popu- World War II battle but is now to Hiroshima - becoming the pacifi st sentiment runs high. protest against the US military presence in Okinawa yesterday. larity since he deposed his right- wing predecessor, Tony Ab- bott, in an internal party coup in September. “Turnbull was expecting to run rings around Labour in this campaign and instead Labor Taiwan ex-president faces have him in their sights,” said Pe- ter Chen, a political scientist at Sydney University. “He would be a very nervous man this morning.” lawsuits as immunity ends The election comes as Aus- tralia is trying to rebalance its economy away from a once-in- AFP partly due to his “Mr Clean” suspended due to immunity to push-ups in his old neighbour- a-generation mining boom. Taipei image, favoured by a public fed criminal prosecution,” prosecu- hood in Taipei Saturday, after The economy, which remained up with the scandals of former tors said in an earlier statement. moving back there from the relatively unscathed by the glo- DPP leader Chen Shui-bian, “The investigations will re- presidential residence. bal fi nancial crisis, has started ozens of lawsuits who was jailed for corruption. start according to law after the Ma took the leadership in to show signs of a slowdown in brought against former However, Ma now faces his president steps down,” it said. 2008 by the biggest landslide recent years. DTaiwanese president Ma own court battles as politi- Local media reported Thurs- in Taiwan’s democratic history, Economic issues such as tax Ying-jeou reopened yesterday cal rivals hurl suits at him on a day that the High Court had or- but saw his popularity plummet and the funding of education and as his presidential immunity range of allegations, including dered a re-hearing on a request during his eight-year run, with health care have been front and lapsed after the island swore in leaking political secrets and brought by a DPP lawmaker the public unnerved by policies centre in the campaign, as well as its new leader. failing to declare assets. that Ma be prevented from seen as linking the island too the hot-button issue of asylum Ma left the presidential of- His departure from offi ce leaving the country due to the closely with rival China. seekers and border protection. fi ce on Friday as Tsai Ing-wen of means he now faces 24 cases, cases he faces. Even though Taiwan is self- Australia has seen a revolv- the Democratic Progressive Party according to the Taipei District That request had previously governed after splitting with ing door of political leadership (DPP) took the reins as the island’s Prosecutors Offi ce. been denied at district level. the mainland in 1949 following in recent years. If Turnbull loses Taiwan’s new President Tsai Ing-wen fi rst female leader, after winning a “The offi ce has been actively Seemingly undeterred, a re- a civil war, Beijing still sees the on July 2, the change in prime landslide victory in January. taking inventory of cases relat- laxed Ma was pictured going island as part of its territory to minister would be the fi fth Ma came to power in 2008 ing to president Ma that were for a morning jog and doing be reunifi ed. since 2010.

Beijing warns will cut N Korean envoy who negotiated contacts if Taiwan 1994 N-deal dies MH17 victim families sue Putin, Russia The architect of North Korea’s doesn’t toe line nuclear diplomacy who AFP Federation has worked to keep negotiated a 1994 accord with Sydney its involvement in the plane the United States that halted a US disaster hidden. AFP lowed a 1992 meeting between plan for a military strike on the Jerry Skinner, a co-asso- Beijing Chinese offi cials and the KMT isolated state’s nuclear facilities, amilies of victims of ciate of LHD whose signa- which laid out the “one Chi- has died, North Korea said Malaysia Airlines fl ight ture is on the claim, told the na” ideology, but allowed each yesterday. FMH17, which was shot Herald that his clients wanted eijing warned Taiwan side its own interpretation. Kang Sok Ju, who last served as down over Ukraine in 2014, are accountability. it would cut off critical “The communications the North’s vice premier and a suing President Vladimir Putin “They want enough money Bcontacts with the island mechanism between the two member of the ruling Workers’ and Russia for A$10mn each in to refl ect that the Russians if its new president Tsai Ing- departments can only contin- Party Central Committee, died of the European Court of Human take this seriously,” the paper wen does not state her support ue if the ‘92 consensus’, which cancer on Friday at the age of 76, Rights, The Sydney Morning quoted Skinner as saying. for the concept that there is represents the common po- the off icial KCNA news agency Herald reported yesterday. Offi cials with the Dutch only “one China”, state media litical foundation of the One said. The compensation claim was Safety Board (OVV) concluded reported yesterday. China principle, is adhered Kang, as vice foreign minister, fi led with the Strasbourg-based last year as part of an inter- The comments came a day to,” Xinhua quoted Ma as held tense negotiations with court by Sydney legal fi rm LHD national investigation that after Beijing-sceptic Tsai’s in- saying. the United States that led to the Lawyers on May 9 on behalf of the Boeing 777 was hit by a auguration speech, where she Tsai and the DPP have never 1994 “Agreed Framework” for 33 next of kin from Australia, BUK missile. called for “positive dialogue” acknowledged the consensus. the North to suspend activity New Zealand and Malaysia, the In February, a separate crimi- with the Chinese mainland, In her speech Friday, Tsai re- at its Yongbyon nuclear site in Herald said. nal investigation team said they but stopped short of any com- iterated her previous stance of return for construction by an All 298 passengers and crew hoped within months to pin- promise on Beijing’s demands recognising the 1992 meeting international consortium of a - the majority of them Dutch - point the exact spot from which that she back its “one China” took place, but did not endorse nuclear power plant that would died when the Boeing 777 was the missile was fi red. principle. its conclusions. not be diverted for military use. hit by a Russian-made BUK Some families are also con- That principle was recog- Unoffi cial communication “Comrade Kang Sok Ju played anti-aircraft missile over war- sidering suing Malaysia Air- The parents of a victim from Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 reacting nised by outgoing president mechanisms will also be at an active role at the forefront to torn eastern Ukraine on July 17, lines for damages over loss of as they left the State Coroners Court, after the New South Wales Ma Ying-jeou of the Beijing- risk, Chinese authorities said. undertake the great Marshal’s 2014. earnings as well as compensa- State Coroner handed down his findings from an inquest into the friendly Kuomintang party, The Association for Re- genius diplomatic wisdom and The documents fi led by LHD tion for the “psychological” deaths of six New South Wales residents who were aboard the plane, who oversaw an eight-year lations Across the Taiwan outstanding guidance, leading Lawyers allege that the Russian trauma of losing loved ones. in Sydney, yesterday. rapprochement between the Straits (ARATS), a semi-of- the anti-US nuclear battle starting former bitter rivals. fi cial organisation that works in the early 1990s,” KCNA said. Although Taiwan is self- with its Taiwanese counter- The Marshal refers to Kim Jong ruling after splitting with the part, the Straits Exchange Il, who was leader when the 1994 mainland in 1949 following Foundation (SEF), deals with deal was struck. He was the father a civil war, it has never for- issues that are too legally or of current leader Kim Jong Un N Korea proposes ‘candid’ talks with South mally declared independ- politically delicate to be han- and died in 2011. ence and Beijing still sees it as dled through offi cial govern- The 1994 deal is credited for part of its territory awaiting ment channels. slowing the North’s nuclear DPA the Korean peninsula and cre- cently made several appeals to it continues with its contro- reunifi cation. “As long as SEF receives weapons programme by nearly Seoul ate (a) confi dence-building at- Seoul for military talks. versial plans to build nuclear Beijing is highly suspicious authorisation to confi rm to a decade, although it gradually mosphere between the military “We think that it is neces- weapons. of Tsai, whose Democratic ARATS the adherence to the unravelled and broke down in authorities of the north and the sary for the military authori- Steps towards the denuclear- Progressive Party (DPP) is tra- ‘92 consensus’... authorised 2003 after South Korea, Japan orth Korea wants its south,” the statement read. ties of the north and the south isation of the Korean peninsula ditionally pro-independence negotiations and contact be- and the United States spent more military to meet with to discuss in an honest and should have the utmost priority and has warned her against tween the two organisations than $2 billion on the project. Nthat of South Korea “We think that it is candid manner the outstand- if there was to be dialogue, the any attempt at a breakaway. can be maintained,” Xinhua North Korea conducted its first for “honest and candid” talks necessary for the military ing issues related to any pos- South Korean defence ministry Beijing and Taipei have held quoted the head of ARATS nuclear test in 2006 and has aimed at reducing military ten- authorities of the north sible military confl ict,” the said yesterday. regular, offi cial communica- as saying, without giving a carried out three more since then, sions between the arch-rivals. and the south to discuss statement added. Tensions between the two tions since 2014, but that will specifi c name. the last in January, leading to The talks could take place at in an honest and candid North Korean leader Kim sides have increased follow- stop unless Tsai acknowledges The two organisations, tougher UN sanctions. the end of May or beginning of manner the outstanding Jong Un made the most re- ing an atomic bomb test by the the “1992 consensus”, said Ma which have played a critical During the talks in Geneva that June, according to a statement issues ...” cent call some two weeks ago north in January and a hotly Xiaoguang, spokesman for the role in improving ties between led to the deal, Kang warned that from North Korea’s defence at a congress of the ruling disputed missile launch. Taiwan Aff airs Offi ce, accord- Taipei and Beijing, renewed UN sanctions against the North ministry yesterday, carried by The regime in Pyongyang, Workers’ Party. The UN Security Council ing to a report by the offi cial contact in 2008, following al- would be considered an act of state media. isolated by the international Seoul has accused the com- increased sanctions against Xinhua news service. most a decade of tension that war, Robert Gallucci, who was The talks would aim “to de- community over its nuclear munist north of not being Pyongyang at the beginning of The tacit agreement fol- ended with the election of Ma. Kang’s US counterpart, has said. fuse the military tension on weapons programme, has re- serious about talks so long as March. Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 19 BRITAIN UN queries govt on two-child cap Corbyn calls for on tax credits

Guardian News and Media it is yet to say what policies it London will put in place to process this exemption. new economics Corbyn: to deliver that growth Thewliss, who held a meet- demands real change in the way he government’s deci- ing with the welfare reform Guardian News and Media In the meantime, Corbyn in- cial care of the future. Labour To help solve the housing cri- the economy is run. sion to limit a family’s minister Lord Freud earlier this London sisted that the party could make will always seek to distribute the sis, McDonnell said a Labour Tchild tax credits to two week, said that the rape clause a diff erence despite the frus- rewards of growth more fairly. government would give councils It aims to close the defi cit on children, unless a further child was “mediaeval”. trations of being in opposition: But to deliver that growth de- the power to impose rent con- day-to-day spending over a fi ve- is the result of rape, has been She said it “stigmatises eremy Corbyn has said that “We must continue to stand up mands real change in the way the trols. year period as well as ensuring referred to a United Nations mother and child, and risks the United Kingdom needs a against the Conservative six- economy is run,” Corbyn said. The party’s former leader Ed the government can invest. panel. discriminating against those Jserious debate about wealth year record of mismanagement Earlier yesterday shadow Miliband said before the 2015 McDonnell accused Britain’s A complaint by the SNP who may for religious or tra- creation, as he called for a new of the economy – and stand up chancellor John McDonnell said general election that landlords banks of continuing to pump MP Alison Thewliss to the UN ditional reasons have larger style of economics to tackle Brit- for the vital services on which we the Blair and Brown governments should only be able to raise rents money into the property mar- will be examined by its offi cial families”. ain’s “grotesque inequality”. all depend.” had created an unfair tax system by less than infl ation for the du- ket while failing to invest in the committee on the rights of the The Department for Work Closing a Labour state of the George Osborne had vowed six that made Britain a haven for ration of a contract. “productive economy”. child, before hearings on the and Pensions said the issue was economy conference in central years ago that austerity would the super-rich and that Labour McDonnell reiterated the par- There was a need to change the impact of Britain’s welfare pol- sensitive and that the ministry London yesterday, the party’s wipe out the defi cit, Corbyn would rewrite the rules of the ty’s plan to build 100,000 new way capitalism in Britain worked, icies next week. would “develop appropriate leader said: “Wealth creation is said. “That’s the wonderful thing economy. council houses a year, funded he told the audience: “Previ- At the evidence sessions, a exemptions and protections”. a good thing: we all want greater about George Osborne’s fi ve- McDonnell said that the party from housing benefi t savings. ous Labour governments were UK government delegation will “We want to make sure this prosperity. But let us have a se- year plans: they’re always fi ve must aspire to be another great He urged councils to emulate content to only think about how have to explain how its recent support is compassionate and rious debate about how wealth years away.” reforming government when it Manchester to off er cheap, local to redistribute income. Today, welfare reforms conform to its eff ective, which is why we are is created, and how that wealth Shopfl oor-workers, entrepre- returned to power. authority-backed mortgages. technological change means we UN obligations on child pov- engaging with MPs and work- should be shared.” neurs and technicians should be “The last Labour government “Labour would make it a mis- have to think more closely about erty. ing with a range of stakehold- Corbyn also said that a Labour put in the driving seat, the La- relied too heavily on tax revenues sion to ensure families and young ownership. In a letter to Thewliss, the ers, including religious groups, government would “chase down bour leader said. from fi nancial services, and too people on ordinary incomes “I’ve spoken before of moving UN said that the complaint had to ensure this exemption is the tax avoiders and the tax evad- “We want to see a genuinely heavily on off -balance sheet aren’t locked out of home owner- beyond the Tory right to buy and been brought to the attention delivered in the best way pos- ers” and ensure HMRC (Her Maj- mixed economy of public and spending through the private ship as they are under the Tories,” creating a Labour right to own. of the committee, as it moni- sible,” it said. esty’s Revenue and Customs) had social enterprise, alongside a pri- fi nance initiative,” he said. “It McDonnell said. This can be at the centre of our tors how the United Kingdom In the letter to Thewliss, the the resources it needed to do so. vate sector with a long-term pri- didn’t do enough to clamp down Labour has drawn up a fi scal off er to Britain – a radical decen- complies with the convention UN said it had asked the UK Labour needed to be ambitious vate business commitment, that on tax evasion and avoidance. It credibility rule in conjunction tralisation of economic power on the rights of the child. government to provide evi- and bold to win the next election, will provide the decent pay, jobs, helped create an unfair tax sys- with economists from its eco- and authority back to working The SNP is particularly dence on whether it had car- he said. housing, schools, health and so- tem.” nomic advisory council. people and local communities.” concerned that women whose ried out an impact assessment third child is conceived after into how its welfare changes rape will have to off er proof of including the implementation the crime in order to qualify for of the benefi ts cap “and other an exemption to the two-child benefi ts cuts” would aff ect tax credit rule. children. Woman As part of George Osborne’s It said it had also asked for drive to cut £12bn from the information on “the measures annual welfare bill, last year’s being taken to mitigate nega- pleads budget included an announce- tive impact of this reform on ment that child tax credits the enjoyment of the rights of would only be paid for the fi rst children, particularly those in not guilty two children in each family, vulnerable situations”. from April next year. The committee is expected The government has made to deliver its fi nal recommen- over dog an exception for children con- dations to the United Kingdom ceived through rape – athough in early June. attack

Guardian News and Media Church of Scotland London A woman adjusts a display of chrysanthemums for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. woman has denied being allows gay marriage the owner of a dog dan- Agerously out of control Flower after 12 people were attacked in for its ministers A woman adjusts a display of hippeastrum flowers, a play park. suspended from a ceiling, during preparations. power Parents ran to help when chil- dren were attacked by a Staf- AFP The Kirk retains the view of fordshire bull terrier-type dog London marriage as being between a in Blyth, Northumberland, on man and a woman. Wednesday evening. However, individual congre- Nine children needed hospital he Church of Scotland gations can “opt out” if they treatment after the incident at voted yesterday to al- wish to appoint a minister in a the park in Burns Avenue. Tlow its ministers to be in same-sex marriage. Appearing before magistrates same-sex marriages, following “In some ways we crossed sitting at Newcastle crown years of deliberation. the Rubicon last year when it court, Claire Neale, 37, pleaded The national church’s gener- was agreed that Kirk sessions not guilty to the charge. al assembly in Edinburgh voted could call someone in a civil Remanding her in custody, to extend a law passed last May partnership and for many peo- the chairman of the bench, Marj that permits its ministers to be ple what today was about was Robertson, declined jurisdiction in same-sex civil partnerships. simply tidying up and mak- and said the case would be heard Commissioners in the Kirk, ing the law of the church con- at crown court on June 3. as the church is known in Scot- sistent with Scots law,” said Two people helping police land, voted 339 to 215 to allow Chalmers. with their inquiries have been ministers to be in same-sex The Church of Scotland is released on bail. marriages. Protestant, Presbyterian and Superintendent Mick Pa- “We had a debate which has no bishops. terson of Northumbria police made very clear that we were Some 1.7mn people, or northern area command said: not interfering with our theo- 32.4% of the Scottish popula- “Investigations into this in- logical defi nition of marriage tion, are members, according cident are ongoing and I urge and were not going to the place to the last census in 2011. anyone with any information to where ministers or deacons More than 850 commission- contact the police. could themselves be conduct- ers from across Scotland, the “We will continue to have ex- ing same-sex marriages,” rest of Britain, Africa, Asia, tra neighbourhood offi cers in the said the Very Reverend John North America, Europe, the area speaking to those involved Chalmers, principal clerk to Middle East and the Caribbean A man arranges a display of delphiniums during preparations yesterday for the A man holds a Parodia Herteri cactus plant as on and off ering reassurance to lo- the general assembly. “It is an registered to attend the 2016 RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. display at the show. cal residents who have any con- entirely diff erent discussion.” general assembly. cerns.”

