BUSINESS | Page 1 SPORT | Page 3 Pressure on Wenger to break INDEX DOW JONES QE NYMEX QATAR 2-10, 28 COMMENT 26, 27 Qatar has potential to REGION 11 BUSINESS 1-8, 15, 16 Bayern lure up to $15bn funds 20,471.94 10,670.51 53.16 ARAB WORLD 12 CLASSIFIED 9-14 +59.78 +7.02 +0.23 INTERNATIONAL 13-25 SPORTS 1-12 +0.29% +0.07% _+0.43% infl ows: Seetharaman curse Latest Figures published in QATAR since 1978

WEDNESDAY Vol. XXXVII No. 10365 February 15, 2017 Jumada I 18, 1438 AH

GULF TIMES www. gulf-times.com 2 Riyals

In brief New initiative launched

QATAR | Weather Rain, thunder to to promote sport culture intensify tomorrow Thousands take part in National Qatar is expected to continue Sport Day activities despite heavy experiencing rain and thunder until rain this weekend, with the unstable conditions intensifying from tomorrow By Joseph Varghese evening until Friday, Met department Staff Reporter has said. This will be followed by a spell, from Saturday until Monday, during which the temperature is atar yesterday launched a new likely to drop significantly across the initiative to promote a sport country. Diff erent parts of the country Qculture as the country celebrat- received rain yesterday as well. Page 6 ed the sixth National Sport Day (NSD). Despite heavy rains, thousands of POLITICS | Mystery people took part in various activi- Half-brother of N Korean ties held as part of the NSD which was celebrated on a grand scale across the leader assassinated country. North Korean female agents HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Ha- operating in Malaysia have mad al-Thani led the nation in the cel- reportedly assassinated the half- ebrations by visiting the Nomas Center brother of the North’s leader Kim to interact with autistic children who Jong-Un – a one-time heir apparent were participating in a horse-riding who became a critic of the Stalinist event, in the fi rst equine therapy ex- regime. South Korean media said periment of its kind in the Middle East. yesterday that Kim Jong-Nam was HH the Emir then joined the children in killed with poisoned needles at the indoor facility to take part in diff er- Kuala Lumpur International Airport. ent sports such as running, archery and Off icials in Seoul and the Malaysian football. capital could not confirm his death. HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad Page 15 bin Khalifa al-Thani also took part in the Sport Day. He highlighted his com- HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani is accompanied by HH Sheikh TECHNOLOGY | Entertainment mitment to promote a healthy life- Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani and HE Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah as he arrives at Facebook launches style by walking at the Al Shaqab stud HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani visits the Nomas Center. the Al Shaqab stud farm. farm. Afterwards HH the Father Emir app for watching TV watched an Arabian horse show. He Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Science and Community Development ture and Sport Salah bin Ghanem bin ous sports and games,” the minister said. Facebook Inc is launching an app for was accompanied by HH Sheikh Ab- bin Khalifa al-Thani took part in the (QF) chairperson HH Sheikha Moza Nasser al-Ali at the opening of the “Qatar has greatly promoted com- smart TVs that will help the social dullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, HH Sheikh NSD activities of the Ministry of In- bint Nasser and vice-chairperson and NSD events at the Aspire Zone Foun- petitive sports and has benefi ted from network’s users enjoy its videos on Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Thani and HH terior along with senior offi cials in- CEO HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al- dation (AZF). it immensely. It is time for us to focus a bigger screen. The app will roll out Sheikh Jassim bin Khalifa al-Thani, cluding the Director General of Public Thani participated in the NSD events at “Buses will go around the country more on community sport so that more soon from app stores for Apple TV, along with a number sheikhs and cabi- Security Staff Major General Saad bin Al Shaqab’s Indoor Arena. with sport equipment. They will stop at people will be able to practice sports Samsung Smart TV and Amazon Fire net members. Jassim bin al-Khulaifi . The sports initiative was an- diff erent public places and provide op- and develop a healthy living culture,” TV, the company said in a blogpost. HE the Prime Minister and Interior Qatar Foundation for Education, nounced by HE the Minister of Cul- portunities for people to practice vari- he said. To Page 28 Gulf Times 2 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 QATAR Emir, Father Emir take part in Sport Day activities

QNA Emir refl ected his personal com- The event aims to raise aware- Doha mitment to the annual event and ness on the importance of pur- the role it plays in raising aware- suing a healthy lifestyle. ness about leading a healthy life- There are a host of sports H the Emir Sheikh style. available for the public to take Tamim bin Hamad al- Separately, HH the Father part in. Some of them are cy- HThani participated, Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Kha- cling, swimming, football, bas- along with citizens and resi- lifa al-Thani also participated in ketball, tennis and taekwondo. dents, in the activities of Qatar Sport Day activities yesterday. There are a total of 151 events National Sport Day. The Father Emir took part in this year from 135 diff erent insti- The Emir visited the Nomas carried walking exercise in Al tutions. Centre to meet autism children Shaqab stud farm, refl ecting his The events took place in dif- participating in the horse-riding commitment to promoting the ferent areas across the country. event. The event’s goal is to cre- value of a healthy lifestyle. Later The two areas with the most ate a bond between the children the Father Emir watched an Ara- events, however, were Katara with autism and horses. It is the bian horse show. and Aspire Zone, which hosted fi rst experiment of its kind in the HH the Father Emir was ac- 59 and 37 events, respectively. Middle-East. companied by HH Sheikh Ab- The Qatari Olympic Commit- The Emir then joined the chil- dullah bin Khalifa al-Thani, HH tee (QOC) was particularly ac- dren in the indoor facility to take Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa tive yesterday and was keen on part in the diff erent sports such al-Thani, HH Sheikh Jassim bin having all its sports associations as running, archery and football. Khalifa al-Thani, along with a open its doors to all who want The children expressed their de- number of their excellencies to take part in Sport Day. QOC’s light at the attendance and par- sheikhs and cabinet members. preparations aimed to make Qa- ticipation of the Emir in some Qatar National Sport Day is tar one big sports fi eld today. of the sporting activities with observed on the second Tuesday The day is also a public holiday, them. of February of every year in com- allowing everyone to take part in The attendance of HH the pliance with an Emiri decision. any of the events. Gulf Times Wednesday, February 15, 2017 3 QATAR

HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and HH the Father Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, accompanied by other dignitaries, taking part in National Sport Day activities yesterday. Gulf Times 4 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 QATAR

HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser and HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad al-Thani are joined by other dignitaries at Al Shaqab’s Indoor Arena. Picture: Aisha al-Musallam/HHOPL WISH CEO Egbert Schillings promoting healthy lifestyle at the diabetes awareness booth at Al Shaqab. Sheikha Moza tours QF events

By Joseph Varghese ticipated in the Sport Day activi- of Community Development, QF, best way is physical activity. Qa- number of health food vendors. Staff Reporter ties in the morning. They joined said, “Our National Sport Day tar Foundation makes it easy to Also at Al Shaqab, Qatar In- the visitors at Al Shaqab’s Indoor programme is part of a wider, do it for its staff and families and ternational Golf Club organised Arena, where they toured the year-round campaign that aims today is a great proof of it,” said a fun skills game, while QF’s in- atar Foundation for Edu- events and spoke with some of to promote healthy living as an Egbert Schillings, CEO World novative National Reading Cam- cation, Science and Com- the participants. integral part of the day-to-day Innovation Summit for Health paign was present with games for Qmunity Development Other top leadership of QF was lives of all Qatar’s residents. (WISH), a global health initiative children at the campaign’s col- (QF) hosted a number of events at also present at the venue. The Other examples include ‘Sahtak of Qatar Foundation. ourful Reading Van, which also Al Shaqab’s Indoor Arena and at fun-fi lled programme of activi- Awalan – Your Health First’, a Visitors to the Al Shaqab arena operates as a mobile library the Student Centre of the Hamad ties including a walkathon and a joint initiative with Weill Cornell enjoyed a range of high-energy Additional QF Sport Day ac- Bin Khalifa University yester- 40km cycling event that started Medicine – Qatar; and also the pursuits, including volleyball, tivities included ladies-only fi t- day to mark National Sport Day in Education City, aimed to cre- ‘Diabetes Prevention Camp’ run football, pony riding, tug-of- ness classes at HBKU Student which attracted a large gathering. ate an active, sports-loving soci- by Qatar Diabetes Association.” war, cycling exercises, and an ar- Centre, and QF’s Pre-University QF chairperson HH Sheikha ety, while encouraging the wider “For every 10% of GDP ray of puzzles and games for kids. Education schools celebrated Moza bint Nasser and vice- community to make long-lasting growth, obesity rises by 7% glo- QF’s Nutrition Clinic was also with a range of exciting Sport chairperson and CEO HE Sheikha health and lifestyle changes. bally. People need to burn more on hand to provide nutritional Day events, ranging from football Hind bint Hamad al-Thani par- Machaille al-Naimi, president energy than they take in and the advice to visitors, alongside a to traditional games. Page 28 A group engaged in outdoor exercise.

Gulf Times 6 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 QATAR

Turkish president arrives in Doha

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived More rain forecast until weekend yesterday in Doha for an off icial visit. President Erdogan and the he country is ex- accompanying delegation pected to continue were welcomed at Hamad Texperiencing rain International Airport by and thunder until this HE the Minister of Energy weekend, with the un- and Industry Dr Mohamed stable conditions inten- bin Saleh al-Sada, Qatar’s sifying from tomorrow ambassador to Turkey evening until Friday, Met Salem Mubarak al-Shafi department has said. and the Turkish envoy to This is to be followed Qatar Ahmet Dimerok. by a spell, from Satur- day until Monday, during Waterlogging in a Doha locality. PICTURE: Jayaram which the temperature is likely to drop signifi cant- ly across Qatar. Official As had been forecast, Rainwater removal work in progress. diff erent parts of the Picture courtesy of MME country received rain yes- terday as well, with mod- erate in nature and be- showers are expected in erate to heavy showers coming fresh at times some places along with reported from Doha in the during thundershowers. strong winds and low evening. The rain, though, Then, from Saturday visibility. Windy con- failed to deter thousands dawn (February 18), a ditions, high seas and of Qatar’s residents who Siberian high-pressure thundery rain are also Emir condoles participated in the Na- system is expected to af- likely in off shore areas. tional Sport Day activities fect the country, accord- The wind speed may go with king of from early in the morning. ing to the weather report. up to 25 knots in inshore Saudi Arabia In a report yesterday, Northwesterly fresh to areas and 30 knots off - the Met department said strong winds will blow shore during thunder and numerical weather pre- over most areas until rain, while the sea level is HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin diction charts showed un- Monday (February 20) and expected to rise to 12ft. Hamad al-Thani, HH the Deputy Emir stable weather conditions this period will see a “no- Cloudy conditions will Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani were expected to continue ticeable drop in tempera- prevail in the country and HE the Prime Minister and until Friday, February 17. tures – especially at night and the rain will gener- Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah Cloudy skies and hazy and early in the morning – ally be scattered in both bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani have to misty conditions will as well as high waves. inshore and off shore ar- sent cables to the Custodian of the continue and there are Meanwhile, today’s eas, becoming thundery Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin chances of intermittent forecast says thunder- at times. Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia scattered rain, light to condoling the death of Prince moderate in intensity. More than 3mn gallons of water drained Mansour bin Fahd bin Abdulmohsen The rain may become bin Jalawi al-Saud. thundery at times, espe- Rain emergency teams at the Ministry of Municipality and cially during the evening Environment (MME) drained out more than 3mn gallons and night, due to “short- of rainwater across the country from early yesterday until Emir greets leader lived convective clouds”, 12noon. The operations were carried out in 733 batches of Turkmenistan the weather offi ce ex- and involved 158 tankers and 374 workers and employees plained. divided into separate teams. Work would continue to In particular, the un- remove rainwater from other aff ected areas in order to HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin stable weather is ex- ensure smooth traff ic circulation and people’s movement, Hamad al-Thani, HH the Deputy pected to intensify from an MME off icial said. Emir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad tomorrow evening until Waterlogging was reported from parts of Doha and other al-Thani and HE the Prime Minister Friday, with an increase places yesterday following moderate to heavy rain. The and Minister of Interior Sheikh in rainfall that will be capital saw rainfall of varying intensity, including a spell Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa moderate to heavy in of heavy showers early in the evening. A map posted by al-Thani yesterday sent cables intensity and thundery the Met department on social media showed that Ruwais of congratulations to President over most areas. (16.8mm), Shehaimiya (14.6mm) and Ghuwairiya (13.7mm) Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov The wind conditions in the north had received the highest rainfall between of Turkmenistan, on his re-election will be northeasterly to Monday and yesterday morning. for a new presidential term. southerly, light to mod-

Gulf Times 8 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 QATAR

A group of cheering spectators. Ali Alfardan and Fahad Alfardan with participants. PICTURES: Jayan Orma 1,500 employees participate in Alfardan Group Sport Day event ver 1,500 employees from various business units of OAlfardan Group participat- ed in the 6th company-wide Sport Day event yesterday at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena. The activities are an annual ini- tiative to commemorate Qatar’s National Sport Day and aimed at demonstrating the Group’s sup- port for the country’s strategic ef- forts to position itself as one of the world’s premier sporting hubs. Alfardan Sport Day highlighted the virtues of physical activity as well as camaraderie, co-opera- Children taking part in an activity. tion, and team spirit for continued Ali Alfardan presenting a trophy to a winning team. personal and professional growth. ent divisions and showcases their motes Qatar’s vision of a healthy National Vision 2030. Alfardan Prior to the fi nal games at the competitiveness, excellence and working environment and com- Group’s management, employees Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Arena, dedication. With this event we aim munity. This also strengthens and their families displayed team teams and individuals competed to promote and raise awareness on camaraderie among employees spirit and sportsmanship while in the preliminary rounds of vol- the importance of physical well- which is an essential element in exerting their best eff orts to win leyball and basketball at the Arab ness to create a generation of fi t achieving the company’s mission in their respective competitions. International Academy, while ten- and healthy individuals in Qatar.” and strategic objectives.” This astounding response by our nis and table tennis were held at Fahad Alfardan, board Member Omar Alfardan, president and employees encourages us to con- Alfardan Gardens. Employees also of Alfardan Group, added: “En- CEO of Alfardan Group, con- tinue to host the event every year competed in other sports such as gaging our employees in physical cluded: “In our support of HH the with the same vigour and enthu- football, badminton and cricket. activities through sport is one ef- Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al- siasm.” Ali Alfardan, vice chairman, fective way to raise awareness on Thani, and his National Sport Day A number of recreational ac- Alfardan Group, said on the oc- leading a healthy lifestyle, which initiative, we integrated Sport Day tivities were organised and made casion: “Alfardan Sport Day is an is a priority for our Government, in our CSR agenda. This occasion available to people of all ages, to annual event held to reaffi rm our under the leadership of HH the is an excellent way to encourage ensure that everyone had fun and support for the pioneering ini- Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad our employees to strive for physi- memorable experience. These ac- tiative launched by HH the Emir al-Thani, in order to develop a cal well-being, which is impor- tivities varied from bouncy castles Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al- healthy workforce. Through Al- tant for their performance on the to game booths, which were lined Thani, to observe a National Sport fardan Sport Day, we aim to boost professional and personal fronts. up for the employees and their Day. It is a platform that brings this commitment and ensure that It is also in line with the Human families for the enjoyment of both together employees from diff er- Alfardan Group consistently pro- Development Pillar of the Qatar adults and children.

A basketball match in progress. Gulf Times Wednesday, February 15, 2017 9 QATAR MoTC, UDC join hands to celebrate National Sport Day at Pearl-Qatar

By Joey Aguilar reational and fun-fi lled activi- “refl ected the great attention” Staff Reporter ties such as warm-ups, walking, Qatar pays to sport, aiming to jogging, tug of war, as well as build a healthy and fi t society, some exercises for women, at a and promote the role of sport in arly morning rains and number of zones between 29 and the lives of individuals. drizzles did not dampen the 30 La Croisette Porto Arabia. Communications Regulatory Eenthusiasm of senior gov- “NSD refl ects the vision of Authority president Mohamed ernment offi cials and dignitar- the wise leadership for building Ali al-Mannai added that NSD ies who took part in the National individuals and society. Its key is an excellent initiative that has Sport Day (NSD) celebration at message is that sport should be seen great success in helping The Pearl-Qatar yesterday. a part of the culture and life of promote the benefi ts of an active The annual event started with individuals and society, and one lifestyle across the nation. a walkathon at 7.30am led by aspect of investing in the human MoTC and UDC were joined United Development Company element,” HE the Minister of in the celebrations by the QCAA, (UDC) president and CEO Ib- Transport and Communications CRA, QA, Mowasalat (Karwa), rahim Jassim al-Othman, Qa- Jassim Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti Qatar Railways Company, Qatar tar Airways (QA) Group chief said in a statement. Ports Management Company executive Akbar al-Baker, Civil Citing the importance of sport (Mwani), Qatar Satellite Com- Aviation Authority (CAA) chair- in cementing positive values, al- pany (Es’hailSat), Qatar Aero- man Abdullah bin Nasser Turki Baker said QA is proud to take nautical College, Hamad Inter- al-Subaey, along with UDC part in the MoTC’s events on national Airport, Hamad Port, marketing and communications the occasion of NSD in line with General Retirement & Social In- department director Hussain QNV 2030 to encourage partici- surance Authority, Qatar Postal Akbar al-Baker. pation in cultural and sporting Services Company, Qatar Assis- Visitors, including govern- activities. tive Technology Centre (Mada), ment employees, parents and Al-Subaey noted that the malomatia and the Qatar Na- children, took part in several rec- initiative of designating a NSD tional Broadband Network. Senior off icials from government agencies and UDC, and other dignitaries, led the walkathon at The Pearl-Qatar yesterday. PICTURE: Jayaram QU holds sporting, fi tness events

atar University (QU) sport-related activities. Also on conjunction with QU colleges of staff , faculty, students the programme was an exhibi- Health Sciences, Medicine and Qand their families joined tion featuring healthy nutri- Pharmacy, and the Sport Sci- people across Qatar yesterday in tion booths, and health aware- ence Programme at QU College celebrating National Sport Day. ness and medical and nutrition of Arts and Sciences. HE the Minister of Municipality awareness corners. Minister al-Rumaihi said the and Environment Mohamed bin Ministry of Municipality and Abdullah al-Rumaihi was also “In celebrating Environment is keen to support present on the occasion. National Sport Day, National Sport Day by provid- A family enjoys some of the sport activities hosted by QIB for Through the Sports Activi- we demonstrate the ing equipment and facilities in National Sport Day. ties Department, QU conducted importance of sport in a number of public parks across a series of sporting and fi tness Qatar and we raise the Qatar and by creating an envi- events on its campus and at community awareness ronment that encourages the Katara as part of its contribu- on the benefi ts of sport members of the community to tion towards the national eff ort and physical activity at practise sports.” QIB staff , families to promote sports and healthy the health, psychological QU vice president for admin- lifestyle throughout the com- and behavioural levels” istration and fi nance Dr Khalid munity. al-Khater said, “National Sport Themed “Sports Unite Us”, At Katara, the activities in- Day aims to promote the culture take part in Sport the activities were organised in cluded a walking march for kids of sport within the community collaboration with the Ministry and adults, a paragliding show and to highlight the health ben- of Municipality and Environ- performed by a team from QU efi ts of sport. It also aims to mo- ment, Internal Security Force Air Sports Club, cultural and tivate and encourage the com- Day activities (Lekhwiya), Community College traditional games, and beach munity members to exercise and of Qatar, and Katara, the offi cial activities such as volleyball and practice sport in their daily life.” host. football, as well as sports activi- QU chief strategy and de- atar Islamic Bank (QIB) bilities and interact with their At QU Female Sports Hall, ties for adults and kids. velopment offi cer Dr Darwish celebrated the National social environment. QU female students and staff A sideline exhibition featured al-Emadi said, “In celebrating QSport Day yesterday by It seeks to educate people on participated in a friendly foot- sports booths presented by QU National Sport Day, we demon- holding a series of activities for the importance of physical ac- ball match with their colleagues coaches, faculty and students, strate the importance of sport in employees and their families to tivity and help develop and pro- from CCQ. The programme and a health booth and healthy Qatar and we raise the commu- emphasise the importance of an mote a culture of healthy living also included a march activ- nutrition corner presented by nity awareness on the benefi ts of active and healthy lifestyle. QIB in the Qatari society. It further ity, fi tness, aerobics, Zumba members from the Physiother- sport and physical activity at the staff members and the bank’s engages people in active and and yoga sessions, and children apy and Sport Injury Unit at QU health, psychological and executive management team entertaining activities and pro- were catered with games and Sports Activities Department in behavioural levels.” A tug-of-war event at the QU campus. participated in the event. vides information about diff er- QIB said the event was an op- ent sport activities in the State. portunity for participants of “National Sports Day event all ages to test their fi tness and is part of QIB’s corporate social physical abilities through a se- responsibility programme. This ries of sport activities conducted particular event is focusing on Vodafone engages community in celebrations by experienced professionals. promoting an active healthy QIB Group CEO Bassel Gamal lifestyle among employees and odafone marked Qatar door biking experience with tured a variety of fi tness ac- said: “National Sport Day seeks the larger community and once National Sport Day by options for group rides and tivities, healthy food and an to engage the entire community again we are really happy that Vengaging both its staff races, the company said in a opportunity to get medical in Qatar with sport activities, our employees are strongly in- and hundreds of people across statement. check-ups. thus fostering the adoption of a volved in all the social responsi- the country with various com- Playing football and basket- “HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim healthy lifestyle. By organising bility initiatives that we realise,” munity activities. ball via virtual reality using Vo- bin Hamad al-Thani’s initia- this event, we are supporting a added Gamal. Visitors to Qatar Founda- dafone’s 4G network also proved tive to promote sports and fi t- core activity undertaken by the QIB employees have been tion’s Al Shaqab indoor arena to be a huge hit with the visitors, ness in Qatar is of huge public government in the critical fi elds participating in various sport enjoyed the Vodafone digital the statement added. value and something Vodafone of health and sports.” activities with the bank’s foot- sporting activities on feature. The Filipino community was is very supportive of. So, we are National Sport Day was ball team, recently winning the Supported by Vodafone’s also brought closer together on proud to have engaged several launched in 2012 to develop a ‘Aspire Banks Tournament Cup’, “state-of-the-art” mobile National Sport Day with the community groups in this im- physically and psychologically- organised by Aspire Zone Foun- network, the young and old Vodafone-supported “Be fi t portant day,” said Mohamed al- active and healthy society where dation, in partnership with Qa- had fun trying a bike simula- with Kulinarya Qatar” health Sadah, chief operating offi cer, individuals can build their capa- tar Central Bank. People participating in an activity. tor that replicates a real out- and fi tness bazaar, which fea- Vodafone. PHCC, CNA-Q organise sporting competitions

n the presence of HE the Minister of Public Health Dr IHanan Mohamed al-Kuwari, Primary Health Care Corpora- tion (PHCC) managing direc- tor Dr Maraim Abdulmalik, and College of North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) president Dr Ken Ma- cleod, staff members of PHCC Nakilat marks NSD at Onaiza Park and CNA-Q came together to celebrate National Sport Day yesterday. akilat celebrated Nation- Activities were also organ- sponsibility, according to a Employees and their families al Sport Day by organis- ised at the venue to engage statement. from both organisations partici- HE Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari and Dr Mariam Abdulmalik along with other off icials at the event. Ning a series of sporting and entertain staff members “The company believes that pated in various activities as well activities for its employees. and their families in addition healthy employees are an essen- as sporting competitions that Dr Abdulmalik said that educa- She also pointed out that sport opportunity to kick-start a long- Hundreds of Nakilat employ- to promoting sports. Naki- tial ingredient towards boosting took place at CNA-Q. A medi- tional establishments are the foun- is essential if people want to live term active lifestyle. ees and their families turned lat’s sports day celebrations productivity levels and ensur- cal team from PHCC was at hand dation and platform for establishing a healthy and fulfi lling life into “At CNA-Q we pride ourselves up at the event venue, the new come as part of the compa- ing the creation of a sustainable providing biometric screening, a sport culture and a means to raise old age as it reduces the chances to provide not only quality edu- Onaiza Park, and took part in ac- ny’s ongoing eff orts to pro- workforce, in line with Qatar medical consultations related to the community’s awareness of the of developing chronic disease. cation, but a complete lifestyle tivities such as football, volley- mote health and well-being National Vision 2030 for the de- practising physical activities and importance of physical activities, a She noted that Sport Day should experience to better our students ball, basketball, table tennis and among its employees, in line velopment of a healthy society,” general advice. core objective of PHCC. not be a one day initiative but an overall,” said Dr MacLeod. badminton. with its corporate social re- it added. Gulf Times 10 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 QATAR

Circuit training demo by members of the Qatar Armed Forces. Young boys try out some of the strength building activities. PICTURES: Shemeer Rasheed Katara marks National Sport Day under ‘Show the Game Skills’ theme series of activities co-ordination for kids, and also demonstrated a paratrooper marked the sixth Nation- an exhibition outlining major show, decorating Katara skies Aal Sport Day festivities athletic awards. with National Sport Day fl ags. held at Katara the Cultural Vil- The Al Khor Sports Club Aside from the sports com- lage under the theme “Show the involved visitors in a diverse petitions, cash prizes were Game Skills.” selection of athletic activi- awarded to the top three win- The activities were in asso- ties, including basketball ners of the jogging competition ciation with various sectors, in- shooting, table tennis, tug- for participants aged 50 years cluding ministries, municipali- of-war, workout station, and and above. The fi rst place win- ties, educational institutions, ‘baby-foot’, while Qatar Red ner received QR5,000, while the and medical centres, as well as Crescent provided skipping second and third place winners a number of associations and rope and conducted football received QR4,000 and QR3,000, federations. matches. respectively. Hundreds of residents par- The Qatar Boxing and Wres- Apart from an array of athletic ticipated in a range of activi- tling Federation, on the other activities, bottled water, wrist- ties, which started at 9am and hand, performed numerous bands for children, raincoats, concluded at 6pm. Also, certi- friendly matches and a trainer and useful brochures on health, fi ed trainers were present to lead was present to initially teach fi tness tips, and nutrition advic- visitors, while free physical ex- kids the basic techniques of es were distributed to Katara’s aminations were also available boxing and wrestling. visitors yesterday. to all visitors. The Qatar Cycling and Tria- This year, the Cultural Vil- The Qatar Armed Forces thlon Federation organised Ka- lage was keen on developing an had an exclusive booth with tara Aquathlon, which presented advanced, scientifi c and health active performances for sport a fun, friendly and unique swim approach that combines sports enthusiasts, which included and run experience while rac- with miscellaneous activities a step show, circuit training, ing competitions were also held. that aligns with Qatar National A paramotor pilot executes a manoeuvre during the Qatar Air Sport spinning and racing speed The Qatar Air Sport Committee Vision 2030. Young boys navigate through an obstacle course. Committee’s ‘paratrooper show’.

Hundreds join Ooredoo event Commercial Bank holds various activities ommercial Bank has organised fun physi- Ccal activities for staff on the occasion of National Sport Day. A variety of teambuild- ing activities have been or- ganised by the bank for its employees, including yoga classes for women and men, and a cricket match. Many of the Commercial Bank staff members have taken part in the Qatar Cen- tral Bank (QCB) walking race, with the starting point at the QCB building yard to the Ministry of Interior building and back. A variety of teambuilding activities have been organised by the bank for its employees “Commercial Bank is Hundreds participated in Ooredoo’s National Sport Day event at the Museum of Islamic Art Park yester- proud to be promoting 2030 under the wise leadership tional Sport Day is a prominent active and healthy lifestyles,” day, despite rainy weather. A range of free sports and healthy activities were available from 8am to 5pm. sports in Qatar in accordance of HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim nationwide initiative that en- Commercial Bank CEO Joseph A host of Ooredoo senior executives also attended the annual event. PICTURE: Ram Chand with Qatar National Vision bin Hamad al-Thani. The Na- courages everyone to lead more Abraham said.

