BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 1 Qatar deals Uzbek account for 33% of Istomin outbound rocks INDEX Mideast DOW JONES QE NYMEX QATAR 2, 16 COMMENT 14, 15 ARAB WORLD 3 BUSINESS 1-12 M&As in Australian 19,707.21 10,941.43 51.39 INTERNATIONAL 4-12 CLASSIFIED 9 2016 -97.51 +61.28 +0.31 ISLAM 13 SPORT 1-8 Open -0.49% +0.56% +0.61% Latest Figures published in QATAR since 1978

FRIDAY Vol. XXXVII No. 10339 January 20, 2017 Rabia II 22, 1438 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals Souq Waqif Spring Festival In brief gets off to a colourful start QATAR | Reaction Qatar condemns attack By Joey Aguilar and Extreme Swing, among others. Staff Reporter At the Souq Alley, several shows and on Mali military camp attractions are also expected to enthral Qatar has strongly condemned and visitors such as the Blue Drummers, denounced the attack that targeted n array of cultural perform- Alien Percussion, Toy Soldier, Rainbow a military camp in the northern Mali ances and stage shows yes- Parade, Orange Drummers, and Venice city of Gao, killing and wounding Aterday marked the opening of Group. dozens of people. In a statement this year’s Souq Waqif Spring Festival, Abdul Aziz Nasser Theatre (Mirqab issued yesterday, the Ministry of which will run until February 2, from Hotel) will host a separate ‘Kids Show’ Foreign Aff airs reiterated Qatar’s 3.30pm to 10.30pm daily. daily at 7.30pm from today to Febru- rejection of all criminal acts which The opening salvo saw groups of ary 2 while Majlis Al Damah features a contravene values and principles male and female performers from Qa- ‘Spring Championship Damh’ for pro- of humanity, and aim to destabilise tar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Oman fessionals and amateurs. security and stability. The statement entertaining a large number of specta- Art lovers and artists will also have also reaff irmed Qatar’s rejection tors with traditional songs and dances. the opportunity to take part in some of violence and terrorism in all “Our aim is to continuously promote of the activities at the Souq Waqif Art their forms and manifestations.It and highlight Qatar’s rich cultural her- Centre from 4pm to 10.30pm. expressed sincere condolences to the itage in such festivals and events,” an “Souq Waqif is a popular tourist spot government and people of Mali and organiser told Gulf Times. for both domestic and foreign visitors. the families of the victims. Page 4 He said visitors will have the op- We organise and host festivals that portunity to watch several cultural promote Qatar as a family destination,” performances and shows on stage at said the organiser, stressing that they AFRICA | Politics various locations within Souq Waqif also off er authentic Arab and Qatari New Gambian president throughout the 15-day festival, includ- cuisine. ing a musical parade and unique pres- A similar event is also taking place at takes oath in Senegal entation led by an all-female group. Souq Al Wakrah where visitors receive a Adama Barrow has been sworn in The festival is also hosting enter- unique treat from a variety of perform- as Gambian president in Senegal’s tainment shows daily at a dedicated ances, as well as attractions while sa- capital, Dakar, after weeks of stage, featuring several popular Arab vouring the winter weather. political impasse. “This is a day singers and artistes. With the opening of several restau- no Gambian will ever forget,” said The organiser noted that the popu- rants and shops, Souq Al Wakrah has Barrow after he was sworn into lar dolphin show has returned to Souq seen a huge increase in the number of off ice at Gambia’s embassy in Dakar. Waqif’s amusement park (Al Ahmed visitors who want to spend their free The inauguration comes after an Square). Shows take place between time with their families especially dur- escalating political standoff triggered 4pm and 5pm and between 7pm and ing the weekend. by Yahya Jammeh’s rejection of the 8pm. “Before, Souq Waqif (Doha) was too December 1 presidential election Al Ahmed Square is hosting crowded with people because celebra- results. Barrow had been scheduled eight different games from 4pm to tions were concentrated only there, but to be inaugurated in Gambia, but 10.30pm for visitors, particularly now, Wakrah receives nearly the same the ceremony was jeopardised by children, as well as amusement (fun volume of visitors,” said a restaurant Jammeh’s refusal to give up power. and thrill) rides such as the Crazy employee who was previously assigned Page 4 Frog, Ranger, Caterpillar, Crazy Fire, at Souq Al Wakrah. Page 16 Roving performers at the 15-day Souq Waqif Spring Festival, which opened yesterday in Doha. PICTURE: Shemeer Rasheed

EUROPE | Disaster Avalanche buries hotel in Italy; dozens missing Qatar denies receiving invitation A huge avalanche swallowed up a luxury mountain hotel in central Italy Chance of light rain, drop after a series of strong earthquakes to attend Syria talks in Astana rocked the area, burying up to 30 people under tonnes of snow and QNA invited. The talks, arranged by Moscow, debris, off icials said yesterday. The in temperatures forecast Doha will include offi cials from Russia, Iran, authorities said just two bodies had Turkey and the United Nations, and been recovered. Parts of the roof comes as US president-elect Donald and a row of windows were the only here is a chance of light rain in until Wednesday (January 25), accom- places besides poor visibility in the atar has denied receiving an Trump prepares to take offi ce today. sections of the four-storey Hotel the coming days, followed by a panied by fresh to strong winds blow- early hours of the day due to fog. invitation to participate in the Moscow, which has supported Syr- Rigopiano still visible after the wall of Tspell of strong winds and a no- ing at speeds ranging from 15 to 25 There is also a chance of scat- QSyrian crisis talks to be hosted ian President Bashar al-Assad in a mil- snow smashed into the resort early ticeable drop in temperatures in the knots. The wind speed may go up to 35 tered rain in off shore areas towards by Astana, capital of Kazakhstan this itary campaign against Islamic State on Wednesday evening. Page 8 country, the Qatar Met department knots in off shore areas and the Met de- the north along with hazy and cloudy month, an offi cial source at the Minis- and US-backed opposition groups, has has said. partment has also issued a warning for conditions at times, according to the try of Foreign Aff airs said. pushed the Astana talks with help from In Doha, the mercury level may dip high seas, observing that the sea level weather report. The offi cial told Qatar News Agency Iran and Turkey. ARAB WORLD | Off ensive to 10-13C next week in view of the may exceed 12ft towards the north. The detailed report says hazy to (QNA) that the Reuters’ report citing However, Tehran has said it opposed US strikes in Libya kill expected conditions, according to the In addition, a noticeable drop in misty/foggy conditions are likely in an offi cial at the Ministry of Foreign any US presence at the meeting. weather report. the mercury level is also likely during some inshore areas at fi rst. This will Aff airs yesterday on Qatar receiving an A decision on whether to attend the more than 80 IS fi ghters In a statement yesterday, the Met this period as the minimum tempera- be followed by cloudy conditions at offi cial invitation to participate in the talks will be up to the new Trump ad- More than 80 Islamic State (IS) department said “beautiful weather” ture is expected to range between 10C times along with a chance of light rain talks is completely untrue. ministration. militants, some of whom were is expected in the coming days as the and 13C in Doha and less than that in in some places. Meanwhile, Reuters, quoting a State The Pentagon said in a statement believed to be plotting attacks in skies will gradually become “partly external areas. The windy conditions Visibility may drop to 2km or less Department offi cial said yesterday that yesterday that a US air strike killed an Al Europe, died in US air strikes on cloudy to cloudy at times” from today will add to the chill factor, the weather in some areas in the early hours of the United States is reviewing an invi- Qaeda leader in Syria on Tuesday. camps outside the group’s former until early Monday (January 23). There offi ce has said. the day. The minimum temperature is tation to attend upcoming talks on the Mohamed Habib Boussadoun al- North African stronghold of Sirte is a chance of scattered light rain dur- The Met department has urged peo- likely to be 11C in Abu Samra and 16C Syria confl ict in Astana. Tunisi, a Tunisian who was involved in in Libya, the US said yesterday. ing this period, especially on Sunday, ple to be cautious and avoid venturing in Doha today. Yesterday, the mercury “We did get an invitation and it’s un- “external operations and has been con- “These strikes were directed against January 22, the forecast states. into the sea in windy conditions. level dropped to 9C in Abu Samra and der review,” the offi cial told Reuters, after nected to terrorist plots to attack West- some of ISIL’s external plotters,” US Then, a high-pressure ridge is ex- Meanwhile, today’s forecast says 10C in Karana, while in Doha (airport Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov ern targets,” was killed in the strike near Defence Secretary Ash Carter said. pected to aff ect Qatar from Monday there is a chance of light rain in some area) it was 15C. was quoted as saying the US had been Idlib in Syria, the statement said. Qatar calls for peaceful resolution of Rohingya issue

QNA belief that confl ict settlement should manitarian issue in the fi rst place and keenness on a peaceful settlement where stability, prosperity, growth and them to follow just and transparent Kuala Lumpur be done through peaceful means so as requires dialogue and new patterns of stems from its fi rm belief that if clash- national unity prevail. policies towards racial and religious to the bring the points of view of the co-operation and partnerships, adding es, hate speech and incitement to vio- He thanked Malaysia for hosting the minorities, adding that the authorities parties to the confl ict closer, noting that settling disputes is not inseparable lence continue, an environment of vio- meeting as well as the warm reception must enable Rohingya to restore their atar has called for fi nding a so- that impacts of disputes and confl icts from development projects, achieving lent extremism from all sides as well as and hospitality, praising the eff orts of citizenship, stop discrimination, vio- lution to the issue of Rohingya are not confi ned to a certain geographic transitional justice, the rule of law and chaos might be created, which, he add- OIC general secretariat in preparing for lence and the unexplained violations QMuslims in Myanmar through area but rather go beyond borders to good governance, and addressing hu- ed, will negatively aff ect the peace and the meeting and its eff orts to reach a against them. peaceful and comprehensive means threaten global security and peace. man rights violations. stability of the whole region. peaceful settlement for the issue. The OIC secretary-general added and dialogue so as to achieve national He added that the Muslim world still HE al-Muraikhi said Qatar supports HE al-Muraikhi said the OIC and the HE al-Muraikhi also held separate that the organisation received many re- unity. faces several challenges that aff ect its national reconciliation and backs all ef- international community have a re- meetings with Shahriar Alam, Bangla- ports from diff erent sources about vio- This came in the remarks of HE the unity and stability and limit cultural forts that aim at raising regional and in- sponsibility to play a major role in rais- deshi state minister of foreign aff airs, lence against the Rohingya Muslims, Minister of State for Foreign Aff airs interaction and global co-operation. ternational awareness of the eff ects of ing the level of co-operation so as to es- and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno including unlawful killings, burning of Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi during his The minister said that stability in the the issue, adding that Doha has pledged tablish a mechanism at the regional and Marsudi on the sidelines of the OIC homes, and many arrests by security participation in a meeting of foreign Muslim world will refl ect on the whole fi nancial aid to some neighbouring international levels to solve the issue of foreign ministers meeting. forces. ministers of the Organisation of Islamic world, and settling disputes in Muslim countries to cover the costs of hosting Rohingya. Meanwhile, OIC Secretary-General More than 65,000 Rohingya fl ed to Co-operation’s (OIC) member-states in states will help in building global peace Rohingya refugees as well as provided He added that all sides must co- Dr Yousef al-Othaimeen, addressing Bangladesh between October 9 last Kuala Lumpur to discuss the situation of and consolidating human values. assistance inside Myanmar, particu- operate to settle the issue in a way that the meeting, said the organisation is year and January 5, according to the UN the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The minister of state for foreign af- larly in Rakhine State. helps Rohingya live in dignity with their co-operating with Myanmar authori- Offi ce for the Co-ordination of Hu- HE al-Muraikhi emphasised Qatar’s fairs said the Rohingya issue is a hu- The minister added that Qatar’s fellow citizens in a safe environment ties on various levels, and called on manitarian Aff airs. Page 6 Gulf Times 2 Friday, January 20, 2017 QATAR

Qatar-Malaysia ties reviewed Transport minister meets Unesco official QU student picked to attend top global event

atar University’s Col- lege of Engineering (QU- QCENG) computer science PhD student, Maram Hasanain, has been selected among 10 stu- dents from all over the world to represent the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Information Retrieval (ACM SIGIR) at the 50-year celebration of the ACM Turing Award, to be held in June 2017 at San Francisco, US. HE the Minister of State for Foreign Aff airs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi holding talks with HE the Minister of Transport and Communications Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti yesterday met Stanley Maram has been awarded a Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. They discussed means Mutumba Simataa, president of the general conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific travel grant to attend the event of further developing bilateral relations between Qatar and Malaysia and other issues of and Cultural Organization (Unesco). During the meeting, the two exchanged views on issues of as an ACM SIGIR ambassador. common concern. common interest. In her selection letter, ACM SIGIR chair Diane Kelly indicat- ed that Maram’s attributes and experiences make her uniquely qualifi ed to represent SIGIR at QRCS’ the prestigious event. projects in S Sudan Construction boom benefi t “I am excited to get the opportunity to meet thousands computing pioneers who brings traffi c woes helped and continue to help in the development of he Qatar Red Crescent By Ramesh Mathew computers and computing Society (QRCS) has com- Staff Reporter technology” Tpleted a number of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) During the next several projects in Central Equatoria he traffi c along the road months, ACM will celebrate 50 and Northern Bahr El-Ghazal, in between Barwa Village years of the Turing Award, often South Sudan that has benefi ted Tsignal and Mesaieed referred to as the “Nobel Prize of 84,600 people. has become a nightmare for Computing”, and the visionaries Such deliveries are spear- commuters owing to a huge who have received it. headed by QRCS and Adeso, an increase in the movement ACM aims to highlight the sig- African charity and develop- of heavy vehicles, especially nifi cant impact of the contribu- ment agency with funding from trailers and container trucks, tions of the Turing Laureates on the Qatar Fund for Development. on the route. computing and society, to look The works involved drilling The increase in heavy ve- ahead to the future of technology artesian wells, setting up toilets hicle traffi c has led to com- and innovation, and to help in- with sewage pumps, and provid- muters getting caught almost spire the next generation of com- ing hygiene kits to promote sani- daily in the traffi c jams, es- puter scientists to innovate. tation in the local community. pecially between 6.30am to CENG dean Dr Khalifa al- Chieftains, camp authorities, 8.30am and between 3.30pm Khalifa congratulated the stu- and international organisations to 6.30pm. dent by stating that such an took part in the inauguration While attributing the traffi c achievement underlines the ceremony, attended by QRCS’ congestion to the many major level of education that students eastern and central Africa co- construction projects, daily receive at CENG. “The college is ordinator Nawal Kamel, togeth- road users feel it is high time committed to providing students er with representatives from the restrictions are put in place on with an optimum learning envi- health, water resources, and so- the movement of heavy vehi- Traffic near the Barwa Signal slows to a crawl during peak hours. PICTURES: Ram Chand ronment to explore and achieve cial welfare ministries. cles in the southern area dur- their full potential, which will The participants commended ing peak hours. who spends a considerable contribute to shaping the future QRCS for contributing to epi- Works worth several billion amount of time commuting of professional engineers.” demic control eff orts by securing riyals are currently in diff er- the stretch both in the morn- CENG department of compu- clean water, environmental sani- ent stages of execution in the ing and afternoon. ter science and engineering (CSE) tation, and health education. southern area including lar- In the last fi ve years, the head Dr Sumaya al-Maadeed said The projects aim to improve gescale construction activi- population in Wakrah, Wu- the CSE had proved its excellence public health conditions and ties like the Doha Metro, Ha- kair and its neighbourhoods at diff erent international and re- prevent pandemics in Africa, es- mad Seaport, Umm Al Houl have shot up considerably with gional activities and events. pecially in South Sudan, where power plant, East West cor- the completion of more than “We encourage students to get humanitarian conditions of dis- ridor, Orbital Highway, Man- 20,000 residential units in the involved in such events and be placed populations are alarming ateq Economic Zone, Wakra area. a part of these to further widen due to the political unrest. bypass, the 2022 FIFA World “The movement of vehicles their knowledge and experiences.” The WASH is QRCS’ fi rst project Cup Stadium in Wakrah, and to and from the area to the city Maram Hasanain said it was in South Sudan, which has been the Al Thumama water reser- in the peak hours too has gone a great honour to be selected widely swept by cholera, diarrhea, voir project. up on account of this,” a mo- by ACM SIGIR to attend such a and other communicable diseases. “As a result, there has been torist pointed out. prestigious event. According to camp and health offi - a phenomenal rise in vehicu- Commuters feel that until “I am very excited to get the cials, QRCS is the fi rst humanitar- lar movement along the whole the completion of the Wakrah opportunity to meet computing ian organisation to reach out to this stretch between Barwa signal bypass there is a greater need pioneers who helped and con- part of the country with much- and Mesaieed. This is besides for restricting the movement tinue to help in the development needed water resources, sanitation the ongoing road works in the of large vehicles during peak of computers and computing facilities, and hygiene supplies. area,” said a daily road user hours. Motorists blame heavy vehicles for the slow movement of traff ic between Wakrah and Barwa Signal. technology as we know it today.”

Traders, customers lament absence of ATM at Ain Khalid Souq

Shopkeepers as well customers at Emirates Airline Literature the Ain Khalid Souq have rued the absence of an ATM at the complex which houses dozens of commercial Festival tickets go on sale outlets, off ices and restaurants. The nearest ATM, they point out, is nearly a kilometre away at present. ickets are now on sale for bin Thaneya, who recently com- ture will be holding four three- A number of visitors arriving the ninth Emirates Airline pleted a journey — on foot — of day creative writing courses in at the complex are unaware of TFestival of Literature, the the seven Emirates in only 14 Arabic and English for writ- the absence of an ATM here, say organisers have announced. days, in an eff ort to raise aware- ers at different stages of their shopkeepers. The annual literary extrava- ness about people with special writing journey, the statement They point out that it is common to ganza brings a host of top au- needs. notes. see customers — ones without debit/ thors to Dubai, the UAE, and will “It is always a hugely excit- Internationally-acclaimed credit cards — leaving the souq after take place over nine days this ing moment when tickets go on authors Patrick Gale, Sue a futile search for ATMs. year from March 3 to 11. sale,” said Isobel Abulhoul, CEO Moorcroft, Tamsyn Murray and While some return after withdrawing The ‘not-to-be-missed’ and trustee of the Emirates Lit- Fatima Sharafeddine will be money from the nearest ATM events include sessions with erature Foundation and director conducting the workshops. outside, others do not bother master storyteller Jeffrey of the Emirates Airline Festival The festival includes a and leave without making any Archer, ‘queen of crime writ- of Literature.“We have a stel- number of feature events, while purchases, they added. ers’ Kathy Reichs, celebrat- lar line-up of diverse authors visitors can also win tickets The busy complex caters to ed Emirati writer Dr Hamad and sessions, and there truly and exclusive opportunities to customers from the Ain Khalid and al-Hammady, veteran poet is something to suit all tastes; meet authors through the festi- areas in its vicinity and beyond. Mourid Barghouti and mul- so many sessions are expected val’s online contests such as the Many people frequent the place due ti award-winning journalist to sell out within the fi rst few ‘Family Favourite Bake Compe- to the relatively easy availability of Christina Lamb, according to a weeks.” tition’ and ‘Share and Meet the parking space there, according to press statement. Ticket prices start at AED40 Authors, At The Top’. The main sources. The festival will be held dur- and many children’s events and festival programme runs paral- “It’s a convenient shopping option ing the UAE’s 2017 Month of activities will be available free of lel to the festival’s education for many people. An ATM will make Reading and feature more than charge. events. things easier for them and also help 160 authors, a third of whom Tickets can be purchased on The festival is held under the attract more footfalls,” a visitor said. are from the UAE and Arab the festival website (tickets. patronage of Sheikh Mohamed One of the shopkeepers suggested world. emirateslitfest.com) and via the bin Rashid al-Maktoum, UAE that drive-through ATMs could also Overall, some 32 nationalities Emirates Literature Foundation Vice-President & Prime Minis- be set up at the complex, given the will be represented. app, available on the iOS and ter and Ruler of Dubai, in part- large number of vehicles visiting the Also in attendance will be Google Play app stores. nership with Emirates Airline place every day. Ain Khalid Souq: ATMs elusive Emirati adventurer, photogra- For the first time, the Emir- and the Dubai Culture & Arts pher and campaigner Jalal Jamal ates Airline Festival of Litera- Authority (Dubai Culture). Gulf Times Friday, January 20, 2017 3 REGION/ARAB WORLD