Cameron does Beatles’ Abbey Road walk Five collapse after taking legal highs

Reuters Guardian News and Media leaving of their own accord. According to GMP, consuming London London Two other men were reported the substances can lead to pro- yesterday to have been suff ering fuse sweating, racing heartbeat, adverse eff ects as a result of tak- extreme muscle tension, deliri- ritish Prime Minister David Cameron ive men have collapsed, ing legal highs; one of them, aged ous ranting and high body tem- sought to recreate the Beatles’ Abbey with one in hospital in an 34, currently in hospital in a seri- perature. BRoad album cover on Friday, walking Finduced coma, after taking ous condition. The warning comes fi ve days across the famous zebra crossing during a legal highs known as “Annihila- Deputy Superintendent Louise before the Psychoactive Sub- visit to the music studios to meet perform- tion” and “Cherry Bombs” in Ashurst of GMP’s Rochdale bor- stances Act 2016 comes into ers supporting the EU referendum’s “Re- Rochdale. ough said the incidents highlight force. main” campaign. Greater Manchester police a worrying trend that more peo- The legislation will provide a Accompanied on the walk by former cul- (GMP) have issued a warn- ple are taking legal highs. blanket ban on the production, ture secretary Tessa Jowell, Cameron spoke ing over the psychoactive sub- “They might not be illegal but supply and importation of new with musicians ahead of the June 23 vote – stances, both synthetic forms they are very dangerous and can psychoactive substances. when Britons decide whether to remain in of cannabis, after three separate cause you serious harm, and we The introduction of the act the European Union. incidents on Friday and yester- currently have two men in hos- was originally due to come into He also got a taste of music studio life, day, during which users required pital in a very serious condition,” force on April 6, but was delayed sitting in the gallery and listening to a per- urgent medical attention. she said. following claims its defi nition of formance. Police were called to Drake “We believe that some of the psychoactivity was not practi- “Leading people from our great crea- Cameron walks accross the pedestrian crossing outside Abbey Road studios with former Street on Friday following re- substances that are being taken cally enforceable by the police tive industries (have) put forward such a minister Jowell. ports that a 33-year-old male are called Annihilation or Cherry and prosecutors. powerful case as to why the creativity of had collapsed after taking legal Bombs, which might make them The legislation is designed to this country, the creative industries of this ‘Remain’ camp extends lead ahead of EU vote highs. He remains in hospital in sound appealing, but the poten- outlaw the trade in legal highs – country are stronger in Europe,” Jowell said. an induced coma. tial consequences make taking synthetic chemicals that imitate More than 250 British celebrities from The proportion of British voters who want to Forty-four per cent of those surveyed wanted Later that day, police were them not worth it. the eff ects of traditional illicit the arts world, including actors Benedict stay in the European Union has risen over the to remain in the EU, while 40% wanted to called to Oldham Road where two “We would urge everybody to drugs such as cannabis and ec- Cumberbatch and Helena Bonham Carter, last month, according to an online poll by the leave, the Observer’s political editor tweeted. men, both in their thirties, had think about the eff ect that these stasy – but does not make their have signed a letter urging Britons to vote to market research company Opinium for the A similar poll last month had 42% wanting to collapsed. They received medi- legal highs can have on your possession outside a prison a stay in the bloc. Observer newspaper. remain and 41% wanting to leave. cal attention at the scene before health and not take them.” criminal off ence. Gulf Times 20 Sunday, May 22, 2016 EUROPE French petrol kiosks run dry due to strike Reuters ter President Francois Hollande’s French oil industry group UFIP UFIP said 317 out of Total’s Several departments in the Paris Socialist government opted to said. 2,200 petrol stations in France northwest imposed restrictions force the unpopular labour mar- The fi fth one in La Mede was had run out of all or some fuels on limiting the volume of fuel per ket reforms through the lower operating normally. yesterday. vehicle or banning jerry cans. undreds of petrol stations house of parliament without a In addition, three of Total’s Total runs nearly one petrol “There is no need to panic,” faced shortages in France vote. nine oil depots were blocked by station out of fi ve in the country. UFIP spokeswoman said.”We An empty price board indicates that no gas is available at a Total Hyesterday as protests over Total had to shut production protesters. Shell and Eni petrol stations have the products, refi neries petrol station in Vertou, France. a labour law reform led to a fall in units at three refi neries, in Dong- The news of fuel shortages and were not facing any distruption, are working even if the fl ow has refi nery output and blockades es, Feyzin and Normandy. blockades sent drivers rushing to UFIP said. sometimes been reduced. The in France in 2010 led to a glut of A CGT union offi cial said on that hampered fuel supply and Meanwhile deliveries from petrol stations, mainly in north- Data for supermarkets, which problem is to move around, there crude in Europe because it could Friday that the goal of the strike prompted consumer panic. its Grandpuits refi neries were western France where the refi n- sold more than 60% of the fuel in will be no shortage in the imme- not be delivered to refi neries, and was not to create shortages but France has been hit by a wave blocked by protesters, prompt- eries are located, to fi ll their tanks France last year, was not immedi- diate future.” a spike in refi ned products prices to obtain the withdrawal of the of strikes over the past week af- ing output to run at reduced fl ow, as a precaution. ately available. A prolonged strike at refi neries due to low output from refi neries. labour bill. Thousands German military rally against plans to invest in abortion tanks, air

AFP part in the march through Za- Zagreb greb. defence “Every reasonable person should support the March for everal thousand Croatians, Life initiative,” she was quoted DPA including prime minis- as saying by N1 regional televi- Berlin Ster’s wife, joined an anti- sion. abortion march yesterday in the Singing popular national and capital, raising concerns among religious songs, the marchers – ermany plans to invest rights groups over a possible among them Catholic nuns and tens of millions of euros abortion ban by the conservative priests – waved Croatian fl ags Gin new tanks and an air rulers. and held balloons in the red, defence system after an increase Police said that around 7,000 white and blue of the national in the defence budget was an- people took part in Croatia’s fl ag. nounced for 2017, sources told fi rst-ever “March for Life”, At the same time, some 300 DPA yesterday. which was organised by Catho- people gathered at a pro-choice The country will spend an lic and conservative groups with rally in the city centre, which eight-fi gure sum of euros on the stated objective of highlight- was organised by civil society modernising the Leopard 2 com- ing the “inalienable dignity of activists. bat tank, the sources at the de- life from conception to natural “Defending the right to Thousands hold placards, balloons, and a Croatian National flag as they take part in a pro-life march in Zagreb, the first event of this kind in fence ministry said. death”. choice,” read a giant banner the city, raising rights groups concerns over possible abortion ban by the conservative rulers. A low nine-fi gure sum would “People are coming from all above an improvised stage in a be spent on a new tactical air over Croatia to show that they Zagreb square. on abortion should be protected. Nearly 90% of Croatia’s described abortion as “a hu- Ever since January when a defence system (TLVS), they are for life, family and Croatia,” The marchers’ “only goal is to Under a law dating back to population of 4.2mn are Roman man evil” and a crime, although right-wing coalition took power added. said Zeljka Markic, one of the decrease women’s rights”, said 1978, when Croatia was still part Catholics, and the church plays earlier this year he authorised in this EU country, civil society Defence Minister Ursula organisers. Bojana Genov of Women’s Net- of the communist Yugoslavia, an important role in the society. priests to absolve women who activists have raised concerns von der Leyen placed empha- Prime Minister Tihomir work Croatia association, insist- abortion is legal until the 10th Pope Francis, leader of the have gone through the proce- over what they say is a growing sis on the increased spending Oreskovic’s wife Sanja also took ing that the country’s legislation week of pregnancy. world’s 1.2bn Catholics, has dure. climate of intolerance. and stricter quality guidelines in equipment projects in com- ments reported yesterday. “We demand that the indus- try supply the German Army in a timely manner and free from de- Films about women attacked at fects, just as it does with private customers,” the minister told Germany’s Focus news maga- homes end Cannes competition zine. She added that cost-eff ective use of public funds and the best DPA possible protection for soldiers Cannes were of the utmost concern for her. The decision to spend more he premieres of two money on defence was prompted movies about women by the altered security situation, Tbeing assaulted in their which includes Russia’s inter- homes brought to an end the vention in Ukraine, the increased main competition for the 69th threat from terrorism and “in- Cannes Film Festival. stabilities around Europe”. Elle, director Paul Verho- Chancellor Angela Merkel’s even’s tale of lust, violence and cabinet agreed to raise de- revenge, fence spending from €34.3bn to as well as Oscar-winning €39.2bn ($38.5bn to $44bn) by Iranian fi lmmaker Asghar 2020. Farhadi’s The Salesman, which The German Army, or Bun- premiered yesterday, are two of deswehr, has criticised the in- the 21 fi lms that are vying for crease as too little, saying that it Cannes’ coveted prizes, includ- Iranian actor Shahab Hosseini, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and falls well below Nato’s national ing the Palme d’Or. Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti pose during a photocall for the French actress Isabelle Huppert poses for selfies as she leaves the Festival Palace last night after the defence expenditure target of German director Maren Ade’s film The Salesman. screening of the film Elle. 2% of gross domestic product comedy Toni Erdmann has (GDP). emerged as the favourite for the actress Isabelle Huppert, who record 20 entries in Cannes’ Germany’s most popular tab- festival’s prizes which are to be head ups Elle’s strong French main competition. Paris luxury shops okayed to open on Sundays loid Bild cited yesterday con- handed out at a gala award cer- cast. She has won the festival’s fi dential ministry papers that emony this evening. The psychological thriller award for best actress twice. Tourists flocking to the French capital will now be open on Sundays in newly created international showed that the planned in- Ade’s fi lm garnered a stun- was the Dutch-born Verho- Huppert’s character in the able shop at luxury shops that line the Champs tourist zones in Paris. crease would not be enough to ning record score of 3.7 out of a even’s fi rst movie in French fi lm, Michele, refuses to be a Elysees and the Place Vendome on Sundays as a Sunday openings for shops in France is severely cover the costs of the new tanks possible 4 points on the grid of and was based on a script by US victim. key government reform comes into eff ect. restricted. and air defence system. international fi lm critics drawn scriptwriter David Birke that She plays one of series of An agreement between luxury shops and “It is an agreement that provides companies the Von der Leyen has separately up by the London-based Screen was adapted from the novel Oh strong women characters – employee unions on Sunday hours has come into possibility to open (on Sundays) but it is a decision announced plans to increase the International, which is con- by French writer Philippe Di- both young and old – that have force, said Sylvie Zawadzki, who heads up tax and they take based on their commercial strategy,” said Bundeswehr by 14,300 soldiers sidered to be key gauge of the jian. been included in the festival. social issues at the French Fashion Federation. Zawadzki. and 4,400 civilian employees critical response to the fi lms But Verhoeven, who fi rst ap- Another strong woman char- The deal allows shops to take advantage of a The flagship shops of luxury brands such as over the next seven years. screened at the festival. peared in Cannes in 1992 with acter in the fi lm festival was reform pushed through by Economy Minister Chanel, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton are Seven thousand of the posts US actor-turned-director the erotic thriller Basic Instinct, Taraneh Alidoosti, who plays Emmanuel Macron last year allowing for shops to covered by the deal. are to be created immediately. Sean Penn’s The Last Face, is very wary of the popularity of Rana in Farhadi’s movie. which told the story of a love af- superheroes in US cinema. The Salesman is about a fair between a relief-aid doctor “We have lost contact with young couple who move into a and the director of an interna- normal people,” he told the new apartment in Tehran only tional aid organisation in war- Cannes press conference mark- to face up to a dramatic change torn Liberia, received the lowest ing Elle’s screening adding that in their life after she is attacked ‘Culling male chicks not violation of animal rights’ score on record of just 0.2. stories about real people are in an incident related to a previ- The 77-year-old Verhoeven’s more interesting that many of ous tenant. Elle represents his fi rst appear- the fi gures invented by fi lm- As was the case with Michele DPA millions of day-old male chick- It further argued that farmers Many are put through shred- ance in Cannes in more than 20 makers. in Elle, Rana – for very diff er- Muenster, Germany ens every year because the ani- who have no economic interest ding machines or gassed to years in a movie-making career In Elle, Huppert plays a top ent reasons – refuses to go the mals are useless for egg produc- in keeping the animals alive are death. A small portion end up as that has spanned Europe and video-game company execu- police. tion or for sale as poultry. within their rights to kill the male animal feed. the United States and included tive, who is raped in her home After Rana rules out going he mass slaughter of un- The practice horrifi es animal chicks. The ruling does not allow an such defi nitive US fi lms includ- and who sets out to turn the the police, her husband, Emad wanted male chicks does rights activists, who equate it to “Breeding male chicks is not appeal, meaning any further le- ing Robocop and recently the tables on her attacker using un- played by Shahab Hosseini, Tnot violate Germany’s mass murder. in keeping with the stated goal of gal action would have to occur at Dutch Second World War thrill- conventional methods. launches his own increasingly animal protection laws, a Ger- The Muenster High Adminis- chicken breeding and its business a federal court level. er Black Book. “The fi lm was not a state- obsessive probe into the assault man court ruled on Friday, in a trative Court found that German guidelines,” stated the court. The matter came to court after “The fi lm is both very Ameri- ment about women, but this in a bid to track down the at- victory for farmers over animal animal rights laws allow animals According to the court, Ger- the western state of North Rhine can and very European at the particular woman,” said Hup- tacker. rights activists. to be culled when there are sound man farmers slaughtered 45mn Westphalia attempted to outlaw same time,” said leading French pert, who has appeared in a German farmers slaughter reasons for doing so. such animals in 2012. the culling in 2013. Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 21 EUROPE

Merkel’s party ratings Istanbul summit seeks drops to lowest to change aid response since 2011 Medical charity MSF has The two-day summit aims to metal security barriers separat- world who really understand plained of the West’s failure to NGOs through localisation,” he pulled out of the event, establish a set of “concrete ac- ing the luxury venue from the how the world humanitarian shoulder the burden, is empha- added, calling for a more sus- fearing that it could be a tions and commitments” that outside world, they will see the system is failing is really small,” sising the importance of the tainable fi nancial system with Reuters ‘fig leaf’ for a lack of global would help countries better desperate faces of Syrian refu- he told AFP in a telephone inter- summit and has set up Olympic fewer overheads. Berlin action prepare to fi ght crises, lay out a gees begging and selling low- view. “If that number of people Games-style countdown clocks The credibility of the event new global approach to manage value goods on many Istanbul increases during the summit around the city. was dealt a blow by the decision AFP forced displacement, and secure street corners. then that would have been worth UN chief Ban has described to pull out by MSF, who lament- upport for German Chan- Istanbul dependable fi nancing to respond But with 60 world leaders it. But I think we are in the early the event as a “singular oppor- ed the summit’s agenda failed cellor Angela Merkel’s to such situations. due to attend including Turkish days of the world being honest tunity” to show that “we will not to reinforce the obligations of Sparty fell to its lowest level But participants will need to President Recep Tayyip Erdog- with itself.” accept the erosion of humanity states to uphold humanitarian in four and a half years, a poll lobal leaders and key overcome deep scepticism about an, German Chancellor Angela He said that the current hu- which we see in the world today”. law and that any commitments showed on Thursday, in a sign NGOs gather in Istan- the summit’s ability to realise its Merkel and UN Secretary Gen- manitarian system was “failing “History will judge us by how made would be non-binding. voters are still upset despite a Gbul tomorrow for an un- ambitious agenda, and not turn eral Ban Ki-moon, participants we use this opportunity,” he said Sandrine Tiller, MSF’s pro- recent drop in new migrant ar- precedented UN-backed sum- into yet another international hope the summit will at least ‘Expectations for the last month. gramme adviser on humanitar- rivals. mit aimed at transforming the talking shop with good inten- start to make a diff erence. summit have gradually Kerem Kinik, the chairman ian issues, told AFP that the cur- The Deutschlandtrend poll for world’s response to humanitar- tions but zero outcome. “Expectations for the summit reduced.’ – War Child of the Turkish Red Crescent, rent global humanitarian system public broadcaster ARD/WDR ian crises, despite scepticism the Medical charity Doctors have gradually reduced. We still charity CEO Rob Williams said the summit needed to be was “bureaucratic and risk- showed support for Merkel’s talks will have little impact. Without Borders (MSF) has have the feeling there is a lot of a “milestone” for updating the averse” and the summit risked conservative Christian Demo- With an estimated 60mn peo- pulled out of the event, fearing it good faith going into Istanbul. children quite profoundly” and humanitarian relief system. “We making no diff erence to people crats (CDU/CSU) fell one per- ple displaced around the world could be a “fi g leaf” for a lack of We also have a restricted view the summit had to come up with are expecting less bureaucracy suff ering from confl icts in places centage point to 32%, the lowest and confl ict and climate change global action. of what is possible to achieve,” “concrete agreements” to pun- from the humanitarian system. like Syria and Yemen. level since October 2011 in the posing a growing risk, there is The choice of Istanbul is sym- said Rob Williams, chief execu- ish war crimes, improve educa- The system must empower the “The current content and survey. widespread agreement among bolic, with Turkey itself hosting tive of charity War Child, which tion of children and protect their local actors – those in the local format of the summit make it The initial welcome Germans governments and aid groups at least 2.7mn of the estimated supports and protects children welfare in camps. areas, who are facing directly the diffi cult to see it as more than a showed waves of arriving mi- that the current humanitarian 4.84mn refugees who have fl ed around the world aff ected by Turkey, which has spent some humanitarian crises.” gathering which will state good grants last summer turned sour system is in desperate need of an the confl ict in Syria. confl ict. $10bn in hosting the Syrian “The structure must empower intentions but not make any real by the autumn and has weighed overhaul. If delegates step outside the “The number of people in the refugees and repeatedly com- these small and medium-sized change.” down since then on support in the polls for Merkel and her par- ty, despite their success in slow- ing the fl ow. The number of migrants en- tering Germany reached peaks of more than 10,000 a day last Ai Weiwei turns Macedonia teargas into art autumn, but fell signifi cantly this year due to the closing of Greece’s border with Macedonia AFP and a European Union deal with Athens Turkey that has discouraged ref- ugees from crossing the Aegean Sea to the EU. hinese dissident artist Ai Support for the Social Demo- Weiwei has opened a new crats (SPD), the junior partner Cshow in one of Athens’ in Merkel’s coalition govern- top archaeological museums, ment, rose one percentage point with Macedonian police teargas to 21%. canisters as one of the main ex- The anti-migrant AfD party hibits. was unchanged at 15%, making The Ai Weiwei at Cycladic ex- it the third-strongest political hibition, which opened at the force. Museum of Cycladic Art on Fri- The Greens lost one percent- day, features a number of works age point to 12% while the Left inspired by Europe’s migrant party and the business-friendly crisis. FDP party both inched up one One of them, Tear bottle/ percentage point to 9% and 7% teargas canister – a display of respectively. canisters alongside antique bot- The poll of 1,015 people was tles used to collect the tears of conducted by Infratest dimap on mourners – refers to an incident Tuesday and Wednesday. last month when Macedonian Another survey published on police used teargas and rubber Wednesday showed the SPD fell bullets against refugees trying to to its lowest level in 24 years in enter Macedonia from the Greek A visitor looks at the iPhone wallpaper, consisting of a series of that poll, underscoring the need border camp of Idomeni. photos of the artist and his team on the migrant crisis. for possible new alliances after Outside the museum, there Marble ‘tyres’ or lifesavers by Ai, the general election next year. are fl ags in silver and gold – the them than to save lives. inspired by the recent migration SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel is colour of emergency blankets The exhibition runs until Oc- crisis, are presented during his under pressure from some in his given to refugees and migrants tober 10. exhibition entitled Ai Weiwei party to shift left to try to mobi- by aid groups as they emerge Ai has taken a personal inter- at Cycladic at Athens Cycladic lise traditional supporters before from the cold waters of the est in the thousands of refugees Museum in Athens. the federal election in Septem- Aegean Sea. and migrants who have risked ber, 2017. One of the fl ags evokes the their lives to get to Europe, only Right: A collection of tear gas A poll published last week image of Aylan Kurdi, the Syr- to fi nd their path barred by a canisters thrown by showed nearly half of Germans ian toddler whose tiny body barrage of border closures. Macedonian police (front) oppose Merkel remaining in of- was found lying face down on Now a regular visitor to Les- against refugees in Idomeni in fi ce for a fourth term after the a Turkish beach in September, bos, Ai has set up a studio and April is seen next to antique tear election, a further sign that her drawing global attention to the plans to create a refugee memo- bottles (back), used to collect handling of the migrant crisis is crisis for the fi rst time. rial on the island. the tears of mourners, in an still weighing on her popularity. Ai himself caused a stir earlier In February, he draped thou- installation by Ai, is presented this year by re-creating Aylan’s sands of lifejackets discarded next to ancient Kouros figures. death pose on beach on the is- by migrants arriving in Greece land of Lesbos, a key hotspot for around the columns of Berlin’s sign the Bird’s Nest stadium for new arrivals, in a photo shoot for Konzerthaus concert hall. the Beijing Olympics and has India Today magazine. And earlier this month, he been exhibited around the globe, Other exhibits titled Tyre and visited Gaza for a documentary but his works have often fallen Zodiac Boat recall the perilous he is fi lming on the refugee cri- foul of China’s authorities. crossing made by hundreds of sis, as hundreds of Palestinians He was detained in 2011 for Merkel: A poll published last thousands of refugees and mi- have also made the treacherous 81 days over his advocacy of de- week showed nearly half of grants in fl imsy rubber vessels, journey. mocracy and human rights as Germans oppose her remaining wearing makeshift lifejackets China’s most prominent con- well as other criticisms of the in off ice for a fourth term. that are often more likely to kill temporary artist, Ai helped de- government in Beijing.