QIIB employees take part in marathon Minister attends Ashghal’s National

large number of QIIB Sport Day indoor programme employees joined the Na- Ational Sport Day celebra- tions yesterday by taking part in he Public Works Au- a variety of events and activities. thority, Ashghal, cel- Despite the rain, the Walk- Tebrated National Sport athon organised by Qatar Day with the participation of Central Bank on the Doha HE the Minister of Municipal- Corniche was well-attended. ity and Environment Moham- QIIB CEO Abdulbasit Ahmad ed bin Abdullah al-Rumaihi, al-Shaibei and senior bank Ashghal president Saad bin executives were among the Ahmad al-Mohannadi, and a participants. number of offi cials, employees They gathered early in the and their families. morning in front of QIIB’s head- “National Sport Day is a sig- quarters on Grand Hamad Street nifi cant initiative that stresses before heading together to the how our wise government is marathon’s start point on the interested in promoting sport Doha Corniche. QIIB off icials and staff who took part in the National Sport Day activities. culture to become a daily ac- On QIIB’s participation in tivity for every member of the the National Sport Day events, of the major sports capitals in bank is keen as well on play- and Social Activities Support society,” Dr al-Mohannadi al-Shaibei said: “We follow in the world. National Sport Day ing its full role in serving the Fund in addition to supporting said. the steps of HH the Emir Sheikh refl ects the major role undertak- community by supporting and and sponsoring several sporting Ashghal’s special pro- Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and en by our beloved country in re- participating in events such as activities and events, especially gramme was held indoor in draw inspiration from his no- lation to sports, on both regional sports, which are celebrated at the national level. Aspire Zone. The activities ble guidance, which confi rms and international levels. during National Sport Day. The Further, al-Shaibei expressed included football, volleyball, the importance of sports in our “At QIIB, we are keen on en- activities are centred around conviction that the annual basketball, physical exercises, daily life. hancing the value of sports even building a healthy and vibrant events of National Sport Day contests and various activities “Qatar National Vision 2030 as we are a banking institution community.” have achieved signifi cant re- for the children. The minister HE Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Rumaihi and Ashghal president Saad bin has laid down the role of sport with a signifi cant economic The QIIB CEO referred to the sults with the active participa- and Ashghal president award- Ahmad al-Mohannadi participate in a game of volleyball. PICTURE: and today Doha has become one contribution to the nation. The bank’s contribution to the Sport tion of nationals and residents. ed the winners. Thajudheen Gulf Times Wednesday, February 15, 2017 11 REGION

Tehran continuing commitment to deal: UN watchdog chief

Reuters including saying it had put the Islamic Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) tough- prehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), slightly exceed the limit set under United States did try to change the Dubai Republic “on notice” last month over en its policing of Iran’s compliance, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano agreement which have been rectified. deal, particularly if it did so while carrying out a ballistic missile test. including demanding access to mili- said.“This is a very early stage of the Under the deal, Iran is allowed to Iran remained compliant. Under the 2015 accord between tary sites, sources have told Reuters. Trump administration but we are have 130 tonnes of heavy water. He said how Iran implements safe- ran is implementing the deal on its Tehran and six world powers, Iran The United States would need sup- very willing to have interaction with Heavy water reactors can more ef- guards should be the same as any nuclear programme agreed with agreed to curb its nuclear programme port from the 34 other countries who them as soon as possible,” he told re- ficiently produce plutonium, which other country with “no discrimina- Iworld powers, the head of the UN in exchange for relief from some US, sit on the IAEA board of governors for porters on the sidelines of a summit can be used in weapons. tion and no special treatment”. atomic energy watchdog said yester- European and UN economic sanc- military site inspections. in Dubai. “Nuclear activities by Iran is re- “There is nothing political that day, amid concerns the United States tions. But the new administration has The IAEA remains in “constant in- duced and so this is a net gain.What will change our implementation,” he will try to alter the terms. Iran has always said its programme so far not contacted the IAEA, the teraction” with US civil servants. is important is to continue to imple- said. “Implementation is very im- The United States has taken a is purely for peaceful purposes. UN nuclear watchdog responsible Amano said “Iran is implementing ment” the deal, he said. portant and that requires efforts by tougher stance on Iran since President Trump’s administration is con- for verifying Iran’s adherence to the the JCPOA” apart from some breach- Amano declined to directly com- all and...we have a very robust veri- Donald Trump took offi ce on Jan 20, sidering insisting the International deal formally called the Joint Com- es that saw its stock of heavy water ment on what it would mean if the fication tool.” First Comic-Con Special sale fest set to wow

AFP ment. “Comic-Con events Riyadh have a strong family appeal”, al-Madani said. Last month the kingdom’s uperheroes from Hol- highest-ranking cleric, Grand lywood’s Marvel studios Mufti Abdulaziz al-Sheikh, Sare among the characters warned of the “depravity” of set to wow thousands of curi- cinemas and music concerts. ous Saudis at the kingdom’s In December, a Saudi per- fi rst Comic-Con event from formance by US stand-up co- tomorrow. median and actor Mike Epps The three-day festival of was cancelled, its organisers anime, pop art, video gaming said, after complaints. and fi lm-related events is part Entertainment programmes of a government initiative to began in October when New bring more entertainment to York theatrical group iLu- Saudi Arabia. minate performed at the Comic-Con began in 1970 Princess Noura University in as a convention of a few dozen Riyadh. geeks who swapped super- Hundreds of men and hero magazines in the United women, side-by-side, hoot- States. ed their appreciation and Tens of thousands of peo- clapped to the hip hop beat. ple now descend on San Di- Providing more entertain- ego every July for Comic-Con ment is one of the goals of International where they don Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 costumes and get previews of economic diversification fi lms by Marvel and Warner plan being pushed by the A Yemeni vendor displays a bouquet of strawberries and chocolates at a gift shop on Valentine’s Day in the capital Sanaa yesterday. Brothers. kingdom’s Deputy Crown Other Comic-Con events Prince Mohamed bin Sal- occur around the world. man, 31. “We see from the high He is keen to harness the number of Saudi-based at- energy of a young popula- tendees at Comic-Cons tion, more than half of which abroad in recent years that is under 25. there is a strong demand to Comic-Con in Jeddah is to host these events in our own feature appearances by Brit- country,” Amr al-Madani, ish actor Charles Dance of Call to ‘seize opportunity’ of chief executive of the govern- Game of Thrones, and Break- ment’s General Entertainment ing Bad star Giancarlo Es- Authority, said in a statement posito, among others. yesterday. The Entertainment Au- The authority said it is sup- thority said 25,000 people porting the event organised in are expected at the event, Rouhani visit to Gulf states the Red Sea city of Jeddah by which will provide “a boost Saudi fi rm Time Entertain- to the local economy”. Reuters “This regional initiative is an feud with other countries in the Dubai opportunity that our regional region. friends should seize. Oppor- The Iranian president will tunity passes like a cloud. Take meet Oman’s Sultan Qaboos in Dubai authority agrees to buy 200 Tesla vehicles top Iranian offi cial called advantage of the good opportu- Muscat today before travelling on the Gulf states yester- nity,” he added. on to Kuwait on the invitation Dubai’s Road & Transport Authority (RTA) said yesterday it has Aday to seize the opportu- Oman helped to mediate se- of its ruler, Emir Sheikh Sabah agreed to buy 200 electric vehicles from Tesla Inc, a day after nity of a visit by Iranian Presi- cret US-Iran talks in 2013 that al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Rouhani’s the carmaker announced it would open its first Middle East off ice dent Hassan Rouhani to Oman led to a historic nuclear deal deputy chief of staff for commu- in Dubai. and Kuwait to improve ties, signed in Geneva two years later. nications, Parviz Esmaeili, was RTA is buying Model S sedans and Model X SUVs to be used by warning that a chance like this Kuwait’s foreign minister paid quoted as saying on Monday by the Dubai Taxi Corporation, which operates taxi services in the would “pass like a cloud”. a rare visit to Tehran late in Janu- state-run Press TV. emirate, RTA said in a statement. Tesla Founder Elon Musk and Rouhani will visit Oman and ary to deliver a message to Rou- Iran’s ambassador to Kuwait, RTA Chairman Mattar al-Tayer signed the agreement to buy the Kuwait today on his fi rst visit to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani is set for visits to Oman and Kuwait. hani on the “basis of dialogue” Alireza Enayati, was quoted by cars on the sidelines of a summit in Dubai, the statement said. the Gulf states since taking pow- between Gulf states and Iran. ISNA news agency as saying that Musk spoke at the summit on Monday when he also announced er in 2013. ers of Oman and Kuwait signals Hamid Aboutalebi, the Iranian Rouhani said Kuwait was “on this one-day visit regional the opening of the Dubai off ice. “Rouhani’s regional initia- the need for Islamic friendship president’s deputy chief of staff , among at least 10 countries to issues as well as bilateral co-op- tive to accept invitation of lead- and restoration of regional ties,” tweeted on Tuesday. have off ered to mediate in Iran’s eration will be discussed”. Saudi hosts Erdogan ahead of Syria talks Yemen suicide car bombing kills three AFP Riyadh AFP civilians and a US Navy Seal were Aden/Riyadh killed in a US raid on a compound urkey’s President Recep in the same province. Tayyip Erdogan met Sau- The United States considers Al Tdi Arabia’s top leadership suicide car bomb attack in Qaeda’s Yemen-based franchise, yesterday during a visit to fur- a rebel-held Yemeni town Al Qaeda in the Arabian Penin- ther strengthen ties as part of a Ayesterday killed three sula, to be the extremist group’s Gulf tour ahead of Syria peace people, including a child, and most dangerous. talks. wounded eight others, a provin- AQAP and the Islamic State King Salman hosted a lunch- cial offi cial said. group have exploited a power eon banquet for Erdogan, who The attack targeted a sports vacuum created by the confl ict arrived in Riyadh late Monday, and culture club in the Houthi- between the government and the the offi cial Saudi Press Agency controlled town of Radaa, he rebels to expand their presence said. said, in the central province of in Yemen. It gave no details of their dis- Baida where Al Qaeda fi ghters Meanwhile, at least 12 Saudi cussions, but said Erdogan also are present. soldiers have died on the south- met Crown Prince Mohamed A security offi cial said: ern border since early February, bin Nayef, the interior minis- “Houthi fi ghters opened fi re on according to an unusual series ter, and Deputy Crown Prince the car before it attacked the of offi cial reports released as the Mohamed bin Salman, who is club, causing it to explode at the country fi ghts Yemeni rebels. defence minister. gate, leading to the deaths and In separate dispatches since The two powers have become injuries.” February 5, the Saudi Press increasingly close over the past A nearby school was also Agency (SPA) has carried photo- year, sharing in particular a damaged, the source said. graphs of funerals for the “mar- backing for the opposition in Late last month, dozens of tyrs” it said died “defending the Syria’s war. suspected Al Qaeda militants, southern borders.” As Erdogan held talks in Ri- yadh, his Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told his ruling Justice TENSION and Development Party law- A handout picture released by the Saudi Royal Palace shows Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Protesters clash with police in Bahrain makers in Ankara that Al-Bab Erdogan in Riyadh yesterday. in northern Syria was “largely” Demonstrators clashed with police in the Bahraini capital and neighbour- under the control of Turkish- Ankara has taken on an in- khstan between Syrian rebels neva on February 23. identical” on Syria, Saudi For- ing villages yesterday, the sixth anniversary of anti-government protests, backed Syrian rebels after creasingly important role with and government offi cials. On Monday in Bahrain, Er- eign Minister Adel al-Jubeir witnesses said. months of clashes with mili- Moscow and Iran as a power- There was no breakthrough, dogan called for a “safe zone” in said last week in Ankara. In Manama, protests ended when policemen fired tear gas and stun gre- tants. broker in the Syria confl ict. but another round is expected northern Syria for people dis- He was attending the fi rst nades into the demonstrators to prevent them from reaching the main Al-Bab was the Islamic State In January, Turkey, along in Astana today and tomorrow, placed by the war. meeting of a co-ordination entrance to the capital. Activists posted pictures of injured protesters group’s last stronghold in Alep- with Assad allies Russia and before United Nations-spon- The positions of Saudi Ara- council to enhance ties between online, but the interior ministry has not published any off icial statements po province. Iran, sponsored talks in Kaza- sored peace talks resume in Ge- bia and Turkey are “absolutely the two countries. about the reported demonstrations. Gulf Times 12 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 ARAB WORLD 70 killed as militants clash in Syria

DPA Both groups want to topple nymity. This is the second round Beirut Syrian President Bashar al-As- of negotiations which began last sad. month with the aim of strength- Thirty of the militants killed ening a broad ceasefi re from De- ighting between two anti- were from Jund al-Aqsa, while cember and paving the way for a regime militant factions in 39 were from the Levant Libera- political resolution in the Syrian Fnorth-western Syria has tion Body. confl ict. killed nearly 70 fi ghters from Fateh al-Sham and the Islamic Russia and Iran are the main both sides in the last 24 hours, a State militia are excluded from a backers of Syria’s ruling regime. monitoring group said. shaky ceasefi re in Syria, which The other guarantor of the The fi ghting erupted Mon- has been gripped by civil war ceasefi re, Turkey, has supported day at dawn between the newly since 2011. moderate opposition forces in formed alliance Hai’at Tahrir al- Government and opposition Syria. Sham (Levant Liberation Body) delegations are due to meet to- Ankara is waging a military and the Islamic State-affi liated day in the neutral Central Asian campaign south of its border Jund al-Aqsa group in the south- republic of Kazakhstan for two- with the war-torn country to ern outskirts of Idlib province, day talks brokered by Russia, root out UN-designated terror- said Rami Abdel Rahman from Iran and Turkey. ists, in particular Islamic State. the Britain-based Syrian Ob- The talks in the Kazakh capital The UN-brokered peace talks servatory for Human Rights. of Astana are expected to feature — stalled for the past 10 months The Levant Liberation Body a discussion of sanctions against — are expected to resume on is led by the Al-Qaeda-affi liated any violator of the ceasefi re re- February 23. A handout picture shows Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri praying over the tomb of his father, slain former prime minister Rafiq Hariri, in the Fateh al-Sham Front, formerly gime, Kazakh Foreign Minister Delegations from both sides capital Beirut. known as Al-Nusra Front. Kairat Abdrakhmanov said yes- should start arriving in Geneva The Jund al-Aqsa group lost terday in comments carried by around February 20 for pre- at least nine villages which were Interfax news agency. liminary consultations with UN under its control in the outskirts “There are a lot of pressures Syria envoy Staff an de Mistura, of the provinces of Idlib and to attend Astana,” an opposition his spokeswoman said. Hama, Abdel Rahman said. fi gure said on condition of ano- Amid the ongoing violence Lebanon premier stands in the war-torn country, the United Nations reported that Talks in Astana ‘to be held behind closed doors’ water supplies for 1.8mn peo- ple were slowly resuming in Kazakhstan said yesterday that a new round of Astana talks on the and around Aleppo, one month fi rm on Assad ‘crimes’ Syria conflict led by Russia, Turkey and Iran will take place behind after Islamic State extremists closed doors, as the make-up of any rebel delegation remained had disrupted the water sys- unclear. tem. AFP 2005 bomb blast on the Beirut our stand on illegitimate arms to have disarmed in the after- The “closed format” negotiations are set to start today in the Kazakh Schools have reopened in the Beirut seafront, was appointed prime and on Hezbollah’s implication math of Lebanon’s 1975-1990 capital some three weeks after representatives from Damascus and former rebel-held eastern part minister in November for a sec- in Syria,” he said to loud ap- civil war, insists its arsenal is the armed opposition failed to make a breakthrough at indirect talks of Aleppo city over the past two ond time, under an arrangement plause. essential to defend the coun- in the city. The meeting — pushed by key regime supporter Moscow weeks, more than doubling the ebanese Prime Minister struck with the pro-Syrian group The Hague-based tribunal is try against Israel, with which it — is viewed as a warm-up for UN-led negotiations on the protracted number of active pupils from Saad Hariri said yesterday Hezbollah. responsible for trying Rafi q Har- fought a devastating 2006 sum- war that are due to begin in Geneva on February 23. While Kazakh 6,500 to 15,500, a spokesman Lhe stood fi rm against Syr- “We negotiated and we made iri’s assassination. mer war. Five Hezbollah mem- off icials said they invited both the Syrian government and rebels for of the UN Children’s Fund ian President Bashar al-Assad’s compromises to preserve stabil- Saad Hariri and his allies bers have been accused by the the new talks, several of the regime opponents who took part in the (Unicef) said in Geneva. “crimes”, at an event mark- ity” in Lebanon, he said in an ad- demand the disarmament of international court of involve- previous Astana talks said that they have not received invitations. This comes one day after the ing the anniversary of his fa- dress to a packed hall in Beirut. Hezbollah and its withdrawal ment in the 2005 assassination Damascus has confirmed it will be represented again by its ambassa- UN Resident and Humanitarian ther’s assassination that he has “We have not made, and will from Syria where the group that of Rafi q Hariri, himself a former dor to the UN, Bashar al-Jaafari. Russia is sending presidential envoy Co-ordinator for Syria warned blamed on Damascus. not make, any compromise on also forms part of the Lebanese Lebanese premier. Alexander Lavrentiev while Iran said it is dispatching deputy foreign of a “a looming humanitar- Hariri, whose father Rafi q principles such as the Special government has been battling Both the Syrian government minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari. ian catastrophe” in four Syria Hariri was killed along with 22 Tribunal for Lebanon, on our alongside Assad’s forces. and Hezbollah have repeatedly towns. other people in a February 15, point of view on Assad’s regime, Hezbollah, the only group not denied involvement.

TALKS Head of Libya’s unity govt to meet Free hairdos boost confi dence of displaced Iraqi women rival army chief The head of Libya’s unity govern- AFP is Mervet, a 30-year-old moth- said. The word got out some- “Since we got here, I’ve been ment and a rival army chief were Hasansham Camp, Iraq er who watches attentively as how and now a queue of wom- suffering from anxiety attacks. to meet in Cairo to find a solution Khezri’s fi ngers knead the wax, en giggling at the thought of I have nightmares. I see Daesh to turmoil in the country, a gov- apply it on the wincing face of removing their hijab and get- spies everywhere,” she says, ernment off icial said. wice a month, beauti- another young lady and peel it ting a haircut has formed out- using an Arabic acronym for The UN-backed Government of cian Chnoor Khezri takes off sharply. side her temporary salon. the Islamic State group. National Accord has struggled Ther equipment to a camp “In Mosul, before the Islamic “There is no space for “I think I need to talk to to assert its authority across the near Mosul and gives displaced State, I used to work in a beauty women in this camp. There someone...a psychologist,” she North African country since start- Iraqi women who have lost eve- salon. I fi nd it moving to see this are plenty of hair dressers for whispers with an embarrassed ing work in Tripoli nearly a year rything a proper pampering and routine again,” she says. men. There are games for the grin. ago. GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj and some fresh confi dence. Azhar, 34, arrived to the children, but nothing for us,” Those who fled Mosul may Marshal Khalifa Haftar were due to In a small room inside the Hasansham camp just days said one of them, 23-year-old have lived next to IS support- meet later in the Egyptian capital, camp, the young Iranian Kurd ago, after risking her life to flee mother of two Ghada. ers or have relatives living in the off icial said, without providing takes out her brushes and scis- the IS-held west bank of Mo- “Our faces are burnt by the militant-controlled areas and further details on the agenda. sors and puts blue wax to heat sul, cross the Tigris River and sun, we need creams, and ba- often still feel the fear that However, a source close to up in a pot. “It’s not much but A displaced Iraqi woman who fled the violence in the northern city escape through the liberated sic hygiene kits. We don’t even pervaded their lives under the Haftar said the general was I work miracles with this,” she of Mosul has her hair cut by Chnoor, a hairdresser from Arbil in the eastern side of the city. have bras,” said Safa, another “caliphate”. refusing to meet Sarraj before he says. village of Hasan Sham, some 40 kilometres east of the capital of the “For weeks now people have women standing next to her. As the sun sets on Hasan- received “guarantees that a pos- More than 3,600 women have autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. been lacking everything and Khezri vindicated them: sham, Khezri finally packs up sible agreement not be rejected” endured freezing temperatures prices have gone through the “There is no shame in want- her beauty tools after seven by the powerful armed groups of and the most rudimentary com- hind them. They were initially brow and upper lip thread- roof. The only thing you can ing to recover your femininity. hours of non-stop work, ex- Misrata in western Libya. fort levels in this camp’s tents reluctant to follow a stranger ing. They don’t ask for any- find there now is potatoes, Especially in such rough living hausted but happy. The planned meeting was the since they fl ed the fi ghting be- in the sprawling camp and be thing specifi c really. They just wheat and lentils,” she said. conditions, your well-being “Look at their faces, how they result of Egyptian mediation, he tween Iraqi forces and the Is- separated from their husbands want me to pamper them,” said Recounting her experiences and your dignity are at stake.” have transformed. They came said. Haftar, whose forces control lamic State group in Mosul. but a dozen of them eventu- Khezri, a 31-year-old Iranian in Mosul put her in a state of Ghada, who settled in the here suspicious and all tight- much of Libya’s east, is backed Some of them arrived days ally gave in to Khezri’s eff orts to Kurd who runs a beauty parlour rage but a look in the mirror displacement camp six weeks ened up. They leave this place by a parliament based in the earlier, others have been there bring them into her improvised in Arbil, the nearby capital of put a smile back on her face. earlier, came “to have a look” relaxed and proud for having far east of the country that has months but nearly all had to beauty salon. Iraq’s Kurdish region. “I never thought a haircut at the salon but she does not made a moment for nobody else refused to recognise the unity leave almost everything be- “I off er them a haircut, eye- One of her “clients” that day would make me so happy,” she dare take a seat. but themselves,” she says. government.

Egypt parliament nod for cabinet reshuffl e

Reuters Moselhy, a lawmaker who Cairo heads parliament’s Economic Committee, was appointed as the new supply minister. gypt’s parliament ap- The reshuffl e also included proved yesterday a the ministers of parliamenta- Ecabinet reshuffl e in- ry aff airs, local development, cluding the appointment of higher education, education new ministers for investment and transport. and agriculture, said parlia- Al-Banna was previously ment speaker Ali Abdelaal. head of the Agricultural Re- The reshuffl e merged the search Centre, an institution investment ministry with the that works under the agricul- ministry of international co- ture ministry. Banna replaces operation. Essam Fayed, who was ap- The current International pointed in 2015. Co-operation Minister Sahar Moselhy, who had served Nasr was nominated to head as Minister of Social Solidar- the combined ministry. ity under now-ousted presi- Abdel Moneim al-Banna dent Hosni Mubarak, replac- was appointed as the new es Major General Mohamed agriculture minister and Ali Ali El-Sheikh. Gulf Times Wednesday, February 15, 2017 13 AFRICA ‘Strange black soot’ blankets Nigeria’s oil hub

By Patrick Brisibe, AFP “It (the soot) is mostly pro- to shut doors and windows. it is as a result of years of explo- Harcourt, was in May last year Port Harcourt nounced in the morning hours, The hashtag #StopTheSoot ration activities especially from named as having the world’s especially when you run your has appeared on Twitter, people illegal oil bunkering activities,” worst levels of PM10 particles. hands across your car,” he said. are sharing photographs of their said environment regulation of- PM10 are microscopic parti- he Nigerian city of Port Timi Isiayei said there’s no es- hands and feet covered in the fi cial Emeka Aniamaka. cles in the air measuring between Harcourt used to be known cape from the fi ne black dust. dust, and protest marches are be- But the environment minis- 2.5 and 10 thousands of a milli- Tas “The Garden City” be- “When I brush my teeth in ing organised. try suggested another cause af- metre or micrometres. cause of its soaring palm trees the morning and try to clear my Burning tyres for scrap copper ter ordering the shutdown of an They can come from smoke, and green open spaces. throat, I normally notice dark and illegal oil refi neries have both asphalt-processing plant, saying dust, soot, vehicle exhausts and But since late last year, black phlegm and the same applies been blamed for the residue. it was “belching out thick smoke industries. soot has been falling from the when I try to clear my nostrils,” Oil revenue is central to Ni- from its operations”. Doctors in Port Harcourt say sky, scaring and angering resi- he added. geria’s economy, accounting In 2015 the World Bank said they are seeing the health ef- dents of the oil hub who claim Toxic smog is a phenomenon for some 70% of government 94% of Nigerians were exposed fects of the soot already, with nothing is being done to protect that has more often been asso- earnings and 90% of foreign ex- to air pollution levels that ex- an increase in consultations for their health. ciated with populous develop- change. ceed World Health Organisation breathing diffi culties, including “You hang your clothes and ing economies such as India and But decades of exploration and guidelines. asthma. before you know it, they become China. spills has polluted the farmlands Air quality is worsened by the Children and the elderly are black. You step on your fl oor, The government in Rivers and fi sh stocks in the maze of use of generators to make up for most at risk. A man holds out his soot-covered hand yesterday to illustrate how everywhere is black,” Steven state, of which Port Harcourt is creeks around Port Harcourt and the gaps in supply from the na- The United Nations Environ- much soot covered the bonnet of his car in Port Harcourt. Obodekwe, a Port Harcourt resi- the capital, in December urged across the Niger Delta region. tional electricity grid, as well as ment Programme (UNEP) esti- dent and environmentalist, told the public not to panic but last Theft of crude oil from pipe- petrol containing high levels of mates some 600,000 people die combined with moisture. are not enforced. There is a lack AFP. week set up a taskforce to inves- lines – or “bunkering” as it is sulphur. in Africa every year as a result of Yet Obodekwe, who works at of political will,” he said. “It’s The soot appeared in Novem- tigate the matter. called locally – sees raw fuel reg- Toxic smoke also comes from air pollution. the non-profi t Centre for En- not too important as far as they ber last year, clouds became a The federal environment min- ularly diverted to illegal refi neries the burning of rubbish – a leg- Environmentalists are also vironment, Human Rights and (the government) are concerned. hazy grey and more people were istry in the national capital Abuja set up in the bush for conversion acy of the absence of municipal sounding the alarm, as the soot Development, says it is unlikely They don’t understand the im- seen wearing protective face on Monday declared that the air into petrol and diesel. waste services. has been found to contain sul- any new regulations will be im- plications of the attack on the masks, said resident Tamuno pollution was an “emergency “From investigations carried The city of Onitsha, nearly phur dioxide and nitrogen diox- plemented. environment, so they don’t take Alobari. situation” and warned residents out so far, we have noticed that 200km (125 miles) north of Port ide, which cause acid rain when “Many environmental policies it seriously.”

Gambia to stay in the ICC, tells Harare meeting warns of the UN of change ‘huge’ armyworm threat

AFP AFP of our farmers,” he said as talks to use diff erent methods – in- Banjul Harare opened. “The pest ... appears to cluding sometimes burning the be moving into the region in a crops.” north to south trajectory.” Zimbabwe’s deputy agricul- ambia’s new government nternational experts at The fi rst fall armyworms ture minister Davis Marapira has asked the United Na- emergency UN talks in were seen in Nigeria and Togo confi rmed to AFP that the pest Gtions to halt the process IHarare warned yesterday last year, with one theory say- had been detected in all of the of withdrawal from the Inter- that crop-eating armyworm ing that they arrived in Africa on country’s 10 provinces. national Criminal Court (ICC) caterpillars posed a serious commercial fl ights from South “The government is help- begun by the regime of former threat to food supplies across America or in plants imported ing farmers with chemicals and leader Yahya Jammeh. several African countries. from the region. spraying equipment,” Marapira The Hague-based court, set The outbreak has already The caterpillars eat maize, said. up in 2002, is often accused of caused damage to staple crops wheat, millet and rice – key food The FAO, which is hosting the bias against African nations, in Zambia, Zimbabwe, South sources in southern and eastern Harare meeting, said that the ar- leading Gambia, Burundi and Africa and Ghana, with reports Africa, where many areas are al- myworm – combined with cur- South Africa to send notice last also suggesting that Malawi, ready struggling with shortages rent locust problems – “could be year that they would no longer Mozambique and Namibia are after years of severe drought. catastrophic” as southern Africa recognise the ICC’s jurisdiction. aff ected. Experts from 13 countries will has yet to recover from droughts “The government of Gambia Experts say it appears to be spend three days in the Zimba- caused by the El Nino climate has notifi ed Antonio Guterres in the fi rst time that the “fall ar- bwean capital forming a battle phenomenon. his capacity as depository of the myworm” species from the plan to defeat the pests. In December, Zambia de- Rome Statue of its decision to Americas has devastated crops The armyworm is “spreading ployed its national air force to discontinue the withdrawal no- in Africa. rapidly” in Africa and could even Ken Wilson presents a report on transboundary pests (fall armyworm and African armyworm) yesterday transport pesticides across the tice,” said a statement issued by David Phiri, the UN Food and threaten farming worldwide, in Harare. country so that fi elds could be the government late on Monday, Agriculture Organisation (FAO) the Centre for Agriculture and sprayed. referring to the UN secretary co-ordinator for southern Af- Bioscience International (CABI) myworm, the fall armyworm Chemical pesticides can be Another is to use natural control, “The fall armyworm has a general. rica, told delegates that the ar- warned last week. does not “march” along the eff ective, but fall armyworms like digging trenches around potential to cause a serious New Gambian President Ada- myworm posed “a huge threat to It said that maize is particu- ground in huge numbers seeking have developed resistance in the farm (or) natural predators, food security problem in sub- ma Barrow had promised during food security”. larly vulnerable to the larvae, more food, the FAO said. their native Americas. like birds,” Phiri said before the Saharan Africa,” Ken Wilson, an his December election campaign “We need to use our collective which attack the crop’s growing The fall armyworm also at- “You use diff erent methods. meeting began. ecology professor at Lancaster to rejoin the ICC and the Com- capacities to put up systems that points and burrow into the cobs. tacks cotton, soybean, potato One of them is pesticides, an- He added: “It’s very diffi cult University in Britain, told the monwealth group of nations, will strengthen the resilience Unlike the native African ar- and tobacco fi elds. other is to use biological control. to control it, so they will have meeting. reversing Jammeh’s more insular foreign policy. Former Gambian information minister Sheriff Bojang had ac- cused the ICC of being used “for the persecution of Africans and Ethiopia’s new dam causing especially their leaders” while ignoring crimes committed by the West. Bojang has referred to the ICC Kenya water shortage: HRW as “the International Caucasian Court”, a personal blow against the tribunal’s chief prosecutor AFP Built at a cost of €1.5bn Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Fatou Bensouda, who is a Gam- Addis Ababa ($1.6bn), Gibe III is the third- Hailemariam Desalegn dismissed bian lawyer and former justice most powerful dam in Africa and criticism of the dam in a speech minister. the highest, at 243m (800’) in inaugurating the project, saying Currently nine out of the huge newly-built Ethio- height. that Gibe III satisfi ed Ethiopia’s ICC’s 10 investigations concern pian dam is cutting off The dam, which has already power demands and allowed it to African countries, the other be- Athe supply of water to caused some controversy, is ex- export electricity. ing Georgia. Lake Turkana in northern Ken- pected to double the electricity Ethiopia also plans 100,000 However experts point out ya, rights group Human Rights output of Ethiopia. hectares (250,000 acres) of sugar that many of the current inves- Watch (HRW) said yesterday. The country was the conti- plantation in the Omo River val- tigations – in the Central Afri- The Gibe III dam, along with a nent’s fastest-growing economy ley, along with factories to proc- can Republic, Uganda, Mali and network of sugar plantations, has in 2015, but GDP is expected to ess the cane. the Democratic Republic of the caused the depth of Lake Turkana take a hit due to a series of anti- Tens of thousands of hectares Congo – were referred to the to drop by 1.5m from its previous government protests that tar- have already been cleared, but ICC by the governments of those levels since the dam’s reservoir geted foreign businesses, and to Horne says the development states. A Turkana girl holds a canister as she waits to get water from a borehole near Baragoy, Kenya. began fi lling in 2015, according to an ongoing drought. should be reduced to preserve a HRW report. Environmentalists and the Lake Turkana’s water level. In one part of Turkana, the UN cultural body Unesco have “I think the most important world’s largest desert lake, the condemned Gibe III, saying that thing by far is that the sugar shore has receded by nearly 2km, they fear the dam will staunch plantations, which are very wa- threatening the livelihoods of the Omo River, which provides ter-intensive, that those be cut ‘Superspreaders fuelled West Africa Ebola’ fi shing communities. 80% of the water fl ow into Lake back,” Horne said. “Ethiopia is in such a rush to Turkana. At Turkana, communal clashes develop its resources that these The HRW has also criticised have broken out over access to Reuters and quarantined promptly, most “The lesson to be learned is Many people in the three downstream individuals, who Ethiopia’s government for up- scarce water supplies. Dakar Ebola cases could have been that you need to fi nd every sin- Ebola-hit countries contracted are completely marginalised, just rooting people along the river Should the lake drop further, avoided, the study published in gle case if you are going to stop the virus, which is passed on aren’t part of the equation,” said in order to make way for sugar Horne worries confl ict will in- the Proceedings of the National an outbreak,” McClelland told through blood and bodily fl u- Felix Horne, a HRW researcher. plantations. tensify. ost people infected Academy of Sciences found. the Thomson Reuters Founda- ids, by holding and embracing with Ebola in the The slow international re- tion. the infected, and washing and Mworld’s worst outbreak sponse to the epidemic outbreak The Ebola epidemic infected touching the bodies of the de- East Africa food prices reach record levels due to drought: UN of the deadly virus contracted it was criticised in 2015 by medical more than 28,600 people and ceased at traditional burials. from just a tiny fraction of pa- charity Medecins Sans Fron- killed around 11,300 before “People between the ages of Drought in East Africa has sent prices of staples four times higher than a year ago while in Kenya tients known as “superspread- tieres (MSF), which fi rst raised coming under control last year. 15 and 45 were most likely to be such as maize and sorghum soaring, the UN Food prices of maize were up by about a third, the FAO ers”, researchers said yesterday. the alarm over Ebola, for hav- Children under 15 years old carers and caring for someone and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said yesterday, said. Six in 10 cases of the disease, ing created an avoidable tragedy and adults over 45 were the big- with Ebola is a big risk factor in warning that a sharp increase in food prices could In Somalia, maize and sorghum harvests were which ravaged the West African that cost thousands of lives. gest spreaders of Ebola, accord- contracting the virus,” said Se- lead to renewed hunger in the region. estimated to be 75% lower than usual and more nations of Guinea, Liberia and “It was the infected people ing to the study, which exam- bastian Funk, assistant profes- Prices of staple cereals have doubled in some than half of the country’s population, mostly in rural Sierra Leone between 2013 and who didn’t make it to health ined 200 cases in and around the sor at the London School of Hy- markets, reaching record and near-record levels in areas, was facing hunger, it said. 2016, were caused by just 3% centres, and into isolation, Sierra Leone’s Freetown. giene & Tropical Medicine. swathes of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, It said crops in East Africa had been depleted of infected people, according to that drove the epidemic,” said Younger and older patients Superspreaders also fuelled Uganda and Tanzania, the FAO said. by drought exacerbated by the El Nino weather research carried out by several Amanda McClelland, emer- were more likely to have been epidemics of Severe Acute Res- “Sharply increasing prices are severely constraining phenomenon that ended last year, and poor and health experts. gency health advisor at the In- looked after for by many rela- piratory Syndrome, or SARS, in food access for large numbers of households with erratic rainfall in recent months. If these superspreaders, who ternational Federation of Red tives and caregivers, thus fuel- 2003 and Middle East Respira- alarming consequences in terms of food insecurity,” About 12mn people in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia were most likely to be under 15 Cross and Red Crescent Socie- ling the spread of the disease, tory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012, Mario Zappacosta, FAO senior economist, said. were at risk of hunger due to recurring droughts, and over 45, had been identifi ed ties (IFRC). several of the researchers said. according to the study. In South Sudan, food prices were between two and according to FAO figures. Gulf Times 14 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 AMERICA Mnuchin sworn in as Top Trump aide Treasury secretary