Haftar loyalists battle militants 20 fi refi ghters killed in in Benghazi

AFP Benghazi

Tehran building crash orces loyal to Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who control large parts of eastern Libya, said Reuters State TV said at least 78 people, Fyesterday they were locked in fi erce fi ght- Ankara including 45 fi refi ghters, had been ing with extremists in the second city Benghazi. injured, and the remains of the Fighting was raging in Shaabiyat al-Tira area building had continued to burn after of Qafunda district, on the western edges of the t least 20 fi refi ghters were the collapse. coastal city, said Mohamad al-Jali, a spokesman killed when a 17-storey Te- Most of those hurt had been taken for Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA). Ahran commercial building to hospital and many were quickly An AFP correspondent in Benghazi said the collapsed on top of them as they discharged, it said. clashes broke out at dawn and since then war- tried to put out a blaze, Iranian state The semi-offi cial Tasnim news planes have been pounding the positions of television quoted the city’s mayor as agency said troops had been sent to militants almost non-stop. saying yesterday. help dig through the ruins. Haftar has managed to retake a large part of But there was confusion over the It said one of the fi rst fi refi ghters the eastern coastal city of Benghazi from jihad- toll, as a fi re department spokesman to be reached had demanded to be let ists since it came under their control in 2014. But said soon afterwards that there was back inside to save his colleagues. the militants still control Qafunda as well as the still a chance of fi nding them alive. The agency quoted an offi cial in central districts of Al-Saberi and Souq al-Hout. Soldiers, sniff er dogs and rescue the Tehran governor’s offi ce as say- On Monday, Haftar’s forces said they had workers were searching the ruins of ing an electrical short-circuit had routed the militants from Abu Sneib neigh- the Plasco building after it crashed caused the fi re, but there was no im- bourhood in Qafunda, after two days of fi erce down in a giant cloud of dust. mediate confi rmation of this. fi ghting that killed nine LNA soldiers. The collapse was shown live on President Hassan Rouhani ordered Six more LNA soldiers were killed in fi ghting state television. an immediate investigation and also on Wednesday as Haftar’s forces pressed One witness described it as “like a compensation for those aff ected. with a major off ensive to push the militants out horror movie”. Occupants of the building had of all of Benghazi, an LNA spokesman said. “At least 20 fi refi ghters who were been evacuated as the fi refi ghters It was not immediately clear if yesterday’s trapped under rubble have died,” tackled the blaze. fi ghting caused casualties. Mayor Mohamed Baqer Qalibaf said. State TV said the tenants included Around 60 soldiers have been killed in clash- “They are martyrs. They lost their garment manufacturers, and broad- es in and around Benghazi since January 1, ac- lives when trying to help people.” cast footage of business owners try- cording to the LNA. Qalibaf had earlier said around 25 ing to re-enter the wreckage. The spokesman said Haftar forces would fi refi ghters were trapped inside the Sniff er dogs searched for signs of An Iranian firefighter walks amidst the debris of Iran’s oldest high-rise, the 15-storey Plasco building in Tehran. suspend temporarily the fi ghting in Benghazi to building. survivors buried under giant slabs of give safe passage to three families trapped in the State TV said the death toll might concrete and heaps of twisted metal. for ties to Israel after the 1979 Islam- tinguishers...But the building man- was like a horror movie. The building Qafunda area. increase. The rescue operation could last ic revolution. agers ignored the warnings.” collapsed in front of me.” The extremist groups include the Revolu- But Tehran Fire Department more than two days, state TV said. Tasnim said it “had caught fi re in He said the building had collapsed The semi-offi cial Fars news agen- tionary Shura Council of Benghazi, an alliance spokesman Jalal Maleki told the The Plasco building, Iran’s fi rst the past”. vertically. “That is why adjacent cy said police had cordoned off the of Islamist militias that comprises the Al Qae- broadcaster: “I cannot confi rm the private high-rise, was built more Fire department spokesman Male- buildings were not damaged.” nearby British, German and Turk- da-linked Ansar al-Sharia. death of around 20 fi refi ghters... than 50 years ago by a prominent ki said: “We had repeatedly warned The owner of a nearby grocery ish embassies. “The fl ames could be The rescue operation still continues. Iranian-Jewish businessman who the building managers about the lack store, forced by police to leave the seen kilometers away from the old They might still be alive.” was arrested and sentenced to death of safety. The building lacked fi re ex- area, told Reuters by telephone: “It building,” it said. Egypt court to try 304 over ‘Brotherhood attacks’

gypt’s prosecution has referred 304 sus- pects including Muslim Brotherhood Most IS commanders in Mosul already killed, says Iraqi general Eleaders in Turkey to military trial for al- legedly organising militant groups that claimed several attacks in Cairo last year. Reuters commanders have been killed in the militants’ movement, before Islamic The case is one of the largest to link armed at- Mosul eastern side.” State blew up two of them. tacks with the Muslim Brotherhood movement He did not give further details. “God willing, there will be an an- of Mohamed Mursi, the Islamist president top- Since late 2015, government forces nouncement in the next few days pled by the military in 2013. ost Islamic State (IS) com- backed by US-led coalition air power that all the eastern bank is under A prosecution statement late on Wednesday manders in Mosul have have wrested back large amounts of control,” Assai said. said the suspects, many of them abroad, had Mbeen killed in battles with northern and western territory over- A Reuters correspondent saw set up the Hassam militant group that claimed Iraqi government forces that raged run by IS in a shock 2014 off ensive. army troops deploying in an area by responsibility for several assassinations and at- over the past three months in the Regular Iraqi army troops yester- the river as mortar and gun fi re rang tacks in Cairo and the Nile Delta. eastern side of the city, an Iraqi gen- day captured the Nineveh Oberoy out further north. Mursi’s ouster ushered in a crackdown that eral said yesterday. hotel, the so-called “palaces” area On one of the streets newly recap- decimated the Islamist movement and killed The fi ght to take the western side on the eastern bank of the Tigris, and tured from Islamic State, men were hundreds of his followers, and set off a militant of Mosul, which remains under the Tel Kef, a small town just to the north reassembling breeze blocks into a insurgency that has killed hundreds of security jihadists’ control, should not be according to military statements in wall that was blown up by a suicide personnel. more diffi cult than the one on the Baghdad. car bomb several days ago. “The accused, after many Brotherhood lead- eastern side, Lieutenant-General The army is still battling militants Prime Minister Hailer al-Badri ers were arrested, agreed to revive armed opera- Abdul Ghani al-Assadi told Reuters in al-Arabi, the last district which said on Tuesday that Islamic State tions,” a prosecution statement said. before embarking on a tour of areas remains under their control east of had been severely weakened in the It also accused them of establishing Lewaa al- newly retaken. the river, said one of the statements. Mosul campaign, and the military Thawra, another group that surfaced in 2016 to Assadi’s Counter-Terrorism Serv- Over 50 watercraft and barges had begun moving against it in the claim several attacks in Cairo, including the as- ice announced on Wednesday that Iraqis fleeing the fighting between security forces and militants of the used by Islamic State to supply their western half. He did not elaborate. sassination of an army general in October. almost all of the city’s eastern half Islamic State group sit in the back of a lorry as army vehicles drive on a units east of the river were destroyed If the US-backed campaign is The suspects include Brotherhood leaders had been brought under government road in eastern Mosul. in air strikes, the US envoy to the co- successful it will likely spell the end and activists who fl ed the crackdown to Turkey, control. alition, Brett McGurty, tweeted. of the Iraqi part of the self-styled the statement said. “God willing, there will be a cerned with liberation operations,” western side of Mosul to begin. Mogul’s fi ve bridges across the Ti- caliphate declared by the ultra-hard- The Brotherhood, once Egypt’s largest oppo- meeting in the next few days at- he said, replying to a question on “It will not be harder than what gris had already been partially dam- line Islamic State in 2014, which ex- sition movement, has long denied involvement tended by all the commanders con- when he expects a thrust into the we have seen. The majority of (IS) aged by US-led air strikes to slow the tends well into neighbouring Syria. in violence. Hamas halts electricity protests, but anger remains

By Mike Smith, AFP New plant seeks to head off Gaza water crisis add to the problem, with Gaza Jabalia losing up to 20% of electricity The largest desalination plant in A 2012 UN report warned that that makes its way onto the grid, the Gaza Strip partially opened over-extraction of groundwater Maroof said. he 25-year-old nicknamed yesterday with international help from the Gaza Strip’s sole aquifer The recent shortages were Guevara because of his as the impoverished and block- could cause irreversible damage complicated by a dispute with Tadmiration for the Latin aded Palestinian enclave seeks to by 2020. the Palestinian Authority, based American revolutionary had re- prevent a water crisis. “Today, 96% of (Gaza’s) water in the West Bank and dominated turned to his home in Gaza after The first phase of the plant is unfit for human consumption,” by Palestinian President Mah- days of hiding, but was not giv- opened in Deir el-Balah in central Piper said. moud Abbas’s Fatah party. ing up. Gaza and will provide around More than 2mn people live Fatah and Hamas remain di- He had avoided home after 75,000 people with safe water, in Gaza, largely sealed off by a vided despite repeated attempts a warning that Hamas security Michael Kohler from the Euro- decade-long Israeli blockade and at reconciliation. forces were looking for him due pean Commission said. closed Egyptian border. The Palestinian Authority to his role as an organiser of re- The European Union has fi- Kohler said the plant would handles fuel purchases from Is- cent protests over severe elec- nanced two phases of the project help but wider changes were rael since the Israeli authorities tricity shortages. with two grants of 10mn euros needed to find a lasting solution. do not deal directly with Hamas, In a mock army jacket and ($10.6mn). The second phase will “Fundamental change to the which they consider a terrorist with a Che Guevara-like beard, eventually leave the plant able to political, economic and security organisation. Mohamed al-Taluli was being provide 12,000 cubic metres of situation in Gaza” requires the The PA then requires Hamas greeted by dozens of supporters safe drinking water per day. borders being open, he said. to reimburse it for bills and taxes, from his neighbourhood of Jaba- That will be able to help a total UN off icials have repeatedly but Gaza’s electricity company lia, a crowded, overgrown refugee of 150,000 people, said Robert called for the blockade to be faces cash shortages because camp north of Gaza City. Piper, United Nations humanitar- lifted to allow for improved many customers do not pay. “We are going to continue ian coordinator for the Palestinian humanitarian conditions in the European Commission’s Michael Kohler (left) attends the inauguration yesterday of the first phase of Maroof said the company asking for our humanitarian de- territories. Gaza Strip. a desalination plant in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. should collect some $13mn per mands,” he said while seated at month, but only manages around a plastic table in a room in his $6mn. home he called his offi ce. ages all year, but the problem is into the air to disperse the crowd, said that Hamas was responding for about a decade and prevents Sharaf, whose family has had a He blamed it on poverty and Hamas, the Islamist move- exacerbated in winter and mid- carried out arrests and hit an to demands by working to im- them from leaving. print shop in Gaza City for 40 simple reluctance to pay, while ment that runs the Gaza Strip, summer, when power usage AFP photographer who required prove electricity supply. Egypt’s border with Gaza has years. As he spoke, the electricity calling the PA’s taxes excessive. has managed to end a recent se- spikes. stitches to his face. “There is no security solution,” also remained largely closed, and cut again. Many Gaza residents are well ries of protests over the electric- The Hamas authorities in the Further protests were prevent- Salama Maroof told AFP. unemployment is around 42%. The reasons for the electric- aware of the complications, but ity crisis with a security crack- coastal enclave usually provide ed by a show of force by Hamas Che Guevara admirer Taluli Three wars since 2008 be- ity shortages are multi-layered, have become fed up. down and foreign aid used to electricity in eight-hour inter- security. felt safe enough to return home tween Palestinian militants in with the fi rst simply a lack of ca- Those who know the situation purchase more fuel. vals, but supply was reduced to On Monday, Hamas said it was after the announcement that Gaza and Israel have left behind pacity. well say Hamas must be seen as But frustration in places like four hours this month. returning to eight-hour electric- those arrested would be released, death and destruction, not to Gaza has one power plant that responding to their frustrations. Jabalia remains, and there are Protests began modestly, with ity — and was releasing all those but for him and others, the elec- mention psychological scars. runs on diesel fuel and which has “This is for them a strong mes- once again warnings that dete- dozens of people holding can- arrested in connection with the tricity shortages are only one in a Even those with longtime been previously bombed by Is- sage that you can’t count on your riorating conditions in the Pales- dles, before culminating on Jan- protests. series of frustrations. businesses have suff ered. rael. stick or your gun to undermine tinian enclave of 2mn people may uary 12 with thousands marching A Gaza government spokes- Many young people feel “I need electricity for more It also imports electricity from the people and to silence the be leading to a larger eruption of in Jabalia towards the electricity man argued that Jabalia protest- trapped between Hamas’s strict than eight hours to complete Israel and Egypt, but it is not people,” Ahmed Yousef, a senior anger. company. ers were attacking security forces rule and Israel’s blockade of the my work for the customers,” nearly enough. Hamas member and former gov- Gazans face electricity short- Hamas security forces fi red and public buildings, but also enclave, which has been in place said 29-year-old Mohamed Abu Ageing power lines and theft ernment offi cial, told AFP. Gulf Times 4 Friday, January 20, 2017 AFRICA Kenya university Barrow is sworn in lecturers join strike over pay

Reuters allowances, according to Jus- Nairobi tine Musila who runs the par- as Gambia president liamentary watchdog website Mzalendo. Reuters/AFP ecturers at Kenya’s pub- The average annual income Banjul/Dakar lic universities started for Kenya’s 46mn citizens is Lan indefi nite strike yes- $1,340, according to World terday over poor pay, joining Bank data. dama Barrow took the doctors who have been strik- Professors are demanding a oath of offi ce as Gambia’s ing for more than fi ve weeks 400% pay rise to bring them Apresident yesterday at its and deepening a crisis in public into line with legislators, said embassy in neighbouring Sen- services as the country heads Oduma. egal, calling for international towards elections. The striking doctors want a support as regional troops pre- Two unions, the University 300% pay rise, which they say pared to back him in a showdown Academic Staff Union (UASU) was promised to them in 2013. with incumbent Yahya Jammeh, and the Kenya University Staff They also accuse the govern- who has refused to step down. Union (KASU), say their mem- ment of failing to stock public Barrow’s appeal that could bers will refuse to work at Ken- hospitals with basic medicines trigger a military push into Gam- ya’s 33 public universities until and supplies of items such as bia by West Africa’s ECOWAS A handout photo released by the their demands are met. gloves. (Economic Community Of West Senegalese presidency shows UASU mainly represents No government spokesmen African States) bloc, which has Barrow being sworn in as lecturers and KASU’s members were available for comment said it is ready to remove Jammeh president of Gambia at the are mainly administrative and yesterday, but offi cials have by force if necessary. Gambian embassy in Dakar. technical staff . previously said the government Jammeh, in power since a 1994 “Teaching staff are being does not have enough money to coup and whose mandate ended told Reuters that regional forces underpaid and this has gone on pay the salary increases. overnight, initially conceded would only act once Barrow had for a long time. We want pro- The strikes come as Presi- defeat to Barrow following a De- been sworn in. fessors to earn what politicians dent Uhhuru Kenyatta is bat- cember 1 election before back- Late yesterday Senegal army get,” Robinson Oduma, the tling a slew of corruption tracking, saying that the vote was spokesman Colonel Abdou UASU chapter head at Masinde scandals ahead of his bid to fl awed. Ndiaye wrote in a text message Muliro University of Science seek a second term in offi ce in Overnight talks to persuade to Reuters that “we have entered and Technology in the western an election due in August. him to stand down failed, despite Gambia”. Streets are empty and shops are closed in Serrekunda, west of Banjul, as Jammeh’s mandate expired town of Kakamega, told Reu- Authorities are investigat- his increasing political isolation. Barrow gave the oath in a tiny yesterday. ters by phone. ing tens of millions of dollars “This is a day no Gambian will room in Gambia’s embassy in the Kenyan lawmakers are alleged to be missing from ever forget,” Barrow said after Senegalese capital, Dakar, and council to give “its full support to is perfectly entitled to do,” said Those who did not would be among the most highly-paid the health ministry, National taking the oath, which was ad- many of those present broke into the ECOWAS in its commitment British Deputy Ambassador Pe- considered rebels, he said. in the world, taking home Youth Service and from minis- ministered by the president of the Gambian national anthem to ensure, by political means ter Wilson. As tour companies pressed on around 1.2mn Kenyan shillings tries issued cash by a Eurobond Gambia’s bar association. once he had completed it. fi rst, the respect of the will of the The resolution requests that with the evacuation of hundreds ($11,500) per month, including off ering. “Our national fl ag will now Outside the building on a resi- people”. Jammeh “carry out a peaceful of European holidaymakers, fl y high among the most demo- dential street amid a heavy se- The measure does not invoke and orderly transition process, shops, market stalls and banks cratic nations of the world. I curity presence, dozens of Gam- Chapter 7 of the UN charter, and to transfer power” to Barrow. in Banjul remained closed while hereby make an explicit appeal bians listened to the ceremony which authorises the use of force. It urges “all stakeholders, police circulated in trucks and to ECOWAS, the (African Un- through loudspeakers. Russian Deputy Ambassa- within and outside Gambia ... soldiers manned checkpoints. ion) and the UN ... to support the “It’s very sad to be swearing dor Petr Iliichev stressed that exercise restraint, respect the It was unclear what Jammeh’s government and people of the in a president in someone else’s the resolution calls for political rule of law and ensure the peace- next move would be. Gambia in enforcing their will, country. I am happy and sad at means to resolve the stand-off ful transfer of power”. He faces almost total diplo- restoring their sovereignty and the same time,” said Fatou Silla, and warned that military action At a bar in the Gambian capi- matic isolation and a government constitutional legitimacy,” he 33, a businesswoman who fl ed could fail. tal Banjul’s popular SeneGambia riddled by defections. said. Gambia with her son a week ago. “For the time being, there is strip, people crowded around a In the biggest loss yet, Vice- ECOWAS and the African Un- Fearing unrest, thousands of no bloodletting but if they in- television to watch the swearing President Isatou Njie Saidy, who ion have said they will recognise Gambians have fl ed the country, tervene, who is going to take re- in and cheered and danced when has held the role since 1997, quit Barrow. the United Nations estimates. sponsibility for that?” Iliichev it was over. on Wednesday, a government Senegal’s army, which has Yesterday the UN Security told reporters ahead of the vote. “I’m so happy there’s a new source and a family member told deployed hundreds of soldiers Council unanimously backed UN diplomats said if Barrow government,” said a cashier who Reuters. at the Gambian border, said on ECOWAS eff orts to ensure Jam- requests a military intervention only gave her name as Fama. “We Gambia’s long, sandy beaches Wednesday that it would be meh hands over power. in Gambia, this would provide have been suff ering for 22 years have made it a prime destination ready to cross into its smaller A resolution drafted by Senegal the legal basis for the use of force. and now things will be diff erent.” for tourists but Jammeh, who neighbour, which it surrounds, won the support of all 15 coun- “We are hoping that there is a During the brief inauguration once vowed to rule for “a billion from midnight. cil members, including Russia, peaceful resolution to this, but speech, Barrow asserted his new years”, has also earned a reputa- Ghana has also pledged troops. which stressed that the measure it is very clear that if President role as commander and chief of tion for rights abuses and stifl ing A senior military source in Ni- did not formally authorise mili- Barrow asks for assistance, then Gambia’s armed services, order- dissent. geria, which pre-positioned war tary action in Gambia. that is something that, as the le- ing soldiers to stay calm and re- He has ignored pressure to step planes and helicopters in Dakar, The resolution calls on the gitimate president of Gambia, he main in their barracks. aside and off ers of exile. Student doctors perform a drill during a strike in Nairobi.

Investigators search home of South Africa’s top cop

Anti-corruption investigators searched the home of South Africa’s acting police commissioner yesterday after allegations that he took bribes to fund an 8mn rand Mali suicide car bomb attack toll rises to 77 ($600,000) mansion in an upmarket suburb of Pretoria. Off icers of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) – a constitutional body tasked with monitoring the police – obtained a warrant to search the home of acting DPA/AFP January 2013 turned back a Islamist Tuareg-led CMA movement pre- and French troops last year. commissioner Khomotso Phahlane, local television station eNCA reported. Paris/Bamako militant and separatist insurgency pared to go on a joint patrol with Fifteen Malian soldiers, 24 mem- It showed footage of about a dozen Ipid investigators entering the commissioner’s home to in Mali’s north, but various Islamist pro-government militia members bers of the MINUSMA UN peace- execute the warrant. Phalane was not available to comment. groups still stage attacks. under the terms of the peace deal. keeping force and four French sol- he death toll of a suicide car The updated death toll came as Mali’s north fell under the control diers lost their lives, French army bomb attack on a military Boubacar Keita travelled to Gao in of Tuareg-led rebels and Islamist spokesman Patrik Steiger told a Tcamp in northern Mali has the troubled north to visit injured militant groups linked to Al Qaeda weekly press briefi ng in Paris. risen to 77, a French army spokes- survivors and relatives of the dead, in 2012. The attacks “were generally from man said yesterday, adding that it the head of state’s offi ce announced The Islamists sidelined the rebels explosive devices, suicide bomb- was a provisional fi gure. on Twitter. to take sole control. ings, mines, rocket and mortar fi re Shortly after the attack on “There are more than 70 victims,” Although they were largely ousted and the aim was to kill while gener- Wednesday, Mali’s President Ibra- a medical source in Gao told AFP by a French-led military operation ating the maximum amount of pub- him Boubacar Keita said 60 had died earlier. in January 2013, implementation of licity possible”, Steiger said. in the bombing in the city of Gao, The wounded have been evacu- the peace accord has been piecemeal The United Nations has deployed while 115 others were injured. ated to Bamako. with insurgents still active across 13,000 troops in Mali while France, Five suicide bombers were also The assault targeted a camp large parts of the region. the former colonial power, has an among the dead. housing former rebels and pro-gov- The joint patrols, which also in- additional 4,000 soldiers stationed Terrorist group Al Qaeda in the ernment militia who are signatories clude regular Malian army troops, there. Islamic Maghreb later claimed re- to a 2015 peace accord struck with are supposed to help prepare for the The UN Security Council agreed sponsibility for the attack, accord- the government. reorganisation of the army. on Wednesday to consider setting ing to a website that monitors Is- Keita has ordered three days of In Paris, meanwhile, the French up a sanctions regime for Mali to lamist militant organisations, Site national mourning. military said yesterday that armed punish those who are hindering ef- Intelligence Group. The attack, Mali’s worst in years, groups in Mali launched 118 attacks forts to implement a 2015 peace ac- A French military intervention in occurred as former rebels from the against the army, UN peacekeepers cord. Nigeria plans inquiry into botched air strike

AFP the board is to determine the im- On December 24, Nigeria said it to vaccinate children and screen for Maiduguri mediate and remote causes as well had fl ushed Boko Haram fi ghters malnutrition, which has gripped the as the circumstances that led to the from their stronghold in the Sam- region and left hundreds of thou- incident,” it said in a statement. bisa Forest of Borno state and that sands of people in dire need of help. igeria gave details yester- The board will submit its report the group was in disarray. The town, near the shores of Lake day of a formal probe into a no later than February 2, it added. But attacks on troops and civil- Chad and the border with Cam- Nbotched air strike that killed Military commanders have al- ians continue. eroon, was previously inaccessible at least 70 people, as aid workers ready called the bombing a mistake, Alfred Davies, a fi eld co-ordinator because of insecurity, and the peo- feared the bloodshed could aff ect blaming it on “the fog of war”. for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), ple there were dying of hunger, Dav- vital humanitarian programmes. They said the intended target was and one of the injured victims who ies said. More than 100 people, many of Islamist militants reportedly spot- spoke to AFP, said that the air force “The army that was meant to pro- them children, were injured in the ted in the Kala-Balge area, of which dropped at least two bombs. tect them bombed them instead,” he bombing at a camp for people dis- Rann is part. In an account made public by the said. placed by the Boko Haram insurgen- The Nation newspaper, sympa- medical charity, Davies said the fi rst The International Committee of cy in Rann, in the country’s north- thetic to President Muhammadu landed just metres away from the the Red Cross (ICRC) said 61 injured east, on Tuesday. Buhari, attributed the bombing to Red Cross offi ce. people were airlifted to its specialist Six local Red Cross workers who a “failure of intelligence” caused by “The plane circled back and it trauma unit in Maiduguri, the capi- were distributing food to between information provided by a “foreign dropped a second bomb fi ve minutes tal of Borno state. 20,000 and 40,000 people living in country”, without elaborating. later,” he said, adding that they were Of those, 28 were children, seven makeshift shelters at the camp were Boko Haram, which wants to es- “dropped on houses”. were women and 26 were men, it among the dead. tablish a hardline Islamic state in He added: “There are no words to added. The Nigerian Air Force said a northeast Nigeria, has laid waste to describe the chaos. Some people had International aid agencies have board of inquiry comprising six sen- the area since taking up arms against broken bones and torn fl esh; their condemned the bombing of civil- ior offi cers would investigate the the government in 2009. intestines hanging down to the fl oor. ians, who are facing extreme food bombing, and had initially been pre- At least 20,000 have been killed I saw the bodies of children that had shortages because of the confl ict, as sented with a list of 20 witnesses. and more than 2.6mn made home- been cut in two.” well as having lost their livelihoods “Among its terms of reference, less. MSF arrived in Rann last weekend and families. Gulf Times Friday, January 20, 2017 5 AMERICAS