Romania calls on citizens to Racist cop help buy Brancusi sculpture fi ned DPA Reuters The communist regime state can recover and make ac- Nordhausen, Germany Bucharest seized it in 1957. Romascu’s cessible to the wider public and heirs got it back in 2012 after a art lovers,” the government said protracted legal battle. in a statement. German highway pa- omanians can collec- Bucharest launched a cam- Brancusi was born in the trolman who posted an tively own a work of their paign yesterday to raise €6mn small village of Hobita near the Aanti-Semitic comment Rgreatest artist, the mod- to buy the piece, Cumintenia Carpathian Mountains, but he on Facebook was handed a fi ve- ernist giant Constantin Bran- Pamantului in Romanian. had lived in Paris for most of his and-a-half-month suspended cusi, by joining a government- “I am calling on Romanians life. sentence and ordered to pay an led campaign to buy one of his to take individual responsibility He bequeathed his studio and €1,800 ($2,018) fi ne by a court sculptures. because I want Brancusi to unite some of his art to the French on Friday. After an epic 18-month walk us, not divide us,” Prime Minis- state after his death in 1957. “He encouraged hate against from his tiny Romanian village, ter Dacian Ciolos said. He had wanted to leave his art Jews with his comments,” said the 27-year old sculptor arrived The fundraising drive carries to Romania, but the then com- Judge Henning Horstmeier. in Paris in 1904 and eventually the slogan “Brancusi is mine”. munist government declined “It was an attack on human worked under French star Au- Donations come with tax ex- the off er. dignity.” guste Rodin. emptions. Little of Brancusi’s art is in The 52-year-old from the In 1907, he left Rodin’s stu- The government will put up Romania, with the notable ex- eastern state of Thuringia must dio saying “Nothing grows un- €5mn of the €11mn ($12.32mn) ception of an open air monu- pay the fi ne to three charitable der big trees”, and created The price tag, hoping to raise the mental ensemble that includes organisations. Meekness of the Earth – a vul- rest from Romanians by end- the Endless Column in the city He apologised to the court for nerable, crouching female nude September. of Targu Jiu, a 1937 tribute to his act. A child arranges blocks of wood that are inspired by Brancusi’s work, This is not a stone, during an art of primitive simplicity – later “This sculpture – repre- fallen World War I soldiers. Prosecutors had argued for a exhibition titled The Meekness of the World, that aims to familiarise Romanians with Brancusi’s art, in selling it to Romanian engineer sentative for his entire work – is In 2009, one of his sculptures fi ve-month suspended sentence Bucharest. Gheorghe Romascu. the last one that the Romanian sold for a record €29mn. and a €800 fi ne. Gulf Times 22 Sunday, May 22, 2016 INDIA

BUSINESS COMPLAINTS INVESTIGATION AVIATION EDUCATION RCOM, Aircel merger Delhi minister sacks Police announce reward Air India launches Multiple stream free talk extended by 30 days three school teachers for arrest of 23 people discount fares scheme online portal launched

Industrialist Anil Ambani-led Reliance Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia Jharkhand police yesterday announced a To lure more flyers national passenger carrier A Bhopal-based education group has launched Communications (RCOM) yesterday said yesterday ordered the dismissal of three Rs50,000 reward for information leading to the Air India yesterday off ered a new discount a free ‘massive open online course’ (mooc) it has extended “exclusive discussions” for teachers and suspension of three others. During arrest of 23 wanted people. “These 23 people are scheme. According to the airline, the ‘Super Sale’ and learning platform for various streams. potential merger of its wireless business with a surprise visit by Sisodia to Shaheed Hemu wanted in cases of murder, extortion, robbery scheme off ers passengers tickets at attractive “The portal ‘aisectmoocs.com’ has been the promoters of Aircel by another 30 days. Kalani Sarvodya Bal Vidyalaya in Lajpat Nagar, and other serious charges,” a police off icial said. fares starting from Rs1,499 (all inclusive) on its launched to support the ‘Skill India’ and ‘Sarva “Reliance Communications today announced the students complained about the school “The money will be given to a person giving domestic network. The sale period for the off er Shiksha Abhiyan’ movements. It off ers the that, based on the substantial further progress staff , the Delhi government said in a statement. information leading to the arrest or a policeman started yesterday and ends on May 25, the airline largest number of courses introduced on an made, RCOM, MCB and Sindya have mutually The minister then asked the teachers and the making the arrest,” the off icial said. He said the said on Twitter. The travel period is between July Indian mooc platform till date,” an AISECT extended the exclusivity period between principal to leave the room so that the students reward was on the lines of a tactic employed in 1 and September 30. The national carrier’s sales spokesperson said while launching the portal RCOM and Maxis Communications and Sindya could express themselves freely. “The students dealing with Maoist guerrillas who are active in follows similar discount off ers started by budget on Friday. The portal, launched in partnership Securities and Investments Private Limited, the narrated their experiences and named two most of the districts of Jharkhand. “Quite a few airlines such as AirAsia India, SpiceJet and IndiGo. with Ireland-based education group ALISON, shareholders of Aircel, by 30 days to June 22, to teachers who repeatedly indulged in physical arrests were made after the state government According to industry insiders, airlines off er special offers school-level skill-based higher education consider the potential combination of the Indian violence against the students and used abusive announced cash reward up to Rs25 lakh for help fares not just to stimulate demand, but also to and over 750 diploma and certificate level wireless business of RCOM and Aircel. language,” the statement said. in capturing some Maoist guerrillas.” increase load factors during lean seasons. courses.

30 die in two road accidents India set to in Himachal

Agencies Shimla start massive

wo deadly road accidents in Himachal Pradesh Tkilled at least 30 people and injured 24 others, police said yesterday. project to An overcrowded jeep fell into a gorge 1,000ft-deep early yes- terday, killing 13 people in Kin- naur district, police said, about 200km east of state capital Shimla. “Thirteen people have died divert rivers and one is injured. Ten of them were from one village,” Surinder Ambitious scheme to channel families were forced to migrate downstream of the rivers? They Mohan, a local police offi cer, water from regions with a from villages to nearby cities need to look at a river not just as said of the accident. surplus to drought-prone where water is more easily ac- a source of water, but as an entire It followed a separate trag- areas could begin in days, cessible. ecosystem. edy late Friday when a passenger but Bangladesh has raised According to the National “They will have to dig ca- minibus bus swerved off a hilly concerns Water Development Agency, nals everywhere and defy the road into a gorge, killing 17 and which will oversee the rivers ecology of the country. It is a injuring 23 in the state’s Chamba Guardian News & Media project, “the water availabil- waste of money and they have district. New Delhi ity even for drinking purposes overestimated how much water “Seven people died on the becomes critical, particularly there is in the rivers they want spot and the rest died on their in the summer months … On to divert.” way to and in the hospital. ndia is set to start work on the other hand excess rainfall Governments have toyed with Many are critically injured,” a massive, unprecedented occurring in some parts of the the idea of redrawing river routes Ajay Parashar, a police officer Iriver diversion programme, country creates havoc due to since the 1800s, when the coun- said. which will channel water away floods.” try was still under colonial rule. In another accident in Shiv- from the north and west of the The scheme is a pet project The resulting disputes still play puri in Madhya Pradesh, six country to drought-prone areas of Modi, who has made several out today. The Mullaperiyar people were killed when their in the east and south. The plan promises to end India’s long- dam, which diverted water from jeep collided with a truck while could be disastrous for the local term water problems. In the fi rst Kerala to Tamil Nadu, was built returning from Ujjain’s Simhas- ecology, environmental activists few months of his premiership, in the late 1800s, and was con- ta Kumbh Mela yesterday. warn. Modi’s cabinet revived the idea sidered at the time to be one of Nine were injured in the acci- The project involves rerouting of linking 30 rivers across India. the most extraordinary feats of dent that occurred near Kulhari water from major rivers includ- The water resources ministry engineering ever achieved. Now, village on the Agra-Mumbai Na- ing the Ganges and Brahmaputra spokesperson said: “The idea is the two state governments con- tional Highway. and creating canals to interlink old, but the Modi government tinue to dispute control of the About 350 people die every the Ken and Batwa rivers in cen- has done all the work on it.” dam. day on India’s roads - more than tral India and Damanganga-Pin- The river linking project any other country - with those jal in the west. “The government is trying could lead to further disputes under 18 and two-wheeler rid- Water Resources Minister to redraw the entire not just between neighbouring ers most vulnerable, according Uma Bharti said last week that geography of the country” states, but with the neighbour- to various data. the work could start in a few ing government of Bangladesh. An Airbus A-320 carries days. A spokesperson from her Plans to interlink rivers were India’s plans will affect 100mn roughly 180 passengers, so the department told the Guardian drawn up in the 1980s by Indira people in Bangladesh, who live daily death toll on India’s roads that the government was still Gandhi’s government, and were downstream of the Ganges and is almost double that fi gure. waiting for clearance from the gathering dust as central gov- Brahmaputra and rely on the “If (two) planes full of environment ministry. ernments repeatedly failed to rivers for their livelihoods. Last people crashed every day, The project will cost an esti- win the approval of states. Now, Monday, Bangladesh’s Minister wouldn’t the situation get mated 20 lakh crore rupees and with a Supreme Court mandate, of Water Nazrul Islam urged more attention,” asked Piyush take 20-30 years to complete. and government backing, save the Indian government to take Tiwari, founder and president Prime Minister Narendra the rubber stamp of the envi- Bangladesh’s water needs into of Save LIFE, an advocacy Modi’s government is present- ronment ministry, the project consideration. that has used Right-To-In- ing the project as the solution to could get under way in a matter “Fifty-four of 56 Indian riv- formation queries to collect India’s endemic water problems. of days. ers fl ow through Bangladesh,” he traffic-death data. For years, parts of India have Scientists say the government said. “India is giving a lot of im- Indians under 18 years consti- suff ered from devastating spells needs to do a full audit of its ex- portance to its own people hit by tute 11.93 % of traffi c fatalities, of drought. As average tempera- isting water resources and ana- drought … but it must not ignore according to a 2014 Save LIFE tures in India rise, and the grow- lyse the environmental impact of our rights.” RTI query. ing population puts increasing linking rivers before pressing on The Indian water resources The toll primarily stems from demands on water resources, with its plans. ministry spokesperson said: rash driving, below-global- millions of people are without a Dr Latha Anantha from the “The Indian government is standards roads and a shunning reliable water supply. River Research Centre said the addressing Bangladesh’s wa- of safety - either deliberately or This year, 330mn Indians have project could be catastrophic for ter problems too,” adding that through ignorance. been aff ected by drought. State India’s river-dependent ecol- ministers from the two coun- In February Road Transport governments used emergency ogy. “The government is trying tries had discussed the water Minister Nitin Gadkari told par- measures to deliver water by to redraw the entire geography issue in the past. “We don’t liament that 130,000 people die train in Maharashtra; in other of the country,” she said. “What have the details, but we will en- in 500,000 accidents on Indian People gather beside the wreckage of a bus which fell into a gorge near Dalhousie in Chamba District areas, schools and hospitals were will happen to communities, the sure Bangladesh gets its share roads. of Himachal Pradesh on Friday. forced to close, and hundreds of wildlife, the farmers who live of water too.” Congolese teacher dies Delhi girl tops class after attack in New Delhi 12 exams with 99.4% IANS of 97.61, followed by Chennai at New Delhi 92.63%. AFP died in hospital early yesterday. local politicians later comparing Over 1mn students had ap- New Delhi “One of the attackers has been Africans to “cancer.” peared in the examinations that arrested,” he said. The politicians demanded the irls outclassed boys in the began on March 1 and concluded The police offi cial said a man- eviction of Africans from the Central Board of Second- on April 22. young Congolese teacher hunt had been launched to fi nd state and local councils ordered Gary Education (CBSE) Gupta of Montfort School in has been killed by a group the remaining attackers, who residents not to rent them their class 12 results declared yester- west Delhi secured 99.4% marks Aof men in New Delhi, po- also beat up a local resident after homes. day. to top the exams. lice said yesterday, the latest he tried to help the foreigner. In January a mob beat a Tan- With an overall pass percent- The science stream student- victim in a series of attacks on The victim taught at a private zanian woman and her male age of 88.58, girls performed scored full marks in Physics and African nationals in India. institute in southern New Delhi, friends in Bengaluru and set better compared to the boys’ Chemistry and got 99 out of 100 Three men pelted M T Olivia, police said. their car ablaze before dragging 78.85. in English, Mathematics and 23, with stones and bricks after Singh said the assault was not them off a bus, while scores of The pass percentage for boys Computer Science. She aggre- chasing him through the upscale racially motivated. passengers watched in silence. in 2015 was 81.59%, while it was gated 497 out of 500. neighbourhood of Vasant Kunj Yet attacks on African na- That attack came in an appar- 90.87% for girls. Goyal of Tagore Public School late Friday, police said, following tionals are relatively common in ent revenge for a road accident in Sukriti Gupta of Delhi and in Kurukshetra, Haryana stood an altercation. India, where they face frequent which a Sudanese driver ran over Palak Goyal of Haryana bagged second in the all-India ranking, “It started when the Congo- racial discrimination and har- a local woman in the city. the fi rst and second positions. securing just one mark less than lese man was hiring an auto- assment by locals. Delhi’s former law minister According to a CBSE press re- Gupta. She scored 99.2%. rickshaw. They had a heated Police typically reject any was also accused in 2014 of har- lease, 83.05% students cleared The third place was secured by argument leading to the attack,” suggestion of racist intent in the assing African women after he the examination this year Somya Uppal of St Theresa’s Con- Ishwar Singh, deputy police case of attacks. led a vigilante mob through an against 82% last year. vent School, Karnal, and Ajish Sekar commissioner for south-west In 2013, a Nigerian national area of the capital, accusing the Srishti Ailawadi, who secured 97.8% in CBSE’s Class 12 exam, is Thiruvananthapuram record- of PSBB Senior Secondary, Chennai Delhi, said, adding that the man was killed by a mob in Goa, with women of being prostitutes. given a sweet by her mother in New Delhi yesterday. ed the highest pass percentage - both scoring 99% marks. Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 23 INDIA IS vows to avenge killing of Muslims in India

Agencies Indian leaders and members Indian fi ghter who is identifi ed to liberate Muslims and avenge dus in a train. Modi was the chief At least fi ve militants were nine hours,” a local police of- New Delhi of the community say this testi- as Abu Salman al-Hindi oper- the violence perpetrated against minister of Gujarat at the time killed in a gunbattle with secu- ficer said on condition of ano- fi es to the strength of the coun- ating in the Syrian province of them in 2002 in Gujarat as well and faced allegations that he did rity forces in Kashmir yesterday, nymity. try’s secular democracy. Homs. Kashmir and the destruction of not do enough to stop the blood- offi cials said. Three soldiers were also in- n a rare appeal to India’s In a video monitored by the “In this land your religion is a mosque in Ayodhya by Hindu shed. Soldiers and policemen sur- jured in the encounter. Muslim minority, Islamic US intelligence group SITE, Is- safe. In this land Allah’s Law zealots in 1992. But a Supreme Court-ordered rounded a house in a village in The army recovered arms and IState says it is planning to lamic State mocked Muslims is the highest. In this land you “We will come back, with the investigation has said there was the Kupwara district after re- ammunition from the site. Se- avenge the deaths of Muslims living in harmony with Hindus have nothing that stops you sword, to free you, to avenge no case against him. ceiving an intelligence tip-off curity teams were searching the killed in riots in Prime Minister who worship cows, trees and from doing good deeds, from Babri mosque, Gujarat, Kash- India has suff ered from terror that a group of rebels were hid- area for more militants. Narendra Modi’s home state of the sun, and urged them to trav- doing da’wah, from preach- mir,” the fi ghter says. attacks. ing inside. A secessionist militant move- Gujarat and elsewhere. el to IS-held territories in the ing Islam. In this land your life, More than 1,000 people were In 2008, a militant group “Militants holed up inside ment took hold in Kashmir in India is home to more than “Caliphate.” your honour, your property is killed in Gujarat. based in Pakistan launched a the house fired on the security the 1980s. Since 1988, nearly 160mn Muslims, but only a “In this land you get to have protected.” Most of them were Muslims, rampage through Mumbai that forces, triggering the gunbat- 44,000 people have been killed handful of them have joined the hatred for the kuff ar. In this land Another fi ghter then says Is- attacked by Hindu mobs in re- killed 166 people and trauma- tle. Five militants were killed in in Kashmir, according to the Middle Eastern group. you get to perform jihad,” said an lamic State will come to India taliation for the burning of Hin- tised the country. the clash that lasted for nearly South Asia Terrorism Portal. Jayalalithaa to be sworn in tomorrow