Reuters/AFP end decades-old trade rules and seeks to slash business tax rates Washington currency practices. and enact a new border tax ad- Mnuchin, 54, provided no de- justment system aimed at boost- tails of his plans as he was sworn ing US exports. Flynn resigns ormer Goldman Sachs in. Mnuchin, a second-generation banker and Hollywood fi n- “I am committed to using the Goldman Sachs banker who led Reuters ments surrounding Flynn and Fancier Steven Mnuchin has full powers of this offi ce to cre- the fi rm’s mortgage bond trading Washington called for a classifi ed briefi ng by been sworn in as Treasury secre- ate more jobs, to combat terror- but left the bank in 2002, came administration offi cials to ex- tary, putting him to work on tax ist activities and fi nancing, and under criticism from Democrats plain what had happened. reform, fi nancial de-regulation to make America great again,” over his investor group’s 2009 resident Donald Trump’s “We are communicating this and economic diplomacy eff orts. Mnuchin said. acquisition of another failed national security adviser, request to the Department of The US Senate voted to con- Trump has pledged to roll back lender, IndyMac Bank, from the PMichael Flynn, resigned Justice and Federal Bureau of In- fi rm Mnuchin 53-47, with all the stricter fi nancial regulation Federal Deposit Insurance Cor- late on Monday after revelations vestigation (FBI) this evening,” but one Democrat opposing him under the Dodd-Frank reform poration. that he had discussed US sanc- said Democratic representatives over his handling of thousands of law enacted after the fi nan- The bank, rebranded as tions on Russia with the Rus- John Conyers of Michigan and foreclosures as head of OneWest cial crisis, pursue tougher trade OneWest, subsequently fore- sian ambassador to the United Elijah Cummings of Maryland. Bank after the 2007-2009 hous- policies on China and Mexico to closed on more than 36,000 States before Trump took offi ce US Representative Adam Schiff ing collapse. reduce US trade defi cits, and re- homeowners, drawing charges and misled Vice-President Mike of California, ranking Democrat President Donald Trump has duce business tax rates. from housing advocates that it Pence about the conversations. on the House Permanent Select criticised opponents for delaying Mnuchin faces immediate was a “foreclosure machine”. Flynn’s resignation came Committee on Intelligence, said his nominees. challenges with the March 15 ex- Mnuchin grew OneWest into hours after it was reported that that Flynn’s departure does not He was promptly sworn in at piration of a US debt ceiling sus- Southern California’s largest the Justice Department had end the questions over his con- the White House by Vice-Presi- pension, ushering in the threat lender and sold it for $3.4bn in warned the White House weeks tacts with the Russians. dent Mike Pence, in a ceremony of a new default showdown, and 2015. ago that Flynn could be vulner- Flynn: has apologised for ‘misleading’ Pence about his contacts with “The Trump administration also attended by Trump and a March 17 meeting of fi nance He has also helped fi nance able to blackmail for contacts the Russian ambassador. has yet to be forthcoming about Mnuchin’s fi ancee, Louise Lin- ministers from the Group of Hollywood blockbusters such as with Russian ambassador Sergey who was aware of Flynn’s con- ton, a Scottish actress. 20 major economies, where he Avatar, American Sniper and this Kislyak before Trump took power tral Command, are under con- Another offi cial said that versations with the ambassador Trump praised his new Treas- will face tough questions about past weekend’s box offi ce cham- on January 20. sideration for the position, a Flynn’s departure may strength- and whether he was acting on the ury chief as a “fi nancial legend Trump’s plans to increase trade pion, The Lego Batman Movie, Flynn’s departure was a so- White House offi cial said. en the hands of some cabinet instructions of the president or with a track record of success”. protections. which took in $55.6mn. bering development in Trump’s Harward was described by of- secretaries, including Defence any other offi cials, or with their “He will fi ght for middle-class In April, Mnuchin will have The Senate on Monday also young presidency, a 24-day peri- fi cials as the leading candidate. Secretary Jim Mattis and Secre- knowledge,” Schiff said. tax reductions, fi nancial reforms to determine whether to declare unanimously confi rmed David od during which his White House A US offi cial confi rmed a tary of State Rex Tillerson. The committee’s chair- that open up lending and create China a currency manipulator as Shulkin as secretary of veter- has been repeatedly distracted by Washington Post report that However, the second offi cial man, Republican Devin Nunes, millions of new jobs, and fi ercely part of Treasury’s semi-annual ans aff airs (VA), putting the only miscues and internal dramas. Sally Yates, the then-acting US said, Flynn’s exit could also re- thanked Flynn for his service. defend the American tax dol- currency report. holdover from the Obama ad- The departure could slow attorney general, told the White inforce the power of presidential “Washington DC can be a lar and your fi nancial security,” “There is a real open question ministration in charge of the sec- Trump’s bid to warm up relations House late last month that she aides Steve Bannon and Stephen rough town for honourable peo- Trump said. “And he will also as to whether this administra- ond largest federal agency. with Russian President Vladimir believed Flynn had misled them Miller, whom he described as al- ple, and Flynn – who has always defend our manufacturing jobs tion is going to cut itself off from Shulkin had been in charge of Putin. about the nature of his commu- ready having the president’s ear. been a soldier, not a politician – from those who cheat and steal international monetary coop- the VA’s sprawling health system Flynn submitted his resigna- nications with the Russian am- Congressional Democrats ex- deserves America’s gratitude and and rob us blind.” eration, whether it’s exchange for the past 18 months. tion hours after Trump, through bassador. pressed alarm at the develop- respect,” he said. Lawmakers, lobbyists and rate policies or attitudes towards White House spokesman Sean a spokesman, pointedly declined She said that Flynn might have business groups have been nerv- multilateral institutions or inter- Spicer said Shulkin would be to publicly back Flynn, saying put himself in a compromising Senators query president’s smartphone security ously waiting for Mnuchin to national regulatory policy,” said sworn in later today. that he was reviewing the situa- position, possibly leaving him- take offi ce and fi ll in the many Edwin Truman, a former Treas- Trump “has selected two well- tion and talking to Pence. self vulnerable to blackmail, the Two US senators have requested details on President Donald Trump’s blanks on how he will pursue tax ury and Federal Reserve offi cial qualifi ed candidates to lead the Flynn had promised Pence offi cial said. smartphone security, saying that he could jeopardise national secrets if he reform and handle delicate eco- now with the Peterson Institute charge on strengthening our that he had not discussed US Yates was later fi red for op- is still using his old handset, as some reports say. nomic co-operation eff orts with for International Economics. economy and providing veterans sanctions with the Russians, but posing Trump’s temporary entry “Did Trump receive a secured, encrypted smartphone for his personal China, Mexico and other trading Among Mnuchin’s biggest jobs with more of the care they de- transcripts of intercepted com- ban for people from seven mostly use on or before January 20? If so, is he using it?” said a tweet yesterday partners worried that Trump’s is managing a sprawling con- serve”, Senate Majority Leader munications, described by US Muslim nations. by Senator Tom Carper, who along with fellow Democrat Claire McCaskill “America First” strategy will up- gressional tax reform eff ort that Mitch McConnell said. offi cials, showed that the subject A US offi cial, describing the released a letter to the administration requesting information on the presi- had come up in conversations intercepted communications, dent’s device. “Trump should be well aware by now of the appropriate and between him and the Russian said that Flynn did not make any necessary protocol to safeguard our nation’s secrets.” ambassador. promises about lifting the sanc- The letter from the two lawmakers, dated February 9, was sent to Defence Such contacts could potential- tions. Secretary James Mattis along with Homeland Security chief John Kelly ly be in violation of a law banning But he did indicate that sanc- and the National Security Agency director Michael Rogers. private citizens from engaging in tions imposed by President The senators released the letter late on Monday. foreign policy, known as the Lo- Barack Obama on Russia for its The lawmakers said they were concerned by reports that Trump was still gan Act. Ukraine incursion “would not using an Android device that may be several years old for his frequent Pence had defended Flynn in necessarily carry over to an ad- Twitter messages. television interviews and was ministration seeking to improve “While it is important for the president to have the ability to communicate described by administration offi - relations between the US and electronically, it is equally important that he does so in a manner that is cials as upset about being misled. Russia,” the offi cial said. secure and that ensures the preservation of presidential records,” the let- “Unfortunately, because of the Flynn, a retired US Army lieu- ter said. “The national security risks of compromising a smartphone used fast pace of events, I inadvert- tenant general, was an early sup- by a senior government off icial, such as the president of the United States, ently briefed the vice-president- porter of Trump and shares his are considerable.” elect and others with incomplete interest in shaking up the estab- The New York Times reported last month that while Trump had received a information regarding my phone lishment in Washington. new, secure device after his inauguration, he still relied on his older device calls with the Russian ambassa- He frequently raised eyebrows despite protests from aides. dor. I have sincerely apologised among Washington’s foreign That report prompted a flurry of comments from security experts who ar- to the president and the vice- policy establishment for trying gued that the president would be inviting danger by using his old personal president, and they have accept- to persuade Trump to warm up phone. ed my apology,” Flynn said in his US relations with Russia. Trump’s smartphone “would probably be the most widely prized device on resignation letter. A US offi cial said that Flynn’s the Internet for hackers – and top of the target list for intelligence agencies Mnuchin is congratulated by Vice-President Pence after being sworn in as Treasury Secretary in the Oval Retired general Keith Kellogg, departure, coupled with Rus- around the world,” said independent security researcher Graham Cluley in Off ice of the White House. With them are President Trump and Mnuchin’s fiancee Louise Linton. who has been chief of staff of the sia’s aggression in Ukraine and a blog post yesterday. White House National Security Syria and Republican congres- Last month, Nicholas Weaver of the International Computer Science Insti- Name misspelling Council, was named the acting sional opposition to removing tute in Berkeley, California, warned that “Trump’s continued use of a dan- national security adviser while sanctions on Russia, removes gerously insecure, out-of-date Android device should cause real panic”. bungles message Trump determines who should Trump’s most ardent advocate of Writing on the Lawfare blog, Weaver noted that hackers could gain access Challenge to travel fi ll the position. taking a softer line toward Putin. to the phone’s location as well as its microphone and camera and that “the The new head of the US Kellogg, retired general David Flynn’s leaving “may make a working assumption should be that Trump’s phone is compromised by at Department of Education faced Petraeus, a former CIA director, signifi cant course change less least one – probably multiple – hostile foreign intelligence services and is searing criticism on social media and Robert Harward, a former likely, at least any time soon”, the actively being exploited”. on Sunday for a misspelled ban moves forward deputy commander of US Cen- offi cial said. name in a message about the importance of education posted on Twitter. Just days after Betsy DeVos, in two courts the department’s controversial new chief was sworn in, the No return department posted the phrase Reuters after its legality was challenged “Education must not simply teach San Francisco by Washington state, eliciting a work – it must teach life” on the barrage of angry Twitter mes- home in social media platform. sages from Trump against the The quote is from the late WEB he most consequen- judge and the court system. Du Bois, who helped found the tial legal challenge to US That ruling was upheld by sight for NAACP (National Association for TPresident Donald Trump’s a three-judge panel at the 9th the Advancement of Coloured travel ban will proceed on two US Circuit Court of Appeals in People), the oldest and largest tracks in the next few days, in- San Francisco last week, raising Oroville civil rights organisation in the cluding a US appeals court vote questions about Trump’s next United States. that could reveal some judges step. But the tweet misspelled the who disagree with their col- At a Seattle court hearing on residents name of the revered historian and leagues on the bench and sup- Monday, Robart said that he civil rights activist, attributing it port the arguments behind the would move forward with dis- to WEB DeBois. new president’s most controver- covery in the case, meaning the Reuters The response was scathing, and sial executive order. request and exchange of infor- Oroville, California came just days after DeVos won In a Seattle federal courtroom, mation pertinent to the case be- Senate confirmation only after the state of Washington will at- tween the opposing parties. Vice-President Mike Pence in his tempt to probe the president’s Meanwhile, an unidentifi ed ens of thousands of Cali- role as president of the Senate motive in drafting his January 27 judge on the 9th Circuit last week fornians faced an indefi - cast a vote to break a 50-50 tie. order, while in the 9th US Cir- requested that the court’s 25 full- Tnite stay in shelters as “If you want it to seem like you cuit Court of Appeals, judges will time judges vote on whether the engineers worked for a second really care, taking 15 secs to be decide whether to reconsider an temporary restraining order im- day yesterday to fi x the United sure you spell someone’s name appeal in that same case decided posed on Trump’s ban should States’ tallest dam before more right is fundamental,” one Twitter last week. be reconsidered by an 11-judge storms sweep the region. user wrote. Trump’s directive, which he panel, known as en banc review. After what looks set to be Crews work on a damaged section of the Oroville Dam in Oroville, California yesterday. DeVos, 58, is one of the most said was necessary to protect the The 9th Circuit asked both the wettest winter in Northern controversial figures in President United States from attacks by Is- sides to fi le briefs by tomorrow, California following years of Feather River valley below the a news conference on Monday structure, built between 1962 Donald Trump’s new cabinet. lamist militants, barred people Thursday. drought, more rain was forecast dam, 65 miles (105km) north of evening. and 1968, it is more than 40’ The billionaire chief executive from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Meanwhile, the US govern- for as early as today and through Sacramento. On Monday, Brown sent a taller than the Hoover Dam. of the Windquest Group from Sudan, Syria and Yemen from ment has signalled that it is con- Sunday, according to the Na- Authorities say they had letter to US President Donald On Monday afternoon, crews Michigan previously served entering the country for 90 days. sidering issuing a new executive tional Weather Service (NWS). averted the immediate danger Trump asking him to issue an dropped large bags fi lled with as the head of the Republican Refugees were banned for 120 order to replace the original one. Crews were working to shore of a catastrophic failure at the emergency declaration, which rocks into a gap at the top of the Party in her home state, but she days, except those from Syria, In that case, it could tell the up an overfl ow channel and dam that could unleash a wall of would open up federal assist- emergency spillway to rebuild otherwise has no government who were banned indefi nitely. 9th Circuit later this week that drain the reservoir at the Lake water three stories tall on towns ance for the aff ected communi- the eroded hillside. The main experience and no direct The ban was backed by around it does not want en banc review, Oroville Dam but authorities below. ties, after an emergency over- spillway, a separate channel, experience in education. half of Americans, according to a because the case would be moot. gave no indication of when it “We’re doing everything we fl ow channel appeared on the is damaged because part of its Critics questioned what made Reuters/Ipsos poll, but triggered “You would think Jeff Sessions would be safe for people to go can to get this dam in shape that brink of collapse. concrete lining fell last week. DeVos a good candidate to head protests across the country and would do whatever he had to do home. they can return and they can live The earth-fi lled dam is just Both spillways are to the side the department when she did caused chaos at some US and to get this case ended as soon as Late on Sunday, about safely without fear. It’s very dif- upstream and east of Oroville, of the dam itself, which has not not attend public school herself overseas airports. possible,” Hellman said, refer- 188,000 residents were ordered fi cult,” California Governor Jer- a town of about 16,000 people. been compromised, engineers and sent her own four children to US District Judge James Robart ring to the recently appointed US to evacuate their homes in the ry Brown told reporters during At 770’ (230m) high, the said. private institutions. in Seattle suspended the order attorney general. Gulf Times Wednesday, February 15, 2017 15 ASIA/AUSTRALASIA

TRIAL WEATHER APPOINTMENT CRACKDOWN ENVIRONMENT Hot enough to fry an Thailand’s princess China expels dozens of Fishermen in Vietnam egg on a car in Australia takes on UN role S Korean missionaries clash over toxic waste

Video of an Australian police off icer frying an The United Nations Off ice on Drugs and Crime Beijing has expelled dozens of South Korean Scores of fishermen clashed with police yesterday egg on the bonnet of his patrol vehicle during (UNODC) yesterday appointed Thai Princess Baj- missionaries working in northeast China including in central Vietnam as they tried to file lawsuits a heatwave has gone viral on social media. The rakitiyabha, King Vajiralongkorn’s eldest daughter, some helping North Korean refugees, activists demanding compensation after a toxic waste video posted on the Queensland Police Service’s as its goodwill ambassador on the rule of law said yesterday, as relations sour over Seoul’s dump by a Taiwanese firm killed tonnes of fish Facebook page shows an off icer from the town for Southeast Asia, the UN body in Bangkok an- planned US missile defence system. Around 170 last year, activists said. The mass fish deaths of Birdsville cooking an egg with a frying pan on nounced. Bajrakitiyabha, 38, the eldest grandchild South Koreans — including 70 missionaries and destroyed livelihoods in communities along the the hood of his vehicle. The scene from Big Red, of the late king Bhumibol Adulyadej who died in their family members — in the province of Jilin coast in central Vietnam where fishing is the main among the famous red sand dunes of Australia’s October after seven decades on the throne, has bordering North Korea were expelled between source of livelihood. The Taiwanese firm behind Simpson Desert, has drawn more than 3mn views held several international positions. A graduate of January 10 and February 10, human rights activist the environmental disaster Formosa has paid Former British war correspondent David Fox since it was posted on Friday. Temperatures in Cornell Law School, Bajrakitiyabha was appointed Pastor Kim Hee-Tae said. “Chinese authorities $500mn to the government of Vietnam, some speaks to his lawyer in a holding cell in Denpasar Birdsville usually reach a high of 38C, but soared UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador in 2008 and raided the homes of the missionaries, citing a of which authorities started dispersing last year. Bali. Fox, who was charged with using, possessing last Sunday to a record 47.1C. The extreme heat elected Chairperson of the United Nations Com- problem with their visas, and told them to leave,” But the fishermen who tried to file suits yesterday and transporting hashish last October, could be roiling out of Australia’s desert interior has fanned mission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Kim said, adding that most of them were on tour- said they have yet to receive any compensation jailed for several years if found guilty. bushfires on the country’s east coast. (CCPCJ) in 2011. ist or student visas. and are demanding payouts from Formosa.

Jakarta votes today for new governor as Jong-nam, the N Korea race gets colourful

Reuters will resonate with voters, in Jakarta much the same way that US President Donald Trump’s heir who fell from grace ‘Make America Great Again’ upporters of the governor red baseball caps did. Agencies of Indonesia’s capital are “It’s simple, easily remem- Seoul, Kuala Lumpur Shoping their checkered bered and is a symbol for hard shirts in red, white and blue will workers,” said Purnama cam- help galvanise the vote in a city paign offi cial Guntur Romli. alaysian police yes- election today and win a second “We’re invoking that memo- terday confi rmed that term for their leader. ry,” Romli said, referring to rec- MNorth Korean leader Basuki Tjahaja Purnama is ollections of Widodo, a hugely Kim Jong-un’s estranged half- Jakarta’s fi rst ethnic Chinese popular Jakarta governor who brother Kim Jong-nam has died. and Christian governor, and has retained strong backing af- Kim Jong-nam died en route to the election in the city of 10mn ter his move to the presidential hospital from Kuala Lumpur In- people has stoked religious ten- palace. ternational Airport, police told sion in the country. Near Purnama’s campaign Malaysian media. Purnama has won middle- headquarters, the red, white South Korean media reports class support for cutting red and dark blue checkered shirts said that Kim had been poisoned tape and improving the per- cost up to 170,000 rupiah ($13) by two North Korean operatives formance of the bureaucracy, and have recently been selling at the airport. Media reports but he has been campaigning fast at street stalls. said Kim has never met North for re-election while on trial for Hats, mugs and key chains Korea’s leader and was attacked A man watches a television showing news reports of Kim Jong-nam, the blasphemy, after being accused bearing the likeness of Pur- by two unidentifi ed women with half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in Seoul. of insulting the Holy Qur’an. nama, who is known by his “poisoned needles”. He denies doing so. nickname Ahok, were also on They used to call him the “Lit- Japanese journalist published in Jakarta — and was said to be The checkered shirts were display. Offi ce worker Emma tle General” but Kim Jong-nam in 2012, Jong-nam spoke dis- shuttling back and forth be- fi rst popularised by his pred- Kusuma, who was browsing — once heir-apparent to his paragingly of Jong-un, saying tween Singapore, Indonesia, ecessor as city governor, Joko through the merchandise this father and North Korea’s then- he lacked “any sense of duty or Malaysia and France. Widodo, who became president week, said she had made the leader Kim Jong-Il — fell from seriousness” and warned that In 2012 a Moscow newspaper of the world’s third-largest de- trip from the outskirts of Ja- grace in 2001 after a spectacular bribery and corruption would reported that Jong-nam was mocracy in 2014. The shirts karta. blunder. lead to North Korea’s eventual having fi nancial problems af- are aimed at invoking a folksy “I was hoping to catch a Born from his father’s rela- collapse. ter being cut off by the Stalinist charm and conjuring up a sense glimpse of Ahok and take pho- tionship with actress Sung Hae- In another exchange with the state for doubting its succession of hard work, and Purnama of- tos with him,” she said. Other rim, Jong-nam is known to have same reporter in 2012, Jong- policy. The Argumenty i Fakty ten wears one. businesses are also trying to been a computer enthusiast, a nam said: “Anyone with normal weekly said he was kicked out His supporters have also tak- cash in: fast-food chains and fl uent Japanese speaker and a thinking would fi nd it diffi cult to of a luxury hotel in Macau over a en up the fashion, turning up at online shopping sites have student in both Russia and Swit- tolerate three generations of he- $15,000 debt. his weekly court appearances launched election promotions, zerland. He lived in Pyongyang reditary succession.” Jong-nam’s son Kim Han-sol where they are separated by including discounts for those after fi nishing his overseas stud- In October 2012 South Korean studied at university in Paris. police in colourful contrast to who share the same name as ies and was put in charge of A man believed to be Kim Jong-nam emerges from a bus as he is prosecutors said a North Korean Back in 2012, when at school in white-clad members of a hard- candidates. overseeing North Korea’s infor- escorted by Japanese authorities upon his deportation from Japan at detained as a spy had admitted Bosnia, he labelled his uncle Kim line group calling for Purnama Purnama, who was Widodo’s mation technology policy. Tokyo’s Narita airport in this file photo. involvement in a plot to stage Jong-un a “dictator” in an inter- to be jailed. deputy when he was running But the chubby eldest son of a hit-and-run car accident in view. Purnama suff ered a hit in Jakarta, is in a tight race with the supreme leader was already ing to enter Japan to visit Dis- Macau, Singapore and China. China in 2010 targeting Jong- “My dad (Jong-nam) was not the polls, apparently related Agus Yudhoyono, the son of seen by Seoul experts as some- neyland on a false Dominican Jong-nam’s half-brother Jong- nam. really interested in politics,” Kim to his trial, but his support has former president Susilo Bam- thing of a political lightweight Republic passport, accompanied un took over as North Korean In 2014, Jong-nam was re- told the interviewer when asked rebounded over the past few bang Yudhoyono, and a former when in 2001 he fell out of fa- by two women and a child. leader when their father died in ported to be in Indonesia — why his father was passed over weeks. His campaign team is education minister, Anies Bas- vour. He was embarrassingly Jong-nam and his family af- December 2011. sighted at an Italian restaurant for the dynastic succession in hoping the checkered shirts wedan. detained at a Tokyo airport, try- terwards lived in virtual exile in In an e-mail exchange with a run by a Japanese businessman favour of his younger brother.

China’s Xi says Adopted on V-Day off icials should Kin mourn victims prevent abuse of Taiwan bus crash of power Top Chinese off icials need to AFP Relatives returned to the “build a fence” to ensure nei- Taipei scene of the accident yesterday ther they nor those around to perform a religious ritual them abuse power, and must for the dead. They threw ban- practise greater self-discipline, istraught relatives in knotes towards the slope where state media cited President Xi Taiwan gathered to the bus crashed and chanted Jinping as saying as he drives Dmourn loved ones yes- prayers. home his anti-corruption terday after a bus carrying eld- Family members, some in message. erly local tourists fl ipped on tears, also gathered at a Taipei Since assuming off ice four its side and left 33 dead in one funeral parlour where some years ago, Xi has waged war of the island’s worst-ever road bodies are being stored. One on deep-seated graft, warn- accidents. of them said the agency that ing, like others before him, The group of 44 people had organised the trip should “take that the problem is so bad it been returning from a trip to responsibility” for the disaster. could aff ect the party’s grip see seasonal cherry blossoms Dozens of Buddhist volun- on power. Dozens of senior at a farm in central Taichung teers fl anked the entrance to figures have been jailed for region when their bus veered the hall, praying for the dead. corruption and abusing their off a highway on Monday night Ente Li was at the parlour with positions, including China’s on the outskirts of Taipei. his 37-year-old cousin, whose once powerful domestic se- Television footage showed sister and parents were killed. curity chief, Zhou Yongkang. the top of the vehicle ripped off , “They were a family of four liv- Speaking at a workshop on with occupants tossed onto the ing together — he didn’t feel fighting graft, Xi said leading roadside. The latest victim died like going along,” Li told AFP. off icials must practice strict yesterday morning after suff er- President Tsai Ing-wen vis- self-discipline and “eliminate ing multiple injuries and inter- ited the funeral parlour yester- special privileges”, state news A member (second, right) of SOSD, a volunteer-run dog shelter organisation, introduces off ice workers to an adopted stray dog during a nal bleeding, Wanfang Hospital day afternoon and spoke briefl y agency Xinhua said late on Valentine’s Day outreach event at Raff les Place business district in Singapore yesterday. said, bringing the toll to 33. It to relatives. Some reports said Monday. was the latest in a series of dead- the driver of the bus had been Senior off icials should “build ly incidents that have tarnished working for 14 hours straight. a fence against special privi- Taiwan’s safety record, after a But Ringo Lee of the Travel leges to prevent themselves bus fi re last July killed 25 Chinese Agent Association of Taiwan and those around them from holidaymakers. said the driver had had “suf- abusing power” and use their Police are investigating fi cient rest” before taking the power impartially, cautiously Australia, Indonesia join hands to protect WWII wreck whether the bus in the latest group to the popular scenic and legally, the news agency crash was speeding at the time, area of Wuling. cited Xi as saying. Reuters Java during the Battle of Sunda Perth had also participated in, Cultural Heritage, introduced in according to reports. Dashcam The driver had two out- Close relatives, especially Sydney Strait. Of the 681 crew on board, had been completely stripped by 2001. David Steinberg, the presi- footage reported to be from a standing traffi c violations, in- wives and children, have 353 perished. During the same marine salvagers, who have ran- dent of the Australasian Institute vehicle behind the bus shows cluding one for not wearing a been implicated in many battle, the USS Houston was sacked many other wrecks lying of Maritime Archaeology, said it turning off the main highway seatbelt, but no drunk-driving recent corruption scandals. ustralia and Indonesia are sunk. Only 368 of its 1,061 crew in Indonesian waters. the case of the Perth and other onto an adjoining road. It then record, according to the trans- The workshop was focused sending divers to inspect survived. “We are very aware that there wartime wrecks showed the im- fl ipped over, leaving behind a port ministry. on last October’s Commu- Athe wreck of a warship “A physical dive on the site are concerns in the community portance of ratifying the conven- mangled pile of metal which Lee added that the 19-year- nist Party plenum, which torpedoed off the coast of Java with archeologists will be the and we are doing everything we tion. was cleared later by cranes. old bus was a “high-class ve- strengthened rules to prevent during World War II next month only way to gain a clear picture can, working in close partnership A joint dive with Indonesia’s Passengers were asleep at hicle”. The ministry said it was corruption and also anointed to determine how best to protect of what remains of Perth,” said with our Indonesian colleagues, National Research Centre of Ar- the time of the crash. One sur- due for a check in April. Xi as “core” leader of the the site from looters who have Kevin Sumption, director of the to secure formal protection of the chaeology originally set for Oc- vivor described it as “hell.” An investigation into last party. stripped numerous other WWII Australian National Maritime site,” Sumption said. tober had to be postponed due to “The bus was lopsided when year’s fatal bus inferno outside Xi’s comments come ahead wrecks. Museum. Divers discovered in Australia, Indonesia and the the early onset of the monsoon it was passing the turn and Taipei found the driver had in- of an important reshuff le of The Australian cruiser HMAS November that the wrecks of United States are yet to ratify season. A subsequent attempt at people were waking up and tentionally set fi re to it in a sui- the top leadership, at a 19th Perth was sunk by Japanese forc- two Dutch warships sunk in the the United Nations Convention a sonar survey was inconclusive, screaming,” 54-year-old Hsiao cide bid before it veered into a Party Congress, which is es in 1942 off the northwest tip of Battle of the Java Sea, which the on the Protection of Underwater Sumption said. Shiu-hua told the China Times. crash barrier. expected late this year. Gulf Times 16 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 BRITAIN

INFLATION CRIME INTERNET ENVIRONMENT FASHION CPI soars as petrol, courgette Woman fighting for Cybercrime body launches Time ‘running out’ to protect Debbie Harry crowned prices turn up the heat life following assault private sector drive kids from air pollution Style Icon at Elle Awards