Former governor Perdue nominated Washington girds for for agriculture

AFP Washington anti-Trump protests

onald Trump has an- Reuters Possession of small amounts of nounced that he has Washington marijuana is legal in Washington Dnominated former but public consumption is not. Georgia governor Sonny Per- Interim Police Chief Peter due to be US secretary of ag- ashington will turn Newsham said offi cers were pre- riculture, rounding out the into a virtual for- pared for mass arrests, although president-elect’s cabinet picks Wtress ahead of Donald authorities hoped that would be on the eve of his inauguration. Trump’s presidential inaugura- unnecessary. With his inner circle fi nal- tion as the US capital braces for “If we do have a mass ar- ised, Trump’s incoming cabi- more than a quarter-million pro- rest, we’ll be able to get people net will feature no Hispanics, Perdue: has considerable testers expected during the Re- processed very quickly,” he told the fi rst time since Ronald Rea- political experience. publican’s swearing-in. Washington’s NBC 4 television gan’s presidency in the 1980s. Police have forecast that some station. Perdue, 70, has considerable deliver big results for all Amer- 900,000 people, both support- Police and security offi cials political experience, having icans who earn their living off ers and opponents, will fl ood have pledged to guarantee pro- been a state senator for a dec- the land.” Washington for the inaugura- testers’ constitutional rights to ade before serving two terms The nomination of Perdue, tion ceremony, which includes free speech and peaceful assem- as governor of an agricultural which requires confi rmation the swearing-in on the steps of bly. state whose capital Atlanta is a by the US Senate, is the fi nal the US Capitol and a parade to Today’s crowds are expected major business hub. pick for Trump’s 15-member the White House along streets to be less than the 2mn who at- He also worked as a vet- cabinet. thronged with spectators. tended Obama’s fi rst inaugura- erinarian before becoming a Another former governor, Many of those attending will tion in 2009, and in line with the small-business owner. Rick Perry of Texas, has been be protesters irate about the million who were at his second, “Sonny Perdue is going to tapped for the cabinet post of New York real estate developer’s four years ago. accomplish great things as sec- energy secretary, while South demeaning comments about The inaugural parade down retary of agriculture,” Trump Carolina Governor Nikki Haley women, immigrants and Mus- Pennsylvania Avenue will pass said in a statement announcing is Trump’s pick to be ambas- lims, a vow to repeal the sweep- the Trump International Hotel, a his pick. sador to the United Nations, a ing healthcare reform law known rallying point for protesters since “From growing up on a farm position with cabinet rank. as Obamacare and plans to build Workers prepare the inauguration of President-elect Trump at the US Capitol in Washington, DC. the election now encircled by se- to being governor of a big ag- Out of the 21 cabinet-rank a wall along the US-Mexico bor- curity fences. riculture state, he has spent positions already nominated by der. the same space,” Johnson said on A protest group known as Dis- Moore and actors Mark Ruff alo In a sign of the Trump-related his whole life understanding Trump, only four are women. His supporters admire MSNBC yesterday. rupt J20 has vowed to stage dem- and Alec Baldwin, who portrays angst gripping Washington, the and solving the challenges our One is black and two are Trump’s experience in business, About 28,000 security per- onstrations at each of 12 security Trump on Saturday Night Live, dean of the Washington National farmers face, and he is going to Asian-American. including as a real estate devel- sonnel, miles of fencing, road- checkpoints and block access to take part in a rally outside the Cathedral said this week its choir oper and reality television star, blocks, street barricades and the festivities on the grassy Na- Trump International Hotel and would sing God Bless America at and view him as an outsider and dump trucks laden with sand will tional Mall. Tower. the inauguration despite misgiv- Lambada singer found dead: police problem-solver. be part of the security cordon By far the biggest protest will One Washington protest will ings by some members. Outgoing US Department of around 3sq miles (almost 8sqkm) be the Women’s March on Wash- come amid a haze of pot smoke “Let me be clear: We are not The singer of Latin pop hit La Lambada, Loalwa Braz, was found Homeland Security Secretary Jeh of central Washington. ington tomorrow, which organis- as pro-marijuana activists show singing for the President. We are dead yesterday in a burned-out car in her native Brazil, police and Johnson said police aim to sepa- About 30 groups that or- ers expect to draw 250,000. their opposition to Trump’s singing for God because that is media said. rate groups to diff use tensions, ganisers claim will draw about Hundreds of Women’s March- choice for attorney general, Ala- what church choirs do,” the Rev- She provided the sensual lead vocals for the international hit song similar to last-year’s political 270,000 protesters or Trump related protests are scheduled bama Republican Senator Jeff erend Randolph Marshall Hol- released by French group Kaoma in 1989. conventions. backers have received permits for across the United States and Sessions, a critic of pot legalisa- lerith said in a letter. A police off icial told AFP Braz was found in the coastal district of “The concern is some of these rallies or marches before, during around the world as well. tion. Trump will attend an inter- Saquerema near Rio de Janeiro, but could give no further details. groups are pro-Trump, some of and after the swearing-in. There will be an anti-Trump The group plans to distribute faith prayer service at the cathe- Brazilian media said the singer’s body was found totally burned them are con-Trump, and they More protests are expected protest in New York when Mayor 4,200 joints at the inauguration dral tomorrow, closing out the inside the car near her home. may not play well together in without permits. Bill de Blasio, fi lmmaker Michael and urge attendees to light up. inaugural ceremonies. Rival gangs clash inside Brazil massacre prison

Reuters Rio de Janeiro

undreds of inmates from rival drug gangs clashed yesterday Hinside a Brazilian prison where 26 inmates were killed in the latest of an ongoing series of bloody uprisings, television images showed. Police fi red rubber bullets and tear gas canisters into the yard of the Al- cacuz prison in northeastern Brazil as helicopters buzzed overhead. Prisoners erected makeshift bar- ricades, while inmates traded blows with wooden clubs and hurled stones. Some police offi cers appeared to be fi ring live rounds from a watchtower. There was no immediate word on deaths, but several inmates clearly ap- Members of the special police battalion enter the Alcacuz Penitentiary Centre peared to be injured. in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Brazilian authorities said on Wednesday that The outbreaks of violence were the they are deploying 1,000 troops to ‘clean out’ arms and cellphones from restive latest in Brazil’s beleaguered peniten- prisons while police struggled to end a deadly gang face-off at Alcacuz. tiary system, where 140 people have died in clashes in recent weeks. in over two decades, has gripped Bra- The killings began on January 1, The overcrowded prisons are now zil. when the powerful North Family gang, the battleground in a quickly escalat- Cellphone videos circulate widely which is allied with the Red Command, ing war between the nation’s two big- on social media, some showing gang killed 56 inmates at a prison in Amazo- gest drug gangs, the Sao Paulo-based members chopping the heads off their nas state, mostly PCC members. First Capital Command (PCC) and the rivals, slicing their hearts out and dis- The North Family controls a lucra- Red Command based in Rio de Janeiro. emboweling them. tive cocaine route along the Solimoes, For two decades, the two factions Members of a SWAT team entered a branch of the Amazon that fl ows have maintained a working relation- the Alcacuz prison on Wednesday from Colombia and Peru, the world’s ship, ensuring a steady fl ow of drugs night to transfer more than 200 of the top two cocaine-producing nations. and arms over Brazil’s porous border. prisoners that belong to the “Crime The PCC retaliated on January 6 by But about six months ago, the PCC Union of RN” gang – RN being initials killing 33 inmates at the Monte Cristo began trying to muscle the Red Com- for the local Rio Grande do Norte state, prison in the Amazonian state of Ro- mand out of drug routes. whose members had been killed this raima, before carrying out the most The PCC has aggressively moved past weekend by PCC inmates. recent killings at Alcacuz this past into new areas in the north and north- Police said they searched cells and weekend. east of Brazil, where all the deadly confi scated a large quantity of guns, In another prison in northeastern clashes have taken place in recent knives, homemade weapons and bul- Brazil yesterday, at least one inmate weeks. let-resistant vests. was killed when members of diff erent In response, the Red Command has Caio Bezerra, the top security offi cial gangs clashed, authorities said. allied itself with local gangs, enlisting for Rio Grande do Norte, told reporters Prisoners fought, burnt mattresses them to take on the PCC. that the Wednesday night operation and ripped down part of the roof in one The bloodshed has mostly played was successful and that prisoners did of the blocks of the Caico prison, also out inside the prisons, but security ex- not resist. in Rio Grande do Norte, before being perts fear it will soon spill into already The spokesman for the state po- suppressed by guards, a spokesperson violent city streets. lice force, Major Eduardo Franco, told for the state’s security secretariat said. The violence, the deadliest outbreak Reuters late on Wednesday that the Five inmates were injured in the in the sharply criticised penal system prison was back under control. clashes.

As more Latin Americans eat processed food, obesity rates surge

Latin America, once plagued by malnutrition, now faces aff ecting Latin Americans “regardless of their economic a diff erent type of public health crisis as processed food situation, place of residence or ethnic origin”, it said. increasingly replaces traditionally prepared dishes, leading to The problem is greatest in net food importing countries. a surge in obesity rates, a UN report showed yesterday. The countries with the highest levels of obesity are the Nearly 58% of the region’s inhabitants, or close to 360mn Bahamas, Mexico, and Chile, with rates of 69%, 64% and 63%, people, is either overweight or obese, said the report by the respectively. United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Still, even as obesity rates surge, Latin America is still home the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). to the nation with the highest rate of undernourishment; in The rapid jump in obesity rates has crisscrossed the region, Haiti, 53% of the population is undernourished. Gulf Times 6 Friday, January 20, 2017 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA

DISPUTE EMBEZZLEMENT RITUALS MILITARY OFFBEAT Vietnam police halt S Korea retail chief’s Tokyo shrine off ers N Korea ICBM launch Customer calls police anti-China protest sister given 3 years jail blessings to pets ‘could be imminent’ after drug deal goes wrong

Police in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi stopped an A South Korean court sentenced the elderly Some might describe the idea as barking mad North Korea may be planning to launch two A disgruntled New Zealand pot smoker anti-China protest within minutes yesterday at sister of the chairman of Lotte Group, one of the but a shrine in Tokyo is off ering blessings to pets intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) complained to the police after a drug deal a ceremony to commemorate a clash between country’s major conglomerates, to three years to protect the fluff y creatures from a ‘ruff ’ year soon, South Korean media reported yesterday she allegedly arranged via social media went the two countries in the South China Sea more in prison yesterday for embezzlement and ahead. Pet owners have been flocking to the citing military sources. According to defence wrong, local media reported. Local website than four decades ago. Vietnam and China have breach of duty. Shin Young-Ja, 74, was the latest Ichigaya Kamegaoka Hachimangu shrine since off icials, two missiles, presumed to be ICBMs Stuff said that the woman, from the North a longstanding dispute over the South China member of a South Korean business dynasty to it introduced New Year ceremonies for dogs and were place on mobile launchers for test Island city of Hamilton, claimed she paid 40 Sea, nearly all of which is claimed by China. Four fall foul of judicial authorities amid mounting cats in 2000 – and numbers have gone through firing, the Yonhap news agency reported. New Zealand dollars ($29) for what a dealer other countries have claims in the sea, through public anger at the sprawling “chaebols” that the woof in recent years. “Well, they’re part of The launch could be imminent and coincide said was one ounce (28g) of marijuana. It which an estimated $5tn in trade passes each dominate the economy. Retail giant Lotte, the family,” 43-year-old Yuki Mitsui said, hugging with US President-elect Donald Trump’s was supposed to be a fraction of the usual year. The protest in Hanoi started after a peaceful founded by Shin’s father, has been subject two miniature dachshunds that were proudly inauguration today in order to send the US a price. When the dealer didn’t come through commemoration for soldiers of what was then of a lengthy corruption probe, but she was sporting tiny fur-trimmed kimonos. “It gives me “strategic message”, Yonhap said. However, with the drug, the woman complained both South Vietnam who were killed in 1974, when the first family member to be convicted. Her peace of mind that these little fellas can also the military reports could not be verified, a to police and on a Facebook page that boasts China seized the Paracel islands, which it still father and two brothers – who are engaged in receive an amulet that will protect them for the spokesperson for the ministry of defence in 40,000 members. The woman didn’t think holds. Police dragged about 20 protesters on to a bitter public feud for control of the country’s year.” Visits are by appointment only. Over 500 Seoul said. Earlier this month, North Korean she could be charged, she said, because she a bus after they ignored a warning to disperse fifth-largest family-run conglomerate – have all visitors yearly bring pets dressed in brightly leader Kim Jong Un said in a New Year’s hadn’t received the drugs. Hamilton Police and began marching with banners and chanting been indicted on charges of tax evasion and coloured finery to the shrine, where they make speech the country was in the final stages of Senior Sergeant Rupert Friend, however, “Demolish China’s Invasion” and other slogans. embezzlement. an off ering to the gods in return for a blessing. preparing for a test firing of an ICBM. disagreed. S Korea court rejects arrest warrant for Samsung heir

AFP commentator, added: “A court Seoul usually approves arrest warrants over bribery cases involving such an enormous amount of money South Korean court yes- and circumstantial evidence.” terday refused to author- As well as the investigation of Aise the arrest of the heir to Park, the decision could weak- the Samsung business empire, in en prosecutors’ probes into the a setback to prosecutors probing heads of other conglomerates im- a corruption scandal engulfi ng plicated in the scandal, said Choi President Park Geun-Hye. Chang-Ryol, a professor of poli- Offi cials on Monday sought the tics at Yongin University. arrest of Lee Jae-Yong on charges “It would be far easier for pros- of bribery, embezzlement and ecutors to quiz Lee if they have Rohingya refugees living in Malaysia gather outside the venue of the OIC conference on the Rohingya situation in Myanmar, in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. perjury, sending shock waves him under detention, and even- through the group, which is a tually build a bribery case against major part of the South Korean Park as well,” he said. economy and includes the world’s Lee, 48, was seen early yes- largest smartphone maker. terday leaving a detention centre It is already reeling from the where he had awaited the deci- debacle over the recall of its fl ag- sion for the previous 18 hours, ship Galaxy Note 7 device and re- following a hearing by the court. ports have suggested it could face Investigators said Lee gave Myanmar urged to end sanctions from overseas authori- or promised some 43bn won ties if Lee is punished. ($36.3mn) worth of bribes to Lee, who became Samsung’s de Choi, allegedly in return for the facto head after his father suff ered state pension fund’s backing of a a heart attack in 2014, is accused merger of two Samsung affi liates of bribing Choi Soon-Sil, Park’s – deemed crucial for Lee’s he- secret confi dante at the centre of reditary succession at Samsung. Rohingya crackdown the scandal, and receiving policy Lee and his lawyers have favours from Park in return. claimed Park pressured the group But the court rejected the re- into making donations, but that it Malaysian PM warns the bouring Bangladesh, alleging fl ames of international mili- The Nobel Peace Prize winner “Myanmar should ensure that quest on grounds of insuffi cient did not expect special favours in issue could fan the flames of rape, murder and torture at the tancy. is accused of standing by while the security forces act in accord- evidence, which could mar in- return for the funds. international militancy hands of security forces. “OIC member states are well the Rohingya have been perse- ance with the law and that all vestigators’ plan to question Park In a statement released by the But Myanmar denies the al- aware that terrorist organisa- cuted. perpetrators of acts of violence – impeached by parliament last prosecutors, the court said it was AFP legations. tions such as Daesh (Islamic She has appointed a com- be held accountable,” it said. month – on charges of bribery. “diffi cult to accept the reasons, Kuala Lumpur “Far too many people have State) could seek to take advan- mission to investigate the latest The OIC also shared Najib’s A spokesman for the prosecu- need and justifi cation” for his ar- lost their lives in Myanmar,” said tage of this situation,” he said. violence and has urged the in- fears, saying that if the root tion team described the decision rest. Najib, speaking in Kuala Lumpur “This should concern the inter- ternational community to give causes of the Rohingya are not as “very regrettable” but said “We appreciate the fact that alaysia’s Prime Minis- at the opening of a special meet- national community as a whole, Myanmar time to heal a bitter addressed there could be “infi l- they will “carry on with our probe the merits of this case can now ter Najib Razak yester- ing of foreign ministers of the as the threat of a new home for and complicated issue. tration of radical elements” into without wavering”. be determined without the need Mday urged Myanmar to Organisation of Islamic Co-op- terrorist groups has the potential Myanmar refuses to recognis- the community and called for Opposition politicians and for detention,” Samsung said in a end its crackdown on the Mus- eration (OIC). to cause death and destruction es Rohingya as an offi cial ethnic the “reconciliation process”, in- analysts questioned the decision. statement yesterday. lim Rohingya minority, warning “Many have suff ered appall- well beyond this region.” group. cluding a safe return of Rohingya Seoul mayor Park Won-Soon, Choi is accused of using her that Islamist extremists may ex- ing deaths, and those that have Najib added that Myanmar’s Instead it describes them pe- refugees. who is expected to stand for pres- presidential ties to force top local ploit the crisis. lived through the atrocities have treatment of the Rohingya – tens joratively as Bengalis – or illegal Myanmar authorities accuse ident later this year, accused the fi rms into donating nearly $70mn The plight of the Rohingya, a witnessed or endured unspeak- of thousands of whom have lan- immigrants from Bangladesh – militants with overseas training court of basing its decision on the to two non-profi t foundations stateless group denied citizen- able cruelty,” he added. guished in displacement camps even though many have lived in of launching the October attacks potential economic ramifi cations controlled by her. ship in Myanmar and reviled as “For a start, the killing must since communal riots in 2012 – Myanmar for generations. on border posts in Rakhine. rather than justice. Samsung is the single biggest illegal immigrants by the ma- stop. The violation of women was a “stain” on the 10-member The secretary-general of the Analysts say Najib’s embrace “A fair ruling is a requirement contributor to the foundations jority Buddhist population, has and girls must stop,” he said, Southeast Asian regional bloc 56-member OIC, Yousef al- of the Rohingya in part aims to for economic improvement,” he and separately paid Choi millions become a lightning rod for anger adding that “the persecution of Asean. Othaimeen, urged Myanmar burnish his international image said on Facebook. of euros, allegedly to bankroll her across the Muslim world. your fellow men and women, Najib said Malaysia would de- security forces to use restraint after the damaging 1MDB graft “A country that tolerates cor- daughter’s equestrian training in Since October Myanmar’s simply on the grounds that they ploy a food fl otilla and provide with civilian populations or risk scandal. ruption cannot do well economi- Germany. army has carried out “clear- are Muslim, must stop.” 10mn ringgit ($2.25mn) for hu- fuelling a violent reaction from The premier has been buff eted cally.” Prosecutors have been prob- ance operations” in the north Najib, who has called the manitarian relief. oppressed groups. by allegations that he took part Samsung is South Korea’s larg- ing whether Samsung’s payments of western Rakhine state to root crisis a “genocide” and whose The plight of the Rohingya Meanwhile the OIC in a joint in the looting of billions of dol- est business group and its revenue were aimed at securing govern- out insurgents accused of deadly prominent defence of the Ro- has put Myanmar’s democracy communique called on Myan- lars of public cash through state is equivalent to about a fi fth of the ment approval for the controver- raids on police border posts. hingya comes as he battles a champion and de facto leader mar to end the “violence and fund 1MDB. country’s GDP. Kim Nam-Geun, sial merger of Cheil Industries At least 66,000 Rohingya massive graft scandal at home, Aung San Suu Kyi under im- discrimination” against the Ro- Both he and the fund vehe- a Seoul lawyer and a political and Samsung C&T in 2015. have subsequently fl ed to neigh- warned the issue could fan the mense international pressure. hingya Muslims. mently deny the allegations.