IANS at the Red Road (Indira Gandhi Chennai Sarani). “The oath-taking ceremony will be held at the Red Road so ll India Anna Dravida that more people can witness it,” Munnetra Kazhagam Banerjee said on Friday. Aleader and Chief Minis- The Trinamool swept to pow- ter J Jayalalithaa yesterday met er, bagging 211 of the 294 assem- Governor K Rosaiah and formal- bly seats. ly staked claim to form the next Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena government in Tamil Nadu. criticised the Bharatiya Janata She will be sworn in as chief Party (BJP), its ally, for the sec- minister for a second term at ond day yesterday, asking it “not noon tomorrow at the Chennai to grab all credit” for the results University Centenary Audito- of the assembly elections in fi ve rium here. states. An offi cial statement is- The BJP could win only As- Communist Party of India secretary Kanam Rajendran receives chief minister-designate Pinarayi Vijayan (left) at the party headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram yesterday. sued by the governor’s princi- sam, said the Shiv Sena, while pal secretary said Jayalalithaa the Left Front bagged Kerala, met Rosaiah at the Raj Bhavan Trinamool Congress swept West here and gave him a copy of the Bengal, AIADMK managed to resolution passed by the party’s retain Tamil Nadu and the Con- newly-elected legislators elect- gress-Dravida Munnetra Ka- ing her as AIADMK legislative zhagam alliance accounted for party leader. Puducherry. As Rosaiah invited her to form “It is erroneous to say that the next government, Jayalalith- the people have wholeheart- CM-designate seeks aa gave him a list of 29 legislators edly supported the perform- who can be appointed as minis- ance of the BJP government ters in the state cabinet. at the Centre in the past two In Kolkata, a Trinamool Con- years,” the Sena said in a sharp gress leader said Prime Min- editorial in its mouthpiece ister Narendra Modi and his Saamana. Bangladeshi and Bhutanese “If that was so, then besides counterparts are among several Assam the people of the other to build consensus high-profi le personalities to be four states should also have en- invited for Mamata Banerjee’s dorsed Prime Minister Narendra Vijayan begins consultations to the swearing-in ceremony to defend the interests of the peo- reporters after a closed-door Chamber of Commerce and In- swearing-in as West Bengal Modi’a government, its vision, ahead of Kerala cabinet be held at the Central Stadium ple.” meeting with Chandy. dustry (CCCI) said it expected chief minister for a second term its policies.” formation here on May 25. Vijayan, however, restrained “I’ll discharge duties of the the new government to fulfi l on May 27. That did not happen and the While Chandy off ered Vijayan himself from attacking his polit- offi ce bestowed on me with all the developmental needs of the Among others on the guest fact was that in each of the four By Ashraf Padanna support for continuing the out- ical rivals and instead appeared its seriousness,” he wrote on Fa- state, including the timely com- list are Uttar Pradesh Chief Min- other states - Kerala, West Ben- Gulf Times Correspondent going government’s develop- trying to build a consensus on cebook earlier. “I expect the co- missioning of the Kochi Metro. ister Akhilesh Yadav, his Delhi gal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Thiruvananthapuram ment initiatives, Achuthanandan matters of development, an area operation of all Keralites on this.” “The Chamber hopes that the counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and - the parties fought the elections vowed to remain “on the people’s in which Chandy excelled. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government will do everything Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu on their own independent lo- side” and ensure that the guilty in “I met him because he is the leader O Rajagopal, who opened possible to ensure that the Met- Prasad Yadav. cal agendas which helped them erala’s chief minister- corruption cases are punished. last party leader among us who the account for the party in the ro project is commissioned on “A host of national and in- emerge victorious, said the Shiv designate Pinarayi Vijayan The nonagenarian former chief held the post of the chief minis- assembly, also called on Vijayan time,” it said in a statement. ternational leaders, includ- Sena. Kyesterday called on out- minister, who is upset that he was ter and had practical knowledge. at AKG Centre, the CPM head- “We hope that the new cabi- ing Modi and his Bangladeshi “Tomorrow, if Donald Trump going chief minister Oommen denied a second chance to become It can be said that I am a novice quarters in Thiruvananthapuram. net will seriously consider the counterpart Sheikh Hasina and or Hillary Clinton win in Amer- Chandy and Leader of the Oppo- the chief minister after leading the in administrative aff airs of the The day also saw the fi rst poli- fund requirements for KMRL so Bhutanese leader Tshering To- ica or if Nawaz Sharif returns to sition V S Achuthanandan ahead party to victory, also wanted im- government,” the 72-year-old cy statement from CPI secretary that it will accelerate the overall bgay are being invited for the offi ce in Pakistan, can it be at- of assuming offi ce next week. mediate steps to rein in infl ation Vijayan, who would be the 12th Kanam Rajendran, who said the progress of unfi nished works, ceremony,” the Trinamool Con- tributed to the performance of The Communist Party of India and ensure the safety of women. leader to occupy the chair, told new government would dump including land acquisition.” gress leader said. the Modi government?” the Sena (Marxist) leader also visited the “It’s not a question of the posi- reporters after the meeting. the policy of phased prohibition, The development of the Inter- Banerjee, who on Friday asked sarcastically. headquarters of the Communist tion (of power),” Achuthanandan Vijayan, who received a warm which the voters had rejected, national Container Transship- staked claim to form the gov- The editorial criticised the BJP Party of India (CPI), the second told reporters later, unleashing a welcome from Chandy and his and concentrate on promoting ment Terminal (ICTT) operated ernment in the state for the top brass for attributing the re- largest coalition partner, and held fi erce attack on Chandy holding family, said his invitation list did abstention. Vijayan, however, by Dubai Ports World was a top second term, said unlike in 2011 sults of the elections to the good discussions with its top leaders. him responsible for “widespread not exclude anyone and that was refused to respond saying the priority for the outgoing govern- when the oath-taking venue work of the BJP-led National Vijayan, accompanied by his corruption” and “development why he planned the ceremony Left Democratic Front (LDF) ment, it said, hoping the new ad- was the Raj Bhavan, the cer- Democratic Alliance (NDA) gov- party’s state secretary Kodiyeri paralysis.” in a stadium. “I’m ready to seek would take a decision soon. ministration too would continue emony this time will be held ernment. Balakrishnan, invited all of them “I’ll uphold the leftist line and advice from all,” Vijayan told Meanwhile, the Cochin support. Cook meets PM to discuss Modi is God’s gift to Apple’s plans for India nation: Venkaiah IANS which are benefi cial for the Agencies Cook, who was seen using make aff ordable iPhones available New Delhi poor,” Naidu said. New Delhi Modi’s gold-coloured iPhone, in a country where most smart- The minister said the BJP also launched an updated ver- phone sell for less than $150. won the assembly polls in As- sion of the prime minister’s app, In an interview with NDTV rban Development sam because of its strong or- pple Inc chief Tim Cook which includes a new volunteer- channel on Friday, Cook said Minister Venkaiah ganisation, capable leadership met Prime Minister ing network. Apple plans to import second UNaidu has said that and the prime minister’s pub- ANarendra Modi yester- “Thank you @tim_cook! hand phones and refurbish them Prime Minister Narendra Modi lic image. day, concluding a four-day trip Friends, welcome & happy vol- at a facility in India. was a “gift to the nation from “Fifteen years of Congress to India that could set the stage unteering. Your views & eff orts Cook spent most of the week God” and his image helped the misrule (in Assam) is also a for Apple’s expansion plans in are always enriching,” the prime meeting heads of India’s largest Bharatiya Janata Party win the reason that helped the BJP one of the world’s fastest grow- minister tweeted afterwards. companies, including telecom Assam assembly elections. win in the state. The result is ing smartphone markets. Cook’s fi rst offi cial visit to the operator Bharti Airtel and lender In an interview to ETV, a combination of all these rea- Modi and Cook met for an country comes at a crucial time ICICI Bank, but also took out time Naidu elaborated on the BJP’s sons,” he said. hour in central Delhi and dis- as Apple looks for new growth to visit a temple, dine with Bolly- slogan of ‘Congress-mukt Naidu said Modi has the po- cussed Apple’s plans for its India markets after posting its fi rst- wood stars and watch cricket. Bharat’, saying the party wants tential to transform the coun- business, including the possibil- ever decline in iPhone sales. Apple also announced plans “Congress-rule free nation try. ity of manufacturing and retail- More than 100mn smartphones to expand a software develop- and not a Congress-free na- Taking a dig at the Congress, ing in the country. were sold in India last year and ment centre it recently opened tion.” Naidu said the opposition par- Apple is looking to expand its sales are expected to grow 25 % in Hyderebad and launched a He said the BJP does not ty was losing power in every retail presence in India and is this year, but Apple only has about programme for local developers have any problem with the state due to its wrong policies. pursuing a licence to set up its a 2% share of the market. working on its iOS platform. Congress being in the opposi- “The Congress (support) own stores, which could start to The company has been push- Modi and Cook also discussed tion. is confi ned to 6% population open as early as next year. ing the Indian government to cyber-security and data encryp- “The nation wants to get rid whereas the BJP is spreading Government offi cials say India allow it to import refurbished tion, a government statement said. of Congress’s corrupt model of from Kashmir to Kanyaku- is keen to get Apple to start mak- phones in the country, but that Apple has been at the centre governance,” he said. mari. Our vote percentage in ing products in the country in application was turned down of a debate on the role technol- Naidu said Modi takes de- Bengal has increased. In Kerala what would be a boost for Modi’s earlier this month. ogy companies play in protect- cisions keeping in mind the and Tamil Nadu too our pres- “Make in India” manufacturing A second source aware of the ing data that led to a much-pub- benefits and interests of the ence has increased,” Naidu push. “Every aspect of business meeting said Cook asked Modi to licised dispute between Apple poor. said. was discussed. Now it’s for Ap- reconsider the company’s plans and the FBI over a phone linked “He is a gift from God to the The minister advised the ple to talk about their plans,” a to import refurbished phones - to a shooting in San Bernardino, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with Apple CEO Tim Cook nation. The Modi government Congress to introspect on its close aide of Modi said. a strategy seen key for Apple to California. during a meeting in New Delhi yesterday. has implemented schemes electoral losses. Gulf Times 24 Sunday, May 22, 2016 LATIN AMERICA

Macri nominates minister for top Mexico okays Guzman job at the UN

Reuters Buenos Aires extradition to the US rgentine President Mauricio Macri on Friday nominated Foreign Minister Su- Reuters confi rmed that the United States had opportunities the drug lord would Guzman was fi nally apprehended Asana Malcorra as a candidate to become Mexico City agreed not to seek the death penalty, have to stage another potentially three months later as he sought to Secretary-General of the United Nations, in a but declined to discuss any further embarrassing jailbreak. fl ee through drains from a safehouse vote that may hand the top job to a woman for details about the case or what the Vigil said Mexican offi cials told in his native state of Sinaloa along the fi rst time ever. exico approved the extra- department will do pending a Guz- him that it is currently costing the with his chief hitman. The United Nations formally kicked off the dition of drug lord Joaquin man appeal. government $100,000 per week to Guzman, whose nickname means race for the next secretary-general in December M“El Chapo” Guzman to the Asked whether he would fi le legal keep the kingpin in prison. “Shorty”, fi rst escaped prison in and the world body’s 193 members were encour- United States on Friday after receiv- challenges on behalf of Guzman, Ba- “Mexico knows they have no 2001 by bribing prison offi cials, and aged to consider putting forward a woman for ing guarantees he would not face the dillo said: “Of course. Five, 10, what- penitentiary that can hold him went on to dominate the world of the top job. death penalty, and the kinkgpin’s ever is necessary.” given their limited resources and Mexican drug traffi cking. A man has held the position since its inception lawyers vowed to block the move. Guzman’s escape last year was a his power to intimidate,” said Vigil, He was recaptured by Pena Nieto’s 70 years ago. Juan Pablo Badillo, one of Guz- major embarrassment to President who now works as an independent government in 2014 but escaped in Malcorra, 61, has only served in Macri’s gov- man’s lawyers, told Reuters he would Enrique Pena Nieto, who entered consultant.”I believe he will defi - July by capitalizing on the drug-tun- ernment since the center-right businessman fi le “many” legal challenges in the offi ce amid a bloody war between nitely die in a US prison cell.” nelling skills his cartel honed on the took offi ce in December, unseating Peronists coming days, which could delay the the government and drug cartels Earlier this month, Guzman was US border. who dominated Argentina for 12 years with in- drug lord’s eventual extradition for launched by his predecessor. moved from a jail in central Mexico A mile-long tunnel equipped with terventionist policies. weeks. Pena Nieto dialed back coop- to a prison in Ciudad Juarez on the electric lights, rails and a motorbike Previously, she had stints at the UN World Guzman, head of the Sinaloa drug eration with the United States after US border, seen as a step closer to came out directly into the shower of Food Programme, and served as Ban’s chief-of- cartel, was the world’s most wanted A police handout file photo of Joaquin taking offi ce in 2013, but soon after extradition. his prison cell and he simply slipped staff . drug kingpin until his capture in Guzman Loera in the Almoloya de Guzman’s recapture in January he Mexican authorities say they away. She has also worked as chief executive at Tel- January, six months after he broke Juarez prison in Mexico. said he had taken steps to ensure the tracked Guzman down after he sought Dozens of people were arrested ecom Argentina. out of a high-security penitentiary kingpin would be extradited as soon to make a movie about his life and met over the jailbreak, though details of Under an informal tradition of rotating the top in central Mexico through a mile- The ministry said it was given as possible. with Mexican actress Kate del Castillo who Guzman bribed and how his ac- post between regions, it is Eastern Europe’s turn long tunnel burrowed right up into “suffi cient guarantees” by the US Mike Vigil, a former US Drug En- and Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn, complices knew exactly where to dig and six of the current nominees are from there. his cell. government that Guzman would not forcement Administration chief of who published an interview with the into the prison remain scarce. But some diplomats speaking privately last Mexico’s foreign ministry said he be executed. international operations, said he did drug boss in Rolling Stone. With Chapo back behind bars, his month said former Portugal Prime Minister An- would face charges including drug It was not immediately clear not think the United States needed In a plot worthy of a Hollywood more discreet partner, Ismael “El tonio Guterres and former New Zealand Prime traffi cking, money laundering and where Guzman would be sent in the to do much to convince Mexico to blockbuster, the trio met at a jungle Mayo” Zambada, who jointly heads Minister Helen Clark were leading the pack after murder in US federal courts in Cali- United States. extradite Guzman, since the longer hideout, unwittingly monitored by the powerful Sinaloa cartel, is the each nominee was quizzed for two hours by the fornia and Texas. A US Justice Department offi cial he stayed in the country, the more Mexican security forces. last major Mexican capo standing. General Assembly.

Garcia Marquez’s ashes Fujimori faces Brazil plans fresh austerity measures head home to Colombia he ashes of the late Nobel Prize-winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez will be probe ahead of Reuters The new shortfall estimate debt burden and later reduce it The Temer administration has Tlaid to rest today near his seaside home in Brasilia will be the administration’s pri- to ease investors’ fears over the accused the previous govern- Colombia. The bestselling author of the modern mary defi cit target, which needs country’s fi nancial health. ment of hiding a series of fi scal classic “One Hundred Years of Solitude” died in Peru run-off congressional approval before Meirelles, a former central liabilities that infl ated the pri- April 2014 in his adopted home of Mexico at the he Brazilian government the end of the month to avoid a bank chief respected on Wall mary defi cit. age of 87. expects a record budget government shutdown. Street, was appointed last week Suspended President Dilma Now his ashes have been brought to his native Reuters Tshortfall this year as a The primary balance, which by interim President Michel Te- Rousseff had estimated a defi cit Colombia to rest in the colonial city of Cartage- Lina two-year recession drags down represents revenues minus ex- mer to plug an overall budget of 97bn reais for this year. na de Indias, where well-wishers will pay hom- revenues, but policymakers penditures before debt interest defi cit that ballooned to 10% of A sharp fall in the price of age to him today. President Juan Manuel Santos vowed new austerity measures payments, is a closely watched GDP and cost Brazil its coveted commodities and years of heavy will be among 400 guests and relatives of the rosecutors in Peru are investigating to regain investors’ confi dence in gauge of creditworthiness. investment grade rating last year. spending under Rousseff have writer at the ceremony in the cloisters of Carta- potential irregularities in presidential the once-booming economy. Finance Minister Henrique “We will work with a tar- deteriorated Brazil’s fi scal ac- gena University, where he will be laid to rest, the Pcandidate Keiko Fujimori’s campaign The federal government’s Meirelles said the target could get lower than what we an- counts, which once enjoyed institution’s press service told AFP. fi nances, the attorney general said on Friday, primary budget defi cit could be reduced if Congress ap- nounced,” Meirelles said in a hefty surpluses. “It is a great honor. I am very moved,” said confi rming press reports based on leaked docu- reach a staggering 170.5bn reais proves austerity measures to be press briefi ng.”This is a realistic Planning Minister Romero Gonzalo Garcia Barcha, one of the author’s two ments ahead of a June 5 election. ($48.7bn) in 2016, or the equiva- proposed by the government in and transparent target.” Juca, who also took part in the sons. The money laundering unit in the attorney lent of 2.75% of gross domestic coming weeks. He did not rule out future tax press conference, said he is Garcia Marquez was born in Aracataca near general’s offi ce is probing campaign donations product. Last year the govern- He declined to detail the hikes, but said the new measures confident Congress will ap- Colombia’s northern Caribbean coast and start- Fujimori’s centre-right party collected from ment posted a record defi cit of measures, but said they will help will focus on better use of public prove the new fiscal target later ed out as a journalist in Cartagena. two cocktail fundraisers and her husband’s 1.94% of GDP. initially stabilize the growing funds. this week. “Cartagena is the city where the Garcia Mar- purchase of land, Attorney General Pablo quez family is based. It is where my grandparents Sanchez said. are buried,” Garcia Barcha told AFP by telephone Fujimori, neck-and-neck in most opinion from France, where he now lives. polls with her centrist rival, Pedro Pablo Kuc- “It seemed natural to us that his ashes should zynski, denied any wrongdoing and said she Remembered ... be there too.” was the victim of a smear campaign. Garcia Marquez was hailed as the father of A 60-day investigation opened in March at “magical realism” for fantastical and romantic the request of a lawyer with a fringe political stories such as One Hundred Years of Solitude party and was extended this month, Sanchez and Love in the Time of Cholera. said. A box containing the ashes will be laid in the “It’s a preliminary investigation that may or university’s old patio inside a column holding a may not go on to a preparatory stage” for pre- bronze bust of the writer, sculpted by the British senting charges, Sanchez told reporters after an artist Katie Murray. event on fi ghting corruption. “More evidence is “At the family’s request it will be a simple cer- needed to make a decision.” emony with guests, lovers of culture, renowned The inquiry comes as Fujimori, the daughter writers...and journalists,” the university said. of imprisoned ex-president Alberto Fujimori, faces mounting allegations that she has links to illicit funds. Costa Rica govt confirms Her senior aide stepped down last Wednes- day after Univision reported he was under in- microcephaly birth vestigation for money laundering by the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Salvadoran woman suspected of being Sanchez said he could not give details on infected with the Zika virus has given prosecutors’ working hypothesis because on- Abirth in Costa Rica to a baby girl that test- going investigations could not be discussed ed positive for microcephaly, a rare birth defect, publicly. authorities said on Friday. Daily El Comercio reported on Friday that the Costa Rican health offi cials said the woman inquiry into Fujimori had been opened March 8, entered the country from her native El Salva- citing a legal document. dor in April. If confi rmed, the case would mark “I fi nd it interesting that these type of re- the sixth instance of microcephaly linked to a ports... are revealed two weeks from the presi- Zika infection in Central America and the fi rst in dential election,” Fujimori said in broadcast Costa Rica. comments from a news conference. According to the World Health Organization, “We know there will be more allegations and there is a strong scientifi c consensus that Zika lies, I ask Peruvians not to fall for it.” can cause microcephaly as well as Guillain- Several high-profi le politicians in Peru have Barre syndrome, a rare neurological disorder been the subject of criminal probes in recent that can result in paralysis, though conclusive years, but none has led to charges. proof may take months or years. Fujimori has struggled to distance herself Microcephaly is defi ned by unusually small from rampant corruption in her father’s 1990- Uruguyans take part in the 21st March of Silence in memory of people who went missing during the military dictatorship (1973-1985), in heads and can result in developmental problems. 2000 government. Alberto Fujimori is now Montevideo. The rally commemorated the 40th anniversary of the murder of two Uruguayan congressmen in exile in Argentina, Zelmar Brazil has confi rmed about 1,200 cases of mi- serving a 25-year-sentence for human rights Michelini and Hector Gutierrez Ruiz, killed by a military commando in Buenos Aires during the ‘Plan Condor’ period. crocephaly and considers most of them to be re- abuses and corruption. lated to Zika infections. International concern mounts over Caracas crisis