Rising fuel prices and the supermarket A woman is fighting for life in hospital after she was Britain’s new National Cyber Security Centre More than 220 doctors have warned time is “running Debbie Harry, frontwoman of rock band Blondie, “courgette crunch” caused the cost of living to attacked in east London, police say. Police were (NCSC) invited private sector companies to train out” to tackle the toxic air scandal to protect children. was crowned a fashion icon at London’s Elle Style rise at its fastest rate since June 2014 last month, called by paramedics to Krithia Road in Dagenham and collaborate with it on cyber defence, as The medics wrote to Theresa May urging her to start Awards, and she thanked her punk influences off icial figures showed yesterday. The Consumer on Monday at 10.30pm after the woman was Queen Elizabeth formally opened its London hub phasing out diesel vehicles as soon as possible to for defining her style. “Coming from the punk Prices Index rose from 1.6% to 1.8% in January, found lying unconscious. Detectives say the victim yesterday. The NCSC started last October and is cut harmful fumes on the streets. “A national diesel point of view, which was very deconstructionist, pushing closer to the Bank’s 2% inflation target. was knocked out after sustaining injuries during moving into a new operations centre in Victoria, reduction initiative, led by government, will represent destructive, and disrespectful, you have to find The rise was driven by a 3.4% rise in pump an assault. The woman, whose age is currently central London. The “NCSC Industry 100” initiative a major health advance,” they said. “However, time something in yourself that makes you feel a lot prices last month. Also, food prices fell at their unknown, was rushed to an east London hospital will look to embed people from industry to identify is running out, without urgent action emissions from of diff erent ways,” she told Reuters at the red slowest pace for two and a half years, putting by ambulance where her condition is described as threats, vulnerabilities, and develop advice to diesel vehicles will cause irreversible lung damage to carpet event late Monday. “So you have to feel upward pressure on the cost of living. Until life-threatening. The road and neighbouring streets combat cyber attacks. NCSC head Ciaran Martin the current generation of children.” They highlighted beautiful, you have to feel comfortable. I have to recently shoppers have benefited from falling around the Castle Green area were cordoned off as said Britain had been the target of 188 cyber attacks “strong and growing” evidence of a wide range of feel sexy.” Harry, who attended the event with food prices and a supermarket price war but this off icers and a forensics team combed the scene for in the last three months and warned a major attack health impacts over lifetimes from nitrogen dioxide Blondie co-founder Chris Stein, playfully wore a is rapidly unwinding thanks to factors such as clues. Residents said a subway near Renwick Road was likely in the future. The NCSC currently expects (NO2) and black carbon (soot) emissions. “For example, crown designed by Vivienne Westwood, while blighted Spanish harvests pushing up the cost had also been taped off by investigators. Off icers the proposed secondment programme — which in infants and children there is strong evidence that posing for photographers. Harry also wore a of courgettes and turning Iceberg lettuces into a from Barking and Dagenham are investigating the will embed 100 private sector staff by the end of exposure to fossil fuel-derived air pollution stunts lung Westwood red suit with a black-and-white shirt rare treat. assault.There have been no arrests so far. financial year 2017/18 — to be funded by industry. growth,” they explained. and shoes. Servicemen Lift off and women to be off ered time off All personnel will be allowed per day if they choose to re- double fi gures in Devon and 93 days a year to be with their duce their hours. Cornwall Guardian News Lon- families In addition, the newspaper don A bitterly cold snap that reported how troops involved sprinkled snow across parts Guardian News in the campaign against Isis of the UK will give way to London would be entitled to “opt out”. sunshine with temperatures But the Guardian understands potentially reaching double requests by personnel to cut fi gures yesterday, forecast- ritish military personnel their working hours will be ers have said. The mercury is will be allowed to work a looked at on a case by case ba- expected to climb to about 5C Bthree-day week and pull sis by their superior offi cer. (41F) across the south of Eng- out of frontline duties as part A request is likely to be re- land and could reach a high of Britain’s Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge takes part in a team building exercise with cadets during a visit to RAF Wittering. of a pilot scheme currently be- fused if the individual is al- 11C in Devon, Cornwall and ing tested. ready deployed or committed south-west Wales. All personnel, including to a campaign. But gale-force winds of up Special Air Service troops, “Every member of Britain’s to 75mph (120km/h), which RAF pilots and Royal Marines, armed forces taking part in this have prompted a Met Offi ce will be allowed to take 93 days pilot could be required to de- yellow warning for the Welsh a year off in order to spend ploy on operations at any time coast, threaten to stifl e any Man testifi es using eye-tracking technology more time with family as part should the need arise,” said an warmth. of the trial. MoD spokesman. “This pilot is The Met Offi ce meteorolo- The move is the latest step part of a modern off er to help gist Charles Powell said: “It’ll Guardian News diary provided by the Ministry of mouth, was found guilty last The pioneering criminologist in modernising the military Britain’s world-class armed be dry and pretty bright, but London Justice. Wednesday and is due to be sen- Dame Joyce Plotnikoff , who helps and cutting costs at a time forces keep the broadest range windy. The eye-tracking technol- tenced on 10 March. vulnerable witnesses and de- when the fight against Is- of people and give them and Everyone will have a windy ogy is similar to the screen used The off ences were reported to fendants give evidence in court, lamic State is its only combat their families the broadest day, especially across the hills former church choris- by Cambridge physicist Stephen police in August 2015 and Rowe supports Intermediaries for Jus- operation. service opportunities.” and mountains.” ter rendered immobile by Hawking to communicate. was charged in September 2016. tice. Around 500 troops remain The MoD also said soldiers There were whiteout condi- A motor neurone disease The 47-year-old former chor- All the indecent assaults were She told the Guardian: “The in Afghanistan in a mentoring would have to apply for this tions on the A66 in the north has been helped to fulfi l his dy- ister, who has not been identi- committed against one victim court tested this witness’s evi- and training capacity to the “limited period of reduced li- of England on Sunday as snow ing wish — to give courtroom fi ed, used the technology to recall between 1979 and 1981. dence through use of technol- country’s Taliban-threatened ability”. Col Richard Kemp, fell overnight from East Anglia evidence against his abuser using the attacks during his childhood. The unnamed chorister was ogy and the involvement of an army, down from 9,500 in who served between 1977 and to Cumbria. eye-tracking technology. Although he achieved his aim between nine and 11 years old at independent intermediary who 2009. 2006 and was commander of There was heavy snow, rain In what is believed to be the of getting justice, the man did the time. assessed his ability to communi- The British army has British forces in Afghanistan, and sleet in the Pennines, cou- fi rst time Eyegaze equipment has not live to hear the outcome of A Met statement confi rmed cate and read out his answers. 139,420 full-time trained per- criticised the trial. pled with strong north-east- been used for cross-examination the case. that the trial had fi nished. “The Even in these straitened times, sonnel on its books, down by “This is absolutely incred- erly winds. in a British crown court, a retired A Metropolitan police offi cer victim gave evidence at court via the system can provide access to 1.3% on January 2016. ible,” he told the Mail on Sun- Up to 6in of snow fell on the Anglican vicar has been convict- was sent to Streatham to deliver a link from a hospice in Streath- justice to those with communi- The army is estimated to be day. “How can it do anything highest ground. ed of three counts of indecent as- news of the guilty verdict, but his am,” a spokesman said. “He suf- cation needs.” the smallest it has been since but undermine our national Temperatures dropped to sault dating back to the 1970s. errand was cancelled before he fered from motor neurone dis- A CPS spokesperson said: the beginning of the Napo- defence? Our armed forces are -0.5C in the south-east on The victim, who was a young could reach the hospice after the ease, and, by blinking his eyes, “Mobility or health issues need leonic wars at the start of the already tiny, yet we’re going to Saturday night in Goudhurst, boy when the off ences occurred, force was informed that the vic- he was able to ‘speak’ to the court not be a barrier to witnesses giv- 19th century. give people exemptions from Kent, and -9.8C in Altnaharra recorded his evidence and was tim had just died. via eye-tracking technology. ing their evidence in court. The Flexible Duties Trial frontline operations.” in the far north of Scotland. then questioned by lawyers at Cyril Rowe, now 78, was a vicar “The victim died, aged 47, on The CPS will always do eve- document, which the MoD In a tweet, he said the next The lowest recorded tem- Bournemouth crown court via at St Matthias Anglican church the same day that the guilty ver- rything we can to ensure victims says was leaked to the Mail on step would be an army which perature of winter so far was video link as he lay in a hospice in Stoke Newington, London, dict was returned. and witnesses can give their best Sunday, will also cut soldiers’ knocks off work at 5pm. -11C in Cromdale, Moray, on 5 bed in Streatham, south London. where the boy was in the choir. He never heard that Rowe had evidence, including using the tax-free bonuses of up to £50 Temperatures could reach December. He was helped by an interme- Rowe, now living in Bourne- been convicted.” latest technology.” Sotheby’s says buyers tuning in to German postwar masters’

Guardian News “There is an unprecedented ing Tillmans’s, which will open interest in German art is in part consciously or subconsciously. London interest being shown in Ger- at Tate Modern in London on 15 due to the artists’ attempts to Klosterfelde believes it “will man contemporary art,” said February. use their work to come to terms become a very accepted word in Toby Skeggs, a Sotheby’s Meanwhile, the star of Sothe- with Germany’s history, and also modern art history”. Of Kiefer or years, contemporary art spokesman.”To have such a rep- by’s Contemporary Art Evening to modern-day politics, which (aged 71), Richter (85), Baselitz sales at the world’s leading resentation from one country is Auction in London on 8 March has sensitised collectors. (79), he added: “All of them are Fauction houses were dom- remarkable given today’s glo- will be Baselitz’s Mit Roter “There is the unique condi- quite open about this.” inated by the works of American balised art world.” Fahne (With a Red Flag), which tion of being German in the Younger artists represented, and British artists. At the auction house’s last big is expected to break the record 20th century,” he said. “Collec- such as Tillmans, 49, the fi rst When it came to eye-watering contemporary art sale in Oc- for the amount raised by one of tors from as far afi eld as Asia to photographer to win the Turn- Artist Wolfgang Tillmans amounts of money, paintings by tober, work by German artists his works. North America have been tuning er prize in 2000, and Krebber, anglophone fi gures including accounted for more than 43% — Estimated at between £6.5mn into this and picking up on the 63, a former studio assistant from 1982 was created following atory faces of the men depicted Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock nearly £21mn — of the sale total. to £8.5mn, the 1965 work is very specifi c way in which the to Baselitz, had “inherited the a polar expedition Richter un- looking down on the victim of and Francis Bacon were typically Over the past fi ve years there taken from the Heroes series, artists have dealt with the trau- heaviness”, from the older art- dertook to escape marital strife. a bloody attack are facing the the headline-makers. has been a 31% increase inter- considered one of the most im- ma, turbulence and upheaval in ists who were their teachers, It is described as one of the viewer. But in what it has been de- nationally in bidders for con- portant works by Baselitz, who the wake of world war two and Klosterfelde said. artist’s “damaged landscapes”, The Reichstag in a charred scribed as a “sensational devel- temporary German art, a 22% once described himself as hav- used that to produce great art. Richter is arguably the trail- series which encompass aerial state — recalling the 1933 fi re opment”, increase in London. ing been “born into a destroyed “Amid the current political blazer in the trend for German views of bombed cities as well as that was a key event in the es- Sotheby’s — the highest value Other big German names rep- order”.He was seven when the climate, it would seem these art. the emotional charge of postwar tablishment of Nazi Germany auction house for contemporary resented in the forthcoming sale second world war ended and the artists works resonate more than He has been known for sev- trauma. — features in Kiefer’s 1991 work, art sales- has said German post- include Thomas Schütte, Wolf- subject has defi ned his oeuvre. ever. eral years as Europe’s most valu- Further lots include the late Athanor with an estimated price war masters are now defi ning gang Tillmans, Martin Kippen- In a 2015 interview with the Many of these German works able living artist and his record Kippenberger’s four-part 1984 tag of £1.5mn to £2mn. the scene. berger, Günther Uecker, Albert Guardian, he said: “This pres- are not new, but it is as if they stands at £30.4mn, set in Lon- oil painting Die Mutter von Like many of the German More than a quarter of the 64 Oehlen and Michael Krebber. sure of being German really have found their moment. don in February 2015 for his ab- Joseph Beuys (Joseph Beuy’s lots, “it encapsulates such lots at Sotheby’s next big sale of Most of their auction records made us what we are.Had we not “What the artists have in stract painting, Abstraktes Bild. Mother), estimated at £3- a rich lexicon of memories contemporary art in March will have been broken at recent sales, had it, I don’t know whether we common is the way in which the Five of his works will be in- 4mn, and the late Polke’s Die and histories”, according to be masterpieces by the likes of in further recognition of their would have succeeded as art- concept of cluded in next month’s sale, Schmiede (The Blacksmith), Klosterfelde, “its fragility sug- Georg Baselitz, Gerhard Richter, growing popularity. ists.” ‘Vergangenheitsbewltigung’, the most prominent of them is part of a series of pop imagery gesting the weaknesses of the Sigmar Polke and Anselm Kiefer All have recently been or are Martin Klosterfelde, Sothe- or ‘coming to terms with the Eisberg, which is estimated at comic paintings. past yet the fact it still barely — all of which are due to go on the subject of big museum exhi- by’s senior specialist of contem- past’, has come to shape and £8mn to £2mn. The buyer is advised to mount remains intact evokes a certain public display from 23 February. bitions, the most prominent be- porary art, believes the surge in defi ne them as artists, whether The photo realist painting it on the ceiling so that the pred- hope for the future.” Gulf Times Wednesday, February 15, 2017 17 BRITAIN Critics claim govt ‘has lost argument’ on grammars

Guardian News The Tory MP warned that if spread disquiet among Tory back- social mobility and improves edu- of which are described as already Russell Hobby, the general sec- can make more of an impact on a London the government wanted to push benchers about school funding cational outcomes for all, most es- in crisis by many in the sector, as retary of the National Association child’s future prospects. ahead with its plans, it would have changes, announced in December pecially those from disadvantaged well as the broader impact on other, of Head Teachers, said the report “There is strong evidence that to demonstrate how opening new by the education secretary, Justine backgrounds.” non-selective schools that stand to showed the government had lost selection at 11 damages outcomes he government has “lost the grammars would enhance social Greening, which they claim will “The focus on opening new lose their most able students and the argument on grammar schools overall. There is no support for argument” on grammars, it mobility and improve all children’s result in schools in their constitu- grammar schools is, in my view, an staff to grammars. and called for a rethink of the policy. this from school leaders; the plans Thas been claimed, after an educational outcomes, in particular encies losing thousands of pounds, unnecessary distraction from the The report also urges the govern- “To focus on schools that ignore to expand selection should be re- infl uential cross-party committee those from disadvantaged back- rather than gaining as they had need to ensure all our young people ment to explain how new grammars 90% of the population is a mas- thought entirely.” of MPs published a highly scepti- grounds. hoped. are equipped with the skills to com- would help close the attainment gap sive distraction. To pour millions of Responding to the committee cal report saying ministers have yet The report will be unwelcome Launching the report yesterday, pete in the modern workplace.” within the wider school system, not pounds into this system when state fi ndings, Sir Peter Lampl, chair of to prove the case for opening a new reading for Theresa May, who has Carmichael said: “The govern- The education committee — the just for individual pupils. school budgets are at breaking point the Sutton Trust education charity wave of selective schools. made the opening of more gram- ment has yet to prove the case for majority of whose members are And it recommends that 11-plus- is a terrible use of public funds. said until existing grammar schools After hearing wide-ranging evi- mar schools a key policy in her bid opening a new wave of grammar Conservative — demanded the style selection tests should not be “No other high-performing edu- demonstrate they can be vehicles dence from academics and policy to make Britain “a meritocracy”. schools. The prime minister right- government publish a full assess- the only basis for grammar school cation system in the world uses se- for social mobility, no more should experts, the chair of the Commons Last week it emerged that the gov- ly talks of making Britain a great ment of the impact of new grammar admissions after the schools min- lection at 11. It is too late to counter be opened. education committee, Neil Car- ernment hoped to open the fi rst meritocracy. schools on the wider school sys- ister, Nick Gibb, appearing before disadvantage. “The education select committee michael, said the focus on opening wave of its new grammar schools “If the government wants to push tem. MPs are concerned about the the committee last November, said The government would do better is right to urge better evidence that new grammar schools was an un- by 2020. ahead with new grammar schools it potential consequences for school a tutor-proof test was the “holy to invest more in early years educa- new grammar schools can close the necessary distraction. It also comes at a time of wide- must demonstrate how this aids funding and teacher supply, both grail” of selective education. tion, where the evidence shows you attainment gap,” said Lampl.” Ending Queen attends opening of child scheme is ‘shameful’

Guardian News total, let alone the 10,000 London children saved from the Nazis by the Kindertransport pro- gramme. ore than 200 high- “It is clear from the work profi le public fi g- of charities like Citizens UK’s Mures including Ralph Safe Passage project and Help Fiennes, Keira Knightley, Refugees with unaccompanied Michael Morpurgo and the child refugees across Greece, band Coldplay have writ- Italy and France, that where ten to Theresa May calling on these safe and legal routes the government not to close a are blocked, children are left scheme to bring unaccompa- with a terrible choice between nied child refugees from Eu- train tracks on the one hand, rope to Britain. and people traffi ckers on the Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip attend the off icial opening of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in London. In an open letter addressed other.” to the prime minister, the sig- The letter argues that lo- natories describe the decision cal authorities across the UK, to admit no more than 350 which assume responsibility children under the so-called for the children once they are Dubs amendment as “truly admitted to the country, are shameful”. willing to accept more refu- “The idea that as a country gees, but that the government we will slam the door shut after lacks the will to continue the just 350 children have reached scheme. safety is completely unaccept- “The government’s thread- ‘Shielding MoD from able,” they write, adding: “The bare consultation with coun- country we know and love is cils is now nine months out better than this.” of date … Communities and Others who have signed the councils across the country letter include actors Sir Mark stand ready to [accept] more. Rylance, Carey Mulligan, Juliet The government must agree Stevenson and Benedict Cum- to extend the programme and cases will stifl e debate’ berbatch, writers Sarah Waters re-consult with councils im- and Linda Grant, and musi- mediately.” Activists have opposed plans to The MoD has also initiated prosecutions taking decisions looking over their shoul- perienced lawyers appointed by the MoD. cians Lily Allen, Jessie Ware The announcement that the extend combat immunity of lawyers who pursued alleged abuses in ders and wondering whether a lawyer is Appeals against decisions will be made to and the band Hot Chip. scheme was to close was met Iraq. going to second guess them in a courtroom an independent tribunal. The playwrights Sir Tom with dismay by Dubs, who Guardian News The Law Society, which represents so- 20 years hence”. Senior commanders and Jocelyn Cockburn, a solicitor at the Stoppard and Sir David Hare called the decision shabby, London licitors in England and Wales, fears the politicians could still be held to account by law fi rm Hodge Jones and Allen, pursued are also signatories, as are TV and was criticised by Yvette latest proposals could stifl e legitimate internal military investigations, public in- claims over the deployment of lightly ar- presenter Gary Lineker and Cooper, who heads Labour’s public debate and deny bereaved relatives quiries, such as the one conducted into the moured Snatch Land Rovers in Iraq and human rights lawyer Dame refugee task force, the arch- oldiers will be “shut out of justice” access to justice. Its president, Robert Iraq war by Sir John Chilcot, and the press, Afghanistan, which were known to be vul- Helena Kennedy QC. bishop of Canterbury, Justin and military equipment failures will Bourns, said: “The ministry of defence Tugendhat said. nerable to roadside bombs. The letter follows the gov- Welby, and Scotland’s fi rst Sbe covered up under plans to extend wants to make it impossible for soldiers Tugendhat added: “Combat immunity, “The impact, and possibly the inten- ernment’s announcement last minister, Nicola Sturgeon, combat immunity and prevent military and their families to bring claims against by the way, is not a new convention and tion, of this change is to protect the MoD week that the scheme, under who called it “a clear derelic- claims going to court, ministers have been it to court when these relate to actions in the MoD isn’t — in inverted commas — from scrutiny by the courts — for instance which 200 vulnerable children tion of the UK’s moral and glo- warned. combat. extending it.What it is doing is reapplying in relation to allegations of faulty equip- have so far arrived in the UK bal duty”. Some high-profi le The move to channel complaints into Any claimant would only have recourse what has been eroded by a series of legal ment,” she said. from camps in Europe, would Conservative fi gures have also an internal ministry of defence compen- to an internal MoD compensation scheme actions in the past 20 years taken under “Sir John Chilcot’s Iraq inquiry report be wound up after a further been critical, including the sation scheme will do away with the need that would rule on cases brought against the European convention on rights.” identifi ed numerous MoD failings in plan- 150 are allowed to come. Many former education secretary to prove negligence and include more itself. Under the scheme, former or serving ning and preparation for the Iraq war, MPs and peers, who passed the Nicky Morgan, who warned generous payments, but it has nonethe- “This means cases would not be heard personnel who are injured — or the family which were described as ‘wholly inad- amendment to the Immigra- that voters could rapidly be- less caused deep misgivings among some by an independent judge, facts would not of those killed — in combat will be award- equate’. It is revealing therefore that the tion Act in April last year, be- come alienated from a party if service families who have campaigned to be independently investigated, responsi- ed compensation “equal to that which a fi rst step, by the MoD, in response to Chil- lieved that the number admit- they thought it was callous in reveal fl aws in army vehicles and protec- bility would not be established and a state court would have awarded if the govern- cot is to seek to remove the duty of care it ted would be more like 3,000. its decision-making. tive clothing. institution, if liable, would not be held to ment had been negligent”. Legislation will owes to its soldiers and to remove its duty The amendment was pro- “Britain has always been a The enhanced compensation, an- account. be introduced to extend combat immunity, to operate a ‘safe system of work’ when our posed by the Labour peer global, outward-facing coun- nounced in the run-up to Christmas, is the “Soldiers and their families must not be preventing claims against the MoD going troops are deployed to fi ght on our behalf Lord Dubs, who was one of try as well as being compas- latest initiative by the defence secretary, shut out of our justice system. to court. … The scheme can be brought in without 669 mostly Jewish children sionate to those who need our Sir Michael Fallon, in a campaign to shield But the Conservative MP Tom Tu- This, the consultation states, will “re- the need to legislate to remove the duty of who escaped to Britain from help most,” she wrote on the soldiers and the department from as much gendhat, a former lieutenant colonel in move the often stressful process of litiga- care. Czechoslovakia in 1939, with website ConservativeHome. legal action as possible. the Intelligence Corps who served in Iraq tion that can take many years to resolve”. “I welcome the proposal of a no-fault the help of a young stockbro- “The Conservative party now Last October the MoD announced plans and Afghanistan, said the government was The armed forces compensation scheme scheme where all combat deaths and inju- ker, Nicholas Winton. needs to demonstrate that for the military to opt out of sections of “absolutely right” with the proposal. will not conduct any public hearings. ries are compensated fully. No one should It is embarrassing, the let- combination in our approach the European convention on human rights He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme Awards, it is said, will be “consistent have to fi ght for a decade to achieve justice ter states, that the government to issues such as the Dubs chil- during future confl icts to block an “indus- yesterday the change “means that young with what a court would pay out”. The as- as the Snatch Land Rover families have cannot match even Winton’s dren.” try of vexatious claims” against troops. commanders … will not be consistently sessors will be either retired judges or ex- done.”

Gang makes off with 160 books

Antiquarian books worth more than £2mn have been stolen by a gang who avoided a security system by abseiling into a west Probe threat ‘putting recruits off ’ London warehouse. The three thieves made off with more than 160 publications after raiding the storage facility near Heathrow in what has been labelled a Mission: Impossible-style break-in. Guardian News shoot in the line of duty. shooting someone. That’s how ordered 600 more armed offi cers as criminal suspects for opening The gang are reported to have climbed on to the building’s roof London Hogan-Howe says offi cers are they get shot, or the public gets for London and in his speech will fi re in service of the public, rather and bored holes through the reinforced glass-fibre skylights before being put off volunteering for hurt or a criminal gets away with say that the force has recruited 400 than being treated as witnesses. rappelling down 40ft of rope while avoiding motion-sensor alarms. fi rearms role because they dread a gun.” extra and is on course to meet the Hogan-Howe will say, before an Scotland Yard confirmed that “a number of valuable books”, many ritain’s top police offi cer will spending years under investiga- The other implication of this is a target. Some will see in his speech audience at the Royal United Serv- from the 15th and 16th centuries, were stolen during the burglary warn that there may not be tion, or even being put on trial. direct impact on national security, the beginnings of an excuse in case ices’ Institute: “When people look in Feltham between 29 and 30 January. According to the Mail Benough armed offi cers to According to extracts of his according to the commissioner’s that target is missed. at what we do, there should be less on Sunday, one dealer lost £680,000 worth of material. Experts fi ght terrorists on London’s streets speech to be made in central Lon- thinking. Police need a large pool of vol- suspicion and more trust.” said the most valuable item in the stolen haul was a 1566 copy of if they are not given more trust. don, the commissioner will say Police chiefs across Britain or- unteers — roughly twice what is After the Paris attacks, an armed Nicolaus Copernicus’s De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, worth Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, who the mood among armed offi cers dered the recruitment of extra operationally required — willing to offi cer was arrested by the IPCC about £215,000. Among the other books stolen were early works retires later this month as commis- represents a tangible risk. “This armed offi cers after the November carry a gun because armed offi cers after Jermaine Baker was shot dead by Galileo, Isaac Newton, Leonardo da Vinci and a 1569 edition of sioner of the Metropolitan police, a dangerous place to be — in two 2015 attacks on Paris by terrorist face tough training with a high fail- near Wood Green crown court in Dante’s Divine Comedy. Alessandro Meda Riquier, a rare book dealer, will use his last set-piece speech to ways,” he is expected to say. “We gunmen who killed 130 people. ure rate, eventually those who have London. Fourteen months later the said a number of his volumes had been taken. He told Sky News: “I’m make the plea. simply don’t have enough people That toll, according to a brief passed the course retire and some offi cer’s case remains unresolved. very upset because this is not something you can buy everywhere. The background to the speech now wanting to do these jobs. The received by British police leaders, decide to switch to unarmed duties. Hogan-Howe will refute claims Behind these books there is a lot of work because we have to search is anger among armed offi cers at failure rate in training is high.” was lessened because French po- The Independent Police Com- of trigger-happy police by saying to try to find out where the books are — auction houses, collectors, plans to toughen up the rules if “Secondly, we can’t aff ord to lice are routinely armed and could plaints Commission (IPCC) is the that in 2016 they were called out colleagues — and there’s big research behind these books.” they open fi re and fears of being have offi cers think twice because fi ll the streets with guns during the usual target of the anger of fi rearms on 3,300 occasions without fi ring He added: “They are not only taking money away from me but also a treated as suspects for years if they they fear the consequences of Islamic State attack. Hogan-Howe offi cers, who resent being treated a shot. big part of my job.” Gulf Times 18 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 EUROPE Europe’s Nato spending rises, says UK meets goal

Reuters and Estonia met a target to spend Brussels that Europe is respond- while Romania was also heading biggest in Europe, the second Brussels/London 2% of economic output on de- ing. towards that level. largest in Nato, and it is grow- fence. “We are making a signifi cant Germany is increasing spend- ing each year as we invest £178bn A North Atlantic Treaty Or- step forward but we have a long ing by €2bn ($2.13bn) in this ($221.88bn) in new equipment.” ato’s European allies and ganisation (Nato) offi cial told way to go ... it is not enough,” year’s budget. In 2015, only Greece, Estonia, Canada increased de- Reuters that fi ve allies, including Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg told However, the IISS’s study Poland and Britain hit the 2% Nfence spending by 3.8% Britain, met or exceeded Nato’s a news conference, saying that said Britain’s level fell slightly to Nato target. last year, or $10bn more than benchmark in 2016. Trump raised the issue in the two 1.98% in 2016 as the economy British Prime Minister There- 2015, the alliance said yesterday, Nato is expected to release its phone calls the two men have grew faster than defence outlay. sa May, who discussed the is- and said Britain was keeping up full 2016 fi gures next month. held. Poland also slipped, it said. sue with Trump last month, has with its target after a report said Europe’s low expenditure has However, Russia’s 2014 annex- Britain said the IISS fi gures warned EU leaders to raise their London missed its goal. long been a sore point for the ation in Ukraine and the rise of were incorrect as the think tank defence spending. Russia’s annexation of Cri- United States, which puts up Islamist militancy – not US pres- presented its fi gures in US dollars Stoltenberg acknowledged dif- mea has given the alliance new 70% of alliance funds, and US sure – led to last year’s increase and so had been impacted by ex- fi culties. momentum after years of cuts, President Donald Trump has in European spending, Nato dip- change rate fl uctuations. “The picture is still mixed, but diff erences remain about the made change a priority, saying lomats and analysts said. “Nato’s own fi gures clearly some allies are still really strug- pace of investment. that allies have “been very unfair Stoltenberg said the Baltic show that the UK spends over 2% gling,” he said when asked about The International Institute for to us” for not spending more. states of Latvia and Lithuania, of its GDP on defence,” a spokes- budget constraints in Italy, which Stoltenberg: We are making a significant step forward but we have a Strategic Studies (IISS), a secu- Nato will tell new US Defence who fear a repeat of Crimea, were man for the ministry of defence is trying to reduce its budget def- long way to go ... it is not enough. rity think tank, said only Greece Secretary Jim Mattis today in on course to meet the 2% goal, said. “Our defence budget is the icit following the eurozone crisis.