Shopping centre fire Australia hails buy-back of Massacre denial sparks tourism boycott calls national spread Vegemite Reuters who had shed their uniforms. Tokyo “These acts were all said to be committed by the Japanese army, AFP heritage and values that Vegem- a connection back to seemingly but this is not true,” Motoya, us- Sydney ite represents and its importance simpler times and is symbolic of Japanese hotelier’s de- ing his pen name Seiji Fuji, wrote. to Australian culture”, in a state- the reverence for the ordinary in nial of a 1937 massacre Japan’s wartime occupation of ment to the Australian Stock Ex- Australian culture.” Aby Japanese troops in Nanjing and resulting massacre egemite, the salty yeast- change. Former prime minister Kevin the Chinese city of Nanjing has is a highly contentious issue be- based spread beloved by The sticky spread, which Rudd tapped into this nostal- prompted Chinese social media tween the uneasy neighbours. VAustralians, is returning was invented to rival Britain’s gia declaring himself during the calls for a boycott of travel to Ja- China says Japanese troops Down Under after decades of US Marmite, fi rst hit the shelves in 2007 election campaign “toast pan, threatening tourist arrivals killed 300,000 people in the city. ownership. 1923 and during World War II and Vegemite sort of guy”. days before the Lunar New Year A post-war Allied tribunal put An acquired taste for the for- was rationed for civilians due to But even haute cuisine has holidays. the death toll at about half that eign pallet, Vegemite on toast is overwhelming demand from the got in on the act, with celebrity The furore erupted over books number. a staple found on most Austral- military. British chef Heston Blumenthal by Toshio Motoya, the president Motoya’s latest book, com- ian breakfast tables, and its fans Today, the yeast extract sells putting an experimental Vege- of Tokyo-based hotel and real prised of essays written over the now range from prime ministers on average close to one jar per mite-inspired ice cream on his estate developer APA Group, last two years, caught Chinese to celebrity chefs. Australian each year. menu for an Australia Day lunch which contain his revisionist attention after it was uploaded Cheese maker Bega an- Developed by the Fred Walker next week in Melbourne. views and are placed in every on a Chinese social networking nounced the Aus$460mn Company, Vegemite was ac- “The highlight is sure to be the room of the company’s 400-plus site, igniting criticism on Chi- (US$346mn) purchase yesterday quired after the war by Kraft new VEGEMITE ® Ice Cream, a APA Hotels. nese social media and the travel of most of US-based Mondelez which in 2012 split in two form- dessert featuring Australia’s fa- In one, printed in English boycott calls. International’s Australia and ing Mondelez International. vourite spread accompanied with and Japanese and entitled The “Any Chinese person with New Zealand grocery business, Despite being owned by a US a biscuit base, yeast salted cara- Thick black smoke rises from kiosks on fire at one of the Real History of Japan, he says self-respect for their nationality which includes the tarry sand- outfi t, Vegemite has continued to mel, barley chocolate Ganache biggest shopping centres in Jakarta yesterday. More than the “Nanking Massacre story” should boycott Japanese goods wich fi lling. be produced in Melbourne. and verjuice curd,” a promotion 30 fire trucks and hundreds of fire fighters battled for was “impossible”, blaming loot- and boycott travelling to Japan,” Barry Irvin, Bega’s executive The National Museum of Aus- for the $270 four-course lunch hours to extinguish the fire. ing and killings on members of one writer on China’s Weibo chairman, noted “the wonderful tralia says the spread “provides reads. a branch of the Chinese military platform wrote. Gulf Times Friday, January 20, 2017 7 BRITAIN

CRIME VERDICT AVIATION ACCIDENT PROPOSAL Woman, partner jailed for Driver high on drugs BA to fly all customers to Pedestrian dies after Surrey plans 15% feeding daughter drugs jailed for eight months destinations during strike being hit by fire engine council tax hike

A mother and her ex-partner have been jailed for 13 A mechanic who careered through London streets British Airways said that all its passengers would A pedestrian has died after being hit by a fire A council wants to raise its tax by 15% in the next years each after being convicted of feeding drugs in his Audi A3 as he fled police while high on drugs be flown to their destinations during a 72-hour engine that lost control and overturned while financial year, blaming cuts and increased demand to her four-year-old daughter. Poppy Widdison has been jailed. Dalton Williams, 21, sent sparks pay strike by some cabin crew which began on a 999 call. Police are investigating the for social care. Surrey county council leader David collapsed at her home in Grimsby and died in flying from his car as he raced along Stockwell yesterday. BA, owned by International Airlines crash, which happened on a roundabout at Hodge said the government had cut its annual hospital from a cardiac arrest in June 2013. Her streets at up to 60mph. He drove on the wrong Group, said a small number of its short-haul flights the junction of York Way and Old North Road grant by £170mn since 2010. The proposed mother Michala Pyke, 38, and her former partner side before crashing into a road sign. Williams, from Heathrow would be merged resulting in in Royston, Hertfordshire. The vehicle was increase would add nearly £200 to a Band D bill, John Rytting, 40, were found guilty of child cruelty, already with two driving bans to his name, had no one percent of its total schedule being cancelled turning right when “for reasons unknown” it bringing it to about £1,500. The government said last month. Passing sentence, jJudge Jeremy insurance or licence at the time of the chase, Inner over the three-day period. “Our flight programme lost control and hit the pedestrian, police said. if the proposed budget is set, taxpayers would Richardson QC said the defendants “existed in London crown court heard. He tested positive for is running as planned and we are going to fly Off icers said the four firefighters involved were have the final say at the following referendum. Any a swamp of drug addiction and drug peddling” cannabis following his arrest. Williams, of Stockwell, all customers to their destinations,” BA said in a left with minor injuries. The East of England authority wanting to increase tax by more than 2% and Poppy was “plunged into mire of drugs”. The pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving statement. All BA’s long-haul services to and from Ambulance Service said the pedestrian died at must put the plans to vote. This would take place jury at Hull Crown Court heard Pyke and Rytting without insurance and a licence. Judge Usha Karu Heathrow, Britain and Europe’s busiest airport, plus the scene. Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service on May 4, alongside local elections, and would encouraged the girl to eat sedatives because they jailed him for eight months and banned him from its flights to and from Gatwick airport and London said two firefighters were taken to hospital for include a vote in Chancellor Philip Hammond’s felt she was an inconvenience to their relationship. driving for 18 months. City will all operate as normal, the airline said. “precautionary checks”. constituency of Runnymede and Weybridge. Grammar Lantern festival schools lose league table top spots

Guardian News and Media school appeared further down, in London 13th place on the national per- formance table, with Tunbridge Wells Girls’ Grammar school he traditional pecking recording a Progress 8 score of order of England’s sec- 0.82. Tondary schools has been In previous performance ta- upended by the government’s bles the key metric was the per- new school performance meas- centage of pupils achieving grade ure, knocking grammar schools C or higher in fi ve GCSE subjects, out of the top spots and boost- including English and maths. ing schools that dramatically That led to schools concentrat- improved results among their ing eff orts into raising pupil per- pupils. formance only to a C, to the det- Visitors walk in front of a light sculpture depicting architecture of the Tang dynasty during a photocall to promote the Magical Lantern Festival at Chiswick House The department for educa- riment of other results. Gardens in west London. The ‘Silk Road’ was chosen as the festival theme for 2017 due to its historical significance. tion’s latest performance tables, The new measure, however, published yesterday — including rewards schools which do better 2016’s GCSE exams and ranked than expected, including raising by its new Progress 8 measure — a pupil’s grade from an E to a D, reveals that the best schools in or from a B to an A. England are those which make Nick Gibb, the school stand- the greatest advances in their ards minister, hailed the latest pupils’ grades. fi gures as evidence of higher At the top of the national standards and praised teachers Progress 8 league table sit two and pupils for their eff orts. faith schools in Blackburn run by “As well as confi rming that the Toxic air cloud sparks the Tauheedul multi-academy number of young people taking trust, one of which, Tauheedul GCSEs in core academic subjects Islamic Boys’ high school, is a is rising, today’s fi gures show the free school with its fi rst full co- attainment gap between disad- hort sitting GCSEs. vantaged and all other pupils has The new measure of progress now narrowed by 7% since 2011,” is calculated using a pupil’s best Gibb noted. ‘red alert’ in London eight exam scores — with extra “Under our reforms there are emphasis on maths and English almost 1.8mn more young people London Evening Standard crucial that Londoners who are The “high” alerts were is- main roads into London, with ous physical exertion, especially — and then comparing the fi nal in good or outstanding schools London vulnerable, such as asthma suf- sued early yesterday morning instructions to switch engines outside. People with asthma results with a pupil’s expected than in 2010, and through our ferers, are able to take appropri- for Westminster, Kensington off when stationary to reduce may fi nd they need to use their scores based on previous per- new, fairer Progress 8 measure ate measures to protect them- and Chelsea, Hammersmith emissions. inhaler more often. Older peo- formance. we will ensure that even more toxic air “red alert” was selves.” and Fulham, Tower Hamlets, A red alert is issued when ple should also reduce physical Those schools that recorded children are supported to achieve issued across London Pollution was predicted to Wandsworth, the City, Kingston the scale indicating air toxicity exertion. A City of London Cor- positive progress scores among their full potential.” Ayesterday, with millions reach “high” — the same as red and Hounslow — with the rest of stands between seven and nine poration spokesman said: “This their pupils outperformed the The new measure also caused of people urged to consider tak- — in at least seven boroughs the capital rated “moderate”. out of 10. It hit nine on Wednes- spike in air pollution is a huge national average, while those fewer schools to fall below the ing it easy to protect their health. and the City as a cloud of toxic AirText messages from City day near MI6’s Vauxhall HQ. health problem. We encourage that returned a negative score department for education’s fl oor Mayor Sadiq Khan raised the air from Germany’s industrial Hall before 8am to the worst- City Hall issues a London- pedestrians, cyclists, joggers did worse. standard, making them vulner- alarm about a fi lthy cloud of heartlands was set to sweep in, aff ected boroughs stated: “High wide alert if more than four bor- and drivers to use our free City Among all schools with more able to intervention. Last year pollution for the fi rst time this smothering a swathe of central air pollution forecast. Consider oughs, excluding the City, are Air app for lower pollution travel than 50 pupils taking exams, 329 schools – 11% of the total year at thousands of bus stops and west London. spending less time outdoors, forecast to hit “high” air pollu- routes.” both Tauheedul schools, along in England – failed to reach the and all Tube stations. Scientists at King’s College take medication. If unwell con- tion. When fi lthy air rises to that Research has shown that air with Harris Academy in Bat- fl oor target but under Progress 8 City chiefs advised commut- London said: “There is a good tact GP.” level the offi cial health advice pollution inside cars can be par- tersea, King Solomon’s Acad- only 282 failed to do so. ers, cyclists, joggers, drivers and chance that particulate pollu- By mid-morning yesterday, is: “Anyone experiencing dis- ticularly bad. A “black” warn- emy in Paddington, St Andrew’s However, recent legislation pedestrians to avoid busy, pollu- tion will continue to rise into the air quality warnings were sent comfort such as sore eyes, cough ing — 10 on the toxicity scale — Catholic school in Leatherhead creating a new class of “coast- tion-clogged roads. ‘high’ threshold across London.” out to 2,500 bus countdown or sore throat should consider would trigger an alert urging all and the City Academy, Hackney, ing” schools, which receive Khan said: “The extent of our The particulate pollution signs and river pier signs, elec- reducing activity, particularly of the public to “reduce physical recorded progress scores of more scrutiny from the DfE’s regional air quality crisis means that I was expected to mix with lo- tronic update signs in the en- outdoors.” exertion, particularly outdoors, than one, a complete grade above agents, means that 329 will be have triggered a city-wide alert, cally produced nitrogen dioxide, trances of all 270 Underground Adults and children with lung especially if you experience their expected results. branded as coasting, of which 152 ensuring Londoners have all much of which is spewed out by stations and 140 road-side problems and adults with heart symptoms such as cough or sore The best-performing selective are also below the fl oor standard. the information possible. It’s diesel vehicles. message signs on the busiest problems should reduce strenu- throat.” House price growth slows Overcoming fear OBE medal found for fi rst time since July at waste depot Guardian News and Media The OBE was found at the end London of November as workers were Reuters That was a bigger drop than sales to pick up in early 2017 fell sifting through rubbish from London any of the forecasts in a Reuters sharply. house and offi ce clearances. poll of economists although it “It remains to be seen whether search is under way for Envirowaste’s owner, James still refl ected solid price rises. or not this is a temporary setback a pote ntially careless Rubin, said it was impossible to he housing market had its Gains were strongest in north- or the onset of a weaker trend,” Amember of the British es- trace where the OBE came from, weakest month since just west England. RICS said. Some of its members tablishment after an OBE medal because the depot deals with Tafter June’s Brexit vote in Central London, where prices in Scotland and London reported was found at a waste-sorting de- waste from up 30 clearances a December as house price growth have fallen for 10 months due concern about Brexit hurting the pot in east London. day. slowed and the number of to concerns about Britain’s exit market. It is unclear whether the “We come across some weird homes sold fell slightly, a closely from the European Union and The government is due to pub- medal was discarded by mistake, and wonderful things on hauls, watched survey of property valu- higher tax on expensive proper- lish plans to boost house-build- thrown away in disgust at gov- but this really is something that ers showed. ties, was the only region to see a ing in the next few weeks, but ernment policy or just dumped needs to fi nd its way home,” he The Royal Institution of Char- decline. Rubinsohn said it was unlikely to as a worthless gong. said. tered Surveyors said its members RICS chief economist Simon end the housing shortage fast. In any case, the Envirowaste The OBE is not weirdest item expected a further slowdown in Rubinsohn said a shortage of Britain’s economy expanded depot in Leyton, where the OBE Rubin’s company has found. price rises over the next three properties for sale was creating a much faster than most econo- was found, is seeking to reunite it “We’ve had a whole human skel- months, although a clear major- vicious cycle. mists expected in the six months with its owner or the recipient’s eton, stuff ed animals and lockers ity thought prices in 2017 would Existing homeowners were after June’s Brexit vote. family. full of brand new iPads,” he said. be higher than last year. reluctant to move because of the But consumers are now re- The medal, or badge as it is “People hide all sorts of The resilience of Britain’s poor choice on off er and high porting a greater squeeze on their formally known, was found at- things under mattresses or in housing market since the refer- cost of buying a larger home. disposable income as infl ation tached to a crimson ribbon in a drawers that haven’t been gone endum decision to leave the Eu- “A familiar story relating to starts to pick up after a near 20 % black presentation box together through.” ropean Union has confounded supply continues to drive both fall in the value of sterling since Murchison, a Rothschild giraff e, less than a month with instructions on when and Asked to guess how the OBE warnings from former fi nance the sales and letting markets, the referendum. old, leaves the Giraff e House at Chester Zoo in how it should be worn and what had been discarded, Rubin said: minister George Osborne of a impacting on activity, prices and Leading mortgage lenders Chester, north-west England, yesterday for the first should be done with it after the “It was probably left by mistake sharp fall in prices if the country rents,” he said. Lloyds Banking Group and Na- time. Despite the best eff orts of the keepers the calf recipient dies. in a pile for house clearance, pos- voted to leave the bloc. A narrow majority of surveyors tionwide Building Society pre- has been reluctant to step into the outdoors until The instructions read: “The sibly from someone who recently RICS’s headline house price reported a fall in the number of dict house price growth will slow yesterday. The zoo celebrated the birth of a rare insignia is not returnable on died. balance slowed to +24 in Decem- sales for the fi rst time since a big this year to roughly 2 %, com- Rothschild’s giraff e calf, whose number has dwindled death, but should be retained “If you have any information ber, its fi rst fall since July, from drop-off in June around the time pared with an offi cial price rise to fewer than 1,600 in its native Kenya and Uganda on by the person legally entitled to or know of anybody who’s lost November’s seven-month high of the Brexit referendum. of 6.7 % in the 12 months to No- Boxing Day last year. receive it under the terms of the an OBE in the London area please of +29. The proportion expecting vember. deceased’s will.” don’t hesitate to get in touch.” Gulf Times 8 Friday, January 20, 2017 EUROPE Stung by Trump, Germany to up defence spending

Reuters Organisation (Nato) and EU for- “We want the Americans to be German Chancellor Angela Stoltenberg told German news- engaged in counter-terrorism Berlin eign ministers on Monday when clear, ‘What is your agenda’,” von Merkel said in November that she paper Die Welt in an interview eff orts and talks were under way he said that Nato was obsolete der Leyen told German broad- did not expect Germany to meet published yesterday that Trump about how to expand that work. and criticised the alliance mem- caster NTV. “The most impor- its Nato defence spending target had assured him in a telephone A defence ministry spokes- ermany, under fi re from bers that failed to meet the alli- tant thing ... is reliability.” in the near future. call that the United States con- man said the German military’s US President-elect Don- ance’s target of spending 2% of Von der Leyen said Germany Von der Leyen welcomed sup- tinued “to feel committed to spending on weapons, muni- Gald Trump for not meet- national output on defence. was boosting military spending port for Nato voiced by Trump’s Nato”. tions and other equipment rose ing Nato’s defence spending goal, A key Trump adviser said on by nearly €2bn in 2017 to €37bn, defence secretary nominee, “I am absolutely certain the by nearly 11% in 2016 to €5.1bn is boosting military budgets, but Tuesday that only parts of Nato or 1.22% of gross domestic prod- James Mattis, during his Senate United States will continue to and would increase even more also wants Trump to map out a were obsolete, while Nikki Ha- uct (GDP). confi rmation hearing. fully live up to its security guar- sharply to $6bn this year. consistent foreign policy agenda, ley, his nominee for ambassador It is due to reach €39.2bn by “He’s very reliable,” she said, antees for Nato,” he said. Procurement spending would Von der Leyen: We want the Defence Minister Ursula von der to the United Nations, said Nato 2020. adding that the Trump adminis- Asked about Trump’s criticism account for 16.2% of the overall Americans to be clear, ‘What is Leyen said. was an important alliance and “We’re moving in the right di- tration still had to resolve some that Nato had failed to prevent military budget in 2017, up from your agenda’. The most Trump sparked concern she did not believe it was obso- rection, but we can’t do it in one issues internally. terror attacks in Europe, Stolten- 14.5% in 2016 and 13.5% in 2015, important thing ... is reliability. among the North Atlantic Treaty lete. year,” she told NTV. Nato Secretary General Jens berg said the alliance was already the spokesman said.