AFP But the socialist president is It led protests on Wednesday Capriles, whom Maduro narrow- of faltering loyalty in the armed The State Department has also jointly appealed for “eff ective Caracas digging in. He imposed a state of demanding a recall referendum ly beat to the presidency in 2013 forces, with top brass rallying to thrown its support behind a political dialogue” to take hold. emergency this week and ordered against Maduro on the basis of a elections following the death the government, a third of whose South American-sponsored me- But Zapatero has warned the two-day war games to show petition that garnered 1.8mn sig- of Hugo Chavez, has given dire ministries are run by active or re- diation eff ort started this week launching serious talks between nternational concerns are the military can tackle domestic natures. warnings about the mounting tired senior military men. and headed by former Spanish the entrenched Venezuelan gov- mounting over the economic and foreign threats he says are About 70% of Venezuelans public frustration. But low-ranking soldiers have prime minister Jose Luis Rod- ernment and opposition would Iand political crisis in Ven- being fomented with US help. want a change of government, The risk is that “along the way seen their pay cut to a poverty- riguez Zapatero. be “hard,” with no guarantee of ezuela, where the military was After deploying its Russian- polls say. there is a social explosion and, as level pittance under Venezuela’s “We support this dialogue as a success. yesterday holding a second day made strike aircraft across Ven- But the Supreme Court, we have repeated, a coup d’etat,” infl ation rate, which at 180% last way of guaranteeing respect for Already, Maduro has said he of exercises ordered by embattled ezuela’s skies on Friday, the mili- stacked with judges loyal to Ma- Capriles said in an interview with year was the world’s highest. the will of the Venezuelan peo- hopes the outcome of any talks President Nicolas Maduro. tary yesterday ran riot squads duro, overruled the legislature the Spanish newspaper El Pais. The United States has been ple, the rule of law, the separation would be convince the opposi- With the oil-dependent coun- through their paces, state televi- and called the emergency decree “We don’t want a coup d’etat. generally careful not to play into of powers, and the democratic tion to drop its “coup mindset.” try’s economy imploding under sion showed. “constitutional.” And electoral The solution for Venezuela isn’t a the accusations Maduro regu- process,” a State Department And the opposition coalition recession and hyperinfl ation, The opposition, which has a offi cials have been dragging their military uprising. That would be larly makes against it, although spokesman, Mark Toner, said in a has said the priority of dialogue public sentiment is backing Ma- majority in the congress, this week feet in validating the petition. worse than what we have today.” last year it designated Venezuela statement on Friday. must be to ensure the recall ref- duro’s ouster. rejected the state of emergency. Opposition leader Henrique There has so far been no sign a danger to its national security. Chile, Argentina and Uruguay erendum is held. Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 25 PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN Time running Motorcycle gunmen kill two traffi c police in Karachi out for Pakistan AFP Karachi

otorcycle gunmen shot dead two Pakistan Mtraffi c police in the on F-16 decision southern port city of Karachi yesterday, offi cials said. Internews Adviser to the Prime Minister network; give assurances about The assailants attacked the Islamabad on Foreign Aff airs Sartaj Aziz, ending its tactical weapons policemen while they were on meanwhile, said that if the issue and restricting medium-range duty in a busy central district, was not resolved Pakistan could Shaheen III ballistic missile; and shooting them in the head. akistan is left with barely a explore the possibility of buying free Dr Shakeel Afridi, who re- “The constables were tar- few days to decide if it will some other aircraft to meet its mained part of the US hunt for geted while controlling traffi c Ppay for the eight F-16 air- requirements. Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden at Ayesha Manzil Road by two craft it intends to procure from The diplomatic source said before he was killed in a raid by motorcycle riders. the United States from its own that the opportunity to buy the Special Forces on his Abbottabad The terrorists also took with kitty or else lose the opportunity F-16s could be lost after the ex- hideout. them the weapons of the de- of buying the jets believed to be piry of the off er, in case Paki- Despite the continuing con- ceased,” Syed Feroz Shah, Dep- one of the best fourth-genera- stan missed the deadline. The troversy, positive statements uty Inspector General of the tion multi-role fi ghters. cut-off date, he stressed, was have been issued by both Paki- West Zone Police, said. “If Pakistan still desires to buy particularly important because stan’s Foreign Offi ce and the US Nobody immediately claimed the F-16s, it would have to issue the F-16 manufacturer Lockheed State Department over the past responsibility for the killings. the Letter of Acceptance (LoA) Martin was planning to close the few days indicating their desire A senior Counter Terrorism by May 24,” a diplomatic source production line of the aircraft at to move ahead. Department (CTD) offi cial said said. Fort Worth, Texas, by the end of “Pakistan-US bilateral re- that, with the latest assaults, Pakistan has been reluctant next year. lationship is much larger and the number of policemen shot A Pakistani woman mourns the death of a relative after the killing of two traff ic policemen in Karachi to issue the LoA for the pur- broader than the F-16 issue,” FO dead in Karachi in the last fi ve yesterday. chase of the fi ghters after the US “We are aware of it. The Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said months had reached 16. Congress barred the administra- discussions among at the weekly media briefi ng on “All these cops were shot in cluding four senior offi cials and lice said that, after the killing of “Both the deceased who were tion from subsidising the sale the US administration Thursday. the head,” Raja Umer Khattab nine traffi c policemen - were nine traffi c policemen last year, targeted had weapons and bul- through the Foreign Military Fi- and Congress as well as The statements, a diplomatic said, suspecting the same group killed by unknown gunmen. all fi eld staff had been armed letproof jackets but they could nancing (FMF) programme. between Pakistan and the observer believes, were meant to was involved in all the attacks. Tahir Noorani, Assistant In- and directed to wear bulletproof not get a chance to resist,” he Under the initial fi nancing ar- US are continuing” prevent distraction from other Last year 79 policemen - in- spector General of Traffi c Po- vests while on duty. said. rangement, the US was to pay big issues in the relationship in- about $430mn for the eight jets Pakistan was expected to be cluding Afghanistan, trade and worth $699mn from FMF funds, one of the last two customers. civilian assistance. DIPLOMACY while the remaining cost was to The fi nancing row is under dis- Meanwhile, Zakaria confi rmed be borne by Pakistan itself. cussion between Pakistan and yesterday the May 24 deadline China, Pakistan But, after the Congressional the US, but the source was not for LoA. To a query, he said: “We Pakistan misses economic growth leaders exchange hold on partially fi nancing the much optimistic about Con- are aware of it. The discussions deal through FMF, Washington gress withdrawing its restriction among the US administration greetings asked Islamabad to foot the bill without Islamabad taking steps and Congress as well as between target for current fi nancial year from its national resources. to address its concerns. Pakistan and the US are continu- Chinese President Xi Jinping Islamabad rejected the idea of “Realistically speaking that is ing. It’s a time-consuming proc- and his Pakistani counterpart fully paying for the aircraft and unlikely to happen in four days,” ess. We derive satisfaction from Internews ed a negative growth of 27%. by 3.6%. Mamnoon Hussain yesterday refused to make any pledge un- he maintained. the fact that the US administra- Islamabad The cotton output stood at The mining and quarrying exchanged greetings on the 65th less the restriction on fi nancing Congress wants Pakistan to tion is fully supportive as far as 10.1mn bales against the target sector grew by 6.8% against anniversary of the establishment through FMF was lifted. take action against the Haqqani sale and FMF are concerned.” akistan missed the eco- of 13.96mn bales. Last year, its the target of 6%, but the overall of diplomatic relations between nomic growth target for output stood at 13.9mn bales manufacturing sector could not their countries. China and Pthe current fi nancial year with a 9.5% growth. meet growth expectations. The Pakistan are all-weather strategic by a wide margin mainly be- As a result, cotton ginning manufacturing sector posted partners of co-operation, and cause of widespread dismal declined by 21% against the a growth of 5%, but remained China-Pakistan ties have stood performance by the agricul- target of 5%. Important crops short of the 6.1% target. It had the test of the changing interna- ture sector. The gross domestic output fell by 7.18% against grown by 3.2% last year. tional and domestic situations in Taliban off ers ‘amnesty’ product (GDP) grew by 4.7% the target of 3.2%, while other The most important sector in the past 65 years, Xinhua news against the target of 5.5%. crops fell by 6.2% against the industrial domain - large scale agency quoted Xi has saying in At a meeting yesterday of the target of 4.5%. manufacturing (LSM) - also a message to Hussain. China- national accounts committee Wheat production grew by could not meet its growth target Pakistan relations have main- for govt, foreign workers comprising senior representa- a meager 0.61% to 25.47mn of 6%. It grew by 4.6%. LSM tained a strong momentum and tives from the four provinces tonnes. had improved by only 2.4% the two countries have witnessed and regions and technical ex- The livestock sector grew by last year. Small and household progress in practical cooperation DPA Kabul regime, and the Islamic advantage of the amnesty call by perts, the performance of all 3.63%, but remained short of manufacturing grew by 8.2% and people-to-people exchanges, Kabul Emirate promises to safeguard the Islamic Emirate, to protect economic sectors was added the 4.1% target, while fi sheries against the target of 8.3%. he said. Pakistan is an important your lives and wealth,” the state- themselves and their families up that showed higher than increased by 3.3%, surpassing The construction sector partner in the Belt and Road Initia- ment said. from shame and harm.” targeted growth by the indus- the 3% target. Forestry was the grew by 13.1% as it went beyond tive, and the construction of the he Taliban militants in “Otherwise [...] you will most It was the latest media initia- trial sector. The services sector only saving grace in the agricul- the 8.5% target, while electric- China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Afghanistan yesterday defi nitely be brought to justice tive by the extremists to demo- achieved its growth target of ture sector as it grew by 8.8% ity generation and gas distribu- will lay a solid foundation for the Tpromised amnesty to an- no matter where you run to,” it tivate and threaten government 5.7%. against the target of 4%. tion improved by 12.2% against shaping of a community of shared yone working with the national said, mentioning in particular and security forces. But the most worrying as- On an overall basis, industry the target of 6%. destiny for the two nations, he government or foreign organisa- soldiers, police and members of They have also stepped physi- pect of the year was a 0.19% grew by 6.8% against the target The services sector could said. Hussain, in his message to tions, along with a threat to any anti-Taliban militias. cal attacks, with increasing negative growth by agriculture of 6.4%. It was supported by meet the target of 5.7%, but Xi, said: “China has always proved who decline the off er. “Every individual of every numbers of kidnapping and kill- as a whole against the target of the construction and electric- this was mainly supported by to be an iron brother, steadfast “Cease work and co-opera- position working in the Kabul ing of government employees on 3.9%. ity sectors - the linchpins of an increase in the salary of gov- friend and a reliable partner of tion with the invaders and the administration is invited to take highways and in remote areas. Cotton output led the free- the Pakistan Muslim League- ernment employees. This was Pakistan.” “Our long-standing and fall in the agriculture sector, Nawaz government’s develop- evident from an 11.13% growth ever-growing partnership is based considered the backbone of the ment focus. in general government services on mutual respect, trust and national economy, as it post- Last year, industry had grown against the target of 6%. shared values,” he said. “It is a time to cherish the past achievements and look ahead towards our fu- ture aspirations and dreams,” the Suicide bomber targets president said. Visiting Indian writer honoured in Pakistan ENVIRONMENT Nato convoy in Afghanistan Forest fires in Internews ters (PAL) event titled ‘Meet a written 101 books and a number Margalla Hills Islamabad writer over a cup of tea’, which of articles. He also worked in ra- DPA Bagram district,” Parwan police Mohamed Radmanish said. was held in honour of Indian dio, and translated three books At least eight forest fires were Kabul chief Mohamed Zaman Mamo- Bagram is home to the largest literary fi gure Kewal Dheer. by the Pakistani fi ction writer reported in Pakistan’s Margalla zay said. US base in Afghanistan. akistan and India have Dheer was born on Oct 5, Abdaal Bela to Hindi. Qasmi Hills over the past 15 days. The “Despite Taliban claims and The Taliban claimed responsi- similar traditions, cul- 1938 in Vehari (now a part of said that there was a big re- largest fire erupted on Tuesday Nato convoy was bombed reports in the media, there were bility for the attack, with spokes- Pture, art and literature, Pakistan) and after partition sponsibility on the shoulders of night, and according to some in Afghanistan’s central no injuries to coalition personnel man Zabihullah Mujahid saying and this could play an im- migrated to India. He became a literary fi gures to play their part Capital Development Authority AParwan province, offi cials involved,” Nato said, adding the dozens of US soldiers were killed portant role in bringing both doctor in Patna, Bihar, in 1961 in building good relations be- off icials, the hills were still burn- said. attack was not a suicide bomber and wounded.In December a mo- countries closer, said columnist and began his career as a medi- tween the two countries. Dheer ing. However, CDA environment “A suicide bombing struck but a roadside bomb. torcycle suicide bomb attacked a and poet Attaul Haq Qasmi on cal offi cer. said he was inspired by Saadat member Sanaullah Aman said a convoy of Nato and Afghan Some Afghan forces were in- convoy in the same district left Thursday. Qasmi was speaking He worked in a health depart- Hasan Manto and tried to emu- Tuesday’s fire was extinguished troops in Qala-e-Nasro area of jured, army spokesman General six US servicemen dead. at a Pakistan Academy of Let- ment while also writing, and has late his style of writing. but another fire erupted on Fri- day. “Citizens’ carelessness is the main cause of the fire incidents in the hills. People throwing cigarettes, burning matches or even locals could be involved in the fires,” Dawn online quoted Afghan cyclists visit UN on world tour promoting peace Aman as saying. On Friday, the city managers discussed the frequent fires spread over 12,605 DPA in mind - to spread a message of countries has made him hopeful hectares. The CDA chairman Ma- New York peace. Afghanistan could fl ourish once roof Afzal directed the environ- “The message of peace to the again. ment wing to deploy 300 more world, especially to the United “We wish, all the people of off icials to curb fire incidents in n Afghan father and son Nations [is] the people of Af- Afghanistan wish, that...one Margalla hills, a statement said. duo cycling around the ghanistan are tired from war, day the peace come and all the In order to enforce eff ective Aworld stopped at the they want peace, they want edu- tourists come to Afghanistan,” monitoring, the number of fire United Nations headquarters on cation, they want hospitals,” Fi- he said. pickets were increased from 15 Friday to relay their message of roz Khan said. During their meeting with to 30, it said. peace to UN Secretary General “No to war, yes to peace.” Ban outside the UN building, the Ban Ki-moon. Nader Shah, a dentist who is Nangarharis presented the UN TRAGEDY Nader Shah Nangarhari, 49, paying for most of the trip’s ex- chief with a purple-and-green and his son Firoz Khan Nan- penses, said he hopes the jour- striped Afghan chapan coat. 11 die in Pakistan garhari, 17, ney will also show that Afghani- “This coat I’ve seen on Presi- bus accident started their journey in Tur- stan is a peace-loving nation and dent Karzai,” Ban said referring key last July and have travelled not the confl ict-torn country to former Afghan president Ha- At least 11 people were killed through several European coun- portrayed by media. mid Karzai. yesterday when a passenger bus tries, including Germany and “Many people in the world The father and son team will collided with a truck in Pakistan’s Britain, before arriving in the think the people of Afghanistan next go to California, hoping to Punjab province, police said. The United States, which is the 14th are suicide bombers, they are cycle all the way there if they can bus was on its way from Karachi nation on their trip around the fi ghters, they don’t know any- get an escort. to Khushab, Dawn online reported. world. thing about peace - but this is After that, they will embark United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon meets with (right) Nader Shah Nangarhari, and (left) his At least 19 people were shifted to They have cycled more than not true,” he said. on the last leg of their trip: Aus- son Firoz Khan, on the grounds of United Nations headquarters, on Friday. At centre-left is Afghan a hospital, and five of them were 11,000 kilometres with one goal He said that seeing other tralia. ambassador to the United Nations, Mahmoud Saikal. said to be in critical condition. Gulf Times 26 Sunday, May 22, 2016 PHILIPPINES

Senate, Marcos Jr wants IT experts House to convene for vote to join poll system audit count Manila Times Marcos also wants to know which a mystery happened. Manila the number of CCS (Con- A system audit will reveal the solidation and Canvassing truth,” he said. De la Cruz ear- By Michael Joe T Delizo System) laptops/servers that lier filed criminal complaints Manila Times ll Information Technol- were reported to contain rogue against Smartmatic executives ogy (IT) experts as well as votes coming from the pre- Marlon Garcia and Elie Moreno Arepresentatives of win- election logical accuracy test for introducing a new script in he Senate and the House ning candidates are welcome to and mock elections on election the transparency server of the of Representatives will participate in the system audit day; the municipalities, cities Comelec without proper au- Tconvene as the National of the transparency and central and provinces affected and the thorisation. Board of Canvassers (NBOC) on servers of the Commission on measures the poll body took to Also included in the com- Tuesday to prepare for the can- Elections (Comelec), the camp rectify the supposed error. plaint were Neil Banigued, a vassing of votes for the presi- of Senator Ferdinand “Bong- De la Cruz pointed out that member of the Smartmatic dential and vice presidential bong” Marcos Jr said yesterday. the system audit that Marcos Technical Support Team and election. “We would like to urge all sought is not directed at a par- Rouie Penalba, IT officer of the Senate President Franklin IT experts to go there (Come- ticular candidate. Comelec who were involved in Drilon and Speaker Feliciano lec), to have themselves ac- He said their camp only the script change. Belmonte Jr will lead the two credited and take a look and wants to determine the integ- They were charged with chambers in adopting the rules see for themselves what hap- rity of the elections. violation of the Automated and creating the Senate and pened,” Marcos’ campaign “We have to have a system Elections Law which prohibits House panels that will form the adviser Abakada representa- audit.We have to see the trans- interfering with “the genera- Joint Canvassing Committee. tive Jonathan de la Cruz an- mission logs because that is tion, transmission of election The actual canvassing of votes nounced. the only way we can see what results, data or information.” will begin on Wednesday at the Earlier, Marcos formally really happened,” De la Cruz De la Cruz said the law also House of Representatives. asked the Comelec to allow his said. prohibits “gaining or causing “On May 23, the Senate will own IT experts to conduct a He added that the people access to, using, altering and fi rst fi nish its work and pass on system audit to find out what should not accept Smartmat- destroying computer data, third reading a number of bills transpired after Smartmatic ic’s excuse that the change was programme and system soft- which are on the last stages of personnel changed the script innocuous because in compu- ware, network, or any com- enactment. of the transparency server on ter technology, everything can puter-related devices, facili- The next day we will proceed the night of May 9. change with just one push of ties, hardware or equipment, to join the House in convening The senator said his IT ex- a button or a single letter or whether classified or declas- the NBOC,” Senate Secretary perts will work under the su- icon. sified.” Oscar Yabes said. pervision of the poll body. De la Cruz said that they also The Comelec en banc is set Yabes noted that the consoli- In addition to the audit, found out that all vote count- to discuss Marcos’ petition dated canvassing system, which Marcos’ camp also asked Marcos Jr: seeking vote transparency ing machines (VCMs) did not on Tuesday. Bautista had said received the electronically- Comelec chairman Andres transmit a single election re- that he is inclined to allow a transmitted certifi cates of can- Bautista to provide additional ed Election System like the USB devices, BGAN or Broad- turns (ERs) and the public and sult at around 10pm on May 9. poll audit but it will have to be vass (COCs) from provincial and information concerning other transmission logs, the white band Global Area Network); decryption keys to open the “All VCMs did not transmit conducted by a group of inde- city boards of canvassers, as well components of the Automat- list (vote counting machines, digitally-signed election re- transmitted files. for a period of one hour.After pendent international experts. as special canvassing panels for overseas absentee voting, has been initialised and stored at the Batasang Pambansa since May 9. “Likewise, we will physically Getting ready for school opening transport to the House on May Philippines ‘emerging 24, all of the ballot boxes pur- portedly containing COCs and election returns which, as man- cruise destination in Asia’ dated by the Constitution, have been earlier transmitted to the Senate,” he said. By Leena Chua Australia to Hong Kong, with Under Article VII, Section 4 Manila Times another stopover in Puerto of the 1987 Constitution, the Princesa. Buses of eager passen- Senate and the House of Repre- gers departed for tours to farther sentatives are tasked to canvass he Philippines continues cities like Pagsanjan, Tagaytay, the votes for the presidential and to establish its position as and Quezon. vice presidential elections “upon Tone of the emerging cruise Other passengers opted to determination of the authentic- destinations in Asia as the Leg- stay in Manila, taking the tours ity and due execution thereof in end of the Seas, the huge luxu- of Intramuros and Rizal Park, the manner provided by law.” rious cruise ship of the Royal provided through the assist- “Unlike the senatorial and lo- Caribbean International (RCI), ance of Intramuros Adminis- cal elections where the canvass- made its way to Manila early this tration. ing of votes and the proclama- month. “With the recent launch of tion of the winning candidates Over 2,000 passengers were the Asean Cruise Brand and the are conducted by the Commis- greeted with the warmth and recently completed National sion on Elections, it is Congress enthusiasm unique only to Fili- Cruise Tourism Strategy, ef- which canvasses the votes and pinos when the ship docked on forts are strengthened towards proclaims the next president May 6.The local music of Banda attracting not only more cruise and vice-president,” Yabes ex- Kawayan and performances by lines to include our country in plained. the Ati-atihan dancers provided their programmes, but also more Partial and unoffi cial tally a festive atmosphere, as pas- frequent schedules from regular showed Davao City Mayor Ro- sengers disembarked from the cruise company clients. drigo Duterte getting an unas- cruise ship during its call at the In this way, we are bringing a sailable lead of over 6mn votes port of Manila. steadily growing stream of rev- against his closest rival, former Offi cials of the Department of enues for millions of Filipinos Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Tourism (DOT), Philippine Ports in the tourism industry,” Tour- Roxas. Authority, and the Asian Termi- ism Secretary Ramon R Jimenez The vice presidential race re- nals, Inc were at the reception Jr said. mains tight with Camarines rep- line to welcome the passengers. The Legend of the Seas has resentative Leni Robredo lead- The cruise call in Manila a twice-a-year schedule to the ing with only around 200,000 was part of the vessel’s 18-day Philippines, with this year’s sec- Mothers shop for uniforms and other school supplies in Quiapo, Manila in preparation for the opening of classes in June. votes against Senator Ferdinand Southeast Asia itinerary from ond call to be made in October. “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Group slams Tanauan ‘walk of shame’