Disney, YouTube More than 800 held over cut ties with star

DPA Kurdish militant links Stockholm

Reuters President Recep Tayyip Erdog- the past two days detained 834 teen rifl es and ammunition was have been jailed pending trial. and the state broke down in July Istanbul an. people suspected of ties to the seized, police said. The government accuses the 2015 and thousands have been S entertainment giant The referendum will be held Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) The HDP said the raids aimed HDP, parliament’s second big- killed in confl ict since then. Disney has cut ties with under a state of emergency im- militant group in dawn raids to weaken it. gest opposition party, of being “We will never bow down USwedish YouTube star urkish police have de- posed after an attempted coup across 37 provinces in Turkey, a “The basic goal of these op- a political extension of the PKK. faced with this persecution and “PewDiePie” due to his postings tained more than 800 last July. statement from Istanbul police erations ... is to hold the ref- The HDP denies direct links pressure,” the HDP said. “What of apparently anti-Semtic vid- Tpeople over alleged links Tens of thousands of people said. erendum without the HDP,” a with the PKK and says it wants a they are trying to prevent with eos on YouTube, news reports to Kurdish militants in the past have been arrested since the The operations were launched statement from its executive peaceful settlement in Turkey’s the detentions and arrests is a said yesterday. two days, a police source said abortive coup over suspected because police believed the PKK committee said. largely Kurdish southeast. ‘no’ (vote in the referendum).” The 27-year-old, whose real yesterday, a crackdown the pro- ties to Fethullah Gulen, the US- leadership had instructed its Its statement, released before The PKK, designated a terror- Ahead of the offi cial launch name is Felix Kjellberg, known Kurdish parliamentary party based Muslim cleric accused by militants to organise armed re- yesterday’s arrests, said more ist group by Turkey, the Europe- of referendum campaigning this for his provocative style and said was aimed at sidelining it Ankara of organising the putsch. bellions starting from February than 300 of its members and ex- an Union and the United States, week, Erdogan has called for jokes as he plays video games, ahead of a referendum. Separately, 5,000 members of 15, the anniversary of the capture ecutives had been detained on launched an armed insurgency Turks to vote “yes” to the reform has about 53mn followers on his On April 16 Turks will be vot- the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Dem- of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan Monday, bringing those held this against the Turkish state in 1984 by saying that the PKK opposes YouTube channel. ing on whether to replace the ocratic Party (HDP) have been in Kenya in 1999. year to around 1,200. and more than 40,000 people it and that a “no” vote means A clip posted on January 11 – parliamentary system with the held, the party says. Along with the suspects, two A dozen of its lawmakers and have been killed in the confl ict. taking sides with those behind since removed from his channel stronger presidency sought by Counter-terror police over Kalashnikovs, eleven guns, fi f- many mayors from a sister party A ceasefi re between the PKK last year’s putsch. – apparently went over the limit. Two men in India had been paid by Kjellberg to hold up a sign reading: “Death to All Jews.” The Wall Street Journal also noted eight other videos with questionable content posted Cult Finnish director since August. Maker Studios, a Disney unit since 2014, said it had decided to end its co-operation with Kjellberg, saying that “he clearly calls for compassion went too far in this case and the resulting videos are inappropri- ate”, according to a statement to the newspaper. YouTube later followed suit for asylum-seekers saying it was cancelling “the re- lease of On Sunday Kjellberg said on AFP tor Sherwan Haji, who ends up tiny place. First I change Europe, Tumblr that the stunt was part Berlin against his will in remote Fin- then we go to Asia.” of an eff ort “to show how crazy land – a hostile place on fi rst Kaurismaki condemned what the modern world is, specifi cally impression peopled by taciturn, he called an erosion of Euro- some of the services available fter six years of silence cold Finns. pean democratic values but said online”. cult Finnish director Aki A hapless former travelling Germany had set a positive ex- He said he had picked “some- AKaurismaki returned to salesman named Wikstrom, ample, after Chancellor Angela thing that seemed absurd” to the screen yesterday with The who is trying to get started in Merkel’s government allowed in him: “That people on Fiverr Other Side of Hope, a call for the restaurant business and who more than 1mn asylum-seekers would say anything for fi ve dol- mercy towards migrants seeking is played by Sakari Kuosmanen, since 2015. lars.” asylum in Europe. fi nds Khaled sleeping behind his “In this sense I respect Mrs “I think it’s important to say The new comedy-drama drew skip. Merkel ... the only politician Actor Sherwan Haji, director Aki Kaurismaki and actor Sakari Kuosmanen pose during a photocall for something and I want to make cheers at a press preview at the They fi rst greet each other who seems to be at least inter- the movie The Other Side of Hope at the 67th Berlinale International Film Festival. one thing clear: I am in no way Berlin fi lm festival, one of Eu- suspiciously but Wikstrom ested in the problem,” he said, supporting any kind of hateful rope’s top cinema showcases, eventually decides to help Kha- speaking in English. “The reason why I consider But little did he guess that least a dozen Kaurismaki fi lms. attitudes,” he added. where it is in competition for led start a new life, realising that Like many European coun- myself a semi-refugee is that I years later his fi rst screen role “People should do more civic the Golden Bear top prize to be the Syrian has even bigger trou- tries, Finland has tightened its cannot go back,” the soft-spo- would be as a Syrian refugee in a activities and rebel a little more,” awarded on Saturday. bles than his own marital woes. asylum policies to reduce the ken Haji, whose own family has Kaurismaki movie. Kuosmanen said, in a nod to his Man who sexually Gritty and laconic in typical Kaurismaki told reporters fl ow of migrants from war-torn since been forced to fl ee Syria, “This movie gives more depth character Wikstrom who helps Kaurismaki style, The Other Side that many Finns saw the arrival regions such as Syria and Iraq. told AFP in Helsinki. to (refugees). They are human Khaled off the street. assaulted toddler of Hope comes on the heels of his of Muslim refugees as a kind of The fi lm’s 31-year-old lead During his acting studies in beings, who have loved ones, The Finnish director’s previ- gets probation 2011 movie Le Havre, and is the “invasion” and that he aimed to actor Haji, born in northeast- Damascus, Haji was introduced are loved by someone, they have ous fi lm Le Havre, a tale about second instalment in a planned challenge that view. ern Syria, ended up in Helsinki to Kaurismaki’s bopdy of work, history, feelings, pain, suff ering. an African immigrant boy in the A Pakistani national has been migration-themed trilogy. “I was very modest in wanting a year before the Syrian confl ict fi rst with The Man Without a One of the suff erings of a refugee eponymous French port city, sentenced to probation of one The fi lm recounts the mel- to change the audience. I want erupted in 2011, after falling in Past (2002), which won the is to be ignored,” Haji said. was awarded the International year and eight months for ancholy fate of Syrian migrant to change the world,” he said love with a Finnish woman in Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Haji’s Finnish co-star, Sakari Federation of Film Critics Prize sexually assaulting a six-year-old Khaled, played by Syrian ac- with a wry smile. “Europe is a Damascus. Festival. Kuosmanen, 60, has acted in at at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Iraqi asylum-seeker near a Berlin refugee centre last year, court authorities said yesterday. The 27-year-old took advantage of the situation of the young girl and her family in northwestern Frenchman arrested IS kickboxer and wife jailed in Italy Berlin’s Moabit refugee centre to lure her away and sexually assault her, the Tiergarten district for helping plan attack AFP recorded saying that he would court said. Milan be willing to mount an attack on The man had confessed that the the Vatican, which IS propagan- act was spontaneous and that it on Istanbul nightclub dists have regularly threatened was not important whether the Milan judge has sen- to do. victim he targeted was a girl or a tenced a Moroccan kick- His lawyer said after the sen- woman. Reuters revenge for Turkish intervention Aboxer and his wife to jail tencing that he had never said The defendant was also placed Istanbul in Syria. terms over their links to the that and that he intended to ap- under the guidance and A court on Saturday remanded Islamic State (IS) group and peal his conviction. supervision of a probation off icer in custody Uzbek national Ab- placed their two children in Two other people, Abder- for one year. urkish authorities have dulgadir Masharipov, who is ac- care. rahmane Khachia and Wafa Ko- In September 2016, the girl’s arrested a Frenchman cused of carrying out the attack. Abderrahim Moutaharrik, a raichi, received a prison term of father was shot dead by German Tsuspected of helping plan The Dogan news agency said competitive kickboxer, was ar- six years and three years, four police as he was trying to stab a New Year’s Day shooting in an the French suspect had lived in rested in April on suspicion of months of house arrest, respec- the Pakistani for the assault of his Istanbul nightclub which killed France since 2009, but it was not IS links. tively, after also being convicted daughter. 39 people, the state-run Anadolu clear when he came to Turkey. He was given a six-year pris- of links to international terror- The 29-year-old Iraqi had lunged news agency said yesterday. He was caught carrying the on term while his wife Salma ism. with a knife at the Pakistani The man, a 22-year-old French rental contract of the Istanbul Bencharki, was sentenced to Khachia’s brother, Oussama centre resident, yelling “You citizen of Turkish descent, was house where Masharipov was fi ve years, the AGI news agency Khachia, was expelled from Ita- won’t survive this!” before being caught in Istanbul, Anadolu said. staying when he was captured on reported. ly in January 2015 for promoting shot multiple times by several A police offi cial said he had January 16, Dogan said. They were arrested in April IS and reportedly died in Syria off icers, witnesses said. been detained weeks ago and Nato member Turkey is part of This undated handout picture released by the Italian police on after police wiretapped their later that year. According to witnesses, the man formally charged last week. the US-led coalition against IS April 28, 2016 shows shows Abderrahim Moutaharrik, one of conversations and concluded Koraichi is the sister of Mo- had taken the young girl to a His detention had not previ- and launched an incursion into four people arrested on April 28, 2016 near Milan, accused of that they were about to decamp hammed Koraichi, a Moroccan park adjacent to refugee housing ously been made public. Syria in August to drive the mili- terrorism. Yesterday a Milan judge sentenced the Moroccan and to Syria with their two children, who reportedly took his Italian earlier in the day. Islamic State (IS) claimed the tant group and Kurdish militia his wife to jail terms over their links to the Islamic State group then aged two and four. wife and their three children to The Iraqi died several hours later nightclub attack and said it was fi ghters away from its borders. and placed their two children in care. Moutaharrik was allegedly join IS in the Middle East. in hospital. Gulf Times Wednesday, February 15, 2017 19 EUROPE Kremlin denies bid

to discredit Macron Figures of Fillon and Marine Le Pen are paraded through the crowd on Saturday during the Nice’s 133rd Carnival parade. Reuters his campaign was facing thou- sian media criticism. power to destabilise a presiden- Moscow/Paris sands of Internet attacks. Macron’s strong pro-Europe tial election candidate,” Ferrand With the political air in France stance was not to Russia’s liking said and called on the French highly-charged in the run-up however, Ferrand said. government again to take steps to he Kremlin has denied that to the May election, the French Le Pen, who heads the Nation- prevent foreign meddling in the Fillon puts down it was behind media and government has declined to al Front and is Macron’s closest French election campaign. TInternet attacks on the point the fi nger at anyone despite competitor in the race for the He again pointed the fi nger at campaign of French presidential high-level concerns of external Elysee, wants to take France out Russian state-controlled me- frontrunner Emmanuel Macron, meddling in campaigning. of the European Union and sup- dia Russia Today and Sputnik, party rebellion though his camp renewed the An offi cial French source said, ports Russian policy on Ukraine. saying that they were spreading charges against Russian media however, that the question of Yesterday Ferrand renewed “the most defamatory” rumours and a hackers’ group operating in cyber threats were being taken those charges, saying that the about macron, including relating Reuters Later though, during a Ukraine. seriously and would be the focus databases and e-mail boxes of to his private life and the fi nanc- Paris weekly meeting between Fillon Kremlin spokesman Dmitry of a defence council meeting of Macron’s En Marche! (Onwards) ing of his campaign. and conservative lawmakers, Peskov, replying to a question Macron is seen during his visit national security chiefs under party were under attack. Both Russia Today and Sput- Georges Fenech, who insti- on a daily conference call, said yesterday to the Notre Dame President Francois Hollande. “If these attacks succeeded, nik have denied spreading “fake rancois Fillon faced down gated the letter, backed down charges made by Macron’s party d’Afrique Basilica in Algier’s Bab The source gave no date for the campaign of En Marche news” about Macron and say Fer- a rebellion by lawmak- on the demand to convene the chief, Richard Ferrand, were ab- el-Oued neighbourhood. He was this meeting though the satirical would become extremely diffi - rand’s allegations are unfounded. Fers in his centre-right party’s political bureau. surd. winding up his two-day visit to weekly Le Canard Enchaine said cult, if not impossible,” Ferrand Sputnik, in a comment yester- party yesterday, but the revolt During the meeting, Fillon “We didn’t have, and do not Algeria. yesterday that it had been fi xed said. day, said that Ferrand’s accusa- exposed a shaky confi dence stood his ground, saying that have, any intention of interfer- for late next week. He said about half of these tions were false and lacked any inside his camp as he tries to his withdrawal would lead to ing in the internal aff airs of other abroad is an obvious fact.” Ferrand said Moscow looked thousands of attacks came main- evidence, and represented an at- draw a line under a scandal the implosion of the party. countries, or in their electoral Ferrand said on Monday that favourably on the policies of far- ly from Ukraine and had been tempt at spinning public opinion. that could derail his bid to win “It is me that knows best that processes in particular,” Peskov the French centrist politician, right leader Marine Le Pen and organised and co-ordinated by “By citing various opinions power. the campaign is diffi cult be- told reporters. who is now seen by opinion polls centre-right candidate Francois a “structured group” and not by expressed by people involved in With Fillon’s election cam- cause it’s me getting smacked “That there is a hysterical as the favourite to win election in Fillon – both election rivals of lone hackers. the election campaign, Sputnik paign once again distracted in the face by it every moment,” anti-(President Vladimir) Putin May, had become a “fake news” Macron – and both had been “We are in the presence of an always covers events as they are,” by the fallout from allegations he told his party lawmakers. campaign in certain countries target of Russian media and that “mysteriously spared” from Rus- orchestrated attempt by a foreign it said. surrounding taxpayer money “I’m hounded by the national he paid his wife as a salary, press. I’m hounded by the ju- opinion polls show the former diciary. I wouldn’t want to be prime minister’s diffi culties hounded by lawmakers as well paving the way for a May 7 because that would make it run-off between the far-right’s diffi cult ... I have established Impact of climate Marine Le Pen and centrist there is no alternative better Emmanuel Macron. solution and that the with- Voter surveys have painted drawal of my candidacy today change on animals the same picture for three would create a major crisis.” weeks, when the scandal His spokesman Thierry erupted, and there is disqui- Solere said Fillon had received ‘under-appreciated’ et within Fillon’s party over unanimous backing at the whether he can turn around his meeting. slump in popularity. His support among voters, By Mariëtte Le Roux, AFP mate change, and 298 (just Fillon has said he will only however, has been hurt. Paris over 23%) of 1,272 birds, the step down if he is put under Opinion polls, which before researchers found. formal investigation. the aff air saw Fillon as favour- Climate change can aff ect Fillon’s attempts to rally his ite to win the presidency, now early half of endan- animals by limiting food and party, The Republicans, was show the 62-year-old running gered mammals and water, spreading disease and dealt a blow by a report at the a close third in the fi rst round Na quarter of birds are shrinking living space. weekend which suggested the vote on April 23. already harmed by climate Only 7% of mammals and country’s fi nancial prosecutor An Opinionway survey yes- change – a much bigger seg- 4% of birds identifi ed by the was likely to take further legal terday showed the National ment than previously thought, study were recognised by the steps into allegations of fake Front’s Le Pen winning 27% researchers have found. IUCN as threatened by “cli- work by his wife, Penelope. of the vote in the fi rst round Endangered primates and el- mate change and severe weath- On Monday evening dis- ahead of Macron on 22% and ephants are among the groups er”, the authors said. senting lawmakers publicly Fillon on 20%. squeezed hardest by global “We recommend that re- dined at a central Paris restau- Both Macron and Fillon warming, partly because they search and conservation ef- rant to discuss whether their would comfortably beat Le Pen reproduce slowly and thus take forts give greater attention to candidate was best-suited to in the May 7 second round, the longer to adapt to rapid envi- the ‘here and now’ of climate represent them. poll indicated. ronmental changes, they re- change impacts on life on “On February 1 ... you asked However, support for Fil- ported. Earth,” they wrote. “Conser- us to hold on 15 more days on lon in a head-to-head against While most studies seek to vation managers, planners and the basis that the situation Le Pen has dropped since the predict global warming’s fu- policy makers must take this would be clarifi ed favourably,” scandal broke. ture impact on animal survival, into account in eff orts to safe- said an open letter agreed by Only 59% back him in a the new analysis found that for guard the future of biodiver- some 40 lawmakers. “Howev- contest against the far-right “large numbers” of threatened sity.” er, this period has expired, and candidate who would take species, the damage was al- Along with elephants and there has yet to be any clarifi - France out the euro currency, ready being done. apes, the team found that mar- cation. compared to Macron’s 64%, The data suggests that “the supials were among the worst “As a result, we have a real according to the Opinionway impact of climate change on aff ected mammals. concern that our political fam- poll. mammals and birds in the re- Many had evolved, like pri- ily, The Republicans, will not In an editorial published cent past is currently greatly mates, in stable tropical areas be able to compete in this pres- yesterday, Le Monde newspa- under-appreciated”, said a now becoming more volatile idential election in a calm and per said Fillon’s troubles, divi- study in the journal Nature Cli- due to climate change. A man walks near the wreckage of passenger and freight trains after a crash near Bettembourg. dignifi ed way.” sions on the left and Macron’s mate Change this week. Many of the hardest-hit bird Rebel legislators demanded perceived lack of a detailed According to co-author species lived in aquatic envi- a “crisis” meeting to discuss programme were opening a James Watson of the Wildlife ronments, which are consid- Fillon’s fate. “boulevard” for Le Pen. Conservation Society, “some- ered among the most vulner- thing signifi cant needs to hap- able to temperature increase, One dead in Luxembourg crash pen now to stop species going the researchers added. extinct”. Meanwhile rodents that Hollande demands ‘justice’ in alleged “Climate change is not a fu- can burrow and avoid extreme AFP “Initial details from the traffi c is in a state of shock, offi cials baton ‘rape’ by police off icer ture threat anymore,” he added. weather conditions will be less Luxembourg management system show that said, adding that she had been Researchers had amassed vulnerable than other mam- the the passenger train travelling hospitalised. French President Francois Hollande called for “justice” yesterday data from 136 previous stud- mals to climate change, the from Thionville ran a red light,” The violence of the impact over the alleged rape of a black youth with a police baton, ies looking at 120 mammal and team said. he driver of a passenger said the Luxembourg train com- damaged several passenger car- appealing for calm after more than a week of riots. 569 bird species. In December 2015, 195 na- train was killed in Luxem- pany CFL. riages and derailed a number of “Justice must be served,” Hollande said during a visit to the They compared documented tions adopted the Paris Agree- Tbourg yesterday after he “The cause of the accident freight carriages. working-class suburb of Aubervilliers, situated in the tough Seine- changes in climate with growth ment to limit average global ran a red light and his train col- must still be confi rmed by the Around 100 rescue workers are Saint-Denis region northeast of Paris where Theo, a 22-year-old or decline in population sizes, warming to “well below” 2° lided with a freight train, offi cials inquiry which is now underway,” at the scene along with psycho- youth worker, was assaulted while being arrested. geographic ranges, body mass, Celsius over pre-Industrial said. CFL said. logical support workers, police But Hollande also condemned the nightly violence after the and reproductive and survival Revolution levels. The driver of the goods train Luxembourg Prime Minister said. February 2 incident in a high-rise housing estate, calling the rioting rates. This would be achieved by was seriously hurt and a conduc- Xavier Bettel tweeted his con- Passenger services between “unacceptable”. The team then extrapolated curbing planet-heating green- tor on board the passenger train dolences to the driver, who was Luxembourg and Thionville have Theo’s treatment by four off icers during a stop-and-search the data to all land mammals house gases from burning coal, suff ered minor injuries, they from the tiny European duchy. been suspended for 48 hours operation has sparked clashes with police and arson attacks in and birds listed as threatened oil and gas. said. “My deepest sympathy to the with bus services replacing them a string of impoverished, ethnically-mixed suburbs around the by the International Union But scientists warn that 2°C There were no travellers on family and friends of the de- for now, offi cials said. French capital. Dozens of people have been arrested, including 25 for Conservation of Nature is already too high, and that the board the passenger train at the ceased CFL worker. Thanks and In 2006 six people were killed overnight on Monday. (IUCN). world is on track for warming time of the accident between respect to the rescue workers at and 23 injured when a passenger Theo was hospitalised with severe anal injuries after one of the Of the 873 listed mammal even beyond that, with disas- Bettembourg in Luxembourg and the scene,” Bettel said. train collided with a freight train off icers allegedly sodomised him with a truncheon. species, 414 (47%) have likely trous consequences for life as Zouff tgen in northeastern France The French ticket conductor, at Zouff tgen, near the site of yes- The off icer in question has been charged with rape and his three “responded negatively” to cli- we know it. around 0800 GMT. who was at the back of the train, terday’s accident. colleagues with assault. All four have been suspended. Violence casts shadow on Valentine’s Day in Italy

AFP trice Alonzi, shows the police “And for women who are sub- video – a woman in the crowds to fi nd the video had been seen Rome stations closest to each stop in ject to domestic violence it is so on the metro, but she is com- 100,000 times just on the Face- the Italian capital, graphically much worse because they feel so pletely alone. And maybe the book page,” Alonzi said. “And I’ve underlining a message that help scared, so absolutely and defi ni- map can make her think, just had hundreds of messages from f love hurts, now you is at hand. tively alone.” for a moment, that freedom and women who have been beaten by know where to get off , “Today is a day when many More than 120 women were happiness are within reach, that their partners. I have been crying “Ieven on St Valentine’s people are only thinking about killed by partners in Italy last she can go, on foot, to one of the my eyes out all morning.” Day.” chocolate and fl owers but there year and cases of stalking and police stations.” The EU’s fundamental rights With the help of a new map are other very important things jealousy-inspired violence are Alonzi’s initiative has won the agency said last year that the of the Rome underground and a to talk about,” Alonzi, 33, told frequently highlighted in the backing of the national police level of violence against women video that went viral and topped AFP. media as a major social problem force, which launched its own in Italy was broadly in line with news bulletins, Italy marked the “I don’t know about other born of a macho culture. awareness campaign on the is- its European neighbours. international day of love yester- countries but, in Italy, for many Such outcomes and the need to sue last year, and the Rome city National data also suggests day by focusing on domestic vio- women it is a day that just adds to highlight a way to stop them led authorities. the incidence of violence against Alonzi looks at the map on her smartphone, showing the police lence and stalking. the pressure on them – why don’t to the “If love hurts” theme of the “Maybe it is not a message women has fallen in recent years stations closest to each stop in the Italian capital, graphically The map, created by digital they have a boyfriend, why don’t campaign. people want to hear on this of all as willingness to report it has underlining a message that help is at hand. artist and marketer Maria Bea- they have a perfect fi gure? “So that was the idea of the days, but I woke up this morning grown. Gulf Times 20 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 INDIA New war for power in Tamil Nadu „Court scuttles Sasikala’s dreams „Panneerselvam calls for unity in party

IANS must be taken off from all gov- Chennai ernment offi ces. Sasikala and her relatives were DISPROPORTIONATE ASSETS CASE TIMELINE told to surrender immediately to Modi govt he Supreme Court yes- the trial court, which convicted terday derailed All India them in September 2014. June 1996: Subramaniam Swamy complains February 2013: G Bhavani Singh appointed TAnna Dravida Munne- Sasikala, however, remained to Tamil Nadu governor against J Jayalalithaa special public prosecutor. tra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general with her MLAs at the resort. She for amassing assets disproportionate to known August 2013: Appointment of Bhavani Singh secretary V K Sasikala’s political is expected to fi le a review peti- sources of income. withdrawn by Karnataka government. meddling in career even before take-off by tion. June 1996: DMK government files charges against September 2013: Supreme Court dismisses order upholding her conviction for Hours after the ruling, a fum- Jayalalithaa. withdrawing appointment of Bhavani Singh. corruption along with two rela- ing Sasikala axed Panneerselvam December 1996: Jayalalithaa arrested. March 2014: Bhavani Singh fined for delaying final tives and the late J Jayalalitha. and 19 other leaders from the AI- June 1997: Chargesheet filed against Jayalalithaa, arguments. But the ugly war for power in ADMK. Sasikala, Illavarasi and Sudhakaran under August 2014: Special court reserves judgement in Tamil Nadu continued. They included School Educa- state aff airs: Prevention of Corruption Act. case for September 20. By evening, Public Works, tion Minister K Pandiarajan and October 1997: Madras High Court dismisses September 2014: Special Court convicts Highways and Minor Ports Min- former ministers C Ponnaiyan, Jayalalithaaa’s petition challenging the permission Jayalalithaa and three others with jail term of ister E Palanisamy – elected the P H Pandian, Natham R Viswa- by governor to prosecute her. four years. Jayalalithaa fined Rs1bn and others new AIADMK legislature party nathan, K P Munusamy and P May 2001: AIADMK wins assembly polls. Rs100mn each. leader in place of Sasikala – met Mohan. But the MLAs and MPs Jayalalithaa is chief minister. October 2014: Jayalalithaa gets bail. Congress Governor C Vidyasagar Rao and backing Panneerselvam were September 2001: Supreme Court unseats December 2014: Supreme Court grants bail to staked claim to form a new gov- spared. Jayalalithaa for her conviction in the Tansi land Jayalalithaa. ernment. The MLAs supporting Sasika- deal case. January 2015: Special bench formed under IANS “The governor’s role, which Palanisamy’s aides said the la, who had wanted to become February 2002: After her conviction is set aside, justice C R Kumaraswamy to hear appeal filed by New Delhi has been circumspect in this en- Sasikala faction enjoyed the sup- the chief minister, and holed up Jayalalithha becomes chief minister again. Wins Jayalalithaa and others in Karnataka. tire episode, must now become port of the overwhelming major- at a resort near Chennai, also assembly bypoll from Andipatti. May 2015: Karnataka high court acquits clear and the rule of law and ity among AIADMK’s 135 MLAs. elected Palanisamy as their new February 2003: Three public prosecutors Jayalalithaa and three others. Constitution must prevail. For Only nine MLAs were said to be legislature party leader. resign as senior counsel, several prosecution June 2015: Karnataka government he Congress yesterday ac- this, it is essential that the clar- supporting acting Chief Minister The Supreme Court ruling witnesses turn hostile. appeals in Supreme Court against ruling. cused the BJP-led central ity on the formation of govern- O Panneerselvam. set off celebrations by Panneer- November 2003: Disproportionate assets January 2016: Karnataka submits Tgovernment of fi shing in ment comes as soon as possible,” Later, AIADMK leaders V selvam supporters who burst case transferred to Bengaluru by Supreme arithmetical errors in Karnataka high troubled waters in Tamil Nadu he said. Maitreyan and P H Pandian also fi recrackers and danced outside Court on petition filed by DMK leader K court’s judgement. and demanded the state assem- Union Minister M Venkaiah met Rao on behalf of Panneersel- his residence – though the apex Anbazhagan on the grounds that fair February 2016: Supreme Court starts bly’s special session to test the Naidu denied that the BJP or the vam. court bracketed Jayalalithaa with trial was not possible in Tamil Nadu. hearing the case. strength of rival factions within centre had any role in the Tamil The day began with the Su- Sasikala. February 2005: Karnataka names June 2016: Apex court reserves the ruling AIADMK. Nadu situation. preme Court restoring the earlier In a bid to win over the MLAs B V Acharya as special public judgement. The Bharatiya Janata Party “We have no role to play in conviction of Sasikala, a long- still with Sasikala, Panneer- prosecutor. December 2016: Jayalalithaa termed the Congress allegations Tamil Nadu. The BJP has no in- time confi dante of Jayalalithaa, selvam called the ruling “good October/November 2011: dies. “baseless”, saying neither the terests there,” Naidu told report- and her two relatives – Elavarasi, news”, said “Amma” was still Jayalalithaa answers 1,399 February 2017: Supreme party nor the central government ers. the widow of Sasikala’s elder guiding the AIADMK and urged questions in special court. Court upholds trial court’s had any role to play in the politi- Party general secretary Ram brother, and V N Sudhakaran, all legislators to unite “to resolve August 2012: Acharya order convicting late cally volatile situation in Tamil Madhav also said that the allega- a nephew who at one point was the crisis”. resigns as special public Jayalalithhaa, Sasikala, Nadu. tions on BJP hand were baseless. also the former chief minister’s The opposition hailed the prosecutor. Illavarasi and Sudhakarran. Congress spokesperson Ran- “To say that the BJP or the foster-son. court ruling. deep Singh Surjewala said gover- government of India has a hand Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam nor C Vidyasagar Rao should take in it (Tamil Nadu political situa- and Amitava Roy set aside a Kar- leader M K Stalin said: “Justice a concrete decision in the matter. tion) is totally false and baseless,” nataka High Court order acquit- has been restored. Now the gov- Madhav said. ting the three and Jayalalithaa, ernor should take steps to ensure “We have no role to play in Madhav said it was not proper who died on December 5. a stable government in Tamil Tamil Nadu. The BJP has no to raise fi ngers at the governor’s They denounced Jayalalithaa Nadu.” Panneerselvam pays interests there” conduct. for amassing assets dispropor- Amid reports that Panneer- Speaking in Agartala, BJP gen- tionate to her income which she selvam supporters may reach the “The BJP and the Narendra eral secretary P Muralidhar Rao dispersed among the others. resort where pro-Sasikala MLAs Modi government should now said the party was ready to help The magnitude of the “nefari- are putting up, security was stop fi shing in troubled waters. a pro-people and pro-develop- ous gains” were “startling”, Jus- tightened at the venue. homage to Jayalalithaa They and the governor should ment AIADMK government led tice Roy said. The infi ghting in the AIADMK not stand in the way of democ- by an honest and clean leader to The four, Jayalalithaa includ- erupted after Jayalalithaa died racy but permit the will of the come to power in Tamil Nadu. ed, were convicted for amass- and Sasikala was elected the rul- IANS as chief minister by AIADMK stay put at the beach resort. majority to prevail,” Surjewala He termed the Supreme Court ing assets disproportionate to ing party’s general secretary on Chennai general secretary V K Sasikala so According to an AIADMK told reporters here. verdict in a disproportionate as- known sources of income to the February 5. that she can occupy his post. leader, the legislators may be Surjewala spoke after the Su- sets case as “historic”. tune of Rs666.5mn when the She was then chosen the Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu’s asked to vacate the resort by the preme Court restored the con- “This is a good opportunity for former chief minister ruled leader of the AIADMK School Education Minister K police. viction and four-year jail term AIADMK members to introspect Tamil Nadu in 1991-96. legislature party, pav- amil Nadu’s acting Chief Pandiarajan, who had gone to Panneerselvam has been say- for AIADMK general secretary and choose an honest and clean The apex court upheld ing the way for her Minister O Panneerselvam meet the legislators supporting ing that he would enjoy the sup- V K Sasikala and two others in leader who will work with a vi- that Sasikala cannot con- to become the chief Tyesterday night paid hom- Sasikala at the beach resort near port of majority of legislators if a disproportionate assets case, sion for all-round development test elections for 10 years, minister. age to late chief minister J Jay- here, had to return without suc- only they are not held in captiv- also involving late chief minister of Tamil Nadu,” said Rao, who is including the four years That is when Pan- alalithaa at her memorial at the cess. ity at the resort. This charge has J Jayalalithaa. in charge of party aff airs in the she will be jailed. She was neerselvam, who had Marina beach here. Pandiarajan went to the resort been denied by Sasikala and her Sasikala and caretaker Tamil southern state. fi ned Rs100mn. been twice acting chief Jayalalithaa’s niece Deepa to make necessary arrangements, supporters. Nadu Chief Minister O Panneer- The Supreme Court restored The ruling minister earlier, revolted Jayakumar, who too was there at so that acting Chief Minister O On Monday there were reports selvam head rival factions of AI- the conviction of Sasikala, a also means and alleged that he Marina along with Panneersel- Panneerselvam could come there of one lawmaker housed at the ADMK contending for power in long-time confi dante of Jayala- that no me- was forced by vam’s supporters, extended her and seek the legislators’ support. resort making a dramatic escape the southern state. lithaa and her two relatives – El- morial can Sasikala to re- support to him. But the police did not allow from the spot. With Sasikala out of conten- avarasi, the widow of Sasikala’s be built sign. As of Jayakumar, who had earlier him to proceed further to prevent S S Saravanan, who repre- tion to be the chief minister, her elder brother, and V N Sudhaka- for Jayala- now, most announced she would announce any untoward incident. sents Madurai South, landed faction elected Public Works ran, a nephew who at one point lithaa – the MLAs her political journey on February The police also clamped orders up at Panneerselvam’s resi- Minister Edapadi K Palanisamy of time was also the former chief actress- are with 24, said: “My political journey prohibiting the gathering of four dence, where he told the me- as leader of the legislature party. minister’s foster son. turned- Sasikala begins today.” or more persons in Kuvathoor, dia that he scaled a wall and “Irrespective of ideological Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose AIADMK but many It was last Tuesday Panneer- around 90km from here, where jumped down to escape. Sara- diff erences, whosoever has the and Amitava Roy set aside a Kar- icon – and MPs have selvam after meditating at Jay- the beach resort is located. vanan also said that he had to public mandate must be permit- nataka High Court order acquit- her pho- switched alalithaa’s memorial dropped the It is not clear for how many disguise himself to escape from ted to rule the state,” the Con- ting the three and Jayalalithaa, tographs loyalty. news that he was forced to resign more days the legislators would the beach resort. gress leader said. who died on December 5. Your Honour, don’t be the fence that eats the crop ongue-in-cheek com- however much a channel may der transferring him from Chen- Shorten’s allegations. In compar- – the building which houses the ments are often the pre- break the news, a politician’s nai to Kolkata, not only refused to ison to what Turnbull had to say Tata head offi ce – settled down Tserve of politicians. The words are not always to be relied answer the summons of the high- about Shorten, Modi’s, or for that than we witness another major humility and humbleness are upon and so give these outbursts Delhi Diary est court but also did not even matter Rahul Gandhi’s or even confl ict of the bosses in another quickly shed once they secure the from the politician as well as the fi eld a counsel to argue his case. Kejriwal’s fulminations sound like highly respected company, In- winning vote and until such time news channel the contempt they By A K B Krishnan Two questions come upper- nursery rhymes! fosys. The IT bellwether that in- they have to go back and ask for deserve. most in the given scenario: spired many a rags-to-riches story votes again they are free to say But not so the words of a judge, Gulf Times Correspondent a) What is the message that for the educated poor in the coun- whatever they feel like. And they you will agree. The dispenser ordinary Indians will get if the All’s not well in try is in the throes for a much more do say a lot. of justice is not only expected to higher judiciary itself is embroiled industrial houses mundane reason, money, than the Prime Minister Narendra Mo- be even-handed but also to be commenting on matters that had cial power by operating the same in such unseemly conduct? clash of ideas that led to Cyrus di’s “raincoat shower” with refer- choosing her/his words with ut- little to do with law and justice. against a SC/ST judge (Dalit) with b) What will the Supreme Court Mistry’s departure from the Tatas. ence to his predecessor Manmo- most caution and deliberation. When the lines at banks and mala fi de intention to get rid of have to say when next time some- What’s happening to Indian Although the ostensible cause han Singh is a case in point. And the higher the seat of justice ATMs began to get longer and him.” one defi es its orders? industry? No, the question has is the severance pay package that Rahul Gandhi’s “suit-boot ki the more cautious and refl ective longer in the aftermath of the The words came from none After Karnan failed to show up, nothing to do what the Congress Infosys gave one of its senior em- sarkar” gained him many a head- the words. Or so you would think. demonetisation announcement other than Chinnaswamy Karnan, the seven-man judge remarked, Party and other opposition outfi ts ployees, reports suggest that a line. Arvind Kejriwal is used to But things are not what they on November 8 last year, justice who is currently one of the judges “We are not aware of the reasons are charging Prime Minister Modi huge cash balance of $5bn is what very fl owery expressions, often seem to be. Perhaps the ‘breaking Thakur, like millions of fellow- of the Calcutta High Court, in a for his non-appearance. We, with – that his demonetisation is at the core of the confronta- bordering on curses and calumny. news’ syndrome is all-pervasive Indians, did not like it. So he let letter addressed to the registrar- therefore, refrain from proceed- ‘demon’ has killed whatever green tion between the present board These have nothing to do with and the honourable justices of the go a cryptic comment to the ef- general of the Supreme Court. ing with the matter.” shoots were coming up in the face and founding-members like N R weighty governance issues that courts are not immune to it either. fect that the possibility of rioting Karnan had been summoned to The court then posted the case of severe global headwinds. Narayanamurthy. these worthies are entrusted with. For instance take the case of by people wanting to withdraw appear before a seven-man bench for March 10. Maybe I should rephrase the It’s fi ne for the big bosses to But the press, especially the elec- Tirath Singh Thakur, the recently money could not be ruled out. headed by the chief justice of In- If judges themselves behave in question and ask: what’s happen- fi ght over “cultural diff erences”, as tronic version, likes those who retired chief justice of India. That Now, it is fi ne for ordinary folks dia to answer as to why contempt this fashion, is there any surprise ing to Indian industrial houses. current Infosys chairman Ramas- play to the gallery and therefore he is not able to keep his emotions like you and me to say such things proceedings should not be initi- that the Vijay Mallyas, the Lalit The house of Tatas has witnessed wamy Seshasayee would want us laps it up eagerly because “break- in check had been demonstrated and with conviction too. But for ated against him after he levelled Modis and their ilk are a law unto the biggest churning in its long to believe, but boardroom fi ghts ing news” is what they seek. more than once. He had shed tears the chief justice of India to make a several unsubstantiated charges themselves? Something is surely history when the chairman him- are defi nitely not going to encour- It is another matter that nine publicly when speaking on the statement of such magnitude was against his former colleagues in rotten in the Indian judiciary. self was sacked. So much dirty age the younger generation to seek out of 10 times this “breaking subject of judicial appoints. There most unexpected. the Madras High Court. Post Script: The day after linen was getting washed in pub- their careers with these fi rms. news” can be more fully described was much sympathy for justice In the event there were no ri- “The suo motu order against Narendra Modi’s “raincoat” re- lic that one began to wonder if the Here’s proof: for the fi rst time as “bogus news” because there Thakur as he explained the travails ots as people felt what was being me, a Dalit judge, is unethical and mark in the Rajya Sabha sparked founder of the fi rm and his imme- in its 33-year existence, ‘Infy’ is precious little importance at- of courts that were short-staff ed done was for the betterment of goes against the SC and ST (Pre- a walk-out by the main opposi- diate successors would recognise registered a ‘negative growth’ tached to what is being ‘broken’. in almost every department. After the nation. Only justice Thakur’s vention of) Atrocities Act,” Kar- tion Congress Party, I received a it now. And for the fi rst time since in recruitment. The fi rm, which However, news channels are all, if the chief justice of India did comment did not add lustre to the nan said in the letter in which he video clip on my mobile phone 1868 when Jamsetji Tata estab- usually takes in as many as 25,000 happy to take that one-in-10 not know or speak about it, then august offi ce he was holding. openly charged chief justice Jag- from a friend in Sydney, Australia. lished the company, the group has personnel every year, could man- chance and if it sticks, then you who would? Not just TV channels But if that were so, sample this: dish Singh Khehar, a Sikh, of up- (It’s now available on YouTube.) a non-Parsi chief who, hopefully, age only 6,000 recruits in the 11 are inundated with the “we told but every newspaper in town gave “The characteristic of this order per caste bias. It showed Australian Prime Min- will live up to its great legacy and months of the current fi nancial you fi rst” refrain for the rest of the justice Thakur front page space. clearly shows that the upper caste Karnan, who had earlier hit the ister Malcolm Turnbull speaking bring back its pre-eminence. year. During this period 7,000 week or even beyond. But then he stepped outside his judges are taking law into their headlines when he, as a high court in parliament. He was apparently But hardly had the dust of the people left the company. Buck up But by now Indians know that domain of expertise and began hands and misusing their judi- judge, stayed a Supreme Court or- replying to opposition leader Bill boardroom war in Bombay House Infy, India needs you! Gulf Times Wednesday, February 15, 2017 21 INDIA