Greece, Cyprus Avalanche turns Italian say peace deal must luxury hotel into ‘coffi n’ end troop Reuters/AFP further quakes were possible. presence Penne, Italy “This is an enormously com- plex rescue operation,” she said. The gabled peaks of parts AFP huge avalanche swal- of the roof and a row of win- Nicosia lowed up a luxury dows were the only sections of Amountain hotel in cen- the four-storey Hotel Rigopi- tral Italy after a series of strong ano still visible after the wall of yprus and Greece have earthquakes rocked the area, snow smashed into the four-star insisted that any peace burying up to 30 people under spa resort early on Wednesday Cdeal for the divided island tonnes of snow and debris, of- evening. must provide for the withdrawal fi cials said yesterday. “This is a tragedy of enor- of Turkish troops and new secu- More than 24 hours after the mous proportions,” said Health rity arrangements. avalanche hit, the Civil Protec- Minister Beatrice Lorenzin. If Turkey and the island’s mi- tion department said just two Local authorities said about nority Turkish Cypriots want a bodies had been recovered. 30 people had been in the build- solution, “there can neither be The fi rst rescue workers only ing at the time, including two occupation troops nor guaran- reached the remote site in the children. tees”, Greek President Prokopis early hours of yesterday and it Only a couple of survivors had Pavlopoulos said after talks in was midday by the time a snow been found – two men who had Nicosia with his Cyprus coun- plough and the fi rst mechanical been outside when the disaster terpart Nicos Anastasiades, the excavation equipment got there. struck. Greek Cypriot leader. Rescue workers were continu- “The hotel is almost com- Anastasiades, whose coun- ing their search for other victims pletely destroyed. We’ve called try has been a European Union or possible survivors as night out but we’ve heard no replies, member since 2004, said: “Our fell. no voices,” said Antonio Crocet- common goal is to fi nally achieve “We are trying to recover bod- ta, a member of the Alpine Res- a solution that is fully compati- ies,” said fi re service spokesman cue squad who was on the scene. ble with the European acquis (EU Luca Cari. “We’re digging and looking legislation) … without the need Asked if there was any hope for people,” he told Reuters by to have any third country as a of survivors, he told AFP: “You phone from the isolated loca- guarantor or troops of any coun- never know.” tion. try staying to protect supposedly He added: “The building Rescue workers entered what one or the other community.” was basically run over by the appeared to be a lobby decorated Their comments came as avalanche leaving it buried. I with oil paintings and plants, technocrats in Switzerland were saw mattresses that had been where a landslide had torn discussing a post-settlement dragged for hundreds of metres, through a wall, television foot- Cyprus security formula. which shows how big the search age showed. UN-backed negotiations in area is. There are tonnes of snow, Mattresses and furniture were the Swiss resort town of Mont tree trunks and all kinds of de- spotted dozens of metres away Pelerin include Greek Cypriot tritus.” and sniff er dogs were brought to A handout picture released by the Corpo Nazionale Soccorso Alpino e Speleologico (CNSAS) shows rescuers taking part in the operations at and Turkish Cypriot representa- Italian broadcasters showed the area to help with the search the ruins of the Hotel Rigopiano. tives as well as offi cials from An- images of piles of masonry and eff ort. kara, Athens and former colonial rubble in the entrance area of “I am alive because I went to saying that Italy was caught ploughs struggled to cut a path Penne, some 10km away, where tral Italy, sparking fears about power Britain. what they dubbed a “coffi n ho- get something from my car,” one in an “unprecedented vice” of up winding mountain roads. ambulances waited. possible avalanches. Those parties were also in Ge- tel”. of the two survivors, Giampiero earthquakes and heavy snows The fi rst rescuers only man- The avalanche shunted the Italian media said guests at neva last week trying to reach Titti Postiglione, head of the Parete, told medical staff . simultaneously. aged to arrive at 4.30am (0330 43-room hotel, which is 1,200m the hotel had checked out and a deal to reunite Cyprus, which department’s emergency of- Italian media said he had been The rescue operation was GMT) after having to ski through (4,000’) above sea level, some were waiting for a snow plough has been divided since 1974 fi ce, said that more avalanches on holiday with his wife and two hampered by metres of snow a blizzard to reach the site. 10m (30’) down the hill, accord- to arrive to open up the road and when Turkish troops invaded its were possible in the Gran Sasso children, who were all still miss- which has fallen on the Gran After dawn broke, emergency ing to media reports. let them down the mountain. northern third in response to an mountain range in the central ing. Sasso in recent days. services sent in helicopters. The disaster struck just hours However, the avalanche Athens-inspired coup seeking Abruzzo region because the Prime Minister Paolo Gen- Drifts made snow as deep as A base camp for rescue work- after four earthquakes with a struck before they had been able union with Greece. temperature was rising, while tiloni called for national unity, 5m (16’) in some places and snow ers was set up in the town of magnitude of above 5.0 hit cen- to leave. Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci have been holding direct talks at various locations over the past Sweden’s conservatives woo far-right 20 months on how to forge a uni- to bring down minority government fi ed, two-zone federation. Spy chief: Islamic State using online The larger group, meeting Sweden’s main opposition party courted controversy yesterday by now in Mont Pelerin, is focused suggesting that it accept support by the anti-immigration Sweden on reforming Cyprus’s so-called Democrats (SD) to bring down the minority government. “guarantor power” agreement, ‘headhunters’ to recruit Germans Mainstream parties have so far rejected any co-operation with the a 1960 deal that gives Britain, SD, a party with a history linked to Sweden’s neo-Nazi movement. Greece and Turkey the right to Neither the left nor right have had a majority in parliament since intervene to defend the island’s Reuters Albanian theology teacher held for praising IS prisoned in Italy for four years, the 2014 election, meaning the right can topple the government by sovereign integrity. Berlin as a security risk and had inves- proposing a budget that would be adopted thanks to the far-right. There is general consensus A theology teacher in a Qur’anic school in the northern Albanian town of tigated him for various reasons, The leader of Sweden’s conservative Moderates party called that the guarantor power sys- Shkodra was arrested yesterday for praising the Islamic State (IS) group but never took him into custody. yesterday on its fellow centre-right opposition parties to accept the tem needs to change, although slamic State (IS) is using in class, a police spokesman said. German Interior Minister support of the SD to adopt such a budget, which would force the the fate of some 30,000 Turkish “headhunters” on social The 39-year-old told her students that “people from the Islamic State Thomas de Maiziere said on resignation of the Social Democrat-Green coalition government. troops deployed in the north re- Imedia and instant messag- are good” as they protect “Muslims in Syria, Palestine or Egypt”, but the Wednesday that the cases of all “On issues where there are conditions to agree on, I don’t think we mains an obstacle, with Ankara ing sites to recruit disaff ected Albanian “state wants to fight them”, according to concealed-camera those deemed a security risk in should refrain from talking to SD,” Anna Kinberg Batra told a news insisting that they will not be young people in Germany, some footage. the aftermath of the Berlin at- conference in Stockholm. withdrawn. as young as 13 or 14, the head of The students were 16-year-olds, said the education ministry, after the tack would be reviewed. She ruled out the formation of a coalition, however. In Mont Pelerin, technical ex- the country’s domestic intelli- comments were broadcast in an investigation by TV Klan channel on Maassen said European intel- Budget talks are due to start in September and to last until perts are trying to craft ideas for gence agency said yesterday. Wednesday. ligence agencies were also see- December. a new security system that can Hans-Georg Maassen also It was unclear when the story was filmed. ing the radicalisation of other “I want us to act swiftly, before 2018,” Batra said, referring to the be weighed by senior political drew parallels between the The school’s head told AFP said she had been a temporary replacement segments of society through next general elections. leaders. militant Islamist group and in 2015 and was no longer a member of staff , adding that the remarks social media, with growing According to a poll released yesterday by the daily Aftonbladet, Greece, like Britain, has said past radical movements such as had “nothing to do with the school ... programme”. numbers of people who were not SD is now the second largest party with 21.5% in support after the it is happy to do away with the communism and Adolf Hitler’s Albania is a Muslim-majority country. previously politically active at- Social Democrats at 25.8%. guarantor power arrangement Nationalist Socialists that also tracted to far-right groups. Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, leader of the Social but has insisted on the end to the tried to lure young people keen Such people had their views Democrats, slammed Batra’s comments, accusing her party of Turkish military’s “occupation” to rebel against their parents fi a’s trial yesterday, prosecutors Syria are women, some as young reinforced in so-called “echo losing its “moral compass”. of northern Cyprus. and society. asked the judge to convict her of as 13 or 14, Maassen said. chambers” on the Internet, “On social media networks attempted murder, grave physi- German authorities are mon- Maassen said. there are practically headhunt- cal injury and support of a for- itoring 548 Islamists deemed to “We’ve seen this with Islamic Italy to return stolen Van Goghs to Dutch museum soon ers who approach young people eign terrorist organisation, with be a security risk, but German State, but now we’re seeing this and get them interested in this a sentence of six years in prison. law does not allow for their ar- with so-called ‘good citizens’ Two Van Gogh masterpieces stolen in Amsterdam 14 future. Precise date hasn’t been fixed yet, but it’s (Islamist) ideology,” Maassen A verdict is expected on Janu- rest until they have committed a who are being radicalised, and years ago will be returning to The Netherlands from expected to happen quickly.” told foreign reporters in Berlin. ary 26. crime, Maassen said. we worry that this radicalisa- Italy shortly after police recovered them from the Italian investigators in late September raided a He cited the cases of a Ger- Prosecutors are also seeking He said he was satisfi ed that tion could be transformed into house of notorious drug boss, a museum off icial said home belonging to infamous drug baron Raff aele man-Moroccan girl, Safi a S, 16, a three-year sentence for Mo- police and security offi cials a willingness to commit violent yesterday. Imperiale, who was arrested 10 years ago at the who is accused of stabbing a hamad Hasan K, a 20-year-old had communicated well over acts.” The 1882 Seascape at Scheveningen and the 1884/5 same location at Castellammare di Stabia, some police offi cer at a train station German-Syrian accused of hav- the case of the failed Tunisian Support for far-right groups Congregation leaving the Reformed Church at 34km southeast of Naples. in Hanover in February last year, ing known of Safi a’s planned asylum-seeker Anis Amri, who has grown in Germany follow- Nuenen will soon be on their way after an Italian The area is a notorious hotspot for Neapolitan mafia and a 12-year-old German-Iraqi attack but not informing the killed 12 people on December 19 ing the arrival of more than a judge cleared their return, Van Gogh Museum activity. boy who tried to detonate two police. by ramming a truck through a million migrants and asylum- director Axel Rueger said. The two paintings – which have since been explosive devices in the western About 20% of an estimated Berlin Christmas market. seekers over the past two years, “We’ve just heard that the judge has ordered the confirmed as authentic and are worth millions – were town of Ludwigshafen in De- 900 people from Germany who The case sparked criticism many of them young Muslim release of the two recovered Van Goghs,” Rueger stolen in a daring raid in 2002. cember. have been recruited by Islamic because German authorities had men fl eeing confl icts in Syria, said in a statement issued in Amsterdam. “The two The daring heist left Dutch police flabbergasted at In closing arguments at Sa- State to join the fi ght in Iraq and identifi ed Amri, who was im- Iraq and elsewhere. canvasses will be formally handed over in the near the time. Gulf Times Friday, January 20, 2017 9 INDIA Lenders told Modi refuses to step to recover in over Jallikattu ban loans from Tension rises as protests swell get violent or a stampede could parent can be cruel to their child. across Tamil Nadu lead to loss of lives. It is hard to “This is not a festival for Tamils contain the outrage,” said Deputy but also for the bulls, which show tycoon Mallya Agencies Police Commissioner G Shas- their prowess. Through Jallikattu Chennai shank Sai. the farmers are able to fi nd the Chief Minister O Panneersel- best bulls, which helps in breed- AFP Experts say yesterday’s rul- vam fl ew to New Delhi to ask Modi ing of native species.” New Delhi ing may be too late to enable rime Minister Narendra to issue an ordinance allowing the Pangaj Easwaa, another student lenders to recover anything Modi yesterday refused to festival this year. from Tamil Nadu, said that while from Mallya, who was known Poverturn a Supreme Court “The ban imposed on Jallikattu he respected the Supreme Court, court yesterday ordered for his fl amboyant lifestyle and ban on a festival featuring young by the Supreme Court came up for he would not tolerate attempts “to a consortium of banks styled himself as the “King of men wrestling with bulls that discussion,” Modi’s offi ce said on amend our cultural practices”. Ato start the process of Good Times”. has brought thousands onto the Twitter after the two men met. “What is the harm is Jallikattu? recovering loans from the ty- “The DRT ruling is welcome, streets of Tamil Nadu in protest. “While appreciating the cul- No bulls are killed in the festival.” coon Vijay Mallya who has re- but it has come three years too Residents of the state say the tural signifi cance of Jallikattu, the Unlike in traditional Spanish fused demands to return home late,” said Anjali Sharma, a Jallikattu festival is a crucial part Protesters gather during a demonstration against the ban on prime minister observed that the bullfi ghting, the animals are let from exile in Britain. consulting professor at the In- of their culture and are demand- Jallikattu at Marina Beach in Chennai yesterday. matter is presently sub judice” or loose into open fi elds and young The Debt Recovery Tribu- dira Gandhi Institute of Devel- ing the ban be lifted. prohibited from public discussion men then compete to subdue nal ordered a consortium of opment Research in Mumbai. Critics say the festival is cruel Tamil Nadu during the harvest shops and schools were closed because it is still under judicial them bare-handed. 17 banks led by the State Bank “Perhaps in 2013, when the and that organisers lace the bulls’ festival of Pongal – abuses the across Tamil Nadu for a second consideration. Organisers insist the animals of India to start the process case was fi led, there was some feed with liquor to make them less animals. day yesterday. Scores of students from Tamil suff er no harm and Jallikattu is an of recovering Rs62bn (around value recoverable in the com- steady on their feet and throw Tensions have been escalating Children carried placards Nadu held protests in New Delhi established part of Tamil culture. $1bn) at an annual interest rate pany.... but now is there any- chilli powder into their faces to for the last week after hundreds blaming the judiciary and animal in support of Jallikattu. A legal expert said the prime of 11.5% from Mallya and his thing left to recover for lend- send them into a sudden frenzy of people were detained by police rights groups for the ban. “This is an attack on our cul- minister could in theory issue an companies, the Press Trust of ers? as they are released from a hold- for allegedly organising local Jal- “It is a primitive sport and ture,” said Manikanda Venkatesh, ordinance overturning the Su- India news agency reported. “Leased assets like planes ing pen. likattu contests in defi ance of the we love it. No one has the right a student from Tamil Nadu. preme Court ruling, although Among the companies have no value, the manage- The Supreme Court outlawed court ban. to stop a sporting activity,” said “People who have never been such a move would be rare. named in the ruling were Unit- ment has gone, there is no val- Jallikattu last year after a plea by Thousands of protesters have Kanimozhi Subramanian, 23, a to Tamil Nadu are telling us about Police say the protests have re- ed Breweries – a liquor com- ue to Vijay Mallya’s promises. animal rights groups, which have gathered on the Marina Beach in university student spearheading about culture and calling it bar- mained peaceful so far but have pany which Mallya once owned I wouldn’t place any bets on long argued that the event – held Chennai and other cities. youth protests. baric. The farmers treat these spread to large parts of Tamil and in which he still retains recovery.” every year in diff erent parts of Thousands of small factories, “We fear that the protests could bulls like their children and no Nadu. a small shareholding – along Mallya, who remains a part- with the now defunct King- owner of the Force India For- fi sher Airlines. mula One team, has come to The lenders had fi led a case personify India’s problems with the tribunal in 2013 to re- with bad debt that are piling up cover loans made to Kingfi sher on the balance sheets of banks. Airlines which started running The previous Reserve Bank 12 children among 25 killed in school bus crash into fi nancial diffi culties in of India governor Raghuram 2011 and eventually went bust. Rajan had made cleaning up Agencies years, who were seated near the cal district magistrate, said. Nath said authorities suspect dren to the school when a sand- There was no immediate the banking sector’s mountain Lucknow front of the bus, when an oncom- “At least 28 were discharged af- the vehicles were speeding in foggy laden truck rammed into it head- comment from Mallya who fl ed of soured loans – defi ned as in ing truck collided with it in the ter fi rst aid.” conditions. The driver of the truck on on the Patiali Road near Aliganj. to Britain last March as pres- default or close to it – a priority state’s Etah district. Uttar Pradesh’s Director Gen- is in critical condition, he added. Road accidents killed nearly sure grew from the banks to of his tenure. school bus carrying doz- The school bus driver also died eral of Police Javeed Ahmad had The authorities have cancelled 150,000 people in India last year, pay back the loans. In 2015, the RBI ordered ens of pupils collided with in the crash, the latest deadly ac- earlier tweeted more than 15 chil- the licence of the J S Public School around 400 a day, according to He has repeatedly failed to banks to undertake an As- Aa truck in Uttar Pradesh cident in a country with one of the dren were killed in the accident. for disobeying an offi cial edict data from the highways ministry. appear before investigators at set Quality Review – forcing yesterday, killing 25 people, offi - worst road safety records. Ahmad’s spokesman Rahul after apparently defying a gov- Prime Minister Narendra Modi the Enforcement Directorate, lenders to classify many more cials said. “The death toll is 25 and some 11 Srivastava said that the fi gure was ernment order to shut during an tweeted his condolences to the a fi nancial crimes agency, who loans as soured – and set a 2017 Twelve of the dead were chil- people are in hospital undergoing a result of “confusion and chaos” ongoing cold spell. victims’ families, saying he was suspect him of misusing funds deadline for them to clean up dren aged between seven to 14 treatment,” Shambu Nath, the lo- that followed the accident. The bus was carrying 61 chil- “anguished by the tragic accident”. loaned by a state bank. their balance sheets. Gulf Times 10 Friday, January 20, 2017 PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN

Taliban seeks to reassure UAE govt over attacks

Reuters Peshawar

he Afghan Taliban has sought to reassure the United Arab Emir- Tates that it was not behind an attack in the southern city of Kanda- har that killed fi ve UAE diplomats and injured the ambassador, senior Tali- ban offi cials said yesterday. More than a dozen Afghan and for- eign offi cials were killed last week by a bomb hidden under a couch in the Kandahar governor’s residence in an attack Afghan authorities have blamed on the Taliban and Pakistani intelligence services. However the Taliban has denied re- sponsibility, instead accusing “covert intelligence circles” close to the gov- ernment of carrying out the attack to damage relations between the insur- gents and a friendly Arab government. No claim of responsibility has been made. Although the insurgents have fre- quently targeted Afghan government offi cials, the attack on diplomats from a Muslim country with which the Tal- iban has previously had good relations came as a major shock, prompting the insurgent movement to seek to reas- sure UAE authorities. The UAE was one of the few coun- tries to recognise the former Taliban Human rights activists hold a picture of Salman Haider, who is missing, during a protest to condemn the disappearances of social activists in Karachi. government in the 1990s although it broke relations in the wake of the September 11 attacks on US targets in 2001. The United States had demanded the extradition of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan for involvement in the attacks but the Taliban refused. Hardliners want bloggers A number of senior Taliban mem- bers are believed to be living as private citizens in the UAE. There was no immediate word from UAE offi cials. In Kandahar, authorities are con- tinuing an investigation into the at- to face blasphemy charge tack, which injured the provincial governor and killed his deputy. Reuters ence of the military and speaking up About 100 members of a little- forced to withdraw into a nearby The interior ministry said yesterday Kandahar police chief General Ab- Karachi for the rights of religious minorities, known religious group, Tehreek Labaik building. that police had not registered a blas- dul Raziq, one of the most formida- have all gone missing separately since Ya Rasool Allah, arrived at the local “We persuaded the religious activ- phemy case, although police in Islam- ble anti-Taliban commanders who January 4, and it is unclear what hap- press club in the port city of Karachi ists to withdraw,” police offi cer Au- abad confi rmed on Wednesday that a himself narrowly escaped the attack, ardline religious protesters pened to them. and started hurling stones at people rengzeb Khan said. “Their leader then formal complaint had been made by a said that around 20 people had been yesterday threw stones at sup- Shortly after their disappearances, gathered there to support the missing held prayers and called on the mem- lawyer. detained for questioning, including Hporters of fi ve missing Pakista- blasphemy allegations against them activists. bers to leave.” “There is absolutely no truth to re- construction workers and govern- ni activists and demanded that police appeared on social media and in a They chanted slogans asking police Friends, family and supporters ports that cases have been fi led against ment employees including a cook and charge the missing men under a blas- complaint to police. to fi le blasphemy cases against the of all fi ve men deny they have blas- the bloggers,” the ministry said. guards. phemy law that carries a mandatory Critics of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws missing activists and carried banners phemed, and have denounced the Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan was He said a UAE investigation team, death sentence. say they have long been used by indi- that read: “Beheading is the punish- campaign to press that charge, which quoted last week as saying the govern- including specialists from Britain, had The liberal activists, who have post- viduals and religious groups to settle ment of blasphemers.” could endanger their lives were they ment was not responsible for the dis- been in Kandahar but had left the city. ed blogs criticising the political infl u- disputes. The activists’ supporters were to reappear. appearances.

Pak, Afghan spy Winter fare agencies must Afghan journalists help forge trust: face more threats as Gen Raheel ntelligence agencies of Pa- kistan and Afghanistan will violence spreads Ihave to play a key role in overcoming the air of mistrust between the two countries, said Reuters ing the group had “drastically former chief of army staff Gen- Kabul increased” its targeting and eral (Retd) Raheel Sharif. intimidation of journalists, Gen Raheel said that during his leading in some cases to more tenure he had made progress in re- fghan journalists say self-censorship by media. lations with Afghanistan and ex- they are facing more In late 2015, the Taliban is- pressed the hope that his succes- Arisks than ever as both sued death threats against sor, General Qamar Bajwa, would insurgents and unscrupulous journalists over what they per- make progress in this regard. government offi cials increas- ceived as unfavorable coverage. General Raheel was speaking ingly threaten, assault, and The militants followed up at a dinner hosted in his honor even murder reporters. with a deadly attack against by the chairman of the Path- At least 13 journalists were employees of Tolo, one of Af- fi nder Group, Ikram Sehgal, on killed in Afghanistan last year, ghanistan’s largest TV stations. the sidelines of World Economic making it the deadliest year They said the station was Forum (WEF) meeting at Davos on record for Afghan media, an “intelligence network” op- in Switzerland. the Afghan Journalists Safety posed to national unity and re- General Raheel’s comments Committee (AJSC) has said. ligious values, not an impartial suggested that both countries “This is an ugly, worrying media outlet. still had a lot of work to improve and serious trend, and if cer- Tolo rejected the accusa- strained relations. tain actions are not taken, 2017 tions. He said that during his tenure, could be worse,” said AJSC head A Taliban spokesman could military-to-military ties be- Najib Sharifi . not immediately be reached for tween Pakistan and the United Journalists are increasingly comment on the AJSC’s fi nd- States had improved a lot and he in the fi ring line of a confl ict ings. enjoyed good relations with US between the Western-backed The AJSC credited the gov- military heads. An Afghan skier skis down a mountainside on the outskirts of Kabul. government and Islamist mili- ernment with policies aimed at “In my time, the military- tants like the Taliban, who protecting a free media, but in- to-military relations were very threaten several major cities. dividuals linked to the govern- good, if not excellent, and we Besides the 13 deaths, the ment accounted for about half respected each other,” said the press group documented at of the incidents reported. former chief. He said that he least 88 incidents of assault, “It is alarming that the gov- preferred doing things in an intimidation, abuse, and other ernment continues to be re- “open and frank” manner. Top MPs become millionaires ‘by mistake’ physical attacks, a 38% in- sponsible for so many cases,” During the fi rst day of the four- crease over numbers recorded European Union Special Repre- day annual WEF meeting, he pre- in 2015. sentative Franz-Michael Mell- sented Pakistan’s case in an em- Internews bank accounts they do not maintain. Sadiq Khursheed Shah said he was surprised to “Direct attacks on journal- bin said in a statement, urging phatic manner. His appearances Islamabad and Shah got the receipts in their chambers see the Term Deposit Receipts from a pri- ists are very worrying,” said the government to bring perpe- at two formal sessions of the WEF in the Parliament House, while Rabbani re- vate bank where he has no account. Parwiz Kawa, editor of the 8AM trators to justice. also helped project a positive im- ceived the receipt from SME Bank at his Ka- “If no such account exists in my name, daily newspaper. A spokesman for President age of the country, as Prime Min- magine you receive a message acknowl- rachi residential address. then how come Rs100mn can be deposited “It limits the ability of jour- Ashraf Ghani said acts of in- ister Nawaz Sharif did not par- edging receipt of millions of rupees into Rabbani made the revelation yester- in it,” Shah said in a statement issued from nalists to move and produce timidation had been by indi- ticipate in the meeting despite his Iyour bank account. Sounds unreal, right? day during a session of the upper house of his offi ce. stories and increases the cost viduals, but not by the govern- presence in Switzerland. But this is what happened, not to any parliament.“This is a fraud. I don’t have an The statement claimed that when the de- of media outlets for additional ment and the president was However, the premier held commoner, but to some senior federal law- account in SME Bank,” he added.“Details of tails were shared with the bank, they termed security.” committed to a free press. bilateral meetings with various makers in Pakistan. my bank accounts are clearly mentioned in the deposits fake and the staff said such Targeted violence has forced “There are no journalists in world leaders. Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, National my income tax returns.” transactions had also been reported earlier. some journalists to fi nd safer jail in the whole country and Raheel said that Pakistan Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, JUI-F chief Rabbani said that he has taken up the is- “The issue has been referred to the SBP work, he added. the attorney general’s offi ce has needed to have a fi ne balance in Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PPP Senator sue with the SME Bank president and FIA’s and the FIA for probe and to unveil names The AJSC blamed the deaths prosecuted those government its relations with three global Aitzaz Ahsan were surprised to know that director general, asking them both to inves- of those who are out to defame politicians,” of at least 10 of the 13 jour- offi cials who have threatened or powers and that was what ex- Rs100mn each had been deposited into the tigate the fraud. it added. nalists on the Taliban, say- acted against journalists.” actly it was doing. Gulf Times 11 Friday, January 20, 2017 PHILIPPINES

All aboard the Miss Universe ship

Reigning Miss Universe Pia Wurzbach of the Philippines gestures as she arrives at the navy port in Manila yesterday to travel with contestants for the 2017 pageant to a photo shoot at a private resort in Batangas province, south of the capital. Around 86 contestants from Members of a Philippine Naval Special Operations Group (NAVSOG) escort a private yacht carrying diff erent countries are vying for the Miss Universe title when the winner will be crowned on January 30. contestants for the 2017 Miss Universe contest as it departs the navy port in Manila.