Real criminals are left unpun- ished, while poor defenceless Rights lawyers say poor vulnerable to death penalty Filipinos are bullied, Manila Times reported. This was how an urban By Neil A Alcober workers. If these numbers are death penalty.” States that ratify poor group yesterday reacted Manila Times any indication, it is those who the Second Optional Protocol to the ‘walk of shame’ forced live in poverty who will suff er are required to renounce the use upon seven people suspected of the most if the death penalty is of the death penalty defi nitively. peddling illegal drugs in Tanauan, uman rights lawyers restored,” he said. He said Duterte is bound by Batangas. The group Kalipunan ng have expressed their Diokno also said that the the Second Optional Protocol. Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) Hstrong opposition to the poor bore the brunt of wrongful The Philippines would, if it re- said the punishment was unjust plan of President-elect Rod- death penalty convictions. introduced the death penalty, be especially since the seven sus- rigo Duterte to revive the death Citing data from the Supreme the only nation to have abolished pects have not even been proven penalty for heinous crimes and Court, he said that 71 % of the it and reintroduced it twice, and guilty of the charges against them. implement a “shoot-to-kill” death sentences handed down the only nation to reintroduce They called the walk of shame as policy against suspected crimi- by the trial courts were wrong- it having made a commitment “bad PR stunt.” Tanauan Mayor nals who violently resist arrest. fully imposed. to abolishing it by ratifying the Antonio Halili, who said he has In a statement, the Free Legal This means that 7 out of 10 Second Optional protocol to the shamed criminal off enders several Assistance Group (FLAG) said convicts on death row were International Covenant on Civil times, claims embarrassment has Duterte will violate the consti- wrongfully convicted. and Political Rights. yielded positive results despite tution and international law if “The poor are vulnerable to “If the Philippines reinstates there being no legal basis for the he pursues his plan. the death penalty because they capital punishment after hav- punishment. “This type of punish- “These actions are illegal and have no voice, no money, no ing ratifi ed the Second Optional ment does nothing to address unconstitutional, render our le- power, and lack the resources to Protocol, the country would be the sources of criminality, some gal system impotent and mean- hire good lawyers. condemned for violating inter- of which being a combination of ingless, and blatantly violate For exactly the same reasons, national law.It would be a great extreme poverty which forced international law,” FLAG chair- they will also be vulnerable to stigma,” Diokno said. them into these lives, and criminal man Jose Diokno said. the proposed “shoot-to-kill” Diokno also said that a shoot- syndicates or networks that target Diokno noted that the death policy of the president-elect,” to-kill policy disregards rights poor Filipinos who have nothing penalty and “shoot-to-kill” the lawyer explained. guaranteed by the Constitution. to lose,” Gloria “Ka Bea” Arellano, policy are anti-poor, stressing Diokno noted that death by The Constitution, he noted, Kadamay chairperson said in a that more than 80% of Filipinos hanging refl ects a callous disre- guarantees the right to be pre- statement. “If Mayor Halili wants are poor. gard for human dignity not befi t- sumed innocent, to be heard, to to fight crime then he should go “Seventy-three % of the 1,121 ting a country’s chief executive. counsel, to be informed of the after big outlaws orchestrating inmates on death row before the He said the death penalty and nature and cause of the accusa- wrongdoing instead of picking on death penalty was abolished in “shoot-to-kill” policy will not tion against him/her, to have a defenceless Filipinos,” she added. 2006 earned less than P10,000 deter crime, stressing that advo- Rodrigo Duterte: facing criticism speedy, impartial, and public Halili previously said that he is only a month. cating state-sanctioned killings trial, to meet the witnesses face emulating the views and principles Eighty-one %, in addition, is not just anti-poor but anti-life. gun,” he added. Diokno said the Political Rights on September tocol “is the only international to face, and to have compulsory of presumptive president Rodrigo worked in low-income jobs as “What the country needs is Philippines signed the Second 20, 2006 and ratifi ed it on No- treaty of worldwide scope to process to secure the attendance Duterte by being tough on crime. sales, service, factory, agricul- a better justice system—not a Optional Protocol to the Inter- vember 20, 2007. prohibit executions and to pro- of witnesses and the production tural, transport or construction new one based on the barrel of a national Covenant on Civil and The Second Optional Pro- vide for total abolition of the of evidence in his/her behalf. Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 27 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL

Dutch Foreign aid reaches fl ooded climber dies after Everest Lankan capital, toll up to 71 summit AFP The Indian government has Colombo provided infl atable boats, out- board motors, diving equip- AFP ment, medical supplies, elec- Kathmandu oreign aid began arriv- tricity generators and sleeping ing in Sri Lanka yester- bags, offi cials said. Fday, bringing help to half The fi rst of two Indian naval Dutch climber has died a million people forced out of ships arrived yesterday at the after reaching the summit their homes by heavy rains and port in Colombo, while Aus- Aof Mount Everest, expe- landslides that have killed at tralia and the United States dition organisers said yesterday, least 71 in a week of extreme have made cash donations to the third death in a week to hit weather wreaking havoc in help victims. the Himalayan climbing season. South Asia. Floodwaters in parts of the The mountaineer, named as As the heaviest rains in a capital subsided slightly over- Eric Arnold, died at Camp 4 af- quarter of a century battered night, offi cials said, but heavy ter falling ill with altitude sick- Sri Lanka, Cyclone Roanu downpours on Saturday pre- ness late Friday as he descended barrelled into the Bangladesh vented many from moving back the world’s highest mountain, coastline leaving six people to their homes on the banks of Mingma Sherpa, Managing Di- dead and forcing the evacua- the Kelani river. rector of Seven Summit Treks tion of 500,000 as it unleashed “Colombo did not receive any said. winds as strong as 88km (54 signifi cant rain last night and “The climber who died was a miles) per hour and heavy the water levels of the Kelani Dutch mountaineer named Eric downpours. went down slightly,” Disaster Arnold. We got the news from Torrential rains have deluged Management Centre spokesman his team leader, Arnold Coster, Sri Lanka since last weekend, Pradeep Kodippili said. at base camp,” Pasang Phurba triggering huge landslides that “But there were showers up- Sherpa, a board director at the have buried victims in up to stream and we are worried that expedition agency, said. 50ft (15m) of mud and left 127 the water levels can rise again in Earlier yesterday a tourism people missing. a day.” offi cial said authorities were As aid began to arrive yes- Nearly 300,000 people were working to bring the deceased terday on a military plane from staying in about 500 state-run climber’s body to Everest base India and a commercial fl ight relief centres yesterday, which camp before transporting it to from Japan, Sri Lankan author- also marks the Buddhist holi- the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. ities said their priority was now day of Vesak, while a further Arnold, 35, on Friday posted preventing diseases such as di- 200,000 people were staying a picture on his Twitter account arrhoea, with many areas still with friends or family. saying he had reached the top of under water. Offi cials said there was a the mountain. “We have sent a large number fresh landslide in the worst-hit It was his fi fth attempt to scale of doctors and nursing staff to central district of Kegalle, but Sri Lankan navy personnel loading collected food and water for flood victims in the Kolonnawa suburb of Colombo yesterday. the 8,850m (29,035) high peak. ensure there is no outbreak of that no casualties were report- Last year, he was among the waterborne diseases,” Health ed because the area had been wearing,” top Buddhist monk President Maithripala Sirise- by the fl oods in Sri Lanka. the arrival of the southwest climbers caught up in a deadly Minister Rajitha Senaratne evacuated. Warakagoda Sri Gnanarathana na called on Sri Lankans to pro- Disaster management offi cials monsoon. avalanche which struck the re- said. The country’s infl uential said. vide shelter and donate cash said there had been a huge out- Around 22 of Sri Lanka’s 25 gion in the wake of the Nepal In Colombo, residents clung Buddhist clergy urged the faith- “Consider this your meritori- or food to fl ood victims as of- pouring of sympathy for victims districts have been aff ected by earthquake. to ropes as they battled to ful to divert at least half of the ous deed to celebrate Vesak.” fers of assistance came in from with donations of food, clothing the rains, according to disaster The Dutch news agency ANP cross torrents of water puls- money spent on holiday cel- Vesak celebrations were muted overseas. and dry rations. offi cials. reported that Arnold had told his ing through the streets of the ebrations to help fl ood victims. Saturday in Colombo compared The accommodation book- The meteorological de- Almost a third of residents teammates after returning from fl ooded capital, with some “There are lots of people who with previous years when the ing website airbnb.com listed partment says the rains were have been moved from the the summit “my body has no en- forced to take shelter in rick- have lost their homes, some entire city was decorated with at least 29 places off ering free caused by a depression in low-lying capital, which has a ergy left” adding he had shaws. have only the clothes they are lanterns and coloured lights. lodging for anyone aff ected the Bay of Bengal, ahead of population of about 650,000. apparently died in his sleep. Around 330 climbers have successfully scaled Mount Ever- est this season after two consec- utive years of deadly disasters, Offering prayers but two other mountaineers have died in the past few days. Six dead, 500,000 A Nepali Sherpa guide per- ished on Thursday after he slipped and fell 2,000m down Mount Lhotse, the world’s fourth-highest peak. fl ee as cyclone On the same day an Indian climber died after falling ill while descending from Mount Dhaula- giri, also in the Himalayas. A second Dutch climber, Niels hits Bangladesh van Buren, also scaled Everest on Friday to become the fi rst patient suff ering with multiple sclerosis AFP undated on the Banshkhali in the Chittagong city. (MS) to reach the top “after an Chittagong coast in Chittagong after the Two others were killed in intense journey of two months,” cyclone triggered a 5ft (1.5m) Tajmuddin town on Bhola his organisers Mission Summit storm surge, Red Cross’s cy- island in the coastal region said. yclone Roanu struck clone preparedness offi cial while a woman in her 50s Van Buren, 37, has been in in- the Bangladesh coast Ruhul Amin said. died under a fl attened house tensive training for three years Con yesterday killing “Thousands of villag- in nearby Patuakhali, police for the ascent, which he hoped six people and forcing hun- ers were forced to fl ee their said. would raise awareness of MS and dreds of thousands more to homes after the storm surge Thousands of homes were money for research into the fl ee their homes as the storm fl ooded their villages,” he being evacuated as the disease. unleashed strong winds and said. cyclone bore down. “It all feels a little unreal,” heavy downpours. It came after the peripheral “So far we have moved Van Buren said in a statement Authorities took more than wind of the cyclone struck more than 500,000 people posted on the Mission Sum- 500,000 people into shelters coastal areas early on Satur- to cyclone shelters,” Reaz mit website. “...Slowly I come as the cyclone made land- day morning, causing wide- Ahmed, head of Bangladesh’s to realize that I stood on top of fall just after noon local time spread devastation across the Disaster Management the world.” (0600 GMT), packing winds impoverished region. Department, said. Nepal issued 289 permits to Buddhists off ering prayers at Swayambhunath in Kathmandu yesterday, during Buddha Purnima, as strong as 88km (54 miles) Six people perished and Disaster authorities have foreign mountaineers for this which marks the Buddha’s birthday. Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal some 200kms southwest per hour. hundreds of mud-and-tin shut down sea and river year’s brief spring climbing sea- of the Kathmandu valley. Buddhists commemorate the birth of Buddha, his attaining enlighten- “It has struck the southern houses were damaged in two ports and ordered fi shing son, which runs from mid-April ment and his passing away on the full moon day of May which falls on May 21 this year. coastal areas of Barisal and Chit- southern districts, police trawlers not to go out, while to the end of May, after two con- tagong with a wind speed of 62- said. the meteorological depart- secutive failed seasons. 88km per hour,” Omar Faruq, a “A mother and her young ment warned of landslides in Hundreds of climbers fl ed government meteorological child were killed after a land- southeastern hill districts. Everest last year after an earth- department offi cial, said. slide buried their hillside Offi cials said on Friday quake-triggered avalanche at “The landfall began just af- home at Sitakundu in Chit- night that they were prepared base camp killed 18 people. ter noon. It will take another tagong. The landslide was to move more than two mil- Only one climber summitted three-four hours to complete caused by heavy rains,” Shah lion people to nearly 4,000 the mountain in 2014 after an Three workers dead the landfall,” he added. Alam, a police inspector said, cyclone shelters in the avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides Several villages were in- adding that another child died country’s south. that year. in textile factory fi re Militants ‘trying to thwart war crimes trials’ AFP resting near the chemical stor- common in the factories that Dhaka age unit have died of suff oca- make up the $27bn garment tion and burns,” police inspector industry in Bangladesh, the By Mizan Rahman grown militants had carried investigation of the incidents. Agency a day after the attack. Shahidur Rahman said. world’s second-biggest apparel Dhaka out subversive activities in “But, the present government The doctor and his friend fi re in a textile factory “At least fi ve workers were exporter after China. the country in the past but it has been able to bring the perpe- were riding a motorcycle on in Bangladesh yesterday also injured and were rushed to a In November 2012, at least could not spread due to the trators to justice identifying them their way to a weekly free clinic Akilled three workers and hospital,” he said. 111 workers were killed when a ome Minister Asaduzza- zero-tolerance policy of the through proper investigation.” he had been operating. left fi ve injured, police said, in Firefi ghters brought the blaze devastating fi re engulfed a nine- man Khan Kamal yester- government against militancy. Meanwhile, Islamic State (IS) The attackers used their mo- the latest accident to cast a spot- under control in around two storey garment factory in the Hday said inactive members “Our government has taken has reportedly claimed respon- torcycle to block Sanowar’s mo- light on the country’s hazardous hours, Narsingdi police chief Ashulia industrial area, outside of militant groups were resort- the toughest steps against mili- sibility for Friday’s murder of a torcycle, before slashing him and garment industry. Amena Begum told AFP. the capital Dhaka. ing to subversive acts, aiming to tancy. As part of its eff orts, the homeopath doctor in Kushtia, his friend with machetes. A Pakistani technician was A company offi cial confi rmed The accident was followed thwart trials of war criminals. government enacted the Anti- SITE Intelligence Group said. The murder followed a now- among those killed in the blaze the deaths. by an even bigger tragedy six “They (militants) are trying Terrorist Act after it assumed Mir Sanowar Rahman, 55, familiar pattern witnessed in in the sprawling complex be- “We suspect the electricity months later when 1,138 people to make their presence felt, but power in 2009,” he said. was killed on Friday by ma- the killings of teachers, blog- longing to fabric manufacturer short-circuited, causing a fi re died after another clothing fac- the government has been able Asaduzzaman said militan- chete-wielding attackers, who gers and online activists as well Mom Tex in Narsingdi, just in the storage room where dyes tory complex collapsed, trapping to rein in their activities,” he cy was patronised by various came on a motorcycle. as foreigners - use of sharp outside the capital Dhaka. and paints were kept,” Nazmul over 3,000 workers. said while speaking at a work- quarters in the past. The attack also left his friend weapons to target the head or Police offi cials said the re fi Islam, a deputy general manager But the incidence of fi res has shop in the Capital Dhaka. “Journalists, political leaders Md Saifi zzuaman, a professor at neck of the victims. started on the ground fl oor of of Mom Tex, said. declined in recent years after two “We’ve formed a special- and activists and cultural per- Islamic University in Kushtia, IS have claimed responsibility a seven-storey building where “The workers who were rest- groups of global apparel brands ised strong CTTC unit so that sonalities were killed with their injured. He is being treated at a for some attacks in Bangladesh, chemicals and dyes were stored, ing in the upper fl oors died due and the Bangladesh government the militants cannot raise their patronage,” he said. Dhaka hospital. including the killings of two for- trapping workers who were to suff ocation from smoke,” he began to push through crucial ugly heads again in future,” He alleged that mili- US-based monitor- eigners last year, and a Rajshahi resting before their shift. said. safety reforms in the nation’s Asaduzzaman added. tants were helped to fl ee the ing group SITE tweeted the University professor and a Hindu “Three workers who were Fires and other accidents are 4,500 garment factories. The minister said home- country instead of proper claim citing IS’ Amaq News tailor in Tangail last month. Gulf Times 28 Sunday, May 22, 2016 COMMENT

Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Editor-in-Chief : Darwish S Ahmed The Islamic community is Production Editor: C P Ravindran