VIOLENCE Three soldiers, Air show kicks off four militants dead in Kashmir clash

Three soldiers and four militants were killed in the Kashmir valley 1.1mn deaths yesterday in gunfights – the third in less than 48 hours, off icials said. Three militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, defence spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia said. Earlier in the day, three in India each soldiers and a militant were killed and eight others injured in a gun- fight between the security forces and militants in Bandipora district.

POLITICS year ‘due to Voting for 67 seats in Uttar Pradesh to be held today Voting will be held in 67 assembly constituencies spread across 11 air pollution’ districts in the second phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections today. IANS in the number of deaths attribut- steepest increases in pollution The stakes are the highest for the New Delhi able to PM2.5,” said the report by since 2010 and now have the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP). The the Health Eff ects Institute and highest PM2.5 concentrations in high-decibel campaign for the 67 the Institute for Health Metrics the world, the report said. seats ended on Monday evening, ndia’s air now rivals China’s and Evaluation. A health emergency was de- with political parties pulling out all as the world’s deadliest, ac- Together, the two Asian giants clared in New Delhi — dubbed stops to woo voters. The SP holds Icording to a new study pub- accounted for more than half of the world’s most polluted capital 34 of the 67 seats, the Bahujan lished yesterday amid warnings all global deaths related to PM2.5 — in November as the concentra- Samaj Party (BSP) 17, the BJP 10 that eff orts to curb pollution exposure, the report said. tion of PM2.5 went off the charts and the Congress four. from coal will not yield results Eff orts to reduce smog in China into hazardous territory. any time soon. — which jostles with India for the Schools were closed and a The country’s notoriously unenviable title of world’s most coal-fi red power plant near the OBITUARY poor air quality causes nearly polluted country — have seen capital temporarily shut as the Veteran journalist 1.1mn premature deaths every early deaths from PM2.5 stabilise government scrambled for quick year, almost on a par with China, at around 1.1mn since 2005. fi xes to clear the choking haze. T V Parasuram concluded a joint report by two But in India that number has The energy-hungry nation of dies aged 93 US-based health research insti- steadily climbed from an esti- 1.25bn remains reliant on coal, tutes. mated 737,400 premature deaths and despite ambitious goals for Journalist T V Parasuram, who But whereas deaths linked a year in 1990 to 1.09mn in 2015, wind and solar uses just a frac- served for long as the Washington to air pollution in China have just shy of China. tion of these cleaner sources for correspondent of Indian Express, steadied in recent years, the rate “Clearly a much more con- its electricity generation. died in Maryland. He was 93. He is has soared in India where smog certed eff ort needs to be done to “Coal isn’t going to go away survived by his wife Anantha Lak- readings in major cities routinely address the adverse impacts of very fast. Coal-based pollution shmi, son Ashok Parasuram and eclipse safe exposure levels. air pollution in India,” said Ajay in the environment will always be daughter Anita. Parasuram, who India has recorded a nearly Mathur, director general of the very signifi cant in India,” Sumant won a Harvard Niemen Fellow in 50% increase in early deaths Delhi-based Energy and Re- Sinha, the chairman of Indian journalism, served briefly as the linked to fi ne airborne particles sources Institute. clean energy fi rm ReNew Power, Press Trust of Indian correspond- known as PM2.5 between 1990 Fast-growing India has under- said. ent at the UN in New York after and 2015, the report found. gone a rapid economic transfor- “Renewables are not going to which he joined the Indian Express These microscopic particles mation in the past two decades be expanding fast enough for us as its Washington correspondent are so light they fl oat on air and but burning coal for energy and to be able to impact that particu- for two decades till his retirement One of the world’s biggest air shows began in Bengaluru yesterday with nearly 550 defence lodge deep in the lungs, and have torching farmland to plant new lar problem. “Unless all of those at age 58. and aerospace companies displaying their frontline aircraft and hardware to compete for been linked to higher rates of lung crops has seen pollution sky- (factors) are also brought under lucrative contracts. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar inaugurated the Aero India 2017 at cancer, chronic bronchitis and rocket. control, I don’t think it’s going PEOPLE the Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru. heart disease. India and neighbouring Bang- to come anywhere close to really “India now approaches China ladesh have experienced the solving the problem.” Malayalam actor Baburaj injured in knife attack Man killed woman ‘to hide previous crimes’

Popular Malayalam actor Baburaj IANS making foreign trips and paying for was injured yesterday when a Kolkata escort services both in the country and person hacked him with a knife at abroad. He even went to Singapore and his private resort near Munnar. The Bangkok, especially for availing of es- attack occurred after the actor got hopal resident Udayan Das who cort services,” the offi cer said. into an argument with his neigh- allegedly killed his parents and “Das said his parents forced him to bour. In a fit of anger, the neigh- Blive-in partner, confessed dur- study science against his will and of- bour hacked Baburaj, injuring him ing questioning that he murdered the ten pestered him to get a job after he on his chest. The actor was taken woman after she came to know about dropped out of an engineering course. to a nearby hospital and from there his previous crimes, the police said According to him, he killed his parents to a facility near Kochi. yesterday. on July 27, 2010, and later buried them Das allegedly made false claims of at their residence in Raipur,” Hira said. COMMENT living and working in the US to his The police said Das, who would be partner, Bankura resident Akansha presented before the district court to- Peace can prevail Sharma, and also made fake promises day, wanted to give an in-camera state- in Kannur, insists to get her a job abroad, a police offi cer ment to the judicial magistrate. said. “We will present him in court today Kerala CM “Das confessed he had to kill Akan- and appeal to the judge to record his sha as she came across the passports confession (under IPC section 164) Kannur district, considered of Das’ parents and his mother’s death as he has expressed a desire to give an Kerala’s most volatile due to the certifi cate and realized he had mur- in-camera statement. He will then be violent rivalry between the Com- dered both of them,” Bankura police taken away by Raipur police on transit munist Party of India (Marxist) superintendent Sukhendu Hira told a remand for further investigation into and the Bharatiya Janata Party/ media conference. his parents’ murder,” the offi cer added. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, “She wanted to leave Das after fi nd- Das was brought to West Bengal can be brought back to nor- ing out that he had no connections in from Bhopal on transit remand by the malcy, said Chief Minister Pinarayi the US and could not help get her a job Bankura police and remanded in police Vijayan. “Even though previous at Unicef as he previously promised,” custody for eight days by the Bankura peace talks have not earned the the offi cer said. district court on February 7. desired results, normalcy can re- The police claim Das killed his par- He was arrested on February 2 by the turn to Kannur... when the peace ents to get his hands on their property West Bengal Police on charges of mur- talks between the top leaders, and also to stop them from pestering dering his live-in partner and entomb- percolate to the grassroots in the him to get a job. ing her body in a concrete block inside parties,” Vijayan told reporters “He killed his parents to take away his house in Saketnagar in Bhopal. soon after taking part in a peace their property and lead a lavish life- Later, he also confessed to his par- meeting. style. He made use of the money for ents’ murder.

Probe minister’s torture claim: Amnesty

Amnesty International yesterday called Amnesty said her comments were He urged the authorities to investigate for a Cabinet minister to be investigated dangerous and she should be her claims and role of police off icials for human rights abuses after she prosecuted for violating basic human who carried out the orders and claimed to have ordered police to rights principles and Indian laws if she prosecute the guilty. torture rape suspects. had in fact ordered such treatment. Bharti, who is known for her firebrand Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti politics, made her comments while caused a storm last week when she told campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, where supporters that she used to order rape the BJP is fighting to dislodge the ruling suspects to be beaten in front of their socialist party in state elections. victims and then have salt and chillies India has a gruesome record on rape, rubbed into their wounds while she was which was highlighted by a murderous chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. sexual assault on a student on a bus in “I told the police to hang the men New Delhi in December 2012. Nearly upside down and beat them so much “I told the police to hang the 40,000 rape cases are reported every that when their screams were heard by men upside down and beat year but the real number is thought the women, then the women would get them so much that when their to be much higher, with victims wary closure,” Bharti said at an election rally screams were heard by the of how their complaints will be dealt in Agra. women” with by police. While custodial torture Bharti also told supporters of Prime is illegal, its use is thought to be Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya “Torture is always a crime, and is never widespread and at least 675 people Janata Party (BJP) that she had no justified. Politicians cannot decide that were killed in custody between 2009 compassion for the “inhuman rapists” certain people do not have human and 2015, according to a recent report and that they deserve “no mercy”. rights,” Aakar Patel, the head of by the New York-based Human Rights But London-based rights group Amnesty in India, said in a statement. Watch. Gulf Times 22 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 LATIN AMERICA

FALLOUT LEGAL LAW AND ORDER CRIME COMMENT Newspaper hits out at El Salvador weighs trial Panama asks for Interpol Probe opens into Colombians ‘crossing into ‘censorship’ by judge for 308 gang members alert on ex-president’s sons death of US tourist Venezuela to flee violence’

A leading Brazilian newspaper yesterday blasted El Salvador has started court proceedings against Panama has asked Interpol to issue an Panamanian authorities are investigating the Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro claimed that government “censorship” after a judge, acting 308 gang members to decide whether to put them international alert for the arrest of two suspicious death of a young American tourist a large number of Colombians were crossing the at the request of President Michel Temer’s wife, on trial on terrorist charges for forcing a public sons of former president Ricardo Martinelli whose body was found on a tropical island after border into Venezuela in order to “flee violence”. barred reports on an extortion attempt against transport shutdown in diff erent cities and killing on allegations they accepted bribes from an hours-long search. Reports in Panama said the Speaking during his weekly TV show, ‘In contact the first lady. Folha de Sao Paulo and Globo, seven bus drivers. The process is to go on all week disgraced Brazilian construction giant 23-year-old woman, Catherine Johannet, had been with Maduro’, the president said: “We are receiving the country’s two biggest dailies, were forced before a judge, with a verdict expected on Friday, Odebrecht. The request by the country’s special strangled with her own swimsuit and eight people this massive migration, a product of the continuing to halt publication online and in print of reports the judicial authority said in a statement. If a trial is anti-corruption prosecutor, Tania Sterling, was were being detained in relation to her death. But civil war and violence in Colombia. On Saturday, giving details of the attempted extortion last ordered for some or all of them, they face up to 15 dated February 1 and published in local media. the national prosecutors’ off ice did not confirm that 359 people were registered at a single border year by a man convicted of hacking Marcela years in prison if convicted. The defendants are all A source in the investigation confirmed the information. “The investigation is being carried crossing on the Colombia-Venezuela border.” Temer’s cellphone. The reports reproduced suspected to be members of a violent group called information. The request targets sons Ricardo out under strict confidentiality,” a spokesperson Maduro also said he had ordered the governor chat messages between the first lady and the the Revolucionarios, within the Barrio 18 gang. Alberto Martinelli Linares and Luis Enrique said. The body of Johannet was found on Sunday of the state of Zulia, Francisco Arias Cardenas, to blackmailer who, at one point, referred to a video Most of them were arrested in August 2015 and Martinelli Linares. Their father, a wealthy along a wooded trail on Bastimentos Island. She take all necessary measures as the border with he said he had hacked that “drags the name of have been in jail since. If no trial is ordered, they will businessman who held off ice from 2009 to had arrived in the country three days earlier, on Colombia “is very long and the situation could your husband in the mud.” be released. 2014, lives in voluntary exile in the US. February 2. worsen”, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ireland president in Colombia Brazilian town embraces universal basic income scheme

AFP sively tried around the world for Marica decades, the experiment is cur- rently getting a high-profi le roll- out in Finland. oes being handed money The left-wing French presi- every month — no strings dential candidate Benoit Hamon, Dattached — sound attrac- backed by the star economist tive? The residents of a small Thomas Piketty, has also made the town in Brazil are fi nding out. basic income part of his platform. Governments and think-tanks However, if Finland is hand- around the world are increasingly ing out payments of about $590 a fascinated by the idea of a univer- month — and only to a test group sal basic income, where citizens of unemployed people for now — are given cash to spend as they the amount in Marica is a measly want. 10 reais, or about $3.20. In Marica, a seaside town of The new mayor hopes to raise about 150,000 people near Rio de the amount to $32 in 2017. Janeiro, the left-wing municipal Only the town’s 14,000 poorest government has spent the last families are currently being given year fi nding out how it works. the income, which is denomi- Ireland’s President Michael Higgins (right) and Colombia’s High Commissioner for Peace Sergio Jaramillo visit a Farc disarmament zone in Anori, Antioquia department, “We are a laboratory for the nated in Mumbucas, a virtual cur- Colombia. Higgins is in Colombia on a four-day visit. Brazilian left,” says Washington rency created to pay welfare under Quaqua, who introduced the ex- Quaqua three years ago. periment as mayor in December The 10 reais is added to the 85 2015 before stepping down. He reais ($27) monthly welfare check was replaced by another can- for families whose income doesn’t didate from the leftist Workers’ top three times the minimum Party, Francisco Horta. wage. The idea of a universal basic The extra money is also given income isn’t new, but long-con- to poorer people aged between 14 sidered as a potential tool for so- and 29 and pregnant women al- cial equality and redistribution of ready receiving other benefi ts. Venezuela vice president wealth. There’s another limitation: only The concept has gained traction 131 local businesses — less than more recently among high-pow- 10% of the total — accept pay- ered business thinkers, especially ment in Mumbucas, the mayor’s in Silicon Valley, as they ponder offi ce says. how society will cope with the ev- The currency, which physically er-expanding role of automation exists only on specially issued red hits out at US sanctions — a trend some futurists believe magnetic cards, is unpopular with may create mass unemployment. business owners because they AFP as an anti-imperialist revolution- El Aissami was allegedly in the against prominent fi gures tied to also helped Maduro take action In Marica — a surviving Work- must wait more than a month af- Caracas ary,” El Aissami wrote on Twitter. pay of Venezuelan drug kingpin the Venezuelan government. In against the political opposition. ers’ Party bastion in increasingly ter purchases are completed for “We must concentrate on the Walid Makled Garcia to protect November, a federal court in New In a January 31 decree, Maduro right-leaning Brazil — the basic the government to convert pay- revolutionary government’s pri- shipments, and co-ordinated York convicted two of Maduro’s granted him expansive powers income idea fi ts in well with the ments into reals. Opposition poli- enezuelan Vice President orities: economic recovery and them with Mexico’s violent Los nephews of drug traffi cking. And to seize property and approve leadership’s socialist fervour. tician Filippe Poubel denounces Tareck El Aissami yes- growth and guaranteeing PEACE Zetas cartel, the Treasury said. the current interior minister, ministers’ budgets. Venezuela is Just about every public building what he calls an attempt to addict Vterday hit back at the US and social happiness.” “Let’s not let these vile provo- army general Nestor Reverol, was lurching through an economic is decorated in socialist red and the people of Marica to welfare. for labelling him a drug kingpin, The US treasury department cations distract us. Our main job indicted in the US in August for nightmare of food shortages and Quaqua’s offi ce sports portraits Handing out an income, he calling Washington’s sanctions on Monday accused El Aissami is to accompany Nicolas Maduro cocaine traffi cking. hyperinfl ation brought on by low of communist revolutionary Che says, will backfi re. “People want on him a “vile attack.” and an ally, businessman Samark in (Venezuela’s) economic recov- The new accusations cast a prices for its key export, oil. Ma- Guevara, whose name is also soon to work, they want to earn their El Aissami is the heir apparent Jose Lopez Bello, of being major ery,” El Aissami tweeted. dark shadow over El Aissami, duro, whose popularity has fallen to be given to a new hospital. income with dignity. They would to President Nicolas Maduro, and drug traffi ckers and froze their US He added a shoutout to late 42, who became the troubled to 20%, is fending off opposition “The world lacks creativity and be a lot happier if the mayor would the US accusations against him assets. leftist fi rebrand Hugo Chavez, South American country’s vice attempts to oust him. He blames Marica is giving the example of a create jobs and off er them decent triggered the latest row between It said El Aissami protected and Maduro’s predecessor and the president on January 4. El Ais- the economic crisis on what town that knows how to redistrib- hospital care.” Venezuela’s socialist government oversaw large shipments of co- man who launched Venezuela on sami, who was born in Merida he calls a capitalist conspiracy ute its riches,” Quaqua says with Horta dismisses such criticism and Washington, the “imperial- caine from Venezuela to Mexico the path of socialist “revolution” state, served as a minister un- backed by Washington. pride about his pet project. saying a basic income will in fact ist” power it loves to hate. and the US while serving as the in 1999. “Long live CHAVEZ!!” der Chavez. He made a name for El Aissami is next in line in the Despite his claims, Marica is create jobs, “stimulating the local “I take this miserable and vile country’s interior minister and he wrote. himself in Venezuela by cracking event Maduro is forced to resign only taking baby steps. Inconclu- economy.” attack as recognition of my status governor of Aragua state. It is the latest US drugs case down on drug gangs. But he has or removed in a recall referendum.

Street performance Woman faces deportation Army deployed in for voting illegally in US Rio ahead of carnival AFP ing a complete breakdown in Rio de Janeiro law and order. Reuters to a US citizen, applied for an security can proceed to de- The protest movement was Washington Illinois driver’s licence over a port Fitzpatrick. Hanus, who on a much smaller scale in Rio, decade ago, according to court said he was considering fur- roops yesterday began but several bases, including the papers. ther appeals, called the result deploying in Rio de Ja- headquarters of the elite Shock Peruvian woman who Like many states, Illinois al- a “miscarriage of justice” and Tneiro ahead of the city’s Battalion riot police, have been voted illegally in two US lows individuals to register to noted that Fitzpatrick had famed carnival to boost se- partially shut down for days. Aelections in 2006 can vote when applying for a licence disclosed the votes herself curity following violent anti- Police offi cials acknowledge be deported as a result, a fed- under a “motor-voter” law. when seeking US citizenship. austerity protests and low mo- that morale is low but have eral appeals court ruled, despite She showed a desk clerk An immigration lawyer, Ha- rale among police. warned offi cers not to strike. her claim that she registered to her Peruvian passport and US nus said he has seen dozens, The defence ministry an- An insuffi cient number of vote only after a motor vehicle green card when filling out the perhaps hundreds, of cases nounced that “from this mo- police was widely blamed for vi- department clerk said she was paperwork, her attorney said. over the years in which an im- ment, the defence ministry is olence at a Botafogo-Flamengo free to do so. The clerk asked her whether migrant voted without realis- mobilising troops” in Brazil’s football match on Sunday in Rio The case involving Marga- she wanted to register to vote ing it was illegal. second biggest city. where one person was shot dead rita Del Pilar Fitzpatrick, a le- and told her, “It’s up to you,” “There’s no fraud,” he said. There were no details about and seven others were injured. gal permanent resident who according to court papers. “It arises out of confusion.” the scope of the deployment. Rio de Janeiro is also on edge arrived in the US in 2002 and Fitzpatrick’s lawyer, Ri- On Saturday, the New York The decision to send in the after violent crackdowns over has three naturalised children, chard Hanus, told the 7th US Times published a widely read army comes as relatives of po- the last two weeks by riot police comes amid a debate over Pres- Circuit Court of Appeals in account of a Texas woman sen- lice offi cers in Rio continued against demonstrators protest- ident Donald Trump’s claims of Chicago that his client there- tenced to eight years in prison to attempt to blockade several ing the planned privatisation of widespread voter fraud, includ- fore had “official approval” for voting illegally, despite her stations in protest at condi- the state water utility. ing millions of ballots from ille- and should not be held re- lawyer’s claim that she did not tions and late payment of sala- More protests were expected gal immigrants. sponsible for an innocent intend to break the law. ries. this week. Adding to the securi- The president and his al- mistake. Many Republicans have cited Street police are barred by ty challenge, February is carni- lies have not provided any A three-judge panel wrote preventing voter fraud as justi- the constitution from demon- val season and big street parties evidence to back those asser- that Fitzpatrick had checked fi cation for stricter voting laws, strating. take place every day, building up tions, and elections officials a box affi rming she was a US such as requiring identifi ca- However, the tactic of rela- to parades by the city’s top rival and academics who study citizen and that the clerk’s re- tion, while Democrats have ac- tives camping outside stations samba schools on March 26-27. voting have said voter fraud sponse was not an authorisa- cused them of manufacturing to paralyse the offi cers’ move- Troops are frequently used in is virtually nonexistent in the tion. an excuse to pass legislation A street artist performs with two figures on Central Avenue in ments has recently been em- Brazil to augment the frequent- US. Barring a successful appeal, that harms minority and low- Quito, Ecuador. ployed across Espiritu Santo ly stretched police or to quell Fitzpatrick, who is married the department of homeland income voters. state to the north of Rio, spark- crime waves. Gulf Times Wednesday, February 15, 2017 23 PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN

PM watches multinational Naval exercise

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, along with senior military off icials, stands on the deck of a ship to observe the formation of participating naval vessels, during the closing ceremony of the Pakistan Navy’s Multinational Exercise AMAN-17, in the North Arabian Sea, Pakistan, yesterday. Right: Thrusts of water appear after a depth charge is fired from a vessel, during the closing ceremony of AMAN-17.

Tehmina Janjua Pakistan mourns victims appointed as Pak of Taliban suicide attack foreign secretary Internews AFP dened” by the incident. Islamabad Lahore Lahore, the country’s cultural capital, suff ered one of Paki- stan’s deadliest attacks in 2016 enior Pakistani diplo- akistanis yesterday — a Jamaat-ul-Ahrar suicide mat Tehmina Janjua has mourned the victims of a bomb in a park last Easter that Sbecome the fi rst woman PTaliban-claimed suicide killed more than 70 including to have been appointed for- bomb in Lahore which killed many children. eign secretary, said an offi cial more than a dozen people as the But such incidents have been statement. city’s residents railed at the gov- rare in the city in recent years. “The prime minister has ernment for failing to protect Cricket fans had been quick been pleased to appoint Teh- them. to voice fears that Monday’s mina Janjua as the new foreign Tehmina Janjua The chief minister of Punjab explosion could derail plans to secretary. province Shahbaz Sharif de- hold the highly anticipated fi nal She will assume the post of eign secretary in the country clared a day of mourning after of the Pakistan Super League in foreign secretary in the fi rst before Janjua. Monday’s blast, believed to be Lahore. week of March 2017,” said the The FO statement said, targeting police managing a busy Pakistan’s international tour- statement issued by the For- “She (Janjua) is a seasoned protest at rush hour on Mall naments have been held abroad eign Offi ce. diplomat with a career span- Road, one of Lahore’s main ar- for years out of security fears, Janjua would replace the ning over 32 years. teries. and the second year of the popu- incumbent Aizaz Chaud- She has rich experience of At least 13 people were killed, lar Twenty20 tournament is on- hry, who has been posted as working in bilateral and mul- emergency offi cial Ahmad Raza going in the United Arab Emir- ambassador to the United tilateral domains - both at the told AFP, including six police of- ates. States. headquarters and missions fi cers, while more than 80 were Offi cials had already reassured She has been picked ahead abroad. injured. international players they would of a number of senior offi cers. She also served as (the) Earlier Tuesday he had put the receive “head of state” level pro- Major contenders for the spokesperson for the ministry death toll at 15, but said later that Pakistani relatives and residents off er funeral prayers for a blast victim during a ceremony in Lahore tection in Lahore, with thou- post included High Com- of foreign aff airs during 2011.” was a clerical error. yesterday. sands of police deployed and missioner to India Abdul Janjua has been serving as The toll could have been high- bullet-proof buses. Basit and High Commis- ambassador and Pakistan’s er, Raza said, but for two vehicles claimed responsibility for the carry out spectacular assaults, rorism,” Tariq Saleem told AFP. “Now... there will be a wave sioner to the United King- permanent representative to — a TV news van and a minivan assault. despite a military-led crack- Nadeem Akhter called on of suspicion and fear in their dom Ibne Abbas. the United Nations in Geneva belonging to the protesters — The attack underscored the down on extremism. the government to do more minds,” a frustrated PSL chair- One of the factors that went since October 2015. which absorbed much of the im- challenges faced by Pakistan Lahore residents vented their to bring the situation under man Najam Sethi said on pri- in her favour was strong rec- She previously worked as pact of the blast. in its push to stamp out mili- fury at the blast site early Tues- control.”Our children and peo- vate TV channel Geo after the ommendations that the For- ambassador to Italy from De- Funerals were held Tuesday tancy, even though security day. ple are being killed in these at- attack. eign Offi ce’s leadership made cember 2011 to October 2015. for some of the victims. dramatically improved in 2015 “They (the militants) have tacks,” he said. But he insisted Pakistanis for her. Her experience has pre- The Pakistani Taliban fac- and 2016. no link with Islam nor do they Both the UK and the US show they are not afraid. “We Although Hina Rabbani dominantly been in multilat- tion Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, which has Homegrown groups like the believe in any religion, the only branded the attack “cowardly” will stand fi rm, we will fi ght...we Khar has served as the foreign eral diplomacy serving in the vowed to attack government in- umbrella Tehreek-i-Taliban Pa- thing they know is killing peo- in separate statements, while the will show you by having the fi nal minister (2011-13), no woman UN – both at New York and stallations around the country, kistan (TTP) retain the ability to ple, this is utterly an act of ter- EU said it was “shocked and sad- in Lahore.” has ever held the post of for- Geneva.