Duterte to visit China again as ties warm up Philippines hopeful on

Reuters Beijing

hilippine President Rodrigo Duterte will visit China in May to attend a multilateral summit, China’s foreign ministry said yes- communist peace talks Pterday, making his second visit to Beijing since taking offi ce as he seeks to further distance himself from Washington. AFP peace deal within his six-year Duterte has carried out a stunning U-turn in Philippines’ foreign Rome term. After assuming offi ce in policy since assuming offi ce last year, making overtures towards Chi- June last year, the self-styled so- na while berating traditional ally the United States. cialist launched the peace proc- In a statement issued after Duterte met China’s Vice Foreign Min- he Philippines expressed ess and appointed three com- ister Liu Zhenmin in Manila on Tuesday, the Chinese foreign ministry hope yesterday of secur- munists to his cabinet. said Duterte said he was pleased with how ties had developed since he Ting a permanent cease- Both sides agreed to a tem- came to China last year. fi re deal with communist rebels porary ceasefi re during talks in “I will come to Beijing in May to attend the ‘One Belt, One Road’ in- waging one of Asia’s longest Norway last August. The gov- ternational co-operation summit forum, and I look forward to meet- insurgencies, as peace talks re- ernment said then it was aiming ing President Xi Jinping again,” the ministry paraphrased Duterte as sumed in Italy. for a fi nal peace deal within 12 saying, without elaborating. The communists have been months. However the commu- The Philippines Department of Foreign Aff airs said it could not im- waging a “national democratic nists said this week they would mediately confi rm the comments were made as no ministry offi cials revolution” since 1968 to over- need at least two more years were present at the meeting. throw a capitalist system that after negotiators agreed on a Both sides agreed that territorial disputes in the South China Sea has created one of Asia’s biggest series of economic and political were a “small part” of bilateral relations and to set up a bilateral con- rich-poor divides and claimed reforms before even beginning sultation mechanism to deal with issues that arise in the region, Chi- 30,000 lives, according to the “serious discussions” on a fi nal nese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said yesterday at military. peace pact. a regular press briefi ng. A new round of negotiations Yesterday, the communists’ China has given few details about the summit, but diplomatic began in Rome yesterday, with chief negotiator Fidel Agcaoili sources in Beijing say the government is expected to invite a large the government’s chief negotia- pointed out “serious obstacles” number of foreign leaders to attend. tor Silvestre Bello saying long- in the talks as he reiterated the China has dubbed a series of infrastructure projects stretching standing contentious issues rebels’ demand that nearly 400 across some 60 countries as the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, could be “hurdled”. jailed guerillas be released. based upon resurrecting the old Silk Road that once connected China “I am one with President (Ro- Duterte last year released 18 Chief of the National Democratic Front of Philippines (NDFP) Jose Maria Sison (right) shakes hand with with Central Asia, Europe and beyond. drigo) Duterte’s optimism that top leaders to kickstart the peace Philippines Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus G Dureza during the opening ceremony of Duterte reiterated last month he wanted to avoid confrontation in this round of talks, we are process but had refused to free the formal peace talks between the Philippine government and the (NDFP) in Rome yesterday. with China and saw no need to press Beijing to abide by a July ruling able to fi nalise and approve the the rest, calling them his “aces” on China’s claims in the disputed South China Sea that went in favour joint ceasefi re agreement,” Bello in a “poker game”. “It is a mat- from the (communists). Such some of the toughest and most communists understand their of the Philippines. said at the opening of the talks. ter of justice and an obligation conduct is bound to further complicated issues involving best chance for securing most “There are reasons to hope we of the (government),” Agcaoili erode mutual trust and confi - political, economic and consti- of their goals is during the presi- can hurdle the task.” said. “Neither should the politi- dence.” tutional reforms at the heart of dency of Duterte, who has pivot- Duterte, 71, said it was his cal prisoners be treated as trump In the week-long talks in the communists’ grievances. ed his foreign policy away from “dream” to secure a lasting cards to extract concessions Rome, negotiators will discuss Despite the challenges, the the US towards China.

IS-linked militants Duterte rails at clergy for hypocrisy release 2 hostages An Islamic State-linked Reuters criticise the police, you criti- Church to ‘Walk for Life’ in fi ght against drugs kidnapping gang in the Manila cise me. For what? You have Philippines freed two Filipinos the money. You are all crazy held captive for nearly three ... when we were making con- A Philippine Catholic bishop organising a ‘Walk for Life’ months, the military said ndeterred by a bless- fessions to you, we were being on Wednesday urged on February 18 to condemn yesterday. This is the second ing from Pope Francis, molested ...” Filipinos to speak out against the killings under the drug release in less than a week by a UPhilippine President The Catholic Bishops’ Con- a spate of killings under the war. “I know that people group notorious for beheading Rodrigo Duterte launched ference of the Philippines had government’s aggressive tag me as activist bishop foreigners. an angry rebuke yesterday of no immediate comment when campaign against illegal for speaking out often, but It was unclear if a ransom was Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (right) talks to Philippine priests and bishops critical of contacted. Duterte’s aide, Jesus drugs. I am not speaking out for paid to the militant outfit but National Police (PNP) chief Ronald Dela Rosa during the oath-taking his drugs war. Dureza, was at the Vatican this “Six thousand killed. That myself, but for the poor and the military said its intensified of the newly promoted off icials of the PNP at the Malacanang Duterte was furious over week to deliver a letter from the means more than 30,000 voiceless,” he said. operations against the heavily presidential palace in metro Manila. concerns by the Catholic president, thanking the Pope directly aff ected, orphaned Since President Rodrigo armed Abu Sayyaf group likely Church of alleged extrajudicial for his 2015 visit to the Philip- of their father, their brother Duterte came to power in forced it to release the captives. Police chief furious after killings during his crackdown pines. Duterte had famously their sons and daughters, late June, 2,256 suspects “We’ve added more forces there and lambasted clergymen for called the Pope a “*****” for their husbands,” Bishop have died in police so that’s the most probable rogue cops kill Korean denouncing him instead of us- causing traffi c snarl-ups, and Broderick Pabillo told a operations against drug reason,” said Franco Alano, ing their infl uence to get peo- later apologised, saying his international gathering of users and pushers up until spokesman for the military’s The Philippines police chief if any had been charged. The ple off drugs. remark was aimed at incompe- bishops, priests and lay January 18. Thirty-five police Western Mindanao Command. expressed sorrow and fury remains of Jee Ick-joo, abducted His no-holds-barred tirade tent offi cials. people. “If we are true to our off icers have also been killed Abu Sayyaf last week freed the yesterday after discovering in October by rogue off icers came a day after one of Du- The Pope’s blessing did call to be a church of the in the same period. captain of a South Korean cargo some of his men had kidnapped involved in kidnappings, were terte’s top advisers met Pope not stop Duterte chiding the poor, we cannot as a church Police are also investigating ship captain and a Filipino crew and killed a South Korean found at a funeral parlour in Francis at the Vatican and said church, which is among a few keep silent on these issues,” nearly 3,000 additional member held since October last businessman inside the national the capital, Manila, according to the Pontiff had told him he institutions willing to oppose he added. deaths in the first six months year. police headquarters. media. would bless the Philippines, his war on drugs. Police fi gures Pabillo, chairman of the of Duterte’s presidency, The group, which was born out “I want to disappear from this His death is the latest setback and “also bless your president”. show 7,042 people have been Catholic Bishops’ Conference including possible vigilante of a separatist ideology but world because of so much shame for a police force drawing heavy In a speech to policemen, killed during the campaign, of the Philippines’ killings in connection with is better known for banditry after what my men did,” national criticism from rights groups, the fi rebrand leader of one of 2,250 in anti-drugs operations Commission of the Laity, is the drug war. and piracy, is still holding police chief Ronald Dela Rosa who say cover-ups and abuses only two majority Catholic and most of the other deaths about two dozen foreign and told reporters. of police power are rampant Asian countries challenged the still being investigated. Filipino captives on Jolo island, Dela Rosa, a longtime ally of and accuse police of executing church to a “showdown” and Priests were also misusing *******. That is a big joke,” he was aware of its weaknesses its stronghold where more President Rodrigo Duterte, said suspected drug dealers as part of threatened to expose priests state funds, he said, and they said. “You asked for it. So if and despite limitations, it was than 10,000 troops have been he was “very angry” and “very Duterte’s narcotics crackdown. and bishops for a litany of could not explain where vast you really want a showdown, fi ghting to root out its bad ele- deployed. off ended” after learning the Police deny involvement in abuses. “Most people here are amounts of money from public showdown. Make a change. ments. “Yes, there’s still work The military was expecting crime took place at the home of extrajudicial killings and say Catholics. If you are a good donations had gone. Responding to Duterte’s to be done inside and outside more captives to be freed in the the national police. deaths in the course of the priest, make them understand “You expose me, fi ne. I ex- comments, Father Roy Bellen, of the church,” he said. “We coming days as its operations Dela Rosa did not say how anti-drugs campaign are in self- that they will die,” he said, pose you. Why? Your mistake a spokesman for the Archdio- can never do everything, but take their toll on the rebels, many police were involved, or defence. referring to drug users. “You is just all right, but ours is not? cese of Manila, said the church whatever is in reach, we do it.” Alano said. Gulf Times 12 Friday, January 20, 2017 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL

Dhaka calls for ‘sustainable’ return of Rohingyas to homeland

By Mizan Rahman traordinary Session of OIC sulting in Rohingyas fl eeing to particular emphasis on restor- ing for a durable solution of the of the Rohingyas and under- violence against them. The del- Dhaka Council of Foreign Ministers in Bangladesh. ing citizenship through a nec- problem. lined the atrocities, gross vio- egates stressed the need for re- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Referring to the recent influx essary review of the existing In his opening remarks, the lation of human rights and storing basic rights including Alam was leading a Bangla- of Rohingyas into Bangladesh, law. Malaysian PM highlighted that state-sponsored violence. He citizenship. angladesh yesterday called desh delegation to the OIC ses- he demanded Myanmar bring Alam also demanded sustain- the international community stressed the need for engaging Several countries called for for a ‘sustainable’ return sion held to discuss the present back normalcy in the Rakhine able repatriation of refugees cannot remain silent at the con- the international community strong actions through UN and Bof refugees and displaced situation of Rohingyas in My- state immediately and take and all documented and un- tinued suff ering of the Rohing- including Human Rights Coun- Human Rights Council when Rohingyas to their homeland anmar. Malaysian Prime Min- steps for rehabilitation and re- documented Myanmar nationals yas and demanded an end to the cil and called upon Myanmar to they expressed a consensus Myanmar while ensuring basic ister Najib Razak inaugurated construction of displaced peo- temporarily sheltered in Bang- denial of their basic rights and stop the violence. view that the Rohingya crisis is rights for people in the restive the event. In his comments, the ple. He stressed the need for ladesh, to their centuries-old violence infl icted on them. The OIC countries in general not merely a humanitarian is- state of Rakhine. State Minis- state minister expressed deep ensuring basic rights for the homeland – the state of Rakhine OIC’s Special Envoy to My- expressed concern on the plight sue, rather it deserves to be ad- ter for Foreign Aff airs Shahriar concern on the ongoing vio- people of Rakhine as a durable – with safety and security. He anmar Dr Hamid Albar pre- of the Rohingyas, and called for dressed within a human rights Alam made the plea at the Ex- lence in the Rakhine state, re- solution of the problem with urged the OIC to continue work- sented a report on the plight the end of discrimination and perspective. Sheikh Hasina defends Rampal Bangladesh splits coal power plant

By Mizan Rahman The premier said that peo- Dhaka ple who were opposed to Ram- Home Ministry in pal project could not point out any logical reason for why and rime Minister Sheikh how the plant would aff ect the Hasina once again defend- environment and even did not Ped construction of Rampal respond to her call to visit the coal-fi red power plant in Bager- plant site either. hat as former US vice-president Sheikh Hasina said her gov- Al Gore raised the issue in a ple- ernment took all measures to security overhaul nary session of the 47th Annual protect the environment. “As Meeting of the World Economic I’m the prime minister of the By Mizan Rahman A total of 493 offi cials and The home and the education The civil bureaucracy is already aimed at promoting some sen- Forum (WEF). country, nobody is more con- Dhaka employees will be working in the ministries already got orders in turned top heavy due to whole- ior offi cials to the rank of secre- The prime minister also in- cerned ... I won’t give permis- two divisions. A total of 163 posts this regard from the Prime Min- sale promotions in the adminis- tary and expanding the cabinet. vited Al Gore, a celebrated en- sion for any project where there have been created in Public Se- ister’s Offi ce. At present, seven tration over the years. “This initiative has been vironmentalist, to visit Bangla- is a possibility of any type of he Home Ministry, which curity Division while 243 posts in of the 45 ministries have 16 di- There are 1,301 deputy sec- taken so that some new law- desh and see for himself ‘what damage,” she said. looks after law and order Security Services Division. visions. retaries against 830 posts; 908 makers could be inducted in the is happening in Rampal’, Foreign The prime minister said that Tin Bangladesh, has been The split of the Home Min- According to the PMO or- joint secretaries against 350 cabinet. It will strengthen the Ministry offi cials said in Dhaka the Rampal power plant is being split into two divisions for ef- istry was part of the govern- der, the education ministry will posts and 416 additional secre- party and bring dynamism to yesterday. set up around 14km away from fi cient handling of security is- ment’s move to create at least 10 have three divisions — one for taries against 120 posts in dif- the government,” said a senior “Come to Bangladesh and see the outer boundary of the Sunda- sues. The government issued a divisions under fi ve ministries primary to higher secondary ferent ministries, said sources minister. for yourself whether it (plant) af- rbans, the world’s biggest man- gazette notifi cation to this ef- as part of its eff orts to accelerate education, one for technical and at the public administration The minister also referred fects the environment,” she said. grove while it is about 70km away fect yesterday. the pace of work in the civil ad- madrasa education and another ministry. to the appointment of Tara- Apart from Sheikh Hasina and Al from the world heritage site. The home ministry is split ministration and accommodate for higher education. Besides, there are around 250 na Halim and Zunaid Ahmed Gore, Norwegian Prime Minister Moreover, she said, the Ram- into two divisions: Public Se- additional offi cials at diff erent Abdus Sobhan Sikder, former offi cers on special duty (OSD). Palak as state ministers at the Erna Solberg, CEO of HSBC Stu- pal power plant was going to be curity Division and Security tiers of bureaucracy. secretary at the PMO, said, Though they don’t have any re- two divisions under the posts, art Gulliver, Cofco Agri CEO Jin- a ‘clear coal’ plant where ‘su- Services Division. The former The move would make room “This move will not only speed sponsibilities, they get salaries telecommunications and ICT gtao Chi also took part in the ple- percritical modern technology’ will have departments on po- for promoting some top offi - up the pace of work of the civil and other benefi ts regularly. ministry. nary session titled ‘Leading the is being used. “We’ve taken all lice, Border Guard Bangladesh, cials to the rank of secretary and administration but also help ac- Now, several hundreds of the However, former cabinet Fight against Climate Change’ at kinds of measures to protect the Ansar, Coast Guard and investi- also for expanding the Sheikh commodate a large number of promoted offi cials are working secretary Ali Imam Majumder the Congress Hall in Davos. environment of the Sundarbans gation agencies of International Hasina-led cabinet, said gov- offi cials at diff erent ministries.” as in-situ offi cials. An in-situ thinks decentralisation of pow- The PM’s Deputy Press Sec- and the surrounding areas as Crimes Tribunal. ernment sources. Once the divisions start func- offi cial is one who continues to er of the ministries, rather than retary Mohamed Nazrul Islam well as to protect the habitat and On the other hand, the Secu- The four other ministries tioning, it would be possible for hold the same offi ce and per- the creation of divisions, would briefed reporters after the event. biodiversity of that region,” the rity Services Division will have that will have new divisions are the ministries to make decisions form the same duties even after be more eff ective. Coming down heavily on those premier added. departments on Directorate of education, health and family promptly, which would ulti- being elevated to a higher posi- “There would be no need to who are staging movement Explaining the preventive Immigration and Passport, jails, welfare, local government and mately benefi t people, he said. tion. create divisions if a ministry centering the Rampal power measures, Sheikh Hasina said fi re service and civil defence, rural development and co-op- “Every big ministry should Government sources said the gives the responsibility for im- plant, Sheikh Hasina said a coal would be transported to narcotics control and National eratives, and civil aviation and have divisions for accelerating latest move to create divisions plementing decisions to its de- quarter is creating an ‘unneces- power plant site from deep sea Telecom Monitoring Centre. tourism ministries. the pace of work,” added Sikder. under the fi ve ministries is partments concerned,” he said. sary issue’ regarding the power in covered barges, while covered plant. “I don’t know exactly and low-sound engines will be what they want ... maybe they used in the barges and therefore, Lanka drops plan have a diff erent intention in their “there is no possibility of envi- mind,” she said. ronment pollution”. Slice of life to decriminalise homosexuality BNP marks Zia’s birth anniversary Sri Lanka has dropped a proposal to decriminalise homosexuality Major opposition Bangladesh along with its leaders and following protests, a senior Nationalist Party (BNP) and activists placed wreaths at the cabinet minister said. The its associate bodies yesterday grave of Ziaur Rahman at Sher-e- proposal to decriminalise celebrated the 81st birth Bangla Nagar at around 11.30am. homosexuality was included in anniversary of BNP’s founder The party arranged a discussion a national human rights plan in Ziaur Rahman across the country. on the life of Ziaur Rahman an attempt to regain European Born on January 19, 1936 at on Wednesday at Mohanagar Union tariff preferences under a Bagbari in Bogra, Ziaur Rahman Natyamancha. scheme known as GSP+. founded BNP in 1978 and become BNP’s associate organisations “In view of the protests by the country’s 7th president. and district committees also members of the cabinet of The BNP organised elaborate chalked out various programmes, ministers, as well as other programmes to observe the including discussion and groups, we have decided to day. The programmes included ‘milad mahfil’, to mark the day. drop the proposal,” government hoisting of the party flag atop The Doctors’ Association of spokesman and Health Minister its off ices, placing wreaths and Bangladesh (Dab) arranged a Dr Rajitha Senaratne said. arranging discussion and free free medical camp and voluntary Opposition political parties and medical camp. blood donation on the ground Buddhist monks have also strongly BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, floor of BNP’s Nayapaltan central opposed any moves to legalise the widow of the party founder, off ice from 9am to 3pm yesterday. homosexuality in the country. Homosexuality is an off ence under existing laws in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka plans to ratify and implement some 27 international conventions before seeking Tourist arrivals to restoration of the GSP+ scheme. These conventions relate to international human rights, Nepal rise in wake labour rights and environmental standards. The GSP+ scheme, which gives of 2015 earthquake selected nations preferential access to the EU trading bloc in return for following strict DPA Nepal’s neighbours, India and commitments on a wide variety Kathmandu China, topped the list of coun- of social and rights issues, was tries for tourists to Nepal, with A woman reacts to the camera while preparing to cook, next to a railway track in Kawran Bazar, as a train passes by in Dhaka, suspended in 2010. The EU the United States coming third, Bangladesh. is currently considering the epal saw a record number according to the data released restoration of the scheme. of international tour- last week. Nists in 2016, giving the Sharad Pradhan, a spokesman country a boost after numbers for the Nepal Tourism Board, plummeted following a major a state agency that promotes earthquake in 2015, offi cials said. tourism, attributed the rise to A total of 729,550 interna- goodwill and publicity Nepal Summit highlights role of locals in saving snow leopards tional travellers visited Nepal garnered after the earthquake. last year, the Immigration De- “European and Americans partment said, although fi gures who had a soft spot for Nepal By Deepak Adhikar, DPA populations. They will now the host of the conference. countries to work together to The snow leopard faces tra- on Indian tourists who crossed thought that visiting our coun- Kathmandu deliberate on ways to conserve “The species is under threat save the animal, which is pro- ditional threats such as biomass the porous border into Nepal try would be the best way to help the elusive big cat, which tends from habitat loss, loss of prey tected by law. In Nepal, those extinction and confl ict with weren’t included in the calcula- us recover from the earthquake. to live in areas 3,000m above and poaching. This conference found guilty of poaching can humans, as well as emerging tion. Guidebooks such as ‘Lonely etting local communi- sea level, mostly in the wilds of provides a platform to review face fi nes of 100,000 rupees challenges, including climate Tourist arrivals increased by Planet’ and ‘Rough Guides’ also ties involved is key to Central Asia and South Asia. our eff orts in saving snow leop- ($918) and up to 15 years in jail. change and poorly planned in- 31% compared to 2015, when helped our cause by promoting Gprotecting the endan- “Conservation of snow leop- ard,” he said. The global popula- “Protection of this endan- frastructure, said Koustabh 554,747 foreign tourists visited Nepal as a favourite destina- gered snow leopard, partici- ard is high in priority in all of tion of snow leopard is estimated gered species is one of our pri- Sharma, a senior ecologist with the country, which was hit by a tion,” Pradhan said. pants of a regional conference our conservation plans. The role at 3,500-7,000 adults. Experts orities. It is among 26 protected Snow Leopard Trust. 7.8-magnitude earthquake on Last year, the travel and tour- in Kathmandu said. of local communities and their say between 300 and 500 live in mammals in Nepal and we are “Snow leopards and people April 25, 2015, killing 9,000 peo- ism sector contributed 4% to the The conference – which be- participation is crucial in this,” Nepal’s Himalayan region. committed to protect the spe- interface in these regions. We ple, including foreign tourists, gross domestic product of Ne- gan on Tuesday brought togeth- said Prem Narayan Kandel, act- Shankar Bhandari, Nepal’s cies, which is a key indica- need to go to local communities and damaging trekking trails and pal, which aims to attract 1mn er offi cials and experts from 12 ing secretary of Nepal’s Forest minister for forest and soil con- tor of our climate ecosystem,” to save it from extinction,” he world heritage sites. foreign tourists by 2018. countries with snow leopard and Soil Conservation Ministry, servation, urged snow leopard Bhandari said. said. The conference ends today. Gulf Times Friday, January 20, 2017 13 THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH History of Imaam Maalik