P.O.Box 2888 Doha, Qatar in urgent need of alliance [email protected] Telephone 44350478 (news), The world of Islam can What these maps imply is that economic, and cultural background of the Red Sea and help end the 44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery) produce solutions for its own non-Muslims make the decisions that will help them overcome Yemeni civil war in the medium term. Fax 44350474 concerning the Islamic countries of diffi culties. Increasing the number of such multi- problems the Middle East and Africa. So long as What should be done is to cast aside national projects will also enhance the we stand divided, they will continue the diff erences and disagreements and solidarity among Muslims. By Harun Yahya to make the decisions. As they are not meet on common grounds. Otherwise, To date, there have been rough Istanbul familiar with the region and do not separation in the clutches of interest patches in the relationship between know its people well, they will further groups is what awaits the Islamic world. Egypt and Turkey, yet it is a fact that their advance through destructive In many ways, Egypt, along these two countries will lead the way GULF TIMES ince the methods. with Turkey, is at the centre of the in establishing Islamic unity. Both Gulf War Since the solution options mostly Islamic world. It shares 500 years of the Turkish people and the Turkish of 1991, favour military action, the problems common history with Turkey. Many government are friends of Egypt. It is SMuslims grow continuously. The cost for the times throughout history they stood time to reinforce this friendship and have been drawn last 10 years in the Islamic countries by each other, and fought together enhance the collaboration between Encouraging signs into separation, and Muslims as a whole has been against a common enemy. Side by these two nations. confl ict, dissent and civil war. 6mn dead, and more than 10mn side, they fought against the armies The Islamic Co-operation Meeting International news agencies publish immigrants. of Napoleon, Czarist Russia and the that was held in Istanbul with the a new map of the Middle East or English Imperialism. The course these participation of Egypt’s minister of sustainable growth showcase new political models for Muslims are the two great Islamic states should pursue of foreign aff airs is a promising North Africa almost on a daily basis. is to act in unison. development in this regard. However, On these maps, Iraq and Libya are guardians of each Egypt is at the heart of the world’s eff orts towards this atmosphere of for Qatar economy divided into three regions while Iran most important trade route. The Suez friendship and brotherhood should and Yemen are divided into two while other Canal is one of the two gateways to gather pace. the borders of a communist Kurdish Mediterranean, and also the trade The Islamic community is in urgent Qatar’s prudent fi scal management has again become state, that will be founded in the However, we Muslims have no right route of East and Southeast Asia as need of coalition and alliance. The evident from the country’s public debt that is expected territories that are to be extracted to blame anyone but ourselves. For well as many Islamic countries. Egypt Islam army project led by Saudi Arabia to peak this year may close at a “very much manageable” from Turkey, are drawn. example, Muslims have been unable is responsible for the safety of the is making progress. Turkey and Egypt 28% of its GDP in 2016. As for Syria, how many regions it to come up with a solution concerning Canal and the Red Sea. are the two countries who can be the will be divided into diff ers from map the Syrian civil war. There is no A gateway to the sea lanes, the Gulf foremost supporters of this army. The According to a senior economist with BMI Research, to map. Some go further and include Muslim plan in existence to stop the of Aden is under fi re due to the Yemeni Islam army will be a deterrent force; it Qatar’s public debt is likely to be $74bn this year, which he plans for Egypt and Pakistan on the bloodshed in Iraq. No common policy civil war on one coast, and the domestic will not encourage war, but uphold the said “is very much manageable” for the government. list of the countries to be divided. And regarding the future of Libya can be turbulences within Somalia on the safety of the Islamic world. BMI Research’s Emerging Markets analyst Olivier Najar a part of the world shapes its political carried out. There is no consensus other. The region has become swarmed Today, while countries belonging points out Qatar held an estimated $260bn through its policies upon these separation plans. regarding the Sunni-Shia confl ict. with pirates. It is quite apparent that to separate cultures, religions and When the newly-drawn maps are The world of Islam can produce a solution to these confl icts should be languages should come together and sovereign wealth fund in 2015, more than three times the overlaid on top of the world’s oil fi elds, solutions for its own problems. developed immediately. Egypt can lead form an alliance, the shame of the amount of its debt. we notice the perfect congruence Especially regarding the most the way in this regard allying with other dissent and division among Muslims, Although oil prices are expected to gradually rebound with not only the oil fi elds, but also vital issues, countries can come Islamic countries. who have lived together for centuries over the next several months as the global surplus slowly the three sea routes that are used for together and take a mutual decision. Likewise, the agreement reached and who belong to the same religion gets used up, economists say Qatar does not need “as delivery to the world. In other words International organisations such as with Saudi Arabia and the Saudi– and turn towards the same Qibla, the circles of separation coincide the Organisation of Islamic Co- Egypt Causeway is a project that will belongs to us all. high prices” as some other GCC states (for example Saudi perfectly with the newly-drawn operation can off er realistic solutions. make pilgrimage easier, link the whole Muslims are the guardians of each Arabia) to balance its budget. boundaries that include these oil fi elds There are only a handful of region through railways, and secure other. The safety and welfare of the And with hydrocarbon prices forecast to increase and the routes for their deliveries. countries that can lay the foundations Egypt’s support for the Islam army. Muslims can only be achieved when gradually, Qatar’s fi scal outlook will improve, without The most signifi cant oil fi elds in the of a union that will ensure co- Since it will strengthen the peace all fellow Muslims come together in Doha having to implement wide austerity measures, Najar world are within the countries that are operation within the Islamic in the region and the alliance among solidarity. planned for division. Those who plot community. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Muslims, this project is to the benefi t recently told Gulf Times. these maps are determined to sacrifi ce Turkey and Iran can assume this both the people of these two countries zHarun Yahya may be followed at For this reason, BMI Research expects Qatar’s budget the Islamic world for the sake of oil responsibility. These four countries and the Islamic community as a @Harun_Yahya and balance to “turn positive” as early as 2017 and that the interests. possess the historical, social, whole. It will reinforce the safety www.harunyahya.com country will face “only one year” of budget defi cit. In BMI’s view, the Qatari government would cover its 2016 defi cit by “a mix” of domestic and foreign borrowing, as well as using some of its foreign currency reserves. Qatar’s real GDP is expected to grow nearly 6% in both 2016 and 2017 as the country expands in investment spending in non-hydrocarbon sector. Qatar economic growth, which was subdued in 2015 partly due to weaker Qatar’s real GDP activity in the oil sector, will continue to be driven is expected to by the non-oil sector. grow nearly The non-hydrocarbon sector will remain “the 6% in both engine of growth”; some economists say and 2016 and 2017 expect it to grow at 9.9% as the country in 2016 and 10% in 2017. HE the Minister of expands in Finance Ali Sherif al- Emadi had announced investment in December 2015 spending in non- that the budget would sustain spending in key hydrocarbon sectors such as health, education, infrastructure sector and transport, with special focus on railways and other projects tied to the 2022 World Cup. “We believe that this strategy is sustainable for Doha, and that it will not signifi cantly impact the country’s sovereign outlook,” BMI Research said. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump: he has forged his campaign on latent fear and hatred of immigrants and Muslims, stoking such emotions into white-hot rage. Never mind that this country was built by the hard work of immigrants and a belief that freedom of religion is paramount. His slogan, “make America Qatar is expected to remain one of the fastest-growing great again”, has been easily parodied into “make America hate again”. economies in the Middle East on the back of strong investment income and continued government spending on tourism and infrastructure projects despite lower hydrocarbon prices. How do tyrants rise? Ask Trump The government’s fi scal buff ers and sizeable assets will sustain public investment, which in turn will support non-hydrocarbon growth. By Ann McFeatters loaning money to himself and wants it aff airs with women, even on the “suggestions”. Nobody knows what he Another push to the Qatar economy could come from Tribune News Service repaid by fat cat donors. He now wants radio. Now he wants such discussions actually would push for if he becomes population growth, which is expected to reach 2.8mn by the mighty Republican fundraising stopped even though he vows to president. apparatus to raise a billion dollars for continue bringing up former president He preys on the misunderstanding 2018- a 75% increase in nearly eight years. t’s long been a tenet of the United his candidacy. And it will. Bill Clinton’s dalliances as a way to of trade by promising to illegally Arguably, Qatar is one of the most fi nancially secure States that its people believe attack rival Hillary Clinton. Ah yes, tear up trade agreements without economies, anchored by long-term liquefi ed natural gas in fair play. But millions are Trump vows to be blame the wife. accounting for the fact that fair trade (LNG) contracts and strong fi scal reserves that provide a Iready to elect a president who He has openly fl aunted the helps Americans sell their products cushion against a protracted commodity downturn. believes the rules do not apply to him. the best job-creator Republicans’ 11th commandment abroad and protects worker and Qatar’s outlook for the coming years is seen as one that And millions more are willing to be of not speaking ill of fellow party environmental rights. He issues convinced that if this man is elected, in the history of the members by using schoolyard epithets platitude after platitude without is moving to a more sustainable level of growth, tighter somehow he will change from a self- and bullying tactics against his rivals. facts. Foreign policy experts say his fi scal discipline and continued diversifi cation of the centred oligarch to a leader who will world but has never He publicly has insulted many women, understanding of how the world works economy. This will help the nation weather the current put the country fi rst. but millions do not care. is nonexistent and call his shallowness low oil prices and global economic instability. It used to be that politics stopped given a single specifi c Trump has forged his campaign on stunning. at the water’s edge. That meant latent fear and hatred of immigrants Millions are impressed because that unless a controversial vote blueprint of how he and Muslims, stoking such emotions Trump is rich. But he has made on declaring war were involved, would do this into white-hot rage. Never mind that money by buying and selling things, To Advertise presidential candidates did not this country was built by the hard licensing his name and by being paid condemn a sitting president’s foreign work of immigrants and a belief that huge salaries through reality TV, [email protected] policy eff orts. But Donald Trump has Trump is demanding that anyone freedom of religion is paramount. His shows mastering the ability to dazzle Display insulted the prime minister of Great he might consider to be his running slogan, “make America great again”, and distract with word bombs and Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 Britain, America’s closest ally, while mate turn over tax returns. But Trump has been easily parodied into “make ridicule. But if the tables are turned promising to sit down and negotiate refuses to release his own, saying only America hate again”. against him, he cries “unfair” and Classified with sworn leaders such as North that he has worked hard to pay the Trump vows to be the best job- sues. Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 Korea’s Kim Jong Un, who is testing smallest amount he could get with. He creator in the history of the world We have wondered how past nuclear weapons. And Trump cozies says he can’t release his returns until but has never given a single specifi c societies have chosen so poorly when Subscription up to dictators like Russia’s Vladimir an ongoing IRS audit is complete. But blueprint of how he would do this. it came to their leaders. Now we know. [email protected] Putin. that is not true. He could release them. Yet he has called for lowering taxes Trump has appealed to millions of He is hiding something, but millions on the richest Americans and does zReaders may send Ann McFeatters, primary voters turned off by politics do not care. not believe in raising the federal an op-ed columnist for Tribune News 2016 Gulf Times. All rights reserved as usual by promising to self-fund his During his rambunctious past, minimum wage. Sometimes, he says, Service, e-mail at campaign. But it turns out he was only Trump publicly boasted of his many his various comments are really just [email protected] Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 29 COMMENT How to get past slow growth

Today’s near-zero – even Piketty and Stiglitz each examines That in itself will not lead to a slightly negative – the issue from a diff erent perspective, more balanced distribution of wealth their ideas are complementary – and or income, and it may not generate short-term policy even mutually reinforcing. enough employment. But it could interest rates do not mean Summers’s Keynesian argument help create the political and fiscal is that the problem is a chronic space for inclusiveness-oriented that longer-term rates, aggregate-demand shortfall: Desired policy reforms. which are more relevant to investment lags behind desired Second, developing and emerging savings, even at near-zero nominal economies still off er immediate investment fi nancing, have interest rates, resulting in a chronic opportunities for large high-return also hit zero liquidity trap. investments, which should be Today’s near-zero – even slightly fi nanced by what appears as excess By Kemal Dervis negative – short-term policy interest global savings. With signifi cant Washington rates do not mean that longer-term room to move toward the technology rates, which are more relevant to frontier, including in services, there investment fi nancing, have also hit are still plenty of opportunities for ost economists nowadays zero. But the yield curve in the major “catch-up” growth. are pessimistic about the advanced economies is very fl at, with Such investments would help close world economy’s growth both real and nominal longer-term the global savings gap and generate Mprospects. The World rates at historic lows. positive feedback for advanced Bank has, yet again, downgraded There may be many reasons for this, economies as well. To take advantage its medium-term projections, and but Gordon describes one possibility: of these opportunities, however, economists the world over are warning The underlying pace of innovation regulatory and political uncertainty that we are facing a “new normal” of has slowed, leading to lower expected must be reduced and public-private slower growth. returns on investment and thus partnerships in development Where there is less consensus – or forcing down interest rates. And it is finance must be scaled up within a so it seems – is in accounting for this the investment needed to translate framework that leads to inclusive weakness. new knowledge into actual innovation benefits. Almost three years ago, former US that links the supply and demand sides It is likely that continued rapid treasury secretary Larry Summers and generates growth. increases in prosperity are possible. revived Alvin Hansen’s “secular Both of these theories can be Ultimately, however, political choices stagnation” hypothesis, emphasising connected with Piketty’s arguments will determine whether the diff usion demand-side constraints. By contrast, about the dynamics of capital of artifi cial intelligence leads to in Robert Gordon’s engaging and accumulation. Implicit in Piketty’s widespread increases in median erudite book The Rise and Fall of thesis is that capital can be substituted incomes or exacerbates polarisation American Growth, the focus is on for labour relatively easily. and inequality. long-term supply-side factors – in When capital grows faster than top earners’ high propensity to save, in median income in the United States perhaps it should not be surprising Political will and powerful particular, the nature of innovation. labour and GDP, the rate of return will then leads to the chronic shortfall of is only 0.4%, compared to average that voters in the United States, messaging will be needed to spur Thomas Piketty, in his best- fall over time, but proportionately aggregate demand that characterises income growth of 0.8%, refl ecting Europe and elsewhere are expressing the ambitious social and economic selling tome Capital in the Twenty- less than growth in the amount of secular stagnation. Stiglitz makes the continuously rising inequality. anger toward the establishment. reforms, together with the kind of First Century, describes the rise of capital. The result is a redistribution case that policy bias also contributes (Compare this to 1.82% annual growth Fortunately, there are reasons for international co-operation, that inequality that is resulting from low of income from labour to those who to income concentration. in median income from 1920 to 2014.) hope. First, I do not share Gordon’s will be needed to take advantage of GDP growth. Joseph E Stiglitz’s book own capital. Gordon’s thesis is more about a kind The intertwined forces of chronic assessment of prospects for longer- opportunities for inclusive growth. - Re-Writing the Rules of the American Summers actually proposed a new of “satiation” in rapid technological Keynesian imbalance, a slowdown term technological progress. I believe Project Syndicate Economy: An Agenda for Growth and form of the production function, progress, which depresses expected in productivity growth, and a that, as the digital revolution and Shared Prosperity blames political whereby the progress of intelligent returns and thus helps to explain the concentration of income at the top artifi cial intelligence restructure zKemal Dervis, former minister of choices for both slowing growth and machines makes capital a perfect chronic lack of suffi cient investment. lead to a very subdued outlook for larger segments of economic activity, economic aff airs of Turkey and former rising inequality. substitute for segments of the labour But, at the end of his book, he makes growth in median income. overall productivity growth may administrator for the United Nations These accounts diff er in emphasis, force. median income the real indicator of With expectations about the accelerate again, leading to higher Development Programme (UNDP), but they are not contradictory. On the An increasing concentration of economic performance. In Gordon’s future being undermined by such expected returns and, therefore, more is a vice president of the Brookings contrary, while Summers, Gordon, income at the top, combined with 2015-2040 projection, annual growth deep-rooted and multifaceted forces, investment and faster growth. Institution. Letters Weather report Three-day forecast

TODAY Distance education through distance education, they workers to encourage them to upgrade we spend in traffi c jams now. High: 39 C should get all support from the their educational qualifi cations. Let me give an example. Low : 29 C degree attestation government. I work as a security guard in Old Strong wind and high seas Even though the courses are done JK Doha. Dear Sir, under distance education mode, (Full name and address supplied) And our accommodation is on the exams are written in specifi ed Street 52 in the Industrial Area. MONDAY I understand that Qatar’s Ministry centres in the relevant country of the Because of traffi c jams in the High: 41 C of Foreign Aff airs has stopped the university. morning rush hours, we are forced to Low: 30 C attestation of certifi cates achieved Also, practicals, viva and internship A boon for wake up at 3am in order to arrive at the Sunny through distance education, are all being held as in case of regular commuters workplace by 5:30! pointing to the reason that many fake students. The train service will enable us to certifi cates are being submitted to it These courses encourage many reach our workplace in minutes. TUESDAY for approval. workers to upgrade their educational Dear Sir, As a result, it will give me more time High: 42 C To get educational certifi cates qualifi cations. to relax and refresh and that will, I’m Low: 31 C attested from the ministry, one If such distance mode courses Qatar Rail, consisting of metro and sure, will increase my productivity. Sunny now has to produce an offi cial letter are not benefi cial, no university will long distance and light rail transit, The rail service will also cut down from the university which has been conduct them. will change the transport scene in the number of traffi c accidents. originally issued to them. I agree that some people might the state, making commuting quite Fishermen’s forecast In the attestation format, the submit fake certifi cates for attestation. convenient. George Matubia OFFSHORE DOHA words “regular full time student” are But it doesn’t mean that all It will greatly reduce the hours that [email protected] Wind: NW 18-25/35 KT highlighted. certifi cates are fake. Waves: 8 -10/13 Feet That means a person who has got a The government should support INSHORE DOHA Wind: NW 07-15 KT certifi cate through distance education workers who want to upgrade their Waves: 1-3/4 Feet mode is not eligible for getting it qualifi cations through distance Please send us your letters attested from the ministry. learning courses as they are benefi cial By e-mail Around the region Without attestation from the to the entire society. Weather Weather ministry, certifi cates are invalid in the Distance learning courses are [email protected] today Max/min tomorrow Max/min government sector. becoming increasingly popular as Fax 44350474 Abu Dhabi Cloudy 37/26 Sunny 38/24 The ministry’s decision has come a mode of education and are being Or Post Baghdad Sunny 39/23 Sunny 42/24 Dubai Sunny 36/27 Sunny as a huge disappointment to many utilised by many these days. Letters to the Editor 37/27 Gulf Times Kuwait City Sunny 42/27 Sunny 43/27 expatriates who are keen to upgrade Whether seeking professional Manama Cloudy 35/31 Sunny 37/29 their educational qualifi cations. development, new skills, or a career P O Box 2888 Muscat Sunny 40/31 Sunny 38/30 The only way for expat workers in change, there are distance learning Doha, Qatar Riyadh Sunny 40/25 Sunny 44/26 Qatar to upgrade their educational courses at top-notch academic Tehran M Sunny 29/18 Sunny 31/20 qualifi cations is through distance institutions around the world. All letters, which are subject to editing, should have the name of education. Therefore, I request the Ministry of the writer, address and phone number. The writer’s name and If a person wishes to upgrade his/ Foreign Aff airs to look into this matter address may be withheld by request. her qualifi cation, while working, and amend the decision in favour of Live issues Share the positivity