High court allows Pak ban on issuance of Pakistani, Indian channels to show arms licences to be lifted troops killed in

Indian movies Internews toring system will be evolved manner,” the spokesperson said. Kashmir fi ghting Islamabad under which record of all arms He quoted the minister as say- licences to be issued by federal ing: “However, it is important Agencies lenged the ban on the broadcast and provincial authorities will that there is uniformity of policy DPA High Commissioner in Islam- Kabul of Indian content on TVs. he government of Paki- be maintained by the National among the federal and provincial Islamabad/ New Delhi abad to protest against “un- The petitioner argued the stan has decided to lift Database and Registration Au- governments and that a digital provoked ceasefi re violation” permission would remain Tmore than three-year-old thority (Nadra). record of every weapon is main- by Indian security forces along he Lahore High Court subject to terms and condi- ban on the issuance of prohib- tained by Nadra.” t least three Pakistani the Line of Control (LoC). has allowed private tions of the licence under the ited and non-prohibited arms “It is important that there is The government had banned soldiers were killed by “The Director General (SA Tchannels to show In- Pemra Ordinance in 2002. licences. uniformity of policy among issuance of arms licences in June AIndian border troops & SAARC), Mohamed Faisal, dian movies as per their terms It said the channels should It has been decided that arms the federal and provincial 2013 in a bid to invalidate ille- in Kashmir yesterday while summoned the Indian Deputy of agreements with Pakistan be allowed to broadcast In- licences will be issued on a pri- governments” gally issued licences. an equal number of Indian High Commissioner JP Singh Electronic Media Regulatory dian dramas/plays as they fall ority basis to media houses, ed- The holders of arms licences soldiers were gunned down and condemned the unpro- Authority (Pemra). The court within the category of “enter- ucation institutions, parliamen- According to a ministry’s had been asked to get them veri- by rebels in the restive region voked ceasefi re violation, on on Monday granted permis- tainment”. However, the Pemra tarians, judges and armed forces spokesperson, the minister di- fi ed by Nadra. hours later. February 13, 2017, by the Indi- sion in the light of Pemra’s contested the argument and personnel under a phased plan. rected interior secretary to take A proposal for lifting the ban The Indian troops fi red an forces on the LoC (in Thub 2002 ordinance that television sought time to establish that However, it has not been an- provinces onboard for evolving had been fl oated last year but it across the Line of Control area (Bhimber Sector),” a For- channels were allowed to run “entertainment” did not in- nounced offi cially when exactly a uniform policy regarding is- could not materialise. (LoC), a de facto frontier that eign Offi ce statement said. Indian fi lms, The News Inter- clude Indian dramas and plays. the ban will be lifted. suance of arms licences and ve- It has been learnt that arms divides the Himalayan valley The Foreign Offi ce urged national reported. It said the channels were The decision was taken at a hicle registration system in the licences will be issued to media between the two countries, of- New Delhi to respect the 2003 Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah allowed to run Indian movies high-level security meeting pre- federal capital as well as in the houses, judges and private edu- fi cials said in Islamabad. Ceasefi re Understanding be- issued the order after Leo Com- as per terms of their licence sided over by Interior Minister provinces. cational institutions in the fi rst The Pakistani soldiers died sides initiating a probe into munication and others chal- agreements. Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan yes- During the meeting, the min- phase and to Pakistan Army of- early yesterday after being in- the recent incidents of cease- terday. ister directed that a comprehen- fi cers and soldiers and civil serv- jured overnight, the Pakistani fi re violation by the Indian The meeting was attended sive strategy should be worked ants in the second phase. military added in a statement. forces, the statement said. Fresh Afghan off ensive against IS by senior offi cers of the minis- out for the issuance of arms li- General public will get arms Three Indian soldiers were Tensions between the South try, Nadra, Federal Investigation cences. licences in the third phase as per then killed in a gun battle with Asian rivals have mounted with The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF) has Agency (FIA), local administra- “Giving guidelines about the the interior ministry’s policy. militants in India-adminis- border skirmishes increasing launched another major off ensive against loyalists of the Islamic tion of Islamabad and Capital Po- future strategy, Chaudhry Nisar Government and non-gov- tered Kashmir later yesterday. ever since militants killed 19 State (IS) group in eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. lice and Islamabad Traffi c Police. said arms licences to various in- ernment organisations will have One militant also died in the Indian soldiers in Kashmir last The local government and security off icials announced the launch The government has also de- stitutions, media houses, educa- to send their requests for arms clash in Bandipora district, September, worsening already of the off ensive during a press conference on Monday. sired uniformity in the issuance tional institutes, parliamentari- licences through home depart- the Indian Army’s Northern strained relations. Since then, Provincial governor’s spokesman Ataullah Khogyani said the of- of arms and driving licences by it ans, judges of superior judiciary, ments. The tax number will be Command said. more than 50 civilians and sol- fensive “Shaheen-28” was launched after the approval of Afghan and provincial governments, and and personnel of armed forces compulsory for requests for the Later yesterday Pakistan diers have been killed by shell- President Ghani, Khaama Press reported. decided that a centralised moni- would be issued in a phased prohibited bore licences. summoned the Indian Deputy ing on the Pakistani side. Gulf Times 24 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 PHILIPPINES Govt confi rms Mass wedding Japan off er to help in fi ght against piracy

Reuters ministry official, however, It will donate $14mn worth Manila gave a different account of the of unspecified military equip- Tokyo meeting and said no of- ment, for which Manila has fer of patrols was made to the submitted a wish-list, and apan has offered to send Philippines, just “capacity has made available $500mn in patrol ships to deal with building”. loans for planes and ships. Ja growing piracy threat in Leaders from the two coun- Russia has offered to sell the the southern Philippine wa- tries agreed last fall that Ja- Philippines anything it want- Newly-wed couples release pigeons after their mass wedding as part of Valentine’s Day celebration in Rosario town, Cavite city, ters bordering Indonesia and pan would give the Philippines ed, Defence Secretary Delfin south of Manila yesterday. Malaysia, a senior Philippine high-speed small boats for its Lorenzana told Reuters last defence official said yesterday. counter-terrorism efforts, but week. A surge in piracy off parts it was not clear if that was part The Philippines late last year of the southern Philippines is of the apparent offer made by made an agreement with In- forcing ship-owners to divert Manabe. donesia and Malaysia to chase vessels through other waters, Efforts by the Philippines down militants and pirates in pushing up costs and shipping to strengthen its security ties the Sulu and Celebes Sea. times. with Japan come as it seeks to Abu Sayyaf is holding cap- tive 27 foreigners and Filipinos Minister doubles down Dozens of sailors have been diversify defence relations that taken captive by Abu Sayyaf. are traditionally aligned with on the southern island of Jolo. Japanese vice minister Ro the United States, to include The foreigners include six Manabe offered the assistance Russia and China also. Vietnamese, a Dutchman, a at a meeting in Tokyo on Fri- Philippines President Rod- German and a Japanese na- tional. on mining crackdown day and expressed readiness rigo Duterte last month asked to contribute to efforts by the Beijing to send its ships to Ricardo David, deputy de- Philippines, Malaysia and In- thwart piracy by the Islamic fence minister, told reporters Reuters briefi ng.A long-time environ- a gift of love to the people of her discretion “to decide on the donesia “in addressing piracy State-linked Abu Sayyaf. that two of five TC-90 surveil- Manila mentalist, Lopez ordered the Cotabato,” Lopez said. resources of the country.” and terrorism”, said Raymund China has yet to issue a re- lance planes leased from Japan closure of the 23 mines on Feb There are currently 311 MP- Top Philippine nickel ore Quilop, assistant defence min- sponse to that request. will be transferred to Manila 2 for damaging watersheds and SAs including those for the 41 producer Nickel Asia Corp said ister for assessments and in- China has also been in dis- next month to help patrol the he Philippines’ environ- for siltation of coastal waters operating mines, government yesterday it would pursue all ternational affairs. cussions about defence-related South China Sea as well as wa- ment minister stepped and farmlands. data showed. legal remedies to overturn an A senior Japanese defence loans for purchasing its arms. ters in the south. Tup a crackdown on min- Five more mines were sus- Lopez also disputed the abil- order to close the operations of ing yesterday, cancelling almost pended. ity of the country’s courts to its unit Hinatuan Mining Corp. a third of the country’s con- The industry says the orders halt her closure orders as af- Hinatuan was told that its op- tracts for undeveloped mines will aff ect 1.2mn people. fected miners prepare to take eration has “impaired the func- Militants threaten and rejecting any challenges to The contracts cancelled yes- legal action. tions of the watershed in the to behead German earlier orders to shut over half terday, known as mineral pro- “There is no TRO (temporary area,” according to a copy of the 62 OFWs in Jordan of all operating pits. duction sharing agreements restraining order) that holds closure order. Militants in the southern Philippines The move turns up the heat (MPSAs), include the $1.2bn function in the case of environ- The decision to close or sus- yesterday threatened to behead in her battle with the mining copper-gold project of Philex ment enforcement,” she said. pend existing mine operations a German hostage held for three face repatriation sector after she ordered the Mining Corp, one of the coun- Lawyer Ronald Recidoro followed a months-long audit months if a ransom of more than closure of 23 of the country’s try’s biggest miners, in south- from the Chamber of Mines of of the mines, although a gov- $612,000 was not paid by February 41 mines earlier this month on ern Philippines. the Philippines said Lopez’s ernment team that reviewed 26. The warning was issued together By William Depasupil Filipinos were among the 457 environmental grounds, caus- Also scrapped was the per- latest action was “absurd” and the audit recommended only with a video of the 70-year-old Ger- Manila Times guest workers that the Jordan ing an outcry from the industry mit for the $5.9bn Tampakan ignored due process given MP- suspensions and fi nes. man captive, which the Abu Sayyaf Health Ministry has ordered and threats of legal action. copper-gold project in South SAs were contracts between President Rodrigo Duterte on militants called a “final ultimatum.” deported for their failure to The latest 75 contracts, Cotabato province in Mindanao the government and the com- Sunday said he would not stand “If their demand of 30mn pesos ixty-two overseas Fili- pass the medical test. which cover projects in the ex- island, the biggest stalled min- panies. in the way of Lopez’s decision to ($612,245) is not met by Feb 26, they pino workers (OFWs) But the Philippine Overseas ploration stage or otherwise ing venture in the Southeast “You cannot just unilaterally shut several mines in southern will behead the hostage and post Sin Jordan are facing re- Employment Administration not yet in production, are all Asian country. cancel contracts, especially if Philippines, the second time he it on social media,” the message patriation because of various (POEA) clarifi ed yesterday in watershed zones and would Tampakan failed to take off there are no specifi c grounds,” has thrown his support behind said. The hostage was shown in health issues, according to the that they have yet to receive threaten water supply if they after the province where it is Recidoro told Reuters. the minister he appointed last an orange shirt, with armed men Department of Labour and the notice of repatriation for went ahead, Environment and located banned open-pit min- Mining law allowed opera- June. If Duterte upholds Lopez’s behind him, including one holding a Employment (DOLE). the workers. Natural Resources Secretary ing in 2010, prompting com- tions in watersheds, he added, actions, Recidoro said aff ected scythe, pleading with German and The department’s public Rubio expressed belief that Regina Lopez said. modities giant Glencore Plc to except those declared protected miners could seek relief with the Philippine governments to help him. information chief Gerry Ru- not all of the 62 Filipinos will “You kill the watershed, you quit the project in 2015. by the government. Court of Appeals and “then the bio yesterday said that the 62 be deported. kill life,” Lopez told a media “We’re cancelling this as But Lopez said it was within Supreme Court.” Duterte targets children in bid to widen drug war

Reuters Senate, but would prevail be- Rosa. In Manila’s slums, children And on December 28, three illegal drug activity,” according Manila cause of Duterte’s allies there, as young as six act as lookouts boys, aged 15 or 16, were killed in to PDEA. added Castro. for dealers, shouting “The en- Manila by what police said were They were mostly involved National police chief Ronald emy is coming!” when police motorbike-riding gunmen. with marijuana and crystal efore Rodrigo Duterte’s Dela Rosa recently announced approach, said Cecilio Tomas, an If the bill passes, the Philip- methamphetamine, a highly bloody war on drugs had that he was suspending anti- anti-narcotics offi cer in the city. pines won’t be the only country addictive drug also known as Beven begun, allies of the narcotics operations, which have By their early teens, some where the age of criminality is shabu, and were handed over to Philippines president were qui- killed more than 2,500 people, become delivery boys and then low. the Department of Social Wel- etly preparing for a wider off en- while the force rids itself of cor- dealers and users, said Tomas. In countries including Eng- fare and Development (DSWD). sive. rupt cops. Salvador Panelo, Duterte’s land, Northern Ireland and Of these, only 80 were under the On June 30, as Duterte was The announcement came af- chief legal counsel, said the bill Switzerland it is 10, according to age of 15. sworn in, they introduced a bill ter it emerged last month that would protect children by stop- the website of the Child Rights Asked for evidence that into the Philippine Congress that drug squad offi cers had killed a ping criminals from recruiting International Network, a re- younger children are involved in could allow children as young as South Korean businessman at them.”They will not become tar- search and advocacy group. the drug trade, Duterte’s legal nine to be targeted in a crack- national police headquarters. gets simply because they will no In Scotland, children as young counsel Panelo said the presi- down that has since claimed The killing of drug suspects longer be involved,” he said. as eight can be held criminally dent had data from “all intelli- more than 7,600 lives. has continued, albeit at a slower Child rights experts say the responsible, but the government gence agencies.” Panelo declined The bill proposes to lower the pace, with most following the Boys undergoing drug rehabilitation attend a lesson inside a legislation could put children in is in the process of raising the age to disclose those numbers. minimum age of criminal re- pattern of killings that police government-run drug rehabilitation centre in Bicutan, Metro Manila. the fi ring line. limit to 12. Among the opponents of the sponsibility from 15 to nine years have blamed on vigilantes. They point to the deadly prec- Critics of the Philippines’ bill bill is a member of Duterte’s old to prevent what it calls “the Human rights monitors be- Supporters of the bill to lower ing of minors. “What will stop edent set in the southern city of say lower age limits are largely cabinet, Judy Taguiwalo, secre- pampering of youthful off end- lieve vigilantes have killed sev- the age of criminality say hold- them from targeting children?” Davao, where Duterte pioneered found in countries where the le- tary of the DSWD. ers who commit crimes knowing eral thousand people and oper- ing young children liable will said Karina Teh, a local politi- his hard-line tactics as mayor. gal systems, detention facilities The legislation runs counter they can get away with it.” ate in league with the police — a discourage drug traffi ckers from cian and child rights advocate The Coalition Against Sum- and rehabilitation programmes to scientifi c knowledge about “You can ask any policeman charge the police deny. exploiting them. in Manila.”They are using the mary Execution, a Davao-based are more developed. child development and would or anyone connected with the Duterte has signalled he in- Opponents, including op- war on drugs to criminalise chil- rights watchdog, documented Statistics from the police and result not in lower crime rates law enforcement: We produce a tends to continue his drug war. position lawmakers and human dren.” 1,424 vigilante-style killings in the Philippine Drug Enforce- but in more children being de- generation of criminals,” Duterte In late January, he said the rights groups, are appalled at a The drug-war death toll in- the city between 1998 and 2015. ment Agency (PDEA), the gov- tained, Taguiwalo wrote in a let- said in a speech in Manila on De- campaign would run until his move they say will harm children cludes at least 29 minors who Of those victims, 132 were 17 ernment’s top anti-narcotics ter to the House of Representa- cember 12. presidency ends in 2022. without evidence it will reduce were either shot by unidenti- or younger. body, appear to contradict the tives in October. Young children, he said, were Lowering the age of crimi- crime. fi ed gunmen or accidentally For all but three years during Duterte camp’s claim that there Hidden by a high wall topped becoming drug runners, thieves nality was justifi ed, Castro told There is also resistance inside killed during police operations that period, Duterte was either is a large number of young chil- with metal spikes, the Valen- and rapists, and must be “taught Reuters, because many children Duterte’s administration. from July to November 2016, ac- Davao’s mayor or vice-mayor. dren deeply involved in the drug zuela youth detention centre in to understand responsibility.” were “in cahoots with drug us- A member of Duterte’s cabinet cording to the Children’s Legal He denied any involvement in trade.The number of minors northern Manila is already oper- The move to target children ers, with drug pushers, and oth- who heads the Department of Rights and Development Cent- the killings. involved in the drug trade is ating at twice its capacity. signals Duterte’s determination ers who are related to the drug Social Welfare and Development er (CLRDC) and the Network Althea Barbon was one of the “just a small portion,” said Noel Its 89 boys eat meals in shifts to intensify his drug war, which trade.” He said he based his sup- opposes the move. Against Killings in the Philip- children killed in the current na- Sandoval, deputy head of the — the canteen can’t hold them faces outrage abroad and grow- port for the bill on what he saw And a branch of the police re- pines, both Manila-based advo- tionwide drug war. Women and Children’s Protec- all at once — and sleep on mats ing unease at home. from his car and at churches — sponsible for protecting women cacy groups. The four year old was fatally tion Centre (WCPC), the police that spill out of the spartan The president’s allies say his children begging and pickpock- and children disputes the claim Dela Rosa said the Philippine wounded in August when po- department that compiled the dorms and into the hallways. support in Congress will ensure eting. “For me, there isn’t any that children are heavily involved National Police “fully supports” lice in an anti-narcotics opera- data. The government-run centre, the bill passes the House of Rep- evidence more convincing than in the drug trade — a claim not the new bill. tion shot at her father, the two The WCPC is not pushing to which currently houses boys resentatives by June. what I see in every day of my supported by offi cial data. It is “true and supported by Manila-based advocacy groups lower the minimum age of crimi- aged 13 to 17 for up to a year, is The House would approve life,” he said. Opponents warn that lower- data” that minors are used by said. nal responsibility, said Sandoval, considered a model facility in the the bill “within six months,” A controversial bill to restore ing the age of criminality would drug traffi ckers because they Unidentifi ed gunmen shot but if the age is to be lowered, his Philippines. said Fredenil Castro, who co- the death penalty, another presi- further strain a juvenile justice can’t be held criminally liable, dead Ericka Fernandez, 17, in a department recommends a min- Even so, said Lourdes Gar- authored the legislation with the dential priority, is also expected system that is struggling to cope. the police chief said in a submis- Manila alley on October 26, po- imum age of 12, not nine. doce, a social worker at the speaker of the House, Pantaleon to pass the House of Representa- At worst, they say, with a sion to the House of Representa- lice said. Between January 2011 and July Valenzuela home, “It’s a big ad- Alvarez. tives by mid-year, according to drug war raging nationwide, the tives. Some police offi cers work- Her bloody Barbie doll was 2016, 956 children aged six to 17 justment on our part if we have It might face opposition in the Duterte allies in Congress. bill could legitimise the kill- ing on the streets agree with Dela collected as evidence. were “rescued nationwide from to cater to kids as young as nine.” Gulf Times Wednesday, February 15, 2017 25 SRI LANKA/BANGLADESH/NEPAL Over 700,000 Dhaka cafe attacker’s aff ected by aide killed in gunfi ght drought in Acting on a tip-off police raid close associate of Jahangir ern commander of the new tremists. Several of them were members of religious minorities. a town outside Bogra city Alam, who was arrested last Jamayetul Mujahideen Bang- allegedly found to be handcuff ed The country’s security forces Lanka where new JMB commander month after he allegedly led a ladesh (JMB) and a close as- when they were shot dead. has launched a deadly crack- Abu Jar was killed in a campaign of targeted killings sociate of the group’s top Police chief Zaman said down against Islamist extrem- gunfight of religious minorities in the extremist Jahangir Alam,” he Jar was “directly involved” ists following the cafe attack, IANS agricultural season in the last northern region. added. in the murders of a Muslim killing around 50 Islamist ex- Colombo 40 years. AFP Acting on a tip-off police Police said Alam was one of and a Christian businessman. tremists, including most of the The Ministry of Disaster Dhaka raided a town outside the north- the masterminds of the siege Both murders were however alleged leaders of JMB. Management and the External ern city of Bogra where Jar was of Dhaka’s Holey Artisan Bak- claimed by the Islamic State While many of those attacks bout 709,400 people Resources Department of the killed in a gunfi ght, Bogra police ery cafe where 22 hostages, (IS) group. have been claimed by the Is- have been aff ected by Ministry of National Policies angladesh police yester- chief Asaduz Zaman said. mostly foreigners, were killed Jar’s alleged boss Alam was lamic State or Al Qaeda, Prime Asevere drought in Sri and Economic Aff airs have re- day shot dead an alleged “We fi red back after they by suspected gunmen of a accused of directly taking part Minister Sheikh Hasina’s secu- Lanka, the Disaster Manage- quested drought-related sup- Bcommander of a banned opened fi re at our offi cers,” Za- “new-JMB”. in the murders of at least 22 lar government has blamed ment Centre (DMC) said yes- port from WFP, in particular Islamist outfi t blamed for last man said, adding Jar was want- Rights groups have raised religious minorities. local militants instead, deny- terday. cash for work/food assistance year’s deadly cafe attack in the ed in connection with several questions about these gunfi ghts Bangladesh has been reel- ing that international jihad- The towns of Gampaha, for asset creation. capital, an offi cial said. murder cases. saying many of these encounters ing from a wave of attacks on ists have gained a foothold in Monaragala, Kalutara and WFP is deciding on re- Police said Abu Jar was a “Jar was the northwest- were staged by offi cers to kill ex- foreigners, rights activists and Bangladesh. Trincomalee are among the sponse options while await- worst aff ected areas, Xinhua ing the government’s formal news agency cited the DMC as request for assistance to the Police unveil Hello saying. international community. The drought has resulted The report submitted to a Tourist safety app in farmers suff ering without sub-cabinet ministers meet- In an eff ort to ease travel of tourists adequate water and some vil- ing on January 3 was pivotal in in the country, police in Bangladesh lages not even having drinking alerting government and other have unveiled a new Android water. stakeholders to the severity of application designed to make The World Food Pro- the drought. contacting tourism authorities and gramme (WFP) earlier said WFP and the government requesting help as simple as two Sri Lanka was preparing for will lead a joint emergency as- taps on smartphone. serious diffi culties this year sessment this month to assess The app, named Hello Tourist, in terms of food and nutri- the impact of the drought on is essentially a hub containing a tion insecurity until the household food security and variety of information that may main harvest in March/April livelihood. be useful to tourists, including 2018. Meanwhile, the Depart- the contact numbers of all senior The expected failure of the ment of Meteorology said rain police off icers and operational main harvest season in March/ was expected in some parts of teams. The tourist police website April 2017 could be the worst Sri Lanka this week. and Facebook page updates are also provided through the app, according to a Facebook post by Tourist Police Bangladesh. Hello Tourist also contains maps with the locations of both listed Wild tiger kills tourist spots and tourist police off icers, to ensure you never need to feel out of reach of help. The app also contains facilities woman in Nepal to submit complaints on the go, rather than having to submit them after the fact. DPA of Gaidakot in Nawalparasi Perhaps the most important part Workers look on as Malaysian ship Nautical Aliya, with relief aid for Rohingya, is unloaded as she sits moored at the port of Chittagong yesterday. Kathmandu district. of the app, however, is an “SOS” “Her family began to search button that ensures you only need for her after she didn’t return one tap to notify the authorities 60-year-old woman home in the morning,” he that you need assistance. was mauled to death said, adding that her body was Aby a wild tiger near a found 800m from her home. Malaysian aid ship docks national park in south-cen- The number of wild tigers in Bangladesh can’t tral Nepal, local police said Nepal is nearly 200, with the yesterday. largest number living in Chit- sue WB: minister The woman had ventured wan National Park, which lies Bangladesh has no scope to sue into the forest to collect fodder close to Monday’s incident. the World Bank for stopping at Chittagong port on Monday morning when the Hamal said the big cat could financing to the Padma bridge animal charged at her, leaving have left the national park, project as per the relevant prints of its claws on her chest crossed a river and attacked agreement, Law Minister Anisul AFP Trucks will carry the 1,472 sians are with you (Rohingya),” Dozens of Buddhist monks and back, said Subash Hamal, the woman deep inside the Haque said yesterday. Chittagong tonnes of food, clothing and Rahim said. and nationalist demonstrators a police inspector in the village community forest. Those who were victims in the medical items to Cox’s Bazar, There was, however, no rep- last week protested the ship’s issue can take legal advice in some 200km (125 miles) south resentative of the Rohingya arrival in Myanmar’s capital, this regard, the minister said Malaysian ship carry- of Chittagong for distribu- community or any of the elders Yangon, with some waving na- while addressing a programme ing aid for thousands of tion to tens of thousands of at the port. tional fl ags and signs reading: Nepal prints banknotes in China organised by a reporters’ forum ARohingya Muslims who Rohingya refugees. “We hope our humanitar- “No Rohingya”. China has printed and bank to provide grant aid to in Dhaka. have fl ed a bloody army crack- Bangladesh has allowed 25 ian eff orts will pave the way to Myanmar denies citizenship delivered Nepal’s 1,000 rupee the 2015 earthquake victims. He came up with the remark five down in Myanmar docked at Malaysian volunteers out of resolve the Rohingya issue and to the million-strong Rohingya, notes. The NRB will take delivery of days after media reported that a Chittagong port in Bangladesh 183 people who came with the awaken the international com- despite many of them living on The Himalayan nation has all 1,000 rupee notes in three Canadian court acquitted three yesterday, days after it met with aid ship to travel with the cargo munity,” Malaysian volunteer its soil for generations. received 24mn 1,000 rupee batches. Under the first lot, former top executives of SNC- protests in Yangon. to the Rohingya camps in the Azmi, who uses one name, said. Tens of thousands have fl ed notes printed by China Banknote 84 million notes have been Lavalin in an international bribery Senior Bangladeshi offi - southern district of Cox’s Ba- The ship initially planned to neighbouring Bangladesh Printing and Minting Corp, Xinhua delivered. case linked to Padma bridge cials and Malaysian diplomats zar, the district’s chief admin- to dock at Teknaf in south- bringing harrowing tales of news agency reported. The Chinese company won construction in Bangladesh. gathered at Chittagong port as istrator Ali Hossain said. ern Bangladesh, where almost murder and rape. Bhuban Kadel, executive the tender in August last year Replying to a query from Nautical Aliya docked in the Abdul Aziz Mohd Abdur Ra- 70,000 Rohingya have fl ed Myanmar’s treatment of the director, Nepal Rastra Bank, the to print 1,000 rupee notes, the reporters, the minister said a southern city, from where its him, a representative of Ma- from Myanmar’s Rakhine state Rohingya has sparked interna- central bank, said the printing largest denominated currency conspiracy was hatched for aid cargo will be transported to laysian Prime Minister Najib since October to escape the tional criticism, including from cost in China was lower. note in Nepal. stopping financing to the project Rohingya camps. Razak and a member of parlia- violence. Muslim-majority Malaysia – a “The quality is as good as the The same Chinese company and Nobel laureate Muhammad The shipment was received ment who travelled with the It also tried to dock near the rare spat between the Southeast ones printed earlier in another had earlier printed Nepal’s 100 Yunus was involved in it. by local offi cials of the Red ship, called for a “long-stand- island of Kutubdia on Monday, Asian neighbours. country but the cost is less rupee notes as well. He said the government, however, Crescent and International Or- ing solution” to the Rohingya but “technical issues” forced it Myanmar initially refused to than half of the amount we had Nepal had earlier been getting will not take legal step against ganisation of Migration at the crisis as he handed over the aid to travel further north to Chit- allow the ship into its waters earlier paid,” Kadel said. its notes printed by Indonesian, Yunus. Everything should not be port’s container terminal in a cargo. tagong, chief administrator of and has barred it from sailing to Timely delivery of the notes French and Australian brought to the law, he added. brief handover ceremony. “Thirty million Malay- the region Ruhul Amin said. Rakhine’s state capital Sittwe. was important for the central companies among others. Solar ambulances to speed into service in Bangladesh Balloons for sale

Thomson Reuters Foundation three-wheeler ambulance will not aff ord conventional ambu- bulance his team is developing. The ambulance’s battery can Dhaka fi t along narrow roads in ru- lance services, but that the new The inspiration for it came from recharge in three to four hours, ral areas where it is diffi cult for ambulance would be cheap to solar racing cars in Australia. he said. n inexpensive, solar- larger ambulances to run. buy and to run. “I thought if researchers Azad said his team has built powered ambulance Zahidul Islam, a farmer in “I thought a low-cost ambu- can develop a solar racing car, and tested fi ve prototypes over Athat can fi t down narrow Saturia in Manikgonj district, lance service would be a good there is potential to develop a the past year. The new ambu- laneways is set to hit the road in said that when his fi rst child idea for these rural clinics. And solar ambulance,” he said. A lances are expected to hit the rural Bangladesh this year, its was born his wife had a diffi cult by using solar power we can re- vehicle that would not be reli- roads at the end of 2017. manufacturers say. delivery and was taken to the duce operational costs and save ant for power on Bangladesh’s He expects that buyers will in- The three-wheeled van, as nearby clinic in a hand-pulled the environment,” he said. overburned national power grid clude community clinics across the well-equipped as ambulances rickshaw – a trip that took too The ambulance is expected would be a bonus, he explained. country run by the BRAC non-gov- used in Bangladesh’s cities, much time. to cost $1,900 to $2,500, a frac- The new ambulance can ac- ernmental organisation. Azad says runs entirely on solar power – “If I had taken her to hospital tion of the price of conventional commodate three people. It has offi cials of the BRAC Health and including solar battery power at a little earlier, she would have ambulances, which can cost at a maximum speed of 15-20km Nutrition Programme have assured night – and can be used in rural had fewer complications,” he least $30,000 in Bangladesh. per hour (9-12 mph), and a the team they will consider using areas with no grid electricity, said. But larger vehicles could BRAC University’s Con- range of up to 50km (30 miles). the vehicles in their clinics. according to the developers. not reach his house, he said. trol and Applications Research By day it is powered by four Dr Shahana Nazneen of the A Bangladeshi university, a He believes that faster, small- Centre is running the project 100-watt solar panels on the BRAC Health and Nutrition government organisation and a er ambulances would be helpful in association with vehicle roof. At night it runs on four Population Programme said local vehicle manufacturer who for rural people. manufacturer Beevatech. Fi- 12-volt batteries, which are that the vehicles are cost-eff ec- are collaborating on the vehicle Kamal Hossain, a driver who nancing comes from the World charged from the solar panels. tive and should be aff ordable for say it should for the fi rst time has tested a prototype of the Bank through Bangladesh’s “The last layer of the devel- rural hospitals. bring ambulance service to ru- ambulance, said that it was Infrastructure Development opment includes installation of Habibur Rahman Khan, an addi- ral areas without it. safe and comfortable to drive Company Limited, with seed a battery charging station (at a tional secretary at the Health Min- The vehicle is in the fi eld on both smooth and rough sur- funding from the US Institute hospital or other site close by) istry in charge of hospitals, agreed testing stage and there are plans faces, and went at a good speed. of Electrical and Electronics that is completely fuelled by a that the low-cost ambulance to launch it by the end of 2017. Abdul Malek Azad, the Engineers. solar canopy,” Azad said. “This would help the ministry boost In many rural areas, emer- project’s team leader and a Azad said that, as far as he is step is taken to ensure complete health facilities in rural areas. gency patients are often taken professor at BRAC University aware, there is no equivalent independence of these electri- “We will certainly consider A Nepalese vendor waits for buyers for his heart-shaped balloons on to hospital in hand-pulled rick- in Dhaka, said that most rural elsewhere in the world of the so- cally assisted rickshaws from purchasing (them) for rural Valentine’s Day in Kathmandu yesterday. shaw vans. But the new, small community health clinics can- lar-powered three-wheeler am- the national grid.” hospitals,” he said. Gulf Times 26 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 COMMENT

Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Deputy Managing Editor: K T Chacko How the lunatic fringe

P.O.Box 2888 Doha, Qatar conquered world politics [email protected] Telephone 44350478 (news), The left and the right Conservatives. If they did, sensible trade with the EU or anyone else. voted in favour of Britain staying in 44466404 (sport), 44466636 (home delivery) ignored the extremists and voters would reject them. Hillary “No, no, no,” he seemed to be the European Union. Fax 44350474 Clinton would always beat Donald crying. “Surely you didn’t believe me I cannot think of any prime we ended up with Brexit Trump. The British would always when I said the EU would make you minister in British history who has prefer the European devil they knew to cook your pets. How crazy are you behaved more cynically on a great and Trump a dangerous, uncertain future. crazies?” issue of state. But her example shows In this complacent environment, You might think that Booker is a that leaders cannot just be cynics. Nick Cohen mainstream politicians and ridiculous man not worth wasting They have to do more than merely London commentators assumed that every time with. Once, you would have manipulate their crazies. They must GULF TIMES variety of cynic – and crazy and been right. Now he is no diff erent creep to them and become like them. creep – could be bought off . David from our rulers. A majority of MPs So we have the spectacle of Donald hree types dominate Cameron assumed he could appease also believe it would be a disaster Trump’s furious tweets against the extremist movements: the right by giving them a referendum for Britain to leave the EU without judges who have struck down his crazies, cynics and creeps. “everybody” knew he would win. securing membership of the single immigration bans. On the one hand, Gulf needs to plan TThe true crazies are always The centre left never bothered to market or the customs union. Last it is a cynically calculated strategy. at the bottom of the heap. Cynical fi ght the far left because “everybody” week, they nevertheless gave Theresa Trump will be able to blame any propagandists stoke their righteous was equally certain that it was an May the power to negotiate just that. terrorist attacks on the US judiciary, fury, without which the extremist irrelevance. Hack journalists say they are just although no one who understands for future as movement would collapse. Creeps rise Allow me to let one shabby fi gure giving the readers what they want. terrorism believes his edicts would to the top, in extremist movements as stand for a neglected underworld. Our politicians say they are just giving save a single life. But at the same time elsewhere. They are cynical, too, of For years, Christopher Booker of the 52% who voted to leave – now his accusations of treason, his anti- course. They know how to manipulate the Sunday Telegraph fanned every redefi ned as “the people” – what they Muslim bigotry and his contempt for Europe risks mount their base. But they must show signs ignorant prejudice on the right. He want. the rule of law match the craziness of of authentic craziness as well or their denied manmade global warming. Respectable opinion cheers them on his supporters. He both manipulates grip on leadership would weaken and “Arctic ice isn’t vanishing after all,” he and holds that bowing to “the people” them and is one of them. Europe, which has long struggled to bridge its others would take their place. declared in 2007. (It is now vanishing is the only available option. Perhaps Equally, Theresa May has to feel divides over a host of issues ranging from immigration Crazies, cynics and creeps. Of so fast its absence is destabilising they are right. the zeal of the convert. To make up the three, the cynics are the easiest the entire global weather system.) Perhaps, in 18 months’ time, MPs for her cynical espousal of a cause to nationalism and budget discipline to national to understand. They live in the He maintained Darwin’s theory who suppressed their consciences she once rejected, she must not only security, is now confronting a lonelier future, while its conspiratorial world of clickbait of evolution was no better than and silenced their doubts will be able manipulate Ukip and the Tory right growth outlook is clouded by Brexit risks. journalism where charlatans churn creationism. Inevitably, he treated to say: “How crazy are you crazies? but become Ukip and the Tory right US President Donald Trump has forecast the out fantasies for sites as various as the the EU as if it were a dictatorship. It You didn’t actually believe we were and enthusiastically endorse the Telegraph and the Canary. Asking if seemed that no falsehood was too sincere when we voted for Brexit in most uncompromising Brexit on unravelling of the European Union, sowing division they believe their propaganda is like gross for him to circulate. At one the Commons. No, no, no, we thought offer. among member states and cheerleading for the UK asking a lawyer if she believes her point, he told his appreciative readers it would be a disaster all along. But Those who look with horror at exit. client is innocent. It helps, but it is that the EU would not allow us to we had to give ‘the people’ what they the disastrous movements tearing beside the point. What matters is not bury our pets until we had put them wanted.” through Western societies should And Brexit, the “biggest jolt since the fall of the whether they are sincere, but whether in a pressure cooker and boiled them Perhaps “the people” will accept relearn a lesson that should never Berlin Wall” that had erased about $3tn from global they can fake sincerity like any other “at 130 degrees centigrade for half an their excuse and blame themselves have been forgotten: you have to equity values on a single day in 2016, should be a salesman or woman with a product to hour”. for Britain’s plight. Political “leaders”, fight the cynics and the crazies and market. Yet when Telegraph readers took who can only follow, must hope that the creeps from the moment they longer-term concern. Cynics now manipulate the fate him at his word and voted to leave they do, even though it is an iron law appear. Do not think that you can The twin issues are heightening economic risks of nations. But once they were behind the EU’s bunny boilers, Booker of democracy that “the people” never ignore the extremes, as the centre for the eurozone, the European Commission said on dismissed. From the fall of the Berlin was consumed with fear. Quitting the blame themselves. left did, or buy them off, as Cameron Wall until 2016, polite society believed EU-dominated European Economic Do not forget that Brexit has made thought he could. Monday. Gross domestic product in the 19-nation it could safely allow the extremes Area, with the freedom of movement cynics not just of the majority of If you do, they will come for you region will grow 1.6% this year, slower than the 1.7% to fester. The far left would never and compliance with EU laws Brexiters the parliamentary Labour party and and you won’t know how to fi ght. You expansion last year, it said. take over the Labour party. The say they abhor, could lead Britain to supposedly moderate Tory MPs, but won’t even know why you must fi ght, The EU, sure, is bracing for more troubled times with nationalist right would never take the “ultimate disaster” of being alone of Theresa May. She is taking Britain until it is too late. - Guardian News & over the US Republicans or British in the world without agreements to out of the European Union when she Media a new US president that has taken a more protectionist trade stance and with the next two years set to be dominated by Brexit negotiations with the UK. Europe’s governments are also struggling to shake off the eff ects of the debt crisis nearly seven years since Greece’s fi rst bailout and work out their response to an aggressive Vladimir Putin to its east and south. Faced with the biggest infl ux of migrants since World War II, Europe’s leaders have also failed for two years to make a unifi ed The twin issues response as nationalists profi ted and the pillars are heightening of EU integration economic risks wobbled. As for the Gulf for the eurozone countries, in a wider sense, stakes are crucial, especially on the economic front. Gulf Co-operation Council sovereign wealth funds have invested heavily in Europe, which together with Japan account for an estimated 50% of the total GCC imports. Total assets acquired by GCC private investors and SWFs in the EU is estimated at more than €400bn as of 2015, making them one of the largest foreign investor groups in Europe. Gulf investors have been prolifi c buyers of British assets in the past decade, too. The Qatar Investment Authority has at least $7bn directly invested in equities traded on the London Stock Exchange, in The left and the right ignored the extremists and we ended up with Brexit and Trump. which it also holds stake of over 10%. Qatar’s total investments in Britain are worth around £30bn ($44bn), according to a 2015 estimate. Sure, Gulf investors have had enough time to cover Zuma gambles on populist shift to ensure survival their positions in Europe as the troubles have been unfolding for quite some time. But the investments are mainly keeping line with the futuristic strategy By Mike Cohen municipal vote that saw its support fall Zuma, 68, who is his ex-wife and In his address to parliament, Zuma Cape Town to an all-time low of 54.5%, down 7.7 the mother of four of his children. said a policy overhaul was essential of economic diversifi cation. Longer term, continued percentage points from the national Other leading contenders for the because black South Africans crises in Europe and a consistently weaker euro, will vote three years ago. If the ANC took post include Deputy President directly own just 10% of the top 100 weigh on the valuation of GCC assets in Europe as well ith his time as leader of another hit of that magnitude in 2019, Cyril Ramaphosa, 64, who has been companies on the Johannesburg South Africa’s ruling it would likely be relegated to the endorsed by the ANC’s labour union stock exchange and white households as on capital returns. African National opposition. allies, and the party’s treasurer- earn fi ve times more than their black As for European nations, a gradual end to Pax WCongress running out, While Zuma acknowledged in general Zweli Mkhize, 61. counterparts. Americana is on the cards. The superpower, which President Jacob Zuma is gambling that his speech that black voters “are “He is defi nitely a lame duck “There can be no sustainability a raft of populist measures can bolster dissatisfi ed with the economic gains president at the moment on a strategic in any economy if the majority is until now has bought their goods, accounted for his grass-roots support and ensure his from liberation,” he has little scope level,” said Andre Duvenhage, a excluded,” he said. There needs to be their security and ratifi ed their values, has suddenly political survival. to do much about it. His term as the politics professor at North West “fundamental change in the structure, become an uncertain partner. But a largely inward- “Radical economic transformation” nation’s president runs out in 2019, University in Potchefstroom, west of systems, institutions and patterns of looking and unilateralist Trump administration, or any was the theme of Zuma’s annual and once he steps down as ANC Johannesburg. “He is not going to go ownership, management and control state-of-the-nation address delivered leader at the party’s next congress in without a fi ght. At the moment he is of the economy.” country for that matter, may eventually fi nd that there last week amid scenes of lawmakers December as he has promised to, he very dangerous.” While economic growth is expected are inherent values in long-term commitments based brawling and security forces imposing will have to answer to a ruling party Zuma still has cards to play. He to rise in 2017 from its weakest level in on trust and mutual respect. an unprecedented lockdown outside that may no longer share his vision. can reshuffl e his cabinet and weed seven years, scandals are likely to go parliament. Zuma repeated pledges by That makes the decision of who out ministers who defy him, as down as Zuma’s legacy. The nation’s the ANC, which has held power since follows Zuma as ANC leader even he threatened to do last month at top court found that he violated his the end of apartheid in 1994, to use more vital to the economic direction a meeting of the ANC’s National oath of offi ce by failing to repay state To Advertise the state to boost the black majority’s of Africa’s most-industrialised Executive Committee, according money spent on his private home, wealth, speed up land reform and nation. Zuma may also be relying to two leaders who attended the while the nation’s ombudsman [email protected] strengthen the government’s role in on his successor to shield him from gathering in Johannesburg and implied in a report that he allowed Display the mining industry. 783 graft charges that were dropped declined to be identifi ed because they members of a wealthy family who are Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 “Time is running out for Zuma; before he became president in 2009 are not authorised to comment. in business with his son to infl uence time is running out for the ANC,” and which the opposition is fighting The opposition says the true target cabinet appointments and state Classified Tinyiko Maluleke, a political analyst at to reinstate. of any ministerial change may be contracts. Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 the University of Pretoria, said. “That While the ANC has banned its Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, In November, the ANC’s for me is at the heart of why you have members from openly discussing with whom Zuma has feuded over national executive committee, its Subscription ‘radical economic transformation.’” succession until later in the year, the management of state companies top decision-making structure, [email protected] This state-of-the-nation address Zuma’s statement that the ANC is and spending on a planned nuclear debated whether to remove him. was the fi rst since the ANC suff ered ready for a woman president was power programme. Police are still The proposal was rejected, but the its worst electoral performance, when widely seen as an endorsement for investigating Gordhan over allegations fact that it was even entertained 2017 Gulf Times. All rights reserved it lost control of Pretoria, the capital, former African Union Commission that he set up an illegal spy unit when illustrated his vulnerability. – and Johannesburg in an August chairwoman Nkosazana Dlamini- he ran the tax agency. Tribune News Service Gulf Times Wednesday, February 15, 2017 27 COMMENT Broken Iraqi farmers weigh heavy losses

Nineveh was Iraq’s most of Iraq’s total wheat output, and 32% He and other farmers have of barley. contacted the government to see if the productive farming region An estimated 70% of farmers fl ed old arrangements could be revived. before the arrival of when Islamic State took over, and “They said to wait because the those who stayed - either to join the budget is weak,” said Ali. Islamic State, producing movement or out of fear – faced heavy “The state is failing. This is our around 1.5mn tonnes of taxation. government. They said wait for God’s As a Christian, Yuhanna was mercy.” wheat a year particularly vulnerable to the Muslim This is a familiar story to farmers. extremists, who tried to build a self- When Islamic State took over Mosul By Michael Georgy and sustaining caliphate and killed anyone in June 2014, farmers in the region Maha El Dahan/ Reuters opposed to their radical ideas. had still not received government Qaraqosh, Iraq/ Abu Dhabi “The people that turned on me we payments for the wheat they had sold were all from this area. I knew every that year. one of them. They joined Daesh,” said Kadhum al-Bahadli, the ami Yuhanna was making a Yuhanna, using an acronym for the government’s adviser on agricultural decent living as a wheat farmer group. aff airs, said eff orts were underway to until a militant put a gun to his Reuters was not able to obtain pay and compensate farmers and off er Shead and declared his land in offi cial fi gures for agricultural output loans for seeds despite low oil prices Iraq’s Nineveh province the property during Islamic State rule because the and deteriorating state fi nances. of Islamic State. government had no access to areas “The government has already put An army off ensive has cleared the under militant control. Farmers fear the agriculture sector could take years to recover. plans to compensate Mosul farmers for militants from the eastern half of the Haider al-Abbadi, head of the wheat delivered to silos before the provincial capital, Mosul, and nearby the General Union of Farmers 2016-2017,” Zubi said in written depend on the system, which has barley crops below mountain ranges. occupation of Daesh. They should be towns and villages like Qaraqosh, Cooperatives, told Reuters in a answers to Reuters. become corrupt and wasteful over the When the militants showed up, patient as the process is complicated home to Yuhanna’s fi elds. telephone interview that he estimated “Seeds, fertilisers, fuel, electricity, years as well as severely curtailed in his planting shrunk to 10 donhums and needs more time.” But the terror and mismanagement output fell to around 300,000 tonnes, sustainable agricultural equipment, as confl ict zones. because he didn’t fully co-operate Aref Hassan, head of a farmers that characterised their two-year based on accounts of how much of the well as irrigation channels and wells The FAO estimates there are around with them. association in Basheeqa with rule after seizing Iraq’s agriculture grain farmers had sold. and other essential supplies, are not 2.4mn people in Iraq who do not have “They did not buy anything from us. 1,100 members, showed Reuters heartland has devastated farmers “Islamic State used to surround available to enable farmers to restore access to nutritious food that meets I just grew enough to feed my animals. photographs of a town once and exacerbated the country’s food farmers in general and prevent them their usual farming.” their dietary needs. Total destruction,” said Hussein, surrounded by green fi elds that was security problem. from going out into the fi elds and The militants seized 1.1mn tonnes Islamic State set itself apart from throwing seeds by hand on a small plot reduced to rubble in the eff ort to Yuhanna, who used to sell about 100 farming their land because they were of wheat that was in government silos, militant groups like Al Qaeda by of land around his house in the village dislodge militants. tonnes of wheat per year, now lives scared they would escape or that they according to Zubi. holding territory and attempting to of Omar Khabshi. Only a few families have returned. in a small trailer and drives a taxi in would go and join the government In addition, about 40% of create an administration that could He now fears for the safety of his Hassan walked through an olive the Kurdish capital of Erbil to barely forces,” Abbadi said. agricultural machinery was sold as deliver basic services in order to win children because dogs that ate corpses grove, despairing at the sight of one survive. “This season it will be diffi cult parts or smuggled into neighbouring public support. left on roadsides by fi ghting are biting tree after another burned by militants He is still haunted by the day armed to see an improvement. The only countries to raise money for militant But the group failed in areas such as people in his village. in an apparent bid to create smoke to militants arrived. hope is that the farmers might be activities, Abbadi said. farming. Islamic State’s failure to meet evade airstrikes. “They just took over everything I able to market their produce to the Ensuring food security has For one thing, the militants did not the basic needs of Iraqis would Reviving the grove could take a owned,” he said. government again. I don’t expect the consistently been one of the central match government prices, farmers likely undermine any bid to make a decade, he said. Farmers fear the agriculture sector wheat crop to be more than 500,000 government’s biggest – and most said. comeback in the country as it tries to For now, there are more pressing could take years to recover, with tonnes this season.” pressing – challenges. While the state used to pay double recover from losses in Syria and Libya, concerns. tractors missing, unexploded mines Fadel El Zubi, Iraq Representative Even late dictator Saddam Hussein the market price for commodities such farmers said. “There are still mines and in the fi elds and farm compounds for the UN Food and Agriculture was cautious when it came to food. as wheat, for example, Islamic State But the government is not off ering improvised explosive devices on a lot damaged by airstrikes on the militants, Organisation (FAO), agreed the A rationing programme for fl our, paid below the global average. much hope either, they said, with of land so farmers can’t work,” he said. who sold commodities like wheat to outlook is dire. cooking oil, rice, sugar and baby milk “They were paying farmers around most of its resources directed at “We hope that international fi nance their operations. “It is extremely important to formula, the Public Distribution $200 a tonne while the government driving the militants out of Mosul. organisations and demining Nineveh was Iraq’s most productive support farmers as their situation in System (PDS), was created in 1991 used to pay up to $600 a tonne,” Zubi Farmer Abdel Hakim Ali, 45, used to organisations will clean up the farming region before the arrival of newly retaken areas is characterised by to combat UN-imposed economic said. sell 50-100 tonnes of wheat and barley farming areas. The farmer cannot go Islamic State, producing around 1.5mn extreme diffi culties that is disabling sanctions. Ghanem Hussein used to work 100 annually to state-run silos before back to his land until these farms are tonnes of wheat a year, or about 21% them to start planting for this season Impoverished Iraqis continue to donhums (250,000sq m) of wheat and Islamic State arrived. cleared.” Weather report New Thai king shows his strength Three-day forecast TODAY High: 22 C By Matthew Tostevin/ Reuters him on different terms with the where the king served. generals: He went through military Among other notable military Low : 19 C Bangkok Inshore: Expected thundery rain at academies; he saw combat against promotions was Suthida places associated with strong wind insurgents in the 1970s; he can fly a Vajiralongkorn na Ayudhya within the and low horizontal visibility. rom requiring constitutional fighter jet. King’s Own Bodyguard. changes to pushing for unity In line with protocol, junta members Often seen at the king’s side, though THURSDAY in the divided country and prostrate themselves before the new not publicly designated as his consort, High: 22 C Freshaping the royal household, king at audiences, as palace photos she became a general on the day he Low: 19 C Thailand’s new king is putting an show. took the throne. Rain assertive stamp on his rule. “The relationship is at least one of Last week, the king appointed a new King Maha Vajiralongkorn obedience,” said Eugenie Mérieau, a Buddhist supreme patriarch, ending has made it clear to the generals lecturer and researcher at Sciences Po more than a year of tussling over the FRIDAY running the country that he will in Paris. position. High: 22 C not just sit in the background as The junta was quick to obey when Parliament restored the king’s Low: 16 C a constitutional figurehead since the palace asked for constitutional authority to do so after 25 years of Showers taking the throne in December changes – the fi rst such request in having a council of monks make the from a father treated by Thais as decades. decision. semi-divine. Changes relating to current royal The new patriarch is from a Fishermen’s forecast fraternity closely tied to the monarchy That matters in Thailand, where Vajiralongkorn: assertive powers were pushed through within OFFSHORE DOHA relationships between monarchy, days. rather than the one the religious Wind: NE-SE 10-20 KT army and politicians have long palace offi cial said it did not comment So was the ability to make further council had fi rst proposed. Waves: 6-8/12 Feet determined the stability of Southeast to the media. changes to a new constitution that is The big question is what happens INSHORE DOHA Wind: NE-SE 05-15/25 KT Asia’s second-biggest economy and A government spokesman declined in the works. when there is a resumption of political Waves: 2-4/5 Feet America’s oldest regional ally. comment. Behind the palace walls, the royal competition, suspended after the last Predictions by some pundits of a King Vajiralongkorn started from a household is being reshaped. military coup in 2014. Around the region troubled royal transition have proven very diff erent place to his father, King Over 20 appointments and The king has stressed unity within Weather Weather wrong - at least for now. Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died on promotions have been made by the the divided country, both in his today Max/min tomorrow Max/min “His majesty has proven himself to October 13. new king and published in the Royal New Year address and at a late night Abu Dhabi M Cloudy 27/22 M Cloudy 28/22 be very adept at managing the junta When the teenage Bhumibol took Gazette. meeting with the country’s leadership Baghdad P Cloudy 20/05 M Sunny 15/04 Dubai and the military,” said academic Paul the throne in the late 1940s, the future This includes reshuffl ing senior in January to push for more help for Cloudy 28/22 Cloudy 29/22 Kuwait City P Cloudy 21/13 Sunny 22/11 Chambers at the Institute of Southeast of the monarchy itself looked in doubt. members of the household, many fl ood victims, Prime Minister Prayuth Manama S T Storms 23/18 Rain 22/17 Asian Aff airs in Chiang Mai. Building alliances, he quietly of whom had held posts for decades Chan-ocha said. Muscat P Cloudy 26/21 P Cloudy 27/22 None of more than two dozen re-established the royal aura and under King Bhumibol, and promoting That meeting also coincided with Riyadh S T Storms 23/16 P Cloudy 23/13 serving or former offi cials, military authority – becoming ultimate military offi cials with ties to the new the government’s moves to set up a Tehran P Cloudy 10/03 P Cloudy 10/02 offi cers, parliamentarians, diplomats arbiter during coups and spells of king. reconciliation committee ahead of or analysts that Reuters spoke to for chaos as Thailand changed from rural The head of the infl uential elections expected next year. this story saw any immediate threat to backwater to middle-income country. Privy Council, 96-year-old Prem The aim of the panel is to listen that balance of power. King Vajiralongkorn, 64, has Tinsulanonda, remains in place, but to different political factions, to With jail facing anyone found guilty spent years abroad, his private life half the other members are new. establish some common ground of insulting the monarchy under the complicated by three marriages, and The six new appointments have between them and then come up nation’s “lese majeste” laws, few Thais he has yet to win the public adoration increased representation of those with an agreement all would sign comment openly on royal matters. received by his father. with a background in the army’s to ensure a peaceful transition to Asked for a response for this story, a But the king’s background puts Wongthewan faction or King’s Guard, civilian-led democracy. Live issues Air pollution can scramble your brain

Around the world By Ana Veciana-Suarez works at the University of Southern 3,600 women between the ages of 65 study does not prove defi nitively Weather Weather Washington California’s Leonard Davis School of and 79. None of them had dementia that air pollution causes the risk of today Max/min tomorrow Max/min Gerontology. at the beginning of the study. dementia to rise. What’s more, results Athens Sunny 15/05 Sunny 12/02 Specifi cally, USC researchers found Researchers also looked at female from animals don’t always produce Beirut S Showers 13/08 S Showers 12/07 M Sunny Sunny 33/22 he air you breathe does more that older women living in areas where lab mice and at brain tissue in petri similar results in humans. Bangkok 33/22 Berlin Sunny 08/-2 M Sunny 09/03 than aff ect your lungs. air pollution particles exceed federal dishes. Past research has already shown Cairo P Cloudy 17/10 S Showers 16/07 A new study published safety standards may face an 81% In comparing those who breathed the effects of air pollution on lung Cape Town Sunny 31/18 P Cloudy 23/17 recently found that older higher risk for cognitive decline. They clean air and those exposed to unsafe disease and cardiovascular disease, Colombo S T Storms 33/24 P Cloudy 35/24 T Dhaka Sunny 30/17 Sunny 31/17 women exposed to air polluted by also have a 92% greater likelihood pollution levels, results for all three but this most recent study provides Hong Kong Sunny 23/17 M Sunny 24/18 vehicle exhaust and other damaging of developing dementia, including groups suggested that exposure to air more insight into how it may affect Istanbul Cloudy 03/02 Cloudy 05/-1 particles are almost twice as likely to Alzheimer’s disease. pollutants increased disorientation the ageing brain. A study published Jakarta T Storms 29/24 T Storms 29/24 develop dementia. Others who carried The detrimental effects of air and memory loss as well as amyloid in 2011 also found that people who Karachi M Sunny 33/19 P Cloudy 33/19 a specifi c gene were almost four times pollution – which includes tiny beta protein clumps in the brain. lived close to densely trafficked London S Showers 12/04 P Cloudy 11/04 Manila M Sunny P Cloudy 30/22 likelier to develop loss of memory and particles emitted by motor vehicles, Researchers used air pollution roads were at a far higher risk of 28/21 Moscow Cloudy -2/-11 P Cloudy -4/-8 reasoning skills. power plants and the burning of standards set by the US Environmental stroke and dementia than those who New Delhi Sunny 27/13 P Cloudy 28/16 “Although the link between air biomass products such as wood Protection Agency. lived farther away. A year later, a New York P Cloudy 09/-1 Cloudy 03/-3 pollution and Alzheimer’s disease – were also worse in women who Applying their fi ndings to the team at Mount Sinai in New York Paris P Cloudy 16/06 S Showers 13/04 is a new scientifi c frontier, we now carry APE-e4, a gene variant that general population, the USC first established that air pollutants Sao Paulo S T Storms 31/19 S T Storms 31/19 Seoul M Sunny 08/-3 M Sunny 12/01 have evidence that air pollution, like increases their risk of developing researchers calculated that air induced inflammation, cell death Singapore Showers 30/24 Cloudy 31/24 tobacco, is dangerous to the ageing Alzheimer’s. pollution might be to blame for about and the buildup of amyloid protein in Sydney S Showers 25/18 Cloudy 31/21 brain,” study co-senior author Caleb The study, published in the journal 21% of all cases of dementia. the brains of mice. – Tribune News Tokyo Clear 11/02 Clear 13/02 Finch said in a statement. Finch Translational Psychiatry, examined But they also cautioned that the Service Gulf Times 28 Wednesday, February 15, 2017 QATAR

Sheikha Moza at QF

HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani with other dignitaries at Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium.

HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser took part in Qatar Foundation’s National Sport Day activities at Al Shaqab’s Indoor Arena in Education City. Moza toured the events and spoke with some of the participants. PICTURE: Aisha al-Musallam/HHOPL PM participates in Lekhwiya activities

QNA ed by persons with special needs HE the Prime Minister, Min- Doha from the Gulf Disability Society, ister of Interior and commander Foreign Ministry Aamal Center for Special Needs, for the Internal Security Force Al Tamakon School, Rumailah (Lekhwiya) also attended cel- E the Prime Minister Hospital, and Doha International ebrations organised by Lekhwiya and Minister of Inte- Center for Special Needs. where its headquarters held a Hrior Sheikh Abdullah The programme included a number of sports competitions. bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani football game played by HE the On the sidelines of the cel- took part in Sport Day celebra- Prime Minister, the director gen- ebrations, Lekhwiya inaugu- says sport key tions organised by the Ministry eral of public security Staff Major rated a 2500 sq m multipurpose of Interior’s (MOI) Qatar Police General Saad bin Jassim bin al- sports hall as an addition to Sports Federation. Khulaifi and a number of depart- qualify Lekhwiya’s employees. The event, which is annually ment managers. In the first Sport Day edition held at Suheim Bin Hamad Sta- In addition, the employees of in 2012, Lekhwiya inaugurated dium, was attended by depart- the ministry participated in dif- the biggest sports hall, a sports ment managers, and more than ferent sports such as track and arena in the 2013 celebrations 2,000 employees from the min- fi eld, tug-of-war, basketball, and a fitness hall in the 2014 to diplomacy istry. The event was also attend- tennis and other sports. celebrations.

QNA Ahmed bin Hassan al-Hamma- the tools of foreign policy and a highlighted that sports is one of Doha di, directors of the ministry’s pillar of diplomacy that brings public diplomacy’s most crucial diff erent authorities, and mem- Qatari people closer to diff erent tools, which now complements bers of diplomatic missions in peoples across the globe. the work done by offi cial diplo- he Qatar Ministry of For- Qatar took part in the event. He added that recognising macy. eign Aff airs participated The programme saw a host this day as a sports day came to The Ministry of Foreign Af- Tin National Sport Day at of sporting, social and cultural complement Qatar National Vi- fairs organises Sport Day event the Diplomatic Club under the events that were popular among sion 2030, which seeks to have a every year in a bid to promote auspices of HE the Foreign Min- the participants and their fami- mentally and physically-healthy sports as a key part of individu- ister Sheikh Mohamed bin Ab- lies. HE the Minister of State society capable of contributing al’s life and in society. dulrahman al-Thani. for Foreign Aff airs gave a speech to sustainable development. Sports also plays a big role in HE the Minister of State for to mark the occasion and said Al-Muraikhi said that they strengthening social ties be- Foreign Aff airs Sultan bin Saad that the policy of HH the Emir want citizens to be healthy and tween all members of the min- al-Muraikhi, Secretary-Gen- Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al- that’s why the ministry cele- istry and offi cials in diplomatic eral of the Foreign Ministry Dr Thani adopted sports as one of brates Sport Day every year. He missions.

HE the Minister of State for Foreign Aff airs Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi helps children with basketball at the Diplomatic Club.

Deputy PM attends sporting events of cabinet secretariat Rain fails to dent spirit The Qatari cabinet’s General- Secretariat participated in Sport Day, From Page 1 Aspetar and Aspire Logistics - in a range of activities alongside with HE the Deputy Prime Minister Meanwhile, braving rainy and contributed to the success of the the country’s expatriates. Ac- and Minister of State for Cabinet windy conditions, large crowds events. tivities organised by AZF dem- Aff airs Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid came to Aspire Zone to par- The morning activities kicked onstrated how sport can bring al-Mahmoud taking part. Sport Day ticipate in several activities. A off with the annual ‘Fun Run’ people together across all back- was first launched in accordance to number of prominent offi cials event, where large numbers of grounds, nationalities and ages Emiri decision No. 80 for 2011 which and dignitaries attended the people of all ages, including and build bridges of understand- stated that the second Tuesday of events to show their support for some of Qatar’s national Olym- ing between cultures. February, every year, be regarded the development of sports and pic athletes such as Abderrah- Around Aspire Park, health and as a sports day. General-Secretariat sporting activity in the country. man Samba, Mabrook Saleh and wellness experts off ered advice employees met at the headquarters Mohamed Khalifa al-Suwaidi, Idris Mousa, took part. Visitors and recommendations on lead- before going on a walk on the CEO, AZF, said the collective ex- to Aspire Zone were very diverse ing a healthy lifestyle at education Corniche. They then headed to perience and expertise of Aspire with all sections of the commu- stations staff ed by experts from Qatar Sports Club to take part in the Zone Foundation and its member nity represented. the Namat physical activity and sporting activities. organisations - Aspire Academy, Qatari nationals participated health education programme.