Khutbah by Abdul Baarie These are the erudite and sagacious scholars Ath-Thubaitie who fi lled the world with their knowledge and good deeds and yet used to say, “I do not know”. You will however be surprised to see some people ll praise is due to Allah. May peace and who know next to nothing about Islamic law and blessings be upon the noble Prophet, his yet desecrating it by speaking about the allowed household and companions. and forbidden things. Even, a topic on Islamic law A Fellow Muslims! Speaking about may come forth in a meeting and the meeting will great scholars is not an easy task, for however not end before all the attendants -irrespective you try to grasp the life of any of them you will if their diff erent fi elds of knowledge - give their not be able to do so. Even you may miss the most opinions saying for instance, ‘According to my important and the most impressive aspect of his view ...’ ‘As far as I believe ...’ etc. life. SubhaanAllah! When did the matter of The way of life of the earliest great Ulamaa is legalising and forbidding become a subject to the exemplar par excellence and showing that ignorance and conjecture?!! If an engineer were is an encouragement to our youths in order to to practise medicine and prescribe drugs, what discourage them from imitating evil people who are you going to say about him and what is going have either no positive role to play in this life nor to be his fate?! What then about the one who any value in human history. dares to desecrate the Islamic law and speak Our speech about the scholars does not in any about the lawful and forbidden things without way mean being partisan to any one of them, for knowledge particularly on special events that everybody can have his word accepted or rejected are so complicated that if Umar were to witness except the impeccable Prophet Muhammad such events, he would have gathered all the (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam - may peace and companions who took part in the Battle of Badr to blessings of Allah be upon him). help solve the problem. But unfortunately fatwa in Our man of today’s talk is that great Imaam our age has become a spacious ground in which all who grew up in this city of Madinah, whose those who wish to become popular or are seeking mention is elevated and whose knowledge has people’s pleasure at the risk of Allah’s displeasure fi lled the earth. He taught people in the corners contest. of the great Prophet’s Mosque and became so Brothers in faith! Issues pertaining to Islamic popular that people called him “The scholar of belief are static ones over which no one is allowed Madinah” or “the Imaam of the city of Hijrah”. to give his independent judgment. Likewise Maalik Ibn Anas was born in the Prophet’s are issues that have evidences in the Qur’an city and grew up there as a lover and seeker of and Sunnah and issues on which scholars have knowledge in spite of his poverty. His mother consensus. It is incumbent on all Muslims to leave gave him good upbringing by telling him: “Go to the say on matters of knowledge to whom they Rabee’ah and learn from him manners before you Inside view of the Sheikh Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahhab Mosque in Doha. PICTURE: Noushad Thekkayil are due and not to enter into the issues of Halaal learn knowledge”. This woman knew her role in and Haraam of which they have no knowledge. life and her mission of educating and grooming hostile to teachers and educators either physically say, “They are men and we are also men.” righteous deeds - if they are sincere in their Maalik said: “Whoever wants to give answer to the youth. She knew that manners are good and verbally. What a diff erence between those men and intentions. a question should fi rst assume himself standing companions of knowledge and that knowledge is The city of the Prophet had a signifi cant impact these men! What a diff erence between dead Whenever Maalik was asked a question, he between Paradise and Hell and ponder about how valueless without manners. This woman moulded on Maalik’s personality, for it has been fl ourishing men whom Allah immortalises their names for would tell the questioner, ‘Go now and let me he is going to be saved in the Hereafter before he a man and as such moulded a nation. with scholars. The fi rst school in Islamic history centuries and valueless men who though are think over it.’ When the questioner was gone, answers.” Mother’s role is not restricted to nurturing was the Prophet’s Mosque and there have always living are counted among the dead! Mere mention Maalik’s students would ask him the reason for Some people may be thinking that these body and guarding it against physical diseases. been classes there conducted by competent of the formers’ names activates the heats while what he said and he would answer. “I fear a Day Ulamaa are only well-versed in controversial Rather, she has greater mission to accomplish. scholars and these classes provided the Muslim keeping the company of the latter deadens the with the Questioner (Allah) and what a (terrible) issues and discussion of scholastic opinions and Her mission includes strengthening the faith, children with good education that guaranteed for hearts. Those scholars of eminence did not Day!” that their classes are devoid of admonishing building a strong personality, developing them religious and moral qualities that make man only possess knowledge but were also leaders in A man was sent by the people of Maghrib to ask Hadith that address the hearts and remind of intellectual capability and encouraging children good-mannered. morals, piety, self-abstinence and fear of Allah. Imaam Maalik about some issues. The man would Paradise and Hell. In order to show that their to aim high. All these cannot be achieved except Brothers in faith! It goes without saying that There are however some followers of these ask Maalik a question and he would say, ‘I do classes are resplendent in various kinds of by fi rst giving preference to meritorious act of bad environment only destroys and does not build scholars who prefer only imitation and do not not know, for we do not know of this issue in our sciences, let us hear what Maalik said to a brother upbringing over concerns for this world. …If not, what is the benefi t of teaching a child wish to exceed that in spite of their ability to land and we have not heard any of our scholars of his admonishing him: This was what actually happened in the life Islamic values in the morning and in the evening diff erentiate between the truth and falsehood. saying anything about it, but you can come back “Remind yourself of the agonies of death, of Maalik and that was what made him a school he goes to bad companies who destroy what his It is also a mistake to look down upon other again!’ On the following day, the man went back what you are going to experience and what is in manners from whom students learn and the parents has put in order? Or what is the benefi t people’s works or to feel that one’s good deed to Maalik and Maalik told him: “ You asked me going to be your fate after death; your standing whole Ummah benefi ts. of teaching a child manners for years and then to is better than others. This is because all these question but I do not know the answer!’ the man before Allah, your reckoning, then your perpetual Maalik once told a Quraishee youth: “O be taken to corruption ridden environment by his talents and capabilities are provisions from Allah said: ‘ O Abu Abdullah! I came from a people who abode of either Paradise or Hell. Provide for that my nephew, learn manners before you learn very father?! and not from any human being. This is a great think that there is none in the world who is more moment what will make things easy for you then, knowledge”. Imaam Maalik sat to give fatwa (formal legal concept that Maalik wanted to show people that knowledgeable than you!’ Maalik answered: “ I for when you see those who have earned the wrath Yahya ibn Yahya At-Tameemee said: “I opinion) and did not do so until seventy scholars serving Islam is an obligation that should involve am not perfect.’ of Allah and the horror of their torment and you stayed with Maalik after the completion of had attested to his worthiness of that. What every Muslim in all professions without anyone He was also asked a question and he asked hear their cries in the Fire with their gloomy my learning knowledge from him for a year in a diff erence between the one who praises and revolting against others. the questioner to give him time to make some faces; unable to see and talk and exclaiming for order to learn manners and good qualities from forward himself and the one who is praised Maalik wrote to one of the worshippers of research and the man said: ‘But the issue is very destruction and greater than all this is Allah’s him. And the qualities are the same as those of and forwarded by the knowledgeable and his time, “Allah has portioned out deeds as simple. Maalik retorted, ‘There is nothing simple turning away from them and their despair of His the companions of the Prophet and those who distinguished people! Maalik said: “It is not He has portioned out provisions. Many are in knowledge! Don’t you her the saying of Allah: answer to their pleas and He will say: “Remain followed them.” everyone who would like to sit in the mosque and endowed with energy and the will to pray (as “We shall send down to you a weighty word.” you in it with ignominy! And speak you not with Brothers in faith! Modern educational methods teach the Hadith and give fatwa are worthy of many supererogatory prayers as possible) but (Qur’an 73:4) Me.”(Al-Mu’minoon 23:108) if you know all this, sometimes appear like mere texts that are devoid that. Let the one who wants to sit for fatwa fi rst are not endowed with (much of voluntary) Maalik used to say, “The people of knowledge nothing in this world will be too great for you to of any moral content thereby making knowledge seek for the advice of pious and distinguished fasting; others are endowed with giving charity and understanding that I have met in our country, sacrifi ce if you want salvation.” losing its splendour and impact. If knowledge people; if they see that he is fi t for that, let him but are not endowed with fasting; others are when one of them was asked a question on an Imaam Maalik was sick for 22 days and died were to be separated from manners – however do that; for I did not sit to teach Hadith and endowed with Jihad and others with seeking for issue, he would feel like the one about to die. at the age of 87. Naafi ’ (his famous student) said: much the knowledge may be – you will see a give fatwa until seventy scholars attested to his knowledge. Spreading knowledge is one of the But the people of our own time love giving “Maalik died at the age of 87 and lived in Al- huge defect in its infl uence on people’s conduct worthiness of that.” best deeds and I am contented with Allah has fatwaa (without hesitation). Had they know Madinah as its Mufti for 60 years.” and purity of their deeds. Therefore, there is no Imaam Maalik said: “I am only human, I make endowed one with and I do not think that what I what they are going to face tomorrow (in the Day May Allah have mercy on Maalik, for he used to good in a knowledge that does not earn one good mistakes and I do give correct opinions. As for my do is less meritorious than what you do but hope of Judgment) they would not have done that. say: “I met some people in Al-Madinah who had morals. opinions, examine them, if they are in accordance that both of us are doing good and righteous Umar, Alee and ‘Alqamah are some of the best no faults but they speak of other people’s faults, Creating a gap between knowledge and with Sunnah take them.” With this valuable deeds.” companions of the Prophet, yet when anyone of then people created faults for them. I also met manners breeds ill behaviours like attacking statement, Maalik established a moderate line Therefore charitable people, worshippers, them was asked a question, he would consult his other another group of people in al-Madinah, the Ulamaa, being rude to them, bad conduct, between those who follow their leaders blindly those who spend their times in the cause of Allah, fellow companions before giving an answer to it. who had faults but kept away from speaking of maltreatment of parents, blind imitation of and those who reject authentic evidences the scholars, the propagators of Islam and those But it is unfortunate that fatwaa has become the other people’s faults and the people also keep off unbelievers in matters of dressing and being outright and reject the sayings of scholars and serving Islam in their various fi elds are all doing pride for the people of our time” from speaking about their faults. Envy is a disease of the heart

trictly speaking, envy (hasad) is hatred which are referred to as al-ghubta, meaning that superior to the one who is spending wealth. And from the evil of the darkening (night) as it actualise your suspicions, and when you see and disliking the good condition of the a person loves the condition of someone else and Similarly, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa comes with its darkness. And from the evil of the omens then ignore them.” Reported by Ibn Abi envied one. This is of two types: dislikes that this person be superior in this way sallam, did not mention the one who prays, fasts witchcrafts when they blow in the knots. And Ad-Dunya from the hadith of Abu Hurairah. S 1) The blameworthy type of envy is (without his wishing that it be removed from that and performs the pilgrimage, because there is from the evil of the envier when he envies.” [Al- In the Sunan from the Prophet, sallallaahu unrestricted dislike of the blessings bestowed person). no tangible benefi t attained from the people for Falaq (113):1-5] ‘alaihi wa sallam, “You have been affl icted with upon the envied. This is the type of jealousy that So if it is asked: ‘Then why is this (ghubta) these actions by which the person can be exalted So the one who is jealous, hating the favours the illness of the nations that came before you – incurs blame, so when one hates something he called envy when he loves only that Allah bestow or disgraced, as can be attained in teaching and bestowed by Allah upon someone else is an jealousy and hatred. They are the shearers, I do is then hurt and grieved by the existence of what these blessings upon him?’ It is said, ‘The starting spending. oppressor, going beyond bounds due to this. As not mean the shearers of the hair, rather they are he hates, and this becomes a sickness in his heart point of this love is his looking towards the Fundamentally, envy occurs when someone for the one who dislikes that someone else be the shearers of the religion.” [At-Tirmidhi, at- such that he takes pleasure in the removal of the favours Allah has bestowed upon someone else else attains power and authority; otherwise blessed and wishes to be blessed in the same way, Tabaranee and al-Hakim who said it was saheeh]. blessings from the envied even if this does not and his disliking that this person be favoured the one who is performing these actions is not then this is forbidden for him except in that which So he called jealousy an illness just as he called result in any benefi t to him except the single over him. So if this other person were not present normally envied, even if this person be blessed will bring him closer to Allah. So if he were to wish miserliness an illness in his saying, “And what benefi t of having the pain that was in his soul then he would not have desired these blessings. with far more food, drink and wives than others, for something that has been given to someone else illness is worse than miserliness.” [Ahmad, Hakim removed. So because the starting point of this love is this as opposed to these two blessings of power and which would help bring him closer to Allah then and others, saheeh] But this pain is not removed except as a result dislike that someone else be made superior authority, for they cause a great deal of envy. there is no problem in this. However, his wishing In the fi rst hadith jealousy was mentioned of his continuously watching the envied so that to him, then this is called envy due to the love Allah praised the Ansaar with His saying, “And for it in his heart, without looking to the condition along with hatred. This is because the envier, fi rst the jealous person fi nds relief when the blessing following the dislike. As for desiring that Allah they have no jealously in their breasts for that of someone else is better and more excellent. of all dislikes the bounty bestowed by Allah upon is removed, but then it becomes more severe as bestows favours upon him without consideration which they have been given (the muhaajiroon), Then if this person were to act, dictated by this the one who is envied, and then begins hating this is the case of the one who is sick, for it is possible of people’s material conditions then this is not and give them preference over themselves even jealousy, he would be an oppressor going beyond person. This is because the hatred of the thing that this blessing, or one similar to it, returns to envy at all.’ though they were in need of that.” [Al-Hashr bounds, deserving of punishment unless he being bestowed leads to hatred of the one upon the envied. This is why the second group said: This is why the generality of mankind have (59):9] repents... whom it is bestowed, for when the blessings of ‘It is a desire to have the blessings removed,’ been tried with this second type of envy that has As for the jealousy that is totally blameworthy Jealousy is one of the sicknesses of the soul, Allah are bestowed upon an individual, he would for indeed the one who dislikes the blessings also been called al-munaafasah (competition) then Allah has said with regards to the Jews, and it is an illness that affl icts the generality love that they go away, and they would not go bestowed upon other than him desires them to see because two people compete in a single desired “Many of the People of the Book wish that if they of mankind and only a few are secure from it. away except by the one who is envied going away, removed. matter, both of them trying to attain the same could turn you away as disbelievers after you have This is why it is said, “The body is never free therefore he hates him and loves that he not be 2) That he dislikes the superiority of that good. The reason for their trying to attain it is believed, out of envy from their own selves even from jealousy, but debasement brings it out, there. person over him, and he desires to be like him that one of them dislikes that the other be blessed after the truth has become clear to them.” [Al- and nobility hides it.” It was said to Al-Hasan Jealousy necessarily leads to desire and hatred or better, so this is jealousy and has been called with this matter over him just as any one of two Baqarah (2):109] Al-Basree, “Can a believer be envied?” He just as Allah informed us of those that came ghubta, and the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa competitors dislikes that the other beat him. ‘They wish’ meaning that they hope to make replied, “What has made you forget Yusuf and his before us that they diff ered, “After there came to sallam, called it hasad in the hadith reported by Competition is not considered blameworthy in you apostatise from your religion out of jealousy. brothers, have you no father? But you should keep them knowledge out of mutual hatred and desire.” both Al-Bukhari and Muslim from the hadith of general, rather it is considered to be praiseworthy So jealousy was the deciding factor behind their (this envy should it occur) blinded in your heart, [Aal ‘Imraan (3):19] ibn Mas’ood and ibn ‘Umar, radiallahu ‘anhumaa, when competing for righteousness. The Exalted wish even after the Truth had been made clear for you cannot be harmed by that which you did “Do not envy one another, do note hate each that he, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “There said, to them. This because when they saw you attain not act upon in speech or action.” other, do not oppose each other...” [Al-Bukhari is no envy except in two cases: a person to whom “Indeed the pious will be in delight. On what you attained of blessings – in fact they saw So the one who fi nds that he harbours jealousy and Muslim] Allah has granted wisdom, and he rules by this thrones, looking on. You will recognise in their you attain that which they themselves had never in his soul towards someone else, then it is upon “By the One in Whose Hands is my soul, none and teaches it to the people, and a person to faces the brightness of delight. They will be given attained – they became jealous of you. him to treat it with patience and taqwaa of Allah, of you believes until he loves for his brother what whom Allah has granted wealth and property to drink pure sealed wine. The last thereof (that Similarly this is mentioned in another verse, and dislike it being in his soul... As for the one he loves for himself.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] along with this the power to spend it in the cause wine) will be the smell of musk, and for this let “Or do they envy men for what Allah has given who actually takes a stance against the envied, Greed is a sickness as is miserliness, and of Truth.” those compete who want to compete.” [Al- them of His bounty? Then We have already given either with words or actions then he will be jealousy is worse than miserliness, as occurs in the This being the wording of Ibn Mas’ood. The Mutaffi feen (83):22-26] the family of Abraham the Book of Wisdom, and punished for this, and the one who fears Allah hadith, “Jealousy eats away at good deeds, just as wording of Ibn ‘Umar is, “A person to whom So one is commanded to compete for these conferred upon them a great kingdom. Of them and is patient and does not become one of the fi re eats away at fi rewood.” [Sunan Ibn Majah] Allah has given the Qur’an and he recites it night delights and not compete for the delight of this were (some) who believed in him (Muhammad) oppressors – Allah will benefi t him for his taqwaa. This is because the miser only stops himself and day, and a person to whom Allah has granted fl eeting world. and of them were some who averted their In the hadith there occurs, “There are three from having good but the envier dislikes the wealth and property from which he gives in The souls do not envy the one who is in severe faces from him and enough is Hell for burning sins from which no one can be saved: jealousy, favours of Allah bestowed upon His servants. charity night and day.” hardship and this is why the Prophet, sallallaahu (them)...” [An-Nisaa’ (4): 54-55] suspicion and omens. Shall I tell you of what [Excerpted and adapted from Imam Ibn So the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, ‘alaihi wa sallam, did not mention it even though “Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the will remove you from this: When you envy do Taymiyyah’s Diseases of the Hearts and Their forbade hasad, with the exception of two cases the mujaahid, fi ghting in the Way of Allah, is Daybreak. From the evil of what He has created. not hate, when you are suspicious then do not Cures] Gulf Times 14 Friday, January 20, 2017 COMMENT

Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Deputy Managing Editor: K T Chacko Production Editor: Amjad Khan Aligning the West for