By Barton Goldsmith Just doing this can make you a The same principle holds true if you whatever you’re confronting. Tribune News Service happier person, even if you are dealing want to lose weight. Often, the people around us see with very diffi cult issues. We all know crash diets don’t things we don’t, especially when we Taking action means doing things work. are unhappy. Around the world am a big believer in positive that are good for you and never doing You have to approach your goal Remember, it is always wise to take Weather Weather thinking. anything that could harm you. gradually and give yourself the time some time to consider the potential today Max/min tomorrow Max/min I use it, I train clients to use your body needs to react to your new outcomes of any advice before taking Athens S Showers 22/16 Sunny 27/18 it and I have written about its healthy and balanced diet. action. Beirut Sunny 28/21 Showers 23/18 I Having a positive Bangkok T Storms 33/27 S T Storms 33/26 benefi ts for more than a decade. If you suff er from depression or Doing new things creates positive Berlin M Sunny 29/16 P Cloudy 27/14 Positive thinking can help you make infl uence on those anxiety, getting out of the house, even chemicals in your brain, which Cairo Sunny 39/18 Sunny 29/18 changes that will benefi t you in many to the mall, will help you deal with makes you feel better about life and Cape Town M Sunny 22/12 Rain 18/12 ways. these conditions. closer to your loved ones. Colombo T Storms 31/26 T Storms 30/26 around you will T Storms T Storms 31/24 I really can’t say enough good things One of the most diffi cult parts of Taking positive action makes Dhaka 32/24 Hong Kong P Cloudy 29/25 P Cloudy 29/24 about it. change the way you dealing with anxious or depressive things and people better. Istanbul Showers 19/14 P Cloudy 22/15 But over the years, I have become moods is our tendency to ruminate, It’s that simple, and all you have to Jakarta T Storms 32/26 S T Storms 33/26 aware that even positive thinking feel letting the same negative thoughts do is take the first step. Karachi Cloudy 36/28 Cloudy 34/28 might not be enough to help some keep spinning around in our brains. London S Showers 19/09 P Cloudy 19/08 Manila S T Storms 32/26 T Storms 30/26 people make the changes they desire. That means if you have been ill Getting rid of the negative thoughts zDr Barton Goldsmith, a Moscow T Storms 18/11 Showers 20/11 The trick here is to get out of your and not strong enough to go for a by doing something fun can help break psychotherapist in Westlake Village, New Delhi Sunny 44/31 I T Storms 40/29 head and start taking positive action. run or even a walk, you need to wait this cycle. California, is the author of The Happy New York P Cloudy 23/14 M Cloudy 22/15 Rather than just keeping the until you are well before you start Taking action also means doing Couple: How to Make Happiness a Paris Rain 17/11 Rain 16/08 S T Storms Rain 16/09 positivity to yourself, you need to exercising. what you can to keep your family and Habit One Little Loving Thing at a Sao Paulo 26/17 Seoul P Cloudy 32/14 M Cloudy 29/17 share it. What you can do in the meantime social connections strong. Time. Follow his daily insights on Singapore S Storms 33/27 M Cloudy 34/28 Having a positive infl uence on those is work with a physical therapist to When you’re struggling, outside Twitter at @BartonGoldsmith, or Sydney M Sunny 24/14 M Sunny 24/09 around you will change the way you help you get stronger in a gradual and observers can give you direction e-mail him at Tokyo Rain 28/18 Clear 29/16 feel. healthy way. that will help you deal with [email protected] Gulf Times 30 Sunday, May 22, 2016 QATAR 50 recruitment agencies ink commitment pledge s many as 50 recruitment ippine labour secretary Rosalin- so, we need to change the mind of recruitment agencies are the Similarly, Dicang said the agencies based in Qatar da D Baldoz, Dicang described set and ‘heart-set’ of recruit- sponsor’s lack of co-operation, “lack of protection for work- Ahave pledged to engage the activity as “a high-point, ment agents, who are entrusted and the worker, who was widely ers in the host country,” work- in “responsible recruitment and fi rst step” for Polo in Qatar, in handling the concerns of our referred to as ‘returnee’ or ‘run- ers who “take advantage” of the placement” of migrant work- which espouses “responsible re- workers.” away,’” Dicang said. agency or employer’s kindness, ers, an offi cial of the Philippine cruitment” among agencies and Dicang also said the work- The obstacles, according to absconding or “runaway work- Overseas Labour Offi ce (Polo) in employers. shops focused on raising cred- Dicang, to a “smooth relation- ers,” homesickness, and the Doha has said. “Household service workers ibility of recruitment agencies, ship” between employer and worker’s lack of understand- Labour attaché David Des T Dicang: “Household service workers Labour attaché David Des (HSWs) and cleaners are consid- which could lead to improved HSWs were identifi ed as “lack of ing of her responsibility to- (HSWs) and cleaners are considered most vulnerable to abuses,” T Dicang said the recruitment ered most vulnerable to abuses,” operations and more referrals employers’ awareness (“educa- wards the recruitment agency agencies signed a pledge of com- Dicang said, adding that the from “satisfi ed clients.” tion”) on the proper treatment were also among the hindrances Despite the challenges on their rights in Qatar in their mitment during the culmina- series of workshops is a “fol- According to Migrants-Rights of HSWs” and “the sponsor- identifi ed. raised during the workshops, native language.” tion of two workshops held re- low through” of Polo’s previ- Org project executor, Farwin ship system in the host country Dicang said some best prac- the 50 recruitment agencies Also, domestic workers will be cently in Doha, in collaboration ous trainings conducted among Fousdeen, surveys and discus- that strengthened the sponsor’s tices also surfaced during the pledged to “respect and pro- informed in writing and in their with the Shelter Me Project and stakeholders of the Depart- sions conducted by Shelter Me power over the worker.” workshops, including “consist- tect the rights of migrant do- native languages, pertinent in- Migrants-Rights Org. ment of Labour and Employ- Project with HSWs revealed Other obstacles included “un- ent interaction” of the recruit- mestic workers from abusive formation like names, addresses, The workshop, “Responsi- ment’s enhanced post-arrival “some gaps” in the expectations met expectations” of the spon- ment agency with the worker, and fraudulent practices dur- and contact numbers of the re- ble Recruitment and Placement orientation seminar. of would-be employers and sor, cultural diff erences, long post-placement problem solv- ing recruitment and place- cruitment agency, help centres of Migrant Workers,” aimed to “It is important that we not workers, “which later on may working hours, language barri- ing, agent or agency’s interven- ment process,” workers will or shelters, and embassies of the highlight recruitment agencies’ only orient our workers to thor- have resulted in early termina- ers, employers returning workers tion in changing HSW visas not pay “recruiting fees or worker’s country; and a guar- role in labour migration of do- oughly prepare them with the tion of contracts, and in most “without valid reason,” breach of through skills upgrading “de- other payments in the course antee that no wages are with- mestic workers and how to im- challenges they are likely to cases, abuse of workers.” contract by employer, and “lack pending on the skills of the ap- of securing employment,” and held in return for security, and prove their operations, he said. encounter during the period “Generally, the workshop of adherence” by the employer to plicant so they won’t work as domestic workers will receive cease working with recruitment In a report submitted to Phil- of work engagement, but more showed that the main concerns minimum wage requirements. HSWs all their migrant life.” “comprehensive instructions” agencies engaged in deception. Mall of Qatar signs deal with Abu Issa Holding

all of Qatar has an- nounced the signing Mof an agreement with Doha-based Abu Issa Holding. Under the deal, Abu Issa Holding will feature luxury fashion, watches, jewellery, perfumes, cosmetics, home fashion, home décor and travel gear at the mall, according to a statement. A mix of more than 15 global brands, including Godiva Cafe, HE Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari at the Middle East Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare. Yves Delorme, Hartmann, Sam- sonite, Voulez Vous, Bugatti and others, will be part of the mall in Fifteen high-end stores and global fashion brands will open at the line with this agreement. mall as part of the deal. Pari Gallery will feature over 450 international brands across Qatari retail businesses to open Nabil Abu Issa, vice-chair- 3,700 attend patient safety forum cosmetics, watches, jewellery a fl agship most recently in New man of Abu Issa Holding, said: and fashion accessories, includ- York City, with Mall of Qatar a “Mall of Qatar is aspiring to ing leather goods, ladies’ shoes, milestone in its continued ex- create the fi nest customer ex- ore than 3,700 doctors, her senior management team. and the Accreditation and successes. We are deeply proud and eyewear, while Karisma pansion, and Turkey and South perience in the country, and we nurses and allied health “The Middle East Forum pro- Licensing division. of the achievements that HMC Cosmetics will bring forth a Africa scheduled by the end of are glad to have formed an as- Mprofessionals from vides a fertile arena for health- HMC’s strategic partners, and the public healthcare sec- “hip trendy” concept targeting 2016,” the statement noted. sociation with them with this around the region attended a care experts and frontline staff including teams from Primary tor in general in Qatar have been a younger audience of girls and Rony Mourani, general man- agreement.” three-day conference on patient alike to convene together and Health Care Corporation, Qatar able to realise along their health- women aged15 to 25 years, dis- ager at Mall of Qatar, said: “In Expected to receive a footfall safety and quality improve- discuss practical ways in which University, Sidra Medical and care improvement journey,” said playing designer cosmetics, fra- line with our promise to house of 20mn customers annually, ment in healthcare, held over the they can refi ne their procedures Research Centre, Weill Cornell Feeley. grances and accessories. top brands that will add real Mall of Qatar will include 7,000 weekend at the Qatar National and processes, with the ultimate Medicine – Qatar, and the World Themes for this year’s confer- Travel department store value to Mall of Qatar and off er underground and surface car Convention Centre. goal of raising the standards Innovation Summit for Health ence centred on a transforma- Mosafer will feature a full se- a unique experience to shop- parking spaces, 500 shops, in- Organised by Hamad Medi- of healthcare in their hospital (WISH) added to the rich diver- tive approach to improving lection of luggage and travel pers, we have signed an agree- cluding over 100 F&B outlets, a cal Corporation (HMC), in or clinical environment,” said sity of information available for healthcare delivery by inspiring accessories brands “catered to ment with Abu Issa Holding 19-screen cineplex and a 5-star, collaboration with American- Ali al-Janahi, chief, Business delegates. innovation. jetsetters, business travellers that will feature retail luxury 200-bedroom luxury and fash- based Institute for Healthcare Services Group, HMC. Derek Feeley, president and A series of intensive pre- and families”. “The Abu Issa goods and fashion brands ion hotel operated by Curio, a Improvement (IHI), the Mid- An exhibition area called the CEO, IHI, said Qatar was a conference workshops on the owned-concept is the fi rst of across their outlets.” Collection by Hilton. dle East Forum on Quality and Knowledge Zone featured stands leader in embracing quality im- day prior to the start of the Safety in Healthcare (ME Forum) from Hamad Healthcare Qual- provement and patient safety conference included a half-day featured four keynote addresses ity Institute (HHQI), the Am- movements. workshop on Quality Improve- from world-renowned experts, bulance Service, the Academic “IHI has partnered with HMC ment Basics conducted in Arabic and included over 55 interactive Health System (AHS) and a So- for the past four years to de- which was exceedingly well re- QC hosts Turkic Council delegation workshops and lectures. cial Media Hub. The Ministry velop the framework and em- ceived by many local clinicians. HE the Minister of Pub- of Public Health participated bed the knowledge and thinking The conference was devel- lic Health Dr Hanan Mo- with information submitted by required to propel quality and oped in accordance with the hamed al-Kuwari toured the the Qatar Council for Health- safety improvement methodol- criteria set out by the QCHP as a exhibition with members of care Practitioners (QCHP) ogies forward into real frontline category 1 learning activity.

Awareness QF Radio marks end of academic year

drive for F Radio, the in-house As a defi ning factor of this country’s next generation into broadcasting station for year’s shows, QF Radio ac- the station’s team through edu- QQatar Foundation for Ed- knowledged the contribution cation and valuable experience. livestock ucation, Science and Community of youth in shaping the coun- By sharing knowledge in broad- Development (QF), has celebrat- try’s future development and cast journalism and produc- ed the completion of the 2015- growth, by producing pro- tion, we have introduced young owners 2016 season of programming grammes which have helped to people to the necessary skills to with an appreciation ceremony address the grand challenges produce and present their own that marked the accomplish- facing Qatar. radio shows,” he added. continues ments of its students and staff . “The station is determined During this year’s ceremo- The event, which took place to attract as many Qatari youth ny, over 30 students, faculty in Education City, held par- as possible,” Mohammed al- and staff were celebrated for atar had some 1,220,100 ticular signifi cance for QF Beshri, media centre manager, their commitment to deliver- Qatar Chamber vice chairman Mohamed Ahmed bin Tuwar hosted Ramil Hasanov, secre- animals owned by 13,561 Radio which, this year, col- said. “Our in-house training ing quality programmes in the tary general of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council), and the Qpersons at the end of March, laborated with a record number courses have provided young fi elds of science and technol- accompanying delegation at QC headquarters. They discussed ways of enhancing business according to offi cial fi gures. of students, QF centres and men and women with the fun- ogy, health, medicine, design, relations between Qatar and countries of the Turkic Council. Bin Tuwar also met Hikmat A report released by the Ani- organisations to bring a se- damental knowledge and ex- travel and culture. These topics Balancov, member of the Russian Federation Council, and the delegation accompanying him. mal Wealth Department at the lection of diverse and excit- perience to work in real-world refl ect QF’s vision to support They discussed the potential for enhancing investment opportunities for businesspersons of Ministry of Municipality and ing programmes to the local media environments.” human, social and economic both countries. Environment showed that the community. “QF Radio has integrated the development in Qatar. department vaccinated 51,812 animals and treated 57,171 heads of livestock in March. The department also con- tinued with its eff orts to raise awareness among livestock QNB off ers chance to win Jaguar in money transfers campaign owners about the importance of conducting regular veterinary NB has launched a new QR1,000 will give customers a ing services to balance today’s bill payments and many other experience in the Middle East sociate companies extends to checkups of animals, especially campaign providing all chance to win. needs with tomorrow’s aspira- innovative and secured solu- and North Africa (Mena) region, some 27 countries across three in farms. Qcustomers a chance to The campaign, which will run tions. The winners will be se- tions via Mobile and Internet the bank has received recently continents providing a com- The number of animals im- win a brand new 2016 Jaguar from May 22 to August 31, is in lected in a raffl e draw on the rst fi Banking services. the “Best Business Model Execu- prehensive range of advanced ported in March amounted to XF Prestige when making their recognition of the trust clients week of September. The bank is always looking for tion in the Middle East” Award products and services. 79,213 heads of goats, sheep, international bank transfers place in QNB’s various banking QNB provides the “best” innovative ways to reward its cus- by The Asian Banker magazine The total number of employ- cows, horses and others. The through QNB Internet or QNB services. digital banking services to its tomers while delivering premium in 2016 for its use of Technology ees is more than 15,300 operat- number of exported animals Mobile Banking. It is part of QNB’s ongoing clients in Qatar, including fl ex- quality products and services. and Business partnerships. ing through more than 640 lo- amounted to 22,018 during this Every international eff ort to put its customers fi rst ibility to transfer worldwide, Representing one of the most QNB Group’s presence cations, with an ATM network period. fund transfer of more than as they use its digital bank- scheduling recurring transfers, comprehensive digital banking through its subsidiaries and as- of more than 1,400 machines. Gulf Times Sunday, May 22, 2016 31 QATAR HDC brings new Latin fl avour to Pearl-Qatar ospitality Develop- ment Company (HDC), The winning picture, ‘Beautiful Sight’. Ha wholly-owned sub- sidiary of United Development Company, has announced the soft opening of celebrity chef Richard Sandoval’s latest con- cept, Isla. ‘Beautiful Sight’ triumphs The restaurant is located against the waterfront backdrop of The Pearl-Qatar in 2 La Cr- oisette, Porto Arabia. Bringing a new street food in GT Instagram contest experience “straight from the heart of Mexican dinin,” Isla is the latest addition to the list of hiny Keneth’s ‘Beautiful Sight’ has 297 likes and 117 comments, making it the franchises in Qatar developed emerged as the winner of the 15th edi- winning entry. by HDC, according to a state- Stion of Gulf Times Instagram contest. Meanwhile, the 16th instalment of the ment. Isla at The Pearl-Qatar. Keneth, 25, hails from Udupi in southern Instagram competition starts today. Send “Created by chef Sandoval, India and came to Doha earlier this year af- in your photos shot in Qatar to tellus@gulf- who is internationally recog- guacamole. Guests can enjoy of exotic and delicious dishes. ter her marriage to a Qatar resident. times.com nised as the ‘father of modern a fl avoursome culinary menu The result is a new ‘Modern Her hobby includes dancing and taking Selected pictures will be posted on the Mexican cuisine’, Isla elevates served alongside a selection of Mexican’ restaurant, exposing pictures. Gulf Times Instagram account, with the Mexican cooking to new heights fresh mocktails that are inspired even the most seasoned diner to She says “there is beauty in everything we name of the photographer. where guests savour authentic by Sandoval’s kitchen mantra of the myriad of new fl avours.” see and it can be expressed when it’s cap- The picture that gets the maximum Mexican street comfort foods in “old ways, new hands”. Isla is a As the day winds down, tured in the best possible way”. number of likes and comments during a the casual yet upbeat ‘cantina’ reinterpretation of traditional warming fi t pits and live mu- For Keneth, who holds an MBA, this was seven-day period will be declared the win- style dining room and patio,” the Mexican dishes with “innovative sic are featured on the Isla Ter- the fi rst photography contest that she has ner. statement noted. techniques that are skilfully and race by the Rumba Latina band, ever entered. A like will get the picture one mark and a Infusing traditional Mexican ingeniously presented”. which performs every day (ex- Her husband, Keneth Peter works as a comment will fetch two marks. recipes with Asian ingredients, “Latin American food is more cept Sundays) between 7pm supervisor in the Toyota/Lexus division The winning picture will be published in Isla off ers diners the opportu- than a meal, it is an event,” said and 10pm. Adjacent to the Isla of Abdullah Abdulghani and Bros Co. “My the Gulf Times print edition as well as on the nity to explore a variety of signa- chef Sandoval. “Isla embraces entry will be a grab-&-go win- husband asked me to take part in this con- web edition of the newspaper, along with a ture dishes such as lobster tacos, this concept, off ering new fl a- dow with a selection of desserts test,” she added. short bio of the photographer. carne asada, chipotle rubbed vours on a diverse menu to en- like churros, chocolates, coff ees, ‘Beautiful Sight’ notched up a whopping So shutterbugs shoot and send now! Shiny Keneth salmon and fresh homemade courage diners to sample a range smoothies and fruit juices. Gulf Times 32 Sunday, May 22, 2016 QATAR

Sheikha Moza attends US military academy graduation

HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser yesterday attended the graduation ceremony of the Class of 2016 from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in New York. The ceremony was also attended by HE the Minister of State for Defence Aff airs Dr Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah and US Vice President Joe Biden. The Class of 2016 included a Qatari graduate, Abdulrahman al-Hinzab, who received a military bachelor degree. Left: Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser at the graduation ceremony of the Class of 2016 from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in New York. Right: HH Sheikha Moza with Abdulrahman al-Hinzab and his family. PICTURES: Aisha al-Musallam/HHOPL Interface to aid sport investments programme to bring suppliers local and international companies in ympic Committee (QOC) and Aspire the private sector and requesting au- specify the risks involved pertaining vide detailed information on future and government entities closer a transparent atmosphere. Zone Foundation (AZF). thorities from the sports, enabling to the registered company accord- plans in the sports sector, the Min- Aby providing companies with a The Ministry of Economy and Designed to better match supply companies to register, qualify and ing to its activity, through e-mail istry of Economy and Commerce, in single point of contact is to be unveiled Commerce (MEC) is hosting the and demand, the window will help access sports sector committee ten- and text message, and send company collaboration with its strategic part- at the Sport Business Opportunities Sport Business Opportunities Fo- transform spending into real invest- ders easily. It will also provide a clear offers and proposals directly to the ners, will prepare an annual report Forum today. rum under the patronage of Prime ment opportunities for the local pri- understanding of available invest- requesting party, for tender consid- on investment opportunities in the Set to be launched in October, the Minister and Interior Minister HE vate sector, which will reflect posi- ment opportunities offered by major erations. The system also provides sports sector. Registration and Pre-qualification Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Kha- tively on the growth of the non-oil companies in Qatar’s sports sector. management reports on spending, The report will also clarify registra- Window (R&P Window) offers users lifa al-Thani, and in partnership with sector in Qatar, a statement issued by The programme offers users a va- supplier performance as well as other tion and pre-qualifi cation procedures a clear understanding of the supply the Ministry of Culture and Sports the MEC said. riety of important and useful tools, types of analysis. to promote local private sector invest- chain in the sports sector while iden- (MCS), the Supreme Committee for The user interface is characterised for instance it can classify available In order to ensure transparency on ments and provide a list of the compa- tifying investment opportunities for Delivery and Legacy (SC), Qatar Ol- by simplicity and ease of use for both investment opportunities, as well as available opportunities and to pro- nies that are registered in the system.