P.O.Box 2888 Doha, Qatar [email protected] an uncertain world Telephone 44350478 (news), 44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery) The need of the hour for the with the EU, we can be guardedly Europe is weak economic growth and help: while it is a party to sanctions Fax 44350474 West is alignment among the optimistic that it will return with competitiveness. Growth in European against Russia, British companies have a good deal. Europe has a clear economies is lower than in the US and investments there, and vice-versa. US, the UK, and the EU, but economic interest in keeping the most Asian countries, energy costs are Second, the prolonged confl icts in national politics are pulling UK close, and it needs the UK’s twice those of the US, and labour costs Iraq and Syria have left a vacuum in diplomatic, military, and intelligence are twice those of Asia. EU countries a crucial region, and the old alliances it apart capabilities. The UK also has a strong urgently need to deregulate their have failed to take concerted action relationship with the US, and will markets and make their industries to address it. But the West must bring GULF TIMES remain an important part of the more competitive, which the UK has peace to the region, even if Russia’s By Iain Conn London transatlantic security axis. long advocated. involvement has introduced new The third challenge for Europe is complications. Similarly, an US-UK- The US, the UK, and social inequality. A quarter of young EU axis will be necessary for dealing n 2016, the United Kingdom people in Spain, Portugal, and Greece with North Africa, where some made the momentous decision the EU must show are unemployed, and many people countries lack stable governments and The jury is still to leave the European Union, sense that the rewards of prosperity have become incubators for terrorism IDonald Trump was elected a united front, and are not being fairly distributed. While and immigration to Europe. president of the United States, and globalisation has been good for the We in the West have stopped playing many European countries continued continue to work world overall, it has left many people a direct role on these fronts; in some out on Pakistan to struggle with internal challenges. behind. These people are now making cases, we helped create the instability. If The EU feels less stable than at any through multilateral their voices heard at the ballot box, we continue to turn inward, Russia and point in my lifetime. and we need to listen to them, and other countries will be able to step in There are common forces that organisations such as respond to their concerns. and gain infl uence and prestige. The US, brought us to this dangerous place, Nato Indeed, social inequality is even the UK, and the EU must show a united military courts and it is more important than ever worse in the US than in Europe. Many front, and continue to work through that the developed democracies come Meanwhile, we Britons should Rust Belt households’ incomes haven’t multilateral organisations such as Nato. together to address them. Sadly, the acknowledge that many EU laws and risen for 30 years, and many of those Displaying leadership on the world stage The stalemate between the government of Prime Minister opposite is happening. Just when the regulations have become our own, and households helped elect a president only makes us stronger. Nawaz Sharif and the opposition parties in Pakistan West needs alignment among the US, that we share many common goals who has promised to turn the country The forces that are now pulling continues, as the issue of reconstituting military courts for the UK, and the EU, national politics and joint programmes. We need not inward. at the threads of the post-1945 trial of those accused of terrorism in the country remains are pulling it apart. change all of these, nor should we The US must avoid this temptation. international order must be resisted. Within Europe, there are three discount the value of having access A dangerous world needs an actively The US, the UK, and the EU have unresolved. major challenges. The fi rst is Brexit, to the EU single market. Europe is the engaged America, one that maintains a shared heritage that should be The courts, which were established through an the biggest event in British politics largest economic bloc in the world by security, defence, and intelligence protected. There is no reason why amendment in the constitution following the horrifi c attack in a generation. Many think that some measures, and it is a signifi cant co-operation with countries such as precious legacies such as the rule of on the Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16, withdrawal from the EU is a mistake; source of investment in the UK. the UK. That transatlantic alignment law should be jeopardised simply 2014, wound up on January 7 this year. but it is what more than half of those The distinction between a “hard” has safeguarded global peace and because Britain is leaving the EU who voted decided, so now we have or “soft” Brexit misses the point. The prosperity for 70 years, and it will be and America has elected a leader When the military courts were established in the fi rst week to implement it. It won’t be easy. negotiations will be so complex that needed to confront looming global who is challenging some aspects of of 2015 most of the political parties were primarily against Translating the vote into policy will certain outcomes are bound to be soft, threats. traditional thinking. We must protect the move, but they were forced to accept it as a “bitter be like defusing a bomb: determining while others will be hard. The UK For starters, Russia’s incursion into the ties that bind, and place our hope pill” because of the failure of the criminal justice system to which wires to cut will require great may be able to pay a price for access Ukraine and annexation of Crimea for the future in our alliances and eff ectively try and punish terrorists. care. to the single market, “passporting” were an aff ront to the rule of law; and shared traditions. – Project Syndicate If Prime Minister Theresa May’s for fi nancial services, or control over yet Europe and the US must maintain Back then an All Parties Conference gave the approval government focuses on what really immigration from the EU. constructive relations with Russia for zIain Conn is Chief Executive Offi cer for the amendments in the Pakistan Army Act to extend matters in the upcoming negotiations The second big challenge within the sake of global stability. The UK can of Centrica. its jurisdiction for speedy trial of terror cases under the constitutional amendment with a sunset clause of two years from the date of enactment. Since the expiry of the mandated period of the military courts, the government has expressed its intent to revive them, saying it aims to bring a constitutional amendment for the purpose ‘’which is agreed by all political parties represented in parliament’’. But so far, the government has failed to secure the consent of opposition parties on the issue. The latest meeting, on January 17, between the opposition parties and the government on the issue remained inconclusive. The government’s briefi ngs failed to impress the opposition leaders “Disposal who reportedly sought clarifi cations on the through military implementation of the National Action Plan, courts has seminary reforms, yielded positive judicial reforms and the government’s policy on eff ects towards the proscribed outfi ts including the sectarian reduction groups. in terrorist The government has assured that it will answer activities” all the questions raised by the parliamentary parties’ leaders in the next meeting that will be held on January 31. The issue of military courts has generated a heated debate in the country. While rights activists have described them as violation of basic human rights, the government has justifi ed their existence saying the courts have served as a deterrent Treating malnutrition and reduced terrorist activities. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations has claimed By Casie Tesfai and Jeanette Bailey mean that treatment is often only Since 2015, the International Rescue more children who are considered that ‘’Disposal through military courts has yielded positive New York available for severe malnutrition. Committee has been developing moderately malnourished before eff ects towards reduction in terrorist activities.” The result of this system is that and fi eld-testing tools that enable they deteriorate into the potentially The Prime Minister’s Offi ce has said in a statement children often must deteriorate into people with low-literacy levels to irreversible consequences of severe n South Sudan, an acutely the life-threatening stages of severe treat malnutrition. We’ve simplifi ed malnutrition. said the military courts have complemented the army’s malnourished child may have malnutrition before they are eligible treatment diagnostics and dosages, The simplifi ed protocol also Operation Zarb-e-Azb against terrorism. to travel up to eight hours along for treatment. how to monitor progress over the supports eff orts to enable low- While the fate of military courts hangs in the balance till Iunpaved roads, through swamps The global community can do course of treatment, and how to literacy local health workers to treat the Jan 31st meeting, the government seems to be taking and mud, under threat of violence, to better, but only by fundamentally match patient records with individual malnutrition in their communities. no chances. In case it fails to achieve a political consensus reach a medical clinic where treatment challenging how we think about children so they can all be done by We look forward to seeing the impact can be administered. To complete a delivering nutrition services for those someone who doesn’t know how to health workers in Kenya and South to win a new life for the military courts, the government is full course of treatment, this journey who need it most. read or write. Sudan will have as they pilot this considering setting up courts for trial of terrorism cases must be repeated once a week for three Across the world, three leading We’ve learnt that it is possible for approach in 2017. with secret judges and prosecutors. months or longer. causes of child death – diarrhoea, people with little to no education We now know that treatment need The proposal ensures that the identity of both the judge The result, not surprisingly, is malaria, and pneumonia – can be to provide eff ective treatment for not be restricted to the confi nes and prosecutors of these courts will be concealed in order to that the majority of malnourished treated by local health workers right malnutrition if they are given the of clinics and to children who are children in South Sudan and many in children’s homes. In many African appropriate tools and training. In the severely malnourished, but can be encourage them to speedily decide terrorism cases without other countries are not getting the countries, these workers often have future, it may be possible to eliminate made available to even moderately any fear. urgent treatment they need. Globally, little to no formal education, but they the necessity for many malnourished malnourished children in every corner These courts will be set up, according to the proposal, malnutrition accounts for roughly are given rudimentary training and children to make gruelling journeys to of a country. with the merger of the existing Anti-Terrorist Act and the half of all deaths of children under the equipped with simple-to-use tools health centres. Changing the way we deliver recently-lapsed Protection of Pakistan Act of 2014. age of fi ve, yet only one in 10 severely that allow them to diagnose and begin No one deliberately set out to international aid can feel like a malnourished children get treatment. treatment of all three conditions. make the treatment of malnutrition daunting task. But it is far easier While it remains to be seen whether the government That amounts to approximately 3mn In South Sudan, this approach has needlessly complex, but decisions than the perilous journeys thousands will play the trump card, for now the jury is still out on the children each year whose deaths are increased treatment for diarrhoea, made over the years have evolved into of families in South Sudan make military courts in Pakistan. entirely preventable. The biggest malaria and pneumonia tenfold over standardised practices that are hard every day to access life-saving obstacle to treatment is the inability what could have been achieved if to change. In 2016, the IRC and its treatment for their acutely of families to travel long journeys to children were required to visit distant partners — Action Against Hunger malnourished children. We should be To Advertise health facilities, or to bear the costs of health facilities. and the London School of Hygiene willing to take every step necessary taking time away from home or work. Unfortunately, the treatment of and Tropical Medicine — completed to shorten those journeys. [email protected] But the barriers to treatment malnutrition — beyond identifi cation the fi rst phase of a global research Display go beyond poverty or weak and referral — is not currently initiative that challenges some of the Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 governments and infrastructure. part of this community-based assumptions preventing progress in zCasie Tesfai is the senior technical They are also the result of global model. In South Sudan — and most treating malnutrition. adviser for nutrition at the Classified decisions. Acute malnutrition is a countries where the burden of acute Together, the consortium developed International Rescue Committee. Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 continuum condition, but severe malnutrition is highest — treatment a protocol that eliminates the binary Jeanette Bailey is project director for the and moderate acute malnutrition is limited to health facilities because it distinction between severe and COMPAS research consortium at the Subscription are treated separately in diff erent has been assumed that only a literate moderate acute malnutrition, and International Rescue Committee. The [email protected] programmes, with diff erent protocols health worker can provide treatment. instead off ers a unifi ed and simplifi ed projects described are supported by The and therapeutic products managed But the eff ect of this policy, in poor protocol for treating both. Having Eleanor Crook Foundation, the Offi ce by separate UN agencies. Funding countries where literacy is very low, is one protocol for the two conditions of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, 2017 Gulf Times. All rights reserved shortages and the logistical diffi culties to condemn thousands of children to lowers costs, thereby improving the and the Children’s Investment Fund of co-ordinating two programmes preventable deaths. availability of treatment and reaching Foundation. Gulf Times Friday, January 20, 2017 15 COMMENT Illusions driving up US asset prices

The combination of Trump more daily records, all trumpeted by to the declining nominal wages that and a succession of new news media. some would have to suff er in a zero- That sounds like important news infl ation regime. asset-price records has for Trump. In fact, the Dow had Many people appear not to been sustaining the illusion already hit nine record highs before understand that infl ation is a the election, when Hillary Clinton change in the units of measurement. underpinning current was projected to win. In nominal Unfortunately, although the 2% market optimism terms, the Dow is up 70% from its infl ation target is largely a feel-good peak in January 2000. On November policy, people tend to draw too much 29, 2016, it was announced that inspiration from it. Irving Fisher called By Robert J Shiller the S&P/CoreLogic/Case-Shiller this fi xation on nominal price growth New Haven National Home Price Index (which the “money illusion” in an eponymous I co-founded with my esteemed 1928 book. former colleague Karl E. Case, who That doesn’t mean that we set new peculative markets have died last July) reached a record high speculative-market records every always been vulnerable to the previous September. The previous day. Stock-price movements tend illusion. But seeing the folly record was set more than ten years to approximate what economists Sin markets provides no clear earlier, in July 2006. call “random walks,” with prices advantage in forecasting outcomes, But these numbers are illusory. The refl ecting small daily shocks that are because changes in the force of the US has a national policy of overall about equally likely to be positive or illusion are diffi cult to predict. infl ation. The US Federal Reserve has negative. And random walks tend to In the United States, two illusions set an infl ation “objective” of 2% in go through long periods when they have been important recently in terms of the personal consumption are well below their previous peak; fi nancial markets. One is the carefully expenditure defl ator. This means that the chance of setting a record soon nurtured perception that President- all prices should tend to go up by about is negligible, given how far prices elect Donald Trump is a business 2% per year, or 22% per decade. would have to rise. But once they do genius who can apply his deal-making The Dow is up only 19% in real reach a new record high, prices are far skills to make America great again. (infl ation-adjusted) terms since more likely to set additional records – The other is a naturally occurring 2000. A 19% increase in 17 years is probably not on consecutive days, but illusion: the proximity of Dow 20,000. underwhelming, and the national within a short interval. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has home price index that Case and I In the US, the combination of been above 19,000 since November, created is still 16% below its 2006 Trump and a succession of new and countless news stories have peak in real terms. But hardly anyone asset-price records – call it Trump- focused on its fl irtation with the On November 10, 2016, two days after Donald J Trump was elected, the Dow Jones average hit a new record high – and has focuses on these infl ation-corrected squared – has been sustaining 20,000 barrier – which might be since set 16 more daily records. numbers. the illusion underpinning current crossed by the time this commentary The Fed, like the world’s other market optimism. For those who are is published. Whatever happens, Dow tax changes that plausibly aff ect pro-business tax cutter. “The chief 1920s were looked upon wistfully, but central banks, is steadily debasing not too stressed from having taken 20,000 will still have a psychological market psychology. The US has never business of the American people also as a time of fakery and cheating. the currency, in order to create extreme positions in the markets, it impact on markets. had a president like him. Not only is is business,” Coolidge famously Of course, history is never destiny, infl ation. A Google Ngrams search will be interesting (if not profitable) Trump has never been clear and he an actor, like Ronald Reagan; he is declared, while his treasury secretary, and Coolidge is only one observation of books shows that use of the term to observe how the illusion morphs consistent about what he will do as also a motivational writer and speaker, Andrew Mellon – one of America’s – hardly a solid basis for a forecast. “infl ation-targeting” began growing into a new perception – one that president. Tax cuts are clearly on his a brand name in real estate, and a wealthiest men – advocated tax cuts Moreover, unlike Trump, both exponentially in the early 1990s, implies very different levels for agenda, and the stimulus could lead to tough deal maker. If he ever reveals for the rich, which would “trickle Coolidge and Mellon were levelheaded when the target was typically far speculative markets. – Project higher asset prices. Lower corporate his fi nancial information, or if his down” in benefi ts to the less fortunate. and temperate in their manner. below actual infl ation. The idea that Syndicate taxes are naturally supposed to lead family is able to use his infl uence as The US economy during the But add to the Trump eff ect all the we actually want moderate positive to higher share prices, while cuts in president to improve its bottom line, Coolidge administration was very attention paid to Dow 20,000, and infl ation – “price stability,” not zero zRobert J Shiller, a 2013 Nobel personal income tax might lead to he might even prove to be successful in successful, but the boom ended we have the makings of a powerful infl ation – appears to have started to laureate in economics and Professor higher home prices (though possibly business. badly in 1929, just after Coolidge illusion. On November 10, 2016, take shape in policy circles around of Economics at Yale University, is off set by other changes in the tax The closest we can come to Trump stepped down, with the stock-market two days after Donald J Trump was the time of the 1990-1991 recession. co-author, with George Akerlof, of system). among former US presidents might crash and the beginning of the Great elected, the Dow Jones average hit a Lawrence Summers argued that the Phishing for Phools: The Economics of But it is not just Trump’s proposed be Calvin Coolidge, an extremely Depression. During the 1930s, the new record high – and has since set 16 public has an “irrational” resistance Manipulation and Deception. Weather report Suu Kyi faces criticism over Rohingya issue Three-day forecast TODAY In recent months 65,000 to assess the country’s human rights laureates publicly criticised the the military, who created the whole High: 25 C situation. 71-year-old for not standing up for the mess,” he says. Low : 16 C Muslim Rohingya minorities Expected poor horizontal visibility at During the trip, Lee also spent persecuted Rohingya. Burmese analyst Min Zin, who places at first have fl ed Myanmar time inside the conflict zone in The events in Rakhine State, where studies the civilian-military Rakhine. humanitarian aid was blocked from relationship in the country, adds: DPA Most Rohingya, despite having the confl ict zone for weeks, amounts “The constitution leaves the new SATURDAY High: 24 C Yangon lived in Myanmar for generations, are to “ethnic cleansing and crimes government with only little power.” technically stateless, with restricted against humanity,” they said in an The military still controls a Low: 17 C access to health care, education and open letter to the UN Security Council quarter of all seats in parliament as P Cloudy eality in Myanmar can jobs. in December. well as central ministries, including feel like a dark movie plot The UN has described them as “It is time for the international Defence, Home Affairs and Border these days: a Nobel Peace one of the world’s most persecuted community as a whole to speak out Affairs. SUNDAY RPrize laureate who fought minorities. much more strongly...If we fail to take Suu Kyi’s lack of transparency High: 22 C for decades against a military Since an outbreak of violence in action, people may starve to death if reminds Min Zin of the previous Low: 18 C dictatorship now provides political 2012, Buddhists and Muslims in they are not killed with bullets,” the military government. P Cloudy cover for atrocities committed by the Rakhine State have mostly lived apart letter said. “We have no idea what she thinks army. from one another, in many cases in Meanwhile, Suu Kyi’s government and what her strategies are,” he The humanitarian crisis that squalid camps. essentially denies allegations that says. Fishermen’s forecast began unfolding several years ago in Even before the recent outbreak soldiers have committed human rights Within Myanmar, most people OFFSHORE DOHA Myanmar’s western Rakhine State is of violence, Suu Kyi, who serves violations. reject the Rohingya’s claim for Wind: NE-SE 5-15/18 KT the biggest challenge so far for Aung as foreign minister and state Her office instead blames the citizenship, agreeing with their Waves: 1-3/4 Feet San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected counsellor and is constitutionally Rohingya, saying they burned government’s assessment that the INSHORE DOHA Wind: SE-SW 05-15 KT government. barred from being president, was down their own houses to attract Rohingya are in fact Bangladeshi Waves: 1-2 Feet When nine border police offi cers being sharply criticised for not international attention and migrants. were killed in an attack in October, speaking out in defence of the support. If Suu Kyi’s government, which won Around the region the army launched a clearance minority group. While state media continues to more than 80% of the votes in the 2015 Weather Weather operation that human rights Since her administration took deliver military propaganda, the election, is criticised by the Myanmar today Max/min tomorrow Max/min watchdogs say has spiralled out of power in April, complaints have been government criticises the foreign people at all, it is for chasing vendors Abu Dhabi P Cloudy 27/17 Sunny 26/17 control. numerous: fi ghting has fl ared up press — who aren’t allowed into the from Yangon pavements rather than Baghdad M Sunny 18/05 M Sunny 18/07 Soldiers are accused of arson, rape across the country, investors have confl ict zone — for publishing “fake for covering up the army’s human Dubai P Cloudy 27/18 Sunny 28/17 Kuwait City M Sunny and murder. been disappointed with the slow news.” rights abuses. Sunny 20/11 19/09 Manama Sunny 24/16 M Cloudy 22/16 At least 65,000 members of the pace of development and people “It is atrocious how Suu Kyi handles Khin Thet Maw, a 34-year-old Muscat P Cloudy 26/19 M Sunny 26/20 Rohingya Muslim minority have fl ed still complain of being subjected to the crisis,” says David Mathieson, an waitress in Yangon, doesn’t agree Riyadh Sunny 22/09 M Sunny 21/12 across the border to Bangladesh, repressive junta-era laws. analyst based in Myanmar’s largest with the attacks against Suu Kyi from Tehran P Cloudy 11/02 Rain & Snow 08/01 the International Organisation for However, international observers city Yangon. abroad. Migration says. consider the crisis in Rakhine State to But Mathieson also defends the “’Mother Suu’ is the leader of UN Special Rapporteur on Human be the low point in Suu Kyi’s tenure politician against what he considers Myanmar,” she says.”It’s like in a Rights Yanghee Lee was in Myanmar so far. unfair criticism. family. All members should follow the on Wednesday as part of a 12-day visit In December, 13 fellow Nobel “It now almost seems it is her, not family leader.” Live issues Depressed men look for quick fi xes during therapy

IANS similarities in their preferences, but London also some key diff erences. Men more than women expressed a preference for therapy that involved Around the world hile visiting a sharing and receiving advice about Weather Weather psychologist for therapy their concerns in informal groups. today Max/min tomorrow Max/min to deal with depression, But women preferred a Athens P Cloudy 12/04 P Cloudy 11/03 men are more likely to psychodynamic psychotherapy, where Beirut P Cloudy 17/11 Rain 15/09 W Bangkok P Cloudy 34/23 P Cloudy 32/23 prefer a quick fi x than women who discussion focuses on feelings and Berlin Cloudy 02/01 S Showers 02/-3 want to talk about their feelings, a past events. Cairo P Cloudy 21/09 Sunny 21/08 study has shown. In addition, they also showed Cape Town P Cloudy 21/15 Cloudy 26/17 Despite the fact that men commit interesting diff erences in coping Colombo M Sunny 33/24 S T Storms 32/24 suicide at three to four times the rate strategies. Dhaka M Sunny 28/14 M Sunny 27/14 Hong Kong P Cloudy Sunny 20/13 that women do, men do not seek While trying to cope with stress 20/14 Istanbul Rain 04/01 P Cloudy 04/-2 psychological help as much, the study and trauma, women turned to the Jakarta T Storms 32/25 T Storms 32/25 said. comfort of eating, whereas men were Karachi Cloudy 22/13 Sunny 25/14 “This might be because the more likely to indulge in recreational London Sunny 07/-1 P Cloudy 06/-2 types of treatment on offer are less activities, the researchers said. Manila P Cloudy 31/22 P Cloudy 31/23 Moscow P Cloudy 01/-8 S Showers -4/-9 appealing to men because many Despite the fact that men commit suicide at three to four times the rate that Psychology might be more eff ective New Delhi M Sunny 20/08 P Cloudy 21/10 psychological interventions are women do, men do not seek psychological help as much, a study has found. in treating men if gender diff erences New York Rain 08/06 P Cloudy 12/08 more about talking than about fixing were taken into account more, the Paris Sunny 04/-6 Sunny 04/-5 problems,” said John Barry from feelings appears to be the goal of therapy they would like if they needed researchers suggested. Sao Paulo T Storms 24/19 T Storms 24/18 Seoul P Cloudy 0/-10 P Cloudy -1/-8 University College London. therapy, then some men may be put help. The fi ndings were presented at Singapore T Storms 33/24 T Storms 32/24 “It is likely that men benefi t as off ,” Barry added. The men and women in this group, the annual conference of the British Sydney T Storms 31/19 M Sunny 23/18 much as women from talking about For the study, the team asked 347 half of whom reported having received Psychological Society’s Division of Tokyo Rain 07/02 Clear 10/01 their feelings, but if talking about participants to say what kind of some form of therapy, showed many Clinical Psychology in Liverpool. Gulf Times 16 Friday, January 20, 2017 QATAR

Al Shamal eateries and New deal extends helping restaurants inspected hand to bereaved orphans he Ministry of Municipal- ity and Environment’s (MME) atar Red Crescent Society THealth Inspection Section at (QRCS) has signed a memoran- Al Shamal Municipality has con- Qdum of understanding (MoU) ducted a search campaign on the with Hamad Medical Corp (HMC) to eateries and restaurants within its provide aid for young orphans whose jurisdiction. family breadwinner dies while receiv- The campaign, which aims at en- ing treatment at HMC hospitals. suring the safety of the food on dis- Under the agreement, 33 families play and that all the workers abide by will be covered on an average as part of the food safety rules, resulted in the the social security project, QRCS said issuing of two violation reports, in in a press statement. addition to 40 notices and warning Details of the project were an- to a number of outlets to correct any nounced at a press conference yester- related violations. day morning. MME’s islands and beaches sec- The pact was signed by QRCS secre- tion at the Public Cleaning Depart- tary-general Ali Hassan al-Hammadi ment also conducted a cleaning and HMC medical director Dr Yousef campaign at the Sealine beach. al-Maslamani. All the rubbish and discarded Al-Hammadi briefed the reporters items were removed with the partic- on the new project, saying: “Orphans ipation of more than 100 employees are among the most vulnerable and of Med Gulf Company. care-deserving segments of society. “When a patient dies and he or she has young children, they lose their breadwinner and are in dire need for subsistence. “Here, it is the duty of charities and NGOs to co-operate with the govern- ment in extending the social security umbrella for this special group and helping them go on with their lives.” Under the agreement, HMC will QRCS secretary-general Ali Hassan al-Hammadi and HMC medical director Dr Yousef al-Maslamani shake hands at the signing ceremony as other off icials look on. prepare case studies about the de- ceased patients who leave young chil- This will not only help protect such Dr al-Maslamani thanked QRCS for off ered jointly with other organisations for more than 10 years now. This agree- dren without a source of sustenance. children, but are also in line with the its co-operation, saying: “HMC’s scope concerned. This includes coverage of ment is the product of two months of Then, these reports will be referred humanitarian approach of Qatar to the of work involves medical and emergen- emergency treatment costs and aid for deliberations, to ensure optimum to QRCS to allocate monthly stipends welfare of its residents, the press state- cy care for all society members. patients’ families.” convenience for the patients and their for them. ment notes. “As for supportive services, they are “HMC and QRCS have been partners families,” Dr al-Maslamani concluded.

Mwani Qatar launches diabetes awareness drive

atar Ports Management Com- the creation of a healthy society and pany — Mwani Qatar, in asso- healthy work environments. Qciation with the Qatar Diabe- According to recent statistics, dia- tes Association (QDA), has launched a betes is one of Qatar’s biggest health campaign to raise diabetes awareness challenges. among its employees. The proportion of people with dia- The campaign at the company betes in Qatar is among the highest in headquarters, off ered free medical the world, with an incidence rate of check-ups, including blood sugar and 17%. blood pressure tests. The QDA strives to help people Physicians also briefed the em- with diabetes and those who are at ployees about diabetes, its symptoms risk of developing it by providing in- An inspector checks some of the and how to prevent it. novative patient care, education and items displayed in a store under The campaign comes in the frame- related services with the hope of im- the jurisdiction of the Shamal work of health initiatives adopted by proving the overall quality of life of Municipality. Mwani Qatar aimed at encouraging those who are aff ected. Mwani Qatar employees receive free medical check up.

Spring in the air ...

Souq Waqif is in festive mood again with yesterday’s opening of the annual Spring Festival. The 15-day event features several attractions, games, cultural performances and entertainment shows daily until February 2. The dolphin show, staged at the Al Ahmed Square, wowed the crowds yesterday as dolphins performed a number of fascinating stunts. Popular Arab singers are also performing at the festival, which is held from 3.30pm to 10.30pm daily. PICTURES: Shemeer Rasheed